xxii Editor's Introduction 



tary and awful; a gloomy but sublime memorial of de- 

 struction. 



There is more than the suggestion of mysti- 

 cism in this passage, but here is the real thing : — 



I entreat you [he writes to a dear friend], be with me 

 at least in thought, and let our spirits journey together 

 over sea and land and look down from the summit of 

 mountains and enjoy the sweet repose of valleys, for I 

 doubt not that spirits, in forms as infinitely various as 

 infinity itself is boundless, rejoice throughout all worlds 

 in the beauty of God's magnificent creation. 



A mystic Piickler always was and always re- 

 mained. He was always dreaming and seeing 

 visions. There was a touch of madness in some of 

 his strange fancies. The reader of his book will 

 remember the lake he designed which was to 

 rear above the surface of its waters funereal me- 

 morials ; i.e., rocks inscribed with names intended 

 to commemorate his ancestors interspersed and 

 surrounded by weeping willows. 



For magnificence of description and grandeur 

 of outlook, all transfused with the magic of his 

 imagination, it would be hard to find anything 

 better of its kind than the following description 

 of Warwick Castle which, on account of its 

 length, is given only in part : — 



Let your fancy conjure up a space about twice as 

 large as the Colosseum at Rome, and let it transport 

 you into a forest of romantic luxuriance. You now 

 overlook the large court surrounded by mossy trees 

 and large buildings, which, though of every variety of 

 form, combine to create one sublime and connected 



