erhaps one of the best tests of genius, for though bad translations
abound, if there is stuff in the original, it will find its way even
into one of these.

From Ludwigsberg to Stuttgart it is but a single post, and we arrived
there at twelve. The appearance of this place was altogether different
from what we had expected. Although it contains near 30,000 inhabitants,
it has more the air of a thriving Swiss town, than that of a German
capital, the abodes and gardens of the royal family excepted. By a Swiss
town, I do not mean either such places as Geneva, and Berne, and Zurich,
but such towns as Herisau and Lucerne, without including the walls of
the latter. It stands at the termination of an irregular valley, at the
base of some mountains, and, altogether, its aspect, rustic exterior,
and position, took us by surprise. The town, however, is evidently
becoming more European, as they say on this side the Atlantic, every
day; or, in other words, it is becoming less peculiar.

At and around the palaces there is something already imposing. The old
feudal castle, which I presume is the cradle of the House of Wurtemberg,
stands as a nucleus for the rest of the town. It is a strong prison-like
looking pile, composed of huge round towers and narrow courts, and still
serves the purposes of the state, though not as a prison, I trust.
Another hotel, or royal residence, is quite near it on one side, while
the new palace is close at hand on another. The latter is a handsome
edifice of Italian architecture, in some respects not unlike the
Luxembourg at Paris, and I should think, out of all comparison the best
royal residence to be found in the inferior states of Germany, if not in
all Germany, those of Prussia and Austria excepted.

We took a carriage, and drove through the grounds to a new classical
little palace, that crowns an eminence at their other extremity, a
distance of a mile or two. We went through this building, which is a
little in the style of the Trianons, at Versailles; smaller than Le
Grand Trianon, and larger than Le Petit Trianon. This display of royal
houses, after all, struck us as a little dis portioned to the diminutive
size and poverty of the country. The last is nothing but a _maison de
plaisance_, and is well enough if it did not bring taxation with it; nor
do I know that it did. Most of the sovereigns have large private
fortunes, which they are entitled to use the same as others, and which
are well used in