To you, a Leigh of Daisies

Qui autem de summo bono dissentit de tota philosophiae ratione dissentit.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quasi ego id curem, quid ille aiat aut neget. Prodest, inquit, mihi eo esse animo. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Quid ad utilitatem tantae pecuniae? Quam nemo umquam voluptatem appellavit, appellat; Non minor, inquit, voluptas percipitur ex vilissimis rebus quam ex pretiosissimis.

Quantam rem agas, ut Circeis qui habitet totum hunc mundum suum municipium esse existimet?

Est enim effectrix multarum et magnarum voluptatum. Si quidem, inquit, tollerem, sed relinquo. Ut proverbia non nulla veriora sint quam vestra dogmata. Memini vero, inquam; Octavio fuit, cum illam severitatem in eo filio adhibuit, quem in adoptionem D. Sit hoc ultimum bonorum, quod nunc a me defenditur; Post enim Chrysippum eum non sane est disputatum. Quid vero?

• Ita multa dicunt, quae vix intellegam.
• An, partus ancillae sitne in fructu habendus, disseretur inter principes civitatis, P.

1. At ille pellit, qui permulcet sensum voluptate.
2. An vero, inquit, quisquam potest probare, quod perceptfum, quod.
3. Tu vero, inquam, ducas licet, si sequetur;

Chapter 1

I am by birth a Genevese, and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic. My ancestors had been for many years counsellors and syndics, and my father had filled several public situations with honour and reputation. He was respected by all who knew him for his integrity and indefatigable attention to public business. He passed his younger days perpetually occupied by the affairs of his country; a variety of circumstances had prevented his marrying early, nor was it until the decline of life that he became a husband and the father of a family.

Everyone loved Elizabeth. The passionate and almost reverential attachment with which all regarded her became, while I shared it, my pride and my delight. On the evening previous to her being brought to my home, my mother had said playfully, “I have a pretty present for my Victor—tomorrow he shall have it.” And when, on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as mine—mine to protect, love, and cherish. All praises bestowed on her I received as made to a possession of my own. We called each other familiarly by the name of cousin. No word, no expression could body forth the kind of relation in which she stood to me—my more than sister, since till death she was to be mine only.