of the empire. In effect, it exalted the power of the seven electors, as they were called, at the cost of the imperial authority. It gave the king of Bohemia a place among the said seven; fixed Frankfort as the place of election; named the archbishop of Metz convener of the electoral college; gave to Bohemia the first, to the Count Palatine of the Rhine the second, place among the secular electors. In all cases a majority of votes was to be decisive.

"Peace and order," says Dr. Bryce, "appeared to be promoted by the institutions of Charles IV., which removed one fruitful cause of civil war. But these seven electoral princes acquired, with their new privileges, a marked and dangerous predominance in Germany. They were to enjoy full regalian rights in their territories; causes were not to be evoked from their courts, save when justice should have been denied; their consent was necessary to all public acts of consequence. Their persons were held to be sacred, and the seven mystic luminaries of the Holy Empire, typified by the seven luminaries of the Apocalypse, soon gained much of the emperor's hold on popular reverence, as well as that actual power which he lacked. To Charles, who viewed the German empire much as Rudolph had viewed the Roman, this result came not unforeseen. He saw in his office a means of serving personal ends; and to them, while exalting by endless ceremonies its ideal dignity, deliberately sacrificed what real strength was left. The object which he sought steadily through life was the prosperity of the Bohemian kingdom and the advancement of his own house. In the Golden Bull, whose seal bears the legend

'Roma caput mundi regit orbis frena rotundi,' there is not a word of Rome or of Italy. To GerTo Germany he was indirectly a benefactor by the foundation of the University of Prague, the mother of all her schools; otherwise her bane. He legalized anarchy, and called it a constitution."

Since the days of Austerlitz Charlemagne's crown, until the present remarkable epoch, has. rested on no imperial brow. Many of the losses which Austria had suffered at Napoleon's hands were repaired by the treaties of 1815; but the empire of Germany was not restored, and the Hapsburgs were forced to be content with the new

* Rome, the head of the world, holds the reins of the circular sphere.

imperial crown of Austria. In August, 1863, however, the present emperor made a bid, as it were, for the old leadership of Germany, which for some years had been divided between him and the king of Prussia; and in the ancient Germanic capital he convoked all the German kings and princes, to discuss with him the future interests of their fatherland, and the reforms required in her constitution. But the hostility of Prussia checked the move, and foiled the designs of the Austrian statesmen.

But at all events Frankfort could rejoice that for a moment the eyes of Europe were fixed upon her, as in the old historic days. And she had some reason to be proud with a civic pride when, before the princes assembled at the banquet, under the imperial roof of the Roemer, the emperor of Austria pledged it in a cup of wine. The wealth of the old days once more poured into the treasuries of the Frankforters. Fifty thousand strangers were attracted from all parts of Europe by this gathering of kings, princes, grand-dukes, princelings, statesmen, soldiers, and courtiers. It was an imperial revival on a grand scale, but "for this occasion only." The emperor was lodged in the Roemer, as was the custom with his ancestors; but he was not to wield the sceptre of the Holy Roman Empire. It was a glorious dream, a dazzling mirage. As for practical result, it had As for practical result, it had none, unless we look for it on the field of Sadowa!

Amongst the ecclesiastical buildings of Frankfort, the first and foremost is necessarily the Dôm, or cathedral, also called the church of St. Barthelemy. This is a cruciform edifice, which has been erected at different epochs-the nave about 1238, the choir between 1315 and 1338, and the aisles somewhat later. The effect of the whole is certainly quaint and picturesque, but the details do not harmonize thoroughly. The Dôm was restored in 1855. It measures about 310 feet in length, and 270 in width. On the right hand side of the principal entrance is conspicuous an enormous clock, with an astrolabe and a perpetual calendar, of the fifteenth century. The interior contains a number of objects more or less worthy of attention. The ancient tombs of the Holzhausen, with their remains of colouring, must not be overlooked. In the choir are some noteworthy frescoes of the sorrows of St. Bartholomew and the graces of St. Mary Magdalene, besides rude, bold wood-carving of fourteenth century date. In the chapel on the

left, a fifteenth century sculpture, representing the Virgin on her death-bed, astonishes by its singularity of conception. The artist will find matter for criticism in a Christ on the Virgin's knees, attributed to Dürer; an Assumption (over the high altar), by Veit, in the style of Rubens; and a Holy Family, after Rubens. For the simply curious spectator the objects of interest are many and varied; the ancient armour hanging from the walls; the painting, on leather, of the interior of St. Cecilia's tomb; some fine copper lamps; and, among other tombs, that of Gunther von Schwarzburg, elected emperor at Frankfort in 1349, and shortly afterwards poisoned. The monument was erected in 1352. It stands close beside the door leading to the old chamber of election. Observe, that in the centre of the Dôm, and just at the entrance to the choir-that is, at the point where the nave intersects the transepts-the emperors have undergone the ceremony of coronation since the days of Maximilian II.

St. Leonhard's Church is memorable as occupying the site of the ancient palace of Charlemagne, who assembled, as the Chronicles tell us, the bishops and princes of the empire here at Frankensfurd, or the "Frank's ford." In the interior are some interesting objects. The altar-piece is by Stieler, a Bavarian artist.

The Sachsenhausen, founded by the Saxons about the epoch of Charlemagne, is chiefly inhabited by gardeners and vineyard-labourers. To the left, as we enter it, our eye rests on the Deutsche Haus, the residence of the knights of the old Teutonic order, but now degraded into a barrack.

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The quay, which from the bridge runs along the right bank of the river, as far as the Obermainthor, is called the Schoene Aussicht, or "Beautiful Prospect." At its further end is placed the library, built in 1825. Among its bibliographical curiosities are a MS. Bible, purchased at Rome about 1350, and formerly in the possession of the Gutenberg family; the Mainz Bible of 1462, on parchment; and Gutenberg's Bible, the so-called Mazarin.

The Stadel Museum (of pictures) is situated in the Neue Mainzer Strasse, and named after its founder, a Frankfort burgher, who bequeathed all his paintings, drawings, and engravings to the city, besides a sum of £83,000 for the erection and maintenance of a public gallery. In the first room there is Moretto's admirable Virgin and Child, with the four Fathers of the Latin Church, purchased at an expense of 30,000 florins. In the second, the chef d'œuvre is Lessing's Huss before the Council of Constanz. In the third, we remember an ancient and curious altar-piece, and a tasteless but cleverly composed Triumph of Christianity in the Arts, by Overbeck. In the sixth room, Schnorr, Schadow, and Steinle are represented.

The Fresco-Saal contains an allegorical fresco by Veit, representing Christendom introducing the Arts into Germany; and a terra-cotta composition by Andrioli (1561) of the Virgin and Saints.

Sinkenberg's Museum of Natural History is near the fine old Eschenheim Gate, and contains a tolerably well-selected, but not very large, cabinet of natural history specimens.

TAY

MAINZ.

MAINZ (in French and English, Mayence), one of the principal towns of the German empire, is situated, at an elevation of ninety to ninety-five feet, on the right bank of the Rhine, almost opposite the mouth of the Main. Its population exceeds 40,000. With the left bank of the German river it is connected by a bridge of boats, and by a strong iron bridge at some slight distance from the city. This latter bridge was opened in December, 1862.

The circumference of Mainz, including its military outworks, may be computed at three leagues and a half. Three main gates, without including those of the quay, opening on the Rhine, provide a communication between the interior of the city and the country; namely, Neuthor, on the Oppenheim and Worms road; Gauthor, on the Paris road, viâ Algey and Kaiserslautern; and Münsterthor, on the road to Bingen, Coblenz, Trier, and Creuznach.

Now for a general description of the city.

A bird's eye view, could it be obtained-or an aerostatic voyage, which is equivalent to it-would show you Mainz in the form of a perfectly-defined arc of the circle, the chord being represented by the river, and the circle by the fortifications. These fortifications are founded on Vauban's system, but with many modifications, the fruit of modern engineering study. They are considered by the best judges to be of a very formidable character; and it will be observed that the river, on one side, acts as a deep, broad, and comparatively impassable fosse. In addition, a very powerful citadel, in front of the town, commands its passage, and threatens to overwhelm any assailant. Like a gigantic star, it projects in four angles, and its four bastions, bristling with artillery, bear these heroic or sinister names: Drusus, Germanicus, Tacitus, and Alarm. The latter, partly situated in the suburb of the city, is strengthened by a mine, and, from far or near, seems to say to the passer by, "Who goes there?"

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Mainz is another example of the folly of converting populous cities into great military posts. It is literally choked within the strong grasp of its walls. Hence its streets are narrow and muddy, and its houses are carried to a great height to compensate for the want of superficial space. A busy and numerous population seem, in their marts and markets, to shoulder, to jostle one another.

The history of Mainz dates back to a period anterior to the Christian era. Whether the Germans had a settlement here, no antiquary seems able to determine; but thirty years before the birth of our Saviour, Martius Agrippa, one of the lieutenants of Augustus, constructed here an intrenched camp. This fortress, which was afterwards known as Moguntiacum, was rebuilt, twenty years later, by Agrippa's successor, Drusus Germanicus; who also raised, on the opposite bank of the river, a castellum (castle), and united the two by a massive stone bridge, some remains of which are visible to this day.

In A.D. 70 Moguntiacum was garrisoned by the twenty-second legion, which had conquered Judea and destroyed Jerusalem, under the orders of Titus. The ancient tradition affirms that St. Crescentius, who was one of the first to preach the religion of Christ on the banks of the Rhine, and who suffered martyrdom in 103, was a soldier in this legion before becoming a soldier of the church militant, and first bishop of Mainz.

In 235 Alexander Severus, while meditating a campaign against the Germans, was here waylaid by a small band of mutinous soldiery, incited, it is said, by his rival Maximinus, and murdered, along with his mother, in the thirtieth year of his age and the fourteenth of his reign.

After the crashing downfall of the Roman empire, Mainz successively fell into the hands of the Allemanns, the Vandals, and the Huns. Destruction had swept over it, and it was but a heap of ruins when its bishop, Sidonius, with the help and patronage of Dagobert II., king of the Franks, began to rebuild it, but on a site nearer the river bank. It was surrounded with walls in