town there is a very large meadow by the river, where a small town of
booths, tents, &c., is erected, and where shooting at targets with
wooden darts, sham railway-trains and riding-horses, confectionery of
every kind, beer of every name, strength, and colour, pipes, cigars,
toys, gambling, organ-grinding, fiddling, dancing, &c., goes on
incessantly. The great attraction, however, is the shooting at the
bird, which occupies the attention of every Saxon, and is looked upon
as the consummation of human invention and physical science. A great
pole, nearly 80 feet high, is erected with a wooden bird, about the
size of a turkey, at the top; to hit this with a crossbow from a
regular stand, about 50 feet from the foot of the pole, is the
highest ambition of this great people. The accompaniments are rich
in the extreme: cannon firing, drums rolling, for a successful shot,
the shooting society, who exist only for the sole honour and glory of
hacking this bird to pieces, the presence of the King, I think to-
day, and the intense interest taken in the amusement by the whole
population; certainly the Germans are satisfied with less than any
people I ever saw (barring two things, smoke and beer, in which they
are insatiable). I went out to see it all, but it rather bored me
after an hour or so. Tom F---- and I threw some dice for a pair of
braces for Arthur, which we presented in due form; and we had some
shots at the targets--mine were eminently unsuccessful.

'Last night we had a great treat. Emil Devrient, who has been acting
in London, you know, came back, and acted Marquis Posa in "Don
Carlos." The play acts very much better than it reads. Schiller
certainly has great dramatic genius; only I agree with Goethe that
there is always a longing for exhibiting cruelty in its most
monstrous form, and refinement of cruelty and depravity overstepping
almost the natural conditions of humanity. I always thought Iago