and if I cannot bear that man should be deprived of any one of his faculties, it is because I conceive them all barely sufficient to comprehend truths which reflection reveals to him, as well as the instinct of the heart, namely, the existence of God, and the immortality of the soul.  What can be added to these sublime ideas, to their union with virtue?  What can we add thereto that is not beneath them?  The poetical enthusiasm which gives you so many charms, is not, I venture to assert, the most salutary devotion.  Corinne, how could we by this disposition prepare for the innumerable sacrifices which duty exacts of us!  There was no revelation, except by the flights of the soul, when human destiny, present and future, only revealed itself to the mind through clouds; but for us, to whom Christianity has rendered it clear and positive, feeling may be our recompense, but ought not to be our only guide:  you describe the existence of the blessed, not that of mortals.  Religious life is a combat, not a hymn.  If we were not condemned in this world to repress the evil inclinations of others and of ourselves, there would in truth be no distinction to be made except between cold and enthusiastic souls.  But man is a harsher and more formidable creature than your heart paints him to you; and reason in piety, and authority in duty, are a necessary curb to the wanderings of his pride.

“In whatever manner you may consider the external pomp and multiplied ceremonies of your religion, believe me, my love, the contemplation of the universe and its author, will be always the chief worship; that which will fill the imagination, without any thing futile or absurd being found in it upon investigation.  Those dogmas which wound my reason also cool my enthusiasm.  Undoubtedly the world, such as it is, is a mystery which we can neither deny nor comprehend; it would therefore be foolish to refuse credence to what we are unable to explain; but that which is contradictory is always of human creation.  The mysteries of heavenly origin are above the lights of the mind; but not in opposition to them.  A German philosopher[31] has said:  I know but two beautiful things in the universe:  the starry sky above our heads, and the sentiment of duty in our hearts.  In truth all the wonders of the creation are comprised in these words.

“So far from a simple and severe religion searing our hearts, I should have thought, before I had known you, Corinne, that it was the only one which could concentrate and perpetuate the affections.  I have seen the most pure and austere conduct unfold in a man the most inexhaustible tenderness.  I have seen him preserve even to old age, a virginity of soul, which the passions and their criminal effects would necessarily have withered.  Undoubtedly repentance is a fine thing, and I have more need than any person to believe in its efficacy; but repeated repentance fatigues the soul—­this sentiment can only regenerate once.  It is the redemption which is accomplished at the bottom of our soul, and this great sacrifice cannot be renewed.  When human weakness is accustomed to it, the power to love is lost; for power is necessary in order to love, at least with constancy.