mouth of the harbour, the view was lost in the immeasurable expanse of
the ocean.

The splendour of this spectacle dazzled me, and filled me with
melancholy. The shores of my native land seemed to display all their
glory, only to make me feel more vividly what I had lost. All around
breathed joy, I only was for ever joyless, and I saw no limits to my
misery, except on the brink of the distant grave.

I passed the night sleepless; with the early dawn our galley left the
harbour and when the sun arose above the ruddy waves, I lost sight of
Marseilles. I and five other slaves were chained to the oars.

What a fate! To be for ever separated from all the friends and
playmates of my youth,--to be separated alas! from thee, Clementine,
cast from the lap of wealth upon the hard bench, forgotten by all the
happy, dishonoured, and among malefactors, to hear now, instead of
Clementine's delightful conversation, only the curses and ribaldry of
low thieves, murderers, smugglers, and robbers;--to be without books,
without information as to the progress of science, my mind left the
prey of itself, without hope;--to hear the terrible clanking of my
chains instead of the magic of music and Clementine's harp! Surely,
death itself is not so bitter as this dreadful change.

"But I will bear it," said I to myself; "there is a God, and my spirit
knows its divine origin. I have not lost myself. I shall remain
faithful to virtue, and though mistaken by the world, I carry with me
across the sea the esteem which innocent souls feel for themselves. I
have only been compelled to forsake that which was not my own, and what
I suffer is but the pain of a body which hitherto has not been
accustomed to deny itself."

Thus my mind, after one year had passed, obtained the victory; thus did
I live the greater part of my life, joyless, and in solitude. I have
grown old in misfortune, and have never again heard any thing of those
who once loved me. The only cheerful feelings I have had were when, in
my leisure hours, I could write down my thoughts, and look back with
tears on the long passed paradise of my youth. Often during the
monotonous sound of the oars, grief recalled to my mind the visions of
the happy past. Then it seemed as if Clementine floated on the waves
of the sea, and encouraged me with her smiles, like an angel of
consolation. I gazed with moistened eyes at the beloved vision, and
felt all the wounds of my heart again opene