OF THE FOREST. 95

that it was during that evening that I, for the
first time, made any serious reflections on the
violence which the mind suffers in being drawn
from solemn feclings into those which are
merely earthly, and the contrary; and I was
led to think that human wisdom consisted in
avoiding those excitements of earthly pleasure,
by which the feelings more suited to our state
as dying creatures are rendered distasteful and
uncongenial to our minds.

After the Feast of the Flowers, several
months passed, during which nothing par-
ticular took place in our private circle worthy
of record.

During this period our minds were much
agitated by public affairs; that dreadful revo-
lution in my country which was so awful in its
progress and so wonderful in its effects, had
commenced. ‘The capital was already in con-
fusion, but we in the provinces still only heard
the thunder rolling in the distance.

In the meantime the remainder of the
summer and the whole of the autumn and
winter passed away. In the middle of the