Greatest, Leaft, and Mean State of the BAROMETER, THERMOMETER, and HYGROMETER, in the Year 1791. Barometer. Thermom. without. Thermom. within. Hygrometer. 1791 Great. Leaft | Mean Great. Leaft | Mean Great. Leaft, Mean Great. Leaft | Mean 51 an ANECDOTE. She herfelf, by becoming fomething more than a coquette. The king obtained a divorce. She then married the count of Anjou, who fhortly after afcended the English throne. gave him, for her marriage dower, the rich provinces of Poitou and Guienne; and this was the origin of thofe wars which for three hundred years ravaged France, and which coft the French nation three millions of men. All which, probably, had never taken place, if Louis the Seventh had not been fo rafh as to crop his hair and fhave his beard, by which he became fo difguftful in the eyes of the fair Eleanor. THE THE MILL: A TALE. The following Tale is felected from Tales of an Evening;' of which it is fuffic cient Praife to fay, that the original Work, Les Vielles,' lately published at Paris, is the Production of the celebrated M. Marmontel. They are fupposed to be related by a Party of Friends, who met one Evening, and agreed to relate. in Turn, the happiest Incident of their Lives. The excellent Tendency of the Whole may be inferred from the concluding Obfervation of one of this interefting Circle, Among all the happy Incidents of our Lives which we have been relating, there is not one that was not the Reward of a virtuous Sentiment, er of a benevolent Action; so true is it, that the most certain Way to be Happy—is to be Good. " THE THIRD STORY. WHAT can I relate to you,' faid Juliet, after fuch affecting scenes -- A felicity fuited to your age," said her mother; "cannot you recollect any "You furnish me with pleasurable fenfations every day, my dear mother. My life confifts of nothing else, and I am accustomed to them; but the pleasure I am going to fpeak of I did not expect. I was born at Verval, here, in this caftle. My mother was defirous of fuckling me; the confidered it as a pleafure. And as a duty too,' faid her mother, in a low tone of voice. Her health, however, did not permit her; but she was careful to choose the best nurse in the neighbourhood; and this excellent nurse was also an excellent woman. My mother has told me, many a time, that next to the cares of maternal love, it is impoffible to imagine any more tender than those I received in my infancy from that good woman. By the manner in which the fulfilled the duties of a fecond mother, it was easy to fee that she felt all their dignity: fhe acquitted herself of them with a noble and gentle modefty that looked like piety, and that gave an air of religion to the most humble offices. When my mother fometimes feemed grieved at not being in her place, If your health, madam," faid fhe, had permitted you to fuckle your child, you would not have given her to me; nor would I, but for the good you do in the country, have deprived myself of my child, to take charge of yours; but it was incumbent on fome one among us to discharge the debt of fo many unfortunate people; and as you have chofen me, it was no doubt the will of God that I fhould be the perfon. Do not envy me my happinefs. Weakly as you are, your tenderness would have been cruel to yourself and your child, if you had endeavoured to fuckle her. Do not fear left I fhould rob nature of her fhare of the fentiments of this little creature. As foon as the thall acquire a little knowledge, you may be fure that the will diftinguish you from all other women, as well as from myself, and that all her fenfibility will be directed toward you." My mother's bounties fo improved the circumftances of Sufan (for that was my nurfe's name) that her whole family was happy. As my father always fpent the fummer months here, I had every year the pleasure of feeing Sufan run to take me in her arms on my arrival. I went also to her village to fee her, and I always experienced heartfelt joy on finding peace, happiness, and plenty in her ruftic abode, My father's journey to the Spa, to drink the waters, at the time his ftate of health began to be precarious, prevented our paffing the summer of one year at Verval. The year after we went there as ufual. This journey Was was a feftival in which we meant to celebrate my father's convalefcence. Sufan came to see me as ufual, and, though very forrowful, fhe did not feem lefs fenfible to the joy of our happy return; but when I told her, on her taking leave, that I hoped foon to come and fee her, the begged me, in a forrowful and affecting manner not to give myself the trouble. I was much ftruck by the novelty of these words, and infifted on knowing her reafon; fhe embraced me with a fmile in which I discovered a mixture of chagrine." Mifs," faid fhe, "you are no longer a child, and your kindnefs for me- "_" I am always the fame," said I, interrupting her, "and you will ever find me the child you fuckled. I fhall come and fee you as foon as poffible." There are elevated minds, even in humble stations, to which a virtuous pride is natural. My nurse was unfortunate: a good old man who lived with her, Firmin, the father of her husband, Baptift, was dead, and his laft fickness had ruined them: instead of their neat little house, they had nothing but a thatched hut, a goat instead of the fine black cow; and instead of the meadow, the vineyard, and the garden, a little bare fpot of ground was all that remained. Eighteen months had altered every thing. Sufan, on feeing me arrive, came to meet me, and faid to me, with the noble air that was natural to her" You will be a little hurt at not finding us fo well off as we ufed to be. But do not regret the ufe we have made of your prefents, and of the bounty of your parents. They have been well employed. Firmin, our good father, was taken as much care of as if his children had been richer, and, thank heaven, till his last moment was in want of nothing." When I looked round the hut, which was clean enough, but bare of every thing, I began to weep."Why," faid I to Sufan, "did you let us remain ignorant of your fituation? Could you think that we would I defert you in your distress ?”—“ I tell you again," faid fhe," that the fick man wanted nothing."“And you, and your children, and their unfortunate father?"-" No, my amiable Juliet, their father is not unfortunate. Your fofter-brother Marcellin, affisted him. They work together cheerfully in the vineyard of a rich neighbour. My daughter, Louifa, begins alfo to be of ufe to us. The wool and cotton fhe fpins with the fine wheel you gave her, doubles its value in her hands, and all put together, at the end of the week, enables us to live. Do not then pity us, and be affured, if labour had not fupplied our wants, madame de Verval, and you, her worthy daughter, would have been the first I fhould have made acquainted with our diftrefs." At this moment, Louifa, who was bringing back a basket of linen on her head from the fpring, entered the hut, came to me with a contented look, made me a thousand kind compliments, and did not seem any more confused than usual.-" Louisa, go and milk the goat," faid her mother, "Mifs Juliet fhall tafte her milk”"The words go and milk the goat grieved me to the heart, but they afflicted nobody but me. Louifa haf tened to obey, and the pleasure of feeing me again feemed to inspire her with more than ufual activity."-" You will find our bread excellent," faid Sufan, "I make it myself.” I tafted the bread: it was good, no doubt, and fo was the goat's milk, but I found a bitterness in the repaft. I concealed, however, the forrow I felt at the ftate of diftrefs in which I left them. "What a fituation," said I to myself, as I was going away, "to wait every day for the bread neceffary to fupcort life, till it be procured by one's labour and if any of them fhould fall fick!-O, my dear mother, you will not let my nurse remain in this fituation." me even in my dreams. them, however, feemed fo favourable a prefage, that if I had believed in dreams, it would have diminished my concern. One of cafcade. I faw the ftream all in a foam, as white as milk, bubble up beneath the wheel, which feemed to animate it, and infpire it with the defire of being useful. Your ftream feemed proud of turning a mill. And who do you think was the miller's wife?'-"Sufan," faid my mother.'Yes,' faid I, Baptift was your miller. Marcellin was planting a vineyard on the fide of the hill, and his fifter Louifa was cultivating the prettieft garden in the world; while two fine heifers, and a little flock of fheep, were grazing in the inclosure round the mill. Ah! fir, how happy was this little family, and how happy was I myself! In Verval park, you know, there is a corner, that runs out irregularly from the bottom of the hill, from which flows the ftream that waters our garden. This ftream, which forms a cascade, and which meanders through the corner of the meadow, fhaded with poplars, makes this iolitary spot a delicious retreat for a perfon inclined to filent meditation. Nothing is heard but the murmur of the water, fo friendly to the penfive mind. My father was fond of this place; it was his favourite walk, and he had concealed the approach to it by long winding paths. I often went thither, attended by my governefs, and the fad remembrance of the hut in which I had left my nurse. I fpoke of it to her, and confulted her; but being of rather a fevere difpofition, while fhe praised my gratitude, fhe difcouraged me from employing the means I had devifed to fhew it. "Your parents," fhe faid, "have done more for Sufan than any body had ever done for a woman in her fituation. To ask them for more would be importunity. Some day or other, you will be able to confer your own favours upon them." This reafoning only added to my melancholy, of which I no longer dared to mention the caufe. One evening, however, when dreams were the fubject of converfation, I could not refit the inclination of relating what I had dreamt the night before; and my father, who loved to hear me exercise the talent nature has given to us all, of painting, in ftrong colours, whatever itrikes us forcibly, liftened to me attentively. You know, fir,' faid I, that my favourite walk, as well as yours, is the valley of the cafcade. Laft night that charming fpot was prefent to my imagination; but it was altered. There was a mill at the bottom of the 3 • After a moment's reflection, my father fmiled.-" I am pleased," faid he, " to find you have had fuch an agreeable dream, and you have related it charmingly." 'I often recollected it in the valley of the cascade, but I mentioned it no more, and it seemed to be forgotten. Toward the end of autumn we returned to town. During the winter, which feemed very long, I hoarded up my pocket-money, and longed to fee my nurfe again. The day after our return to Verval, the 25th of April, was the finest spring day poffible. Vernet would have chofen it to paint the revival of nature in her most brilliant colours. Every one at Verval enjoyed the beauty of the country. I alone was melancholy. Sufan used to meet us at our arrival: this year she did not. "Perhaps," thought I, " my good nurse, or her hufband, or one of her children, may be ill; or perhaps, she may be in diftrefs, and afraid of appearing, lest fhe fhould be thought troublesome." After breakfast my father propofed a walk to me. My mother, the vicar, and feveral friends, were of the party. When we came to the folitary part of the park, the valley of the cafcade, how great was my furprife and my enchantment! My father had realized my dream. The mill, the vineyard, the little orchard inclofed |
