Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1859-05-06
Correspondence Of the Free Press.
LETTERS FROM EUROPE.
NO. IXNfl.
Drcsdcn,


houses lofty, and its public cdifccs NOBLE
but its only resemblance to Florence that |
could perceive is, that it is on both sides Of
Il river, and has exceedingly interesting and
remarkable collections of nature and art.
The Elbe sweeps through the city in fine
curve and is crossed by two fine bridgcs-thc
new railroad bridge with carriage-way and
side walks, and the old massive stone bridge
which was originally built with funds raised
by the sale of papal indulgences, or dis
pensatons from eating butter and eggs in
Lent 1t has fine side walks which COM
mand exceedingly good views of the whole
city, on both sides Of the river.-Situated in
latitude 5l7, four degrees further north
than Quebec, it of course suffers the rigors
of 4 long winter, and the snow of the noun
tains through which the Elbe winds its
course, when melted by sudden thaws.
swells the river to an almost re-
s>tlcss torrent 1t rises sometimes six
teen feet in twenty-four hours. a bridge
built to withstand the Ice and water of such
foods must needs he of such solidity and
strength as to make it interesting and res
pectablc From the bridge. by broad steps
you reach the Terrace OF Bruhl on the old
town bank of the river-a place of great re-
sort for promenadcs and lounges, and refresh
mrnts and music in the cafes and hating
places along shore, all commanding good
views of the river, the bridges, and the
opposite bank. These and the other SINH
lar places Of resort are throngcG by the citi-
Gems in the fine summer evenings, and also
| by the many strangers who make Dresden IL
summer residence for a longer OF shorter
period.
The gall ii and collections are the great
attractions. Its picture gall rics are the
finest collections Of paintings in Germany, it
i, said;-n the principal gallery there are
1900 paintings. They certainly contain
5 mo of the greatest pictures by the greatest
mas ers, and there are specimens OF most OF
the great masters. There is Il collection OF
$50 coo engravngs, 1000 of which are framed
There are so portfolios of drawings by the
old masters There is gallery of $50 p1r-
traits OF eminent men, of great merit in that
line Of art. Frederick the Great, while he bat
tered the churches, gave special orders to spare
the galleries ; Napoleon did not steal works
of art from Dresden. The celebrated Green
Vault is the most remarkable collection Of
Its kind in the worll--heing made up prn-
clpally Of precious curositirs in bronze, in
ivory, moSlics, porcelain, enamel, gold and
silver yess Is, glblcts " 9th r vessels cnt out
u agites and other half precious stones :;
slpphires cmeral1s & rabies, and pearls and
diamonds Of astonishing number and value
rhi, collection is estimated to be of the value
of many millions II has been collected by
the soyerc-ns Of Slxony during the last $50
years or mora, apparently without regard to
expense. The Historical Museum is exceed
ngly rich in armour and arms Of the
greatest interest and value, and the Museum
Of Natural History is good, but strongest in
the minerals OF Saxony. The museum Of
antiquities, the library of 400 900 volumes,
the Collection of porcelains and terra cottas
in the japanese palace are interesting.
There arc two churches which arc worth
looking at. The Catholic church in which
the Royal family worship, if it was not the
Court Church, would not attract much no.
tice. 1t is connected with the Royal Palace
by covered bridge or passage over the inter-
yening street To us the Frauenkirchc (thc
Church of our Lady,, was much more tercst-
ln5. 1t is the Protestant cathedral-Luthcr-
an. Il i, built Of stone from the foundation
to the dome. and is 81 solid in its construc-
ton that when bomb rl.d by Frederic the
Great, shot and shrl! reb1undcd from the
walls and the dome, and did no injury
Within it is fitted up like IL theatre with
fur tiers OF seats Or galleries. The first tier
consists Of private boxes, the others arc COM
mon rows of seats fora promscuous audience.
The seats in the body OF the church are for
ladies, each having hcr own seat with her
name and number. On the right of the
desk, on the front of the lower tier or gallery
hangs Il portrait OF L ther of life size, and on
the left one o! Mclancthon.
We find ourselves little i'll at ease Tor
the want of refreshing sleep, not being yet
habtuated to these German pillows and
beds,-a hard pillow, inclining plane of
about % degrees, and soft down bed for
covering, instead of bed below and blan-
kets and coverlets above, we get used to but
slowly; and when thus slowed away we re-
alize the joke of the irish traveller under one
of these down beds, who rang up the waiter
and begged him to ask the gentleman who
, was to sleep atop to come to bed early, us he
did not like to be disturbed after he got
asleep.
From Dresden to Berlin, the country is
fiat and unintcresting, sandy, piney and I'M
productive, aboundlng in windmills, often
placed in cluster; and when all are gong at
once the eject is singular. We had hoped
that when we got int the Protestant coun-
tries we should find less Of the hard out
door tillage and drudgery done hy women,
but the fields are still titled and the harvest
gathered by them, while the men seem to be
quite out of sight
PKg's PEAK. The ST. Louis Dsmocrai
says The boats bound up the Missouri riy.
pr have now-a-dnys IN stow u,yov n,sso,,,..