has rendered it the first spring of society, the first incitementof knowledge as well as pleasure.
"Paul found little satisfaction in the study of geography, which, insteadof describing the natural history of each country, only gave a view of itspolitical boundaries. History, and especially modern history, interestedhim little more. He there saw only general and periodical evils of which hedid not discern the cause; wars for which there was no reason and noobject; nations without principle, and princes without humanity. Hepreferred the reading of romances, which being filled with the particularfeelings and interests of men, represented situations similar to his own.No book gave him so much pleasure as Telemachus, from the pictures which itdraws of pastoral life, and of those passions which are natural to thehuman heart. He read aloud to his mother and Madame de la Tour those partswhich affected him most sensibly, when, sometimes, touched by the mosttender remembrances, his emotion choked his utterance, and his eyes werebathed in tears. He fancied he had found in Virginia the wisdom of Antiope,with the misfortunes and the tenderness of Eurcharis. With very differentsensations he perused our fashionable novels, filled with licentious maximsand manners. And when he was informed that those romances drew a justpicture of European society, he trembled, not without reason, lest Virginiashould become corrupted, and should forget him.
"More than a year and a half had indeed passed away before Madame de laTour received any tidings of her daughter. During that period she had onlyaccidentally heard that Virginia had arrived safely in France. At length avessel, which stopped in its way to the Indies, conveyed to Madame de laTour a packet, and a letter written with her own hand. Although thisamiable young woman had written in a guarded manner, in order to avoidwounding the feelings of a mother, it was easy to discern that she wasunhappy. Her letter paints so naturally her situation and her character,that I have retained it almost word for word.
"'My dear and beloved mother, I have already sent you several letters,written with my own hand but having received no answer, I fear they havenot reached you. I have better hopes for this, from the means I have nowtaken of sending you tidings of myself, and of hearing from you. I haveshed many tears since our separation; I, who never used to weep, but forthe misfortunes of others! My aunt was much astonished, when, having, uponmy arrival, inquired what accomplishments I possessed, I told her that Icould neither read nor write. She asked me what then I had learnt since Icame into the world; and, when I answered that I had been taught to takecare of the household affairs, and obey your will, she told me that I hadreceived the education of a servant. The next day she placed me as aboarder in a great abbey near Paris, where I have masters of all kinds, whoteach me, among other things, history, geography, grammar, mathematics andriding. But I have so little capacity for all those sciences, that I makebut small progress with my masters.
"'My aunt's kindness, however, does not abate towards me. She gives me newdresses for each season; and she has placed two waiting women with me, whoare both dressed like fine ladies. She has made me take the title ofcountess, but has obliged me to renounce the name of La Tour, which is asdear to me as it is to you, from all you have told me of the sufferings myfather endured in order to marry you. She has replaced your name by that ofyour family, which is also dear to me, because it was your name when agirl. Seeing myself in so splendid a situation, I implored her to let mesend you some assistance. But how shall I repeat her answer? Yet you havedesired me always to tell you the truth. She told me then, that a littlewould be of no use to you, and that a great deal would only encumber you inthe simple life you led.
"'I endeavoured, upon my arrival, to send you tidings of myself by anotherhand, but finding no person here in whom I could place confidence, Iapplied night and day to reading and writing; and Heaven, who saw my motivefor learning, no doubt assisted my endeavours, for I acquired both in ashort time. I entrusted my first letters to some of the ladies here, who, Ihave reason to think, carried them to my aunt. This time I have hadrecourse to a boarder, who is my friend. I send you her direction, by meansof which I shall receive your answer. My aunt has forbid my holding anycorrespondence whatever, which might, she says, be come an obstacle to thegreat views she has for my advantage. No person is allowed to see me at thegrate but herself, and an old nobleman, one of her friends, who, she says,is much pleased with me. I am sure I am not at all so with him; nor shouldI, even if it were possible for me to be pleased with any one at present.
"'I live in the midst of affluence, and have not a livre at my disposal.They say I might make an improper use of money. Even my clothes belong tomy waiting women who quarrel about them before I have left them off. In thebosom of riches, I am poorer than when I lived with you; for I have nothingto give. When I found that the great accomplishments they taught me wouldnot procure me the power of doing the smallest good, I had recourse to myneedle, of which happily you had learnt me the use. I send several pair ofstockings of my own making for you and my mamma Margaret, a cap forDomingo, and one of my red handkerchiefs for Mary. I also send with thispacket some kernels and seeds of various kinds of fruits, which I gatheredin the fields. There are much more beautiful flowers in the meadows of thiscountry than in ours, but nobody cares for them. I am sure that you and mymamma Margaret will be better pleased with this bag of seeds, than you werewith the bag of piastres, which was the cause of our separation and of mytears. It will give me great delight if you should one day see apple-treesgrowing at the side of the plantain, and elms blending their foliage withour cocoa-trees. You will fancy yourself in Normandy, which you love somuch.
"'You desired me to relate to you my joys and my griefs. I have no joys farfrom you. As for my griefs, I endeavour to soothe them by reflecting that Iam in the situation in which you placed me by the will of God. But mygreatest affliction is, that no one here speaks to me of you, and that Imust speak of you to no one. My waiting women, or rather those of my aunt,for they belong more to her than to me, told me the other day, when Iwished to turn the conversation upon the objects most dear to me,'Remember, madam, that you are a Frenchwoman, and must forget that countryof savages.' Ah! sooner will I forget myself than forget the spot on whichI was born, and which you inhabit! It is this country which is to me a landof savages; for I live alone, having no one to whom I can impart, thosefeelings of tenderness for you which I shall bear with me to the grave.
'I am, 'My dearest and beloved mother, 'Your affectionate and dutiful daughter, 'VIRGINIA DE LA TOUR."
"'I recommend to your goodness Mary and Domingo, who took so much care ofmy infancy. Caress Fidele for me who found me in the wood.'
"Paul was astonished that Virginia had not said one word of him, she whohad not forgotten even the house dog. But Paul was not aware that, howeverlong may be a woman's letter, she always puts the sentiments most dear toher at the end.
"In a postscript, Virginia recommended particularly to Paul's care twokinds of seed, those of the violet and scabious. She gave him someinstructions upon the nature of those plants, and the spots most proper fortheir cultivation. 'The first,' said she, 'produces a little flower of adeep violet, which loves to hide itself beneath the bushes, but is soondiscovered by its delightful odours.' She desired those seeds might be sownalong the borders of the fountain, at the foot of her cocoa tree. 'Thescabious,' she added, 'produces a beautiful flower of a pale blue, and ablack ground, spotted with white. You might fancy it was in mourning; andfor this reason, it is called the widow's flower. It delights in bleakspots beaten by the winds.' She begged this might be sown upon the rockwhere she had spoken to him for the last time, and that, for her sake, hewould henceforth give it the name of the Farewell Rock.
"She had put those seeds into a little purse, the tissue of which wasextremely simple; but which appeared above all price to Paul, when heperceived a P and a V intwined together, and knew that the beautiful hairwhich formed the cipher was the hair of Virginia.
"T
he whole family listened with tears to the letter of that amiable andvirtuous young woman. Her mother answered it in the name of the littlesociety, and desired her to remain or return as she thought proper;assuring her, that happiness had fled from their dwelling since herdeparture, and that, as for herself, she was inconsolable.
"Paul also sent her a long letter, in which he assured her that he wouldarrange the garden in a manner agreeable to her taste, and blend the plantsof Europe with those of Africa. He sent her some fruit culled from thecocoa trees of the mountain, which were now arrived at maturity: tellingher that he would not add any more of the other seeds of the island, thatthe desire of seeing those productions again might hasten her return. Heconjured her to comply without delay with the ardent wishes of her family,and, above all, with his own,
Paul and Virginia from the French of J.B.H. de Saint Pierre Page 14
