登陆注册
5463000000048

第48章 PAUL AND VIRGINIA(40)

"Learn then, my son, that death is a benefit to all men: it is the night of that restless day we call by the name of life. The diseases, the griefs, the vexations, and the fears, which perpetually embitter our life as long as we possess it, molest us no more in the sleep of death. If you inquire into the history of those men who appear to have been the happiest, you will find that they have bought their apparent felicity very dear; public consideration, perhaps, by domestic evils; fortune, by the loss of health; the rare happiness of being loved, by continual sacrifices; and often, at the expiration of a life devoted to the good of others, they see themselves surrounded only by false friends, and ungrateful relations. But Virginia was happy to her very last moment. When with us, she was happy in partaking of the gifts of nature; when far from us, she found enjoyment in the practice of virtue; and even at the terrible moment in which we saw her perish, she still had cause for self-gratulation. For, whether she cast her eyes on the assembled colony, made miserable by her expected loss, or on you, my son, who, with so much intrepidity, were endeavouring to save her, she must have seen how dear she was to all. Her mind was fortified against the future by the remembrance of her innocent life; and at that moment she received the reward which Heaven reserves for virtue,--a courage superior to danger. She met death with a serene countenance.

"My son! God gives all the trials of life to virtue, in order to show that virtue alone can support them, and even find in them happiness and glory. When he designs for it an illustrious reputation, he exhibits it on a wide theatre, and contending with death. Then does the courage of virtue shine forth as an example, and the misfortunes to which it has been exposed receive for ever, from posterity, the tribute of their tears. This is the immortal monument reserved for virtue in a world where every thing else passes away, and where the names, even of the greater number of kings themselves, are soon buried in eternal oblivion.

"Meanwhile Virginia still exists. My son, you see that every thing changes on this earth, but that nothing is ever lost. No art of man can annihilate the smallest particle of matter; can, then, that which has possessed reason, sensibility, affection, virtue, and religion be supposed capable of destruction, when the very elements with which it is clothed are imperishable? Ah! however happy Virginia may have been with us, she is now much more so. There is a God, my son; it is unnecessary for me to prove it to you, for the voice of all nature loudly proclaims it. The wickedness of mankind leads them to deny the existence of a Being, whose justice they fear. But your mind is fully convinced of his existence, while his works are ever before your eyes.

Do you then believe that he would leave Virginia without recompense?

Do you think that the same Power which inclosed her noble soul in a form so beautiful,--so like an emanation from itself, could not have saved her from the waves?--that he who has ordained the happiness of man here, by laws unknown to you, cannot prepare a still higher degree of felicity for Virginia by other laws, of which you are equally ignorant? Before we were born into this world, could we, do you imagine, even if we were capable of thinking at all, have formed any idea of our existence here? And now that we are in the middle of this gloomy and transitory life, can we foresee what is beyond the tomb, or in what manner we shall be emancipated from it? Does God, like man, need this little globe, the earth, as a theatre for the display of his intelligence and his goodness?--and can he only dispose of human life in the territory of death? There is not, in the entire ocean, a single drop of water which is not peopled with living beings appertaining to man: and does there exist nothing for him in the heavens above his head? What! is there no supreme intelligence, no divine goodness, except on this little spot where we are placed? In those innumerable glowing fires,--in those infinite fields of light which surround them, and which neither storms nor darkness can extinguish, is there nothing but empty space and an eternal void? If we, weak and ignorant as we are, might dare to assign limits to that Power from whom we have received every thing, we might possibly imagine that we were placed on the very confines of his empire, where life is perpetually struggling with death, and innocence for ever in danger from the power of tyranny!

同类推荐
  • 法华玄记十不二门显妙

    法华玄记十不二门显妙

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 维摩经玄疏

    维摩经玄疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 二林唱和詩

    二林唱和詩

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Looking Backward From 2000 to 1887

    Looking Backward From 2000 to 1887

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Divine Comedy

    The Divine Comedy

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 绝天帝师

    绝天帝师

    神帝之师,遭遇徒弟背叛而死。前世帝师,重生归来。修一双道眼,看破天下本源。待我归来,踏天骄,掌生死,覆灭轮回,我失去的,要亲手拿回来。
  • 追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    青涩蜕变,如今她是能独当一面的女boss,爱了冷泽聿七年,也同样花了七年时间去忘记他。以为是陌路,他突然向他表白,扬言要娶她,她只当他是脑子抽风,他的殷勤她也全都无视。他帮她查她父母的死因,赶走身边情敌,解释当初拒绝她的告别,和故意对她冷漠都是无奈之举。突然爆出她父母的死居然和冷家有丝毫联系,还莫名跳出个公爵未婚夫,扬言要与她履行婚约。峰回路转,破镜还能重圆吗? PS:我又开新文了,每逢假期必书荒,新文《有你的世界遇到爱》,喜欢我的文的朋友可以来看看,这是重生类现言,对这个题材感兴趣的一定要收藏起来。
  • 繁花与你我都想拥有

    繁花与你我都想拥有

    一次次的挑拨离间,一次次的纠葛纷争,让他和她失去了对爱情的相信,她,消失不见,像似人间蒸发了。他,变得冷酷无情,像修罗罗刹那般,嗜血成性。终于在又一次相逢了~
  • 20年归来仍少年

    20年归来仍少年

    中专教育是我国建国后学习前苏联的产物。张琰考上中专跳出农门成了未来的国家干部,在洛明工业学校他与美丽温婉的兵工厂子弟胡宛如相遇。有着恋父情结的胡宛如命运不幸。来校前父亲在研发炸药的实验中致残,他不愿意没有尊严地活着,毅然自杀。张琰和胡宛如一波三折、荡气回肠的爱情和他们跌宕起伏的人生奋斗,让中国式教育基因彰显人性之美。小说描写了一代改革开放同龄人,不负韶华的群体肖像。张琰父亲“老三届”坎坷崎岖的人生,辐射出建国70年来社会的发展变迁和对人性的思考。读这本书,你能触摸到诗情画意的校园生活;能看到他们献身国防的理想;能感受到百折不挠的人生;你会因纯洁真挚的情感和青春懵懂的心跳而感动。
  • 那年三月三日

    那年三月三日

    意义?生死?无常罢了。无尽的远方,与你我,都无关。 (本文由五个人一同完成,短篇小说。)
  • 心念君兮世相寻

    心念君兮世相寻

    情之所起,一往而深,当年的转眸遇见他,冰冷的心自此融化,然而却与之无缘。自此世世相寻,却终究错过。这一世,他们再次相遇,是否能续前缘,携手一生……
  • 天狱纪元

    天狱纪元

    随着一颗陨石降落,彻底颠覆了人类对宇宙的认知,如果地球是一座监狱,那监狱之外又是怎样一番光景,这是人类历史上最大规模的越狱计划,我们要越的,是天。黑暗之外,那是目光无法触及的生存边缘——天狱纪元
  • 追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    追妻无门:女boss不好惹

    青涩蜕变,如今她是能独当一面的女boss,爱了冷泽聿七年,也同样花了七年时间去忘记他。以为是陌路,他突然向他表白,扬言要娶她,她只当他是脑子抽风,他的殷勤她也全都无视。他帮她查她父母的死因,赶走身边情敌,解释当初拒绝她的告别,和故意对她冷漠都是无奈之举。突然爆出她父母的死居然和冷家有丝毫联系,还莫名跳出个公爵未婚夫,扬言要与她履行婚约。峰回路转,破镜还能重圆吗? PS:我又开新文了,每逢假期必书荒,新文《有你的世界遇到爱》,喜欢我的文的朋友可以来看看,这是重生类现言,对这个题材感兴趣的一定要收藏起来。
  • 异界之装备商人

    异界之装备商人

    由泯灭星核锻造而成,听说它的锻造师为了偷,啊,不对!是寻找星核曾被人追杀了十天十夜!洛池水之精华,传说他的锻造师去洛池取材料时,正赶上洛池仙子沐浴,又是追杀十天十夜。
  • 妖主大人甜宠记

    妖主大人甜宠记

    生来命运多舛的洛子絮,在亲眼目睹了母亲含恨而终后彻底心死,发誓要和那些视若无睹,被规矩束手束脚,间接害死母亲的江湖假义之士对着干!这可彻底遂了苓瑾兮的愿,身为邪教妖主的他,那可是对这个古灵精怪的夫人宠上了天!这事,江湖谁人不知,谁人不晓?【片段:师父可亲】“若是难过,师父可以把自己借你。”他心疼地看着哭红眼睛的她。“如何借?”她泪眼汪汪地停住了脚步,回头看着他。他走到她面前,伸出双手紧紧抱住了她:“师父的怀抱永远都是你的。”她有些犯嘀咕:“可是男女授受不亲。”“都说了教书先生说的不对,师父可亲。”他一本正经地哄骗道。“只有师父可以?”她抬眼瞅着他。“对,只有师父可亲。”他将她的小脑袋按在自己怀里。她眨巴着眼睛:“师父,你心跳好快啊。”他:“……”