so the more unseemly. The Victoria of Rauch, on the other
hand, appeared to him to be the embodiment of an eminently modern
spiritual conception.

"This countenance is wonderfully like"--he did not finish the sentence,
but, stammeringly beginning another, continued: "This is not that
Goddess of Victory who wears proudly and loftily the crown upon her
gleaming forehead; this is the representation of victory which is
inwardly sad that there is a foe to be conquered. Yes, still further,
this Victoria is to me the goddess of victory over self, which is
always the grandest victory."

After Clodwig had made this remark, he said, "Now I leave you to
yourself; you have already talked too much to-day and yesterday." Eric
remained alone, and while he was writing to his mother, Clodwig sat
with Bella and said to her:--

"This young man is a genius, and ought not to live in a dependent
situation, bound to routine service; he ought to be free like a bird,
singing, flying, as he will, without any fixed and unalterable limits
of time and occupation, and especially he ought to be by himself. It is
a joy to meet with such originality and depth."

"Is he not too well aware of his own worth?" asked Bella, a flash of
displeasure gleaming in her eyes.

"Not at all. He does not wish to shine, and yet he is genuine light. I
feel as if I stood in the clear sunshine of the spirit; he is a man of
pure character, and I am at home with him in the inmost realities, as I
am with myself." Bella said nothing, and Clodwig continued:--"I like
especially in him, that he lets one who is talking with him complete
his sentence; he does not interrupt by any movement or any change of
feature; and in such an active and richly endowed mind this is doubly
valuable, and something more than mere civility."

Bella still kept silence, bent over her embroidery, on which she was
diligently intent. At last she looked up, and with a beaming
countenance, said, "I rejoice in your joy."

"And I should like to perpetuate this joy," Clodwig replied.

"He is a handsome man," added Bella.

Clodwig answered, smiling, "Now, since you have called my attention to
it, I am reminded how handsome he is. But he does not plume himself
upon his good looks, and I think _that_ to be genuine beauty, which,
when present has nothing strikingly prominent, all being in harmonious
combination, but which, when thought of afterwards, reveals new and
beautiful attributes and forms. Most