mstadt, and is garrisoned by Austrians and Prussians, in equal
force, generally eight or ten thousand. Exclusive of these, the
population is nearly forty thousand. We walked about, and looked at the
fine Cathedral, which was sadly shut up by houses and shanties. It was
too late to enter it. You may be sure, Charley, that we found out the
monument to John Guttemberg, the inventor of movable types. It is of
bronze, and was designed by Thorwaldsen, and stands in front of the
Theatre, once a university. After perambulating the town till weary, we
came to the bridge of boats, sixteen hundred and sixty-six feet long,
and which connects Mayence with Cassel, a strongly fortified place,
where the railroad depot is located. At this bridge are several boat
mills, or tide mills, where grain is ground by the tidal action. They
look strangely, but work well. On the bridge we met many Austrian
officers in rich uniforms, most of them young, and, I thought, very
aristocratical in their bearing. Our dinner on board the boat was as
profuse as the day before; and I must not forget to tell you that we had
an English lordling, son of a former premier, on board, with his lady,
on their matrimonial tour. He was the worst-mannered young man that I
have seen in Europe; and when he had ogled the company sufficiently with
his glass, and manifested his contempt pretty plainly, he and his betook
themselves to the interior of his carriage. He was quite young, and may
grow better behaved. We took the ears at dark, and after riding
twenty-two miles found ourselves at Frankfort, having passed through
Hochheim, where the vineyards are so costly that the railroad company
had to pay well for the passage-way. Here we put up at the Hotel
Angleterre. Forgive this long letter; but I could not well shorten it,
and I want you to know just what we saw.

Always yours,

JAMES.

Letter 42.

STRASBURG.

DEAR CHARLEY:--

James's long letter gave you a pretty correct view of our passage from
Coblentz to Frankfort. You will recollect that we went up the Rhine,
which gave us more time to look about; but I fancy that in going down
stream the shores would show to better advantage, if possible, than in
the ascent. From Coblentz to Mayence the river is narrower than before;
and every rock more precipitous than its neighbor, has a castle. How
some of these towers were built, or could be got at, seems a mystery. I
had no idea of the number of these robbers' nes