monk, I am at the point of death. O Chactas, hear without despair the sad secret which I have concealed from thee, that I might not render thee too miserable, and that I might obey my mother. Do not try to interrupt me by signs of a grief which will shorten the few minutes I have to live. I have many things to tell, and, by the beatings of this heart which begins to grow cold * mysterious icy burden which my bosom can hardly bear * I know not how to hasten rapidly enough.'

'After a few moments of silence, Atala continued thus:

*

'My sad destiny began almost before I had seen the light. My mother had conceived me in woe; I wearied her womb, and she gave me birth at the extreme peril of her life: and my life was beyond hope. That I might be saved, my mother made a vow: she promised the Queen of Angels that I would consecrate my virginity to her, if I might escape death * *Fatal vow that hurries me to the tomb! I entered my sixteenth year, when I lost my mother. A few hours before her death, she called me to the side of her couch. My daughter, said she to me in the presence of a missionary who consoled her last moments; my daughter, my daughter, thou knowest the vow which I have made for thee. Wilt thou belie thy mother? O my Atala! I leave thee in a world which is not worthy of a Christian, among idolators who persecute the God of of thy father and my God, the God who after having given thee the light of day, has preserved thee by a miracle. Ah! my dear child, by accepting the veil of the virgins, you do only renounce the cares of the wigwam, and the fatal passions which have troubled the bosom of thy mother! Come then, my dearly beloved, come; swear on that image of the Mother of the Savior, between the hands of the holy Priest and of thy dying mother, that thou wilt not betray me before the face of Heaven. Think how I have bound myself for thee, that I might save thy life, and that, if thou wilt not make good my promise, thou wilt plunge the soul of thy mother into everlasting torments."

'O my Mother! Why do you speak thus? O Religion which causes at once my misery and my joy, which ruins and which consoles me! And thou, dear and sad object of a passion which consumes me, even in the arms of death, thou seest now, O Chactas, what has occasioned the hardship of our destiny! *** Melting in tears, and casting myself on the bosom of my mother, I vowed all that they wished to make me vow. The missionary pronounced

the memorable words over my head, and gave me the scapulary. which binds me forever. My mother threatened me with her curse, if ever I should break my vows; and having charged me to keep the secret inviolable towards the heathen, persecutors of my religion, she died while holding me in her arms.

'I did not know at first the danger of my oaths. Full of passion, and a genuine Christian, proud of the Spanish blood which ran in my veins, I looked on the men around me as unworthy to receive my hand; I gloried in being married only to the God of my mother. I saw thee, young and handsome prisoner, I was touched with pity at thy lot. I dared speak to thee at the funeral pile of the forest; then I felt all the weight of my vows.'

'As Atala stopped speaking these words, clenching my fists, and looking at the Missionary with a threatening air, I exclaimed: See that religion about which you have boasted so much! Perish the oath which takes Atala from my arms! Perish the God who violates nature! Man-priest, what hast thou come here to do in these forests?

"To save thee, said the old man with a terrific voice, to subdue thy passions, and to hinder thee, blasphemer, from drawing down the wrath of heaven upon thyself. It is very natural for thee, young man, to complain of thy afflictions! Where are the signs of thy miseries? Where are the unjust trials that thou hast borne? Where are thy virtues which only can give thee some right to complain? What service hast thou rendered? What good hast thou done? Ah! unfortunate, thou displayest before me only passions, and thou dost dare to accuse heaven! When thou wilt have passed, as Father Aubry has, thirty years in exile beyond the mountains, thou wilt not be so quick to judge the designs of Providence; thou wilt learn then that thou knowest nothing, that thou art nothing, and that there is no punishment so severe, no afflictions so terrible, that the corrupt flesh did not deserve to suffer.'

"The lightning which flashed from the eyes of the old man, his beard which shook against his breast, his thundering words, made him seem like a God. Overwhelmed by his majesty, I fell to my knees and begged his pardon for my rage. 'My son, he answered me, with an accent so sweet, that remorse stung my soul; my son, it is not for myself that I have rebuked you. Alas, you are right, my dear child: I have come to do but little in these forests, and God has no servant more unworthy than I. But, my son, heaven,

heaven is that which it is always useless to accuse.

Pardon me, if I have offended you; but let us attend to your sister. There is perhaps some remedy; let us never dispair. Chactas, that is indeed a divine religion which has made a virtue of hope!'

*

'My young friend, rejoined Atala, thou hast been a witness of my conflicts, yet however thou hast seen only the least portion; I have concealed the remainder from thee. No, the black slave who pours forth his sweat on the burning plains of the Floridas, is less miserable than Atala has been. Urging thee to flight, and moreover certain to die if thou wert parted from me; fearing to fly with thee in the deserts, and in the meanwhile panting for the shade of the woods * Ah! had it been necessary to quit only parents, friends, country! if indeed (frightful thought!) it had been only the ruin of my soul! but thy shade. O my mother, thy shade was always there, reproaching me with its anguish! I heard thy woes, I saw the flames of hell burning thee. My nights were weary and full of phantoms, my days were desolate; the dew of the evening dried up as it fell on my burning skin; I opened my lips slightly to catch the fresh air, and the air far from refreshing, enveloped me with the fire of my breath. What torment I felt to see thee incessantly by my side, far from all men, in the deep solitudes, and to feel at the same time an inconquerable barrier between thee and me! To spend my life at thy feet, to serve thee as thy slave, to prepare thy food and thy couch in some unknown corner of the universe had been my supreme bliss; that bliss I touched, but could not enjoy. What plans have I not dreamed of! What imagination has not this sad heart indulged! Sometimes, while fixing my eyes on thee, I was on the point of yielding to desires as wild as they were guilty: sometimes, I have wished to be with thee the only living creature on earth; sometimes, feeling a divinity which arrested me in my frantic transports, I almost wished that that divinity were annihilated, provided that, clasped in thy arms, I could sink from abyss to abyss with the utter loss of God and of the world! Even in this instant * * * Shall I say it? At the instant when eternity is just embracing me, when I am going to appear before the inexorable Judge; at the instant when, to obey my mother, I find my virginity consuming my life; Alas! by a frightful contradiction, I carry the regret along with me that I have never been to thee! * * *

'My daughter, interrupted the Missionary, your grief unsettles

your mind. That excess of passion to which you yield yourself, is rarely just, it is not even natural; and in this respect it is less guilty before the eyes of God, because it springs from something erroneous in the mind, rather than vicious in the heart. You must free yourself from these transports which are unworthy of your innocence. But at the same time, my dear child, your impetuous imagination has alarmed you too much on the subject of your rows. Religion does not exact a superhuman sacrifice. Its true sentiment, its tempered virtues, are far above the exalted sentiments and the forced virtues of a pretended heroism. If you had yielded, alas! a poor lost sheep, the good Shepherd would have sought you, to lead you back to his flock. The treasury of repentance would have been opened to you: torrents of blood are necessary to wash away our faults before the eyes of men; a single tear satisfies God. Cheer up, then, my dear daughter, your condition. demands repose. Let us turn to God, who soothes all the afflictions of his servants. If, as I hope, it is his will, that you shall escape this sickness, I will write to the Bishop of Quebec; he has the authority necessary to absolve you from your vows, which are only simple vows; and you will end your days near me, with Chactas as your husband.'

'At these words of the old man, Atala was seized with a prolonged convulsion, during which every symptom evinced a frightful anguish. What! said she passionately clasping her hands together, there was a remedy! I could have been absolved from my vows!' -'Yes, my daughter, the Father answered, and you can yet be absolved.'It is too late, it is too late!' she exclaimed. I must die, at the very moment when I learn that I might have been happy! Why have I not known this holy old man sooner! To-day; with what happiness would I have been enraptured, with thee, with Chactas a Christian * * * consoled, encouraged by this sacred * * in this desert * * * priest * forever * * * 0! it would have been too much bliss!'-'Calm thyself, said I to her, clasping the hand of the unfortunate, calm thyself: this happiness, we will soon enjoy.'-'Never, never!' said Atala. Why? asked I. Thou knowest not all, exclaimed the virgin: but yesterday during the storm I was on the point of plunging my mother in the flames of the abyss; her curse was just on me, I was just telling a lie to God who had saved my life. While thou wert kissing my quivering lips, thou didst not know that thou wert em

* * *

-

bracing only death!''O Heaven!' exclaimed the Missionary; dear child, what have you committed?' 'A crime, my Father,' said Atala with eyes all wandering: 'but I have ruined only myself, and I have saved my mother.' 'Be done!' I exclaimed, with terrific suspense. 'Alas,' said she, 'I had foreseen my weakness: While quitting the wigwams I brought along with me'***—' What?' asked I with horror. Poison!' said the Father. It is in my bosom!' exclaimed Atala.

'The torch slipped from the hand of the hermit; I fell dying by the side of the daughter of Lopez; the old man clasped us both in his arms, and all three, in the gloom, blended our sobs together over that funeral couch.

'Let us revive ourselves, let us arouse ourselves,' spoke soon the resolute hermit, while lighting a lamp. 'We are losing precious moments: bold Christians, let us brave the assaults of adversity: with rope around the neck, ashes on the head, let us cast ourselves at the feet of the Highest, to implore his mercy, to resign ourselves to his decrees. Perhaps there is yet time. My daughter, had you but told me last evening!'

'Alas, my Father,' said Atala, 'I searched for you last night; but Heaven, to punish me for my faults, had removed you from me. Every antidote is now useless; for even the Indians, so skillful in the art of poisons, know no remedy for the one I have taken. O Chactas! judge of my amazement, while I have been apprehending this blow, which was not so sudden as I expected! My love has redoubled my energies, my soul could not part from thee so soon.'

'No longer now by sobs only did I disturb the recital of Atala, but by those impetuous transports which Savages only know. I hurled myself furiously to the ground, writhing my arms, and devouring my hands. The old priest, with a wonderful tenderness, rushed from brother to sister, and lavished on us prodigal aid. In the repose of his heart, and under the burthen of years, he knew how to commune with our youthful emotions, and his religion imparted to him tones even more tender and more burning, than our very passions. That priest who for forty years, sacrificed himself every day to the service of God and of men in those mountains, does he not remind thee of those holocausts of Israel, offering up sacrifices on the high places, before the Lord?

'Alas! it was in vain that he tried to employ some remedy for