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of my mentioning three. The first is the Scotch Benedictine Abbey Church of St. James, which is one of the most perfect Romanesque churches in South Germany; it consists of a nave and aisles, with an eastern chancel and apse flanked by square towers and western transepts. Internally, the old flat boarded roof remains. There is a fine late Romanesque doorway on the north side, and remains of a cloister on the south. The Dominican church is very long and lofty ; it is a good speci men of early second pointed work, and was commenced in 1278. It contains a good set of stalls and several fine monuments. The chapter house and cloisters remain in their original con dition, and arc interesting. The Abbey church of St. Emmeran is a large much modernized Romanesque building, full of ancient monuments, and contains a very interesting porch or narthex, a fore court with a curious first-pointed gateway, and a beautiful Romanesque crypt under the western choir. There is a suberb silver shrine containing the body of St. Emmeran ; it is a work of the fourteenth century; and in the sacristy are preserved some very early vestments and crosiers of the abbots, who were also princes of the empire. On the south side is a very fine cloister, part of which is most beautiful first-pointed ■work ; most of the windows have been replaced in the four teenth century ; those which remain consist of an open arcade of four arches supported upon coupled columns surmounted by a small well window. The domestic architecture of Ratisbon is certainly the most ancient of any town in Germany. The “ Goliaths-haus ” is a perfect specimen of a thirteenth-century town dwelling house, which has suffered scarcely any alterations. The windows consist of open arcades, supported upon detached shafts with the casements placed behind them, so that the woodwork of the windows is quite independent of the architectural members. This form of window is very common in Ratisbon, and above a hundred examples of it may be found in various parts of the town. The lofty square towers which are to be met with in nearly every street of the town are also remarkable features. They were evidently used as dwelling-houses, as they are all furnished with large windows of the kind already described. The Rathhaus, which was completed in the year 1400, is a most interesting building ; it has a remarkably rich door way, and a very prettily designed bay window. The interior contains some old furniture and tapestry. The old bridge over the Daube. with its gateway tower, is also worthy of notice. On the road from Ratisbon to Munich is Landshut, a most interesting and beautiful old town, with one of the finest streets in Germany, and a church with a tower 420 feet high, entirely constructed of brick. This church contains a splendid old stone high altar and pulpit, and is of noble dimensions. There is also a castle containing a very curious First-Pointed chapel, with a gallery all round ; four altars, one of which is in the gallery, and stands under a First-Pointed ciborium, ornamented by two very singular niches. The whole is a re markable specimen of First-Pointed work. The Church of St. Jodoc and the smaller church of the Abbey of Geligenthal, in the same town, are also worthy of notice. A few miles further, on the Munich road, is Moosburg, with a large Romanesque minster. The church is exceedingly plain, but contains one of the most superb old high altars in Germany. The reredos is carved in wood, and is nearly 60 feet high; the whole is richly decorated with gilding and colour. The doors of the small shrine are painted by the elder Holbein, and there is a large picture of the “ Carrying of the Cross” at the back of the altar. An inscription, let into the wall of the choir, records the fact that this altar was given by Louis “ the Rich” in the year 1464. There is a very elaborate set of stalls of the same date as the high altar, and two fine monuments of the earlier part of the sixteenth century, carved in red marble. The church has been restored and decorated at the cost of about £12,000, which has been raised in the town by the exertions of the parish priest, who cannot be too highly praised for the zeal and judgment which he has displayed in this good cause. Augsburg is, perhaps, the most dignified-looking of all the German towns: its wide streets, noble houses covered with frescoes, and lofty towers, give it an air of importance and grandeur superior even to Nuremberg. The “Carolinen,” “ Maximilian,” and “Jacobs” Streets are amongst the noblest in Europe. The churches, however, are inferior to those of Ratisbon or Nuremberg, and have suffered terribly from modernization. The Cathedral is not a grand or imposing building, but is, nevertheless, singularly interesting. It con sists of a nave erected in the year 995 ; western choir and transepts, partially of the same date ; two square towers at the east end of the nave, of Romanesque work ; and a fine lofty eastern choir, with aisles “ chevet,” and surrounding chapels of good fourteenth-century work; the aisles and vaulting of the nave are also of this date. What, however, most deserves our attention is the valuable and interesting furniture contained in this building, In the apse of the western choir, immediately to the rear of the altar, is a marble throne supported upon the backs of two lions ; this is evidently a very early work, and may date as far back as the eighth century. On the south side of the same choir is another throne, of late Romanesque work, over which is a stone canopy supported upon columns, the shafts of which are decorated with carved foliage and reptiles. The altar is placed in such a' position that the celebrant faces the congre gation when saying mass; it is surmounted with a lofty reredos of bronze, erected between the year 1321 and 1346. There is a good set of stalls, of late fifteenth-century work, and a metal screen separating this choir from the nave. In the clerestory of the nave are four stained glass windows, which are supposed to be the work of the tenth century ; they are evidently very early indeed, and are probably the oldest specimens of stained glass in existence ; the drawing of the figures is exceedingly rude. Hung from a boss in the centre of the nave is a most magnificent chandelier of gilt bronze, bearing the date 1346; it is of large dimensions, and in a perfect state of preservation. Against the pillars of the nave arc eight altars, the reredoscs of which contain most magnificent old pictures ; four are by the elder Holbein, and the other four by Zeitbloom. The south doorway of the nave contains the celebrated bronze doors ; they are works of the tenth century. The eastern choir contains a modern high altar, with the remains of an ancient one worked up into it; a most elaborate set of sedilia ; and a double row of stalls on each side, the backs of which are hung with stamped leather, the patterns of which are picked out with vermilion and gold. Five of the chapels surrounding the choir retain ancient reredoses to their altars ; they consist of triptychs, enclosing pictures Or subjects carved in wood. They were executed during the first few years of the sixteenth century by Zeit bloom, Burckmair, andErdardt; they are exquisitely beautiful, and make one regret that oil pictures are now so little used as decorations to churches. There are several fine monuments, some wonderful late metal-work screens, and a little old stained glass, in the Cathedral. The cloisters are interesting and full of old monuments. The Church of St. Ulrich is an immense late Gothic build ing, 318 feet long, 94 broad, and 100 to the vaulting. It con tains several fine old pictures ; amongst others, a “ Madonna,” by Martin Schongauer ; some good stained glass ; an ancient wooden altar, with a lofty reredos; and in the sacristy two very early crosiers, and one or two reliquaries of carved ivory. The Lutheran Church of St. .Inna contains a series of splendid cinque cento monuments : an orpan with triptych doors, painted by Lucas Cranach in 1512; several very interesting pictures by Burgmayer ; and the original portraits of Frederick of Saxony and Martin Luther, by Lucas Cranach. Most of the other churches in the town have been modernized or rebuilt during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. I cannot here give any description of Freising, Munich, Amberg, Passau, Straubing, and Prague. There are very many other places of interest that I cannot even name. In conclusion, I take the liberty to offer two opinions : First, that Germany was far later than England and France in the adoption of Pointed architecture, and that in the south-east of Germany Pointed architecture did not develop itself from the Romanesque, as was the case in the north, but was introduced fully formed. The second is, that Pointed architecture was first used in the north-west of Germany (probably in the city of Cologne itself), and gradually spread to the south and cast; but a century and a quarter elapsed before the Germans could be converted to this noble style of architecture.
