ly grand chorus! Yet is this tone mellow and
pleasing at the same time. Notwithstanding the organ could be hardly less
than three hundred feet distant from the musicians in the choir, it sent
forth sounds so powerful and grand--as almost to overwhelm the human voice,
with the accompaniments of trombones and serpents. Perhaps you will not be
astonished at this, when I inform you that it contains not fewer than two
thousand two hundred and forty-two pipes. This is not the first time you
have heard me commend the organs upon the Continent.

One of the most remarkable features belonging to the history of Strasbourg
cathedral, is, the number of _shocks of earthquakes_ which have affected
the building. It is barely possible to enumerate all these frightful
accidents; and still more difficult to give credence to one third of them.
They seem to have happened two or three times every century; and, latterly,
yet more frequently. Take one recital as a specimen: and believe it--if you
can. In the year 1728, so great was the agitation of the earth, that the
tower was moved one foot out of its perpendicular direction--but recovered
its former position presently. "What however is _quite certain_--(says
Grandidier)--the holy water, contained in a stone reservoir or basin, at
the bottom of a column, near the pavement, was thrown by this same
agitation, to upwards of _half the height of a man_--and to the distance of
_eighteen feet!_ The record of this marvellous transaction is preserved in
a Latin inscription, on a slab of black marble, fastened to the lower part
of the tower, near the platform."[213] In 1744 a severe tempest of thunder
and lightning occasioned some serious injuries to portions of the
cathedral; but in 1759 it suffered still more from a similar cause. Indeed
the havoc among the slighter ornamental parts, including several delicately
carved figures, is recorded to have been dreadful.

Of the subordinate churches of Strasbourg, the principal, both for size and
antiquity, is that of _St. Thomas_. I visited it several times. The
exterior is one of the most tasteless jumbles of all styles and ages of art
that can be imagined; and a portion of it is covered with brick. But I
question if there be not parts much older than the cathedral. The interior
compensates somewhat for the barbarism of the outside. It is large and
commodious, but sadly altered from its original construction; and has
recently been trimmed up and smartened i