ejaculation, that he might be permitted once more to revisit the retirement of his native hills in peace. Little did he know, at that season of varied emotion, what the watchful care of a heavenly Parent was providing for him; and scarcely, perhaps, could he have then believed that that very spot, which he was now leaving in disgust, as incapable of procuring him the happiness he was in quest of, was to afford him at a future period, under the blessing from above, enjoy. ments, for which all the kingdoms of the earth, and the glory of them,' would have been no equivalent.

Several years had already been consumed amidst those circles in France and Germany, where the rules of decorum were generally preserved inviolate, while, at the same time, the routine of fashionable amusement was looked upon as requisite to cheer, in the language of the day (alas! that such should be found in the lips of those, who are placed here as on a scene of active and useful em

ployment) the dull and insipid monotony

of life.' Into this du Blesne entered at first

with all the eagerness which novelty inspires, and with the full assurance that he had at length discovered the secret of happiness. But, like every votary of the world who had preceded him on the stage of mortal existence, he was doomed to prove, by mournful experience, that, though for an instant he might lose himself in the giddy vortex of dissipation, its promises were fallacious, and its enjoyments empty and delusive.

His

heart, while it had not drank at that source, of which whoso tastes shall never thirst again after meaner pleasures, had still enough of sensibility and consciousness, to sicken in the midst of such low and unsatisfying pursuits.

It was about this period, when he was beginning to confess in secret that all was ⚫ vanity and vexation of spirit,' that he met with a young lady of German extraction, though a native of Dauphiny, in whom he found a congeniality of sentiment; and he felt himself drawn towards her by the irresistible impulse of esteem and love. He sued and was listened to: and, after an interval which served only to develop more

fully the similarity of their tastes, while it matured their attachment, she became his bride. In time, when she had given birth to a son, they mutually agreed to abandon the resorts of frivolity and folly. Naturally of contemplative dispositions, they had but for a very transient season cordially embraced the occupations, or participated in the ima ginary delight of those who impelled them forward in their thoughtless career; and they were glad, at length, to retire beyond the reach of their still too-fascinating power. They had the prospect of other engagements before them, and these, they hoped, would furnish them with more substantial and rational employment. Nor, as the sequel of our story will demonstrate, were they deceived in these pleasing expectations.

But a few weeks had elapsed from the adoption of this resolution, when du Blesne once more beheld himself amongst the stillunforgotten hills of his childhood. His family mansion, now rather dilapidated, he repaired; and, exchanging ornament for utility, rendered it at once a neat and commo

dious dwelling. Shared with the partner of his affections, the beauties of its situation opened on his view with attractions, latent until now. With her, he saw in nature what nature only can supply; and, imbibing, imperceptibly, a portion of her delicacy of taste, he gradually learned to appreciate the thousand varieties of scenery which surrounded him. But, while he gazed on them with transport, and often felt astonished, that he could ever have been insensible to their charms, 'the heavens that were stretched over him, as a curtain' of glory, and 'the earth that was spread out for him, as a' beauteous tent to dwell in,' were viewed with an eye as yet unenlightened. He could discern the loveliness and symmetry of the picture before him; but the Divine Artist was overlooked. The fields were enameled with flowers of every hue and odour -the lake lay in its blue expanse-the mountains rose in sublime majesty-and the firmament displayed its stupendous magnificence; but the Almighty Power, from which they emanated, was disregarded, and the

honour withheld from Him that was due unto his name.'

Henceforth, he resigned himself to the calm and unsullied gratifications of domestic life, so widely differing from the tumultuous and unprofitable pleasures to which he had been accustomed. The endearing appellations of husband and father, so long despised amidst the whirl of fashion and dissipation, now became doubly sweet, from being contrasted with former feelings; and he derived from their accompanying enjoyments, a felicity, to which he had hitherto been a stranger. As yet, however, there was in his heart a voidan aching void'-which not even the gentle attentions of the companion of his retirement, one of the loveliest of women, nor the insinuating playfulness of his little ones, now increasing in size and number about him, were able to fill. If we may adopt the similitude of the inspired penman, his soul was like the troubled waters which cannot rest.' There was still wanting a something, though he could not define its character, nor in the mean time

6