novel of Mary of Burgundy. In 1539 they refused to contribute to a tax levied upon the county of Flanders, alleging that it was a violation of their privileges. The governor of the Netherlands, Mary, sister of the Emperor, Charles the Fifth, imprisoned all the citizens of Ghent whom she found without the city, and vowed to retain them captives until the town should have submitted. The inhabitants established a government of their own, drove out the nobility, and threatened to proclaim the King of France their sovereign. But they paid dearly for this opposition to the imperial authority; for Charles hastened from Spain with a considerable force, soon quelled the rebellion in his native city, executed twenty of the ringleaders, banished the rest, forced the magistrates to appear with cords round their necks, and condemned the city to a fine of fifty thousand florins in gold, with which he constructed a citadel. Ghent took a very active part in throwing off the Spanish yoke; it was, however, obliged to surrender to the Duke of Parma in 1584. It was twice taken by the French in the seventeenth and once in the eighteenth century.

The Town-Hall, which we here present to the reader, is a fine specimen of Gothic architecture. Its erection is placed as far back as the ninth century. One part is still in its original state, the rest has been unfortunately modernized. In this spacious building many of the turbulent proceedings recorded above were decided.

HORNBERG.

SIR SAMUEL ROMILLY calls Hornberg the most beautiful and picturesque town which he ever beheld. It is situated at the foot of the mountain-range of the Black Forest, and the new road up the sequestered valley of the Gutach enables the traveller to enjoy the fine scenery for which this district is celebrated. Near the post-house of Krum Schiltach is the water-shed of the two great rivers of central Europe; the waters of the Rhine flowing in one direction, those of the Danube in the other.

Hornberg is the capital of the district of the same name in the Circle of the Upper Rhine, in the Grand Duchy of Baden. It contains one hundred and fifty-four houses, and two hundred and fifty-seven families: the number of inhabitants is one thousand and eighty-five Protestants and eighty-two Catholics. Hornberg is mentioned as early as the year 1191, at which time it belonged to a noble family of the same name, who lived in the castle above the town. About the middle of the fourteenth century they acknowledged the supremacy of the counts of Wurtemberg, and allowed them the right of entry into the castle. When this family became extinct

Hornberg devolved to the neighbouring borough of St. Georgen, under the jurisdiction of the lords of Falkenstein, and after other changes in 1532, under that of Wurtemberg. Ulrich of Wurtemberg assumed the sovereignty, and introduced the reformation. The inhabitants of Villengen conquered Hornberg in the name of the Swabian Confederation; and in the thirty years' war the Emperor Ferdinand the Third took possession of the town, but made over the revenues of the domains to the Villengers, as an indemnity, in 1633. By the treaty which put an end to the war, the town again devolved to Wurtemberg. In 1778 Hornberg suffered greatly from an inundation of the Gutach, and in 1810 it was attached to baden, to which state it still belongs.

The castle, which is likewise called Althornherg, or Old Hornberg, was conquered by the French in 1703, since which time it has been frequently taken and retaken. In the latter half of the eighteenth century two houses were built on the castle-hill, in which the Princess of Thurn and Taxis, a princess of the house of Wurtemberg, passed twelve years in exile. Of the castle itself only a ruined tower remains. The two houses command a most beautiful view of the surrounding scenery.

CHARLES THE FIRST.

THE portrait of the unfortunate prince, which we here present to the reader, is taken from the well-known picture in the Dresden Gallery. It is unnecessary to revert at length to the character of Charles. Notwithstanding the many domestic virtues, which would have enabled him to pass through life respectably in a private station, posterity has pronounced a severe judgment upon him in his public capacity as king, and few can question its justice. Even those writers who profess to be his panegyrists are obliged to admit the want of sincerity which pervaded his actions, nor could the critical events of the civil war induce him to act with perfect faith even towards those who risked their lives and fortunes in his service. Whatever were his faults he suffered severely for them; and the dignity with which he bore his misfortunes, and closed his unhappy life, under the most trying and dreadful circumstances, fill the mind of the severest reader with compassion for the fate of this wavering champion of royal prerogative.