Page:Clermont - Roche (1798, volume 2).djvu/207

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the first interval of silence to reason with her.


"For what purpose (cried he) would the interment have been delayed; merely to feed your grief, and continue your family in an unsettled state. Prove your affection to your departed parent, by striving to adhere to the precepts she always gave, to the example she always set you; with a sensibility as exquisite as your's, recall to mind the fortitude with which she bore the death of an idolized husband and two lovely sons, the darlings of her heart, the expected supporters of her noble house: instead of sinking into the supineness of sorrow, instead of withdrawing her cares from life, because that life had lost its brightest charms, she exerted herself to fulfil its incumbent duties; let the remembrance of those exertions inspire you to make similar ones; let it raise you from the bed of languor, let it rouse you from the torpor of affliction, let it animate you to perform your proper part, by tracing