YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY -lAfe uomre ^zrsnvjsss. I O If B © H" , JRICHEAM.B BEHTUET; 3TE"W" JBTOttlLIR-fi-TOH' STREET, 193 7. PREFACE. The following pages contain the result of ob servations made during a Year spent in Southern Germany, the greater portion of which was passed at Vienna. In what I have said of Austria, I have sought only to record what I have seen ; with her foreign policy I have nothing to do : it makes no part of my subject, nor has it in any degree divided the attention and study I wished to bestow on the simple machinery of her government, and its effect upon her own people. Yet although the doing this might seem to be an easy task, inasmuch as carefully noting what has been seen or heard appears to demand little besides attention, I have been aware of considerable VI PREFACE. difficulty in the performance of it. This difficulty, indeed, has arisen solely from my being conscious, as I wrote, of the remarkable discrepancy between the statements which truth compelled me to give, and the previously received views which I knew to prevail respecting Austria. Most truly do I be lieve, however, that thousands who have been taught to hate the name of this (essentially) un known country, were they honestly to pursue the same course that I have done, would arrive at the same conclusions ; namely, that, whatever may be the effect of Austrian power and legislation else where, it produces on the children of her own bosom exactly the benign influence which might be expected from the equable administration of very mild laws, and a most paternal care bestowed on a race singularly calculated to prosper under it, and to hail the tranquil blessings it ensures with gratitude, fidelity, and love. I have given my testimony on this subject with equal sincerity and boldness ; and I am not greatly at a loss to divine what sort of reception such tes timony is likely to meet in many quarters. This consideration, however, was not likely to check the pen of one whose statements have, ere now, been PREFACE. VU challenged as false or exaggerated when they first met the eye of ignorance and prejudice, but sub sequently acknowledged to be true, in consequence of the improved knowledge which followed upon better acquaintance with the facts brought under consideration. Since my return from Vienna, I have more than once seen it stated in print that I was about to publish the life of Francis the First of Austria. To write the life of Francis of Austria, would in fact be writing the history of Europe during the period that he reigned ; and a more stirring epoch, or one more sure to excite universal interest by its details, could not be selected by the historian. Little, however, can those know of the more intimately biographical parts of this fine subject, who suppose that any one foreign to the land in which Francis reigned, or personally a stranger to himself, could venture to become the chronicler of his life. The eight months I passed in Vienna sufficed to give me just such an insight into the history and character of this admirable man, public and private, foreign and domestic, political and indi vidual, as might make me feel (had indeed such a project ever entered my head) that I was as inca- v"l PREFACE. pable of producing such a work myself, as of un derrating its value if ably performed by another. My task has been one of much less importance, yet, nevertheless, such as to have excited the most anxious wish to fulfil it fearlessly and honestly. Hadley, January 29th, 1838. CONTENTS THE FIRST VOLUME. LETTER I. Pleasures of Travelling. — Delight of setting off. — Vienna the principal object of the present Excursion. — Halt at Paris. — Preparations for the Three Days. — Meaux. — Chateau-Thierry. — Metz. — Epernay. — Strasbourg. . . . Page 1 LETTER II. Scenery near Steinbach. — Vaihingen and its Castle. — Different Modes of Travelling. — Arrival at Stuttgart. — Scarcity of private Lodgings. — Hotel the First and Hotel the Second. — Comforts of the Waldhorn. — King of Naples. — Dannecker. — Bust of Schiller. — Venus. — Palace of the King. — Rosenstein. — Cannstadt. — Baths. — Stuttgart as a Residence. — Picturesque Work on Germany. — Old Castle. ...... 8 LETTER III. Centrical Position of Stuttgart. — View from the Rothenberg. — Chapel of Queen Catherine. — Dannecker's St. John. — Professor Schwab. — Maison de Chasse. — La Solitude. — Rural Enjoyment. — Krankenhaus. — Moonlight Walk among the Orange-trees. — Sketch of Dannecker. — Farewell. . . . .26 CONTENTS. LETTER IV. Tubingen.— Professor Uhland.— University Library.— Church.— Old Monuments.— Counts of Tubingen and Dukes of Wurtem- berg.— Rothenbourg.— Toleration.— Heckingen. — Hohenzollern.— Pedigree. — Reutlingen. — The Ball-room. . . Page 36 LETTER V. Oberhaussen. — Walk to the Nebelhohle. — The Cavern. — Skill of the Torch-bearers. — Lichtenstein. — Necessary preliminaries to travelling with a Voiturier, — German substitute for Patent wheel-boxes. — Urach. .... 50 LETTER VI. Valley of Seebourg — Scarcity of food. — Miinzingen. — Ehingen. — The Danube. — Costumes. — A visit. — A Beautiful Bride. — Jodeln. — Ulm. — Protestant Minister. — Fine carving. — Shopping. — Louise. ... fiq LETTER VII. Augsburg.— Fresco Paintings.— Fine Fountains.— Platz Maxi milian.— Hall of the Confession — Catholic Cathedral.— Prevailing display of Roman Catholic feeling.— Church of St. Ulric and St. Afra.— General Splendour of the Augsburg Churches— Market Day. — Costumes. — Goitre Sketch, — pictures for Sale.— City Gallery.— Hans Holbein.— History of St. Paul.— The Golden Hall. — Public Gardens. — Threatened Cholera. . 77 CONTENTS. XI LETTER VIII. Ominous farewell of the Augsburg Landlord.— Plain of Lands- berg. — Late Arrival. — Night Adventure Mysterious Supper. — Early Mass — Approach to the Mountains Tyrolian Breakfasts. — Rough Travelling. — Entrance of the Tyrol Partenkirch — Mi neral Springs. — Difficulty of finding shelter. — Tyrolian Scenery. — Great Beauty. — Bad Accommodation. — Pretty Fences Beautiful Turf. — Mittenwald. — Manufactory of Fiddles. — Seefeld and its Miracle. — Descent to Zerl. . . . Page 9.5 LETTER IX. Innspruck. — The Hof-kirch. — Tomb of Maximilian. — Effects of Mountain Air. — The River Inn, its Bridge and its Ferry. — The Dom-kirch. — Table d'Hote. — English Travellers. — Alpine Strawberries — Opera. — Thunder Storm. — Assumption of the Vir gin. — Magnificent Mass. — Residence. — Chamois Hunters. — Com fortable Hotel. — The Balcony. . . . 113 LETTER X. Scenery between Innspruck and Schwatz. — Delicate Herbage. — Mode of drying the Hay and Corn. — Halle. — -Saline Works. — Schwatz. — Thunder Storm. — Character of the Landscapes between Schwatz and St. John's. — The river Achen. — Mode of Travel ling. — Strub Pass. — Marcus Sittacus. — Andre Hofer. — Pastoral Ball. — Road-side Rambles. — Arrival at Salzbourg. — Difficulty of finding Rooms. — The Golden Lion. — Approach to Salzbourg. — The Castle. ...... 132 Xll CONTENTS. LETTER XI. Region called " The Salzbourg."— Antiquities of the Town.— Early Christian Memorials. — St. Maximus. — St. Rupert's Cathe dral. — Benedictine Convent. — Church of St. Marguerite. — The Ce metery. — Splendid Monuments. — Tomb of Michael Haydn. — A Mason and his Seven Wives. . . • Page 143 LETTER XII. The Cathedral of St. Peter at Salzbourg. — Greek and Gothic Churches. — The Castle — Gertrude and her Gossip. — Prince Fre deric of Schwarzenberg, the Primate of Austria.— Gertrude's Golden Cap. — Benedictine Convent Father Gregorius. — Austrian Cen sure. . ..... 152 LETTER XIII. Duchess of Parma. — General Appearance of Religion. — The House in which Mozart was born. — No Monument erected to him. ...... 159 LETTER XIV. Schwarzbach Fall.— The Approach to it, and its Rainbow Les Fourneaux. — The River Salzach. — Fallen Rocks.— Wild Flowers.— Project of a Ramble among the Mountains. — Moon-lit Drive 168 LETTER XV. Wet Drive to Hallein — Drag up the Durromberg Mountain.— . Entrance to the Salt Mines.— Descent to the Lower Regions Exit at the Base of the Mountain. . , 7o CONTENTS. xiii LETTER XVI. Set off for Berchtesgaden. — Loss of our Companions.— First sight of the Konigsee.— Midnight Concert — Return to the Kb'nigsee, — Voyage.— Dinner.— Expedition to the Eiskapelle Agreeable Ren contre. ¦ ... Page 188 LETTER XVII. Departure from the Salzbourg. — Contrast of its Scenery with that around Munich. — Disappointments. — Absence of all the Beau Monde. — Melancholy aspect of the City. . . 204 LETTER XVIII. Continued Vexations. — The Picture Gallery closed. — The Party become too cross to see clearly. — The Glyptothek. — Restoration. — Dannecker and Thorwaldsen. — English Garden. . 212 LETTER XIX. Faust. — Schleissheim. — Teniers and Tintoret Gallery of the Due de Leuchtenberg. — Memorials of Napoleon and Josephine. — Churches. — Position of Munich. . . . 223 LETTER XX. Route from Munich to Ratisbon, — Starvation. — Landshut. — Damp Sheets Ratisbon. — The Danube. — The Dom-kirch. — Palace of the Prince of Thurn and Taxis. — Riding School. — St. Emmeran. — Scottish Convent. — Hotel de Ville. — Germanic Diet. — Dun geons. — The Valhalla Examination of the " Ordinari." . 231 xiv CONTENTS. LETTER XXI. Departure from Ratisbon by the Danube.— Arrangements for the Voyage. — Manner of navigating the Vessel. — Approach to the Valhalla. — Scenery.— Sinuosity of the River — Wet Landing at Straubing.— Landlord's Legend of Agnes Bemauer. . Page 242 LETTER XXII. Change of Scene Imprisonment. — A Gleam of Sunshine. — Deggendorf. — Pleintling. — Dismal Forebodings. — Affray at the WaterEdge. — Vilshofen. — River Scenery. — Passau. — Rain again. — Engelharzell. — Its Hotel. — Chapel of the Rock. — Custom House. — — Another Day on the River. — Improving Scenery. — Aschau. — Linz. — Comfortable Quarters Gay aspect of the City. — Summons from the Police. — Magnificent Views. — Castle of Prince Maximi lian. — The Rapids. — Visitation of Saints. — The Devil's Wall. — Morbach. — Durenstein — Kloster Neuberg. — Vienna. . 251 LETTER XXIII. Difficulty of getting Lodgings. — Appearance and Position of Vienna. — Cleanness of the Streets. — St. Stephen's. . 279 LETTER XXIV. Church of St. Augustine. — Canova's Monument to the Arch duchess Christina. — Canova's Theseus. — The Imperial Residence. — Apartments of the Empress-Mother. — Isis by Canova. — Return of the Court from Prague. — Musical Festival in the Volks- garten. ..... .288 LETTER XXV. Durenstein. — The Return from it. — Krems. — George Sand. 298 CONTENTS, XV LETTER XXVI. New Apartments. — Price of Lodgings. — Faubourgs. — Public Gardens. — Buildings — Private Palaces Places Publiques. — Di versity of the Population. — Theatre. . . Page 313 LETTER XXVII. Visits— Doubtful Rank. — Ball at the Augarten. — Schb'nbrunn. — The River Wien. — Gardens of Schb'nbrunn. — The Gloriette. — The Menagerie. — The Bears. — Gold and Silver Fish. . 320 LETTER XXVIII. Conversation with a Native of Vienna. .' . 330 LETTER XXIX. Country Excursions. — Spinnerinn am Kreutz. — Waggons. — Modling. — Knights Templars. — Domain of the Prince of Liechten stein. — The Cradle of Austria. — Briel. — Multitudes of Castles. — Schloss Liechtenstein. — Lachsenburg Gardens. — The Ritterbourg. — Baden. — Valley of Ste. Helena. — Heiligen Kreutz. — Sittendorf. — Beautiful Woodland Walk. — Wildock. — Johannistein. . 337 LETTER XXX. Principal Buildings of Vienna. — Court end of the Town. — Public Edifices. — Palaces of the Nobility. — The Stock im Eisen. — Elegant Society. — Distinctions difficult of comprehension to Strangers. 354 xvi CONTENTS. LETTER XXXI. Departure of Summer. — Snow. — Sawing Wood. — Opera — Dis appointment. — Mademoiselle Lowe. — Strauss and Lanner. — John Cramer. — Monody to Malibran. — Jews' Synagogue. — Madame Rettich in Desdemona. — Othello. . . Page 364 LETTER XXXII. All Saints' Day. — Music inferior to that of Innspruck. — Arch bishop. — Poor Souls' Day. — Royal Catacombs. — Mourning for the late Emperor. — Austrian Loyalty. . . . 379 E M B E L L I S rTM E N T S. VOL. I. Installation of Knights of the Golden Fleece Doing Business . . . . Dannecker, the Sculptor The Bride of Ehingen Market at Augsburg Tyrolese Peasants Carinthians under the Walls of Vienna . Camp of Bohemian Carters Madame Rettich as Desdemona Frontispiece* Vignette Title. toface p. 14 n 66 yj 86 ¦>) 138 • 31 318 i) 338 • >J 376 VOL. II. La Creme .... Frontispiece. The Court going to Chapel . . . Vignette Title. November Fair in the Hoher Markt . . toface p. 6 The Catacombs under St. Stephen's Church . . „ 76 A Condemned Murderer in his Prison • . „ 1 72 VIENNA AND THE AUSTRIANS. LETTER I. Pleasures of Travelling. — Delight of setting off. — Vienna the principal object of the present Excursion. — Halt at Paris. — Preparations for the Three Days. — Meaux. — Chateau- Thierry. — Metz — Epernay. — Strasbourg. Strasbourg, 29th July, 1836. Once more, my dear friend, we are on the wing, or rather on the wheel — not of torture, however, for nothing in this world of woe can, in my opinion, be farther removed from suffering than our present occupation. There certainly is in the blood of our race a very decided propensity to locomotion ; for though we all cordially love our home, our English home, and have ever, after comparing it with other resting-places, declared without a dissentient voice that none can equal it, yet the sight of a map as we sit in our chimney-corner sets us all madding again, and through each successive winter night our lengthening talk goes on of mountains and valleys yet unseen, the fever becoming stronger as VOL. I. B 2 TRAVELLING. the season advances, till just when our own garden is full of flowers, and our native land in her most becoming full-dress, we only take time enough to give such a look at her as may enable us to make comparisons, and off we are again like a parcel of butterflies, to whom no field, however flowery, seems fair enough, as long as there is yet another to be seen. I can well imagine, that to those constituted without this wandering inclination, such pertinacity of movement must appear symptomatic of a very pitiable spirit of unrest ; and to such it were vain to expatiate on the joys it brings. If it be mad ness, there is indeed a luxury in being mad which none but madmen know. — But to that other portion of the human race, who cannot hear of a rock without longing to stand on its pinnacle, of a forest without losing themselves in fancy amidst its re cesses, or of a river without pining to find them selves borne on its stranger wave, — to such the dear delight of arranging a carte du voyage, pulling forth travelling trunks, flying after passports, and finally, of starting off to cross the narrow sea that vainly strives to keep us at home, will be com pletely intelligible. On the present occasion, besides all the joys of rocks and rivers, forests and mountains, we have a great ulterior object in contemplation distinct from all these, though stationed in the midst of them, — namely, Vienna, To pass a winter in the ANNIVERSARY OF THE THREE DAYS. 3 capital of Austria, is the very heart of our enter prise, though the remaining weeks of summer, and the sunny autumn by which we hope to arrive at it, are not forgotten in our agreeable speculations, and we mean to leave as little unseen in our course as possible, let the turnings and windings such a purpose may lead to be as numerous as they may. Our short halt at Paris was marked by two events, — namely, the decision of the king not to attend the review which has hitherto made part of the annual celebration of the last revolution, and the death of Armand Carrel in a political duel. The first of these caused great speculation, some surprise, and a little disappointment ; but the peace able part of the public evidently approves the cau tion which has decided that the chief magistrate shall not go forth to be shot at. All other prepa rations for the f6te were proceeding on a very extensive scale, and all Paris seemed ready to eat, drink, dance, and sing, for three days without ceas ing. The beautiful arch at the Barriere de l'Etoile is to be fully opened to public inspection for the first time on this occasion. It was my sixth visit to Paris since this noble entrance to " La Belle Ville" was begun, and for the first time I saw it disembarrassed of its almost worn-out scaffolding. All that remained to be revealed in honour of the f6te were the relievo sculptures, and over these canvass veils were still suspended when I passed it to pay a visit at St. Germain's on the 25th. B 2 4 ARMAND CARREL. On the 26th we took our departure from the capital of " La Grande Nation," through avenues of poles intended to support on the morrow myriads of tri-coloured banners, and under orchestras from which, in a few hours, were to resound all such national airs as might be thought most likely to please the gay people who can dance and sing, " Whatever planet rise." The wretched death of the unfortunate Carrel produced probably a more general feeling of regret than would have been occasioned by that of any other of his party. As a proof indeed that this sentiment was not confined to one side only, it may be cited that Chateaubriand and Beranger both attended his funeral. ****** " The vine-covered hills and gay valleys of France" never looked brighter or lovelier than during the days and nights through which we drove across them to reach Strasbourg. The moon was at the full; and though it must be confessed that the sun was at the full also, the heavy rain which had fallen the night before we left Paris was so favourable to us that of dust there was none, at least for the first twenty-four hours: had it been otherwise, the fresh breeze, that we found so de licious would have come to us loaded with any thing but perfume. The country immediately round Meaux is very ROUTE TO STRASBOURG. 5 beautiful; but we had only time to look at the outside of Bossuet's church. Chateau Thierry, too, with its early reminiscences of La Fontaine, who was born there, might have well rewarded a longer stay ; but we passed a pleasant hour in climbing to its old castle, and looking down upon the splendid landscape it commands. The descent to Metz is magnificent, and the paint ed glass of its fine cathedral deserving a longer de scription than I have time to give. We drank champagne at Epernay by the light of the moon, prayed for fostering showers and ripening suns upon its vineyards, admired the dark forest- crested Vosges with their frontier fortresses frowning against the clear sky, and arrived by seven o'clock in the morning at this place. " La Maison Rouge," to which like all the world we first addressed our selves, was too full to receive us ; but we find our selves very decently comfortable at the Hotel de la Ville de Metz. We now mean to give up this rapid mode of tra velling, as only good for the conveyance of the body from one spot of earth to another when the mind is not particularly anxious to take part in the business ; we have therefore secured a voiturier, who has en gaged to take us to Stuttgart, a distance of seventy- seven English miles, in two days, leaving us power to stop when and where we please, — an agreement indispensably necessary to the comfort of every such arrangement. 6 STRASBOURG. ***** We have been hearing high mass performed in the cathedral in honour of the day — the last of the im mortal three. The organ is a most sweet one, and the service extremely well performed. It was the first Catholic church my maid had ever entered, and her astonishment appeared unbounded. The novel splendour seemed to dazzle her, and her comprehen sion altogether was completely puzzled. " What is it all for ? What does it all mean?" she exclaimed repeatedly; and it was not without some difficulty that I persuaded her, what she saw and heard was only the ordinary service of the church. After leaving the cathedral we walked about the town, which, like every other in France at that day and hour, was full of holiday-folks, assembled from all the country round to do honour to the festival, or at any rate to enjoy one more " summer's day of. indolence and mirth." We had the satisfaction of seeing the gay and well-dressed garrison returning from a review, and a prodigious show of well-ap pointed artillery in their train. But of all the doings in commemoration of this high solemnity, I certainly think we witnessed the most extraordinary before we returned to our hotel; and though I stood to watch it in common with many others till my eyes ached, there was a degree of terror in the spectacle which I shall never remem ber without shuddering. Two men who had under- STRASBOURG. 7 taken to illuminate this spire of spires having mount ed, like other human beings, as high as the ordinary means of ascent would permit, completed their am bitious purpose by clinging like bats to the outside of that tremendous pinnacle, till one of them finally reached the cross on the top of it. Then, to my unspeakable horror, — and not to mine only, for an audible shudder ran through the score of persons standing near me, — he threw one leg across the trans verse bar of it, and so remained till he had affixed his lampions to its summit. Having waited to see this extraordinary feat completed, we returned to our hotel, where we are still awaiting our voiture. And now farewell till I can tell you that we are in Germany. ROUTE FROM STRASBOURG LETTER II. Scenery near Steinbach. — Vaihingen and its Castle Different Modes of Travelling.— Arrival at Stuttgart.— Scarcity of private Lodgings.— Hotel the First and Hotel the Second. — Comforts of the Waldhorn. — King of Naples Dannecker. — Bust of Schiller. — Venus. — Palace of the King. — Rosentein. — Cannstadt — Baths. — Stuttgart as a Residence. — Picturesque Work on Ger many. — Old Castle. Stuttgart, 1st August, 1836. Half-way across the bridge between Strasbourg and Kehl, we left the wide domain of King Louis- Philippe and entered the Grand Duchy of Baden. The Rhine is so noble and natural a frontier, that it is pity it should ever be violated. My recollections of Baden-Baden came so very strongly upon me as I found myself in the well- remembered road which in three or four hours would have led me to it, that if at the moment my own inclination had been my sole guide, I do greatly suspect I should have found all the temptations which new scenes could offer unable to contend against the longing I have to visit it again. But as it was, we soon turned from the enticing road, and drove on to Rastadt (27 miles), where we slept. TO STUTTGART. 9 At five o'clock on the following morning we were again en route for Stuttgart, but decided against taking the usual way, through Carlsruhe ; some advantage in distance and much in scenery being gained by going through Steinbach and Vaihingen. The road, too, is as good as if Mr. M'Adam had himself presided at the making it, and the views are delightful. For several miles this route winds among the hills, which though not extremely lofty, are sufficiently bold in outline to be beautiful ; and the little valleys, or rather hollows, into which the eye penetrates between them, are dark and misty enough to excite the imagination of the fanciful traveller, — the only order of mortals, by the bye, at all able to enjoy this species of scenery. It was, in short, just the road to entice one to walk till one could walk no more ; and the knowing, moreover, that the dark undulations around us were actually a part of the wild Schwartzwold, added not a little to their charm. Altogether, we enjoyed this part of our expedition exceedingly, going leisurely over the ground, and dividing a journey of fifty English miles into two days, — thus yielding to the temptation of stealing one more for the journey than we intended. We breakfasted at Steinbach in a very primitive manner for about half a franc apiece, and then proceeded — the road often running quite close to the river Ens — to Vaihingen, a little town on the frontier of Wurtemberg, formerly of considerable importance as a defence, but now as bygone-looking 10 ROUTE FROM STRASBOURG a place as I ever entered. We reached it about four o'clock, and having ordered what we called dinner, but what our host of the " Wild Man " insisted upon denominating supper, we all sallied forth to mount to the old Schloss while it was preparing. This desolate-looking edifice stands proudly enough, high and alone above the town, with the river Ens wash ing the foot of the rocky elevation on which it is placed. It must once have been all that a baron of the good old time of snatching and holding could desire, but now its sole inhabitants are an old wo man and her cats. Oddly enough, this withered governor of the crumbling fortress has chosen the upper story of the tower for her own peculiar dwell ing-place, and having spied us thence as we ascended towards her ramparts, she came down, and met us under the ruinous archway, keys in hand, ready to open to us the most secret recesses of her strong hold. There was little, however, to see from her aerial nest : the view of the little valley, and the vineyards on its sides, is pretty enough, but seen quite as well from the ruinous old walls below. * * * * * We were again in the carriage by five o'clock the next morning. This you will confess requires some activity, and deserves to be called early rising ; but the fact is, that nothing can be done well in this mode of travelling without it. Were we to set off like fine ladies and gentlemen at about an hour be- TO STUTTGART. 11 fore noon, where should we find the time necessary for our long lounging examinations of everything that awakens our curiosity as we pass along ? I have never yet tried travelling in what is em phatically called, good style ; which means, I believe, posting as fast as four horses can carry you from city to city, with a galloping courier in the van to pre vent an instant's delay on the way. The certainty of always finding rooms and refreshment ready on arriving at your gite, must, I confess, be extremely agreeable ; but even for this I would not consent to give up the dear delight of standing on a mountain's top, or dipping my hands, when the fancy took me, in a crystal spring, or pausing for a delicious moment in some cool lovely nook which Nature seems to keep sacred to herself, or many other of those rude road side enjoyments which belong to the humble tra vellers en voiture. It is but fair to confess, however, that this mode of getting along could only be en joyed by a party in good health, accustomed to active exertion, and not greatly afraid of fatigue : for were it used merely as a means of travelling from town to town without any wish of lingering on the way, it would be felt as intolerably tedious. We reached Stuttgart, the beautiful capital of the kingdom of Wurtemberg, yesterday morning (31st), and drove to an hotel, intending however to stay there but a few hours, our purpose being to take 12 STUTTGART. private lodgings for a week. By means of the ever- ready German kindness which converts almost every one of whom you make an inquiry in the street into an active ally, we soon succeeded in finding an office at which every lodging in the town is registered, and in pursuance of the information received there, we proceeded to see a set of apartments which, though by no means very superb, would have answered our purpose perfectly, but for these we were asked a rent of about seven pounds a week. This was greatly more than we intended to give, and T. returned to the office to obtain an address to others : but being answered by the person who kept it that the price was by no means extravagant, and that we should find none cheaper, we decided upon somewhat shortening our stay, and remaining for three or four days at the hotel. The inn to which we had been driven was the Kdnig von Wurtemberg, and to this we returned after our fruitless search, intending there to remain ; but though the house is large and well fitted up, we neither liked our apartments nor the attendance we received, and speedily decided upon seeking another. These deficiencies may, perhaps, have been owing to the fact that his Majesty the King of Naples, who is on his way to Paris, had honoured the house by his presence, and the whole household appeared too much occupied by their illustrious guest to attend to anything else. T. with his usual activity, soon found excellent STUTTGART. 13 rooms for us at the Waldhorn, whence I now write ; and I really think it is one of the most completely comfortable hotels I ever entered. The best rooms, as is usual here, are up two pair of stairs, — " an upper chamber swept and garnished" being, as of yore, the place of honour; but they are large, airy, and agreeable in no common degree. An additional advantage is, that M. Albisser, the obliging land lord, speaks both English and French, and is equally able and willing to furnish his guests with every possible assistance in pursuit of all that wanderers wish to see. There is, moreover, an excellent gar den, and an ever-ready open carriage for the use of those who wish to enjoy the beautiful environs of the town. In short, we are so comfortable, that we are greatly disposed to rejoice at having failed in our pursuit of lodgings, and also that the King of Naples chanced (to use the expression of our host) to be " in the King of Wurtemberg." When passing this King of Wurtemberg in the course of the afternoon of yesterday, we witnessed the departure of its royal guest. Nothing could be much less ostentatious or less stately than the Neapolitan monarch's mode of travelling : three carriages, containing himself and his suite, with boxes, trunks, and packages of all sorts and sizes, most unceremoniously suspended about them all, made up the cortege. * # * * * One of the first objects to be sought on arriving 14 STUTTGART. at Stuttgart must, I imagine, to all the world be the atelier of Dannecker. Of his fame, in com mon with everybody else, I have heard mueh, but of his works I had only seen that perfection of marble loveliness, the Ariadne in Mr. Batemann's collection at Francfort. This, however, is fully enough to make a visit to its author an event of no small importance. We pronounced his name, and his residence was immediately pointed out to us, and he deceived us with the simple frankness of a great man who is accustomed to the homage of all who approach the spot where he resides; He has retained around him but few of the higher specimens .of his sublime and most original genius; but there is one before which he himself seems to bow as his chef-d'oeuvre, and though he is sur* rounded by modelled sketches of his most poetically inspired productions, and more than one marble triumph of his chisel, it is to this that he turns again and again with a satisfaction so genuine, and so simply expressed, that it is impossible not to render him, and most cordially too, the sympathy he thus ingenuously demands. This darling work of the artist is a colossal bust of his friend and schoolfellow Schiller. It was veiled when we en tered the room; and the manner in which this animated and enthusiastic old man sought to read in our eyes the impression it made upon us when the veil was withdrawn, might have repaid a longer journey than it has cost us to see it. 2rAwn «** &**£ *y A Ktr\ ^kmmtcAe tondon. Published ty iu chard BGnfLey-,1837. STUTTGART. 15 It is indeed a noble bust ! The marble copy of that majestic head speaks, as plainly as marble can speak, of poetry, power, and eloquence. The play of the features is wonderful. There is a movement about the mouth in particular, which, by its happy imitation of life and intellectual expression, remind ed me of Chantry's admirable bust of Scott. I was reminded too of the manner in which I have heard our great artist describe the means by which he got Sir Walter's features into full play, by Dan- necker's telling us, with an accent expressive of the deepest delight, that when he had got Schiller into talk on the subjects that animated and in spired him, his countenance appeared so sublime that he determined upon making the bust colossal, and that not quite in vain, perhaps, had he gazed for hours on the poet whose name would live as long as the language in which he wrote. I asked where this noble work was destined to stand. " Je le garde pour moi," he replied, laying his hand upon his heart, and with a look and tone that seemed equally to express love and reverence for the subject, and modest approbation of the success with which it had been portrayed. The day will come, I doubt not, when this work, so fondly cherished by its author, will be eagerly sought by the highest and mightiest of those who love to bring the memorials of genius round them. It is impossible to contemplate the expression of this marble portrait without feeling 16 STUTTGART. one's estimate of human nature raised,— or to exa mine the exquisite art with which the sculptor has rendered it, and not acknowledge that though " Greece be living Greece no more," a chisel still exists which can give immortal life to stone. Not far from this bust, which one might almost say is redolent with life and intellect, lies a cast of the great poet taken after death. The features are the same, though collapsed and fallen; and never did I see life and death more strongly marked, or the fearful contrast between them more vividly brought home to the feelings, than by the con templation of the effigies of the dead and the living Schiller. A thousand pages on the nature of the soul and its immortal power might be written and read with less profound effect than these two heads could be looked upon. We passed a delightful hour in these rooms. A fine collection of casts from the antique, which be long to the king, have been given to Dannecker's keeping; and though walking through a room full of casts that one has seen a thousand times is an occupation not promising much amusement, the animated old man contrived to make it exceed ingly interesting by his lively and original obser vations. He soon found out that Mr. H. was an artist, and immediately distinguished him by a sort of affectionate attention, repeatedly taking his hand, STUTTGART. 17 pressing it to his bosom, and exclaiming, " Vous 6tes artiste!" He showed us a cast of the Medicean Venus, from which he had unceremoniously sawed off all that he considered spurious. His indignation against the arms as they now stand was vehement, and amounted to a satire against all who have ever looked upon the figure and not felt conscious at the instant of the discrepancy between the arms and the torso. In speaking of his own productions, the language of Dannecker is alike remarkable for its genuine modesty, and the frank simplicity with which he admits that he has done some good things. His works are widely scattered throughout Germany, and several may be met in Russia; but I fear that very few have as yet made their way to England. Mr. H. was so delighted by the attitude and countenance of Dannecker as he stood beside his favourite work, turning it round that we might view it on every side, while he himself raised his eyes to it with a look expressive of equal love and veneration, that he put his affectionate esprit de corps to the test by asking leave to come and make a sketch of him in his atelier. The kind old man granted the request, but not without a smiling hint that sitting for his portrait was not one of his favourite occupations. Having indulged ourselves with perhaps an un- vol. i. c 18 STUTTGART. conscionably long visit, and accepted a kind invi tation to repeat it, we proceeded in the usual routine of palace, church, and gallery hunting. Small as this capital is, there is much to see in it ; and there will speedily be much more : the ex traordinary activity perceptible in every part of the city in the construction of handsome edifices, both public and private, shows that it is rapidly increasing in wealth and importance. To the lovers of fine palaces I would decidedly recommend a journey hither, were there nothing but the examination of the royal residence to re ward it. Neither king nor kaiser need desire a more superb palace than that of Stuttgart. We all know that Windsor Castle has a sublimity of its own to which nothing else can be compared, and St. George's Hall is perhaps the finest room in the world ; but, without having recourse to com parisons, it may be safely asserted that few palaces can be found at once so elegant and so noble as the residence of the King of Wurtemberg. The number of fine apartments is quite inconceivable, and for what purpose they can all be designed is beyond the power of my understanding to con jecture. There are, however, no good pictures; and excepting one or two charming things from the hand of Dannecker, they have little to show of the higher order of fine arts. Nevertheless, the whole display, vast as is the extent of it, is in uniformly good taste, both in the rooms recently fitted up STUTTGART. 19 and in those whose costly decorations of the olden time have lost none of their splendour by the vari ations of fashion : in these there is a tone of rich and royal magnificence well worth looking upon. The late Princess Royal of England has left many specimens here of her taste and skill in enamel painting, many beautiful cabinets being ornamented by medallions of her execution. Among the interminable suites of rooms, for the majority of which I have confessed to you my ina bility to imagine a use, was one which spoke plainly enough its destination, and which in its way was really as koningliche in its perfection as any part of the show. This is a large and lofty chamber, fitted up with every imaginable contrivance for a gymnasium. In the centre is a pole, reaching nearly to the top of the room, for climbing ; and beneath it, a circular padding over the floor, extending far enough to render any possible fall harmless. Leap- ing-bars, poles for the exercise of the arms, and a vast variety of et cseteras which my ignorance in such matters forbids me to enumerate, are ranged around, but all of them furnished with such inge nious contrivances for safety as showed that the young princes for whose use they were designed, were dearly cared for, — and that if no royal road has been discovered to mathematics, the body at least may be exercised and strengthened without any plebeian difficulty whatever. The gardens of this superb palace are very ex- c 2 20 STUTTGART, tensive, and admirably laid out; furnishing, like all the royal gardens of Germany that I have yet seen, at least as much gratification to the people as to the prince. A multitude of very magnificent orange-trees are ranged beside all the walks and parterres near the palace; and as the economical practice that pre vails in Paris of plucking the blossoms for orange- flower water is not permitted here, the whole of this part of the garden is filled with the most delicious perfume. At the distance of about a mile from the Stutt gart palace is the beautiful summer residence of Rosenstein, the garden of the one ending where that of the other begins. The situation of this elegant pavilion, as well as everything else about it both within and without, is perfectly delight ful. It is placed on a hill just sufficiently ele vated to give an advantageous view of the beau tiful country around ; the Neckar flows at its feet; Cannstadt and I know not how many more pretty villages spread themselves out before it ; the whole landscape being surrounded by vine-covered hills, yet not so closely but that between them are caught vistas of the magnificent country in the distance, reaching to the Black Forest and the Vosges. Having gone over this royal, graceful, and hap- j pily arranged villa, we drove to the mineral baths of Cannstadt. Here, as everywhere else in or near Stuttgart, an active spirit of improvement is at work: large public rooms are in progress, and va- STUTTGART. 21 rious springs of different degrees of mineral strength enclosed, both for bathing and for drinking. At one of these they were bottling the water for expor tation in large quantities ; and there is a general air of business and activity about the place that speaks well for its fashion and prosperity. We indulged in a warm bath, which was very refreshing, although the water is very far from pellucid, or in anyway tempting in appearance, looking extremely like dirty soap-suds, and defying the most accurate eye to discover what adventures it may have met with since first its uncrystal-like stream welled forth from its native font. One feature, however, of the bathing arrangements delighted me exceedingly. On summoning the woman who attended us for warm linen, she opened the door and thrust in a high wicker fabric that looked like a vast basket reversed, beneath which was placed a small rSchaud bright with burning charcoal, and over its wicker roof were laid a large sheet of fine linen, with abun dance of towels quite as warm as could be touched without wincing. This is a prodigious improvement on the ordinary mode of marching warm linen through a cold gallery before it reaches the bather. The price of the bath was about the same as in Paris. Our drive home was by a delightful road that twisted and turned about as if on purpose to give us glimpses of all the prettiest points of view within reach, of which the Neckar formed the principal 22 STUTTGART. feature, with its three bridges,— one in ruins, one unfinished, and one, the most picturesque of all, the rude wooden structure erected for the nonce. The excursion ended by our driving again through the royal gardens, fragrant with flowers, and only want ing more company to make them very nearly as pretty, if not as splendid, as those of the Tuileries themselves. But few of the migrating English appear as yet to have found out Stuttgart as a residence ; yet it seems to possess many recommendations as such. Everything is cheap except fuel, which being solely of wood, must be fully as dear as coals in London : neither, by what I can learn, are lodgings or even house-rent cheap in proportion to provisions; but they are building away at such a rate, that it appears reasonable to suppose that this latter objection will soon cease to exist. In all other resDects I should think this town as desirable a residence for persons who wish to find a home on the Continent as any I have seen. The position is centrical and in every way advantageous, the climate good, the country in all directions singularly beautiful, and the society agreeable and by no means difficult of access to respectable foreigners. Here, as everywhere else in Germany, a strong line of demarcation exists among the natives, between the noble and those who are not so ; and, moreover, by information obtained from one or two sources that might be depended on, it should seem that the court circle is not here open, as STUTTGART. 23 in some other cities, to men of literary eminence, unless their birth would have entitled them to this honour had they chanced to have been born without any brains at all. This exclusion must be felt the more keenly, because plebeian persons so distinguish ed are readily received into the first society, provided always that they have not the disadvantage of being native here. Notwithstanding this apparent indifference to home-bred literary talent, the city of Stuttgart ranks as the third in Germany in respect to its commerce in literary productions, Leipsic and Berlin only being before it. It has, moreover, some intellectual remi niscences and associations which are more likely perhaps than even the splendour of its palaces to render it renowned among the cities of the earth. Cuvier received his education here in the academy conducted by M. Schwab, father of the present pro fessor and poet of that name. Goethe and Schiller were also both educated here. Nor is the name of Wolfgang Menzel to be omitted, who is a resident at Stuttgart, and celebrated throughout Germany as a scholar and a critic : — he is at present conductor of the literary division of the Morganblatt. Many other persons have been mentioned to me here as distinguished in various walks of literature ; but their names, too unfamiliar, I am sorry to say, to English ears, have not rested with sufficient clearness on mine to enable me to repeat them. I have heard of one work about to be published 24 STUTTGART. here, which though in German will, if I mistake not, speedily make its way all over Europe. The title, as given me in French, is " L'Allemagne Ro- mantique et Pittoresque ;" and considering how richly stocked the country is with everything best deserv ing these attractive epithets, it can hardly be doubted that the enterprise will be successful. The work will be divided into ten sections, each one containing from twenty to thirty plates, with a copious text to be furnished by various authors, all of whom are already favourably known to the public. The description of that beautiful region known by the name of the Saxon Switzerland has been en trusted to the hands of M. Tromlitz, Baron de Witz- leben ; Swabia, and the Neckar up to Heidelberg, to M. Gustave Schwab ; the Danube, to M. Duller; the Rhine, to M. Simrock ; and the Tyrol, to M. Horlosson. This comprises the first half of this well-imagined and interesting undertaking ; of the division and allotment of the remainder I have been unable as yet to learn the particulars. The price of each section is to be six florins— about twelve shil lings. The gentleman who gave me these parti culars added, that no country could at the present time compete with England for engraving, and that it was probable many of the plates for this work would be executed by English artists. ***** The old residence here, now converted into offices or dwellings for persons connected with the STUTTGART, 25 court, has no splendour left; but its old towers, seen through noble acacia trees, are venerable and even majestic, and to those who love as well as I do to trace the ways of men backward as far as time has left a clue to guide us, the poking about among the antique halls and passages will not be wanting in interest. One piece of knightly luxury, which though belonging to the olden time was quite new to me, has left such substantial evidence behind it, that nothing short of the demolition of the edifice can destroy it. In one of the huge round towers that flank the corners of the old castle is an enor mous staircase, occupying the entire tower, and mounting to the height of four or five stories. This staircase is, in fact, little else than an inclined plane, and is known by the name of " L'Escalier aux Ca- racols," by which the knights of yore, when fatigued by war or the chase, could mount on horseback even to the door of their lady's lofty bower. To-morrow we are to drive to Rothenberg, an iso lated hill so lofty as to command an unbroken pano rama of vast extent. On its summit is erected But of this to-morrow, after we have seen it. 26 STUTTGART. LETTER III. Centrical Position of Stuttgart. — View from the Rothenberg. — Chapel of Queen Catherine. — Dannecker's St. John. — Professor Schwab. — Maison de Chasse. — La Solitude. — Rural Enjoyment. Krankenhaus. — Moonlight Walk among the Orange-trees.— Sketch of Dannecker. — Farewell. Stuttgart, August 3rd, 1836. Two more long days of walking, driving, looking, and talking, have left me convinced that this town and its neighbourhood deserve more notice from tra vellers than they appear hitherto to have met with ; and had not our plan, which was originally to have proceeded from this place to Ulm, and so on direct to the Tyrol, been already extended by our having decided upon making a dttour of four or five days among the Swabian Alps, I should certainly have taken time to look about me more deliberately. But we have at least made the most of our three days : the weather has been uniformly favourable, and we have contrived to see enough to leave a very satis factory conviction upon our minds that this capital of Wurtemberg is a beautiful city now, that it is likely very speedily to become much more so, and that its position, both in reference to the great STUTTGART. 27 beauty of the country immediately around it, and the peculiar facilities which its centrical situation affords for excursions into France, Switzerland, the Tyrol, Swabia, and the Rhenish territories, would render it a most desirable residence as head-quarters for those who wish to make themselves or their families fa miliar with some of the most beautiful scenery in Europe. Stuttgart is distant from the French frontier (Stras bourg) eighty miles — from Schaffhausen eighty — from Innspruck, in the heart of the Tyrol, one hun dred and seventy — from Bade- Baden fifty — and from Heidelberg fifty-eight. The most beautiful points of scenery among the Swabian Alps are within a day's riding, and the Neckar up to Heidelberg, one of the prettiest excursions in the world, may be easily explored either on horseback or en voiture in two. I think you will allow that this statement jus tifies my calling Stuttgart desirable head-quarters for a party of travellers ; and I by no means feel certain that I shall not some day be tempted to make it so for myself for five or six summer months. Much as I enjoy travelling, I like to have pied a terre somewhere, — -near enough moreover, if possible, to the region of my ramblings to permit the interval of a quiet month or so at home, between climbing amidst the snows of the Tyrol, and entering upon a three weeks' course of dissipation at Baden ; and of all the places I have yet seen, this appears to be the best calculated for the purpose. 28 STUTTGART. But instead of speculating upon the future, I must tell you what we have done already. The drive to the foot of the Rothenberg, and the sub sequent steep climb to its summit, has, I believe, set my fancy off upon these wandering speculations. The view which this conical little hill commands is one of those which, to my taste, is too extended to be beautiful : the eye wanders far and wide, but rests Upon nothing. It is glorious as a map however, and as such I have studied it ; and it has shown me that we are in the centre of as fine a region for gratifying an exploring disposition as it is easy to imagine. The Neckar winds most enticingly away through its lovely valley in one di rection, the Black Forest and the Vosges stretch farther than the eye can reach in another, and the whole chain of the Swabian Alps, from Lochen- stein to Hohenstaufen, rise boldly to the sky in another. It is on the very pinnacle of this remarkable hill that the late Queen Catherine lies buried, in a very elegant little Grecian temple erected expressly to receive her remains. The summit of this com manding elevation was, it seems, a favourite resort of her majesty during life, and it was by her own desire that her abode was fixed here after death. At a late hour on every Saturday, and at an early one every Sunday, divine service according to the Greek ritual is performed in this sepulchral chapel ; and at these hours, whoever inhabiting the world STUTTGART. 29 below may choose to climb so high is freely ad mitted. But the priest, whose solitary dwelling is only a few hundred yards below the temple, churlishly refused to let us enter ; which was a severe disappointment, inasmuch as we had ex pected to see there the celebrated white marble statue of St. John by Dannecker, the plaster model of which we had all admired in his studio as one of his very finest works. The simple dignity of this sublime figure is worthy of Raphael. But this statue we are doomed to leave unseen ; for to get to the top of the Rothenberg a second time within three days is more than even our enthu siasm for Dannecker, great as it really is, can enable us to achieve. One of the most agreeable circumstances which has occurred to us during our stay here has been making the acquaintance of Professor Schwab. He is not only a very distinguished, but a very amiable man ; and his obliging attentions have been both pleasing and useful to us in many ways. His reputation stands high as a man of letters and a poet : he appears to have been doing for Swabia what Sir Walter Scott has done for Scotland, bringing forward the lore of an accomplished anti quary in aid of the wild fascinations of German legendary romance. Of all the countries of the world this is probably the richest in such lore, not even excepting the prolific East; for there a single fable is made to serve as material for a hundred 30 STUTTGART. tales, — but here every rock has its own spirit, every ruin its own hero, and scarcely can a mountain stream make its way through the dark intricacies of a volcanic ravine, without having some bright Undine belonging to it, whose loves and whose spells give the charm and animation of romance to the whole region. Such materials in the hands of a man of genius will make tales worth translating, and I anticipate the pleasure of travelling again through Swabia in company with M. Gustave Schwab. One of the services which we owe to this gen tleman is the suggestion of such an alteration in our route as will enable us to see much that would be left unseen, were we to follow, as we intended, the usual road to Ulm by Esslingen, Goppingen, and Geislingen, which would make the distance about fifty miles. The way we now intend going will add another fifty, and require by the mode in which we mean to proceed about five additional days; but I have no doubt that the loss both in time and distance will be well repaid. Yesterday morning we drove a few miles into the country, to visit two royal residences which lie in nearly the same direction. The first which we reached can indeed be scarcely called a residence, for I doubt if there be a single bed-room in it. It is most strictly speaking a maison de chasse, and as such it is quite perfect, being situated in an extensive and finely-wooded park, or rather chase, STUTTGART. 31 not only filled with every species of game, but having within its boundary enclosures for the pre servation of a fine breed of wild boars. The name of the house itself (Barenschlosschen), and the beau tiful little lake close beside it, called the Barensee, lead one to suppose that in former times a still ruder style of hunting than even that of the wild boar was carried on there. I never remember to have seen a more perfect specimen of park scenery than this place affords : the trees are magnificent, and the numerous herds of superb stags, many of them snow-white, with the wild-looking coverts amidst which they are seen, form a picture that every lover of wood-craft would dearly like to look upon. From the Barenschlosschen we proceeded to the lofty villa of La Solitude, at present more celebrated for its position than for any beauty or splendour in the palace itself. On the roof is constructed a circu lar Belvedere, the view from which is perfectly asto nishing — mountains look like pin-cushions in the wide expanse, and the ruins on their sides like pins stuck into them. The Neckar is but a shining brook, and its valley a pretty little orchard through which it flows. So enormous, in short, is the extent of this extraordinary panorama, that no object is or can be of sufficient vastness to become pre-eminent in it. An excellent telescope is placed on the leads, the arrangement of which must spare the guide who attends the curious traveller a world of questionings. 32 STUTTGART. A graduated circle surrounds the stand, adjusted in such a manner as to show exactly how to direct the glass in order to bring it to bear on any given point, the names of all the most interesting objects being set down upon the line that commands them. After gazing our fill upon this marvellous expanse, which really seemed very much like looking upon " all the kingdoms of the earth," we sent in our cards and a note of introduction at a large house close to the palace for an English lady, who having married a native of Stuttgart, had been resident in that city for thirteen years. She proved to be a very charming person, and it was with regret that we left her so soon. While we were sitting with her, an elderly lady entered, whom she introduced as the Baroness , and gave us to understand that she was the wife of one of the King of Wurtemberg's ministers. This lady, like herself, was passing some weeks of the summer season in lodgings on this beautiful hill, the large gesthaus where we had put up our horses being let out in suites of apartments to such as preferred its rustic accommodations to the doubtful luxuries of the city during the warm wea ther. The conversation soon become general and very agreeable. Madame la Baronne pleased me greatly by her animated description of the delight of a young married daughter, who was now her guest, upon returning to the beautiful scenery amidst which she was born, from the flat country round Berlin, where she had resided since her marriage. She said, STUTTGART. 33 that at an early hour every morning her daughter, with her baby in her arms, was sure to be seen wan dering about the woods, or inhaling the pure air of the hill, with all the eager delight of a happy child. " It is seldom," said she, " that persons born in such a country as this, can ever get perfectly reconciled to the loss of it ;" and I felt well disposed to believe her. We were most kindly and cordially invited to take our tea with them, the table for which they told us was preparing in the open air, upon the magnificent esplanade before the chateau. But, alas ! we had not dined, and were therefore obliged, as dinner was waiting for us at the hotel, to decline it. As we left them, we saw many parties, consisting chiefly of ladies with their nurses and children, pre paring to take their tea or coffee in the same man ner. There was an air of cheerful, happy, healthful gaiety about the whole scene that was quite delight ful. * # # # # In the evening our admiration of Dannecker was the means of beguiling us into a very toilsome ad venture. He had told us that a figure of Christ, oi which we saw the first little ebauche of clay in his studio, was in the " Eglise de 1' Hopital ;" and, being determined to see it before we left the town, we set out as soon as we had dined in search of it. We had omitted to inquire in what quarter of the town this " Eglise " was situated, and had therefore to inquire our way as we proceeded. In order to sim- VOL. I. D 34 STUTTGART. plify our questions of inquiry as much as might be, we asked our way to the hospital, and were accord ingly handed on with great civility from street to street till we had fairly got to the very extreme verge of the town, and then a handsome-looking building, about a quarter of a mile distant from it, was pointed out to us as " das Krankenhaus ;" and on to the Krankenhaus we toiled, and were received as usual with all possible politeness, and the greatest readiness to show us every thing we were disposed to see, — but church there was none ; so back again we came to our Waldhorn, and having consoled our selves for an hour with our sofas and our tea, we strolled out in the loveliest of twilights, with a full moon to help it, into the royal gardens, and inhaled the fragrance of the orange-trees, and collected their fallen blossoms, till our weariness and disappointment were forgotten, and our spirits sufficiently calm for us to venture upon retiring to rest without danger that we should dream of sultry evenings and streets paced in vain. ***** In the course of this morning Mr. H returned from Dannecker, with his sketch finished ; the like ness is perfect. The old man, he said, seemed well pleased with it, but, after looking at it earnestly for a minute or two, said with a smile — " C'est bien, tres-bien mais que Dannecker est petit, pres de Schiller ! " He then, at the request of Mr. H , wrote his STUTTGART. 35 name beneath it : both drawing and autograph have been kindly given to me, and will take rank among the best treasures of my scrap-book. Having secured the portrait, and no longer in fear of disturbing the sitting, the whole party went to pay their farewell visit to Dannecker ; and, though we had many other farewell things to do, it was a long one. The delightful union of enthusiasm and simplicity which distinguishes the manner of this celebrated man gives a charm to every word he utters, and it was with more sorrow than our short acquaintance can well explain, that I returned the last wave of his hand as we drove off. * # # * # Professor Schwab has just left us, — after kindly giving us all sorts of instructions for our Swabian tour; and, moreover, a line of introduction to M. Uhland, whom we hope to find at Tubingen, and who is, as the professor assured us, the first Living lyric poet of Germany. To-morrow at six o'clock we leave Stuttgart, and well pleased shall we be whenever fate may lead us to return to it again. D 2 36 TUBINGEN. LETTER IV. Tubingen.— Professor Uhland. — University Library. — Church — Old Monuments.— Counts of Tubingen and Dukes of Wurtem berg. — Rothenbourg. — Toleration. — Heckingen. — Hohenzollern. — Pedigree. — Reutlingen. — The Ball-room. Reutlingen, 5th August. On Thursday morning we left Stuttgart with our accustomed punctuality ; and reached Tubingen, the first object of curiosity on our new route, about ten. The distance is eighteen English miles, and the drive a very pretty one. The high and easily traced antiquity of this town, with its castle, university, and splendid collection of princely tombs, renders it highly deserving a visit. It is, too, very prettily si-* tuated upon the Neckar, one side of many of the houses almost over-hanging the stream. The apart ments of the poet Uhland, to whom we failed not to make a visit, were among these ; and I felt disposed to regret, as I looked down upon the fair landscape spread out below us, that the poet's mind, so rich in images of beauty, could not be as amply displayed to our view. But, though gentle and obliging in his manner, we can hardly be said to have conversed with him. He speaks French either with difficulty TUBINGEN. 37 or reluctance ; and as neither of the party could ven ture to converse with him in German, the conversa tion languished, and our visit was a short one. On leaving M. Uhland, T — repaired to the library of the University, and the rest of the party to exa mine the Church, while waiting for the carriage which was to convey us for an hour or two to Rothenbourg. This university library contains much that is in teresting ; and the professor, to whom my son was introduced, did the honours of it with most attentive kindness. A part of its treasures consists of seven thousand Greek MS. sermons, preached in different parts of Germany about the middle of the sixteenth century ! . . . A curious memento of the learning and the pedantry of the period. While T — was engaged in his biblical researches with the professor, we were no less busily employed in examining other relics of past ages in the church. What wealth of antique monumental sculpture is contained in that dirty old church ! ... It is now used by a Protestant congregation ; but in that part of it which, when it was Catholic, would have been called the Lady chapel, are thirteen most marvellously splendid tombs of the Counts and Dukes of Wurtem berg, the earliest bearing date 1454. The successive carving and costumes of the effigies give just such a history of art as a statuary or antiquary would desire. Many of them have been very richly gilt, and all are in the highest style of elaborate monu- 38 TUBINGEN. mental sculpture. But how they all got there is the wonder, for they are placed in most admired disor der, filling the chapel, or whatever the space in which they are deposited may be called, like so many chairs and tables in an upholsterer's warehouse. Where the bones lie whose resting-places these rich stones were intended to indicate, I know not, but assuredly not beneath them. The date of the earliest monu ment (which is that of Lewis, ninth Count) is twenty- nine years prior to that in which the foundation of the church was laid ; and as, notwithstanding the progressive change so remarkable in the sculptures, the general design of all these costly tombs is suffi ciently alike to show that they must have all be longed to the same stately mausoleum, it is probable that in some of the violent political convulsions to which this country has so frequently been exposed, they have been transported hither as a place of greater security, or at least of greater obscurity, than that in which the high and mighty chiefs lie buried to whose memory they are dedicated. This church alone renders a visit to Tubingen im perative upon all antiquarian travellers ; and, though I look upon such treasures but darkly, I would not have missed the wondering examination of them for a great deal. It was here that we first blessed our kind friend, Professor Schwab, and his interesting route. Though I have perhaps seldom seen a place in which I would less desire to pass the remainder of TUBINGEN. 39 my days, I have visited many more brightly gay, than even Tubingen seems gloomily the reverse, which would not one-half so well repay examination. The stamp of past ages is so much more visible upon it than any traces of later days, that one feels the same sort of respect for its quaint ugliness that is inspired by the wrinkles and infirmity of venerable age. The town-hall, indeed, bearing on its uncouth front the date of 1435, inspires a feeling of unmixed astonish ment that it should have been permitted to burthen the earth so long. In looking at such a structure as the stadthaus at Louvain, no wonder is excited by seeing that it still exists as perfect and as beautiful as when its fanciful but most skilful architect saw its last pinnacle completed ; more wonderful would it have been had any race of men been found who would not have guarded and preserved so precious a treasure: but to one who has lived long enough to see, in various parts of the world, what was unsightly and inconve nient giving place to elegance and utility, there is something almost inconceivable in the preservation of such buildings as constitute the chief part of some of the remote towns of Germany. . . . One asks oneself, " Are they to last for ever thus ?" Yet, although there is neither beauty nor comfort in their aspect, they have an interest for those who come to look, and pass on, that is strangely intense ; and, were I obliged to choose between them, I would give up the sight of many a gay new palace, rather 40 TUBINGEN. than lose an opportunity of examining some of the very ugliest piles of dirty old stones that the clumsy ignorance of barbarous architects ever reared. Thus Tubingen, even independent of its precious tombs and venerable university, was not without interest for me, though I can say not a word in favour of its architectural comeliness ; and, when the hour arrived for our drive to Rothenbourg, I almost envied T — and B — , whose researches in the library took them to its old castle instead of accompanying us. This old castle, by the way, now the seat of peaceful learning, has been, if its chroniclers say true, the scene of more than one deed of violence. It was formerly the residence of an independent noble, bear ing the title of Count of Tubingen ; and the old records show that Godfroid of Tubingen sold his country to Ulric of Wurtemberg in 1342 for 5857 florins. The university was founded, in 1457, by Eberhard the first Duke of Wurtemberg. His successor, Ulric, so barbarously massacred a man whom he suspected of being the lover of his duchess, that a powerful league was raised against him ; and, being obliged to fly, he remained for a considerable time concealed in the celebrated cavern called the Nebelhohle, near Lich tenstein ; but, at the expiration of fifteen years of banishment and wanderings, was restored to his dukedom. This awful Nebelhohle, by the way, we are to visit to-morrow ; and, if all we hear be true, we shall find that the jealous and revengeful Ulric hit upon a very fitting abode for his dark and cruel spirit. TUBINGEN. 41 The drive to Rothenbourg is through an exceed ingly pretty valley, surrounded by miniature moun tains, and enlivened by the shallow but sparkling Neckar, along which the road runs. The town has but little, I think, to repay a visit. It is, however, the residence of a Catholic bishop, and a dismal sort of residence it must be. The church has not much the air of a cathedral, but it is eight hundred years old, and has a tower, to the top of which we climbed for the purpose of obtaining a very extensive view over the neighbouring country, which is most singu larly variegated by the innumerable mountains, which are called the Swabian Alps, but which in truth can only rank as bold hills rising abruptly and caprici ously, and rearing their bare heads loftily enough to contrast finely, with the soft green valleys that lie among them. The very summit of this tower is fitted up as the residence of the family who live by leading strangers to its leads. Their hewers of wood and drawers of water must have hard work before they get their commodities home. We dined on cold venison and bad wine, and re turned to Tubingen for the night. The first hour of light this morning was passed among the tombs, and in examining all the ins and outs of the curious old church that shelters them. It is at present un dergoing what promises to be a thorough repair ; and the seats, as now arranged, appear calculated to con tain a very large congregation, of which the univer- 42 HOHENZOLLERN. sity makes a considerable part. The utmost libe rality of religious feeling seems to exist at Tubingen ; the young men, and the professors also, being of va rious creeds. At six we started for Heckingen, for the purpose of visiting the castle of Hohenzollern, which not only forms one of the most prominent and attractive fea tures of the wide landscape as seen from every com manding elevation in the neighbourhood, but is itself an object worthy of all attention from its extraordinary position, its high antiquity, and complete preserva tion. This predominating fortress was formerly the stronghold of the Counts of Hohenzollern, who held princely and independent sway over the territory to which it belonged : the family is now merged in that of the reigning house of Prussia, a fact which we might have learned, had we not previously been aware of it, by the black and white stripes which distinguish every hand-rail and sign-post upon the domain. A pleasant and well-conducted little hotel received us at Heckingen : here we breakfasted greatly to the contentment of our travelled appetites, and then set off to walk to Hohenzollern; for our treacherous voiturier, who was engaged to carry us as near to the castle as his horses could go, declared that it was impossible for the carriage to proceed beyond Heckingen ; whereupon we, believing in the inno cence and ignorance of our hearts that he spoke truth, undertook what proved to be one of the most HOHENZOLLERN. 43 fatiguing expeditions I ever remember to have taken part in. Soon after quitting the gasthaus, we mounted by so steep an ascent to the market-place of the town, that we panted up it with the persua sion that it was too abrupt an acclivity for a car riage to ascend. But, this short pull over, we found ourselves upon a level plain, which extended for many miles with an excellent road over it, passing the foot of the isolated cone on which the castle stands. This discovery, however, was made too late to avail us, for, had we returned to our inn for the carriage, the day would have been too far wasted to permit our achieving all we intended to do before night. So on we walked ; the fiercest sun that ever sent its noon-tide beams from the unclouded sky of Germany, scorching us as we went. We shall none of us, I believe, soon forget the heat and fa tigue of that walk. At one point, where the rare luxury of a tree blessed our eyes beside the road, we threw ourselves beneath its shade, in the vain hope of finding coolness there ; but the very air glowed like a furnace round us. As we sat there, looking wistfully on sundry homely vehicles passing along the road, and wishing ourselves in the homeliest among them, one drove by in which was a plump and comely frau, who, not withstanding the state of enviable ease in which she was going over the ground that caused us so much toil, showed evident symptoms on her fair round 44 HOHENZOLLERN. face that she too felt the sultry hour. She looked at us with an expression of good-humoured but comic compassion, and exclaimed with uplifted hands the words " Schwitzen machen !" in an accent that happily convinced us all we were not so near expiring as we fancied, for it made us laugh heartily. On reaching the foot of the seemingly perpendi cular hill on the crown of which stands the castle, we looked up at its unshaded, scorched, and desert sides with fear and trembling ; and I for one must confess that my spirit almost died within me as I meditated on the labour of the ascent. But yet the view around was already so glorious, the form and position of the venerable fabric so enticing, and the mortification of turning from an adventure half achieved so great, that with desperate courage we began to climb. The broken track that served for a road cut our feet with its flints ; and when we sought relief by turning off upon its steep margin, we found the treacherous turf so slippery that every step put us in danger of losing our footing and rolling to the bottom. Yet on we toiled, higher and higher still, till such a splendour of landscape spread before us, as drove heat and fatigue from our thoughts, and refreshed our spirits by the delightful sensation of unbounded admiration. To do justice to such a scene by description is quite impossible. Long chains of undulating hills, some close beneath our feet, rich with dark forests, others fading gra- HOHENZOLLERN. 45 dually away in the blue distance, are its chief fea tures ; but there are fair valleys too, winding amongst them, and village spires, and bright snake-like streams, and flocks and herds, and waving corn, and every other thing that is good to adorn the surface of the earth. In short, a nobler or a brighter land scape the eye can hardly look upon ; and, had our voiture brought us the three long miles to the foot of the hill, we should have mounted it, fearfully steep as it is, without more fatigue than would have been well repaid by what it gave us in return. Should you therefore ever find yourself at Heckin gen, fail not to drive to the base of this extraordi nary little mountain, and, having reached it, shrink not from scaling its threatening acclivity ; for, even as you pause to pant as you ascend, a new and most lovely world will gradually appear before your eyes, and you will learn to know, better than any tra veller's pen can teach you, that the Alps of Swabia must not be passed unexplored. The castle contains but few rooms, but there is one amongst them worthy of a pilgrimage for itself alone. The noble rittersaal, which is as trimly kept as if the royal lord of Hohenzollern were himself ex pected there, is a chamber to which it would be dif ficult to find a parallel. Its dimensions are almost magnificent, the proportions perfect, and the walls covered by a series of portraits, which, though cer tainly not all genuine originals, inasmuch as one among them purports to be that of a knight who 46 HOHENZOLLERN. flourished about the time of Charlemagne, are of such curious antiquity, and in such excellent pre servation, as to give to this ancient solitary tower of strength a sort of dramatic decoration, that might make one fancy the days of feudal dignity not yet over, when knights jousted to beguile the time be tween their battles, and slept away the idle hours in which they could not hunt. When you turn from gazing on the walls of this stately rittersaal to look forth from its windows, the beauty and extent of the landscape, wonderful as it is, strikes you less, I think, than the mysterious labour, then so obvious, of erecting such an edifice on such a spot. While remembering, too, that this, and a thousand other feats of the same kind, were performed without the aid of any of those powers with which science has since taught us to eke out human strength, the enormous amount of toil which they must have cost, becomes almost a frightful con templation ; nor do I believe that any other country than patient Germany can show such proofs of per severing animal exertion as we see displayed in the multitude of massive edifices, erected on points chosen only on account of the difficulty of access to them. The great enterprises of the present day are of a character wholly different. Boldness, per severance, and courage are doubtless required to plan and execute a canal, a tunnel, or a rail-road ; but these are all purely intellectual operations, compared to the process by which our Teutonic cousins reared their high towers on rocks that Nature seems to have HOHENZOLLERN. 47 destined for the abode of the eagle only. When, instead of the easy mode borrowed from Jove's own thunder, by which we now clear our way through rocks with little more trouble than applying a lighted match to a touch-hole, — when, instead of this, the steadfast granite was removed, splinter after splinter, by the painful axe, — when, instead of lighting a fire beneath a kettle, and watching, as you eat the din ner cooked thereby, timbers sawed, stones hewed, iron wrought, and weights raised, by the agency of a little boiling water, — when, instead of this, the aching limbs of men did all that is required to build a castle on the giddy edge of a bold precipice, the work becomes a wonder, and the contemplation of it a study that has, perhaps, as much pain as pleasure in it. The perfect style and keeping of this well-pre served and curious edifice is somewhat injured by its guardian being permitted to have a gasthaus in the lower rooms ; but I am willing to confess that this cavil is a very selfish one, and that it is far better that the landscape-loving ramblers of all the country round should find here wherewithal to recruit their strength, than that the feudal pageant should be preserved somewhat more perfectly, in order to gra tify our taste. There is one object which I have omitted to men tion, but which none should overlook who love the herald's art, and feel interest in tracing a noble, nay, a royal race, to its source. In a small room near the rittersaal, a most splendid pedigree is suspended, 48 HOHENZOLLERN. showing an unbroken line of descent from a period so remote as almost to be lost in clouds and darkness. The first date is early in the sixth century, and the first title recorded is that of mayor of the palace; but in 801 they become Counts of Hohenzollern, which title has continued in the family till it merged in that of the King of Prussia. The descent of this tremendous hill, though a very different business from getting up, was fatiguing enough ; and, by the time we got back to our hotel, the stoutest amongst us was right glad, I believe, that the labour of the day was over. We had some difficulty in deciding what refreshment, from the scanty bill of fare, would suit us best, — good wine was not to be had. This is a luxury which we lost when we turned our backs upon France and the Rhine. So, not being particularly fond of schnapps, we at length agreed to have another breakfast, and by the help of coffee and tea were able to set forth again with the thirst of severe exercise, and the sul try season, pretty tolerably appeased ; but I think I never knew what thirst was till that hour. Our drive to Reutlingen was through very fine scenery, which, as the evening advanced, was lit up by a succession of lightning flashes as bright and beautiful as those of America. We all enjoyed this; but what seemed a glorious spectacle to us, was a source of horror to our driver, and he galloped over the few last miles of the route at a pace very unusual for a langsam Deutsch kutscher. REUTLINGEN. 49 So here we are at a somewhat earlier hour of the evening than we anticipated ; but the rain is falling in torrents, and though Reutlingen has the honour able recollection attached to it, of having formerly been a free town of the empire, it is impossible for us to stir an inch out of doors to look at it. An other misfortune is, that our inn is so overfilled as to afford us only the ball-room for our lodging. Dingy chandeliers hang above us, misty mirrors are all around, and now our peace is invaded by the brawl ing landlady and half-a-dozen barelegged followers dragging, hauling, pushing, and carrying the beds and bedsteads for our night's repose. Where our three squires are to find their rest, Heaven knows ! I suppose this wide whitewashed desolate ball-room is assigned to us as the best lodging to be had. If so, poor souls ! I pity them, for anything more uncomfortable than the air of our three little beds, with long tottering benches for washing-stands, and a great glass-door to protect us against all comers, I can hardly imagine. My maid seems to have concluded all the ope rations her ingenuity can suggest for our comfort. Cloaks hang in dark mysterious draperies over the glass-door ; benches placed lengthwise, till they reach nearly across the room, supply the want of a lock. C is already preparing for bed ; and the three long tallow-candles have, as usual, been turned out of the room, leaving only my little travelling taper to light me as I subscribe myself ever yours. VOL. I. E 50 ROUTE TO LICHTENSTEIN. LETTER V. Oberhaussen. — Walk to the Nebelhohle. — The Cavern. — Skill of the Torch-bearers. — Lichtenstein. — Necessary preliminaries to travelling with a Voiturier. — German substitute for Patent wheel-boxes Urach. Urach, 6th August 1836. We rose this morning with the sun, that we might not leave Reutlingen without having walked through its now quiet streets, examined its old church, and spied out, if we could, some relics of its former dig nity. Our researches were not very successful ; the handsomest thing we found was a rich Gothic foun tain in tolerably good preservation ; but, for the rest, this ancient Freystadt has little to distinguish it from any other large Dorf, or ordinary village. After this short ramble we started for Lichtenstein, another commanding elevation, celebrated far and near as one of the finest spots in Swabia. The antique for tress on its summit is now converted into a gast haus ; and here we determined to breakfast, intending to visit the Nebelhohle afterwards. It is impossible to imagine any scenery, on the same scale, more wildly beautiful than that formed by the succession of narrow valleys through which the road passes from Reutlingen to Oberhaussen. Some- OBERHAUSSEN. 51 times the lofty hills, which have all the character of mountains except their bulk, advance on either side, leaving a narrow gorge between them just wide enough to admit the road ; and then a new valley opens beyond, rich with corn, or solemn from the shadows of the thick forest that spreads from the hill side across the narrow plain. Sometimes these enclosing hills are bare and rocky ; and sometimes, towering above them are seen distant and loftier heights in that dim blue wavering colouring which gives the last finish to a perfect landscape. On reaching Oberhaussen, our coachman again assured us that he could advance no farther with the carriage towards Lichtenstein; and, as the people of the inn there appeared to confirm the statement, we were fain to acquiesce, and trust to our own powers for conveying us to the point we wished to reach. On inquiring concerning the relative posi tions of the Nebelhohle and the Lichtenstein rock, we found that it would be necessary to visit the ca vern first, as the guide who must accompany us from Oberhaussen would be obliged to carry with him such a bundle of torches as would make it extremely inconvenient to lengthen the way. Fasting as we were, therefore, we submitted to this necessity, and set off for a mountainous walk of half a dozen miles, accompanied by a stout guide carrying a bundle of straw, and a prodigious packet of pine laths of about seven feet long, tied in eight or ten different bun dles, each bundle being intended for a torch. E 2 52 NEBELHOHLE. Heavy rain had fallen during the night, and orir path was overhung by wild gooseberry and rose bushes, so that the females of the party had soon to carry up the steep ascent garments heavily laden with moisture. This misfortune, however, was without remedy, and there was much in our road calculated to make us forget all the evils of it. The village of Oberhaussen is beautifully situated in the same lovely valley through which we had travelled from Reutlingen ; and just before we reached the vil lage we perceived a narrower valley still, or rather a turf-clothed ravine, which opened a passage at right angles into the very heart of the mountains. Along the forest-covered side of this ravine lay our steep, wet, tangled path ; sometimes so closely overhung by trees that the sultry air seemed stifling, and sometimes opening upon views so wildly beautiful, that heat, hunger, fatigue, and dripping skirts were all forgotten in the enjoyment. After nearly an hour of this trying exercise we reached the summit of the mountain, and pursued our way for another half mile over a table-land, in some places yielding a miserable return to a desper rate attempt at cultivation, and at others wildly clothed in the stunted foliage assigned by nature for its decoration, and redeeming its arid character by offering to the passer-by wild raspberries and strawt berries in abundance. At length we reached a spot where a steep but safely-arranged zigzag path took us down again NEBELHOHLE. 53 some fifty or sixty yards of what was very nearly a precipice. Just at the point at which we began to descend, we found a man loitering about, who imme diately approached us. Had we been less sufficiently guarded, I suspect that something very like fear might have been produced by this rencontre. A finer or more picturesque figure to enact the part of bandit, never grew upon a rock beneath the pencil of Salvator. He very peaceably joined our guide, however, and preceded us down the steep descent to a small level platform ; below which a mixture of rock and forest sunk so abruptly, that, from this little area of perhaps a hundred square feet, we com manded an unbroken view over all the lovely country through which we passed yesterday. From gazing on this glorious expanse we turned to watch the operations of our two rustics. The pine wood was deposited on the earth, and the straw carefully dis posed, together with some fragments of the combus tible wood, in such a manner as to make a compact and, in some degree, an enduring fire. A light was struck, and the heap ignited slowly, but surely. Our two companions then descended twenty dark and slippery steps that seemed to lead into the bowels of the earth, at the bottom of which a massive door sloping to the angle of the mountain above us, and rather covering, than fitted to, an opening in the rock, yielded (after a huge padlock was removed) to their united strength, and, being kept open by a large block of wood prepared for the purpose, discovered 54 NEBELHOHLE. to our curious eyes another flight of steps leading, not into outer, but inner darkness, so profound as to prove very satisfactorily that the large equipment of torches was not unnecessary. Having set open this awful-looking portal, the two men returned to upper air, and quickly prepared eight flaming brands, of which they presented one to each of us, with instructions to shake them aloft in the air when we wished to revive the flame. T was the first who boldly plunged into the black abyss, and the rest followed, accompanied by our at tentive guides, who, despite the picturesque wildness of their appearance, were quite as careful of us as the tamest of liveried lackeys could have been. Some de gree of care was certainly necessary, for the steps, which were of wood, were extremely slippery, and by no means in very good repair. About thirty of these brought us upon the earthy floor of an enormous cavern, the extent of which our eight torches, though they blazed furiously, were quite incapable of show ing us. As the party separated, however, the lights flaming now here, now there, in the distance, pro duced most beautiful effects. The lofty roof and sides of this dark chamber form one enormous stalactite, which here and there of fered a bright surface, reflecting light in the midst of darkness, " Like to a good deed in a wicked world." From one extremity of the cavern branches a wide, irregular, and most fearful-looking passage, the NEBELHOHLE. 55 floor of which is tortuous with rocks, and dangerous from dark yawning crevices which a hundred torches could* not enable one to pass securely. Over this a tottering wooden gallery leads for several hundred feet into the earth, the whole distance being render ed interesting, and even beautiful, by the capricious and grotesque varieties of form which the sides and roof assume. Where the cavern begins to narrow into this passage yawns a black pool, which of course we were told was unfathomable ; for where is the German guide who, in a scene of mystery and terror, will fail to add some awful circumstance to enhance its effect? This black and apparently stagnant water, however, wants no aid to give it a striking and almost terrible power on the scene. Not only was every torch that approached it brightly and steadily reflected, but no sooner did a distant or passing light flash on any of the salient and wild forms of the surrounding rocks, than the inky mirror gave them back with such clear but fitful distinctness that no very active fancy was necessary to suggest the idea that the foul pool was peopled with unholy monsters, who ever and anon raised their unsightly heads to look upon us. Near the extremity of this long passage, where it makes an abrupt turning, is a huge mass of stone standing alone, and as it were springing from the earth, and wholly unconnected with the rock that forms the roof and sides of it. So strangely does this resemble an immense colossal statue, that more 56 NEBELHOHLE. than once I made a group of torches throw all their light upon it before I could be quite convinced that art had not in some degree assisted in shaping it. This singular formation, though not sheltered by iron network, is as carefully surrounded by a rail as the Hercules at the bottom of the stairs at Somer set House ; and our guides passed very reverently before it, while informing us that it was supposed to be the monarch and genius of the place. The whole scene, and every sound and feeling connected with it, — the torches, with the sometimes seen, and sometimes lost, figures of those who bore them, — the deep silence at one moment, and the whispered wonder at another, — the remembrance of the fierce Ulric who was driven to commune with his own bloody thoughts, alone and in darkness, within this vast and terrible labyrinth, altogether produced as powerful an effect upon the imagination as I ever remember to have experienced. Nevertheless, in the midst of this sort of strange trembling ecstasy into which it threw me, I was at once brought back to ordinary life and ordinary laughter by an exclamation from our abigail, whom we never leave out of any of our wonder-seeking excursions, because she enjoys them so heartily. " How shall I ever make any of them believe it ?" she cried, indulging in soliloquy as she stood shaking her torch on high, above the magic mirror that gave back that, and all it glared upon. " How shall I get them to understand it ? NEBELHOHLE. 57 What is there in all the world that I can tell them it is like?" This burst of anxiety lest her true histories should be accounted but as travellers' tales by the auditory she expected to find on her return, had so much comic but natural feeling in it, that it brought me down from my altitude at once. After a hearty laugh I remembered that I was cold, that I was tired, that I was hungry, and that the most rational thing we could possibly do would be to return to upper air with all convenient speed, and make our way to the promised breakfast on the promised rock, at a pace that might both warm our chilled limbs, and bring us within reach of warm coffee with as little delay as possible. It was not without some difficulty, however, that I collected my party ; for there seemed to be a spirit of emulation among them as to which should pene trate most boldly into the dark recesses of this fear ful but majestic chamber, and who should succeed best in producing startling effects by the skilful manoeuvring of their torches. But in this our two guides far outdid them all. They had not studied their profession in vain, and understood as well how to leap, dart, and fling their arms on high with horrific pantomimic action, as the most accomplished ballet-master could have taught them ; while ever and anon they struck the burning end of their pine torches vehemently against the rocks, which pro duced the double advantage of sending forth a 58 LICHTENSTEIN. radiant shower of sparks producing a beautiful effect in the darkness, and of making the wood, dis encumbered of its exhausted embers, flare as bright ly as a newly-snuffed candle. At length, curiosity being satisfied, and frolic weary, we issued forth, watched the heavy portal fall behind us, and, mounting the external steps, found ourselves in an atmosphere that felt by com parison like the African department of a forcing house : yet we were still so wet from the showers we had shaken from the boughs and brambles during our walk, that we collected the remains of all our torches, and, making a bonfire of them upon the little platform, stood gazing on the view, and drying our garments till the glowing pile became pale — as ashes. We should all have been well pleased if we had at that moment, and in that spot, found some good spirits of upper air ready to atone to us for all the fatigue and chilling coldness we had endured among their demoniacal subterranean neighbours, by spread ing a comfortable breakfast before us ; but a few strawberries and raspberries were all they offered us, and these proving very insufficient to satisfy the appetites of six hungry souls who for six hours had been in full activity, we summoned fresh strength and courage, and, under the guidance of one of our torch-bearers, set forward for Lichtenstein, the wild and often imperceptible track leading us along the top of the hill in whose entrails lay the cavern we LICHTENSTEIN. 59 had just quitted. Here again, as constantly happens to us whenever we give faith to a German's state ment of distance (unless he be a postmaster) the way proved greatly longer than we expected ; and faint and wearily, after another three miles of very rough walking, did we drag ourselves up the last steep ascent that led to the rock of Lichtenstein. This rock is bare only on the side that fronts the valley through which runs the high road, and seen from thence it looks, with the bleak castle on its top, as unscalable as the rock of Gibraltar; but the approach to it from behind, though quite abrupt enough to try the wind of such tired travellers as ourselves, presents no difficulty beyond a little fa tigue. It is, however, thickly covered by forest ; and the labour of the ascent is to the last moment uncheered and unrewarded by any glimpse of the landscape below. I never remember to have felt more totally overpowered and exhausted than on reaching the small spot of level ground behind the castle ; but certainly no cordial that has ever yet been discovered can so instantaneously rouse and refresh the spirits as the sudden sight of a wide and lovely landscape. A cry of rapture burst from the whole party ; and the strongest testimony I can bear to the singular beauty of the spot is, the assurance that many tempting points overhanging the bold though forest-covered precipice were visited before we sought the rest and food we so greatly needed. 60 LICHTENSTEIN. What once was a strong and warlike castle, is now a peaceful and very comfortable gasthaus, the situation of which is sufficiently remarkable and at tractive to draw custom, notwithstanding its remote ness and difficult approach. The rock on which it is built is a solitary crag, to which access would be impossible but for a bridge that connects it with the woody hill in front of which it stands, bare, solitary, and seemingly inaccessible. The downward view from this bold bridge, which is thrown across a very frightful chasm, is magnificent. The windows of the room in which we breakfasted, which, despite its sanded floor, and the long uncovered deal board that served for a table, is a chamber that it would be worth travelling some hundred miles to enter, hang over the wall of the precipice, which shows not a single inch of projection to mark where the rock ends and the masonry begins. The bare crag, how ever, is of no very great depth, — about two hundred and fifty feet as we guessed, — and is bedded in the rich and variegated foliage with which the whole of this beautiful range of hills is clothed. It was three o'clock before our lingering breakfast, and more lingering survey, were completed ; and glad ly would we have made it later still, but the plan of the day would not permit it : so, taking a last view of this very prettiest of " castled crags," we return ed by a rapid but by no means painful descent to Oberhaussen, resumed with considerable satisfaction the easier mode " of getting along" which our sober- URACH. 61 paced voiture afforded, and returned by the same beautiful road along the valley, or rather valleys, back to Reutlingen. Before I dismiss the history of this long morning's very interesting excursion, I must let you understand that we made it infinitely more fatiguing than was ne cessary. The road from Oberhaussen to Lichtenstein is perfectly practicable for a carriage ; and from Lich tenstein, over the hills, to within a very short dis tance of the Nebelhohle cavern, equally so I should think, at least during fine dry weather. Our blun der in setting out upon this Swabian tour was the not taking at the stables where we hired the carri age, a written and signed carte du voyage, specifying exactly to what points the vehicle was to take us. Had we done this, we should have had to walk one mile where we have now walked five or six. But, without this, there is no escaping the thraldom in which a driver may keep those who trust to him, by protesting that his master's horses " never did go up such hills, and never should." The road from Reutlingen to Urach is one that we ought to have run over at a good pace, but our ne'er-do-well of a driver had forgotten to convey un derneath his carriage, in the German mode, a provi sion of grease for his wheels ; and about halfway he stopped short, giving us the agreeable information that it was probable our equipage would soon be in flames, as the wheels were smoking away at a fright ful rate, and so hot that he had burned his hands by 62 URACH. touching them. A man at work on the road as sisted us in procuring water, the wheels were well drenched, and on we went, but in such evident terror on the part of the coachman lest the danger should recur, that we could have walked the stage faster than he drove us. We had turned from the beautiful valley, and the scenery was no longer such as to render such a slow movement a blessing, which would certainly have been the case in the morning. The road lay through a country devoted, as it should seem, to the bleaching of linen ; for several miles before we reached Urach, the meadows on both sides of the road were entirely covered with it. This place has many symptoms of by-gone im portance about it, and would, I doubt not, like all others in this land of local antiquities, well repay ex amination. But we cannot give it, for August is come, and the Tyrol and the Danube before us. So to morrow we set off for Ehingen, at which place we shall take our first glance at this mighty river. If it looks very bright, and runs very rapidly, I shall long to take boat and float down at once to Constan tinople. SEEBOURG, 63 LETTER VI. Valley of Seebourg. — Scarcity of food. — Miinzingen. — Ehingen. — The Danube. — Costumes. — A visit. — A Beautiful Bride. — Jodeln. — Ulm. — Protestant Minister. — Fine carving. — Shopping. — Louise. Ulm, 8th August 1836. Within a mile after leaving Urach, the road en ters upon one of the scenes to visit which we had left the direct road to this place. The little valley of Seebourg offers a species of scenery such as Tita- nia might have loved; everything is in miniature, but everything is perfect, and all the objects are in such admirable proportion to each other, that, though every feature is small, they convey altogether no feel ing of littleness. The richly wooded hills which en close it would elsewhere seem too lowly to excite attention or remark, but there they have almost the effect of towering mountains ; and the harmoniously- tinted rocks that protrude from their sides, con temptible as they may be deemed in size, are as pic turesque as if they were five hundred feet high ; for, in truth, the little valley that lies between is so nar row that its bright green herbage would look more like a path than a valley, were its boundary more lofty. In short, the valley of Seebourg is just such a 64 SEEBOURG. spot as my lord duke might like to have in his park, or the Elector of Hesse accept in exchange for his Wilhelmshohe by way of a garden. It lasts, however, for several miles, turning and winding with caprici ous prettiness till at last it becomes too narrow to admit the road, which then mounts the hill, leaving Seebourg and everything like beautiful scenery to gether. In the midst of this lovely little gorge we reached a miserable village from which it receives its name, and found there a proof that, though it had been named to us as a thing to be seen, and that we had found it perfect in its peculiar style of beauty, it had not, like the barren rock of Lichtenstein, the means of giving a welcome to the pilgrims who come to visit it. We entered two dwellings that hung out signals to travellers, but, though far from feeling any inclination to be fastidious, we found literally nothing on which" to break our long fast. Schnapps and black bread we might have had, but nothing more. Another hour brought us to Miinzingen, where we breakfasted very well, but with almost pastoral sim plicity ; and then proceeded to Ehingen through a country no way remarkable, — but here we first came upon the Danube. There is always much in a name, and that of this mighty river produced its due effect. Had it sounded less imposingly, I might not have kneeled down with so much reverence to dip my hands in its rapid but shallow stream. No beauty or grandeur of any kind waits upon it at this early EHINGEN. Q5 stage of its progress ; and had I not known that its waters reflected the mosques and minarets of Stam- boul, and that its name was Donau, I should have quarrelled with myself for striding over reeds and rushes to reach its bank, instead of remaining cool ly and quietly in the town to watch the humours of a fair held there on that day. This town of Ehingen was the first place at which we have seen any costumes greatly worth remark ing, and here they were various and strikingly pic turesque. About an hour before we were summon ed down stairs for dinner, the door of my bed-room, where I was sitting alone with my little portable desk before me, was gently opened, and a very pretty woman in very full dress entered. She was followed by another adorned with equal splendour, but rather less young, and decidedly less pretty than herself. They came, they said, to seek some one whom they fancied they should find there, and were civilly re tiring as soon as they perceived their mistake with abundance of courtesies and apologies ; but, notwith standing their really elegant apparel, it required no very quick powers of perception to discover that they were of that class whom avowedly to admire is not necessarily to offend, and I therefore ventured to request that they would walk in, that I might look at their beautiful dresses. This they did with smil ing good humour, and without the slightest affec tation of shyness ; and seemed, moreover, not at all displeased by my walking round them to examine VOL. I. F 66 EHINGEN. their whimsical but very becoming costume in all directions. A very pretty woman, very well dressed, seldom dislikes to be looked at, and the beauty of Ehingen saw no advantage in affecting it; so I was very quietly permitted to examine and admire all her adornments. The cap, which is of black velvet and wire, is however totally beyond my powers of description as to its form ; but a sketch may give you some idea of it, except indeed that the shining brightness of its golden centre cannot be duly conveyed by black and white. The delicate fabric, though large, is apparently very light ; and, to my thinking, as grace ful as it is fanciful,— far more so than any of the Swiss head-gears with which our fancy-balls have made us familiar. Abundant chains, both of gold and silver, suspended from the neck, rested upon a delicate lace chemisette; and round the waist rich heavy ropes were twisted of the same precious; metals, which hung in graceful festoons upon a large full apron of the softest and richest crimson; silk. This apron covered nearly the whole of the, petticoat, and, together with the gold and , silye^ ornaments, gave an appearance of real splendour, to the whole attire, which received its last finish front a handkerchief fringed with silver. tm After I had completed my. ".review, and receiyegl many pretty smiles in return for the admiration Is most sincerely expressed, my visitors began to ana lyze a little in their turn ; and my writing-desk, and 5Sr*iva «" 3E O F E MXK'f&JE J London . Published "by ItJcharH Bfinjawr 1 A^.7 EHINGEN. 67 all its appurtenances, were as strictly looked through as if the fair examiners had been emissaries of the police in search of treasonable papers. All the ar rangements, from the case of scissors and pen-knives down to the recess for wafers, enchanted them quite as much as their finery did rne ; and, our friendship being thus firmly established on the basis of mutual esteem, I opened the door that led to our sitting- room, and presented the fair strangers in form to the rest of the party. The sudden apparition of these unexpected guests in their showy and gala-like attire produced so much sensation, that the two young women blushed and smiled as a debutante might do when receiving the applause of a crowded theatre. H — immediately exclaimed," I must sketch them;" and in an instant his ready crayons were brought forth. Some little show of reluctance followed our explanation of his purpose, but it soon yielded to our entreaties ; and, with an air of well-pleased con sciousness, the fair sisters permitted themselves to be placed as he wished to see them. The sketch was wonderfully soon made, and caused no small surprise and pleasure to the pretty originals. " Schon ! schon !" was echoed from one to the other for many minutes without ceasing, till at length, being satisfied with gazing at themselves, they turned their attention to C — , and examining her black silk dress and unadorned head with a kind of grave earnestness that seemed reasoning on the con- f 2 68 EHINGEN. trast between themselves and her, the beauty ex claimed, " Alles schwarz !" in a tone that certainly did not denote anything like admiration ; but imme diately added, " Sie ist auch sehr schtine ;" and, throw ing her arms round her, she gave her a very tender embrace, blushing the while most beautifully at the liberty she was taking. We were now told that our dinner, or, as our principal meal is invariably called at every gasthaus, our supper, was waiting for us, and we descended to the general speisen zimmer, leaving our pretty guests in possession of our chamber, for they appeared to see no reason whatever that they should leave it because we were called to eat. We found our meal very neatly spread for us at one end of a long table ; and preparations for a lighter repast, of which cakes and wine made a part, were actively going on at the other. Three men, one old and two young, all very trimly dressed en habit de fete, were standing evi dently in waiting at the cake and wine end of the board ; and, a few minutes after we had seated our selves at the other, our two gaily dressed fair friends entered. The manner in which they were received by the spruce gentlemen, the anxious arrangement among the men for their placing themselves pro perly, together with the tender glances and ob servant attentions of one of the young men to the beauty, soon unraveled all the mystery of these sur prisingly gay costumes. It was a bridal party ; and the fair blushing girl, as we speedily learnt, had that EHINGEN. 69 morning pledged her troth to the happy-looking bridegroom. It was in this town that we first heard that pe culiar falsetto, called, in the language of the country, Jodeln, and by the rest of the world, Tyrolese sing ing. I hardly know why the ear takes pleasure in it, for it is a mere trick, and- no more like the legitimate notes of the human voice than it is like a Jew's harp. The truth is, I believe, that we are accustomed to associate it in our minds with ideas of Alps and chamois hunters, picturesque hats and embroidered jerkins, and therefore kindle at the sound, as if listening to it would bring one nearer to the mountains. Something like this was, I am cer tain, my own feeling as I hung out of my window at Ehingen, to catch the sounds of a voice which had little in it worth listening to, except the power of producing notes originally invented to serve as a call between one mountain top and another. Never theless, I did listen to it with unwearying perseve rance for nearly an hour. At six o'clock on the following morning we set off for Ulm, which we reached at eleven, after a long drive, whose principal charm lay in improving our acquaintance with the Danube ; upon whose rapid stream it is our intention, about a month hence, to trust ourselves, with no better protection against all it can do to us, than the deals of a flat boat trading from Ratisbon to Vienna. It is, I pre sume, a feeling of honour that makes men courageous, 70 ULM. which feeling, Heaven help us! has, I doubt, but small effect upon feminine nerves in the hour of danger; but, on the other hand, what deeds of hardihood will not all-powerful curiosity lead us to perform ! This voyage of the Danube will, as we are told, occupy a week : rapids, shallows, and a course so serpentine as inevitably to produce con trary winds for much of its length, are to be en countered ; and, worse than all, no English Milors have as yet made the passage easy by that mysterious power inherent in them, by which rough roads be come smooth, dirty inns grow into superb hotels, and leaky boats into stately steam-vessels. Never theless, so strongly does this feminine passion work within us, that we would not give up this projected voyage down the Danube for more than I will say. A little above Ulm, the slow yet turbid Iller rolls its yellow stream into the Danube, and appears at once nearly to double its volume. The country looks rich and carefully cultivated, but has no beauty of outline ; and the immediate banks of the river are tame as those of the Thames at Battersea. Ulm is a large old town, but its objects of interest do not immediately sautent aux yeux. The Mini ster is in truth the only thing we have found to look at, but in this there is certainly a good deal deserv ing examination There are several exceedingly curious alto-reliefs on the outside of the building, though their subjects pass all human understanding. The west front, which is much spoken of, is singular, ULM. 71 and of considerable elegance : it is composed of a portico consisting of three high and light, almost lancet, arches ; above which rises the highly wrought tower, not high, but very rich both in workman ship and colour, and venerable in its most carefully preserved antiquity. The interior is chiefly remarkable for its chaste simplicity and great height. It has five aisles ; those on each side being divided by a row of very lofty pillars, light and bold almost to excess. The mag nificent oak carving of the choir is of itself enough to render some pause necessary in passing through the town, for it is quite unique. The churches both of Amiens and Louvain, and probably many others, are richer in the ordinary style of ornamental work ; but here every stall has a fine spirited head above it, full of life and varied expression, and all in the most perfect preservation, the sharpness of outline being as uninjured as if they had been finished yesterday. Each one bears its name, and among these the guide pointed out those of Cicero, Seneca, and Terence ; strange company to meet in a Christian cathedral ! This church is a Protestant one, and has been so, as our guide informed us with much apparent satis faction, since the time of Luther. With this fact before one, it is impossible not to remark how ten derly the early reformers treated the outward and visible signs of the faith whose errors they lived to correct. Except in the comparative simplicity 72 ULM. of the altar, there is scarcely any thing to announce to the eye that the worship performed there is not still Roman Catholic. Having completed our examination of the church, C — and I set off together on a cap-buying expedi tion, which led to something very like an adventure. However accomplished may be les Marchandes des modes of the town of Ulm, it is not their custom to exhibit specimens of their art at the windows ; and consequently my daughter and I wandered up one street and down another till we were very tired, without perceiving the slightest indication that such an article as a cap might be procured. We had almost given up the quest as desperate, when, perceiving a lady approaching who had some thing more French than Swabian in her appearance, I boldly addressed her, stating my wants and wishes, and begging her to tell me if there were any chance of my succeeding in my search. I was right in my conjecture ; the lady was French, and, with the most amiable good-nature, volunteered to conduct me to a house where caps were fabricated. The distance was not great, and our conversation en route consisted chiefly of my thanks, and her assur ances " qu'il n'y avait pas de quoi." At length we reached the obscure little mansion she sought, and having passed through a carpenter's shop, and mounted something very like a ladder, we found ourselves vis a-vis to a little glass-case filled with caps, and in presence of a young woman ULM. 73 who promised to furnish me before night with what my kind interpreter made her understand I wanted. I then wrote down my address at the hotel, de scended the ladder-like steps, and at the door of the mansion once more expressed my thanks for all the trouble she had so kindly taken, and then took leave of my obliging guide. We then wandered back again towards our hotel, looked at a fountain on the way, and meeting T — near the Minister, re-entered it wifh him ; so that, perhaps, an hour had elapsed before our return. On reaching our rooms, I found a letter lying on my table, with the address I had given the milliner- It was from the lady who had conducted me to her, and its chief purport was to inquire if it were my purpose to visit Vienna. While I was in the act of replying to this, she arrived herself; and, strange and unwarranted as this visit might seem to be, there was a delicacy and gentleness in her manner which made it quite impossible that it should be offensive. She told me that circumstances made her very earnestly desire to settle herself for a time in Vienna, . . . She first hesitated, then became quite silent, and at last looked so very much as if she wished to be alone with me, that the three gentlemen left the room. She warmly expressed her gratitude of this attention, and then proceeded to tell me that her family were among those who had left France in the year 30, that her father had held a lucrative 74 ULM. situation under the exiled family, and that she had herself been distinguished by their personal favour. " II y a une dame" she continued, "Oh! si j'e"tais pres d'elle ! . . . . cette dame .... Ah Madame ! . . . cette dame .... enfin c'est la Duchesse d'Angou- leme !" I began to suspect that I was about to be elected as the medium of a correspondence between my stranger guest and the illustrious lady she had named; and as such an office, notwithstanding my very sincere reverence for this ill-fated princess, was one which for a multitude of very obvious reasons I should not choose to accept, I hastened to stop any farther confidence by declaring that I could not be the medium of any intercourse whatever between a subject of France and the distinguished lady she had named. She eagerly assured me, in reply, that she was perfectly aware of the impropriety of such a request, and that it was by no means her purpose to make it ; but added, that if I visited Vienna, and should hear of any person of condition who would accept the services of a demoiselle bien elev6e, either as companion, or governess to a child, she would very gladly offer herself to them ; adding, that could she by my means find "une position honnite pres . . .pres de la famille" she should for ever bless the chance that had thrown her in my way. It is so extremely improbable that I should ever be able to assist her in obtaining what she wishes, ULM. 75 even if I thought it right to attempt it, that I was very earnest in my entreaties that she would fix no hope on me ; but she would not quit me without leaving her address. She told me that she had settled to leave Ulm to-morrow, for the purpose of rejoining her mother, and with no other hope to cheer her but the vague chance of finding some means of re-uniting herself to her almost worshipped patroness, without however (as she said with great earnestness) becoming a burden to her. There was such a deep and thrilling melancholy in the tone of her voice, that, joined as it was to great enthusiasm, both of affection and piety, ex pressed by her words, it strongly conveyed the idea of a mind unsettled by suffering. It was clear to me, also, that a reverence for the Roman Catholic faith, and for the Duchesse d Angouleme, made up one single and indivisible feeling in her mind ; and could the noble lady she so deeply venerates become an abbess, and herself a nun under her holy sway, I really believe that the meek-looking Louise de would ask no more of fate or fortune so long as her earthly race should endure. Something more ambitious might mix, perhaps, with her aspirations for the state beyond. Hopes of canonization for her mistress, and a place in the heavenly host that should wait upon her for herself, may not impro bably mingle with the thoughts which give to her mournful eyes that air of looking at something beyond human ken, so strongly indicative both of 76 ULM. the existence of intellect, and the confusion of it. Poor Louise ! ... If I mistake not greatly, not even the restoration of the race whose exile has blighted her existence, could now avail to cure the misery it has brought ! ****** I have written till it is quite time to prepare for the early rising of to-morrow, by going to bed. So, farewell till we meet at Augsburg ! AUGSBURG. 77 LETTER VII. Augsburg. — Fresco Paintings. — Fine Fountains. — Platz Maximi lian. — Hall of the Confession. — Catholic Cathedral. — Prevailing display of Roman Catholic feeling. — Church of St. Ulric and St. Afra — General Splendour of the Augsburg Churches. — Market Day. — Costumes. — Goitre. — Sketch. — Pictures for Sale. — City Gallery. — Hans Holbein. — History of St. Paul. — The Golden Hall. — Public Gardens. — Threatened Cholera. Augsburg, 11th August 1836. We reached this place, so famed in Protestant records, on the 9th, and have been on the full gaze ever since, hoping, but vainly I believe, to see every thing worth looking at. If antique quaintness, strangeness of outline, grotesque costumes, and, in a word, the most perfectly unwonted aspect in every object that meets the eye, can suffice to gratify the craYing for novelty to which most travellers are subject, Augsburg is the place to seek it. Houses, churches, streets, palaces, fountains, pictures, statues, men, women, and children, are, each and every of them, unlike all and every thing one has ever seen of the same species elsewhere. It is delightful to remember how various are the sources of pleasure within the reach of every mortal who will take the trouble of looking about to find 78 AUGSBURG. them. It is not alone the beautiful and the sublime that can produce it : the grotesque, the whimsical, nay, even the uncouth, if they appear in forms new, and in some sort picturesque, are equally capable of rousing and interesting the mind. I believe we have all felt the truth of this, while walking about the streets of this town with what has seemed insatiable and unwearying curiosity. The first peculiarity, which seizes the eye is that the front of most of the houses, excepting such as are of recent date, present a collection of pictures in very brilliant colours, and often executed with great freedom and boldness of drawing. The sub jects are for the most part Scriptural, and each picture is surrounded by an arabesque border, always rich and elaborate, and often elegant. The whole of this al fresco exhibition is not, however, in equally good taste ; one large house presents a widely ex tended and lofty gable to the street, entirely covered, from its broad foundation to its pointed top, with graphic representations of all the multitudinous arti cles of a grocer's trade. — Casks, boxes, bales, candles, sugar, cheese, are all vividly represented, packed and piled upon each other with excellent skill and arrangement. We are puzzled to decide whether this curious display of painting be in oil or fresco. Many of them, however, are on wooden structures, and these, as Mr. H — observes, must be in oil. Others, placed too high for close examination, appear to be in fresco; AUGSBURG. 79 but, if so, they must be executed in some manner peculiarly adapted to resist the action of rain and wind, as the colours are almost uniformly bright, and the entire picture in many instances in perfect preservation. Another wonder of this strangely magnificent old town is its fountains, not so much, indeed, those intended for use, as those consecrated to show ; all such being carefully surrounded by iron railings to prevent the approach of any presumptuous pail that might wish to receive some of the multitude of clear streams which issue from the urns of the Neptunes and Naiads of which they are composed. These streams fly into the air, and return to the rich basins prepared to receive them, crossing each other in all directions so as to form a crystal net-work around the figures, and making, in truth, as pretty colossal toys as one would wish to see. Two stately bronze structures of this description adorn the Platz Maxi milian. I doubt if any town in the world can afford a much finer coup d'oeil than this noble area, thus embellished, affords ; and I shall certainly never seek to recall a splendid town view, without seeing Maxi milian Platz, at Augsburg, with its bronze fountains, in my mind's eye. Of course we have not failed to visit the venerable hall in which Melancthon (for Luther was not pre sent) so boldly pronounced the celebrated confession of faith of the Protestants of Germany, in presence of the imperial Charles V. It is a large handsome 80 AUGSBURG. room, but not so majestic an apartment as sundry engravings of the remarkable scene had led me to expect ; but, had it been a barn, it would have been entered with deep reverence. It is situated on the second floor of what was once the episcopal resi dence, but which now appears to be used only for public offices. Of the many churches of Augsburg volumes might easily be written, and yet leave volumes still to write. The Catholic cathedral, notwithstanding its positive ugliness, is strangely rich, and strangely interesting. Like those of Mayence and of Worms, it has two rounded choirs, and two master altars. Every pillar of the nave, excepting that which sup ports the pulpit, has a rich altar and altar-piece, all very nearly uniform. In one of the transepts hang a range of portraits of all the bishops of Augsburg, with their names and dates. The series begins about 650, and ends 1750, comprising seventy-one bishops, averaging about fifteen years and a half for each bishop. Several of them had a glory round their heads, and these we presumed had been canonized. We remarked great variety in the cos tumes, particularly in the form of the mitres. The cloisters are of high antiquity, containing an immense collection of monuments. On one mural tablet in the church, bearing a recent date — somewhere in the eighteenth century, — we were puzzled by the arras engraven on it being reversed. What this might indicate, we were none of us sufficient heralds to AUGSBURG. 81 decide. To a genuine antiquary this church would furnish a fund of study and delight, inexhaustible for weeks. Another fine large church, dedicated to St. Ulric and St. Afra, also furnishes a treasure in the same line. But truly the spirits of Luther and Melanc thon would be sore troubled could they look down upon the city in which their pure faith was so nobly proclaimed, and see how rankly every species of Catholic superstition flourishes there, apparently in a greater degree than is now found in most other places. As if in defiance of the wisdom once heard within its walls, Augsburg appears to me to be more crammed with all sorts of Catholic relics and records of miracles than any place I ever saw : not a street, too, but bears witness to their worship of the Virgin ; and hardly a house but has its painted, carved, or plastered saint on the front of it. In the church of St. Ulric and St. Afra, the Catholicism displayed in every part of it is carried to the most mystical excess. In many cases where we have met with this, it has raised a smile, either by the grotesque manner in which some of the symbols have been displayed^ or from that incongruous mixture of what is really sacred with what is childish and trumpery, which so quickly catches the eye of a Protestant. But nothing resembling a smile was likely to be excited here : every thing in this majestic church is solemn, .magnificent, gloomy, and austere. I shuddered, but vol. r. G 82 AUGSBURG. I did not smile, as I looked on the skeleton of St. Afra, stretched out above her altar, the ghastly bones displayed through transparent lace, and the skull and finger-joints resplendent with the richest gems. It is superstition in the highest, but to my feelings there is nothing comic in it. On the opposite side of the church, the partner saint, St. Ulric, lies entombed with less unseemliness of exhibition, but with every circumstance that can betoken almost idolatrous reverence, or excite trem bling awe. In order to look upon his tomb with its well-carved effigy and decorations, it is necessary to descend into a vault some feet below the level of the church, where he lies dimly seen by the glimmer of the eternal lamp that burns before him, aided by the faint day-light that finds its way from the church above. Many persons were offering adoration at both these shrines while we were there. I will not, for I dare not, describe any more of these fine churches to you ; but I pray you not to suppose that I could find no more to say about them. Seldom have we left our hotel, for all the multitude of expeditions we have made since our arrival, with out finding some new one (old enough in truth, but new to us,) wherein to wonder and admire. Colossal saints that look like solid gold, — altars one hundred feet in height, resplendent from base to pinnacle with the same precious gilding,— walls of whose ma terial it is impossible to guess, so closely are they covered by monuments, pictures, statues, ex votos, AUGSBURG. 83 and so forth. In all of these, gold, or the semblance of gold, so greatly predominates over every other material, that it is difficult not to fancy oneself next door to the mines of Golconda. All this, and more than this, have we seen and wondered at in this once imperial, and still splendid town of Augsburg. But all this can only be alluded to on the principle of " guarda e passa ;" for I must not, if I can help it, already set you to sleep among the venerable memo rials of Teutonic grandeur, which in these old cities are not only rich and gorgeous beyond what it is possible to imagine without seeing them, but so nu merous and reduplicated withal, that to rehearse each by its name and station would be a task of great labour to me, though in the reading you might probably find the composition as tranquillising as a dose of opium. There are, however, some living objects of in terest at Augsburg, which, difficult as it is to believe it while looking at them, are as really and truly be longing to the nineteenth century as ourselves. I never felt myself in so dreamy, vapourish, and fanci ful a state of mind as while parading the market place of this town, surrounded by some hundreds of living, moving, chattering, and chaffering men and women, many of them in all the bloom and beauty of youth, yet all looking to my eyes as if they had been preserved in cabinets for some hundred years. Nothing but the old faithful German pictures, in which our collections are most lamentably deficient, g 2 84 AUGSBURG. (for I speak not either of Flemish or of Dutch,) — nothing but the old German school of painting can convey an idea of the groups presented by the mar ket-day of Augsburg. I almost doubt if a market- day in China could have made me feel more com pletely in a new world. On the whole, however, I must confess, that though we saw many, very many, extremely pretty faces under them, the head-dresses, generally speaking, were more remarkable for being strangely grotesque, than peculiarly becoming. Most of the female peasants have a mixture of gold or silver in their caps, but in most instances it is mixed with black ribbons, which look as if they likewise were heir-looms in their respective families. The most prevailing fashion among the infinite variety of heads which this busy day had collected from all the villages round, was a huge pair of golden or of silver horns, placed on the top of the head, and pro jecting backwards, forming by far the least becoming coiffure that I remember to have seen. What is far more disfiguring, however, than these protruding horns, or any other of the queer devices by which the women distinguish themselves is, the dreadful goitre, which, though we are still at some distance from the mountains, is becoming very gene ral. We passed the frontier between Wurtemberg and Bavaria soon after quitting Ulm, and many features, of which this is decidedly one, mark a very distinct difference between the two countries. The most important of these differences, however, is the AUGSBURG. 85 change from Protestantism, which, if not general in Wurtemberg, is decidedly predominant, to so mark ed and universal a display of the Catholic faith as no country that I have yet visited, except Flanders, can equal. The costumes, too, are singularly unlike, considering that we are as yet but forty miles from the frontier, and that this frontier is marked by an imaginary line only. In the market-place of Augsburg there were not less than ten or twelve distinct costumes that were quite new to us. A very massive species of neck lace, consisting of many rows of gold, silver, or co loured beads, fastened upon a foundation of black velvet and worn round the throat, evidently for the purpose of concealing the goitre, is almost general ; but unfortunately the deformity cannot be concealed, and becomes, perhaps, only more painfully conspi cuous from these glittering decorations. In very young girls, under fifteen, I think it is rarely very remarkable, though it is not difficult to perceive a peculiarity in the form of the throat that indicates its approach ; but, after this age, it is seldom that any female among the labouring classes is entirely without it, and in many cases the excess of it is frightful. It is hardly possible to suppose that such a deformity can exist without affecting the health ; yet I have never heard that it does so. In parading the market, our friend, Mr. H really appeared to suffer from an embarras de ri- chesse. The men, indeed, offered but little variety ; 86 AUGSBURG. but among the women it was difficult to select any subject for the pencil, which the figure that passed next might not make him wish to abandon for her still stranger decoration. One old lady, however, soon caught and fixed his delighted eye, and for her he abandoned youth, beauty, golden horns, and embroi dered bodices ; for she was of a rank above all such ordinary finery, wearing a dress peculiar to herself alone. It was not a little amusing to watch him chasing her round and round the market, while she was bargaining for a goose at one place, eggs at another, and cabbage at a third, till at length he fairly booked her. This venerable lady, whose hair Was as white as snow, wore a cap entirely of gold, and that, too, very richly wrought ; beneath it was a sort of curtain of the very finest lace, which behind hung down nearly to her shoulders. She was fol lowed by a handmaiden who carried a basket ; and, by the many respectful salutations she received, was evidently a person of some importance in the city. She was, however, the only, one we saw, much above the lower orders, whose dress was thus decidedly local in its fashion. The other ladies employedin performing the part of bonnes menageres, and pur chasing provisions for their families; neither wore gold upon their heads, nor a dozen breadths of thick camlet in their petticoats. Many of thenl had neat white caps; some few, bonnets; and, what for ever put them out of the reach of Mr. H — 's pencil, they all carried about them more or less the semblance of 1AEKET AT ATCSBTOIG, AUGSBURG. 87 gigot sleeves, — an offence against the picturesque which I have never known him forgive. Having effectually got possession of the old lady and her cap, he looked round for something equally inviting among those who were there to sell, and not to buy ; and was not long in discovering a far mer's wife, who stood stoutly erect amidst the throng, her basket of butter and eggs suspended to her girdle, and presenting so perfect a specimen of her class, with her short petticoats, white sleeves ruffled with lace, gold ear-rings, black cap, and em broidered stomacher, that he immediately got an interpreter to propose to her, that for the considera tion of a suitable fee and reward she should, so soon as her basket should be empty, repair to the hotel, and permit him to take her portrait. The old lady stared at him for a minute or two with a most comic expression of astonishment, but the bargain was agreed to without difficulty ; she was faithful to her appointment : the sketch was made, and a more perfectly resembling portrait I certainly never saw. # # # # # While inquiring whither we were to direct our steps, in order to see the Augsburg gallery of pic_ tures, we were strongly recommended by the valet- de-place to visit en route what he assured us was a most choice and valuable collection of old Italian, German, and Flemish pictures, made by an artist, and exhibited at one of the principal hotels, chiefly for the sake of accommodating such English Rus- 88 AUGSBURG. sian, French, and Dutch noblemen as might be especially travelling for the sake of increasing their museums at home. We took his advice, and entered what looked very like an auctioneer's exhibition-room in London ; ex cept that the pictures exhibited were considerably worse than such a room is generally likely to contain. I never saw so deliberate a preparation for im position ; nevertheless, I would decidedly have all picture-loving travellers visit the collection and judge for themselves, as it is certainly possible, and indeed probable, that in such a country as Bavaria no gal lery exhibiting a succession of pictures for sale, but must occasionally contain something better than those we chanced to see. But to such purchasers as are apt to lay out their money in pictures, trusting rather to the well-known richness of the land than to their own judgment, I would say, with the warn ing voice of a friend, " Beware the sale-rooms at Augsburg ! " Having wasted half an hour here, we proceeded to visit the city gallery, which, in its way, is one of great interest. It boasts of Italian works from Michael Angelo downwards, and really possesses one or two excellent pictures from that side the Alps ; but its peculiar and especial value consists in pictures of the old German school, and particularly those of Hans Holbein. The works of this admirable but singular artist may be seen here in a degree of per fection, of which the specimens scattered throughout AUGSBURG. 89 England, fine as they are, can give no idea. Those who are familiar with the pictures of this great mas ter as found with us, where more of his admirable portraits are to be met, I believe, than anywhere else, are aware of the wonderful truth and vivacity with which his hard pencil worked. The noble pic ture at the Merchant Tailors' Hall, too, despite the villanous taste in which it is composed, and its abo minably defective drawing, shows well the patient yet spirited excellence of detail of which he was ca pable : but none of these approach in truth, delicacy, or vigour, to the history of St. Paul, at Augsburg. This is really a marvellous work, though the compo sition of the pictures is almost barbarous, and the drawing often distorted ; nevertheless, it well deserves the long and patient examination without which it cannot be fairly appreciated. Exquisite finish alone, highly as it often is, and deserves to be, estimated, cannot in general be the species of excellence most calculated to excite the enthusiasm of an amateur critic; it may be dis played almost as effectually on velvet and satin, gold and silver, a porcelain vase or a Persian car pet, as on the human face divine. But where this skilful and laborious finishing is made the vehicle of expression so strictly true to nature that every muscle seems to live, it becomes an excellence of the highest order. No one, I think, who examines the works of Holbein in the Augsburg collection, can fail to accord him this praise. It is impossible 90 AUGSBURG. to doubt that every head in these crowded pictures is a portrait, most masterly true to the life. No human genius could invent the little subtile delicate varieties of expression which distinguish every coun tenance. Nothing is exaggerated, nothing is forced. There are no Rembrandt monstrosities of Judaical scorn, nor indeed any Raphael-like imaginings of superhuman grace ; but every face is as true a specimen of human nature as if we saw it reflected from a living model in a diminishing mirror. There are also one or two excellent pictures by Albert Durer in this interesting old collection, and many other curious specimens of the same school; nor would it be fair to deny that they have a few valuable Italian pictures ; but these are so borne down by the overpowering interest of the German portion of the gallery, that I shall better succeed in conveying to you an idea of the whole, by saying nothing about them. There is one more Augsburg wonder that I must not omit to mention, not only as it is in itself most truly magnificent and worthy of attention, but as being the best type and specimen of what this city was in the days of her civic greatness, when her merchants ranked as princes in the land. The Golden Hall, as it is aptly called, which makes part of the Stadthaus, is beyond all comparison the most stately and imposing chamber I ever entered. It is a double-cube, one hundred and twenty feet long. The majestic height of sixty feet is lighted by three AUGSBURG. 91 stages of windows ; and therefore, though the walls and ceiling are of cedar, it has nothing of gloom to lessen the splendour of its massive gilding, or obscure the rich colouring of the compartments of the ceil ing, wherein each branch of commerce to which the town owed its enormous wealth is illustrated by an allegorical figure. The doors, three of which front the entrance from the great staircase, are perfectly superb in their vast proportions and splendid deco ration ; in short, the effect of the whole is incom parably greater than that produced by the most gorgeous modern apartment that I can imagine. There is, I assure you, something almost awful in its rich and massive vastness ; and I have still in my ears the sound of my own childish " Oh !" as the double doors were thrown open for us to enter. That we might see this town, which still ranks as second in Bavaria for commercial importance, — that we might see it fairly under every aspect, we last night went to a public garden without the gates, where the paper of the morning announced a fete, music, dancing, and so forth. We entered the gar dens very nearly at the hour dictated by the expe rienced valet-de-place ; but though we found many portly burghers with their comely fraus drinking beer, the gentlemen smoking, and the ladies knitting all the time, there were no symptoms either of mu sic or dancing during the period our patience en abled us to stay. We inquired in vain for opera, concert, or theatre ; there was nothing of the kind 92 AUGSBURG. to be found, nor did it appear that the staid and sober citizens considered such frivolities necessary. The appearance of the company in the garden taught us the value of the chance which gave us a market-day here ; for, instead of the amusing variety of costume which so greatly delighted us on that occasion, we now saw nothing, except the uni versal smoking and knitting, that could at all re mind us of being in Germany ; the dresses being very much like what we might see at a smart guin- guette near Paris. yfc $fc V if; ip We had just brought all our investigations to a conclusion, and the voiturier engaged to take us to Innspruck was almost ready to start, when our host of the Gulden Traube entered the room, and ad dressed us in excellently good English, as follows : " Ladies ! gentlemen ! I have, if it please you, something important to say." " What is it ?" " What is it ?" was uttered in tones of alarm by more than one voice, for the manner of the address was such as evidently threatened unpleasant tidings. " I must tell you, though I grieve at it ; I must tell you, for it is my duty. You must be informed of the truth." We trembled, — at least I can answer for my self, and stood before him anxiously awaiting the sequel. " Yes," he continued with a solemn sigh, " I must AUGSBURG. 93 let you know it. The cholera, ladies and gentle men, — the cholera is raging at Innspruck. It has suddenly broke out with the utmost violence. The authorities of Augsburg have just issued orders that none shall enter here within fifteen days from quit ting Innspruck. Alas ! ladies, it is very bad !" We looked at each other with somewhat of dis may; but did not, as was perhaps expected, give any demonstration of having altered our intentions : on the contrary, one of the party exclaimed, " Well ! we must take our chance." " You are then resolved to go ? In that case you must each drink every day one glass of that wine called port. You have it much in England." With these words, rather solemnly pronounced, our obliging landlord took his leave, having first looked round upon us all as if to see how we bore it. No sooner had he quitted the room than a board of health was immediately formed, and the cholera question taken into very serious consideration. We had none of us the slightest inclination to run into any danger that could be avoided, and less still, if possible, to submit ourselves to the purgatory of quarantine. But was the statement of mine host to be listened to with implicit faith ? Was Innspruck — was the Tyrol to be given up at a word ? — which, after all, might prove nothing more than an ingenious mode of saying " Stay a little longer.'' 94 AUGSBURG. These questions were answered by a universal " No ! No ! No !" And the preparations for depart ure were immediately resumed, though not without a very deep sigh, and very expressive shrug, from my maid. We have decided upon leaving the heavier part of our baggage here, in order to facilitate our jour- neyings among the mountains ; for, as usual, we do not intend that these should be confined solely to the high-roads of the Tyrol, which, beautiful as we expect to find them, will hardly suffice to satisfy our aspirations after crags and torrents. The indispensable parts of our wardrobes are now receiving the last arranging touches from our re luctant handmaid, an order to put his horses to has been despatched to our cocher, and in another half-hour we shall be en route for Innspruck, despite the dark forebodings of our landlord. Farewell, then ! my desk must be closed. If the threatened pestilence spare us, it will be opened again in the Tyrol. AUGSBURG. 95 LETTER VIII. Ominous farewell of the Augsburg Landlord. — Plain of Landsberg. — Late Arrival. — Night Adventure. — Mysterious Supper. — Early Mass. — Approach to the Mountains. — Tyrolian Breakfasts. — Rough Travelling. — Entrance of the Tyrol. — Partenkirch. — Mi neral Springs. — Difficulty of finding shelter. — Tyrolian Scenery. — Great Beauty. — Bad Accommodation. — Pretty Fences. — Beau tiful Turf. — Mittenwald. — Manufactory of Fiddles. — Seefeld and its Miracle. — Descent to Zerl. Innspruck, August 14, 1836. The last words of our Augsburg host, as we drove from his door, were, " Good afternoon to you, ladies and gentlemen ; I wish you well with all my heart ! .... I hope and trust you may yet come back for your luggage in safety, and without any one of the party having fallen a sacrifice to the cholera! .... Should it be otherwise" .... But the carriage drove off, and we heard no more. This ominous kind of blessing sounded but harshly in our ears ; nevertheless, I believe, that we none of us felt disposed to repent the resolution we had taken ; but wholly dismissing the subject from our conversation, and as much as might be from our thoughts, we drove off with the consoling belief, that before night we should gain at least a distant 96 landsberg. view of the mountains of the Tyrol, — a sort of stimulant well enough calculated to drive all petty horrors away. From Augsburg to Landsberg, a distance of twenty-two English miles, our road lay over an immense plain, unbroken by any interval whatever. It is one of the most dreary drives I remember. Large herds of cattle grazing to the right and left were almost the only living objects which met the eye ; so large, indeed, were these herds as to remind us of the troops of buffaloes of whose terrible ap proach Mr. Cooper speaks so eloquently. The vast meadow, too, might not inaptly be compared to an American prairie, for its limit was beyond our ken, and its level and uncultivated surface equally desolate. Except the cattle, the only things that lived and moved before us were starlings, of which enormous flocks covered the ground in many places to a great extent : now and then a few of them rose a little way into the air as we drove past, but in general they seemed not to heed us at all ; and so strangely desert and forsaken of man did the scene appear, that I could almost have exclaimed with Selkirk, " Their tameness is shocking to me !" It was on this vast plain of Landsberg, that Otto fought and won his tremendous battle with the Huns. It was extremely lucky that we thought of this, as it gave us a theme for conversation, and moreover enabled us to people the wearisome desert LECHFELD. 97 with troops of advancing and retreating barbarians, as horrific and sublime as it pleased our fancies to make them. At a little village called Lechfeld, which we reach ed after passing rather more than half the plain, we stopped for an hour to bait the horses; and, while they were luxuriously eating their black bread, we perseveringly mounted to the top of an enormous calvary, artificially rising from the plain, and con taining altogether sixty wooden figures as large as life, but so horribly hideous in their strange and wild grotesqueness, that they positively made me shud der, and turn away from them. I asked my maid what she thought good Christians would say to such tremendous representations at home. " They would say," she replied, " that it was very horrid, and very shocking, and not right at all ! " The only thing that in any degree cheered us through this tedious five hours' drive, was the appa rition of a distant outline, which at first we took for that of a heavy mass of clouds, but which at last was proclaimed almost in a shout to be mountains, and they were hailed with a degree of pleasure not greatly inferior to that produced by the first sight of land after a long voyage. It was growing vexatiously dark, however, when we reached Landsberg, which appeared to be one of those queer puzzling old towns, under every archway of which one longs to penetrate ; but we were fain to VOL. I. h 98 LANDSBERG. content ourselves with looking at the heavy outline of many an antique tower, rising in fine dark sil houette-like relief upon the clear grey sky. While thus engaged, our voiturier halted ; and we perceived that, before we could hope to be lodged for the night, a steep hill was to be overcome, for an addi tional horse was now tied by a stout rope to the pole of the carriage. We rejoiced at this approach to a hill, for it seemed an agreeable change after the plain of Landsberg ; but, when half-way up, we would gladly have been restored to level ground, for, from the angle at which we were placed, the operation was very like being dragged up the side of a church steeple. At length, but not without considerable difficulty, the summit was gained ; and the carriage stopped before a long, large, dismal-looking gasthaus, which the driver however assured us was the best in the place. The gentlemen, who had all climbed the hill on foot, entered to inquire for beds, but returned to us in half a moment with every appearance of dis comfiture, and bringing the sad tidings that there were none to be had. This news was received by a sort of whispered groan, in which every one of us bore a part, for we were all heartily tired ; and, if this were the best hotel, what might the next be ? The driver swore lustily, but there was no remedy either for him or for us ; so on we went to the brow of the pre cipitous hill, till another dismal dirty mansion pro claimed itself to be devoted to the public service by landsberg. 99 the creaking cock that swung aloft. Here again we were refused admittance ; not a room but was already fully occupied ! After a short consultation, two of the gentlemen decided upon walking down the hill, and seeing what could be done for us in the lower town, while the rest of the party promised to remain stationary in the car riage to await their return. In a few minutes after they left us, however, our vehicle began slowly to move, but we presumed it was only to turn itself round again, a manoeuvre which must of necessity be per formed before we descended to the world below; and, in effect, as soon as the horses' heads were fairly set over the declivity, we did again remain stationary for about ten minutes. Long minutes they were, certainly; but we were quietly dozing them away, when we were suddenly roused by a storm of oaths from the driver, whose patience appeared at this moment to yield before the discom fort of his position, and to our great dismay our equipage was again put in motion. The idea of missing our scouts, caused us to utter a most vehe ment " Halten sie !" in chorus, and at last we pre vailed on the man to stop while we got out, that we might at least be sure not to pass them unseen : but not all we could say or do could induce him to re main on the inhospitable hill ; so down he went to the bottom of it, disappearing under one of the dark, mysterious arches, two of which, at right angles to each other, seemed yawning to receive us. h 2 100 landsberg. Our situation now really became very puzzling. Under which of these two arches our friends might have taken their way, it was perfectly impossible to guess; and it had now become so dark that we could not see a dozen yards before us. All our be longings were of course with the carriage, and could not be wholly forsaken ; and as to our dividing the remaining party, that some might look out for the scouts, and the rest watch by the carriage, which was now stationary in what appeared to be a large irregular square with a gigantic fountain in the midst of it, there would have been as much diffi culty in making the arrangement as in the cele brated passage of the ferry by the geese, &c. We had but one gentleman left to take care of us, and neither of the trio liked either to go on or to stay without him. The night was dark and stormy; the queer old towers, the lofty gable-ends, the monster fountain, all added to the darkness and the gloom that seemed pressing upon us in all directions. After one faint and timid attempt to separate, for the purpose of looking out towards the four cardinal points of the compass, we got together again ; mount ed the carriage, which now stood with a sort of ludicrous imbecility in the midst of the gloom (for the cocker had quietly removed his horses, without saying one word to us of the matter) ; and there we sat in great anxiety and discomfort, trusting that Providence would, in its own good time, send back our errant knights to us again. LANDSBERG. 101 How the thing came to pass at last, I have yet to learn ; but come they did, fiery hot with speed, and not the cooler, perhaps, for our apparently faithless desertion of our posts. Our involuntary flight was, however, speedily explained and forgiven ; and, in return, we had the inexpressible consolation of hear ing that we were not to pass the night in the streets. On this occasion, as on many others, the voiturier's statement respecting the hotels was found to be utterly false ; the one we were now led to, in the lower town, being evidently superior in every respect to those on the hill. But this better was, alas ! most wretchedly removed from good ; and our supper proved the most unintelligible composition ever sub mitted to our sagacity. Whether the raw material had been beef, mutton, pork, or veal, or a cunning mixture of all together, none of the party would venture to decide ; but we were hungry, and we ate it ; and then dismissing the gentlemen from the ladies' chamber, where, in order to escape the pipes of the salle a manger, we had supped, with short delay we mounted our lofty, narrow, inclined planes and by the help of extreme weariness happily slept till morning. The loud singing of the early mass drew us, before we could set off, into the nearest church, where we found a crowded congregation, but entirely of the lower orders, apparently in deep devotion. The superb carving and gilding of this old cathedral- looking building appeared perfectly marvellous, con- 102 ROUTE TO PARTENKIRCH. sidering the desolate aspect of the obscure and dila pidated town in which it is situated. We had all hoped that the journey of this day would have brought us among the mountains, on which our eyes had so eagerly rested during the pre ceding one ; but we were disappointed. They almost seemed to retreat before us as we drove on ; but, tievertheless, our best amusement, during the forty- eight miles between Landsberg and Partenkirch, was watching the varying effects of their outline as more and more distinctly they separated themselves from the clouds, till at last, ere the light quite left us, we could distinguish where the trees ceased and the bare crags began, and even discerned where the snow lay on their dark and storm-beat summits. On this day we passed the frontier between Bavaria and Austria ; our passports were vis6'd, but our trunks were not opened. % ^fc % ft * As a useful hint, in case you should ever follow the same track, I must tell you that this morning we made a very essential improvement in our mode of taking breakfast ; which, to those stay-at-home folks who have only to ask in order to have what they wish, might appear of little importance, but to tra vellers in such a district as this it is very far from being so. Since we left Stuttgart, we have never, except at ROUTE TO PARTENKIRCH. 103 Augsburg, been able to get good coffee ; and though we carry with us our own tea, the constant difficulty, or rather impossibility, of obtaining a tea-pot, renders the use of it far from luxurious : nay, even when we have submitted to the necessity of making the infu sion in a jug, we have still remained in great diffi culty, for a tea-kettle is a machine still more utterly unknown than a tea-pot ; and water boiled in a frying-pan, to which we have repeatedly had re course, has not been found to answer over well : so that we have often arrived at our first halting-place after a long fasting stage, and found it impossible to get anything better than undrinkable coffee. While the females of the party were thus suffer ing, literally, for want of the necessaries of life, the gentlemen appeared enjoying what they assured us was most luxurious fare, and which they were sure to find in the greatest perfection and abundance at nearly every cottage by the road-side. This boasted breakfast consisted of a bowl of fresh milk, and bread. Why we rejected this, when first we saw them take it, I hardly know ; but I believe we fancied it might disagree with us. The sight of the miserable-looking gasthaus, however, at which we were to make our morning meal after leaving Lands berg, at last suggested the wisdom of making an experiment whether the flowing bowls of milk, swallowed with so much relish by our companions, might not be safely shared by us. It answered per fectly ; and on entering a country like the Tyrol, 104 ROUTE TO PARTENKIRCH. more celebrated for the luxuries of the dairy than for any other, we could not have made a more opportune discovery. We dined at Weilheim; on leaving which, our driver attempted a short cut to Murnau, and completely lost his way. Could I describe to you the route he took us after leaving the chauss6e, you would at least allow that my history of this part of our journey was free from one defect, with which unfortunate travellers who relate their adventures are reproached. You could not tell me that I had followed a beaten track, for most truly do I believe that no carriage and horses ever before traversed the fields, commons, and copses along which it was our hap to be drawn. After some danger and more difficulty, we at length re covered the road, and a beautiful road it is, leading gradually from the open country into the narrow pass which forms the entry to the Tyrol. It was sad, however, to watch the objects which were growing bolder and more beautiful every moment, gradually becoming indistinct as darkness crept over the lovely valley that opened before us. By the time we reached the little town of Partenkirch, a dark night had settled upon the landscape; and then, from thinking only of mountains and forests, we began to remember that we had all had well-nigh enough of this long day's slow travelling, and to anticipate with considerable eagerness the comforts of food and rest. But here, again, we were greeted by the terrible PARTENKIRCH. 105 intelligence that there was not a bed to be had. There are mineral springs at this place ; and, miser able as it looks, as far as the appearance of the dwellings is concerned, it is a residence to which many resort at this season. The scenery around is, in deed, so very beautiful, that I should like well to pitch my own tent here for a week ; it should, however, certainly be outside the town. But this not being the general taste, every one of the little hotels was filled with water-drinking or mountain-loving com pany ; and had not a good-natured man, who hap pily spoke French, inquired into our pitiable situa tion, and exerted himself perseveringly in our favour, I think we most certainly should have passed the night in watching the outline of the mountains by star-light. Thanks to his kind exertions, however, we at last obtained shelter in a private dwelling; and, having fortunately our own sheets, contrived to fabricate something resembling beds. But, despite the keen edge of our travelled appetites, our long waited for supper was miserable enough, being taken, by necessity, in the common eating-room of one of the hotels, crowded with very miscellaneous guests, and suffocating from the odour of garlic and tobacco smoke. Most thankful were we to leave the town, ex quisitely beautiful as is its position, and pursue our way along a road that led us into the very heart of those mountains, at which we had been gazing so wistfully. It was impossible to mistake the fact; 106 THE TYROL. our eyes gave us the delightful assurance that we were at length in the Tyrol. It is not the moun tains, alone, that give this assurance : the picturesque chalet, made so familiar to every eye by drawings and engravings without end, — the pointed hats and embroidered vests of both sexes, — the groups of goats hanging on the hill-side, — the long pipes, by the aid of which the mountain people call to their flocks, and to each other, — all told us that we had, indeed, reached one of those celebrated points on the earth's surface which all the world talk of, — all the world intend to see before they die, — and on the recollec tion of which, all those who have looked upon it seem to hang with a fondness that secures its memory for ever from the possibility of being effaced by anything that can be seen afterwards. Yet is this charming spot wholly dependent on its own shape and colour for its attractions. . . . For myself, who have passed the age at which long summer months passed in a chalet, amidst wild goat-browsed valleys, might offer an image of complete enjoyment, I confess, though not altogether without shame and reluctance, that the extreme beauty of the scenery, such as we have, in truth, already beheld it, unprovided as it has hitherto appeared to be with any resting-place where some portion of the comforts of civilized life might be enjoyed, makes me, all-glorious as it is, rather think how delightful a sejour it might be, than meditate upon the joys of remaining here, as it is. I have always felt that it was almost more pain THE TYROL. 107 than pleasure to me, to run post-haste through a beautiful country without the power of saying " Here will I pause for a week or a day," whenever such a landscape presented itself as made me de sirous of becoming thoroughly acquainted with its detail. It is rather like knowing that a country is beautiful, than enjoying it. Many such points have, alas ! already been passed since we entered the gorge by which this world of mountains is ap proached; but the pent-up tobacco-tainted atmo sphere which has filled every room that we have entered since we left our pleasant apartments at Augsburg, and the total absence of all that ordinary mortals consider as necessary to comfort, has enabled me to travel thus far into the Tyrol without having as yet, according to my usual custom amidst scenes so tempting, arranged a halt sufficiently long to give us time to explore them. I would fain, if I could, give you some notion of the species of scenery which makes this region so enchanting. The grand features are, as every one knows, the towering mountains, with their snowy peaks and dark forest-covered bases ; but, if I mis take not, the peculiar charm consists fully as much in the soft turfy undulations of the fore-ground of the picture, as in its magnificent outline. Out of England, I have never seen any turf so fine as that which clothes the hilly valleys, if I may so express myself, of the Tyrol. There is little grain grown in these soft sheltered nooks; but the pasture of the 108 THE TYROL. goats and cows is of the most delicate kind, and runs up amidst the trees even to the very foundation of the bare crags that announce the outworks of the mountains above. These delicate pastures look in finitely more like well-kept lawns, than fields for cattle ; and whether it be by taste or accident, I know not, but the light fences which divide, or enclose them, are in form and arrangement as various and as elegant as if they had been devised by some skilful fancy fence-maker of the most approved taste. Amidst these lawns, though found in deep- sunk valleys, when described as in relation to the mountains, it would be difficult to find a dozen feet square of level ground. On every side are scattered groups of trees, in general of the lighter and more graceful foliage, as if on purpose to contrast the better with the dark, solemn, heavy back-ground of the pine forest against which they rise. Beech and birch are in perfection here, and, though not of the largest size, have a perfection of form and foliage that would make them the boast of the choicest pleasure-grounds. Another ornament, most beau tiful in its effect, is the abundant growth of the wild barberry, which, now bright and heavy with its crimson fruit, throws its graceful arching branches about in rich festoons and most beautiful profusion. Another characteristic feature, with the form and outline of which all are familiar, though none who have not seen the original can fully judge of its effect, is that most picturesque of dwellings, the THE TYROL. 109 wooden chalet. This is seen at intervals, varying in size, but ever the same in its rich, weather-stained colouring, throughout the whole region, — sometimes perched aloft on some bold yet still turfy eminence, but oftener peeping forth from beneath the shelter of a wooded hill that seems to promise protection from the wild winds which, in a month or two hence, will be rushing over them, and bringing the keen cold ness of the mountains in their breath. Did you ever hear of a manufactory of fiddles at Mittenwald, in the Tyrol ? .... I know not how much, or how little, it may be known to fame ; or whether a Mittenwald may rival a Cremona ; but it was evident to us, when passing through this village, which lies between Partenkirch and Seefeld, that fiddles form its staple commodity. We saw a vast number of them hanging up against the houses, apparently to be seasoned by the sun, for they were all so placed as. fully to receive his beams; and, more over, observed at almost every cottage door com ponent parts of the machine, evidently about to be formed into one harmonious whole. From Mittenwald we mounted a long and very steep hill to Seefeld ; and, during the halt our weary horses required there, we entered the little church of the town, in which, at that moment, a venerable Cistercian monk was displaying to a group of some dozen peasants the vestiges of a miracle, which is considered as having rendered this humble shrine worthy of becoming the object of a pilgrimage. 110 THE TYROL. The good monk received us among the flock of the curious, if not of the faithful, with great cour tesy ; and, perceiving that we evidently did not comprehend the kissings and genuflexions of those around us, he good-humouredly motioned us to follow him to a distant part of the church, on the walls of which hung twelve tablets, each containing the history of the miracle in a different language; viz. Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Bohemian, Polish, Spanish, Hungarian, French, Latin, English, Italian, and German. In one of these our mother tongue was somewhat rudely dealt with; nevertheless, it sufficed to explain to us the nature of the miracle, The story runs thus. In the year 1384, a distin guished Tyrolese nobleman, named Oswaldus Milser, refused, from excess of pride, to receive a small host of the size ever administered to the laity, insisting, in his vain-glory, that one as large as that prepared for the priests, should be given to him. The officiating cur6, from lack of courage, and from the frailty of his nature, yielded to this profane demand, and most improperly placed the priest's portion of the host upon the sinful man's audacious tongue. But, lo! what followed ! ... No sooner did his lips attempt to close upon it, than the ground beneath his feet gave way, and he sunk to his knees into the earth. In his terror and dismay he seized upon the altar, and, in doing so, left the impress of his impious hand deeply indented upon the solid granite of which it was formed. ZERL. HI In token of the verity of this amazing miracle, we were permitted to see, and even to touch, the print of four fingers and a thumb upon the stone, and likewise to gaze, like the rest of the pious pilgrims, into the hole, still visible beside the altar, into which he sunk. Having, with all due gravity, looked upon these marks of celestial displeasure, the monk led us to another altar, whereon, in a crystal case, was preserved the host which, four hundred and fifty- two years ago, had been profanely pressed by the teeth of Oswald Milser; and on which, as a taper, lighted expressly for our use, most satisfactorily showed, were gouts of blood, produced by the sin ner's bite ! . . . The expression of some of the rustic heads, while these interesting exhibitions were pro ceeding, were perfectly delicious. From Seefeld we proceeded to the beautifully situated' town of Zerl, the descent to which offers some difficulty, and danger too, as it seemed to me, as long as I remained in the carriage;. but> at the same time, a splendour of landscape such as, luckily for your patience, it is quite beyond my ambition to attempt describing. The opening, valley, the surrounding mountains, the river, the town, all conspire to make it perfect; and that nothing might be wanting to render it so, high on a rock, beside the road, stand the ruins of a castle that once was stronger, but never more beautiful, than at present. Here then is the first point at which I have felt disposed to halt for a week, if I had 112 ZERL. it to spare; for here the appearance of the town promises good accommodation, and all about it is the very perfection of beauty and interest. It was good for us that we were, or fancied we were, obliged, by the dangerous nature of the road, to walk, for without this we never should have discovered one half the charm of the wondrous landscape that was spread before us. It is the river Inn, large enough to look well even in this enormous landscape, that here rolls its bright course onward and onward till it is lost among mountains higher still than those which we have left behind; and it is along its glorious banks that seven of the love liest miles I ever traversed lead to Innspruck— wondrous rock-bound Innspruck! We reached this beauteous metropolis of the Tyrol at seven o'clock last night, weary and way-worn by the long day's travel; and the more so, from the many miles of it that our greedy eyes caused us to walk. The sight of a comfortable hotel was, I confess, felt as a great blessing, notwithstanding the sublime frame of mind generated by this last most majestic specimen of Tyrolian scenery, — for it is under bare rocks that seem to reach the clouds that the last part of our road lay ; but, nevertheless, good beds were a comfort unspeakable ! To-day is Sunday, and we are about to set off for the Hof-kirch. So adieu ! INNSPRUCK. 113 LETTER IX. Innspruck. — The Hof-kirch. — Tomb of Maximilian. — Effects of Mountain Air. — The River Inn, its Bridge and its Ferry. — The Dom-kirch. — Table d'Hote. — English Travellers. — Alpine Strawberries — Opera. — Thunder Storm. — Assumption of the Virgin. — Magnificent Mass. — Residence. — Chamois Hunters. — Comfortable Hotel. — The Balcony. Innspruck, 15th August. The two last days have been passed in a sort of wondering enchantment, a full explanation of which it would be very dangerous to attempt transmitting by letter : but I may safely tell you that this town of Innspruck, placed as it is amidst what appear to the eye to be inaccessible mountains, is more like the work of a magician than of man ; for, though it is but a small city, it has a degree of splendour, particularly in its churches, that puzzles one to guess how it got there. I never speak to you of any church that I greatly admire, without feeling more than half afraid of boring you to death with my descriptions and my ecstacies. It is, in truth, a very dangerous theme, particularly in my hands ; for, in the first place, go VOL. I. I 114 INNSPRUCK. where you will on the continent of Europe, whether it be to the metropolis of a mighty kingdom, or to a hamlet of half-a-dozen houses, the first object pointed out to you is the church- and, secondly, I do so dearly love church architecture of all styles, dates, and dimensions, (excepting the Wesleyan chapels of yesterday, or the day before,) that there is, unques tionably, great risk of my running such a race upon my hobby as may bring me in breathless, and, if I take you en croupe, may cause you to fall asleep by the way. Nevertheless, you must bear with me now and then ; and, though the Hof-kirch at Inn spruck be neither purely Saxon, Gothic, nor Grecian, but, truth to say, notwithstanding its respectable antiquity (1553), almost as barbarous in the detail of its fanciful decorations as splendid in its general effect, it is one of those for which I most claim your indulgence. I will spare you, however, its length, breadth, and height, — its gorgeous gilding and its painted domes; — all, in short, that I cannot spare you is the matchless tomb of the first Maximilian, to which all else that it contains seems subservient. There is a grandeur in the conception and design of this imperial monument that is quite stupendous; and when it is remembered that this wonderful work, with all its massive and elaborate accompani ments, is found in a spot to which all the materials that form it must have been conveyed through forests and over mountains, that, even in these days of scientific facilities, cannot be traversed without dif- INNSPRUCK. 115 ficulty, it conveys an idea of power and princely magnificence that few modern works can inspire. This majestic tomb is placed in the middle of the centre aisle, on a platform approached by two or three steps of red marble. On the top of a marble roof, raised over it, kneels a colossal figure, in bronze, of Maximilian, surrounded by four smaller allegorical figures of the same metal. The sides of the tomb are divided into twenty-four compartments of the finest Carrara marble, (carefully covered from the light of day, and only opened to the curious on the payment of a fee,) on which are represented the most interesting events of the emperor's warlike and most prosperous career. The exquisite workman ship of these tablets, though certainly less in the style of Michael Angelo than of an artist in silver or ivory, is most admirable ; and, taken together with the lofty deeds and royal alliances they record, ap pear to me the most princely decoration for a tomb that I have seen or heard of. The celebrated monu ment raised to the memory of the first wife of this illustrious prince, Mary of Burgundy, who, with her father, Charles the Bold, lies buried in St. Mary's church at Bruges, greatly as the twin tombs are admired, is, compared to this, a toy and a trifle. Each tablet contributing to the splendid biography which the sculptures exhibit, is in size about two feet four inches, by one foot eight ; and every object contained in them is in the most perfect proportion, and for the most part in excellent perspective, while i 2 116 INNSPRUCK. the finish of the heads and draperies in the fore ground requires a magnifying glass to do it justice. But, marvellous as is the elaborate beauty of this work, it is far from being the most remarkable feature of this imperial mausoleum. Ranged in two long lines, as if to guard it, stand twenty-eight colossal statues in bronze, of whom twenty are kings, and dukes, and noble princes, alliances of the house of Habsbourg, and eight, their stately dames. Any thing more impressive than the appearance of these tall dark guardians of the tomb, some clad in regal robes, some cased in armour, and all finished with the greatest skill, it would be difficult to imagine. But to enjoy it to perfection, the church must be empty. When we first entered it, a capuchin monk was preaching to a< very crowded audience; and though these sable giants reared themselves above the crowd in such a style that it would require a preacher of no common eloquence to divide attention with them, yet it was only afterwards, when we had the church to ourselves, for the purpose of having the tomb uncovered for us, that they produced their full effect upon the eye and the imagination. I am conscious that it is a sign of great mental weakness to have a fancy so easily wrought upon ; but I declare to you that I almost trembled as I stood before them. Each with most portrait like individuality of attitude and expression ; each so lemn, mournful, dignified, and graceful; and all INNSPRUCK. 117 seeming to dilate before your eyes into more than human dimensions, as if framed with miraculous skill to scare intruders, and to be stationed there by some power, more than mortal, to keep fitting watch and ward around the mighty dead. They look, believe me, like an eternal procession of mourners, who shall cease not, while earth endures, to gaze on, mourn over, and protect the sacred relics of him who was the glory of their glorious race on earth. I wish I could find myself amidst them with no light stronger than the moon could give, to force one to see things prosaically just as they are ! But .... though I should not quite expect to behold them step forward either to kneel around their cousin's bones, or to chase me from my presumptuous contemplation, I should . . . shall I own it ? . . . greatly prefer a companion or two — provided they were not scoffers — to enjoy the effect of the dim spectacle with me. Twenty-three small bronze statue portraits of saints and saintesses, all claiming kindred with the Habsbourg-Austrian line, are placed on high in front of the choir ; among which I remarked Saint Richard King of England. It is no trifling addition to the effect produced by this stupendous monument, that, as you turn from it, your eye rests upon other and mightier guardians still, — even the snow-covered crags that rear them selves on every side around this imperial grave. It is hardly possible to look within and without 118 INNSPRUCK. this church, and preserve the even tenor of well- behaved common sense. I hope, therefore, you will be indulgent to me, if, while under the influence of this remarkable region, I sometimes transgress the well-bred tone of moderation with which all things earthly should be seen and descanted upon. But, depend upon it, mountain air can never be breathed with perfect impunity. Some it makes phthisical, some feverish; others it renders wild with strange joy, and half or whole mad with the thick-coming fancies it is sure to generate. Re member this, and be merciful to my out-pourings, even should they savour of that most reprobated of all emotions, enthusiasm. I promise you, however, to try your patience in this way as little as I can, and to exert such wisdom as I have to enable me to speak as meekly and modestly of the mountains as if I had made them all myself; which is, I well know, the only proper and approved style. While this conviction is fresh in my memory, let me soberly tell you, that whenever you come to Innspruck, you must not fail to walk (not drive) down to the river, the bright and lovely Inn, and cross the bridge. Fail not likewise to linger long, first on one side, then on the other, of this une qualled bridge, to gaze your fill upon the white- headed mountains, that, like hoary giants, girdle in the town, as if to buckler it against the uni verse. INNSPRUCK. 119 When you shall have enjoyed this sufficiently, or at least as long as you have time to spare, pass on by the farther side of the river, till you reach the ferry. If you should chance to admire this prettily arranged passage across the rapid stream, and the view in all directions from it, as much as we did, perhaps you may commit the same ex travagance, and go on gently floating along the line that guides the boat, and gazing as you float, backwards and forwards, till every kreutzer in your pocket is expended. This enticing ferry, if your last crossing bring you, as it ought to do, to the Innspruck side, will place you in the public gar dens, (they may, perhaps, be styled the imperial gardens, for they surround one portion of the old residence,) and through these a short and shady walk along the banks of the river will lead you back to the central part of the town. If ever you shall take this walk, and at my bidding, depend upon it you will thank me. While in possession of the seats, under a little canopy which constituted the only shade the pretty boat afforded, we remarked a lady and gentleman lingering in the gardens, near the landing-place, who still, as we touched it and turned back again, seemed to observe our proceed ings with a smile. As a matter of course, we sup posed they were gently quizzing us for our inor dinate love of boating, and, perhaps, we did not feel altogether sure of not deserving it ; but no sooner had we left our pleasant places, and set foot on 120 INNSPRUCK. shore, than they took possession of them ; and, as we pursued our way along the bank, we were amused, and comforted too, under the consciousness of our extravagance, by perceiving that they were doing the very same thing themselves, and con tinued, as long as we kept the boat in sight, to be wafted backwards and forwards, apparently with the same exceeding contentment in the occupation as ourselves. I tell you this, to prove that the admiration felt for the beauty of this spot was not peculiar to me or mine. Our next occupation was attending an afternoon service at the Dom-kirch. The building is Gre cian, and highly ornamented. Over the altar the roof rises into a dome, and that of the nave is divided into three enormous shells. The organ is a peculiarly fine one, and, moreover, very handsome to the eye; the pipes are so arranged as to give in perspective the effect of a receding gallery. The music in this church is excellent ; and is, as we were told, an object of much care and attention. This church, as well as the Hof-kirch, was extremely crowded, and we remarked at both many ladies very elegantly dressed. We took our dinner at the table d'hote, where a party of English entered very sociably into con versation with us. They had just arrived, they told us, from Salzbourg; but almost paralyzed our just recovered nerves by declaring that we should inevitably be starved, or something like it, before INNSPRUCK. 121 we got there, for that the hotels between Innspruck and that place were the worst in the world! It was evident, moreover, that their bodily discomforts had rested more deeply impressed on their memory than any beauty in the scenery ; for, when we in quired concerning this, one of the ladies replied, that " they had not observed anything very par ticular;" and this judgment, only that, somehow or other, we did not believe it, was even more cal culated to damp our courage than all the rest, notwithstanding the love for creature-comforts that I have heretofore acknowledged. The finest Alpine strawberries I ever tasted made our dessert; they were served with unsparing abundance ; and we were told by the servants who waited upon us, that they should continue to have them for a month or six weeks longer, as the little mountaineers who procure this delicious dainty in abundance for every hotel in the town, seek them higher and higher up the hill's side as the season advances, and the latest are frequently gathered when nearly all other vegetation is found to fail. In the evening we went to the Opera. It was Zampa, which has some excellent choruses, and these were performed in good German style. There was also a good bass and a respectable tenor among the male performers; and therefore, though the voice of the prima donna was a jil de fer, and a weak one too, we were on the whole well-pleased. The dresses were very magnificent, quite equal to 122 INNSPRUCK. those either of Paris or London. The house is small, dirty, and most deplorably ill-lighted; but there was no deficiency of well-dressed company, if we could but have seen them. On leaving the theatre we were met by some to lerably strong flashes of lightning, and hastened home to avoid the rain, which we expected would follow. But no rain came, at least for several hours ; and we sat in a balcony at the back part of the hotel, which commanded a magnificent Alpine view, watching the effect of the flashes upon the snow, and listening to the reverberations of the thunder among the mountains, till past midnight. The sce nery of Zampa was by no means equal to this. This morning opened upon us with that universal tinkling of church-bells which, in a Catholic country, announces one of the great fetes or festivals, during which all the world are expected to kneel all the morning, and dance all the evening, leaving the weightier matters of labour and toil to take care of themselves. This is, in truth, no less a day than that appointed to celebrate the assumption of the Virgin, which, as perhaps you may be aware, is a fete of such very unquestionable solemnity, that it was one of the four agreed upon between Na poleon and the brow-beat Pope at the famous con cordat of Avignon, as those that should be kept sacred for ever. All Innspruck seemed on foot as soon as it was light ; and the tramping and chattering beneath my INNSPRUCK. 123 windows being far too great to permit my sleeping, I too rose to greet the sun, and amused myself till breakfast with watching the effects of its strength ening light as it crept down the sides of the moun tains, and occasionally turning my eyes below, to look at the pigmy crowd bustling along at their feet. Our host and all his waiters, nay, even the cham bermaids to boot, had very kindly taken care to impress upon our heretic minds the necessity of attending high mass at the Dom-kirch on this day, as the music was the finest of the year. We had all the inclination in the world to profit by this valuable information ; but, having learnt that the mass began at nine, we took our coffee very delibe rately, and thought we were showing our punctu ality, nay, our eagerness in the cause, by reaching the church-doors five minutes before the time. But never did I see a crowd so closely packed as that which already filled the church. Not only was every seat occupied, but there was not even room to stand without being exposed to very serious in convenience from the inevitable pressure of the waving mass around. Some thoughts of retreat suggested themselves; but a timely remonstrance from one of the party, who rationally uttered, " Let us just stay to hear the opening, that we may judge what kind of music it is likely to be," happily pre vented their taking effect; and by retreating from the great western door, and making good, slowly 124 INNSPRUCK, but surely, our entrance by a side one opening upon the transept, we succeeded in reaching the foot of the pulpit, which is placed at the angle of the transept, and from which a priest was pouring upon the hot-pressed crowd a stream of guttural eloquence. It often happens that when the sermon, which in this country always precedes the mass, is ended, a considerable movement takes place among the congregation, many who have previously attended low mass leaving the church ; and to this moment we looked with trembling impatience, in the hope that it would in some degree ameliorate our sti fling condition. But on this occasion not a soul stirred from their precious places except the priest; he came down from the pulpit, and, by the magical power of the dress he wore, passed unscathed and unsqueezed across the transept to the sacristy. We were, as I have said, close to the pulpit-stairs, which, though they were constructed in the hollow of the pillar that supported the rostrum, mouthed, if I may so express it, in such a direction as to face the altar. A bright thought struck me, which was quickly whispered, and quickly acted upon : — we quietly stole one after the other up these well-con cealed stairs, seating ourselves most snugly thereon, and in this manner heard to perfection by far the most splendid performance of the mass that I ever listened to. The choir was a very large and very perfect one, — of great power, and thoroughly well INNSPRUCK. 125 disciplined. The Gloria in excelsis I shall never forget, — it was stupendous ; and though I have here tofore heard it, aided by the finest voice that at the present time can be raised from earth to heaven, even that of the gifted Malibran,* I never felt it ring along a vaulted roof with such sublime effect. Not that I mean to assert that there was any voice equal to hers, or approaching to it within reach of compari son : on the contrary, the prima donna of the choir, though very sweet in her lower notes, was quite in competent to combat the superb accompaniment. But the chorus was perfect ; and it is herein, I think, and herein alone, that the Germans exceed in execu tion all other musicians. I could name many vocal ists of the present time, and many more who have passed away, if not from earth, at least from its orchestras, who beyond measure exceed the finest voices I have ever heard either in, or from Germany ; but 1n a chorus they are unequalled. It may, and does, often happen elsewhere, that the possession of a powerful voice is reason sufficient for electing the possessor into a chorus, without greatly heeding how far the taste, feeling, and judgment of the individual so gifted may justify the choice ; the effect of which system need not be dwelt upon, as no one who loves a chorus well enough to listen to it, but must have felt to his cost that it would be far better such choruses should have organs as weak as * Two months after this was written, the heavy news reached me, that this matchless voice was hushed for ever. 126 INNSPRUCK. mice, than be gifted with such tyrannous strength as to make a false note as terrible as the stab of a giant. But in Germany it really seems impossible for any one who can sing at all, to blunder in tune, time, or even taste ; and it is this which gives such perfection to their chorus-singing, that, hear it where you will, —in the harvest-field or the gasthaus merry-making, in the church or in the theatre, — be the performers professional or amateur, the pupils of an academy, or of their own harmonious natures only, — they are never at fault. It is probably in consequence of this assurance of not failing, that, whenever an orchestra is to be made up, they venture so boldly to multiply the number of their voices. The first grand burst in this Inn spruck Gloria in excelsis produced a vibration in the air so great, that the silver lamps which hung sus pended from the roof were distinctly put in motion by it. Seen from our position on the pulpit steps, a boldly designed figure of " him to Patmos banished," perched on one division of the dome, had the air and attitude of a listener in such perfection, that it was difficult to restrain the fancy, and not to think that the inspiration which guided the pen he held came in the sounds we heard, so fitting did they seem to scale the heavens, and bear a rapt spirit with them. On leaving the church, we went to visit the resi dence which in days of yore was frequently honour ed by the imperial presence, but now it has the air of being quite forsaken. The greater portion of it INNSPRUCK. 127 was either built or restored by the immortal Maria Theresa, whose name in some way or other seems connected with everything we have seen bearing traces of splendour since we entered Austria. There is one very fine double-cube room in this palace, which, were it not called the Marble Hall, we should have greatly admired. It has, in truth, the appear ance of being entirely lined with white marble, — the most beautiful, perhaps, of all materials for a cham ber of this size ; but, by one or two unfortunate little fractures, it became evident that " the white Marble Hall of Maria Theresa" was plastered with fine stucco, and, silly mortals as we are, our admiration vanished in a moment. There is a diminutive, and wholly unadorned chapel in this residence, which derives interest from the circumstance of some emperor (I forget which) having died on the steps of its altar. The palace, though apparently deserted, is kept up in perfectly good repair, guarded by sentinels, and everything en regie for a royal residence. As usual, this palace is connected both with the church and the theatre ; enabling its princely resident to glide with equal facility to his station in either, without running the risk of letting anything dis agreeable come between the wind and his regality. Nothing can be more proper or agreeable than this very commodious arrangement, and, were I a icing, I would not live a week without following the example ; but I would endeavour to manage it by 128 INNSPRUCK. means of arches less hideous than those which dis figure the neighbourhood of the stately Hof-kirch of Innspruck. An arch at Innspruck ought ever to be con structed with careful observance ; for, if it be not placed before a wall higher than itself, it must of necessity form the frame of a picture, of which majestic mountains are the back-ground. This gives a sort of strange wild beauty even to the very streets of the town. It is delightful to look up to these solemn mountains while walking under the burning sun of August, and to refresh the spirit by gazing on the hollows where even now the snow nestles, bound up in eternal frost ; and it would be more delightful still to have a well-regulated balloon, such as our grand-children will doubtless possess, awaiting their orders together with their steam-travelling carriages and air-propelled jaunting-cars, — it would be very de lightful to have such a vehicle ready to mount at a moment's warning from the bright broiling Neustadt of Innspruck up to one of those snowy recesses, which, inaccessible as they are, look as if half a mile's walk ing would bring one to them. But, in truth, till balloons are brought to perfection, none but chamois hunters can enjoy this refreshing change of atmo sphere, for none other can hope to reach alive the higher region of these mountains. Sometimes, as I look upwards to these majestic heights, I feel disposed to envy the strength and skill of these hunters, which gives them power to find INNSPRUCK. 129 their way among the wildest and grandest of Nature's works, while all others of their species are shut out from them ; but, after listening to a description of their mode of life from one who has lived long enough among them to be well acquainted with it, I must avow that it would be as reasonable to covet the lot of the poor fisherman, who gains his perilous bread by braving the terrors of the ocean. Both, it is true, may " see God in clouds, and hear Him in the wind," more than their fellow-mortals ; but also they must oftener have cause to fear that He may turn his face from them, and leave them to perish in their daring. One of the worst features of the chamois hunter's fearful trade is, that it obliges him to pass the night upon the mountains. It is only at the very earliest dawn of day that he can hope to encounter his bounding prey with any chance of making spoil of him. It is only when hunger brings them down from the bare crags, to browse upon the scanty ve getation of the region immediately below them, that these pretty creatures, who seem half bird, half beast, in their power of escaping, come steadily within reach of the rifle. It should seem that during these periods of nightly watchings, or perilous repose upon the mountains, it is desirable, for some cause or other, that the stations chosen for them should be made known to the inha bitants of the world below, for we have repeatedly remarked watch-fires blazing on the mountain side, VOL. I. K 130 INNSPRUCK. and more than once seen sky-rockets sent up from places so remote, that it seemed as if witches or mountain elves were making merry with the toys of men. Upon all these occasions our inquiries have been answered by the information, that it was from hunters waiting for their prey that the lights pro ceeded. Having made a formal complaint of Tyrolian fare in a recent letter, it is but justice to beautiful Inn spruck to declare, that no such minor miseries are likely to militate against the exceeding delight its glorious position is calculated to afford to any happy traveller who has time to make a long halt within its walls. Our inn (the Sun) is on the whole very comfortable, and would, I have no doubt, become much more so, were we to remain long enough to make the people understand a few of our outlandish Ways, — our preference to one dish prepared in our own fashion, over half a dozen stewed in grease, and the like. Such as it is, however, I shall leave it with deep regret. As I stand on the balcony which terminates the long gallery upon which all the rooms open, and look out on every side, I long to be able to say — To-morrow I will go in that direction, and dive into the depths of yon dark valley ; — the day after, I will climb as far as my feet can carry me towards the eternal snows ; — the next, I will cdtoyer the lovely Inn beneath those majestic rocks, which seem to bend forward as if to view their own noble beauty reflected on its stream; — and then I will INNSPRUCK 131 penetrate among the forest solitudes that clothe the heights towards Zerl, and find the cross and the Martinswand which still stand, despite the avalanche and the storm, to commemorate the escape of Maxi milian, by the aid of St. Martin, from a spot of rock on which he had fallen when hunting, and from which, as all good Catholics agree, he could never have been rescued but by the interposition of an especial miracle. All this, and much beside, might be done could we give a few more days to Innspruck : but of all the tempting routes we see, or fancy, from our balcony, we can take but one, — that leading towards Schwatz ; and to this we must address our selves without delay, or — as we are frequently obliged to tell ourselves in order to sustain the courage ne cessary to make us move on, when we wish to stay, — we shall not reach Ratisbon in time to make the ' voyage of the Danube to Vienna ! I must, therefore, say farewell to you, and a longer farewell to Inn spruck ; but I do not pronounce the latter without consoling myself by a tacit but very firm resolve to visit it again, when it shall stand in my carte du voyage, not as a point that is to be passed on the way, but as the goal and object of an expedition. K 2 132 SCHWATZ. LETTER X. Scenery between Innspruck and Schwatz. — Delicate Herbage. — Mode of drying the Hay and Corn. — Halle. — Saline Works.— Schwatz. — Thunder Storm. — Character of the Landscapes be tween Schwatz and St. John's. — The river Achen. — Mode of Travelling. — Strub Pass. — Marcus Sittacus. — Andre Hofer.— Pastoral Ball. — Road-side Rambles. — Arrival at Salzbourg. — Difficulty of finding Rooms. — The Golden Lion. — Approach to Salzbourg. — The Castle. Schwatz, August 15. The eighteen miles between this extraordinary place and Innspruck is the very perfection of what, I suppose, all people have in their heads when they talk of Tyrolian scenery: it is not alpine scenery, nor valley scenery, nor forest scenery, nor river scenery ; but it is a union and mixture of them all, in such a succession of enchanting landscapes as I conceive it would be vain to look for elsewhere. I should hardly conceive it possible for any human being to be insensible to the delight of this drive ; but to any one who really loves to look upon nature the pleasure of it is very great indeed. The general character of the whole is decidedly pastoral ; for it is difficult to find a spot where the plough has vio lated the softest herbage that Nature ever spread for THE TYROL. 133 that meek and milky tribe which here forms the husbandman's chief wealth. What greatly added to the beauty of the scene at this time was, that the picturesque population were poured out upon their lovely lawns, (for I cannot call them fields,) to make their second crop of hay. The fine soft herb appeared to grow very thick, though very low ; and I certainly think the cows, sheep, and goats of the Tyrol are the most daintily fed flocks and herds in the world. The care taken for their winter dinners and sup pers is another source of the picturesque in these valleys, for the hay is all housed in little wooden chalets, whose projecting roofs, prepared for the rude mountain winds that are to blow over them, by heavy stones placed upon the weather-stained shin gles, scattered as they are up and down the pastures, form the prettiest objects imaginable. The manner of drying the hay, and the corn too, in the rare spots where it is grown, also produces an agreeable diversity in the landscape. Instead of being scat tered over the meadows, as with us, it is suspended upon bars arranged one over the other at right an gles, through a stake of about six feet high that is stuck in the ground ; these, when covered with the fragrant load placed upon them, look like green altars erected in honour of Pan, and, together with the fanciful groups employed about them, add greatly to the unwonted and interesting aspect of the scene. This, by the way, is a most excellent method of 134 THE TYROL. rapidly drying a crop ; and might, I should think, be introduced with great advantage in a climate like that of England, where the produce is more abundant than the sunshine. Many a fine heavy crop of clover might be saved by it. We passed an hour at Halle, where there are large saline works ; but we did not enter them, though very civilly invited to do so by a person evidently in authority whom we met during our walk, for the celebrated salt-mines of Hallein are within reach of Salzbourg, and to these we have de termined to go : on the present occasion, therefore, we preferred employing our time in walking about, which, halt where you will in this country, always appears the most agreeable thing you can do. We reached Schwatz a little after six, and having selected our pretty miniature hotel from among many, and ordered our supper, we walked down to the long bridge that here crosses the impetuous Inn, and enjoyed one of the finest spectacles in nature, — that of a heavy thunder-storm, rolling slowly and solemnly towards us, in the midst of a magnificent landscape. The mountains, the river, a stern dark- looking castle frowning from a rock above it, a wild ravine winding its way up among the craggy heights, all meeting the eye together, and all growing blacker and more fearfully magnificent with every passing moment, kept us spell-bound and silent with intense admiration and delight, till the flashing lightnings and the heavy rain drove us at length, lingering and SCHWATZ. 135 reluctant, to the shelter of our little hotel. Not all that I have ever seen of landscape elsewhere has shown me anything so beautiful, to my fancy, as the scenes commanded by the bridges of Innspruck and of Schwatz. ***** Salzbourg, 18th August. I began this letter in perhaps the loveliest village we have yet seen, — and did so in the hope of be guiling an hour, that, had the rain been a little less violent, would have been passed upon the wondrous bridge of Schwatz, even till the stars afforded the only light by which to see the matchless landscape it commands. — There are few of those I love whom I would not fain lead to follow me through the route that we have traversed from thence to this place. — I have already expressed to you the pleasure which the drive from Innspruck to Schwatz gave me, and have spoken, I believe, in no measured terms of its beauty ; — but the Wednesday after was the day of days. On the 17th we slowly, and often walking despite frequent showers, travelled through a country that assuredly surpasses all I have ever seen or dreamed of, in the exceeding beauty of its romantic wildness. It has not, indeed, the dark Salvator tone of the Hartz scenery, nor yet the towering majesty of the Alps; but it possesses a sort of mixed cha racter of its own that is indescribably beautiful. The mountains among which the road has led us, though most of them crested and spotted with snow, 136 THE TYROL. are neither so high nor so bold as those immediately round Innspruck; but the country through which we passed on the 17th has a charm without which no mountain scenery is, in my estimation, perfect. Scarcely a mile of this glorious drive is without a raging roaring torrent, bounding, foaming, thunder ing, first on one side of the road, and then on the other. The heavy rains which had fallen during the two preceding nights had doubtless augmented these streams very advantageously for their effect in the landscape ; and it is hardly possible, I think, to con ceive anything superior in picturesque beauty to some of the spots we passed. These lovely scenes are composed for the most part of lofty rocks, deep valleys, dark pine-trees, and a rough rapid stream ; but often varied and animated by a chalet, a ruined castle, a rude bridge, or a group of figures in excel lent keeping with the objects around. While now and then a village church, so beautiful in its humble holiness, that it might well become the object of a pilgrimage at which thanks and praise should be offered to Saint Nature, rises above the wooden roofs, and seems to breathe peace and charity upon spots that without it would look savage in their wildness. Lovelier, however, above all the rest, is the marvellous region through which the turbulent Achen rolls, forming as it dashes onward in a succes sion of magnificent rapids, which recur at intervals for several miles. Gaspar Poussin might have paint ed, but no pen can describe, the wild enchantment of THE TYROL. 137 the scenes formed by this river in its capricious course ; doubling like a hunted hare, and often, after being quitted with regret, starting forth again, wilder and more glorious than before. Sometimes it bounds through tangled thickets, sometimes be tween towering rocks, seemingly parted only to let it pass ; then crags arise in its rude path, vainly striving to stay its course, but chafing it into foam and fury ; and then again, when bordered for a short space by a little interval of soft turf, or shaded by a delicate aspen, it seems to pause for a moment, as if tamed by their gentleness, and, instead of dashing past them, as is its wont, placidly permits a deep dark pool to serve as a mirror to them. Were it possible to pitch a tent within the range of these rapids, as Glover did when sketching the scenery of Wales, the enjoyment would be perfect; but, without this, it is almost tantalizing the spirit to pass through it ; for all we have seen has only served as a specimen of all we must have left unseen .... and, when I think of this, I feel ready to run back again and forswear every other project, — Danube, Vienna, and all ! Yet, had you beheld us and our carriage, you would have allowed that we lost as little of it as possible. The young men clung about the outside of the vehicle, like squirrels fondly hanging upon the outside of their cage, as the highest point to which their chain will let them go ; and for more than half this day's journey they quitted it altogether, prefer- 138 THE TYROL. ring the liberty of running