factures. Among these, the most noted are those of Eau de Cologne (prepared by about thirty different firms) and of tobacco, especially in the form of snuff.

The city owes its origin to the Romans, and was built at the instigation of Marcus Agrippa, about thirty-seven years before Christ, by the Ubii, whence it was first called Ubiorum Oppidam. Its population was enlarged in A.D. 50, by the arrival of a colony sent hither by Agrippina, wife of the Emperor Claudius, and was now called Colonia Agrippina. Many antiquities of the Romans are still found from time to time. After the Franks had possessed themselves of the city, it fell to Austrasia on the partition of the Frankish monarchy; and through a treaty between Ludwig of Germany and Charles the Bold, in 870, to Germany. In the beginning of the 13th century it acceded to the Hanseatic League, in which it contested with Lubeck the pre-eminence, and about the middle of the same century entered the confederation of Rhenish cities. As a free city it maintained a perpetual contest with its archbishops, who would not acknowledge its independence, but always claimed it for a princely appanage. Cologne was famed, not only for its trade the greater glory of which departed with the fall of the Hanseatic League-but also for its school of painters, and its university, founded in 1338. In 1801, its numerous foundations, abbeys, and monasteries were destroyed, as the city passed under the French dominion.

A BRIDGE OF BOATS connects Cologne with Deutz, on the opposite side of the Rhine. Over this bridge the good folks of Cologne are fond of strolling on a summer evening, to enjoy, amongst other things, the best view of their city, and probably to avoid for a season one of the peculiarities of its narrow streets-a peculiarity that has found notice in the verses of Coleridge, who, having sensitive nostrils, was driven to exclaim

Ye nymphs, who reign o'er sewers and sinks,

The river Rhine, it is well known,

Doth wash your city of Cologne:

But tell me, nymphs, what power divine
Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine?

COURTRAY.

[Hotels Hotel du Damier, Grande Place.]

Courtray (Flemish, Kort, yk) is a fortified town, possessing 19,000 inhabitants, and affording a good specimen of a Flemish town, its churches, canals, and streets. It is justly celebrated for its manufacture of linen and damask, of which it has been estimated 32,000 pieces are brought to market weekly. The first cloths were manufactured here in 1268, and in 1464 the number of drapers and

weavers exceeded 6000. The battle of the Spurs,-in which an undisciplined army of the Flemings, under the Count de Namur and William Juliers, completely defeated a picked French army under the Comte d'Artois,--was fought July 11, 1302, under the walls of this town. The French army lost twenty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry; among whom were sixty-three princes, dukes, and counts, seven hundred lords-banneret, and eleven hundred noblemen. The flower of the French nobility perished on that day. History has given the name of the Journée des Eperons d'Or, from the great number of golden spurs found on the field of battle. Seven hundred of them were hung up as a trophy in the church of Notre Dame de Courtray; and, as the cavaliers of that day wore but a single spur each, these vouched for the violent and bloody death of seven hundred distinguished soldiers. In revenge for this defeat, the French burnt Courtray in 1382, the church of Notre Dame and a few houses only escaping. Courtray is not very rich in remarkable monuments, with the exception of one fine Gothic, founded by the Emperor Baldwin, Count of Flanders, in 1238. This structure boasts a good picture of the Raising the Cross, by Vandyck. The Town Hall, is a Gothic structure, the interior containing two chimney screens, the sculpture of which is most elaborate, and well worth seeing. One is in the room used as a police court, on the ground floor, and the other in the council room. In the vestry of the church of St. Michael is preserved a chasuble, stated to have been worn by St. Thomas à Becket. Its immense size forms a singular contrast with the sacerdotal robes now in use. Courtray is the centre of the flax-growing district, and where the process of flax-dressing is carried on to a great extent. The seed is obtained from Riga, and the rotation of the other crops is regulated with reference to this one, which comes into the circle only once in seven or nine years. The quality of the produce seems greatly dependent upon the nature of the soil, and in some parts of Belgium where its culture has been attempted it has been unsuccessful. The strength of the flax produced in this neighbourhood well adapts it for thread.

DINANT.

[Hotel: Hotel de la Poste.]

Dinant is one of the halting-places for the tourist who wanders along the banks of the Meuse, and in it he will find good fare for so small a town, and, generally, moderate charges. So much has been said of it in another part of this volume, (page 49,) that instead of giving further descriptions in this portion of the work, we may refer the reader to the page indicated.

EMS.

Hotels: H. de Russie; Englische Hof.

Ems has enjoyed a high place in medical estimation on account of the character of its waters. In this respect it ranks as the equal of Wiesbaden, and the superior of Homburg. Standing on the banks of the widening river Lahn, upon the lower Taunus range, its elevation is about 500 feet above the level of the sea. The scenery arcund is pleasing, but the place altogether has a rather confined air. Going from England, the town of Ems would be the first to be reached by the traveller who intended to make the tour of the baths of Nassau, reserving Schlangenbad, Schalwach, and Wiesbaden, for subsequent examination. Ems has had perhaps more visitors from Great Britain than any other of the German bathingplaces, and this may be accounted for partly by its being the nearest-a point in the old days, before we had steam, of very considerable importance. Since we have had railways at command, and can travel at moderate cost, the very much greater beauty of Baden-Baden, and the larger amount of comfort to be had both at Baden-Baden and at Weisbaden, have sent the preponderance of travellers (very wisely) to those places. Ems has a considerable number of hot springs, but the supply of water is not so abundant as at other places.

The waters of Ems are used for drinking as well as bathing, and great is the congregation every morning around the source of the chief spring. The quantity ordered by the physicians to be swallowed is, however, much less than is advised and practised at some other German Spas. About a pint or a pint and a half seems to be regarded as a sufficient morning's dose at Ems. The stomachs of strangers require some schooling before even this quantity is readily digested. The popular season at Ems is during July and August, and the derangements of health found to be those most benefited, are those the growth of indolence and over-indulgence, inducing the thousand forms of dyspepsia. The baths are relaxing in their tendency, arising from their heat, and the rather sultry character of the whole place in summer time. Cold bathing would probably suit much better many who fondly hope for cure from the warm springs of Ems. The water contains a large quantity of alkaline matterakin to common carbonate of soda-and is consequently good for acid dyspepsia, and bad for alkaline cases. The early rising does good, and so does the exercise recommended and usually taken, because perhaps visitors have little else to do to while away time.

The buildings at Ems have no pretensions to architectural beauty, but are not altogether without a certain peculiar and picturesque character. They are all called by the general term bau,

as Lahn-bau, the bau, and so on.

building on the Lahn; the Neuer-bau; the OrangeThese buildings range along the irregular sides of an open space, having the Kur Haus in the midst. At any of these baus the visitor may hire lodgings, and as each has its conveniences for bathing on the premises, the invalids' home, and the curative means of the place, are found under the same roof. Some of these houses have an enormous number of lodgers-the Kur Haus, for instance, having accommodation for about one hundred and sixty, a number usually found there. The charges are not very moderate, when the cheapness of provisions in the neighbourhood is taken into account. Like all other places that have "a season," the visitor when he is caught is rendered profitable to the townspeople. It is customary to mark the prices of the rooms upon the doors-one and a half to two florins a day being an ordinary charge.

Ems has the usual characteristics of all German watering-placeswalks and rides cut in the woods, a Conversations-House, gambling and balls, music morning and evening, whilst the people drink the waters. It has only one street-all hotels. The charges at these are regulated by the police. Accounts are kept in florins and kreutzers at Ems.

FRANKFORT ON THE MAINE.

[Hotels H. Russie (best, but dear. The table d'hôte is celebrated for its excellence.) Weidenbusch-(good second-rate

house.)]

The free city of Frankfort being the seat of the Germanic Diet is the political capital of the confederation, of which, as an independent state, it is a member. It owes its chief importance, however, to the range and magnitude of the mercantile and financial operations carried on there, which renders its Bourse the great market for securities of governments throughout the world. Its favourable position in respect of navigation enables it, moreover, to command a lucrative trade throughout southern and western Germany, not only in the produce of its own teeming soil and busy industry, but also in the imports and exports of a considerable district which arrive here on commission. Frankfort, as it exists to-day, is essentially the creation of commercial enterprise; its palaces, in other cities the abode of princes, are here the dwellings of capitalists and bankers, the creditors of every government in the world. Historically, the city boasts an antiquity which carries us back into the obscurity of the feudal ages. Charlemagne found it a place of much importance, as he made his first campaign into these regions. Ludwig the Pious built there an imperial palace, Hed the Saalhof, and constituted the city the capital of the East

Frankish realm. From 1152 until the dissolution of the Germanic Empire the elections to the imperial dignity took place within its walls. In 1245 it was made a free city, and held this position in 1803, when with several others it lost its independence. After the formation of the confederation of the Rhine, it became part of the Grand Duchy of Frankfort assigned to the Prince Primate Charles of Dalberg. Upon the expulsion of the French the city regained its lost rights, and received as a state a definite territory of ninety-one square miles, comprising eight villages.

During the last European wars the city suffered severely; but it cannot be doubted that the devastations it suffered have given occasion to many material improvements. In 1848 and 1849 it was the scene of exciting events, as the seat of the great National Assembly of Germany. A melancholy episode in the history of those times, is the murder of Prince Lichnowski and Major Auerswald, which took place in the course of a popular insurrection, of which the visitor to Frankfort will be sure to hear much during his stay. An unpopular decision of the Assembly with respect to an armistice with Denmark, caused large multitudes to assemble round the Paulskirche on the 17th of September, 1848. The out-door meetings were addressed by Blum, Simon, and other republican leaders. Resolutions were passed denouncing the majority who ratified the armistice as guilty of "high treason against the majesty, liberty, and honour of the German people." The Senate of Frankfort sent word to the Regent that they would no longer guarantee order. The Regent induced part of his late ministry to resume office provisionally: the Austrian Schmerling took the combined Home, Foreign, and War Departments, and made prompt provisions against an outbreak; bringing Austrian, Prussian, and Bavarian troops into Frankfort.

The next day these measures were violently condemned in the Assembly by the Left, but it was evident that the Revolutionists were awed. Outside, the populace began to pelt the soldiery with stones and to raise barricades in the Zeil, the Allerheiligens Gasse, and other principal streets. Schmerling declared the city in a state of siege. The defenders of the barricades were summoned to surrender, and on their refusing to comply they were attacked by the Austrian and Prussian military. A sharp fight ensued, but the rioters were soon overcome, being ill armed, and not having the burghers on their side. By midnight every point was in the hands of the troops.

But before order was restored, the horrible murder of Prince Lichnowski and Major Auerswald had branded the republican party with indelible disgrace. After leaving the Assembly, of which they were members, they rode out of the town, by the Bockenheimer road, with the intention, it is supposed, of meeting the