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A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume Three by Thomas Frognall Dibdin
page 15 of 382 (03%)
and equally promising of an abundant harvest.

There was a drizzling rain when we entered THIS TOWN. We passed the long
range of royal stables to the right, and the royal palace to the left; the
latter, with the exception of a preposterously large gilt crown placed upon
the central part of a gilt cushion, in every respect worthy of a royal
residence. On, driving to the hotel of the _Roi d'Angleterre_, we found
every room and every bed occupied; and were advised to go to the place from
whence I now address you. But the _Roman Emperor_ is considered to be more
fashionable: that is to say, the charges are more extravagant. Another
time, however, I will visit neither the one nor the other; but take up my
quarters at the _King of Wirtemberg_--the neatest, cleanliest, and most
comfortable hotel in Stuttgart. In _this_ house there is too much noise and
bustle for a traveller whose nerves are liable to be affected.

As a whole, Stuttgart is a thoroughly dull place. Its immediate environs
are composed of vine-covered hills, which, at this season of the year, have
an extremely picturesque appearance; but, in winter, when nothing but a
fallow-like looking earth is visible, the effect must be very dreary. This
town is large, and the streets--especially the _Könings-strasse,_ or
King-Street,--are broad and generally well paved. The population may be
about twenty-two thousand. He who looks for antiquities, will be cruelly
disappointed; with the exception of the _Hôtel de Ville_, which is placed
near a church, and more particularly of a _Crucifix_--there is little or
nothing to satisfy the hungry cravings of a thorough-bred English
Antiquary. The latter is of stone, of a rough grain, and sombre tint: and
the figures are of the size of life. They are partly mutilated; especially
the right leg of our Saviour, and the nose of St. John. Yet you will not
fail to distinguish, particularly from the folds of the drapery, that
precise character of art which marked the productions both of the chisel
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