第11章

I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul.

SHAKESPEARE

Madame St.Aubert was interred in the neighbouring village church;her husband and daughter attended her to the grave, followed by a long train of the peasantry, who were sincere mourners of this excellent woman.

On his return from the funeral, St.Aubert shut himself in his chamber.When he came forth, it was with a serene countenance, though pale in sorrow.He gave orders that his family should attend him.Emily only was absent; who, overcome with the scene she had just witnessed, had retired to her closet to weep alone.St.Aubert followed her thither: he took her hand in silence, while she continued to weep; and it was some moments before he could so far command his voice as to speak.It trembled while he said, 'My Emily, I am going to prayers with my family; you will join us.We must ask support from above.Where else ought we to seek it--where else can we find it?'

Emily checked her tears, and followed her father to the parlour, where, the servants being assembled, St.Aubert read, in a low and solemn voice, the evening service, and added a prayer for the soul of the departed.During this, his voice often faltered, his tears fell upon the book, and at length he paused.But the sublime emotions of pure devotion gradually elevated his views above this world, and finally brought comfort to his heart.

When the service was ended, and the servants were withdrawn, he tenderly kissed Emily, and said, 'I have endeavoured to teach you, from your earliest youth, the duty of self-command; I have pointed out to you the great importance of it through life, not only as it preserves us in the various and dangerous temptations that call us from rectitude and virtue, but as it limits the indulgences which are termed virtuous, yet which, extended beyond a certain boundary, are vicious, for their consequence is evil.All excess is vicious; even that sorrow, which is amiable in its origin, becomes a selfish and unjust passion, if indulged at the expence of our duties--by our duties I mean what we owe to ourselves, as well as to others.The indulgence of excessive grief enervates the mind, and almost incapacitates it for again partaking of those various innocent enjoyments which a benevolent God designed to be the sun-shine of our lives.My dear Emily, recollect and practise the precepts I have so often given you, and which your own experience has so often shewn you to be wise.

'Your sorrow is useless.Do not receive this as merely a commonplace remark, but let reason THEREFORE restrain sorrow.I would not annihilate your feelings, my child, I would only teach you to command them; for whatever may be the evils resulting from a too susceptible heart, nothing can be hoped from an insensible one; that, on the other hand, is all vice--vice, of which the deformity is not softened, or the effect consoled for, by any semblance or possibility of good.You know my sufferings, and are, therefore, convinced that mine are not the light words which, on these occasions, are so often repeated to destroy even the sources of honest emotion, or which merely display the selfish ostentation of a false philosophy.I will shew my Emily, that I can practise what I advise.I have said thus much, because I cannot bear to see you wasting in useless sorrow, for want of that resistance which is due from mind; and I have not said it till now, because there is a period when all reasoning must yield to nature; that is past: and another, when excessive indulgence, having sunk into habit, weighs down the elasticity of the spirits so as to render conquest nearly impossible; this is to come.You, my Emily, will shew that you are willing to avoid it.'

Emily smiled through her tears upon her father: 'Dear sir,' said she, and her voice trembled; she would have added, 'I will shew myself worthy of being your daughter;' but a mingled emotion of gratitude, affection, and grief overcame her.St.Aubert suffered her to weep without interruption, and then began to talk on common topics.

The first person who came to condole with St.Aubert was a M.

Barreaux, an austere and seemingly unfeeling man.A taste for botany had introduced them to each other, for they had frequently met in their wanderings among the mountains.M.Barreaux had retired from the world, and almost from society, to live in a pleasant chateau, on the skirts of the woods, near La Vallee.He also had been disappointed in his opinion of mankind; but he did not, like St.

Aubert, pity and mourn for them; he felt more indignation at their vices, than compassion for their weaknesses.

St.Aubert was somewhat surprised to see him; for, though he had often pressed him to come to the chateau, he had never till now accepted the invitation; and now he came without ceremony or reserve, entering the parlour as an old friend.The claims of misfortune appeared to have softened down all the ruggedness and prejudices of his heart.St.Aubert unhappy, seemed to be the sole idea that occupied his mind.It was in manners, more than in words, that he appeared to sympathize with his friends: he spoke little on the subject of their grief; but the minute attention he gave them, and the modulated voice, and softened look that accompanied it, came from his heart, and spoke to theirs.