at hand in this his extremity. What was the horror of Conrad, while divesting his prostrate opponent's head of that part of his heavy armour, to behold the long luxuriant tresses of a female roll out heavily from beneath it. With an unsteady hand, as ominous of evil, he raised the casque of the dying stranger.

God of heaven!-it was Maria!

"Conrad," she spake, as the death-rattle sounded in her throat, and the struggle of immediate dissolution convulsed every muscle of her delicate frame," Conrad, I forgive thee.

It were idle to attempt a description of the grief of the reckless, wretched knight.

"Conrad," she continued, "take it not thus to heart-I die. The fault was mine more than thine. I could not live without thy love-so I resolved to perish by thy hand. My wish is accomplished. Think of me kindly, when you think of me at all; and should a recollection of the lost Maria ever cross your mind, remember only her love and devotion for thee-forget, forget her folly. God bless you, my beloved Conrad Farewell!"

The fair maiden, with these words, sunk back on her broken shield and expired. That Saviour who called Magdalen sister, was surely merciful to poor Maria.

Sir Conrad Bayer, of Boppart, was from that hour forth an altered man. Postponing for a period his intended departure for Palestine, he had the body of the hapless maiden, the victim of his perfidy, transported to the summit of the Kreutzberg, which lies beside the town of Bop

part, and there interred with honourable burial. He then bestowed two-thirds of his immense estates in perpetuity upon some pious priests who dwelt on the mountain, conditionally that they should erect a magnificent nunnery over the remains of Maria, and bestow upon the building her name. Hence the convent of Marienberg, once the proudest and most opulent on the Rhine. This done, he resumed his suspended plan, and set forth in all haste for Syria.

Arrived at Acre, the joined the crusading army before the city, as one of the Knights Templars, to which noble order his birth and wealth secured him immediate admittance; and, under Richard Cœur de Lion, he was soon engaged in the ever memorable siege and storm of that renowned place. But though he fought only to find death on the field, he could find nothing but glory; the breath of the destroying angel passed him by unharmed; his hour had not come. At length, when the city had been won-when a partial truce was proclaimed-when the excitement of battle and danger was over, he was found pierced to the heart on the ramparts by a stray shaft, from a hand not known, as he walked to and fro in the cool of the night, lamenting his lost love, and execrating himself for his conduct to her. His last word was "Maria. Thus perished Sir Conrad Bayer, of Boppart, who would have been happier if he had been better, and wiser if he had not so deeply sinned against love.

"Where shall the traiter rest,
He the deceiver;

Who could win maiden's breast.
Rain, and leave her?"

The actual amount of truth or falsehood in this tradition there is at present no exact means of ascertaining: but ancient family documents place it beyond a doubt that a member of the noble family of Bayer of Boppart perished at Ptolemais posterior to the siege of that city: and the convent of Marienberg, which still exists, would seem to point to some passage in the history of that race, not altogether at variance with the main features of this legend.

On the other side of the Rhine, almost directly opposite Boppart, lies Camp, supposed by some to have been the site of an ancient castrum, or camp, of the Romans; Bornhofen, a famous nunnery, secularised in 1814; and the celebrated castles of Liebenstein and Sternfels, commonly called The Brothers," as much, perhaps, from their singular contiguity to each other, as from the traditional circumstance of their being erected by two individuals standing in the close relationship indicated by the name.

Two of the many legends afloat among the dwellers on this shore of the river, respecting the origin of these romantic strongholds, are here offered It is possible, that, like all tales of a similar class, they have some foundation in truth, and that a substratum of fact lies beneath the evidently fabulous superstructure of the narrative: but how much of fact or how much of fable they contain is a matter which may never be ascertained, as time and change have swept away all authentic traces of their original history.

In the ancient days of German valour, and truth, and love, a noble knight, named Dietrich, was lord of both castles. Two sons, who were handsome, high-spirited youths, lived with him, also an orphan maiden, to whom he was guardian. The maiden was surpassingly beautiful; and she was as good as she was lovely. Kind of heart, dovelike in manner, and gentle to all, she was beloved by every one: but she was more especially beloved by the brothers with whom she had grown up to woman's estate, in innocence and in peace. Both loved her, as I have said; but one concealed his love from her, and "" pined in thought:" while the other advanced his suit with all the impetuosity of his age and character. He was the younger of the two youths; and his father looked auspiciously on the choise he had made of the maiden; for she was heiress to large possessions in the vicinity of his estates.

"Minna, my lass," said the old knight to her one day, as they all sate together in the chamber of daiz after the dinnerhour-"my boys love you will you be the bride of one or other of them?"

The maiden blushed; and the youths blushed also.

66

"Come, come,' continued the old knight, as

you are not averse to marriage, make your election. She looked on the two handsome young men, who involuntarily flung themselves on their knees at her feet; and she was soon aware of the passion which burned in their bosoms. She looked again, and her glance fell on the younger brother: but still she was silent.

"Well, well," said Conrad, the elder, "I see how it is: you love Heinrich better than you love me. Be it so. He is more worthy of your affections."

He took their hands and joined them together; then sighing deeply, he left the apartment.

The old knight gave the happy pair his blessing; fixed a near day for their nuptials; and immediately followed his son for the purpose of condoling with him in his sorrow.

Conrad, however, was inconsolable; and day after day passed over without bringing him peace. He did not envy his brother; but he felt that his own happiness was entirely destroyed. Nay, he discovered, to his deep consternation, that every hour only increased his love for Minna; and that the more he saw of her, the more his great loss was made evident to him. It was idle -nay, it was wicked he argued, to remain any longer under the influence of her charms; so he even resolved to drop down the river to Rhens, where the prince palatine of the Rhine then held his court, and pray to be enrolled among his followers. He did so, shortly after; and was received with great honour, and at once admitted to the service of his sovereign.

About this time it was that St. Bernard of Clairvaux was employed in preaching the second crusade; and all the German knights and nobles were gathered together at Frankfort-on-the-Maine, where the holy abbot was then entertained with the greatest honours by, the Emperor Conrad. Although the saint spoke in a tongue to which they were strangers, still the spirit of his eloquence caught their souls like wild-fire; and every castle