Recently left a widow, by a husband whom she despised, she retained the command of the fortress, and, clad in complete steel, repulsed all the efforts of the Imperialists. At length strong reinforcements arrived, and a detachment of the Imperial army, under Francis Wesselény, was ordered to attack the castle. Having made the most elaborate preparations, he summoned the garrison to surrender; the refusal was haughty and uncompromising, and, to the surprise of Wesselény, dictated by the Chatelaine herself, who personally conducted its defence. To be foiled by a woman, little suited his proud nature; but all efforts to effect a breach in the massive walls of the stronghold were ineffectual, and every attack gallantly repulsed.

"Such was the state of things, when suddenly a report reached Wesselény, that, in consequence of some unexpected successes, the main body of the Transylvanian army was again advancing to relieve their beleagured comrades; and at that moment an idea glanced like lightning across his brain, which so engrossed his thoughts, that, in order to shape it into feasibility, he shut himself up for several hours in his tent, having previously given orders that he should on no pretext be intruded upon.

"On his re-appearance, he immediately despatched a herald to the Lady of Szétzi, asking safe conduct to and from her presence for one of his officers, an audience, and a short armistice. The request was at once acceded to, and, in a very brief space of time, Wesselény found himself standing on one of the ramparts of Muranzi, face to face with its haughty mistress.

"Dazzled by her exceeding loveliness, the Imperialist leader used many and energetic arguments to induce her to surrender, long after he discovered that he was guilty of a mere waste of words, and that the spirit of Mary of Szétzi was as immovable as her own towers. At length the proud Chatelaine lost patience.

666

By St. Stephen, Sir Knight (she exclaimed angrily) you squander both my time and your own, and would do better to spare both. Do we look here, in our good castle of Muranzi, as though we feared aught that your leader could do against it? Have we played our parts so tamely that we have given you the right to argue thus? By the manes of my father, you are as wordy as a woman! Return to Wesselény, and tell him that we never will surrender while one stone of the fortress rests upon another. And now, away with you-our conference is ended!""

"Be it so, madam, since such is your good will (said the Imperialist envoy); I have, then, only further to crave your attention to this missive from my general, to which he prays that you will courteously vouchsafe an answer at your best leisure.'

"It shall be done, sir;' said the Lady of Szétzi drily and waving her hand somewhat impatiently for him to withdraw, she turned upon her heel and walked away.

"Great was the astonishment of the Châtelaine of Murianzi when,

on tearing open the letter, she discovered that it contained an offer of the hand and heart of the far-famed and redoubted Wesselény. "I have heard so much of your beauty (thus it ran)-I have seen so much of your courage. You have awakened in my breast an admiration so intense, and a devotion so sincere, that by becoming the partner of my name and fortunes you will make me the happiest of men. Mine is a soldier's wooing; but to you it will not be unacceptable from its abruptness, for we have neither of us time to waste on the fooleries which weaker women love.' -Hungarian Castle, vol. ii., pp. 99-101. We will not pursue the feelings which acted upon our military heroine the wooing was thus far successful. Wesselény received the following letter:

"Wesselény, if you really desire an answer to the packet which you have this day caused to be put into my hands, you must come yourself to seek it. Did I not know you, enemy though you are, to be a brave man, I should have vouchsafed none. It may be, however, that the courage by which you have won your present reputation is an impulse rather than a principle; and, if so, we shall never meet in this world: if it be otherwise, and that my reply be necessary to you, as you state, you have only to stand at midnight beneath the north turret of the castle, where you will see a lamp burning near a casement, from which a ladder of ropes shall be suspended, to afford you ingress into the apartment; but you must come alone, and you shall receive my answer. Mary of Szétzi."-Hungarian Castle, vol. ii., pp. 104,

105.

At first, suspicion of treachery crossed his mind, but he dismissed it as unworthy; at midnight made the perilous ascent; and, on reaching the chamber, found himself a prisoner, with the alternative of deserting the Imperial cause, or preparing for instant execution. He chose death to becoming a traitor; and, when the executioner approached with his naked weapon, thus addressed him :

you

"You are welcome; I will but say one prayer and withdraw the scarf from my throat ere I claim your services: and let it be your boast henceforward, that among the false-hearted traitors whom may have sent to expiate their crime and their dishonour before their time, you have helped one true man to a forgetfulness of the foul perfidy of which he was the victim.'

"As he ceased speaking, he sank upon his knee; and, burying his face in his spread hands, was instantly absorbed in prayer. But there was an eye upon him there of which he never dreamt; and, as he prepared to rise, and had already begun to remove his throat-scarf, his gaze fell upon the lady of Szétzi.

"She was no longer clad in armour, but attired in a long and ample mourning robe of velvet, clasped from the throat to the feet with gems of almost priceless value. Wesselény (she said, tenderly), you have conquered! It has cost me much to bend my proud spirit to any vas.

salage, even that of a husband whom I honoured; and you must forgive me if I resolved to have full assurance that he was worthy of that honour, ere I perilled all my future happiness. You have come nobly forth from a sharp trial; and you are worthy of the sacrifice even of my freedom. A brave man only would have dared to ask my hand, or have hoped to win it: you have done both, and from this moment Í am yours. The cause for which you would have endured death must be the right one; and Muranzi is henceforward an Imperial fortress.” -Hungarian Castle, vol. ii., pp. 118, 119.

The prince and his troops were allowed a safe conduct through the Imperial camp, and this strange wooing ended with a happy marriage.

ART. V.—1. M. Agassiz' Etudes sur les Glaciers.

laren's Analysis. 3. The Glacial Theory.

2. Mac

THE great progress which all acknowledge we have made in the science of geology, is to be attributed entirely to the more numerous and more accurate observations now within our reach; from the far more extensive excavations going on now than at any former period, and from the superior intelligence of those employed in superintending, if not in executing, these works. And not only in the number, but in the quality of the observations do we possess advantages beyond those of our predecessors, since the time that geologists have become convinced of the value of characteristic and pregnant facts-facts which prove a point, and contain matter for inferring other consequencesfacts like those which have led to a determination of the separation and sequence of the different strata of which the earth's surface is composed. In collecting such facts the Geological Society of London may be regarded as occupying, if not the foremost, at least a very distinguished place; and may still, as in one of its earliest reports it did, refer to its transactions as "a proof that the society has not existed merely as a name, but has successfully directed its efforts to the promotion of rational geology, as a science of observation." In a recent account of the modern progress of geology it is written :

"A great body of new data was required; and the Geological Society of London, founded in 1807, conduced greatly to the attainment of this desirable end. To multiply and record observations, and patiently to await the result at some future period, was the object proposed by them; and it was their favourite maxim that the time was not yet come for a general system of geology, but that all must be con

tent for many years to be exclusively engaged in furnishing materials for future generalizations. By acting up to these principles with consistency, they in a few years disarmed all prejudice, and rescued the science from the imputation of being a dangerous, or at best but a visionary pursuit.”—Lyell, vol. i., p. 106.

This was quite true-for a while they had disarmed prejudice by this prudent course; but it is no longer true, prejudice has revived; and wherefore? Simply, because geologists have abandoned this safe path, and returned to their old course of theorizing. "Speculative views were" then "discountenanced," but not so now; and men more than hint that excessive caution, rather than wisdom, prescribed their former line of conduct, and that this caution is no longer necessary, when they say—

"But although the reluctance to theorize was carried somewhat to excess, no measure could be more salutary at such a moment than a suspension of all attempts to form what were termed theories of the earth.'" (p. 105).

There are still remaining many of the old members of the Geological Society who hold to their first principles, and we entreat them to be now stedfast in discountenancing the random "speculative views" which are again become prevalent, for they may be assured that this rage for theory is exciting prejudices which it may not be easy to disarm.

The mischief resulting from "speculative views" is not merely diverting men's minds from the far more important work of observation, but the further mischief ensues, that when they engage in collecting facts, their minds are poisoned and vitiated by theory, and their observations are so one-sided, so distorted, so visionary, that they cannot be received with confidence, and cannot stand for a moment in opposition to the observations of those who are disabused of these "speculative views." A ludicrous instance occurred a few months ago at the Geological Society, where two members, who are both rather inclined to theorize, had their enthusiasm so much excited by "the glacial theory," that they separately resolved to start forthwith to discover proofs of glacial agency among the mountains of Wales. The least sanguine of the two returned first, declaring that he had sought in vain on the declivities of Snowden and Moel Siabod for marks of abrasion and grooving of surface, such as he had been led to expect. The other returned a few days later, having found, as he thought, satis superque, most abundant proofs of the truth of the theory in the grooving of almost every mountain slope he examined. His disappointed brother

eagerly enquired for the localities of these unequivocal demonstrations of the theory, in order that he might post off again, to obtain that satisfaction which he had missed on his former journey, and he found to his surprise that most of the localities were places which he had recently visited! He expressed additional mortification at his not having been able to discover these interesting marks, in that the weather had been remarkably bright and favourable for observation; but herein he was corrected by his brother, and the different results of their journeys at once explained, by the discoverer telling him that he had visited the district in rainy weather, and that the rocks being wetted he had detected marks upon tkem, which might have escaped even his research if they had been dry!! And hence we learn the interesting fact in modern geology, that observations are better made in a shower of rain by one person than in the brightest sunshine by another.

Touching "the glacial theory" itself, it is such as is calculated to convey important information, and also to furnish seasonable warning; therefore we think it right to bring it under the notice of our readers. Few of them will need to be informed, that M. Agassiz, from whom "the glacial theory" has derived all its celebrity, is a most deservedly eminent man, who has done as much towards perfecting our knowledge of the finny tribes, as M. Cuvier had done towards our knowledge of quadrupeds. And the labours of M. Agassiz have a still more extensive bearing upon geology than even those of M. Cuvier; however important in themselves these last may be, since the strata in which fish are contained, and of which they are characteristic, are far more numerous than those in which land animals are imbedded, and we knew less of fishes than of animals; and the fossil fish most widely diverge from any living types at this time to be met with in the ocean. From the talent displayed by M. Agassiz in ichthyology we would not detract an iota.

And in the examination of the glaciers of his native mountains, there is every reason for believing that the same kind of sagacity and accuracy have been employed, and that he has rightly apprehended and truly described those phenomena concerning glaciers which came under his observation. And in the inferences which have been drawn from the observations of M. Agassiz, we can coincide, so far as to allow it to be probable that wherever there are glaciers agreeing with those of Switzerland, in the three conditions of elevation, slope of land, and climate, the phenomena remarked by M. Agassiz will be produced by those glaciers. But it is too large a draft upon our