midnight
What existence could have suited me better ? Free from the cares of this world , and assured of the other , free from any agitations of the heart or the mind , I would have placidly written simple legends which I would have been credulous enough to believe ; I would have unraveled with intense curiosity some unknown manuscripts , and discovered with tears of joy the Iliad or the Æneid ; I would have sketched imaginary cathedrals ; I would have heated alembics -- and perhaps have invented gunpowder ; which is by no means the best thing I might have done . Come ! 't is midnight ; brother , we must sleep ! _ Postscriptum . _ -- There are ghosts ! I was closing this letter , my dear friend , in the midst of a solemn silence , when suddenly my ears were filled with mysterious and confused sounds that seemed to come from the outside , and among which I thought I could distinguish the buzzing murmur of a large crowd .