Of late years many English people have settled here and built fine houses. The residence quarter is one of the sights of the town. All the residences in this quarter are in the Italian villa style and are very extensive almost reminding one of public buildings. But the window gardens, awnings, and tables on the lawns give the lie to that idea[.]

Along the water front is a fine promenade much used and flanked by open pavilion, restaurants and orchestras. Life in Dresden is made pleasant for even the poorest.

Just now the city is elaborately trimmed for the celebration for the battle of Sedan. The King of Saxony is the ally of Germany and during the war in the Sedan as you know aided Germany. On the Anniversary of this battle he is going (it is past now) to Berlin to be decorated by the Emporer and to receive other distinctions. Hence the great preparations.

One of the pictures in the gallery here is Raphael’s Sistine Madonna often spoken of as possessed of “Mysterious vision”[.] The canvas is quite large and in a room by itself and is unquestionably possessed of remarkable qualities besides of its near composition – still, there are others I like better.

They have grand Opera the year round – but one cannot stay always in Dresden on the Elbe, but must go to less attractive spots such perhaps as Prague, which I will process to “cuss out” as we stay in Paris.

On the way I fell in with a fine old gentlemen – Mr. Bouner of New Orleans and his accomplished and youthful niece and if it hadn’t been for them should have been miserable enough in Prague.
We got into a bad hotel – an almost unheard thing in this land I would have you know – (especially in Germany which Prague is not) and we agreed together that we didn’t like Prague one little bit in the world.

So here goes – they told us that their grand exposition “was beat Chicago” – we went out to see it and it was about like 20 county fairs rolled together – a prefect farce of a exposition.
They showed us their jew quarter – interesting if you like filth any quantity of “sacred relics”. I will give you below a few of the things the[y] showed us for a fee at the churches[.] Each time, and you may just judge for yourself whether we were disgusted:

Item: the leg bone of the Virgin Mary
Item: the skulls of two of the twelve apostles
Item: a fragment of St. Peters brought there from Rome by the devil
Himself (if you pleas think of that)

Item: (by the jews) the arc of the covenant saved from Jerusalem (I don’t think)
Item: handkerchief of Mary Magdalene and a few dozen more such things

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