however,
that the object of the Austrian government in reconstructing these works
were to keep its own subjects at Vienna in check. But in this case it would
be much more advisable to construct a fortress on the heights of Kahlenberg
or of Leopoldsberg, both of which command the city and the whole expanse
below. The Turks were encamped on the Kahlenberg at the famous siege of
Vienna.

Vienna proper, the old town, is a Gothic city, but a very handsome one. The
streets are in general broad and well paved; but the _Places_ or Squares
are small. With the exception of the _Herrengasse_, where the nobility
reside, the rest of Vienna is inhabited by shopkeepers and wholesale
dealers; and the shops are brilliant and well fitted up. The _Kaernthner
Strasse_, a long and tolerably broad street, and the _Kohlmarkt_ present
the greatest display of wealth. Indeed the _Kaernthner Strasse_ may be
considered as the principal street; this street and the _Kohlmarkt_ have a
great resemblance to the finest parts of Holborn. The _Graben_ also present
a fine display of shops and may be termed the Bond Street of Vienna. The
_Sanct Stephans Platz_ where the Cathedral church of Vienna, called _St
Stephans Kirche_, stands, is the largest _Place_ in Vienna. The Cathedral
is a very ancient and curious Gothic edifice, and the steeple is nearly 450
feet high. I happened to enter the Cathedral one day on the occasion of a
solemn requiem celebrated for the soul of Prince Metternich's father. Had
it been for the son, instead of the father, many an honorable man
persecuted at the instigation of that most machiavelic of all ministers,
might exclaim in making a slight alteration in a well known epitaph:

Cy-git M---- ah! qu'il est bien
Pour son repos et pour le mien!

Among the other striking buildings in the old town is the _Hofburg_ or
Imperial Palace, a very extensive quadrangular building, with a large court
in its centre. A Guard mounts here every day at eleven o'clock. It was in
one of the saloons of this palace that the celebrated Congress of Vienna
was held; a Congress whose labours will be long and severely felt by Europe
and duly appreciated by posterity, who will feel any other sentiment but
that of gratitude for the arrangements entered into there. The _Hofburg_
was built by Leopold VII in 1200. This building, from its being extremely
irregular and from its having received additions at intervals in the
different styles of architecture, ha