habitants; those
churches and their immense domes, have an intimate connection with
religious ideas. I like this splendid homage paid by men to that which
promises them neither fortune nor power--to that which neither punishes
nor rewards them, but by a sentiment of the heart. I then feel more
proud of my being; I recognise something disinterested in man; and were
even religious magnificence multiplied to an extreme, I should love that
prodigality of terrestrial riches for another life, of time for
eternity: enough is provided for the morrow, enough care is taken for
the economy of human affairs. How I love the useless, useless if
existence be only a painful toil for a miserable gain! But if on this
earth we are journeying towards heaven, what can we do better than to
take every means of elevating our soul, that it may feel the infinite,
the invisible, and the eternal, in the midst of all the limits that
surround us?

"Jesus Christ permitted a weak, and perhaps, repentant woman, to anoint
His feet with the most precious perfumes, and repulsed those who advised
that those perfumes should be reserved for a more profitable use. "_Let
her alone_" said He, "_for I am only with you for a short time_." Alas!
all that is good and sublime upon earth is only with us for a short
time; age, infirmity, and death, would soon dry up that drop of dew
which falls from heaven and only rests upon the flowers. Let us then,
dear Oswald, confound everything,--love, religion, genius, the sun, the
perfumes, music, and poetry: atheism only consists in coldness, egotism,
and baseness. Jesus Christ has said: _When two or three are gathered
together in my name, I will be in the midst of them._ And what is it O
God! to be assembled in Thy name, if it be not to enjoy Thy sublime
gifts, and to offer Thee our homage, to thank Thee for that existence
which Thou hast given us; above all, to thank Thee, when a heart, also
created by Thee is perfectly responsive to our own?"

At this moment a celestial inspiration animated the countenance of
Corinne. Oswald could hardly refrain from falling on his knees before
her in the midst of the temple, and was silent for a long time to
indulge in the pleasure of recalling her words and retracing them still
in her looks. At last he set about replying; for he would not abandon a
cause that was dear to him. "Corinne," said he, then, "indulge your
lover with a few words more. His heart is not dry; no, Corinne, believe