14

BAVARIAN PLAIN.

AUGSBURG.

martial one, for that valley has too often been the battle-field of Europe.

But, shaking off these recollections, we must pursue our more peaceful progress across the dark rapid Danube, and along the plain of Bavaria. This is emphatically a hay country. Meadows of it extend as far as the eye can reach, varied only by slight-rising grounds, on which rye and barley are cultivated. Fashion is regulated by no law, at least if we may judge from the dress of the Bavarian women. They wear a skull-cap on their heads, attached to which, and hanging down the back of the fair lady, are three or four ribbons. Their gowns are richly embroidered with various designs and colours; while a load of necklaces, ear-rings, finger-rings, and ornaments of all descriptions, complete their inconvenient costume. We slept at the village of Gunzburg, and next afternoon drove into the famous city of Augsburg, so celebrated in the history of the Reformation. Even yet, it is a literary place, and boasts of a newspaper which has perhaps the largest circulation of any in the world. High walls, and fourteen steeples, give an imposing appearance to this town. We welcomed the presence of railway carriages in which to perform the tedious journey from the banks of the Leck to the city of Munich. A dull uninteresting plain it certainly is; but beyond its sandy downs, far in the distance, we could see the bold outline of the Bavarian Alps. Can there be anything more

pleasing than, after travelling for days over a plain, all at once to come in sight of lofty mountains? Few travellers are ignorant of the delightful sensation experienced on such occasions. We recollect well with what joy we welcomed the wooded summits of the Alleghanies, when ascending the valley of the Patapsco, after a journey of several weeks along the flat Atlantic coast of the United States. We gazed on the snowy summits of these Alps, until the whistle of the locomotive announced the proximity of a capital.

Munich, the chief city of the Bavarian dominions, is one of the handsomest towns in Germany. Its palaces and picture galleries, its theatres and churches, vie with the most magnificent buildings on the Continent. The late king had an extraordinary craze for fresco-painting; so much so, that almost all the public erections, inside and outside, have been disfigured with specimens of this art. He was also—that is to say, before Lola Montes won his "young heart"-a most devout Roman Catholic. Frequent journeys to the Eternal City,-the building of splendid places of worship in many marts of the kingdom, but especially in the capital,-and the discontent of his Protestant subjects, testified his zeal for the faith as held by the disciples of the Vatican. But now these pursuits are forsaken. Discarding religion and the fine arts, he has vacated his throne to bow at Venus's ignoble shrine. How little was such a consummation thought of, when

16

PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF MUNICH.

Louis swore everlasting fealty to the holy Church

at the feet of Peter's successor !

The situation of Munich—on a flat sandy plain, watered by the glacier-coloured Isar-is the very reverse of picturesque. Yet its fine wide streets, its noble buildings, and its collections of pictures, have acquired for it the reputation of the most interesting capital in Europe. We spent a week in visiting its various exhibitions, and certes they are on a scale of wonderful splendour. One cannot help thinking, after wandering through the regal halls glittering with gold, that they are quite out of keeping with a petty German sovereignty, and that the treasures expended in their gaudy decorations might have been laid out to much better purpose in promoting the real interests of the nation. The new Palace is a monument of royal extravagance, as well as of artistic taste. The Library in Ludwigstrasse, a fine building 520 feet long, contains 800,000 volumes, along with many old manuscripts of great value. We inspected with peculiar pleasure an autograph letter of Luther's, preserved in it. In the same street stands the University, attended by 1400 students; and beside it the gorgeous church of St. Michael. But there are two buildings in Munich, both situated in the Faubourg Maximilian, and both remarkable specimens of architectural skill, -the "Glyptothèque," or gallery of sculpture, and the "Pinacothèque," or gallery of painting. The statues in the former are

ENGLISH GARDENS.

17

It

arranged in different halls, to represent the progress of the art: the first being the "salle Egyptienne,"the twelfth and last the "salle des Modernes." would be in vain to attempt a description of the master-pieces in marble, which King Louis has preserved there. The picture-gallery is similarly arranged; it contains 1300 works, chiefly by men whose fame has long ago extended over Europe. At the conclusion of a few days' wandering in Munich, the stranger feels convinced that frescoes must be as cheap there as plaster of Paris. We have never liked that kind of painting since witnessing its profusion in Bavaria. It was pleasurable to escape from its glare to the English gardens, which extend for several miles on the north-east of the city, and are watered by numerous branches of the milky Isar. There is no artificial stiffness about this noble park. Its ancient trees, extensive ponds, groves, temples, and statues, are mingled together with great taste, affording a delightful promenade for the citizens. It is the very beau-ideal of a pleasure-ground; no other garden in Europe can be compared with it in point of beauty. Munich is generally reported to be an immoral town. As far as drunkenness is concerned, we think the charge proven; although even in that respect it contrasts very advantageously with our large Scottish cities, so sadly demoralised by low disreputable whisky shops. Bavarian beer has a Germanic fame. We much admire the beverage, but in warm weather

C

18

SUNDAY IN MUNICH.

a

one is apt to take too much of it, as the noise to be heard in the coffee-houses of Munich testifies. In sober Germany, it is unusual to meet with drunken men in the streets. This makes their prevalence in the Bavarian capital still more striking. We spent two sabbaths there. The shops were all closed during both forenoon and afternoon services circumstance which goes far to disprove the assertion, so frequently urged as an excuse for the profanation of the after-part of that day in Popish countries, viz., that, according to the Romish Church, the sabbath ends at twelve o'clock. If this be the case, why is business suspended during the entire day? Mass over — the whole population of the city flock to the beautiful "English Gardens," to wander about on the banks of the swift-flowing Isar, and listen to regimental music in shady groves. Many travellers have expressed an opinion that the custom, so universal on the Continent, of the townspeople spending their evenings, especially their sabbath evenings, in coffee-houses and teagardens, is preferable to the manners of our British population. They love to place the thoughtless German workman in a much more favourable light than the intelligent artizan of England. They forget that the former acquires by his habits a love for excitement, a longing after something new, which incapacitates him from adequately fulfilling the duties of a husband and a parent; they forget that a man thus devoted to pleasure is miserable