Page:Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home (Volume 1).djvu/153

150 original since the bust was made, with a sensibility which proved that the pleasures and regrets that accompany; the possession of beauty arc not limited to women. He makes the most of his relics by wearing a particularly becoming black velvet cap, round which his wavy white locks lay as loft as rays of light He was courteous and agreeable for the half hour we passed with him; but I brought away no new impression but that I have given you, that he is a handsome man for threescore and ten.

At three Madame M. came, according to appointment, to show us the Bonn lions and surroundings. We drove first to the University, which is the old electoral palace. Bonn was comprehended within the Electorate of Cologne. The façade of this palace of the lord elector, which has now become a flourishing seat of learning, is nearly a quarter of a mile in extent. The palaces and cottages of Europe indicate its history.

The University, which has now between eight and nine hundred students, was established by the King of Prussia, and is said to owe its reputation to its distinguished professors; Niebuhr was here, and Schlegel is. We were shown a library of one hundred thousand volumes, a museum of natural history, and a very interesting museum of Roman remains found on the hanks of the Rhine, altars, vases, weapons, &c. We were conducted through the botanical garden by Monsieur I'Inspecteur, a celebrated botanist, and one of a large family of brothers devoted to the science. "Une aristocracieA botanist aristocracy [sic]