of the most serious occupations is there only interrupted by
perils and death. The sailors, in spite of their rough, hardy manners,
often express themselves with much gentleness, and show a particular
tenderness to women and children when they meet them on board. We are
the more touched with these sentiments, because we know with what
coolness they expose themselves to those terrible dangers of war and the
sea, in the midst of which the presence of man has something of the
supernatural.

Corinne and Lord Nelville returned to the boat which was to bring them
ashore; they beheld the city of Naples, built in the form of an
amphitheatre, as if to take part more commodiously in the festival of
nature; and Corinne, in setting her foot again upon Italian ground,
could not refrain from feeling a sentiment of joy. If Nelville had
suspected this sentiment he would have been hurt at it, and perhaps with
reason; yet he would have been unjust towards Corinne, who loved him
passionately in spite of the painful impression caused by the
remembrance of a country where cruel circumstances had rendered her so
unhappy. Her imagination was lively; there was in her heart a great
capacity for love; but talent, especially in a woman, begets a
disposition to weariness, a want of something to divert the attention,
which the most profound passion cannot make entirely disappear. The idea
of a monotonous life, even in the midst of happiness, makes a mind which
stands in need of variety, to shudder with fear. It is only when there
is little wind in the sails, that we can keep close to shore; but the
imagination roves at large, although affection be constant; it is so, at
least, till the moment when misfortune makes every inconsistency
disappear, and leaves but one thought and one grief in the mind.

Oswald attributed the reverie of Corinne solely to the embarrassment
into which she had been thrown by hearing herself called Lady Nelville;
and reproaching himself for not having released her from that
embarrassment he feared she might suspect him of levity. He began
therefore in order to arrive at the long-desired explanation by offering
to relate to her his own history. "I will speak first," said he, "and
your confidence will follow mine." "Yes, undoubtedly it must," answered
Corinne, trembling; "but tell me at what day--at what hour? When you
have spoken, I will tell you all."--"How agitated you are," answered
Oswald; "what then, will you ever feel