146 A Chapter from the Memoirs of [Auo. 



Upsal, whither it was my intention to vegetate till the univei'sity studies 

 should recommence, I was no less surprised than gratified by hearing him 

 ])iress me to accompany him to Naples, whose classic shores he was desirous 

 to explore. From some cause or other, which I cannot just now remember, 

 I was unable to comply with his request; and, accordingly, he set out alone 

 on his pilgrimage, nor did I hear a single syllable either of or from him, 

 nntil about a month after my return to Stockholm, when a note wan 

 brought to my residence by one of the university porters, requesting 

 that, if not better engaged, I would step up and pass an evening with a 

 fellow-traveller at his lodgings. 



I went accordingly, and found Herwaldsen as cheerful and diverting 

 as ever. After a few indiiferent remarks, — " I arrived here," he said, 

 " but yesterday, and am now fixed for at least two j'ears longer. 

 When we last conversed upon our mutual prospects, I told you that I 

 was inthfFerent to university preferment. Circumstances, however, have 

 since occurred materially to change my opinions, and I am now resolved 

 to struggle hard for college emoluments." 



" And pray what may be the circumstances that have caused so abrupt 

 an alteration ?" 



Herwaldsen paused; a flush came across his face, and he seemed unde- 

 cided whether or not he would satisfy my curiosity. After a short strug- 

 gle, — "I am going to intrust you, Hermann," he began, " Avith a secret 

 which, however trifling it may seem to you, is to me just now a matter 

 of extreme moment. Will you then respect my confidence, if I give it 

 you promptly and without reserve ?" 



". Certainly," 1 replied, laughing at the very mysterious expression of 

 his countenance, " provided it involve neither rebellion, heresy, nor 

 schism." 



" Listen, then," interrupted Herwaldsen ; and, drawing his chair 

 closer towards me, commenced his narrative as follows : — " ^Vbout three 

 weeks after I parted with you at Carlstadt, I reached Naples, where, 

 however, I made but a short stay, disliking its tone of manners and society 

 — notwithstanding I had some excellent letters of introduction — and feel- 

 ing myself altogether disappointed in the romantic expectations I had 

 conjui-ed up respecting its sceneiy. Baiae and Brundisium are all very 

 well in the pages of Horace, and there is something wondrously exciting 

 to the fancy in Virgil's Lake of Avernus ; but see these places as I have 

 seen them, shorn of their honours, changed in every part, and tenanted 

 by the most abject slaves in the universe, and you will regret that you 

 ever allowed the sobriety of truth to displace the splendours of fiction. 

 With regard to Vesuvius, that stale plebeian Volcano, it is altogether a 

 failure, consisting merely of smoke, cinders, and Englishmen. With this 

 opinion of Naples and its bay — which last, by-the-by, is over-rated — I 

 was not sorry to quit them, and take up my abode at Terracina — a retired 

 neighbourhood, sylvan and unassuming, and one that happened exactly 

 to hit my taste. Here, in due time, I managed to become acquainted 

 with a F'rench aristocrat of the old regime, whose family — consisting of 

 himself, a wife, and (^ne daughter — received me with an abundance of 

 kind but stately courtesy. Of the two former, I shall say nothing more 

 than that they were poor and immeasurably proud ; but, as regards the 

 latter, I cannot be quite so epigrammatic in my details. She was, 

 indeed — but you shall see her, and judge for yourself — an uncommonly 

 fine young girl ; of a warm, impassioned, but perfectly artless nature. 



