not be stopped, replied a third. It was evident from all this, that a host of duels were in contemplation. L had been so much beloved among his own set, and had contributed so much in making that set so well known throughout Germany, by his expertness at the sword, that they were determined to revenge his death. The Courlanders, on the other hand, knew that this would be the probable result, and had come to an equal determination to be ready to take up the slightest insult, or, in other words, to see insult where there could have been none. As both of these clans were numerous and well known, the eyes of the whole university were turned upon them. Groups of youths were seen gathered in corners together. Instead of the loud jollity which attended their usual meeting, silent though menacing looks were observed. Bitter taunts, seemingly addressed to the air, but really to the passer-by, were thrown out on all sides. The whole university seemed to be in a state of restlessness and excitement, which, considering the very inflammable and light materials of which its members were composed, gave no little uneasiness to the burghers. Such was the state of affairs during the whole of the day subsequent to poor L's death. It was now that portion of the evening which, succeeding a brilliant sun-set, just precedes the rising of the moon. I was in my own room, ruminating upon the melancholy fate of my friend. His youth, his promising talents, the many pleasant hours we had spent together, all occurred to me, and however varied the tissue of my thoughts might otherwise be, yet he was always interwoven with it. While I was so employed, I thought I heard a murmuring sound, like the "noise of waters running violently at a distance." In a few minutes this became more and more distinct. I almost thought it was a mere imagination, until I observed others looking for its cause as well as myself. "What is the matter?" said I to a man who seemed hurrying away from something, but evidently not knowing which road to take. He looked a moment in my face, and then, without uttering a single word, fairly took to his heels. The noise approached. The deep, sullen, continuous

murmur, now seemed to swell, and again to subside. At once, a burst of human voices broke, as if by magic, upon me, and, starting round, I saw a dense mass rapidly moving up the streets; and now there could be no doubt what this portended; had I had any, the fearful watchword of the students, "Burschen heraus," would at once have informed me that the students were out. Once having heard it, I knew that I, as a student, dared not stay within. I accordingly seized my sword, and ran to join the throng. Peaceable citizens, who, a few moments before, had been walking in perfect security, were now seen running in every direction. The old, the young, all sexes, and all ages, were hurrying from the living avalanche, which seemed as if about to overwhelm them.

"Heraus, Burschen Heraus," was echoed from all sides, and at these words students came pouring out from each street, and lane, and house. Princes, counts, barons, and all the prolific host of titled youths, ran shouting and hallooing, and flourishing their swords or sharpening their Klinge* on the stones as they joined the throng. Nothing was heard but shouts and invocations. "Hurrah! hurrah! Freedom and the student-life for ever!" "Down with the Philistines!" and a thousand such expressions, were mingled with ten thousand heavy German oaths to increase the confusion.

"To the market-place, to the market-place," was now the cry, and away we hurried to this spot. When we had assembled there, and something like silence had been obtained, there was a general call on the leaders of the landsman schaften, to explain the reason of this assemblage. peasantry have insulted us," was vociferated from one corner of the square.

"The

Meyer the tailor, who was in Verchiss' for not trusting the Prince von Drecke for a coat, has again insulted him grossly," was heard on another side

No, no," said others," the Graf von Saufen has been licked by the landlord of the Hecht!" This poor devil of a landlord had made himself obnoxious to the students, and they, after their fashion, put him into " Verchiss," so that none of them could become his customers. He, however, had had a sufficient number of friends among the

citizens, to be able to do without their support. No sooner then was the word uttered, that one of the honourable fraternity of Students had been cudgell'd by the said landlord, than cries were heard on both sides-"To the Hecht, to the Hecht," and away we moved to the devoted house. "A Philistine, a Philistine,” cried one of the foremost, as a man and a female were intercepted in their attempt to escape. "Down with him!" cried some, who neither saw nor knew who it was -"Who is he?" cried others, not quite so inconsiderate as the rest. "The landlord of the Golden Fleece, and his daughter."-"Did you not hear, friend, that the Burschen were out, and do you not know, that the mountain stream cannot be restrained in its course?" said a long-haired Quixotic Burshenschafter.-Poor Hans, upon whom all this poetry seemed quite thrown away, swore most roundly, that he neither had heard nor seen any mountain stream, and that he made it a rule never to oppose any stream, mountain or not. "Let him pass," said the leader of the Westphalians, whose mess was held at the Golden Fleece, "Hans is a good fellow, and Lotta is pretty."Away then ran Hans and Lotta, and away moved the mass to the Hecht. Every house had been shut up and barricaded; the landlord of the Hecht knowing in what odour he stood, you may be sure was not less remiss in securing his own than his neighbour's. One or two of the leaders tapped at the door and demanded admission. The landlord, no doubt, would not have been at home, had he had the opportunity of denying himself; but long before any answer could be given -crack went the door. I stood on some steps just opposite the entrance to the house, and could observe what took place. The rush was so sudden, that some half dozen of heavy-gaited peasants and shipmen were surprised over their beer. No sooner, however, was the student's cap and glittering sword seen among them, than they disappeared with surprising alacrity. Some tried to force through the crowd, and got well pommelled in the attempt; some flew up stairs and escaped into the next house; two or three made for the window, and without attending to

the impediment of glass or wood, bolted through; not, however, without being materially assisted in their flight by sundry pokes in the most obviously presenting part, sufficiently piquante to make them meditate on their latterend. And now a scene of the greatest tumult and confusion took place. The furniture of the house was broken to pieces, glasses, chairs, stools, and beds, were flung out; and nothing short of the absolute destruction of the building itself, seemed to satisfy the students.-Matters were going on in this way, when a cry of, "Halt, halt,” was heard from the end of the street. "The military are here."-" Together, together," cried some of the chiefs, as a troop of Cuirassiers, preceded by the Pro-rector and other Professors, appeared. The students, in the meanwhile, had had time to form a very good front behind the broken furniture and rubbish which had been collected together, and laid across the narrow street.

"What is the cause of this disturbance, gentlemen? You must disperse immediately," said the Pro-rector.

"We have been insulted, most grossly insulted," was heard on every side. "Who has been insulted?" replied the Pro-rector; " only let him come forward, and the matter shall be immediately investigated by the Senatus Academicus." "Graf Von Saufen has been disgraced and beaten by the landlord of the Hecht." The landlord, who had ensconced himself in the upper story of the next house, now put forth his shaggy head, and swore he had never seen Der Herr Graf; and the Count himself corroborated the statement, by declaring he never had been thrashed at all. This unexpected turn of affairs seemed to put the students to a nonplus. It was clear from the known animosity that existed between them and the military, that not a few cloven skulls would ensue. One party seemed to waver, and the other appeared quite ready to dash and hash. "A knote told me," said a thin little voice from the thickest of the crowd," that one of the students had been murdered by the peasantry, and that he had seen the corpse, and I spread the report.""Surely, gentlemen," said the Pro-rector, you need not have placed the whole city in aların for a mere report.

Why did you not learn who was missing, and then lay the matter before us? I insist upon your immediately dismissing, or I shall give orders to the military to compel you."-" A free Bursche must not be compelled," cried the leader of the Saxo Borussians; "we acknowledge no laws but those of the Senatus. The military have no business here-let them first depart, and then we will treat with you. But if a single Bursche is hurt, Mr Pro-rector, we will declare the University in Verchiss throughout Germany." This oration was received with shouts of approbation, and cries of "Liberty for ever!" resounded on every side. The Professors knew, from sad experience, that it was dangerous to push matters too far. They were aware, that should the University be put into verchiss, not only they, but the whole town, would be ruined. They knew that a student was not a student of this or that particular university, subject to its peculiar laws, but that he was emphatically a German student. They knew that the bonds which united them together were so strict, that what was decreed at Hamburgh, was confirmed at Tubingen. The experience of the last twelve years convinced them that putting the university into verchiss was attended with results so serious, that on one occasion the whole town of Heidelberg went forth with music to invite the students to return from the place where they had encamped previously to their finally, to a man, quitting the university. Many of the Professors too, although obliged to act with decision, were themselves averse to allow any other authority but their own to have weight in the university. A consultation of a few minutes was held, and it was resolved that the military be requested to retire to the outskirts of the town. As long as the tumult had lasted, my mind had been excited, but now that I saw the whole band about to retire peaceably, I turned with feelings of deep disgust from the noisy throng which surrounded me. I was discontented with myself and the whole world. I blamed my own egregious folly in ever joining a set of such wild fanatics, and subjecting myself either to participate in their rash acts or to fight half the university. While I was thus ruminating, I found that instead of reaching my own door, I had insensibly

wandered to the side of a hill which skirts the back of the town. All that fairy scene, which, a few hours before, had been lighted up by the gorgeous rays of a setting sun-the old castle reposing on the hill-the hills themselves, covered as far as rays could reach, with the variegated blossoms of the peach, the almond, and the apple, -the broad waters of the Rhine following in waves of molten gold through the fairest plain and richest vale on the face of the earth,-all this magnificent variety of hues was now blended into one soft tone by the light of the moon; colourless shapes were everywhere around me, and shadows seemed like substances, and substances like shadows. The huge forms of the mountains appeared to arise like evil genii from the midst of the deep shadows which surrounded their baseand night, and solitude, and silence, conspired to throw me into a world of spirits. The fate of poor L, cut off in the bloom of youth, the grief of his broken-hearted mother, and the ten thousand thoughts with which his image was connected, crossed my mind, and I was lost as in a painful dream. I was recalled to my senses, however, by my dog, which had joined me, crouching suddenly behind me. I looked up, and I swear to you that I saw the features of my friend by the strong beam that fell on his pale forehead. He was standing beneath a tree whose shadow clothed the whole of his form, except the head, as with a dark garment. My knees tottered under me, my tongue clove to the roof of my mouth, and the perspiration stood in large beads on my forehead. He seemed to look fixedly upon me, and I thought I could see his lips move-I could not be mistaken-I ran forward to meet him-he fell into my arms, and I found a cold stiff corpse weighing on my shoulder! the corpse of L- -I knew not what happened for the next few minutesbut when I recovered I found myself leaning on the trunk of a tree, surrounded by some students. They all seemed in deep astonishment. At last one cried out, "I see it, I see it! What, what they have cast him from his grave. Who have done it? The peasantry?" At once the whole truth flashed upon us, and at once we now saw the origin of the report of the murdered student. L-had been buried in the field of one of the small land

"THE age of chivalry is gone:" So thought Burke;-but it is odd enough, that throughout his fanciful book he never seems to have hit upon the best reason for thinking so. There is a better guage for the spring-tides of democracy, than the decay of royalty in France. That might be exceptio pro regula. He should have instanced the decay of the Minuet. There are auguries in Nature. When Rowlandson, or somebody else, published a caricature of the Long Minuet, with "Longa Tithonum minuit," for a motto, it was an ominous legend-had the spectators known it. It would, or ought to have given a shock to the procordia of every subscriber to the Constitutional Association, from the old dowager duchesses downwards, had that egregious corporation been then "in esse.

Everybody who has paid any attention at all to the expression of music -provided always he, or she, be not as shallow as Avison on Musical Expression," a book, God wot, the intense demerits of which have never been sufficiently castigated, must agree that there is an expression peculiar to dances. Expression I call it-knowing the word is too good for it, but for want of a better, let it pass. There is the measured lightsomeness of the Polonoise; there is the splendid voluptuousness of the waltz. But the Minuet is the most marked of all. It is, as it were, the very essence of courtly pomp-the aristocracy of locomotiveness. If dancing be the poetry of motion, it is the legitimate and twin-brother to a birth-day ode. What matters it if Heidegger be the father of the one, and Colley Cibber of the other?

VOL. XVII.

Take some celebrated minuet, and examine its parts. The very name calls up the idea of lutestring and hoops. There is Marshal Saxe's, for instance. Are not the very first two bars irresistibly redolent of embroidered coats, rapiers, toupèes, and mareschal powder? Then there is the measured pompous drop-down of the fourth bar. What a step of dignity here! and the shaken minim at the conclusion of the first part-it is the very quintessence of rustling brocaded curtseys, swanlike glides, and congées of the chapeau bras! After this comes the graceful recovery of the first bar of the second part, gradually ascending until it launches into a passage of stiff, yet airy flutterings, which it would puzzle Hogarth himself to personify on the canvass, or William Farren, or Farley, on the stage. What simpers, what smiles, what airs, and what graces, do not these notes embody! What oglings under raised eye-brows-what juxta-position of patches-what waving of plumeswhat sparkling, and what rustling! -now dying apparently away-now suddenly, after a rapid glide up, renewed, like the embraces of heroines in the catastrophe of a pathetic melodrame-at last subsiding in the slow-measured descent again - the first quaver of each brace accented

ing-school young lady and gentleman not out of their teens-but nothing more. "The Marquis of Granby' would have been too plain-mannered, and "the Duke of Cumberland," (both heroes) to say a truth-too German. The spirit of ridicule in high places, came in with the freedom of the Hanover family. It was an ill omen, when the wags of the day began to crack jests on George the First's "fat and lean kine" of German mistresses. The minuet sickened in the breath of the first titter. Public opinion has slipped (ever restless) from beneath it. It was the musical incarnation of the spirit of Sir Charles Grandison; and, being so, flourished when nobility, with all its pomp and circumstance, was taken throughoutat its word; when the world no more dreamed of laughing at it for shewing (to risk a pun) its pedigree in its carriage, than on the door of it. Like some of Mr Kean's long dying scenes, it requires full faith in the spectators, or it is ruined. There must be no popular scepticism. A lord, there, must have the air and assumption of nobility, as well as the coat of arms, and must, moreover, have full credit given for them; a single "tee-hee" is the bane of either! These days, alas ! are all over. The democracy of the ridiculous has attacked the outworks of the aristocracy, and minuets and laced waistcoats have retired mortally wounded from the assault. ""Tis too much." Minuets !-who can dance minuets, when the Whigs are befooled every week by the John Bull, and the Tories every day by the Morning Chronicle? When, if a man have a silly face, be he who he will, he is sure to hear of it; and if he be silly, de

facto-(as they say of the South American republics) he must be so with a witness, if he does not find it out at last. Minuets !-when" my lords and gentlemen" drive four-in-hand, patronize "the Fancy"-swill "blue ruin"- and marry rich citizens' daughters and opera-dancers, by way of reformation and settling in life!!-Minuets now a-days !—Shade of Vestris the Elder!

Objects, not in themselves picturesque, become so in the haze of distance; and besides the direct pleasure to be derived from expression in music, there is a bastard and factitious one, which is founded in the association of ideas. Even so-before, then, all thy genera and species of waltzes, and cotillions, and boleros, and polaccas, and quadrilles, play me, Ò fiddler! who listenest to other whims than thine own-the Minuet. Originally common-place, Time has shed a romance over it. It has acquired the poetry of years. It is the fantastic adjunct of our second stage of comedy; and reminds of the times, now happily passed for ever, yet not unworthy to be remembered, when Cibber wrote and played in a flowing wig, and Mrs Bracegirdle in a hoop and head; when Lord Foppington was a dandy, and Lady Fanciful a dandyzette; when strait-laced beauties were irresistible, and gentlemen in buckram fascinating; ere dress, like manners, had become one chaos-and the nobleman and his groom, and the lady and her abigail—the master and the 'prentice-had met half way in the road of violent refinement, and affected common sense.

T. D.

We have reason to believe that this curious submarine contrivance was known to Friar Bacon; at any rate, the hint has evidently been taken from one of the few scraps of his mighty genius, raked from amongst the rubbish of monkish absurdity; and, to an ingenious mind, what more is requisite? That illustrious Englishman, in one of his brief, cautious notices and cautiously indeed was he constrained to write in a bewildered fireand-faggot age-expressly says, that

he could travel on the bottom of the sea with the same ease and security as he could on dry land, which impresses us with the belief that Bacon, in the course of his philosophical researches, had constructed a diving vessel of some kind or other; but how it was fashioned, or of what material, we pretend not to know-history and tradition being alike silent.

On sitting down to our present subject, we called to remembrance the aforesaid relic, and gratefully embra