Of yon starred concave climbs the full-orbed moon,
And to this nether world in solemn stillness,
Gives sign, that, to the list'ning ear of Heaven
Religion's voice should plead? The very babe
Knows this, and, chance awak'd, his little hands
Lifts to the gods, and on his innocent couch
Calls down a blessing.*
*Caractacus

The midnight chant of the monks soon after dropped into silence; but
Emily remained at the casement, watching the setting moon, and the
valley sinking into deep shade, and willing to prolong her present state
of mind. At length she retired to her mattress, and sunk into tranquil
slumber.

CHAPTER V

While in the rosy vale
Love breath'd his infant sighs, from anguish free.
Thomson

St. Aubert, sufficiently restored by a night's repose to pursue his
journey, set out in the morning, with his family and Valancourt, for
Rousillon, which he hoped to reach before night-fall. The scenes,
through which they now passed, were as wild and romantic, as any they
had yet observed, with this difference, that beauty, every now and then,
softened the landscape into smiles. Little woody recesses appeared among
the mountains, covered with bright verdure and flowers; or a pastoral
valley opened its grassy bosom in the shade of the cliffs, with flocks
and herds loitering along the banks of a rivulet, that refreshed it
with perpetual green. St. Aubert could not repent the having taken this
fatiguing road, though he was this day, also, frequently obliged to
alight, to walk along the rugged precipice, and to climb the steep and
flinty mountain. The wonderful sublimity and variety of the prospects
repaid him for all this, and the enthusiasm, with which they were viewed
by his young companions, heightened his own, and awakened a remembrance
of all the delightful emotions of his early days, when the sublime
charms of nature were first unveiled to him. He found great pleasure in
conversing with Valancourt, and in listening to his ingenuous
remarks. The fire and simplicity of his manners seemed to render him
a characteristic figure in the scenes around them; and St. Aubert
discovered in his sentiments the justness and the dignity of an elevated
mind, unbiased by intercourse with the world. He perceived, that his
opinions were formed, rather than imbibed; were more the result of
thought, than of learning. Of the world he seemed to know nothing; for
he believed well of all mankind, and this opin