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classical subjects, in the possession of a well-known English connoisseur.

Dresden china, if old and fine, was, and is, doubtless, beautiful, and much of modern Dresden has its charms to those who do not esteem refined art. But there were other factories in the past German Empire which produced specimens of surpassing beauty: need I name Frankenthal, Fulda, Carl Theodore, as also Nymphenburg?

I recently beheld a set of this latter china, which belonged to the Countess Damer, who left ten millions of thalers to the poor; her collection of China was also sold: this specimen, now in the collection of a friend in England, is exquisite. I venture also to remark, as I have already said, that first-rate Dresden china, particularly figures, are rarely surpassed; but the trickery and humbug, if I may use the word, are also rarely surpassed. As regards Nymphenburg, many of the finest specimens were painted by the justly celebrated artist "Auer," his signature is on the admirable service to which I have alluded.

CHAPTER IX.

VIENNA.

WHEN the fruit-trees are in the full blossom

of late spring-time, and all nature is alive,

there are few pleasanter scenes than that on which the traveller looks as he journeys from Dresden by the banks of the Elbe, to the Austrian frontier at Bodenbach. From thence to the ancient city of Prague the route is scarcely less interesting; and a few days' ramble amid the mountains of the Saxon Tyrol will amply reward all lovers of the picturesque,

Ere I commenced my quests as a bric-à-brac hunter in various capitals and towns throughout Europe, I felt, and still feel, that I might possibly create additional interest by briefly describing to my readers the countries and places in which for a time I lingered, rather than by dwelling merely on the tastes which induced such pursuits, inas

much as to those who have not precisely the "bricà-brac" fever, which causes me to halt at every window of what is generally termed a curiosity-shop, some few words in reference to the modes and manners of those far away in foreign lands, among whom my pursuits have led me to associate-as to the beauties of nature which, from time to time, my wanderings have enabled me to look upon and enjoy-must, I imagine, cause pleasant sensations to the lover of travel. Any man, be who he may, who has ears to hear and eyes to behold, who in simple language can tell his tale of other lands, and offer his experiences for the benefit of his fellow-men, must cause pleasure to many who seek knowledge beyond the narrow channel which divides them from people of other tongues, tastes, and habits.

Take, for instance, the volume recently offered to the perusal of her subjects by our gracious Queen; how simple the language, how truthful and pleasant the descriptions! Yet I would scarcely desire to call that man a Christian, or my friend, who could read it with a heart untouched with

admiration-that in every word he finds the woman, with all the best feelings of human nature predominating over the position of the queen. But I must return to the subject of bricà-brac.

I once heard or read of a Spanish nobleman who possessed, as Spanish grandees not seldom do possess, innumerable titles. Travelling in Navarre, this haughty hidalgo was benighted during a heavy thunderstorm, and pulled up after midnight at a small posada, the owner of which had retired to rest. After much ringing and knocking, mine host's head appeared at the window of an upper story, and he begged to be informed who was below and what they wanted. "It is the Duke of, Marquis of, Count of, and so forth, grandee of Spain," replied one of the hidalgo's followers. "Well then," said the sleepy host, "vados ustedes con Dios, for I have no room for so many." Such is precisely my case as regards the anecdotes which crowd on the mind of the travelling bric-à-brac hunter. So I must hasten on to Vienna.

Now, wheresoever I wander, I make it a rule to obtain all possible information from my fellowtravellers, if cognisant of their language; and again and again I have found the practice of no common value. I am fully aware that one of the most striking attributes of our national character is the reserve peculiar to Englishmen, who are in the habit, when visiting foreign lands, of intrenching themselves against every possibility of making new acquaintances with their fellow-men by any other means than the formally accredited medium of personal introduction. "I never was introduced to him," observed some one in palliation of not having rushed forward to aid a drowning stranger.

A characteristic anecdote has also been told of an Englishman, for the truth of which I can vouch. This punctilious traveller, who was no doubt impressed with that habitual idea of selfimportance which we too often carry beyond the white cliffs of Albion, found himself, in the course of his continental travels, at a ball given by a British ambassadress. While pleasantly engaged

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