and Friedbert’s beloved would be eſteemed the faireſt of brides: Alas, it is gone! the grace of the Grecian maid, the beſtower of the charms, which enchant the eyes of our youth.’ Here a deſponding tear dropped from her roſy cheek on her ſnow-white boſom, which quite melted the good mother, eſpecially as ſhe held the weeping of a bride for as bad an omen as the crying of a child in its mother’s womb. Her ſympathy ſqueezed out the ſecret, which had long ſtood juſt between her lips—for the open-hearted Friedbert had unwarily entruſted the loquacious dame with the prize of his ſtratagem, without adding any account of its properties. He had only deſired her to lay it by in a ſafe place, as a pledge of love he had taken from Calliſta, enjoining her by no means to hint that ſhe had it in her poſſeſſion. The matron, rejoiced at ſo good an opportunity of eaſing her boſom of a load which had long lain upon it like a ſtone: ‘Weep not,’ ſaidſhe,
