which he did with a
compliment that made me proud, and left us together.

Oh, my dear, your brother looked the humble, modest lover, yet the man
of sense, of dignity, in love. I could not but be assured of his
affection.

* * * * *

On one knee he dropped, and taking my passive hand between his, and
kissing it, he said:

"My dear Miss Byron, you are goodness itself. I approached you with
diffidence and with apprehension. May blessings attend my future life,
as my grateful heart shall acknowledge this goodness!"

Again he kissed my hand, rising with dignity. I could have received his
vows on my knees, but I was motionless; yet how was I delighted to be
the cause of joy to him! Joy to your brother--to Sir Charles Grandison!

He saw me greatly affected, and considerately said:

"I will leave you, my dear Miss Byron, to entitle myself to the
congratulations of all our friends below. From this moment I date my
happiness!"

* * * * *

JEAN PAUL FRIEDRICH RICHTER

Hesperus

Jean Paul Friedrich Richter, who was born at Wunsiedel, in
Bavaria, on March 21, 1763, and died on November 14, 1825, was
the son of a poor but highly accomplished schoolmaster, who
early in his career became a Lutheran pastor at Schwarzenbach,
on the Saale. Young Richter entered Leipzig University in
1780, specially to study theology, but became one of the most
eccentric and erratic of students, a veritable literary gypsy,
roaming over vast fields of literature, collating and noting
immense stores of scientific, artistic, historic, and
philosophic facts. Driven to writing for subsistence, he only
won a reputation by slow degrees, but so great at last was the
esteem in which his countrymen held him that he is typically
styled "Der Einzige" ("The Unique"). The turning point proved
to be the issue of "The Invisible Lodge" ("Die Unsichtbare
Loge") in 1793, a romance founded on some of his academic
experiences. Then followed a brilliant series of works which
have made Richter's name famous. Among these was "Hesperus,"
published in 1794, which made him one of the most famous of
German writers. Fanciful and extravagant as the work is, and
written without any regard to the laws of composition, it is
nevertheless stamped with genius. In all Richter's stories the
plot goe