LETTER LV.
Cassel.
The city of Cassel is situated on the river Fulda. It consists of an old and new town. The former is the largest and most irregular. The new town is well built; and there, as you may believe, the nobility and officers of the court have their houses. The streets are beautiful, but not over-crowded with inhabitants.
Besides the large chateau in the town of Cassel, which is the Landgrave’s winter residence, he has several villas and castles in different parts of his dominions. Immediately without the town, there is a very beautiful building, in which he dwells for the most part of the summer The apartments there are neat and commodious, some of them adorned with antique statues of considerable value.
None of the rooms are spacious enough to admit of exercising any considerable number of the troops within their walls; but his Highness sometimes indulges in this favourite recreation on the top of this villa, which has a flat roof, most convenient for that purpose.
Around this are some noble parks and gardens, with a very complete orangery. There is also a menagerie, with a considerable collection of curious animals. I saw there a very fine lioness, which has lately lost her husband—an elephant—three camels in fine condition, one of them milk-white, the other two grey, and much taller than the elephant;—an African deer, a fierce and lively animal, with a skin beautifully spotted;—a very tall rain-deer—several leopards—a bear, and a great variety of monkies.—The collection of birds is still more complete, a great many of which are from the East Indies.
In the academy of arts, which is situated in the new town, are some valuable antiques, and other curiosities, among which is a St. John in Mosaic, done after a picture of Raphaël’s, with the following inscription below it:
IMAGINEM S. JOHANNES
EX ITALIA ADVENAM
IN RARUM RARÆ INDUSTRIÆ HUMANÆ MONUMENTUM
HANC COLLOCARI JUSSIT
FREDERICUS II. HASSIÆ LANDGR.
A. M. D. CCLXV.