first wife; and, to appease his conscience, it is stated that he founded the nunnery of Fürstenfeld, or, according to others, Fürstenthal, in her honour.

He died soon after, leaving his dominions to his two sons, Ludwig and Frederic, who never knew peace with one another while they lived.

Marksburg is now used as a state-prison for the grand duchy of Nassau; but it is very seldom tenanted, and never has been crowded with political offenders.

PETERSPEY.

At a short distance up the Rhine, on the opposite shore of that river, stands the hamlet of Peterspey, one of four places whose names have a similar termination-Niederspey, Oberspey, Osterspey, and Peterspey. The derivation of this affix has long set antiquarians at fault; but it is generally believed to take rise from the circumstance of certain watch-towers (specula) having been established by the Romans on the several sites of these hamlets, when that powerful and politic people held possession of the adjacent country. One of the few incidents connected with these places, occurred, according to the authority of the following legend, in Peterspey. It is annexed to the present scant notice of that place.

*

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE.

Twelve disbanded soldiers at the conclusion of the thirty years' war, found themselves wandering along the shores of the Rhine, late in the evening, close by Peterspey. They had passed through Boppard, where they could obtain no shelter for the night, because they were without means of paying for it; and they sought in the villages that charity which had been denied them in the town. But the long war had desolated the homes and hardened the hearts of all; and these weary wretches were, therefore, refused by one and by the other. They were fain, in this strait, to take refuge in a ruined barn which stood near the river.

A.D. 1648.

108

The season was midwinter; it was the beginning of the new year (A.D. 1649), and the weather was intensely cold. Anxiety, and the pangs of hunger, prevented sleep; the poor fellows, therefore, endeavoured to beguile the weary hours until morning by telling stories. Many tales were told, and many strange adventures related; but one or two only, more interesting than the others, shall be given here.

"Ah!" said the first narrator, a young man who had but recently joined the army of Tilly; "ah!" said he, "if we only had the Gallows Mannikin' in our possession we need not care for any one."

"Who is he?

"Who is he?

Mannikin ?"

Who is he?" asked the others.

What! have you never heard of the Gallows

"Never!" answered his companions.

"Well, then, I'll tell you all about him," replied he. "Listen."

"It is a well-known tradition, and one implicitly believed in my native place, near Magdeburg; that when a man who is a thief by inheritance-that is to say, whose father, and grandfather, and great-grandfather before him-three generations of his family have been thieves; or whose mother has been a thief while she carried him in her womb; or whose mother has had an irrepressible longing to steal something during her pregnancy of him ;--it is the tradition, I say, that if such man, being pure of body, and free from all contact with woman in his lifetime, should be hung,-at the foot of the gallows whereon his last breath was exhaled, will spring up a plant of hideous form, known. as the Alraun or Gallows Mannikin.'* 6 object to look at; and it has broad, dark green leaves, with a It is quite an unsightly single yellow flower. That plant, however, has great power;

* This is one of the wildest superstitions of the German mythus. "Where," the tradition says, "a single exudation from the dying man falls, a particle of urine-aut sperma in terram effundit,-there springs the Alraun, or Gallowss Mannikin."

and whoso is its possessor never more knows what it is to want money."

"What a treasure!" exclaimed his comrades; "what a treasure!"

"But," proceeded the narrator, "it is a feat full of the greatest danger to obtain possession of it. If not taken up from the root, clean out of the soil, it is altogether valueless; and he who makes the experiment wantonly risks his life. The moment the earth is struck with the spade, the bitterest cries and shrieks burst forth from it; and while the roots are being laid bare, demons are heard to howl in horrid concert. But when the work is done--when the last hand of the daring wizard is laid on the stem to pluck forth his prize-then is it as if all the fiends of hell were let loose upon him: such shrieking, such howling, such clinking of chains, such crashing of thunder, and such flashing of forked lightning, assail him on every side. his heart fail him but for one moment, his life is forfeit. Many a bold heart engaged in this trial has ceased to beat under the 'gallows tree;' many a brave man's body has been found mangled and torn to pieces on that accursed spot. There is, however, happily, only one day in the month-the first Friday-on which this plant appears; and on the night of that day only may it be plucked from its hiding-place. The way it is done is thus:Whoso seeks to win it, fasts all the day; at sun-down he sets forth on his fearful adventure; by midnight he takes his stand under the gallows; he there stuffs his ears with wool, or wax, so that he may hear nothing. I forgot to say that he must be careful to take with him a coal-black hound, which has not a single fleck of white on his whole body, and which he has compelled likewise to a fast of four-and-twenty hours previously. As the dread hour arrives, he stoops down and makes three crosses over the Alraun; and then commences to dig for the roots, in a perfect circle around it. When he has laid it entirely bare, so that it only holds to the ground by the points of its roots, he calls the affrighted hound to him, and ties the top of the plant to his tail; he then shews the animal some meat, and flings it to some short distance from the spot. The hound, ravenous with hunger, springs after it, dragging the plant up by the root; but before he can reach the tempting morsel he is struck stark dead, as by some invisible

hand. The adventurer, who all the while stood by the plant to aid in its uprooting, should the strength of the animal prove insufficient, then rushes forward, and detaching it from the body of the dead dog, grasps it firmly in both hands. He then wraps it up carefully in a silken cloth, first, however, washing it well in red wine, and bears it homeward. The hound is buried in the spot whence the Alraun has been extracted. On reaching home the possessor deposits his treasure in a strong chest, with three locks, and only visits it every first Friday in the month-or, rather, after the new moon. On these occasions he again washes it with red wine, and enfolds it afresh in a clean silken cloth, of white and red colours. Then if he has any question to ask, or any request to make, he puts the one or proffers the other. If he wish to know of things in the future, the Alraun will tell him truly; but then he will only get one answer in the moon, and nothing else will be done for him by it. If he desire to obtain some substantial favour, he has it performed for him on making a request to that effect; but then the Alraun will answer no inquiries as to the future until the next day of visitation shall arrive. Whoso has this wonder of the world in his possession, can never take harm from his foes, and never sustain any losses whatsoever. If he be poor, he at once becomes rich: if his marriage be unblest by offspring, his wife immediately becomes fruitful. If a piece of gold be laid beside the Alraun at night, it is found to be doubled in the morning; and so on for any sum whatsoever: but never was it known to be increased more than two pieces for each one. His life will be long and prosperous ; and his death, 'tis to be hoped, happy.

"On the demise of the owner, only a youngest son can inherit the Alraun. To inherit it effectually he must place a loaf of white bread, and a piece of money, in the coffin of his father, to be buried along with his corpse. If he fail to do so, then is the possession, like many others of great name in this world, of no value to him. Should, however, the youngest son fail before the father, then it rightfully falls to the eldest: but he must also place bread and money in the coffin of his brother, as well as in that of his father, to inherit it to any purpose.

"That's the story of the Alraun. Would that we had it."

Ay, would that we had," exclaimed his companions;

"would that we had, or any of us; we would not be here this night."

"But, after all," spake another of the shivering crew, "after all, it is not near so strange as the story of the Familiar Spirit."

"Let us hear it," said the rest; "and then we'll judge between ye."

"Willingly," replied the speaker, from the corner where he sat crouching together to keep himself warm; "willingly," and his teeth chattered in his head with the cold; " willingly."

"The Spiritus Familiaris-or Familiar Spirit, is, as you all must know, if you have ever been in the North of Germany, or at all near Leipzig-a singular thing; it is neither altogether like a scorpion, nor altogether like a spider, but it bears some resemblance to both, more than it does to any other living animal. It is kept in a glass bottle; and whoever has it can never part with it, except at a lower price than he paid for its purchase; for, you must know, it is always bought and sold. This little devil—it is a devil-brings good luck to whosoever has him; he discovers concealed treasures to his owner; he acquires for him the love of his friends; he protects him against the hate of his enemies; steel nor lead may not hurt him in battle; with whomsoever he fights he is always the victor; and he is free from all manner and description of durance, arrest, imprisonment, and danger. He is not so troublesome as the Alraun; but he is much more formidable. For whoever is his proprietor must inevitably go to hell, unless before his death he shall have succeeded in obtaining a purchaser for him, at a lower price than he paid himself. It is of no use to throw away the phial in which he lives; it is of no use to bury or conceal it; wherever it may be hidden, in what place soever it is put, it will always return to the possession of him who held it, until he has regularly parted with it to a proper customer. When it has been paid for in the lowest possible coin, then is the hapless possessor the property of Satan. Nothing can save him.

"I'll tell you what happened to my own father's knowledge