The large chandeliers are entirely of white crystal. The fairies could not desire a more enchanting grotto. Sans Souci is approached by a succession of terraces, covered with vines and ornamental trees. There is a succession of low buildings with a colonnade, from which a fine view is obtained of the garden and adjacent palaces. Frederick the Great died here, where we saw the old clock, which he used himself to wind up, and which was stopped at the moment of his death, twenty minutes past two. Near by stands the famous historical windmill, which Frederick the Great desired to purchase, that he might pull it down and extend his gardens in that direction. The miller refusing to sell, the King brought suit against him and was defeated. He afterward erected the present windmill "as a monument of Prussian justice." In the vicinity of Sans Souci, also, there is a beautiful villa, called the Charlottenhof, built in Pompeian style, with a bath, fountains, statues, and bronzes, taken from the ruins of Pompeii. Here we entered two small rooms which Baron Von Humboldt occupied when residing with the King. His writing desk, chair, toilet stand, with comb, hair-brush, and small mirror, and other furniture, are seen as he left them.

In the Garrison Church, an unpretending house of worship here, we stood by, and saw by the light of a candle, the metallic coffin of Frederick the Great. It is in a plain vault, to which we were conducted by the female custodian entrusted with the key to his tomb.

After an hour for lunch and rest, we went to the Babelsburg Palace, the most charming of all, where the Emperor and Empress now reside. In Germany it is customary to sleep singly, and, like

us travelers, the Emperor has his single bedstead, and a very plain one indeed—a common low wooden article, such as you may buy anywhere in the shops. The walls of one small room are covered with a large number of horns and stuffed heads of wild animals, all slain by him in his earlier years. We were shown his walking stick, a rough twig with part of the bark peeled off, which he cut when a lad, and which he still uses in his garden walks. We felt like doing a little Yankee whittling on it; but presuming he prefers it as it is, we did not offer our services.

Of all the palaces we have yet seen, could we have our choice for a residence we should choose this. Taken with all its surroundings, its beautiful apartments furnished with everything in the way of art that heart could desire, the enchanting view of river, fountains, gardens of flowers, or other charming sight, no matter in which direction the eye is turned, it comes the nearest to what we might fancy Paradise to be of any place within our knowledge. Our advice is, if you go to Berlin do not fail to see Potsdam.

CHAPTER XX.

RESDEN, AUGUST 16.—We came here from Berlin on the afternoon of the 4th instant, and were driven directly to a private boarding-house previously kindly recommended to us by Lorenzo Brentano, Esquire, United States consul, where we have been made comfortable and quite at home during our stay. of a Hungarian officer, now absent on duty, to be gone two years. She is a lady of refinement, and has two beautiful children, a girl and boy. Dresden is pleasantly situated on both sides of the Elbe, the part called the "Old Town" being on the right and the "New Town" on the left bank of the river. The old stone bridge connecting the two towns is a magificent structure one thousand four hundred feet in length and thirty-six in width. "On the center pier a bronze crucifix has been erected to commemorate the destruction of the fourth pier from the side of the Alstadt by Marshal Davoust, to facilitate his retreat in 1814, and its restoration the same year by the Emperor of Russia." There is also a railroad, carriage and foot bridge half a mile further down.

The house is kept by the wife

We have spent a good deal of our time in the picture Galleries, which are among the finest in the world. Admission is free four days. in the week. These Galleries, the Armory, and the Museum of Natural History are all contained in a building called the Zwinger, which "was originally intended as the vestibule of a new palace, which Augustus II. intended to erect in the early part of the eighteenth century, but was never carried further. It is a fine

group of buildings surrounded by an inclosure planted with orange trees, and forming an elegant promenade, much frequented by the citizens." Only an artist may hope to give any satisfactory description of the pictures in these Galleries, the more noted of which have been often described. Here is Raphael's "Madonna di San Sisto," with its angelic faces, a separate room being devoted to its exhibition. It is being constantly copied and engravings and photographs of it are common. Holbein's "Madonna" is likewise exhibited in a separate room set apart for it. Some of Correggio's most celebrated pictures are seen here,-"The Virgin and the Infant Christ in the Manger;" "The Virgin and Child with Saint George;" "The Virgin and Child with Saint Francis;" and his "Recumbent Magdalen." Other noted pictures are the "Reclining Magdalen," by Bartoli; "Tribute Money," by Titian; "St. Cecilia," by Carlo Dolce; "Adoration of the Wise Men," Marriage in Cana," and "Finding of Moses," by Paul Veronese; "Judgment of Paris," and "Garden of Love," by Rubens; "The Entombment," by Rembrandt; Van Dyck's portrait of "Old Parr," at one hundred and fifty-one years; "Bacchus and Child," by Guido; "The Vestal Virgin," by Angelica Kauffman; and "The Chocolate Girl." This last is a full-length portrait of a beautiful waiting maid, carrying a cup of coffee on a small waiter. Attracted by her great beauty, an Austrian nobleman made her his wife, and so she became famous as "La Belle Chocolatière."

66

The Military Museum is a store of interesting relics and curiosities. Here are all sorts of weapons, from the early ages to the present time. The trappings of the war horses are richly set with precious

stones and gold and silver decorations, while the armor of their riders is fashioned to protect the human form in the fiercest contest with the spear or sword. We saw here the robes worn by Augustus the Strong at his coronation as King of Poland; also the horse-shoe which he broke by the pressure of his hand, his cuirass, weighing one hundred pounds, and his iron cap, twenty-five pounds. "He is said to have lifted a trumpeter in full armor, and held him aloft in the palm of his hand; to have twisted the iron bannister of a stair into a rope; to have made love to a coy beauty by presenting in one hand a bag of gold and breaking a horse-shoe with the other." We were not less interested in seeing the cocked hats of Peter the Great and Frederick the Great; also, Napoleon's boots, which he wore at the battle of Dresden, and the shoes he wore at his coronation. Goethe's note-book was also shown

to us.

The Museum of Natural History afforded an hour's agreeable entertainment. The wonder of Dresden, however, is the "Green Vaults." These are in the basement, or on the ground floor of the Schloss, or Royal Palace. An admission fee of two thalers ($1.50) is charged for one to six persons. This is the treasury of the Saxon royal family, and is said to contain the most renowned collection of precious things on the continent of Europe. "It occupies eight rooms of the western wing of the Royal Palace, and comprises not only the jewels and the silver vessels of the royal family, but also a great many specimens of the finest works of art from the end of the sixteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth century." The name "Green Vaults" is supposed to have come from the green hangings which origin