"Happy, happy! when I hear the little bird sing, I feel that he is happy. I have seen the countenances of men brighten up like a blessed day; I have seen young girls full of mirth and jest; they were happy; they felt life to be pleasant. I should like to feel as they do."

"It is not difficult, Nina,-but there is something higher than this happiness; something which readily dispenses with this. Would you not like to become assimulated to Him?" Edla showed Nina a picture of the temptation of the Saviour at the moment when He renounces all the pomp and pleasures of the world.

Nina gazed for some time on this glorious picture. “This is true greatness!” said she—“ yes, this speaks of more than pleasure, more than happiness-but perhaps it is only for those possessed of energy. But Edla, power varies, so also does enjoyment; are there not degrees of happiness which are less exalted but yet good and innocent?"

"I know of none, Nina, more worthy of being numbered among the better class of men, than those who practise virtue, and in active love for their fellow creatures, strive after knowledge and goodness."

Nina supported her head on her hand, and a clou'l of sadness spread itself over her sweet countenance. "I must be very weak, Edla!" said she. "I do not feel that power in me of which you are speaking and which you possess. I admire and love it—but why do I secretly long more for the gay enjoyment of life than for virtue and perfection? Edla, my second mother, do you understand me?"

"Yes-and there was a time when I felt just as you do-but this is sad weakness,—I have conquered it.”

VOL. I. B.

"Edla! you have felt so and yet conquered it? You are so calm and strong! How can one conquer one's weakness, Edla?"

By embracing and attaching one's self to a stronger, higher life-to God, or to some enlightened and ener-getic individual."

"Edla! continue to love me! Let me ever remain with you; I shall then never feel unhappy; I shall become stronger; I shall be what you wish me to be."

Edla concealed the emotion with which she heard these words, and said: "I believe, Nina, that you will soon receive a better stay than me, a stay by whose side you will act with greater benefit for your fellowcreatures.... Count Louis loves you . . .

A slight shudder ran all over Nina. Edla perceiving this, said with disquiet: "You surely have not any disinclination towards him, Nina?"

"No! but he is so harsh, so cold; I feel a something like fear in his presence."

"Harsh, cold?" repeated Edla. "My dearest Nina, in our effeminate age, every one appears so who possesses an independent and powerful will, and does not stoop to the whims and caprices of others. What I fear, what in my heart I detest, is that very weakness or laxness, which now prevails in so many minds; it is this twilight in our souls which prevents them knowing their own proper desire or object; which causes them to act only from the impulse of the moment, to do everything by halves and imperfectly. . . . and which reduces the whole of life to a magic-lantern .. Oh, how different is Count Louis-how firm, how clearsighted, how consistently active! I have known him from a child, and know not a better, a nobler man than

...

he. But life has used him roughly, and the most painful experiences have wounded his heart and thrown something like bitterness into his temper. He well deserves that a mild and amiable wife should reconcile him to life and teach him to love his fellow men, for whose welfare indeed he is perpetually labouring. Will not my Nina become his good angel?"

'My will is yours, Edla," said Nina, whilst with her lips she touched the arm of her sister. "Speak to me about him, tell me something which will teach me to love him. Oh! if he has been unhappy, lonely in life, loved by no one, and without an object that he could love, then will I tenderly feel for him, and will do what I can to make him happy."

Edla, deeply affected, put her arms round her affectionate sister; but she felt her trembling emotion which with Nina so easily followed any excitement of her feelings, she drew back, and calmly seating herself by her side, said:

"What I know of Count Louis's life I will tell you. He cannot take it amiss, and he needs and deserves a friend, who will plead for him better than he could for himself."

"You know that he is the eldest son of one of the most wealthy and respectable families in our country; pomp and splendour, but no joy, no affection surrounded his cradle. Almost from the hour of his birth he became a non-favourite of his mother, His domestic home was a joyless and unhappy home; vanity, immorality, and a capricious despotism reigned there with all the annoyances to which they naturally gave rise. His parents were a mutual torment to each other, and they revenged every contention on their

child Louis. Violence and injustice were the first experiences of his life. But in the midst of these examples of immorality, in the midst of this cruel pressure, both the heart and mind of that precious child became hardened. He early began to love truth and order. He took a decided turn, diametrically opposed to everything he saw around him; and if by this he became too reserved and stern, it arose from his soli. tary position amidst powerful seductions. But soon he was no longer lonely; he found a friend, poor, 'tis true, and of lowly station, but to whom nature had been liberal, and who, though of a milder nature than Louis, appeared to love virtue as warmly and strongly as he. Louis perceived in him a superior character, and devoted himself to him with heart and soul.

"Count Louis had a younger brother, who, by the harshness of his father's treatment, was checked in his growth, both in body and mind. He also had a sister, and the manly boy became at an early age the protector of the tender, lovely child. He sat beside the cradle of his sister, kissed her little feet, and chased away the flies, which disturbed her repose. His heart required an object of affection. As she grew up, he studied to protect her from her parents, whose tenderness and harshness were alike injurious. The mother died, and Count Louis, at the command of his father, and in order to finish his education, was obliged to make the tour of Europe. Desperate at being obliged to leave his sister at an age when she most needed his care, and with the view of giving her as well as her brother the protection of a friend, he introduced his friend in the capacity of a preceptor for his brother into his paternal home. The firmness of his character,

his happy social talents, uncommonly amiable disposition, would, as Louis hoped, have an equally beneficial influence on his father. His brother and sister he left to his charge, those who were dearest to him on earth.

"After the lapse of a year he returned, and found his only beloved sister had been seduced and carried away from her paternal home, and become the victim of a frightful death. His father, dangerously wounded by the hand of a traitor; and he who had been the perpetrator of all this, the seducer, the murderer, and besides this, the robber of a considerable sum of money was-his friend, that friend whom he had loved so tenderly, in whom he had reposed greater faith than in himself! Ah, Nina! it requires no little strength, no little share of virtue, after such experience, still to remain steadfast in goodness, still to labour for the interests and welfare of mankind.

"Count Louis's criminal friend was taken, and could not clear himself from the crimes with which he stood charged. The sentence of death hung over his head, when he suddenly escaped from prison. Count Louis did not pursue him, he endeavoured to forget him, -that was his sole revenge.

"His sister's death left deep impressions on his soul. I frequently saw him at that time, when, in consequence of this calamity, a gloomy hypochondriacism had taken possession of his whole soul. I then also saw, what an effect the sight of you produced upon him, how much calmer and gentler he grew in your presence. You were still very young, when Louis lost his sister, and I suppose no tidings of this dreadful event ever reached your ear.

Louis has told me more