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#| INDIAN STORY. •%&% ^:g X-SCf

&-, A Tranilated from the FRENCH of y *$* O

J^X' J. H. B. DH ST. PIERRE, Author of <J4"^> *4^ 6 the Studies of Nature. v jSi. v

'•*••<;' f": V '.A,' :,:

BY

H. KUNTER, D. 2?.

1?^. •;) .... Miferis fuccurrere difro.

xL.O ^NKID, LIB. I. XX :":

',,A/ -:> I have learned to fucccur the diitreficd.

0 PRINTED AT WRENTH AM, (Maff.) >

v BY NATHL. AND BENJ. HEA<ION> Q $£. )C X ^FoR E. GOODALE, MENBQ1J ^ AND v -^ > C ;< S. WARRINER, }UN. WILBRAttAZt* ''

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PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

the Eaftern declivity of the mountain? which rifes behind Port-Louis, in the Ifle of France, are ilill to be feen, on a fpot of ground formerly cultivated, the ruins of two little cottages. .^They are fituated al- moft in the middle of a bafon, formed by e- normous rocks, whkh has only one opening turned toward the North. .From that open ing, you perceive, on the left, the mountain known by the name of Mount Difcoveryfr from which fignals are repeated, of veffels {leering for the iiland ; and, at the bottom of this mountain, the city of Port-Louis ; to the right, the road, which leads from Port- Louis to the quarter of Pa'mplemoufles ; af terwards the church of that name, which rifes, with its avenues of bamboos, in the mid* die of a great plain ; and, beyond it, a forei^ which extends to the farthefl extremities of die ifiand. You have, in front, on the brink of the fea, a view of Tomb-Bay ; a little to the right, Cape-Misfortune ; and beyond that, the boundlefs ocean, in which appear A %

4 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

en a level with the' water's ed^e, forn:- un. inhabited little Mis, among others, Mire -Point, •which refemblss a baftioa in the m'i.i of the waves.

At the entrance of this bafcn, from whence fo many obje&s are di fling uiihable, the echoes of the mountain inceflantiy repeat the nolle of the wind;, which agitate die neighbouring fore-its, and the roaring of the hii!v. K ch break at a diilance, upon the fli lilo-ws ; but at the very foot of the cot tages, no noife is any longer to be heard, and nothing to be feen around, except great rocks, as deep as the wall of a houfe. Tufts of trees grow at their bafes, in their clefts, and up to their very fammits, en which die clouds fettle. The rains, which are attracted by their peaks, frequently paint the colors ot the rainbow on their green and dufky f.des, and conitantly fupply, at the bottom, the fources of which the fmall river of the Latiaiers is formed. A profound illence reigns through this enclofure, where all is peace ; the air, the waters, and the light. Scarcely does the echo there repeat the mur- nluring found of the palmifts, which grow on their elevated ftalks, and whofe lonj* ar- rov^-formcd branches are fecu always balanr ced by the winds. A mild light illuminates the cavity of this bafcai, into which the rays of the fun defcend only at noon-day ; but,

PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

from the dawning of Aurora, they ftrike upon the brim of it, tke peaks of which, riling above the fhadows of the mountain, prefent the appearance of gold and purple on the azure of the heavens.

I took plcafure- in retiring to this place, where you can enjoy, at once, an unbounded profpect, and a profound fclitude. One day, as I was fitting by the platform of thefe cot tages, and contemplating their ruins, a man con fider ably advanced into the vale of years, happened to pafs that way. He was drefled, conformably to the cuftom of the ancient in habitants, in a fhcrt jacket and long trowfers. He walked barefooted, and fupported him- felf on a ftaff of ebony wood. His hair was completely white, his phyfiognomy fimple and majeilic. I faluted him refpedtfuHy. He returned my falute, and having eyed me for a moment, he approached, and fat down on the hillock where I had taken my ftation* Encouraged by this mark of confidence, I took the liberty of addreiTmg him in thefe words : " Can you inform me, Father, to whom thefe two cottages belonged ?" " My fon," replied he, " thefe ruins, and that now neglected fpot of ground, were inhabited, about twenty years ago, by two families, which there found the means of happinefs. Their hiftcry is affecting : but in this ifland, fkuated cr* the road to Injjia, what European A 3

6 *AUL AND VIRGINIA.

Vv^.1 deign to take an mtereft in the ckfliny of a few cb: cure individuals ? Nay, \vho would fubmit to live here, though in happineft and concent, if poor and unknown ? Men are detirous of knowing only the hiilory of 'the Great, and of Kings, v/hich is of no life to^aiiy one." " Father," replied I, " it is ealy to difcern from your air, and your ftyle of coriverfadon, that you mull: have acquired very extern! ve 'experience, If your ieifure per- xnits, have the goodnefs to relate tome, 1 be- feech you, what you know of the ancient in habitants of tins defcrt ; and be ailured, that there is no man, however depraved by the prejudices of the vrcrid, but" who loves to hear of the felicity which nature and virtue beftow." Upon this, like one who is trying to recollect certain particular c:rcumiV.inces, after having applied his hands for ibme time to his forehead, the old man related what fellows :

In the year 1726, a young man of Nor- Ittandy, called De la Tour, after having to no purpofe, folicited employment in France, and aiMance from his family, determined to come to this illand, in the view of making his fortune. He brought alomr with him a young wife, whom he pallionatety loved, and who returned his aite^ion with mutual ardcr. JBhe was defcended from an ancient and opu lent family of her Province ; but he hadmarried

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. /

her privately, and without a portion, becaufe her relations oppofed their union, on account of the obfcurity of his birth. He left her at Port-Louis, in this ifland, and embarked for Madagascar, in the hope of there purchafmg fome negroes, and immediately returning to this place, for the purpofe of fixing his refi- dence in it. He difembarked at Madagafcar during the dangerous feafon, which com mences about the middle of October, and, foon after his arrival, died of the peitilentlal fever, which rages there for fix months of the year, and which always will prevent Euro pean nations from forming fettlements on that ifland.

The effects which he had carried with him were embezzled after his death, as generally happens to thofe who die in foreign coun tries. His wife, who remained in the IHe of France, found herfelf a widow, pregnant, and defiitute of every earthly refource, ex cept a negro woman, in a country where fhe was entirely unknown. Being unwilling to foliek aiiiitance from any man, after the death of him, who was the fole object of her affec tion, her misfortunes gave her courage. She refolvecl to cultivate, with the help of hrr (lave, a fmall ijpot of ground, in order to procure the msans of fubiiftence. r fc In an ifland almoil a defcrt, the foil of which was unappropriated, (he did not choofe the

1 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

moft fertile diftria of the country, nor that which was the moil favorable for commerce ; but looking about for feme fequeflered cove ot the mountain, fome hidden afylum, where ihe might live fecluded and unknown, fhe found her way from the city to thefe r-ck.c into which fhe funk as into a neft. It is an inftmdl common to all beings poffeffcd of fen- libility, under preffure of calamity, to feek jnelter in places, the wildeft and the moft de- lerted ; as if rocks were bulwarks againft misfortune, or, as if the calmnefs of nature could compofe the troubles of the foul. But Providence, which comes to our relief, when ve aim only at r.cceflary comforts, had in /tore for Madame de la Tour, a bleffing which neither riches nor grandeur can purchafe ;v arid that bleffing was a friend.

In this place for a year pail, had refided, a fprightly, good, and feniible woman, called Margaret. She was born in Brittany, of a plain family of peafants, by whom ihe was beloved, and who would have rendered her happy, had fhe not been weak enough to re- pofe confidence in the profefficr.s of love, by a man of family in the neighbourhood, who had promifed to marry her ; but who, having gratified his paffion, abandoned her, and even rcfufed to fecure to her the means of fub- fiftence for die child, with which he had left her pregnant. She immediately refclvecl, for

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 9

ever to quit the village where fhe was born, and to conceal her fault in the Colonies, far iron; her country, where fhe had loit the on ly dowry of a poor and honed young woman, reputation. An old black fellow, whom (he had. purchafed with a poor borrowed purfe, cultivated, with her, a fmali corner of this dillnd,

Madame dc la Tour, attended by'her black •woman, found Margaret in this place, who was fuckling her child. She was delighted to meet with a female, in a fituation which fhe accounted fimllar to her own. She un folded, in a few words, her former condition, and her prefent wants. Margaret, on hear ing Madame de la Tour's ftory, was moved xvith compatlion, and, wilhing to merit her confidence rather than her efteem, Hie confef- fed to her, without referve, the imprudence of which flie had been guilty : "For my part," faid {he, " I have merited my delliny, but you Madam -* , virtuous and unfor tunate ! " Here, with tears in her eyes, fhe tendered to the ftrangcr the accommodations of her cottage, and her friendfnip. Madame de la Tour, deeply affected with a reception fo tender, folded her in her arms, exclaiming, €t I fee that GOD is going tc put an cad to my fu.tTeri.ags, fince he has inipired yon with fen- timents" of greater kindneis to me, an entire ftrangcr, than I ever received from my own relations*"

xo PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

I had the felicity of Margaret's acquaint ance ; and though I live at the diftance of a league and a half from hence, in the woods, behind the long mountain, I looked upon myfelf as her neighbour. In the cities of Europe, a fireet, a fimple partition, feparates the members of the fame family for years ; but in the new Colonies, we coniider as neigh bours, thofe who are only feparated from us by woods and by mountains. At that time particularly, \vhen this ifland had little com merce with India, neighbourhood alone was a title to friendihip, and hofpitality to ftran- gers was confidered as a duty, and a plea£ ure.

As foon as I learned that my neighbour had got a companion, I went to fee her, in order to offer to both all the affiflance in my power. I found in Madame de la Tour a perfon of a very interefting figure ; majeftic, and melancholy. She was then very near her time. I faid to thefe two ladies, that it would be better, for the fake of the interefls of their children, and (especially to prevent the eftablilliment of any other inhabitant, to divide between them the territory of this bafon which contains about twenty acres* They entrufled me with making this divifion; I formed it into two portions, nearly equal. The one contained the upper part of that enclofure? from yonder point of the rock,

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. ! xi

covered with clouds, from whence iifues the fource of the riiPer cf the Lataniers, to that fteep opening which you fee at the top of the mountain, and which is called the Embra- fure, becaufe it actually refembles the parapet of a battery. The bottom of this fpot of ground is fo filled with rocks and gutters, that it is fcarcely pofuble to walk along. It, never- thelefs, produces large trees, and abounds with fountains and little rivulets. In the other portion, I comprized all the lower part cf the enclofure, which extends along the river of the Lataniers, to the opening where we are, from whence that river begins to flow between two hills toward the fea. You there fee fome ftripes of meadow-ground, and a foil tolerably fmooth and level, but which is very little better than the other ; for in the rainy feafon it is marihy, and in drought, ftifF as lead. When you wifh, in that cafe, to open a trench, you are obliged to cut it with the hatchet.

After having made thefe two divifions, I perfuaded the ladies to fettle their refpective

reilions by cafting lots. The upper part jfejl to the fhare of Madame de la Tour, and he lower to Margaret. They were both perfectly fatisfied ; but requeued me not to feparate their habitation, "in order,J> faid jhey to me, " that we may always have it in ur power to fee, to converfe withf and to

I* PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

affift- each other/' It was neceflary, how- ever, that each of them ftiould have a fepa- rate retreat. The cottage of Margaret was built in the middle of the bafon, exactly up on the boundary of her own domain. I built clofe to it, upon that of Madame de la Tour's, another cottage ; Ib that thefe two friends were, at once, in the vicinity of each other, and on the property of their families, I myfelf cut paliiadoes in the mountain, and brought the leaves of the Lai ante r from the fea-fide, to conftrucl thefe two cottages, which now no longer prefent either door or a-oof. Aias ! there ftill remains but too much for my recollection. Time, which deftroys, w:.;-]i fo #mch rapidity, the monu ments of cmriivs, fei 11 s to "«?jbect, in thefe dcierts thole of fri«;r ' i order to per petuate my aillidio.-.j tc ,: iail hour of my life.

Scarcely was the fee- \ •. cottaj'rs

completed, when M . r vyas

I had been L!IC ecd^

h ' . : called

Paul, : . i me to

name her daughter alfo, in conjunction with her friend, who gave he .•• the namtx- of Vir ginia. 4< She will be vinuous," fa id ilie, 4i and flie will be happy . I knew calamity only ia ceafing !>o be virtuous."

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. XJ

When Madame de la Tour was recovered of her lying in, thcfe two little habitations began to wear the appearance of comfort, with the ail?, (lance of the labor, which I occafionally beftowed upon them ; but par ticularly, by the affiduous labor of their" flaves: that of Margaret, called 'Domingo, was an lolof black, ilill robuM, though rather advanced in life. He poflefied the advantage of experience, and good natural fcnie. He- cultivated, without diilinftion, on J£e two diitri&s, the (oil, which appeared to i.im the moll fertile, and there he lowed the feeds, which he thought would thrive the beii in. it. He fo\ved fmall millet and Indian corn, in places, where the foil was of an in ferior quality, and a little wheat, where the ground was good. In marihy places, he [owed rice, and at the foot of the rocks, were raifed glrau:?ionts^ gourds, and cucum bers, which delight in climbing up their tides : in dry places he planted potatoes, which there acquire dngular fweetnefs. ; cot ton-trees on heights, and fugar-canes on ftrong laud ; coffee plants on the hills, where their grains arc fmall, but of an excellent quali ty ; along the river, and around the cotta ges, he planted bananas, which, all the year round, produce large firings of fruit, and form a beautiful flicker ; and, in a word, feme plants of tobacco, to foothe his owa B

,14 „ PAUL AND VIRGIN

cares, ar.d thofe of his or ~'J rni. '!:••.; iTes. He •it to cut wood for : .:• ' in'the mountain, and broke down pit', )., htie and

there, in the plantar : hc'rcadr,

He pel for nu r intelli

gence and activity ' . -iem

with zeaL He was very rr.urh attached to Margaret, ar.d not much Icfs fo to Mad a me de la Tour, whofe Have he had r: it tlie

birth of Virgmia. !Je rafiior.r.t^lv kved his wife, v.-hofe- r^.rre -y. She was

a ''native of Mac! ; hence Hie had

brought fo me dq; .ihirly the

art ot niaki:\g bail:c'?:, and 1 -L\p^?-cs9

with the grais which- to-owr m the woods. She was clever, cleanly, and, vlial was above all, incormptibly faitlrftil. Her employ - rnent was to prepare the vicluals, to lake care of feme poultry, ui>d to go occailonal- ly to Port-I-ouis, to fell the fuperfluity of the two plantations ; this, however, was very inconiideiable. Jf to thtfe, you add tvo goats, brought up with the children, ?r.d z great dog, that watched the dwellings c;uiirg the night, you will Lave an idea oi r-.ii the poffeflions, and of all the dcrr.eftic econ. . of thefe two little farms. As for the two friends, they fpun cotton from iron. till night. This employ IT? rut was fufticicnt to maintain themfelves and their families ; But) ip other refpecls, they were fo ill -pre-

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, 15

vided with foreign commodities, that they walked bare-footed when at home, and never wore (hoes except on Sundays, when they went to mafs, early in the morning, to the church of Pamplemouifes, which you fee in the bottom. It is, neve'rthelefs, much far ther than to Port-Louis ; bat they feldom viiir.cd the city, for fear of being treated with contempt, becaufc they were dveiied in tBe coarfe blue Himeu cloth oJ .1, which is

worn by flaves.

After all, is puUic je^ecl^iHcT balfib valuable as domeitic : If theJe ladies

were expoied to a lit ;• \vheh a-

broad, they returned home with fo much more additional fatisf action. No fooner had Mary and Domingo perceived them from this eminence, on the road from PampSe- mou/Tcs, than they fiew to the bottom of the mountain, in order to afiUfc them in re- afccnding it. They read, hi the eyes of their f!aves,the joy, which they felt at feeing them again. They found, in their habitation, cleammefs and freedom 5 blefiings, \vhich they owed entirely to their own inuuitiv, and fer- vants animated with zea' for thcinfelves| united by tl haviiigexperleht to each other tl companioil

. . .'. .-; table.

ft PAUL AK* VIRGINIA.

ry thing in common. And if it fometimei happened, that former ftjr.timcnts, more ar dent than tV-1 of frieiKltlim> were re-kindled in their bofcrn^ a pure and undctiled reli gion, ailifted by chaise manners, dire fled id.-. :ii toward another life, like trie flame v.hicli files off to heaven, when it <;•;• if.:-.; to find nourilhinent on the cGith,

The duties of nature were rJ!I an addition al fource pfhappinefs to rheir iociety. 1'hcir mutual friendihip, redoubled at the fight of their children, the fruits of a love equally Unfortunate, They toor 10 put them

into the fame bath, and to lay them to llecp in the fame cradle. They frequently ex changed their milk to die children ; " My friend," laid Madame de la Tour, " each of u: will h'lve t\vo children, and each of our children will have two mothers." Like t.v.*o buds which remain upon tv.n trees v/f the fame ipecies, :il\ the bran which liave

been broken Ly the tempeftj produce j raits more delicious, if each of them, detached from the maternal iteck, i« grafted on the neighbouring^ (tern ; thus iheie two little children; deprived of their relations, \v- re filled \vith fentiinetlts, toward each ,otherv morv. ' "-f fan rind daugh.ter^

cf brother . .1, \v3ien they were exchan-

it the brcaft by the twc friends, who hid *; them being. Already their nr

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, x?

talked of their marriage, though they were yet in the cradle, and this proipecl of con jugal, felicity, with \vhich they foothed their own woes to peace, frequently terminated in a Hood of tears ; the one, recollecting the zniieries, which Ihe had fuffered from having neglected the forms of marriage, and the other, from having fubmitted to its laws ; the one, from having been railed above her condition; and the other, from having de£ cended below hers ; but they confoled thern- felves with the thought that the day would come, when their children, more fortunate than themfelves, would enjoy, at once, far from the cruel idices o , the

pleafures of lov ; , . . . fs of equal

ity.

Nothing, indeed, was to be compared with tlit; attachment, which the babes already te£ titled for each odier: if lau^ happened to complain, they Virginia to him ; at

the fight of her, he ir-iik-d and was pacifi ed. If Virginia fullered, you were, inform ed of it by r he 1; / Paul ; but this amiable childimi ,-d her pain that her fuiterin^s mi;^;i;f: not diicrefs him* 1 never arriwrd here, that I did not fee them both,- . : pording to the cuftom of th- : "to walk, hold ing each <•;:'• :T by • v. h ' uncler the arms, <& tlu: conil •; , ; ,;•,

*S PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

prefented. Night itfelf had not the por- ^r of feparating them ; it frequently furprifed them, kid in the fame cradle,/ cheek joined to cheek, bofom tu hoforn, their hands mutually palled around each other's neck, and afieep in one another's arms,

V, "hen they were able to fpeak, the firfl names which they learned to pronounce were thofe of brother and filler. Infancy, which beftows careiles more tender, knows of no names more fwcet. Their education only ferved to redouble their frierdfhlp, by direct ing it toward their reciprocal wants. Very loon, every thing, that concerned domestic economy, cleanlinefs, the care of preparing a rural repaft, became the province of Vir ginia, and her labors were :?.Jways followed by the pra'fef, and careiles of Paul. As for him, ever in motion, he digged in the garden with Domingo, or wiih a little hatcher, in his hand followed him into the woods ; and If, in thefe rambles, a beautiful flower, a de licious fruit, or a neft of birds, came hi his way, though at the top of the higheft tree, he fcaled it, to bring them to his fitter.

When you chanced to meet the one of them, you might be certain the other was nor; far off. One day that I wis defcend- ing from the fmnmit of this mountain, I perceived Virginia at the extremity of the > 'flie was running toward the houfe,

PAUL AN» VIRGINIA. ! 2?

her head covered with her petticoat, which {he had railed behind, to ihelter her from a deluge of rain. At a diftance, I thought iLe had been alone ; and having advanced, in order to adiit her, I perceived that ihe held Paul by the arm, who was almoft enveloped HI ihe fame covering j both of diem, delight ed at finding themfelves iheltered together tinder an un:brell-i of their own invention. Thefe two charming heads, wrapped up in the fwelling petticoat, reminded me of the children of r.Leda, enclofed in the fame fheli.

All their fludy was to pleafe, and to ailHt each other ; in every other refpecl, they were as ignorant as Creoles, and neither knew how to read or write. They did not diilurb diem (elves about: what had happened in for mer times, and at a diftance from them ; their euriouty did not extend beyond that moun tain. They believed that the world ended at the extremity of their iiland, and they could not f>rm an idea of any thing beautiful where rhev were not. Their mutual affection, and

i! b$ their -mothers, engaged every feeling • .-ir hearts : never had ufelcfs fcience caufed their tears to flow : never had the k'Tbns of a glooray- morality pppreffed them with langoun They knew not that it was lfctla>vful to fteal, every thing with them be« ^ig in common ; nor to bo intemperate, hav ing always at command* pkaty of "

30 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

food ; nor to utter falsehood, having no trains that it was neceffary to conceal. They had never been terrified with the idea, that GOD has in referve dreadful puniihments for un grateful children ; with them, filial duty was born of maternal affeclion : they had been taught no other religion than that which in drafts us to love one another ; and, if they did not offer up long prayers at church* wherever they were, in the houfe, in the fields, or ia the woods, they raifed toward heaven innocent hards and pure hearts, filled with the love of their parent?.

Thus paiTed their early infancy, like a beautiful dawn, which fecms to promife a ftill more beautiful day. They, already, di vided witli their mothers the cares of the houfehold: as foon as the crowing of the cock announced the return of Aurora, Virginia rofe, went to draw water at a neighbouring fountain) and returned to the houfe tfc> pre pare breakfaft ; foon after, when the fun had gilded the peaks of that enclofure, Margaret and her ion went to the dwelling of Madame ;k la Tour, where they immediately began a prayer, which was followed by their firil re- ;rait ; this they frequently partook of, before the door, feated on the grafs, under a bower fiirniihed them, at the dy prepared food, iu their

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. sr

fubffontlal fruit, and table linen in their long and glittering leaves.

Wholcibme and plentiful nourifhment rap idly expanded the bodies of thefe young peo ple, and a mild education painted in their phyiiognomies, the purity and contentment of their fouls. Virginia was only twelve years old ; already her perfon was more than half formed ; a large quantity of beautiful flaxen hair ornam-:: ate d her head ; her blue eyes and coral lips fhone, with the mildeft ludre, on the bloom of her countenance : they always felled in concert when me fpoke ; but when fhe was fiient, their natural obliquity toward heaven gave them an expreflioa of extreme feniibility, and even a flight tendency to mel ancholy. As for Paul, you might already fee m him the character of a man, poffefling all the graces of youth ; his figure was taller th:in that of Virginia, his complexion darker, and his noie more aquiline : his eyes, which ware black, wpu i luvepodViled a certain de gree of haiightiueis, if the long eye-lafhes, which furrounded them'j an-i v/lilch refembled the fine ftrolces ^* a , had not given

them the great* : ,.vr. :•::. s, Though he was S'tm fc : >utini ally in pptio'n, the moment his j hebecame tranquil, and featea ;.:r; their meal Ire quciitiypailed 1 bcin utt r J:\heirfllence,

PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

cf their naked feet, would have tempted you to believe, that you beluld an antique grcupe of white marb-_ - . children o£

NIobe ; but, wnen you i.hcir look?,

which fe'jrned defirous to meet eadi other, their: ..ettcr,

you v. have taken . . Lildren

of heaver- -, v .•hoi*.* nature, iz

love ; and whr need cf thought to

make tht'. ••v;:- ::or cf words ID

expreis t:: don,

In the mean tirn^ me ;? 1:: Tc ur,

perceiving that her da meed ia

life, with ib many charm?, felt her ui;c increaie \vith her tender. fometimes to me, " If I flibuld chance to die* •v/hat would becpmg of Virginia, dowerlejs as Cie is ?"

She had an aunt in France, a wcman of

-y, rich, old, and a devotee, who had r*>

; ! her ailiftance, in a manner fo unfeeling,

when fhe married De la Tour, that fhe re-

fr.-lved i-ever to have recourfe to her again, to

whatever extremity fhe migh" be reduced.

Bat, now that flic v.Tas become a mother, fhe

no longer dreaded ;, .-.j of a refufal:

ated her . , unexpected

•:,f tier hi rth of a dauglv

..'Trnent oi I (fairs ; cie£.

She, however, received no anfweri'Jiut, g

PAUL ANO; VIRGINIA, 43

n. woman of exalted chara&cr, flie no longer feared humiliation, nor to cxpofeherfdf to the reproaches of her relation, who had -never for given her. for having married a man of lew . . virtuous. Slie continued?

*•. . :fbre, to \vrite to her aunt, by every op portunity, in the hope of railing in her breaft i.ivorable emotions toward. Virginia • r . y v ; v; :• - :r, ehpfed, before fhc re- i from her ar.y token of ixrnernbrance. At length, in i he year 17464 on. the Arrival :• do la IV-'-Trdonaye, Madame de la

- y-;ras inferred, that their new governor hid alette:- t>- delivei to hei from her aunt. in to Pert-Louis, for this urent ab^ut ^pi: earing in her c: t.; maternal iovc railing her

•:t to the world. M. de la Bonr-

donayc i her aunt's letter, vrhich in-

. , ^ frr

gh • -.vi/iyby returning, to ['ran

-.:-; all, fhe was in an excellent conn- > v/herc every body madt- fortunes", eSi idle. After having thus reprcachcd her, concluded with making her own eiilcgi-

fl4. PAUL A»I> VIRGINIA.

urn ; to avoid, ilie faid, the almoft inevita ble evils which attend matrimony, fhe had always ret ufed to marry : the truth was, that, being very ambitious, ihe had refined to unite herielf to any, except a man of rank ; but, although fhe was very rich, and that, at Court, every thing is a matter of indifference, fortune excepted, yet no perfon was found willing to form an alliance with a woman homely to the laft degree, and, at the fame time, pofTelTed of a mod unfeeling heart,

She added, by way of poftcript, tha; ry thing coniidercd, ihe had ilrongly recom- mendedher to M.de la Bourdonaye : flie had in deed recommended her, but conformably to a cuiioin but too prevalent at this day, which renders a protedor more to be dreaded than n declared enemy, in order to juftify to the governor, her fc verity to her niece, in feign ing to pityj ihe had calumniated her.

Madam de la Tour, who could not be feen by the moil indifferent perfon, without in- tereil and refpecr, was received with the greateft coolnels, by M. do- la Bourdonayc, already prejudiced againfl her. To the ac count which fhe gave, of her -ownfltuation. and. that of her daughter, he anfwered only by harfh monofyllables ; " I fhall enquire,'' — " we (hall fee,"— " in time," — " there arc many unhappy people," — "why offend refpeclable an aunt ?" — " you are to

f AUL AND VIRGINIA, 35

Madame de la Tour returned to the plan tation, her heart opprefled with grief, and full of bitternefs ; on her arrival Ihe fat down, threw her aunt's letter en the table, and faid to her friend, " ^Behold the fruits of eleven years patience." But as tio one of the foci- ety knew how to read, except Madame de la Tour, ihe took' up the letter again, and read it to all the family. Scarcely had ihe con cluded, when Margaret faid to her with vi vacity, " What need have we of thy re lations ? Has GOD forfaken us ? He only is our father ; have we not lived happily until this day ? Why then fhould you afRict your- felf ? You. have no fortitude.*' Perceiving that Madame de la Tour was much affected, fhe threw herfelf on, her bofowi, folded her in her arms, and exclaimed, " My dear friend, my dear friend !" Her own fobs quite choked her voice. At this fight Vir ginia melting into tears alternately prelled the hands of her mother, and of Margaret, to her lips, and to her heart ;' whiiil Paul, his eyes enflamed with rage? exclaimed aloud, clenched his fifts, flamped with his feet, not knowing how to vent his rage. At the noife which he made, Domingo and Mary ran in, and nothing but exclamations of diilrefs were heard in the cottage: " Ah! Madam!" " My good miftrefs !" — " My dear mother !" »—«Bo notdiftrefsycurfdf't" Such tender C

*6 PAUL AN» VIRGINIA.

marks of affection Toon diffipated the anguifli of Madame de la Tour : (he embraced Paul and Virginia, and laid to them, with a look of fatisfaction, " My dear children, you are the caufe of my tears, but you arc alfo the fource of all the happinefs I enjoy: Oh, my chil dren, misfortune attacks me only from afar? felicity is ever around me." Paul and Vir ginia did not comprehend what fhe faid, but as foon as they faw that fhe was compofed, they fmiled and care/Ted her. Thus was peace reftored, and the pad fcene was only like a ftormy cloud in the rnidft of fummer.

The good difpofitions of thefe children were unfolding themfelves from day to day. One Sunday, about funrife, their mothers hav ing gone to the firft mafs, at the church of PamplemoufTes, a fugitive negro-woman made her appearance, under the bananas which furrounded their plantation. She was as meagre as a fkeleton, and without a bit of cloathing, except a fhred of tattered canvas about her loins. She threw herfelf at Vir ginia's feet, who was preparing the family breakfaft, and thus addreffed her : " My dear young lady, take pity on a mifemble runaway {lave : for more than a month paft, I have been wandering about thefc mountains, half dead with famine, and frequently purfuecl by the huntfmen and their dogs, I have fled from my mailer, who is a we<ikhy planter ou

*AUL AND VIRGINIA. a#

the black river : he has treated me in the manner you fee." She then inowed her body, deeply furrowed by the ftrokes of the whip which /he had received ; fne added, " I had thoughts of drowning myfelf, but knowing that you lived here, I thus reflected ; perhaps there are ft ill fome good white people in this country, I muft not die yet." Virginia, much affected, replied, " Take comfort, unfortu nate creature ! eat, eat." Upon which, fhe gave her the break£afl which fhe had prepar ed for the family. The Have, in a few mo ments, devoured the whole of it. Virginia, feeing her refrefhed, faid to her : " Poor wretch ! I have a great dcfire to go to your mailer, and implore your pardon : at the fight of you, he muft be touched with companion t will you conduct me to him ?" — " Angel of Gor> !" replied the negrefs, " I will follow you wherever you lead me." Virginia called aer brother, and begged him to accompany her : the fugitive fiave conducted them, by narrow paths, to the widdle of the woods, acrofs high mountains, over which they ferambled with 'difficulty, and great rivers, hich they forded. At length, toward the middle of the day, they arrived at the bottom of a mountain on the banks of the black river. They there perceived a well built houfe, con- fiderable plantations, and a great number of Oaves engaged in different occupations. Their

C 2

*& PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

nutter was walking in the midft of them, with a pipe in -bis mouth, and a ratan in his hand. He was a very tall, lean man, of an olive complexion, with his eyes funk in his head, and his eye brows black, and meeting each other. Virginia, quite petrified holding Paul by the arm, approached the mailer and entreated him, for the love of GOD, to -par-, don his ilave, who was a few paces behind them.^ The matter, at firft did not pay much attention to thefe two- children, who were; but meanly clad ; when, however, he had remarked the elegant form of Virginia, her beautiful flaxen hair, which appeared from under a blue hood, and when he had heard the fweet tones of her voice, which trembled, as well as her body, while flie implored his forgivenefs, he took the pipe from his mouth, and, raiilng his ratan toward heaven, declar^ ed, with a terrible oath, that he would par don his ilave, not for the love of GOD, but for the love of her. Virginia immediately made a ilgn for. the flave to advance toward her mailer, and then ran away, while Paul followed her.

They fc rambled, together, up the fteep de clivity of the mountain, by which they had defcended in the morning, and having ^rrive4 at its fummlt, they feated rhemfelves under a tree, exhaufted with fatigue, hunger, and thiril. They had travelled from the rifing

AND VIRGINIA. *f

b? the fun, more than five league?, without having tafted food : Paul addreffed Virginia thus : " iSifler, it is pail mid-day, you are hungry, you are thirfty ; we fhail find no refrefhment here, let us again defcend the mountain, and requeft the mailer of the Have to give us fomething to eat,*— "Oh, no ! my friend/' replied Virginia, " he has terrified me too much already : do you not remember what mama has often faid 5 the bread of the wicked Jills the mouth with gravel?" — "What fhail we do then ? faid Paul, " thefe trees produce only bad fruits : there is not fo much as a tamarind, or a lemon, to refreih you." . — " GOD will have pity on us," returned Virginia, " he hears the voices of the little birds, which call to hirn for food." Scarcely had ihe pronounced thefe words, when they heard the bubbling of a fountain, which fell from a neighbouring rock: they immediately ran to it, and after having quenched their third with water, more clear than cryftal, they gathered, and ate a few of the creffes, which grew upon its banks. -*As they were anx- ioufiy looking about, from fide to fide, to fee if they could not find feme more £ib(ian- tial food, Virginia perceived, among the trees of the foreft, a young palm-tree. The cole- wort, which is inclofed in the leaves, that grow on the top of this tree, is very good to eat \ but though its trunk was not thicker

39 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

than a min's leg, it was more than fixty fee* high. The wood of this tree, indeed, is only formed of u bundle of filaments, but its pith is fo hard, that it refills the edge of the keen- eft hatchet, and Paul had not fo much as a knife. The idea occurred to him, of fetting fire to the palm-tree, but here again he was ata fofe; he had no Heel ; and befides, in this iiland, fo covered with rock, I do not believe, that a tingle flint-done is to be found. Necefllty produces induftry, and themoilufe- fui inventions are frequently to be afcribed to the mod mtferable of mankind. Paul re- folved to kindle a fire in the fame manner that the blacks do. With the (harp point of a ftone, he bored a little hole in the branch of a tree that was very dry, which he maf- tered by preffing it under his feet : he <hen with the edge oF this ftone, made a point to another branch, equally dry, but of a dif ferent fpecies of wood. Afterwards, he ap plied this piece of pointed wood to the little hole of the branch, which was under his feet, and fpinning it round, with great ra pidity, between his hands, as you trundle round die mill with which chocolate is frodi? ed up, in a few moments, he faw fmoke and fparks ifliie from the point of contact. He then gathered together fome dry herbage, and other branches of trees, and applied the fire to tl;e root gf the palm tree, which

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 31

fently fell with a terrible craflu The fire likewife affifted him in peeling off from the colewort its long, ligneous, and prickly leaves.- Virginia and he eat a part of this cabbage raw, and the otherpart drefTed upon the afhes» and found them easily favoury. They en joyed this frugal repaft with the higheft fatit faction, from the recollection of the good ac tion, which they had performed in the morn ing ; but their joy was greatly damped, by the uneafmefs, which they had not a doubt their long abfence mult have occafioned to their parents. Virginia recurred frequently to this fubjecl ; while Paul, who now felt his itrength reftored, affured her, that it would not be long, before they got home, to quiet the anxiety of their mothers.

After dinner, they found themfelves much embarrafTed, for they had no longer a guide to dired them homewards. Paul, who was difconcerted at nothing, faid to Virginia " Our cottage looks toward the noon-day fan, we muft, therefore, pafs as we did this morn^ ing, over that mountain which you fee be low, with its three peaks. Come, let us walk on, my friend/' This mountain is called that of the Three Paps,* becaufe its three peaks

* There are many mountains, the fummits of whick srcrounded into the form of a woman's brea ft, and be*r all hngua^es. They are, iadeed, re*I

31 *AUL AND VIRGINIA,

have that form. They defcended then the gloomy declivity of the black river, toward the North, and arrived, after an hour's walk ing, at the banks of a coniiderable river, which barred their prdgrefs. That large portion of the ifland, entirely covered with forefts, is fo little known, even at this day, that many of its rivers and mountains are ftill without a name. The river, upon the banks of which they were, flows ixnpetuoufly over a bed of rocks. The noife of its wa ters terrified Virginia ; (he durft not venture to put her feet into it, for the purpofe of ford ing over. Paul, upon this, took Virginia on his back ; and thus laden, paffed over the flippery rocks of the river, in fpite of the tumult of the waves. "Be not afraid," faid he to her, " I feel my ftrength renewed, hav ing trie charge of you. If the planter of the black river had refilled to your entreaties the pardon of his Have, I fhould have fought with him." " How!" exclaimed Virginia, "with that man, fo large, and fo wicked ? To

what have I expifcd you ? My GOD !' how

•*

paps ; for from them iffue multitudes of brooks and rivers, which diffufe abundance over the face of the earth. They are the fources of the principal ftreams •which water it, and furniih them with a conftant fup* ply, by continually attracting the clouds around the peak of the rock, which overtops them at the cen tre, like, a nipple.

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 33

difficult a thing it is to a& properly ! Evil alone is performed with facility !"

When Paul had arrived on . the farther iide, he was deiirous of continuing the jour ney, laden as he was with the weight of his Cfter, and he flattered himfelf that he fhould be able thus to afcend the mountain of the Three Paps, which he faw before him* at the diflance of a league and a half, under the fame burden with which he had croifed the river ; but his ftrength very foon failed him, and he was obliged to fet her on the ground, and repofe himfelf by her fide, Virginia then faid to him, " Brother, the day is declining fall ; you have dill fome ftrength remaining, and mine entirely fails 3 fuffer me to re* main here, and do yo'u return alone to our cottage to reftore tranquillity to our moth* ers." " Oh no !" faid Paul, « I will never leave you. If the night fhould furprize us in thefe woods, I will light a fire, I will fell thefe palm-trees, you fhall eat the colewort, and I will make of its leaves an ajoupa to fiielter you."' Virginia, however, being a little revived, gathered, from the trunk of an old tree which grew upiv.i the edge of the river, long leaves of the fcolopendra, which hung down from its boughs. She made of thefe, a fpecies of fandals, which fhe put on her feet ; for they were wounded to bleedings by the fcarp ftones, which covered the road «.

34 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

i

for, in her eagernefs to do good, fhe had for- gotten to put on her fhoes. Feeling herfelf relieved by the frefhnefs of thefe leaves, (he broke off a branch of bamboo, and proceed* ed on her journey, refting one hand on this reed, and the other on her brother. They thus walked flowly on through the \voods ; but the height of the trees, and the thicknefs of. their foliage, loon made them lofe fight of the mountain of the Three Paps, to which they were directing their courfe, and even of the fun, which was near fetting. After fome time, they ftrayed, without perceiving it, from the beaten path, which they had hitherto purfued, and found themfelves in a labyrinth of trees of lianes, and of rocks, which had no outlet.

Paul made Virginia fit down, and ran about quite diffracted, in queft of a road, that would lead them out of this maze, but he fatigued himfelf in vain. He fcrambled to the top of a large tree, with the hope of difcovering, at lead, the mountain of the Three Paps^ but he could perceive nothing around him, except the furnmits of trees, fome of which were gild ed by the laft rays of the fetting fun. In the mean time, the fhadow of the mountains had already covered the foreftsin the vallics ; the \rind.was hufhed, as it ufually is at the fetting of th'e fun ; a profound fllence reigned in thefc &Htudes, ^r«d no ether fcund was to be

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 35

heard, but the braying of the deer, which came to feck a place of repofe, for the night, in thefe wild retreats. Paul, in the hope that fome huntfman might hear his voice, then called out with all his might, " Come, come to the relief of Virginia :" but the only an- fwer he received was from the folitary echoes of the fore ft, \vhich repeated at intervals, " Virginia ! Virginia !"

Paul, at length, defcended from the tree, opprefFed with fatigue an-ti vexation ; he med itated on the means of palling the night in this place ; but there was neither fountain, nor palm-tree, to be found in it ; not even fo much as branches of dry wood, proper to kin dle a fire. He then felt, from experience, the inefficacy of his refources, and began to weep. Virginia faid to him, " Do not dif- trefs yourfelf, my friend, if you would not wifh to fee me overwhelmed with grief. It is I who am the caufe of all your fufferings, and of thofe which our mothers now endure. We fhould do nothing without confulting our parents, not even what, is right. Oh ! I have been very imprudent \" Upon faying which, iheburfl into tears. -In the mean time, (he faid to Paul, « Let us pray to GOD, my brother, and he will take companion on us." Scarcely had they finifhed their prayer, when they heard a dog bark. " It is," faid Paul, " the dog of fome huntfman, who- conies of an

36 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

evening to kill the deer in their retreat.*' A fiioit time after, the barking of the dog re doubled. " I have an idea/* laid Virginia, that it is Fidele, our cottage dog ; yes, I re- collet his voice : is it pofuble, that we fLould be fo near our journey's end, and at the foot of our mountain ?" In truth, a moment af terwards, Fidele was at their feet, barking, howling, groaning, and loading them with carei&s. Before they had recovered from their furprize, they perceived Domingo, who was running toward them. At the fight of this worthy negro, who wept with joy, they alfo fhed tears, without being able to fay one word. When Domingo had a little recover* cd himfelf : " Oh. my young mailers," faid he to them, " what difirefs your mothers are in ! how ailonilhcd they were at not finding you, on their return from mafs, whither I had accompanied them ! Mary^ who was at work in a corner of the plantation, could not tell whither yrou were gone : I wandered about the plantation, not knowing myiclf where to ftek you : at length, I took the old clothes, which you ufed to wear ;* I made Fidele fmell to them ; and, as if the poor animal

* ThJs trait of fagacity in the black Domingo and his dog Fidele, very much refembles that of the favage Tcwenifla, and his dog Oniah, mentioned by M. de Crevecrcur, in his humane wwk, entitled, " J of an American Farmer.'*

PAUL AKD VIRGINIA. 3?

had underflood me, he immediately fet off to trace your fleps. He conducted me, al ways wagging his tail, to the black river.— There, I was informed by a planter, that you had brought a fugitive Have back to him, and that he had pardoned her at your intercefilon. But what a pardon ! he flic wed her to me, faflened, with a chain round her foot, to a leg of wood, and an iron collar, with three rings, round her neck. From thence, Fidele, following the fcent, conducted me to the mount of the black river, where he again ilop- p^d, and barked as loud as he was able. It was on the brink of a Fountatn, near a palm- tree, which had been levelled, and a Sre not quite extinguished : at length, he conducted me to this place. We arc at the foot of the mountain of the Three Paps, and it is flili four good leagues from our dwelling. Coma en, eat, and recruit your ftrength." He'then prefented to them a cake, feme fruit, and a large gourd bottle, filled wifn a liquor com pounded of water, v/ine. lemon -juice, fugar> and nutmeg, which their mothers had pre pared to ilrengthen and revive them. Vir ginia iighed at the recollection of the poor ilave, and at the diilrefs of their mother?. She repeated fever^l times, " Oh ! how dif- £cu!t it is to do good l?>

While Paul and flie were refrefhing them- felvcs, Domingo ligh^d a fire, and looking a-

3$ f»AUt AND VIRGINIA.

bout among the rocks for a crocked billet. %vhich we call rouiid*wcod, and which bums even in the fap, throwing cut a very bright fame, he made a flambeau cf it, and fet It 2. burning ; for it "was now quite dark. But he had to encounter a much greater difficulty; \vhen all was ready :cr j-v receding forward, Paul and Virginia were abioluteiy incapable of walking any farther ; their feet being dwelled, and raw all over. DC mingo was completely puzzled ; he could not determine whether it would be more advifeablc for him to ramble about in queft of afliiiance, or to prepare for pafling the night with them, where they were. " Whither has the time fied,"faid he to themy " when I carried you both at once in my arms ? But now, you are increnfed in nature, and I am old/' While he was reduced to this (late of perplexity, a company of run»a-way negroes appeared, a- bout twenty paces diflant. The leader cf the troop, approaching Paul and Virginia, thus addrefled them , " Good little whites, be net afraid ; we faw you this morning padlr.g alqpg in company with a negrefs of ihe black ri%Ter ; you were going to folicit her pardon of a cru el mailer ; out of gratiiude we v;:ll carry you borne upon our tnouiders." Upcn thi;; he made a fign, and four cf the fl'o^teft black fellows immediately fonned a litter, with boughs of trees and lines, placed. Paul and

VIRGINIA, 39

\

Virginia upon it, hoiHed them upon their {boulders", and, Domingo marching before them with his flambeau, they took the road, aniidft the joyful acclamations of the \vhole company, who loaded them with benedictions. Virginia, quite overcome, whilpered to Paul, j my dear friend I God never permits a jood aclion to go unrewarded."

About midnight, they arrived at the bot* om of their own mountain, the ridges of which were illumined with various fires* Scarcely had they got to the top, when they- heard voices calling aloud : " Is it you, rny children ?" The blacks and they replied to* Aether : " Yes, yes, here we are !J> and prefc :ntly they perceived their mothers and Mar/ coming to meet them, with flaming torches* * Unhappy children!" exclaimed Madame de la Tour, " whence come you ? Into what agonies have you thrown us !" " We come/* •eplied Virginia, " from the black river, vhither we went this njorning to implore he i « don of a poor fugitive negreis, to whom 1 like wife gave the family breakfaft, "or Ihe was juft perifhing with hunger; and here, die black rim-a-ways have carried us :iocne again.'1 Madame' de la Tour tender- y embraced her daughter, utterly deprived cf the power of fpeech ; and Virginia, who :elt her own face moiftened with her mother's tears, faid to her : " How you repay me for D 2

4<3 *AUL AND VIRGINIA/

all that I have fufFered !" Murgaret, tranf- ported with delight, locked Paul in her arms, faying ; « And thou too, my fon, thou hail performed a good aftion !" Being arrived at their cottage, with the children, they <>-ave a plentiful fupper to the black guides, who re turned to the woods, with a thoufand eood willies for their profperity.

Every fucceeding day was, to th-fe fami lies, a day of happinefs and tranquillity.—. They were Grangers to the torments of envy and of ambition. Thtey coveted not, from abroad, that vain reputatiori, which is pur- chafed by intrigue, and which the breath cf calumny deilroys. It was fufficient for them to be in the place of witnefs, and of judge to each other. In this ifland, where, as in all the European.colonies, no curiofity is expref- fed, except in hunting after malicious anec dotes, their virtues, nay, their very names were unknown. Only when a paiTenger hap* pened to alk, on the road to PamplerrtouiTes, of one of die inhabitants of the plain ; 4« Vv ho lives in yonder cottages on the top of the hill ?" the anfwer returned, without pretend- Ing to any farther knowledge of them, was ; They are good people." Thus the vicJets, from underlie prickly fhrubbery, exhale at a diflance their fragrant perfume, thpurh th<-Y- remain unfcen.

£ AUL AKL VIRGINIA. 4*

They had baniihed from their convsrfa- tion the pra&ice of evil-fpeaking, \vhich, un der an appearance of juitice, nec^ffarily di£ pofes the heart to hatred, or to faliehood 3 tor it is impofiiblc to refrain frcm hating men, if we believe them to be wicked; and to live with the wicked, unlefs you conceal your hatred of them, under falfe appearances of benevolence. EviL-fpeaking, accordingly, lays us under the necefllty of being upoa bad terms with others, or with -ourfelves. But without fitting in judgment on men, in particular, they entertained one another, on ly in deviling the means of doing good to all in general ; and, though they polierTed not the power, they had an invariable difpofition this way, which animated them with a benev olence at all times ready to extend itfelf in an outward direction. By living, therefore, in folitude, fo far from degenerating into fava« ges, they had become more humane* If the fcandalous hiftory of iceieiy did not fup- ply them with matter of convention, that of nature replenifhed their hearts with tran£ ports of wonder and delis:!::. They con templated, with rapture, the power of that Providence v-hich, by their hands, had dif- fufed amidft thefe barren recks abundance, gracefulness, pleafures pure, fnr:pk, and per* p^tually renewing

41 PAUL ANB VIRGINIA

Paul, at the age of twelve, more vigorous, and more intelligent, than Europeans in gen eral are at fifteen, had embelliilied what the negro Domingo only cultivated. He went with him to the adjoining woods, to take up by the roots the young plants of lemon and oiange-trees, of the tamarinds, whole round head is of fuch a beautiful green, and of -tier, whole Irakis ftored with a fugary cream, which emits the perfume of the orange- dflcwer. Ke planted thcfe trees, after they had attained a confiderable feature, all a this enclofure. He had there fown the grains of fuch trees as, from the fecond year and upward, bear flowers, or -fruits, ;\s the agathis^ from which depend circularly, like the cryf- tai pendents of a luihre, long clufters of white flowers ; the Perfian lilach. which raL'es ftralght into the air its grey, flaxen giran doles ; the papayei'i whofe branchiefs trunk, formed like a column, bridled ail over with green melons, carries aloft a chapiter of broad leaves, rilernbHr.g thcfe of the fig- tree.

He had likewise planted in it the kernels and the nuts of the badxmier, cf the man- eo, of the awcatier* of the goywier, of the Jacques* and of the jam-ro:c. Mole of thefe trees already yielded, to their young ir^iltr, both iro.dc and fruit. His induilrious hand hc.d v-ifruied f-.-cuiiwUy <:vcu over the moft lltr*

PAUL AN a VIRGINIA. 43

ile fpct of the enclcfure. Aloes of various kinds, the raquet, loaded with yellow flow* ers ftriped with red, the prickly capers, arofe' on the duiky iummits of the rocks5 and feem- ed defircus of mounting up to the lianes> gar- nifhed with blue, or icarlet flowers, which hung down here and there, along the preci pices cf the mountain.

He had difpofed thefe vegetables in fuch a manner, that you could enjoy the fight of them, by a iingle glance of the eye. He haci planted, in the middle of the bafon, the herbage, which grows to no great height, af ter that the Ihrubbery, then the trees of final} flature, andlaft of all, the great trees, which garnifhed its circumference ; fo that thisvaft enclofure appeared, from its centre^ like an amphitheatre of verdure, of fruits, and flow ers, containing pot-herbs, ftripes of meadow- ground; and fields of rice and corn. But infubjcc'Hng thus the vegetable kidgdom to his plan, he had not deviated from the plans of nature. Directed by the indications which flie vcuchfafes to give, lie had placed in eleva ted fituations the plants whofeVeeds are vola tile, and by the fide of the waters thole whofe grains are adapted to floating. Thus, each vegetable grew in its proper fite, and each fite Deceived from its vegetable its natural drefs. The ftreams, which defcended frcni the Aimrnit of tht^ recks, formed belovia

44 PAUL AKO VIRGINIA.

the valley, here, fountains, there, broad and capacious mirrors, which refle&ed. in the jnidil of the verdure, the trees in bloooi, the rocks, and the azure of the heavens.

Notwithftanding the great irregularity of the foil, all thefe plantations were, for the mofl part, as acccilible to the foot " as to the eye. In truth, we all affiited him, with cur advice and with our exertions, in order to ac- compliih his purpofe. He had traced a path, which winded round the bafon, and of which feveral ramifications converged from the circumference to meet at the centre. He had availed himfelf of the moil rugged places of his domain, and united, by a harmony the moil delicious, facility of walking with the afperity of the foil, and dome (lie with for ell trees. Of that enormous quantity of rolling (tones, which now obftruft thefe roads, as wdl as mar the greateft part of the furface of this ifland,. he had formed, in various places, huge pyramids, in the layers of which h~ had mixed with earth and the roots of role -trees the poindih'Je, and other fhrubs, which take pleafure in the recks. In a very iliort time, thcfe gloomy and inanimate piles were cov ered with verdure, or with the dazzling luftre of the mod beautiful flowers. The cavities worn by the torrent In the fides of the moun tain, bordered with s.^ed trees inclined toward each other, formed fubterraaean arches, inac--

PAUL ANt> VIRGINIA. 45

ceffible to the heat to which they retired for coolnefs, during the fultry ardor of the me- ridian fun. A narrow path conduced into a thicket of wild-trees, at the centre of which grew, flickered from the winds, a houlehold tree loaded with fruit. There, was a corn field whitening to the harveft ; here, an or- chard. Through this avenue, you could fee the houfes ; through that, the inacceffible fumrnits of the mountain. Under a tufted grove of tatawaques* interlaced with lianesi » one obje-fb was diftinguifliable,'even in the bnghtnefs of noon-day. On the point of that great rock adjoining, which juts out •ie mountain, you could difcern all thole contained within the enclofure, with the fea at adiitance, on which fqmetimes appeared a vef- fe amving from Europe or returning thither. On this rock it was that the two families af- fembled m the evening, and enjoyed, in fi- lence, the coolnefs of the air the " or the flnuvrc. tl->^ U«K?^I: _r.i

+ the bubb]i"g of the fountains,

and the lafl harmonies of light and ftade.

3thmg could he more agreeable than the names^mpofed on the gretteft part of the charming retreats of this labyrinth. The rock of which I have juft now been fpeaking, from whence they could difcern my approach, at a considerable diftance, was called \Frlenl ^psD^cry. Paul and Virginia, in their fportiveaefs, had planted a bamboo upon it,

46 PAUL AMD VIRGINIA.

on the fummit of \vhich they hoifted a fmali white handkerchief, as a fignal of my arrival as foon as they perceived me ; in imitation of the flag, which is diipkyed on the neigh bouring mountain, on feeing a vdTel at fca. I took a fancy to engrave an infcription on the flem of this reed. Whatever pleafure I may have enjoyed in the courfe of my travels, in contemplating a ftatue, cr a monument of antiquity, I have enjoyed ftill more in peru* fing a well-conceived infcription. It fecms to me, in that cafe, as if a human voice iiTued out of the ilone, made itfelf audible through the mighty void of ages, and addrcffing itfelf to man, in the midft of deferts, told him that he was not alcne ; and that other men, in thefe very places, had felt, thought and fuf. fered like himfelf. Should it happen to be the infcription of fome ancient nation, which fubfiils no longer, it conveys our foul into the regions of infinity, and communicates to it the fentiment of its own immortality, by (now. ing that a thought has outlived the ruins even of an empire.

1 infcribed, then, on the little maft \vhioh carried the flag of Paul and Virginia, thcfe verfesof Horace:

....Fratres Helena, hcida fidera, Ventorumque regat Pater, ahis, prxtcr lapyga?

AND VIRGINIA. 41

*' May the brothers of Helen, flars radi ant like yourielves, and may the Ruler of the winds, direct your courfe ; binding up every ruder blaft, and filling your fails only with the breath of the Zephyr.'*

1 engraved the following line from Virgil* on the rind of a tatamaque under the fhade of which Paul fometimes fat down, to contem plate, from afar, the agitated ocean :

Fortunatus ct ilie, decs qui novit agreftes !

t( Happy too is he, in knowing no deities^ but thofe who make the plains their care !"

And that other, over the door of Madame de la Tour's cottage, which was the place of general rendezvous :

At fecura quies, ct nefcia faikre vita. " Peace undiflurbed, and hearts devoid of guile."

But Virginia did not approve of my Latin ; fhe faid, that the infer iption which I had pia« c.ed below her weathercock, was too long* and too learned. I ihould have rather pre ferred this, added {he : Always agitated* but evtr con ft ant. That device, replied I> is ftil! better adapted to virtue. My obfervation excited a blufh on her cheek.

Thefe happy families extended their be- acvolent difpoiltions to all that furrounded

4S PAUL AKD VIRGINIA.

them. They beftowed the moil tender ap pellations on objects apparently the moll in* different. To an enclofurc of orange-trees, and bananas, planted in fcrm of a circle, round a portion of molly ground, in the mid dle of which Paul and Virginia, fometimes ufed to dance, they gave the name of, 'The Concord, An ancient tree, under the (hade of which Madame de la Tour and Margaret related, to each other, their misfortunes, was called, The tears wiped away. They gave the names of Brittany and Normandy to final! fpots of ground, where they had planted corn, ftrawberries, and peaie. Domingo and Mary, wi thing, after the example of their mii" treiTes, to call to remembrance tbe places oi their birth in Africa, denominated two piece? of ground, where' that grafs grew of whicl" they made bafkets, and where they had plant ed a great gourd, Angola and Feuliepointe Thus, by thefe productions of their own cK mates, thefe exiled fa, vlih-jd foru

ideas of their native country, and foothe< their forrows in a foreign Innd. Alas ! have feen the trees, the f on mains, the rockr of this fpot, now fo changed, animated by ; thoufand charming appellations ; but in the! prefent Mace, like 'a Grecian plain, jhey onl" prefent tc view; . , iiid heart^dBfe^ting ir fern ;

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 49

Of the whole enclcfure, however, no >fpot was more agreeable than that which went by the name of Virginia's Reft. At the foot of the rock, named, The Difcovery of Friendfrrip* is a hollow place, whence iflues a fountain* \vhich forms, from its iburce, a little lake, in the middle of a meadow of fine grafs. When Margaret had brought Paul into the world, I made her a prefent of an Indian cocoa-nut, which had been given me. , She planted this on the borders of the lake, intending that the tree which it ihould produce, might ferve, one day, as an epocha of her fon's birth. Madame de la Tour, after her example, plant ed another there lib; \\aYe, with a iimilar in tention, as foon as ihe was delivered of Vir ginia. From thefe nuts grew two cocoa-trees, which formed the whole archives of the two families ; one was called the tree of Paul, the other that of Virginia. They both grew in the lame proportion as their young malter and mtftfefs, of a height rather unequal, but which iVirpa&d, at the end. of twelve years, that ot the cottages. Already they interwOve their branches, and dropped their young cluf- ters ci cocoas, over the baibn of the fountain.

*his -.-,., : , . : . -:d, they had left the

cavity of the rock jufc as nature had adorned it. On ks brown and humid fides, radiated, in green and dully ftars, large plants of ,-hair, and tufts of the jfcoiopendra, Ei

50 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

fufpended like long ribands of a greer:"h purple, waved at the pleaiiire of the v Near to that, grew long ftripes of the rer> winkle, the flowers of which nearly thole of the red ,, . iver, and pime; ; whofe blood c . han

coral. Round about thefe, the platits of balm, with their leaves refembling i heart, and the bafilicons, with a carnation fmell, ex haled the fweeteit of perfumes. From the fummit of the rugged precipices cf vhe mountain, hung the //>/,v.r . : tin » dra

pery, which formed, c\ large f eft cons of verdure. The fea-b". attracted by thefe peaceful retreats, flocked thither to pafs the night. At fun-fet, you might fee the rook and" the fea lark fly along the fhoreof the fea ; and,iigh in air, the black frigate and the white bird of the trop ics, which abandon, together with the orb of day, the folitudes of the Indian Ocean.

Virginia delighted to repofe her 'elf on the borders of this fountain, decorated wirh a pomp at cnce magnificent and wild. Thith er did fhe often refort, to wafn the -liren c£ the family, under the fhade of the two cccoa- trees ; and fometimes fhe led her goats ta paflure there. While fhe prepared checks of their milk, fhe took delight to fee vhc-m browfe on the maiden-hair, which grew on the iteep fides of the rock, and fufpend them-

PATH- AND VIRGINIA, 52

fares' in the air, on one of its cornices, as oa

: liilal.

i, perceiving diis to be the favourite reireut of Virginia, brought .thither, from tl'ie neighbours: :~ I.T --:t, the ricits of ail kinds cf birds. The parents of thefe birds follow ed their young ones, and eftablifhed them- feives in this new colony. Virginia icattcred among them, from time to time grains of rice, cf rruiise, and of millet. As foon as fhe appeared, the \vhiiiiing blackbirds, the ben- gali, whole warbling is fo fweet, and the car dinal, with his flame-colored plumage, left bullies ; the paroquets, as green as the emerald, defcended from the neighbouring lataniers; the partridges ran nimbly along the grais : all haltened, in variegated groups, to her very feet, like little chickens, while Paul and flic amufed themfelves, with 'tranfport, at their playfuinefs, their appetites, and their loves.

Amiable children, thus did you pafs your

early days, in perfect innocence, and employ-

:;f virtue ! How many.

. Ipot, did your mothers, folding

you in their arms, give thanks to Heaven, for

the coniblation which you were preparing for

*"-.•-> old age, and at feeing you enter into

under aufpices fo happy ! How many

times, under the fhade cf thefe rocks, have I

partaken, with them, your rural rtpail, by

E 2

'2, PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

\vhich no animal was deprived cf life ! Gourds filled with milk, frefh eggs, cakes of rice ferved up on the leaves of the banana tree, bafkets filled with pccatoes, mangoes, oranges, pomcgrr. and

pine -apples, , : •:', nour-

ifhing aliment, the ~, in<i the molt

agreeable juices.

Their converfation wrr .' '• • . •_•_ a-d as innocent as the rep stjuefttly talk

ed of the labors of the day pail, and of thole cf to-morrow ; he was always meditating fome- thing \vhichwcTiIdbe fubfervient . to the gen eral good: here, the paths were not coniniodi- ous ; there, they vwe ii:dl£ci-ently icated ; thefe yov. iid not give a fufricient

fha.de; T- . '-'li be more comfortable

there.

In-th:j rainy fj^n, in the day-time, they aflembled all r, in the cortn^e, mafc

ters and fervant.s, ancUr .-in

weaving mafe -.e, and baikets of

bamboo. Yc, -yed, in the moit

perfect order /along the boards of the wall, rakes, hatchets, fpades ; and ciole by thefe inflniments of agriculture, the preclusions which were the fruit of them, bags of rk e, fheaves of corn, and rows of bananas. Del icacy was there ever blended wrh ubv^da^re, Virginia, ail! (led by the iiiftrn.c • - | - •-

ga/ct and her mother, amufed htricii with.

AND VIRGINIA, 53

preparing fherbets, and cordials, with the mice of the fu^ar- cane, Of citrons, and of ce-

When night arrived, they fupped by the

fKmmering light of a lamp : after which :e die la Tour, or Margaret, related ,:;rr&s of travellers, who had loft theif ./ night. in th- forelts of Europe, in- fefted by "•• ; or of the ihip wreck of fome

veflel, drive; r by the tempest on the rocks of a defer*: iflanci. On hearing melancholy de* tails of this kind, the hearts of there fenfible young folks caught fire. r^hey implored of Heaven the grace, to put in practice, one day, •tics of hofpitalicy to unhappy perfons in fut.h circurmitances. Meanwhile the two famines feparaied, to 'enjoy the gift of but in the ardor of impatience to meet again the next morning.- Sometimes they were lulled to reil> by the noiie of rain rufliing hi torrents on the roof of their cottages | or by ::ngof the winds, v/hich con-

' their ears, the dutant murmuring , which broke upon the fhore. i giving thanks to GOD for :ial fecurity, the feutiment of v,iiich ^ned by that of danger .

. de la Tour, from tirr It ' "o the company fome intereittng

ortion ol .he hiftory of the Old cr

54 PAUL ANS VIRGINIA,

Teftament. They reafoned fp^rmgly on the Subject of thole lac red bocks; for their the- ology ccnfiitcd wholly in ientimtnt, like that Cz nature ; and their morality, wholly in ac-

live benevolence, 1: of the roipcL —

rpi i

iney had no days deitmed, iome r.o mirth,

others to melancholy. Every day was, to them, a feafbn of feltivliy, and every thing that lurrounded them a divine temple, in •which they inceifantly admired an Intelli gence infinite, omnipotent, and gracioufly diipoied toward man. This fentirr.ent of con fidence in the Fewer Supreme, filled them with confolaticn refpecling the paft, with fortitude for the prefent, and with hope for the time to come, Thus it was that thefe females, conllrained by calamity to fall back into nature, had unfolded in thtmielves, and in their children, thcfe "teiii'.gs \\hichare the gift of nature, to prevent our linking under the preflure of calamity.

But as there fcmetimes arife, in the beft regulated fpirit, clouds to difhirb its ierciaty, when any member of this iccieiy had ihc appearance of peniivenefb, all the red ielt attracted toward that one, and diiTipated the bitternefs of thought, rather by feelings, tl'*an by reflexions. Each exerted, to this eiiecl, tlieir particular character : Margaret, a lively- gaiety ; Madame de la Tour, a mild theology; Virginia, tender cardies ; Paul, frankneis

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. r5

and cordiality. Nay, Mary and Domingo contributed their (hare of confolation. When they beheld afHidion, they were aiEicted ; when thef favv tears ilied, they wept. Thus the feeble plants interlace their boughs, in order to refill the violence of the hurricane. When die weather was fine, they went every Sunday to mafs, to the church of Pam- pieinoufles, the tower of which you fee below in the plain. The wealthy planters reforted thither in their palanquins ; and made many efforts to form an acquaintance with thefe happily united families, and invited them to- partake of their parties of pleafure. But they uniformly declined accepting iuch ten ders, civilly and refpectfully, under the cqn- vi&ion, that perfons of confequence court the obfcure, only for the pleafure of having com pliant hangers-on, and that it is im'poffible to be coiTiplaitant, but by flattering the paillons of another, whether they be good or bad. On the other hand, they fhunneci, with no lefs circurnlpedlicvi, all intimacy with the lower : -inrs, who are, for the moil part, jeal- tck biters, and vulgar. They palled, at fird, with one of thofe fets, for timid ; and with the other, for haughty; but their re- ferved behaviour was accompanied with marks of politenefs fo obliging, efpecially to perfons in diftrefs, that they imperceptibly acquired the refpecl of the rich, and the con fidence of the poor.

56 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

When mafs was over, they were frequently fought unto, for the interposition of fome.gr a- cicus office or another. It was a perfbn m perplexity, who applied to them for iheirkbd advice ; or a child, importuning them to vifit a fick mother, in one of the adjoining hamlets. They always carried abcut them feme re ceipts adapted to the difeafes incident to the inhabitants, and they admrciftered thsir prefcripticES with that gocd grace which communicates fuch a value to :ir.aii fervices, They iucceeded, particularly, in curirg the maladies oi the xnind,-fo cpprtflive m aflate of folitude, and an infirm flate of body.—- < Madame de la Tour fpoke with fc much con fidence of the DEITY, ihat the fick- perfcn, liilcning to her di'courfe, felt the imprttl'icn of his preience. , From thefe viiitc Virginia fre quently re turned wiih her eyes bathed in tears, hut her heart overflowing with joy ; for ihe had bt-er. blcff^d with an opportunity o£ doing goo d. Che it was. who prepared, before hand, the medicines necerTary to the fick, and who prefented them with a grace ineffable.

After thofe viiits of humanity, they feme- times extended iheir walk, by the valley of . ng mountain, as far as rny habitation, where I expected them to dinner, on the banks of the little river, which flows in my neigh- :iood. I provided myielf, for fuch oc- &« us, with feme bottles of old wine, in cr-

PAUL ANO VIRGINIA. 57

der to enliven the gaiety of our Indian repafts* >y thofe pleafant and cordial productions of Europe. At other times, we had our ren dezvous on the fhore of the lea, at the mouth of fome other fmall rivers, which, in this part of the world, can hardly be called any thing more than a larger kind of brook. Thither we carried, from the plantation, various kinds of vegetable provifion, which we added to the abundant Supplies furniihed by the ocean. We fifhed along the fhore for robots, poly- pufes, lobfters, roaches, ihrimps, crabs, ur- :hins, oyiiers, and iheli-fifti of every kind. — Situations the moil terrible frequently pro cured us pleafures the mod tranquillizing. Sometimes, feated on a rock, under the Iliads of a velvet-tree, we contemplated the billows, from the main, rolling on, and breaking un der our feet, with a tremendous roar. Paul, who, befide his ctker qualities, could fwim like u fiih, now and then advanced upon the ihaliows, to meet: the large, then, as it ap proached, fled toward the ihore, purlued by its vail, foaming, ?.nd raging i'well, a confid* erable way up die itrand. But Virginia, as often the law this, icreamed aloud, and de» clared that fuch kind of amufement terrified her exceedingly.

Our meals were followed up by the fmging and dancing of thefe two young people. Vir ginia chanted the felicity of a rural "life, and

J8 PAUL AN» VIRGINIA,

the wrethednefs of fea-faring men, \vhom av-j arice prompts to encounter a furious element,! rather than cultivate the earth which confei fo many benefits, in peace and tranquillity Sometimes, after the manner cf the ncgrre0 Paul and fhe ^o: "orirfed a pantomime. tomime is the fir it language of man 5 it -i practifed among all rations, It is fo natura and fo expreflivt', that the children bf whites quickly lesm it, fror.: foeij the blacks i^us amufe thcrn.M.lvts. \ recollecting the hiftcries which her n-fcther tifed to read, thofe efpecislly which bad af* feded her the moft, exhibited the principal events of them, with much natural exjrcf- fion. Sometimes, to the icuncl of Domingo's tam-tam, {lie made, her £tjjc:irance en die downy ftage, bearirg a pitcher en 1s- r head. 6he advanced, wiih timidity, to £11 it with waiter at the fdurce of ?i nelghbcuring fcnn- tain. pomirgo and Mary, reprefcntirg thfe ihepherds cf Midiar, olitr^eed : .

and feign' d i J '.1 her, Paril ficw to her affiftance, beat off the fbepjjerds, i pitcher of Virginia, and placed it r.; head, at the lame time bound arcu: garland of the fcarlet f ov/ers of the peri winkle, which heightened the fasmefs cf her ccmplexicn. Then, taking a part in^th-ir in- &c< at -', rrts; I affuincd the cbaradet cf Ra-

AND VIRGINIA, &

I, and belt owed on Paul, my daughter Lipporah in marriage*.

At another time, ke reprefented the unfor- :unat;e Ruth, who returns to her country, a >w, ar.d in poverty, where fhe finds her- df treated as a liran^cr, after a long abfeuce* i>r,:ni;-gc and Mary a&e-d the part of the gapers. Virginia appeared, gleaning up and down after them, and picking up the ears of' :ora. Pauly Imitating the gravity of a-JPa- ; } v.:r ; fhe, trembling, replU :a -:G his qgeftions/ Moved with ccmpaflion, te irnraediaceiy granted an afyium to inno- :ence, and the rights of hofpitality to misfor- :une. He filled Virginia's apron with pro* ^iiions of every kind, and broughjt her before as, as before the elders' cf the city, declaring "hat he took her. to wife, notv/itliiianding her xtrerne indigence. At this fcene, Madame dc Aa Tour, c J i 'c remembrance the ftate i :t:cr. in v;;: : had been left by her -•"- ^latiQtis^ h-r v. •.:;., -whood, the kin$ re* LOB whhn :.v, ar,< had given hei% now > i a happy union be* .ween their i Hi . LI, could not refrain from teiirs : and. t] . -.;^d recolleclion of good and evil, drew, from the eyes of us all, the tears 'of forrow and of joy,

Thefe dramas were exhibited with fuch a .i-:h of expreffion, that we aclually imagined .reives :ra::.iportcd to the plains of Syria^,

Co PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

or of Paleftine. There was no want of deco rations, of illuminations, and of orcheftras fuitable to this fpe&acle. The place of the fcene ufuaily was at the crofs paths of a fore ft the openings, of which formed around us fev eral arcades of foliage. We \vere at their centre flickered frcm the heat, all the day long : but when the fun had defc ended to the horizon, his rays broken by the trunks of the trees, diverged into the (hades of the foreft, in Jong, luminous emanations, which pro duced the znoft majeflic effect. Sometimes, his complete difk appeared at the extremity cf an avenue, and rendered it quite dazzling with a tide of light. The foliage of the trees, illui||pn.ed on the under fide with his faffren-cciored rays, fparkled with the fires of the topaz, and of the emerald. Their mofTy and brown trunks feemed to be tranA formed into columns of antique bronze, and the birds, already retired in filence, under the dark foliage, for the night, furprized by the fight of a new Aurora, faluted, all at once, the luminary of the day, by a thoufand and a thoufand fongs.

The night very often fnrprifed us regaling ourfjlves with thefe rural fe divides s but the purity of the air, and the mildnefs of the climate, permitted us to fieep under an ajou- pa, in the midil of the woods, free from all fear of thieves, either at hand, or at a dif-

PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

tance. Every ore returned, next to his own cottage, and found it in the fame flate in which it had been left. There reign ed, at that time, fo much honefly and fimpli- city, in this uncommercial iiland, that the doors of many houfes did not fatten by a key, arid a lock was an object of curicfity to ma ny Creoles.

But there were certain days of the year celebrated by Paul and Virginia, as feafons of peculiar rejoicing 5 thefe were the birth days of their mothers. Virginia never failed, the evening before, to bake and drefs cakes of the flower of wheat, which fne fent to the poor families of whites, born in the ifland, who had never tafied the bread of Europe, and who, without any arMance from the blacks, reduced to live on maize, in the midrt of the woods, poiTcfTed, toward the fupport of poverty, neither the fhipidity, which is the concomitant of flavery,nor the courage which education uifpires.

^ Thefe cakes were the only prefents which Virginia had it in her power to make, of the affluence of the plantation ; but they were beftowed with a grace, which greatly en hanced their value. Firft, Paul himfeif was defired to undertake the charge of prefen ting them to thole families, and they were invited, on receiving them, to come on the morrow, and pafs the day at the habitation of Ma- F

6* PAUJU AND VIRGINIA*

dame de la Tour and Margaret. There ar rived, accordingly, a mother, with two or three miferable daughters, yellow, meagre, and fo timid, that they durft not lift up their eyes. Virginia, prefdntly fet them all at their eafe : fhe ferved them with a variety of re* freihments, the goodnds of which flie height- ened by feme particular circumftances, that, according to her, increafed its -relifh. That liquor had been prepared by Margaret ; this one by her mother ; her brother himfelf had

fathered that trait on the fummit of the tree. he prevailed on Paul to lead them out to dance. She never 'gave over till fhe faw them content and happy. It was her wifh, that they fliould become joyful in the joy of the family. " No one," faid fhe, "can find happinefs for himfelf, but in promoting the happinefs of another." On taking their leave, to return home, flic preffed them to carry away any thing which itemed to have given them peculiar fatisfaftion, veiling the neceffity of accepting her prefer! Burner the pretext of their novelty, or of ?'. - /:lar- ity. If fhe remarked their clothes to be f.x- ceffively tattered, fhe, with the confexit of her mother, fele«fled fome of her own, arid charg ed Paul to go by fteali.h, and depofit them- at ti:e door of their cottages. Thr.s, fhe ^ood, after the manner of the DEITY ;, concealing the bfcnefaftrefs, and fliov/ing the

t>AUt ANct VIRGINIA. £j

Ycu, gentlemen of Europe, \vhofe minds are tainted, from your early infancy, by j'b jnany prejudices, IE compatible with happinefs, you are unable to conceive, how nature can beftow fo much illnminaticn, and fo many pleafures. Ycur iculs, circrmfcribed within a imall fphere of human knowledge, fccn at» tain the term or their artificial enjoyments j but nature and the heart are inexhauftible. Paul and Virginia had no time-pieces, nor at- manacks, nor bocks of chronology, of hiilo- ry, nor of philofophy : the periods of their lives were regulated by thoie of nature.—. They knew the hour of the day by the fhad* ow of the trees ; the feafcns, by the time* when they produced their flowers, or their fruits ; and years, by the number of their harvefts. Thefe delightful images diffused the greateft charms over iheir converfation* " It is dinnertime," {aid Virginia to th-e family, " the fhadows of the bananas are at their feet;" or elfe, " night approaches, for the tamarinds are clofing their leaves»>;— * " When ikali v/e fee you f" faid fome of Her companions of the vicinity to her; "At the time of the fugar-canes," replied Virginia 5 u Your vifit will be ftill nveeter and more a- greeable at that time," returned thefe young people, When inquiries were made refp eft- ing her own age, and that of Paul, "'Mjr fhe, « is. of the fame age v,mh F ?/

64 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

the great cocoa-tree of the fountain, and I, with that of the fmall one. The mango- trees have yielded their fruit twelve times, and the orange-trees have opened their blof- foms twenty-four times, fince I came into the world. Like Fauns and Dryads, their lives fecmed to be attached to thofe of the trees. They knew no other hiftorical epochs, but the lives of their mothers ; no other chronology, but that of their orchards,; and no other philofophy, but univerfal beneficence, and reiignation to the will of GOD.

After all, what occafion had thefe young people for fuch riches, and knowledge, as we have learned to prize ? Their ignorance and their wants were even a farther addition to their happinefs. Not a day pafled, in which they did not communicate to each ether fome abidance, or fome information ; I re peat it, information ; and though it mijrht be mingled with fome error, yet man, in a ftate of purity, has no dangerous error to fear. Thus did thefe two children of nature advance in life : hitherto, no caro had wrin kled their foreheads, no intemperance had corrupted their blood, no unhappy paffion had depraved their hearts ; love, innocence, piety, were daily unfolding the beauties of their foul, in graces ineffable, in their features, in their attitudes, and in their motions. In the morning of life, they had all the frefk*

t AUt AND VIRGINIA 6$

jiffs of it : like cur nift parents, in the gar« den of Eden, when, proceeding from the hands of their Creator, they Taw, approached* and converfed with each other, at flrft, like brother and filler. Virgiraa, gentle, modefi:, and confidant like Eve j Paul like Adam, with the ftature of a man, and all the fimpli- city of a child,

He has a thcufand times told me, that fornetirnes being alone with her, on his return from labor, he had thus addrefledher : "When I am weary, the 'light of tLee revives me j when from the mountain's height, I deicry thee at the bottom of this valley, thou appear* eft like a rofe- bud in the midft of our or chards ; when thou walked toward the dve)l- ing of our mothers,, the partridge, which trips along to 4ts ycnng ones? has a cheft lefs beautiful, and a gait lefs nimble, than thou haft* Although I lofe fight of thee, through the trees, there is no cccaiion for thy pre.f- ence, in order, to find thee again : fomething of thee, which 'I ^m . unable to exprefs, re mains for me in the air, through which .thou hail pa^Ted, and on the grafs upon which thou haft been feated. When I approach thee, all my fenfes are raviihed ; the azure of the heavens is lefs radiant than the blue of thine eyes } the warbling of the bengali is lefs fweet than the tone of thy voice ; if I touch thee only with ths tip of my finger, my F 3

66 PAUL AKB VIRGINIA /

whole body thrills with pleafure. Dofl thou remember that day, on which we paflcd a- crofs the pebbly bed of the river, of the mountain called the Three Paps ; when I ar rived on its banks, I was very much fatigued, but as foon as I had taken thee on my back, it ieemed as if I had got wings like a bird : tell me, by whf t charm thou haft been able thus to enchant me : is it by thy underftand- ing ? Our mothers have more than either of us : Is it by thy care/Fes ? Our mothers em brace me dill oftener than thou doll ; J be lieve it is by thy benevolence ; I fliall never forget, that thou walkedft, bare -foot, as far as the black river, to iblicit the pardon of a wretched fugitive Have. Receive, my much- loved Virginia, receive this flowery branch of the lemon-tree, which I have gathered for thee in the foreft : place it, at night, by thy pillow : eat this morfel cf hcr.ey-comb, which I took for thee from the top of a rock, Firft, however, repofe thyfelf upon rny bo- ibm, and I ihali be again revived."

Virginia replied, " Oh, rny brother ! the rays of the riilng fun, on the fumrnits of thefe rocks, afford me lefs delight than thy pre- fence : I love my own mother dearly ; I love thine ; bu'c when they call thee, fon, I love them ftill more. The carafes which they be (low on thee, are felt more fennbly by me, •> thole which I myielf receive from thexru

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, 67

Thou aiketl me, why tLou loved me ? but thofe that are reared togLt.. . each other: behold our birds, hi the fame neti, they love like us? like us t are always together : hearken* how they call and reply to each other, ficrn bufh to buffi :- in like manner., when the echoes brin»- to my ear the airs which thou playe'Von thy ilure, from the mountain-top, 1 repent the vords of them at the bottom1 of this valley : the a art dear to me, but, above all, flnce that day on which thou wcrt determined to fight the mafter of the Have for my fake : fince that period, I have laid, to myielf a tboufaud times, Ah ! my brother has an excellent heart ; bat far him, I fhould have died with terror, I daily implore the blefling of the Almighty on my own mother, and on thine, on thyielf, and on our poor dome (tics : but when 1 pro- riounce thy name, my -devotion leerus to in- creafe, I' fo earneftly intreat the Almighty that no evil may b^fa! thee 1 Why doit thou go fo far off, and climb to fuch heights, to End me fruits and flowers ? Have we net

in what a heat, thou art juftncw :•" Then, with her little white handkerchief, flie wiped his forehead and his cheeks, and gave him a thoufand ki/Tes.

Neverthelefs, for fome time pad, Virginia had felt herfelf difturbed with an unknowu

£3 PAUL AND VIRGIN!/

malady. Her fine blue eyes were tir-gea with black, her rolour faded, and ;m univer- fa.1 laru • .:-.ned her bcdy. . Serenity

no } : r forehead, nor ir.

upon her lip-, ri in

her ,. ' . ; ;/, and iadnejs without furrow. - , m her in-

: occupa-- : e ily, She 1

• . '...-.., " • .. ietkirg

Soipetimesj at the

fight cf P.:-.-]. ifc-: rai; up rc^l'^ni, ;:i a play- iul manner ; ~~ was

on the point : CQntactwiti him,

an T. . . . - .. :. | £ . z ber 5

a lively red. - le cneeks, and

her eyes nq 1 nger d : ?d tj; rx themfelves ca his. Pau.. ' . ;..: ... . , ber. <fi Thefe reck.' are ccv-_:\:.: v-::..; v . ;;.;re, the birds " :b;j v;hrr, ' "••./ , : .. ;? gay around

thec, 'rind thcv. ' :-d." Thus, \vith

embraces, did he endeavour to reanimate her; but fhc« tv.::. y her head, flew,

trembling, to h'.r YI c J.t-r. The irnha: girl felt h-rrielf d^cnipoicci by the careiles cf ;her. Paui v as quite ignc-imt of the cauffi :f caprices, ^b new and fo i range.

.' . :' riunss feidcm come iingly. One of thofe fummers which defolate, frcm time to time, the land*? Htuatcd between the

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, £9

c-ened to extend its ravages here ill. Co. It was toward the end of December, when the fun, in Capricorn, fcorches, with his vertical fires, the whole Ifle of France, for three v;eei'.s together; the South-Eaft wind, which reign?; there almoft all the year round, now blew no longer. Huge whirlwinds of dull railed themielves from the highways; and hung iui- pended in the air. The earth was cieft afun- der in all parts, the grafs entirely burnt up ; ardent exhalations illuad from the fides of the mountains, and moil of the rivulets were dried up. No cloud arofe out of the fea ; during the day-time, only, red vapours af- cended above its furface, and appeared, at (Un-fet, like the flames of a great r cvifh.gr a- tion* Even the night feafon difliifed no cool* nefs over the burning atmosphere. Tn* bloody diik of the moon rofe, of an enormous fize, in the hazy horizon ; the languid Hocks, on the fides of the mountains, with their necks flretched out toward heaven, and draw. ing in the air with difficulty, made the vallies reibund vrith their mournful cries ; even the cafre, who conducted them, lay along tl$3 ground, endeavouring to cool himieif, m that pofition. Every where the foil was feorch- ing hot, and die ftifling air rcfounded with the buzzing of infefts, \vhich fought to quench their thtrft with the blood of mea, and of

^o £AUL AND vipv.

One of thefc parching nights, Virginia felt all the fymptoms of her malady redouble. 'She got up, Ine fat down, fhe returned to bed, but in no attitude could fhe find either -ileep or repofe. She rambled, by the light of the rnoon, toward the fountain ; fhe perceived its fource, which, in defiance of the drought, ftill flowed in iilver fillets, over the dufky fides of the rock. Without heirtatmg, fhe plunged her :. ' 3 its bafon 5 at firit, the frclhnefs re-: i her; and a thoufand

agreeable re: rtons prefented themfelves to her mind. She remembered how, in the 'days of infancy, her mother and Margaret am" reives wich bathing Paul and her

in that very ftrearii,andhow Paul, afterward?, appropriating this bath iblely to her ufe, had deepened its bed, covered the .bottcm with (and, and lowed aromatic herbs around its brink. On her naked £.rrns, and on her bo- fom, fhe perceived the reflexes of the two palm-tr- ^ had been planted at the

birch of her brother, and at her own, and which now interwove :h~:r : ^:hs, and

their younr? cocoas, over her hea.i, She call ed to rcr: TO the iV' ; f Paul, i Vector than ~ .: ^-~ ' . -'. - . ".va.ter of the fourita:

trees, and Ine heaved 2 n.v'h. She th",rt re-

. M - hat

;:, WAJ :;, I";i:cuie ; a ecnfurnins; iirc inf!irra>

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. n

4 her breaft. Immediately, fhe hafb-ned, in difmay, from thefe dangerons {hades, and from waters more ardent than the funs of the Torrid Zone : fhe hurried to her mother, in order to feek refuge from herfeif. A thou- fand times; willing to difclofe her anguifhy (he preffed her hands between her own ; a thoufand times, fhe was en the point of pro- flouncing the name of r t her heart

was fo full, as to deprive her tongue of ut terance, and, reclining her hei^a cruhe bofom of her "mother, fhe bedewed it with a fhowcr of tears.

Madame de la Tcur plainly perceived :he caule of her daughter's difcrder, but even ihe herfeif had not the courage to fpeak :o her about it, " My child," laid fhe to her, " addrefs ycurfelf tc the Almighty, who difpenfes health and life, according to bis good pleafure. Ke makes trial of your drtue to-day, only in order to recompenfb- you to-morrow ; confider, that the chief end of our being placed on the earth is to prac- tife virtue.

In the mean time, thofe exceffive heats,. •aifed out of the bofom of the ocean, an af- ernbiage of vapors, Vv^hich like -a vaft para- bl, covered die face of the iilanci. The fum- tnits of the mountains colleded thefe around Jiem, and long furrows of flame, from time o time, iffued out of their clgud-capt peaks.

?* PAUL AN& V1RGIKIA.

Frefcntly after, tremendous thimdervclap

made i he v^C'-is the plains, and the vallies? >ei ate the noift of their explofipjgis. The

rain in t a. traces gufhed down from the heav ens. ^ torrents precipitated them- idves dov;n the fides of this mountain ; the Bottom cf th . 1 , :rned into a fea ; the £ rrn, :. - hich the cottages . ' , iiland ; and the en- •;. ... . . lad become a iluice,

: m|h av ' luoilty,

D? the s, L^C earth?

the trees, and the recks.

The \vh: . . ,( ,r..i zed with trembling? addreffed th-ir prayer to GOD, in Madame To :.r. po$ . trie roof of which Ire? "by the fury cf the tempeil.

• ... •; . and the ouLiide window-

. . .-./ barred, every object was

clearly d tble within, through the

joinings of the boards, fo bright and fo. fre quent were the fiaihes of lightning The in trepid Paul, attended by Domingo, went from one cottage to the other, notwithiianding the raging of th^ elements, here fecuring a • a crofs beam, and there by driving :e ; he v, . hen, to

: the f;r I J boDC of the

. • . . . -.: j s . • , »; Trade*

•wind fi om the South-Eaft rtfunicd iu uiual

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, 73

current ; the ftormy clouds were driven to the North-Weft, and the letting fun appeared in the horizon.

The fir/I wifh, which Virginia expreiTed,, was to re-vifit the place of herrepofe : Paul approached her, with a timid air, and offered her his arm, to affift her in walking thither. She accepted it, with a fmile, and they fet out together from the cottage : the air was cool and fonorous : clouds, of white fmoke aroie on the ridges of the mountains, fur rowed here and there by the foam of the torrents, which were now drying up on every fide. As for the garden, it was entirely dcfc troyed by deep gutters ; melt of the fruit- trees were torn up by the roots ; immenfe heaps of fand covered the (tripes of meadow- ground, and completely choaked up Virgin ia's bath : the two cocoa-trees, however, were ftill Handing, and in full verdure : the bowers and the graiTy turfs were no more, and the ear was no longer charmed with the war bling of the birds, except a few bengalis, on the fumrnlt of the neighbouring recks, which deplored, with plaintive notes, the lofs of their young1.

At fight of this defolation, Virginia faid to> Paul, " You brought the birds hither, and the hurricane has deftroyed them ; you planted this garden, and it is now no more : every thing ou earth pcriflics j heaven, alone, is ua-

$4 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

changeable." Paul replied : " Oh ! then, that it were in my power to beftow feme gift upon you ! But> alas ! I pofTeis nothing, now, even on the earth." Virginia, with a bluthj returned : " You have, certainly, the portrait of St. Paul, that you can call your own." Scarcely had {he pronounced iheie words, when Paul flew to his mother's cottage, to feek for it. This portrait was a imall minia ture, reprefenting Paul the hermit. Margaret regarded it with fingular devotion : while a girl, fhe wore it, long, round her own neck ; but when {lie became a mother, {lie fufpcnd- ed it round that of her child. It happened that, being pregnant of him, and abandoned by all the world, from merely contemplating the image of this bleiTed reclufe, the fruit of her womb contracted a ftrong refemblance to it ; this determined her to beftow the fame name on him ; and, likewife, to give him for a patron, a faint that had p ailed his life far from man, who had firfl abufed, and then deferted him. Virginia, on receiving thisfmall portrait from rh-j hands of Paul, laid, with much em6tion : " My brother, while I live, this fhail never be taken from me, and I {hall always remember, that you gave me the only poiTeuion you had in the world." On hearing thofe tones of cordial ity, on this unexpected return of familiarity and tendernefs, Paul was going to clafp her in

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, 75

his arms ; but, as nimbly as a bird, flie fprung away, leaving him quite confounded, and totally unable to account lor a conduct fo extraordinary.

Meanwhile, Margaret laid to Madame de la Tour ; " Why ihould we not marry our children ? their paffion for each other is ex treme ; my ion, indeed is not yet fenfiblc of it ; but when nature fhall have begun to fpeak to him, to no purpofe will we employ all our vigilance over them ; every thing is to be feared." Madame de la Tour return ed : " They are too young, a,nd too poor ; what anxiety would it coil us, fhould Vir ginia bring into the world unhappy children, whom, perhaps, (he would not have ftrength to rear. Domingo is very much broken ; Ma ry is infirm ; I myielf, my dear friend, for thefe laft fourteen years, feel my health very much impaired. A perfon foon grows old in thefe hot countries, efpecially when that period is ib greatly accelerated by forrow. Paul is our only hope ; let us wait till age has ftrengthened his constitution, and till he is able to fupport us, by the labor of his hands. At prefent, you well know, we have hardly any' thing ^more, than a fcanty fuppiy from day to day. But, if we fend Paul to India, for a fhort fpace of time, commerce will fup- ply him /with the means of purchafmg fome flaves. On his 'return hither, we will mar-

G 2

}6 PAUt AND VIRGINIA.

ry him to Virginia -•; for I am well afTured, that no one can make my beloved daughter fo happy, as your fon Paul. Let us men tion the matter to our neighbour."

Thefe ladies accordingly coniulted me, and I approved of their plan. " The feas of In dia are delightful," laid I to them ; " if we choole a favourable feaibn for going frcm hence to that country, the voyage, outward, is but fix weeks, at mod, and as long to re turn ; we will make up a fmall afibrtment of goods for Paul ; for I have fomc neighbours, who are very fond of him ; were we hut to provide him with a parcel of raw cotton, of which we can here make no ufe, for want of iiulls to drefs it ; fome ebony wood, which is fo common here, that we ufe it for fuel ; and feveral ibrts of rolin, which go to xvafte in thefe woods ; all of thofe commodities will find a market in India, though they arc of no value at all here."

I took upon myfelf the charge of obtaining M. de la Bourdonaye's permifiion for this embarkation ; but I thought it neceiTary, be- ind, to open the bufinefs to Paul : how was I aftonifKe^, however, when that young jnan laid to me, with- a good fenfe far above his years : "Why would you have me c]uit my family for a vifionary project: of fortune ? Can there be a more advantageous commerce

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 77

in the world, than the cultivation of a field, which fometimes yields fifty and a hundred fold ? If we wifh to engage in trade, can we not do fo, by carrying our Superfluities from hence to the city, without the neceility of my rambling to the Indies ? Our parents tell me that Domingo is old, and worn out ; but I am young, and daily acquiring frelh vigour. What if any accident Should befal them du ring my' abfence, mere especially Virginia,, who, even now, fuffers very Severely ? Ah, no ! no ! I can never bring myfelf to the re- folution of quitting them.'7

His anfwer greatly embarrafTed me ; for Madame de la Tour had not concealed from me Virginia's condition, and the defire which (he herielf had of deferring their union till they were of a more mature age, by Sepa rating them from each other. I duril not So much as hint to Paul, that fuch were her motives.

Whilft theSe transaction's were going on, a velTel newly arrived from France, brought a letter to Madame de la Tour from her aunt. The fear of death, without which the moil obdurate hearts would never Soften, had ap palled her. She had juil recovered from a dangerous diforder, which produced, howev er, a deep melancholy, and which age ren dered incurable. She requefted her niece to re;ura tt> France ; gr, if the ftate cf her

PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

health- was fuch, as to prevent her taking f. long a voyage, fhe enjoined her to fend Vir ginia thither, on whom fhe intended to beftc a good education, a place at court, and abe- queil: of all her poflellioiis : the return of her favor, fhe added, depended entirely on corn- p] lance with thefe injunctions.

Scarcely had this letter been read, than it fpread univerial conflernationin the family ; Domingo and Mary began to weep ; Paul* ruotionlefs with aftonifhment, fcemed ready to burfl with rage ; Virginia, her eyes fted- faftly fixed on her mother, dared not to utter a fyllable. " Can you bring yourfelf to the refolution of quitting us ?" laid Margaret to Madame de la Tour. " No, my friend, no, rny children/' replied Madame de la Tour ; " I will never leave you ; wiih you I have lived, and with you I mean to die : I never knew what happinefs was, till I experienced your friendfliip ; if my -health is impaired, ancient fon'ows are the caiife : my heart has been pierced by the harflinefs of my relations, ar.d by ihe loft of my beloved hulband ; but fmcc that period, I have enjoyed more confo- lation and felicity with you, in thcfe poor cot tages, than ever the riches of my family gave me reafon to expcft, even in my native coun try." At thefc words, tears of joy bedewed the cheeks of the whole family ; Paul, fold* ing Madume de la Tour in his arras, e£-

f>AUL AND VIRGINIA, 7$

claimed : " And I Trill never, never quit you, nor go from hence to the indies ; you fhall experience no want, my dear mother, as long as we are able to work for you." Of ail the fociety, however, the perfon who teftified the leaft joy, and who, neverthelefs, felt it the moil, was Virginia. A gentle cheerful- nefs appeared in her the remainder of the day, and the return of her tranquillity re doubled the general fatisfaclion.

Next morning, at fun-rife, as they were offering up their accuftomed matin prayer, which preceded their breakfad, Domingo, in formed them, that a gentleman, on horfe- back, was approaching the plantation, follow- ed by two flaves. It was M. de la Bourdo-

ve. He entered the cottage, where the ivhole family were at table : Virginia was ferving up, according to the cuftom of the country, cofFee and boiled rice ; there were, likeWife, hot potatoes and frefh bananas : the only difhes which they had were the halves of a gourd ; and. all their table linen con- fitted of the leaves of the plantain. The Governor, at firft, exprefTed fome furprife at the meannefs of their dwelling ; then addref- fing himfclf to Madame de la Tour, he faid, " That his public fituation fcrnetimes pre vented him from paying attention to individ uals, but that flie, however, had a title to claim his more immediate regard. You have, ma-

So PAUL AtfD VIRGINIA.

dam," added he, " an aunt at Pan's, a lady of quality and very rich, who defigns to be- flow her fortune upon you, but, at the fame time, expels that you will attend her." Ma dame de la Tour replied, " That her unfettled ftate of health would not permit her to un dertake fo long a voyage." " Surely, then,'1 cried M. de la Bourdonaye, " you cannot without injuftice, deprive your young an beautiful daughter of fo great an inherita I will not conceal from you, that your has employed authority, in order to your daughter's compliance with her v The miniiter has written to me, on the ject, authorifmg me, if there was any iky for it, to exercife the hand of power my only aim in employing that is, to prc the happinefs of the inhabitants of this colo ny ; I expect, therefore, that you will, with cheerfulnefs, fubmit to the facrifice of a fev years, on which depend the eftabliflimen your daughter, and your own welfare, fo remainder of life. For what purpofe people refort to thefe Ifiands ? Is it not in view of making a for tune ? Surely, howe it is far more agreeable to return, and tain one in cur native country."

As he laid thefe words, he placed the table a large bag of piaftr.es, whicl of his flaves had brought. " This," adds he, « is what your aun; has remitted,, to rn^ke

PAU-L AKD VIRGINIA. ti

the neceffary preparations for the voyage of the young lady, your daughter/7 He then concluded with gently reproaching Madame de la Tour, for not having applied to him, in her neceflities : at the fame time, applauding the noble firmnefs, which Ihe had diiplayed. Paul, upon this, broke filence, and thus ad- dreifed the Governor : " Sir, my mother did apply to you, and your reception was un kind to the laft degree.1' " Have you, then another child ;" laid M. de la Bourdonaye to Madame de la Tour : " No, Sir," replied (he ; " this is the fon of my friend ; but he, and Virginia are our, common property, and -equally beloved by both." " Young man," laid the Governor, addreffing himfelf to Paul, " when you fftall have acquired experience of the world, you will learn to what diftrefies people in place are expofed ; you will dif- cover how eafy it is to prejudice them, and how often intrigueing vice obtains from them vrhat, injuftice, ihould be beftowed on con cealed merit."

M. de la Bourdonaye, on the invitation of Madame de la Tour, ieated himfelf by her, at the table. He breakfafted, as the Creoles do, upon coffee, mixed with boiled rice. He v/as charmed with the order and neatnefs of the little cottage, with the union of the two happy families, and even with die zeal of their old dcrneflics. "Here," faid he, " is

8i PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

no furniture, but what the woods fupply, but I fee countenances ferene, and hearts of gold." Paul, delighted with the familiarity of the new Governor, faid to him : " I defire your friendfmp, for you are an honeft man." M. de la Bourdonaye received this mark of in- fular cordiality with pleafure. He embraced Paul, and preffing him by the hand, atfured him, that he might rely upon his friendiliip.

After breakfaft, he took Madame de la Tour apart, and informed her, that a favor able opportunity juft now offered, of fending her daughter into France, by means of a vel- \d on the point of failing; and, that he would recommend her to the care of a lady, a re lation of his own, who was going paffenger in. it f reprefenting, at the fame time, that it would be very wrong to facrifice the profpect of an immenfe fortune, to the pleafure of her daughter's company for a few years, " Your aunt," added he as he was departing, " can- not hold out more than two years longer ; her friends have affured me of it : coniider the matter, therefore, ferioufly, I pray you ; confult your own mind ; iurely, every perfon of common ienfe mud be of my opinion." Madame de la Tour replied : " As I defire nothing, henceforward, but the welfare of my daughter, the voyage to France fhall be left entirely to her own difpofal."

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. Sj

Madame de la Tour was not forry, at find ing an opportunity of feparadng Paul and Virginia for a fhort time ; but, it was only in the view of fecuring their mutual happinels, at a future period. She, accordingly, took her daughter afide, and faid to her : " My dear child, our domeiKcs are growing old ; Paul is (till very young ; age is ilealing upon Margaret, and I myfelf am already infirm ; ftiould I happen to die, what will become of you in the midft of thefe defer ts ? You will be left entirely alone, with no perfon to aflilt you, and you will be obliged to procure your- felf a livelihood by laboring incefTantly in the ground, like a hireling : fuch an idea over whelms me with grief." Virginia thus re plied : " GOD has doomed us to labor : you have taught me how to work, and to offer up daily thankfgiving to him. Hitherto he has not abandoned us, nor will he abandon us now. His providence watches with peculiar care over the unhappy ; you have told me fo a thoufand times, my dear mother ! Oh, I fliall never have refoiution to quit you." Madame de la Tour, much affected, return ed, " I have no other intention, than tfcat of rendering you happy, and of uniting jo\i one day to Paul, who is not your brother : con- fider, likewife, that his fortune now defends entirely on you."

$4 PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

A young girl, in love, thinks that every one is ignorant of it. She fp reads the fame veil over her eyes, which ihe wears on her heart ; but, when it is removed by the hand of a beloved friend, immediately the fecret torments of her love tranipire, as through an opened barrier, and the gentle expaniions,of confidence fucceed to the myfterious rcferve in which fhe had enveloped herfelf. Virginia, fenfibly alive to the new telKmonies of her mother's kiudnefs, freely related the many ftruggles, which Ihe had experienced with herfelt, and of which GOD alone had been the witnefs ; that flie perceived the hand of his providence, in the confolationadminifteredby a tender mother, who approved of her incli nation, and who would direct her by whole* fbme counfel ; and that now, refbing entirely on her fupport, every thing operated as an in ducement to remain where fhe was, without uneafmefs for the prefent, or anxiety fur the future-

Madame de la Tour, perceiving that her confidence had produced an ef&cl, entire1)* different from what fhe had expected, faid to her : *' My dear child, I have no wifh to o",n- ftrain your inclinations ; coniider the mattes at your leifure ; but conceal your love f : Paul : when the heart of a young v/orr^n is gained, her lover has nothing more to ;.;.; ct her." '

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, Sj

Toward the evening, while ftie was alone with Virginia, a tall man, dreifed in a blue cailbck, came in. He was an ecclefiaftical zniilionary of the idand, and confeiTor to Ma dame de la Tour and Virginia, and had been fcnt thither by the Governor. " My chil dren," faid he, as he entered, " there is wealth In ftore for you now, thank Heaven ! You have, at length, the means of gratifying your benevolent feelings, by admin iftering affift* since to the wretched. I well know what the Governor has faid to you, and your reply. My good madam, the ftate of your health obliges you to remain here ; but as for you, young lady, you have no excufe. We rnufl obey the will of Providence, in refpecling our old relations, however unjuft they may have been to us. It is a facrifice, I grant, but it is the command of the Almighty. He devoted himfelf for us, and it is our duty to devote cmrielves for the welfare of our kindred.— Your voyage into France will finally come to a happy iilue : can you poffibly, my dear child, have any objection to go thither ?" Vir ginia, with her eyescaft down, and trembling as Ibc ipake, replied : *' If it is the command of GOD, that I Ihould go, I have nothing to fay again ft it ; the will of GOD be done," faid Ihe bur fling into tears.

The nuilionary took his departure, and ive the Governor an account of the fucccfs H

86 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

of his embafTy. Madame de la Tour, how ever, fent a meiTage 10 me, by Domingo, in- treating me to come over, and conmlt about Virginia's departure. It was my firm opin ion, that Ihe ought not to be p fo. I maintain, as infallible princh appinefs, that the advantages of nature ought always to be preferred before thcfe of fortune ; ;and, that we fhould never feek, from abroad, thofe bleffings which we can find at home. I extend thefe maxims to all cafes, without a fingle exception. But of what avail could my moderate counfels prove, ao^ainft the ilhiiions of an immenfe fortune, and my natural reafcn, againii: the prejudices of the world, and againit an .authority held facred by Madame de la Tour ? This lady confulted me only out of poiitencfs, for fhe no longer deliberated in her own mind, after the deciiion of her ccnfeiibr. Even Margaret, who, in fpite of the- advantages which fhe thought her fen might derive from Virginia's fortunes had warmly oppofcd her departure, no longer made any objections. As for Paul, entirely ignorant of the refolutions which might be formed, and alarmed at the fecret conversations of Madame de ia Tour and her daughter, he abandoned himfelf to a gloomy fadnefs ; " Surely," faid he, " they are con triving fome mifchief againft me, from th« jnyfterioufnefs of their conduct towards me.'*

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 87

A report, meanwhile, being foon circulated in the iiland, that fortune had vifited thefe folitudes, merchants of ever y defcription might be feen fcrambling up hither : they di£ played, amidlt theic poor cottages, the rich- eit lluus of India ; the fuperfine dimities of Gouvklour ; the handkerchiefs of Pouilicat and Ma^ttlipataffl, and the muilins of Decca, plain, itriped, embroidered, and transparent as tho day ; the baftas of Surat, fo beauti fully white, and chintzes of all colours, and of the rarcft fort, with a fable ground and green {brigs. They unrolled the magnifi cent fiiks of China ,; lampas pinked into transparency ; fatmy-white damaffcs 5 feme of a meadow-green, others of a dazzling red ; rcfe- colored taffetas, fattins in whole bales, pckins foft as wool, white and yellow nan keens, and even the fluffs of Madagafcar.

Madame de la Tour gave her daughter

perrnifilon to purchafe whatever pleafed her,

carefully examining, however, the quality of

di^ goods and their prices, left the merchants

I impoie upon her. Virginia made

of what flie thought would be agree-

her mother, to Margaret, and to Paul.

4i Phis," f.risl ihe, " will be ufeful for furni*

ture, that for Domingo and Mary." In

Ittbrt, the bag of piaitres was expended, be*

fcrj ihe thought of her own wants. It be-

S3 PAUL AND v:

came neceffiary to cull her portion out of the prefents which fhe had diftributed among the houfehold.

Paul, overwhelmed with fbrrow, at the fight of thefe gifts <M fortune, whieh prefaged the departure of Virginia, came to my home, 2. few days afterwards ; he faid to me, with £ melancholy air : " My filler is going to leave us ; preparations are already made for her departure. Come over to our habitation, I entreat you, and make ufe of your influence on the minds of her mother and of mine.0 I, accordingly, yielded to his importunity* though well aflured that iny repreientations would be ineffectual.

If Virginia had appeared beautiful to me, in her drefs of blue Bengal clothj with a red handkerchief tied round her head, how \v~s fiie improved when I law her habited like the ladies of this country ! Site • . -d in

white muHin, lined with n . her ftays diiplayed, to great advantage, her elegant and majeiiic fhape ; and her beau tiful flaxen hair, in long double trefTes, adorn ed her virgin head : her fine blue eyes af- fumed a call of melancholy, ar.c.1 ih. ::cri:a^ tion which her heart endure. d,- by fa ~ with aimotli'rred pafiion,ga^e n. g'cwiiit: to her complexion, ar.d uiiier^ in. . ioii,

to her voice. The very ccntrafc of her ele gant drefs, which fhe feemed to wear againft

PAUL AN a VIRGINIA, 89

her will, rendered her languor ftill more af fecting. No one could fee or hear her, with* out being moved. Paul's fadnefs was iix- creafed by it. Margaret, afflicted at her ion's fkuation, took him apart, and thus addreiTed him : " Why, my fon, do you feed yourfelf with falfe hopes, which only ferves to render the disappointment of them more bitter ? It is now time to clifclofe to you the fecret of your life, and of my own. Mademoifelle de la Tour is related, by her mother's fide, to a perfon of immenfe wealth, and of high rank. As to yourfelf, you are only the fon of a poor low-born woman ; and what is ftill worle, you are a baftard."

The word baftard greatly furprifed Paul ; he had never heard it made ufe of before, and Le aiked his mother the meaning of it : ihe replica, " You have no legitimate father ; when I was a girl, love betrayed me into a foil 7, of which you are the fruit. My frail ty deprived you of the family of your father, and my repentance of that of your mother. Unfortunate boy ! I am the only relation you have in the world," She concluded by bu riling into a flood of tears. Paul, folding her in his arms, exclaimed : " Alas ! my mother, lince I have no otherrelationbutyou, I will love you ftill the more : but, what a fecret have you juft now divulged to 'me ! I r,tnv plainly perceive the reaion, why Made- H 3

93 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

moifclle de la Tour has, for thefe two months, flmnned me, and which has, at length, deter mined her to take her departure. Alas ! without doubt, ihe defpifes me I"

However, the hour of fupper came ; each of the guefts tcok a place at table, agitated with different pafiions ; they ate little, and did not utter a fingle fyllabJe. Virginia re tired mil, and came and leafed herfelf on the ipot, where we now are : Paul loon follow- ed and placed him! elf by her fide ; a profound filence enfued for fome time. It was one of thofe delightful nights, fo common between the Tropics, and whole beauty bairles all de- fcription. The moon appeared in the middle of the firmament, enveloped with a cloudy curtain, which was gradually difiipated by her rays. Her light infenfibly diflufed itfeif over the mountains of the iiland, and over their peaks, which glittered with a filvery verdure. Not a breath of wind was to be heard. In the woods at the bottom of the rallies, and at the top of the rocks, the foft warblings, and the gentle murmurings of the birds, which were carefling each other in their nefts, delighted with the beauty of the night, and the tranquillity of the atmofphere, itole on the ear. All, even to the very infects, were humming along the grafs ; the liars, twinkling in the heavens, reflected their trem bling images on the iurface of the ocean.

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, $1

As Virginia was furveying, with wandering eyes, the vaft and gloomy horizon, diltin- guifhable from the ihores of the ifland, by the red fires of the fiikermen, fKe perceived, at the entrance of the port, a light fixed to a large dark body ; it was the lantern on the veiiel in which ihe was to embark for Europe* and which, ready to let fail, only lay at anchor till the breeze iliould fpring up. At this fight, ihe was fo deeply aile&ed, that ihe- turned her head afide, left Paul ihould per* ceive her tears.

Madame de la Tour, Margaret, and I> were feated a few paces from them, under the frade of the banana trees ; and, owing to the ftillnefs of the night, we diftin&ly heard their converfation, which I ihall never forget.

Paul faid to her : " I underftand, madam, that you are to take your ^departure hence in three days : have you no apprehenfion, at the thought of exposing yourfelf to the dangers of the fea — the fea, at which you ufed to be fo terrified." " It is my duty, you know,7' replied Virginia, " to obey the commands of my relation?." " You are going, then," faid Paul, " to quit our fociety for a female rela- tion, who lives far from hence, and whom you

have never feen !" — " Alas !" returned

Virginia, " had I been permitted to follow my own inclinations, I ihould have remained here all my life long ; bat my mother is of a coa?

$4 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

trary opinion, and my confefTcr has told me, it is the will of GOD, that I fhould depart ; that life is a date of probation. — Alas I how fevere that probation is !"

" How/' replied Paul, " fo many reafcns to determine thee to leave us, and not one to induce thee to remain ! Ah ! of the former, there is ftill one, which you have not men tioned : the attractions, which wealth holds out, are powerful. You will foon find, in a world entirely new to you, another perfon on whom to beftow the name of brother, by which you now no longer addrefs me : you will find this brother among your equals, and fuch as have riches and high birth, which I can never offer you. But, whither can you go to be more happy, than where you are ? On \vhat land can you fet your foot, dearer to you, than that which gave you being ? Where can you find a fociety more amiable, than one of which you are entirely beloved ? Hew can you exifl without the carefles of your mother, to which you have been fo long ac- cuftomed ? What will become of your moth^ c'r herfelf, already far advanced in life, when fhe no longer fees you by her fide, at her table, in the licufe, and in her walks, where you ufed to be her fupport ? To what a ftate will mine be reduced, who is as fondly attached to you as your own ? What can I fay to give them confolaticn, when I fee them mourning ycur

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 9|

[ibfence ? Cruel girl ! I fay nothing of my-. felf ; but, what will become of me, when ia the morning, I no longer enjoy your compa-, ny, and when night comes on, without bring ing us together again : and when L uvall be- bold thefe palm-trees, planted at our birth, and which, fo long, have been the witnelTes of our mutual aifedion. Ah ! fince a new def- tiny attracts you ; fince you will feek other countries 5 far from the fpot where you was. born, and other poiTeffions, than thofe which the labor of my hands has procured for you, allow me to accompany you in your voyage ; I will encourage you, during thpfe tempefts, v/hich caufed fuch apprehenfions in you while en fhore. Thy head fhall repofe upon my ofom ; I will olafp thee to my breaft ; and, :ice, where thorn art going, in queft of fortune and of greatnefs, I will follow thee as thy flave ; in the palaces, where I fhall behold thee ftrved and adorned, I will rejoice at thy liappmefs ; even then I iliall be rich enough to offer thse the greatett of facrifices,. by dying at thy feet."

His voice was entirely illiled with fobbing j we prefently heard that of Virginia, who ad- drclled hin;» in thefe words, frequently inter rupted by flghs — •" It is for thy fake that I go away — for thee, whom I have fecn daily kovvecl down to the ground, laboring to fup- port two infirm families, If I have embraced

54 PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

this opportunity of acquiring wealth 3 it is on* ly to return, a thoufand fold, the gccd which thou hall done to us all. Can there be a for tune worthy of thy friendfnip ? Why men tion thy birth to-me ? Ah ! were it even pel* ilble that another brother inould be offered to (me, could I choofe any but ihee ? Oh, Paul I Paul ! thou art far dearer to me than a broth er. What a ftruggle hath it coft me to keep thee at a diftance ? I even wifhed thee to ailift me in feparating me from myfelf, till Heaven could blefs our union. Put row, I remain ! I depart ! I live ! I die ! Do what thou wilt with me : Oh, irrefolute girl that I sm ! I had fortitude to repel thy careflcs, but thy forrow quite overpowers me."

At thfi£ words, Paul took her in his arms, and holding her clofely embraced, exclaimed writh a terrible voice : " I am refolved to go with her, nor fhall any thing fhake rny reio- lution." We immediately flew toward him, and Madame de la Tcur addrefled him in thefe words : " My fcn,fhould yougoawray> what is to become of us ?"

He repeated thefe words, fiiuddcrirg : My fon ! my fon I — "Doft thov/' cried he, "a& the part of a mother, thcu, who feparateft brother and frfter ? We both were nourifhtd by thy milk ; we both were nurfed upon thy knees ; from thec? tco, we learned to love each other ; we have faid fo to each other a

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 5tf

thoufand times ; yet, now, you are going to. •emove her from me ; you are not only fend- ng her to Europe, that barbarous country which denied thyfelf ihelter, but even to; hole cruel relations who abandoned you. — t may fay to me, you have no authority 5ver her, fhe is not your filler. Yes, (he is -very thing to me, my riches, my family, my )irth, my all ; I know no other bl effing ; we were brought up under the fame roof, we -epofed in the fame cradle, and the fame grave fliail contain us. If i'he goes, I am •efolved to follow. The Governor will pre- 'eat roe ! Can he prevent me from thro wing nvfelf into the fea ? I will fwim after her ; the lea cannot be more fatal to me than the dry land. As I cannot live near her, I fhall, ,t lead) have the fatisfa&ion of dying before ler eyes, fiir, far from thee. Barbarous mo ther ! pitilefs woman I Oh, may that ocean, to the perils of which thou art going to ex- :>ofe her, never give her back to thy arms ! M.iy theie billows bear my body back to thee, me! c:i:'ting it, together with her's, on this caufe an eternal melancholy to \ by prefenthig to thy view, the • fate of thy two children. " .efc words, I fei/ed him in my arms, •ceived that dt !pair had overpower- s fparkled ; large drops ran .down his'^mSiimed countenance j

?6 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

his knees trembled, and I felt his heart bent- with redoubled violence, in his burning bo fom.

Virginia, terrified, faid to him : " Gh, my friend, I fwear, by the pleafures of our early age, by thy misfortunes and my own, 2nd by all that ever could unite two unfortunate wretches, that if I remain here, I v/ill only live for thee ; and if I depart, I wiU one day return to be thine. I call you to witnefs, all ye, who have watched over my infant fteps, you, who have the difpofal of my life, and who now behold the tears which I fhed : I fwear it, by the high Heaven, which now hears me ; by that ocean, which I am going to brave : by the air which I breathe, and which, hitherto, I have never polluted with a falfehood."

In like manner as the heat of the fun di£ folves, and precipitates, an icy rock from the fummit of the Appenines, fo did the impetu ous rage of this young man fubfide, at the voice of the beloved object. His lofty head drooped down, and a torrent of tears gufbcd from his eyes. His mother, mingling her own tears with his, held him, locked in her arms, without the power of utterance. Ma dame de la Tour, quite diflracled, faid to me : " I can contain myfelf no longer : my fcul is torn with contending pafilons. This un fortunate voyage fliall nQt take place. Eo*

PAUt AND VIRGINIA.

my dear neighbour, endeavour to my fon to accompany you homexvards ; eight days have elapfed, fmce any of us have en joyed a fingle moment of fleep."

I, accordingly, faid to Paul : " My good friend, your lifter ihall remain with us : to morrow, we will mention the matter to the Governor ; meanwhile, leave your family to repofe, and come and pafs the night at my • habitation. It is late, it is mindight : thfe crofs of the South is direclly over the hori zon."

He allowed rne to conduct him, in {ilence* After a very reitlefs night, he rofe at day- breakj and returned to his own home.

But, wherefore fhould I continue the re« recital of this melancholy flory to you any longer ? There is only one agreeable fide to contemplate in human life. Like the globe on which we revolve, oiir rapid career is on ly that of a day, and part of that day cannot receive illumination, till the other be invclv- td in darknefs.

" Father,'* faid I to him, " I muft entreat you to finilh the account of what you have begun, in a manner fo afFeding. Images of happinefs delight the fancy, but the recital of misfortunes conveys inflruclion to the mind. I am anxious to learn what became of the ua- fcsrtunate Paul/'

The foil object which {truck Paul, on his I

?S PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

return to the plantation, was the negrefs Ma- ry, who mounted on a rock, had her eyes ftedfaftlyfixedonthe main ocean. The moment that he perceived her, he exclaimed : " Where is Virginia ?" Mary turned her head toward her young matter, andlmrit into tears, Paul, in a delirium, turned round, and flew to the port. He there learned, that Virginia had embarked at clay-break, that the vefTel had fet fail immediately, and was now no longer in fight. He dire&ed his fteps back to his place of habitation, and walked up and down.] in profound filence.

Although this enclofure of rocks appears almoft perpendicular behind us, thofe green flats, which divide their heights, are fo many ftages, by which you arrive, by means of fome intricate paths, at the foot of that in clining, and inacceffible cone of rocks, which is called The Thumb. At the bottom oi this rock, is an efplanade, covered with great trees, but fo lofty, and fo ileep that they ap pear like a large foreft in the air, furrounded with fearful precipices. The clouds, which the furamit of the Thumb attracts continual- ly around it, inceflantly feed feveral cafcades of water, which are precipitated to fuch a depth into the bottom of the valley, fituated at the back of this mountain, that when you are at its top, you no longer hear the noife of their fall. From this pUce, a great part of

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. $?

the ifland is perceptible, and the peaks of feveral of its mountains ; among others, thofe of Piterboth, and of the Three Paps, and their vallies, covered with forefts ; then, the open fen, and the ifland of Bourbon, which is forty leagues to the We ft ward. From this elevation, Paul perceived the ve/Tel, which bore away Virginia. He defcried it at more than ten leagues diftance, like a black fpeck, in the middle of the vaft ocean. He fpent a confiderable part of the day in contemplat ing it, and though it had actually difappear- ed from his fight, he ftill imagined that he perceived it j and when he had entirely loft it in the thick vapor of the horizon, he feat* ed himfelf in this defolate fpot, always agi tated by the winds, which blow inceflantly on the tops of the palm-trees, and of the ta- tamaques. Their loud and hollow murmurs referable the deep tones of an organ, and in- fpire a profound melancholy.

There, I found Paul, his head leaning a* gainfl the rock, and his eyes rivetted to the ground. I had been feeking him fmce fun- rife, and it was with much difficulty, that I could prevail on him to defcend, and re-vifit his family. At length, however, I brought him back to his habitation ; but the moment he cad his eyes on Madame de la Tour, he began to reproach her bitterly, for having fo

I 2

loo PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

cruelly deceived him. She informed us, that a breeze having fprung up, about three in the morning, and the veilel being in full trim to depart, die Governor, attended by his prin cipal officers, and the miffionary, came, in a palanquin, to carry off Virginia, ; and, in ipite of her expoilulations, her tears, and, thofe of Margaret, all ef them exclaiming, that it was for their intereft, had hurried a- ivay her daughter, who was almoft expiring, " Alas I" exclajmed Paul, " if I had only enjoyed the fatisfaftion of bidding her fare well, I fhould now be happy. I would have faid to her ; Virginia, if, during the time that we have lived together) I have made ufe of any one word, which may have given you offence, tell me, that I have your forgivenefs, before we part for ever, I would have faid \ Since Fate has decreed an eternal feparation, adieu, my dear Virginia, adieu ; may you live, far from hence, contented, and happy." perceiving Madame de la Tour, and his mo ther, to weep. " Go," faid he to them '* go, and feek foine other hand than mine to wipe away your tears." He then haftened from them, fighing deeply, and wandered here and there, through the plantation. He went over all thofe places, which had been the moft favorite retreats of Virginia. He faid to her

foats, and the kids, which followed him, lea.ti.ng : " What do you afk of me ? Alas !

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. ibi

you will never more fee, in my company* that perfon whofe hand ufed to feed you."— -» He then wandered to Virginia's Reft, and, at the fight of the birds, which fluttered around him, he exclaimed : " Unhappy fongfters ! no longer will you fly to meet her, from whom you received your nourifliment." Perceiving Fidele following the fcent, up and down, and ranging around, he fighed, and faid to him : " Alas ! thou wilt never find her more ! " At length, he went, and feated himfelf on the rock, where he had fpoken to her the evening before ; and at the fight of the fea, Xvhere he had perceived the veilel dif* appear, he wept bitterly.

We followed him, however, ftep by ftep, fearing left the agitation of his mind fhould take fome fatal turn. His mother, and Ma dame de la Tour, entreated him, by the moft tender appellations, not to aggravate their affliction, by his defpair. At length, the lat ter calmed him, in fome degree, by laviining upon him the names, which were mo.ft calcu lated to revive his hopes. She called him her fon, her dear fon, her fcn-in-law,- the only perfon on wrhom fhe intended to beftow her daughter. She, at length, perfuaded him to return to the houfe, and take fome ncurifh- ment. He feated himfelf at table, with us, near the fpot where the companion of his in fancy ufed to place herfelf ; and, as if (he had 1 3

so:, PAUL AND VIROINIA,

ftill occupied it, he addrefTed hirnfelf to her* and tendered that food, which he knew was moil agreeable to hers but, perceiving his error, he btirft into tears. For ibme days following, he collected every thing, which (lie *yas accuftomed to keep, for her particular ufe ; the lad nofegay which fhe had worn, and a cup made of the cocoa-nut, out of which ihe ufually drank ; and, as if theie relics of his friend had been the mo ft pre cious treafures in the world, he kifled them, and put them in his bofom. The amber gris does not ih.ed fo fweet a perfume, as thofe things which have been touched by a beloved object.

But Paul, at length, perceiving that his, dejeclion only augmented that of his mother, and of Madame cle la Tour, and iikewife ob- ferving, that the necefilties of the family call ed for continual labor, he began, with Do mingo's help, to repair the garden.

In a fhort time this young man, before as indifferent as a Creole about what was pai- fing in the world, entreated me to teach him to read and to write, that he might be able to keep up a correfpondence with Virginia. — He, afterwards, feemed eager to be inftructed in geography ; in order to form an idea of the country whither fhe was fleering ; and In hiilory, that he might learn, what were th£ ziunnprs of the people, among whom (he

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. i^

was going to live. Thus did he attain to perfection in agriculture, and in the art cf diipofing in order the nioft irregular {pot of ground, merely by the fentiment of Icve, Doubtlefs, it is to the delights of this ardent, and reftlefs paflion, that men mud afcribe the origin of the generality of arts and fcienccs ; and, it is from its privations, that philofcphy derives its birth, which teaches us to confole ourfelves for every lofs. Thus, nature, hav ing made love the bond of union to all cre ated beings, has rendered it the grand moving principle of fcdety, and the principal fource of our illuminations, and of our pleasures. Paul did not greatly relifh the ftudy of geography, which, inflead of unfolding the nature of each country, only prefents its po litical divifions. Hiftory, and efpecially. mod ern hi (lory, did not intereft him much more. It only prefented to his mind, general and periodical misfortunes, the reafon of which it was impoilible for him to penetrate ; wars without a caufe, and. with no object in view ; contemptible intrigues ; nations deilitute of character, and fovereigns without a principle of humanity. He even preferred, to fueh reading, that of romance, which, having only in view the feelings and the interefU of man,. fometimes difplayed fitu:nlons iimiiar to his own. Accordingly,, no book delighted him fo much as Telemaclms, from "./the pidures

*04 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

which it delineates of a country life, and of the paffionsj which are natural to the human heart. He read to his mother, and to Ma dame de la Tour, thofe pailages, which af fected him the moft ; at times, mournful re collections linking his mind, he loft the pow er of utterance, 2nd tears gufhed from his eyes. He thought he could trace the digni ty and the wifdom of Antiope, together with the misfortunes and the tendernefs of Eiicharis, in his beloved Virginia. On the other hand, he was quite fhocked at reading our falhionable romances, fo full of licentious maxims and manners ; and when he under- ftood that thefe romances difplayed a real picture of European nations, he feared, and not without rcafon, that Virginia might be there corrupted, and caft him from her re membrance.

In truth, near two years had elapfed, be fore Madame de la Tour heard any intelli gence of her aunt, or of her daughter : fhe had only been informed, by the report cf a itranger, that the latter had arrived fafely in France. At length, however, flie receiv ed, by a veiTel on her way to India, a packet together with a letter, in Virginia's own hand writing ; and, notwi thftanding the circum- fpcction of her amiab le and gentle daughter, fhe apprehended her very unhappy. This ktter ib well depicted her fituation, and her

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 10$

chiracler, that I have retained it in my mem ory, almoft word for word :

** My dear and mush-loved I&otlert

" I have already written to you feveral let* ters in my own hand ; but, as I have receiv ed no anfwer, I mult fufpect that they have never reached you. I hope this will be more fortunate, both from the precaution which I have taken, to fend you news of myielf^ and to receive your's in return.

" Many tears have I ihed fince our fepa- ration, I, who fcarcely ever before wept, ex cept at the misfortunes of another! On my Arrival, my grand-aunt was much furprifed, when, on queftioning me concerning my at tainments, I informed her, that I could nei ther read or write. She afked me what I had been doing, then, fince I came into the world ; and when I told her, that my whole ftudy had been the care of a family, and obedience to you, fhe replied, that I had received the edu cation of a menial fervant* The day fol lowing, fke placed me, as a boarder, in a large convent, near Paris, where I had maf- tcrs of every d.efcription ; among other things, they inftrufted me in hitlory, in ge ography, in grammar, in mathematics, and in horfemanfhip ; but my inclination for all thefe fciences was fo faint, that I profiled very

io6 frAXJL AND VIRGINIA.

little by the lefTons of thofe gentlemen. I' feel that I am a poor creature, and of little fpirit, as they interpret the word here. My aunt's kindnefs, however, does not diminifh; (he is continually giving me new dreffes, ac cording to the feafon : I have two women to attend Jne, who are habited as elegantly as ladies of quality. She has, likewife, made toe aflurne the title of Countefs, but , has ob liged me to relinquilh the name of La Tour, which was as dear to me as to yourfelf, from the troubles which, you have told me, my poor father underwent, to obtain you in marriage. She has fubftituted your family name m its place, which I likewife efteem, bccaufe it was your's, when a girl. As (he hasraifed me to a fituation fo exalted, I en treated her to fend you feme fupply : how can I repeat her aniVer ? You, however, have always commanded me to fpeak the truth ; this, 'then, was her reply, that a fmall mat ter would be' of no Jufe to you ; and that, in the fitnple ftyle of life, which you lead, a great deal would only embarrafs you.

" At firft, I attempted to communicate to you tidings of my fitnation, by the hand of another, as I was incapable of writing my- felf ; but, not" being able to find, fince my ar rival here, a ilngle perfon, on whofe fidelity 1 could rely, ! applied myfelf, night and <iay, to the means of learning how to md

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 107

and write ; and, by the afllftance of Heaven> I accomplifhed this in a very little time. I cntrulled the ladies, who attend me, with the diipatch of my former letters, but I have reafon to fufpeft, that they delivered thern to, my grand-aunt. On the prefent occaiion, I have had recourfe to one of my friends, who is a fellow-boarder ; and under her addrefs, which I have fubjoined, I muft beg you to convey £n aafwer. My grand-aunt has pro* hibited all foreign correfpondence, which might, as {he alleges, oppofe infurmountable obftacles to the fplendid views, which (he en* tertaifis with regard ,to me. The only per* foil, bends herfelf, who vifits me at the grate, is an old nobleman of her acquaintance, who, fhe informs me, has taken a great liking to my perfon. To fay the truth, I have not the leaft for him, even were it poffible I fliould conceive a partiality for any one whatever.

" I live in the rnidft of gaudy wealth, and have not the difpofal of a fingle farthing. They tell me, that if I had the command of money, it might lead to dangerous confe- quences. My very gowns are the property of my waiting- women, who are dilputlng which fhall have them, even before I have left them off myfelf. Tn the very bofom of riches, I am much poorer than when I was with yon, for I have nothing to give away, When?I found that the many^magaifigent ac-

rcg PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

complifhrnents which. I was defined tone- quire, were not to procure me the power of doing the fmallell good, I had recourfe to my needle, in the ufe of \Thich, by good for tune, you had inilrufted me. I, accordingly $ fend you ibme pairs of Mockings, of my own manufa&ure, for yourfelf, and iny mama Mar garet ; a cap for Domingo, and one of my red handkerchiefs for Mary: I en dole you, likewife, in this packet, the kernels of the fruits of 'which our deferts are compofed, to gether wSththefeeds of all kinds of trees, which I gathered, during my hours of recreation, in the garden of the convent. To thefe I al- fo add, the feeds of the violet, the daify, the butter-flower, the poppy, the blue-bottle and the fcabious, which I have picked up in the fields, In the meadows of this country, the flowers are far more beautiful than in ours, but no one pays any regard to them. I am very well allured, that you, and my mama Margaret, will be much better pleafed with this hag of feeds, than with a bag of piaf- tres, which was the caufe of cur reparation, md of the tears, which I have fince fhed. I lhall feel the greateft pleafure, if, one day, you have the fatisfaclion of feeing apple-trees growing befide our bananas, and beach-trees mixing their foliage with that of the cocoas : you will fancy yourfeif in Normandy agaify •which you itill love fo much.

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, 109

" You enjoin me to communicate to you my joy, and my forrows : joy, I can never experi ence. when at a diflance from you ; and as for my forrows, I foothe them by reflecting, that I am in a fltuation where you thought proper to place me, in obedience to the will of Heaven. My moil: cruel mortification is, that not a flngle perfon here mentions your name to me, and, that I am not allowed to talk of you to any one. My waiting women, or rather thofe of my grand- aunt, for they are her's, more than mine, tell me, when I attempt to converfe about thofe objects which are fodear to me : Madam, remember that you are now a French- worn an, and, that you muft forget the country of favages. Ah ! I fhall foon- er forget myfeif, than forget the place where I was born, and where you itill live ! It is the country where I am, which, to me, 18 the coun try of favages, for I live alone, without a {in gle perfon to whom I can communicate that love for you, which I iliall carry with me to the grave.

" Dear and much-loved mother, I remain your obedient and afteftionate daughter.

" VIRGINIA DE LA TOUR.'*

" I recommend to your kindeft regards, Ma ry and Domingo, who took fuch care of my in fancy : ftroke Fidele for me, who found me a- gain, when I was loft in the woods." . Paul wag much furprifed that Virginia had K

no ?AUL AND VIRGINIA.

not made the leafl mention of him ; {He, who hac not even forgotten the houfc-dog : he was en tirely ignorant, that, be the letter of a female a: long as k may, the ^onderc idea always comes ii laft.

In a poftfcript, Virginia particularly recona- mended to Paul, two kinds of feeds, thofe of th< violet and the icabious. She gave him form information refpedting the characters of theft plants, and about the places in which it was mofl piv.per to fow them. The violet^ rhe told him, produced a fmall flower, of a deep blue hue, which delights to hide itfelf under the bufnes, but is foon difcovered by its delicious perfume, She dcfired him to plant it on the brink of the fountain, at the foot of the cccca-trce. " The fcabious," added fne, " l>eirs a pretty flower oi a rau1 Mue, and its bottom is black, iiUerfperfec with whiic ipots. One would think it to be in mourning : it is likewiie, for this very rcafcn, called ihe widow's flower. It ftouriflies belt in p!ace> ru^<cd, and agitated by the winds." She rec]ue.l'.:d him to fow it on the rock, where fhc h:-ia tn.ked witli him, by night, for the lafi. time, r.-' i :o %\\r-2 that rock, for her, lake, the name of •Rock Fare^dl.

She had er.clofed thefe feeds, in a little purfe, the embroidery of which was very iirriplc, but which appeared ineif.inia.ble to Paul, when he perceived a P and a V interwoven in it, and formed of hair, which he kr/uw, by its beauty, to ba that of Virginia.

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. lit

The letter of this fenflble and virtuous young ady, drew tears from the whole family. Ker nother replied in the name of the whole focie- :y, ddrnng her either to remain, or return, as he thought beft; but alluring her, that they had ill loit the grcatell portion of their happinefs ince her departure, and that, for herfelf in par- icular, (lie was quite inconiblable.

Paul wrote her a very long letter, in which le aifured her, that he would render the garden worthy to receive her; and, in like manner as lie had interwoven their names in hef purie, fo would he mingle the plants of Europe 'with hofe of Africa. He fent her feme of the fruit >f the cocoa-trees of her fountain, now arrived >o perfect maturity. He added, that he would lot fend her any of the other feeds of the iilaiid, n order that the defire of feeing its productions once more might determine her to return thith er immediately. He importuned her to do this without delay, and thus gratify the ardent w: fli es of their family, and his cwn more particul arly, as, henceforward, he could taftenojoy at a di fiance from her.

Paul planted, with the greateil care, tkefe European grains, and above all, thofe of the violet and of the fcabious, the flowers of which feemed to have feme analogy with the character and the fituation of Virginia, who had fo par ticularly recommended them to him : but wheth er they had been corrupted oa their pailage, or

K. 3

m PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

whether, which is more probable, the climate oi that part of Africa was not favorable to them, only a very fmall number of them fprung, and even thefe never attained to a ftate of perfection. Envy, meanwhile, which frequently even out runs the happinefs of man, efpecially in the French colonies, foon circulated reports all over the ifiand, which gave Paul the greatefc uneafi- nefs. The people, belonging to the veflel which had brought Virginia's letter, afferted, that flic tvas on the point of marriage ; they went fo far as to name the nobleman who was to obtain her hand ; nay, fome even declared, that the affair; xvas over, and that they had been witnerTes of it. Paul, at firft, defpifed thefe rumors, conveyed by a trading veffel, 'which often brings falfe reports from the places which it touches^at on its paf- fage : but, as many of the inhabitants of the ifland, from a perfidious pity, officioully inter- pofed to condole with him on this event, he be gan to give fome credit to it. Befide, in iome of the romances which he had read, he faw treachery treated with pleafantry, and, as he I fcnew that thefe books exhibited a faithful pic- i tureof the manners of Europe, he was appre-i henfive that the daughter of Madame de la Tour might have become corrupted, and have forgotten her earlier engagements. The light which he had acquired, made him anticipate mifery, and, what gave a finifh to his fufpicions was, that feveral European vefels had arrived

la

PAUL AND VIRGINIA lij

within the year, without bringing any news whatever of Virginia.

That unfortunate young man, abandoned to all the agitations of a heart in love, came fre quently to fee me, in order to confirm, or to diffipate, his uneafmefs, by my experience of the world.

I live, as I have told you, about a league and a half from hence, on the bank of a ihiall river, which flows by the Long Mountain. There, I pals my life in folitude, without a wife, without children, and without Haves.

Next to the rare felicity of finding a female partner perfectly fuited to a man, the leaft un happy fituation m life is that of living alone. Every one, who has had much reaibn to com plain of mankind, fecks for folitude. Nay, it is very remarkable, that all nations rendered mi£- erable by their opinions, their manners, or by their governments, have produced numerous clalfes of citizens, entirely devoted to ibiitude and to celibacy. Such were the Egyptians in their decline, and the Greeks 'of the Lower Em pire ; and fuch c.rc, in our days, the Indians, the? Chinefe, the modern Greeks, the Italians, and the greater! part of the Eaftern and Southern nations of Europe. Solitude, in feme degree, brings rncin back to his natural iiate of happi- nefs, by removing the misfortunes oi focial life* In the midft of our focicties, torn afunder by fo many prejudices, the foul is in a itate of per- K 3

114 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

petual agitation ; it is continually revoking, j within itielf, a thoufand turbulent and contra dictory opinions, by which the members of an ambitious and ,miferable fociety are aiming at ttiutual fabje&ion ; but, in folitude, it laysafide thofe extraneous illufipns which difturb h, a.nd refumes the fimple icntiment of itfelf, of nat-ire, and of its Author. Thus, the muddy wafer, of a torrent, which lays wade the country, fpreading itfelf into fome little bafon, remote from its current, finks the miry particles to the bottom of its bed, recovers its former limpid- nefs, a::d having again become tranfparent, re flects, with its own banks, the verdure of the earth and the light of the heavens.

Solitude reftoresthe harmony of the body, as well as that of the foul. It is among folitary clalTes of people, that we find perfons, who live to the greatell age, as among thv Bramins of In dia. In fhort, I believe it ib necoflary to hap- pinefs, even in the commerce of the world, that I conceive it inipoiTiblc to tafce a durable pleaf- ure in it, be the ilv.tim-rit v/aat it may, or, to regulate our ccnducl: by any eftablifhed princi ple, unlefs we form an internal iclitude, from v/hich our own opinion felrlom takes its depar ture, and into which, that cf another never entei s. I do not, however, mea ; bat r: is the

duty of man to V/ by; Ms

neceifities, he is united tp the i/ice;

he, for that reafon? owes hio labor to mankind,

PATH, AND VIRGINIA-. 115

but he owes himjelf, likewife, to the reft of na- :ure. As GOD has given, to each of us, organs jxaclly fuited to the elements of the globe, on

ich we live, feet to the foil, lungs to the air, ryes to the light* without the power of inter- hanging the ufe of thefe fenfes. He, who is the nithor of life, has refer ved for himfelf alone, Che heart, which is the principal organ.

I pafs my days, then, remote from man, irhom I have wifhed to ferve, and who have re paid me with perfecution. After having trav elled over a great part of Europe, and feve- -al regions of America, and of Africa, I am \ow fettled in this iflarid, fo poorly inhabited, educed by the mildnefs of the air, and by its enchanting folitudes. A cottage, which I have >uilt in the foreft at the foot of a tree, a little field, cleared for cultivation by my own hands, ind a river which flows before my door, are ful ly adequate to all my wants, and all my pleaf- ures. I add to thefe enjoyments, a few good books, which teach me to become better : they even make the world, which I have quitted, ft ill contribute to my happinefs, by prefenting me with pictures of thofe paflions which render its inhabitants fo miferable ; and by the compari- fan which I make between their condition and my own, they procure for me a negative felicity. Like a man faved from fhipwreck. feated on a rock, I contemplate in my folitude, the ftorms which are raging in the reft of the world ; nay,

jl6 PAUL AKif VIRGINIA,

my tranquillity is increafed by the fury of thei diftant tempeit,. Since men (land no longer in my way, and fmce I am no longer in their's, I have ceafed to hate, and now I pity them. If I meet with any unfortunate wretch, I try to affifl htm by my counfels : as one, palling along the briuk of a torrent, ftretches out his hand to an unhappy creature drowning in it. I, how- ever, have found innocence alone attentive to my voice. Nature, to no purpofe, allures to herfelf the reft of mankind ; each one forms, in his mind, an image of her which he invefls with his own paffions. He purfues, through the whole of life, the vain phantom which (till mif- leads him ; and he then complains to Heaven of the illufion, which he had practiced upon him-* felf. Among ft a great number of unfortunate wretches, whom I have fometimes endeavoured to bring back to nature, I have not found a 1m- ?le one, who was not intoxicated with his own miferies. They liilened to me, at firft, with at tention, in hopes that I was going to auift th-in in acquiring either glory or fortune, but per ceiving that I only meant to teach them to do without thefe things, they looked upon me my- felf as a miferable wretch, becauic 1 did not pyrfue their wretched felicity : they condemned thefolitary flv tf : which I led, pretended that they alone v:rc \:fefal to mankind, and en deavoured to draw me into their vortex. But, though my heart is -open to all the world, m/.

PAUL A*?D VIRGINIA: xir

©pinions are biafled by no one. I frequently find enough -within my own bread to make me ferve as a lellbn to myielf* In my prefent calm, I make a fecond pafiage through the agitations of my own paft life, which I once prized fo highly ; the protections, the fortune, the repu tation, the pleafures, and the opinions, which maintain aconftant conflict, all the world over. I compare thofe fucceffive tribes of men, whom I have feen, contending with fo much fury, a- bout mere chimeras, and who are now no more, to the little waves of my rivulet, which, foam ing, daih themfelves againft the rocks of its bed, and then difappear, never more to return. For my own part, I quietly .commit myielf to the river of time, to be borne down toward the ocean of futurity, which is circumfcribed with no fliores, and, by contemplating the actual har monies of nature, I raife myfelf toward its Au thor, and thus confole myfelf, with the expec tation of a deftiny more happy, in the world to come.

Although the multiplicity of objects, which, from this elevation, now flrike our view, are not perceptible from my hermitage, which is fittiated in the centre of a foreft, ftill the har monies of that fp,ot are very interesting, efpe- cially for a man, who, like me, prefers retiring into hhnfelf, to ranging abroad. The river, ?,vhich flows before my door, paffes in a ftraight line, acrofs the woods, fo that my eye is ilruck

l*a PAUL AMD VIRGINIA,

with a long canal, overload owed with tr of variegated foliage ; tatamaques, the ebo ny-tree, and what is here called apple-wood, olive-wood, and the cinnamon ; groves cf paJm* trees, here and there, ntife their long and naked columns, more than a hundred feet high ; on their tops clutters of palms grow, while the/ appear like one foreft piled above another,—* There are, likewife, lianes of diiferent colored leaves, and which, iliooting their branches from one tree to another, form, here, arcades of flow ers, and there, long feftoons of verdure. Aro matic odours ifTue from moft of thefe trees, and their perfumes attach themfelves ib ftrongly to the very clothes, that the fmell adheres to a per* fon, who has croiTed the foreft, for feveral hours afterwards. In the feafon, when their flowers are in full bloom, you would think them half covered with fnow. At the end of the fum- mer, feveral kinds of foreign birds come, by an unaccountable iniiincT:, from unknown regions, beyond the boundlefs ocean, to pick up the feed* of the vegetables which this iiland produces, and oppofe the brilliancy of their colors to the Verdure of the trees, embrowned by the fun. Among others, different kinds of paroquets, and blue pigeons, which are here called the pigeons of Holland. Monkeys, the domeftlcated inhab itants of thefe forefts, amufe themfelves among the dulky branches, from which they detach themfelves by their grey and greeniih hair, with

FAUL AND VIRGINIA. 119

their faces entirely black ; fome fufpend theni- felves by the tail, balancing themfelves in the air ; others leap from branch to branch, carry ing their young on$s in their arms. Never has the murderous fufil feared thefe peaceful chiU dren of nature. Here, nothing is heard but founds of joy, the unknown warblings and the chirping of fome of the Southern birds, which repeat the echoes of thcfe foreHs from afar. The driver, which flows bubbling over a rocky bed, through the trees, reflects, here and there, in its limpid Dream, their venerable mailes of verdure and of fbade, as well as the gambols of the hap py inhabitants : about a thoufand paces from hence, it precipitates itfelf down different flories of the rock, and forms, in its fall, a fmooth iheet of water, as clear as cryftal, which rolling down, breaks itielf amidft billows of foam. A thoufand confufed noiies proceed from thefe tu multuous waters, and when difperfed by the winds of the fore ft, they -fome times fly to a dif- tance, and fometimes they rufh on the ear, all at once, and produce a {tunning found, like that of the bells of a cathedral. The air, continual ly refrefhed by the motion of this ftream, keeps up, upon the banks of the river, notwithiland- ing the burning heats of fummer, a verdure, and a ccolnefs, which is feldom found in this ifland, even on the mountain tops.

At forne diitance from thence, there is a rock, remote enough from the -cafcade> jx> prevent

120 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

your being deafened with the noife of its wa ters, and yet Efficiently near for you to enjoy the fight of their fall, their frefhnefs, and their murmuring. During the «xceffive heats, Ma dame de la Tour, Margaret, Virginia, Paul and I, fometimes dined under the fhacle of this rock. As Virginia always employed her mi nuted actions for the benefit of others, (he never ate a fruit in the country without planting its feed, or its kernel, in the earth. " Trees," faid ihe, " will fpring from thefe, which may, one day, give their fruits to fome traveller, or, at leaft, to fome bird." Accordingly, once when fhe had been eating part of a papaya, at. the foot of this rock, Ihe planted the feeds of that fruit ; there foon afterwards, feveral papayas grew up, among which was a female plant, that is, one which bears fruit. This tree, at Virginia's de parture, was not fo high as her knee, but, as its growth is very rapid, it attained, three years af ter, to the height of twenty feet, and the higher part of its trunk was furrounded with feveral rows of ripe fruit. Paul, having, by chance, wandered to this place, was greatly delighted at feeing iuch a large tree, grovm from a feed, which he had feen planted by the hand of his friend ; but, at. the lame' time, he funk into a profound melancholy, on observing this teftfe mony of her long abfence. By objects, which we habitually behold, we are unable to perceive with what rapidity -our life paffes away ; theft

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. X2I

*

as well as ourfelves, grow old, with an imper ceptible decay : but thofe, which we fuddenly fee again, after feveral years abfence, admonifli us of the fwiftnefs with which the ftream of our cUys flows on. Paul was as much furprifed, and as forrowful, at the fight of this large pa* paya, loaded with fruit, as a traveller is, who, on his return to his native country, after a long abfence, finds thofe who were his contemporaries to be no more, and fees their children, whom he had left at the breaft, themfelves become fathers of families. Sometimes he was going to cut it down, as it made him too fcnfible of the length of time winch had elapfed fince Virginia's de parture ; at other times, confidering it as a mo nument of her beneficence, he killed its trunk, and addrefTed to it thefe words, dictated by love 3ind regret : " Oh, tree, whofe pofterity ftill ex- ids, in our woods, I view thee with more con cern and veneration, than the triumphal arches of the Romans i May nature, which is daily destroying the monuments of the ambition of king?,' multiply, in thefe forefts, thofe of the be- sieiicenee of a young and unfortunate girl."

It was at the foot of this papaya-tree, that I \vas certain of feeing Paul, whenever he came to ray habitation, f , one day, found him there, plunged in melancholy, and T held a converfa- ticn with him, which I will repeat to you, unlefs 1 lire you by my long digremons ; they howe ver, arc pardonable in a perfon, of iny age, and

*i* PAUL AN* VIRGINIA.

more fc, as they KaVe a reference to 1717 lafl friendfhips. I will relate it, in form of a dia logue, that you may judge of the excellent nat ural fcnfe of this young man, and it will be eafy for you- to difcover who is die fpeaker, by the meaning of his queiUons, and by the anfwers.

He &id to me :

" I am very low fpirited. Mademoifclic de la Tour has been gone thefe three years and a half ; and for a year and a half pad, *he has not fent us any news of herfelf. She is rich, and I am poor : (he has certainly forgotten me. My inclination prompts me ftrongly to embark ior France ; I will enter into the fervice of the king; I will make a fortune, and the grand-aunt of Mademoifelle de la Tour will give me her niece Jn marriage, when I fliall have become a great Lord."

Old Man. " My good friend, have you not told me, that your birth is ignoble I"

Paul. " So my mother has told me : for my own part, I do not fo much as know the mean ing of the word, birth. I never difcovered that I was more deficient there than another, or that any other peribn poiTeifed it more than I do."

Old Man* " Deficiency in birth will, in France, effectually exclude you from any diftinguiihed employment ; what is more, no corps of any diibnclion will admit you."

Paul* " You have often informed me, that

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. nj

one of the chief caules of the prefent greatnefs of France was, that the lowed fubjecl: might obtain the higheil polls ; and you have given me many initances of celebrated men, who, riling from a low condition, had done honor to their country. Do you mean to damp my courage ?"

Old Man. " My fon, nothing is farther from my intention : I told you the truth, bur it re lated to times pall. The face cf affairs, in France, is, at prefent, greatly altered ; every thing there is now become venal ; all is the he reditary property of a fmall number of families, or is divided among incorporated afibciations. The king is a luminary, furrounded by the no bility, and by different corps, as by fo many- clouds, and it is hardly poilible that one of his rays fhould fall upon you. Formerly, in an admintftnuion lefs complicated, fuch phenomena were to be feen. Then, talents and merit were difciofed on every fide, like as frefh grounds, which have juft been cleared, are productive with all their rich juices. But great kings, who know mankind, and how to make choice among them, are very rare. Kings, in general, allow themielves to be bialfed by the grandees, and ailbciations which furround them."

Pt::iL " But probably I fliall find one of thofe great men, who will take me under his protection."

Old Man. " The protection of the great3 i$

114 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

to be obtained only by ferving either their a tion or their pleafure. You can never fucceed with them, ior your birth js mean, ana your probity is untainted."

Paid. " But I will perform actions fo daring, I will keep my promifes fo inviolate, I will ib punctually fulfil the duties of ray fitiia-Jo*,i, I will be fo zealous and fo conilant in my friend- fliips, as to merit adoption from fome of them, which I have feen frequently to be the cafe, in thofe ancient hLftorieswhich you gave me to read.37

Old Man. " Ah, my good friend ! among the Greeks and Romans, even in their decline, the higher orders of men always paid refpc-cl to virtue ; we have &ad, indeed, a great ni::i:bv,: cf celebrated perlbnages, of all defcriptions, dart ing up from among the common people, but I do not know of a fmgle one vho has been adopt ed into a family of rank. But for our kings, virtue would, in France, be condemned to eter nal plebeianifm. As I have often told you, they fometimes honor virtue when they, perceive it ; but in the prefent day, the diftinction which, in juftice, fhould obtain, is to be purchafed on ly vith money."

Paul. " In cafe, then, I do not procure fup- pcrt from the great, I will endeavour to render jnyfelf ufeful to fome corps. I will adept its fpirit, and its opinions, entirely ; I 'will make tnyfelf beloved."

Old Man. " You \vill acl, then, like other

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. *i$

men I you will facrifice your integrity to pur- chafe fortune 2"

PattL " Oh, no ! the fearch of truth fliall be ray only aim."

Old Man. " Inftead of making yourfelf be* loved, you will, moft probably, expofe yourfelf to hutred. Befid^, incorporated aiTociations in- tereft themfelves very little in the difcovery of truth. To the ambitious, every opinion is in- different, provided they domineer."

Paul. " How unfortunate am I \ I am di£ couraged on every fide. I am doomed to pafs my life in labci and obfcurity, far from Vir ginia," And he heaved a deep figh.

Old Man. c< Let the Almighty be your only patron, and the human race your corps ; be firmly attached both to the one and to the other* Families, aifociations, nations, and kings, have their prejudices and paiHons, and vice is often requisite, in order to ferve them as they defire. But to ferve GOD and the human race, we have occaflon to excrcife virtue only.

" But, why do you wifh to be diiKnguifhed from the reft of mankind ? It js an unnatural fentimcjnt, for if it v.-ere uniyeriai, every man ^oald be at war with his neighbour. Satisfy year ( elf with fulfilling the duties of that ftation^ :a which Providence has placed you : rejoice in your dcftiny, which allows you to IT tain tain your integrity pure, and does not oblige you, ir* imlrjitiou of the great, to place your happi* L 3

126 PAUL AND VIRRGINIA.

ncfs in the opinion of the lower ranks ; nor, in imitation of the lower, to cringe to their fupe- riors, in order to procure the means of fubfift- ence. You are in a country, and in a iltuation, where you can find a living, without any occa- ilon either to deceive, to flatter,, or to debate yourielf, as the generality of thofe arc obliged to do, who purfue fortune in Europe ; in a iitua- tion, v/here your condition does not prohibit your exercifing any virtue: v/here you can, v/ith impunity, be good, faithful, fmcere, intelligent, patient, temperate, chafle, indulgent, pious : and where no malignant fneer will intcrpofe to blaft your wifdom, which is Hill only in the bud. Heaven has beftowed on you, liberty, health, a good confcience, and friends : Kings, whofe fa vor you are fo ambitious of obtaining, are not near fo happy."

Paul. "Alas! Virginia is flill wanting to jne ; without her, I have nothing ; with her, I fhould pofTefs every thing. She, alone, is my birth, my glory, and niy fortune : but her aunt muft, no doubt, have beftowed her, in marri age, on a man of high reputation ! By means of books and ftudy, however, men may become learned and celebrated : I will acquire knowl edge, by dint of intenfe application : I will ren der a ufeful fervice to my country, by my fu- perior illumination, and will neither offend any one, nor be dependent on him : my fame will be illuftrious, and the glory which I may obtain be entirely my own,"

PAUL AKB VIRGINIA. l*r

Old Man. " My fon, talents are dill more rare than either birth or riches ; and doubtleis, they are the moil invaluable po/Teffions., became no thing can deprive us of them, and becaufe they- univerfally conciliate public edeem. But they :oii a man dear ; they are to be obtained only t>y privations of every kind ; by an exquiiite fenfibility, which renders us unhappy, both at home and abroad, by the perfecution of our contemporaries. In France, the lawyer does not envy the gicry of the foldier, nor the foldier that of the failor, but every body will thwart you there, becaufe every body piques himfelf on his underftanding. You will ferve man kind, fay you ? But the perfon, who produces them a {ingle fheaf of corn from the ground > does them a far more profitable fervice than he who gives them a book."

Pad. " Oh S (he who planted this papaya has given the inhabitants of thefe foreifo, a much more uiefui and delightful prefent, than if fhe had given them a library :" and as he fpake,, he took the tree in his arms, anA .kiflfed it with tranfport.

Old Man. " The bed book that ever was. written, which inculcates only the doctrines of friendfhip, equality, humanity, and concord, namely, the Gofpel, has ferved, for many ages, paft, as a pretext for the ravages of European cruelty. How many public and private tyran nies are daily practifed on the earth, in its name \

t& PAUL Afcfc VIRGINIA,

After that, who can flatter himfelf with the hope of being ufeful to mankind by a book ? Call to mind what has beenthefateofntoftofthofs philofophers, who preached up wifdom lo man. Homer, who clothed it in verfes fo beautiful, was reduced to beg his bread all his life long. Socrates, who gave to the Athenians fuch ex cellent leflbns of it, both by his difcourfes and by his manners, was condemned by them to fwal- low poifon, conformably to the fentence of a court of juftice. His fublime difciple, Plato, was doomed to flavery, by order of the very prince, who protected him ; and, before their time, Pythagoras, who extended his humanity even to the brute creation, was burned alive by the Crotonians : what do I fay ? The greateft part of thefe illuftrious names have descended to us, disfigured by fome traits of fatire, which characterize them : for, human ingratitude de lights to lay hold on thefe : if however, among the crowd, the glory of any hath reached our ears pure and untainted, they are thofe, who have lived fir fern the fociety of their contem- poraries ; like tnbfe ftatues, which are extracted entire, out of the fields of Greece and Italy, and which, by being buried in the bofora. of the earth, have efcaped the fury of -the barbarians.

" You fee, then, that, in order to acquire the tempeftuous glory of literary fame, it is nece£ fary to exercife much virtue, and to be ready to facrifice life itfelf, Befides, do you imagine, that

PAUL AND VIRGINIA 1*9

this 'glory interefts wealthy people in France J They greatly carefs literary men, whofe learning does not raife them to any dignity in their country, or to any fituation under government, nor procure the-m admiffion at court. Perfecu- tion is little pra&ifed in this age, fo indifferent to every thing except fortune and pleafure ; but knowledge and virtue feldoni raife a perfon, there, to a diftinguifhed rank, becaufe every thing in the ftate is to be procured with money, Formerly, thefe qualities were fure of meeting a recompenfe, by places either in the church, in the magiftracy, or in the adminiftration ; but, at prefent, they are good only for making books. This fruit, however, fo little prized by the men of the world, is ever worthy of its celeftial origin. It is to thefe very books, that the honor is refer- ved of beftowing luftre on obfcure virtue, of ^con- fcling the unfortunate, of enlightening nations, and of declaring the truth, even to kings. It is undoubtedly, the mod facred office with which Heaven can invefl a mortal on this earth. Where is the man, who has it not in his power to confole himfelf for the injuftice, or the contempt, of thole, who have the difpofal of fortune, when he reflects, that his work will be handed down from age to age, from nation to nation, and will ferve as a barrier againft error and tyranny ; and that, from the boforn of obfcurity, in which he has lived, a glory may iflue, which (hall eclipfe that of the greateft part of Kings., whofe

130 PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

uments fink into oblivion, in fpite of the flat terers who reared, and who extol them ?"

Paul. " Ah! I fliould covet this glory, only to diffufe its luflre over Virginia, and to render her dear 10 all the world. But you, who have fo much experience, tell me, whether we fball ever marry ? I wiih to be a fcholar, at leaft to know what J am to expect in future,"

Old Man. " Who would wifti to live, my fon, if he knew what was to befal him hereafter I A tingle forcfeen calamity occajQons a thousand vain anxieties : the certain profpcct of a heavy affliction would embitter all the days which might precede it. Indeed, it is not proper to inquire too deeply, even into furrounding ob jects ; Heaven, which beftcws reflection upon us, in order that we may forefee our nee t {Titles, has alfo given us nectffities, to jfet bounds to Our reflection."

Paul. You tell me, that, in Europe, dignities and honors are to be purchafed with money. I will go and acquire wealth in Bengal, and then direct my courfe toward Paris, and efpoufe Vir ginia. I will go and e-mbark immediately."

Old Man. " How ! will you leave her mother and your own ?"

Paul. " Why, you yourfclf advifed me to go to India."

Old Man. "When I gave you that advice, Virginia was here. But, at prefent, ycu ars the only fupport of your mothers."

PAUL ANB VIRGINIA.

Paul. i; Virginia will fend them the means fuhfidence from the bounty of her rich re

lation,

Old Man. " Rich people aflift thofe only who Jjay homage to them in the world. They have relations much rotfre to be pitied, than Madame de la Tour, and who, for want of fupport from them facrifice their liberty for the fake of bread, and pals their lives (hut up in a convent."

Paul. " What a dreadful country Europe is ! Oh i Virginia muft return hither. What oc- cafion has the for a rich relation ? How happy ine once was, under thefe lowly roofs, how beautiful, and how charming, when her head *MS adorned with a red handkerchief, or a wreath of flowers. Oh, Virginia, return, leave thy palaces and thy greatnefs ; return to thefe rocks, to the ihade of thefe woods, and to our cocoa-trees, Alas ! perhaps at this very mo ment, thou art mifer-able." - Saying this, he burft into tears- « Father," cried he, « con ceal nothing from me ; if you are unable to tell me whether I fhall ever marry Virginia, inform me, at leaft, whether fhe ft ill loves me, though furrounded by great men, who ulk to the king, and who vifit her ?"

Old Man. " Yes, my frknd. I am convinced, by many reafons, that (he loves you, but prin cipally by this, that ihe is virtuous.'5 At thefe words, he clafped me round the neck, trunfport- cd with joy.

»3i PAUL AN& VIRGINIA.

Paul " But do you believe European worn* «tt to be fo inconftant, as they are reprefented on the flage, and in thofe books, which you have lent me ?"

Old Man. " In thofe countries where men tyrannize, the women are always inconftant.-— Violence ever produces deceit."

Paul. " How is it poffible for a man to ex- ercife tyranny over a woman ?"

Old Man. " By forcing women into mar riage, without any regard to their own inclina tions ; a young girl to an old man, a woman of feeling to a man of infenfibility."

Paul. " Why do they not rather unite thofe together, who are more fuitable to each other ; the young with the young, and lovers with thofe on whom their affections are fixed ?"

Old Man. " The reafon is, that, in France, the generality of young men have not fufficient fortune to enable them to marry, and that they feldom acquire a competency till they are ad vanced in years. In their youth, they feduce the wives of their neighbours, and, when old, they are unable to fecure the affections of their own wives. When young, they deceive others, and when old, are, in their turn, deceived them- feives. It is one of the re-actions of that uni-i verfal juftice which governs the world : in it, one excefs always balances another. I'hus, moil! Europeans pafs their lives in a twofold diforder,:i and this disorder is inaeafcd in a focicty, pro-

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. i^

pbrtionably as riches are accumulated on a Imallcr number of individuals. The ftate re- fembles a garden, in which fir. all trees are una ble to arrive at perfection, if others too great overiliadow them ; but there is this manifeil difference, that the beauty of a garden may re- fult from a fmalJ number of large trees, but the profperity of a flate ever depends on the multi tude and equality of the fubjecls, and not on a fznall number, who monopolize its wealth."

Paul* " But why is want of money a hin drance to marriage ?"

Old Man. " Becaufe after a man has enter ed into that ftate, he wilnes to pafs his days in abundancej without the necefiity of laboring."

Paul. " And why not labor ? I myfelf work ; hard."

Old Man. " The reafon is, that, in Europe, manual labor is deemed dishonorable. It is there called mechanical labor : nay, that of cul tivating the ground is efteemed the moft defpica- ble of all. There the artlfan holds a far higher rank than the peafant."

Paul. " How ! the art, which fupplies man with food, defpifed in Europe ! I do not under- dand you."

Old Man. " Oh ! it is impofTible for a man educated in a ft ate of nature, to comprehend the depravity of a ilate of fociety. Though fuch a one is able to form, in his own mind, an exact idea of order, he cannot form one of dif- M

|J4 PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

erder. Beauty, virtue, and happinefs, have propartions ; deformity', vice, and mifery, have none."

Paul. " The rich, then, are very happy ; no obftacles lie in their way ; and on the objects of their love, they can beftow pleafures without end."

Old Man. " They are, for the mod part, in- fenfible to any pleafure, becaufe the attainment of it cofts them no trouble. Does not experi ence teach you, that the enjoyment of repofe is purchafed by fatigue ; that of eating, by hun ger ; that of drinking, by thirft ? In like man ner, that of loving, and of being beloved, is only to be obtained by a multitude of priva tions and facrifices. Their wealth deprives rich people of all thefe pleafures, by outrunning their necefllties. Add, befides, to the difguft, which always follows fatiety, that pride, which fprings from their opulence, and which the lead priva tion wounds, even wlien the greateft enjoyments have ceafed to flatter it. The perfume of a thoufand rofes only pleafes for a fmgle moment ; but the pain inflicted by one of their thorns, la/Is a long time after the wound is received. To the rich, one misfortune, in the midft. of ma ny enjoyments, is a thorn furrounded by flow ers ; but, on the contrary, to the poor, one pleaf ure, in the middle of many calamities, is a flower furrounded on every fide by thorns.-— They find a poignant relifh in their enjoyments.

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. *jj

Every effect is heightened by its contraft ; na- ture has balanced all things equally. Every thing confidered then, which ftate do you con* ceive to be preferable, that of having nothing to hope for, and all to fear, or, that of having nothing to fear, and every thing to hope for ? The firft of thefe ftates is that cf the rich \ the fee- ond, that of the poor, Thefe extremes, how* ever, are equally difficult to be fupported by man, whofe happinefs confifts in mediocrity and virtue."

Paid. " What do you underftand by the word virtue ?"

Old Man. " My fon, you who fupport your parents by the labor of your hands, have no occafion for a definition of it. Virtue is an ef fort made upon ourfelves, for the good of oth ers, in the view of pleafing GOD only."

Paul. " Oh, how virtuous then is Virginia ! Virtue was her aim, when fhe wifhed to become rich, in order that fhe might exercife benefi cence 5 virtue made her leave this ifland, and virtue will reflore her to us." The idea of her fpcedy return, kindling the young man's ima gination, all his difquietude vanifhed in an in- ftant. Virginia had not written, becaufe fhe was on the point of returning in perfon : fo lit tle time was necefTary to return from Europe, with a fair wind* He enumerated inftances of vefTels, which had made this voyage, of more than four thoufand five hundred leagues, in Jefs M z

Jj6 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

than three months. The vefTel in which fte had embarked would not take more than two, The builders of the prefent day were fo fld!ful, and the mariners fo alert. He talked of the ar rangements which he would make for her re ception 5 of the new habitation, which he in tended to build ; and of the pleafures and the agreeable furprife which he would contrive for her every day, when (he became his wife— his wife,— The idea ravifhed his fenfes. " As for you/ father," faid he to me, « you, in future, fnail do nothing but enjoy yourfelf. Virginia poifeiTes wealth, and we can purchafe plenty of ..negroes, who will work for you. You iliall be y/ith qs always, and nothing fhall employ your mind, but amufement and pleafure." Imme diately, he flew, like one di drafted, to commu nicate to his family the joy with which he him- felf -was intoxicated.

Exceffive fears foon fucceed the mod fan- guine h.&pes. Violent paffions always plunge the foul into contrary extremes. Frequently, on the morrow, Paul came to fee me, overwhelm ed with grief. He faid to me, " Virginia has not written to me : had fhe left Europe, flie would certainly have informed us of it. Ah I the reports which have been fpread concerning her, are but too well founded : her aunt has certainly married her to fome nobleman. The love of wealth has corrupted her, as is the cafe V'ith fo many others. In thofe books, which

PAUL A*D VIRGINIA. 137

fo well defcribe the character of the female fex, virtue is merely a fubject for romance* Had Virginia poffefTed virtue, flie would not have quitted her own mother and me. "While I pafs my life, with my thoughts entirely fixed on her, fhe has caft me from her remembrance. I am tormenting myfelf, and fhe is loft in diffipation* Ah ! that thought plunges me into defpair.*— All labor difguits me, and fociety is a burthen* Would to GOD, that War would break out in India, that I might haften thither, and throw Jnyfelf into the jaws of death."

" My fon," replied I, " that courage which makes us rufh on to meet death, is the courage of only a fmgle moment* It is often excited by the vain applaufe of man. There is a fpecies of courage more rare, and ftill more neceflaryi which enables us daily to fupport the misfor tunes of life, without a witnefs, and without praife ; what I mean is patience* It refts not on the opinion of another, nor on the impulfe of our own pafHons, but on the will of GOD* Fatience is the courage of virtue."

" Ah ! then," cried he, " I have no virtue ! Every thing overwhelms me, and finks me into defpair." " Virtue," replied I, " always equal, conilant, and invariable, is not the portion of mankind. In die conflict of fo many paffions, by which we are agitated, our reafon is troubled and obfcured ; but there are Pharofes by which ve can rekindle the flame j I meanf letters, M 3

j^g PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

" Letters, my fon, are an aftiilance fent to us from heaven. They are rays of that wifdom, which governs the univerfe, and which man, inspired by a celeftial art, has learned to eftab- lifh upon this earth. Like the rays of the fun, they enlighten, they comfort, they warm*: it is a flame altogether divine. Like fire, they di rect all nature to our ufe. By means of them, we unite around us, men and things, times and places. By them, we feel ourfelves recalled to the rules of human life. They calm the paf- fions ; they reprefs vice ; they roufe virtue, by the facred example of thofe great men, whom they celebrate, and whofe honored images they habitually prefent to us, crowned with refpect. They are the daughters of heaven, who defcend to earth, in order to foothe the misfortunes of the human race. The great writers, whom they infpire, have always appeared in times the mpft difficult for human fociety to fabfift, the times ef barbarifm and of depravity. My dear fen, letters have afforded confolation to an infinite number of men, far more miferable than you are ; Xenophou, baniilied from his country, af ter having brought back to it ten thoufand Greeks ; Scipio Africanus, exhaufted .with die relentlefs calumny of the Roman people ; Lu- cullus, fickened with their cabals ; and Cati- nat, ftung with the ingratitude of a French Court. The ingenious Greeks afllgi/jJ the Several governmeuts of our various h^

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, 139

powers to- the fever <;I Mufes, who pr elide over letters : we ought, therefore, to refign to them the government of our pa£ions, in order that they maydued and curb them. They ought, with regard to rhe faculties of the foul, to per form the iani'. functions with the Hours, which •- I ana glided '.hehorfes of the fun.

"" Apply yci:rfe!f, then, my ion, to the Rudy of books. TLoie wife men. who have writ-en before us, arc Lra/velleiSj who have preceded us 1 paths of calamity, who ftretch out the hand toward us, and incite us to join their io- dety? when every body elfe has abandoned us, A good book is a good friend.''

" Ah !" cried Paul, " I hud n ; occafion to know how to read, when Virginia w#s I1 :re ; flie had fcudied no more than I had done, but when (he looked upon me, calling me her friend, it was impoffible for me to know what forrow meant/'

" Doubi-kfs," faid I to huru ^ there can be . nad ib agrees!- "

Lil. There is

^jr, her countenance: are

•"ons of confidence^

enedby her joy r What

,ed, when ihe fmik-s'r

l ter tears I Virgiiiia will

' .fophy, than yon poffefs ;

140 PAUL AN» VIRGINIA,

flie will be greatly furprifed at not finding

tardcn entirely reftored, ihe, whole thoughts are xed on embellifhing it, in fpite cf the perfecu* lions of her relation/ while far from her mother, and from you."

The idea of the approaching return of Vir ginia renovated the courage of Paul, and brought him back to his rural occupations. Hap py in the miciit of his perturbation, in propefing to his exertion?, an end congenial to his pre» dominant padion*

One morning, at day-break, it was the 24th cf December, 1752, Paul, on fifing, perceived a white flag hung out on Mount Difccvery.— • This flag was the figr-al that a veffel was defcri- ed at lea* He immediately flew to the city, in order to learn if it brought atiy intelligence of* Virginia. He remained there till the return of die pilot of the port, who according, to cuftorn, had gone out to reconnoitre her. This man ofd not come back, till the evening. He reported to the Governor, that the veffel which they had hailed was the Saint GeranJ, of about feveu hundred tons burthen, commanded by a captain named M. Aubin ; that flie was four leagues diftant at rnoit, and that Ihe could not come to her moorings, off Port-Louis, till the next day, in the afternoon, if the wind was fair. It was then a dead calm. The pilot then delivered to the Governor the letters, which the veifel had from France. Among others,

PAUL AND VIRGINIA, 141

was one m Virginia's. hand-\vrilfng £ >r Madame da la Tour., Paul fel /.«:•.! it immediately, ancf,

having killed it \vith traniportjhc put; it in las bofom, and flew to the pi ir ration, j\t, foon ( he could perceive tire family, from afar, were wailing his return on Rock- Farewell. raifed the letter into the air. Av;r]?out t]:.e v of uttering a fy 11 able : immediately, •} family ajjem bled round Madame de la Tour tb hear it read.

Virginia informed her mother, that fhe had experienced veryharih treatment from her grand aunt, who had attempted to force her into mar riage, had afterwards, disinherited her, and then turned her away, at a time which would not permit her to arrive at the lile of France, till the hurricane feafon : 'that 'fhe had, to no pur- pofe, endeavoured to foften her, by re^refeJltlng \vhat Hie owed to her itidtner, and to the cor.- neftions of Her early life ; that fne had beer. treated by her, as a girl \vhofe head was turn ed with reading romances | that3 at prefent, her only wifh was once more to fee and embrace her dear family, and that ihe would have gratified this ardent wifh that very day, if the captain would have allowed her to embark in the pilot- boat, but that he had oppofed her departure, on account of the diftance of the fhore, and oi a heavy fwell atfea,in the ofnng, notwithiland ing the ftillnefs of the wind.

S . . - , this letter read, than the whole

*4* PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

family, transported with joy, cried out : " Vir< ginia is arrived.'' Matters and fervants em. braced each other by turns. Madame de la Tour faid to Paul: « My fon, go and inform cur neighbour of Virginia's arrival.7* Domin go immediately ^lighted a flambeau of round* wood, and then, in company with Paul, dire&ed his courfe toward my habitation.

It might be about ten o'clock at night : I had jud extinguifhed my lamp, and had lain down to ileep, when I perceived, through the palifa- does of my cottage, a light in the woods. Soon after, I heard die voice of Paul, calling me by name. I immediately arofe, and was fcarcely dreiled, when Paul, ahnoft diftracled, and breathlds, claiped me round the neck, faying : " Come, come along, Virginia is arrived. Let -ushaften to the port, the veflel will anchor there by day-break/'

We immediately bent our courfe thither. As we were croffing the woods of the Long-Moun tain, and already on the road which leads frox^j .Pamplemouffes to the port, I heard the found of fome one walking behind us. It was a negro hurrying on with the utmoft fpeed. As foon as he had overtaken us, we ailced him whence he came, and whither he was going with fuch expedition ? He replied : « T come from that quarter of the illand, which is called Geld- I)uft, and am difpatchcd to inform the Gover nor, that a veilcl from France has juit call an-

*AUL AN* VIRGINIA, 143

chor under Amber Ifland. She is firing guns, in token of diflreft, for the fea is very boifter- ous." The man, having thus fpoken, immedi ately haftened forwards.

I then faid to Paul : " Let us go toward Gold-Duft, to meet Virginia ; it is only three .eagues from hence." We, accordingly, direct- ed our fteps toward the Northern part of the "fland. The heat was Itiflmg : the moon had aft arifen ; three black circles furrounded her. A frightful darknefs overfpread the whole face of heaven. By the frequent fiaflies of lightning, we difcovered long ftreamcrs of thick clouds, gloomy, and lowering at no great height, piled one above another, toward the middle of the iland, which rufhed from the fea with an amaz ing rapidity, although, on land, not the leail breath of wind was ftirring. Rattening on wards, we thought we heard the roaring of thunder, but, on liftening more attentively,, we difcovered it to be the report of cannon, rever berated by the echoes. The noife of the dirhmt firing, joined to the tempefhtous appearance of the heavens, made me ihudder. I had no doubt but it was a fignal of diitrefs from fome veffel on the point of foundering. About half an lour afterwards the firing ceafed, and this iuence ftruck me as much more awful than the mourn ful founds which had preceded it,

We quickened our pace without faying a ordj or daripg to communicate our uneafinefs

144 PAUL AND VlRGu

to each other. Toward midnight, we arri

in a violent heat, en the -ea ihcre, at the quar ter called Gold-Dufr, The waves daihed them- ielves againft it with a fearful noife. The foam, cf a dazzling whitenefs, and fparkl«ng like firej coveied the rocks and iliores. Notwithstanding lac darkneisj we could diilinguifh, by thofe :; !joric lights, the canoes of the fifhermen, :iy had, long before j drawn a great way be itrand.

At fome diftance from thence, at the entrance of the wood, we defcried a fire, round which feveral of the planters xvere aficmbled. We went thither to reit ourfelves, and to wait for the return of clay. Whilft we fat by the Ere, one of the planters told us, that the preceding afternoon, he hud f^en a veflel at fea, borne tovvctrd the ifland by the currents ; that the fliadcs of night had concealed her from his view, and that two hours after fun-fet, he had heard the iiring of cannon, as a fignal calling f6r afllllar.ce, but that the fea ran fo high, no one would fend out a bpat to her relief : that ibor after, lie could perceive their lanterns lighted up, i;y.d, in that cafe, he was afraid, the veiTel having come fo near the fhore, might have pa£ fed between the main land and tRelittk: I-c of Amber, mistaking the latter for Mire Poir.t:, near which the veilt-lj arriving at IV-il-Louis arc accu. ; that if it were fo, \

hovrcvcr he could net abiblutely afilrm, Uie vd*

AND VIRGINIA *4j

fel mu ft be in the greate.ft danger. Another planter then fpo,';e, and told us, chat he had lev- era! time§ palled through the channel, which, feparates the lile of Amber from the coaic ; that he had founded it, and found that the mooring and anchoring ground were excellent ; and til at die veilel was as fafe there as in the fecure harbour. <c 1 would ri£k my whole fortune in her,3' added he, " and could fleep as foundly as if I were on dry land." A third planter aliened, that it was irnpoiTible fer a vef- fel of that fize to enter the channel, as even boats could with diiSculty navigate it. Ke fiid, that he had ieen her anchor beyond the of Amber, fo that if the breeze ihould fpring up in the, morning, ihe would have it in her power, cither to put to fea again, or to gain the harbour. Other planters delivered various opinions.

Whilft they aver ecHfputing among themfelves, as is very cuucmary wich idle Creoles, Paul and I kept a profound iilence. V/e remained there till peep of dawn, bur, then, there was tco little light in the heavens, to admit of our diilinguifli- ing any object at fea, which, befides,\vas cover ed wiih a thick fog ; we could only defcry to windward, a ctuky cloud, which they told us, was the lile of Amber, fi mated at a quarter of a league's durance from the coaft. We per ceived no cbje^ by this gloomy li^ht, but the point of land where we were, and the peaks c£ N

146 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

fome of .the mountains of the interior of the iiland, appear ing, from time to time, in the midil of the clouds, which floated around them.

About feven in the morning, we heard the found of drums in the woods ; it was the Gov ernor, M. de la Bourdonaye, who came on horfe- back, attended by a detachment of foldiers, arm ed with mufkets, and by a great number of planters and negroes. He drew up the foldiers on the beach, and ordered tfiem to fire a volley. Scarcely had they done fo, when we perceived, on the fea, a flafli of light, almoft immediately iucceded by the report of a cannon. We con cluded that the veflel was at no great diflance from us, and we all flew to that quarter \vhere we had feen her fignal. We then dtfcernsd, through the mift, the hull and fail-yards of a large ve£ iel. We were fo clofe to her, that, notwithftan J- ing the roaring of the fea, we diftinctly heard the boatfwain's whittle, and the voices of failors, who gave three cheers of, Long live the King ; for this is the exclamation of .Frenchmen, whan in extreme danger, as well as amiclit their great- eft rejoicings ; as if they meant to call their Prince to their affiftance, in perilous feafons, or, as if they intended, even then, to declare, that they were ready to rneer cle?.:h fcr his fake.

From the moment' that the Saint Gerand perceived we were within rea^h of givij.- ailiflance, fhe went on firing a gun every ihree minutes* M. de la Bourdonaye ordered

I>AUL ANS VIRGINIA; 147

fires to be kindled, here and there, along the ftrand, and fent to all the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, in queft of provifions, planks, cables, and empty calks. A multitude foon ar rived, accompanied by their negroes, loaded with provifions and cordage, who came from the plantations of Gold-Dull:, the quarter of the Marlh, and from Pvampa-rt River. One of the oldefl of theie planters approached the Govern or, and thus addreiled him : " Sir, deep founds have, all night long, been heard in the ^ moun tain. In the woods, the leaves are violently- agitated, though there is not a breath of wind tin-ring. The fea-birds are flocking, in crowds, to take refuge on the land ; furely, all thefe figns announce the approach of a hurricane." " Well, my friend," replied the Governor, " we are well prepared for it, and furely, the vcflel is fo iikewife."

In truth, the whole appearance of nature prefaced an approaching ternpeft. The clouds which were diilinguifhable in the zenith, were, at their centre, awfully black, and their ^ edges of a copper color. The air refounded with the fcreams of the paiilencu, the frigate, the water- cutter, and a multitude of other fowls, which, notwithstanding the gloom of the atmofphere, flocked -from all points of the horizon, to feek a fhelter in the ifland.

Toward nine o'clock in the morning, fearful nolics were heard from the fea, as if torrents of N 2

Z4* PAUL AN3 VIRGINIA.

water, mingled with t5ie roaring thunder, were ru&ing from the mcuntim tops. The whole company exclaimed: "There's thehumeane!" and, at the fame moment, an awful whirlwind carried off the fog, which overfpread the ICe of Amber, and its channel. The Saint Gerar.d was then plainly defcried, her deck crowded with people, her yards and round-tops lowered, her iiag hoi lled> four cables on her fore caiue, av;d one to keep her fad a-ilern. She had anchored between the Ifle of Amber and the main land, within the fhelvy cnclofure, which furrounds the Ifie of France, and which flie had weather* ed through a channel that no vellei had evtr pa(Ted before. She prefented her bows to the billows, whichrciled onfrom the IT air* ccean ; and at every ftirge, which forced its v/ay into the chan- nel, her prow was elevated to ftich a height, that her keel was perceptible in the air ; but by this motion, her ftern, plnngiBg downv/ard, difappeared from view, to its very carved ucik, as if it had been entirely fwailowed up. In this fituation, in which the winds and the waves were driving her toward the fliore, it was equal ly impoffible to return through the track by which ihe had entered, or, by cutting her cables, to run a-ground upon the fhore, from which Hie was feparatcd by a deep bottom, fown thick with ihelving rocks. Every biiK'/w which broke again it the coafr, rufhedor., roarir^ to the very bottom of the bay, and toiled the pebbles meie

PAUL AND VIRGINIA* ! S49 I

than fifty feet up the fhore : then, retiring back wards, difcovered a great part of its bed, the Hones of which were daihed backward and forward, with a rough and horrible noiie. The fea, fwelled by the winds, increafed every mo ment, and the whole channel between this iiland •• and the Tfle of Amber, appeared to be an in> menfe iheet of white foam, hollowed into deep and duiky waves. This foam collected itfelf at the bottom of the creeks, to the height of more, than fix feet, and the winds, which brufhed a- lonz its furface, carried it beyond the ileep cliffs of the ihore, m%e than half a league into the ifiand. At fight of thefe innumerable white flakes, which were driven in a horizontal direc tion, to the very foot of the mountains, you would have thought that hills of fnow were rulhing from the lea. The horizon prefented every iympton of a lengthened tcmpeft : the heavens and the fea feemed to be confounded in it with each ^ther. There were inceffantly de tached from it clouds of a fearful appearance, which nev7 along the zenith, with the velocity of birds ; whilft others appeared in it irnmoveable- like enormous roc^s. -Not a fingle fpot of.azure was perceptible in the whole firmament ; a pair and olive-colcred glare was all that illuminated the objects on, the earth, on the lea and in the heavens,

Bv the violent Rraixung of the vend, what we feared, at length took place, The cables on her - 3

SAUL ANS VIRGINIA.

bows flapped ; and as fhe then rode by a fin- gle haller, fiie was dallied upon the recks, naif a cable's length from the. fhore. One fcream, of grief burit from every breail* Paul \vas hailening to throw himfelf into the lea, when I feized him by the arm. " My fen," faid I to him, " arc you determined to deftroy your- felf?" "Oh, let me go to her affiirance/' cried he, " or let me die ! " As defpair had overpow ered his reafon, Domingo and I, in order to prevent his deftrudtion, tied round his middle a long cord, one of the extremi tie scf which we held fail. Paul then advanced toward the Saint Gerund, fome times fwiinmmg, fomedmcs walking on the {hallows. Sometimes, he had hope of getting on board, for the iea, in thefe irregular movements, left the veflel nearly dry, fo that you might alniod walk round and round her : but preientiy, returning wi:li reno vated fury, it covered her with enormous arehts of water, which carried away the whole fore part of her bottom, and d.iihed the unhappy Paul a great way upon the lliore, his legs bleed- ir,-.;-,his cheilbruifed, and half -drowned. Scarce- i • i s yo u n ^ m an re c c v i 1 '. . u. ' e o f his

:,nc,j, .a araor, toward ch fl p v. men

on panks, en her*.-

coops; on tables, and on caiks. Then, appear-

FAUX, AND VIRGINIA. *jj

cd an objed worthy of regret ; a young lady ivas feen on the item-gallery of the Saint Gc- rand, ftretching cat her arms toward him, who kvas making ib many fruidefs efforts to join her. fet was Virginia. Shefoon difcovered her lover by pis intrepidity. At fight of this amiable girl, espofed to perils fo dreadful, we were over whelmed with forrow and defpair. As for Vir ginia} with a noble and dignified air, ihe waved .ier hand to us, as if to bid us an eternal fare well. The failors had all thrown themfeives aito the ocean. One alone remained oai the Leek, who was entirely naked, and ftrong as a lercules. He approached Virginia refpecl- ully -5 we law him throw himfelr at her knees,

d ever,, endeavour to periuade her to pull off sr clothes ; but Hie, repelling him with dignity, urued her face the other way. The air re- bun Jed with thele xedoiibled cries of the fpec- :ators : u Save her, oh, fave her : do not, do x>t quit her!" But, at the fame moment, a

cuntain of water, of an enormous fize, en- ulphed itftlf between the lile of Amber and lie coail:, and advanced, roaring, toward the refiel, which it menaced with its dufky lidcs and baming fummits. At thjs awful Ipeclacle, the Tailor flung himfelf alone into theiea, and Vir ginia, perceiving death inevitable, placed one land on her clothes, and the other on her learn ; then raifmg her placid eyes toward heav en, fhe feemed an angel, going to take fught toward the ^eleftial regions.

,5* PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

Oh, day of horror ! Alas ! all v/as fwallow- cd up. The forge dafhed far up the fhore, a part of the fpe&ators, whom an emotion of hu manity had prompted to advance toward Vir ginia, as well as the failor, who had attempted to preferve her by fwimming. This man, efcaped from almoil certain death, kneeled down upon the ftrand, faying ; " Oh, my GOD, thou Juift preferved my life ; but I would, have facrificed it, willingly, to lave that of the excellent young > Jady, who with all my perfuailon, would not be ^prevailed on to undrefs herfelf, as I did." Do mingo and I drew out from the waves, the un fortunate Paul, entirely deprived of recollection, whilft the blood gnihed from his mouth and ears, The Governor -put him under the care of fur- geons, 'while we 'travel-fed the fca-fliore to fee whether the billows had not borne the body of Virginia thither ; but the v/ind having fudden- ly changed, as is very cuftomary in the cafe of hurricanes, we had the mortification of reflect ing, that we fhould net have it in our power to render to this unfortunate girl even the rites of fepulture. We haftened from the fpot, over- whelmed with forrow, our minds entirely en- groficd with the lofs of only one perfon, in a fnipwreck, \vhere fo many had periled ; the greater part doubting, from an end fo diiai>rous, kefav man of fuch exalted vir

tue icnce exiiled at ail ; for

^p^n *- -:readful, and fo ui,

PAUL ANP VIRGINIA.

that the confidence, even of the wifsft, is frequently daggered.

Meanwhile, they had placed Paul, who u ;\y began tQ recover the ufe of his lenles, in an ad joining houfe, till f .1$ fituation permitted him t& be carried to his own home. As for me, 1 was returning with Domingo, in order to prepare Virginia's mother, and her friend, for this ca lamitous event, when, on our arrival at the en trance cf the valley of the river of the Lata* niers; fame negroes informed us that the fea was driving a great deal of the wreck of the veffel up the oppoiite bay. We defcended thither, and one of the firit objects which we deicried upon the fbore, was the body of Virginia. It was half covered with faiid, and in the very at* titude in which xve had feen her perifh. There was no fenfible alteration in her features. Her eyes were clofed, but ierenicy ftil! fat upon her forehead ; only, the pale violet of death blend ed itielf upon her chucks, with the rofesof ' mod- city . One of her hands lay upon her clothes ; the other, which clurg to her heart, v/as firmly clofed and itiiF. I di/cngaged from it with m^ich difficulty, a little cafket ; but how v/as I aiton- edj when I perceived in it, the portrait which Paul had given hesrs and which (lie had promifed him never to part with while fhe lived. At this !aft token of the ccr.ftancy, and the love of this unhappy girl, I wept bitterly* As for Domin- go> beating his breaft, he pierced the air with his -mournful cries* We^ then> carried the bexi/

t£4 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

to a fiflierman's hut, where we gave it in charge to fome poor Malabar women, who waihed it carefully.

' Whilil they were performing this fad office, we afcended, trembling, toward the plantation. We there found Madame de la Tour and Mar garet at prayer, in expectation of news concern- ing the veifel. As foon as the former perceiv ed me, ihe exclaimed : " Where is my daugh ter ? my beloved Virginia ? my child ? As my filence and my tears but too well informed her of the-' calamity which had happened, file was fuddenly feized with a fuifocation, and ago nizing fpafms ; her voice could be diitinguilh- ed only by fig'is and fobbing, Margaret ex claimed : " \Vhere is my fon ? I do not fee my fon ;" and fainted away. We haftened to her, and having brought her to herfelf, I allured her that Paul was alive, and that the Governor had taken proper care of him. She recovered the ufe of her fenfes, only to devote her attention to theafliitance of her friend, who, from time to time, fell into long fainting fits. Madame de la Tour pafled the night in thefe cruel paroxifms, and, by the length of their duration, I have judged that nothing equals the forrow of a mo ther. When Ihe recovered her reafon, fhe fixed her mournful eyes ftedfaftly toward heaven. In vain did Margaret and I prefs her hands be tween our's, in vain did we addrefs her by the moft tender appellations ; to all thefe teltimo- nies of «ur ancient affection, fhe appeared to-

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. XJ5

tally infenfible, and nothing but deep groans proceeded from her oppreffed boibm.

The- next morning, they brought Paul, flretch* ed along in a palanquin* Reafon had refume'd its empire, but his voice was entirely loft. His interview with his mother and Madame de la Tour, which, at firft, I had been apprehenfive of, produced a better effect, than all the care which I had hitherto taken. A ray of comfort beamed on the countenances of thefe two un* happy mothers. They both approached him, clafpedliim in their arms, luffed him ; and thofe tears, which had been, till then, reftrained through excefs of forrow, now began to flow. Paul foon mingled his with their's. Nature, being thus difburdened in thefe three unhappy beings, a languid oppreffion fucceeded to the convul- fions of their grief, and procured for them a lethargic repole, which bore, in truth, a ilrong refemblance to death.

Meanwhile, M. de la Bourdonaye fent a mef- fenger to me privately, informing me? that the .body of Virginia had, by his order, been con veyed to the city, and that from thence* he meant to have it carried to the church of Pam- plemouffes. I immediately went down x- Port* LcuLs, where I found the inhabitants ai bmbled from all parts, to affifl at her funeral, as if the illand had loll:, in her, the moft precious treat* lire which it contained. In the port, the flaps had their fail-yards laid acrofs, their flags half .hoified up* and they were firing minute guns.

l$6 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

The grenadier company opened the funeral pro- ceillon. They carried their arms inverted.—* Their drums, covered with long pieces of crape, emitted only founds of woe : grief fat ftrongly depicted on the countenances of thole warriors, who had a thoufand times braved death in the field, with undaunted courage. Bight young ladies, cf the molt confiderabk rank in the ifiand, clothed in white, and holding palm houghs in their hands, bore the body of their virtuous com panion, ftrcwed over witfHIowers. A choir of little children followed it, chanting hymns: then after them, the officers of higher rank, -and the principal ^habitants of the ifiand, and, lad of all, the Governor himfclf, followed by a crc'.vd of the common people.

Thus fa'r had government Snterpcfed, in or dering thai; feme honors might be rendered to the virtues of "V irglaia. But when the body had arrived at the feet of this mountain, at the? fight of thofe very huts, the happinsft of which fhe had fo long constituted, ar»d which her death had £iled with forrow, the whole funeral ccr- empny was derail p/'d ; thehyivns and chanting ceased ; ncthivg v*;ts now to be heard in the plain, hut fighl and lobs. Crov/ds cf yo-::;g girls, ;-)'jlonv?:aj; to the neighbouring planta tions, haiter.ed to foreaci ever tlio ccliin of Vir ginia, handher chiefs, chapltts, and wreaths cf flowers, i:;vcl;ir.r: h-er, as if fte had been a faint. Mothers prayed Heaven to befcow en tlicra daughters like her ; the young n:en. in:ilrc!k-s as

,

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. *S?

conitant ; the poor, z friend as afrecYionate, and the {laves, a miitrefs as kind.

When they had arrived at the place deflinedl for her interment, the negreffes of Madagafcar, and the Cafres of Mofambique, placed bafeets of fruit around her body, and fufpended pieces of MufF on the neighbouring trees, according to the cullorn of their country. The Indians of Bengal, and thofe of the coaft of Malabar, brought cages of birds, which they fet at liberty over her corpfe ; to fuch a degree does the lofs of a beloved object intereft all nations, and fuch a power does unfortunate virtue pofiefs, feeing it artra&s and unites all religions around its tomb* It was neceiiary to place a guard near her gr;-, re, ;ri order to keep back fome of the daugh* ?>: s .-{ the poor inhabitants, who were rufhing to throw thcmielves into it, declaring, that, in this v/orld, their forrow would admit of no con- foladon, and that nothing now remained for them, but to die with her, who had been their oaly benefaclrds. She was interred near the chr-rch of Pa:nr/icmouiFeR, on its Weftern fide, 31 :• foot of a tuft of bamboos, where, in go- fs vv Ita her mother and Margaret, ihe delighted to repofe, featecl by the fide of him,

fae then ufed to call brother.

returning from the funeral ceremony, M. ..;nayc afcended this mcuntaia, fol- of his numcrotis retinue.— »

ndered to iMadame de la Tour, and her

all the aiTiftance which lay in his power*

9

*58 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

He exprefTed himfelf in" few words, but with great indignation, again ft: her unnatural relation:

approaching Paul, he laid every thing which he thought could have a tendency to confole him. '.' I was anxious to contribute to your hr?pni~ nefs, and that of your family," faid he ; ; ' i [eav- en is the witnefs of my fmcerity. My irJ^ud, you muft go to France ; I will procure you em ployment there. During your abience, I. will take as much eare of your mother, as if fne were my own." At the fame time, he held out his hand to him : but Paul drew back his, and turned his head af:de> that he might not fee him. , As for myfelf, I remained in the dwelling of my unfortunate friends, to admmiiler to them, as well as to Paul, all the affiftance I could. At the end of three weeks, the latter wras able to walk ; but mental deprefiion feemed to increafe, in proportion as his body grew itronger. He was infenfible to every thing ; his looks were languid, and he did not anfwer a fyllable to all the queilions, which were put to him. Ma dame de la Tour, who was in a dying condi tion; frequently faid to him : " My fon, fo long as I fee you, I think I behold my dear Vr ia.JJ At the name of Virginia, he i and baftened from her, in fpite of Ciic of his mother, \vho calledhim back to her friend. He wandered alone to the garden, and feared himfelf at the foot of Virginia's cocoa-tret, v iui his eyes itedfaftly fixed on her fountain. The Governor's iurgeon, v/ho had taken the greatcit

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 155.

care of htm, and of the ladies, told us, that in order to remove the gloomy melancholy, which

had fettled on his mind, we ought to allow him u, Jo every thing that he pleaieci, without con- tradic"ting him in any refpecl ; for this was the only means of vanquilhing that ulence, which he *o obrtinately preierved.

I reiolved to follow his advice. As foon as Paul felt his itrength, in fome degree, reftored, the ilril ufe, which he made of it, was to retire from the plantation.' As I did not wiih to lofe

. of him, I walked behind, and defired Do- ruti\vQ to bring fome provisions, and to accom pany us, In proportion as the young man def- cencied from this mountain, his joy und his Strength feemed to revive. He at firfi bent his eourie toward PamplcmoufTes, and when he had arrived at the church, in the bamboo-alley, he wenc directly to the fpot, where he faw the earth had been newly dug up : There he kneeled down, and railing his eyes to heaven, he offered up a long prayer. This action appeared to me a happy prefage of returning reaibn, as this mark of confidence in the Supreme Being, was a pr:cf that his foul began to refume its natural

ions. Domifrgo and I fell down on our knees alter his exmnple4 and prayed with him., At length he aroie, and walked to the .Northern p .•••-: of the illancL without paying much attert*

,o us. As 1 knew that he v.-as entirely ig*

at;, not- onlv where .the body of Virginia v/.; kpoilied; but alfo, whether or not it had

O 2

J&» PAUL A.VD VIRGINIA.

been fared from the fea, I ailced him, why he had been praying to GOD at the fool of ths bamboos ; lie replied : " We have bcun 'hers together fc 6ften !J>

lie continued his journey to the entrince cf the roreft, where night over-:o,;k as. The)-, i perfuaded him, by m/ e&uftpiet t~ take lorn- nourilhment ; we then refofed cur^lv^ lipoa "the grafs, at the foot of a tree. The ijext c^Y* 1 was in exrcciation, thai he v/ouid direct 'h»i ileps homewards again. In truth, he fixed Ivis eyes, for feme time, from the plain, on the church of Pamplemouifes, with its long rows of bain- boos, and made feme movements to return thi ther ; but he fuddenly bnrkd himielf in the for- ell, always directing his courfc toward the Norili. I penetrated his intention3 and in vain endeav ored to diifuade him from it. We arrived, a- bout mid-day, at the quarter cf Gold-Dull. Ke haftily defcended to the fea-fiiort, exactly cppc- file to the place where the Saint Gerand had periihed. At fight of the liie of Anibc, 1 its channel, ther. as i'mooth as a mirror, he ex claimed : u Virginia ! oh, my be.ovcc3 Vir ia !" and then feel down in a fwnon. Do;-, and I carried him to iho inier-or cf the Irreir, where we brought him to himielf, v.-iih much difficulty. When he had recovered hi? i'erfcs, he was preparh'? to return to the fer.-fh-::re ; but,

, . r * i->,,. . . -r

having entreited nim r.c-t to renew ms own gn« and ours, by fuch cruel rccollcaioris, he took an other road. In fhort, for eight days together, he

PAUt AND VIRGINIA. i6t

rambled to all thofe places which he was accuf> tonied to frequent, with the companion of his infancy. He wandered along the path, through ' which '(he had gone, to afk pardon for the flave of the Black River : he then viiked the borders of die river of the Three Paps, where fne had iat; dawn, when unable to walk any farther, and that part of the wood, in which Hie had been loft. Every place that recalled to his mind, the inquietudes, the fports, the- repafts, and the beneficence of his much-loved Virginia ; the river of the Long-Mountain, my little habita tion, the neighbouring eafcade, the papaya which flic had planted, the, molly ground where ihe delighted to ran, and the crofs paths of the for- ell where (he loved to fmg, each, by turns, cau£- ec! his tears to flow ; the very echoes which B;uJ; fo often repeated the founds of their mutu- :il joy, now refounded with nothing but thefe mounifui cries : " Virginia ! oh, my beloved Virginia ! "

In this wild and wandering way of life, his

rvcs £i\?w hollow, his color faded, and his health?

gradually, but perceptibly, declined. Being

Ly perihadcd that the fentiment of our mif-

: mes is "odoubled by the remembrance of

".vhich we once enjoyed, and that . : ...7 gives an edge to the paffions, I re-

ove my unfortunate friend from ices v ,:.:.h excited tlie recollection of his

'ir/ey him to ibrne part of the ifl- iiv there v;ere obj^s to diffipate bis

03

jr6* TAUL AMD VIRGINIA.

melancholy.. For this purpofe, I -conducted him to the inhabited heights of the quarter of Williams, where be had never been before. . . - grlculture and commerce then fprecui much bin- tic and variety ever this iiland. There were many companies of carpenters, who fquared the trees into logs, and others who were iawi-e :hcm. into planks : carriages came and went along the roads ; large flocks of oxen and horils led la the extenfive pailu-res, and the fields were fill ed with habitations. The elevation of the foil* in feveral places, admitted of the cultivation of many kinds of European vegetables. You might fee, here and there, harveils of corn in the plain, beds of ftrawberries in the openings of the woods, and hedges of rofe-trces along the highway. — The coomefs of the air, by giving tenfion to the nerves, was even favorable to the health of the whites. From thefe heights, fituated in the middle of the iiland, a:,d furrounded with thick woods, you can difcover neither the fea,nor Port- Louis, nor the church cf PamplemcufTeF, nor any thing which could recall to Paul's mind the remembrance of Virginia. The very moun tains, which prcfent dilFerent branches on the fide of Port-Louis, offer nothing to viev/ on the fide of Williams-Plain, but a long promontory, in a ftraight and perpendicular line, out of which many loity pyramids of rocks elevate themfevts, and collect the clouds around their peaks. It was to thefe plains, accordingly, that I Paul- I kept him centirur.tlly in

FAUL- AND VIRGINIA, s£$

a£icn, walking with him, in fun-ihine, and in rain, by day and by night, leading him into the woods, and over the freih ploughed ground, and the fields, iix order to amufe his mind by the fatigue of his body ; and to- deceive his reflec tions by ignorance of the place where we wereft and of the road which wt had left. But the mind of a lover finds, every where, traces o* the beloved obje<5t The night and the day, the calm of fclitude and the noife of habitation* ray, time itfelf, which eraies fo many recolleo tions, brought no relief to his mind, Like the Tieedle, touched by the magnet, which is to no parpofe agitated, for, as ibon as it recovers a itate of re (t, it points to the Pole which attracts it : ib when I a,ikcd Paul, as we wandered a- bou>: in Williams-Plain,," Whither (liall we go now ?*' he turned toward the North, and faid :. 44Thefe are our mountains, let us return thither.'* ivarly perceived, that all the methods, by h I had endeavoured to divert his mind, v/erc ineffectual, and that the only refource now- left, was to attack the paiTion m klclf, by em- plcying, to this purpofe, the whole lirengdi of rny feeble rcafoa. I, accordingly, replied : u '/es, thefe arc the mountains, where your be-, loved Virginia once lived, and there is the porx trali v/hich you gave her, and which, in death, ilie j>re(Ted to her heart, the Lift emotions of which were devoted tO|theje." I then preientc^: to Paul tlie little portrait which he had given Viretniit, on the bi.i.n.k:; of {.he ibautam of the-

1^4 PAUL ANt> VIRGINIA

cocoa-trees. At fight of this, a gloomy joy overfpread his countenance. He eagerly feiz- ed the portrait with his feeble hands, and preiT- ed it to his lips. Immediately, his breaft be came oppreffed, and to his blood-fliot eyes the tears ftarted, but were unable to flow.

I laid to him : u My fon, attend to the words of one who is your friend, who was fo to Vir ginia, and who, in the ardor of your expecta tions, has frequently endeavoured to fortify your reafon againil the unforefeen calamities of human life. What is it you deplore with fo much bitternefs of foul ? Is it the misfortune which has befallen yourfelf ? Is it that which has befallen Virginia ?"

" The misfortune which has befallen ycur- fslf ? Yes, I grant you it has been very fevere. You have loJi the moft amiable of young wo* men, vvh l.ave made the moil virtuous

of wives. She Lad facrificed her own jnterefts to your's, and preferred you to fortune, as the only recompenfe worthy of her virtue. But how do you know, whether the object, from whom you expected happinefs fo pure, miglf i;ot have proved to you the fource of forrcws innumerable ? She was dowerlefs, and dif in herited. You would have had nothing, in fu ture, to iliare with her, but what the labor of your hands produced. Rendered more deli cate by her education, and more courageous by her very misfortunes, you would hav daily fluking uader the v.'eight of the fati|

PAUL Atf» VIRGINIA,

which flie exerted herfelf to divide with you, In the event of bringing you children, her trou bles and your own would have been greatly in- creaicd by the difficulty of fupporting alone, with you, your aged parents, and a growing family.

" You may tell me, the Governor would have afilfted us : but how do you know, wheth er, in a colony which fo often changes its ru lers, you would have always found fuch men as M. de la Bourdonaye ? Whether fome Govern or might not have been fent hither, unpolilhed and unprincipled ? Or, whether your wife, hi order to obtain fome miferable pittance, would not have been obliged to cringe to fuch a man ? Either Ihe would have become frail, and you would have been an objeft of pity, or {he would have maintained her honor, and rnuft have re* mained under the preffure of poverty : happy, if, on account of her beauty and virtue, you had not been pcrfecuted by'thofe very perfon* from whom you folicited protection

" You may lay, I might have enjoyed hap- i,iricfs independent cf fortune, by prote^ing the beloved objedt, who was attached to me^in pro- portion to her very weakness ; by eoniolmg her \\7th my o\vn inquietudes, by making her rejoice cfVen in my dejeaian, and thus caufmg our love toincreaie by our mutual forrows. l^oubtlets, vii-ue and love delieht in thefc bitter pieaiurcs, But ihe is now no more ; there (till remains to. y^u, however, what, next to yourlclf; &P

X66 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

amofl, namely, htf own mother and your'sj whom, by your inconfolable affliction, you are bringing down to the grave. Make it your hap- pincfs to fuecour them, as it was her's. My fon, beneficence is the happinefs of virtue ; there is none greater, or more certain, on the earth. Projects of pleafures, of repofe, of enjoy merits, of abundance, and of glory, are not made for feeble man, who is only a traveller, and a paf- fenger, through this world. Behold, how a fmgle ftep toward fortune has precipitated us from one abyfs into another ! You oppoied it, it is true ; but who of us did not believe, that the voyage of Virginia would terminate in her mvn happinefs, and in your's. The invitations of a rich and old relation ; the advice of a fen* fible Governor ; the approbation of a whole colony ;. the exhortations and the authority of an ecc-lefiaftic, have all concurred in deciding the fate of Virginia, Thus, we rufli on to our own deftrudlion, deceived by the very prudence of thofe who govern us. It would, doubtlefs, have been better not to believe them, nor to trait to the opinions and expectations of a de-* ceitful world. But, after all, of ib many men* whom we fee thus bu'fily employed in thefe plains ; of fo many others, who go in qr,eft of fortune to the Indies, or who, without leaving their own homes, enjoy at their eafe, in Europe, the fruit of the labors of the people here* there is not fo much as one, who is not deltined to lofe, fome day, that which he holds moil dear i

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 16;

greatnefs, fortune, wife, children, friends. The jnoft of them have fuperadded to their lofs, the reflection of their own imprudence. But as for you, when you retire within ycurfelf, you find nothing to reproach yourklf with. You have maintained unfhaken fidelity ; in the flower of youth, you have poflefffcd the prudence of a iiige, in not departing from the fentiment of nature. Your views, alone, were perfectly le gitimate, becaufe they were pure, ilmple, and cti/Intcrefted, and becaufc you had lacred rights- over Virginia, which no fortune could compen sate. You have loft her, and it is neither your I:r. prudence, nor your avarice, nor your falfe IT}, which occafioned that lofs, but Gor> hirnfelf, who has employed the paflions of anoth er, to deprive you of the object of your love ; GOD. from whom you receive every thing, who fees what is proper for you, and whofe wifdom has not left you auy place for that repentance and dcfpair, which ever follow in the train of thoie evils, that we have brought upon ourfelves* <c This is what you can fay to yourfelf, under the pi cflure of your afHiction : I have not mer ited it. Is it, then, the misfortunes of Virgin ia, her end, her prefent condition, that you de plore ? She hasfubniitted to the dedfion referr ed {or birth, for beauty, and even for empires themfeives, The life of man, with all its pro- j-j'i'ts, rears itielf like a tower, to which death applies the fimlhing flroke. The moment ilie was bcrn, ihe was condcmued to die* Happy f

J6S PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

in having reiigned her life before her mother, before yeur's, and before yourfelf ; that is, in not having fuftered many deaths before the final one. " Death, my fon, is a bleding to all mankind. It is the evening of that reillefs day, which we call life. It is in the fleep of death, that the dif- cafes, the griefs, the vexations, and the fears, which incefTantly agitate unhappy mortals, re- pofe for even Examine thofe men, who appear the moft happy, and you will find that they have purchafed their pretended enjoyments very dear ly ; public refpe&ability, by domeftic diflrefles ; fortune by the lofs of health ; the rare pleaiiire of being beloved, by continual facrifices ; and, bften, at the clofe of a life devoted to the interefls of another, they foe nothing around them but falfe friends, and ungrateful relations. But Virginia was happy to the laft moment of her 7s. 5>he was fo, whilit among us, by thofe bleffings which nature beftows ; at a diftance from us, by thofe of virtue : even in that dreadful moment •when we faw her perifh, fhe was ftill happy ; for, whether fhe caft her eyes on a colony, in which i' c was going to caufe univerfal defolation, or upon you, who rufhed, with iuch intrepidity, to :dun,ance, fhe clearly perceived how dear i&e was to us all. She was prepared to meet . it are, by reflecting on the innocence of her p«ift life, and fhe then received the reward, which Heaven- referves far virtue, n courage fMpeylor.. to daner* She cuccuntcred death mth a. ftrcne

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 169

"My fon, the Almighty has decreed, to virtue, the power offupporting all the events of human life, in order to let us fee that it alone can make the proper uie of them, and find in them felicity and glory. When he re- ferves for it an illuftrious reputation, he ele vates it on a great theatre, and fets it a con flicting with death ; then, its courage ferves as an example, and the remembrance of its mis fortunes receives a tribute of tears from pof- tcrity, for ever. This is the immortal monu ment referved for it upon a globe where eve ry thing paifes away, and where even the mem* mory of the generality of of kings is fpeedily buried in eveiiailing oblivion.

" But Viginia exiils ftili. Obferve, my fon, Low every thing on the earth changes, and that nothing is loft : no human fkill can an nihilate the fmalleil particle of matter ; and could that %vhich is rational, fenfible, fufcept- ible of love, virtuous, religious, have periih- -ed, when the elements, with which it was in- voided, are not liable to deftrudticn : Ah ! if Virginia enjoyed happirsefs once in our foci- ety, how much more does fae enjoy now! Ther£ is a GOD, my fon ; all nature announ ces it ; there is no occaiion to prove it to you. Nothing but the wickednefs of men could make them deny a juitice, which they con template with terror. A fentiment of him is in your heart, in like manner as his works are before ycur eyes, Ca,a you bellevej then,

17^ PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

that he will leave Virginia without recom- penfe > Can you believe, that the fame power, which Clothed a foul fo noble, in a form fo beautiful, in which fuch divine {kill was clear ly perceptible, was not able to have faved her from the waves? that he, who has arranged the aaual happinefs of man, by laws of which you are entirely ignorant, could not prepare another for Virginia, bylaws equally unknown to you ? Before we were created, 'if we had poifeifed the faculty of thinking, could we have formed any idea of our future being ? And now that we are in this dark and fugi tive exiftence, can we forefee what is beyond death, by which we muft make our traniition from it ? Has the Almighty occafion, like man, for this little globe of earth, to ferve as the theatre of his wifdom and goodnefs, and is he capable of propagating human life only in the plains of death ? There is not a fingle drop of water in the ocean, but what 'is illed with living creatures, which have all a reference to us ; and docs nothing exift for us, among ail thofe; flars, which revolve over our heads ! What ! is there no Supreme In telligence and Divine Goodnefs, in any fpot but preciiely that where we are ; and in thofe radiant and innumerable globes, in thofe vaft plains of light which fanrouiid them, and which are never obfcurcd by darknefs or tern- p-efl, do you believe; there is nothing but emp ty jPace* and an eternal non^exiftence 1 If

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 171

v/e, who could give nothing to ourfelves, durft fet bounds to that power, from which we have received ever/ thing) we might believe our felves to be flationed here Upon the limits of his empire, where life is ever ftruggling with death, and innocence with tyranny.

" Without doubt, there is fome where a place in which virtue receives its reward. Virginia now is happy. Ah ! if from the abode of angels, Hie could communicate to yquJKer thoughts, fhe would fay, as (he did in her lafl farewell : Oh, Paul, life is only a ftate of probation. I have been found faith ful to the laws of nature, of love, and of vir tue. I crofTed the feas in obedience to my relations ; I renounced riches to preferve my fidelity ; and I have preferred death to the vio lation of modefty. Heaven has decreed, that the career of my earthly exiftencc has been fufficiently filled up. I have, for ever, made my efcape from poverty, from calumny, from tempefts, and from the painful fpeclacle of the woes of others. None of thofe ills, which terrify mankind, can ever, in future, affect me ; and yet you ilill pity me ! I am pure, and unfufceptible of change, as a particle of light ; and you wifli to recall me to the gloomy night of life ! Oh, Paul ! Oh, my friend ! Call to mind thofe days of happinefs, when in the morning, we enjoyed the beauty of the heavens, riling with the fun, on the peaks of thefe rocks, and diffufing itfelf, with its radi*

P 2

*7* PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

ations, over the bofom 'of our forefls. We experienced a felicity, the caufe of \vhich we were unable to comprehend. In our innocent deiires, we wiihed to be all eye, in order to en joy the rich colors of Aurora ; all fmell, to inhale the perfume of our flowers ; all ear, to liften to the warbling of our birds ; all grat itude to acknowledge thefe bleflnigs. Now, at the fource of beauty, whence flows all that is delightful on the earth, my foul immedi ately taftes, hears, touches, what it could then perceive only through feeble organs. Ah ! what language is capable of defcribing thefe regions of an eternal morning, which I in habit for ever. Every thing that Omnipo tence and celeftial Goodnefs could create, in order to adminifter confolation to an unfortu nate being ; all the harmony, which the friend- (hip of an infinite number of beings, partaking of the fame felicity, mingles in our common tranfports, I now experience without alloy. Support thyfelf, then, in thy ftate of proba tion, that thou mayeft increafe the happinefs of thy Virginia, by a love, which knows no bounds, and by a marriage, the torches of which can never be extinguifhed. There I will calm thy forrows ; there, I will wipe a- way thy tears. Oh, my friend ! my young huijband ! elevate thy foul toward infinity, in order to fupport the miferies of a moment/' My own emotion entirely ftifled my voice* As for Paul, regarding me ftedfaftly, }v.

PAUL AND Vl&GlNIA,

t:j aimed : " She is no more ! fhe is no more !" A long, languid oppreflion fucceeded thefe mournful words ; then, returning to himfelf, he faid : " Since death Is a bleffing, and Vir ginia is happy, I will die alfo, that I may si- gain be united to her." Thus the confola- tion which I endeavoured to adminiiter, only ferved to aggravate his defpair. I was like a perfon, who wiflies to fave his friend, wheil finking to the bottom cf a river, without his making any effort to fwifn. Sorrow had en tirely overwhelmed him. Alas ! the misfor tunes of our early age prepare man for entering into life, and Paul had never experienced them.

I conducted him back to his habitation, and I there found his mother, and Madame de la Tour, in a languid ftate, which had greatly incrcafed fmce I left them. Margaret was the moil broken down. Lively characters, over whom flight troubles flide eafily axvay, are die lead able to withftand heavy calamities.

She /aid to me : " Oh* my kind neighbour •

I dreamt to-night that I faw Virginia, cloth-

i white, in the midft of bowers and de-

. -us gardens. She faid to me ; I enjoy a felicity greatly to be envied. Then fhe ap proached Paul, with a joyful air, and carried iiim away with her. As I was endeavouring to retain my fon, I felt as if I was quitting the earth myfelf and that I followed him with a pleafure inexpreffible. Upon that I widied to bid farewell to my friend; but perceived her

174 PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

coining after us, accompanied by Mary and Domingo. But what is.ftill more fmgular, Madame de la Tour has had, this very night, a dream, attended with exactly fimilar cy> cumilances."

I replied : " My friead, I believe that no thing happens in the world, without the per- million of GOD. Dreams ibmetimes announce truth."

Madame de la Tour related to me a dream entirely refembling *this, which fhe had that fame night. I never oUferved that thefe-two ladies were in the lead inclined to fuperftition* I was, therefore, ftruck \vith the co-incidence of their dreams, and I had not the lead, doubt in my own mind, that they would foon be re alized. The opinion that truth is fometimes conveyed to us in ileep, is univerfally propa gated orer all the nations of the earth. The greatefl men of antiquity have adopted it : a- rncng others, Alexander, Caefar, the Scipios, the two Catoes, and Brutus, who were none of them men of weak minds. The Old and New Tefcament luivc luvaahed us with many inftances of dreams which were verified. For nfiy own part, I have no occaiion for any high er proof en the fubjccT: than my ov/n experi ence ; and I have found, mere than once, :haJ: dreams are fomerhnes warnings, which give us informauon very interefting to our- fclves.. But if any pcrfon (hall pretend to at tack, or dc^.nd by argument, things which

PAUL AND VIRGINIA: 'IJS

tranfcend the powers of human underftan cl ing, he undertakes an impoffibility. Howe ver, if, the reafcn of man is only an image of that of the almighty ; fmce man is capable of convey ing his thoughts to the extremities of the world by fecret and concealed means, why fhould not that Intelligence which governs the world, employ fimilar methods in accom- plifliing the fame purpofe ? One friend ccn- ibles another by a letter which travels through a multitude of kingdoms, which circulates amidft the hatred of nations, and communi cates joy and hope to one fingle individual ; Why then may not the Sovereign Protector of innocence come, by fome fecret means, to the relief of a virtuous foul, which .repofes confidence in him alone ? Has he occaiion to employ an exterior fign to execute his will j he, who acls continually, in his all works, by an internal tmpulfe ?

Why, then, doubt the reality of dreams ? Life, rilled with fo many vain and tranikory projccls, what is it but a dream ?

However that mav be, thole of my unfor tunate fii-ndu were icon v^ili/ed, Paul uit-1 two months after his beloved Virginia, whole name he repeated inceilan-tly. Margaret ex pired eight days after her fon, with a joy which it is bellowed only on virtue to tafte . She took moft tender farewell of Madame de la Tour, " in the hope," faid ilie, " of a fweet

i?6 PAUL ANt) VIRGINIA,

and eternal re-union. Death is the greateft of bleffings," added ihe ; " it is highly defirable. If life be a puriifhment, we ought to ^wdfh for

its termination ; if it be a ftate-of probation* we ought to wifh it fLortened."

Government took care of Domingo and Mary, who were no longer in a condition for fervice, and who did not long furvive their ^ miftrefs. As for poor Fidele, he drooped to death nearly about the fame time with his mailer.

I conducted Madame de la Totir to my habitation ; fhe fupported herfelf in the rmdft of loffes fo terrible, with a greatoefs of foul altogether incredible. She adminiftered con- folation to Paul and Margaret to the ven rnoment, as if fhe had no diftrefs but their's to iupport. When they were no more, foe fpoke to me of them every day, as if they had been beloved friends, itill in the neighbourhood, She furvived them, however, only a month, As to her aunt, far from reproaching her with theie misfortunes, Hie prayed GOD to forgive her, and to appeafe the dreadful horrors of mind with which, w* heard, fhe had been feiz- ine had difrniiled Vtr-

This unnatural relation foon raet with the punifliment due to her cruelty. I heard, by the fucceffive arrival of feveral veflels, that ihe was tormented by the vapours, which ren-

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. Z77

dered life and death equally insupportable. Sometimes, ihc reproached herielf with the premature death of her charming grand-niece, and with that of her modie-r, which loon fr.;.~ lowed it. Sometimes, ihe applauded herfcif for having discarded two unhappy wretches, who had difgraced her family by the rvrcnn- nefs of tlieir inclinations. Frequently flylr.g into a pailion at light of the great number of xniierable people, with -which Paris is filled, ihe exclaimed.: " Why do they not fend tlieie idle wretches to perifa in our colonies ?" She added, that the ideas of virtue, of humanity, and of religion, adopted by all nations, were nothing but the political inventions of their princes. Then, iuddenly plunging into the oppofite extreme, fhe abandoned herielf to fu* perftitious terrors, which filled her with mor tal apprehenfions. She ran about, carrying with her vafl fukns, which fhe beitcwed on the rich monks, who were her ghoitly direc tors, and entreated them to appeafe the DEI TY, by the facrince of her fortune ; as if that wealth, which (lie had denied to the mikra- ble, could be acceptable to the Fa'.hcr of mankind ! Her imagination was frequently haunted by deluges of fire, burning moun tains, or hideous fpeclres wandering before her, and calling her by name, with horrible {creams. She threw herielf at the feet cf b«r diredors, and formed, in her own niind>

*?8 PAUL AND VIRGINIA.

tortures and punifliments preparing for her ; .for Heaven, jull Heaven, lends fearful viiions to harrow up ths fouls of the unmerciful.

Thus fhr>, paifed feveral years, by turns an atheiil and a devotee, equally in horror of life and of death. But what terminated an ex igence fo deplorable, was the very thing to \vhich ihe had Sacrificed the fentiments ot na ture. She had the mortification to reflect, that her riches would, after her death, go to relations whom Ihe hated. In order to pre vent this, fhe endeavoured to alienate the greateft part of her fortune ; but tiey avail ing themfelves of the frequent paroxyfms of fpleen to which ihe was fubjecl, had her ihut up as a lunatic, and her eftates put in truft, for her heirs. . Thus, her very riches put the 'finifliing ftroke to her definition ; and as they had hardened the heart of her who poile/Ted them, fo they, in like manner, extinguifhed natural affection in the breafts of thofe who coveted them. She accordingly, died | and, v/hat filled up the meafure of her woe, with P> mTich ufe of her reafon left, as to know that fhe had been plundered and defpifed, by thoie v?rr ^r-rfons whofe opinion had directed her all her life long.

•he fide of Virginia, and at the 'foot of

the fame bamboos, her friend Paul was laid ;

aroniid them, their tender mothers and their

-orvauts.' No marble raifes itfeif o-

PAUL AND VIRGINIA. 179

ver their humble graves ; no engraved ihfcrip* tions, recording their virtues : but their mem ory will never be effaced from the hearts' of thofe, who lay under obligations to them. — - Their ihades have no need of that l.uRrei which they fhunned all their life-time ; but if they ftill .intereft themfelves in what is paf- fmg on the earth, they, doubtleis, delight in wandering under the ftr&w-covered roofs, where induftrious virtue refldes ; in confolmg poverty difcontented with its lot ; in encour aging, in youthful lovers, a Lifting flame, a relifh for the bleffings of nature, a love, of la bor and a dread of riches.

The voice of the people, which is filent refpecting the monuments reared to the glory of kings, has beftowed onfeveral parts of this ifland, names, which will eternalize the lofs of Virginia. You may fee, near the Ifle of Amber, in the middle of the ilielves, a place called, The Saint Gerand's Pafs, from the name of the veifel, which periihed there, in returning from Europe. The extremity of that long point of land, which you fee about three leagues from hence, half-covered with the waves of the lea, which the Saint Gerand could not double, the evening of the hurri cane, in order to make the harbour, is nam ed, Cape Misfortune ; theve, juft before you, at the bottom of this valley, is Tovib-l y/liere the body of Virginia was found, b<.

;3o PAUL AND VIRGINIA,

ed in the fond, as if the fea had intended to bear her back to her family, and to render the laft duties to her modefty, upon the &n:e fhorc.s which fhe had honored with her iniio-

C'J.H'C.

Young prcpl? fo tenderly united ? Unfor tunate mothers ! Dearly beloved family 1 The'c woods, which gave you fhade, thefe fountains, which flowed for you, thefe rocks,, up en \\hich YOU repoied together, ftill lament your lr>fs. , No one. fmce you, has dared to cultivate this defofstte fpot, nor rear again thefe humble cottages. Your goats have become wild ; y<>ur orchards are deftroyed ; your birds have flown away ; nothing is now to be he a? d but the cries of the hawk, flying around the top of this bafon of rocks. For :ny part, iince I behold you no longer, T am like a friend ftripped ot his iriends, like a father who has lo:0: his chi. foe a traveller wander

ing along the eiirth, wheie I remain in gloomy iblitride.

As he littered thefe words, the good old

.nv.in walked away, melting into tears, and

had flowed, more than once, curing this

;