I will say nothing of two little caskets, studded with cameos and turquoises, in this chapel of fairy land—­(built by Maximilian I.) of which one contains two precious pictures by Jean d’Aix la Chapelle—­and the other (of massive gold, weighing twenty-four pounds) a painting of the resurrection and of paradise, in enamel.  Even the very organ is constructed of gold, silver, ebony, turquois and lapis lazuli ornaments; of pearls and of coral.  As to the huge altar of massive silver—­adorned with cariatides, candelabra, statues, vases, and bouquets of the same metal—­and especially the pix, lined with diamonds, rubies, and pearls—­what shall I say of these—­ALL the fruit of the munificent spirit of MAXIMILIAN?  Truly, I would pass over the whole with an indifferent eye, to gaze upon a simple altar of pure gold—­the sole ornament of the prison of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots; which Pope Leo XI. gave to William V. Elector of Bavaria—­and which bears the following inscription: 

  EXILII COMES ET CARCERIS IMAGO
  HAEC MARIAE STUARDAE, SCOT.  REG. 
  FUIT, FUISSET ET CAEDIS, SI VIXISSET.

Not less marvellous things are told of the Jewellery in this palace of wonders:—­among which the BLUE DIAMOND ... attached to the order of the Golden Fleece—­which is set open, and which, opposed to the sun, emits rays of the most dazzling lustre,—­is said to be the nonpareil of coloured precious stones.  It weighs 36 carats and 144 grains.  Of the Pearls, that called the PALATINAT, half white and half black, is considered the greatest curiosity; but in a cabinet is preserved the choicest of all choice specimens of precious art and precious metals.  It is a statue of St. George and the Dragon, of the height of about a foot and a half, in pure and solid gold:  the horse is agate:  the shield is of enamelled gold:  the dragon is jasper:  the whole being thickly studded with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls—­to the number of at least two thousand!  Another cabinet contains the crowns of emperors, dukes and....  But you are already dazzled and bewildered; and I must break off the description of this ENCHANTED PALACE.

What is of easy access is rarely visited.  I asked several of my acquaintance here, whether this spectacle were worth seeing?—­and they as frequently replied in the negative as in the affirmative.  But the PICTURE GALLERY I have seen, and seen with attention;—­although I am not likely to pay it a second visit.  I noted down what I saw:  and paid particular attention to the progress of art in the early German school of painting.  I knew that this collection had long enjoyed a great celebrity:  that it had been the unceasing object of several of the old Dukes of Bavaria to enrich it; and that the famous Theodore, equally the admirer of books and of pictures, had united to it the gallery of paintings collected by him at Manheim.  It moreover contained the united collections of Deux-Ponts