FOR 1851. EDITED BY LOUIS CAYLORD CLARK. IN one of the chapters of the Constitution of the State of Massachusetts, yet in force, there is a declaration, "That the encouragement of the Arts and Sciences, and all good Literature, tends to the honor of GOD, the advancement of the Christian religion, and the great benefit of this and the other United States of America." It has ever been the highest purpose of the Knickerbocker to elevate the standard of American Literature. It has been the medium of introducing many of our most popular authors to the public. To those who take a pride in sustaining a good American Magazine, entirely national in its character, we look for support. Men of judgment need not be told that it is impossible to get up a Magazine entirely original at the same prices at which those made up from foreign sources are sold. The unremitted efforts of the Editor and Publisher will be continued to improve the work. THE THIRTY-EIGHTH VOLUME. REDUCTION OF POSTAGE. THE Thirty-eighth Volume of the KNICKERBOCKER Commences with the present number, and this will be a very appropriate time for new subscribers to begin. We trust very many will be induced to do so by the great reduction in postage which will take place at that time. The KNICKERBOCKER can then be sent FIVE HUNDRED MILES FOR TWO AND A HALF CENTS, if prepaid. The subscriber will have to pay fifteen cents for three months' postage, if he is over five hundred miles from NewYork, or seven and a half cents for the same period, if within five hundred miles of this city. The latter rate will embrace Maine, New-Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North-Carolina, and portions of Ohio and Michigan. The postage for fifteen hundred miles will be but five cents, if prepaid, and this will include Texas and Iowa, and extend six hundred miles west of the Mississippi. To all new subscribers who will commence with the January number, the publisher will send all the numbers for this year free of postage. FOUR YEARS FOR TEN DOLLARS. The KNICKERBOCKER for 1848, '49, '50, and '51, will be sent to all who will forward Ten Dollars prepaid. A full set of the KNICKERBOCKER, in thirty-seven volumes, for sale at the office. ST. LEGER &; OR THE THREADS OF LIFE. THE Publisher has great pleasure in announcing to the readers of the KNICKERBOCKER and to the public generally, that he has effected an arrangement with Mr. RICHARD B. KIMBALL, the author of this popular and extraordinary Romance, to give the Sequel in the pages of this Magazine. The first chapter appeared in the January Number, and will be continued regularly until completed. This work has already passed through three editions in this country, and two in England, and has received more favorable notice from the American and English press than any work of fiction which has been issued during the last five years. Terms-Five Dollars per Annum, in Advance. All remittances, and every thing relating to the business of the Magazine, must be addressed to the Publisher, ŠAMUEL HUESTON, 139 Nassau street, New-York. ART. I. THE NORTHERN SCALDS. FROM THE FRENCH: BY H. W. ELLSWORTH, III. THE PAGAN QUESTIONING DEATH, IV. AN AFRICAN LEGEND. BY MISS MARY A. E. TUTTLE, 1 V. FANCIES ON FEMALES. BY A NEW CONTRIBUTOR, VI. STANZAS: REPENTANCE. BY 'Hal,'. VII. THE SOUL'S REFUGE: BY THOMAS MACKELLAR, VIII. EYES: TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISH, IX. THE LAKES OF NEW-YORK: CAYUGA: CEDAR HEIGHTS, XI. A VISIÓN OF CRIME: A FREAK OF FANCY, XIII. THE SUBLIME PORTE. BY JOHN P. BROWN, Esq., XVI. SERENADE. BY CLARENCE ELWIN,' XVII. STANZAS: TRUTH. BY MRS. C. A. CHAMBERLAIN, XVIII. SKETCH-BOOK OF MEISTER KARL, XIX. A HEART-PICTURE. BY LILY GRAHAM,' XX. A SEQUEL TO ST. LEGER. BY RICHARD B. KIMBALL, ESQ., LITERARY NOTICES: 11 12 13 16 . 18 19 20 20 27 28 32 34 42 44 47 48 49 59 60 65 1. HISTORY OF THE CONSPIRACY OF PONTIAC. BY FRANCIS PARKMAN, JR., 67 2. PARA: OR SCENES AND ADVENTURES ON THE AMAZON,. 3. BULWER AND FORBES ON THE WATER TREATMENT, . 70 71 4. COGGESHALL'S VOYAGES TO VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD, 72 73 EDITOR'S TABLE: 1. A VIEW FROM TELEGRAPH HILL, SAN FRANCISCO, 2. GOSSIP WITH READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS, 1. LETTER FROM A FRIEND IN OLD VIRGINIA. 2. THE UNION: 74 76 ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1851, BY SAMUEL HUESTON, IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK. 1-30 THE Scalds were the bards of the north, who, like the Celtic poets and Grecian rhapsodists, celebrated the history of gods and heroes. Like the composers of the Spanish 'romanceros,' they sung of glory and the battlefield. As did the Mennisingers, they too indulged in pride of ancestry, and walked by the side of earls and princes. Like Tailefero, the Norman troubadour, and Veit-Weter, the Swiss soldier, they personally mingled in the combats they described, fighting in the front rank of the battle. The poetry of Scandinavia, like its history, dates from the migration of the Asiatic tribes, and is lost amid obscure tales or fabulous traditions. These tribes, so long called barbarous, exhibited nevertheless great veneration for poetry, which they attributed directly to the gods. They could well exclaim with Ovid: 'EST DEUS in nobis, et sunt commencia cœli Their tradition as to the origin of poetry, though abounding in absurdities, is yet strongly characteristic, and deserves a passing notice. There was formerly a man called Kvaser, who became a god by his wisdom and intelligence. Two dwarfs, jealous of his reputation, slew him; and collecting his blood in a large vase, mingled it with honey. The blood of the sage, thus mixed with the virtue of flowers, became the source of poetry the hipprocras of the Scandinavians. Whoever drank of it was immediately inspired, and capable of producing most harmonious tones upon the harp. The giant Sutting obtained this precious treasure, to which he attached a countless price, though he used it not, but gave it to the guardianship of his daughter Gunlæda, whom he shut up in a mountain. Meanwhile Odin, one of the chief gods,* was seized * ELSEWHERE described as chief of the Scandinavian divinities. VOL. XXXVIII. 1 with a desire to add to his other attributes the power of poetry. To accomplish this, it was necessary to seduce Sutting, whom neither flattery nor promises could soften, and who, barbarian-like, without enjoying his treasure, kept it closely from all others. Odin quitted his celestial abode, and, like Apollo with Admetus, passed a summer at the home of Sutting, busied with the care of flocks and harvests. He demanded as a recompense a few drops of the poetic honey. These were peremptorily refused, and Odin, in despair of overcoming the obstinacy of the giant, had recourse to stratagem. Changing himself to a serpent, he penetrated the mountain which contained the goblet, and approached Gunlæda, whom he flattered with attentions. The poor Gunlæda, as Eve did also, believed the persuasions of the serpent, and forgot the trust committed by her father. Odin obtained permission to take three draughts from the goblet, and in so doing drained its contents. But he forgot the sweet vows he had murmured to Gunlæda, and leaving the poor girl in tears, flew away as an eagle, to which he had transformed himself. Sutting, however, was a skilful magician, and discovering the robbery, pursued the ravisher, whom he was about to seize. While Odin was trembling with the fear of paying dearly for his treachery, he was surrounded by the Asers-his celestial companions-presenting a large cup, into which he returned the mixture he had drank; though in the terror caused by Sutting, he suffered a few drops to fall upon the earth.* These constitute the beverage of inferior poets, who have only to embrace the earth for its attainment, while the goblet of the gods is preserved on high, beyond all reach but that of genius and true inspiration. Odin alone distributes from the goblet, and has hence become the god of poetry.f · In the reigns of the three earliest Scandinavian monarchs, we find nothing but incomplete references to the Scalds, and mere fragments of their productions. In the sixth and seventh centuries they occupy a distinct place in history, and from the ninth to the thirteenth follow in regular succession, with ample details as to their names, lives, and compositions. The reign of Harald of the Fair Hair' was the golden era of the Scalds. This ambitious monarch, for the purpose of adding more solemnity to his battles and greater glory to his conquests, surrounded himself with poets. He collected the most renowned Scalds at his court, whom he retained by costly presents and attentions, receiving in return their tributes to his power and greatness. His successors manifested similar tastes; and some, as Magnus the Good and Harald Sigurdson, were themselves composers. The Scalds resisted for a long time the anathemas launched by the first missionaries of Christianity. Olaf the Saint condemned their mythological superstitions, yet regarded it as due to his royal dignity to have numerous Scalds in attendance at his court. It was he who, when going forth to battle, thus addressed them: Place yourselves in the front rank of the army, that you may witness what you must describe, and do not receive the history from others.' Gradually, however, the spirit of Christianity was diffused amid the Northmen, and Scaldic poetry, the * FROM respect to poets, the original expression has been somewhat softened. |