see how the battle was progressing." The words of the "Narrative are: We were five who rode out from the camp; the first was the King Gustavus who is called the Great; two were at once despatched to the Finns with orders that they were not to press too eagerly after the enemy; the fourth was "a great Lord" (whom, however, the "Narrative" does not name, but adds that he was) "notorious throughout all Germany;" and the fifth was Von Hastendorff himself, who remained with the king the whole time because he was "well acquainted with all the roads." He narrates that while they were riding "a cannon ball came and struck me as well as my horse. I lost my leg, and my life was not worth much. Gustavus hastened forward and when about fifty paces distant from where I lay wounded, I saw a traitor shoot him in the head. The blood at once ran over his face so that he could scarcely see, yet he fired both his pistols at the traitor, but failed to hit him. The King staggered around on his horse about twenty times, while the traitor sat at some distance watching to see how it would end. When the King could no longer retain his seat, he dismounted and let his horse go, and laying himself on the ground, he, in a clear voice commended his soul to God, and advised all those who lay near him to do likewise. commend my spirit, my body and my soul. Thou hast pardoned me, thou faithful God. Lord Jesus, in thee I live, in thee I die; living or dead I am thine. Lord Jesus, strengthen me in this hour. Be faithful, dear soul, till death; soon, soon thy Jesus will give thee the crown of life.' Raising his head and looking around he said, Lord Jesus, support the righteous cause; thou knowest that I have a righteous cause, and thou wilt not forsake it.' Then addressing himself to those of his own people who lay near him, he said, Here lies Gustavus Adolphus murdered. My daughter shall inherit my kingdom. The mother while she lives will administer the government. She is now a widow and my daughter an orphan. Lord Jesus govern the kingdom to thy glory. Lord Jesus forgive the sins of all these who lie near me; those who have been wounded by the enemy relieve from pain and misery, and strengthen their hearts and give them courage so that they despair not; and when we part from this world give us joy and peace in the world to come. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Lord Jesus into thy hands I commend my spirit. Thou hast pardoned me, thou faithful God. Lord Jesus, be merciful to me a sinner. Jesus, Jesus!' These were his last words." * Von Hastendorff then makes some observations on the great things that Gustavus had done Germany, and how he had striven for religion and the fatherland. 66 "The traitor, who had seen all this, now came forward and cut and struck at the King, and gave him nine wounds. Then the King recognizing him, and addressing him by name, said, God turn your heart, and forgive you for your evil deeds, even Germany," he says, "may well mourn, as I forgive you!' To those lying near for here a great hero has fallen." He him he said, See, all ye who have yet ends his narrative as follows: "As I lay life, how I, as a return for my kindness in my distress with pains and lamentations [to this man] am murdered!' Thereupon praying God to help me out of my trouble, the traitor rode away. The King had his there came three individuals riding with sword in his hand. He was covered with great speed." Recognizing them and blood... so that it was scarcely possible guessing what they wanted, he called out, to recognize him. It happened here,Gustavus for whom you are looking, lies as David spake, He who has eaten my bread has lifted up his foot against me;' for in this manner was the King Gustavus treated by the fourth one of the party who rode out from the camp." The death of the king is narrated as follows: "When he had laid himself upon the ground, he said, 'Lord Jesus, sinner that I am, sustain me, for my grave will be here. Lord Jesus, forgive him this evil deed! Lord Jesus, into thy hands I This was about nine o'clock. near me dead!' Thereupon they began to weep and lament. One of them rode off to bring a surgeon; the others, who remained, were deeply agitated. Soon numbers of people drew near, and lamenting over the king his remains were carried away." But, adds Von Hastendorff, “I was left lying there wounded, and therefore do not know anything further. . . . This is all true that I have written, be • He died at twelve o'clock noon. This was about three o'clock in the afternoon. se I saw everything with my own eyes | it, I doubt not. But God is a judge that and that it all so happened as I have I assure you - you murderer and traitor !" written I attest with my own name. "HANS VON HASTENDORFF." The Duke of Lauenburg after he reentered the Austrian service, also changed his religion and became a Papist; and as General de Peyster (author of a "Life of Torstenson," and other works bearing on the Thirty Years' War), in a letter on this subject, has remarked, "he was such a contemptible turncoat, in religion as in everything else, that this is almost suffi. cient to make one form a judgment as to his criminality in regard to the murder. It was the opinion of those who, at the time, were most likely to know the truth; and such is my opinion after examining so many authorities." Few people have studied the history of the Thirty Years' War so thoroughly as General de Peyster, and if any one is qualified to form an opinion on the subject at the present day, he is. At the end of this document there is a rough diagram showing the place where Von Hastendorff lay wounded, after he was shot and lost his leg, with the relative position of the spot where the king was murdered. It is to be regretted that in his "Narrative "he did not give the names of all the "five who rode out from the camp; " but as Noodt in his "Schleswig Holstein" has stated that he (Von Hastendorff) was certainly an eye-witness of what he described, there can be no reason to doubt the truth of his statement. The narrative is also indirectly confirmed by the words of the Apothecary Caparus, who embalmed the body of the king. In his report to the Swedish Council, he states he found that the king had received nine Perhaps the names of those who accomwounds caused by shot, by cutting, and by panied the king on that memorable mornstabbing. (Von Rango's "Gustav Adolfing, when he left the camp at Lützen, may der Grosse.") be found in the archives at Stockholm, or elsewhere in Sweden. As a historical fact, it would be interesting to get the disputed point regarding the king's death settled, if Von Hastendorff's "Narrative "is not considered decisive. I am persuaded that he referred to the Duke of Lauenburg as the "murderer and traitor." A possible reason why Von Hastendorff did not give the name of the assassin may be this. The Duke of Lauenburg had powerful friends, and any one accusing him of having committed the foul deed, (even supposing that he had been the miscreant), would have done so at the risk of his own life. Indeed, in a note to that part of the "Narrative" where it is stated that the "traitor" gave the king nine wounds, Von Hastendorff added, "As long as I live I shall always regret that I dare not tell what I witnessed at Lützen on the 6th of November. I would die for THE PROFITS OF TREE PLANTING. —A famous admiral used to scatter acorns from his pockets that England might never lack oaks for shipbuilding. That was the patriotic side of tree planting; here is the pecuniary. A certain Tommy Walker, of whom we are told by a Yankee journal, when a child planted four walnut-trees by the roadside opposite his father's house, ten miles west of Knoxville. He lived to see four walnut-trees grow to a measure of four feet in diameter, worth, if properly cut and seasoned, at least four hundred dollars each. Had he planted three hundred walnuts on an adjoining acre of ground his heirs, when he died, would have been one hundred and twenty thousand dol | lars better off. To-day they would be two hundred thousand dollars better off. Had he planted ten acres they would be worth at least two million dollars. Had he planted a hundred acres, and all the trees had reached an average size of three feet in diameter, and there is no reason why they shouldn't, as the land is fertile and impregnated with lime, his heirs - and there are only three living — would be worth altogether two hundred million dollars. If, like Johnny Appleseed, who planted thousands of apple-trees in the NorthWest, he had planted all the worn-out fields in Tennessee with walnuts, it would be the richest State in the Union by far. For EIGHT DOLLARS remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually forwarded for a year, free of postage. Remittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money-order, if possible. If neither of these can be procured, the money should be sent in a registered letter. All postmasters are obliged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks, and money-orders should be made payable to the order of LITTELL & Co. Single copies of the LIVING AGE, 18 cents. LINES TO OUR NEW CENSOR. [Mr. Oscar Wilde, having discovered that England is unworthy of him, has announced his resolve to become a naturalized Frenchman.] AND wilt thou, Oscar, from us flee, Sadden our lives no more forever? And all thy future wilt thou link With that brave land to which thou goest? Unhappy France! we used to think She touched, at Sedan, fortune's lowest. And you're made French as easily As you might change the clothes you're wearing? Fancy! and 'tis so hard to be A man of sense and modest bearing. May fortitude beneath this blow And as for us to our disgrace, Your stricture's truth must be conceded: Would any but a stupid race Have made the fuss about you we did? HOME-SICKNESS. W. W. THE LAST DESIRE. WHEN the time comes for me to die, If God should bid me make reply, "O God, thy world was great and fair, "I loved and toiled, throve ill or well Lived certain years and murmured not. Now grant me in that land to dwell, Where all things are forgot! "For others, Lord, the purging fires, TINTAGEL. Low is laid Arthur's head, Unknown earth above him mounded; By him sleep his splendid knights, R. With whose names the world resounded. Ruined glories! flown delights! Sunk 'mid rumors of old wars! Where they revelled, deep they sleep, By the wild Atlantic shores. On Tintagel's fortressed walls, Proudly built, the loud sea scorning; O'er earth's poor haunts, the playground of Pale the moving moonlight falls; those years Whose smiles were dimmed with tears, So would it find that nothing here below That all the peace which memory had cast All the familiar kindly home delight Through their rents the wind goes mourning. See ye, knights, your ancient home, Chafed, and spoiled, and fallen asunder? Hear ye now, as then of old, Waters rolled and wrathful foam, Where the waves, beneath your graves, Snow themselves abroad in thunder? Academy. LAURENCE BINYON. From The Contemporary Review. THE POPULAR SONGS OF FRANCE. La France - danse, says the old national proverb; and for herself she lays claim to be a singing nation too. A tout venant Je chantais, ne vous déplaise of French song and story have been made in the last twelve years by earnest students who are forever working in the same field. There are not only the folklorists, studying by rule and by comparison, accomplished in their own and other sciences. There are also many minds, neither very studious nor scientific, which defy all the possible mistakes, the risks run by the uninitiated, and are irresistibly attracted by the charm of the subject. So the history and geography of stories, of songs, of popular music, becomes better known every day, the knowledge growing by degrees, helped on by different hands, till it displays itself in such a thoroughgoing book as this of M. Tiersot's-"Histoire de la Chanson Populaire en France." was the motto chosen by M. Julien Tiersot for his Academy travail, which took the Bordin prize in 1885, and has since been expanded by its author into an account as complete as modern knowledge can make it, of French popular song and melody, from the earliest period of French history to the present day. A more fascinating study can hardly be imagined. It touches all facts of public and private interest; it penetrates into the life of the It is better to say at once that M. Tierpeople, their loves and hates, their reli- sot does not treat the songs of his country gion, superstition, daily labor, customs from the point of view of a folk-lorist. and traditions of every kind. There is He is not so much interested in what they not a nation on earth in which all these teach him of the character and life of the things have not at one time or another people, their favorite doctrines and tradifound their way into story and song, and tions, as in their own history and develhistorians, as well as men of other sci-opment, music and song together. There ences, have long found out with the folk- is little or no comparison, in the wider lorists that to know the genius of a peo- sense, to be found in his book; and this ple they must study it here, where it is, of course, one great element in the scifreely and unconsciously shows its true ence of folk-lore; but the folk-lorists character. In Mr. Andrew Lang's opin- would be poorly off without such pioneers ion-if he still agrees with a paper he as this, to make a special and thorough wrote some years ago on the "Folk-lore study of each different country. Those of France" French songs and stories students who have devoted themselves to come out from this study in a less advan- the study of stories and songs to be found tageous light than those of most other in the various provinces of France, or to countries. He finds "a good deal of bab-be traced back to various events in past bling gaiety, some trace of dreary superstition, much love of the spring and of the songs of birds, scattered memories of the oppression of the ancien régime, and now and again, an accent of deeper melancholy and weariness of labor . . . a somewhat sterile fancy, a certain vulgarity, a mordant humor, and a grain of incredulity." - All this does not sound satisfying, and also suggests that Mr. Lang's peasants have been studied since the Revolution; as a present picture of the peasants themselves, it is in some measure true. But very much greater discoveries in the land • Histoire de la Chanson Populaire en France, par centuries, or of some special character, such as M. de la Villemarqué in Brittany, M. de Puymaigre in the Pays Messin, M. Leroux de Lincy, and others, have again been pioneers for such a book as this of M. Tiersot's, which, however, seems so full of original research that it cannot be said to owe its existence entirely to any former works on the subject. The local and provincial collections are many, all more or less valuable. This book, as far as we know, is the first, or at least the fullest general history and description, of the popular songs of France. Far back in antiquity the history begins. Poetry and music come together to infant nations in the form of song. A higher |