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are not insuperable. The lowest may work his way upwards. As it will be, says Mr. Buckingham, one of the fundamental conditions of the constitution that promotion from the lowest rank to the highest, shall be open to all without limit or restriction, and be determined only by merit and capacity, without favour, influence, or purchase; those who begin as ordinary labourers, may rise, by their own exertions, to skilled labourers, and pass thence into all the higher gradations. Wherever their capacity and conduct-to be judged of by their colleagues in their own rank and class-shall entitle them to fill the vacancy next above them; and if they reach the highest rank, for which there will be greater facilities here than in any society known, they may, whenever they can obtain the suffrages of their fellow-citizens, (which, however distinguishable and unquestionable, merit can alone secure) pass into the council chamber, and be chosen by their colleagues as governor of the city.

Such is the model town our author proposes to establish. The idea is one that has long been favourably received, and we believe that such an organization of society would offer far more aid to virtue, and would remove more of the encouragements to vice, than the organization which at present prevails. In some of the details we may and we should differ from our author, but his idea is one that is every day more forcibly seizing the public mind; it has long been held by our philosophers, and political economy now acknowledges its existence, and needs its support. In America, in the communities where it has been tried, it has answered well; and in England, with picked men, it would undoubtedly answer equally well. We are aware, the experiments made in England up to the present time, have been failures; but it would have been wonderful had they not been so. We are not great believers in the increasing depravity of the age, but we believe the result of our present mode of transacting business, and of our present state of civilization is to increase luxury and want, the riches of the rich, the poverty of the poor. An associated community would create an amount of happiness such as can be attained by no other organization; though Mr. Buckingham's organization is not the one the most to our heart. We are not enemies to wine, that makes glad the heart of man; the cigar is not an abomination in our nostrils, and a community altogether ignorant of such creature comforts, would be far too perfect for sinners like ourselves; but still Mr. Buckingham holds out an idea such as we should be glad to see realized-a town of happy, moral, intelligent, industrious men, -where want is a stranger, where disease is unknown-where none are

overworked, and where all are well filled. Is not this the Elysium for which we all have sighed,-which would satisfy the most restless and discontented of men and of women?

There are other matters treated of in Mr. Buckingham's volume, which is well worthy of perusal; these are the principles of taxation, emigration, and colonization, the necessity of a new reform bill, and the regeneration of Ireland. All subjects now of vital importance-subjects that must be considered seriously by every reflecting mind. The time is coming, when a revolution will be begun in England-a revolution, not, it may be, of physical, but of moral force,-a revolution in ideas, a revolution that will be fought by logic and truth, and the result of which will be true happiness. Such volumes as those of Mr. Buckingham's are useful, as in some degree they supply combatants with arms, and indicate the way.

J. E. R.

THE MAGIC CIRCLET.

'Twas a wild dream; and far

away I saw a verdant isle, Which slept beneath the setting sun, and wooed its parting

smile:

And on this isle a circlet beamed, enwreathed with summer

flowers

Bright rainbow hues were glittering, and golden thoughts and

hours.

Time passeth by, and once again I seek the islet fair-
The magic emblem resteth yet upon the greensward there;
But ahi how changed its ample bounds-that flowery circlet

now

Within its evanescent ring few golden visions show.

For dim and wintry clouds float o'er, and summer flowers

decay,

And rainbow tints, and golden thoughts, with sunshine pass

away;

But still within the bounds I kneel, and raise a prayer to

Heaven

Thus sheltered may I glide to rest, some holy sabbath even!

For one by one my early friends-my golden days-have flown,
And now within life's circlet ring I kneel, yet not alone,
For precious are the lingering rays, and priceless to my heart;
And ere night shadows darkly close, may I from life depart!
C. A. M. W.

THE SEASONS.

A FANTASY.

Spring days approach-Spring's violet flowers-
Balmy western winds-soft refreshing showers.
Flute music sighing-love-birds singing-
Joy and gladness bringing-

Sweet Spring hours!

Summer days are coming,

Summer roses blooming,
Crystal streamlets flowing.
Angels, 'mid the silent night,
Hover in the cold moonlight,

Where the lotus gleameth white-
Oh, blessed Summer night!

Autumn days approach,

Sad-last Autumn days.

So beautiful and mild, so dear to sorrow's child ;-
The time of wild woods' golden glory,

When hearts are full of by-gone story;
When flowers look wan on lowly graves,
Where the gloomy yew-tree waves,
As Autumn lingereth-lingereth long—

Sad-last Autumn days!

Wintry hours most stern and drear!
Without the chilling snow-storm's blight,
Within the lone heart's stormy night:
No sunshine, flowers, or earthly light!
But as the stars shine forth more bright,
In the clear frosty Winter night,
E'en so, my God, be Thou to me
More clear amid life's misery,

And dreary Winter hours!

C. A. M. W.

SWISSIANA.

CHAPTER XVII.*

FIRST DAY IN THE OBERLAND BERNOIS.

"The fame of those pure bards, whose faces lie
Like glorious clouds, in summer's calmest even,
Fringing the western skirts of darkening heaven;
And sprinkled o'er with hues of rainbow dye,
Awakes no voice of thunder, which may vie
With mighty chiefs' renown. From ages gone,
In low, undying strain, it lengthens on,
Earth's greenest solitudes with joy to fill:
Felt breathing in the silence of the sky,
Or trembling in the gush of new-born rill,
Or whispering o'er the lake's undimpled breast;
Yet blest to live where trumpet notes are still,
To wake a pulse of earth-born extasy
In the deep bosom of eternal rest."

T. N. TALFourd.

THE Oberland Bernois is the most interesting portion of Switzerland. There has been much dispute among the inhabitants as to the extent of country which it properly comprises; the men of Hasle stoutly asserting that the appellation originally belonged to their valley alone, while others declare that it includes those of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Frutigen, and the Sarine. Some, again, say that the town and lake of Thein forms no part of the much contested country; but the discussion is of so slight consequence to foreigners, who cannot be expected to take the same interest in local questions as the sons of the soil themselves, that we shall pursue it no farther-merely mentioning that the name of Oberland signifies literally Highland, from the mountainous nature of that tract of country, which was thus first called by the French in 1798, when they formed it into a

canton.

The Oberland is not interesting from its natural beauties alone, but also from the very important part it has played in

Continued from page 63, vol. lvi.

October, 1849.-VOL. LVI.-NO. CCXXII.

I

the history of Switzerland. The forest cantons excepted, which are chiefly known by the fabled exploits of Tell, the Oberland stands first in the pages of romance. It was the cradle of the bards; from out of its valleys proceeded those minstrel troops, harp in hand, who were so generally famous over the whole of Germany under the name of Minnesänger. They were similar to the Trouvères and Troubadours of the Provençal dialects of oc and oil, but were no branch of that fraternity, the languages of the two being entirely different. Even the subject-matter of the one was seldom transfused into the lays of the other; a circumstance which shows to what height nationality and origin were carried in those days, when even the chance of obtaining the burden of a new song without trouble, was set aside rather than in its search have to associate with barbarians, as each party styled the other: for it must be remembered that so great was the age for legends, tales, lays, serenades, and ditties of every kind, at the time we treat of, that the poor minstrels were as much put about as modern romancists are, to find novelty for the hungry and expectant public that required it of them.

The Minnesänger flourished about the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and exercised their vocation chiefly on the Rhine, between Ehrenbreitstein and Strasburg, and the part of Switzerland now called the Oberland Bernois. They were a highly respected race, and, generally speaking, deservedly so. In those dark days when learning was rare, the monks and troubadours were the only people who commonly possessed it, and they were usually consulted in cases where the sword hung useless-with this difference, that where duty was concerned, the monks were the class sought--where love, it was the minstrels. The former have the merit of having rescued from oblivion what little we know of the history of those ages, but they were mere chroniclers; and if the history of that period possess any charm to the living student, the credit is wholly due to the minstrels, who, however exaggerated their stories, have given to history life and colouring. Their tales were impressed in the minds of their auditors, who retailed them to their children, and so they have been transmitted from generation to generation, till they are collected and appropriated by the historian to the respective epoch which they illustrate. "Shew me the songs of a nation, and I will tell you its character," was the saying of a great writer; following which we may add, that if in history the priest has preserved the body, the minstrel has preserved the soul.

The Minnesängers were welcomed by all classes: in the hall they sung of the glory of the baron's ancestors; in the cottage they swept their harps to chivalrous themes, and by directing

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