110 PAPERS, ETC. 



mutilation and the ruin, tried to people the spot once more 

 with its former tenants, to drink in the melody that then 

 made the place vocal, and to mix with the refined and refin- 

 ing Company that there found a holy home. A few steps 

 further, and the white summer mist from the vast level on 

 every side hid all from my view. Time and nature thus 

 acted in concert, and the one completed what the other had 

 begun. The physical, too, symbolized the moral. A cloud 

 lies between us and Muchelney Abbey, which the morn only 

 of a brighter than earthly day, making innocence as clear as 

 the light and just dealing as the sun, shall at 1he time 

 of retribution disperse and annihilate. Then, if not before, 

 its good shall be made manifest, its blessedness shall appear, 

 " the day at length shall break, and the shadows shall flee 

 away" for ever. 



THOMAS HUGO. 



