The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1886-10-06


rare and varied collection of works of
art in my life, and the affair is so large
that they had to Join two houses together
to hold it all. There are statues of all
possible subjects taken from history or
mythology. Homer, Esop, Virgil, Soph-
ocles, every possible scene of fame and
beauty is there. Statues dug up from
Pompeii are also there. remember es-
pecially one giant status of Zeus had suf-
fered many hard licks, and the big toe of
the left foot was separated from the rest
of the foot; we were, accordingly, very
anxious to steal the aforesaid big toe.
We went to the museum on successive
days, making no end of trips to the statue
in the hope of finding the especial room
empty so that no one would see us.
Finally we struck it; ran to the statue to
pocket the prize; and imagine our down
cast faces as we discovered that the
thing was fastened tight down by an
iron spikeI We felt like saying some
tolerably strong things, and turned and
left in high disgust. But in all earnest,
the statues and pictures there were sim
ply grand. We next visited the Royal
Palace of the Emperor" This colossal
house is the biggest pile of brick and
mortar l ever saw. [ can't give you the
slightest idea of the royal glitter and
luscious elegance of this imperial dwell
ing 1 say dwelling; nobody dwells
there now; it fSonly used on state oc-
casions for balls, audiences, conferring of
orders, ETC., etc. Frederick the Great
lived there. He was a severe man and
very harsh. 1t is said, accordingly, that
he murdered his own wife in this palace
in the middle of the night, and the folk
say that every night now, Just at mid
night, in the fatal room where the MUIR
der was perpetrated, ladies dressed in
pure white appear, and in their ghostly
manner sing dirges over the dead body
of their murdered mistress That is of
course only hearsay; but it is fact that
the (superstitious) Germans have not in
habited this castle since that unnatural
murder.
And now that is just the merest posi-
bic sketch of the billion wonderful things
we saw in Berlin. [ wish 1 could tell
you all, but 1 must do that when come
back, -. We next went to Dres-
den. Sunday we were in a church whose
dome is modelled exactly after that of St.
Peters in Rome. The great thing in
Dresden is the Picture Salon, it is the
third in the world the greatest being in
the Louvre in Paris, and the second in
Florence, Italy. The most celebrated
single picture of its kind is Raphael's
Madonna; it stands there alone in its
majesty, having whole room to itself
| bought photographs of the most cele-
brated paintings; these 1 will show you
and explain them when we see one an
other again. From Dresden with its
wonders (there [ saw the King Of Saxony)
we went to Schandau village resort In
the midst of the Saxon Fatherland." :"
The mountains in the neighborhood are
sublime. We climbed and climbed ali
day every day for one week; got tired,
ate venison and drank milk, and forgot
Greek and Latin. The fortress -
Is in the neighborhood. 1t is on the
top of great big solid rock some 100
feet above the plain-a sort of Gibraltar
just on the Elk; this is the safest place
in Saxony in time of war. Here the cost
liest court Jewels, and always its pictures
In the Dresden Salon, are sent to the
fortress so soon as war seems iminent.
From Schandau we came back home, and
are hard at work again. have got a
thousand things more to tell you-hotel
experiences, all sorts of trials and trou-
bles with our somewhat peculiar German,
and thousand other little things, but
cannot do it all at once.
remain yours very sincerely,
O. +. 3.