28 BERTHA. 



hearts of the careworn and the world-wearied. She was as 

 delicate as a sylph, with eyes of that deep clear blue, so rarely 

 seen except in infancy, and a profusion of pale, golden locks 

 which she arranged in a singularly picturesque manner, around 

 her small and beautifully formed head. But the exceeding 

 brightness of her expression, the joy which seemed to radiate 

 from her whole countenance, and the extreme grace of her 

 lithe form, with its quick agile movements, were beyond any 

 cold description. Ardent and impetuous in her feelings, full of 

 strong emotion, but without a single awakened passion, she was 

 the creature of every impulse, and though her instincts were 

 noble and good, yet there was a degree of inconsistency and 

 indiscretion about her which excited the interest as well as the 

 fears of those who loved her. She was light and volatile in her 

 tastes, thoughtless and whimsical in many fancies, yet her 

 manners were characterized by a delicate and maidenly gentle- 

 ness which was perfectly lovely ; and though she was too much 

 of the child to claim the respect due to womanhood, she was 

 too much the woman to be trifled and toyed with as a child. 



Living in the pleasant seclusion of a country residence, yet 

 finding in a large circle of family friends and relatives, all the 

 society which her gay spirit required, Bertha had grown up 

 amid all those pleasant influences which make youth the season 

 of enjoyment, but afford it no discipline for future sorrows. 

 One of the sweetest traits of the German character, is a deep 

 love for childhood, and one of the noblest teachings of German 

 wisdom is the art of keeping the young heart fresh amid the 

 simplicity of innocent pleasures. Those with whom Bertha 



