not noble, at any rate
was good; cheerful composure, ready recognition of One above us, to whom
all reverence is due; silent devotion, in love and tranquil expectation,
was expressed on every face, on every gesture. The old bald-headed man,
the curly-pated boy, the light-hearted youth, the earnest man, the
glorified saint, the angel hovering in the air, all seemed happy in an
innocent, satisfied, pious expectation. The commonest object had a trait
of celestial life; and every nature seemed adapted to the service of
God, and to be, in some way or other, employed upon it.

Toward such a region most of them gazed as toward a vanished golden age,
or on some lost paradise; only perhaps Ottilie had a chance of finding
herself among beings of her own nature. Who could offer any proposition
when the Architect asked to be allowed to paint the spaces between the
arches and the walls of the chapel in the style of these old pictures
and thereby leave his own distinct memorial at a place where life had
gone so pleasantly with him?

He spoke of it with some sadness, for he could see, in the state in
which things were, that his sojourn in such delightful society could not
last forever; indeed, that perhaps it would now soon be ended.

For the rest, these days were not rich in incidents; yet full of
occasion for serious entertainment. We therefore take the opportunity of
communicating something of the remarks which Ottilie noted down among
her manuscripts, to which we cannot find a fitter transition than
through a simile which suggested itself to us on contemplating her
exquisite pages.

There is, we are told, a curious contrivance in the service of the
English marine. The ropes in use in the royal navy, from the largest to
the smallest, are so twisted that a red thread runs through them from
end to end, which cannot be extracted without undoing the whole; and by
which the smallest pieces may be recognized as belonging to the crown.

Just so is there drawn through Ottilie Is diary, a thread of attachment
and affection which connects it all together, and characterizes the
whole. And thus these remarks, these observations, these extracted
sentences, and whatever else it may contain, were, to the writer, of
peculiar meaning. Even the few separate pieces which we select and
transcribe will sufficiently explain our meaning.

FROM OTTILIE'S DIARY

"To rest hereafter at the side of those whom we love is the most
delightful thought whi