There stood on the same spot a wooden statue of Christ in the XVI century.  One day an opulent Jew, on passing by, made some scoffing or contemptuous remark on it.  He was overheard by some of the people, accused of blasphemy and condemned to die; but on expressing great contrition and offering to pay a fine to any amount, he was pardoned, on the condition of his promising to erect a bronze statue gilt of Jesus Christ on the same spot, at his own expense, with an inscription explaining the reason of its construction; which promise he punctually performed.  Prague abounds in Jews.  Two-thirds at least of its population are of that persuasion.  In the lower town the most striking edifices are the palace of the Wallenstein family, descendants of the famous Wallenstein, so distinguished in the Thirty Years war.  Annexed to this Palace is a spacious garden, which is open to the public as a promenade.  It is well laid out.  There is a large aviary.  This Palace covers a vast extent of ground.  The Colloredo family, who are descended from Wenceslaus, have a superb Palace in this city; and there is a stable belonging to it, partly in marble and of rich architecture, capable of containing thirty-six horses.  No traveller who comes to Prague should omit visiting these two Palaces of Wallenstein and Colloredo.  On the bridge over the Mulda before mentioned, is the statue in bronze of St John Nepomucene, on the spot from whence he was thrown into the river by his brother saint, King Wenceslaus, for refusing to divulge the gallantries of his (Wenceslaus’) wife, to whom he was confessor.  A favorite promenade on Sundays is on the Faerber Insel or Dyers island, which is a small island on the Mulda.  Here the young men of the town come to dance with the grisettes and milliner girls of Prague, who are renowned for their beauty and complaisance.

The Jewish burying ground is a curiosity for a person who has never visited the Oriental countries.  The tombstones are stowed thick together.  Everybody recollects the anecdote of the ingenious method adopted by Joseph II for squeezing a large sum of money from the Jews of Prague, by giving out that he intended to claim this cemetery, in order to build therein a Palace.  The Jews who, like all the Orientals, have the most profound veneration for the spot where their ancestors are buried, presented a large sum of money to the Emperor, to induce him to renounce his design.

The Stadt-Haus (Hotel de Ville) is a fine building; and the Marktplatz (market square) is very spacious, and contributes much to the beauty of the town.  In the centre of it stands an ancient fountain of a dodecagonal form.  The basin is of red marble, and near it stands a large stone column, with a statue of the Virgin, bronze gilt, on its summit.  A well supplied market, or rather fair, is carried on here every day in the week.  The Theatre is a fine building and is of immense size.  I witnessd the representation of a burlesque tragedy called Die