Foreign Correspondence

BüTZEX, Soutji Tyuot,, Austria, ) October 15, 1872. My De ar Poxd: Befurc leaviug Innsbruck it Í3 necessary to bring up our scattercd momoranda of various things not hithorto noticed. Ono of tho oldcst portions of the placo is tho suburb of Ilotting, north of tbo rivor. - In ono of our rambles wc pasêd through somo of its very narrow, dingy streots, strongly contrasting with tho other side of tho bridge. Tho old parish church has somo very anciaüt inouuinenta: one of 1 593 was set in tho walls. In the vestibule is the bronzo tablet in memory of Lotiler, at whose i'ourulry vrero cast the bronzo statues in the Silvcr Chapel.in tho latter part of tho lGtli contury. It is made to represent the tho two doors of a closcd altar, with a crucifix and throo figures above, and two figures kneeling at the right and loft lower corners, ono of which is a portrait of Lofllor hiusolf. - Tho tower of the church is very anoieot, much re.sombling sonie old watch-tower rather than tho steeplo of a ohuroh : it is of cut stone, and larger abovu thau bulow. Continuing our walk along tho sidc hill we reached Bixenhausen castle, nov in part converted into a brewery and tho castle proper occupied by various tena;its. In the court is a short stono column wit'a 1Ö30 cut on its face. Ovor-tho outer gate the coat of arras of its moro recent noble ocoupant boro tho date of 1694. Tho castle is not otherwise notable than from the fact of its having once been the home of Claudia de Medici, and tho sceno of miiny incident ín a Germán romaneo calk'd " The Chancellor." Proceeding still farther along, a half hour brought us to the Weirberg caatje, onco occupicd by thu Emperor Mazimillian as a hunting lodge, but at the present time in possession of an English family who have spent tho anmmer bere. It is in aboautiful spot, and shows few signs of its great ago. Leaving the castle wo tneandered along some delightful footpaths among the swelling trilla oovered with the j glish W!tlnut, iroiu which, though appiirently quite green, thepeasants werc gathering the nuts. Oue of the novel but really pleasant sights of tho day was tho display of largo quantitios of huskod coni in the car, strung over polfs one abovo the other unril thfi ontire gables of the houses aud barns on tho sunny side would bo fillscl - shinglad, asit wero, vith the bright yullow or white coru. As all the peasants have more or loss corn, and put in cribs but hun in this manner, it íormed quito a markcd feature, and is to be seen evorywhuro r.t this season of tho year. In the Oapuehin Ghapel attached to thu ïüonastcry is a cell constructed for the use oi' the Arclidako Maximühan, during ;i ;!iort timo esich year, as a Master i of the Teutonic Order in 1018, and wishing to seo how mttoh of discomfort this dignificd eremite bad pxepared for himself, after two or three attempts wo succeedod in seouring admission. We enteii'l the chapel and wero conducted through tho grated enclosuro of an altar at the lelt and an adjoiuing room, an.l then up a fiight of stairs into a sort of unfurnished ante-room having a few pictures of saints and holy men upen the walls. From this tho door opened into the apartmonts of the Archduke; the first of which was his place for reading and study - a room about 12 by 1G feet, furnishcd with a plain, rectangular table, and two wooden seats with circular supports for the arms and back, aftor the style of an offico chair. L'pon the table stood a wooden receptado for an inkstand, sand-box and pens. This furniture, as well as the conveniences for writing, aro said to havo been made by T;iximillian himself, and if so a very good cabinot-uiaker was spoiled by his noble birth. On the walls were portraita of old monks and a Madonna. It seemed, however, quito singular that tho portrait of the Archduke, in monastic gurb, should bo hung horizontally along the sruall spsico above the door. Adjoining this on tho right was a narrow room, perhaps 8 by lü, fitted with knceling benches and a window füncing the grand altar. Beyond tlie study was a room not quite so largo, fitted with riro-pluce and shelvei, in which the uccupant prspared his own food ; and adjoining this a small' darte atore -room. Ncxt beyond tho kitchen was a small ante-room, and directly beyond this a little room, perhaps six toet square, was fitted üp a3 a private chupel, with small shrine, candle, &c. - On the other nido of this auto room was another room, perhaps six by six, one side of which was just filled by the low bed that the Arc.hduko had uscd, whilo frum this a door opened to a room quito aa small, in which was another window looking down upon tho altar in tho church below. This was to enable tho Ocoupant to rise from hishumble bed and particípate in the midnight services which are always held in tho church. Theso last three rooms instcad of being plaatered wero lined with flivt stones about fivo indios long, lapping over eachother, presenting a very rough interior - agrotto-like appearanoe. Theso constituted tho cell, as it was called, of the Archduko Maximillian - much uioro extensivo tban wo had anticipatcd, as weH as more comfortable, yet not the sort of private aooommodations usuully selected for a fuw weeks enjoynient eaeh siimmer. Wo havo not had as much military rausie as wo had oxpeoted in a placo likc this, but ovory Thursday night, at Í) o'clock, tho band, enelosed in a hollow gqaare of torchos, passes along our stroet procüdod and attonded by a crowd of a thousand or moro of ineu, wouion and children. Garden concerts wero tho only ovtning amuseraents lor tbc public until October, when tho tlioatev seuson began. Tho former are given by the proprietors of two or threo restaurant?, in the i dens alwnys attachcd to tho moro i tant refreshmeiit resorts. Smoking is i oue of tho incidonts vLich does not ways provo agroeablo to thoso not used i to the universal and unceasing i tion of tho peoplo of this part of Europe. Traveling in tho cars is also sometimes made diMgreeable from a similar cause, 1 sinco smoking is allowed and praoticed 1 to in all cars not labolied "nicht raucher," i for no lady is presumod to havo any 1 jections to anything so agreoablo a9 i bacco fucios, and pormission 13 taken ior ] granted. Conductors in tho Gorman and i Austrian provinces allow the right of ] seconcl class passengcrs to insisi upon i 3eats in tho "no smoking" coupo, a right i not always grantcd in Ituly, though soino of tho eoupca aio simih'.rly labelled. In a ci'oy so thoroughly unprotestant frcquo7it processions would bo oxpectod, bilt this dopends altogother npon the recurronco of certain holy days. Only onc of thoso happened to come within oar stay at Innsbruck. On Bunday, September lóth, oceurred Holy Mary'n day, an important one in tlio Romanist calendar. About 2 o'clóck r. H. a public procosaion éforted from tho chapul of the Servitans, and passed along sovoral cf tha mest important streots. Standing beneath an arclicd passago on ?.iusev.rastrai.'3O, we noiL'd v. ith much interest this íírst of ïtoman Oathoüc prooessions thit wo had saerc. Tho procosis'ion wa3 prec-dsd by .. priest, holding aio ft a cruoiiix th Bguse upoii which wil about two-tbifdfl lifesi.e, and accorapani.Ml hj tvo boys robeü in red raantlee. Afttr them, i:i t 'os, about iwenty boya, fol'cw:d by L. long procossion oí mo.i, repeatiujr iuccssantiy somo guttural and unl iteliig.ble rosponso. These were suceeadDd by a l&rL-.j silkon canopy, covaring a platform on w'uic !i ivas a eai-ved gioup rapreser-ticg thfl Yirgin supüortir.g tbe Cliiist iiguro in her arres, asjust ta!:::n frori the ere"1;. and Jocaph her husband standing ft hor sirle - all Oc ïife-sizo. ïbia was borno oa tho sho:lder3 of four moa apparently above the condition of peasants. l'wenty pricsts, in their long, black, flowing robes,followed, repoatingsotnu fotmtüa cf the church, aftor whoui ca ie aootber long, doublo line of mei., eviuniïtly of ihi) poasanttyj thon twelvo or cir.tccn boys ia whito surplioes, beariag lass Ia,mp8 held above thoir lioads on the euds cf polos about for teet long ; then four boys riuging small boüs, followed by tvo others dispeusing incenca as they passod along. Another and richly draped oanopy si-.ccscded, borne aloft by font veil (Irsssod laymen, above tho hoaun of four richly robed prlesto, the rniddlo one boav:.ng befóte him 'M i golden raysgllltering in the sur.ligai. TLiis was followod by a vory long proci' of peasant womon, repeating, wita more earne3tness than the men, the proscribed sentences. At intervals tliioughout the procession vero borne tho rich, square banners of the church, with thcir er;bl.zoned picturos and. devices. From a protestant stand-point it presen ted a singular spectaele, and tho general doffing1 of hats by many who wore not in the procossion seemed altuost ludicvous. TVe havo read of rofractory speitatoi'S having ther l.:its removed somewhat rudsly on similar occasions, but that day haspp,s?ed: and no such inc.ivility need be apprehended if tho demeiinor of the lookei--on is simply respectful (as of course it should be). Tho city of Hall is ono of the older and more important places in the Innthal, and only four miles distant. We paid it a visit one day - taking tho road loading by castle Ambras, stopping to to look again at tho chapéis, shrines, and glittering crosses, with their wonderful display of votivo offerings - crutches by the dozen, real teeth by tho quart, and wax luinds, foet, and hearts, and funny pictures by tho hundrod. The story is told as somo reason for the quantity of these oiferings, that at the time so m:my diaabled soldiers were lying iu tho castle (which was tken used as a hospital) duriug the wars from 1997 to 1805, thore woro frequent premature burials, by which many poor soldiers whose cases were hopcless wero thrust while yet olive into their untimely graves on this spot; and that to condono, in some sense, for this graat wrong, the placo became a very frequent resort for all who beliovod in this modo of appeasing the wrath and averting tho puuishmont such a wrong had merited. Tho walk through tho littlo villago Aunas lying below tho castle, with its church spiro and tower threo times as long as the entire nave, along thu shady side of tha valley, was very pleasant indoed. Ascunding the hill at Ampas we followed a good foot-path still higher and found oursolves upon tho mittolgebirge, in the yard of a good sized church far abovo the villago, and commanding an extensivo and beautiful view of scveiul oharming small valleys whose existence we had not suspected. An old, discontinued monastery lay beneath, und upon one of those seemingly unsafo but roally indestructible procipices of sand, coarse gravel, and rounded stonos, 60 or 70 feot higher, was a combiucd cha pol and watchtower with its massivo bell. From tho top of this hill a still more extensive view, euibracing the wholo valley for twenty milos, was oponed out, and we oeuld fancy tho many times during tho oventful 1809 when this now so quiot sturmgiocke rang out tho alarms which nover fttiled to bring together the brave peasant s and thoir heroic leaders, Ilofer and Speckbacker, ready to do and to die for their country. As we stood looking down upon the fair prospect the clock iu the steeplo struck twelve, and forthwith evcry peasant's hat was doffed and every hand was stayed, fur the silent prayor or in rospect to a custoin which provails quite universally in llonian Catholic and Mussebaan countries. From Arapas to Hall tho rond led ïlong nearly level ground, but for some roason unknown tho road-bcd, about ten feet wide, wts sunken an average depth of four or iivo feet bolow tho Burfaoe, and dense hodge of evergreens stood cloao upon tho margin at each sido. Before aesoonding tho hül fowardfl Hall wo had 3. fine viow of the rivor and city, and of the aalt mountoin some 7000 feet high in tho back-ground ; a3 nlso of the noied pilgrimago ehapel of Ambas. Crossing the river upon tho fine bridgo we bogan ai once an iuspection of tho placo. It has a very ancier.t apr.earanco in somo of Lts streets and buildings. Tliero -was nothing particuhirly romarkable in the churches escopt their age, and gomo of tho monuments to the oíd nobles. In the vestibule of tho Pfarrkircho we caw monuir.ents dated back as i'ar as 1503, with armorial bearir.gs of some departed noble. Tho most ancient monv.ments of these oíd churches are often thoío in the form of deeply carved figures, cresta and inscriptions upoa elabs insorted in the paveinent, but ao worn'by exposuro and oonstant trampiug of feet as to bo quito illogiblo. Tho principal industry of Hall ia conne;ted with tLie manufactura of aalt. A largo carera in tho mountain sevoral milos disiaut receivos tho water, whioh by filtration through the saline rock md deposita hecocies saturated with somo 60 per cont. of salt, and is drtiincd off to the wc-ks at Hall, and is theio by heat and evaporation converted into salt. Most of the church epires at Hall aad other neighboring villagej of tho valicy i.ru sheathed with copper, and from exucjure to t'io woather h&vo r.ssumed tho peculiar blue hua of corrodod copper. Ono of tho churches in said to bo coverod '.vith ij.OOO tiles of solid copper; This is at Skreurts. Iieturning by the north sido of tho rivjr and valley, we had an opnortunity of Bceing anothor of thoso pilgrimago chapéis which ure so often percheJ on the hillikles near the largur villtvges and generally not accessible wiljo-.it real labor. Thero was nothing i;i tho one hert! roferred to, near th.3 village ol lium (a queer name), wortay of note except the grotosquo attempt to represent tha sceno cf tho eniombment by como unskillful hand. The villago aa lookeJ down upon froin tho cl: apel apoeored a mab3 of contiauou3 roof, there being about tv.-o hundred buildings of one story, end vory narrow stroets. At the foot bridge vo reorossed the river, and had a fino view of 'the livoly scène presentad on th-o river bsni by tha waslier-womcn. Upon the shelviuj shore wo oan sometimes 6ee nearly a hundred upen their knoas. leanng fjrward over tho bor-rd with wliich eacli is provided, about three feet by two ia z7.c, and workinj v.'ith a wil!. Thoy raako much uso whilo wasuing of a fiat woodea spatula, with whicb. tliey beat the wet clotlies ; and the clattsr of so many bsa ing simultaneously, and the apper.ranco of bo ma uy Leads and shouldors-bo'obin up and down, is extraniely mirth provoking. - Our plensani excursión tericinatod by Crossing tha ever dolightnil Anlagea end foilowir:g alonf its avjnuo of plorioua old lindens and poplars toour rcoms. Menüon ha ) been rcadi) ox inaay mouumants ti ttio groat and nob'o names T7hom tho publio have honorod, but thera is a sad ple3urj in visiting tb more comnion coinetery of tl e pjojle. Thia place, at Innsbruck, ia a sp?.so of eomo four aerea, surroTinñi by a low building which exteraally appoers aa a simpln wall of soma tweivo feat ia height, and internally forms a continuous croEde.-The arcado furnishes a very oxoellent protection to fine marblemonumencs a.sl paintings or frascoes, and is in iact almost vholly occupied for this purposa. A walk around this long. arcado prese:ited a continuous succession of boautiful meinoiials to departed loved ones, and forined a gallery interesting to ths stranger as well os to the nearcr friends. The endosare was occupied by more plain tablets and simple hoadstones. Near the ontrance wo saw thousands of cords of wood stored for use in caso of eitraordinary necessity, belonging to the king. - In this country great caro is usad in the consumption of firewood - though the stoves of earthenware and hugo tilos do not seom to afford the best agencie in this economie purposo. At tho approach of October there is a gonoral romoval of the outside shutters and substitution of a second set of windows, only ono largo pano of which outer sish is mado to opun. Moution raay bo made hero of tho arrangement of tho shuttors common in in:niy plaofis, whicli forms as great a comfort in the hot days of midsummer as tho doublo windows do in midwinter. 'iho shut.ers ara genorally in throe parts, tho upper filling tho oval and upper portion of tho window, and is immoviible, tho remaining space boing filled by tho two movablo ghutters. Each of theso is inado with a substuntial frame and tho sluts, iittcd in another frame, in_ stcad of being made fast to tho former are simply attached to the samo by hinges at tho upper cdgo and fastened below with a button. Thus the whole may bo used as a shutter, or the frame to which tho slats aro attached may be unbuttoned and tho shit portion ptuhed outward a suitablo distanco to let in the air and exclude tho sunshine, and held in this position by a hook extended to tho same. If made propcrly and strong this is an ;irr:uigement much botter than movablo Blata only, according tu our experioncc. One of the singular features of this vicinity, whero tho differencos of altitude aro so great, is the constant sight of snow upon somo of tho mountain summits ."t all times; and occasionally whilo rain has fallen in the valluy the suow has fallón upon tho surrouuding mountain heights, and all will bo white down to the borders of tho mittolgebirgo looking cold and wintry indeed to thoso not accustomed to such a speotaelo until i Xoveniber or later. As wo havo littlc further of novolty to oe, and sunnlor skies aro awaiting us berond the Alps, nnd we wish. to soo somohing of tho vintago beforo it 19 pasaed, wo aunoanced our intontion to loavo on ;he 4th of Octobcr, and bogan at once ;ho nocossary packing and inaking roady. A stay of throo woeks ha9 cnabled U8 to inprint the features of Innsbruck indelibly upon the pago of meuiory, and thoy will over be pleasant to rocall. No city that wo havo viaited excels it in cleanliness or uniform good order ; nono where those tokens of great want and suffering which aro so prevalent tbxoughout Europo are so few or less ropellont. Mauy things, however, aro not such is we can regard tho vory bust, and chicf among :hcso wo wold niention tho wonderful rovalenco of the Komanist clergy. The y iro ovcrywhere - litorally omnipresent - tlmost rcriüzing the expressive words of Diekens concerning the priests in Italy, ' thoy inay bo senn at any timo sliuking; nbout in twos liko black cats." The money requircd to maintain their immense po3session?, all of which aro exempt from taxation, and the great army whioh they and their subordinates and the legión of sistorhoods wculd make, must be enormous. Another very undesirablo sight wo met moro often hero than anywhero else - the goitro. It ia so frcquently to be soen and of such frightful dimensions at times that it seems reasonablo to infer that the locationin some unknown way favors its deveiopment whero tho constitution of tho individur.l is at all adaptcd to tho pecnliarUies of this strango disenso. Wa could not lenrn that it was particularly painful or dangerou3 to life, nor yet that its approach can certainly bo wardod off or its growth prevented, so that its possiblo visitation must constantly staro tho inhabitauts in tho face, and to this oxtonfc be a dniwbaok upon the desirability of a protractod reaidenco. But for a brief sojoura wo can recommend Innsbruck, and though we have no resident consul there, wo i'uund the most chcerful and ready sympathy and assistance in a nativo of tho placo, whose residence in the Üaitod States for several yeara has given hiui a warm prepossession for all Aiuorioans, a:id any one desiring information, or aid in tho study of thoFrench, Gorman or Italian, can do no better than to ueek it from A. L. Flora, Esq. And now good-byo to Innsbruck. Ever voure.