, still remain, and are exhibited to
the stranger with becoming pride. And last of all came a weaver, hight
Mueller, who at the age of twenty-two, devoted himself to a life of
seclusion, and dwelt apart upon the rock up to the year 1785. At that
time, the strong arm of power was stretched out, and hermits, as well
as many communities of monks, disappeared. Yet Joseph, who seems to
have been conscientiously attached to his calling and place of abode,
was not driven into exile. Being appointed parish-clerk to the church
of Birkstein, he continued to hold the office several years; and dying
at an advanced age was, by his own desire, buried in a grave which he
had dug out for himself in one of the cells on the rock. Such are the
circumstances which have contributed to cast into the shade the ancient
and warlike name of this curious piece of architecture, and to describe
as a hermit's cell, what was, in point of fact, one of the strongest
among the many and strong baronial castles with which Bohemia abounds.

The hermits have not sat in the seats of armed men so long, without
leaving numerous traces of their sojourn behind them. Three or four
caves are hollowed out in the rock, one of which contains a skull, a
rosary, and a narrow stone bedstead, overlaid with moss. In another,
besides the usual ornaments, such as crucifixes, &c., we found an image
of Brother Antony Mueller, arrayed in his brown robe and hood, with
beads, a long gray beard, and bare feet, just as he is stated to have
exhibited himself in the land of the living. A third cave, or cell,
contains a representation of the same hermit's dead body, as it lay in
state,--for to the rock the corpse was carried both for exhibition and
interment; and finally, we have his grave,--a small heap of stones,
with a stone cross erected over them, and an epitaph inscribed on the
rock at his feet. I subjoin the original, and give, for the benefit of
such as may not be acquainted with the German, a loose translation.

Du haellst den Tod fuer deinen feind,
Du irrst; er ist dein bestest Freund:
Er ummt dir alle leibin ab
Und legt dich sanft in's stille grab.
Befreit dich von dir falschen wilt
Und wenn es dir nur selbst gefaellt
So fuehst er dich in himmel ein
Sag wellcher Freund kaun besser seyn.

Thou holdest death thy foe to be,
No foe, but best of friends, is he.
He lifts the evil from thy lot,
Lays thee where sorrow reacheth