ct. It would be
long ere I grew weary of looking at this wondrous work of man. The more
you examine this edifice, the more you are impressed with its
magnificence. Let me tell you about this same minster, as it is called.
The spire is four hundred and seventy-four feet high--one hundred and
forty feet higher than St. Paul's, and twenty-four feet higher than the
Pyramids of Egypt. The architect was Erwin of Steinbach, and his plans
survived him. He died in 1318, when the work was carried on by his son.
The tower was not finished till four hundred and twenty-five years
after the commencement of the building, and then Hueltz, from Cologne,
came to effect the undertaking. The tracery of this lofty pinnacle is
inimitably beautiful. We ascended the spire, and I can assure you that
the prospect amply repays the trouble. We saw the winding, silvery
Rhine, the Black Forest, and the long line of the Vosges Mountains. I
never felt more keenly my inability to describe a place than when I
walked through this gorgeous sanctuary. You must see it, to form an
adequate idea of its grandeur. The nave was begun in 1015, and completed
in 1275. The choir is yet older, and is thought to belong to the times
of Charlemagne. The large rose window, over the front entrance, is
thought to be the finest specimen of stained glass now existing. The
stone pulpit of 1486 is the grandest we have yet seen, and in better
taste than some of the carved wood pulpits in Belgium. The columns are
very massive. One of the chief attractions in this church is the
mechanical clock, which occupies a large space at the left hand as you
enter the building. The true time to see it is at twelve o'clock, when
Death strikes the hour, the apostles all pass before you, a large cock
up above flaps his wings and crows admirably three times, flags are
waved, and the affair ends. Here, close by, is the architect Erwin's
effigy, in stone.

We next went to St. Thomas's Church, to see the superb tomb of Marshal
Saxe, which is a work of great merit. In a vault we saw the remains of a
Count of Nassau and his daughter, who had been coffined down for--I
forget how long, but I think more than two centuries. It was here that
Guttemburg began his experiments in printing, which he perfected at
Mayence. We made some purchases here of embroidery, which we thought
very beautiful, and also cheap. General Kleber's tomb and monument are
in the Place d'Armes. Of course, we did not visit Strasburg