is already nearly as high as the towers of Notre Dame at Paris.  Should the spire, according to the plan, be placed upon this monstrous trunk, Strasburg would be, comparatively speaking, small by its side.[B] It has always struck me that nothing resembles ruin more than an unfinished edifice.  Briars, saxifrages, and pellitories—­indeed, all weeds that root themselves in the crevices and at the base of old buildings—­have besieged these venerable walls.  Man only constructs what Nature in time destroys.

All was quiet; there was no one near to break the prevailing silence.  I approached the facade, as near as the gate would permit me, and heard the countless shrubs gently rustling in the night breeze.  A light which appeared at a neighboring window, cast its rays upon a group of exquisite statues—­angels and saints, reading or preaching, with a large open book before them.  Admirable prologue for a church, which is nothing else than the Word made marble, brass or stone!  Swallows have fearlessly taken up their abode here, and their simple yet curious masonry contrasts strangely with the architecture of the building.  This was my first visit to the cathedral of Cologne.  The dome of Cologne, when seen by day, appeared to me to have lost a little of its sublimity; it no longer had what I call the twilight grandeur that the evening lends to huge objects; and I must say that the cathedral of Beauvais, which is scarcely known, is not inferior, either in size or in detail, to the cathedral of Cologne.

The Hotel-de-Ville, situated near the cathedral, is one of those singular edifices which have been built at different times, and which consist of all styles of architecture seen in ancient buildings.  The mode in which these edifices have been built forms rather an interesting study.  Nothing is regular—­no fixt plan has been drawn out—­all has been built as necessity required.  Thus the Hotel-de-Ville, which has, probably, some Roman cave near its foundation, was, in 1250, only a structure similar to those of our edifices built with pillars.  For the convenience of the night-watchman, and in order to sound the alarum, a steeple was required, and in the fourteenth century a tower was built.  Under Maximilian a taste for elegant structures was everywhere spread, and the bishops of Cologne, deeming it essential to dress their city-house in new raiment, engaged an Italian architect, a pupil, probably, of old Michael Angelo, and a French sculptor, who adjusted on the blackened facade of the thirteenth century a triumphant and magnificent porch.  A few years expired, and they stood sadly in want of a promenade by the side of the Registry.  A back court was built, and galleries erected, which were sumptuously enlivened by heraldry and bas-reliefs.  These I had the pleasure of seeing; but, in a few years, no person will have the same gratification, for, without anything being done to prevent it, they are fast falling into ruins.  At last, under Charles the Fifth, a large room for sales and for the assemblies of the citizens was required, and a tasteful building of stone and brick was added.  I went up to the belfry; and under a gloomy sky, which harmonized with the edifice and with my thoughts, I saw at my feet the whole of this admirable town.