Through green leaves lift their walls of gray; And many a rock which steeply lowers, And noble arch in proud decay, Look o'er this vale of vintage-bowers." 12. Beyond Coblentz we found that the scenery becomes more wild, and more and more grand; for here the winding stream, pent between lofty and craggy mountains, rescmbles rather a succession of lakes than a river,—and here, as we were gathered on the deck of our steamer, enjoying the ever-shifting panorama, the Professor again quoted Byron, whose lines are more truly descriptive of the scene than any prose that I can send you:— "The river nobly foams and flows, The charm of this enchanted ground; Some fresher beauty varying round.” 13. As we passed through a deep and narrow gorge that opened upon a quiet little village standing on the point where the small river Näh'ě enters the Rhine from the south, Prof. Howard, calling several of us together on the upper deck, and pointing to the village, said, "That is 'Bingen on the Rhine.' Beyond the village, on that rocky hill, the ruins that you see are those of a convent; and over there, on this little green island, on our left, is the famous Bishop Hatto's Mouse Tower;' while, in the river near here, as tradition says, were sunk the mythical treas ures of King Nibelung, from whom is derived the name given to those famous epic poems sometimes called the German Iliad," which you may perhaps learn about hereafter." a The Nibelungen Lied (Ne-be-lung'n leed), a collection of early German poetic legends, the whole of which nearly equals in length Milton's Paradise Lost. The poems abound in passages of great beauty. 14. Then he related to us the tradition about the rich and wicked Bishop Hatto;-how he kept his corn securely hoarded in his storehouses, while the poor people around, during a severe winter, were starving;-that one day he invited the poor to meet him at his great barn, and, when they had crowded into it until it could hold no more, he made fast the door, and set fire to the building, consuming all within, saying that it was a good thing to burn up the rats that ate the corn. 15. But the next day proved to be the last one for this wicked man; for the rats swarmed around his palace by millions; and when, for safety, he had fled across the river, to his castle, they pursued him there, where he soon fell a prey to these voracious animals, that had been sent to do judgment on him. The poet Southey has written a poem on these events. "So you see," said the Professor, "that this Bingen, which you are approaching, is a famous locality. In the evening I shall have more to tell you about it." 16. As it was nearly dusk when we reached Bing'en, we anchored there for the night. During the evening the Professor read to us the following touching story about a German soldier from this little village of Bingen, who, wounded and dying at Algiers, gave to a comrade his dying message to the loved ones at home: Bingen on the Rhine. BY MRS. NORTON. 1. 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, 2. "Tell my brothers and companions, when they meet and crowd around To hear my mournful story, in the pleasant vineyard ground, 3. "Tell my mother that her other sons shall comfort her old age,— And I was aye a truant bird, that thought his home a cage: For my father was a soldier,—and even as a child My heart leaped forth to hear him tell of struggles fierce and wild; And when he died, and left us to divide his scanty hoard, I let them take whate'er they would, but kept my father's sword, And with boyish love I hung it where the bright light used to shine, On the cottage wall at Bingen-calm Bingen on the Rhine! 4. "Tell my sister not to weep for me, and sob with drooping head, When the troops come marching home again, with glad and gallant tread; But to look upon them proudly, with a calm and steadfast eye,— For her brother was a soldier too, and not afraid to die. And if a comrade seek her love, I ask her, in my name, To listen to him kindly, without regret or shame; And to hang the old sword in its place (my father's sword and mine), For the honor of old Bingen-dear Bingen on the Rhine! 5. "There's another-not a sister; in the happy days gone by You'd have known her by the merriment that sparkled in her eye; Too innocent for coquetry,-too fond for idle scorning, Oh, friend! I fear the lightest heart makes sometimes heaviest mourning; Tell her the last night of my life (for, ere the moon be risen, My body will be out of pain-my soul be out of prison)— I dreamed I stood with her, and saw the yellow sunlight shine On the vine-clad hills of Bingen-fair Bingen on the Rhine! 6. "I saw the blue Rhine sweep along; I heard, or seemed to hear, The German songs we used to sing, in chorus sweet and clear; And down the pleasant river, and up the slanting hill, The echoing chorus sounded, through the evening calm and still; And her glad blue eyes were on me as we passed, with friendly talk, Down many a path beloved of yore, and well-remembered walk, And her little hand lay lightly, confidingly in mine:— But we'll meet no more at Bingen—loved Bingen on the Rhine!" 7. His voice grew faint and hoarse, his grasp was childish weak,— His eyes put on a dying look,-he sighed and ceased to speak; His comrade bent to lift him, but the spark of life had fled,— The soldier of the Legion, in a foreign land-was dead! And the soft moon rose up slowly, and calmly she looked down On the red sand of the battle-field, with bloody corpses strewn ; Yea, calmly on that dreadful scene her pale light seemed to shine, As it shone on distant Bingen-fair Bingen on the Rhine! 8. While the Professor was reading this, in his sweet musical voice, and in his best manner, we all listened with the most earnest attention; and when he had finished I saw a tear start down many a cheek-all for the love of Bingen-"fair Bingen on the Rhine!" 9. I had often read these same verses; but now, whenever I think of the story, I shall also think of the little village nestled between the hills, far away on the Rhine. I shall never forget just how that village looked;-and as we steamed away farther up the river the next morning, I could almost imagine in which of those cottages on the hill-side that soldier was born, and which one of those many "pleasant vineyards" he had tilled. 10. We went only as far as the fortified city of Mentz, about twenty miles beyond Bingen, and then slowly retraced our way down the river to Rotterdam, whence we started on our ocean voyage again. 11. We did decide to visit Paris, and we reached that city on the 18th of October. Paris, you know, is on the river Seine (sān), about a hundred and ten miles from the mouth of the river. But the Dolphin could not go there, because the river is navigable only for barges and small vessels; so we went by railroad from Havre (hav'er), the great seaport of France for the American trade. II.-Paris and the Parisians. 1. Prof. Howard says that the French are exceedingly proud of their country, and that they think there is no other city equal to Paris. So he quotes from one of their writers, who says, "France is the centre of civilized nations; Paris is the centre of France; and the Italian Boulevard is the centre of Paris." 2. The boulevards-the name given to some of the grand, wide, shady streets of Paris-are really splendid! And so are the parks, which are full of noble trees and shrubbery, and mazy paths; and the gardens, which are full of flowering plants; while, at almost every step, some splendid arch, or column, or other monument, greets our view. 3. Then there are the palaces, which are very much like all other palaces that we have seen, except that some of them are perfectly gorgeous with ornamentation,—“ and that," the Professor tells us, "suits the French." At Versailles, ten miles south-west of the centre of Paris, we visited the famous Royal Palace, that was built by Louis XIV. Not only is the palace itself remarkable for its mag |
