ry species of
weapon, and furnished with the most beautiful carpets, tapestry,
curtains, drinking-cups, and all kinds of furniture and utensils
arranged in an endless order. From the hill they saw a romantic region
overspread with cities and castles, temples and sepulchres; every
delight of inhabited plains united to the fertile charms of the
wilderness and the mountain steep. The fairest colors were most happily
blended. The mountain peaks shone like pyramids of fire in their hoods
of ice and snow. The plain lay smiling in the freshest green. The
distance was arrayed in every shade of blue, and from the sombre bosom
of the sea waved countless pennons of varied hue from numerous fleets.
In the distance a shipwreck was to be seen; here in the foreground a
rustic cheerful meal of country people; there the terribly grand
eruption of a volcano, the desolating earthquake; and in front beneath
shady trees a loving couple in sweet caresses. Further on was a fearful
battle, and beyond it a theatre full of the most ludicrous masks. In
another spot of the foreground was a youthful corpse upon its bier, to
which an inconsolable lover clung, and the weeping parents at its side;
beyond was seen a lovely mother with her child at her breast, and
angels sitting at her feet, and gazing from the branches over head. The
series were continually shifting, and at last all flowed together into
one mysterious picture. Heaven and earth were in complete uproar. All
terrors had broken loose. A mighty voice cried, "to arms!" A terrible
host of skeletons, with black standards, rushed like a tempest from the
dark mountain, and attacked the life which was feasting merrily in
youthful bands among the open plains, anticipating no danger. Terrible
tumults arose, the earth trembled, the tempest howled, fearful meteors
lighted the gloom. With unheard of cruelty, the host of phantoms tore
the tender limbs of the living. A funeral pyre towered on high, and
amid shrieks which made the blood run cold, the children of life were
consumed by the flames. Suddenly a milk-blue stream broke on all sides
from the dark heap of ashes. The phantoms hastened to fly, but the
flood visibly swelled and swallowed up the detestable brood. Soon all
fear was allayed. Heaven and earth flowed together in sweet music. A
flower, wonderful in beauty, floated glittering upon the gentle
billows. A shining bow half circled the flood, and on both sides of it
sat celestial shapes on splen