Зображення сторінки
PDF
ePub

himself in defence of his love. Habituated as they are to scenes of sanguinary hostility, they acquire a fearlessness of disposition; their hearts do not become dejected when they are aware that it is an astringent duty, and a proof of their allegiance; but in nowise do they relinquish that innate virtue of the soul which will survive the wreck of matter and the crash of worlds. Speak, Julia, dearest Julia, for the time is at hand when I must go; I am ready to assent to any proposal you may incline to make. Order me and I will obey with pleasure, but never call the heart of your Frederic ungrateful.'

"Here he evidently betrayed much emotion, and leaning upon his sword seemed wrapped in contemplation.

"I was in error, I admit, when I said so; but what could I think? my mind is confused with the idea. This night terminates your stay in Dublin. How pregnant with anguish is the thought! Ah! the thought bewilders me, but Heaven, I hope, is propitious. I do not wish to be the first in proposing any plan for the consummation of an object which I conceive is as sincerely wished after by you as myself; but the thought of your departure is intolerable, and accelerates the draught already in the cup.'

"For some minutes a silence ensued. The silver beams of the moon fell on everything around, rendering his tall, dark form very conspicuous. He evidently was deeply absorbed in some thought, for, standing erect, and affecting an animated address, he said,

"To act with precipitation in a matter so vastly important to our happiness should be avoided, not only to afford ourselves substantial enjoyment, and that our dignity may not be blighted, but to consolidate our own with our parents' happiness. Let it be till morning to decide, and may Heaven direct us to whatever may be for our mutual advantage. If Heaven desires it we must submit. To leave thee-no! rather endure ten thousand pangs than cause thee one hour's disquietude.'

"Enough,' she exclaimed, assuming a more lively attitude; I am convinced of your constancy; but the time is at hand when honour calls upon us to separate; not, however, without the prospect of meeting again. It is now approximating midnight rapidly, and as thou art imperatively called on to attend to the bugles of the reveille in the morning, I fear that I am intruding in keeping you from your repose. The intervening hours will be scarcely sufficient for the refection of your body; your time is precious, therefore, however painful separation may be, do not be prodigal of it on my account. Only thou art a soldier we should be happy; what an insuperable barrier to our happiness is this!'

"Here she caught his hand, and pressed it to her bosom with an air of unaffected tenderness, saying,

"I don't know why I should wish to be a soldier, but I would that I were going with thee.'

"Ah! cruel fate, that would thus interpose a barrier to our

[ocr errors]

happiness. Julia, I could never endure that heart-rending sound, farewell: rather than give it utterance I would plunge this sword into my breast. Although our time is short we must be united; as thou pleasest let it be done, and the first opportunity I may have afterwards, I shall apply for leave of absence to spend some months with thee in London.'

"A silence followed this for a short time, and when she replied, an irrepressible emotion choked her utterance, so that I could scarcely distinguish what she said. The word hotel' alone caught my ear, and perceiving that they were walking somewhat in a lively manner, I concluded that he was about to engage posthorses to have her conveyed to some place; nor have I any reason to suppose such was not his intention, for after half an hour's smart walk they entered a house, over the door of which a brilliant lamp was placed, and which I afterwards ascertained to be the Enniskillen Hotel.

"I now wended my way towards home, which with no little difficulty I arrived at precisely at half-past twelve. The impression which these two lovers had made on my mind affected me very much, and every two or three minutes my imagination would represent them, either embracing one another tenderly, or communicating their love in the most affecting pathos.

"I sat down for some minutes, cogitating on the party whose love disclosures I, alas! had overheard. What a thing is love! how it operates on the soul of its victim; and what is that man capable of who is not susceptible of its impressions? The tones of her sweet voice yet vibrated on my ear, and left an indelible impression on my mind. Would that I had never heard them. speak; that curiosity had never induced me to follow them, for then I should not be agitated with sensations like these which now pervade my frame. How easily young hearts become charmed when they hear the whisperings of love; it overwhelms them at once with its influence, and like a torrent, with irresistible impetuosity, it sweeps away every other concern.

666

"Oh! what a thing is love!' said I, rising from my seat to prepare for bed. But I could not banish the thought which preyed upon my mind, or obliterate the scene from my remembrance. I endeavoured to think of the castle, the theatre, and other matters, but the thought of her whom I had seen, and who was about to elope with the Hussar officer, preponderated over every other. The subject, I am afraid, is too melancholy to be proceeded with, and as I am not one who delighteth in melancholy scenes and relations, I shall forbear continuing it.

"In a few hours I was asleep in a good feather bed, with three good blankets enveloping my precious body; so that, although it was a cold frosty night, in bed there was not the slightest possibility of my freezing.

66

Being in the news-room a few days after, and perusing one of

the

papers which presented itself to my attention, the following paragraph, which will tend to throw some light upon the affair, was conspicuously observable in its columns.

"Elopement. On the morning of the -th inst., a gallant son of Mars, holding a commission in theth Hussars, Frederic Esquire, eloped with Miss Julia ——, only daughter of Sir James and heiress of property to a considerable amount.'

"No doubt, of course, was entertained by me as to the individuals thus brought before the public notice.

"So they have done it at last,' I exclaimed, throwing down the paper on the table, after which I repaired to the Bilton Hotel, to drown my cares in a few glasses of the best Cognac the house could produce."

[blocks in formation]

It was a dream-oh! such a dream
As made it grief to wake,

And view the pale moon's cheerless beam,
And watch the morning break;

The sunless night and slumber deep
Were sweeter far to me

When I once more, though but in sleep,
Those buried forms could see.

"Twas but a dream, yet would that I
Could thus dream life away,
And, through the soul's bright agency,
Return to childhood's day;
By saintly cell and holy fane,
Still list the vesper chime,

And view those buried forms again
That bless'd life's early prime.

"Twas but a dream-'tis gone-'tis past!
Home of my dream farewell-

My boyhood's home-that to the last
I love, God knows how well!
Back to the world I haste again,

To scenes of heartless joy,

To mingle with the proud and vain,
Though still in heart a boy.

NOTE.

The Minnesangers (or Minne-singers) were a description of poets in Germany who flourished chiefly in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. Their productions had some affinity to those of the troubadours, but were more simple and natural. Like the rest of the bardic tribe in those early days, the Minnesangers were held in high estimation and had many honours paid them. Henry Frauenlob, who died at Mentz in the year 1318, was carried to the grave by females. He was one of the first twelve masters and poets of Germany who recited their compositions at Pavia before the Emperor Otho the First and Pope Leo the Eighth, with great applause, and were honoured by those potentates with a charter and a golden crown, authorizing them to sing and diffuse their art throughout the whole Roman empire of the German nation. The composi tions of the Minnesanger Dietman Von Aste are beautifully simple and touching, and surprisingly refined when we consider that he flourished in the thirteenth century. One of his songs was the last which the celebrated Sir John Stevenson ever set. The opening stanza is very sweet.

"There sat upon the linden tree

A bird, and sang its strain,

So sweet it sang that, as I heard,
My heart went back again;

It went to one beloved spot,

It saw the rose-trees grow,

And thought again the thoughts of love
There cherished long ago."

LEAVING OFF BUSINESS.

Most of the good things of this life are unquestionably distributed with uneven hand, and perhaps none more so than the time supposed to fly on smooth untroubled wing, called leisure.

Reader, if you have too much we pity you; if you have too little we warn you to beware how you hold up your hands to invoke the gods for a larger supply. Let us hear first wherefore you desire it, and what you would do with it. It is an acknowledged axiom that fewer know how to spend a fortune than to obtain one; that is, to spend it gracefully, pleasurably, usefully; and the gourmand, the vulgar parvenue, and the miser, are no more unworthy of wealth than the indolent and the ignorant of leisure; in both cases it seems almost retributive justice when their abuse and waste bring suffering and ruin.

Moreover, we believe there are many (and by wise ordering of Providence it is that to these leisure in its largest sense is seldom allotted) are no more to be trusted with it than monkeys with firearms, or children with scissors-they will use it mischievously, harmfully. Look, for example, on the other side of the water; well does the modern Ulysses know the danger of allowing the subjects over whom he watches with such paternal vigilance too much leisure; happy is he when le jeune France will occupy himself with any of the schools of art or design which political expediency has fostered to amuse and divert his mind while cultivating his moustache, from the too intense contemplation of the contrast of the greatness to which he deems himself born, with the individual nothingness wherewith, in these times of peace, he is forced to rest content.

So far as mischief is concerned, young England has hitherto been managed better. What between home discipline and early apprenticeships, and more than all, the determination of Englishwomen neither to turn sole shop-venders or field drudges, while their liege lords strut with their hands in their pockets, he is pretty well kept from harmful thoughts and ways long past the hey-dey of youth and life. Tied to the counter or the desk, he is thoroughly reined in through the only years when he would be likely to run wild; all his thoughts, feelings, and intelligence are merged in some useful avocation; to get on demands the devotion of his whole faculties; they are given stringently, strenuously, unreservedly ; success follows, he flourishes and is happy.

The only relaxation he knows during that period is taken on

« НазадПродовжити »