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PERSEN BENG.

Of the many picturesque views which charm the traveller as he glides rapidly down the majestic waters of the Danube, the stately castle of Greinburg, which overlooks the insignificant town of Grein, is certainly one of the most interesting. Lofty cliffs and rocks extend far into the river, and, by suddenly changing the current, impel the foaming waves against the opposite heights, whence they are dashed back with mighty force, and form that grand spectacle called the Strudel and Wirbel, or the Whirlpool. Although, from the enlightened policy of Maria Theresa and Joseph, and the facilities afforded by steam navigation, the superstitious dread of this grand conflict of the waters is fast wearing away, and but little danger is now to be apprehended; still the effect is extremely imposing, and not a little aided by the sublime scenery which meets the eye in all directions. Woody hills and foaming waters, barren rocks, with ruined castles surmounting them, add to the grandeur and heighten the feelings which the restless toiling of the uncertain element is of itself eminently calculated to inspire. Five robber-castles denote the insecurity of the country in former times. No wonder that the gloomy woods, the frowning cliffs, the perils by land and water, engendered many a dark and fantastic legend. In the dead of night, strange noises were heard amid the ruins, magic lights illumined the deserted chambers, and on the Whirlpool Rock (the long stone,) the tower, known to the people only as the Devil's Tower, was the object of terror to all the country round. Here the phantom, or demon, called the Black Monk, who plays no inconsiderable part in the description of Persenbeng, appeared from time to time, and his awful name appears as early as the eleventh century.

On a projecting mass of rocks, rising above the river and forming the last spur of the long ravine from Greinburg, stands, romantically situated, the Imperial Castle of Persenbeng. The boatmen call it Boesenbeny, or the Bad Bend, from the sweep which the river here makes to the south, and which is not without danger to the unskilful navigator. The castle is one of the oldest in Austria; some writers gravely assert that the Arx Persenboigicum, or Citadel Persenbeng, existed in 260 as outwork of the opposite castle, ad pontem Isidis, (Isis' Bridge,) supposed to be the modern Ips. In 370, it is said to have been a Roman municipium, in the possession of Equitius, whose soldiers were quartered in Enns and Ips. In the ninth century, the margraves, William and Engelschalk, are mentioned as lords of Persenbeng, the latter of whom was, in 888, declared guilty of high treason and

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was deprived of sight at Ratisbon, by command of King Arnulf. When Germany was again threatened by the barbarians, in 905, King Lewis conferred upon the brave Bavarian Count Sieghart, of Sempta and Ebersberg, the possession of the country between the rivers Traun and Ips, which was included in the county of Persenbeng. Adelbert III., the last of this race, bequeathed Persenbeng and Ips to Cloister Ebersberg, in Bavaria. But his will was disputed by his widow, Richildis, who wished to leave this fine property to her nephew, Welf, afterwards Duke of Carinthia. About this time (1045) it chanced that the emperor, Henry III., came down the Danube, on his progress to Hungary. Among his attendants was Bruno, Bishop of Wurzburg. Richildis had requested the honour of the emperor's visit to her castle of Persenbeng, and hoped to obtain the consent of her illustrious guest to set aside the will of her late husband. She had already gained over the Abbot of Ebersberg, the principal party interested in the cause. All was prepared for a solemn reception, when, to the horror of the spectators, as the ship which bore the emperor passed the dreaded Strudel, the Black Monk suddenly appeared in the Devil's Tower, on the Long Stone; and, announcing himself as the bishop's evil genius, proclaimed his approaching death. The terrified bishop made the sign of the cross, and prayed aloud, on which the demon disappeared. Soon after, the ship landed at Persenbeng, and the lady conducted her guests into the brilliant chambers of the citadel. After the banquet, as the emperor, Richildis, and the bishop were conversing together, the floor of the room gave way, and all present were precipitated into the bathing-room below. The emperor escaped with only a slight contusion on the arm, but the bishop, Richildis, and the Abbot of Ebersberg, who had consented to the alienation of property bequeathed to the church, received such severe injuries that they died in a few days, and thus the threatening words of the Black Monk were fulfilled. In consequence of this catastrophe, the emperor was induced to comply with the will of Count Adelbert, and Persenbeng and Ips were attached to Cloister Ehrenberg, until, in the sequel, the margraves of Austria obtained them in exchange for other lands. In 1593, Rudolf II. sold Persenbeng, Rohreck, and Weinberg, to the Barons of Hoyos, whose descendants remained in possession until the year 1800, when the Emperor Francis purchased Persenbeng, and united it to the imperial patrimonial domains. The castle, in its present form, was erected in the year 1617, but little being retained of the old citadel, which had gone to decay. The interior is spacious and roomy, and considerable care was bestowed on its decorations, as it was a favourite residence of the late emperor. The parts of the edifice most interesting to strangers, are the picture gallery, with some fine landscapes, the imperial rooms, and chapel. Behind the castle is the garden, which is laid out

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with considerable taste, and in which there is a bridge over the subjacent street of the village of Persenbeng. The seat in the garden, called the chancel, or pulpit, presents a very fine view of the river. The village (Marlet) which belongs to the castle, contains only four hundred and forty-three inhabitants, but amongst these are several wealthy families. There are here three ship-masters, one of whom. Mathias Feldmüller, sends yearly three hundred and fifty vessels, or rather barges, up the stream, as far as Ratisbon; and eight hundred and fifty, besides twenty-five rafts, down to Vienna and Pesth. He has two hundred and fifty men and one hundred and fifteen horses employed on the river. The building of these vessels is the principal source of subsistence to many of the inhabitants of Persenbeng.

MILTON.

THE critics and biographers of Milton have in general confined their observations to his poetry, or to the consideration of his character as a political writer; we shall, in the following sketch, avail ourselves of his prose writings, which, although but little known, contain many magnificent passages, only inferior in sublimity to the finest lines of his celebrated epic poem. Involved in fierce contest with his adversaries, during the stirring period of the great civil war, his domestic life was often shamefully traduced, and he was thus forced to repel their insidious attacks. To this circumstance we are indebted for his autobiography, in which he speaks of himself with a manly eloquence that has seldom been equalled.

After telling us that he was led, in self-defence," to rescue his life from that species of obscurity which is the associate of unprincipled depravity," he continues, "this it will be necessary for me to do on more accounts than one; first, that so many good and learned men among the neighbouring nations, who read my works, may not be induced by this fellow's calumnies to alter the favourable opinion which they have formed of me, but may be persuaded that I am not one who ever disgraced beauty of sentiment by deformity of conduct, or the maxims of freedom by the actions of a slave; and that the whole tenor of my life has, by the grace of God, hitherto been unsullied by any enormity or crime; next, that those illustrious worthies, who are the objects of my praise, may know that nothing could afflict me with more shame than to have any vices of mine diminish the force or lessen

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