pearance, who
acknowledged my salute with prompt and open frankness. He wore the
common peasant costume of the country, and laughed away my honest
praises as a mere exaggeration. "I had nothing to fear from my absence,"
said he, looking towards a very beautiful girl who stood beside him,
"for I was secure of the good faith of my Hannchen, and I knew that the
Black Lady would bless my enterprise!"

I could not presume to despise this strange union of intelligence and
bigotry; nay, so intimately is the remembrance of the family of Stroer
connected in my mind with that of the miraculous idol, that I must
acknowledge some sort of lingering superstitious reverence towards the
shrine of the Black Virgin of Altenoetting.--_New Monthly Magazine._

* * * * *

THE RIVER.

River, River, little River,
Bright you sparkle on your way,
O'er the yellow pebbles dancing,
Through the flowers and foliage glancing,
Like a child at play.

River, River, swelling River,
On you rush o'er rough and smooth--
Louder, faster, brawling, leaping
Over rocks, by rose-banks sweeping,
Like impetuous youth.

River, River, brimming River,
Broad and deep and _still_ as Time,
Seeming _still_--yet still in motion,
Tending onward to the ocean,
Just like mortal prime.

River, River, rapid River,
Swifter now you slip away;
Swift and silent as an arrow,
Through a channel dark and narrow,
Like life's closing day.

River, River, headlong River,
Down you dash into the sea;
Sea, that line hath never sounded,
Sea, that voyage hath never rounded,
Like eternity.

_Blackwood's Magazine._

* * * * *

The Anecdote Gallery.

* * * * *

YOUTH OF MOZART.

_Abridged from the Foreign Quarterly Review._

When we bring into one view all the qualifications of Mozart as a
composer and practical musician, the result is astounding. The same man,
under the age of thirty-six, is at the head of dramatic, sinfonia, and
piano-forte music--is eminent in the church style--and equally at his
ease in every variety, from the concerto to the country dance or baby
song: he puts forth about 800 compositions, including masses, motetts,
operas, and fragments of various kinds; at the same time supporting
himself by teaching and giving public performances, at which he executes
concertos