It was properly about this period that I first became acquainted with my native city, which I strolled over with more and more freedom, in every direction, sometimes alone, and sometimes in the company of lively companions.  To convey to others in any degree the impression made upon me by these grave and revered spots, I must here introduce a description of my birthplace, as in its different parts it was gradually unfolded to me.  What I liked more than any thing was, to promenade on the great bridge spanning the Main.  Its length, its firmness, and its fine appearance, rendered it a notable structure; and it was, besides, almost the only memorial left from ancient times of the precautions due from the civil government to its citizens.  The beautiful stream above and below bridge attracted my eye; and, when the gilt weathercock on the bridge-cross glittered in the sunshine, I always had a pleasant feeling.  Generally I extended my walk through Sachsenhausen, and for a Kreutzer was ferried comfortably across the river.  I was now again on this side of the stream, stole along to the wine-market, and admired the mechanism of the cranes when goods were unloaded.

But it was particularly entertaining to watch the arrival of the market-boats, from which so many and such extraordinary figures were seen to disembark.  On entering the city, the Saalhof, which at least stood on the spot where the castle of Emperor Charlemagne and his successors was reported to have been, was greeted every time with profound reverence.  One liked to lose one’s self in the old trading-town, particularly on market-days, among the crowd collected about the church of St. Bartholomew.  From the earliest times, throngs of buyers and sellers had gathered there; and the place being thus occupied, it was not easy in later days to bring about a more roomy and cheerful arrangement.  The booths of the so-called Pfarreisen were very important places for us children, and we carried many a Batzen<> to them in order to purchase sheets of colored paper stamped with gold animals; though one could but seldom make his way through the narrow, crowded, and dirty market-place.  I call to mind, also, that I always flew past the adjoining meat-stalls, narrow and disgusting as they were, in perfect horror.  On the other hand, the Roman Hill (Romerberg) was a most delightful place for walking.  The way to the New-Town, along by the new shops, was always cheering and pleasant; yet we regretted that a street did not lead into the Zeil by the Church of Our Lady, and that we always had to go a roundabout way by the Hasengasse or the Catherine Gate.  But what chiefly attracted the child’s attention, were the many little towns within the town, the fortresses within the fortress; viz., the walled monastic enclosures, and several other precincts, remaining from earlier times, and more or less like castles,—­as the Nuremberg Court, the Compostella, the Braunfels, the ancestral