a a As these last words were issuing from her the curtain was suddenly withdrawn from before her, mouth, a merry laugh rang through the conserva- at the same moment a film fell from her eyes, and tory. Louise, guided by its ringing echo, hastened she was in the presence of those beautiful spirits in the direction from which it proceeded, but there who had visited her in her dreams. was no sign of living being. She discovered, how- “ Thou hast striven," exclaimed the fairy spirits, ever a doorway, which yielded to a push from her "and now shalt thou be a child of spotless purity.” hand, and then closed again behind her so exactly, They then embraced her, and led her out into a as to appear but a part of the solid wall. Imme- spacious garden, in which stood a circular edifice diately on her emerging from the conservatory, an of shell work, encrusted with moss and curious indescribable feeling of awe crept over her; the grasses. Her dream was indeed realised, and spot on which she stood seemed to inspire holy Louise recognized the beautiful spot, peopled by and devotional thoughts; the mellow light that fell the fairies, in their blue silk draperies, fastened by upon the dark marble pavement from the coloured zones of white coral; the gems that glittered upon windows, was in unison with the sombre air which their brows were of intense brilliancy; the bees pervaded the entire edifice. She was standing in were hovering about on their downy wings, and the nave of a venerable structure, with an open the same birds hopped from spray to spray. They ceiling of cedar wood, supported on slender pillars then led her into this circular edifice, singing, and of porphyry, whose capitals were decorated with showering roses and sprigs of myrtle along the elegant tracery : beyond fell a deep curtain, sepa- path, and entered a chamber, on which a throne of rating the nave from the inner building. Louise crystal was raised upon a dais; on it sat a lady, crept silently to it, and on her approach a deep bright as the morning star, at whose presence all sound of music burst forth. Simple and plain was fell with their faces to the ground. The beautiful the melody, but anon its tones rose and swelled lady advanced to Louise, and encircling her waist upon the ear, riveting the attention by its beauti- with a coral band, and clasping a diamond on her ful simplicity. All was silence for a moment, and forehead, greeted her thus :-then the melody was heard flowing softly forth Forget not, my child, what thou hast resolved again, blended with voices rich and powerful. on this day. The gift of life is no useless boon; "Mortal foot is lurking nigh, we sleep but in the night; the sun rises each sucMortal voice and mortal eye! ceeding morn to light our path for the day, and however confined and narrow that path may be, we must walk in it, and doubt not we shall find duties to perform ere we reach its utmost limits. They who walk blindly on, forget that life is but a trial, and miss its great object. Thou art young, child, and untainted; and preserve thyself spotless as hitherto, and on thy return to the Schwarzwald, for thou must return for a time, strive for the great reward, and thou shalt visit us again with all now dear to thee." Louise, urged by some impulse, caught up the With these words she returned to her throne, melody ere it died away, and sang the last few lines and Louise and her fairy companions left the in a spirit of reverential awe. She felt no longer chamber, and roamed in the gardens. Some the thoughtless child of the forest, roaming only gathered the most delicious fruits and presented to from thicket to glade in search of new delight, care-her; others plucked the most choice flowers and less of aught beyond the present moment; a new twined them in her hair. They devised all kinds of light seemed to be dawning upon her, and the sports to amuse her; ran races, and danced in thought that life was not without its duties, that all merry groups on the green-sward, exhibiting in its concerns were not to be centred on self, occurred their graceful movements the delicate symmetry of to her mind, and she began to wonder how it had their limbs. happened that she had been so long dead to this When they became fatigued with their games important truth. This thought gave birth to a they led her to a clear crystal stream, and invited thousand kindred reflections, and her imagination her to plunge in to cool her glowing limbs. In a presented before her eyes the inscriptions on the moment tlrey were all sporting in the water,—now archway of the chamber where she had slept. “Ah," floating on the glassy surface, now dipping beneath said she “ full well I know the wave, and then appearing again with their Life is but a trial at most, bright locks unbound, streaming over their shoulbut then follows ders, and dripping with spray. After the refresh ment of the bath, they led her into a more beautiful pappy they who use it well, apartment than any she had hitherto seen, though oh, may I be enabled to know that happiness." its magnificence was somewhat diminished in her Pursuing the train of reflections which sprang from eyes, by the appearance of several hideous faces, the consideration of the maxim, her feelings became bearing upon them the stamp of passion, hatred, o'ermastered by a sense of her former blindness jealousy, and other feelings that debase mortality, and ignorance, and she fell on her knees in the Louise, somewhat terrified by the fiendish glare of spirit of prayer; and, though her lips appeared their eyes, and their savage mien, inquired of one sealed, and her fervour was not manitested in de- of the fairies the cause of their dwelling in a spot votional accents, nevertheless her soul was poured tenanted by happy, spirits. forth in prayer, and she was heard. For a long “ See you not,” replied the fairy, “they are time she continued upon her knees upon the marble separated from us by an iron grating; part of their floor, with raised eyes and uplifted hands, and miserable punishment it is, to be spectators of the when she arose, with a feeling of calm serenity, undying bliss that reigns for ever here; they suffer a mt not be h its un zet thai in Thoort rve thras o the Scenes strive for again to unceasing torments in a cold and cheerless spot; | hut, anxious to see Louise, and to congratulate her here is eternal spring and beauty, ever fresh and parents. When the happy family seated themblooming; they were blind to the uses of life in selves round the blazing fire in the evening, the the external world, they reaped not the harvest, woodcutter pressed his daughter to say how she because they smothered the good seed, and their had missed her path, and in what manner she had doom is eternal.” subsisted during the week she had been missing; During this conversation, the tables throughout but the child begged him to forbear questioning the chamber were loaded with delicacies for a feast; her, as she could not reveal it. “ One day," said and as soon as Louise and her companions were she, “ father, dear, you shall know all.” seated, and the sound of mirth and enjoyment Years passed on in their course, and prosperity arose, the unhappy beings at the grating uttered had smiled upon the simple woodcutter : he was loud yells of despair, mingled with execrations at now become the aufseher of the district. He had their miserable lot. Meanwhile, the time glided marked the wisdom that dictated the opinions of pleasantly away, till the tinkling of a little silver his child; nor were her deeds at variance with bell gave the hour for returning. them, as she preserved one strict line of duty herThe fairies then signified to Louise, that it would self, and invited all others to follow her example. be her duty to keep watch during the night at the She was the friend and counsellor of all: were any mouth of the well; and for this purpose they led unhappy, Louise could restore their peace of mind; her by a winding staircase to the summit of a were any in doubt or perplexity, Louise was ever tower, and bade her look up. Above her was an ready to aid them; were there any quarrels in the opening, through which a faint ray of light was little settlement, Louise was the arbitrator, and streaming, sufficient to assure her that it was the always the peace-maker. Loved and respected by mouth of the old well, and that she was in the all, she continued in one straightforward course, neighbourhood of the Schwarzwald. The fairy never turning aside to the right or to the left. spirits all embraced her most tenderly, kissing her The forest leaves were thickly falling, every repeatedly. “I will stay with you for ever," cried breeze added numbers to those already crisped Louise, passionately; but they kissed her again, and curled on the ground, and the woodcutter felt and said, “ Thou shalt one day be one of us, but sensible that he should never see again their green not yet;" and then they bade her be of good heart, bloom. He was lying upon a couch facing a winand left her. As soon as she was alone, her dow that looked upon a forest path: his faithful thoughts reverted to her father's hut, and she wife, Gertrude, was supporting his head; his son longed to know what had transpired during her Carl , now a fine-grown youth, was kneeling by his absence. "Doubtless my father is sorrowing,” side, and Louise had just completed the narrative thought she, “bewailing his lost child; my mother, of her visit to the fairy spirits in the happy realms. too, is weeping, perhaps; and oh, how sad must The old man's eye lighted up with sudden brilbe poor little Carl, deprived of his dear Louise!" | liancy. “What see you, father, dear ?"cried Louise. The desire of seeing them again became gradually His lips quivered, but no sound escaped them. stronger, till she burst into tears, and sobbed vio- “What see you, father, dear?" repeated the girl; lently, till sleep came to her relief. and as she stooped to kiss his pale cheek, she heard She was roused by the sound of an axe, and on him whisper faintly, “I come, beautiful spirits; I opening her eyes she discovered herself on a mossy come.” One struggle,-all was over. bank at the mouth of the well. The poor child They buried him on the margin of the well; and rubbed her eyes, to convince herself that it was when spring came round, flowers sprang up upon reality, and then exclaimed, “Ah, it must have his grave, arching gracefully over it, and Louise been a dream,—but what a beautiful one!" but, on knew that her father was happy. The woodcutters putting her hand to her forehead, the diamond immediately elected Carl into his father's office, circlet was still there, though she was dressed in “ Tread thou,” said they, “in his footsteps, and her blue woollen frock, and wore her straw hat. thou canst not err.” Louise continued with her She concealed the diamond in her pocket, and bent brother; and the two, knowing that life was but a her steps towards the spot where the click of the trial at most, endeavoured to “use it well,” and axe sounded, and in another moment Louise was won undying bliss with their mother, who had folded in her father's arms. gone before them, and the old woodcutter, in the How the tears chased one another down the dwelling of the beautiful spirits of the Fairy Well, cheeks of the old woodcutter, as he pressed his child to his heart! Come,” said he,“ my darling treasure, let us return together to the hut, and re Biographical Sketches of Eminent Painters. joice with your mother and little Carl, and you shall tell us where you have been; and we will tell you how we sought you in the forest, day after JOSEPH VERNET. day, and could discover nothing but the basket.” It was at a period when the French school of They drew near the hut, and Gertrude was weep- painting was declining, that Joseph Vernet, an ing within. "For a week my child has been torn artist distinguished by originality of genius and from me; oh, let me die!” energy of character, made his appearance. He “ Live, live, and happily, too !” shouted the was born at Avignon, in France, in 1714; and at woodcutter, as he entered the hut with Louise in the age of eighteen he went to Rome, where his his hand. Gertrude clasped the child to her bosom works were highly esteemed by the Italians themin a transport of delight, and little Carl kissed her, selves, who seemed to reckon him among the and then wept, and kissed her again. number of their artists. The joy at her recovery was not confined to the His choice of the particular style of painting to woodcutter's hearth; the news spread rapidly which he chiefly devoted himself, was decided by through the little colony, and all tlocked to the the sight of a storm at sea. His sea-pieces gained rich the 66 him great renown throughout Europe, and his Far upward, in the mellow light, Rose the blue hills. One cloud of white, landscapes, chiefly composed of scenes in Italy, Around a far uplifted cone, were much admired for the excellence of the In the warm blush of evening shone; colouring, and that animation in his figures and An image of the silver lakes, By which the Indian's soul awakes. groups which may be said to be a distinguishing feature of his works. But soon a funeral hymn was heard, Vernet excelled in depicting the motion of water Where the soft breath of evening stirred The tall, gray forest; and a band and the velocity of clouds, and if his landscapes Of stern in heart, and strong in hand, do not display a delicacy of touch equal to those of Came winding down beside the wave, To lay the red chief in his grave. Claude de la Lorraine, he is more animated than that great master in his sea-pieces. They sang, that by his native bowers After spending twenty years in Italy, he was He stood, in the last moon of flowers; And thirty snows had not yet shed summoned to France by Louis XV, to paint views Their glory on the warrior's head; of the ports of that country. Such works fetter But, as the summer fruit decays, So died he in those naked days. the genius of artists, and are not generally interesting in their appearance; but Vernet contrived A dark cloak, of the roe-buck's skin, Covered the warrior, and within to produce a striking and picturesque effect in those Its heavy folds the weapons, made pictures, at the same time that he represented For the hard toils of war, were laid; every object with the utmost exactitude. The cuirass, woven of plaited reeds, And the broad belt of shells and beads. He was received into the Academy immediately on his arrival in Paris. Few artists have left a greater Before, a dark-haired virgin train Chanted the death-dirge of the slain; number of works. There is scarcely a cabinet in Behind, the long procession came, Europe which does not possess some of his pic Of hoary men and chiefs of fame, tures. His Italian landscapes are beautiful, and With heavy hearts, and eyes of grief, Leading the war-horse of their chief. are much prized. Vernet's personal qualities were of the highest Stripped of his proud and martial dress, Uncurbed, unreined, and riderless, order. Although he was admitted into the pre With darting eye, and nostril spread, sence of royalty, and was courted by the great, he And heavy and impatient tread, constantly preserved a modest and an unassuming He came ; and oft that eye so proud Asked for his rider in the crowd. demeanour. If he indulged in luxury, it was not from ostentation, but in order to gratify his feel They buried the dark chief; they freed Beside the grave his battle steed, ings of hospitality; and his principal recreation And swift an arrow cleared its way was the society of persons of intelligence. To his stern heart!-one piercing neigh An interesting anecdote is related of him, con Arose, and o'er the dead man's plain The rider grasps his steed again. nected with our own celebrated landscape painter, Longfellow. Richard Wilson. It happened that Vernet and Wilson were at Rome at the same time; the former being in the Miscellaneous. zenith of his fame. One day Vernet visited Wilson's studio, and being struck by the merit of one of his landscapes, he begged to be permitted to “I have here made only a nosegay of culled flowers, and have brought nothing of my own, but the string that ties give the artist one of his own in exchange for it. them."-Montaigne. Wilson readily agreed to so flattering a proposal, and sent his picture to the distinguished French painter, who generously exhibited it to his visitors, I NEVER yet found pride in a noble nature, nor humiand recommended Wilson to their favour. lity in an unworthy mind. Of all trees, I observe God hath chosen the vine, a low plant, that Vernet passed through life deservedly respected by all who knew him, even by those who were patient lamb: of all fowls , the mild and galless dove. creeps upon the helpful wall : of all beasts, the soft and envious of his talents. He continued to work until | When God appeared to Moses, it was not in the lofty within a very short period of his death, without cedar, not the sturdy oak, nor the spreading plane ; but either his body, his mental powers, his genius, or in a bush, a humble, slender, abject bush. As if He his cheerfulness appearing to be affected or dimin- would by these elections check the conceited arrogance ished; and he died at Paris, after a short illness, of man. Nothing procureth love, like humility: nothing in 1789, at the age of seventy-five, or, as some hate, like pride.—- Feltham's Resolves. say, seventy-seven. N.B. The Second Volume of this Periodical is now ready; Covers for binding, with Table of Contents, may be ordered of any Book. : sellers. London Magazine: A JOURNAL OF ENTERTAINMENT AND INSTRUCTION FOR GENERAL READING. No. 60.) DECEMBER 19, 1846. [. *UNSTAMPED, 14d Can it be VOL. III. Long years, she said, had parted her ; in joy Before she died. How she sat up and spoke; HEIDELBERG. CLATTERING over the bridge across the Neckar, and the Continent—the mixture of the palace and the along the narrow, dusty, stone-paved streets of Heidel- castle. The castles which I have alluded to abore berg, we dismounted at the post-house. It was a late belong to a different period of history. As long as hour for dinner, being past two, but nevertheles we men know that they must consent to sleep six in a bed, found a very good one awaiting us, the most remark- or to have their throats cut, they will most likely subable feature of which was the dignity to which the mit to the former alternative; but when society becomes humble potato had been elevated, in being handed more secure, outraged nature demands a separate bed, round alone, to be eaten as a sort of entremet before the and room to stretch one's legs. Yet, as some defence is meat itself made its appearance. still necessary, the mansion, while it is extended into a Heidelberg may be said to be built in a gigantic palace, still remains a castle. Such is Heidelberg; punch-bowl, the sides of which are formed by the moun- immense in size, enclosing within its vast ramparts tains around, whilst the river lies, like the last dregs of gardens and pleasure grounds, dwellings of great exthe punch, at the bottom. The hills rise almost from tent and architectural beauty, but yet so well fortified, the water's edge, so that the town has scarcely a level as to have been one of the most potent strongholds of street in it, and the greater number are extremely former times. It holds, as it were, the mid-situation steep. Up these we wound our way, and then up the between the town and the summits of the hills behind, still steeper road cut in the rock, which leads from the and its limits comprehend the whole shelf of rock on back of the town to the castle, till we at length stood which it stands, almost the entire side towards the before the portcullised gateway. town being one continuous escarped precipice of great The castle of Heidelberg is one of the most magnifi- depth. We wandered with guides-and, whenever we cent specimens of mediæval architecture in the world ; could get quit of them, without guides-over the whole far the finest I have ever seen, and what, in my opinion, grounds. The buildings are roofless, shattered, and is of much more consequence, far the most comfortable. desolate, but beautiful in their ruin. The high walls of Indeed, I do not know anything more disastrous than red stone, carefully sculptured, and richly adorned,-the to visit a real ruin of some celebrated castle, when fresh secluded courts, the stately terraces, and the massy bulfrom a course of mediæval chivalrous novels. After all warks, still remain; and, though the ivy climbs within the magnificent descriptions which you have been gloat- the halls of the palace, and the gardens are overgrown ing over, of vast halls arrayed for the banquet innu- and desolate, there is more of solemnity than if all yet merable knights and ladies, you are shown a place remained gaudy in regal splendour. But a more cunwhich looks something between a dining parlour and a ning hand than mine has limned the picture, and I wine cellar :--and then, what places the sturdy retainers shall leave to it to trace the outline. resided and revelled in, as described by Scott, and “ In front, from the broad terrace of masonry, you Bulwer, and James; and still more, if we may venture can almost throw a stone upon the roofs of the city, so upon such mysteries, where the highborn dames slept, close do they lie beneath. Above this terrace rises the or even changed their shoes and stockings,-1 protest broad front of the chapel of Saint Vdalrich. On the has ever been to me a matter of wonderment. In fact, left stands the slender octagon tower of the horologe, half the places which I have seen exhibited in feudal and on the right a huge round tower, battered and castles, as baronial halls and state apartments, would shattered by the mace of war, shores up with its broad excite the scorn of Miss Henrietta Duggles, whose shoulders the beautiful palace and garden - terrace of father keeps the green-grocer's shop orer the way, and Elizabeth, wife of the Pfalzgraf Frederick. In the rear whose mother goes out charing. are older palaces and towers, forming a vast, irregular Heidelberg, however, is a very different sort of place, quadrangle: Rodolph's ancient castle, with its gothic and is a splendid specimen of that style of architecture (1) From “ The School of the Heart," a Poem, published by of which there are more instances in England than on Pickering, London. |