[_Written on the outside_.]
Thus, then, I take leave of you, and with sadness too. The fond hope I
brought with me here, of being to a certain degree cured, now utterly
forsakes me. As autumn leaves fall and wither, so are my hopes blighted.
Almost as I came, I depart. Even the lofty courage that so often
animated me in the lovely days of summer is gone forever. O Providence!
vouchsafe me one day of pure felicity! How long have I been estranged
from the glad echo of true joy! When! O my God! when shall I again feel
it in the temple of nature and of man?--never? Ah! that would be
too hard!
To be read and fulfilled after my death by my brothers Carl and Johann.