elberg has 800 students, and a library
of 200,000 volumes and 1,800 MSS.

The castle is the most magnificent ruin in Germany. The towers, turrets,
buttresses, balconies, and fine statues still stand there, proud and bold,
even in its ruins. And the portcullis of iron in one of its lofty gateways
gave me the first idea how the balance of the enemy could be shut off,
after a portion had been admitted into the yard of the fortifications with
a view of slaughtering them. The iron bars of this portcullis or sliding
gate are very thick and heavy, and have sharp points below. A tower stands
over the gate, into which the portcullis is drawn up. The defenders of
castles would sometimes conceal themselves and keep perfectly silent on
the approach of an enemy, as if the castle had been abandoned, but as soon
as as large a portion of them as they thought they could dispose of, had
entered, the portcullis was dropped, which, on account of its immense
weight, of course made its way to the ground even, if it had to pierce the
bodies of a dozen that stood under it! Hereupon the alarm was sounded and
all that were inside were barbarously slaughtered. In some castles there
were large pit-falls full of pointed spears standing upwards. As soon as a
large part of the enemy were upon this pit, they would be precipitated
into the spears below! At other places there were immense rollers, and
only one approach to the castle, which lead directly up the hill. When the
assaulting enemy made its approach by this, the hillside was filled with
the enemy's soldiers, these rollers would be loosened upon them, and thus
the bodies of many thousands would be mangled in a minute! Such was the
barbarity of the ancients.

I will not forget the long walk I had all alone through one of the
underground passages of the Heidelberg Castle. I saw a pale light at the
other end, when I entered; but it was dark in the middle, and turned out
to be much longer than I had anticipated. These passages are about 7 feet
high and 10 feet wide, and are arched by a brick vault. The illumination
of this ruined castle on the evening of August 23rd, constituted one of my
grandest sights in all Europe. It seemed to be enveloped with flames of
such an intense heat, that its walls, towers, &c., appeared to be about to
melt down! As the colors of the illuminating light changed suddenly from
yellowish white to blue, green and red, the scene was so indescribably
beautiful, that numbers