Meantime, it has been the object of this paper to play the lamp to the gem-seeking Aladdin—suggesting that something may be done, rather than doing it. Hence what has been said and what might have been more cleverly and elaborately said, has here been curtly said upon the subject of Celtic anthology—using the term in a sense that suited the purposes and scope of this paper.
ORIGINAL
"QUARE TRISTIS ES ANIMA MEA,
ET QUARE CONTURBAS ME?"
Why, O my soul! art thou, ofttimes,
So faint and sad?
Life shows to thee its brightest side;
Why not be glad?
Is not the earth most beautiful,
What wouldst have more?
Filled is thy cup with life's best gifts
And running o'er.
And all the grandeur and the grace
Of noble art—
Do they not beautify thy life,
And cheer thy heart?
And love, most heavenly gift of all—
Is it not thine?
Yes, truly; yet I cannot say
Content is mine.
I feel a sadness of the soul,
A weariness,
A constant longing of the heart;
What meaneth this?
[{398}]
I know that once, when journeying far,
I felt like this,
But then they only called my grief
A home-sickness.
And so, with every gift of God,
With nought amiss,
My heart is longing, longing still;
What meaneth this?
Why is it that my soul is sad,
What meaneth this?
It panteth after thee, O God!
Thou art its bliss.
From the Reader.
THE LAKE DWELLINGS.
[Footnote 142]
[Footnote 142: The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland and other Parts of Europe. By Dr. Ferdinand Keller, President of the Antiquarian Association of Zurich. Translated and arranged by John Edward Lee, F.S.A., F.G.S. (London: Longmans.)]
Since 1854, when Dr. Keller published his first report on pile-dwellings in Lake Zurich, he, and other Swiss archaeologists stimulated by his example and guided by his counsel, have zealously explored many other Swiss lakes, and have succeeded in discovering more than two hundred similar settlements, and in collecting tens of thousands of relics of the people who during many centuries occupied them. Six reports on the "wonderful Pfahlbauten" have been published by Dr. Keller; but, being written in German, they are less known than the compilation in French by Fred. Troyon, who has absorbed Dr. Keller's facts, and mingling them with fancies of his own, has given a sensational character to his work. Excellent notices have, however, appeared, written by Wylie, Lubbock, Lyell, and others, and translations of some original memoirs have been printed in the Smithsonian Reports. Stripped though the subject be, in some degree, of novelty, the present translation of Dr. Keller's work is not the less welcome; it is indeed right, that he who gave the first exposition of these structures should tell the story of their discovery, and picture forth the state of society which their remains reveal. In this work we have a general description of the structure of these dwellings; notices of the various settlements which have been discovered, with an account of others on the Italian side of the Alps, and of the Crannoges in Ireland and Scotland; chapters on the remains of plants, by Dr. Heer, and of animals, by Professor Rütimeter; and ninety-nine plates and several woodcuts give graphic, but sometimes rough drawings of the dwellings, and of the various objects found in them. As a storehouse of facts, illustrating the character and progress of an ancient people, this work is invaluable; it will aid other archaeologists in their researches; and we think, too, that the cautious and philosophical manner in which Dr. Keller reasons from his facts will help to correct some hasty and fanciful speculations.