His hand is arrested by the music, and he spell after spell, and presently Mephistopherecollects that it is the eve of the Saviour's nativity—the strain continues————— Chorus of Youths. "The buried is raised Has left us to roam, "Christ is arisen From mortal decay! From the limbs that were bound Tear the bandage away. Who preached and who praised Nor quits you again!" A les (the spirit) appears from behind the "What though remembered music's powers Still shall my curse invoke confusion On flattery's web and falsehood's spell; Confines us to this earthly hell. And first I curse the loftier dreaming As wife, and child, and house, and slave! These are the true execrations of a heart palled with life. The "lofty dreaming" of the mind which leads man on with buoyant hopes and high expectations, and which leaves him with its promises unfulfilled, and This closes the first scene. In the next its aspirings unrewarded, as it is the source of we meet Faust walking in the fields at eve-misery in Faust, is the first and signal object ning-he looks at the declining sun and re- of his curse. After numbering all the sourcounts a vision of his fancy, in which he fol-ces of human enjoyment, from the vilest to lowed the golden orb, and leaving darkness the purest, the impulse of ambition, the arbehind him, "on rushed to drink the eternal dor for immortal fame, the sordid spirit of light." But the vision vanished, and came avarice, the sweets of domestic happiness, never again. As he is returning to his the generous fire of love, the ever fresh home, a sable hound courses around him.- spring of hope, and the ecstasy of devotionFaust takes the animal along with him to after cursing all these, as unsubstantial and bis study. He takes up his translation of hollow, he finishes the climax by execrating the Testament, and begins to correct it.- above all the rest the spirit of patience, The dog runs to and fro, howls and inter- which will prevent man from self-destrucrupts him, and at length begins to change in tion, when all these fountains of enjoyment shape and appearance. Faust pronounces are dry amidst the burning sands of exist t ter. ence. There is true philosophy in this, and a just estimation of the attributes of characPatience has no part in active, energetic, and aspiring minds-the impulse that goads them on, racks and tortures them if their advancement be checked; and after the ways of life have all been explored, and the fruits of every tree tasted, they find that "quiet to quick bosoms is a hell." Faust now forms a compact with the demon, and signs it with his blood-the fiend is to serve him here, to obey his commands and gratify his wishes, and hereafter the master is to be the servant. Faust does not require happiness from his new ally-he asks for the tumultuous and maddening excitement of the passions, for all their highwrought pleasure, and all their dreadful reaction, and for lasting perdition when all this shall have been enjoyed and suffered.They then go forth to see the world, and to mix with men. In crossing the street of a city, Faust meets with Margaret, and is instantly fascinated by her beauty. To win her love, he soon after deposits a casket of rich gems (by the agency of his ally) in her apartment, and retires. The maiden enters, discovers the casket, and contemplates its treasures in delighted surprise. But much to her dissatisfaction her mother discovers that the shining gems were "not blessed by book or bell," and delivers them to her confessor. Faust, however, succeeds in gaining the affections of the beautiful and confiding girl, but even this high blessing does not bring him happiness. He is still unchanged in his lot-the same deep longing and restlessness of soul, which was his primal curse, clings to him still, darkened and harrowed by the reflection that the happiness of her whom he loved, has been wrecked in the storms of his own wild destiny. We pass over a few scenes, and find Margaret in a cathedral, where the anthem is Evil Spirit. The last trumpet sounds- Margaret. "Were I but hence! As if the anthem's note "I pant for room! The vaulted roof "Hide thyself! Sin and shame Chorus. "Quid sum miser tunc dicturus, "The glorified are turning To join their hands in thine. Chorus. "Quid sum miser tunc dicturus ?" "Help me, I faint." This closes the cathedral scene. In the next, Faust and Mephistopheles are roam- poured to the praise of the Almighty. The pass through many a strange fantastic scene, described in beautiful verse and rich colours. We extract the highly poetical pic exclaims The affrighted girl "See, like the morning's earliest waking, Here swells the mine-damp, spreading, wreathing, There in a corner's narrow mansion, Like golden sands shoot out and fall: roaming alone at night by the sea-beaten coast, or solitary grove, murmuring our sorrows, has a bitter sweetness in it that in a measure compensates for our distress. He who really and sincerely loves, even when forsaken, tells not his tale to mortal ear, but when in solitude, opens his mind to Heaven, craves that the tempest within his bosom may be stilled, and with the self-same But we must quit this golden region, to which the evil spirit led Faust, and in search of which countless millions have met the evil spirit, and hasten to the catastrophe.-breath asks a blessing for her, the cause of Margaret is now in prison, her hands red with murder, and her brain maddened by despair. Faust comes to release her; he urges her again and again to flee, but she refuses: Mephistopheles appears in the door-way, and warns Faust to retire, for the sun will soon rise, and his phantom steeds can wait no longer. Margaret refuses, and commits herself to the justice of heaven. Margaret. "Henry, I shudder, 'tis for thee !" Mephistopheles. "She is condemned!" Voices from above. "Is pardoned." Mephistopheles (to Faust.) "Hence and flee !" [Vanishes with Faust.] all his sufferings. And when obliged to minhis heart feels, but speaks as joyously, and gle with society, he carries himself, not as laughs as loudly, as he was wont,-though with a different tone, the which, those deep skilled in the human heart can plainly discover. All men think they know themselves when in prosperity, but when the know myself."-There is no credit due to a hour of trial comes, few can then say, "I man for refraining from dissipation when all is sunshine in his path; it is the day of sorrow which tests him : he only is truly virtuous who then carries himself in the paths of rectitude. I knew Henry Birkenshaw well: I had known him from his infancy: the same path in life was ours, and we were seldom apart; my experience of him warrants me to say, and I do it in justice to his departed worth, that few of his age, who mingled in such gay circles lived, and died as purely as he :But, I will proceed with my story. Before we conclude this article, we must In his seventeenth year Henry Birkenexpress our satisfaction with the spirited shaw met Isabel; she was then not quite translation which Lord Gower has execu- twelve: their guardians, (for they had no ted. He has performed his task with an parents to watch over them) were in the energy worthy of his great original. He same line of business, joined in speculations, has established an undeniable claim to the and altogether were so connected, that it laurels of genius and taste, and has hung for, were the one unfortunate, the self-same was their interest to support each other; another unfading wreath around the majes-blow would have also ruined the other. This tic column of his country's literary glory. naturally strengthened the acquaintance which had just been formed between the two families, and every day it increased till it grew to closest intimacy. Henry had not yet looked on Isabel in any other light than that of a playmate, and often they romped together in all the gaiety and artless innocence of youth. Shortly after this Henry was sent to France, to give him a thorough knowledge of the country and language, by a tour through it, as well as, (placing him after its completion in a respectable countinghouse) to allow him an opportunity of acquiring mercantile information, and by this man's own exertions in his voyage of life. course to show him how much depends on a his inquiries were always of Isabel, and During his absence we corresponded: she often spoke of him, and would ask from Henry, and when he would be home. me, (for I knew her too) when I had heard The time of his return was fixed at a majority-at length it came; the ship in which he was expected, had been announced in the offing: the news I hastened to communicate to Isabel. I did not ask him afterwards of his reception :-I knew how it would be. There is no intimacy between man and man, no friendship between those of the same sex, that gives them a privilege to inquire into the words, the looks, the actions, to sum up all,-the sanctity of Love: its language was never intended for a third person's ears, and its telegraph of the eyes can only be un She was now in her sixteenth year, blooming in all the flower of youth and maiden purity --and I may safely say, the sun never shone, on so fair and beauteous a face, so elegant a figure, or so guileless a heart she was the pride of all! When I told her Henry was come, a thousand nameless little ges-derstood by those immediately concerned. tures betrayed the joy she felt. "How," she inquired, "How, yes, and when did he come?" "but has he really come?" playfully she asked, "and yet is not here?" "Oyes" said I, "he is come, the vessel is below, and be will be in town this evening." “Alas!” in disappointment she exclaimed it could not be otherwise, for not only his "then he has not yet arrived, he is only said to be below, and perhaps it is not true." "O but it is true, Isabel: the private signal is flying on his uncle's pole." "Is it then I will see him. Where do you think he will call first ?" I shall now pass over about two years during all that time my intimacy with my friend continued unabated; we were always gay; and, as is the privilege of youth, full of life. I occasionally went with him to see Isabel, he was a constant visitor there own inclination carried him thither, but the frequent invitations from Isabel's guardians often requested his presence. Suddenly a change took place in Henry's appearance: I could plainly see amid all the natural gaiety of his disposition-a something inexplicable, and an assumed manner. He "Why do you ask that question? this it seemed as if his mouth only put on the laughed, when our companions laughed, but very house is the beacon light to which he will steer you," I said jocosely, smile, while the eyes, heavy and dull, indi66 you are cated an oppression at the heart-and when the magnet that directs his compass." the joke had a moment passed, he fell to that Then unwittingly she put her hand to her triste and melancholy attitude, which plainkerchief to adjust its folds, and turning ly told all was not right within: a paleness round before the large pier-glass which re- of the face, and oftentimes, an absence of flected her now almost full formed shape, the mind, with occasional sighs, confirmed threw her hand carelessly, as it were, to her my suspicions, and induced me to inquire head, and ran her fingers among the curls the cause of his depression. I asked him that were rioting there. I saw her anxie- once, if any losses or crosses had befallen ty, and only guessed the cause, from the him in his business, (for since his return, he which to relieve her, I exclaimed, "Is- had become partner in a respectable house) abel, I must hasten to the Battery, and whereby he would be injured seriously-but wait his landing," then, making my bow, I he waived the question. I thought the frienddarted from her presence. ship which had so long subsisted between us and still unabated, gave me the privilege to inquire farther. He replied hastily, though not angrily-" My dear friend, you know my sentiments, at least, I think you do :my motto is I was the first to see Henry, he got up in a pilot-boat about dusk the moment he stepped on the wharf he took my hand, and while he was shaking it cordially, asked in a tone of impatience, "How is Isabel?" and then, as if unwilling I should discover his anxiety, added after a momentary pause"and all our other young acquaintances?" "Very well said," cried I, laughingly; "why make such a sweeping inquiry in one breath ?" his ready wit, lent him an an"For," said he, "I have so many friends to inquire after, that, were I to say, how is Miss this, and Miss that, Mr. So, and Mr. So and So, individually, I would not get through my inquiries in a week." swer. After a short walk on the Battery, I told him I had just seen Isabel, and recommend ed him to call on her without delay, and added in a tone by which I meant to carry satisfaction to his heart, "Now she is not the girl you left her"-It needed little persuasion to induce him to repair to her house without loss of time. "Whatever pangs surround, 'Tis magnanimity to hide the wound." "But let me, the partner in all your former gaiety, the mentor of your youth, know what mishap has befallen, and my consolation may in a measure outweigh your present grief." His only answer, was the following quotation from one of his favourite authors "I never yet could ask, howe'er forlorn, "Vulgar scorn!" I echoed. "Henry I be. seech ye, hear me, you know my regard for you, tell me therefore the cause of all this; this is not friendly, not what I could have expected"-" Well, well," said he, " since I will look gay; with fairest show None, too, shall ever know, how dear, every you insist so much, I will repeat to you a | and though the wind was strong and fair, few verses composed last evening: they she did not get up; I was not uneasy, that were written when my brain was feverish, natural anxiety, however, which and my mind, I could scarcely then call my merchant feels, came over me; but I conown:-they will explain enough-more soled myself, that the Revenue Cutter, or the health officer, had detained her,-and seek not to know. she would be up that evening: so, after tea, I set out for the barge-office, to learn if she had passed. It was very dark, and my way lay through the Battery. I had not proceeded far, till I heard a voice in a wild, deep, and hollow tone exclaim. "Yes, waves beat, winds blow, and stars look down; to you I'll tell my plaint, nor fear my sorrow will be retold. O! the veriest wretch, who has neither house nor home, is far more blest than I."-I knew the voice, but I thought "Has it come to my ears deceived me. this, has it come to this at last?" continued the plaint. This confirmed me: I turned round, and cried, "Henry, is this reality!" "Reality!" he reiterated, (for it was Henry) "I can scarcely believe it is: one little month, nay, one little week since, she smiled on me so sweetly, with all the ardour and truth of love, and now-she is an iceberg: at least, she looked so cold on me, that she has frozen up my very tears." I'll never tell how often she Have told her she was all to me. Those days are now for ever fled: "What do I hear !" exclaimed I, after a breathless pause of a few moments-"When did you see Isabel ?"-" Isabel," he sighed, "speak not of her, O speak not of her! "She was the rainbow to my sight, My sun, my heaven.”— "there is." I lost all thought of my vessel. "Henry," said I; "companion of my youth, friend of my riper years, confide still in me.-Sorrow cements the bonds of friendship. I felt as if "But now !”—I made a pause, expecting my very soul were knit with his, and I he would have filled up the blank, but tears gladly would, had it been possible, have born all his woes myself. We strolled along the choked his utterance. I was afraid to press too hard upon him, in his present state of mind, walks, dark as it was, a silence ensued, or, but willing to cheer him, as much as in me as between each mountain billow, there is lay, I assumed a lively tone, and said a stillness, though only long enough to say "This is fantasy all, this is some mock game At length I spoke: "My friend, someof quarrel which lovers so often play, to have the ecstasy of making up again: be thing is on thy heart, it lies heavy, and must not so desponding, come cheer up, and I will have utterance, before you can obtain relief: lay a plan, a noble scheme, which, will I am your friend; this you know, and none make her fret ere long as much as you would, with so patient an ear listen to your grieve now" "Speak not, I pray ye, my sorrows as I."" Nay, nay I am not in dear friend, of phantasies, of quarrels, or of that mind, I am not yet reduced so very low, schemes ;—all's lost,—all is lost! and I am not quite in such abject beggary of peace, undone. Think ye not, that this is a lonely that I would " on 'change" proclaim my world, and I, the loneliest being, this side the brink of time?" "O you are raving: this is madness all." "No madness, I am quite collected; all I pray of God is, that he will shield her, bless her, and make her happy-if with another she can be happy: I am calm, quite collected: Think ye not so?" I saw it would be of no avail to press this subject further under his present state of feelings, so I took him by the hand, and shook it kindly and bade him adieu, and as I paced along, could not but remark the justness of Shakespeare's words, "Every one can master grief but he who has it." It was the next afternoon, that one of my ships was announced below; dusk arrived, grief, and ask each passer, if ever there were tale like mine, and beg him for his pity: I pray ye desist." "I will not be so easily turned, else you Friendship has a power "Why do you yet keep silence?” |