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The agony of my feelings allowed me no respite; no incident

occurred from which my rage and misery could not extract its

food; but a circumstance that happened when I arrived on the

confines of Switzerland, when the sun had recovered its warmth

and the earth again began to look green, confirmed in an especial

manner the bitterness and horror of my feelings.

"I generally rested during the day and travelled only when I was

secured by night from the view of man. One morning, however,

finding that my path lay through a deep wood, I ventured to

continue my journey after the sun had risen; the day, which was

one of the first of spring, cheered even me by the loveliness of

its sunshine and the balminess of the air. I felt emotions of

gentleness and pleasure, that had long appeared dead, revive

within me. Half surprised by the novelty of these sensations, I

allowed myself to be borne away by them, and forgetting my

solitude and deformity, dared to be happy. Soft tears again

bedewed my cheeks, and I even raised my humid eyes with

thankfulness towards the blessed sun, which bestowed such joy

upon me.