summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/28915.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to '28915.txt')
-rw-r--r--28915.txt9688
1 files changed, 9688 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/28915.txt b/28915.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cb3ac48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/28915.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9688 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of ZigZag Journeys in Northern Lands;, by
+Hezekiah Butterworth
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: ZigZag Journeys in Northern Lands;
+ The Rhine to the Arctic
+
+Author: Hezekiah Butterworth
+
+Release Date: May 22, 2009 [EBook #28915]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN NORTHERN LANDS; ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Sam W. and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ ZIGZAG JOURNEYS
+ IN
+ NORTHERN LANDS.
+
+ THE RHINE TO THE ARCTIC.
+
+ _A SUMMER TRIP OF THE ZIGZAG CLUB THROUGH
+ HOLLAND, GERMANY, DENMARK, NORWAY,
+ AND SWEDEN._
+
+
+ BY
+
+ HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH,
+
+ AUTHOR OF "YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF AMERICA,"
+ "YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF BOSTON,"
+ "ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN EUROPE," ETC.
+
+
+ _FULLY ILLUSTRATED._
+
+
+ BOSTON:
+ ESTES AND LAURIAT,
+ 301-305 WASHINGTON STREET.
+ 1884.
+
+
+
+
+ _Copyright, 1883_,
+ BY ESTES AND LAURIAT.
+
+
+
+
+ THE ZIGZAG SERIES.
+
+ BY
+
+ HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH,
+
+ OF THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE "YOUTH'S COMPANION,"
+ AND CONTRIBUTOR TO "ST. NICHOLAS" MAGAZINE.
+
+
+ _Each volume complete in itself._
+
+
+ NOW PUBLISHED.
+
+ _ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN EUROPE._
+ _ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN CLASSIC LANDS._
+ _ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN THE ORIENT._
+ _ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN THE OCCIDENT._
+
+
+ New Volume for 1883.
+
+ _ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN NORTHERN LANDS._
+
+
+ --> _Over 100,000 volumes of the Zigzag books have
+ already been sold._
+
+
+
+
+ [Illustration: CARRYING SIEGFRIED'S BODY.]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+This fifth volume of the Zigzag books, in which history is taught by a
+supposed tour of interesting places, might be called a German
+story-book.
+
+It was the aim of "ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN EUROPE" and "ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN
+CLASSIC LANDS" to make history interesting by stories and pictures of
+places. It was the purpose of "ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN THE ORIENT" to
+explain the Eastern Question, and of "ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN THE OCCIDENT"
+to explain Homesteading in the West.
+
+The purpose of this volume is the same as in "EUROPE" and "CLASSIC
+LANDS." A light narrative of travel takes the reader to the places
+most conspicuously associated with German history, tradition,
+literature, and art, and in a disconnected way gives a view of the
+most interesting events of those Northern countries that once
+constituted a great part of the empire of Charlemagne.
+
+It is the aim of these books to stimulate a love of history, and to
+_suggest_ the best historical reading. To this end popular stories and
+pictures are freely used to adapt useful information to the tastes of
+the young. But in every page, story, and picture, right education and
+right influence are kept in view.
+
+In this volume many German legends and fairy stories have been used,
+but they are so introduced and guarded as not to leave a wrong
+impression upon the minds of the young and immature.
+
+ H. B.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ CHAPTER PAGE
+
+ I. THE RIVER OF STORY AND SONG 15
+
+ II. GHOST STORIES 21
+
+ III. A STORY-TELLING JOURNEY 40
+
+ IV. GERMAN STORIES 60
+
+ V. THE SECOND MEETING OF THE CLUB 76
+
+ VI. NIGHT SECOND 92
+
+ VII. EVENING THE THIRD 104
+
+ VIII. EVENING THE FOURTH 122
+
+ IX. FIFTH MEETING FOR RHINE STORIES 145
+
+ X. NIGHT THE SIXTH 165
+
+ XI. COLOGNE 184
+
+ XII. HAMBURG 206
+
+ XIII. THE BELLS OF THE RHINE 221
+
+ XIV. THE SONGS OF THE RHINE 253
+
+ XV. COPENHAGEN 277
+
+ XVI. NORWAY 288
+
+ XVII. THE GREATER RHINE 309
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+ PAGE
+
+ Carrying Siegfried's Body _Frontispiece._
+
+ Introducing Christianity into the North 16
+
+ Castle in Rhine Land 17
+
+ Tower of Ruedesheim on the Rhine 19
+
+ Mountain Scenery in Southern Germany 23
+
+ "I've seen de Debble" 26
+
+ Cat and Rat 27
+
+ Grandmother Golden 29
+
+ The Frightened Irishman 30
+
+ Duncan Asleep 34
+
+ Witches 35
+
+ The Grand-Ducal Castle, Schwerin 41
+
+ Ancient German Houses 43
+
+ Ancient Religious Rites of the Peasants 45
+
+ Old Fortress on the Rhine 50
+
+ St. Dunstan and the Devil 53
+
+ The Murder of Edward 58
+
+ The Emperor William and Napoleon III 63
+
+ William before his Father 64
+
+ King William's Helmet 65
+
+ Jamie at the Strange-looking House 67
+
+ Mountain Scene in Germany 69
+
+ Jamie rushing towards his Mother 71
+
+ The Dwarf and the Goose 72
+
+ Eberhard 74
+
+ Bridge in the Via Mala 77
+
+ John Huss 79
+
+ Bismarck 81
+
+ Peter in the Forest 86
+
+ Peter and the Manikin 88
+
+ Peter surpassed the King of Dancers 89
+
+ Peter and the Giant 90
+
+ A Village in the Black Forest 93
+
+ Peasant's House in the Black Forest 95
+
+ Von Moltke 97
+
+ Fountain at Schaffhausen 99
+
+ The Old Woman's Directions 101
+
+ The Hen and the Trench 102
+
+ Strasburg Cathedral 103
+
+ Platform of Strasburg Cathedral 107
+
+ Thus didst thou to the Vase of Soissons 109
+
+ Street in Strasburg 111
+
+ Clovis 113
+
+ Monsieur Lacombe and the Organ 115
+
+ "Here is an Odd Treasure" 120
+
+ Palace at Heidelberg 123
+
+ German Student 126
+
+ Castle at Heidelberg 127
+
+ German Students 131
+
+ Entrance to Heidelberg Castle 135
+
+ Little Mook 137
+
+ Amputation 139
+
+ The Queer Old Lady who went to College 140
+
+ "And it told to her the Truth" 141
+
+ "Not very, very plain" 141
+
+ "They you straightway in invite" 141
+
+ "He of the Philosophie" 143
+
+ A Battle between Franks and Saxons 146
+
+ Luther's House 147
+
+ A tribe of Germans on an Expedition 149
+
+ The Murder of Siegfried 151
+
+ Mayence 153
+
+ Bishop Hatto and the Rats 155
+
+ View on the Rhine 158
+
+ The Lorelei 159
+
+ Herman's Eyes were fixed on the Rock 163
+
+ Ehrenbreitstein 166
+
+ Goethe's Promenade 167
+
+ Faust Signing 171
+
+ Faust and Mephistopheles 172
+
+ A Cleft in the Mountains 175
+
+ Voltaire 179
+
+ The Unnerved Hussar 182
+
+ Cathedral of Cologne 185
+
+ The Mysterious Architect 189
+
+ St. Martin's Church, Cologne 193
+
+ Charlemagne in the School of the Palace 197
+
+ Charlemagne inflicting Baptism upon the Saxons 201
+
+ The Germans on an Expedition 203
+
+ Canal in Hamburg 207
+
+ The Palace in Berlin 209
+
+ Grotto 211
+
+ Sans-Souci 213
+
+ Peter the Wild Boy 217
+
+ The Silent Castles 223
+
+ Hotel de Ville, Ghent 225
+
+ Bell-Tower, Ghent 228
+
+ Castle at Heidelberg 229
+
+ Breslau 233
+
+ Finishing the Bell 236
+
+ At the Inn 237
+
+ The Day of Execution 238
+
+ Above the Town 241
+
+ Old Peasant Costume 244
+
+ The Old City 245
+
+ Old Peasant Costume 247
+
+ Old Peasant Costumes 248
+
+ City Gate 249
+
+ The Neckar 250
+
+ An Old German Town 255
+
+ The Rhinefels 257
+
+ Mayence in the Olden Time 262
+
+ Beethoven's Home at Bonn 268
+
+ A City of the Rhine 271
+
+ The River of Song 274
+
+ The Palace of Rosenborg 278
+
+ View of Copenhagen 279
+
+ Palace of Fredericksborg 283
+
+ The King in the Bag 286
+
+ Gustavus Adolphus 289
+
+ Death of Gustavus and his Page 293
+
+ Cascade in Norway 297
+
+ Lazaretto 299
+
+ The Naero Fiord 300
+
+ Lake in Norway 303
+
+ The Coast 307
+
+ Niagara Falls 311
+
+ A New England in the West 315
+
+ Near Quebec 317
+
+
+
+
+ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN NORTHERN LANDS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE RIVER OF STORY AND SONG.
+
+
+The Rhine! River of what histories, tragedies, comedies, legends,
+stories, and songs! Associated with the greatest events of the history
+of Germany, France, and Northern Europe; with the Rome of Caesar and
+Aurelian; with the Rome of the Popes; with the Reformation; with the
+shadowy goblin lore and beautiful fairy tales of the twilight of
+Celtic civilization that have been evolved through centuries and have
+become the household stories of all enlightened lands!
+
+A journey down the Rhine is like passing through wonderland; wild
+stories, quaint stories, legendary and historic stories, are
+associated with every rood of ground from the Alps to the ocean. It is
+a region of the stories of two thousand years. The Rhine is the river
+of the poet; its banks are the battle-fields of heroes; its forests
+and villages the fairy lands of old.
+
+When Rome was queen of the world, Caesar carried his eagles over the
+Rhine; Titus sent a part of his army which had conquered Jerusalem to
+the Rhine; Julian erected a fortress on the Rhine; and Valentinian
+began the castle-building that was to go on for a thousand years.
+
+The period of the Goths, Huns, Celts, and Vandals came,--the conquerors
+of Rome; and the Rhine was strewn with Roman ruins. Charlemagne cleared
+away the ruins, and began anew the castle-building. A Christian soldier
+in one of the legions that destroyed Jerusalem and tore down the temple,
+first brought the Gospel to the Rhine. His name was Crescaitius. He was
+soon followed by missionaries of the Cross. Christianity was established
+upon the Rhine soon after it entered Rome.
+
+ [Illustration: INTRODUCING CHRISTIANITY INTO THE NORTH.]
+
+The great conquests of modern history are directly or indirectly
+associated with the wonderful river; Caesar, who conquered the world,
+crossed the Rhine; Attila, who conquered the city of the Caesars;
+Clovis, who founded the Christian religion in France; and Charlemagne,
+who established the Christian church in Germany. Frederick
+Barbarossa and Frederick the Great added lustre to its growing
+history, and Napoleon gave a yet deeper coloring to its thrilling
+scenes.
+
+ [Illustration: CASTLE IN RHINE LAND.]
+
+When the Northern nations shattered the Roman power, people imagined
+that the dismantled castles of the Rhine became the abodes of
+mysterious beings: spirits of the rocks, forests, fens; strange
+maidens of the red marshes; enchanters, demons; the streams were the
+abodes of lovely water nymphs; the glens of the woods, of delightful
+fairies.
+
+ [Illustration: TOWER OF RUeDESHEIM ON THE RHINE.]
+
+Into these regions of shadow, mystery, of heroic history, of moral
+conflicts and Christian triumphs, it is always interesting to go. It
+is especially interesting to the American traveller, for his form of
+Christianity and republican principles came from the Rhine. Progress
+to him was cradled on the Rhine, like Moses on the Nile. In the Rhine
+lands Luther taught, and Robinson of Leyden lived and prayed; and from
+those lands to-day comes the great emigration that is peopling the
+golden empire of America in the West. "I would be proud of the Rhine
+were I a German," said Longfellow. "I love rivers," said Victor Hugo;
+"of all rivers I prefer the Rhine."
+
+It is our purpose in this story-telling volume to relate why the
+Zigzag Club was led to make the Rhine the subject of its winter
+evening study, and to give an account of an excursion that some of its
+members had made from Constance to Rotterdam and into the countries of
+the North Sea.
+
+ "All hail, thou broad torrent, so golden and green,
+ Ye castles and churches, ye hamlets serene,
+ Ye cornfields, that wave in the breeze as it sweeps,
+ Ye forests and ravines, ye towering steeps,
+ Ye mountains e'er clad in the sun-illumed vine!
+ Wherever I go is my heart on the Rhine!
+
+ "I greet thee, O life, with a yearning so strong,
+ In the maze of the dance, o'er the goblet and song.
+ All hail, beloved race, men so honest and true,
+ And maids who speak raptures with eyes of bright blue!
+ May success round your brows e'er its garlands entwine!
+ Wherever I go is my heart on the Rhine!
+
+ "On the Rhine is my heart, where affection holds sway!
+ On the Rhine is my heart, where encradled I lay,
+ Where around me friends bloom, where I dreamt away youth,
+ Where the heart of my love glows with rapture and truth!
+ May for me your hearts e'er the same jewels enshrine.
+ Wherever I go is my heart on the Rhine!"
+
+ WOLFGANG MUeLLER.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+GHOST STORIES.
+
+ THE ZIGZAG CLUB AGAIN.--SOME "GHOST" STORIES.
+
+
+The Academy had opened again. September again colored the leaves of
+the old elms of Yule. The Blue Hills, as lovely as when the Northmen
+beheld them nearly nine hundred years ago, were radiant with the
+autumn tinges of foliage and sky, changing from turquoise to sapphire
+in the intense twilight, and to purple as the shades of evening fell.
+
+The boys were back again, all except the graduating class, some of
+whom were at Harvard, Brown, and Yale. Master Lewis was in his old
+place, and Mr. Beal was again his assistant.
+
+The Zigzag Club was broken by the final departure of the graduating
+class. But Charlie Leland, William Clifton, and Herman Reed, who made
+a journey on the Rhine under the direction of Mr. Beal, had returned,
+and they had been active members of the school society known as the
+Club.
+
+We should say here, to make the narrative clear to those who have not
+read "Zigzag Journeys in Classic Lands" and "Zigzag Journeys in the
+Orient," that the boys of the Academy of Yule had been accustomed each
+year to form a society for the study of the history, geography,
+legends, and household stories of some chosen country, and during the
+long summer vacation as many of the society as could do so, visited,
+under the direction of their teachers, the lands about which they had
+studied. This society was called the Zigzag Club, because it aimed to
+visit historic places without regard to direct routes of travel. It
+zigzagged in its travels from the associations of one historic story
+to another, and was influenced by the school text-book or the works of
+some pleasing author, rather than the guide-book.
+
+The Zigzag books have been kindly received;[1] and we may here remark
+parenthetically that they do not aim so much to present narratives of
+travel as the histories, traditions, romances, and stories of places.
+They seek to tell stories at the places where the events occurred and
+amid the associations of the events that still remain. The Zigzag Club
+go seeking what is old rather than what is new, and thus change the
+past tense of history to the present tense.
+
+ [1] More than one hundred thousand volumes have been sold.
+
+Charlie Leland was seated one day on the piazza of the Academy, after
+school, reading Hawthorne's "Twice-Told Tales." Master Lewis presently
+took a seat beside him; and "Gentleman Jo," whom we introduced to our
+readers in "Zigzags in the Occident," was resting on the steps near
+them.
+
+Gentleman Jo was the janitor. He was a relative of Master Lewis, and a
+very intelligent man. He had been somewhat disabled in military
+service in the West, and was thus compelled to accept a situation at
+Yule that was quite below his intelligence and personal worth. The
+boys loved and respected him, sought his advice often, and sometimes
+invited him to meetings of their Society.
+
+"Have you called together the Club yet?" asked Master Lewis of
+Charlie, when the latter had ceased reading.
+
+"We had an informal meeting in my room last evening."
+
+"What is your plan of study?"
+
+ [Illustration: MOUNTAIN SCENERY IN SOUTHERN GERMANY.]
+
+"We have none as yet," said Charlie. "We are to have a meeting next
+week for the election of officers, and for literary exercises we
+have agreed to relate historic _ghost stories_. We asked Tommy Toby
+to be present, and he promised to give us for the occasion his version
+of 'St. Dunstan and the Devil and the Six Boy Kings.' I hardly know
+what the story is about, but the title sounds interesting."
+
+"What made you choose ghost stories?" asked Master Lewis, curiously.
+
+"You gave us Irving and Hawthorne to read in connection with our
+lessons on American literature. 'Rip Van Winkle,' 'Sleepy Hollow,' and
+'Twice-Told Tales' turned our thoughts to popular superstitions; and,
+as they made me chairman, I thought it an interesting subject just now
+to present to the Club."
+
+"More interesting than profitable, I am thinking. Still, the subject
+might be made instructive and useful as well as amusing."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+"Did you ever see a ghost?" asked Charlie of Gentleman Jo, after
+Master Lewis left them.
+
+"We thought we had one in our house, when I was living with my sister
+in Hingham, before the war. Hingham used to be famous for its ghost
+stories; an old house without its ghost was thought to lack historic
+tone and finish."
+
+Gentleman Jo took a story-telling attitude, and a number of the pupils
+gathered around him.
+
+
+ GENTLEMAN JO'S GHOST STORY.
+
+ I shall never forget the scene of excitement, when one morning
+ Biddy, our domestic, entered the sitting-room, her head bobbing, her
+ hair flying, and her cap perched upon the top of her head, and
+ exclaimed: "Wurrah! I have seen a ghoust, and it's lave the hoose I
+ must. Sich a night! I'd niver pass anither the like of it for the
+ gift o' the hoose. Bad kick to ye, an' the hoose is haunted for
+ sure."
+
+ "Why, Biddy, what have you seen?" asked my sister, in alarm.
+
+ "Seen? An' sure I didn't see nothin'. I jist shet me eyes and hid
+ mesilf under the piller. But it was awful. An' the way it clanked
+ its chain! O murther!"
+
+ This last remark was rather startling. Spirits that clank their
+ chains have a very unenviable reputation.
+
+ "Pooh!" said my uncle. "What you heard was nothing but rats." Then,
+ turning to me, he asked: "Where is the steel trap?"
+
+ "Stolen, I think," said I. "I set it day before yesterday, and when
+ I went to look to it it was gone."
+
+ "An' will ye be givin' me the wages?" said Biddy, "afore I bid ye
+ good-marnin'?"
+
+ "Going?" asked my sister, in astonishment.
+
+ "An' sure I am," answered Biddy. "Ye don't think I'd be afther
+ stayin' in a house that's haunted, do ye?"
+
+ In a few minutes I heard the front door bang, and, looking out, saw
+ our late domestic, with a budget on each arm, trudging off as though
+ her ideas were of a very lively character.
+
+ A colored woman, recently from the South, took Biddy's place that
+ very day, and was assigned the same room in which the latter had
+ slept.
+
+ We had invited company for that evening, and some of the guests
+ remained to a very late hour.
+
+ The sound of voices subsided as one after another departed, and we
+ were left quietly chatting with the few who remained. Suddenly there
+ was a mysterious movement at one of the back parlor doors, and we
+ saw two white eyes casting furtive glances into the room.
+
+ "What's wanted?" demanded my sister, of the object at the door.
+
+ [Illustration: "I'VE SEEN DE DEBBLE."]
+
+ Our new domestic appeared in her night clothes.
+
+ "O missus, I've seen de debble, I done have," was her first
+ exclamation.
+
+ This, certainly, was not a sight that we should wish any one to see
+ in our house, as desirable as a dignified spectre might have been.
+
+ "Pooh!" said my sister. "What a silly creature! Go back to bed and
+ to sleep, and do not shame us by appearing before company in your
+ night clothes."
+
+ "I don't keer nothing about my night clothes," she replied, with
+ spirit. "Jes' go to de room and git de things dat belong to me, an'
+ I'll leave, and never disturb you nor dis house any more. It's
+ dreadful enough to be visited by dead folks, any way, but when de
+ spirits comes rattling a chain it's a dreadful bad sign, you may be
+ sure."
+
+ "What did you see?" asked I.
+
+ "See? I didn't see nothin'. 'Twas bad enough to hear it. I wouldn't
+ hav' seen it for de world. I'll go quick--jest as soon as you gets
+ de things."
+
+ We made her a bed on a lounge below stairs. The next morning she
+ took her bundles and made a speedy exit.
+
+ We had a maiden aunt who obtained a livelihood by visiting her
+ relations. On the morning when our last domestic left she arrived,
+ bag and baggage, greatly to our annoyance. We said nothing about the
+ disturbances to her, but agreed among ourselves that she should
+ sleep in the haunted chamber.
+
+ That night, about twelve o'clock, the household were awakened by a
+ piercing scream above stairs. All was silent for a few minutes, when
+ the house echoed with the startling cry of "Murder! Mur_der_!
+ MurDER!" The accent was very strong on the last syllable in the last
+ two words, as though the particular force of the exclamation was
+ therein contained.
+
+ I hurried to the chamber and asked at the door what was the matter.
+
+ "I have seen an apparatus," exclaimed my aunt. "Mur_der_! Oh, wait a
+ minute. I'm a dead woman."
+
+ [Illustration: CAT AND RAT.]
+
+ She unlocked the door in a delirious way and descended to the
+ sitting-room, where she sat sobbing for a long time, declaring that
+ she was a dead woman. _She_ had heard his chain rattle.
+
+ And the next morning she likewise left.
+
+ We now felt uneasy ourselves, and wondered what marvel the following
+ night would produce. I examined the room carefully during the day,
+ but could discover no traces of anything unusual.
+
+ That night we were again awakened by noises that proceeded from the
+ same room. They seemed like the footfalls of a person whose feet
+ were clad in iron. Then followed sounds like a scuffle.
+
+ I rose, and, taking a light, went to the chamber with shaky knees
+ and a palpitating heart. I listened before the door. Presently there
+ was a movement in the room as of some one dragging a chain. My
+ courage began to ebb. I was half resolved to retreat at once, and on
+ the morrow advise the family to quit the premises.
+
+ But my better judgment at last prevailed, and, opening the door with
+ a nervous hand, I saw an "apparatus" indeed.
+
+ Our old cat, that I had left accidentally in the room, had in her
+ claws a large rat, to whose leg was attached the missing trap, and
+ to the trap a short chain.
+
+"I knew the story would end in that way," said Charlie. "But that is
+not a true colonial ghost story, if it did happen in old Hingham."
+
+The sun was going down beyond the Waltham Hills. The shadows of the
+maples were lengthening upon the lawns, and the chirp of the crickets
+was heard in the old walls. Charlie seemed quite dissatisfied with
+Gentleman Jo's story. The latter noticed it.
+
+"My story does not please you?" said Gentleman Jo.
+
+"No; I am in a different mood to-night."
+
+Master Lewis smiled.
+
+Just then a quiet old lady, who had charge of a part of the rooms in
+the Academy, appeared, a bunch of keys jingling by her side, much like
+the wife of a porter of a lodge in an English castle.
+
+"Grandmother Golden," said Charlie,--the boys were accustomed to
+address the chatty, familiar old lady in this way,--"you have seen
+ghosts, haven't you? What is the most startling thing that ever
+happened in your life?"
+
+Grandmother Golden had seated herself in one of the easy piazza
+chairs. After a few minutes she was induced to follow Gentleman Jo in
+an old-time story.
+
+
+ GRANDMOTHER GOLDEN'S ONLY GHOST STORY.
+
+ The custom in old times, when a person died, was for some one to sit
+ in the room and watch with the dead body in the night, as long as it
+ remained in the house. A good, pious custom it was, in my way of
+ thinking, though it is not common now.
+
+ Jemmy Robbin was a poor old man. They used to call him "Auld Robin
+ Gray," after the song, and he lived and died alone. His sister
+ Dorothea--Dorothy she was commonly called--took charge of the house
+ after his death, and she sent for Grandfather Golden to watch one
+ night with the corpse.
+
+ We were just married, grandfather and I, and he wanted I should
+ watch with him, for company; and as I could not bear that he should
+ be out of my sight a minute when I could help it, I consented. I was
+ young and foolish then, and very fond of grandfather,--we were in
+ our honeymoon, you know.
+
+ We didn't go to the house at a very early hour of the evening; it
+ wasn't customary for the watchers to go until it was nearly time for
+ the family to retire.
+
+ [Illustration: GRANDMOTHER GOLDEN.]
+
+ In the course of the evening there came to the house a traveller,--a
+ poor Irishman,--an old man, evidently honest, but rather simple, who
+ asked Dorothy for a lodging.
+
+ He said he had travelled far, was hungry, weary, and footsore, and
+ if turned away, knew not where he could go.
+
+ It was a stormy night, and the good heart of Dorothy was touched at
+ the story of the stranger, so she told him that he might stay.
+
+ After he had warmed himself and eaten the food she prepared for him,
+ she asked him to retire, saying that she expected company. Instead
+ of going with him to show where he was to sleep, as she ought to
+ have done, she directed him to his room, furnished him with a light,
+ and bade him good-night.
+
+ The Irishman, as I have said, was an old man and not very
+ clear-headed. Forgetting his directions, and mistaking the room, he
+ entered the chamber where lay the body of poor Jemmy Robbin. In
+ closing the door the light was blown out. He found there was what
+ seemed to be some other person in the bed, and, supposing him a live
+ bedfellow, quietly lay down, covered himself with a counterpane, and
+ soon fell asleep.
+
+ About ten o'clock grandfather and I entered the room. We just
+ glanced at the bed. What seemed to be the corpse lay there, as it
+ should. Then grandfather sat down in an easy-chair, and I, like a
+ silly hussy, sat down in his lap.
+
+ We were having a nice time, talking about what we would do and how
+ happy we should be when we went to housekeeping, when, all at once,
+ I heard a snore. It came from the bed.
+
+ "What's that?" said I.
+
+ "That?" said grandfather. "Mercy! that was Jemmy Robbin."
+
+ We listened nervously, but heard nothing more, and at last concluded
+ that it was the wind that had startled us. I gave grandfather a
+ generous kiss, and it calmed his agitation wonderfully.
+
+ We grew cheerful, laughed at our fright, and were chatting away
+ again as briskly as before, when there was a noise in bed. We were
+ silent in a moment. The counterpane certainly moved. Grandfather's
+ eyes almost started from his head. The next instant there was a
+ violent sneeze.
+
+ I jumped as if shot. Grandfather seemed petrified. He attempted to
+ ejaculate something, but was scared by the sound of his own voice.
+
+ "Mercy!" says I.
+
+ "What was it?" said grandfather.
+
+ "Let's go and call Dorothy," said I.
+
+ "She would be frightened out of her senses."
+
+ "I shall die with fright if I hear anything more," I said, half dead
+ already with fear.
+
+ Just then a figure started up in the bed.
+
+ "And wha--and wha--and wha--" mumbled the object, gesticulating.
+
+ I sprang for the door, grandfather after me, and, reaching the
+ bottom of the stairs at one bound, gave vent to my terrors by a
+ scream, that, for aught I know, could have been heard a mile
+ distant.
+
+ Both of us ran for Dorothy's room. There was a sound of feet and a
+ loud ejaculation of "Holy Peter! The man is dead!"
+
+ "It's comin'," shouted grandfather, and, sure enough, there were
+ footsteps on the stairs.
+
+ "Dorothy! Dorothy!" I screamed. Dorothy, startled from her sleep,
+ came rushing to the entry in her night-dress.
+
+ [Illustration: THE FRIGHTENED IRISHMAN.]
+
+ "I have seen a ghost, Dorothy," said I.
+
+ "A what?"
+
+ "I have seen the awfullest--"
+
+ "It's comin'," said grandfather.
+
+ "Holy Peter!" said an object in the darkness. "There's a dead man in
+ the bed!"
+
+ "Why, it's that Irishman," said Dorothy, as she heard the voice.
+
+ "What Irishman?" asked I. "A murdered one?"
+
+ "No; he--there--I suspect that he mistook his room and went to bed
+ with poor Jemmy."
+
+ The mystery now became quite clear. Grandfather looked anything but
+ pleased, and declared that he would rather have seen a ghost than to
+ have been so foolishly frightened.
+
+"Is that all?" asked Charlie.
+
+"That is all," said Grandmother Golden. "Just hear the crickets chirp.
+Sounds dreadful mournful."
+
+"I have been twice disappointed," said Charlie. "Perhaps, Master
+Lewis, you can tell us a story before we go in. Something fine and
+historic."
+
+"In harmony with books you are reading?"
+
+"And the spirit of Nature," added Charlie.
+
+"How fine that there boy talks," said Grandmother Golden. "Get to be a
+minister some day, I reckon."
+
+"How would the _True_ Story of Macbeth answer?" asked Master Lewis.
+
+"That would be excellent: Shakspeare. The greatest ghost story ever
+written."
+
+"And if you don't mind, I'll just wait and hear that story, too," said
+good-humored Grandmother Golden.
+
+
+ MASTER LEWIS'S STORY OF MACBETH.
+
+ More than eight hundred years ago, when the Roman wall divided
+ England from Scotland, when the Scots and Picts had become one
+ people, and when the countries of Northern Europe were disquieted by
+ the ships of the Danes, there was a king of the Scots, named Duncan.
+ He was a very old man, and long, long after he was dead, certain
+ writers discovered that he was a very good man. He had two sons,
+ named Malcolm and Donaldbain.
+
+ Now, when Duncan was enfeebled by years, a great fleet of Danes,
+ under the command of Suene, King of Denmark and Norway, landed an
+ army on the Scottish coast. Duncan was unable to take the field
+ against the invaders in person, and his sons were too young for such
+ a trust. He had a kinsman, who had proved himself a brave soldier,
+ named Macbeth. He placed this kinsman at the head of his troops; and
+ certain writers, long, long after the event, discovered that this
+ kinsman appointed a relation of his own, named Banquo, to assist
+ him. Macbeth and Banquo defeated the Danes in a hard-fought battle,
+ and then set out for a town called Forres to rest and to make merry
+ over their victory.
+
+ A thane was the governor of a province. The father of Macbeth was
+ the thane of Glamis.
+
+ There lived at Forres three old women, whom the people believed to
+ be witches. When these old women heard that Macbeth was coming to
+ the place they went out to meet him, and awaited his coming on a
+ great heath. The first old woman saluted him on his approach with
+ these words: "All hail, Macbeth--hail to thee, thane of Glamis!"
+
+ And the second: "All hail, Macbeth--hail to thee, thane of Cawdor!"
+
+ And the third: "All hail, Macbeth--thou shalt be king of Scotland!"
+
+ Macbeth was very much astonished at these salutations; he expected
+ to become thane of Glamis some day, and he aspired to be king of
+ Scotland, but he had never anticipated such a disclosure of his
+ destiny as this. The old women told Banquo that he would become the
+ father of kings, and then they vanished, according to Shakspeare,
+ "into the air."
+
+ Macbeth and Banquo rode on very much elevated in spirits, when one
+ met them who informed them that the thane of Glamis was dead. The
+ melancholy event was not unwelcome to Macbeth; his spirits rose to a
+ still higher pitch; one thing that the old women had foretold had
+ speedily come to pass,--he was indeed thane of Glamis.
+
+ As Macbeth drew near the town, a glittering court party came out to
+ welcome the army. They hailed Macbeth as thane of Cawdor. He was
+ much surprised at this, and asked the meaning. They told him that
+ the thane of Cawdor had rebelled, and that the king had bestowed the
+ province upon him. Macbeth was immensely delighted at this
+ intelligence, feeling quite sure that the rest of the prophecy would
+ come to pass, and that he would one day wear the diadem.
+
+ Now the wife of Macbeth was a very wicked woman, and the prophecy of
+ the witches quite turned her head, so that she could think of
+ nothing but becoming queen. She was much concerned lest the nature
+ of her husband should prove "too full of the milk of human kindness"
+ to come to the "golden round." So she decided that should an
+ opportunity offer itself for an interview with the king, she would
+ somewhat assist in the fulfilment of the last prophecy.
+
+ Then Macbeth made a great feast in the grand old castle of
+ Inverness, and invited the king. Lady Macbeth thought this a golden
+ opportunity for accomplishing the decrees of destiny, and when the
+ old king arrived she told Macbeth that the time had come for him to
+ strike boldly for the crown. As Shakspeare says:--
+
+ "_Macbeth._ My dearest love, Duncan comes here to-night.
+
+ _Lady M._ And when goes hence?
+
+ _Macbeth._ To-morrow.
+
+ _Lady M._ O never shall sun that morrow see."
+
+ When this dreadful woman had laid her plot for the taking off of
+ Duncan, she went to the banquet-hall and greeted the royal guest
+ with a face all radiant with smiles, and called him sweet names, and
+ told him fine stories, and brimmed his goblet with wine, so that he
+ thought, we doubt not, that she was the most charming creature in
+ all the world.
+
+ It was a stormy night, that of the banquet; it rained, it
+ thundered, and the wind made dreadful noises in the forests, which
+ events, we have noticed in the stories of the old writers, were apt
+ to occur in early times when something was about to happen. We are
+ also informed that the owls hooted, which seems probable, as owls
+ were quite plenty in those days.
+
+ Duncan was conducted to a chamber, which had been prepared for him
+ in great state, when the feast was done. Before retiring he sent to
+ "his most kind hostess" a large diamond as a present; he then fell
+ asleep "in measureless content."
+
+ When all was still in the castle Lady Macbeth told her husband that
+ the hour for the deed had come. He hesitated, and reminded her of
+ the consequences if he should fail. She taunted him as being a
+ coward, and told him to "screw his courage up to the sticking-place,
+ and he would not fail." Then he took his dagger, and, according to
+ Shakspeare, made a long speech over it, a speech which, I am sorry
+ to say, stage-struck boys and girls have been mouthing in a most
+ unearthly manner ever since the days of Queen Bess.
+
+ [Illustration: DUNCAN ASLEEP.]
+
+ Macbeth "screwed his courage up to the sticking-place" indeed, and
+ then and there was the end of the life of Duncan. When the deed was
+ done, he put his poniard into the hand of a sentinel, who was
+ sleeping in the king's room, under the influence of wine that Lady
+ Macbeth had drugged.
+
+ [Illustration: WITCHES.]
+
+ When the meal was prepared on the following morning, Macbeth and his
+ lady pretended to be much surprised that the old king did not get
+ up. Macduff, the thane of Fife, who was one of the royal party,
+ decided at last to go to the king's apartment to see if the king was
+ well. He returned speedily in great excitement, as one may well
+ suppose. As Shakspeare continues the interesting narrative:--
+
+ "_Macduff._ O horror! horror! horror!
+
+ _Macbeth._ What's the matter?
+
+ _Macd._ Confusion now hath made his masterpiece. Most sacrilegious
+ murder hath broke ope the Lord's anointed temple and stole thence
+ the life o' the building.
+
+ _Macb._ What is 't you say? the life?"
+
+ Macbeth appeared to be greatly shocked by the event, and, with a
+ great show of fury and many hot words, he despatched the sentinels
+ of the king, whom he feigned to believe had done the deed. Lady
+ Macbeth fell upon the floor, pretending, of all things in the world
+ for a woman of such mettle, to faint.
+
+ So Macbeth came to the throne. But he remembered that the weird
+ women had foretold that Banquo should become the father of kings,
+ which made him fear for the stability of his throne. He thought to
+ correct the tables of destiny somewhat, and so he induced two
+ desperate men to do by Banquo as he had done by Duncan. The spirit
+ of Banquo was not quiet like Duncan's, but haunted him, and twice
+ appeared to him at a great feast that he gave to the thanes.
+
+ Now Banquo had a son named Fleance, whom the murderers were
+ instructed to kill, but who, on the death of his father, eluded his
+ enemies and fled to France. The story-writers say that the line of
+ Stuart was descended from this son.
+
+ Macbeth, like all wicked people who accomplish their ends, was very
+ unhappy. He lived in continual fear lest some of his relations
+ should do by him as he had done by Duncan and Banquo. He became so
+ miserable at last that he decided to consult the witches who had
+ foretold his elevation, to hear what they would say of the rest of
+ his life.
+
+ He found them in a dark cave, in the middle of which was a caldron
+ boiling. The old women had put into the pot a toad, the toe of a
+ frog, the wool of a bat, an adder's tongue, an owl's wing, and many
+ other things, of which you will find the list in Shakspeare. Now and
+ then they walked around the pot, repeating a very sensible ditty:--
+
+ "Double, double, toil and trouble;
+ Fire, burn; and, caldron, bubble."
+
+ They at last called up an apparition, who said that Macbeth should
+ never be overcome by his enemies until Birnam wood should come to
+ the castle of Dunsinane, the royal residence, to attack it.
+
+ "Macbeth shall never vanquished be until
+ Great Birnam wood to high Dunsinane hill
+ Shall come against him."
+
+ Now, Birnam wood was twelve miles from Dunsinane (pronounced
+ Dunsnan), and Macbeth thought that the language was a mystical way
+ of saying that he always would be exempt from danger.
+
+ Malcolm, the son of Duncan, the rightful heir to the throne, was a
+ man of spirit, and he went to England to solicit aid of the good
+ King Edward the Confessor against Macbeth. Macduff, having
+ quarrelled with the king, joined Malcolm, and the English king,
+ thinking favorably of their cause, sent a great army into Scotland
+ to discrown Macbeth.
+
+ When this army reached Birnam wood, on its way to Dunsinane, Macduff
+ ordered the men each to take the bough of a tree, and to hold it
+ before him as he marched to the attack, that Macbeth might not be
+ able to discover the number and the strength of the assailants. Thus
+ Birnam wood came against Dunsinane. When Macbeth saw the sight his
+ courage failed him, and he saw that his hour had come. A battle
+ ensued, in which he was conquered and killed.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Such is the story, and it seems a pity to spoil so good a story; but
+ I fear that Shakspeare made his wonderful plot of much the same
+ "stuff that dreams are made of."
+
+ Duncan was a grandson of Malcolm II. on his father's side, and
+ Macbeth was a grandson of the same king, though on the side of his
+ mother. On the death of Malcolm, in 1033, each claimed the throne.
+ Macbeth, according to rule of Scottish succession, had the best
+ claim, but Duncan obtained the power. Macbeth was naturally
+ dissatisfied, and the insolence of Malcolm, the son of Duncan, who
+ placed himself at the head of an intriguing party in Northumberland,
+ changed his dissatisfaction to resentment, and he slew the king. He
+ once had a dream, which he deemed remarkable, in which three old
+ women met him and hailed him as thane of Cromarty, thane of Moray,
+ and finally as king. Upon this light basis genius has built one of
+ the most powerful tales of superstition in the language.
+
+ Duncan was slain near Elgin, and not in the castle of Inverness.
+ Malcolm avenged his father's death, slaying Macbeth at a place
+ called Lumphanan, and not at Dunsinane, as recorded in the play.
+
+ And then Sir Walter Scott finds that "Banquo and his son Fleance"
+ never had any real existence, which leaves no material out of which
+ to construct a ghost.
+
+"So there were no witches, after all?" said Charlie.
+
+"No; no witches."
+
+"No Banquo?"
+
+"No Banquo."
+
+"No ghost?"
+
+"No ghost. Banquo never lived."
+
+"Is that all?" asked Grandmother Golden.
+
+"That is all."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+A STORY-TELLING JOURNEY.
+
+ THE CLUB REORGANIZED.--THE RHINE AND THE LANDS OF THE BALTIC.--TOMMY
+ TOBY'S STORY OF THE SIX BOY KINGS.
+
+
+At the first formal meeting of the Club Charlie Leland was chosen
+President. He was the intellectual leader among the boys, now that the
+old Class had gone; he was a lad of good principles, bright, generous,
+and popular. As may be judged from the somewhat discursive dialogue on
+the piazza, he had a subject well matured in his mind for the literary
+exercises of the Club.
+
+"We all like stories," he said, "and the Rhine lands are regions of
+stories, as are the countries of the Baltic Sea. The tales and
+traditions of the Rhine would give us a large knowledge of German
+history, and, in fact, of the great empire of Europe, over which
+Charlemagne ruled, and which now is divided into the kingdoms of
+Northern Europe. The stories of haunted castles, spectres, water
+nymphs, sylvan deities, and fairies, if shapes of fancy, are full of
+instruction, and I know of no subject so likely to prove intensely
+interesting as the Rhine and the Baltic; and I would like to propose
+it to the Club for consideration, although, owing to my position as
+President, I do not make a formal motion that it be adopted."
+
+ [Illustration: THE GRAND-DUCAL CASTLE, SCHWERIN.]
+
+Charlie's picturesque allusion to the myths of the Rhine and the
+Baltic seemed to act like magic on the minds of the Club; and a
+formal motion that the Rhine and the Baltic be the subject of
+future literary meetings was at once made, seconded, and unanimously
+adopted.
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT GERMAN HOUSES.]
+
+Master Lewis had entered the room quietly while the business of the
+Club was being thus happily and unanimously carried forward. The boys
+had asked him to be present at the meeting, and to give them his
+opinions of their plans.
+
+"I think," he said, "that your choice of a subject for your literary
+evenings is an excellent one, but I notice a tendency to place more
+stress on the fine old fictions of Germany and the North than upon
+actual history. These fictions for the most part grew out of the
+disturbed consciences of bad men in ignorant and barbarous times. They
+were shapes of the imagination."
+
+He continued:--
+
+"Let me prepare your minds a little for a proper estimate of these
+alluring and entertaining stories."
+
+
+ MASTER LEWIS ON POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
+
+ The front of Northumberland House, England, used to be ornamented
+ with the bronze statue of a lion, called Percy. A humorist, wishing
+ to produce a sensation, placed himself in front of the building, one
+ day, and, assuming an attitude of astonishment, exclaimed:--
+
+ "It wags, it wags!"
+
+ His eyes were riveted on the statue, to which the bystanders readily
+ observed that the exclamation referred. Quite a number of persons
+ collected, each one gazing on the bronze figure, expecting to see
+ the phenomenon. Their imagination supplied the desired marvel, and
+ presently a street full of people fancied that they could see the
+ lion Percy wag his tail!
+
+ An old distich runs something as follows:--
+
+ "Who believe that there are witches, there the witches are;
+ Who believe there aren't no witches, aren't no witches there."
+
+ There is much more good sense than poetry in these lines. The
+ marvels of superstition are witnessed chiefly by those who believe
+ in them.
+
+ [Illustration: ANCIENT RELIGIOUS RITES OF THE PEASANTS.]
+
+ The sights held as supernatural are usually not more wonderful than
+ those that arise from a disordered imagination. The spectres of
+ demonology are not more fearful than those shapes of fancy produced
+ by opium and dissipation; and the visions of the necromancer are
+ not more wonderful than those that arise from a fever, or even from
+ a troubled sleep.
+
+ Yet it is a fact, and a very singular one, that, however at random
+ the fancies of unhealthy intellects may appear on ordinary subjects,
+ those fancies obtain a greater or less credit when they touch upon
+ supernatural things. Instances of monomaniacs (persons insane on a
+ single subject) who have imagined things quite as marvellous as the
+ most superstitious, but whose illusions have been treated with the
+ greatest ridicule, might be cited almost without limit.
+
+ I once knew of an elderly lady, who thought that she was a goose.
+ Making a nest in one corner of the room, she put in it a few kitchen
+ utensils, which she supposed to be eggs, and began to incubate. She
+ found the process of incubation, in her case, a very slow one; and
+ her friends, fearing for her health, called in a doctor. He
+ endeavored to reason with her, but she only replied to his
+ philosophy by stretching out her neck, which she seemed to think was
+ a remarkably long one, and hissing. The old lady had a set of
+ gilt-band china cups and saucers, which, in her eyes, had been a
+ sort of household gods. The knowledge of the fact coming to the ears
+ of the physician, he advised her friends to break the precious
+ treasures, one after another, before her eyes. The plan worked
+ admirably. She immediately left her nest, and ran to the rescue of
+ the china, and the excitement brought her back to her sense of the
+ proprieties of womanhood.
+
+ Another old lady, who also resided in a neighboring town, fancied
+ she had become a veritable teapot. She used to silence those who
+ attempted to reason with her by the luminous argument, "See, here
+ (crooking one arm at her side) is the handle, and there (thrusting
+ upward her other arm) is the spout!" What could be more convincing
+ than that?
+
+ Another lady, whose faculties had begun to decline, thought her toes
+ were made of glass; and a comical figure she cut when she went
+ abroad, picking up and putting down her feet with the greatest
+ caution, lest she should injure her precious toes.
+
+ Now these cases provoke a smile; but, had these ancient damsels
+ fancied that they were bewitched, or that they were haunted, or that
+ they held communion with the spirits of the invisible world, instead
+ of exciting laughter and pity, they would have occasioned no small
+ excitement among the simple-minded people of the neighborhood in
+ which each resided.
+
+ A young Scottish farmer, having been to a fair, was riding homeward
+ on horseback one evening over a lonely road.
+
+ He had been drinking rather freely at the fair, according to the
+ custom, and his head was far from steady, and his conscience far
+ from easy.
+
+ It was moonlight, and he began to reflect what a dreadful thing it
+ would be to meet a ghost. His fears caused him to look very
+ carefully about him. As he was approaching the old church in
+ Teviotdale, he saw a figure in white standing on the wall of the
+ churchyard, by the highway.
+
+ The sight gave him a start, but he continued his journey, hoping
+ that it was his imagination that had invested some natural object
+ with a ghostly shape. But the nearer he approached, the more
+ ghostlike and mysterious did the figure appear.
+
+ He stopped, hesitating what to do, and then concluded to ride
+ slowly. There was no other way to his home than the one he was
+ following. He knew well enough that his mind was somewhat unsettled
+ by drinking, and what he saw might, after all, he thought, be
+ nothing but an illusion. He would approach the object slowly and
+ cautiously, and, when very near it, would put spurs to his horse and
+ dash by.
+
+ As he drew near, however, the figure showed unmistakable signs of
+ life, gesticulating mysteriously, and uttering gibberish, that,
+ although odd, sounded surprisingly human.
+
+ It was a ghostly night: the dim moonlight filled the silent air, and
+ the landscape was flecked with shadows; it was a ghostly
+ place,--Teviotdale churchyard; and, in perfect keeping with the time
+ and place, stood the figure, doing as a ghost is supposed to
+ do,--talking gibberish to the moon.
+
+ The young man's nerves were quite unstrung as he put spurs to his
+ horse for a rush by the object of his fright. As he dashed past, his
+ hair almost bristling with apprehension, the supposed phantom leaped
+ upon the back of the horse and clasped the frightened man about his
+ waist. His apprehensions were startling enough before, but now he
+ was wrought to the highest pitch of terror.
+
+ He drove his spurs into his horse, and the animal flew over the
+ earth like a phantom steed. Such riding never before was seen in the
+ winding road of Teviotdale.
+
+ In a wonderfully short time the reeking animal stood trembling and
+ panting before his master's gate. The young man called lustily for
+ his servants, who, coming out, were commanded in frantic tones to
+ "Tak aff the ghaist, tak aff the ghaist!" And "tak aff the ghaist"
+ they did, which proved to be a young lady well known in Teviotdale
+ for her unfortunate history.
+
+ She had married an estimable young man, to whom she was very
+ strongly attached, and the brightest worldly prospects seemed
+ opening before her. Her husband was taken ill, and suddenly died.
+ She had confided in him so fondly that the world lost its
+ attractions for her on his decease, and she moodily dwelt upon her
+ misfortune until she became deranged.
+
+ Her husband was buried in Teviotdale churchyard, and she was in the
+ habit of stealing away from her friends at night, to weep over his
+ grave. These melancholy visits had the effect of giving a new
+ impetus to her malady, making her for a time the victim of any fancy
+ that chanced to enter her mind.
+
+ On the night of our story she imagined that the young farmer was her
+ husband, and awaited his approach with great exhilaration of
+ spirits, determined to give him an affectionate greeting.
+
+ The fright came near costing the young man his life. He was taken
+ from his saddle to his bed, where he lay for weeks prostrated by a
+ high nervous fever.
+
+ An eminent writer, after relating the above authentic story,
+ remarks:--
+
+ "If this woman had dropped from the horse unobserved by the rider,
+ it would have been very hard to convince the honest farmer that he
+ had not actually performed a part of his journey with a ghost behind
+ him."
+
+ True. Teviotdale churchyard would have obtained the reputation of
+ being haunted, and would have been a terror to weak-minded people
+ for many years to come.
+
+ The ignorant and simple are not alone subject to illusions of fancy.
+ The great and learned Pascal, than whom France has produced no more
+ worthy philosopher, believed that an awful chasm yawned by his side,
+ into which he was in danger of being thrown. This dreadful vision,
+ with other fancies as gloomy, cast a shadow over an eventful period
+ of his life, and gave a dark coloring to certain of his writings.
+ Yet Pascal, on most subjects, was uncommonly sound in judgment. How
+ unfavorable might have been the influence, had his disorder assumed
+ a different form, and placed before him the delusion of a ghost!
+
+ Before giving credit to stories of supernatural events, even from
+ sources that seem to be trustworthy, I hope my young friends will
+ consider duly how liable to error are an unhealthy mind and an
+ excited imagination. Every man is not a knave or a cheat who claims
+ to have witnessed unnatural phenomena, but the judgment of very
+ excellent persons is liable to be infected by illusions of the
+ imagination.
+
+ I do not say that we may not receive impressions from the spiritual
+ world. As the geologist, the botanist, the chemist, sees things in
+ nature that the unschooled and undeveloped do not see, so it may be
+ that a spiritually educated mind may know more of the spiritual
+ world than the gross and selfish mind. I will not enlarge upon this
+ topic or discuss this question; it might not be proper for me so to
+ do.
+
+Master Lewis had aimed to make clear to the boys that it is easy to
+start a superstitious story, and to suggest that such stories in
+ignorant times became _legends_.
+
+ [Illustration: OLD FORTRESS ON THE RHINE.]
+
+"I propose," said Willie Clifton, "that the first seven meetings of
+the Club be devoted to the Rhine."
+
+"We might call this series of meetings _Seven Nights on the Rhine_,"
+added Herman Reed.
+
+"The old members of the Club who made the Rhine journey with Mr. Beal
+might give us an account of that journey," suggested one of the new
+boys.
+
+The plans suggested by these remarks met with approval, and a
+committee was appointed to arrange the literary exercises for seven
+meetings of the Club, to be known as _Seven Nights on the Rhine_.
+
+The literary exercises for the present evening consisted of the
+relation of historic ghost stories, chiefly by members of the old
+Club. Among these were the Province House Stories of Hawthorne, the
+tradition of Mozart's Requiem, the Cock Lane Ghost, and several
+incidents from Scott's novels.
+
+The principal story, however, was given by Tommy Toby, an old member
+of the Club, and a graduate of the Academy.
+
+
+ TOMMY TOBY'S STORY OF ST. DUNSTAN AND THE DEVIL AND THE SIX BOY
+ KINGS.
+
+ A splendid court had Athelstane, and foreign princes came there to
+ be educated. Among these princes was Louis, the son of Charles the
+ Simple, of France, who, by his long residence in England, obtained
+ the pretty name of _Louis d'Outremer_.
+
+ Splendid weddings were celebrated there. The king married one of his
+ sisters to the King of France, another to the Emperor of Germany,
+ another to Hugo the Great, Count of Paris, and another to the Duke
+ of Aquitaine.
+
+ After the fight with the Cornish men, all of the land was at peace
+ for many years, and the nobility became very scholarly and the
+ people very polite.
+
+ Athelstane had a favorite, a friar, who made more mischief in his
+ day and generation than any other man. This man is known in history
+ by the name of St. Dunstan.
+
+ When Dunstan was a boy, he was taken very ill of a fever. One night,
+ being delirious, he got up from his bed, and walked to Glastonbury
+ church, which was then repairing, and ascended the scaffolds and
+ went all over the building; and because he did not tumble off and
+ break his neck, people said that he had performed the feat under the
+ influence of inspiration, being directed by an angel.
+
+ This was called Dunstan's first miracle.
+
+ When he recovered from the fever, and heard of the miracle that he
+ was said to have wrought, he was greatly pleased, and thought to
+ turn the good opinion of people to his own advantage by performing
+ other miracles.
+
+ So he made a harp that played in the wind,--now soft, now loud; now
+ sweet, now solemn. He said that the harp played itself. The people
+ heard the sounds, full of seeming expression, as though touched by
+ airy fingers, and, as they could not discredit the evidence of their
+ own ears, they too reported that the harp played itself. And great
+ was the fame of Dunstan's harp.
+
+ But Dunstan, according to old history, became a very bad man; so bad
+ that I cannot tell you the worst things that he did. He discovered
+ his true character at last, notwithstanding his sweetly playing
+ harp.
+
+ He pretended to be a magician. Now a magician, in those old times,
+ was one who was supposed to know things beyond the reach of common
+ minds, who pretended to calculate the influence of the stars on a
+ person's destiny, and who understood the effects of poisonous
+ vegetables and minerals. The Saxon magicians were chiefly nobles and
+ monks, and all of their great secrets which are worth knowing are
+ now understood as simple matters of science, even by schoolboys.
+
+ Athelstane's conscience must have been rather restless, I fancy,
+ concerning young Edwin, his brother, whom he caused to be drowned;
+ and people with unquiet conscience are usually very superstitious.
+ At any rate, he made a bosom friend of Dunstan, after the latter
+ took up the black art, and became greatly interested in magic, much
+ to the sorrow of the people.
+
+ At last a party of the king's friends resolved that the bad
+ influence of the wily prelate should come to an end. They waylaid
+ him one dark night, in an unfrequented place, and, binding him hand
+ and foot, threw him into a miry marsh. But the water was shallow,
+ and Dunstan kept his nose above the mire, and, after shouting
+ lustily for help, and floundering about for a long time, he
+ succeeded in getting out, to make a great deal of noise and trouble
+ in the world, and we have some strange stories to tell you about him
+ yet.
+
+ Athelstane died in the year 940, and he was succeeded upon the
+ throne by his half-brother, Edmund, who was the first of the six boy
+ kings.
+
+ Edmund was eighteen years of age when he took his place on the
+ honorable Saxon throne of Alfred the Great. He was a high-spirited
+ young man, warm-hearted and brave. He conquered Cumberland from the
+ Ancient Britons, and protected his kingdom against the fierce
+ sea-kings of the North. Like his great ancestor, King Alfred, he was
+ fond of learning and art. He improved and adorned public places and
+ buildings. He made a very elegant appearance, and held a showy
+ court, and they called him the Magnificent.
+
+ But Edmund was fond of convivial suppers, and used himself to drink
+ deeply of wine. He lived fast, and his friends lived fast, though
+ they appeared to live very happily and merrily.
+
+ But young men given to festive suppers and to wine are not apt to
+ make a long history; and the history of Edmund the Magnificent, the
+ first boy king, was a short one.
+
+ Edmund was succeeded in the year 946 by Edred, his brother, a
+ well-meaning youth, who was the second of the six boy kings of
+ England.
+
+ Dunstan had become abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, the church where he
+ performed the miracle when he was sick of the fever. He was very
+ ambitious to meddle in affairs of state, but his bad name had
+ weakened his influence with Edmund, and it seemed likely to do the
+ same with well-intentioned Edred. He desired to create a public
+ impression again that he was a saint.
+
+ He retired to a cell and there spent his time working very hard as a
+ smith, and--so the report went--in devotion.
+
+ [Illustration: ST. DUNSTAN AND THE DEVIL.]
+
+ Then the people said: "How humble and penitent Dunstan is! He has
+ the back-ache all day, and the leg-ache all night, and he suffers
+ all for the cause of purity and truth."
+
+ Then Dunstan told the people that the Devil came to tempt him,
+ which, with his aches for the good cause, made his situation very
+ trying.
+
+ The Devil, he said, wanted him to lead a life of selfish
+ gratification, but he would not be tempted to do a thing like that;
+ he never thought of himself,--oh, no, good soul, not he.
+
+ The people said that Dunstan must have become a very holy man, or
+ the Devil would not appear to him bodily.
+
+ One day a great noise was heard issuing from the retreat of this
+ man, and filling all the air for miles, the like of which was never
+ known before. The people were much astonished. Some of them went to
+ Dunstan to inquire the cause. He told them a story of a miracle more
+ marvellous than any that he had previously done.
+
+ The Devil came to him, he said, as he was at work at his forge, and
+ tempted him to lead a life of pleasure. He quickly drew his pincers
+ from the fire, and seized his tormentor by the nose, which put him
+ in such pain that he bellowed so lustily as to shake the hills. The
+ people said that it was the bellowing of the Evil One that they had
+ heard.
+
+ This wonderful story ended to Dunstan's liking, for the artful do
+ flourish briefly sometimes.
+
+ The boy king Edred was in ill-health, and suffered from a lingering
+ illness for years. He felt the need of the counsel of a good man. He
+ said to himself,--
+
+ "There is Dunstan, a man who has given up all selfish feelings and
+ aspirations, a man whom even the Devil cannot corrupt. I will bring
+ him to court, and will make him my adviser."
+
+ Then pure-hearted Edred brought the foxy prelate to his court, and
+ made him--of all things in the world!--the royal treasurer.
+
+ Edred died in the year 955, having for nine years aimed to do justly
+ and to govern well. His decease, like his brother's before him, was
+ sincerely lamented.
+
+ He left a well-ordered government, except in the department of the
+ treasury. Some remarkable "irregularities"--as stealing is sometimes
+ called nowadays--had taken place there, some of the public money
+ having become mixed up with Dunstan's.
+
+ The next of the six boy kings of England was Edwy the Fair,--fifteen
+ years of age when he ascended the throne.
+
+ He was the son of Edmund,--a handsome boy, and as good at heart as
+ he was handsome. Though so young, he had married a beautiful
+ princess, named Elgiva. So we have here a boy king and a girl queen.
+
+ As if one bad prelate were not enough, there was, besides Dunstan,
+ another great mischief-maker, Odo, the Dane, Archbishop of
+ Canterbury.
+
+ The coronation of Edwy was the occasion of great rejoicing. They had
+ a sumptuous feast in the evening, attended by all the prelates and
+ thanes. Edwy liked the society of the girl queen better than that of
+ these rude people, and in the midst of the festivities he retired to
+ the queen's apartment to see her and the queen mother.
+
+ Odo, the archbishop, noticed that the boy king had left his place at
+ the tables. He rightly guessed the reason, and deemed such conduct
+ disrespectful to himself and to the guests. So he went and made
+ complaint to Dunstan, and Dunstan went to look for the missing king.
+ When the latter came to the queen's apartment, and was refused
+ admittance, he broke open the door, upbraided Edwy for his absence
+ from the feast, and, seizing him by the collar, dragged and pushed
+ him roughly back to the banqueting-hall.
+
+ Edwy, of course, resented this treatment. Dunstan replied by
+ accusing him of great impropriety, and talked in a very overbearing
+ way, and Edwy, though a considerate boy, and of a mild disposition,
+ at last lost his temper.
+
+ "You have a very nice sense of propriety," he said. "You were the
+ treasurer in the last reign, I believe. I intend to call you to
+ account for the way that you fulfilled your trust."
+
+ Dunstan was greatly astonished, and, guilty man that he was, he
+ began to feel very unsafe.
+
+ The boy king made the attempt which he had threatened, to call
+ Dunstan to account for his late doings in the treasury. But the
+ latter, when he found that Edwy was in earnest, fled to Ghent.
+
+ The nobles saw somewhat into his true character when he thus
+ disappeared from court, and a party of men was sent in pursuit of
+ him to put out his eyes. But he was too foxy to be caught, and
+ arrived safely in Belgium at last, to make a great deal of trouble
+ in the world yet.
+
+ Incited by Dunstan, Odo raised a rebellion. When he had drawn to
+ himself a sufficient party to insure his personal safety, he
+ proclaimed Edgar, the younger brother of Edwy, king.
+
+ Dunstan returned to England, and joined Odo, and this precious pair
+ soon discovered the value of their piety, as you shall presently
+ see.
+
+ Edwy the Fair loved the girl queen. She was beautiful as well as
+ amiable, and was as devoted to her husband as she was lovely. Odo
+ and Dunstan wished to break the spirit of Edwy, and thought to
+ accomplish their end by capturing the queen. They caused her to be
+ stolen from one of the royal palaces, and her cheeks to be burned
+ with hot irons, in order to destroy the beauty that had so enchanted
+ the boy king. They then sent her to Ireland, and sold her as a
+ slave.
+
+ The Irish people pitied the weeping maiden, and loved her. They
+ healed the scars on her cheeks, that the hot irons had made. When
+ her beauty returned, she grew light-hearted again, and all her
+ dreams were of the king.
+
+ Then the Irish people released her from bondage, and gave her money
+ to return to Edwy.
+
+ She entered England full of joyful anticipations, and made rapid
+ journeys towards the place where Edwy held his court. But Odo and
+ Dunstan, who had been apprised of her coming, intercepted her, and
+ ordered that she should be tortured and put to death. They caused
+ the cords of her limbs to be severed, so that she was unable to walk
+ or move. The beautiful girl survived the cutting and maiming but a
+ few days.
+
+ Weeping continually over her disappointments and sorrows, and
+ shrieking at times from the acuteness of her pain, she died at
+ Gloucester,--perhaps the most unfortunate princess who ever came to
+ the English throne.
+
+ When Edwy heard of her death, he ceased to struggle for his right;
+ he cared for nothing more. He grew paler and thinner day by day, his
+ beauty faded, his thoughts turned heavenward, and he aspired to a
+ better crown and kingdom. He died of a broken heart before he
+ reached the age of twenty, having aimed for three years to govern
+ well.
+
+ Edwy's short reign was followed by that of his brother Edgar, who
+ succeeded to the Anglo-Saxon throne in the year 959, and was an
+ unprincipled and dissolute king.
+
+ He was fifteen years of age when he began to reign. One of his first
+ acts was to reward the intriguing Dunstan for his crimes by
+ bestowing upon him the archbishopric of Canterbury. Think of
+ conferring an archbishopric as the price of a brother's ruin and
+ death! Ah, better to be Edwy the Fair in his early grave, with the
+ birds singing and the violets waving above him, than the cruel boy
+ Edgar upon the throne.
+
+ He resigned the government almost wholly to Dunstan, his primate,
+ and spent his time in gayety, pleasure, and ease. He was unstable,
+ profligate, and vicious. He once broke into a convent and carried
+ off a beautiful nun, named Editha. For this violation of the
+ sanctuary, Dunstan commanded him not to wear his crown for seven
+ years, which was no great punishment, as he could ornament his head
+ as well in some other way.
+
+ Dunstan certainly possessed great ability as a statesman. He
+ employed the vast armaments of England against the neighboring
+ sovereigns, and compelled the King of Scotland and the Princes of
+ Wales, of the Isle of Man, and of the Orkneys, to do homage to
+ Edgar.
+
+ The boy king annually made a voyage around England in great state,
+ accompanied by princes and nobles.
+
+ On one of these occasions, when he wished to visit the Abbey of St.
+ John the Baptist, on the River Dee, he appointed eight crowned kings
+ to pull the oars of his barge, while he himself acted as steersman.
+
+ The vainglorious young sovereign then went into the grand old abbey
+ and said his prayers, after which he returned in the same pomp,
+ rowed by the eight subject kings.
+
+ This event is celebrated in the songs and ballads of the olden time,
+ which tell of the glory of England, when the eight crowns glimmered
+ on the sun-covered waters of the Dee.
+
+ Edgar, who was King of England up to the year 975, married twice,
+ and left two sons. The elder of these was named Edward, the son of a
+ good queen, Ethelfreda; the other was named Ethelred, the son of the
+ bad queen, Elfrida.
+
+ Edward had the best claim to the throne, but the intriguing Elfrida
+ endeavored to secure the succession to her own son, Ethelred, a boy
+ about seven years old. Dunstan decided against her, and caused
+ Edward to be crowned. The boy king was at this time thirteen years
+ of age.
+
+ He was an amiable, susceptible boy, loving every one, and wishing
+ every one well, and believing, with childish simplicity, that all
+ the world was as pure at heart and as unselfish as himself.
+
+ But Elfrida hated him, and resolved that his reign should be a short
+ one, if it was within the reach of her arts to make it so.
+
+ She retired with little Ethelred to Crofe Castle, a beautiful
+ country seat in Dorsetshire. Green forests waved around it, and blue
+ hills seemed to semicircle the sky. The silver horn of the hunter
+ often echoed through the stream-cleft woodlands, and merrily blew
+ before the castle gate.
+
+ Edward and a youthful court party went hunting one day in the dreamy
+ old forests of Dorsetshire. Chancing to ride near Crofe Castle,
+ Edward thought that he would like to see Elfrida and his little
+ brother. So he separated himself from his attendants, rode to the
+ castle, and blew his horn.
+
+ Elfrida presently appeared, her face glowing with smiles.
+
+ "Thou art welcome, dear king," she said, in a winning way. "Pray
+ dismount and come in, and we will have pleasant talk and good
+ cheer."
+
+ "No, madam," said Edward. "My company would notice my absence, and
+ think that some evil had befallen me. Please bring me a cup of wine,
+ and I will drink to your health and to my little brother's, in my
+ saddle, and then I must away with speed."
+
+ Elfrida turned away to order the wine. She gave another order at the
+ same time in a whisper to an armed attendant.
+
+ The wine was brought. Elfrida filled the cup and handed it to the
+ boy king. As he held it up it sparkled in the light. Elfrida stood
+ in the gateway, holding little Ethelred by the hand.
+
+ "Health," said Edward, putting the bright cup to his lips.
+
+ There crept up behind him softly an armed man, whose muscles stood
+ out like brass, and whose eyes burned like fire. He sprang upon the
+ boy king and stabbed him in the back. The affrighted horse dashed
+ away, dragging the bleeding body by the stirrup,--on, on, on, over
+ rut and rock, bush and brier.
+
+ They tracked him by his blood. They found his broken body at last.
+ They took it up tenderly and with many tears, and laid it beneath
+ the moss and fern.
+
+ [Illustration: THE MURDER OF EDWARD.]
+
+ When little Ethelred saw his brother stabbed and bleeding, and
+ dragged over the rough earth, he began to weep. Elfrida beat him and
+ sent him to his chamber.
+
+ What a night was that when the moon silvered the forest! One boy
+ king mangled and dead on the cold ground, and another boy king
+ weeping in the forest castle, and beaten and bruised for being
+ touched at heart at the murder of his bright, innocent brother.
+
+ Ethelred came to the English throne at the age of ten. He was the
+ last of the six boy kings.
+
+ The people held him in disfavor from the first on account of his bad
+ mother, and when Dunstan put the crown on his head at Kingston, he
+ pronounced a curse instead of a blessing. Neither the blessing nor
+ the curse of a man like Dunstan could be of much account, and we do
+ not believe that the latter did the little boy Ethelred any harm.
+
+ Dunstan was now old and as full of craft and wickedness as he was
+ full of years. He continued to practise jugglery, which he called
+ performing miracles, whenever he found his influence declining, or
+ had an important end to accomplish.
+
+ In the reign of Ethelred Dunstan died. As he had used politics to
+ help the church, he was made a saint. This was in a rude and
+ ignorant age.
+
+ Poor boy kings! Edmund was murdered; Edwy died of a broken heart;
+ Edward was stabbed and dragged to death at his horse's heels; and
+ Ethelred lost his kingdom. Three of them were good and three were
+ bad. Only one of them was happy.
+
+ Edmund, eighteen years of age, reigned from 940 to 946; Edred, 946
+ to 955; Edwy, fifteen years of age, 955 to 958; Edgar, fifteen years
+ of age, 958 to 975; Edward, thirteen years of age, 975 to 979;
+ Ethelred, ten years of age, 979 to 1016.
+
+ So the boy kings reigned in all seventy-six years, and governed
+ England in their youth for nearly fifty years.
+
+"I like your story, Master Toby," said Master Lewis; "as a story, I
+mean. The historic facts are mainly as you have given them, but I
+think St. Dunstan's intentions may have been good, after all. He lived
+in an age of superstition, when it was believed that any political act
+was right that would increase the power of the church. Christianity
+then was not what it had been in the early church nor what it is
+to-day. Men must be somewhat regarded in the light of the times in
+which they lived."
+
+The literary exercises for the evening were thus closed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+GERMAN STORIES.
+
+ THE STORY OF THE EMPEROR WILLIAM.--THE STORY OF "SNEEZE WITH
+ DELIGHT."--POEM-STORIES.
+
+
+At the first meeting of the Club to study the history and to relate
+stories of the Rhine and the North, Master Lewis was present, and,
+after the preliminary business had been transacted, said that he had
+some suggestions in mind which he wished to make.
+
+"I notice," he said, "that many of you have been obtaining from the
+Boston Public Library English translations of the works of Hauff,
+Hoffman, Baron de La Motte Fouque, Grimm, Schiller, and Tieck, and I
+think that there is danger that story-reading and story-telling may
+occupy too much of your time and thought. Let me propose that a brief
+history of each author be given with the story at the meetings of the
+Club, so that you may at least obtain some knowledge of German
+literature."
+
+The suggestion met with the approval of all, and it was voted that at
+future meetings the biographies of authors should be given with the
+stories, and that only the stories of the best authors should be
+selected, except in the case of legends of places.
+
+"I have another proposal to make," said Master Lewis. "You are not
+very familiar with German politics. Suppose you let me give you from
+time to time some short talks about the German Government and its
+ministers,--King William, Count Bismarck, and Count Von Moltke."
+
+This kind offer was received with cheers and placed upon record with
+thanks.
+
+"Perhaps you may be willing to open our exercises to-night with one of
+the talks you have planned," said the President. "It would be a
+helpful beginning, which we would appreciate."
+
+"I am not as well prepared as I would like," said the teacher; "but as
+I believe in making a first meeting of this kind a sort of a model in
+its plan and purpose, I will in a free way tell you something of
+
+
+ THE STORY OF THE EMPEROR WILLIAM.
+
+ The life of the Emperor of Germany has been full of thrilling and
+ dramatic scenes.
+
+ When he was a boy, Germany--the great Germany of Charlemagne--was
+ divided into states, each having its own ruler. His father was
+ Frederick William III., King of Prussia, and his mother was Louise,
+ an excellent woman; his youth was passed amid the excitements of
+ Napoleon's conquests. Russia and Prussia combined against Napoleon;
+ Russia was placed at a disadvantage in two doubtful battles, when
+ she deserted the Prussian cause, and made a treaty of peace.
+
+ Napoleon then sent for the King of Prussia, to tell him what he
+ would leave him.
+
+ The lovely Queen Louise went with the unfortunate king to meet the
+ French conqueror, hoping thereby to obtain more favorable terms. But
+ Napoleon treated her with scorn, boasting that he was like "waxed
+ cloth to rain."
+
+ He, however, offered the queen a rose, in a softer moment.
+
+ "Yes," said Louise, thinking of her kingdom, "but with Magdeburg."
+
+ "It is _I_ who give, and _you_ who take," answered Napoleon
+ haughtily.
+
+ Napoleon took away from Prussia all the lands on the Elbe and the
+ Rhine, and, uniting these to other German states, formed a kingdom
+ for his brother Jerome.
+
+ The good Queen Louise pined away with grief and shame at her
+ country's losses, and died two years after of a broken heart. So the
+ boyhood of William was very sad.
+
+ It is said that children fulfil the ideals of their mothers. Poor
+ Louise little thought that her second son would one day be crowned
+ Emperor of all Germany in the palace of the French kings at
+ Versailles.
+
+ William was born in 1797; he ascended the throne as King of Prussia
+ in 1861. How widely these dates stand apart!
+
+ On the day of his coronation as King of Prussia, he exhibited his
+ own character and religious faith by putting the crown on his own
+ head. "I rule," he said, "by the favor of God and no one else."
+
+ Under his vigorous rule Prussia grew in military power, and excited
+ the jealousy of the French people. Napoleon III., on a slight
+ pretext, declared war with Prussia. In this war Prussia was
+ victorious.
+
+
+ A MEMORABLE HOUR.
+
+ That was indeed a memorable hour in the emperor's life when he met
+ the fallen Emperor of the French in the Chateau Bellevue, on a hill
+ of the Meuse overlooking Sedan. The king and the emperor had met
+ before; they then were equals, brother rulers of two of the most
+ powerful nations on earth. They met now as conqueror and captive,
+ and the one held the fate of the other in his hands.
+
+ "We were both moved at seeing each other again under such
+ circumstances," said King William. "I had seen Napoleon only three
+ years before, at the summit of his power. What my feelings were is
+ more than I can describe."
+
+ The king spoke first.
+
+ "God has given victory to me in the war that has been declared
+ against me."
+
+ "The war," said Napoleon, "was not sought by me. I did not desire
+ it. I declared it in obedience to the public sentiment of France."
+
+ "Your Majesty," said the king, "made the war to meet public opinion;
+ but your ministers created that public opinion."
+
+ "Your artillery, sire, won the battle. The Prussian artillery is the
+ finest in the world."
+
+ "Has your Majesty any conditions to propose?"
+
+ "None: I have no power; I am a prisoner."
+
+ "Where is the government in France with which I can treat?"
+
+ "In Paris: the empress and the ministers. I am powerless."
+
+ King William, as you know, marched to Paris, and at last made
+ conditions of peace almost as hard as Napoleon I. had made with his
+ father. The German princes in his hour of victory offered him the
+ crown of Southern Germany, and he was crowned at Versailles, in the
+ great hall of mirrors, Emperor of Germany.
+
+ Let me now speak of the kaiser's
+
+
+ MILITARY CAREER.
+
+ It is rare that men and women live to celebrate their seventy-fifth
+ birthday. The age allotted to mortals by the Psalmist is threescore
+ and ten.
+
+ [Illustration: THE EMPEROR WILLIAM AND NAPOLEON III.]
+
+ But the hale old Emperor of Germany has not only recently
+ commemorated the completion of his eighty-sixth year, but--what is
+ still more striking--at the same time marked the seventy-sixth year
+ of his service as an officer in the Prussian army.
+
+ It is related that, on the 22d of March, 1807, on which day William
+ was just ten years old, his father, then King of Prussia, called him
+ into his study and said,--
+
+ "My son, I appoint you an officer in my army. You will serve in
+ Company No. 1 of the First Guard Regiment."
+
+ The little prince drew himself up, gave his father a prompt military
+ salute, and retired. An hour later he reappeared before the king,
+ attired in the uniform of his new rank; and, repeating the salute,
+ announced to his royal father that "he was ready for duty."
+
+ [Illustration: WILLIAM BEFORE HIS FATHER.]
+
+ Even at so early an age, William was no fancy soldier, holding rank
+ and title, and leaving to humbler officers the duties and hardships.
+ He at once devoted himself to the task of a junior ensign; and from
+ that time onward became an officer in truth, laboring zealously to
+ master the military science, and rising step by step, not by favor,
+ but by merit and seniority.
+
+ At the age of eighteen, William was in Blucher's army at Waterloo,
+ taking an active part in the overthrow of Napoleon, and witnessing
+ that mighty downfall. A little later, he was promoted to the rank of
+ major for cool courage under heavy fire; and from that time on, for
+ nearly half a century, William devoted himself wholly to the
+ military profession.
+
+ When he ascended the Prussian throne, there was no more unpopular
+ man in the kingdom. He had put down the revolutionary rising in
+ Berlin with grim and relentless hand; and the people believed that
+ their new monarch was a cruel and haughty tyrant.
+
+ It was not until after the great triumph over Austria, in 1866, that
+ the Prussians began to discover that King William was not only a
+ valiant soldier, but an ardent lover of his country, and a
+ kind-hearted, whole-souled father of his people.
+
+
+ THE STATESMAN.
+
+ For the last sixteen years, no sovereign in Europe has been more
+ devotedly beloved and revered by his subjects. Although William is
+ autocratic, and believes in his "divine right" to rule as sturdily
+ as did his mediaeval ancestors, and has not a little contempt for
+ popular clamors and popular rights, his reign has been on the whole
+ brilliantly wise and successful. While this has been in a great
+ measure due to the presence of a group of great men around
+ him,--notably of Bismarck and Von Moltke,--the emperor himself has
+ had no small share in promoting the power and towering fortunes of
+ Germany.
+
+ His paternal ways with his people, his military knowledge, his fine,
+ frank, hearty, chivalrous nature, his sound sense in the choice of
+ his advisers, and his perception of the wisdom of their counsels,
+ have much aided in raising Prussia and Germany to their present
+ height in Europe.
+
+ [Illustration: KING WILLIAM'S HELMET.]
+
+ Beneath his commanding and rugged exterior there beats a very kindly
+ heart. Many incidents have been related to show the simple
+ good-nature of his character. In his study, on the table at which he
+ writes, there has long remained a rusty old cavalry helmet, the
+ relic of some military association of the emperor.
+
+ Whenever the death-warrant of a condemned criminal is brought to him
+ to sign, the emperor looks at it, and then slyly slips the fatal
+ document under the helmet. Sometimes his ministers, anxious that the
+ warrants should be signed, take occasion, in his absence from the
+ study, to pull the papers out from beneath the helmet, just enough
+ to catch their master's eye.
+
+ Most often, however William, on perceiving them, quietly pushes them
+ back again, without a word. So great is his repugnance to dooming
+ even a hardened criminal to death, by a mere scratch of his pen.
+
+ At eighty-six, the stalwart old kaiser cannot hope to dwell much
+ longer among his people; but it will be very long before his fine
+ qualities, soldierly courage, and affectionate nature will grow dim
+ in the memory of the fatherland.
+
+The stories related at this meeting were largely from Grimm and
+Fouque, and are to be found in American books.
+
+The most pleasing of the stories, told by Herman Reed, is not so well
+known, and we give it here.
+
+
+ SNEEZE WITH DELIGHT.
+
+ Many, many years ago there lived in an old German town a good
+ cobbler and his wife. They had one child, Jamie, a handsome boy of
+ some eight years. They were poor people; and the good wife, to help
+ her husband, had a stall in the great market, where she sold fruit
+ and herbs.
+
+ One day the cobbler's wife was at the market as usual, and her
+ little boy was with her, when a strange old woman entered the
+ stalls.
+
+ The woman hardly seemed human. She had red eyes, a wizened,
+ pinched-up face, and her nose was sharp and hooked, and almost
+ reached to her chin. Her dress was made up of rags and tatters.
+ Never before had there entered the market such a repulsive-looking
+ person.
+
+ "Are you Hannah the herb-woman?" she asked, bobbing her head to and
+ fro. "Eh?"
+
+ "Yes."
+
+ "Let me see, let me see; you may have some herbs I want."
+
+ She thrust her skinny hands into the herbs, took them up and smelled
+ of them, crushing them as she did so.
+
+ Having mauled them to her heart's content, she shook her head,
+ saying,--
+
+ "Bad stuff; rubbish; nothing I want; rubbish, rubbish,--eh?"
+
+ "You are an impudent old hag," said the cobbler's boy, Jamie; "you
+ have crushed our herbs, held them under your ugly nose, and now
+ condemn them."
+
+ "Aha, my son, you do not like my nose,--eh? You shall have one, too,
+ to pay for this,--eh?"
+
+ "If you want to buy anything, pray do so at once," said the
+ cobbler's wife; "you are keeping other customers away."
+
+ "I _will_ buy something," said the hag viciously; "I _will_ buy. I
+ will take these six cabbages. Six? That is more than I can carry,
+ as I have to lean upon my stick. You must let your boy take them
+ home for me."
+
+ This was but a reasonable request, and the cobbler's wife consented.
+
+ Jamie did as he was bid, and followed the hag to her home. It was a
+ long distance there. At last the beldam stopped in an out-of-the-way
+ part of the town, before a strange-looking house. She touched a
+ rusty key to the door, which flew open, and, as the two entered, a
+ most astonishing sight was revealed to Jamie's eyes.
+
+ The interior of the house was like a throne-room in a palace, the
+ ceilings were of marble and gold, and the furniture was jewelled
+ ebony.
+
+ The old woman took a silver whistle and blew it. Little
+ animals--guinea pigs and squirrels--answered the call. They were
+ dressed like children, and walked on two legs; they could talk and
+ understand what was said to them. Was the beldam an enchantress, and
+ were these little animals children, whom she had stolen and made
+ victims of her enchantments?
+
+ [Illustration: JAMIE AT THE STRANGE-LOOKING HOUSE.]
+
+ "Sit down, child," said the old woman, in a soft voice, "sit down;
+ you have had a heavy load to carry. Sit down, and I will make you a
+ delicious soup; one that you will remember as long as you live. It
+ will contain some of the herb for which I was looking in the market
+ and did not find. Sit down."
+
+ The beldam hurried hither and thither, and with the help of the
+ guinea pigs and squirrels quickly made the soup.
+
+ "There, my child, eat that. It contains the magic herb I could not
+ find in the market. Why did your mother not have it? Whoever eats
+ that will become a magic cook."
+
+ Jamie had never tasted such delicious soup. It seemed to intoxicate
+ him. It produced a stupor. He felt a great change coming over him.
+ He seemed to become one of the family of guinea pigs and squirrels,
+ and, like them, to serve their mistress. Delightful little people
+ they were,--he came to regard them as brothers; and time flew by.
+
+ Years flew by, and other years, when one day the dame took her
+ crutch and went out. She left her herb-room open, and he went in. In
+ one of the secret cupboards he discovered an herb that had the same
+ scent as the soup he had eaten years before. He examined it. The
+ leaves were blue and the blossoms crimson. He smelt of it.
+
+ He began to sneeze,--such a delightful sneeze! He smelt, and sneezed
+ again. Suddenly he seemed to awake, as from a dream,--as though some
+ strange enchantment had been broken.
+
+ "I must go home," he said. "How mother will laugh when I tell her my
+ dream! I ought not to have gone to sleep in a strange house."
+
+ He went out into the street. The children and idlers began to follow
+ him.
+
+ "Oho, oho! look, what a strange dwarf! Look at his nose! Never the
+ like was seen before."
+
+ Jamie tried to discover the dwarf, but could not see him.
+
+ He reached the market. His mother was there, a sad old woman, in the
+ same place. She seemed altered; looked many years older than when he
+ left her. She leaned her head wearily on her hand.
+
+ "What is the matter, mother dear?" he asked.
+
+ She started up.
+
+ "What do you want of me, you poor dwarf? Do not mock me. I have had
+ sorrow, and cannot endure jokes."
+
+ "But, mother, what has happened?"
+
+ He rushed towards her to embrace her, but she leaped into the air.
+
+ The market-women came to her and drove him away.
+
+ He went to his father's cobbler's shop. His father was there, but he
+ looked like an old man.
+
+ "Good gracious! what is that?" said he wildly, as Jamie appeared.
+
+ "How are you getting on, master?" asked Jamie.
+
+ "Poorly enough. I'm getting old, and have no one to help me."
+
+ "Have you no son?"
+
+ "I _had_ one, years ago."
+
+ [Illustration: MOUNTAIN SCENE IN GERMANY.]
+
+ "Where is he now?"
+
+ "Heaven only knows. He was kidnapped one market-day, seven years
+ ago."
+
+ "Seven years ago!"
+
+ Jamie turned away. The people on the street stared at him, and the
+ ill-bred children followed him. He chanced to pass a barber's shop,
+ where was a looking-glass in the window. He stopped and saw himself.
+
+ The sight filled him with terror. He was a dwarf, _with a nose like
+ that of the strange old woman_.
+
+ What should he do?
+
+ He remembered that the old woman had said that the eating of the
+ magic soup that contained the magic herb would make him a magic
+ cook.
+
+ He went to the palace of the duke and inquired for the major domo.
+ He was kindly received, as dwarfs are in such places, and he asked
+ to be employed in the kitchen, and allowed to show his skill in
+ preparing some of the rare dishes for the table.
+
+ No one in the ducal palace was able to produce such food as he. He
+ was made chief cook in a little time, and enjoyed the duke's favor
+ for two years. He grew fat, was honored at the great feasts, and
+ became the wonder of the town.
+
+ Now happened the strangest thing of his strange life.
+
+ (Ye that have eyes, prepare to open them now.)
+
+ [Illustration: JAMIE RUSHING TOWARDS HIS MOTHER.]
+
+ One morning he went to the goose market to buy some nice fat geese,
+ such as he knew the duke would relish. He purchased a cage of three
+ geese, but he noticed that one of the geese did not quack and gabble
+ like the others.
+
+ "The poor thing must be sick," he said; "I will make haste to kill
+ her."
+
+ To his great astonishment, the goose made answer:--
+
+ "Stop my breath,
+ And I will cause your early death."
+
+ Then he knew that the goose was some enchanted being, and he
+ resolved to spare her life.
+
+ "You have not always had feathers on you, as now?" said the dwarf.
+
+ "No; I am Mimi, daughter of Waterbrook the Great."
+
+ "Prithee be calm; I will be your friend; I know how to pity you. I
+ was once a squirrel myself."
+
+ Now the duke made a great feast, and invited the prince. The prince
+ was highly pleased with the ducal dishes, and praised the cook.
+
+ "But there is one dish that you have not provided," said the prince.
+
+ "What is that?" asked the duke.
+
+ "_Pate Suzerain._"
+
+ The duke ordered the dwarf to make the rare dish for the next
+ banquet.
+
+ The dwarf obeyed.
+
+ When the prince had tasted, he pushed it aside, and said,--
+
+ "There is one thing lacking,--one peculiar herb. It is not like that
+ which is provided for my own table."
+
+ The duke, in a towering passion, sent for the dwarf.
+
+ "If you do not prepare this dish rightly for the next banquet," he
+ said, "you shall lose your head."
+
+ Now the dwarf was in great distress, and he went to consult with the
+ goose.
+
+ "I know what is wanting," said the goose; "it is an herb called
+ Sneeze with Delight. I will help you find it."
+
+ [Illustration: THE DWARF AND THE GOOSE.]
+
+ The dwarf took the goose under his arm, and asked of the guard, who
+ had been placed over him until he should prepare the dish,
+ permission to go into the garden.
+
+ They were allowed to go. They searched in vain for a long time; but
+ at last the goose spied the magic leaf across the lake, and swam
+ across, and returned with it in her bill.
+
+ "'Tis the magic herb the old woman used in the soup," said the
+ dwarf. "Thank the Fates! we may now be delivered from our
+ enchantment."
+
+ He took a long, deep sniff of the herb. He then sneezed with
+ delight, and lo! he began to grow, and his nose began to shrink, and
+ he was transformed to the handsomest young man in all the land.
+
+ He took the goose under his arm, and walked out of the palace yard.
+ He carried her to a great magician, who delivered her from her
+ enchantment, and she sneezed three sneezes, and became the
+ handsomest lady in all the kingdom.
+
+ Now, Mimi's father was very rich, and he loaded Jamie with
+ presents, which were worth a great fortune.
+
+ Then handsome Jamie married the lovely Mimi; and he brought his old
+ father and mother to live with them in a palace, and they were all
+ exceedingly happy.
+
+"What is the moral of such a tale as that?" asked one of the Club.
+
+"If you have any crookedness, to find the magic herb," said Charlie.
+
+Charlie Leland, the President, closed the exercises with some
+translations of his own, which he called "Stories in Verse." We give
+two of them here; each relates an incident of Eberhard, the good
+count, whom German poets have often remembered in song.
+
+
+ THE RICHEST PRINCE.
+
+ In a stately hall in the city of Worms,
+ A festive table was laid;
+ The lamps a softened radiance shed,
+ And sweet the music played.
+
+ Then the Saxon prince, and Bavaria's lord,
+ And the Palsgrave of the Rhine,
+ And Wuertemberg's monarch, Eberhard,
+ Came into that hall to dine.
+
+ Said the Saxon prince, with pride elate,
+ "My lords, I have wealth untold:
+ There are gems in my mountain gorges great;
+ In my valleys are mines of gold."
+
+ "Thou hast boasted well," said Bavaria's lord,
+ "But mine is a nobler land:
+ I have famous cities, and castled towns,
+ And convents old and grand."
+
+ "And better still is my own fair land,"
+ Said the Palsgrave of the Rhine:
+ "There are sunny vineyards upon the hills;
+ In the valleys are presses of wine."
+
+ Then bearded Eberhard gently said,
+ "My lords, I have neither gold,
+ Nor famous cities, nor castled towns,
+ Nor convents grand and old.
+
+ "I have no vineyards upon the hills,
+ In the valleys no presses of wine;
+ But God has given a treasure to me
+ As noble as any of thine.
+
+ [Illustration: EBERHARD.]
+
+ "I wind my horn on the rocky steep,
+ In the heart of the greenwood free,
+ And I safely lay me down and sleep
+ On any subject's knee."
+
+ Oh, then the princes were touched at heart,
+ And they said, in that stately hall,
+ "Thou art richer than we, Count Eberhard;
+ Thy treasure is greater than all."
+
+
+ EQUALITY.
+
+ The banners waved, the bugles rung,
+ The fight was hot and hard;
+ Beneath the walls of Doffingen,
+ Fast fell the ranks of Suabian men
+ Led on by Eberhard.
+
+ Count Ulric was a valiant youth,
+ The son of Eberhard;
+ The banners waved, the bugles rung,
+ His spearmen on the foe he flung,
+ And pressed them sore and hard.
+
+ "Ulric is slain!" the nobles cried,--
+ The bugles ceased to blow;
+ But soon the monarch's order ran:
+ "My son is as another man,
+ Press boldly on the foe!"
+
+ And fiercer now the fight began,
+ And harder fell each blow;
+ But still the monarch's order ran:
+ "My son is as another man,
+ Press, press upon the foe!"
+
+ Oh, many fell at Doffingen
+ Before the day was done;
+ But victory blessed the Suabian men,
+ And happy bugles played again,
+ At setting of the sun.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE SECOND MEETING OF THE CLUB.
+
+ CONSTANCE.--THE STORY OF HUSS.--BISMARCK AND THE GERMAN
+ GOVERNMENT.--THE STORY OF THE HEART OF STONE.--POEM.--SEVEN NIGHTS
+ ON THE RHINE: NIGHT FIRST.
+
+
+The second meeting of the Club was opened by Mr. Beal with an account
+of Constance, and of the great Council that convened there in 1414.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+"_Via Mala!_ So the old Romans called the road near the source of the
+Rhine. It passed over and through dark and awful chasms, that the
+river, as it came down from the Alps, had been tunnelling for
+thousands of years.
+
+"The Rhine is the gift of the Alps, as Egypt is the gift of the Nile.
+From its source amid the peaks of the clouds to its first great
+reservoir, the Lake of Constance, it passes through one of the wildest
+and most picturesque regions in the world. It is not strange that the
+Romans should have called their old Swiss road _Via Mala_.
+
+"Lake Constance! How our heads bent and our feelings kindled and
+glowed when we beheld it! It is the most beautiful lake that Germany
+possesses. It is walled by snow-capped mountains, whose tops seem like
+islands in the blue lakes of the skies. Quaint towns are nestled among
+the groves of the shore; towers, with bells ringing soft and melodious
+in the still air. The water is like emerald. Afar, zigzagging sails
+flap mechanically in the almost pulseless air.
+
+"There is color everywhere, of all hues: high, rich tones of color;
+low tones. Piles of gems on the mountains, gloomy shadows in the
+groves; a deep cerulean sky above, that the sunlight fills like a
+golden sea. At sunset the lake seems indeed like the vision that John
+saw,--'a sea of glass, mingled with fire.'
+
+ [Illustration: BRIDGE IN THE VIA MALA.]
+
+"The town of Constance, once a great city, is as old as the period of
+Constantine. When Charlemagne went to Rome to receive the imperial
+crown, he rested here. Here a long line of German kings left the
+associations of great festivities; here those kings passed their
+Christmases and Easters. Here convened brilliant regal assemblies.
+Here the ambassadors from Milan appeared before Barbarossa, and
+delivered to him the golden key of the Italian states.
+
+"But these events are of comparatively small importance in comparison
+with the so-called Holy Council of Constance, in 1414. It was a time
+of spiritual dearth in the world. Arrogance governed the Church, and
+immorality flourished in it. There were three popes, each at war with
+the others,--John XXIII., Benedict XII., and Gregory XII.
+
+"The Council was called to choose a pope, and to reform the Church.
+The town for four years became the centre of European history. Hither
+came kings and princes; the court of the world was here.
+
+"The town filled, and filled. It was like a great fair. Delegates came
+from the North and the South, the East and the West. There were
+splendid fetes; luxury and vainglory. At one time there were present a
+hundred thousand men.
+
+"The Council accomplished nothing by way of reform, except to induce
+the three rival popes to relinquish their claims to a fourth; but it
+stained its outward glory with a crime that will never be forgotten.
+
+"When we were in Florence,--beautiful Florence!--the tragedy of
+Savonarola rose before us like a spectre in the history of the past.
+Savonarola tried to reform the conduct of the clergy and to maintain
+the purity of the Church, but failed. He made the republic of Florence
+a model Christian commonwealth. Debauchery was suppressed, gambling
+was prohibited, the licentious factions of the times were there
+publicly destroyed. He arraigned Rome for her sins. The Roman party
+turned against him and accused him of heresy, the punishment of which
+was death. He declared his innocence, and desired to test it with his
+accusers by walking through a field of living fire. He believed God
+would protect him from the flames, like the worthies of old. His
+enemies were unwilling to go with him into the fiery ordeal. He was
+condemned and executed. The martyr of Florence in after years became
+one of its saints.
+
+"At Constance a like tragedy haunted us. Constance has been called
+'the city of Huss.'
+
+"Among the mighty ones who wended their way to the city of the lake,
+to attend the great Council, was a pale, thin man, in mean attire. He
+had been invited to the Council by the Emperor Sigismund, who promised
+to protect his person and his life. He was a Bohemian reformer; a
+follower of Wycliffe. He was graciously received, but was soon after
+thrown into prison on the charge of heresy.
+
+"They led him in chains before the Council, which assembled in an old
+hall, which is still shown. The emperor sat upon the throne as
+president.
+
+"He confessed to having read and disseminated the writings of
+Wycliffe.
+
+ [Illustration: JOHN HUSS.]
+
+"He was required to denounce the English reformer as one of the souls
+of the lost.
+
+"'If he be lost, then I could wish my soul were with his,' he said
+firmly.
+
+"This was pronounced to be heresy.
+
+"The emperor declared that he was not obliged to keep his word to
+heretics, and that his promise to protect the life of the Bohemian was
+no longer binding.
+
+"He was condemned to death. He was stripped of his priestly robes, and
+the cup of the sacrament was taken from his hands with a curse.
+
+"'I trust I shall drink of it this day in the kingdom of heaven,' he
+said.
+
+"'We devote thy soul to the devils in hell,' was the answer of the
+prelates.
+
+"He was led away, guarded by eight hundred horsemen, to a meadow
+without the gates. Here he was burned alive, and triumphed in soul
+amid the flames.
+
+"Such was the end of John Huss, the Savonarola of Constance.
+
+"We made an excursion upon the lake. The appearance of the old city
+from the water is one of the most beautiful that can meet the eye. It
+seems more like an artist's dream than a reality,--floating towers in
+a crystal atmosphere.
+
+ "'Girt round with rugged mountains,
+ The fair Lake Constance lies.'
+
+"The lake is walled with mountains, and wears a chain of castle-like
+towns, like a necklace.
+
+"It would be delightful to spend a summer there. Excursions on the
+steamers can be made at almost any time of the day. One can visit in
+this way five different old countries,--Baden, Wuertemberg, Bavaria,
+Austria, and Switzerland."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Mr. Beal's succinct account of the old city led to a discussion of the
+gains of civilization from martyrdoms for principle and progress. He
+was followed by Master Lewis, who gave the Class some account of
+
+
+ BISMARCK AND THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT.
+
+ In the eyes of the multitude, Bismarck is a great but unscrupulous
+ statesman, intent upon uniting Germany and making it the leading
+ nation of Europe. As a man, he seems hard-headed, self-willed, and
+ iron-handed. As a ruler, he is looked upon as the incarnation of the
+ despotic spirit,--a believer in force, an infidel as to moral
+ suasion.
+
+ Many persons who sympathize with his policy censure the means by
+ which he executes it. They do not consider that so long as that
+ policy is threatened from within and without, the Chancellor must
+ trust in force; nor do they read the lesson of the
+ centuries,--_Force_ must rule until _Right_ reigns.
+
+ The fact is not apprehended by the unthinking multitude, that the
+ work of grafting a statesman's policy into the life of a nation
+ requires, like grafting a fruit-tree, excision, incision, pressure,
+ and time.
+
+ But it is not of Bismarck's policy I would first speak, but of that
+ which few credit him with possessing,--his moral convictions.
+ Strange as it may seem to those who know only the Chancellor,
+ Bismarck is not only a religious man, but his religion is the
+ foundation of his policy.
+
+ Dr. Busch, one of the statesman's secretaries, in a recent book,
+ "Bismarck in the Franco-German War," narrates incidents and reports
+ private conversations which justify this assertion.
+
+ On the eve of his leaving Berlin to join the army, the Chancellor
+ partook of the Lord's Supper. The solemn rite was celebrated in his
+ own room, that it might not appear as an exhibition of official
+ piety.
+
+ [Illustration: BISMARCK.]
+
+ One morning Bismarck was called suddenly from his bed to see a
+ French general. Dr. Busch, on entering the bedroom just after the
+ chief had left it, found everything in disorder. On the floor was a
+ book of devotion, "Daily Watchwords and Texts of the Moravian
+ Brethren for 1870." On the table by the bed was another, "Daily
+ Refreshment for Believing Christians."
+
+ "The Chancellor reads in them every night," said Bismarck's valet to
+ Dr. Busch, seeing his surprise.
+
+ One day, while dining with his staff, several of whom were
+ "free-thinkers," Bismarck turned the conversation into a serious
+ vein. A secretary had spoken of the feeling of duty which pervaded
+ the German army, from the private to the general.
+
+ Bismarck caught the idea and tossed it still higher. "The feeling of
+ duty," he said, "in a man who submits to be shot dead on his post,
+ alone, in the dark, is due to what is left of belief in our people.
+ He knows that there is Some One who sees him when the lieutenant
+ does not see him."
+
+ "Do you believe, Your Excellency," asked a secretary, "that they
+ really reflect on this?"
+
+ "Reflect? no: it is a feeling, a tone, an instinct. If they reflect
+ they lose it. Then they talk themselves out of it.
+
+ "How," Bismarck continued, "without faith in a revealed religion, in
+ a God who wills what is good, in a Supreme Judge, and in a future
+ life, men can live together harmoniously, each doing his duty and
+ letting every one else do his, I do not understand."
+
+ There was a pause in the conversation, and the Chancellor then gave
+ expression to his faith.
+
+ "If I were no longer a Christian," he said, "I would not remain for
+ an hour at my post. If I could not count upon my God, assuredly I
+ should not do so on earthly masters.
+
+ "Why should I," he continued, "disturb myself and work unceasingly
+ in this world, exposing myself to all sorts of vexations, if I had
+ not the feeling that I must do my duty for God's sake? If I did not
+ believe in a Divine order, which has destined this German nation for
+ something good and great, I would at once give up the business of a
+ diplomatist. Orders and titles have no charm for me."
+
+ There was another pause, for the staff were silent before this
+ revelation of their chief's inner life. He continued to lay bare the
+ foundations of his statesmanship.
+
+ "I owe the firmness which I have shown for ten years against all
+ possible absurdities only to my decided faith. Take from me this
+ faith, and you take from me my fatherland. If I were not a believing
+ Christian, if I had not the supernatural basis of religion, you
+ would not have had such a Chancellor.
+
+ "I delight in country life, in the woods, and in nature," he said,
+ in the course of the conversation. "Take from me my relation to
+ God, and I am the man who will pack up to-morrow and be off to
+ Varzin [his farm] to grow my oats."
+
+ The surprise with which these revelations of a statesman's inner
+ life are read is due to their singularity. Neither history nor
+ biography is so full of instances of statesmen confessing their
+ faith in God and in Christianity, at a dinner-table surrounded by
+ "free-thinkers," as to prevent the reading of these revelations from
+ being both interesting and stimulating.
+
+ "I live among heathen," said the Chancellor, as he concluded this
+ acknowledgment that his religion was the basis of his statesmanship.
+ "I don't seek to make proselytes, but I am obliged to confess my
+ faith."
+
+ Prince von Bismarck was born in 1813. His political history is
+ similar to Emperor William's, which I related at our last meeting.
+ The Emperor and his Chancellor, in matters of state, have been as
+ one man. Each has aimed to secure the unity of the German empire.
+ Each has sought to disarm, on the one hand, that branch of the
+ Catholic party who give their allegiance to Rome rather than the
+ government, the so-called Ultramontanes; and the Socialists, on the
+ other hand, who would overthrow the monarchy. The two strong men
+ have ruled with a firm hand, but with much wisdom. Germany could
+ hardly have a more liberal government, unless she became a republic.
+
+The stories of the evening were chiefly selected from Hoffman. They
+were too long and terrible to be given here. Among them were "The
+Painter" and "The Elementary Spirit." In introducing these stories,
+Mr. Beal related some touching and strange incidents of their author.
+
+
+ HOFFMAN.
+
+ Hoffman died in Berlin. His career as a musical artist had been
+ associated with the Prussian-Polish provinces, where he seems to
+ have acquired habits of dissipation in brilliant but gay musical
+ society.
+
+ Hoffman had exquisite refinement of taste, and sensitiveness to the
+ beautiful in nature and art, but the exhilaration of the wine-cup
+ was to him a fatal knowledge. It made him in the end a poor,
+ despised, inferior man.
+
+ As he lost his self-mastery, he also seemed to lose his
+ self-respect. He mingled with the depraved, and carried the
+ consciousness of his inferiority into all his associations with
+ better society.
+
+ "I once saw Hoffman," says one, "in one of his night carouses. He
+ was sitting in his glory at the head of the table, not stupidly
+ drunk, but warmed with wine, which made him madly eloquent. There,
+ in full tide of witty discourse, or, if silent, his hawk eye
+ flashing beneath his matted hair, sat this unfortunate genius until
+ the day began to dawn; then he found his way homeward.
+
+ "At such hours he used to write his wild, fantastic tales. To his
+ excited fancy everything around him had a spectral look. The shadows
+ of fevered thought stalked like ghosts through his soul."
+
+ This stimulated life came to a speedy conclusion. He was struck with
+ a most strange paralysis at the age of forty-six.
+
+ His disease first paralyzed his hands and feet, then his arms and
+ legs, then his whole body, except his brain and vital organs.
+
+ In this condition it was remarked in his presence that death was not
+ the worst of evils. He stared wildly and exclaimed,--
+
+ "Life, life, only life,--on any condition whatsoever!"
+
+ His whole hope was centred in the gay world which had already become
+ to him as a picture of the past.
+
+ But the hour came at last when he knew he must die. He asked his
+ wife to fold his useless hands on his breast, and, looking at her
+ pitifully, he said, "And we must think of God also."
+
+ Religion, in his gay years, as a provincial musician, and as a poet
+ in the thoughtless society of the capital, had seldom occupied his
+ thoughts.
+
+ His last thought was given to the subject which should have claimed
+ the earliest and best efforts of his life.
+
+ "God also!" It was his farewell to the world. The demons had done
+ their work. Life's opportunities were ended.
+
+ The words of his afterthought echo after him, and, like his own
+ weird stories, have their lesson.
+
+Herman Reed presented a story from a more careful writer. It is a
+story with an aim, and left an impressive lesson on the minds of all.
+If it be somewhat of an allegory, it is one whose meaning it is not
+hard to comprehend.
+
+
+ THE HEART OF STONE.
+
+ The Black Forest, from time out of mind, has abounded with stories
+ of phantoms, demons, genii, and fairies. The dark hue of the hills,
+ the shadowy and mysterious recesses, the lonely ways, the beautiful
+ glens, all tend to suggest the legends that are associated with
+ every mountain, valley, and town. The old legends have filled
+ volumes. One of the most popular of recent stories of the Black
+ Forest is the "Marble Heart; or, the Stone-cold Heart," by Hauff.
+
+ Wilhelm Hauff, a writer of wonderful precocity, genius, and
+ invention, was born at Stuttgart in 1809. He was designed for the
+ theological profession, and entered the University of Tuebingen in
+ 1820. He had a taste for popular legends, and published many
+ allegorical works. He died before he had completed his twenty-sixth
+ year.
+
+ There once lived a widow in the Black Forest, whose name was Frau
+ Barbara Munk. She had a boy, sixteen years old, named Peter, who was
+ put to the trade of charcoal-burner, a common occupation in the
+ Black Forest.
+
+ Now a charcoal-burner has much time for reflection; and as Peter sat
+ at his stack, with the dark trees around him, he began to cherish a
+ longing to become rich and powerful.
+
+ "A black, lonely charcoal-burner," he said to himself, "leads a
+ wretched life. How much more respected are the glass-blowers, the
+ clock-makers, and the musicians!"
+
+ The raftsmen of the forest, too, excited his envy. They passed like
+ giants through the towns, with their silver buckles, consequential
+ looks, and clay pipes, often a yard long. There were three of these
+ timber-dealers that he particularly admired. One of them, called
+ "Fat Hesekiel," seemed like a mint of gold, so freely did he use his
+ money at the gaming-tables at the tavern. The second, called "Stout
+ Schlurker," was both rich and dictatorial; and the third was a
+ famous dancer.
+
+ These traders were from Holland. Peter Munk, the young coal-burner,
+ used to think of them and their good fortune, when sitting alone in
+ the pine forests. The Black Foresters were people rich in generous
+ character and right principle, but very poor in purse. Peter began
+ to look upon them and their homely occupations with contempt.
+
+ "This will do no longer," said Peter, one day. "I must thrive or
+ die. Oh, that I were as much regarded as rich Hesekiel or powerful
+ Schlurker, or even as the King of the Dancers! I wonder where they
+ obtain their money!"
+
+ There were two Forest spirits, of whom Peter had heard, that were
+ said to help those who sought them to riches and honor. One was
+ Glassmanikin, a good little dwarf; and the other was Michael the
+ Dutchman,--dark, dangerous, terrible, and powerful,--a giant ghost.
+
+ Peter had heard that there was a magic verse, which, were he to
+ repeat it alone in the forest, would cause the benevolent dwarf,
+ Glassmanikin, to appear. Three of the lines were well known,--
+
+ "O treasure-guarder, 'mid the forests green,
+ Many, full many a century hast thou seen:
+ Thine are the lands where rise the dusky pine--"
+
+ He did not know the last line, and, as he was but a poor poet, he
+ was unable to make a line to fill the sense, metre, and rhyme.
+
+ He inquired of the Black Foresters about the missing line, but they
+ only knew as much as he, else many of them would have called the
+ fairy banker to their own service.
+
+ One day, as he was alone in the forest, he resolved to repeat, over
+ and over, the magic lines, hoping that the fourth line would in some
+ way occur to him.
+
+ "O treasure-guarder, 'mid the forests green,
+ Many, full many a century hast thou seen:
+ Thine are the regions of the dusky pine."
+
+ As he said these words he saw, to his astonishment, a little fellow
+ peep around the trunk of a tree; but, as the fourth line did not
+ come to him, Mr. Glassmanikin disappeared.
+
+ Peter went home, with his mind full of visions. Oh, that he were a
+ poet! He consulted the oldest wood-cutters, but none of them could
+ supply the missing line.
+
+ Soon after, Peter again went into the deep forest, his brain aching
+ for a rhyme with _pine_. As he was hurrying along, a gigantic man,
+ with a pole as big as a mast over his shoulder, appeared from behind
+ the pine-trees. Peter was filled with terror, for he felt that it
+ was none other than the giant-gnome, Michael the Dutchman.
+
+ [Illustration: PETER IN THE FOREST.]
+
+ "Peter Munk, what doest thou here?" he thundered.
+
+ "I want to pass this road on business," said Peter, in increasing
+ alarm.
+
+ "Thou liest. Peter, you are a miserable wight, but I pity you. You
+ want money. Accept my _conditions_, and I will help you. How many
+ hundred thalers do you want?"
+
+ "Thanks, sir; but I'll have no dealings with you: I am afraid of
+ your _conditions_. I have heard of you already."
+
+ Peter began to run.
+
+ The giant strode after him; but there was a magic circle in the
+ forest that he could not pass, and, as he was near it, Peter was
+ able to escape.
+
+ A great secret had been revealed to Peter, and he now thought he had
+ the clew to the charm. The good dwarf, Glassmanikin, only helped
+ people who were born on Sunday.
+
+ Possessed of this fact, Peter again ventured on into the deep
+ forest. He found himself at last under a huge pine. He stopped there
+ to rest, when suddenly a perfect line and rhyme occurred to him. He
+ leaped into the air with joy, and exclaimed:--
+
+ "O treasure-guarder, 'mid the forests green,
+ Many, full many a century hast thou seen:
+ Thine are the regions of the dusky pine,
+ And children born on Sabbath-days are thine."
+
+ A little old manikin arose from the earth at the foot of the pine.
+ He wore a black jerkin, red stockings, and a peaked hat. His face
+ had a kindly expression, and he sat down and began to smoke a blue
+ glass pipe.
+
+ "Peter, Peter," said the fairy, "I should be sorry to think that the
+ love of idleness has brought you hither to me."
+
+ "No; I know that with idleness vice begins. But I would like a
+ better trade. It is a low thing to be a charcoal-burner. I would
+ like to become a glass-blower."
+
+ "To every Sunday-child who seeks my aid, I grant three wishes. If,
+ however, the last wish is a foolish one, I cannot grant it. Peter,
+ Peter, what are your wishes? Let them be good and useful."
+
+ "I wish to dance better than the King of Dancers."
+
+ "One."
+
+ "Secondly, I would always have as much money in my pocket as 'Fat
+ Hesekiel.'"
+
+ "Oh, you poor lad!" said the gnome sadly. "What despicable things to
+ wish for! To dance well, and have money to gamble! What is your
+ third wish?"
+
+ "I should like to own the finest glass factory in the forest."
+
+ "O stupid Charcoal Peter! you should have wished for wisdom. Wealth
+ is useless without wisdom to use it. Here are two thousand guldens.
+ Go."
+
+ Peter returned home. At the frolics at the inn, he surpassed the
+ King of Dancers in dancing, and he was hailed with great admiration
+ by the young. He began to gamble at the ale-houses, and was able to
+ produce as much money as Fat Hesekiel himself. People wondered. He
+ next ordered a glass factory to be built, and in a few months Peter
+ Munk was rich and famous and envied. People said he had found a
+ hidden treasure.
+
+ But Peter did not know how to use his money. He spent it at the
+ alehouse; and at last, when the money in the pockets of Fat
+ Hesekiel, for some reason, was low, he was unable to pay his debts,
+ and the bailiffs came to take him to prison.
+
+ [Illustration: PETER AND THE MANIKIN.]
+
+ In his troubles he resolved to go again into the deep forest, and
+ seek the aid of the forest gnomes.
+
+ "If the good little gnome will not help me," he said, "the big one
+ will."
+
+ As he passed along, ashamed of his conduct in not having better
+ deserved of the good fairy, he began to cry,--
+
+ "Michael the Dutchman! Michael the Dutchman!"
+
+ In a few moments the giant raftsman stood before him.
+
+ "You've come to me at last," he said. "Go with me to my house, and I
+ will show you how I can be of service to you."
+
+ Peter followed the giant to some steep rocks, and down into an
+ abyss; there was the gnome's palace.
+
+ "Your difficulties come from _here_," said the gnome, placing his
+ hands over the young man's heart. "Let me have your heart, and you
+ shall have riches."
+
+ "Give you my heart?" said Peter; "I should die."
+
+ "No; follow me."
+
+ He led Peter into a great closet, where were jars filled with
+ liquid. In them were the hearts of many who had become rich. Among
+ them were the hearts of the King of the Dancers and of Fat Hesekiel.
+
+ "The hinderance to wealth is feeling. I have taken, as you see, the
+ hearts of these rich men. I have replaced them by hearts of stone.
+ You see how _they_ flourish. _You_ may do the same."
+
+ [Illustration: PETER SURPASSED THE KING OF DANCERS.]
+
+ "A heart of stone must feel very cold within," said Peter.
+
+ "But what is the use of a heart of feeling, with poverty? Give me
+ your heart, and I will make you rich."
+
+ "Agreed," said Peter.
+
+ The giant gave him a drug, which caused stupor. When Peter awoke
+ from the stupor his heart seemed cold. He put his hand on his
+ breast: there was no motion. Then he knew that he had indeed a heart
+ of stone.
+
+ Nothing now brought him pleasure or delight. He loved nothing;
+ pitied no one's misfortunes. Beauty was nothing. He cared not for
+ relatives or friends; but he had money, money. The supply never
+ failed.
+
+ He travelled over the world, but everything seemed dead to him.
+ Sentiment was dead within him. He lied, he cheated. He filled many
+ homes with wretchedness and ruin.
+
+ At last he became weary of life.
+
+ [Illustration: PETER AND THE GIANT.]
+
+ "I would give all my riches," he said, "to feel once again love in
+ my heart."
+
+ He resolved to go into the woods and consult the good fairy.
+
+ He came to the old pine-tree,--
+
+ "O treasure-guarder, 'mid the forests green,
+ Many, full many a century thou hast seen;
+ Thine are the regions of the dusky pine,
+ And children born on Sabbath-days are thine."
+
+ The Glassmanikin came up again, as before. He met Peter with an
+ injured look.
+
+ "What wouldst thou?"
+
+ "That thou shouldst give me a feeling heart."
+
+ "I cannot. I am not Michael the Dutchman."
+
+ "I can live no longer with this stone heart."
+
+ "I pity you. Take this cross, and go to Michael. Get him to give you
+ back your heart, under some pretext, and when he demands it again
+ show him this cross, and he will be powerless to harm you."
+
+ Peter took the cross and hurried into the deep forest. He called,--
+
+ "Michael the Dutchman! Michael the Dutchman!"
+
+ The giant appeared.
+
+ "What now, Peter Munk?"
+
+ "There is feeling in my heart. Give me another. You have been
+ deceiving me."
+
+ "Come to my closet, and we will see."
+
+ The gnome took out the stone heart, and replaced it for a moment by
+ the old heart from the jar. It began to beat. Peter felt joy again.
+ How happy he was! A heart, even with poverty, seemed the greatest of
+ blessings. He would not exchange his heart again for the world.
+
+ "Let me have it now," said the gnome.
+
+ But Peter held out the cross. The gnome shrank away, faded, and
+ disappeared.
+
+ Peter put his hand on his breast. His heart was beating. He became a
+ wise, thrifty, and prosperous man.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+NIGHT SECOND.
+
+ SEVEN NIGHTS ON THE RHINE:--BASLE.--MARSHAL VON MOLTKE.--THE STORY
+ OF THE ENCHANTED HEN.
+
+
+Our second night on the Rhine was passed at Basle. Leaving Lake
+Constance, the Rhine, full of vivid life, starts on its way to the
+sea. At the Rhinefall at Schaffhausen the water scenery becomes noble
+and exciting. A gigantic rock, over three hundred feet wide, impedes
+the course of the river, and over it the waters leap and eddy and
+foam, and then flow calmly on amid green woods, and near villages
+whose windows glitter in the sun.
+
+We rode through the so-called Forest towns. High beeches stood on each
+side of the river, and the waters here were as blue as the sky, and so
+clear we could see the gravelly bed.
+
+The river hastened to Basle. We hastened on like the river. Basle is
+the first town of importance on the Rhine.
+
+Here we obtained a fine view of the Black Forest range of hills, and
+beheld the distant summits of the Jura and the Vosges.
+
+ [Illustration: A VILLAGE IN THE BLACK FOREST.]
+
+Basle was a Roman fortified town in the days of the struggles of Rome
+with the Barbarians. It is gray with history,--with the battles of
+Church and State, battles of words, and battles of deeds and blood.
+But the sunlight was poured upon it, and the Rhine flowed quietly by,
+and the palaces of peace and prosperity rose on every hand, as
+though the passions of men had never been excited there, or the soil
+reddened with blood.
+
+ [Illustration: PEASANT'S HOUSE IN THE BLACK FOREST.]
+
+We took a principal street on our arrival, and followed the uncertain
+way. It led to the cathedral, on high ground. At the entrance to the
+grand old church stood the figures of St. George and St. Martin on
+prancing horses. The interior was high and lofty, with an imposing
+organ. Here we read on one of the tombs, "Erasmus of Rotterdam."
+
+The famous Black Forest is comprised within the lines of an isosceles
+triangle, which has Basle and Constance at each end of the line of
+base. The Rhine turns toward the north at Basle, and very nearly
+follows two lines of the figure. The forest covers an area of about
+twelve hundred square miles. It is a romantic seclusion, having Basle,
+Freiburg, and Baden-Baden for its cities of supply and exchange; full
+of pastoral richness, lonely grandeur; a land of fable and song.
+
+The Black Forest Railway is one of the great triumphs of engineering
+skill. It is ninety-three miles long, and has some forty tunnels. It
+takes the traveller from Baden at once into the primeval solitudes.
+Freiburg, a very quaint town, is situated in the forest.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Master Lewis spoke briefly to the Club of Von Moltke, the great
+Prussian general.
+
+
+ MARSHAL VON MOLTKE.
+
+ Never was a nation more fortunate in its leaders than was Prussia
+ when she aimed to achieve German unity. It is often the case that
+ when some great crisis comes upon a country, men able to deal with
+ it rise and become the guides of the people. This was never more
+ true than it was of Prussia when, thirteen years ago, she entered
+ upon the war with France which was to decide not only her own
+ destiny, but that of the whole German people.
+
+ Three Prussians towered, at that time, far above the rest,--William,
+ the wise and energetic king; Bismarck, the resolute and far-seeing
+ statesman; and Von Moltke, the skilful and consummate soldier. It
+ was the united action of these three, as much as the valor of the
+ Prussian army, which not only won the victory, but gathered and
+ garnered its fruits.
+
+ All three of these men are still living (1882-83), and still active,
+ each in his own sphere. The hale old king, now emperor, shows, at
+ the age of eighty-six, little lessening of his sturdy powers.
+ Bismarck, at seventy, still sways with his strong and stubborn will
+ the affairs of the youthful empire. Von Moltke, at eighty-two,
+ remains the foremost military figure of Germany.
+
+ Von Moltke is a very interesting personage. From his earliest youth
+ he has followed the profession of arms. He has always been every
+ inch a soldier. In the course of years, he became an absolute master
+ of his art. He had military science at his fingers' ends. In every
+ emergency he knew just what to do.
+
+ [Illustration: VON MOLTKE.]
+
+ To be sure, he has not been one of those brilliant and dashing
+ military chiefs who, by their daring exploits and sudden triumphs,
+ become heroes in the eyes of men. He has been a careful, studious,
+ deliberate commander, losing sight of nothing, ready for every
+ exigency, looking well ahead, and closely calculating upon every
+ possibility of events.
+
+ Yet the sturdy old soldier is by no means a dull man outside of his
+ quarters or the barracks. In a quiet way, he enjoys life in many of
+ its phases. He has always been a great reader on a great variety of
+ subjects. He is known as one of the most delightful letter-writers
+ in Germany. He is fond, too, of poetry, and reads history and
+ fiction with much delight.
+
+ There is a Roman simplicity about Von Moltke's daily life. He lives
+ in a building which serves as the headquarters of the general staff
+ of the army in Berlin. Promptly at seven o'clock every morning,
+ summer and winter, he enters his study, a plain room, with a table
+ in the centre, covered with maps, papers, and books.
+
+ There he takes his coffee, at the same time smoking a cigar. He
+ proceeds at once to work, and keeps at it till nine, when his mail
+ is brought to him. At eleven he takes a plain breakfast, after which
+ he again works steadily till two, when he holds a reception of
+ officers.
+
+ The afternoon is devoted to work. After dinner, for the first time,
+ this man of eighty-two enjoys some rest and recreation until eleven,
+ at which hour he retires.
+
+ In personal appearance, Von Moltke is tall, thin, and slightly
+ stooping. On horseback, however, he straightens up, and bears
+ himself as erect as a man of thirty. His close-shaven face is much
+ wrinkled, and his profile somewhat reminds one of that of Julius
+ Caesar. He never appears in any other than a military dress; and is
+ often seen walking alone in the Thiergarten at Berlin, his hands
+ clasped behind him and his head bent forward, after the manner of
+ the great Napoleon.
+
+ Von Moltke married, some years ago, an English girl many years
+ younger than himself. She died suddenly in 1868; and this event cast
+ a shadow over all his later life. He has always since worn a sad and
+ thoughtful face. He often visits his wife's grave in the country;
+ and on the mausoleum which he erected to her memory, he has caused
+ to be engraved the sentence, "Love is the fulfilling of the law."
+
+The rest of the evening was spent in rehearsing Black Forest tales,
+one of the most interesting of which we give here.
+
+
+ SCRATCH GRAVEL; OR, THE ENCHANTED HEN.
+
+ Queer stories, as well as tragic ones, are related of the Black
+ Forest; and one of the most popular legends of enchantment, the Hen
+ Trench, is as absurd as it is amusing. Children like this story, for
+ among German children the industrious and useful hen is something of
+ a pet. Where, except in Germany, did there ever originate an heroic
+ legend of a _hen_?
+
+ The main line of the Baden railway runs southward towards Freiburg,
+ amid some of the most picturesque mountain scenery of the Black
+ Forest. The second station is Buehl, from which a delightful
+ excursion may be made to Forbach and the Murg Valley.
+
+ Here may be seen the extensive ruins of the old castle of Windeck,
+ which was destroyed in the year 1561, about which a very remarkable
+ story is told.
+
+ The old lords of Windeck were very quarrelsome people. They had feud
+ after feud with the neighboring lords, and were continually at war
+ with the Prince Bishops of Strasburg.
+
+ [Illustration: FOUNTAIN AT SCHAFFHAUSEN.]
+
+ Queer times were those, and queer relations existed between the
+ Church and State. The Lord of Windeck was at one time kidnapped by
+ the Bishop of Strasburg, and confined in a tower three years,--a
+ thing that would not be regarded as a very clerical or spiritual
+ proceeding to-day. A little later the Dean of Strasburg was
+ surprised by the retainers of the Lord of Windeck, and was in turn
+ carried a prisoner to the gray old castle of Windeck.
+
+ The captive dean had a niece, a lovely girl, who was deeply
+ attached to him. When she heard of his captivity she was much
+ grieved, and set herself to devising plans for his release.
+
+ At the foot of the grim old castle, in the Black Forest, there lived
+ an old woman. She was wiser than her neighbors, and was regarded as
+ a witch. She was able to tell inquirers whatever they wished to
+ know, and so was as useful as a newspaper, in her day and
+ generation.
+
+ She was the last of her family. She lived alone, and her only
+ society was some pure white hens, so large that the biggest of
+ modern Shanghai fowls must have been mere pygmies to them.
+
+ The people of the region were very shy of the old woman and her
+ strange hens. The timid never ventured past her door after dark,
+ after her hens went to roost.
+
+ She was surprised one winter evening by a rap at her door.
+
+ She listened.
+
+ Tap, tap, tap!
+
+ "Come in."
+
+ A fair young girl lifted the latch.
+
+ "I am belated in the forest. Will you give me shelter?"
+
+ "Come in and sit down. Whence did you come?"
+
+ "I am on my way to the castle, but night has overtaken me."
+
+ "You are very near it. If it were light, I could show you its
+ towers. But what can a dove like you be seeking in that vulture's
+ nest?"
+
+ "My dear uncle, the Dean of Strasburg, is a prisoner there."
+
+ "I saw him when he was dragged into the castle, and very distressed
+ and woe-begone the good man looked."
+
+ "I am going there to pray for his release."
+
+ "Umph. At that castle they don't give something for nothing. What
+ ransom can you offer?"
+
+ "Nothing. I hope by prayers and tears to move the count's heart."
+
+ "I am wiser than you in the world's ways,--let me advise you. Cry
+ with those pretty eyes, plead with your sweet voice, but not to the
+ old count."
+
+ "To whom?"
+
+ "To his son."
+
+ "Will he influence his father?"
+
+ "Girl, I have taken a liking to you. You have a kind heart; I can
+ see your disposition; I have met but few like you in the world. I
+ will tell you what I will do. I will give you one of my white hens."
+
+ "A _hen_?"
+
+ "Yes. Go with the hen to the castle and inquire for Bernard, the
+ count's son. Tell him that at daybreak the Count of Eberstein has
+ planned an attack on the castle, and that you have come to warn him.
+ Bid him fear nothing. Say that what he needs is a trench; and when
+ he asks how one is to be made, tell him that you have brought him
+ Scratch Gravel, the hen, who will immediately dig one for him."
+
+ [Illustration: THE OLD WOMAN'S DIRECTIONS.]
+
+ "How will that rescue my uncle?"
+
+ "You shall see."
+
+ The maiden took the white hen, and went out into the night. The old
+ woman pointed out to her the way to the castle.
+
+ As she drew near the castle, she heard a great noise in the highway.
+ The count's son was returning late from the chase. As he drew near
+ her on horseback, he accosted her politely and asked her errand.
+
+ The beautiful girl related the story the old woman had told her.
+
+ "I will take you to my father."
+
+ She related her story to the count, and showed him the white hen.
+
+ "Pooh! pooh!" said the count.
+
+ "I think her story is true," said the young man.
+
+ "Why?"
+
+ "I see truth written on her beautiful face."
+
+ "Is that so? I don't see it. Perhaps my eyes are not as good as they
+ used to be. Well, well; let us see what the white hen will do."
+
+ They took the hen outside the castle, and put her down. Presently
+ the gravel began to fly. It was like a storm. The air was filled
+ with earth and stones, and the old count was filled with
+ astonishment.
+
+ "The hen is bewitched," said the count.
+
+ "Did I not tell you that the girl is honest?"
+
+ "And handsome?"
+
+ "And handsome."
+
+ Before daybreak the white hen had dug a deep trench around the
+ castle. The trench is shown to travellers to-day, a very remarkable
+ proof of the truth of the story, with only one missing link in the
+ chain of evidence.
+
+ The next morning the enemy appeared, but when he came to the trench
+ he forbore to storm the castle.
+
+ [Illustration: THE HEN AND THE TRENCH.]
+
+ The old count called the maiden into his presence.
+
+ "What reward do you ask for so great a service?"
+
+ "That you call the Dean of Strasburg to give thanks in the chapel."
+
+ The count called the bishop, and attended the service. When it was
+ over, he did not remand the good man to his cell.
+
+ "I have one request to make of you," said Bernard to the maid, as
+ they left the church.
+
+ "Name it."
+
+ "You promise to grant it?"
+
+ "Name it."
+
+ "That you make your home in the castle."
+
+ "On one condition."
+
+ "Name it."
+
+ "That the dean is released."
+
+ The young count went to his father.
+
+ "The maiden has one request to make."
+
+ "She shall have her request."
+
+ So the dean was released and went back to Strasburg. The maid became
+ the wife of the young count, but what became of the hen the
+ chroniclers do not tell.
+
+ But the trench remains,--the _Henne-Graben_,--and all that is
+ wanting to make the evidence of the story sure is to connect the hen
+ with the trench, after four hundred years. This may not be hard;
+ geologists make connections in like cases after the lapse of a
+ thousand years. Do they not?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+EVENING THE THIRD.
+
+ STRASBURG.--A MEMORABLE CHRISTMAS.--THE STORY OF THE LOST ORGANIST.
+
+
+Our third night upon the Rhine was spent at Strasburg.
+
+"The cathedral is the wonder of the city. The excursionist thinks of
+but little else during his stay there. Wherever he may be, the
+gigantic church is always in view. He beholds it towering over all.
+
+"Its history is that of Germany. It grew with the German empire, and
+has shared all its triumphs and reverses. It was founded by Clovis. It
+has been imperilled by lightning some fifty times, and has as often
+repelled the shocks of war. In the tenth century it was burned; in the
+eleventh, plundered; and five years after it was nearly demolished by
+lightning.
+
+"It was after the last calamity that the present structure was begun.
+At one time a _hundred thousand_ men were employed upon it: can we
+wonder that it is colossal?
+
+"The giant grew. In 1140, 1150, and 1176 it was partly burned, but it
+rose from the flames always more great, lofty, and splendid.
+
+ [Illustration: STRASBURG CATHEDRAL.]
+
+"Indulgences were offered to donors and workmen; to contributors of
+all kinds. Men earned, or thought they earned, their salvation by
+adding their mites to the spreading magnificence. In 1303 it is said
+that all the peasants of Alsace might be seen drawing stone into
+Strasburg for the cathedral. Master builder succeeded master
+builder,--died,--but the great work went on. In the French Revolution
+the Jacobins tore from the cathedral the statues of two hundred and
+thirty saints; but it was still a city of saints in stone and marble.
+In 1870, in the Franco-Prussian war, its roof was perforated with
+shells, and on the 25th of August it burst into flames, and it was
+telegraphed over the world that the great cathedral was destroyed. But
+it stands to-day, majestic, regal, and beautiful, its spire piercing
+the sky.
+
+ [Illustration: PLATFORM OF STRASBURG CATHEDRAL.]
+
+"We visited the cathedral in the afternoon. We were at once filled
+with wonder at the windows. They burned with color, and seemed to hang
+in air amid the shadows of the lofty walls. They represented
+scriptural subjects.
+
+"I was standing in awe, gazing upon a gorgeous circular window that
+seemed to blaze in the air like a planet, when Charlie touched my arm.
+
+"'The clock?'
+
+"'What?'
+
+"'Can we not go up and see the fixings, and how it is all done?'
+
+"'I am not thinking of that _toy_,' said I; 'you stand in a monument
+of art that it has taken a thousand years to build.'
+
+"'Yes; I hope we shall be here to-morrow when the Twelve Apostles come
+out and the cock crows _at_ Peter.'"
+
+
+ A MEMORABLE CHRISTMAS.
+
+ The soldiers of Aurelian, the Roman emperor, used to sing,--
+
+ "We have slain a thousand Franks."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ "We have cut off the heads of a thousand, thousand, thousand,
+ thousand.
+ One man hath cut off the heads of a thousand, thousand, thousand,
+ thousand, thousand;
+ May he live a thousand years."
+
+ The Franks came out of the North, and established themselves in Gaul
+ and Germania during the period of the early Roman emperors. Their
+ most renowned king was Clovis, with whom began the empire of France.
+ He was a savage and passionate man, born to command and to conquer.
+ He was a heathen. It is related of him that once, when he had
+ enriched himself with spoils from some of the early Christian
+ churches, the Bishop of Rheims desired that he would return a valued
+ vase that had been taken from the cathedral.
+
+ "Follow us to Soissons," said Clovis; "there the booty will be
+ divided."
+
+ In the division of the booty, a high-spirited and selfish Frankish
+ chieftain objected to the bishop's claim, and, to show his contempt
+ for him and the Church, struck the vase with his battle-axe. Clovis
+ was offended. He gave the bishop the vase, and soon after avenged
+ the insult by striking the chieftain dead with his own battle-axe,
+ saying,--
+
+ "Thus didst thou to the vase at Soissons."
+
+ His wife, Clotilde, was a Christian, and she often tried to persuade
+ him to embrace the Christian faith.
+
+ In 496 the Allemannians, a German confederation, who had been
+ assailing the Roman colonies on the Rhine, crossed the river, and
+ invaded the territory of the Franks. Clovis met the invaders near
+ Cologne. A severe battle followed. Clovis was hard pressed.
+
+ [Illustration: THUS DIDST THOU TO THE VASE OF SOISSONS.]
+
+ He called upon his gods, but they did not answer him. He saw he
+ was in danger of being utterly defeated and losing his army.
+
+ He had with him a servant of the queen.
+
+ "My Lord King," said this man, "believe only on the Lord of heaven,
+ whom the queen, my mistress, preacheth."
+
+ Clovis raised his eyes in hope towards heaven,--
+
+ "Christ Jesus, thou whom my queen Clotilde calleth the Son of God, I
+ have called upon my own gods, and they have left me. Thee I invoke.
+ Give me victory, and I will believe in thee, proclaim thee to my
+ people, and be baptized in thy name."
+
+ The tide of battle now suddenly turned, the Allemannians were
+ beaten, and their king was slain.
+
+ When his queen had learned of his vow, she sent for the Bishop of
+ Rheims to instruct him in Christianity. He publicly renounced his
+ gods, and his people at the same time accepted the queen's faith.
+
+ [Illustration: STREET IN STRASBURG.]
+
+ Christmas Day, 496, will be ever memorable in Christian history; it
+ was on that day that the King of the Franks was baptized.
+
+ The occasion was one of barbaric splendor, and such as might be
+ expected of a warlike king in those rude times. The road from the
+ palace to the baptistery, over which the king was to pass, was
+ curtained with silk, mottoes, and banners, like a triumphal way. The
+ houses of Rheims were hung with festive ornaments, and the
+ baptistery itself was sprinkled with balm and "all manner of
+ perfume."
+
+ The procession moved from the palace like a pageant for a feast of
+ victory. The clergy led, bearing the Gospels, standards, and cross.
+ Hymns were chanted, as they swept along. Then came the Bishop of
+ Rheims, leading the king; after him, the rejoicing queen; and lastly
+ the neophytes who were to receive baptism with the king.
+
+ On the way, the king seemed impressed with the glittering pageant.
+
+ "Is this kingdom promised me?" he asked.
+
+ "No," said the bishop; "but it is the entrance to the road that
+ leads to it."
+
+ At the baptistery the bishop said to the king,--
+
+ "Lower your head with humility; adore what thou hast burned; burn
+ what thou hast adored."
+
+ Clovis was then solemnly baptized, and with him three thousand
+ warriors. With the imposing rite, Christianity in France began, and
+ with him began that great monument of the faith, Strasburg
+ Cathedral.
+
+ [Illustration: CLOVIS.]
+
+Charlie Leland furnished the most interesting story on this evening.
+It well illustrated features of German and French musical life that
+are unknown in America. In Germany and in the French provinces the
+organist of the town is a very important person. The choice of an
+organist in these towns is a very interesting event, and during the
+last century excited more discussion than at the present time.
+
+
+ THE YOUNG ORGANIST: A MYSTERY.
+
+ The towns on the Rhine are all famous for their organs, and proud of
+ the eminent organists they have had in the past. Each town points
+ with pride to some musical legend and history.
+
+ The story I have to tell is associated with an ancient provincial
+ town.
+
+ It is now hardly more than a small town, and possesses not above a
+ thousand inhabitants; but in the latter part of the last century it
+ was more than ten times its present size, and its church, now in
+ ruins, was then one of the most beautiful ever seen in that part of
+ the country.
+
+ This church was finished in the year 1795, and was for a long time
+ the great object of curiosity for miles around. It was of the Gothic
+ and Romanesque style of architecture, and was not only finely
+ proportioned on the exterior, but had within a magnificence of
+ decoration that astonished one more and more the longer he gazed
+ upon it.
+
+ The church, unlike some of the older ones standing at that time, had
+ a magnificent organ. This had been paid for by a separate
+ subscription, raised in small sums by the common people, and, having
+ been built by skilful workmen in Bordeaux, was at length set up in
+ the church amid considerable enthusiasm and excitement.
+
+ But who should play this grand instrument? How should a competent
+ organist be selected?
+
+ The people were greatly interested in the matter, and discussed it
+ on the corner of the _rues_, in the _brasseries_ or taverns; and for
+ a period of six or eight weeks you might be sure, if you saw more
+ than two people talking earnestly together, that they were
+ deliberating upon the choice of an organist.
+
+ Since the people, both high and low, had so freely contributed for
+ the purchase of the organ, it was thought very proper that they
+ should be allowed to choose a person to play it. And, the decision
+ being thus left to the multitude, the most feasible plan that was
+ suggested was that all should go, on an appointed day, to the
+ church, and should then listen to the playing of the various
+ candidates.
+
+ There were, in all, nearly a score of aspiring musicians in and near
+ the town; and each of these, hoping for a favorable decision for
+ himself, gave no end of little suppers and parties, so that the
+ influential ones among the townsmen fared sumptuously from all.
+
+ But out of the entire number there were two, between whom the choice
+ really lay. These were Baptiste Lacombe and Raoul Tegot.
+
+ The former of these had lived in the town only five years. He had
+ come from Bruges, so he said; and although he astonished everybody
+ by his skill, he had not been liked from the first. He was very
+ reserved and parsimonious, and his eye never met frankly the person
+ with whom he talked. But no harm was known of him, and he found in
+ Tranteigue plenty of exercise for his art.
+
+ Raoul Tegot, on the contrary, was a native of the town; and,
+ together with his young son, Francois, was beloved by all. He had
+ married one of the village maidens, and had been so inconsolable at
+ her death, which occurred when Francois was a baby, that he never
+ thought more of marriage, but devoted himself to his child and his
+ art.
+
+ He was certainly a very able musician, and, being so universally
+ liked, many people urged that a public performance be dispensed
+ with, and that he be elected at once. But although Baptiste Lacombe
+ was not _liked_, his _skill_ found many admirers; and, besides, it
+ was flattering to the worthy countryfolk to think of sitting
+ solemnly in judgment at the great church; and so the proposed plan
+ was adhered to.
+
+ [Illustration: MONSIEUR LACOMBE AND THE ORGAN.]
+
+ Finally, the weeks of anticipation came to an end, the appointed day
+ was at hand, and, according to the arrangements previously made, at
+ nine o'clock in the forenoon the three great doors of the church
+ were swung open, and the throng, orderly and even dignified, entered
+ and filled the edifice.
+
+ The seats, which in French churches and cathedrals are movable, had
+ all been taken away, and the crowd quite filled the whole space. All
+ male inhabitants of the town who were over twenty years of age were
+ to vote, and each, the town officials and the poorest artisans
+ alike, had one ballot.
+
+ The great and beautiful organ took up nearly the whole of the large
+ gallery over the entrance, and extended up and up into the
+ clear-story until it was mingled with the supports of the roof.
+
+ In the organ-loft the candidates were crowded together in eager
+ expectation, and the glances that passed from one to another were
+ not the kindliest. Each of them had been allowed several hours, at
+ some time during the past week, for practice on the instrument; and
+ each doubtless considered himself deserving of the position.
+
+ Presently, when all was still, Monseigneur Jules Emile Gautier, a
+ very learned gentleman of the town, who had been chosen for that
+ purpose, ascended two steps of the stairway which curved up and
+ around the richly carved pulpit, and announced the name of the
+ person who was to begin.
+
+ I should not be able to give, in detail, the progress of the trial;
+ for the history of the affair is not minute enough for that. But
+ suffice it to say that the last name on the list was Raoul Tegot;
+ and the name immediately preceding it was that of Baptiste Lacombe.
+
+ At length, in his turn, Monsieur Lacombe, his iron-gray hair
+ disordered, his hands rubbing together nervously, and his eyes
+ flashing--as was afterwards remarked upon--with a malicious fire,
+ stepped forward and along to the organ-seat, and for a few moments
+ arranged his stops.
+
+ Then he began lightly and delicately, creeping up through the varied
+ registers of the noble instrument, blending the beautiful sounds
+ into wonderful combinations, now and then working in a sweet melody,
+ and then again upward until the grand harmonies of the full organ
+ rolled forth. There was something mysterious and awe-inspiring in
+ the effort. It seemed to the people that they had never heard music
+ before.
+
+ The music ceased. The people came back to their prosaic selves
+ again, looked in each other's faces, and said, with one breath,
+ "Wonderful!"
+
+ Gradually they recovered their sober judgment, and then, mingled
+ with the murmurs of admiration, were heard the remarks, "That is
+ fine, but Raoul Tegot will make us forget it!" "Yes, wait until you
+ hear Raoul Tegot!"
+
+ Soon Gautier ascended the two steps of the pulpit, and called the
+ name of their kind, generous townsman.
+
+ All waited breathlessly. All eyes were turned towards the
+ organ-loft. The musicians there looked around and at each other.
+ But poor Raoul Tegot could not be seen.
+
+ Where was he? The people waited and wondered, but he did not come.
+ Monsieur Baptiste Lacombe was greatly excited, and was wiping the
+ perspiration from his heated face. "Perhaps he was afraid to come,"
+ he ventured to remark to a man near him, at the same time looking
+ out of a window.
+
+ Several noticed his agitation; but they only said, "Ah, mon Dieu,
+ how he did play! No wonder that he is nervous."
+
+ The disquiet and confusion in the nave and aisles increased.
+
+ A messenger had been sent to look for the missing man; but he could
+ not be found.
+
+ What was to be done?
+
+ Finally, some friends of Monsieur Lacombe made bold to urge his
+ immediate election, declaring that he had far surpassed all
+ competitors; and they even hinted at cowardice on the part of Raoul
+ Tegot.
+
+ This insinuation was indignantly denied by Tegot's friends, who were
+ very numerous but helpless; they knew their friend too well to
+ believe him capable of such conduct. He was, they said, probably
+ detained somewhere by an accident.
+
+ But, wherever he was, he was _not_ present; and when a vote was
+ taken, hastily, by a showing of hands, Monsieur Baptiste Lacombe had
+ ten times as many ballots as any other person, and, of course, poor
+ Monsieur Tegot, not having competed, was not balloted for at all.
+
+ The people dispersed to their homes; some in vexation that their
+ favorite had not appeared, others in a little alarm at his strange
+ absence. Young Francois Tegot had not seen his father since early
+ morning, and could not conjecture where he might be.
+
+ The next day the missing organist did not appear, and his friends
+ began to inquire and to search for him; but they were wholly
+ unsuccessful. A little boy said that he had seen him go into the
+ church with Monsieur Lacombe early that morning; but Monsieur
+ Lacombe said, very distinctly and with some vehemence, that the
+ missing man had left the church an hour later to go to a cottage at
+ the edge of the town, where he was to give a lesson in singing.
+
+ So the affair lay wrapped in mystery. There were many surmises, but
+ nothing definite was known. A few expressed suspicion of the rival
+ candidate; but the suspicion was too great to be thrown rashly upon
+ anybody. Thus no progress in the inquiry was made. A human life did
+ not mean so much in those stormy days after the Revolution as
+ formerly; and the mysterious disappearance, without being in the
+ least cleared up, gradually faded from men's minds and passed out of
+ their conversation.
+
+ Months and years passed away, and nothing was known of the poor man.
+ His son, now come to the years of manhood, always declared that his
+ father would not have been absent from the trial willingly; and he
+ firmly believed that he had met with a violent death. More than this
+ he would not say; but sometimes when he looked towards Monsieur
+ Baptiste Lacombe,--still the respected organist of the church,--his
+ eyes were observed to flash meaningly.
+
+ There was to be a grand _fete_ in the church, and great preparation
+ was made. As the organ needed repairs, it was decided to repair it
+ thoroughly; and one of the builders from Bordeaux was sent for.
+
+ He was to come on Thursday; but he chanced to arrive the day before,
+ and was to begin work early the following morning. That night a
+ light glimmered out of the darkness of the gallery of the church.
+
+ Two days passed. The repairing of the organ went on; but there was
+ much to be done, and it might take a week. One afternoon, as
+ Francois passed through the centre of the village, two men came
+ hurriedly out of the town-house, and hastened away towards the
+ church. It was the organ-builder, very much excited, and one of the
+ officials of the town. The young man, venturing on his well-known
+ skill as an organist, followed them; and the three entered the
+ building. A few worshippers were at the great altar, and the sacred
+ edifice seemed unusually quiet and peaceful.
+
+ The organ-builder seemed too agitated to answer the questions that
+ the town official asked him, but led the way quickly to the
+ organ-loft. "Put your foot on that pedal!" he said excitedly,
+ pointing to a particular one of the scale.
+
+ The official was too bewildered to comply, and Francois did it for
+ him.
+
+ "Now try the next one!" said he.
+
+ Francois did so, but no sound came; only a queer, intermittent
+ rumbling, like a bounding and rebounding.
+
+ "It does not sound," said the organ-builder. "Follow me and I will
+ show you why."
+
+ "It never has sounded since the great trial-day, years ago,"
+ muttered the young man. But he followed on.
+
+ They clambered up a rickety staircase, a still more rickety ladder,
+ and came to a platform at a level with the top of the organ; and all
+ around them, reaching up out of the dim light below, were the open
+ pipes. Passing hurriedly around, on a narrow plank, to the back of
+ the organ, their agitated guide paused before a row of immense pedal
+ pipes, and, without allowing his own eyes to look, he held the light
+ that he carried for the others.
+
+ Both looked down into the cavernous tube that he indicated, and
+ both started back in surprise and fear.
+
+ "It is a man's legs!" gasped the frightened town official.
+
+ After the first moment of surprise had passed, they began to get
+ back their wits; and the young man advised that they send for
+ several strong men and lift out the pipe.
+
+ [Illustration: "HERE IS AN ODD TREASURE."]
+
+ This seemed sensible, and in a half-hour the men were at hand and
+ the pipe was drawn down to the level of the organ-loft and laid
+ horizontally. The workmen had been informed of the nature of their
+ work, and all were under intense excitement. The pipe was very long,
+ and the body was at least five feet from the top. One of the workmen
+ reached in a pole having a hook at the end, and the next minute drew
+ forth the dead body of the sinister old organist, Baptiste Lacombe.
+
+ There was a pause of silent horror. Nobody cared particularly for
+ the dead man, but the manner of his death was terrible.
+
+ "How did it happen?" whispered one.
+
+ "Perhaps it was suicide," answered another.
+
+ They began more closely to examine the huge tube. Francois Tegot,
+ who, although thus far cooler than the others, now seemed unable to
+ stand, pointed to the hand of the dead man, which was tightly
+ clenched upon a small cord. One of the workmen approached, and with
+ some difficulty drew out the line: and a new thrill of expectation
+ went through the silent company when they saw, attached to the end
+ of the line, an old leather bundle covered with dust.
+
+ Young Tegot now seemed to master himself by a great effort, and,
+ motioning the workman back, he advanced, and, lifting the bag
+ tenderly out into a more convenient position, he said solemnly, as
+ if to himself, "I have long suspected something was wrong, and now I
+ shall know."
+
+ Then he examined the bag, and at length took from his pocket a knife
+ and carefully cut open one side.
+
+ Despite the fact that he expected the revelation that now came, he
+ started back, for the opening revealed a piece of cloth,--a coat,
+ which even the town official could recollect to be the coat of the
+ long-lost organist, Raoul Tegot, Francois's father.
+
+ The young man stepped back and sank again into his seat, and the
+ others, coming forward, laid the bag quite open, and drew forth a
+ watch and an embroidered vest; in a pocket of the coat was found a
+ purse. "Here is an odd treasure," said one of the workmen, holding
+ up a locket of dull gold.
+
+ Francois seized it and opened it. The color forsook his face and his
+ eyes filled with tears. He simply said,--
+
+ "My mother."
+
+ The town official now whispered to the surprised organ-builder, that
+ the villanous Lacombe had killed poor Tegot on the morning of the
+ trial, and had secreted the body in some unknown place and hidden
+ the valuables here. Frightened by the fear of discovery, he had
+ attempted to remove the treasures, had fallen into the pipe, and had
+ thus met a horrible death.
+
+ "There is nothing secret," said Francois, "but shall be revealed.
+ Sin is its own detector, and its secrets cannot rest."
+
+ The excitement among the townspeople was for many days even greater
+ than it had been at the time of Tegot's disappearance, and many and
+ bitter were the reproaches heaped upon the wicked organist's memory.
+
+ Francois was immediately chosen organist, and held the position
+ during his entire life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+EVENING THE FOURTH.
+
+ SEVEN NIGHTS ON THE RHINE:--HEIDELBERG.--STUDENTS.--STUDENT
+ SONGS.--THE STORY OF LITTLE MOOK.--THE QUEER OLD LADY WHO WENT TO
+ COLLEGE.
+
+
+"Heidelberg," said Mr. Beal, "stands bright and clear beside Neckar, a
+branch of the Rhine, as though it loved the river. It is semicircled
+with blue mountain-walls, and is full of balmy air and cheerful faces.
+The streets have an atmosphere of hospitality. Its history dates from
+the Roman monuments on its hills, and is associated with the romantic
+times of the counts-palatine of the Rhine.
+
+"The world-wide fame of Heidelberg arises from its university. This
+was founded in 1386, and is the oldest in Germany. It made Heidelberg
+a student-town; there art flourished and free thought grew, and it
+became the gem of German cities.
+
+"The ancient Castle of Heidelberg is one of the wonders of Germany. It
+is like a ruined town of palaces, and historic and poetic associations
+are as thick as are the violets among its ruins. It is said that
+Michael Angelo designed it: we cannot tell. The names of the masters
+who upreared the pile of magnificence for centuries and peopled it
+with statues are lost. The ivy creeps over their conceptions in stone
+and marble, and the traveller exclaims in awe, 'Can it be that all
+this glory was created for destruction?'
+
+ [Illustration: PALACE AT HEIDELBERG.]
+
+"We visited the castle at noon. A ruin green with ivy rose before
+us. The sunlight fell through the open doorways, and the swallows
+flitted in and out of the window-frames into roofless chambers.
+
+"I was dreaming of the past: of the counts-palatine of the Rhine, of
+stately dames, orange-gardens, and splendid festivals, when one of the
+boys recalled my thoughts to the present.
+
+"'Where is the tun?'
+
+"'What tun?'
+
+"'The one _we have come to see_,--the big wine-cask. It is said to
+hold two hundred and thirty-six thousand bottles of wine, or did in
+the days of the nobles.'
+
+"'I remember: when I was a boy my mental picture of Heidelberg was a
+big wine-cask.'
+
+"'Yes; well, please, sir, I am a boy now.'"
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Mr. Beal then gave a brief account of
+
+
+ GERMAN STUDENT LIFE.
+
+ The town of Heidelberg nestles in one of the loveliest valleys in
+ Europe. The Neckar winds between a series of steep, high, thickly
+ wooded hills.
+
+ It is amid such pleasant scenes that the famous university is
+ situated, and that several hundred German students are gathered to
+ pursue their studies.
+
+ One of my chief objects in visiting Heidelberg was to see the
+ university, and to observe the curious student customs of which I
+ had heard so much; and my journey was amply repaid by what I saw.
+
+ The university itself was far less imposing than I had imagined;
+ compared with the picturesque and hoary old college palaces of
+ Oxford and Cambridge, or even with our own cosey Harvard and Yale
+ edifices and greens, it seemed very insignificant.
+
+ The buildings occupy a cheerless square in a central part of the
+ quaint old German town. They are very plain, modest, and
+ unpretending. The lecture-rooms are on one side of the square; in
+ the rear are the museum and reading room, while opposite the
+ lecture-rooms is a row of jewelry, clothing, confectionery, and
+ other shops. I was most interested, however, in the students and
+ their ways.
+
+ As soon as you enter the town and pass up the main street, you espy
+ groups of the students here and there. You are at once struck with
+ the contrast they present to American or English students. Very odd
+ to American eyes are their dress and manners. Let me describe one to
+ you as an example.
+
+
+ THE GERMAN STUDENT.
+
+ The Heidelberg student is a rather large, heavy-looking fellow, with
+ round face, broad shoulders, and a very awkward gait. His hair is
+ cropped close to his head, and on one side of the head, in jaunty
+ fashion, he wears a small round cap,--too small by far to cover it,
+ as caps generally do. It is of red or blue or green, and worked with
+ fanciful figures of gold or silver thread.
+
+ On his feet are heavy boots, which rise, outside his trousers,
+ nearly to the knees. His body is covered with a gay frock-coat, of
+ green or gray or black. As he walks the street with his college
+ mates, he puffs away on a very curious long pipe, the bowl being of
+ porcelain, on which is painted some fanciful scene, or perhaps a
+ view of the grand old castle. Sometimes the stem of the pipe is two
+ or three feet long. In his hand he carries a cane, or rather stick
+ (for it is too short to be used as a cane), with some curiously
+ carved figure for a handle.
+
+ [Illustration: GERMAN STUDENT.]
+
+ Many of the Heidelberg students are attended, wherever they go, by a
+ companion who is apt to produce fear and dislike in those who are
+ not accustomed to him. This is a small, blear-eyed, bullet-headed,
+ bloodthirsty-looking bull-dog, with red eyes and snarling mouth. You
+ see such dogs everywhere with the students, running close to their
+ heels, and ready, at an instant's notice, to defend their masters.
+
+ [Illustration: CASTLE AT HEIDELBERG.]
+
+ Almost every Heidelberg student belongs to one of the social
+ societies, of which some are called "Verbindungs," and others
+ "Corps;" and the caps they wear designate the particular societies
+ of which they are members.
+
+ These societies are both patriotic and social. The members devote
+ themselves to "the glory of the Fatherland;" and they pledge
+ themselves by oaths to defend and aid each other.
+
+ Besides the cap, the students betray to what society they belong by
+ various colored ribbons across their breasts or hung to their
+ watch-chains. There is a great deal of rivalry among the societies,
+ which results in frequent difficulties.
+
+ The pastimes of the Heidelberg students are almost entirely confined
+ to the "good times" they have in their "Verbindungs," in which they
+ meet two nights in the week to sing, make funny speeches, and
+ perform certain curious ceremonies.
+
+ The students often make excursions to a beautiful spot on the
+ Neckar, called "Wolfsbrunnen," where they obtain trout fresh from a
+ pond, and eat them, nicely cooked, on tables set out under the trees
+ near the river-side.
+
+ Another frequent recreation is to attend the peasant fairs in the
+ neighboring villages, and to take jaunts to the lovely Swetzingen
+ gardens, or to the top of the Konigsthul hill, back of the castle,
+ from which a most beautiful view of the Black Forest and Hartz
+ Mountains, with the broad valley of the Rhine, is to be seen.
+
+ On this hill is an inn where many resort to drink whey. Many of the
+ students are too poor to enjoy the pastimes of the others, or even
+ to live at the university without doing something to support
+ themselves.
+
+ These go wandering about the country in vacation time, on foot,
+ singing in the villages, and receiving money from the kindly
+ disposed, with which to pay the expenses of their education. As you
+ pass through Germany you frequently meet parties of these poor
+ students, who go about merrily; and to give them a few kreuzers is
+ always a pleasure.
+
+Mr. Beal gave from translations a few specimens of these German
+student songs. The first was
+
+
+ GAUDEAMUS.
+
+ Let us then rejoice, ere youth
+ From our grasp hath hurried;
+ After cheerful youth is past,
+ After cheerless age, at last,
+ In the earth we're buried.
+
+ Where are those who lived of yore,
+ Men whose days are over?
+ To the realms above thee go,
+ Thence unto the shades below,
+ An' thou wilt discover.
+
+ Short and fleeting is our life,--
+ Swift away 'tis wearing;
+ Swiftly, too, will death be here,
+ Cruel, us away to tear,
+ Naught that liveth sparing.
+
+ Long live Academia,--
+ And our tutors clever;
+ All our comrades long live they,
+ And our female comrades gay,
+ May they bloom forever.
+
+ Long live every maiden true,
+ Who has worth and beauty;
+ And may every matron who
+ Kind and good is, flourish, too,--
+ Each who does her duty.
+
+ Long may also live our state,
+ And the king who guides us;
+ Long may live our town, and fate
+ Prosper each Mecaenas great,
+ Who good things provides us.
+
+ Perish melancholy woe,
+ Perish who derides us;
+ Perish fiend, and perish so
+ Every antiburschian foe
+ Who for laughing chides us.
+
+ [Illustration: GERMAN STUDENTS.]
+
+Mr. Beal, finding the Class interested, continued the subject by some
+account of one of the most popular writers of German songs.
+
+
+ HEINE.
+
+ The songs of Heine are unmatched in German literature, and have been
+ translated into all European tongues. Their beauty of expression,
+ and suggestive and evasive meanings, have made them household
+ words in Germany, and favorite quotations in France and England.
+
+ The career of Heine was exceptionably brilliant, and he won tributes
+ of admiration that have seldom been equalled. It is said that on the
+ appearance of his "Reisebilder" in 1826-31, "young Germany became
+ intoxicated with enthusiasm." His writings on republicanism not only
+ won the heart of the people, but carried his influence into other
+ countries.
+
+ From his youth Heine was troubled by thoughts of personal religious
+ responsibility. There were periods when he earnestly sought to know
+ man's true relations to God. He sought the evidence of truth,
+ however, more from nature, philosophy, and history, than by the
+ prayers and the faith which God's Word inculcates.
+
+ He was born a Jew, but abandoned Judaism and was baptized in the
+ Lutheran Church. Then he became a free-thinker. He studied various
+ philosophies and systems of belief, but was not able to arrive at
+ any satisfactory conclusions.
+
+ In 1847 he was attacked by a strange disease. It paralyzed his body,
+ and confined him for many years to his chair. For seven years he was
+ propped up by pillows, and read his praises on a couch of suffering,
+ and they made his life more sad.
+
+ "What good," he said, in despair, "does it do me to hear that my
+ health is drunk in cups of gold, when I can only wet my lips with
+ barley-water?"
+
+ In this condition he read "Uncle Tom's Cabin." It revealed to him
+ the truth that religion is a matter of experience rather than
+ philosophy, and that the humblest may receive the evidence of its
+ truth through simple faith in Christ.
+
+ "With all my learning," he said, "the poor negro knew more about
+ religion than I do now, and I must come to a knowledge of the truth
+ in the same humble way as poor Uncle Tom."
+
+ He left this testimony in his will: "I have cast aside all
+ philosophical pride, and have again felt the power of religious
+ truth."
+
+ I will recite to you one of the songs of Heine, which is popular
+ among the German students.
+
+
+ THE LORELEI.
+
+ I know not whence it rises,
+ This thought so full of woe;
+ But a tale of times departed
+ Haunts me, and will not go.
+
+ The air is cool, and it darkens,
+ And calmly flows the Rhine;
+ The mountain-peaks are sparkling
+ In the sunny evening-shine.
+
+ And yonder sits a maiden,
+ The fairest of the fair;
+ With gold is her garment glittering,
+ And she combs her golden hair:
+
+ With a golden comb she combs it;
+ And a wild song singeth she,
+ That melts the heart with a wondrous
+ And powerful melody.
+
+ The boatman feels his bosom
+ With a nameless longing move;
+ He sees not the gulfs before him,
+ His gaze is fixed above,
+
+ Till over boat and boatman
+ The Rhine's deep waters run:
+ And this, with her magic singing,
+ The Lorelei has done!
+
+Among the pleasing stories related on this evening was "Little Mook,"
+by Hauff, and a poetic account of a "Queer Old Lady who went to
+College."
+
+
+ LITTLE MOOK.
+
+ There once lived a dwarf in the town of Niceu, whom the people
+ called Little Mook. He lived alone, and was thought to be rich. He
+ had a very small body and a very large head, and he wore an enormous
+ turban.
+
+ He seldom went into the streets, for the reason that ill-bred
+ children there followed and annoyed him. They used to cry after
+ him,--
+
+ "Little Mook, O Little Mook,
+ Turn, oh, turn about and look!
+ Once a month you leave your room,
+ With your head like a balloon:
+ Try to catch us, if you can;
+ Turn and look, my little man."
+
+ [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO HEIDELBERG CASTLE.]
+
+ I will tell you his history.
+
+ His father was a hard-hearted man, and treated him unkindly because
+ he was deformed. The old man at last died, and his relatives drove
+ the dwarf away from his home.
+
+ He wandered into the strange world with a cheerful spirit, for the
+ strange world was more kind to him than his kin had been.
+
+ He came at last to a strange town, and looked around for some face
+ that should seem pitiful and friendly. He saw an old house, into
+ whose door a great number of cats were passing. "If the people here
+ are so good to cats, they may be kind to me," he thought, and so he
+ followed them. He was met by an old woman, who asked him what he
+ wanted.
+
+ He told his sad story.
+
+ "I don't cook any but for my darling pussy cats," said the beldame;
+ "but I pity your hard lot, and you may make your home with me until
+ you can find a better."
+
+ So Little Mook was employed to look after the cats and kittens.
+
+ [Illustration: LITTLE MOOK.]
+
+ The kittens, I am sorry to say, used to behave very badly when the
+ old dame went abroad; and when she came home and found the house in
+ confusion, and bowls and vases broken, she used to berate Little
+ Mook for what he could not help.
+
+ While in the old lady's service he discovered a secret room in which
+ were magic articles, among them a pair of enormous slippers.
+
+ One day when the old lady was out the little dog broke a crystal
+ vase. Little Mook knew that he would be held responsible for the
+ accident, and he resolved to escape and try his fortune in the world
+ again. He would need good shoes, for the journey might be long; so
+ he put on the big slippers and ran away.
+
+ Ran? What wonderful slippers those were! He had only to say to
+ them, "Go!" and they would impel him forward with the rapidity of
+ the wind. They seemed to him like wings.
+
+ "I will become a courier," said Little Mook, "and so make my
+ fortune, sure."
+
+ So Little Mook went to the palace in order to apply to the king.
+
+ He first met the messenger-in-ordinary.
+
+ "What!" said he, "you want to be the king's messenger,--you with
+ your little feet and great slippers!"
+
+ "Will you allow me to make a trial of speed with your swiftest
+ runner?" asked Little Mook.
+
+ The messenger-in-ordinary told the king about the little man and his
+ application.
+
+ "We will have some fun with him," said the king. "Let him run a race
+ with my first messenger for the sport of the court."
+
+ So it was arranged that Little Mook should try his speed with the
+ swiftest messenger.
+
+ Now the king's runner was a very tall man. His legs were very long
+ and slender; he had little flesh on his body. He walked with
+ wonderful swiftness, looking like a windmill as he strode forward.
+ He was the telegraph of his times, and the king was very proud of
+ him.
+
+ The next day the king, who loved a jest, summoned his court to a
+ meadow to witness the race, and to see what the bumptious pygmy
+ could do. Everybody was on tiptoe of expectation, being sure that
+ something amusing would follow.
+
+ When Little Mook appeared he bowed to the spectators, who laughed at
+ him. When the signal was given for the two to start, Little Mook
+ allowed the runner to go ahead of him for a little time, but when
+ the latter drew near the king's seat he passed him, to the wonder of
+ all the people, and easily won the race.
+
+ The king was delighted, the princess waved her veil, and the people
+ all shouted, "Huzza for Little Mook!"
+
+ So Little Mook became the royal messenger, and surpassed all the
+ runners in the world with his magic slippers.
+
+ But Little Mook's great success with his magic slippers excited
+ envy, and made him bitter enemies, and at last the king himself came
+ to believe the stories of his enemies, and turned against him and
+ banished him from his kingdom.
+
+ Little Mook wandered away, sore at heart, and as friendless as when
+ he had left home and the house of the old woman. Just beyond the
+ confines of the kingdom he came to a grove of fig-trees full of
+ fruit.
+
+ He stopped to rest and refresh himself with the fruit. There were
+ two trees that bore the finest figs he had ever seen. He gathered
+ some figs from one of them, but as he was eating them his nose and
+ ears began to _grow_, and when he looked down into a clear, pure
+ stream near by, he saw that his head had been changed into a head
+ like a donkey.
+
+ He sat down under the _other_ fig-tree in despair. At last he took
+ up a fig that had fallen from this tree, and ate it. Immediately his
+ nose and ears became smaller and smaller and resumed their natural
+ shape. Then he perceived that the trees bore magic fruit.
+
+ "Happy thought!" said Little Mook. "I will go back to the palace and
+ sell the fruit of the first tree to the royal household, and then I
+ will turn doctor, and give the donkeys the fruit of the second tree
+ as medicine. But I will not give the old king any medicine."
+
+ [Illustration: AMPUTATION.]
+
+ Little Mook gathered the two kinds of figs, and returned to the
+ palace and sold that of the first tree to the butler.
+
+ Oh, then there was woe in the palace! The king's family were seen
+ wandering around with donkeys' heads on their shoulders. Their noses
+ and ears were as long as their arms. The physicians were sent for
+ and they held a _consultation_. They decided on amputation; but as
+ fast as they cut off the noses and ears of the afflicted household,
+ these troublesome members grew out again, longer than before.
+
+ Then Little Mook appeared with the principles and remedies of
+ homoeopathy. He gave one by one of the sufferers the figs of the
+ _second_ tree, and they were cured. He collected his fees, and
+ having relieved all but the king he fled, taking his homoeopathic
+ arts with him. The king wore the head of a donkey to his latest day.
+
+
+ THE QUEER OLD LADY WHO WENT TO COLLEGE.
+
+ [Illustration: THE QUEER OLD LADY WHO WENT TO COLLEGE.]
+
+ There was a queer old lady, and she had lost her youth;
+ She bought her a new mirror,
+ And it told to her the truth.
+ Did she break the truthful mirror?
+ Oh, no, no; no, no, no, no.
+ But she bought some stays quite rare,
+ Some false teeth and wavy hair,
+ Some convex-concave glasses such as men of culture wear,
+ And then she looked again,
+ And she said, "I am not plain,--
+ I am not plain, 'tis plain,
+ Not very, very plain,
+ I did not think that primps and crimps
+ Would change a body so.
+ I'll take a book on Art,
+ And press it to my heart,
+ And I'll straightway go to college,
+ Where I think I'll catch a beau."
+
+ [Illustration: "And it told to her the truth."]
+
+ [Illustration: "Not very, very plain."]
+
+ II.
+
+ She made her way to college just as straight as straight could be,
+ And she asked for the Professor of the new philosophie;
+ He met her with a smile
+ And said, "Pray rest awhile,
+ And come into my parlor and take a cup of tea.
+ We will talk of themes celestial,--
+ Of the flowery nights in June
+ When blow the gentle zephyrs;
+ Of the circle round the moon;
+ Of the causes of the causes."
+ These college men are quite and very much polite,
+ And when you call upon them they you straightway in invite.
+
+ [Illustration: "They you straightway in invite."]
+
+ III.
+
+ But the lady she was modest,
+ And she said, "You me confuse;
+ I have come, O man of wisdom,
+ To get a bit of news.
+ There's a problem of life's problems
+ That often puzzles me:
+ Tell me true, O man of Science,
+ When my wedding-day will be."
+
+ IV.
+
+ Quick by the hand he seized her,
+ He of the philosophie,
+ And his answer greatly pleased her
+ When they had taken tea:
+ "'Twill be, my fair young lady,
+ When you are _twenty-three_!"
+
+ V.
+
+ At her window, filled with flowers,
+ Then she waited happy hours,
+ Scanned the byways and the highways
+ To see what she could see.
+ If the postman brought a letter,
+ It was sure to greatly fret her,--
+ Fret her so her maid she'd frighten,
+ If a dun it proved to be.
+ If it came not from a lover,
+ Sadly she her face would cover,
+ Hide her face and say in sorrow,
+ "Truly _he_ will come to-morrow,
+ For he knew, that man of science,
+ And I'm _almost_ twenty-three."
+
+ VI.
+
+ He deceived her, he deceived her,
+ Oh, that too kind man deceived her,--
+ He of compasses and lenses,
+ He of new-found influences,
+ He of the philosophie.
+ Oh the chatterer, oh the flatterer,
+ Oh the smatterer in science,
+ To whom all things clear should be!
+ Had he taken the old almanac,
+ That true guide to worldly wisdom,
+ He would have seen that there was something--
+ Some stray figure, some lost factor,
+ Something added the extractor--
+ Wrong in his chronologie,
+ In his learned chronologie.
+
+ MORAL.
+
+ There are few things, one, two, three,
+ In the earth, the air, and sea,
+ That the schoolmen do not know.
+ When you're going to catch a beau,
+ And a few like occultations,
+ In a few things here below,
+ Men of wisdom do not know;
+ And to them for these few items
+ It is never wise to go.
+
+ [Illustration: "HE OF THE PHILOSOPHIE."]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+FIFTH MEETING FOR RHINE STORIES.
+
+ SEVEN NIGHTS ON THE RHINE:--WORMS.--LUTHER'S MONUMENT.--THE STORY OF
+ SIEGFRIED AND THE DRAGON.--MAYENCE.--BOAT JOURNEY.--STORIES OF THE
+ CASTLES ON THE MIDDLE RHINE.--THE WONDERFUL STORY OF THE
+ LORELEI.--KERNER.
+
+
+Mr. Beal continued the narrative of travel at the fifth meeting of the
+Club for the rehearsal of Rhine stories.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+"We passed over a road along the right bank of the Rhine towards
+Worms. We journeyed amid green forests, and past fields which had
+heaped up harvests for a thousand years. Spires gleamed on the
+opposite bank, and in the flat landscape Worms came to view, the Rhine
+flowing calmly by.
+
+"We stopped at Worms to see the cathedral and the Luther Monument. It
+is a dull town. We recalled that it was here great Caesar stood, and
+Attila drove his cavalry of devastation over the Rhine. Here lived the
+hero of German classic song,--Siegfried. The cathedral has a
+monumental history. In 772 war was declared in it against the Saxons.
+Here was held the famous Diet of Worms at which Luther appeared, and
+said,--
+
+"'Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise. God help me.'
+
+"The cathedral is of the style called Romanesque. It is lofty and
+gloomy. Worms itself is a shadowy and silent city as compared with the
+past.
+
+"The Luther Monument is a history of Protestantism in stone and
+bronze. It is one of the noblest works of art of modern times, and its
+majesty and unity are a surprise to the traveller. Luther is of course
+the central figure. He stands with his Bible in his hands, and his
+face upturned to heaven. Around him are the figures of the great
+reformers before the Reformation: Wycliffe, of England; Waldo, of
+France; Huss, of Bohemia; and Savonarola, of Italy. The German princes
+who befriended and sustained the Reformer occupy conspicuous places,
+and the immense group presents a most impressive scene, associated
+with lofty character and commanding talent.
+
+ [Illustration: A BATTLE BETWEEN FRANKS AND SAXONS.]
+
+"We went to the place where Luther sat beneath a tree, when his
+companions sought to dissuade him from entering Worms.
+
+"'I would go to Worms,' he said, 'were there as many devils as there
+are tiles upon the roofs.'
+
+"The high pitched roofs and innumerable tiles on them everywhere met
+our eyes, and recalled the famous declaration.
+
+ [Illustration: LUTHER'S HOUSE.]
+
+"I should here tell you the
+
+
+ STORY OF SIEGFRIED AND THE NIBELUNG HEROES.
+
+ The early nations of Europe seem to have come out of the northwest
+ of Asia. The Celts or Gauls came first; other tribes followed them.
+ These latter tribes called themselves _Deutsch_, or _the people_.
+ They settled between the Alps and the Baltic Sea. In time they came
+ to be called Ger-men, or war-men. They lived in rude huts and held
+ the lands in common. They were strong and brave and prosperous.
+
+ [Illustration: A TRIBE OF GERMANS ON AN EXPEDITION.]
+
+ They worshipped the great god Woden. His day of worship was the
+ fourth of the week; hence Woden's-day, or Wednesday.
+
+ Woden was an all-wise god. Ravens carried to him the news from
+ earth. His temples were stone altars on desolate heaths, and human
+ sacrifices were offered to him.
+
+ Woden had a celestial hall called Valhall, and thither he
+ transported the souls of the brave; hence the name Valhalla.
+
+ There were supposed to be water gods in the rivers and elves
+ throughout the forest. The heavens were peopled with minor gods, as
+ well as the great gods, and the spirits of the unseen world could
+ make themselves visible or invisible to men as they chose.
+
+ Most great nations have heroes of song sung by the poets, like
+ those of Homer and Virgil. The early German hero was Siegfried, and
+ the song or epic that celebrates his deeds is called the _Nibelungen
+ Lied_. Its story is as follows.
+
+ In the Land of Mist there was a lovely river, where dwelt little
+ people who could assume any form they wished. One of them was
+ accustomed to change himself into an otter when he went to the river
+ to fish. As he was fishing one day in this form he was caught by
+ Loki, one of the great gods, who immediately despatched him and took
+ off his skin.
+
+ When his brothers Fafner and Reginn saw what had been done, they
+ reproved Loki severely, and demanded of him that he should fill the
+ otter's skin with gold, and give it to them as an atonement for his
+ great misdeed.
+
+ "I return the otter skin and give you the treasure you ask," said
+ Loki; "but the gift shall bring you evil."
+
+ Their father took the treasure, and Fafner murdered his father to
+ secure it to himself, and then turned into a dragon or serpent to
+ guard it, and to keep his brother from finding it.
+
+ Reginn had a wonderful pupil, named Siegfried, a Samson among the
+ inhabitants of the land. He was so strong that he could catch wild
+ lions and hang them by the tail over the walls of the castle. Reginn
+ persuaded this pupil to attack the serpent and to slay him.
+
+ Now Siegfried could understand the songs of birds; and the birds
+ told him that Reginn intended to kill him; so he slew Reginn and
+ himself possessed the treasure.
+
+ Serpents and dragons were called _worms_ in Old Deutsch, and the
+ Germans called the town where Siegfried lived Worms.
+
+ Siegfried had bathed himself in the dragon's blood, and the bath
+ made his skin so hard that nothing could hurt him except in one
+ spot. A leaf had fallen on this spot as he was bathing. It was
+ between his shoulders.
+
+ Siegfried, like Samson, had a curious wife. His romances growing out
+ of his love for this woman would fill a volume. She had learned
+ where his one vulnerable spot lay. But she was a lovely lady, and
+ the wedded pair lived very happily together at Worms.
+
+ At last a dispute arose between them and their relatives, and the
+ latter sought to destroy Siegfried's life. His wife went for counsel
+ to a supposed friend, but real enemy, named Hagen.
+
+ "Your husband is invulnerable," said Hagen.
+
+ "Yes, except in one spot."
+
+ "And you know the place?"
+
+ "Yes."
+
+ "Sew a patch on his garment over it, and I shall know how to protect
+ him."
+
+ The poor wife had revealed a fatal secret. She sewed a patch on her
+ husband's garment between the shoulders, and now thought him doubly
+ secure.
+
+ [Illustration: THE MURDER OF SIEGFRIED.]
+
+ There was to be a great hunting-match, and Siegfried entered into it
+ as a champion. He rode forth in high spirits, but on his back was
+ the fatal patch.
+
+ Hagen contrived that the wine should be left behind.
+
+ "That," he said, "will compel the hunters to lie down on their
+ breasts to drink from the streams when they become thirsty. Then
+ will come my opportunity."
+
+ He was right in his conjecture.
+
+ Siegfried became tired and thirsty. He rode up to a stream. He threw
+ himself on his breast to drink, exposing his back, on which was the
+ patch, revealing the vulnerable place.
+
+ There he was stabbed by a conspirator employed by Hagen.
+
+ They bore the dead body of the hero down the Rhine, and lamented the
+ departed champion as the barque drifted on. The scene has been
+ portrayed in art and song, and has left its impress on the poetic
+ associations of the river. You will have occasion to recall this
+ story again in connection with Drachenfels.
+
+"Our fifth night on the Rhine was passed at Mayence, at the Hotel de
+Hollande, near the landing-place of the Rhine steamers. The balconies
+and windows of the hotel afforded fine views of the river and of the
+Taunus Mountains.
+
+"Mayence is said to have arisen by magic. The sorcerer Nequam wished
+for a new city; he came to this point of the Rhine, spoke the word,
+and the city rose. It is almost as old as the Christian era. Here the
+Twenty-second Roman legion came, after its return from the conquest of
+Jerusalem, and brought Christianity with it, through some of its early
+converts. It was one of the grand cities of Charlemagne, who erected a
+palace at Lower Ingelheim, and introduced the cultivation of the vine.
+Here lived Bishop Hatto, of bad repute, and good Bishop Williges.
+
+"Here rose Gutenberg, the inventor of printing, and here Thorwaldsen's
+statue of the great inventor announces to the traveller what a great
+light of civilization appeared to the world.
+
+"At Mayence we began the most delightful zigzag we had ever made,--a
+boat journey on the Rhine.
+
+"'If you would see the Rhine of castles and vineyards.' said an
+English friend, 'hire a boat. The most famous river scenery in the
+world lies between Mayence and Cologne. If you take the railroad you
+will merely _escape_ it in a few hours; if a steamboat, your curiosity
+will be excited, but not gratified; it will all vanish like a dream:
+take a boat, my good American friend,--take a boat.'
+
+"Between Mayence and Bingen the Rhine attains its greatest breadth. It
+is studded with a hundred islands. Its banks are continuous
+vineyards. Here is the famous district called the Rheingau, which
+extends along the right bank of the river, where the Rhine wines are
+produced.
+
+ [Illustration: MAYENCE.]
+
+"It is all a luxurious wine-garden,--the Rheingau. The grapes purple
+beside ruins and convents, as well as on their low artificial
+trellises, and everywhere drink in the sunshine and grow luscious in
+the mellow air.
+
+"Castles, palaces, ruins, towers, and quaint towns all mingle with the
+vineyards. A dreamy light hangs over the scene; the river is calm, and
+the boat drifts along in an atmosphere in which the spirit of romance
+seems to brood, as though indeed the world's fairy tales were true.
+
+"We came in sight of Bingen.
+
+"'We must stop there,' said Willie Clifton.
+
+"'Why?' I asked curiously.
+
+"'Because--well--
+
+ "For I was born at Bingen,--at Bingen on the Rhine."'
+
+"He then repeated slowly and in a deep, tender voice the beginning of
+a poem that almost every schoolboy knows:--
+
+ 'A soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers,
+ There was lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's tears;
+ But a comrade stood beside him, while his life-blood ebbed away,
+ And bent, with pitying glances, to hear what he might say.
+ The dying soldier faltered, as he took that comrade's hand,
+ And he said, "I nevermore shall see my own, my native land:
+ Take a message and a token to some distant friends of mine;
+ For I was born at Bingen,--at Bingen on the Rhine."'
+
+"Bingen is a town of about seven thousand inhabitants, and is engaged
+in the wine trade. We visited the chapel of St. Rochus, on a hill near
+the town, because one of our party had somewhere read that Bulwer had
+said that the view from St. Rochus was the finest in the world.
+
+"Again upon the river, all the banks seemed filled with castles,
+villages, and ruins. Every hill had its castle, every crag its gray
+tower. We drifted by the famous Mouse Tower, which stands at the end
+of an island meadow fringed with osier twigs. It is little better
+than a square tower of a common village church, nor is there any truth
+in the story that Southey's poem has associated with it. Poor Bishop
+Hatto, of evil name and memory! He died in 970, and the tower was not
+built until the thirteenth century. For aught that is known, he was a
+good man; he certainly was not eaten up by rats or mice. The legend
+runs:--
+
+ [Illustration: BISHOP HATTO AND THE RATS.]
+
+"In the tenth century Hatto, Bishop of Fulda, was raised to the
+dignity of Archbishop of Mayence. He built a strong tower on the
+Rhine, wherein to collect tolls from the vessels that passed.
+
+"A famine came to the Rhine countries. Hatto had vast granaries, and
+the people came to him for bread. He refused them, and they importuned
+him. He bade them go into a large granary, one day, promising them
+relief. When they had entered the building, he barred the doors and
+set it on fire, and the famishing beggars, among whom were many women
+and children, were consumed.
+
+"The bishop listened to the cries of the dying for mercy as the
+building was burning.
+
+"'Hark!' he said, 'hear the rats squeak.'
+
+"When the building fell millions of rats ran from the ruins to the
+bishop's palace. They filled all the rooms and attacked the people.
+The bishop was struck with terror.
+
+ '"I'll go to my tower on the Rhine," replied he;
+ "'Tis the safest place in Germany:
+ The walls are high, and the shores are steep,
+ And the stream is strong, and the water deep."
+
+ 'Bishop Hatto fearfully hastened away,
+ And he crossed the Rhine without delay,
+ And reached his tower, and barred with care
+ All windows, doors, and loopholes there.
+
+ 'He laid him down and closed his eyes;
+ But soon a scream made him arise:
+ He started, and saw two eyes of flame
+ On his pillow, from whence the screaming came.
+
+ 'He listened and looked; it was only the cat:
+ But the bishop he grew more fearful for that;
+ For she sat screaming, mad with fear
+ At the army of rats that were drawing near.
+
+ 'For they have swam over the river so deep,
+ And they have climbed the shores so steep;
+ And up the tower their way is bent,
+ To do the work for which they were sent.
+
+ 'They are not to be told by the dozen or score;
+ By thousands they come, and by myriads and more:
+ Such numbers had never been heard of before,
+ Such a judgment had never been witnessed of yore.
+
+ 'Down on his knees the bishop fell,
+ And faster and faster his beads did tell,
+ As, louder and louder drawing near,
+ The gnawing of their teeth he could hear.
+
+ 'And in at the windows, and in at the door,
+ And through the walls, helter-skelter they pour,
+ And down from the ceiling, and up through the floor,
+ From the right and the left, from behind and before,
+ From within and without, from above and below,
+ And all at once to the bishop they go.
+
+ 'They have whetted their teeth against the stones;
+ And now they pick the bishop's bones:
+ They gnawed the flesh from every limb;
+ For they were sent to do judgment on him!'
+
+"We passed ruin after ruin which the boatman said were 'robber
+castles.'
+
+"'And what do you mean by _robber_ castles?' asked Herman.
+
+"'The old lords of the Rhine used to collect tolls from the vessels
+that passed their estates. The tax was regarded as unjust, and hence
+the lords were themselves called robbers, and their castles robber
+castles.'
+
+"One of these castles, called the _Pfalzgrafenstein_, is said to
+resemble a stone ship at anchor in the river. It was formerly a rock,
+with one little hut upon it, and it was associated with a touching
+incident of history.
+
+"Louis le Debonnaire, the son of Charlemagne, became weary of
+state-craft and the crown. He felt that his end was near. He desired
+to die where he could hear the waves of the Rhine. He was taken to
+this rock, and there with the ebb of the river his troubled life ebbed
+away.
+
+"Most of the old castles are built on the narrows of the river. These
+narrows are between high rocks and rocky hills. They are in the Middle
+Rhine, or between Mayence and Bonn. The Middle Rhine has some thirty
+conspicuous castles on its banks. It is sometimes called the
+Castellated Rhine, and its narrows are termed the Castellated Rhine
+Pass.
+
+ [Illustration: VIEW ON THE RHINE.]
+
+"On, on we drifted. Every high rock seemed a gateway to some new scene
+of beauty; wonder followed wonder.
+
+"And now the water seemed agitated. Dark rocks projected into the
+river; the view was intercepted.
+
+"The boatman conversed in an animated way with me, and I looked up to
+a high rock with an interested expression and an incredulous smile.
+
+"He turned to us quietly and said,--
+
+"'This is the Lorelei Pass.'
+
+"He presently added,--
+
+"'That is the Lorelei.'
+
+ [Illustration: THE LORELEI.]
+
+
+ THE WONDERFUL STORY OF THE LORELEI.
+
+ Who has not heard it, repeated it in verse, echoed it in song?
+
+ It is the best known of the Rhine tales, not because it is the most
+ interesting, but because it is associated with the noblest scenery
+ of the river, with poetry and music. It is hardly equal to such
+ legends as the "Drachenfels" and the "Two Brothers," but it is
+ lifted into historic prominence by its associations.
+
+ Still the story is richer in incident than the mere song would
+ indicate. The origin and development of the popular legend is as
+ follows:--
+
+ In the shadowy days of the Palatines of the Rhine,--shadowy because
+ of ignorance and superstition,--the boatmen among the rocks above
+ St. Goar on the Rhine used to fancy that they could see at night the
+ form of a beautiful nymph on the "Lei," or high rock of the river.
+ Her limbs were moulded of air; a veil of mist and gems covered her
+ face; her hair was long and golden, and her eyes shone like the
+ stars. Her robe was blue and glimmering like the waves, decked with
+ water flowers and zoned with crystals. She was most distinctly seen
+ by pale moonlight.
+
+ They called this recurring vision of mist and gems Lore, the
+ enchantress. They believed that her favor brought good luck, but her
+ ill will destruction.
+
+ Nothing could be more natural than for the simple fishermen to think
+ that they saw a form of mist, very bright and lovely, above the
+ rocks at night, when once the story had been told them.
+
+ In the days of superstition such a story was sure to grow.
+
+ It was said that this Undine of the Rhine, the enchantress Lore, had
+ a most melodious and seductive voice. When she sang those who heard
+ her listened spellbound. If the boatmen displeased her, she
+ entranced them by her song, and drew them into the whirlpools under
+ the rocks, where they disappeared forever. To the landsmen who
+ offended her, she made the river appear like a road, and led them to
+ fall over the rocks to destruction. With all her beauty and charms,
+ she was the evil genius of the place.
+
+ Herman, the only son of the last Palatine, a youth of some fifteen
+ summers, was delicate in health. Instead of devoting himself to
+ chivalrous exercises, he gave his attention to music and song.
+
+ One night he and his father were descending the Rhine, when he felt
+ an inspiration come over him to sing. His voice was silvery and
+ flute-like, and breathed the emotional sentiment of the heart of
+ youth. As the boat drew near the Lei, Lore, the enchantress, heard
+ the song, and she herself became spellbound by the sentiment and
+ deep feeling expressed in the mellifluent music.
+
+ She tried to answer him, but her voice failed.
+
+ As Herman grew to manhood his ill health disappeared, and his
+ character changed. He became rugged and manly, and abandoned the
+ arts for the chase, horsemanship, and the preparations for martial
+ contests.
+
+ He became a renowned hunter. He rode the wildest steeds, and
+ ventured into places and merrily blew his horn where no huntsman
+ dared follow him.
+
+ The enchantress Lore, from the time she had heard his song,
+ disappeared from the rocks. The change that came over his person and
+ character seemed like enchantment: was the siren invisibly following
+ him?
+
+ And now a strange thing began to startle him by its mystery. When
+ alone, crossing a wild mountain or a ravine, he would seek to keep
+ up a communication by shouting through his hands,--
+
+ "Hillo-ho-o-o-o!"
+
+ Immediately a sweet voice would answer,--
+
+ "Ho-o-o-o!"
+
+ He would follow the sound.
+
+ "Hillo-ho-o-o-o!"
+
+ "Ho-o-o-o!"
+
+ It always led him towards the Lei.
+
+ He became alarmed at this occurrence. He believed that he was
+ followed by a spirit, and that a spell was upon him, which boded
+ destruction. He resolved to abandon the chase and devote himself to
+ the arts again.
+
+ He was sitting by the window of the castle on a summer evening. A
+ purple mist lay on the forests and river, and the moon poured her
+ light over it, making all things appear like an enchanted realm.
+
+ He heard a nightingale singing in the woods. Did ever a bird sing
+ like that? He listened. There was a witchery in the song. He rose
+ and went into the woods. The song filled the air like a shower of
+ golden notes. He followed it. It retreated. He went on. But the
+ song, more and more enchanting and alluring, floated into the
+ shadowy distance. He found himself at last on the Lei.
+
+ He beheld there a dazzling grotto, full of stalactites, and a nymph
+ of wondrous beauty on a coral throne. He felt his being thrill with
+ love. He was about to enter the grotto, when, oh thought of darkness
+ and horror! the recollection of the enchantress came to him, and he
+ crossed his bosom and broke the spell. He hurried home with a
+ beating heart.
+
+ But the temptation and vision had proved fatal to him. He was never
+ himself again. He dreamed constantly of Lore. All his longings were
+ for her.
+
+ At eve he would hear the same nightingale singing. He would long to
+ follow the voice. It inflamed his love. His will, his senses, all
+ that made life desirable, were yielding to the fatal passion.
+
+ He went to a good priest for advice.
+
+ "Father Walter, what shall I do?"
+
+ "Shake off the spell, or it will end in your ruin."
+
+ One day Herman and the priest went fishing on the Rhine. The boat
+ drifted near the Lei. The moon rose in full splendor in the clear
+ sky, strewing the water with countless gems.
+
+ Herman took a lute and filled the air with music.
+
+ It was answered from the Lei. Oh, how wonderful! The air seemed
+ entranced with the spiritual melody. Herman was beside himself with
+ delight. The priest also heard it.
+
+ "The Lore! In the name of the Virgin, let us make for the shore!"
+
+ [Illustration: HERMAN'S EYES WERE FIXED ON THE ROCK.]
+
+ Herman's eyes were fixed on the rock. There she sat, the siren!
+
+ The priest plied the oar, to turn the boat back.
+
+ But nearer, nearer drifted the boat to the rock.
+
+ Nearer and nearer!
+
+ The moon poured her white light upon the crags.
+
+ Nearer and nearer!
+
+ There was a shock.
+
+ The boat was shivered like glass.
+
+ Walter crossed himself, and floated on the waves to the shore.
+
+ But Herman--he was never seen again!
+
+Mr. Beal's narrative nearly filled the evening. A few stories were
+told by other members of the Club, but they were chiefly from Grimm,
+and hence are somewhat familiar.
+
+Charlie Leland closed the meeting with a free translation of a poem
+from Kerner.
+
+ Justinus Kerner was born in Ludwigsburg, in 1786. He was a physician
+ and a poet. He belonged to the spiritualistic school of poets, and
+ his illustrations of the power of mind over matter, in both prose
+ and poetry, are often very forcible. The following poem will give
+ you a view of his estimate of physical as compared with mental
+ power:--
+
+ IN THE OLD CATHEDRAL.
+
+ In the vaults of the dim cathedral,
+ In the gloaming, weird and cold,
+ Are the coffins of old King Ottmar,
+ And a poet, renowned of old.
+
+ The king once sat in power,
+ Enthroned in pomp and pride,
+ And his crown still rests upon him,
+ And his falchion rusts beside.
+
+ And near to the king the poet
+ Has slumbered in darkness long,
+ But he holds in his hands, as an emblem,
+ The harp of immortal song.
+
+ Hark! 'tis the castles falling!
+ Hark! 'tis the war-cry dread!
+ But the monarch's sword is not lifted,
+ There, in the vaults of the dead!
+
+ List to the vernal breezes!
+ List to the minstrels' strain!
+ 'Tis the poet's song they are singing,
+ And the poet lives again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+NIGHT THE SIXTH.
+
+ THE BEAUTIFUL RHINE.--COBLENTZ.--A ZIGZAG TO WEIMAR.--GOETHE AND
+ SCHILLER.--THE STRANGE STORY OF FAUST.--FAUST IN ART.--THE SEVEN
+ MOUNTAINS.--THE DRACHENFELS.--THE STORY OF THE DRAGON.--STORIES OF
+ FREDERICK THE GREAT.--THE UNNERVED HUSSAR.
+
+
+Mr. Beal occupied much of the time this evening. He thus continued the
+narrative of travel:--
+
+ * * * * *
+
+"From St. Goar to Boppard, two stations at which the Rhine boats call,
+is about an hour's run; but the journey is an unfailing memory. The
+rocky walls of the river, the continuous villages, the quaint churches
+amid the vineyards and cherry orchards, the mossy meadows about the
+mountains, the white-kerchiefed villagers, present so many varied and
+delightful objects, that the eye feasts on beauty, and wonders
+expectantly at what the next turn of the river will reveal. The rock
+shadows in the water contrast with the bright scenes above the river,
+and add an impression of grandeur to the effect of the whole, like
+shadows on the cathedral walls that heighten the effect of the
+rose-colored windows. Beautiful, beautiful, is the Rhine.
+
+"Grand castles, perched on high cliffs and mountain walls, surprise
+us, delight us, and vanish behind us, as the boat moves on;--the
+Brother Castles, Marksburg, the mountain palace Solzenfels, with their
+lofty, gloomy, and barbaric grandeur, reminding one always of times
+whose loss the mind does not regret.
+
+"And now a beautiful city comes in view, nestled at the foot of the
+hills, and protected by a stupendous fortress on the opposite side of
+the river. The fortress is Ehrenbreitstein, the Gibraltar of the
+Rhine, capable of holding an army of men. It is a great arsenal now,
+well garrisoned in peace as in war; in short, it may be called the
+watch on the Rhine.
+
+ [Illustration: EHRENBREITSTEIN.]
+
+"The lovely city under its guns, on the opposite side of the river, is
+Coblentz. It is a gusset of houses, a V-shaped city, at the confluence
+of the Rhine and Moselle. The Romans called it the city of the
+Confluence, or Confluentia; hence, corrupted, it is known as Coblentz.
+
+ [Illustration: GOETHE'S PROMENADE.]
+
+"It is the half-way city between Cologne and Mayence, and a favorite
+resting place of tourists. The summer residence of the King of
+Germany is here.
+
+"From Coblentz we made a detour into the heart of Germany, going by
+rail to Weimar, once called the Athens of the North. It was once the
+literary centre of Germany. Here lived Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, and
+Herder. What the English Lake District, in the days of Wordsworth,
+Southey, Coleridge, Christopher North, and De Quincey was once to
+England, what Cambridge and Concord have been to America in the best
+days of its authors and poets, Weimar was to Germany at the beginning
+of the present century. We went there to visit the tombs and statues
+of Goethe, and to gain a better knowledge of the works of these poets
+from the associations of their composition.
+
+"Weimar is a quaint provincial-looking town on the river Ilm. It has
+some sixteen thousand inhabitants, and is the residence of the Grand
+Duke of Saxe-Weimar. The grounds of the palace are wonderfully
+beautiful. They extend along the river, and communicate with a summer
+palace called Belvedere.
+
+"We visited the tombs of the two great poets. They are found beneath a
+small chapel in the Grand Ducal burial vault. The Grand Duke Charles
+Augustus desired that the bodies of the two poets should be interred
+one on each side of him: but this was forbidden by the usages of the
+court.
+
+"In the old Stadtkirche, built in 1400, are the tombs of the ancient
+dukes, now forgotten. Among them is that of Duke Bernard, who died in
+1639. He was the friend of Gustavus Adolphus, and one of the most
+powerful of the leaders of the Reformation.
+
+"Goethe, the most gifted of the German poets, and the most
+accomplished man of his age, was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, in
+1749. In 1775 he made the intimate acquaintance of Charles Augustus,
+Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who induced him to take up his residence at
+Weimar, the capital. Here he held many public offices, and at last
+became minister of state. He died at the age of eighty-four.
+
+"Goethe's most popular work is a novel called _The Sorrows of
+Werther_, but his great and enduring work is _Faust_, a dramatic poem,
+in which his great genius struggles with the problems of good and
+evil.
+
+"His life was full of beautiful friendships. In 1787 Schiller, the
+second in rank of great German poets, was invited to reside at Weimar.
+Goethe became most warmly attached to him, and the two pursued their
+high literary callings together. The literary circle now consisted of
+Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, Herder, and the Grand Duke. It was the
+golden age of German literature.
+
+
+ THE STRANGE STORY OF FAUST.
+
+ No myth of the Middle Ages has had so large a growth and so long a
+ life as this.
+
+ It has been made the subject of books, pamphlets, and articles
+ almost without number. The Faust literature in Germany would fill a
+ library.
+
+ In painting, especially of the Holland school, the dark subject as
+ prominently appears. It is also embodied in sculpture.
+
+ But it is in poetry and music that it found a place that carried it
+ over the world. It was made the subject of Marlowe's drama, of
+ Goethe's greatest poem, and it is sung in three of the greatest
+ operas of modern times.
+
+ But to the legend.
+
+ About the year 1490 there was born at Roda, in the Duchy of
+ Saxe-Weimar, a child whose fame was destined to fill the world of
+ superstition, fable, and song. He was named John Faustus, or Faust.
+
+ He studied medicine, became an alchemist, and was possessed with a
+ consuming desire to learn the secrets of life and of the spiritual
+ world.
+
+ He studied magic, and his thirst for knowledge of the occult
+ sciences grew. He wished to know how to prolong life, to change base
+ metals to gold, to do things at once by the power of the will.
+
+ One night, as he was studying, the Evil One appeared before him.
+
+ "I will reveal to you all the secrets you are seeking, and will
+ enable you to do anything you wish by the power of the will alone--"
+
+ Dr. Faustus was filled with an almost insane delight.
+
+ "--On one condition."
+
+ "Name it."
+
+ "That I shall have your soul in return."
+
+ "When?"
+
+ "At the end of twenty-four years--at this time of night--midnight."
+
+ "I shall have pleasure?"
+
+ [Illustration: FAUST SIGNING.]
+
+ "Pleasure."
+
+ "Gold?"
+
+ "Gold."
+
+ "I shall know the secrets of nature?"
+
+ "The secrets of nature."
+
+ "I may do what I like at will?"
+
+ "At will."
+
+ "I will sign the compact."
+
+ "Sign!"
+
+ Faust signed his name to a compact that was to give the Evil One his
+ soul for twenty-four years of pleasure, gold, and knowledge, that
+ were to come to an end at midnight.
+
+ "I will give you an attendant," said the Evil One, "to help you."
+
+ He caused a dark but very elegant gentleman to appear, whom he
+ presented to Faust as Mephistopheles.
+
+ Dr. Faustus and Mephistopheles now began to travel into all lands,
+ performing wonders to the amazement of all people wherever they
+ went.
+
+ In a wine-cellar at Leipsig, where he and Mephistopheles were
+ drinking, some gay fellows said,--
+
+ "Faust, make grapes grow on a vine on this table."
+
+ "Be silent."
+
+ There was dead silence.
+
+ [Illustration: FAUST AND MEPHISTOPHELES.]
+
+ A vine began to grow from the table, and presently it bore a bunch
+ of grapes for each of the revellers.
+
+ "Take your knives and cut a cluster for each."
+
+ There was an explosion. Faust and Mephistopheles were seen flying
+ out of the window; the _window_ is still shown in Leipsig. The vine
+ had disappeared, and each of the revellers found himself with his
+ knife over his nose, about to cut it off, supposing it to be a
+ cluster of grapes.
+
+ The wonders that it is claimed that Dr. Faustus did in the
+ twenty-four years fill volumes. The Faust marvels have gathered to
+ themselves the fables of centuries.
+
+ The twenty-four years came to an end at last. Faust became gloomy,
+ and retired to Rimlich, at the inn, among his old friends.
+
+ The fatal night came.
+
+ "Should you hear noises in my chamber to-night, do not disturb me,"
+ he said, on parting from his companions to go to his room.
+
+ Near midnight a tempest arose,--a wild, strange tempest. The winds
+ were like demons. It thundered and the air was full of tongues of
+ lightning.
+
+ At midnight there was heard a fearful shriek in Faust's chamber.
+
+ The next morning the room was found bespattered with blood, and the
+ body of Faust was missing. The broken remains of the alchemist were
+ discovered at last in a back yard on a heap of earth.
+
+ This was the village story. It grew as such a dark myth would grow
+ in the superstitious times in which it started. Goethe created the
+ character of Marguerite and added it to the fable. The
+ transformation of Faust from extreme old age to youth was also
+ added. The opera makers have greatly enlarged even the narrative of
+ Goethe; in the latest evolution, Mephistopheles is summoned into the
+ courts of heaven and sent forth to tempt Faust, and Faust is shown
+ visions of the Greek vale of Tempe and Helen of Troy.
+
+ Faust has come to be a synonym of the great problem of Good and
+ Evil; the contest between virtue and vice, temptation and ruin,
+ temptation and moral triumph. It is not a good story in any of its
+ evolutions, but it is one that to know is almost essential to
+ intelligence.
+
+"Returning to Coblentz, we passed our sixth night on the Rhine. We
+there hired a boatman to take us to Bonn. Between Coblentz and
+Andernach we passed what are termed the Rhine Plains. These are some
+ten miles long, and are semicircled by volcanic mountains, whose fires
+have long been dead.
+
+"We now approached the Seven Mountains, among which is the
+Drachenfels, famous in fable and song. These are called: Lohrberg,
+1,355 feet; Neiderstromberg, 1,066 feet; Oelberg, 1,429 feet;
+Wolkenberg, 1,001 feet; Drachenfels, 1,056 feet; Petenberg, 1,030
+feet; Lowenberg, 1,414 feet.
+
+"The Drachenfels is made picturesque by an ancient ruin, and it is
+these ancient ruins, and associations of old history, that make the
+Rhine the most interesting river in the world. Apart from its castles
+and traditions, it is not more beautiful than the Hudson, the Upper
+Ohio, or the Mississippi between St. Paul and Winona. But the Rhine
+displays the ruined arts of two thousand years.
+
+"The Drachenfels has its wonderful story. It is said that Siegfried
+killed the Dragon there. The so-called Dragon Cave or Rock is there,
+and of this particular dragon many curious tales are told.
+
+"In the early days of Christianity the cross was regarded as something
+more than a mere emblem of faith. It was believed to possess
+miracle-working power.
+
+"In a rocky cavern of the Drachenfels, in ancient times, there lived a
+Dragon of most hideous form. He had a hundred teeth, and his head was
+so large that he could swallow several victims at a time. His body was
+of enormous length, and in form like an alligator's, and he had a tail
+like a serpent.
+
+"The pagans of the Rhine worshipped this monster and offered to him
+human sacrifices.
+
+"In one of the old wars between rival princes, a Christian girl was
+taken captive, and the pagan priest commanded that she should be made
+an offering to the Dragon.
+
+"It was the custom of the pagans to bind their sacrifices to the
+Dragon alive to a tree near his cave at night. At sunrise he would
+come out and devour them.
+
+"They led the lovely Christian maiden to a spot near the cave, and
+bound her to a tree.
+
+"It was starlight. Priests and warriors with torches had conducted the
+maiden to the fatal spot, and stood at a little distance from the
+victim, waiting for the sunrise.
+
+ [Illustration: A CLEFT IN THE MOUNTAINS.]
+
+"The priests chanted their wild hymns, and the light at last began
+to break and to crown the mountains and be scattered over the blue
+river.
+
+"The roar of the monster was heard. The rocks trembled, and he
+appeared. He approached the maiden, bound to an oak.
+
+"Her eyes were raised in prayer towards heaven.
+
+"As the Dragon approached the victim, she drew from her bosom a
+crucifix, and held it up before him.
+
+"As soon as he saw it, he began to tremble. He fell to the earth as if
+smitten. He lost all power and rolled down the rocks, a shapeless
+mass, into the Rhine.
+
+"The pagans released the girl.
+
+"'By what power have you done this?' they asked.
+
+"'By this,' said the maiden, stretching out the cross in her hand. 'I
+am a Christian.'
+
+"'Then we will become Christians,' said the pagans, and they led the
+lovely apostle away to be their teacher. Her first convert was one of
+the rival princes, whom she married. Their descendants were among the
+most eminent of the early Christian families of the Seven Mountains of
+the Rhine.
+
+"Such is the fable as told by the monks of old. The figure of the
+power of the cross over the serpent, employed in early Christian
+writings, undoubtedly was its origin, but how it became associated
+with the story of the captive maiden it would be hard to tell."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Master Lewis introduced the story-telling of the evening by anecdote
+pictures of
+
+
+ FREDERICK THE GREAT.
+
+ Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, was born in 1712. He was a
+ wilful youth, and his father subjected him to such severe discipline
+ that he revolted against it, and, like other boys not of royal
+ blood, formed a plan of running away from home. His father
+ discovered the plot, and caused his son's most intimate friend, who
+ had assisted him in it, to be put to death, and made the execution
+ as terrible as possible. He early came to hate his father, his
+ father's religion, and everything that the old king most liked. His
+ father was indeed a hard, stern man, of colorless character; but he
+ managed the affairs of state so prudently that he left his undutiful
+ son a powerful army and a full treasury, and to these as much as to
+ any noble qualities of mind or soul the latter owed the resources by
+ which he gained the title THE GREAT.
+
+ His mother was a daughter of George I. Frederick loved her, and from
+ her he inherited a taste for music and literature, like many of the
+ family of the Georges. He formed an intimate friendship with
+ Voltaire, the French infidel writer, and interested himself in the
+ French infidelity of the period, which was a reaction against the
+ corrupt and degenerate French church.
+
+ He entered the field as a soldier in 1741, and was victorious again
+ and again in the two Silesian wars. The Seven Years' War, begun in
+ 1756, gained for him a position of great influence among the rulers
+ of Europe. He was prudent, like his father; his government was wise,
+ well ordered, and liberal, and he left to his successor a full
+ treasury, a great and famous army, enlarged territory, and the
+ prestige of a great name.
+
+ The family affairs of kings during the last century were in rather a
+ queer state, as the following story of Frederick's marriage will
+ show.
+
+ The prince was told that his father was studying the characters of
+ the young ladies of the courts of Europe in order to select a
+ suitable wife for him. He admired talent, brilliancy, wit, and he
+ said in substance to the Minister of State,--
+
+ "Influence my father if you can to obtain for me a gifted and
+ elegant princess. Of all things in the world I would hate to have a
+ dull and commonplace wife."
+
+ His father made choice of the Princess Elizabeth Christine of
+ Brunswick, a girl famous for her awkwardness and stupidity.
+
+ The prince did everything in his power to prevent the marriage. But
+ the old king declared that he should marry her, and the wedding
+ ceremony was arranged, Frederick in the mean time protesting that he
+ held the bride in utter detestation.
+
+ Frederick had a sister whom he dearly loved, Wilhelmina. Two days
+ after his marriage, he introduced the bride to her, and said,--
+
+ "This is a sister whom I adore. She has had the goodness to promise
+ that _she_ will take care of you and give you good advice. I wish
+ you to do nothing without her consent. Do you understand?"
+
+ [Illustration: VOLTAIRE.]
+
+ The young bride, scarcely eighteen, was speechless. She expected
+ "care" and "advice" from her husband, and not from his sister.
+
+ Wilhelmina embraced her tenderly.
+
+ Frederick waited for an answer to his question. But she stood dumb.
+
+ "Plague take the _blockhead_!" he at last exclaimed, and with this
+ compliment began the long and sorrowful story of her wedded life.
+
+ She was a good woman and bore her husband's neglect with patience.
+ Strangely enough, in his old age Frederick came to love her; for he
+ discovered, after a prejudice of years, that she had a noble soul.
+
+ Frederick died in 1786. In his will he made a most liberal allowance
+ for his wife, and bore testimony to her excellent character, saying
+ that she never had caused him the least discontent, and her
+ incorruptible virtue was worthy of love and consideration.
+
+ She survived the king eleven years.
+
+Willie Clifton related a true story.
+
+
+ THE UNNERVED HUSSAR.
+
+ A man once entered the vaults of a church by night, to rob a corpse
+ of a valuable ring. In replacing the lid he nailed the tail of his
+ coat to the coffin, and when he started up to leave, the coffin
+ clung to him and moved towards him.
+
+ Supposing the movement to be the work of invisible hands, his
+ nervous system received such a shock that he fell in a fit, and was
+ found where he fell, by the sexton, on the following morning.
+
+ Now, had the fellow been honestly engaged, it is not likely that the
+ blunder would have happened; and even had it occurred, he doubtless
+ would have discovered at once the cause.
+
+ But very worthy people are sometimes affected by superstitious fear,
+ and run counter to the dictates of good sense and sound judgment.
+
+ A magnificent banquet was once given by a lord, in a very ancient
+ castle, on the confines of Germany. Among the guests was an officer
+ of hussars, distinguished for great self-possession and bravery.
+
+ Many of the guests were to remain in the castle during the night;
+ and the gallant hussar was informed that one of them must occupy a
+ room reputed to be haunted, and was asked if he had any objections
+ to accepting the room for himself.
+
+ He declared that he had none whatever, and thanked his host for the
+ honor conferred upon him by the offer. He, however, expressed a wish
+ that no trick might be played upon him, saying that such an act
+ might be followed by very serious consequences, as he should use his
+ pistols against whatever disturbed the peace of the room.
+
+ He retired after midnight, leaving his lamp burning; and, wearied by
+ the festivities, soon fell asleep. He was presently awakened by the
+ sound of music, and, looking about the apartment, saw at the
+ opposite end, three phantom ladies, grotesquely attired, singing a
+ mournful dirge.
+
+ The music was artistic, rich, and soothing, and the hussar listened
+ for a time, highly entertained. The piece was one of unvarying
+ sadness, and, however seductive at first, after a time lost its
+ charm.
+
+ [Illustration: THE UNNERVED HUSSAR.]
+
+ The officer, addressing the musical damsels, remarked that the music
+ had become rather monotonous, and asked them to change the tune. The
+ singing continued in the same mournful cadences. He became
+ impatient, and exclaimed,--
+
+ "Ladies, this is an impertinent trick, for the purpose of
+ frightening me. I shall take rough means to stop it, if it gives me
+ any further trouble."
+
+ He seized his pistols in a manner that indicated his purpose. But
+ the mysterious ladies remained, and the requiem went on.
+
+ "Ladies," said the officer, "I will wait five minutes, and then
+ shall fire, unless you leave the room."
+
+ The figures remained, and the music continued. At the expiration of
+ the time, the officer counted twenty in a loud, measured voice, and
+ then, taking deliberate aim, discharged both of his pistols.
+
+ The ladies were unharmed, and the music was uninterrupted. The
+ unexpected result of his violence threw him into a state of high
+ nervous excitement, and, although his courage had withstood the
+ shock of battle, it now yielded to his superstitious fears. His
+ strength was prostrated, and a severe illness of some weeks'
+ continuance followed.
+
+ Had the hussar held stoutly to his own sensible philosophy, that he
+ had no occasion to fear the spirits of the invisible world, nothing
+ serious would have ensued. The damsels sung in another apartment,
+ and their figures were made to appear in the room occupied by the
+ hussar, by the effect of a mirror. The whole was a trick, carefully
+ planned, to test the effect of superstitious fear on one of the
+ bravest of men.
+
+ In no case should a person be alarmed at what he suspects to be
+ supernatural. A cool investigation will show, in most cases, that
+ the supposed phenomenon may be easily explained. It might prove a
+ serious thing for one to be frightened by a nightcap on a bedpost,
+ for a fright affects unfavorably the nervous system, but a nightcap
+ on a bedpost is in itself a very harmless thing.
+
+The sixth evening closed with an original poem by Mr. Beal.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+COLOGNE.
+
+ BONN.--HOLY COLOGNE.--THE STORY OF THE MYSTERIOUS
+ ARCHITECT.--"UNFINISHED AND UNKNOWN."--VISIT TO COLOGNE
+ CATHEDRAL.--THE TOMB OF THE MAGI.--THE CHURCH OF SKULLS.--QUEER
+ RELICS.--THE STORY AND LEGEND OF CHARLEMAGNE.--THE STORY AND LEGEND
+ OF BARBAROSSA.
+
+
+"We emerged from the majestic circle of the Seven Mountains, the most
+beautiful part of the Rhine scenery, and broad plains again met our
+view. The river ran smoothly, the Middle Rhine was passed, Bonn was in
+view, and there we dismissed our boatman.
+
+"We stopped in Bonn only a short time. We went to the Market-place and
+walked past the University, which was once a palace.
+
+"We took the train at Bonn for Cologne, in order to pass rapidly over
+a part of the Rhine scenery said to be comparatively uninteresting.
+
+"Holy Cologne!
+
+"The Rome of the Northern Empire! The ecclesiastical capital of the
+ancient German church!
+
+"The unfinished cathedral towers over the city like a mountain.
+'Unfinished?' Everything has a legend here, and a marvellous one, and
+the unfinished cathedral stands like a witness to such a tale.
+
+ [Illustration: CATHEDRAL OF COLOGNE.]
+
+"Above Cologne the river runs broad, a blue-green mirror amid dumpy
+willows and lanky poplars, and the windmills on its banks throw their
+arms about like giants at play. The steamers swarm in the bright
+waters; at evening their lights are like will-o'-the-wisps. The long
+bridge of boats opens; a steamer passes, followed by a crowd of boats;
+it closes, and the waiting crowd upon it hurry over. The Rhine at
+night here presents a most animated scene.
+
+"The river seems alive, but the city looks dead. There is a faded
+glory on everything. There are steeples and steeples, towers and
+towers. Cologne is said to have had at one time as many churches as
+there are days in the year. But life has gone out of them; they are
+like deserted houses. They belonged to the religious period of
+evolution, and are like geologic formations now,--history that has had
+its day, and left its tombstone.
+
+"Cologne is as old as Rome in her glory,--older than the Christian
+era. She was the second great city of the Church in the Middle Ages.
+
+"Cologne is full of wonders in stone and marble, wonders in legend and
+story as well; and among these the cathedral holds the first place, in
+both art and fable.
+
+
+ THE MYSTERIOUS ARCHITECT.
+
+ In the thirteenth century--so the story goes--Archbishop Conrad
+ determined to erect a cathedral that should surpass any Christian
+ temple in the world.
+
+ Who should be the architect?
+
+ He must be a man of great genius, and his name would become
+ immortal.
+
+ There _was_ a wonderful builder in Cologne, and the Archbishop went
+ to him with his purpose, and asked him to attempt the design.
+
+ "It must not only surpass anything in the past, but anything that
+ may arise in the future."
+
+ The architect was awed in view of such a stupendous undertaking.
+
+ "It will carry my name down the ages," he thought; "I will sacrifice
+ everything to success."
+
+ He dreamed; he fasted and prayed.
+
+ He made sketch after sketch and plan after plan, but they all
+ proved unworthy of a temple that should be one of the grandest
+ monuments of the piety of the time, and one of the glories of future
+ ages.
+
+ In his dreams an exquisite image of a temple rose dimly before him.
+ When he awoke, he could vaguely recall it, but could not reproduce
+ it. The ideal haunted him and yet eluded him.
+
+ He became disheartened. He wandered in the fields, absorbed in
+ thought. The beautiful apparition of the temple would suddenly fill
+ him with delight; then it would vanish, as if it were a mockery.
+
+ One day he was wandering along the Rhine, absorbed in thought.
+
+ "Oh," he said, "that the phantom temple would appear to me, and
+ linger but for a moment, that I could grasp the design."
+
+ He sat down on the shore, and began to draw a plan with a stick on
+ the sand.
+
+ "That is it," he cried with joy.
+
+ "Yes, that is it, indeed," said a mocking voice behind him.
+
+ He looked around, and beheld an old man.
+
+ "That is it," the stranger hissed; "that is the Cathedral of
+ Strasburg."
+
+ He was shocked. He effaced the design on the sand.
+
+ He began again.
+
+ "There it is," he again exclaimed with delight.
+
+ "Yes," chuckled the old man. "That is the Cathedral of Amiens."
+
+ The architect effaced the picture on the sand, and produced another.
+
+ "Metz," said the old man.
+
+ He made yet another effort.
+
+ "Antwerp!"
+
+ "O my master," said the despairing architect, "you mock me. Produce
+ a design for me yourself."
+
+ "On one condition."
+
+ "Name it."
+
+ "You shall give me yourself, soul and body!"
+
+ The affrighted architect began to say his prayers, and the old man
+ suddenly disappeared.
+
+ The next day he wandered into a forest of the Seven Mountains, still
+ thinking of his plan. He chanced to look up the mountain side, when
+ he beheld the queer old man again; he was now leaning on a staff on
+ a rocky wall.
+
+ He lifted his staff and began to draw a picture on a rock behind
+ him. The lines were of fire.
+
+ Oh, how beautiful, how grand, how glorious, it all was!
+
+ [Illustration: THE MYSTERIOUS ARCHITECT.]
+
+ Fretwork, spandrels, and steeples. It _was_--it _was_ the very
+ design that had haunted the poor architect, that flitted across his
+ mind in dreams but left no memory.
+
+ "Will you have my plan?" asked the old man.
+
+ "I will do all you ask."
+
+ "Meet me at the city gate to-morrow at midnight."
+
+ The architect returned to Cologne, the image of the marvellous
+ temple glowing in his mind.
+
+ "I shall be immortal," he said; "my name will never die. But," he
+ added, "it is the price of my soul. No masses can help me, doomed,
+ doomed forever!"
+
+ He told his strange story to his old nurse on his return home.
+
+ She went to consult the priest.
+
+ "Tell him," said the priest to the old woman, "to secure the design
+ before he signs the contract. As soon as he gets the plan into his
+ hand let him present to the old man, who is a demon, the relics of
+ the martyrs and the sign of the cross."
+
+ At midnight he appeared at the gate. There stood the little old man.
+
+ "Here is your design," said the latter, handing him a roll of
+ parchment. "Now you shall sign the bond that gives me yourself in
+ payment."
+
+ The architect grasped the plan.
+
+ "Satan, begone!" he thundered; "in the name of this cross, and of
+ St. Ursula, begone!"
+
+ "Thou hast foiled me," said the old man, his eyes glowing in the
+ darkness like fire. "But I will have my revenge. Your church shall
+ never be completed, and your name shall never be known in the future
+ to mankind."
+
+"The Cathedral of Cologne is unfinished, and its architect's name is
+unknown. It may harm the story, but it is but just to say that many of
+the old cathedrals of Europe are in these respects like that of
+Cologne.
+
+"We were impatient to visit the cathedral on our arrival at Cologne.
+The structure stood as it were _over_ the city, like its presiding
+genius; and so it was. Wherever we went the great roofs loomed above
+us in the air.
+
+"The interior did not disappoint us, even after all we had seen in
+other cathedral towns. It was like a forest: the columns were like
+tree stems of a vast open woodland, the groined arches appearing like
+interweaving boughs. The gorgeous windows were like a sunset through
+the trees. The air was dusky in the arches, but near the lofty windows
+vivid with color.
+
+"It was Sunday. The service had begun. It was like a pageant, an
+opera. The organ was pouring a solemn chant through the far arches,
+like fall winds among the trees. There was a flute-like gush of music,
+far off and mysterious, like birds. It came from the boy-choristers.
+Priests in glittering garments were kneeling before the cupola-crowned
+altar; there rose a cloud of incense from silver censers, and the
+organ thundered again, like the storm gathering over the woods. At the
+side of the altar stood the archiepiscopal throne, half in shadow amid
+the tall lights, red and gold; amid the piles of barbaric splendor,
+canopies, carvings, emblems.
+
+"We visited the chapels on the following day. In one of them a Latin
+inscription tells the visitor,--
+
+"'HERE REPOSE THE THREE BODIES OF THE HOLY MAGI.'
+
+"The guide said,--
+
+"'This is the tomb of the Three Kings of Cologne.'
+
+"'The Wise Men of the East who came to worship at the cradle at
+Bethlehem.'
+
+"'Ask him how he _got_ them,' said Willie.
+
+"'The Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, recovered them and sent
+them to Milan. When Frederick Barbarossa took the city of Milan, he
+received them among the spoils and sent them to Cologne. The names of
+the Magi were Gaspar, Melchior, Balthazar.'
+
+"'Do you believe the legend?' asked Willie.
+
+"'I do not know; we shall find things harder than this to believe, I
+fancy, as we go on.'
+
+"And we did.
+
+ [Illustration: ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, COLOGNE.]
+
+"Leaving the tomb,--a pile of jewels,--we went out, and near the
+outskirts of the city found the famous Church of Skulls,--a gilded
+ossuary, associated with a mediaeval legend. It was full of cabinets of
+bones, said to be those of eleven thousand virgins slain for their
+faith by the Huns.
+
+"Here we were shown--
+
+"_A part of the rod with which the Saviour was scourged._
+
+"_A thorn from the crown of thorns,--the Spicula._
+
+"_The pitcher in which Jesus turned water into wine._
+
+"'The Mediaeval Church,' said our English-speaking guide, who had
+little faith in the genuineness of the relics, 'has exhibited some
+relics from time to time that would repay a long and arduous
+pilgrimage if they were what they purported to be; as, for instance, a
+feather of the angel Gabriel, the snout of a seraph, a ray from the
+star of Bethlehem, _two_ skulls of the same saint,--one taken when the
+departed saint was somewhat younger, as flippantly explained to an
+astonished tourist, who found in two cities the same consecrated
+cranium.
+
+"'But of all the relics of which we ever read, some Germans who
+visited Italy in search of these precious mementos received the most
+remarkable.
+
+"'One of these gentlemen, having applied to an ecclesiastic for some
+memento of Scripture history which he could take back to Germany, was
+both astonished and delighted by receiving a carefully prepared
+package, which he was assured contained a veritable leg of the ass on
+which was made the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when the people
+strewed palm branches in the way and shouted hosannas.
+
+"'He was enjoined to keep the treasure a secret until he reached home,
+which injunction he scrupulously obeyed.
+
+"'Arriving in Germany, he disclosed to his four companions the
+wonderful relic. They were much surprised, for each had been secretly
+intrusted with the same remarkable treasure. So it appeared that the
+ass had _five_ legs, which, of itself, would have been something of a
+miracle.
+
+"'Whether these wiseacres ever visited the Latin kingdom in search of
+relics again I am not apprised.'
+
+"Cologne is full of relics. The people regard them with reverence;
+they serve the purpose of scriptural object-teaching to them. But they
+only shock the tourist who has been educated to believe that religion
+is a spiritual life, and that Christ's kingdom is a spiritual kingdom,
+and not of this world."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Several of the stories related by the boys this evening were
+historical.
+
+
+ THE STORY AND LEGEND OF CHARLEMAGNE.
+
+ Charles the Great, or Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Roman
+ Emperor, was born, probably at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 742. His empire
+ at first embraced the larger part of what is now France and Germany,
+ but it extended under his wars until at last it nearly filled
+ Europe, and he wore the crown of Rome and the West. Napoleon, at the
+ height of his power, governed nearly the whole territory that was
+ once ruled by the mighty Charlemagne.
+
+ He was one of the greatest and wisest men in the history of the
+ world. He encouraged learning, and opened a school in his palace; he
+ maintained morality and aimed to spread Christianity throughout the
+ world.
+
+ The Saxons were heathens. They honored a great idol called the
+ Irmansaul. They were opposed to Charlemagne, and constantly
+ threatened his frontiers.
+
+ Charlemagne invaded their country, overthrew the great image, and
+ after many struggles reduced the people to submission. In accordance
+ with the rude customs of the time, he compelled them to accept
+ Christianity and receive baptism. He is said to have baptized the
+ prisoners of war with his own hand. He divided Saxony into eight
+ bishoprics, and supported the bishops with guards of soldiers. We
+ should look upon such missionary work as this as very questionable
+ to-day, although enlightened nations of this age have sometimes
+ adopted a policy in dealing with other countries that is as open to
+ criticism and censure.
+
+ The Pope of Rome became involved in troubles with the Lombards. He
+ appealed for help to the victorious King of the Franks, the
+ recognized champion of the Church. Charlemagne crossed the Alps,
+ conquered Lombardy, and crowned himself with the iron crown of the
+ ancient Lombard kings.
+
+ [Illustration: CHARLEMAGNE IN THE SCHOOL OF THE PALACE.]
+
+ He then repaired to Rome and entered the city in triumph. As he
+ came to St. Peter's he stooped to kiss the steps in memory of the
+ illustrious men that had trodden it before him. The Pope there
+ received him in great ceremony, and the choir chanted, "Blessed is
+ he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
+
+ He now became the most powerful monarch in the world. He gained
+ great victories over the Moors in Spain, and it was in one of the
+ mountain passes there that the chivalrous young Roland, of heroic
+ song, perished. His lands stretched from the Baltic Sea to the
+ Mediterranean.
+
+ In the year 800 he went to Rome. It was Christmas Day. He entered
+ the basilica of St. Peter's to attend Mass. He approached the altar,
+ and bowed to pray. The Pope secretly uplifted the crown of the world
+ and placed it upon his head.
+
+ The people shouted, "_Long live Charles Augustus, crowned of God,
+ Emperor of the Romans!_"
+
+ From this time Charlemagne was the Kaiser, or Caesar, of the Holy
+ Roman Empire on the Tiber and the Rhine.
+
+ The Rhine was loved by Charlemagne. He lived much on its borders,
+ and he was buried near it, in a church that he had founded, at
+ Aix-la-Chapelle.
+
+ "I'd dwell where Charlemagne looked down,
+ And, turning to his peers,
+ Exclaimed: 'Behold, for this fair land
+ I've prayed and fought for years.'
+ Then all the Rhine towers shook to hear
+ The earthquake of their cheers.
+
+ "That day the tide ran crimson red
+ (But not with Rhenish wine);
+ Not with those vintage streams that through
+ The green leaves gush and shine:
+ 'Twas blood that from the Lombard ranks
+ Rushed down into the Rhine.
+
+ "'Twas here the German soldiers flocked,
+ Burning with love and pride,
+ And threw their muskets down to kiss
+ The soil with French blood dyed.
+ 'The Rhine, dear Rhine!' ten thousand men,
+ Kneeling together, cried."
+
+ THORNBURY.
+
+ There is a beautiful legend that Charlemagne visits the Rhine yearly
+ and blesses the vintage. He comes in a golden robe, and crosses the
+ river on a golden bridge, and the bells of heaven chime above him
+ as he fulfils his peaceful mission. The fine superstition is
+ celebrated in music and verse.
+
+ "By the Rhine, the emerald river,
+ How softly glows the night!
+ The vine-clad hills are lying
+ In the moonbeams' golden light.
+
+ "And on the hillside walketh
+ A kingly shadow down,
+ With sword and purple mantle,
+ And heavy golden crown.
+
+ "'Tis Charlemagne, the emperor,
+ Who, with a powerful hand,
+ For many a hundred years
+ Hath ruled in German land.
+
+ "From out his grave in Aachen
+ He hath arisen there,
+ To bless once more his vineyards,
+ And breathe their fragrant air.
+
+ "By Rudesheim, on the water,
+ The moon doth brightly shine,
+ And buildeth a bridge of gold
+ Across the emerald Rhine.
+
+ "The emperor walketh over,
+ And all along the tide
+ Bestows his benediction
+ On the vineyards far and wide.
+
+ "Then turns he back to Aachen
+ In his grave-sleep to remain,
+ Till the New Year's fragrant clusters
+ Shall call him forth again."
+
+ EMANUEL GEIBEL.
+
+
+ THE STORY AND LEGEND OF BARBAROSSA.
+
+ Frederick of Germany was a very handsome man. There was a tinge of
+ red in his beard, and for that reason he came to be called Frederick
+ Barbarossa. He was an ambitious man, and he went to Rome to be
+ crowned.
+
+ [Illustration: CHARLEMAGNE INFLICTING BAPTISM UPON THE SAXONS.]
+
+ It was a time of rival popes, and Barbarossa entered into the long
+ controversy, which would make a history of itself. He captured
+ Milan, and levelled the city. The sacred relics in the churches were
+ sent to enrich the churches of Germany. Among these were the reputed
+ bodies of the three Wise Men of the East; these were sent to
+ Cologne, and are still exhibited there amid heaps of jewels.
+
+ Barbarossa was constantly at war with popes and kings: he gained
+ victories and suffered reverses; but his career was theatrical and
+ popular in those rude times, and he was regarded as a very good
+ monarch as kings went.
+
+ [Illustration: THE GERMANS ON AN EXPEDITION.]
+
+ He once held a great peace festival at Mentz, to which came forty
+ thousand knights. A camp of tents of silk and gold was set up by the
+ Rhine, and musicians, called minnesingers, delighted the nobles and
+ ladies with songs of heroes and knights. The songs and ballads then
+ sung became famous, and this festival may be said to be the
+ beginning of musical art in music-loving Germany.
+
+ Europe was now startled with the news that the Saracens under
+ Saladin had taken Jerusalem. Barbarossa was about inaugurating a new
+ war with the Pope; but when this news came he and the Pope became
+ reconciled, and he resolved to go on a crusade.
+
+ He was an old man now, but he entered into the crusade with the
+ fiery spirit of youth. His war-cry was,--
+
+ "Christ reigns! Christ conquers!"
+
+ He won a great victory at Iconium.
+
+ There was a swift, cold river near the battle-field, called Kaly
+ Kadmus. A few days after the victory, Barbarossa went into it to
+ bathe. He was struck by a chill and sank into the rapid current, and
+ was drowned. He was seventy years of age. His body was found and
+ interred at Antioch.
+
+ Of course the Germans attached to Barbarossa a legend, as they do to
+ everything. They said that he was not dead, but had fallen a victim
+ to enchantment. He and his knights had been put to sleep in the
+ Kyffhauser cave in Thuringia. They sat around a stone table, waiting
+ for release. His once red, but now white, beard was growing through
+ the stone.
+
+ They also said that the spell that bound Barbarossa and his knights
+ would some day be broken, and that they would come back to Germany.
+ This would occur when the country should be in sore distress, and
+ need a champion for its cause.
+
+ Ravens flew continually about the cave where the monarch and his
+ knights were held enchanted. When they should cease to circle about
+ it, the spell would be broken, and the grand old monarch would
+ return to the Rhine.
+
+ They looked for him in days of calamity; but centuries passed, and
+ he did not return.
+
+ The legend is thus told in song:--
+
+ "The ancient Barbarossa
+ By magic spell is bound,--
+ Old Frederick the Kaiser,
+ In castle underground.
+
+ "The Kaiser hath not perished,
+ He sleeps an iron sleep;
+ For, in the castle hidden,
+ He's sunk in slumber deep.
+
+ "With him the chiefest treasures
+ Of empire hath he ta'en,
+ Wherewith, in fitting season,
+ He shall appear again.
+
+ "The Kaiser he is sitting
+ Upon an ivory throne;
+ Of marble is the table
+ His head he resteth on.
+
+ "His beard it is not flaxen;
+ Like living fire it shines,
+ And groweth through the table
+ Whereon his chin reclines.
+
+ "As in a dream he noddeth,
+ Then wakes he, heavy-eyed,
+ And calls, with lifted finger,
+ A stripling to his side.
+
+ "'Dwarf, get thee to the gateway,
+ And tidings bring, if still
+ Their course the ancient ravens
+ Are wheeling round the hill.
+
+ "'For if the ancient ravens
+ Are flying still around,
+ A hundred years to slumber
+ By magic spell I'm bound.'"
+
+ FRIEDRICH RUeCKERT.
+
+The seven evenings with historic places on the Rhine had proved a
+source of profitable entertainment to the Club. It was proposed to
+continue the plan, and to follow Mr. Beal's and the boys' journey to
+the North.
+
+"Let us add to these entertainments," said Charlie Leland,--
+
+"(1) A Night in Northern Germany. We will call it a Hamburg Night.
+
+"(2) A Night in Denmark.
+
+"(3) A Night in Sweden and Norway."
+
+The proposal was adopted, and Master Beal was asked to continue the
+narrative of travel, and all the members of the Club were requested to
+collect stories that illustrate the history, traditions, manners, and
+customs of these countries.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+HAMBURG.
+
+ HAMBURG.--BERLIN.--POTSDAM.--PALACE OF SANS-SOUCI.--STORY OF THE
+ STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPHS OF HANDEL.--STORY OF PETER THE WILD BOY.
+
+
+"Hamburg, the fine old city of the Elbe, is almost as large as was
+Boston before the annexation; it is familiar by name to American ears,
+for it is from Hamburg, as a port, that the yearly army of German
+emigrants come.
+
+"I looked sadly upon Hamburg as I thought how many eyes filled with
+tears had turned back upon her spires and towers, her receding harbor,
+and seen the Germany of their ancestors, and the old city of
+Charlemagne, with its historic associations of a thousand years, fade
+forever from view. Down the Elbe go the steamers, and the emigrants
+with their eyes fixed on the shores! Then westward, ho, for the
+prairie territories of the great empire of the New World!
+
+"More than six thousand vessels enter the harbor of Hamburg in a year.
+The flags of all nations float there, but the British red is
+everywhere seen.
+
+"We visited the church of St. Michael, and ascended the steeple, which
+is four hundred and thirty-two feet high, or one hundred feet higher
+than the spire of St. Paul's in London. We looked down on the city,
+the harbor, the canals. Our eye followed the Elbe on its way to the
+sea. On the north was Holstein; on the south, Hanover.
+
+ [Illustration: CANAL IN HAMBURG.]
+
+"From Hamburg we made a zigzag to Berlin and Potsdam. The railroad
+between the great German port and the brilliant capital is across a
+level country, the distance being about one hundred and seventy-five
+miles, or seven hours' ride.
+
+"Berlin, capital of Prussia and of the German Empire, the residence of
+the German Emperor, is situated in the midst of a vast plain; 'an
+oasis of stone and brick in a Sahara of sand.' It is about the size of
+New York, and it greatly resembles an American city, for the reason
+that everything there seems new.
+
+"It has been called a city of palaces, and so it is, for many of the
+private residences would be fitting abodes for kings. The architecture
+is everywhere beautiful; all the elegances of Greek art meet the eye
+wherever it may turn. Ruins there are none; old quarters, none; quaint
+Gothic or mediaeval buildings, none. The streets are so regular, the
+public squares so artistic, and the buildings such models of art, that
+the whole becomes monotonous.
+
+"'This is America over again,' said an American traveller, who had
+joined our party. 'Let us return.'
+
+"Many of the buildings might remind one of the hanging gardens of old,
+so full are the balconies of flowers. The fronts of some of the
+private residences are flower gardens from the ground to the roofs.
+
+"The emperor's palace is the crowning architectural glory of the city.
+It is four hundred feet long.
+
+"We visited the Zoological Gardens and the National Gallery of
+Pictures, the entrance to which makes a beautiful picture.
+
+"We rode to Potsdam, a distance of some twenty miles. Potsdam is the
+Versailles of Germany. The road to Potsdam is a continuous avenue of
+trees, like the roads near Boston.
+
+"Of course our object in visiting the town was to see the palace and
+gardens of Sans-Souci, the favorite residence of Frederick the Great.
+
+ [Illustration: THE PALACE IN BERLIN.]
+
+"Frederick loved everything that was French in art. The French
+expression is seen on everything at Sans-Souci. The approach to the
+palace is by an avenue through gardens laid out in the Louis Quatorze
+style, with alleys, hedges, statues, and fountains.
+
+"The famous palace stands on the top flight of a series of broad
+terraces, fronted with glass. Beneath these terraces grow vines,
+olives, and orange-trees. In the rear of the palace is a colonnade.
+There Frederick used to pace to and fro in the sunshine, when failing
+health and old age admonished him that death was near. As his
+religious hopes were few, his reflections must have been rather lonely
+when death's winter came stealing on.
+
+ [Illustration: GROTTO.]
+
+"The room where Frederick studied, and the adjoining apartment where
+he died, are shown. The former contains a library consisting wholly of
+books in French.
+
+"We returned to Hamburg.
+
+"We were in old Danish territory already. We stopped but one night at
+Hamburg on our return; then we made our way to the steamer which was
+to take us to the Denmark of to-day, Copenhagen."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Among the stories on the Hamburg Night was one by a music-loving
+student of Yule, which he called
+
+
+ THE CITY OF HANDEL'S YOUTH.
+
+ The composer of the "Messiah," George Frederick Handel, was born at
+ Halle, Germany, Feb. 23, 1685. He sang before he could talk plainly.
+ His father, a physician, was alarmed, for he had a poor opinion of
+ music and musicians. As the child grew, nature asserted that he
+ would be a musician; the father declared he should be a lawyer.
+
+ Little George was kept from the public school, because the gamut was
+ there taught. He might go to no place where music would be heard,
+ and no musical instrument was permitted in the house.
+
+ But nature, aided by the wiser mother, triumphed. In those days
+ musical nuns played upon a dumb spinet, that they might not disturb
+ the quiet of their convents. It was a sort of piano, and the strings
+ were muffled with cloth. One of these spinets was smuggled into the
+ garret of Dr. Handel's house. At night, George would steal up to the
+ attic and practise upon it. But not a tinkle could the watchful
+ father hear. Before the child was seven years of age he had taught
+ himself to play upon the dumb instrument.
+
+ One day Dr. Handel started to visit a son in the service of a German
+ duke. George begged to go, as he wished to hear the organ in the
+ duke's chapel. But not until he ran after the coach did the father
+ consent.
+
+ They arrived at the palace as a chapel service was going on. The boy
+ stole away to the organ-loft, and, after service, began playing. The
+ duke, recognizing that it was not his organist's style, sent a
+ servant to learn who was playing. The man returned with the
+ trembling boy.
+
+ Dr. Handel was both amazed and enraged. But the duke, patting the
+ child on the head, drew out his story. "You are stifling a genius,"
+ he said to the angry father; "this boy must not be snubbed." The
+ doctor, more subservient to a prince than to nature, consented that
+ his son should study music.
+
+ [Illustration: SANS-SOUCI.]
+
+ During three years the boy studied with Zachau, the organist of the
+ Halle Cathedral. They were years of hard work. One day his teacher
+ said to George, "I can teach you no longer; you already know more
+ than I do. You must go and study in Berlin." Berlin was at once
+ attracted to the youthful musician by his playing on the harpsichord
+ and the organ. But the death of his father compelled him to earn his
+ daily bread. Willing to descend, that he might rise, he became a
+ violin player of minor parts at the Hamburg Opera House. The homage
+ he had received prompted his vanity to create a surprise. He played
+ badly, and acted as a verdant youth. The members of the orchestra
+ sneeringly informed him that he would never earn his salt. Handel,
+ however, waited his opportunity. One day the harpsichordist, the
+ principal person in the orchestra, was absent. The band, thinking it
+ would be a good joke, persuaded Handel to take his place. Laying
+ aside his violin, he seated himself at the harpsichord, amid the
+ smiles of the musicians. As he touched the keys the smiles gave
+ place to looks of wonder. He played on, and the whole orchestra
+ broke into loud applause. From that day until he left Hamburg, the
+ youth of nineteen led the band.
+
+ Handel's extraordinary skill as a performer was not wholly due to
+ genius. He practised incessantly, so that every key of his
+ harpsichord was hollowed like a spoon.
+
+ Handel's greatest triumphs, as a composer, were won in England. But
+ the music-loving Irish of Dublin had the honor of first welcoming
+ his masterpiece, the "Messiah." Such was the enthusiasm it created
+ that ladies left their hoops at home, in order to get one hundred
+ more listeners into the room.
+
+ A German poet calls the "Messiah" "a Christian epic in musical
+ sounds." The expression is a felicitous description of its theme and
+ style. It celebrates the grandest of events with the sublimest
+ strains that music may utter. The great composer commanded, and all
+ the powers of music hastened with song and instrument to praise the
+ life, death, and triumph of the Christ. No human composition ever
+ voiced, in poetry or prose or music, such a masterly conception of
+ the Virgin's Son as that uttered by this magnificent oratorio.
+
+ The sacred Scriptures furnish the words. The seer's prophecies, the
+ Psalmist's strains, the evangelist's narrative, the angels' song,
+ the anthem of the redeemed, are transferred to aria, recitative, and
+ chorus. The sentiment is as majestic as the music is grand. He who
+ sought out the fitting words had studied his Bible, and he who
+ joined to them musical sounds dwelt in the region of the sublime.
+
+ All the emotions are touched by the oratorio. Words and music quiver
+ with fear, utter sorrow, plead with pathos, or exult in the joy of
+ triumph. A symphony so paints a pastoral scene that the shepherds of
+ Bethlehem are seen watching their flocks. One air, "He was
+ despised," suggests that its birth was amid tears. It was; for
+ Handel sobbed aloud while composing it. It is the threnody of the
+ oratorio.
+
+ The grandeur of the "Messiah" finds its highest expression in the
+ "Hallelujah Chorus." "I did think," said Handel, describing, in
+ imperfect English, his thought at the moment of composition,--"I did
+ think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God himself."
+
+ When the oratorio was first performed in London, the audience were
+ transported at the words, "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." They
+ all, with George II., who happened to be present, started to their
+ feet and remained standing until the chorus was ended. This act of
+ homage has become the custom with all English-speaking audiences.
+
+ "You have given the audience an excellent entertainment," said a
+ patronizing nobleman to Handel, at the close of the first
+ performance of the "Messiah" in London.
+
+ "My lord," replied the grand old composer, with dignity, "I should
+ be very sorry if I only _entertained_ them; I wish to make them
+ _better_."
+
+ A few years before his death Handel was smitten with blindness. He
+ continued, however, to preside at his oratorios, being led by a lad
+ to the organ, which, as leader, he played. One day, while conducting
+ his oratorio of "Samson," the old man turned pale and trembled with
+ emotion, as the bass sung the blind giant's lament: "Total eclipse!
+ no sun, no moon!" As the audience saw the sightless eyes turned
+ towards them, they were affected to tears.
+
+ Seized by a mortal illness, Handel expressed a wish that he might
+ die on Good Friday, "in hope of meeting his good God, his sweet Lord
+ and Saviour, on the day of his resurrection." This consolation, it
+ seems, was not denied him. For on his monument, standing in the
+ Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey, is inscribed: "Died on Good
+ Friday, April 14, 1759."
+
+Another story, which is associated with the woods of Hanover, near
+Hamburg, was entitled
+
+
+ PETER THE WILD BOY.
+
+ In the year 1725, a few years after the capture of Marie le Blanc, a
+ celebrated wild girl in France, there was seen in the woods, some
+ twenty-five miles from Hanover, an object in form like a boy, yet
+ running on his hands and feet, and eating grass and moss, like a
+ beast.
+
+ The remarkable creature was captured, and was taken to Hanover by
+ the superintendent of the House of Correction at Zell. It proved to
+ be a boy evidently about thirteen years of age, yet possessing the
+ habits and appetites of a mere animal. He was presented to King
+ George I., at a state dinner at Hanover, and, the curiosity of the
+ king being greatly excited, he became his patron.
+
+ In about a year after his capture he was taken to England, and
+ exhibited to the court. While in that country he received the name
+ of Peter the Wild Boy, by which ever after he was known.
+
+ Marie le Blanc, after proper training, became a lively, brilliant
+ girl, and related to her friends and patrons the history of her
+ early life; but Peter the Wild Boy seems to have been mentally
+ deficient.
+
+ [Illustration: PETER THE WILD BOY.]
+
+ Dr. Arbuthnot, at whose house he resided for a time in his youth,
+ spared no pains to teach him to talk; but his efforts met with but
+ little success.
+
+ Peter seemed to comprehend the language and signs of beasts and
+ birds far better than those of human beings, and to have more
+ sympathy with the brute creation than with mankind. He, however, at
+ last was taught to articulate the name of his royal patron, his own
+ name, and some other words.
+
+ It was a long time before he became accustomed to the habits of
+ civilization. He had evidently been used to sleeping on the boughs
+ of trees, as a security from wild beasts, and when put to bed would
+ tear the clothes, and hopping up take his naps in the corner of the
+ room.
+
+ He regarded clothing with aversion, and when fully dressed was as
+ uneasy as a culprit in prison. He was, however, generally docile,
+ and submitted to discipline, and by degrees became more fit for
+ human society.
+
+ He was attracted by beauty, and fond of finery, and it is related of
+ him that he attempted to kiss the young and dashing Lady Walpole, in
+ the circle at court. The manner in which the lovely woman received
+ his attentions may be fancied.
+
+ Finding that he was incapable of education, his royal patron placed
+ him in charge of a farmer, where he lived many years. Here he was
+ visited by Lord Monboddo, a speculative English writer, who, in a
+ metaphysical work, gives the following interesting account:--
+
+ "It was in the beginning of June, 1782, that I saw him in a
+ farmhouse called Broadway, about a mile from Berkhamstead, kept
+ there on a pension of thirty pounds, which the king pays. He is but
+ of low stature, not exceeding five feet three inches, and though he
+ must now be about seventy years of age, he has a fresh, healthy
+ look. He wears his beard; his face is not at all ugly or
+ disagreeable, and he has a look that may be called sensible or
+ sagacious for a savage.
+
+ "About twenty years ago he used to elope, and once, as I was told,
+ he wandered as far as Norfolk; but of late he has become quite tame,
+ and either keeps the house or saunters about the farm. He has been,
+ during the last thirteen years, where he lives at present, and
+ before that he was twelve years with another farmer, whom I saw and
+ conversed with.
+
+ "This farmer told me he had been put to school somewhere in
+ Hertfordshire, but had only learned to articulate his own name,
+ Peter, and the name of King George, both which I heard him pronounce
+ very distinctly. But the woman of the house where he now is--for the
+ man happened not to be home--told me he understood everything that
+ was said to him concerning the common affairs of life, and I saw
+ that he readily understood several things she said to him while I
+ was present. Among other things she desired him to sing 'Nancy
+ Dawson,' which he accordingly did, and another tune that she named.
+ He was never mischievous, but had that gentleness of manners which I
+ hold to be characteristic of our nature, at least till we become
+ carnivorous, and hunters, or warriors. He feeds at present as the
+ farmer and his wife do; but, as I was told by an old woman who
+ remembered to have seen him when he first came to Hertfordshire,
+ which she computed to be about fifty-five years before, he then fed
+ much on leaves, particularly of cabbage, which she saw him eat raw.
+ He was then, as she thought, about fifteen years of age, walked
+ upright, but could climb trees like a squirrel. At present he not
+ only eats flesh, but has acquired a taste for beer, and even for
+ spirits, of which he inclines to drink more than he can get.
+
+ "The old farmer with whom he lived before he came to his present
+ situation informed me that Peter had that taste before he came to
+ him. He has also become very fond of fire, but has not acquired a
+ liking for money; for though he takes it he does not keep it, but
+ gives it to his landlord or landlady, which I suppose is a lesson
+ they have taught him. He retains so much of his natural instinct
+ that he has a fore-feeling of bad weather, growling, and howling,
+ and showing great disorder before it comes on."
+
+ Another philosopher, who made him a visit, obtained the following
+ luminous information:--
+
+ "Who is your father?"
+
+ "King George."
+
+ "What is your name?"
+
+ "Pe-ter."
+
+ "What is _that_?" (pointing to a dog.)
+
+ "Bow-wow."
+
+ "What are you?"
+
+ "Wild man."
+
+ "Where were you found?"
+
+ "Hanover."
+
+ "Who found you?"
+
+ "King George."
+
+ About the year 1746 he ran away, and, entering Scotland, was
+ arrested as an English spy. His captors endeavored to force from him
+ some terrible disclosure, but could obtain nothing, not even an
+ answer, and it was something of a puzzle to them to determine
+ exactly what they had captured.
+
+ They at last resolved to inflict punishment upon him for his
+ obstinacy, but were deterred by a lady who recognized him and
+ disclosed his history.
+
+ In his latter years he made himself useful to the farmer with whom
+ he lived, but he required constant watchfulness, else he would make
+ grave blunders. An amusing anecdote is told of his manner of working
+ when left to himself.
+
+ He was required, during the absence of his guardian, to fill a cart
+ with compost, which he did; but, having filled the cart in the usual
+ way, and finding himself out of employment, he directly shovelled
+ the compost out again, and when the farmer returned the cart was
+ empty.
+
+ But poor Peter, with all his dulness, possessed some remarkable
+ characteristics. He was very strong of arm, and wonderfully swift of
+ foot, and his senses were acute. His musical gifts were most
+ marvellous. He would reproduce, in his humming way, the notes of a
+ tune that he had heard but once,--a thing that might have baffled an
+ amateur.
+
+ He also had a lively sense of the beautiful and the sublime. He
+ would stand at night gazing on the stars as though transfixed by the
+ splendors blazing above. His whole being was thrilled with joy on
+ the approach of spring. He would sing all the day as the atmosphere
+ became warm and balmy, and would often prolong his melodies far into
+ the beautiful nights.
+
+ He died aged about seventy years.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE BELLS OF THE RHINE.
+
+ LEGENDS OF THE BELLS OF BASEL AND SPEYER.--STORY OF THE HARMONY
+ CHIME.--THE BELL-FOUNDER OF BRESLAU.
+
+
+One evening, after the story-telling entertainments, Mr. Beal was
+speaking to the Class of the great bell of Cologne which has been cast
+from the French cannon captured in the last war.
+
+"It seems a beautiful thing," he said, "that the guns of war should be
+made to ring out the notes of peace."
+
+"There is one subject that we did not treat at our meetings," said
+Charlie Leland,--"the bells of the Rhine."
+
+"True," said Mr. Beal. "A volume might be written on the subject.
+Almost every belfry on the Rhine has its legend, and many of them are
+associated with thrilling events of history. The raftmen, as they
+drift down the river on the Sabbath, associate almost every bell they
+hear with a story. The bells of Basle (Basel), Strasburg, Speyer,
+Heidelberg, Worms, Frankfort, Mayence, Bingen, and Bonn all ring out a
+meaning to the German student that the ordinary traveller does not
+comprehend. Bell land is one of mystery.
+
+"For example, the clocks of Basel. The American traveller arrives at
+Basel, and hurries out of his hotel, and along the beautiful public
+gardens, to the terrace overlooking the Rhine. He looks down on the
+picturesque banks of the winding river; then far away his eye seeks
+the peaks of the Jura.
+
+"The bells strike. The music to his ears has no history.
+
+"The German and French students hear them with different ears. The old
+struggles of Alsace and Romaine come back to memory. They recall the
+fact that the city was once saved by a heroic watchman, who confused
+the enemy by causing the bells to strike the wrong hour. To continue
+the memory of this event, the great bell of Basel during the Middle
+Ages was made to strike the hour of one at noonday.
+
+"The bells of Speyer have an interesting legend. Henry IV. was one of
+the most unfortunate men who ever sat upon a throne. His own son,
+afterward Henry V., conspired against him, and the Pope declared him
+an outlaw.
+
+"Deserted by every one, he went into exile, and made his home at
+Ingleheim, on the Rhine. One old servant, Kurt, followed his changing
+fortunes. He died at Liege.
+
+"Misfortune followed the once mighty emperor even after death. The
+Pope would not allow his body to be buried for several years. Kurt
+watched by the coffin, like Rizpah by the bodies of her sons. He made
+it his shrine: he prayed by it daily.
+
+"At last the Pope consented that the remains of the emperor should
+rest in the earth. The body was brought to Speyer. Kurt followed it.
+It was buried with great pomp, and tollings of bells.
+
+"Some months after the ceremonious event Kurt died. As his breath was
+passing, say the legendary writers, all the bells began to toll. The
+bellmen ran to the belfries; no one was there, but the bells tolled
+on, swayed, it was believed, by unseen hands.
+
+"Henry V. died in the same town. He was despised by the people, and he
+suffered terrible agonies in his last hours. As his last moments came
+the bells began to toll again. It was not the usual announcement of
+the death of the good, but the sharp notes that proclaim that a
+criminal is being led to justice; at least, so the people came to
+believe.
+
+ [Illustration: THE SILENT CASTLES.]
+
+"One of the most beautiful stories of bells that I ever met is
+associated with a once famous factory that cast some of the most
+melodious bells in Holland and the towns of the Rhine. I will tell it
+to you.
+
+
+ THE HARMONY CHIME.
+
+ Many years ago, in a large iron foundry in the city of Ghent, was
+ found a young workman by the name of Otto Holstein. He was not
+ nineteen years of age, but none of the workmen could equal him in
+ his special department,--bell casting or moulding. Far and near the
+ fame of Otto's bells extended,--the clearest and sweetest, people
+ said, that were ever heard.
+
+ [Illustration: HOTEL DE VILLE, GHENT.]
+
+ Of course the great establishment of Von Erlangen, in which Otto
+ worked, got the credit of his labors; but Von Erlangen and Otto
+ himself knew very well to whom the superior tone of the bells was
+ due. The master did not pay him higher wages than the others, but by
+ degrees he grew to be general superintendent in his department in
+ spite of his extreme youth.
+
+ "Yes, my bells are good," he said to a friend one day, who was
+ commenting upon their merits; "but they do not make the music I will
+ yet strike from them. They ring alike for all things. To be sure,
+ when they toll for a funeral the slow measure makes them _seem_
+ mournful, but then the notes are really the same as in a wedding
+ peal. I shall make a chime of bells that will sound at will every
+ chord in the human soul."
+
+ "Then wilt thou deal in magic," said his friend, laughing; "and the
+ Holy Inquisition will have somewhat to do with thee. No human power
+ can turn a bell into a musical instrument."
+
+ "But I can," he answered briefly; "and, Inquisition or not, I will
+ do it."
+
+ He turned abruptly from his friend and sauntered, lost in thought,
+ down the narrow street which led to his home. It was an humble,
+ red-tiled cottage, of only two rooms, that he had inherited from his
+ grandfather. There he lived alone with his widowed mother. She was a
+ mild, pleasant-faced woman, and her eyes brightened as her son bent
+ his tall head under the low doorway, as he entered the little room.
+ "Thou art late, Otto," she said, "and in trouble, too," as she
+ caught sight of his grave, sad face.
+
+ "Yes," he answered. "When I asked Herr Erlangen for an increase of
+ salary, for my work grows harder every day, he refused it. Nay, he
+ told me if I was not satisfied, I could leave, for there were fifty
+ men ready to take my place. Ready! yes, I warrant they're ready
+ enough, but to be _able_ is a different thing."
+
+ His mother sighed deeply.
+
+ "Thou wilt not leave Herr Erlangen's, surely. It is little we get,
+ but it keeps us in food."
+
+ "I must leave," he answered. "Nay, do not cry out, mother! I have
+ other plans, and thou wilt not starve. Monsieur Dayrolles, the rich
+ Frenchman, who lives in the Linden-Strasse, has often asked me why I
+ do not set up a foundry of my own. Of course I laughed,--I, who
+ never have a thaler to spend; but he told me he and several other
+ rich friends of his would advance the means to start me in business.
+ He is a great deal of his time at Erlangen's, and is an enthusiast
+ about fine bells. Ah! we are great friends, and I am going to him
+ after supper."
+
+ "People say he is crazy," said his mother.
+
+ "Crazy!" indignantly. "People say that of everybody who has ideas
+ they can't understand. They say _I_ am crazy when I talk of my chime
+ of bells. If I stay with Erlangen, he gets the credit of my work;
+ but my chime must be mine,--mine alone, mother." His eyes lighted
+ with a kind of wild enthusiasm whenever he talked on this subject.
+
+ His mother's cheerful face grew sad, as she laid her hand on his
+ shoulder.
+
+ "Why, Otto, thou art not thyself when thou speakest of those bells."
+
+ "More my real self, mother, than at any other time!" he cried. "I
+ only truly live when I think of how my idea is to be carried out. It
+ is to be my life's work; I know it, I feel it. It is upon me that my
+ fate is woven inextricably in that ideal chime. It is God-sent. No
+ great work, but the maker is possessed wholly by it. Don't shake
+ your head, mother. Wait till my 'Harmony Chime' sounds from the
+ great cathedral belfry, and then shake it if you can."
+
+ His mother smiled faintly.
+
+ "Thou art a boy,--a mere child, Otto, though a wonderful genius, I
+ must confess. Thy hopes delude thee, for it would take a lifetime to
+ carry out thine idea."
+
+ "Then let it take a lifetime!" he cried out vehemently. "Let me
+ accomplish it when I am too old to hear it distinctly, and I will be
+ content that its first sounds toll my dirge. I must go now to
+ Monsieur Dayrolles. Wish me good luck, dearest mother." And he
+ stooped and kissed her tenderly.
+
+ Otto did not fail. The strange old man in his visits to the foundry
+ had noticed the germs of genius in the boy, and grown very fond of
+ him. He was so frank, so honest, so devoted to his work, and had
+ accomplished so much at his early age, that Monsieur Dayrolles saw a
+ brilliant future before him. Besides, the old gentleman, with a
+ Frenchman's vanity, felt that if the "Harmony Chime" _could_ be
+ made, the name of the munificent patron would go down to posterity
+ with that of the maker. He believed firmly that the boy would some
+ day accomplish his purpose. So, although the revolt of the
+ Netherlands had begun and he was preparing to return to his own
+ country, he advanced the necessary funds, and saw Otto established
+ in business before he quitted Ghent.
+
+ In a very short time work poured in upon Otto. During that long and
+ terrible war the manufacture of cannon alone made the fortunes of
+ the workers in iron. So five years from the time he left Von
+ Erlangen we find Otto Holstein a rich man at twenty-four years of
+ age. But the idea for which he labored had never for a moment left
+ his mind. Sleeping or waking, toiling or resting, his thoughts were
+ busy perfecting the details of the great work.
+
+ "Thou art twenty-four to-day, Otto," said his good mother, "and
+ rich beyond our hopes. When wilt thou bring Gertrude home to me?
+ Thou hast been betrothed now for three years, and I want a daughter
+ to comfort my declining years. Thou doest thy betrothed maiden a
+ grievous wrong to delay without cause. The gossips are talking
+ already."
+
+ "Let them talk," laughed Otto. "Little do Gertrude or I care for
+ their silly tongues. She and I have agreed that the 'Harmony Chime'
+ is to usher in our marriage-day. Why, good mother, no man can serve
+ two mistresses, and my chime has the oldest claim. Let me accomplish
+ it, and then the remainder of my life belongs to Gertrude, and thou,
+ too, best of mothers."
+
+ "Still that dream! still that dream!" sighed his mother. "Thou hast
+ cast bell after bell, and until to-day I have heard nothing more of
+ the wild idea."
+
+ "No, because I needed money. I needed time, and thought, too, to
+ make experiments. All is matured now. I have received an order to
+ make a new set of bells for the great cathedral that was sacked last
+ week by the 'Iconoclasts,' and I begin to-morrow."
+
+ [Illustration: BELL-TOWER, GHENT.]
+
+ As Otto had said, his life's work began the next day. He loved his
+ mother, but he seemed now to forget her in the feverish eagerness
+ with which he threw himself into his labors. He had been a devoted
+ lover to Gertrude, but he now never had a spare moment to give to
+ her,--in fact, he only seemed to remember her existence in
+ connection with the peal which would ring in their wedding-day. His
+ labors were prolonged far over the appointed time, and meanwhile the
+ internal war raged more furiously, and the Netherlands were one vast
+ battle-field. No interest did Otto seem to take in the stirring
+ events around him. The bells held his whole existence captive.
+
+ [Illustration: BELL TOWER OF HEIDELBERG.]
+
+ At last the moulds were broken, and the bells came out of their
+ husks perfect in form, and shining as stars in Otto's happy eyes.
+ They were mounted in the great belfry, and for the test-chime Otto
+ had employed the best bell-ringers in the city.
+
+ It was a lovely May morning; and, almost crazed with excitement and
+ anxiety, Otto, accompanied by a few chosen friends, waited outside
+ the city for the first notes of the Harmony Chime. At some distance
+ he thought he could better judge of the merits of his work.
+
+ At last the first notes were struck, clear, sonorous, and so
+ melodious that his friends cried aloud with delight. But with finger
+ upraised for silence, and eyes full of ecstatic delight, Otto stood
+ like a statue until the last note died away. Then his friends caught
+ him as he fell forward in a swoon,--a swoon so like death that no
+ one thought he would recover.
+
+ But it was not death, and he came out of it with a look of serene
+ peace on his face that it had not worn since boyhood. He was married
+ to Gertrude that very day, but every one noticed that the ecstasy
+ which transfigured his face seemed to be drawn more from the sound
+ of the bells than the sweet face beside him.
+
+ "Don't you see a spell is cast on him as soon as they begin to
+ ring?" said one, after the bells had ceased to be a wonder. "If he
+ is walking, he stops short, and if he is working, the work drops and
+ a strange fire comes in his eyes; and I have seen him shudder all
+ over as it he had an ague."
+
+ In good truth, the bells seemed to have drawn a portion of Otto's
+ life to them. When the incursions of the war forced him to fly from
+ Ghent with his family, his regrets were not for his injured
+ property, but that he could not hear the bells.
+
+ He was absent two years, and when he returned it was to find the
+ cathedral almost a ruin, and the bells gone no one knew where. From
+ that moment a settled melancholy took possession of Otto. He made no
+ attempt to retrieve his losses; in fact, he gave up work altogether,
+ and would sit all day with his eyes fixed on the ruined belfry.
+
+ People said he was melancholy mad, and I suppose it was the truth;
+ but he was mad with a kind of gentle patience very sad to see. His
+ mother had died during their exile, and now his wife, unable with
+ all her love to rouse him from his torpor, faded slowly away. He did
+ not notice her sickness, and his poor numbed brain seemed
+ imperfectly to comprehend her death. But he followed her to the
+ grave, and turning from it moved slowly down the city, passed the
+ door of his old home without looking at it, and went out of the city
+ gates.
+
+ After that he was seen in every city in Europe at different
+ intervals. Charitable people gave him alms, but he never begged. He
+ would enter a town, take his station near a church and wait until
+ the bells rang for matins or vespers, then take up his staff and,
+ sighing deeply, move off. People noting the wistful look in his eyes
+ would ask him what he wanted.
+
+ "I am seeking,--I am seeking," was his only reply; and those were
+ almost the only words any one ever heard from him, and he muttered
+ them often to himself. Years rolled over the head of the wanderer,
+ but still his slow march from town to town continued. His hair had
+ grown white, and his strength had failed him so much that he only
+ tottered instead of walked, but still that wistful seeking look was
+ in his eyes.
+
+ He heard the old bells on the Rhine in his wanderings. He lingered
+ long near the belfries of the sweetest voices; but their melodious
+ tongues only spoke to him of his lost hope.
+
+ He left the river of sweet bells, and made a pilgrimage to England.
+ It was the days of cathedrals in their beauty and glory, and here he
+ again heard the tones that he loved, but which failed to realize his
+ own ideal.
+
+ When a person fails to fulfil his ideal, his whole life seems a
+ failure,--like something glorious and beautiful one meets and loses,
+ and never again finds.
+
+ "Be true to the dreams of thy youth," says a German author; and
+ every soul is unhappy until the dreams of youth prove true.
+
+ One glorious evening in midsummer Otto was crossing a river in
+ Ireland. The kind-hearted boatman had been moved by the old man's
+ imploring gestures to cross him. "He's mighty nigh his end, anyhow,"
+ he muttered, looking at the feeble movements of the old pilgrim as
+ he stumbled to his seat.
+
+ Suddenly through the still evening air came the distant sound of a
+ melodious chime. At the first note the pilgrim leaped to his feet
+ and threw up his arms.
+
+ "O my God," he cried, "found at last!"
+
+ "It's the bells of the Convent," said the wondering man, not
+ understanding Otto's words spoken in a foreign tongue, but answering
+ his gesture. "They was brought from somewhere in Holland when they
+ were fighting there. Moighty fine bells they are, anyhow. But he
+ isn't listening to me."
+
+ No, he heard nothing but the bells. He merely whispered, "Come back
+ to me after so many years,--O love of my soul, O thought of my life!
+ Peal on, for your voices tell me of Paradise."
+
+ The last note floated through the air, and as it died away something
+ else soared aloft forever, free from the clouds and struggles of
+ life.
+
+ [Illustration: BRESLAU.]
+
+ His ideal was fulfilled now. Otto lay dead, his face full of peace
+ and joy, for the weary quest of his crazy brain was over, and the
+ Harmony Chime had called him to his eternal rest.
+
+ And, past that change of life that men call Death, we may well
+ believe that he heard in the ascension to the celestial atmosphere
+ the ringing of welcoming bells more beautiful than the Harmony
+ Chime.
+
+"I will relate another story," said Mr. Beal. "It is like the Harmony
+Chime, but has a sadder ending."
+
+
+ THE BELL-FOUNDER OF BRESLAU.
+
+ There once lived in Breslau a famous bell-founder, the fame of whose
+ skill caused his bells to be placed in many German towers. According
+ to the ballad of Wilhelm Mueller,--
+
+ "And all his bells they sounded
+ So full and clear and pure:
+ He poured his faith and love in,
+ Of that all men were sure.
+ But of all bells that ever
+ He cast, was one the crown,
+ That was the bell for sinners
+ At Breslau in the town."
+
+ He had an ambition to cast one bell that would surpass all others in
+ purity of tone, and that should render his own name immortal.
+
+ He was required to cast a bell for the Magdalen Church tower of that
+ city of noble churches,--Breslau. He felt that this was opportunity
+ for his masterpiece. All of his thoughts centred on the Magdalen
+ bell.
+
+ After a long period of preparation, his metals were arranged for
+ use. The form was walled up and made steady; the melting of the
+ metals in the great bell-kettle had begun.
+
+ The old bell-founder had two faults which had grown upon him; a love
+ of ale and a fiery temper.
+
+ While the metals were heating in the kettle, he said to his
+ fire-watch, a little boy,--
+
+ "Tend the kettle for a moment; I am overwrought: I must go over to
+ the inn, and take my ale, and nerve me for the casting.
+
+ "But, boy," he added, "touch not the stopple; if you do, you shall
+ rue it. That bell is my life, I have put all I have learned in life
+ into it. If any man were to touch that stopple, I would strike him
+ dead."
+
+ [Illustration: FINISHING THE BELL.]
+
+ [Illustration: AT THE INN.]
+
+ The boy had an over-sensitive, nervous temperament. He was easily
+ excited, and was subject to impulses that he could not easily
+ control.
+
+ The command that he should not touch the stopple, under the
+ dreadful penalty, strongly affected his mind, and made him wish to
+ do the very thing he had been forbidden.
+
+ He watched the metal in the great kettle. It bubbled, billowed, and
+ ran to and fro. In the composition of the glowing mass he knew that
+ his master had put his heart and soul.
+
+ It would be a bold thing to touch the stopple,--adventurous. His
+ hand began to move towards it.
+
+ The evil impulse grew, and his hand moved on.
+
+ He touched the stopple. The impulse was a wild passion now,--he
+ turned it.
+
+ Then his mind grew dark--he was filled with horror. He ran to his
+ master.
+
+ "I have turned the stopple; I could not help it," he said. "The
+ Devil tempted me!"
+
+ The old bell-founder clasped his hands and looked upward in agony.
+ Then his temper flashed over him. He seized his knife, and stabbed
+ the boy to the heart.
+
+ He rushed back to the foundry, hoping to stay the stream. He found
+ the metal whole; the turning of the stopple had not caused the metal
+ to flow.
+
+ The boy lay dead on the ground.
+
+ [Illustration: THE DAY OF EXECUTION.]
+
+ The old bell-founder knew the consequences of his act, and he did
+ not seek to escape them. He cast the bell; then he went to the
+ magistrates, and said,--
+
+ "My work is done; but I am a murderer. Do with me as you will."
+
+ The trial was short; it greatly excited the city. The judges could
+ not do otherwise than sentence him to death. But as he was penitent,
+ he was promised that on the day of his execution he should receive
+ the offices and consolations of the Church.
+
+ "You are good," he said. "But grant me another favor. My bells will
+ delight many ears when I am gone; my soul is in them; grant me
+ another favor."
+
+ "Name it," said the judges.
+
+ "That I may hear the sound of my new bell before I die."
+
+ The judges consulted, and answered,--
+
+ "It shall toll for your execution."
+
+ The fatal day came.
+
+ Toll, toll, toll!
+
+ There was a sadness in the tone of the bell that touched every heart
+ in Breslau. The bell seemed human.
+
+ Toll, toll, toll!
+
+ How melodious! how perfect! how beautiful! The very air seemed
+ charmed! The years would come and go, and this bell would be the
+ tongue of Breslau!
+
+ The old man came forth. He had forgotten his fate in listening to
+ the bell. The heavy clang was so melodious that it filled his heart
+ with joy.
+
+ "That is it! that is it; my heart, my life!" he said. "I know all
+ the metals; I made the voice! Ring on, ring on forever! Ring in holy
+ days, and happy festivals, and joy eternal to Breslau."
+
+ Toll, toll, toll!
+
+ On passed the white-haired man, listening still to the call of the
+ bell that summoned him to death.
+
+ He bowed his head at the place of execution to meet the stroke just
+ as the last tone of the bell melted upon the air. His soul passed
+ amid the silvery echoes. The bell rings on.
+
+ "Ay, of all bells that ever
+ He cast, is this the crown,
+ The bell of Church St. Magdalen
+ At Breslau in the town.
+ It was, from that time forward,
+ Baptized the Sinner's Bell;
+ Whether it still is called so,
+ Is more than I can tell."
+
+"There is a sadness in the bells of the Rhine," continued Mr. Beal,
+"as they ring from old belfries at evening under the ruins of the
+castles on the hills. The lords of the Rhine that once heard them are
+gone forever. The vineyards creep up the hills on the light trellises,
+and the sun and the earth, as it were, fill the grapes with wine. The
+woods are as green as of old. The rafts go drifting down the light
+waves as on feet of air. But the river of history is changed, and one
+feels the spirit of the change with deep sadness as one listens to the
+bells."
+
+
+ THE LIGHTS HAVE GONE OUT IN THE CASTLE.
+
+ I.
+
+ The boatmen strike lightly the zither
+ As they drift 'neath the hillsides of green,
+ But gone from the Rhine is the palgrave,
+ And gone is the palgravine.
+ Play lightly, play lightly, O boatman,
+ When the shadows of night round thee fall,
+ For the lights have gone out in the castle,
+ The lights have gone out in the hall.
+ And the Rhine waters silently flow,
+ The old bells ring solemn and slow,
+ O boatman,
+ Play lightly,
+ Play lightly,
+ O boatman, play lightly and low.
+
+ II.
+
+ Awake the old runes on the zither,
+ O boatman! the lips of the Rhine
+ Still kiss the green ruins of ivy,
+ And smile on the vineyards of wine.
+ Play lightly, play lightly, O boatman,
+ When the shadows of night round thee fall,
+ For the lights have gone out in the castle,
+ The lights have gone out in the hall.
+ And the Rhine waters silently flow,
+ The old bells ring solemn and slow,
+ O boatman,
+ Play lightly,
+ Play lightly,
+ O boatman, play lightly and low.
+
+ [Illustration: ABOVE THE TOWN.]
+
+ III.
+
+ The lamps of the stars shine above thee
+ As they shone when the vineyards were green,
+ In the long vanished days of the palgrave,
+ In the days of the palgravine.
+ Play lightly, thy life tides are flowing,
+ Thy fate in the palgrave's recall,
+ For the lights have gone out in the castle,
+ The lights have gone out in the hall.
+ And the Rhine waters silently flow,
+ And the old bells ring solemn and slow,
+ O boatman,
+ Play lightly,
+ Play lightly,
+ O boatman, play lightly and low.
+
+The narratives of the evening devoted to the Bells on the Rhine were
+closed by a story by Master Lewis.
+
+"I do not often relate stories," he said; "but I have a German story
+in mind, the lesson of which has been helpful to my experience. It is
+a legend and a superstition, and one that is not as generally familiar
+to the readers of popular books as are many that have been told at
+these meetings. I think you will like it, and that you will not soon
+forget it."
+
+
+ "TO-MORROW."
+
+ Once--many years, perhaps centuries ago--a young German student,
+ named Lek, was travelling from Leipsig to the Middle Rhine. His
+ journey was made on foot, and a part of it lay through the
+ Thuringian Forest.
+
+ He rested one night at the old walled town of Saalfeld, visited the
+ ruins of Sorenburg, and entered one of the ancient roads then
+ greatly frequented, but less used now, on account of the shorter and
+ swifter avenues of travel.
+
+ Towards evening he ascended a hill, and, looking down, was surprised
+ to discover a quaint town at the foot, of which he had never heard.
+
+ It was summer; the red sun was going down, and the tree-tops of the
+ vast forests, moved by a gentle wind, seemed like the waves of the
+ wide sea. Lek was a lover of the beautiful expressions of Nature, of
+ the poetry of the forests, hills, and streams; and he sat down on a
+ rock, under a spreading tree, to see the sunset flame and fade, and
+ the far horizons sink into the shadows and disappear.
+
+ "I have made a good journey to-day," he said, "and whatever the
+ strange town below me may be, it will be safe for me to spend the
+ night there. I see that it has a church and an inn."
+
+ Lek had travelled much over Germany, but he had never before seen a
+ town like the one below him. It wore an air of strange
+ antiquity,--as a town might look that had remained unchanged for
+ many hundred years. An old banner hung out from a quaint steepled
+ building; but it was unlike any of modern times, national or
+ provincial.
+
+ The fires of sunset died away; clouds, like smoke, rose above them,
+ and a deep shadow overspread the forests. Lek gathered up his
+ bundles, and descended the hill towards the town. As he was hurrying
+ onward he met a strange-looking man in a primitive habit,--evidently
+ a villager. Lek asked him the name of the place.
+
+ The stranger looked at him sadly and with surprise, and answered in
+ a dialect that he did not wholly understand; but he guessed at the
+ last words, and rightly.
+
+ "Why do you wish to know?"
+
+ "I am a traveller," answered Lek, "and I must remain there until
+ to-morrow."
+
+ "TO-MORROW!" said the man, throwing up his hands. "To-morrow! For
+ _us_," pointing to himself, "there is no to-morrow. I must hurry
+ on."
+
+ He strode away towards a faded cottage on the outskirts of the town,
+ leaving Lek to wonder what his mysterious answer could mean.
+
+ [Illustration: OLD PEASANT COSTUME.]
+
+ Lek entered the town. The people were strange to him; every one
+ seemed to be in a hurry. Men and women were talking rapidly, like
+ travellers when taking leave of their friends for a long journey.
+ Indeed, so earnest were their words that they seemed hardly to
+ notice him at all.
+
+ He presently met an old woman on a crutch, hurrying along the
+ shadowy street.
+
+ [Illustration: THE OLD CITY.]
+
+ "Is this the way to the inn?" he asked.
+
+ The old one hobbled on. He followed her.
+
+ "Is this the way to the inn? I wish to remain there until
+ to-morrow."
+
+ The cripple turned on her crutch.
+
+ "TO-MORROW!" she said. "Who are you that talk of to-morrow? All the
+ gold of the mountains could not buy a to-morrow. Go back to your
+ own, young man! they may have to-morrows; but my time is short,--I
+ must hurry on."
+
+ Away hobbled the dame; and Lek, wondering at her answer, entered
+ what seemed to him the principal street.
+
+ He came at length to the inn; a faded structure, and antique, like a
+ picture of the times of old. There men were drinking and talking;
+ men in gold lace, and with long purses filled with ancient coin.
+
+ The landlord was evidently a rich old fellow; he had a girdle of
+ jewels, and was otherwise habited much like a king.
+
+ He stared at Lek; so did his jovial comrades.
+
+ "Can you give a stranger hospitality until to-morrow?" asked the
+ young student, bowing.
+
+ "Until TO-MORROW! Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the innkeeper. "He asks for
+ hospitality until to-morrow!" he added to his six jolly companions.
+
+ "To-morrow--ha, ha, ha!" echoed one.
+
+ "Ha, ha, ha!" repeated another.
+
+ "Ha, ha, ha!" chorused the others, slapping their hands on their
+ knees. "To-morrow!"
+
+ Then a solemn look came into the landlord's face.
+
+ "Young man," said he, "don't you know, have you not heard? _We_ have
+ no to-morrows; our nights are long, long slumbers; each one is a
+ hundred years."
+
+ [Illustration: OLD PEASANT COSTUME.]
+
+ The six men were talking now, and the landlord turned from Lek and
+ joined in the conversation eagerly.
+
+ The shadows of the long twilight deepened. Men and women ran to and
+ fro in the streets. Every one seemed in a hurry, as though much must
+ be said and done in a brief time.
+
+ Presently a great bell sounded in a steeple. The hurrying people
+ paused. Each one uplifted his or her hands, waved them in a circle,
+ and cried,--
+
+ "Alas! TO-MORROW! Hurry, good men, all, good women, all, hurry!"
+
+ What did it mean? "Have I gone mad?" asked Lek. "Am I dreaming?"
+
+ Near the inn was a green, parched and faded. In the centre was a
+ withered tree; under it was a maiden. She was very fair; her dress
+ was of silk and jewels, and on her arms were heavy bracelets of
+ gold. Unlike the other people, she did not seem hurried and anxious.
+ She appeared to take little interest in the strangely stimulated
+ activities around her.
+
+ Lek went to her.
+
+ "Pardon a poor student seeking information," he said. "Your people
+ all treat me rudely and strangely; they will not listen to me. I am
+ a traveller, and I came here civilly, and only asked for food and
+ lodging until to-morrow."
+
+ "TO-MORROW! The word is a terror to most of them; it is no terror to
+ me. I care not for to-morrows,--they are days of disappointments; I
+ had them once,--I am glad they do not come oftener to me. I shall go
+ to sleep at midnight, here where I was deserted. You are a stranger,
+ I see. You belong to the world; every day has its to-morrow. Go
+ away, away to your own people, and to your own life of to-morrows.
+ This is no place for you here."
+
+ Again the bell sounded. The hurrying people stopped again in the
+ street, and waved their hands wildly, and cried,--
+
+ "Haste, haste, good men, all, good women, all. The hour is near.
+ Good men, all, good women, all, hurry!"
+
+ [Illustration: OLD PEASANT COSTUMES.]
+
+ It was night now; but the full moon rose over the long line of
+ hills, and behind it appeared a black cloud, from which darted
+ tongues of red flame, followed by mutterings of thunder.
+
+ The moon ascended the clear sky like a chariot, and the cloud seemed
+ to follow her like an army,--an awful spectacle that riveted Lek's
+ gaze and made him apprehensive.
+
+ "A storm is coming," he said. "I must stay here. Tell me, good
+ maiden, where can I find food and shelter?"
+
+ "Have you a true heart?"
+
+ "I have a true heart. I have always been true to myself; and he who
+ is true to himself is never unfaithful to God or his fellow-men."
+
+ "Then you will be saved when the hour comes. They only go down with
+ us who are untrue. All true hearts have to-morrows."
+
+ The moon ascended higher, and her light, more resplendent,
+ heightened the effect of the blackness of the rising cloud. The
+ lightnings became more vivid, the thunder more distinct.
+
+ "You are sure that your heart is true?" said the maiden.
+
+ "By the Cross, it is true."
+
+ "Then I have a duty to do. Follow me."
+
+ She rose and walked towards the hill from which Lek had come. Lek
+ followed her. As he passed out of the town the bell sounded: it was
+ the hour of eleven.
+
+ The people stopped in the streets as before, waving their hands, and
+ crying,--
+
+ "Good men, all, good women, all, hurry! The hour is near. Good men,
+ all, good women, all, hurry!"
+
+ [Illustration: CITY GATE.]
+
+ The maiden ascended the hill to the very rock from which the student
+ had first seen the town, and under which he had rested.
+
+ "Sit you here," she said, "and do not leave the place until the
+ cocks crow for morning. A true heart never perished with the untrue.
+ My duty is done. Farewell!"
+
+ "But the tempest?" said the student. "This is no place of shelter.
+ Let me return with you, only until to-morrow."
+
+ There burst upon the hill a terrific thunder-gust. The maiden was
+ gone, the black cloud swept over the moon, and Lek could no longer
+ discern the town in the valley. Everything around him grew dark. The
+ air seemed to turn into a thick inky darkness.
+
+ Fearful flashes of lightning and terrific thunder followed. The
+ wind bent the forest before it; but not a drop of rain fell.
+
+ There was a moment's silence. The bell in the mysterious steeple
+ smote upon the air. It was midnight.
+
+ Another hush, as though Nature had ceased to breathe. Then a
+ thunder-crash shook the hills, and seemed to cleave open the very
+ earth.
+
+ Lek crossed himself and fell upon his knees. The cloud passed
+ swiftly. The moon came out again, revealing the lovely valley. _The
+ village was gone._
+
+ In the morning a cowherd came up the hill at the rising of the sun.
+
+ "Good morrow," said Lek. "That was a fearful tempest that we had at
+ midnight."
+
+ "I never heard such thunder," said the cowherd. "I almost thought
+ that the final day had come. You may well say it was a fearful
+ night, my boy."
+
+ [Illustration: THE NECKAR.]
+
+ "But what has become of the village that was in the valley
+ yesterday?" asked Lek.
+
+ "There is no village in the valley," said the cowherd. "There never
+ was but one. That was sunk hundreds of years ago; if you saw any
+ village there yesterday it was that: it comes up only once in a
+ hundred years, and then it remains for only a single day. Woe betide
+ the traveller that stops there _that_ day. Unless he have a true
+ heart, he goes down with the town at midnight. The town was cursed
+ because it waxed rich, and became so wicked that there was found in
+ it but one heart that was true."
+
+ "Tell me about this strange village," said Lek, in fear and awe,
+ recalling his adventure. "I never before heard of a thing so
+ mysterious."
+
+ "It is a sorry story. I will tell it as I have heard it.
+
+ "The hills of Reichmanndorf used to abound with gold, and the people
+ of the old town all became rich; but their riches did not make them
+ happy and contented. It made them untrue.
+
+ "The more their wealth increased, the more unfaithful they became,
+ until the men met in the market-place daily to defraud each other,
+ and the women's only purpose in life was to display their vanity.
+
+ "At the inn were nightly carousals. The young men thought only of
+ their gains and dissipations. Men were untrue to their families, and
+ lovers to their vows.
+
+ "The Sabbath was not kept. The old priest, Van Ness, said masses to
+ the empty aisles.
+
+ "In those evil days lived one Frederic Wollin. He was a brave man,
+ and his soul was true.
+
+ "It was the custom of this good man to instruct the people in the
+ market-place. But at last none came to hear him.
+
+ "One day, near Christmas, the council met. Wine flowed; rude jests
+ went round. The question was discussed as to how these days of
+ selfish delights might be made perpetual.
+
+ "A great cry arose:--
+
+ "'Banish the holy days: then all our to-morrows will be as to-day!'
+
+ "Then Wollin arose and faced the people. His appearance was met by a
+ tumult, and his words increased the hatred long felt against him.
+
+ "'The days of evil have no to-morrows.' he said. 'He that liveth to
+ himself is dead.'
+
+ "'Give him a holy day once in a hundred years!' cried one.
+
+ "The voice was hailed with cheers. The council voted that all future
+ days should be as that day, except that Wollin and the old priest,
+ Van Ness, should have a holy day once in a hundred years.
+
+ "Christmas came. No bell was rung; no chant was heard. Easter
+ brought flowers to the woods, but none to the altar. Purple
+ Pentecost filled the forest villages with joy; but here no one cared
+ to recall the descent of the celestial fire except the old priest
+ and Wollin.
+
+ "It was such a night as last night when Van Ness and Wollin came out
+ of the church for the last time. The people were drinking at the
+ inn, and dancing upon the green. Spring was changing into deep
+ summer; the land was filled with blooms.
+
+ "A party of young men who had been carousing, on seeing Wollin come
+ from the church, set upon him, and compelled him to leave the town.
+ He came up this hill. When he had reached the top, he paused and
+ lifted his face towards heaven, and stretched out his hand. As he
+ did so, a sharp sound rent the valley, and caused the hills to
+ tremble. He looked down. The village had disappeared. Only Van Ness
+ was standing by his side.
+
+ "But as the villagers had promised Wollin a holy day once in a
+ hundred years, so once in a hundred years these people are permitted
+ to rise with their village into the light of the sun for a single
+ day. If on that day a stranger visits them whose heart is untrue he
+ disappears with them at midnight. Such is the story. You will hardly
+ believe it true."
+
+ The student crossed himself, and went on his journey towards the
+ Rhine.
+
+ "_They_ have one day in a hundred years," he said. "How precious
+ must that one day be to them! If I enter the ways of evil, and my
+ heart becomes untrue, shall _I_ have _one_ day in one hundred years
+ when life is ended and my account to Heaven is rendered?"
+
+ He thought. He read the holy books. He tried to find a single hope
+ for an untrue soul; but he could discover none.
+
+ Then he said,--
+
+ "The days of evil have no to-morrows,--no, not once in a hundred
+ years. Only good deeds have to-morrows. I will be true: so shall
+ to-morrows open and close like golden doors until time is lost in
+ the eternal." And his heart remained true.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE SONGS OF THE RHINE.
+
+ THE WATCHMAN'S SONG.--THE WILD HUNT OF LUeTZOW.--THE AUTHOR OF THE
+ ERL KING.--BEETHOVEN'S BOYHOOD.--THE ORGAN-TEMPEST OF LUCERNE.
+
+
+Rhineland is the land of song. It is the wings of song that have given
+it its fame. Every town on the Rhine has its own songs; every
+mountain, hill, and river.
+
+America has few local songs,--few songs of the people. The singers who
+give voices to rivers, lakes, mountains, and valleys have not yet
+appeared. The local poets and singers of America are yet to come.
+
+In England, Germany, and some of the provinces of France, every
+temple, stream, and grove has had its sweet singer.
+
+Go to Basle, and you may hear the clubs singing the heroic songs of
+Alsace and Lorraine.
+
+Go to Heidelberg, and you may listen to student-songs through which
+breathe the national spirit of hundreds of years.
+
+The bands tell the story, legend, or romance of such towns at night,
+wherever they may play.
+
+In one of the public grounds to which the Class went for an evening
+rest, one of the bands was playing the _Fremersberg_.
+
+It related an old romance of the region of Baden-Baden: how that a
+nobleman was once wandering with his dogs in the mountains, and was
+overtaken by a storm; how he was about to perish when he heard the
+distant sounds of a monastery bell; how, following the direction of
+the sound, he heard a chant of priests; and how, at last, he was
+saved.
+
+The piece was full of melody. The wind, the rain, the horns, the
+bells, the chant, while they told a story, were all delightfully
+melodious.
+
+The ballad is almost banished from the intellectual American
+concert-rooms. In Germany a ballad is a gem, and is so valued. It is
+the best expression of national life and feeling.
+
+The Class went to hear one of Germany's greatest singers. She sang an
+heroic selection, and was recalled. Her first words on the recall
+hushed the audience: it was a ballad of the four stages of life. It
+began with an incident of a child dreaming under a rosebush:--
+
+ "Sweetly it sleeps and on dream wings flies
+ To play with the angels in Paradise,
+ And the years glide by."
+
+as an English translation gives it.
+
+In the last stanza, the child having passed through the stages of
+life, was represented as again sleeping under a rosebush. The withered
+leaves fall upon his grave.
+
+ "Withered and dead they fall to the ground,
+ And silently cover a new-made mound,
+ And the years glide by."
+
+These last lines were rendered so softly, yet distinctly, that they
+seemed like tremulous sounds in the air. The singer's face hardly
+appeared to move; every listener was like a statue. The silence was
+almost painful and impressive. One could but feel this was indeed art,
+and not a pretentious affectation of it.
+
+ [Illustration: AN OLD GERMAN TOWN.]
+
+The reign of the organ as the monarch of musical instruments began
+with Charlemagne, and nearly all of the towns on the Rhine have
+historic organs. Many of the organ pieces are local compositions
+and imitative. On the great organs at Basle and Frieburg the
+imitation of storms is sometimes produced.
+
+None of these storm-pieces, however, equal that which is daily played
+in summer on the organ of Lucerne. This organ tempest more greatly
+excited the Class than any music that they heard during their
+journeys; and Master Beal made a record of it in verse, which we give
+at the close of the chapter.
+
+The children of Germany learn to read music at the same age that
+they learn to read books. Music is a part of their primary
+school--Kindergarten--education. The poorest children are taught to
+sing.
+
+ [Illustration: THE RHINEFELS.]
+
+The consequence is that the Germans are a nation of singers. The organ
+is a power in the church, the military band at the festival, and the
+ballad in the concert-room and the home.
+
+These ballad-loving people are familiar with the best music. To them
+music is a language. Says Mayhew, in his elaborate work on the Rhine,
+in speaking of the free education in music in Germany: "To tickle the
+gustatory nerves with either dainty food or drink costs some money;
+but to be able to reproduce the harmonious combinations of a Beethoven
+or a Weber, or to make the air tremble melodiously with some sweet and
+simple ballad, or even to recall the sonorous solemnities of some
+prayerful chorus or fine thanksgiving in an oratorio, is not only to
+fill the heart and brain with affections too deep for words, but it is
+to be able to taste as high a pleasure as the soul is capable of
+knowing, and yet one that may be had positively for nothing."
+
+It is to be regretted that so much of the good music of Germany is
+performed in the beer-gardens. The too free use of the glass and the
+pipe cannot tend to make the nation strong for the future; and one
+cannot long be charmed with the music and mirth of such places without
+fearing for the losses that may follow.
+
+All trades and occupations have their own songs, even the humblest.
+Take for example the pleasing Miller's Song, which catches the spirit
+of his somewhat poetic yet homely calling:--
+
+ "To wander is the miller's joy,
+ To wander!
+ What kind of miller must he be,
+ Who ne'er hath yearned to wander free?
+ To wander!
+
+ "From water we have learned it, yes,
+ From water!
+ It knows no rest by night or day,
+ But wanders ever on its way,
+ Does water.
+
+ "We see it by the mill-wheels, too,
+ The mill-wheels!
+ They ne'er repose, nor brook delay,
+ They weary not the livelong day,
+ The mill-wheels.
+
+ "The stones, too, heavy though they be,
+ The stones, too,
+ Round in the giddy circle dance,
+ Ee'n fain more quickly would advance,
+ The stones would.
+
+ "To wander, wander, my delight,
+ To wander!
+ O master, mistress, on my way
+ Let me in peace depart to-day,
+ And wander!"
+
+ WILHELM MUeLLER.
+
+The watchman, too, has his peculiar songs. One of these is very solemn
+and stately. A favorite translation of it begins:--
+
+ "Hark ye, neighbors, and hear me tell
+ _Eight_ now strikes the loud church bell."
+
+An almost literal translation thus reproduces the grand themes which
+were made to remind the old guardians of the night in their ghostly
+vigils:--
+
+
+ THE WATCHMAN'S SONG.
+
+ Hark, while I sing! our village clock
+ The hour of eight, good sirs, has struck.
+ Eight souls alone from death were kept,
+ When God the earth with deluge swept:
+ Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
+ Man wakes and watches all in vain.
+ Lord! through thine all-prevailing might,
+ Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
+
+ Hark, while I sing! our village clock
+ The hour of nine, good sirs, has struck.
+ Nine lepers cleansed returned not;--
+ Be not thy blessings, man, forgot!
+ Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
+ Man wakes and watches all in vain.
+ Lord! through thine all-prevailing might,
+ Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
+
+ Hark, while I sing! our village clock
+ The hour of ten, good sirs, has struck.
+ Ten precepts show God's holy will;--
+ Oh, may we prove obedient still!
+ Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
+ Man wakes and watches all in vain.
+ Lord! through thine all-prevailing might,
+ Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
+
+ Hark, while I sing! our village clock
+ The hour eleven, good sirs, has struck.
+ Eleven apostles remained true;--
+ May we be like that faithful few!
+ Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
+ Man wakes and watches all in vain.
+ Lord! through thine all-prevailing might,
+ Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
+
+ Hark, while I sing! our village clock
+ The hour of twelve, good sirs, has struck.
+ Twelve is of Time the boundary;--
+ Man, think upon eternity!
+ Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
+ Man wakes and watches all in vain.
+ Lord! through thine all-prevailing might,
+ Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
+
+ Hark, while I sing! our village clock
+ The hour of one, good sirs, has struck.
+ One God alone reigns over all;
+ Nought can without his will befall:
+ Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
+ Man wakes and watches all in vain.
+ Lord! through thine all-prevailing might,
+ Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
+
+ Hark, while I sing! our village clock
+ The hour of two, good sirs, has struck.
+ Two ways to walk has man been given:
+ Teach me the right,--the path to heaven!
+ Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
+ Man wakes and watches all in vain.
+ Lord! through thine all-prevailing might,
+ Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
+
+ Hark, while I sing! our village clock
+ The hour of three, good sirs, has struck.
+ Three Gods in one, exalted most,
+ The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
+ Unless the Lord to guard us deign,
+ Man wakes and watches all in vain.
+ Lord! through thine all-prevailing might,
+ Do thou vouchsafe us a good night!
+
+ Hark, while I sing! our village clock
+ The hour of four, good sirs, has struck.
+ Four seasons crown the farmer's care;--
+ Thy heart with equal toil prepare!
+ Up, up! awake, nor slumber on!
+ The morn approaches, night is gone!
+ Thank God, who by his power and might
+ Has watched and kept us through this night!
+
+The Class devoted an autumn evening to singing the songs of the Rhine;
+the "Watch on the Rhine," the "Loreley," the student-songs,
+folk-songs, and some of the chorals of Luther. The song that proved
+most inspiring was the "Wild Chase of Luetzow." Master Beal awakened a
+deep interest in this song before it was sung, by relating its
+history.
+
+
+ "THE WILD HUNT OF LUeTZOW."
+
+ All musical ears are familiar with the refrain: "Yes, 'tis the hunt
+ of Luetzow the free and the bold,"--if not with these exact words,
+ with other words of the same meaning. The music of C. M. Von Weber
+ has carried the "hunt" of Luetzow over the world. The song and music
+ alike catch the spirit and the movement of a corps of cavalry bent
+ on the destruction of an enemy. One sees the flying horsemen in the
+ poem, and hears them in the music. It was one of the few martial
+ compositions that starts one to one's feet, and stirs one's blood
+ with the memory of heroic achievements.
+
+ I will give you one of the most vigorous translations. Longfellow
+ has adopted it in his "Poems of Places." It catches the spirit of
+ the original, and very nearly reproduces the original thought.
+
+
+ LUeTZOW'S WILD CHASE.
+
+ What gleams from yon wood in the bright sunshine?
+ Hark! nearer and nearer 'tis sounding;
+ It hurries along, black line upon line,
+ And the shrill-voiced horns in the wild chase join,
+ The soul with dark horror confounding:
+ And if the black troopers' name you'd know,
+ 'Tis Luetzow's wild Jaeger,--a-hunting they go!
+
+ [Illustration: MAYENCE IN THE OLDEN TIME.]
+
+ From hill to hill, through the dark wood they hie,
+ And warrior to warrior is calling;
+ Behind the thick bushes in ambush they lie,
+ The rifle is heard, and the loud war-cry,
+ In rows the Frank minions are falling:
+ And if the black troopers' name you'd know,
+ 'Tis Luetzow's wild Jaeger,--a-hunting they go!
+
+ Where the bright grapes glow, and the Rhine rolls wide,
+ He weened they would follow him never;
+ But the pursuit came like the storm in its pride,
+ With sinewy arms they parted the tide,
+ And reached the far shore of the river;
+ And if the dark swimmers' name you'd know,
+ 'Tis Luetzow's wild Jaeger,--a-hunting they go!
+
+ How roars in the valley the angry fight;
+ Hark! how the keen swords are clashing!
+ High-hearted Ritter are fighting the fight,
+ The spark of Freedom awakens bright,
+ And in crimson flames it is flashing:
+ And if the dark Ritters' name you'd know,
+ 'Tis Luetzow's wild Jaeger,--a-hunting they go!
+
+ Who gurgle in death, 'mid the groans of the foe,
+ No more the bright sunlight seeing?
+ The writhings of death on their face they show,
+ But no terror the hearts of the freemen know.
+ For the Franzmen are routed and fleeing;
+ And if the dark heroes' name you'd know,
+ 'Tis Luetzow's wild Jaeger,--a-hunting they go!
+
+ The chase of the German, the chase of the free,
+ In hounding the tyrant we strained it!
+ Ye friends, that love us, look up with glee!
+ The night is scattered, the dawn we see,
+ Though we with our life-blood have gained it!
+ And from sire to son the tale shall go:
+ 'Twas Luetzow's wild Jaeger that routed the foe!
+
+ Luetzow, the cavalry hero of Prussia, in the German war for freedom
+ against the rule of Napoleon, was born in 1782. He was a famous
+ hunter, and when Europe arose against Bonaparte in 1813, he called
+ for volunteers of adventurous spirit for cavalry service: "hunters"
+ of the enemy, who should hang about the French army, and, with the
+ destructive vigilance of birds or beasts of prey, give the enemy no
+ rest on the German side of the Rhine.
+
+ The boldest young men of Germany rushed to Luetzow; noblemen,
+ students, foresters. His corps of cavalry became the terror of the
+ French army. The enemy could never tell where they would be found.
+
+ Among the young volunteers was Koerner, the young German poet. He was
+ a slender young man; but he had an heroic soul, and the cavalry
+ corps of the fiery Luetzow seemed to him the place for it. He joined
+ the "wild hunters" in 1813.
+
+ "Germany rises," he said. "The Prussian eagle beats her wings; there
+ is hope of freedom.
+
+ "I know what happiness can fruit for me in life; I know that the
+ star of fortune shines upon me; but a mighty feeling and conviction
+ animates me: no sacrifice can be too great for my country's
+ freedom!"
+
+ The words glow.
+
+ He added,--
+
+ "I must forth,--I must oppose my breast to the storm. Can I
+ celebrate the deeds of others in song, and not dare with them the
+ danger?"
+
+ Koerner's battle-songs became firebrands. He consecrated himself to
+ his country in the village church near Zobten. He wrote the
+ battle-hymn for the occasion, which was a service for the departing
+ volunteers.
+
+ "We swore," he said, "the oath of fidelity to our cause. I fell upon
+ my knees and implored God's blessing. The oath was repeated by all,
+ and the officers swore it on their swords. Then Martin Luther's 'A
+ Mighty Fortress is our God' concluded the ceremony."
+
+ He wrote a thrilling war-song on the morning of the battle of
+ Danneberg, May 12, 1813. It ended with these words:--
+
+ "Hark! hear ye the shouts and the thunders before ye?
+ On, brothers, on, to death and to glory!
+ We'll meet in another, a happier sphere!"
+
+ On May 28, 1813, Major Von Luetzow determined to set out on an
+ expedition towards Thuringia, with his young cavalry and with
+ Cossacks. Koerner begged to accompany him. Luetzow commissioned him as
+ an officer. He was wounded, and left for a time helpless in a wood,
+ on the 17th of June. In this condition he wrote his famous "Farewell
+ to Life."
+
+ "My deep wound burns," &c.
+
+ Koerner recovered, but was suddenly killed in an engagement on August
+ 26th.
+
+ The "Sword Song" of Koerner which Von Weber's music has made famous,
+ was written a few hours before his death. It was an inspiration to
+ the German cause.
+
+ "Luetzow's Wild Chase" thrilled Prussia. Like the "Watch on the
+ Rhine" in the recent war, it was the word that fired the national
+ pride, and nerved men to deeds that crowned the cause with glory.
+
+ "The Rhine! the Rhine!" shouted the young German heroes at last,
+ looking down on the river.
+
+ "Is there a battle?" asked the officers, dashing on in the direction
+ of the shout.
+
+ "No, the enemy has gone over the Rhine," was the answer. "The Rhine!
+ the Rhine!"
+
+Mr. Beal introduced a number of selections from German composers, the
+loved tone-poets, with interesting stories and anecdotes. We reproduce
+a part of these musical incidents, as they properly belong to the
+history of the river of song.
+
+Taking up a selection from Schubert's famous symphony, he spoke
+feelingly of the author, and then gave some pictures of the lives of
+Beethoven and Bach.
+
+
+ THE AUTHOR OF THE ERL KING.
+
+ Poor Schubert! The composer of what operas, symphonies, overtures,
+ choruses, masses, cantatas, sonatas, fantasias, arias! What
+ tenderness was in his soul!--Listen to the "Last Greeting;" what
+ fancy and emotion! listen to the "Fisher Maiden" and "Post Horn;"
+ what refinement! listen to the "Serenade;" what devotion! hear the
+ "Ave Maria"!
+
+ Dead at the age of thirty-one; dead after a life of neglect, leaving
+ all these musical riches behind him!
+
+ Franz Schubert was born at Himmelpfortgrand, in 1797. His father was
+ a musician, but a poor man. Franz was placed at the age of eleven
+ among the choir-boys of the Court Chapel, where he remained five
+ years, absorbed in musical studies, and making himself the master of
+ the leading instruments of the orchestra.
+
+ To compose music was his life. His restless genius was ever at work;
+ always seeking to produce something new, something better. The old
+ masters, and especially Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, were his
+ sources of study and inspiration. Music became his world, and all
+ outside of it was strange and unexplored. All of his moods found
+ expression in music: his love, his hopes, his wit, his sadness, and
+ his dreams.
+
+ He seems to have composed his best works for the pure love of his
+ art, with little thought of money or fame. Many of his best works he
+ never heard performed. He left his manuscript scores scattered about
+ his rooms, and so they were found in confusion after his decease.
+
+ A monument was erected to his memory. On it is the following simple
+ but touching inscription:--
+
+ "The art of music buried here a rich possession, but yet
+ far fairer hopes. Franz Schubert lies here. Born on the
+ 30th of January, 1797, died on the 19th of November,
+ 1828, thirty-one years old."
+
+ Fame almost failed to overtake him in life; his course was so rapid,
+ and his works were so swiftly produced. It crowned his memory.
+
+ Schubert's magnificent symphony in C is one of the most beautiful
+ works of the kind ever written, and lovers of orchestral music
+ always delight to find it on the programme of an evening concert. It
+ is a charm, an enchantment; it awakens feelings that are only active
+ in the soul under exceptional influences. Yet the listener does not
+ know to what he is listening: it is all a mystery; no one can tell
+ what the composer intended to express by this symphony. We know that
+ the theme is a noble one,--but what? that the soul of the writer
+ must have been powerfully moved during its composition,--by what
+ influences? It is an enigma: each listener may guess at the theme,
+ and each will associate it with the subject most in harmony with his
+ own taste.
+
+ In 1844 Robert Schumann, while looking over a heap of dusty
+ manuscripts at Vienna, found this wonderful symphony, until then
+ unknown. He was so much charmed with it that he sent it to
+ Mendelssohn at Leipzig. It was there produced at the Gewandhaus
+ concerts, won the admiration it deserved, and thence found its way
+ to all the orchestras of the world. The youthful composer had been
+ dead nearly twenty years when the discovery was made.
+
+ One of the best known of the dramatic German ballads is the Erl
+ King.
+
+ The Erl King is Death. He rides through the night. He comes to a
+ happy home, and carries away a child, galloping back to the
+ mysterious land whence he came.
+
+ In this ballad a father is represented as riding with a dying child
+ under his cloak. The Erl King pursues them.
+
+ Schubert gave the ballad its musical wings. I need not describe the
+ music. It is on your piano. Let it tell the story.
+
+
+ BEETHOVEN'S BOYHOOD AT BONN.
+
+ Literary men have often produced their best works late in life.
+ Longfellow cites some striking illustrations of this truth in
+ _Morituri Salutamus_:--
+
+ "It is too late! Ah, nothing is too late
+ Till the tired heart shall cease to palpitate.
+ Cato learned Greek at eighty; Sophocles
+ Wrote his grand Oedipus, and Simonides
+ Bore off the prize of verse from his compeers,
+ When each had numbered more than fourscore years.
+ And Theophrastus, at fourscore and ten,
+ Had but begun his Characters of Men.
+ Chaucer, at Woodstock with the nightingales,
+ At sixty wrote the Canterbury Tales;
+ Goethe at Weimar, toiling to the last,
+ Completed Faust when eighty years were past."
+
+ Such examples of late working are seldom found in musical art. Men
+ seem to become musicians because of the inspiration born within
+ them. This impelling force is very early developed.
+
+ Handel, the greatest musical composer of his own or any age, was so
+ devoted to music in childhood that his father forbade his musical
+ studies. At the age of eleven he as greatly delighted and surprised
+ Frederick I. of Prussia by his inspirational playing; he was in
+ youth appointed to a conspicuous position of organist in Halle.
+
+ Haydn surprised his friends by his musical talents at his _fifth_
+ year. He had a voice of wonderful purity, sweetness, and compass,
+ and was received as a choir-boy at St. Stephen's Church, Vienna.
+
+ Mozart's childhood is a household story. He was able to produce
+ chords on the harpsichord at the age of three, and wrote music with
+ correct harmonies at the age of six. Glueck had made a musical
+ reputation at the age of eighteen.
+
+ Mendelssohn was a brilliant pianist at six, and gave concerts at
+ nine. Verdi was appointed musical director at Milan in youth.
+ Rossini composed an opera at the age of sixteen, and ceased to
+ compose music at forty.
+
+ No other art exhibits such remarkable developments of youthful
+ genius; though many eminent poets like Pindar, Cowley, Pope, Mrs.
+ Hemans, L. E. L., have written well in early youth. Music is a
+ flower that blossoms early, and bears early fruit.
+
+ Music may justly be called the art of youth.
+
+ Beethoven was born at Bonn on the Rhine, 1770. He lived here
+ twenty-two years. His musical character was formed here.
+
+ Beethoven was put at the harpsichord at the age of four years. He
+ was able to play the most difficult music in every key at twelve
+ years; and was appointed one of the court organists when fifteen.
+
+ The boy received this appointment, which was in the chapel of the
+ Elector of Cologne, by the influence of Count Waldstein, who had
+ discovered his genius. Here he was the organ prince.
+
+ The following curious anecdote is told of his skill at the organ:--
+
+ "On the last three days of the passion week the Lamentations of the
+ Prophet Jeremiah were always chanted; these consisted of passages of
+ from four to six lines, and they were sung in no particular time. In
+ the middle of each sentence, agreeably to the old choral style, a
+ _rest_ was made upon one note, which rest the player on the piano
+ (for the organ was not used on those three days) had to fill up with
+ a voluntary flourish.
+
+ [Illustration: BEETHOVEN'S HOME AT BONN.]
+
+ "Beethoven told Heller, a singer at the chapel who was boasting of
+ his professional cleverness, that he would engage, that very day, to
+ put him out, at such a place, without his being aware of it, so that
+ he should not be able to proceed. He accepted the wager; and
+ Beethoven, when he came to a passage that suited his purpose, led
+ the singer, by an adroit modulation, out of the prevailing mode into
+ one having no affinity with it, still, however, adhering to the
+ tonic of the former key; so that the singer, unable to find his way
+ in this strange region was brought to a dead stand.
+
+ "Exasperated by the laughter of those around him, Heller complained
+ to the elector, who (to use Beethoven's expression) 'gave him a most
+ gracious reprimand, and bade him not play any more such clever
+ tricks.'"
+
+ At Bonn young Beethoven devoted himself almost wholly to the organ.
+ The memories of the Rhine filled his life, which ended so sadly on
+ the Danube. Bonn and Beethoven are as one name to the English or
+ American tourist.
+
+
+ THE FATHER OF ORGAN MUSIC.
+
+ Bach, the greatest organist and composer of organ music of the last
+ century, was born at Eisenach, 1685, and had truly a remarkable
+ history. His art was born in him. He wrote because he must write,
+ and sung because he must sing.
+
+ His father was a court musician, and had a twin brother who occupied
+ the same situation, and so much resembled him that their wives could
+ not tell them apart. These twin brothers produced music nearly
+ alike; their dispositions were identical; when one was ill, the
+ other was so likewise, and both died at the same time.
+
+ John Sebastian Bach was the brightest ornament of this music-loving
+ family. His parents died in his boyhood, and his musical education
+ was undertaken by his eldest brother, a distinguished organist. He
+ fed on music as food.
+
+ An incident will show his spirit. He was eager to play more
+ difficult music than his brother assigned. He noticed that his
+ brother had a book of especially difficult pieces; and he begged to
+ be allowed to use it, but was denied. This book was kept locked in a
+ cupboard, which had an opening just wide enough to admit the boy's
+ thin hand. He was able to reach it, and, by rolling it in a certain
+ way, to bring it out and replace it without unlocking the door. He
+ began to copy it by moonlight, as no candle was allowed him in the
+ evening, and in six months had reproduced in this manner the whole
+ of the music. About this time his brother died, and the friendless
+ lad engaged himself as a choir-singer, which gave him a temporary
+ support.
+
+ Organ-music became a passion with him. He determined, at whatever
+ sacrifice, to make himself the master of the instrument. He might go
+ hungry, lose the delights of society; but the first organist in
+ Germany he would be: nothing should be allowed to stand in the way
+ of this purpose in life. He studied all masters. He made a long
+ journey on foot to Lubeck to hear a great German master play the
+ organ; and when he heard him, he remained three months an unknown
+ and secret auditor in the church.
+
+ A youth in which a single aim governs life early arrives at the
+ harvest. Young manhood found Bach court organist in that Athens of
+ Germany, Weimar. His fame grew until it reached the ears of
+ Frederick the Great.
+
+ "Old Bach has come," joyfully said the King to his musicians, on
+ learning that the great organist arrived in town.
+
+ He became blind in his last years, as did Handel. Ten days before
+ his death his sight was suddenly restored, and he rejoiced at seeing
+ the sunshine and the green earth again. A few hours after this
+ strange occurrence, he was seized with an apoplectic fit. He died at
+ the age of sixty-eight.
+
+ His organ-playing was held to be one of the marvels of Germany. He
+ made the organ as it were a part of his own soul; it expressed his
+ thoughts like an interpreter, and swayed other hearts with the
+ emotions of his own. His oratorios and cantatas were numbered by the
+ hundred, many of which were produced only on a single occasion. His
+ most enduring work is the Passion Music.
+
+ In 1850 a Bach Society was formed in London, and a revival of the
+ works of the master followed. Bach wrote five passions, but only one
+ for two choirs.
+
+ To the general audience much of the Passion music, as arranged for
+ English choral societies, seems too difficult for appreciation; but
+ the over-choir at the beginning, the expression of suffering and
+ darkness, and the so-called earthquake choruses, with its sudden and
+ stupendous effects, impress even the uneducated ear.
+
+ The beauty and power of the oratorio as a work of art are felt in
+ proportion to one's musical training; but as a sublime tone-sermon,
+ all may feel its force, and dream that the awful tragedy it
+ represents is passing before them.
+
+ [Illustration: A CITY OF THE RHINE.]
+
+
+ THE ORGAN-TEMPEST OF LUCERNE.
+
+ We came to fair Lucerne at even,--
+ How beauteous was the scene!
+ The snowy Alps like walls of heaven
+ Rose o'er the Alps of green;
+ The damask sky a roseate light
+ Flashed on the Lake, and low
+ Above Mt. Pilate's shadowy height
+ Night bent her silver bow.
+
+ We turned towards the faded fane,
+ How many centuries old!
+ And entered as the organ's strain
+ Along the arches rolled;
+ Such as when guardian spirits bear
+ A soul to realms of light,
+ And melts in the immortal air
+ The anthem of their flight;
+ Then followed strains so sweet,
+ So sadly sweet and low,
+ That they seemed like memory's music,
+ And the chords of long ago.
+
+ A light wind seemed to rise;
+ A deep gust followed soon,
+ As when a dark cloud flies
+ Across the sun, at noon.
+ It filled the aisles,--each drew
+ His garments round his form;
+ We could not feel the wind that blew,
+ We could only hear the storm.
+ Then we cast a curious eye
+ Towards the window's lights,
+ And saw the lake serenely lie
+ Beneath the crystal heights.
+ Fair rose the Alps of white
+ Above the Alps of green,
+ The slopes lay bright in the sun of night,
+ And the peaks in the sun unseen.
+
+ A deep sound shook the air,
+ As when the tempest breaks
+ Upon the peaks, while sunshine fair
+ Is dreaming in the lakes.
+ The birds shrieked on their wing;
+ When rose a wind so drear,
+ Its troubled spirit seemed to bring
+ The shades of darkness near.
+ We looked towards the windows old,
+ Calm was the eve of June,
+ On the summits shone the twilight's gold,
+ And on Pilate shone the moon.
+
+ A sharp note's lightning flash
+ Upturned the startled face;
+ When a mighty thunder-crash
+ With horror filled the place!
+ From arch to arch the peal
+ Was echoed loud and long;
+ Then o'er the pathway seemed to steal
+ Another seraph's song;
+ And 'mid the thunder's crash
+ And the song's enraptured flow,
+ We still could hear, with charmed ear,
+ The organ playing low.
+
+ [Illustration: THE RIVER OF SONG.]
+
+ As passed the thunder-peal,
+ Came raindrops, falling near,
+ A rain one could not feel,
+ A rain that smote the ear.
+ And we turned to look again
+ Towards the mountain wall,
+ When a deep tone shook the fane,
+ Like the avalanche's fall.
+ Loud piped the wind, fast poured the rain,
+ The very earth seemed riven,
+ And wildly flashed, and yet again,
+ The smiting fires of heaven.
+ And cheeks that wore the light of smiles
+ When slowly rose the gale,
+ Like pulseless statues lined the aisles
+ And, as forms of marble, pale.
+ The organ's undertones
+ Still sounded sweet and low,
+ And the calm of a more than mortal trust
+ With the rhythms seemed to flow.
+
+ The Master's mirrored face
+ Was lifted from the keys,
+ As if more holy was the place
+ As he touched the notes of peace.
+ Then the sympathetic reeds
+ His chastened spirit caught,
+ As the senses met the needs
+ And the touch of human thought.
+ The organ whispered sweet,
+ The organ whispered low,
+ "Fear not, God's love is with thee,
+ Though tempests round thee blow!"
+ And the soul's grand power 'twas ours to trace,
+ And its deathless hopes discern,
+ As we gazed that night on the living face
+ Of the Organ of Lucerne.
+
+ Then from the church it passed,
+ That strange and ghostly storm,
+ And a parting beam the twilight cast
+ Through the windows, bright and warm.
+ The music grew more clear,
+ Our gladdened pulses swaying,
+ When Alpine horns we seemed to hear
+ On all the hillsides playing.
+
+ We left the church--how fair
+ Stole on the eve of June!
+ Cool Righi in the dusky air,
+ The low-descending moon!
+ No breath the lake cerulean stirred,
+ No cloud could eye discern;
+ The Alps were silent,--we had heard
+ The Organ of Lucerne.
+
+ Soon passed the night,--the high peaks shone
+ A wall of glass and fire,
+ And Morning, from her summer zone,
+ Illumined tower and spire;
+ I walked beside the lake again,
+ Along the Alpine meadows,
+ Then sought the old melodious fane
+ Beneath the Righi's shadows.
+ The organ, spanned by arches quaint,
+ Rose silent, cold, and bare,
+ Like the pulseless tomb of a vanished saint:--
+ The Master was not there!
+ But the soul's grand power 'twas mine to trace
+ And its deathless hopes discern,
+ As I gazed that morn on the still, dead face
+ Of the Organ of Lucerne.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+COPENHAGEN.
+
+ COPENHAGEN.--THE STORY OF ANCIENT DENMARK.--THE ROYAL FAMILY.--STORY
+ OF A KING WHO WAS OUT INTO A BAG.
+
+
+On the Denmark Night Mr. Beal gave a short introductory talk on
+Copenhagen, and several of the boys related stories by Hans Christian
+Andersen. Master Lewis gave some account of the early history of
+Denmark and of the present Royal Family; and Herman Reed related an
+odd story of one of the early kings of Denmark.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+"Copenhagen, or the Merchants' Haven, the capital of the island
+kingdom of Denmark, rises out of the coast of Zealand, and breaks the
+loneliness and monotony of a long coast line. It was a beautiful
+vision as we approached it in the summer evening hours of the high
+latitude,--evening only to us, for the sun was still high above the
+horizon. The spire of the Church of Our Saviour--three hundred feet
+high--appeared to stand against the sky. Palaces seemed to lift
+themselves above the sea as we steamed slowly towards the great
+historic city of the North.
+
+"The entrance to the harbor is narrow but deep. The harbor itself is
+full of ships; Copenhagen is the station of the Danish navy.
+
+"We passed very slowly through the water streets among the ships of
+the harbor,--for water streets they seemed,--and after a tedious
+landing, were driven through the crooked streets of a strange old town
+to a quiet hotel where some English friends we had met on the
+Continent were stopping.
+
+"The city is little larger than Providence, Rhode Island. Its public
+buildings are superb. It is an intellectual city, and its libraries
+are the finest of Europe.
+
+ [Illustration: THE PALACE OF ROSENBORG.]
+
+"It is divided into two parts, the old town and the new. In the new
+part are broad streets and fine squares.
+
+"We visited the Rosenborg Palace, the old residence of the Danish
+kings;--it is only a show palace now. In the church we saw
+Thorwaldsen's statues of the Twelve Apostles, regarded as the finest
+of his works.
+
+ [Illustration: VIEW OF COPENHAGEN.]
+
+
+ THE STORY OF ANCIENT DENMARK.
+
+ It is a strange, wild romance, the early history of the nations of
+ the North.
+
+ The Greeks and Romans knew but little about the Scandinavians. They
+ knew that there was a people in the regions from which came the
+ north winds. The north wind was very cold. Was there a region beyond
+ the north wind? If so, how lovely it must be, where the cold winds
+ never blow. They fancied that there was such a region. They called
+ the inhabitants Hyperboreans, or the people beyond the north wind.
+ They imagined also that in this region of eternal summer men did not
+ die. If one of the Hyperboreans became tired of earth, he had to
+ kill himself by leaping from a cliff.
+
+ The Northmen, or the inhabitants of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden,
+ were of the same origin as the tribes that peopled Germany, and that
+ came from the East, probably from the borders of the Black Sea. They
+ were fire-worshippers, and their chief god was Odin.
+
+ Denmark means _a land of dark woods_. In ancient times it was
+ probably covered with sombre firs. One of its early kings was Dan
+ the Famous. His descendants were called Danes.
+
+ Many ages after the reign of this king, the land was filled with
+ peace and plenty. It was the Golden Age of the North. Frode the
+ Peaceful was king in the Golden Age. He ruled over all lands from
+ Russia to the Rhine, and over two hundred and twenty kingdoms of two
+ hundred and twenty subjugated kings. There was no wrong, nor want,
+ nor thieves, nor beggars in the Golden Age. This happy period of
+ Northern history was at that age of the world when Christ was born.
+
+ According to the Scalds, the god Odin used to appear to men. He
+ appeared the last time at the battle of Bravalla, a contest in which
+ the Frisians, Wends, Finns, Lapps, Danes, Saxons, Jutes, Goths, and
+ Swedes all were engaged. The dead were so thick on the field, after
+ this battle, that their bodies reached to the axle-wheels of the
+ chariots of the victors. At the time of this battle Christianity was
+ being proclaimed in England. It was approaching the North. With the
+ battle of Bravalla the mythic age of Denmark and the North comes to
+ an end.
+
+ I have told you something of Louis le Debonnaire, who went to die on
+ a rock in the Rhine, that the waters might lull him to his eternal
+ repose. He was a missionary king, and he desired nothing so much as
+ the conversion of the world to Christ. He was the son of
+ Charlemagne. "It is nobler to convert souls than conquer kingdoms"
+ was his declaration of purpose. He sent missionary apostles to the
+ North to convert Denmark. His missions at first were failures, but
+ in the end they resulted in giving all the Northern crowns to
+ Christ's kingdom, that Louis loved more than his own.
+
+ The Danes in the Middle Ages became famous sea-kings. Before
+ England, Denmark ruled the sea. One stormy day in December Gorm the
+ Old appeared before Paris with seven hundred barks. He compelled the
+ French king to sue for peace.
+
+ The sea-kings conquered England. Canute the Dane was king of all the
+ regions of the northwest of Europe. His kingdom embraced Denmark,
+ England, Sweden, Norway, Scotland, and Cumberland. Such is the
+ second wonderful period of Denmark's history.
+
+
+ THE ROYAL FAMILY OF DENMARK.
+
+ Royal people, as well as "self-made men," often undergo remarkable
+ changes of fortune. No one, however high or low, is free from the
+ accidents of this world. All men have surprises, either good or bad,
+ in store for them.
+
+ Few families have experienced a more striking change in position
+ than the present royal house of the little northern kingdom of
+ Denmark. Twenty years ago, the present king, Christian IX., was a
+ rather poor and obscure gentleman, of princely rank, to be sure,
+ residing quietly in Copenhagen, and bringing up his fine family of
+ boys and girls in a very domestic and economical fashion. He was
+ only a remote cousin of Frederick VII., the reigning monarch, and he
+ seemed little likely to come to the throne.
+
+ But death somewhat suddenly prepared the way for him, so that when
+ old Frederick died, in 1863, Christian found himself king.
+
+ This, however, was but the beginning of the fortunes of this once
+ modest and little-known household. Just before Christian came to the
+ throne, his eldest daughter, Alexandra, a beautiful and an amiable
+ girl, attracted the attention of the Prince of Wales. The prince
+ became attached to her, and in due time married her.
+
+ About the same time, Christian's second son, George, was chosen King
+ of Greece, and was crowned at Athens, and is still reigning there.
+
+ After three years had passed, the second daughter, Maria Dagmar,
+ who, like her sister Alexandra, was a very lovely and attractive
+ girl, was married to the Czarowitch Alexander of Russia, after
+ having been betrothed to his elder brother Nicholas, who died. She
+ is now Empress of Russia.
+
+ [Illustration: PALACE OF FREDERICKSBORG.]
+
+ Somewhat later, the eldest son of the Danish king married the only
+ daughter of Oscar II., King of Sweden and Norway, thus forming a new
+ link of national friendship between the three Scandinavian nations.
+
+ It is thus quite possible that in the not distant future no less
+ than four of King Christian's children, who were brought up with
+ little more expectation than that of living respectably and wedding
+ into Danish noble families, will occupy thrones in Europe. It may
+ happen that the two daughters will share two of the greatest of
+ those thrones,--that one will be Queen of England; the other is
+ Empress of Russia,--while the two sons will be respectively King of
+ Denmark and King of Greece.
+
+ This great good fortune, in a worldly point of view, which has come
+ to the Danish royal family, cannot certainly be attributed solely,
+ or even mainly, to luck or chance. It has been, after all, chiefly
+ its virtues which have won it such a high position in Europe. The
+ good breeding and excellent character of the king's children have
+ won for them the prominence they now hold; for the daughters are as
+ womanly and virtuous as they are physically attractive, and the sons
+ are models of manly bearing and irreproachable habits.
+
+
+ THE STORY OF A KING WHO WAS PUT INTO A BAG.
+
+ "His realm was once a cradle, and now it is a coffin," might be said
+ of the most powerful monarch that ever lived. Kings are but human,
+ and they are pitiable objects indeed when they fall from their high
+ estate into the power of their enemies. Never did a king present a
+ more humiliating spectacle in his fall than Valdemar II., called the
+ Conqueror.
+
+ Under the early reign of this king, the Golden Age seemed to have
+ returned to Denmark. Never was a young monarch more prosperous or
+ glorious in so narrow a kingdom.
+
+ His empire grew. He annexed Pomerania. He wrested from the German
+ Empire all the territories in their possession north of the Elbe and
+ Elde, and he finally became the master of Northern Germany.
+
+ He was a champion of the Church. A papal bull conceded to him the
+ sovereignty of all the people he might convert, and he entered the
+ field against the pagans of Esthonia, with an army of 60,000 men,
+ and 1,400 ships! He baptized the conquered with kingly pomp and
+ pride.
+
+ His reign was now most splendid. Denmark was supreme in Scandinavia
+ and Northern Germany. The Pope revered the Danish power, and the
+ world feared it.
+
+ But secret foes are often more dangerous than open enemies. The
+ conquered princes of Germany hated him, and planned his downfall.
+
+ Among these was the Count-Duke of Schwerin. He pretended great
+ respect and affection for Valdemar. He laid many snares for the
+ king's ruin, but they failed. He was called "Black Henry" in his own
+ country on account of his dark face and evil nature, and Valdemar
+ had been warned against him as a false friend.
+
+ [Illustration: THE KING IN THE BAG.]
+
+ But he was warm, obsequious, and fascinating to the king, and the
+ king liked him.
+
+ In the spring of 1233 Valdemar invited him to hunt with him in the
+ woods of Lyo.
+
+ "Tell the king I am disabled and cannot leave my couch," said the
+ artful count, who now thought of a way to accomplish his
+ long-cherished purpose.
+
+ He left his couch at once, and sent his spies to shadow the king.
+
+ The king landed at Lyo with only a few attendants.
+
+ One night the king was sleeping in the woods of Lyo in a rude,
+ unguarded tent. His son was by his side.
+
+ They were awaked from slumber by an assault from unknown foes, and a
+ sense of suffocation.
+
+ What had happened? The king could not move his arms; his head
+ seemed enveloped in cloth. He could not see; his voice was stifled.
+ He _felt_ himself carried away.
+
+ Black Henry had entered the tent with his confidants, and had put
+ the King of the North and his son into two bags, and tied them up,
+ and was now hurrying away with them to the river.
+
+ Black Henry laid his two captives in the bottom of a boat like two
+ logs, and hoisted sail; and Valdemar, whose kingdom was now only a
+ bag, was blown away towards the German coast.
+
+ He was thrown into prison, and there lived in darkness and neglect.
+ The Pope ordered his release, but it was not heeded. The Danes tried
+ to rescue him, but were defeated.
+
+ He was at last set free on the agreement that he should pay a large
+ ransom. He returned to his kingdom, but found his territory reduced
+ to its old narrow limits. His glory was gone. His empire had been
+ the North; it had also been a bag; and at last it was a coffin. Poor
+ old man! His last years were peaceful, and in them he served Denmark
+ well.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+NORWAY.
+
+ STOCKHOLM.--STORY OF THE HERO KING.--UPSALA.--NORWAY.--CHRISTIANIA.--
+ KING OLAF.--DRONTHEIM.--THE FISHERMAN OF FAROE.
+
+
+The narrative of travel and history was continued by Mr. Beal.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+"Strange is the evolution of cities.
+
+"We are about to glance at Stockholm. Let us go back in imagination
+six hundred years.
+
+"There are some rocky islands in the Baltic, at the foot of the
+northern peninsula. Sea birds wheel above them in the steel-gray air;
+they build their nests there. Storms sweep over these lonely islands;
+sunlight bursts upon them, and now and then a Viking's ship finds a
+haven among them, and scares away the birds.
+
+"Years pass. Fishermen build huts on the islands. Hunters come there.
+There come also the sea kings. A mixed, strange people.
+
+"They build a village on the holms, or islets. They defend themselves
+with stockades, and they found on stocks, or beams, their strong
+houses. The growing town rises from stock holms; hence, Stockholm.
+
+ [Illustration: GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.]
+
+"The years pass, and the sea birds fly away. There are wings of gables
+where once were wings of birds. Stockholm becomes a fortress, and, as
+in the case of St. Petersburg in recent times, the sea desolation
+pulses with life and energy, and is transformed into a city. Churches,
+palaces, gardens, arise. Battles are fought, and here tread the feet
+of kings.
+
+"The wonder grows. The birds scream far away now. The islands are
+spanned by bridges. Stockholm stands a splendid city, one of the
+crowns of earth.
+
+"The city lies before us. Noble structures, villas, steeples, are seen
+among the green trees. The ships of many flags lie together like a
+town in the sea.
+
+"It is sunset. The tops of the linden-trees are crowned with sunlight,
+the Gothic windows burn. A shadow falls from the gray sky. Afar fly
+the white sea-gulls. The shadow deepens. It is night. We are in
+Stockholm.
+
+"Every nation has its hero.
+
+"You have been told how that poor Louis le Debonnaire, the son of
+Charlemagne, preferred to win crowns for Christ's kingdom rather than
+for his own. He lost his own kingdom; but the missionaries he sent
+forth, though at first not successful, were the means of giving
+Christianity to all the nations of the North.
+
+
+ THE HERO KING OF SWEDEN.
+
+ There was born in Stockholm, in 1594, an heir to the Swedish throne,
+ whose influence was destined to be felt throughout the world and to
+ very distant periods of time. The child was named Gustavus Adolphus.
+
+ He was educated for the kingdom. At the age of ten he was made to
+ attend the sittings of the Diet and the councils of state. In
+ boyhood he was able to discuss state affairs in Latin, and in youth
+ he was able to speak nearly all European tongues.
+
+ He was schooled in the arts of war as well as peace. In early
+ manhood he entered Russia at the head of an army, and compelled the
+ Czar to sue for peace.
+
+ After the war the young king gave his whole heart to the development
+ of the industries and institutions of his kingdom. He founded
+ schools, assisted churches, and everywhere multiplied influences
+ for good. Never did a monarch devote himself more earnestly to the
+ improvement of his people, or accomplish more in a short time. His
+ influence for good has ever lived in Sweden, and is felt strongly
+ to-day.
+
+ He was an ardent Protestant. The Catholic powers of the South and
+ the Protestant powers of the North had become very hostile, and war
+ between them seemed impending. In this crisis the Protestant leaders
+ looked to Gustavus Adolphus as the champion of their cause.
+
+ In 1630 Gustavus called a Diet in Stockholm, and reported the danger
+ that was threatening the Protestant states of Germany, and which
+ would involve Sweden unless checked. He announced that he had
+ decided to espouse the cause of the German princes, and to enter the
+ field. He took his little daughter in his arms, and commended her to
+ the Diet as the heir to the crown.
+
+ He landed in Germany on Midsummer's day in 1630. He had an army of
+ fifteen thousand men. It was a small army indeed for so perilous an
+ undertaking. "_Cum Deo et victricibus armis_ is my motto," he
+ declared, and trusting in this watchword he advanced on his
+ dangerous course.
+
+ The Imperialists, as the foes of the Reformed Faith were called,
+ were led by Wallenstein. They were greatly superior in numbers to
+ the Swedes and their allies.
+
+ At Lutzen the great battle of Protestantism was fought, Nov. 6,
+ 1632.
+
+ "I truly believe that the Lord has given my enemies into my hands,"
+ said Gustavus, just before the battle.
+
+ The morning dawned gray and gloomy. A heavy mist hung over the two
+ armies.
+
+ The Swedish and German army united in singing Luther's hymn,--
+
+ "Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott."
+
+ Then Gustavus said,--
+
+ "Let us sing 'Christ our Salvation.'"
+
+ [Illustration: DEATH OF GUSTAVUS AND HIS PAGE.]
+
+ "Be not dismayed, thou little flock,
+ Although the foe's fierce battle-shock,
+ Loud on all sides, assail thee.
+ Though o'er thy fall they laugh secure,
+ Their triumph cannot long endure;
+ Let not thy courage fail thee.
+
+ "Thy cause is God's,--go at his call,
+ And to his hand commit thy all;
+ Fear thou no ill impending:
+ His Gideon shall arise for thee,
+ God's Word and people manfully,
+ In God's own time, defending.
+
+ "Our hope is sure in Jesus' might;
+ Against themselves the godless fight,
+ Themselves, not us, distressing;
+ Shame and contempt their lot shall be;
+ God is with us, with him are we:
+ To us belongs his blessing."
+
+ Clad in his overcoat without armor, he mounted his horse and rode
+ along the lines.
+
+ "The enemy is within your reach," he said to the allies.
+
+ "Swedes," he said to his old army, "if you fight as I expect of you,
+ you shall have your reward; if not, not a bone of your bodies will
+ ever return to Sweden."
+
+ To the Germans he said,--
+
+ "If you fail me to-day, your religion, your freedom, and your
+ welfare in this world and in the next are lost."
+
+ He prophesied to the Germans,--
+
+ "Trust in God; believe that with his help you may this day gain a
+ victory which shall profit your latest descendants."
+
+ He waved his drawn sword over his head and advanced.
+
+ The Swedes and Finns responded with cheers and the clash of arms.
+
+ "Jesus, Jesus, let us fight this day for thy name," he exclaimed.
+
+ The whole army was now in motion, the king leading amid the darkness
+ and gloom of the mist.
+
+ The battle opened with an immediate success for the Swedes. But in
+ the moment of victory the king was wounded and fell from his horse.
+
+ "The king is killed!"
+
+ The report was like a death-knell to the Swedes, but only for a
+ moment.
+
+ The king's horse with an empty saddle was seen galloping wildly down
+ the road.
+
+ "Lead us again to the attack," the leaders demanded of George of
+ Saxe-Weimar.
+
+ The spirit of the dead king seemed to infuse the little army with
+ more than human valor. The men fought as though they were resolved
+ to give their lives to their cause. The memory of the king's words
+ in the morning thrilled them. Nothing could stand before such
+ heroism. Pappenheim fell. The Imperialists were routed. The Swedes
+ at night, victorious, possessed the field, but they had lost the
+ bravest of kings, and one of the most unselfish of rulers.
+
+"We left Stockholm for Upsala, the student city. The paddles of the
+boat brushed along the waters of the Maelar; the old city retreated
+from view, and landscape after landscape of variegated beauty rose
+before us.
+
+"The Maelar Lake is margined with dark pines, bright meadows and
+fields, light green linden-trees, gray rocks, and shadowy woods. Here
+and there are red houses among the lindens.
+
+"We pass flat-bottomed boats, that dance about in the current made by
+the steamer.
+
+"The hills of Upsala come into view. The University next appears, like
+a palace; then a palace indeed, red like the houses; then the gabled
+town.
+
+"We went to the church, and were conducted into a vaulted chamber
+where were crowns and sceptres taken from the coffins of dead kings.
+We wandered along the aisle after leaving the treasure-room of the
+dead, and gazed on cold tombs and dusty frescos.
+
+"Here sleeps Gustavus Vasa.
+
+"In the centre aisle, under a flat stone, lies the great botanist,
+Linnaeus.
+
+"We visited the garden of Linnaeus, or the place where it once bore the
+blossoms and fruits of the world. Nettles were there; the orangeries
+were gone; the winter garden had disappeared. The place wore a
+desolate look; the master had departed, leaving little there but the
+ghost of a great memory.
+
+"We left Stockholm for Norway.
+
+ [Illustration: CASCADE IN NORWAY.]
+
+"We were landed from the steamer at Christiansand. This sea-port is a
+rude town, and except from the wild, strange expression of both land
+and sea, which affects one gloomily, yet with a kind of poetic
+sadness, revealed little to interest us or to remember. There was a
+Lazaretto, or pest-house, on a high rock, from which we felt sure that
+no disease would ever be communicated.
+
+ [Illustration: LAZARETTO.]
+
+"The scenery of Norway is unlike any other in the world. Take the map
+and scan the western coast. It looks like a piece of lace-work, so
+numerous are the inlets or fiords.
+
+"These fiords are many of them surrounded by headlands as high as
+mountain walls. They are little havens, with calm water of wondrous
+beauty and with walls that seem to reach to the sky. On a level spot
+in the mountainous formation, a hamlet or a little church is sometimes
+seen, one of the most picturesque objects with its setting in the
+world."
+
+[The artist can give one a better view of these fiords than any
+description, and he has faithfully done it here.]
+
+ [Illustration: THE NAERO FIORD.]
+
+"The mountains and valleys of Norway are unlike any other. Summer
+finds them as winter leaves them. Great hills are worn into cones by
+the snow and ice. The cataracts are numerous and wonderful. The water
+scenery has no equal for romantic beauty and wildness.
+
+"A twelve hours' farther sail brought us to Christiania. It is
+situated in a lovely valley on the northern side of Christiania
+Fiord. It has a population of about eighty thousand. Here are the
+Royal Palace and University.
+
+"All of the cities of the North have great schools and libraries. The
+University at Christiania has nearly a thousand students, and a
+library of one hundred and fifty thousand books.
+
+"The port is covered with ice during some four months in the year.
+During the mild seasons some two thousand vessels yearly enter the
+harbor.
+
+"Olaf, the Saint, the King of 'Norroway,' who preached the Gospel
+'with his sword,' is the hero of the western coast. I might relate
+many wonderful stories of him, but I would advise you to read 'The
+Saga of King Olaf,' by Longfellow, in the 'Wayside Inn.'
+
+"His capital was Drontheim, far up among the northern regions, where
+the sun shines all night in summer, and where the winters are wild and
+dreary, cold and long. It is a quaint old town. Summer tourists to the
+western coast of Norway sometimes visit it. Its cathedral was founded
+by Olaf, and is nearly a thousand years old.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+"And now in ten nights' entertainments, you have taken hasty views of
+Germany and the old Kingdom of Charlemagne. Narratives of travel and
+history have been mingled with strange traditions and tales of
+superstition; all have combined to give pictures of the ages that are
+faded and gone, and that civilization can never wish to recall. Men
+are reaching higher levels in religion, knowledge, science, and the
+arts. Kingcraft is giving way to the governing intelligence of the
+people, and superstition to the simple doctrines of the Sermon on the
+Mount and to the experiences of a spiritual life. The age of castles
+and fortresses, like churches, is gone. The age of peace and good-will
+comes with the fuller light of the Gospel and intelligence. The pomps
+of cathedrals will never be renewed. The Church is coming to teach
+that character is everything, and that the soul is the temple of God's
+spiritual indwelling."
+
+The tenth evening was closed by Charlie Leland. He read an original
+poem, suggested by an incident related to him by a fisherman at
+Stockholm.
+
+ [Illustration: LAKE IN NORWAY.]
+
+
+ THE FISHERMAN OF FAROE.
+
+ When life was young, my white sail hung
+ O'er ocean's crystal floor;
+ In the fiords alee was the dreaming sea,
+ And the deep sea waves before.
+ The Faroe fishermen used to call
+ From the pier's extremest post:
+ "Strike out, my boy, from the ocean wall;
+ There's danger near the coast.
+ Beware of the drifting dunes
+ In the nights of the watery moons,
+ Beware of the Maelstrom's tide
+ When the western wind blows free,
+ Of the rocks of the Skagerrack,
+ Of the shoals of the Cattegat;
+ Strike out for the open sea,
+ Strike out for the open sea!"
+
+ "O pilot! pilot! every rock
+ You know in the ocean wall."
+ "No, no, my boy, I only know
+ Where there are no rocks at all,
+ Where there are no rocks at all, my boy,
+ And there no ship is lost.
+ Strike out, strike out for the open sea;
+ There's danger near the coast.
+ Beware, I say, of the dunes
+ In the nights of the watery moons,
+ Beware of the Maelstrom's tide
+ When the western wind blows free,
+ Of the rocks of the Skagerrack,
+ Of the shoals of the Cattegat;
+ Strike out for the open sea,
+ Strike out for the open sea!"
+
+ Low sunk the trees in the sun-laved seas,
+ And the flash of peaking oars
+ Grew faint and dim on the sheeny rim
+ Of the harbor-dented shores.
+ And far Faroe in the light lay low,
+ Where rode like a dauntless host
+ The white-plumed waves o'er the green sea graves
+ Of the rock-imperilled coast.
+ And I thought of the drifting dunes
+ In the nights of the watery moons,
+ And I thought of the Maelstrom's tide
+ When the western wind blew free,
+ Of the rocks of the Skagerrack,
+ Of the shoals of the Cattegat,
+ And I steered for the open sea,
+ I steered for the open sea.
+
+ To far Faroe I sailed away,
+ When bright the summer burned,
+ And I told in the old Norse kirk one day
+ The lesson my heart had learned.
+ Then the grizzly landvogt said to me:
+ "Of strength we may not boast;
+ But ever in life for you and me
+ There's danger near the coast.
+ Then think of the drifting dunes
+ In the nights of the watery moons,
+ And think of the Maelstrom's tide
+ When the western wind blows free,
+ Of the rocks of the Skagerrack,
+ Of the shoals of the Cattegat;
+ Strike out for the open sea,
+ Strike out for the open sea!"
+
+ "O landvogt, well thou knowest the ways
+ Wherein my feet may fall."
+ "Oh, no, my boy, I only know
+ The ways that are safe to all,
+ The ways that are safe to all, my boy,
+ And there no soul is lost.
+ Strike out in life for the open sea,
+ There's danger near the coast.
+ Then think of the drifting dunes
+ In the nights of the watery moons,
+ And think of the Maelstrom's tide
+ When the western wind blows free,
+ Of the rocks of the Skagerrack,
+ Of the shoals of the Cattegat;
+ Strike out for the open sea,
+ Strike out for the open sea!
+
+ "False lights, false lights, are near the land,
+ The reef the land wave hides,
+ And the ship goes down in sight of the town
+ That safe the deep sea rides.
+ 'Tis those who steer the old life near
+ Temptation suffer most;
+ The way is plain to life's open main,
+ There's danger near the coast.
+ Beware of the drifting dunes
+ In the nights of the watery moons,
+ Beware of the Maelstrom's tide
+ When the western wind blows free,
+ Of the rocks of the Skagerrack,
+ Of the shoals of the Cattegat;
+ Strike out for the open sea,
+ Strike out for the open sea!"
+
+ And so on life's sea I sailed away,
+ Where free the waters flow,
+ As I sailed from the old home port that day
+ For the islands of far Faroe.
+ And when I steer temptation near,
+ The pilot, like a ghost,
+ On the wave-rocked pier I seem to hear:
+ "There's danger near the coast.
+ Beware of the drifting dunes
+ In the nights of the watery moons,
+ Beware of the Maelstrom's tide
+ When the western wind blows free,
+ Of the rocks of the Skagerrack,
+ Of the shoals of the Cattegat;
+ Strike out for the open sea,
+ Strike out for the open sea!"
+
+ [Illustration: THE COAST.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE GREATER RHINE.
+
+ THE RETURN HOMEWARD.--ON THE TERRACE,--QUEBEC.
+
+
+The Class made their return voyage by the way of Liverpool to Quebec,
+one of the shortest of the ocean ferries, and one of the most
+delightful in midsummer and early autumn, when the Atlantic is usually
+calm, and the icebergs have melted away.
+
+As the steamer was passing down the Mersey, and Liverpool with her
+thousands of ships, and Birkenhead with its airy cottages, were
+disappearing from view, Mr. Beal remarked to the boys,--
+
+"We shall return through the Straits, and so shall be probably only
+four and a half days out of sight of land."
+
+"I did not suppose it was possible to cross the Atlantic from land to
+land in four days and a half," said Charlie Leland.
+
+"We shall stop to-morrow at Moville, the port of Londonderry," said
+Mr. Beal. "A few hours after we leave we shall sink the Irish coast.
+Make notes of the time you lose sight of the light-houses of Ireland,
+and of the time when you first see Labrador, and compare the dates
+towards the end of the voyage," said Mr. Beal.
+
+Past the green hills of Ireland the steamer glided along, among ships
+so numerous that the sea seemed a moving city, or the suburbs of a
+moving city; for Liverpool itself, with her seven miles of wonderful
+docks, is a city of the sea.
+
+The Giant's Causeway, the sunny port of Moville, the rocky islands
+with their white light-houses, were passed, and at one o'clock on
+Monday morning the last light dropped into the calm sea, fading like a
+star.
+
+The Atlantic was perfectly calm--as "calm as a mill-pond" as the
+expression is, during the tranquillity of the ocean that follows the
+settled summer weather. The steamer was heavily loaded, and had little
+apparent motion; bright days and bright nights succeeded each other. A
+flock of gulls followed the steamer far out to sea. For three days no
+object of interest was seen on the level ocean except the occasional
+spouting of a whale.
+
+The sky was a glory in the long twilights. The sun when half set made
+the distant ocean seem like an island of fire, and the light clouds
+after sunset like hazes drifting away from a Paradisic sphere.
+
+On Thursday morning the shadowy coast of Labrador appeared. The voyage
+seemed now virtually ended after four days from land to land. There
+were three days more, but the steamer would be in calm water, with
+land constantly in view.
+
+The Straits of Belle Isle, some six miles wide, were as calm as had
+been the ocean. The Gulf of St. Lawrence--the fishing field of the
+world--was like a surface of glass. The sunrise and moonrise were now
+magnificent; the sunsets brought scenes to view as wonderful as the
+skies of Italy; gigantic mountains rose; clustering sails broke the
+monotonous expanse of the glassy sea, and now and then appeared an
+Indian canoe such as Jacques Cartier and the early explorers saw
+nearly three centuries ago.
+
+The wild shores of Anticosti rose and sunk.
+
+"We are now in the Greater Rhine," said Mr. Beal to the boys,--"the
+Rhine of the West."
+
+"How is that?" asked Charlie Leland. "Is not the Hudson the American
+Rhine?"
+
+ [Illustration: NIAGARA FALLS.]
+
+"It is the New York Rhine," said Mr. Beal, smiling. "The river St.
+Lawrence is, by right of analogy, the American Rhine, and so deserves
+to be called."
+
+"Which is the larger river?" asked Charlie.
+
+"The larger?"
+
+"Yes, the longer?"
+
+"It does not seem possible that an American schoolboy could seriously
+ask such a question! I am sometimes astonished, however, at the
+ignorance that older people of intelligence show in regard to our
+river of which all Americans should be proud.
+
+"Ours is the Greater Rhine. The German Rhine is less than a thousand
+miles long; our Rhine is nearly twenty-five hundred miles long: the
+German Rhine can at almost any point be easily spanned with bridges;
+our Rhine defies bridges, except in its narrowest boundaries. The
+great inland seas of Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Erie
+require a width of miles for their pathway to the ocean. The Rhine
+falls cannot be compared with Niagara, nor the scattered islands of
+the old river with the Lake of a Thousand Islands of the new. Quebec
+is as beautiful as Coblentz, and Montreal is in its situation one of
+the loveliest cities of the world.
+
+"The tributaries of the old Rhine are small; those of the new are
+almost as large as the old Rhine itself,--the gloomy Saguenay, and the
+sparkling Ottawa.
+
+"Think of its lakes! Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe, contains
+only 6,330 square miles. Lake Superior has 32,000 square miles, and
+Michigan 22,000 square miles.
+
+"You will soon have a view of the mountain scenery of the lower St.
+Lawrence. The pine-covered walls along which trail the clouds of the
+sky are almost continuous to Montreal."
+
+"But why," asked Charlie Leland, "is the German Rhine so famous, and
+ours so little celebrated?"
+
+"The German Rhine gathers around it the history of two thousand years;
+ours, two hundred years. What will our Rhine be two thousand years
+from to-day?"
+
+He added:--
+
+"I look upon New England as one of the best products of civilization
+thus far. But there is rising a new New England in the West, a vast
+empire in the States of the Northwest and in Canada, to which New
+England is as a province,--an empire that in one hundred years will
+lead the thought, the invention, and the statesmanship of the world.
+Every prairie schooner that goes that way is like a sail of the
+'Mayflower.'
+
+"In yonder steerage are a thousand emigrants. The easy-going,
+purse-proud cabin passengers do not know it; they do not visit them or
+give much thought to them: but there are the men and women whose
+children will one day sway the empire that will wear the crown of the
+world.
+
+"The castles are fading from view on the hills of the old Rhine; towns
+and cities are leaping into life on the new. The procession of cities,
+like a triumphal march, will go on, on, on. The Canadian Empire will
+probably one day lock hands with the imperial States of the Northwest;
+Mexico, perhaps, will join the Confederacy, and Western America will
+doubtless vie with Eastern Russia in power, in progress, and in the
+glories of the achievements of the arts and sciences. Our Rhine has
+the future: let the old Rhine have the past."
+
+The Class approached Quebec at night. The scene was beautiful: like a
+city glimmering against the sky, the lights of the lower town, of the
+upper town, and of the Castle standing on the heights, shone brightly
+against the hills; and the firing of guns and the striking of bells
+were echoed from the opposite hills of the calm and majestic river.
+
+The Class spent a day at Quebec, chiefly on the Terrace,--one of the
+most beautiful promenades in the world. From the Terrace the boys saw
+the making up of the emigrant trains on the opposite side of the
+river, where the steamer had landed, and saw them disappear along the
+winding river, going to the great province of Ontario, the lone woods
+of Muskoka, and the far shores of the Georgian Bay.
+
+ [Illustration: A NEW ENGLAND IN THE WEST.]
+
+ [Illustration: NEAR QUEBEC.]
+
+"I wish we might make a Zigzag journey on the St. Lawrence," said
+Charlie Leland.
+
+"And collect the old legends, stories, and histories of the Indian
+tribes, and the early explorers and French settlers," added Mr. Beal.
+"Perhaps some day we may be able to do so. I am in haste to return to
+the States, but I regret to leave a place so perfectly beautiful as
+the Terrace of Quebec. It is delightful to sit here and see the
+steamers go and come; to watch the bright, happy faces pass, and to
+recall the fact that the river below is doubtless to be the water-path
+of the nations that will most greatly influence future times. But our
+journey is ended: let us go."
+
+
+ ON THE TERRACE,--QUEBEC.
+
+ Alone, beside these peaceful guns
+ I walk,--the eve is calm and fair;
+ Below, the broad St. Lawrence runs,
+ Above, the castle shines in air,
+ And o'er the breathless sea and land
+ Night stretches forth her jewelled hand.
+
+ Amid the crowds that hurry past--
+ Bright faces like a sunlit tide--
+ Some eyes the gifts of friendship cast
+ Upon me, as I walk aside,
+ Kind, wordless welcomes understood,
+ The Spirit's touch of brotherhood.
+
+ Below, the sea; above, the sky,
+ Smile each to each, a vision fair;
+ So like Faith's zones of light on high,
+ A sphere seraphic seems the air,
+ And loving thoughts there seem to meet,
+ And come and go with golden feet.
+
+ Below me lies the old French town,
+ With narrow rues and churches quaint,
+ And tiled roofs and gables brown,
+ And signs with names of many a saint.
+ And there in all I see appears
+ The heart of twice an hundred years.
+
+ Beyond, by inky steamers mailed,
+ Point Levi's painted roofs arise,
+ Where emigration long has hailed
+ The empires of the western skies;
+ And lightly wave the red flags there,
+ Like roses of the damask air.
+
+ Peace o'er yon garden spreads her palm,
+ Where heroes fought in other days;
+ And Honor speaks of brave Montcalm
+ On Wolfe's immortal shaft of praise.
+ What lessons that I used to learn
+ In schoolboy days to me return!
+
+ Fair terrace of the Western Rhine,
+ I leave thee with unwilling feet,
+ I long shall see thy castle shine
+ As bright as now, in memories sweet;
+ And cheerful thank the kindly eyes
+ That lent to me their sympathies.
+
+ Go, friendly hearts, that met by chance
+ A stranger for a little while;
+ Friendship itself is but a glance,
+ And love is but a passing smile.
+ I am a pilgrim,--all I meet
+ Are glancing eyes and hurrying feet.
+
+ Farewell; in dreams I see again
+ The northern river of the vine,
+ While crowns the sun with golden grain
+ The hillsides of the greater Rhine.
+ And here shall grow as years increase
+ The empires of the Rhine of Peace.
+
+
+
+
+University Press: John Wilson & Son, Cambridge.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note
+
+This book contains some archaic spelling, which has been preserved as
+printed. Minor punctuation errors have been repaired.
+
+There is some variable spelling, particularly of place names; this has
+been repaired where there was a definite prevalence of one form over
+the other, but is otherwise left as printed.
+
+Page 12--"Castle at" amended to "Bell Tower of"--"Bell Tower of
+Heidelberg 229"
+
+There are two references on page 57 to "Crofe Castle" in Dorsetshire,
+which appear to be an author error for "Corfe Castle". These have
+been preserved as printed.
+
+Character dialogue sometimes transitions into tales, which do not use
+continuing quote marks. As a result, some closing quotes are omitted,
+and this has been preserved as printed.
+
+The frontispiece illustration and advertising material have been moved
+to follow the title page. Other illustrations have been moved where
+necessary so that they are not in the middle of a paragraph.
+
+The list of illustrations included some captions which were not included
+with their corresponding image in the main text. These have been added.
+
+A pointing hand symbol is indicated with -->.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of ZigZag Journeys in Northern Lands;, by
+Hezekiah Butterworth
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ZIGZAG JOURNEYS IN NORTHERN LANDS; ***
+
+***** This file should be named 28915.txt or 28915.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+ https://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/9/1/28915/
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Sam W. and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+ the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+ you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is
+ owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+ has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+ Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments
+ must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+ prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+ returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+ sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+ address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+ the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+ you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+ does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+ License. You must require such a user to return or
+ destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+ and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+ Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+ money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+ electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+ of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+ distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+ Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+ Chief Executive and Director
+ gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+ https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
generated by cgit v1.2.3 (git 2.25.1) at 2026-03-13 18:04:09 +0000