disagreed with him, and differed from his dic- | which I sat down under the influence of a double emotion-hungry and enthusiastic. tionary; but that if I thought I could convince him, I was welcome to try. He added, that he was not an obstinate man." "And how did you set about convincing him?" "I got him to stay and dine, and made such a dish of macaroni! How he ate! It was a pleasure to see him. And what stories he told us about his battles in Spain-some such dreadful ones!—in which he killed as many as fifty and sixty enemies himself!”. "French and English are but names," I cried, as the jolly blacksmith knocked his wine-cup against mine. "We are all brothers!" "Bravo!" cried he. "Ca me va!" and he tossed off his glass with a good will. At this moment there was a tapping at the window; and, looking round, I saw a lean Hebrew pedler, with a long white beard, a great pack on his shoulders, and some bright-colored "Good symptoms," thought I. "And how kerchiefs in his hand. did it end?" I inquired. Why, after dinner, I laid the book near his glass; and little by little, began talking about Tiny Tim. And he looked at my little Pierre, and said he was an old man, and lonely; and that he often wished he had a child of his own; and he took little Pierre up on his knee and kissed him. And then he opened the book, and I really thought he was going to cry again; but all of a sudden he burst out laughing, and said 'to be sure it was English,' and that he must | have looked at it before with his patch on the wrong eye.' Was n't it odd? And then the schoolmaster came in and Pierre made a great bowl of punch-and I gave M. Papouff the book as a present—and he shook hands with us all round. Was n't it delightful? And from that time to this we have been excellent friends." Artless Peacemaker! As I watched her earnest, happy eyes, and the honest triumph on her open brow, I thought that a Raphae! might have clothed in such bright features and so sweet a form that other Mary- the divine symbol of Woman's Mission! "I have been telling Monsieur about M. pouff," said she to her husband, in French. "Any thing to-day?" said the pedler, holding up his merchandise at the window. "That's the voice of Jacob," said the blacksmith's wife, who had taken off the lid of the great boiler, and, amidst a cloud of steam, was busily getting something out. "Poor Jacob!" A sudden thought crossed my mind; a wish perhaps fantastic-filled my heart. . . . and I looked earnestly at my generous host . . The brave fellow understood me instantly . . . he rose, and opened the door. "Come in, Jacob," he cried. The aged pedler entered, and loosened the cords of his pack, and laid it on the ground. "Sit down," said the blacksmith, drawing a chair to the table. "Que diable! the road is dusty, and the weather keen; you must be tired, Jacob!" "I am tired," said the Jew; "I have come a long way since day-break; under a heavy burden." And the wanderer took his seat. At this moment the blacksmith's wife returned from the boiler; and, with a glance of triumph at me, she set upon the table a glorious ChristPa-mas-pudding, with a sprig of holly stuck in its powdered crown. แ 'Ah, le gaillard! he likes macaroni!" returned the jolly blacksmith. "And talking of that, it's time for dinner, Mary." "Monsieur will dine with us?" said she, with a charming mixture of the French grace and the English cordiality in her manner. แ Ay," said the jolly blacksmith, "if Monsieur will take la fortune du pot with us, he will have a poor dinner, but a hearty welcome!" His wife had already begun her preparations; and, while he spoke, set bread and wine upon the table. with a heart rejoicing and refreshed - —as by some Christian sacrament. "A midnight invasion of England by the French!" cried I, stopping short in the road. "A barbarous, piratical war, at this time of day, between the two noblest nations on this green planet's face! Out on the calumnious suspicion! Away with such a monstrous anachronism! ... Potentates of Europe, take a lesson from this humble blacksmith! Open your palace-gates wide as his cottage-door; beat your swords into ploughshares; and leave snarling warfare to your dogs!" As I spoke, I heard again the dull beat of the great hammers, and the leathern respiration of the bellows, and the distant roaring of the fire. And I turned, with excited imagination, almost expecting to see the Sword upon the anvil, — and to witness its fiery transfiguration! But the road, curving, had brought between me and the cottage a row of intervening trees; the gently-drawn curtain of Nature - 6 So do these Signs of the Times' fall short of the prefigured realities; so lies my slender parable behind the momentous drama of the age. Yet, though with the "mighty fallen," all apprehension of invasion and dynastic war has also passed away; still, if my pen have been true to my purpose, meanings remain - neither much hidden nor much obtruded — superior to lapse of time, and change of circumstance. It is for these that I trust my dream to the congeHernial reader's interpretation: hoping that he will find in its images, however slightly sketched, some touches true to Nature;-in its symbols, however dimly shadowed, some of those "liberal applications" that "lie in Art."— Frazer's Magazine. "The great Teacher closes the scene," thought I. "She bids me seek to see no more. lesson is aptly concluded; and it remains for her attentive pupil to "ponder these things in his heart." Jan. 1848. F. O. WARD. Translated for the Daguerreotype. THE HOLSTEIN HEROINE. During the reign of Waldemar II., Denmark accomplished her long-cherished project, extended her empire to the banks of the Elbe, and made the wealthy cities of Hamburg and Lubeck the supports of that empire. | introduced the Danish law into the duchies, appointed Danish magistrates, and made Count Albert of Orlamünde Viceroy of Schleswig and Holstein, with absolute power. The nobility were so much impoverished and dispirited by the long wars, that they bore the Danish yoke with patience, or at least with silent and impotent rage. But while men were mute and passive, a woman spoke and acted. Adolph III., Count of Holstein, withstood the Danes in a long, and often doubtful contest. At last he was overcome, was taken prisoner at Hamburg, bound in fetters, and carried captive through his former territories into Denmark, The baroness Deest of Kellingdorp, distinwhere he was treated with the greatest ignominy.guished by rare gifts of body and mind, exerted At last, A. D., 1203, he was set at liberty, under the disgraceful conditions, that he should resign all his lands to Denmark, and leave two of his sons as hostages in the hands of the Danes. The once warlike Count, who twice had made Palestine ring with the fame of his valor, was so humbled by his misfortunes, that he hastily retreated to his ancestral castle of Schauenburg, and never again entered Holstein. Waldemar II. was crowned king of the Danes and Slaves, at Lubeck, with great pomp. He herself for the liberation of her German country. She invited all the nobles, of whose patriotic disposition she could feel confident, to visit her in the marshes of the Wilster. The knights came unarmed, in court-dresses, for they thought that the lady, who was celebrated for her hospitalities, had invited them to a banquet. But the reception which awaited them in the castle of Kellingdorp was a great surprise. Large black flags hung from the towers; servants clad in mourning received the guests and "That which is revealed to me," exclaimed aloud the baroness, "is the divine word: a people is free, when it wills to be free.' The peo led them in silence into a large saloon. Here the light of day was shut out, and a flickering lamp shed a dim, solemn light through the vast space. The walls were hung with black, all fur-ple which has not this will, has not honor. But niture was removed, and the only ornament was a large shield which was suspended on the wall. When the knights examined the device on this shield, they saw that it represented a Danish soldier breaking with a club, and treading under his feet, the national arms of Holstein. At this moment the baroness entered, in full armor, like the heroines of fabulous antiquity. A black corslet clothed her noble form, and only a solitary blood red plume surmounted her hel met. The astonished knights could not utter a word. She came forward, and with deep grief in her countenance addressed them thus: "Not I, noble Holsteiners, but your country gives you this sad and humiliating welcome. Here you see represented the misery and the shame of our good land of Holstein. But the darkness and silence of this mourning do not extend beyond these walls. The bright sun shines over Holstein and sheds its light in palace and in hut, upon indifference, cowardice, the feasts and riotings of pleasure. And yet our German country is insulted and enslaved by the Dane. If the hearts of men are strong enough to bear this disgrace, the heart of a woman can lear it no longer. But let no reproach desecrate this hour. We must be united if we would regain that which we lost by disunion. I know that you are one with me in the sacred feeling of revenge; I read it in the manly fire of your eyes. But I invited you, you in whom I trust, in order to ascertain whether you are disposed to prove your dispositions by your deeds. I ask of you, ye chivalry of Holstein, will you pine away as the slaves of Denmark, will you bring up your children to be the slaves of Denmark, will you hereafter repose in Danish or in German soil?" A loud and fierce cry of "German and free” burst from the assembly, and shook the old walls; and then the most aged of the knights advanced and addressed the noble lady in these words: "We thank thee, noble lady, chivalrous country woman, for the confidence with which thy heart has honored us. Yes! we are, body and soul, devoted to our country, which through thy inspiring words reminds us of our duty. We should blush to acknowledge that a woman has been the first to resort to action, if we did not see in that very circumstance a consecration and a happy omen for our undertaking. In this belief, and according to German custom, we ask of thee, noble lady, what way, what means of freedom have been revealed to thy Godenlightened mind?" where there is this will, there is also the power of accomplishment, a power, which if it cannot achieve victory, will at least suffice for a glorious death. This, ye men, is the only plan for our liberation; it is better to die gloriously than to live in slavery!" The nobles repeated this exclamation with enthusiasm, and now the baroness drew her sword, and advanced into the midst of the assembly. Her cheeks glowed, and her eyes sparkled with the light of hope and confidence as she raised the sword on high, and exclaimed, "Thus then we swear in this solemn hour a sacred alliance in life and death." She held out the sword; the men crowded around it and laid their fingers on the blade; there was a moment's deep and solemn silence, and then the baroness spoke in a tone of solemn emotion the words, "German and free!" "German and free" was echoed by each manly voice, as immediately a number of pages entered, bearing new and glittering swords, on each of which were inscribed the words, "German and free." The baroness kissed each blade as she gave them to the knights, who received them reverently kneeling before her. It was then determined to send a trusty messenger to Schauenburg, to implore Adolph III. to return and place himself at the head of those who had conspired to liberate the land of his fathers. But the duke was so broken down by his misfortunes, that he could not be moved, and he pleaded that he had moreover pledged his word and given hostages. The nobles were much cast down by this intelligence, as they would no longer appear to be fighting in the legitimate cause of their sovereign, but for their own advantage. The baroness determined to make one more attempt, and, as she was suspected and watched by the Danish authorities, she disguised herself as a pilgrim and set out for Schauenburg. Her friends spread the report that she was seriously ill, physicians paid daily visits to her castle, and the wives of the conspirators were constant in their inquiries. In the mean while she arrived at Schauenburg, and as she was approaching the castle-gates she was met by a gay troop of boys, in the leader of whom she recognized the son of Count Adolph. Pretending to be weary, she seated herself on a bench, and the young prince and his companions stood around her. "Whence do you come, good pilgrim?" asked the youth. "I come from Holstein." "From Holstein!" he exclaimed in glad surprise; "Holstein is my father-land: oh, tell me news of it." "Alas! I have none but bad news to give thee. Holstein is a fair and fertile land, enriched by the hand of God, but the hearts of its inhabitants are in deep mourning. Holstein has abundance of all worldly blessings; but it has lost the greatest blessing of all,-liberty and honor. Enemies rule over it; enemies squander its wealth and disgrace its name." "And whose fault is this?" exclaimed the young Count, as he grasped the handle of his sword. "Holstein pines in the servitude of Denmark," said the baroness, "because Holstein's Lord, Count Adolph III. has deserted his faithful land and abandoned it to the Danes." "It is false," exclaimed the boy, "and you shall be punished for this calumny;" and he bade his companions lead the pilgrim into the castle, the baroness rejoicing to be thus brought before the Count. But when the old man had heard the angry complaint of his son, he replied in sorrowful tones, "I rejoice, my son, that thou hast such a chivalrous regard for my honor; but go, and give the pilgrim a present, and dismiss him in peace; he is right, although I would not act otherwise than I have done." The baroness, on hearing these words, cast off her pilgrim's robe, and threw herself at his feet: "Holstein's faithful people kneel before thee, and implores to be ruled by thee, in order that through thee it may regain liberty and honor. If in times past you could not act otherwise, the circumstances are now altered. The noblest men in Holstein await you with eager impatience; so soon as your foot touches the soil of Holstein, the whole people will rise; Holstein will be free; your honor and ours will be redeemed." The necessary arrangements were now made, and the baroness promised to take every precaution, both to avoid violating the pledge given by the Count, and not to endanger the lives of the hostages. She reached her castle in safety with her charge, and there guarded him as a most sacred treasure. The news of his arrival flew through the country, and was received by the Holsteiners like a call from heaven. From every corner of the land the German men made pilgrimages to Kellingdorp, in order to strengthen themselves for the contest by the sight of the noble child. The number of determined patriots increased with every day, and the death of a tyrannical Danish magistrate, who was killed by some of the leaders of the conspiracy, led to an open outbreak. The insurgents immediately fortified their strongholds, and the Baroness of Killingdorp was ever foremost in word and deed. The brave town of Itzehoe was their principal support, and was hastily defended by means of a deep canal and ramparts. The Danish army appeared before the works were completed, but after several bloody engagements they abandoned the idea of storming it, and converted the siege into a blockade. All means of communication were cut off, and the condition of the patriots was beginning to be very precarious, when they received unexpected and wonderful aid. The river Stoer* rose twice in one day to such a height, that all the works of the Danes were totally destroyed, and their army narrowly escaped annihilation by a rapid flight. The day on which this took place was the feast of the nativity of the Virgin Mary, and as the baroness in her noble and extraordinary beauty had been the most conspicuous leader in the contest, the saying was spread about that the Blessed Virgin herself had fought for Holstein. Trembling with emotion the Count raised the At the banquet in the castle of Kellingdorp lady, and her words sunk into his heart. But which celebrated this victory, the Baroness the pledge which he had given to the enemy placed the ducal coronet upon the head of her appeared to him to be an insurmountable objec-foster-child, and all the assembled nobles did tion. "I dare not, I cannot," he exclaimed, and wrung his hands in despair. "Well, then,” replied the baroness, “give us your child; give us back the child of Holstein! Let this boy return with me, in order that one day he may fight for your honor, for which even now his childish heart feels so sensitively. I will be to him a mother; every Holsteiner will be a father; his presence will inspirit our people, and I see in him already, what my heart tells me he will be, the victorious lord of Holstein." The boy joined his entreaties to hers, and the father at length laid his hands upon his head, and gave him to be an offering for his country. homage to him as Adolph IV. — Pictures from the History of Schleswig-Holstein. By F. Tchuselka. Translated for the Daguerreotype. THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION. The Schleswig-Holstein question is of the utmost importance for the whole of Germany. It is of the utmost consequence whether Schleswig-Holstein, lying at the mouth of one of the most important of German rivers, the Elbe, shall continue to be the appendage of a neighbouring kingdom, or even be incorporated with it as a province, or whether it shall exist as an independent state. England has already established herself upon Helgoland at the mouth of the Elbe, and the channels of our commerce would be entirely closed, if Denmark, which already cripples the trade of the Baltic, were to extend its boundaries to the largest wholly German river. Hamburg, the first commercial city of Germany, must not lie on the confines of Denmark, within the range of Danish cannons, if German commerce is not to be at the mercy of foreigners. The policy of Denmark has always inclined towards Russia; the harbour of Kiel is accessible for line-of-battle ships, while those on the coasts of Prussia are somewhat shallow. If Russian steam-ships can land an army in the friendly harbour of Kiel, the wealthy city of Hamburg becomes the prey of a foreign invader, and a Russian army can within eight days be at the gates of Berlin or Magdeburg. The separation of the duchies from Denmark, and their indissoluble union with one another, is of importance to the interests of civilization, in order that Russia, whose ruler has some remote hereditary claims, may not bring his influence to bear upon them; in order that the barbarians of the East may not gain a footing in the North, and wind themselves around Germany. WHY SHOULD WE FEAR THE ROMISH PRIESTS? Omne ignotum pro magnifico. tion, unworthy of gentlemen as well as of Christians, till the scoffing world has very excusably likened the No-Popery party to the cur-dog yelping at the heels of the wolf which he dare not touch, - public sympathy being very naturally transferred from the cur to the wolf. It is really time to cease shrieking at Romish priests, and to begin to know a little about them. Why, indeed? The expectation that Popery | otry, illogicality, virulence, and wanton imputawill in a few years become the popular religion of these realms is surely more common than well founded. There are many thousands of English Protestants who say that they consider such a catastrophe as inevitable; the dream is gaining believers in these days among the Romanists themselves with what reasonable grounds, is a matter for future question. For Protestants, if any find themselves inspirited in fighting for the good cause by the conviction that they are infallibly predestined to defeat, they are welcome to their opinion; though it would seem more likely to prove a damper than an excitant. But it is very difficult to understand how men can talk of Protestantism as the cause of liberty, humanity, God himself, and yet in the same breath bewail it as lost and ruined. It is more difficult to understand how men can fancy that they are helping that cause by querulous and unmanly confessions of their own fancied weakness and divisions, and the unanimity and strength of the Romish priesthood. It is most difficult to understand how, of all weapons wherewith to attack this so redoubted priesthood, we should have been prone to choose those best calculated to cast contempt on ourselves-ignorance and big The Popish priesthood change the religion of England! What signs have they shown for the last three hundred years of power to preserve a nation's religion, much less to change it? How have they kept France? How Spain? How Italy itself? What single great work have they effected since Trent, except fruitless persecutions, which, justly or unjustly, have made their name a byword and an abomination throughout nine tenths of Europe? What man of genius have they had among them since the sixteenth century? What man, who " being dead, yet speaks," who has exercised any important influence on the progress of mankind, moral, social, or intellectual? The labors of their noblest men Massillon and Bourdaloue, Fénélon and Bossuet were only followed by an age of Louis Quinze and a French Revolution! Ecce sig |