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 Altenötting.--_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,