I have now learned wisdom, and am convinced, that it is
_variety alone that can make life desirable."_
* * * * *
In order to understand the following, I must inform you, F - - had been
telling the story of a love-distracted maid, somewhat similar to Sterne's
Maria. You will suppose her lately to have put an end to her existence. -
"We had not proceeded very far on our way, when we discovered a funeral
procession advancing towards us, headed by the parson of the parish in
which we were. He was a little man, dressed in black, with a scarf hanging
over his left shoulder. - Upon inquiry, we found they were proceeding to a
church about a league distant, where the corpse they attended was to be
deposited.
"And to whom may this body belong?" said the _indian physician_,
addressing the man who walked in the rear of the procession.
"It is the corpse of the unfortunate Marcia,' replied the other, speaking
low; 'she died suddenly, yesterday morning, and is now carrying to be
interred in the vault of her ancestors.' We were much affected at this
intelligence, as we had hoped to hear of her recovery, instead of her
decease.
"At the request of my friend, the man in the white linen coat, the Indian
agreed to attend the funeral along with us, and accordingly we all three
fell in among the followers, and travelled on with a slow pace till we
came to the scene of interment. The situation was wild and gloomy. Naked
rocks, dark cedars, the head of a small lake, and the venerable tombs of
the dead, completed the scenery.
"It was pity,' said I, 'to the singing clerk, who stood near me, 'that
Fate has so ordered matters, that this young creature should depart the
world in so very extravagant a condition of mind. Though too many pass
their whole lives in a state of insanity, it were to be wished, that,
towards the evening, the clouds of phrensy might be dissipated, and the
sun of reason set clear.'
"The singing clerk looked full in my face, opened his mouth wide, and was
about to make some reply, when silence was ordered, that the clergyman
might pronounce a speech over the body; but his reverence stumbled at the
threshold: he had unluckily forgot his pocket Bible, and could not
recollect his _text_.
"Cannot he say something applicable to the melancholy occasion,' whispered
the Indian, 'without the formality of taking a _text_?'
"Were you to give him three worlds, each as rich as a dozen of the
Indies,' replied the clerk, 'you could not get a word out of him on any
other condition.'
"The sexton of the parish was then ordered to mount one of the horses, and
make the best of the way to the good doctor's house, to bring the Bible.
"After waiting a full and entire hour, he returned with the vexatious
intelligence, that the Bible was not to be found - it was stolen - or, it
was hid - or it had been _neglected_ - or, it was mislaid - or they knew
not what had been done with it. - 'More is the pity!' exclaimed the singing
clerk.
"The doctor of divinity then mounted the horse himself, apparently with
some uneasiness, and set out personally to bring the Bible at all events.
"By this time, however, the sun was set, and the whole company stood
waiting in anxious expectation of the clergyman's return, till darkness
had taken possession of the earth; but there was yet no appearance of
either the divine or his Bible.
"As it is more than probable he cannot find his book,' said the man in the
white linen coat, 'I am positive he will not return at all; and, as it is
now almost dark, I am of opinion the sooner the funeral ceremonies are
finished the better. The body of the unfortunate Marcia ought not to be
deposited in these silent retreats of death without some living token of
our respect. She was amiable while living, and notwithstanding the
misfortune of a disordered brain, and an innocent, unsuspecting confidence
in another's honour, is, in my way of thinking, no less amiable when
dead. - Our friend, the Indian will, I know, be complaisant enough on this
occasion to give us a few sentences, and then the venerable sexton may
proceed to close the scene, and we shall be at liberty to return to our
respective homes.'
"This man is not in holy orders,' cried the sexton.
"He does not wear a black coat or gown,' said the singing clerk.
"He has not a gray wig on his head, observed one of the church wardens.
"It is no matter,' replied the man in the white linen coat, 'he has a
plain understanding, has written a treatise on the virtues of tobacco, and
knows what is common sense, as well as the best of you.'
"Casting my eyes at this instant toward the east, I perceived a glimmering
among the trees, which proved to be the moon rising, two days after the
full. The evening was calm and serene, and every thing was hushed, except
the surge of the ocean, which we could distinctly hear breaking on the
rocks of the adjacent coasts; when, finding the parish clergyman did not
return, the Indian shook the dew from his blanket, stepped boldly upon a
tombstone of black marble, and, for reasons best known to himself,
preferring the Indian style on this occasion, he thus began: -
"Instead of these dismal countenances, why have we not a feast of seven
days? Instead of the voice of sorrow, why are not the instruments of music
touched by the hand of skill? Fair daughter of the morning! thou didst not
perish by slow decay. At the rising of the sun we saw thee; the ruddy
bloom of youth was then upon thy countenance; In the evening thou wert
nothing; and the pallid complexion of death had taken place of the bloom
of beauty.
