Weekly Trinity journal., 1877-04-28
GOLDSMITH OF NUREMBERF

VII uthutilui utN III OttpueI, lt'O, u
large number Of persons, under the influ-
ence Of ldlene,s, curiosity, or some bet
ter motive, had assembled opposite the
hotel de- Vile, OF Nuremberg, attracted
apparently hv y pmcard affixed to one Of
lis pillars, which bore tie following an
nouucemcnt;
"Jo.eph Dnrer, goldsmith, of this city,
acquoints hi, fellow citizens that he will
sell, this afternoon, AT his shop ON the
Place drll' Ilnrlurgr, sell hv auction all
the works of art IT, gold and silver hat he
possesses, aud viii II are too numerous to
BE- detailed the sale will commence at
four o'clock precisely"
What !" exclaimed one of the bv-
ISLANDERS, who had just arrived, and who,
from the style and mognifcrnce of hi, at
tire, WIS apparently n person OF some dis
tinction; "what the rich gold mith
Ducr selling oil hi, celebrated works of
art What can have reduced him to such
Hn extremity p,
" You are evidently stranger, sir"
replies citizen to whom the question had
been addressed, cor you would have
known that Joseph Durer has made the
greatest -acriiiceS to maintain his son in
law, who was short time since consid
cred one OF the principal merchants oi
Lubrck, bot who has lately fed, leaving
behind him debts to considerable
amount. |. is to meet this disaster, to
save the honor uthi- grand children, and
to preserve their name, pure aud unbem-
i,hrd, that this worthy man Is now about
t. part with those beautiful works that
were the pride and delight of his old age
-ot those masterpieces, the possession ut
which has, 50 to say, identified itself with
bl, very rxi-tcucc. Such noble aud dis
interested conduct In, called forth "A gen
eral feeling of respect and sympathy from
his fellow citiI.n>, and has done much TO
remove p ejudice which existed against
him, in Consequence Of an event which
occurred some years since.
" May /, without being deemed indis-
erect, ak TO what you alludo ?n said tho
stranger.
"You must know, sir, that Joseph
Durer had three sons and n daughter /;
the daughter he gave in marriage, with
Il large fortune. to the Lubbock merchant
of whom | have just spoke; his two older
sous he, by the sacrifice OF enormous
sum. Of money, succeeded in procuring
appointments Tor at the Courts Of Bava
ria and Wcmar, where their progress
was 50 rapid thnt they soon learned to
dr,pi,e their plehian father, and contrv-
ed to exchange his humble name for ii
ties o' nobility"
"And the youngest son-what became
of him ?"
Albert, poor fellow !" replied the
citizen, Albert wished to become Il
painter ; bis father, however, refused to
crafty this desire, wishing that the lad
should follow his own calling Of gold
smith, and threatened that if he did not
he should he turned into the streets-in
fact, behaved so unl,indlv to the poor boy
that one day he fed from home md has
never again been heard Of. Many years
have since pa sed /; but 50 general IA
vorite wa poor Albert, that even now
his loss is remembered and reproaches
are still uttered against his father for the
i'll treatment that caused the departure
an1 perhaps the death Of his youngest
by. Poor Albert !"
At this moment the clock struck four !;
the gold-mith's warerooms were thrown
open, and he crowd rushed in to exam
inc and admire the costly articles ihnt
were submitted to their curious inspec-
ton.
The sale began-massive dishes, cwers.
md Angons Of silver and god we're first
rercd-then came the more precious
wares, the MASTERPIECES ofthp craft-chal-
ices cXqui>ilrly carved, Gothic temples
enriched with trarcry OF marvrlou. del
icacy and fnenrs,, jrwclcd shrines with
scriprural subject. in relieve Of wondrou.
beauty, figures from the antique Of admi-
rabe perfection.
50 long as the more commonplace
though costly things only were offered
for sale, the goldsmith sat quietly aud
calmly at the hack Of his shop but when
he heard the masterpieces of his skill
named, and their worth and excellence
ext0Iled in the hackneyed terms Of praise
usual on such occasions, he could 40 long
er maintain his attitude Of re.ignstion :;
but hastily rising. as if undcr the inGu-
ence of some invisible power, be hovered
round the various articles that were offer
ed with all the anxiety Of "A parent
round the cradle Of her off ping.
The crier now announced for sale six
statuettes in gold and silver, from the
antique.
a thousand ducats," said voice.
"A thousand and f.ty," said another.
Eleven hundred" exclaimedIhe first.
There WIS no higher bidding, and the
stntuettes. were sold.
The old goldsmith breathed heavily;
his features were as white a. his venera-
bic locks, and convulsed movement AZ
itated every limb. He nevertheless per
si-ted in remaining near the official whose
duty it was To register the purchases made.
When all was sold, the poor old man
looked around him with feeling Of ter
ror-the fatal moment approached when
the purchasers were to bear away all
those rich productions of his art which
had so long surrounded him-those house
hold gods which we~e to him part and
t,arcpl of his otvn liGa