Baron Humboldt, in his _Cosmos_, vol. ii., pays the following eloquent
tribute to that small production of the creative imagination to which
Bernardin de St. Pierre owes the fairest portion of his literary
fame--Paul and Virginia--a work such as scarcely any other literature
can show.
"It is," says Humboldt, "a simple, but living picture of an island in
the midst of the tropic seas, in which, sometimes smiled on by serene
and favouring skies, sometimes threatened by the violent conflict of the
elements, two young and graceful forms stand out picturesquely from the
wild luxuriance of the vegetation of the forest, as from a flowery
tapestry. Here the aspect of the sea, the grouping of the clouds, the
rustling of the breeze in the bushes of the bamboo, and the waving of
the lofty palmo, are painted with inimitable truth.
"Bernardin de St. Pierre's master-work, Paul and Virginia, accompanied
me into the zone to which it owes its origin. It was there read for many
years by my dear companion and friend, Bonpland, and myself; and there
(let this appeal to personal feelings be forgiven) under the silent
brightness of the tropical sky, or when, in the rainy season, on the
shores of the Orinoco, the thunder crashed, and the flashing lightnings
illuminated the forest, we were deeply impressed and penetrated with the
wonderful truth with which this little work paints the power of nature
in the tropical zone in all its peculiarity of character.
"A similar firm grasp of special features, without impairing the general
impression, or depriving the external materials of the free and
animating breath of poetic imagination, characterises in an even higher
degree the ingenious and tender author of "Atala," "René," "the Martyr,"
and the "Journey to Greece and Palestine." The contrasted landscapes of
the most varied portions of the earth's surface are brought together,
and made to pass before the mind's eye with wonderful distinctness of
vision: the serious grandeur of historic remembrances could alone have
given so much depth and repose to the impressions of a rapid journey."
------------------