THE MALKDICTEI). 541 



newing the prayer of their heavy objurgations. Anon, the dark coffin 

 of my poor Marian would be borne by viewless agents athwart my 

 astonished gaze, and I would stretch forth my hands to stay it, and 

 ponder on the inscription for the dead, and seem to weep, till the 

 suffocation of my ideal sorrow pushed me within the confines of tangible 

 suffering. And thus, by day and night my misery was complete. I 

 was doomed never to forget ! 



At length the term of my probation on the waters was completed, and 

 I left the circumscription of my wooden home, for the ample range of 

 a splendid city ; but it was only to meet a society which I could not 

 enjoy, and gaze on scenes which I had not the spirit to appreciate. 

 Cities had no charm for me ; the wilds and solitary fastnesses of nature 

 alone could yield me refuge. 



In the hotel at which I sojourned, I had frequently remarked a young 

 man, who seemed to me, more intelligent than any one with whom I 

 had come in contact since my arrival. I learnt with satisfaction that he 

 was not a native of cities ; he was not cantaminated by the hollow pro- 

 fessions of men who live in fashionable hordes, and for the purpose, as 

 it would seem, of deluding each other into guilt and wretchedness. 

 He was the only son of a small family, who had early sought their 

 fortunes in the distant woods, and by individual exertion, and reason- 

 able success, had become enabled to sit down under the shadow of 

 " their own vine, and their own fig-tree." The study of this young 

 man's character, was the only ray which passed athwart the gloom of 

 my despondency. Though I had forsworn society in the mass, I had 

 not contemplated the denial of a friend. I had not refused the only 

 source of solace which the rigour of my fate allowed the opportunity 

 of pouring my sorrows into one faithful bosom, and of endeavouring 

 to alleviate a pressure which had become almost unbearable. 



It was thus that I schooled myself into a desire for the society of 

 Albert Detroisier ; and to pass over the tedium of introduction, I found 

 him perfectly worthy of the pains I had taken. Business had called 

 him from his settlement, to which he was now immediately to return ; 

 it was arranged that I should proceed to his destination with him, and 

 if, happily, I could fall in with their primitive mode of life, it was 

 reserved for me either to join in their speculations or commence agri- 

 culturist on a venture of my own. 



We set forward on two excellent horses, and a ride of a few miles 

 brought us at once into a wilderness ! No more trace of humanity than 

 if Eden had never been planted ! In my happiest mood, I did not 

 indulge freely in conversation, for the malady of the heart does not 

 vent itself in words, but here I was literally dumb with amazement. 

 I had seen the glorious ocean under some of its most imposing aspects, 

 but its gigantic voice never fell upon my soul in such accents of sub- 

 limity, as did the voice of these apparently interminable forests ; it 

 spoke to me of the ages which had rolled away in silence, just flinging 

 forth their seasons as they passed and returning once more to the bosom 

 of eternity. I had no tangible idea of created space, until I found 

 myself hemmed in by ever-during trees, and surrounded by mountains 

 coeval with the wilderness. 



My kind companion saw my abstraction as if he saw it not, or at 

 least, as if a notice of it might be offensive. When, however, I found 

 myself at leisure to converse, I perceived him to be a ready guide to 



