to the trees like those of fauns or dryads. They knew no
other historical epochas than that of the lives of their mothers, no other
chronology than that of their orchards, and no other philosophy than that
of doing good, and resigning themselves to the will of Heaven.

"Thus grew those children of nature. No care had troubled their peace, no
intemperance had corrupted their blood, no misplaced passion had depraved
their hearts. Love, innocence, and piety, possessed their souls; and those
intellectual graces unfolded themselves in their features, their attitudes,
and their motions. Still in the morning of life, they had all its blooming
freshness; and surely such in the garden of Eden appeared our first
parents, when, coming from the hands of God, they first saw, approached,
and conversed together, like brother and sister. Virginia was gentle,
modest, and confiding as Eve; and Paul, like Adam, united the figure of
manhood with the simplicity of a child.

"When alone with Virginia, he has a thousand times told me, he used to say
to her, at his return from labour, 'When I am wearied, the sight of you
refreshes me. If from the summit of the mountain I perceive you below in
the valley, you appear to me in the midst of our orchard like a blushing
rosebud. If you go towards our mother's house, the partridge, when it runs
to meet its young has a shape less beautiful, and a step less light. When I
lose sight of you through the trees, I have no need to see you in order to
find you again. Something of you, I know not how, remains for me in the air
where you have passed, in the grass where you have been seated. When I come
near you, you delight all my senses. The azure of heaven is less charming
than the blue of your eyes, and the song of the amadavid bird less soft
than the sound of your voice. If I only touch you with my finger, my whole
frame trembles with pleasure. Do you remember the day when we crossed over
the great stones of the river of the Three Peaks; I was very much tired
before we reached the bank; but as soon as I had taken you in my arms, I
seemed to have wings like a bird. Tell me by what charm you have so
enchanted me? Is it by your wisdom? Our mothers have more than either of
us. Is it by your caresses? They embrace me much oftener than you. I think
it must be by your goodness. I shall never forget how you walked barefooted
to the Black River, to ask pardon for the poor wandering; slave. Here, my
beloved, take this