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."