ctation of the sun's
appearing once more, 'to be blind in this place! here in presence of
Nature in its sublimest form, of such limitless grandeur! To be blind!
Oh, Almighty God, who shall dare to dispute Thy impenetrable decrees, or
who shall venture to murmur at the severity of Thy justice, even when its
weight falls on an innocent child? But to be thus blind in the presence
of Thy grandest creations, of creations which ceaselessly renew our
enthusiasm, our love, and our adoration for Thy genius, Thy power, and
Thy goodness; of what crime can this poor child have been guilty thus
to deserve Thy chastisement?'

"And my reflections continually reverted to this topic.

"I asked myself, too, what compensation Divine pity could make its
creature for the deprival of its greatest blessing, and, finding none, I
began to doubt its power.

"'Man, in his presumption,' said the royal poet, 'dares to glorify
himself in his knowledge, and judge the Eternal. But his wisdom is but
folly, and his light darkness.'

"Oh that day one of Nature's great mysteries was revealed to me,
doubtless with the purpose of humbling my vanity, and of teaching me
that nothing is impossible to God, and that it is in His power only
to multiply our senses, and by so doing gratify those who please Him."

Here the young professor took a pinch from his tortoiseshell snuff-box,
raised his eyes to the ceiling with a contemplative air, and then, after
a short pause, continued in these terms:--

"Does it not often happen to you, ladies, when you are in the country in
fine weather in summer, especially after a brief storm, when the air is
warm, and the exhalations from the ground filling it with the perfume of
thousands of plants, and their sweet scent penetrates and warms you; when
the foliage from the trees in the solitary avenues, as well as from the
bushes, seems to lean over you as if it sought to take you in its arms
and embrace you; when the minutest flowers, the humble daisy, the blue
forget-me-not, the convolvulus in the hedgerows raise their heads and
follow you with a longing look--does it not happen to you to experience
an inexpressible sensation of languor, to sigh for no apparent reason,
and even to feel inclined to shed tears, and to ask yourselves, 'Why does
this feeling of love oppress me? why do my knees bend under me? whence
these tears?'

"Whence indeed, ladies? Why from life, and the thousands of living things
which surround you, lean