there is a burgher guard, amounting to 300 or 400 men. The extent of this small territory does not exceed twenty miles in diameter. It is said that the Jews in this place, of which there are 7000, are shut up every evening, at a certain hour, in a particular quarter where they dwell. For the honour of this free city, it is to be hoped that this blot will soon be consigned to the "tomb of the Capulets."

In the evening went to the theatre, and on entering were struck with the gloominess of the place. There are no lights in the body of the house -the audience are literally in the dark, and the stage itself is not so brilliant as our own. The attendance was scanty, but the performers, scenery, and dresses, were good. We had hoped to have heard an opera, which is a fine affair at Francfurt; but, instead of music, we had a tragedy, not very interesting to persons unacquainted with the language. One thing struck us as certainly un-English, I mean, armed centinels, who were placed at the extremities of the gallery nearest to the stage.

Returned to the Weidenbusche, and found the salon crowded with well-dressed persons, supping "according to the carte"-that is, choosing from the bill of fare, and paying the price affixed to each

course.

CHAPTER III.

DARMSTADT-BERGSTRASSE-WINDEK.

"A wilderness of sweets."

MILTON.

WE had bargained with a voiturier to convey us in four days to Bâsle for sixty francs, and this morning we started from the Weidenbusche at six o'clock, intending to reach Heidelberg the same evening. There are diligences that run over the ground in two days and one night, but independently of its being a matter of economy, we considered that by travelling in the night, we should lose seeing nearly one-third of the country.

From a hill, a short distance from Francfurt, we obtained a good view of the city. At Langen, a post station half way between Francfurt and Darm

stadt, we breakfasted and enjoyed some excellent bread and grilled jambon. The approach to Darmstadt is pretty: an avenue of trees ushers you into the town, and the suburbs are well laid out in ornamental grounds and gardens.

Darmstadt is the residence of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, and consequently there is the usual flutter of fashionables attendant on courts. The place contains 1000 houses, and 16,000 inhabitants. The streets and "places" are handsome, and the houses generally large and wellbuilt. The town appears to be uniformly laid out; but of all things in the world a town composed of streets intersecting each other at right angles, is to me the most tiresome. There is no looking, as at Francfurt, on this or that portrait. All the faces are those of first cousins. I should go mad at Philadelphia.

There are at Darmstadt a museum, a picturegallery containing 600 pictures, an armoury and collection of costumes, a library belonging to the court containing 110,000 volumes, a theatre, and I know not what beside. I must not, however, pass the theatre in this hurried manner; it deserves a sentence of its own.

The exterior is an exquisite model of this department of architecture. It was erected in 1819, by Möller, and is capable of holding 1800 spec

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tators. The Grand Duke is a great encourager of music and the fine arts, consequently the Operatic Institution is on a grand scale, and is celebrated through Germany.

Among other places we walked to the Old and New Palaces, and as far as I am concerned, I give my preference to the former. Three thousand soldiers were being exercised in the grand place, by Le Grand Duc, in person, while we were lionizing; and we were gratified by witnessing their evolutions. A shower of rain, however, soon dispersed the throng, ourselves among the rest. The Duke is a fine man, mixing with his people without descending to their ranks, and is therefore beloved and respected.

The scenery on leaving Darmstadt was much the same as that we saw on the Francfurt side of the town. To our right, a wide plain stretched out as far as the eye could reach, and was closed in at last by the French mountains of the Vosges, whose faint outlines could hardly be perceived. This plain is rich, loamy, and well-cultivated; and were one to travel a day through it, would delight the eye; but continuing as it did, during our four days' journey, the appearance became rather monotonous. To our left were the mountains of the Bergstrasse, finely wooded, and presenting a continued change of aspect and varied

OF THE BERGSTRASSE.

137

beauty. We followed the course of this range of hills during our whole route to Switzerland, and even then regretted to part with them, so very beautiful they were. Our road ran about a mile from their bases, smooth, broad, straight, and regular. Avenues of fruit-trees, walnuts, plums, apples, and pears, continued during our first three days' journeying; and plantations of these trees were profusely laid out close to the road, but in the plain there was a dearth of foliage; and a prospect, however extensive and fertile, with this disadvantage, must always pall upon the eye of an Englishman accustomed to the rich park-like country of his own.

The castle of Frankenstein is picturesquely situated among fine timber-woods. From its being placed at the entrance of this district, it has been called the "Guardian of the Bergstrasse." An hour afterwards, we passed the mountain of Melibocus, one of the highest of the range. The old tower on the summit reminded us of Blaize Castle, near Bristol. From the apex of the hill one might command an extensive view, reaching from Spire to Bingen, and as far as Mont Tonnerre at the end of the Vosges and commencement of the Juras.

Bensheim was the next place we passed through,