[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL, COLOGNE, GERMANY.--This building justly excites the admiration of every beholder, and is probably the most magnificent Gothic edifice in the world. It stands on a slight eminence, sixty feet above the Rhine. As early as the ninth century, an Episcopal church occupied the site, but the inhabitants regarded it to be unworthy, as compared with the prosperity of the city, and consequently started a new one. The foundation-stone of the present structure was laid on August 14, 1248. On the 15th of October, 1880, the completion of the Cathedral was celebrated in the presence of William I.] [Illustration: BINGEN, GERMANY.--Bingen, a Hessian town of Prussia, with a population of 7100, is situated at the confluence of the Nahe and Rhine rivers. The Romans erected a castle here in 70, when a battle was fought between them and the Gauls. Bingen carries on a large trade in wine, starch and leather. The town is in a beautiful and highly picturesque country, and is visited by thousands of tourists during the summer season. On an island in the Rhine is the Mansethum, or "Rat Tower," a structure erected in the thirteenth century. Bingen is celebrated in song, poetry, story and history.] [Illustration: EHRENBREITSTEIN, GERMANY.--This small town, with five thousand three hundred inhabitants, prettily situated in a valley, is crowned with the fortresses of Ehrenbreitstein and Asterstein, which are connected with Coblenz by a bridge of boats, about four hundred yards in length. The majestic fortress of Ehrenbreitstein rises opposite the influx of the Moselle, and is situated on a precipitous rock, three hundred and eighty-five feet above the Rhine, inaccessible on three sides, and connected with the neighboring heights on the north side only. The view from the top is one of the finest on the Rhine. It embraces the fertile Rhine Valley from Stolzenfels to Andernach.] [Illustration: FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY.--The above city, formerly one of the few independent towns of Germany, now belongs to Prussia. Old watch-towers in the vicinity indicate its ancient extent. The city lies on a spacious plain bounded by mountains, on the right bank of the navigable river Main. On the left bank lies Sachenhausen, a suburb connected with Frankfort by four stone bridges and one suspension bridge. In a commercial, and particularly a financial, point of view, Frankfort is one of the most important cities of Germany.] [Illustration: MARTIN LUTHER'S HOUSE, FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY.--Here is a historic relic which justly excites the admiration of the beholder. This is where Martin Luther lived for a time after he had nailed to a church-door in Wittenberg the theses in which he contested the doctrine at the root of the detestable traffic carried on for the Pope by Tetzel and his accomplices. This brought to the front a man who had certainly many faults, but who amply made up for them by his force of intellect and the loftiness of his aims.]