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"The pleasant showers and genial warmth of spring greatly altered

the aspect of the earth. Men who before this change seemed to

have been hid in caves dispersed themselves and were employed in

various arts of cultivation. The birds sang in more cheerful

notes, and the leaves began to bud forth on the trees. Happy,

happy earth! Fit habitation for gods, which, so short a time

before, was bleak, damp, and unwholesome. My spirits were

elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was

blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil, and the future

gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipations of joy."

Chapter 13

"I now hasten to the more moving part of my story. I shall relate

events that impressed me with feelings which, from what I had

been, have made me what I am.