Pilgrims raising a cross at a mountainous shrine in Austria. Engraving by T. S. Engleheart after G. R. Lewis.

"The picture from which the accompanying plate was engraved was painted by Mr. Lewis, from a sketch made by him during his picturesque tour with Dr. Dibdin in France and Germany, in 1819. In the neighbourhood of Hof, between Salzburg and St. Gilgin, the peasantry of the country were making a pilgrimage to the monastery of Gottiewig, when they were encountered by the painter and his friend. They came upon them at the precise moment when they were ascending a hill, the summit of which was crowned with a chapel, dedicated to their favourite saint. The scene struck Mr. Lewis as every way worthy of his pencil; and from the sketch taken on that occasion, he produced the beautiful and characteristic picture from which the accompanying engraving has been copied. It forms part of the collection of Mr. Congreve Russell, to whose courtesy we stand indebted for its use on the present occasion. "Whatever may be thought of the absurdity of such pilgrimages," says Mr. Lewis, "the bodily health of the devotees is at least secured by them. The humble and pious deportment of these poor people, as they enter the precincts of the monastery, is well worthy of observation. No sooner do they approach the shrines which are erected at moderate distances in the course of the ascent, than they fall upon their knees, and with clasped hands bow themselves before the images ensconced in their respective niches, with the most sincere devotion, and the most confiding faith. On their arrival within the edifice, they proceed to disembarrass themselves of their tributary offerings. After hanging the fragments of their waxen images upon the walls, and putting their money into the poor box, they all assume attitudes of devotion, and continue in prayer for about an hour; after which time, their priests visit them for the purpose of receiving their confessions. The leading observances of their pilgrimage having been thus performed, they consider themselves at liberty to enter into conversation with each other on indifferent subjects, and to indulge in antiquarian researches among the ecclesiastical relics of the neighbourhood. All these ceremonies at an end, they gather together their provisions and their apparel, and set out on their return home; where they arrive invigorated by the exercise they have undergone, and inspirited to fresh exertions in the respective callings in which they are engaged.""--Watts, loc. cit.