Have you
forgotten
how once upon a time
two young girls played beneath the plantains on the meadows of
Ravenna?
two young girls played beneath the plantains on the meadows of
Ravenna?
Warner - World's Best Literature - v08 - Dah to Dra
,
Late Professor of the Germanic and Scandinavian Languages
and Literatures,
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, N. Y.
EDWARD S. HOLDEN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Director of the Lick Observatory, and Astronomer,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, Cal.
ALCÉE FORTIER, LIT. D. ,
Professor of the Romance Languages,
TULANE UNIVERSITY, New Orleans, La.
WILLIAM P. TRENT, M. A. ,
Dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of
English and History,
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, Sewanee, Tenn.
PAUL SHOREY, PH. D. ,
Professor of Greek and Latin Literature,
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Ill.
WILLIAM T. HARRIS, LL. D. ,
United States Commissioner of Education,
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C.
MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Professor of Literature in the
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Washington, D. C.
## p. 4256 (#18) ############################################
## p. 4257 (#19) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
OLOF VON DALIN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOL. VIII
The Young Wife (Felicitas')
The Vengeance of Gothelindis (The Struggle for Rome')
1708-1763
From the Swedish Argus, No. XIII. —1733
BY WILLIAM H. CARPENTER
RICHARD HENRY DANA, SENIOR
The Island (The Buccaneer')
The Doom of Lee (same)
Paul and Abel (Paul Felton')
DANTE
RICHARD HENRY DANA, JUNIOR
1834-
LIVED
A Dry Gale (Two Years Before the Mast')
Every-Day Sea Life (same)
A Start; and Parting Company (same)
--
1787-1879
1815-1882
BY CHARLES ELIOT NORTON
1265-1321
From The New Life': Beginning of Love; First Saluta-
tion of His Lady; Praise of His Lady; Her Loveli-
ness; Her Death; The Anniversary of Her Death; The
Hope to Speak More Worthily of Her
From the Banquet': Consolation of Philosophy; Desire
of the Soul; The Noble Soul at the End of Life
From the Divine Comedy': Hell-Entrance on the Jour-
ney Through the Eternal World; Hell - Punishment
of Carnal Sinners; Purgatory - The Final Purgation;
Purgatory Meeting with his Lady in the Earthly
Paradise; Paradise - The Final Vision
PAGE
4267
4278
4285
4302
4315
## p. 4258 (#20) ############################################
JAMES DARMESTETER
Ernest Renan (Selected Essays')
Judaism (same)
CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN
vi
BY E. RAY LANKESTER
LIVED
1849-1894
Impressions of Travel (A Naturalist's Voyage')
Genesis of The Origin of Species' ('Life and Letters')
Curious Atrophy of Esthetic Taste (same)
Private Memorandum concerning His Little Daughter
1809-1882
(same)
Religious Views (same)
Letters: To Miss Julia Wedgwood; To J. D. Hooker; To
T. H. Huxley; To E. Ray Lankester; To J. D. Hooker
The Struggle for Existence (Origin of Species')
Geometrical Ratio of Increase (same)
ALPHONSE DAUDET
Of the Nature of the Checks to Increase (same)
Complex Relations of All Animals and Plants to Each
Other in the Struggle for Existence (same)
Of Natural Selection: or the Survival of the Fittest
(same)
Progressive Change Compared with Independent Creation
(same)
Creative Design (Variation of Animals and Plants under
Domestication')
Origin of the Human Species (The Descent of Man')
1840-
BY AUGUSTIN FILON
The Two Tartarins (Tartarin of Tarascon ')
Of Mental Mirage," as Distinguished from Lying (same)
Death of the Dauphin (Letters from My Windmill')
Jack Is Invited to Take Up a "Profession" ("Jack')
The City of Iron and Fire (same)
The Wrath of a Queen (Kings in Exile')
MADAME DU DEFFAND (Marie de Vichy-Chamrond)
1697-1780
Letters: To the Duchesse de Choiseul; To Mr. Crawford;
To Horace Walpole
Portrait of Horace Walpole
PAGE
4379
4385
4435
4471
## p. 4259 (#21) ############################################
vii
DANIEL DEFOE
BY CHARLES FREDERICK JOHNSON
<
From Robinson Crusoe': Crusoe's Shipwreck; Crusoe
Makes a New Home; A Footprint
From History of the Plague in London': Superstitious
Fears of the People; How Quacks and Impositors
Preyed on the Fears of the People; The People Are
Quarantined in Their Houses; Moral Effects of the
Plague; Terrible Scenes in the Streets; The Plague
Due to Natural Causes; Spread of the Plague through
Necessities of the Poor
From Colonel Jack': Colonel Jack and Captain Jack
Escape Arrest: Colonel Jack Finds Captain Jack Hard
to Manage; Colonel Jack's First Wife Is Not Disposed
to be Economical
EDUARD DOUWES DEKKER
The Devil Does Not Concern Himself with Petty Matters
(The Modern History of the Devil')
Defoe Addresses His Public (An Appeal to Honor and
Justice')
Engaging a Maid-Servant (Everybody's Business is No-
body's Business')
The Devil (The True-Born Englishman')
There Is a God (The Storm')
1820-1887
Multatuli's Last Words to the Reader (Max Havelaar')
Idyll of Saïdjah and Adinda (same)
THOMAS DEKKER
LIVED
1661-1731
1570? -1637?
From The Gul's Horne Booke': How a Gallant Should
Behave Himself in Powles Walk; Sleep
Praise of Fortune (Old Fortunatus')
Content (Patient Grissil')
Rustic Song (The Sun's Darling')
Lullaby (Patient Grissil')
JEAN FRANÇOIS CASIMIR DELAVIGNE
BY FREDERIC LOLIÉE
Confession of Louis XI
1793-1843
PAGE
4479
4513
4521
4528
## p. 4260 (#22) ############################################
DEMOSTHENES
THOMAS DE QUINCEY
The Third Philippic
Invective Against License of Speech
Justification of His Patriotic Policy
viii
BY ROBERT SHARP
PAUL DÉROULÈDE
Charles Lamb (Biographical Essays')
Despair (Confessions of an English Opium-Eater')
The Dead Sister (same)
Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow (same)
RENÉ DESCARTES
BY GEORGE R. CARPENTER
LIVED
384-322 B. C.
Savannah-La-Mar (same)
The Bishop of Beauvais and Joan of Arc (Miscellaneous
Essays')
PAUL DESJARDINS
The Harvest (Chants du Paysan')
In Good Quarters (Poèmes Militaires')
"Good Fighting” (same)
Last Wishes (same)
1785-1859
BY GRACE KING
1596-1650
Of Certain Principles of Elementary Logical Thought
('Discourse on Method')
An Elementary Method of Inquiry (same)
The Idea of God (Meditations')
SIR AUBREY DE VERE
The Crusaders
The Children Band (The Crusaders')
The Rock of Cashel
The Right Use of Prayer
The Church
Sonnet
1846-
The Present Duty
Conversion of the Church
Two Impressions (Notes Contemporaines')
1788-1846
PAGE
4535
4555
4580
4585
4596
4609
## p. 4261 (#23) ############################################
ix
LIVED
BERNAL DIAZ DEL CASTILLO
1498-1593
From the True History of the Conquest of Mexico': Cap-
ture of Guatimotzin; Mortality at the Conquest of
Mexico; Cortés; Of Divine Aid in the Battle of Santa
Maria de la Vitoria; Cortés Destroys Certain Idols
CHARLES DIBdin
Sea Song
Song: The Heart of a Tar
CHARLES DICKENS
DENIS DIDEROT
BY LAURENCE HUTTON
The One Thing Needful (Hard Times')
The Boy at Mugby (Mugby Junction')
Burning of Newgate (Barnaby Rudge')
Monseigneur ('A Tale of Two Cities')
The Ivy Green
From 'Rameau's Nephew'
FRANZ VON DINGELSTEDT
A Man of Business (The Amazon')
The Watchman
ISAAC D'ISRAELI
Poor Jack
Tom Bowling
SYDNEY DOBELL
1745-1814
1812-1870
DIOGENES LAERTIUS
200-250 A. D. ?
Life of Socrates (Lives and Sayings of the Philosophers')
Examples of Greek Wit and Wisdom: Bias; Plato; Aristip-
pus; Aristotle; Theophrastus; Demetrius; Antisthenes;
Diogenes; Cleanthes; Pythagoras
Epigram on the Death of Edward Forbes
How's My Boy?
The Sailor's Return
Afloat and Ashore
1713-1784
1814-1881
1766-1848
Poets, Philosophers, and Artists Made by Accident (Curi-
osities of Literature')
Martyrdom of Charles the First (Commentaries on the
Reign of Charles the First')
1824-1874
PAGE
4613
4620
4625
4689
4704
4711
4725
4733
## p. 4262 (#24) ############################################
SYDNEY DOBELL- Continued:
The Soul (Balder')
England (same)
America
Amy's Song of the Willow ('Balder')
AUSTIN DOBSON
On a Nankin Plate
The Old Sedan-Chair
Ballad of Prose and Rhyme
The Curé's Progress
"Good-Night, Babbette »
MARY MAPES DODGE
The Race (Hans Brinker')
JOHN DONNE
BY ESTHER SINGLETON
The Undertaking
A Valediction Forbidding
Mourning
X
EDWARD DOWDEN
FEODOR MIKHAILOVITCH DOSTOEVSKY
The Ladies of St. James's
Dora versus Rose
Une Marquise
A. CONAN DOYLE
LIVED
BY ISABEL F. HAPGOOD
1840-
A Ballad to Queen Elizabeth
The Princess De Lamballe
(Four French women')
1840? -
Song
Love's Growth
Song
From 'Poor People': Letter from Varvara Dobrosyeloff
to Makar Dyevushkin; Letter from Makar Dyevushkin
to Varvara Alexievna Dobrosyeloff
The Bible Reading (Crime and Punishment')
The Interpretation of Literature (same)
1573-1631
1843-
The Humor of Shakespeare (Shakespeare; a Critical
Study of His Mind and Art')
1821-1881
Shakespeare's Portraiture of Women (Transcripts and
Studies)
Holmes')
Bowmen's Song (The White Company')
1859-
The Red-Headed League (The Adventures of Sherlock
PAGE
4741
4757
4771
4779
4806
4815
## p. 4263 (#25) ############################################
xi
HOLGER DRACHMANN
JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE
1846-
The Skipper and His Ship (Paul and Virginia of a
Northern Zone')
The Prince's Song (Once Upon a Time')
LIVED
A Winter's Tale (The Croakers')
The Culprit Fay
The American Flag
1795-1820
PAGK
4840
4851
## p. 4264 (#26) ############################################
## p. 4265 (#27) ############################################
LIST OF PORTRAITS
IN VOL. VIII
Felix Dahn
Richard Henry Dana, Senior
Richard Henry Dana, Junior
Dante
Charles Darwin
Alphonse Daudet
Madame Du Deffand
Daniel Defoe
Casimir Delavigne
Demosthenes
Thomas De Quincey
Paul Déroulède
René Descartes
Paul Desjardins
Aubrey De Vere
Charles Dibdin
Charles Dickens
Denis Diderot
Franz von Dingelstedt
Isaac D'Israeli
Austin Dobson
Mary Mapes Dodge
John Donne
Feodor Mikhailovitch Dostoevsky
A. Conan Doyle
Holger Drachmann
Joseph Rodman Drake
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## p. 4267 (#29) ############################################
4267
FELIX DAHN
(1834-)
ELIX DAHN was born at Hamburg, February 9th, 1834, but
when he was only six weeks old the family removed to
Munich. His parents, Friedrich and Constance Dahn, were
celebrated actors, and members of the Royal Theatre at Munich.
His childhood, youth, and early manhood were passed in Munich,
with the exception of one year (1852-3) spent at the University of
Berlin. A somewhat lonely but not unhappy childhood in the fine
old house in the Königinstrasse, with its surroundings of parks and
pleasant gardens, developed his dreamy,
poetic instincts. His first poem, written at
the age of fourteen, is the spontaneous
lyric outburst of a boy's joy in nature.
FELIX DAHN
Dahn was educated at the Latin school
and the University of Munich. He was
but a lad when Homer opened to him a
new world. He began to read the Iliad,
and scarcely left off night or day until it
was finished. The Odyssey followed in the
same way; and in two months he had read
them both and begun again at the begin-
ning. Poetry had rendered his mind sus-
ceptible to learning, and he read, in school
and out, every classic that fell into his hands. History as well as
poetry early became a passion to him, and the uniformity of his
intellectual development made every province of learning his own.
The Teutonic languages, old and new, Anglo-Saxon, Gothic, Norse,
etc. , as well as Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, and English,
were easily assimilated. At the university, both at Munich and Berlin,
he devoted himself to history, philosophy, and jurisprudence. In 1857
he became docent in the faculty of law at the University of Munich,
and in 1862 was made professor. In the following year he was
appointed professor of German law and jurisprudence at Würzburg,
and in 1872 he was called to Königsberg to the same chair, and in
1888 to Breslau. He took part in the war of 1870-71, and was
present at the battle of Sedan.
Dahn is distinguished as a historian, novelist, poet, and dramatist.
His principal historical works are -'Die Könige der Germanen'
## p. 4268 (#30) ############################################
4268
FELIX DAHN
(The Kings of the Germans), 1861-72, 6 vols. ; Urgeschichte der
Germanischen und Romanischen Völker' (Primitive History of the
Germanic and Romance Peoples), 1878. These two rank high among
the contributions to German history and ethnology in the nineteenth
century. Among his most prominent works in law is 'Die Vernunft
im Recht' (Reason in Law), 1879. As a poet and dramatist, several
of his performances have attained eminence. In 1857 he published
his first collection of poems, and a second collection followed in 1873.
'Zwölf Balladen' (Twelve Ballads) appeared in 1875, and 'Balladen
und Lieder' (Ballads and Songs) in 1878. By far his greatest
romance is 'Der Kampf um Rom' (The Struggle for Rome), 1876, a
work of pre-eminent power and merit. It is a voluminous study, a
series of elaborate pictures, dealing with the empires of the East and
the West in the sixth century. Its scenes are chiefly laid in
Ravenna, at the time of that city's great splendor under the Gothic
sovereignty, and at Rome. The fierce and beautiful Amalaswintha
(also called often Amalasonta) is a prominent character; and other
vivid types are Cassiodorus, Totila, and Mataswintha. Following
this novel, among others, appeared in 1878 Kämpfende Herzen'
(Struggling Hearts); in 1880, 'Odhins Trost' (Odin's Consolation);
and in 1882-90 a series of historical novels under the common title
'Kleine Romane aus der Völkerwanderung' (Short Novels from the
Wandering of the Nations), from the first of which, 'Felicitas,'
an appended extract is taken.
(
Among his dramas are 'Markgraf Rüdeger von Bechelaren ';
'König Roderich'; and 'Deutsche Treue' (German Fidelity).
THE YOUNG WIFE
From Felicitas': copyrighted by George S. Gottsberger, 1883. Reprinted by
permission of George G. Peck
IT
WAS a beautiful June evening. The sun, setting in golden
radiance, cast its glittering rays from the west, from Vinde-
licia, upon the Hill of Mercury and the modest villa crown-
ing it.
Only a subdued murmur reached this spot from the high-
way, along which ever and anon a two-wheeled cart, drawn by
Norican oxen, was moving homeward from the western gate of
Juvavum, the porta Vindelica,-as were also the country people
who had been selling vegetables, hens, and doves in the Forum
of Hercules during the day just ended.
## p. 4269 (#31) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4269
So it was quiet and peaceful on the hill; beyond the stone
wall, which was lower than the height of a man, and which in-
closed the garden, nothing was heard save the rippling of the
little rivulet which, after leaving its marble basin at its source,
fed the fountain, and then wound in graceful curves through the
carefully kept garden, and finally near the entrance, which was
surmounted by Hermes but destitute of door or grating, passed
under a gap in the wall and flowed down the hill in a stone
channel.
At the foot of this hill, towards the southeast, in the direc-
tion of the city, lay carefully tilled vegetable gardens and or-
chards, luxuriant green meadows, and fields of spelt, a grain
brought by the Romans to the land of the barbarians.
Behind the villa, on the ascending hillside, towered and
rustled a beautiful grove of beeches, from whose depths echoed
the metallic notes of the yellow thrush.
The scene was so beautiful, so peaceful; only in the west and
the southeast could a dark cloud be seen.
From the open gateway a straight path, strewn with white
sand, led through the spacious garden, and was bordered with
lofty evergreen oaks and clumps of yew-trees; the latter, accord
ing to a long prevailing fashion, clipped into all sorts of geo.
metrical figures, a token of taste, or the lack of it, the Rococo
age did not invent, but merely borrowed from the gardens of
the emperors.
――――――――
Statues stood at regular distances along the way from the
gate to the entrance of the dwelling; nymphs, a Flora, a
Silvanus, a Mercury, - poor specimens of work executed in
plaster; fat Crispus manufactured them by the dozen in his
workshop on the square of Vulcanus at Juvavum, and sold
them cheap; times were hard for men, and still worse for gods
and demigods, but these were a free gift. Crispus was
brother to the father of the young master of the house.
From the garden gate sounded a few hammer-strokes, echoed
back from the stone wall of the inclosure; they were light taps,
for they were cautiously guided by an artist's hand, apparently
the last finishing touches of a master.
The man who wielded the hammer now started up- he had
been kneeling behind the gate, beside which, piled one above
another, a dozen unhewn marble slabs announced the dwelling
of a stone-cutter. Thrusting the little hammer into the belt
## p. 4270 (#32) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4270
that fastened the leather apron over the blue tunic, he poured
from a small flask a few drops of oil on a woolen cloth, and
carefully rubbed the inscription upon the marble with it until
it was as smooth as a mirror; then turning his head a little
on one side, like a bird that wants to examine something
closely, with an approving nod he read aloud the words on
the slab:-
"Hic habitat Felicitas.
Nihil mali intret. "
"Yes, yes! Here dwells happiness: my happiness, our hap-
piness so long as my Felicitas lives here, happy herself and
making others happy. May misfortune never cross this thresh-
old! may every demon of ill be banished by this motto! The
house has now received a beautiful finish in these words. But
where is she? She must see it and praise me. Felicitas," he
called, turning towards the house, "come here! "
Wiping the perspiration from his brow, he stood erect-a
pliant youthful figure of middle height, not unlike the Mercury
in the garden, modeled by Crispus according to the ancient tra-
ditions of symmetry; dark-brown hair, cut short, curled closely,
almost like a cap, over his uncovered round head; a pair of
dark eyes, shaded by heavy brows, laughed merrily out into
the world; his bare feet and arms were beautifully formed,
but showed little strength,-it was only in the right arm that
the muscles stood forth prominently; the brown leather apron
was white with scrapings from the marble. He shook off the
dust and called again in a louder tone, "Felicitas! "
A white figure, framed like a picture between the two pilas-
ters of the entrance, appeared on the threshold, pushing back
the dark yellow curtain suspended from a bronze pole by mova-
ble rings. A very young girl-or was it a young wife? Yes,
this child, scarcely seventeen, must have already become a wife,
for she was undoubtedly the mother of the infant she pressed to
her bosom with her left arm; no one but a mother holds a child
with such an expression in face and attitude.
The young wife pressed two fingers of her right hand, with
the palm turned outward, warningly to her lips. "Hush," she
said; "our child is asleep. "
And now the slender figure, not yet wholly matured, floated
down the four stone steps leading from the threshold to the
garden, carefully lifting the child a little higher and holding it
## p. 4271 (#33) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4271
still more closely with her left arm, while her right hand raised
her snowy robe to the dainty ankle; the faultlessly beautiful oval
head was slightly bent forward: it was a vision of perfect grace,
even more youthful, more childlike than Raphael's Madonnas,
and not humble, yet at the same time mystically transfigured,
like the mother of the Christ-child; there was nothing compli-
cated, nothing miraculous, naught save the noblest simplicity
blended with royal grandeur in Felicitas's unconscious innocence
and dignity. The movements of this Hebe who had become a
mother were as measured and graceful as a perfect musical
harmony. A wife, yet still a maiden; purely human, perfectly
happy, absorbed and satisfied by her love for her young husband
and the child at her breast; so chaste in coloring was the per-
fect beauty of her form and face that every profane desire van-
ished in her presence as though she were a statue.
She wore no ornaments; her light-brown hair, gleaming with
a gold tinge where the sun kissed it, was drawn back in natural
waves from the beautiful temples, revealing the low forehead, and
was fastened in a loose knot at the nape of the neck; a milk-
white robe of the finest wool, fastened on the left shoulder by
an exquisitely shaped but plain silver clasp, fell in flowing folds.
around her figure,- revealing the neck, the upper part of the
swelling bosom, and the still childish arms which seemed a little
too long, and reached to the ankles, just touching the dainty
scarlet leather sandals; beneath the breast one end of the robe
was drawn through a bronze girdle a hand's-breadth wide.
So she glided noiselessly as a wave down the steps and up to
her husband. The narrow oval face possessed the marvelous,
almost bluish, white tint peculiar to the daughters of Ionia, which
no Southern noonday sun can brown; the semi-circular eyebrows,
as regular as if marked by a pair of compasses, might have
given the countenance a lifeless, almost statuesque expression,
had not under the long low-curling lashes the dark-brown ante-
lope eyes shone with the most vivid animation as she fixed them
on her beloved husband.
The latter rushed towards her with elastic steps; carefully
and tenderly taking the sleeping child from her arm, he laid it
under the shade of a rose-bush in the oval shallow straw lid of
his work-basket; one full-blown rose waving in the evening
breeze tossed fragrant petals on the little one, who smiled in
sleep.
## p. 4272 (#34) ############################################
4272
FELIX DAHN
The master of the house, throwing his arm around his young
wife's almost too slender waist, led her to the slab just completed
for the threshold of the entrance, saying:-
"The motto I have kept secret—which I have worked so
hard to finish-is now done; read it, and know, and feel” —
here he tenderly kissed her lips-"you you yourself are the
happiness; you dwell here. "
―――――――――
Translation of Mary J. Safford.
THE VENGEANCE OF GOTHELINDIS
From The Struggle for Rome ›
THE
HE slave silently opened a door in the marble walls. Amalas-
wintha entered, and stood in the narrow gallery which ran
around the basin. Just in front, low steps led into the
magnificent bath, from which already warm delicious odors were
rising. Light fell in from above through an octagonal dome of
finely cut glass. At the entrance was a flight of steps of cedar
wood, which led up twelve stairs to a spring-board. Round
about the marble walls of the gallery, as well as of the basin,
countless friezes hid the mouths of the pipes needed for the
water-works and the hot air.
Silently the bath-woman spread the bathing accessories over
the soft cushions and carpets that covered the floor of the gal-
lery, and turned toward the door.
"Why is it that I feel that I know you? " asked the princess,
looking at her thoughtfully. "How long have you been here ? »
"Since eight days. " And she took hold of the door.
"How long have you served Cassiodorus? "
"I have always served the Princess Gothelindis. "
With a cry of terror Amalaswintha started up at this name.
She turned and grasped at the garment of the woman - too late!
She was gone, the door fell to. Amalaswintha heard the key
drawn out of the lock.
-
In vain her eye sought for another place of exit. Then an
immense unnamable fear overcame the queen. She felt that
she had been terribly deceived, that here was hidden a disastrous
secret. Fear, nameless fear, fell upon her. Flight, flight out of
this chamber was her one thought.
## p. 4273 (#35) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4273
But flight seemed impossible; the door from this side was
now only a thick marble slab, like those at the right and the
left. Not even a pin could penetrate through the seams. In
despair her eyes traveled around the wall of the gallery. Only
the tritons and dolphins stared back at her.
At last her gaze
rested on the snake-enwreathed head of the Medusa just opposite,
and she uttered a cry of terror. The face of the Medusa was
pushed aside, and the oval space under the snaky hair was filled
by a human countenance!
Was a human countenance?
Trembling, she clutched the marble railing, and leaning far
forward peered over: yes, those were the features of Gothelindis,
drawn to a grimace; and a hell of hatred and scorn flamed in
her eyes.
Amalaswintha sank on her knees and hid her face.
"You-you here! "
Hoarse laughter answered her.
"Yes, Amelung woman! I am here, and to your ruin! This
island, this house, is mine! It shall be your grave! Dolios and
all slaves of Cassiodorus are mine, sold to me a week ago. I
have lured you hither. I have followed you as your shadow.
Through long days and long nights I have borne within me
burning hatred, at length to taste here full revenge. For hours
I will enjoy your mortal agony, will witness miserable, moaning
terror shake as in fever that proud body and cover that haughty
face! Oh, I will drink a sea of revenge! "
Amalaswintha rose, wringing her hands:-"Revenge, Gothe-
lindis! Wherefore? Whence this deadly hatred of me? "
"Ha, and you ask? To be sure, decades have passed by, and
the heart of the happy soon forgets. But hatred has a more
faithful memory.
Have you forgotten how once upon a time
two young girls played beneath the plantains on the meadows of
Ravenna? Both were chief among their playmates.
Both were
young, beautiful, and charming; the one daughter of a king, the
other daughter of the Baltha. And the girls had to choose a
queen for their games: and they chose Gothelindis, for she was
yet more beautiful than you, and not as imperious; and they
chose her once, twice in succession. But the daughter of the
king stood by, consumed by wild untamable pride,- pride and
envy; and when they chose me for the third time, she took up
the sharp-pointed garden scissors->
VIII-268
## p. 4274 (#36) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4274
"Stop! oh, hush, Gothelindis! "
-And flung it at me. And it hit its mark, and crying out
and bloody I fell to the ground, my whole cheek a gaping
wound, and my eye, my eye pierced. Ah, how that hurts, even
now! "
«<
-
"Pardon, forgive, Gothelindis! " moaned the prisoner. "You
had forgiven me long ago. "
"Forgiven? I forgive you? That you robbed my face of its
eye, and my life of its beauty, shall I forgive that? You had
got the better of me for life; Gothelindis was no longer danger-
ous; she mourned in silence, the disfigured one fled the eyes of
men. And years passed. Then out of Spain came to the court
of Ravenna the noble Eutharich, the Amaler with the dark eye
and the tender heart: he, ill himself, took pity on the ill, half-
blind one; and he talked with her kindly and compassionately,
with the ugly one, whom all else avoided. Oh, how that
refreshened my thirsting soul! And it was decided in order to
bury the old hatred between the two houses, to wipe away old
and recent guilt,- for the Duke of the Baltha, Alarich, had
likewise been executed on secret, unproved accusation,- that the
poor maltreated daughter of the Baltha should become the wife.
of the noblest of the Amaler. When you heard that, you who
had disfigured me! you decided to take my lover from me-
not from jealousy, not because you loved him! no, from pride;
because you wanted as your own the chief man in the Gothic
Kingdom, the next male heir to the crown. You decided on
that, and you achieved it. Your father could not deny you any
wish; and Eutharich forgot at once his pity for the one-eyed
one, as soon as the hand of the beautiful daughter of the king
beckoned to him. For compensation or was it for scorn?
they gave to me likewise an Amaler-Theodahad, the miserable.
coward! "
―――
-
-
"Gothelindis, I swear to you, I never imagined that you loved
Eutharich! How could I-”
"To be sure, how could you think that the ugly one would
lift her thoughts so high? Oh, you cursed one! And if you
had loved him, and had made him happy-I would have for-
given you everything. But you did not love him, you can love
only the sceptre! You made him miserable. For years I saw
him at your side, bowed down, unloved, frozen to the marrow by
your coldness.
Sorrow because of your chilling pride soon killed
## p. 4275 (#37) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4275
him! You, you have robbed me of my lover, and sent him to
the grave! Revenge, revenge for him! "
And the deep vault re-echoed the cry, "Revenge! Revenge! "
"Help, ho! ” cried Amalaswintha. She ran in despair along
the circle of the gallery, beating her hands against the marble.
slab.
"Yes, cry out! No one hears you now but the god of ven-
geance. Do you think that for months I have curbed in my
hatred in vain? How often, how easily, could I even in Ravenna
have reached you with poniard or poison! But no, I have lured
you hither.
At the petition of my cousins, at your bed an hour
ago I restrained my uplifted arm from the stroke. Yes, for you
shall die slowly, inch by inch! for hours I will watch your mor-
tal agony increase. »
"Terrible one! "
"Oh, what are hours, compared to the decades through which
you have tortured me with my disfigurement, with your beauty,
with the possession of my lover? What are hours compared to
decades? But you shall pay for it. "
"What will you do? " cried the tortured one, again and again
looking for an escape along the walls.
"Do? I will drown you, slowly, slowly-in the water-works
of this bath-which your friend Cassiodorus built! You do
not know the pangs of jealousy and impotent fury I have suf-
fered in this house, when you shared the couch with Eutharich,
and I was among your followers and obliged to serve you.
this bath, you haughty one, I have loosened your sandals and
dried the proud limbs. In this bath you shall die. "
In
Gothelindis pressed a button. The floor of the basin of the
upper story, the circular metal plate, divided into two semicir-
cles. They disappeared to the right and left in the wall; the
prisoner in terror looked from the narrow gallery into the abys-
mal depth at her feet.
"Remember my eye! " cried Gothelindis, and then of a sud-
den the sluices at the bottom opened and the waters of the lake
rushed in, gurgling and foaming, and rose higher and higher
with terrible swiftness.
Amalaswintha saw certain death before her. She knew the
impossibility of escaping, or of softening with prayers her dev-
ilish enemy.
But her old proud Amelung courage returned;
composedly she awaited her fate. Near her, to the right of the
## p. 4276 (#38) ############################################
4276
FELIX DAHN
entrance, she saw among the many friezes of Greek mythology
a representation of the death of Christ; that refreshed her soul.
She knelt down before the marble crucifix, clasped it with both
hands and prayed calmly with closed eyes, while the waters rose
and rose.
Now they dashed against the steps of the gallery.
"You are going to pray, are you, murderess? " cried Gothe-
lindis furiously. «< Away from the crucifix! Remember the three
dukes! "
Of a sudden all the dolphins and tritons on the right side of
the octagon began to spout streams of hot water; white smoke
puffed out of the pipes.
Amalaswintha sprang up and rushed to the other side of the
gallery. "Gothelindis, I forgive you! Kill me, but do you like-
wise forgive my soul. "
And the water rose and rose. Already it surged over the
upper step and pushed slowly on to the floor of the gallery.
"I forgive you? Never! Think of Eutharich! " And from
the left the boiling streams of water hissed toward Amalaswin-
tha. She now fled toward the center, just opposite the head of
the Medusa, the only place where no stream from the pipes.
I could reach her.
If she mounted the springboard placed here, she could for a
little yet prolong her life. Gothelindis seemed to expect this, in
order to enjoy the prolonged agony. The water already foamed
on the marble floor of the gallery and moistened the feet of the
prisoner. Quickly she bounded up the brown shimmering steps,
and leaned against the railing of the bridge.
"Hear me, Gothelindis! my last prayer! not for myself,— for
my people, for our people. Petros intends to despoil it and
Theodahad. "
"Yes, I know, this realm is the uppermost care of your soul!
Despair! It is lost! These foolish Goths, who for centuries
preferred the Amaler to the Baltha, are sold and betrayed by
the house of the Amaler. Belisarius draws near, and there is
none to warn them. "
"You are mistaken, fiend! They are warned.
I their queen
have warned them. Hail to my people! Ruin to its enemies
and mercy to my soul! " And with a quick leap she threw her-
self from the platform into the waters. Foaming they closed
over her.
Gothelindis stared at the place where her victim had stood.
## p. 4277 (#39) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4277
"She has disappeared," she said.
Then she looked down into the water; the kerchief of Amala-
swintha was swimming on the surface.
"Even in death this woman triumphs over me," she said
slowly. "How long lasted the hatred! and how short was re-
venge! "
Translated for A Library of the World's Best Literature,' by R. H. Knorr.
## p. 4278 (#40) ############################################
4278
OLOF VON DALIN
(1708-1763)
BY WILLIAM H. CARPENTER
LOF
VON DALIN, "the father of modern Swedish poetry,”
was born at Vinberga, in Halland, Sweden, August 29th,
1708. He was one of the most important figures in Swedish
literature during a transitional period, which in consequence of the
influence he exercised has been called the "Dalin age. " He was the
son of a clergyman, and studied at the University of Lund, where
under the instruction of Rydelius he particularly devoted himself to
French and English literature. At the age of twenty he went to
Stockholm in the capacity of tutor, and in 1731 he entered the gov-
ernment service.
His talents, brilliancy, and adaptability made him a universal
favorite, and his career was singularly unobstructed. He was the
embodiment of the vital new spirit which flashed upon the dullness
of the time, breaking up formalism and dead tradition and introdu-
cing into literature an element which was destined to transform it.
In 1732 there appeared in Stockholm a weekly paper, edited anony-
mously, devoted to literary topics and to the discussion of the questions.
of the day. The publication of this little sheet was the immediate
result of Dalin's English proclivities. His studies in English litera-
ture had formed his mind upon a new model, and the Svenska
Argus (1732-1734) was the Swedish counterpart of the English Spec-
tator and a direct imitation of the example of Addison.
The appear-
ance of the Argus was a revelation. The public, accustomed to the
monotonous dullness of its predecessors, was taken by storm by the
wit, piquancy, and verve of the new periodical. Its first issue already
relegated such publications as the Sedolärande Mercurius, itself only
two years older, to the limbo of things outgrown. The paper at
once attained universal popularity; and when the identity of the
young editor became known he was acclaimed as the foremost writer
of the land, and was overwhelmed with favors from every side.
His next work was 'Tankar om Kritiker' (Thoughts about Criti-
cisms), and the dramas 'Den Afundsjuke' (The Jealous Man), a com-
edy in imitation of Holberg, and Brynhild,' a tragedy. Returning
from a tour, he created great enthusiasm by his 'Saga om Hästen'
(The Story of the Horse), 1739; a witty prose narrative, in which, in
## p. 4279 (#41) ############################################
OLOF VON DALIN
4279
(
the character of a horse, he related in a highly humorous manner
the history of Sweden. This was followed by the satire, strongly
suggestive of Swift, Aprilverk om vår Herrliga Tid' (April-work of
Our Glorious Time), a piece of writing which delighted the public.
In 1742 appeared what was regarded by his contemporaries as the
attainment of his highest poetic efforts, Svenska Friheten' (Swedish
Freedom), a didactic allegorical poem.
Dalin was ennobled in 1751, and the youthful Queen of Sweden,
Louise Ulrika, sister of Frederick the Great, appointed him to the
double office of tutoring the young crown prince Gustav and writing
a complete history of Sweden. These compulsory duties, and the
frequent "festal" poems which in his capacity as court poet it de-
volved upon him to write, robbed him of the leisure to attempt any
sustained effort; and from this time, aside from his History, the only
products of his pen are "occasional" poems, of which a large num-
ber have been preserved.
Dalin was the chief founder of the "Vitterhets-Akademie» (Acad-
emy of Arts and Sciences), established by Queen Louise Ulrika in
1753, which in 1786, under Gustav III. , was transformed into the
"Vitterhets-, Historie-, och Antiquitäts-Akademie. " He was appointed
privy councilor in 1753, and subsequently being suspected of revolu-
tionary intrigues, he was banished from the court. He returned in
1761. During the period of the exile he worked upon his 'Svearikes
Historia (History of the Kingdom of Sweden), which he ultimately
brought down to the period of Charles IX. This appeared in four
volumes, 1747-62. His collected works were published in 1767. He
died at Drottningholm, August 12th, 1763.
The immense influence of Dalin upon his age was disproportionate
to the merits of his writings, and must be ascribed to his personal-
ity and to the new elements which he introduced, rather than to his
creative genius. He was the force which opened new channels, the
power which directed the new tendencies of his day. He broke
away from the traditions of the German cult, which until his time
had been the ruling power, and brought into Swedish the potent ele-
ments of French and English literature. Together with Madame
Nordenflycht and other followers of his school, and aided by the
French influence of the court, he completely transformed the char-
acter of the national literature.
WmSt. Carpenter
## p. 4280 (#42) ############################################
4280
OLOF VON DALIN
FROM THE SWEDISH ARGUS, NO. XIII. 1733
Cupias non placuisse nimis
I
HOPE you know me now, my reader, so that you will pardon
me if I write but little, since that happens merely in order
that I may set down the truth. I too am not my own mas-
ter; for my offspring have now taken it upon themselves to shut
off their speakers with that blow which makes for a creditable
piece of writing, but afflicts the truth. In which respect I for
the most resemble the fifth wheel of a wagon, and trouble
myself no more about it than many a town councilor or juryman
bothers his head about the verdicts which he signs and approves,
without making it my business to prove it true, and as if asleep,
give in my vote. You must also yourself admit, my just reader,
that it is necessary in our time to lie the truth in among the
people.
Our father Adam and mother Eve, it happened a short time
since, came up out of their graves and were at their estate Tiel-
kestad, where they presently proclaimed over the whole land a
diet, or assemblage, at which all their dear children of both
sexes should appear in person or by duly qualified substitute, in
order that their universal parents might see and rejoice in their
Northern seed, might learn how apt was each and how he had
improved his talent, and admonish him to do honor to his
creation.
Here was gathered together a considerable assembly of people.
Each one, from the greatest to the least, went forward to kiss
grandpapa's and grandmamma's hand. They bent and they
bowed, and most of the inhabitants of the land now vied with
each other with all their might of soul and body, with internal
and external senses, to see who should most please their first
parents. For it may be believed it was no joke to be able to
joice them with their excellence, now, some five thousand years
after their death, and to put in their minds the thought, "See,
Adam, what a son you have! " "See, Eve, what a daughter! " etc.
Adam, who honored the first creation, and loved nature's
activity, which tolerates no compulsions or additions, was amazed
when he saw his children, for he did not know half of them.
"Where have they come from? " said he. "They are never
mine, unless forsooth there shall have been a new creation, in
## p. 4281 (#43) ############################################
OLOF VON DALIN
4281
the overseeing of which neither God nor I has had a part. " Eve
had indeed been proud of so many offspring, but was somewhat
abashed at these words, and said, "I should fear, sire, that you
made me out an indifferent, woman, if all did not know that we
were alone in our conjugal state. " "Well enough is it web of
my weft," he answered, "but the children so disguise themselves
in their attempt to please, that they lose all the charm which a
spontaneous activity should otherwise most easily possess. Yet
what am I saying? I readily see that our fall is the reason of
this and of many disorders. " "It seems to me," said Eve, "that
you should have a review, and teach the poor children how they
should conduct themselves so as not to continue in so monstrous
a condition. "
Well, this was arranged, and all were now to pass before
the eye of Adam, whether they had changed themselves or not.
He had seated himself on a wall of earth, and all the liberal
arts stood round about him. "Dear children," said he to his
offspring, "come forward now, in order that I may see how
you conduct yourselves. The inordinate desire of honor is the
reason for this new creation,- which does not however seek the
honor of the great Creator, but your own. " When any of his
children came forward who without affectation lisped their ten-
der thoughts, they were kissed with tears by the old man and
matron, who said that nature in them was not restrained, and
wished that they might henceforth continue in such freedom.
"Behold, this," said they, "produces pleasure, without you your-
selves knowing it; and this is the kernel of the art of pleasing. '
Many court worshipers and people of the upper ranks of life,
where ambition takes firmest hold of the body, also went for-
ward, who for the most part had so well exercised themselves in
appearances that they seemed neither in action nor word to be
affected. These too won tolerably well, in this way, the com-
mendation of the old people. Yet there were some of them who
particularly thought to please kings and princes, who took upon
themselves a more zealous appearance than they had inherited,
and bore their bodies in greater state than birth had given them,
beneath costly garments arrayed in precise order, so that they
by this means spoiled all their beauty; for Adam had only aver-
sion for such artificial figures.
>>
But what he did not have in them, he did have in a part of
those who followed. These were people of ordinary condition
## p. 4282 (#44) ############################################
4282
OLOF VON DALIN
in
who vied with the first, indeed with their own natures,
acquiring charm. When these latter had noticed that the people
of rank had some fault or peculiar manner, then straightway
seized by this wretched desire of honor, they wished at least to
resemble the great in bagatelles. Some set one or two wrinkles
on their foreheads; some, a particular expression about the
mouth; some lisped or stammered purposely, and introduced
extraordinary sounds into their speech; some affected strange
laughter; some had a wonderful bend of the shoulders; some a
simulated walk; some gave themselves political or statistical
features, etc. , etc. ; and all directly opposed to their otherwise
natural manner. "Yes, I can tell you right straight out," said
Adam; "I have not a little esteem for you: but listen, I will
tell you a little story.
Late Professor of the Germanic and Scandinavian Languages
and Literatures,
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, N. Y.
EDWARD S. HOLDEN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Director of the Lick Observatory, and Astronomer,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, Cal.
ALCÉE FORTIER, LIT. D. ,
Professor of the Romance Languages,
TULANE UNIVERSITY, New Orleans, La.
WILLIAM P. TRENT, M. A. ,
Dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of
English and History,
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, Sewanee, Tenn.
PAUL SHOREY, PH. D. ,
Professor of Greek and Latin Literature,
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Ill.
WILLIAM T. HARRIS, LL. D. ,
United States Commissioner of Education,
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C.
MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Professor of Literature in the
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Washington, D. C.
## p. 4256 (#18) ############################################
## p. 4257 (#19) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
OLOF VON DALIN
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOL. VIII
The Young Wife (Felicitas')
The Vengeance of Gothelindis (The Struggle for Rome')
1708-1763
From the Swedish Argus, No. XIII. —1733
BY WILLIAM H. CARPENTER
RICHARD HENRY DANA, SENIOR
The Island (The Buccaneer')
The Doom of Lee (same)
Paul and Abel (Paul Felton')
DANTE
RICHARD HENRY DANA, JUNIOR
1834-
LIVED
A Dry Gale (Two Years Before the Mast')
Every-Day Sea Life (same)
A Start; and Parting Company (same)
--
1787-1879
1815-1882
BY CHARLES ELIOT NORTON
1265-1321
From The New Life': Beginning of Love; First Saluta-
tion of His Lady; Praise of His Lady; Her Loveli-
ness; Her Death; The Anniversary of Her Death; The
Hope to Speak More Worthily of Her
From the Banquet': Consolation of Philosophy; Desire
of the Soul; The Noble Soul at the End of Life
From the Divine Comedy': Hell-Entrance on the Jour-
ney Through the Eternal World; Hell - Punishment
of Carnal Sinners; Purgatory - The Final Purgation;
Purgatory Meeting with his Lady in the Earthly
Paradise; Paradise - The Final Vision
PAGE
4267
4278
4285
4302
4315
## p. 4258 (#20) ############################################
JAMES DARMESTETER
Ernest Renan (Selected Essays')
Judaism (same)
CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN
vi
BY E. RAY LANKESTER
LIVED
1849-1894
Impressions of Travel (A Naturalist's Voyage')
Genesis of The Origin of Species' ('Life and Letters')
Curious Atrophy of Esthetic Taste (same)
Private Memorandum concerning His Little Daughter
1809-1882
(same)
Religious Views (same)
Letters: To Miss Julia Wedgwood; To J. D. Hooker; To
T. H. Huxley; To E. Ray Lankester; To J. D. Hooker
The Struggle for Existence (Origin of Species')
Geometrical Ratio of Increase (same)
ALPHONSE DAUDET
Of the Nature of the Checks to Increase (same)
Complex Relations of All Animals and Plants to Each
Other in the Struggle for Existence (same)
Of Natural Selection: or the Survival of the Fittest
(same)
Progressive Change Compared with Independent Creation
(same)
Creative Design (Variation of Animals and Plants under
Domestication')
Origin of the Human Species (The Descent of Man')
1840-
BY AUGUSTIN FILON
The Two Tartarins (Tartarin of Tarascon ')
Of Mental Mirage," as Distinguished from Lying (same)
Death of the Dauphin (Letters from My Windmill')
Jack Is Invited to Take Up a "Profession" ("Jack')
The City of Iron and Fire (same)
The Wrath of a Queen (Kings in Exile')
MADAME DU DEFFAND (Marie de Vichy-Chamrond)
1697-1780
Letters: To the Duchesse de Choiseul; To Mr. Crawford;
To Horace Walpole
Portrait of Horace Walpole
PAGE
4379
4385
4435
4471
## p. 4259 (#21) ############################################
vii
DANIEL DEFOE
BY CHARLES FREDERICK JOHNSON
<
From Robinson Crusoe': Crusoe's Shipwreck; Crusoe
Makes a New Home; A Footprint
From History of the Plague in London': Superstitious
Fears of the People; How Quacks and Impositors
Preyed on the Fears of the People; The People Are
Quarantined in Their Houses; Moral Effects of the
Plague; Terrible Scenes in the Streets; The Plague
Due to Natural Causes; Spread of the Plague through
Necessities of the Poor
From Colonel Jack': Colonel Jack and Captain Jack
Escape Arrest: Colonel Jack Finds Captain Jack Hard
to Manage; Colonel Jack's First Wife Is Not Disposed
to be Economical
EDUARD DOUWES DEKKER
The Devil Does Not Concern Himself with Petty Matters
(The Modern History of the Devil')
Defoe Addresses His Public (An Appeal to Honor and
Justice')
Engaging a Maid-Servant (Everybody's Business is No-
body's Business')
The Devil (The True-Born Englishman')
There Is a God (The Storm')
1820-1887
Multatuli's Last Words to the Reader (Max Havelaar')
Idyll of Saïdjah and Adinda (same)
THOMAS DEKKER
LIVED
1661-1731
1570? -1637?
From The Gul's Horne Booke': How a Gallant Should
Behave Himself in Powles Walk; Sleep
Praise of Fortune (Old Fortunatus')
Content (Patient Grissil')
Rustic Song (The Sun's Darling')
Lullaby (Patient Grissil')
JEAN FRANÇOIS CASIMIR DELAVIGNE
BY FREDERIC LOLIÉE
Confession of Louis XI
1793-1843
PAGE
4479
4513
4521
4528
## p. 4260 (#22) ############################################
DEMOSTHENES
THOMAS DE QUINCEY
The Third Philippic
Invective Against License of Speech
Justification of His Patriotic Policy
viii
BY ROBERT SHARP
PAUL DÉROULÈDE
Charles Lamb (Biographical Essays')
Despair (Confessions of an English Opium-Eater')
The Dead Sister (same)
Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow (same)
RENÉ DESCARTES
BY GEORGE R. CARPENTER
LIVED
384-322 B. C.
Savannah-La-Mar (same)
The Bishop of Beauvais and Joan of Arc (Miscellaneous
Essays')
PAUL DESJARDINS
The Harvest (Chants du Paysan')
In Good Quarters (Poèmes Militaires')
"Good Fighting” (same)
Last Wishes (same)
1785-1859
BY GRACE KING
1596-1650
Of Certain Principles of Elementary Logical Thought
('Discourse on Method')
An Elementary Method of Inquiry (same)
The Idea of God (Meditations')
SIR AUBREY DE VERE
The Crusaders
The Children Band (The Crusaders')
The Rock of Cashel
The Right Use of Prayer
The Church
Sonnet
1846-
The Present Duty
Conversion of the Church
Two Impressions (Notes Contemporaines')
1788-1846
PAGE
4535
4555
4580
4585
4596
4609
## p. 4261 (#23) ############################################
ix
LIVED
BERNAL DIAZ DEL CASTILLO
1498-1593
From the True History of the Conquest of Mexico': Cap-
ture of Guatimotzin; Mortality at the Conquest of
Mexico; Cortés; Of Divine Aid in the Battle of Santa
Maria de la Vitoria; Cortés Destroys Certain Idols
CHARLES DIBdin
Sea Song
Song: The Heart of a Tar
CHARLES DICKENS
DENIS DIDEROT
BY LAURENCE HUTTON
The One Thing Needful (Hard Times')
The Boy at Mugby (Mugby Junction')
Burning of Newgate (Barnaby Rudge')
Monseigneur ('A Tale of Two Cities')
The Ivy Green
From 'Rameau's Nephew'
FRANZ VON DINGELSTEDT
A Man of Business (The Amazon')
The Watchman
ISAAC D'ISRAELI
Poor Jack
Tom Bowling
SYDNEY DOBELL
1745-1814
1812-1870
DIOGENES LAERTIUS
200-250 A. D. ?
Life of Socrates (Lives and Sayings of the Philosophers')
Examples of Greek Wit and Wisdom: Bias; Plato; Aristip-
pus; Aristotle; Theophrastus; Demetrius; Antisthenes;
Diogenes; Cleanthes; Pythagoras
Epigram on the Death of Edward Forbes
How's My Boy?
The Sailor's Return
Afloat and Ashore
1713-1784
1814-1881
1766-1848
Poets, Philosophers, and Artists Made by Accident (Curi-
osities of Literature')
Martyrdom of Charles the First (Commentaries on the
Reign of Charles the First')
1824-1874
PAGE
4613
4620
4625
4689
4704
4711
4725
4733
## p. 4262 (#24) ############################################
SYDNEY DOBELL- Continued:
The Soul (Balder')
England (same)
America
Amy's Song of the Willow ('Balder')
AUSTIN DOBSON
On a Nankin Plate
The Old Sedan-Chair
Ballad of Prose and Rhyme
The Curé's Progress
"Good-Night, Babbette »
MARY MAPES DODGE
The Race (Hans Brinker')
JOHN DONNE
BY ESTHER SINGLETON
The Undertaking
A Valediction Forbidding
Mourning
X
EDWARD DOWDEN
FEODOR MIKHAILOVITCH DOSTOEVSKY
The Ladies of St. James's
Dora versus Rose
Une Marquise
A. CONAN DOYLE
LIVED
BY ISABEL F. HAPGOOD
1840-
A Ballad to Queen Elizabeth
The Princess De Lamballe
(Four French women')
1840? -
Song
Love's Growth
Song
From 'Poor People': Letter from Varvara Dobrosyeloff
to Makar Dyevushkin; Letter from Makar Dyevushkin
to Varvara Alexievna Dobrosyeloff
The Bible Reading (Crime and Punishment')
The Interpretation of Literature (same)
1573-1631
1843-
The Humor of Shakespeare (Shakespeare; a Critical
Study of His Mind and Art')
1821-1881
Shakespeare's Portraiture of Women (Transcripts and
Studies)
Holmes')
Bowmen's Song (The White Company')
1859-
The Red-Headed League (The Adventures of Sherlock
PAGE
4741
4757
4771
4779
4806
4815
## p. 4263 (#25) ############################################
xi
HOLGER DRACHMANN
JOSEPH RODMAN DRAKE
1846-
The Skipper and His Ship (Paul and Virginia of a
Northern Zone')
The Prince's Song (Once Upon a Time')
LIVED
A Winter's Tale (The Croakers')
The Culprit Fay
The American Flag
1795-1820
PAGK
4840
4851
## p. 4264 (#26) ############################################
## p. 4265 (#27) ############################################
LIST OF PORTRAITS
IN VOL. VIII
Felix Dahn
Richard Henry Dana, Senior
Richard Henry Dana, Junior
Dante
Charles Darwin
Alphonse Daudet
Madame Du Deffand
Daniel Defoe
Casimir Delavigne
Demosthenes
Thomas De Quincey
Paul Déroulède
René Descartes
Paul Desjardins
Aubrey De Vere
Charles Dibdin
Charles Dickens
Denis Diderot
Franz von Dingelstedt
Isaac D'Israeli
Austin Dobson
Mary Mapes Dodge
John Donne
Feodor Mikhailovitch Dostoevsky
A. Conan Doyle
Holger Drachmann
Joseph Rodman Drake
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Vignette
Vignette
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Full page
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Vignette
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Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
## p. 4266 (#28) ############################################
## p. 4267 (#29) ############################################
4267
FELIX DAHN
(1834-)
ELIX DAHN was born at Hamburg, February 9th, 1834, but
when he was only six weeks old the family removed to
Munich. His parents, Friedrich and Constance Dahn, were
celebrated actors, and members of the Royal Theatre at Munich.
His childhood, youth, and early manhood were passed in Munich,
with the exception of one year (1852-3) spent at the University of
Berlin. A somewhat lonely but not unhappy childhood in the fine
old house in the Königinstrasse, with its surroundings of parks and
pleasant gardens, developed his dreamy,
poetic instincts. His first poem, written at
the age of fourteen, is the spontaneous
lyric outburst of a boy's joy in nature.
FELIX DAHN
Dahn was educated at the Latin school
and the University of Munich. He was
but a lad when Homer opened to him a
new world. He began to read the Iliad,
and scarcely left off night or day until it
was finished. The Odyssey followed in the
same way; and in two months he had read
them both and begun again at the begin-
ning. Poetry had rendered his mind sus-
ceptible to learning, and he read, in school
and out, every classic that fell into his hands. History as well as
poetry early became a passion to him, and the uniformity of his
intellectual development made every province of learning his own.
The Teutonic languages, old and new, Anglo-Saxon, Gothic, Norse,
etc. , as well as Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, and English,
were easily assimilated. At the university, both at Munich and Berlin,
he devoted himself to history, philosophy, and jurisprudence. In 1857
he became docent in the faculty of law at the University of Munich,
and in 1862 was made professor. In the following year he was
appointed professor of German law and jurisprudence at Würzburg,
and in 1872 he was called to Königsberg to the same chair, and in
1888 to Breslau. He took part in the war of 1870-71, and was
present at the battle of Sedan.
Dahn is distinguished as a historian, novelist, poet, and dramatist.
His principal historical works are -'Die Könige der Germanen'
## p. 4268 (#30) ############################################
4268
FELIX DAHN
(The Kings of the Germans), 1861-72, 6 vols. ; Urgeschichte der
Germanischen und Romanischen Völker' (Primitive History of the
Germanic and Romance Peoples), 1878. These two rank high among
the contributions to German history and ethnology in the nineteenth
century. Among his most prominent works in law is 'Die Vernunft
im Recht' (Reason in Law), 1879. As a poet and dramatist, several
of his performances have attained eminence. In 1857 he published
his first collection of poems, and a second collection followed in 1873.
'Zwölf Balladen' (Twelve Ballads) appeared in 1875, and 'Balladen
und Lieder' (Ballads and Songs) in 1878. By far his greatest
romance is 'Der Kampf um Rom' (The Struggle for Rome), 1876, a
work of pre-eminent power and merit. It is a voluminous study, a
series of elaborate pictures, dealing with the empires of the East and
the West in the sixth century. Its scenes are chiefly laid in
Ravenna, at the time of that city's great splendor under the Gothic
sovereignty, and at Rome. The fierce and beautiful Amalaswintha
(also called often Amalasonta) is a prominent character; and other
vivid types are Cassiodorus, Totila, and Mataswintha. Following
this novel, among others, appeared in 1878 Kämpfende Herzen'
(Struggling Hearts); in 1880, 'Odhins Trost' (Odin's Consolation);
and in 1882-90 a series of historical novels under the common title
'Kleine Romane aus der Völkerwanderung' (Short Novels from the
Wandering of the Nations), from the first of which, 'Felicitas,'
an appended extract is taken.
(
Among his dramas are 'Markgraf Rüdeger von Bechelaren ';
'König Roderich'; and 'Deutsche Treue' (German Fidelity).
THE YOUNG WIFE
From Felicitas': copyrighted by George S. Gottsberger, 1883. Reprinted by
permission of George G. Peck
IT
WAS a beautiful June evening. The sun, setting in golden
radiance, cast its glittering rays from the west, from Vinde-
licia, upon the Hill of Mercury and the modest villa crown-
ing it.
Only a subdued murmur reached this spot from the high-
way, along which ever and anon a two-wheeled cart, drawn by
Norican oxen, was moving homeward from the western gate of
Juvavum, the porta Vindelica,-as were also the country people
who had been selling vegetables, hens, and doves in the Forum
of Hercules during the day just ended.
## p. 4269 (#31) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4269
So it was quiet and peaceful on the hill; beyond the stone
wall, which was lower than the height of a man, and which in-
closed the garden, nothing was heard save the rippling of the
little rivulet which, after leaving its marble basin at its source,
fed the fountain, and then wound in graceful curves through the
carefully kept garden, and finally near the entrance, which was
surmounted by Hermes but destitute of door or grating, passed
under a gap in the wall and flowed down the hill in a stone
channel.
At the foot of this hill, towards the southeast, in the direc-
tion of the city, lay carefully tilled vegetable gardens and or-
chards, luxuriant green meadows, and fields of spelt, a grain
brought by the Romans to the land of the barbarians.
Behind the villa, on the ascending hillside, towered and
rustled a beautiful grove of beeches, from whose depths echoed
the metallic notes of the yellow thrush.
The scene was so beautiful, so peaceful; only in the west and
the southeast could a dark cloud be seen.
From the open gateway a straight path, strewn with white
sand, led through the spacious garden, and was bordered with
lofty evergreen oaks and clumps of yew-trees; the latter, accord
ing to a long prevailing fashion, clipped into all sorts of geo.
metrical figures, a token of taste, or the lack of it, the Rococo
age did not invent, but merely borrowed from the gardens of
the emperors.
――――――――
Statues stood at regular distances along the way from the
gate to the entrance of the dwelling; nymphs, a Flora, a
Silvanus, a Mercury, - poor specimens of work executed in
plaster; fat Crispus manufactured them by the dozen in his
workshop on the square of Vulcanus at Juvavum, and sold
them cheap; times were hard for men, and still worse for gods
and demigods, but these were a free gift. Crispus was
brother to the father of the young master of the house.
From the garden gate sounded a few hammer-strokes, echoed
back from the stone wall of the inclosure; they were light taps,
for they were cautiously guided by an artist's hand, apparently
the last finishing touches of a master.
The man who wielded the hammer now started up- he had
been kneeling behind the gate, beside which, piled one above
another, a dozen unhewn marble slabs announced the dwelling
of a stone-cutter. Thrusting the little hammer into the belt
## p. 4270 (#32) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4270
that fastened the leather apron over the blue tunic, he poured
from a small flask a few drops of oil on a woolen cloth, and
carefully rubbed the inscription upon the marble with it until
it was as smooth as a mirror; then turning his head a little
on one side, like a bird that wants to examine something
closely, with an approving nod he read aloud the words on
the slab:-
"Hic habitat Felicitas.
Nihil mali intret. "
"Yes, yes! Here dwells happiness: my happiness, our hap-
piness so long as my Felicitas lives here, happy herself and
making others happy. May misfortune never cross this thresh-
old! may every demon of ill be banished by this motto! The
house has now received a beautiful finish in these words. But
where is she? She must see it and praise me. Felicitas," he
called, turning towards the house, "come here! "
Wiping the perspiration from his brow, he stood erect-a
pliant youthful figure of middle height, not unlike the Mercury
in the garden, modeled by Crispus according to the ancient tra-
ditions of symmetry; dark-brown hair, cut short, curled closely,
almost like a cap, over his uncovered round head; a pair of
dark eyes, shaded by heavy brows, laughed merrily out into
the world; his bare feet and arms were beautifully formed,
but showed little strength,-it was only in the right arm that
the muscles stood forth prominently; the brown leather apron
was white with scrapings from the marble. He shook off the
dust and called again in a louder tone, "Felicitas! "
A white figure, framed like a picture between the two pilas-
ters of the entrance, appeared on the threshold, pushing back
the dark yellow curtain suspended from a bronze pole by mova-
ble rings. A very young girl-or was it a young wife? Yes,
this child, scarcely seventeen, must have already become a wife,
for she was undoubtedly the mother of the infant she pressed to
her bosom with her left arm; no one but a mother holds a child
with such an expression in face and attitude.
The young wife pressed two fingers of her right hand, with
the palm turned outward, warningly to her lips. "Hush," she
said; "our child is asleep. "
And now the slender figure, not yet wholly matured, floated
down the four stone steps leading from the threshold to the
garden, carefully lifting the child a little higher and holding it
## p. 4271 (#33) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4271
still more closely with her left arm, while her right hand raised
her snowy robe to the dainty ankle; the faultlessly beautiful oval
head was slightly bent forward: it was a vision of perfect grace,
even more youthful, more childlike than Raphael's Madonnas,
and not humble, yet at the same time mystically transfigured,
like the mother of the Christ-child; there was nothing compli-
cated, nothing miraculous, naught save the noblest simplicity
blended with royal grandeur in Felicitas's unconscious innocence
and dignity. The movements of this Hebe who had become a
mother were as measured and graceful as a perfect musical
harmony. A wife, yet still a maiden; purely human, perfectly
happy, absorbed and satisfied by her love for her young husband
and the child at her breast; so chaste in coloring was the per-
fect beauty of her form and face that every profane desire van-
ished in her presence as though she were a statue.
She wore no ornaments; her light-brown hair, gleaming with
a gold tinge where the sun kissed it, was drawn back in natural
waves from the beautiful temples, revealing the low forehead, and
was fastened in a loose knot at the nape of the neck; a milk-
white robe of the finest wool, fastened on the left shoulder by
an exquisitely shaped but plain silver clasp, fell in flowing folds.
around her figure,- revealing the neck, the upper part of the
swelling bosom, and the still childish arms which seemed a little
too long, and reached to the ankles, just touching the dainty
scarlet leather sandals; beneath the breast one end of the robe
was drawn through a bronze girdle a hand's-breadth wide.
So she glided noiselessly as a wave down the steps and up to
her husband. The narrow oval face possessed the marvelous,
almost bluish, white tint peculiar to the daughters of Ionia, which
no Southern noonday sun can brown; the semi-circular eyebrows,
as regular as if marked by a pair of compasses, might have
given the countenance a lifeless, almost statuesque expression,
had not under the long low-curling lashes the dark-brown ante-
lope eyes shone with the most vivid animation as she fixed them
on her beloved husband.
The latter rushed towards her with elastic steps; carefully
and tenderly taking the sleeping child from her arm, he laid it
under the shade of a rose-bush in the oval shallow straw lid of
his work-basket; one full-blown rose waving in the evening
breeze tossed fragrant petals on the little one, who smiled in
sleep.
## p. 4272 (#34) ############################################
4272
FELIX DAHN
The master of the house, throwing his arm around his young
wife's almost too slender waist, led her to the slab just completed
for the threshold of the entrance, saying:-
"The motto I have kept secret—which I have worked so
hard to finish-is now done; read it, and know, and feel” —
here he tenderly kissed her lips-"you you yourself are the
happiness; you dwell here. "
―――――――――
Translation of Mary J. Safford.
THE VENGEANCE OF GOTHELINDIS
From The Struggle for Rome ›
THE
HE slave silently opened a door in the marble walls. Amalas-
wintha entered, and stood in the narrow gallery which ran
around the basin. Just in front, low steps led into the
magnificent bath, from which already warm delicious odors were
rising. Light fell in from above through an octagonal dome of
finely cut glass. At the entrance was a flight of steps of cedar
wood, which led up twelve stairs to a spring-board. Round
about the marble walls of the gallery, as well as of the basin,
countless friezes hid the mouths of the pipes needed for the
water-works and the hot air.
Silently the bath-woman spread the bathing accessories over
the soft cushions and carpets that covered the floor of the gal-
lery, and turned toward the door.
"Why is it that I feel that I know you? " asked the princess,
looking at her thoughtfully. "How long have you been here ? »
"Since eight days. " And she took hold of the door.
"How long have you served Cassiodorus? "
"I have always served the Princess Gothelindis. "
With a cry of terror Amalaswintha started up at this name.
She turned and grasped at the garment of the woman - too late!
She was gone, the door fell to. Amalaswintha heard the key
drawn out of the lock.
-
In vain her eye sought for another place of exit. Then an
immense unnamable fear overcame the queen. She felt that
she had been terribly deceived, that here was hidden a disastrous
secret. Fear, nameless fear, fell upon her. Flight, flight out of
this chamber was her one thought.
## p. 4273 (#35) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4273
But flight seemed impossible; the door from this side was
now only a thick marble slab, like those at the right and the
left. Not even a pin could penetrate through the seams. In
despair her eyes traveled around the wall of the gallery. Only
the tritons and dolphins stared back at her.
At last her gaze
rested on the snake-enwreathed head of the Medusa just opposite,
and she uttered a cry of terror. The face of the Medusa was
pushed aside, and the oval space under the snaky hair was filled
by a human countenance!
Was a human countenance?
Trembling, she clutched the marble railing, and leaning far
forward peered over: yes, those were the features of Gothelindis,
drawn to a grimace; and a hell of hatred and scorn flamed in
her eyes.
Amalaswintha sank on her knees and hid her face.
"You-you here! "
Hoarse laughter answered her.
"Yes, Amelung woman! I am here, and to your ruin! This
island, this house, is mine! It shall be your grave! Dolios and
all slaves of Cassiodorus are mine, sold to me a week ago. I
have lured you hither. I have followed you as your shadow.
Through long days and long nights I have borne within me
burning hatred, at length to taste here full revenge. For hours
I will enjoy your mortal agony, will witness miserable, moaning
terror shake as in fever that proud body and cover that haughty
face! Oh, I will drink a sea of revenge! "
Amalaswintha rose, wringing her hands:-"Revenge, Gothe-
lindis! Wherefore? Whence this deadly hatred of me? "
"Ha, and you ask? To be sure, decades have passed by, and
the heart of the happy soon forgets. But hatred has a more
faithful memory.
Have you forgotten how once upon a time
two young girls played beneath the plantains on the meadows of
Ravenna? Both were chief among their playmates.
Both were
young, beautiful, and charming; the one daughter of a king, the
other daughter of the Baltha. And the girls had to choose a
queen for their games: and they chose Gothelindis, for she was
yet more beautiful than you, and not as imperious; and they
chose her once, twice in succession. But the daughter of the
king stood by, consumed by wild untamable pride,- pride and
envy; and when they chose me for the third time, she took up
the sharp-pointed garden scissors->
VIII-268
## p. 4274 (#36) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4274
"Stop! oh, hush, Gothelindis! "
-And flung it at me. And it hit its mark, and crying out
and bloody I fell to the ground, my whole cheek a gaping
wound, and my eye, my eye pierced. Ah, how that hurts, even
now! "
«<
-
"Pardon, forgive, Gothelindis! " moaned the prisoner. "You
had forgiven me long ago. "
"Forgiven? I forgive you? That you robbed my face of its
eye, and my life of its beauty, shall I forgive that? You had
got the better of me for life; Gothelindis was no longer danger-
ous; she mourned in silence, the disfigured one fled the eyes of
men. And years passed. Then out of Spain came to the court
of Ravenna the noble Eutharich, the Amaler with the dark eye
and the tender heart: he, ill himself, took pity on the ill, half-
blind one; and he talked with her kindly and compassionately,
with the ugly one, whom all else avoided. Oh, how that
refreshened my thirsting soul! And it was decided in order to
bury the old hatred between the two houses, to wipe away old
and recent guilt,- for the Duke of the Baltha, Alarich, had
likewise been executed on secret, unproved accusation,- that the
poor maltreated daughter of the Baltha should become the wife.
of the noblest of the Amaler. When you heard that, you who
had disfigured me! you decided to take my lover from me-
not from jealousy, not because you loved him! no, from pride;
because you wanted as your own the chief man in the Gothic
Kingdom, the next male heir to the crown. You decided on
that, and you achieved it. Your father could not deny you any
wish; and Eutharich forgot at once his pity for the one-eyed
one, as soon as the hand of the beautiful daughter of the king
beckoned to him. For compensation or was it for scorn?
they gave to me likewise an Amaler-Theodahad, the miserable.
coward! "
―――
-
-
"Gothelindis, I swear to you, I never imagined that you loved
Eutharich! How could I-”
"To be sure, how could you think that the ugly one would
lift her thoughts so high? Oh, you cursed one! And if you
had loved him, and had made him happy-I would have for-
given you everything. But you did not love him, you can love
only the sceptre! You made him miserable. For years I saw
him at your side, bowed down, unloved, frozen to the marrow by
your coldness.
Sorrow because of your chilling pride soon killed
## p. 4275 (#37) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4275
him! You, you have robbed me of my lover, and sent him to
the grave! Revenge, revenge for him! "
And the deep vault re-echoed the cry, "Revenge! Revenge! "
"Help, ho! ” cried Amalaswintha. She ran in despair along
the circle of the gallery, beating her hands against the marble.
slab.
"Yes, cry out! No one hears you now but the god of ven-
geance. Do you think that for months I have curbed in my
hatred in vain? How often, how easily, could I even in Ravenna
have reached you with poniard or poison! But no, I have lured
you hither.
At the petition of my cousins, at your bed an hour
ago I restrained my uplifted arm from the stroke. Yes, for you
shall die slowly, inch by inch! for hours I will watch your mor-
tal agony increase. »
"Terrible one! "
"Oh, what are hours, compared to the decades through which
you have tortured me with my disfigurement, with your beauty,
with the possession of my lover? What are hours compared to
decades? But you shall pay for it. "
"What will you do? " cried the tortured one, again and again
looking for an escape along the walls.
"Do? I will drown you, slowly, slowly-in the water-works
of this bath-which your friend Cassiodorus built! You do
not know the pangs of jealousy and impotent fury I have suf-
fered in this house, when you shared the couch with Eutharich,
and I was among your followers and obliged to serve you.
this bath, you haughty one, I have loosened your sandals and
dried the proud limbs. In this bath you shall die. "
In
Gothelindis pressed a button. The floor of the basin of the
upper story, the circular metal plate, divided into two semicir-
cles. They disappeared to the right and left in the wall; the
prisoner in terror looked from the narrow gallery into the abys-
mal depth at her feet.
"Remember my eye! " cried Gothelindis, and then of a sud-
den the sluices at the bottom opened and the waters of the lake
rushed in, gurgling and foaming, and rose higher and higher
with terrible swiftness.
Amalaswintha saw certain death before her. She knew the
impossibility of escaping, or of softening with prayers her dev-
ilish enemy.
But her old proud Amelung courage returned;
composedly she awaited her fate. Near her, to the right of the
## p. 4276 (#38) ############################################
4276
FELIX DAHN
entrance, she saw among the many friezes of Greek mythology
a representation of the death of Christ; that refreshed her soul.
She knelt down before the marble crucifix, clasped it with both
hands and prayed calmly with closed eyes, while the waters rose
and rose.
Now they dashed against the steps of the gallery.
"You are going to pray, are you, murderess? " cried Gothe-
lindis furiously. «< Away from the crucifix! Remember the three
dukes! "
Of a sudden all the dolphins and tritons on the right side of
the octagon began to spout streams of hot water; white smoke
puffed out of the pipes.
Amalaswintha sprang up and rushed to the other side of the
gallery. "Gothelindis, I forgive you! Kill me, but do you like-
wise forgive my soul. "
And the water rose and rose. Already it surged over the
upper step and pushed slowly on to the floor of the gallery.
"I forgive you? Never! Think of Eutharich! " And from
the left the boiling streams of water hissed toward Amalaswin-
tha. She now fled toward the center, just opposite the head of
the Medusa, the only place where no stream from the pipes.
I could reach her.
If she mounted the springboard placed here, she could for a
little yet prolong her life. Gothelindis seemed to expect this, in
order to enjoy the prolonged agony. The water already foamed
on the marble floor of the gallery and moistened the feet of the
prisoner. Quickly she bounded up the brown shimmering steps,
and leaned against the railing of the bridge.
"Hear me, Gothelindis! my last prayer! not for myself,— for
my people, for our people. Petros intends to despoil it and
Theodahad. "
"Yes, I know, this realm is the uppermost care of your soul!
Despair! It is lost! These foolish Goths, who for centuries
preferred the Amaler to the Baltha, are sold and betrayed by
the house of the Amaler. Belisarius draws near, and there is
none to warn them. "
"You are mistaken, fiend! They are warned.
I their queen
have warned them. Hail to my people! Ruin to its enemies
and mercy to my soul! " And with a quick leap she threw her-
self from the platform into the waters. Foaming they closed
over her.
Gothelindis stared at the place where her victim had stood.
## p. 4277 (#39) ############################################
FELIX DAHN
4277
"She has disappeared," she said.
Then she looked down into the water; the kerchief of Amala-
swintha was swimming on the surface.
"Even in death this woman triumphs over me," she said
slowly. "How long lasted the hatred! and how short was re-
venge! "
Translated for A Library of the World's Best Literature,' by R. H. Knorr.
## p. 4278 (#40) ############################################
4278
OLOF VON DALIN
(1708-1763)
BY WILLIAM H. CARPENTER
LOF
VON DALIN, "the father of modern Swedish poetry,”
was born at Vinberga, in Halland, Sweden, August 29th,
1708. He was one of the most important figures in Swedish
literature during a transitional period, which in consequence of the
influence he exercised has been called the "Dalin age. " He was the
son of a clergyman, and studied at the University of Lund, where
under the instruction of Rydelius he particularly devoted himself to
French and English literature. At the age of twenty he went to
Stockholm in the capacity of tutor, and in 1731 he entered the gov-
ernment service.
His talents, brilliancy, and adaptability made him a universal
favorite, and his career was singularly unobstructed. He was the
embodiment of the vital new spirit which flashed upon the dullness
of the time, breaking up formalism and dead tradition and introdu-
cing into literature an element which was destined to transform it.
In 1732 there appeared in Stockholm a weekly paper, edited anony-
mously, devoted to literary topics and to the discussion of the questions.
of the day. The publication of this little sheet was the immediate
result of Dalin's English proclivities. His studies in English litera-
ture had formed his mind upon a new model, and the Svenska
Argus (1732-1734) was the Swedish counterpart of the English Spec-
tator and a direct imitation of the example of Addison.
The appear-
ance of the Argus was a revelation. The public, accustomed to the
monotonous dullness of its predecessors, was taken by storm by the
wit, piquancy, and verve of the new periodical. Its first issue already
relegated such publications as the Sedolärande Mercurius, itself only
two years older, to the limbo of things outgrown. The paper at
once attained universal popularity; and when the identity of the
young editor became known he was acclaimed as the foremost writer
of the land, and was overwhelmed with favors from every side.
His next work was 'Tankar om Kritiker' (Thoughts about Criti-
cisms), and the dramas 'Den Afundsjuke' (The Jealous Man), a com-
edy in imitation of Holberg, and Brynhild,' a tragedy. Returning
from a tour, he created great enthusiasm by his 'Saga om Hästen'
(The Story of the Horse), 1739; a witty prose narrative, in which, in
## p. 4279 (#41) ############################################
OLOF VON DALIN
4279
(
the character of a horse, he related in a highly humorous manner
the history of Sweden. This was followed by the satire, strongly
suggestive of Swift, Aprilverk om vår Herrliga Tid' (April-work of
Our Glorious Time), a piece of writing which delighted the public.
In 1742 appeared what was regarded by his contemporaries as the
attainment of his highest poetic efforts, Svenska Friheten' (Swedish
Freedom), a didactic allegorical poem.
Dalin was ennobled in 1751, and the youthful Queen of Sweden,
Louise Ulrika, sister of Frederick the Great, appointed him to the
double office of tutoring the young crown prince Gustav and writing
a complete history of Sweden. These compulsory duties, and the
frequent "festal" poems which in his capacity as court poet it de-
volved upon him to write, robbed him of the leisure to attempt any
sustained effort; and from this time, aside from his History, the only
products of his pen are "occasional" poems, of which a large num-
ber have been preserved.
Dalin was the chief founder of the "Vitterhets-Akademie» (Acad-
emy of Arts and Sciences), established by Queen Louise Ulrika in
1753, which in 1786, under Gustav III. , was transformed into the
"Vitterhets-, Historie-, och Antiquitäts-Akademie. " He was appointed
privy councilor in 1753, and subsequently being suspected of revolu-
tionary intrigues, he was banished from the court. He returned in
1761. During the period of the exile he worked upon his 'Svearikes
Historia (History of the Kingdom of Sweden), which he ultimately
brought down to the period of Charles IX. This appeared in four
volumes, 1747-62. His collected works were published in 1767. He
died at Drottningholm, August 12th, 1763.
The immense influence of Dalin upon his age was disproportionate
to the merits of his writings, and must be ascribed to his personal-
ity and to the new elements which he introduced, rather than to his
creative genius. He was the force which opened new channels, the
power which directed the new tendencies of his day. He broke
away from the traditions of the German cult, which until his time
had been the ruling power, and brought into Swedish the potent ele-
ments of French and English literature. Together with Madame
Nordenflycht and other followers of his school, and aided by the
French influence of the court, he completely transformed the char-
acter of the national literature.
WmSt. Carpenter
## p. 4280 (#42) ############################################
4280
OLOF VON DALIN
FROM THE SWEDISH ARGUS, NO. XIII. 1733
Cupias non placuisse nimis
I
HOPE you know me now, my reader, so that you will pardon
me if I write but little, since that happens merely in order
that I may set down the truth. I too am not my own mas-
ter; for my offspring have now taken it upon themselves to shut
off their speakers with that blow which makes for a creditable
piece of writing, but afflicts the truth. In which respect I for
the most resemble the fifth wheel of a wagon, and trouble
myself no more about it than many a town councilor or juryman
bothers his head about the verdicts which he signs and approves,
without making it my business to prove it true, and as if asleep,
give in my vote. You must also yourself admit, my just reader,
that it is necessary in our time to lie the truth in among the
people.
Our father Adam and mother Eve, it happened a short time
since, came up out of their graves and were at their estate Tiel-
kestad, where they presently proclaimed over the whole land a
diet, or assemblage, at which all their dear children of both
sexes should appear in person or by duly qualified substitute, in
order that their universal parents might see and rejoice in their
Northern seed, might learn how apt was each and how he had
improved his talent, and admonish him to do honor to his
creation.
Here was gathered together a considerable assembly of people.
Each one, from the greatest to the least, went forward to kiss
grandpapa's and grandmamma's hand. They bent and they
bowed, and most of the inhabitants of the land now vied with
each other with all their might of soul and body, with internal
and external senses, to see who should most please their first
parents. For it may be believed it was no joke to be able to
joice them with their excellence, now, some five thousand years
after their death, and to put in their minds the thought, "See,
Adam, what a son you have! " "See, Eve, what a daughter! " etc.
Adam, who honored the first creation, and loved nature's
activity, which tolerates no compulsions or additions, was amazed
when he saw his children, for he did not know half of them.
"Where have they come from? " said he. "They are never
mine, unless forsooth there shall have been a new creation, in
## p. 4281 (#43) ############################################
OLOF VON DALIN
4281
the overseeing of which neither God nor I has had a part. " Eve
had indeed been proud of so many offspring, but was somewhat
abashed at these words, and said, "I should fear, sire, that you
made me out an indifferent, woman, if all did not know that we
were alone in our conjugal state. " "Well enough is it web of
my weft," he answered, "but the children so disguise themselves
in their attempt to please, that they lose all the charm which a
spontaneous activity should otherwise most easily possess. Yet
what am I saying? I readily see that our fall is the reason of
this and of many disorders. " "It seems to me," said Eve, "that
you should have a review, and teach the poor children how they
should conduct themselves so as not to continue in so monstrous
a condition. "
Well, this was arranged, and all were now to pass before
the eye of Adam, whether they had changed themselves or not.
He had seated himself on a wall of earth, and all the liberal
arts stood round about him. "Dear children," said he to his
offspring, "come forward now, in order that I may see how
you conduct yourselves. The inordinate desire of honor is the
reason for this new creation,- which does not however seek the
honor of the great Creator, but your own. " When any of his
children came forward who without affectation lisped their ten-
der thoughts, they were kissed with tears by the old man and
matron, who said that nature in them was not restrained, and
wished that they might henceforth continue in such freedom.
"Behold, this," said they, "produces pleasure, without you your-
selves knowing it; and this is the kernel of the art of pleasing. '
Many court worshipers and people of the upper ranks of life,
where ambition takes firmest hold of the body, also went for-
ward, who for the most part had so well exercised themselves in
appearances that they seemed neither in action nor word to be
affected. These too won tolerably well, in this way, the com-
mendation of the old people. Yet there were some of them who
particularly thought to please kings and princes, who took upon
themselves a more zealous appearance than they had inherited,
and bore their bodies in greater state than birth had given them,
beneath costly garments arrayed in precise order, so that they
by this means spoiled all their beauty; for Adam had only aver-
sion for such artificial figures.
>>
But what he did not have in them, he did have in a part of
those who followed. These were people of ordinary condition
## p. 4282 (#44) ############################################
4282
OLOF VON DALIN
in
who vied with the first, indeed with their own natures,
acquiring charm. When these latter had noticed that the people
of rank had some fault or peculiar manner, then straightway
seized by this wretched desire of honor, they wished at least to
resemble the great in bagatelles. Some set one or two wrinkles
on their foreheads; some, a particular expression about the
mouth; some lisped or stammered purposely, and introduced
extraordinary sounds into their speech; some affected strange
laughter; some had a wonderful bend of the shoulders; some a
simulated walk; some gave themselves political or statistical
features, etc. , etc. ; and all directly opposed to their otherwise
natural manner. "Yes, I can tell you right straight out," said
Adam; "I have not a little esteem for you: but listen, I will
tell you a little story.
