he
discovered that the paths were rough; there that the family circle was ill
seated: sometimes the young arbours did not afford sufficient shade, and
Virginia might be better pleased elsewhere.

"In the rainy seasons the two families assembled together in the hut, and
employed themselves in weaving mats of grass, and baskets of bamboo. Rakes,
spades, and hatchets were ranged along the walls in the most perfect order;
and near those instruments of agriculture were placed the productions which
were the fruits of labour: sacks of rice, sheaves of corn, and baskets of
the plantain fruit. Some degree of luxury is usually united with plenty;
and Virginia was taught by her mother and Margaret to prepare sherbet and
cordials from the juice of the sugar-cane, the orange, and the citron.

"When night came, those families supped together by the light of a lamp;
after which, Madame de la Tour or Margaret related histories of travellers
lost during the night in such of the forests of Europe as are infested by
banditti; or told a dismal tale of some shipwrecked vessel, thrown by the
tempest upon the rocks of a desert island. To these recitals their children
listened with eager sensibility, and earnestly begged that Heaven would
grant they might one day have the joy of showing their hospitality towards
such unfortunate persons. At length the two families separated and retired
to rest, impatient to meet again the next morning. Sometimes they were
lulled to repose by the beating rains, which fell in torrents upon the roof
of their cottages; and sometimes by the hollow winds, which brought to
their ear the distant murmur of the waves breaking upon the shore. They
blessed God for their personal safety, of which their feeling became
stronger from the idea of remote danger.

"Madame de la Tour occasionally read aloud some affecting history of the
Old or New Testament. Her auditors reasoned but little upon those sacred
books, for their theology consisted in sentiment, like that of nature: and
their morality in action, like that of the gospel. Those families had no
particular days devoted to pleasure, and others to sadness. Every day was
to them a holiday, and all which surrounded them one holy temple, where
they for ever adored an Infinite Intelligence, the friend of human kind. A
sentiment of confidence in his supreme power filled their minds with
consolation under the past, with fortitude for the present, and with hope
for the future. T