CHAPTER I.

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!