Bergstrasse, which is said to be the richest and most picturesque in Germany. We passed through Weinheim, and left Heidelberg on our right. For many miles the road lay along the foot of hills clothed almost to their summits with luxuriant vineyards, and crowned with forests, from the midst of which, here and there, ruined castles were seen to emerge in gloomy grandeur. On the left was a level country, rich in corn fields and orchards, stretching to the Rhine, and bounded on the line of the horizon, with the extensive forests which skirt the banks of that river.

About five p. m. we arrived at Darmstadt, the capital and residence of the Grand Duke of Hesse Darmstadt, whose dominions we entered immedi ately on leaving Baden.

Darmstadt is a small, but elegant city. It appears to be in its infancy, and has very much the air of a fashionable watering place in England. The houses are all of stone, and in a beautiful style of architecture. The high street leads from the chateau through the centre of the city, and is terminated by a fine avenue of trees in a park, to which it opens. The chateau is a spacious and elegant building. We had not time to view the interior.

Leaving Darmstadt, we passed over extensive plains of corn, skirted by distant woods, and through

several villages that seemed the abodes of peace and comfort, and within a mile or two of Frankfort,

rose through the midst of a forest of stately trees to the brow of a hill, whence the busy scenes of the city, and the beauties of its surrounding country, dimly met the eye amid the gloom of the twilight.

Frankfort is at present restored to its pristine state of independence. Buonaparte gave to its citizens a Grand Duke; but they have got rid of him, and have now a free city, governed by a Burgomaster of their own choosing, and in possession of the liberties their ancestors enjoyed.

Frankfort is a large, irregularly built town, seated on the Maine, extremely populous and busy -the population is about fifty thousand souls. It is, perhaps, the chief commercial city on the continent, and merchants from all parts of Europe and Asia send agents to transact business at its annual fair. The cathedral is only interesting from its antiquity, its monuments, and the circumstance that the Emperors of Germany used to be crowned in it. Otherwise it has no attractions. It is mean as a building, very dirty, and much neglected in the interior-while, externally, it is surrounded by shops and shambles, by which it is completely hidden and disgraced. Many of the houses are spacious, and have the appearance of the abodes of wealthy merchants. There are great multitudes of Jews in the

city.* I had the good fortune, in my rambles, to find out the rag-fair of the place.

A very interesting ceremony took place in Frankfort the evening of our arrival. The first cart laden with the produce of the present harvest, and adorned with garlands, entered the city, preceded by the children of the different schools singing hymns. On its arrival before the principal Lutheran church, the minister came out and delivered an appropriate discourse, calculated to excite the gratitude of the people to Him who had crowned the year with his goodness. They seem to have suffered more severely from the failure of the last harvest, on the continent, than we did in England.

At Frankfort is the Bibliothèque du Conseil au Roemer, a library which contains 120,000 vols. and a great number of MSS. and early printed books. There are also many private collections of books,

*There are about ten thousand Jews in Frankfort. Their residence was formerly restricted to a particular part of the town, which was enclosed with walls, so that they could at any time be imprisoned in their own dwellings by locking the gates. So thickly were they then crowded together, that in seven houses which happened to be burnt down, there were found to have dwelt twelve hundred individuals. The established religion is Lutheran; but toleration has been very slow in its progress in Frankfort. Not more than twentyfive years ago, the Calvinists were obliged to go to a village on the opposite side of the Maine to enjoy public worship in tranquillity. They have now two handsome places of worship within the city.

pictures, antiques, coins, insects, &c. well worth the attention of the curious, but which we had not time to see. A Bible society was instituted there last year.

Not far from Frankfort we crossed the boundary line of that free state, which includes a few villages round the city, and entered the territories of the Grand Duke of Nassau. The first place we passed was Hochheim-where the famous wine, well known by the name of hock, is made. The vines grow upon an eminence near the Maine, which flows by the village. From thence the country was flat and insipid, till a long and gentle ascent brought us to the brow of a hill, and gave us a grand view of the venerable towers of Mentz, with the windings of the Rhine and the Maine. The latter river empties its waters into the Rhine before the walls of Mentz.

We passed through the garrison of Cassel, opposite to Mentz, and were received by the military with presented arms and beating of drums. An honour you will say quite out of my way. You are right-I ought not to have said we- the honour was intended for another, in whose society I have the happiness to travel.

Your's, &c.

LETTER XXVI.

COLOGNE.

MY DEAR

WE embarked yesterday morning on board a boat, or packet, which is here called a coche d'eau, and sailed, or rather floated down the Rhine to this place. The river runs at the rate of six miles an hour. But, before I leave Mentz, I must say something about that ancient, and, on many accounts, interesting city.

Mentz was formerly the first electorate of the German empire. It was also an archbishopric, and the archbishop and the elector were the same person. It was the privilege of the elector of Mentz to crown the emperors. It is now a bishopric simply, and the capital of Mont-Tonnerre. It was a Roman station, and the first town (Magontiacum,) was built by Drusus Germanicus. One of the archbishops was Boniface, our countryman. His monument is in the cathedral.