In the next room, the two sides are occupied by two grand frescos, each about five-and-twenty feet in length, and covering the whole wall. In the first, Siegfried brings the kings of Saxony and Denmark prisoners to the court of king Gunther. The second represents the reception of the victorious Siegfried by the two queens, Uta and Chrimhilde. This is the first interview of the lovers, and furnishes one of the most admired passages in the poem.

"And now the beauteous lady, like the rosy morn, Dispersed the misty clouds; and he who long had borne In his heart the maiden, banish'd pain and care,

As now before his eyes stood the glorious maiden fair.

From her embroidered garment, glittered many a gem,
And on her lovely cheek, the rosy red did gleam;
Whoever in his glowing soul had imaged lady bright,
Confessed that fairer maiden never stood before his sight.

And as the moon at night, stands high the stars among,
And moves the mirky clouds above, with lustre bright and
strong;

So stood before her maidens, that maid without compare:
Higher swelled the courage of many a champion there."

Between the two doors there is the marriage of Siegfried and Chrimhilde. The second of these frescos is nearly finished; of the others I only saw

the cartoons, which are magnificent. The third room will contain, arranged in the same manner, three grand frescos, representing 1st. the scene in which the rash curiosity of Chrimhilde prevails over the discretion of her husband, and he gives her the ring and the girdle which he had snatched as trophies from the vanquished Brunhilde.* 2ndly. The death of Siegfried, assassinated by Hagen, who stabs the hero in the back, as he stoops to drink from the forest-well. And 3rdly. The body of Siegfried exposed in the cathedral at Worms, and watched by Chrimhilde, "who wept three days and three nights by the corse of her murdered lord, without food and without sleep."

The fourth room will contain the second marriage of Crimhilde; her complete and sanguinary vengeance; and her death. None of these are yet in progress. But the three cartoons of the death of Siegfried; the marriage of Siegfried and Chrimhilde; and the fatal curiosity of Chrimhilde, I had

*In the altercation between the two queens, Chrimhilde boasts of possessing these trophies, and displays them in triumph to her mortified rival; for which indiscretion, as she afterwards complains, "her husband was in high anger, and beat her black and blue." This treatment, however, which seems to have been quite a matter of course, does not diminish the fond idolatry of the wife, rather increases it.

the pleasure of seeing in Professor Schnorr's studio at the academy; I saw at the same time his picture of the death of the emperor Frederic Barbarossa, which has excited great admiration here, but I confess I do not like it; nor do I think that Schnorr paints as well in oils as in fresco-the latter is certainly his forte.

Often have I walked up and down these superb rooms, looking up at Schnorr and his assistants, and watching intently the preparation and the process of the fresco painting-and often I thought, "What would some of our English painters-Etty, or Hilton, or Briggs, or MartinO what would they give to have two or three hundred feet of space before them, to cover at will with grand and glorious creations,-scenes from Chaucer, or Spenser, or Shakspeare, or Milton, proudy conscious that they were painting for their country and posterity, spurred on by the spirit of their art and national enthusiasm, and generously emulating each other! Alas! how different!-with us such men as Hilton and Etty illustrate annuals, and the genius of Turner shrinks into a vignette!

I should add, before I throw down my weary pen, that every part of the new palace, from the ensemble down to the minutest details of the orna

ments (the paintings excepted) has been designed by De Klenze, who executed seven hundred drawings with his own hand for this palace alone, without reckoning his designs for the Glyptothek and the Pinakothek.

This has been a busy and exciting day. Then in the evening a soirée-music

O quite tired in spirits, in voice, in mind, in heart, in frame !

IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.

the pleasure of seeing in Professor Schnorr's studio at the academy; I saw at the same time his picture of the death of the emperor Frederic Barbarossa, which has excited great admiration here, but I confess I do not like it; nor do I think that Schnorr paints as well in oils as in fresco-the latter is certainly his forte.

Often have I walked up and down these superb rooms, looking up at Schnorr and his assistants, and watching intently the preparation and the process of the fresco painting-and often I thought, "What would some of our English painters-Etty, or Hilton, or Briggs, or MartinO what would they give to have two or three hundred feet of space before them, to cover at will with grand and glorious creations,-scenes from Chaucer, or Spenser, or Shakspeare, or Milton, proudy conscious that they were painting for their country and posterity, spurred on by the spirit of their art and national enthusiasm, and generously emulating each other! Alas! how different!—with us such men as Hilton and Etty illustrate annuals, and the genius of Turner shrinks into a vignette!

I should add, before I throw down my weary pen, that every part of the new palace, from the ensemble down to the minutest details of the orna