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diff --git a/42539-8.txt b/42539-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 60902f7..0000000 --- a/42539-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9652 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A July Holiday in Saxony, Bohemia, and -Silesia, by Walter White - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: A July Holiday in Saxony, Bohemia, and Silesia - -Author: Walter White - -Release Date: April 15, 2013 [EBook #42539] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JULY HOLIDAY IN SAXONY *** - - - - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: - - Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have - been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Listed Errata were corrected. - - Mis-spellings of non-English words were retained as printed. - Readers noted the following: - Grenzbäuden should be Grenbauden - Kellnerinn should be Kellnerin. - - On page 144, the phrase starting "and perhaps for such a" - seems to be missing words. - - - - - A JULY HOLIDAY - IN - SAXONY, BOHEMIA, AND SILESIA. - - - - - [Illustration: Castle] - - - - - A JULY HOLIDAY - IN - SAXONY, BOHEMIA, AND SILESIA. - - BY WALTER WHITE, - - AUTHOR OF "A LONDONER'S WALK TO THE LAND'S END;" - "ON FOOT THROUGH TYROL." - - - "Ne wolde he call upon the Nine; - 'I wote,' he sayde, 'they be but jyltes:' - Ne covet when he wander'd forth - Icarus' wings--ne traytor stiltes." - - _Old Author._ - - - LONDON: - CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. - MDCCCLVII. - - [_The right of Translation is reserved._] - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - CHAPTER I. - - PAGE - - What the Bookseller said -- A Walk in Frankfort -- What the - Portress said -- Glimpses of Landscapes -- Forest and River - -- Würzburg -- Stein Wine -- View from the Citadel-hill -- A - Change of Bedrooms -- Coming to an Understanding with the - Reader -- Good Night! 1 - - - CHAPTER II. - - Würzburg -- The University -- Red, Green, and Orange Caps - -- The Marienkapelle -- The Market -- The Cathedral -- The - Palace -- Spacious Cellars -- A Professor's Hospitality -- - To Bamberg -- Frost -- Hof -- A Shabby Peace -- The - Arch-Poisoner -- Dear Bread -- A Prime Minister Hanged -- - Altenburg -- The Park -- The Castle -- Reminiscences and - Antiquities -- The Chapel -- The Princes' Vault -- Wends -- - Costumes in the Market-place -- Female Cuirassiers -- More - about the Wends -- Grossen Teich -- The Plateau -- The - Cemetery -- Werdau 11 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Origin of Altenburg -- Prosperous Burghers -- A Princely - Crime -- Hussite Plunderers -- Luther's Visits -- French - Bonfire -- Electress Margaret's Dream -- Kunz von - Kauffungen -- "Don't burn the Fish" -- A Conspiracy -- - Midnight Robbers -- Two Young Princes Stolen -- The Flight - -- The Alarm -- The Köhler -- The Rescue -- Kunz Beheaded - -- The _Triller's_ Reward, and what a famous Author said - concerning it 25 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Zwickau -- Beer Bridge -- Beer Mount -- The Triller Estate - -- Triller Bierbrauerei -- The Braumeister -- The Beer -- - Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Prinzenraub -- A Friendly - Clerk -- "You will have a Tsigger?" -- Historical Portraits - -- A Good Name for a Brewery -- A Case of Disinterestedness - -- Up the Church Tower -- The Prospect -- Princess - Schwanhildis -- The Fire-god Zwicz -- Luther's Table -- The - Church -- Geysers -- Petrified Beds -- Historical Houses -- - Walk to Oberhaselau -- The Card-players -- The Wagoners 33 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Across the Mulde -- Scenery -- Feet _versus_ Wheels -- - Villages -- English Characteristics -- Timbered Houses -- - Schneeberg -- Stones for Lamps -- The Way Sunday was Kept - -- The Church -- A Wagon-load of Music -- A Surly Host -- - Where the Pepper Grows -- Eybenstock -- Neustädl -- Fir - Forests -- Wildenthal -- Four Sorts of Beer -- Potato - Dumplings -- Up the Auersberg -- Advertisements -- The - School -- The Instrument of Order -- "Look at the - Englishman" -- The Erzgebirge -- The Guard-house -- Into - Bohemia -- Romish Symbols -- Hirschenstand -- Another - Guard-house -- Differences of Race -- Czechs and Germans - -- Shabby Carpentry -- Change of Scenery -- Neudeck -- - Arrive at Carlsbad -- A Glass Boot -- Gossip 43 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Dr. Fowler's Prescription -- Carlsbad -- "A Matlocky sort - of a Place" -- Springs and Swallows -- Tasting the Water -- - The Cliffs and Terraces -- Comical Signs -- The Wiese and - its Frequenters -- Disease and Health -- The Sprudel: its - Discharge; its Deposit -- The Stoppage -- Volcanic - Phenomena -- Dr. Granville's Observations -- Care's Rest -- - Dreikreuzberg -- View from the Summit -- König Otto's Höhe - -- "Are you here for the Cure?" -- Lenten Diet -- - Hirschsprung -- The Trumpeters -- Two Florins for a Bed 61 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - Departure from Carlsbad -- Dreifaltigkeits-Kirche -- - Engelhaus -- The Castle -- A Melancholy Village -- Up to - the Ruins -- An Imperial Visit -- Bohemian Scenery -- On to - Buchau -- The Inn -- A Crowd of Guests -- Roast Goose -- - Inspiriting Music -- Prompt Waiters -- The Mysterious - Passport -- The Military Adviser -- How he Solved the - Mystery -- A Baron in Spite of Himself -- The Baron's - Footbath -- Lighting the Baron to Bed 77 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - Dawn -- The Noisy Gooseherd -- Geese, for Home Consumption - and Export -- Still the Baron -- The Ruins of Hartenstein - -- Glimpses of Scenery and Rural Life -- Liebkowitz -- - Lubenz -- Schloss Petersburg -- Big Rooms -- Tipplers and - Drunkards -- Wagoners and Peasants -- A Thrifty Landlord -- - Inquisitorial Book -- Awful Gendarme -- Paternal Government - -- Fidgets -- How it is in Hungary -- Wet Blankets for - Philosophers -- An Unhappy Peasant 86 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - The Village -- The Peasant again -- The Road-mender -- - Among the Czechs -- Czechish Speech and Characteristics -- - Crosses -- Horosedl -- The Old Cook -- More Praise of - England -- The Dinner -- A Journey-Companion -- Famous - Files -- A Mechaniker's Earnings -- Kruschowitz -- Rentsch - -- More Czechish Characteristics -- Neu Straschitz -- A - Word in Season from Old Fuller -- The Mechaniker departs 96 - - - CHAPTER X. - - A Talk with the Landlord -- A Jew's Offer -- A Ride in a - Wagen -- Talk with the Jew -- The Stars -- A Mysterious - Gun-barrel -- An Alarm -- Stony Ammunition -- The Man with - the Gun -- The Jew's opinion of him -- Sunrise -- A Walk -- - The White Hill -- A Fatal Field -- Waking up in the Suburbs - -- Early Breakfasts -- Imperial and Royal Tobacco - -- Milk-folk -- The Gate of Prague -- A Snappish Sentry -- - The Soldiers -- Into the City -- Picturesque Features and - crowding Associations -- The Kleinseite -- The Bridge -- - Palaces -- The Altstadt -- Remarkable Streets -- The - Teinkirche -- The Neustadt -- The Three Hotels 105 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - The Hausknecht -- A Place to Lose Yourself -- - Street-Phenomena -- Book-shops -- Glass-wares -- Cavernous - Beer-houses -- Signs -- Czechish Names -- Ugly Women -- - Swarms of Soldiers -- A Scene on the Bridge -- A Drateñik - -- The Ugly Passport Clerk -- The Suspension-bridge -- The - Islands -- The Slopes of the Laurenzberg -- View over Prague - -- Schools, Palaces, and Poverty -- The Rookery -- The - Hradschin -- The Courts -- The Cathedral -- The Great Tomb - -- The Silver Shrine -- Relics -- A Kissed Portrait -- St. - Wenzel's Chapel -- Big Sigmund -- The Loretto Platz -- The - Old Towers -- The Hill-top and Hill-foot 118 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - The Tandelmarkt -- Old Men and Boys at Rag Fair -- Jews in - Prague -- The Judenstadt -- Schools and Synagogues -- Remote - Antiquity -- Ducal Victims -- Jewish Bravery -- Removal of - Boundary Wires 131 - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - The Jewish Sabbath -- The Old Synagogue -- Traditions - concerning it -- The Gloomy Interior -- The Priests -- The - Worshippers and the Worship -- The Talkers -- The Book of - the Law -- The Rabbi -- The Startling Gun -- A Birth at - Vienna -- Departed Glory 136 - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - The Alte Friedhof -- A Stride into the Past -- The Old - Tombs -- Vegetation and Death -- Haunted Graves -- Ancient - Epitaph -- Rabbi Löw -- His Scholars -- Symbols of the - Tribes -- The Infant's Coffin -- The Playground -- From - Death to Life 141 - - - CHAPTER XV. - - The Kolowratstrasse -- Picolomini's Palace -- The Museum -- - Geological Affluence -- Early Czechish Bibles -- Rare Old - Manuscripts -- Letters of Huss and Ziska -- Tabor Hill -- - Portraits -- Hussite Weapons -- Antiques -- Doubtful - Hussites in the Market-place -- The Glückliche Entbindung - -- A Te Deum -- Two Evening Visits -- Bohemian Hospitality - -- The Gaslit Beer-house 146 - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - Sunday Morning in Prague -- Gay Dresses -- Pleasure-seeking - Citizens -- Service in the Hradschin Cathedral -- Prayers - and Pranks -- Fun in the Organ-loft -- Glorious Music -- A - Spell broken -- Priests and their Robes -- Osculations -- A - Flaunting Procession -- An Old Topographer's Raptures -- - The Schwarzes Ross -- Flight from Prague -- Lobositz -- Lost - in a Swamp -- A Storm -- Up the Milleschauer -- After Dark - -- The Summit -- Mossy Quarters -- The Host's Story 153 - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - Morning on the Milleschauer -- The Brightening Landscape -- - The Mossy Quarters by Daylight -- Delightful Down-hill Walk - -- Lobositz again -- The Steam-boat -- Queer Passengers -- - Sprightly Music -- Romantic Scenery -- Hills and Cliffs -- - Schreckenstein -- How the Musicians paid their Fare -- - Aussig -- The Spürlingstein -- Fairer Landscapes -- Elbe - _versus_ Rhine -- Tetschen -- German Faces -- Women-Waders - -- The Schoolmaster -- Passport again -- Pretty Country -- - Signs of Industry -- Peasants' Diet -- Markersdorf -- - Rustic Cottages -- Gersdorf -- Meistersdorf -- School -- - Trying the Scholars -- Good Results -- A Byeway -- - Ulrichsthal 162 - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - A Hospitable Reception -- A Rustic Household -- The - Mother's Talk -- Pressing Invitations -- A Docile Visitor -- - The Family Room -- Trophies of Industry -- Overheating -- A - Walk in Ulrichsthal -- A Glass Polisher and his Family -- - His Notions -- A Glass Engraver -- His Skill and Ingenuity - -- His Earnings -- A Bohemian's Opinion on English Singing - -- Military Service -- Beetle Pictures -- Glass-making in - Bohemia -- An Englishman's Forget-me-Not -- The Dinner -- - Dessert on the Hill -- An Hour with the Haymakers -- - Magical Kreutzers -- An Evening at the Wirthshaus -- - Singing and Poetry -- A Moonlight Walk -- The Lovers' Test 174 - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - More Hospitality -- Farewells -- Cross Country Walk -- - Steinschönau -- The Playbill -- Hayda -- All Glass-workers - -- Away for the Mountains -- Zwickau -- Gabel -- - Weisskirchen -- A Peasant's Prayer -- Reichenberg -- - Passport again -- Jeschkenpeak -- Reinowitz -- Schlag -- - Neudorf -- A Talk at Grünheid -- Bad Sample of Lancashire - -- Tannwald -- Curious Rocks -- Spinneries -- Populousness - -- Przichowitz -- An Altercation -- Heavy Odds -- The - Englishman Wins -- A Word to the Company 190 - - - CHAPTER XX. - - Stephanshöh -- A Presumptuous Landlord -- Czechs again -- - Stewed Weavers -- Prompt Civilities -- The Iser -- A Quiet - Vale -- Barrande's Opinion of the Czechs -- Rochlitz -- An - offshoot from Tyre -- A Happy Landlord -- A Rustic Guide - -- Hill Paths -- The Grünstein -- Rübezahl's Rose Garden -- - Dreary Fells -- Source of the Elbe -- Solitude and Visitors - -- The Elbfall -- Stony Slopes -- Strange Rocks -- - Rübezahl's Glove -- Knieholz -- Schneegruben -- View into - Silesia -- Tremendous Cliffs -- Basalt in Granite -- The - Landlord's Bazaar -- The Wandering Stone -- A Tragsessel -- - A Desolate Scene -- Rougher Walking -- Musical Surprises -- - Spindlerbaude -- The Mädelstein -- Great Pond and Little - Pond -- The Mittagstein -- The Riesengrund -- The Last - Zigzags -- An Inn in the Clouds 201 - - - CHAPTER XXI. - - Comforts on the Koppe -- Samples of Germany -- Provincial - Peculiarities -- Hilarity -- A Couplet worth remembering - -- Four-bedded Rooms -- View from the Summit -- Contrast of - Scenery -- The Summit itself -- Guides in Costume -- - Moderate Charges -- Unlucky Farmer -- The Descent -- - Schwarzkoppe -- Grenzbäuden -- Hungarian Wine -- The Way to - Adersbach -- Forty Years' Experience 218 - - - CHAPTER XXII. - - The Frontier Guard-house -- A Volunteer Guide -- A Knave -- - Schatzlar -- Bernsdorf -- A Barefoot Philosopher -- A - Weaver's Happiness -- Altendorf -- Queer Beer -- A Short Cut - -- Blunt Manners -- Adersbach -- Singular Rocks -- Gasthaus - zur Felsenstadt -- The Rock City -- The Grand Entrance -- - The Sugarloaf -- The Pulpit -- The Giant's Glove -- The - Gallows -- The Burgomaster -- Lord Brougham's Profile -- - The Breslau Wool-market -- The Shameless Maiden -- The - Silver Spring -- The Waterfall -- A Waterspout -- The - Lightning Stroke 225 - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - - The Echo -- Wonderful Orchestra -- Magical Music -- A _Feu - de joie_ -- The Oration -- The Voices -- Echo and the - Humourist -- Satisfying the Guide -- Exploring the - Labyrinth -- Curious Discoveries -- Speculations of - Geologists -- Bohemia an Inland Sea -- Marble Labyrinth in - Spain -- A Twilight View -- After a' 235 - - - CHAPTER XXIV. - - Baked Chickens -- A Discussion -- Weckelsdorf -- More Rocks - -- The Stone of Tears -- Death's Alley -- Diana's Bath -- - The Minster -- Gang of Coiners -- The Bohdanetskis -- Going - to Church -- Another Silesian View -- Good-bye to Bohemia - -- Schömberg -- Silesian Faces and Costume -- Picturesque - Market-place -- Ueberschar Hills -- Ullersdorf -- An amazed - Weaver -- Liebau -- Cheap Cherries -- The Prussian Simplon - -- Ornamented Houses -- Buchwald -- The Bober -- Dittersbach - -- Schmiedeberg -- Rübezahl's Trick upon Travellers -- - Tourists' Rendezvous -- The Duellists' Successors -- - Erdmannsdorf -- Tyrolese Colony 240 - - - CHAPTER XXV. - - Schnaps and Sausage -- Dresdener upon Berliners -- The - Prince's Castle at Fischbach -- A Home for the Princess - Royal -- Is the Marriage Popular? -- View from the Tower -- - Tradition of the Golden Donkey -- Royal Palace at - Erdmannsdorf -- A Miniature Chatsworth -- The Zillerthal -- - Käse and Brod -- Stohnsdorf -- Famous Beer -- Rischmann's - Cave -- Prophecies -- Warmbrunn 250 - - - CHAPTER XXVI. - - The Three Berliners -- Strong Beer -- Origin of Warmbrunn - -- St. John the Baptist's Day -- Count Schaffgotsch -- A - Benefactor -- A Library -- Something about Warmbrunn -- The - Baths -- Healing Waters -- The Allée -- Visitors -- Russian - Popes -- The Museum -- Trophies -- View of the Mountains -- - The Kynast -- Cunigunda and her Lovers -- Served her right - -- The Two Breslauers -- Oblatt -- The Baths in the - Mountains 256 - - - CHAPTER XXVII. - - Hirschberg -- The Officers' Tomb -- A Night Journey -- - Spiller -- Greifenberg -- Changing Horses -- A Royal Reply - -- A Griffin's Nest -- Lauban -- The Potato Jubilee -- - Görlitz -- Peter and Paul Church -- View from the Tower -- - The Landskrone -- Jacob Böhme -- The Hidden Gold -- A - Theosophist's Writings -- The Tombs -- The Underground - Chapel -- A Church copied from Jerusalem -- The Public - Library -- Loebau -- Herrnhut 262 - - - CHAPTER XXVIII. - - Head-Quarters of the Moravians -- Good Buildings -- Quiet, - Cleanliness, and Order -- A Gottesdienst -- The Church -- - Simplicity -- The Ribbons -- A Requiem -- The Service -- - God's-Field -- The Tombs -- Suggestive Inscriptions -- - Tombs of the Zinzendorfs -- The Pavilion -- The Panorama -- - The Herrnhuters' Work -- An Informing Guide -- No Merry - Voices -- The Heinrichsberg -- Pretty Grounds -- The First - Tree -- An Old Wife's Gossip -- Evening Service -- A - Contrast -- The Sisters' House -- A Stroll at Sunset -- The - Night Watch 269 - - - CHAPTER XXIX. - - About Herrnhut -- Persecutions in Moravia -- A Wandering - Carpenter -- Good Tidings -- Fugitives -- Squatters on the - Hutberg -- Count Zinzendorf's Steward -- The First Tree -- - The First House -- Scoffers -- Origin of the Name -- More - Fugitives -- Foundation of the Union -- Struggles and - Encouragements -- Buildings -- Social Regulations -- Growth - of Trade -- War and Visitors -- Dürninger's Enterprise - -- Population -- Schools -- Settlements -- Missions -- Life - at Herrnhut -- Recreations -- Festivals -- Incidents of War - -- March of Troops -- Praise and Thank-Feasts 279 - - - CHAPTER XXX. - - A Word with the Reader -- From Herrnhut to Dresden -- A - Gloomy City -- The Summer Theatre -- Trip to the Saxon - Switzerland -- Wehlen -- Uttewalde Grund -- The Bastei -- - Hochstein -- The Devil's Kettle -- The Wolfschlucht -- The - Polenzthal -- Schandau -- The Kuhstall -- Great Winterberg - -- The Prebischthor -- Herniskretschen -- Return to Dresden - -- To Berlin -- English and German Railways -- The Royal - Marriage Question -- Speaking English -- A Dreary City -- - Sunday in Berlin -- Kroll's Garden -- Magdeburg -- - Wittenberg -- Hamburg -- A-top of St. Michael's -- A Walk to - Altona -- A Ride to Horn -- A North Sea Voyage -- Narrow - Escape -- Harness and Holidays 291 - - - INDEX 303 - - - - -ERRATA. - - - Page 87, last line, for visitors, read villagers. - " 153, 11 lines from bottom, for H_raba's_, read _Hraba's_. - " 153, 11 lines from bottom, for P_strossischer_, read - _Pstrossischer_. - " 172, last line of text, for Heilen, read Heiles. - - - - -A JULY HOLIDAY - -IN - -SAXONY, BOHEMIA, AND SILESIA. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - What the Bookseller said -- A Walk in Frankfort -- What the - Portress said -- Glimpses of Landscapes -- Forest and River - -- Würzburg -- Stein Wine -- View from the Citadel-hill -- - A Change of Bedrooms -- Coming to an Understanding with the - Reader -- Good Night! - - -"How happens it," I said to a bookseller in the _Zeil_, "that a map of -Bohemia is not to be had in all Frankfort?" - -"How it happens?" he answered, with a knowing smile: "because no one -ever goes to Bohemia." - -He searched and searched, as did a dozen of his fraternity whom I had -previously visited, and found maps in number of Switzerland, Tyrol, -Thuringia, Franconia, Turkey even, and Montenegro; but not the one I -wanted. - -"Such a thing is never asked for," he said, deprecatingly. "Suppose -you go to Franconia instead." - -All at once he bethought himself of an inner closet, and there he -discovered a map of Bohemia; but not a travelling map: an overcrowded -sheet that confused the eye, and promised but little assistance for -the byeways. However, under the circumstances, I took it as better -than none. - -"You will not get the map you want till you arrive at Prague," was the -sort of encouragement I got some twenty-four hours afterwards from a -Bohemian Professor in the Medical School at Würzburg. - -I saw Frankfort under all the charm of a first visit. I perambulated -the narrow streets, and the _Judengasse_, where dwell not a few of the -nine thousand Jewish residents; and stood long enough on the bridge -that bestrides the muddy Main to note the ancient towers, and the bits -of antiquity peeping up here and there in the city and the -Sachsenshausen suburb--contrasted by the modern look of the spacious -quays. And of course I saw the house in which Goethe was born, and -Dannecker's Ariadne, and the Römer, that relic of the olden time, -crowded with reminiscences of the Empire. You may see the whole line -of Emperors in panels round the wainscot of the stately hall on the -first floor; some grim warriors in plate and mail; some in scholar's -gown; some in slashed sleeves and tight hosen, and some in velvet -robes. Here, after the crown had been placed on their heads in the -adjacent cathedral, they went through certain formal ceremonies with -cumbrous pomp and held their festival, as may be read in the vivid -descriptions of Goethe's _Autobiography_. - -Having glanced at the imperial effigies from Conrad down to Francis, -and at the scene from the balcony outside, I dropped half a franc into -the hand of the lady portress, and had crossed the landing, when she -came tripping after me, and, with an air of lofty pity, returned the -coin, requesting me to "give it to a beggar." - -The gentleman in charge of the Ariadne had made me a polite bow for a -similar fee; so I complied with the lady's request, and gave the piece -of silver among five beggars, each of whom favoured me with a blessing -in return. - -At noon, on the 3rd of July, I left Frankfort for Würzburg. The -landscape at first is tame, and you will have to watch closely, in -more senses than one, as the train speeds across, for the scenes and -objects that relieve it. There are glimpses of the Taunus mountains; -of Wilhelmsbad, embowered in a pleasant wood; of Hanau, a dark-red -town, where the dark-red sandstone station is enlivened by Virginian -creeper running gracefully up the columns; and of memorable -battlefields. And of a dark-red mill, in a green grassy hollow, with -its dripping wheel; and in the middle of the garden a globe of fire -that dazzles your eye, and is nothing other than a carboy inverted on -a stake, after the Dutch manner, to serve as a mirror, in which may be -seen a panorama of the neighbourhood. And everywhere women cutting -down the rye, wearing bright red kerchiefs on their heads that rival -the poppies in splendour. - -Beyond Aschaffenburg the country improves. Wooded hills alternate with -lengthy slopes of vines, deep shady coombs, and leafy valleys, where -brooks frolic along in frequent windings, and villages nestle, and -gray church spires shoot above the tree-tops. Then parties of -woodcutters, well armed with axes and wedges, enter the train, and -each man lights his pipe, and they talk of their craft among -themselves in a rustic dialect. And the train dashes into the forest -of Spessart, and under the hills, winding hither and thither between -miles of trees, the remains, as is said, of that great Hercynian -forest which schoolboys read about in their Latin studies. The nursery -of them that overthrew Rome; and one of the haunts of Freedom before -she took refuge in the mountains, and in a certain island of the sea. - -At Lohr, a town prettily situate on the Main, the railway road and -river come near together, and the frequent windings of the stream -brighten the landscape. We saw the steamer labouring upwards on her -two days' trip from Frankfort to Würzburg. Then a village where the -Saal falls in, and more and more vines, and old walls gay with yellow -stonecrop, and on the right the ruin of Karlstadt, and by-and-by -Würzburg comes in sight, and our five hours' journey is over. - -Bavarian art attracts and gratifies your eye as you alight. The -station is an elegant structure in the Pompeiian style, ingeniously -contrived for the purposes of the railway and post-office, and yet to -preserve the architectural character. An impatient traveller might -well beguile the time by admiring the proportions, the colouring, and -the tasteful decorations along the colonnades. The building forms one -side of a square in the newest quarter of the town. - -A curious sign, the _Kleebaum_, caught my eye in the first street, and -I trusted myself beneath it. The _Kellner_ took my knapsack; asked if -"that was all," and led me high up to a small homely-furnished room on -the third floor, in which, however, the quality of cleanliness was not -wanting, and that is what an Englishman cares most about. At dinner I -treated myself to a pint of the Stein wine, for which the -neighbourhood is famous, and am prepared to add my testimony as to its -merits. The bottles have a jolly bacchanalian look about them, being -globes somewhat flattened at the sides, and contain, when honest, a -quart. The cost is from two to three florins a bottle; but a temperate -guest is allowed to drink and pay for the half only, at his pleasure. -With vineyards producing such wine around them, it is little wonder -that the Prince-Bishops were always ready to fight for their good city -of Würzburg. The _Strangers' Book_ followed the dinner as a matter of -course, and when the landlord saw that I signed my name as "from -London," and heard me inquire for the residence of one of the -Professors, he put off his natural manner and became obsequious: a -change that gave me no pleasure. - -There is more of life, more to interest the attention in Würzburg, -than in some places which are much more frequented and talked of. The -streets generally are narrow, and built in picturesque disregard of -straight lines; now widening suddenly for a brief space, now -diminishing and bending away in a new direction. And you saunter -onwards, wondering at the panelled house-fronts with their profuse -ornament: grotesque carvings of animals' heads, of clustering fruits -in bold relief at the intersections; windows with quaint canopies and -curiously-wrought gratings; fanciful door-heads and gables; in short, -a variety of architectural conceits on which your eye will fondly -linger. Now, at a corner, you come upon an ancient turret with conical -roof, now a sculptured fountain, now images of the Virgin or some of -the saints over the doors; and anon huge statues of the Bishops remind -you of the men who built and prayed for Würzburg. So numerous are the -churches erected to perpetuate their memory or adorn their -inheritance, that you need not go many yards whenever you feel -inclined to meditate in a "dim religious light." - -You meet numbers of soldiers, for there is a citadel beyond the river, -and water-bearers with their tall tubs slung on their backs going to -or from the fountains, and now and then a peasant woman with conical -hat and skirts the very opposite of the fashion; and except that -nearly all the women you see are bareheaded, there is nothing else -remarkable in costume. - -Stroll to the river-side; what prodigious piles of firewood at one -side of the quay, and what a busy fleet of barges moored on the other. -The Main here is about as wide as the Thames at Richmond, and is -spanned by a bridge quite in keeping with the city. At either end -stands an arched gateway, with statues niched in the massive masonry, -and saints above the rounded piers. - -Cross the bridge, and mount the citadel-hill on the left bank, and you -will have a surprise. The hill terminates in a craggy precipice, -crowned by the stronghold and its defences, and you look down on -shelfy gardens planted here and there among the rocks; and over the -whole city. The river flows by in a bold curve, cutting off a small -suburb from the main portion of the city, which spreads, -crescent-formed, on the opposite shore. An imposing scene. Thirty-one -towers, spires, domes, and steeples spring from the great masses and -ridges of dark-red lofty roofs, and these are everywhere dotted with -rows of little windows which resemble a half-opened eye. Indeed, the -curved line of the tiles makes the resemblance so complete, that you -can easily fancy the eyes are taking a sly peep at what is going on -below, or winking at the sunbeams, as a prelude to falling asleep for -the night. - -The sun was dropping behind me in the west, and before me lay the -city, looking glorious in the golden light. Row after row of the -sleepy eyes caught the ray with a momentary twinkle; the gilded -weathercocks flashed and glistened, and the reflection falling on the -river made pathways of quivering light across the ripples. - -Presently eight struck from the cathedral, and the clocks of all the -churches followed, each with its own peculiar note. One or two solemn -and sonorous, in imitation of the big bell; others shrill and saucy, -as if they alone had the right to record the march of the silent -footsteps; a few sedate, and one irresolute. Now here, now there, now -yonder, as if the striking never would cease, and suggesting strange -analogies between clocks and the race who wind them up. - -Trees rise here and there among the houses, and form a green belt -round the city, thickest in the gardens of the royal palace, a stately -edifice comprising among its two hundred and eighty-four rooms the -suite in which the Emperors used to lodge when on their way to be -crowned at Frankfort. And beyond the trees begin the vines, acre after -acre to the tops of the whole encircling rim of hills. Broad slopes -teeming with wine and gladness of heart, but looking bald in the -distance from want of trees. One of these hills--the _Köppele_, so -named from a chapel on the summit--is a favourite resort of the -inhabitants, who perhaps find in the view therefrom a sufficient -reward for a long ascent, unrefreshed by shade or rustling leaves. - -Seen from the hill, Würzburg is said to resemble Prague; not without -reason, as I afterwards found. It would be, in my opinion, the more -pleasing picture of the two, were its frame set off and beautified by -patches of forest. - -I kept my seat on the outward angle of a thick wall till the golden -light, sliding slowly up the hills, at last vanished from their brow, -and left the whole valley in shadow. Then I went down and sauntered -about the streets, while the gloom within the porticos and gateways, -behind buttresses and up the narrow alleys, deepened and deepened; and -ended by discovering a stranger willing to talk in a well-lighted -coffee-house. - -On my return to the _Kleebaum_ the _Kellner_ lit two candles, and -conducted me, not to the little room "up three pair," but to the best -bedroom on the first floor. - -What magic in that little item--"from London!" - -Now, gracious reader, suppose we come to an understanding before I -get into bed. You are already aware that I am going to Bohemia, not to -scale snow-crowned mountains, or plunge into awful gorges, for there -are none. The highest summit we shall have to climb together is under -five thousand feet; and there is none of that tremendous and -magnificent scenery which is to be seen in Switzerland and Tyrol. If, -however, you are willing to accompany me to a peculiar country--one -which, like Ireland, is most picturesque around its borders--rich in -memorials of the past and in historical associations, fertile and -industrious, we will journey lovingly together. Now on foot, though -perhaps not so much as usual; now a flight by rail, or a steam-boat -trip, or by diligence or wagon, according as the circumstances befall. -We shall find on the way occasion for discourse, somewhat to observe, -for the people are remarkable, and subjects to read about; improving -the hours as best we may. - -Our next halt shall be at the old Saxon town of Altenburg, where there -is something to be seen and heard of worth remembering; then over the -_Erzgebirge_ to Carlsbad, the bathing-place of kings, and through the -rustic villages to Prague. Then to the _Mittelgebirge_; down the Elbe, -to a scene of rural life and industry; away to the _Riesengebirge_--the -mountains haunted by Rübezahl--and the wonderful rocks of Adersbach. -Then over the frontier into Silesia, to Herrnhut, the head-quarters of -the Moravians, to Dresden and the Saxon Switzerland, Berlin, -Magdeburg, and Hamburg, from whence a voyage across the North Sea will -bring us home again. - -It may be that this scheme is not to your liking. If so, we can part -company here, and you will perhaps never read the completion of that -"Story of the King of Bohemia and his Seven Castles," which Corporal -Trim began for Uncle Toby and never finished. - -And so, good night! - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - Würzburg -- The University -- Red, Green, and Orange Caps - -- The Marienkapelle -- The Market -- The Cathedral -- The - Palace -- Spacious Cellars -- A Professor's Hospitality -- - To Bamberg -- Frost -- Hof -- A Shabby Peace -- The - Arch-Poisoner -- Dear Bread -- A Prime Minister Hanged -- - Altenburg -- The Park -- The Castle -- Reminiscences and - Antiquities -- The Chapel -- The Princes' Vault -- Wends -- - Costumes in the Market-place -- Female Cuirassiers -- More - about the Wends -- Grossen Teich -- The Plateau -- The - Cemetery -- Werdau. - - -Würzburg is now the chief town of the Circle of the Lower Main; it was -once the capital of a principality governed by a line of eighty -bishops, and figures prominently in German history. The University, -founded in 1403, is deservedly famous, having numbered among its -professors many of first-rate abilities: a distinction it still -retains. What with schools, with resources in art and science, -cultivated society, and ample means of recreation, the old city is an -agreeable residence. - -Under the guidance of Professor Kölliker, I visited the botanic -garden, the anatomical museum, and the medical school, which is one of -the best in Europe. The Julius Hospital, a noble institution, founded -by one of the Prince-Bishops, whose statue is erected not far from the -building, affords opportunities for study seldom found in provincial -towns. The students, after the manner of their kind, form themselves -into societies distinguished by the colour of their caps, as you will -soon discover by meeting continually in the streets little groups of -red, green, or orange caps, marking the three divisions. - -Then, while the Professor lectured to his class, I strolled away to -the market-place, and saw how the women, leaving their shoulder-baskets -at the door of the _Marienkapelle_--Mary Chapel--went in and recited a -few prayers, kneeling on the floor. A commendable preparation, I -thought, for the work of buying and selling. The mounds of vegetables -in frequent rows, and numerous baskets of cherries and strawberries, -with heaps of fresh dewy flowers between, the many red kerchiefs and -moving throng, and the wares displayed at the wooden booths, made up -an animated spectacle. Live geese roosting contentedly in shallow -baskets awaiting their sale without an effort to escape, were -remarkable among the enticements of the poultry-market. A few yards -farther were little stalls with rolls of butter, resembling in shape a -ship's topsail-yard, alternating with piles of lumps or rather dabs of -butter, each wrapped in a piece of old newspaper. These were bought by -poor folk. - -The _Marienkapelle_ is a fine specimen of pointed Gothic, with a -graceful spire, which having become dilapidated and unsafe, was -undergoing repair at the time of my visit. The inside is spoiled by -overmuch whitewash, and the outside by an irregular row of petty -shops--an uncouth plinthe--around the base; and this is not the only -church in the city which has its character and fair proportions marred -by such clustering barnacles. - -On the spot where the cathedral now stands rearing its four towers -aloft, St. Killian, an Irish missionary, was martyred more than a -thousand years ago. The lofty arched nave is supported by square -columns, of which the lower portions are hidden by pictures. Marble -statues of the Bishops, with sword and crosier in hand, betokening -their twofold character of priest and warrior, are ranged along the -walls; and the whole interior has a bright and cheerful aspect. - -Of the other churches, I need not say more than that the New Minster -enjoys the honour of possessing St. Killian's bones; that St. Peter's -at Rome is reproduced in the church of St. John; and that St. -Burkhardt's, at the foot of the citadel-hill, is built in the round -style. - -The spacious grounds and gardens of the palace are well laid out. -There are umbrageous avenues, terraces, fountains, paths winding among -flower-beds and away under the trees and through the shrubberies to -nooks of complete solitude. In some parts the plantations are left -untrimmed, and give an air of wildness to the scene. In the rear, -steps lead to the top of the wall, from whence you may look over -greater part of the grounds, and fancy yourself in a region of forest. -The townsfolk have free access; and you meet now and then a solitary -student poring over his book, or groups of strollers, or nursemaids -with troops of children. The palace, which dates from the year 1720, -shows the consequences of neglect. Hohenschwangau has greater -attractions for the royal family than Würzburg; and now, after a view -of the staircase and chapel, there is nothing in the rusty and faded -apartments that once exhibited the magnificence of the Bishops to -detain you. The cellars are large enough to contain 2200 tuns of wine. -What rollicking nights the retainers must have had! - -The Professor proved himself not less hospitable than learned. We -dined together, and he introduced me to one of his colleagues, the -Bohemian mentioned in the second page, who gave me a letter to his -father at Prague. And then, after a sojourn of twenty-four hours, I -departed. - -To see Nuremberg, and journey from thence into Bohemia, across the -_Böhmerwaldgebirge_, had been in my thoughts; but finding on inquiry -that more time would be required for that route than I could spare, I -decided for Saxony. So, away to Bamberg, sixty miles distant, the -starting-place of the Leipzig and Nuremberg trains. There was an hour -to wait, and then in deep twilight on we went for Altenburg. - -Although the night was in July, I shivered with cold. The temperature, -indeed, was remarkable. Three days previously I had seen white frost -between Aix-la-Chapelle and Cologne, and for the first ten nights of -the month frosts occurred all over Germany. At two o'clock we came to -Hof, where there was a change of train, and time to drink a cup of -coffee, doubly acceptable under the circumstances. The country around -is bleak, a region of bare low hills, of unfavourable repute owing to -its cold. A farmer who came into the train told us there was thin ice -on the ponds. Here and there the hollows were filled with a dense -mist, and resembled vast lakes, and the outlook was so cheerless that -I was glad to sleep, till sunrise, with its splendours, woke up our -drowsy party to welcome light and warmth. - -What a change since the former year! Then the war was all the topic -among those who were thrown together while travelling. Now, Sebastopol -and the Crimea seemed clean forgotten, and no one had a word to say -even about the Sick Man at Constantinople. No, all was changed, and -talkers busied their tongues concerning the "shabby peace," as they -called it, the dearness of food, and--William Palmer. The -simple-minded Bavarians could not understand why England should have -been so magnanimous towards her Muscovitish antagonist, until it was -suggested to them that France, having come to the bottom of her purse -notwithstanding all the flourishes to the contrary, the war had to be -ended. - -"And could England have kept on?" - -"Yes, for forty years, if necessary." - -"What a country!" they exclaimed--"what gigantic wealth!" And then -they wondered that peace had not brought lower prices, and talked with -grave faces and timorous forebodings about the dearness of bread. -Scarcely a place did I visit where bread was not dearer than in -London. - -But the arch-poisoner was the prevailing theme; and eager discussions -on the incidents of his trial and execution showed how widespread was -the excitement he had occasioned. Even in little towns I saw _Prozess -gegen William Palmer_ for sale in the booksellers' windows. The -Germans, however, thought theirs the best law, as it inflicts -perpetual imprisonment only, and not death, in cases where the poison -is not discovered in the body of the victim; and they would by no -means agree that to hang a villain out of the way whether or no, was -the preferable alternative. While the talk was going on, some one was -sure to tell of what took place when the news of the execution was -flashed from England. _Palmer is hanged_, was the brief yet fearful -despatch. The clerk who received it, by some strange fatality, read -_Palmer_ as an abbreviation of _Palmerston_; and within an hour all -Germany was startled by the news, and bewildered with speculations as -to the causes which had induced the exemplary English nation to get -rid of their Prime Minister by so summary a process. "_Palmerston -gehänget!_" ejaculated one after another, with a chuckle. - -At seven o'clock we arrived at Altenburg. A night in a railway train -is not the best preparation for a day of sight-seeing. However, after -the restorative of a wash and breakfast at the _Bayerische Hof_, the -first hotel that presented itself, I crossed the road to the grounds -belonging to the castle. By a bold undulating slope, laid out as an -English park, you mount to a plateau, where a well-kept garden -contrasts agreeably with the tall avenues and grouped masses of -foliage. Small pleasure-houses stand here and there among the trees, -and you see a pavilion built in the style of a Greek temple. A little -farther, and there are the ducal opera-house, the orangery, and the -stables--a handsome range of buildings. And beyond is the Little -Forest--_Wäldchen_--enclosed by a wall, where, among the stately -trees, you may see two, the Princes' Oaks--_Prinzeneichen_--so named -from an interesting event in Saxon history, of which we shall perhaps -have some particulars by-and-by. The plateau, moreover, commands views -of a fertile and well-wooded country all broken up by low hills, the -lowest slopes of the Ore mountains--_Erzgebirge_--which show their -dark swelling outlines far away in the south. - -You descend suddenly into a gap, which isolates an eminence--the hill -of Stirling in miniature--terminating in a porphyry cliff, crowned by -the castle. A convenient ascent brings you into an irregular -court-yard, shut in on opposite sides by the oldest and newest parts -of the building. Architecture of the thirteenth century mated -curiously with that of the eighteenth; and both occupying the site of -what was already a fortress in the tenth. The castle owes its present -form to the Dukes Friedrich the Second and Third, who, in 1744, -completed their thirty-eight years of alterations. - -The place is a strange medley. Gray, weatherbeaten walls, with square -towers and jutting turrets, intruded on by modern masonry--Neptune in -his cockle-shell car in the midst of a fountain, and sentries pacing -up and down, and soldiers lounging about their shabby-looking -quarters--grim passages, and uncomfortable chambers. The Austrian -arms, which you may yet see cut in the stone over a doorway, mark the -granary built by the Electress Margaret for stores of corn, in order -that, when grain became dear, she might save the townsfolk from -hunger. A little farther and you come to the _Mantelthurm_, a round -tower, with walls seven yards thick, commonly called the _Bottle_, -from the form of its slated roof. It has two ugly chambers, which -were used as dungeons up to 1641, after which it did duty as a -magazine; and now the lower part is a cinder-hole. Adjoining is the -_Jünkerei_--once the pages' quarters--in which are certain official -apartments and the armoury. The Imperialists plundered the castle, -during the Thirty Years' War, of most of its treasures and -curiosities; and later, many specimens of mediæval armour were carried -off to Coburg, leaving little besides objects which have an intimate -relation with Saxon history. Weapons old and new, banners, garments, -paraphernalia used in ducal funerals, and many things which belonged -to persons connected with the Robbery of the Princes (_Prinzenraub_). -In recent times a museum of antiquities has been added: articles of -furniture, books, and other rarities which perpetuate the memory of -eminent individuals--urns and other funereal remains dug up in the -neighbourhood--ethnographical specimens chiefly from Australia and the -Sunda Islands--and a collection of china, presented by the Minister -Baron von Lindenau. - -The palace, or modern portion of the castle, dates from 1706. The -castellan will conduct you through the throne-room, the great hall, -where hang life-size pictures of the dukes on horseback by whom the -place was built, and paintings of historical scenes, and other -apartments bright with gilding and hung with elegant draperies. - -The church, built in the old German style, on the spot once occupied -by the castle chapel, contains banners, and paintings, and numerous -monuments and tablets to the memory of the princely personages buried -beneath, and some admirable specimens of oak carving. To read their -names as you pass along is a lesson in Saxon genealogy. Among them is -that of the Electress Margaret, whose remains, after a rest of more -than three centuries, were removed to the Princes' Vault, the door to -which, studded with iron stars, you may see in the nave. But, in 1846, -Duke Joseph caused the old tomb to be cleared out and repaired, and -honouring the memory of her whose name is yet revered in Saxony, had -her coffin restored to its former place with solemn ceremony. - -From the balconies or the tower you have a good view of the town lying -beneath on a steep hill-slope, with its large ponds, and many ups and -downs. And all around lie fields, and gardens, and rich pastures, -bearing fruitful testimony to the good husbandry of the Wends. - -The main approach to the castle is by a road winding with an easy -slope up the steep side of the hill. Its upper extremity is crowned by -a gateway in the Romanesque style, and where its lower end sinks to -the level of the road stand two obelisks--pyramids as they are -called--bearing on their pedestals a statue of Hercules and Minerva. - -The streets were full of life and bustle, for it was market day, and -the Wends coming into the town from all quarters increased the novelty -of the sight by their singular costume. The men wear a flat cloth cap, -a short tight jacket drawn into plaits behind, and decorated in front -with as many buttons as may be seen on the breast of a Paddingtonian -page, loose baggy breeches, and tight boots up to the knee. You will, -perhaps, think it a misfortune that the breeches are not longer, for -all below is spindle-shanky, in somewhat ludicrous contrast with the -amplitude above, and the broad, big foot. How such a foot finds its -way through so narrow a boot-leg is not easy to guess. The men are -generally tall, with oval faces of a quiet, honest expression. - -But the women!--they are something to wonder at. Most of them are -bareheaded: some wear a close plain cap, which throws out their round -chubby faces in full relief; some display a curiously padded blue -horseshoe, kept in place by a belt that hides the ears, from which two -red streamers hang down their back; and others content themselves with -a ribbon, tying their hair behind in a flat wide bow. Their gown is -long in the sleeves and short in the skirt--short as a Highlander's -kilt, which it very much resembles, and is in most instances of a -carpet-like texture. Plum-colour, blue, pink, and green, dotted with -bright flowers or crossed by stripes, are the prevailing patterns; -their gay tints relieving the sombre blue and black of the men. The -skirt is made to fit pretty closely, much more so, indeed, than the -men's breeches, and as it descends no lower than the knee, you can see -that if Nature is niggard to the men she is generous to the women. -Such an exhibition of well-developed legs in blue worsted stockings I -never before witnessed. - -Some of the younger ones had put on their summer stockings of white -cotton, and, with bodice and skirt of different patterns, went -strutting about apparently well pleased with themselves. But they -have another peculiarity besides the kilt: they all, young and old, -wear a species of cuirass, secured at the waist and rising to their -chin. I judged it to be made of light wood, covered with black stuff. -It gives them a grotesque appearance when looked at from the front or -sideways; suggesting an idea of human turtles, or descendants of a -race of Amazons. Some sat at their stalls with their chin resting on -it, or face half hidden behind; and many times did I notice the -breastplate pushed down to make room for the mouth to open when the -wearer wished to speak--the pushings down being not less frequent than -the shrugs of ladies in other places to keep their silly bonnets on. -Even little girls wear the cuirass, and very remarkable objects they -are. - -The spacious area of the market-place, enclosed by antique houses, was -thronged. Wendish women sitting in long rows behind their baskets of -cherries and heaps of vegetables; others arriving with fresh supplies -on low wheelbarrows, their white legs twinkling everywhere in the -sunshine. And many more who had come to buy roving busily from one -wooden booth to another among all sorts of wares--books, ironmongery, -jewelry, cakes and confectionery, coarse gray crockery, tubs and -buckets, deep trays and kneading troughs chopped from one block; but -the drapers and haberdashers, with their stores of gaudy kerchiefs and -gay tartans and piles of stockings, attracted the most numerous -customers. There was a brisk sale of sausages and bread--large, flat, -round loaves (weighing 12lb. English) of black rye bread, at one -groschen the pound, which was considered dear. - -The men wandered about among the scythes, rakes, and wooden shovels, -or the stalls of pipes and cutlery, or gathered round the ricketty -wagons laden with small sacks of grain and meal which were continually -arriving, led by one of the tribe in dusty boots. And all the while -the townsfolk came crowding in to make their weekly purchases till -there was scarcely room to move. - -Such a scene is to me far more interesting than a picture-gallery. I -went to and fro in the throng hearkening with pleasure to the various -voices, watching the buying and selling, and noting the honest, -cheerful faces of many of the women. Then escaping, I could survey the -whole market-place from the rising ground at its upper end, and -contemplate at leisure the living picture, framed by houses and shops -in the olden style, among which, on one side, rises the ancient -_Rathhaus_. It was built in 1562 with the stones of a church given to -the corporation by Duke Johann, whose portrait you may see hanging in -the hall inside among electors and dukes, and their wives; and, ever -since, it has been used for weddings, dances, and religious meetings, -as well as for the grave business of the council and police. Opposite -the entrance, the date 1770, inserted with black pebbles into the -paving, marks the spot where the last beheading took place under -authority of the council. - -The Wends are the descendants of a Sclavonic tribe, which, according -to ethnologists, migrated from the shores of the Adriatic more than a -thousand years ago, carrying in their name (_Wend_ or _Wand_) a proof -of having once lived by the sea. They are remarkable for the tenacity -of their adherence to ancient habits and customs, which may, perhaps, -account for their still being a distinct people among the Germans by -whom they are surrounded. And they are not less remarkable for -honesty, health, and an amount of agricultural skill, which -distinguishes them from their neighbours. They are clever and -successful in rearing cattle; they get on, and save money; and the -women have the reputation of being most excellent nurses. The Bohemian -peasant on the farther side of the mountains used, if he does not now, -when his children were born, to stretch them out, sometimes at the end -of a pole, towards the country of the Wends, that the infant might -grow up as able and lucky as they. One of their immemorial practices, -still kept up, is to talk to their bees, and tell them of all -household incidents, and especially of a death in the family. Their -number is two hundred thousand, all within the limits of Lusatia. - -A much-frequented promenade is the dam of the Great Pond--_Grossen -Teich_--on the southern side of the town, which, planted with -chestnuts and limes, forms a series of green and shady alleys, with a -pleasant prospect across gardens and meadows to the village of -Altendorf. Swans glide about on the surface of the water, which covers -sixteen acres, and a gondola plies to a small wooded island in the -centre, resorted to by lovers and picnic parties. A short distance -northwards lies the Little Pond, bordered by rows of poplars, and -three other ponds in different parts of the town are also made to -contribute to its attractions. - -Another pleasure-ground is the "Plateau," on an eminence between the -railway station and the road to Leipzig, from which you may wander -through shady alleys to the old ruin of Alexisburg. The cemetery, on a -hill to the west of the town, is worth a visit for a sight of some of -the tombs, among which appears the entrance to the new Princes' Vault, -constructed in 1837, in the form of a small chapel, lighted by -richly-stained glass windows, through the floor of which the coffins -are lowered to the vault beneath. On St. John's Day the cemetery is -thronged by the townsfolk, decorating the graves of their departed -friends with flowers. - -After a visit to all these places, and a peep into the two churches in -which Luther once preached--the Bartholomäikirche and the -Brüderkirche--I travelled on to Zwickau, and as there is little to be -seen on the way besides fields, low hills, and the tall-chimneyed, -smoking, stocking-weaving town of Werdau, we will glance at an -interesting event in Saxon history incidentally alluded to in the -foregoing pages. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - Origin of Altenburg -- Prosperous Burghers -- A Princely - Crime -- Hussite Plunderers -- Luther's Visits -- French - Bonfire -- Electress Margaret's Dream -- Kunz von - Kauffungen -- "Don't burn the Fish" -- A Conspiracy -- - Midnight Robbers -- Two Young Princes Stolen -- The Flight - -- The Alarm -- The Köhler -- The Rescue -- Kunz Beheaded - -- The _Triller's_ Reward, and what a famous Author said - concerning it. - - -Wends had long peopled the Pleissengau when King Henry I.--the Fowler, -as his contemporaries named him--conquered it during one of his many -inroads among his neighbours, and made it part of the _Osterland_ -early in the tenth century. The newly-won territory was soon settled -by German colonists, who, finding an ancient fortification on the -summit of a bluff, rocky hill, called it _alte Burg_, whence the -present name of the town and principality of Altenburg. Henry, or his -successor, Otho, built a castle on the hill, no portion of which, or -of the one which replaced it, now remains. The town is first mentioned -in a document of the year 986. Its story is the old one: family feud, -rapine and revenge, chivalry and heroism, intermingled with quaint and -quiet glimpses of social life, characteristic of the "dark ages." -Earliest among its possessors were the Hohenstaufens; latest are the -Hildburghausens. At one time it was imperial; at another independent; -now pledged or given away by an emperor; now held by a duke. In 1286 -its prosperity was such that the burghers went carried in sedan-chairs -to the council-house, and their wives walked to church festivals on -carpets spread before them in the street. - -Six years later Friedrich the Bitted quarrelled with Adolf von Nassau -for having pledged Altenburg to King Wenzel of Bohemia; whereupon -Adolf invited Friedrich to a Christmas feast, and while he sat at -table employed a ruffian to murder him, as the speediest way of -settling the dispute. The blow, however, fell on the wrist of a -burgher of Freiberg who rushed between, and lost his hand in -preventing the crime. Friedrich escaped, changed his dress, and, under -cover of night, fled the city; but, having gained a battle in the -interval, he returned as ruler in 1307. The scene of this malignant -assault is supposed to have been a house in the market-place. - -Then came a succession of Friedrichs: the Earnest, the Strong, the -Warlike, the Quarrelsome, the Mild, and such like. It was in 1430, -during the lifetime of the last mentioned, that those fierce -Reformers, the Hussites, came across the mountains and made an inroad -into the principality. They chose Three-Kings' Day for their attack on -the town, which was abandoned to them by the inhabitants, who fled to -neighbouring villages, or took refuge in the castle; and, having burnt -and plundered to the satisfaction of their cupidity or their -conscience during four days, they left the place to recover as best it -might. - -The same Elector, Friedrich the Mild, married the Austrian Princess -Margaret--fit wife for such a prince, if we may judge from her -endeavours to prevent bread becoming too dear for the townsfolk. - -Luther was in Altenburg from the 3rd to the 9th of January, 1519, to -hold a conference with Karl von Miltitz, the papal legate. The two met -in the house of George Spalatin, who became a firm friend of the great -Reformer. Luther visited the town also when on his famous journey to -Worms, and on several occasions afterwards. - -The council-house was the scene of a religious conference from -October, 1568, to March of the following year. The parties in presence -were--the theologians of Electoral Saxony on the one hand, of Ducal -Saxony on the other; and among the subjects mooted they discussed the -questions, "Whether good works were needful for salvation?" and, -"Whether man can co-operate in the attainment of his own salvation?" -and with the usual result; for the disputants separated without coming -to a decision. - -The old town suffered from the disasters and commotions of the -Peasants' War. The Imperialists quartered themselves upon it after the -fatal battle of Lützen. The troubles of the Seven Years' War fell upon -it, and of the campaigns that ended in the downfall of Napoleon. In -1810, the French commissioners seized a quantity of English -manufactures in possession of resident merchants, and made a great -bonfire therewith in the market-place. In 1813, the Emperors of -Austria and Russia and the King of Prussia visited the town, and in -the same year it afforded quarters to 671 generals, 46,617 officers, -and 472,399 ordinary troops. - -Now we must go back for awhile to the year 1455, the times of -Friedrich the Mild. On the night of the 6th of July in that year the -Electress Margaret, his wife, dreamt that two young oaks, growing in a -forest near the castle, were torn up by a wild boar. Herein her -maternal heart foreboded danger to the two princes Ernest and Albert, -both still in their boyhood. The times were indeed disquieting, what -with Hussite wars, territorial quarrels, and the ominous foretokens of -the coming Reformation. Mild as Friedrich was, he, too, had had some -fighting with his brother, Duke Wilhelm, about their lands. Among his -officers was a certain Conrad, or, as he was commonly called, Kunz von -Kauffungen, formerly captain of the castle, who, through -disappointment, had come to entertain two causes of quarrel against -his master. One was that, having been sent to surprise and capture -Gera, he was taken himself, and only recovered his liberty by payment -of four thousand florins ransom. Of this sum Kunz claimed -reimbursement from the Elector, and met with denial. The second was, a -demand for the restoration of estates of which he had been granted -temporary possession, but which, defying legal authorities, he refused -to give up until the coveted four thousand florins should be once more -in his pocket. Chafing under his twofold grievance, he broke out into -threats of reprisal, to which Friedrich answered jocularly, "Don't -burn the fish in the ponds." - -Baffled and exasperated, Kunz devised a scheme for bringing the -question to a speedy issue: persuaded Hans Schwalbe, one of the -scullions at the castle, into his interest; concerted measures with -his brother Dietrich von Kauffungen, Wilhelm von Mosen, and others, -thirty-seven altogether, and watched his opportunity. - -Treacherous Schwalbe failed not in the service required of him, and -gave information of the Elector's absence: called away by affairs to -Leipzig. Whereupon Kunz and his confederates, mounting to horse, rode -to Altenburg, and halted under cover of a wood--where now the -pleasure-ground is laid out at the foot of the castle--between eleven -and twelve in the night of the 7th of July. Finding all quiet, he sent -his body-servant, Hans Schweinitz, forward to fix a rope ladder, with -Schwalbe's help, at a window above the steepest side of the rock, and, -following with Mosen, the two climbed up and got into the castle. Once -in, they hastened to the chamber of the young princes, and each -seizing one, made their way to the gate. But, instead of Albert, the -little Count Barby had been picked up. Kunz was no sooner aware of the -mistake, than, giving Ernest, whom he carried, into Mosen's arms, he -hurried back with the terrified count, and brought out Albert. -Quicker, however, than the robbery was the spread of an alarm. The -Electress, apprehensive, perhaps, because of her dream on the previous -night, appeared at a window, imploring Kunz to restore her children, -and promising to intercede with the Elector in favour of his demands. -Her entreaties and lamentations fell on deaf ears; Mosen had already -made good his retreat, and Kunz speedily followed him through the -gate, which was easily opened, there being but a single invalid on -guard. The time was singularly favourable for the success of the plot, -as nearly all the residents and functionaries were enjoying -themselves at a feast given by the Chancellor in the town. - -The alarm-bell began to ring. Mosen and the others galloped off with -their prize, and Kunz, mounting his horse with young Albert before -him, and attended by Schweinitz, lost no time in making for the -frontier. If Isenburg could be reached before the pursuers came up, -the game would be in his own hands. On they went in the dim night -through the Rabensteiner Forest, along rugged and darksome ways, where -they wandered from the track, their horses stumbled or floundered in -miry holes, forced to choose the wildest and least-frequented routes, -for dogs were barking and alarm-bells ringing in all the villages, -warning honest folk that knaves were abroad. The dewy morning dawned, -birds twittered among the branches, the sun arose, daylight streamed -into the forests, and still the fugitives urged their panting horses -onwards. A few hours later the young prince, worn out by want of rest -and the increasing heat, complained of thirst; whereupon Kunz, though -still a half-score miles from the Bohemian frontier, halted not far -from the village of Elterlein, and crept about in the wood to pluck -berries for the boy's refreshment. While the captain was thus -occupied, a certain charcoal-burner--George Schmidt by name--at work -near the spot, attracted by the glint of armour between the trees, -approached the halting-place, made suspicious, perhaps, by the -alarm-bells. To his surprise, he saw horses showing marks of hasty -travel, and a fair-haired boy well attired, who said at once, "I am -the young prince. They have stolen me." No sooner spoken than the -_Köhler_, running up to Kunz, who was still stooping over the -berries, felled him with a blow of the stout pole which he used in -tending his fires. A shout brought up a gang of his comrades, sturdy -fellows with long hair and grimy faces, who promptly laid hold of Kunz -and Schweinitz, bound their hands, and carried them off for safe -keeping to the neighbouring monastery of Grünhain. Thither also was -the young Albert borne in friendly arms, and from thence, on the -following day, an escort, among whom went the _Köhler_, conducted him -back to his weeping mother--a real triumphal procession by the time -they arrived at Altenburg. - -Mosen and his troop, meanwhile, had betaken themselves to a -hiding-place not far from the castle of Stein, on the right bank of -the Mulde, about half way towards the frontier. While some made good -their retreat to secret quarters, the principals concealed themselves -with Prince Ernest in a rocky cave screened by trees, waiting for a -favourable opportunity to renew their flight. But hearing, while on -their look-out, sundry passers-by talk of the capture of unlucky Kunz, -they sent a messenger to Friedrich von Schonburg at Hartenstein, -offering to deliver up the prince on condition that they should be -left free to depart unmolested. The condition was granted: they gave -up their captive, and were seen no more in all the province; and -Schonburg conveyed Ernest to Chemnitz, where he was received by his -father the Elector. - -Unlucky Kunz having been carefully escorted to Freiberg, was there -beheaded on the 14th of July--an example to knightly kidnappers. On -the next day the _Köhler's_ homely gaberdine and the garments of the -princes were hung up in the church at Ebersdorf, not far from the -scene of the rescue. As for the _Köhler_ himself, he had but to speak -his wishes, for the Electress, in the joy of her heart at the -restoration of her sons, could not sufficiently reward the man who had -saved the younger. "I worried them right well"--(_wohl getrillt_)--he -said, when recounting how he had laid about him with his pole at the -time of the rescue; and ever afterwards was he known as the _Triller_. -His wishes were modest enough;--a little bit of land, and liberty to -hunt and cut wood in the forest--and amply were they gratified. - -Such is in brief the story of the _Prinzenraub_, as it happened four -hundred years ago--a memorable event in Saxon history. A walled-up -window in the castle at Altenburg, on the side towards the Pauritzer -Pond, is said to indicate the place where in the former building the -robbers entered. The Princes' Oaks still flourish; and the cave in -which Ernest was hidden is still known as the _Prinzenhöhle_. And our -own history is involved in the event, for from that same Ernest -descends the Consort of our Queen. - -To most English readers the _Prinzenraub_ was an unknown story until a -few years ago, when Thomas Carlyle published it from his vigorous pen -in the _Westminster Review_, where all the circumstances are brought -before us in the very vividness of life. "Were I touring in those -parts, I would go and see," says the author, referring to the rumour -that the estate bestowed on the _Triller_ remained still in possession -of his posterity. By inquiry at Altenburg, I learned that this estate -lay in the neighbourhood of Zwickau, so, as I also was bound for the -Bohemian frontier, I did go and see on the way. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - Zwickau -- Beer Bridge -- Beer Mount -- The Triller Estate - -- Triller Bierbrauerei -- The Braumeister -- The Beer -- - Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Prinzenraub -- A Friendly - Clerk -- "You will have a Tsigger?" -- Historical Portraits - -- A Good Name for a Brewery -- A Case of Disinterestedness - -- Up the Church Tower -- The Prospect -- Princess - Schwanhildis -- The Fire-god Zwicz -- Luther's Table -- The - Church -- Geysers -- Petrified Beds -- Historical Houses -- - Walk to Oberhaselau -- The Card-players -- The Wagoners. - - -The dark roofs of a few dull streets, a lofty old church tower, the -tall chimneys, and clouds of steam and smoke of a busy suburb, rising -amid orchards, gardens, and hop-grounds in the pleasant and -thickly-wooded valley of the Mulde, are the features presented by -Zwickau as you approach it from the terminus. There needs no long -research to discover that the _Prinzenraub_ is a household word among -the people: hanging on the wall in the hotel you may see engravings of -the _Prinzenhöhle_, the castle of Stein, the monastery at Grünhain, -and other places incidental to the robbery; and the waiters are ready -to tell you that the Triller estate lies near Eckersbach, about half -an hour's walk to the east of the town. - -On my way thither I crossed the Mulde, a lively stream, flowing -between steep slopes of trees, broken here and there by a red -fern-fringed cliff. A Saxon liking--one which the Anglo-Saxon has not -forgotten--is betrayed in the name of the bridge--Beer Bridge; it -leads to Beer Mount, which conceals within its cool and dark interior -countless barrels of the national beverage. While walking up the -hollow road that winds round the hill, you see on one side the -entrances to the deeply excavated cellars, on the other a tavern, -overshadowed by linden-trees, offering refreshing temptations to the -thirsty visitor. - -The road presently rising across open fields brings you in sight of a -pile of huge bright-red brick buildings, erected on the farther side -of a deep, narrow dell, contrasting well with the green of a cherry -orchard and woods in the rear. There lies the _Triller_ estate. Times -are changed; and where the sinewy _Köhler_ tilled his field and reared -his family, now stands a brewery--_Triller Bierbrauerei_. The wakeful -genius of trade has taken possession, and finds in the patriotic -sentiment inspired by the history of the place a handsome source of -profit. - -I addressed myself to the _Braumeister_--_Brewmaster_--who on hearing -that one of England's foremost authors had published the story of the -_Prinzenraub_, manifested a praiseworthy readiness to satisfy my -curiosity. The estate had long been out of the hands of the _Triller_ -family, so long that he could not remember the time--perhaps fifty -years. But the _Trillers_ were not extinct: one was living at -Freiberg, and two others elsewhere in Saxony. The place now belongs to -a company, under whose management _Triller_ beer has become famous in -all the country round; and not undeservedly, as I from experience am -prepared to affirm. There is a large garden, with paths winding among -the trees, and open places bestrewn with tables and chairs enough for -the innumerable guests who quench their thirst at the brewery. - -As we strolled about the premises, the _Braumeister_ called my -attention to a writing over the main entrance-- - - _Dulcius ex ipso fonte bibuntur aquæ_, - -remarking that he had never known a visitor disposed to quarrel with -it. Then, abandoning his laconic phrases, he told me how the four -hundredth anniversary of the _Prinzenraub_ had been celebrated on the -8th of July, 1855. It was a day to be remembered in all the places -made historic by the event. From Schedewitz, on the farther side of -Zwickau, a long procession had walked to the Brewery, under triumphal -arches erected on the way. First came a troop of Coalers, in forest -garb, then friends of the company on foot and in wagons, and bands of -music; altogether eight hundred persons, and among them the three -_Trillers_. Airs were played and songs sung that made all the fire of -patriotism glow again; and so earnestly did the multitude enter into -the spirit of the celebration, that--a merry twinkle gleamed in the -_Braumeister's_ eye as he told it--"They drank a hundred eimers of -beer. There they are: look at them," he added, pointing to an -engraving of the whole procession--the _Trillerzug_, as he called it. - -A similar festival was held at Altenburg, Hartenstein, and Grünhain on -the same day, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, and the -reinvigoration of Saxon loyalty. - -I was seated at one of the tables with a tankard of beer before me, -when a young man came up, looked at me inquisitively, and said, "E -shmall Eng-lish speak"--meaning, "I speak a little English." - -I felicitated him on his acquirements, when he proceeded to tell me -that he was one of the clerks employed in the counting-house, and -having heard of my arrival from the _Braumeister_, could not resist -the desire of speaking with an Englishman. Moreover, he would like to -show me certain things which I had not yet seen, and he said, "If you -pleasure in _Prinzenraub_ find, so is glad to me." - -We were friends in a moment. He led me first to the counting-house, -and showed me the bust of Herr Ebert, who, as chief proprietor, had -headed the procession in the former year, but was since deceased, -saying, "We very, very sorry; every man love him. Ah! he was so good." -Then running up-stairs to a large whitewashed apartment--one of the -drinking-rooms used when guests are driven in-doors by bad -weather--where a few portraits hung on the walls, he cried, "Here is -something to see. But wait--you will have a tsigger?" - -"With pleasure," I answered, "if it's good to drink." - -"No, not drink," he replied. "What you call him?--to shmoke." - -The room echoed with my laugh, and he prolonged it, as I rejoined, -"Oh! you mean a cigar! No, thank you. Tobacco is one of the things I -abhor." - -"What you call him?" he exclaimed, in amazement--"cigar! Then what for -a teacher is mine. But he is a German." - -Our friendly relations were in no way deranged by my dislike of a -"tsigger;" and we turned to the portraits, which comprised some of the -personages involved in the _Prinzenraub_. The brave old _Triller_ is -represented in the costume of the period--a stalwart fellow, with -ample black beard, bare legs, broad-brimmed hat, and loose frock tied -by a belt round the waist. In one hand he grasps his pole, with the -other supports the prince, who wearing red hosen and peaked red boots, -looks up to him with tearful eye. Kunz appears lying down in the -background, looking half-stunned and miserable. There are two -miniatures--of the _Triller_ and his wife--apparently very old, -believed to be likenesses. In the excitement occasioned by the four -hundredth anniversary, a poor shoemaker, hearing it talked of, came to -the brewery with the paintings in his hand, and sold the two for a -shilling. Besides these there are seven or eight other portraits, -among which the features of Kunz impress you favourably. He has dark -curly hair, a high forehead, a clear bright eye, moustache and pointed -beard; the whole appearance and expression reminding you of Sir Philip -Sidney. - -What with fluent German and broken English the young clerk worked -himself into enthusiasm, and showed me everything that had the -remotest connexion with the subject, ending with a book containing the -latest history of the _Prinzenraub_, and engravings of its incidents. -Nor could he think of letting me depart till I had seen the whole -premises, and the enormous cellars. - -"The _Triller_ is a good name for the brewery," he said, as we paced -between the furlongs of barrels. - -On my return to the town I found out the ancient dame who keeps the -key of the church tower, and as she unlocked the door offered her a -small silver coin. "No! no! no!" she exclaimed, "that is too much. A -_Dreier_ (halfpenny) is enough for me." A rare instance of -disinterestedness. Once admitted, you find your way alone up to the -topmost chamber, where dwells a woman with two or three children. She -was winding up from the street below her daily supply of water when I -entered out of breath with the ascent of so many steps, and paused in -her task to conduct me to the platform, a height of about two hundred -feet, from which the steeple springs one hundred and fifty feet -higher. Wide and remarkable is the prospect: the rows of poplars which -border the roads leading on all sides from the town divide the -landscape into segments with stiff lines that produce a singular -effect as they diminish gradually in thickness and vanish in the -distance. Plenty of wood all around, merging towards the south into -the vast fir forest which there darkens the long swells and rounded -summits of the _Erzgebirge_: a region of contrasts, with its abounding -fertility and unpicturesque foundries and mining-works. The town -appears to better advantage from above than below, for the many green -spots in the rear of the houses come into the view, and you see -gleaming curves of the Mulde, and a great pond as at Altenburg, and -the remains of the old walls, and the ditches, now in part changed -into a garden promenade. - -The mind becomes interested as well as the eye. You may grow dreamy -over the fabulous adventures of the fair Princess Schwanhildis, in -whose adventures, as implied in hoary tradition, the place originated; -and if you desire proof, is it not found in the three swans, still -borne in the town arms? Or you may revert to the sixth century only, -when the Wends had a colony here, and worshipped Zwicz, one of their -Sclavish fire-gods in the _Aue_, or meadow--whence the present name, -Zwickau. Or you may remember that Luther often mounted the tower to -gaze on the widespread view; and imagine him contemplating the scenes -on which your eye now rests--a brief pause in his mighty work of -rescuing Europe from the toils of priestcraft. A clumsy table yet -remaining on the platform, though tottering and fallen on one side -with age and weakness, is called "Luther's table;" the great Reformer -having, as is said, once sat by it to eat. But the sentiment which -such a relic should inspire is weakened by the inference that as the -Zwickauers take no pains to preserve it from the weather, they at -least are sceptical concerning its merits. - -And the church itself. It is the largest, the finest specimen of -Gothic, and has the biggest bell, in all Saxony, and excepting two -towers in Dresden, is the highest. It dates from the eleventh century, -and has been more than once restored. The interior well repays a -visit. The slender, eight-sided pillars of the nave, the rare carvings -of the bench-ends, and others about the choir and confessional, and in -the sacristy, the high altar, by Wohlgemuth, of Nuremberg, the only -one remaining of twenty-five which formerly stood around the walls, -raise your admiration of art. If curious in such matters, you may see -a splinter of the true cross--a relic from Popish times--still -preserved. There are some good paintings, of which one by Lucas -Cranach the Younger represents Jesus as "Children's Friend." It was -painted at the cost of a burgomaster in honour of his wife's memory. - -For one with time at discretion, Zwickau and the neighbourhood would -yield a few days of enjoyable exploration. A remarkable instance of -volcanic action is to be seen between Planitz and Niederkainsdorf, -which has existed from time immemorial. Steam is continually bursting -up from the coal strata beneath, of so high a temperature that the -ground is always green even in the hardest winters. An attempt was -made, a few years ago, to utilize the heat by establishing a -forcing-garden on the spot; and in the adjacent forests there are -land-slips, produced by disturbances of the strata, which are -described as romantic in their effects. The valley of the Mulde offers -much pleasing scenery; the castle of Stein and the _Prinzenhöhle_ are -within half a day's walk; and somewhat farther are the singular rocks -at Greifenstein, a pile as of huge beds petrified. The legend runs -that a princess, having married while her betrothed, whom she had -promised never to forget, was absent, the fairies, exercising their -right of punishment, turned her and all her household gear into stone, -and the beds remain to commemorate the perfidy. There are, besides, -baths and mineral springs at the village of Oberkainsdorf, and at -Hohensteiner Bad; and curious old carvings in the castle of -Schönfels; and, if you incline to geology, the coal measures abound in -fossil plants and shells, while of minerals there is no stint. - -The town has attractions of another sort: early-printed books, rare -manuscripts, original letters by Luther and other Reformers, in the -Library; the _Rathhaus_, on the front of which, over the door, you may -see the three swans; and, among the archives, more letters by Luther -and Melancthon. There are portraits of the two, by Cranach, in the -neighbouring castle of Planitz. The house, No. 22, in the -market-place, is that in which Luther lodged in 1522; Melancthon -sojourned in No. 444, in the _Burggasse_; and No. 576, in the -_Schergasse_, is where Napoleon had his quarters in 1812. - -It was evening when I slung on my knapsack and began my walk in -earnest. A short stage at the outset is no bad preparation for the -work to follow. The road runs between the noisy factories, past -vitriol works, smelting furnaces, and, thick with dust, is, for the -first three or four miles, far from pleasant. At length the busy -district is left behind, the trees bordering the highway look greener, -and the river, separated but by a narrow strip of meadow, is near -enough for its rippling to be heard. Excepting a miner now and then, -wearing his short leathern hinder-apron, and a general shabbiness of -dress, the people I met might have been mistaken for English, so -marked is the similarity of form and feature. Transported suddenly to -any of the roads leading out of Birmingham, no one would have imagined -them to be foreigners. - -About three hours, at an easy pace, brought me to a wayside -public-house near Oberhaselau, where I halted for the night. There -were sundry rustic folk among the guests, one of whom told me, while I -ate my supper, that he had taken part in the _Prinzenraub_ -celebration, along with hundreds of foresters and villagers, at a -_Wirthshaus_ built on the spot where the _Triller's_ cabin stood--a -day to be remembered as long as he lived. He had, moreover, seen the -_Triller's_ gaberdine hanging in the monastery at Ebersdorf. - -Later in the evening came in three men of dignified appearance, who -sat down at a card-table in one corner, to a game of what might be -described as three-handed whist. Gustel, the maid, showed them much -deference, and placed before each a quart-glass of beer. They were, -she whispered to me, the _Actuarius_ of the village, and the Inspector -and Doctor. From time to time, during the game, they broke out into a -rattling peal of laughter, as one of them threw a set of dice on the -table and handed round a few extra cards. I requested permission to -look at the cause of merriment, and, to my amazement, discovered that -both cards and dice were disgustingly obscene, out of all character -with the respectable appearance of their possessors. - -Before the game was over, some six or eight wagoners, who had arrived -with their teams, spread bundles of straw on the floor, pulled off -their boots with a ponderous boot-jack chained to the door-post, and, -stretching themselves on their lair, soon united in a discord of -snores. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - Across the Mulde -- Scenery -- Feet _versus_ Wheels -- - Villages -- English Characteristics -- Timbered Houses -- - Schneeberg -- Stones for Lamps -- The Way Sunday was Kept - -- The Church -- A Wagon-load of Music -- A Surly Host -- - Where the Pepper Grows -- Eybenstock -- Neustädl -- Fir - Forests -- Wildenthal -- Four Sorts of Beer -- Potato - Dumplings -- Up the Auersberg -- Advertisements -- The - School -- The Instrument of Order -- "Look at the - Englishman" -- The Erzgebirge -- The Guard-house -- Into - Bohemia -- Romish Symbols -- Hirschenstand -- Another - Guard-house -- Differences of Race -- Czechs and Germans -- - Shabby Carpentry -- Change of Scenery -- Neudeck -- Arrive - at Carlsbad -- A Glass Boot -- Gossip. - - -The road crosses the Mulde near Oberhaselau, and, winding onwards -between broad, undulating fields, and through patches of forest, rises -gradually, though with frequent ups and downs, into a region more and -more hilly. A bareness of aspect increases on the landscape as you -advance, in contrast with which the stripes and squares of cultivation -on the slopes appear of shining greenness. The views grow wider. They -are peculiar and striking, though deficient in beauty, for the range -of the _Erzgebirge_, as the name indicates, hides its wealth -underground, and makes up by store of mineral treasure for poverty of -surface. Yet, is there not a charm in the tamest of mountain scenery? -It animated me as I walked along on that bright sunshiny morning. -Though the river was far out of sight, were there not a few ponds -gleaming in the hollows? while little brooks ran tinkling down their -unseen channels, and fountains began to appear at the wayside with a -ceaseless sound of bubbling and splashing that fell gratefully on the -ear; and the breeze made a gladsome rustling among the birches that -flung their graceful shadows across the dusty road. Nature is kind to -him who goes on foot, and makes him aware of beauties and delights -never discovered to the traveller on wheels. - -There are signs of a numerous population: church spires and villages -in the distance--among them Reichenbach and its ruined castle--and in -little valleys which branch off here and there, teeming with foliage, -snug cottages thickly nestled; and as your eye wanders along the -broken line of tree-tops, it sees many wavy columns of smoke betraying -the site of rural homes scattered beneath. And you begin to notice -something unfamiliar in the dress of the people who inhabit them: blue -and red petticoats are frequent, and scarcely a man but wears the -straight tight-legged boots up to the knee, all black and brightly -polished; for the groups I met were on their way to church. The honest -English style of countenance still prevails; and another English -characteristic may be seen, if you look for it, in the decayed and -illegible condition of the finger-posts. - -If the landscape be not picturesque, many of the houses are, with -their timbers, forming zigzags, angles, squares, diamonds, and other -fanciful conceits. Some old and gray, assimilating in colour to the -weather-stained masonry; some painted black in strong relief upon a -pale-red wall. While pausing to examine the details, you will not fail -to admire the taste and skill of the builders of three centuries ago, -who knew how to impart beauty even to the humblest habitations. Now -and then you come upon a house of which the upper storey, faced with -slates, appears as if supported by arches and pilasters fashioned in -the wall beneath; and specimens of these several kinds of architecture -gratify the eye in all the hill-country of Saxony. - -Schneeberg, lying in a valley backed by a dark slope of firs, has a -singularly gloomy aspect, which disappears as you descend the hill. It -was eleven on Sunday morning when I entered the town. Because summer -had come, the street lamps were all taken down; but that the chains -and ropes might not hang idle, the lamplighter had tied a big stone or -large brick, by no means ornamental, to the end of every one. A -military band was playing in the market-place; a few shops were open; -and a man hurrying from corner to corner was posting up bills of plays -to be acted in the evening--a little comedy, followed by a piece in -five acts. The prices were, for the first places, 6d., the second, -3d., the third, 2d., which would hardly exclude even the poorest. So, -in Saxony, as elsewhere on the Continent, not only Papists but -Protestants are willing to recreate themselves with music and the -theatre on a Sunday. A half-dozen postilions, who were strutting about -in the full blaze of bright-yellow coats, yellow-banded hats, -jack-boots, and with a bugle slung from the shoulder, seemed as proud -of their dress as the peacocky drum-major did of his. - -I ordered a steak at the _Fürstenhaus_. "Will you have it -through-broiled or English-broiled?" asked the waiter, and looked a -little surprised at my preference of the former. When the band stopped -playing, numbers of the listeners came into the dining-room for a -_Halbe_ of beer, and sat down to play at cards. - -The church, a spacious edifice, crowns the height above the -market-place. After walking twice round it, I discovered a small door -in an angle, which being unfastened gave me admittance. The interior, -with its worn and uneven brick floor, has somewhat of a neglected -look, not unusual in Protestant churches; but there are a few good -paintings, and the altar-piece, representing the Crucifixion, shows -the hand of a master. I was quite alone, and could explore as I -pleased. The altar rises to a great height, adorned with statues, and -crowned by figures of angels. Near it two or three tall crucifixes -lean against the wall; the font, and a lectern upborne by an angel -stand in the centre of the nave, and everywhere are signs of the -Lutheran form of worship. Here and there, constructed with an apparent -disregard of order, are glazed galleries, pews, and closets, and -others that resemble large cages--ugly excrescences, which mar the -fair proportions of the lofty nave. The gallery is fronted by a thick -breastwork of masonry, bearing a heavy coping, and the brick floor is -in many places worn completely through, and the loose lumps are strewn -about. The view from the tower, commanding miles of the mountain -range, more than repays the trouble of the ascent. - -There are three services on the Sunday. From six to seven, and from -eight to half-past nine in the morning, and from one to two in the -afternoon. The rest of the day is free; but not for work, as in other -countries. Haymaking, as I was informed, is the only Sunday work -permitted by the law of Saxony. The Sunday school is well attended, -and is not confined to religious subjects, for writing, arithmetic, -and drawing are taught. - -While trudging up the hill beyond the town, I passed one of the -springless country wagons, crammed with a military band, the fiddles -and big bass viol hanging behind, on the way to amuse the folk at -Stein with music. They undertake a similar expedition every Sunday in -fine weather to one or other of the surrounding villages. - -I met with two novel experiences during the afternoon. One was, that -to sit down in the church at Neustädl is a penance, for the pews are -so narrow that you have to lift up the hinged seat before you can -enter. The other, a few miles farther on the way, was of a surly -_Wirth_, dwelling under the sign of the _Weisses Lamm_ (White Lamb), -whom I begged to draw me a glass of beer cool from the cellar. Instead -of complying, he filled the measure from a can which had been standing -two or three hours on the dresser in all the suffocating heat of the -stove, and placed it before me with a grunt. I ventured to remind him, -with good-humoured words, that lukewarm beer was not acceptable to a -thirsty wayfarer on a hot day; whereupon he retorted, snarling more -like a wolf than a lamb, "Either drink that, or go and get other -where the pepper grows"--_wo der Pfeffer wächst_. - -The old sinner availed himself of a form of speech much used among the -Germans to denote a place of intensely high temperature, and -sulphureous withal, in which pepper, being so very pungent a product, -may be supposed to grow. - -"Suppose you go first," I answered, "and see if there be any left." -And turning away, I shut the door upon the snarl which he snarled -after me, and went on to Eybenstock, where cool beer in plenty was -forthcoming as soon as asked for. - -I told the hostess of my adventure with old Surly. "Just like him," -she replied, laughing merrily; "nobody ever goes to the _White Lamb_ -that can help it. You didn't see any one besides him in the room, I'll -engage." True enough, I did not. - -A long, steep acclivity rises between Schneeberg and Eybenstock, from -which you look down into deep, dark gulfs of fir forest, and away to -hills swelling higher and higher in the distance--all alike sombre. So -that when you come to a green vale, with its little hay-fields watered -by a noisy brook, streaked in places with foam, it appears lovely by -contrast. The road makes long curves and zigzags to avoid the heights, -but the old track through the trees still remains, and shortens the -distance at the expense of a little exertion in climbing. - -The wildness increases beyond Eybenstock. The forest descends upon the -road, and you walk for an hour at a stretch under the shade of firs, -with beech and birch sparsely intermingled, and here and there a -stately pine springing from a mighty base to a height far above the -rest, the topmost branches edged with gold by the declining sunbeams. - -Emerging from the grateful shade, we come to Wildenthal, a little -green hollow at the foot of the Auersberg, enclosing a saw-mill, a -school, a few cottages, fields and gardens, and an inn, _Gasthaus zum -Ross_. Great slopes of firs rising on every side shut it out, as it -were, from the rest of the world. The aged hostess at the _Gasthaus_ -bustled about with surprising alacrity to answer the calls of her -rustic guests for beer. "_Einfach_," cried one; another, "_Weisses_;" -"_Lager_," broke in a voice from among the party of card-players, -accompanied by a rapping of the pewter tankard-lid; "_Bayerisches_," -shouted others from the ninepin-alley outside; and she, with her ready -"_Gleich_"--directly--appeasing their impatience. - -Of these four kinds of beer, the first--literally Simple--is -equivalent to our small-beer, and is much in request by a certain -class of topers from its low price, and because they can drink it the -whole day without fear of becoming stupid before the evening. The -second--White--is very foamy, and has somewhat the lively flavour of -ginger-beer: after standing some time in the glass a shake round -revives its briskness. The third--Store-beer--is of sufficient -strength to bear a year's keeping; and the fourth--Bavarian--is of a -similar quality. The last two were the most to my liking. - -There was greater choice of beer than of viands; and the half-bent old -dame thought fit to apologise because she could give me nothing for -supper but omelettes and _Klese_; the latter a sort of dumpling made -of potatoes and a sprinkling of wheaten flour. "If she had only -known," and so forth. However, I found them palatable, and ate -heartily, and therein she took comfort. Many times did I eat of such -dumplings afterwards, for the relish for them is not confined to -Saxony. Under the name of _Knädeln_, or _Kipfeln_, they are a standing -dish among the Bohemians. To hundreds of families in the _Erzgebirge_ -they are the only variety--but without the wheaten flour--in a -perpetual potato diet: rarely can they get even the sour black bread -of the country, and in the years of the potato disease famine and -misery desolated many a hearth. - -The guests went away early, and then, as twilight fell, nothing -disturbed the stillness of the vale save the murmur of running water -and the whisper of the breeze among the slopes of firs, inviting to a -contemplative stroll. - -I rose on the morrow soon after the sun, and scrambled up the -Auersberg. It was really a scramble, for I pushed at a venture into -the forest, aiming direct for the summit. How the grass and the -diminutive black-eared rye glistened with dewdrops! Early as it was, -the saw-mill had begun its busy clatter, and here and there on the -hills the woodcutters' strokes sounded in the calm morning air. Once -under the trees all signs of a track disappeared; and there were -slopes slippery with decayed vegetation; little swamps richly carpeted -with exquisite mosses; dense patches of bilberry, teeming with berries -as purple ripe as when Kunz plucked in another part of the forest but -a few miles distant. And after all, owing to the tower on the top -having fallen down, and the trees having grown up, the view is -limited to a narrow opening on either side, where an avenue, now -rarely used, affords an easy though tedious ascent. A square block of -stone stands near the remains of the tower, dedicated to an upper -forest-master, who had fulfilled fifty years of service, by his -friends and subordinates. However, there is such a charm in the wild, -lonely forest, that one need not regret half an hour's exertion in -scrambling up a steep hill under its shadow. - -I amused myself during breakfast with the _Erzgebirgischer Anzeiger_, -a small quarto newspaper, published at Schneeberg thrice a week; the -price twelve _neugroschen_ (about fifteen pence) per quarter. Beer and -amusements occupied a large space among the advertisements; for every -village and every _Wirthshaus_ in the forest, of any notoriety, -promised music or dancing on Sundays, sometimes both; and fortunate -was the one that could announce the military band. Double _Lager_ -beer, a penny the pot, was offered in abundance sufficient to satisfy -the thirstiest. "Stewed meat and fresh sausages next Friday," is the -inducement held out by one ambitious little alehouse: and an -enterprising refectioner declares, "In my garden it gives fine -weather." And, as the _Dresdner Anzeiger_ shows, they do similar -things in the metropolis. A coffee-house keeper, "up four steps," -says: "My most honoured sir, I permit myself the freedom to invite you -to a cup of coffee next Sunday afternoon at three o'clock." Certain -young men publish their sentiments concerning their hostess, beginning -with - - "Angels until now have led thee," - -and so on. A fortunate husband and father thanks Madame Krändel for -the "happy _Entbindung_" of his wife, and publishes his wife's maiden -name. Parents announce the death of a child, and invite their friends -to "quiet sympathy." A stray Berlin paper makes it clear that a like -practice prevails in the capital of Prussia. But most amusing of all -was the advertisement, in French and English, of the landlord of the -_Golden Star_, at Bonn. Here it is: - - "De cet hôtel la renommée - Promet sans exagération - Que vous y trouverez - Le comble de la perfection. - Le luxe de la salle à manger - Surpassera même votre idée." - - "By all visitors of the Rhine - Known as one of the most fine - And best conducted models - Of all Continental hotels. - The dining-room allowed to be - A grand pattern of luxury." - -Which does not say much for the bard of Bonn. Besides these there was -the _Illustrated Village Barber_, a paper published at Leipzig, full -of humorous cuts, over which the rustics chuckled not a little.[A] - -Wildenthal has no church; the people, therefore, are dependent on -Eybenstock, three miles distant, for sermons, baptisms, marriages, and -burials; but, in common with other villages, it has a good -schoolhouse. Hearing the sound of voices as I passed, I went in, and -had a talk with the master, who was a model of politeness. He had -about a hundred scholars, of both sexes, in a room well-lighted and -ventilated, with a spelling-frame, and black music board, ruled for -four parts, and other appliances of education placed along the walls. -Threepence a week--two and a half _neugroschen_--is the highest rate -paid at country schools; but there are two lower rates to suit folk of -scanty means, and the very poorest pay nothing. The children attend -school from the age of six up to fourteen, with no vacations except a -fortnight at each of the three rural ingatherings--haymaking, harvest, -and potato-digging. The hours of attendance are from seven to ten in -the forenoon, one to four in the afternoon. - -"Yes, they are pretty good children," said the master, in reply to my -inquiry; "I have not much trouble to keep them in order; but, in case -of need, here is a little instrument (_kleines Instrument_) which -comes to my aid;" and he produced a small birch from a secret place -behind his desk. - -A general nudging went through the school, and quick, sly looks from -one to the other, at sight of the interwoven twigs. "Ha! ha!" cried -the master, "you see they recognise it. However, 'tis very seldom -called for." - -Then, mounting his rostrum, he said: "Now, children, tell me--which is -the most famous country in the world?" - -"_Eng-land!_" from all the hundred voices. - -"Is it a most highly renowned country?" - -"_Ja--ja--ja!_" - -"And how is the chief city named?" - -"_Lundun_"--the _u_ sounded as in full. - -"And when Saxony wants factories, and steam-engines, and -spinning-machinery, and railways, who is it sends them hither, or -comes over and makes them?" - -"_Eng-land!_" again, and with enthusiasm. - -"Good. Now, children, look at the _Herr_ standing here by my -side--look at him, I say, for he comes from that famous -country--_Eng-land!_" - -It was a trial to my courage to become thus unexpectedly the object -for all eyes, and feeling bound to say something in return for the -master's compliment, I replied that, "If England did do so much for -Saxony, it was only paying back in another form the prowess and vigour -which the Saxons long time ago had carried into England. Moreover, in -Saxony all children could read; but in England there were many boys -and girls who could not read." - -"Is it possible!" exclaimed the master, holding up his hands. "How can -that be?" - -"It is part of our liberty. Any one in England is perfectly free to be -ignorant if he likes it best." - -"Remarkable!" answered the dominie; and he inquired concerning the -amount of salary paid to schoolmasters in England. His own appeared -very small in comparison; but were it not that bread was unusually -dear, and firewood five dollars the _Klafter_--notwithstanding the -vast forests--he was quite content, and could live in comfort. - -Beyond Wildenthal, the ascent is almost continuous: now the road -traverses a clearing where the new undergrowth hides the many -scattered stumps; now a grassy slope thickly bestrewn with wild -flowers; now a great breadth of forest, where boulders peer out -between the stems, and brooks flow noisily, and long bunches of hairy -moss hang from the branches, and the new shoots of the firs, tipped -with amber and gold, glisten and glow in the light of the morning sun. - -Ever deeper into the hills; the solitude interrupted now and then by a -gang of charcoal-burners with their wagons, or an aristocratic -carriage, or an humble chaise, speeding on its way from Carlsbad. Or -the sound of the axe echoes through the wood, followed by the crash of -a falling tree. And always the wind murmurs among the trees, swelling -at times to a fitful roar. - -I saw a stone-breaker at work, afflicted with a huge goitre. He earns -a dollar and a half per week, and complains sadly of the dearness of -bread, and the hardness of the blue granite. - -Gradually the tall forest gives place to scrubby-looking firs, stony -patches, rough with hardy heath, offering a wild and dreary prospect. -Presently a square stone, standing by the road, exhibits on one side -_K. Sachsen_ (Kingdom of Saxony), on the other _K. Boehmen_, and -passing this you are in Bohemia. Near it is the guard-house, where two -soldiers are always on the watch. One of them asked me if my knapsack -contained anything for duty, accepted my negative without demur, and -invited me to sit down and have a chat on the turfy seat by the side -of the door. It was a pleasure to see a new face, for their life was -very monotonous, looking out, from noon of one day to noon of the -next, for honest folk and smugglers, suffering none to pass -unquestioned. They were not much troubled with contrabandists, for -these free-traders shun the highway, and cross the frontier by secret -paths in lonely parts of the mountains. - -The summit here forms a table-land some three thousand feet above the -sea-level, with a prospect by no means cheering; limited by the -stunted firs, except towards the south-west, where a few black, -dreary-looking undulations terminate the view. The road, however, soon -begins to descend to a less inhospitable region, and presently makes a -sudden dip, for the slope of the _Erzgebirge_, long and gradual -towards Saxony, is abrupt on the Bohemian side. The other mountain -ranges present a similar formation. Then we come to tall trees, and -grassy glades, stony clearings, and acres of bilberries. A little -farther, and the sight of a crucifix, bearing a gilt Christ, by the -wayside, and of miserable wooden cottages, roofed with shingles, -convinces you that the frontier is really crossed. A valley opens -where haymakers are busy; the men wearing the straight tight boots, -the women barefoot, and with a kerchief pinned hood-fashion under the -chin. "_Gelobt sei Jesus Christus_"--Praised be Jesus Christ--salute -the children as you pass, and some of them stand still with an -expectant look. Then posts, and a toll-bar, painted in the diagonal -stripes of black and yellow, which symbolise imperial Austria. The bar -is kept down, but sufficiently high above the ground for a man to walk -under it without ducking. Having passed this you are in -Hirschenstand--the first Bohemian village. - -"Perhaps you come out of Saxony?" said a man, stepping from a house -that had a double eagle above the door, and holding out his hand for -my passport. - -He was very civil, and also very positive in his assurance that he -could not grant me a _visa_ for Prague; only for Carlsbad, and he -wished me a pleasant journey. A few yards farther I turned into the -inn to dine, and at once met with characteristic specimens of the two -races who inhabit Bohemia. There was the German, with a round, flat, -hairy face, stolid in expression, and somewhat sluggish in movement, -and by his side the Czech, or Stock-Bohemian, whose oval countenance, -high intellectual forehead, arched eyebrows, clear olive complexion, -unrelieved by moustache or whisker, presented a marked contrast; the -Sclavonian, bright-eyed and animated; the Teuton, dull and heavy. Yet -the latter is gaining upon his lively neighbour. The German population -is every year increasing, and the Czechish language is spoken within a -narrower circle. The contrast between the two races will be something -for observation during our walk, and with another noticeable -difference when we approach the frontier of Silesia. - -There was something peculiar in the room as well as in the guests; at -one side a tall clock, and very tall candlesticks; in the middle a -chopping-block, bearing a heap of sausage-meat; a washing-tub and -copper-pans in one corner, and on the opposite side a species of -bagatelle-board, on which the ball is expected to find its way into -the holes between long palisades of little wires: an exciting game; -for even the slow German was quickened as he watched the constant -repulsions of the little globe hovering round the highest number only -to fail of entering. - -Here, too, were the tall wooden chairs which are seldom seen beyond -the Austrian frontier. It made me smile to renew acquaintance with the -lanky, spider-legged things. Not the most comfortable contrivance for -dispelling weariness, as you would perhaps think, reader, were you to -see one. They are, however, very cheap; not more than thirty-five -kreutzers apiece, made of pine, and a florin when of hard wood. Both -curiosities in their way. - -Hirschenstand will hardly prepossess you in favour of Bohemian -villages, for its houses are shabby boarded structures, put up with a -wonderful disregard of order and neatness--windows all awry, the -chimney anyhow, and the fit of the door a scandal to carpentry. And -the cottages scattered about the valley, and for some distance along -the road, preserve the family likeness strongly marked. They would -have a touch of the picturesque with far projecting eaves, but the -roofs are not made to overhang. You might easily fancy that the land -had not yet recovered from the effects of the exterminating Hussite -wars, out of which arose the proverb, "Scarce as Bohemian villages." - -But Carlsbad is nearly seven hours distant, and we must hasten -onwards. The road still descends: the prospect opens over forests far -broader than on the Saxon side: valleys branch off, and the scenery -improves. Rocks choke the brooks, and burst out from the slopes; rows -of ash, lime, and cherry-trees, bordering the road, succeed to the -firs, and large whitewashed houses with tall roofs to the shabby -cottages. Then iron works; and little needle factories driven by a -mere spoutful of water rattling and buzzing merrily as grasshoppers. - -Then Neudeck, where a high rock overtops the houses, and projects into -the street, having the appearance, when first seen, of an ancient -tower. We shall see similar strange-looking rocks, from time to time, -on the hill-side, as if to prepare us for rocky scenes of wonderful -character in a subsequent part of our travel. A high steep hill close -to the town is cut up with zigzags, by which the devout may ascend -from station to station to the Calvary on the top, from whence the -view, at all events, will repay the trouble. The road was made, and -the stations and chapel were built, at the cost of an ancient maiden -lady, who a few years ago expended 27,000 dollars in the purchase of -the hill for the good of her soul. - -Now the road descends through a vale between broad fields of wheat and -potatoes, to the smoky porcelain manufacturing town of Alt, where your -eye will, perhaps, be attracted by a few pretty faces among the women, -set off by a pink, blue, or green jacket, and petticoat of a different -colour. But for the most part the women have a dowdy appearance, of -which the Czechs, as we shall by-and-by see, exhibit the dowdiest -examples. - -Still the road descends towards the black group of hills which -encircle Carlsbad. It was nearly dark when I crossed the bridge and -entered the celebrated watering-place. At first I thought every house -an inn, for every front carries a sign--somewhat puzzling to a belated -stranger. At length the _Gasthof zum Morgenstern_ opened its door to -receive me; much to my comfort, for I was very tired, having walked -altogether thirty miles. Great was my enjoyment of rest. At supper the -landlord brought the beer in a large boot-shaped glass, and placed it -before me with the chuckling remark that he liked his guests to be -able to say they had one time in their lives drunk out of a boot. - -His wife, who appeared to be as good-humoured as she was -good-looking, amused me with her gossip. Her especial delight was to -laugh at the peculiarities of her guests, and their mistakes in -speaking German. One, a bilious Greek, had come down one morning with -his hand to his head complaining of _Fuss-schmerz_--foot-ache. The -Saxons, she said, could not cook, or make good butter, and were ready -to drink a quart of any kind of brown fluid, and believe it to be -coffee. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[A] In Saxony there are published 220 newspapers; in Austria, 271; in -Bavaria, 178. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - Dr. Fowler's Prescription -- Carlsbad -- "A Matlocky sort - of a Place" -- Springs and Swallows -- Tasting the Water -- - The Cliffs and Terraces -- Comical Signs -- The Wiese and - its Frequenters -- Disease and Health -- The Sprudel: its - Discharge; its Deposit -- The Stoppage -- Volcanic - Phenomena -- Dr. Granville's Observations -- Care's Rest -- - Dreikreuzberg -- View from the Summit -- König Otto's Höhe - -- "Are you here for the Cure?" -- Lenten Diet -- - Hirschsprung -- The Trumpeters -- Two Florins for a Bed. - - -"To lie abed till you are done enough," says Dr. Fowler, of Salisbury, -"is the way to promote health and long life;" and he justifies his -assertion by living to the age of ninety, with promise of adding yet -somewhat to the number. Remembering this, I let duty and inclination -have their way the next morning, and the market-women in front of the -inn had nearly sold off their baskets of flowers and vegetables before -I set out to explore the wonders of Carlsbad. - -"It's a Matlocky sort of a place!" cried a young lady, as I passed an -elegant party, who were sauntering about the pleasant grounds behind -the _Theresienbrunn_--"it's a Matlocky sort of a place!" And a merry -laugh followed the iteration of her ingenious adjective. That it is -not altogether inappropriate is apparent as soon as you arrive on the -upper terrace and overlook a small town, lying deep between hills on -either side of the Teple, a shallow and sharply-curved stream. - -All the springs but two are on the left bank, a few yards from the -water's edge. There is a little architectural display in the buildings -by which they are covered: a domed roof, supported on columns, or a -square, temple-like structure, flanked by colonnades. The water flows -into a cavity, more or less deeply sunk below the surface, surrounded -by stone steps, on which sit the nimble lasses, priestesses of health, -who every morning from six to ten are busily employed in dispensing -the exhaustless medicine. A few vase-like cups stand ready for use; -but numbers of the visitors bring their own glass, carried as a -bouquet in the hand, of tasteful Bohemian manufacture, striped with -purple or ruby, and some of the purest white. All are made of the same -size--to contain six ounces--and a few have a species of dial -attached, by which to keep count of the number of doses swallowed. The -visitors, having their glasses filled at the fountain, walk up or down -the colonnade, or along the paths of the pleasure-ground, listening to -music, or form little groups for a morning gossip, and sip and chat -alternately till the glasses are emptied. The rule is to wait a -quarter-hour between each refilling, so that a patient condemned to a -dozen glasses dissipates three hours in the watery task. The number -imbibed depends on the complaint and constitution: in some instances -four glasses are taken; in others, from twenty to forty. - -I tasted each spring as I came to it, and felt no inclination to -repeat the experiment. The temperature of the _Theresienbrunn_ is 134 -deg., of the _Mühlbrunn_ 138 deg., of the _Neubrunn_ 144 deg., in -itself a cause of dislike, especially in hot weather, and much more so -when combined with a disagreeable bitter, and a flavour which I can -only compare to a faint impression of the odour of a dissecting-room. -No wonder some of the drinkers shudder as they swallow their volcanic -physic! But more about the waters after we have seen the _Sprudel_. - -In some places the cliff comes so near to the stream that there is no -more than room for a colonnade, or narrow road, and here and there the -path, stopped by a projecting rock, is carried round the rear of the -obstacle by little intricate zigzags. And every minute you come to -some ramifications of the narrow lanes, which here, so limited and -valuable is the space, serve the purpose of streets, and afford ready -access to the heights above. The houses rise tier over tier, in short -rows, or perched singly on curious platforms excavated from the rock, -in situations where back windows would be useless. The topmost -dwellers have thus an opportunity to amuse their idleness by a -bird's-eye view of what their neighbours are doing below. From May to -September the influx of visitors is so great that every house is full -of inmates. - -As every house has its sign or designation, ingenuity has been not a -little taxed to avoid repetitions. One ambitious proprietor writes up -_At the King of England_; another, contenting himself with his native -tongue, has _König von England_; a third, _English House_. A little -farther, and you see _Captain Cook_; _The Comet_; _The Aurora_; and -many varieties of Rings, Spoons, and Musical Instruments. -_Israelitisch Restauration_ notifies the tribes of a dining-room; here -_The Admiral_, there _The Corporal_, yonder _The Pasha_ claims -attention; and in a steep street leading towards Prague I saw _The A B -C_. And here and there a doll in a glass-case fixed to the wall, -representing St. Anne--a favourite saint of the Bohemians--looks down -on the sauntering visitors. - -Continuing up the left bank you enter the market-place, where the -indications of life and business multiply, and a throng are sipping -around the _Marktbrunn_. This spring burst up from under the -paving-stones in 1838; a temple was built over it, and ever since it -has served as a temple of ease to some of the more crowded springs. A -little farther, and you come to the _Wiese_, or meadow, which retains -no more of grass than Hatton-garden does of gravelled paths and -flower-beds: a row of houses and shops on one side, on the other a -line of wooden booths concealing the river, and all between planted -with trees which shelter an irregular regiment of chairs and tables. -Here is the place where visitors most do congregate, pacing leisurely -to and fro, or lounging on the chairs in front of the cafés, gossiping -over the newspapers, or trifling around the stalls and shop windows. - -A remarkable throng, truly! Some with an air highly dignified and -aristocratic; but the greater part somewhat grotesque in appearance. -Graceful ladies with those ungraceful sprawling bonnets not uncommon -in Germany; men, lanky and angular, and short and round, and square -and awkward, wearing astonishing wide-awakes. Such a variety of loose, -baggy trousers, magnificent waistcoats, and gauzy gowns, that look -impalpable almost as a cloud! Here comes a Polish Jew with manifest -signs of having remained unclean beyond more than one evening; here a -Czechish count, who has not forgotten his military paces; here a -spectacled professor, with boots turned up peak-wise, and toes turned -broadly out; here a group of Hebrews glittering with jewelry; and here -a miscellaneous crowd from all the countries of Europe, but Germans -the most numerous. Of English very few. There is nothing stiff or -formal about them; to make things pleasant seems to be a tacit -understanding, for disease has brought them all to one common level. -All are animated by the hope of cure, and find therein an inspiration -towards gaiety. - -But who shall be gay in an hospital, among sallow, haggard faces, -sunken eyes, and ghastly features? Some you see who, preyed upon by -disease for years, have well-nigh lost all faith in the smiler who -lingers so long at the bottom of the box; some afflicted by -hypochondriasis appear to wonder that the sun should shine, that -others can be happy while they themselves are so miserable. The lively -fiddles, and twanging harps, and jingling tambourines--the Tyrolese -minstrels--the glib conjuror, all fail to bring a flash of joy back to -their deadened eye; to win for mirth one responsive thrill. I have -never been more thankfully sensible of the blessing of robust health, -than while strolling on the _Wiese_ at Carlsbad. - -What with its many stalls and shops, the _Wiese_ resembles a bazaar. -All sorts of trifles and knick-knacks tempt the visitor, and entice -money from the purse. Among queer-looking toys you see WINDSOR SOAP -labelled in good, honest English; pipes, ribands, and pocket-books, -fans, satchels, and jewelry, among specimens of _Sprudelstein_, and -crystals and minerals, from the surrounding hills. Money-changers -abound; and polyglot placards--English, French, German, Czechish, -Hungarian--everywhere meet the eye. And not only here, but all over -the town, brisk signs of business and prosperity are apparent. But to -quote the gossip of my hostess, "many in Carlsbad have to endure -hunger during the winter." The place is then deserted, for the season -lasts only from May to September. - -Turn into a short _Gasse_ from the market-place, cross the -foot-bridge, and you will see a Geyser without the fatigue of a voyage -to Iceland. It is the far-famed _Sprudel_, or Bubbler. At one end of a -colonnade open to the river on the right bank, a living column of -water springs perpetually from the ground. Through an orifice in the -centre of a basin about three feet deep, the water leaps and plays -with a noise of gurgling, splashing, and bubbling, to a height of six -or eight feet, and throwing off clouds of steam. Now it forms a column -with palm-leafed capital--now a number of jets tumbling over in -graceful curves--now broken, fan-like masses, all throbbing and -dancing in obedience to the vigorous pulsations under ground. There is -something fascinating in the sight. Allowing for the artificial -elevation of the floor, the whole height of the jet is about twelve -feet; and so has it leaped for ages, and with but one interruption -since its fabulous discovery in the fourteenth century. - -The _Sprudel_ is the hottest of the springs, scalding hot, in fact, -marking a temperature of 167 deg. Fahrenheit: hence the attendant -Naiads--here a couple of strong-armed women--make use of a cup fixed -to one end of a staff for filling the glasses. When a visitor -approaches, the staff is held out to receive the glass; and after a -plunge into the steaming jet, is handed back to the expectant drinker, -who, taking his glass from the cup, swallows the contents at -pleasure--if he can. The drinkers were but few when I came up, for ten -o'clock was nigh; stragglers, who having arrived late, were sipping -their last glasses--some not without a shudder. While the dose cooled, -they examined the heads of walking-sticks, snuff-boxes, seals, and -other specimens of _Sprudelstein_, on sale at a stall; or the -time-tables and advertisement photographs hanging about the colonnade. -The Naiads, in the interval, emptied ladles full of the water into -stone-bottles, which a man rapidly corked in a noisy machine. - -The waste water flows away along a wooden shoot to the river, where it -sends small light wreaths of steam floating about on the surface. But -I saw nothing at all like what has been often described as a cloud of -steam perpetually hovering above the _Sprudel_, visible from afar. -Regarded near at hand, or from a distance, there is no cloud visible -in July, whatever may be the case in the cool months. - -The quantity of water poured out every day by the _Sprudel_ alone is -estimated at two million gallons. Multiplied by 365, it becomes truly -amazing. In this quantity, as shown by Gilbert, a German chemist, ten -thousand tons of Glauber salt, and fifteen thousand tons of carbonate -of soda are thrown up in a year. And this has been going on from -immemorial ages, the waters depositing calcareous matter in their -outflow, which has slowly formed a crust over the vast boiling -reservoir beneath. And on this crust Carlsbad is built. - -The constituents of all the springs, as proved by analyses, are -identical with those of the _Sprudel_--soda in the form of carbonate, -Glauber salt, and common salt; carbonic acid gas, and traces of iron -and iodine. Bitumen is also found in a notable quantity, and a -peculiar soapy substance, a species of animal matter, the cause, -perhaps, of the cadaverous flavour already mentioned. The water, which -when first caught is bright and clear, becomes turbid if left to cool, -and throws down a pale-brown sediment. Ehrenberg, the celebrated -microscopist of Berlin, who has examined specimens of this sediment -under his microscope, declares it to be composed of fossil animalcules -inconceivably minute; these animalcules being a portion of the -material out of which Nature builds up the solid strata of the globe. -Some patients have feared to drink the water because of the concreting -property; but the medical authorities assure that in this respect it -produces no injurious effect on the animal economy. Shopkeepers turn -it to profit, and offer you fruits, flowers, plants, and other -objects, petrified by the _Sprudel_ water. - -The roof of the colonnade above the spring is discoloured by the -ascending steam; and standing on the bridge you can see how the wall -is incrusted with calcareous matter, as, also, the big hump swelling -up from the bed of the stream--a smooth ochreous coat, brightened in -places by amber, in others darkened into a rich brown, or dyed with -shades of green. This concretion is the _Sprudelstein_, or -Sprudel-stone, noticed above; firm and hard in texture, and -susceptible of a beautiful polish. A portion of the waste water is -led into an adjoining building, where it undergoes evaporation to -obtain the constituent salts in a dry state for exportation. From the -other shoot, as it falls into the river, supplies are constantly -dipped by the townsfolk, who use it to cook their eggs, to scald pork -and poultry, and other purposes. All day long you may see women -filling and carrying away on their shoulders big bucketfuls of the -steaming water. Notwithstanding this constant inflow of hot water, the -Teple appears to agree with fish, for I saw numbers swimming about in -good condition but a short distance lower down. As a stream, it adds -little to the salubrity of Carlsbad, for it is shallow, sluggish in -places, and tainted by noisome drainage. Another cause of offence to -the nostrils exists in what is so often complained of on the -Continent, the obtrusive situation of the _latrinæ_ at the principal -springs. Only in England are such matters properly cared for. - -In 1809, and for ten years thereafter, the _Sprudel_ ceased to flow, -and the water broke through at a spot some fifty feet distant, to -which the name _Hygieas Quelle_ was given. Here it continued to play -till 1819, when it reappeared at the former source, and from that date -there has been no interruption in the copious discharge of the -_Sprudel_. The underground action is at times so powerful as to rend -the crust and form new openings, and these, if large, have to be -stopped, to prevent the loss of the springs. The yellow hump mentioned -as swelling up from the river's bed, is nothing but a thick mass of -masonry, braced together by iron bars, covering a great rent through -which the waters once boiled up from below. Similar outbreaks -occurred in 1713, and again fourteen years later, when attempts were -made to ascertain the depth of the great subterranean reservoir by -splicing poles together to a length of one hundred and eighty feet, -but neither bottom nor wall could be touched in any direction. The -hills around are of granite, containing mica and pyrites, and one of -them, the _Hirschsprung_, is said to be the source of all the Carlsbad -springs. Their bases come near together, and it is easy to imagine a -huge cavern formed between them descending deep down into the bowels -of the earth. - -As regards the efficacy of the Carlsbad waters, let us hear Dr. -Granville, an authority on the subject: "They exert their principal -sanative action," he says, "1st, on all chronic affections which -depend on debility of the digestive organs, accompanied by the -accumulation of improper secretions; 2ndly, on all obstructions, -particularly of the abdomen, which, as Becher, the oracle of Carlsbad, -observes, they resolve and disperse; 3rdly, on the acrimony of the -blood, which they correct, alter, evacuate, or drive towards the -extremities and the surface of the body; 4thly, on calculous and -gravelly deposits; 5thly, on many occult and serious disorders, the -nature of which is not readily ascertained until after the partial use -of the waters, such as tic doloreux, spasms, rheumatisms, and gout." - -As if here were not virtues sufficient, the Doctor proceeds: "My own -experience warrants me in commending the Carlsbad waters in all -obstinate cases of induration, tumefaction, tenderness, and sluggish -action of the liver; in imperfect or suppressed gout; in paralysis, -dependent on the stomach, and not fulness of blood in the head; in -cases of tic and nervous disorders; finally, in obstructions of the -glands of the mesentery, and distended state of the splenetic -vessels." The effect on stones in the bladder is almost magical, so -promptly are they polished, reduced, rendered friable, and expelled, -leaving the patient a happy example of perfect cure. - -"It is the despondent," to quote once more from the Doctor, "the -dejected, misanthropic, fidgetty, pusillanimous, irritable, -outrageous, morose, sulky, weak-minded, whimsical, and often -despairing hypochondriac--for he is all these, and each in turn--made -so by continued indigestion, by obstinate and unremitting gout, by -affections of the nerves of sympathy and of the gastric region, and by -other equally active causes, that Carlsbad seems pre-eminently to -favour." After reading this, the wonder is, not that the visitors -number from five to six thousand in the course of the season, but that -they are not ten times as many. - -The Doctor finds nothing nauseous in the taste of the water. "Once -arrived in the stomach," he says, "it produces an exhilarating -sensation, which spreads itself to the intestinal canal generally." To -him I leave the responsibility of this statement; for, preferring to -let well alone, I sipped by spoonfuls only, and can therefore bring no -testimony from my own experience. The practice of drinking the waters -has almost set aside the once exclusive practice of bathing; but baths -are always to be had, as well of mud and vapour as of the water of the -springs. - -Now, after this stroll through the town, let us take a wider survey. -As we follow the street down the right bank, we see parties setting -off in carriages for excursions to the neighbourhood, and rows of -vehicles in the open places ticketed, _Return to Marienbad_, _to -Eger_, _to Töplitz_, _to Zwickau_, and the like, and drivers on the -alert for what your London cab-driver calls "a job." A short distance -beyond the _Morgenstern_ a path zigzags gradually up the hill and -brings you soon under the shade of trees, and to many little nooks and -sheltered seats contrived for delightful repose. One remote bower, -apparently but little frequented, is inscribed, _Care's Rest: make -thyself happy_. A little farther, and crossing a carriage-road, we -come to a temple where you may have another rest, and enjoy at the -same time the opening panorama. From hence the paths zigzag onwards to -the top of the _Dreikreuzberg_--Three-Cross Hill--by easy shady -slopes, which even a short-winded patient may ascend, while those with -strong legs may shorten the distance by the steep cut-offs. An -agreeable surprise awaits you at the top: a large, well-kept garden, -gay and fragrant with flowers, surrounded by arbours of clipped fir, -and a graceful screen of trees, while at one side stands a spacious -_Restauration_--all clean and cheerful of aspect. From an elevated -platform, or from the arched recesses on the terrace in front of the -garden, you see all Carlsbad and the hilly region around. - -Now you see how singularly crooked is the narrow valley in which the -town is built; how the white houses gleam from the steep green sides -of the farther hills, and straggle away to the wooded hollow at the -head of the valley, from whence the river issues in a shining curve. -In and out flows the stream past the church, past the springs and -public buildings, cutting the town in two, on its way to fall into the -Eger. Your eye takes in the life of the streets, the goings to and -fro, but on a reduced scale--such tiny men and women, and little -carriages! 'Tis as if one were looking into Lilliput. Opposite rises -the precipitous rocky hill, the Hirschsprung, to the craggy summit of -which we shall climb by-and-by; and beyond it, ridgy summits, away to -the gloomy expanse of the _Schlaggenwald_. Many are the paths that -penetrate the rearward valleys, and white roads curving along the -hill-sides high above Carlsbad, and far up the distant slopes. -Altogether the view is striking, and somewhat romantic; yet in the -eyes of the Germans fresh from their flat, uninteresting country, it -is "_wunderschön_"--an epithet which they never tire of heaping on the -landscape. - -From the garden a path leads along the ridge to a higher elevation, -where the three tall crosses, seen for miles around, spring from a -rocky knoll at the rear of a small semicircular opening, enclosed by -firs, prettily intermingled with beech and birch. Heath and yellow -broom grow from crevices in the rocks, and the wild thyme, crushed by -your foot, fills the air with aromatic sweetness, for the spot is left -to the nurture of the winds and the rain. It commands the same view as -from the garden; but with a wider scope, and the town lying at a -greater depth. - -The path still curving along the ridge brings you presently to _König -Otto's Höhe_--King Otto's Height--the highest point of the hill. This -is also an untrimmed spot, with two or three seats, and a fluted -granite column, surmounted by a globe and star, rising in the midst. -You now look over some of the nearer hills, and get fresh peeps into -the valleys, discovering topographical secrets. Raised high into the -region of cooling breezes, yet easily accessible, it is a pleasant -place for quiet recreation. - -I took the shortest way down from Otto's Height, crossing the rough -declivity and the fields that stretch far up the lower slope of the -hill, and made a circuit to Findlater's monument at the upper -extremity of Carlsbad. From the eminence on which it is erected you -get a new prospect of the town, and up the valley of umbrageous -retreats much resorted to by visitors on sultry afternoons. - -On my way back to the _Morgenstern_ I had another look at the -_Sprudel_. The place was now deserted; the Naiads had departed; the -stall-keeper had locked her glazed doors and withdrawn; and there was -nothing near to subdue the vivid rushing sound of the water. So to -remain till evening, when a few anxious patients would appear to quaff -new draughts of health. - -The inn was in all the bustle of dinner, after the manner of a _table -d'hôte_, but without its formality--twenty little tables instead of a -single large one. By this arrangement the guests formed small parties, -and ate and chatted at pleasure. Many came in who were not lodgers in -the house--among them a countess, from Moravia, to whom no more -attention was paid, nor did she appear to expect it, than to the -others. The absence of stiffness was, indeed, an agreeable -characteristic of the company, who were mostly Germans. - -"Are you here for the cure?" said an old gentleman who sat opposite -me, and looked at my tankard of beer and salad with an air of -surprise. "Are you not afraid?" - -My answer reassured him. Visitors who come to drink the waters are -required by medical authority to conform to a simple regimen. To eat -no salad, fruit, or vegetables--to drink no beer or wine--to eat no -bread. The exceptional cases are rare; hence the provision consists -but of sundry preparations of meat, decanters of water, pudding -resembling boiled pound-cake, and baskets of small rolls. The latter, -made of wheaten flour, are not recognised as bread, but come under the -common term, _Semmel_--the simmel of which we read in descriptions of -lordly banquets in our Plantagenet days. The term bread is confined to -the large brown and black loaves made of rye meal, the staple of -household diet in Bohemia; and to Carlsbad patients this is forbidden. -So Nature always goes on vindicating her simple laws, convincing -mankind, in spite of themselves, of the wholesome effects of fresh -air, daily exercise, plain food, and spring water; and mankind, -returned to crowded cities and artificial pleasures, go on forgetting -a lesson which is as old as the hills. - -In the afternoon I mounted to the top of the _Hirschsprung_, and -passed two or three hours on the jutting crags which overlook the town -and a wide expanse of rolling fields and meadows towards Saxony. -Stairs and fenced platforms on the outermost points enable you to -survey in full security. The conformation of the crags is not unlike -that which prevails in the Saxon Switzerland. Here and there tablets -in the rock record the visits of royal personages, and on the topmost, -surmounted by a cross, is an inscription in Russian, and the name of -Czar Peter, who included among his exploits that of riding up the -_Hirschsprung_ on horseback in 1711. - -You cannot be long in Carlsbad without hearing a flourish of trumpets -from the top of the Watch-tower, announcing the arrival of visitors. -No sooner do the trumpeters spy a carriage approaching from their -lofty station, than they begin to sound, and, in proportion to the -appearance of the vehicle, so do they measure out their blast--most -wind for the proudest. While I was looking down, a sudden note, -unusually prolonged, woke up the drowsy echoes, for rattling down the -zigzagged highway from Prague came his unenviable majesty, Otho of -Greece, to undergo a course of the _Sprudel_--at least, so said the -newspapers. Not till he had alighted at the hotel did the trumpeters -cease their salute, for kings can pay well; but let a dusty-footed -wayfarer, with knapsack on shoulder, come into the town, and not a -breath will they spare to give him welcome. - -At six in the evening--having surveyed Carlsbad from within and -without, and from the highest points on either side--I started to walk -to Buchau, a village about ten miles off--an easy distance before -nightfall. The _Morgenstern_ charged me two florins for my bed, and -less than two florins for all my diet--supper, breakfast, and dinner; -which, in one of the dearest watering-places in Europe, was letting me -off on reasonable terms. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - Departure from Carlsbad -- Dreifaltigkeits-Kirche -- - Engelhaus -- The Castle -- A Melancholy Village -- Up to - the Ruins -- An Imperial Visit -- Bohemian Scenery -- On to - Buchau -- The Inn -- A Crowd of Guests -- Roast Goose -- - Inspiriting Music -- Prompt Waiters -- The Mysterious - Passport -- The Military Adviser -- How he Solved the - Mystery -- A Baron in Spite of Himself -- The Baron's - Footbath -- Lighting the Baron to Bed. - - -Some years ago Carlsbad was scarcely accessible by vehicles coming -from the interior, so abrupt was the declivity of its western hill. -Now the difficulty is overcome by the zigzags of an excellent road, -such as Austrian engineers know well how to construct. The shortest -way out of the town for one on foot is up a street painfully steep, -which brings you at once to an elevation, whence there is a view of -the hills and hollows at the head of the valley. The zigzags are long, -and there are no cut-offs, whereby you lose sight but slowly of the -Valley of Springs. - -Once past the brow and a view opens over a hilly landscape in the -opposite direction, repeating the characteristics of Bohemian -scenery--large unfenced fields, with clumps of firs and patches of -forest on the highest swells, and the road, in long undulations, -running between rows of birch and mountain-ash. There is a monotony -about it, varied only by the difference of crops, the rise and fall of -the ground, or rags of mist which, after a shower, hang about the dark -sides of distant hills. By-and-by the ruined castle of Engelhaus, -crowning a conical hill, peers up on the left, higher and higher as -you advance, till at length it stands out a huge mass, looking grimly -down on a village beneath. - -But now a low building on the right attracts your attention. It is a -small, low, triangular church--_Dreifaltigkeits-Kirche_--in a narrow -graveyard, where the few mounds and the low wooden crosses that mark -them are scarcely to be seen for tall grass and weeds. The interior, -so far as I could see through a chink in the rusty, unpainted door, -contains nothing remarkable except a rude altar, and a small gallery -in each angle. A chapel and arcades are built against two sides of the -enclosing wall, and four life-size figures of apostolic aspect sit, -recline, and kneel in front of a half-length figure, bearing a -crucifix, placed in a recess. They seemed fit guardians of a place -which wears an appearance of neglect. - -A little farther and there is a byeway, leading across the fields to -Engelhaus, about a quarter-mile distant, and a very Irish-looking -village it is; squalid and filthy, built in what, to a stranger, -appears a total disregard of the fitness of things. Here and there the -noise of a loom--a noise which denotes a poverty-stricken -existence--sounded from some of the cottages, and the aspect of the -villagers is quite in keeping with their environment. And yet a -wandering musician, who carried a trestle to rest his organ on, was -trying to coax a few _Kreutzers_ out of their pockets by airs most -unmelodious; as if the worst kind of music were good enough for folk -so deficient in a sense of propriety. The inside of the houses is no -better than the outside. Seeing a pale, damp-browed weaver at a -window, I stopped to put a question. He opened the casement, and out -rushed a stream of air so hot, stifling, and malodorous as fully -accounted for his abject looks, and made me content with the briefest -answer. - -A steep path, completed in one place by a wooden stair, leads you up -and along the precipitous side of the hill to the principal entrance -of the castle, an old weatherbeaten arch bestriding the whole of the -narrow way. Here a few tall trees form the commencement of an avenue, -which the young trees planted farther on will one day complete, and -increase the charm of the ancient remains. The path skirting the bold -crags passes an old tower, and enters a court which, since the visit -of the Emperor and Empress in 1854, is called the _Kaiserplatz_. Three -young trees, supported by stakes painted black and yellow, and blue -and white, are growing up into memorials of the incident, and -dwarf-firs, set in the turfy slope, form the initials F i E--_Francis -Joseph, Elizabeth_. A small pool in one corner reflects the -dilapidated walls; the mountain-ash, trailing grasses, and harebells -grow from the crevices, trembling in the breeze; and the place, cool, -green, and sequestered, is one where you would like to sit musing on a -summer afternoon. - -The steep and uneven ground adds much to the picturesque effect of the -ruin. You make your way from court to court by sudden abrupt ascents -and descents, protected in places by a fence--now under a broken -arch, now creeping into a vault, now traversing a roofless hall, -climbing the fragment of a stair, or pacing round the base of the -mighty keep. Loose stones lie about, bits of walls peer through the -soil, or, concealed beneath, form grassy hummocks, showing how great -have been the ravages of time and other foes. Here and there stands a -portion of wall on the very brink of the precipice, and a railing -stretched from one to the other enables you to contemplate the -prospect in safety. The appearance of the country is such that the -hill appears to be in the centre of a great, slightly-hollowed basin, -which has a dark and distant rim. The basin is everywhere heaving with -undulations, patched and striped with firs and the lines of trees -along the highways, while a few ponds gleam in some of the deepest -hollows. A few widely scattered cottages, or the white walls of a -farmstead, dot the green surface of the fields; and such is the -general character of the scenery all the way from the _Erzgebirge_ to -Prague--indeed, all the central region of Bohemia. One league, with -small differences, is but a repetition of the other. - -I prowled so long about the ruins, enjoying the lusty breeze that -shook the branches merrily and roared through the crevices, that long -shadows crept over the landscape, raising the highest points into bold -relief, and veiling the remoter scenes before I descended. The sun, -fallen below the Saxon mountains, lit up an immense crescent of angry -clouds with a lurid glare, from which the twilight caught a touch of -awfulness. The ponds shone with unearthly lustre for a few moments, -and then lay cold and gray, and there seemed something spectral in the -thin lines of firs as they rose against the glare. - -I returned to the road, and found the last two or three miles solitary -enough, for not a soul did I meet, and the way lay through a forest -where the only light was a faint streak overhead. It was near ten -o'clock when I came to Buchau--a village of low houses built round a -great square--in which stood some twenty or thirty laden wagons. The -appearance of things at _The Sun_ was not encouraging: a dozen -wagoners in blue gaberdines lay stretched on straw in the -sitting-room, leaving but a small corner of the floor vacant, where -sat the host, who made many apologies for having to turn me away. I -walked across the square, and tried _Der Herrnhaus_, and on opening -the door met with a rare surprise. The large room was crowded with -some threescore guests, including a few soldiers, seated at narrow -tables along the sides and across the middle, every man with his -tankard of beer before him. In one corner a party of gipsies played -wild and lively music, making the room echo again with the sounds of -flageolet, violin, and bass, and electrifying the company with their -wizard harmonies. Some, unable to contain themselves, chanted a few -bars of the inspiriting measure; others beat time with hands or feet, -and joined in a whoop at the emphatic passages; and all the while a -gruff outpouring of talk struggled with the bass for the mastery. -There was a clatter of knives and forks, a rattling of pewter-lids by -impatient tipplers, and hasty cries for pieces of bread. And over all -hung a cloud of smoke, rolling broader and deeper as the puffs and -swirls went up from fifty pipes. - -This scene bursting upon me all at once made me stand for a minute in -doubtful astonishment, half dazzled by the sudden light, and half -choked by the reeking atmosphere, while I looked round to discover -the trencher-capped _Wirth_. If _The Sun_ had no room, what was to be -hoped for here? However, the landlord, after a consultation with his -wife, assured me of a chamber to myself; and placing a chair at the -only vacant end of one of the tables, professed himself ready to -supply "anything" for supper. He rung the changes on beef, veal, and -sausage, with interpolation of roast goose. The meats were good, but -the goose was prime; he could recommend that "_vom Herzen_," and he -laid his hand on his heart as he said it. So I accepted roast goose; -and presently a smoking dish of the savoury bird was set before me, -with cucumber salad and rye bread. The landlord had not overpraised -his Bohemian cookery, for he gave me a most relishing supper. - -As my eyes became accustomed to the smoky atmosphere, the forms and -features of the company came out more distinct than at first. Among -the wagoners and rustics who made up the greater number, I saw two or -three heads of a superior cast--unmistakable Czechish heads--in marked -contrast to the rest. A gentleman with his wife and brother, -travelling to their estates, preferred quarters in the _Herrnhaus_ to -a midnight stage, and sat eating their supper, apparently not less -pleased with their entertainment than I was. By their side sat half a -dozen tramping shoemakers, each busy with a plate of roast goose; and -next to them, in the narrow space between the stove and the wall, lay -a woman and her two children, sleeping on straw. The musicians came -round for a largesse, and, reanimated by success, played a few tunes -by way of finish, which made sitting still almost impossible. Every -one seemed inclined to spring up and dance; and the host and his -servants ran to and fro quicker than ever, under the new excitement. -No sooner was a tankard emptied, than, following the custom of the -country, it was caught up by one of the nimble attendants and -refilled, without any asking leave or any demur, except on the part of -one of the guests. Trencher-cap would by no means believe that I could -be satisfied with a single measure, and I had to compromise for a -glass of wine, which, when brought, he assured me proudly was genuine -'34 _Adelsberger_. Whether or no, it was very good. - -Presently he asked for a sight of my passport, that his son might -enter my name with those of the other travellers. I spread the -document before him on the table; he bent down and examined it -curiously, as an antiquary over a wormeaten manuscript, but with a -look of utter bewilderment, for he had never before seen an English -passport. He turned it upside down, sideways, aslant, back to front, -every way, in short, in his endeavour to discover a meaning in it; but -in vain. He caught eagerly at the British Minister's eagle, and the -German _visas_, yet found nothing to enlighten him therein. His son -then took a turn in the examination; still with no better result; and -the two looked at one another in blank hopelessness. - -Presently the father, recollecting himself, beckoned secretly to one -of the soldiers, who came to help solve the mystery. Taking the -passport, he held it at arm's length, turned it every way as the -_Wirth_ had done before, brought it close to his eyes; but could make -nothing of it. Then, as if to assist his wit, he hooked one finger on -the end of his nose, spread the mysterious document on the table, and -pointing to the first paragraph, which, as tourists know, stands -printed in good round hand, he began to read at all hazards: - -"_Vill--Vill--Vill--yam. Ja, ja. Villyam._ Ah! that's English!" Then -he attacked the second word--"_Fre--Fre--Fre--Fredrich. Ja, ja._ That -is English!" - -The next word, _Earl_, looked awkward, so, skipping that, he went on -with many flourishes of his forefinger, "_Cla--ren--don. Ja, ja. -Clarendon._ That's English!" - -Encouraged by success, he made a dash at the following word, -"_Baron_," and stopped suddenly short, hooked his finger once more on -his nose, stood for a minute as if in deep study, then repeating -slowly, "_Villyam Fredrich Clarendon, Baron_," he gave the passport -back into the landlord's hands, and said in a whisper, pointing slily -to me, "He's a Baron." - -Hereupon the son, with nimble pen, entered me in the book as "_Villyam -Fredrich Clarendon, Baron_." - -"You have made a pretty mistake," I interposed. "See, that's my name, -written lower down, quite away from the titles of our Foreign -Minister." But it was in vain that I spoke, and argued, and protested, -the opposite party would not be convinced, and Trencher-cap, folding -up the passport, looked at me with that expression which very knowing -folk are apt to assume, and said, as he replaced it in my hand, "_Ja, -ja._ We are used to that sort of thing. You wish not to travel in your -real name. Yes, yes, we know. _Herr Baron_, I give you back your -passport." - -I reiterated my protest, and vehemently; but all in vain. "_Herr -Baron_" I had to remain for all the rest of the evening. Trencher-cap -made a bow every time he addressed me, and went among his guests, -telling them he had caged an English Baron. One and another came and -sat near me for awhile, and talked with so much of deference, that at -last I felt quite ashamed of myself--as if I were an accomplice in a -hoax. The talk, however, was very barren; the only items of real -information it brought forth were, that a good many needles were made -in the neighbourhood, and that Buchau could muster ninety-nine master -shoemakers. - -So it went on till eleven o'clock, when mine host, approaching with -another bow, said, "_Herr Baron_, are you quite sure that it is a cold -foot-bath you want?" - -"Quite." - -"I told the maid so," he replied; "but she says she cannot believe -that a _Herr Baron_ will have cold water, and thinks it should be -lukewarm." - -Satisfied on this point, he summoned the incredulous maid to light me -to bed. She stooped low with what was meant for a curtsey, and would -on no account turn her face from me, but went backwards up the stairs, -holding the candle low, and begging me at every step not to stumble. - -"Verily," thought I, "the whole household joins in the conspiracy." - -She carried the candlestick delicately, as if it were of silver and -not mere iron, placed it on a little deal table in the bedroom with a -ceremonious air, made another low curtsey, and retreated to the door. - -Then, with one hand on the latch, she said, after a momentary pause, -"_Herr Baron_, I wish you a good night;" and withdrew, leaving me -alone to sleep as best I might under the burden of an unexpected -title. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - Dawn -- The Noisy Gooseherd -- Geese, for Home Consumption - and Export -- Still the Baron -- The Ruins of Hartenstein - -- Glimpses of Scenery and Rural Life -- Liebkowitz -- - Lubenz -- Schloss Petersburg -- Big Rooms -- Tipplers and - Drunkards -- Wagoners and Peasants -- A Thrifty Landlord -- - Inquisitorial Book -- Awful Gendarme -- Paternal Government - -- Fidgets -- How it is in Hungary -- Wet Blankets for - Philosophers -- An Unhappy Peasant. - - -Neither nightmare nor anything else disturbed me till the wagoners, -hooking on their teams amid noisy shouts, filed off in two directions -from the square, at the earliest peep of dawn. The quiet that returned -on their departure was ere long broken by a succession of wild and -discordant cries, which, being puzzled to account for by ear, I got -out of bed and used my eyes. The gooseherd stood in the middle of the -square, calling his flock together from all quarters, with a voice, as -it seemed to me, more expressive of alarm and anger than of -invitation. However, the geese understood it, and they came waddling -and quacking forth from every gateway and lane, and the narrow -openings between the houses, till some hundreds were gathered round -the herd, who, waving his long rod, kept up his cries till the last -straggler had come up, and then drove them out to the dewy pasture -beyond the village. A singular effect was produced by the multitude -of long necks, and the awkward movements of the snow-white mass, -accompanied as they were by a ceaseless rise and fall of the quacking -chorus. Such a sight is common in Bohemia; for your Bohemian has a -lively relish for roast goose, regarding it as a national dish; and -mindful of his neighbours, he breeds numbers of the savoury fowl for -their enjoyment. Walk over the _Erzgebirge_ in September, and you will -meet thousands of geese in a flock, waddling slowly on their way to -Leipzig, and the fulfilment of their destiny in German stomachs, at -the rate of about three leagues a day. - -I doubted not that when the landlord had a fair look at me by -daylight, he would recall the title conferred amid the smoke and -excitement of the evening before. But, no! he met me at the foot of -the stair with the same profound bow; hoped _Herr Baron_ had slept -well; and would _Herr Baron_ take breakfast; all my remonstrances to -the contrary notwithstanding. I drank my coffee with a suspicion that -the sounding honour would have to be paid for; but I did the worthy -man injustice, for when summoned to receive payment, he brought his -slate and piece of chalk, and writing down the several items, made the -sum total not quite a florin. Not often is a Baron created on such -very reasonable terms. - -Even after I left his door, the host continued his attentions: he -would go with me to the edge of the village, and point out the way to -the castle, and the shortest way back to the main road. He must tell -me, too, that the church was dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel; -and of a spring not far off, known among the villagers as the "iron -spring." Then, as we shook hands and parted, he made another low bow, -and hoped I would recommend all my friends to seek for entertainment -under his sign. It would be ungracious not to comply with his wish; so -should any of my friends have the patience or courage to read these -pages, and an inclination to visit Buchau, I hereby counsel them to -tarry at the _Herrnhaus_. - -The castle, or rather the ruin, rises on the summit of a rounded hill -about a mile from the village. There is but little in them to charm -either the eye or the fancy, for their name and place recall nothing -that lingers in the memory. A few words suffice to tell that here once -stood the castle of Hartenstein, otherwise Hungerberg, sheltering -knights as lawless as any reiving Johnstone, till King George -Podiebrad, intolerant of their wild ways, rooted them out in 1468, and -knocked their stronghold to pieces. He showed them the less mercy, -from having had, the year before, to lay siege for twelve weeks to a -castle near Raudnitz, held by conspirators who set him at defiance. -Engelhaus, as is believed, felt the first touch of ruin some fifty -years later. - -Nevertheless, the half-hour spent in the excursion is not time lost, -for the spiral path that winds round the hill is well-nigh hidden by -wild flowers--a right royal carpet, and perfumed withal, swept by all -the breezes. And then there is always the view while you scramble -about among the broken walls and bits of towers, getting peeps at -parts of the landscape framed by a shattered window. It is something -to note how unvarying is the scenery: hills shaped like barn roofs; -the same undulations; vast fields; a few ponds; dark masses of firs, -lacking somewhat of cheerfulness notwithstanding the sunshine; and -the village in the midst of all, an irregular patch of gray and white. -Far as eye can reach it is the same, and so shall we find it all the -way to Prague. - -The wind increased mightily while I was on the hill, and as it swept -coldly over the broad slopes of grain and clover, the whole landscape -seemed to become a great, green, rippling sea. - -My recollections of this day include--a flock of geese grazing on a -bit of common about every league; men leading oxen by a strip of hide -to pasture on the roadside grass; women cutting fodder in nooks and -corners; shepherds, whose booted legs gave them anything but a -pastoral appearance; rows of cherry-trees, and the guards in straw -huts keeping watch over the fruit; and miles of road irksomely -straight between plum-trees. - -Here and there you come to a homestead or _Gasthaus_, surrounded by a -high and thick whitewashed wall, with one or more arched gateways, as -if the inmates could not give up the mediæval habit of living within a -fortress. On approaching Liebkowitz, the pale colour of the land -changes to a warm red, and fields of peas which seem endless, and -small plantations of hops, diversify the surface, and contrast with -the village, where the clean white pillars of the gateways, the red -roofs, topped here and there with a purple ball, engage your eye. - -At Lubenz, where the main road, with its bordering of tall poles and -telegraphic wire turns aside to the Saatzer Circle, I struck into the -direct route for Prague, and keeping on at an easy pace, getting a -passing view of Schloss Petersburg on the right--a factory-like -building--I came at eventide to the _Gasthof zum Rose_ at Willenz. - -There is many a chapel in England smaller than the common room at the -_Rose_, and the same may be said of nearly every roadside inn at which -I stayed. Large as the rooms are, it is sometimes difficult to find a -seat among the numerous guests; and on Sundays especially they are -overcrowded. Here in one corner stood the stove enclosed by a dresser, -on which all the preparations for cooking were carried on; and, in the -opposite corner, the bar behind a wooden fence, running up to the -ceiling. Bread, smoked sausage, _schnaps_, and liqueurs, are served -from the bar; beer is fetched directly from the cellar. - -The host was thrifty, and kept his four daughters busy in waiting on -customers. The eldest presided at the stove, and the other three went -continually to and fro, refilling the tankards of beer-drinkers, or -dealing out delicacies from the bar. Comely damsels they were, dressed -in purple bodices, and pink skirts that trailed on the floor in all -the amplitude prescribed by the milliners at Paris. I could not fail -to be struck by the frequency of their visits to the cellar to supply -the demands of about twenty men, who, seated at one of the tables, -appeared to have been making a day of it. Tankard after tankard was -swallowed with marvellous rapidity, and still the cry was "more." For -the first time, in my few trips to the Continent, I saw drunkards, and -these were not the only sots that came before me during the present -journey: all, however, within Bohemia. - -Casual customers would now and then drop in, call for beer, drink a -small quantity, and leave the tankard standing on the table and go -away for half an hour, then return, take another gulp, and so on. One -of the tables was covered by these drink-and-come-again tankards, and -though all alike in appearance, I noticed that every man knew his own -again. Among these bibbers by instalments the landlord was -conspicuous, for he took a gulp from his tankard every five minutes, -and never left it a moment empty. - -Now and then slouched in a troop of dusty-booted wagoners, who drank a -cup of coffee, and went slouching forth to their wearisome journey. At -times a half-dozen peasants strode noisily in, and refreshed -themselves with a draught of beer for their walk home; and sausage and -little broils were in constant request. The host rubbed his hands, and -well he might, for trade was brisk; and when he brought me a baked -chicken--which, by the way, is another favourite dish in Bohemia--for -my supper, and heard my praise of his beer, he told me that he brewed -his own beer and grew his own hops. "You will see two big pockets of -hops on the landing when you go to bed," he added, with the look of an -innkeeper thoroughly self-satisfied. And then he sat down and gave his -two sons a writing-lesson. - -After supper, one of the pink-robed damsels placed a wooden -candlestick, nearly a yard in height, on the table, and brought the -inevitable book--that miscellaneous collection of travellers' -autographs, kept for the edification of the Imperial police. More -inquisitorial than any I had yet seen, this book contained three -columns, in one of which I had to note whether I was married or -single; "Catholic or other beliefed;" acquainted with any one in any -of the places I intended to visit, or not! - -Having entered the required particulars, the damsel leaning over the -page the while, I asked her what use would be made of them? - -"The gendarme comes to look at the book," she answered, "and if he -found the columns empty, so would he blame my father sorely, and wake -you up with loud noise to ask the reason. Ah! sometimes he comes -before bedtime; sometimes not till midnight, when all folk are asleep. -Then must doors be opened and questions answered; and if he discovers -some one in bed whose name is not yet in the book, then he makes great -outcry, and my father must pay a fine, and the stranger must to the -guard-house if he have not good passport. Truly, the law is strong -over the book." - -Happy land! Paternal government is so careful of the governed, so -anxious to encourage sedentary virtues, that no one is allowed to go -more than four hours, about twelve miles, from home without a passport -or ticket of residence (_Heimathschein_); and should any one not quite -so tame as his fellows wish to overpass the prescribed limit, paternal -government not unfrequently keeps him waiting three days for the -precious permit, or refuses it altogether. In a town which we shall -come to by-and-by, I saw a poor woman, who begged leave to visit one -of her children some fifteen miles distant, turned away with an -uncompromising denial. Think of this, my countrymen!--Islanders free -to jaunt or journey whithersoever ye will: be ye mighty or mean--even -ticket-of-leave holders. - -Whatever the cause, the regulations concerning passports are in -Bohemia very rigorous. It may be that the people have not forgotten -they once had a king of their own, or that a remarkable intellectual -movement is taking place among the Czechs, or that a simmering up of -Protestantism has become chronic within the ring of mountains; -whatever the cause, the pressure of authority's heaviest hand is -manifest. For my own part--to mention a little thing among great -things--I was more fidgetted about my passport in Bohemia than ever -anywhere else. - -It is worse in Hungary. In that province the burden of oppression is -felt to a degree inconceivable by an Englishman. Passports for France -or England were peremptorily refused to Hungarians of whatever degree -during the year 1855; and in 1856, when the rigour was somewhat -relaxed, leave was granted for three months only. And should any one -be known to have paid a visit to Kossuth while in London, even though -he might believe the exile to be a better orator than ruler, he would -find the discipline of imprisonment awaiting him on his return _home_. -Think of Albert Smith, or any other enterprising tourist, having to -ask Lord Clarendon's permission to steam up the Rhine, ascend Mont -Blanc, or travel anywhither! 'Tis well the Magyars are not a hopeless -race. - -The members of the Hungarian Academy at Pesth are not allowed to hold -their weekly meetings unless an Imperial Commissioner be present to -watch the proceedings, and stop the discussion of forbidden subjects. -Not a word must be spoken concerning politics, or liberty in any form. -History is tolerated only when she discourses of antiquities--urns, -buildings, dress and manners, philology, or art. Science even must -wear fetters, and preserve herself demure and orthodox. A speculative -philosopher might as well attempt to utter high treason, as to read a -paper demonstrating by geological proofs the countless ages of the -earth's existence, or to quote a chapter from the _Vestiges of -Creation_. This work is included among the prohibited books, of which -a list is sent to the Academy once a week. One copy of the _Times_--a -solitary feather from Liberty's wing--finds its way into Pesth: a rare -indulgence for the Englishman who reads it. Imagine Sir Richard Mayne -sitting at meetings of the Royal Society, with power to stop Sir -Roderick Murchison in his Silurian evidences; or the Rev. Baden Powell -in his speculations and inferences concerning the _Unity of Worlds_; -or the utterance of Professor Faraday's opinions concerning -gravitation; and telling them they shall not read Hugh Miller's -_Testimony of the Rocks_! - -But to return. Among those who dropped in was a tall, grizzly peasant, -who presently began a talk with me about what he called his sad -condition. His lot was a hard one, because the country was kept down; -and hoping for better times would be vain while France and England -maintained their alliance. All who felt themselves aggrieved--and -their number was great--saw no prospect of redress but in a new -outbreak of strife between those two nations; let that only come, and -from the Rhine to the Vistula all would be in revolution, wrong would -be punished, and the right prevail. He knew many a peasant who was of -the same way of thinking. - -Not being able to flatter him with hopes of a rupture between the Lion -and the Cock, I suggested his taking the matter into his own hands, -and making the best of present circumstances. Thrift and diligence -would do him more good than a revolution. Whereupon he told me how he -lived; how hard he worked to cultivate his plot of ground; how rarely -he ate anything besides bread and potatoes; and as for beer, it was -never seen under his roof. - -"Do you think it fair, then," I rejoined, "to sit here drinking? Why -not carry home a measure of beer, and let your wife share it?" - -He made no answer; but rose from his seat, shook me by the hand, and -walked heavily away. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - The Village -- The Peasant again -- The Road-mender -- - Among the Czechs -- Czechish Speech and Characteristics -- - Crosses -- Horosedl -- The Old Cook -- More Praise of - England -- The Dinner -- A Journey-Companion -- Famous - Files -- A Mechaniker's Earnings -- Kruschowitz -- Rentsch - -- More Czechish Characteristics -- Neu Straschitz -- A - Word in Season from Old Fuller -- The Mechaniker departs. - - -A hilly site, gardens, orchards, and green slopes, houses scattered at -random among chestnuts and elders, and a general suspicion of Czechish -carelessness, give to Willenz a touch of the picturesque: at least, -when seen as I saw it, with the morning dew yet glistening on thatch, -and flowers, and branches. Cherry-trees form a continuous avenue up -the hill beyond, and here and there huts of fir branches were built -against a stem, to shelter the guard set to watch the ripened fruit, -and gatherers were busy aloft. You may pluck a cherry now and then -with impunity; but not from the trees marked by a wisp of straw -twisted round a conspicuous branch, for of those the fruit is sold, -and the watchman eyes them jealously. - -Coming to the brow of the hill, I saw what seemed a giant standing on -a high bank above the road. It was the grizzly peasant magnified -through a thin haze. As soon as he saw me he came plunging down the -bank, gave me a cheerful "_Gut' Morgen_," seized my hand, and said, "I -have been waiting long to see you. I talk gladly with such as you, and -could not let you go without asking whether you will come back this -way. If so, then pray come to my house for a night. It is not far from -Schloss Petersburg. We will make you comfortable." - -To return by the same road was no part of my plan, and when I told him -so, the old man's countenance fell; he pressed my hand tighter, and -cried, with a tone of disappointment, "Is it true? Ah! my wife will be -so sorry. I told her what you said, and she wanted to see you as much -as I." - -As there was no help for it, we had another talk, he all the while -holding my hand as if fearful I should escape. The burden of his -discourse was "a good time coming," mingled, however, with a dread -that when it came it would not be half so desirable as the good old -times, and between the past and future his life was a torment. - -"Whether you shall be miserable or not," I answered, "depends more on -yourself than on the rulers of Bohemia. Why should a man grumble who -has a house, and food, and land to cultivate? Only carry your -enjoyments home instead of consuming them by the way, and cheerfulness -will be there to gladden your wife as well as you." - -"Yes; but in the old times----" - -I bade him good-bye, and pursued my walk. Turning round just over the -brow of the hill, I saw him still in the same spot, gazing after me. -"Farewell, good friend!" he shouted, and strode away. - -Half an hour later I came to a road-mender, who told me he earned -twenty kreutzers a day, and was quite content therewith. He had a wife -and child; never ate meat or drank beer; lived mostly on potatoes, and -was, nevertheless, strong and healthy, and by no means inclined to -quarrel with his lot. The road was a constant source of employment; -and if at times bad weather kept him at home for a day or two, his pay -went on all the same. - -I mentioned my interview with the old peasant. "Ah!" he answered, -laughing, "it is always so. No grumbler like a _Bauer_. All the world -knows that peasants think everybody better off than themselves"--and -down came his hammer with crashing force on a lump of granite. Wayside -philosophy clearly had the best of it, and heartily approved the fable -of the _Mountain of Miseries_ which I narrated. - -Every mile brings us more and more among the Czechs. Oval faces and -arched eyebrows become more numerous, and women's talk sounds shrill -and shrewish, as if angry or quarrelsome, as is remarked of the women -in Caernarvonshire; and yet it is nothing more than friendly -conversation. To a stranger the language sounds as unmusical as it is -difficult; and to learn it--you may as well hope to master Chinese. -Czechish names and handbills appear on the walls; the names of -villages, with the usual topographical particulars, are written up in -German and Czechish, of which behold a specimen: - - [Illustration: - - Ort und Gemeinde. _Misto á Obec._ - Horzowitz. - Bezirk Jechnitz. _Okres Jesenice._ - Kreis Saaz. _Krái Zatéc._ - Königr. Böhm. _Kral: Ceské._] - -In some of the villages no one but the landlord of the best inn can -speak German, and you have only your eyes by which to study the -natives and their ways. For my own part, my Czechish vocabulary being -foolishly short, I could not ask the villagers why they preferred -sluttishness to tidiness, though I longed to do so. It comprised three -words only: _Piwo_, _Chleb_, _Máslo_--Beer, Bread, Butter. - -Crosses are frequent, erected at the corners where bye-roads branch -off. Not the huge wooden things you see in Tyrol; but light iron -crucifixes, graceful in form and brightly gilt, and mounted on a stone -pedestal. Nearly all have been set up by private individuals to -commemorate some family event: _By the married Pair_, you may read on -one; _Dedicated to the Honour of God, by two Sisters_, on another; _In -Memory of my Daughter, by Peter Schmidt, Bauer_, on a third--all -apparently from some pious motive. - -While eating a crust under the pretentious sign, _Stadt Carlsbad_, at -Horosedl, I saw how the dowager hostess practised her domestic -economy. She was preparing dinner for the family, after her manner, -drawing her hand repeatedly across her nose, for the stove was hot and -the day sultry. She sliced cucumbers with an instrument resembling a -plane, sprinkled the slices with salt, then squeezed them well between -her hands, and exposed them to the sun in a shallow basket, one of -five or six which, woven almost as close and water-tight as -calabashes, served her as dishes. Then she grated a lump of hard brown -dough, and used the coarse grains to thicken the soup--a substitute -for vermicelli common among the peasantry. - -The hostess, meanwhile, chatted with me and set the table. She -professed to admire the English, and thought it an honour that an -Englishman had once slept a night in her house, "although he had to -look into a book for all he wanted to say." She coincided entirely in -the Saxon schoolmaster's opinion, that all best things came from -England. - -As the clock struck eleven in came half a dozen serving men and -maidens, and sat down to dinner with the master and mistress. The -dowager supplied them with soup, beef, a mountain of potato-dumplings, -and cucumber salad, and ate her portion apart with undoubting -appetite. An old beggar crept in and stood hat in hand imploring -charity for God's sake! She scolded him for his intrusion, and then -gave him a smoking hot dumpling and a word of sympathy, which he -received and acknowledged with humble thanks and the sign of the -cross. - -It is a relief along this part of the road to see frequent hop -plantations, and here and there rocks as richly red as the crimson -cliffs of Sidmouth, while at rarer intervals a pale mass of sandstone -on a distant hill-slope puts on the appearance of an enormous -antediluvian fossil. I was pacing briskly along, enjoying a fresh -breeze that had sprung up, when I heard a voice behind me: "_Ach!_ at -last. I saw you from far, and said to myself, Perhaps that is a -journey-companion--let me overtake him." - -Immediately a man, who walked as if he enjoyed the exercise, and wore -what looked like his Sunday suit, came up to my side, and proposed to -join company, so as to shorten the way with talk. We soon got through -the preliminaries, and started topics enough to last all the rest of -the day. The stranger notified himself as a _Mechaniker_ from Neudeck, -going to Prague on business for his master. He, too, had much to say -in praise of England. He had once worked with an Englishman, a certain -James, or _Ya-mes_, as he pronounced it, and had ever since held him -in the highest esteem and admiration. "That was a man!" he exclaimed; -"if all Englishmen are the same, no wonder their nation is so great." - -English files also were not less praiseworthy--a fact of which -Sheffield ought to be proud, seeing that her handicraft has often been -reproached of late. "To dance," said the _Mechaniker_, "is not more -pleasure than to file with an English file. How it bites, and lasts so -long! Even an old one that has been thrown away for months is better -than a German file. One is honest steel--the other is too much like -lead." Some folk will, perhaps, feel surprised by this scrap of -experimental testimony in favour of Hallamshire. - -We talked about wages. The _Mechaniker's_ earnings were six hundred -florins a year; a small sum, as it seems, to English notions for a -skilled workman in machinery--one held in high consideration by his -master. Ordinary workmen get one-third less; he was, therefore, well -content, and told me he could spare something for the savings bank, -but not so much as formerly, owing to the increased price of -provisions. - -So with sundry discourse we came to Kruschowitz, where we dined, -looking out on thick belts of fruit-trees, that embower the village, -and relieve the pale green of little plantations of acacias that show -here and there among the bright-red roofs. Most of the houses exhibit -the Czechish style, which shuns height and dispenses with an upper -story. Then we went on at an after-dinner pace to Rentsch, where, -striking into the old road to Prague, now but little frequented, we -shortened the distance by four or five miles. All Czechish now, both -to eye and ear. A difference is perceptible in the fields, the -implements, sheds, and vehicles; they are not so neat or workmanlike -in appearance as in the German districts, and yet the broad crops of -wheat, already turning yellow, betoken glad abundance. - -Now we found pleasant footpaths through the beech-woods that border -the road, and enjoyed the cool shade and the sound of rustling leaves. -The men we met had a slouching gait, and the women, wearing coarse, -baggy cotton stockings, and flimsy cotton gowns, and shabby kerchiefs -on their heads, were unmistakable dowdies--an appearance which has -come to be considered essentially Celtic. However, they failed not to -salute us with their "_dobrýtro_" (good day) as we passed. - -The aspect of Neu Straschitz, the next village on our way, shows how -we are getting into the heart of the country--the land of the Czechs. -Wide streets, which make the low whitewashed houses look still lower -than they are; a great, uneven square, patched here and there with -ragged grass, bestrewn with rough logs of timber, ornamented at one -side by a row of saplings, unhappy looking, as if pining for the rank -of trees; on the other by a statue of St. John Nepomuk. Very lifeless! -No merry noise of children in summer evening gambols; no fathers and -mothers chatting in the cool lengthening shadows. The only living -creatures are a man, a woman, and a dog, all three as far apart as -possible. There is nothing stirring even around the _Bezirksamt_ or -the church. - -Glazed windows are few: an opening in the wall, with a hinged shutter, -suffices for most of the houses. And for door they have a big archway -closed by heavy wooden gates, looking very inhospitable. Here and -there one of these gates stands a little open, and you may get a peep -at the interior, a square court, enclosed by stable, barn, and -dwelling, heaped with manure and ugly rubbish. No notion here, you -will say, of the fitness of things. Look at the wagon--a basket on -wheels--the wheelbarrow, the rakes, huddled away anyhow, as if they -were just as well in one place as another. Perhaps they are. Quaint -old Fuller says of the Devonshire cotters of his day, "Vain it is for -any to search their houses, being a work beneath the pains of a -sheriff, and above the power of any constable." You will, perhaps, say -the same here. Look in-doors! the same slovenliness prevails. The room -would be just as comfortable, or rather uncomfortable, if chairs and -table changed places; if the higgledy-piggledy at one end were -shifted to the other. The condition of the utensils is by no means -unimpeachable; and repelled by the pervading odour, you will not be -less thankful than proud that your lot is not cast among the Czechs. - -The inn is an exception, and has the appearance of being too good for -the village. The _Kellnerinn_ told us we could have as many bedrooms -as we chose, for they were all empty. I was content with my day's -walk, about twenty-five miles; but the _Mechaniker_, impatient to -arrive at Prague, resolved to travel two hours farther; so, after he -had finished his tankard of beer, we shook hands, and he went on -alone, the _Kellnerinn_ assuring him as he departed that he would find -good sleeping quarters almost every half-hour. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - A Talk with the Landlord -- A Jew's Offer -- A Ride in a - Wagen -- Talk with the Jew -- The Stars -- A Mysterious - Gun-barrel -- An Alarm -- Stony Ammunition -- The Man with - the Gun -- The Jew's opinion of him -- Sunrise -- A Walk -- - The White Hill -- A Fatal Field -- Waking up in the Suburbs - -- Early Breakfasts -- Imperial and Royal Tobacco -- - Milk-folk -- The Gate of Prague -- A Snappish Sentry -- The - Soldiers -- Into the City -- Picturesque Features and - crowding Associations -- The Kleinseite -- The Bridge -- - Palaces -- The Altstadt -- Remarkable Streets -- The - Teinkirche -- The Neustadt -- The Three Hotels. - - -The landlord came in a few minutes afterwards, and, to encourage me to -tell him all he wished to know about myself, declared himself a -German. That he should ever have been so stupid as to tempt fortune at -Neu Straschitz was a mistake haunting and vexing him continually. A -living was not to be got in such a miserable village, and among such -miserable people, and he meant to migrate as soon as he could find -some one more stupid than himself to take the inn off his hands. - -I had seen two or three German names in the street, and asked him if -they were of long standing. "Not very." And he went on to say that the -Stock-Bohemians, as the Czechs are called, are perpetually encroached -on, pressed within narrower limits by the German element. Though a -good deal was said about Czechish vigour and intellectuality, some -folk thought that the language would at no distant day cease to be -spoken. As for the character of the Czechs, there was scarcely a -German who did not believe them to be sly, false, double-faced. And -what says the proverb?--Dirt is the offspring of Lying and Idleness. -For his part, he knew the Czechs were dirty, but he didn't quite know -whether, in other respects, they were worse than their neighbours. Any -way, he rather liked the thought of removing from among them. - -After all this, mine host thought he had a fair claim on me for a -sight of an English gold coin, and answers to all his questions -concerning England. I was doing my best to satisfy him, when the -_Kellnerinn_ called my attention to a _Herr_ who was going to start -with his _Wagen_ in the course of the evening for Prague; and she -suggested, very disinterestedly as it seemed to me, that the -opportunity was too good to be lost. - -_Wagen_ is as comprehensive a word as our "conveyance:" the _Herr_ -looked like a man who might be going to Prague in a carriage, so, as -he promised plenty of room, and asked no more than a florin for the -twenty miles, I accepted his offer. Having yet business to settle, he -went out, and promised to call for me at nine o'clock. He had no -sooner left the room, than the landlord said, "He is a Jew; but you -need not be afraid of him. He is a very honest fellow, and comes here -often." - -I saw no reason to be afraid, and when the Jew came back at the -appointed hour was ready to accompany him. He led the way to a back -street, where we waited in front of one of the low, undemonstrative -houses. Presently the big gate swung back, and out came the -_Wagen_--one of the four-wheeled basket wagons, drawn by a single -horse pulling awkwardly at one side of the heavy pole. I had imagined -something a little better than that; however, as the wagon was half -full of new hay, with a comfortable back-cushion of clover, I -scrambled in on one side while the Jew did the same on the other, and -the driver, a Czech, perched himself uncomfortably on a bar in front. - -The wagon was just wide enough for two; and, what with the elastic -sides and soft hay, there was no painful jolting. The west shone -gloriously with the golden arch of sunset as we drove out of the -village and entered on a bad road winding across the open fields; and -Twilight came on so softly that you might have fancied Day was -lingering to lend her his palest rays. The Jew was disposed to talk, -and betrayed no little curiosity on the subject of travelling. Was it -not very irksome to be away from home? was it not very expensive? and -how much money did one need to carry? was there no danger? and so -forth. But what interested him most was the question as to the money: -he returned to it again and again. - -Next, he had much to ask concerning London--the sort of business -transacted in the great city--the rate of profit--in short, he put me -through a whole social and commercial catechism, from which he drew a -conclusion that London would not be an undesirable place of residence. - -So it went on, interrupted only by his saying a few words now and then -to the driver in Czechish, until my turn came, and I opened my -questioning about Prague. The Jew, however, was readier in asking -questions than in answering; indeed, he was stingy in reply, as if -words were worth a florin the dozen. - -As the stars brightened the night became cold, and set me shivering. -The Jew brought two cloaks out of a bag, and, wrapped in one of these, -I lay on my back looking up at the sky, thinking of home-scenes and -home-friends as my eye wandered from one bright spot to another; and -solemn was the impression made on me by the sight of the glorious -handiwork. - - "For the bright firmament - Shoots forth no flame - So silent, but is eloquent - In speaking the Creator's name." - -I could not fail to note that astronomers have reason for telling us -that meteoric phenomena are more common on any night than would be -believed by those not accustomed to observe the heavens, for I saw -twelve shooting-stars within two hours. - -As we went on, the lights in the public-houses became fewer, and ere -long disappeared, and the silence was only disturbed by the fitful -barking of dogs in the distance, and the slow noise of the wheels. Our -horse dropped into a walk, and the driver off to sleep, and I was -still gazing at the stars when I heard footsteps near the side of the -wagon. Turning my eyes, without rising, I saw the top of a gun-barrel -about two yards off, apparently resting on some one's shoulder. The -sound of the footsteps woke the driver, who immediately began to -quicken the horse's pace, but very cautiously, as if to avoid -suspicion. The Jew seemed uneasy, and muttered a word or two in a low -tone; the whip was used, the horse broke into a trot, but the -gun-barrel was not left behind; I could still see it in the same -place, keeping pace with the wagon. - -What did it mean? One time I fancied that perhaps the hay on which I -lay so innocently was but a disguise for something contraband, whereof -a cunning gendarme had gotten scent. Then I remembered the landlord's -desire to see a gold coin, and the Jew's curiosity as to the amount -and quality of a traveller's money, and a faint suspicion of having -fallen into a trap did occur to me. Meanwhile the horse trotted in -earnest; the gun-barrel was left in the rear; then the whip was plied -vigorously; the Jew spoke energetically; the driver jumped from his -perch, picked up two big stones, threw them into the wagon, and drove -quickly on again. - -"There is one for you, and one for me," said the Jew to me, in a loud -whisper. - -"What do you mean?" I asked. - -"The stones," he replied; "one for you, and one for me, if we are -attacked." - -"Attacked or not, we are three to one, and one of the three is an -Englishman." - -The Jew did not answer, for the footsteps were again heard approaching -at a run, and soon the gun-barrel appeared once more abreast of the -wagon. The driver kept the horse up to his speed, the Jew fumbled -about with his feet for the big stones, and the chase--if such it -could be called--continued for about ten minutes. - -All at once the gun-barrel darted from the road-side towards the -wagon. I immediately sat up, and found myself face to face, and but a -few inches apart, with the bearer of the weapon--a wild-looking -fellow, wearing a slouched cap and hunting-jacket. A faint exclamation -of surprise escaped him, and, whether it was that he saw two persons -in the wagon, besides the driver, or that we did not look worth his -trouble, I know not, but he gradually dropped behind, and we lost -sight of the gun-barrel. - -A minute passed. "Now," said the Jew, "we are rid of him." - -But scarcely had he spoken, than a shrill whistle sounded afar through -the silence of the night, followed after a short interval by a whistle -at a distance from the road. - -"Quick! quick!" was now the word to the driver. "He is calling his -comrades: they will be down upon us. Quick! quick!" - -The Czech seemed well inclined to obey; the pace was quickened into a -gallop, and, in about a quarter-hour, we came to a village, where, -stopping in front of the inn, he filled the rack with clover from the -wagon, and gave the horse to feed. - -The place with its littery appendages looked unked, lying half in deep -shadow; the door was fast, and not a light shone from the windows, -cheating my hope of a cup of coffee. The Jew now sat up, talked for -awhile vehemently with the driver, then said, turning to me, "We have -had an escape. That fellow meant nothing good--nothing good--nothing -good. A real bad fellow!" - -"Was he a robber?" - -"Perhaps worse. He meant nothing good. We are well out of it. I hope -we shall not see him again." - -We did not; and by-and-by, as we went on again, and I lay looking up -at the stars, they seemed to grow dim, then twinkle strangely, and at -last they disappeared. It may be that I slept, for when next I looked -at the sky it was flecked by streams of rosy tints, the fields were -covered with dew as a veil, and, by the timid chirping of birds, and -other signs, the eye might note the preparations for lifting the veil -at the approach of the sun. My sheltering cloak, my hair and eyebrows, -were thickly covered with dew, cold as the brightening dawn. The Jew, -similarly bepearled, lay sleeping soundly, the Czech nodded on his -perch, and the horse, taking advantage of the slumber, was moving only -at a sober walk. - -It was not yet five when I alighted about three miles from Prague, to -get warm by walking the remaining distance. The Jew took his florin -with much demonstration of thanks, horse and driver roused up, and the -wagon was soon out of sight. - -A few minutes brought me to the _Weissenberg_--White Hill--a -battle-field not less fatal than famous. The road is bordered by ample -rows of trees; woods thick with foliage clothe the neighbouring -hollows and acclivities, and on the left, sloping gently upwards, with -here and there a break, rises the hill. Here, then, was the scene of -which I had often read, where Frederick of the Palatinate, who had -married a princess of England, daughter of James I., lost the crown of -Bohemia. Not long had he worn it--indeed, some of his contemporaries -called him the Winter King--when he was forced to flee, with his wife -and children, among them the infant Rupert, who afterwards won renown -as chief of the Cavaliers in England. Treachery, as late researches -show, aided the combined forces of Ferdinand of Austria and Maximilian -of Bavaria, and from that day Bohemia ceased to be an independent -monarchy, and became a province of the Austrian Empire, a loss yet -mourned by many, who join in the poet's lament: - - "Ach Gott! die Weissenberger Schlacht - Erreicht wohl Ostrolenka's Trauer, - Und die darauf erfolgt die Racht, - Hat trübere als Sibiriens Schauer." - -Terrible, indeed, was the _night_ that followed! And when one reads of -Ferdinand's faithlessness and cruelty, his murderous vengeance on the -chiefest of the conquered people, the wonder is not that Bohemia -should have revolted, but that she did not reconquer her birthright. - -Thoughts of the past came crowding through my mind as I paced across -the ground, and presently pursued my walk. I was approaching a city -remarkable in itself, and in its historical associations, but for the -moment my attention was drawn to immediate objects. As I went on down -the now continuous descent, the tops of towers and spires came into -view in the distance below, and on either hand appeared indications -that a metropolis was not far off. Early folk were opening the booths, -shops, and public-houses, which, scattered among the trees, presented -ere long an unbroken line on both sides of the road. Cooling drinks -were set out on tables, and many a shutter invited the passer-by to -_Beer_ and _Brandy_, in various phrase. Now stalls covered with -cherries and currants alternate with piles of bread, hard-boiled eggs, -cheese, and smoked sausages; and working people stop to eat their -earliest breakfast. Every few yards sits a woman with a basket of -fresh, tempting _Semmel_--fancy bread, as we should call it--most of -the little loaves thickly sprinkled with poppy-seeds, dear to the -native palate. And here and there stands what looks like a roomy -sentry-box, painted yellow, and adorned with the Austrian blazon--an -_Imperial and Royal Booth for the sale of Tobacco_. - -Already the road is alive with vehicles, for from every lane and -byepath speed dog-carts, or little wagons on two wheels, or large -wagons on four wheels, all laden with tin cans of milk for the city. -How the dogs pant, and the horses snort! for the driver, and his or -her two or three companions, keep the animals at full speed, sparing -neither lash nor voice. Long before they come into sight you can hear -their shrill chatter, mingled with merry laughter, and, as they burst -into view, a shout from all the others adds excitement to the race, -and away they go, each trying to be first. - -Half a mile farther, and I overtake many of them at the turn of the -road, where the women are sitting on the bank, putting on stockings -and shoes. Some remount the wagons; others walk quietly onwards, -showing a neat ankle and clean white leg to the morning sun. Now the -city wall frowns towards you, and, once round the turn, there is the -gate--_Reichsthor_--a few soldiers hanging about, and many persons -passing to and fro, while the curious towers of the Strahow monastery, -where Rupert was born, peer above trees and vine-slopes on the right. -I passed through the gloomy arch unchallenged by any of the guards, -and had got some distance down the steep street, when a man made me -aware that shouts in the rear were intended for me. I turned: a -soldier, who had come a few yards from the cavern-like gate, was -making very peremptory use of his voice, and, as soon as I saw him, -he beckoned with angry gestures. I retraced my steps, but at too slow -a pace to satisfy the Imperial functionary, for he turned again and -again, each time with the same impatient gesture. No sooner did I come -within earshot, than he cried, snappishly, "Why did you not give me -your passport?" - -"For two reasons," I answered, with a laugh; "this is my first visit -to Prague, and I have not yet learnt your regulations; and secondly, -why did you let me go by without asking me for it?" - -The lounging group of soldiers laughed as this was spoken, and my -questioner having led the way to his darksome den, built at the elbow -of the arch so as to command both approaches, took my passport and -gave me the official receipt without further parley. - -As I emerged again into the sunshine, one of the soldiers said, "Do -you know what? When any one goes away into the city without stopping -at the guard-house, he must always come back to the gate where he -entered, and give up his passport." - -I thanked him for his information, and took my way once more down the -street. It was just six o'clock: all the shops were open; working -people thronged the footways; heavy teams toiled slowly up the hill -towards the gate; the milk-folk hurried down with noisy clatter, while -men wearing glazed hats and a canvas uniform swept the streets. Signs -of early rising everywhere. - -The peculiar features of the city multiply as you advance. High on the -left, its cathedral tower springing above the rest, appears the -Hradschin--an imposing mass of building in the factory style of -architecture, stretching, as one might guess, for half a mile along -the bold eminence, commanding the country for miles around. You can -count four hundred windows. There, as every one knows, the Thirty -Years' War began, by certain angry Bohemian nobles pitching two -Imperial commissioners and their secretary out of one of the windows. -Little did the haughty ejectors think of the consequences of their -exploit--that before thirty years were over, 30,000 villages and more -than a million men would be destroyed by war! - -Being very hungry, I was fain to drink a draught of milk and eat one -of the poppy-seeded loaves at the door of one of the little shops, -looking round all the while on curious gables, panelled fronts, -ancient gateways, more numerous as we descend. Lower down, we are in -the oldest part of the city, among the palaces of the great nobles -whose names figure in history--Kollowrat, Lobkowitz, Wallenstein, and -others. Massive edifices, whereby your eye and steps are alike -arrested. And on every side are narrow lanes and courts, some nothing -but a steep stair, and these, winding in and out, increase the charm -of the ornamented architecture, and produce wonderful bits of -perspective. Such effects of light and shade, and glorious touches of -colour! - -Then a church crowded with carvings; old women sitting on the steps, -young women and matrons going in to the early mass, of which, as the -doors swing to and fro, you hear the loud notes of the organ. Then a -square, and tall obelisk, and arcaded houses; and turning a corner -there rises the bridge tower, strikingly picturesque. As my eye caught -sight of its graceful roof and slender finials, I could not repress an -exclamation of surprise and pleasure. Then through the narrow arch, -and we are on the ancient bridge, looking down on the broad stream of -the Moldau, flowing with noisy rush through the sixteen arches built -600 years ago; at houses, palaces, and churches rising one above -another in the _Kleinseite_ through which we have just passed, and in -the _Altstadt_ on the opposite side; at the mosaic pavement; at the -gigantic statues which terminate every pier, noteworthy saints from -the Bohemian calendar, chiefest among them St. John Nepomuk, who with -his crescentic belt of five large ruby stars might be taken for -another Orion. In no city that I have yet seen have I felt so much -pleasure, or such varied emotions, as during my walk into Prague. - -Then we pass under the equally picturesque bridge tower of the -_Altstadt_, and enter narrow streets lined with good shops, and full -of bustle; and after many puzzling ins and outs, we emerge into the -spacious area of the Ring--a lively scene, people crossing in all -directions, or sauntering under the arcades; here and there sentries -pacing up and down, and small parties of soldiers, in gay uniforms, -marching away to beat of drum. And above the farther houses there -shoot up the two towers of the _Teinkirche_--one of the most famous -churches in Prague--which were built by George Podiebrad. The church -itself is screened by the houses; but, whenever you see those graceful -towers, you recognise the site of the edifice which was one of the -strongholds of Hussite preachers, and where Tycho Brahe lies buried. - -More narrow streets; across the end of a market-place, and passing -under the arch of the ancient Powder Tower, we enter the broad streets -of the _Neustadt_. The Bohemian professor at Würzburg had recommended -me to lodge at the _Blaue Stern_, so to the _Blue Star_ I went, and -asked for a room. - -"Quite full," said the _Kellner_, at the same time surveying me -inquisitively from head to foot. - -Two doors off was another hotel, where the answer, accompanied by a -similar inquisition, was, "Nothing empty." - -A third replied, "Perhaps, to-morrow." - -I began to fancy that my not having been in bed all night--boots still -dusty, and a few stalks of hay clinging to my coat--might have -something to do with these denials. However, hotels are thickly -grouped in this quarter of the city, and not many yards farther the -_Schwarzes Ross_, in the _Kolowrat-strasse_, gave me quarters as -comfortable as could be wished. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - The Hausknecht -- A Place to Lose Yourself -- - Street-Phenomena -- Book-shops -- Glass-wares -- Cavernous - Beer-houses -- Signs -- Czechish Names -- Ugly Women -- - Swarms of Soldiers -- A Scene on the Bridge -- A Drateñik - -- The Ugly Passport Clerk -- The Suspension-bridge -- The - Islands -- The Slopes of the Laurenzberg -- View over - Prague -- Schools, Palaces, and Poverty -- The Rookery -- - The Hradschin -- The Courts -- The Cathedral -- The Great - Tomb -- The Silver Shrine -- Relics -- A Kissed Portrait -- - St. Wenzel's Chapel -- Big Sigmund -- The Loretto Platz -- - The Old Towers -- The Hill-top and Hill-foot. - - -I had not been many minutes in my room when the _Hausknecht_--the -German boots--brought me a printed form, in which, besides the -inevitable particulars, I had to state the probable duration of my -stay in Prague. For three days' residence the police authorities -charge nothing, but if you enter on a fourth day you must pay two -florins for a permit to reside. I escaped the tax by not having more -than three days to spare. - -The day was all before me, and I made haste to - - "go lose myself, - And wander up and down and view the city." - -Losing one's-self is not difficult in Prague--easier, indeed, than in -any city I have yet visited; for the _Altstadt_ so abounds in queer -nooks and corners, narrow streets and lanes all crooked and angular, -running hither and thither in such unexpected directions, or coming -to a sudden stop, as completely to puzzle a stranger. Even my organ -of locality well-nigh failed me in the intricate maze. - -Among all these zigzags you discover the leading thoroughfares only by -the busy appearance, the continuous stream of citizens going and -coming, straggling all across the narrow roadway, now darting aside to -escape a passing carriage, or slowly giving place to a long lumbering -dray that rolls past with deafening rumble, the horses clattering on -shoes with tall calkins that put you in mind of pattens. Here, too, -are the best shops, displaying attractive wares behind coarse and -uneven panes. The booksellers' windows exhibit a good variety of -standard books, of maps and engravings, denoting the existence of a -wholesome love of literature; very different from what is to be seen -in the southern states of the empire. Some shops display none but -Czechish books, and if you glance over the title-pages, you will -discover that topography of their own country, and descriptions of the -beautiful city _Praha_--as they call Prague--are favourite subjects -with the Czechs. - -There is no uniformity. Next door to a cabinet-maker's, whose -large-paned window exhibits a variety of tasteful furniture, you will -see a cavern-like grocery without any window, and the wares all in -seeming confusion. Next, beyond, is a shop resplendent with Bohemian -glass, elegant forms in ruby, gold, and azure, each one a triumph of -art and industry. England is a generous customer for these fragile -articles, as may be seen any day in some of the best shops in London. -Then comes a sullen-looking front, with grim grated window, showing no -wares, and looking as if it had not cared about customers since the -days of King George Podiebrad. Then a smirking coffee-house, with -muslin curtains and touches of gilding. A little farther, and there is -a great open arch, running far to the rear--a beer-house--the space -between the street and the bar filled with tables bearing brown loaves -cut in quarters, _Semmel_, and corpulent sausages. Turn which way you -will, you find an endless diversity. - -"_Glück auf!_" writes up a little trader. "_Here are best Coals. -Radnitzer Coal._" People who live on the upper floors hang a small -wooden cruciform sign from their windows by a long string, low enough -to catch the eye and strike the heads of those walking beneath; and on -these dangling crosses, when they are not spinning round in the wind, -you may read that a Dentist, Shoemaker, or Teacher aloft in his garret -would be happy to supply your wants on reasonable terms. - -Judging from the number of queer-looking names over the doors, Prague -must be the head-quarters of the Czechs, and yet one meets -comparatively few examples of the fine intellectual brow and handsome -features of which I had seen noble specimens in the villages. Most of -the faces struck me as of a very common cast; and as for the gentle -sex, never have I seen so many ugly women as in Prague. Those of the -working classes are very dowdies, not to say slatterns, in many cases; -and the rows of market-women squatting by their baskets resemble so -many feather-beds tied round the middle, in a flimsy cotton dress, and -crowned by a red or yellow kerchief pinned under the chin. Even among -the graceful and gaily-dressed ladies I saw but very few pretty faces. -Perhaps I expected too much, or it might be, as I was told, that all -the pretty women had gone away to the watering-places! - -Surprising to a stranger is the number of soldiers, sauntering among -the other pedestrians, in uniforms blue, green, gray, or white; or -marching in short files at a brisk pace behind a corporal. Not once -did I take a walk in Prague without seeing three or four of these -little troops stepping out towards one or other quarter of the -compass. What is there to be kept down that can need such an imposing -force? At all events, it heightens the picturesque effect of the -streets. - -Stand for half an hour on the bridge and you will see, while noting -that scarcely any besides boys and priests take off their hats to St. -John of the five stars, how great is the proportion which the army and -the church bear to the rest of the inhabitants. At times the black and -the coloured uniforms appear to have the best of it. All besides may -be divided into two classes--the well-dressed and the shabby--for -nothing appears between the two. There are, however, but few of those -very miserable objects such as haunt the streets of large towns in -England. - -Now a man hurries past carrying a tall circular basket filled with -piled-up dinners in round dishes; now another wheeling bundles of -coloured glass rods; now another with a barrow-load of bread, and many -a slice will you see sold for a noonday repast. Then comes a troop of -lawless-looking street-musicians; then beggars grinding out squeaky -music from tinkered organs; then a girl carrying a coffin, painted -black and yellow, under her arm, which bears a cross on its gabled -lid. And now and then, among all these, your eye is arrested by a -singular, wild-looking figure, whom you will think the strangest of -all. He has lank black hair hanging to his shoulders from under a -fluffy, round-crowned, broad-brimmed hat--of the fashion still worn by -a few old Quakers in out-of-the-way places. He disdains a shirt, and -wears a tight jacket and hosen of whitey-brown serge. He goes -barefoot, walking with long, stealthy strides, looking, so you guess, -furtively around. On his shoulder he carries a coil of fine iron wire, -and in his hand a broken red pan or stone pitcher. Wild, however, and -out of place as he looks, he is only a Wallachian plying his honest -calling. He is a _Drateñik_--or _Drahtbinder_ (Wirebinder), as the -Germans call it--going about to mend broken pans and pitchers by -binding the fractures together with wire; a task which he performs -with neatness and dexterity. - -I went to the _Polizeidirection_ to reclaim my passport. About a dozen -persons were waiting. To some who looked poor and timid the clerk -spoke roughly, assuming beforehand a something "not regular." One -might fancy that his ungracious occupation had told upon his looks, -for he was the ugliest man I ever saw, and, unlike the women, who gave -themselves airs in the streets, he seemed to be aware of Nature's -unkindness towards him. When my turn came, he asked, "Where are you -going?" - -"To the _Riesengebirge_." - -"_So!_ But we can't sign a passport for the mountains. You must tell -us the name of some town." - -"Make it Landeshut, if you will; or any frontier town in Silesia." - -"Can't do that. We must have some town on this side the mountains." - -"I don't yet know which of three routes I shall take. Say some town -nearest to the mountains. Does it make any difference?" - -"_Schön!_ You can come back here when your mind is made up." And with -this rejoinder, Ugly turned away to consider a timid lady's request -for permission to go a journey of fifteen miles. - -There was time enough, so I strolled away to the -suspension-bridge--_Kaiser Franzens Brücke_--which, more than 1400 -feet long, crosses the Moldau and the _Schützen Insel_, a short -distance above the stone bridge. The view midway will make you linger. -On the right bank, _Franzens-quai_, stretching from one bridge to the -other, forms a spacious esplanade, in the centre of which, surrounded -by gardens, rises the monument erected by the Estates of Bohemia to -the honour of Francis I. Beyond and on either side the towers and -palaces are seen in a new aspect, differently grouped from our early -morning view. Those of the _Kleinseite_, backed by the leafy slopes of -the _Laurenzberg_, while immediately beneath your eye rests on the -green sward and shady groves of three or four islands. The river -rushing past to the dam makes a lively ripple, imparting a sense of -coolness enjoyed by the visitors who throng the islands during the -summer season. The _Sophien Insel_, named after the Archduchess -Sophie, the emperor's mother, with its pleasure-grounds, -dancing-floors, orchestras, refreshment-rooms, and baths, is the chief -resort, especially on Sundays. The large ball-room was the scene of -noisy public meetings in '48; the Sclave Congress was held there, -followed by a Sclavonic costume ball. These islands are a pleasing -feature in the view, and, with their shady bowers and the noise of the -water mingling with strains of music, contrast agreeably with the -matter-of-fact of the city. The _Schützen Insel_ is resorted to by -rifle companies, and you may hear a brisk succession of shots from the -practice that appears to be always going on. - -During the outbreak of June, 1848, the floor of the bridge was taken -up, and the passage across completely interrupted for some weeks by -the military. And it was to Prince Windischgratz's demonstrations -during the same month that the inhabitants were indebted for an -extension of their handsome quay. An old water-tower, and sundry -ricketty wooden mills that stood at the end of the stone bridge, were -set on fire by a shell from the prince's artillery, and the space -cleared by the flames was taken into the newly-formed area. - -Passing from the bridge through the _Aujezder Thor_, you come to the -pleasant slopes and gardens of the _Laurenzberg_, a hill that -overlooks the city and country around. Winding paths agreeably shaded -lead upwards, until you are stopped on the summit by massive -fortifications; the great "Bread-wall," or "Hunger-wall"--for it is -known by both names--which Karl IV. built all round the city five -hundred years ago to give work to the citizens in a season of -distress. From a buttress which projects clear of the trees, that -cover all the hill-side with a broad mass of foliage, you have a wide -prospect. Greater part of the city from the Jews' quarter to the -Wissehrad lies beneath the eye as a panorama. The Moldau--breaking -from between low hills, with here and there a _Kahn_ floating, or a -long, narrow raft drifting to the gap in the dam--flows past in a -grand curve between towers and palaces, wretched hovels and stately -churches, and onwards round the hills below to join the Elbe. The -islands are open as a map, and you see the puffs of smoke from the -rifles on the _Schützen Insel_. It is a striking but disappointing -view, for notwithstanding the ancient gables and various towers that -shoot aloft, the city has somewhat the aspect of a collection of -factories, so monotonous are the long lines of white, many-windowed -wall, bearing their long slopes of bright red roof. Street after -street stretching away, all of the same character, and scattering on -the outskirts into a tame country, cruelly disappoint your -expectations of the picturesque. Here and there are large patches of -green among houses, and rows of poplars shooting up. Yet, after all, -there is something in the view which makes you linger. In some of its -architectural forms and features it partly realizes your mental -pictures of the East, and your imagination flies back to the remote -days when the Czechs left their far-away home towards the sunrise, and -wandered on till their leader, looking down from the hills on the -valley of the Moldau, determined that here should be the seat of his -empire. I sat for an hour on the rough coping of the buttress looking -down on the scene, while the leaves rustled cheerfully in a cooling -breeze, and the sunbeams glistened and flashed from a thousand -windows, and gilded weathercocks, and the lively ripples of the muddy -stream. - -If inclined for a quiet stroll, you may wander among the trees and -rocks on the crown of the hill, or visit the church of St. Lawrence, -from whom the hill takes its name. From the highest summit, in very -favourable weather, it is possible to see _St. Georgsberg_, near -Raudnitz, and peaks of the _Mittelgebirge_ and _Riesengebirge_--mountains -on the Saxon and Silesian frontier. - -On coming down from the hill, I prowled for awhile about the -_Kleinseite_, where, besides the antiquities and rare old palaces, you -are struck by the number of schools and institutions for education. -Strange groupings indeed in this quarter of the city! Palaces as rich -in treasures of art and literature as in historical associations, side -by side with miserable hovels and narrow, crooked streets, where -poverty lurks in rags and squalor. Little bits of architecture, that -are a delight to look on, catch your eye in unexpected places, peering -out in some instances from among things that delight not the eye. But -the schools are close by, and innovation creeps slowly on though few -perceive it. - -You may mount to the Hradschin by some of these byeways, where you -will see how many windows have inner gratings, and how here and there -the prison-like aspect is relieved by plants and flowers that screen -the iron bars; and by these signs may you know where honest poverty -dwells. In the _Hohler Weg_ and _Neue Welt_ you have specimens of the -Rookery of Prague. At length, after many ins and outs and bits of -steep stair, you find yourself on the terrace in front of the -Hradschin, and you will be tempted to pause on the steps and survey -the view across the house-tops. - -The mass of buildings here is large enough, and shelters inhabitants -enough to form a town. It includes a royal fortress--the archbishop's -residence--a nunnery and monastery, a penal reformatory, besides -lodgings of the official functionaries. - -A considerable portion of the huge pile is now used as barracks for -infantry and cavalry, and things military abound within its courts. -There are sentries on duty, and soldiers off duty lounging about the -guard-house, while their muskets lean against a rail painted black and -yellow. But you pass unchallenged, and while crossing the quadrangle -may see the word SALVE in large characters in the pavement. - -In the third court you come to the cathedral, an unfinished edifice -dedicated to St. Vitus, still showing marks of Hussite mischief, and -of the Great Frederick's cannon-balls. It covers the site of a church -built in 930 in honour of the same saint by Wenzel the Holy--he who -planted the first vineyard in Bohemia, on the eastern slope of the -Hradschin hill. The foundation-stone of the present structure was laid -by Charles IV., during the lifetime of his father John; and although -the building went on for forty-two years, it was never completed. In -1673 Leopold I. made an attempt to finish it according to the original -plan; but he did nothing more than build a few columns in different -styles, which stood in the fore-court until 1842, when they were -pulled down, as the beginning of a new effort for completing the -structure. Stimulated by the zeal of Canon Pesina, a Prague Cathedral -Building Union was founded, with Count Francis Thun for chief; and -preparations were made for the work, and for raising a million florins -to pay for it, when the troubles of 1848--fatal to so many hopes and -noble purposes--put a stop to the proceedings. - -If the outside disappoint you by sundry additions and contradictory -ornaments, which spoil the pure effect of the original Gothic, you -will find cause enough for astonishment inside. At the western end of -the nave stands the richly-carved mausoleum, erected in 1589 by Kollin -of Nuremberg, at the cost of Rudolf II. It is of Carrara marble, and -in magnitude and beauty of sculpture may well vie with Maximilian's -tomb in the Court Church at Innsbruck. Royal dust is plentiful in the -vault beneath, for therein lie, besides Rudolf himself, Charles IV. -and his four wives, Wenzel IV., Ladislaus Posthumus, George von -Podiebrad, Ferdinand I. and his wife Anna, Maximilian II., and the -Archduchess Maria Amelia, who was buried in 1804. From admiring the -manifold carvings, which show the touch of the true artist, you will -perhaps look next at the tomb of St. John Nepomuk, on the right near -the altar. Surely no other saint, or living bishop, even in this age -of testimonials, ever had such a service of plate presented to him as -that! It is a small mountain of silver. On high, silver angels hold a -canopy over a silver shrine, which, borne aloft by angels, life size, -contains the martyr's body in a crystal coffin, set off by shining -statues, glittering ornaments, bas-reliefs, and tall candlesticks, all -alike made of silver. If current testimony may be relied on, there are -nearly two tons of the precious metal therein dedicated to the holy -Johannes. No wonder that you see the saint's statue on so many bridges -in Bohemia, and even for a few miles beyond the frontiers. - -The curiosities of the church are more than can be examined in a brief -visit. There are twelve chapels ranged about the nave--the last fitted -up as an oratory for the Imperial family. In one of them you may see -the foot of a candlestick, which, according to tradition, was one of -those made for Solomon's Temple, from whence it was conveyed to Rome, -and afterwards to Milan, where Wladislaus I. seized the precious -relic, and he brought it to Prague. At all events, the workmanship -shows signs of great antiquity. And near the western end there hangs a -"true image"--a head of Christ, the holy placid features showing a -trace of sadness, the eyes looking at you with an earnest, though -pitying expression. It is a remarkable specimen of early art; much -venerated by the devout, who would soon obliterate it by kisses were -it not protected by glass. A moustachioed man came up, and, taking off -his hat, pressed his lips upon the sacred mouth while I was still -looking at the painting. - -Frescoes bordered by gems adorn the walls of St. Wenzel's chapel; and -here are preserved the saint's helmet and coat of mail, a brass ring -to which he clung when he fell murdered by his brother's hand, and -other relics. Here also the Bohemian regalia are kept in rigorous -security under seven locks: St. Wenzel's sword is among them, and with -this, after his coronation, the monarch creates knights of St. -Wenzel's order. - -The verger gives you his cut-and-dry description; but, as he may omit -to tell you a little bit of history, it would be well to remember that -in this chapel the Archduke Ferdinand was chosen King of Bohemia in -1526, whereby the kingdom has ever since belonged to the house of -Hapsburg. - -Further concerning statues, lamps, tombs, and paintings, and the -organ, with its 2831 pipes, the treasure-chamber, where, among other -things, are sixteen leaves of St. Mark's Gospel in the hand of the -Evangelist--the rest said to be at Venice--the trinary chapel, and -the seven bells in the tower, among which "Big Sigmund" weighs -thirteen tons, and the octagon chapel, and the pulpit in the -fore-court, may be read in guide-books. - -Go next to the _Loretto Platz_, and look at the palace which once -belonged to Count Czernin, and at the Loretto chapel--an exact copy of -the far-famed Holy House in Popedom. Or perhaps you will take more -interest in remembering that in a house near this chapel Tycho Brahe -made the observations from which he and Kepler produced the _Tabulæ -Rudolphinæ_--a work well known to astronomers; perpetuating in its -title the name of their munificent patron. - -As old engravings testify, the Hradschin once looked picturesque when -its twenty-two high-roofed towers were all standing. Of these only -four remain; and in the Black Tower you may see fearsome specimens of -mediæval dungeons. If those grim walls could speak, the fate would be -known of some of Bohemia's worthiest, who, within a year after the -battle of the White Hill, suddenly disappeared from among their -families and friends, and were never more heard of. - -You may end your exploration by crossing to the opposite side of the -hill, and taking a view of the great range of buildings from the -_Staubbrücke_, which crosses the _Hirschgraben_, and commands a -prospect over the north-western environs of the city, and of the -contrasts between the palace on the hill-top and the frowsy haunts at -the foot. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - The Tandelmarkt -- Old Men and Boys at Rag Fair -- Jews in - Prague -- The Judenstadt -- Schools and Synagogues -- - Remote Antiquity -- Ducal Victims -- Jewish Bravery -- - Removal of Boundary Wires. - - -From the Hradschin, with its imperial associations, living and dead, -to an Old Clothes Market, is a change over which you may laugh or -lament, according to your mood. If you have seen Rag Fair in London, -you can form a weak notion of what I saw in the _Tandelmarkt_ at -Prague on my return to the _Altstadt_ from the palatial hill. For, -besides the difference of architecture, which heightens the general -effect, foreign Jews, whether in consequence of shabbier clothes or -dirtier habits, have always a more picturesque appearance than their -brethren in England. - -What a gabble! accompanied by gesticulations so violent that you would -think the traders were coming to blows. Old men bent by age, of -venerable aspect and beard patriarchal, stand chaffering as eagerly -for cast-off garments as if they had Methuselah's years before them in -which to enjoy the proceeds. "It is naught," argues the buyer; and the -graybeards whine over their frippery, and turn it about, and display -it to the best advantage, and reply in a tone that extorts at last the -reluctant coins from the customer's pocket. - -Look at the boys! How they ply nimbly hither and thither, picking up -stray bargains: adepts already in the craft of their grandsires. Look -at their fathers! No whining in their traffic: but hard altercation, -in which patient subterfuge proves more than a match for vehemence. -Here and there, however, a cunning Czech, by sharp practice with his -tongue, and a timely exhibition of his money, succeeds in carrying off -a blouse or hosen on his own terms; and the Hebrew, while pouching the -coins, sends after him low mutterings, which forebode ill to the next -customer. - -As you wander among the stalls, and push between the busy groups, -noting how much of the merchandise appears utterly worthless, you will -find cause enough for laughter and for lamentation. - -According to the census of 1850, the number of Jews in Prague is about -nine thousand, of whom nearly eight thousand are natives. Besides -these, there are many resident in some of the neighbouring villages; -but the number is less now than formerly. Daily perambulations of the -city with the old, familiar, dingy bag on shoulder, in quest of "clo," -and the trade of the _Tandelmarkt_, are the resources to which most -betake themselves. - -The place assigned for their residence, known as the _Judenstadt_ -(altered of late years to _Josefstadt_), is a few acres of the -_Altstadt_, lying between the _Grosser Ring_ and the river: by far the -most densely populated part of Prague. It is crowded with houses: -traversed by narrow streets not remarkable for cleanliness, and has -altogether an uninviting aspect. Your sanitary reformer would here -find a strong case of overcrowding: two or three families in one -room, and a dozen, and, in some instances, more than twenty owners for -a single house. The number of faces of men, women, and children at the -windows, and the many comers and goers along the devious ways and in -and out of the darksome passages, leave you no reason to doubt the -fact. And in these miserable tenements dwell some of the chiefest men -of the community--men appointed to places of trust and honour, who sit -in the old Jewish council-house, and officiate in the synagogue. - -But even here the ancient complexion and character are changing. New -and commodious houses built in a few places are a standing reproach to -the rest of the neighbourhood, and to the partisans of dirt. And while -prying about you will hear the voices of children in sundry schools, -where the teachers talk and work as if they were in earnest. Nor is -spiritual culture neglected, for you will see some four or five -synagogues, and a _Temple of the Reformed Israelitish God's-worship_. - -In Prague, the manners and customs of the Jews are said to retain more -of their primeval characteristics than in any other place out of Asia; -the chief cause being the bitter persecutions to which the race, as -everywhere else, were subjected. Some accounts assign their first -settlement here to the fabulous ages of history, and make it -seventy-two years earlier than that of the Czechs, or in the year 462 -of the present era. And the tradition runs, that on the ground now -occupied by the _Judenstadt_, and on part of the _Kleinseite_, the -first buildings were erected. - -In the early days the Jews lived in whatever quarter of the city -suited them best; but, in consequence of many corrupt practices, Duke -Spitignew II. banished them all from Bohemia in 1059. Eight years -later, Duke Wratislaw II., moved to pity, granted leave for their -return, though not on compassionate conditions. Besides doubling their -former amount of yearly tax, they were to pay an annual fine of two -hundred silver marks, to purchase twelve houses near the river in the -_Kleinseite_ for their residence, and to wear a yellow cloak as a -distinguishing garment. Their number was never to exceed one thousand; -but in a few years it had grown to five thousand, whereupon the -surplus were banished; and, to check smuggling among the remainder, -they were removed from the _Kleinseite_ to their present quarters. - -The yellow cloak having fallen into disuse, Ferdinand II. revived the -regulation with sharp severity in 1561. From the Second Ferdinand (in -1627) the Jews obtained important privileges, in consideration of a -yearly gift of forty thousand gulden: liberty to choose their own -magistrates and judges, to establish schools, and multiply in numbers -without limit. In 1648 they took a valiant part in the defence of -Prague against the Swedes, and the banner won by their bravery is -still preserved in the old synagogue. In 1745 they were once more -banished, but had permission to return the following year. Joseph II. -placed them on an equality with other citizens, and allowed them to -buy land, and dress as they pleased. - -In the good old times, whenever any turbulence occurred in Prague, it -was always made the excuse for plundering or persecution of the Jews; -and in this particular their history accords with that of their -brethren in all other cities of Europe. They did but barely escape in -the memorable '48. Their town once had nine gates, which were shut at -nightfall; and subsequently, wires stretched across the streets, -marked the boundary between Hebrew and Christian: these were removed -in the year last mentioned, and have not since been replaced. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - The Jewish Sabbath -- The Old Synagogue -- Traditions - concerning it -- The Gloomy Interior -- The Priests -- The - Worshippers and the Worship -- The Talkers -- The Book of - the Law -- The Rabbi -- The Startling Gun -- A Birth at - Vienna -- Departed Glory. - - -My second day in Prague being a Saturday, I went to see the Jews at -worship in their synagogue. The _Josefstadt_ was comparatively quiet; -but few persons in the streets, and those dressed in their best; the -boys carrying prayer-books, and the men with what looked like an apron -rolled up under their arm. On entering the synagogue, I found that the -apron was a white scarf (_talis_), with blue striped ends, which each -man put on across his shoulders before taking his seat. - -But first, a few words about the building itself. On approaching it -along the narrow _Beleles-gasse_, you are struck at once by its -appearance of great antiquity--visibly the most ancient among -buildings decrepit with age. It is sunk low in the ground, down a -flight of some ten or twelve steps, as if the first builders, -worshipping in fear, had sought concealment. Of architectural display -there is none. Walls blackened by the dust and storms of centuries, -with two or three narrow-pointed windows, looking so much more like a -bride-well than a temple of the living God, that not till I had seen -the steady procession of men and boys to the door could I believe it -to be really the synagogue. - -No wonder that its foundation is referred back to days ere Europe had -a history. One tradition says, that no sooner was the Temple at -Jerusalem destroyed, than angels immediately set about building this -synagogue on the bank of the Moldau. According to another, certain -people digging in a hill which once covered the spot, came upon a -portion of a wall, and, continuing their excavation, cleared away the -hill, and found a synagogue built already to their hands. And, as -before mentioned, there is the tradition which dates it seventy-two -years earlier than the arrival of the Czechs. - -It was a remarkable sight that met my eyes as I descended into the -building. If the outside conveys an impression of extreme age, much -more does the inside. The deep-sunk floor, the dim light, the walls -and ceiling as black as age and smoke can make them, are the features -of a dungeon rather than of a place of thanksgiving. The height, owing -to the low level of the floor, appears to be greater than the length, -and, looking up, you can easily believe that cleansing has never been -attempted since the first prayer was offered. Old-fashioned brass -chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and here and there a brazen shield -on the wall. The _almemmar_, or rostrum, occupies the centre of the -floor, and in the narrow space on either side and at one end are the -seats and stools for the congregation, with numerous reading-stands -crowded between. These stands have a shabby, makeshift look, no two -being alike in height or pattern, as if each man had constructed his -own. Hence a general look of disorder as well as of dinginess. - -The doorkeeper requested me to keep my cap on; and I saw that all -present sat covered. Even the officiating priests wore their hats, and -in dress and appearance were in no way different from the hearers. -Every man had his _talis_ on, and was continually fidgetting and -shrugging to keep it on his shoulders, and his Hebrew prayer-book from -slipping off the stand. The priests walked restlessly up and down the -_almemmar_, but whether they were praying or exhorting I could not -tell, for all sounded alike to me--a glib and noisy gabble. And all -the while the men on the darksome seats under the gallery kept up a -murmur of talk in twos and threes, in a way that sounded very much -like a discussion of questions left unfinished on the _Tandelmarkt_. -Now and then a "Hush! Hush!" was impatiently ejaculated by one of the -devout who sat near with eyes fixed on his book; but the back seats -took no heed, and, though in the temple, ceased not to talk of -merchandise. Very few were they who maintained a fixed attention; a -ceaseless rocking of the body to and fro, as, with half-closed eyes, -they went through their recitations, distinguished them from the rest. - -Now and then the priests paused in their uneasy walk, drew together, -and had a little bit of quiet talk among themselves, seasoned by a -pinch of snuff all round. Then they separated, and one, pacing from -side to side, gave repeated utterance to a short phrase, in a wailing, -sing-song tone, while the others went behind the veil, and presently -came forth again, one bearing what at first sight looked like a thick -double roll surmounted by two silver candlesticks. It was the Book of -the Law; and no sooner did the bearers appear than a cry of joy was -set up by the whole assembly. A shabby wrapper and the silver -ornaments were taken off, and then the sacred parchment was seen wound -on two cylinders, so that as a portion was read from one it might be -rolled up on the other. - -The scroll was laid on the table with some formal ceremony, and the -priests, unrolling a part, began to read, but in such a snuffling tone -and careless manner as indicated but little reverence. After each one -had snuffled in turn, the old rabbi, wearing a long gown and fur cap, -was assisted on to the _almemmar_, and, bending low over the scroll, -he read a few passages solemnly and impressively, though in a voice -weak and tremulous with age: audible to all, for the talkers under the -gallery held their peace. His task finished, he was led back to his -seat: the roll was wound up, and, with the wrapper and ornaments -replaced, was returned to its place behind the veil. - -The monotonous murmur was renewed: one of the priests commenced a -recitation, but he had scarcely opened his lips than the report of a -cannon boomed loudly from the Hradschin, startling all within hearing, -and making the streets echo again. - -"Ah!" cried the talkers, "that's for the empress. Is it prince or -princess this time?" - -The priest halted in his recitation as the thunderous shocks -succeeded--one, two, three, and so on, up to twenty-five--when, after -another pause of listening expectation, "Ah!" cried the talkers -again, "'tis only a princess;" and they took up once more the thread -of their murmur. - -Then followed more gabbling and snuffling from the rostrum; and, as I -listened and looked round from face to face, noting the expression, -something like sadness came over me; for were not those slovenly -utterances a hopeless lamentation over the glory that had departed? -Was it clean gone for ever? Did no trace remain of that solemn and -gorgeous ceremonial, instituted when the glory came down and filled -the house in the presence of the king, and of the Levites and singers -"arrayed in white linen, having cymbals, and psalteries, and harps;" -and of the people? When the king prayed, "Now therefore arise, O Lord -God, into Thy resting-place, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength: let -Thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let Thy saints -rejoice in goodness." - -An hour passed, and still the recitations and murmur went on. I had -seen enough, and thought, as I stepped forth into the daylight, that -the cry, "His blood be on us, and on our children!" had been fearfully -avenged. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - The Alte Friedhof -- A Stride into the Past -- The Old - Tombs -- Vegetation and Death -- Haunted Graves -- Ancient - Epitaph -- Rabbi Löw -- His Scholars -- Symbols of the - Tribes -- The Infant's Coffin -- The Playground -- From - Death to Life. - - -The old synagogue and old Jewish burial-ground (_Alte Friedhof_) are -but a few yards apart. On my way from one to the other I passed sundry -groups, chiefly women, talking with animation about the interesting -event signalized from the Hradschin. And more than one expressed a -wish that a prince and not a princess had been born to the House of -Hapsburg. - -The angle of a wall, overtopped within by foliage, marks the site of -the burial-ground. The doorkeeper unlocked the gate, and, passing in, -I felt as if, instead of merely stepping across a threshold, a long -stride had been taken back into the Past. The living world is all shut -out, and you are alone with the dead--the dead of long ago. - -_Beth Chaim_, or the House of Life, is the name in Hebrew; but there -is no life save that of gnarly elder-trees, gooseberry-bushes, and -creeping weeds that struggle up into a wild maze from among the -overcrowded tombs and gravestones. The stones, thick and massive, are -so incredibly numerous, that they are wedged and jammed together in -most extraordinary confusion. Some lean on one side; some forwards, -some backwards, and many would fall outright were they not propped up -by others standing near. Hence all sorts of curious holes and corners, -in which grow choking weeds and coarse grass, hiding the inscriptions, -and producing a strange impression of neglect and decay. - -With this impression comes a sense of the mysterious, heightened by -the nature of the ground, which, irregular in outline and very uneven, -confines your view to but a small portion at once. Though the -enclosure takes up about one-twelfth of the _Judenstadt_, your idea -becomes one of a succession of patches of tangled foliage drooping -over mouldering tombs. Now the path mounts a broken slope; now dips -into a narrow way between the walls of encroaching streets and houses; -now enters a widening area, where the fragrant blossoms and branches -of the elders droop gracefully over the ancient memorials--or comes to -an end in some out-of-the-way nook. Thus you are led on pace by pace, -always wondering what will appear at the next turn. - -And there is something mysterious in the associations of the place. -Tales are told of ghosts that haunt the tombs; unhappy spirits -bringing terror and doom to the living, or goblins playing gruesome -tricks. And again in its antiquity: anticipating by a hundred years -the building of Prague, as proved by a date on a tombstone. No wonder -that the ground is heaped high, and full of ups and downs! Thousands -of Jews have turned to dust beneath the surface. - -Something, however, must be deducted from its antiquity. If, as -careful investigation gives reason to believe, the old synagogue was -built in the thirteenth century, we may suppose the opening of the -burial-ground to have taken place within the same period. The notion -arose from misreading the stone, whereby one thousand was subtracted -from the date. The inscriptions are in the Hebrew character, and, for -the most part, deeply cut. The stone in question is inscribed: - -_In Elul (August) the 22nd day: lamentation ... was the ornament of -our head snatched away. Sara, whose memory stands in high praise, -wife of Joseph Katz, died. She was modest; and reached out her hand to -the poor. Her speech was mild and agreeable, without shame or vice. -Her desire was after the house of the Creator. She gave herself up to -whatsoever is holy, and continued steadfast. She trained up her -children according to the law of God._ - -One of the most remarkable tombs is that of Rabbi Löw (or Lyon)--a -handsome temple-formed sarcophagus, distinguished by a sculptured -lion, and the beauty of its workmanship. The rabbi himself was a -remarkable man in his day; eminent for nobleness of mind and great -learning; and it is recorded of him that he was honoured by a visit -from the Emperor Rudolf II. in his own house. He lies here in good -company; for on both sides of his tomb extends a row of gravestones, -thirty-three in number, marking the resting-place of thirty-three of -his favourite scholars; and not far off a taller stone shows the grave -of his son-in-law. - -On many of the slabs you will see curious devices deeply cut, and -figures resembling a coat-of-arms. These indicate the tribe, or -family or name of the deceased. There lies one of the house of Aaron, -as shown by the two hands; a pitcher denotes the tribe of Levi; and -Israel is signified by a bunch of grapes. The name _Fischeles_ or -_Karpeles_ is symbolised by a fish; Lyon by the royal quadruped; and -_Hahn_ by a domestic fowl; and so forth. - -All these and many other noteworthy objects will you see while -wandering about this mortal wilderness; and the doorkeeper, if in the -mood, will tell you many a legend, and point out the tombs of Simeon -the Just, and Anna Schmiedes, concerning whom something might be said -should the humour serve. No burials have been permitted since the -reign of Joseph II.; and from that date, except that the path is -clean, the whole place appears to have been abandoned to the influence -of the seasons. Many of the stones are broken; here and there the -slabs of the tombs are crumbled away, leaving large holes through -which you may look and see green stains and patches of dark mould. In -a dry spot at the foot of a wall I saw a bundle nailed up within rough -staves of fir; it was a still-born infant in its coffin; and perhaps -for such a little hole may still be dug in the ancient ground. - -Notwithstanding that the backs of a few old houses look down on the -graves, they fit in with the scene, and your impression of deep -loneliness remains undisturbed, except in one corner, where the -surface is clear and level. It is used at times as a playground for -the children, whose voices you hear from the open windows of the -schoolroom that encloses one side. Painter and poet might alike make a -picture of childhood, full of mirth and happiness, playing in the -sunshine; and in the background, all too near, the haunted tombs of -their forefathers. - -A few years ago the Jews, finding their quarter much too small for -commodious or decent habitation, petitioned the authorities for leave -to widen their boundaries, and in answer were recommended to destroy -their venerable _Friedhof_, and build houses upon the ground. No -willingness has yet been manifested to adopt the recommendation. - -As on entering, so on departing, are you aware of a strange -impression; from the field of death, from silence and solitude, you -pass at once to the noisy life of the streets, and the spell wrought -upon you by the brief saunter where sits - - "The Shadow cloak'd from head to foot - Who keeps the keys of all the creeds," - -is broken with a shock. And by-and-by, when in the noisier -thoroughfares, vague fancies will come to you of having had a -sepulchral dream. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - The Kolowratstrasse -- Picolomini's Palace -- The Museum -- - Geological Affluence -- Early Czechish Bibles -- Rare Old - Manuscripts -- Letters of Huss and Ziska -- Tabor Hill -- - Portraits -- Hussite Weapons -- Antiques -- Doubtful - Hussites in the Market-place -- The Glückliche Entbindung - -- A Te Deum -- Two Evening Visits -- Bohemian Hospitality - -- The Gaslit Beer-house. - - -The _Kolowratstrasse_ is one of the finest streets in Prague. It is -broad, straight, and well paved; contains the best hotels, the most -elegant coffee-houses, the handsomest shops, and a palace or two. It -was always known as the _Graben_; for here once flowed the ditch -separating the _Alt_ and _Neustadt_, and _Graben_ it still remains, -the folkname prevailing over that of the Imperial minister after whom -it was named some twenty years ago. - -One of the palaces formerly belonged to Wallenstein's opponent, Count -Octavio Picolomini; the other now contains the Bohemian Museum, which, -an honour to the city, is a praiseworthy example of the intellectual -movement among the natives. The Museum Company, formed in 1818, to -collect works of art, natural productions of the country, curiosities, -and antiquities, appointed a committee in 1830 to promote a scientific -cultivation of the Czechish language and literature, and to create a -section of archæology and natural history. Under the designation -_Matice ceská_ (Bohemian Mother), a fund was established and -vigorously maintained, out of which the desired objects were -accomplished; particularly as regards the literature. To call Palacky -into activity--a historian of whom Bohemia is justly proud--was no -trifling achievement. Up to 1847 the collections were kept in the -Sternberg Palace at the Hradschin; but in that year they were removed -to their present more convenient and accessible quarters. - -Later in the day I went to the Museum: I wished to see with what sort -of carnal weapons the Hussites had gained so many victories over their -fellow-countrymen. First you enter the department of geology and -mineralogy, the richest and most important of the whole collection. -The specimens are well arranged, and among them you may see minerals -and fossils which give a special interest to the geology of Bohemia. - -Concerning these fossils, the late Dean of Westminster says, in his -_Bridgewater Treatise_: "The finest example of vegetable remains I -have ever witnessed, is that of the coal mines of Bohemia. The most -elaborate imitations of living foliage upon the painted ceilings of -Italian palaces bear no comparison with the beauteous profusion of -extinct vegetable forms with which the galleries of these instructive -coal-mines are overhung. The roof is covered as with a canopy of -gorgeous tapestry, enriched with festoons of most graceful foliage, -flung in wild, irregular profusion over every portion of its surface. -The effect is heightened by the contrast of the coal-black colour of -these vegetables with the light groundwork of the rock to which they -are attached. The spectator feels himself transported, as if by -enchantment, into the forests of another world; he beholds trees of -forms and characters now unknown upon the surface of the earth, -presented to his senses almost in the beauty and vigour of their -primeval life; their scaly stems and bending branches, with their -delicate apparatus of foliage, are all spread before him, little -impaired by the lapse of countless ages, and bearing faithful records -of extinct systems of vegetation, which began and terminated in times -of which these relics are the infallible historians." - -If you care but little for botany and zoology, with plants, fossils, -and creatures from before the Flood, the attendant will lead you at -once to the archæological department, and uncover the glass-cases -containing rare old manuscripts. Among them are a poem of the ninth -century about Libussa, a somewhat mythical Queen of Bohemia, from whom -Palacky has cleared away the fable; the _Niebelungenlied_ in Czechish; -a Latin Lexicon with Bohemian gloss, date 1102; seven editions of the -Bible in Czechish, all translated before Luther's, show how the -Bohemians profited by the reading of Wycliffe's books which were sent -to them from England; and a remarkable hymn-book, written at the cost -of different guilds, each of whom ornamented their portion with -exquisite paintings in miniature; specimens of the earliest -representations of musical notes; and the first book printed in -Bohemia, _Historia Trojanska_, 1468. - -You will look with interest at the letters by Huss, and the challenge -which he hung up on the gate of the University, declaring his -religious opinions, and his readiness to maintain them by argument -against all comers: Latin documents, in a stiff, formal hand. Equally -stiff is a letter written by Ziska, dated from the Hussite camp at -Tabor; but there is a world of suggestion in those hard characters. -That rusty leaf sets your memory recalling the events of five hundred -years ago: the journey of Huss to face the wicked Council, and -martyrdom at Constance, under a safe-conduct granted by the Emperor -Sigismund, requiring all men to let the valiant preacher go and come, -and tarry freely and unharmed;--the furious outbreak of the -Protestants at the accursed condemnation of their teacher to the -flames;--their sanguinary battles, and fiery zeal, and avowed -determination to root out their enemies, whereby for eighteen years -the land was laid waste with fire and sword, and the name of Hussite -became a very terror:--and their redoubtable leader, Ziska the -one-eyed, standing out from among them in bold relief, a captain most -resolute and skilful, the instrument of righteous vengeance upon the -execrable Sigismund; who, though he lost that single flashing eye of -his, yet never lost a battle, nor the confidence of his followers. We -see him amidst his rough and ready fighting men in the camp, on the -heights to which, in the pride of their hearts, they gave a name from -Scripture; and where they quenched their thirst in the water of -Jordan, exulting, - - "What hill is like to Tabor hill in beauty and in fame?" - -From the letter you turn to look at a portrait of the warrior. It is a -miserable painting, very much in the signboard style, yet you can mark -the breadth of shoulder beneath the gleaming corslet, the oval face, -aquiline nose, large bright eye, and lofty forehead, shaded by thick, -black, curling hair, and picture to yourself a proper hero. There is -another and a better portrait in the Strahow monastery, and by noting -the best points of each you will improve your idea, though perhaps not -to full satisfaction. The attendant, moreover, will call your -attention to a portrait of Huss, whose features express but little of -the intellectual qualities and the steadfastness by which he was -characterized. - -A few paces farther, and there are the weapons with which the Hussites -fought and won battles in the name of the Lord. Flails, shields, and -firelocks of a very primitive construction. And such flails! The short -swinging arm is hung by strong iron staples to the end of a stout -staff, about six feet in length, and is braced up in iron bands, which -bristle with projecting points, the better to make an impression on an -enemy's skull. Truly a formidable weapon! Try the weight. The arm must -be strong that would wield it with effect; and mighty must have been -the motive that sent whole ranks armed therewith rushing to the -onslaught as to a threshing-floor. Looking at these things, you -realize somewhat of the shock and storm of the events in which they -were employed. - -Besides the stacks of weapons, the room contains in glass-cases round -the walls numerous ivory carvings of singular merit and rarity, and -other curiosities with which you may divert your thoughts. And in a -neighbouring apartment there hangs an engraved view of Prague as it -stood a few years before the fatal day of the White Hill, well worth -inspection. The Hradschin and Wyssehrad, at opposite ends of the city, -look really picturesque crowned with numerous towers. - -Walking afterwards through the markets, and seeing the dowdies -sitting by their stalls under large red umbrellas, and the number of -shabby men loitering about, I wondered if they were indeed the -descendants of those who, under Ziska's command, had wielded the -flails. However, in 1848, the men proved that the fighting-blood still -circulated in their veins. - -The authorities had lost no time, and on every corner placards were -posted, announcing in loyal terms the "_glückliche Entbindung_" of the -empress; but though crowds stopped to read, I saw no manifestations of -joy. Great was the concourse, too, in the _Grosser Ring_, where a _Te -Deum_ was offered with pomp and ceremony in presence of the city -militia: close ranks of green uniforms interposed between priests and -people. - -The letter of the Würzburg professor opened for me the hospitable -doors of a pleasant house on a hill-slope beyond the city. Father, -mother, and the two daughters joined in showing kindness to one who -came to them with credentials from son and brother. The young ladies -spoke English fluently, and while we sauntered between odorous -flower-beds and under drooping cherry-trees, they took pleasure in -exercising their acquirement. Then we had tea in a pretty -garden-house, all open to the breeze and quivering sunbeams and -rustling vespers of the leaves. A Bohemian tea--cutlets, potatoes, -salad, cheese, and butter, bottled beer, _Toleranz_, and the fragrant -beverage itself poured from a real teapot. _Toleranz_ was something -new to me: it is a pungent, relishing preparation, in which -horseradish is a principal ingredient, and at your first taste you -will think it appropriately named. - -It was while chatting over this delightful repast that I was told all -the pretty women had left Prague for the watering-places. Two at -least were left behind. The conversation of the Czechish servants who -waited on us, heard at a short distance, sounded like a screechy -quarrel; and on my remarking that I had noticed similar discords -during a ramble in Wales, one of the young ladies replied, in -explanation, "Our friends often think we are scolding our servants, -when all the while we are speaking to them in a quiet, natural tone. -Your ear is deceived. There is nothing but good-humour among them." - -It was late each evening when I walked back across the fields to the -city; just the hour, as it seemed, when the great arched beer-vaults -in the _Rossmarkt_ were in their prime. There was something striking -in the long gas-lit vista viewed from the entrance, every table -crowded with tipplers, dimly seen through tobacco-smoke; waiters -flitting to and fro with tankards; the damsel at the sausage-stall -trying to serve a dozen customers at once; while high above the -rumbling, rattling din, sounded the liveliest strains of music. I sat -for awhile on an upturned barrel watching the scene. Here workmen and -labourers, and those of lower degree, the proletaires of Prague, were -enjoying their evening--making merry after the toils of the day. These -were the folk who would fight whether or no in 1848; whose -bullet-marks are yet to be seen on many of the houses. Either the beer -was strong, or they drank too deeply, for many staggered into the -street, and went reeling homewards; conquered more hopelessly by their -own hand than by Prince Windischgratz's bombardment. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - Sunday Morning in Prague -- Gay Dresses -- Pleasure-seeking - Citizens -- Service in the Hradschin Cathedral -- Prayers - and Pranks -- Fun in the Organ-loft -- Glorious Music -- A - Spell broken -- Priests and their Robes -- Osculations -- A - Flaunting Procession -- An Old Topographer's Raptures -- - The Schwarzes Ross -- Flight from Prague -- Lobositz -- - Lost in a Swamp -- A Storm -- Up the Milleschauer -- After - Dark -- The Summit -- Mossy Quarters -- The Host's Story. - - -The streets were alive before the lazy hours approached on Sunday -morning. Here and there the walls covered with handbills, red, blue, -green, and yellow, presented a gay appearance. The Summer Theatre, in -which you sit under the open sky and see plays acted by daylight, was -open--_Jubelfest!_ ran the announcements: _Health and Prosperity to -the House of Hapsburg_. Music and a ball on the Sophia Island--music -on the Shooting Island--music at _Hraba's_ Railway Garden--music at -the _Pstrossischer_ Garden--music at Podol--music at Wrssowitz--music -at the _Fliedermühle_--a military band at Bubencz--in short, music -everywhere. And everywhere "_Pilsen beer, in Ice_." And so the streets -were alive at an early hour with citizens going to an early mass that -longer time might remain for pleasure, or starting for some of the -neighbouring villages, or for the White Hill, where a saint's festival -was to be celebrated--all dressed in their Sunday clothes, and looking -as if they had made up their minds for a holiday. - -The morning is bright and the breeze playful, and the sober colours -having all chosen to stay at home, there are none but the gayest tints -abroad in the sunshine. Pink appears to be the favourite. Pink skirts, -pink scarfs, pink ribands, pink bonnets; but no lack of all besides, -and more than make up the rainbow. Not a work-a-day dowdy to be seen. -Here come father, mother, and half a dozen children, the sire carrying -a basket, and one or two of the youngsters a havresack, all eager with -anticipated pleasure. Here half a dozen sweethearts going to make a -day of it. Here a troop of lads nimble of foot, noisy in talk, and -proud of their orange and purple decorations in waistcoat and necktie, -while now and then a _Fiaker_ trots past laden with a party who prefer -a holiday on wheels; and always there come the eternal soldiers, rank -and file, or tramping at liberty. - -The spectacle is animated in the spacious area of the _Grosser Ring_, -where the gay throngs mingle and traverse from all directions; -entering or leaving the _Teinkirche_, where service is performed in -the Czechish tongue. Striking is the contrast between them and a group -of sunburnt haymakers squatted in the centre, men and women in rustic -garments, gazing wonderingly around from amid many-coloured bundles, -piles of scythes, and scattered sickles. They look half amazed at -finding themselves in a great city, and as if fearful of ever finding -their way out again. - -All this and much more did I see while on my way to hear the service -in the metropolitan church on the Hradschin. The steep stair-flights -which, avoiding the narrow, crooked streets, lead directly up to the -palace, were all a-blaze with shining silks and satins, the wearers -of which were mounting slowly upwards on dainty feet in the full glare -of the hot sun. Already nearly every seat in the church was filled, -and as the service went on the aisles were thronged, the women on one -side, the men on the other, though with exceptions. The opportunity -was favourable for seeing something of the better class of citizens, -for of such the congregation appeared chiefly to be. Again I looked -for pretty faces along the variegated aisle, and though there was no -dearth of grace and animation, I was forced to believe that the -beauties had not yet returned from the watering-places. Meanwhile the -service went on; three robed priests officiated at the altar, the -little bell tinkled, the host was lifted up, every head was bowed, and -incense floated around the cross, while the boys set to feed the -censers pulled one another's hair on the sly, and played pranks in -their corner. - -I crept quietly up to the organ-loft when the time for music was near, -and saw seedy men take their post at the bellows, and in the front -seat of the gallery a row of young men and boys tuning up their -fiddles. The great height prevents the twang and scrape from being -heard below, and affords, moreover, opportunity for fun, for as they -screw and twang they reach across and tweak ears, or prod a cheek with -the end of a bow, or bend down and tell some joke which well-nigh -chokes them with suppressed laughter. At last the signal is given, and -as if by one impulse they strike into a symphony, in which the organ -joins at times with a sonorous note. I crept down to the aisle to -listen. The harmonies, at first timid, grew gradually in volume and -power, till at length they swelled into glorious music that filled the -whole place, and held every ear entranced. Then the organ broke out -with an exulting response, and all the echoes of the lofty roof and -soaring arches repeated the sound, until there came a sudden pause, in -which you presently heard the faintest of tones, like a plaintive -wail, from the stringed instruments. Then strength came once more to -the trembling notes, and again the strains which angels might have -stayed to hearken to floated through the air. - -Where could such music come from? I felt constrained to go up again to -the organ-loft. There sat the same boys carrying on their sports -during the rests and pauses--the same seedy men at the bellows--earthly -hands producing heavenly music which held the listeners spell-bound. - -For me the illusion was over, and I felt curious to see what sort of -men they were who in stately robes had gone through the ceremonial at -the altar. Surely they would exhibit signs of spiritual life. I placed -myself close to the door by which they would have to pass to the -sacristy, and observed them as they withdrew. They were men of -sluggish feature, lit by no gleam of spirituality, and walked as if -released from a wearisome duty. And the robes which seemed rich and -costly in the distance, showed faded and shabby near at hand--unworthy -attire for priests of a church that boasts a silver shrine. Here, -thought I, we must not look for the Beauty of Holiness. - -Many a kiss did I see imprinted on the sacred picture of Christ as the -congregation departed; and then, as they streamed forth and dispersed -in groups in many directions, I hastened forwards to catch the view -of the many-coloured procession as it descended the great stair, -flaunting in the sun between the gray old houses. - -While crossing the ancient bridge for the last time, my impression was -strengthened that from thence you get the best view of Prague--a view -which conceals the damaging features seen from the hills. "Oh! it is a -ravishing prospect!" exclaims an old topographer; "your eye knows not -whether it shall repose on the mighty colossus of stone which appears -to bid defiance to the broad Moldau stream, or whether it shall -pasture on that romantic slope, from the summit of which the huge -imperial fortress, and the highly-famed cathedral church, together -with many palaces and churches, shine down upon you. Surprise, wonder, -and bewilderment overcome him who for the first time turns hither and -thither to look at the sight." If your raptures rise not to this lofty -pitch, you will hardly fail, even at your last view, to sympathise -with the antiquated narrator's enthusiasm. - -The _Schwarzes Ross_ has a worthy reputation, and deserves it, for the -entertainment is good, the plenishing clean, and the beer excellent. -Dinner is served, after the Carlsbad manner, at twenty or more small -tables--an arrangement which favours conversation; and after the soup -has disappeared, the host enters with his best coat on--a plump man, -whose appearance does honour to his own viands--and he makes a solemn -bow to every table. I had the happiness of catching his eye on three -successive days. - -It was not by enchantment--though it seemed like it--but by steam, -that, four hours later, having lost the way, I was trudging about in -swampy meadows at the foot of the _Milleschauer_. My mind was confused -with pictures of Prague, with glimpses of the journey, and, unawares, -I had wandered from the track. At two miles from the city our train -was entered by two soldiers, one of whom stood guard at the carriage -door, while the other went from passenger to passenger demanding -passports, that he might inspect the visas. This done, the -_Podiebrad_--so the locomotive was named--hurried us past fruitful -slopes, orchards, and poppy-fields; past bends of the river; between -hills that come together in one place and form a glen, where tunnels -pierce the projecting crags; across a broad plain, till at Raudnitz we -saw the Elbe, and peaks and ridges in the distance, indicating our -approach to the mountains. At Theresienstadt we stopped twenty minutes -for the passing of the train from Dresden, there being but a single -line of rails, beguiling the time by looking at the rafts on the -river, and the broken line of hills. Then to Lobositz, where the folk -appeared less wise than at Prague, for the flour-mill and -chicory-factory were rattling and roaring in full work. - -I left my knapsack at the _Gasthof zum Fürst Schwarzenberg_, and -started for the _Milleschauer_. Half an hour along the Töplitz road, -bordered all the way by fruit-trees, and you come in sight of the -mountain--a huge cone, two thousand seven hundred feet in height, one -of the highest points of the _Mittelgebirge_. At the village of -Wellemin you leave the road for an obscure track across uneven slopes; -and here it was that, keeping too faithfully to the left, according to -direction, I lost the way. - -I was trying back, when a fierce squall swept up from the west. The -sky grew dark, the rain fell in torrents, the mountain disappeared -shrouded in gloom, and from the woods that clothe its sides from base -to cope, tormented by the cold wind, there came a roar as of the sea -in a storm. I took shelter behind a thick-stemmed willow, and waited; -but twilight crept on before the growl ceased. There were paths enough -to choose from, too many, in fact, as there commonly are round the -base of minor hills; however, by dint of making way upwards, through -dripping copse and plashy glades, I came at last to a single track, -completely hidden by the woods. - -It was part of a great spiral winding round the cone--now rising, now -falling, but reaching always a higher elevation. The clouds still hung -overhead; the sun had set, and under the trees I could see but a few -yards ahead. I stopped at times to listen for some companionable -sound, but heard only the heavy drip-drip from the leaves, and -melancholy sighs among the branches. A little higher, and there, in -the beds of moss around the roots, gleamed the tiny lanterns of swarms -of glowworms--more than ever I had seen before--and the way felt less -lonely with the pale green rays in view. Moreover, holding my watch -near one of the tiny lanterns, it was possible to see the -hour--half-past nine. Farther on I came to a little wagon standing in -a gap, and then the path became exceedingly steep and hard to climb, -and scarcely discernible in the increasing darkness. Steeper and -steeper grew the path, and with it the prospect of a bivouac, when the -trees thinned away, and a dark barrier stopped further advance. It was -a rough stone wall, along which I felt my way, and coming presently -to a door, kicked upon it vigorously. A dog barked. Footsteps -approached, and a man's voice asked: - -"Who's there?" - -"An Englishman." - -"Good," replied the voice; and forthwith the bolt was shot, and the -door opened. A man, whom I could scarcely see in the darkness, took my -arm and led me down a short steep path, and round a corner into a -small gloomy room, dimly lighted by a single lamp. Presently he -brought another lamp, and then I saw that the seeming gloom was an -effect of colour only, for the low apartment was lined with dark brown -moss; a settee, thickly covered with the same production, ran from end -to end along each side; and overhead you saw, resting on unhewn -rafters, the rough underside of a mossy roof. - -To find such a sylvan retreat, comfortably warmed, too, by a stove, -was an agreeable surprise. I stretched myself on the soft and springy -couch, while the man went away to get my supper. He soon returned with -a savoury cutlet and a pitcher of good beer; and while I enjoyed the -cheer with an appetite sharpened by exercise, he sat down to talk. The -place, he said, belonged to him. It comprised a group of huts, all -built of poles and moss, in which he had often lodged sixty guests at -once. There were a few sitting-rooms and many bedrooms, a garden, a -dancing-floor, an oratory, a poultry-yard, pigeon-house, and other -benevolent contrivances, as I should be able to see in the morning. -The wagon which I had seen at the foot of the steep belonged to him. -It was hard work for a horse to drag it up heavily laden; but harder -still to carry the stores from thence on one's shoulder to the summit. -He came up in May with his first load, and set to work to repair -roofs, walls, and fences, to renew the moss and dry the beds, and then -stayed till October busy with guests, who arrived by tens or twenties -every day, chiefly from Töplitz, about ten miles distant. The voices -we heard from time to time in an adjoining hut were those of a party -of four, who had come from the fashionable spa to see the sun set, and -had been disappointed by the storm. Perhaps sunrise would repay them. -They and I were, as it happened, the only guests this night, so the -host had time to talk without interruption. - -Supper over, he went before me with a lantern through the cold night -wind to a hut some yards distant, where, with a friendly "_Gute -Nacht_," he left me. What a snug little mossy chamber! At one end two -beds--thick piles of moss with plenty of blankets, and sheets as clean -as pure water and mountain breezes can make them. At the other, two -washstands, a looking-glass, and little window. I had it all to -myself, and was soon sound asleep. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - - Morning on the Milleschauer -- The Brightening Landscape -- - The Mossy Quarters by Daylight -- Delightful Down-hill Walk - -- Lobositz again -- The Steam-boat -- Queer Passengers -- - Sprightly Music -- Romantic Scenery -- Hills and Cliffs -- - Schreckenstein -- How the Musicians paid their Fare -- - Aussig -- The Spürlingstein -- Fairer Landscapes -- Elbe - versus Rhine -- Tetschen -- German Faces -- Women-Waders -- - The Schoolmaster -- Passport again -- Pretty Country -- - Signs of Industry -- Peasants' Diet -- Markersdorf -- - Rustic Cottages -- Gersdorf -- Meistersdorf -- School -- - Trying the Scholars -- Good Results -- A Byeway -- - Ulrichsthal. - - -Sunrise! a bell rings loudly to waken the sleepers; and the host cries -"_Frisch auf!_" at the door of the hut. I was up as the first rays -from the great luminary streamed across the landscape. Not a cloud -dimmed the sky, and it was a grand sight to see the ruddy light kindle -on all the lower hill-tops, tremble on the tall clumps of forest, and -creep down the slopes, till field after field caught the beams, and -ponds glistened and windows twinkled. And anon the thin veil of mist -was lifted from the valleys, and farms and villages rejoiced in the -new-born day. Every moment the great panorama revealed more and more -of its features, and bits of cliff, and glenlike hollows, ruined -towers, and miles of road emerged from the obscure. - -And while the light strengthened, there stretched towards the west the -mighty shadow of the mountain itself, eclipsing acres of the -landscape, which lay dim between the streaming radiance rushing to an -apex on either side. But the sun mounts apace, and the shadow grows -shorter continually. - -The number of cone-like hills is remarkable, and here and there you -see one of those circular, flat-topped elevations bristling with dark -woods, which characterize much of Bohemian scenery along the Saxon -frontier. While gazing on the singular forms, you may imagine them to -be the crumbling remains of stupendous columns erected by giant hands -in the old primeval ages. - -In the distance you see the Elbe, a long, pale stripe, resembling a -narrow lake, and you wish there were more of it, for the want of water -is a sensible defect in the view. The region is fruitful and well -peopled: had it a few large lakes besides, your eye would roam over it -with the greater pleasure. The expanse is wide. In very clear weather, -so mine host assured me, you can see Prague, and _Schneekoppe_ in the -_Riesengebirge_, each fifty miles distant. - -To enable you to get the view all round clear of the trees a circular -wooden tower is built, from the platform of which you may gaze on far -and near. Immediately beneath you look down into the walled enclosure, -upon the huts, the flower-beds, the potato plot, the sheltering hazel -copse, and all the ins and outs of the place. You see mossy arbours -open to the south, and little nooks where you may recline at ease and -contemplate different points of the view. - -I was glad after awhile to take refuge in one of these nooks, for the -wind blew so strong and keen that my teeth chattered as I walked round -the platform. However, there is steaming coffee ready to fortify you -against the influences which mar the poetry of sunrise. - -The garden, sheltered by its wall and screen of hazel, teems with -flowers, a pleasing sight as you go and come in your explorations. I -surveyed the whole premises from the dairy to the dancing-floor; noted -the inscriptions here and there with which the owner seeks to -conciliate your good opinion; looked at his bazaar, where you may buy -_Recollections of the Milleschauer_, and so round to the little altar -under the bell. Here the inscription runs: - - Frisch auf! - Zur Arbeit dran, - Gott segne meine Plan: - denn - An Gottes Segen - Ist Alles gelegen. - -Two hours passed. I took a farewell view under the broad sunlight, and -then, having to meet a steamer at Lobositz, strode merrily down the -hill. What a pleasant walk that was! Once below the summit, among the -trees, and the temperature was that of a summer morning; and the woods -looked glorious, fringed with light reflected from millions of -raindrops--memorials of the former evening's storm, now become things -of beauty. Beech, birch, and hazel, intermingled with larch and fir, -robe the hill from base to cope, through which the path descends with -continued windings; an ever-shifting aisle, as it seems, overarched by -green leaves, among which you hear the gladsome chirp and warbling of -birds. All the breaks and hollows which appeared so grim and gloomy -the night before, the mouths of yawning caverns, now open as narrow -glades or twinkling bowers, in which a thousand lights dart and quiver -as the cheerful breeze sweeps through, caressing the leaves. Such a -walk favours cheerful meditation, and prepares your heart for cloudy -weather and dreary prospects; and in after days many a thought born -within the wood flits back on the memory. - -It was like having been robbed of something to step out of the woods -upon the rough grassy slopes at the foot of the hill, and presently to -tramp along a hard, beaten road. However, there was the sight of the -lofty cone rising in its forest vesture high into the sunlight for -repayment; and the lively breeze ceased not to blow. - -The ill-favoured clerk at Prague had refused to accredit me beyond -Lobositz, so here at nine o'clock I had to go to the _Bezirksamt_ for -another visa. Again did I request that the name of some place at the -foot of the mountains, or beyond the frontier, might be inserted; but -no! I was going a trip down the Elbe, with intention to disembark at -Tetschen, so for Tetschen the visa was made out, and the clerk, who -was very polite, wished me a pleasant journey. - -I found a number of passengers waiting at the river side, reclining on -the grass or strolling among the trees. Presently came a large flat -boat and conveyed us all to an island, where, by the time we had -assembled on the rude landing stage, the steamer _Germania_ arrived -and took us on board; not without difficulty, for the deck was -literally choked with queer-looking people and rubbishy baggage. What -could such a company be travelling for? Wedged in among them sat a -party of wandering musicians, men and women, with harps, guitars, -fiddles, and flute: the space all too narrow for their movements. -However, as soon as the vessel resumed her course down the rapid -stream they began to play, and kept up a succession of airs that -seemed to convert the exhilarating motion, the breeze and the sunshine -into frolicsome music. - -I got a seat on the top of a heap of bundles, with clear outlook above -the heads of the crowd. It was a delightful voyage, between scenes -growing more and more romantic at every bend of the river. Now we -shoot past scarped hills, split by narrow gullies dark with foliage, -from whence little brooks leap forth to the light; now past sheltered -coombs where rural homesteads nestle, and vines hang on the sunny -slopes; now past variegated cliffs, all ochre and gray, that come near -together, and compel the stream to swerve with boiling eddies and long -trains of impatient ripples; now past fields and meadows where the -retiring hills leave room for fruitful husbandry, and from far your -eye catches the speck of colour--the red or blue petticoats of the -women around the hay-wagons. - -And along the road which skirts the shore there go men and women, -horses and vehicles, and there is always something strange to note in -costume and appearance. And close by runs the railway, its course -marked by the painted wicker balloons hanging aloft on the signal -posts, and the bright colour of the jutting rocks through which the -way is hewn, or by a train dashing past with echoing snort and tail of -cloud. - -The hills crowd closer and higher at every bend. Here and there rises -a cliff forming an imposing palisade of rock; then comes a wild mass -of crags backed by woods that screen a little red-roofed chapel -perched high aloft; then the tower of _Schreckenstein_ comes into -view, crowning a tall, gray buttress, which gives a finishing touch to -the picturesque. - -My attention was diverted from the scenery by a leaf of music held out -by one of the musicians. Who could refuse a fee for such strains as -theirs? Kreutzer after kreutzer, a few small silver coins, and two or -three twopenny bank-notes were dropped into the receptacle, which was -presently emptied into the ready hands of the fluteplayer. He counted, -shook his head, and saying, "Not enough yet!" gave the signal for a -fresh burst. Now came forth music singularly wild and inspiriting--the -reserve, perhaps, for an emergency--and none within hearing could -resist its influence. Had there been room, every one would surely have -danced; as it was, eyes sparkled, heads wagged, and fingers snapped, -keeping time with the measure. There seemed something magical about -the leader, and I could not help fancying that her fiddle began to -speak before the bow had touched the strings. They speak wisely who -bid us go to Bohemia for music. - -The leaf went round once more, and not in vain; but the fluteplayer -still shook his head, whereupon a song and a duet were sung; and then -the flute, brought to a conclusion with his cares, went to the little -crib by the paddle-box and bought tickets for the whole party. - -Then Aussig came into sight, and I soon ceased to wonder whither the -queer-looking crowd were going. It was to Aussig fair. Bundle after -bundle was pulled so rapidly from the heap on which I reclined that I -was quickly brought down to the level of the deck, and a scramble and -hubbub arose easier to be imagined than described. The musicians made -haste to put the leathern covers on their instruments, and along with -her fiddle I saw that the leader buckled up a spare stay-bone and a -few miscellaneous articles of her toilet. The women carried the harps, -and the men huge knapsacks, stuffed with their wives' gear as well as -their own, and with a thick-soled boot staring out from either end. -Once at the landing, a few minutes sufficed to clear the deck, and no -sooner had the vagabonds departed than a boy came with a broom, and -all was presently made clean, as behoved in a vessel bound to Dresden. - -Half an hour's stay gives you time to look at Aussig, to admire its -pleasing environment, its busy boat-builders, and gondola-like -pleasure-boats floating on the stream, and to commend the good quality -of its beer. Among the passengers who came on board were a party of -students, certain of them wearing gowns not larger than a -jacket--which, as some say, betoken learning in proportion. - -Away we went again, and always with fairer landscapes to greet our -eyes. Past great high-prowed barges, towed slowly against the current -by horses; past small barges, towed still more slowly by a dozen or -twenty men. Past the _Spürlingstein_, and bastion-like cliffs, and -hollows, beyond which you catch sight of far-away peaks. Then a -village of timbered houses, the fronts showing broad lines of -chequer-work and quaint gables, and every house standing apart in its -own garden, among hills hung with woods to the water's edge; and rocks -peering out here and there from the shadow of the trees, shutting you -in all round as in a lake. - -The sight of the varied features which open on you, increasing in -beauty at every bend, will suggest frequent comparison. Here among the -hills nature hems the Elbe in with loveliness, as if to prepare the -great river for its long, dreary course from Dresden to the sea. You -see not so many castles, but more variety than on the Rhine; more of -untamed scenery, and less of monotonous vine-slopes; and perhaps you -will incline to agree with those who hold that from Leitmeritz to -Pirna the Elbe excels the far-famed stream that flows past Cologne. - -Beautiful is the view of Tetschen, backed by grand wooded hills; the -river, spanned by a chain-bridge, making a sudden bend; the castle -looking down on the stream from a forward cliff. Though topped by a -spire, the castle will inevitably remind you of a factory; and you -will be constrained to look away from it to the tunnelled cliff -through which the railway passes, and the noisy stream that tumbles in -on the opposite side. - -It had just struck one when I landed. The passport office was shut for -two hours, that the functionaries might have time to dine--a -praiseworthy arrangement, though trying at times to a traveller's -patience. I dined at the _Golden Crown_, at one side of the great -square, and regaled myself with a flask of _Melniker_--a right -generous wine. The inn is the starting place for some twenty coaches -and vans, and, looking round on the numerous guests as they went and -came, it was easy to see you had left the Czechish for the German part -of the population--oval faces for round ones. - -In the centre of the square stands a building, which, in appearance a -pedestal for a big statue, is a little chapel in which mass is said -twice a day. I spent a few minutes in looking at it, then strolled to -the castle garden and the bridge, from whence I saw carts backed axle -deep into the river to receive cotton bales from a barge, and women -loading a boat wading out above their knees with heavy sacks on their -shoulders. Then to the school--a sight that gave me real pleasure, so -spacious is the building, so numerous are the scholars, so earnest the -master in his work. His discourse was that of one who has found his -true vocation: he was seldom cast down, and felt persuaded that it was -a master's own fault if he had no joy in his scholars. After our few -brief words I thought the inscription at the door yet more -appropriate: - - Der Schule Saat reift für Zeit und Ewigkeit.[B] - -At three o'clock I sought out the passport clerk, and found him not a -whit more willing to give a visa for the mountains, or a place over -the border, than his fellows elsewhere. He admitted the argument that -one of the pleasures of travel was an unrestricted choice or change of -route, but "could not" do more; so I looked at my map, and chose -Reichenberg as my next point of departure, and the official stamp and -signature were forthwith applied. But the gentleman discovered an -irregularity, and did not let me depart till it was rectified--that -the leaves containing the visas and the passport were separate sheets. -He fastened them together with a broad seal and a loop of black and -yellow thread, and then wished me a pleasant journey. - -The wish was realized, for the route lies through a pretty country, -the most populous and industrious part of Bohemia. It is heavy uphill -work soon after leaving Tetschen, but the view from the top over the -valley of the Elbe repays the labour, and rivals that from the -_Milleschauer_. A little farther, and the prospect opens in the -opposite direction, across a great wave, as it seems, of cones, -ridges, scars, and rounded heights, sprinkled with spires and -hamlets--a cheerful scene that invites you onwards. - -At every mile you see and hear more and more of the signs of industry. -Men pass you wheeling barrows laden with coloured glass rods--material -for beads and fragile toys, to be manufactured at home in their own -little cottages, keeping up the olden practice. Now you hear the hiss -and whiz of the polishing wheel; now the rattle of looms, and the -croak of stocking-weavers. And at times comes a man pushing before him -a great barrowful of bread--large, flat, brown loaves--on his way to -supply the off hamlets which have no bakery. And now and then old -women creep by, bending under a burden of firewood. Two whom I -overtook told me they walked three miles twice a week to fetch a -bundle of sticks from the forest; and when I asked if they ate meat or -cheese, answered with a "_Gott bewahr!_ never. Nothing but bread and -potatoes." - -At Markersdorf I left the highway for a cross-road, leading through a -succession of hamlets, so close together that you can hardly tell -where one begins and the other ends. Now the signs of labour multiply, -and there is a ceaseless noise of the shuttle and polishing wheel. The -little houses have a very rustic appearance, built of squared logs -black with age, set off by stripes of white clay along all the joints, -and a stripe of green paint around the windows. There is variety in -their architecture: some imitate the Swiss style, with tall roofs and -outside galleries; some exhibit dumpy gables and arched timbers along -the lower story; and pretty they look in the midst of their -poppy-strewn gardens and embowering orchards, watered by little -brooks, which here and there set little mills a-clacking. - -Not a hamlet without its school; and you will see with pleasure how -the importance of the school is recognised. Over the door of one at -Gersdorf I read: - - Den Kleinen will die Schule frommen - O laß sie alle, alle kommen.[C] - -At Meistersdorf, a furlong or two farther, on a little hill that -overlooks miles of country, the school-house is one of the best -buildings in the place. And here again a rhyming couplet, embodying a -benevolent sentiment, crosses the lintel: - - Kommt hier zu mir ihr Kleinen, O kommt mit frommen Sinn - Ich führ den Weg des Heiles euch zu dem Vater hin.[D] - -And the children really are taught. Scarcely a day passed that I did -not stop boys and girls on the highway, and get them to talk about -their school and what they learned. Not one did I meet above the age -of eight who could not read and write, and do a little arithmetic, or -recite the multiplication table, as I fully ascertained by sitting -down on the bank and playing the schoolmaster--not a frowning -one--myself. They answered readily, and wrote words on a scrap of -paper, and seemed pleased to show off what they knew, and still more -pleased at finding a kreutzer in their hand when the questions ended. -In many of the schools the pupils may learn mathematics if they will, -and drawing is taught in all. To this early acquaintance with the -rules of art the Bohemian glass engravers are indebted for a resource -that enables them to make the most of their skill and ingenuity. The -school fees are from one penny to twopence a week. - -A short distance beyond the school I left the village road for a rough -byeway across fields, and after a walk of five hours from Tetschen -came to a row of wooden cottages, or farmsteads, as they might be -called, each standing apart in its own ground, flanked by sheds, and -fortified by a dungheap close to the door. Were it not for overhanging -trees and garden plots they would wear a shabby look. - -Ulrichsthal was my destination; but here was no valley, only a slope. -However, on inquiring at the last but one in the row of cottages, I -found that I was really in Ulrichsthal, and at the very door I wanted. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[B] The school's seed ripens for time and eternity. - -[C] The school will profit the little ones, - O! let them all, all come. - -[D] Come here to me ye little ones, oh, come with pious mind! - I lead you on the way of salvation to the Father. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - A Hospitable Reception -- A Rustic Household -- The - Mother's Talk -- Pressing Invitations -- A Docile Visitor - -- The Family Room -- Trophies of Industry -- Overheating - -- A Walk in Ulrichsthal -- A Glass Polisher and his Family - -- His Notions -- A Glass Engraver -- His Skill and - Ingenuity -- His Earnings -- A Bohemian's Opinion on - English Singing -- Military Service -- Beetle Pictures -- - Glass-making in Bohemia -- An Englishman's Forget-me-Not -- - The Dinner -- Dessert on the Hill -- An Hour with the - Haymakers -- Magical Kreutzers -- An Evening at the - Wirthshaus -- Singing and Poetry -- A Moonlight Walk -- The - Lovers' Test. - - -I once promised a Bohemian glass engraver, who showed me specimens of -his skill under the murky sky of ugly Birmingham, that when the -favourable time came I would find out his native place, and have a -talk with his kinsfolk. The favourable time had come in all ways, for -no sooner did I make myself known to the old man who was summoned to -the door, than he took my hand and said, "Be welcome to my house." -Suiting action to word, he led me into a large, low room, hot as an -oven, where his wife and daughters and a sweetheart sat chatting away -the dusk. At first they were somewhat shy; but when I brought out a -little letter from the son in England, and the eldest daughter, having -lit a candle, read it aloud, the mother, overjoyed at hearing news -from "our Wilhelm," sprang up, gave me a kiss, and cried, "Only -think, an Englishman is come to see us!" Here was an end to the -shyness; and having shaken hands with all the lasses and the -sweetheart, I became as one of the family. - -Of course I would stay all night; they could not think of letting me -go to seek quarters at the public-house, unless, indeed, their own -rustic entertainment would make me uncomfortable; and the entreaties -were accompanied by preparations for supper. Who could resist such -hearty hospitality? Not I; and forthwith an understanding prevailed -that whatever pleased them best would please me best; excepting, that -I should have leave to open one of the casements and sit close to it, -for to me the temperature of the room was unbearable. Besides the heat -from the stove, there was an odour of kine from the cowstall, which -forms one half of the house, separated from the living room only by a -passage. - -We had merry talk while I ate my supper of eggs, coffee, and bread and -butter. "Our Wilhelm" was, however, the mother's favourite topic, and -she returned to it again and again. She must tell me, too, of her -other sons, one in America, another at Pesth; and how that one night -they were all awoke by a loud knocking at the door, and a voice -begging for a night's lodging. How that the stranger would not go -away, but continued to knock and beseech, until all at once the mother -recognised a tone, and cried, "Father, father, open the door! That's -our David's voice. Our David, come home to see us, all the way from -Hungary!" And then the joyful meeting that followed! Her eyes -glistened with tears as she told me this. - -There were two beds in a little slip of a chamber opening from the -principal room, of which the one nearest the window was given up to -me, as I again had to stipulate for an open casement; and the more so, -as notwithstanding the heat, I was expected to bury myself between two -feather-beds, as the custom of the country is; the other was occupied -by the old man. As for mother and daughters, they retreated to some -place overhead, which must have been very like a loft. - -Had I slept well? was the question next morning; and this being -answered in the affirmative, the family resolved by acclamation that I -should stay with them a fortnight at least, nor would they at first -believe that I could only spare them a single day. Could not an -Englishman do anything? What mattered it if I returned to London a -week sooner or later? The theatre at Steinschönau would be opened on -Sunday, and it would be such a nice walk to go and see the play. Why -should I be in a hurry to reach the mountains? Would it not be the -same if I went to the top of all the hills around Ulrichsthal? - -So said the daughters, with much more of the like purport, and to -resist persuasions backed by bright eyes, good looks, and blithesome -voices, was a hard trial for my philosophy. However, I kept my -resolution even when the mother rounded up with, "Only a day! that's -not long enough to taste all my cookery." The good soul had risen -early to make fresh _Semmel_ for breakfast. - -To pacify them, I promised to eat as much as ever I could, and to let -them do whatever they liked with me during the day. Thereupon two of -the damsels put on their broad-brimmed straw hats, shouldered their -rakes, and betook themselves to the hay-field; the youngest, a lassie -of fifteen, apprenticed to a glass engraver, said, "_Leb' wohl_," and -went away to her work; the old man, privileged to be idle through age -and infirmity, crept forth to find a sunshiny bit of grass on which to -have a snooze; the mother began to bustle with pot and pan about the -stove; and the eldest daughter, having put on her hat and a pink -scarf, claimed the right to show me all that was worth seeing in -Ulrichsthal. - -We began with the room itself. Its furniture was simple enough: wooden -walls and ceiling; an uncomfortable wooden seat fixed to the wall -along two sides; a table and a few wooden chairs; and the old man's -polishing-bench, a fixture in one corner. The treadle and crank were -still in place, but motionless; half a dozen wheels and sundry tools -hung on the wall, memorials of the veteran's forty years of industry, -and the bench did duty as dresser and bookshelf. Among the books were -_Schiller's Werken_, in sixteen volumes, belonging to "our Wilhelm." -With that simple machinery, hoarsely whirring day after day all -through the prime of his manhood, had he gained wherewith to buy his -two plots of land, and the comfort of repose in declining age. Here, -in this overheated room, at once workshop, kitchen, and parlour, had -been reared those four comely daughters, and the tall son whom I had -met in England; all strong and hearty, in spite of high temperature -and certain noxious influences arising out of a want of proper decency -in the household economy. "We are used to it," was the answer, when I -expressed my surprise that they could bear to live familiar with -things offensive, and yet fearful of a passing breath from spring and -summer. But this want of perception is not confined to Ulrichsthal; -you cannot help noticing it in many, if not in most, Bohemian -villages, and on the Silesian side of the mountains. - -But the damsel is impatient. We set off towards a row of houses on a -higher part of the slope. Each has its long and narrow piece of land, -an orchard immediately behind the house; then patches of wheat, -barley, poppies, beetroot, grass, and potatoes, cultivated, with few -exceptions, by the several families. But labourers can be hired when -wanted, who are willing to work for one or two florins a week. - -We went into one of the houses. There sat a family grinding and -polishing glass, alternating field-work by a day at the treadles. The -operations were not new to me, but there was novelty to see them -carried on in such a homely way; to see elegant vases, dishes, -goblets, and jugs, fit ornaments for a palace, in the hands of -rustics, or lying about on a rough pine shelf. The father, a tall, -pale-faced man, with a somewhat careworn expression, stopped the noise -of the wheels as soon as he heard of a visitor from London, and talked -about that which he understood best--his business. Full thirty years -had he sat at the bench, training up his children to the work one -after another, but had not realized all the benefits he once hoped -for. The brittle ware came to him in boxes from Prague, forty-five -miles, and, when polished, was sent back in the same way; he having to -bear the loss of whatever was broken while in his hands. "Look here," -he said, showing me a large handsome jug; "my daughter spent a whole -month over that jug, and then, as you see, broke the handle off. So I -must keep it, and lose fifteen florins." To him it was useless: he -could only place it apart with other crippled specimens--memorials of -misfortune. "Ah! if glass would not break, then he would not be poor. -However," he added, "we always get bread. God be thanked! And our bit -of land helps." Cutters and polishers earn about four florins a week. -He thought it good that young men got away to England, for they not -only earned great wages, but escaped the remorseless military service. -"A young man is not safe here: perhaps he works for twelve, eighteen -months, and thinks he will be left quiet for the rest of his term, -when all at once comes a sharp order, and he must away to Italy for a -year or two." - -Then he set his treadle going, to show me that in Bohemia the polisher -holds his glass against the bottom of the wheel, and, consequently, -has the work always under his eye; while, in England, he holds it -against the top of the wheel, and must be always turning it over to -look at the surface. - -Higher up the slope we came to another house, where, instead of the -harsh sound of grinding, we heard but a faint, busy hum. A change came -over Röschen's manner as she entered, and saw a young man sitting at a -lathe; and their greeting, when he looked round, was after the manner -of lovers before a witness. On being told that I had come to see glass -engraving, the young man plied his wheel briskly, and, taking up a -ruby tazza, in a few minutes there stood a deer with branching antlers -on a rough hillock in its centre--a pure white intaglio set in the -red. I had never before seen the process, and was surprised by its -simplicity. All those landscapes, hunting-scenes, pastoral groups, and -whatever else which appear as exquisite carvings in the glass, are -produced by a few tiny copper wheels, or disks. The engraver sits at -a small lathe against a window, with a little rack before him, -containing about a score of the copper disks, varying in size from the -diameter of a halfpenny down to its thickness, all mounted on -spindles, and sharpened on the edge. He paints a rough outline of the -design on the surface of the glass, and, selecting the disk that suits -best, he touches the edge with a drop of oil, inserts it in the -mandril, sets it spinning, and, holding the glass against it from -below, the little wheel eats its way in with astonishing rapidity. The -glass, held lightly in the hands, is shifted about continually, till -all the greater parts of the figure are worked out; then, for the -lesser parts, a smaller disk is used, and at last the finest touches, -such as blades of grass, the tips of antlers, eyebrows, and so forth, -are put in with the smallest. Every minute he holds the glass up -between his eye and the light, watching the development of the design; -now making a broad excavation, now changing the disk every ten -seconds, and giving touches so slight and rapid that the unpractised -eye can scarcely follow them; and in this way he produces effects of -foreshortening, of roundness, and light and shade, which, to an -eye-witness, appear little less than wonderful. - -The work in hand happened to be _tazzi_, and in less than half an hour -I saw deer in various positions roughed out on six of them, and three -completely finished. Then the engraver fetched other specimens of his -skill from up-stairs--a dish with a historical piece in the centre, -and vignettes round the rim--a bowl engirdled by sylvan scenes, where -fauns and satyrs, jolly old Pan and bacchanals, laughed out upon you -from forest bowers and mazy vineyards--all, even to the twinkling -eyes, the untrimmed beards, and delicate tendrils, wrought out by the -copper wheels. - -The merchants at Prague took care that he should never lack work, and, -according to the quality, he could earn from four to eight florins a -week, and save money. Beef cost him 11 kreutzers the pound, veal 10, -and salt 6 kreutzers. His bread was home-made. The lathe was his own: -it cost forty florins; and the house, and the long strip of ground -that sloped away behind, half hidden by the orchard. He did no -field-work, but left that to his mother, who lived with him, and hired -labourers. "It goes better in the house where a woman is," he said, -with a glance at Röschen. - -The cleanliness and order of his own room--workshop though it -was--justified his words. And though old habit would not yet permit -him to sit with open door and window, he did not aggravate summer-heat -by stove-heat, but had a cooking-place in an outer shed. His house had -four rooms, of which two up-stairs, and a loft--all built of wood. The -floor of the room above formed the ceiling, all the joints covered by -a straight sapling split down the middle, resting on joists big and -strong enough to carry a town-hall. Between these massive timbers hung -pictures of saints, a drawing of trees, and a guitar. The engraver -could play and sing, and recreated himself with music in the evenings, -and on Sundays. - -He had heard that the English were fond of music, and thought there -must be plenty of good singing among the working-people; and it -surprised him not a little to be told that the Islanders' love for -sweet sounds went far--far beyond their power of producing them. -"Ah!" interrupted Röschen, "my brother writes that there is no music -in his English workmates' singing." - -The engraver thought it a great privation, and could not well -comprehend how the evenings could pass agreeably without a little -music at home. "And when you are away from home," he went on, "it -seems still better. Like all the young men here, I have been a -soldier, have marched to Bucharest, to Pesth, to Trent, and Innsbruck, -and what should we do on those long marches, and in dull quarters, if -we could not sing?" - -Concerning the military service, he thought it a hardship to be -obliged to serve, whether or no, but compensated by advantages. It -added to a young man's knowledge and experience to march to distant -lands, to see strange scenes, and strange people. You could always -tell the difference between one who had travelled, even as a soldier, -and a stay-at-home; the one had something to talk about, the other had -nothing. Then, the pleasure of coming home again--a pleasure so sweet, -that the thought of marching forth once more could hardly embitter it. -For his part, he had been at home eighteen months, glad to resume his -craft, and for the present saw no prospect of a call to arms. But -there remained yet one year of his term unexpired, and he was liable -at any moment to get an order requiring him to leave everything, and -march. "Who can tell," he said, "how hard it is to go away so -suddenly, to leave the little home, and all friends? Right glad shall -I be when the year is over." - -Röschen looked as if she would be glad too, and, to make me aware of -all the young man's cleverness, she took down the frame of trees from -the wall and put it in my hands. I then saw that what looked like a -coloured drawing was a picture made of insects. The engraver had a -taste for natural history, and with a collection of beetles of all -sizes, black, brown, green, gold, and sapphire, had constructed the -group of trees which, when looked at from the middle of the room, -showed as a highly-finished drawing. You saw here and there a withered -branch shooting from the foliage--it was nothing but the horns and -legs ingeniously placed, and those deep hollows in the trunks, places -where owls may haunt, are produced by an artful arrangement of wings. - -Then Röschen would have him fetch down his trays of moths and -portfolio of drawings. The moths had all been collected in walks about -the neighbourhood, and were carefully preserved and labelled. The -drawings showed the hand of an artist. The engraver had begun to learn -to draw in school at the age of eleven, and had practised ever since, -for without good drawing one could not engrave glass. He spoke of -Röschen's youngest sister as a real genius, who would one day outstrip -all the engravers in Ulrichsthal. - -Bohemia was the first to rival, and soon to excel, Venice in the art -of glass-making. In her vast forests she found exhaustless stores of -fuel and potash, and quartz and lime in her rocks, and produced a -white glass which won universal admiration until about the beginning -of last century, when English manufacturers discovered the process for -making flint-glass with oxyde of lead as an ingredient. There was -nothing superior to this glass, so it has been said, but the diamond, -and the Bohemians, finding their craft in danger, introduced coloured -glass, frosted glass, and pleasing styles of ornament. This practice -they have since kept up. Their works are mostly situate in the great -forests on the Bavarian frontier, where fuel and labour are alike -cheap: the managers are well taught, and have a good knowledge of -chemistry, and by striving always after something new, reproducing at -times long-forgotten Venice patterns, they have achieved a reputation -due more to the taste and elegance displayed in the forms of their -manufactures than to their quality. From the rude forest villages the -articles are sent all across the kingdom to the northern districts, -where, as we have seen, the finishing touches that are to fit them for -stately halls and drawing-rooms, are applied by the hands of humble -cottagers. - -We were about to leave, when the engraver asked if I would not like to -try my hand at the lathe, and, without waiting for an answer, he -brought out a small, plain beaker of thick glass, and begged me to cut -a forget-me-not upon it as a memorial of my visit. The process looked -so easy, that I thought there would be no great risk in an attempt, so -I sat down, spread out my elbows to rest upon the cushions, put my -foot to the treadle, and the glass to the wheel. Whiz--skirr-r-r-r, -and there was a fine white blur which, by a stretch of fancy, might -have been taken for a cloud. Karl--as Röschen called him--took the -beaker, and, leaning across me as I sat, speedily converted the blur -into a rose, and bade me try again. I presented the opposite side, and -this time with better effect, for the result was a very passable -forget-me-not. I have seen many a worse on _A Trifle from Margate_. - -Röschen then said something about meeting in the evening, and we made -haste home, for it was dinner-time. Immediately on arrival she -proceeded to roll out a small piece of dry brown dough into a thin -sheet, which she cut into strips, and these strips, laid three or four -together, and shredded down very thin, produced an imitation of -vermicelli, which was thrown into the soup. - -Now all was ready, and a proud woman was the mother as the soup was -followed by two kinds of meat, stewed and roast--salad, potatoes, and -a cool, slightly acid preserve, made from forest berries. And for -drink there was pale beer from the _Wirthshaus_. She did not fail to -remind me of my promise to "eat a plenty." - -Nor, after we had sipped our coffee, did Röschen fail to remind me of -my morning's surrender, and pointing to the high hill-top, about two -miles off, she said, "I mean to take you up there." So, as my docility -remained unimpaired, we braved the hot sun, and had a very pretty walk -over broken ground, and down into a bosky valley, watered by a noisy -brook, before we reached the hill-foot. Then flowery meads, and -presently the shadow of a forest, where we regaled ourselves with a -second dessert of juicy bilberries and wild strawberries, both growing -in profusion. From a little clearing, not far from the top, we saw -heaving darkly against the blue, the hills of the Saxon Switzerland. -The last bit was steep and pathless; but at length we came out upon a -little hollow platform, the summit of a precipice, from which, the -trees diverging and sinking on either hand, there was a grand view -over the vale we had left, and far away, over field and hamlet, meadow -and coppice, to a wavy line of hills, gray, purple, green, and brown, -blended on the horizon. We sat for an hour; and after scanning the -principal features Röschen pointed out the details, naming every house -and field within a great sweep. Each man's little property lay -distinctly mapped out, and we could see the neighbours and her sisters -working in the sunshine. - -Our way back led us across the hay-field, where the lasses were -bustling to finish in time for some evening's diversion, the nature of -which was a secret. I proposed to help them, threw off my coat, seized -a fork, and flung the hay up to the lass in the wagon quicker than she -could trim it. Röschen took a rake, and had enough to do in gathering -up the heaps which, pitching too vigorously, I sent clean over the -wagon. All at once, as I was stooping, down came a mountain on my -back, and the three lasses, taking advantage of my fall, came piling -heap on heap above me--Pelion upon Ossa--till I was well-nigh -smothered, and they went almost wild with laughter. They sat down to -recover themselves; but when they saw me, after laborious thrust and -heave, come creeping ingloriously out, their jocund mirth broke out -again, and provoked me into a spirit of retaliation. - - "As bees flee hame wi' lades o' treasure, - The minutes wing'd their way wi' pleasure." - -Then we fell to work once more, and when the wagon was laden I showed -to the ragged urchin who was hired to drive, three of the lumbering -old copper coins, bigger than penny-pieces, which pass for kreutzers -in the neighbourhood, and at sight thereof he made the old horse drag -the load home and come back for another in less time than horse had -ever accomplished the task in Ulrichsthal. The second load was the -last: by the time it was all pitched up our shadows grew long, and we -followed it up to the house, where the mother had coffee and _Semmel_ -ready for us. - -Now Röschen, reminding me once more of my promise to be tractable, -revealed the secret. Karl was coming down, and Gottfried--the -sweetheart I had seen the night before--and perhaps another, and then -we were all to go to the _Wirthshaus_, about half an hour's walk. -Presently the young men came in, and the lasses having changed their -rustic garb for holiday gowns and dangling gold ear-drops, we walked -in procession across fields to the rendezvous. A shout of welcome -greeted our arrival from the young fellows already assembled--the -Londoner was duly introduced, and treated by the host with especial -favour, and we all sat down to a table, every man with his tankard of -beer. The cup circulated literally, the custom being that everybody -should drink from everybody's tankard. The lasses took their turn, -though modestly and with discretion, as became them. The talk crackled -merrily for awhile, and when it flagged a small tray bearing a set of -little ninepins which were to be knocked down by a teetotum was placed -on the table. The pins were so contrived that they could be all -erected at once by pulling a string at one end of the tray, and the -game went round not less briskly than the tankards, shouts of laughter -repaying him who set the teetotum a-spinning without molestation to -the pins. Then I proposed a song, and Karl charmed all ears with a -musical ditty: another followed with a harmonious ballad, which had a -chorus for burden, and as the tuneful harmony filled the room I could -not help contrasting it with what would have been heard in a similar -rustic alehouse in England. The ballad led to a talk about poetry, and -one and another recited stanzas of favourite poems, and all seemed -familiar with the best authors, drawing illustrations from Bürger's -_Lenore_, Schiller's _Song of the Bell_, Goethe's _Erl King_, and one -or two ventured upon the _Niebelungenlied_. - -The moon was high in heaven when we broke up, and gently the night -wind swept across the fields laden with the freshness of dew. As we -walked along the narrow paths Gottfried had to undergo a test: his -maiden plucked a large ox-eye daisy, pulled the petals off one by one, -keeping time with a few spoken surmises[E]: - - "_Du liebst mich vom Herzen, - mit Schmerzen, - ein Wenig, - oder gar nicht._" - -The last petal came off with _vom Herzen_, but yet the inquirer was -not quite content. It was all very well to be loved _from the heart_; -but _with pain_ or _grief_ would have been much better. Then nothing -would do but Röschen must try the experiment on me, and reciting and -plucking she went round the frail circlet, and ended with _gar nicht_. -She looked curiously at Karl, and Karl looked as if he were not by -any means dissatisfied that she had got _not at all_ for a -conclusion. - -It was past twelve when we came to our door, and then "farewell" had -to be said, and "adieu till to-morrow;" and so ended for me a day of -rural life that I shall long remember. - -If, reader, you should ever pay a visit of inquiry to the -Ulrichsthalers, I feel assured they will tell you that next to -themselves the best fellow in the world is an Englishman. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[E] Thou lovest me from the heart: - with pain: - a little; - or not at all. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - - More Hospitality -- Farewells -- Cross Country Walk -- - Steinschönau -- The Playbill -- Hayda -- All Glass-workers - -- Away for the Mountains -- Zwickau -- Gabel -- - Weisskirchen -- A Peasant's Prayer -- Reichenberg -- - Passport again -- Jeschkenpeak -- Reinowitz -- Schlag -- - Neudorf -- A Talk at Grünheid -- Bad Sample of Lancashire - -- Tannwald -- Curious Rocks -- Spinneries -- Populousness - -- Przichowitz -- An Altercation -- Heavy Odds -- The - Englishman Wins -- A Word to the Company. - - -Fresh _Semmel_ for breakfast again the next morning, and renewed -entreaties for my stay. I could only reply by putting on my knapsack. -The old man grieved that infirmity prevented his showing me the -shortest way to Hayda, some ten miles distant, where I should strike -the main road. "But," he said, "Röschen knows the way, and she will be -glad to go. I can trust her with you, for you are an Englishman." - -I felt bound to thank him for his compliment to my nationality, and -not less for the unexpected pleasure of his daughter's company. -Röschen went to put on her round hat, and then the mother said she -would like to go too, "just a little half-hour," and tied on her -kerchief. Then I had to give a kiss to the rest of the family--barring -the old man--and with cordial hand-grip and many a good-bye I stepped -from beneath the hospitable roof. - -The day was as bright and breezy as heart could wish, and it was -delightful walking in and out, choosing the short cuts across the -fields. The "little half-hour" brought us to a great cross by the -wayside, where the mother, who lamented all the way that I would not -let her carry my knapsack, gave me a hearty kiss, hoped I would soon -come again and stay a month, bade Röschen take care of me, and turned -away homewards with tears in her eyes. - -I thought to myself, if my gracious masters--long may they live!--did -but grant me an uncircumscribed holiday, I would stay a month now. And -would I not, oh, worthy hearts! strive to repay your hospitality by -lessons to that young daughter of yours, who craves to learn English -as a hungry man for bread. I had no claim on you: you had never heard -of me, and yet you entertained me as if I had been your son. May the -love that befalls the cheerful giver dwell ever with you! - -Röschen knew all the byepaths and little lanes running through belts -of copse, by which, with many a rise and fall among the hills, we took -our way, she all the time wondering at my pleasurable emotions at -sight of the picturesque cottages and pretty scenery. To her they were -nothing remarkable. By-and-by we saw Steinschönau on the left, where -the surrounding hamlets buy groceries, hardware, and napery, and -resort at times for a holiday. While skirting it we saw here and there -on a cottage wall bills of the next Sunday's play. It would be, so -states _Herr Direktor Feichtinger_, _In celebration of the highest -delighting occurrence of the birth of an Imperial Sproutling, with -festive Illumination. First, the Heart-elevating Austrian Folks-hymn: -then Hanns Sachs, Shoemaker and Poet, a_ _Drama in Four Acts._ And he -ends with a notification: _Price of Places as always. But to -Generosity no Limit will be set._ Röschen promised herself much -pleasure from a sight of the play. - -Hayda, though a small town, is a place of much importance in the glass -trade. You hear the noise of wheels in every house. "None but -glass-workers here," said the landlord of the inn where we dined. The -repast over, I said good-bye to Röschen, vexed with myself for having -occasioned her so long a walk, and taking the road which I had left at -Markersdorf, stepped out for the _Riesengebirge_--distant a three -days' tramp. The country between teems with manufactures and -population--a cheerful country, hill and dale, grain, flax, and -fruit-trees, and the people for the most part good-looking. Their -faces are round, but not flat, and seemed to me to combine some of the -best points of the German and Czech. - -You see dye-works and hear looms at Zwickau--not the Saxon town we -explored a fortnight ago, but a dull place, with a great dull square; -the wooden houses dingy, the brick houses rough and ragged. Beyond, we -pass strange-looking rocks and short ranges of cliffs, the castle and -grounds owned by Count Clam Gallas, and so to Gabel, a town which -bears a _fork_ in its coat-of-arms; and is burdened with recollections -of disasters from fire and sword. It has of course a great square, in -the centre of which stands a tall column, surmounted by a figure of -Christ looking towards the domed church. Its aspect is cheerful, -notwithstanding that the old wooden houses with projecting gables are -blackened by age. - -Then the road becomes more hilly, and the distance appears -mountainous. We pass a singular mass of boulders--huge compressed -bladders turned to stone; and from time to time other strangely formed -rocks, betokening extraordinary geological phenomena, as if to prepare -us for what we shall see a few days hence at Adersbach. - -By-and-by a deep glen, dark with firs above, green with birches below, -into which you descend by long zigzags. Here among the trees sat a -cuckoo, piping his name loud enough for all that passed to hear. It -was the second time I had heard the gladsome note in Bohemia: the -first was on the White Hill, while walking into Prague. Broad views, -bounded always by hills, open as you emerge from the last slope, and -there in a hollow lies the little village of Weisskirchen, where I -tarried for the night. The innkeeper calls his house the _Railway -Inn_, although there is no railway within half a day's walk, and in -matter of diet all he could offer was smoked sausage--which is my -abomination--and bread and butter. - -On the way to Reichenberg next morning I saw a small, tasteful iron -crucifix, with a lamp, set up on a stone pedestal by the wayside, at -the cost, so runs the inscription, of _Gottfried Hermann, Bauer in -Rosenthal_; and underneath the devout peasant adds a prayer for the -solace of wayfarers: - - An dem Abend wie am Morgen, - Unter Arbeit, unter Sorgen, - In der Freude, in dem Schmerz, - In der Einsamkeit und Stille, - Lenk' O Christ, mit Dankesfülle - Zu dem Kreuz, das fromme Herz![F] - -At ten o'clock I came to Reichenberg: a town pleasantly situate on -hilly ground, and animated by many signs of industry. It is the -capital of the manufacturing region, and in importance ranks next to -Prague. In 1848 the German Bohemians, not relishing the dictatorial -tone of the Czechs in the metropolis and southern parts of the -kingdom, made it the seat of their Reform Committee, and held -meetings, in which speech, intoxicated by sudden, and, as it proved, -short-lifed freedom, mistook words for things, and, before the mistake -was discovered, lay once more fettered--faster than ever. - -I found out the _Bezirksamt_ at the farther end of the town, and was -there told to go back to the middle, and get my passport signed at the -_Magistratur_. I had to wait while four others passed the desk. The -first, a portly gentleman, evidently of some consideration, was -dismissed in half a minute, and treated to a pinch of snuff by the -clerk. The second, a petty trader, was kept five minutes, and had to -tell why he wished to journey, and what he meant to do. The third, a -peasant, was only released after a cross-examination, as if he had -been a conspirator; and a rigorous scrutiny of his passport, which -occupied a quarter-hour. The fourth, a poor woman, as I have before -mentioned, was denied, and went away with tears in her eyes. Then came -my turn. - -"Where are you going?" - -I had always the same answer: "To the _Riesengebirge_." - -But as no visa could be given for mere mountains, I named Landeshut, a -few miles beyond the frontier, telling the functionary at the same -time that I had no intention of visiting the town, and should in all -probability not go thither. - -Apparently it mattered not, for the visa was made out and stamped. -This done, the clerk took my passport, and withdrew to an inner room. -His brother clerks in all the offices I had yet entered had done the -same. What did it mean? Is there a secret chamber where some highest -functionary sits with a black list before him, in which he must search -for suspected names? No one would tell me. After five minutes the -clerk returned, gave me back my passport, but, less courteous than his -fellows, did not wish me a pleasant journey. - -I dined at the _Rothen Adler_; strolled through the market-place and -the arcades of the old houses on either side, noting the ways of the -crowd who were buying and selling meal, fruit, and vegetables. Groups -of countrywomen were passing in and out of the church at the upper -end; and countrymen arrived with trains of bullock-wagons--the -vehicles so disproportionately small when contrasted with the animals, -that you could not look at them without laughing. However, they carry -away cotton bales and dyestuffs, of which you see good store in the -warehouses. You see piles of woollen cloth, too, and troops of -factory-girls going to dinner. - -You will tarry awhile to admire the view from the hill beyond the -town, and will, perhaps, think the tall chimneys rising here and there -without the crowding roofs rather picturesque than otherwise. All -around is hill and dale; the graceful peak of the _Jeschken_, 3000 -feet high, is in sight; and away to the north-east, inviting you on, -rise heaps of blue mountains. And as you proceed you descend every two -or three miles into a charming little valley, where you see little -factories, and stripes of linen stretched out to bleach on the grassy -slopes. So at Reinowitz; so at Schlag; so at Neudorf; so at -Morchenstern. At Grünheid, where I stayed for a half-hour's rest, -there was a noticeable appearance of cleanliness. The inn, inviting of -aspect, would have satisfied even a Dutchwoman. While drinking my -glass of beer I had a talk with the hostesses--two happy-looking -sisters, who presently told me they had a brother in England, at -Oldham, learning how to spin cotton and manage a factory. Did I know -Oldham?--had I ever been there?--could I tell them anything about -it?--and so forth. Having visited more than once that hard-working -town, I was enabled to gratify their curiosity. Then they told me of -an Englishman who was employed in a factory about a mile distant. He -had been there three years, yet his manners were so coarse and -disagreeable that no one liked him, although at first many would have -been his friends. He had learned but very little German, and that of -the worst kind, and was over fond of drinking too much beer. "He has -been trying for some time," they said, "to get a wife; but no woman -will have him. While good Bohemian husbands are to be had, who would -marry a bad Englishman? And so now he is going to fetch a wife from -his own country." - -And then they asked, "Are all Englishmen such as he?" - -Need I record my answer? It enlightened them as to the real value of -the sample they had described, and made them fully aware that I for -one did not regard Lancashire as England's model county. - -More curious rocks as we drop down towards Tannwald--a place, as its -name indicates, of fir forests. It lies deep among hills, watered by a -stream brawling along a stony bed, and here and there you see the -weatherbeaten heads of huge boulders peering from among the trees. The -road makes short and frequent windings by the side of the stream; now -skirted by groves of mountain ash, and slopes red with clustering -loosestrife; now by feathery larches, green and graceful, contrasting -beautifully with the melancholy firs. Then you pass an enormous -spinnery, its thousand spindles driven by the dashing torrent; and -peeping between the plants and flowers with which nearly every window -is adorned, you see an army of girls within, busy at the machinery. -Another and another spinnery succeeds; the houses of the masters -appear aloft on pleasant sites, and signs of prosperous trade crowded -into the bend of a narrow valley. In one place you see a broad alley -through the firs to the top of the highest hill, cut at the masters' -cost for the recreation of the workpeople. Thickly-strewn cottages -betoken a numerous population. "I wish there were more factories," -said the landlord of the _Goldene Krone_, "for we have people -enough--more than enough." Every year things got dearer, greatly to -the folks' surprise. Not many months ago a traveller has passed -through, who told them that things would never be cheap again; but no -one would believe him. Some of the best spinners could earn from five -to six florins a week: thriftiness, however, was a rare virtue, and to -earn the money easier than to save it. Perhaps mine host was the man -of all others in Tannwald best able to speak with knowledge on this -economical question. - -If so minded, you can travel from Reichenberg to Tannwald by -_Stellwagen_; beyond, the road becomes more and more hilly, and -worsens off to a stony track broken with deep ruts. By taking a short -cut directly up the hill you may save a mile or more on the way to the -next village--Przichowitz; a name that looks unpronounceable. It is a -steep climb for about half an hour, provoking many a halt, during -which you enjoy the ever-widening view. From the expanse of hill and -dale to the numberless cottages all around you, each fronted by a -fenced flower-garden, and haunted by the noise of looms, you will find -ample occupation for the eye. And if you wish to observe domestic -labour competing with the factory-units with an organized -multitude--the opportunity is favourable. - -Przichowitz stands on what appears to be the very top of the hill till -you see the wooded eminence, _Stephanshöh_, beyond. There are two -inns: the _Grünen Baum_, with a fourth share of a bedroom; the -_Gasthaus zur Stephanshöh_, somewhat Czechish in its appointments. I -quartered myself at the latter; and discovered two redeeming -points--good wine and excellent coffee. - -At bedtime the landlord demanded my passport, with an intimation that -he should keep it in his possession all night. I demurred. He might -bring his book and enter my name if he would: as for giving up to him -a document so essential to locomotion anywhere within sight of the -black and yellow stripes, I saw no reason why I should, and therefore -shouldn't. - -"But you must." - -"But I won't." - -"The gendarme will come." - -"Let him come. He will find at least one honest man under your roof." - -The hostess came forward and put in her word: the company present, who -were topping-off their three hours' potation of _Einfach_ with a glass -of _Schnaps_, ceased their conversation, and put in theirs: - - "Wi' tippenny we fear nae evil, - "Wi' usquebaugh we'll face the devil." - -the _Kellnerinn_ waiting all the while with my bed-candle in her hand. -Every one, except the serving-maid, who held her peace, sided with the -landlord. - -I urged the same reply over and over again, that not having been asked -at any other _Wirthshaus_ to yield possession of my passport for a -night, I could not believe that any regulation to the contrary -prevailed for Przichowitz. - -At length the company, as it appeared, having exhausted their -suggestions, the landlord fetched his book, and had dipped a pen into -the inkstand, when two soldiers, who were eating a supper of sausage, -brown bread and onions, at a table apart, beckoned him, and whispered -something in his ear. - -The whisper revived his suspicions, and would have renewed the -altercation; but I took up my knapsack, asked what was to pay, and -declared for a moonlight walk to Rochlitz. - -The demonstration made him pause: he opened the book, dipped the pen -once more into the inkstand, and looked wonderingly at my passport, -which I held open before him. He tried to spell it out; but in vain. -The pen went into the inkstand again; but to no purpose. He was -completely bothered; and at last, putting the pen in my hand, he said, -not now in a peremptory tone--"Will you enter your own name, if I let -you do it?" - -It would have served him right had I refused, and left the task -entirely to him. However, not to be too hard upon him, I promised not -to inscribe Brown, Jones, or Robinson, and wrote what was required. - -Then, looking round on the company, I said: "A pretty set of cowards -you are! Here are nine of ye, two of them soldiers, and you all take -the part of a suspicious landlord against one--and that one a -foreigner. No wonder you are all afraid of a gendarme; and submit to -ask leave when you want to go a day's journey. Try, in future, and -remember that honesty does not become rogue by travelling on foot. -Good night!" - -"So, now it's settled," said the _Kellnerinn_, who still waited with -the candle in her hand; and she led the way up-stairs. - -Before sleeping I repented of my speech; for what could be expected -from people who never attended a vestry meeting--never saw a general -election--never exercised the privilege of booting a candidate on the -hustings? - -And never had a _Times_ to publish their grievances. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[F] In the evening as at morning, - Under work, under cares, - In joy, in sorrow, - In solitude and silence, - Lead, O Christ, with thankfulness - To the Cross, the pious heart. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - - Stephanshöh -- A Presumptuous Landlord -- Czechs again -- - Stewed Weavers -- Prompt Civilities -- The Iser -- A Quiet - Vale -- Barrande's Opinion of the Czechs -- Rochlitz -- An - offshoot from Tyre -- A Happy Landlord -- A Rustic Guide -- - Hill Paths -- The Grünstein -- Rübezahl's Rose Garden -- - Dreary Fells -- Source of the Elbe -- Solitude and Visitors - -- The Elbfall -- Stony Slopes -- Strange Rocks -- - Rübezahl's Glove -- Knieholz -- Schneegruben -- View into - Silesia -- Tremendous Cliffs -- Basalt in Granite -- The - Landlord's Bazaar -- The Wandering Stone -- A Tragsessel -- - A Desolate Scene -- Rougher Walking -- Musical Surprises -- - Spindlerbaude -- The Mädelstein -- Great Pond and Little - Pond -- The Mittagstein -- The Riesengrund -- The Last - Zigzags -- An Inn in the Clouds. - - -Soon after six the next morning I was on the top of -_Stephanshöh_--about twenty minutes' walk from the inn--prepared to -enjoy the view: and did enjoy all that was not concealed by mist. -Every minute, too, as the heaving vapour melted away, so did the -landscape widen and rejoice in the sunbeams. We are here on the roots -of the _Riesengebirge_, and all around is a rolling country, rising -higher and higher towards the north. Because of the view the height is -famous throughout the neighbourhood; visitors come to it even from -Reichenberg. - -While I was drinking my early cup of coffee, the landlord came -forward, made a bow, and expressed his hope to see me again some day. - -"Hope not," I replied, "for besides plaguing folk about their -passport, you lodge them between dirty sheets over an unswept floor. -Good morning!" - -Beware, reader, of Przichowitz! - -The road winding along a hill-side leads you onwards high above the -valleys that open at every bend. After about an hour it narrows into a -footpath, which presently branches off into many paths down the steep -slope of a secluded vale. A woman of whom I asked the way shook her -head, and answered, "_Böhmisch_," and to my surprise I found myself -once more among the Czechs. A Sclavonic wedge, so to speak, here cuts -between the German-speaking population who inhabit the northern -border. With its base in the heart of the kingdom, it stretches away -to the Silesian frontier, traceable for the most part by the names of -numerous villages ending in _witz_. - -I chose a path for myself which led down between patches of clover and -rye, beetroot and potatoes, through little orchards, under rows of -limes, to a house which, at a distance, had an imposing, spacious -appearance; deceitful till you come near. The ground stage is nothing -but a rough mass of masonry supporting that which is really the -house--a low wooden edifice, swarming with weavers, reared aloft, -probably, to keep it out of the way of floods. As I mounted the rude -steps in quest of information, a weaver opened a casement and put out -his head, letting out, at the same time, a rush of the depraved air in -which he and his mates were working. I asked the way. - -He shook his head, and answered, "_Böhmisch_." - -He did more. He started up from his loom, came actually forth into -the wholesome air, and ran to a cottage some distance off, making -signs to me to wait his return. He came presently back wearing a -triumphant look, accompanied by another weaver, who could speak German -enough to assure me that I was on the right track for Rochlitz, and -that the mountain stream flowing so merrily past was the Iser. Poor -men! they both had a pale, sodden look, which moved me to recommend -fresh air and open windows. But no: they shivered, and could not weave -when the windows were open. - -A bright stream is the Iser, and plenteous of trout: a water such as -the angler loves, now brawling over shallows, now sleeping in -hazel-fringed pools. You will pause more than once while climbing the -hill beyond to scan the vale. All the greater slopes are broken up -with lesser undulations--wherein much is half seen, and -thickly-patched with wood; little cottages nestle everywhere among the -trees, the little chapel near the summit; and here and there on the -outskirts a dark ridge of firs reminds you of the melancholy miles of -forest beyond. Here, far from great roads, all breathes of calm and -content, all sights and sounds are rural; you hear the water babbling -to the whispering leaves, and might fancy yourself in the very home of -happiness. But - - "The statutes of the golden age, - That lingered faint and long - In sylvan rites of olden time, - So dear to ancient song, - The world hath trampled in its haste - At Mammon's shrine to bow; - And many a Tyre our steps may find, - But no Arcadia now." - -With the Iser the Czechs are left behind. While taking leave of the -oval-faced people, the opportunity seems fitting to bring forward a -few words of testimony concerning them, which may be weighed against -that mentioned in a former page. Barrande, the distinguished -geologist, says, in his _Silurian System of Bohemia_, that, in 1840, -he and his friends commenced a regular exploration of strata, -employing native labourers in different parts of the country, either -singly making new excavations, or in groups opening quarries. "These -labourers," he continues, "provided with the necessary tools, and -practically instructed by working with us for some time, soon acquired -the knowledge indispensable for distinguishing every organic -trace--the objects of our studies--at the first glance. In this -respect we have often had occasion to admire the intelligence of the -Bohemians (Czechs), even of those belonging to the humblest class. -Some among them employed in our researches during ten or twelve years -acquired a remarkable skill as seekers of fossils. They gather up and -put together the smallest fragments which belong to any specimen -broken in splitting the rock; they use a lens to discover the fugitive -traces of the minutest embryo, and they know very well how to -distinguish all rare or new forms in the district to which they are -attached. A sort of nomenclature, improvised by themselves out of the -Bohemian language, has served us to designate both the species and -formations in which they are found." - -Thus, with his rustic Czechs, Mr. Barrande could carry on -investigations at a distance, while in his study at Prague he prepared -his truly great work for publication. One of the diggers brought in -the specimens once a week; and in this way were discovered fifteen -hundred species of what geologists call Silurian and Cambrian fossils, -the existence of which in Bohemia was before unknown. - -It is not far to Rochlitz--perhaps a mile--but the vale is hidden ere -you arrive by the shoulder of the hill. Almost the first house is -_Gast und Einkehr Haus zur Linde_, and it has a living sign--a -beautiful linden-tree. Here cleanliness prevails, and the speech is -German; but the room is so hot from the scorching stove, that I prefer -to eat my second breakfast on the grass in the shadow of the lime, and -listen to the busy hum of countless bees among the branches. The room, -however, was a study--a sort of museum: racks overhead, three glass -closets, twenty-four pictures, a sofa, a score of daddy-longlegs -chairs, a guitar and fiddle, two beds in view besides one shut off by -a screen, and all the sundries common to a public-house. But for good -housewifery it would be hideous. - -The landlord, a man of friendly speech, came out for a talk. From his -orchard we could look down into a charming dell: a sylvan retreat, -marred, alas! by an offshoot from Tyre. From among the trees there -rose the tall chimney and staring walls of a factory; and while we -talked, a dozen men went past, each wheeling a barrow-load of lime, -from a distance of two miles, for the building. Mine host felt glad at -the prospect of work for the people. "We have nine thousand -inhabitants in Rochlitz," he said; "'tis a great place. To walk -through it you must take three hours." And he pointed out a cliff -overlooking a valley where mining works had just been bought by a -Russian for two hundred thousand florins. "Yes, there would be work -enough for the people." Plenty of work at little wages. A weaver earns -one florin twenty-four kreutzers a week, and the happy few who achieve -two florins are regarded as rich by their neighbours: perhaps with -envy and admiration. - -Then he pointed out his own ground, and his forest run reaching to the -very hill-top, all of which had cost him fifteen thousand florins; and -he turned to all quarters of the compass with the air of a man well -pleased with himself. "Those," he said, stretching his finger towards -a row of short, round, wooden columns with conical roofs--"those are -my beehives; come and look at them." - -These hives are about four feet high, fixed clear of the ground by -stakes driven through the turf, and are constructed in compartments -one fitting above the other. The bees begin to work in the lowest, -and, when that is filled, ascend into the upper stories. One among -them seemed deserted. - -"Let us see what's the matter," said the landlord; and he lifted off -the top story. Immediately there swarmed out thousands of earwigs. - -"Huhu! that's not the sort of bees we want. Coobiddy, coobiddy!" And -judging from the lusty crow that followed it, chanticleer and his -seraglio must have had a satisfactory repast. - -But _Schneekoppe_ was yet far off, and there was no time to be lost if -I wished to reach that Mont Blanc of German tourists before night. I -inclined to leave the rough-beaten track through the valleys for short -cuts across the hills, and asked the landlord about a guide. His -woodcutter, who was splitting logs close by, knew great part of the -way, and was ready to start there and then and carry my knapsack for a -florin. He put a piece of coarse brown bread into a bag, which he -lashed to one of the straps, and away we went. - -"Good-bye!" said the landlord: "a month later and you would have had -company enough; for then students come in herds to see the mountains." - -We struck at once up a grassy hill on the left, and could soon look -down on Rochlitz--houses scattered along either side of a narrow road -in a deep valley; and, far in the rear, on Hochstadt, a wee town of -great trade. Then we came to a _Jägerhaus_, and plunged into a pine -forest, walking for two or three miles along winding paths, paved with -roots, under a solemn shade where, here and there, sunny gleams sought -out the richest brown of the tall, straight stems, and the brightest -emerald among the patches of damp moss. At times we came to graceful -birches scattered among the firs, and their drooping branches and -silvery boles looked all the more beautiful amid companions so -unbending. - -We emerged on a bare, turfy slope, and came presently to a stony ridge -on the right--the _Grünstein_--so named from a large bright green -circle of lichen on the broken rocks which first catch your eye. A -little farther along the same ridge, and the guide points to a great -ring of stones on the slope as _Rübezahl's_ Rose-garden, and the name -makes you aware that here is the classic ground of gnomery. You -remember the German storybooks read long ago with delight, wonder, or -fear: the impish pranks, the tricks played upon knaves, the lumps of -gold that rewarded virtue; the marvellous world deep underground, and -all the weird romance. - -You will perhaps think that imps had a right to be mischievous in such -a region. On the left opens a wild, dreary expanse of fells--the -coarse brown turf strewn with hassocks of coarser grass, and pale -lumps of quartz intermingled, and rushy patches of darker hue showing -where the ground is soft and swampy. It has a lifeless aspect, -increased by a few scattered bushes of _Knieholz_ that look like firs -which have stunted themselves in efforts to grow. Now and then an -Alpine lark twitters and flits past, as if impatient to escape from -the cheerless scene. - -We crossed these fells, guided by an irregular line of posts planted -far apart. In places the ground quakes under your foot, and attempts -to cut off curves are baffled by treacherous sloughs. On you go for -nearly an hour, the view growing wilder, until, in the middle of a -spongy meadow, known as the _Naworer Wiese_, you see a spring bubbling -up in a circular basin. It is the source of the Elbe. - -Here, 4380 feet above the sea-level, the solitude is complete. Here -you may lie on your back looking up at the idle clouds, and enjoy the -luxury of silence, for the prattle of the water disturbs it not. You -will think it no loss that nothing now remains of monuments which the -Archdukes Joseph and Rainer once erected here to commemorate their -visit: the lonely scene is better without them. There are monuments -not far off more to your mind. Towards the south rises the _Krkonosch -Berg_[G]--sometimes called the _Halsträger_--and _Kesselkoppe_ -towards the west; great purple-shaded slopes of darkest green. - -Not often during the summer will you find real solitude, as we did; -for the Germans come in throngs and sit around the little pool to -quaff the sparkling water, or pour libations of richer liquor. Is not -this the birthplace of the Elbe, the river that carries fatness to -many a broad league of their fatherland, and merchandise to its marts? -Many a merry picnic has _Krkonosch_ witnessed, and many a burst of -sentiment. Hither used to come in the holidays--perhaps he comes -still--a certain rector of a Silesian school with his scholars; and -after their frolics he would teach them that the life of a river was -but the symbol of their own life; and then, after each one had jumped -across the sprightly rivulet, he bade them remember when in after -years they should be students at Wittenberg, how they had once sprung -from bank to bank of the mighty stream. The Elbe has, however, two -sources: this the most visited. The other is ten miles distant on the -southern slope of _Schneekoppe_. They unite their waters in the -_Elbgrund_. - -A stream is formed at once by the copious spring. We followed it down -the slope-- - - "Infant of the weeping hills, - Nursling of the springs and rills"-- - -to a rocky gulf, where it leaps a hundred feet into the precipitous -chasm, and chafes onwards in a succession of cascades far below, -gathering strength for its rush through the mountain barrier--the -Saxon Highlands--and its long, lazy course through the plains of -Northern Germany. Here a little shanty is erected, the tenants of -which dam the water, and let it loose for its plunge when tourists -arrive who are willing to pay a fee to see Nature improved on. But you -may scramble about the rocks and down to the noisy influx of the -_Pantsche Fall_ as long as you please, and peep over into the deep -gulf, without any payment. - -Then up a steep stony acclivity to a higher elevation, another of the -great steps or terraces which compose the Bohemian side of the -mountains. From the top we should have seen _Schneekoppe_ himself, had -he not been hidden by clouds; however, we saw a mass of gray cumulus -behind which old Snowhead lurked, and that was something. - -Rougher and rougher grows the way: more and more of the big boulders -lying as if showered down; and here and there singular piles of rock -appear. Some resemble woolsacks heaped one above another, and -flattened; some a pilastered wall, all splintered and cracked, sunken -at one end; some heathen tombs and imitations of Stonehenge; and some -animal forms hewn by rude people in the ancient days with but -indifferent success. On one, an experienced guide--which mine was -not--will show you the impression of a large hand, and tell you it is -_Rübezahl's_ glove. - -The path makes many a jerk and twist among the rocks; at times through -a dense scrub of _Knieholz_--a dwarfish kind of fir, crooked as -rams'-horns, peculiar to these mountains, and, as travellers tell us, -to the Carpathians. To its abundant growth some of the hills owe their -dark green garment. Half an hour of such walking brought us in sight -of _Rübezahl's_ chancel--walls of rocks split into horizontal -layers--and strangely piled, as if by the hands of crazy Cyclopean -builders. A fearsome place in olden time; now a shelter to the -_Schneegrubenhaus_, where you will choose to rest and dine before -further exploration. - -The house stands on the verge of a mighty precipice, from which you -have a wide view over the most beautiful and picturesque part of -Silesia. It was a glorious sight, miles of hill and dale, forest and -meadow stretching far away--yellow and green, and blue and -purple--touched here and there by flashing lights where the sun fell -on ponds and lakes; villages, seemingly numberless, basking in the -warmth of a July sun. The _Hirschbergerthal_, into which we shall -travel ere many days be over, lies outspread beneath as in a map; -Warmbrunn, with its baths in the midst, five hours distant, and yet -apparently so near that you fancy a musket-shot would break one of the -gleaming windows. Although, as some say, there is a want of water, you -will still think it a view worth climbing the _Riesengebirge_ to see. -"There is only one Silesia!" cried the Great Frederick, when he looked -down upon it from the _Landeshuter Kamm_. - -Having feasted your eye with the remote, you will turn to look at the -two _Schneegruben_--greater and lesser snow-gulfs. To the right and -left the precipice is split by a frightful chasm a thousand feet deep, -between jagged perpendicular cliffs. Looking cautiously over the edge, -you scan the gloomy abyss where the sun never shines except for a -brief space in the early morn. You see a chaos of fallen blocks and -splinters, where the winter's snow, often unmelted by the summer -rains, forms miniature glaciers, from one of which the Kochel springs -to charm wondering eyes with its fall in the lowlands by Petersdorf. -You see how the jutting crags threaten to tumble; how the heaps far -below are overgrown by treacherous _Knieholz_, and form ridges which -dam the sullen waters of two or three small lakes. A patch of green, a -small meadow, smiles up at you from the lesser gulf; and it surprises -you somewhat to be told that a painstaking peasant makes hay there, by -stacking the grass on high poles, and carries it in winter when snow -enables him to use a sledge. - -If sure of foot, you may scramble down the ridge and look at the -cliffs from below, and on the way at a remarkable geological -phenomenon. In the western declivity the ruddy granite is cut in two -by a stratum of basalt, which broadens as you descend, its surface cut -up by pale gray veins resembling a network. It is said to be the only -instance in Europe of basalt found at such a height, and in such -intimate neighbourhood with granite. It is laborious walking at the -base, and dangerous where vegetation screens the numerous crevices. -However, if you take pleasure in botany, there are rare plants to -repay the exploit; and if you care only for the romantic, to have been -frowned down upon by the tremendous cliffs will suffice you. - -When you climb back to the summit the host will ask you to look at his -museum, and collection of knick-knacks for sale--memorials of the -_Schneegruben_. There are crystals, and specimens from the -neighbouring rocks, and carvings cut out of the _Knieholz_, an -excellent wood for the purpose. Among these latter are heads of -_Rübezahl_, with roguish look and bearded chin, to be used as -whistles, or terminations for mountain-staves. Or, if you desire it, -he will fire a small mortar to startle the echoes. You may, however, -rouse echoes for yourself by rolling big stones into the gulf; but -beware lest you meet the fate of Anton, the guide, who, in 1825, while -starting a lump of rock, lost his balance, fell over, and was dashed -to pieces against the crags. - -Such cliffs are said to be characteristic of the _Riesengebirge_. -Another example of a _Schneegrube_ occurs near Agnetendorf, which is -six hundred feet deep. And close by it is the Wandering Stone, a huge -granite block of thirty tons' weight, which has moved three times -within memory, to the wonder of the neighbourhood. In 1810 it -travelled three hundred feet, in 1822 two hundred, and in 1848, -between the 18th and 19th of June, about twenty-five paces. - -Another characteristic of these mountains, as I discovered, is that -when you have climbed up one of their great steps or terraces, you -have to make a deep descent on the farther side before coming to the -next, whereby the labour of the ascent is increased. On leaving the -_Schneegruben_, you traverse a level so thickly strewn with boulders -and rocky fragments that you fancy more would not lie, till, coming -presently to the descent, you find nothing but stone. In and out, rise -and fall; now a long stride that shakes you rudely; now a cheating -short step--such is the manner of your going down. Nothing but stone! -the track in many places scarcely visible though trodden for years. -You will think it a terrible stair before you have finished. Near the -foot we met a party going up, one a lady seated in a _Tragsessel_--a -sedan-chair without its case--carried by two men. Talk of -palanquin-bearers in Hindoostan! their work must be play compared -with that of these Silesian chair-carriers. I pitied them as they -toiled up the stony steep, hard to climb with free limbs, much more so -with such a burden; and yet they looked contented enough, though very -damp. We met three more chairs, each with its lady, in the course of -the next two hours. - -Nothing has ever realized my idea of utter desolation so entirely as -the sight of that stony steep when I looked back on it from below. A -great rounded hill of stone, blocks on blocks up-piled to the summit, -sullen as despair, notwithstanding the greenish tinge of clinging -lichen. I wondered whether the accursed hills by the Dead Sea could -look more desolate. - -Rough walking now, through straggling _Knieholz_; across stony ridges, -and past more of the uncouth piles of rock that look weird-like in the -slanting sunbeams. All at once you hear the noise of a hurdy-gurdy: a -surprise in so deserted a region, and you may fancy _Rübezahl_ at his -pranks again; but presently you see a beggar squatted in the bush, -whose practised ear having caught the sound of footsteps before you -came in sight, the squeak is set a-going to inspire charity. And now -these musical surprises will beset you every half-mile--flageolet, -tambourine, clarionet, or fiddle. Where do the musicians live? No -signs of a house are visible near their lurking-places. - -We came to a _Baude_, a lonely farmstead, with a few fields around: -the dwelling roughly built of wood, without upper story. Many similar -buildings are scattered among the mountains--cause of thankfulness to -weary travellers, for the inmates are always ready with rustic fare -and lodging. Here the guide had to ask the way, having already come -farther than he knew. The path led us across swampy ground, where you -walk for a mile or two on stepping-stones through open fir woods, -always meeting some group of rocks. Another half-hour, and we emerged -into a little green vale, shut in by high steep hills and forest, the -_Spindlerbaude_ standing at the upper end. My guide being afraid to -venture farther, I released him, and engaged another; one in full -professional costume--tall boots, peaked hat, and embroidered -jacket--who undertook to go the remaining distance with me for twenty -kreutzers. While I drank a glass of beer, a man and woman made the -room ring again with harp and clarionet. - -It was past six when we started, and betook ourselves at once to the -steep ridge behind the _Baude_. Once up, we saw _Schneekoppe_ rising -as a dark cone in the distance, and away to the right the -_Mädelstein_, so named from a shepherdess having been frozen to death -while sheltering under the rock from a snow-storm. On the Bohemian -side, towards the south, the view is confined; but northwards, over -Silesia, it spreads far as eye can reach, the nearer region in deep -shade, for the sun is dropping low. By-and-by we leave the broken -stony ground for the grassy ridge of the _Lahnberg_, where the path -skirts a cliff, which, curving round to the right and left, encloses -the _Grosser Teich_, a black lake, on which you look down from a -height of six hundred feet. The inky waters fill an oval basin about -twenty-four acres in extent and seventy-five feet deep, and remain -quite barren of fish, although attempts have been made to stock it -with trout. The superflux forms a stream named the Great Lomnitz. - -From hence more rock-masses are in sight: the _Mittagstein_, so named -because the sun stands directly over it at mid-day, a sign to the -haymakers and turf-diggers; the _Dreisteine_, fifty feet high, -resembling the ruin of a castle, split into three by a lightning -stroke a hundred years ago; the _Katzenschloss_ (Cat's Castle) and -others, which the guide will tell you owe their names to _Rübezahl_. - -We cross the _Teichfelder_ and look down on the Little Pond: a lively -sheet of water, for the surface is rippled by a waterfall that leaps -down the precipice, and beneath trout are numerous as angler can -desire. You will notice something crater-like in the form of the -cliffs of both ponds: no traces of lava are, however, to be -discovered. - -We passed the Devil's Gulf, through which flows the Silver Water, and -came to more rough ground, and scrub, and lurking bagpipers. The veil -of twilight was drawn over Silesia, and the peaks and ridges on the -right loomed large and hazy against the darkening sky. We came to the -_Riesenbaude_ on the edge of the _Riesengrund_ (Giant's Gulf), from -which uprears a steeper slope than any we had yet encountered. - -It is incredibly steep, the path making short zigzags, as on the -Gemmi, fenced by a low wall. On either side you see nothing but loose -slabs of stone, which must have made the ascent well-nigh impossible -to unpractised feet, before Count Schaffgotsch constructed the new -path at his own cost. A hard pull to finish with. However, in about -twenty minutes we come to a level, where the wind blows strong and -cold, and something that looks like a house and a circular tower -looms through the dusk. The guide steps forward and opens a door, -which admits us to a dim passage. He opens another door, and I am -dazzled by the lights of a large room, where some forty or fifty -guests are sitting at rows of tables eating, drinking, and smoking, -while three women with harps sing and play in a corner. - -To step from the chill gloom outside into such a scene was a surprise; -and after my long day's walk to find a comfortable sofa five thousand -feet above the sea, was a solace which I knew how to appreciate. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[G] _Krkonoski Hory_ is the Czechish name for the whole range of the -_Riesengebirge_. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - - Comforts on the Koppe -- Samples of Germany -- Provincial - Peculiarities -- Hilarity -- A Couplet worth remembering -- - Four-bedded Rooms -- View from the Summit -- Contrast of - Scenery -- The Summit itself -- Guides in Costume -- - Moderate Charges -- Unlucky Farmer -- The Descent -- - Schwarzkoppe -- Grenzbäuden -- Hungarian Wine -- The Way to - Adersbach -- Forty Years' Experience. - - -Here, on the top of _Schneekoppe_, you find the appliances of luxury -and elegance as well as of comfort. Many kinds of provisions, good -wine, and beer of the best. A bazaar of crystals, carvings, -_Rübezahl's_ heads, and mountain-staves. Beds for fifty guests, and -_Strohlager_ (straw-lairs) for fifty more, besides music and other -amusements, make up a total which satisfies most visitors. Do not, -however, expect a room to yourself, for each chamber contains four -beds, in one of which you will have to sleep or accept the alternative -of straw. I heard no demur to these arrangements: in fact, most of the -guests seemed to like throwing off conventionalities of the nether -world while up among the clouds. For water--that is, to drink--you pay -the price of beer, and with a disadvantage; seeing that, from being -kept in beer-casks, its flavour is beery. - -The company, though German, is very mixed: specimens of the men and -women-kind from many parts of Germany. Here are Breslauers, who will -say _cha_ for _ja_: Berliners, who--cockneys of another sort, give to -all their _g_'s the sound of _y_--converting _green_ into _yreen_, -_goose_ into _yoose_: _gobble_ into _yobble_: Bremeners, whose Low -Dutch has a twang of the Northumbrian burr; besides Saxons, -Hanoverians, Mecklenburgers, and a happy couple, who told me they came -from Gera--a principality about the size of Rutlandshire. Flat faces -and round faces are the most numerous. The Silesians betray themselves -by an angular visage and prominent chin. "Every province in Prussia," -says Schulze to Müller, "has its peculiarity, or property, as they -call it. Thus, for example, Pomerania is renowned for stubbornness; -East Prussia for wit; the Rhineland for uprightness; Posen for mixed -humour; the Saxon for softness; the Westphalian for hams and -_Pumpernickel_; and Silesia--for good-nature." And here, on the -highest ground in all North Germany, you may any day between Midsummer -and Michaelmas bring the humourous philosopher's observations to the -test. - -Hilarity prevailed: the songstresses sang their best and twanged their -strings with nimble fingers, and--came round with a sheet of music. -Then a few of the guests migrated into the little chambers which on -two sides open from the principal room; then a few more; and I noticed -that some stopped to read a label affixed to the wall. I did the same. -It bore a couplet: - - _Wisse nur des Narren Hand - Malt und schreibt auf Tisch und Wand._[H] - -Three hairy faces lay fast asleep on their pillows in the room to -which I was shown. The bodies to which they belonged were covered with -coats and wrappers, as well as blanket, for the night was very cold, -and the wind blew around the house with an intermittent snarl. - -I did not rise with the next morning's sun, but two hours later. By -that time the mists had cleared off, or become so thin as not to -conceal the landscape, and, on going out among the shivering groups, I -saw an open view all round the horizon. The Silesian portion is by far -the most attractive. To the south-west the _Jeschken_ catches your -eye, and, far beyond, the swelling outline of the _Erzgebirge_; to the -south you see towns and villages in the valley of the Elbe, and in a -favourable atmosphere the White Hill of Prague: in like circumstances -Breslau can be seen, though forty-five miles distant to the -north-east, and Görlitz with its hill--_Landskrone_--almost as far to -the north-west, and on rare occasions, it is said, you can see the -foremost of the Carpathians. - -Not one of the remotest points was visible. I took pleasure in tracing -my yesterday's route, in which the _Schneegruben_ is all but hidden by -an intervening ridge, and in surveying that which I had now to follow. -There, in the direction towards Breslau, lay Schatzlar, and the lonely -peak of the _Zobten_--the navel of Silesia, as old writers call it; -and miles away easterly the _Heuscheuer_, a big hill on the Moravian -frontier, which looks down on Adersbach, where we shall sleep -to-night, if all go well. You can see a long stretch of the -_Isergebirge_--mountains of the Iser which form part of the range--and -deep gulfs, and grim rocky slopes, and pleasant valleys. But it is not -the mountain scenery of Switzerland or Tyrol: you miss the awful -precipices, the gloomy gorges thundering ever with the roar of -waterfalls, the leagues on leagues of crowding hills, cliffs and -forests, rushing higher and higher, till they front the storm zone -with great white slopes and towering peaks that dazzle your eye when -the sun looks at them. Here no snow remains save one "lazy streak" in -a hollow of the crags on the heights above the _Riesengrund_. Imagine -Dartmoor heaved up to twice its present elevation, and your idea of -the view from _Schneekoppe_ will come but little short of the reality. - -The summit itself is a stony level, half covered by the inn, with its -appurtenances and the chapel, leaving free space all round for -visitors. Its height is 4965 Prussian feet above the sea. The boundary -line between Bohemia and Silesia, which follows an irregular course -along the range, crosses it. A chapel, dedicated to St. Lawrence, was -first erected here by Count Leopold von Schaffgotsch, in 1668-81; but -only since 1824 have Koppe-climbers found a house on the top to yield -them shelter and entertainment. While walking about to get the view -from every side you will not fail to be struck by the numerous guides -in peaked hats, with broad band and feather, velveteen jackets heavy -with buttons and braid; and not less by their coarse rustic dialect -than by their costume. Extremes meet, and you will notice much in -common, in sound at least, between this very High Dutch and the Low -Dutch from Bremen and Hamburg. - -The afternoon is the best time for the view. The shadows then fall to -the east, as when I saw it yesterday from the _Schneegruben_; the sun -is behind you, looking aslant into the Silesian vales, searching out -whatever they possess of beautiful, and bringing out the lights on -towns and villages for leagues around. - -I had been told more than once while on the way that the charges on -_Schneekoppe_ were "monstrous;" but my supper, bed, and early cup of -coffee with rusks, cost not more than one florin fifty kreutzers, -service included; a sum by no means unreasonable, especially when you -remember that all the provant has to be carried up on men's shoulders. - -I have always been favoured with fine weather when among mountains, -and here was no exception. The _Riesengebirge_, are, however, as much -visited by fog, rain, and mist, as the mountains of Wales. Tourists -come at times even from the shores of the Baltic, and go back -disappointed, through prevalence of clouds and stormy weather. I heard -of a farmer living not farther off than Schmiedeberg, who had climbed -the _Koppe_ thirteen times to look down on his native land, and every -time he saw nothing but rain. There came one summer a few weeks of -drought; the ground was parched, and fears were entertained for the -crops. Thereupon the neighbouring farmers assembled, waited on the -persevering mountain-climber, and besought him to go once more up -_Schneekoppe_. - -"Up _Schneekoppe_! for what?" - -"If you do but go, look ye, it will be sure to rain, and we shall be -so thankful." - -Soon after six I started for the descent into Silesia, in company with -two young wool-merchants from Breslau. On this side the slope is easy; -but, as on the other side, after falling for awhile, the path makes a -rise to pass over _Schwarzkoppe_ (Black Head), a hill rough with -heather. To this succeeded pleasant fir-woods, then birch and beech, -and before eight we came to _Grenzbäuden_ (frontier-buildings), a -place renowned for its hospitality wherever lives a German who has -seen the mountains. Three houses offer entertainment; but Hübner's is -the most resorted to. There you find spacious rooms, a billiard-table, -a piano, maps on the walls, and a colonnade for those who prefer the -open air; and sundry appliances by which weather-bound guests may kill -time. But, by common consent, Hübner's chief claim to consideration -is, that Hungarian wine never fails in his cellar. - -"Did you taste the Hungarian wine?" is the question asked of all who -wander to the Giant Mountains. - -The two Breslauers were not less ready for breakfast than myself. We -each had a half-bottle of the famous wine, and truly its reputation is -not unmerited. If you can imagine liquid amber suffused with sunshine, -you will know what its colour is. It looks syrupy, and has the flavour -of a sweet Madeira, not, as it appeared to me, provocative of a desire -for more. Neither of the Breslauers inclined to try a second -half-bottle, notwithstanding their exuberant praises; but one of them, -sitting down to the piano, broke out with a - - "Vivat vinum Hungaricum" - -that made the room echo again. Its price is about twenty pence a -bottle; but once across the boundary line, and you must pay three -shillings. In winter, when snow lies deep, sledge-parties glide hither -from Schmideberg to drink Hungarian, have a frolic, and then skim -homewards down-hill swift as the wind. - -I had a talk with _Meinherr_ Hübner about the shortest way to -Schatzlar. To think of going to Adersbach through Schatzlar was, he -assured me, a grand mistake. The road was very hilly, hard to find, -and, under the most favourable circumstances, I need not look to walk -the distance in less than eighteen hours. My Frankfort map, with all -its imperfections, had not yet misled me: it showed the route by -Schatzlar to be the shortest, and on that I insisted. - -"Take my advice," rejoined Hübner; "it has forty years' experience to -back it. Go down to Hermsdorf, and from thence through Liebau and -Schömberg. That is the only way possible for you. The other will take -you eighteen hours." - -The route suggested was that I hoped to follow on leaving Adersbach, -and to travel twice over the same ground did not suit my inclination, -and it was the longest. Moreover, I wished to keep within the -_Schmiedeberger Kamm_; and forty years' experience to the contrary -notwithstanding, I refused to be advised. - -I may as well mention at once that by five in the afternoon of the -same day I was in Adersbach. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[H] Which, changing one word, may rhyme in English-- - - Know ye, only hand of fool - Paints and writes on wall and stool. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - - The Frontier Guard-house -- A Volunteer Guide -- A Knave -- - Schatzlar -- Bernsdorf -- A Barefoot Philosopher -- A - Weaver's Happiness -- Altendorf -- Queer Beer -- A Short - Cut -- Blunt Manners -- Adersbach -- Singular Rocks -- - Gasthaus zur Felsenstadt -- The Rock City -- The Grand - Entrance -- The Sugarloaf -- The Pulpit -- The Giant's - Glove -- The Gallows -- The Burgomaster -- Lord Brougham's - Profile -- The Breslau Wool-market -- The Shameless Maiden - -- The Silver Spring -- The Waterfall -- A Waterspout -- - The Lightning Stroke. - - -About a musket-shot below the _Bäuden_ stands the frontier -guard-house. The two wool-merchants who had left Warmbrunn for the -ordinary three days' excursion in the mountains, having no passports -to show, were detained, while I, accredited by seven visas, had free -passage and wishes for a pleasant journey. I took a road running -immediately to the right, and had not gone far when one of Hübner's -men came running after, and offered to show me the way to Schatzlar -for twenty kreutzers. - -"If you mean the road," I answered, "I don't want you. But if you mean -the shortest way, across fields, through bush, anywhere to save -distance, come along." - -He hesitated a moment, and came. We scrambled anywhere; up and down -toilsome slopes of ploughed fields, through scrub and brake. We saw -the hamlet of Klein Aupa and the Golden Valley on the right. When, -after awhile, _Schneekoppe_ came in sight, it appeared from this side -to be the crest of a long, gradually-rising earth-wave. After about an -hour and a half of brisk walking, we came to a brow, from which the -ground fell steeply to a homely, straggling village, embosomed in -trees, beneath. "There, that's Schatzlar," said Hübner's man, and, -pointing to a lane that twisted down the slope, "that's the way to -it." - -Hübner's man plays knavish tricks. On descending into the village I -found it to be Kunzendorf: however, it was on the right way, and -another two miles brought me to Schatzlar, a village of one street, -the houses irregular; high, dark, wooden gables, resting on a low, -whitewashed ground story, lit by shabby little windows. Here I took a -road on the left, leading to Bernsdorf, from which, as it rises, you -can presently look back upon the striped hill behind Schatzlar, the -castle, now tenanted by the _Bezirksrichter_, and the beechen woods -where the Bober takes its rise: a stream that flows northwards and -falls into the Oder. - -Beech woods adorn this part of the country, and relieve the dark -slopes of firs which here and there border the landscape; and -everywhere you see signs of careful cultivation. After passing -Bernsdorf--a village on the high road to Trautenau--I fell in with a -weaver, and we walked together to Altendorf. A right talkative fellow -did he prove himself; a barefoot philosopher, clad in a loose garment -of coarse baize. He lived at Kunzendorf, where he kept his loom going -while work was to be had, and, when it wasn't, did the best he could -without. Thought a dollar a week tidy wages; a dollar and a half, -jolly; and two dollars, wonderfully happy. Never ate meat; never -expected it, and so didn't fret about it. Bread, soup, and a glass of -beer at the _Wirthshaus_ in the evening, was all he could get, and a -weaver who got that had not much to complain of. All this was said in -a free, hearty tone, that left me no reason to doubt its sincerity. - -The country was no longer what it had been. Twelve years ago the land -to the right and left, all the way from Schatzlar, was covered with -forest; now it was all fields, and every year the fields spread wider, -and up the hills; and though firewood was dearer, potatoes, beetroot, -and rye were more plentiful; and that seemed only fair, because every -year more mouths opened and wanted food. - -For every cottage we passed my philosopher had a joke; something about -the bees' humming-tops, or frogs' hams, that sent the inmates into -roars of laughter. I invited him to eat bread and cheese with me at -Altendorf: he stared, gave a whoop of surprise, and accepted. Of all -the large rooms I had yet seen in a public-house the one in the -_Wirthshaus_ here was the largest; spacious enough for a town-hall. -The groined and vaulted ceiling rests on tall, massive pillars; four -chandeliers hang by long strings; in one corner stands a two-wheeled -truck; an enormous bread-trough; platter-shaped baskets filled with -flour, and a mountain of washing utensils. Trencher-cap brought us two -glasses of beer--tall glasses, to match the room, vase-like in form, -and fifteen inches high at least. The beer was of the colour of -porter, and, as I thought, of a very disagreeable flavour; but the -weaver took a hearty pull, smacked his lips, and pronounced it better -than Bavarian, or _Stohnsdorfer_, or any other kind. That was the sort -they always drank at Kunzendorf, and wholesome stuff it was; meat and -drink too. He emptied my glass after his own--for one taste was enough -for me--and then, as he bade me good-bye, and went his way, he -expressed a hope that he might meet with an Englishman every time he -took the same walk. - -From Altendorf a short cut by intricate paths over a wooded hill saves -nearly two miles in the distance to Adersbach. It is a pretty walk, up -and down slopes gay with loosestrife--_Steinrosen_, as the country -folk call it--and among rocks, of which one of the largest is known as -the _Gott und Vater Stein_. You emerge in a shallow valley, at Upper -Adersbach, and follow the road downwards, past low-shingled cottages, -the fronts coloured yellow with white stripes, the shutters blue, and -all the rearward portion showing white stripes along the joints of the -old dark wood, and crossing on the ends of the beams. The eaves are -not more than six feet from the ground, so that where the house stands -back in a garden, it is half buried by apple-trees and scarlet-runners, -and the cabbages and flowers look in at the windows. The people are as -rustic as their dwellings. Ask a question, and a blunt "_Was?_" is the -first word in answer; no "_Wie meinen sie?_" as in other places. Good -Papists, nevertheless, for they stop and recite a prayer before one of -the gaudy crucifixes, which, surrounded by angels bearing inscribed -tablets, or ornamented by pictures of the Virgin and St. Anne, stand -within a wooden fence at the roadside here and there along the -village. - -The valley narrows, and presently you see strange masses of stone -peering from the fir-wood on the right, more and more numerous, till -at length the rock prevails, and the trees grow only in gaps and -clefts. The masses present astonishing varieties of the columnar form, -some tall and upright, others broken and leaning; and looking across -the intervening breadth of meadow, you can imagine doorways, porticos, -colonnades, and grotesque sculptures. Here and there, fronting the -rest, stands a semicircular mass, as it were a huge grindstone, one -half buried in the earth, or a pile that looks like a weatherbeaten, -buttressed wall; and, raised by the slope of the ground, you see the -tops of other masses, continuing away to the rear. - -The spectacle grows yet more striking, for the height and dimensions -of the rocks increase as you advance. About a mile onwards and a short -range of similar rocks appears isolated in a wood on the left. Here a -whitewashed gateway bestrides the road--the entrance to the _Gasthaus -zur Felsenstadt_ (Rock-City Inn), resorted to every year by hundreds -of visitors. - -Old Hübner was clearly mistaken. In seven hours of easy walking I had -accomplished the distance from Grenzbäuden, and was ready, after half -an hour's rest, to explore the wonders of Adersbach. - -The custom of the place is, that you shall take a guide whether or no, -pay him a fee for his trouble, and another for admission besides; and -to carry it out, a staff of guides are always at the service of -visitors. Their costume is the same as that of the mountain -guides--boots, buttons, hat and feather, and velveteen. You may wait -and join a party if you like: I preferred going alone. - -The meadow behind the house is planted with trees forming shady walks. -Here the guide calls your attention to two outlying masses, one of -which he names _Rubezahl_, the other the Sleeping Woman. He talks -naturally when he talks, but when he describes or names anything he -does it in the showman's style--"Look to the left and there you see -Admiral Lyons a-bombardin' of Sebastopol," &c.; and so frequent and -sudden were these changes of voice and manner, that at last I could -not help laughing at them, even in places where laughter was by no -means appropriate. We crossed the brook--_Adersbach_--to an opening -about forty feet broad, which forms an approach to the Rock City that -makes a deep impression on you, and excites your expectations. It is -an avenue bordered on either side by the remains of such buildings and -monuments as we saw specimens of in the mountains on our way hither, -only here the Cyclopean architects worked on a greater scale, and -crowded their edifices together. Here, indeed, was their metropolis; -and this the grand entrance, where now vegetation clothes the ruin -with beauty. - -The road is soft and sandy: everywhere nothing but sand underfoot. The -objects increase in magnitude as we proceed. Great masses of cliff -look down on us, their sides and summit clothed with young -trees--beech, birch, fir, growing from every crevice. The sand -accumulated round their base forms a broad, sloping plinth, overgrown -with long grass, creeping weeds, and bushes, through which run little -paths leading to caverns, vaults, and passages in the rock. Some of -the caverns are formed by great fragments fallen one against the -other; some in the solid rock have the smooth and worn appearance -produced by the action of the water, as in cliffs on the sea-shore; -the galleries and passages are similarly formed; but here and there -you see that the mighty rock has been split from head to foot by some -shock which separated the halves but a few inches, leaving evidence of -their former union in the corresponding inequalities of the broken -surfaces. - -Presently we step forth into a meadow from which a stripe of open -country undulates away between the bordering forest. Here, where the -path turns to the left, you see the Sugarloaf, a huge detached rock -some eighty feet high, rising out of a pond. Either it is an inverted -sugarloaf, or you may believe that the base is being gradually -dissolved by the water. Here, contrasted with the smooth green -surface, you can note the abrupt outline of the rocks and its -similarity to that of a line of sea-cliffs. Here are capes, headlands, -spits, bays, coves, basins, and outlying rocks, reefs, and islets; but -with the difference that here every crevice is full of trees and -foliage, and branches overtop the crests of the loftiest. - -As yet we have seen but a suburb; now, having crossed the meadow, we -enter the main city of the rocky labyrinth, and the guide, ever with -theatrical tone and attitude, sets to work in earnest. He points out -the Pulpit, the Twins, the Giant's Glove, the Chimney, the Gallows, -the Burgomaster's Head; and bids you note that the latter wears a -periwig, and has a snub nose. Some of these are close to the path, -others distant, and only to be seen through the openings, or over the -top of the nearer masses. The resemblance to a human head is -remarkably frequent, always at the top of a column. I discovered Lord -Brougham's profile, and advised the guide to remember it for the -benefit of future visitors. - -Now the rocks are higher; they crowd close on the path, and presently -we come to a narrow passage through a tremendous cliff, where further -progress is barred by a door. And here you discover the use of the -guide. Before unlocking, he holds out his hand for the twenty-kreutzer -fee, which every one must pay for admittance; his own fee will be an -after consideration. He then shows you the figure of a Whale in the -face of the cliff on the left, then you cross the wooden bridge, and -are locked in, as before you were locked out. There is, however, a -free way through the water. The little brook that flows so prettily by -the side of the path out to the entrance, comes through a vault in the -cliff, about thirty yards, and by stooping you can see the glimmer of -light from the far end. Three women came that way with bundles of -firewood on their backs, and they wade it every time they go in quest -of fuel. The water is less than a foot in depth. - -The passage is narrow and gloomy between the cliffs. As we emerge, the -guide, pointing to a tall rock two hundred and fifty feet in height, -names it the Elizabeth Tower of Breslau. Then comes the Breslau -Wool-market, from a fancied resemblance in the surrounding rocks to -woolsacks. Not far off are the Tables of Moses, the Shameless Maiden, -St. John the Baptist, the Tiger's Snout, the Backbone, a long broken -column, which forms a disjointed vertebræ. A long list of names might -be given were it desirable. For the most part the resemblances are -not at all fanciful; in some instances so complete, that you can -scarcely believe the handiwork to be Nature's own. She was, however, -sole artificer. - -We come to a small grassy oasis, where a damsel offers you a goblet of -water from the Silver Spring, and invites you to buy crystals or cakes -at her stall. The guide shows you the Little Waterfall, a feeder of -the brook struggling in a crevice, and conducts you by a steep, rocky -path to a cavern into which the Great Waterfall tumbles from a height -of about sixty feet. The rocky sides converge as they rise, and leave -an opening of a few feet at the apex through which the water falls -into a shallow pool beneath. The margin of this pool, a narrow ledge, -is the standing-place. - -The quantity of water is not great, but it makes a pretty cascade down -the rugged side of the darksome cavern. After you have looked at it -for a minute or two, the guide blows a shrill whistle, and before you -have time to ask what it means, the gloom is suddenly deepened. You -look up in surprise. The mouth of the cavern is entirely filled by a -torrent which in another second will be down upon your head. You -cannot start back if you would; the rock prevents, and in an instant -you see that the water makes its plunge with scarcely a splash on the -brim of the pool. - -Artificial improvement of waterfalls affords me but little pleasure. -Here, however, the effect was so surprising that, as the water gleamed -and danced in the dusky cavern, and the rushing roar and rapid gurgle -at the outlet filled the place with loud reverberations, and the light -spray imparted a sense of coolness, I was made to feel there might be -an exception. - -In our further wanderings we met sundry parties of visitors all led by -guides who had the same theatrical trick as mine. You return by the -same way to the locked door; but explorations are being made to -discover a new route among objects sufficiently striking. Outside the -door all is free, and you may roam and make discoveries at pleasure. -There are steep gullies which lead into very wild places, where for -want of bridges, galleries, and beaten paths, the labour and fatigue -of exploration are sensibly multiplied. - -In June, 1844, as inscribed on one of the stones, a waterspout burst -over Adersbach, and flooded all the tortuous ways among the rocks to a -depth of nine feet. Another inscription records the escape of two -Englishmen in 1709. They were sheltering from a thunderstorm, when the -rock under which they stood was struck by lightning, and the summit -shattered without their receiving harm from the falling lumps. -Inscriptions of another sort abound--the initials, or entire name and -address, of hundreds of visitors, who with chisel or black paint have -thought it worth while to let posterity know of their visit to -Adersbach. Some ambitious beyond the ordinary, have climbed up thirty -or forty feet to carve the capital letters. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - - The Echo -- Wonderful Orchestra -- Magical Music -- A _Feu - de joie_ -- The Oration -- The Voices -- Echo and the - Humourist -- Satisfying the Guide -- Exploring the - Labyrinth -- Curious Discoveries -- Speculations of - Geologists -- Bohemia an Inland Sea -- Marble Labyrinth in - Spain -- A Twilight View -- After a'. - - -"Will it please you to walk to the echo?" asks the guide, when we come -back to the meadow. And if you assent--as every one does--he turns to -the left and leads you up the open ground above-mentioned to a small -temple--the Echo House. You see a man standing near the house playing -a clarionet, pausing now and then to recite; but no answering note or -word do you hear. But take your seat on the bench against that -perpendicular rock on his right, and immediately you hear a whole -orchestra of wind instruments among the rocks. Such delicious music! -Soft, wild, warbling, rising and falling, melting one into the other -in a way that you fancy could only be accomplished by a band of -Kobolds with _Rübezahl_ for a leader. And when the player blows short -phrases with pauses between, what mocking sprite is that who imitates -the sound, flitting from crevice to crevice repeating the tones over -and over again, fainter and fainter, till they seem not to die away, -but to float out of hearing? - -Then his companion comes forward and fires a gun, a signal, so you -might believe, for a great discharge of musketry among the rocks, -platoon after platoon firing a _feu de joie_. One--two--three--four! -The two men hold up their hands to signify--Listen yet! then comes the -rattle of the fifth round from the short range of rocks which we saw -on the left while coming down the valley; and the firing commenced by -the troops in camp is ended by the outposts. - -Then one of the men makes a short oration about the wonders here -grouped by which Nature attracts man from afar and fills him with joy -and astonishment; voices repeat the oration among the rocks, and -then--he comes to you for his fee. For the gunshot the tax is eight -kreutzers; and if you give eight more for the music and oration, the -two echo-keepers will not look unhappy. - -And now, if still incredulous, you may talk to the echo yourself. My -test was perfectly convincing, for it woke up a dozen cuckoos among -the rocks. When Schulze, the humourist already mentioned, was here, he -questioned the mysterious voice concerning political matters, and got -unhesitating answers. For example: - - _Philosopher._ "Wie steht's um Hellas? - _Echo._ Helas! Helas! Helas! - Wat hältst du von Russels Worte? - Worte! Worte! Worte! - Wat fehlt in Hessen? - Essen! Essen! Essen! - Was möchten gern die Wallachen? - Lachen! lachen! lachen! - Fließt dort (in Russia) nicht Milch und Honig? - Jo nich! jo nich! jo nich! - Wann kommt Deutschland zur Harmonie? - O nie! O nie! O nie! - Es fehlt ja man eene Kleinigkeit? - Einigkeit! Einigkeit! Einigkeit!" - -Unluckily, the points would all become blunt if translated; I am -constrained, therefore, to leave them in the original. - -My guide waited to be "satisfied." I asked him what amount of fee he -usually received? - -"Sometimes," he answered, "I get a dollar." - -"But commonly not more than ten kreutzers?" - -"_M--m--ja_, that is true." - -"Then what would you say to fifteen kreutzers?" - -"Sir, I would say that I wish such as you would come every day to -Adersbach." - -He left me fully "satisfied." And so, reader, you see that the -picturesque is burdened with a tariff in Bohemia as it is in certain -parts of England, Scotland, and Wales. - -I went back to the rocks. The locked door does not shut in all the -wonders, and there are miles which you may explore freely. But unless -you stick a branch here and there into the sand, or "blaze" the trees, -you will never find your way out again. The great height of the rocks -surprises you not less than their amazing number. They are intersected -by blind alleys, open alleys, and lanes innumerable, intertwisting and -crossing in all directions. Many a cavern, den, and grotto will you -see, and many a delightful sylvan retreat, where the solitude is -perfect; many a bower which is presently lost. Now you are overcome by -wonder, now by awe, for thoughts will come to you of great rock cities -and temples smitten by judgments; of the giant race that warred with -the gods and were slain by thunder-bolts; of those who worshipped -stones and burnt sacrifice on the loftiest rocks. - -A few paces farther, and seeing how tall trees grow everywhere among -the stony masses, how smaller trees and shrubs shoot from the -crevices, and moss enwraps pillar and buttress, and fringes the -cliffs, you will think of Nature's silent revolutions; of the ages -that rolled away while the labyrinth of Adersbach was formed. Here, so -say the geologists, currents of water running for innumerable years, -have worn out channels in the softer parts of a wide stratum of -sandstone, and produced the effects we now witness. The stratum must -have been great, for the rocks extend, more or less crowded, away to -the _Heuscheuer_, a distance of three or four leagues. The mountain -itself presents similar phenomena even on its summit. - -A supposition prevails, based on much observation, that the whole of -Bohemia was once covered by a vast lake, or inland sea. The -conformation of the country, its ring-fence of mountains--whence the -term _Kessel Land_ (Kettle Land) among the Germans--broken only where -the Elbe flows out, while almost every stream within the territory -finds its way into that river, besides the fossil deposits so -abundantly met with, are facts urged by the learned in favour of their -views. It may have been during the existence of this great sea that -the rocks were formed. - -It might be interesting to inquire whether the rocky labyrinth at -Torcal, not far from Antequera, in Spain, presents phenomena similar -to those of Adersbach. The rocks, as I have read, are of marble, -covering a great extent of ground in groupings singularly picturesque. - -It was dusk when I had finished my prowl, for such it was, accompanied -by much scrambling. Then I climbed to the top of one of the outlying -crags for a view across the maze, and when I saw the numerous gray -heads peering out from the feathery fir-tops, here and there a -bastion, a broken pillar, and weather-stained tower, the fancy once -more possessed me that here was a city of the giants--its walls thrown -down, its buildings destroyed, and its rebellious inhabitants turned -to stone. - -Gradually the hoary rocks looked spectral-like, for the dusk -increased, the clouds gathered heavily, and rain began to fall. I -walked back to the inn, feeling deeply the force of the Ettrick -Shepherd's words, "After a', what is any description by us puir -creturs o' the works o' the great God?" - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - - Baked Chickens -- A Discussion -- Weckelsdorf -- More Rocks - -- The Stone of Tears -- Death's Alley -- Diana's Bath -- - The Minster -- Gang of Coiners -- The Bohdanetskis -- Going - to Church -- Another Silesian View -- Good-bye to Bohemia - -- Schömberg -- Silesian Faces and Costume -- Picturesque - Market-place -- Ueberschar Hills -- Ullersdorf -- An amazed - Weaver -- Liebau -- Cheap Cherries -- The Prussian Simplon - -- Ornamented Houses -- Buchwald -- The Bober -- - Dittersbach -- Schmiedeberg -- Rübezahl's Trick upon - Travellers -- Tourists' Rendezvous -- The Duellists' - Successors -- Erdmannsdorf -- Tyrolese Colony. - - -As _Grenzbäuden_ is renowned for Hungarian wine, so is Adersbach for -baked chickens, and every guest, unless he be a greenhorn, eats two -for supper. They are very relishing, and quite small enough to prevent -any breach of your moderate habit. - -Visitors were numerous: some reading their guide-books, some beginning -supper, some finishing, some rounding up the evening with another -bottle--for Hungarian is to be had in Adersbach. A party near me sat -discussing with much animation the demerits of the taxes which -impoverish, and of the beggars who importune, travellers around the -City of the Rocks, and they drew an inference that the landlord's -charges would not be parsimonious. Then they wandered off into the -question of temperature--the temperature of _Schneekoppe_. Not one of -them had yet trodden old Snowhead, so they went on guessing at the -question, till I mentioned that it had been very cold up there in the -morning. - -"In the morning! This morning? _Heut_, mean you?" - -"Yes, this very morning; for I was up there." - -"_Heut! Heut! Heut! Heut!_" ejaculated one after another, the last -apparently more surprised than the first. - -"Yes, this very day." - -They would not believe it. I took up a sprig of heather from the side -of my plate, which I had gathered on _Schwarzkoppe_, and showed them -that as a token; and explained that the distance was, after all, not -so very great, and might have been shortened had I descended directly -from the _Koppe_ into the _Riesengrund_, and laid my course through -the village of Dorngrund. - -They believed then; but having travelled the road prescribed to me by -Father Hübner, could not imagine the distance from the mountain to be -but about twenty miles. - -By rising early the next morning, when all was bright and fresh and -the dust laid by the night's rain, I got time for another stroll among -the rocks, and to walk two miles farther down the valley to -Weckelsdorf, where another part of the rocky labyrinth is explorable. -The rocks here are on a greater scale than at Adersbach, and rising on -the slope of a hill, their romantic effect is increased, as also the -difficulty of wandering among them. The proprietor, Count von -Nummerskirch, has, however, taken pains to render them accessible by -bridges, galleries, and stairs. A sitting figure, whose head-dress -resembles that of the maidens of Braunau, is named the Bride of -Braunau; near her is the Stone of Tears; the _Todtengasse_ (Death's -Alley) is never illumined by a ray of sunshine; there is the -Cathedral, and near it Diana's Bath; and at last the Minster, a -natural temple, the roof a lofty pointed arch, where, while you walk -up and down in the dim light, an organ fills the place with a burst of -sound. It is sometimes called the Mint, or Money Church, because of a -gang of coiners having once made it their head-quarters. The rocks -have been a hiding-place for others as well as rogues. During the -Hussite wars, many families found a refuge within their intricate -recesses, little liable to a surprise, at a time when entrance was -hardly possible owing to the numerous obstructions. - -As at Adersbach, there is a fee to pay for unlocking a door; there is -an echo which answers the guide's voice, his pistol and horn, and has -to be paid for. Nevertheless, you will neither regret the outlay of -time and kreutzers in your visit to Weckelsdorf. If able to prolong -your stay, you may take an excursion of a few hours to the -_Heuscheuer_, and see a smaller Adersbach on its very summit--the -highest of these extraordinary rock-formations. Or there is the ruin -of Bischoffstein, within an easy walk, once the stronghold of the -Bohdanetski family, who held half a score of castles around the -neighbourhood, and made themselves obnoxious by their Protestantism -and robberies, and envied for their wealth. They suffered at times by -siege and onslaught from their neighbours, and at length their castles -were demolished, and forty-seven Bohdanetskis and adherents were -hanged by the emperor's command. The rest of the family, it is said, -took flight, and settled in England. Is Baddenskey, who sits wearily -at his loom down there in joyless Spitalfields, a descendant? - -I returned to the _Felsenstadt_ for my knapsack. For supper, bed, and -breakfast the charge was equal to three and threepence, in which was -included an extra fifteen kreutzers for the bedroom, which I had -insisted on having all to myself. When guests are very numerous they -have to sleep four in a room. Take your change in Prussian money, for -"_Kaiserliches geld_," as the folk here call it--that is, imperial -money--will not be current where you stop to dine. - -I retraced my steps for about a mile along the road by which I came -yesterday, and at the church took a road branching off to the right. -It leads through Ober Adersbach. The villagers were going to church: -the men wearing tall polished boots and jackets, the women with their -heads ungracefully muffled in red, blue, green, or yellow kerchiefs, -and displaying broad, showy skirts and aprons, and clean white -stockings. Now and then came an exception: a man in a light-blue -jacket, and loose, baggy breeches; a woman with a stiff-starched -head-dress, not unlike those worn in Normandy. - -The road continually rises, and by-and-by you cannot tell the main -track from the byeways among the cottages. Still ascending, however, -you come out a short distance farther on the brow of a precipitous -hill, where you are agreeably surprised by another Silesian -view--broad, rolling fields of good red land, bearing vetches, clover, -flax, and barley, the little town of Schömberg in their midst, and -always hills on the horizon. From the brow, a deep lane and a path -through the fir-wood on the cliffy hill-side, lead you down to the -road where finger-posts, painted black and white, indicate that we -have exchanged the Austrian eagle for the Prussian. I must have -crossed the frontier two or three times yesterday and to-day, but I -saw no custom-house anywhere, and no guards, except at _Grenzbäuden_. - -Other signs showed me on nearing Schömberg that I had left Bohemia. -The men are tall, of sallow complexion, and angular face. They wear -long dark-blue coats and boots up to their knees, and stiff blue caps -with a broad crown, and they carry pink or blue umbrellas. The women -wear the same colour, and do not look attractive; and there is an -_Evangelische Kirche_, in which the preaching is of Protestant faith -and doctrine. - -The town has two thousand inhabitants, some of whom dwell in houses -that are a pleasure to look upon, around the market-place. The -gables--no two alike--are painted pale green, white, gray, or yellow, -and what with the ornaments, the broken outlines, and arcades of wood -and brick, the great square makes up a better picture than is to be -seen in many a famous city. Although Sunday, the mill turned by the -Kratzbach clacks briskly; there are stalls of fruit, bread, and toys -under the arcades, and by the side of two or three wagons in the -centre a group of blue-coated men. They look sedate, and talk very -quietly, as if they felt the day were not for work. - -From hence the road, planted with beeches, limes, and mountain-ash, -leads across well-cultivated fields, and between wooded slopes of the -Ueberschar hills to Ullersdorf, where _Schneekoppe_ is seen peeping -over a dark ridge on the left. I asked one of the weavers who inhabit -here if he earned two dollars a week. - -"_Gott bewahr!_" he exclaimed, opening his eyes and holding up his -hands apparently in utter amazement, "that would be too gladsome -(_frolich_). No; I can be thankful for one dollar." - -Content with one dollar a week, which means a perpetual diet of rye -bread and potatoes. - -Liebau and Schömberg, about five miles apart, are in many respects -twin towns. If Liebau has not a strikingly picturesque market-place, -nor a reputation for _Knackwürsten_ (smoked sausage), it has a new -Protestant church, some good paintings in the Romish church, and a -_Kreuzberg_, once the resort of thousands of pilgrims. The -neighbouring _Tartarnberg_ was, according to tradition, the site of a -Tartar camp in 1241. Rusty, half-decayed horseshoes and arrow-heads -are still found at times upon it. - -After dining at the _Sonne_, I bought a dessert at a stall under the -arcade: the woman gave me nearly a gallon of cherries for -three-halfpence, with which I started for Schmiedeberg, ten miles -farther. Numbers of villagers were walking on the road, all the women -bedecked with pink aprons, and looking healthy and happy. Perhaps out -of twenty or more chubby-faced children, who manifested a lively -appetite for fruit, two or three will remember that they met a strange -man who gave them a handful of cherries, and how that their mothers -became all of a sudden eloquent with thanks, and bade them kiss their -hands, and do something pretty. Unluckily, by the time I had gone two -miles there was an end of the cherries. - -The road runs between the _Schmiedeberger Kamm_ and the _Landeshuter -Kamm_. The main road, which crosses the latter from Schmiedeberg to -Landeshut, is called the Prussian or Silesian Simplon, for it is the -highest macadamized road in Prussia, its summit being at an elevation -of more than 2200 feet. Extra horses are required to pass it; and the -saying goes that millions of dollars have been paid on a stone at the -top, known as the _Vorspannsteine_. - -Among rural objects you see huge barns; a tiled roof resting on tall, -square pillars of brick, the intervals between which are boarded. And -here and there a farm, with all the homestead enclosed by a high -whitewashed wall, which has two arched entrances. The cottages are -low, their roofs a combination of thatch and shingle, their shutters -an exhibition of rustic art, bright red, with an ornamental wreath in -the centre of the panels; and the wooden column, on which a saint -stands by the wayside, displays a flowery spiral on a ground of lively -green. To a man who was leaning over his gate, I said that it was very -stupid to mar the effect of such artistic decorations by a slushy -midden at the front door. - -"We don't think so: we are used to it," was his answer. - -Now and then you meet a little low wagon, the tilt-hoops painted blue, -and the harness glittering with numerous rings and small round plates -of brass. In the village of Buchwald the mill was at work, and the men -were busy at the grindstone grinding their scythe-blades in readiness -for the morrow. Here we come upon the Bober, grown to a lively stream, -running along the edge of the far-spreading meadows on the left. -About half a mile farther a wagon-track slants off to the right, -making a short cut over the _Kamm_ to Schmiedeberg. It leads you by -pleasant ways along hill-sides, across fields and meadows, into lonely -vales and solitary lanes, that end on shaggy heather slopes. To me the -walk was delightful, for uninterrupted sunshine, a merry breeze, and -rural peace, favourable to the luxury of idle thought, lent a charm to -pretty scenery. - -From Dittersbach the road ascends the _Passberg_, which, on the -farther side, sends down a steep descent to Schmiedeberg. The town -lies in a deep valley, and is so long from one extremity of its -scattered outskirts to the other that you will be nearly an hour in -walking through it, while, for the most part, it is little more than -one street in width. It has an ancient look, and, owing to the many -gardens and bleaching-grounds among the houses, combines country with -town. The _Rathhaus_ is a fine specimen of tasteful architecture. - -From working in iron, the Schmiedebergers have turned to the making of -shawls and plush, and the entertainment of holiday travellers. The -iron trade began in an adventure on the _Riesengebirge_. Two men were -crossing the mountains, when one, whose shoes were thickly nailed, -found himself suddenly held fast on the stony path, unable to advance -or return. He shook with terror. What else could it be than a spell -thrown over him by _Rübezahl_? At length, by the other's assistance, -he broke the spell; and the two having brought away with them the -stone of detention, it was recognised as magnetic iron stone; and -already, in the twelfth century, iron works were established, around -which Schmiedeberg grew into a town. It now numbers four thousand -inhabitants. - -Hither come tourists from far to see the mountains; and during your -half hour's rest at the _Schwarzes Ross_, you will be amused by -witnessing the eager manifestations of the newly-arrived, their -exuberant gestures while bargaining with a guide, and the liberal -way--the bargain once made--in which they load him with rugs, cloaks, -coats, caps, bonnets, bags, bundles, umbrellas, parasols, and other -travelling gear, until he carries a mountain on his own shoulders. -Besides the trip to _Schneekoppe_, some mount to the great beech-tree -and the _Friesenstein_, on the _Landeshuter Kamm_; or visit the -laboratories at Krummhübel, where liqueurs, oils, and essences, are -distilled and prepared from native plants: chemical operations first -set on foot in 1700 by a few students of medicine who fled from Prague -to escape the consequences of a duel. And some go beyond Krummhübel to -look at Wolfshau, a place in the entrance of the _Melzergrund_, so -shut in by wooded hills that it never sees the sun during December. -And some to the village of Steinseifen, where, among iron-workers and -herbalists, dwell skilful wood-carvers; one of whom for a small fee -exhibits a large model of the _Riesengebirge_--a specimen of his own -handiwork. - -On the left, as you leave Schmiedeberg, is the Ruheberg, a small -castle standing in a bosky park belonging to a Polish prince, where -the townsfolk find pleasant walks. Two miles farther, and the leafy -slopes of Buchwald appear on the right, embowering another castle, and -a park laid out in the English style, and with such advantages of -position, among which are fifty-four ponds, that it has become an -elysium for the neighbourhood. - -Once clear of the town, and the mountain-range opens on the -left--rounded heights, ridges, scars, and peaks stretching away for -miles on either side of the _Koppe_. Another hour, and turning from -the main road which runs on to Hirschberg, you see houses scattered -about the plain, built in the Alpine style, with outside stair and -galleries, and broad eaves. We are in the village of Erdmannsdorf--the -asylum granted by the King of Prussia to about a hundred Tyrolese -families, who, in 1838, had to quit their native country for -conscience' sake. They were Protestants hated by their bigoted -neighbours, and disliked by the priests; and so became exiles. Nowhere -else in Prussia could they have seen mountains at all approaching in -grandeur those which look down on their native valley, and yet they -must at first have deeply mourned the difference. - -Remembering my former year's experiences, I wished to find myself once -more among the Tyrolese. True enough, there they were in their -picturesque costume, in striking contrast with the Silesians; but -there was a degenerate look about the _Wirthshaus_, as if they had -forgotten their original cleanliness, which repelled me, and I went on -to the _Schweizerhaus_, a large inn near the royal _Schloss_. As -usual, it was overfull, so great is the throng of visitors, and I had -to try in another direction, which brought me to the _Gasthof und -Gerichtskretscham_, where the landlord promised me a bed if I would -not mind sleeping in the billiard-room. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - - Schnaps and Sausage -- Dresdener upon Berliners -- The - Prince's Castle at Fischbach -- A Home for the Princess - Royal -- Is the Marriage Popular? -- View from the Tower -- - Tradition of the Golden Donkey -- Royal Palace at - Erdmannsdorf -- A Miniature Chatsworth -- The Zillerthal -- - Käse and Brod -- Stohnsdorf -- Famous Beer -- Rischmann's - Cave -- Prophecies -- Warmbrunn. - - -At Fischbach, in a pleasant valley, about an hour's walk from -Erdmannsdorf, stands a castle belonging to Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, -which is shown to curious tourists. A Dresdener, who thought it worth -the trouble of the walk, asked me to accompany him next morning, and -we started after an early breakfast. Early as it was a party of -Silesian peasants were breaking their fast with _Schnaps_, sausage, -and rye bread. Think of _Schnaps_ and sausage at seven in the morning! - -The Dresdener beguiled the way by laughing at the peculiarities of -three Berliners, whom we had left behind at the _Gasthof_. A Prussian -cockney, he said, was sure to betray himself as soon as he began to -talk, for nothing would satisfy him but the most exalted superlatives. -"When you hear," he continued, "a man talk of a thing as gigantic-- -incomprehensibly beautiful--ravishingly excellent--insignificantly -scarcely visible--set him down at once as a Berliner. You heard those -three last night, how they went on; as we say in our country, hanging -their hats on the topmost pegs. Yracious yoodness! what yiyantic -yabble!" And the Saxon cockney laughed as heartily at his own wit as -if it had been good enough for _Punch_. - -The castle is an old possession of the Knights Templars, repaired and -beautified. It has towers and turrets, and windows of quaint device; a -small inner court, and a surrounding moat spanned by a bridge at the -entrance. Outside the moat are shady walks and avenues of limes, and -the gardens, which did not come up to my notion of what is royal -either in fruits or flowers. With plantations on the hills around, and -in the park, the whole place has a pleasant bowery aspect. - -As we crossed the bridge, there seemed something inhospitable in the -sight of two large cannon guarding the entrance; but the portress told -us they were trophies from Afghanistan, captured at the battle in -which Prince Waldemar was wounded--a present from the British -government. The fittings of the room are mostly of varnished pine, to -which the furniture and hangings do no violence. There are a few good -paintings, among them a portrait of the Queen of Bavaria, which you -will remember for beauty above all the rest; nor will you easily -forget the marble head copied from the statue of Queen Louisa in the -mausoleum at Charlottenburg. From looking at the rarities, the -portress called us to hear the singing of an artificial bird, and -seemed somewhat disappointed that we did not regard it as the greatest -curiosity of all. - -"A snug little place," said the Dresdener, as we walked from room to -room. "Not quite what your Princess Royal has been used to, perhaps; -but she will be able to pass summer holidays here agreeably enough." - -And quickly the question followed: "But what do you think of the -marriage in England. Is it very popular?" - -"Not very," I answered; "your Prussian Prince would have stood no -chance had the King of Sardinia only been a Protestant. Nothing but -her wholesome ingredient of Protestantism saves Prussia from becoming -an offence to English nostrils." - -"_So-o-o-o-o!_" ejaculated the Dresdener, while he made pointed arches -of his eyebrows. "That sounds pretty in the Prince's own castle." - -We went to the top of the tower, and looked out on the domain, the -mountain chain, and the encircling hills--among which the rocky -Falkenstein--the climbing test of adventurous tourists--rises -conspicuous. According to tradition, great things are in store for the -quiet little village of Fischbach; it is destined to grow into a city. -In the _Kittnerberg_, a neighbouring hill, a golden donkey is some day -to be found, and when found the city is forthwith to start up, and the -finder to be chosen first burgomaster. - -Erdmannsdorf, once the estate of brave old Gneisenau, was bought by -the former King Frederick William III., who built in a style combining -Moorish and Gothic the _Schloss_, or palace, which, with its charming -grounds and bronze statues of men-at-arms at the entrance keeping -perpetual guard with battle-axes, rivals the Tyrolese and their -houses in attracting visitors. No barriers separate the grounds from -the public road, and you may walk where you please along the broad -sandy paths, under tall groves, through luxuriant shrubberies, round -rippling lakes, and by streams which here and there tumble over rocky -dams. The place is a miniature Chatsworth, with its model village. -Within the limits of the smooth green turf and well-kept walks stands -the church, an edifice with a tall square tower in the Byzantine -style. The palace, too, has a tall tower, from the top of which, on -our return to Erdmannsdorf--that is the Dresdener and I--we got a view -of the royal domain, and the scattered houses of the Tyrolese, and -always in the background the _Riesengebirge_. - -Remembering their native valley, the Tyrolese named their settlement -Zillerthal, and many a one comes here expecting to see a romantic -valley. But all immediately beneath your eye is a great plain watered -by the Lomnitz--the stream which flows out of the Big Pond up in the -mountains--cut up by fields and meadows, crowded with trees around the -palace, and in the deer-park adjoining. Only in Ober-Zillerthal, which -lies nearer to the mountains, do the colonists have the pleasure of -ascending or descending in their walks. - -The Tyrolese themselves built their first house entirely of wood, -after the old manner; and this served as model for all the rest, -which, with stone walls for the lower story, have been erected at the -king's expense. The colonists find occupation in cattle-breeding and -field-work, or in the great linen factory, the tall chimney of which -is seen from far across the plain; and are well cared for in means of -education and religious worship. In their _Friedhof_ you may see the -first Tyrolese grave, the resting-place of Jacob Egger, a blind old -man of eighty-three, who died soon after the immigration. - -Not far from the palace is a singular group of rocks named _Käse und -Brod_ (_Cheese and Bread_), on the way to which you pass a stone -quarry, where you can pick up fine crystals of quartz, and see men -digging feldspar for the china-manufacturers at Berlin. - -Here I parted from the Dresdener and took the road to Warmbrunn--about -six miles distant. Half way, at the foot of the rocky _Prudelberg_, -lies the village of Stohnsdorf, famed for its beer; and not without -reason. But while you drink a glass, the landlord will tell you that -clever folk in distant places--Berlin or Dresden--damage the fame by -selling bottled _Stohnsdorfer_ brewed from the waters of the Spree or -Elbe. - -If inclined for a scramble up the _Prudelberg_, take a peep into -Rischmann's Cave among the rocks, for from thence, in 1630, the -prophet Rischmann delivered his predictions with loud voice and wild -gestures. He was a poor weaver, who fancied himself inspired, and, -although struck dumb in 1613, could always find speech when he had -anything to foretel. Woe to Hirschberg was the burden of his prophecy: -war, pestilence, and famine! The tower of the council-house should -fall, and the stream of the Zacken stand still. Honour and reverence -awaited the weaver, for everything came to pass as he had foretold. -The Thirty Years' War brought pestilence and famine; the tower did -fall down; and the Zacken being one of those rivers with an -intermittent flow, its stream was subject to periodical repose. - -After frequent ups and downs, you come to the brow of a hill which -overlooks a broad sweep of the Hirschbergerthal, and the little town -of Warmbrunn, chief among Silesian spas--lying cheerfully where the -valley spreads itself out widest towards the mountains. You will feel -tempted to sit down for awhile and gaze on the view--for it has many -pleasing features--touches of the romantic with the pastoral, and the -town itself wearing an unsophisticated look. Seume said of the -Hirschberg Valley--"Seldom finds one a more delightful corner of the -earth; seldom better people." - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - - The Three Berliners -- Strong Beer -- Origin of Warmbrunn - -- St. John the Baptist's Day -- Count Schaffgotsch -- A - Benefactor -- A Library -- Something about Warmbrunn -- The - Baths -- Healing Waters -- The Allée -- Visitors -- Russian - Popes -- The Museum -- Trophies -- View of the Mountains -- - The Kynast -- Cunigunda and her Lovers -- Served her right - -- The Two Breslauers -- Oblatt -- The Baths in the - Mountains. - - -I had gone a little way along the street when I heard voices crying, -"_Eng-lischmann! Eng-lischmann! Eng-lischmann!_" and, looking about, I -saw the three Berliners at the window of an hotel. "You must come up!" -"You must come up!" "You must come up!" cried one after the other; so -up I went. We had half an hour of yood-natured yossip about our -morning's adventures, not forgetting the merits of Stohnsdorf; and one -of them said something about the famous beer that justified the -Dresdener's criticism. "Isn't it yood? Isn't it strong? Why it is so -strong that if you pour some into your hand, and hold it shut for ten -minutes, you can never open it ayain!" - -The old story. Some time in the twelfth century, Duke Boleslaw IV., -while out hunting, struck the trail of a deer, and following it, was -led to a _Warmbrunn_ (Warm Spring), in which, as by signs appeared, -the animals used to bathe. The duke bathed too, and perhaps with -benefit; for near by he built a chapel, and dedicated it to the patron -saint of Silesia--John the Baptist. The news spread, even in those -days; and with it a belief that on St. John's Day the healing -properties of the spring were miraculously multiplied. Hence, on the -24th of June, sick folk came from far and near to bathe in the blessed -water, and some, thanks to the energy of their belief, went away -cured. And this practice was continued down to the year 1810. - -Such was the origin of the present _Marktfleck_ (Market Village) -Warmbrunn. In 1387 King Wenzel sold it to Gotsche Schoff--Stemfather, -as the Germans say, of Count von Schaffgotsch, who now rules with -generous sway over the spa and estates that stretch for miles around. -It was he who built the _Schneegrubenhaus_; who made the path up the -Bohemian side of _Schneekoppe_; who opens his gardens and walks to -visitors, and a library of forty thousand volumes with a museum for -their amusement and edification; who established a bathing-house with -twenty-four beds for poor folk who cannot pay, and who spares no -outlay of money or influence to improve the place and attract -strangers. - -Warmbrunn now numbers about 2300 inhabitants, who live upon the guests -during the season, and the rest of the year by weaving, bleaching, -stone-polishing, and wood-carving. Of hotels and houses of -entertainment there is no lack; the _Schwarzer Adler_ and _Hôtel de -Prusse_ among the best. But as at Carlsbad, nearly every house has its -sign, and lets lodgings, dearest close to the baths, and cheaper as -the distance increases, till in the outskirts, and they are not far -off, you can get a room with attendance for two dollars a week, or -less. Of refectioners there is no lack in the place itself, or about -the neighbourhood. - -There are six baths. The Count's and Provost's--or Great and Little -Baths--are near the middle of the village, separated by the street. -These are the oldest. The water bursts up clear and sparkling from -openings in coarse-grained, flesh-red granite, at a temperature of 94 -degrees Fahrenheit in the great basin, and 101 degrees in the little -basin. It is soft on the palate, with a taste and odour of sulphur, -and in saline and alkaline constituents resembles the waters of -Aix-la-Chapelle and Töplitz. It is efficacious in cases of gout, -contractions, skin diseases, and functional complaints; in some -instances with extraordinary results. I heard of patients who come to -Warmbrunn so crooked and crippled that they can neither sit nor stand, -nor lie in a natural posture, who have to be lifted in and out of the -bath, and yet, after two months' bathing, have been able to walk -alone. - -Although patients bathe a number together, the throng is so great in -the hot months that many have to study a lesson in patience till their -turn comes. Some, to whom drinking the water is prescribed, resort to -the _Trinkquelle_; and in the other bathing-houses there are all the -appliances for douche, showers, vapour, and friction. One room is -fitted up with electrical and galvanic apparatus, to be used in -particular cases. - -With so many visitors Warmbrunn has an appearance of life and gaiety; -the somewhat rustic shops put on an upstart look, or a timid show of -gentility. The _Allée_, a broad tree-planted avenue opening from the -main street, by the side of the Count's _Schloss_, is the favourite -promenade. Here, among troops of Germans, you meet Poles and -Muscovites, some betraying their nationality by outward signs. I saw -three men of very dingy complexion and sluggish movement, clad in -shabby black coats, with skirts reaching to their heels, who seemed -out of place among well-dressed promenaders. They were Russian popes. -Great personages have come here at times in search of health, and on -such occasions the little spa has grown vain-glorious. In 1687 the -queen of John Sobieski III. came with one thousand attendants. In 1702 -came Prince Jacob, their son, and stayed a year; and since then -dignitaries without number, among the latest of whom was Field-Marshal -Count von Ziethen, who took up his abode here in 1839. - -There are a few paintings worth looking at in the Romish church: one -of them represents the rescue of a Count Schaffgotsch from drowning; -and in the Evangelical church hang two portraits, one of the present -king, the other of Blucher. But the museum established in the same -building with the library, by the liberality of the Count, is the -great attraction. Among the weapons you may see the scimitar which -Sobieski snatched with his own hand from the grand vizier's tent when -he raised the siege of Vienna; and near it a horsetail standard, a -trophy of the same event, brought home by Johann Leopold von -Schaffgotsch, one of the Count's ancestry. In other rooms are a -collection of coins, of maps and charts--among them a few old globes, -interesting to geographers--the Lord's Prayer in one hundred different -languages, a model of the _Riesengebirge_, and other curiosities, -which, with the library, afford abundant means for instruction and -amusement. Then there is music twice a day in the _Schloss_ garden, -and the theatre is open in the evening, besides the numerous -excursions to the hills and mountains around. - -The _Allée_, about six hundred paces long, commands a striking view of -the mountain chain from its farther end, where the ground falls away -with gentle slope. I could see the prominent points which I had walked -over a few days before; and nearer--about half an hour's walk--the -Kynast, that much-talked-of ruin, crowning a dark-wooded hill. It -attracts visitors as much by its story as by its lofty and picturesque -situation. There once lived the beautiful but stony-hearted Cunigunda, -who doomed many a wooer to destruction; for none could win her hand -who had not first ridden his horse round the castle on the top of the -wall. One after another perished; but she had vowed a vow, and would -not relent. At last came one whose handsome face and noble form -captivated at once the lady's heart. She would have spared him the -adventure, but her vow could not be broken, and she watched with -trembling heart while the stranger knight rode along the giddy height. -He accomplished the task in safety; she would have thrown herself into -his arms; but with a slap on her face, and a reproach for her cruelty, -the Landgrave Albert of Thuringia--for he it was, who had a wife at -home--turned his horse and galloped away. - -While sauntering, I met the two Breslauers--my companions on the -descent to the _Grenzbäuden_--and under their guidance explored yet -more of the neighbourhood. The guard at the frontier had treated them -mercifully, and after half an hour's detention in a little room -up-stairs, let them go. Since then they had been making the usual -round of excursions: to the fall of the Zacken, to the Norwegian -church at Wang, to the Annakapelle, to Hirschberg, and other -places--all within two or three hours' walk. Two days more and they -would have to return to the counting-house at Breslau. Near the -refreshment-houses in the fields young girls followed us offering -packets of _Oblatt_ for sale. This is a crisp cake, of agreeable -flavour, thinner and lighter than the unleavened bread of the Jews, -friendly to the enjoyment of a glass of beer on a hot afternoon; as we -proved by eating a few packets while emptying our tankards in full -view of the mountains, under an airy colonnade. - -On our return to the village we met the _Wirth_ from _Schneekoppe_, -who had come down from his cloudy dwelling to bury a relative. I took -the opportunity to send my compliments to Father Hübner, with a hint -that his topographical information had not appeared to me of much more -value than his man's morality. - -Mineral springs are frequent in the mountains. Flinsberg, a quiet -village on the Queiss, about four hours from Warmbrunn, in the -_Isergebirge_, is resorted to by women, to whom the saline water -impregnated with iron is peculiarly beneficial. One of the springs is -so highly charged with carbonic acid gas that the villagers call it -the _Bierbrunnen_ (Beer Spring). And a short distance beyond -Flinsberg, on the Bohemian side of the mountains, is Liebwerda, a -romantic village, where springs of health bubble up, and Wallenstein's -castle is within a walk. Quietest of all is Johannisbad, on the -southern slope below _Schneekoppe_, not far from Marschendorf. There -the fountains are lukewarm, and their influence is promoted by -complete seclusion and repose. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - - Hirschberg -- The Officers' Tomb -- A Night Journey -- - Spiller -- Greifenberg -- Changing Horses -- A Royal Reply - -- A Griffin's Nest -- Lauban -- The Potato Jubilee -- - Görlitz -- Peter and Paul Church -- View from the Tower -- - The Landskrone -- Jacob Böhme -- The Hidden Gold -- A - Theosophist's Writings -- The Tombs -- The Underground - Chapel -- A Church copied from Jerusalem -- The Public - Library -- Loebau -- Herrnhut. - - -It was so dark when the omnibus from Warmbrunn arrived at -Hirschberg--about five miles--that I lost the sight of its pretty -environment, watered by the Bober and Zacken, and of its old -picturesque houses, the gables of which were dimly visible against the -sky. The town has more than seven thousand inhabitants, and for trade -ranks next to Breslau. Its history is that of most towns along this -side of Silesia: so much suffering by war, that you wonder how they -ever survived. A memorial of the latest scourge is to be seen in the -Hospital churchyard--a cast-iron monument in memory of three -Prussians, who, wounded at Lützen in 1813, died here on the same day. -Under their names runs the inscription: _They died in an Iron time for -a Golden_. - -Not being able to see anything, I booked a place by _Stellwagen_ for -Görlitz, and supped in preparation for a night of travel. We started -at eleven, a company numerous enough to fill three vehicles, those -lowest on the list taking their seats in the hindmost. As these -hindmost carriages are changed at every stopping-place with the -horses, I and other unfortunates had to turn out at unseasonable -hours, and to find, in two instances, that we had not changed for the -better--soft seats and cleanliness for hard seats and fustiness. So at -Spiller: so at Greifenberg. - -It adds somewhat to one's experiences to be roused from uneasy slumber -at midnight with notice to alight. You feel for umbrella and knapsack, -and step down into the chill gloom of a summer night; and while the -leisurely work of changing goes on, stroll a little way up or down the -roughly-paved street, looking at the strange old houses, all so still -and lifeless, as if they were fast asleep as well as their inmates. -Why should you be awake and shivering when honest folk are a-bed? and -you feel an inclination to envy the sleepers. If you turn a corner and -get out of sight of the Posthouse, the houses look still more lonely -and unprotected: not a glimmer to be seen, and it seems unfair that -every one should be comfortable but you. Or from the outside of a -house you picture to yourself those who inhabit it; or, perhaps, you -get a peep into the churchyard, or venture through a dark arch to what -looks like an ancient cloister, and your drowsy thought gives way to -strange imaginings. - -But the night is chilly. Let us go into the Posthouse. There is -comfort by the stove in the inner room, and the woman who has sat up -to await our arrival brings an acceptable refreshment of coffee and -cakes. Steaming coffee, with the true flavour; and not sixpence a cup, -but six kreutzers. Then the driver blows his horn, and each one takes -his allotted seat, to slumber if he can through another jolting stage. - -Greifenberg, a town of three thousand inhabitants, on the Queiss, is -proud of four things: manufacture of fine linen and damask, a griffin -in its coat-of-arms, and a right royal word of the Great Frederick. -Certain deputies having appeared before the monarch to thank him for -his prompt and generous aid in restoring the town after a great fire -in 1783--"For that am I here!" was his kingly reply. - -About two miles distant is the Greifenstein, a basaltic hill, so named -from a nest of young griffins found on the top of it at a date which -no one can remember. It is now crowned by the ruins of a castle which -was given by the Emperor Charles IV., in the fourteenth century, as a -reward for service to the brave Silesian knight Schaffgotsch. Were it -daylight we might see in the Romish church a vault which has been the -burial-place of the Schaffgotsch family since 1546. - -It was early morning when we came to Lauban, and changed carriages by -the side of the grass-grown moat at a break in the old round-towered -wall. The view from the adjacent _Steinberg_ is described as equal in -beauty to any other scene in Prussia. Unfortunately I had not time to -judge for myself; but hope to go and see some future day. Perhaps, -while waiting here, you will be reminded that Lauban was one of the -Silesian towns which, on the 19th of August, 1836, held a jubilee to -celebrate the three hundredth anniversary of the introduction of the -potato into Europe by the famous circumnavigator Drake--as the -promoters said. Of course potatoes cooked in many ways appeared -plentifully at every table over half the province. - -We reached Görlitz at eight, and for some reason, perhaps known to the -driver, went through the streets in and out, up and down, across the -Neisse to the _Postamt_ in the new quarter, at a slow walking pace. I -had three hours to wait for a train, and to improve the time, after -comforting myself at the _Goldenen Strauss_, mounted to the top of the -Peter and Paul church tower. Erected on a rocky eminence, rising -steeply from the river, it commands a wide prospect. The town itself, -a busy place of more than 18,000 inhabitants, closely packed, as in -the olden time, around the church; spreading out beyond into broad, -straight streets and squares, well-planted avenues, and pretty -pleasure-grounds; and in this roomy border you see bleaching-greens, -the barracks, the gymnasium, and observatory. From thence your eye -wanders over the hills of Lusatia to the distant mountains--a fair -region, showing a thousand slopes to the sun. About two miles distant -the _Landskrone_ rises from the valley of the Neisse--a conspicuous -rocky hill bristling with trees. We got a glimpse of it from -_Schneekoppe_; and now you will perhaps fancy it a watch-tower, midway -between the Giant Mountains and the romantic highlands of Saxony. - -The sight of that hill recalls the name of the "Teutonic -philosopher"--Jacob Böhme. He was born at Alt-Seidenberg, about a mile -from Görlitz, in 1575; and he relates that one day when employing -himself as herdboy, to relieve the monotony of shoemaking, he -discovered a cool bosky crevice on the _Landskrone_, and crept in for -shelter from the heat of the sun. Inside, to his great surprise, he -saw a wooden bowl, or vase, full of money, which he feared to touch, -and went presently and told certain of his playmates of the discovery. -With them he returned to the hill; but though they searched and -searched again, they could never find the cleft, nor the wonderful -hoard. A few years later, however, there came a cunning diviner, who, -exploring with his rod, discovered the money and carried it off; and -soon after perished miserably, for a curse had been declared on -whomsoever should touch the gold. - -Fate had other things in store for Jacob, and allured him from his -last to write voluminous works on theosophy, wherein he discusses the -most mysterious questions about the soul, its relations to God and the -universe, and such like; and great became the poor shoemaker's repute -among the learned. Some travelled from far to confer with him; some -translated his books into French and English; some studied German that -they might read them in the original; and even Isaac Newton used at -times to divert his mind from laborious search after the laws of -gravitation by perusal of Böhme's speculations. That Jacob was not a -dreamer on all points is clear from what he used to pen for those who -begged a scrap of his writing: - - "_Wem Zeit ist wie Ewigkeit, - Und Ewigkeit wie die Zeit, - Der ist befreit von allem Streit._"[I] - -There is something to be seen in the church itself as well as from -the top of the tower. It is a singularly beautiful specimen of Gothic -architecture of the fifteenth century. The great height of the nave, -with the light and graceful form of the columns and arches, produce an -admirable effect, to which the high altar, the carved stone pulpit, -and the large organ do no violence. It is one of those buildings you -could linger in for hours, contemplating now its fair proportions, now -the old tombs and monuments, and quaint devices of the sculptor's art. -Below the floor at the eastern end is an underground chapel, a century -older than the church itself, hewn out of the solid rock. Preaching is -held in it once a year. The attendant will make you aware in the dim -light of a spring that simmers gently up and fills a basin scooped in -the solid stone of the floor. - -The church of the Holy Cross in the Nicolai suburb is remarkable as -having been built, and with a sepulchre, after the original at -Jerusalem by a burgomaster of Görlitz, who travelled twice to -Jerusalem, in 1465 and in 1476, to procure the necessary plans and -measurements for the work. There is a singularity about the sepulchre: -it is always either too long or too short for any corpse that may be -brought to it, and yet appears large enough for a Hercules. - -The town possesses two good libraries, each containing about twenty -thousand volumes. In the _Rathsbibliothek_ you may see rare -manuscripts, among them the _Sachsenspiegel_; and a book which -purports to have been printed before the invention of printing, -bearing date 1400! The other library belongs to the Society for the -Promotion of Science, who have besides a good collection of maps, -fossils, minerals, and philosophical instruments. Perhaps here in -England writers and scholars in provincial towns will some day be able -to resort to libraries and museums as easily as in the small towns of -Germany. Many an English student would be thankful to find in his -native town even one such library as those at Görlitz. - -The train from Breslau kept good time. It dropped me at Loebau, where -there is a church in which service is performed in the Wendish tongue. -From hence a branch line runs to Zittau. I stopped half way at -Herrnhut, the head-quarters of the Moravians: a place I had long -wished to see. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[I] To whom time is as eternity, - And eternity as time, - He is freed from all strife. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - - Head-Quarters of the Moravians -- Good Buildings -- Quiet, - Cleanliness, and Order -- A Gottesdienst -- The Church -- - Simplicity -- The Ribbons -- A Requiem -- The Service -- - God's-Field -- The Tombs -- Suggestive Inscriptions -- - Tombs of the Zinzendorfs -- The Pavilion -- The Panorama -- - The Herrnhuters' Work -- An Informing Guide -- No Merry - Voices -- The Heinrichsberg -- Pretty Grounds -- The First - Tree -- An Old Wife's Gossip -- Evening Service -- A - Contrast -- The Sisters' House -- A Stroll at Sunset -- The - Night Watch. - - -I had seen the Moravian colony at Zeist near Utrecht, and was prepared -for a similar order of things at Herrnhut. A short distance from the -station along the high road to Zittau, and you come to a well-built, -quiet street, rising up a gentle ascent, where, strange sight in -Saxony, the footways are paved with broad stone slabs. Farther on you -come to a broad opening, where two other main streets run off, and -here the inn, _Gemeinlogis_, and the principal buildings are situate, -all substantially built of brick. Everywhere the same quietness, -neatness, and cleanliness, the same good paving, set off in places by -rows and groups of trees, and hornbeam hedges. - -The innkeeper--or steward as he may be called, for he is a paid -servant of the brotherhood--told me there would be a _Gottesdienst_ -(God's service) at three o'clock, and suggested my occupying the -interval with the newspapers that lay on the table. There was the -_Görlitzer Anzeiger_, published three times a week, Sunday, Tuesday, -and Thursday, four good quarto pages, for fifteen pence a quarter; and -equally cheap the _Zittauische Wochentliche Nachrichten_. But I -preferred a stroll through the village and into the spacious gardens, -which, teeming with fruit, flowers, and vegetables, stretch away to -the south, and unite with the pleasure-walks in the bordering wood. - -At three I went to the church. Outside no pains have been taken to -give it an ecclesiastical look; inside it contains a spacious hall, -large enough to contain the whole community, with a gallery at each -end, and on the floor two divisions of open seats made of unpainted -fir placed opposite a dais along the wall. Whatever is painted is -white--white walls, white panelling, white curtains to the windows, -and a white organ. Something Quaker-like in appearance and -arrangement. But when a number of women came in together wearing -coloured cap-ribbons, passing broad and full under the chin, a lively -contrast was opposed to the prevailing sobriety of aspect. The colours -denote age and condition. The unmarried sisters put on cherry-red at -sixteen, and change it after eighteen for pink. The married wear dark -blue, and the widows white. Many a pretty, beaming face was there -among them, yet sedate withal. - -The choir assembled on each side of a piano placed in the opening -between the benches, for the organ was undergoing a course of repair. -No practical jokes among them, as in the cathedral on the Hradschin; -but all sedate too. Presently came in from the door on the left five -dignified-looking sisters, and took their seats on one half of the -dais; then seven brethren, among whom a bishop or two, from the door -on the right, to the other half; and their leader, a tall man of -handsome, intelligent countenance, to the central seat at the desk. - -The service was in commemoration of a sister whom in the morning the -congregation had followed to her resting-place in the _Gottesacker_ -(God's acre). The choir stood up, all besides remaining seated, and -sang a requiem, and sang it well; for the Moravians, wiser than the -Quakers, do not cheat their hearts and souls of music. A hymn -followed, in which the whole assembly joined, the several voices -according to their part, till one great solemn harmony filled the -building. Then the preacher at the desk, still sitting, began an -exhortation, in which a testimony concerning the deceased was -interwoven with simple Gospel truth. His word and manner were alike -impressive; no passion, no whining. Rarely have I heard such ready, -graceful eloquence, combined with a clear and ringing voice. He ended -suddenly: a hymn was sung, at the last two lines of which every one -stood up, and with a few words of prayer the service was closed. It -had lasted an hour. The congregation, which numbered about three -hundred, dispersed quietly, the children walking as sedately as their -parents. - -All the roads leading out of Herrnhut are pleasant avenues of -trees--limes, oaks, beech, and birch. A short distance along the one -leading to Berthelsdorf you come to a wooden arch bearing the -inscription, "Christ is risen from the dead." It is the entrance to -_God's field_; and if you turn on entering, you will see written on -the inside of the arch, "And become the firstling of them that -slept." The ground slopes gently upwards to the brow of the _Hutberg_, -divided into square compartments by broad paths and clipped limes. -Within these compartments are the graves; no mounds; nothing but rows -of thick stone slabs, each about two feet in length, by one and a half -in width, lying on the grass. All alike; no one honoured above the -rest, except in some instances by a brief phrase in addition to the -name, age, and birthplace. The first at the corner has been renewed, -that a record of an interesting incident in the history of the place -may not be lost. The inscription reads: _Christian David, the Lord's -servant, born the 31st December, 1690, at Senftleben in Moravia. Went -home the 3rd February, 1751_. - -_A carpenter: he felled the first tree for the building of Herrnhut, -the 17th June, 1722._ - -_Went home_ and _fell asleep_ are favourite expressions occurring on -many of the stones. _A member of the Conference of Elders_ is a -frequent memorial on the oldest slabs, numbers of which are blackened, -and spotted with moss by age. There are two counts and not a few -bishops among the departed, but the same plain slab suffices for all. -The separation of the sexes is preserved even after death, some of the -compartments being reserved exclusively for women. As you read the -names of birthplaces, in lands remote, from all parts of Europe and -oversea, the West Indies and Labrador, you will perhaps think that -weary pilgrims have journeyed from far to find rest for their souls in -peaceful Herrnhut. - -There is, however, one marked exception to the rule of uniformity as -regards the slabs. It is in favour of Count Zinzendorf and his wife -and immediate relatives--a family deservedly held in high respect by -the Brethren. Eight monumental tombs, placed side by side across the -central path, perpetuate the names of the noble benefactors. Of the -count himself it is recorded: _He was appointed to bear fruit, and a -fruit that yet remains_. - -On the summit of the hill, beyond the hedge of the burial-ground, a -wooden pavilion is built with a circular gallery, from whence you get -a fine panoramic view of the surrounding country. The innkeeper had -given me the key, and I loitered away an hour looking out on the -prospect. Now you see the _Gottesacker_, with its fifteen formal -clipped squares, some yet untenanted, and room for enlargement; the -red roofs and white walls of the village; and beyond, the fir-topped -_Heinrichsberg_, and planted slopes which beautify the farther end of -the place. Berthelsdorf, the seat of the _Unität_, stands pleasantly -embowered at the foot of the eastern slope. You see miles of road, two -or three windmills, and umbrageous green lines thinning off in the -distance, the trees all planted by the Herrnhuters; and the fields, -orchards, and plantations that fill all the space between, testify to -the diligent husbandry of the Brethren. - -Every place and prominent object within sight is indicated by a red -line notched into the top rail of the balustrade, so that, while -sauntering slowly round, you can read the name of any spire or distant -peak that catches your eye. The summits are numerous, for hills rise -on every side; among them you discover the Landskrone by Görlitz, and -the crown of the _Tafelfichte_ in the _Isergebirge_, the only one of -the mountains within sight. It is a view that will give you a -cheerful impression of Saxony. - -The doorkeeper of the church had noticed a stranger, and came up for a -talk. I asked him how much of what lay beneath our eyes belonged to -the Brethren. "About two hundred acres," he answered, pointing all -round, and to an isolated estate away in the direction of Zittau; -"enough for comfort and prosperity." Once started, he proved himself -no niggard of information. To give the substance of his words: "I like -the place very well," he said, "and don't know of any discontent; -though we have at times to lament that a brother falls away from us -back into the worldly ways. Each fulfils his duty. We are none of us -idle. We have weavers, shoemakers, harness-makers, coppersmiths, -goldsmiths, workers in iron, lithographers, and artists; indeed, all -useful trades; and our workmanship and manufactures are held in good -repute. I am a cabinet-maker, and keep eight journeymen always at -work. Each one from the age of eighteen to sixty takes his turn in the -night-watch; and, night and day, the place is always as quiet as you -see it now. You don't hear the voices of children at play, because -children are never left to themselves. Whether playing or walking, -they are always under the eye of an adult, as when in school. We do -not think it right to leave them unwatched. We have service three -times every Sunday, and at seven o'clock every evening; besides -certain festivals, and a memorial service like that of this afternoon. -The preacher you heard is considered a good one: his salary is four -hundred dollars a year." - -He interrupted his talk by an invitation to go and see the grounds of -the _Heinrichsberg_. As we walked along the street, I could not fail -again to remark the absence of sounds which generally inspire -pleasure. No merry laughter, accompanied by hearty shouts and quick -foot-tramp of boys at play. No running hither and thither at -hide-and-seek; no trundling of hoops; no laughing girls with -battledore and shuttlecock. I saw but two children, apparently brother -and sister, and they were walking as soberly as bishops. I should like -to know whether such a repressive system does really answer the -purpose intended; for I could not help questioning, in Goldsmith's -words, whether the virtue that requires so constant a guard be worth -the expense of the sentinel. - -The _Heinrichsberg_ is behind the _Bruderhaus_ and the street leading -to Zittau. Here the fir forest, which once covered the whole hill, has -been cut down, and replaced by plantations of beech, birch, hazel, and -other leafy trees, and paths are led in many directions along the -precipitous slopes, by which you approach a pavilion erected on the -commanding point, as at the _Gottesacker_. The situation is romantic, -overhanging the brown cliffs of a stone quarry, with a view into a -deep wooded valley, spanned by the lofty railway viaduct. Here the -Brethren have shown themselves wise in their generation, and, working -with skilful hand, and eye of taste, have made the most of natural -resources, and fashioned a resort especially delightful in the sultry -days of summer. - -When my communicative guide left me to attend to his duties, I -strolled up the Zittau road to the place where, in a small opening by -the wayside, stands a square stone monument, on which an inscription -records an interesting historical incident: - - _On the 17th June, 1772, was - on this place for the building - of Herrnhut the first tree felled._ - - Ps. lxxxiv. 4. - -It was cool there in the shade; and sitting down on a seat overhung by -the trees, I fell into a reverie about things that had befallen since -Christian David's axe wrought here to such good purpose. At that time -all was dreary forest; no house nearer than Berthelsdorf, and little -could the poverty-stricken refugees have foreseen such a result of -their struggle as Herrnhut in its present condition. All at once I was -interrupted by an elderly woman, who, returning to her village, sought -a rest on the plinth of the monument, and proved herself singularly -talkative. Perhaps she owed the Brethren a grudge, for she wound up -with: "Nice people, them, sir, in Herrnhut; but they know how to get -the money, sir." - -About two hundred persons, mostly youthful, were present at the -evening service. The dais was occupied as before, but by a lesser -number. The preacher, the same eloquent man, gave an exposition of a -portion of the _Epistle to the Romans_, elucidating the Apostle's -meaning in obscure passages, which lasted half an hour. He then -pronounced a brief benediction, and delivered the first line of a -hymn, which was sung by all present, and, as in the afternoon, only at -the last two lines did any one stand up. - -I was deeply impressed by the contrast between the two services here -in the unadorned edifice, and what I witnessed at Prague. Here no -ancient prejudice, or ancient dirt, or slovenly ritual, as in the -synagogue; but the outpouring of hope and faith from devout and -cheerful hearts. Here no showy ceremonial; no swinging of censers, or -kissing of pictures, or endless bowings and kneelings, or any of those -mechanical observances in which the worshipper too often forgets that -it has been given to him to be his own priest, and with full and -solemn responsibility for neglect of duty. - -The service over, I went and asked permission to look over the -Sisters' House: I had seen the Brothers' House at Zeist. It was past -the hour for the admission of strangers; but the stewardess, as a -special favour, conducted me from floor to floor, where long passages -give access on either side to small sitting-rooms, workrooms, and one -great bedroom; all scrupulously clean and comfortably furnished. The -walls are white; but any sister is at liberty to have her own room -papered at her own cost. I saw the chapel in which the inmates -assemble for morning and evening thanksgiving;--the refectory where -they all eat together;--the kitchen, pervaded by a savoury smell of -supper;--and the ware-room in which are kept the gloves, caps, cuffs, -and all sorts of devices in needlework produced by the diligent -fingers of the sisters. There were some neither too bulky nor too -heavy for my knapsack, and of these I bought a few for sedate friends -in England. - -The unmarried sisters, as the unmarried brothers, dwell in a house -apart; and as they eat together, and purchase all articles of -consumption in gross, the cost to each is but small. Two persons are -placed in authority over each house; one to care for the spiritual, -the other for the economical welfare of the inmates. There are, -besides, separate houses for widowers and widows. - -As the sun went down I strolled once more to the _Gottesacker_ and -dreamt away a twilight hour on the gallery of the pavilion. As the -golden radiance vanished from off the face of the landscape, and the -stillness became yet more profound, I thought that many a heart weary -of battling with the world might find in the _Work and Worship_ of -Herrnhut a relief from despair, and a new ground for hopefulness. - -When I went back to the inn I found half a dozen grave-looking -Brethren smoking a quiet pipe over a tankard of beer. We had some -genial talk together while I ate my supper; but as ten o'clock -approached they all withdrew. The doors were then fastened; and not a -sound disturbed the stillness of the night. The watchers began their -nightly duty; but they utter no cry as they go their rounds, leading a -fierce dog by a thong, while three or four other dogs run at liberty. -Should their aid be required in any house from sickness or other -causes, a signal is given by candles placed in the window. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - - About Herrnhut -- Persecutions in Moravia -- A Wandering - Carpenter -- Good Tidings -- Fugitives -- Squatters on the - Hutberg -- Count Zinzendorf's Steward -- The First Tree -- - The First House -- Scoffers -- Origin of the Name -- More - Fugitives -- Foundation of the Union -- Struggles and - Encouragements -- Buildings -- Social Regulations -- Growth - of Trade -- War and Visitors -- Dürninger's Enterprise -- - Population -- Schools -- Settlements -- Missions -- Life at - Herrnhut -- Recreations -- Festivals -- Incidents of War -- - March of Troops -- Praise and Thank-Feasts. - - -While I sat by the monument of the first tree, and lingered in the -glow of sunset at the pavilion, a desire came upon me to know -something more of the history of Herrnhut. I partly gratify it in the -present chapter. - -When the sanguinary Hussite wars ended in the triumph of the Jesuits, -there remained in Bohemia and Moravia numbers of godly-minded -Protestants, who, as the oppressor grew in strength, were forbidden -the free exercise of their religion. They worshipped by stealth, -hiding in caves and thickets, and suffered frightful persecution; but -remained steadfast, and formed a union among themselves for mutual -succour, and became the United Brethren. Their chief settlements were -at Fulnek, in Moravia, and Lititz, in Bohemia. Though professing the -principles of the earliest Christian church, many of them embraced the -doctrines of Luther and Calvin, whereby they subjected themselves to -aggravated persecutions; and cruelly were they smitten by the -calamities of the Thirty Years' War. - -About 1710 a Roman Catholic carpenter set out from the little Moravian -village, Senftleben, to fulfil his three "wander-years," and gain -experience in his trade. While working at Berlin, he frequented the -Evangelical Lutheran church; and afterwards at Görlitz the impression -made on his mind by a Lutheran preacher was such that he went back to -his home a Protestant. He was a bringer of good tidings to some of his -relatives who were among the persecuted. He could tell them of a -kingdom beyond the frontier where they might worship unmolested; of a -youthful Count Zinzendorf, who had large estates in the hill-country -of Saxony, and was already known as a benefactor to such as suffered -for conscience' sake. - -It was on Whit-Monday, 1722, that Christian David--so the carpenter -was named--brought the news. Three days later, two families, numbering -ten persons, abandoned their homes, and under David's guidance came -safely to Görlitz, after a nine days' journey. On the 8th of June the -four men travelled to Hennersdorf, the residence of Zinzendorf's -grandmother, who placed them under charge of the land-steward, with -instructions that houses should be built for them. But as the steward -wrote to his master, "the good people seek for the present a place -only under which they may creep with wife and children, until houses -be set up." After much consideration, it was resolved to build on the -_Hutberg_, a hill traversed by the road from Loebau to Zittau--then a -miserable track, in which vehicles sank to their axles. "God will -help," replied the steward to one of his friends, who doubted the -finding of water on the spot; and on the two following mornings he -rose before the sun and went upon the hill to observe the mists. What -he saw led him to believe in the existence of a spring; whereupon he -took courage, and, as he tells the Count, "I laid the miseries and -desires of these people before the Lord with hot tears, and besought -Him that His hand might be with me, and prevent wherein my intentions -were unpleasing to Him. Further I said, On this place will I build the -first house for them in thy name." - -A temporary residence was found for the fugitives; the benevolent -grandmother gave a cow that the children might have milk; and on June -17th, as already mentioned, the first tree was felled by Christian -David. On the 11th of August the house was erected; the preacher at -Berthelsdorf took occasion to refer to it as "a light set on the hill -to enlighten the whole land;" and in October it was taken possession -of with prayer and thanksgiving, the exiles singing from their -hearts-- - - "Jerusalem! God's city thou." - -The steward, writing about this time to inform the Count of his -proceedings, says: "May God bless the work according to His goodness, -and procure that your excellency may build on the hill called the -_Hutberg_ a city which not only may stand under the _Herrn Hut_ -(Lord's protection), but all dwellers upon the _Lord's watch_, so that -day and night there be no silence among them." Here we have the origin -of the name of the place. - -Meanwhile, the neighbourhood laughed and joked about the building of -a house in so lonely a spot, where it must soon perish; and still more -when the digging for the spring was commenced. The land-steward had -much ado to keep the labourers to their work. Fourteen days did they -dig in vain; but in the third week they came to moist gravel, and soon -water streamed forth in superabundance. - -On December 21st the Count arrived with his newly-married wife, and -was surprised at sight of a house in a place which he had left a -forest. He went in; spoke words of comfort to the inmates, and falling -on his knees, prayed earnestly for protection. - -In the next year, Christian David journeyed twice into Moravia. The -priests, angered at the departure of the first party, had worried -their relatives, and forbade them to emigrate under penalty of -imprisonment. Would not let them live in peace at home, nor let them -go. Aided, however, by the messenger, twenty-six persons forsook their -little possessions, their all, and stole away by night. "Goods left -behind," says the historian, "but faith in their Father in the heart." -They reached the asylum, where, by the spring of 1724, five new houses -were ready to receive them. - -In this year came other fugitives, experienced in the church -discipline of the old Moravian Brethren; and as the number yet -increased, they besought the Count to institute the same constitution -and discipline in Herrnhut. But differences of opinion arose, and for -three years the harmony and permanence of the colony were seriously -endangered. The Count, however, was not a man to shrink from a good -work; he was remarkable for his power of influencing minds; and on the -12th of May, 1727, after a three hours' discourse, he succeeded in -reconciling all differences, and the Reformed Evangelical United -Brotherhood of the Augsburg Confession was established. This day, as -well as the 13th of August of the same year, when the whole community -renewed and confirmed their union in the church at Berthelsdorf, are -days never to be forgotten by the Brethren. - -The success of Herrnhut was now secure. The number of residents had -increased to three hundred, of whom one half were fugitives from -Moravia. But they had still to endure privation; for they had -abandoned all their worldly substance, and trade and tillage advanced -but slowly: in the first six months, all that the two cutlers took -from the passers-by was but two groschen: a lean twopence. Friedrich -von Watteville, however, a much-beloved friend of the Count's, took a -room in one of the houses that he might live among the struggling -people, and help them in their endeavours. - -Of the thirty-four small wooden houses which then stood on both sides -of the Zittau road not one now remains. In their place large and -handsome houses of brick have risen, which, though the place be but a -village, give it the appearance of a city. Besides those which have -been mentioned, there are the _Herrschaftshaus_, the _Vogtshof_--a -somewhat palatial edifice--the _Gemeinhaus_, the _Apotheke_, the -_Pilgerhaus_, and others. An ample supply of water is brought in by -wooden pipes, and two engines and eight cisterns in different quarters -are always ready against fire. There are covered stalls for the sale -of meat and vegetables; a common wash-house and wood-yard, and a -dead-house, all under the charge and inspection of a _Platzaufseher_--an -overseer who most undoubtedly does his duty. If ædiles in other -places would only take a lesson from him, their constituents would -have reason to be proud and grateful. An almoner is appointed to -succour indigent strangers. In 1852 he relieved 3668 tramping -journeymen. - -Year by year the Herrnhuters improved in circumstances, though often -at hard strife with penury. However, they preferred hunger, with -freedom of conscience, to the tender mercies of the Jesuits at Olmutz. -The weavers of Bernstadt sent them wool to spin. In 1742 an order for -shoes for the army was regarded as a special favour of Providence. The -Seven Years' War, that brought misery to so many places, worked -favourably for Herrnhut. In one day a hundred officers visited the -place. Prince Henry of Prussia came and made large purchases, for the -work of the shoemakers and tailors, not being made merely to sell, was -much prized; and it sometimes happened that from 1500 to 2000 dollars -were taken in one day. Austrians and Prussians--fierce foes--rode in -alternately to buy; and while Herrnhut flourished, many erroneous -notions which had prevailed concerning it were removed by what the -visitors saw of the simple life and manners of the Brethren. - -To Abraham Dürninger, who established a manufacture of linen cloths, -and whose skill and enterprise as a merchant were only matched by his -ceaseless activity, the colony owed the mainstay of its commercial -prosperity. Brother Dürninger's linen and woven goods were largely -exported, particularly to Spain, South America, and the West Indies, -and esteemed above all others in the market for the excellence of -their quality. The trade has since fallen off, but not the -reputation, as gold and silver medals awarded to the Herrnhuters by -the governments of Prussia and Saxony for honest workmanship amply -testify. - -In 1760, notwithstanding that many colonies and missions had been sent -out, the population numbered 1200. This was the highest. The number -remained stationary until the end of the century; since then it has -slowly decreased, owing, as is said, to the decline of trade. In 1852 -it was 925. No new buildings have been erected since 1805, so that -Herrnhut has the appearance of a place completely finished. The -streets were paved, and flagged footways laid down, eighty years ago; -and since 1810 all the roads leading from the village have been -planted and kept in good condition. - -Well-managed elementary schools supply all that is needful for -ordinary education. Pupils who exhibit capabilities for higher -training are sent to the _Pedagogium_ at Nisky, a village built by -Bohemian refugees near Görlitz. Theological students are trained at -the seminary in Gnadenfeld, in the principality of Oppeln; and those -for the missions at Klein Welke, a village near Budissin, established -as a dwelling-place for converts from among the Wends. - -Fifty-seven Moravian settlements and societies in different parts of -the continent of Europe--Russia, Sweden, Holland, Germany, some -founded by emigrants from Herrnhut, and all taking it for their -pattern, mark the growth of the principles advocated by the Brethren. -In England they have eleven settlements, among which Fulneck, in -Yorkshire, renews the name of the old Moravian village; and Ockbrook, -in Derbyshire, is the seat of the conference which directs the affairs -of the British settlements, but always with responsibility to the -Conference of Elders at Berthelsdorf. Scotland has one community--at -Ayr; and Ireland seven. At the last reckoning, in 1848, the number of -real members, exclusive of the societies, was 16,000. - -Besides these, there are seventy foreign mission-stations, the duties -of which are fulfilled by 297 Brethren. The number of persons -belonging to the several missions is 70,000. That in North America was -commenced in 1734; Greenland, 1733; Labrador, 1770. The others are in -the West Indies, Musquito territory, Surinam, South Africa, and -Australia. At the instance of Dr. Gutzlaff, who visited Herrnhut in -1850, two missionaries have been sent to Mongolia.[J] - -Although life at Herrnhut may appear tame and joyless to an ordinary -observer, it is not so to the Herrnhuters. A lasting source of -pleasure to them are the cheerful situation of the place itself, and -the delightful walks fashioned and planted by their own hands. -Lectures, the study of foreign languages, and of natural history, and -music, are among their permanent recreations. They excel in harmony, -and find, as their celebrations partake more or less of a religious -character, in the singing of oratorios, choruses, and hymns, an -animating and elevating resource. They observe the anniversary of the -foundation of Herrnhut, and of all other important incidents of its -history, and thus have numerous festival days. In some instances, -instrumental music, decorations of fir-branches, and an illumination, -heighten the effect. - -Betrothals are times of gladness; baptism and marriage of solemn joy. -Weddings always take place in the evening; and in the evening also are -held, once in four weeks, the celebrations of the Lord's Supper. On -these occasions the whole community are present. Three or four -brothers who have received ordination, wearing white gowns, break the -thin cakes of unleavened bread and distribute to the assembly, and -when the last is served all eat together. The cup is then blessed and -passed in order from seat to seat. - -On certain festive occasions love-feasts are held, after the manner of -the _Agapæ_ of the earliest Christian churches. At these gatherings, -which are intended to show the family ties which unite the members of -the community with the spiritual head of the church, suitable -discourse is held, hymns are sung; and cakes and tea--with at times -wine and coffee--are partaken of. - -The Easter-morning celebration is especially remarkable. On that -morning the whole brotherhood assemble before sunrise in the church, -should the weather prove unfavourable; if fine, in the open air. Then -they walk two by two, the trumpets sounding before them, to the hill -of the _Gottesacker_, to watch from thence the rising of the sun. -Arrived on the height, they form into a great square: the prayers and -praises of the Easter-morning liturgy are then prayed and sung; -meanwhile the sun appears above the dim and distant horizon; a -spectacle in which the beholders see a foretoken of that glorious -resurrection where, in the words of a brother, "the grave is not, nor -death." Then the names of those who died during the past year are -read, and with affectionate remembrances of them the celebration -closes. - -The service on New Year's Eve is so numerously attended from all the -neighbourhood round, that the church will hardly contain the throng. -At half-past eleven a discourse is begun, in which the events of the -year about to close are passed in review, with other subjects -appropriate to the time, until, as the clock strikes twelve, the -trumpet choir sound hail! to the new year. Then the verse - - "Now all give thanks to God" - -is sung, and with a prayer the service ends. - -Burials are characterized by a simplicity worthy of all imitation; in -striking contrast to the vain and oft-times ludicrous proceedings, by -which folk in some other places think they do honour to the dead. The -Brethren assemble--wearing no kind of mourning except in their -hearts--in the church, where a short discourse is delivered, and a -narrative of the deceased's life is read. The procession is then -formed, preceded by the trumpet-band, who blow sacred melodies; and -the corpse is carried on a bright-coloured bier, covered with a -striped pall, by four brothers, dressed in their usual clothes. The -nearest relatives follow, and behind them the community, according to -kin. They form a circle round the grave and sing a hymn, accompanied -by the trumpets, during which the coffin is lowered. The burial -service is then read, and the simple rite concludes with a -benediction. - -Not least interesting among the annals of Herrnhut are incidents -arising out of the wars which have afflicted Germany since the place -was founded. All day the Brethren heard the roar of cannon when -Frederick won his great victory at Lowositz; and a few days later, -forty-eight of them had to keep watch against an apprehended foray of -Trenck's wild Pandours. In 1757, General Zastrow quartered suddenly -four thousand men upon them spitefully, and in defiance of a royal -order to the contrary, keeping the peaceful folk in alarm all night; -but the troops were withdrawn in the morning, and an indemnity was -paid for the mischief they had committed. At times, long trains of -men, horses, and artillery would pass through without intermission for -a whole day--now Prussians, now Austrians, now heathen Croats. In the -same year three thousand officers visited the place, among whom, -during three weeks of the summer, were thirty-four princes, -seventy-eight counts, and one hundred and forty-six nobles of other -degree. Numbers of them attended the religious services of the -Brethren. The Abbé Victor was one of the visitors, and on his return -to Russia he said so much in praise of the Herrnhuters, that the -emperor gave him permission to establish the colony of Sarepta in -Southern Russia, which still exists. - -In 1766 came the Emperor Joseph II., and by his pleasing manners and -friendly inquiries made a "lasting impression" on the minds of the -Brethren. In October, 1804, Francis I.--the Franzl of the -Tyrolese--with his wife. In 1810, Gustaf Adolf IV. of Sweden, who -expressed a wish to become a member. In 1813 the Emperor Alexander -came as a visitor, and examined all things carefully; and it is -recorded of him that while the children sang he stood among them -bareheaded. He was followed by three of the famous marshals--Kellermann, -Victor, and Macdonald. - -This was a terrible year. With the retreat from Moscow came train on -train of wounded Saxons on the way to Dresden. Requisition on -requisition was made for linen and provisions; and one day, when no -more wagons were left, the Brethren had to supply two hundred -wheelbarrow-loads of rations. Night after night they saw the lurid -glow of fires, for seventy-one places were burnt in the circles of -Bautzen and Görlitz. Then came Cossacks, Calmucks, and squadrons of -savage Bashkirs, armed with bows and arrows. Then Poniatowsky with his -Poles, and Saxon Uhlans; and a review was held in a meadow behind the -_Schwesternhaus_, and the sisters made hundreds of little pennons for -the Polish lances. - -In August, Napoleon was at Zittau. Daily skirmishes took place among -Prussians, Poles, and Russians, for possession of the _Hutberg_--the -best look-out for miles around. In September, Blucher came with -Gneisenau and Prince Wilhelm, and had the Prussian head-quarters here -for five days. - -On the whole, Herrnhut suffered but little in comparison with other -places; yet the Brethren were not slow to rejoice for the evacuation -of Germany by the enemy, and the restoration of peace. "Praise and -Thank-feasts" were held, with illuminations and fireworks; some of the -fires being green and white, to represent the national colours of -Saxony. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[J] According to the Report for 1851, the latest I have been able to -get, the contributions received for missions in that year amounted to -86,221 dollars; the expenditure to 83,419 dollars. - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - - A Word with the Reader -- From Herrnhut to Dresden -- A - Gloomy City -- The Summer Theatre -- Trip to the Saxon - Switzerland -- Wehlen -- Uttewalde Grund -- The Bastei -- - Hochstein -- The Devil's Kettle -- The Wolfschlucht -- The - Polenzthal -- Schandau -- The Kuhstall -- Great Winterberg - -- The Prebischthor -- Herniskretschen -- Return to Dresden - -- To Berlin -- English and German Railways -- The Royal - Marriage Question -- Speaking English -- A Dreary City -- - Sunday in Berlin -- Kroll's Garden -- Magdeburg -- - Wittenberg -- Hamburg -- A-top of St. Michael's -- A Walk - to Altona -- A Ride to Horn -- A North Sea Voyage -- Narrow - Escape -- Harness and Holidays. - - -I fear, good-natured reader, that you will find this chapter too much -like a catalogue. I am, however, admonished by the number of my pages -that a swift conclusion is desirable. Moreover, my publisher--an -amiable man in most respects--is apt to be dogmatic on questions of -paper and print, fancying that he knows best, so I have no alternative -but to humour him; and, after all, you will perhaps say that it is -well to get over the ground as fast as possible when one comes again -upon much-beaten tracks. - -From Herrnhut I travelled by rail to Dresden--Pianopolis as some -residents call it. Taken as a whole, it is a singularly heavy-looking -and gloomy city: some of the principal streets reminded me of -back-streets in Oxford. I saw the picture-gallery and the great -library; and desirous to see what our forefathers used to see at the -Globe--a play acted by daylight in a roofless play-house--I went to -the summer theatre in the _Grossen Garten_. It is an agreeable pastime -in fine weather, for you can see green tree-tops all round above the -walls, and feel the breeze, and enjoy your tankard of _Waldschloess_-- -that excellent Dresden beer--while looking at the performance. A -clever actress from Berlin made her first appearance; she played in -the two pieces, and by her vivacity made amends for the miserable -music, which was unworthy of Pianopolis, and of the leader's intense -laboriousness in beating time. - -I should like to take you with me in my walk through the Saxon -Switzerland; but can only glance thereat for reasons already shown. If -you have read Sir John Forbes's picturesque description of that -romantic country published last year in his _Sight-Seeing in Germany_, -you will not want another. I may, however, tell you, that you may -visit all the most remarkable places in two days. Leave Dresden by -steamer at six in the morning; disembark at Wehlen, walk from thence -through the _Uttewalde Grund_ to the _Bastei_, where, from the summit -of a bastion rock springing from the Elbe, you have a magnificent -view, with enough of water in it. You will see numerous specimens of -those flat-topped hills, resembling the bases of mighty columns, such -as we saw from the _Milleschauer_, and crag on crag, ridge on ridge, -the gray stone shaded by forest for miles around. You will perceive -Adersbach on a great scale; the same sort of sandstone split up in all -directions, but the precipitous masses wide apart, isolated, and with -glens and vales between all, glad with foliage and running water, -instead of crevices and alleys. - -From the _Bastei_ you plunge down the zigzags among the crags to the -_Amselgrund_, past the waterfall, and by wild ways to the -_Teufelsbruch_ and the _Hochstein_, an isolated crag, from which you -look down into the Devil's Kettle, 350 feet deep. Then down through -the _Wolfschlucht_, a crevice in the cliff, which, where you descend -by ladders, looks very much like a wolf's-gully. It brings you into -the _Polenzthal_, where on the grassy margin of a trout stream, -beneath the shade of birches, precipitous cliffs towering high aloft, -something grand and beautiful at every bend, you will believe it the -loveliest scene of all. Then up the _Brand_--another out-look, and -from thence down to Schandau, where you pass the night. - -On the second day, walk up the _Kirnitschthal_ to the _Kuhstall_, a -broad arch in a honeycombed rock on the top of a hill; from thence to -the Little Winterberg and Great Winterberg, the latter more than 1700 -feet high--the highest point of the district, commanding a grand -prospect over hill and hollow, crag and forest. While gazing around in -admiration, you will perhaps wish that the old name--Meissner -Highlands--had not been changed, for there is but little of the real -Switzerland in the view. - -Then on to the _Prebischthor_, crossing the frontier on the way into -Bohemia at a lonely spot, uninfested as yet by guards or barrier. The -_Prebischthor_ is a huge arch, more than a hundred feet high, also on -a hill-top, 1300 feet above the sea. Two mighty columns support a -massive block, a hundred feet in length, forming a marvellous specimen -of natural architecture. You can walk under and around its base, and -look at the landscape through the opening, or mount to the summit and -look down sheer eight hundred feet into the _Prebischgrund_. Here, as -everywhere else, you find an inn, good beer, and musicians, a throng -of tourists, and an album filled with names, and rhyming attempts at -wit and sentiment. - -From the _Prebischthor_ you descend by the valley of the Kamnitz to -Herniskretschen, a village built on a narrow level between tall -frowning cliffs and the Elbe. I arrived here in time for the steamer -at two o'clock, by which I returned to Dresden. I had seen the Saxon -Switzerland from all the best points of view, and saw all the romantic -course of the river, except the eight miles from Tetschen to -Herniskretschen. A pleasanter two days' trip could not well be -imagined. Once at Wehlen, the places to be visited are but from three -to four miles apart; the way from one to the other is easy to find, -and there is constant diversity of scenery, to say nothing of the -talkative groups of Germans with whom you may join fellowship. But, in -truth, it is a region to loiter in, and you will wish that weeks were -yours instead of scanty days. - -Soon after noon of the next day I was in Berlin. Travel the same -route, and you will no longer wonder at the rapturous excitement of -the Germans in the _Riesengebirge_. The country is one great -plain--little fields, marshes, sluggish streams, ponds covered with -water-lilies, windmills and sandy wastes sprinkled with a few trees -that look miserable at having to grow in such a dreary land. Here and -there a winding road--a mere deep-rutted track--winds across the -landscape, making it look, if possible, still more melancholy. Look -out when you will, you see the same monotonous features. - -In our own happy country you would have the additional sorrow of an -uncomfortable carriage. To know what outrageous inflictions can be -perpetrated by railway monopoly, and endured by your long-suffering -countrymen, just ride for once from London to Lowestofft in an Eastern -Counties third-class carriage--you will have more than enough of North -German scenery and of English discomfort, but without the compensations -of German beer and German coffee. Or vary your experiences by a journey -to Winchester in a second-class on the South-Western line, and try to -enjoy the landscape through the wooden shutter which the Company give -you for a window. Go to Euston-square--anywhere in fact--and you find -that the passenger with most money in his pocket is the one most cared -for. Even the Great Western and South-Eastern Companies, who have -outgrown the short-sighted habit of building dungeons and calling them -carriages--even these mighty monopolists condemn their second-class -passengers to a wooden seat. - -But on the line from Dresden to Berlin the third-class carriages are -far more commodious than any second-class I have ever seen in -England--except two or three at the Great Exhibition, which, perhaps, -were meant only for show. The seats are broad, hollowed, and not flat, -and with space enough between for the comfortable placing of your -legs. The roof is lofty. You can stand upright with your hat on. At -either end a broad shelf is fixed for small packages and light -luggage; and more than all, the same civility and attention are -extended by all the functionaries to third-class passengers as to the -first. We brag of our liberty, and not without reason; but let us -remember that the foreigner, though afflicted with passports, travels -at less cost and with more comfort than we do. - -Here, too, my fellow-passengers made merry over the "_Palmerston -gehänget_" story; and many questions had I to answer concerning the -coming marriage of the Prussian Prince and English Princess. I gave -the same reply as to the Dresdener in the palace at Fischbach. One of -the company, who told us he was a professor of literature at Berlin, -inclined to be saucy. It was all a mistake to suppose that there was -one jot more liberty in England than in Prussia. He could speak -English, and knew all about it. Unluckily, by way of proving how well -he could speak English, he said we should arrive at "Twelve past -half;" whereupon I set the others laughing to take the conceit out of -him. He relapsed into German, and looked so unhappy, that, by way of -consolation, I told him of a countryman of his in England who went to -keep an appointment at "clock five." - -Berlin is a dreary, malodorous city, or rather an enormous village -beginning to try to be a city; and fortunate in being the residence of -men of taste and real artists who know what architecture and sculpture -ought to be, as demonstrated by the improvements and embellishments -around the palace and in the approach to that fine street _Unter den -Linden_. You can hire a droschky to take you anywhere within the walls -for fivepence; but be patient, for whether droschky or omnibus, the -pace is as slow as if the drivers had to work for nothing. _Pour le -roi de Prusse_, as the French say. - -Many a portrait of the English Princess Royal, along with that of her -future consort, did I see in the print-sellers' windows; and on the -morrow I saw how the Berliners pass their Sunday: not with shops open -all the day as in Paris, but with much beer, music, and tobacco in the -environs. I was simple enough to walk out to the Zoological Garden--a -few pens very widely scattered in a neglected forest plantation, -containing specimens of swine, poultry, goats, and kine, all made as -much of as if they were in Little Pedlington. From thence I walked out -to Charlottenburg, notwithstanding the offensive drains which border -the road the whole distance, and saw the tasteful mausoleum in the -palace grounds, and the lazy carp in the big pond. The Opera House was -open in the evening with _Satanella_, a "fantastic ballet," in three -acts; and crowds made their way out to Kroll's Garden--the Cremorne of -Berlin--where a play was acted in the theatre, and two orchestras -outside kept up a constant succession of lively music: one striking up -as the other ended. The number of tall people among the throng was -remarkable, and not less so the rapidity with which beer and coffee, -cakes and cutlets, were consumed. The numerous troop of waiters had -not an idle moment. - -I wished to see the place where the most terrible tragedy of the -Thirty Years' War had been acted--where Tilly and Pappenheim-- -Bloodthirsty and Ferocious--sacked a flourishing city just as the -foremost of the Swedish horse, commanded by Gustavus the Avenger, came -within sight of its walls. So I journeyed to Magdeburg: always the -same great plain on either side; but hereabouts fertile, and among the -best of the corn-land of Europe. The early train travels quickly: it -accomplished the distance in a little more than three hours. - -I went directly to the cathedral, and, after a view of its noble -interior, mounted to the gallery, which runs all round the top without -a break. I stayed up there two hours pacing slowly round, surveying -the busy town, the bustle of boats and barges on the Elbe, the -citadel, the long line of fortification, and thinking over the history -of the terrible siege. Besides the cathedral, the town contains but -little to repay an exploration, and the people generally have a shabby -look, as I proved by experiment, so I walked up the river bank to one -of the suburban pleasure-gardens till the hour of departure -approached. At five in the afternoon--away by train for Hamburg. -Always the same great plain, heaved here and there into gentle swells. -We slept at Wittenberg, and were off again the next morning long -before the dew was dry. The plain abates somewhat of its monotony in -Mecklenburg, and breaks into low hills with green valleys and pleasant -woods between; and here, instead of groschen and dollars, we found -schillings and marks--schillings worth a penny apiece. Shortly before -eleven our long journey ended. - -I went to the steam-boat office; took a place for London; asked one of -the clerks which was the tallest church in Hamburg; left my knapsack -under his desk, and made my way through the maze of picturesque old -streets to St. Michael's. The tower is 460 feet in height, and you -have to mount hundreds of stairs, the last flight, quite open to the -sky, running in a spiral round the pillars of the belfry. Some weak -heads turn back here; but if you continue, the view from the little -chamber at the top will reward you. A vast panorama meets the eye. -Miles away into Hanover and Holstein, all the territory of Hamburg, -across Mecklenburg, and down the broad river well-nigh to the sea, -sixty miles distant. The city itself is an interesting sight: the -contrast between the old and new so great; the bustle on the Elbe and -in the streets; the numerous canals, basins, dams, and havens; the -planted walks, all enclosed by green and undulating environs, make up -a picture that you will be reluctant to leave. Some of the windows of -the little chamber are fitted with glass of different colours, so that -at pleasure you may look out on a fairy scene below. The charge for -the ascent is one mark. - -Afterwards, when perambulating the streets, you will discover that -Hamburg is a city not less interesting when viewed from the ground. -The narrow streets, the old architecture, the variety of costumes, the -curious ways of the traders, will arrest your attention at every step. -And you will find much to commend in the building of the new quarter, -and in the well-kept grounds and walks by the Exchange and around the -Alster. - -Seeing all this, I regretted that my stay would be but for a few -hours: however, I improved those hours as diligently as possible. I -walked out to Altona, and lived for an hour under the sovereignty of -Denmark while looking at the old council-house and some other quaint -specimens of architecture. Then turning in the opposite direction I -rode out to Horn by omnibus; walked from thence across the heath and -through the groves to Wansbeck, and rode back by a different road--a -little trip in which I saw much to admire in the pretty wayside -residences of the Hamburgers, situate so pleasantly among gardens and -trees, and the inmates taking their evening meal on the grass-plot in -front.[K] - -I kept up my explorations till the approach of midnight warned me that -it was time to embark. The watch at the city-gate let me out on -payment of the accustomed toll--twopence at ten o'clock, a shilling at -eleven--and I groped my way along the quay to the steamer _Countess of -Lonsdale_. When I woke the next morning the pilot was being landed at -Glückstadt; and we steamed across the North Sea with no other incident -than that of nearly running down a Flemish fishing-boat in broad -daylight; and yet we had a man on the look-out. But for the quick eye -of the captain--who was telling amusing stories about the German fleet -to a party of us lounging around him on the quarter-deck--and his -sudden "hard a-port!" the little vessel would have been cut in two. As -it was, she escaped but by a few inches. - -During the lazy leisure of a day at sea, I reckoned the sum of my -journeyings and outlay. I had walked three hundred and fifty miles, -and expended--up to Hamburg--fourteen pounds. The passage to London, -with etceteras, including an unconscionable steward's-fee, amounted to -nearly three pounds more. - -A voyage of forty-eight hours brought us to London; and at four in -the morning of the 1st of August we stepped on shore at St. -Katherine's Wharf. It was a lovely morning: even London looked -picturesque in the clear rosy light. The opportunity was favourable, -and I took it for an hour's study of the busiest phenomena of -Billingsgate. Then I walked awhile, and sat on a certain doorstep -reading Goldsmith's _Traveller_ till the maid came down, very early, -at a quarter-past seven. Then I exchanged thick boots and a -comfortable coat for the garb of Cockneydom. And then--sensations of -liberty tingling yet in every limb, and swarming with happy -recollections through my brain--I went and crept once more into the -old official harness. - -Harness in which I earn glorious holidays. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[K] There is something suggestive concerning the resources of -different populations in the following table of depositors in savings -banks: In Bohemia there is 1 depositor for every 64 of the population; -in Berlin, 1 in 12; in Frankfort, 1 in 10; in Hamburg, 1 in 6; in -Leipsic, 1 in 5; in Altona, 1 in 3. - - - - -INDEX. - - - A. - - Adersbach, 228 - - Agnetendorf, 213 - - Alt, 59 - - Altenburg, 16, 25 - - Altendorf, 23, 227 - - Altona, 299 - - Amselgrund, the, 293 - - Aschaffenburg, 3 - - Auersberg, the, 50 - - Aussig, 167 - - - B. - - Bamberg, 14 - - Bastei, the, 292 - - Beer, 49 - - Berlin, 296 - - Bernsdorf, 226 - - Berthelsdorf, 273 - - Bober, the, 226 - - Bohemia, Geology of, 147, 238 - - Bohemian Frontier, 55 - - Böhme, Jacob, 265 - - Bread and Semmel, 73 - - Breslau, 220 - - Buchau, 81 - - Buchwald, 246, 248 - - - C. - - Carlsbad, 59 - - Carpathians, the, 220 - - Costumes, 20, 41, 44 - - Czechs, the, 57, 98, 102, 120, 204 - - - D. - - Dittersbach, 247 - - Dreikreuzberg, 70 - - Dresden, 291 - - - E. - - Ebersdorf, 31 - - Eckersbach, 33 - - Elbe, the, 166 - - Elbe, Source of, 208; - fall of, 209 - - Elterlein, 30 - - Engelhaus, 76 - - Erdmannsdorf, 249 - - Erzgebirge, 17, 43, 50, 55 - - Eybenstock, 48 - - - F. - - Fischbach, 250 - - Flinsberg, 261 - - Frankfort, 1 - - - G. - - Gabel, 192 - - Geese, 86 - - Gersdorf, 172 - - Glass-workers, 179, 192 - - Glückstadt, 300 - - Görlitz, 265 - - Greifenberg, 264 - - Grenzbäuden, 223 - - Grünheid, 196 - - - H. - - Hamburg, 298 - - Hanau, 3 - - Hartenstein, ruin, 88 - - Hayda, 192 - - Herniskretschen, 294 - - Herrnhut, 269 - - Heuscheuer, the, 220 - - Hildburghausens, 25 - - Hirschberg, 262 - - Hirschenstand, 56 - - Hirschsprung, the, 73 - - Hohenstaufens, 25 - - Hohensteiner Bad, 41 - - Holstein, 299 - - Horn, 299 - - Horosedl, 99 - - Hradschin, the, 126, 130 - - - I. - - Iser, the, 203 - - Isergebirge, the, 220, 261 - - - J. - - Jeschken, the, 196 - - Jews, 107, 131 - - Johannisbad, 261 - - Judenstadt, 132 - - - K. - - Kirnitschthal, the, 293 - - Knieholz, 208 - - Krkonosch Berg, 208 - - Kruschowitz, 102 - - Kunzendorf, 226 - - Kunz von Kauffungen, 28, 37 - - Kynast, the, 260 - - - L. - - Landskrone, the, 265 - - Lauban, 264 - - Liebau, 245 - - Liebkowitz, 89 - - Liebwerda, 261 - - Lobositz, 158 - - Loebau, 268 - - Lohr, 4 - - Lubenz, 89 - - Luther, 24, 27, 39 - - - M. - - Mädelstein, 215 - - Magdeburg, 297 - - Markersdorf, 171 - - Mecklenburg, 298 - - Meistersdorf, 172 - - Milleschauer, the, 158 - - Mineral Springs, 40, 41, 62, 258, 261 - - Mittagstein, 216 - - Mittelgebirge, the, 158 - - Morchenstern, 196 - - Mulde, the, 33 - - Music, 47, 153, 155, 167, 235 - - - N. - - Neudeck, 58 - - Neudorf, 196 - - Neustädl, 47 - - Neu Straschitz, 102 - - Newspapers, 51 - - Niederkainsdorf, 40 - - - O. - - Oberhaselau, 42 - - Oberkainsdorf, 40 - - - P. - - Planitz, 40 - - Polenzthal, the, 293 - - Prague, 114 - - Prebischthor, the, 293 - - Princes' Oaks, 17 - - Prinzenhöhle, 23 - - Prinzenraub, 18, 28, 35 - - Przichowitz, 198 - - - R. - - Railways, 295 - - Raudnitz, 158 - - Reichenberg, 194 - - Reinowitz, 196 - - Rentsch, 102 - - Riesengebirge, 213 - - Rochlitz, 205 - - Rock-labyrinth, 229 - - Rübezahl, 207 - - - S. - - Saal, the, 4 - - Saxon Switzerland, 292 - - Schandau, 293 - - Schatzlar, 226 - - Schlag, 196 - - Schmiedeberg, 247 - - Schneeberg, 45 - - Schneegruben, 211 - - Schneekoppe, 215 - - Schömberg, 243 - - Schools, 53, 170, 172 - - Schreckenstein, the, 167 - - Schwanhildis, Princess, 39 - - Schwarzkoppe, 223 - - Simplon, the, of Prussia, 246 - - Spessart, Forest of, 4 - - Spiller, 263 - - Spindlerbaude, 215 - - Sprudel, the, 66 - - Spürlingstein, the, 168 - - Steinschönau, 191 - - Stein Wine, 5 - - Stephanshöh, 201 - - St. Killian, 13 - - Stohnsdorf, 254 - - Synagogue, the, 136 - - - T. - - Tandelmarkt, the, 131 - - Tannwald, 197 - - Taunus Mountains, 3 - - Tetschen, 169 - - Theresienstadt, 158 - - Triller, the, 32, 34, 37 - - - U. - - Ueberschar Hills, 244 - - Ullersdorf, 244 - - Ulrichsthal, 173 - - Uttewalde Grund, 292 - - - W. - - Wansbeck, 299 - - Warmbrunn, 256 - - Weckelsdorf, 241 - - Wehlen, 292 - - Weisskirchen, 193 - - Wends, the, 19, 22, 39 - - White Hill, the, 111 - - Wildenthal, 49 - - Wilhelmsbad, 3 - - Willenz, 90 - - Winterberg, Great and Little, 293 - - Wittenberg, 298 - - Würzburg, 4 - - - Z. - - Zillerthal, 253 - - Zwickau, 33 - - -THE END. - - - - -C. WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND. - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A July Holiday in Saxony, Bohemia, and -Silesia, by Walter White - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JULY HOLIDAY IN SAXONY *** - -***** This file should be named 42539-8.txt or 42539-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/5/3/42539/ - -Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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