to that garden to which it may never return, its own testimony will most surely be, that all would be gladly given, to live again as in those unhonored, blessed years. He dreamed of those early days, and their beautiful enchantment, when suddenly the sky was darkened, and the waters seemed far off and gloomy; he saw that the first was delusion, and childhood's slumber, that years break gradually, was broken in an instant. He started, and the dream was changed, though the dreamer did not awake. He was weary, and resting on that self-same couch; and his mother, that one remembered and sainted image, entered and sat near him. He watched and expected Annette, but she did not come. Then his mother talked long and earnestly, but he was drowsy, and the tones sounded like distant waters; and presently he heard another voice. It was soft and low; it was not singing, yet more musical than speaking, and a sort of cadence seemed to linger on the air, like the tone of music, when its material nature has passed away. He distinguished these words, 'She is dead! she is dead!' and they were breathed out more softly and sweetly than human voice ever spoke. Then he was chasing the red deer along paths that he followed yesterday; and often the creature turned and gazed at him with its dark, sad eyes, when the dogs sprang toward it and drave it onward; and it would turn again and again, and look so piteously, that the hunter's heart trembled, and his arm was powerless; then hounds and game were out of sight; yet he saw in a thicket the same large, full, melancholy eyes, and he heard a voice of strange sweet music and with a shudder he awoke! A light tap at the door broke a long and troubled train of thought, if such might be called the incoherent images that chased each other through his fancy. It seemed like a painful dream, of which he was conscious, yet without the power of breaking it. Starting up, he opened the door; and Annette, with a sweet smile, bade him come to dinner, for he had slept so soundly, that it was in vain he had been summoned to breakfast. 'Oh yes, certainly!' cried he; 'you should have called me before; I must hunt to-day.' 'To-day?' said Annette, why, you went yesterday; beside —' 'Oh, not yesterday; to-day I go; what has mother Alice for dinner, since I have shot nothing in so long?' Annette approached him anxiously, and inquired if he had slept well. 11 'Well?' oh yes! slept, did you say ? Annette' - and his voice fell to a low whisper some one told me you were dead! It is false! thank God, it is false !' - and he grasped her hand. That touch thrilled to her heart, for it was cold as the touch of the dead; yet his face was flushed, and his eyes burned with a strange and unwonted lustre. THE wind sighed mournfully among the old turrets of the castle; and ever and anon it sent such wild and mournful echoes from the forest below, it was as if the spirits of its dark sanctuary were abroad, and whispering their indistinct and incomprehensible sentences; yet us!' sometimes swelling out more clearly, till the gust seemed to bring some spell-word of their mysteries. Often it was like the distant ocean, and coming nearer and louder, with the sounds of a sudden and destroying torrent, and mingled with the crash of trees, and the wail of the drowning. The serf shuddered in his cot, as the wild uproar came to his very door, and said: The evil genii of the mountains have left their caves this night, and are come to destroy The wind eddied round old trees, and uprooted them, and bore their branches onward, as by some unearthly power; and the whole forest bent, even as eastern travellers before the simoon of the desert. It was not total darkness; pale gray clouds overspread the skies, and threw a dim light across the scene; and the benighted peasant, who looked toward the castle, and saw its changing shadows as the clouds swept along the heavens, and marked the light in its western tower, and the form that sometimes passed before its casement, turned from it and fled; for superstition had invested it with mystery, and its inmates, so secluded, so separated from human intercourse, were supposed to hold companionship with powers of other spheres. Very different was the scene in the castle that night, from any thus imagined. In that western tower, and still surrounded by the tomes of varied lore,' lay the pale and sleeping student, while near him sat his sister, still paler from many days and nights of anxious watching; for seldom had she left that melancholy chamber since the first morning of her brother's illness; and to cool his feverish hands, and sooth his wild fancies, and in moments of distincter recollection, cheer and amuse him, was the sad yet sought and unremitted task of the gentle sister. Annette had, a few hours previously, insisted that Alice should retire to rest, and she watched alone by her brother, listening in awe and silence to the ceaseless war without. For a moment there was a deep and fearful pause, as if the powers of the air were gathering their energies; and again the blast came fiercely, till the towers trembled, and an old parapet was torn away; its fall shook the castle as an earthquake, and its noise was like rolling thunder, as it passed downward among the ivied terraces and battlements. Starting from his sleep, Kriesler was in an instant by the window; and Annette crept beside him. His arm was stretched toward the forest, his eye kindled, and his lip quivered, and he exclaimed: 'Spirits of yon misty darkness, ye come! ye come! Like the divine soul, crushed and chained in its vile prison of flesh, so is your glory dim this night, for ye have left your bright free home, and your way is through the thick atmosphere of earth. I see ye speeding along yon forest tops, and beautifully do they bend to your footsteps, and the rushing sound of your train is music! I have waited and watched at last ye come!' My brother!' said the trembling Annette; and instantly that wild and sublime tone and gesture sank to the utmost gentleness, and turning toward her, he said: 'My sister, the work is done that I have labored for years to do. Dost thou know what it is, Annette? I did not tell thee till I was assured of success; and thou hast marvelled to see me plodding through all yon mystic pages. Now listen, dear sister: I knew that in their mysteries was a fount of wisdom, whereof the patient searcher should drink, and whose waters have power the world wots not of, to control and rule it, and bend it like a slave to his will. And now, Annette, that it is done, and the mine of earthly treasures is open for thee and me to choose, I will tell thee how I have toiled, and suffered, to gain it; how I have striven, till my very heart seemed worn away in its own ceaseless exertions. Weep not, dear sister; it is all over now, and it should not be sad but pleasant to recall those days, since they have brought such stores of happiness. It was for thee, my sister, that I sought them; and day and night a beautiful vision haunted me, and drew me on, on to its accomplishment; for it was to dissipate the clouds that gathered around future years, and make all thy life blessed, and bright, and rich with the ancient power and splendor of our house. And if those days had suffering, it was when their toil seemed in vain, and I thought of thee, so lone, so separated from the world, even now, when all its gifts of pleasure should be around thee, and it should be thy happy home. But the power is won, and the secret, and we shall be most happy. To-morrow to-morrow He flung himself on the bed; and as Annette bent beside him, he pressed her cold hand to his feverish forehead, and fell into a profound sleep. But not thus did that wandering yet pure and noble spirit depart. As some spark that seems smothered in ashes, burns out with the splendor of its intrinsic element, ere it dies, so did it return to the holiness of its nature, and the last hours of the student were peaceful, and his spirit passed humbly and trustingly to the presence of its God. And does any ask where is Annette? Ask where is the streamlet, when summer heats have dried up its fountain; ask where is the spring flower, when the frosts of winter have returned in May; ask where is the singing bird, when the icy storm has passed over its nest. HINDA. SONNET. ON BIEN AIME'S STATUE OF JOHN. How pure! how beautiful! how chaste! Of what the body would be, were the soul It hath an angel's beauty: wouldst thou be That form fit vestment seems for souls without a stain. W. C. - IN discussing the means of increasing mental power, a difficult yet important inquiry is: How far is it favored by attempts at originality? That extreme originality, which cannot at all combine its results with the products of other minds which stands so aloof and insolated from all others, that although it may cause admiration, it has not ideas and principles enough in common with the generality of men, to convince them of the justness of its own convictions, or persuade them to its own purposes is manifestly unfavorable to the increase of its relative power. Such win our admiration, frequently, but do not commend themselves to our judgments, as fit or safe examples for imitation. Neither constant attempts at originality, nor a servile dependence on other minds, is so favorable to the improvement of our own, as a union of original conceptions with that species of knowledge which may be appro priately called common sense. If we know not what others have known, we may be very origi nal, and yet add nothing to the common stock; because we shall have only discovered what was as well known before. And yet it can scarcely be decided which is most inimical to a successful pur. suit of truth, that quiet submission to authority which takes every absurdity upon trust, or that intoxicating fondness for originality, which estimates the value of principles by their novelty, not their use; which, of all the suggestions of its own fancy, believes those the most true which are most surprising; and of all the opinions of others, most readily adopts those which are singular and paradoxical. Indeed, they may most safely indulge originality, who have most learning, for they are prepared to judge of their own discoveries. Just as those generals may be boldest, who have most skill in military tactics, and those vessels may carry most sail, which are well provided with ballast. The advantage of instructors, as one means of mental improvement, is obvious enough; but in what qualifications the peculiar excellence of such instructors as shall best promote this object consists, is not always distinctly understood. They should certainly be well acquainted with what they teach, in order that the information they impart be neither erroneous nor defective. But this is not the only, and we would even say it is not the chief qualification of an instructor, calculated to give the most effectual aid. It is not the mere knowledge imparted, and passively received, which can exalt or strengthen the mind. These instructions, whether orally communicated, or derived from the pages before him, are but preparatory to what the learner must afterward acquire by his own mental exertion. A mind of decided power is not so purely factitious, as to be a mere compound of what has entered his eyes from books, or his ears from a teacher; he is intrusted principally with his own management; and may be more accurately compared to vessels which move by their own fires, than to such as are taken in tow by others, or are driven by some external forces. Yet instructors are highly desirable, and in instructors, a love of what they teach, an enthusiasm in imparting instruction, is essentially requisite. They must impart heat as well as light. The mind must be excited to seek its own resources; an impulse must be communicated, and a zeal enkindled, which shall impel to the pursuit of the proposed object, when the instructors are no longer present. Even if the teacher, in any particular branch, overrates the comparative importance of his favorite study, it will have a tendency rather favorable than otherwise on the minds of his pupils. He who teaches the mathematics, may be allowed to dwell with the same enamored fondness upon a proposition, that another feels in perusing a fine poem. A chemical instructor may feel something of the zeal of its early students, who expected by that art to change all substances to gold. When in his golden views' he is supremely blest,' attention is awakened, and not only present instruction is received under the most favorable circumstances, but also a spirit for future acquisitions. Were we to attend lectures on oratory, we should value the enthusiasm of a Cicero for his art, more than the studied correctness of Adams or Blair; and should estimate the glowing ardor of Longinus more highly, than the full and various particularity of Quinctilian, or the profound philosophy of Campbell. The genius of eloquence will be effectually aided only by him who unites the influence of example with the authority of precept; whose voice, and hand, and eye, and every feature, illustrate and enforce the sentiments which his mind has digested, and who, while |