154 A Chapter from the Memoirs of [[Aug. 



hopes — we returned to breakfast at the cottage, after which Herwaldsen 

 and myself set out together towards the university. As we approached 

 the hall, we met groups of students from the Academy of Antiquities 

 and the Fine Arts, hastening in the same direction, and all conversing 

 eagerly on the one great topic — the recitation of the prize poem. When 

 we reached the door at which the public enter, Herwaldsen left me to 

 make some fcAV preliminary preparations ; and I proceeded up stairs to 

 the gallery, which was more crowded than I had ever before seen it. 

 In a few minutes the heads of the university and the different academies 

 entered in procession, and having taken their seats, the usual routine 

 business of the day commenced, after which Herwaldsen was publicly 

 called on to come forward and recite his poem. At this moment eveiy 

 eye was turned anxiously towards the door, at which, after an interval 

 just sufficient to give a keen edge to expectation, my friend — my triumph- 

 ant friend — appeared. The instant he was discovered, the hall rung with 

 acclamations : but when he commenced the dehvery of his prize, a pin 

 might have been heard to drop — so general was the stillness, so respect- 

 ful, so profound. At first his voice was low ; but, as the spirit of his 

 poetry deepened in animation, his tones kindled with it, his fine eye 

 flashed, his countenance glowed with intellect. For upwards of half an 

 hour he kept the audience enchained by the riveting power of his genius; 

 and when he ceased, such was the impression he had made, that the 

 whole hall, excited by one uncontrollable impulse, rose in a body to do 

 him honour. Never before had there been known so complete a 

 triumph ! 



On quitting the gallery, I hastened to congratulate Herwaldsen, whom 

 I found already surrounded by admirers. On seeing me, his eye sparkled 

 with delight : the name of Hortense escaped him. " How delighted 

 she will be to know of my. reception !" he whispered ; " but I must not 

 tell her yet — the ceremony of my public dinner must first be gone 

 through." IMemorable dinner ! wlio, among the numbers that attended, 

 will ever forget it } Throughout the evening, Herwaldsen was as daz- 

 zling — as imaginative — as triumphant — as he had shewn himself in the 

 university hall. By one successful flight, he seemed to have reached 

 the very summit of his ambition. He laughed — he jested — he philo- 

 sophized — he sported alike with the most elevated and familiar forms of 

 eloquence — and even when, at a later hour than usual, the party sepa- 

 rated, and we were left once again to ourselves, the fervour of his 

 enthusiasm kept up undinainished and unimpaired. 



But the time was now drawing near when, according to promise, he 

 should return to Hortense. Tlie night was far advanced, so, by way of 

 dispatch, he resolved to go by watei* — a freak in which I foolishly 

 indulged him. As we pushed off from shore, the wind, which had till 

 then been brisk, subsided into a sudden calm ; the sail hung drooping 

 to the mast ; the waters of the Maelar lay stretched out, calm, glassy, 

 and unwi'inkled, before us. Lightly, and with scarce a motion, we 

 floated in succession past the noble bronze statue of Gustavus IH. ; the 

 Royal Palace, that pride of our northern architecture ; the outward 

 ranges of the extensive and far-spreading arsenal ; when, just as we 

 had rounded a point that brought us fidl towards the IMount of IMoses, 

 Herwaldsen made a sudden move to the side of the vessel, and, in so 

 doing, lost his balance, and fell headlong overboard. The moon was at 

 this time unclouded, the water transparent as glass, and, as I gazed in 

 the direction in which he had fallen, I could actually discern my unfortu- 



