BEAUTY OF THE CITY.

139

quent communication with a city so large, prosperous,

and beautiful.

The peculiar beauty of Hamburg it owes to the small river Alster, which flows through the town to empty itself into the Elbe. By placing a dam across this stream, the waters have been inclosed in a large basin, which is walled in by quays of stone, and is overlooked by a long range of stately edifices, so that the Alsterdamm designates the most beautiful part of Hamburg. Beyond the basin thus inclosed, the waters flow back into a broad sheet or lake extending several miles, and on its borders are the country seats of the merchant princes of Hamburg. We have just returned from a ride along the shore. It was the hour when men of business were returned from the city, and at every house we passed, the family were sitting on the green lawn before their door taking their tea in the open air, enjoying the long twilight and the delicious coolness which came from the water, and which tempered the heat of the warm summer's day. After ascending the lake for several miles, we crossed it in a boat, to come back to the city on the other bank. The sun was setting, and the golden clouds were reflected in the polished mirror beneath. As we approached the shore, we heard the sound of music from a garden where happy groups were sitting under the trees. We have come back to the Crown Prince hotel, which is situated on the Alsterdamm, and from our windows we look down on a

scene of enchantment.

Below us the water reflects a

thousand stars, and boats filled with gay parties are shooting across it in every direction. I hear the dip of their oars mingling with shouts of laughter and music. At such an hour as this all the world seems happy. Care and grief are banished far away. Sad is it that upon such fair visions the morn must break; the cold, grey light of reality must rest on scenes of sorrow and of death; and human passions will wake again to mar the face of the earth which the Creator has made so ́ divine.

CHAPTER X.

DENMARK-EXCURSION IN HOLSTEIN AND SCHLESWIG-LIFE IN A DANISH PARSONAGE.

COPENHAGEN, May 27, 1858.

İr

was a bright summer's morning on which we left the fair city of Hamburg, and drove across the line to the old Danish town of Altona. This is the gateway to the duchies of Holstein and Schleswig, which have figured so much in European politics for the last few years. As we entered these provinces, so lately the scene of bitter strife, our first impression was that they were hardly worth fighting for. The railroad runs along a high and sterile ridge which extends through the whole Peninsula. As seen from the route the country is a vast plain, and that not rich and cultivated, like Holland, but a bleak and barren moor, such as in Scotland would be thought fit only for the grazing of sheep. At present its chief value seems to be, like the bogs in Ireland, to furnish the inhabitants with fuel. All along the road, the turf is cut up, like clay for the limekiln, generally in square picces, like brick, and piled up in rows, to dry in the sun; and this is the protection of the people against the

But how desolate was Coming out of a busy

rigors of their northern winters. the scene presented to the eye! city, it seemed as if we had entered at once into the solitude and silence of the desert. One could not feel more lonely even in the Campagna around Rome, where the only living object that meets the eye is the shepherd and his flock, and the only sound the barking of the watch-dog.

Yet, like the Campagna, these desolate moors have once been populous with men. Over these silent plains have passed savage hordes, which shook the earth with their tread. In the north of the Peninsula lies the Province of Jutland, which was the home of the terrible Cimbri, who, with other Baltic tribes, once ravaged France and Spain, and carried terror to the gates of Rome. In the Museum of Northern Antiquities at Copenhagen, may be seen the implements of war of this savage race. Here, too, were celebrated the rites of Odin, centuries before Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea. And here, at a later day, came another conqueror from the south. Yonder town on the right was founded by Charlemagne.

Nor is this country now so uninhabited as it seems. Off from the line of the railroad, if you turn to either side, the country is of surpassing fertility and richness. Nearer to the coast, are many towns of ancient date, and some of a present commercial importance. Kiel is one of the principal ports in the Baltic. It was the rendez

vous of the English fleet in the late war, before it proceeded to Cronstadt.

The population throughout Holstein and the southern part of Schleswig is largely German, and it was the conflict of the German and Danish elements, which, after the revolutions of 1848, broke out into such fierce hostility, that this peaceful country was plunged into all the horrors of civil war. The German party was supported by the sympathy and secret aid of Prussia, and this prolonged the contest for three years; nor was it terminated until several pitched battles had been fought, in the last of which were brought into the field, counting both armies, fifty thousand men, and nearly five thousand were killed and wounded! This ended the war, and reëstablished the authority of Denmark over its rebellious provinces. The fortified town of Rendsburg, through which we passed, was the chief point of the Holsteiners. It changed hands several times, and was not finally secured to Denmark until the last decisive battle. we traversed the country, we heard many tales of the war. Though the fighting is ended, the difficulty seems not yet settled. Prussia still supports the cause of Holstein, and the question remains a subject of controversy between Denmark and Germany. It is evident that the fires of discontent, though subdued, are still smouldering, and in the event of another general revolution in Europe, would at once break out anew.

As

From Altona a railroad runs direct to Kiel, and a