friend of mine, after our last farewell, should step into the
crowded street, or roam along our old frequented path by the still
waters, or sit down in the domestic circle where our faces are most
familiar and beloved! No; but when the rays of heaven shall bless
me no more, nor the thoughtful lamplight gleam upon my studies, nor
the cheerful fireside gladden the meditative man, then, his task
fulfilled, shall this mysterious being vanish from the earth
forever. He will pass to the dark realm of nothingness, but will
not find me there.

There is something fearful in bearing such a relation to a creature
so imperfectly known, and in the idea that, to a certain extent, all
which concerns myself will be reflected in its consequences upon
him. When we feel that another is to share the self-same fortune
with ourselves we judge more severely of our prospects, and withhold
our confidence from that delusive magic which appears to shed an
infallibility of happiness over our own pathway. Of late years,
indeed, there has been much to sadden my intercourse with Monsieur
de Miroir. Had not our union been a necessary condition of our
life, we must have been estranged ere now. In early youth, when my
affections were warm and free, I loved him well, and could always
spend a pleasant hour in his society, chiefly because it gave me an
excellent opinion of myself. Speechless as he was, Monsieur du
Miroir had then a most agreeable way of calling me a handsome
fellow; and I, of course, returned the compliment; so that, the more
we kept each other's company, the greater coxcombs we mutually grew.
But neither of us need apprehend any such misfortune now. When we
chance to meet,--for it is chance oftener than design,--each glances
sadly at the other's forehead, dreading wrinkles there; and at our
temples, whence the hair is thinning away too early; and at the