herself to the heart, she fell backward; and they found her
thus lying under the willows by the Rhine, in a spot where the water
was deepest. It was the poor, unhappy Guenderode.

The next day, Bettine, who was then with her brother and a small
party of friends, sailing on the Rhine, landed at Rudesheim. "The
story was in every one's mouth. I ran past all with the speed of
wind, and up to the summit of Mount Ostein, a mile in height, without
stopping. When I had come to the top, I had far outstripped the rest;
my breath was gone, and my head burned. There lay the splendid Rhine,
with his emerald island gems. I saw the streams descending to him
from every side, the rich, peaceful towns on both banks, and the
slopes of vines on either side. I asked myself if time would not wear
out my loss. And then I resolved to raise myself above grief; for it
seemed to me unworthy to utter sorrow which the future would enable
me to subdue."

The dithyrambic exuberances in this relation, the romantic
extravagances of sentiment, illustrate both the strength and the
weakness of a genius bordering close on disease. They show how much
such a genius needs to apply to itself the balancing and rectifying
criticisms of a sober wisdom. They may also contribute something to
awaken and enrich more cold and sluggish natures, which are yet
aspiring and docile.

Lucy Aikin has left record of the warm and faithful friendships with
which she was blessed by some of the most gifted and amiable women of
her time. She was a person of strong character, of highly cultivated
talents, and quite remarkable for her powers of conversation, an
accomplishment which seems hastening to join the lost arts. The
parties which modern fashion gathers, are not so much groups of
friends, drawn together for rational and affectionate communion, as
they are jabbering herds, among whom all individuality and docile
earnestness are lost in the general buzz and clack of simultaneous
speech.

One of these friends was Miss Benger, an estimable literary lady, who
had considerable celebrity a quarter of a century ago. Miss Aikin has
written a brief memoir of her. The following extract sufficiently
shows the cordiality and comfort of their union: "To those who knew
and enjoyed the friendship of Miss Benger, her writings, pleasing and
beautiful as they are, were the smallest part of her merit and her
attraction. Endowed with the warmest and most grateful of human
hearts, she unit