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I proceeded to Ems from Coblentz, crossing by the bridge of boats which I formerly described, and ascended the Lahnstein; so called from the Lahn, a most beautiful and sequestered glen, such as you would like to visit for its own sake. Some most conspicuous places upon its banks, celebrated castles, or castellets and fortresses, are named or described in Guide books; which once were the strongholds of German princes, and have submitted to the destiny of such princes in modern times, or rather of such castles in Germany; they have degenerated to be rather vestiges of antique and picturesque beauty, than the habitations of nobles or chiefs,

Bulwer's "Pilgrims" had an advantage; they were better guided than I was, or better understood their instructors than I did. They commenced their tour from the thal, or valley of Ehrenbreitstein, and paused at the remains of a Roman tower in the way. These ancient conquerors have left frequent witnesses to their progress and power. The mountains of Taunus are still intersected with roads which the Romans made to the mines that supplied them with silver. Urns and stones, inscribed with names utterly unknown; urns, from which the very dust they were consecrated to retain, is altogether perished, but which were designed as memorials of Roman affection or fame, and are now a type and proof of the uncertainty of all earthly visions, are often found in these ancient places. Bulwer calls them "a very satire upon life." Lone, grey, and mouldering, the tower stands in the valley; and where once echoed the clang of Roman arms, are often seen the white belt and lifted bayonet of the Prussian soldier in his modern uniform. Bulwer's pilgrim saw and smiled at such a soldier "paying his momentary court to a country damsel, whose straw hat and rustic dress did not stifle the vanity of her sex." Strange, indeed, if they did; they were as much her gewgaw vanities as the richer attire of more highly bred travellers; but

"this rude and humble gallantry, in that spot, was another moral in the history of human passions. Above, the ramparts of a modern rule frowned down upon the solitary tower, as if in the vain insolence with which present power looks upon past decay; the living race upon ancestral greatness. And, indeed, in this respect rightly; for modern times have no parallel to that degradation."

I suppose the pilgrim meant that base semblance "of human dignity stamped upon the ancient world by the long sway of the imperial harlot, all slavery herself, yet all tyranny to earth; and, like her own Messalina, at once a prostitute and an empress." To my mind the valley of the Lahn presented many attractive and interesting remnants of intermediate power and ambition, left by the feudal lords or ecclesiastical dignitaries, who ruled when imperial dominion no longer was paramount. The castle of Lahneck, the village of Nieder, or lower Lanstein, the church of St. John, and the iron-works of Hohenrain, tend to variegate the scenes upon the Lahn; while roads diverge to Archeim and Fachbach, through rural and sequestered hamlets of great beauty. The main road along the margin of the tributary stream is shaded and ornamented by chestnut trees and shrubs of lower growth, so as to render the journey pleasant and refreshing, even for an invalid in an open carriage. The Duke of Nassau has his tolltakers and lackeyed mercenaries stationed where his province joins the Prussian dominions. It seemed to me beneath the dignity of a prince to place his insignia upon the highway of nations to intercept the tribute of strangers from other lands; while such restrictions appeared impolitic, as far as they would prevent increased population, or intercourse among the inhabitants of his territories, and the addition of wealth by commerce with other countries.

Proceeding through this beautiful valley, you come to Ems, or the Badens of Nassau. Here, appearances as you enter have nothing more than the semblance of a quiet

THE BUBBLE BLOWER.

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country village. When, however, you have advanced. through some of its streets, and pass into the heart of the town, you are surprised to find the rocks immediately jutting over the very eaves of the houses, and you would fancy that there was exceeding danger of the stones as debris that would break off from the face of the Baederly, falling through the roofs of the houses, and affording the inhabitants no great feeling of security.

I venture most reluctantly to differ from the high authority of the "old man," who so gracefully, and to the admiration of all, cast forth the "Bubbles of Brunnen," in his description of Ems. I will not deny that the society here strongly resembles the Dutch dissyllable bobbel, which wants solidity and firmness, as the lexicographer hath it. Neither will I dispute, but with truth he might have further applied to all the occupations of the sojourners, as far as I saw them, the quotation from Macbeth, "the earth hath BUBBLES, as the water has, and these are of them." Yet I do demur to his harsh and depreciatory animadversions on nature's scenery, where he says, "I passed through Bad Ems, a small village, which, composed of hovels for its inhabitants, and, comparatively speaking, palaces for its guests, is pleasantly enough situated on a stream of water (the Lahn) imprisoned on every side(why did not he say environed, skirted, or beautified on every side?)-by mountains which I should think very few of its visitors would be diposed to scale." Their indisposition would be their own fault, and not from the lack of attractions, that are quite equal to other scenes which even the old man admired, and has rendered famous in other parts of Nassau. "From the little I saw of the place," what could he see or hear, taking his own account of his progress?" I must own I felt no great disposition to remain in it. Its outline, though much admired, gives a cramped, contracted picture of the resources and amusements of the place, and as I drove through it, (my postil

ion, with huge orange-coloured tassels at his back, proudly playing a discordant voluntary on his horn,) I particularly remarked some stiff, formal little walks, up and down which many well-dressed strangers were slowly promenading; but the truth is, that Ems is a regular, fashionable watering-place. Many people, I fully admit, go there to drink the waters only, because they are salutary, but a very great many more visit it from far different motives; and it is sad as well as odd enough, that young ladies who are in a consumption, and old ladies who have a number of gaudy bonnets to display, find it equally desirable to come to Bad Ems. This mixture of sickness and finery, this confusion between the hectic flush and red and white ribbons; in short, this dance of death, is not the particular sort of folly I am fond of; and, though I wish to deprive no human being of his hobby-horse, yet I must repeat I was glad enough to leave dukes and duchesses, princes and ambassadors, whose carriages I saw standing in one single narrow street," (the old man must have used his glasses after all,) "to be cooped up together in the hot expensive little valley of Ems :" (how did he know it was expensive, or even hot?) "an existence, to my humble taste, not altogether unlike that which the foul witch Sycorax inflicted upon Ariel, when 'in her most unmitigable rage,'she left him hitched in a cloven pine.'"

Had the old man paused to blow some of his bubbles at Ems, I incline to think he would have described the woods in its vicinity as inviting to shady walks, and the summits of its hills as accessible by a quarter of an hour's ramble, though rather a steep ascent, whence the donkey-mounted invalid, or the more vigorous pedestrian, may enjoy pure breezes and expanded views over the Rheinland. Here are verdant pastures, and umbrageous woodlands, quite equal to those which he has described with such effect in the Rheingau, or the " Bacchanals' Paradise." The Romans called the place, which was known to them for its agree

THE DUKE'S POLICE.

303 able waters, Amasis, and oft resorted thither. The springs rise out of the substratum designated grauwacke rock : the temperature of their water is respectively 23° and 37°, Reaumur. Even in the Lahn there are not only minor springs, but also jets of carbonic vapour, so strong as to destroy the life of animals. The resort of visitors increased in ten years more than double; amounting to nearly 4,000 persons in 1840. The waters here are reputed peculiarly efficacious in female complaints, and Ems is par excellence, the ladies' bath.

The valley on the right side of the river, speaking of it as you descend the stream, presents only a very narrow space, on which these houses are built; on the side of the river there being no more than room for a promenade on one part. There has been between the main street and the river, however, erected a very large hoff, or hotel, under the immediate control, and for the special revenue of the Duke of Nassau, which, as a landlord, he rents to those that seek accommodation, under the superintendence of the Badmeister. There are residents who occupy the saloon and bazaars, recently erected for the convenience of visitors, and filled with every variety of nicknackery : other buildings have been recently completed, which are furnished as the receptacles of guests who choose to spend a season within their walls. One of the saloons, or rather a suite of them, is set apart for gambling purposes, and large sums of money are squandered in gaming amongst those that are the guests, the invalids, or the convalescents who reside there.

The native subjects of the duke are not permitted to gamble; he exercises a sort of paternal supervision over them; a policeman, under the duke's direction, is present during all the gambling hours. It is only the strangers whom it is intended to fleece, and right well they are fleeced too; paying more for their gambling than for the benefit which they derive from the spas. Ems is not,