a city of the modern kingdom of Bavaria, the capital of the circle of that name. This city in ancient times, though under the protection of the elector of Bavaria, was considered as an imperial city, and the diets of the German empire were frequently held within it. It was then the see of an archbishop, and remarkable for its zealous adherence to the Catholic church. It was the scene of one of the most bloody conflicts during the Thirty Years' War, when the army of the imperial general Wallenstein was intrenched before it, and the Swedish monarch Gustavus Adolphus made repeated but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to storm the works, and lost so many men that he was compelled to retreat. It suffered much during the war between the French and Austrians in 1809.

Ratisbon was a place of much greater relative importance in former times than it is at present, having then the exclusive right to all the trade by the river Danube, both upwards as far as Ulm, and downwards as far as Vienna.

The city stands on the river Danube, at the spot where the river Regen, from which its German name is derived, falls into that great stream. The bridge over the Danube connects the several parts of the city. It is still in an imperfect degree fortified, but is totally indefensible against any armed force. The buildings are of antique models, particularly the ancient council-house, in which the representatives of all the states of Germany were accustomed to assemble. The cathedral is a large Gothic building; as are the church of St Emeran and the Lutheran church of the Holy Trinity, the latter of which was the college of the Jesuits till the abolition of the order.

The population, which in 1811 amounted to 18,843 persons, has much increased, and was found in 1837 to be 26,550. Of these, about one third are Lutherans; and two thirds, comprehending almost the whole of the labouring classes, are Roman Catholics. The former party have a gymnasium, and the latter a lyceum. There is a learned society, who have a botanical garden and a respectable library, with a museum of mathematical and philosophical instruments, and a picture-gallery. There are manufactures of morocco leather, many tanneries, soap-makers, wax and tallow chandlers, with large breweries and distilleries. On the banks of the Danube are some establishments for building barges and boats for navigating that river. The transit trade between eastern and western Germany gives employment to several respectable mercantile houses. A project, now considerably advanced, gives hope to the inhabitants of this city of a much greater portion of transit commerce. The Royal Bavarian Canal is hastening to its completion, and will open a communication by water between the Rhine and the Danube, the whole length being within the dominions of Bavaria. It commences at the river Mayn, which empties itself into the Rhine, and will terminate in the Danube, near this city. It is hoped that the timber of Bavaria will thus find a market in Hungary, and the surplus corn of that kingdom a constant vent on the banks of the Rhine, especially in Holland.

or, as the sailors call them, ratlines, those lines which make the ladder-steps to go up the shrouds and pattocks, hence called the ratlines of the shrouds.