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and at last seemed to die away on the horizon in one long sigh of delight and exhaustion. Then the music changed into a beautiful solemn elegy that harmonized with the fading tropical day and the magnificent rush of the ship over the “houseless ocean’s heaving field;” and then, by a gradual transition, Alice led the way into one of Schubert’s most beautiful, most unearthly inspirations. First she played the deep chords which announce the approach of death to the young and thoughtless girl,—

Then the pathetic wailing entreaty of the girl,—“Ich bin so jung! geh lieber! und ruhre mich nicht an!” And again sinking lower and lower in pleading,—“und ruhre mich nicht an!” Then the deep solemn reassurance of the liberator,—“Bin freund! und komme nicht zu strafen!” and at last the two melodies, interlocked and woven together by the consummate art of the composer, rising and falling, with inextricable joy and regret, fleeting between earth and heaven, till the music fades into a mysterious palpitating whisper, as if some eager wings were beating against a cage and struggling to be free—and then once more Death speaks in solemn consolation,—