ld man as well as I could. But
childish consolation only made him still more dejected. He became
worse, and felt the approach of his last days. He often looked at me
with concern and care for my future life; and the bitter tear of
hopelessness moistened his eyes. When I saw this I abandoned my
sports; I jumped up to him, for I could not bear to see him weeping; I
clung to his neck, kissed away the tears from his eyelashes, and
exclaimed, sobbing, "Oh! my father, pray do not weep!"

What a happy people might inhabit that country where the fertile soil
yields two harvests yearly to the agriculturist, and olives and grapes
ripen in abundance by the warm rays of the sun! But an oppressed race
of men creeps over this blooming earth. They give the fruits of their
necessity and labour to the gormandising bishops, who promise them, for
the sufferings in this world, the everlasting joys of a future life;
they give their gain to the nobles and princes, who, in return, profess
themselves willing to govern the country with wisdom and goodness. One
banquet at court devours the annual produce of a whole province, wrung
from the lap of the earth with millions of groans, and millions of
drops of sweat.

I had attained my eighteenth year when my father died. It was a serene
evening, and the sun near its setting. My father was sitting before
our cot in the shade of a chesnut tree, he wished once more to enjoy
the sight of a world that had become dear to him amidst all his
sorrows. When I returned home from the fields, I went up to him, and
found him already faint; he clasped me in his arms, and said, "Oh, my
son! I now feel happy. Mine eve is approaching; and I shall go to
rest. But I shall not forget thee. I shall stand before the Almighty
with thy mother; above yonder stars we will pray for thee. Think of
us, and be faithful to virtue even to death! We will pray for thee.
Thou art under the care of the Almighty, therefore weep not. For when
once thou shalt have ended thy day's work thy evening hour will also
strike. Then thou wilt find us yonder, me and thy mother. Oh, Colas,
with what longing we shall await thee there! What a delight it will be
when the three blessed hearts of the parents and the child will again
palpitate against each other before the throne of God!"

The last ray of the sun grew pale on the distant mountain tops; the
world was plunged in a gray twilight. The spirit of my father had
freed itse