The Confession of a Child of the Century — Volume 3Musset, Alfred de
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The Confession of a Child of the Century — Volume 3
Musset, Alfred de
France -- Fiction; French fiction -- Translations into English; Historical fiction
"And thou, Lord, who hast saved me, grant me pardon. I was born in an
impious century, and I have many crimes to expiate. Thou Son of God,
whom men forget, I have not been taught to love Thee. I have never
worshipped in Thy temples, but I thank heaven that where I find Thee,
I tremble and bow in reverence. I have at least kissed with my lips a
heart that is full of Thee. Protect that heart so long as life lasts;
dwell within it, Thou Holy One; a poor unfortunate has been brave enough
to defy death at the sight of Thy suffering and Thy death; though
impious, Thou hast saved him from evil; if he had believed, Thou wouldst
have consoled him.
"Pardon those who have made him incredulous since Thou hast made him
repentant; pardon those who blaspheme! When they were in despair they
did not see Thee! Human joys are a mockery; they are scornful and
pitiless; O Lord! the happy of this world think they have no need of
Thee! Pardon them. Although their pride may outrage Thee, they will be,
sooner or later, baptized in tears; grant that they may cease to believe
in any other shelter from the tempest than Thy love, and spare them the
severe lessons of unhappiness. Our wisdom and scepticism are in our
hands but children's toys; forgive us for dreaming that we can defy Thee,
Thou who smilest at Golgotha. The worst result of all our vain misery is
that it tempts us to forget Thee.
"But Thou knowest that it is all but a shadow which a glance from Thee
can dissipate. Hast not Thou Thyself been a man? It was sorrow that
made Thee God; sorrow is an instrument of torture by which Thou hast
mounted to the very throne of God, Thy Father, and it is sorrow that
leads us to Thee with our crown of thorns to kneel before Thy mercy-seat;
we touch Thy bleeding feet with our bloodstained hands, for Thou hast
suffered martyrdom to be loved by the unfortunate."
The first rays of dawn began to appear: man and nature were rousing
themselves from sleep and the air. was filled with the confusion of
distant sounds. Weak and exhausted, I was about to leave Brigitte, and
seek a little repose. As I was passing out of the room, a dress thrown
on a chair slipped to the floor near me, and in its folds I spied a piece
of paper. I picked it up; it was a letter, and I recognized Brigitte's
hand. The envelope was not sealed. I opened it and read as follows:
23 December, 18--
"When you receive this letter I shall be far away from you, and
shall perhaps never see you again. My destiny is bound up with that
of a man for whom I have sacrificed everything; he can not live
without me, and I am going to try to die for him. I love you;
adieu, and pity us."
I turned the letter over when I had read it, and saw that it was
addressed to "M. Henri Smith, N------, poste restante."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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