which formerly adorned the interior is now removed to St Gudule, at Brussels.

ST. QUENTIN, a fine edifice, was formerly a chapel renowned for many miracles. It was built as early as 1206, and contains several pictures by Crayer, Verhaegen, Quellyn, and Rombouts. In a little chapel close by is shown a stone crucifix, found in the earth, where it existed self-produced, having never been laid there by mortal hands. It is a prevalent opinion that the cross is yearly getting larger.

Among the edifices of Louvain should be mentioned the immense building, of which the French Government under the Empire made a Hotel des Invalides, and a prison formed of the great towers, between which opens the Porte de Diest near the railway station.

A MUSEUM exists in one of the halls of the Hotel de Ville, composed of a hundred pictures, for the most part by the first masters of the Flemish school. There are also in the town a botanic garden, and a cabinet of natural history and philosophy.

Of private galleries, the picture-gallery of M. Vanderschriek forms one of the most precious curiosities of Louvain. It is always open to artists as well as to strangers, and it must be said that its proprietor does the honours of it with the most graceful urbanity. The collection contains only chefs-d'œuvre, or rare paintings, and the best names of the Flemish and Dutch schools are represented there.

THE THEATRE in the Rue de Diest is open once a week, ordinarily on a Monday, a troop of players coming from Antwerp to perform.

THE POST-OFFICE is in the receiving-house near the canal.

Place du Peuple, and there is a The bags are made up at hours corresponding with the departure of the railway trains.

THE NEWSPAPERS are, the "Journal de Louvain," and a sheet of advertisements and gossip, called "Petite Affiches de Louvain."

HACKNEY CARRIAGES stand on the Grand Place as well as at the railway station. The fare is 1 franc per drive from any point in the town to another; or by the hour, 1 f. 50 c. for the first, and 1 f. for each following hour. The fare for two persons from the railway station to the town, and vice versá, is 75 c.; three persons, 1 franc; four persons, 1 f. 25 c.

LUXEMBURG.

[Hotel. H. de Cologne.]

Luxemburg is a town not likely to be visited by the traveller, unless he passes through it on his way from the Valley of the Meuse to that of the Moselle. Such a trip is one well worthy his attention.

To make it, he should leave Namur, and follow the course of the Meuse to Givet, and passing through the Ardennes reach Luxemburg, whence he would proceed to Treves, and so by the steamer down the Moselle to Coblentz, if on his way to the Rhine. The distance from Namur to Treves is altogether about 120 miles. The traveller going by the Meuse to Givet, of course would have that distance the less to journey by land. (See Tour of the Valley of the Meuse, page 47.) Luxemburg is a picturesque town with remarkable fortifications. There are public conveyances daily to Treves, which accomplish the distance in about seven hours. The neighbourhood of Luxemburg, and, indeed, the whole duchy, abounds with evidences of the public spirit which has of late years produced quite an emulation among Belgium agriculturists to reclaim waste lands. The Baron Vanderstraaten resides at the Chateau de Waillet, about a league from La Marche. The whole, or nearly the whole, of the land of the commune of Waillet belonged to him: but although it was nearly 1000 hectares in extent, it was so unproductive as to yield only about 4000f. a year. The baron allowed himself 3600 francs for his expenditure, and applied the remaining 400 to the work of reclamation. From this small beginning great results have come. He soon found that he could spend 1000 francs a-year on the enterprise, and so on he went, augmenting his exertions, till he has now become a wealthy proprietor, with a territory annually growing more valuable. The name of M. Feignart, Chateau de Rollé, near Bastoigne, may also be mentioned as that of a successful cultivator, although he is as yet only a beginner.

MALINES.-The River Dyle flows through Malines, and is navigable for small craft. The population at the last census was 25,000. From the cleanliness of its streets, it has been surnamed Malines la propre.

The lofty tower of the Cathedral (dedicated to St. Rumbold, and begun in the twelfth century) might be imagined the fragment of a gigantic fluted column, an appearance arising from the number and depth of the buttresses, of which, indeed, the tower almost entirely consists the interior is large and lofty. The carved pulpit represents "The Conversion of St. Paul." The altar-piece, in the north transept, "The Crucifixion," by Van Dyke, is a magnificent and surprising picture, transported hither from a church now pulled down. The view of the interior of the church by Leclerque, and also paintings by Luwé, Coxie, and Van Eyck, are worthy of notice.

This church was built in 1452: had the original plan been completed, the tower would have been the highest in the world, even higher than the great Pyramid. The view from the top of it is very fine: it appears, from an inscription, that Louis XV. once ascended it. The clock-dial, a fac-simile of which in stone may be seen in the centre of the Grand Place, measures 48 feet in diameter. The whole weight of the building rests upon a single arch, which serves as the principal entry to the cathedral. The tombs of the various bishops and nobles of Malines are very fine. Round the outer gallery is a series of twenty-five pictures representing "The Life of St. Rumbold;" some of them good, all very ancient: during the religious troubles, they were concealed, and thus saved from the fury of the iconoclastic zealots.-There is a good picture, by Abraham Janssens, of "St. Luke painting the Portrait of the Blessed Virgin."

THE CHURCH OF NOTRE-DAME contains some excellent pictures by Rubens, and here may be seen the autograph of the " Prince of Painters," affixed to the receipt for the payment of his works. “The Last Supper," by Erasmus Quellyn, is a fine painting; the bas relief, representing "The Elevation of the Cross," is by Fay d'Herbe, and is finely executed. There are several other pictures and statues.

THE CHURCH OF ST. JEAN also contains pictures by Rubens, besides exquisite carvings in wood by Verhaegen. Rubens painted so few small pictures, and those in his church are so exquisitely done, that the visitor will do well to examine them with care: the painter himself always cited as his best works those placed at Malines, more particularly the Adoration of the Magi, in this church. Cabinet pictures by Rubens are so rare, that the traveller will do well to devote a good portion of his time to the admiration of them. IN THE CHURCHES OF ST. CATHARINE AND ST. PIERRE there are some good pictures; but if pressed for time, a slight view may suffice.

THE CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME D'HANSWYCK is remarkable for a legend which informs us, that an image of the Virgin being found in a boat floating up the Dyle, against the tide, the spot where the church now stands, a solemn procession was ordered to take place in each century, which gave so much satisfaction that it was at length repeated at the interval of fifty, and afterwards of five-andtwenty years. In 1838, not fewer than 300 children of the most respectable families in Belgium took part in a religious pageant, to commemorate the miracle. The procession was attended by their Majesties, who were much amused at being represented by a miniature king and queen.

There is no town in Belgium which can vie with Malines for Catholic establishments; witness the Béguinage, which once contained 1400 sisters, and is still the largest convent of the kind in

this country. Also the Petit Séminaire, for the education of youth destined for the priesthood; it boasts 450 pupils.

The Archbishop's Palace, the residence of the Cardinal Archbishop, is a modern building.

Malines is celebrated for a dish called déjeuner de Malines, composed of pigs' feet and ears.-Though within twelve miles of the capital, Malines is the quietest spot in Belgium; and, being one of the cheapest, many families reside here for the purposes of economy and the education of their children.

Most of the "Mechlin lace" is made in Brussels.

THE CHATEAU OF RUBENS, at Steen, near the village of Elewyt, and TENIERS' HOUSE, at Perck, are situated between Malines and Vilvorde.

MANNHEIM.

[Hotels: Pfalzer Hof (good); Rossescher Hof, Rheinischer Hof.] Mannheim is a town of 24,000 inhabitants, and is situated a little above the confluence of the Neckar with the Rhine. The steamers touch at the Rheinbrucke, near the Europaischer Hof, an hotel great in its means of accommodation, but very expensive. The town is situated between two rivers, and lying rather low, has a damp atmosphere. The Rhine has here a great breadth. The Englishman will usually find at Mannheim a considerable number of his countrymen, many English families residing here permanently.

Mannheim was formerly the capital of the Palatinate: it is now the second residence of the Grand Duke of Baden, and the chief town of the circle of the Lower Rhine. Being one of the most modern, it is, architecturally, one of the most regular cities of Germany. The streets are perfectly straight, built with good houses, and so disposed that the whole city consists of 110 regular rectangles. This gives them an aspect of great sameness-so great, indeed, that a stranger finding himself in one street will, in all probability, be unable to tell it from another. Every four-sided block of houses is designated by a letter of the alphabet; and a number and a figure added to this suffices to designate the particular house in the block. It is very doubtful whether the traveller, after a few days' experience in Mannheim, will not prefer the historical or characteristic nomenclature of the older towns to this mathematical method of naming thoroughfares. The town was formerly fortified, but the peace of Luneville cost it these dubious defences, which in war were certain to mark it out for the enemy's attacks; and gardens are now laid out where formerly the works extended. There is a marble fountain, perfectly dry, in the Paradeplatz, with a statue,

cast by Cropello; and the beautiful Mordtplatz is ornamented with a stone group, by Van Der Brand. The town is kept particularly

clean: Göthe called it Das freundlich, reinlich Mannheim.

THE PALACE, built as a castle by the Elector Karl Philip, 172029, is one of the most extensive in Germany, and consists of three large squares. The left wing was almost entirely burnt in the siege of 1795; the right wing, built by the Elector Karl Theodore, intended for a museum, contains a gallery of indifferent Dutch paintings, a collection of rare copper-plate engravings, and another of gypsum casts from the antique, and a small cabinet of natural history.

THE PUBLIC BUILDINGS at Mannheim are neither numerous nor remarkable. The former Jesuits' college, now the Jesuits' church, has a high altar, adorned with columns of fine marble and a fresco painting.

THE THEATRE is one of the best in this neighbourhood. Schiller, who lived in a house on the Paradeplatz, produced his "Robbers” on this stage, in 1782. Kotzebue was murdered at the door of this building, by the student, Sand.

THE PROMENADES most frequented are the Planken, a long street planted with trees, extending between the Heidelburg and Rhine gates, and the gardens behind the castle, the Muhlaue, an island with pretty gardens near the confluence of the Rhine, and Neckar is also much visited.

Where Mannheim now stands, a village of the same name long existed. The Elector Frederic IV. of the Pfalz, built a castle there in 1606, and under him Mannheim became a city, chiefly peopled by settlers from the Netherlands, who sought here a refuge from the religious persecutions of their own sovereign. During the thirty years' war, it was conquered by Tully, by Bernard of Weimar, by the French, and a few days after by the Bavarians. In 1688 it was taken by Melac, after seventeen days' siege, and with eleven other towns of the lower palatinate, destroyed. When in 1699 it was rebuilt, Frederick William caused it to be fortified, and covered the pass by the Rheinbrucke with a strong tête de pont. It owes its present importance to the Elector Karl Theodore, who in 1721 made it his residence. In 1794, it was taken by the French, and in the following year by the Germans, after a dreadful bombardment. In the same year it passed again into the hands of the French by treaty, until the peace of Luneville restored it to Baden.

There is a diligence daily from Mannheim to Kreuznach, and several from Ludwigshofen opposite the town. The railway and steamers keep up a constant communication with Heidelburg, Coblentz, Frankfort, Carlsruhe, and Strasburg.