âf, STUDIES OF NATURE. 



A fnnple, unornamented grave there, caufes morç 

 tears to flow than the gaudy fplendor of a cathe- 

 dral interment*. There it is that grief affiimes 

 fublimity ; it afcends with the aged yews in the 

 church-yard; it extends with the furrounding hills 

 g,nd plains ; it allies itfelf with all the effects of 

 Nature, with the dawning of the morning, the 



* Our Artifts fet flatues of marble a-vveeping round the 

 tombs of the Great. It is very proper to make liatues weep, 

 where men fhed no tears. I have been many a time prefent at 

 the funeral obfequies of the rich ; but rarely have I feen any 

 one fhedding a tear on fuch occafions, unlefs it were, now and 

 then, an aged domeflic, who was, perhapv?, left defiitute. Some 

 time ago, happening to pafs through a little-frequented ftreet of 

 the Fauxbourg Saint-Marceau, I perceived a coffin at the door of 

 a houfe of but mean appearance. Clofe by the coffin was a wo- 

 man on her knees, in earhefi: praver to God, and who had all 

 the appearance of being abforbed in grief. This poor woman 

 having caught with her eye, at tlie farther end of the flreet, the 

 priefts and their attendants coming to carry off the body, got 

 upon her feet, and run off, putting her hands upon her eyes, and 

 crying bitterly. The neighbours endeavoured to flop her, and 

 to adminifter fome confolation ; but all to no purpofe. As flie 

 paffed clofe by me, I took the liberty to alk if it was the lofs of 

 a mother or of a daughter that fhe lamented fo piteoufly. "Alas ! 

 *' Sir," faid fhe to me, the tears guihing down her cheeks, " I 

 " am mournine the lofs of a good lady, who procured me the 

 t' means of earning my poor livelihood ; flie kept me employed 

 '^ from day to day." I informed myfelf in the neighbourhood 

 refpefting the condition pf this beneficent lady : fhe was thç 

 wife of a petty joiner. Ye people of wealth, what ufe then do you 

 make of riches, during your life-time, feeing no tears are flied 

 over your grave ! 



murmuring 



