flowers, not yet completely faded, were either lying at the feet ' of the Saviour, or adorning the brows of his mother.' On returning, a bright, fresh wreath of beech leaves was observed twisted round the bust of a wooden virgin, which had evidently been placed there by the guide who attended them in the

ascent.

، There is something to me extremely pleasing, says Mrs. Trollope, <in these untoward and visible signs of religious feeling, especially when demonstrated where no human eye is expected to approve: nor can they, I think, be classed with those superstitious observances with which the Roman Catholic religion has been so unreasonably reproached.' Vol. I. p. 168.

Mrs. Trollope must mean-either that these observances are not superstitious, or, that they do not belong to the Roman Catholic religion, which has, in fact, adopted them from the more ancient faith, usually called Paganism.-Which does she mean? But not only is our Author much pleased with the rites of the Romish faith: its social influence also seems to have excited her admiration as being decidedly conservative. Speaking of Belgium, where, she assures us, by a figure of rhetoric we will not define, the King of Holland still reigns in the hearts of the majority' (!!) She says:

6

Nothing can present a stranger anomaly in human affairs, than the sight of a nation deeply and severely Catholic, attempting to ape the chartered libertinism of political thinking, which a few noisy and discontented persons are endeavouring to teach them. The law which authorizes unrestrained license of tongue and pen, both public and private, on all subjects, whether political or religious, accords ill with the principles of a people whose religion commands them to bring their thoughts, words and deeds before the tribunal of their priests.' Vol. I. p. 61.

The obvious meaning of this is, that a nation'deeply Catholic,' being held in abject submission to their priests, are incapable of political liberty, and not likely to trouble their heads about it. Witness Belgium and Ireland. We are often told by Conservative politicians, that the British Constitution is inapplicable to Ireland; the above theory may account for it. The liberty of the press and of public speaking ill accords, it seems, with the principles of the Romish faith, which discountenances such liberalism. What an excellent argument this would have formed for passing the Irish Coercion Bill with all its clauses, so accordant as they were with the religious principles of the Irish people! Unhappily, however, there is one flaw in this representation. We admit that there is some degree of truth in it ;that the tendency of the Confessional is to fetter and debase the

spirit of the people;-but this conservative and sedative influence can have free play only where the Romish faith is the established religion, and the Papal Church is in close alliance with the State. Were this the case in Ireland as in Belgium, and were the priests on the side of Government, there would be found little difficulty, perhaps, in coercing the people into the most servile obedience. We submit this consideration to Earl Mansfield and those hereditary legislators who think, with his Lordship, that an Establishment of any religion, is preferable to any religion without an Establishment.

6

6

There was a time-alas! even in Germany, it has passed away -'when princes and priests felt mutual dependence and mutual reverence. The abbot passed from his convent to the presence ' of his sovereign, unchallenged and unannounced, to be consulted ' on the prince's political anxieties, and to afford him the comfort ' and assistance of his advice. The sovereign,' with equal privacy, 'would enter the cell of his confessor." That for purposes such as these, the palace, the convent, and the church were placed in immediate juxta-position, (as still to be seen at Mannheim and elsewhere,) cannot be doubted. Such intimate com'munion,' remarks Mrs. Trollope, is now no longer needed; but, perhaps, it requires the test of longer experience than has ' yet been given it, before the advantages to be derived from withdrawing the voices of churchmen from the councils of the 'State shall be clearly ascertained.' (Vol. I. p. 281.) Instead, therefore, of relieving bishops from their political duties in Parliament, might it not be wiser, perhaps, to restore churchmen to seats at the council-table;-to make Bishop Philpotts, for instance, Lord Chancellor, or Dean Merewether, Secretary for the Home Department? We believe that the office of Royal Confessor is not formally abolished. What if this were revived, and connected with a seat in the Cabinet? The suggestion may startle those of our readers who have not drunk of the 'precious ' wisdom' which wells from German fountains. But we would ask, whether there is any greater inconsistency in a church'man's' being prime minister, than in his being a leader of opposition in the House of Lords; using the word churchman, of course, in the Romish sense. In other words, what renders it more unsuitable to the character and office of a Minister of the Church of Christ, to be first Lord of the Treasury or of the Admiralty, than to occupy the throne of a prince palatine, or to mingle in the political strife of the senate, and sit in the highest court of judicature as at once a legislator and a judge?

We have dwelled too long, perhaps, upon the religious and political sentiments obtruded in these volumes, which, as the mere opinions of the Writer, would not have been worth observation; but, as being evidently intended to gratify the patrons

and proneurs of her former work, and to ensure a like success, they are not undeserving of being placed in a broad light, as indicating the spirit of the anti-liberal party. But we shall now proceed to the more pleasant business of selecting from these volumes a few specimens of the Author's talent for description. We find nothing that strongly tempts citation, till we reach the banks of the Necker, at Heidelberg. The pencil has familiarized us with the majestic castle, hung in mid air', which there forms so magnificent a feature of the lovely landscape; and all that Mrs. Trollope can do is, to record' her delight, wonder, and ' intense astonishment at the marvels, both of art and nature, so 'lavishly spread' before her. Her account of an excursion up the valley to Neckersteinach is pleasingly described.

'On quitting the town, (Heidelburgh,) by the southern side of the river, we passed under a gateway of some pretension, but no great elegance. The drive, through this narrow valley, to Neckergemund, is as full of beauty as any two or three leagues which any of us remembered. One pretty feature of it is the working of the red-stone quarries, on the opposite side. This continues, at intervals, the whole way; each quarry being divided from its neighbour by jutting crags, too beetling, perhaps, to be worked; but diversified with a beautiful sprinkling of dwarf oak and beech, that contrive to push forth almost horizontally from their fissures. Nothing can be more picturesque than the numerous groups of labourers, employed in blasting, raising, and launching the stones down to the river's edge. This last operation adds no trifling charm to the scene. The continual masses sent from a great height, rolling, bounding, springing, and rattling as they descend, till they finally dash into the water, create a sort of fearful interest by no means unpleasing, when watched from the opposite side of the Necker; but, woe to the unwary wanderer who may chance to take a fancy for rambling on the northern bank! The encountering a train, on the Manchester rail-road, would hardly produce more certain destruction, than would a contact with one of these falling rocks.

The pretty village of Neckergemund hangs, most trinket-like, upon the chain of hills we had followed from Heidelberg. A bright little mountain brook comes dancing down, among its cottages, to join the Necker; and it seems probable, that this brook is sometimes sufficiently copious to occasion a very inconvenient augmentation of the latter stream; for we read, on several houses, inscriptions, recording the height of the water at different periods, in some of which all the lower part of the village must have been submerged.

We have crossed the river,-carriage, horses, and all,-in a flatbottomed boat, just large enough, and not an inch to spare. The Necker makes a turn at this place, almost at right angles; and, when we were in the middle of the stream, and could command both reaches at once, the view almost suggested the idea of fairy land; so much did the bold, unexpected objects, which became visible, exceed all we had seen, or hoped to see. In looking towards the country we had passed, we observed that the river assumed the appearance of a lovely lake,

surrounded on all sides by towering cliffs; and, on turning the eye forward, a lofty, conical, forest-covered hill presented itself, crowned by a circular town, which covers its summit completely. A ruinous, embattled wall surrounds the whole; and a mighty tower, of size most disproportioned to the town it guards, rises magnificently against the

sky.

On reaching the left-hand shore, the road continues close to the water's edge; till, at the distance of two miles, the ancient town of Neckersteinach, unquestionably one of the loveliest spots in this most lovely land, appears in sight.

From this point, to the little hotel to which we had been directed, a distance of about half a mile, we drove through some scenery which really looks as if the objects had been brought together purposely to enchant the eye. The marvellous Tilsberg, with the circular town and lofty tower on its brow, rises steep and abrupt, on the opposite side of the river, from the midst of a little, bright, green, level meadow on its bank. Before us was the rambling town of Neckersteinach, scattered up and down the little hill on which it stands, with abont a score of light craft moored before it; and, above our heads, towering rocks and dark forests rose steep and high, with the ruins of two stately castles looking down upon us from among them. On another rising knoll, quite distinct from all the hills around it, stood the dismantled, but less ruinous remains of two other bergs; which seemed to have their strength linked together by walled terraces erected between them. The Necker makes a sudden, but beautiful, sweep round the little meadow at the foot of the Tilsberg; and the curving shore opposite, the boats, the houses, and their hanging gardens, the ruined castles, and the forest-covered height on which they stand, altogether form a picture very seldom equalled. It was just such scenery as one longed to revel in, without the incumbrance of carriage and horses, or anything else to prevent one's turning first this way, and then the other, without any restraint whatever.

We wasted but little time in bespeaking dinner, giving orders to the driver about our return and such other ordinary matters, ere we found ourselves climbing the isolated knoll, towards the most curious, though the least ruined, castle of the four. But, before we reached it, another pleasure awaited us; for, on attaining the summit of the little ridge, and looking down upon the side of it, farthest from the Necker, instead of seeing the undulating ground which generally connects such an elevation with the loftier heights in its vicinity, we beheld a little valley deep sunk below us; so bright in verdure, and so tempting from its cool and quiet shade, that nothing prevented my immediately descending into it, but a timely recollection of the labour of returning. Through this emerald valley flowed a stream, rapid, deep, and clear, called the Steinach; which a guide-book describes as "le ruisseau le plus anciennement cité loin à la ronde." If it were cité for its exceeding beauty, I can well understand this; for it is just such a stream as an errant knight might wish to reach, when longing to slake his thirst, after a fierce and fiery combat, or to repose his limbs on a velvet turf, under the eternal shade of lofty hills and umbrageous oaks.

After gazing at this miniature valley, till we had sufficiently re

VOL. XIJ.-N.S.

T

freshed ourselves by the sight of its coldness, we proceeded to the castle; which, old records say, was the residence of a powerful baron : -lord, not only of the valley and the stream, but also of the knights who inhabited the three other strong holds in its neighbourhood, and who held them as his vassals, and for his security. One of these subject knights acquired the name of Landschaden, signifying "curse of the country," or something very like it; which amiable appellation remained with his race till a few years ago, when the last male died childless. The castle of his chief, though the oldest of the four, and known to have existed in the year 1140, is still in part habitable. The Rittersaal has, probably, been little changed; being still a large handsome room, commanding most lovely views by two large windows, one looking across the Necker towards the Tilsberg, the other to the little valley of the Steinach.

'While recrossing the river on our return, we were much struck by the beautiful appearance of the Steinach brook, where it runs into the Necker. I have seen the clear Ohio join the muddy Mississippi; and, still more to the purpose, I have seen that turbid stream rush among the bright blue waves of the Mexican gulf; and, in both instances, there is a very tardy mixture of their waters; but the pertinacious purity of the sparkling little Steinach is more remarkable than either. It flows gayly and swiftly through the gentle descent of its own valley; but, just where it joins the Necker, it comes down with a vehemence which carries it pure and pellucid, for a longer distance than I could have believed possible, before it is stained and lost in the stronger and coarser stream.' Vol. I., pp. 297–313.

A day was subsequently devoted to the examination of Heidelberg castle; and a true and particular description thereof is supplied from the Author's note-book. We must do Mrs. Trollope the justice to say, that she did not hurry through the scenes she describes, but set herself laudably to see what was to be seen; so that her volumes will furnish some useful hints to future tourists.

Mrs. Trollope was delighted with Baden-Baden. The reduplication of the word (Baths) is, we suppose, by way of emphasis, to distinguish it from all other watering-places of the same name. 'Not all I had heard of the beauty and the brilliancy of Baden,' says our Tourist, had prepared me for the exceeding loveliness ' of its situation, which seems to contain within itself every pos'sible attraction that a watering-place can offer.

The surpassing grandeur of the scenery has been so constantly dwelt upon, by all who have looked on it, that the hopeless task of description is rendered unnecessary; but should I be tempted to express some of the delight it afforded me, I beg to be forgiven, in behalf of my earnest desire to inspire all tourists with a wish to visit it, who can in any way contrive to bring it into their summer excursion. That they will thank me, if I succeed, I am very sure;-let their