=Uncle Toby=, a captain who had been wounded at the siege of Namur, and had been dismissed the service on half-pay. Most kind and benevolent, modest, and simple-minded, but brave and firm in his own opinions. His gallantry towards Widow Wadman, is exquisite for its modesty and chivalry. Uncle Toby retains his military tastes and camp habits to the last.--Sterne, _The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman_ (1729). But what shall I say to thee, thou quintessence of the milk of human kindness, ... thou master of the best of corporals, ... thou high and only final Christian gentleman, ... divine Uncle Toby?... He who created thee was the wisest man since the days of Shakespeare himself.--Leigh Hunt. =Uncle Tom=, a negro slave, of unaffected piety, and most faithful in the discharge of all his duties. His master, a humane man, becomes embarrassed in his affairs, and sells him to a slave-dealer. After passing through various hands, and suffering intolerable cruelties, he dies.--Harriet Beecher Stowe, _Uncle Tom’s Cabin_ (1852). ⁂ The original of this character was the negro slave subsequently ordained and called “the Rev. J. Henson.” He was in London, 1876, 1877, took part in several religious services, and was even presented to her majesty, Queen Victoria. =Undine= [_Oon-deen_], a water-sylph, who was in early childhood changed for the young child of a fisherman living on a peninsula, near an enchanted forest. One day Sir Huldbrand took shelter in the fisherman’s hut, fell in love with Undine, and married her. Being thus united to a man, the sylph received a soul. Not long after the wedding Sir Huldbrand returned homeward, but stopped awhile in the city, which lay on the other side of the forest, and met there Bertalda, a beautiful but haughty lady, whom they invited to go with them to their home, the Castle Ringstettin. For a time, the knight was troubled with visions, but Undine had the mouth of a well closed up, and thus prevented the water-sprites from getting into the castle. In time the knight neglected his wife, and became attached to Bertalda, who was in reality the changeling. One day, sailing on the Danube, the knight rebuked Undine in his anger, and immediately she was snatched away by sister sylphs to her water home. Not long after the knight proposed to Bertalda, and the wedding day arrived. Bertalda requested her maid to bring her some water from the well; so the cover was removed, Undine rose from the upheaving water, went to the chamber of Sir Huldbrand, kissed him, and he died. They buried him, and a silver stream bubbled round his grave; it was Undine who thus embraced him, true in life, and faithful in death.--De la Motte Fouqué, _Undine_ (1807). ⁂ This romance is founded on a tale by Theophrastus Paracelsus, in his _Treatise on Elemental Sprites_.