and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| VOL. XIII. NO. 373.] | SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER. | [PRICE 2d. |
ANNE OF GEIERSTEIN, or THE MAIDEN OF THE MIST
A NOVEL. BY SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART.
The author of this delightful novel, by the fertility of his genius,has almost exhausted the rhetoric of admiration, and even thevocabulary of criticism. But we still hail his appearance withheartfelt interest, if not with the enthusiasm and rapture with whichwe were wont to speak of his earlier productions. The incognito oftheir authorship is removed, but with it none of their genuine fame;and, like few works of the same class, their popularity bids fair tooutlive hundreds of matter-of-fact works, whose realities might havebeen expected to ensure them a more durable character. It would beidle, at this time of day, to go over the ground upon which theWaverley Novels will take their stand among our national literature:they are not merely pictures of fact and fancy blended by a masterlyhand, but beyond this merit, they abound with so much knowledge of thehuman heart and the mastery of its passions, as to render theminteresting to every reader beyond Robinson Crusoe; and above all,the free, conversational style in which this knowledge is imparted, isone of their greatest attractions. The author does not account foreffects by any tedious appeal to our judgment, but he strikes at onceat our feelings and common sense, and we become, as it were,identified with the dictates and impulses of his heroes. This meritbelongs to book-effect, as situations belong to stage-effect; theendings of his chapters are like good exits—we are sure to becurious as to the following page or scene.
But we are trifling, like a subordinate who stays behind to say asilly thing in a farce. Having overrun Scotland, England, France,Palestine, and Germany, Sir Walter, in the work before us, introducesus to some of the most stirring times of Swiss story. Upon this simpleintimation, the reader will anticipate all the fascinations ofpicturesque scenery and eloquent description—so characteristic ofevery volume of the Waverley Novels, and in this expectation, hewill not be disappointed. The latter charms are constant in nothingbut perpetual change; and the sublimities of Switzerland will exciteadmiration and awe, when the labours of man have crumbled to ruin, andall his proud glories passed away in the dream of time.
The novel opens in the year 1474, when Helvetia, after her heroicstruggles for independence, began to be recognised by the neighbouringcountries as a free state. At this date, its inhabitants "retained, ina great measure, the wisdom, moderation, and simplicity of theirancient manners; so much so, that those who were entrusted with thecommand of the troops of the Republic in battle, were wont to resumethe shepherd's staff, when they laid down the truncheon, and, like theRoman Dictators, to retire to complete equality with their fellowcitizens, from the eminence to which their talents, and the call oftheir country had raised them."
The first chapter introduces us to two travellers and their guide, wholose their way in the mountainous passes