Transcriber's Note: To improve readability, dashes between entries inthe Table of Contents and in chapter subheadings have been converted toperiods. 

GERMANY, BOHEMIA, AND HUNGARY, VISITED IN 1837. 

By

THE REV. G. R. GLEIG, M. A. , _CHAPLAIN TO THE ROYAL HOSPITAL, CHELSEA. _

IN THREE VOLUMES. 

VOL. II. 

LONDON:JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. 

M. DCCC. XXXIX. 

CONTENTS OF VOLUME II. 

 Page

CHAP. I. The Gulden Krone. Count Thun's Castle and Grounds. GloriousScenery. The March resumed. Superstitions of the Bohemians notIdolatry. State of Property. Agricultural Population. Kamnitz. TheCow-herds. Stein Jena. Hayde 1

CHAP. II. Our Landlady and Washerwoman. The Einsiedlerstein. ItsDungeons and Hall. Its History. Inscription over the Hermit's Grave. Lose our Way. Guided by a Peasant. His Conversation. Mistaken forItalian Musicians. Gabel 34

CHAP. III. General Appearance of the Place. The Inn. LudicrousMistakes. The Public Room. Astonishment of the People at the sightof Englishmen. The Priests. Scene in the Tap-Room. Kindness of thePeople. Our Fishing Operations. A Chasse, and a Daylight Ball 57

CHAP. IV. Our Landlord becomes our Guide. Peculiar Scenery of thispart of Bohemia. A Village Beer-house. Travelling Mechanics. TheTorpindas. Toilsome March. Marchovides. Entertainment there 80

CHAP. V. March renewed. Scenery more and more grand. A Populationof Weavers. Hochstadt. The Iser. Magnificent River, and capitalTrouting. Starkenbach. Kindness of the Inhabitants. Carried to theChancellor's House. Fish the Iser again. The effect of my sport ona Religious Procession. Supper at the High Bailiff's. Game at Chess. Take leave of our kind Hosts with mutual regret 105

CHAP. VI. The Elbe, a Mountain-stream. We Fish it. Dine on ourFish in a Village Inn. The Young Torpinda. Arnau. The FranciscanConvent. Troutenau. The Wandering Minstrels. March continued. Fishthe River. Village Inn, and account of the Torpindas. First Meetingwith these formidable People in a Wood. Another Pedestrian Tourist. Aderspach. Excellent Quarters. Remarkable Rocks. The Minstrelsagain 128

CHAP. VII. Walk to Shatzlar. Magnificent Scenery. Extreme Fatigue. OurLandlord. Early associations awakened by a Scene in the Market-place. Rest for a day. Ascent of Schnee-Koppee. Halt at a Village on theSilesian side 161

CHAP. VIII. Warmbrunn. Objects around. Dilemma. Hirschberg. HowTravellers may manage when their Purses grow light. Pass forRussians, and derive great benefit from the arrangement. Lang-Wasser. Greiffenberg. The Prussian Landwehr. Golden Traum. Scene in theVillage Inn. Bernstadt. Hernhut. The Hernhuters. Agriculture inBohemia. Schlukenau. Schandau 179

CHAP. IX. The Diligence from Dresden to Töplitz. The Field of Kulm. The Battle, and the Monuments that record it 243

CHAP. X. Töplitz. Its Gaieties. Journey resumed. First View ofPrague. General Character of the City. The Hradschin. Cathedral. University. Historical details connected with it. The Reformationin Bohemia 278

CHAP. XI. The Jews' Town. Visits to various Points worth noticing. State of Public Feeling 333

CHAP. XII. Quit Prague. Journey to Brünn by Königgratz. State ofthe Country. Brünn. Its Public Buildings. Absence of the MoravianBrethren 353

CHAP. XIII. Country between Brünn and Vienna. Vienna. Journey toPresburg. Presburg. The Hungarian Constitution 372

GERMANY, BOHEMIA, AND HUNGARY, IN 1837. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE GULDEN KRONE. COUNT THUN'S CASTLE AND GROUNDS. GLORIOUS SCENERY. THE MARCH RESUMED. SUPERSTITIONS OF THE BOHEMIANS NOT IDOLATRY. STATEOF PROPERTY. OF THE AGRICULTURAL POPULATION. KAMNITZ. THE COW-HERDS. STEIN JENA. HAYDE. 

We had quitted home not unprepared for the suspicious looks whichinnkeepers might be expected to cast upon us, strangely equipped as wewere, rude of speech, and so very humble in the style of our travel. Wewere, therefore, nothing daunted by the somewhat cold reception whichour host of the Golden Crown vouchsafed; and boldly questioned himrelative to his means of supplying our wants, namely, supper, a bottleof wine, and a good bed-room. The confidence of our tone seemed torestore his; for he forthwith conducted us upstairs; and we wereushered into a snug little apartment, in which stood two beds, a table, a chest of drawers, and four or five chairs. This was all, in the wayof lodging, of which we were desirous; and the next point to be settledwas supper. What could they produce? Had they any mutton? No. Beef?None. Poultry? Nothing of the sort. What then? Veal, or, as it iselegantly termed, calf's-flesh, which could be served up within thespace of an hour and a-half, either gokocht, --that is, boiled, orgrebraten, --_i. E. _, roasted. And here let me observe once for all, thathe whose taste or whose stomach cannot be satisfied with veal, hadbetter not travel in Germany. For veal is to the Germans what beef isto us, --the everyday diet of such as devour animal food at all; whereasbeef they seem to use only at large hotels as materials for soup-making, while mutton is a luxury. Neither is it difficult to account for this. There are no extensive pasturages, even in the mountain districts ofGermany, as there are in the Highlands of Scotland, and in the fens ofLincolnshire and Kent. Wherever the land has been cleared of wood, itis laid under the plough; wherever the wood continues, the utmost careis taken to prevent cattle and sheep from breaking in, and so destroyingwhat is the principal fuel of the country. The consequence is, thatpeople cannot afford to rear more cattle than is absolutely necessaryfor working the land, and supplying the dairies, --nor, indeed, if theycould afford it, would the means of doing so be attainable. Hence thepoor little calves, while yet in that state of innocence which entitlesthem among the Irish to the generic appellation of staggering bobs, arein nine cases out of ten transferred to the butcher, whose stall, if itcontain nothing else, is sure to furnish an abundant supply of deadanimals, which you might easily mistake for cats that have perished byatrophy. 

Being fully aware of these important particulars, we expressed neithersurprise nor regret when the solemn announcement was made to us, thatwe might have roasted veal for supper; but having ordered it to beprepared, together with an eyer-kuchen, or egg-souffle, as a supporter, we set about changing our attire preparatory to a ramble through thetown. My friend, the Honourable Francis Scott, having kindly introducedme to Count Thun, I sent my card by the waiter to the castle, andlearned, to my great disappointment, that the family were all inPrague. It is needless to add, that, in the absence of the owners, Iwas conducted over the castle and grounds by a very intelligentdomestic, or that, returning on another occasion, I stand indebted toits owner for much kindness. I do not think, however, that there is anyjustification for the practice which too much prevails, of firstaccepting the hospitality of a stranger, and then describing the modein which it was dispensed. I content myself, therefore, with statingthat everything in the household of Count Thun corresponds to his highrank and cultivated tastes; and that he who has once enjoyed, even fora brief space, as I did, the pleasure of his conversation, will desirefew things more earnestly, than that another opportunity of so doingshall occur. 

The castle of Tetchen is a very noble thing, and its situationmagnificent. It crowns the summit of a rock overhanging the Elbe, andcommands, from its windows, one of the most glorious prospects onwhich, even in this land of glorious scenery, the eye need desire torest. Originally a baronial hold, it has, in the progress of time andevents, gradually changed its character. It now resembles a college orpalace, more than a castle. You approach it from the town by a longgallery, walled in on both sides, though open to the sky, and areconducted to an extensive quadrangle, round which the buildings areerected. They do not belong to any particular school, unless thatdeserve to be so designated, which the Italian architects, some centuryand a-half ago, introduced, to the decided misfortune of theproprietors, into Germany. Thus, the schloss of which I am speaking, isnot only cut up into different suites of apartments, but each suite, besides being accessible by a door that opens to the court, issurrounded along the interior by an open gallery, into which eachindividual chamber-door opens. The consequence is, that in winter, atleast, it must be next to impossible to keep any part of the housewarm, for the drafts are endless, and the exposure to the atmosphere isvery great. 

When we visited Tetchen for the second time, the contents of a veryvaluable green-house appeared to have been brought forth into thecentral court. The effect was most striking; for all sorts of rare andsweet-smelling shrubs were there; and flowers of every dye loaded theair with their perfume. The gardens, likewise, which lie under therock, and in the management of which the count takes great delight, were beautiful. One, indeed, a fruit garden, is yet only in itsinfancy; but another, which comes between the castle and themarket-place, reminded me more of the shady groves of Oxford than ofanything which I have observed on the Continent. Count Thun, moreover, having visited England, and seen and justly appreciated, themagnificent parks which form the characteristic charm of our scenery, seems willing, as far as the different situations of the two countrieswill allow, to walk in our foot-steps. He has enclosed a rich meadowthat runs by the bank of the Elbe, and treats it as his demesne. Allthis is the more praiseworthy on his part, that even in his own day thecastle of Tetchen has suffered most of the calamities of war, except anactual siege. Twice during the late struggle, was it seized andoccupied as a post, a garrison put into the house, and cannon mountedover the ramparts; nay, the very trees in the garden, which it cost somuch pains to cultivate, and such a lapse of time to nourish, were alldestined to be cut down. Fortunately, however, an earnest remonstrancefrom the count procured a suspension of the order, till the enemyshould make his approaches; and as this never happened, the trees stillsurvive, to afford the comfort of their shade both to their owner andhis visitors. The havoc occasioned by the throwing up of batteries wasnot, however, to be avoided; and it is only within these three or fouryears that the mansion has resumed its peaceful character. 

There is an excellent library in the castle of Tetchen, of which theinmates make excellent use. It contains some valuable works in almostall the European languages, with a complete set of the classics; and asthe tastes of the owner lead him to make continual accessions to it, the hall set apart for its reception, though of gigantic proportions, threatens shortly to overflow. I must not forget, however, that even bythese allusions to the habits of my host, I am touching upon the linewhich common delicacy seems to me to have prescribed; therefore when Ihave stated that a brighter picture of domestic affection and happinesshas rarely come under my observation than that with which my hurriedvisit to Tetchen presented me, I pass to other matters, not perhaps inthemselves either more important or more interesting, but affordingfreer scope to remark, because not calculated to jar against individualfeeling. 

To wander amid these beautiful gardens, and gaze from the summer-housealong the course of the Elbe, occupied all the space of time which mycompanion and I had set apart for the preparation of our evening meal. We accordingly returned to the inn, fully disposed to do justice to theviands which might be served up to us. They were well dressed, and thebottle of Hungarian wine which accompanied them was excellent, so thatwhen we sallied forth again to examine the town, it was in the mostbenevolent temper of mind imaginable. Every object was seen through ahighly favourable medium. The little quiet square and market-place, with its ever-flowing but very dirty fountain, appeared emblematical ofthe contented and happy lot of the people who dwelt round it. The Elbe, glowing in the rich and varied hues of sunset, had about him a thousandcharms, for which language has no power of expression; and finally, theview from a small chapel which stands on the summit of a rock about anEnglish mile below the town--that as it would have delighted even ahungry man, was to us enchanting. Seriously, and without attributingtoo much to the genial influence of a change of habiliments, and a goodsupper, I have seldom looked upon a scene altogether so fascinating asthat which now lay before me. 

Our sleep that night was sound and refreshing. We had ordered breakfastat half-past five, and till five nothing occurred to disturb us; butthen the old and well-nigh forgotten habits of the campaigner seemed tocome back upon me, for I awoke to a second at the time which I hadfixed upon. Up we sprang; arrayed ourselves in our walking-dresses, stowed away our more gentlemanlike habiliments in the knapsacks, andaddressed ourselves to breakfast. In Germany, as has been statedelsewhere, this is but a sorry affair of a meal at the best; itconsists of nothing more than a cup or two of coffee, with somesweetish cakes; but we took care to order, over and above, a moderatesupply of white bread and butter, and we consumed it all, much to ourhost's surprise and edification. Then came the settling of the bill, which seemed to please him better, and we were once more _en route_. 

Our point to-day was Hayde, a town which our informants described asdistant from Tetchen about seven stunden, --that is to say, seven hours'good walking, in other words, from twenty-one to twenty-four Englishmiles. There was nothing in this announcement calculated to alarm us, for we had compassed the day before at least five-and-twenty miles, andthough somewhat over-wrought when we first came in, we were now freshand vigorous. But I am bound to add that either the miles proved morenumerous than we had been led to expect, or that we were in bad casefor walking. I have seldom suffered more from blistered feet andpositive weariness, than I did on my march to Hayde. 

The sun was shining brightly in a cloudless sky, when we quittedTetchen. The cool air of the morning still, however, blew around us, and the landscape which seemed so fair even in the last glimmering oftwilight, appeared now more beautiful than ever. Our route lay up theface of one of the hills by which, on all sides, Tetchen is surrounded, and we saw before us the long and regular sweep of the high road bywhich it behoved us to travel. For a brief space, however, a foot-waythrough a succession of green fields, all of them sparkling with thedew, was at our command, and we gratefully availed ourselves of it; forit is one of the advantages which a pedestrian enjoys over thetraveller, either in a carriage or on horseback, that, provided he besure of the direction in which his object lies, he may cast bothhighways and bridle-paths behind him. 

The effect which is produced upon a Protestant traveller by thefrequent recurrence, in Catholic countries, of crucifixes, chapels, andimages, both by the road-side and elsewhere, has been frequentlydescribed. At first, you are affected with a sense almost of awe; whicheven to the last does not wholly evaporate; especially if you find, aswe did this morning, that by the inhabitants, these symbols are held inprofound veneration. In passing from Hernskrietchen to Tetchen, suchobjects had repeatedly crossed our view; and we had seen the countrypeople lift their hats and cross themselves as they neared them. To-daywe found a rustic on his knees before a chapel, within which, gaudilypainted and dressed, were waxen images of a Virgin and child. Was thisidolatry? I cannot believe it. Even if his prayer were addressed to theVirgin, which I have no right to assume that it was, should I bejustified in charging this poor man with a breach of the secondcommandment in the Decalogue, merely because he besought the mother ofChrist to intercede for him with her Son and his Redeemer? Absurd andunmeaning such prayers to saints unquestionably are; for where is theground for believing that they hear us; or even if they do, what righthave we to suppose that they can or will presume to interfere inmatters which nowise concern them? And when, over and above all this, we found upon a practice in itself so unmeaning, the monstrous doctrineof human merit, then, indeed, that which was originally foolish, becomes presumptuous and wicked. But the accusation of idolatry is byfar too grave to be lightly brought against any class of persons whosecreed is, in all essential particulars, the same with our own, and whoerr only in this, that they believe a great deal too much. It is, therefore, to be regretted, that in their zeal to remove error, so manywell-intentioned persons should exaggerate the faults which theycombat; for, independently of the wound which is thereby inflicted uponChristian charity, prejudices are but confirmed in proportion asindignation is roused. "You may demonstrate to me, if you can, that weare mistaken in supposing that the souls of the faithful hear us; butwhy allege that we put our trust in them, because we pray to them?Don't you get your ministers to pray for you when you are sick? Don'tthey pray for you in your churches; and is our purpose in addressingthe saints different from yours in your dealings with your pastor? Weonly beseech the Virgin, or St. John, to do that for us, which you geta man of like passions and frailties with yourself to do for you. "

Such is the Roman Catholic's mode of repelling the charge of idolatrywhich we bring against him; and in good truth I do not see how hisargument is to be set aside. But take other grounds with him, andbehold how the case stands. "I don't accuse you of idolatry, far fromit; but I do assert that you are acting very absurdly. For, first, there is nothing in Scripture which justifies us in believing that thespirits of the deceased are aware of what is passing on earth at all;and secondly, were it otherwise, such creatures could not, unless theypossessed the faculty of ubiquity, pay the smallest attention topetitions which are addressed to them at the same time from perhaps anhundred or a thousand different places. If St. John, for example, be atthis moment listening to a devotee in the island of Sincapore, how canhe hear me who am calling to him out of Bohemia? Our minister, on theother hand, acts but as our mouth-piece, and it is expressly ordered inthe New Testament that the church shall pray for her sick members. " Nowhere is a dilemma out of which I cannot understand how thesaint-worshipper is to escape. For St. John is either a creature, or heis not. If he be a creature, it is impossible that he can be present intwo spots at one and the same moment. He cannot, therefore, attend atonce to me, who address him in Bohemia, and to the saint-worshipper whosolicits his aid from the banks of the Mississippi. If he can bepresent with us both, and with tens of thousands besides, then he mustpossess the attribute of ubiquity, and is, of course, not a creature. In the latter case, what is he? This, then, I humbly conceive to be theweapon with which errors in the Roman Catholic's faith may mostappropriately be assailed, for though it inflict a temporary wound uponmen's self-love by questioning the powers of discrimination, leaves, atleast, their moral and religious intentions unquestioned, andthemselves, as a necessary consequence, unfettered by the strongest ofall shackles, that of outraged principle. 

By the time we had reached the chaussée, or main road, the morning wasconsiderably advanced, and each new hour brought with it a wonderfulaccession of heat. Not a cloud was in the sky, and for a while, we wereentirely destitute of shade. For though here, as elsewhere in Germany, the waysides be planted with rows of trees, the trees were as yet tooyoung to prove essentially useful to the wanderer, and, to add to ourmisery, we had a long and toilsome ascent before us, with a broad, smooth, macadamised causeway, by which to accomplish it. It is true, that as often as we paused to look round, the glories of thatmagnificent scene gave us back our courage. Nevertheless, nature inthis situation, as she is wont to do in most others, would have herway. We became exceedingly weary, and were fain, on reaching a woodnear the summit, to sit down and rest. 

Early as it was when our journey began, we soon found that we had nochance of getting the road to ourselves. Many wayfarers were alreadyabroad, among whom were several women, loaded like jackasses, withenormous panniers filled with I know not what species of evidentlyheavy goods. The tasks, indeed, which custom has imposed upon the lowerclasses of women in Germany, create in a stranger extreme surprise, ifnot indignation. I have spoken of the effects of this ungallantarrangement as they display themselves in Saxony; and I am bound to addthat, in Bohemia, the same system is pursued, and the very same resultsproduced. Besides a large portion of the field-work, such as hoeing, weeding, digging, planting, &c. , it has fallen to the Bohemian women'sshare to be the bearers of all burdens; whether fire-wood be neededfrom the forest, grass, butter, eggs, and other wares required in themarket-place, or trusses of hay lie abroad in the fields which it isnecessary to fetch home. The inevitable consequence is, that, generallyspeaking, a woman ceases to have even a trace of youth about her by thetime she has passed thirty. At three or four-and-twenty, she becomesbrown and wrinkled, a year or two later, she loses her teeth, and lastof all comes the goitre, which, by utterly destroying the symmetry ofher form, leaves her, at thirty, little better than a wreck. As to thereally old folks, the grandams and maiden aunts of the community, theseare, at all moments, in a condition to play with effect the charactersof Macbeth's witches; and when, as not unfrequently happens, they judgeit expedient to go about bareheaded, the resemblance which they bear tothe respectable individuals just alluded to, is complete. Yet in youth, not a few of the girls are extremely pretty; which makes you the moreregret that the customs of the country, by subjecting them to suchsevere hardships, should rob them of their bloom before their time. 

Having rested under the shadow of our friendly grove sufficiently longto permit my making a rough sketch of the valley beneath us, we resumedour march, and rounding the hill, opened out a new prospect, scarcelyinferior in point of beauty, though widely different in kind, from thatwhich had passed from our gaze. We looked down upon a sort of basin, fertile, and cultivated to the minutest corner, round which, likesentinels on duty, were gathered a succession of mountains, covered totheir peaks with foliage. The dark hue of the fir was here beautifullyintermixed with the fresher green of the birch and hazel; whileoccasionally, an enormous rock raised his bald front over all, moreafter the fashion of a huge ruin, the monument of man's vanity, than ofa fabric of nature's creation. But the circumstance which more than allothers surprised us, was the density of the population. Of large townsthere seem to be, in Bohemia, very few; but every vale and strath iscrowded with human dwellings, village succeeding village, and hamlettreading on hamlet, with the most remarkable fecundity. On the otherhand, you may strain your eyes in vain in search of those species ofhabitations which give to our English landscapes their peculiar charm. There is no such thing in all Bohemia, --I question whether there be inall Germany, --as a park; and as to detached farm-houses, they aretotally unknown. The nobility inhabit what they term schlosses, that isto say, castles or palaces, which are invariably planted down, eitherin the very heart of a town or large village, or at most, a gunshotremoved from it. No sweeping meadows surround them with their tastefulswells, their umbrageous covers and lordly avenues; no deer troop fromglade to glade, or cluster in groups round the stem of some giant oak, their favourite haunt for ages. But up to the very hall-door, or atleast to the foundations of the wall, which girdles in the court-yard, perhaps twelve or twenty feet wide, the plough regularly passes. Agarden, the graff generally possesses, and his taste in flowers isgood; but it almost always happens that his very garden affords noprivacy, and that his flowers are huddled together within some narrowspace, perhaps in the very court-yard of which I have already spoken asalone dividing his mansion from the open and cultivated fields. 

With respect, again, to the condition of the cultivators, that is, inall respects, so different from the state of our agricultural gentlemenat home, that, even at the hazard of saying over again what has beenstated a thousand times already, I must describe it at length. In thefirst place, then, there is no class of persons in Bohemia correspondingto our English farmer. Nobody hires land in order to make a profit outof it; at least nobody for such a purpose hires a large tract of land;but each individual cultivates his own estate, whether it be of wide orof narrow extent. Thus the graff, or prince, though he be the owner ofan entire circle, is yet the only farmer within that circle. He doesnot let an acre of ground to a tenant. But having built what heconceives to be an adequate number of bouerin-hauses, he plants in eachof these a bouerman, and pays him for tilling the ground. Thesebouerin-hauses, again, are all clustered together into villages, sothat the bouerman is never without an abundant society adapted to histastes; and very happily, albeit very rudely, his days and nightsappear to be spent. 

The land in Bohemia does not, however, belong exclusively to any oneorder in the community. Many bouermen are owners of their farms, someof them to the extent of one hundred acres and more; while almost everytownship has its territories, which, like the noble's estate, arecultivated for the benefit of the burgh. But in all cases it is theowner, and not the cultivator, to whom the proceeds of the harvestbelong. These are, indeed, gathered in and housed for him by hisrepresentatives, who, in addition to some fixed money-payment, for themost part enjoy the privilege of keeping a cow or two on the wastesbelonging to the manor; but all the risk and trouble of converting hisgrain into money attaches to the proprietor of the soil. 

Two results spring out of this order of things alike detrimental to thewell-being of society. First there does not exist, at least in theagricultural districts, any middle class of society at all, which iseverywhere divided into two orders, --the gentry and the peasantry. Incities and large towns the case is, of course, different; for there thecultivation of letters and of trade has its influence on the humanmind; and professions hold something like the rank which ought of rightto belong to them when they are what is called liberal. But in thecountry, even the doctor and the priest seldom find their way to a morelordly board than that of the bouerman; and stand, in consequence, atall times, on a level with the miller, the butcher, and the host of thegasthof. Secondly, the nobles, having little ready money at command, possess no means, whatever their inclination may be, materially toimprove the condition of their dependants; while their own time beinglargely engrossed by the cares of buying and selling, they notunfrequently neglect to cultivate those mental powers in which many ofthem are naturally rich. Numerous exceptions to this latter ruledoubtless everywhere prevail; for I am bound to add, that such of thenobility as honoured me with their acquaintance, were men of refinedtastes and very enlarged understandings. But the rule itself holds goodnevertheless, and would equally do so in any other country where asimilar order of things existed. 

Through a succession of these villages, most of them inhabitedexclusively by bouermen, we made our way, not without exciting, by thenovelty of our costume, a large share of public curiosity. As often aswe found it necessary, however, to put a question to one of thewonderers, we never failed to meet with a civil reply: indeed, I mustdo the Bohemians of all ranks the justice to record, that a kinder, more obliging, and less mercenary people, it has never been my fortuneto visit. Illustrations of this fact, I shall have occasion in thecourse of my narrative, to give, though for the present I contentmyself with stating the fact broadly. 

I do not recollect that anything worthy of mention befel till wereached Kamnitz, --an old town, and the centre of a circle, --throughwhich it behoved us to pass, in order to gain first Stein Jena, andultimately Hayde. The town itself lies in a hollow, and is begirt nearat hand by well-wooded hills; but in itself it offers few attractionsto the stranger. Narrow and deserted streets, with shops mean andslenderly stocked, tell a tale of stagnant commerce; indeed, I mayobserve, once for all, of the country towns in Bohemia, that it is notamong them that the traveller will find food for reflection, or sourcesof gratification. Far removed from the sea, with which their singlecommunication is by the Elbe, the Bohemians have slender inducement toapply their energies to trade, which is, in consequence, not perhapsdead, --for there are manufactures of various kinds in the kingdom, andmore than one iron foundry, but exceedingly sickly and torpid. 

Kamnitz, like other chief towns of circles, has its schloss, --theproperty of the emperor, --in which the officials and the subordinatesat once reside and administer justice. It can boast, likewise, of alarge church and a prison; but as there was nothing in the exterior ofthese buildings which at all excited our admiration, we did not delayto examine them. With respect, again, to other matters, I am aware ofonly one custom in the place, of which it is worth while to takenotice. Kamnitz, it appears, is very much of an agricultural town; thatis to say, many owners of small estates dwell there, and many cattleare kept. During the winter months, both here and elsewhere, the cattlenever breathe the air of heaven; but are kept mewed up in their stalls, and fed on hay, and other dry fodder. When the hay crop has beengathered in, and the fields are ready for them, they are sent abroad tograze, but always under the guidance of keepers, who, at least inKamnitz, are strictly professional persons. Their mode of proceeding isthis. At early dawn, there is a flourish of cow-horns in thestreets, --a signal for opening the stable-door, and leading forth thecattle to pasture. The animals are then collected in the market-place, and handed over to the charge of their appointed keepers, who, two orthree in number, drive the herd abroad, and are responsible that theycommit no trespass on the growing corn. At night, a similar processtakes place. The cattle are led back by the keepers to themarket-place: horns are again sounded; upon which each bouerman eithercomes in person, or sends his deputy to receive the beasts, and soconducts them to their stalls for milking. 

Kamnitz has at one period been a fortified town, though probably thatperiod is very remote, --for against modern artillery a place sosituated could not hold out a single day. Its gateways, and somefragments of the old wall, remain, --objects at all times toointeresting to be wantonly removed. Beneath a couple of these venerablearches we passed, --first on entering, then on leaving the town, --afterwhich we found ourselves traversing a long and irregular hamlet, whichin the form of a suburb lines one side of the road, and so faces apretty little stream that skirts the other. Crossing the rivulet by abridge with two arches, we began to climb the hill, on the brow ofwhich Stein Jena is situated, and from which our friend, the youngpriest of Auffenberg, had given us to understand, that we should obtainone of the most magnificent views in this part of Bohemia. Long andtoilsome was this ascent; for though the main road was still beneathour feet, so perfectly had its fabricators set the rules of their artat defiance, that it ran sheer and abrupt, with scarce a triflingdeflection, from the base to the summit. The sun, also, beat upon uswith a power which we found it extremely uncomfortable to sustain, andour thirst was excessive. And here it may, perhaps, be worth while forthe benefit of other pedestrians, to remark, that we began our march, in reference to the victualling department, on an utterly erroneousprinciple. Breakfasting at half past five or six o'clock in themorning, we made up our minds not to eat a solid meal again till ourday's work should be accomplished; in other words, to content ourselvesat noon with some slight refreshment, such as a morsel of bread, or asandwich and a little weak brandy and water, swallowed in the shade ofsome grove, and to sup heartily when we should come in to our night'squarters, at six or seven o'clock in the evening. The experience ofthis day sufficed to convince me that in arranging this plan I had notbeen so successful as the Duke of Wellington used to be with hiscommissariat. Our bread had become hard and mouldy. Our brandy was ashot as fire, and we could not find a spring of water sufficientlysheltered to cool it. For consistency-sake, however, we twisted down afew mouthfuls, but we could not manage more; and it was unanimouslyvoted, that thenceforth an hour's halt at mid-day in some house ofcall, would be an arrangement alike conducive to the refreshment of ourlimbs, and the well-being of our stomachs. 

Having reposed about half an hour by the margin of a weedy pond, fromwhich a loud if not an harmonious concert of bull-frogs unceasinglyissued, we buckled on our knapsacks once more, and, by a desperateeffort, reached Stein Jena about three o'clock in the afternoon. Itseldom happens that a natural scene, of which you have been led to formhigh expectations, does not disappoint you; yet I am bound in justiceto acknowledge that in the account which he gave of the view from thispoint, the interesting curate of Auffenberg used the language ofmoderation. Elevated to a height of perhaps two thousand feet, webeheld across the valley beneath us, hill above hill arise, --all ofthem pyramidal, shaggy with forests of pine, beech, and oak, andinterlaced one with another, so as to form the wildest yet mostgraceful combinations. The scene, too, was in one striking respectdifferent from any on which we had yet gazed; namely, that cultivationwas almost entirely kept out of view, because our position was such asto throw the depths of the plain behind the screen of their overhangingmountains. It was, indeed, only when we looked to the right, where on alevel with ourselves fields of rye were waving, that the fact of ournot having wandered into some uncleared and uninhabited region wasdemonstrated. 

Stein Jena itself is a large, straggling, but remarkably neat village, of which the street is on both sides shaded by rows of trees, and wherethe houses can in many instances boast of being planted within therange of well-kept and tasteful gardens. It was on the top of thecommon beyond the village, however, that we paused to obtain our view, and to make one of those rude sketches which in such situations themost unpractised hand is induced to attempt; after which we againpushed forward. Ten minutes' walk carried us over the ridge, and thenwhat a spectacle burst upon us! A huge plain was at our feet, greenwith the most abundant crops of grass and corn, and here and therebroken in upon by a tall conical hill, which rose like a thing of art, and stood alone in the level. Surrounding the plain on all sides, wereranges of mountains, those near at hand resembling in their generalcharacter the graceful hills upon which we had just turned ourbacks, --those in the distance more precipitous and rugged, and aboveall, white along their summits with snow. There needed, in short, butsome sheet of water, --a lake or a river winding through the valley, tocomplete such a picture as Stanfield would love to copy, and thehumbler but not less enthusiastic worshipper of nature, gaze upon forhours unwearied. For not only was there wood and pasturage, hill anddale, rock and forest, in abundance, --but the haunts of man, withoutwhich a cultivated scene is always incomplete, rose there in abundance. There lay Hayde, --a compact and apparently well-built town; about threemiles to the right of it, and nestling back its own cliffs, wasBurgstein; while farther off Gabel, Reichstadt, with a countless numberof villages besides, told of the busy hands by which these fair fieldswere tilled and kept in order. Heartily thanking our poetical friendfor the instructions which he had communicated to us, and charmed outof all sense of fatigue for the moment, we continued our march, tillthe shelter of a vast wood received us, at once shutting out theglories of the panorama beneath, and screening us from the sun's rays, which had for some time back beat with inconvenient violence upon usfrom above. 

It was six o'clock when we reached the inn at Hayde, faint, hungry, andfoot-sore. Our reception was not very cordial, nor did we this time, Iam sorry to say, succeed in perfectly thawing the ice in which thelandlady had encased herself; but we took her bad humour patiently, showed her that we were well disposed to be merry, and obtained in fiveminutes, first a very tolerable apartment, and by-and-by the best roomin the house. Perhaps, indeed, it may be as well to state, that ourfirst reception, even in Bohemia, was not always flattering. Yetsomehow or another, it invariably came to pass, with the solitaryexception of Hayde, where our usual tactics failed us, that before wehad been ten minutes under the roof of a Bohemian innkeeper, not onlyhe, but his whole household, were at our devotion. Neither was anymarvellous art required to bring this result about. We acted merely aspersons of common sense will always act in similar situations. Weturned the landlady's ill-humour or stiffness into a joke, spoke badGerman, mixed it with French and English, and won her heart by showingthat we were neither sensitive nor fastidious. And the landlady's heartbeing fairly won, all the rest was easy. The husband, as in duty bound, fell into his wife's views, and the servants took their cue from theirsuperiors. In Hayde, however, though we so far gained our end, that agood supper with a comfortable apartment were afforded us, we have noright to boast of our progress in the hostess's affections. She keptcruelly aloof from us during the whole of our sojourn, and made us payat our departure just twice as much as, for similar fare, we werecharged at any other gasthof in Bohemia. 

CHAPTER II. 

OUR LANDLADY AND WASHERWOMAN. THE EINSIEDLERSTEIN. ITS DUNGEONS ANDHALL. ITS HISTORY. INSCRIPTION OVER THE HERMIT'S GRAVE. LOSE OUR WAY. GUIDED BY A PEASANT. HIS CONVERSATION. MISTAKEN FOR ITALIAN MUSICIANS. GABEL. 

Hayde, which is a burgh town, having its burgomaster and other civicauthorities, contains a population of between two and three thousandsouls, and can boast of a large warehouse, or handlung, in which areexhibited and sold the mirrors and other articles in glass that arefabricated at Burgstein. Like most German towns of the same size whichI have visited, it is exceedingly clean, and its environs are laid outwith a good deal of taste. For the Germans, while in winter they shutthemselves up in their houses, all the doors and windows of which arekept hermetically sealed, seem to live, during the summer months, onlyin the open air. Gardens are, therefore, their delight, --publicgardens, where such things exist, --in which the men may smoke and drinktheir beer, the women sip their coffee, in society; or failing this, slips of soil, close to the highway side, from which they are separatedonly by a low railing, --so that the owners may behold from their opensummer-houses every object that shall pass and repass. And truly it isa pleasant sight to see an entire population made happy by means sosimple and so innocent. For of excesses the Bohemians are seldom, ifever, guilty. The men smoke incessantly, it is true, and some of themconsume in the course of a holyday a tolerably large allowance of beer. But the beer is either very weak, or their heads are accustomed to it;for it is as rare to behold a Bohemian peasant drunk at a merrymakingor fête, as it is to find, under similar circumstances, an Englishmanof the same class sober. 

After adjusting our toilet, and giving some linen to be washed, withthe distinct understanding that the articles so disposed of should berestored at seven o'clock next morning, we first ate our supper, andthen strolled out. The graveyard, removed, as is usually the case inthis country, some little way out of town, attracted our attention, andwas admired for the extreme neatness with which it was planted andotherwise kept. From the top of an eminence behind the inn, likewise, we obtained a view of the surrounding country, which we should havepronounced fine, had we not previously looked down upon it from SteinJena; and a public garden, as yet "alone in its glory, " was traversed. But we were too much fatigued to attempt more. We returned, therefore, to our apartment; went to bed with the sun, and slept soundly tillhalf-past six o'clock on the following morning. 

Lovers' vows, it is said, are like pie-crusts, made to be broken. So Iam sure are the promises of Bohemian washerwomen; at least our linen, which ought to have made its appearance at seven, did not arrive tillnearly four hours afterwards, and we were compelled to prolong our haltaccordingly. At last, however, the slender, but to us invaluable cargo, made its appearance, though still so imperfectly arranged, that thestockings, being quite wet, we were obliged to sling outside ourknapsacks, while the damp shirts were left to dry, as they best might, within. But the precious time which our dilatory laundress had wasted, nothing could recall. We therefore felt ourselves under the necessityof confining our day's operations to the inspection of a hermitage, oreinsiedlerstein, near Burgstein, with what was described to us as ashort and pleasant walk afterwards, as far as Gabel. 

We quitted Hayde without regret; and though still foot-sore withyesterday's travel, contrived to reach Burgstein, which is about threeEnglish miles distant, between twelve and one o'clock. It is aninconsiderable village, prettily situated under the felsen, or crags, from which it derives its name; and can boast of its schloss, theresidence of Graff Kinsky, as yet a child. Like other buildings of thekind which we had passed in our tour, the schloss at Burgsteinresembles a manufactory much more than a nobleman's palace; for itstands close to the high road, is roofed over with flaring red tiles, and shows in its dazzling white front a prodigious number of smallwindows. Connected with it by an avenue of umbrageous planes, whichovershadow, perhaps, a couple of hundred yards of road to the rear, isthe mausoleum of the late count, --a most ungraceful pile, evidentlyconstructed after the model of an English dove-cot, and like theschloss, shining in all the splendour of white walls and a scarletcovering. But from such objects the traveller soon turns his eyes away, that he may fix them on the bold and isolated crag, the summit of whichis crowned by what he naturally mistakes for masonry; but which, on amore minute inspection, he discovers to be, for the most part, the rockitself. There stands what is now described as the Einsiedlerstein, --thatis, the stony dwelling of the hermit; a grievous misnomer surely, --forthough the last occupant of that dwelling was doubtless a recluse, itsoriginal purpose, which for many ages it served, was that of astrong-hold, or castle. And perhaps nowhere, even in Germany, can amore perfect specimen be pointed out of the sort of nest which used, inthe dark ages of feuds and forays, to shelter the robber-knights andbarons, to whom forays were at once a business and a pastime. 

The Einsiedlerstein, or Hermit's Rock, is a bold and isolated crag, which rises sheer and abrupt out of the plain to the height of, perhaps, one hundred and fifty feet. It is separated from the fells, orrugged hills, which form the northern boundary of the wide vale ofHayde, by a space of about two or three hundred yards; sufficientlywide to place it, in the days of cross-bows and ballistas, pretty wellbeyond the reach of insult, but by far too narrow to be of theslightest avail against cannon, and even musketry. In the face of therock a staircase is cut, by which you ascend to a door, of which thekey is kept at a cottage close by, where dwells also your cicerone, orguide. The door being opened, you see before you a continuation of therocky staircase; with this difference in character, however, betweenwhat is passed and what is to come, --that whereas you mounted to thethreshold under the canopy of heaven, you now move onwards, or ratherupwards, through a cavity cut in the face of the solid stone itself. By-and-bye you come to a landing-place, beyond which, at the extremityof a narrow passage, you behold what used to be the armoury of thecastle, --an arched hall, chiselled out, like the gallery which leads toit, from the rock. Here are yet the grooves and niches within whichwarriors, long since dead, used to suspend their spears andbattle-axes, their helmets and coats of mail; and here, in the face ofthe stone, are chiselled out some armorial bearings; probably thedevices worn by the lord of the castle on his shield. We find a tigercouchant, for example, not ungracefully executed; a gate or portcullis, I believe in heraldry an honourable device; with the fragments of whathave evidently been other symbols, though time has laid on them hisdefacing fingers so effectually that you cannot trace them out. 

From the armoury you proceed round a curvature in the rock, whichconducts you into the open air, and gives you a view of the oppositefells, to the dungeon, --a melancholy place, bearing to this hournumberless records of the sufferings and the patience, and even theingenuity, of those by whom, in old times, it was tenanted. The lateCount Kinsky, the proprietor of the castle, caused a breach to be madein the side of the dungeon, which you now enter through an archedpassage in the rock, though originally the captive was let down by arope from above. This arrangement has the two-fold effect of admittingan increase of light into the den, and of affording a ready means ofaccess to such as might scruple to descend, collier-fashion, in abasket. Having passed beneath the arch, you find yourself in a circularcell some twenty feet or more beneath the surface of the earth, andgirdled in by walls of solid rock, out of which the hole must, withinfinite labour, have been chiselled. These walls are everywherescratched over with representations of wounded hearts, crucifixes, death's-heads, and even of flowers with broken stems; all of themclearly enough of very old fabrication, though unfortunately none ofthem dated. How many gallant spirits have here pined and frettedthemselves into eternity; how many noble minds and sinewy arms havelong confinement and scanty fare, bowed down to this damp floor andwithered. What a record of misery and wrong would not these walls giveforth, were they for one little hour gifted with the power of speech, like the talking woods in the fairy tale. And yet, evil as the timeswere, when might, not right, was in the ascendant, they had theirredeeming excellencies too. Knightly honour, chivalrous abhorrence ofguile, the soul to endure, as well as the temper to inflict; these werethe qualities most prized by men, who, born and bred to lives ofconstant warfare, held danger light, and looked upon peace asinglorious. And then their religious faith! It might be gloomy, itmight be wild, it might be altogether misplaced or misdirected, --but itwas at least sincere; for it exerted an influence over their mostwayward humours; it urged them both to do and to suffer as none but menwho believed that they acted aright would have done. Let us not, then, even when standing in the dungeon of a baron's hold, come to theconclusion, that what we call the dark ages were ages of unmitigatedwrong. They might produce their tyrants and oppressors, whose power, inproportion as it was resistless, would spread misery around; but theyproduced also their vindicators of the oppressed; their Bayards andLancelots, _chévalliers sans peur et sans réproche_, --of whose spiritof candour, and fair and open and honourable dealing, it might be wellif this our intellectual and utilitarian age had inherited even aportion. 

It will scarcely be expected that I am to conduct my reader through allthe crannies and recesses of the Einsiedlerstein. Sufficient for bothour purposes it will be to observe, that everything is in the mostperfect state of preservation, and that he who is desirous of obtaininga tolerably accurate notion of the sort of style in which the barons ofthe thirteenth and fourteenth centuries used to live, may find it worthhis while to make a journey even as far as Burgstein. Here is thechapel, entire as when last the solemn mass was sung for the spirit ofsome departed hero. There it is, hollowed out of the rock, with itschancel and its transept, while near it are lodging-rooms of variouskinds; and underneath vaulted stables capable of containing perhapstwenty horses. The well, too, that essential ingredient in astrong-hold, still remains, though now it is dry; and on the back ofthe kitchen fire-place the soot and smoke of other times have lefttheir traces. The only innovations effected, indeed, in the originalarrangements of the castle, are those which the hermit began; and whichthe father of the present lord, the Count Kinsky, of whom I havealready spoken, has completed. 

The history of the Burgstein, as far as I have been able to trace it, is this. The name being a combination of the words birke and stein, signifies the birchy-rock, an appellation which both now and in remotetimes, would appear to have justly belonged to it, for its crest isovergrown with birch trees, one at least of which is as fine a specimenof the plant as it would be easy to discover either in Bohemia orelsewhere. Its bold and isolated character seems to have pointed it outas a fit situation for one of those keeps or strong-holds in which evenmonarchs were, during the middle ages, glad at times to seek refuge, and which constituted the groundwork of their power to chiefs of lesselevated rank. So early as the year 1250, a castle accordingly waserected on it, in which the Baron von Ronow, a nobleman of vastinfluence, held his court, and frequently entertained the King ofBohemia himself, Wenzel I. By the caprice of his grandson, however, itpassed into the hands of the Knights Templars, who established thereone of their chief colleges, and, according to tradition, enacted manyand horrid rites, such as tended not a little to hurry on the ruin oftheir order. When that catastrophe befel them, the sovereign seems tohave restored his prize to a noble of the same lineage with him whowilled it away, so that down to the year 1515, we find it in thepossession of a long line of Placek von Lippa und Berksteins. But heirsmale at length failed, and the heiress marrying a Baron Kollowart, thelordship of this noble keep was transferred to a new line, whichtransmitted it from father to son in uninterrupted succession, down tothe year 1670. To them succeeded, somehow or another, a race of VonRokortzowas, who again in 1710, made way for the house of Kinsky, andin their possession it has ever since remained, neglected, indeed, tillof late, but holding time and decay alike at defiance. 

Old chroniclers tell of many a lordly festival having been celebratedwithin its walls. Repeatedly, too, it has withstood and repelled theattacks of an enemy, once when an army of not less than fifteenthousand men sat down before it, and a second time, when pressed bythirteen thousand. But the invention of gunpowder, and still moreeffectually the changes in men's manners which followed the discoveryof printing, slowly robbed it of its importance, till at last it wasdeserted by its owners, who transferred their residence to the morecommodious, but far less picturesque mansion which they still continueto inhabit. Then began a new race of tenants to occupy the rock, ingiving accommodation to whom the Graffs Kinsky doubtless believed thatthey were benefiting their own souls, and doing their Maker laudableservice. 

Towards the close of the seventeenth century, while the lordship of themanor yet remained in the hands of the Kokortzowas, a bouerman, orsmall landed proprietor, distinguished in the circle for his skill inagriculture, suddenly took it into his head to become a hermit, andfixed on the deserted rock as his place of residence. The gräfinn--fora female seems then to have exercised the authority of count, gaveimmediate attention to his wishes; and fitted up, at her own cost, sucha cell as the pious bouerman described. There, for some years, dweltBrother Constantine, telling his beads at stated periods, both by dayand night, and living abundantly on the alms which the pious of allclasses bestowed upon him. At his decease, an enthusiastic millerstepped forward to fill the vacancy, and Brother Wentzel, so long asthe sands of life continued to run, was, to the good people ofBirkstein, and the districts around, all that Brother Constantine hadbeen. To him, in 1720, succeeded Brother Antony, or rather twobrothers, Antony and Jacob, who dwelt in cheerful community one withanother, praying before the same altar, and conversing during the hoursof relaxation, but, in strict propriety, occupying separate cells inthe rock. In 1735, however, Jacob died, when one Samuel Görner, amodelist, and perspective maker, took his place. Some ingeniousrepresentations of Mount Calvary and the Holy Sepulchre, executed inwood by the hands of Brother Samuel, still remain, and are exhibited tothe stranger with becoming pride. And last of all came a weaver, hightMüller, who at the age of twenty-two, devoted himself to a life ofseclusion, and dwelt apart upon the rock up to the year 1785. At thattime, the strong arm of power was stretched out, and hermits, as wellas many communities of monks, disappeared. Yet Joseph, who seems tohave been conscientiously attached to his calling and place of abode, was not driven into exile. Being appointed parish-clerk to the churchof Birkstein, he continued to hold the office several years; and dyingat an advanced age was, by his own desire, buried in a grave which hehad dug out for himself in one of the cells on the rock. Such are thecircumstances which have contributed to cast into the shade the ancientand warlike name of this curious piece of architecture, and to describeas a hermit's cell, what was, in point of fact, one of the strongestamong the many and strong baronial castles with which Bohemia abounds. 

The hermits have not sat in the seats of armed men so long, withoutleaving numerous traces of their sojourn behind them. Three or fourcaves are hollowed out in the rock, one of which contains a skull, arosary, and a narrow stone bedstead, overlaid with moss. In another, besides the usual ornaments, such as crucifixes, &c. , we found an imageof Brother Antony Müller, arrayed in his brown robe and hood, withbeads, a long gray beard, and bare feet, just as he is stated to haveexhibited himself in the land of the living. A third cave, or cell, contains a representation of the same hermit's dead body, as it lay instate, --for to the rock the corpse was carried both for exhibition andinterment; and finally, we have his grave, --a small heap of stones, with a stone cross erected over them, and an epitaph inscribed on therock at his feet. I subjoin the original, and give, for the benefit ofsuch as may not be acquainted with the German, a loose translation. 

 Du hällst den Tod für deinen feind, Du irrst; er ist dein bestest Freund: Er ummt dir alle leibin ab Und legt dich sanft in's stille grab. Befreit dich von dir falschen wilt Und wenn es dir nur selbst gefällt So fühst er dich in himmel ein Sag wellcher Freund kaun besser seyn. 

 Thou holdest death thy foe to be, No foe, but best of friends, is he. He lifts the evil from thy lot, Lays thee where sorrow reacheth not. From the false world he sets the free, And if the progress pleaseth thee, Guides thee to regions of the blest; Of friends, then, is he not the best?

There remains one apartment more, which it would be unjustifiable in meto omit particularly to notice, inasmuch as it holds a high place inthe estimation of the good people of Burgstein, and will, if it serveno other purpose, force a smile from such young, --aye, and old persons, too, --as may happen to inspect it. An ingenious mechanic, a workman inthe looking-glass manufactory hard by, has constructed a piece ofmechanism, in which all the known occupations, trades, and professions, in the world, are described. His machine occupies four galleries thatsurround an apartment built on purpose to receive it; and in the midstis an elevated platform, on which the spectators take their stand. Atfirst they see only a rude representation of mountains and forests, gardens, fallow fields, standing crops, cows, milk-maids, mills andmillers, ploughs, ploughmen, oxen, cities, soldiers, horses, carriages, mines and miners, convents, monks, hermits, &c. , --all in a state ofquiescence. The pulling of a few strings, however, gives a totallynovel aspect to the face of affairs. Inanimate objects continue, ofcourse, at rest; but no sooner is the clock-work set a-going, thanmusic sounds, soldiers march, carriages rattle about, ploughs travel, miners dig, mills go round, monks toll bells, hermits read and nodtheir heads, milkmaids ply their occupation visibly and effectivelybefore your eyes, --aye, and the very bird-catcher pops out and in frombehind his screen, while a rustic having caught a schoolboy in hisapple-tree, applies his rod to the young thief's seat of honour, withall the regularity of a drummer beating time. I defy the gravest personliving to abstain from laughter, when this universal bustle begins; forno human being appears to be idle, and no single act seems to beperformed in vain. 

The Graffs Kinsky seem, for some years back, to have paid a good dealof attention to this noble relic of old times. The late count began achapel, I think in questionable taste, of which the walls now cover thevenerable and vaulted cavity, where knights and barons used to worshiplong ago. He built, likewise, a sort of summer-house hard by, --of whichthe flooring, red roof, and whitewashed walls, agree but indifferentlywith the time-worn bearing of the castle itself. But though he hasadded these excrescences, and erected a sort of platform in front ofthe last, whence he and his friends might enjoy, at their pleasure, aview of the surrounding country, he has taken nothing away; and thepublic are much indebted to him, and to his successor, for theliberality with which they are admitted to behold one of the mostcurious specimens of baronial architecture, which is anywhere to befound. 

Nearly two hours having been spent in examining the different objectsjust described, we began to feel that food and drink would beacceptable; and our guide, --a civil woman, --having assured us that bothwere to be procured in the cottage below, to it we adjourned. The billof fare, however, consisted merely of brown bread, --sour, as all Germanbrown bread is, and made of rye, --of butter and beer. Nobody has aright to complain who has at his disposal a competent supply of goodbrown bread and butter; but to our unpractised palates, the rye-meal, and sour leaven, were not very inviting. Still we set to work, andaided by a cat, and a fine bold fellow of a dunghill cock, both of whomtook post beside us, and insisted on sharing our meal, we made a prettyconsiderable inroad into the good woman's vivres, whose butter and beerwere both of them excellent. This, with a rest of half an hour, made usfeel up to our work; so we disbursed our groschen or two, strapped onour packs, and pursued our journey. 

Gabel was our point, towards which from Hayde a good chaussée runs; butwe had no disposition to retrace our steps to Hayde, --so, trusting inpart to the map, in part to the directions which our good-naturedhostess gave us, we struck across the country at a venture. Probably wedid not commit a greater number of blunders than any other personssimilarly circumstanced would have done, but the way seemed at onceintricate and interminable. I doubt, indeed, whether we should havesucceeded in reaching our destination at all, had we not, by goodfortune, overtaken in the heart of a wood an honest countryman, who wasjourneying towards his home in the fair village of Leipsige, andvolunteered to be so far our guide. We found him intelligent enough onhis own topic of agriculture, and well inclined to communicate to ushis family history; but he knew nothing about either Peter of Prague, or the gypsies, and had never seen either Napoleon or his troops. Wewere, therefore, forced to take his guidance on his own terms, and hadto thank him for probably some errors shunned, and a good deal ofanxiety avoided. 

Leipsige, --our friend's place of abode, --is a long straggling dorf, which extends, I should conceive, a full mile and a-half, along avalley between the two steep green banks that mark out the course of apretty little stream. There is a bleach-field in it, and a manufactoryof linen thread, neither of which we delayed to examine; for the daywas wearing on, and, beautiful as the scenery was through which we hadto pass, we were desirous of reaching our halting-place as soon aspossible. At last, about six in the evening, after traversing severaldeep forests, and crossing one or two hills, we beheld before us whatseemed to be a town of some size, with a large church built in theItalian style, one schloss or palace just outside the suburbs, --andanother, much more imposing both in its architecture and situation, some three-quarters of a mile removed. Concluding that this must beGabel, we made towards it; though, in order to avoid disappointment, wequestioned a well-dressed man whom we overtook, and received from him asatisfactory answer. Our informant, however, was not content to giveinformation only, --he desired to obtain some also. What were we? We didnot belong to the country, that was certain; what were we? Italianmusicians? Now really I had no conception that in this thoroughlyEnglish, or rather Scottish countenance, of mine, there had been somuch as one line which could induce even a Bohemian to mistake me foran Italian, and I felt proportionably flattered, more particularly asin attributing to me the qualifications of a musician, he paid as higha compliment to my tastes as his first mistake paid to my features. Wemade a very low obeisance, and assured him that we were neitherItalians nor musicians. What then? Were we stocking-weavers; and didour load consist of stockings? This was too much for our gravity; forthe transition appeared to us as complete as could well be, so welaughed heartily. But when we told him the truth, that we were Englishgentlemen, walking for our own amusement, and desiring to make theacquaintance of his countrymen, his manner became more polite andobliging than ever. He directed us where to find the bestaccommodations, offered to conduct us to the hotel in person, and wouldhardly be persuaded that such service was unnecessary. We then parted, we pushing on at a brisk rate for Gabel, and he, as we ascertained byan occasional sly peep to the rear, standing on an eminence that hemight stare, as long as possible, after objects such as had never methis gaze before, --a couple of Englishmen. 

CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE PLACE. THE INN. LUDICROUS MISTAKES. THEPUBLIC ROOM. ASTONISHMENT OF THE PEOPLE AT THE SIGHT OF ENGLISHMEN. THE PRIESTS. SCENE IN THE TAP-ROOM. KINDNESS OF THE PEOPLE. OURFISHING OPERATIONS. A CHASSE, AND A DAYLIGHT BALL. 

Gabel, though a place of some extent, and containing a population ofthree or four thousand souls, possesses no corporate rights. On thecontrary, it is subject to the jurisdiction of a noble, whose schlossstands, as I have stated above, close to the suburbs, where it isencircled by a wider space of green than attaches to the dwellings ofthe Bohemian nobility in general. There is no manufactory in the place, but a great deal of spinning and weaving, --occupations which the peoplepursue in their own houses; and the streets, with the exception of themarket-place, and another which leads from the market-place to thechurch, are narrow and steep. 

We had no difficulty in discovering the inn, to which our informantoutside the town had directed us; and we made for it accordingly. Theexterior was promising enough; for it had a wide front, many windows, and considerable elevation; so we passed beneath the archway, nothingdoubting, and looked round for a door. One on the left stood open, andseeing a staircase before us, we ascended, but soon stopped short whenon the landing-place we beheld some men in huge cocked hats, feathers, and swords; while others, in more peaceable attire, were bearing undertheir arms a parcel of uniforms. "We have mistaken our ground, " said Ito my companion; "this must be a barrack, or else there is a regimentmarching through the town, and these apartments are assigned to them asquarters. " Accordingly we hurried back again; and seeing another door, exactly opposite to that which we had first essayed, we pushed it open. We were right this time; for on traversing a narrow passage, we foundourselves in the hall or kitchen. 

The hall or kitchen of a third or fourth-rate German inn, may not, perhaps, be familiar to some of my readers; so I will describe it. Imagine, then, an apartment thirty or forty feet long by twenty wide, and perhaps ten or twelve in height. Four or five windows front you asyou enter, beside which are arranged, in the old style of our Englishcoffee-rooms, as many deal tables, with benches ranged along threesides of each, and a few chairs covering the other. These leave abouthalf the width of the room free; a portion of which is, however, engrossed by a large temporary closet, while the stove, in the presentinstance a very capacious machine of the sort, occupies as much more. For there is no visible fire-place any where, and all the cooking thatgoes forward is conducted at the stove, --or, as the Germansappropriately call it, the oven. Then, again, there is a bench fastenedto the side of the oven, where in winter, the wet, and cold, and wearymay rest; while finally, at the head of the apartment is a small table, whereon the landlady, almost always one of the inmates of the hall, plies her needle-work and eats her meals. 

The hall or coffee-room, when we first looked in, was well nigh empty. One woman, whom we now discovered to be our hostess, was, indeed, sewing at her own table, while another seemed busy in the pantry, butof guests there were only three, --two, manifestly travellers of anhumble class; the third, who sat apart with a large glass of beerbefore him, more deserving of notice. His age might be about sixty. Hishair was grizzled; his face, and especially his nose, large andrubicund, and his belly portly. He wore a black frock and dingy whiteneckcloth; and he made no use of a pipe. All this we noticed whileadvancing towards the hostess, who, as usual, looked cold upon us foran instant, and then became our sworn ally. Indeed, I do not know thatI am justified in laying to that kind creature's charge even a moment'sill-humour; for no sooner had I asked her whether she spoke French orEnglish, than she clasped her hands together, and burst into a laugh, after which her sole anxiety seemed to be lest she should not succeedin making us sufficiently comfortable. But in that she was mistaken. Anicer quarter, in spite of the total absence from it of all approachesto elegance, I never desire to occupy; for all that might be wanting toour fastidious tastes, the real and unaffected kindness of the inmatesmore than made good. 

An apartment was provided for us forthwith; water and other conveniencesfor dressing were supplied, and supper was ordered. Moreover we weregiven to understand that the fierce-looking personages whose bearinghad impressed us with so much awe, never hurt anybody; inasmuch as theywere honest mechanics, a tailor or two, with some musical weavers whocomposed the town band. Their uniform, it seems, is kept in a spareroom in the Hernhause gasthof, and they were in the act of equippingthemselves for an evening's performance when we arrived. This wassatisfactory enough, because, with all my admiration for the nobleprofession of arms, I cannot say that I quite enjoy being thrust as atraveller into an inn which happens to be thronged with some hundredsof soldiers on the march; but it was not the only treat that awaitedus. My toilet was as yet incomplete, when in walked the landlady, firstto demand whether I could speak Latin, and, on my answering in theaffirmative, to announce that the priest of the parish was below in thehall, and should be glad to converse with me. I desired her to informthe reverend gentleman that I should make all the haste I could toequip myself; after which I would wait upon him with great pleasure. 

Having accomplished the necessary changes in my apparel, and otherwisemade myself comfortable, I descended the stairs, and found that thegentleman with the red nose and grizzly head, was none other than thepriest who desired to make my acquaintance. Neither his appearance norhis situation, --a conspicuous place in a pot-house, which all the idleand beer-loving members of the community seemed to frequent, --at allprepossessed me in his favour; but I took care to exhibit no symptomsof disgust in my manner, and our conversation began. His reverencespoke horrid Latin, of course; mine, from long disuse, was probably notmuch better; but as I pronounced all my words according to theaccentuation of my schoolboy days, we at least understood one-another. I found him full of curiosity, and wonderfully ill-informed, not onlyas to the political and intellectual state of England, but even inreference to its geographical situation. But his ignorance manifestlyproceeded rather from the lack of opportunity than of the desire to bebetter informed; for of his questions I began to fear at last thatthere would be no end. 

By this time a whisper was circulating through the town, that twoEnglishmen were arrived, and as very few of the Gabelites had ever seenan Englishman before, the coffee-room became speedily crowded. Largewas then the consumption of beer, and dense and dark the cloud oftobacco-smoke which circled overhead. Yet, to do them justice, thecuriosity of these simple people never once prompted them to commit abreach, however trifling, of real good manners. We were, indeed, besought to eat our supper at the table beside the priest, and wereadily consented; while by degrees all the vacant spaces were filledup, by another priest, by several well-dressed tradesmen, and, as weafterwards ascertained, by an officer of the Austrian army, who havingretired from the service on a pension, had married and settled in thetown. But the individual who interested us the most was the postmaster;for whom, as he spoke both English and French fluently, the padredespatched a messenger, and whom we found not only a most agreeable, but a very intelligent and well-informed man. He had travelled much asa merchant; had visited France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, and Russia;in the last of which countries he had resided several years as chiefclerk to an English house at St. Petersburg. 

I do not know that I ever felt myself in a situation more amusing, aswell as more perfectly novel, than that which I now occupied. The goodpeople, indeed, seemed so eager to obtain information, that I had fewopportunities of adding to my own; yet their curiosity, tinctured as itwas, throughout, with the most perfect good humour, and even politeness, highly diverted me, and I did my best to appease it. One circumstance, it is true, affected me painfully. I allude to the discreditable figurecut by the priests; who, it appeared to me, had no business in such aplace at all, further, at least, than as casual inquirers. Among allthe beer-drinkers present, however, my red-nosed acquaintance and hiscurate were the most industrious. It was quite edifying to see withwhat rapidity their pitchers were emptied, and how sedulously thehostess, --uninvited, though certainly unchecked, --replenished them; andwhen I add, that each pitcher contained a good quart, the amount offermented liquor swallowed by these thirsty souls may be guessed at. Nor, I regret to add, was the tone of their conversation much out ofkeeping with their habits in other respects. I inquired into the stateof morals in this place, and received, in bad Latin, such an answer asI do not choose to translate, and affected scarcely to understand. 

Here then was a palpable illustration of the axiom which has so oftenbeen laid down, --that, of all the means that ever were devised todegrade religion in the persons of its teachers, the compulsorycelibacy of the clergy is the most effectual. In Hernskrietchen andAuffenberg, it is very true, that no such lamentable results havefollowed; but what then? At the former place a most deserving man iscondemned to spend his days uncheered by any of those domesticendearments the influence of which is felt the most where it is mostneeded. He does not complain, I admit; he has too much principle andeven manliness to complain of that which is irremediable. But who candoubt that he feels his lot bitterly, or that his pastoral duties wouldbe discharged just as faithfully, and far more cheerfully, were itdifferent? So also at the latter place: the curate is yet a youth, fullof that fire of enthusiastic self-devotion which, while it burns, morethan supplies the place of all social and domestic relations. But howlong will this last? And see how the system operates in Gabel, aye, inhundreds and thousands of places similarly circumstanced, where no suchenthusiasm is at hand to counteract it. 

Here are two clergymen, well stricken in years, for the elder cannot beless than sixty, and the younger but a few years short of it. Theirhome, as they informed me, is in the cloisters of the church; but sucha home! Nobody inhabits it who, except for mercenary reasons, wouldshed one tear were they to die to-morrow. Of books they possess but aslender store, and were it otherwise, who can always live among hisbooks? Their professional vocations wear down their energies, and theystand in need of relaxation. Where do they seek it? Not in the quietand happy circle of their own families--for they have none, nor amongtheir neighbours, who may esteem and respect, but will scarce unbendbefore men who are become masters of their most secret thoughts. Theytherefore betake themselves to the pot-house, and in drinking andribald conversation, look for that amusement which, under a betterstate of things, the Reformed pastor is sure to find in the bosom ofhis own family, and among his friends. I do not mean to justify theindividuals, who, on the contrary, deserve utter reprobation; butsurely a system which throws such temptations in men's way cannot beseriously defended by any one who has the interest of religion atheart. 

From the priests, as they began, under the influence of repeatedpotations, to exhibit their true character, I gladly turned away, andaddressing myself to the postmaster, learned from him, that the churchwas a collegiate charge, that it had been burned down about forty yearsago, that the people, though poor, were contented, and that he himselfwas but the successor of his father, who had been postmaster beforehim. We then began to converse about the late war, upon which heinformed me, that Napoleon, on his retreat from Moscow, had passedthrough Gabel, and breakfasted at the post-house; that fifteen ortwenty thousand men occupied the town some time; but that, though therehad been some skirmishes and frequent alarms, no battle was fought inthe neighbourhood. Finally, he undertook to correct my route, which Ishowed him; mentioned one or two places as deserving of notice, whichwere omitted from it; and promised to accompany us some way on the roadto Oybin, the point which he advised us to visit on the morrow. 

It was now getting late, and our supper and usual allowance, --a bottleof light wine between us, --being finished, my companion and I rose towish our friends good night. Numerous hints were on this thrown out, that it was yet early, and that we should be disturbed by the bands ofmusic, one of which was playing at the inn door, another in agentleman's house hard by; but we would not attend to them. Havingstrolled through the street once or twice in order to free our lungs, in some measure, from an atmosphere of tobacco, we retired to ourapartment, where, in clean and comfortable beds, we slept soundly, tillfive o'clock next morning. 

Something had passed over-night between the postmaster and myself whichleft an impression on my mind that he had urged us to stay and spendthis day with him; so, having finished breakfast by seven o'clock, weleft our knapsacks, packed and ready, and strolled down to thepost-house. My imagination had, however, run wild, for no suchagreement existed; so, after getting a few hints as to distances, roads, and places of call, we returned to the inn. Here, in thetap-room, were assembled host, hostess, and maid, all of themunaffectedly grieving at our threatened departure, and all ready withcogent arguments, such as might tempt us to halt at least one daylonger among them. Nor were these without their effect. Mine hosthappening to inquire into the uses of the instrument which, envelopedin a brown linen case, I carried in my hand, I told him, and heinstantly assured me of as good a day's fishing as old Isaac Waltonhimself need desire. This was enough for me, whose piscatorialpropensities threaten, I am afraid, to be as enduring as those ofPaley; and laying aside our loads, which had already been buckled on, we restored them to their places in the chamber. But the astonishmentof the innkeeper, aye, and of all his household beside, when Iexhibited to him my rod, line, and book of flies, no language isadequate to describe. Such things had never come under their admiringgaze before, and their shouts and exclamations were quite amusing. Itwould have been cruel, after all this, not to give them a specimen ofthe style in which we insular anglers coax trout to their destruction;so having ordered supper to be ready at eight, and sent a message tothe postmaster that I would be glad if he could come and take part ofit with us, we sallied forth, under the conduct of our host, in searchof the stream. 

The first glance which we obtained of this said stream sufficed toassure us that in the gentle craft, the good people of Gabel werealtogether unpractised. There was no stream at all, but a ditch, deep, here and there, and dark enough, but measuring not more than two feetacross, and everywhere overhung with bushes. They assured me that itwas full of fine trout, and I have no reason to doubt them. But as Icould not bring myself to adopt their method of catching the saidtrout, namely, by tying a cord to the end of a stick, and a hook, witha miserable worm on its blade, to the end of the string, my fishingthis day amounted to nothing. Yet the day was, on the whole, veryagreeably spent, as the following detail will show. 

Our host, a fine handsome man of perhaps forty years of age, with aquick eye, and singularly intelligent gestures, informed me, as we setout from home, that I should find, at the water's side, the sameAustrian officer who had sat at our table over-night, "For he is a keensportsman, " added he, "and having no other employment, devotes almostall his mornings either to angling or shooting. " I was not sorry to betold this, because I naturally concluded that a stream which couldafford amusement all the summer over to one fisherman, so determined, would furnish me with sufficient sport for a single day. Myastonishment may, therefore, be conceived, when on stepping over, whatI mistook for a drain, our host pointed upwards, and exclaimed, "Aye, there he is, hard at it. He's an excellent fisherman, and would die, Ireally believe, were the opportunity of angling taken away from him. ""Where is he?" cried I; "I don't see either a river or a fisherman. ""Don't see!" was the answer, "why he is there, there at the bend in thestream. " I followed the direction of the speaker's finger with my eye, and beheld, sure enough, a gentleman seated comfortably on the longgrass beside some alder bushes, and smoking his pipe. "You don't meanthat the angler is there, " exclaimed I. "Yes, I do though, " repliedmine host, "and see, he has just got a bite. " Sure enough the sedentarysportsman put forth one of his hands just as these words were uttered, and grasping the butt of a willow wand, seemed to give it a slighthitch in the air; but no results followed. It was quietly laid asideagain, and the smoking resumed. 

I now turned round, and with a countenance strongly expressive ofhorror, begged to be informed if this were really the stream. Ireceived an answer in the affirmative, the solemnity of which was toomuch, first, for the risible faculties of my young companion, and thenfor my own. We literally roared with laughter. But we checked ourselvesas soon as possible, and having explained to our guide how widelydifferent were our notions of angling from his, had the satisfaction toperceive that no offence was given. We now joined the Austrian officer, and found that he had caught nothing; a fortune which did not improvewith him during the two or three hours which we loitered away in hiscompany. 

There was no fishing to be had, that was clear enough; but we hadbrought some bread and butter and wine with us, in a contraryexpectation, and these we discussed. Of course our brother sportsmanjoined us in this operation; and we were not slow in discovering, thatthough we had failed in finding trout, we had stumbled upon an obligingand intelligent companion. He had served in the campaigns of 1812, 13, and 14; was wounded at the battle of Leipsig; passed a year or two inFrance during the occupation of that country by the Allies, and wastherefore proud to say, had been commanded by the Duke of Wellington. Since the peace, he had spent a year or two at Ancona with hisregiment, but in consequence of the rupture of a blood-vessel in hislungs, had since been discharged upon a pension. Since retiring fromthe service, he had married a woman with some little property; and nowlived with his father in Gabel, who held, under government, a licensefor the sale of tobacco, and farmed a small estate, to which ouracquaintance was the heir. 

Our gallant friend, apparently chagrined that we should have beendisappointed in our fishing, proposed a chasse. I stared again, remembering that it was the month of June, and seeing fine crops ofcorn waving on all sides of me; but as he appeared serious, I offeredno objection. We accordingly walked back to the town; and while Mr. Madder, --so the officer was called, --went home to dinner, I and mycompanions strolled into the church. It is large and commodious, andcan boast of numerous pictures, more to be admired for the excellentintentions of the artists, than for the success which has attendedtheir efforts; and the view from the roof is beautiful. But, except inthe crypts below, where

 Coffins stand round like open presses, Showing the dead in their last dresses, there was little either within or without the pile deserving of notice. The crypt is, however, a fine one; and the old monks and nobles whomthe sexton ruthlessly exposes to view, look out upon you grimly enoughfrom among their blackened and decaying habiliments. 

Having allowed Mr. Madder what we conceived to be sufficient time forsatisfying his appetite, our host of the Hernhause proposed that weshould call upon him; and we went accordingly. A remarkablynice-looking old lady, with two younger ones, received us, and wereintroduced to us by Mr. Madder as his mother and sisters. Wine andcoffee were then produced, of which we were obliged to partake, and arequest was modestly urged, that we would exhibit the wonderfulfishing-tackle. The whole apparatus was accordingly sent for anddisplayed, quite as much to the edification of the ladies, as to thatof their brother, and considerable progress was made in the goodopinion of one of them by a present of a casting-line and a couple offlies. 

The tackle being put up, a double-barrelled gun and shooting-pouch werehanded to me, the former furnished with a leathern sling, the lattermade of undressed deer-skin. I slung them on, and Mr. Madder and theinnkeeper being equipped in a similar manner, away we marched. But suchshooting! Never surely in the annals of sporting has this day beenrivalled, unless, indeed, when some city apprentices escaped from thewarehouse in Lad-lane, have penetrated into the marshes beyond Hackney, to wage war upon a solitary hedge-sparrow. A dog we doubtless had, andhe was large enough for all useful purposes; for he trotted through therye with the composure of an elephant, and did spring a partridge fromher nest. But the partridge happily escaped from three well-loadedbarrels, and we never saw more either of her or her companions. Thenwent we deep into the woods, following the notes of the cuckoo and thering-dove, only that we might come forth again with hands unstained bythe blood of any such innocent creatures. 

I was very much amused with all this for a while, but by degrees itbegan to grow tiresome; and I proposed that, as the sun wore towardsthe west, we should return home. My wish was law, to my kindcompanions; and homewards we turned our faces. But as we drew towards asmall house, about three or four English miles from the town, thesounds of music were heard, and we found, on approaching, that it wasfilled with ladies and gentlemen from Gabel, the younger portion ofwhom were dancing to the notes of a fiddle, a clarionet, and a bassoon. It was our purpose to mix with the people of Bohemia as much aspossible; we therefore expressed a desire to stop short for a minute ortwo, and to become spectators, if not partners in the frolic. Againwere our wishes complied with cheerfully. We joined the merry-making, were well and kindly received, and laying aside our guns and pouches, danced with such of the young ladies as happened to be withoutpartners. Nor did we get away from this pleasant little broad-day ballwithout doing some violence to the hospitable feelings of its founders. 

Dancing seems to be a passion with all orders of people in Bohemia. Thevery cow-herds dance on the high road, to the music of their ownvoices, and the universal figure is the waltz. Quadrilles andgallopades have, no doubt, their worshippers among the higher classes;but among the lower, the waltz--most truly called the Germanwaltz, --seems to be all in all. The party to which, for half-an-hour, we attached ourselves, belonged to the middle ranks, that is, to suchmiddle ranks as even Germany produces; for there were present thedoctor and his wife, a wealthy brewer and his family, with others ofGabel's magnates, and I believe that I had the honour of dancing withthe brewer's daughter. 

So passed one day at Gabel; to ourselves most pleasantly, and if wemight judge from the manners of the people about us, not less agreeablyto them. The rest of our story at this stage is told in few words. Wereturned to the inn, changed our apparel, supped in our own room, withMr. Madder and the postmaster as our guests; took of them, at teno'clock, an affectionate leave, and went to bed. We were up nextmorning, and packed and ready for marching, by six o'clock. 

CHAPTER IV. 

OUR LANDLORD BECOMES OUR GUIDE. PECULIAR SCENERY OF THIS PART OFBOHEMIA. A VILLAGE BEER-HOUSE. TRAVELLING MECHANICS. ACCOUNT OF THETORPINDAS. TOILSOME MARCH. MARCHOVIDES. ENTERTAINMENT THERE. 

Up to this moment the elements had behaved towards us with remarkablekindness. We had, therefore, no right to complain, however deeply wemight lament the circumstance, when, on drawing up the window-blinds, we ascertained that the rain was falling in torrents; and we felt thatwe must needs face it. We therefore descended to the tap-room, afterdiscussing our cakes and coffee, and proceeded to bid our landladyfarewell. But neither she nor her husband would permit us to budge aninch. The rain could not last. Only wait an hour, and the sky would beclear, when our host himself would be our guide, and put us in a way ofreaching Liebenau much more agreeably, as well as with less fatigue, than if we followed the high road. We could not resist this appeal, sowe sat still. 

At length, about eight o'clock, though the rain had not entirelyceased, the heavens looked so bright that we expressed an earnestdesire to push forward. As no mercenary motives had operated to producethe previous opposition of our hosts, so now such opposition was atonce withdrawn; and the landlord, slinging his gun and pouch over hisshoulder, declared himself at our command. We took leave of the kindlandlady, not without tears on her side, and quitted Gabel, in allprobability, for ever. 

We had been correctly warned as to the probable duration of the storm. The rain, which fell in occasional showers when we first set out, soonceased entirely, and we had once more a clear and cloudless sky, with anice cool breeze just sufficiently powerful to refresh withoutincommoding us. Our walk, likewise, was very interesting; for, independently of the extreme beauty of the scene, --hills and dales, forests and cultivated fields, deep glens and swelling table-lands, --wepassed over ground which had witnessed some sharp fighting during themovements of the French army upon Dresden. The Allies, it appears, manoeuvred well in this quarter; for, by showing numerous skeletonsof corps, they led Napoleon to imagine that a large army of Austrians, Russians, and Prussians was here; and, while he watched them carefully, they had well-nigh cut him off from his line of retreat. During thesedemonstrations on both sides, foraging parties had been sent out fromGabel, to sweep the neighbouring villages. These our guide had seen, and one of them he followed so as to become eye-witness to an affairwhich it had near a hamlet which we passed. He described the scatteringfire of the jagers, and the occasional dashes of the hussars, withgreat animation, though, according to his showing, this, like otherrencounters of the sort, cost more powder than lives. 

Having accompanied us at least two German miles, --that is, full tenmiles according to our English mode of computing distances, --thelandlord of the Hernhause stopped short, and prepared to take hisleave. We shook hands warmly, and I thought I heard his voice quiverwhen, in return for a cast of flies, he thanked me. Nor must I permitit to be believed, that the regrets were all on his side. I do not knowwhen my feelings have been more engaged among strangers, than by theunaffected kindness of the people of Gabel, --a kindness on which we hadno right to calculate, however much we might be justified in lookingfor civility in return for our money. 

Once more, then, the world was before us, and seldom has it shone outbeneath the gaze of youth and inexperience more winningly than it didunder the influence of that delicious day. The rain of the precedingnight, and of the early part of the morning, had given to herb and treea fresher and a fairer green. The fallows wore no longer a parched-upand dust-like hue, and the rivulets, swollen but not polluted, retainedtheir lucid character as they rolled on their way. From brake and bush, from grove and hedge-row, thousands of unseen choristers filled the airwith melody, and the very oxen and horses, as they dragged theirploughs, or toiled onwards with their wagons, seemed to acknowledge theblessed influence which other creatures felt. We sat beneath the shadeof a small plantation to enjoy the scene, and then, with spiritsunconsciously elevated, and hearts not, I trust, insensible to theglories of nature, and the goodness of nature's God, resumed ourpilgrimage. 

Our route lay, throughout the whole of this day's progress, throughgreen fields, and over narrow footpaths. Not so much as once were wedriven to the necessity of following the high road; but taking ourobservations carefully, and bearing with wonderful exactness from pointto point, we had already arrived within an hour's walk of Liebenau, before we were aware. While compassing the space that intervenedbetween the village where our guide quitted us and this, which had beenmarked down as our resting-place for the night, we passed many strikingand beautiful landscapes, such as I would willingly pause to describe, were human language capable of describing them faithfully. Everywherearound us, bold conical hills stood up, not a few of which bore upontheir summits the ruins of old castles, while all were more or lessclothed throughout with noble forests. For the portion of Bohemia whichwe were now crossing, may with perfect truth be represented as asuccession of glorious valleys, overshadowed by not less gloriousmountains. The straths are all of them fertile to an extraordinarydegree, and as I have already stated, both they and the hill-sidesabound with inhabitants. Yet is the country a mountain district, inevery sense of the word, though the very mountains either are bynature, or have by industry been rendered, uncommonly fertile. 

The great defect in Bohemian scenery, is the absence of water. There isscarcely a lake in the whole kingdom, and, with the exception of two orthree, such as the Elbe, the Iser, the Bober, &c. , the rivers hardlydeserve to take rank with the larger class of our mountain streams. Such a defect is sorely felt by him who, looking down from the brow ofa lofty hill over a wide plain, beholds perfection in every particular, except that there is no water there; and when from the narrower ravinesyou miss the lochs and tarns, which give to Cumberland and theHighlands of Scotland their peculiar character, your disappointmentscarcely falls short of mortification. Perhaps, indeed, a double motivemay have operated with us to produce this feeling. Our eyes pined, inthe first place, for the object on which, in such situations, they hadbeen accustomed at home to repose; and secondly, our fishing-rods feltlike useless burdens in our hands. But it was not destined to be so forever, as I shall have occasion, in the course of my narrative, to show. 

We had walked well and stoutly, --the sort of half-rest which we enjoyedthe day before giving fresh vigour to our limbs, --so that between twoand three o'clock we ventured to calculate that Liebenau could not befar distant. Hunger and thirst were, however, beginning to be ratherinconveniently felt; and as our calculations might after all beerroneous, we judged it prudent to seek, in a little ale-house by theway-side, such refreshment as could be procured. Our hotel was of thevery humblest description; namely, the beer-house of a small hamlet, and could furnish only brown bread, cheese, butter, and beer. These, inthe existing state of our appetites, went down famously; and a pipe ofgood tobacco to wind up withal, was not out of place. Neither was eventhis unpretending house of call destitute to us of subjects ofinterest. We found when we entered the tap-room two young men asleep onthe benches, and a couple of large packs lying beside them. They awokeshortly afterwards, and proved to be, as we had expected, journeymenmechanics. For in Germany a custom universally prevails, that youngmen, after serving their apprenticeship to the trade which they intendto practise, go forth upon their travels, and dispose of their wares, not only in remote towns and villages of their native state, but inforeign lands. Some of these journeymen travel from Saxony, forexample, as far as Hamburg and Copenhagen. Several make their way intoFrance; and I have even heard of them penetrating both the wilds ofRussia, and the classical and fair fields of Italy. The consequenceis, that they return home with minds very much enlarged, and anacquaintance, more or less accurate, not only with the systems ofcommerce, but with the languages of foreign countries, and that astranger is surprised on entering a shop in Dresden or Zittau, to findthat French, and perhaps Italian and English, are understood by thetradesman who keeps it. 

The young men whom we found in occupation of the tap-room were by tradecutlers. Natives of some obscure town in Prussian Silesia, of which Ihave forgotten the name, they were wandering about through Bohemia withthe intention by-and-by of proceeding into Saxony, and so round byBerlin and Potsdam to their homes. Their knapsacks, which they hastenedaccording to established usage to unbuckle, contained a plentifulsupply of knives, forks, scissors, and razors; but the poor fellowswere not successful in driving a bargain, for their charges wereexorbitantly high, and their goods of an indifferent quality. Even thehost himself bid but one-half their demand, and neither he nor we couldbring the merchants to our terms. 

While we were haggling about an eighteen-penny clasp knife, the door ofthe tap-room opened, and there entered an old man, clothed in rags, with a wallet at his back and a long piked stick in his hand; who, uncovering his head, knelt down upon the floor, and began to pray andcross himself with surprising volubility. My young companion gave him apiece of money, which checked his devotions only for a moment; for hemerely looked at it, nodded his head again, and resumed his mutteringwith all possible eagerness. But at the termination of, perhaps, fiveminutes, his prayers seemed to have been told out, --for he rose andwith a loud voice pronounced a benediction on the house and all thatwere in it. This done, he turned about, and walked away. 

The whole affair was to us so novel in its character, that thequestions which we put to the landlord were put eagerly, but oureagerness proved to be uncalled for. "Story! God bless you! I have noneto tell, Sir. " What we mistook for a striking incident, proved to be aneveryday occurrence in Bohemia, and our imaginary palmer or devotee buta common beggar. And now, having touched on the subject, we proceededto sound the depth of our host's information on the subject of gypsies. Where did they horde? how were we most likely to fall in with one oftheir camps, and what sort of treatment might we expect to receive attheir hands? It was with some difficulty that we could make the honestman comprehend the object which we had in view; and when he did catchour meaning, his reply was brief and pithy. "The people you speak of wecall Torpindas. They are an idle worthless set of vagabonds. They haveno camps in Bohemia of which I ever heard, --neither is Bohemia theirhome. They come out of Hungary, and beg their way far and near in thesummer months; going about in pairs or by threes, and sleeping atnights under sheds, or on the floors of such tap-rooms as are opened tothem. I advise you to have as little to say to them as possible. Avowedly, they are mere beggars, but their hands are always prompt forpicking and stealing, and they are said not to be over scrupulous inusing their knives. " Here, then, if our informant spoke correctly, wasan end to one of the dreams which had prompted our incursion intoBohemia. But though we gave him full credit for speaking what hebelieved to be the truth, we took the liberty of questioning theaccuracy of his information, particularly in reference to the moretremendous parts of it, --the hints touching the blood-thirstypropensities of the Torpindas. For the Austrian police is a great dealtoo vigilant to overlook, in any corner of the empire, the commissionof murder; at least, the habitual perpetration of such a crime by anyclass of persons so marked as the gypsies. Though, therefore, we beganto fear that we might be pursuing a shadow, and that either there wereno gypsy camps to join, or that the excitement of such an adventurewould not compensate for the desagrémens attending it, we did not atonce lay aside our determination of making up to the first horde whomwe should meet, and striving to become their guests for four-and-twentyhours, if not for longer. 

We had now rested our allotted period, so we wished our companions goodluck, and resuming our march arrived in Liebenau about half-past fouro'clock. It is a clean, neat town; built along the side of a hill, andcommanding a fine view, across the intervening valley, of a bolderrange than its own; but of its means of accommodating strangers Icannot speak. For the day was yet so young, and we felt so unusuallyfresh and vigorous, that, after a brief consultation, it was agreedbetween us to push on, if possible, some five or six miles farther. Weaccordingly proceeded to the post-office; where, on consulting the headof the department, we learned that about two stunden, --that is, aboutsix English miles further, on the way to Hoen Elbe, was a place calledMarchovides, where we should find excellent quarters for the night. This was precisely the sort of intelligence which we could have wishedto receive, and we lost no time in acting upon it. 

Would that I possessed the power of bringing before my reader's eyeeven a faint representation of the magnificent scenery through whichthis late march carried us. After climbing with infinite toil a longand steep ridge, by crossing which a prodigious detour was to be saved, we gained a point whence, on one hand, the eye could range over noinconsiderable portion of Bohemia; while on the other, the snowy peaksof the Riesengebirgen bounded the prospect, though still separated fromus by a wide breadth of highlands. Close at our feet, on either side, were deep rich valleys, highly cultivated as usual, and swarming withvillages; while far away lay town and tower, castle and convent, forestand green meadow, mountain and ravine, producing by their combinationsas glorious and diversified a panorama as it has ever been my goodfortune to behold. And yet I am not sure that even this scene, strikingas it seemed to be, was not cast into the shade, when, after draggingour weary limbs across the hollow, and gaining the opposite ridge, weopened out a prospect, narrower to be sure, but far surpassing, inrugged grandeur, any on which we had as yet gazed. Another deep ravinelay beneath us, dark with the forest which covered its base; beyondwhich uprose a chain of jagged and pine-clad rocks, resembling in theirforms the fragments of some huge castle, or rather of an enormous cityof castles, shaken by an earthquake into ruins. Even now I am notsatisfied that among these tall and beetling crags there were noremnants of man's handiwork; for the gloom of twilight was upon themwhen I saw them first, and ere I had ceased to gaze it had well nighdeepened into night. 

Extreme fatigue is a serious damper to enthusiasm of any sort, and keenas our relish of nature's more colossal forms might be, I am not surethat we would not have exchanged, at that moment, the view of thesewonders, with all the train of thoughts arising out of them, for theinterior of a snug room in a village inn, and a mess of calves' flesh, with a bottle of wine to drink after it. Of our village inn we as yet, however, saw no symptoms; and wearily and slowly step followed step, without, as it seemed, bringing us nearer to the object of our wishes. At last, just as darkness had fairly set in, we met, at the brow of ahill, a rustic, and received from him the gratifying intelligence thatMarchovides lay about a quarter of an hour's walk distant, in thevalley beyond. "And the gasthof, " cried we, "what sort of a place isit? Can we get supper, and beds, and a bottle of wine?" "Oh, yes, "replied the countryman, "it is a capital quarter. Wine, and every otherthing that is good, may be had there for the asking. " "This is as itshould be, " said we one to another, while recalling our energies for afinal effort we hitched our packs higher upon our shoulders, andquickened our pace. 

We had not walked far along the descent when, through the thickeninggloom, numerous lights glancing from cottage windows made us aware thatwe were approaching Marchovides. We made for one of the first of thesedwellings, inquired for the inn, had its situation accurately describedto us, and hurried towards it. The first impression made upon us bythis "excellent quarter, " was far from favourable. It served thetwo-fold purpose of a mill and a gasthof; and whatever the comparativemerits of the mill might be, the gasthof department was clearly not ofthe highest order. Before the door stood a wagon, which the wagoner wasmending by the light of a lantern, while beneath the staircase a hugearchway showed itself, filled--as on a nearer inspection I, to myhorror, ascertained--with wagons also. "God help us, " cried I, "we havetravelled far to reach a sorry resting-place; for I am greatly deceivedif this be not a house of call for wains, the drivers of which willprobably be our companions both at bed and board. " First impressionsare not, however, at all times to be relied upon; so we did our best tothrust aside the unpleasant anticipations which were beginning to crowdupon us, and recollecting that there was no other alternative thaneither to lodge here, or pass the night hungry and cheerless in theopen air, we put a bold face on the matter, and entered. 

We had calculated justly, for things were not quite so bad as theapparition of the wagons had led us to anticipate. The saloon, on thethreshold of which we stood, contained of living creatures only oneman, somewhat passed the middle of life, who seemed to be in the act ofmaking his toilette; an old woman busily engaged with her needle, threewenches, who moved hither and thither, now poking about the stove, nowarranging dirty linen, apparently for the wash-tub, and one or twochildren. Tables and benches there were, as usual; also water-buckets, a few chairs, and a tub or two, while a line drawn the whole length ofthe apartment, about a foot and a half from the roof, supported, ingraceful disarray, a profusion of coats, trousers, aprons, petticoats, and stockings. To complete the picture, there were no candles burning, not even a rosin taper; but here and there a piece of blazing bog-pine, either stuck in some cranny, or borne about in the hands of a domestic, cast over the scene a dark red light. I dare say we should have beendelighted with all this, had we been assured of obtaining an apartment, into which, when tired of the sublime and beautiful, it might becompetent for us to retire; but being quite uncertain on that head, ourfirst measure was to question the sempstress touching both her abilityand inclination to accommodate us. Never surely was the spirit ofpatient industry more strikingly illustrated than in the personage whomwe now addressed. Her needle did not cease to hold its course onemoment; scarcely, indeed, would she lift her eyes above her spectacles;while, in a tone by no means conciliating, she informed us, that shehad no chamber, no flesh of any kind, no eggs, no white bread, nor anyother article which, in the vanity of our souls, we had rashly named. 

"Why they told me these were excellent quarters!" said I, horrified outof the exercise of my usual tactics. 

"So they are!" was the answer; "this is a capital quarter. "

"But you have no beds nor bed-rooms!"

"Oh yes, we have!"

"Won't you give us one, then?"

"No, I won't!"

"Why, my dear creature? Depend upon it, we will not run away withthem. "

"Very likely; but we have none to give you all the same. "

This was a poser, and my companion and I looked at one another withrueful countenances; At length I resumed:--

"Your house seems to be a large one; how comes it that you have nosleeping accommodation for your guests?"

"This is a large apartment, " interposed the half-clad man from hisdistant table; "we can accommodate plenty of guests that are not toogrand for us, here. "

"Oho!" exclaimed I, "you can make up beds for us on the floor. Thatwill do well enough; and now for supper. "

The facility with which I slid into their peculiar views of comfortablesleeping accommodations seemed to have a very salutary effect upon thetempers of our hosts; for the half-clad man turned out to be thehusband of the sewing woman, as well as a person of considerableimportance in his own neighbourhood. The old lady discovered that there_were_ some eggs in the cupboard after all, and that certain slices ofbacon remained from a stock which had been laid in some time previously. Moreover, the cellar contained some wine; neither very strong nor veryhigh flavoured, certainly, but sound and wholesome, as we discovered ontrial, and more acceptable to our palates than beer. To work, therefore, the dame and her maidens went, and in half an hour we sawbefore us, on a nice clean cloth, and by the flame of a farthingrushlight, half a dozen eggs, sundry lumps of pork, some rye-bread andbutter, and a flask of white wine. They did not continue long in theorder of their integrity. The eggs disappeared in a twinkling. Severalfierce inroads were made into the bread and butter, and even the baconsuffered considerably. As to the wine, it passed away like waterspilled upon the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. But therewas another enemy pressing us sore, over and above hunger. We hadwalked upwards of thirty English miles, and my companion especiallycould scarcely keep his eyes open, --a circumstance which was not slowin attracting the attention of our now obliging hostess, and for whichshe hastened to provide. Some trusses of good clean straw were broughtinto the room and spread upon the floor. Over these was laid a sort ofmattress, and the youngster, dressed as he was, cast his knapsack downfor a pillow, and threw himself on the couch thus prepared for him. Infive minutes he was just as happy as if he had rested on his own bed atSchandau. 

Meanwhile sundry persons, all of them young men, entered the tap-room, and visions of wagoners snoring on the floor beside me began again tohaunt my imagination; when, to my great relief, I ascertained thatthese were "the miller's men, " who, having eaten their supper with thefemale members of the family, would withdraw to their nests in thecock-loft. And truly this affair of the domestics' supper was curiousenough. Heaven knows what the mess might be, which, being broughtpiping hot from the oven, was planted down in a brown stew-pan, rightin the centre of one of the tables; but the appetites of the twelvepersons who forthwith gathered round it, spoon in hand, appearedexcellent. It was quite edifying to behold the order, and silence, andregularity with which, one after another, they shovelled theirrespective portions into their mouths; and how patiently they enduredthe intense heat, which, judging from the hissing of the stew, musthave accompanied each ladleful. Finally, the dish being emptied, theyrose with one accord, and departed, the young men to their mattresses, or, it may be, to their occupations about the mill, --the young women tofulfil what remained of their daily tasks. 

While this was going on, the landlord and I were keeping up an animatedconversation, of which I remember nothing more than that it turnedchiefly upon the state of his own family and affairs, and tended toimpress me with becoming notions of his dignity. Indeed, I may state, once for all, that the landlord of a German inn, whether it be an hotelin a capital, or like this at Marchovides, a beer-shop in a remotevillage, is in his own eyes a person of very considerable importance. While his wife, poor soul, performs all the menial offices about you, which the domestics either cannot, or are not expected to perform, thehost himself is content to keep you in talk, which he not unfrequentlyaccomplishes by sitting down beside you, and helping you to discussyour wine or beer. Nor does it inflict the slightest wound upon yourdignity, whatever your station in life may be, to fall in with hishumours. If you cut him short, you may miss the opportunity of learningsomething which you could have wished to learn, and you are sure tosuffer from the diminished attention which is shown to you ever after. If you indulge him, you may be bored for a while, it is true; but youhave the satisfaction of reflecting, that you neither wounded a privateman's feelings, nor offered wanton outrage to the customs of acommunity. 

Like my boy I was by this time getting tired and sleepy; and I castsundry wishful glances towards the heap of straw. The landlordunderstood my situation, and hastened to assure me that we should havethe whole of the chamber to ourselves, and that if I would lie down, the place should be cleared for us in a quarter of an hour. "For, totell you the truth, " cried he, "we all sleep, my wife, and I, and thechildren, and these wenches, in a little chamber beyond; the wholehouse, large as you justly observed that it was, being occupied, eitheras store-rooms for flour, or with the machinery of the mill. " I beggedmy friend not to put his household to the smallest inconvenience on myaccount, and lying down beside my companion, closed my eyes. 

I soon found, however, that sleep was out of the question. Thetemperature of the apartment could not be less than a hundred degrees, and there were so many dim lights and strange figures passing to andfro, that all my efforts to abstract myself from them proved fruitless. I therefore opened my eyes again, and lay to observe the issue. In ashort time landlord, landlady, and children withdrew. Then followed asort of clearing-up of odds and ends by the maidens, and last of all awashing of feet and legs. This latter operation amused me exceedingly, and I could not resist the inclination which I felt of complimentingthe lasses on their fair proportions. But they did not on that accountlower their drapery a jot. On the contrary they laughed heartily, andchatted to me all the time their ablutions went forward, and wished mea sound sleep as soon as they were finished. As they carried with themthe last of the torches, their wish was, in some measure, accomplished;for my eyes, after repeated efforts, closed of their own accord, andwere not opened again, except during feverish and brief intervals, tillfive o'clock next morning. 

CHAPTER V. 

MARCH RENEWED. SCENERY MORE AND MORE GRAND. A POPULATION OF WEAVERS. HOCHSTADT. THE ISER. MAGNIFICENT RIVER, AND CAPITAL TROUTING. STARKENBACH. EXTREME KINDNESS OF THE INHABITANTS. CARRIED TO THECHANCELLOR'S HOUSE. FISH THE ISER AGAIN. THE EFFECT OF MY SPORT ON ARELIGIOUS PROCESSION. SUPPER AT THE HIGH BAILIFF'S. GAME AT CHESS. TAKELEAVE OF OUR KIND HOSTS WITH MUTUAL REGRET. 

Our toilet this morning was very speedily completed. A dip of the wholehead into a basin of water, and a hasty and imperfect rinse of thehands; these, with the application of tooth-brush, hair-brush, andrazor, to their respective departments, put us in marching order; andcoffee being served without delay, by six we were _en route_. HoenElbe, not far from the fountain of the mighty Elbe, was our proposedpoint. But

 The best laid schemes of mice and men, Gang aft awry, and Hoen Elbe we were destined never to behold. 

Our road to-day led over a succession of hills, each of whichintroduced us to scenery more wild and rugged than before; for each newstep was now bringing us nearer and nearer to the loftiest of theRiesengebirg range. Still the population appeared not to diminish. Thevillages, if poorer and meaner, were not less frequent than ever, andeach individual cottage seemed to swarm with inmates. We were, however, greatly struck with the squalid and unhealthy appearance of these poorpeople. Unlike our own mountaineers, the inhabitants of the Bohemianhills seem to be a race every way inferior to the occupants of theplain. The men are short, thin, and apparently feeble, with pale cheeksand sickly complexions. The women, over and above these disadvantages, are almost all goitred, and the children look like creatures born insin and brought up to misery. Probably all this is owing as much to thesort of life which these highlanders lead, as to the severity of theirclimate. They are all either weavers, or spinners and teazers of flax, except the very few whose services are required in the cultivation of abarren soil. Now, were you to shut up even a hardy Argyleshireshepherd, in a heated chamber, where he should be condemned to breatheall day long foul air, abundantly mixed with minute portions of flaxand wool, you would probably find, at the end of the year, that he wasnot what he used to be ere he took to spinning. I think, then, that Iam right in concluding that the mountaineers of Bohemia would be likethe mountaineers of Scotland, were they similarly employed; and I amquite sure that a more revolting spectacle is not to be seen anywherethan that which a mountain district presents, of which the inhabitantsare chiefly weavers. 

It is not, however, entirely to their devotion to sedentary pursuitsthat we are justified in attributing the squalid and unhealthyappearance of these highlanders. They are all manufacturers on theirown account. They do not work for any master, nor receive, as anecessary consequence, regular wages; but they card the flax, spin thethread, weave the web, and carry it to market, all at their own risk, and in obedience to the spirit of speculation. If the articles take, then are they well off for a season; if the contrary result ensue, theymust carry it home again, and sad, indeed, is their condition. I needscarcely add, that it was by these mountaineers, and their rivals onthe Prussian side of the Riesengebirg range, that the most valuable ofthe German cotton and linen goods used to be produced; and that, tillwithin the last quarter of a century, even our own manufacturers werequite unable to compete with them. The case is now, however, widelydifferent, and they feel and mourn the result bitterly. Nor is itsurprising that there should be gendered among them a strong prejudiceagainst the English people. They carry this so far, in many instances, as to believe that the Bohemian and Silesian marks are forged by themanufacturers of Manchester and Glasgow; and that their goods arethrown back upon their hands because an inferior article is palmed offat the great fairs, and sold as if fabricated by themselves. 

When people lose their way in other countries, it is for the lack ofroads. In Bohemia, the multiplicity of roads is quite perplexing. I amsure that we went this day a full league, if not more, out of our way, from repeatedly following the wrong path, and being as often compelledto retrace our steps. Once, after climbing to the ridge of a loftymountain, we learned, to our horror, that the road which we ought tohave pursued, ran in the very bottom of the glen which we had quitted;and twice the good people's directions were given in a language sobarbarous, that we could make nothing of them. But after a good deal offatigue, and no trifling share of enjoyment, we reached, at twelveo'clock, the town of Hochstadt, the place at which, as it wasrepresented to be only three hours' march from Hoen Elbe, we hadresolved to dine. We had timed our arrival admirably; for twelveo'clock is, in Germany, the common hour of dinner; and of the farewhich was served up in the neat little inn towards which our steps wereturned, we had no right to complain. 

Hochstadt, so named from the elevated nature of its situation, standson the summit of a mountain, and is raised probably not less than threethousand feet above the level of the sea. It commands a magnificentmountain view, with a much larger scattering both of vegetation andculture, than we had any right to expect. Bleak it doubtless must be, in winter, for just across the valley which dips down from it on thewest, are hills whose tops retain their snowy coverings till August;while eastward is an immense plain, undulating here and there, butscarcely broken by the wooded cones that are scattered over it. But inthe month of June, when we beheld it, the landscape is exceedinglyinteresting, and the promise of an abundant harvest was bright. Therewas nothing, however, either in the town or its vicinity, to detain uslonger than the space of time that might be necessary to appease ourhunger and rest our limbs: so, between one and two, we paid our bill, took our host's directions, and departed. He told us that if we walkedwell, we might reach the Iser in an hour and a half, after which wecould not be more than an hour and a half removed from Hoen Elbe. 

Who that has read Campbell's glorious ballad of _Hohenlinden_, wouldnot feel his imagination warmed by the thought of standing even for anhour, on the banks of "Iser rolling rapidly?" Who, likewise, that isacquainted with Sir Humphry Davy's exquisite _Consolations_, and has, as the amiable philosopher had, a true relish for the gentle craft ofangling, would not begin to put his rod together as soon as Iser'swaters met his view? For my own part, I cannot undertake to say whichprinciple operated with me most powerfully, --whether the romanticassociations which Campbell's muse must ever call up, or the morematter-of-fact, but hardly less animated description, which Sir Humphrygives of the capital sport which he had in a stream of the same name;but of this fact I am quite certain, that the hopes of discovering theriver behind every eminence, or coming suddenly upon it as I emergedfrom each successive grove, served to render me, during this hour and ahalf's progress, proof against the encroachments of weariness. And mywishes were gratified at last. Just after we had obtained a glimpse ofwhat we knew to be the iron foundry at Eisenhammer, we beheld rollinghis waters beneath us, the Iser himself, not like the Elbe, in atroubled and dingy stream, nor, after the fashion of most of itstributaries, with a mere thread of silver, but roaring and chafing frompool to pool, or else gathered in a black mass under some huge crag, asif intervals of repose were necessary to the element itself, and itcould repose only in darkness. And then when we cast our eyes along thebanks, --the sides of magnificent mountains, --feathered from their baseswith ancient forests, out of which, from time to time, a bald rockprojected, truly we were forced to admit, that to obtain thisgratification alone, all our fatigues had been well endured, and thathere we might stand still without repining. But there was somethingmore to be done than to admire the fair river. Out came thefishing-rods from their cases, down we hurried, loaded as we were, tothe river's brink, and flies being selected, such as we judged wouldsuit the state of the water, we set to work. Our sport was admirable. Not a trout rose under three-quarters of a pound weight, and severalfell little short of three pounds, so that at the hour's end, all thespace which we ventured to allow ourselves, we had laid in an amplestock of fresh fish for supper. 

There was no resisting the temptation to which our excellent sport inthe Iser had subjected us. It was impossible to leave such a streambehind; so we made up our minds to a halt at Eisenhammer for the night, and after devoting the morrow exclusively to fishing, to add the losthour and a half to the march of the day following. With this view wecrossed the bridge, and entered the sort of hamlet, which consistsmerely of the foundry, and of a long range of buildings, occupiedpartly by the superintendents of the works, partly as a gasthof. Inthis gasthof, however, no separate chamber was to be had, and, thoughthe reverse of fastidious, we could not quite make up our minds tospend a second night as we had done a former one at Marchovides. But wewere happily relieved from the dilemma. One of the gentlemen whose dutyit is to direct the workmen in the foundry, informed us that we shouldfind at Starkenbach, about an hour's walk to the right, excellentaccommodations, and putting us under the guidance of two travellingjourneymen who were going that way, expressed his hope that he wouldsee us again on the morrow. To the civility and kindness of thatgentleman, we were much indebted both then and afterwards, and I amglad, though he may never be aware of the fact, thus publicly toacknowledge my obligations to him. 

We reached Starkenbach about six o'clock, after a pleasant walk throughgreen fields, and made for what had been represented as the best inn, agasthof in the market-place. The landlady's manner was, as usual, somewhat repulsive at first, but the cloud soon passed from her brow. No sooner was it made known to her that we were Englishmen, travellingfor amusement, than she bestirred herself sedulously to provide for ourcomforts; and we soon found ourselves in possession of a snugapartment, with the prospect before us of a good supper at the hournamed by ourselves. But this was not all. An Englishman had never beenseen in Starkenbach before, and as it had been at Gabel, so it washere, --multitudes of all ranks and classes flocked to obtain a glimpseof us. Moreover, it soon appeared that they came with more generousintentions than to gratify an idle curiosity, however innocent initself. The real motive of one of them was, indeed, disguised under anaffected anxiety to discharge an irksome duty; but the delicacy whichprompted him thus to throw a temporary shade over his kindness, onlyenhanced the value of the kindness itself in our eyes. 

Our landlady had been all civility and attention. Not only were waterand other means of dressing supplied in abundance, but we had somedifficulty in persuading her that her proposal to wash us from top totoe with her own hands could not be acceded to. We were thus in themidst of our ablutions when in walked a well-dressed young man, whobegan by saying, in Italian, that he understood we spoke that language, and that he was desired by the landlord to ascertain whether our roomwas to our liking. We assured him that it was, and expected, of course, that he would leave us free to go on with our dressing operations; butnothing of the sort took place. What were we?--Englishmen, he wasaware; but had we any business, or did we come to dispose of any goods?We satisfied him on this head also, upon which he retired for a moment, but soon returned again. There was a gentleman in the next room, thehead of the graff's chancery, who spoke French, and would be glad tomake our acquaintance. We begged that he might be introduced, and in hecame, followed by several others. 

"You know, Messieurs, " said he, "that we are obliged in this country toact somewhat uncivilly to strangers. You have, of course, a passport?"

I produced my passport at once; it was the only time I ever hadoccasion to show it in this quarter of Bohemia; but I was immediatelytaught by his manner of examining it, that the question relative topassports was a mere pretext on the part of the chancellor, for openingwith us a friendly conversation; he contented himself by glancinghastily at the signature of the Austrian minister, and laid it down. And now began a discussion which I was reluctantly forced to interruptby reminding him of the unfinished state of my toilet, and by beggingthat he would have the goodness to wait for a few minutes in anotherapartment till it should be completed. He withdrew at once, withnumerous apologies, and carried his train along with him. 

So far we had good reason to be satisfied with the reception that wasawarded us in Starkenbach; but the kindness of its inhabitants was farfrom stopping here. After loitering about for a quarter of an hour, andreceiving no renewed visit from the chancellor, we strolled out, withthe intention of taking a survey of the environs while yet daylightlingered; but we had not proceeded far when our friend overtook us, andoffered to be our guide. Nor was this all. In the most modest yethospitable manner imaginable, he said that he would feel highlyhonoured and flattered if we would make his house our home during ourstay in Starkenbach, and when we objected to his proposal on the groundthat such a proceeding would not be fair towards the innkeeper, heassured us that that point was settled already. In a word, though heconsented to be our guest at supper, which having been actually cookedcould not be put aside, nothing short of the removal of our knapsacksfrom the inn would satisfy him, and we found ourselves in consequence, about ten o'clock at night, under the shadow of his hospitable roof. 

The habitation of which we had thus unexpectedly become the inmates, consisted of a suite of apartments in one of the numerous outbuildingsattached to the schloss of Graff Horach, the lord of the manor. Thoughnot very commodious, it was both clean and comfortable; and served tosatisfy the wishes of its occupant; whose family consisted only of ayoung wife, and two female servants. For a German of the class to whichour friend belongs is not ambitious of living in a style above eitherhis means or his pretensions, and the ideas of Germans, generally, relative to what is essential to the comforts of home, are far morehumble than ours. This gentleman and his bride, for example, (and abride she might be termed, having been married only half a year, ) werecontent to eat and sleep in the same apartment, the elegance of whichwas little, if at all, broken in upon by the couple of neat box bedswith silk coverings, which occupied one of the corners. In like mannerthe chamber which was assigned to us, at once more capacious and betterfurnished, led through theirs; a circumstance which not only appearedin no wise to disturb or annoy them, but of which they took advantageto press their good offices upon us. For, as our host would hardlyleave us at night till we were ready to step into bed, so, no soonerwere we astir in the morning, than in he came, anxious to know how wehad rested, as well as to offer his services in supplying any want ofwhich we might experience the pressure. I really never saw, in anycountry, or among any class of people, such incessant and genuinehospitality. 

We had barely time, over-night, to be introduced to the lady of themansion. In the morning we met her at breakfast, and her first act wasto add her entreaties to those of her husband, that we would not thinkof leaving them that day. What need was there for so much haste? We hadbeen pleased with the scenery of the Iser; why not visit it again? Orif that were not agreeable to us, there were various points in theimmediate vicinity of the town, which it might be worth our while toinspect. We could not hold out against such arguments, more especiallyas they happened to accord exactly with our own wishes; so we agreed tofish the Iser once more, and return to sup and sleep at thechancellor's. 

This point being settled to the satisfaction of all the partiesconcerned, we proceeded to equip ourselves in our travelling costume, and, rod in hand, bent our steps towards Eisenhammer. A moreunpropitious day for the angler can scarcely be imagined; for a coldeast wind blew, and from time to time a thin drizzling rain beat in ourfaces. Still we determined to make the attempt, and truly we had nocause to repent of our resolution. In the course of four hours, whichwe devoted to the sport, we caught upwards of ten pounds of trout; thenumber of fish killed being at the same time only eleven, --a clearproof that the Bohemian Iser deserves just as much praise as SirHumphry Davy, in his charming little book, has bestowed upon itsnamesake near Munich. But killing the trout constituted by no means thesole amusement which we that day enjoyed. An English fishing-rod andEnglish tackle were objects quite as novel to the good folks ofEisenhammer, as they had been to the citizens of Gabel; and theconsequence was, that we had the entire population of the village andhamlets round, in our train. And the astonishment of these simplepeople, first at the machinery, and then at our mode of using it, Ihave no language to describe. When first I hooked a trout, there was ageneral rush to the river-side, --the movement being produced, manifestly enough, by alarm lest the line should break; and though theanimal was floundering and springing about in twelve feet of water atleast, two or three young men could scarcely be restrained from jumpingin. But when they saw the monster, and a very large fellow he was, after running away with some fathoms of line, and bending the rod likea willow-wand, gradually lose his strength, and sail reluctantlytowards the shore, I really thought they would have gone crazy withdelight. They jumped about, swore, and shouted like mad people, andmade such a plunge into the shallows, to bring him out, that we hadwell-nigh lost him. The scene was altogether quite irresistible. 

There was no work performed that day in the iron foundry. Every soulbelonging to it, from the superintendent down to the errand-boy, cameforth to swell our train; and we walked up the Iser, attended as neverHighland chief was, even in the good old times of heritablejurisdictions. Nor was this all. A religious procession, that is tosay, a numerous body of peasants from some of the villages near, boundon a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James in Starkenbach, happened todescend the hill just as I was playing a fish, and the effect producedupon them was quite as miraculous as could have been brought about bythe saint himself. The sound of their psalmody ceased. The crucifix waslowered, and man and woman, boy and maiden, breaking loose from theirranks, flocked down, _en masse_, to ascertain the cause of so strange aphenomenon. I suspect that St. James received but a scanty allowance ofworship that evening; at least, I am sure that the number of hisvotaries became sadly diminished; for when the chant rose again, andthe crucifix was uplifted as a signal for moving, the retinue thatattended it, came short by at least one-half of that which hadfollowed, with all imaginable decorum, as far as the banks of the Iser. 

It was now getting on towards three o'clock, and as the weather, instead of improving, became every moment more boisterous, wedetermined to abandon our fishing. We accordingly adjourned to thegasthof, where a roasted fowl had been prepared for us, and made ahearty dinner, in the midst of the same crowd which had watched ourmode of operations on the river. To them we were obliged to explain thewhole process by which rods are unscrewed and put together again, reelsturned round, and flies attached to casting lines; and I dare say thatto this hour, they have not ceased to talk about the whole affair as aninvention, second in point of ingenuity, only to the steam-engine. 

This done, we became, in our turn, the querists. We begged to beconducted over the foundry, and our wishes were immediately attendedto. It is on a small scale, but apparently very complete, with onefurnace and numerous models; and it was stated to supply very many ofthe manufacturies both in Bohemia and Austria Proper, with theiron-work required for their machinery. As to the ore itself, that isfound in abundance among the hills hard by, and is said to be ofexcellent quality. I need scarcely add, that, though they have pit-coalat their command, they use only coke and charcoal for smelting, becauseeverybody knows that for such purposes charcoal is the most approvedspecies of fuel. 

We had had a capital day's sport, and the rain having at length ceased, we turned our faces towards Starkenbach. The fish, with which we loadeda countryman, and conveyed by his means to our host's dwelling, causedalmost as much astonishment there, as our mode of catching them hadoccasioned at Eisenhammer. Not only our hosts, but their domestics, andnot they alone, but the people in the streets as we passed, shouted andclapped their hands at the spectacle. But the chancellor had other andmore agreeable occupation chalked out for us, than listening to theexclamations of his clients. He led us through the town, took us tocall upon the priest, --a respectable-looking old man, who had expresseda wish to be introduced to us, --and informed us that he had ventured toaccept in our name an invitation from the grand bailiff, to sup in hisapartments. It may be necessary, perhaps, to add, that the grandbailiff is the graff's representative, who not only manages his privateaffairs, but superintends the proceedings of the chancery, and who is, therefore, in the absence of the graff himself, by far the mostimportant personage in the herschafte. 

The grand bailiff's apartments, which formed part of the schlossitself, were both large and well furnished. There were no carpets onthe floors, of course, --the Germans make very little use of carpetsanywhere, --but his dining-room was amply stocked with chairs, sofas, tables, cabinets, and mirrors, and his cuisine, though plain, wasexcellent. We were so fortunate, moreover, as to meet at his table, notonly the whole of the chancery, but the commissary of the circle, whohappened to be going his rounds, and who proved a very agreeableaddition to our party. 

The supper was good, and the Hungarian wine of excellent flavour. Theattentions of the bailiff and his lady were likewise unremitting;indeed, the latter was almost too kind, for she seemed anxious that weshould eat of every dish, and drink out of every flask and bottle. Wehad a little music too, --for she played the piano; and the commissary, likewise a performer, paid us the compliment to dash off in very goodstyle, "God save the King. " But the circumstance which amused me mostof all remains to be stated. I was asked if I played chess; and Ireplied in the affirmative, adding, however, as the facts of the caserequired, that I was no master of the game. Immediately a petition wasbrought forward, that I would play one game with the bailiff. He hadheard much of the extraordinary skill of Englishmen in this noble game, and being a little of an amateur himself, it had long been his ambitionto measure his strength with that of an Islander. Alas for my country!she had but a sorry champion to sustain her honour; for, if the truthmust be spoken, though I get very much interested in chess after thegame has fairly begun, I always sit down to it as Dr. Johnson says hedid to _Paradise Lost_, as to a task. And the consequence is, that, avoiding it wherever I can, I have not yet entitled myself to passmuster in the first class of bunglers. But it would have been cruel tothwart the hospitable bailiff in his humours, so to it we fell. I don'tthink that he and his friends gave me quite fair play. With one accordthey ranged themselves on the side of their countryman, and, complimentingmy adroitness all the while, they assisted him in every difficulty withtheir counsels. However, the result would have been, I make no doubt, the same, had they remained silent. I was soundly beaten, and my worthyhost rose up as much pleased as if he had conquered a province. Ilearned from the chancellor next day, that to have lost the game wouldhave seriously affected his peace of mind. I am therefore heartily gladthat fortune declared in his favour. 

My tale of Starkenbach is told. We returned to the chancellor's tosleep, breakfasted with him and his interesting young wife nextmorning, and at seven o'clock took the road to Troutenau, which herecommended as a good halting-place. His last words at parting were, "Nous sons beaucoup triste, " and when I added "Et nous aussi, " I spokebut as I felt. 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE ELBE, A MOUNTAIN-STREAM. WE FISH IT. DINE ON OUR FISH IN A VILLAGEINN. THE YOUNG TORPINDA. ARNAU. THE STATUES IN THE MARKET-PLACE. THEFRANCISCAN CONVENT. TROUTENAU. THE WANDERING MINSTRELS. MARCHCONTINUED. FISH THE RIVER. A VILLAGE INN, AND ACCOUNT OF THE TORPINDAS. OUR FIRST MEETING WITH THESE FORMIDABLE PEOPLE IN A WOOD. ANOTHERPEDESTRIAN TOURIST. ADERSPACH. EXCELLENT QUARTERS. MOST REMARKABLEROCKS. THE MINSTRELS AGAIN. 

Our journey towards Troutenau was for a while prolific in few events, with an account of which it is worth while to entertain my reader. Inpoint of scenery, each new step that we took introduced us to new andconstantly varying beauties; but on that head I have said as much, perhaps more, than was necessary. For who, after all, can so describenature's handiwork, as to create in the mind of him who has neverlooked upon the original, anything like a correct idea of what it is?The painter may indeed accomplish this, though even he will accomplishit imperfectly; but the mere narrator, --in good sooth, his words, however appropriate, must ever fall comparatively dull upon the ear, which is not the organ through which to convey to the mind any notion, however incomplete, of external scenery. When, then, I have stated, that our path carried us over hill and dale, --that we threaded deepforests, and from time to time traversed an open plain, and that allthis while the snowy ridges of the Riesengebirgen stood up like a wallupon our left hand, I have left myself nothing in the shape ofdescription to add, out of which the reader could hope to derive anaccession, either to his information or his amusement. 

Of one occurrence that befel in the course of this day's pilgrimage, itis, however, necessary that I should take notice. At the distance ofperhaps ten English miles from Starkenbach, we came upon the Elbe; howunlike to the lordly river with which we formed our first acquaintanceat Hamburg, and which two months' residence at Schandau had latterlymade so familiar to us! A narrow mountain-stream, --so narrow, indeed, and so shallow, that a mere rustic bridge sufficed to span it, --was allthat reminded us of that prodigious body of water, which serves as achannel of communication between Dresden and the North Sea, andfertilizes in its course the plains of Bohemia, Saxony, Prussia, Mecklenburg, Hanover, and even Denmark. The fact is, as I need scarcelypause to state, that we were now but a short day's march from itssource, which lies, --a mere fountain or well-head, --in the side of themountain that overhangs Hoen Elbe. As our friend the chancellor hadassured us, however, that at the well-head in question there was reallynothing to see, we determined to leave it unexplored, and to push on, instead, as far as Aderspach, where we were given to understand thatnature had accomplished many freaks well deserving to be noted. 

Though the Elbe was by no means so promising as the Iser, we yet feltthat to pass it by untried, while we had fishing-rods in our hands, would be disgraceful to us as anglers. The implements were accordinglyscrewed together, and for half-an-hour we threw our flies with all ouraccustomed skill, and more than our usual patience; but we gatheredlittle by the exercise of these qualities. A few grayling, with a troutor two of meagre dimensions, alone rewarded our care; and these, wejudiciously concluded, were not of sufficient value to compensate forthe loss of time that would be sustained in adding to their numbers. Besides we found that our strange attire and gestures created muchalarm among the junior branches of one or two small communities throughwhich we passed. The children, wherever we came, ran from the water'sedge screaming with fright; a pretty broad hint that our company wasnot desired, at least by them. 

We dined this day in a clean tidy little ale-house, the landlady ofwhich cooked our trout, and supplied us with bread and butter, andbeer. She was a member of what seemed to be a remarkably happy, as wellas primitive family, where three generations dwelt together in harmony;the oldest and the youngest being, as she informed us, dependant on theexertions of her husband, and the profits of the inn. Neither were wewithout a trifling adventure, such as it was. While we were smoking ourpipes after dinner, a gypsy, or Torpinda, entered, and we had him up toour table forthwith, that we might reconnoitre and catechise him. Hewas a mere lad, apparently not more than sixteen or seventeen years ofage, though in costume, complexion, and expression of countenance, aperfect specimen of his tribe. His dress was a broad-brimmed low hat, adark brown cloak with sleeves, and a solitary under-garment, which, woven apparently without seam, served him for vest, pantaloons, andstockings. The only apertures in these curious looking pantoufles whichwe could detect, were from the heel to about midway in the calf of theleg, and these were carefully laced-up with brass wires. 

Under his cloak the youth carried a calf's-skin pouch, which wassuspended from a leathern belt that crossed his right shoulder; and weobserved that this latter piece of dress was ornamented with exceedingcare. It was indented all over with minute lines, not very unlike thetatooing on a South Sea islander's face; and it bore, just over thechest, a lion's head made of brass, from a ring attached to which weresuspended about twenty or thirty brass pipe-pickers. His avowed objectin entering the beer-house was to dispose of some of these latter, which he offered for sale at three kreutzers a-piece; and I needscarcely add that we became purchasers. But we were not content withthe pickers. Having questioned him as to the value which he put uponhis belt, I pulled out the money, and offered to purchase that too; buthe would not part with it; and to all our questions touching thehead-quarters of his tribe he turned a deaf ear. He either could not, or would not, understand us; and made his escape on the first lull thattook place in our conversation. 

There is no denying that the whole appearance of this youth was verypicturesque, but it was a great deal more picturesque than attractive. His long shaggy hair and dark olive complexion were alike remarkable;but the expression of his countenance was decidedly bad, and he neverlooked you straight in the face. To be sure, the treatment which, incommon with others of his class, he probably receives from theBohemians, is not calculated to make him fall in love with them; forthe people of the country seem to regard these wanderers with a mixtureof contempt and loathing. Yet I imagined that I read in that downcastlook, and in the stealthy air which attached to all his movements, marks of the sort of training which may be expected to produce anaccomplished vagabond. I dare say that young fellow knew perfectly wellhow to silence the cackling of a barn-door fowl in a hurry, and mightnot be inexpert in the operation of removing quietly a knapsack, orother load, from beneath a sleeping man's head. But the thews andsinews of the boy, and I may add, of all of his tribe whom weencountered, were not such as to impress me with any very exalted ideasof their strength or prowess. I fancied that, with the aid of a goodstick, I should not be afraid to give any three of them the knives ofwhich I had heard so much, and then join battle. 

When the boy was gone we proceeded to question our landlady as to thehabits of his people, and we received from her an account correspondingin all respects with that which our first informant had given us. Sheadded, over and above, that there was no trusting them; that they weredeceitful to a degree unparalleled among men, and that no arts oroffices of kindness ever won their forbearance. We listened to herstatements more than half disposed to credit them, yet we adhered toour original determination, nevertheless, of joining the first gypsycamp on which, during the course of our tour, we might stumble. 

By this time it was necessary to move; and I state the fact inconsequence of a trifling incident, illustrative, I conceive, of theextreme honesty of this simple people. We had advanced, perhaps, aquarter of an English mile towards Arnau, a town through which ourroute lay, when we heard a female voice shouting behind us, and onturning round saw our landlady in full pursuit. I had left behind me onthe table a penknife, --of very little value, inasmuch as one of theblades was broken, --and this good woman would not permit me to be theloser of it. When I add, that she was in a state during which runningmust have been both inconvenient and hurtful to her, the strength ofthe principle which urged her to bring me my knife will be betterunderstood. 

Arnau is an old-fashioned town, with a wide market-place, in the centreof which stand two colossal statues, representing two warriors incomplete armour, each armed with a sword. The people told us they wereof very ancient date, and represented the two knights, by whom, in oldtimes, the town was founded. There is, besides, a convent of Franciscanmonks in the immediate neighbourhood, which contains eighty brothers; aclumsy pile, evidently of modern construction, and resembling in itsexterior a manufactory, much more than a house of religious persons. One of the brothers we met in the town, to whom the children seemed topay much respect. His dress was a brown coarse frock, a bare head, witha shaven crown, bare legs, sandals for his feet, and a rosary of blackbeads fastened round his middle. I asked him the way to Troutenau, andreceived a very short, and somewhat unsatisfactory answer. 

We did not halt in Arnau, neither were we tempted to solicit admissioninto the convent. I had been initiated into all the mysteries of such aplace of abode long ago; and my young companion appeared more anxiousto reach Aderspach and Schnee-Koppee as speedily as possible, than totake his first lesson in monachism here. It was well, too, that, retaining our resolution of passing that night at Troutenau, we hadself-denial enough to pass the monastery by; for a long and toilsomeway was before us, which we did not compass till past seven o'clock. Nodoubt the march was prolific in objects to charm the sense of sight. Aswe drew towards them, the snowy mountains assumed continually a bolderand more striking aspect; while, several of the villages, and oneschloss, which was undergoing repair, drew forth our liveliestadmiration. But the journey proved to be, upon the whole, both tediousand toilsome; and right glad were we, when, on gaining the summit of asteep ascent, we beheld Troutenau at our feet. We made directly for theinn, which was recommended as the best; and, except that the house wasfull of workmen, our chamber small, and our beds detestable, we have noright to put down the Gasthof zum Weissen Ross, as one of the badplaces of call on the march to Schnee-Koppee. 

The inn was in great confusion, for unfortunately for ourselves wearrived at a moment when bricklayers, carpenters, and plasterers werebusy in counteracting the effect of time and rough usage almosteverywhere, except in the coffee-room. This latter, however, proved tobe comfortable enough; and we enjoyed it the more that it was dividedinto two compartments, one of which was allotted to the humbler classesof travellers, while the other, which commanded a view of the square, was assigned to gentlefolks. Moreover there occurred two circumstances, which, by furnishing us with objects of contemplation, contributed tomake the evening pass lightly away. First, we saw from our window thecompletion of a ceremony similar to that which at Eisenhammer we had socruelly interrupted by our fishing. A whole posse of peasants, male andfemale, with crucifix and mass-book at their head, marched inprocession towards the market-cross; and, after chanting a hymn, felldown upon their knees, one after another, and covered the hands andfeet of the stone statues that ornamented it, with kisses. This done, the larger number dispersed, and, as it seemed, retired quietly totheir homes. But there were others who appeared to think that a work sopious as that in which they had been engaged merited, on the part ofthe body, some refreshment. These adjourned to the inn, and dranksundry flasks of beer with great relish. 

In the next place we found that the outer portion of the coffee-roomwas occupied in part by a band of wandering musicians, --a sort ofcalling which is in Bohemia very frequent, and which, both there andelsewhere in Germany, holds a higher place in public estimation thanamong us. These men wore a sort of uniform, namely, high-crowned whitehats, with flowers in the front, gray frocks, and half-boots; and theirperformance, I am bound to add, was by no means contemptible. Theyplayed one or two airs very sweetly under the burgomaster's window, which, as the said window looked out into the square, enabled us, aswell as a multitude of the town's-people, to share in the treat. 

We retired early to bed, for we were a good deal fatigued, and thecold, --an unusual ground of complaint with us ever since we set outfrom home, --was disagreeable. The truth indeed is, that we were now ata great elevation above the level of the sea, and that the windhappening to blow from Schnee-Koppee, the back of which, white with thedeposit of a thousand storms, lay towards us, came keen and biting. Sosharp, indeed, was the temperature, that the landlord, whom weconsulted relative to the nature of a river which, with a broad clearcurrent, flows past the town, assured us that it would be vain to thinkof fishing in it, because though it abounded with fine trout, theseason was not sufficiently advanced to admit of their being taken withthe rod and line. I took the liberty in this case, as in the case ofthe gypsies, to credit something less than half of the intelligenceconveyed to me; and I found, on the morrow, when the question was triedon its own merits, that I had come to the right conclusion. 

It was a fine bright bracing morning, and the clocks were strikingseven when we quitted Troutenau; a very pretty clean town, wellsituated, on the slope of a hill, and commanding, as I have hintedabove, a noble view of the snowy ridges of the Riesengebirgen. Aderspach was our point for the day, --a place represented to us as wellworth visiting on account of the remarkable rocks and fells whichabound in its vicinity. As it was said, however, to be no more thanthree or four stunden distant, we did not think that we were requiredto make any extraordinary exertions, and the river looked so tempting, that, in spite of the landlord's advice to the contrary, we resolved totry it. We cannot boast much of our success. Three or four grayling, with a trout of moderate size, were all the prizes that rewarded ourtoil, till we came to a deep pool, into which, not without a hope ofbetter things, I threw my fly. A magnificent fish rose instantly, and Ihooked him. We had a tough battle for it, inasmuch as my tacklehappened to be light, and I was standing on an awkward sort of a weirwhen he took the fly; but victory declared for me. After ten minutes'pleasant manoeuvring, I landed a trout, which would have done nodiscredit, in point of size and form, to the Iser itself. 

By this time, noon was approaching, and as we had no disposition toburden ourselves with some tons' weight of fish, we wound up, andrestored our rods to their cases. We then turned our faces steadilytowards Aderspach, and following the chaussée, found that in proportionas we got involved among the numerous green hills which overlook it, all ground of complaint on the score of a sharp temperature, was takenaway. The weather, in short, became intensely oppressive, and we, inconsequence, on whom the exercise of fishing had not been without itseffect, began to get excessively tired. We pushed on, however, with anoccasional halt, till we could calculate that half our journey wasaccomplished; when having arrived at a comfortable-looking village inn, we carried our fish into the tap-room, and had them cooked for dinner. They were excellent, and sufficed not only for ourselves, but for thelandlord and the whole of his family, whose mittagsmahl, as the Germanscall it, had, by some extraordinary accident, been delayed full twohours beyond the customary period of noon. 

We found our village innkeeper, as, indeed, was the case with almostall persons of his rank and calling, a good-humoured, obliging, andintelligent man. He had been twice married, was the father of fivesons, from one of whom, a jager in the Austrian service, he had justreceived a letter, which, as it happened to be written remarkably well, he showed us with all a father's pride. He gave us, likewise, as muchinformation touching the local affairs of the neighbourhood as weconsidered it worth while to require, and spoke freely about theTorpindas, with whom he seemed to be well acquainted. The prevalenttales of their blood-thirstiness he entirely confirmed, though heseemed to insinuate that they were more free with the lives of oneanother, than with those of strangers; and he warned us that we shouldlook in vain for a camp. Nothing of the kind existed, nor was permittedby the police to exist, in this quarter of Austria. "As to the peoplethemselves, " continued he, "they are an idle, good-for-nothing set, exceedingly fond of money, and great hoarders of it when they can getit. I have seen, in this room, a Torpinda produce as many as a hundredguldens; and yet he would not disburse a single kreutzer for straw tosleep upon. " We were more mortified by this man's account of thegypsies than by any which we had yet received; for it bore about it agreater air of truth, and, as a necessary result, tended more than anything which we had yet heard, to dissipate into thin air the visions ofgypsy life which up to that moment we continued to cherish. 

Having rested an hour in the inn, we set out again, accompanied by ourhost, who volunteered to show us both a shorter and more pleasant paththan that which we had heretofore followed. This was the moreacceptable by reason of the discovery which we made, that in speakingof Aderspach as only four hours' walk from Troutenau, our host of thelatter place had erred widely from the mark. It was still four goodhours' ahead of us. Nevertheless, we had plenty of daylight before us;and the prospect of using it among green fields and umbrageous forestswas not without its effect on the minds of persons who had toiledthroughout the morning along a dusty and burning high-road. 

Though I have, perhaps, said more respecting the scenery of this partof Bohemia than was necessary, I cannot omit to mention, that from thebrow of a hill which we ascended soon after our host quitted us, weobtained as glorious a view of a cultivated mountain district as theeye of man will probably rest upon in any quarter of the world. Theabundant wood of this fine country gives, indeed, to all itslandscapes, a charm which there needs but the presence of water tocomplete, and to the particular scene on which we now looked down, water happened not to be wanting. From the bosom of the river whichflows past Troutenau, the sun's rays were reflected; and as its courselay through groves and fells, --now hidden between overhanging rocks, now emerging again into a wide valley, --the effect was altogether verystriking. Moreover, to a varied and picturesque extent of hill andvale, forest and green meadow, hamlet and town, --the latter either castinto the recess of some deep glen, or straggling upwards along themountain side, --the Riesengebirgen formed the back ground; bald, andfrowning in all the majesty of rocky shoulders and snow-clad summits. It was, indeed, a glorious view, and it tempted us to linger so long inthe enjoyment of it, that we did not reach our quarters, --thecomfortable inn at Aderspach, --till near eight o'clock. 

There befel nothing during our progress from this beautiful spot, tillwe arrived at the place where we had resolved to pass the night, ofwhich I need be expected to give a detailed account. All travellers onfoot, through strange countries, must expect to lose their wayoccasionally; and we formed no exception to the general rule. Moreover, our mishaps, this day, were the more provoking, that we chanced to havepenetrated into a comparatively thinly-peopled region, the two villageswhich we traversed lying far apart one from the other, and there beingno hamlets nor detached houses to keep up the communication. Nor werewe, as it seemed, the only pedestrians to whom the district wasstrange. As we were passing through a deep forest, at a point admirablysuited to deeds of violence, we met a couple of Torpindas, who stoppedus to inquire the way to the nearest town; at least I conclude thatthis was their object, from the peculiar gestures which they used, andthe intonation which they gave to their voices; for as to their words, of these I could make nothing. Having just been stuffed with a tale oftheir lawless habits, the sight of these persons threw me, of course, on the alert. I grasped the butt of my gaff-stick, --an excellentweapon, about the length and weight of a policeman's staff, --and bracedup my nerves for the melée. But when we stood face to face, all ideathat they would venture to begin the fray vanished. Though they wereyoung men, in the prime of life, probably not more than five orsix-and-twenty, I verily believe, that with the weapons which naturehas given me, I could have rendered them both incapable of molestinghenroosts for ever, and been but little fatigued by the exercise. 

The Torpindas passed on quietly enough when they found that they couldnot make themselves understood; and there followed them soonafterwards, another foot-passenger, whose style of travel amused us nota little. He was a stout, elderly man, arrayed in a brown frock coat, long and loose, and descending to his ankles, and he trudged forwardwith a good cudgel in his hand, as independently as need be. But hecarried no load on his back. On the contrary, there followed him apeasant with a wheelbarrow, on which was laid the stout gentleman'strunk, and as they happened, when we encountered them, to be descendinga hill, the strange vehicle kept up famously. How it would fare withthem after they crossed the valley beneath, I do not know. But probablyour friend had fixed stages, at each of which, instead of ordering outfresh horses, he ordered merely a fresh wheelbarrow and trundler. Idare say he journeyed with extreme satisfaction to himself; at least Iam quite sure that he looked as if he did. 

It was late in the evening, and our patience was well-nigh exhausted, when, on gaining the brow of an eminence, we beheld a stragglingvillage at our feet; and were almost as much surprised as delighted tofind that it was Aderspach. Let nobody form a judgment of the sort ofquarters which he will find at the Trucktere-Gasthof, from themiserable appearance which the town of Aderspach presents. To be sure, he must pass through the town entirely, leave the schloss, a huge pileof brickwork, behind him, and penetrate into the fells ere theTrucktere-house becomes visible; but the first aspect of it will, unless I much deceive myself, excite in his mind anticipations, notonly of good fare, but of clean apartments, and unpretending civility. Nor will such anticipations be disappointed. A nicer country inn Inever inhabited, and I say this without excepting either the inn atDalmally, near Loch Awe, nor its rival in comfort, if not in elegance, at Tyne-drom. 

The Fells, or Felsen, at Aderspach, is justly accounted one of the mostextraordinary productions of nature's handiwork in all Bohemia. Massesof rock, some of them two or three hundred feet in height, have, bysome strange convulsion, been so tossed about, that now they stand onend like detached towers, or rather like the turreted walls of somegigantic labyrinth, through which a narrow path twists and turns in themost extraordinary manner possible. Very many of these rocks bear astriking resemblance, some to beasts, some to men, some to musicalinstruments, and others to different articles which we constantly meeteither in our walks through the populous city, or within the domesticcircle. As might be expected, the people of the country have calledeach image after the name of the original which it represents. Not farfrom the back door of the inn is an enormous inverted Sugar-loaf; alittle way removed from it is the Chimney, and it must be acknowledgedthat the resemblance which both of them bear to the objects from whichtheir names are derived, is very striking. 

But this is the least of the wonders attaching to the place, in orderto introduce which to the reader's acquaintance, it will be necessarythat I should take him, as it were, by the hand, and join him to ourlittle party as we make the tour of the labyrinth. 

Suppose us, then, snugly housed in the Trucktere-house, well-fed, wellattended, supplied with clean, tidy beds, and greatly refreshed by asound night's sleep, such as monarchs might envy. We rise next morningat seven, to find that here, even more keenly than at Troutenau, theinfluence of an elevated situation is felt, and that over the longinclined plane which stretches upwards from us in the direction of theRiesengebirgen, a sharp, cold wind blows cuttingly. This circumstance, however, interferes, in no respect, with our breakfast, which, as faras the means furnished will allow, is eaten with great relish. Afterwhich, about nine o'clock, we sally forth in quest of adventures, underthe guidance of a ragged youth, who is to officiate as our cicerone. From the inn-door we look abroad upon a mountain of basalts, covered onits summit by a forest of pines, and beautifully feathered along itsface with birch-trees. That mountain, well nigh semicircular in thefront which is turned towards us, constitutes the Felsen; and along itsbase we walk, following a narrow foot-path, which is bordered by alittle stream, and leads, serpent-fashion, towards the rocks. We pass, in this brief progress, the Sugar-loaf; and observing the ravages whichtime is making on its inverted cone, we anticipate the hour, probablynot very distant, when it will topple over, and fall flat upon theearth. But this is nothing. Our ragged guide conducts us across awooden bridge, up a road, hollowed out by nature, through the rocks, till suddenly we reach what resembles the mouth of a mine, across whicha door is drawn. The sum of four groschens, or sixpence a head, appliesa key to the lock of that door, and we are immediately introduced intothe giant's dwelling. For as the term Riesengebirgen signifies "TheGiant's Mountains, " so these fells are represented by tradition to havebeen the abode of the monster-man, after whom the range which separatesBohemia from Silesia has been named. Of this giant's personal historyit is needless to say more, than that he is the same Number Nip withwhose mischievous exploits we have all, from our early childhood, beenfamiliar. His favourite haunts were here and in one of the ravines ofSchnee-Koppee; and I must say this much for him, that in his choice ofquarters, he exhibited not only a great deal of skill, but a verycommendable share of taste into the bargain. 

The door being opened, we find ourselves in a narrow passage, open tothe heavens, perhaps a couple of hundred feet over-head, but walled inon either hand by rocks, perpendicular as the drop of the plummet. Thepassage being exceedingly tortuous, does not permit any extensive viewto the front; but at each new turn some new wonder presents itself, either in the formation of some particular rock, or in the grotesqueand striking combinations of masses. Here the guide stops us to pointout a chimney most distinctly defined; by-and-by two enormouskettle-drums are exhibited; then comes a barrel-organ on one hand, anda pulpit on the other, beyond which lies the chancel of a church. Aboveour heads, meanwhile, on the very summits of detached peaks, stand theBurgomaster, in his full-bottomed wig, the Emperor Leopold, --an exactresemblance, --and John the Baptist preaching in the desert. This lastis really a very curious specimen of what Dame Nature can sometimesaccomplish, when she takes it into her head to become sculptor. On alofty cone, yet little elevated above the surrounding masses, the veryemblems of desolation, stands the image of a man, with a shaggy mantlethrown across his shoulders, and one arm raised as if in the act ofspeaking, --no inappropriate monument to him who, though the greatest ofthe prophets that lived under the Law, was in his day of mortality lessthan the least of those to whom the Gospel dispensation has beencommunicated. 

After pausing awhile to examine these, as well as the form of a dog ina recumbent position, not far removed from them, we passed on; first, into the Giant's Mouth, --an enormous arch, armed, as it seems, withteeth, --and then into the Frauen Zimmer, or Giantess's Apartment. Itmust have been but a sorry lodging for a lady of so much personalweight in the world, and supposing her proportions to have resembledthose of her husband, would not fail to cramp her exceedingly; for itis nothing more than a hole in the rock, measuring perhaps twenty feetin length, by six or eight in width. But giants and giantesses lived, it is presumed, chiefly in the open air, and this which is called herchamber, may have been, after all, nothing more than her couch. If suchwere the case, she must have had no taste for down mattresses andfeather-bed coverings. 

We were advanced by this time, many hundred yards into the bowels ofthe mountain, and stood at length on a fair open platform, surroundedas heretofore, by enormous cliffs, yet having room enough, and tospare. Here a small rustic arbour has been formed with rough-hewn pinelogs, and close by is a sort of pantry, composed of similar materials, while facing them a little rivulet pours its water from a ledge ofrock, causing the air around to reverberate with its ceaseless and mostrefreshing music. Our guide described the spot merely as the lesserwaterfall, while he invited us to drink from a fountain which bubbledup close to the stream. I do not think that I ever tasted water moredeliciously cool and limpid. 

The phrase "Lesser Waterfall" naturally associated itself in our mindswith something more wonderful, and we questioned the guide on thesubject, who, instead of answering directly, invited us to follow him. We did so, winding round the corner of a huge column; but no cataractmet our inquiring gaze. "Wait you here, " said the boy, "or rather go oninto that recess, while I run up the face of the cliff, and lift thesluice. " The idea of a sluice, as connected with one of the mostsublime of nature's productions, was too ludicrous. It reminded us of amiserable little affair, not far from Schandau, on the road to theKuhstall, which the delighted Saxons exhibit to you as one of thewonders of their land, and for the display of which you are charged onegroschen. For this Saxon cataract consists of a stream of water, a sizeor too more voluminous than that which may, at any time, be seenwinding its way along the groved outsides of the streets in one of ourfifth-rate boroughs in England. Yet the Saxons make the most of it. Bymeans of a deal fence they dam it up on the top of a rock, perhapstwelve feet high, and so keep it till some pleasure-seeking strangerhappens to approach the spot. Then, after exciting his curiosity to theutmost, an old man leaves the wanderer in the road to gaze about invain, not only for the cataract, but for any place where a cataractmight be expected to exist. Yet the stranger must not begin to murmurtoo speedily. All at once a cracked voice bids him attend. He turnsround; the sluice is raised, and out comes a volume of water, of allthings in creation most resembling that which in the old town ofEdinburgh follows on the exclamation, "Garde loo!" I advise theastonished traveller not to indulge his admiration too long. If, in theintensity of his ardour, he keep the sluice open more than ten minutes, not only does the waterfall fade and disappear before his own eyes, buta month may elapse ere it shall be in a fit state to be exhibitedagain. 

All these brilliant images took possession of our fancies as soon asthe boy had uttered the unlucky word "sluice;" and smiling to oneanother, we made up our minds to rest contentedly where we were. But wedid not adhere to this determination. In a few minutes there came uponus a noise like the growling of distant thunder; by-and-by the fall ofwater was loudly and fiercely distinct, and we knew, to our extremesurprise, that this was a very different affair from the cataract inSaxon Switzerland. We therefore hurried round the angle of the rock, and guided by the sound, came at last to behold what really was a veryfine sight. From a ledge, perhaps thirty or forty feet high, a rivuletdischarged a considerable body of water into a cavern, beneath thefoundations of which, though it was impossible to say in whatdirection, the current held its course. I must confess that we stoodand gazed upon the scene for some moments in great admiration, --afeeling which was probably heightened in consequence of theunlooked-for issue to an adventure, of the commencement of which we hadaugured so unfavourably. 

Having thus witnessed the effect, we naturally enough desired to lookupon the cause also; in other words, nothing would content us, exceptto ascend the cliff and watch the whole process of lifting andreplacing the sluice. I am not sure that the sight recompensed us forthe labour that was necessary to obtain it. The stream, to be sure, looked dark and deep, hemmed in as it was, between walls of rock, andto watch the descent of the mass of water from above, was quite as fineas to look up to it from below; but the process of climbing was bothtoilsome and hazardous, and I do not therefore advise others to undergoit, unless they be both strong of head and sure of foot. 

The waterfall, like the general discharge of fire-works at Vauxhall, orthe blowing-up of the beleaguered fortress in a melo-drama, was thelast and greatest wonder which our guide had to show us, and thetermination of the play was marked by the usual application for alittle drinkgelt. This we gave, of course; but having heard somethingof a wonderful echo, we begged him at the same time to conduct us tothe spot where it was to be heard. We were drawing, in this instance, too much either upon his goodnature or his powers. The echo was not inhis department. A separate functionary called that forth at will, andto his care we were transferred. He was an old man, who playedwretchedly on the French horn and clarionet, both of which, as well asa double-barrelled gun, were called into operation, and there is nodenying that the effect was fine. Four reverberations followed eachblast; all of them clear and distinct, as if four separate instrumentshad spoken. The last sounded like the voice of a trumpet, issuing fromsome dark woods, perhaps five or six miles distant. 

Such were the wonders which we saw and heard at Aderspach, --a mightyshow-place, as it appears, to Poles, Prussians, Bohemians, and evenSaxons; yet strange to say, not often visited by our own more restlesscountrymen. Yet our adventures in the Trucktere-house did not end here. There arrived, soon after we came in, the identical travelling bandwhich had delighted us with their music in Troutenau; and partly toconciliate us, partly to ensure for themselves a supper free ofexpense, they played some airs very sweetly in the passage. One ofthese took my fancy so much, that I begged to have a copy of the notes, and sent out a florin as the price of my purchase. But in thus payingfor the goods before I got them, I had over-calculated the honesty evenof Bohemian minstrels. The master of the band pronounced that the airshould be ready for me next morning, but it never came; and when Iinquired for the performers, they were gone. So much for payingbeforehand for matters so light as the notes of music. 

CHAPTER VII. 

WALK TO SHATZLAR. MAGNIFICENT SCENERY. EXTREME FATIGUE. OUR LANDLORD. EARLY ASSOCIATIONS AWAKENED BY A SCENE IN THE MARKET-PLACE. REST FOR ADAY. ASCENT OF SCHNEE-KOPPEE. HALT AT A VILLAGE ON THE SILESIAN SIDE. 

All the wonders which I have inadequately described in the precedingchapter, having been investigated between the hours of nine and twelve, we made up our minds to dine like gentlemen at Aderspach, and toproceed that evening as far as Shatzlar, a town at the Bohemian foot ofSchnee-Koppee. We were the more induced to adopt this course, becauseShatzlar was stated to be only four hours' walk from Aderspach, and webelieved ourselves sufficiently strong, not only to accomplish thatover-night, but to undertake the ascent of the mountain himself on themorrow. The result proved that our calculations had rested on no solidbasis. Instead of a four hours' walk, Shatzlar proved to be rather morethan six hours' distant; and the way being mountainous and rugged, wecame in thoroughly knocked up. I do not recollect that throughout thewhole of our excursion we were, on any other occasion, so indifferentto the magnificent scenery that surrounded us; and probably the readerwill not be displeased that the case was so, seeing that ourindifference at the moment saves him the labour now of perusing whatmight very possibly be felt as a wearisome description of it. 

Shatzlar is a large straggling burgh, destitute of manufactures, andapparently little visited by travellers; though the inn, which is keptby the burgomaster, can boast of very tolerable accommodations, and ahost and hostess both well disposed to fall in with their guests'wishes. There is a schloss hard by, inhabited by certain officials, who, however, exercise no jurisdiction over the town; and a church, notremarkable for anything, except the good order of its charnel-house. This, a small building separated by the breadth of the churchyard fromthe main edifice, seems to be a place of deposit for all the skulls andother bones which may be thrown up in digging the graves; and they arearranged round the walls with as much taste as their ghastly characterwill allow. 

We felt so tired, and our feet were suffering so much from blisters, that we resolved to give ourselves a day of total rest in Shatzlar; andin spite of the ennui attendant on such an arrangement, we adhered toit with laudable pertinacity. Rising at seven, and breakfasting ateight in the morning, we whiled away the time till dinner by strollingup the side of the hill, along which the town is built, and enjoyingthe exquisite panorama which, from various points, it opened out uponus. We visited likewise the fountain of the Bober, a well deep in theforest, and drank of its waters ere yet they had become polluted byflowing among the habitations of men. Our guide, the burgomaster's son, conducted us likewise to a corner of the wood which is set apart forbird-catching, and where every tree is armed with one or more gins, skilfully made of horse-hair and attached to the bark. The pencil alsowas appealed to, but in vain. This was too extensive, as well as tooglorious a scene, to be copied by one so little skilled in the art asmyself; so, after spoiling two or three leaves in my journal book, Idesisted from the attempt; and we descended to the inn, where the smellof calf's-flesh in preparation warned us that the hour of dinner wasnot far distant. It came in due course, and the meal was discussedeffectually; after which the burgomaster favoured us with his company, though he steadily refused to partake of the excellent wine which hisown cellar produced. He was a man of some intelligence, and had anambition to see his children rise upwards on the hill of life. Accordingly one of his sons, a delicate youth, is preparing himself forholy orders; another is studying medicine at the university of Vienna;and the third, the lad who accompanied us in our morning's ramble, hadserved his time with a cotton manufacturer. But the confinement notagreeing with his delicate constitution, the burgomaster had broughthim home; and he now officiates as a sort of waiter in the hotel, withthe understanding that at his father's decease, or perhaps before it, he shall succeed to the hotel itself. 

In listening to such details one hour was spent. Another passed away inwatching from the window such objects as this most quiet of quietBohemian burghs might produce. And of these there was one which, beingassociated with the memory of other days, interested me not a little. There is a fountain in the middle of the market-place, into which onestream of fresh water is continually flowing, while another drains offfrom it. Hither the women bring their clothes to be washed; not in thefountain itself, but in their own tubs, which they range round it; andthe proceedings of one of these industrious damsels amused me much. Shefilled her tub to the brim, and then kilting her petticoats, set towork tramping with might and main, precisely as, in years long gone by, I have seen a Scotch girl do, on the Back-walk at Stirling, or theCalton Hill in Edinburgh. What a strange thing is association, and howeasily is it called into play by the veriest trifles. The woman's legshad nothing to boast of in the way of symmetry, but I confess that Iwatched them, in their alternate rise and fall, with a degree ofinterest such as I have not for many a day bestowed on any other pairof understandings, whether male or female. 

The legs at length disappeared, for the curtain of the petticoats wasdropped, and with it fell all the bright and glowing visions ofboyhood, in which I had been indulging. I felt once more that I wasneither in life's prime, nor a denizen of "bonny Scotland;" so Ilistened to certain suggestions which my young companion had for sometime been making, and agreed to accompany him a little way down thecourse of the Bober, while he tried to fish. We went accordingly, butto no purpose. The Bober does not become a trout-stream till long afterit has lost sight of the source from whence it springs, and we had ourwalk, with the conversation of the young burgomaster and a friend ofhis, a learned baker in the village, as our reward. The historicalresearches of the latter gentleman had been very extensive, and hepossessed a laudable zeal to make this known. He was very curious toknow whether Lord Cromwell were yet alive, or the king of England'shead put on again. I did my best to satisfy him on these interestingtopics; but I doubt whether I succeeded; for on my assuring him thatthere was no Lord Cromwell, and that the head of William IV. Had neverbeen cut off, he eyed me with a glance of peculiar distrust. 

Thus passed a day at Shatzlar, --heavily enough, it must be allowed;for, ardent as my admiration of Wordsworth's poetry is, I confess thatI have not succeeded in imbibing so much of his philosophy as to feelas he would doubtless have felt in a similar situation. Both mine andmy companion's overwrought limbs, however, derived no slight advantagefrom the halt, and well it was that they did so, for the task whichawaited them on the morrow was a hard one. After repeated consultationswith the burgomaster, which ended invariably, on his part, with anentreaty that we would not think of an enterprise so Quixotic ascrossing Schnee-Koppee at this early season, and without a guide, wemade up our minds to go in direct opposition to his counsels, and aftergaining the summit, to descend by the other side, and sleep atSchmiedeberg, or some other town in Prussian Silesia. Just, albeitsharp and cutting, is the aphorism of Madame de Staël, that there is nocountry in the world where the expression, "It is impossible, " comes sofrequently into use as in Germany. Propose to a German any undertakingwhich he has either never tried, or which might break through hisevery-day habits, and he will assure you that the thing is not to beaccomplished. Urge him to increased exertions, or accelerated speed, and he will tell you that to do more, or move faster, is impracticable. And as to learning any new method of performing a given task, be iteven the dressing of a dish for dinner, I question whether you couldprevail upon him to attempt that by any influence short of positivecompulsion. Yet in war the Germans are an enterprising people, andamong the arts of peace they can boast, with truth, that some of themost important discoveries ever effected were effected by theircountrymen. How strange that their domestic habits should be sothoroughly in contradiction to such qualities as enterprise in war andingenuity in the application of mechanics. 

Of this strange predilection to create difficulties for themselves andothers, which, beyond all doubt, attaches to the German character, wewere well aware; and took, in consequence, the burgomaster's cautionsat little more than they proved, in effect, to be worth. Someobstacles, with a good deal of fatigue, we made up our minds toencounter; but, as the Duke of Wellington said in his speech to thecadets at Addiscombe, --a speech which I had the good fortune to hear, and am not likely soon to forget, --nothing great was ever accomplishedwithout labour; and labour we were content to bestow, and fatigue toendure, even in the ascent of Schnee-Koppee. Accordingly at six in themorning, and carrying the heir of the hotel along with us, to point outthe direct path through a forest, which it was necessary to thread, wesallied forth; and by seven were once more left to our own guidance, with the steep but grassy side of one of the ramifications of themountain under our feet. 

I shall never forget, to my dying day, the effect produced upon me bythe first half of this ascent. The day was as bright and beautiful asever shone out of heaven. Hot it was, but not intensely so, for thesun's power was yet trivial; and as the winds were hushed, except whenfrom time to time a light breeze rustled among the foliage of thepine-woods, the stillness that prevailed around struck me as somethingquite sublime. In proportion as we rose, likewise, above the level ofthe valley, every sight and sound appeared to acquire a new charm. Beneath were wreaths of mist, rolling themselves slowly up the sides ofthe opposite mountains. Under their canopy villages and hamlets werereposing, from the chimneys of which long thin streaks of smoke curledupwards as if to join the cloud; while here and there a solitarycottage, a chapel, and even a gilt crucifix, gleamed to peculiaradvantage from its own quiet nook. I have spoken of the silence asbeing quite sublime. Not that it was unbroken; for up the mountain'sside came, by fits and starts, the tinkling of the bells, which in thiscountry are suspended to the necks of the cattle when they are feeding;intermixed with an occasional whoop, or snatch of a song, or merrywhistle from the cow-herd; while the branches over-head, --for we satdown in the skirts of a low pine wood, --were crowded with little birds, whose sweet but not loud notes completed one of the most exquisiteconcerts to which, in any part of the world, I have ever listened. Andthen the landscape, --what a picture was there. Bold conical hills, swelling one over another like waves of the sea, overtopped and lookeddown upon a succession of valleys, each more striking, both forrichness and beauty, than the first; and forming altogether such ascene as must be witnessed to be felt, or even understood. 

We could not spare much time to repose, even in such a situation asthis; so we quitted our lairs, not without regret, and plodded onwards. The whole day's journey was, as may be imagined, interesting in theextreme. Before us was the peak of Schnee-Koppee, sharp, to allappearance, as the apex of a bee-hive, yet supporting a round tower, which we understood the burgomaster to have described as a chapel. Round this peak large fields of snow were lying, but the summit itselfseemed clear. This pleased us exceedingly; indeed, every step which wetook in advance helped to dispel a portion of the gloom in which ourhost had endeavoured to envelope the enterprise; for though there wasno path, points of observation could everywhere be taken; and thewoods, of the depths and horrors of which he had spoken so much, allproved easy of passage. On, therefore, we tramped, nothing doubting, till, after repeated dips and renewed ascents, each of which opened outto us fresh glories, some of them almost, but not quite equal, to thosethat lay behind, we arrived, about twelve o'clock, at the village ofKleine Oupa; the most elevated of all the spots on which, in thiscountry of Bohemia, men have ventured to establish their permanentdwellings; and raised, I should conceive, little, if at all, short offour thousand feet above the level of the sea. For round them, inpatches, among the stunted firs, the snow was still lying; even whilethe sun beat warmly overhead, and thin crops of rye, --the only grainfit to be cultivated at such a height from the plain, --seemed advancingto perfection. 

Kleine Oupa is rather a hamlet than a village. It contains, perhaps, thirty houses, of which one is a parsonage, --for there is achurch, --one a school-house, one a caserne, in which a party of jagersare quartered, and one which fulfils the two-fold duty of mill andgasthof. To this latter we bent our steps, and found in its tap-roomrather better than the customary fare, that is to say, good whitebread, as well as eggs and butter. These furnished forth, for hungrytravellers like us, an excellent dinner; at the completion of which ourjourney recommenced, not to be delayed again, except for a brief space, at remote intervals, till we had accomplished the avowed object of ourexcursion. 

Nobody can have climbed a mountain so high as even the loftiest in thehighlands of Scotland, without observing the effect upon vegetation ofthe increasing severity of the climate as you approach the top. Thelast forest, worthy of the name, through which we passed this day, overhung Kleine Oupa; and even the remoter portions of it were stuntedand unhealthy. Next came the ascent of what is called Swartzen-Koppee;that is, of a long black table-land, overtopping, by a considerablealtitude, the rest of the mountains near, but still far beneath thelevel of Schnee-Koppee. Here vegetation entirely ceased. First, therewere some straggling firs, the uppermost branches of which reached tomy middle. Then there was heath in abundance, out of which we scared anenormous black cock; and finally, there was the bare brown rock, unclothed even with moss, and lying about in fragments, as if athousand sledge-hammers had been employed for a century, in the vainendeavour to flatten or beat down the mountain. Here, then, we pausedto look round, and had the day been propitious, we should have probablyobtained as fine a view as from the peak of Schnee-Koppee himself. But, as almost always happens when you have travelled far to ascend amountain, the atmosphere had become thick and foggy; so that our visionwas bounded by limits far more narrow than we had flattered ourselveswith finding. Still the panorama was very fine, and we enjoyed it much;after which, having Schnee-Koppee himself before us, we pushed on. 

We had been obliged to pass a barrier or two of snow, in order to reachSwartzen-Koppee; but the snow was perfectly firm, and we suffered noinconvenience from it. The valley between Swartzen-Koppee and the peakbeyond was quite clear; neither did a single flake rest upon theindistinct track, which the feet of travellers has, in the course ofages, marked up the face of the stony ridge which is calledSchnee-Koppee. We therefore entered upon the task of ascendingcheerfully, and found that there were no real difficulties to overcome. But we met with a little adventure, if such it deserves to be called, which appeared at the moment to be curious, and which has not yet lostall its interest with us. We were mistaken in supposing that we shouldbe the first of this year's tourists to stand upon the top ofSchnee-Koppee. Other wayfarers had been before us, and we saw them nowdescending in such a direction as to ensure our falling in with themduring our upward progress. They proved to be three Dutch gentlemen, with a guide, who had come direct through Silesia from Schandau, andwere able to tell us, when they discovered who we were, that a few dayspreviously our friends at the baths were all alive and well. I needscarcely add that we stopped and chatted together, and finally partedas if we had been acquaintances of ten years' standing; for your bleakmountain's brow, like your cabin of an Edinburgh steam-ship, is anadmirable concoctor of mushroom intimacies. 

Having parted from our friends, not, however, without receiving fromthem some useful hints as to the descent into Silesia, we proceeded on, till we gained the loftiest peak of all. It is a huge cairn of loosestones, among which an innkeeper from Warmbrunn has built a tower;whither in the summer months he conveys food, wine, and beds, for allof which he, as may be expected, charges enormously. We had a pint ofindifferent Rhine wine from him, which cost us a dollar, and wepurchased a couple of long sticks, for which we paid twenty groschensmore. But we were not induced, by his suggestions that sunrise andsunset were both exceeding glorious when watched from such a situation, to spend the night under his roof. On the contrary, after looking aboutus only to ascertain that the view, intercepted by the fog, was not tobe compared with what we had seen in the morning, we wished himfarewell; and, beholding at our feet the town of Warmbrunn, we plungeddown towards it. 

The ascent had been tolerably fatiguing; the descent was scarcely lessso; and it proved to the full as tedious. The snow lay in extensivefields, to cross which occasioned a good deal of trouble, and when thatwas accomplished, we found ourselves diving through the heart of athick forest. A road there certainly was, but whither it would lead uswe could not tell; and though the glimpses which, from time to time, weobtained of the bold corries that indent the Silesian sides of themountains, were uncommonly grand, we became, by degrees, too tired toenjoy them fully. Vainly, too, did we look about for some one to directus aright. Two or three cottages, just under the cone, were the onlyhaunts of men which we passed in our progress from the top to thebottom; and the solitary individual who met us, --a youth with a heavyburden on his back, --seemed to be a stranger. He could not tell us howto proceed, so we were left to push at a venture towards the pointwhere we believed that Warmbrunn lay, though our sole guide was theindistinct remembrance of the observations which we had taken from thesummit of the hill. 

It is not worth while to relate how provokingly we missed our way, orto describe the resolution which urged us at last to pass directlythrough the wood. The latter movement proved to be, in one respect, ajudicious one; for it carried us to the plane in a much shorter spaceof time than must have been consumed had we persisted in following thepathway. But it cut us off, for that night, from Warmbrunn; for wediscovered, to our horror, that the place towards which our eyes hadbeen directed from the moment they were permitted to penetrate thethick screen of branches, was not Warmbrunn, but a village, six Englishmiles removed from it. There, however, in such a hotel as it couldfurnish, we were glad to pass the night; and if our fare provedsomewhat homely, our beds were clean, and we slept like tops. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

WARMBRUNN. THE OBJECTS AROUND. A DILEMMA. HIRSCHBERG. HOW TRAVELLERSMAY MANAGE WHEN THEIR PURSES GROW LIGHT. PASS FOR RUSSIANS, AND DERIVEGREAT BENEFIT FROM THE ARRANGEMENT. LANG-WASSER. GREIFFENBERG. THEPRUSSIAN LANDWEHR. GOLDEN TRAUM. SCENE IN THE VILLAGE INN. BERNSTADT. HERNHUT. THE HERNHUTERS. SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE IN BOHEMIA. SCHLUKENAU. SCHANDAU. 

We rose next morning at our usual hour, five o'clock, and having eatenour breakfast, and paid our bill, set out on the road to Warmbrunn. Thelatter place, which though nominally a mere village, has about it theair and general appearance of a first-rate country-town, can boast of ahandsome schloss in its principal street, the residence of CountSchaff-Koatch. It is distant from Phthedorf, the village where weslept, about an hour and a half's walk, and can furnish excellentquarters at the Black Eagle for travellers, who, not being in a hurry, may desire to investigate the many curious and interesting objectswhich abound in the neighbourhood. For this province of Silesia isparticularly rich in the ruins of old castles, one of which, likewisethe property of Count Schaff-Koatch, occupies a very striking positionon a projecting rock at the foot of Schnee-Koppee. Before us, however, these, and sundry allurements of a similar description, poured outtheir sweets in vain. There was no lack of inclination to linger in thevicinity certainly; indeed, it had formed part of our plan to do so;but the diminished weight of our purse led us, while sipping a littlewine in the coffee-room of the above-named excellent hotel, to examineinto the state of our finances, and we ascertained, to our horror, thatwe were worth no more than six-and-thirty swanzekers, --that is, eightPrussian dollars, --or, computing by the standard of English money, justone pound, four shillings. Now when it is considered that we were atleast a hundred miles from home, that in every sense of the word wewere in the land of strangers, acquainted but imperfectly with thelanguage of the people about us, and totally unknown to high or low, itwill easily be understood that we did not feel perfectly at ease, whatever course might be adopted, and saw, at once, that to delay ourmarch even for the laudable purpose of inspecting the fine ruin nearus, would be an act of madness. When, therefore, the landlord, with thecivility of his craft and country, urged us to halt, were it only for asingle day, I told him frankly how we were situated, adding, that wehad wandered about for a longer period of time than we had allotted forthe purpose, and must now hurry home as fast as possible. 

Previous to this interesting conversation, and ere the condition of ourfunds had been fully ascertained, the appearance of a most promisingriver, which flows beside Warmbrunn, had tempted us to put together ourrods; and we were actually preparing, after beds and supper should havebeen ordered, to set out for a day's fishing. The appearance of therods created here the same sort of astonishment which had been calledforth by them elsewhere; and we of course gratified the natives stillmore by exhibiting our lines and flies. I observed that mine host hadbeen prodigiously smitten with my rod. He took it up, wielded it in allmanner of ways, and pronounced it to be the most perfect thing of thekind that ever was seen; nay, he even questioned me, indirectly, as tothe amount of money which would be demanded for such an article inEngland, and when I told him, pronounced that I had made an excellentbargain. No great while elapsed ere decisive proofs were afforded, thathis was no barren admiration. "You are in want of money, " said he, "Iwill buy your rod. " I hardly know how I looked when this propositioncame forth with all imaginable solemnity, but I made haste to declineit, and he had too much native good breeding to press his suggestion. 

He was a civil man, and in offering to purchase my fishing-rod, meantto do me a kindness, while, at the same time, he gratified himself; soI gave him a fly, with which he was greatly delighted; I told himlikewise how to use it. But if my unfortunate fly has since come intoplay, at the end of such a line and such a rod as the keeper of theBlack Eagle produced, I am quite sure that it has caught no fish, if, indeed, it be not long ago "fathoms deep" under water. One of Mrs. Finn's red hackles would cut but a sorry figure as an appendage to somesix yards of whip-cord, more especially after the said whip-cord shouldhave been fastened, as my friend's was, to the extremity of a hazelwand, as thick and inflexible as the horn of a roebuck. 

With us, however, the great question was, not whether the host of theBlack Eagle was ever likely to become an expert fly-fisher; but how, with our scanty means, we were to reach Schandau, and at the same time, pay a visit to Hernhut, one of the principal points of observationwhich we had in view from the outset. The landlord assured us that weneed be under no apprehensions, that a diligence went every day fromHirschberg, the chief town of the circle, which was distant fromWarmbrunn not more than an hour's walk, and that we should both beconveyed to Hernhut, that is to say, sixty-five English miles of road, for the sum of three dollars at the utmost. This was cheeringintelligence enough, but could we depend upon it? We feared not, and itwas well for us that we listened to the advice of prudence, rather thanto the whispers of inclination. We thanked him for the informationwhich he had given us, paid our bill, and marched off to ascertain, atthe post office in Hirschberg itself, how far it might or might not beauthentic. 

Though the route from Warmbrunn to Hirschberg conducted us over a dustymain-road, and the heat of the day was overpowering, we could not helpstopping, from time to time, to look back upon the magnificent scenewhich we were leaving behind us. Viewed from this side, theRiesengebirgen offer a much bolder and grander outline than when lookedat from Bohemia. Here, the mountains, instead of forming theback-ground and termination to numerous lesser ranges, spring, sheerand abrupt, out of the plain, and when loaded, as they happened to beto-day, with a bank of white clouds, which obscured none of theirfeatures, but seemed to nestle on the snow along their summits, theeffect is altogether so sublime as to defy either pen or pencil todescribe it. It was not without a sense of bitter mortification that wefelt ourselves compelled to flee, as it were, from objects so enticing, of which our parting glances showed us that we had not seen half thebeauties, and which we were destined, in all human probability, neverto behold again. 

We reached Hirschberg about noon, and found it to be both a larger anda more bustling place than any which, in the course of our rambles, wehad yet visited. An old wall, with towers at intervals, though inruins, encircles it, and it can boast of several churches, and a stillgreater number of spires. The streets are narrow, and the houses lofty, as is the case in almost all places which are or have been fortified;and the population appears to be dense. But our stay in it was toobrief to permit our making any minute inquiries into their mode ofemploying themselves, though we could perceive, from the clumsybuildings which here and there over-hung the river, that there was somesort of a manufactory in the town. 

We made, at once, for the post office, an establishment very different, in all respects, from that at Gabel, where functionaries, in thePrussian uniform, received us with great civility, and gave us theinformation of which we stood in need. It was by no means sosatisfactory as we had been led to anticipate; indeed, we found oncalculating the amount, that our seats in the diligence, as far asHernhut, would sweep away the whole of our disposable stock, with theexception, I think, of a dollar and a half. Now, as the diligencesnever hurry themselves in Germany, any more than other people, twentyhours would be required to perform the journey to Hernhut, during whichwe could not very conveniently fast; and after all, when Hernhut wasgained, we should still be forty long English miles from home. What wasto be done? We looked at one another ruefully enough for a moment, thenburst into a hearty laugh, and adjourning to an inn hard by, ordereddinner. We ate it with excellent appetites, though our only beveragewas beer, and made up our minds to work our way on foot, while, likeprudent people, we regulated our style of living according to thestandard of our finances. 

There was seated in the room of the hotel, into which we were ushered, a well-dressed man, evidently a traveller like ourselves, but one whotravelled by some public conveyance. We entered into conversation withhim, of course, and ascertained that he was a Hernhuter. What the termHernhuter means, I shall find an opportunity to explain by-and-by; butat present my business is with the individual. To this gentleman, assoon as we had felt our way a little, I explained the precise nature ofour situation, and consulted him both as to the route which it would beadvisable to follow, and the probability of our stock holding out tillwe should arrive at our journey's end. A route he gave us cheerfully. We were to proceed as far as Greiffenberg that night, that is to say, twenty-one miles beyond Hirschberg. Next day, we might reach Löwenberg, which was twenty-four miles further; and the third day, aftercompassing about as many more, we should find ourselves in Hernhut. 

"All this is very plain, " said I, "but you forget the state of ourfinances. How are we two to exist for three days on seven dollars anda-half? and remember that, at Hernhut, we are two good marches fromSchandau. "

"You will exist very well, " replied our acquaintance, "if you will onlyact with prudence. Don't let people know that you are Englishmen; forthe most honest man among us considers it quite fair to charge anEnglishman at least one-third more for everything than he charges aGerman. "

We thanked him heartily for this hint; and having paid for our dinnerthe odd half dollar, we resumed our progress with exactly seven ofthese precious coins in our pockets. 

We had compassed nine good miles already; and under any othercircumstances than the present, should have as soon thought of flyingto Schandau through the air, as of marching one-and-twenty more; but asthe old proverb expresses it, "Necessity has no law. " Every approach offatigue was accordingly resisted by the aid of reflection; whichsuggested, truly enough, that to loiter, would involve us indifficulties and embarrassments, which, however transient they mightbe, could not fail of annoying us while they operated. But as we drewtowards Greiffenberg, we remembered that it had been described as alarge and thriving town, and a large and thriving town, we conceived, would not suit with the low condition of our exchequer. We accordinglyresolved to stop short at some village a mile or two on this side ofit; and at a place called Lang-Wasser, we found precisely the sort ofhotel of which we were in search. It was just one degree elevated abovea pot-house; and its owner contrived to accommodate us with a chamberto ourselves. Here, then, in the character of Russians, we fixed ourhead-quarters, and right well and cheaply we fared and were attendedto. 

I have nothing to say about Lang-Wasser, except that it is a smallstraggling township, of which the keeper of our hotel was theburgomaster; and that the great majority of the inhabitants being RomanCatholics, a Romish priest was in possession of the benefice. I found, likewise, that there prevailed among his flock, that attachment totheir own communion which the Roman Catholics are never ashamed toavow, even though it may subject them to the charge of bigotry. One ofthe first questions put to us was, whether we were Catholics? and onour taking advantage of the equivoque, and replying in the affirmative, the tongues of the whole family seemed to be loosed. They had nopredilection for the creed, or the worship, or the persons of theirevangelical neighbours. How different, in this respect, has been thebearing of all among the Protestant population of Prussia with whom Ihave conversed. If the subject of religion chanced to be introduced atall, --and unless introduced by me, this never once happened, --it wastreated as something not only not interesting to the feelings of thespeaker, but of the power of which to excite an interest in anybody, hecould form no notion. Is it not a pity that, under a governmentavowedly Protestant, such a line of policy should be taken up, as toroot out all zeal for the truth, among such as profess to be itsfollowers, while the followers of error continue enthusiasticallyattached to it?

We fared well that night, both as to eating and sleeping. Our supperwas excellent, our beds clean, and the charge for the whole barely twoshillings, --a practical illustration of the soundness of the advicewhich we had received from our friendly Hernhuter. It was difficult, indeed, to conceive how, even in Silesia, the people could afford totreat us as they did, for so small a sum. Yet we paid our bill withoutexpressing, even by a careless word, that its amount surprised us; andrestrained our very mirth till a turn in the road placed us beyond thehazard of being detected in its indulgence. 

There had been a considerable fall of rain while we slept; so that atseven o'clock in the morning, when our march began, we had everyprospect before us of a pleasant journey. There was no dust to annoy;the hedge-rows, on either hand, (for it must be remembered that, in allthe states of Germany, the highways are planted, at the expense of thegovernment, with a double row of trees, ) sent forth an unceasingconcert of sweet sounds, and the very people whom we met, seemed bytheir joyous countenances to confess the influence of the balmyatmosphere. And by the way, I must not forget to observe, that thecostumes of the country people, both male and female, had varied a gooddeal since we commenced our ramble. In the neighbourhood of Tetchen, the smock-frock made its appearance among wagoners and even labouringmen, while the women wore, as in Saxony, short bodice jackets with longskirts, red or red and white striped petticoats, and round their headseither a flaring red handkerchief, or a cap adorned behind with twoenormous flies. As we penetrated further into Bohemia, the smock-frockamong the men gave place to a cloth or velvetine jacket, and the capwas supplanted by a coarse steeple-crowned hat. It strikes me that thefemale portion of the community exhibited less love of change, till wereached Silesia; and then I looked twice before I could persuademyself, that Queen Elizabeth, and the dames and virgins of her day, were not returned to upper air. Long waists, with hips famously padded, reduced the shapes of such as had any shape, to the symmetry of a wasp, while round their necks were enormous, stiffly-starched ruffs, whichstuck out so far, and rose so high, as to give to the red, round, blowsy faces which protruded over them, a tolerably exact resemblanceto so many field-turnips. More comical-looking animals I have rarelyseen, though they were evidently of a different opinion. 

We passed through Greiffenberg about eight o'clock, and found it by nomeans the formidable sort of place which our fears, --the offspring ofour poverty, --had represented it to be. An old town, built irregularlyalong the side of a hill, it seems to possess neither trade normanufactures; indeed, a flour-mill or two, planted by the river's side, sufficiently marked it out as the head of a purely agriculturaldistrict. The view from the eminence above, is, however, exceedinglyfine. Sweeping over a vast and fertile plain, throughout whichabundance of wood is scattered, and resting from time to time upon someold ruin, one of which, called Kreifenstein Castle, and the property ofGraff Schaff-Koatch, presents a peculiarly striking appearance, the eyefinds its powers of vision bounded at last by the Riesengebirgen, whichhave as yet lost no portion of the sublimity of character that belongsto them, though they are now removed to a distance, as the crow flies, of at least twenty miles. We took what we suspected would prove to beour last distinct view of the magnificent range, not withoutexperiencing a portion of that melancholy which never fails to ariseout of a lasting separation even from inanimate objects, which may havegratified our tastes, or interested our imaginations. 

We had met on the road as we trudged along, several small parties ofsoldiers; twos and threes, belonging to the landwehr, or militia of thecountry, of which the season for training was arrived. This was not, however, the commencement of our acquaintance with that remarkablyfine-looking body of men. While we lingered in Hirschberg, doubtfulwhat course to pursue, there marched past the window of the hotel abouttwo hundred as superb infantry as I should desire to see; stout, well-made, soldier-like fellows, in the full vigour of manhood, wellbearded and moustached, and altogether presenting the appearance of menwho had served at least half-a-dozen campaigns, and were ready to servehalf-a-dozen more. Their uniform resembled that of the Prussianinfantry in general; that is to say, they wore blue, well-made coats, white trousers, chacos with small round white tufts, and hairyknapsacks on their backs. Their muskets were longer, and smaller in thebore than ours, and the barrels were fastened to the stocks by brassrings that encircled them. Nothing could exceed the order or regularityof their movements: their step, it struck me, was shorter than ours, but then it fell more rapidly; their equipments were decidedly neater;and above all, the load which each man carried was much lessconsiderable. In one respect, however, and only in one, we have anadvantage over them. They still adhere to the practice of carrying alarge camp-kettle for each mess, whereas our tins suffice both forcooking and containing the meat when cooked, and with one of these eachman is supplied. 

I have elsewhere explained the process by which every male inhabitantof Prussia becomes in some shape or another, available for the militarydefence of the country. I need not now recur to the subject, furtherthan by stating, that I have seen no portion of what is called theregular army, which would bear a moment's comparison with thehalf-battalion of landwehr, that passed me in the streets ofHirschberg. Neither is the circumstance greatly to be wondered at. Outof the two or three hundred men which composed that corps, one-half, perhaps, had done active duty, ere the new system of recruiting wasintroduced; when the term of service extended to fifteen instead ofthree years; and individuals were not, as they are now, turned over tothe landwehr, with a military education still unfinished, and in manycases scarcely begun. The consequences were, that their carriage wasmore upright, their air more martial, and their style of march moreorderly by far, than anything which I had an opportunity of observing, even in the garrison of Berlin. Something, too, is perhaps attributableto the more advanced ages of the landwehr. No one dislikes to see afrequent intermixture of beardless faces, either in a line or in acolumn; but an entire battalion of boys is not satisfactory. Now thesemen were in the full strength and vigour of their days. Theircountenances were well bronzed, their moustachios rough, and the verydust that enveloped them told nothing against the general hardihood oftheir bearing. I looked upon them with unqualified respect, and said tomy young companion, that if all the landwehr regiments be composed ofsimilar materials, Prussia can have nothing to apprehend from anyhostile movement on the part either of Austria, or of France. 

We had received a route, as usual, from our host at Lang-Wasser, andcorrected it in some trifling particulars, at the suggestion of aturnpike keeper, --an old soldier, as in Prussia these functionariesusually are, and a fine-looking, well-bred, and intelligent fellow. Among other places, we were to make, by the way, for a village calledGolden Traum, where, as we hoped to reach it about noon, we proposed toeat our dinner. But we did not succeed in this point. Having beenmisdirected at an unlucky turn in a wood where two roads branched offfrom one another, we found ourselves, after an hour's toil, furtherfrom Golden Traum than ever, and were forced, not to retrace our steps, but to make our way as we best could, across the country, in order toreach it. We came in, accordingly, tired and somewhat out of humour, atone o'clock, to a poor but clean village beer-house, where the onlyviands produceable, were brown bread, butter, and sausages, aconsiderable quantity of which disappeared before persons whoseappetites were a great deal too keen to be fastidious. 

The situation of Golden Traum, overhanging the rocky and well-woodedbank of the river Queiss, is exceedingly striking, and the stream, being clear and rapid, held out to us the prospect of good sport. Encouraged, therefore, by the remembrance of the moderate charges atLang-Wasser, we resolved to spend the remainder of the day here, provided our landlady could accommodate us with beds, and fare a littlemore delicate for supper. With respect to the latter of these points, it was soon and satisfactorily settled. We had our choice of beef andveal, and we chose of course veal's elder brother: but the report ofthe dormitory was not so satisfactory. There was no spare chamber inthe house, but they would make up for us a couple of beds, withmattresses, sheets, &c. , in the tap-room; and they assured us, that itwould be entirely at our command by ten o'clock at the latest. As mycompanion appeared to think these dispositions excellent, and spokevehemently in favour of the day's fishing, I consented to halt. Weconsigned our baggage to the care of the landlady, put our tackle inorder, and descended to the stream. 

Like many other things in creation, the Queiss was far from realizingthe expectations which its flattering appearance had excited. There waslittle water in the channel, and that little contained few trout; butroach were there in abundance. Now a roach, either at the end of myline or on the table, happens to be my aversion, and finding that I wasperpetually deceived by the avidity with which the scaly monstersseized my fly, I soon wound up. Not so my boy. With the most laudableperseverance he continued to flog the water, much to the detriment ofthe roach tribe; one of which, by the way, proved, when he brought himashore, to be the largest of his species I had ever seen. The monstermust have weighed a pound and a half at the least. But this was notall. Towards evening the trout began to show themselves, and the youngPiscator caused some havoc among them. He caught about a dozen, theheaviest of which might have well nigh passed muster either atTroutenau or Eisenhammer. 

We had been interrupted in our sport by a thunder-storm; thereverberations of which, as peal after peal smote against rock andfell, were very fine. The rain, however, which came down in torrents, was not quite so agreeable, and forced us to seek shelter in a mill, where I was a good deal amused by the sort of taste which the honestmiller had displayed in ornamenting his best apartment. The walls werestuck round with engravings, one of which represented Jonah in twosituations: first, smoking a pipe by the seaside, and afterwardsworking his way out of a huge fish's jaws; while close beside him was aship, considerably less in point of size than the prophet. As toNineveh, it stood upon a rock in the middle of the ocean, and had allits houses covered with bright red tiles. But that was nothing. Therewere several portraits of distinguished public characters here; andamong others, Hawser Trunnion, a British admiral. I must say that theold commodore looked uncommonly well, with his flowing wig, just asSmollett describes it, and a pipe in his mouth. 

We had ordered supper at seven; at half-past seven we reached thehotel, and found the meal ready. Alas! however, for the results ofhaving issued our orders somewhat hastily. Instead of a substantialpiece of roast beef, a basin of soup was placed before each, to whichsucceeded, sans potatoes, sans greens, sans any other vegetables of anysort, two small morsels of bouillie, boiled to tatters. We were not, however, to be put off with such sorry fare as this, so we begged ourlandlady to dress for us some of the fish which we had taken; and sheset about it immediately. But long before the fish were ready, amultitude of new guests came pouring in, and we found ourselves in asituation which exceedingly amused us for a while, though in the end itgrew tiresome. 

The character of Russians had never sat upon us very easily. We wereconstantly afraid lest some one should address us in the Russianlanguage, and we fancied that a demand for our passports, which mightcome at any moment, must inevitably convict us of an imposture. Seeing, therefore, that Golden Traum wore a singularly modest air, we resumed, on entering it, our proper lineage, and never laid it aside again tillwe reached home. Now, there happened to be in the village a bouerman, who had served under Blucher at Waterloo, and had seen, during theperiod of the occupation of Paris, a good deal of the English army. This man no sooner learned that two Englishmen were arrived, than henot only came himself, but brought all his neighbours to pay theirrespects to us. There was first the schoolmaster, a stout short man, highly impressed with the idea of his own dignity, and a determinedsmoker. There was the miller, the smith, the butcher, thesexton, --everybody, in short, who had a groschen or two to spend, and astock of curiosity to be gratified. Nor did they come alone. Theirwives and children followed them _en masse_, till the tap-room wascrowded. What could we do? To devour our fish in the sight of themultitude, without offering to share it with them, might have impressedthem with an unfavourable opinion of our country, while to afford evena morsel to each individual present, would have required thrice theamount cooked and even caught. We therefore adopted a middle course, seldom either a wise or a fortunate one, but in the present instancethe only course within our reach. We distributed the trout among theparties who had occupied seats at our table; and won the hearts of theold soldier and his wife, the miller and his wife, the blacksmith andhis wife, with all their children; who, seeing their mothers begin toeat, set up such a clamour that we were fain to hand over for their useall the bones, with such portions of flesh as chanced to adhere tothem. Then followed sundry small flasks of schnaps, some cans of beer, and two or three bottles of sour country wine; under the influence ofwhich the tap-room became, ere long, a scene of extraordinary hilarity. The old soldier raved about the "guten Anglesisch soldaden, " andpronounced "der Hertoch von Wellington, " worthy to take rank withBlucher himself. This, of course, drew from me sundry compliments tothe valour and discipline of the Prussian army, till in a few minuteswe were sworn brothers. "The French! what could the French do, orindeed all the world besides, against the English and Prussians united, who between them had restored peace to Europe, and dethronedBuonaparte;" but I am not quite sure that we decided the question bywhom the battle of Waterloo was won, --a matter concerning which myfriend appeared to be sensitive, and I, in the consciousness of havingfact to fall back upon, felt altogether indifferent. 

For an hour or two the scene was highly diverting, though I cannot saythat it had the effect of confirming me in my opinions touching theconstitutional sobriety of the German people. The good folks round medrank like fishes, and I must do the women the justice to observe, thatin this sort of exercise they were by no means less alert than theirhusbands. The method of proceeding was this:--To some eight or tenpersons a couple of liqueur glasses were allotted. These being filled, a sip was taken out of each, by the individuals who appeared to presideover the destinies of the bottle; they were then handed round, anddrank in portions till drained dry. No time was, however, lost inreplenishing them, so that the fire was both brisk and well sustained. Neither were the courtesies of civilised life omitted. At each separatesip the party sipping pledged the whole company; so that on a moderatecomputation, I had my health drunk that night at least a hundred andfifty times. 

Ten o'clock struck, but the joyous rout exhibited no symptoms ofmoving; eleven came, and still they sat. This was rather too much of agood thing; for we must needs be a-foot by five in the morning, and wecould not lie down till the chamber should be cleared. At last theschoolmaster, through the haze which his beer, and schnaps, andtobacco-smoke, had drawn around him, discovered that I was yawning withsome vehemence, and looking tired. He accordingly rose, and suggestedan adjournment; but his proposition was scouted. They must have onebottle more, and they had it; another, and they had that too; till Ibegan to fear that they meant to favour us, as I recollect long agofavouring a delicate friend of mine at College, --that is, to sit upwith us till the hour of march arrived, and then give us a convoy. Butthe memory of my poor friend's first letter, in which he described themisery of a mail-coach journey to Bristol, after a sleepless night, putme on my guard. I hinted that we had all better get to bed, and my hintwas immediately taken. They went away in the best humour possible, after repeatedly shaking us by the hands, and wishing us all manner ofprosperity, both abroad and at home. 

I should flatter the good landlady at Golden Traum, if I were to say, that her beds were either clean or comfortable. In fact, we did notventure to undress; and we were up punctual to the moment whichover-night we had fixed upon as convenient for starting. Again, however, the linen which we had committed to the care of thewasherwoman, was to seek, and our journey, much to our chagrin, wasdelayed till past seven. Meanwhile, we got from the hostess as muchinformation respecting her neighbourhood as she had to communicate. Theappearance of the village had struck us, on entering, as singular. Thehouses, instead of wood, which is the material commonly used in theconstruction of German villages, were all built of brick, and theylooked quite new. Moreover, there was no church; but only the ruins ofsome walls and a tower standing. On inquiring into the cause of allthis, we learned, that four years ago, during the heat of the summer, when everything in the fields was parched up, and the very rivers dry, some woodmen incautiously set fire to the brushwood in a neighbouringforest, and all the efforts to extinguish it proved fruitless. Theflame spread for miles around, consuming heath, dry grass, corn, andeven trees, nor did the town of Golden Traum escape. It was burned tothe ground, as well as all the detached cottages near it. From theeffects of this disastrous conflagration, it had not yet, and probablynever would, recover. Some houses were, indeed, built; and built ofmaterials which seemed better suited to withstand a similar visitation, should it occur; but there were no funds wherewith to restore thechurch, and the lord of the manor was a great deal too poor toundertake such an enterprise. "An application has, indeed, been made, "continued our informant, "to the authorities at Berlin, and we hopesome time or another to have a new church; for we miss the bells sadlyon feast-days, and it is a pleasant thing once a week to meet all one'sneighbours, and see how they are dressed. But for the present, ourpastor performs divine service in a room upstairs, and is not troubledwith a crowded congregation. "

It had rained hard during the night, and showers still continued tofall early in the morning, a circumstance which reconciled us, not alittle, to our compulsory halt of two hours beyond our time. But byseven, the clouds dispersed, and our linen being restored and packed inour knapsacks, we begged to have the bill. It amounted to no more, inspite of all the beer and schnaps of the previous evening, than onedollar and four groschens. Here, then, we were relieved altogether fromthe apprehensions under which, up to that moment, we had laboured. Ourpoint, to-night, was Hernhut, whence, with a little management, andsome extra pressure, we expected to reach Schandau in one day; and wehad still five dollars, and a little more, in our purse. 

From Golden Traum to Hernhut, we were recommended to pass by way ofMarklissa and Bernstadt, the former a manufacturing place of some notein Prussian Silesia, the latter one of the frontier-towns of Saxony. Wefollowed those directions faithfully, and erring only once, to be putright again immediately by a very civil woman, we soon left our lastnight's quarters far behind. But we did not succeed in reaching ourproposed point of destination. Fatigue gained the mastery over us whilewe were yet three hours' march from Hernhut, and at seven in theevening, we came reluctantly to the conclusion, that a halt inBernstadt was necessary. 

There had occurred no incident during our march that deserves to berecorded; neither had we passed any object that struck us asremarkable. The scenery, far more tame than we had been accustomed toin Bohemia, drew forth small admiration, and in Marklissa, a bustling, but irregularly-built town, we made no delay. In like manner, I may sayof Bernstadt, that it contains little, which can, in any way, interesta stranger. A church, with a remarkably tall spire, is its chiefornament; and the inn, in the market-place, where we put up, was a fairone. A stroll through the streets, therefore, as well as a ramble inthe churchyard, hardly compensated for the labour of effecting it; andwe returned to supper at eight o'clock, well-disposed to cut the day asshort as possible. But we were now in Saxony, and the Saxon policethought fit to convince us, that, however negligent theirbrother-officials in Austria and Prussia might be, they were not to becaught napping. I was sound asleep, when about twelve o'clock, a loudrapping at the chamber-door awoke me. I demanded the cause of soill-timed an interruption, and was informed that the gendarmes had cometo obtain a sight of our passport, and that I must get up and show it. The reader will easily believe that I obeyed this mandate, not quite inthe placid temper of mind which is habitual to me. In fact, I wasexceedingly angry, as I had reason to be; for we came in at seven, thepolice were perfectly aware of our arrival, and supposing that thenational prosperity of Saxony had depended on us, there was ample timeto ascertain that we were neither spies nor incendiaries, between thathour and bed-time. I, therefore, poured out upon the intruder, --thelandlord of the inn, --a tolerable volley of abuse, and desired him toretail it all, in better German, to the gendarme below. In spite of mywrath, I could not keep my gravity, when after having desired him todeliver such a message to the policeman as an angry man is apt toconvey, indicating, I am afraid, a wish, on my part, that the officialwould remove to less comfortable quarters than Bernstadt, the host, with all possible gravity replied, "Goot. " There was no resisting this, and I laughed heartily. 

The passport was correct enough, and the gendarme, after listening tosundry warm expostulations, delivered, not through the medium of thehost, but directly by myself, stammered out some excuse on the score ofduty, and hinted that they were obliged to be constantly on the alert, in consequence of the frequent inundation of fugitive Poles into thecountry. Alas, the poor Poles! Defeated in their attempt to freethemselves from the yoke of the stranger, and driven to seek, in exile, the safety which is denied to them at home, they cannot find anywhere, throughout continental Europe, a resting-place for the soles of theirfeet. For even Saxony, --the child, a feeble one, doubtless, --but stilla child, of the revolutionary mania of 1830, --is afraid to afford anasylum to men whose sole crime is, that they have struggled, or perhapspined only in secret, to restore to their native land its place amongthe nations of Europe. I was not, of course, so imprudent as to takeany notice of the gendarme's observation; but I thought within myself, that the government of a free country deserved little respect whichcould permit itself to be dragooned into the persecution of a body ofmen, from whom Saxony, at least, has sustained no injury. 

The gendarme having departed, I returned to bed, and slept till six inthe morning. We then breakfasted, and a little before nine, arrived atone of the most interesting places which the student of human naturewill find in all Germany. Hernhut, in every sense of the term, amissionary settlement, offers to the eye of the curious and thereflecting, a spectacle as striking as can well be conceived. Here isno diversity of opinion on religious subjects, no indifference, real orpretended, to religion itself, no postponement of duty to convenience, no deference to police regulations which is not paid to a higherprinciple. Religion is in Hernhut, what law and custom are elsewhere, the main-spring of people's actions. They work and play, they associatetogether, or dwell apart, they go out and come in, rise up, and liedown; they perform every office of life strictly, or at least avowedly, under the sanction of the faith of which they are the professors. Theremay be hypocrisy in all this, though I could discover no traces of it, for human nature is a curious compound at the best; but at least thereis a moral courage which commands our unqualified respect, inasmuch aseverything is done without parade, without moroseness, without theutterance of a single expression which can convict them of a desire tobe admired of men, far less of undervaluing or mistrusting the motivesof others. 

What the origin of the Hernhuters really is, seems to be a point as yetscarcely determined. Mosheim, in his _Ecclesiastical History_, speaksvaguely of them; and Dr. Maclaine, his English translator, hasattributed to them practices and opinions which are quite contrary tofact. Confounding them with the Picards, whom John Ziska, the famousHussite general, well-nigh exterminated, the latter speaks of them aspractising all the absurd impurities of the Pre-Adamites, and heappeals for support to Stinstra's pastoral letter, --one of the mostuncandid as well as impertinent productions that ever came from the peneven of an Anabaptist. For my own part, I see no reason to doubt thatthey are what they profess to be, the descendants of the Bohemian orMoravian brethren, whom the bigotry of the house of Austria drove fromtheir homes, and of whom remnants are yet to be found, both in Polandand Hungary. Their church is episcopal in its constitution; theirtenets agree with the Augsburg Confession of Faith; their ritual isplain and bare, almost like that of the Presbyterian church ofScotland; and their attention to psalmody very great. It has been muchthe practice of the surrounding townships, as well in Bohemia as inSilesia and Saxony, to speak slightingly of them. But a brief sojournamong them, sufficed to convince me that they were at least as honestas any of those by whom their honesty had been called in question. 

The word Hernhut signifies "a seeker of the Lord;" and it was theirexcessive earnestness in the service of religion, that, according toone account, earned for them and their settlement the names which theystill retain. Another tradition says, that Hut was the name of theindividual by whom the first of the colony was led to this particularspot; and that as from him, Herr Hut, or Gentleman Hut, their villagederived its appellation, so the inhabitants of the village came to beknown as Hernhuters. Between these conflicting statements, (and bothwere communicated to me on the spot, ) I do not pretend to decide. Ionly know that to Count Zinzendorf, --of well-established notoriety, --thefathers were in 1722 indebted for their settlement on the spot ofground which their sons still occupy; and that, grateful for thekindnesses which their sect received both from him and his children, they have ever held the name in the highest possible respect. 

Count Zinzendorf was, beyond all question, partially insane. Hisopinions, wild and extravagant in the extreme, had a strong tendency tovitiate the moral principle; and the Hernhuters having derived from hisbounty all that they possessed, would not refuse to listen when hechose to address them, even in their religious meetings. But it is amistake to attribute to him the character of a leader. He was theirprotector in civil affairs, but he was not their bishop. He had a voicein their synods, but he was not supreme. In spite, therefore, of theobscene rhapsodies which were printed, and put into circulation, as hisdiscourses, I see no reason to believe that his opinions were everadopted as those of the community. On the contrary, they have all alongprofessed to subscribe in sincerity to the Augsburg Confession; andsurely their own assertions are more to be relied upon, than those oftheir enemies. 

Hernhut is, as I have said, in the strictest sense of the term, amissionary settlement. The people inhabit a town, cleaner, neater, andin every respect more attractive, than any of a similar size, which Ihave visited in Germany. They own a considerable tract of country roundit, which they cultivate with excellent skill; and they carry on amongthemselves all manner of trades and professions. Civil magistrates theyhave none, for the supreme government has not forced such upon them;but their affairs are regulated by a synod, in which all the clergy, with a certain number of lay-elders, have seats. The law, again, towhich they profess to pay obedience, is that of God. Whatevercontradicts the morality of the Gospel is, by them, accounted illegal, and they punish the guilty by spiritual censures, and at last byexcommunication. This latter amounts, in fact, to expulsion from theplace; for an excommunicated brother or sister finds no one with whomto maintain a correspondence. I found, indeed, by the presence of agendarme among them, that the government did not leave them absolutelyunobserved; but his duty seems to be very light, and his manner issingularly subdued and respectful. 

In this place, remarkable everywhere, there are one or two points, towhich the visitor is conducted, as more than others deserving hisattention. Foremost among these are the Broder-house, theSchweister-house, and the Predecher-house, --the latter being the namewhich the Hernhuters think fit to bestow upon their church, or house ofpublic worship. The Broder and Schweister-houses are, as their namesdenote, asylums, within which a certain number of men and women, members of the church of Hernhut, find shelter. Not that the inmates ofthese well-regulated abodes are all paupers. On the contrary, you meetin the Schweister-house persons belonging to every class of life, fromthe decayed or friendless gentlewoman down to the poor worn-outlaundress; and the state of the Broder-house is, in every respect, thesame. But one roof covers them all, and though their treatment beneathit may vary a little in regard to the lodging, diet, &c. , affordedthem, they are treated by one another, as well as by theirfellow-religionists who visit them, strictly as brothers and sisters. When, for example, the portress opened the door of the Schweister-houseto us, and found that we were foreigners, she stated that SisterHandman could speak French, and to Sister Handman's apartment we wereforthwith conducted, nothing loth to follow. We found it furnished withgreat taste, and the lady herself, well-bred and intelligent; yet thehumblest person in the house called her only schweister, and she didnot appear to desire or to look for more. 

The Schweister-house contains one hundred and thirty females, of allages, from seventy and eighty down to twelve. For the younger membersof the community, there is a school, where they are instructed inreading, writing, arithmetic, French, sewing, embroidery, andmusic, --of all which branches of education, members of the communityare the teachers. The elders employ their time a good deal inneedle-work, and knitting; chiefly in the fabrication of pretty littlearticles, such as purses, shirt-collars, tapestry covering for chairs, work-bags, &c. , all of which are sold for the benefit of theinstitution, to visitors; or sent off from time to time, to London, Berlin, the United States of America, and other places where theHernhuters have established missionary stations. There, it is said, they obtain ready customers, and the money so earned is faithfullyapplied to missionary purposes. Of course, the more essential, thoughless elegant departments in the management of a household, are notneglected. Among the sisters, there are matrons, housekeepers, cooks, chamber-maids, scullions, laundresses, and even errand-women;--all ofthem accustomed from their youth to more or less of manual labour, andall supported out of common funds of the institution. Such persons, aswell as a large majority of those on whom they attend, pay no board. The Schweister-house is their home; which they are free to quit, however, at pleasure; and they all live on a footing of perfectequality. One large room serves as the common eating-hall; one, whichengrosses an entire front of the building, is the dormitory; while achapel, where there is an altar, sees them assembled every morning tosing a hymn, to the accompaniment of a harpsichord, and pray with oneof the ministers who attends them. 

Previous to our visit to the Schweister-house, we had inspected thechurch, --a plain unadorned hall, fitted up with benches, two galleries, and a sort of table or altar. There is neither desk nor pulpit, for theservice stands in no need of such adjuncts, inasmuch as the devotionalparts of it consist mainly of psalm-singing, and the exhortation isdelivered, like a lecturer's address at the British Institution, fromthe table. Unfortunately for myself, I did not happen, on eitheroccasion of visiting the place, to reach it on a festival; but themusic, I am told, is exceedingly good, and the choir is led by anorgan. It may be worth while to add, that the principle which hasestablished a Broder-house and Schweister-house apart from one another, operates in the temple of the Hernhuters, --the men and women occupydistinct sets of benches, with a considerable space between them. 

The pastors or clergy of this singular sect, inhabit apartmentsconnected with the church, and adjoining to it. Not fewer than sevenare always resident in the town, of whom three are bishops, and theyare all family men. I do not know how they are accommodated in the sortof college which was pointed out as their common home; but I shouldthink indifferently. 

Our next visit was to the cemetery. To reach it we were obliged totraverse a considerable portion of the town, than which I have seennothing in Germany so neat and clean, and what we should describe inEngland as thoroughly comfortable-looking. The streets were all wideand well-paved; the houses substantial, yet airy; and everything aboutthem, from the glass in the windows to the brass knockers on the doors, clean as hands could make them. 

The cemetery lies, perhaps, a couple of hundred yards beyond theoutskirts of the town. You ascend to it, --for it occupies the elbow ofa green hill, --by a broad gravel road, cut through the centre ofluxuriant meadows, and shaded on either side by rows of lime-trees. This conducts you to a gateway, over the arch of which on the outerside, are inscribed in German, the words "Christ is risen from thedead;" while the corresponding side within the enclosure bears as itsmotto, "And is become the first-fruits of them that slept. " And trulyit would be hard to imagine a spot of earth, within which theenthusiast, --aye, and even the man who, without being an enthusiast, has ever so slight a tinge of romance in his nature, --would more desireto sleep out that last slumber. 

A sort of oblong square, it is girdled round by a well-trimmed hedge oflimes, from which, at intervals, pollarded trees shoot up; while thecorners are thickly woven each into a shady arbour, where seats arearranged for the accommodation of the contemplative. It is, however, after you have passed beneath the arch, that the holy quiet of the spotstrikes you most forcibly. Laid out with singular good taste intoparallelograms, and having the paths which divide them one fromanother, shaded by limes, it presents to your gaze no confused heap ofirregular mounds, overgrown with nettles and other noxious weeds, butwell-kept, yet unornamented plains, where, side by side, each coveredby a flat stone, --the record of their births, and death, and nothingmore, --the deceased brothers and the sisters of this singular communitylie at rest. Even here, however, in the grave-yard of a people studiousto preserve, as far as such a thing is possible, the primitive equalityof man with man, some distinction is paid to the ashes of thegreat, --not because in their season of mortality these ashes made up anoble family, but because the family in question have been mightybenefactors to the sect. In the centre of a wide road which separatesthe cemetery into two halves, --and on the right of which the males ofthe place are buried, while the portion on the left is devotedexclusively to women, --repose all that was once seen among men of CountZinzendorf and his kindred, covered over by nine stone tombs, on theelevated lids of which their titles and designations are inscribed. TheCount himself, to whom Hernhut owes its prosperity, and in some sort, its character, occupies the central position of all; and he issupported on either hand by the graves of his descendants. Nor will thenumber of these graves ever be increased. The family of Zinzendorf hasbecome extinct; and no other relics of humanity may hope to be honouredas they were, by the simple, yet reflecting members of the Hernhutcommunity. 

We lingered in this beautiful spot a good half-hour, and quitted it, atthe termination of that period, "wiser and better men, " at least forthe moment. Altogether different from the Père La Chaise, or any othercemetery which I had ever visited before, it struck me as constitutingthe very beau ideal of a burying ground, --grave, yet not severe, --neat, yet free from every approach to gaudiness, --well kept, yet bearingabout it no impress of the hands that trimmed it, and in its situationand arrangements perfect. Here are no clumsy pillars, nor urns, norsarcophagi, no, nor even crosses. Flowers are utterly unknown, andgarlands tabooed. But the arrangement of the pollarded limes, whichboth surround and intersect the square, is, as it ought to be in such aplace, at once formal and appropriate, casting each of the gravel-walksinto a pleasant shade, while between them all lies open. With respect, again, to the graves, these are distinguished from the general level ofthe ground only by the small, flat, hewn stone, which is laid overeach, and they seem to be about four feet apart from one another. Iobserved that the Hernhuters seem, from the first formation of thecemetery, to have observed, in conducting their funerals, the sameregularity which appears to prevail in all their daily proceedings. Thefirst of their community who paid the debt of nature, --after theburying-ground was laid out, and the colony put upon its presentfooting, --lies under his stone, close to the angle which is formed bythe meeting of the central walk and that which passes along the side ofthe hedge next the entrance. In like manner, I observed that, far tothe rear of the two lines which enclose, as it were, the tombs of theZinzendorfs, there are blank spaces, which will doubtless be filled up, as the course of time sweeps away generation after generation fromtheir hopes and their fears, their anxieties, their pursuits, and theirfollies. 

On quitting the grave-yard, our guide, --an intelligent oldman, --conducted us towards a sort of observatory, from which, as itoccupies the summit of the hill, a fine view of the surrounding countryis to be obtained. The scene was altogether very pleasing; forcultivation is carried on everywhere to a great extent, and there is nolack either of ornamental wood, or human habitations, --while, far inthe distance, the mountains of Silesia and Bohemia are seen, forming anoble back-ground to the panorama. Nor was the effect of music, heardat a distance, as happened with us to be the case, out of keeping withthe character of the things around us. A band of strolling minstrelschanced to be wending their way through a village, in the bottom of thevale far beyond Hernhut, and the air which they were performing, borneback upon the light breeze, sounded very sweetly. In a word, our visitto the tombs of the Hernhuters, with all its accompaniments of sightand sound, affected us at the moment with feelings singularlydelightful, of which the recollection still abides by us, as Moorebeautifully describes the odour of the roses, lingering about thefragments of the broken vase, which once contained the rosesthemselves. 

After inserting our names, according to established usage, in a bookwhich is contained in the wooden tower of the observatory, we returnedto the inn, and offered our guide money. He would not accept agroschen, though he had too much good sense and good taste, to affectindignation at what he could not but perceive was not designed for aninsult. We prevailed upon him, however, to eat his luncheon with us, and found him both an intelligent companion, and willing to impart hisinformation freely. 

He told us, what future inquiries have since confirmed, that the Churchof Hernhut has branches in very many lands. At Berlin, there is anestablishment on a small scale, which is managed after the model ofthat in Silesia. London has also its little germ, somewhere, accordingto him, in the neighbourhood of Fulham; and in North America thesettlements are numerous. But all look to Hernhut as to thefountain-head of their church, and all receive from the synod there, periodical admonitions and instructions. 

So much for the more spiritual and intellectual portion of ourentertainment, --and now a word or two concerning that which wasneither. I must not forget to record, for the benefit of all truelovers of excellent beer and excellent bread, that they will not findbetter than at Hernhut in all Germany. The claret, which was also good, held, in our estimation, a very secondary place to the clear, brisk, pale ale, which the waiter poured out for us from certainelegantly-shaped, green glass bottles, and the bread we pronounced tobe beyond all praise. 

We quitted Hernhut about one o'clock, hoping, as the result proved, inthe face of physical impossibilities, to reach Schandau that night. Theidea was the more preposterous, that we knew perfectly well how far, bythe line of the main road, the one place is divided from the other; butbeing told of a footpath over hill and vale, and having examined uponthe map, the situations of the villages through which it led, we cameto the conclusion that we should be able to compress the usual fortyEnglish miles into half that number. We were entirely mistaken in thisrash inference; for, independently of the risks which we ran of losingthe way, --a misfortune which, it must be confessed, more than onceovertook us, --we ought to have recollected that even travellers on footcannot proceed with the precision of an arrow's flight; inasmuch asstanding corn is not to be trodden down, morasses must be avoided, andthrough woods and over mountains, paths are, for the most part, tortuous. Neither did it greatly surprise, however much it mortifiedus, to find, that on halting at a village in that part of Bohemia whichpushes itself deep into the heart of Saxony, between Seibnitz andHernhut, that we had accomplished scarcely one-fourth of ourpilgrimage; and that, with scarce four hours of daylight before us, itwas utterly hopeless to think of compassing the remainingthree-fourths. Having ascertained, therefore, that good quarters wereto be had at Schlukenau, a considerable town through which it would benecessary to pass, we made up our minds to halt there for the night;even though by doing so, we should leave ourselves twenty good miles towalk on the morrow. 

We dined in a village inn, the landlord of which was a jolly oldfellow; who, having an only daughter, married her to a bouerman in theplace, and now the three generations, --for there was a family by theunion, of course, --dwelt together very happily under the old man'sroof. I mention this trifling circumstance because it enables me togive the substance of certain statistical details which werecommunicated to me, in the course of our walk, by the son-in-law. Thislatter, a remarkably athletic fine-looking fellow, who volunteered togive us a convoy, and direct us the nearest way to Schlukenau, had seensomething of the world. He was in Strasburg in the year 1813, when acorps of English artillery manned the works, and he spoke in highadmiration of the appearance and perfect discipline of the men. Now, however, he cultivated with excellent skill a farm of eighty or anhundred acres, of which he was the proprietor; and while he led me overhis land, and pointed out with honest pride, the order in which it waskept, and the enormous crops which it produced, he very readilyanswered such questions as I put to him on the subject both of theBohemian system of agriculture and of the profits arising out of it. Wheat, as, indeed, my own previous observation had shown me, is notmuch cultivated in Bohemia. Here and there, where the soil isparticularly favourable for it, the seed is sown; but rye is the staplecommodity, with which, indeed, the fields were loaded. Out of rye, as Ineed scarcely mention, the Germans manufacture, not only the bread thatis commonly in use among them, but almost all their ardent spirits, ofwhich I have tasted very little, but which, whenever I did taste it, seemed to be execrable. Oats they likewise rear for their horses, aswell as barley for malting; but these grains bear no proportion, inpoint of abundance, to the rye crops. 

When the rye is removed, they sow the ground with clover; not, as withus, that they may feed it off, and so enrich the soil while theyextract something from it, but for the purpose of securing a supply ofdry fodder for their cattle, which, all the winter over, and throughouta considerable portion of the spring and summer, are kept in theirstalls. Then come potatoes, then a season of fallow; after which a goodcoat of manure, to be followed by rye again. Whenever flax is grown, and next to rye it is, both here and in Saxony, more cultivated thanany other grain, fallows are more frequent; for flax, as every childknows, drains the soil of all its nutritious qualities. 

The implements used in agricultural operations seem to be ruder, andfar more inefficient, than among us. The plough is precisely such aninstrument as I recollect to have seen represented in my Delphinedition of Virgil's _Georgics_ when I was at school; and it is drawnindifferently by horses, bullocks, or heifers. Bullocks and heifersare, however, more commonly used than horses, though it is no unusualsight to see a horse and a heifer yoked together. There is no boy todrive; but the ploughman, as in Scotland, at once holds the stilts ofthe plough, and with his voice, and a long halter, guides the cattle. With respect to the harrows, I saw little difference between them andour English implements, except that those in Germany are lighter, andnever have more than one horse or one bullock attached to them. 

The rest of their tools, such as forks, rakes, mattocks, spades, &c. , very much resemble our own; with this difference, in reference to thelast, that in Germany much less iron is wasted upon them than uponsimilar articles in England. The blade of a German spade, which, by theway, is pointed, or, rather, semicircular in form, is composed of woodto within a few inches of the edge, and there is no iron at all uponthe handle. 

I am not quite sure that I perfectly understood my intelligentcompanion, when we came to discuss the amount of crop raised from theland, and the prices fetched by the different kinds of grain in themarket. His method of computing these matters was so different from anyto which I had been accustomed, that I could only guess at a parallelbetween it and our English measures. Yet it struck me that he describedthe wheat lands as producing, on an average, between three and fourquarters; of which the price varied from twenty-one to twenty-fiveshillings of our money. Concerning the price of the rye I had lesscuriosity, though that seemed to repay the farmer quite as abundantlyas wheat; at least, my friend assured me that it would not answer hispurpose to substitute wheat for rye, even now, when wheat was more thanusually in demand, and therefore fetched a more than usually highprice. For it is worthy of remark that the failure of the crops inAmerica had affected the corn-market even in Bohemia; from which remotedistrict people were transmitting quantities of wheat to supply thenecessities of the squatters among the back woods of Kentucky. 

From the subject of agriculture we passed on to its kindred topics, grazing and planting; the latter of which naturally led to a discussionon fuel. I learned from him, that here, as elsewhere in the north andcentre of Germany, there is no such thing as grazing on a large scale. Such bouermen as happen to own a handful of sheep, send them in summer, under the charge of a lad, into the green lanes and roadsides, to feed;while in winter and spring they are, like the cattle, kept withindoors, and fed from stalls. The consequence is, that you scarcely evermeet with lambs as an article of food in Germany; for the flocks aretoo scanty to authorize the practice of putting the rising generationto death. So also in reference to dairy farms, these neither are, norcan be, on the scale to which we are accustomed in England. Hencecheese, besides being both dear and bad, is very scarce; and butter, except in the very height of summer, is detestable. 

The Germans, though exceedingly fond of their pleasure-gardens, are notskilful as horticulturists. Their fruits are poor, and they take littlepains to render them otherwise; but of their forests they are verycareful. This is the more necessary, because of their dependence uponthe woods for almost all the fuel which they consume; and which, whileit is not cheap anywhere, is here, in Bohemia and Silesia, among themost costly articles in use. A claughter of wood, sufficient for amonth's supply for a kitchen stove, costs in this corner of Bohemia, five dollars. The same quantity, in the very heart of the Saxonforests, --that is, at Schandau, in Saxon Switzerland, --costs fourdollars and four groschens. Nor would it be procurable even at thisprice, were not the proprietors of forest lands particularly zealous inprotecting their woods from injury, and in replanting such spaces asthe axe of the woodman may, from time to time, lay bare. I find, however, that here, as elsewhere, it becomes necessary, in the courseof time, to vary the plant, so as to suit the caprices of the soil. Inmany places I observed that young birch and ash trees were coming upfrom among the roots and stems of decayed or removed firs; and Ilearned, on inquiry, that they had been substituted for the originalstock, to which the earth had refused any longer to furnish adequatenutrition. 

I have as yet said nothing of the size and general appearance of thehorses, cattle, and sheep which, from time to time, crossed me. Of thefirst, I should say that the breed must be singularly mixed; for youmeet, here and there, tolerable specimens of the animal, to besucceeded immediately afterwards by the merest rips. Generallyspeaking, however, the draught horses seem to be good, --slow, doubtless, and alike defective in the shoulder and hind-quarters, butstrong, without being, like the Flemish breed, so heavy as to oppressthemselves. The riding horses, and especially those taken up for theservice of the cavalry, struck me as being, in proportion, farinferior. They are either all legs, which they do not seem to useeither with dexterity or elegance, or mere punches. In like manner, thecattle, to the eye of one accustomed to the sleek coats andwell-covered ribs of our Lincolnshire or Durham breeds, present a verysorry appearance. Each particular bone in each particular brute'scarcase sticks up in melancholy distinctness, and in point of size theanimals themselves are mere dwarfs. I have seen a man ploughing with acouple of heifers, positively neither taller nor stouter than a pair ofLincolnshire calves of three weeks old. 

From such materials it would be vain to expect that good beef can bemanufactured; indeed, the Germans have no notion of pamperingthemselves with good beef. Their system is, not to fatten the beast, and then kill him; but to work him as long as he is fit for work, andthen to kill him lest he should become an incumbrance. Neither cantheir sheep boast much of the symmetry of their proportions, or of thehigh flavour of their flesh when it comes to table. The wool, aseverybody knows, is, indeed, excellent; but the mutton is but sorryfood, at least to an Englishman. As I stated some time ago, however, the English traveller need not distress himself too much on thisaccount. He is very rarely troubled with the offer of mutton, inasmuchas calf's-flesh seems to be not only at hand all the year round, but tosupply the place of every other species of animal food. 

We parted from our civil bouerman about four o'clock, at the summit ofa hill, whence he was enabled to point out to us, both the direction ofthe ground on which Schlukenau stood, and the course of the path whichit would be necessary to follow in order to reach it. His instructionswere communicated with so much accuracy, that we never deviated an inchfrom the right way; and so came in about seven, to just such a town asour experience of other agricultural stadts and burghs had led us toexpect. At the Golden Stag we fixed our head quarters, --a large inn, and apparently well frequented, --where we spent the night, withouteither accident or adventure befalling of which I need pause to give anaccount. There is a schloss here, which, to our surprise, we learned, belongs, like the lordship of the manor, to the same graff who owns theland about Aderspach on the other side of the Riesengebirgen. I haveforgotten both his name and his title; but he must be a wealthynobleman, even for Austria; which, while it possesses many poor, canlikewise muster some of the richest noblemen in the world. 

We were not over-above delighted with Schlukenau; for the landlord hadabout him none of the politeness which we had invariably found in hisbrother craftsmen in Bohemia, and his domestics were all singularlyslow and stupid. We therefore quitted the place without regret, at sixo'clock next morning, and marched upon Schandau. Again we followed, both from choice and to shorten the distance, bye-paths, which carriedus through some glorious scenery, quite different in character, butscarcely less attractive, than any which we had passed in our tour. Forthe rocks and precipices of Saxon Switzerland were once more around us, and never had they appeared to us more wild or more sublime. Throughthese, under the influence of a bright sunny day, we trudged along, crossing hill and traversing dale, in the highest possible spirits, till having gained the main road not far from the village of Tseidler, we followed it, without swerving, into the quiet glen of Schandau. 

The tale of my pedestrian tour in the highlands of Bohemia, Silesia, and Saxony, is told. To the first of these countries I afterwardsdevoted a good deal more both of time and attention; but as my journeywas performed, not on foot, but in carriages, the opportunitiespresented to me of becoming intimately acquainted with the habits ofthought and fireside occupations of the people were necessarily lessabundant than I could have wished them to be. My reader must, therefore, be content, for the remainder of this excursion, to accept, in lieu of a diary, a general outline of the route which I followed;and to pause with me, from time to time, while I relate to him suchincidents as befel, or retail such fragments of information as Iconsidered it worth while to treasure up when acquired, and have sincejudged it expedient to commit to writing. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE DILIGENCE FROM DRESDEN TO TÖPLITZ. THE FIELD OF KULM. THE BATTLE, AND THE MONUMENTS THAT RECORD IT. 

There is a diligence, or eilwagen, which leaves Dresden for Praguetwice in every week. It passes along the Schandau road as far as Pirna;whence, making a turn to the right, it traverses the lower slopes ofthe Erzgebirge, and so conducts, by the mineral baths ofBerg-gieshubel, to Hollendorf, on the Saxon frontier. My youngcompanion and I, having made all necessary arrangements, took ourplaces in this vehicle on Wednesday, the 5th of July. We had previouslywandered over a good deal of the country through which it was to carryus, our report of all that we had encountered and seen having excited anatural desire in others to see it also. And in the interval betweenthe termination of one expedition and the commencement of another, thecarriage was accordingly put in requisition. Töplitz, and various otherpoints, replete with interest, were thus visited, --of which I have notyet spoken, because it would have been labour lost to describe themtwice. Yet the fact of beholding it now for the second time, had noinfluence in lessening the pleasure which we derived from the sceneryaround us. Without partaking in any degree of the character of amountain district, this mid-space between Saxony and Bohemia is highlypicturesque; for it is one continued succession of valleys, withwell-wooded hills enclosing them; and the bold summits of Liliensteinand Königstein are rarely out of sight. 

A Saxon eilwagen is a machine nowise deserving of reprobation. It is along, omnibus-looking affair, with a _coupé_ in front for the conducteur, and seated within so as to contain not fewer than sixteen persons; yetare the chairs all so arranged that you have a comfortable rest foryour back, while by keeping the numerous windows open, you suffer lessfrom heat than might be expected. The rate of travelling, too, is muchimproved from what it used to be. I really believe that on level groundwe compassed six miles an hour, and if we did creep as often as atrifling acclivity came in view, it must not be forgotten, that therewere but four horses to drag the ponderous load. With respect, again, to our fellow-passengers, they seemed to me to be made up of individualsfrom many lands. There was an Austrian colonel, on his way to join hisregiment in Prague; there was a Prussian merchant, --a traveller, likeourselves, for amusement's sake; there were a Saxon lawyer, a Moravianbanker, and last, though not least, as perfect a specimen of the tribeJohn Bull, as the eye of the naturalist need desire to behold. Ourworthy countryman understood not one syllable of German, and hisFrench was lame to a degree. But he bore about him a portly person, agood-humoured, rosy, and rather large countenance, and looked roundupon the company, amid which, after prodigious labour, he succeeded inestablishing himself, with an expression of indescribable condescension, which said, "I know that you are all a set of very poor devils, yet Iwill suffer you. " He was, as those of his kidney generally are, forever on the alert lest the Germans should cheat him; and grumbled andcomplained, and ate and drank, and proved to be, after all, akind-hearted and easy-tempered person. 

Between Hollendorf, where the Saxon custom-house is planted, andPeterswald, the frontier village of Bohemia, there is an interval ofperhaps an English mile in extent. Over that the Saxon diligencecarried us; and at the door of the Austrian custom-house, both we andour baggage were deposited. Here passports were examined, trunks andknapsacks opened, and the other formalities attendant on the admissionof strangers into a new country gone through, among which I observedthat the custom was not omitted, of feeing the revenue-officer intogood humour. Each passenger, as he presented his passport, to be viséedand approved, slid into the official's hand a piece of money; and I, asI consider it wise, in like cases, to do as is done by those about me, followed the example. The officer took the coin, smiled graciously uponme, affixed the stamp unhesitatingly to my credentials, and turned tosomebody else. I really could not quite explain to myself why this actof extravagance had been committed, but I am not aware that I evermissed the douceur; and I heartily wish the individual who received it, much enjoyment in its possession. 

We dined at Peterswald, on very good fare, which the landlady of thePost had provided for us; and had no reason to complain, as stage-coachtravellers in England sometimes do, that we were hurried in itsconsumption. One full hour was spent in discussing the meal, andanother in smoking after it. At length, however, intelligence wascommunicated, that the conducteur awaited us, and we descended to theroad, where a change had come over "the spirit of our dream. " Thesubstantial Saxon eilwagen stood still in its repose, for it was notdestined to proceed further; and in its room were provided three lessercarriages, into one of which, seated for four persons, I and my boystowed ourselves. The opposite places were soon taken by our countrymanand the Prussian, and away we went. 

Our journey, in the early part of this day, had lain over the field ofthe great battle of Dresden; we were now about to traverse the scene ofanother conflict scarcely less desperate, --the affair, as by the Frenchwriters it is designated, of Kulm. It would have been strange indeed, had I failed to look round with more than common interest whiletraversing these scenes of mighty strife. I endeavoured also to look atthem with a soldier's eye. I did my best to trace the positions of theseveral columns of attack and defence; and I think that I succeeded. Atall events, I am certain that never till I saw the ground, was I able, from the accounts given, whether by French or German writers, to formany correct idea either of the battles themselves, or of their results. Let me endeavour to supply to others the deficiency of which I havemyself experienced the pressure, by describing the localities, inconnexion with a brief narrative of the events which have immortalizedthem. 

The battle of Dresden, as well as the combats of Gross-Beeren, Katzbach, and Kulm were, as I need scarcely observe, the immediateconsequences of the termination of the armistice in August, 1813. Napoleon, weary of the war, had yielded to the demands of thePrussians, and, evacuating Breslau, and abandoning the line of theOder, had fallen back upon Liegnitz. He himself declared, that he madethese sacrifices, --for such they unquestionably were, --in the hopethat, out of the armistice, a treaty of peace would spring, and thereis no great cause to doubt that he spoke sincerely. What could he hopeto gain by a continuance of the struggle? France was exhausted in everypore; the best and ablest of her warriors were slain, such as survivedlonged for rest, and were ready to sacrifice even their national vanityin order to obtain it. On the other hand, the strength of the Alliesseemed to accumulate from day to day; and Austria assumed such anattitude as to render her neutrality less than doubtful. I think, then, that we may give Napoleon credit for having spoken the truth once inhis life, when he said, that he yielded much, by the evacuation ofSilesia, from an earnest desire for peace; but his desire was not to begratified. The Allies judged, and judged wisely, that a season ofrepose would, by him, be employed only to gather means for creatingfresh troubles, and they determined, --the counsels of Englandprevailing with them, --to wage war _à l'outrance_. 

On the 11th of August, the armistice came to an end. Its rightful termwas the 17th; but the current of events swept over it. Napoleon wasthen in Dresden, which he held as the key and pivot of his position, and to cover it, he had constructed a large and formidable entrenchedcamp along the bases of Lilienstein and Königstein. Of the situation ofthese two enormous rocks I have spoken elsewhere. They stand abouttwelve English miles from Dresden, like giant sentinels, that guard thedebouches of Bohemia and Silesia, while between them flows the Elbe, now passable only by a ferry, but by Napoleon's care, then bridgedover. Here a position was marked out for not less than sixty thousandmen, whence, as from a centre, it was competent for the French to passeither into Bohemia, where the Grand Army of the Allies seemedpreparing to assemble, or to Silesia and Lusatia. But it was not onthis side of the Saxon capital exclusively, that Napoleon fixed avigilant eye. His real line was the line of the Elbe, from Hamburg toDresden; his communications with France were kept open by Erfurth, andthrough the Thuringian forest; and he took care that all the approachesto Dresden should be so guarded, as that, while the city itselfcontinued secure from insult, the force in possession might have freeavenues through which to operate on any threatened point in thisenormous circle. "Dresde, " said he, "est le pivot, sur lequel je veuxmanoeuvrer pour faire face à toutes les attaques. Depuis Berlinjusqu'à Prague, l'ennemi se develope sur en circonference dont j'occupéle centre; les moindre communications s'allangent pour lui sur lescontours qu'elles devrient suivre; et pour moi quelques marchessuffisent pour me porter partout ou ma presence et mes reserves sonnecessaires. Mais il faut que sur les points ou je ne serai pas, meslieutenants sechent m'attendre sans rien commettre au hazard. " It wasmainly because they neglected to keep this latter injunction in view, that the reverses which deranged all his magnificent plans occurred. 

Napoleon had formed, during the cessation of hostilities, a new_corps-d'armée_, which he put under the command of General Vandamme, and brought up from the mouth of the Elbe. It numbered, in all, aboutfive-and-twenty thousand men, and had instructions to support GeneralSt. Cyr, who with fifteen thousand, was to occupy the fortifiedpositions near Dresden. Meanwhile, the Duke de Reggio, from his camp atDahme, was to march upon Berlin with five-and-thirty thousand men ofall arms; the Prince of Eckmuhl, from Bagedorf, was to co-operate withhim; while General Lemon, the governor of Magdeburg, was to keep openthe communication between them with a corps of six thousand men. Thesemovements were designed to accomplish a two-fold object. First, theywere to find for the Prussians work enough at home; and to putNapoleon, if possible, in possession of the Prussian capital. Secondly, advantage might be taken of the distraction thereby caused in thecounsels of the Allies, while Napoleon, in person, with the Guards, and the mass of his army, threw himself upon the Austrians. ForNapoleon, --the armistice being virtually at an end, --became impatientof inactivity, and hoped, while retaining Dresden, and looking to itthroughout as his pivot during the campaign, to find time, ere theAllies should have perfected their arrangements, to strike a blow bothagainst Berlin and in Bohemia. 

Napoleon had calculated less than he ought to have done on the activityof Blucher and of the Russians. The former, instead of waiting to beattacked, took the initiative in Silesia, and drove the French, withgreat loss, behind the Bober. 

Some time previously, --so early, indeed, as the 10th, --several largemasses of Russians and Prussians had entered Bohemia; and on the 13th, the junction with the Austrians, which it was one of Napoleon's objectsto prevent, had been accomplished. Meanwhile, he himself, beingignorant of this fact, set out on the 15th, for the bridge atKönigstein, whence he pursued his march by Bautzen and Richenbach toGörlitz. He reached it on the 18th, and being met there by M. DeVienne, his plenipotentiary from Prague, he had the fact communicatedto him of the formal adhesion of Austria to the Grand Alliance. Thoughhe heard, at the same time, of the reverses in Silesia, he instantlychose his part. He faced round towards Bohemia, penetrated the defilesof the mountains, spread himself over the valleys behind Gabel andRombourg, and learned at the former of these places, that he was toolate. The Grand Army of the Allies was already among the hills thatborder upon Saxony; and to the number of one hundred and fifty thousandmen, threatened Dresden with an attack. 

Napoleon seems always to have calculated much on the immoveability ofthe enemies that opposed him. Though he knew that Schwartzenberg waswithin two days' march of Dresden, he flattered himself that he mightstill have time to strike at Blucher; and turning on his heel, he flewback to Zittau, and from thence passed without a halt to Görlitz andLuban. In a moment, the aspect of affairs was changed. Two days'fighting served to convince the Prussians that a new spirit reignedamong the troops that opposed them; and on the 23rd, the French eagleswere again advanced as far as Katzbach. Here pressing instances fromDresden reached him, of the imminent danger that threatened the city, and of the total inadequacy of St. Cyr's corps to resist it; and seeingthat Blucher was in full retreat, he resolved to return on his steps. Marshal Macdonald was left with seventy or eighty thousand men to keepthe Prussian general in check; while with the remainder Napoleon tookthe road to Bautzen. 

It was on the 24th, at an early hour, that he reached this latter town, where letters from St. Cyr were again handed to him, each more urgentfor support than the other. The Allies, it seems, had carried thepasses of the Erzgebirge; their columns were descending into the plainon all sides, --while the French, unable to maintain themselves in thefield, were sheltered behind the outer defences of the city. Even thisassurance could not, however, determine the emperor all at once toabandon a project which he had in view. He wished to throw himself onSchwartzenberg's rear; and provided he were assured that Dresden couldbe held till the 28th, he counted on being able to effect the movement. Accordingly, Vandamme with his corps was ordered to push from Stolpenfor the bridge at Lilienstein; to pass the Elbe there, to seize theheights of Peterswald, and keep them till Napoleon should arrive, --anevent which, unless evil tidings came from Dresden, would surely befallwithin eight-and-forty hours. But evil tidings did come. At Stolpen, whither he had marched on the 25th, General Gourgaud overtook him toentreat, if he desired Dresden to be saved, that he would return; andGeneral Haxo, the engineer, whom he sent back to examine the state ofthe defences, was the bearer of a similar communication. Napoleon wassorely vexed; but Dresden it was essential that he should retain. 

General Haxo was sent instantly to Vandamme with his finalinstructions. They amounted to this, that he should keep the passesinto Bohemia at all hazards, and win for himself a marshal's baton. This done, Napoleon marched upon Dresden, and on the 26th, entered itat the head of his cavalry. The infantry followed fast; and the capitalof Saxony, which had already sustained insult from the shot and shellsof the Allies, and was threatened with an immediate assault, becamesafe. Napoleon made his dispositions with equal promptitude andsecresy. He stationed his several divisions in the streets, so as toconceal their numbers, while at the same time, each fronted a gate, orgave support to a point that was threatened; and then calmly awaitedthe attack of the enemy, which was not slow in developing itself. 

Schwartzenberg had conducted his advance with an excess of caution. Hisprodigious army was collected on the 13th, yet it was the 23rd ere heforced the passes of the hills, and now only on the 26th he made hisfinal dispositions for the attack of Dresden. Of the local situation ofthat city I have said enough to give my readers some notion of thearena on which this great battle was fought. Standing astride upon theElbe, the capital of Saxony occupies the centre of an enormous plain, the hills that surround which approach, in no instance, within threeEnglish miles of the glacis, and in addition to its ancientfortifications, it was, at the period at which I now speak, girdled inon all hands by redoubts and field-works. Of that outer line theremains are yet to be seen by every traveller who follows the directroad to Pirna. They run from the Grosse Garten, which they include, allthe way to the Elbe. On the other flanks of the city, from the GrosseGarten to the Elbe again, they are almost entirely effaced. But on the26th of August 1813, they were at least respectable; and in the partialcombats which had taken place over-night, though some had fallen, therest were stoutly maintained. It was to be determined, that day, howfar they were or were not impregnable. 

The field of battle ranged from the Elbe, on the right of the Alliedcolumns, to Plouen on the left. The points of attack were the gates ofPilnitz, Pirna, Dohna, Dippoldiswald, Blender, or Plouen, and Freiberg. It was about four in the afternoon when the discharge of their cannonfrom the heights of Recknitz, where the head-quarters of the Allies hadfixed themselves, gave notice that the various columns were in motion. Nearly one hundred and fifty thousand men, moving forward at therecognised signal, presented to the eyes of the inhabitants a mostimposing spectacle, while at the same time, a continued line ofbatteries, all the way from Recknitz to Plouen, opened their fire. Shells and cannon-balls fell like hail in the suburbs, and the carnagewas as indiscriminating as it was terrible. 

There had not yet been time for more than the half of Napoleon's armyto come up. He had scarce seventy thousand men disposable; but hisposition was a very favourable one, and he ably took advantage of it. The guns from the advanced redoubts replied to the enemies' cannonadewith little effect, and the Allies swept onwards without a check. Theyhad raised their cry, "To Paris! To Paris!" and were already within afew yards of the Plouen gate, when the word was passed to the divisionof the Young Guard, which lay behind it, and they sprang to their feet. The sortie is described by those who witnessed it, to have beenterrifically fine. Out dashed these warriors, inured to victory, andbearing down all opposition, rolled back the head of the advancingcolumns, as a river is rolled back by the tide when it meets it. Therewas a fearful slaughter on both sides. The cannon from the city wallsplunged into the rear of the wavering column. The infantry mowed downits front; the detached redoubts which it had passed, as if despisingthem, took its whole extent in reverse. There was neither time norspace to deploy, and the attack was repulsed. 

The same, or nearly the same results, had attended the attempts of theAllies on the other gates. They were everywhere defeated, their defeatbeing occasioned not less, perhaps, by surprise at finding Napoleonhimself in their front, than by the impetuosity of the French attacks. They retreated in great confusion, the Russians to Blazewitz, thePrussians over the plain, the Hungarian grenadiers under Colloredo toRecknitz, and the Austrians to the defiles of Plouen. There they couldnot be followed up, because night was already closing, and of theFrench army a large portion were yet at a distance. One success more, however, attended Napoleon's arms ere he slept; the Austrians, rallyinga corps in the dark, made a dash, with great gallantry, at the gate ofPlouen; but they were repulsed. And then, one party in the open fields, the other among the lanes and streets of the city, the jaded andharassed armies lay down to sleep. 

It was a night of terrible storm. The rain came down in such torrentsas to reduce the whole plain to the consistency of a morass, and therivers rose to a degree such as had hardly occurred before within solimited a space of time. Yet was Napoleon busy till long past midnight, in giving directions for the morrow. He saw by their line of fires thatthe Allies had resumed the wide semicircle which they occupied previousto the attack, and he fixed his plans accordingly. The whole of thecavalry, with the exception of that of the Guard, which had previouslyacted on the level from the Pilnitz gate, was drawn through the city, and placed in position under Murat, in the suburb of Frederick-stadt. It was to push, at early dawn, along the Freiberg road, and cut off theretreat of the Allies in that direction. Meanwhile Victor, with hisinfantry corps, was to debouch from the Freiberg barriers, and attackin front the Austrian line, which Murat was directed to turn. In thecentre, between the gates of Dippoldiswald and Dohna, Marmont was tooccupy the attention of the force which had fallen back upon theheights of Recknitz. St. Cyr, in prolongation of the line, was tooperate from the Grosse Garten; while Ney and the Duke of Treviso, withfour divisions of the Young Guard, were from the Pirna road to engagethe enemy's right, and to give time to General Nansouty, with hiscavalry corps, to effect the same manoeuvre on this flank which Murathad received instructions to accomplish on the other. Thus was itcalculated that the Allies driven in, column upon column, and shut outfrom two of their four lines of retreat, would suffer terrible loss, and an opportunity be afforded to Vandamme of completing theirdestruction. 

The morning of the 27th came in with a continuance of rain, almost asheavy as that which had fallen during the night; yet the battle was notdeferred. Murat, on the one side, and Nansouty on the other, begantheir respective marches at peep of dawn; and being well masked, andsupported by the attacks of the infantry, they made rapid progress. This is the more to be wondered at, on the part of the former officer, that a _corps d'armée_ under General Klenau, which had failed to reachits ground in time, was now in full advance, and its leading divisionsshowed themselves at Gorbitz as early as seven in the morning. Had theAllies held their own ground, leaving it to him to close up or fallback, as occasion might require, they would have probably fared betterthan they did. As it was, they extended their front, from above Plouen, across the valley of Tharandt, and, endeavouring to stretch out theirhand to Klenau, gave Murat the opportunity to pierce them. 

The battle of Dresden was, along the centre of the line, little elsethan a furious cannonade. The French had nothing to gain by renderingit more close, and the Allies seemed indisposed to assume theoffensive. It was a ball from one of the batteries, which replied at adisadvantage to those of the Allies above Recknitz, which mortallywounded Moreau. His fate has been recorded by so many pens, that I neednot employ mine to swell the list, and himself either lauded orcensured, according as the prejudices of the writers leaned to the sideof Napoleon or the Allies. Let his merits have been what they might, ina moral point of view, nobody can refuse to him the renown of an ableofficer; and to the esteem in which the Emperor of Russia held him, thestone which marks the spot where he fell, bears witness. It is a simpleblock of freestone, and bears this inscription, "Moreau, the warrior, fell here, beside his friend Alexander. " But on both flanks moreimportant operations went forward. The French carried every thingbefore them. From Cotta, which he had won, Murat turned upon theadvanced guard of Klenau's corps, and destroyed it. He then pressedforward, bearing down all opposition, and making prisoners of wholebattalions, whose muskets had become so saturated, that they could notbe discharged. In like manner, St. Cyr pushed back the Prussians onGruna, while Marmont and Nansouty drove the Russians from position toposition, and cleared the plain. Both flanks, in short, were turned;and the troops composing them driven in upon the centre, and cut offfrom their proper lines of retreat. But the French were too muchenfeebled to pursue the advantages which they had gained with theiraccustomed spirit. About three in the afternoon the cannonade grewslack; the Allies showed only a strong rear-guard, and Napoleonreturned to the city, saying to those around him, "I am greatlydeceived if we shall not hear news of Vandamme. It is his movementwhich has constrained the enemy to retreat thus abruptly. "

The 28th was a day of continued and broken retreat on the part of theAllies; of movements more tardy than, perhaps, they ought to have been, on the part of the French. A great deal of baggage, almost all thewounded, and many prisoners, were abandoned by the fugitives; yet, inmost cases, they won the defiles in tolerable order, and were safe. Colloredo, covered by a strong rear-guard, threaded the pass ofDippoldiswald, and had Töplitz, the point of reunion, in view. The restmade their escape likewise, though with more of confusion; and, in onestriking instance, they would not have succeeded at all, had notVandamme been enticed into the grievous error of leaving the heights ofPeterswald unguarded. It was this blunder of his, which caused thedisaster at Kulm; and in order to make clear the brief account which Iam going to give of that battle, it will be necessary to revert to myown movements, so that the ground may be described as by aneye-witness. 

The village of Peterswald lies at the northern base of a range ofheights, which, circling round, place Töplitz in the centre of a hugeamphitheatre. On this side the ascent is gradual, and the face of thehill open and cultivated. In a military point of view, therefore, theposition is admirable; it forms a perfect glacis. As you wind your wayupwards, moreover, the view becomes, at every step, more and moreinteresting, till having gained the ridge, --where a windmill isbuilt, --it is glorious in the extreme. You look down upon a valley, ofwhich it is scarcely too much to say, that the eye of man has neverbeheld anything more perfect. Deep, deep, it lies, enclosed on everyside by mountains, which, sloping away one from another, resemble somany prodigious cones, and open out to you the gorges of countlessglens; each, as it would appear, more exquisitely beautiful thananother. The vale of Töplitz itself may measure, perhaps, where it iswidest, some six or eight English miles across; where it is least wide, the interval between the mountains is scarcely one mile. But it is inall directions fertile and luxuriant in the extreme. Waving woods, richcornfields, vineyards, meadows, and groves, are there; with towns, andvillages, and castles, and hamlets, scattered through them, even as thehand of the painter would desire to arrange them. Nor is the runningstream, that most indispensable of all features in a landscape ofperfect beauty, wanting. The Pala rolls his waters through the valley;and if he be inconsiderable in point of size, yet is he limpid andclear; with width enough to catch the sun's rays, from time to time, asthey fall, and throw them back almost brighter in the reflection thanin the reality. Altogether it is as striking a panorama as any which, even in Bohemia, one will easily find. 

Vandamme had received orders to pass the Elbe between Lilienstein andKönigstein; and pushing back whatever corps the Allies might have leftat Pirna, to establish himself on the summit of this ridge. He obeyedthese instructions so well, that, in spite of the gallant resistance ofPrince Eugene of Wurtemberg, he carried his point. The heights ofPeterswald were in his possession on the 28th; it would have been wellfor his master had he attempted nothing further. Vandamme, however, wasambitious of earning the marshal's baton by something more than mereobedience to an order received. He saw that Töplitz was uncovered, andknowing that the possession of that place would render him master ofall the passes that diverge from it, he resolved, on the 29th, to makethe essay. He descended from his mountain throne, and penetrated asfar as Kulm. 

The hill, which, with a portion only of his force, Vandamme hadabandoned, is, on that side which looks down into the vale of Töplitz, steep, well nigh to perpendicular. Huge forests clothe its rugged face;out of which bold rocks protrude; indeed, such is the nature of thecountry, that the road is carried backwards and forwards almost in azig-zag, in order to render it accessible. This mountain, in a militarypoint of view, all but impassable, Vandamme placed behind him; leaving, however, a strong division to guard it, and nothing doubting of his ownsuccess. But he had miscalculated the time which was at his disposal. Six and twenty hours would have sufficed, --six were quite inadequate, and he found them so. He pushed on, however, to Kulm. It is a neatvillage, with a modern schloss beside it; and a church, which crowns alow green hill, in its centre. There are some extensive plantationsnear; the Pala flows among them; and between it and the mountains onthe right, there is a space of less than two miles. He gained it almostwithout firing a shot, for the force in Töplitz was quiteinconsiderable, and his arrival occasioned such panic in that, thehead-quarters of the confederation, that kings, and emperors, andprincesses, dispersed in all directions. One half league, indeed, wasall that divided his patrols from their prize, when a seriousresistance began. General Ostermann, with six thousand of the RussianImperial Guard, received orders to stop the French at all hazards. Hethrew himself across the road, drove back their advanced guard, andheld his ground so tenaciously, that nothing could move him. Ostermannhimself lost an arm; the élite of the Russian guard died where theyfought; but Töplitz was saved, and the certain ruin which its capturewould have brought upon the Allied cause was averted. 

When a fierce battle once begins, there is no calculating in whatresults it may terminate. Vandamme became irritated by the resistancewhich was made to him; and, still hoping to bear it down, sentcontinually for reinforcements. The heights of Peterswald were, inconsequence, gradually denuded of guards, and at last not so much as apicquet remained to observe what might approach them. The fresh columnswere numerous and brave, but they arrived too late at the scene ofaction. Already were the leading battalions of Barclay de Tolly's corpsin the field, and brigade after brigade followed them. Then, indeed, Vandamme began to perceive that he would have acted more judiciouslyhad he adhered strictly to Napoleon's orders. But not being aware ofall the difficulties of his position, he did not like to abandon it;and merely changed his ground so as to embrace Kulm in his line, andthere awaited on the morrow a renewal of the contest. 

Vandamme committed a very grievous error in this. The night was at hisown disposal, and he ought to have availed himself of it to recover theheights of Peterswald. His pride took the alarm; and, trusting that theAllies, defeated before Dresden, would be utterly disorganised, andthat their pursuers would arrive close upon their heels, let themappear in what quarter they might, he made up his mind to give battleagain on the 30th. The dawn of that day showed him that his enemies hadbeen more prudent than he. Not his front only, but both flanks werethreatened; that is to say, the Allies, gathering additional strengthfrom hour to hour, had completely overlapped his right; while his left, closed in by the mountains, was at once supported, and rendered, forany movement in retreat, completely useless. The Allies came on withgreat courage, somewhere about eighty thousand men being in their line;and till two o'clock the battle raged with indescribable fury. But theodds were irresistable. Vandamme began, in the presence of the victor, a retrogressive movement, which ought to have been accomplished undershadow of the darkness. It was made to no purpose. To the horror andamazement of the French, to the surprise and joy of the Allies, Kleist's corps of Prussians showed themselves on the heights; and, descending by the only road which Vandamme had counted upon as open, placed him entirely in a _cul de sac_. The French were utterlyconfounded. They lost all order, all confidence, both in themselves andtheir leaders; and, rushing furiously up the ascent, endeavoured tobreak through. Moreover, so completely unlooked-for, on the side of thePrussians, was the situation in which they found themselves, that atfirst they did not well know how to act. Five hundred French cavalrybroke in upon a division of the landwehr; sabred many of the infantry, and, for a moment, gained possession of the guns. But it was only for amoment. The Prussians recovered from their surprise; and never wasdefeat more absolute than that which Vandamme's luckless corpssustained. Many prisoners were taken, including the general-in-chief. All the artillery, ammunition cars, and standards, fell into the handsof the Allies, and the remnant of the men that did escape made theirway, one by one, and destitute even of their arms, through the forest, where tract there was none. 

Such is a true detail of the leading events in the battle of Kulm; avictory of which the Austrians, with great justice, make much; whichthey, the Russians, and Prussians, have equally commemorated bymonuments erected on the spot, but for which the imprudence of theFrench commander is at least as much to be thanked as the sagacity ofColloredo, or the daring of Kleist. It was, with one exception, --thenoble resistance of the Russian Guard under Ostermann, --a gross blunderon both sides; it might in its results have been fatal to either, though it ended in the discomfiture of the French. For the Allies, whohad been on the very eve of falling out among themselves, were, inconsequence of the success at Kulm, reunited; and the tide of victory, which had flowed so fiercely against them a few days previously, turnedonce more in their favour. Of its course, however, I have, in thisplace, no business to speak. Let me, therefore, return to myself and myown proceedings. 

I had stood before this upon the ridge of the hill, and looked forthover the battle field below. I had quitted my own carriage, and walkeddown; as I quitted now the diligence for the same purpose, and heldconverse with a stone-breaker by the wayside, whose cross, marked withthe titles of many battles, told that, among others, he had borne hispart in the fight of Kulm. He described to me the confusion, both ofthe French and Prussian corps, as something of which I could form noconception. Both sides lost even the semblance of order, and throughthe deep forest, and over the slope of the defile, there was oneceaseless combat of man to man. The quantity of dead, likewise, thatcovered the hill-side, was prodigious; indeed, it took the countrypeople, who were pressed for the occasion, two whole days to bury them. How changed was the scene now! The outward forms of nature, doubtless, retained their identity; but wood, and ravine, and defile, and sweepinglevel, all lay under me, as quiet and as peaceful as if the sounds ofwar had never been heard among them. I was enchanted with my walk downthe steep. 

The village of Kulm suffered, of course, terribly during the melée. Thechurch had been burned to the ground, as well as the schloss; and ofthe cottages and vineyards almost all had been beaten to pieces. Therewere now church, schloss, cottages, and vineyards all blooming andfresh, as if no such calamity had ever overtaken them. The inhabitants, too, unmindful as men ever are of evils that have befallen to others, and even to themselves, long ago, delight in nothing so much as inreplying to the questions which curious travellers, like myself, maychance to put to them. But the cicerone _ex officio_, to whomreferences are invariably made, is a fine old Austrian invalid, towhose care the charge of the monuments is intrusted. The old fellow isnot, I must confess, very intelligent; but he displays his orders withmanifest and most commendable pride, and assures you that GeneralColloredo, who that day received his mortal wound, was the best soldierin the emperor's service. Of the monuments themselves I need say nomore than that they occupy a space where the roads from Tetschen andDresden meet; in which, as it appears, the fighting was very desperate, and where Colloredo fell. That erected by the Austrians is much moremassive than its rival; and professes to commemorate rather the meritsof the commander than the valour of the troops. The Prussian is asmall, but singularly neat obelisk, and bears this inscription, "Agrateful king and country honour the heroes who fell. " There is a thirdin progress, of which the Emperor of Russia is the founder; but it isnot yet completed. It ought to be the most magnificent of the whole;for assuredly the success of the day was owing more to the stubbornhardihood of the Russian Guards, than to any efforts either ofAustrians or Prussians. 

From Kulm to Töplitz you pass through a lovely valley, with mountains, as I have already described them, on either side of you. Along thebases of those to the right, lie several picturesque villages, with amodern schloss here and there, and here and there a ruin. Among others, the remains of the castle of Dux, one of Wallenstein's numerousmansions, is especially remarkable. By-and-by, as you approach thetown, you see on your left the dilapidated towers of Dobrawska Hora, anextensive pile, built, as we were told, early in the thirteenthcentury, and owned and inhabited, in 1616, by Count Kinsky, Wallenstein's brother-in-law. And last of all, you enter the townitself; of which I shall speak as I found it on a previous visit; when, instead of hurrying on as we did now, after a single night's rest, wespent some pleasant days at one of the best and cheapest of Germaninns, the Hotel de Londres. 

CHAPTER X. 

TÖPLITZ. ITS GAIETIES. JOURNEY RESUMED. FIRST VIEW OF PRAGUE. GENERALCHARACTER OF THE CITY. THE HRADSCHIN. CATHEDRAL. UNIVERSITY. HISTORICALDETAILS CONNECTED WITH IT. THE REFORMATION IN BOHEMIA. 

The German Spas, or watering-places, especially those of the firstrank, seem to me to offer the best opportunities which a stranger candesire for the study of the German character, as, in its most unguardedmoments, it presents itself to notice. Whatever a man's rank or stationmay be, he seems, from the hour of his entrance into one of theseregions of joy, to lay aside, at least, all belonging to it, whichelsewhere may trammel or incommode him. Princes, nobles, citizens, officers of every class, natives, foreigners, soldiers, civilians, anddiplomatists, seem to be brought hither by one impulse only, --that is, by the pursuit of amusement. Business may be, and I doubt not is, carried on elsewhere than in the shops, but when or how people findtime to attend to it, may well puzzle all save the initiated. I saynothing of the necessity under which every human being appears to belaid, of taking the baths as often as an opportunity may offer; for thebath is to a German what his medicine chest is to an Englishman, --somethingwithout which he could never exist throughout the year. But the roundof amusements which is perpetually going on, the promenade early in themorning, the ride in the forenoon, the dinner at one o'clock, the musicand lounge afterwards, then the theatre or ball, and last of all, thesupper, these are the events in Töplitz for which alone persons ofevery condition seem to live. It is really a most animating spectaclefor a few days, and then--to me at least--it becomes irksome in theextreme. 

With the solitary exception, perhaps, of Carlsbad, Töplitz takes rankas at once the most fashionable and best ordered watering-place in allGermany. It is the favourite resort of the King of Prussia, who, without designing to lead a host of fine people in his train, is, as hedeserves to be, a centre of attraction. Singularly unassuming in allhis habits, he is to be seen passing to and fro, sometimes on foot, without any attendant whatever, sometimes in a carriage, so plain, thatit might almost pass for a fiacre, or common hackney-coach. It cannotbe said that, in these respects, the nobility of Russia, Austria, andthe German principalities in general, follow his example. The Germansdo not, indeed, affix the same importance to splendid equipages andfine horses which we find attached to them by the aristocrats of Italyand Hungary; but they relish these things, to a certain extent, too;and at Töplitz, --and to say the truth, at the Spas in general, --theytake care that their best displays shall be made. The roads out ofTöplitz, in all directions, are, at the fashionable hours, well filledwith gaily-dressed parties, both in carriages and on horseback. 

Of Töplitz itself I may truly say, that I have never seen awatering-place more perfectly attractive in every sense of the word. The town is not large; its population falls short, I believe, of threethousand, and the houses are in proportion; but there is about it anair of cleanliness and civility which is peculiarly gratifying, especially in Germany, where, sooth to say, the latter quality is notalways prominently conspicuous. Approaching it, as we did, from theside of Dresden, you drive through a species of suburb, --that is, alonga road lined on either side by neat mansions, slightly detached fromone another, and are carried first into a street, wide, and clean, andspacious, and then into the Platz, or square, which forms a constituentand important part of every German town, be its dimensions what theymay. From the square again, which has a considerable declinationtowards the north, you pass into another street, where all theprincipal hotels are congregated, and at the extremity of which is thechief attraction of the place, Prince Clari's palace, with its nobleand delicious gardens. These latter come as near to perfection in thepeculiar school to which they belong, as any thing of the sort which inany part of the world I have visited. They are laid out in longumbrageous walks, in exquisitely kept lawns, in bowers, alcoves, and alake at once extensive and well managed; and are, with characteristicliberality, thrown open to the public at all hours, both of night andday. Nay, nor is this all. Bands of music play here and there amid itsalcoves; there is a sort of coffee-house or restaurateur within thegates; and the theatre may almost be said to form part of theestablishment, so close is it planted to the prince's residence. Thereis exceeding kindliness of heart shown in all this, of which it is noteasy for us, the creatures of a different education, to estimate arightthe value. We should be bored beyond expression were our parks andpleasure-grounds thronged from dawn till dusk by kings, princes, nobles, citizens, and peasants. To the Prince Clari, the consciousnessthat it affords the means of innocent recreation to hisfellow-creatures seems to be the chief enjoyment which he derives fromthe possession of this lordly residence. 

I am not going to describe either the baths themselves, or the customswhich prevail in making use of them. Enough is done when I state that, in addition to the public establishments, where the humbler classestake the waters gratuitously, there are somewhere about ninety privatebathing houses in the place, the demand for which, during the height ofthe season, is such that you must bespeak your turn at least a day ortwo beforehand, and adhere to the appointed minute religiously. Fornobody is allowed to remain in the bathing-room more thanthree-quarters of an hour at a time, one quarter out of the four beingclaimed as necessary to clean out and prepare the apartment for thenext visiter. The waters, I need scarcely add, belong to the class ofalkalo-saline, and take their rise among the Erzgebirge, or OreMountains, hard by. They are extremely hot, and are regarded asespecially useful in all cases of rheumatic or gouty affections. It isworthy of remark, that the Austrian medical officers send thevaletudinary among the soldiers to these baths from a very greatdistance. When I was there, I saw detachments belonging to almost allthe regiments which occupy quarters in Bohemia; and I was given tounderstand that they had come thither as invalids, and would, whencured, return to their respective stations. 

The Germans, though not famous for their hospitality, are proverbiallya gregarious people; and at Töplitz, and indeed at all thewatering-places, they appear to live in public. There are tables-d'hôteat all the principal hotels, where, both at dinner and supper, thecompany meet on terms of the most easy familiarity. To enhance thepleasure of the feast, moreover, Bohemian minstrels, --not unfrequentlywomen, --come and sit down in the Saal while you are eating, and singand play with equal taste and harmony. While this is going on within, dense crowds collect about the doors and windows in the street, withwhose proximity, --as the genuine love of music attracts them, and theyare as orderly and well-behaved as the most fastidious coulddesire, --no human being is, or can be, annoyed. By-and-by, the mealcomes to a close, and then the guests either sally forth to enjoy thefresh air in the Prince of Clari's garden, or sit down on benches alongthe trottoir, and smoke their pipes as contentedly and joyously as ifthey were a thousand miles removed from an Englishman's horror, --thepublic eye. I dare say there might be some tincture of prejudice aboutme, but I confess that I regretted to see the clergy fall in so freelywith this latter custom. A priest smoking his pipe on a form, in apublic street, beside the window of an inn, did not appear to me to bequite in his legitimate position. 

I did not find that there were any public gaming-houses in Töplitz;though it was whispered that the practice of gaming was not unknown inprivate circles. It may be so; though I am bound to say that I couldperceive no evidences of it. In like manner, a thousand tales were toldof other matters which went forward sedulously, of which it is notworth while to take notice. But the general impression left upon mymind by a few days' sojourn in the town was, that it had all the charmsabout it which we expect to find in fashionable watering-places, andthat he who could not make himself happy there for a season, must laythe blame, not upon the scene of other people's enjoyments, but on hisown temper or prejudices. Neither did I relish it the less from findingthat it was very little frequented by my countrymen. There had been butone English family there before we arrived, and they, I am happy tosay, left an excellent name behind them. 

The country between Töplitz and Prague, after you have passed over theheights of Wachholderberg is not, in a picturesque point of view, veryinteresting. The chateau of Krzemusch, with its fine garden, and theTeufelsmauer, a basaltic precipice hard by, are indeed worth theexpenditure of an hour or two to visit, while the situation of Bilin, in the valley of Bila, is beautiful. But you soon escape from themountains, and then, for many miles, the eye finds little on which itneed pine to linger, more attractive, at least, than a wide extent ofcultivation. The principal towns through which you pass are Laun andSchlan, neither of them large or very prosperous; the rest are merevillages. By degrees, however, as you come within what may be describedas the vortex of Prague, a great change is perceptible. The countrybecomes much more broken and undulating, while here and there, from thesummit of a hill, elevated above the rest, the view which you commandis both striking and extensive. At last, the White Mountain, as it iscalled, lies before you, and by an easy and almost imperceptibleascent, you arrive at its crest. There it will, indeed, be worth yourwhile to pause; for a finer scene of its kind you will rarely look downupon in any country of the world. 

Along the shores of the broad Moldau, and climbing, as it were, thesteep hills which girdle it in, Prague lies at your feet. The river, flowing on with a clear and gentle current, seems to have cut it intwain. Yet are the characters of these divisions more completely inunison than in almost any other instance of a city so dealt with whichI remember to have seen. A thousand towers, spires, minarets, anddomes, shed over the whole an air of magnificence which in some sortpartakes of the oriental. There are hanging-gardens, too, and a noblebridge; there are large and exquisitely wooded islands in the Moldau;there is the Alt Stadt on the further bank, with its Thein Kirche, orTyne Church, celebrated in story, and its venerable Town Hall; there isthe Kleinseite nearer at hand, where streets and squares, crowded withthe residences of the nobles, rise one above another, till theyterminate in the Old Palace, and the unfinished cathedral of St. Vitus;there is the Neu Stadt, the handiwork of the Emperor Charles IV. , covering a prodigious extent of ground, and enriched with the convents, hospitals, and other public buildings, which owe their existence to theliberality of the Jesuits. There are these, with a background of low, yet picturesque hills, surmounted here and there by some blackenedruin, or other monument of times gone by, which make up altogether oneof the most striking inland panoramas on which I have any where had thegood fortune to gaze. We stopped our carriage some minutes in order toenjoy it; and then pushed forward. At every step which we took inadvance, objects of a varying but not a lessened interest, met us. Nowwe passed a monastery, an extensive pile, but evidently of modernconstruction; now a convent of English nuns was pointed out to us. By-and-by the road sank down into a sort of ravine, which shut out allview except of the fortifications that enclose the city, and block upthe extremity of the defile. Then began signs of active and busy lifeto accumulate round us. Countrymen, with their wains, were met orovertaken; bodies of cavalry, in their stable dresses, were exercisingtheir horses on the level; here and there an officer in uniform rodepast us; and carriages, in which sat some of Bohemia's fairest andnoblest daughters, swept by. Next came the barrier, the demand forpassports, the drawbridge, over which our wheels rolled heavily; theexercising ground for the artillery, where a strong brigade of guns wasmanoeuvring; a momentary glimpse of the convent of St. Lawrence, andthe old towers of the oldest portion of the palace; after which we sawnothing distinctly, till our journey, properly so called, hadterminated. For our course lay down a very steep street, and across thebridge into the Alt Stadt, where at a hotel, rich in all the essentialsof food, and wine, and couches, though somewhat deficient in thesuperfluity of cleanliness, we established our head-quarters for aseason. 

Perhaps there is no city in the world which, by the air which attachesto all its arrangements, more completely separates you from thepresent, and carries you back into the past, than Prague. There isnothing in or around it; there is no separate building, nor street, norsquare, within its walls, which is not more or less connected by thestrong link of association with the mightiest and the most enduringstruggle of principle in which the Christian world ever was engaged. Gowhere you will, your eye rests on something which speaks to you of atime when Prague was indeed a capital. Here in the Alt Stadtstands, --noble in its decay--the old palace of Könighof, the favouriteresidence of Charles IV. There is the Tyne or Thein Church, withinwhich Huss, himself but the successor of Milicius and Stiekna, and evenJanovius the Parisian, denounced the corruptions of Rome; here the sametown-hall, where, by the gallant burghers, the doctrines of theReformation were first avowed, and within which, after a long anddesperate effort to maintain them, they were abjured, not I suspect forever. But it is not by looking exclusively to what may be called thegreat features of the city, that these and similar reminiscences areawakened. As you traverse the streets, each edifice, be it lordly orhumble, presents to your gaze some record of prouder days. "Here anarmorial device, there a saint, with his golden circlet or burninglamps, or a half-obliterated fresco, an arched balcony, a fortifiedgateway, or an ornamented shrine[1]. " I heartily agree with the writer, from whose spirited Sketches the preceding extract has been taken, thatthis old and enduring character of the city is not without itsimportance. At a period when every political means is employed toefface and subdue the national character, when every act of sociallife, to be innocent must be Austrian, it is well that there is a powerand a spirit in these unshaken walls, and perennial customs, which mustneeds keep the memory of their great origin and former energy fresh inthe hearts of the Bohemian people. 

 [1] See some admirable sketches of Prague, in the _Metropolitan Magazine_ for 1836. 

Wherever the stranger may have taken up his abode, whether in the AltStadt, the Neu Stadt, the Kleinseite, or in one of the suburbs, thefirst objects which he is tempted to visit will naturally be the palaceof the Hradschin, and the old cathedral. If, as is probable, he hasestablished himself in the Alt Stadt, it will be necessary, in order toreach these points, that he should cross the bridge, --a magnificentstructure, which like almost all the most enduring monuments of humanskill in the city, owes its existence to Charles IV. It measures notless than 1780 feet in length; it is supported upon twelve noblearches; it is protected at either extremity by embattled towers, --intheir day, without doubt, very efficient _têtes du pont_, and toadorn its parapets on either hand, it has the statues of many saints, with more than one crucifix and two chapels. Among these watchers overthe temporal and spiritual prosperity of Bohemia, St. John of Nepomucholds a conspicuous place. Being now in an especial manner the guardianof bridges, his position here is more honoured than that even of theVirgin herself: he occupies the very centre of the pile, and may bedistinguished from the rest by the five stars which glitter in theirgilding round him; yet is his canonization an event of little more thana century's growth. He was set up by the Jesuits in 1729, in oppositionto St. John Huss, to whom the Bohemians, for many years after thesuppression of the Protestant worship among them, continued to paysaintly honours; and he continues to this day, in the reverence withwhich he is everywhere greeted, --a sort of galling and vexatious, because constantly-recurring memorial, of the system of mentalthraldom, under which Bohemia has long groaned. 

From the bridge, you pass by a noble street, where churches and statelymansions woo you on either hand, up the steep ascent of the Hradschin;the summit of which will be most speedily, and therefore comfortably, attained, if you mount a flight of stone steps that faces you after youhave made a slight turn to the right. They conduct at once to the sortof platform on which stand the old and new palaces, the cathedral, thelodgings of the canons, and the residences of some of the officialpersonages to whose charge these buildings are committed. Of thecathedral, I have already said, that it never was completed. Accordingto the traditions of the place, this is, indeed, the third pile which, consecrated to the worship of the true God, has graced the brow of theHradschin; but the two first were entirely destroyed by fire, and this, begun by Charles IV. , remains exactly as, in 1380, his architects, Matthew of Arras, and Peter Arlieri, left it. It is an extremelybeautiful specimen of the sort of Gothic which preceded that of thedate of our own Henry VII. , and is surmounted by a lantern-crown, similar in its character, and not very different in its dimensions, from that which is to be seen on the tower of St. Giles's in Edinburgh. Yet is the pile, when spoken of as a cathedral, a very sorry edifice, for the choir is all, of his own noble plan, which Charles waspermitted to complete, and there has arisen no king of Bohemia sincehis day, who has cared to bring the work to a conclusion. At the sametime, both the choir, and the unfinished chapels that surround it, arestrikingly beautiful. The former, emblazoned within with the shields ofthe house of Hapsburg, with the armorial bearings of Bohemia, Hungary, Styria, Moravia, Burgundy, Spain, and Brabant, more resembles theprivate chapel of a prince, than the metropolitical church of a nation;while the latter, crowded with memorials of other and earlier days, were, at least by us, regarded with still deeper and holier interest. One of these, the chapel of St. Wenceslas, the fourth Christian duke ofBohemia, has its walls inlaid with native jasper, agate, and otherprecious stones, and adorned with frescoes, inferior, in point ofmerit, to none which this century has produced. They are attributed, some to Nicholas Wurmser of Strasburg, some to Dietrich of Prague, twoof the most renowned artists of their day, who with many others, received at the hands of Charles, the most liberal patronage andencouragement. Moreover, the exterior of the wall, which looks towardsthe palace, is richly ornamented with mosaics. Many of the oldSlavonian saints are there, such as St. Sigismond, St. Procopius, St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas, and others finely grouped together; while abovethem is a St. Veronica head of Christ, which would not disgrace St. Mark's in Venice itself. 

From the cathedral to the palace is but a step. Though called old incontradistinction to a modern edifice which confronts it, and which theemperor, when he visits his Bohemian capital, usually occupies, thisbuilding, in almost all its portions, is of a date not more ancientthan the fourteenth century. The Hall of Ladislas, with two or threetowers near the postern, belong, indeed, to the original building, butthe remainder of the pile, with the cathedral beside it, uprose at thebidding of Charles IV. Nothing can exceed the splendour of the viewwhich you obtain from the windows of its apartments. The whole ofPrague is beneath you. There lies the Kleinseite, with the great cupolaof St. Nicholas, a church of the Jesuits, in the foreground: there isWallenstein's palace, gathered round the base of the rock, andtestifying to the enormous wealth and princely expenditure of itsfounder;--here, on the right, is the Lobkowitz palace, with itsgardens, rising step by step upon the side of the adjacent hill, overwhich, like a diadem, stands the Premonstratensian convent ofStrahow, --an edifice imperfect in its proportions, yet as a wholestrikingly effective. From these, the eye turns naturally to theMoldau, with its noble bridge and islands of perfect beauty; whilebeyond it are the Alt Stadt, and a vast circle of suburbs, --the former, venerable and striking from its multitudinous towers, its one greatcupola, and its peaked roofs; the latter, contrasting finely with it inthe simplicity of its large yet unadorned white buildings. Neither willthe stranger fail to have pointed out to him, the two small obelisks, which, on a narrow terrace immediately below the palace, mark the spotwhere Martinitz and Slawata fell, when, at the commencement of theThirty Years' War, they were thrown out of the windows of the GreenChamber. And it is worthy of remark, that this summary mode of dealingwith obnoxious individuals, is by no means unfrequently alluded to inthe annals of Bohemia. These two emissaries of a detested partyescaped, indeed, unhurt; for they fell upon a bed of manure, and werecarried off, and nursed, and aided in their subsequent flight by thePrincess Penelope of Lobkowitz. But throughout the Hussite troubles, and in times anterior to them, the right of putting to death by castingfrom towers and over windows, was claimed and exercised by those inpower; nay, and more curious still, it was justified before the worldas a constitutional privilege. 

As I have already stated, the remains of the Old Palace, properly socalled, comprehend no more than a single hall, the Hall of Ladislas, and a few dilapidated towers, in one of which is the Green Room. Thereis not much therefore, apart from the glorious view, and the historicalassociations connected with it, to detain the traveller long, who may, or may not, just as the humour takes him, pay a visit in passing, towhat is called the gallery of paintings. He will find there no remainswhatever of the magnificent collection which the Emperor Rodolphbrought from Italy, and very few pieces, the examination of which willrepay him for the time that he wastes upon them. Yet one ludicrousrepresentation of hell may, perhaps, provoke a smile; and the portraitof Ziska, whether like to the original or otherwise, as it is pointedout by the valet du place with honest pride, so is it sure to put inits claim to more than a passing notice. For Ziska was among the greatones of the earth. It is probable, therefore, that he will pass, as Idid, rapidly into the New Palace, of which several of the apartmentsare very fine, and all have at least something about them whichinterests. Here is the audience-room, for example, where the emperorholds his levees, or receives such petitions as his loving subjects mayfind an opportunity of presenting. Here, likewise, is the Hall ofAssembly for the States, --a plain apartment, adjoining to theaudience-chamber, and communicating with it by a private door. For theStates appear to go through the form of meeting at appointed seasons, and of voting, --all the privilege which they now enjoy, --such a sum asthe crown may think fit to require. The concert-room, also, and theball-room, and indeed the whole suite which royalty is assumed tooccupy, may be visited with advantage; and the views from their severalwindows are superb. I do not, however, advise anybody to linger here;for there is much to be seen, and examined, and inquired intoelsewhere, and in conducting such researches, unless time be absolutelyat our own disposal, even moments are of value. 

Being duly impressed with the importance of this truth, my travellingcompanion and I made our sojourn in the New Palace as brief as wasconsistent with a moderate gratification of the feeling which led us tovisit it at all. We then wound round the rear of the hill; anddescending into a sort of ravine, just outside the ramparts, foundourselves in an exceedingly beautiful public garden. It was full ofcompany, who passed to and fro, or sat in groups upon benches, underthe shade of the trees, and sipped their lemonade, or ate their ices, while listening to a couple of bands, which discoursed very eloquentmusic. Altogether the scene was extremely pleasing and gay, yet we didnot venture to enjoy it. So as we turn our backs upon it, let me cease, for a while, to write in the first person, that I may the moreeffectively deal with the somewhat grave and important matters, whichit has become necessary to discuss. 

I have alluded to the three grand compartments into which Prague isdivided, namely, the Kleinseite, the Alt Stadt, and the Neu Stadt. Ofthe first as much has been said as is necessary for my present purpose;because, though it be the residence of the bulk of the nobility, andcan boast of more than one superb church, whatever there may be ofhistoric interest about it, links itself almost exclusively with theHradschin. In the Alt Stadt, on the contrary, we find, in addition tothe Tyne Church and the Town Hall, the Carolinum, or college in whichmedical, legal, and scientific education is carried on; and theClementinum, a great seminary for the diffusion of theological andphilosophical lore. They are all that remain of the University ofPrague, at one period the most celebrated in Europe; and having beenrenewed--the former, at least, --so recently as 1744, even the traces ofthe architectural arrangements which once belonged to them, areobliterated. Still they demand inspection, of which the labour will becompensated, as well by a survey of the magnificent halls and richcollections which adorn them, as on account of the train of thought towhich insensibly they give rise. It is to the latter, as they connectthemselves with the past and present history of the country, that Iwish, on this occasion, to confine myself. 

The establishment of an university in the capital of Bohemia, was thework of the Emperor Charles IV. It was founded in 1348, just one yearafter Charles ascended the throne; and consisted, when complete, ofeight colleges; of which the constitution seems, in every respect, tohave corresponded with that of the similar establishments in Oxford andCambridge. Of these, the Collegium Magnum was endowed by Charleshimself for a master and twelve fellows; the Collegium Reginæ Hedvigisobtained its revenues from Queen Hedwige, of Poland, the enlightenedfounder of the Jagellonian University at Cracow; while, in 1451, theCollege of the Apostles was endowed for the maintenance of students, whose exclusive business it should be to maintain the rights which thechurch in Bohemia had acquired by the famous Compacta Basilicana. Ofthese it is necessary that some notice should be taken. 

Perhaps there is nothing connected with the annals of the Romish churchmore remarkable, than the early and rooted aversion exhibited both toits doctrines and its ceremonies, by that very province in the Austrianempire which is now, more than all others, given over to Popery. According to the best authenticated records, the conversion of theBohemians to Christianity took place about the middle of the ninthcentury, or still later; and within less than a hundred years we findthem in rebellion against the supreme pontiff, because the Latin tonguewas employed in the celebration of divine worship, and celibacy wasenjoined upon the clergy. The adoption of a Latin ritual was, however, forced upon Duke Wratislaus, by Gregory VII. , who declared that therewas a prohibition in Holy Writ, against the use of any other languagein addresses made to the Deity. This was in the year 1070. But thoughthe Bohemians yielded so far to an authority which they knew not how tocontrovert, their firmness, in reference to the celibacy of the clergy, was not so easily overcome. The legate who brought to Prague a bull tothis effect in 1197, was set upon by the populace, and stoned to death. 

Republican and imperial Rome were not more persevering in theirencroachments on the civil rights and liberties of the barbarians, thanwas religious Rome in her endeavour to establish an universal dominionover the consciences of mankind. One step gained in advance, proved, inevery case, but the prelude to another; and the establishment of aLatin ritual and an unmarried clergy, was soon followed by the refusalof the cup in the administration of the Lord's Supper to the laity. In1350, the cup was withdrawn. Then rose John Milicius, a canon ofPrague, and Conrad Stiekna, his friend, to protest by speech andwriting, against the measures pursued by the Pope, and to denounce himas Antichrist in the hearing of a multitude, who listened to theirteaching very eagerly. By-and-by, that is, in 1370, Matthias Janovius, the confessor of Charles IV. , came to their support in the battle; andin several treatises, which displayed great skill as well as vigour, the Pope was by him denounced. But Charles, though far in advance ofhis age, was not sufficiently enlightened to adopt the opinions of hisconfessor. He refused to call a general council on the plea, that theright of so doing was vested in the Pope; and the Pope finallyprevailed upon him to send Matthias into banishment. From the period ofMatthias' death, which happened in 1394, the Reformers, now a numerousand influential body, began to suffer persecution; and the strong armof power endeavoured, for a while, to accomplish what fair and opencontroversy had failed to bring about. 

Such was the condition of affairs, when a wealthy and pious citizen ofPrague, a German, however, by descent, laid the foundations of a churchin the Alt Stadt, which he called the Temple of Bethlehem; to it, nowthe Tyne Church, John Huss, already celebrated for his oratory andextensive learning, was appointed preacher. He saw the corruption ofthe age, and was not slow in denouncing it. For a while his rebukeswere applied exclusively to the laity, who complained to the king ofthe preacher's insolence; and the archbishop was, in consequence, requested either to silence or at least to restrain his violence. Butthe archbishop, as well as the clergy at large, were as yet Huss'sadmirers; and the king was informed, that as John, in rebuking vicewithout regard to persons, did not go beyond the spirit of hisordination vow, so there was no power in man to restrain him. By-and-by, however, Huss adventured into a new field, and the vices ofthe priesthood were dragged to light. This was neither so convenientnor so agreeable: and the archbishop became, in his turn, thecomplainant; but the king would pay no heed to the prelate'sremonstrances, further than to meet them with the same reply which thepastors now complaining had, on a former occasion, directed to himself:"Huss is but acting up to the spirit of his ordination vow. He isclearly worked upon by inspiration from heaven, --he must, on noaccount, be molested. " Thus were the minds of the people kept on thestretch, and the way was paved for still greater operations, which soonbegan to develop themselves. 

About this time arrived from England Jerome of Prague, bringing withhim copies of the writings of Wickliff, which he was not backward ingetting translated into the vernacular language, and circulated far andnear. By-and-by came two Englishmen, bachelors of divinity, fromOxford, who disputing boldly against the Pope's supremacy, drew greatcrowds after them. Though silenced by public authority, they did not, therefore, cease to wage a war of extermination against antichrist. They were tolerable limners, so they composed a painting, which, likethe shield in the story, had a two-fold character; for, on one side, itrepresented Christ and his Apostles, as these are described in theGospels; and, on the other, the Pope and his Cardinals, as they appearin their pride of place. This they suspended to the outer wall of theirlodging; and if there were none to listen to the words of theirpreaching, there were thousands who came to admire the production oftheir skill. Moreover, Huss, who perfectly understood the object oftheir attempt, and entirely coincided with it, made frequent referenceto their work of art in his discourses. In a word, the seed was sown;and but a little while elapsed ere the plant sprang up and bore fruit. 

The constitution of the University of Prague so far resembled that ofour Scottish universities, that in it were recognised those differencesof nations, with which the students of Glasgow and Aberdeen arefamiliar; there being, however, this difference in the arrangements ofthe two seminaries: that, whereas the nations in Glasgow find theirboundaries on the Forth and the Clyde, two native rivers, those ofPrague took a much more extended range. There were, first, theBohemians, under which head were comprised all natives of Bohemia, ofMoravia, of Hungary, and Slavonia. There were, second, the Bavarians, including Bavarians Proper, Austrians, Franconians, and Suabians. Therewere, third, the Saxons: that is, Saxons, Danes, and Swedes. And, lastof all, the Poles, or Poles, Russians, and Lithuanians. If studentscame from other lands, they were not rejected; but under one or otherof these heads they must needs be ranged. With an excess of liberalitywhich sometimes overshoots its mark, Charles had given to these severalnations an equality of influence in the management of the affairs ofthe university; and the consequence was, that, as far as the decisionsof that learned body might control it, public opinion in Bohemia, wasguided not by native scholars, but by foreigners. In the religiouscontroversy which now agitated the minds of men it was impossible thatthe university should stand neuter. The nations met, --Bohemia declaredfor the Wickliffites, Bavaria, Saxony, and Poland against them; andnumbers, of course, prevailed. But the triumph of Popery wasshort-lived, even in the university. Huss exerted himself with suchvigour, that the foreigners were deprived of their preponderancy, andthe Carolinum, under his guidance, became henceforth the great bulwarkof the Reformed opinions. 

While ardently combating the errors to which she gave countenance, itdoes not appear that, either now or afterwards, Huss entertained awish--far less a desire--to break off from the communion of the holyCatholic Church. Both he and his fellow-labourers were quite as much inearnest as any of those by whom the work of the Reformation came, inafter-years, to be perfected. Yet were they influenced throughout byprinciples more settled than belonged to some, and by a genuine andrighteous liberality of which others knew nothing. That, however, whichtheir gentleness would have willingly averted, the violence of theirenemies brought about. The Church of Rome could not, or would not, depend upon argument. She opposed to the reasoning of the Hussites therack and the cord; and Bohemia became, in consequence, the scene ofpersecutions, --of which to read the record is at once painful andhumiliating. The martyrdoms of Huss and Jerome were followed by anuniversal attack upon those who called them masters; and the priestwith the layman, the wife with her husband, the child with its parent, sealed their faith with their blood. 

From the first dawn of the Reformation in Bohemia, there were among theReformers two parties, which came, in course of time, to berespectively known as the Calixtines and the Taborites. The demands ofthe Calixtines were exceeding moderate; they sought only that the cupshould be dispensed to the laity in the communion; that the clergyshould be deprived of secular authority; that the Word of God should befreely taught; and that sins publicly committed, should, in public, bereproved. This fourth claim, be it observed, struck at the root of allthat influence which the Romish clergy derived from the practice ofsecret and auricular confession; while the third aimed at a remodellingof the liturgical services, by the substitution of the vernacular forthe Latin language in prayer. Yet were they considered by the Taboritesas coming far short of what the exigencies of the case required. Theselatter, indeed, the Covenanters and Puritans of their day, saw nothingin the Romish church except one mass of corruption. Her rites, herceremonies, her polity, her constitution, all were odious in theireyes; and to hold friendly communication with her, on any subjectwhatever, was, according to their view of religion, to bring theaccursed thing into their houses. Accordingly, while the Calixtinesendeavoured to soothe and conciliate, the Taborites rushed to arms; andunder Ziska, their renowned leader, achieved triumphs such as attendonly on the exertions of men whose actuating principle is a strongreligious fanaticism. 

The career of Ziska, his ferocity and his zeal, are well known. JohnChevalier von Trocznow and Machowitz (for such was his real name), enjoyed both rank and fortune in Bohemia; he was nobly born, held largepossessions, and had greatly distinguished himself in war long beforehe adopted the opinions of the Taborites. He was called Ziska, or theone-eyed, because in his great battle with the Teutonic knights in1410, a wound deprived him partially of sight, and he became, duringthe religious contests that followed the martyrdom of Huss, totallyblind. Yet blind as he was, and led out to war, like King John at thebattle of Cressy, between two horsemen, he continued not only to fight, but to arrange plans of campaign, and to direct the movements of armieswith equal judgment and effect; and he died as he had lived, inunmitigated hostility towards the pope, the Emperor Sigismond, and alltheir adherents. The degree of reverence in which his memory continuesto be held, testifies to the sort of influence which he must haveexcited while living. There is no end to the tales which the Bohemianslove to tell of his bodily strength and prowess. His favouriteweapon--a sort of club, or spiked mace, --is shown with extreme pride;and the tree under which he is said to have slept on the night previousto his battle with the emperor, continues, to this hour, to commandthat species of reverence which borders at least upon superstition. Ina word, Ziska appears greatly to have resembled, in more than oneparticular, that Balfour of Burley whom Sir Walter Scott has described, and his fame is still cherished as a national possession, probablybecause the principles for which he contended have not, like those ofwhich Balfour was the champion, obtained even a modified toleration. 

What the arms neither of Ziska nor of Procopius could win, themoderation and talent of John of Rokysan succeeded in procuring. Aftera long and fierce war, during which excessive barbarities werepractised on both sides, the Council of Basle met in 1433. John ofRokysan, one of the most popular among the Hussite divines, attendedthere to plead the cause of his party, and for a space of nearly twomonths, the four points of which I have spoken as claimed by theCalixtines, were debated. But for the present, no results ensued. Thepapists would yield nothing, and John and his brother delegatesreturned home. But the popish party, taught wisdom by experience, abstained from a renewed appeal to the sword till they had thrown theapple of discord among their adversaries, and weakened by dividingthem. In this, however, they succeeded only in part; so thatultimately, that is, in 1436, the use of the cup was conceded; andvisions of religious peace were, for a while, fondly encouraged inBohemia. 

It was during the interval between this happy consummation and theaccession of Ferdinand I. To the throne, that certain events took placewhich seem to me to demand a moment's notice. John of Rokysan, though azealous reformer in principle, was yet unwilling to break the bond ofecclesiastical union, or, as his enemies assert, was desirous ofgratifying two passions at the same time, by uniting the character of areformer to that of an archbishop in a well-endowed church. The betterto conciliate both the pope and the emperor, he had dealt harshly withthe Taborites, who, rejecting the terms offered them, had withstood andsustained a defeat from the Calixtines. He found, however, that afterthe council had decided in his favour, his election to the See ofPrague was made by the pope contingent on his renunciation of theprivileges just granted to Bohemia. He felt greatly and naturallyindignant at the proposal; and under the influence of this feeling, determined to withdraw the church of Bohemia from all dependence onthat of Rome. That the church of a single nation could stand alone, however, no communion being held with other churches, seemed then asfar beyond the range of possibility, as that a branch torn from theparent tree would flourish; and John, whose principle in this respectwas deeply-rooted, cast his eyes in the direction of Constantinople. Iam not aware that of this fact, the notice has been taken byecclesiastical historians which it deserves; yet is it certain, thatfor two whole years, the reformers of Bohemia were in communicationwith the patriarch, and that there came to Prague delegates with fullpowers to admit Bohemia into the bosom of the Greek church. They werenever called upon to exercise these powers. Their ceremonies, --moreoffensively superstitious than those of Rome herself, --gave extremeumbrage to the Hussites, and the matter which they had beencommissioned to effect, fell to the ground. 

It was at this juncture that the final separation between the Taboritesand the Calixtines took place. The former renounced all connexion withRome, and for awhile laid aside their very priesthood. The lattercontinued, in name, the children of that church, whose favourite, because most oppressive, edicts they disobeyed. Not that popery waswithout its adherents in Bohemia all this while; on the contrary, thesewere very numerous, and they included a large proportion of thehierarchy, as well as many of the nobles. But the university, as it hadearly adopted Huss's opinions, so it continued steadily, yet mildly, tomaintain them. Throughout the wars that marked the commencement of thisstrife of opinion, the Carolinum was ever present to assuage therancour of parties. It withstood absolute popery on the one hand, andabsolute fanaticism on the other. And when the war ceased, and Georgeof Podiebrad mounted the throne, it gave all its influence to agovernment of which the policy throughout was just, and wise, andtemperate. 

Acted upon by the efforts of this seat of learning, the Taboritesthemselves became gradually tame. They accused John of Rokysan, it istrue, of having betrayed them, because he would not place himself atthe head of the schism; and they held aloof from familiar intercoursewith their rivals; but they made no appeal to the sword. AccordinglyJohn became their advocate with the new monarch, and ample tolerationwas extended to them. With this they were satisfied. They withdrew intothe mountains, built villages and places of worship, and neveraddressing each other except as brother or sister, they came, by-and-by, to be known every where as the Bohemian or Moravianbrethren. Simple in their habits, and primitive in their ideas, theysoon ceased to be objects of terror to the government; and being leftto themselves, became, by degrees, at once the most industrious andhonest portion of the population. Moreover, the anomaly in theconstitution of their church, which at the outset, had been littlethought of, began by degrees to make itself felt. They had no appointedteachers or ministers among them; and there was confusion in their veryworship. Their chiefs determined to remove the evil; and seventy ofthem, from Moravia as well as Bohemia, meeting together, cast lots onwhom the priestly office should devolve. Three men, Matthew of Kunwald, Thomas of Przelan, and Eli of Krzenovitch, were chosen; who repairingto a settlement of the Waldenses, --of whom numbers were scattered overAustria and Moravia, --received from the hands of Stephen, one of theirbishops, episcopal consecration. From them the brethren derived thatapostolical priesthood, which has never since died out, and of whichthe most perfect model is now to be seen at Hernhut, in Silesia. 

Thus fared it with the Reformed religion and its professors in Bohemia, till Ferdinand I. Ascended the throne. There was tranquillity, atleast, and toleration, under Ladislaus of Poland, and an anxietyexpressed everywhere, that the language of controversy might cease; andthat the cultivation of letters, which more than a century of civilstrife had interrupted, might again occupy men's minds, and soften andhumanize their spirits. But Ferdinand had no part in this virtuouslonging. Whether it was the influence of his brother, the EmperorCharles V. , or his own innate hatred of the institutions of Bohemia, that swayed him, is a question not easily answered, if, indeed, itwere worth asking, --but it is not. The promises which he had given soliberally when elected, were all disregarded so soon as he felt himselfsecure; and Bohemia, which ought to have thrown her weight into thescale of the Protestant princes, was kept, at the period of the leagueof Smalcalde, in a state of fatal neutrality. She could not wield herpower against men to whom she was bound by all the ties of sympathy andcommunion of principle; for by this time, the Lutheran doctrines weretaught in her churches, and openly maintained in her university. Neither would the diet consent that an army should be marched intoSaxony. It was a balance of antagonist principles which proved fatal inits results to her own liberties, both civil and religious. The battleof Mühlberg gave to Charles and Ferdinand a superiority which theyfailed not to improve. The Bloody Diet sat in Prague; and nobles, andknights, and even cities forfeited their privileges and their property;and the two former, at least, in many instances, their lives. 

There remained now but one bulwark of the Reformed faith inBohemia, --the Caroline University, and against it the efforts of thedominant faction were directed. It was a sore grievance to the courtand the popish nobility, that a weapon so powerful as education shouldbe exclusively in the hands of schismatics; so they resolved tocounter-work it. With this view, the aid of the Jesuits was called in;and twelve fathers of the order of Loyola took possession, in 1555, ofthe Clementinum College. At first their unpopularity was such, thatthey never ventured to show themselves in the streets without beinginsulted. Yet they pursued their course with unwearied assiduity; andpatience, and a mild demeanour, and an anxiety to conciliate even thetaste for shows which prevailed then, as well as now, among thecitizens, gradually produced their results. The Jesuits were firsttolerated, and by-and-by respected in Prague. Moreover the college wasraised to the rank of a university, in which theology and philosophymight be taught; and they received from day to day an accession totheir numbers. Still the fame of the Carolinum, or Protestant seminary, surpassed that of the modern university, as far as the Jesuitsindividually surpassed the Protestant teachers in urbanity of manner;and hence, though personally tolerated, the latter continued as a partyto be objects of extreme suspicion. And so things remained, till theissue of the Thirty Years' War threw all power into the hands of theCatholics, and religious freedom, and civil liberty, became wordswithout meaning in Bohemia. 

I have spoken of the house of Austria as indicating from the outset ofits connexion with Bohemia, a spirit of decided hostility to theinstitutions of the country. From this general censure, two, and for abrief space at least, three princes of the line must, indeed, beexcepted. Maximilian had no sooner mounted the throne, in 1564, than heproclaimed the most ample religious toleration. The CompactaBasilicana, which had heretofore protected the Utraquists alone, wereset aside, and all sects were permitted to worship God, according tothe dictates of their own consciences. The consequence was, that alarge portion of the people became, with the university, avowedlyProtestant, and adopted, some the Augsburg Confession as their standardof belief, --others, the opinions of Calvin. In like manner, RodolphII. , and after his deposition, Matthias, stood forth as the championsof absolute freedom of opinion. They looked to matters of moreimportance than the squabbles of sophists; they laboured to advance theprosperity of their people, and they succeeded. The interval between1564 and 1610, may, indeed, be described as the golden age of Bohemianhistory. Then did the diet exercise a sound and constitutional controlover the supplies and general policy of the government. Then was thecondition of the peasant improved, his proverbial industry encouraged, and himself permitted to share largely in its fruits. There were, infact, as many elements of civil and religious liberty in Bohemia thenas in England;--how wide is the contrast which the one nation offers tothe other now!

It would have been strange, indeed, had princes who were wise enough toknow, that a monarch's greatness is best enhanced by the prosperity ofthe people over whom he reigns, failed to give ample encouragement, atthe same time, to learning and to the arts. Under Rodolph the halls ofthe Hradschin were adorned, with the productions of the best masters, which he purchased in Italy, and brought with him into Bohemia. Hiscourt, likewise, became a centre of attraction, round which TychoBrahe, Kepler, and other foreigners of high renown, were gathered;while the native nobility, catching the impulse which their sovereignafforded, devoted themselves, in numerous instances, to the cultivationof letters and of science. There are several histories yet extant, which came from the pens of Rodolph's courtiers; while the same classgave professors and teachers, not only to the university, but to manyof the most distinguished seminaries in Italy and Germany. Moreover, schools were multiplied both in Prague and elsewhere with unwearyingzeal; till, in addition to the sixteen which flourished in the capital, there were at Laun, Salz, Klattau, Leitmeritz, and Chrudim, seminaries, each of which was presided over by a master, of whose fitness tocommunicate sound and wholesome learning, the Carolinum itself hadapproved. And it is worthy of remark, that one great object of whichthese promoters of mental culture never lost sight, was the improvementand extension of their native tongue. There was no country in Europewhich could boast of so many statesmen, historians, and professors, bywhom the vernacular language was habitually employed, as Bohemia. Theprinting-office of the Moravian brethren, of which Charles of Zierotinwas the founder, multiplied copies of the Bible in the Bohemian tongue. In the same dialect, Radowsky of Husterzan put forth his treatise onastronomy. John of Hdiejouna used it as well as Charles of Zierotin, and Hajek, Dembrawricky, Wartowsky, and Blahoslaw, all demonstrated itsfitness for the purposes of the chronicler. In a word, Bohemia wasgreat, and flourishing, and happy; and her prosperity rested on a basiswhich, if wisely dealt with, must have rendered it as enduring as itwas conspicuous. 

Every movement on the part of the people had for its object, theestablishment of a perfect nationality in Bohemia;--the leaning of thecourt was, perhaps naturally, towards Austrianism. Maximilian, RodolphII. , and for a time Matthias, gave, indeed, no countenance to thelatter; but Matthias's constancy seems, in the end, to have beenovercome. The Jesuits never ceased to keep in view the ultimateascendancy of their own order, and they quite understood that toaccomplish this, it would be necessary to crush the spirit ofindependence in Bohemia altogether. Both parties took the alarm; eachmade its movement to counteract the other, and the results were such asI have described. The Emperor Matthias, supported by the Catholicnobility and the Jesuits of the Clementinum, insisted on nominating hisown successor, in the person of Ferdinand II. ; the States, to whichadhered the Carolinum, and all that were Protestants in Bohemia, protested against so gross a violation of their rights. Then followedan insurrection, the expulsion of the Jesuits from the kingdom, and ademand that neither the university nor any other seminary of education, should again be subject to the control of that order. And finally beganthat terrible struggle which crushed the liberties, as well civil asreligious, of the Bohemians. For Ferdinand, not content to scotch thesnake, never rested till it had ceased to be. The Carolinum, with allits endowments, privileges, and libraries, was handed over to itsrival. Protestantism was declared to be extinct; and the gibbet, andthe stake, and confiscations, and banishments, rendered the decree, indue time, more than an idle boast. There is, probably, no instance onrecord of an extirpation of a religious creed more absolute than thatwhich the Jesuits effected of Protestantism in Bohemia. It was entirelyput out, and has never since so far revived, as to embraceone-hundredth part of the population within the compass of its rays. 

From the close of the war the University of Prague assumed the title ofthe Carlo-Ferdinandian Institution. In one of its branches, indeed, --the Carolinum, --the professors' chairs stood vacant for twelveyears, and the building itself was shut up. But at the termination ofthat period it was reopened, and it has continued ever since to be theseminary in which instruction in the faculties of law and of medicineis communicated. For theology, and moral and abstract philosophy, onthe other hand, the student must needs repair to the Clementinum; overwhich, till the suppression of the order by Joseph II. , the Jesuitspresided. Nor has the downfall of that most ambitious and subtle body, worked any important change in the constitution of the university. TheCarolinum is still the laymen's college; the Clementinum the place ofeducation for the divine, --who seems to be returning, with rapidstrides, at least in Prague, to what he used to be while yet Jesuitismwas in full vigour. 

Such is an outline of the great historical events of which a visit tothese two edifices is sure to remind the traveller. Of the buildingsthemselves, as well as of the system of education that is pursuedwithin their walls, I have very little to say. The Carolinum, entirelyremodelled by the Jesuits, retains no resemblance, even in its externalfeatures, to what it was at the period when Huss presided over itsaffairs. It is a handsome pile, doubtless; but all traces of its Gothicarchitecture are swept away, and in its very dimensions it is changed. The Clementinum, on the contrary, has grown, both in importance andbulk; for it occupies the site of two churches, of a Dominican convent, and of several streets and squares, which were pulled down in order tomake room for it. Of its noble halls the interior decoration isaltogether Italian; and its library, its museum, its cabinets, andscientific collections, are, at least, worth seeing. 

Education in Bohemia, as well as in the other provinces of the Austrianempire, goes on under the strict and unceasing surveillance of thepolice. The clergy, in spite of what travellers assert to the contrary, have no control over it at all; except so far as they may possessinfluence enough with the government to recommend such text-books asare adopted in the various seminaries. It was whispered, indeed, inPrague, that since the accession of the present emperor, the clergyhave, in this respect, made large strides upwards; and it is verycertain that Jesuitism is not what it was some years ago, --a professionwhich men esteemed it prudent to conceal. But however this may be, asthe nomination to vacant chairs in the university is vested in theBoard of Education at Vienna, so by the head of the police it isdetermined by what process eminent philosophers, and divines, andlawyers, shall be fabricated. In like manner the period of attendanceon each class, --or, to speak more accurately, the space of time whichis necessary to complete an academical course, --is not left either tothe discretion of the professors, or to the talent and industry oftheir pupils. In the first place, the youth, to be admitted, must showthat he has attended one of the public schools for three years, at theleast. He must bring with him also a slender stock of German, arithmetic, mathematics, Greek, and Latin; which for six years more helabours only to increase. Then comes a fresh distribution of thestudents, who, throughout these protracted periods, have gone ontogether; but, who now pass off into the schools of law, and medicine, and divinity, according to the nature of the professions for which theyare respectively intended. The candidates for the cope and the judge'schair complete the course in four years more. From the incipientEsculapius six years professional study is demanded. It is worthy ofremark, that not a single lecture is delivered in the vernacularlanguage of the country. German is, indeed, employed, where Latin mayhave grown into disrepute; but the Bohemian is a dialect of which theuse seems restricted to the very lowest and most despised of thepeasantry. 

It would be idle to conceal that the extreme vigilance of thegovernment in these respects, and, still more, its bigoted hostility toeverything which might recall the recollection of Bohemian independence, has given great umbrage to the thinking portion of the people. I haveconversed with persons in every rank, and I found none who spoke of itexcept in bitterness. But it is not by these means alone that the houseof Austria endeavours to shield its Bohemian subjects from the infectionof liberalized opinions. I had intrusted to me, before leaving London, an English book, which I was to forward or deliver to a gentleman ofrank in the country. He would not send for it by the hands of a commonmessenger. He came in person many miles to receive it, "Because, " saidhe, "one does not know what may happen, and it is best to avoidcollision with the police. " The book was a very harmless one, --it wasonly the first volume of Lockhart's _Life of Sir Walter Scott_; but myfriend did not consider that it would be prudent to make a parade ofits reception. Again, I visited a gentleman in Prague, and found uponhis table a number of the _Foreign Quarterly Review_. There was anarticle in it which bore upon the existing condition of Bohemia, --anable paper, on the whole, though here and there inaccurate. I conversedwith him about it; and, having an hour to spare, I accepted his offerto carry it to my hotel, and there read it. "When you send it back, "said he, "be so good as wrap it carefully up in paper. We don't knowwhere we are safe, in this country; and your _Foreign Quarterly_ isnot one of the favoured publications which we are licensed to import. "What a pitiable state of existence is this, --what a perfect bondage of_mind_, for which the utmost security to person and property can nevermake amends. 

CHAPTER XI. 

THE JEWS' TOWN. VISITS TO VARIOUS POINTS WORTH NOTICING. STATE OFPUBLIC FEELING. 

I have devoted so much more of space than I had intended to theuniversity, and the associations connected with it, that I must becontent to describe in few words, such other objects as appeared to memost deserving of notice in Prague. Prominent among these is the JudenStadt, or City of the Jews; of which I may state, at the outset, that, of all the extraordinary scenes in which I have ever been an actor, there are few which, more than my visit to the Jews' Quarter of Prague, have left upon my mind so vivid and lasting an impression. Let thereader imagine to himself, if he can, the effect of a sudden transitionfrom the pomp and splendour of a great capital into a suburb of meanand narrow streets, choked up with the litter of old rags, brokenfurniture, and cast-off clothes hung out for sale; where are aged womenasleep in their chairs, --young ones nursing infants, or, it may be, perfecting their own unfinished toilets; men, squalid and filthy, withlong beards, flowing robes, and all the other appurtenances whichusually belong to their race; children in a state of nudity; turbanedheads, features thoroughly Oriental; tarnished finery, books, music, and musical instruments, scattered about; everything, in short, whetheranimate or inanimate, as entirely in contrast with what you have justleft behind, as you might expect to find it, were you transportedsuddenly into some region of the earth, of the very existence of whichyou had previously been ignorant. I have passed through the classicregions of St. Giles, the Seven Dials, and Rag Fair. I have gone, in myyouth, under the escort of a police officer, the round of all the mostdegraded corners of London; yet have I never beheld a sight, which, inall that is calculated to bewilder, if not to outrage, the senses, could bear one moment's comparison with what the Juden Stadt broughtbefore me. I confess that the first feeling excited was a vague idea, that to proceed further might compromise our personal safety. Yet Idefy any one who has penetrated but a few yards down the passage, toabstain from going on. There is about you, on all sides, an air ofnovelty, such as it is impossible to resist; and you march forward, wondering, as you move, whether you be awake or in a dream. 

The establishment of a Jewish colony in Prague is said to be coevalwith the foundation of the city itself. From age to age, moreover, thesons of Israel have inhabited the same quarter, --namely, a suburbwhich, running in part along the margin of the Moldau, is approachedfrom the Alt Stadt, by the street of which I have just spoken. Heredwell they, to the number of eight or ten thousand, in a state ofcomplete isolation from the Christian myriads which surround them, inhabiting flats, and in many cases, single apartments, by wholefamilies; and appearing to rejoice in the filth and neglect to whichthe Christians have consigned them. The streets in their suburb are allnarrow and mean, and devoid of ornament; the stalls, with the articleswhich the chapmen expose upon them, are scattered up and down in utterconfusion; the shops--mere recesses--have Hebrew inscriptions overthem, and the entire population, when I went among them, seemed to beabroad. One building, and one only, does indeed deserve to be visited:I allude to the synagogue, the oldest of its class, perhaps, in Europe;a strange edifice, above the floor of which the soil has gathered tosuch a height, that to enter it, you are forced to descend a flight ofsteps. I must endeavour to describe it, though conscious thatdescription must utterly fail to convey a correct idea of the original. 

The Old Synagogue, as it is called, a structure of the twelfth century, is essentially Gothic in the leading points of its architecture, but soloaded with Byzantine ornaments as to resemble no other edifice of asimilar date which I, at least, have seen in Europe. It is thoroughlyOriental in its character, fantastic in its proportions, and littlelikely to be mistaken, under any circumstances, for a Christian church. The interior is not less remarkable, whether we look to the productionsof the builder's skill, or to the arrangements which have been made forthe purposes of worship and study. A lofty vault, supported upon threeGothic pillars, which spring from the middle of the area, and meet inpointed arches at the roof, it is lighted only by a range oflancet-shaped windows, which being elevated above the floor to theheight of forty or fifty feet, throw down a few broken rays upon yourhead, just sufficient to render the darkness visible, but not to dispelit. By this uncertain glimmer, you perceive, after a while, that walls, and pillars, and roof, are black with the dust of ages; and that everything around you bears testimony to the gloomy nature of the reverencewhich these stubborn Israelites pay to the God who has discarded them. Beneath the arch of the pillars there is a raised platform, where desksand stools are placed for the accommodation of the rabbins, and thepupils who come hither to study the Law. At the extremity of the vaultstands the altar, the silver candlestick, with its many branches, surmounting it, while from the roof hang seven silver lamps, to "givelight, " according to the Divine injunction, "over against thecandlestick. " I exceedingly regretted to find that the day on which Iinspected this pile was not a holy season in the Juden Stadt. Somedoctors and students there were, on the platform, whose attentionseemed engrossed by the occupation in which they were engaged; andtheir picturesque dresses, flowing beards, and stubborn and haughtyexpressions of countenance, accorded well with the localities by whichthey were surrounded. But the business of prayer was not in progress, and the sacred Book of the Law lay hidden. 

From the Synagogue we passed into the old cemetery, which liescontiguous to it, and looked round upon a picture of desolation morestern than the dream of the poet has perhaps ever conjured up. Extensive as the plot of ground is, there is not, throughout itscompass, one foot of level soil. Graves, trodden partially down, pointed grave-stones that are sloping and falling in everydirection, --these, with a wilderness of alder trees, which, whetherplanted by the hand of man, or sown by the winds of heaven, overshadowthe crumbling tombs, constitute altogether a fitting monument to thedesolate condition and broken fortunes of the Hebrew race. Yet may youeasily enough distinguish, from the devices that are engraved on eachof them, the rank and condition of many of those who sleep beneaththese grave-stones. The lion of Judah, the upraised hands of the houseof Aaron, the Nazarite's bunch of grapes, are all here; while thegraves of the rabbins are, as elsewhere, adorned, each with a sort ofcenotaph. The Jews have, for some time, ceased to bury in this mass ofhuman dust. It was filled, and filled, till it could contain the bonesof no more; and now their dead are carried to a new cemetery, removed ashort distance beyond the city walls. 

According to their own traditions, the quarter of Prague which the Jewsnow occupy was possessed by their ancestors long before the destructionof Jerusalem. We may credit this statement or not, just as we please;but it seems admitted, on all hands, that if they dwelt not where wenow find them, previous to the foundation of the city, they were amongthe earliest of the colonists who repaired to it. Many and severechanges of fortune they have indeed undergone. Plundered, oppressed, more than once expelled by violence, they have yet returned, again andagain, to the home of their adoption, and they are now treated, if notrespectfully, at least mildly, and on the whole, justly, by theirChristian rulers. I must add, moreover, to this account of theirsuburb, that the more wealthy members of their community do not nowmake their dwellings there. These generally inhabit houses in thebetter part of the city, and having the command of a large proportionof the floating capital of the country, they receive such marks ofdeference as the rich, under the most unfavourable circumstances, contrive to exact from the poor. 

Among other objects in the Alt Stadt, which make powerful demands onthe traveller's notice, the Rath-haus, or ancient Town-hall, and theThein Kirche, stand conspicuously forward. The former is a quaint, irregular Gothic pile, in a very dilapidated state, of which theCouncil-chamber is fine, in its degree, and the little chapel curious. It was here, that in 1420, the leaders of the Taborites assembled, their followers being gathered together in the Grosse Ring, or squarebeneath, and at the tolling of a bell, the whole sallied forth tocommit those excesses which, both in Bohemia and elsewhere, have castsuch discredit on the dawn of the Reformation. It was in a dungeonbeneath the Rath-haus that the Emperor Wenzel IV. Suffered, in the year1403, a fifteen weeks' imprisonment; and it was in the square, on whichthe windows of the hall look out, that the jousts and tournaments ofthe knightly age were carried forward. Of the latter again, whichfronts the Rath-haus, and so occupies a conspicuous position in thesame square, why should I say more than has been said already? Here, in1458, the states assembled to elect to the vacant throne the virtuousGeorge of Podiebrad; here Huss preached, and John of Rokysan taught;and Tycho Brahe found here the last resting-place which is allotted tomortality. There is a rude monument to him, --a figure in armour, carvedin relief, against one of the pillars near the altar; and over it isengraved the astronomer's motto, _Esse quam haberi_. It is remarkableenough that as in this church the communion was first administered inboth elements to the people, so is there still to be found here thesingle memorial that remains of the privileges which were once sodearly prized, and so hardly won. The service of the Roman Catholicchurch is performed here in the Bohemian language; and the congregationswhich attend to take part in it are enormous. 

From the Alt Stadt you pass to the Neu Stadt by a street called Graben, across the site of which was, in ancient days, a ditch, but of which, as well as of the rampart that surmounted it, not a trace now remains. It is a clean, airy, well-built portion of Prague, and embraces the oldtown within a sort of semicircle, of which the extremities reach, oneither side, to the Moldau. Here the Military Hospital, --once a collegeof the Jesuits, --will naturally attract attention, both on account ofthe elegance of its structure, and the uses to which it is turned. Ithas a noble façade, which measures upwards of six hundred feet inlength, a chapel, a hall, and accommodation for four hundred invalids, whose wants, though attended to, are certainly not prevented with thecare which distinguishes a similar institution among ourselves. The oldsoldiers made, it is true, no complaints. They seemed, on the contrary, perfectly satisfied with their condition, --all, at least, exceptone, --who, strange to say, had served in the 97th British regiment forseventeen years, ere he entered the service of Austria; and even hesaid very little. He was a German, had been discharged in consequenceof a wound, after fighting in Egypt and the Peninsula, had then enteredthe Austrian army, and was now enjoying his otium in Prague. I learnedfrom him that the rate of allowance to each man, was a suit of clothesonce in four years, one pair of shoes and one pair of soles per annum, a quarter of a pound of meat with twice as much black bread daily, andno wine. Had he gone upon what we should call the out-pension, hissubsistence would have amounted to three-pence, --of our money, --perday. 

There are several churches and convents in the same quarter of Prague;but none which much repay the trouble of inspecting them. That of St. Emaus is, perhaps, the most interesting, both because it is the oldest, being of the date 1348, and because here some traces of frescoes, whichescaped the Hussite violences, may be found. But except for these, anda few of the trophies that were taken at the battle of the WhiteMountain, it will not strike the visitor as, in any respect, remarkable. It is not here, indeed, nor in the Alt Stadt neither, thatthe curious in such matters will seek for gratification. He who lovesto muse amid the cloisters of a monastery, or delights to recreatehimself amid the "Temple's holy gloom, " will find the freest scope forthe indulgence of his humours, on the opposite side of the Moldau; andas our tastes reverted to that channel, after sufficient time had beendevoted to other matters, it may not be amiss if I state some of theoccurences that befell during our second visit to the Hradschin and theStrahow. 

Not far from the cathedral, and, as a necessary consequence, adjoiningto the palace, are two objects which put in strong claims to notice. One is a Loreto chapel, built on the model of that which has so oftenchanged its resting-place; the other is the convent of St. Lawrence, within which the chapel is erected. The latter, --an exact copy of thatin the valley of the Misio, --is small, and dark in the interior, theshrine being lighted up only by the lamps which burn continually beforethe image of the Virgin. It is, however, rich in costly vestments andplate, and richer still in the reverence which the pious pay to it. Theconvent, again, is large, with fine cloisters, and some tolerablefrescoes along the sides of them, and the monks, to do them justice, are exceedingly civil. My young companion expressed a wish to visittheir cells, and it was instantly complied with: we were directed topass round to another door, and there the porter took charge of us. 

Our guide, --a squalid creature, with shaven crown, bare legs, sandaledfeet, and a grizzly beard, --led us by a long passage first into therefectory. It was a hall of no great dimensions, meanly furnished withdeal benches and tables, and surrounded on the walls, with some ruderepresentations of the most loathsome and horrid martyrdoms. The tableswere spread with wooden trenchers, each of which had a morsel ofrye-bread beside it, and beneath each bench were rows ofspit-boxes, --one being set apart for the use of each of the brothers. What the viands might be which were to fill the trenchers, I do notknow; but the smell was not inviting, so we quitted the hall, andfollowing our guide up stairs, were introduced into a cell. Itsappearance entirely overthrew the theories which my young companion hadnourished. A small, but neatly-furnished apartment, with a clean bed, achest of drawers, and a quantity of flowers on the window-sill, by nomeans came up to the ideas which he had entertained of monasticasceticism; and when, over and above all this, he found more than abreviary and a crucifix within reach, namely, a sort of pocket-libraryand a lute, his astonishment found vent in words. 

"Are monks allowed to indulge their taste for music?" asked he. 

"Oh yes, " was the reply; "Brother Franz is a great musician. It is hethat always leads in the chanted grace before and after meals. "

Brother Franz, however, was not present to answer for himself; so wecontinued our progress. 

We desired to see the chapel; and as we approached it by a back stair, the notes of the organ that swelled along the passage, gave indicationthat some service was going on. We entered a gallery, whence, frombehind the shelter of a screen, we could look down upon the chapel, andthose that filled it. The congregation was both numerous and devout, and in the body of the pile, all were engaged in singing a requiem fora departed soul. On a bier in the middle aisle, stood a coffin, havinga skull and cross-bones laid upon the pall, and over it hung a priest, whose gestures sufficiently indicated, that for the tenant of thatnarrow chamber he was supplicating. "This is some recent death?"demanded I; "some person of note is gone to his account, and you arepraying that his sins may be pardoned?"

"No, sir, " answered the monk, "the individual whose demise we this daycommemorate, gave up the ghost an hundred years ago; but we are stillbound to say masses for her soul. She has bequeathed property to securethis for ever. "

"And is her body in that coffin?" demanded I. 

"Not at all, " was the answer; "these are but representations of whatyou take them for. That is not a coffin, neither are these a skull andcross-bones. "

I could not help smiling, when this avowal was made with such perfectsimplicity; and I went away surprised, that any such awkward endeavourto work upon the sympathies of the people, should be consideredjudicious. 

Among other days of the week, we spent a Sunday in Prague; and a regardto truth compels me to state that the contrast which was presented bythe mode of observing the Lord's Day there, to what we had witnessed inProtestant Saxony and Protestant Prussia, redounded very little to thehonour of the latter countries. I need not observe that nowhere, on thecontinent of Europe, are the evenings of the Lord's Day devoted toother purposes than those of amusement. Whatever may be the nationalfaith, whether Romish or Reformed, this is universally the case; butwhile in Saxony and Prussia the laws appear to sanction the totaldesecration of that day, even to the prosecution of men's ordinaryemployments, in Prague, and I am bound to add generally in popishBohemia, no such desecration takes place. After a given hour, allclasses put on their merriest bearing, it is true, and the clergy, --inPrague, a curious combination of stiffness and dandyism, --may be metevery where; but till that time arrives, the offices of religion appearto engross all thoughts, for the shops are closed, and the streetsdeserted, except by persons passing to and from their several places ofworship. How much more decent, to use no stronger expression, is this, than the sort of scenes which I had occasion to describe in a previouschapter, --how much better calculated to keep alive among the peoplesome sense of religion, some respect at least for its externalobservances, --not entirely, it is to be hoped, unconnected with aregard for higher things than externals. 

Why should I continue these details any further? We visited thetheatre, with the music and acting in which we were greatly delighted;we dined on one of the islands in the Moldau, in the open air, in themidst of a crowd, beneath the canopy of heaven, and with a well-managedband to serenade us all the while; we spent an evening greatly to ourown satisfaction, under the shade of the trees in the Thiergarten. Weclimbed the Strahow, inspected the monastery that crowns its summit, admired the fine library, and gazed with reverence on the autograph ofTycho Brahe; we wandered round the ramparts; we surveyed the field ofthe battle of Prague; we examined more minutely the ground on whichZiska had fought and conquered; we left nothing unexplored, in short, which we found that it was possible to bring within the scope ofgeneral observation; nor permitted any matter, concerning whichcuriosity had been excited, to pass without investigation. The resultwas a tolerably accurate acquaintance with every remarkable object inthe place, not excepting Count Nositz's small but excellentgallery, --one of the most creditable collections of modern growth whichI have seen. Neither did we fail to form acquaintance with the people, as well of the humbler as of the more exalted stations; of which theresult, in every instance, was, that the favourable impression whichhad been made upon me, while wandering among the mountains, suffered nodiminution. I found them to be, --in the city, not less than among thevillages, --a kind-hearted, industrious, and most patient race. I saw, indeed, that they were not without their grounds of discontent, andthat they felt their grievances keenly. The higher orders complainedbecause the ancient capital of their native land had sunk into a mereprovincial town. They pointed to palaces deserted and falling to decay, and said, with natural bitterness, that it ill became Bohemians of thebest blood to prefer the pleasures of Vienna to the duty which theyowed to their father-land. They spoke, too, indignantly of thecentralizing system, of the ban that had gone forth against theirbeloved language, of the extinction of their privileges, and theefforts that are making, to blot out the very remembrance of theirnationality. "But it will not succeed, " was the usual termination ofsuch harangues. "We have no idea of shaking off the yoke. We know thatin the present state of Europe, Bohemia could not exist one year as anindependent monarchy; but we shall never be content till the laws areeverywhere administered in a language which is intelligible to thepeople, and we and they be permitted to exercise some control over ourown affairs. " In like manner, the humbler classes, --the shop-keeper, the mechanic, and the artisan, --spoke not unintelligibly of theiraltered condition, since the native nobility were their best customers, and taxation scarcely reached them. "But we are no longer a people now. The stranger rules us, the shackles are on our wrists;--what can wedo?" Then would follow a shrug of the shoulders, a wink of the eye, anda hasty return to the sort of manner which a careless observer mighteasily mistake for the external proof of content, but which is, infact, a disguise put on to hide feelings directly the reverse. 

CHAPTER XII. 

QUIT PRAGUE. JOURNEY TO BRÜNN BY KÖNIGGRATZ. STATE OF THE COUNTRY. BRÜNN. ITS PUBLIC BUILDINGS. ABSENCE OF THE MORAVIAN BRETHREN. 

"Time runs his ceaseless course, " and, agreeably as with us he hadpassed since our arrival in Prague, we began, after a week's sojournthere, to discover that it would be necessary to move onwards. It hadbeen our anxious wish to proceed at once along the borders of Silesiainto Hungary; and at Dresden we had endeavoured to have some such routemarked out upon our passport, but we were not successful. For there isextreme jealousy on the part of the Austrian officials abroad, ofgranting free ingress and egress to and from Hungary; and we wererecommended, in consequence, to proceed direct to Vienna, where theHungarian Chancery would deal with us. We made another effort at Pragueto obtain that which in Dresden had been refused us; but it availed usnothing. "We will pass you on to Königgratz, if you please, " said thechief of police, "where the authorities, being nearer to the frontier, may be more in the habit of setting general regulations at defiance; oryou may go to Brünn, the capital of Moravia, and there fare better. " Wefancied that there might be something in these suggestions, andresolved to act upon them. Accordingly, having taken a last survey ofthe lordly city, and provided ourselves with arms, --a precaution whichwas everywhere pressed upon us, seeing that Hungary was our point ofdestination, --we committed ourselves to an extra-post, an agreeable andcommodious vehicle, which holds two persons, and set out. 

I have nothing whatever to say concerning our progress from Prague tothe first of the resting places which were marked upon our chart. Nothaving any object to gain by delay, we performed the larger portion ofthe journey by night; and, at an early hour in the morning, foundourselves approaching the outer defences of a strongly fortified town. This was Königgratz, --a huge barrack, in which two or three battalionsof infantry are usually quartered; and which contains, besides a stateprison, a Gymnasium, or seminary of public instruction, and somechurches. There was not much of promise in all this, neither did thespectacle of chained men working by gangs in the streets, greatly winupon us. We therefore abandoned, without hesitation, all idea of theproposed halt; and having ascertained that the police were immovable;that our passport being marked for Vienna and not for Hungary, theyeither would not, or could not, sanction a deviation from the beatentrack, --we were fain to accept a visé for Brünn, and to resume ourformer places in the interior of the diligence. Again, therefore, werewe _en voyage_, at a rate more rapid than is at all agreeable to himwho wishes to make acquaintance with a strange people. But for thisthere was no help; and we took the evil patiently, being comforted bythe reflection, that, of the Bohemians we had already seen a great dealmore than ever can be seen, except by such as adopt our unpretendingsystem of travel. 

From Königgratz to Brünn, you pass through a country for which naturehas done a great deal, and which the patient industry of itsindustrious inhabitants has not failed to improve. It is, generallyspeaking, a vast plain, with mountains in the distance; and, here andthere, a rise and fall on its surface, which produce an exceedinglypleasing effect. There are many villages and small towns along theroad-side; and everywhere the fields were, when I saw them, in thehighest state of cultivation. Corn and meadow, with an occasionalvineyard, spread themselves out before us, and were relieved, from timeto time, by the introduction of a wood, disposed, as might almost seem, with a view to heighten the extreme beauty of the landscape. Had Iabstained from holding converse with the inhabitants of that fairprovince, I should have quitted it in the full assurance that they werethe most contented and happy people in the world. As it was, a regardto truth compels me to acknowledge that I found them very much thereverse. 

It is not, I think, necessary for me to guard myself against theimputation of cherishing any undue preference for the democraticprinciple in the theory of government. Of all the tyrannies that exist, the tyranny of the mob is the most oppressive; nay, the very excess offreedom which gives to each individual the right of pestering allaround him with his impertinences, is surely much more hard to endurethan the occasional restraints which a strong police may impose. But anabsolute and irresponsible monarchy is not a pleasant government tolive under. Where men talk only in whispers; where they feel that theirwords must be weighed ere they utter them; where their single idea ofthe powers that be, is of an influence which oppresses, or keeps an eyeof unsleeping vigilance upon their movements; where they are notpermitted to form any judgment as to what is, or what is not, best fortheir social condition, --but imbibe, from childhood, one convictiononly, that it is their wisdom to obey implicitly, --in such a state ofsociety it is vain to look either for true dignity of individualcharacter, or for the developement of powers which elevate both nationsand private men in the scale of human perfectibility. Practicallyspeaking, men may enjoy as much freedom of action as they could desire;and their persons and their property will alike be secured fromviolence; but there is not, nor can there be, real contentmentanywhere, --no, not even in the highest stations of all, --those of thesovereign and his ministers. 

I have been much struck in the course of my reading, with the painswhich travellers take to assure us that the government of Austria isexceedingly paternal; and that the people who live under it harbour nowish that it should be curtailed in its prerogatives. When this is saidboth of the rulers and the ruled, as these show themselves in AustriaProper, I am not sure that there is much to be found fault with. The_Austrians_ have always been treated by the house of Hapsburg aschildren are treated by their father; and being a light-hearted andmost unthinking people, they are happy in the preference which is shownto them. But it is certainly not so in other portions of the empire. Ofthe Italian provinces I need say nothing. Of Hungary I shall not speaknow, because other and better opportunities of doing so will arise; butwith respect to the Bohemians, the impression left upon my mind is, that the iron has entered deeply into their souls. I have alludedelsewhere to the substance of conversations which I have held withnobles, and priests, and peasants. I have to record now what passedbetween myself and a fellow-traveller in the diligence, --a medical man, of strong good natural sense, and an education sufficiently enlarged. He was not slow in discovering that I was a foreigner; and on hisdemanding whence I came, I told him. 

"Ah, " said he, "you are the native of a free country. Everything whichyou witness here must surprise and shock you. "

"Quite the reverse, " was my answer. "I am charmed with the simplemanners and apparently comfortable state of your population. I amdelighted with the kindness and hospitality which I have received fromyour gentry; and, above all, I am glad to perceive that you all enjoyas much of practical liberty as the heart of man need desire. "

"Where is this practical liberty?" replied he; "is it in the liabilityof the unprivileged classes to military service?--our total exclusionfrom the management of our own affairs?--our rigid subjection to thesurveillance of the police--the restraint we are compelled to impose onour very speech?--the absence of all tribunals to which, when oppressedby the government, we can appeal?"

He was running on with a still longer list of grievances, when Istopped him. "No, " said I, "it is not in these particulars that yourpractical freedom displays itself, --but in matters much more important, because of daily and hourly recurrence. You go out and come in when youwill. You make choice of your own walk in life, and pursue ituninterruptedly. You are safe from injury to person and property. Youhave privileges, each of you, which no fellow-subject is permitted toinvade. Are not these very great blessings, and are you not content?

"Privileges!" replied he, "where are they? Undoubtedly, I am permittedto practise medicine, under certain restrictions, exactly as thebouerman may till his ground, and the artisan fabricate his wares. Butmy privileges are those only which nature has given, and human lawscannot take away. I may eat when I am hungry, if I can find food; anddrink when I am thirsty. But what am I, regarded as a citizen?--a hewerof wood, and drawer of water; a mere drudge. Let my talents andambition be what they may, I can work out no opening for them. Thereare no privileges in the empire, except those enjoyed by the nobles;and even the nobles have, in point of fact, no rights which they cancall their own. "

"What do you mean?" replied I; "if by honest industry you acquire afortune, you may purchase land, and take a settled station in society. The army is open to you, and the church;--what would you have?"

"I would have what you possess in England, " answered he; "room tobreathe freely; and a fair field in which to struggle even for thehonours of life. The army is open to us, doubtless; but in the army, unless I be of noble descent, I cannot hope to rise above the rank of acaptain, at the highest. The church is good for those who are willingto submit to its restraints, and play the hypocrite. I may purchaseland, too, doubtless, as you say; but its possession will not conferupon me any, even of the ideal advantages, which are claimed andconceded to the penniless aristocrat. With us the line of nobility isso distinct and broad, that no human being can, unless the accident ofbirth have placed him on the sunny side of the hedge, overstep it. Butthis is not all. The nobles not only engross all places of trust, andprofit, and honour, but they do not bear their just proportion in theburdens of the state. They pay hardly any taxes; whereas we of thecannaille are very heavily laden with them. "

I saw from the tone of my fellow-traveller's discourse that he wasexceedingly discontented, and I ventured to ask whether the sentimentsto which he gave utterance, were generally entertained in Bohemia?

"By all orders and degrees of men, " was his answer. "Even the noblesare dissatisfied, because the king holds his court at Vienna; and forthe rest of us, you may depend upon it that we feel our degradationacutely. "

"If it be as you represent, " said I, "how comes it that there neveroccurs anything like an attempt to wrest by force from the governmentwhat it will not concede to reason?"

We were passing through a small town, or rather village, at the moment, and my companion bid me look out. I did so, and saw two or three groupsof cuirassiers lounging about the street. 

"These are the emperor's sureties for our good behaviour, " observed he, with a smile; "twelve or fourteen thousand men at Prague, --three orfour thousand at Königgratz, --a regiment at Tabor, --and squadronsscattered, as you see, through all the villages. Our poor peasantswould hardly think of uttering a complaint in such a presence; and ournobles don't care to argue points with men who wear the sword. "

I could only shrug up my shoulders, for I saw that he was, at least, sofar in the right, that troops swarmed everywhere; and, withoutencouraging him to brood over his own misfortunes, whether real orimaginary, I was content to thank heaven that I had myself been born ina land where such grounds of complaint are unknown. 

We stopped to dine at Leutomischl, a small, but prettily-situated town, with a schloss, or chateau, of which the style of architecture isexceedingly striking. It occupies the brow of a rising ground, justover the principal street; and with its profusion of minarets, remindedus rather of some Oriental palace, than of the residence of a Bohemiannoble. But we had no time to examine it in detail; for even a Germanextra post has its appointed season of movement; and our conducteur, though abundantly civil, could not postpone it. Neither did there occurany other incident of which it is worth while to take notice, till, atsix on the following morning, Brünn, the capital of Moravia, receivedus within its walls. 

There is not much in this city, independently of the historicalassociations which are connected with it, that is likely to detain thetraveller many days, or to draw from him, after he has quitted it, alengthened description of what he may have seen. It is built along theascent of a steep hill, of which the summit is crowned by thecathedral, a pile distinguished, like the more antique of the Slavonianchurches in general, by the great altitude of its nave. It issurrounded by a belt of suburbs, at once more regular in theirconstruction, and much more populous than the town itself. To the northlies the hill of Spielberg, surmounted by a modern and unfinishedredoubt, which having taken the place of the ancient citadel, is, andfor many years back has been, used chiefly as a state prison. It washere that, during the reign of the Emperor Francis I. , the unfortunateSilvio Pellico spent his long and dismal season of captivity. Here, too, Trenck, the famous leader of the Pandours, in the war ofsuccession, suffered imprisonment. Here Mack, long suspected oftreachery, underwent a severer punishment than his incapacity deserved;and here still linger captives from various provinces, whose offence, for the most part, is, that they pine to be free. This system ofshutting men up in prison, without trial, or the pretence of trial, isvery shocking. But I was glad to learn from the few who ventured tospeak in a whisper, that the tenants of the dungeons of Spielberg areless numerous now than they used to be, and the time is not, in allprobability, distant, when the practice of filling them at the capriceof a minister will be discontinued altogether. 

Brünn is the seat of some of the most extensive as well as valuablemanufactories that anywhere exist in the Austrian dominions. The growthof these, it appears, was much fostered by the late emperor, and hismemory is, in consequence, held in high veneration by the inhabitants. It is to this circumstance, indeed, more than to the military virtueswhich he displayed, that the erection of the obelisk on the FranzesBerg is owing; for though the inscription seem commemorative of thetriumphs of the army in the later campaigns, the people tell you thatFrancis is held in honour solely because of the countenance which hegave to the works of peace. The articles produced here are thread, cloths, linen, and glass; and there is a manufactory of porcelain at avillage about a mile distant. 

It was market-day when we reached the town, and as the windows of ourapartment commanded an excellent view of one of the chief streets, thescene which they opened out to us proved at once novel and interesting. Crowds of country people were congregated beneath, in all manner ofgrotesque costumes; while stalls of every description--some supportingclothes, some laden with fruit, some set out with china, or glass, orarticles of cutlery, or shoes, --choked up the thoroughfare, to themanifest inconvenience of the few vehicles which made occasionalefforts to pass. The dresses of the women, too, whose business itseemed to be to superintend the sale of the fruit, were strikinglynational. They wore, each of them, a sort of jacket-fashioned boddice, made tight to the shape, a petticoat of yellow serge, which reachedbarely to the mid-calf, bright scarlet stockings, shoes that came up tothe ankles, a handkerchief, which, passing over the head, was tiedbeneath the chin, white buckles, and hips enormously padded. Yet werethey, upon the whole, a handsome race, with clear brunette complexions, and dark hazel eyes; and their good nature, as, one after another, theymade inroads into our apartment, and pressed upon us their cherries, was something quite unusual. They perfectly succeeded in their object;for we ate many more black-hearts than did either of us any good, andbought a still greater quantity than we dreamed of consuming, simplybecause we were unable to resist entreaties that were pressed upon usso good humouredly. 

Having amused ourselves thus for a while, and laid in a tolerablebreakfast, we sallied forth, under the guidance of a valet-du-place, toperambulate the town. We found it surrounded by fortifications; yetexceedingly clean and neat, and its public gardens, beyond the Praguegate, at once extensive and well-arranged. There is a cemetery in themiddle of the new town, which is likewise worth visiting, were it onlybecause of its enormous dimensions. And the barrack, with its sevencapacious courts, is of prodigious extent. Of the churches, on thecontrary, with the exception of the cathedral, much cannot be said inpraise; and even the cathedral is more curious than beautiful. Itpresents an excellent specimen of the kind of ecclesiastical architecturein which the Slavonians of the middle ages delighted. Moreover theLandhaus, or house of meeting for the estates of Moravia, --till thetimes of Joseph II. A wealthy Augustinian convent, --may be visited withadvantage, as may also the Rath-haus and National Museum. Into thecitadel, on the other hand, no stranger can be admitted without anorder from the governor; and such order, unless the party applying forit bring strong recommendations, is not easily procured. 

The great lounge for the fashionables of Brünn is termed the FranzesBerg. It is a sort of table-land, on the side of that hill which thecathedral and bishop's palace overtop; and is laid out in shady walks, well-ordered terraces, and bowers of most umbrageous shelter. Thither, in the cool of the day, that is, between the hours of six and nine inthe evening, the _elite_ of the inhabitants repair, that they mayenjoy the pleasures of a crowded promenade, enlivened by the strains ofone of the finest military bands to which I have ever listened. As maybe supposed, we did not fail to become partakers in the scene, or torelish it greatly; for the music is superb, the view over the valley ofthe Taia beautiful, and the bearing of the company at once decorous andfull of good humour. But having accomplished this, and wandered throughthe greater number of the streets, having visited the public buildings, and made more than half the circuit of the ramparts, we felt that ourbusiness in Brünn was completed. We accordingly returned to our hotel, and being again refused by the police the coveted visé into Hungary, wemade up our minds to pursue our journey on the morrow towards Vienna. 

I made numerous inquiries as to the condition of Protestantism in thiscountry, and received answers which were very little satisfactory. Fromthe effects of the persecution at the close of the Thirty Years' War, it has never recovered. Toleration is, indeed, granted to Lutherans, Calvinists, and Jews, under one or other of which denominations, alldissenters from popery are classed; but of the Moravian brethren, not atrace remains, either in the capital or elsewhere. Had I not previouslymade myself acquainted with the history of this pious sect, thecircumstance of their total extirpation would have much surprised me;because the error of the name which has somehow been applied to them, reaches also to our conception of their origin and fortunes. But thetruth is, that they were never a numerous body in the land after whichthey are now called. It was but in the natural course of events thatbranches should have struck out from Mount Tabor in Bohemia, as wellinto Moravia as into the border districts of Upper Austria, and these, when the parent tree was cast down, soon withered away. I believe thatit is only at Hernhut, in Saxony, and in a few places of Poland andGallicia, that any remnants of them now exist. At all events, I coulddiscover none at Brünn, nor could any of those whom I interrogated onthe subject, direct me where to look for them. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

COUNTRY BETWEEN BRÜNN AND VIENNA. VIENNA. JOURNEY TO PRESBURG. PRESBURG. THE HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTION. 

There is not much to praise, there is very little to describe, in thegeneral aspect of the country between Brünn and Vienna. Here and thereit is exceedingly barren and sterile, here and there just as much thereverse; that is, if fields which produce the vine and the maize inlarge quantities, deserve to be accounted fertile. It is true that ifyou be a soldier, you will examine, with interest, the ground overwhich the hostile armies manoeuvred both previous to the battle ofAusterlitz and afterwards. If geology be your hobby, in the low butpicturesque hills, the far-off roots of nobler mountains, which, inmany places, hang over the road, and give to it an exceedingly romanticcharacter, you will find something for the eye to rest upon. Variousdilapidated castles, too, that crown these rocks, may possibly arrestthe attention of the antiquary; whilst the political economist willfind food for reflection in the outward bearing of social life as hereit presents itself. For there are no towns of any size or note in allthis journey of more than a hundred miles. The villages, moreover, areuniversally mean, and their inhabitants worthy of the homes whichreceive them when the day's task is done. On the other hand, somemagnificent schlosses present themselves by the way-side, as if incontrast to the squalid hamlets on which they look down; and soldiersswarm everywhere. But as I do not know what could be said of suchmatters more than will be found in any road-book which has theslightest pretensions to accuracy, I am very little tempted to advertto them at all. Neither can I speak of the aspect of things as it isoperated upon by the proximity of Vienna, because night had closedround us long before we became conscious of the heaving of the livingvortex. And for the rest, to be delayed at the barrier till ourpassports had been examined, our baggage searched, and a survey of ourpersons and features taken, these were trifling grievances to which usehad reconciled us, and of which we thought nothing. We drove at once tothe Schwan, an excellent though expensive house in the Meal Market, andthere, for a brief period, established our head-quarters. 

What shall I say of Vienna? Nothing, or next to nothing. I lingeredwithin its walls a week, and no more. I ranged its streets, visited itsgalleries, lounged through its palaces, its public gardens, and itstemples. I stood among the coffins in the vault of the chapel of theCapuchins, where rest the ashes of the Imperial family; I gazed longand fondly, in that of the Augustines, on Canova's exquisite monumentto Maria Christina of Saxony. I observed, not without a feeling ofpardonable pride, that the Armoury, which is arranged with great tasteand skill, contains trophies from almost every European nation, Englandalone excepted. I saw the chain with which the Turks, in 1529, endeavoured to obstruct the navigation of the Danube. I beheld theinnumerable curiosities which are contained in the Arsenal, and livedamong the knights and heroes of the middle ages, while gazing on thesplendid suits of armour which the Ambras Museum contains. There is nopublic place which I did not visit, from the Volksgarten to thePrater;--no conspicuous building, beneath the roof of which I failed toenter, from the cathedral to the Invaliden Haus;--no palace which I didnot inspect, from that of the Schweitzer Hof to Schönbrunn. Yet I willnot describe any of them. Why? Because the task has been executed sorecently, and so well, that nothing could proceed from me save idlerepetition; and I do not think that to indulge in such would eitherredound to my own credit, or add to the edification of my readers. 

Of the state of society in this great capital, again, I am notcompetent to form an opinion. I saw but the exterior of things, --thebusy marts, the crowded streets, the shops more capacious and betterstocked than any, except those of London, and perhaps of Paris. Themusic of the bands that played in the public gardens was familiar tome, as well as the countenances and bearing of the joyous throng thatlistened to them. But of the habits of the individuals who composedthese throngs, as they showed themselves within the domestic circle, Ican say nothing. I was told, indeed, that the ties of moral obligationare not very rigidly regarded in Vienna; that, with much polish, andall the charms of high-breeding about it, society is, in fact, exceedingly corrupt. This may or may not be true; but to me the singleaspect which the Austrian capital wore, was of a vast assemblage ofpeople, whose great business it seemed to be to render life agreeable, and its events, in whatever order they might occur, as free fromannoyance as possible. 

I am equally incompetent to pass sentence on the state of learning, andthe fine arts, in Vienna. I found, indeed, that it was fashionable topay court to men of acknowledged talent and genius, and that to musicand dancing the Viennese are just as much addicted as any other membersof the Germanic family. But except from an evening spent at thetheatre, I had no opportunity of determining how far they were or werenot gifted with a taste more pure than prevails elsewhere. Neither canI tell how the important matters of eating and drinking are conducted, except in hotels and restaurateurs; for the season was unfavourable tomaking Viennese acquaintances; and had the contrary been the case, thetime at my disposal was insufficient. But of cuisine at the Schwan, atthe Daums and Kaiserin von Oesterreich, I can give a very favourablereport, as well as of the cleanliness and even elegance of theirrespective eating halls, and the civility of their waiters. What, then, shall I say of Vienna? This, and no more. That to me it presentedgreater attractions than any other continental capital that I havevisited; that I would have willingly spent as many weeks within itswalls as I spent days, and that though eager to pass on to a country, to examine into the condition of which, constituted one and theprincipal object of my journey, I did not make up my mind to quit thecity without reluctance. I dare say there is enough in and around it, to call forth the regrets of the right-thinking; but these were mattersinto which I could not pause to inquire. As I have already said, theexterior of things was all that presented itself to me, and with that Iwas delighted. 

There is a custom in Vienna of demanding your passport when you firstmake your appearance at the barrier, and requiring you to showyourself, within four-and-twenty hours afterwards, at thepolice-office. The object of these arrangements is, that you maysatisfy the authorities of your solvency, and receive from them aletter of security for such length of time as you propose, or they bewilling that you should remain in the city. We attended to theestablished regulation, of course, and now, having fixed the hour ofour departure, endeavoured to obtain from the Hungarian chancery thelicense, without which it would have been impossible to pass thefrontier. It was granted without hesitation, though in terms at oncevague and rigid. I stated my business; that I went merely as atraveller, curious to become acquainted with the people and thecountry, and that not knowing the points which I might be induced tovisit, or the length of time which might be required to visit them, Iwas anxious to receive a passport, as generally and loosely worded asmight be. The gentleman to whom I addressed myself was exceedinglypolite; but he did not exactly fall into my views. "There is nonecessity, " said he, "to deviate in your instance from the common orderof such things. A passport is required from every traveller at thefrontier; but after you are once in Hungary, you may go where youplease, and stay as long as you feel disposed, without attracting theslightest notice. I will, therefore, write upon your passport, that youare permitted to visit Pesth and its vicinity for a month, and toreturn. " I thought this odd, but could not, of course, object to it, because I concluded that a person in authority must be a much betterjudge of what was necessary than I; and I have now given the detail atlength, because the sequel will show that what was esteemed perfectlyregular in Vienna, had well-nigh told against me in one of the remoteprovinces. 

There is constant communication, as everybody knows, between Vienna, and Pesth, and Constantinople, by steamboats which touch, as theyproceed, at almost all the most important places that lie along thebanks of the Danube. Our original intention was to have availedourselves of one of these; but we found on inquiry, that the navigationwas intricate, and the channel of the river so low, that hardly anyview was to be obtained from the ship's deck. We determined, therefore, to proceed by land as far as Presburg, and to regulate our futuremovements according to the aspect of things there, and the informationwhich by its inhabitants might be communicated to us. About seveno'clock, on a bright July morning, we accordingly took our seats in ahired carriage, and were swept along through what are called the Marxerlines, beyond the outermost suburbs of the capital. The country roundwas, for a while, uninteresting enough. A huge plain was before us, which the heat of the weather had scorched into the semblance of adesert; and there were few objects upon it, of which I can say thatthey much relieved its monotony. Several villages came, indeed, in ourway, and near one of them, called Semmering, a large turreted buildingattracted our attention. It had once been a summer residence of theEmperor; it is now a powder-magazine, and stands, as our postilioninformed us, on the same spot which, during the siege of Vienna in1529, was covered by the tent of the Sultan Solyman. But we had passedthis some time, ere the scenery began to improve. When such improvementdid commence, however, it was very complete. The road wound inwards soas to bring us parallel with the river, and to open out a fine view ofits waters, which being split up into numerous branches, pouredthemselves over the plain, and enclosed a countless number of islandswithin their eddies. Among these, our postilion pointed out that onwhich Napoleon, by the breaking down of his bridge, was, during theprogress of the battle of Asperne, reduced to the utmost extremity, --anextremity out of which nothing but the misplaced confidence of hisopponents enabled him to escape. It is an extensive flat, covered alongits edges by groves of giant willows; while just beyond it, on thecontinent, the village spires of Asperne and Essling peer forth fromamid screens of thick foliage. 

From this period till our arrival at the Hungarian frontier, we never, for any length of time, lost sight of the Danube. Here and there, indeed, the road struck inwards, so as to carry us away, perhaps, anEnglish mile or more, from its banks; but the river, after it reunites, is so broad, and the country rises over it to such a height, that itsnoble expanse is seldom concealed from you, and that only for a moment. Moreover, the monuments of other days, --old castles, dilapidatedtowers, with here and there a rude pillar, or block of granite, --became, at each post which we gained in advance, more and more numerous. NearSchwächat, for example, about ten English miles out of Vienna, anditself a village of some two thousand inhabitants, stands a stone, which marks the spot where Leopold first greeted the chivalrousSobiesky, --not with the ardour which might have been expected from onein his situation, but coldly and ceremoniously, as if the king, whocame to save, were sufficiently honoured by the notice of the emperorwhom he had delivered. Next came we to Fischamend, where the travellerwill do well to halt, if it be only that he may delight himself, as wedid, with the magnificent scene which wooes his gaze from the summit ofthe scaur that overhangs the Danube. I do not think that I ever behelda panorama of the sort which enchanted me more. We were elevated, perhaps, three hundred feet above the bed of the river. Its broad, butnot limpid waters, measuring, perhaps, half a mile across, laved thevery base of the precipice, and swept along by their current a rudebarge or two, the only productions of man's industry and skill thatbroke in upon their loneliness. Beyond was a wide plain, magnificentlywooded, with here and there a village, looking forth from its coveringof green boughs; while, up and down, the eye rested, either upon acontinuance of the same bold scaur; or, more attractive still, on theadvanced guard of those mountains amid which I and my fellow-travellerhad resolved to make our way. Then there were tower and castle crowningthe far-off rocks; there were rich vineyards, closing in to the verybrink on which we stood; and, as if to complete the picture, a herd ofdun-coloured cattle, oppressed with the excessive sultriness of theday, descended, through a sort of ravine, in a long line, and stood tocool themselves in the Danube. Altogether it was as fair a landscape asthe eye of the painter would desire to behold; and we did not leave it, till a few fruitless efforts had been made to transfer some, at least, of its most attractive features to a blank leaf in my journal book. 

After leaving Fischamend we passed in succession Regelsbrunn, DeutschAltenburg, and Hainburg, near the former of which the attention isarrested by what may easily be mistaken for the ruins of a city. Itproved, however, on examination, to be the commencement of an ancientwall, which runs from Regelsbrunn all the way to the Neusiedler See; ofwhich the origin is lost in the mists of antiquity, but which isgenerally supposed to have been thrown up by the Romans. There arestill the remains of towers here and there, which give to it, whenfirst beheld, its civic character; and it was, I believe, made use of, so recently as 1683, as a line of defence against the Turks. MoreoverDeutsch Altenburg has its objects of interest also;--a tumulus, ormound, sixty feet in altitude, but of a date to which tradition goesnot back; while the church of St. John, which crowns an eminence near, is accounted one of the most perfect Gothic edifices in the Austriandominions. And, last of all, there is Hainburg, with its old castle, and gateways equally old; both exhibiting manifest traces of war ontheir exterior defences, even to the cannon-balls, which, since thelast invasion of the Turks, have been left sticking where they fell. These, meeting you, as it were, one after the other, and forming pointsof rest to the eye when it has grown weary of ranging over the plain, produce a powerful effect upon your imagination; which is certainly notlessened by the aspect of the living creatures, whether of the human orsome inferior species, which begin to gather round you. 

I had been prepared by all that fell from those, who, having themselvespenetrated into Hungary, were obliging enough, both in Dresden and atVienna, to give me hints as to my own proceedings, for a state ofthings, both animate and inanimate, very different from that which hadmet me in Germany. I knew that the people were much less civilized thanthe Germans; and that for one, who proposed to wander as I did, alone, and, wherever it might be possible to do so, on foot, arms might befound convenient, perhaps necessary. Yet I did not expect to see achange so complete, in every point of view, as that which becameperceptible even before we passed the frontier. There began to meet us, a little way in advance of Deutsch Altenburg, troops of thoseTorpindas, whom, in the ignorance of our hearts, we had, in Bohemia, mistaken for gipseys. There they were, with their hosen and coarsecloaks, their broad sombrero hats, and matted locks, trudging along, inbands of twelve or fourteen, and looking up with a glance of halfcunning, half curiosity, from beneath their shaggy eyebrows. By-and-bycame herds of cattle, quite different, both in colour and form, fromany which we had previously encountered; and then pigs, --monsters ofthe first class, --whom men, evidently but one degree removed frombarbarism, were driving before them. My young companion and I lookedfirst at one another, and then at the pistols and other weapons whichhung about our persons; and, as if the thoughts of each had wanderedinto the same channel, we smiled and said nothing. 

We had quitted Vienna early in the morning; it might be about three inthe afternoon when we reached the Custom House, --a station inWolfsthal, remarkable for nothing except the constant bustle that goeson in its street. In order to reach the village we had been againcarried away from the river, through a beautiful valley, hemmed in oneither side, by well-wooded hills; one of which bears upon its summitwhat must have been, in its day, a castle of prodigious strength. Wewere now clear of that pass, and the process of examination began. Inour case it was both brief and simple. We were asked whether ourknapsacks contained any prohibited article? We did not even know whatwas prohibited; but finding that of copper the authorities were chieflyjealous, we answered in the negative, and were permitted to pass. Itwas not so with a whole string of wagons which came from the oppositedirection. One after another they were compelled to discharge theircontents, very much, as it seemed, to the inconvenience of the drivers;and not till a rigid examination of each separate bale and package hadtaken place, was permission given to load again. I could not helpthinking that the policy which drew so broad a line of distinctionbetween one portion of a great empire and another, was, to say theleast of it, very singular; and I was not slow in being taught that itis very short-sighted too, because exceedingly distasteful both to theHungarians, whom it injures, and the Austrians, whom it is designed tofavour. 

Our passports were looked at, of course; stamped with the seal of theofficial, and returned to us;--after which we pushed on. We crossed thefrontier, and became sensible, on the instant, that a new country wasbefore us. To the right, as far as the eye could reach, was oneenormous plain. Rich it was, and apparently well cultivated; for, except here and there, where a huge meadow intervened, the wholesurface was covered with the most luxuriant corn. Of trees, on thecontrary, scarce a sprinkling appeared; there were no groves at all, and even hedge-rows were infrequent. Towards the left, again, there wasthat sort of character which belongs to a region in which an extensiverange of highlands has terminated. Frequent hills and dales were there;grassy knolls, with little valleys running through them; and such aprofusion of wood as held out the assurance that, in that direction atleast, the eye would not pine in vain for foliage. By-and-by, frombehind these knolls, the Danube made his appearance; not broader, certainly, than he had seemed to be at Fischamend, or even above it, but evidently deeper, I think, more rapid;--and altogether, with adegree of majesty about him which attaches to the one object, thatgives its peculiar character to a living landscape. The Danube is, indeed, a magnificent river; albeit the people who inhabit his banksare only just beginning to find out that he may be turned to moreaccounts than that of mere beauty. 

The interval between Hainburg and Presburg is but a single post; fromWolfsthal it is less than half that distance; yet, owing to the delaywhich occurred at the Custom House, five o'clock had struck ere weobtained our first view of this secondary capital of Hungary. Itssituation is fine, close to the Danube, at the base and along theascent of low hills; the crest of which is surmounted by the remains ofwhat was once a royal residence. This latter, the Alba Regali of thechroniclers, is of very ancient date in its foundation. It was enlargedin 1766 by the Empress Maria Theresa, and in 1809 burned to the ground. The Hungarians say, that an Italian regiment in the French service setfire to it wantonly, when evacuating the place. But, however this maybe, it gives, even in its ruins, an air of aristocracy to the town;which, though neat and clean, and containing a population of thirty orforty thousand souls, would otherwise present no very striking featureto the eye of the stranger. Indeed, Presburg is a great deal too nearthe frontier, and maintains a communication too frequent and tooregular with Vienna, to have retained almost any marks of its Hungarianorigin. You might, both from the structure of the buildings, and thedress and manners of the inhabitants, easily fall into the error ofsupposing that it belonged to Austria. 

We approached Presburg by a good macadamized road, which follows thecourse of the river, on the opposite bank from that along which thecity is built. It was very little thronged either with carriages orhorses, and gave few indications, in other respects, that a large, and, as we had been assured, a bustling town, lay but a short way ahead ofus. This was the more surprising, that we could discover no evidencesof any transfer of the line of commerce from the land to the water; forthere was neither barge nor steam-boat to ruffle the bosom of theDanube. But the unfavourable impression created by such an air ofstillness was not destined to remain. There is a long bridge of boats, which connects the opposite banks of the river, and affords facilitiesto the inhabitants of Presburg for passing and repassing. We saw, as wedrove on, that it was crowded with people, in their best attire; andthe sounds of music, which rose from an inclosure hard by, sufficientlypointed out the nature of the attraction. We had come on a lucky day, for it was a festival, and all the world was abroad, to enjoy thedelights of a calm and delicious evening amid the shady walks of thepublic gardens. 

He who goes to Presburg without venturing further, need not flatterhimself that he has made any, even the slightest acquaintance with themanners and usages of the Hungarians. The town is not a Hungarian, buta German town; the people are Germans, the language is German, and thestyle of living is German. It is true, that the historical associationsconnected with the place are all as thoroughly Hungarian as are thosewhich greet you at Ofen or at Graan; but the living men and women seemto have striven, and striven successfully, to lay aside all thepeculiarities which could, by possibility, connect them with the talesof other days. So far we profited by the circumstance that we found atthe Sun excellent accommodations; and excellent accommodations are notto be procured at all the hotels in Hungary; yet were we, on the whole, dissatisfied with it. We desired to study human nature under a novelgarb, and we found it still clothed as it had been in Austria. Nevertheless, the visits which we paid to the Old Palace, to theCathedral, and the Königsberg, were highly interesting, because of theimportant page in Hungarian story which they may be regarded asillustrating. What that page contains, it may not be amiss if I takethe present opportunity of stating. 

It is the peculiar boast of the Hungarians, that they live under whatthey are pleased to term, a free constitution. Subject to the sway ofthe house of Hapsburg only through the accidental lapse of the crowninto the female line, they utterly eschew all dependence upon Austria, and would turn with indignation from him who should insinuate that overthem the laws of the empire exercise the slightest authority. They arefellow-subjects with the Austrians and Bohemians only so far that theimperial and the regal crowns happen to be worn by the same individual. But there is this marked difference in their respective situations, that whereas over Austria and Bohemia, the emperor exercises anabsolute sway, in Hungary he has his prerogatives, beyond the limits ofwhich he is not permitted to pass. He cannot, of his own will andpleasure, enact a new law; he cannot interfere with the privileges ofhis nobles; he cannot levy a tax, nor impose a new burden upon thenation, till the parliament, or estates, have given him authority to doso. It is because at Presburg the parliament meets, and that there alsothe ceremony of the coronation is carried through, that I have selectedthis stage in my narrative for the statement of matters which were notrendered familiar to me till a protracted sojourn in the country gaveme opportunities of collecting information, both from its livinginhabitants, and from the treasured archives with which its librariesabound. 

The tract of territory which, on our maps, we describe as Hungary, ispeopled by two distinct races of men;--the Hungarians, who inhabit thegreat plain of the Danube, of which Cormorn may be regarded as thecentre; and the Slavonians, by whom the mountain districts areoccupied, as well in Carpatia and Transylvania, as in Croatia and therugged districts that border upon Styria. Of these, the Hungarians arenot considered to amount to more than four millions of souls at theutmost; whereas the numbers of the Slavonians fall not short of sixmillions. 

As is the case elsewhere, however, so has it happened here; thepolitical institutions of the few have been imposed with a strong handon the many; for the laws that prevail, as well as the machinerycreated to enforce them, are alike Hungarian. Yet the Hungarians are, so to speak, mere strangers in the land, who owe their originalsettlement there to the edge of the sword, and by the edge of the swordwere long compelled to maintain it. 

It seems now to be admitted, that the theory which once connected theconquerors of Pannonia with the Huns, is entirely without foundation. The Hungarians are the descendants of one of those eastern hordes whomthe Mongols, in their progress southward, drove from their homes; andwho, breaking through Russia, and traversing a large extent of Poland, won a settlement for themselves late in the ninth century, near thesources of the Theiss. Their legends say, that by lineage, they areMagyars, and that they obtained the name which they now bear through anaccident. There stood, near the spot where they first permanentlyencamped, a castle, called in the language of the country, Hung-var, which the strangers won, and converted into a sort of capital. As oftenas they sallied forth from that castle on predatory or otherexpeditions, the Slavonians were accustomed to exclaim, "Here come theHung-varians, " and the title thus given at first as a term of merederision or hostility, came, by-and-by, to be accepted as a nationaldistinction. 

I am not prepared to avow either my own acceptance, or my ownrejection, of this mode of accounting for the origin of the Hungarianname. There is no good reason to be assigned one way or the other; fornations, like individuals, generally owe their designations to somecause equally simple; but that the Magyars, or Myars, brought with themthe elements of that constitution under which it is the boast of theirdescendants that they still live, is just as easily proved as that weowe our most valuable institutions to the customs and usages of ourSaxon forefathers. The Myars, like the Saxons, appear to have lived, during seasons of peace, in obedience to a whole host of petty andindependent chiefs. If war broke out, or a foreign expedition wasresolved upon, the heads of clans made choice of one of their order tocommand the rest;--when the exigencies of the moment ceased to operate, the commander fell back into his proper place among his equals. Sevenof these tribes are stated to have taken part in the earliest attack onPannonia. They were led by one Almus, a brave and successful warrior;and soon spread themselves over the whole of the plain; but not formany generations could they count on a permanent cessation from thehostilities with which the mountaineers, driven back, yet unsubdued, continued to harass them. The results were precisely such as occurredin Normandy and England, and every where else, where tribes advanced toa similar pitch of civilization, won settlements by the sword. Arpad, the son of Almus, was chosen to succeed his father; and the foundationswere laid both of an hereditary monarchy, and of a power able andwilling to place limits to that of the crown. 

The best historians inform us, that between Arpad and the heads oftribes, a solemn compact was entered into, which, in addition to otherand less important stipulations, contained the following. It was agreedthat the order of succession to the throne should be hereditary; thatthe male line should have the preference; the female not beingexcluded; but that the inalienable right of the people to elect theirown sovereign, should never be called in question. Accordingly, incases where there is no break in the chain, and the son mounts thethrone which the father has bequeathed to him, certain forms areenjoined, of which it cannot be said that they are mere idleceremonies. The king's title to govern must be solemnly acknowledged bythe states; and oaths are at his accession administered, any refusal toaccept which would lead to his rejection. Moreover there is an articlein this treaty which, in the event of a failure in the royal line, secures to the nation the right of free and unrestricted choice, andthe right in question was exercised, to its fullest extent, so early asthe beginning of the twelfth century, when the house of Arpad becameextinct, and Charles of Anjou, called to the throne by the free voiceof the people, laid the foundations of a new dynasty. 

While they thus consented, as a measure of prudence, to theestablishment among them of an hereditary throne, Arpad's peers werenot willing that it should be filled by an absolute monarch. Theyclaimed for themselves, and for their children after them, the right ofcounselling the prince in every emergency. They stipulated, thatneither their persons nor their property, should be at the prince'sdisposal. Military service they were, indeed, bound to pay; that is, itwas their duty to appear in the field when lawfully summoned, and todefend the country from foreign invasion, or internal revolt. But evenmilitary service, in the advancement of schemes of conquest, the kingcould not exact from them; he had no power to lead them across theborder, except with their own consent. Then, again, within the limitsof their respective estates, each noble was independent; while allsituations of general trust and authority under the crown, were claimedby them as their birth-right. Hence the establishment of the palatinatein Hungary Proper, of the ban in Croatia and Slavonia, of the Vayvodein Transylvania, and of the great functionaries, by whatever titledesignated, each of whom appears to have enjoyed in his own province, rather the privileges of a feudal sovereign, than the powers of a highofficer of state. 

Such were the commencements of the Hungarian constitution, --anunbending aristocracy from the outset, into the forms of which time hasdoubtless introduced many changes, --but of which the spirit and theprinciple continue to this day, precisely what they were nine centuriesago. The first of these innovations occurred when Stephen ascended thethrone; and by the open profession of Christianity, gave a differentcharacter to the whole order of society. His predecessors had neverworn a title more imposing than that of duke; Stephen received from thepope both a royal crown, and the style and dignity connected with it. Moreover, Stephen, by creating bishoprics, and richly endowing boththem and the monasteries, very much widened the circle of the nobility;which by the creation of new offices, and the granting of fiefs both byprelates and princes, received from time to time large accessions toits numbers. Then began distinctions to be claimed and recognised, evenin the rights and privileges of the privileged classes. The nobles weredivided into princes, prelates, barons of the kingdom, and magnates, whose rights, though in some trifling respects different, were yet somuch akin as to permit their being treated as political equals. Next tothem, yet claiming the essential privileges of nobility, came theking's chief retainers, with the holders of fiefs under the princes andprelates, and the principal retainers of the magnates; and finally, ahumbler class followed, who, corresponding to our territorial butuntitled aristocracy, are now content to bear the appellation ofeidelmen, or gentry. All of these were, in the strictest acceptation ofthe term, freemen. They owed to the sovereign their right hands in war;and when the exigencies of the state required, such aids in money asthey themselves might vote, but without such vote, in solemn comitiagranted, there was no authority anywhere to exact from them either ablade of corn, or the most minute coin of the realm. 

It was the right of the nobles to assemble and pass resolutions which, when approved of by the king, obtained the force of law. Up to thecommencement of the thirteenth century, they used to meet in the openair; and as each brought to the place of assembly as large an armedfollowing as he could muster, it was no unusual circumstance to find asmany as eighty thousand men in the field. Such a crowd could effectnothing of its own free will, and was hardly to be managed by anyspecies of influence. At length, in 1235, Bea IV. Succeeded inintroducing the system of representation which still holds good. Bythis arrangement, an hereditary seat in the legislature was restrictedto the magnates, with whom sat likewise such official personages asprelates and barons of the kingdom. The nobles of inferior rank choseone or more from each county to represent their body, while the clergywere represented by abbots, titular bishops, and dignitaries of aninferior degree. By-and-by, during the reign of Sigismond, in 1386, free towns and royal cities were authorized, in like manner, to choosedeputies, and then the framework of the Hungarian legislature becamecomplete. 

The Hungarians are never more gratified than when an opportunity offersof instituting a parallel between their houses of parliament and ours;indeed, their taste for comparing is such, that they gravely contendfor a perfect similarity of principle between the constitutions ofEngland and of Hungary. It would be as impolitic as unjust, whendiscussing the question with them, to deny that some such resemblanceprevails. Both monarchies are limited monarchies, in which thesovereigns, though invested with absolute power as executors of thelaw, are just as completely circumscribed by the law, as the meanest oftheir subjects. It is curious to observe, likewise, how nearly theprerogatives of the one correspond in all essential points with theprerogatives of the other. The persons of both are sacred. Each is, within his own realm, the fountain of honour and of justice; eachcommands his own army, though by neither may its numbers be increasedwithout a vote of the legislature. And more remarkable still, the kingof Hungary, though a Roman Catholic, is the head of the church inHungary, in the very same sense which we apply to the term, when wespeak of the king of England as the head of the English church. InHungary, the crown appoints absolutely to all bishoprics, abbacies, andeven to canonries. Confirmed the choice must be, in the first of thesecases, by the Pope, otherwise the spiritual authority attached to theoffice would be wanting; but the bishop-elect enters at once upon thepossession of his temporalties, of which no exercise of papal influencecan dispossess him. Moreover, it is in Hungary as it is inEngland, --the affairs of state are administered in all departments bythe king's authority. The king's taxes, the king's duties, the king'sescheats and forfeitures, are levied; the harbours are the king'sharbours, the courts are the king's courts, the fortresses are theking's fortresses, and the people are the king's lieges. But here theresemblance between the constitutions of the two countries ends, andall endeavour to trace it further is useless. 

Even in reference to the kingly office, we soon begin to find ourselvesdiverging one from another. The crown in Hungary is elective far moredecidedly than in England. We, indeed, in the ceremony of ourcoronation, retain so much of the spirit which animated our Saxonforefathers, that the question is still put to the people, --"Will yehave this prince to reign over you?" and the prince is bound by solemnoath to govern according to law; but the ceremony of a coronation isnot so vital among us, as that it might not be passed over withimpunity. In Hungary, so tenacious are the magnates on the one hand, and so sensitive the emperor on the other, that he never omits, in hisown life-time, to have the heir to the imperial diadem, crowned king inHungary. The present emperor became king of Hungary three yearsprevious to the death of his father; and now the empress has beencrowned at Presburg, so that there may be no link wanting in the chainwhich holds the several portions of the empire together. Again, theking of Hungary, while he enjoys various privileges, to which the kingof England cannot lay claim, is likewise subjected to variousrestraints, from which the king of England is free. The former, forexample, as he appoints arbitrarily to vacant bishoprics, so heinherits the whole of a bishop's professional savings, who may chanceto have died intestate. If the bishop possess hereditary property, itgoes, of course, at his decease, to his next of kin; but hisaccumulations, be they great or small, are taken possession of by thecrown. And even the making of a will saves but one-third of them. Onthe other hand, the king of Hungary is watched and restrained in theexercise of his prerogatives, not only by a parliament, jealous of itsprivileges, but by officers appointed for that purpose. The palatine isa strange compound of king's lieutenant and guardian of the libertiesof the nation. He is chosen for life out of four personages proposed tothe states by the sovereign; and as in the king's absence he exercisesvice-regal powers, so both then, and at other seasons, he mediatesbetween the crown and the people, taking care that the former shall nottrench upon the liberties of the latter, nor the latter make anyencroachments on the legal prerogatives of the former. 

I might specify many other points in which even the parallel betweenthe kingly offices in Hungary and in England fails; but it is notnecessary. We have but to pass downwards to the classes below royalty, and all ground of comparison between the institutions of the twocountries ceases. The parliament of Hungary is a very different affairfrom the parliament of England. Its members sit, to be sure, in twochambers, or houses, and enjoy, when assembled, the most absolutefreedom of speech; but they meet very rarely, they transact very littlebusiness when they do meet, and both in the principle which brings themtogether, and in their arrangements when assembled, they outrage everynotion which we are accustomed to cherish of perfection in suchmatters. The spirit of the Hungarian constitution requires that theestates should assemble at least once in every five years; the practiceof the same constitution leaves the king at liberty to call together, and to dissolve the chambers at pleasure. I have already stated, thatto the higher order of nobility, the privilege appertains of meeting, in their own persons, to deliberate on questions affecting the publicweal. These, --the princes and magnates, --occupy the same chamber withthe prelates and barons of the kingdom. The other chamber is given upto the representatives of the lesser nobles, of the free towns, and ofthe clergy; and, strange to say, to the proxies of such magnates as mayfind it inconvenient, personally, to attend in their places. But thoughthere are only two chambers, there are four distinct estates, each ofwhich votes within itself in the first instance, and then carries theresult of its scrutiny to the common centre. And finally, while theUpper House is presided over by the palatine, the lower is regulatedand kept in order by an official personage who bears the somewhatlengthy title of Personalis presentiæ Regiæ in judiciis locum tenens. He must be of noble birth, of course, and is likewise President of theHigh Court of Justiciary. There are not fewer than 661 members in thefirst of these houses, whereas the last can count upon 236 only. 

The representative members of the Hungarian legislature are all paid bytheir constituents, who again consist of the eidelmen of the severalcounties. Of these very many are, in point of fact, mere peasants, whomthe misfortunes or imprudence of their ancestors have reduced topoverty; but all must have noble blood in their veins, --for it is anhonourable descent, and not the possession of lands or houses, whichentitles a man to exercise the elective franchise in Hungary. Suchpoor nobles are, of course, controlled and managed by their wealthierneighbours, who, when the season of an election comes round, deal withthem pretty much as our own candidates and their committees deal withthe poor voters in boroughs. There is prodigious feasting at thecastle, --there is no end of magnanimous declarations, --no lack ofbrilliant and spirit-stirring speeches; under the influence of which, and of the wine and strong drinks that accompany them, the paupereidelman becomes a hero in his own eyes. But, alas! political gratitudeis not more enduring in Hungary than elsewhere. The crisis has itscourse, and the scion of a glorious race, --the representative of afamily which followed Almus to the Theiss and gave the coronet toArpad, --goes back to his hovel, and his daily toil, and his filth, andhis wretchedness, there to chew the cud of bitter fancy, till thereturn of an electioneering season shall call him forth once more toact a part upon the stage of life. 

My reader will be good enough to believe that while I thus speak of acountry, --very much under-peopled by ten millions of souls, --I amreferring to the condition of a minute fraction of that population, --ofsomething less than two hundred thousand persons, in whom alone theexistence of rights and privileges is by the law recognised. Thepeople, --properly so called, --the peasants who cultivate the soil, themechanics who construct the dwellings, the artisans who fabricate yourhousehold utensils, your wearing apparel, your carriages, your ships, your machinery; these are precisely in the condition of Gurth and Wambain Sir Walter Scott's romance of _Ivanhoe_. In the rural districtsevery man whom you meet, provided he be neither a noble nor a soldier, belongs to somebody. He has no rights of his own. He is a portion ofanother man's chattels; he is bought and sold with the land, as if hewere a horse or an ox. On him, too, all the common burdens of the stateare thrown. If the parliament vote an increase of the taxes, it is fromthe peasants that these taxes are wrung; for the lord takes care, though he himself pay immediately, that he shall be indemnified by thededuction which he makes from his serfs' allowances. It is the samespirit which provides that the peasantry, who make the roads, and bythe labour of their hands keep them in repair, shall be the only classof persons of whom toll is anywhere exacted. An eidelman in his chariotpasses free through every barrier, --a poor peasant's wagon is stoppedat each, till the full amount of mout, as it is called, has beensettled. But this is not all. Till the year 1835, each landedproprietor possessed over his peasantry an almost unlimited power ofpunishment, into his manner of exercising which no human being evertook the trouble to inquire. Accordingly, you still find, as anappendage to each mansion, a prison, with its bolts and chains, andother implements of torture; while the rod was as freely applied to thebacks of delinquents, real or imaginary, as ever the whip madeacquaintance with the persons of our own negroes in a West Indiansugar-field. It is to Count Chechini, (Szechenzi, ) in this, and manyother respects, the greatest benefactor to his country which moderntimes has raised up, that Hungary stands indebted for a law, which, forthe first time in the annals of the nation, gives to the poor peasantsomething like protection against the tyranny of a capricious master. Since the passing of that act there have been established in all thecounties regular magistrates, before whom delinquents must be brought, and without whose sanction the punishment of the lash is supposed neverto be inflicted. I did not find, however, on inquiry, that much regardwas paid in practice to this statute. The nobles still flog theirserfs, when the humour takes them, and the serfs are too hopeless offinding redress, by an appeal from one noble to another, ever, exceptin extreme cases, to think of making it. 

Such, in few words, is the Hungarian constitution, --a limited monarchy, doubtless, which secures from the oppression of the sovereign a minutefraction of his subjects, and leaves all the rest to the tendermercies, not of one supreme head, whom motives of policy will renderhumane, and generally just, but of a band of nobles; who, nursed in themost exaggerated notions of their own importance, look upon all beneaththem as mere beasts of burden. To speak of it as akin to theconstitution under which we live, is to err entirely. It may, and does, in numerous points, resemble the constitution of England, as it existedunder the first of the Tudors; but with that which secures to everyEnglishman the rights which make him what he is, it has nothing incommon. A Hungarian noble is a very great man. A Hungarian eidelman isinferior to him, only if he be less wealthy. A Hungarian peasant is aserf. There is an excellent preparation made, doubtless, for betterthings in the future, but in its immediate working, the constitutionwhich so orders matters, is to the people a thousand-fold moreoppressive than the most absolute despotism. 

I have spoken of the solemnity of the king's coronation as taking placeat Presburg; I am not sure that it is necessary to describe theceremony in detail. Like its counterpart among ourselves, it isregarded as the ratification of a covenant between the sovereign andthe people, and is performed, amid much pomp, both religious and civil. The monarch elect, attended by his magnates and councillors, repairs tothe cathedral, where the officiating prelate administers to him thecustomary oaths, by which he binds himself to govern according to law, to protect the church, to uphold the privileges of the nobility, and tosecure the kingdom against foreign aggression. He is anointed with theholy oil, and undergoes the usual routine of enrobing and crowning;after which he proceeds on horseback, the states of the realm in histrain, to the Königsberg. It is a circular mound, perhaps fifty feethigh, which stands just outside the city, and commands an extensiveview over the plain, both eastward and southward. This the kingascends, his nobles, and knights, and dignified clergy being collectedin a mass round its base; and, as all are on horseback, --as theirdresses are picturesque, their arms and housings costly, and their portchivalrous in the extreme, the spectacle is, perhaps, as grand as canbe met with in any part of Europe. Beyond the circle of the privilegedclasses, again, enormous crowds are gathered, --for the populationflocks from far and near to behold the ceremony; and the curious insuch matters will doubtless find as much to admire in their grotesqueappearance, as in the haughty port and Oriental splendour of theirsuperiors. Meanwhile the king has ridden to the crest of the hill, where, before the bishops, he again gives the pledges which had beenexacted from him in the cathedral. Finally, he draws his sword, andmaking a cut towards each of the cardinal points, thereby denotes, that, let danger come from what quarter it may, he will repel it. Thenare medals scattered among the crowd; then is the air rent with shouts, and the princely cavalcade returns to the city in the same order whichattended its outward progress. 

END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. 

 * * * * *

_SELECT BOOKS FOR USE IN FAMILIES_, AND_FOR REWARDS AND PRESENTS, _

PUBLISHED BYJOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND, LONDON. 

THE CHILD'S GUIDE TO GOOD BREEDING; founded on CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. ByMrs. MARSHALL, of Manchester. Handsomely bound, gilt edges, 2_s. _ 6_d. _

In the present age, when so much is done for the benefit of the risinggeneration, when works of no small size or price are published, toteach our daughters to dress their dolls, and our sons to whip theirtops, and both together to play at "hide and seek, " and "puss in thecorner;" that so wide and important a field of instruction should havehitherto remained wholly uncultivated, seems indeed "passing strange. "My own often and deeply-felt want of such a work, has induced me tomake the attempt which I now lay before the public, in the humble yetearnest hope that it may in some degree supply the blank in ourjuvenile literature, to which I allude; until some brighter and moreable spirit start forward in the path I have opened, to supply thedeficiencies of this little work, --deficiencies no one can be moresensible of than I am myself, or can rejoice more sincerely in seeingnoted and supplied; since to be humbly useful, is the motive I have atall times proposed to myself, in what I have ventured to submit to thesame tribunal. --_From the Author's Address. _

Also, by the same Lady, THE CHILD'S GUIDE TO DEVOTION; with an ESSAY ON PRAYER, adapted to theunderstanding of Children. 

MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS; a Domestic Story. 

ANNETTE MOWBRAY; or, CONVERSATIONS with MAMA. Handsomely bound, giltedges, 3_s. _

THE FIRST LIE. Gilt edges, 6_d. _

THE FIRST THEFT. Gilt edges, 6_d. _

 * * * * *

POPULAR TALES BY MRS. GODWIN. 

With Engravings. 2_s. _ each. 

COUSIN KATE; or, the Punishment of Pride. BASIL HARLOW; or, Prodigality is not Generosity. ESTHER MORE; or, Truth is Wisdom. LOUISA SEYMOUR; or, Hasty Impressions. ALICIA GREY; or, To be Useful is to be Happy. JOSEPHINE; or, Early Trials. 

_SELECT BOOKS, FOR REWARDS AND PRESENTS. _

*A FAMILIAR HISTORY of BIRDS; their Nature, Habits, and Instincts. ByEDWARD STANLEY, D. D. , Lord Bishop of Norwich, Pres. Lin. Soc. _NewEdition. _ Two Vols. With many Engravings, 7_s. _

*DOMESTICATED ANIMALS considered with reference to Civilization andthe Arts. By MARY ROBERTS. Also, *WILD ANIMALS; their Nature, Habits, and Instincts, and the Regionsthey inhabit. Both with Engravings. 3_s. _ 6_d. _ each. 

*MINERALS and METALS; their Natural History and Uses in the Arts; withAccounts of Mines and Mining. 2_s. _ 6_d. _

THE HOUSE I LIVE IN; or, Popular Illustrations of the Structure andFunctions of the Human Body. With Cuts, 2_s. _ 6_d. _

 "I am fearfully and wonderfully made!"

CONVERSATIONS ON GARDENING AND NATURAL HISTORY. With Engravings, 2_s. _6_d. _

*THE BOOK of TREES; describing the Nature and Products of theprincipal Timber Trees, and the larger species of Palms. With numerousEngravings. 2_s. _

*BOOK of ANIMALS. BOOK of BIRDS. BOOK of FISHES. BOOK of REPTILES. BOOK of SHELLS. 1_s. _ 6_d. _ each. All with numerous Engravings. 

 * * * * *

*THREE WEEKS IN PALESTINE AND LEBANON. With many Engravings. 3_s. _

TWO YEARS AT SEA: being the Narrative of a Voyage to the Swan River andVan Diemen's Land; thence, to the Burman Empire, and various parts ofIndia. By JANE ROBERTS. With Engravings. 5_s. _

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS; his LIFE, VOYAGES, and DISCOVERY of the NEWWORLD. With Cuts. 2_s. _ 6_d. _

CAPTAIN COOK; his VOYAGES and DISCOVERIES: with an Account ofPitcairn's Island, and the Mutiny of the Bounty. With Engravings. 2_s. _6_d. _

MUNGO PARK; his LIFE and TRAVELS: to which are added the Account of hisDeath, from the JOURNAL of ISAACO, and the substance of laterDiscoveries relative to his lamented fate. With Engravings. 2_s. _ 6_d. _

FIRST SUNDAYS AT CHURCH, or Familiar Conversations on the Morning andEvening Services. By the Rev. J. E. RIDDLE, M. A. , Author of _Lutherand his Times. _ 3_s. _ 6_d. _

THE YOUNG LADY'S FRIEND; a Manual of Practical Advice and Instructionto Young Females, on their entering upon the Duties of Life, afterquitting School. By A LADY. 3_s. _ 6_d. _

ABBOTT'S READER; a Series of Familiar Pieces in Prose and Verse. By theAuthors of _The Young Christian; The Corner Stone; The Teacher; &c. _3_s. _

*CONVERSATIONS of a FATHER with his CHILDREN. Two Vols. , withEngravings, 5_s. _ 6_d. _

PETER PARLEY'S UNIVERSAL HISTORY for the YOUNG, on the BASIS ofGEOGRAPHY. With upwards of Two Hundred Engravings on Wood; handsomelybound. 7_s. _ 6_d. _

TALES AND STORIES from HISTORY. By AGNES STRICKLAND. Two Vols. , withmany Engravings, 7_s. _

*SCENES AND SKETCHES from ENGLISH HISTORY. With Cuts, 3_s. _ 6_d. _

SANDFORD AND MERTON; adapted to the use of Young Persons of the presentday, by MISS ZORNLIN. With many Cuts, 3_s. _ 6_d. _

SCHEMING: A TALE. By Mrs. GODWIN. 

FIVE HUNDRED CHARADES, from History, Geography, and Biography. 1_s. _6_d. _

*PERSIAN STORIES; illustrative of Eastern Manners and Customs. 1_s. _By the Rev. H. G. KEENE, M. A. Also, *PERSIAN FABLES, for Young and Old. 1_s. _

FABLES and MORAL MAXIMS. Selected by ANNE PARKER. 3_s. _ 6_d. _

POPULAR POEMS FOR YOUNG PERSONS; selected by ELIZABETH PARKER. 3_s. _6_d. _

LIGHT IN DARKNESS; or the RECORDS of a VILLAGE RECTORY. 3_s. _ 6_d. _

 THE VILLAGE. THE VILLAGE SCHOOLMASTER. THE RETIRED TRADESMAN. THE VILLAGE APOTHECARY. THE GOOD AUNT. THE DESERTED WIFE. THE FAMILY AT THE HALL; OR, PRIDE AND POVERTY. 

_BOOKS FOR CHILDREN. _

Pretty Lessons for Good Children; with some Easy Lessons in Latin. 2_s. _

Easy Poetry for Children. 1_s. _ 6_d. _

Easy Grammar for Children. By a Lady. 9_d. _

Songs for Children. With Engravings. 4_d. _

Scripture Hymns in Prose. With Cuts. 6_d. _

*A Little Reading Book for Young Children. With Cuts. 4_d. _

*Lessons of Praise in Easy Verse. 4_d. _

Familiar Lectures to Children; in which the Truths of the Gospel areengagingly set forth. 1_s. _ 6_d. _

The Child's Verse Book of Devotion. 1_s. _

Simple Tales for Children. With many Cuts. 1_s. _

The Deaf and Dumb Boy; a Tale: with Cuts. 2_s. _ 6_d. _

The Stolen Child. By Charlotte Adams. 1_s. _ 6_d. _

*Insects and their Habitations. With Cuts. 1_s. _

*Sister Mary's Tales in Natural History. With Cuts. 2_s. _ 6_d. _

 * * * * *

_SMALL BOOKS for general Distribution. _

Daily Readings from the Psalms. 6_d. _

Faith and Practice; or, The Application of Christian Principles to thePractical Duties of Life. 1_s. _

Easy Lessons on Christian Evidences. 1_s. _

Confirmation. An Address from a Clergyman. 2_d. _

The Rite of Confirmation Explained. 6_d. _

Reading Lessons from the Book of Proverbs & Ecclesiastes. 6_d. _

A Few Words on the Sin of Lying. 3_d. _

*Village Annals; or the Story of Hetty Jones. 9_d. _

*A Colliery Tale, or Village Distress. 4_d. _

*Susan Carter, the Orphan Girl. 6_d. _

A Penny Saved is a Penny Got. 6_d. _

The Old and New Poor Law: or, Who Gains? and Who Loses? 6_d. _

 * * * * *

LONDON: JOHN W. PARKER, PUBLISHER, WEST STRAND