2o-i Ten Years of my Life. 



We arrived in Anholt on January ii, at ten o'clock a.m., 

 and all my fears were speedily removed by the very kind man- 

 ner in which I was received by my husband's brother and his 

 numerous family. 



Prince Alfred zu Salm-Salm, Duke of Hoegstraeten, Rhein 

 and Wildgraf, «S:c., &c. — all his titles may be seen in the Al- 

 manac of Gotha — is, notwithstanding all his pompous titles, a 

 very simple, unpretending, kind, and very polite man, who 

 did not look upon me as a stranger, but treated me from the 

 first moment as a sister, so that I felt at once at home. 



Schloss Anholt is an extremely old, extensive, imposing- 

 looking Castle, built around a tower, which stood there before 

 the Christian era, having been erected by the Romans. The 

 whole Castle is like Amsterdam, built on wooden piles, which 

 have become like stone in the course of time. The whole 

 ground around is swampy, and by digging only one foot deep 

 water is to be found. The Castle is surrounded by a splendid 

 park, which is improving every year, and protected by a moat 

 with drawbridges, which are drawn up every night. 



The house contains very fine halls, with an armoury and 

 other relics of olden times, and above one hundred rooms.^ All 

 this is very fine and noble, but it did not altogether correspond 

 with the ideas I had about a princely palace. Used to the 

 luxurious dwellings of the rich people of North America, 

 everything appeared to me somewhat primitive and as it were 

 uncivilised. I wondered at the uncarpeted staircases and 

 rooms, where only patches here and there covered the dark 

 oaken flooring, which was made so slippery by beeswaxing 

 that I found difficulty in walking, and really fell down on 

 entering my bedroom. 



There do not exist in North America such feudal dwellings, 

 and as there are no feudal ideas to be found either, I did not 

 look exactly with the same feelings of pride and satisfaction on 

 this simplicity as the members of the family. Modern elegant 

 dwellings, however, may be procured by every rich cheese- 

 monger, but such grand halls, solid staircases, &c., are to be 

 found only in the seats of noble old families. 



If I felt somewhat disappointed in reference to Castle An- 



1 The picture gallery is extremely fine, and in it are to he found highly 

 valuable originals of Correggio, Rubens, and other ceLjbrated old masters. 



