works, nor is there the perfection of simplicity that belongs to Hans Christian Andersen, but we perfectly agree with the translator, that there is a beautiful and elevated spirit which breathes through the whole work, and animates its leading characters, making this splendid romance an honour to human nature. The leading characters are Count von Lacy, a Bohemian nobleman, who by a mystification needless to enter upon, is bound to wed Magda, the grand-daughter of Thomas Thyrnau, the "citizen of Prague," advocate and patriot, or to lose his estates. Called in early life to the court of Maria Theresa, and led astray by the impetuosity of youth and the prejudices of rank, the count viewed this mysterious announcement of his destination as a fetter which he deemed himself entitled to cast off and despise. He accordingly woos and weds the Princess Claudia Morani, much his senior in age. But this did not occur till after certain visits to an Ursuline court; a spot which, with its worthy inhabitants, its fairy children, its Swiss dairy wife, Mrs. Bäbili Oberhofer, its stone fountain representing the Red Sea, out of which rose the figure of St. Christopher, and upon whose shoulder glittered the child Jesus, is described with inimitable gusto, and where the young nobleman sees and admires the beautiful Magda; nor till after Thomas Thyrnau had called the young recreant to Bohemia to learn his doom, and find that the grand-daughter for whom he was destined, is this same Magda whom he loves, and by whom he is beloved. But honour carries the day with the count, he abides by his promises given to the princess, while Magda, who is an enthusiast to an extent unexampled in literature, more especially in her communions with saints and angels, destroys the will and liberates the count from his destiny; a proceeding in which the stern patriot to the loss of all his worldly goods, accedes. Truly might Maria Theresa say, "he was a man! we shall not find a second like him." No sooner is the count married, than he is arrested as an accomplice of Thomas Thyrnau in a Franco-Bohemian conspiracy, in which Madame de Pompadour plays a part. The trial for high treason sets De Lacy free, but immures Thyrnau and Magda within the walls of the castle of Karlstein. This gives occasion for a description of a feudal castle, and its guardians, such as they were in olden time, which is remarkable for its vividness and brilliancy. The Count von Podiebrad is made as signally a creature of a castle, as Quasimodo is part of the towers of Notre Dame. Ultimately the first Lady de Lacy dies with her first-born at the siege of Prague, during the Seven Years' War; and the count is united to the spiritual grand-daughter of the patriot. There are many other secondary characters equally admirably delineated; more especially Maria Theresa herself, the Princess Theresa, a very remarkable person, the minister Kaunitz, and the Hereditary Prince S. In fact, a more complete German novel can scarcely be imagined, evidently careful in what appertains to history; its fictions being purely Germanic, and its descriptions at once correct, new, and delightful. To those, therefore, for whom new and untrodden fields of literature have any charms, this work will present irresistible attractions. ** Notices of several other works received this month are unavoidably postponed. THE NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE. AND HUMORIST. CONTENTS FOR FEBRUARY. THE BERKSHIRE JUBILEE. BY FRANCES ANNE BUTLER PIERRE PICARD ; OR, THE SEA FAMINE. BY CHARLES HOOTON 141 THE TRAVELS AND OPINIONS OF MR. Jolly Green THE PRIVATEER'S-MAN, A TALE. BY CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N. BYRON. BY Edward Kenealy, ESQ. 148 157 178 184 BEAUCHAMP; OR, THE ERROR. By G. P. R. JAMES, ESQ.. SKETCHES OF THE LIVES OF THE LORDS STOWELL AND ELDON 234 240 LITERATURE: -Letters of Royal and Illustrious Ladies of Great NOW READY, THE FEBRUARY NUMBER OF AINSWORTH'S MAGAZINE. EDITED BY W. HARRISON AINSWORTH, ESQ. I. THE COUNT OF MONTE CHRISTO. II. SWEDISH ANTHOLOGY. BY EDWARD KENEALY. III. MRS. FRY IN NEWGATE; OR, FEMALE DELINQUENCY. V. BE TRUSTFUL. BY ANDREW WINTER. 66 HANDLEY CROSS." VII. SONNET. BY EDWARD KENEALY. BY THE AUTHOR OF X. CHAPTERS FROM THE HISTORY OF SORCERY AND MAGIC. BY THOMAS WRIGHT. X. HOW MRS. MALMSEY MANAGED HER UNCLE. BY SHIRLEY BROOKS. XI. MISS CUSHMAN'S ROMEO. BY LITTLE DEMOCRITUS. XII. SONNET. BY EDWARD KENEALY. XIII. SOME PASSAGES IN THE PRIVATE HISTORY OF MY POODLE. BY DUDLEY COSTELLO. XIV. OUR LIBRARY-TABLE. OLD SAINT PAUL'S. BY W. HARRISON AINSWORTH, ESQ. WITH AN ILLUSTRATION ON STEEL BY JOHN FRANKLIN. CHAPMAN AND HALL, 186, STRAND. THE NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE, THE BERKSHIRE JUBILEE. AN ODE, WRITTEN FOR THE 22ND OF AUGUST, 1843. BY FRANCES ANNE BUTLER. BERKSHIRE is a county in the state of Massachusetts, bordering upon those of New York and Connecticut. Resembling in its natural features the softer parts of the Tyrol, it combines all the finer elements of beautiful scenery-mountains and forests, savage and sublime; fertile valleys, where a very careful agriculture contrasts most advantageously with these wilder beauties; placid rivers, flowing gently through rich meadow lands; exquisite lakes locked in the hollow chambers of the hills; and torrents, leaping by plunges of twenty, forty, and sixty feet down the rocky chasms of every pine-curtained ravine. But the soil is generally, and the climate always severe in this beautiful region; and the young men, sons of the hardy yeomanry who own the land, often prefer emigrating for awhile to the west or south, where more genial skies and a virgin soil tempt them with the hope of easier and more rapid fortunes. But the New England seal is upon their hearts; and, like the Scotch, whom the inhabitants of the eastern states so strongly resemble in all their national characteristics-no place is home to them but the dear "hill country." Nor do they ever, amid the reckless licence and lawless habits of southern and western existence, forget that training, eminently pious, moral, and intelligent, which every New England youth receives beneath his father's roof. of In Berkshire, two years ago, a Jubilee was held, for the purpose gathering together, on their native soil, all the sons of that picturesque mountain district, scattered over the wide surface of the United States. The summons was enthusiastically obeyed. And some came thither from beyond the waters of the Mississippi; and some came from beyond the great chasm of a thirty years' absence. And the occasion was very touching and solemn. BRYANT, himself a Berkshire man, was solicited to celebrate it, but having declined doing so, the task devolved on one most unworthy of it, save for the love and reverence which she bears to the beautiful region that has been to her emphatically a home in a strange land. Feb.-VOL. LXXVI. NO. CCCII. K DARKNESS upon the mountain and the vale, That swept the clouds, and in the sunshine play'd; And night's black star-sown wings brood o'er the whole. In the deep trance of the hush'd universe, But hark! the woody depths of green Light breaths of life creep fresh between Oak, beech, and fir; And show'rs of tears night-gather'd in her eyes, Fall from fair Nature's face as she doth rise. A ripple roughens on the lake, The silver lilies rocking wake; The sapphire waves lift themselves Along the laurell'd shore; up and break And woods and waters, answering each other, make Silence no more. And lo! the East turns pale. Night's dusky veil Thinner and thinner grows, Till the bright morning star This beacon shows. Gold streaks shoot up the sky Higher, and yet more high |