of California 
 n Regional 
 y Facility
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AC^RICULTURE, MANUFACTURES, 
 
 STATISTICS, 
 AND STATE OF SOCIETY, 
 
 OF 
 
 GERMANY, 
 
 
 AND PARTS OF 
 
 HOLLAND AND FRANCE. 
 
 • 
 
 TAKEN DURING A JOURNEY THROUGH THOSE COUNTRIES, 
 
 IN 1819. 
 
 »Y WILLIAM JACOB, Esy., F.R.S. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 1820.
 
 LONDON: 
 Printed by W. Clowes, North umberlaiidcourt. 
 
 m
 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 HAVING formerly visited Germany, and having continued 
 to feel an interest in every thing- connected with that country 
 during the period that Englishmen were precluded from 
 entering it, I was anxious, on the return of tranquillity, to 
 view again the scenes I had formerly beheld ; and to ascertain, 
 by personal examination, the eifects which the domination of 
 France had produced. I was prevented from gratifying my 
 wish at the early period I intended, when the traces made 
 by a conquering enemy must have been most marked and 
 distinguishable. 
 
 Six years had elapsed between the period of the expulsion 
 of the enemy and the time of my visit ; it, therefore, became 
 difficult to ascertain what impediments or encouragements to 
 improvement the occupation had occasioned. The condition 
 of most of the places through which I passed, the cultivation 
 of the soil, the state of the roads, the entertainment at tlie 
 hotels, and the manner of conducting the various manufactures, 
 were better than when I visited the country twenty-two years 
 before. The manners of the inhabitants appear to have 
 
 HISTSrvY
 
 iv PREFACE. 
 
 undergone but little change ; but, as far as they are changed, 
 they are improved. 
 
 In submitting the following sheets to the Public, I have been 
 anxious to state such facts as I collected, rather than to gene- 
 ralize or to make deductions. It is not my design to create new 
 systems in politics, religion, agriculture, or judicial or fiscal 
 administrations; but to describe those that exist, and leave to 
 others to form theories, or indulge in speculations upon the 
 various modes of improving the condition of human society. 
 
 Since this work has been printed, I have been most highly 
 gratified by the perusal of Mr. Maltluis's new work on the 
 Principles of Political Economy. Indepeiulent of the pleasure 
 which I derived from contemplating the clear and philosophical 
 refutation of numerous errors with which that subject has 
 been recently clouded, my personal gratification was very 
 great on finding that my views of the causes of the distress 
 which is at present endured by agriculture and commerce, as 
 stated at Frankfort, have been developed and illustrated with 
 the peculiar clearness and felicity which marks every effort of 
 that able writer. 
 
 In almost every place I visited, I received marks of civility 
 and attention, which I would gladly acknowledge, but they 
 were so numerous, that I could scarcely notice each individual.
 
 I^IIEFACE. V 
 
 and I might omit some, whom it would grieve me to ofleiid, 
 and perhaps mention otiiers, who might be pained at being 
 brought before the Public, even to receive thanks. It has been 
 stated, to the disparagement of some of our English travellers, 
 that when they have connnittcd their observations to the press, 
 they have sometimes noticed individuals, who in the unre- 
 strained freedom of conversation, have thrown out ideas, that 
 they never expected would be produced before even a British 
 Public ; and who have thus suffered inconvenience from those 
 to whom they had shewn civilities. To avoid such a com- 
 plaint, I have scarcely mentioned any names ; and those of mv 
 friends in Germany whom these sheets may reach, will, I hope, 
 deem this a sufficient apology for not making my public 
 acknowledgments to them. 
 
 Chelshnm Lodge, Snrni/, 
 April, 1820.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 HOLLAND 1 
 
 WESTPHALIA 95 
 
 LIPPE-SCHAUENBOURG 107 
 
 HANOVER , Ill 
 
 BRUNSWICK 137 
 
 PRUSSIA 151 
 
 SAXONY 263 
 
 SAXE-WEIMAR, SAXE-GOTHA, AND PRUSSIAN 
 
 SAXONY 321 
 
 HESSE-CASSEL 374 
 
 FRANKFORT 393 
 
 RHENISH PROVINCES 403 
 
 FRANCE '. . . . 429
 
 HOLLAND.
 
 VIEW, 
 
 8;c. SjC. 
 
 After embarking at Harwich in a post-office packet in the 
 afternoon with a fair wind, we were saluted at day-break the 
 next morning with the agreeable intelligence that the coast of 
 Holland was in sight. The sand-hills of the island of Goree 
 were rapidly approached, and by eleven o'clock, the packet 
 was safely along-side the quay in the harbour of Helvoetsluys. 
 The examination of passports and baggage was effected with 
 but little delay, and no unnecessary trouble ; and merely 
 afforded time to view the town, whilst carriages were preparing 
 to convey us to the Brill, a distance of six miles. The for- 
 tifications of Helvoetsluys towards the sea are very strong, 
 and the harbour, formed by artificial walls of admirable 
 masonry, entered by means of sluices, gives a very favourable 
 impression of the patience and industry of the nation by whom 
 it was constructed ; a very fine frigate of 36 guns, equipped 
 for sea, was lying in the basin, with her sides close to the quay. 
 The houses and public buildings have a great air of neatness, 
 but of sameness, and the pavement of the streets had all the 
 characteristic cleanliness of a Dutch town. Independently 
 of the consideration of its being the connecting point between 
 
 A2
 
 4 BRILL. 
 
 England and Holland, Helvoetsluys excites a strong feeling 
 in an English mind, from the recollection that it was the spot 
 whence our William the Third embarked when he began to 
 enter upon that great operation which has eventually secured 
 to our islands that constitution and those liberties which have 
 raised them to a degree of prosperity, grandeur, and real 
 happiness, unequalled in the history of past ages. 
 
 Being four of us with our baggage, we took two carriages to 
 the Brill ; they were neither very light nor very elegant, nor 
 were the pair of horses attached to each very enviable nags, but 
 they drew us the six miles within an hour. The road was admira- 
 ble, the whole neatly paved with Dutch clinkers, without a rut, 
 and almost without a wheel-mark, so that had we been disposed 
 to grumble, we had nothing to complain of but the enormous 
 expense of turnpikes, there being no less than four, where 
 toll was paid within the six miles. Brill is a very neatly built 
 town, containing 6,000 inhabitants. The streets are well 
 paved with clinkers. In the centre of each is a canal, on 
 both sides of it rows of trees, and between them and the 
 houses a road sufficiently wide for two carriages to pass. It 
 is well fortified ; the country round can be easily inundated, 
 and the approach towards it over a narrow causeway, has great 
 capabilities of defence against assailants. From its position at 
 one of the mouths of the Meuse, Brill has long been the resi- 
 dence of the best pilots on the shores of Holland ; and from 
 among that class liave been produced many of those naval heroes 
 to whom, in the infancy of its independence, the country was 
 indebted for its maritime triumphs ; Van Tromp and De Witt, 
 with many others of less celebrity, were natives of this place, 
 and their memory is still cherished with the most patriotic 
 pride. After crossing in an excellent ferry-boat this branch
 
 MAESLANDSLUYS, 5 
 
 of the Meuse, and landing on the island of Rosenberg, an 
 open waggon was in attendance to convey the passengers to 
 the next branch on which the town of Maeslandsluys is 
 situated. The ferry here is equally good with the former ; 
 and the walk of about half a mile from the water-side, pre- 
 sented a fine view of the town in front. One of the churches 
 is peculiarly beautiful, and is crowned with a light and lofty 
 tower of admirable workmanship. The population of 
 Maeslandsluys amounts to about 7,000, most of whom are 
 occupied in the fisheries, principally for white and red 
 herrings. The people of this place complained much of the 
 ill success of the fishery this year. Some of the busses which 
 were by the sides of the wharf had been on the coast of 
 Scotland, from whence after a voyage protracted beyond its 
 usual limits, they had returned with very deficient cargoes ; 
 and some of the masters assured me, that the whole expense 
 of the outfit of the vessels of their town, would very far 
 exceed any sum which the sale of the whole of the fish could 
 produce, however high a price they may obtain for them ; 
 and on that subject, their expectations were far from 
 being sanguine. The road to Delft, burdened with toll- 
 gates, is remarkably good, compounded of the natural soil and 
 sea shells, admirably worked together into a compact and 
 smooth substance, so as to give no unpleasant joltings to the 
 traveller, who posts over it in a waggon without springs, 
 the only vehicle to be found at the post houses in this country. 
 As my fellow-travellers were destined to Harlem, the place 
 of their residence, I parted from them, intending to avail 
 myself of their pressing solicitations to visit them at that 
 city. 
 
 The whole country from Ilelvoetsluys to Delft, including 
 
 B
 
 Q DELFT. 
 
 the island of Rosenberg, presents a picture oi' the most 
 abundant agricultural wealth. It is mostly rich pasture 
 land, but mixed with corn stubbles, with clover, potatoes, a 
 few turnips, a considerable quantity of colewort, and much 
 madder. In every part there peeped out, among groups of 
 trees, most substantial and neat farm-houses, and barns, 
 surrounded with vast numbers of cows in excellent condition. 
 These cows nearly resemble the breed of Devonshire, but are 
 rather larger ; not however, as might be expected from the 
 nature of the pasture, nearly equalling the size of our Lincoln- 
 shire or even Sussex cattle. The hay-stacks around these 
 farming establishments were large and numerous, but the hay 
 was of a coarse quality, mingled with many rushes. Fruit trees 
 in the large orchards near the farms, and by the sides of the 
 road, presented an overburdening crop of apples and pears. 
 
 The most prominent agricultural labour that was in progress, 
 was the last ploughing of the fallows, and sowing them with 
 wheat. The ploughs were drawn by three horses abreast, 
 with the share and the coulter of wood, but were suffi- 
 ciently strong to turn the soil effectually ; for it appeared 
 a rich dark vegetable mould, the friable nature of which 
 indicated, that at least, one of the three horses might have 
 been spared. The wheat was sown in about fourteen turn 
 furrows, well rounded, but with less declivity, and with 
 trenches less deep, than I should have judged necessary, on 
 land so much exposed to be flooded, as this evidently is. The 
 sower carried the seed in his apron instead of a wooden box, 
 and did not appear to regulate each cast of a handful by the 
 motion of his foot, as with us. I watched the operation 
 attentively, and am convinced that the seed must be most 
 irregularly scattered by so clumsy a mode of performing this
 
 DELFT. 7 
 
 apparently simple operation ; and, that, consequently, there 
 must be an unnecessary degree of profusion in the use of it. 
 The wheat stubbles appeared to have afforded most abundant 
 crops. If they yield moderately under the flail, I should not 
 estimate their produce at less than from five to six quarters 
 on an English acre. Very few of the stubbles had clover 
 growing in them, perhaps where the natural herbage is so 
 luxuriant, there is but little inducement to cultivate the 
 artificial grasses. The oat stubbles appeared to me much 
 inferior to the wheat, and no barley was to be seen. 
 
 In this district, madder is very extensively cultivated. The 
 root is usually suffered to swell in the ground for three years, 
 at the end of which time it is considered to be in the best 
 state, and usually produces 4,000 pounds to the acre. Many 
 of the cultivators are, however, now compelled by the ne- 
 cessities of the times, and the want of capital, to take up the 
 roots at the end of the second year, and carry them to a very 
 depressed market. The growth of madder tends to exhaust 
 the most fertile soils, and a whole year's fallow is usually 
 found necessary after it, to enable the land to bear wheat. 
 The madder is frequently followed by colewort, and some- 
 times, but more rarely turnip-seed is sown, to that succeeds 
 a corn crop, either wheat or oats ; after which, the land is 
 again laid down to grass, whose growth in a very short period, 
 becomes highly luxuriant. 
 
 The country between Helvoetsluys and Delft is extremely 
 populous, even if the towns which intervene be not included 
 in the estimate ; and the quantity of corn that is raised, must 
 be very far short of what is required for the supply of the 
 inhabitants, although the loAver orders generally are sub- 
 sisted on potatoes. The principal produce of this tract of 
 
 B 2
 
 8 DELFT. 
 
 country is butter and cheese, which used to form the chief 
 sources of its wealth; but of late, the prices at which those 
 articles have been sold, have been so low, that instead of 
 a profit, every sale has been attended with loss to the 
 producer. 
 
 The vast numbers of windmills around would indicate the 
 grinding- of much more corn than the district affords, or 
 perhaps than the consumption of the inhabitants would 
 require ; but I soon learnt, that the far greater part of them 
 were destined solely for the purpose of draining the land 
 in the manner practised by us in some parts of Lincoln- 
 shire, and in the Isle of Ely. They were, however, 
 uniformly at rest ; and drought, rather than inundation, forms 
 at present the principal subject of complaint. The size and 
 power of these mills is much greater than any that it has been 
 'w found necessary to erect in England. 
 
 The dryness of this, and the preceding summer, added to 
 the unusual mildness of the last winter, has produced in 
 many parts of Holland, a visitation of a most unprecedented 
 nature. The field mice have multiplied to such an im- 
 moderate degree as to have absolutely destroyed, at least 
 for a season, some of the most fertile meadows. These animals 
 by millions have burrowed in the ground, and have eaten the 
 roots of the grass. Many patches of considerable extent 
 were pointed out to me on the richest pastures that were 
 totally bare, not even the slightest trace of vegetation being 
 visible; this I was assured was effected by these minute 
 vermin, and I had sufficient conviction of their al)undance 
 by the thousands I saw on the banks of the canals as I passed 
 the dykes. I was informed by persons, on whose veracity I 
 saw reason to rely, that many of the farmers on some of tlie
 
 ROTTERDAM. 
 
 best pasture Land had been compelled to part with their 
 dairies, frora not having food wherewith to support the cattle 
 even in the summer. 
 
 From Delft the road to Rotterdam is on the right side of 
 the canal, on the top of the dyke, and is bounded by very 
 good country houses, apparently belonging to the wealthy in- 
 habitants of the city, or by gardens where the most luxuriant 
 vegetables were growing in profusion. These gardens 
 and houses were reached by small bridges over the canals; 
 for in some parts canals were on both sides the road. The 
 idea of comfort was naturally suggested, by the neatness and 
 scrupulous cleanliness of the outside of every house, and 
 those few I entered did not destroy that idea on a closer in- 
 spection. Though the land is rich, the vegetation flourishing, 
 the houses well built, and the gardens and orchards abound- 
 ing in every valuable fruit, yet there is a tiresome 
 sameness of aspect, produced by the extent of levels, 
 bounded by no hills, and by the absence of all trees of the 
 umbraa-eous class. There are no oaks, few elms, none of 
 a tolerable size, and neither ash nor beech; willows are, 
 however most abundant, both growing and piled in stacks 
 for repairing the dykes ; these, with a few black, and some 
 Lombardy poplars, were the only trees that broke the dull 
 continuity of the line of vision. The quantity of potatoes 
 o-rowing in the adjacent fields was very considerable ; but as 
 the labourers were digging them, previous to sowing the fields 
 with wheat, I was much struck with the general smallness of 
 their size, which I learnt arose from a prejudice, I believe, 
 pretty general on the continent, against large potatoes, one 
 which prevailed equally in Ireland and England on their 
 first introduction.
 
 10 ROTTERDAM. 
 
 There are great numbers of mills in every direction, worked 
 by wind. In a comitry where there is no fall of water, and 
 where fuel is too dear to allow of the advantageous use of 
 steam-engines, this is very natural ; and hence the Dutch have 
 attained a degree of excellence as mill-wrights far beyond 
 any other people, so that almost every operation where a 
 great power is necessary is performed by the aid of wind. 
 Very powerful saw-mills were at work by the side of the road, 
 and the mast-makers were executing their labour with engines, 
 whose motion was communicated from the wind. 
 
 After leaving to the right, the town of Scheidam, surrounded 
 with windmills, and enveloped in the everlasting smoke which 
 its distilleries of gin send forth, I passed through Overschie, 
 a large town, in which are considerable manufactories of 
 iron ware, the soot of whose fabrication, was pretty visible on 
 the countenances of many of the inhabitants. 
 
 The entrance to Rotterdam from Delft is very impressive ; 
 it is through a long street, or rather a row of lofty houses, 
 with a canal on one side, between which and the houses is 
 an avenue of the highest trees I had yet seen in Holland, 
 with the lamps suspended in the centre. The streets of 
 Rotterdam are generally narrow, the houses large and lofty, 
 the bustle owing to the market-day was considerable ; there 
 were vessels in the canals of most of the streets, near the 
 warehouses ; and except that it is better paved, it much 
 resembles Hamburg, Lubeck, and the other commercial cities 
 of the north of Europe. 
 
 Few places are better situated for extensive commerce than 
 the ci'ty of Rotterdam. Its front is towards the principal 
 branch of the Meuse, whilst the river Rotte running through 
 it, gives access to vessels up to the doors of the various
 
 ROTTERDAM. 1 1 
 
 warehouses. The long duration of the war has diverted 
 much of the capital that had escaped the French into other 
 channels than that of commerce ; and since the return of 
 peace, the unsettled state of commercial operations has 
 deterred the rich citizens from directing their attention to 
 that carrying trade, which once afforded to the people of the 
 Seven United Provinces a source of a great portion of the 
 wealth, and the principal means of protecting it. At present, 
 the trade of Rotterdam, is represented to be in a most 
 miserable condition, by those who are best acquainted with 
 it. The access to the interior of Europe by means of its 
 river still remains ; but the rival cities of Hamburg on one 
 side, and Antwerp on the other, now divide with Rotter- 
 dam the scanty trade which the borders of the rivers 
 require. There appeared no activity on the wharfs, few 
 vessels in the river, and very few that had descended from 
 tlie interior of the continent. The exportation of corn to 
 England, when our ports were opened, had, since the peace, 
 been a lucrative trade to some of the commission merchants ; 
 but that is at present suspended, and the prices of all kinds 
 of grain are much lower than the cost to the grower. It 
 is said, that the warehouses are filled with colonial produce, 
 far beyond what the demands of the countries they supply 
 require. 
 
 The merchants of this city complain, that in the assembly of 
 the States, from the superior influence of the landed proprie- 
 tors of ci-devant Belgium, the interests of manufactures and 
 commerce are made to yield to those of agriculture ; and they 
 instance the repeal of the tax on horses, and the increase of 
 those on doors and windows, as proofs that their complaints are 
 not groundless. They attribute to the same influence, the in-
 
 12 ROTTERDAM. 
 
 creased tax on patents ; or, as we should call them, licences 
 to carry on trade or manufactures, which all must take out, 
 and which are rated, not as under our late income tax accord- 
 ing to the net profits, but according to the amount of the 
 business, whether profitable or the contrary. 
 
 The enforcement of the ancient navigation law, which pro- 
 hibited a citizen of Holland from owning a foreign built ship, 
 is a subject of much complaint ; and has been found hitherto 
 of no benefit to their own ship-builders, whose trade was 
 represented to me as in a state of complete stagnation. 
 
 Above all the other complaints of the Rotterdam merchants, 
 the loudest is against some new duties on coftee, the passing 
 of which, from one dealer to another, is placed by the same 
 law, under some severe regulations resembling our excise 
 system. Notwithstanding these complaints, however, they 
 all unite in ascribing to their monarch the best intentions ; 
 but are most vehement in their expressions of wrath against 
 the minister Altrpeusj who is accused of being the author of 
 the extension of the excise laws to coffee, and who was, lately, 
 first insulted and afterwards expelled from the public gardens of 
 this city, by the whole of the company, who were by no means 
 of the lower class of the people. They all confess that this 
 minister possesses talents, and some allow him integrity ; but, 
 having been formed in the school of Buonaparte, who was him- 
 self ignorant of the interests of commerce, he is accused 
 of having imbibed maxims which, however plausible in 
 theory, are either impracticable, or, if reducible to practice, 
 become highly injurious. Such are the views of the merchants 
 here ; perhaps an acquaintance with llic landholders of Bel- 
 gium might lead to very diU'erent, if not opposite views of the 
 subject.
 
 DELFT. 13 
 
 Rotterdam, according to the last census, contained 57.000 
 inhabitants, but they are said to have increased in the 
 seven years which have since elapsed. The predominant 
 religion is the Protestant, of the Calvinistic sect ; but the 
 professors of it are said to be temperate on disputable points, 
 and they are most certainly tolerant to those who differ from 
 them, for the number of churches, appropriated to the other sects, 
 exceeds those of the dominant party, and include almost every 
 denomination of Christians, there are besides many Jews. There 
 are no manufactories in Rotterdam, except those for rolling 
 and rasping tobacco, and afterwards grinding it into snuff. 
 There are several handsome public buildings, but none so 
 pre-eminently excellent as to merit a particular description. 
 The Stadt House of the date of 1620, is a large but heavy 
 mass. The Exchange is a commodious and modern erection, 
 and kept cleaner than such edifices usually are ; and the 
 India House, now used as a bonding warehouse, has a 
 respectable appearance. Some of the houses of individuals 
 on the great Quay have a most superb display of lengthened 
 front and lofty walls. 
 
 The principal ornament of the city, and the most 
 honourable to it, is a colossal statue of Erasmus in bronze, 
 in the market-place. It is about nine feet high, on a pedestal 
 of six feet, and was erected to his memory in 1662, more 
 than a hundred years after the period in which he flourished. 
 
 I was induced to revisit Delft in my way to the Hague. 
 It is a city containing 10,000 inhabitants. This, like the 
 other towns, is well paved ; the centre of the street with 
 granite stones, and the sides, either with clinkers or broad 
 flags. It is nearly a mile in length, has some very splendid 
 private houses, and respectable public buildings, but seemed 
 
 c
 
 14 DELFT. 
 
 to 'bfe' deserted by its inhabitants, and presented the dullest 
 aspect of any place I ever visited. It was once famous for 
 its manufactories of earthenware, which gave employment 
 to seven thousand persons, but does not occupy at present 
 two hundred. I remarked, every where English plates and 
 dishes, and scarcely ever saw any of the native manufactory. 
 
 The naval arsenal is a fine establishment; a ship, 
 riffsed and manned by the cadets of the navy, is here 
 
 
 
 appropriated for their professional instruction. The artil- 
 lery, both for the army, and navy are mounted here ; and 
 fitted for service with all the necessary appointments. The 
 brass cannon are cast at the Hague, and those of iron, in the 
 vicinity of Liege, and are brought here by water, to be 
 rendered fit for military purposes. 
 
 The new church as it is called, is of a very ancient date, and 
 has a tower 300 feet in height. It diverges considerably from 
 the perpendicular, and in appearance, threatens to fall on the 
 heads of the worshippers ; but it has been long in this state, and 
 the inhabitants are satisfied that it is perfectly secure. In this 
 church, among many monuments, some to their naval heroes, 
 Harpertsz, Tromp, and Hein, a beavitiful one to the celebrated 
 naturalist, Leeuwenhoek, is remarkable for its elegant sim- 
 plicity. In the old church, among several memorials to 
 names now scarcely remembered, is to be seen the monument 
 erected to Grotius. It is a pyramid of black marble, in a 
 niche, on which is a sepulchral urn ; on this urn is a 
 medallion of the head of Grotius, resting on a book. A 
 Genius stands on the left hand of the medallion, with a torch 
 reversed, and nearly extinguished. The inscription is simply 
 Hugojii Grotto sacram. 
 
 Besides these buildings, the late East India Company's
 
 DELFT. i5 
 
 House, the Stadt House, and the office for regulating the 
 affairs of the canals and dykes in the surrounding district, are 
 deserving of inspection to any stranger that may visit Delft. 
 
 The road I had hitherto travelled was on the top of the 
 dykes, which confine within the canals the whole water of 
 the country. As far as my eye could determine, these dykes 
 are on the side towards the fields, about thirteen or fourteen 
 feet in height, but varying according to the elevation or 
 depression of the land. The slope from the top to the bottom 
 forms an angle of about forty-five degrees, I thought them 
 about twenty-four feet wide at the top, and if both sides 
 sloped equally, they would be somewhat more than double 
 that width at the bottom. The inner side, however, borders 
 a canal, which is usually from four to six feet in depth. The 
 bottom of the canal must, consequently, be from six to eight 
 feet higher than the level of the surrounding fields. From 
 this situation of the water above the land, it will be readily 
 conceived, that great solicitude must exist to maintain the 
 dykes in good condition ; and that the expense of clearing 
 the fields of the floods, by pumping the water to such a 
 height must be enormous. The dykes are formed, and kept 
 in repair, by bundles of willows interlaced, so as to form a 
 slanting wall, and the interstices are filled with earth well 
 puddled, and thereby rendered compact. The expense of 
 maintaining the dykes, is supported by a tax laid on the sur- 
 rounding lands, which is levied by commissioners, according 
 to long established usage, in such a manner as to create little 
 discontent, and scarcely any suspicion of unfairness. The 
 expenditure in human labour is great, but is much exceeded 
 by the cost of the willows, though they grow near the places 
 where they are wanted, in very extensive plantations. 
 
 C2
 
 IQ DELFT, 
 
 The excellence of the roads has been already noticed. They 
 are of two kinds, one paved with the small hard bricks, deno- 
 minated clinkers, and covered with sea sand ; these are fitted 
 so exactly to each other, that scarcely a crevice is to be seen, 
 and they are but little subject to injury. The other kind of 
 road is made of sea-shells and the common soil, well com- 
 pounded together ; it is soft, and yet not much cut by the 
 wheels of carriages. Both these kinds of roads are formed on 
 the dykes, which restrain the canals within their due limits. As 
 an embankment against the water they are necessarily well 
 puddled, so as to become a solid impermeable substance, and 
 rendered more capable of supporting the roads which are car- 
 ried along their tops. In a country where water conveyance 
 is so abundant, it may be easily supposed that few or no heavy 
 carriages will travel on roads burdened with tolls, so high as 
 to amount to nearly as much expense as the post-horses. The 
 roads are thus less subject to excessive wear than in England 
 or Germany ; but yet these tolls are insufficient to keep them in 
 repair, and taxes for that purpose are levied on the houses and 
 lands that abut upon them. The bridges over the canals are 
 admirably constructed, and the various drawbridges, of diver- 
 sified forms, connecting the roads with the numerous gentle- 
 men's seats and large farm-houses, give a lively and cheerful 
 appearance to a country which, however, in spite of all these 
 works of human art, soon appears dull, uniform, and unin- 
 teresting to the eye. It is indeed picturesque, but of so peculiar 
 a character, that one picture might serve for almost the whole 
 district. 
 
 The canals arc cleaned by means of baskets fixed to the ends 
 of long poles, which are emptied into boats. Much of tliis 
 deposit is converted into manure ; but where the bottom is of a
 
 DELFT. 17 
 
 more clayey texture, what is brought up is placed in an enclosure 
 by the side of the canal, till it becomes dry by exposure to the 
 air ; it is then mixed with sand, and made into the small bricks 
 or clinkers which have already been often noticed. 
 
 It may be presumed that, in the alluvial countries of Holland, p 
 no stone quarries are to be found. The Meuse, however, 
 conveys most valuable stone from the vicinity of Liege and 
 Maestricht; one species is an excellent granite or porphyry, and 
 another, well calculated for burning to lime, though the greater 
 part of the lime which is used in this district is made from sea 
 shells. 
 
 The most diligent inquiry will scarcely enable one to 
 give any thing like an average estimate of the value of 
 land in an extensive district; and a stranger, spending but 
 a few days in each place, must feel diffident, and ought to 
 apprize his readers of that diffidence, before he presumes to 
 generalize on such a subject. The common measure of land 
 in Holland, the morgen, is about one-third more than the 
 English acre ; the guilder may be estimated at two shillings. 
 The highest price that meadow land bears in any part where I 
 inquired, was eight hundred guilders the morgen, or about 
 fifty-four pounds the acre ; such land was considered capable 
 of supporting two cows to the morgen, the value of the keep 
 of them was estimated at thirty guilders, or three pounds each 
 annually. Such land, if let, would produce a rent of thirty- 
 three to thirty-six guilders, the landlord paying the land-tax 
 of twenty-five per cent., and the tenant the taxes collected for 
 draining, embankments, roads, and other local purposes, which 
 amounted to from four to five guilders annually. The value of 
 land in this rich district, besides those local circumstances 
 which every where influence it, must depend much on its capa-
 
 18 DELFT. 
 
 city of being drained, and on the quantity of draining that it 
 requires. The expenses of this operation must be paid to the 
 proprietors of the ancient mills, who, on their part, are bound 
 to maintain them of sufficient force to drain all the water from 
 the district over which their feudal rights extend. If the 
 proprietor of an estate were to construct a mill for his own 
 peculiar use, it would not exempt him from the payment to 
 the proprietor of the ancient mill. It seems agreed on 
 all hands, that the draining of land is too important to the 
 community to be intrusted to the discretion of individuals ; and 
 hence the mills, though belonging to feudal proprietors, are 
 under the superintendence of the government, which contrives 
 to draw a revenue as well as patronage from them. These 
 mills are solidly constructed with that minute accuracy, which 
 is imprinted on all the wheel-work in Holland. They have 
 moveable roofs, so as to present the vanes to the wind, at every 
 change, in a proper direction. Such is the power of some of 
 these mills, that they will raise, to the height of four feet, 
 seven hundred tons of water in a minute, but on the average 
 they each discharge two hundred and fifty tons in a minute. 
 
 The price, stated as the maximum of the value of land, will 
 lead to the same conclusion as will be drawn from stating the 
 minimum of pasture land, which is about four hundred and 
 fifty or five hundred guilders, and lets from sixteen to twenty- 
 one ; thus the money invested in land in Holland can scarcely 
 be made to pay an annual income of more than 2| to 3 per 
 cent, interest on the capital. The wages of a day-labourer 
 in agriculture in this district is about fifteen pence in summer, 
 and nine-pence in the winter, and they arc provided with 
 food. This food is generally potatoes, when they are in season, 
 and at other times a kind of porridge, made of buck wheat
 
 DELFT. ] 9 
 
 and butter-milk, or skimmed milk, and they provide themselves 
 with lodging. 
 
 The preservation of the game seems much attended to, for 
 at the end of every estate, often of those of small extent, 
 boards are fixed with notices to prevent intruders from 
 sporting over the lands. The hares are said to be abundant ; 
 the accounts of the number of partridges were too various to be 
 depended upon. The madder, the colewort, and the turnips, 
 afford excellent cover for birds ; but I should think the ground 
 too damp, and the extent of corn land too small for the par- 
 tridges to multiply much. I believe there are few, if 
 any, pheasants ; snipes are very abundant, and seemed to be 
 very tame. In the markets I observed very ample supplies of 
 the aquatic wild fowls. 
 
 The neatness of the treckschuyts, or water-diligences, deter- 
 mined me to proceed in one of them to the Hague. The fore 
 part of these vessels, with accommodation for a considerable 
 number of passengers, is tolerably fitted up ; but the after part, 
 where the price is higher, and which holds only six or eight 
 persons, almost approaches to elegance, and yet the expense is 
 very trifling. As the canals are considerably elevated above 
 the surrounding country, and the dykes that bound them but 
 a few inches higher than the level of the water, as good a 
 view of the prospects can be gained whilst travelling in these 
 vessels, as when on the road by their side. Beautiful houses 
 of opulent proprietors, large farming establishments, with every 
 door and window painted in lively colours, gardens with pro- 
 fusion of fruits and vegetables, and a back ground of extensive 
 and luxuriant meadows, studded with grazing cattle, stretching 
 to an unbroken horizon, tire the eye, and dispose one to
 
 2Q DELFT. 
 
 indulge in that indolence which the uniform movement of the 
 treckschuyt contributes not a little to induce. 
 
 These boats are drawn by a single horse, which travels at 
 the rate of three miles an hour, and carries on his back what we 
 should perhaps call the postilion, but who here has the name of 
 the huntsman (jauger). The number of these boats is very con- 
 siderable, and the place and time of their departure, as well as 
 the hour of their arrival at their destinations, is regulated with a 
 precision that resembles mechanism more than animal movement. 
 The rules for slacking the tow-rope, on passing each other, are 
 prescribed and adhered to with scrupulous accuracy, so that acci- 
 dents or interruptions are almost equally unknown. These canals 
 were more crowded with boats conveying goods than passengers, 
 and the whole was both a novel and lively exhibition of a 
 moving scene. Some boats of a small size were moved by a 
 single man, who, instead of a tow-rope, had a long pole fas- 
 tened to the bow of it, by which he drew it along. As there is 
 no motion in these canals, when an impulse is given to the 
 boat, its continued movement is easily effected, and perhaps, 
 not having the slack of the rope to overcome, less exertion 
 may eff'ect the purpose with a pole than with a rope. For 
 some hours the same rich but monotonous display of rural 
 life is to be seen in passing from Delft to the Hague ; but 
 when approaching within an hour or two of the latter city, the 
 trees begin to appear, and prepare the traveller for a change 
 of scenery, by exhibiting a new character on the face of the 
 country. The number of lofty trees that surround tiie Hague, 
 as they arc gradually approached, afford a most agreeable 
 contrast to the naked country that is left behind, though the 
 equality of the surface from which these trees arise, is such as
 
 HAGUE. 2 1 
 
 to produce none of tliose sensations vvliich a rugged display 
 of forest scenery never fails to excite in the ardent admirer of 
 picturesque nature. 
 
 The near approach to the Hague is truly magnificent, as 
 soon as the palaces (for they merit that name more properly 
 than houses) appear more prominent than the trees which 
 envelope them, nor does the entrance to the city lessen the 
 impression of its grandeur. The public squares, with um- 
 brageous trees, the noble streets with canals in their centre, 
 the grand promenades, and the beautiful public buildings, 
 are all objects which make a powerful impression on the senses, 
 and that impression is not affected by the dead level on which 
 the whole is placed, which though wearisome in a rural pro- 
 spect, is what we expect to find in a large city. No place 
 of the same extent can be better fitted for the residence of 
 a court, especially for an assembly of the representatives 
 of all the different European nations ; and it is not wonderful 
 that, at a period when it must in beauty have far exceeded 
 every other place in Europe, it should have been the favourite 
 resort of those great statesmen, who assembled in it to regulate 
 the destinies of our quarter of the globe. Few of the houses, 
 or rather palaces, are of modern erection, the far greater part 
 are more than one hundred and thirty years old, and perhaps 
 this place was so far advanced, in all that can adorn a capital, 
 at that period, as not to need those improvements which the 
 other European cities have received. To be fully im- 
 pressed with the grandeiu* and magnificence ot the Hague, 
 and to appreciate it correctly, it must be compared with what 
 London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and Dresden were from the 
 years 1680 to 1720. The Hague had then reached its acme, 
 and though it has scarcely improved, it has not retrograded ; 
 
 D
 
 22 
 
 HAGUE. 
 
 whereas those other cities have gone on gradually from one 
 improvement to another ; and yet as a whole, perhaps none 
 of them far excel it in the splendid magnificence of their 
 exterior. With all the grandeur, however, there is a sombre 
 dullness visible every where, the wide streets scarcely witnessed 
 the passing of any carriages, nor the grand walks the assem- 
 blages of either the busy or the indolent ; the shops seemed 
 without customers, and the theatre with a very scanty number 
 of spectators. The removal of the king to this place may have 
 some effect, and the Assembly of the States collecting here 
 may give some animation to it ; but the attendants of royalty 
 about the king of the Netherlands, are maintained with an 
 economy which forbids much exhibition of splendour, and 
 the members of the Assembly are either too poor or too par- 
 simonious to add greatly either to the gaiety or to the wealth of 
 a place where their residence is but temporary. 
 
 The Hague contains about 40,000 inhabitants. It was long 
 considered as a village, because it had no corporation; but 
 when it fell under the dominion of France, Buonaparte thought 
 fit to flatter the people, by conferring on their residence 
 the empty title of a city of his empire. The most remarkable 
 of the palaces, the house in the wood, is a fine building, and 
 its facade would have a grand effect, if the number of trees 
 which approach it too nearly, did not prevent the whole from 
 being seen at once from any moderate distance. The park has 
 some very fine avenues of trees of a large size, but is too much 
 in a style somewhat resembling Hampton Court, and displeasing 
 to modern taste. Two of the churches, St. James's, and the new 
 church, are very striking objects. The Stadt House is large, and 
 contains a considerable collection of pictures, principally from 
 Dutch masters, and on local subjects, particularly the views in
 
 HAGUE. 23 
 
 the vicinity of this place, painted in the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth centuries, and with these arc combined the representa- 
 tions of the costume of the various classes of inhabitants of the 
 same period. The road to Scheveling, a village on the sea-coast, 
 has a most magnificent appearance ; but the view possesses 
 too much uniformity to be dwelt on long with any delight. It 
 is adorned by four rows of majestic oaks, is about sixty-five 
 feet in breadth, and the sides display numerous country-houses, 
 some of moderate, others of large, dimensions, but all wit^ 
 a neat trimness that is peculiarly national. ^; 
 
 The palace of Ryswick, in the village of that name, is more 
 remarkable for its historical connexion with the peace con- 
 cluded there in 1697, and for the lofty trees that surround it, 
 than for any distinguished beauty, either of the exterior or 
 interior decorations. 
 
 The stage coach or diligence which conveys passengers from 
 the Hague to Harlem, like the vehicle of the same name in 
 France, carries six inside passengers, but on three seats, each 
 of which is numbered, and those who take their places in it 
 are furnished with a ticket, signifying the seat they are to 
 occupy. Besides the inside passengers, two others are ac- 
 commodated in what is called the cabriole, a kind of open 
 part in the front, with curtains to draw, in case inclement 
 weather should render it necessary. These carriages, though 
 very clumsy in appearance, are remarkably well hung ; are 
 very well stuffed, both in the seat and the sides ; and though 
 not quite so easy as the motion of the treckschu}t, are upon 
 these roads, which are as smooth as a parlour-floor, the least 
 fatiguing conveyance I ever was in. 
 
 The Dutch certainly excel other nations in their mill 
 and wheel work, and I was much impressed with the superiority 
 
 T) 2
 
 24 
 
 HAGUE. 
 
 by tlie examination of this vehicle. The fellies and the 
 spokes are thicker than those of any carriages in England, 
 but the joinings of the different parts of the fellies were so 
 admirably made, that they were scarcely perceptible. The 
 spokes were fitted to the fellies, and to the nave in the same 
 nice manner ; and to the eye of an observer, who had never 
 before seen a wheel, it would have appeared, that the whole 
 must have been carved out of a solid block of wood. The 
 iron work was equally neat ; the joinings of the circle could 
 not be perceived, nor even the nails by which it was fastened, 
 and altogether it was the completest piece of workmanship 
 I had ever examined. The driver sat on a little dicky in 
 front of, and somewhat lower than, the cabriole, and managed 
 his four horses with considerable dexterity. I estimated that 
 the carriage, the passengers, and the luggage stowed on the 
 top, under the dicky and cabriole, and in a basket behind, 
 which reached from the perch to the top of the coach, could 
 not be less than three tons, and with this weight the horses 
 rattled along at the rate of six miles an hour. 
 
 The Dutch are as punctual, as they are industrious and 
 parsimonious. The diligences and treckschuj'ts start at the 
 time appointed, during the striking of the clock. If you are 
 told that the hour is seven, you may be sure to be away before 
 the fourth of the seven strokes have sounded. The precision 
 at which the hour of arrival is fixed, is such that you may 
 depend upon it within a very few minutes ; and the same 
 reliance may be placed on the period of finishing the journey, 
 whether it be made by water or by land. 
 
 The horses in Holland are good, look sleek as if well fed, 
 and the property of substantial masters ; they have a kind of 
 amble in their gait, are rather gay and prancing in their
 
 HAGUE. 25 
 
 carriage, and it is not very usual to see a post-horse with its 
 knees deranged. 
 
 The waggons, like the diligences, are well adapted to the 
 country, but from the convenience of water-carriage, they are 
 few in number. They are light veliicles, drawn by one, some- 
 times by two horses, and the driver is much at his ease in a 
 little seat before. The perch is not of one continued piece, but 
 under the body of the waggon is divided, and connected by a 
 swivel, operating something like a perpendicular hinge ; a dif- 
 ferent direction may thus be given to the fore and hind wheels. 
 The end of the perch terminates forward in the shape of a horn, 
 the top of which is within reach of the foot of the driver, and 
 the requisite direction is given to the vehicle by the application 
 of the driver's foot to this horn. These waggons are very light, 
 and their loading is inconsiderable; I should think none of 
 them more than twenty-five hundred weight. 
 
 The first part of the road from the Hague is bordered by 
 trees, which absolutely impede the prospect on both sides, for 
 nothing is to be seen besides them, and at frequent intervals^ 
 gentlemen's seats peeping out between the woods, and exhibit- 
 ing those specimens of neatness and cleanliness here so 
 universal. As the distance from the city increased, the country 
 became more open, and fine pasture land appeared in the 
 intervals between the woods and the houses. The trees are 
 neither lofty nor umbrageous, mostly limes or elms, no oaks, 
 and all closely clipped into a most unnatural uniformity. 
 
 A few miles from the Hague where the road to Leyden 
 separates from that to Harlem, the canals and dykes ceased 
 to appear, and the sandy hills with intervals of pasture or 
 arable land between them, bordered the road on both sides. 
 The valley between these sand hills appeared to be admirably
 
 26 HARLEM. 
 
 calculated for the turnip culture. The natives, however, 
 have no idea of the excellence of that root, or of the mode of 
 cultivating it ; the few fields that presented themselves with 
 that crop, were full of weeds ; the turnips not hoed, the bulbs 
 very small, and so thickly planted, that it is impossible they 
 should ever attain even a moderate size. The cultivation 
 of potatoes is pursued with more attention, and allowing for 
 the predilection which they entertain in favour of those of 
 a small size, with tolerable success. The potatoe crop is 
 deemed a good preparation for wheat, and in a district where 
 the numerous herds of cows yield such abundant manure, it 
 may be the most beneficial mode of preparing the soil to 
 receive it. 
 
 With the slight elevation of the land and the change of 
 soil, the woods assumed a different character. The trees 
 were either of beech, fir, poplar, or ash ; and the under- 
 wood consisted of maple, ash, hornbeam, beech, birch, and 
 a very slight portion of oak bushes ; some few sheep made 
 their appearance, long woolled, without horns, and the worst 
 framed animals I ever saw of that species. 
 
 After passing through the small town of Liss, the road 
 continued with the sand-hills in perfect barrenness on one 
 side, and the beautiful lake of Harlem on the other, till 
 we approached that city ; whose entrance is decorated with 
 country-seats of considerable magnificence, and beautiful 
 flower-gardens, which supply bulbs to the horticulturists of 
 their own country, as well as furnish the most beautiful 
 specimens of flowers to the rest of Europe. 
 
 Harlem, or as the Dutch spell it, Haerlem, is a city of 16,000 
 souls, whose inhabitants have been long celebrated for their in- 
 dustry and ingenuity, and have constantly conducted considerable
 
 flATlt^M. 27 
 
 manufactories of various kinds. The water was considered, before 
 the improvement in bleaching by gas was introduced, to possess 
 some peculiar properties for whitening linen. The fine linens of 
 Silesia used to be sent, as they came from the loom, to this 
 place for bleaching, and those of Friezeland were often pre- 
 pared in the same manner ; so that through Europe, both 
 were more generally denominated Holland, than called by 
 the name of the country in which the most material opera- 
 tions were executed. Many minuter articles which at first 
 view appear inconsiderable, but when all furnished from 
 one spot are of vast importance to it, were the productions 
 of Harlem ; such as tapes, bobbins, common thread lace, lace 
 making threads, and various others, which have been either 
 supplanted by the manufacturers of Manchester or other parts 
 of England, or have fallen into disuse from a change of fashions. 
 It is, however, to the ingenuity of the natives of Harlem, that 
 the public of Europe are indebted for the invention of many 
 of those more minute articles which contribute to the com- 
 fort of society. During the time of its manufacturing pros- 
 perity, this place contained a population of 40,000 inhabi- 
 tants, who, by regular and gradual decay, have declined to the 
 present number. There are still some bleacheries, though not 
 so considerable as formerly, and the most important manufac- 
 tory is that of printed calicoes. These are well executed, 
 equalling any work produced in Lancashire or Scotland, and 
 not very much inferior to most of what is executed in the 
 vicinity of London or in Switzerland. Besides this, there are 
 many looms employed in weaving stuffs of silk and cotton, 
 of silk and linen, and silk and wool, and several of silk alone ; 
 there are also manufactories of ribands and fine thread, and
 
 23 HARLEM. 
 
 thread lace, and some woollen cloths are made of consideraljle 
 fineness. 
 
 Harlem contends for the honour of having invented the art 
 of printing, and the colossal statue of Koster, who is here 
 asserted to have been the first printer, claims for him the 
 honour which the Germans give to Giittenberg and Faust. 
 The claim is defended by a story which has some appear- 
 ance of probability, and is confirmed by a printed book, 
 preserved in the Stadt House of the city, said to have been 
 executed by Koster in 1440, with the title " Spiegel der 
 hehoudenkse,'' the Mirror of Salvation. The story is that, 
 Koster walking in the wood of Harlem, having carved some 
 letters on the bark of a tree, and afterwards applied a piece 
 of paper to them, was led by the impression made on the 
 paper, to reflect on the possibility of connecting first syllables 
 and then words, till at length with wooden types, he pro- 
 duced the work before mentioned. They add, that one of 
 Koster's workmen having the charge of his implements, 
 made his escape with them whilst, on a Christmas eve, he was 
 attending mass with his wife. The fugitive repaired to Mentz, 
 and there is supposed to have communicated the invention 
 to Giittenberg, who, in connection with Faust and Scheffer, 
 produced their first work with metal types. The Germans 
 and the Dutch, as jealous of the origination of printing, as 
 the Grecian cities could be of the birth-place of Homer, have 
 mustered much antiquarian research in the controversy ; and 
 perhaps, left it as much involved in obscurity as when they 
 commenced the discussion. It is but fair, however, to the 
 German claimants, to state that their able advocate, Schbflin, 
 in answer to Meerman's Origine de la Ti/pograpliie, denies
 
 HARLEM. 
 
 29 
 
 the theft, and vigorously maintains the claims of his country. 
 If personal reputation is to be used in balancing contradictory 
 evidence, the weight must fall in favour of Koster, who is 
 represented as a man of great simplicity of character, and 
 purity of conduct, whilst his competitor Faust is depicted in 
 very different colours— 
 
 Non nostrum tantas componere lites. 
 
 The business of printing, wherever first invented, has, however, 
 been long carried on in this city, by a family, who combine 
 with it the important operation of letter founding. Mr. Enschede, 
 a member of that family, who had been my companion from 
 Harwich to Delft, is in possession of some very curious 
 specimens of early typography, which serve to illustrate the 
 history of the art, and confirm his opinion in favour of his 
 townsman. This letter-foundry has been long celebrated for 
 the excellence of its types, especially for Greek and Hebrew 
 printing. The former were those used and approved by the 
 celebrated Wetstein ; and they supply almost all the Jewish 
 printers of Europe with the latter. Their types for printing 
 music are said to equal, if they do not surpass all others, both 
 in the beauty of the figures, and the durability of the metal 
 of which they are composed. 
 
 The attention to the cultivation of flower-roots and seeds, 
 independent of the elegance of the pursuit, has by the profits it 
 has brought become an object of some importance. It is the source 
 of prosperity to many respectable families, and in some mea- 
 sure lays all Europe under obligations, which are repaid by 
 profit to the cultivators. The number of flower-gardeners is not 
 above twelve or thirteen, but the operations of each are very 
 extensive. It is said, that there are more than twenty acres 
 
 E
 
 30 
 
 HARLEM. 
 
 of land devoted solely to the cultivation of hyacinths, and 
 a large portion to tulips, and other flowers. These flowers 
 are principally sold when in full bloom in Amsterdam, where 
 there is a weekly market on Sunday afternoon, and the whole 
 of Monday ; the trade, however, has vastly declined of late 
 years, having sunk in weekly returns from 15,000 to 3,000 
 florins. The tulip mania which afflicted Holland in the years 
 1636 and 1637, and which involved so many families in ruin, 
 has long ceased ; but in 1730, a hyacinth mania, inferior to it 
 indeed, but equally ridiculous, prevailed ; and speculations 
 were made in those flowers to a considerable extent, so that 
 some single bulbs were sold as high as sixty or seventy pounds. 
 There can be no doubt but the taste for cultivating flower- 
 gardens, which has extended itself over almost the whole 
 of Europe, may be traced to this country, which furnished 
 bulbs and seeds till the intervention of successive wars and 
 their interruptions to conununication, induced the other nations 
 to propagate those flowers at home, whose growth w^as most 
 congenial to their soil and climate. 
 
 The school of painting in Harlem produced some of the best 
 masters in that delightful art. The most celebrated of them, 
 among a number of inferior but not ungifted ones, are Van 
 Wyk, Philip Wouverman and his two brothers John and 
 Peter, Van Ostade, Brouwer, Hostein, Francis Post, Nicholas 
 Van Berghcm, Vander Heist, the brothers Ruisdaal, Van 
 Kampen, Cats, and Milate. The works of these men are 
 scattered through Europe, and are considered the best speci- 
 mens of that peculiar school, which unites accuracy of outline 
 with the most indefatigable industry in copying the pre- 
 cise and exact lineaments of nature. Though no painters 
 of celebrity now remain, nor any great collection of the works
 
 HARLEM. 31 
 
 of natives, yet the same industrious spirit which prompted 
 it8 artists, is kept alive ; but directed more to objects ot 
 natural history and of national economics. These have been 
 promoted by the foundation of Teyler, and by the Academy 
 of Sciences. Teyler endowed an institution, which has 
 assembled a collection of natural history, and furnished it 
 with whatever is rare and interesting in the animal, vegetable, 
 and mineral kingdoms. These are explained in weekly 
 lectures ; when experiments are exhibited in physics, and 
 comparative anatomy. The museum has a valuable library, a 
 chemical laboratory, and an observatory, which are accessible 
 to all who wish to avail themselves of their valuable assistance^' 
 One of the most remarkable public edifices in Harlem, is 
 the great church, formerly the cathedral, a most enormous 
 mass of building ; but the butchers' stalls in the market bein<r 
 in actual contact with it, the effect in a great measure is lost. 
 It is built of bricks, which from habit seems incompatible with 
 the sublimity connected with our ideas of a cathedral. Thouoh 
 erected when the catholic religion was predominant, it has 
 very little ornament either external or internal. It is in 
 the form of a cross, about five hundred feet in length, and one 
 hundred and twenty in height. The simplicity of the Presby. 
 terian worship is scarcely to be reconciled to so capacious 
 a building. It is not disfigured by pews like our churches, 
 but the female part of the congregation, have chairs numbered 
 on which they sit, whilst the males are either on benches 
 beyond them, or stand during the service. The Calvinists 
 of Holland, unlike their brethren in Scotland, far from having 
 an aversion to church music, are as fond of it as either the 
 catholics or Lutherans. The organ of this church has been long 
 celebrated for its great power, and the softness and clearness
 
 32 
 
 HARLEM. 
 
 6T its tones. Though it was on a Saturday; a gentleman, more 
 fond of music than myself, wished a few tunes to be played, 
 which to his taste were delightful. I was pleased at recognising 
 the old hundredth, and some other of our graver psalm tunes. 
 
 I was glad to find that the long subjection to France had not 
 diminished the regard to religion, at least, as far as is evinced 
 by attendance at public worship ; and, perhaps the hatred they 
 felt at their foreign oppressors for the loss of their independence, 
 might operate on the people in opposition to them, rather to 
 increase, than diminish the frequency of attending. I was told 
 that no one wishing to preserve a decent character in society, 
 could abstain from the public service of the sect to which he be- 
 longed ; and I remarked, on the Sunday morning, at the early 
 hour of seven, that a numerous congregation was collecting in 
 the great church. The service is repeated three, and in many 
 churches four times on the Sunday ; and thus the time is ren- 
 dered convenient to all classes of persons. Several ministers 
 belong to each church, by which means the succession of ser- 
 vices is kept up without any being exhausted. At a church 
 which I afterwards attended, the congregation was numerous, 
 respectable, and attentive ; and, as far as I could understand the 
 Dutch language, the devotion was of an impressive character, 
 and I knew enough to ascertain, that their prayer before sermon 
 was strictly orthodox, being addressed to Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost. If it were decorous to treat as ridiculous any 
 of the appendages of that worship, which we believe to be 
 sincerely intended, perhaps the grotesque, yet fantastic 
 dress of the Domine, or minister, might have excited some 
 ludicrous ideas. A large slouch hat, long black locks parted 
 before ; enormous bands, and a black gown, that merely 
 covered the shoulders, and from wliich himg behind huig
 
 AMSTERDAM. 33 
 
 Streamers, resembling the leading strings with which children 
 first learn to walk, were the decorations of the person of 
 this preacher. The clergy of all the sects are much respected, 
 though scarcely any are of the higher classes of society, 
 but they are generally distinguished by the regularity of their 
 deportment, and tlieir kindness to the poorer classes; and 
 none of them, like too many of our sectaries, are destitute of 
 a regular education. In this city are five churches for the 
 reformed, the predominant sect, one for Lutherans, four for 
 Catholics, one for Mennonites, and one for Anabaptists ; the 
 lower classes are mostly catholics. ojrf j«rf.t 
 
 The view from the tower of the great church, about three 
 hundred feet high, amply repaid me for the labour of ascending 
 to it. The panorama was fascinating, particularly on a day 
 when the sun shone with more than usual brilliancy. The sea, 
 divided by sand-hills from the lake of Harlem, the fine country 
 seats, especially that of the Hope family beneath my feet, and 
 the beautiful flower gardens in its vicinity, all appeared in the 
 fore-ground ; beyond it, the circle included most distinctly the 
 city of Amsterdam, the large towns of Saardam, Alkmar, Naar- 
 den, and many other places ; whilst in the more distant horizon, 
 in one quarter, the city of Utrecht was visible, and in the other, 
 Rotterdam and Delft, with Leyden intervening. It certainly 
 included within one view, perhaps excepting that over London, 
 the richest, most populous, and most productive spot on the face 
 of this globe ; and a spot contemplated with more delight, be- 
 cause from the elevation we become more insensible to that 
 uniformity, which a level plain impresses when standing upon it. 
 i The road from Harlem to Amsterdam is closely environed 
 with water ; it is over a dyke, whose prodigious strength divides 
 the lake of Harlem from an arm of the Zuyder sea, and has
 
 34 
 
 AMSTERDAM. 
 
 successfully resisted the invasion of the boisterous element that 
 lashes both its banks. This approach, by no means announces 
 the vicinity of a great city. The most striking part of the pic- 
 ture is the vast number of windmills, which are crowded so 
 closely together, that from one spot, I counted forty-six within 
 a very small compass. The land near the city was of a fine 
 deep verdure, but as I was convinced, on a nearer inspection, 
 produced as much rushes as grass, and the hay-stacks were evi- 
 dently composed of the same coarse and ungenial kind of fodder. 
 The first impression on entering the city is, that all the 
 large houses are falling. Many of them have evidently settled 
 considerably since their first erection. In some instances 
 adjoining houses have, in thus sinking, taken a different direc- 
 tion ; and some of those which have taken the same direction 
 differ in the degrees of inclination they have assumed. The 
 inhabitants, however, feel confident in their stability, and they 
 are too much interested, not to be careful in ascertaining if 
 there be any real danger. I was much struck with the mag- 
 nitude of all the houses, and felt at a loss to conceive where 
 the numerous poor of so large a city could have their habi- 
 tations. I learnt, however, afterwards, that they were mostly 
 accommodated with lodging in the cellars beneath these 
 splendid mansions. In a city where ground is so valuable as 
 in Amsterdam, large squares, or open places are not to be 
 expected ; but the canals, which fill the middle of some of 
 their best streets, answer the purposes of ventilation ; and 
 their borders, shaded in some instances with trees, serve as 
 a promenade for the inhabitants. In the winter season, fogs 
 of a most intense tliickness prevail, so that the foot-passengers 
 surprised by the sudden darkness, have, sometimes, in groping 
 their way, been suddenly precipitated into the canals, and
 
 AMSTERDAM. 35 
 
 drowned. A calamity of this kind, of a very extensive and fatal 
 nature, by which many lives were lost, has led to the erection of 
 posts on the different wharfs before the houses, and in fogs, cords 
 are stretched from one to the other, by which the passenger 
 may guide himself with security. Except in those streets, 
 in which there are canals, the city of Amsterdam has a 
 peculiarly gloomy appearance, arising from the height of the 
 houses, and the short distance from one side of the street to the 
 other. 
 
 There is scarcely a public building in this city, that can 
 be justly described as handsome, but if any deserve the 
 epithet, they are the barracks built by Buonaparte's order in the 
 year 1810, when he chose to unite Holland to his empire, and 
 called this one of his good cities. The Stadt House has long 
 been celebrated for its extent and durability ; and it is 
 probably the largest mass of masonry in Europe. It is like 
 the other buildings of the city founded on piles. The whole 
 o-round is marshy, and may be more properly called a morass, 
 than land. A covering of about seven feet is a rich vegetable 
 mould, under this, is a layer of turf, nine feet in thickness, 
 then about nine feet of soft clay, below that alternate layers of 
 loose sand and clay, till at about fifty or sixty feet, a bed of 
 hard sand is reached, on which the piles can rest. In erecting 
 a building, its dimensions are marked out, six or seven feet are 
 excavated, till the water, which is pumped out as it appears, 
 is reached. Piles of fifty or sixty feet in length, are then 
 driven in by the usual machine, till they rest on the hard 
 sandy bed before noticed. The number of the piles depends 
 on the size of the building to be constructed, few houses 
 require less than two or three hundred, and the larger build- 
 ings a much greater number. When a sufliciency of piles
 
 ,36 AMSTERDAM. 
 
 have been driven, they are all sawed so as to be exactly level, 
 and on them is fastened, by long iron spikes, a flooring of oak 
 timber, from six to eight inches in thickness. It is in this 
 manner, that the foundation of all the buildings in Amsterdam 
 are laid, and the assertion is commonly made, though it cannot 
 be literally true, that more money has been expended in build- 
 ing below than above ground. 
 
 The Stadt House, as it was originally called, was denominated 
 a royal palace by Louis Buonaparte, an imperial one by 
 his brother, and now again a royal palace under the King 
 of the Netherlands, is built on a foundation of 13,695 of these 
 piles. It is in the form of a paralellogram, two hundred 
 and eighty feet long and two hundred and twenty wide. The 
 front is one hundred and twenty feet in height, and the cupola 
 in the centre of the building one hundred and eighty-five feet 
 from the ground. 
 l\s< When Louis ruled in this country, he first fixed his residence 
 at the Hague, and afterwards at Utretcht, professing to wait 
 till a maritime peace should be made, before he took up 
 his abode in the capital. In February, 1808, as no prospect 
 of that event appeared, he resolved to remove hither ; the 
 different public offices that occupied the building, were 
 instantly removed ; and the corporation of the city compelled 
 to prepare and furnish this enormous edifice for the royal 
 ^bode. Neither labour nor expense were allowed to be 
 spared, and in two months he took possession of it. When he 
 was dismissed, and Holland united as a department to the 
 French empire. Napoleon and his young wife resolved on 
 ja, visit to this new city, and the furniture, at the expense 
 of the corporation, was renewed in a style of costly mag- 
 nificence, which really impressed me with more surprise than
 
 AMSTERDAM. :)^y 
 
 %ny edifice T hdd ever" entered. TKe imperial cbiiplfe- for 
 ' whose reception this enormous expense had been incurred, 
 
 ' occupied it for eight days, with a train of marshals, generals, 
 
 "ministers, and their respective houseliolds, such as perhaps 
 could not have been lodged in any other single edifice in 
 
 -i-Europe. 
 
 The furniture of this palace having been used by the first 
 
 ii-bccupiers but a few days, and very rarely by the present king, 
 is still in its original freshness of beauty. The rich silk 
 curtains of all the apartments, the variegated draperies in 
 which they are disposed, the velvets which cover the sofas 
 and chairs, the rich carpets, the elegant marble fire-places, 
 and the exquisite paintings, with which the different rooms 
 are decorated, exhibit together a picture of magnificence and 
 splendour beyond what I had ever before witnessed ; and the 
 more striking, because contrasted with the grotesque, not 
 to say clumsy, furniture with which every house I had 
 seen for some days was accommodated. The cabinets, the 
 bed-chamber,. the bath, and the antechambers, with the dining- 
 
 ' rooms, occupied by Buonaparte, are peculiarly elegant ; and 
 
 -"the decorations are arranged with a chastity and simplicity 
 
 5 that produce a very pleasing effect. 
 ' It would be tiresome to any reader to peruse the detail of 
 the furniture and decorations of sixty suites of apartments, but 
 the grand saloon (salle imperiale) is such a chef cVa'uvre of 
 architecture, that a short description may be tolerated. It is 
 one hundred and twenty feet in length, ninety-eight in 
 height, and fifty-six in breadth. The walls are of beautiful 
 Italian marble, the arched ceiling is painted by Goeree, a 
 distinguished Dutch artist of the last century, and rests on 
 a range of marble pillars. The lofty windows, of which there
 
 38 AMSTERDAM. 
 
 are two rows, one above the other, are furnished with curtains 
 of green damask and drapery of purple velvet. The benches 
 are covered with green Genoa velvet, and purple borders; 
 eight branching cut-glass chandeliers, depend from the roof, 
 and the marble floor is nearly covered with a Brussels car- 
 pet, of a size corresponding to the dimensions of this vast 
 apartment. Above the entrance are two colossal statues, one 
 of Peace, the other Atlas supporting the globe, surrounded 
 by standards taken by the Dutch at diff'erent periods of history 
 from their enemies. 
 
 The Salle du trone, though of smaller dimensions, is more 
 superbly furnished. The throne and canopy are of purple 
 velvet ; the curtains and drapery of poppy-coloured damask. 
 Opposite the throne, is a beautiful marble chimney-piece, sur- 
 mounted by a fine picture, painted by Jordaens, of Moses de- 
 scending from Mount Sinai, with the two tables of the law ; and 
 on the ceiling are depicted the arms of the different provinces 
 of Holland. It is time to conclude this description of the 
 palace ; but it may be added, that the apartments which were 
 prepared for the Prince of Neufchatel and Wagram, are scarcely 
 inferior to those destined for Buonaparte's occupation. There 
 is here to be seen, a collection of paintings reported to be very 
 good, and a museum of national antiquities. The cupola, over- 
 looking the city, affords a beautiful panorama; which though 
 somewhat different from that of the tower of Harlem, resembles 
 it too much in its character to merit any notice, after tlic 
 enjoyment that it had bestowed. 
 
 The other buildings in Amsterdam which, in point of size, 
 struck me most forcibly, were the Orphan House and church for 
 the French catholics ; a most enormous pile, as is also the house 
 and warehouses of the East India Company. Many other
 
 AMSTERDAM. QQ 
 
 public edifices, including the churches, are more remarkable for 
 their solidity than for their beauty ; and as far as my observation 
 has extended, a more enormous mass of building was never erected 
 on one spot, which, taken together or separately, discovers less 
 science in the architects, or conveys less pleasure to the beholder. 
 The population of Amsterdam, according to the latest 
 accounts, and divided into the religious denominations of the 
 inhabitants, is 
 
 Reformed or Calvinistic 98,000 
 
 Catholics 44,500 
 
 Lutherans 32,000 
 
 Jews 23,100 
 
 Anabaptists, Remonstrants, Moravians, Ar- 
 menians, and Greek church . . . 2,980 
 
 200,580 
 
 Estimate of soldiers, sailors, and persons 
 
 of none or doubtful religious sects . 20,000 
 
 220,580 
 
 The population is plentifully supplied with provisions from 
 the rich and fertile fields around it, which furnish both meat 
 and vegetables in abundance; and, by the navigable rivers, 
 which bring corn from the interior of Europe. It is very 
 deficient in good water, as that of all the canals is too much 
 mixed with the sea to be drinkable. Each house is provided 
 with a tank, in which is collected all the rain that falls on the 
 roofs; and this, by leaden pipes, is conveyed to the parts 
 where it is required. Water-carriers are a numerous body, 
 especially in the seasons of drought, or during a frost ; when 
 
 F 2
 
 40 
 
 AMSTERDAM. 
 
 the best water must be brought from a great distance to supply 
 the inhabitants. The water-carriers obtain a supply from 
 boats on the canals, in common seasons, which are made water-f^ 
 tight, and have pumps to them, in which it is brought from the 
 river Vecht, six or seven miles distant from the city. 
 
 The booksellers' shops of Amsterdam, like those I had visited 
 at Rotterdam and Harlem, presented few indications of exten- 
 sive demands for literary works. Scarcely any native pro- 
 ductions were on sale, the far greater number were translations 
 from the English, many from the German, and some few 
 from the French. The only original works were either poetry, 
 or books on devotion and piety. Cheap editions of the Latin 
 classics are printed for the use of the schools and colleges. 
 The Dutch do not estimate their own language or literature 
 highly ; all who are tolerably educated can read either English, 
 German, or French, and frequently all of those languages; 
 and by means of the circulating libraries, which are well 
 conducted, can be furnished in foreign languages with better 
 means of acquiring knowledge, than by any of their native 
 publications. 
 
 A taste for music is generally prevalent, and the inhabitants 
 vaunt much of the excellence of their performers. The 
 concerts, at a public institution called the Felix Meritis, are fre- 
 quent. They are performed in a beautiful rotunda, capable of 
 receiving a very numerous company, and are said by amateurs 
 to be exquisitely conducted. The other fine arts of painting 
 and statuary are encouraged by the same foundation ; and 
 within their hall there is an observatory, and a collection of 
 astronomical instruments. 
 
 Tiic schools for gratuitous instruction in vVmsterdam, are 
 numerous and well regulated ; and the children of all the
 
 AMSTERDAM. 41 
 
 poor, without distinction of religious sects, may be instructed 
 in reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography. Besides 
 the schools which are under the guidance of difterent 
 churches, those more decidedly national have about four 
 thousand children, who are instructed without any payment, 
 and supplied gratis with paper, books, pens, ink, &c. Instruc- 
 tion is not confined to teaching them merely to read and write, 
 but moral and religious principles are also inculcated. The 
 plan now adopted is that of mutual instruction, upon the 
 system of the Madras school ; with, as the Dutch contend, 
 some improvements. 
 
 The streets of Amsterdam are far from being crowded with 
 carriages, and few or no carts or waggons are to be seen. A • 
 carriage upon wheels is a rare object, the greater number 
 of coaches are suspended by leathern straps upon a kind of 
 sledge, and drawn by one horse, whilst the driver walks by 
 the side ; all the hackney coaches, which are of this description, 
 are numbered, and under the direction of the police. 
 
 It is not possible to visit Amsterdam without adverting to 
 the flourishing state of its former commerce, and contrasting it 
 with its present depressed condition. The long continuance 
 of war had reduced both the navy and the trading marine 
 to a state of inactivity, and almost of extinction ; all the trade 
 that passed through this city, was brought to it by neutral 
 vessels, as long as neutrality was permitted ; but when the 
 ruler of France adopted what he denominated the continental 
 system, no commerce was lawfully carried on, and a contraband 
 trade occupied its place. On the return of peace, the first 
 supplies to the continent of articles produced in distant 
 climates, far exceeded what the consumption of the continent 
 could absorb, or at least, what its resources would enable
 
 42 AMSTERDAM. 
 
 it to pay for. The warehouses of Amsterdam became clogged 
 with colonial produce, and many of the more ardent votaries 
 of wealth were involved in ruin. The sales for all foreign 
 productions have remained dull ever since the opening of the 
 ports, with the exception of the very first period, and the 
 brisk trade of that short space of time caused a re-action, that 
 proved very disastrous. The carrying trade, to which Holland 
 was indebted for her wealth and her power, finds successful 
 rivals in the English and North Americans. The war created 
 a demand for ships. England obtained numbers from all 
 nations, which, as prizes regularly condemned, were inserted 
 on her register, and entitled to all the privileges of British-built 
 ships. This advantage of buying foreign ships is denied to 
 Holland, and she made no prizes; and the Dutch cannot 
 build ships for such low prices, as the English can buy and 
 repair them. They are, even in regard to cheapness of building, 
 unable to meet their competitors on equal terms, and in con- 
 sequence of it both navigation and ship-building are at a very 
 low ebb. 
 
 The price of herrings, in the catholic countries of the south 
 of Europe, has been so low since the peace, that the Dutch 
 fishermen have lost rather than gained by the expeditions they 
 have made. The whale fishery seems now divided between 
 the English, the Americans, the Danes, and the Hamburghers ; 
 and scarcely any ships are equipped in Holland for that branch 
 of industry. Thus this important source of the wealth of the 
 country, is nearly as much a nullity as it was during the long 
 continuance of the war now terminated. 
 
 The colonies restored to the country on the conclusion of 
 the peace, have been too short a time under their government 
 to produce any effect; and certainly have not yet yielded a
 
 AMSTERDAM. '4g 
 
 profit equal to the expense of fitting out the slight expeditions, 
 -which were despatched to receive them from their conquerors. 
 The trade to India and China has not been entered on with 
 any ardour ; though the increased consumption of tea on the 
 continent, and the prospect of selling it to English smugglers, 
 must have oft'ered strong temptations to the capitalists. 
 
 Amsterdam used to be the storehouse of corn for the south 
 of Europe; and during the scarcity of 181?, the trade was 
 extensive and beneficial with England and France, as well as 
 with the interior of Germany. The demands of that period 
 have encouraged speculators ; and their stores are said tp 
 be now filled with corn, for which they have no vent. This 
 surplus of foreign corn has tended to depress that of their own 
 growth, much below the price which it costs the cultivators. 
 The restrictions enacted in England on the butter and cheese 
 of this country, have had, as might be expected, the effect of 
 reducing the price so low, that they afford no profit. 
 
 This derangement in the two great branches agriculture and 
 commerce, from which national wealth must arise, is felt among 
 all ranks of the community. The inferior trades are without 
 activity, and the various workmen in them, even at depressed 
 wages, find a difficulty in obtaining any employment. This pic- 
 ture of derangement and distress, similar to what is at this crisis 
 experienced in all other countries, in a greater or less degree, 
 is not likely to be so permanent here as in some others. There 
 is here a solid capital which is able to support and overcome 
 the calamity ; and the wise parsimony, which is universally 
 practised and become habitual, must repair in a short time the 
 ravages occasioned by the diminution of their trade, and the 
 depressed state of their agriculture. 
 
 Amsterdam is not a manufacturing city, the want of abun-
 
 44 UTRECHT. 
 
 dant supplies of water, and the dearness of fuel, have operated 
 to prevent it from becoming so. The only branch that occupied 
 many workmen was that of tobacco and snuff; which, at one 
 time, gave employment to five or six hundred persons, but is 
 jiow much lessened. 
 
 From Amsterdam to Utrecht, a distance of twenty-six miles, 
 the road by the side of the canal, and the surrounding country, 
 presented the same monotonous uniformity as has been before 
 the subject of complaint. The immediate environs of Amsterdam, 
 however, when I passed through them on the day of my depar- 
 ture, had an appearance of animation, from its being a 
 holiday, when numbers of the inferior classes were assembled, 
 either in the houses of public entertainment, or in the open 
 air, enjoying the delights of music and dancing. The number 
 and the size of the gentlemen's seats, exceeded those on the 
 other entrance to the city ; and a fine autumnal evening gave 
 a kind of softened beauty to the objects and scenery. 
 
 The land between the two cities is almost wholly rich pasture, 
 on which numerous cows are kept; the butter and cheese, 
 from which, in flourishing times, was a source if not of large, at 
 least of certain profit. The farms are mostly small, from fifty 
 to a hundred of our acres. Stall-feeding is rarely adopted ; 
 and where the land is so rich, it is certainly less necessary than 
 on land of inferior quality, which requires to be constantly 
 renovated by manure. The price of these small farms is about 
 sixty pounds per acre; but that is when the buildings are 
 included. The rent they yield will scarcely pay 2| per 
 cent, interest on the capital. At present, there is much land 
 for sale, and but few purchasers, so that it is generally expected 
 the price must be much reduced. 
 
 Approacinng nearer to Utrecht, the land was, though
 
 UTRECHT. 45 
 
 insensibly, somewhat elevated ; and only ascertainable by 
 remarking a very gentle current in the water, wiiicli crept 
 with a languid pace in the direction of the sea. 
 
 Utrecht, though a very ancient city, has less the appearance 
 of it than the other towns I have seen in this country. The 
 streets are more regular, the houses more modernised, and the 
 places or squares more spacious. In some of the streets there 
 are canals, or rather branches of the river Rhine ; for thougii 
 they soon terminate in stagnant canals, they have here some 
 motion. The water is so far below the level of the streets, 
 that the wharfs on its sides have doors opening to a kind of 
 caverns under the streets, in which many of the poorer classes 
 find habitations. 
 
 Wishing as usual to see the whole of the city and country 
 in a bird's-eye view, I ascended to the top of the tower of 
 the dome church, the largest and oldest in the city. It is 
 reached by four hundred and seventy steps, and is three hundred 
 and ninety feet in height. The panorama was beautiful, the 
 country a mixture of verdant meadow, interspersed with con- 
 siderable portions of wood, that gave no indications of the 
 autumnal season. No hills were to be seen, except some faint 
 lines in the western horizon, quite insuflficient to relieve the placid 
 uniformity of the prospecL About two leagues distant, was 
 pointed out to me a prodigious pyramidical earthen mound, 
 erected by Marmont, when he was military commander of the dis- 
 trict. This church must have been formerly of a prodigious size« 
 A part has been pulled down, and the tower which was at the 
 west end, is now at a distance from it, with a neat garden be- 
 tween. It is still too large for the Calvinistic service, where the 
 voice of the preacher is the principal object, and not as with the 
 catholics, the exhibition of the host, and the sounds of the music. 
 
 G
 
 4g UTRECHT. 
 
 There are twenty-four churches in tliis city, which belong to 
 the Catholics, Calvinists, Lutherans, Anabaptists, Mennonites, 
 and Moravians- Tlie inhabitants, according to an annual 
 census, are now about 34,000; the catholics a little exceed in 
 number the whole of the Protestant sects ; but they are for the 
 most part of the lower orders of the people. I heard here, 
 as I had done in the other cities, that the catholics are gene- 
 rally preferred as domestic servants, both by the different sects 
 of protestants, and those of their own faith. The reason 
 assigned for this, is that if the catholics purloin any thing, when 
 they go to confession, the priest will insist on their making- 
 restitution, before he will administer absolution ; and the 
 knowledge of this is thought to act as a restraint on the 
 disposition to pilfer. 
 
 The university is a very ancient building, in a more dis- 
 reputable state of repair than any public edifice I had seen in 
 Holland. It is scarcely equal in size to one of the least of 
 the colleges or halls at Oxford or Cambridge. There are 
 twenty professors, whose emoluments are very small ; and about 
 two hundred students, who lodge and board in private houses 
 in the city, and are most of them destined for the church. Few 
 are of good families, for the salary of a minister or domine being 
 small, few young persons of rank are devoted to the sacred 
 profession. The examination for degrees was going ons and 
 -consisted, according to the printed questions affixed at the 
 college, in critical examinations on the Greek words of a part 
 of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans. The questions were 
 in Latin, and the examinations and discussions on the 
 passage, were carried on in the same language. I heard 
 that the library was good ; but as it is only open to strangers 
 two days in a week, and my visit was on neither of them.
 
 UTRECHT. 47 
 
 I had no opportunity of seeing it. On the walls of the 
 city, there is an astronomical observatory, under the direction 
 of the university, and a botanical garden ; but owing to a 
 failure of funds, both are rather in a deteriorated state. 
 - The house in which formerly the States of Utrecht assembled, 
 is a fine old building ; and the apartment is shown in which 
 tlie first confederation of the Seven United Provinces was 
 formed, and where the important treaty that gave peace to 
 all Europe in 1713, was signed. 
 
 This city was for a period a royal residence, when Louis 
 Buonaparte AVas the king. He is spoken of here, as well as 
 in other parts of the country, with much respect, and with 
 expressions of regret for his fate ; the partizans of the present 
 king unite with their opponents, in the opinion that he w as com- 
 pelled to abdicate, because his projects were more calculated 
 to promote the welfare of the country, than was compatible 
 with the views of his brother, for the aggrandizement of France, 
 or rather of Paris, which to him was the only part of France 
 that created much interest. ^insv/i 
 
 I was sorry to find here several young merchants with 
 quantities of English manufactured goods. They had been 
 consigned by their owners to houses at Amsterdam, where 
 no sales could be made. They were compelled to hawk 
 them about to the different provincial cities, at a great expense, 
 and were disposed to sell them at enormous losses, rather than 
 be at the charge and trouble of conveying them back to the 
 capital ; and with every disposition to make great sacrifices, 
 they told me they could effect none but very insignificant sales. 
 
 Utrecht is a very healthy spot, the air is pure, the water 
 good, and provisions cheap, bread two-pence halfpenny per 
 pound ; beef and mutton four-pence ; hares two shillings each ; 
 
 G 2
 
 4g GUELDERLAND. 
 
 partridges sixpence; pheasants two shillings and sixpence; 
 grapes three-pence per pound. House rent is, however, dear ; 
 and fuel, which consists wholly of turf, costs a family more thar> 
 coals do in London. ' 
 
 At leaving Utrecht for Arnhem, the country for the first 
 five or six miles, resembles the environs of the other cities, 
 thick hedges, with good gentlemen's houses interspersed, face 
 the road ; and the land that was visible between the trees, 
 was good natural meadow. There was an evident, but very 
 gentle ascent, and the change in the description and size of 
 the trees, and the more rapid course of the streams, in- 
 dicated an approach to a more undulating district. At about 
 five or six miles, the meadows were interspersed with arable 
 fields, the proportion of which increased at every removal from 
 Utrecht. The soil is sandy, but of a good colour, easy to 
 plough, and highly productive as far as the stubbles and the 
 crops on the ground could prove it. 
 
 It was my fortune to fall in with a very intelligent man, a con- 
 siderable land-owner and farmer, who was very communicative, 
 and appeared to be remarkably accurate. He accompanied me to 
 the laro-e village, or rather town of Aranagoen, where he resided, 
 and where he invited me to see his premises. I learnt from him, 
 that the usual course of cropping on the farms between the spot 
 where the rich meadows ceased, and his estate, was the following. 
 The land when cleaned was manured, and sowed with buck 
 wheat ; after that, a second dressing of dung is administered, 
 and after a single ploughing, rye is sowed. The rye is usually 
 harvested in July, when turnips are sowed after a sing4e 
 ploughing. They have thus regularly three crops in every two 
 years. The produce of the buck wheat on an average of years, 
 is a last, or 10| quarters to four malts, or two morgens of land ; or
 
 GUELDERLAND. 49 
 
 from twenty to twenty-two of our bushels to the acre. The rye 
 is estimated to produce about two more of our bushels to the 
 acre than the buck wheat ; but this year, as is the case in 
 England, rye falls considerably below an average crop. The 
 turnips are the worst, because the most neglected of the three 
 crops. The seed instead of being of one kind, was red round, 
 white round, tankard, and some other species, with which 
 I was not acquainted, all mingled together. The plants were 
 healthy, and quite as thick as was necessary ; but though 
 the bulbs were formed, they had not been hoed, nor had 
 even the harrows been drawn through to thin them. It is 
 therefore impossible they should become a tolerable crop. 
 This was the only deficiency I noticed, either on my com- 
 panion's land, or in the track which we had spent two hours 
 together in passing over. As far as I could judge, the portion 
 of manure administered before the buck wheat and rye, was 
 small. I could not hit on any measure with which my com- 
 panion was acquainted, that enabled me to reduce his quan- 
 tities to cubic yards, or our common cart-loads ; but I was led 
 to guess that not more than seven or eight of our Surry and 
 Kent cart-loads were applied to the acre. My informant, in a 
 language between Dutch and German, but very intelligible to 
 me, remarked, speaking of manure " xitemg und ofters ist Lesser 
 ah Jiel mid selten T a little frequently is better than much 
 and seldom. I observed the farm-yards, and the hogsties, 
 were well bedded with a fine sand, but that very little 
 straw was applied to be converted into manure. There can 
 be no doubt but such sand will imbibe and retain the faeces 
 of the animals ; but it may be doubted, if so much ammonia 
 is administered to the land by this mode, as by the putrefac- 
 tive fermentation which is produced by the abundance of
 
 50 GUELDERLAND. 
 
 straw, that is trodden in with the exuviae in our English farm- 
 yards. 
 
 The ploughs used in this district are light, and well adapted 
 to the soil. They have two wheels, with the main beam 
 resting on a moveable gallows, that rises between them ; by 
 elevating or depressing of which, the depth to which the 
 plough turns up the soil is regulated. By a chain similar to 
 the one adopted in the Kentish turn-wrest plough ; the point of 
 draft is about the centre of the beam, and thus the share is 
 kept properly down to its required depth. The coulter is of 
 the usual shape. The mould board, without that due degree 
 of convexity which is best calculated for turning the soil com- 
 pletely upside down, is wholly plated with iron. The share is 
 sharp at the extremity, and gradually spreads as it recedes 
 from the point, to the breadth of eight or nine inches, the 
 broader part being the width of the furrow, and thus effectually 
 cutting every improper plant by the roots. The ploughing 
 is remarkably well executed, the furrows strait, the depth 
 uniform, their bottoms clean, and the distance from one to the 
 other, seven or eight inches only. 
 
 On one or two farms, which I thought demonstrated tli^ 
 superior knowledge, or larger capital of the occupier, the dung 
 was spread, and over it were copiously laid the waste leaves 
 and roots of the tobacco plants. A man preceded the plough, 
 and carefully turned this dressing into the furrow, which 
 the plough that followed very completely covered with the 
 soil. 
 
 Beyond Arangoen, the land is of inferior quality, and a greater 
 portion of it has been destined to the cultivation of tobacco. 
 These fields are divided into very small patches of not much 
 more than a quarter of a rood each. They are slightly, fenced
 
 GUELDERLAND. '5 1 
 
 by a few dry sticks, which are merely placed to break the force 
 of the wind when it is stormy, and prevent the leaves of the 
 plants, when they are grown to a large size, from being inju- 
 riously agitated. I was pleased to see that around all these 
 small fences, scarlet runners were plentifully trained ; the pods 
 were drying on them to be saved for seed, which has become 
 an article, that furnishes a considerable trade in the tobacco 
 districts. 
 
 When I passed, some of the tobacco was gathered, but the 
 greater part remained on the ground ; when gathered, it is 
 hung on sticks in the houses and barns, and where the cultiva- 
 tion is more extensive, large buildings are erected with 
 lifting weather boards for the purpose of drying it. 
 
 From Aranagoen to Rhenen, a small town, or rather city, 
 for it is fortified, the land is poorer, some of it in appearance 
 no better than Bagshot-heath. It is, however, in a very im- 
 proving state. Vast tracks of it have been planted with Scotch 
 firs and Weymouth pines. I could not learn how long they had 
 been planted ; but from their size, I judged it could not exceed 
 seven or eight years. They are some miles in extent, and 
 belonging to various proprietors ; as is evident by the number 
 of painted boards, warning strangers not to sport over them. I 
 was informed, that hares and partridges were very abundant, 
 as well as snipes and woodcocks in their season ; and that all 
 were sedulously watched, and intruders prosecuted. 
 
 Many hundred acres have been sowed with acorns, without 
 any hope of their ever reaching the size of timber ; but merely 
 for the sake of the underwood. The beech as well as the birch 
 trees appear healthy, and many of them large. 
 
 I have seldom passed a district in any country, in which such 
 great and recent steps toward improvement have been made.
 
 52 GUELDERLAND. 
 
 Many new houses were building, some of a large size. Thorn 
 hedges to a great extent have been recently planted ; a new 
 church and school-house were erecting. These are tolerably 
 clear proofs of increasing population ; and of the existence of 
 a portion of unengaged capital. The farmers, however, com- 
 plain most bitterly of the low prices at which they are com- 
 pelled to sell their produce ; and predict, that all the money 
 that has been expended by them or their landlords in improve- 
 ments, will be ultimately lost. 
 
 The portion of this land which is already brought under the 
 plough, is cultivated in the three-course system of buck-wheat, 
 rye, and turnips, as noticed before ; the land has been sold 
 for about fifteen pounds the English acre, and when improved 
 by the proprietor and let to a tenant, does not pay more than 
 2| per cent, interest for the capital invested ; and I was assured, 
 that unless the prices rose, no rent could be paid for it long, 
 but that the cultivators must be ruined. I do not here merely 
 repeat the complaints of the farmers, but those which were 
 confirmed to me by a very intelligent clergyman, with whom I 
 had much conversation. 
 
 There are some sheep on these lands. Most of the boors, as 
 the farmers are called, keep a few ; but no flock that I saw 
 exceeded sixty or seventy. They are of the long-woolled 
 breed, have white faces, long heads, and no horns. The only 
 peculiarity is, that they are shorn twice in each year. After the 
 second shearing which is in August or September, they are 
 kept in the barns at night, and even by day, if the weather be 
 at all inclined to cold. Few presents would be of more advan- 
 tage to this district, than the introduction and extensive pro- 
 pagation of our breed of South-down sheep. 
 
 The horses arc a strong compact race, of lower stature than
 
 GUELDERLAND. 55 
 
 those used near the coast, which are of the Flanders breed, 
 and not unlike what we call the Suffolk punches. The post- 
 horses are baited with rye bread. The loaves are about 
 sixteen or eighteen inches long, and about eight inches in 
 depth and breadth. By means of a hay knife fixed on a block, 
 they are cut into appropriate slices, and each of the horses 
 is served with about two pounds at a time. 
 
 At Rhenen, the river Rhine opened to the view, and the 
 road ran by its side on a natural terrace, sometimes close to 
 it, and sometimes leaving a space of near a mile of the most 
 rich and verdant meadows, covered with cattle. On the left 
 the land was elevated above the road. The woods imme- 
 diately contiguous, were thick and verdant; behind them 
 the hills rose, though not to a considerable height. Their 
 aspect is rendered black and dreary by the heath and fern that 
 covers them, not varied by a single tree or shrub. At Rhenen, 
 the excellent paved road ceased, and the rest of the way to 
 Arnhem was generally a very deep and heavy sand, which 
 demanded no small exertion from the horses. 
 
 I passed through Wageningen close to the Rhine, a place 
 not worth noticing, though from having gates, slight fortifi- 
 cations, and an incorporated magistracy, it is denominated a 
 city. The soil around it is excellent, the tobacco was most 
 luxuriant, the buck wheat good, and the turnips sufficiently 
 planted ; but from the want of the hoe, will produce but 
 little. I learnt that the crops, both of buck wheat and rye, 
 were estimated to produce one fourth more, than upon the land 
 about Aranogen. 
 
 From Wageningen, the country vastly improved. The hills 
 which skirted the meadows, gradually receded from the Rhine ; 
 and as they receded, increased in elevation, so as to display a 
 
 H
 
 ^4 ARNHEM. 
 
 more extended valley, through which the river flowed, like 
 the Thames at Richmond, in that pleasing medium between 
 rapidity and sluggishness, which exactly suited the scenery. The 
 country beyond the valley rose in hills of" increasing height ; 
 one of which at the distance of six or seven miles, was crowned 
 with the white houses and battlements of the city of Nimeguen, 
 overlooking the fertile regions below and around it. The 
 country between Marlow and Maidenhead more nearly re- 
 sembled the spot I surveyed, than any part of England that 
 occurs to my recollection. 
 
 The approach to Arnhem is very impressive. Through a long 
 avenue of three miles, formed by the largest beeches I ever saw, 
 except some of those planted by Evelyn at his seat in Surry, 
 the highest tower of the city terminates the vista ; whilst the city 
 itself is still hid by a small intervening hill, and the scenery 
 of the Rhine is exhibited on the right hand with pleasing, rather 
 than powerful etfect. 
 
 At a pass on the road, where a small stream issues from a 
 thick wood, that extends to the hills on the left, the first of 
 the fortifications, consisting of some very strong lines, b?gin. 
 A double row of these lines, with flanking batteries and ditches 
 that can be easily filled, and with draw-bridges, protect the 
 way over some meadows, the only one by which the city can 
 be approached on this side. 
 
 Besides the works that guard the approaches, Arnhem is 
 strongly fortified on every side, and the fortifications originally 
 constructed by Coehorn, are kept in a state of good repair. It is 
 a place of considerable importance from its being the capital 
 of the department of Guelderland, as it had formerly been 
 of the province of the same name, before the French divisions 
 ot the country were made. It derives also some importance
 
 ARNHEM. g^ 
 
 from commanding the course of the Rhine near the spot where 
 that river divides into two branches, one of which retaining its 
 original name runs to Utrecht, wliilst the other assuming the' 
 name of the Yssel, passes by Deventer to the Zuyder sea. The 
 present number of inhabitants is between nine and ten thou- 
 sand, who depend principally on the lands that surround it 
 for their support. There are some fabrics of coarse woollens, 
 some mills for the manufactories of paper, and of oil ; and 
 during the continental system of Buonaparte, considerable 
 establishments were formed for making sugar from beet-root 
 and other plants, which are now necessarily abandoned. The 
 town is tolerably built, but as usual in strongly fortified places, 
 most of the streets are narrow. There are several churches, 
 two of which are particularly large ; one of these was taken 
 from the Protestants by Buonaparte, and given to the Catholics, 
 who, though a large proportion of the inhabitants, had be- 
 fore only some obscure edifices, not well calculated for the 
 display of their magnificent religious ceremonies. A large 
 palace, formerly inhabited by the Stadtholder, is now occupied 
 by the governor of the province ; it is distinguished by no 
 peculiar beauty, and only remarkable for its extent, and the 
 public uses to which it is applied. 
 
 The environs of Arnhem, and the walks among them are 
 very beautiful ; on the north side of the city, by an ascent 
 almost imperceptible an elevation is attained which overlooks 
 the rich and delicious plain, through which various rivulets 
 running to the Rhine, supply water to more than fifty villages ; 
 the spires of whose churches are seen peeping up above the 
 trees, amongst which the sacred edifices are hid. The gentle- 
 men's houses are numerous, and generally surrounded with 
 farms, principally cultivated by the proprietors, in portions 
 
 H 2
 
 56 
 
 ARNHEM. 
 
 of from three hundred to seven hundred of our acres. These 
 houses have usually very whimsical names conferred on them 
 by the founders ; and the ornamental gardening, including lakes, 
 waterfalls, and Cliinese pagodas, though kept with most accurate 
 neatness, are in a grotesque rather than a natural taste. At 
 one of these establishments called La Source, where some 
 machinery for refining the beet-root sugar was erected, there is 
 a house with fifty cow-stalls ; which during the existence of 
 the manufactory was filled with cattle, that were solely fed with 
 the residuum of the roots, from which the juice for making the 
 sugar had been expressed. The milch cows kept on this sub- 
 stance were maintained by it in good condition, and the butter 
 they afforded was considered to be of an excellent quality ; so 
 that considerable profit would have been derived from the offal 
 of the beet, if the return of peace had not rendered the whole 
 process unproductive and unnecessary. 
 
 There are the remains in this vicinity, of some very extensive 
 and very ancient buildings, which the traditions of the country 
 ascribe to the Huns ; whilst some others, whose foundations 
 are known to have been laid in the eleventh century, have 
 been modernized and adapted for the residence of the re- 
 spectable families that now occupy them. The undulating 
 face of the country, the numerous rivulets, and the exten- 
 sive woods, give the means of indulging a taste for orna- 
 mental landscape, by the construction of lakes, waterfalls, 
 and fountains, where they are well relieved by the woody 
 scenery near them. The signs of recent if not of present pro- 
 sperity, were very distinctly to be seen in every walk around 
 this city ; and the number of houses of public entertainment, 
 which are decorated with the marks of improvement, are 
 evidences of a degree of ease in tjie circumstances of many
 
 ARNHEM. 
 
 57 
 
 of* the inhabitants at least. The failure in many articles of 
 production, unnaturally forced into cultivation by the state 
 of Europe, and the depression of the prices of the more 
 natural ones, have created a reverse which is much complained 
 of; and which though doubtless considerably felt, has not 
 yet made the diminution of prosperity so apparent as to be 
 noticed by a casual visitor. The nature and extent of most 
 of the properties is such, as to endure much suffering before 
 any visible marks of its existence can be traced by a mere 
 observer. 
 
 One of the richest tracts of country in the vicinity of 
 Arnhem, has been often exposed to tremendous inundations. 
 These are frequently felt at the breaking up of a long frost ; 
 but in no instance so calamitously as in the winter 
 1808-9. A violent tempest from the north-west had raised 
 the waters of the Zuyder sea, some feet above the highest 
 mark of the spring-tides, and the waves beat with unusual 
 violence against the dykes, constructed to break their 
 fury. The thaw on the Upper Rhine had increased the 
 quantity, and the force of its waters, which brought down 
 masses of ice fourteen feet in height, and more than half 
 a mile in length ; to which the embankments, softened by the 
 thaw, and somewhat injured, presented an insufficient barrier. 
 A breach made in one part soon extended itself, and the torrent 
 quickly covered the country, bearing before it by its force, 
 the villages, the inhabitants, and the cattle. The height of the 
 Zuyder sea prevented the water from finding an outlet ; and 
 it consequently remained on the ground for a long period, 
 in spite of the exertions of the surviving inhabitants. By this 
 event, more than seventy houses were totally destroyed, a far 
 greater number irretrievably damaged, and of nine hundred
 
 58 DOESBURG. 
 
 families, more than five hundred were rendered utterly desti- 
 tute ; more than four hundred dead bodies were left on the 
 borders of the current, and at the city of Arnhem, five hundred 
 persons, mostly women and children, with many hundred head 
 of cattle, were rescued from a watery grave, by the hazardous 
 heroism of the inhabitants, who ventured in boats to their 
 rescue. 
 
 At leaving Arnhem, the country continued undulating, with 
 pleasing rivulets running in the bottoms of the valleys, that 
 intersected the rising grounds ; the tops of which were indeed 
 sometimes covered with black heath, but more frequently 
 graced with plantations of firs of very recent formation. The 
 course of husbandry was buck wheat, rye, and turnips. I 
 remarked the mode of harvesting the buck wheat, was by 
 binding it in sheaves with bands of rye straw, and setting them 
 on end to dry, which is certainly preferable to our slovenly 
 mode of suffering it to lie on the swathes, till it becomes fit to 
 be carried to the barn or the stack. Here, as in every part 
 of Holland, the hay-stacks were formed under permanent 
 roofs, some few thatched, but mostly tiled. These are placed 
 on four lofty poles at the corners, by which they can be 
 elevated or depressed, according to the greater or less quantity 
 of hay there may be in the stack. Some few gentlemen in 
 England, in the vicinity of cities, have adopted the same plan, 
 but here it is universal ; and I think these permanent instead 
 of temporary erections, arc one among many indications, that a 
 great scarcity of agricultural capital has not been experienced 
 in Holland. 
 
 As I approached nearer to Doesburg, tiie land appeared 
 a rich black sandy loam, very easy to work, and very produc- 
 tive. It is, however, somewhat heavier than what 1 had passed
 
 DOESBURG. Sp 
 
 on the other side of Arnhem. The Upper Yssel, a very beau- 
 tiful stream, where I viewed it, confined within its channel, 
 has on its banks some very rich meadows, which are over- 
 looked by the gentlemen's seats on the left hand, between 
 which are large tracks of arable land, in good culture ; and 
 behind them, sand-hills fringed with recently planted firs, 
 pines, oaks, beeches, and birches. The usual rotation of crops 
 here is first beans, then wheat, in which clover is sown, and 
 after the clover, oats; some of these lands are of a stifiFer 
 texture, on them it is usual to make a year's clean fallow, after 
 which the same rotation of crops is pursued, and the four crops 
 in such soils are reputed to bear considerably more than the 
 same number on the more easily worked land, on which the 
 whole year's fallow before the beans is dispensed with. 
 
 The small city of Doesburg is a fine object, seen to great 
 advantage, as it is approached by crossing the bridge of boats 
 over the Yssel. The place is well built, the streets are wide, 
 and its general appearance is handsome, deriving some beauty 
 from a fine large church and lofty tower, from which is beheld 
 a prospect of richness and verdure, to a considerable distance. 
 This church is served by two clergymen, the senior of whom, 
 has eleven hundred, and the junior, with whom I conversed, a 
 thousand guilders annually ; each of them has a house and some 
 glebe land, which with the stipend and official fees, make in this 
 country a decent subsistence. It is said to have derived 
 its name from Drusus Nero, the son-in-law of the Emperor 
 Augustus, and that the Yssel, the branch of the Rhine on 
 which it is built, was the canal of Drusus, when this place was 
 one of the most important fortresses in the hands of the 
 Romans ; many antiquities discovered here in the sixteenth 
 century, if they do not attest the particular fact of its origin, at
 
 60 
 
 DOE^BURG. 
 
 least prove, according to my reverend informant, its high an- 
 tiquity. In subsequent periods it was a place of some conse- 
 quence, and formed a part of the Hanseatic league. The river 
 affords it some commercial advantages. It is navigable for 
 barges, as nearly as I could judge by the eye, of sixty or seventy 
 tons burden ; they are flat and bluff about the bows, and carry 
 a considerable dead weight of iron, as much as fifty tons, and 
 then fill them up with lighter substances. I could only guess 
 at their tonnage, for I knew of no common standard by which 
 the Dutch measurement of ships could be reduced to our 
 English tonnage ; and no person I met with could give me 
 any information. There are some extensive iron mines near 
 this place, which are worked with advantage. The ore is 
 easily raised ; the neighbouring woods supply charcoal at 
 very low prices, and both cast and wrought iron are fabricated 
 of a good quality. The benefits of this branch of industry 
 are said to have considerably diminished since the return 
 of peace. 
 
 The principal dependance of this place, however, has been 
 its agriculture, and a few years ago that was very profitable 
 and very flourishing. Much of the land is well calculated 
 for the growth of tobacco, and great quantities of it are to 
 be seen in every direction in the fields, and large buildings con- 
 structed for drying and storeing it. When the Berlin and Milan 
 decrees were in force, the project of supplying continental 
 Europe from its own soil, with the commodities before fur- 
 nished from the eastern and western parts of the globe, gave to 
 the cultivation of tobacco a great stimulus, and it soon rose 
 to a very high price. When peace was made, the cultivation 
 ot it near Doesbin-g, was at the highest pitch, and the prudent 
 and timid capitalists had embarked their funds in it to a
 
 DOESBURG. if5X 
 
 most extensive degree. The price also fell immediately below 
 that at which it could be produced in Europe. The quality 
 of the European tobacco is not such as to secure the regards 
 of the smoakers and chewers of it, when it is put in compe- 
 tion with the produce of Maryland and Virginia. A violent 
 reaction has been the consequence ; those, who with some 
 faint hopes of contingencies that might create a sale, have 
 continued the cultivation, are in great distress, and anticipate 
 the loss of all the capital they have embarked. The tobacco 
 grown here is totally rejected for every purpose, except 
 that of making snuff; the nominal price is about fifteen 
 guilders the quintal, or nearly three-pence per pound ; but I 
 was told that any person offering two-thirds of that price 
 might purchase a very large quantity. The same persons 
 grow corn, but that is also sold for a loss, and they fear will 
 continue to be so, unless the ports of England should be opened 
 for its sale. The value of arable land is much depreciated 
 from the calamitous circumstances which have been hinted 
 at. The rich meadows near the city have fallen less in value, 
 and are now worth from fifty-five to seventy pounds the acre. 
 The pastures they furnish will fatten, without any extraneous 
 assistance, an ox, to the weight of from 2,500 to 3,000 pounds ; 
 they are usually fattened when five years old, and are then 
 sold to the butchers at from forty to fifty pounds. 
 
 The course of cultivation on the arable lands adjoining to 
 these meadows, is usually potatoes, wheat, rye, and beans, 
 a rotation that appears highly censurable, even where the 
 number of cattle kept in the meadows supply abundance of 
 manure. Where the soil is somewhat more tenacious, the 
 potatoe crop is omitted, and the other parts of the rotation 
 pursued after a year's fallow. The sheep are not numerous, they 
 
 I 
 
 l/.<-
 
 52 DOES BURG. 
 
 are of the long woolled breed, have white faces, no horns, and 
 very long legs; they are a very ill-formed race, but produce 
 much coarse wool, their fleeces weighing from eight to nine 
 pounds; they are shorn but once in the year. The lambs 
 are brought forth in January and February, and in the month 
 of May, before shearing, the ewe and lamb are estimated 
 to be worth about fifteen or sixteen guilders, or nearly thirty 
 shillings. If this species of stock were attended to, and the 
 breed improved, which, however, presupposes an extensive 
 turnip culture, it would become more beneficial than most 
 of the other agricultural pursuits of the district. 
 
 Some calcareous stone is found here, the first I had heard of 
 in Holland. It is burnt to lime by wood fuel, and used for build- 
 ing ; but though it would be highly beneficial, it was utterly 
 unknown as manure to all the persons I conversed with. 
 
 There are several fine seats on the road from Doesburg 
 to Deutichem, which display ancient baronial grandeur. The 
 Castle of Capel, one of them naturally drew the observation of an 
 Englishman, as a seat of a family displaying the ancient mag- 
 nificence, one of whose members was the favourite of King- 
 William, and founder of the noble house of Albermarle. The 
 winter residence is near Dort, and the summer is passed at Capel. 
 It deserves to be noticed to the honour of this family, that the 
 head of it was the first who set the example to the nobles of 
 Guelderland of enfranchising the peasantry, who were in the 
 condition of slaves. It is a most respectable mansion, with a 
 moat round it, some part in the castellated form, but altered in 
 its general appearance by modern additions, whicii are far from 
 being in strict unison with the original building. The estates 
 around it are very extensive, and some comprising very fertile 
 land, . Tl\e lueadows amidst which the castle is situated, are.
 
 DEUTICHEM. t)3 
 
 luxuriant; but much of the more distant land is rather poor, 
 and is cultivated in the rotation of buck wheat, rye, and tur- 
 nips. In the parts where they have little or no water meadow, 
 cole-seed is sown to furnish food for the cows ; these are 
 tethered on it with but a small scope, that all may be eaten, 
 and none wasted by treading- under the feet; a practice I also 
 remarked where cows were feeding in the young clover, among 
 the corn stubbles. 
 
 Whilst my post-horses were taking their bait of bread at 
 a small wirthshouse, by the road side, I walked on a consider- 
 able distance ; where in a barn, were two men and a woman 
 employed in threshing and cleaning buck wheat. The flail 
 they used appeared to me of a peculiarly clumsy construction ; 
 and after some slight conversation, I examined the implement, 
 and made a few strokes with it on the haulm, to try its effect. 
 The woman immediately ran to me, took a wisp of straw 
 and wiped both my shoes, then threw her arms round and 
 kissed my cheeks, and cried " a forfeit." The paying a forfeit 
 for meddling with implements was not new ; but the shoe 
 cleaning and kissing puzzled me, though I have since heard that 
 the former part of the ceremony is still practised on such an 
 occasion, in some parts of Kent. I was, however, too gallant, not 
 to give a trifling present, with the assurance that it was only 
 the mark of grateful feeling for the salute ; a compliment which 
 flattered the slatternly female, and produced laughter in the 
 countenances of her clownish associates. I was invited into 
 their house, where I rested till the carriage came up. It was a 
 catholic family, and some of the pictures upon religious 
 subjects, exhibited genuine Dutch drollery. One . piece 
 represented the seven sacraments of their church. Under 
 the head of confession, a priest was represented sitting in 
 
 I 2
 
 g4 DEUTICHEM. 
 
 the box with his ear close to the listening liole, at which a beau- 
 tiful female figure in a kneeling posture was whispering. The 
 devil was standing behind her, with a chain in his hand that en- 
 circled her waist, and appeared to be exerting all his strength 
 to draw her from confession, or perhaps from the penance 
 the priest was enjoining. Another part represented baptism, 
 where the priest was plunging a naked boy into a font filled 
 with water; and the Holy Ghost was descending in a beam 
 of lioht, whose terminition rested on the breast of the child. 
 
 The heaps of manure through this whole country, are made 
 of a curious shape, perfectly circular, flat at top, and the sides 
 very gently sloping. They are composed of the waste leaves 
 of tobacco, the haulm of potatoes, a considerable quantity of 
 peat, and some stable and farm-yard dung : this composition 
 thus compacted together is most accurately covered with sods, 
 the grassy sides of which are turned inwards ; every joining is 
 carefully closed, and the whole is left to ferment at least one 
 year before it is applied to the field, in the centre of which it is 
 generally built. 
 
 I reached Deutichem, the last city in Holland, and without 
 changing horses, passed through it, with little delay, to the first 
 post station in the Prussian dominions. This place, though, from 
 being fortified, it is termed a city, contains only about 2,000 in- 
 habitants, who depend almost wholly on agriculture. Having 
 occasion to call at the post-office, I learnt in conversation there, 
 what indeed I had from my own observations inferred, that 
 the extensive cultivation of tobacco was bringing to ruin many 
 of the decent cultivators in the vicinity. This place boasts 
 of antiquities prior to the period in which the Romans first 
 invaded Germany ; and there have been discovered the founda- 
 tions of buildings, as my informant assured me, which were
 
 HOLLAND g5 
 
 evidently constructed before the entrance of that nation. 
 The town is finely situated, and is surrounded by a country 
 which, like almost the whole of Guelderland, very much re- 
 sembles some of the most beautiful parts of England. 
 
 Before entering on Germany, I shall indulge myself with 
 a few observations on the state of Holland. I had not pro- 
 jected to pass more than a few days in that country, in my way 
 to the north of Germany, and therefore was not provided 
 with such letters of introduction, as could give me an access 
 to society, and enable me to judge of the state of man- 
 ners, and the effects which twenty years of subjection to a 
 foreign power, had produced on the characters and behaviour 
 of the people. I visited but few private families, and was in 
 still fewer evening parties ; but as far as I could judge by what 
 I did see, the manners are polite, and the reception of visitors 
 equally free from familiarity and formality. The dress of the 
 people whom I fell in with, might pass without observation in 
 England or France ; the conversation was too local to be 
 interesting to a stranger, and upon all subjects connected 
 with literary or scientific pursuits, there was a most lamenta- 
 ble barrenness. Books, I suspect, are little thought of as 
 sources of amusement ; and the time they occupy in a better 
 state of society, was devoted either to musick or to cards and 
 billiards. 
 
 The efforts made to introduce the French language, had caused 
 but little progress in it, as far as the great mass of the people 
 were concerned, but its influence on talent was very pernicious ; 
 few would cultivate their own language, when they appre- 
 hended it would be gradually abolished ; and few would make 
 any attempts in the French, in which they could scarcely 
 hope to rival the natives. The professions which with us are
 
 gg HOLLAND. 
 
 connected with learning, here scarcely give any, and certainly 
 a very insufficient degree of encouragement to it. Some por- 
 tion of learning is requisite for the clergy, but they must 
 distinguish themselves within the pale of their own sect rather 
 by their attachment to its peculiarities, than by those enlarged 
 views, which arise from extensive knowledge. The clerical 
 profession too, has no large rewards to offer. A still and 
 quiet life, freedom from anxious cares, a humble mediocricity, 
 little prospect of provision for a family, and only such dis- 
 tinction as the limitted sphere of a small parish can offer, 
 are not objects of ambition sufficiently powerful to stimulate 
 to laborious exertions and continued efforts, those men 
 who, with due stimulants in other countries, acquire the 
 greatest eminence. The profession of the law has ceased 
 to become honourable or lucrative, in a great measure, from 
 the changes which the law has suffered ; the previous study 
 at a University, and an assiduous discharge of the duties of 
 an advocate, are not necessary pre-requisites for the office 
 of a judge. Under the code denominated, from its pro- 
 mulgator, Napoleon, I met an instance of a judge not more 
 than thirty years of age, who had never before Jiis promotion 
 studied law ; but not being destitute of abilities, could soon 
 act under that meagre sketch of ill adapted jurisprudence ; 
 and perhaps with less effort from not having before attended 
 to those laws, which having grown with the habits of the coun- 
 try, and being adapted to it, would have forced on his attention 
 the instances of necessary injustice suffered under the new 
 system. 
 
 The profession of medicine is not, in Holland, very lucrative 
 or very honourable. The fees are not large, and being j)aid 
 in an aimual sum, at the end of the year, gives the idea of the
 
 HOLLAND. g-^ 
 
 practitioner, being a kind of pensioner or superior servant 
 pf the family, rather than of a friend, who accepts a compliment 
 for kind offices, as is somewhat the feeling with us. The pro- 
 fession of physic however, does include within its limited 
 number a large part of the men of letters ; and as I was informed 
 by those on whose testimony I could rely, a greater number 
 than the church and the law together. 
 
 The increased or diminished prosperity of Holland, is a 
 subject that merits a little attention. When the country first 
 fell under the yoke of France, the shock that was communicated 
 extended itself to all the members of the community. The loss 
 pf colonies, the ruin of the fisheries, the destruction of the carry- 
 ing trade, the capture of some, and the confinement at home of 
 the rest, of the commercial shipping, was all attended with losses 
 which were aggravated by a long continuance of the factious 
 spirit that had favoured their subjugation. The parsimony of 
 no other nation is equal to that of the Dutch ; and in that parsi- 
 mony, as much as in the large capital it possessed, did the nation 
 find supports which enabled it to bear up under its accumulated 
 evils. Much of the capital that was saved was carefully hoarded ; 
 it ceased to be greatly productive, but on the small profits it 
 afforded, its possessors were resolved to live. If the national 
 capital was not increased, it was little or at all diminished, 
 by the various exactions under the form of loans and benefac- 
 tions that it suffered. Much of the capital was transferred to 
 England, and other countries, where it was thought to be more 
 secure, and very little activity to the general industry was com- 
 municated by what remained at home. 
 
 , This state of torpidity, accompanied with the hope of better 
 times, and the patient expectation of some favourable change,
 
 68 Rmm- 
 
 continued many years, till the final extirpation of the French 
 navy at the battle of Trafalgar, seemed to deprive the Dutch of 
 all hope of being a great commercial nation, so long as they 
 continued under the controul of France, of the termination 
 of whose government no prospect presented itself. At the 
 same period, the factions which had internally ruled the 
 country were calmed, or forced to submit in silence by the 
 transfer of the government, and the creation of a monarchy 
 under Louis Buonaparte. His government was mild, and 
 paternal; the wisest men in Holland were his confidential 
 advisers, and as far as the impetuous temper, and extravagant 
 views of his brother permitted, he acted upon their advice. 
 Internal confidence was the first fruit of his accession, but 
 attended with no expectation of becoming under him a com- 
 mercial people. The conquest or the ruin of England to 
 which the French were taught to look as a certain event ; and 
 on the accomplishment of which the commerce and colonies of 
 Holland as well as France were to be restored, obtained no credit 
 in the latter country ; where, whatever other feelings existed, 
 there were none that led them to doubt of the capacity of 
 England to defend herself. In this state, the mercantile 
 capitalists, appearing to abandon all hope of employing their 
 money again in commerce, directed it to agriculture, and made 
 large investments in land. Activity was thus communicated to 
 cultivation ; and it happened fortunately to commence at a 
 period when the increase of the continental armies, and the 
 consequent demands for the productions of the soil, had begun 
 to advance their price. Two deficient harvests in England 
 had also produced a considerable and very favourable effect on 
 the prosperity of the land-owners and farmers of Holland. 
 Their corn was sent to tliis country, and produced a great
 
 HOLLAND. 69 
 
 profit. The butter and cheese which their dairies yielded, 
 reached our markets without duty, and thus they were enabled 
 to enter under favourable circumstances into a competition 
 with those of England, where land is much higher, where heavy 
 taxes are paid, and where, from the more expensive subsistence 
 of the working classes, every kind of labour is dearer. 
 
 The Milan and Berlin decrees when enforced, if they de- 
 prived many of the luxuries which use had converted into neces- 
 saries, had a beneficial effect on some of the agriculturists. The 
 cultivation of tobacco and woad, and of the roots required for 
 making sugar, were at first highly profitable, and tended to 
 increase their production, as long as the monopoly of the whole 
 Continent for such articles was, exclusive of the small quantity 
 introduced by contraband trade, confined to the domestic 
 growers of them. The annexation of Holland to the French 
 empire, had very little other effect, than to enable Buonaparte 
 to recruit his armies with more facility, by extending to it 
 his conscription laws. The complete spirit of the French 
 system was never generally diffused, especially that ruinous 
 principle of an equal division of land, between the next of kin 
 on the death of a proprietor. The laws and usages were little 
 interfered with, for their new ruler was too much occupied with 
 his recent marriage, with the affairs of Spain, and with the 
 extravagant project of conquering Russia, and perhaps Asia, 
 which brought on his ruin, to attend to tlie internal affairs of 
 Holland. The taxes they were compelled to pay were light, 
 when the produce of that land from which it was drawn was 
 daily increasing in value, and when its surplus was annually 
 augmenting to remunerate the capitalists. 
 
 The accumulated capital of Holland thus transferred, from 
 commerce to agriculture, and at first productively employed, 
 
 K
 
 |Q HOLLAND. 
 
 Kiis by the cessation of the war demand, become unproductive. 
 The capital is not perhaps diminished, but it is buried in the 
 soil ; and patience, very great patience, must be exercised, 
 before it can be made to yield a remuneration, much less 
 an augmentation. The annual income derived from the capital 
 since the war, has scarcely covered the expenditure ; and the 
 restrictive laws passed in England and France, on the importa- 
 tion of the products of the soil, deprive the Dutch of much hope 
 of speedy improvement. As far as a stranger can form a 
 judgment, I should be disposed from the many new erections* 
 and recently improved cultivation, to think that the increase of 
 value on the capital of Holland, was much greater between the 
 years 1806 and 1813, than the dimunition that has taken place 
 since the latter period. 
 
 The taxes imposed under the French government are still 
 continued, and the necessities of the state have made it indis- 
 pensible to lay on additional ones. This, with the depression 
 of agriculture, and the absence of commerce, has created and 
 nourished such a degree of discontent, as though not alarming 
 is deplorable, and the more so, because it is natural. The low 
 condition of agriculture and commerce is felt in diminished con- 
 sumption ; and hence all the handicraft tradesmen find it diffi- 
 cult to procure labour sufficient to maintain them, in even the 
 economical habits to which they have been accustomed. 
 That, in such a state, many in adverting to the period that 
 lately passed, should regret it, and express wishes for its return, 
 is not to be wondered at. Those who feel most, will reason 
 least, and will certainly reason worst ; and in every country 
 such must be the majority. Among all the numerous com- 
 pkvints I heard, none were uttered against the king; whom all 
 seemed to love as a prince endeared by the misfortunes he had
 
 HOLLAND. 71 
 
 suffered, and on whose good dispositions they could rely, if his 
 ministers were as upright as they are confessed to be able. I 
 believe, too, that those who most wish for some change of 
 system would look with dread to the return under French 
 dominion, and be as eager as any people in Europe to oppose 
 it with all their power. 
 
 sihike all those inventions called Constitutions, which are sud- 
 denly struck out from the union of abstract principles, with the 
 habitual practices of a nation, the system of government of the 
 kino-dom of the United Netherlands, must receive much alter- 
 ation before it can reach the highest point of practical good. 
 A man must be highly presumptuous, who, without a more 
 intimate acquaintance with the manners, feelings, and habits 
 of a people than a foreigner can acquire, should venture to 
 speculate upon the kind of change which it is desirable to make 
 in the fundamental laws that regulate even a small community ; 
 but it is impossible to look at the state of this kingdom, com- 
 posed as it is of classes of population different, if not opposite 
 to each other, and not perceive the dangers of legislating for 
 them more readily than the remedies. 
 
 In the Seven Provinces, which are usually distinguished by 
 the name of Holland, from the most important of the number, 
 there is still kept alive, a chivalrous spirit of independence; 
 there exist recollections and associations, which recall the 
 patriotic minds to the periods when their ancestors resisted the 
 power of Spain in its zenith, contended with England for the 
 dominion of the seas, and, with proudly remembered triumphs, 
 checked the ambitious hopes of the Grand Monarque. The 
 numerous monuments in their churches to the memory of their 
 heroes, and the trophies that their public buildings display, 
 have kept alive this spirit ; the late conduct of their deet before 
 
 K 2
 
 7*2' HOLLAND. 
 
 Algiers, and the praises conferred on it by our Exmouth, have 
 blown into a flame a spark, which French oppression had never 
 totally extinguished. 
 
 In Belgium, on the other hand, the name of independence 
 has for three centuries been unheard ; submission to masters 
 over whom they had no check, by whom a forced obedience 
 was required, and who administered none of those consoling 
 flatteries which the most rigid despots find it necessary to use 
 towards their subjects, was their sole duty, and in that duty 
 they were fully instructed. Instead of investigating they 
 submitted, instead of enquiring they yielded, and thus sunk 
 iii mental acquirements, to a state in which they were fitted 
 to be either the instruments or the subjects of oppression, 
 as best suited the purposes of those governors who happened 
 to obtain authority over them. Of every religion we should 
 speak with respect ; but whilst that of Holland was reasonable, 
 sincere, and tolerant, that of Belgium was even below the 
 general level of the corrupt church, of which they formed the 
 most irrational part, in every thing that was childish, super- 
 stitious, and persecuting. 
 
 This plain picture of the two nations, is drawn not with any 
 design to shew what should be done, but to bespeak candour 
 if any failure should occur in the difficult task of amalgamating 
 two such opposite descriptions of people into one united nation. 
 The laws are different in the two countries. In Holland, the 
 code of France has been acted upon as far as regards criminal 
 proceedings, and in civil ones, as far as it could be reconciled to 
 their favourite institutions. In Belgium it has been promvdgated, 
 but never practically enforced. The legislature has before 
 it the difficult task of forming a system of laws, which shall 
 operate uniformly through a whole kingdom, in which the
 
 HOLLAND. 73 
 
 practices, institutions, and habits are at present very various. 
 The Assembly of the States, as far as I could judge, have no 
 great hold on the mind of the public, and not sufficient power 
 without it to effect any great good. They are too little exer- 
 cised in the feeling of independence, to have acquired the 
 habit of practising it with dignity and uniformity. The body 
 can neither originate laws, nor exercise inquisitorial power, but 
 has solely the prerogative of arranging the detail of such mea- 
 sures as the monarch may suggest for enactment ; or of rejecting 
 his suggestions altogether. Its debates, or rather discussions, 
 are conducted in either the French or Dutch language, as 
 they may be treated of by the natives of Belgium or of Holland. 
 
 The king, consulting the general spirit of parsimony which pre- 
 vails, appears with but little parade, and incurs but light expense 
 in his establishments or personal gratifications; and he thus 
 secures the attachment of a numerous portion of his subjects. 
 The cleanliness of the Dutch nation would be a sufficient indica- 
 tion of their industry, even if the vast works constructed for pre- 
 venting their country from being swallowed in the ocean, did 
 not exhibit most striking proofs of this virtue. The accumulated 
 capital of this country has been gathered by industry and par- 
 simony, more than by adventure. No country can exhibit better 
 proofs, that individual parsimony is not incompatible with 
 public spirit, than Holland does at every step that is made in 
 passing through it. The public works, including the churches, 
 the roads, the bridges, and the dykes, all show that patriotism 
 can produce wonderful eff'ects, when it has the solid foundation 
 of individual economy to rest upon. The Dutch nation feels 
 most deeply, and the whole country exemplifies most clearly, 
 the truth of the maxim, par.simonia magnum vectigal. 
 
 Whoever has travelled, will expect to find every thing dearer
 
 74 
 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 in a rich than in a poor country ; and in Holland he will not 
 be disappointed, for, excepting England, no where is the ex- 
 pense of travelling so great, to one whose time will not allow 
 him to use the cheap conveyance of the treckschuyt. The 
 charges at the inns are high, and the expenses of post horses, 
 including the enormous tolls at the turnpike gates, quite equal 
 to those of England. At every inn, for these high charges, the 
 traveller will receive civil usage, tolerable attendance, good 
 clean beds, and excellent provisions.
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 WESTPHALIA.
 
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 ANHOLT. 
 
 1 HE first entrance to the Prussian territory is distinguished 
 by lofty posts, placed on the roads at the boundary : they 
 are painted diagonally, with black and white stripes. The 
 change of dominion might be inferred from the numerous 
 wooden images designed to excite catholic devotion, which are 
 pretty thickly scattered on both sides the road. From their 
 uncouth workmanship, they resembled any thing rather than 
 human figures. A carved groupe of the Holy Virgin and Child, 
 at the corner of a road, struck me as peculiarly grotesque. 
 Though this country is now subject to Prussia, that government, 
 very wisely does not meddle with its religion, but leaves it to 
 enjoy that faith, and follow those practices, which had been 
 established under its ecclesiastical prince, the Bishop of Mun- 
 ster. The difference of territory was, however, discoverable 
 by a more annoying circumstance, than the exhibition of harm- 
 less images. The road changed instantly from an indifferent, 
 to a miserably bad one ; and the dwellings of the peasantry 
 gradually lost the cleanliness and appearance of comfort, 
 which is so distinguishable within the limits of Holland. 
 
 After leaving to the right the small town of Anholt, I passed 
 on the left a mansion belonging to the Prince of Salm-Salm, 
 to whom the district was conveyed in sovereignty, at an early 
 stage of the French revolution, in exchange for his territories 
 beyond the Rhine, which were annexed to France. He retained 
 it till 1811, when it was made to form a part of Jerome's king- 
 
 L /
 
 78 
 
 BOCKHOLT. 
 
 dom of Westphalia, and was afterwards, by the- treaty of Vienna, 
 given with the rest of Munster, to the King of Prussia. The 
 land is poor, and very indiflerently cultivated, but owing to the 
 poverty of the inhabitants, no tobacco had been raised, when 
 the growth of it was profitable ; and now the farmers have not 
 to regret, like their Dutch neighbours, that they had embarked 
 in a new species of husbandry. There seemed to be a great 
 abundance of partridges, and from their short flight when I 
 put them up, I imagined they had not been much accustomed 
 to sportsmen. 
 
 i- As I advanced towards Bockholt, the land became better, 
 but the houses of the peasantry scarcely exhibited an improved 
 appearance. The cultivation of flax seemed to be universal, 
 but in small patches on each farm. In one house, which I 
 entered, the operation of scutching was begun, and in all the 
 others I saw spinning-wheels. 
 
 Bockholt, the first post town in the Prussian territory, is a 
 poor-looking, ill-built manufacturing city, containing 3,800 in- 
 habitants. Several new houses have been built in it, but 
 mostly for the working classes. The master manufacturers are 
 men of very small capital, sometimes owning a single loom, and 
 few possessed of more than three or four. The silk weavers 
 are most numerous, and the manufacturers of cotton next in 
 number, the latter however, possess the larger capitals. It is 
 well situated for the erection of mills on the banks of the Aa, 
 and has two spinning machines turned by that stream. In a 
 conversation with a cotton manufacturer, he expatiated to me 
 on the evils which they felt, from the introduction of so many 
 English cotton goods. Afterwards, in speaking with a lady, 
 whose appearance denoted much attention to her dress, she 
 complained of the heavy duty which made all English muslins
 
 BOCKHOLT. -(^ 
 
 and stockings sell for so much higher a price in the Prussian 
 dominions, than they did in Holland ; such is the difference 
 between producers and consumers, that governments are often, 
 as in this instance, exposed for the same act to the blame 
 of opposite parties. I saw some dimities and other goods 
 made here, which appeared very stout and strong, but could 
 form no judgement as to the relative price between them 
 and English goods of the same description. They appeared 
 to me stronger than our's are generally made. This place pro- 
 duces also some iron wares, but to no considerable extent. 
 A castle, the former residence of the prince, seemed in a neg- 
 lected state ; besides that one, the only public buildings are 
 two catholic churches and a stadt-house, with nothing remark- 
 able about them. 
 
 The posting through all the Prussian territories, is under the 
 management of the crown ; the regulations are strict, the prices 
 are fixed, and printed particulars of the distance and expense 
 of horses and carriages, and the fees to the postillions and the 
 waggon masters, are stuck up in conspicuous places in the 
 post-office. In the new dominions, the arrangements are yet 
 inferior to those in the old states. The pace of travelling is 
 defined according to the state of the roads ; but a very small 
 additional fee will induce the postillions to exceed the rate 
 of legal driving. The cost of posting with a pair of horses, to 
 a traveller who has no carriage of his own, is about one 
 shilling the English mile ; if he has his own carriage, it will 
 save him about two-pence in each mile. I wished to travel on 
 horseback, with a postillion to carry my portmanteau on ano- 
 ther horse, as I should thereby be enabled better to view the 
 country, and the state of its agriculture ; but this not being 
 provided for by the regulations, the post-master refused to 
 
 L 2
 
 80 
 
 BORKEN. 
 
 act^Ttimodate me, till I offered to pay him the same price as if I 
 had used his carriage ; which was too strong a temptation to be 
 resisted. I afterwards , according- to the state of the roads, of 
 the weather, or of my own feelings, took post-horses, either 
 with or without a carriage, on the same terms. 
 
 I proceeded to Borken, which having gates and walls, is^a^ 
 city, though it contains but little more than 2,000 inhabitants. 
 The walls are in ruins, and the ditch and glacis usefully turned 
 into very prolific gardens. The country between Bockholf 
 and Borken presented such varieties of fruitfulness and 
 barrenness, of good cultivation and negligence, as are seldom 
 to be seen in the short distance of twelve miles. Near Bor- 
 ken the scenery is good, the oaks large, and on the banks of 
 the Aa, which runs by this place as well as Bockholt, there is 
 some excellent meadow land, on which a good second crop of 
 grass was making into hay. The hedges are thick and lofty, 
 and every variety of tree, except elm, was in flourishing 
 growth. The general aspect of the country reminded me 
 stronoly, of the district between Tunbridge and Penshurst. 
 The harvest of buck-wheat was still in the fields ; the sheaves 
 were neatly bound with rye-straw, and placed in cocks, and a 
 sheaf, with its bottom spread over each cock, was placed on the 
 top to protect it from rain. Borken depends principally on its 
 agriculture, but has manufactories both of woollen and linen 
 cloth, though neither very considerable. 
 
 In travelling through the Prussian states, it is necessary to 
 be apprised, that the post-houses are generally the worst inns ; 
 and if a traveller intends to pass the night in a town, he should 
 go to some other. The post-masters, as officers of government, 
 and depending more on it than on their guests, are seldom very 
 solicitous to provide the best accommodations, or to conduct
 
 BORKEN. 81 
 
 themselves with any great degree of civility. By leaving 
 the post-house at Borken, and asking the advice of the first 
 well-dressed man I met, I was directed to a very clean and 
 comfortable inn ; and I uniformly, afterwards, made a point of 
 not sleeping at the house where I was to be provided with 
 
 horses. 
 
 The first five or six miles after leaving Borken was over a 
 tract of heath-land, spreading to a considerable extent, on both 
 sides of the road. A great portion of it has been recently 
 planted. The fences are well made, consisting of double walls 
 of turf, between which acorns and other seeds of forest trees 
 have been sown, and appear to flourish. I judged the fences 
 to be three or four years old. This extensive heath was the 
 property of the corporation of Borken ; part of the plantations 
 have been made by that body, and a considerable portion was 
 sold to individuals at ten dollars the morgen, or less than one 
 pound the acre ; and the purchase money applied to plant 
 that which the corporation have retained. The heath ter- 
 minated in a fine and extensive wood, very different in its 
 character in various parts, some being thick underwood, and 
 the rest consisting only of lofty and branching oaks. It bounds 
 the castle and village of Ravensburg, and belongs to the count 
 of that name. The castle is a large pile, moated round, the 
 out-buildings very capacious, and the gardens and pleasure 
 grounds laid out with more taste than is usually seen in Germany. 
 The whole place presented a picture of what I should suppose 
 was the style of our greater Barons, on their own domains, 
 two centuries ago. The castle is, however, of more modern 
 date than the surrounding buildings, and not more than J 00 
 years old. 
 
 The farm-houses in the village of Ravensburg are numerous.
 
 82 
 
 RAVENSBURG. 
 
 the holdings small, and the farmers all a kind of copy-holders 
 under the Ritcr, (Knight) or Lord of the Manor, to whom 
 various feudal services are due for the land they hold, which 
 they have not the power of alienating. These feudal rights to 
 personal service, at accustomed periods, in the sowing and har- 
 vest seasons, are the principal benefits which the lord derives, 
 except the fines on the death of each holder, which were repre- 
 sented as very trifling. 
 
 The lord has, however, the right to the feed on the whole of 
 the land after harvest ; and this would, of itself, be an obstacle 
 to the introduction of green crops and other improvements, if 
 the occupiers had either the knowledge or the capital to adopt 
 those modes of husbandry. Such small holdings are, from their 
 own nature, a check to all considerable alterations for the better. 
 
 At another village, Landsberg, where I stopped to make some 
 enquiries, I conversed with an intelligent woman who kept a 
 shop, and whose husband managed his own farm. She said 
 her husband, who was from home, would have been glad to 
 have seen me, as he had been in England, and wished he could 
 learn how to make his land look like what he had seen there. 
 I found he had been a soldier, and had been raised to the suc- 
 cessive ranks of Serjeant, quarter-master, and adjutant, by Murat, 
 when Duke of Berg, in which dukedom this country is situ- 
 ated. He had served with him in Spain, had been taken pri- 
 soner and sent to England, where he had his parole in some 
 country town, the name of which the good woman could not 
 so pronounce as to make me understand her ; but it was some 
 place, the fields around which were often the subjects of his 
 conversation with his family and brother farmers, to whom he 
 told wonderful stories of their productiveness. With great 
 civility this good woman showed me her farming premises ; she
 
 COESFELD. 83 
 
 had some good cows, which she said, when two years old, had 
 cost her husband twenty dollars each (about three guineas). 
 The wages of the labourers are about fourpence-halfpenny a 
 day in the summer, and three-pence in the winter, besides 
 
 food. 
 
 The mode of threshing was different from what I had before 
 observed ; the flail had a handle in size like ours, the beating 
 part, as large as my wrist, was about one third the length of 
 the handle, and the effect was produced rather by the weight 
 of the implement, than by the force of the stroke given to the 
 corn. The labour seemed to be light, and was performed by 
 women and boys, as well as men. On a small barn floor, six 
 persons were employed in the operation. The sheaves were 
 laid open in two rows, on the opposite sides of the floor, the 
 threshers were in a line, and as they receded, at every step 
 the flail fell on the corn, whilst one woman with a rake shook 
 the straw, and drew it aside. 1 could not ascertain how much 
 these six persons could thresh in a day, but I thought that 
 two o-ood workmen in England would have done more, and 
 have done it cleaner. These people receive the twentieth 
 sheffel for their labour, and are besides supplied with a quantity 
 
 of beer. 
 
 After several deviations from the road to view the country, 
 1 reached the city of Coesfeld, the capital of a department of 
 the same name. It is situated on the river Berkel, and contains 
 a population of 5,500 persons. It has three catholic churches, 
 the largest only of which I thought worth viewing. In this there 
 are many altars, many images, and some miserable paintings ; 
 from its size, the appearance of the high altar, and the organ, it 
 derives an air of grandeur. The city has also a gymnasium, or 
 public school, a hospital, and a government house ; but with all
 
 84 COESFELD. 
 
 these public buildings, it is a very miserable looking place. 
 The only tolerable edifice is a large paper manufactory, at the 
 end of the town, with a good house, the owner of which, and 
 his factory, are under the patronage of the king. 
 
 The weather appeared threatening, and induced me to 
 proceed from Coesfeld in a carriage ; it was a small waggon, 
 with basket-work sides, and a kind of calash in the middle, 
 with a seat on springs, very light, and not very uneasy. The 
 land visibly improved at every step ; there were fine wheat 
 stubbles, with clover well planted, and very high, on which 
 the tethered cows were feeding. The road was bad, through an 
 extended valley, from which gentle undulations of fine arable 
 land, rose to the brow of hills, on both sides, which were 
 clothed with fine wood. The soil is a loamy clay, with a bed 
 of soft rag-stone under it, similar to that seen about Penshurst, 
 but I think it better land. 
 
 At a village in this valley, I learnt that the usual rotation of 
 crops, was first rye after a fallow, then turnips, followed by 
 barley or oats, next wheat, and on that clover ; a rotation that 
 appeared to me most improper, but being feudal land, the 
 system cannot be very easily changed for a better. I suggested 
 the propriety of sowing clover in the barley or oats, and the 
 wheat following the clover, but I found the custom was too 
 firmly established to be altered. This land is ploughed with 
 four horses, but they went at a good pace ; they are worked 
 four hours in the morning, and four in the afternoon. Tlie 
 land is manured for every fourth crop ; for rye and wheat it is 
 ploughed sometimes twice and sometimes three times. 
 
 There are very few sheep in this district ; those I saw were very 
 poor, of a miserable race, and the greater part of them black. 
 The dress of the females in this part of the country, was
 
 NOTTULEN. 8.5 
 
 almost uniformly the same, scarlet petticoats, black bodies, and 
 no covering on the head. The men almost universally wear 
 wooden shoes, the poor from economy, the rich from comfort ; 
 the latter say, that in their dirty country, where the ground is 
 in winter constantly wet, they are more conducive to health 
 than leathern shoes. 
 
 The measure commonly applied to land in this country, 
 the sheffel, is about two fifths of our statute acre ; one man, 
 who was said to be a large farmer, told me he had two hundred 
 sheffels, but that most of his neighbours had from fifty to 
 one hundred ; that with drawing wood, which gives con- 
 siderable employment to them, it required four horses to each 
 hundred sheffels of land, which seems a most enormous waste 
 of animal labour. 
 
 At the post-house in the large village of Nottulen, which 
 contains a population of 3,000 persons, where I had changed 
 horses, as I was about to set out, I missed a small travelling 
 bag, containing a portfolio with all my papers, letters of 
 introduction and credit ; this alarmed me much, as I had 
 not any means of pursuing my journey unless it was recovered. 
 The landlord attempted to calm me, by the assurance that 
 there were no dishonest people in that country ; and that if 
 it was gone back in the carriage that brought me from Coes- 
 feld, it was sure to be safe. A man on horseback was des- 
 patched, who returned with it in a few hours, but it was too 
 late to get to Munster, through such roads as were described, 
 and I was compelled to pass the night there. This vexation 
 and delay were, however, more than compensated by an 
 opportunity it afforded me of mixing with a society, or liar- 
 monia as it was called, which met in the village that night; 
 and to which a stranger was allowed to be introduced. A 
 
 M
 
 gg NOTTULEN. 
 
 very respectable man, whom I had been conversing with at the 
 inn, and who was a large farmer and brewer, conducted with 
 him to join the company, consisting of the Graff or lord 
 of the district, his nephew, the physician, the cappellan or 
 catholic priest, two or three disbanded officers, and some of 
 the more respectable tradesmen. The presence of a stranger, 
 seemed at first to create a slight embarrassment, but of 
 no long continuance, and the conversation became as 
 local, as is usually found in such kinds of society in every 
 country. The Graff talked of his tenantry and his land, 
 of the prices of corn and cattle, of the sum for which he 
 could sell his fall of wood, and the difficulty the purchasers 
 found in obtaining a vent for it. His nephew, a sportsman, 
 talked of horses and dogs, the delights of the chase, and the 
 sensations inspired by the sight of an assemblage of thousands 
 of the peasantry inclosing the game in a circle, gradually con- 
 contracting it, and driving it with shouts to the station where 
 his uncle and the party of gentlemen that accompanied 
 him were waiting its approach. He thought the mode 
 of hunting and shooting in England, as I described it, very 
 dull and tame, and not to be compared with the animated 
 scenery and sensations of their grand cJias.se. My inquiries 
 about vaccination, set the Doctor talking ; he expatiated 
 on the merits of Jenner, and did not forget his own, as 
 the first practitioner who had introduced it into the Grand 
 Duchy of Berg, where it is now universally adopted. The 
 priest was modest and polite, but reserved ; as I found 
 he knew but little of his new sovereign, the King of Prussia, 
 I put into his hands a statistical account of the Prussian 
 dominions, with which and his pipe he was apparently fully 
 occupied. One of the disbanded officers had served under
 
 NOTTULEN. 
 
 87 
 
 Murat, but returned to his native place after the first capture 
 of Paris. When Buonaparte returned from Elba, he was 
 ordered out by the Prussian government, and marched into 
 Flanders. The regiment to which he was attached suffered 
 much in the battle, two days before the field of Waterloo ; 
 and on that day, being stuck in the mud, could not reach it till 
 the contest was over, and was then too much exhausted to join 
 in the pursuit. He said that they had slept that night on the 
 dead bodies of the highland soldiers, whose petticoats and 
 uncovered thighs as he described them, afforded no small 
 amusement to the company, though they had, doubtless, heard 
 the same tale twenty times before. One of the party who was, 
 I found, a large linen manufacturer, and dyed much of it a 
 dark blue, supposing an Englishman must know every thing, 
 asked me the price of indigo in London. I did not wish to 
 mislead him, or to put him out of conceit with his merchant at 
 Bremen of whom he purchased it, but though I amused him as 
 well as I could by describing the various kinds known in England, 
 talked of the fine sorts of Guatimala, the great supply which 
 India had of late furnished, and related the mode of preparing 
 it, which I had formerly seen in America ; yet, however enter- 
 taining it might be, I found it was not quite so satisfactory to 
 the inquirer, as if I could have informed him where to save 
 something in the purchase of the drug he used. 
 
 The company were partly engaged in playing at the game 
 they call whisk; though somewhat different from our whist, 
 the principles of it are the same. They have five instead of 
 four honours, the excess of the first game above ten, is carried 
 to the score of the next game of the rubber. The suits are 
 designated by the French names, irafle, pike, coeur, and di- 
 mant ; the knave is called the Bauer or farmer ; the stakes for 
 
 M 2
 
 88 NOTTULEN. 
 
 which they played were very trifling. The room was supplied 
 with the Berlin, Miinster, and Bremen newspapers, but politics 
 appeared to form a very small part of their conversation. 
 
 Though little is said about it, it is easy to discover that they 
 are not pleased with the Prussian government, which in ad- 
 dition to the taxes before collected, has imposed new ones, 
 and being administered with a rigid exactness, increases the 
 aversion. They had been under their own Prince Bishop, 
 then under Louis Buonaparte as King of Holland, then under 
 Prussia, then a part of France under Murat, next under 
 Jerome as King of Westphalia, and now again are become 
 Prussian subjects ; and these various changes seem to have 
 taught them practically, that however they may speculate, they 
 have nothing to do with the government but to submit to it, 
 nor with the laws but to obey them. 
 
 Notwithstanding the changes the country has undergone, 
 and the rigid military conscription which each master has 
 equally enforced, the numerous marks of recent improvement are 
 very visible. New houses, barns, and enclosures, with young 
 plantations of great extent, are indications that cannot be 
 mistaken. They cannot have come into existence without 
 some increase in the capital of the country. They appear 
 every where, and are conclusive evidence in favour of the 
 opinion, that wealth and comfort have increased, notwith- 
 standing tlic frequent complaints I heard of deterioration 
 having taken place. 
 
 The religion of all this country is catholic, and the present 
 ruler no more interferes with it than his j)redecessors have done. 
 I was pleased at observing, that though this country has been 
 so long under the mediate or immediate autlu)rity of France, 
 yet the religious feelings of the inhabitants do not appear to
 
 MUNSTER. 89 
 
 be obliterated by it. It is true that neither the postillions nor 
 the peasants, in passing the images of our Saviour or the Virgin, 
 lifted their hats or crossed themselves as they do in Spain ; 
 but I remarked that before and after their meals, the hands 
 were gently compressed, the eyes fixed, and amotion of the lips 
 almost imperceptible, indicated the performance of some act 
 of devotion. It had much resemblance to the practice of our 
 English quakers at similar times. This country was, happily 
 for it, not brought under the French government, till the 
 fanaticism of infidelity, with its persecuting spirit, was ex- 
 hausted by its own fury. 
 
 The wood land in this district is so extensive, that fuel is 
 remarkably low in price ; and all the dwellings have much 
 larger beams, rafters, and joists, than I had ever seen before. 
 The badness of the roads, and the absence of water-conveyance 
 renders timber worth little or nothing on the spots where it grows. 
 Oak timber in the woods is not worth more than three dollars 
 Prussian, or between nine and ten shillings for a thousand 
 cubic feet. Though labour is low, timber is comparatively 
 much lower, and this will account for the large pieces used in 
 the buildings. 
 
 From Nottulen to Miinster, by the side of a miserable road, the 
 fields presented a picture of high fertility, and thickly peopled 
 villao-es. Very little of the land was sowed with wheat, though 
 the soil is admirably adapted for its growth. It is, however, 
 not the common food of man in this country, and if a large 
 quantity is raised, a market must be sought at a distance ; and, 
 consequently, the profit to be gained by the grower becomes an 
 object of doubtful speculation. Rye is the grain almost uni- 
 versally used as aliment, or with the working classes potatoes, 
 which have lately supplied its place. Rye therefore becomes
 
 90 MtiNSTER. 
 
 a more certain production, and is by most farmers cultivated 
 to the exclusion of wheat. In one village where I stopped, I 
 was treated with some sad complaints. The demand for 
 personal service is as strict under the Prussian, as under the 
 former French governors; and the young men, from never 
 knowing any other regimen, scarcely complain of their being 
 exposed to it ; but they all like the French service better than 
 that of Prussia. Under France the military were always first 
 considered, the property and the comforts of the peasantry 
 were never suffered to interfere with the gratification which was 
 deemed expedient to afford the soldiers. The Prussian govern- 
 ment is too poor to grant equal indulgences, and too paternal to 
 suffer the military to oppress the civil inhabitants; each is 
 strictly confined within its prescribed limits, and the pay of 
 the troops which is very small, can not be rendered more 
 effective by any exactions from the peasantry. It is not then 
 extraordinary, that those young men who have served in the 
 French armies, should excite dissatisfaction among the recruits 
 of Prussia, by the representations they make of the superior 
 advantages of that service, in which they had been compelled 
 to pass their time. 
 
 The more wealthy had paid affixed sums to the former govern- 
 ment, to enable them to retain their sons at home, freed from 
 the conscription. When the country was transferred to Prussia, 
 the demand for their service was made by the new govern- 
 ment, and those who had before paid for the exemption, were 
 compelled cither to serve, or to pay again for the same pri- 
 vilege. In these cases, it is true, I heard only the complaints 
 and not the justification of the decrees, from which they 
 arise. Whoever has conversed much with mankind, in various 
 countries, and of different classes, will hesitate before he gives
 
 MUNSTER. 91 
 
 full credit to all the murmurs he hears against their governors. 
 This remark naturally occurred to me, when I heard the females 
 grumble at the taxes imposed on sugar and coffee by the 
 king of Prussia. They acknowledged that they bought it, 
 since the taxes were levied, at one third the price it cost 
 them under the government of France, and its natural offspring, 
 the continental system ; but seemed more displeased with 
 the trifling tax which was now scarcely felt, than at the 
 greater one which they had before paid, but which was now 
 forgotten. 
 
 Miinster is the capital of one of the three departments, into 
 which the Prussian province of Westphalia is divided, and 
 which bears the name of the city. The area is 2,652 square 
 English miles, or 1,697,280 acres. The inhabitants, in the 
 year 1817, were 319,026 Catholics, 31,958 Protestants, and 
 2,304 Jews*. The whole department, a part of which has 
 been described, may be considered an agricultural country ; 
 and from the state of the population, must be acknowledged 
 to be fertile. Flax is grown in every part of it, and either in 
 the form of yarn, or of linen cloth, is almost the sole com- 
 modity which creates any external trade. In the year 18 16, 
 the number of looms for weaving linen were found to be 
 10,719? and every house has one or more spinning-wheels, 
 which give employment to the female part of the population, 
 during the long nights of the severe winter, which usually 
 prevails in this country. The manufactories for internal con- 
 sumption, are some few woollen and cotton goods, the last of 
 which occupy about six hundred and fifty looms. 
 
 The city of Miinster, the seat of the provincial government 
 
 * Erdebschreibling von Gaspari Ilassell und Cannabich, Vol. 3, p. 391.
 
 92 MUNSTER. 
 
 of the courts of justice, and of the military commander, is on 
 the banks of the river Aa, rising above it with a gentle 
 acclivity. Its inhabitants, in 1817, including the military, 
 amounted to 18,218 persons. The walls which formerly 
 defended it, are now demolished and converted into pleasing 
 walks; whilst the ditches are transformed into most productive 
 gardens. The entrance to it from the road by which I arrived 
 is very fine ; an esplanade opened, which displayed the bar- 
 racks with fine trees in front, under which a train of battery 
 cannon were arranged. The streets are wide, well paved and 
 lighted, and many of the houses large and handsome. The 
 palace of the Prince Bishop, now occupied by the governor, 
 is a magnificent pile of building, with one of the grandest 
 staircases I ever saw. The roof of it is finely painted, but the 
 whole is neglected, and hastening to decay. The park and 
 gardens display the same want of attention among the remains 
 of sumptuous, if not tasteful, decorations. 
 
 This is still an episcopal city, but the bishop has only spiritual 
 power. The canonrics, which constitute the chapter, are 
 of considerable value, but after the death of the present incum- 
 bents, their revenues will become the property of the crown. 
 The dome kirck, or cathedral, has a fine appearance through 
 the church-yard, which is well planted with trees, some of 
 a very large size. The interior is grand, but seemed in a 
 neglected state ; though one beautiful cha[)el, behind the high 
 altar, is an exception to this remark, being preserved in the 
 highest order and neatness. There are many other altars, 
 before some of which, tapers are constantly burning, the 
 expense of which is defrayed l)y pious donations of persons 
 long since gone to their account ; besides the cathedral, there 
 are thirteen churches for the catholics, and one for the
 
 MilNSTER. 93 
 
 Lutherans, which is now about to be considerably enlaro-ed. 
 Tliere are, also, some convents both for males and females, a 
 hospital, a poor-house, and a house of correction. 
 
 The college, which formerly belonged to the Jesuits, is now 
 converted into a university, on the instructions of which about 
 eight hundred students attend ; it is a large pile of building, but 
 not of ancient erection. The education is strictly gratuitous, 
 and the professors have, besides houses and gardens for each, 
 a salary of about one hundred pounds. Until lately, it was a 
 mere catholic seminary, but the king has recently added four 
 protcstant professors, making the whole number at present 
 sixteen- Several of the professors are ex-Jesuits ; one of that 
 order, to whom I was introduced, a very intelligent and con- 
 versible man, accompanied me through the building. His 
 department was mathematical instruction ; he seemed attached 
 to his order, lavishing praises on the Jesuits' edition of Newton's 
 Principia, and extending the same applause to other of their 
 scientific productions, which he said were far better than any 
 others, for the purpose of communicating knowledge. 
 
 The Rath, or Council-house, is a large antique building, 
 on the front of which is a painting alfresco, of the Emperor 
 Charles the Fifth, which is well executed, and still in good 
 preservation. In an apartment behind it, in which the cele- 
 brated peace of 1648, which concluded the thirty years' war, 
 was signed, are portraits of the several potentates that were 
 assembled on that occasion. The cup, out of which they all 
 drank, is likewise preserved, with some other memorials of the 
 same important event. 
 
 The singular history of the Anabaptists, a sect which may 
 be considered as an excrescence of Luther's reformation, and 
 whose concentration in this city gave them for a long period, 
 
 N
 
 94 MIFNSTER. 
 
 a kind of independence under that tyrannical, vulgar fanatic, 
 John of Leyden, is well known and is fully detailed by Sleidan. 
 No one acquainted with the history of that event, will visit 
 this city without feeling some degree of interest in that sin- 
 gular insurrection. The house of the mock king is still 
 shewn to travellers, and the three iron cages, in which, after 
 cruel torturing, were exposed the bodies of John himself, of 
 Knipperdoling, and of Creching, are still suspended from the 
 tower of the church in the market-place. 
 
 Among other public institutions in this city, are a veterinary 
 school, an anatomical theatre, and a public library. If any 
 judgment can be formed from the number and wares in the 
 shops of the booksellers, Miinster is lower in literary taste than 
 any other city of the same population in Germany. 
 
 There is very little commerce here. The river Aa is not 
 navigable, but a canal has been constructed for boats to the 
 Vecht, which runs into the Zuyder sea. When I saw it, it was 
 almost destitute of water and wholly unnavigable; a circumstance 
 that might be easily remedied in the driest season. Although the 
 tolls and the fieight of goods are enormously high, they scarcely 
 pay the current expenses. The distance is only twenty miles, 
 and the price of conveying goods is more than thirteen shillings 
 the ton, being three times as much as is usually paid on our 
 English canals. 
 
 After quitting Miinster, whose immediate vicinity is covered 
 with gardens, like that of other cities, the country appeared 
 poor ; and what few crops were growing, were in a very bad 
 state. At the end of five or six miles, I passed through the 
 town of Tclget, where the Ems, in that place a small stream, 
 is crossed by a stone bridge. The town contains 1,800 in- 
 habitants, who are mostly employed in weaving worsted stock-
 
 TELGET. 
 
 95 
 
 ings ; they employ frames, on the same principle as those 
 used at Leicester, but of rather a more clumsy construction. 
 There is a handsome church, and some religious buildings 
 near it. A few miles beyond it is Ostbevern, a town subsisting 
 principally by linen weaving ; considerable quantities of flax 
 are ffrown in the whole of the district. At Ransdorf, the next 
 village, we gained the first distinct view of that range of lofty 
 mountains, which divides Munster from Osnabriick. The way 
 to this village, and from it over the mountains, is a military 
 road ; and was planned, and begun to be executed when Jerome 
 was king, but finished since by Prussia, partly at the expense 
 of the landholders, whose estates border it, and partly by the 
 corporations of the two cities, which are at each end of it. 
 It is formed of lime-stone from the adjoining hills, broken into 
 small pieces, regularly laid on and covered with chalk ; on 
 both sides of the chausee there is a good soft summer road. 
 Whilst this road was making, it gave much employment to the 
 small farmers and the labourers. The price paid was one 
 shilling and sixpence per day for each horse, and one shilling 
 for each man. The common rate of wages now is about 
 thirteen pence (eight giite groshen), without food, or about 
 fivepence (three giite groshen) with food ; when that is fur- 
 nished, it is of the coarser kind, rye bread, buck wheat, and 
 butter milk, and a small daily portion of bacon ; judging by 
 the size of the piece that was shewed to me, I should think 
 not more than an ounce. They are allowed very weak small 
 beer, and one glass of brandy, or rather whiskey, a day. One 
 man in the dress of a discharged soldier, with whom I con- 
 versed, told me they should never be in a good state till the 
 French came there again. I rather think from my foreign 
 accent of the German language, he judged me to be a French- 
 
 N 2
 
 96' OSNABRUCK. 
 
 mian ; and thought by his compliment to obtain a trifling 
 present. I think, however, the sentiment is far from unusual 
 with the working classes of the people. I saw by the large 
 heaps of stones recently drawn to the side of the road, that the 
 Prussian government, which is most attentive to the improve- 
 ment of the highways, is not disposed to suffer this work of the 
 French to deteriorate in their hands. The country to the^ 
 foot of the mountains is cultivated generally with a rotation 
 of rye, turnips, and buck wheat, and the dung is administered 
 with liberality. Some of the lands are cultivated with the 
 rotation of flax, rye, and barley. 
 
 The excellent road, before noticed, is carried round the 
 mountains with so much skill, and the ascent is so gentle, 
 that it can be accomplished without any very extraordinary 
 exertion of the horses. The prospect gradually widening 
 as I approached towards the summit of the pass, exhibited 
 a 'most extensive and beautiful display of cultivated scenery 
 toward the south, whilst the lofty mountains in front still 
 seemed to present an insurmountable barrier, both from their 
 height, and the impenetrable woods with which they were 
 clothed. This forest scenery over my head was good, but 
 it wanted that variety of tint, which at this season is in 
 England the greatest beauty of the woods. 
 
 On the ascent of this range of mountains, I passed the 
 boundary of the Prussian territory in this quarter, and entered 
 on the kingdom of Hanover by the principality of Osnabruck. 
 About halfway up the hill stands the town of Eburg or I burg, 
 containing about 1,100 inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in 
 agriculture, and in the weaving of linen. A magnificent castle 
 overlooks the town, and from its windows ntay be advan- 
 tageously viewed the fine tract of country which I had passed
 
 OSNABRiJCK. 97 
 
 over. It is a pile of magnificent appearance from the valley 
 which it looks down upon, but its nearer approach is not 
 favourable. Its length is great, as I counted one hundred and 
 eight windows in a row on the only floor, for it is but a single 
 story high. It was an ancient family residence of the Dukes 
 of Brunswick, and our King George II. was born in it. 
 Its date, however, goes back to a remote period, according to 
 some before the Christian era ; but it is accurately proved 
 by indisputable records, that Pepin built a castle here in the 
 year 753. There was formerly a convent, which was con- 
 tinued to 1803, when with all others it was totally abolished. 
 
 From Eburg, the road continued to ascend among increasing 
 richness of prospect, till we reached not the summit of, but a pass 
 through, the mountains, which is invisible to the observer from 
 below. The mountain forest, through a narrow part of which 
 the road runs, is about thirty-two miles in length, and on the 
 average about twenty in breadth. This range is wholly com- 
 posed of lime-stone, as its broken and abrupt face in many 
 parts exhibit, and that which has been taken to make the roads 
 shews that it is of an excellent quality. The descent on the 
 north side of the ridge was abrupt, and very short whe i com- 
 pared with the ascent on the other side. The Hanoverian 
 government, within whose territory it is situated, are much 
 less anxious for the improvement of the roads, than the King 
 of Prussia ; and as this part was not finished when the new 
 arrangements were made, it is left nearly as when Jerome 
 Buonaparte was driven from his throne; and some parts of it 
 are as bad as any thing I saw when in Germany twenty-two 
 years ago. 
 
 The beauty of the country, however, more than compensated 
 for the badness of the road. It was undulating but not hilly.
 
 98 OSNABRUCK. 
 
 well vt'ooded, and watered by numerous transparent rivulets. 
 The soil is somewhat heavy, but the meadow lands are fine, 
 and what seems a sure indication of a good soil in this part of 
 Germany, there were fine wheat stubbles, with thickly planted 
 clover growing among them. The cows were numerous, 
 and in good condition, and I was informed, produced good 
 butter in abundance. The sheep were few, nor does the land 
 appear to me to be so well calculated for them, as much that 
 I have passed. The cultivation of potatoes is very considera- 
 ble on both sides of the mountain forest. The forest, besides 
 various kinds of wild deer and other game, is stocked with 
 wild swine. These animals, under the denomination of the 
 Hohe Jagdt, are preserved for the sport of princes and nobles 
 of the highest class ; and other persons are forbidden, under 
 severe penalties, to kill them. The great extension of potatoe 
 culture by providing them with abundant food, has caused 
 them to increase prodigiously ; and in the nights of autumn, 
 before that vegetable is dug up, the depredations they com- 
 mit are a serious annoyance to the farmers. Though they 
 are forbidden to kill them, I have good reason to believe they 
 are not very scrupulous on that head, when they can do it 
 without the apprehension of discovery. 
 
 Osnabriick, a city of 9,300 inhabitants, is the capital of a 
 province of the same name, forming a part of the newly-erected 
 kingdom of Hanover. At the peace of Westphalia, it was settled 
 that the sovereign of Hanover should nominate the prince alter- 
 nately with a catholic power, who, under the name of a bishop, 
 but without the clerical part of the character, should be the 
 governor of the country. The Duke of York was nominated 
 to it in his infancy, and retained it till the overbearing power 
 of France wrested it from Jiim. By the treaty of Vienna it was
 
 OSNABttiJCK. 99 
 
 added to the kingdom of Hanover, and with the addition of 
 Lingen, Meppen, and Emsbuhren, now forms a province. 
 The extent of it is* 1,827 square miles, (English) or 1,067,280 
 acres. It contains eight walled places denominated cities, 
 though some are small, eight market towns, and one hundred 
 and twenty-nine parishes. The inhabitants are, according to 
 a census in 1816, 188,600, of whom, 120,800, are catholics, 
 and 67,000 are protestants of the Lutheran communion, among 
 which, however, are included some few of the reformed or 
 calvinistic persuasion. 
 
 The city is the seat of the provincial governor, of the bodies 
 that administer the revenues, and of the inferior courts of 
 justice. It may be said to consist only of one long street, for 
 those that diverge from it, though numerous, are very short. 
 It has many good houses, is well paved and lighted. The 
 stadt-house in which the peace of l648 was concluded, (for 
 whilst some of the negotiations were at Munster, others were 
 in this city), is a fine old building. The cathedral is large 
 and rather splendid, as is also the other catholic, and the 
 two Lutheran churches. •<'■ 
 
 Part of the time I spent in Osnabriick, I passed with 
 a venerable clergyman, the president of the Lutheran con- 
 sistory. He had laboured in his vocation, I believe with 
 diligence and success, between thirty and forty years in this 
 city. He had witnessed much distress, and once made a journey 
 to England, to solicit benevolent aid for the poor of his flock. 
 He complained that the catholics had of late been very suc- 
 cessful in making converts, especially among the poorer class 
 of his hearers. Knowing that the catholic bishop of this city, 
 
 * Reinhold, das Bistluira Osnabriick nach de Bushe und Benoit.
 
 100 OSNABRtJCK. 
 
 as well as of Munster, had been praised for their liberality by 
 , our English Bible society, of which my reverend friend was a 
 member, I turned the conversation towards the prelate, of 
 whom he spoke in very high terms. He told me, however, that 
 when any of the catholics asked a Bible from their Bishop, he 
 would say to them, " The Old Testament is a difficult book — 
 you cannot understand it— it will be of no use to you— here is a 
 New Testament— that you may understand, and it will be quite 
 ggSUfficient for you." 
 
 gg. This is a manufacturing city. The principal article for 
 ^.^|jich,Jt is celebrated, and to which it has given its name, 
 ^jif , not, made here, but in the farm-houses in the surrounding 
 |r|?.jpuiitry.; It is spun from flax of their own growth, by the 
 females of the family, afterwards put out to workmen, who 
 iWeave for hire ; and when ready, is brought to the public 
 ^ Hiarket in the city, when commission merchants buy it, on 
 account of the great houses at Bremen. They export it to 
 the different markets, and the greater part ultimately reaches 
 , the West Indies, where it is principally used for clothing the 
 , slaves on the plantations. A merchant to whom I was intro- 
 duced, informed me, that the average quantity brought to this 
 market, does not exceed twenty-two thousand pieces annually, 
 each piece of about one hundred and twenty ells in length. 
 
 The other manufactories carried on within, or adjoining the 
 city, are for coarse woollen cloth, tanned and white leather, 
 paper, fine linen, snuff, soap and turnery ware ; none of which 
 1 in England would be called considerable, but are here highly 
 beneficial by the employment they afford, and the commerce 
 they create. 
 
 From Osnabriick, the road to Mindcn was through a country 
 ,/5^t f\i;^t, bad, mjtl.as I,. approached the small town of Nettlested,
 
 MINDEN. ^'^^1 
 
 though the soil was better, the appearance of poverty and 
 negligence was equally disgusting. The cause of this visible 
 misery must, I think arise from the feudal tenures, under 
 which the land is held. The rent to the lord is paid partly 
 in produce, partly in labour, and a small portion in money. 
 The latter amounts to sixteen gute groschen the shefFel, or 
 about three shillings and sixpence the acre ; and this small 
 sum is paid by monthly instalments, a proof of the poverty 
 of the tenants, and perhaps of the lords. I found it a hopeless 
 task, from the patois of the people, and the various measures, 
 to calculate what the rent could be that arose from these 
 three sources, and gave up the attempt, for which any one 
 who has tried the same experiment in a foreign country, will 
 very readily pardon me. The country is subject to Prussia, 
 but the established clergy, the catholic, take the tithes in kind. 
 I have seen no tolerable land on which the poverty of the 
 inhabitants was so very obvious. The implements were 
 miserably formed, the tines of the harrows of wood, the 
 waggons of very slight construction, and the houses were filthy 
 both within and without. Some few patches of land had a 
 very good appearance, sufficient to shew what might be done 
 by improved husbandry on the whole of it. Rye, buck wheat, 
 barley, clover, and in some places beans, were either growing 
 or had been recently harvested. Potatoes, of a very small size, 
 were digging up by the peasantry. 
 
 The ascent of a gentle hill, beyond Nettlested, gave from its 
 summit a view of the plain, through which the Weser runs ; and 
 on its banks, the city of Minden, with its lofty spires, strong 
 fortifications, and lengthened bridge. 
 
 After passing over an extensive line of country, before enter- 
 ing on a district of a different character, it may not be improper 
 
 o
 
 102 
 
 MINDEN. 
 
 to suo-ffest a few observations, Avhich, though arising from the 
 local circumstances, are not unworthy of consideration. The 
 tract of country from the frontiers of Holland to the vicinity 
 of Minden, though it has a few spots barren from natural 
 sterility, and a few from negligence, has on the whole a 
 o-ood soil : I think better than any to be seen in this island 
 on an equally continued line. The population, as appears by 
 various censuses, is equal in density to any, and superior to 
 most of our mere agricultural counties. There are, indeed, in 
 it no manufacturing districts, where the greater portion of its 
 inhabitants are employed in the preparation of productions for 
 sale beyond their own boundaries ; almost the whole manu- 
 facturing labour is applied to providing for domestic con- 
 sumption, and is conducted by those persons, and in those 
 seasons which are not calculated for agricultural operations. 
 The surplus production of this whole district is so very small, 
 as to be scarcely deserving notice. 
 
 The whole amount of the surplus productions of the three 
 
 Westphalian provinces of Prussia, and the bishoprick of Osna- 
 
 briick, containing together, 1,262,730 inhabitants, and 0,186,000 
 
 acres of land, does not on any calculation exceed in value three 
 
 hundred and fifty thousand pounds annually ; and in this sum is 
 
 included about forty thousand pounds, which is estimated to be 
 
 brought back by labourers, who during the summer-months 
 
 go into Flolland to work for better wages than they can obtain 
 
 at home. The whole of the population is sustained by that 
 
 food which is most easily raised within the districts where 
 
 they reside ; and parsimony, in the use of all tlie necessaries 
 
 of life, is carried to its greatest possible extent. The surplus 
 
 of the productions of the soil in the best years, so little exceeds 
 
 the consumption, that there is no store on hand to meet such
 
 MINDEN. 
 
 103 
 
 years of scarcity as will sometimes occur ; and in no parts of 
 the continent, even in those which had been the theatres of 
 the most extended warfare, was the sad season of 181? felt 
 with such dreadful severity, as in the fertile provinces of 
 Westphalia. 
 
 The products of Westphalia beyond the consumption 
 amount, according to Hassell*, to five shillings and eight pence 
 per head on each inhabitant, or twelve shillings and sixpence 
 per acre on the extent of the land ; whilst those of England 
 have amounted to more than ninety-five shillings for each in- 
 dividual, or twenty-five for each acre of land, according to the 
 last parliamentary returns of the population, and the average 
 exports of the years 1816, 1817 and 1818. 
 
 This enormous difference of surplus products, cannot be 
 attributed to the weight of taxation, because though in West- 
 phalia, it is heavier when compared with the excess above the 
 consumption of their commodities, it is much lighter in com- 
 parison with the quantity of labour that is applied, than in 
 England. It is easy to see that this is owing to the want of 
 capital ; but the question to be considered is, why upon a 
 fruitful soil, with the means of sending their products to 
 countries where it would sell higher than it does at home, the 
 capital has not so increased as to bear, at least, some moderate 
 proportion, with what has taken place in other countries. 
 
 The far greater part of these provinces is divided into small 
 farms, the occupiers of which reside together in considerable 
 villages. The average of these farms does not exceed, if it 
 reaches to so much, as forty acres. The rent to the lord of the 
 manor is paid, under various titles, sometimes in the produce 
 
 * Erdbescreibung erster abtheilung vierter band, 
 O 2
 
 104 
 
 MINDEN. 
 
 of the soil, sometimes in a fixed nrnmber of day's-labour of the 
 tenant, occasionally of his horses, and sometimes, though but 
 rarely, in money. It however, very commonly, consists of a 
 mixture of each of these different modes. The occupiers are 
 generally a kind of copy-holders, under the proprietor, to whom 
 they are bound as their feudal lord, and are called his subjects 
 (unterthaner.) The lands descend from father to son, and the 
 work is generally performed by members of the family. 
 
 ^'In such a state of things the division of labour can scarcely 
 take place, nor the labour be all productively applied. There 
 are many seasons when such farms can afford no occupation 
 to those who are established upon them ; their neighbours 
 being in the same state ; as no employment can be obtained in 
 any other way, much time, and consequently labour, must be 
 thus lost. The number of horses kept on these small farms, is 
 far greater in proportion to their extent than is required on 
 larger ones ; and hence arises a consumption which, in different 
 circumstances, would be an actual surplus, and by the natural 
 process of reproduction would create or augment the capital. 
 The increase of population, is indeed promoted by this plan 
 of small farms, and the employment which long and extended 
 wars offered to the young men, prevented the evil of that 
 increase from being felt ; but the peace has returned numbers 
 to their homes in this country, who cannot find occupation, 
 and would be an unsupportable burden on their families, if 
 the general introduction of potatoes for subsistence did not 
 keep them from the extreme of want. 
 
 No improvements in agriculture, except that just alluded to 
 of growing potatoes instead of corn, can be introduced into a 
 district so oppressed by want, as those are where only such 
 small farmers are employed in cultivation. They have no hope
 
 MINDEN. lOo 
 
 to rise above their present situation, and no stimulus con- 
 secjuentiy to great exertions, either of intellect or of labour. 
 They have the bare necessaries of life, as their ancestors had 
 before them, and enjoying these are too indolent to better their 
 condition ; though besides living as poor and working as hard 
 as the day-labourer, they are subject to cares and anxieties to ■ 
 which he is a stranger. 
 
 In times, like the present, when every agricultural product 
 is selling at less than its cost, such men do not indeed feel the 
 same pressure, as is endured by the richer and larger agricul- 
 turists. To him who pays his rent in labour, or in produce^f. 
 and who consumes the rest of his growth, it is of small con- 
 sequence what price commodities yield in a market to which,^ 
 he has little or nothing to carry. The loss of time spent by 
 these small farmers in attending the markets is enormous; 
 for, frequently, the whole of their gross sales cannot amount to 
 more than the labour of the day that is thus spent would be 
 worth in a well regulated condition of society. 
 
 I entered Minden on a Sunday morning, when the bells were 
 sounding for the early service, and the road was crowded with 
 peasants on the way to the city. The shops, however, were 
 open ; and those whom I supposed going to church, were 
 entering them on their road. In a church I afterwards went to, 
 I saw many of the people with their purchases in their hands, 
 attending the devotion of the day. This city is the capital of 
 one of the provinces of Prussian Westphalia, in which is the 
 seat of the departmental government, and the inferior courts of 
 justice. It contains a population of 8,500 inhabitants ; and by 
 means of the Weser, carries on some trade with Bremen. Like 
 other fortified towns, the houses are rather lofty, and the streets 
 narrow ; but it is tolerably paved, and well lighted. There
 
 106 
 
 MINDEN. 
 
 are thirteen saw mills, which prepare the wood from the moun- 
 tain forests, through which the Weser finds a passage, for the 
 market of Bremen. There are besides some manufactories for 
 cloth, hosiery, hats, gloves, linen, soap, leather, and snuff, but 
 they are all inconsiderable. 
 
 The field of battle, which took its name from the city, where 
 in 1759, Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick defeated the French, 
 is to the left. It was pointed out to me, but I did not visit it. 
 The bridge over the Weser is six hundred feet in length, and 
 twenty-four in breadth. The government of Prussia is now 
 busily employed in making Minden, what it formerly was, a 
 very strong place. A new citadel is erecting, and the ditches 
 are cleansing and deepening. In this last operation, they have 
 brought out many thousand loads of rich mud, which would be 
 of vast value, if applied to the sandy plain on which the city is 
 built.
 
 SCHAUENBOURG-LIPPE. 
 
 After crossing the bridge of the Weser, I soon entered 
 the territories of the Prince of Schauenbourg-Lippe ; one of 
 those few of the smaller sovereigns who have remained amidst 
 violent changes by which most of them have been reduced 
 to nearly the situation of private individuals. The entrance to 
 this principality was by a gradual ascent, which soon presented 
 to the view a fine picture of the opening in the mountains, 
 by which, surrounded with abrupt precipices, the Weser force* 
 its way to the plains of Minden. As the ascent proceeded, 
 the side of the hill below, and the valley in which the hill 
 terminated, shewed a country of a very different character from 
 any that I had yet passed ; instead of groups of cottages, and 
 small barns huddled together in a filthy village, there was 
 displayed a more open country, with large farms, and good 
 houses, surrounded with a few fit for labourers, with exten- 
 sive sheep-yards and cow-houses, evincing the riches of the 
 couiitry, and giving proofs of its productiveness. There 
 were many large flocks of sheep, which thougli of a bad lono- 
 woolled breed, and ill calculated for the soil, shewed that 
 the land was in a gradually improving state. 
 
 Some fine rivulets trickled down from the sides of the hill 
 above, and watered excellent meadows, which surrounded the 
 town of Buckebourg, the capital of this principality. The domi- 
 nion comprised one other similar town, three smaller ones, 
 and one hundred and eight farms and villages, and containing 
 137,600 acres of land, and 24,100 inhabitants, who arc of the
 
 108 SCHAUENBOURG-LIPPE. 
 
 Lutheran communion* ; except the ruling family, and a few 
 others, who are of the reformed or calvinistic persuasion. 
 Buckebourg, though a city, contains only 2,060 inhabitants ; the 
 greater part of whom depend on the court, either as ministers, 
 lawyers, officers of the small army, or of the household, with the 
 different tradesmen who supply their wants. The castle of the 
 prince is a large, old, and far from handsome building, with a 
 park surrounding it. There are two churches, a college, and an 
 orphan-house, the appearance of the place is lively ; and its 
 situation very fine. The other town Stadthagen, is about eight 
 or nine miles from Buckebourg, of nearly the same size, but 
 with fewer inhabitants. It is a long straggling place, with 
 houses of very antique appearance, and a princely castle, 
 inhabited by the widow of the last sovereign, who acted in 
 troublesome times as regent, during the minority of her son, 
 and conducted his affairs with such prudence, as to secure his 
 dominions to him, when the other princes of the same class 
 were nearly extinguished. 
 
 The post-house, where I changed horses and rested myself, 
 was at Neudorf ; a spa much frequented, especially within the 
 last three or four years, and which has received this season 
 upwards of seven hundred visitors. It is a most delightful p.pot 
 to spend the hot months of summer in. It is considerably ele- 
 vated ; overlooks Stadthagen and Buckebourg, as well as the 
 extensive country below those towns. The walks about it are 
 well laid out,' and afford abundant shade. The houses for the 
 reception of the company are very spacious, in which guests 
 may be accommodated with single rooms, or suites of apartments, 
 as the size of their families may require. There are tables d'hote, 
 
 ' Weddigens, Westph. Magazin, Vol. 3.
 
 SCHAUENBOURG-LIPPK. 100 
 
 where dinners are provided, or restaurateurs for the supply of 
 those who choose to eat in their own apartments. INIost of the 
 company liad left the place, but those few whom I saw appeared 
 to be elegant in their dress, and judging from their carriages 
 and servants, seemed to be of the better class of German 
 society. The waters are of different kinds; some are used 
 for bathing in the usual way; for paralytic cases the body of the 
 patient is plastered over with hot mud, and what is called the 
 steel-gas bath is snutfed up the nostrils. The cures performed 
 here are most lavishly promulgated by the inhabitants, who 
 subsist by means of company that resort to the baths ; and 1 
 was told, that the church is well adorned with the votive offer- 
 ings of the crutches of paralytic patients, who, by tlie use of 
 the mud baths, have been enabled to abandon them. From 
 an English gentleman, whom I met in Hanover, I heard sur- 
 prising accounts of the cure he had himself received. Be the 
 eflticacy what it may, the baths are fast rising in reputation, 
 whilst the cheap accommodations, the pleasantness of the 
 scenery, and the amusements of music, dancing, billiards, and 
 cards, act as inducements to others besides invalids, to repair 
 to this place. 
 
 Between Stadhagen and Neudorf, are some considerable coal 
 mines, which are worked to great iextent. The few inhabitants 
 of this small territory, have more disposable produce than the 
 whole duchy of Osnabriick, which is so much larger. Besides 
 coals, they sell to the surrounding countries, or send to Bremen, 
 corn, wool, sheep, wood, and linen yarn, and cloth. 
 
 The greater part of this principality is granted by the prince 
 or other nobles, to a kind of steward, denominated Amtman ; 
 who has a certain interest, generally but not always neces- 
 
 p
 
 ■9 
 
 I Hj SCHAUENBOURG-LIPPE. 
 
 saiily, descending to his successors ; this gives him an 
 inducement to improve the property, whilst, from his situation, 
 he is more enabled to conduct agriculture beneficially for 
 himself, and for the community, than can be done by the 
 small occupiers in Westphalia.
 
 HANOVER.
 
 bnn '■'■■■■" 
 '(ilijii, . 
 
 no gnior
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 A* ROM Neudorf, the territory of Hanover is soon entered ; 
 the long stage to that city is over a level plain of poor and 
 sandy land, on which nothing is to be seen but occasionally 
 large fields of rye, which had been early sown and was just 
 sprouting out of the ground. The province, or as it is called 
 the principality ( FiirsteiitJwm) of Kalenberg, which adjoins on 
 one side to Schauenbourg-Lippe, extends on the other to the 
 city of Hanover, and includes within its division that capital. 
 Near the city, though not much more populous than the other 
 parts of the province, the garden culture gives an air of im- 
 provement, and the abundance of fruit trees, is a considerable 
 benefit to the general appearance. The whole road in the 
 Hanoverian territory, is a good chaussee, well constructed, and 
 kept in excellent repair. The impression on entering the city 
 is highly favourable, the streets are of a good width, and it is 
 the only place in Germany where they are well paved for foot- 
 passengers. Though some of the houses are of an ancient 
 date and fashion, yet the greater part are very handsome 
 buildings, and the public edifices, and the walks, diffuse an air 
 of beauty and cheerfulness. The river Line, a rapid stream 
 dividing the old and the new town, runs through the city in 
 two branches, and has been made navigable to the Weser 
 for barges ; it has several bridges over it, which are highly 
 ornamental to the place. The present number of inhabitants, 
 exclusive of the military, is about 18,000 ; and with them and
 
 114 
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 their families, amount to 24,000*. There are seven Lutheran, 
 two reformed, and one Catholic Church, and one synagogue 
 for the Jews. 
 
 The royal public library is a fine large building, but not 
 kept in the best state. The collection of books consists of 
 between 90,000 and 100,000 volumes; access to it is easy, and 
 under proper regulations, individuals may be accommodated by 
 taking books to their own houses. I was sorry to remark 
 that they were badly arranged, and that there is no printed 
 catalogue of them. The librarian and his assistants are very 
 attentive, and as far as they can, remedy the evil I have 
 mentioned. In the collection are some valuable specimens of 
 early typography. Cicero's Offices, printed on parchment by 
 Faust, at Mentz, in 1465. A translation of the New Testa- 
 ment by Luther, in 1522 ; in which the disputed passage of the 
 three witnesses is not to be found in St. John's Epistle. A 
 Greek Testament, printed at Alcala de Henares, in Spain, 
 where the same verse is seen, printed eight years before, in 
 1514. I was much pleased with some illuminated manuscripts; 
 one a breviary most beautifully coloured, said to have been 
 presented to our Henry VIIL, by the Emperor Charles V. 
 There is also the book of Esther, most curiously copied with 
 a pen, and illustrated with drawings in a very uncommon 
 style, which must have been executed at an enormous expense 
 of time and labour. A very copious collection of the au- 
 tographs of eminent persons, is one among the antiquities of 
 the library ; among them arc those of Louis XIV., Queen 
 Elizabeth, King William IIL The library looks on a beautiful 
 public walk, formed on the fortifications, which are happily 
 destroyed. It is a pleasing grove of large trees, and is termi- 
 
 * Beshrcibunn- dcr Koiiiglichen Residcnzstadt, riauiiover von B. C. Spiloker. 1819.
 
 HANOVER. 1 1 .5 
 
 nated by. an elegant temple, in which stands a colossal bust 
 of Leibnitz, executed in Rome, by an Irish artist named 
 Hewetson, which displays first-rate talents in the sculptor. 
 
 The house in which the assembly or states of Hanover 
 assemble, is an elegant modern building, the staircase is 
 peculiarly handsome. The hall of meeting is of a semicircular 
 shape, supported by marble pillars. The floor is elevated in 
 the part appropriated for the nobles, and is about six or eight 
 inches higher than that on which the benches for the ple- 
 beians are placed. The throne is neat but simple, and there 
 is a small portion of the apartment for the accommodation of 
 auditors, though none are admitted. The recesses in which 
 the stoves that warm the chamber are placed, are very taste- 
 fully decorated with Egyptian marble. 
 
 The theatre in Hanover is a part of the royal palace, and 
 the size of the house is much too large, and the establishment 
 too expensive for the inhabitants alone to maintain it by their 
 payments for admission. A considerable part of the expense 
 is therefore defrayed by the king. The performers were good, 
 but in my judgment the music was very much below the usual 
 standard of German bands. Though the box in which I sat was 
 not very distant from the stage, from the size of the building, I 
 could not hear the whole play distinctly. I was told that, 
 besides the gift of the house and the decorations, the amuse- 
 ment costs the government annually, more than twelve hundred 
 pounds. The most striking thing in this theatre is the curtain, 
 which is a fine painting by Ramberg, a native of the city, and 
 once a favourite artist of our late venerable monarch. 
 
 The groves that lead to Herrenhausen are very fine, with 
 cgach, horse, and foot-ways, between the different rows of trees 
 that compose it. The trees are very large and regular, the
 
 ^Ig HANOVER. 
 
 limes particularly so. The house does not bespeak much taste, 
 and it was not convenient to me to visit the inside of it. Near 
 it is a fine orangery 200 feet in length. Some bronze busts of 
 various Greek and Roman heroes and orators, which were 
 in this building, were taken away by the French in 1803 and 
 conveyed to Paris, from whence they were returned after the 
 battle of Waterloo. They had originally belonged to Louis 
 -XlV.i and after his death were purchased by George I. to 
 adorn his orangery. 
 
 The commerce of Hanover is but inconsiderable, though it 
 has the advantage of a navigable river to Bremen ; but, in fact, 
 the production very little exceeds the consumption. The 
 barges that sail from hence are mostly of a large size, and can 
 «arry from fifty-six to seventy tons, but do not amount to more 
 than twenty in a year, and there are not many of the smaller 
 dimensions. As a central point through which the chaussee 
 runs to Hamburg and Bremen, from the interior of Germany, 
 many goods, especially linen and linen yarn, pass through in 
 waggons. These are secured at the place were they are 
 laden, by being thatched as neatly as any dwelling ; over the 
 thatch a cloth is tightly drawn, and the whole being of a 
 convex shape no rain can penetrate. ^^ 
 
 The manufactures of the city, though they employ many hands, 
 are almost wholly for its own consumption, or for that of the 
 other parts of the kingdom. Woollen goods, leather, tobacco, 
 and snuff, iron stoves, hosiery, and some few cotton goods are 
 produced ; the printing of cottons, which existed during the war, 
 is now nearly extinct. One considerable trade hero, is the 
 brewery, which is carried on by a corporate body, with some 
 exclusive privileges, upon a large scale. The bookselling trade 
 is largely conducted by two houses of considerable fame. The
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 117 
 
 paper is made here, and the printinj^ is executed in the city ; 
 but the works, like those produced from most of the other 
 presses, are carried in sheets to the two fairs of Leipsic for 
 publication, where they are exchanged with other booksellers 
 for the literary productions of the other provinces. 
 
 In this, as in most other cities in Germany, the continuance 
 of guilds, or corporations, is a great impediment to the exercise 
 of industry. In Hanover it is carried so far, that a workman 
 though free of the old town, is not allowed to work for a master 
 in the new ; and vice versd. Apprenticeships must be regu- 
 larly served, before a workman can practise as a journeyman 
 in any trade ; and when the term of servitude is expired, the 
 youth must travel from place to place during a whole year, 
 under the pretext of improving himself, before he is permitted 
 to exercise his knowledge at home. The continuance of these 
 ancient privileges, injurious as they are, have, from long usage, 
 such hold on the people that their sudden abolition can not be 
 attempted by any prudent governors, nor will they admit of 
 alteration except by gradual and slow degrees. 
 
 Education is much attended to in this city, and the provision 
 made for the instruction of the indigent is equal to, or rather 
 exceeding, that of the most charitable parts of Europe. Each 
 of the Lutheran churches have charity-schools, and so have 
 the Reformed, the Catholics, and the Jews. There is a school 
 for the garrison, and one in the orphan-house, besides several 
 others. There is also one of four hundred pupils, for the 
 purpose of teaching the business of instruction to young men, 
 who are destined to become schoolmasters ; and who, when 
 duly qualified, are appointed to the several towns and 
 parishes in the kingdom. The higher kind of education may 
 be obtained in the Lyceum, and the Seminarium, where the 
 
 Q
 
 118 
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 pupils may either complete their course, or be qualified to 
 continue it in the university of Gbttingen. 
 
 There is also an anatomical theatre, a veterinary college, and 
 an institution for instructing females in the obstetric art ; and 
 to these must be added, the military school, where the young 
 men designed for the artillery and engineers are educated. 
 
 I found the statfe of society in this city agreeable. I met with 
 many very intelligent persons ; and am indebted for marks of 
 politeness and hospitality to those, who would be hurt by being 
 publicly named. I was pleased to find those parts of the royal 
 family who had resided here, were much esteemed, and that 
 the attention to business, and the uniform benevolence of the 
 Duke of Cambridge, were very highly appreciated. • 
 
 During my stay in Hanover, the early part of the mornings 
 were spent in viewing some of the large farming establishments, 
 within' twelve or fourteen miles of it. I adopted tlie plan of 
 riding, found the horses good, and was enabled to hire one for 
 myself, and another for a groom, on very reasonable terms. 
 
 The immediate vicinity of the city is principally devoted to 
 the production of culinary vegetables ; and hence manure is 
 so valuable, that the price of it, as I found by several in- 
 quiries, is considerably higher than in London. 
 
 On my way to Schulenburg, as soon as I was clear of the 
 gardens and orchards, I observed the soil to be light, and 
 apparently exhausted from over cropping ; the villages were 
 large, but looked poor, and the cattle very lean. As I was on 
 horseback early, I saw some flocks of sheep before they had left 
 tfhe fold. I examined several, and talked with the shepherds; 
 one of them had under his care, a flock of three hundred and 
 twenty, some ewes, and some taggs, all of the long-woolled 
 kind ; but in other respects, of a very mixed race. Ho com-
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 119 
 
 plained bitterly of the dry summer, owing to which, thoui^h he 
 had the range of three thousand acres of land, the ftock was in 
 bad condition ; and as they grow no turnips, and must be fed 
 with straw or hay and a few potatoes, through the winter, there 
 were no hopes of their improvement before next summer. 
 Most of the other flocks were in a similar state. These sheep 
 are not the property of the peasants who cultivate the soil, but 
 of their feudal lords, to whom they are a kind of copyholders, 
 and who retain the right, among many others, of turning their 
 sheep over the corn land from harvest to the following spring 
 seed-time. The whole of this first part that I passed over, is 
 known in Germany by the term of dreifeld boden, or three-course 
 land ; where a bastard fallow is succeeded by two corn crops. 
 In approaching Schulenburg, the complexion of the land im- 
 proved ; it was of a less light texture, and with good culture 
 was more adapted for wheat, than any laud I had seen since 
 entering Hanover. The common rotation is a fallow, with either 
 pease, flax, or potatoes ; then follow the two corn crops of rye 
 and barley, or oats ; between every other, or sometimes every 
 third, rotation they make a clear fallow ; thus in ten years they 
 produce three green, and six corn, crops. It is manured once 
 in three years, but the quantity applied is very small. 
 
 The Hanoverian morgen of land is one hundred and twenty 
 ruthen of sixteen feet each. Sixty-nine himpfells of corn, 
 Hanoverian measure, make a Bremen last of ten quarters and 
 half, or eighty-four Winchester bushels ; consequently, the 
 himpfell is about seven-eighths of our bushel ; the morgen of 
 land is about eight-elevenths of an English acre *. The quan- 
 tity of seed sown is two himpfells of wheat and rye, and three 
 
 * The legal measure of corn somewhat differs from the local ; the latter is the larger of 
 the two, and is here meant. 
 
 Ci2
 
 ] 20 han6\^r1 
 
 of oats, to the morgen. The average produce of rye, the 
 most uniform as Avell as most important crop, is eighteen 
 himpfells to the morgen, or twenty-two bushels to our acre. 
 
 The Amtman, to whom I was introduced by a letter from a 
 relation in London, received me with much cordiality ; and as 
 soon as he had despatched his magisterial business, and the 
 numerous suitors that waited, attended me round his domain, 
 entered into every detail I could desire, introduced me to 
 another similar establishment, and pressed me to stay till the 
 next day, with an obvious sincerity that I could not have re- 
 sisted, but for an engagement which compelled me to return to 
 the city. I was shown by this gentleman, a species of turnip 
 resembling the Swedish, but much larger and harder, and with 
 abundant leaves. I had taken them for the ruta baga as I 
 passed along the road. They are known here, as in other parts 
 of Germany, where I afterwards saw them, by the name of the 
 cabbage turnip kohl-riibe. I believe Mr. Beevor attempted many 
 years ago to introduce this root into Norfolk, but I think unsuc- 
 cessfully. The patches of this plant which I saw, were very 
 small, and rather cultivated upon the plan of garden than field 
 husbandry. This land is admirably calculated for the turnip 
 culture ; and upon our four course Norfolk system, with good 
 flocks of sheep or other stock, would produce double the quan- 
 tity of food that it does in the present mode of cultivation. 
 '^'The amts, or manorial domains, that I visited, are the property 
 of the king ; but many similar ones belong to individual noble- 
 men, whose chief tenant, like the king's, is dignified with the 
 title of Amtman. They are a kind of farmers of the manorial 
 rights, which, though frequently varying in extent and character, 
 are of considerable latitude. Formerly tliey included the per- 
 sonal slavery of ihc bauers or peasants who held under the lord.
 
 HANOVER. 121 
 
 Jiccording to the custom of the amt. Personal slavery is how- 
 ever, now universally abolished; but the rights to feed their 
 cattle, to limited labour, and to many other privileges, whichj^; 
 in the grant of land to the tenants, the lords retained to them- 
 selves, still exist ; and is the grant made to the Amtnian, who 
 usually occupies the large house and premises. The demesne 
 land, sometimes a very extensive tract, is also in his hands, 
 and, in some instances, furnish examples of superior hus- 
 bandry, and new inventions or improvements, to the pea- 
 sants under his influence. The influence of this officer is 
 considerable, as he is usually the chief magistrate of an ex-.^ 
 tensive district. The royal amts have by habit, rathejf, 
 than by any law, been considered as hereditary possessions ; 
 but of late, on the death of the Amtman, they have been 
 granted, either to obtain increased rent, or for purposes of 
 patronage and favouritism, to other persons. The peasants 
 under this officer have usually only small portions of land, 
 often at a distance from their houses, and generally scattered- 
 about in a common field. 
 
 I visited another establishment at Calenburg, where the amt 
 is held by the widow of the late grantee. This lady was well 
 bred and intelligent, and was personally conversing, with much 
 discrimination and acuteness, witii the directors of the different 
 operations that were conducted on the extensive premises under 
 her control. The demesne, held with this amt, is about one 
 thousand morgens of arable land, for which ten ploughs were 
 in activity ; some worked by horses, others by oxen, who 
 labour from eight to ten hours each day. The working cattle 
 were in good order. The stalls, in wiiich the breeding and 
 fatting cattle were placed, were kept clean. The cows were 
 very fine, . (especially some of the Tyjol ^fjepdj the. m^fi
 
 132 HANOVER. 
 
 compact, strait-backed, and round built animals I had ever 
 seen, and a mixture of which would be an improvement to our 
 admired Devonshire breed. One of the bulls was a remark- 
 ably fine creature. The houses in which the cattle are kept, 
 are well contrived for the purposes of feeding and watering 
 them, and of removing their dung. The only stock, not toler- 
 able good, were the sheep, to wliich it appeared to me that but 
 little attention is paid. The people here seem to have no 
 just idea of the value of sheep in improving the land ; perhaps, 
 the nature of the tenures operates as an impediment to the 
 most advantageous and extensive application of them to that 
 purpose. 
 
 The whole produce of the harvest is secured, not, as with us, 
 on stack frames, but in enormous barns. The mows are in the 
 middle of the barns ; and on both sides, between it and the 
 walls, are the thrashing-floors, on which the men walk 
 backward in line, beating out the corn, with flails similar in 
 shape to those of Westphalia, but with the beating part 
 square instead of round. The wheat that I saw thrashing was 
 of the red kind, with w hite chaft', and rather a coarse grain : 
 the men complained that it did not yield well in proportion to 
 the quantity of sheaves. 
 
 Besides what properly belongs to cultivation, this establish- 
 ment has the appendages of a large brewery and a considerable 
 distillery, from the grains furnished by both of which many fine 
 pigs are maintained. 
 
 The square, enclosed with gates, and containing a large pond 
 of water in the centre, including the extensive dwellii;g of the 
 Amtman, or rather, now, Amtfrau, is a mass of building of vast 
 dimensions. It may not be disproportionate to the size of the 
 farm in this country, where building materials are cheap, and
 
 HANOVER. 123 
 
 the labour oi' bringing them is tlie duty of the feudal tenants ; 
 but, in England, the same extent of building, if as substantially 
 constructed as all these erections are, would cost a sum, 
 the interest on which would very far exceed any rent that 
 could be afforded for the whole farm, homestead, and feudal 
 rights. 
 
 The meadow lands, on the banks of the river, which turns a 
 mill belonging to the amt, were tolerably good, but the great 
 drought of the summer had given them a bare appearance. 
 The banks of the stream were planted with a triple row of 
 willow trees, whose branches being cut every third year, pro- 
 duce a better nett revenue than any other part of this extensive 
 establishment. 
 
 The houses of the peasantry that surrounded these establish- 
 ments are numerous, and larger than houses are usually seen in 
 England, for the same rank of inhabitants. Some flax grown 
 near them seemed to furnish occupation now that their autumnal 
 seed-time was over. The flax stalks were laid out after being 
 watered, and in many instances I observed the people beating 
 them with a flat grooved board, to which a handle was affixed 
 diagonally, so as to resemble an English scrubbing brush. 
 
 The high reputation of Amtman Meyer, who resides about 
 eight miles from Hanover, induced me to visit his establishment, 
 where I was not so fortunate as to meet the proprietor, who had 
 been described to me as the most scientific agriculturist in the 
 vicinity. His amt was still more extensive than that of Calen- 
 burg, and included within the area, besides his dwelling, and 
 those of the superintendents of his farm and the barns, stables, 
 sheep-house and cattle-stalls, a very neat church. The land 
 round this establishment, shows more abundant marks of good
 
 124 HANOVER. 
 
 cultivation, and more proofs of the liberal application of manure, 
 than I had before witnessed in Hanover. o'. 
 
 The kohl-r'uben had attained a good size, and were flourish- 
 ing, whilst a considerable breadth of mangel-wurzel was grow- 
 ing ; but both of these crops appeared to me not sufficiently 
 hoed to give the roots space to extend to the dimensions which 
 they would attain by a diff'erent mode of culture. 1 observed 
 here, the first stack of clover- hay that had met my sight since 
 I entered Germany. Around the borders of some fields were 
 small patches of tobacco, such as I had indeed before noticed 
 in the course of my rides. I was told the quality of it was bad, 
 and too weak for any but boys to smoke it. They seem to 
 learn this abominable practice at a very early age. I was 
 surprised one day, by being asked by a shepherd boy, of whom 
 I had made some inquiry, and who appeared not more than 
 twelve years of age, if I could give him any fire, or the ma- 
 terials for supplying him with it, as he had lost either his flint 
 or his steel, and could not light his pipe. 
 
 Contrary to the usual course in such establishments, the 
 cows here are farmed to a Dutch dairy-man, who professes to 
 make butter and cheese of the same kind as is produced in 
 Holland. The cows, from ninety to one hundred, are let to 
 him for one thousand rix dollars annually. In the summer 
 months they are depastured on the meadow lands, by the side 
 of the river. In the winter, they are allowed ten pounds of 
 hay, and fourteen pounds of straw, daily. I heard sad 
 lamentations on the dryness of the present summer, of the want 
 of food on the meadows, and the consequent scarcity and 
 poverty of the milk. The contrivances of the Dutchman to 
 save labour, were very admirable. The milk and cream were
 
 in a cool cellar, the butter was churned by a very simple 
 machine worked by a wheel, in the apartment at the to^ of 
 the house ; this was turned by a boy, and by it one hundred 
 pounds of butter were at some seasons made daily, in about two 
 hours. The presses for the cheese were worked by the same 
 jnachine which churned the butter. oj iiinai 
 
 ■ The attempt to make various kinds of clieese from the same 
 land is necessarily futile. Cheese denominated Swiss, Dutch, 
 Cheshire and Gloucester, is made by this man. I tasted each, 
 but could perceive no similarity to those of either of the districts 
 by the names of which they were distinguished, nor any great 
 diflerence betwixt one and another ; for all, if not absolutely 
 bad, were at least very indifferent. 
 
 As I had formerly visited Zell, Luneburg, and the other 
 northern divisions of Hanover, I resolved to pass by the new 
 road through Hildesheim to Brunswick. The first part of the 
 country was poor, the soil thin, the villages dirty and decaying, 
 and no crops appeared to have been raised, or to be growing, 
 except rye. In advancing, the land improved gradually, till 
 on approaching to Hildesheim, some good water-meadows, with 
 willow trees, and some productive wheat stubbles, were to 
 be seen. The farms were large, but the whole country open 
 and destitute of trees. The cultivation is conducted on the 
 faulty three course rotation, which has been before noticed,' 
 to within seven miles of the city, where a four course system 
 is practised, by growing beans after the fallow crop before the 
 wheat or rye. 
 
 The city of Hildesheim is divided into the old and new town. 
 The former is ill built, miserably paved, and seems very poor 
 and dirty. The latter, though certainly much better, is still a 
 dismal looking place. Its population in 1816 amounted to
 
 126 HANOVER. 
 
 10,649 persons, of whom 6,624 were Lutherans, 3,951 Catholics, 
 twenty-nine Calvinists, and 345 Jews *. 
 
 The catholic bishop of the diocese resides here, and has 
 a cathedral, and three other churches under it. There are 
 three Lutheran churches, a gymnasium for the education of 
 catholics, several hospitals, a house of industry, and an 
 orphan-house, in which are four hundred children. These 
 are ancient institutions, and, according to the state of the 
 country, and the mode of living of the inhabitants, are well 
 endowed. The city is the seat of several provincial courts 
 of justice, the authority of one of which extends over the 
 forests in this province. The principal manufactures of 
 Hildesheim are linen and woollen cloth, leather, iron- 
 mongery, snuff' and tobacco, soap, and, made from a spring 
 near the city, Glauber salts. 
 
 ,, Beyond Hildesheim the land improves, much wheat is sown 
 instead of rye ; on the right hand are fine meadows, and 
 beyond them an extensive plain, bounded by a well-wooded 
 line of distant hills, which rise above each other ; and in the 
 back ground, the Rammelsberg, one of the mountains of the 
 Hartz forest, towered above them. We soon entered the 
 territory of Brunswick. 
 
 As Hanover, since it has been erected into a kingdom, has 
 been increased in extent, and otherwise much changed, a short 
 account of its present state may not be deemed irrelevant. 
 
 The various provinces that have been added to it are so 
 remote from each other, that it forms a very irregular figure ; 
 and one considerable province, Osnabriick, can only be arrived 
 at by passing through the territories of some other sovereign. 
 
 * Besclucibimg des Kcinigreich's Hannover, von Sonue, 1817.
 
 HANOVER. 127 
 
 The whole extent of the kingdom at present is 14,835 square 
 English miles, or 9»494,400 acres *. The inhabitants, by the 
 census of 1816, amounted to 1,325,000 persons. In that year 
 the marriages were 13,786, the births 50,257, and the deaths 
 31,264. The division of religious sects is, 1,050,000 Lutherans, 
 160,000 Catholics, 90,000 Reformed or Calvinists, and the 
 remainder consists of Mennonites, Moravians, and Jews. 
 
 The government of Hanover is a monarchy, but since the 
 convention of 1815, is so connected with the other states 
 of Germany, that it can scarcely be considered independent 
 of them. Though permanently united under the same head as 
 the British kingdoms, the two countries are as distinct from 
 each other as though they were under different sovereigns. 
 No British subject has any more rights in Hanover than 
 another foreigner ; and though by Buonaparte it was disre- 
 garded, yet the hostilities in which England may be engaged, 
 have not necessarily, nor have they usually, involved Hanover. 
 The king unites in himself every branch of executive power. 
 In legislating, and in the regulation of the finances, the Assem- 
 bly of the States unite with the monarch ; but the limits of the 
 power of each is undefined, and would in a great kingdom, if 
 unconnected with the Germanic body, lead to controversies, 
 and perhaps struggles, of a very serious nature. The compo- 
 sition of the States, and their mode of electing their representa- 
 tives is a very complex affair, differing in different provinces, 
 and regulated by ancient usages. The assembly at present con- 
 sists of one hundred and one deputies, of whom ten are chosen 
 for, but not by, the clergy ; forty-nine by the landed proprietors 
 (rittcrs), and forty-two by the corporations of the cities. These 
 
 * Sonne. 
 R 2 

 
 J28 HANOVER. 
 
 deputies form but one body, and have very feeble, if any, in- 
 quisitorial power to check malversation. 
 
 The representative of the monarch exercises supreme power 
 in his name, maintains a small court household, resides in the 
 royal palace, and draws from the public treasury an income of 
 thirty-six thousand rix-dollars, or about five thousand five hun- 
 dred pounds per annum. He is assisted by various ministers, 
 forming a cabinet, and a privy council, one of the members of 
 which resides constantly in London, to communicate with the 
 sovereign and receive his instructions. 
 
 The inferior branches of the judicial power are variously 
 exercised. In some instances, the magistrates are appoint- 
 ed by proprietors of certain estates, who have enjoyed the 
 right from the most remote periods ; in other instances by the 
 corporate bodies of the cities, and in many by the king, but 
 rather as the proprietor of some amt or bailiwick than as the 
 sovereign. Appeals may be made from these local jurisdictions 
 to a superior court in Zell. What is usually known on the Con- 
 tinent by the name of the high police, does not exist in 
 Hanover. The liberty of the press is far from perfect, and all 
 works must be examined before publication ; but the censors 
 are very liberal to authors, there is no prohibition against 
 bringing in books printed in other states, as is the case in some 
 other countries. 
 
 The finances of the kingdom are not exposed to the public 
 view. The income is supposed to amount to twelve million 
 guldens, or about one million one hundred and fifty thousand 
 pounds sterling. This is derived from direct and indirect 
 taxes, in some measure, and a very considerable part of it 
 from the hereditary possessions of the monarcli, who is the 
 greatest land-owner in his dominions, and draws a large
 
 HANOVER. 129 
 
 *' (,■ 
 
 revenue from it, which is classed under the heads of Domains 
 and Royalties; but the amount is unknown to the public. ""'^■ 
 The regular army of Hanover on the present peace esta- 
 blishment, consists of 
 
 Artillery and Engineers 3,315 
 
 Infantry, ten battalions 6,300 
 
 Cavalry, eight regiments 4,840 
 
 Jagers ^00 
 
 Country-dragoons (or Gens d'armes) ... 212 
 
 Invalids . l60 
 
 Staff 13 
 
 12,940 
 
 Besides the regulars, there is kept up an organized force of 
 militia (Landwehr) of thirty battalions, amounting together 
 to about 18,000 men. The troops are fine looking men, and 
 some of the corps are remarkably well dressed and drilled. 
 
 The established church is regulated by consistories, which 
 hold their assemblies in Hanover, Stade, Osnabriick, Aurich, 
 Hildesheim and Hohnstein. In the consistory of Aurich, the 
 Calvinists are mixed with the Lutherans. The Catholics have 
 three bishops in this kingdom at Osnabruck, Hildesheim and 
 Agersburg, and some parts are under the spiritual jurisdiction 
 of the Bishop of Munster. 
 
 The Lutheran clergy, atleastinthe villages, are very attentive 
 to the comforts and the instruction of the poorer classes. 
 The stipends are small, but they have houses and glebe land ; 
 and the fees at baptisms, funerals, and marriages are higher, 
 considering the relative value of money, than in England.
 
 130 HANOVER. 
 
 They are generally well educated ; after acquiring classical 
 knowledge at a grammar-school, they must pass three years at 
 a university, two of which must be at Gottingen. Most of the 
 livings are effectively in the gift of the crown, but are usually 
 disposed of by the consistory according to seniority of applica- 
 tion ; but this rule is dispensed with in favour of those who 
 have distinguished themselves in the University examinations. 
 Any young man who has thus displayed talent, is sure to get an 
 early living, either from the consistory or sometimes from a 
 private patron. 
 
 When a clergyman is appointed to a living, he must remain 
 in it seven years, before he can prefer a request to the con- 
 sistory for removal to a better. If he then applies, he must 
 undergo an examination of a rigid kind, to ascertain if he has 
 advanced or declined in knowledge, since his former induc- 
 tion. If he is found to have retrograded he has no chance of 
 promotion. 
 
 The want of a liturgy, as well as the difficulty of composing 
 and introducing one that would be generally approved, is felt 
 by the clergy. They complain that the devotional services are 
 criticised, rather than joined in with due reverence. The 
 exhortations delivered at baptisms, funerals, and marriages, are 
 the composition of the individual who officiates ; and after 
 such services, the conversation of even the peasants is rather 
 turned to the skill or to the want of it in the pastor, than to 
 that improvement of them which such services ought to produce. 
 With us the constant use of the same service may tend to 
 beget formality and inattention, but is seldom or ever the 
 subject of rural criticism. The tendency to exercise an incom- 
 petent judgment on the talents of the pastor, is directly 
 opposite to that teachable disposition, from which the peasantry
 
 HANOVER. 131 
 
 of a country are likely to be benefited. Though the inhabitants 
 have a kind of voice in the nomination of pastors, yet it is but 
 seldom exercised in the country. In some instances the patron 
 has the power of nominating three persons, from whom the 
 parishioners select one. In the cities this leads often to de- 
 grading- practices. The corporation, who are often the patrons 
 after trials, select three men, who must then proceed to canvass, 
 by themselves or their friends, the whole of the parishioners, 
 on whose vote the choice ultimately depends. 
 
 The stipends of the clergy are so nearly equal, and all so 
 small, that young men of the best families are never destined to 
 the sacred profession ; hence the whole body have not that es- 
 timation in the scale of society which can give them weight 
 with the higher classes. Were there gradations in the body, 
 so that some of them could be considered equal to the highest 
 subjects, even the lowest of the profession would become 
 elevated by feeling, and having it felt by others, that the road 
 was open for them to the most exalted stations. The whole 
 mass of clergy would be, as they are in England, a body more 
 respected by the community in general ; would associate more 
 than the Hanoverian clergy do with the nobility and gentry, 
 and not, like them, be obliged to mix almost exclusively with 
 the middle or lower ranks. The effect of this want of dig- 
 nity in the clerical body is visible in the churches, which, 
 though crowded with the lower classes of the people, are not 
 visited very regularly by the higher ranks. The admirable 
 example of the Duke of Cambridge has done what example 
 alone could do, to induce a more regular attendance on public 
 worship among the nobility and gentry of the capital. The 
 appearance, however, of the congregations is very different 
 ftom that of those in England, especially in London, where
 
 132 
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 they seem to be composed, perhaps too exclusively, of the supe- 
 rior ranks. 
 
 -Of Learning in this kingdom is generally diffused ; besides the 
 Lyceums, which may be considered as a higher order of 
 grammar schools, and the catholic institutions for the edu- 
 cation of their clergy, the university of Gottingen, whose 
 celebrity is generally established, contains about twelve 
 hundred students, who usually spend three years there, to 
 qualify themselves for the clerical, legal, or medical profes- 
 sions, or for the other stations in active life in which learning 
 is deemed to be requisite, 
 jjj': Hanover is divided into the following provinces : 
 
 Principality of Kalenbuig 
 Gottingen 
 Grubenhagen 
 Luneburg 
 County of Hoya, with Diepholz 
 Province of Bremen . . 
 Osnabriick 
 Hildesheim 
 East Friesland 
 Bentheim 
 Holinstein 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 
 Extent in English 
 acres. 
 
 Capitals. ' ' 
 
 139,222 
 
 680,960 
 
 Hanover. 
 
 96,593 
 
 440,320 
 
 Gottingen. 
 
 80,300 
 
 330,240 
 
 Eimbeck. 
 
 252,450 
 
 2,794,240 
 
 Luneburg. 
 
 104,970 
 
 908,160 
 
 Nienburg. 
 
 191,060 
 
 1,720,320 
 
 Stade. 
 
 188,655 
 
 1,169,930 
 
 Osnabriick. 
 
 121,816 
 
 426,880 
 
 Hildesheim. 
 
 127,522 
 
 721,920 
 
 Emden. 
 
 24,364 
 
 182,620 
 
 Bentheim. 
 
 6,680 
 
 33,200 
 
 Ilefeld. 
 
 The difference in the extent of land betwixt the table here 
 exhibited, and that in page 127, arises from the rivers being 
 included in that measurement, and omitted in the division into 
 provinces. 
 
 The tiircc great rivers that are accessible to Hanover, that
 
 HANOVER. 13.3 
 
 either bound it or pass through it, would be liigiily beneficial 
 to commerce, if the productions of the country, or of the 
 districts beyond it, were sufficient to supply matter for any con- 
 siderable traffic. These three rivers, the Elbe, the Weser, 
 and the Ems, furnish the means of easy communication with 
 the ocean, but are availed of to a very trifling extent by the 
 inhabitants of the kingdom. 
 
 The lower part of Kalenburg, and the provinces of Hil- 
 desheim, Gottingen and Grubenhagen, are rather mountainous ; 
 but the rest of the kingdom is one level plain of land, only 
 diversified by a few sand-hills, that occasionally present them- 
 selves. In this large tract, the soil on the banks of the rivers 
 receives much cultivation, and the intervals between only 
 produce wild flowers, on which bees are reared, and furnish 
 honey and wax for exterior trade. About three-fifths of the 
 Hartz forest, the mineral district of northern Germany, is 
 within this kingdom, and the productions raised in that 
 portion of it amount in value annually to about 2,050,000 
 rix-dollars, or three hundred thousand pounds sterling. The 
 gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, vitriol, and sulphur, amount 
 to about three quarters of that sum ; and the remainder is 
 principally made up by salt, with a small quantity of fossil 
 coal. 
 
 It is difficult to make an estimate, with any tolerable approach 
 to correctness, of tjie quantity of vegetable food produced in 
 any kingdom, and I do not know that the attempt has been 
 made in Hanover. The amount of live stock has, however 
 been ascertained and made public. In 1812, there were in 
 the kingdom, before it was increased by the addition of the 
 small districts of Lingen, Meppen, Emsbuhren, and Artlenburg, 
 (which together are about 600,000 acres, and contain 58,000
 
 134 
 
 HANOVER. 
 
 inhabitants), the following number of cattle* : 224,500 horses, 
 675,926" head of horned cattle, 1,540,794 sheep and lambs, 
 15,728 goats and kids, 176,974 swine, and 1,498 asses and 
 mules. 
 
 The surplus productions of Hanover are very trifling in 
 amount; the only articles sent beyond the limits of Germany 
 are sometimes oats and beans, but these not every year, bees' 
 wax, honey, feathers, flax, linen and linen yarn, linen rags, rape- 
 seed, oak bark, a little vitriol, lead, copper, and sulphur. The 
 imports which reach them, either by way of Bremen, Embden, 
 or Hamburg, are tea, coffee, sugar, wine, dyeing drugs, woollen 
 and cotton cloths, and numerous smaller articles, which the 
 luxurious of the capital require. 
 
 When Hanover was given as a province to Prussia, its 
 prosperity was checked by being made subservient to the 
 financial and recruiting projects of that power. Many of the 
 young men repaired to England, and joined that Legion which 
 so much distinguished itself in the Spanish campaigns. Under 
 Jerome Buonaparte, who fixed the seat of his government at 
 Cassel, it was first plundered, and then taxed without mercy. 
 When smarting with the sufferings thus inflicted, the return of 
 the ancient dynasty was hailed with unfeigned delight, and the 
 assembling of the States, under a free constitution, was looked to 
 as the pledge of measures which none of the governments on 
 the Continent have been able to realize. 
 
 TJie expenses that had been incurred, and the debts that 
 had been contracted, by driving away the French family, and 
 the addition made to them by the efforts which the return of 
 Buonaparte from Elba called forth, amounted to a large sum. 
 
 Sonne.
 
 HANOVER. 135 
 
 and required to be provided for by weighty taxation. This 
 has naturally created great discontents. The most uninformed 
 of the people, who were certainly eager for the restoration of 
 the ancient dynasty, expected on their return not an increase, 
 but a diminution, of the imposts. 
 
 Whilst one part of the inhabitants complain of the taxes, 
 and of the military establishment to which it is owing, the 
 nobility, who look to the army as a profession for some mem- 
 bers of their families, complain of too great a reduction of the 
 forces ; or rather, that skeleton regiments are not kept up, in 
 preference to regiments with a full complement of men as well 
 as officers. 
 
 There is, I think, a general tendency to speculate in politics, 
 in an abstract way, and to express wishes for what they call 
 reforms ; but it goes no farther than discussion, seldom rises 
 to debate, and as no improper means are suffered to be used 
 to inflame the lower orders, their political feelings have never 
 led to threats of violence, or to the assembling of mobs. 
 That many improvements may be made, and especially those 
 which would give more activity to its agriculture, cannot be 
 doubted ; but in arranging the details of every change, there 
 are so many interests that are entitled to protection, and so 
 many rights that must be respected, that the progress of reform, 
 in order to be beneficial, must be gradual and tardy. 
 
 S 2
 
 BRUNSWICK.
 
 BRUNSWICK. 
 
 1 HE entrance to the duchy of Brunswick from Hanover, 
 begins with an excellent soil and good cultivation, and as I 
 drew nearer the capital, it gradually improved in appearance. 
 The land suddenly changed to a lime-stone basis, on which 
 rested a good sandy, and in some places a good clayey, loam. 
 On the former, though well manured, the same rotation 
 which I had remarked in the former part of my journey, is 
 pursued ; on the other, both beans and wheat are grown. 
 The stubbles from which the latter had been harvested, 
 showed that the crop of straw at least was very good ; I was, 
 however, told that what was threshed, yielded but slightly. 
 
 Near the city were several fields of turnips, but not hoed, 
 and consequently with very small roots. The extent of the 
 kohl-riiben was considerable ; they were cultivated in the garden 
 manner, had been earthed up, so that each root had its own 
 little hillock, and they had attained a large size. The peasants 
 were very diligently pulling them up, and carting them to the 
 barns to be stacked as winter provision for the cattle. 
 
 At almost every house I entered, I was pleased to see the 
 pictures of their late Duke, of the Duke of Wellington, and of 
 BlUcher; and many articles of their furniture were adorned 
 with gilded busts of the same heroes. 
 
 The entrance and tlie environs of the city of Brunswick, 
 appeared to be much improved since I last visited it. The
 
 140 BRUNSWICK. 
 
 streets are better paved and lighted; the houses, within 
 and without, are both neater and in better preservation ; and 
 the dress and manners of the inhabitants, seemed to have kept 
 equal pace. The practice of smoking tobacco, which was 
 formerly very annoying, is much abridged. In good com- 
 pany here, as well as in Hanover, I never saw it in private 
 houses ; and in the coffee-houses it is certainly far less used. 
 The market-place, a large square, has a fine effect ; and two 
 other open squares, the Grauehofs-platz and the Burg-platz, 
 are not without some share of beauty. 
 
 The palace of the duke, called the Graue-hof, has nothing 
 but its extent to recommend it; and the old palace, called the 
 Most-hof, which was the residence of the court formerly, is 
 now converted into barracks. The churches are large, if not 
 beautiful ; one of them, St. Andrews, has a tower 320 feet high, 
 from the top of which the prospect over the surrounding 
 country is very fine. The church of St. Nicholas, belonging 
 to the catholics, is the most ornamented. The public institutions 
 for education are numerous, and consist of an Anatomical and 
 Surgical College, with five professors ; a Gymnasium with ten, 
 and another with twelve; a Lyceum with nineteen professors; 
 besides an Orphan-house school, a Military School of Industry, 
 sixteen elementary and six other charity schools. In the arsenal 
 is a picture-gallery and a cabinet of natural history, which are 
 open to public inspection and use. In Brunswick, several 
 manufactories are conducted, but most of them on a small 
 scale. The linen weavers, dyers and glovers, arc the most 
 considerable, next to brewers. There arc as many as eighty or 
 ninety brewers of beer, mum, and of vinegar, and no less than 
 thirty-two distillers of ardent spirits from corn. The wealth 
 of the city is much increased by two great fairs that are held
 
 BRUNSWICK. ]4] 
 
 in it, which traders from all parts of Germany attend, and tlie 
 transactions there are very considerable. 
 
 This city is both a cheap and a pleasant residence, and 
 several English families have taken up their temporary abodesf 
 in it since the peace. There is a theatre, a concert room, 
 a Vauxhall, and public walks in the garden of the palace, 
 and on what were formerly the fortifications ; these, and the 
 circulating libraries and reading-rooms, furnish variety of 
 amusements. 
 
 The number of inhabitants in Brunswick, in 1813, were 
 29,050*, of whom 28,332 was Lutherans, 583 Reformed, 
 850 Catholics, 392 Jews, and 93 Moravians. They are sup^ 
 posed to have increased since that period, and are now es- 
 timated to be 32,000. The births were 1,071, the deaths 968, 
 and the marriages 252, in the year 1812. 
 
 On leaving the city of Brunswick, the whole road for the 
 two first hours, was crowded with waggons laden with the 
 productions of the country, in their way to that place 
 where their contents were to be discharged ; and the surplus 
 conveyed by barges to the port of Bremen. The principal 
 exported commodity is corn, and the annual value, on an 
 average of years, is about 400,000 rix-dollars. Rape-seed, 
 linseed, seed-oil, and oil-cake, madder, hops, and honey, with 
 linen and linen-yarn, form, however, material parts of the 
 exports. The whole way from Brunswick to Bornum, the 
 soil is a clayey loam, but easily worked, and rests on a bed of 
 lime-stone, which makes excellent roads. This land is gene- 
 rally cultivated by a winter fallow, followed by a crop of 
 beans, pease or flax ; then wheat, or sometimes rye, is sown. 
 
 * Abriss des herzogthmns Braunschweig, von G. Bellguth 1819. .
 
 142 BRUNSWICK. 
 
 The manure is placed on it before the fallow crop, and the 
 soil is thus improved every third year. The quantity of wheat 
 far exceeded that of rye. This lime-stone bottom land, is 
 admirably calculated for the growth of sainfoin. I have, 
 however, seen none of it yet in Germany, nor was the name 
 of it ( Esparsette) known to any peasant or farmer with whom 
 I have conversed. The deficiency of capital, and the feudal 
 tenures, prevent the keeping so much live stock as is main- 
 tained in England ; and hence there is not the same necessity 
 felt for the cultivation of the artificial grasses. The number 
 of sheep was more considerable than I had seen in Hanover, 
 many of them were of the Merino breed, and others a mixture 
 of Merinos ; and some flocks were of the same long-woolled 
 kind I had previously observed. 
 
 Before reaching Konigslutter, we passed over the field of 
 the celebrated battle which was fought during the thirty year's 
 war. This place, though called a city, has only 2,493 in- 
 habitants. Its appearance is poor, but I was informed that 
 there were several manufactories for linen, some breweries, and 
 nine distilleries for making ardent spirits from grain. From 
 being near the end of the lime-stone district, it has con- 
 siderable trade in burning lime, for the other parts of the 
 country where that kind of stone is not found. There are 
 two churches, both large : one of them contains the mauso- 
 leum of the Emperor Lothario II., and his consort, and a 
 monument to the memory of Hcinrich, a duke of Bavaria. The 
 post-house was just without the city, at a large ducal amt or farm. 
 The amtman was civil and intelligent, though his reports were 
 not statistical. He estimated that the average increase of all 
 the corn in tlic surrounding district, did not exceed five hempfells 
 for one that was sown. The measure of land here, again varies ;
 
 BRUNSWICK. J 43 
 
 the morgen is one hundred and twenty rods, of sixteen feet 
 each for arable land, and one hundred and sixty rods for 
 wood-land ; and though this is the established measure for the 
 whole of the duke's dominions, yet there are minor variations 
 in many districts ; but as the peasantry are all acquainted 
 with the standard as well as the local measurement, there is no 
 difficulty in reducing the one to the other. 
 
 Whilst waiting for horses the allotted hour, which was almost 
 extended to two, I watched some men thrashing wheat in the 
 large barn, which formed one side of the extensive pile of 
 building. The sheaves, with the bands unopened, were laid 
 in two rows on the floor, with their butts towards each other. 
 The men went round them backwards, and with the square 
 beater before noticed, gave their blows only on the heads 
 of the sheaves, which when thus beaten, were laid in a 
 heap together. When the heap grew large, the sheaves were 
 taken from it, opened and laid on the floor ; when the men 
 again with a backward step, gave their blows only on the 
 middle of the sheaves. It seemed both a tedious and ex- 
 pensive operation, but certainly the corn was completely got 
 out, and the straw very little broken ; which last circumstance 
 is deemed of some importance in a country where straw forms 
 the most important winter fodder for the cattle. A short 
 ascent after leaving Konigslutter, brought us to a district of 
 stone brash-land, exactly resembling the soil on the Cotswold 
 hills in Gloucestershire. Like that portion of England, it is 
 well adapted for producing pease, which are cultivated here to 
 a very considerable extent, and for raising sainfoin, which is 
 no where to be seen. The flocks of sheep were not large 
 nor near to each other ; some were the Merinos, and others of 
 the long wool kind. 
 
 T a
 
 144 
 
 BRUNSWICK. 
 
 We reached Helmstadt where, as at Konigslutter, the post- 
 house was at another but much larger ducal amt. The barns, 
 though of vast extent, were insufficient to contain the corn, 
 great part of which was in stacks of an unusual form ; the 
 tliatch descended to within a foot and half of the ground, 
 was laid on loose, neither damped nor secured by spars. I have 
 remarked, generally, a great attention to economy in the use 
 of straw in every part that I have passed. 
 
 Helmstadt is the capital of a district, the seat of a superin- 
 tendent or bishop, and of some provincial courts of justice. 
 When I visited it before, the walls were standing, the scite of 
 which have been since converted into a good public walk. It 
 had then a University, which is now broken up from economical 
 motives, and a grammar-school is conducted in the same build- 
 ing. Though the walls are demolished, the four gates are still 
 remaining. It contains 5,259 inhabitants, most of whom 
 depend on agriculture, but some of them conduct manufac- 
 tories of flannel, leather, soap, hats, and distilleries. In the 
 vicinity of the city some coal-mines are worked, but not 
 to any great extent as wood is abundant, and the inhabitants 
 are generally prejudiced against the use of coal for fuel. 
 
 The district I have passed through, from the city of Bruns- 
 wick to the termination of the dukedom, had been seduced 
 during the continental system, into the cultivation of tobacco 
 and of some roots for making sugar. The distress occasioned 
 to those who had engaged in such operations, was great when the 
 peace took place ; but the effects are now passed over, and the 
 suiferers cease to complain of their losses. They say, however, 
 that their corn can only be sold at a loss ; and unlike the Hano- 
 verian farmers, the price is a matter of great importance, 
 because they do not consume all they grow, but furnish a
 
 BRUNSWICK. 
 
 145 
 
 surplus for distant markets. I found every where a degree 
 of anxious curiosity to know the state of the hite harvest in 
 England ; and was frequently told, that the profits of their- 
 agriculture almost wholly depended on the opening of out; 
 ports, which regulated the price for which their surplus corn 
 could be sold. ''^ -i^ ^ '' 
 
 The symptoms of improvement were very visible, through the 
 whole of the Duke of Brunswick's dominions ; I do not mean, 
 solely in comparison with what was their state when I first 
 saw them twenty-two years ago, but with what their condition 
 must have been six or seven years back. The number of new 
 liouses, new barns and out-houses, not older than the latest 
 period, was considerable, and the recent enclosures and 
 plantations gave other indications of prosperity. Much of 
 this may be imputable to the soil which is in general very 
 prolific, but much must be owing to the good government 
 of that duke, who died of the wounds received at the battle 
 of Jena ; and much to the administration formed by our 
 present King, who is guardian during the minority of the 
 duke. The diminution of the military force, the absence of a 
 court, and the judicious arrangement of the finances, give 
 good reasons to expect that the heavy debts of the state, 
 will be all liquidated before the minor is of age to assume 
 the government. 
 
 The duchy of Brunswick is divided into two cities, and six 
 districts. 
 
 City of Brunswick 
 Of Wolfenbuttle . . 
 District of Wolfenbuttle 
 
 Inhftbitants. 
 
 English acres. 
 
 Capitals. 
 
 •29,050 
 
 6,800 
 
 56,593 
 
 291,840 
 
 Wolfenbuttle.
 
 146 
 
 BRUNSWICK. 
 
 District of Schoningen 
 District of Hartz . . 
 District of the Line . . 
 District of the Weser . 
 District of Blankenburg 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 
 English acres. 
 
 Capitals. 
 
 32,880 
 
 189,160 
 
 Helms tad t. 
 
 19,841 
 
 133,760 
 
 Langelsheim. 
 
 15,748 
 
 60,800 
 
 Gandersheim. 
 
 31,468 
 
 161,280 
 
 Stadtoldendorf. 
 
 16,317 
 
 92,140 
 
 Blankenburg. 
 
 208,697 
 
 928,980 
 
 
 In the duchy is also included three sevenths of a portion of 
 the country under the Hartz forest, a mining district, the 
 remainder of which belongs to Hanover. The administration is 
 in common. It also possesses the same share of some salt works 
 with Hanover. The Duke of Brunswick has a private 
 property in Silesia, in the Prussian dominions, from which the 
 late duke derived that title of Brunwick Oels, by which he was 
 known after that gallant march, which with his own corps only, 
 he made across the whole of Germany, to embark at Bremen. 
 His duchy of Oels has indeed no connexion with the govern- 
 ment of Brunswick. It contains 308,800 acres, has within it 
 nine towns, three hundred thirty-four villages, and 87,800 
 inhabitants*. The revenue is estimated at 150,000 dollars, 
 but it was deeply involved in debt, which the present minority 
 has in some degree lightened. 
 
 The division of the land, according to a recent survey and 
 measurement, is as follows : 
 
 ACRES. 
 
 Under the plough 291,575 
 
 Gardens, and land under garden culture 16",752 
 Meadows 42,049 
 
 Handbuch der neusten erdebeschreibung von Hassel, vol. 5., 1819.
 
 BRUNSWICK. 
 
 147 
 
 ACRE5. 
 
 Pasture land 207,751 
 
 Woods and plantations 284,423 
 
 Fish-ponds and lakes 2,217 
 
 The rest of the surface is occupied by the courses of the 
 various rivers, by roads, by cities, towns, and villages. The 
 value of this land has been estimated at 56,012,844 dollars, or 
 about 8,250,000 pounds sterling, or ten pounds the acre. The 
 stock of live cattle, in 1812, was 50,300 horses and colts, 
 86,400 head of bulls, cows, calves, and oxen, 258,965 sheep 
 and lambs, 8,291 goats, 46,408 swine, and ll6 asses and mules. 
 At the same period, there were in the duchy 8,450 hives of 
 bees. At that time, the number of Merino sheep amounted 
 only to 29,550, but since that period they have much in- 
 creased, and have been so crossed with the other races, that 
 at present it is supposed half the sheep in the duchy are either 
 pure Merinos, or partake in a considerable degree of the blood 
 of that race. 
 
 The chief productions, of which Brunswick furnishes a 
 surplus beyond its own consumption, are wheat and rye, 
 fine wool, fine linen and linen yarn ; these are estimated 
 to amount annually, to 1,700,000 rix-dollars ; the other 
 exports, which are calculated at 800,000 dollars, consist of rape 
 seed, rape oil and oil cake, of hops, madder, vitriol, sulphur, 
 arsenic, zinc, cobalt, and some minuter articles. The whole 
 commerce passes through the free cities of Hamburg or 
 Bremen, and pays for those few foreign luxuries that the 
 inhabitants require ; the principal of which are wine, sugar, 
 coft'ee and tea. Brunswick is favourably situated for the 
 passage of goods to the great fairs of Leipsic, as by going 
 through it they escape the Prussian dominions, where many
 
 ]48 BRUNSWICK. 
 
 vexatious regulations are impediments to the transitu trade. 
 A great share of that trade, therefore, passes though the duchy, 
 and yields a considerable profit to it. 
 
 The military establishment of Brunswick is low, the regular 
 troops are not more than 1,400, though as a member of the 
 Germanic body, the dukedom is bound to maintain two 
 thousand. The militia, however are kept in such a state 
 as to be ready for active service, on a very short notice. 
 
 The finances of Brunswick were much deranged by debts 
 
 incurred before the year 1807, when the country fell into the 
 
 hands of France ; but from that period to the restoration of 
 
 the ancient family, this increase became most rapid ; as during 
 
 Jerome's government, whatever the taxes or the estates 
 
 produced was principally remitted to Paris, and the debts 
 
 of the province suffered to accumulate. When the late duke 
 
 returned to his capital, the spirit he displayed was far from 
 
 economical ; and when the return from Elba caused the 
 
 resumption of arms, he strained his credit to its utmost extent, 
 
 to augment his forces. During the short interval between his 
 
 return and the resumption of hostilities, he issued decrees 
 
 which have laid the foundation of a better system than before 
 
 prevailed. The nobles, burghers, and peasants, were placed 
 
 on the same footing with regard to taxation, and those feudal 
 
 estates, which could only previously be held by such as were 
 
 of noble birth, were permitted to be purchased by any one, 
 
 except Jews, whatever their rank might be. 
 
 The present income of tlie duchy is estimated at 2,500,000 
 dollars, or about 380,000 pounds; not one half of this, however, 
 arises from taxation, but from the patrimonial domains of the 
 sovereign, who is by far the largest land owner in his domi- 
 nions. When Jerome Buonaparte was king, the domains
 
 BRUNSWICK. 149 
 
 yielded 5,004,630, and the taxes only 2,257,240, francs. The 
 proportion is now altered by an increase of taxation, but the 
 revenue from the patrimonial estates still continues the greatest 
 branch. The debt in the year 1815, was 6,546,805 dollars, or 
 about 1,000,000 pounds sterling; since that period, consider- 
 able sums have been paid. The army has been reduced, the 
 university of Helmstadt abolished, some other endowed esta- 
 blishments converted to secular purposes, and a general system 
 of economy established ; so that an expectation is generally 
 indulged among the inhabitants, that before the present duke, 
 who was born in 1804, comes of age, the state will be perfectly 
 free from all embarrassment. 
 
 The established church, the Lutheran, is under the control 
 of the consistory, and is regulated by seven superintendants, or 
 bishops, under whom are two hundred and thirty-eight pastors, 
 serving three hundred and ninety-eight churches and chapels. 
 The whole revenue of the church in 1812, was 232,320 dollars; 
 of this sum the stipends of the pastors amounted to 130,000 ; of 
 the schoolmasters, to 36,000 ; and the remainder was applied to 
 to the other ecclesiastics. The stipends of the parochial 
 preachers do not average more than ninety pounds a year, but 
 their fees on baptisms, burials, and marriages, are higher than 
 in England. 
 
 u
 
 PRUSSIA.
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 After quittlnir Helmstadi. wo left behind us lliat tract of 
 country, in which all the inhabitants of villages, and the lower 
 classes in the cities, speak only the Plat-Deutsclir. a dialect of 
 the German which prevails through Westphalia and Lower 
 Saxony, and extends itself along the shores of the Baltic, to 
 the confines of Poland. A traveller who speaks the high 
 German language, will, however, find no difticulty in making 
 himself understood, and not much in understanding the 
 peasants. In all the States, the high German language is 
 taught in the parochial schools; and in the protostant 
 countries the catechetical instructions, and the services of the 
 churches are conducted in the same tongue, so (hat though 
 they seldom use it. few are totally ignorant o\' it. On 
 quitting Hclmstadt. the P/at-Deutsche entirely ceased, but 
 it was succeeded among the peasantry, by a Uohe-Deutsch<\ 
 scarcely approaching nearer to the language spoken in the 
 best informed, and politest societies. 
 
 At the entrance of the Prussian dominions, "we first reached 
 Alvensleben, a large village or market town, containing ^^X) 
 inhabitants. The place gives a title to a count, who has here 
 an enormously extensive castle, and another house inhabited by 
 a relation, who manages his large estates aroinid it. The land is 
 well cultivated, except that the turnips which covered a consi- 
 derable extent of groiuid. were too thick, and consequently 
 with roots of a very small size. The country is well stocked
 
 j2^ PRUSSIA. 
 
 with game, which the count sedulously preserves. We re- 
 marked many hares and partridges as we passed through the 
 estate. There are many very extensive plantations of firs, 
 newly formed, and the property has a considerable quantity 
 of ancient wood-land belonging to it. The soil is a dark sandy 
 loam, with a mixture of clay, and the whole of the land up to the 
 gates of Magdeburg, is well cultivated. The ploughing was 
 well executed by two horses, except near the city, where, the soil 
 beino- heavier, four are necessary ; the number of cattle being 
 considerable, it is well manured, and though under the rotation 
 of flax or pease, as a fallow crop, and then either wheat or rye, 
 followed by barley or oats, yields fair returns. This district is 
 indeed considered as the wheat granary for the Prussian States 
 to the eastward of the Oder. It is estimated that the portion 
 called the Stadt-kreis, or the circle round the city of Mag- 
 deburg, consisting of 630,000 acres of land, yields a surplus 
 beyond its own consumption of 400,000 bushels of wheat 
 annually. It must, however, be remembered, that the far 
 greater portion of the inhabitants eat only rye bread, and 
 that many of them subsist almost wholly on potatoes. I 
 observed, in approaching the city, that the flocks of sheep 
 were larger, and more thickly placed than I had before seen ; 
 and the large buildings, called Schafereien, gave it tiie appear- 
 ance of a well-peopled country. The road from the termi- 
 nation of the dominions of Brunswick, almost to the very gates 
 of Magdeburg, is a deep heavy sand, in many places full 
 of holes, and can scarcely be travelled with post horses at 
 a greater rate than three miles an hour. 
 
 The appearance of Magdeburg, on approaching, and yet 
 more on leaving it, by the road to Berlin, is very fine. Its 
 lofty walls, inclosing still more lofty houses and towers, have
 
 PRUSSIA. 155 
 
 a grand effect. It rises by a gentle acclivity, from the left 
 bank of the Elbe, which is here a broad stream, but 
 divided into two branches, over one of which a bridge leads 
 to the citadel, which is thus on an island. The celebrity of 
 this city, as a strongly-fortified place, is of remote anti- 
 quity, and the dreadful massacre of the inhabitants, when 
 taken by the ferocious Tilly, is too well known to need reca- 
 pitulation. 
 
 Its fortifications on the land side, which were dilapidated 
 when I saw them more than twenty years ago, had been 
 neglected up to the period when the defeat of the Prussians 
 near Jena opened it to the French, notwithstanding some 
 hasty repairs that had then been made. They soon saw its 
 importance, and, by compelling the inhabitants of the country 
 to the labour, and demanding the other expenses from the 
 corporation, they have completed one of the most formidable 
 fortresses in Europe. The works are very extensive, so as 
 to include within their circuit land almost sufficient, by its 
 produce, to support the garrison required to defend them. 
 There are sixteen bastions, a very fine glacis, walls of great 
 thickness, and ditches which, though dry on the side opposite 
 the river, are all undermined. The winding entrances by the 
 gates, through the walls, have a gloomy and almost terrific 
 appearance. 
 
 The interior of the place, like most of the old German 
 cities, exhibits some large and antiquated houses, in one 
 broad and long street, and around the yard of the cathedral 
 church. The other streets, narrow and gloomy, have a very 
 dismal appearance. It rs well paved, and lighted at nigiit 
 with 1,100 lamps, when I thought it looked more cheerful 
 than by day. The most remarkable building is the dom-
 
 156 PRUSSIA. 
 
 kirclie, or cathedral, a fine Gothic pile, with two towers of 
 340 feet in height. Neither the town houses, the governor's 
 house, nor the other public edifices, have any thing to engage 
 the attention, except their extent, and their tasteless archi- 
 tecture. The public foundations for education, and the 
 hospitals and workhouses, are numerous ; and I was told in 
 the city, by a judicious clergymen, that they are liberally and 
 economically conducted. 
 
 if: Magdeburg is the seat of the provincial courts of law, and 
 of the consistory of the clergy, as well as the quarters of a 
 considerable military force, which makes, upon the whole, 
 a tolerably good society. The inhabitants consist of 29,243 
 Lutherans, 2,036 Reformed, 1,359 Catholics, and 234 Jews. 
 Besides the cathedral, the Lutherans have ten other churches, 
 the Reformed have one Gei-man and one French church, the 
 Catholics two, and the Jews have their synagogue. 
 
 From its position on the banks of the Elbe, Magdeburg is 
 a city both of considerable manufactures and trade, though 
 the former scarcely extend themselves beyond the limits of 
 the Prussian monarchy. They are favoured by either pro- 
 hibitions or protecting duties, but, in spite of these, I heard 
 complaints of the too easy admission of English wares. 
 
 The number of persons employed in manufacturing, and 
 in trade of various kinds, is about 3,000, including both masters 
 and journeymen; but none of the factories are on so large a 
 scale as to admit of a very beneficial division of labour, or of 
 the application of the powers of water or steam to diminish 
 labour; and hence, in spite of the cheapness of all the 
 necessaries of life, and the economy that is practised, they 
 are unable to compete with those who execute the same work 
 on a larger scale.
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 157 
 
 The principal commodities produced in . Magdeburg are 
 beer, corn-brandy, soap, refined sugar, linen and woollen cloth, 
 printed calicoes, hats, hosiery, gloves, earthenware, snuff and 
 tobacco, leather of various kinds, and some smaller articles. 
 No very recent estimates have been made of the value of these 
 goods, since that of the year 1812. It was then calculated 
 that the raw materials worked here, were of the value of 
 1,454,264 francs, or 60,594 pounds sterling, and that the value 
 of the manufactured goods, was 2,162,730 francs, or about 
 90,113 pounds. I was told that within the last seven years, 
 the manufactories had considerably increased ; it was, 
 however, denied by another person, and I must, therefore, 
 leave it in doubt. 
 
 The export of corn and wool to the Hanse towns, and the 
 conveyance of the heavier commodities produced here, give 
 some trade to the proprietors of barges on the river Elbe. 
 The transit of goods to and from Saxony and Bohemia, 
 afford profit to many commission houses. Some new regula- 
 tions of the Prussian government have been found harassing 
 by the Saxon and Bohemian growers of wool, they are much 
 complained of, and a commission consisting of Prussian, 
 Austrian and Saxon delegates, lately appointed, have met in 
 Dresden to adjust the points in dispute between those powers. 
 The barges that pass this place, or arrive at it, are numerous, 
 and frequently three hundred at a time have been collected 
 at the quays on the banks of the Elbe. 
 
 The road from Magdeburg towards Brandenburg, is a 
 narrow causeway, carried over some fine meadow land, which 
 is intersected with deep ditches. This road is constructed 
 like the approaches made in attacking a fortified place. The 
 traverses at every turn present themselves to some of the
 
 158 PRUSSIA. 
 
 batteries by which an advancing enemy may be enfiladed. 
 The country, by the side of the Elbe, is very generally known 
 by the name of the golden meadows ; when I passed it the 
 herbage was abundant, and the pastures, notwithstanding 
 the great drought that had prevailed, might rival some of 
 the best in Lincolnshire or Somersetshire. When we passed 
 the village of Gerwish, the road withdrew from the river, the 
 soil became more sandy, but it appeared good corn-land till 
 we reached the small town or city of Burg, where in an un- 
 comfortable inn, we passed the night. The place I was told 
 contained 5,000 inhabitants. We left it in the morning long- 
 before day-break, and were treated with an illumination from 
 one of the largest, and many of the smaller, houses. I learnt 
 there had been a wedding the preceding evening at the large 
 house, and that the others, belonging to the relations of the new 
 married couple, were lighted out of compliment to them. Soon 
 after day-light we reached Genthin, a town of 1,500 inha- 
 bitants, who are mostly employed in the brewery and distillery. 
 The Plauensche canal, which unites the Elbe and the Havel, 
 runs by this town, and brings some trade to it. The heavy 
 road terminated at this place, and the new road from Bran- 
 denburg is completed thus far, and forms a good access to 
 the centre of Prussia, with the exception of the sandy part 
 between Helmstadt and Genthin. 
 
 This road, as a great national object, merits much observation, 
 and is a proof among others of the great attention paid by the 
 King of Prussia to the welfare of his states. It is both a 
 splendid and a useful work. The whole soil is a deep sand, 
 and most part of the surrounding district produces nothing but 
 fir trees. Upon this sandy bed, a road is raised about three 
 feet high with pebbles and small stones. The mass is well
 
 PRUSSIA. 159 
 
 covered with sand. Curb-stones are placed by the side, 
 which effectually prevent the mass from expanding. On the 
 out-sides of this road the soil is gradually sloped, till it reaches 
 the two ditches on either hand ; thus forming, besides the 
 chaussee in the centre, two good summer roads. As fast as 
 the sand laid on the top of the stone road sinks down, a fresh 
 supply is pretty thickly strewed over it ; thus, though solid and 
 firm, it is always soft to the horses' feet. The whole is carried 
 on a strait line for many miles, with poplars on both sides, 
 which create a vista very striking on first entering it, but which 
 by its uniformity soon becomes tiresome. At the end of 
 each German mile (four miles five-eighths English) in the 
 centre of the road, there is an obelisk erected, on which in 
 very large characters, the distances to all the towns in the 
 vicinity are marked. Around the obelisk a green plat railed 
 off with seats for travellers to repose on, and a circular drive 
 on both sides, has a pleasing effect. At each quarter of a 
 (German) mile, there are smaller stones to indicate the distances 
 from the mile-stones. This road has been constructed, since 
 the French were driven out, at the king's expense ; and I was 
 told had cost him 30,000 dollars the German, or 1,000 
 pounds the English, mile. 
 
 Nothing can be seen on either side this road, through the 
 poplars, but a miserable sandy country, lately planted with firs, 
 pines, beech, and birch-trees, which, however, in spite of the 
 apparent poverty of the soil, seemed to be in a flourishing 
 condition. The comfort of travelling on such a road as this 
 was great, from the contrast between it and what we had just 
 before passed ; but it soon became monotonous and jading to 
 the senses, much more so than the worst roads are, in districts 
 where, at every turning, and every ascent, a new prospect is
 
 IgO PRUSSIA. 
 
 displayed, which, if it does not lessen, compensates for the 
 fatigue. Hope and expectation are constantly excited when 
 travelling over a rugged country ; but when it is flat, and 
 yields no prospect, the best roads soon become tame and 
 tiresome. 
 
 At the end of the avenue, we reached the village of Blour, 
 on the banks of the Havel. It had been burnt by the French 
 during the war, and all the houses being now newly built, it 
 has a pleasant and very cheerful appearance. The river takes 
 here a bend, which makes it necessary to cross it twice within 
 a short distance. It expanded into a beautiful lake nearer 
 Brandenburg, and the banks being well covered with trees, 
 and, in some parts, with good houses, it had a very pleasing 
 effect. From the number of barges we saw, some under sail, 
 and others by the banks, I should have concluded the traffic 
 was very great, but the owners complained of the dulness of 
 their business, and asserted, that many more vessels were un- 
 employed than were earning any thing. The vessels conveying 
 hay to Berlin had a singular appearance: they looked like 
 enormous floating hay-stacks ; for the boats on which it was 
 heaped, were totally invisible, as the hay protruded over 
 every part of them, at least two or three feet. On approach- 
 ing nearer, we discovered a hole cut through the hay, by 
 which the bargemen were enabled to crawl into their cabins. 
 I should judge from the size of these floating masses of hay,: 
 that each of them must have contained from forty to fifty tons. 
 
 The land, on the banks of the Havel, is by no means rich ; 
 nor is the verdure to be compared to that of the golden mea- 
 dows of the Elbe, which we had passed the preceding day, but, 
 as we drew near to Brandenburg, the garden culture appeared, 
 and seemed to be carried to a considerable extent.
 
 PRUSSIA. l(il 
 
 Brandenburg, the oldest city in this part of the kingdom, and 
 that from whence the whole district takes its name, is a well- 
 built place, with one broad handsome street, and several smaller 
 ones. It is in a fine situation on the banks of the Havel, which 
 divides it into two parts, the old and the new town ; the latter 
 is visibly much the handsomer place of the two. The inhabit- 
 ants, including the military, who are but few, amount to 
 12,104, among whom are 110 Jews, the rest all Lutherans. 
 There are a cathedral and seven other churches, and a great 
 number of schools, moderately endowed, for all classes. During'^ 
 the war, a considerable quantity of cotton goods were manu- 
 factured, but the change of circumstances that has since ensued 
 has nearly annihilated the manufactories of them. Woollen goods 
 supply work to about two hundred and fifty looms ; the yarn is 
 spun here by machinery, which was introduced by an English- 
 man. It must be of inconsiderable power, as, instead of steam, 
 or even horses, it is worked by men. The linen manufactory is 
 carried on by one hundred and fifty looms. There are tan- 
 neries, breweries, and distilleries, upon a small scale. 
 
 From Brandenburg to Potsdam is a delightful ride by the 
 banks of the lake into which the Havel is expanded. This^* 
 lake, spreading out between hills covered with trees, presented 
 most pleasing prospects, which were mellowed by the brilliant 
 setting of the autumnal sun, and the variegated foliage of the 
 deciduous trees among the evergreens. The banks of this 
 lake had been planted since I last saw it, and the change pro- 
 duced seemed to have communicated a charm, and given a 
 new character to the whole district. The immediate approach 
 to the gate of Potsdam was over a bad road, but on both sides 
 of it, Frederick the Great, who wished to bring Italy to Prussia,'^ 
 had planted mulberry-trees. These, however, are now
 
 162 PRUSSIA. 
 
 decayed, and, in their stead, the unmeaning poplar is thickly 
 planted, and grows with its usual rapidity. The road, now 
 very good, was formerly most execrable. The environs of 
 Potsdam are very beautiful ; many gentlemen's seats enliven 
 them, and the great abundance of trees, especially those 
 bearing fruit, give an air of rich cultivation to be seen in no 
 other part of Prussia. The shelter of the surrounding hills, 
 and the dry nature of the soil render it capable of bearing 
 good grapes in the open air. This fruit is sent by the river to 
 Berlin, but some is converted into wine, of which it furnishes 
 about eight hundred hogsheads annually, of an inferior quality. 
 
 Potsdam may properly be denominated a city of palaces, for 
 no other buildings present themselves to the view of the be- 
 holder; there is an appearance of depopulation at all times 
 very striking, but I think more so now than formerly, per- 
 haps, from the greater part of the garrison having marched 
 to Berlin to the reviews which were performing there. 
 
 The visit to Sans Souci is indispensable to every traveller 
 who arrives at Potsdam. The entrance to it is through a 
 small park half an English mile from the town. The palace is 
 on an eminence, which is gained by ascending four flights of 
 steps, at the top of each of which is a fine terrace, about five 
 hundred feet long ; under each of them, enclosed within glass, 
 facing the south, is the grapery. The building on the highest 
 of these terraces is plain but elegant, consisting only of a 
 ground-floor with a cupola in the centre. The front is mucii 
 ornamented with fine statues of marble, either antiques or good 
 copies. The prospect from the upper terrace over the city, 
 the lake, and the surrounding country, inspires more pleasure 
 than looking at the palace, which has little to interest except 
 what arises from associating it with the memory of its founder,
 
 PRUSSIA. 163 
 
 and inhabitant, Frederick. The other front is more grand, 
 consisting of a double row of marble pillars in a circular form, 
 overlooking fields which were formerly used as an exercising 
 place for the troops. The interior consists but of a few apart- 
 ments simply furnished, though much more adorned by the 
 late king, than they were when occupied by his predecessor. 
 At one end of this building is the burying-place for his favourite 
 dogs, over each of which, a marble slab with the name is placed. 
 This has been almost exactly copied by the Duchess of York 
 at Oatlands. 
 
 The new palace, built between 1763 and 1769, is a fine 
 building, displays much architectural taste, and is of extensive 
 dimensions. It has been scarcely ever inhabited, and every thing 
 about it look:* either unfinished or neglected, except the build- 
 ing itself, and the numerous statues that almost crowd its roof. 
 The road to this palace from Potsdam, is through a noble 
 avenue, two miles in length, which loses a great portion of 
 the beauty it might otherwise possess, from the bad state in 
 which it is suffered to remain. 
 
 The marble palace, on the banks of the lake, has a good 
 effect at a distance ; but it is spoiled on a nearer approach, 
 by the glaring red colour with which a part of the front is 
 painted. The palace, at present occupied by the king, in the 
 centre of the city, is built with exquisite taste, and seemed in 
 better preservation than any other edifice in Potsdam. I 
 regretted that, from his majesty being there, I could not see 
 the interior. 
 
 A summer palace built by the late king, has some very 
 beautiful points of view over the lake, the gardens are undu- 
 lating, and laid out in what is called here the English style.
 
 -j64 PRUSSIA. 
 
 /Jhe house is small, but elegant, and only too near the great 
 jFoad for a royal country residence. 
 
 ;, Potsdam, a city, by the number and size of the houses, ca- 
 pable of containing double that population, had in 1814, 
 exclusive of the military, 15,426 inhabitants. The principal 
 manufactory here is that of arms ; the place in which they 
 .are fabricated occupies the whole of one street, and employs 
 many workmen. There are also some inconsiderable esta- 
 blishments for making cotton, woollen, linen, and silk goods. 
 Some carpets, hosiery, and paper, are also made. Besides 
 j^hese, some of the more curious businesses are carried on, 
 ^uch as that of making musical instruments, chemical prepa- 
 rations for painters, as well as for medicinal purposes, and 
 various perfumes. The breweries and distilleries, as every 
 where in Prussia, are in great numbers. 
 
 ■ The public buildings are numerous ; there are nine churches, 
 seven for Lutherans, and one each for Reformed and Catholics, 
 and a synagogue for the Jews. The charitable institutions 
 are liberal ; both for relieving the old, the sick, and the 
 indigent, and for the purposes of education. The orphan 
 house, uniting both relief and instruction, is a good establish- 
 ment, and one of the largest piles of building within the 
 city. 
 
 ;, The road to Berlin was over a branch of the Havel, but 
 as the bridge was rebuilding, a ferry-boat conveyed over the 
 passengers and carriages, which occasioned a long detention ; 
 the whole distance, for about twenty miles on both sides of 
 the road, has a row of lofty poplars, and on one side a good 
 path for foot passengers. Soon the sandy plain on which 
 Berlin stands was displayed, presenting only fields, on which
 
 BERLIN. ^il^5 
 
 rye was either just springing up, or tlie thin stubbles of the 
 last crop shewed themselves. The whole of this tract of 
 land, to within a few miles of the gates of the capital, is 
 cultivated upon the three-course rotation of a fallow-root 
 or pease crop, followed by rye and barley ; and from the 
 poverty of the soil, the increase on each must be very small. 
 Nearer the city the garden culture began to appear, and the 
 effects of the manure, which so large a place supplies, were 
 very visible. The sides of the road were adorned with the 
 country-houses of the inhabitants, and the vegetable and 
 fruit gardens were both extensive and productive. I could 
 not help remarking, that I had met no waggons loaded with 
 dung from the city, to the farms at a little distance, as we see 
 near London, and other large places. I found the gardens 
 absorbed the whole, and that the price given for it by the 
 gardeners, which is higher than in London, forbade the use 
 of it to the farmers. 
 
 I found Berlin in a state of bustle, from the military reviews 
 which had just commenced. These were originally designed 
 to have been conducted this year upon a scale of unusual 
 grandeur ; and it was expected that the two Emperors of 
 Russia and Austria would have been present at them, and that 
 the assembled forces would have amounted to sixty thousand 
 men. The scale, however, was much contracted, and neither of 
 those distinguished personages were present. This alteration 
 in the plan, said by some to have originated solely from econo- 
 mical motives, was attributed by others to the apprehension 
 that so large an assembly as this magnificent spectacle would 
 draw together, might produce some popular effervescence from 
 the agitation, that as they think prevails in the public mind 
 on the subject of politics. 
 
 Y
 
 i^Q BERLIN. 
 
 i' In company with a very intelli!>;ent Danish gentleman, vvitii 
 whom I had become acquainted in Hanover, and who had been 
 my travelling; companion from thence to Berlin ; I ])rocured a 
 carriage to take a view of the operations, which were carried 
 on about three miles from the city. A rising ground with a 
 higher hill behind it, at the termination of a sandy plain, was 
 completely fortitied with bastions, curtains, and a ditch. The 
 principal object of the operation, was said to be to teach 
 the mode of capturing a strong place with little expense of 
 lives, by making a sap on the crown of the glacis. The 
 approaches had been made in regular form, and two sets of 
 traverses had been carried on, till the besiegers had got so 
 near as to proceed by mining, or to breach the wall. After 
 much skirmishing, both with musketry and artillery, in which 
 the besieged were driven within the defences, the besiegers 
 entered the trenches, and advanced towards the works. A 
 violent cannonading took place, a mine was exploded, and 
 as I learnt (for all was enveloped in smoke) the attempt to 
 storm was made, and after several reiterated attacks, was 
 repulsed. The garrison then sallied out, drove the besiegers 
 back, who retired in disorder, and were rallied behind the 
 cavalry, when in their turn, the besieged were repulsed, and 
 driven within their works. This siege was continued for seven 
 or eight days longer, and each day with a new set of opera- 
 tions, and a new lesson to the army. The whole number of 
 the troops thus exercised, were about 18,000. Having little 
 military taste, I was satisfied with the exhibition of a single 
 day ; and though highly gratified, both by the military spec- 
 tacle, the numerous assemblage, and the sight of the whole 
 royal family, I did not repeat my visit to the scene of the 
 operations. i
 
 BKRLIX. J(57 
 
 The horse artillery seemed to me to be well appointed, and 
 to work with admirable skill and activity. Neither the lancers 
 nor the light dragoons appeared to be equal to our troops of 
 the same description ; but the infantry, especially the two 
 regiments of guards, one under the honorary colonelcy of the 
 Emperor of Russia, and the other of the Emperor of Austria, 
 were I thought the finest body of men I had ever seen. They 
 were almost wholly young men, of good height, covered a 
 great space of ground from the breadth of their chests, and 
 marched with a firm and equal step. They were admirably 
 equipped, one regiment with white, the other with black belts. 
 Their knapsacks, exactly of a size, were covered with goat- 
 skin, and were perfectly flat, instead of exhibiting that irre- 
 gular rotundity which is usually seen in the load on a soldiers 
 back. The officers, as well as the men, had each his knapsack 
 at the back. .\; _> , i;^ 
 
 After the king and his staff" had passed along the line of the 
 9,ssailing army, and they had entered the trenches, the royal 
 party joined the females of the family, in a splendid circular 
 tent which was pitched on one of the sand-hills. Behind the 
 tent, a long table was spread, with a breakfast of cold meats, 
 fruit, bread, and wine, of which the royal family, and some of 
 the superior officers partook. All the royal family were 
 there, down to the youngest son of the king, who appeared to 
 be about ten or twelve years of age. The circle of the popu- 
 lace that surrounded the royal party was so near, that I 
 should have thought it rather annoying, but, with very little 
 effbrt, the strictest order was preserved, and the most respectful 
 behaviour maintained. Whenever the king passed, hats were 
 taken off", and some, but not vehement, shouts of applause 
 uttered, which he returned by touching his hat with his fore- 
 
 y 2
 
 ]68 BERLlN/a 
 
 finger; and I remarked that he adopted the same mode of 
 saluting the colours, as the regiments passed in review before 
 him. He looked, as when in England, rather melancholy, but 
 somewhat older, and much changed from the jouth of timid 
 and diffident appearance, such as I had seen him before he 
 ascended that throne on which he has witnessed such vicis- 
 situdes, 
 
 1 was pleased with the decorous conduct of the numerous 
 spectators, who were conjectured to amount to about forty 
 thousand. The generality of them did not, indeed, appear to be 
 of the lower classes, or, if they were so, had not their working 
 dresses, but were generally neatly and cleanly, though some- 
 what coarsely, clad. A trifling occurrence excited in me some 
 surprise. A man, quite as well dressed as my companion or 
 myself, seeing us to be foreigners, as we alighted from the 
 carriage, was very polite and attentive, explained to us the 
 plan of operations, pointed out the various distinguished per- 
 sonages by name, took us to spots where, with most advantage, 
 >tiB-< could survey the whole proceedings of the field, and 
 conducted us to the tent where the royal party were assembling*;; 
 We were, of course, thankful for his civility, for such we 
 considered it to be ; when, at taking leave, in a low but not 
 a begging tone of voice, he asked for money, (tr'uik-gdd,) 
 and not thankfully, but most politely bowed to us, wiien my 
 companion had put into his hand a two groschen piece. From 
 his dress, manners, and language, he was the last man to whom 
 1 should have presumed to offer, unasked, any remuneration 
 for his attentions. ' "^ '? 
 
 The spectators were ko])t in order with less difficulty than I 
 iiad usually observed at home : the troops, employed to keep tjie 
 ground were few in number, and the single expression dev Konig
 
 BERLIN. •'■ 169 
 
 hefthkt, his Majesty orders, — seemed to have sufficient power 
 to make them fall back, or open a way, without usin<; any 
 more rigid measures. On the return to the city, the public 
 houses on the road-side did not appear, as with us, crowded 
 with company, employed in drinking, at the conclusion of the 
 holiday ; but they, with great sobriety, dispersed themselves 
 to their several occupations. This may be the effect of great 
 economy, or of habitual temperance, or, perhaps, of the latter 
 created by the former. w,f,,{, 
 
 I was much pleased at observing the attention, both paid by the 
 military and the spectators, to those growing crops which were 
 within the sphere of the operations. Between the two sets of 
 traverses which were carried on towards the fortress, there was 
 one large field of rye which had been early sown, and was 
 beginning to look green ; around it the soldiers that kept the 
 ground were more thickly placed than elsewhere, and prevented 
 the spectators from trampling upon it. The operations of tlie 
 day were evidently so planned as to avoid committing any 
 trespass on that particular field ; and, accordingly, though 
 advantageously placed for seeing, it was scarcely intruded 
 upon. The motive that dictated the precautions, was, most 
 certainly laudable; but it seemed to me a mistaken one, for the 
 soil was so light, that had the field belonged to myself, I should 
 have been thankful if twenty thousand men had marched over 
 it ; for, I believe that the soil would have become more compact, 
 and, consequently, the produce at the following harvest greater. 
 
 I had been acquainted with some of the agricultural 
 writings of Von Thaer, which had reached England, and which 
 had impressed me much by the marks of accuracy which they 
 discovered. Whenever I had conversed with, tlifi lajgej:.,agrj|-
 
 IffQ BLOMBERG. 
 
 culturists, in Hanover, Brunswick, or elsewhere, I had heard 
 his praises so generally pronounced, that I naturally felt 
 desirous to form an acquaintance with him, and to view his 
 establishment which has been founded to increase and dispense 
 agricultural knowledge. Having stated my wishes to a very 
 respectable and intelligent friend in Berlin, he suggested to me, 
 that if I would pay a visit to Count Itzenplitz, who was a neigh- 
 bour of Von Thaer, and upon the most intimate terms with him, 
 I might be introduced, and have an opportunity of viewing his 
 plans, and seeing his mode both of cultivation and instructing 
 his pupils. My friend had lately passed some time at Count 
 Itzenplitz's castle, and lamented, that his occupations prevented 
 him from being my companion, but offered to furnish me with a 
 letter, which would ensure me the most hospitable and friendly 
 reception. I, therefore, determined to visit that country, which 
 is on the banks of the Oder ; and the character I heard of the 
 Count, from various quarters, was such as convinced me my visit 
 would be mutually agreeable. '' 
 
 I ordered post-horses, and the next morning, before day-light, 
 left Berlin, by the excellent road that leads to Konigsberg. 
 The land on this side the city is equally sandy and poor, as on 
 that by which I had entered ; but, after seven or eight miles, 
 it improved, and, as I passed through the small town of 
 Blomberg, which contains about four hundred and fifty inha- 
 bitants, both the land and the cultivation of it were visibly 
 better. 1 here first remarked tiiat in the garden of each 
 house, there was a large field-oven of a circular form, con- 
 structed of mud and sand. The dimensions of these are suited 
 for baking the large loaves of rye-bread, which form equally 
 the food of the horses and their riders. As I proceeded
 
 WERMCHEN. 171 
 
 towards the Oder, I found these field-ovens univcrsai ; but 
 have not remarked thein either before or since in any other 
 part of the country through which I travelled*-' •'-i V* * 
 
 - At Wernichen a small post-town of 500 inhabitants, wher^ 
 I breakfasted and waited for a change of horses, I found the 
 post-master both civil and intelligent. Like most of his office 
 in the smaller towns, he is a considerable farmer, and showed me 
 his stock and premises. His cows are stall fed, and are allowed 
 in winter only potatoes and rye-straw. They were in a very 
 dirty condition from the want of litter, for in this country the 
 whole straw is eaten by the cattle, and none allowed to be 
 converted into manure. They were poor, but fine animals of 
 a grey dun colour, which I found very common both in 
 Prussia and Saxony, and must be good milkers, as they afford 
 when in the best state, six pounds of butter weekly. The 
 skim-milk is wholly used by the labourers. 
 
 As post-master, this person has more manure from his 
 horses than any of his neighbours, and therefore reaps what he 
 calls good crops. He sows three bushels of rye to the acre, 
 and on an average gets a return of twenty, or nearly seven for 
 one, whilst the average increase in the rest of the township, 
 is not foui' for one. '^ 
 
 , Soon after leaving Wernichen my road quitted the 
 chaussee, and passed over a sandy plain by a deep road which 
 was so much incumbered with granite stones, that it required 
 some attention in the postillion to avoid them. The fields on 
 both sides were uncultivated, and seemed scarcely to be capa- 
 ble of improvement. The surface was so much crowded with 
 the granite stones of all dimensions, from the size of a man's 
 fist to that of a hogshead, as to forbid the use of the plough. 
 These fields terminated in a wood, which rose on a gentle
 
 172 KUNNEESDORF. 
 
 acclivity, and continued teff miles; ilnd as I was informed, 
 extended more than twenty miles in length, and is all the 
 property of an individual nobleman. After being disengaged 
 from the wood, the country between it and the Oder was 
 displayed ; being an extensive plain, with here and there 
 a large farming establishment, and a very few noblemen's seats. 
 As I approached towards Kunnersdorf the residence of the count, 
 the land improved ; the trees, especially the new plantations, 
 gave a degree of richness to the prospect, but was in beauty 
 far inferior to the verdant and well-wooded country, which 
 rose on the opposite bank of the Oder. 
 
 bnThe castle of Count Itzenplitz is a large and stately 
 building, not older I should judge than seventy or eighty 
 years ; and the plantations and gardens around it, are disposed 
 with more taste than is usually seen in this country. I was, 
 however, not a little mortified on driving up to the gate, to 
 "be informed that the master and mistress, with the daughter, 
 who had been represented to me as particularly attached to 
 English literature, were absent, had left home unexpectedly 
 the day before, and would not return in less than ten days. 
 The domestics were civil, and the steward when I com- 
 municated to him from whom I had an introduction, wished 
 me to remain in the house, offered every accommodation, and 
 expressed much regret that his master should lose the oppor- 
 tunity of exercising his hospitality to any English gentleman, 
 for whose nation he knew him to entertain very high respect. 
 Though this was very civil, and might be very sincere, it 
 reduced me to a dilemma, from which I could only extricate 
 myself by applying without introduction to the person I most 
 wished to see, and trusting to his hospitality. I was then 
 near forty miles from Berlin, but not more than four or five
 
 MOEGELIN. 173 
 
 from Moegelin, the residence of Von Thaer. I therefore 
 turned about and drove to that place, announced myself as 
 an Englishman and a stranger, and began to explain the 
 circumstances which had induced me to intrude on him. 
 Before I could half finish my short narrative, I was interrupted 
 by the assurance that the explanation was needless ; that my 
 country was a guarantee for me, that no greater pleasure 
 could be atibrded him and his family, than an opportunity of 
 exercising the hospitality of their house to an Englishman. I 
 felt by his manners, even more than by his words, that he 
 was not paying unmeaning compliments. I was introduced 
 into the dining-roon, where the family had just assembled, and 
 was seated at a plain and substantial dinner within five 
 minutes of my arrival, with as full a conviction of a sincere 
 welcome, as I ever felt at the table of my most intimate 
 friends. The dinner hour here, as with many other most 
 respectable German families, especially in the country, is 
 twelve o'clock ; and the evening meal, for they have not 
 introduced the French term, supper, about eight o'clock, is 
 the most substantial. <- 
 
 Though Von Thaer does not speak or understand the 
 English language by hearing it, yet, as is frequently the (!ase 
 in Germany, he understands it well in books, and has trans- 
 lated several of our agricultural works, and published 
 them in his native tongue. I found him perfectly acquainted 
 with our weights and measures of every kind, and the pro- 
 portions they bore to the weights and measures used in the 
 different parts of Germany ; so that in walking over his land 
 and surveying his establishment with him, I was saved mucii 
 of the trouble of that calculation, which is perplexing and leads 
 to distrust in a foreign country. 
 
 z
 
 lU 
 
 MOEGELIN. 
 
 , I surveyed, in company with Von Thaer, every part of his 
 farm. The wheat had been put in the ground very early. 
 It was all drilled with a machine of his own invention, which 
 is rather an improvement on our English drills. It forms nine 
 rows at each time, is drawn by two horses, and the seed is well 
 covered by the rakes affixed to the machine. It is well con- 
 trived for the soil in which it is employed, but it would 
 answer in very few districts of England without being made 
 considerably heavier, by strengthening some of its parts. 
 
 The wheat had been drilled after a crop of pease, well 
 manured ; but though it looked of a good colour and healthy, 
 it was weak, considering the length of time it had been sowed. 
 With his excellent farming, he assured me, that his wheat did 
 not average more than l6 bushels to the acre. In the quantity 
 of seed, he seemed to me parsimonious, not drilling quite a 
 bushel to the acre, which, he says, experience has taught him 
 is sufficient. The saving of seed in his opinion, is the only 
 circumstance which makes drilling preferable to sowing broad 
 east, as far as regards wheat, rye, barley and oats. The pro- 
 portion of wheat in this large farm is very small. That grain 
 not being used as the common food of man within the country, 
 its price fluctuates with the demands of other countries, and 
 with their prohibitory laws ; and, besides, its produce is very 
 variable. Rye, on the other hand, finds the far greater part 
 of its consumers at home ; the variation in price is much less, 
 and on this soil its produce is more uniform. The rye was 
 partly drilled and partly sowed broad-cast, being of a great 
 extent, the larger portion was done in the latter mode. In 
 the whole, about four hundred acres were in rye. The 
 average produce, the result of statistical accounts, kept with the 
 greatest accuracy for a scries of years, has been twenty-two
 
 MOEGELiy. ^y?; 
 
 bushels and a half to the acre. From the season of the year no 
 barley was growing ; but the average produce of that grain, as 
 I learnt, when sowed after a winter fallow and pease, is twenty- 
 three bushels to the acre ; but when sowed after rye or wheat, (a 
 most reprehensible practice, though that commonly followed) 
 only sixteen bushels to the acre. The pease yield but little, 
 not more than three for one of the quantity sowed, and they 
 are cultivated at Moegelin, more for the sake of the haulm than 
 of the pulse ; and the abundance of that, which is considered 
 excellent food for sheep, is the principal inducement to grow 
 them as a fallow crop. The rotation of crops here is various; 
 but that most usually pursued is, first, potatoes or pease, 
 followed by rye, clover, and wheat. H 
 
 Experiments have been tried here, both with winter and sum- 
 mer tares, to furnish food for sheep, but without success. The 
 winter season in this climate is too severe for the former kind, 
 and the latter have been so uncertain in their produce, owing 
 as is supposed to the frequent occurrence of long droughts, 
 that they are altogether abandoned. A plant for the food of 
 sheep for one part of the year was quite new to me, and is so^, 
 I believe, to most of our English agriculturists. It is grown to 
 a great extent on the stubble fields, I know not the English 
 name, but it is the Spergula ai-vensis of Linnaeus. The seed 
 is sown in the stubbles immediately after harvest, and in six 
 weeks it furnishes food for sheep which they prefer to every 
 other, and which is found extremely nutritious. It is an oily 
 plant, the seed small, about six or seven pounds is sowed on an 
 acre. What is raised for seed is sown in May, and is fit to be 
 gathered in August. I afterwards saw the same plant growing 
 on most of the lands, both in Prussia and in Saxony, where large 
 flocks of sheep are kept. It is said to be very productive on all 
 
 z 2
 
 lyg MOEGELIN. 
 
 sandy soils ; I think it worth trying the experiment, and have 
 provided some of the seed for that purpose. 
 -"The favourite article of cultivation with Von Thaer is po- 
 tatoes, on which he sets a peculiarly high value. His mode is 
 simple and easy. They are planted in rows after the plough, 
 at the rate of sixteen bushels to the acre. When the plants 
 are up, they are earthed with a double-breasted plough, first, 
 parallel to the rows in which they are planted, and then with 
 the same plough the furrows are crossed, thus leaving the 
 potatoes in small square patches. When, at maturity, the 
 soil is turned up with a three-pronged fork, and all the roots 
 carefully collected by women and children. The stalks are 
 far more abundant than those of our potatoes, and yield, I 
 should think, from what I saw, as four to one. This haulm is 
 carefully turned, dried, and collected into stacks, and is used 
 as litter for the horses and cows instead of straw, which is 
 here converted into food by cutting it small. -'' 
 
 Like all his countrymen, Von Thaer prefers German small 
 potatoes to our large ones ; they are less mealy, and have a 
 different flavour. His preference, if his facts are correct, of 
 which I have no doubt, is certainly supported by better reasons 
 than I have heard from any other person in this country. He 
 contended, that the nutritive quality of the potatoe depends 
 on the quantity of starch that it contains ; that, upon ana- 
 lysis, the smaller kind of potatoes that are here cultivated, 
 contains a far greater proportion of starch than any that grow 
 to a larger size; that, beyond a certain size, which, by 
 giving the roots sufficient room, they will naturally attain, 
 the increase is only water, and can scarcely be termed 
 nutriment. 
 ?^^This decisive judgment, founded on chemical analysis,
 
 MOEGELIN. 
 
 177 
 
 extends itself to the comparison betwixt turnips and potatoes. 
 The soil is admirably calculated for turnips, but the long 
 continued droughts on the continent, where the weather is 
 more settled than in England, operates to prevent their benefi- 
 cial culture, as he has experienced in his own practice. He has 
 found turnips a crop of uncertain produce, and, in some years, 
 they have utterly failed ; and, in that case, one year's use of 
 the land has been lost. In potatoes, there is no risk of a total 
 failure, and, comparatively, but little variation in the quantity 
 that is yielded. He illustrated the difference between the 
 potatoe and the turnip culture very ably, as far as related to his 
 own soil and climate ; but very wisely did not attempt to prove 
 that it was preferable in England, or in many other parts of 
 Germany. ,^^.^ 
 
 The average produce of his potatoes, in a series of years, 
 has been three hundred bushels to the acre ; this he compared 
 with what I stated to be the average weight of an acre of 
 turnips on good land, as well cultivated as his is, in England ; 
 and which I stated below the truth, at twenty tojis, because I 
 wished not to be suspected of exaggeration to support an 
 hypothesis. He contended, that his average growth of three 
 hundred bushels, or five tons of potatoes, contained more 
 nutriment than twenty tons of turnips, because the proportion 
 of starch in potatoes to that in turnips, was much more than 
 four to one. I did not urge the. quantity of mucilage in the 
 turnip, because I wished to learn his views rather than to 
 suggest my own. His time was valuable, as he is a Land-rath, 
 or principal magistrate, of a large tract of country, and was 
 compelled to be absent one of the days I spent at his house on 
 official business; an absence for which he made more apologies 
 than were due to an unintroduced stranger, and which he
 
 ]78 MOEGELIN. 
 
 amply compensated for, by placing me under the care of 
 Professor Koerte, a most intelligent and amiable man, who 
 accompanied me over the institution, and took much pains to 
 satisfy my curiosity on every subject. 
 
 I felt the value of Von Thaer's time, as well as of his atten- 
 tions ; and I avoided all lengthened discussions, that I might 
 not lose the information which his conversation conveyed on 
 the subjects he touched. He was patient when I hesitated 
 in giving assent to liis opinions, and evidently experienced 
 more pleasure in communicating information than in displaying 
 a superiority of knowledge, which after a sliort period I feltthat 
 he possessed. His style was somewhat didactic, but much less 
 so than is usually found in men who have passed great part of 
 their lives in the instruction of young men in a branch of know- 
 ledge of which they were previously ignorant, and with which 
 he was thoroughly acquainted. 
 
 A brewery and distillery are the necessary accompaniments 
 of every large farming establishment in Germany. The result 
 of many experiments in the latter, proved that the same quantity 
 of alcohol is produced from one hundred bushels of potatoes as 
 from twenty-four bushels of wheat, or thirty-three of barley. 
 As the products of grain, or of potatoes, are relatively greater, 
 the distillery is regulated by that proportion. The different 
 inventions for economy in the use of fuel, cheap as it is, both in 
 the brewery and the distillery, though highly useful to the 
 pupils of the establishment, presented to me nothing of 
 novelty in either their principle or their application. 
 
 During the existence of the foolisli continental system, the 
 scarcity of sugar gave rise to many experiments here, vvhicii, 
 though beneficial at the time, have ceased to be longer useful. 
 Yon Thaer found, after many trials, that the most profitable
 
 MOEGELIN. 179 
 
 vegetable from which su^ar could be made, was the common 
 garden turnip, (of which species I did not ascertain,) and that 
 whilst sugar was sold at a rix.-dollar the pound, it was very pro- 
 fitable to extract it from that root. The samples of sugar made 
 during that period from different roots, the processes, and 
 their results, are carefully preserved in the museum, but 
 would now be tedious to describe. They are certainly equal 
 in strength of sweetness, and those refined, in colour and 
 hardness, to any produced from the sugar-cane of the tropics. 
 
 An important object of this establishment has been the 
 improvement of the breed of sheep, which, as far as regards 
 the fineness of the wool, has admirably succeeded. By various 
 crosses from select Merinos, by sedulously excluding from 
 the flock every ewe, that had coarse wool, and, still more, by 
 keeping them in a warm house during the winter, Von Thaer 
 has brought the wool of his sheep to great fineness, far greater 
 than any that is clipped in Spain ; but the improvement of the 
 carcase has been neglected, so that his, like all other German 
 mutton, is very indifferent. In England, where the flesh is of 
 much more value than the fleece, the Merino breeding has not 
 been attended with beneficial results. The fleeces of the 
 Moegelin flock average about three pounds and a half each : 
 they have been sold to English traders, who came to the spot 
 at one period to purchase them, as high as eight shillings and 
 six-pence per pound, whilst the whole flesh could not be sold for 
 more than ten or twelve shillings. This statement will readily 
 account for the fact, that though Merino sheep are very bene- 
 ficial in Prussia and Saxony, they have been found unprofitable 
 with us. 
 
 Von Thaer, with tlie assistance of the professors of the 
 institution over which he presides, has arranged the various 
 kinds of wool on cards, and discriminated with geometrical
 
 18Q MOEGELIN. 
 
 exactness, the fineness of that produced from different races of 
 sheep. The finest are some specimens from Saxony, his own 
 are the next. The fine Spanish wool from Leon is inferior to 
 his, in the proportion of eleven to sixteen. The wool from 
 Botany Bay, of which he had specimens, is inferior to the 
 Spanish. He had arranged, by a similar mode, the relative 
 fineness of the wools produced on the different parts of the 
 body of the sheep, so as to bring under the eye, at one view, 
 the comparative value of the different parts of the fleeces ; and 
 he had, also, ascertained the proportionate weight of those 
 different parts. The application of optics and geometry, by 
 :^liich the scales that accompany the specimens are con- 
 structed, is such, as to leave no doubts on any mind, of the 
 accuracy of the results. The scales, indeed, show only the 
 fineness, and not the length of the fibre ; which is, I believe, 
 of considerable importance in the process of spinning. The 
 celebrity of the Moegelin sheep is so widely diffused, that 
 the ewes and rams are sold at enormous prices to the agri- 
 culturists in East Prussia, Poland, and as far as Russia. 
 
 ,*f>| met here a Polish nobleman. Count D , with whom I 
 
 had formed an acquaintance in Berlin. His extensive estates, 
 which he most pressingly invited me to see, and to whicli 
 nothing but the want of time prevented me from accompanying 
 him, are on both sides the boundary line, which divides 
 Russia from Prussia ; and, consequently, he, like many others, 
 would be in a most unpleasant predicament, if hostilities should 
 break out between those powers, both of whom claim, and 
 would enforce, the military service of all their subjects. From 
 this gentleman I learnt, that, in his country, the introduction 
 of Merinos had produced a wonderful change of late years ; 
 that the males of the Moegelin flock Jiad, been extensively 
 spread; that the wool of their large flocks was already of
 
 MOEGELIN. J 81 
 
 double its former value, and was every year increasing in 
 fineness. In consequence of this improvement in the wool? 
 extensive manufactories were already established, and more 
 were erecting; that they expected, very shortly, to supply the 
 markets of Russia, and supplant the English clothiers, and 
 that already some of their cloths had found a market in China, 
 by passing through Tartary. A great change in the commercial 
 world may certainly be produced by the whole of the extensive 
 and thinly-peopled country of Poland being converted into 
 sheep pasture, and those sheep producing wool of the finest 
 quality. England has imported, of late years, about 3,000,000 
 pounds of fine wool from Germany. Much of the cloth that 
 has been made from it, has been sent to Russia, and to other 
 countries, very accessible to the new manufacturers at Kasan. 
 The profits, freights, commissions, and other expenses, must 
 amount to much more than any difference that can long exist 
 between our machinery, the only point in which we are at 
 present superior, and that which is establishing nearer the 
 growth of the wool and the consumption of the cloth. With- 
 out indulging imaginary fears, and without being a great 
 alarmist, it is not improper to contemplate the possibility of a 
 competition in Russia, in Turkey, and even in the East, 
 which is not generally expected. There is, undoubtedly, a 
 deficiency of capital in the countries between Germany and 
 Russia; but capital, like water, if not as speedily, will, 
 at least as invariably, flow to the places where it is most 
 productive. 
 
 I must, after this digression, return to Moegelin. and, at 
 the hazard of being deemed tiresome, proceed with my account 
 of a place which I found highly interesting. The breeding of 
 cows and the management of a dairy are secondary objects, as far
 
 182 MOEGELIN. 
 
 as regards the mere farming ; but it is attended to with care, 
 for the sake of the pupils, who thus have before their eyes that 
 branch of agricultural practice, which may be beneficial on 
 some soils, though not adapted to this. The cows are in good 
 order, of an excellent breed, and, considering that they are, 
 like the sheep, fed only on potatoes and chopped straw, are in 
 good condition. They yield, when in full milk, from five to six 
 pounds of butter weekly. The custom of killing the calves, 
 when only a fortnight or three weeks old, prevails here as well 
 as elsewhere in Germany. There is no disputing about taste ; 
 but though veal is a favourite food at the tables of the rich, it 
 always seemed to me very unpleasant. 
 
 The ploughs at Moegelin are better constructed than any I 
 had before seen in Germany. They resemble our common 
 swing-plough, but with a broader fin at the point of the share. 
 The mould-board is constructed on a very good principle, and 
 with great skill ; the convexity of its fore-part so gradually 
 changing into concavity at the hinder-part, as to turn the soil 
 completely upside down. The land is cleanly and straightly 
 ploughed to the depth of six and a half or seven inches, with a 
 pair of oxen, whose usual work is about an acre and a quarter 
 each day. 
 
 A thrashing-machine is rarely used, and only to show the 
 pupils the principle on which it is constructed, and the effect 
 it produces; but having neither wind nor water machinery to 
 work it, the flail is almost exclusively used, the thrashers 
 receive the sixteenth bushel for their labour. The rate of 
 wages to the labourers is four groschen a day, winter and 
 summer, besides which, they are provided with hal)itations and 
 fuel. The women receive from two to three groschen, accord- 
 ing to their strength and skill. They live on rye-bread or
 
 MOEGELIN. 183 
 
 potatoes, thin soup, and scarcely any animal food, but bacon, 
 and a very small portion even of that; yet they look strong 
 and healthy, and tolerably clean. 
 
 About twelve or thirteen years ago, the King of Prussia, 
 vi^ho, like his uncle, was always anxious to extend and improve 
 the agriculture of his dominions, invited Von Thaer, who re- 
 sided near Luneburg, and whose celebrity was even then great, 
 to settle in his kingdom, to assist in diffusing agricultural 
 knowledge, and by his management set an example to the 
 other great landed proprietors, which might stimulate them to 
 adopt similar improvements. His majesty also wished him to 
 conduct a seminarv, in which the knowledije of the sciences 
 might be applied to husbandry, for the instruction of the young 
 men of the first families. 
 
 The estate of Moegelin was given to him to improve and 
 manage as a pattern farm. It consists of eighteen hun- 
 dred Berlin morgens, or about twelve hundred English acres. 
 At that time the annual value was estimated at two thousand 
 rix-dollars, but is now supposed to be worth twelve thousand ; 
 but some part of that increased value must arise from the 
 buildings that have been since erected. The principal im- 
 provement, that of the soil, has arisen from the large flocks of 
 sheep, which in summer are folded on the land, and in winter 
 make abundant manure in houses constructed for their 
 • lodging. 
 
 The royal institution, of which Von Thaer is the director, 
 and which occupies a considerable portion of his extensive 
 buildings, has three professors besides himself. One for 
 mathematics, chemistry and geology ; one for veterinary know- 
 ledge ; and a third for botany and the use of the different 
 vegetable productions in the materia medica, as well as for 
 
 2 A 2
 
 184 MOEGELIN. 
 
 entomology. Besides these, an experienced agriculturist is en- 
 gaged, whose office it is to point out to the pupils the mode of 
 applying the sciences to the practical business of husbandry. 
 The course commences in September. During the winter 
 months, the time is occupied in mathematics and the first six 
 books of Euclid, are studied ; and in the summer, the geome- 
 trical knowledge is practically applied to the measurement of 
 land, timber, buildings, and other objects. The first principles 
 of chemistry are unfolded. By a good, but economical appa- 
 ratus, various experiments are made both on a large and 
 small scale. For the larger experiments, the brew-house and 
 still-house, with their respective fixtures, are found highly 
 useful. 
 
 Much attention is paid to the analysation of various soils, 
 and the different kinds, with the relative quantity of their com- 
 ponent parts, are arranged with great order and regularity. 
 The classification is made with neatness, by having the 
 specimens of soil arranged in order, and distinguished by 
 different colours. Thus, for instance, if the basis of the soil 
 be sandy, the glass has a cover of yellow paper ; if the next 
 predominating earth be calcareous, the glass has a white ticket 
 on its side ; if it be red clay, it has a red ticket ; if blue 
 clay, a brown one. Over these tickets, others of a smaller 
 size, indicate by their colour, the third greatest quantity of 
 the particular substance contained in the soil. This matter 
 may appear to many more ingenious than useful, and 
 savouring too much of the German habit of generalizing. The 
 classification of Von Thaer is, however, as much adopted, and 
 as commonly used on the large estates in this country, where 
 exact statistical accounts are kept, as the classification of 
 Linnaius in natural history, is throughout the civilized world.
 
 MOEGELIN.. 185 
 
 There is a large botanical garden, arranged on the system 
 of the Swedish naturalist, kept in excellent order, with all 
 the plants labelled, and the Latin as well as German names. 
 An Herbarium with a good collection of dried plants, which 
 is constantly increasing, is open to the examination of the 
 pupils, as well as skeletons of the different animals, and casts 
 of their several parts ; which must be of great use in the 
 veterinary pursuits. Models of agricultural implements, espe- 
 cially of ploughs, are preserved in a museum, which is stored 
 as well with such as are familiar in Germany, as with those used 
 in England, or other countries. I remarked the absence but 
 of two implements known in this country, viz., the mole plough, 
 and a new machine recently invented for sowing small seeds. 
 The first of these would certainly be of little use in most parts 
 of Germany ; and the other is so new, that excellent as it is, its 
 adoption is by no means general, even in England. 
 
 The various implements used on the farm, are all made by 
 smiths, wheelers and carpenters, residing round the in- 
 stitution ; the workshops are open to the pupils, and they are 
 encouraged by attentive inspection, to become masters pi' 
 the more minute branches of the economy of an estate. 
 
 It appeared to me, that there was an attempt to crowd too 
 much instruction into too short a compass, for many of the pupils 
 spend but one year in the institution ; and thus only the foun- 
 dation, and that a very slight one, can be laid in so short a space 
 of time. It is, however, to be presumed, that the young men 
 come here prepared with considerable previous knowledge, a.s 
 they are mostly between the ages of twenty and twenty-foiu:^ 
 and some few appeared to be still older. 
 
 The sum paid by each pupil is four hundred rix-dolla.Ki 
 
 B
 
 186 MOEGELIN. 
 
 annually, besides which they provide their own beds and break- 
 fasts. In this country such an expense precludes the admission 
 of all but youths of good fortune. Each has a separate 
 apartment. They are very well behaved young men, and 
 their conduct to each other, and to the professors, was 
 polite even to punctilio. 
 
 As I have not had an opportunity of visiting Hofwyl, and 
 have met with no account of that institution, written by any 
 person who is well acquainted with many details on the 
 subject of its agriculture, I cannot make a comparison 
 between that widely-blazoned establishment, and the unos- 
 tentatious institution of Moegelin. I was, indeed, told that 
 the plan and effects were far inferior; but, as my in- 
 formants were Prussians, I make some allowance for the 
 national vanity, which felt itself piqued, that the establishment 
 in Switzerland should be praised most highly, and their royal 
 foundation be unknown beyond the boundaries of the kingdom 
 to which it belongs. 
 
 When looking at manufactories in Germany, and conversing 
 with the manufacturers, it has been my feeling, that there was 
 a disposition to dispute our superiority, or if it was acknow- 
 ledged, it was done with an air of dissatisfaction and jealousy ; 
 but in all my intercourse with the landed proprietors, with 
 their managers, or with the peasants, they cheerfully talked of 
 the superiority of English agriculture, were surprised that I 
 saw, or pointed out so little to condemn in theirs, and 
 lamented, instead of defending, their own inferiority ; and 1 
 never suspected, whatever there might be of flattery, that there 
 was a particle of jealousy felt on the subject. The conduct 
 of that class of persons in particular, though I must say the
 
 MOEGELIN. 187 
 
 same of the Prussians in general, was calculated to make me 
 proud of my country, and wherever I appeared, to induce 
 me to make it speedily known that I was an Englishman ; nor 
 could any other title, however distinguished, have gained a 
 more flattering reception. I felt this on every part of my 
 journey, not excepting France itself, till I got to Paris, and 
 from thence to Calais. 
 
 Though I admire this institution, and am convinced it is 
 calculated to effect most beneficial purposes in such a country 
 as Prussia, where the estates are enormously large, and the 
 farms in general very small, where a great proprietor still has 
 rights over the peasants, which have long ceased to exist in 
 England, and which are gradually extinguishing here, and 
 where the first examples of improvement must be exhibited 
 by the lords in their demesne lands ; yet I am far from think- 
 ing such an institution either needful, or very useful in this 
 country. We have already carried the division of labour into 
 our agriculture, not certainly so far as it is capable of being- 
 carried, but much farther than is done in any other country. 
 We have some of the best sheep farmers ; of the best cattle, 
 and horSe breeders ; of the best hay, turnip, potatoe, and corn 
 farmers, in the world ; but we have, perhaps, no one individual 
 that unites in his own person so much knowledge of chemistry, 
 of botany, of mathematics, of comparative anatomy, and of 
 the application of these various sciences to all the practical 
 purposes of agriculture as Von Thaer does ; nor is the want felt, 
 because we have numbers of individuals, who, by applying 
 to each branch separately, have reached a height of know- 
 ledge far beyond what any man can attain who divides his 
 attention between several objects. In chemistry, we have
 
 188 MOEGELIN. 
 
 now most decidedly the lead. In all of botany that is not 
 mere nomenclature, it is the same. In mechanics, we have 
 no equals. There are thus abundant resources, from which 
 practical lessons may be drawn, and be drawn to the greatest 
 advantage ; and that advantage has excited, and will continue 
 to excite, many individuals to draw their practical lessons for 
 each particular branch of agriculture, from that particular 
 science on which it depends ; and thus the whole nation will 
 become more benefited by such divisions and subdivisions of 
 knowledge, than by a slight tincture of all the sciences united 
 in the possession of some individuals. 
 
 The division of labour in science, and in manufactures, is 
 more obviously beneficial, and more easily adopted than 
 in agriculture ; but it is not of superior benefit to a community. 
 The surplus produce of a country, which alone creates its 
 wealth, must chiefly depend on the portion of that division 
 which can be introduced into its agriculture. Such division is 
 utterly impossible where the cultivators, on an average, do not 
 occupy more than forty or fifty acres of land, as is the case 
 in Germany. From such farms there is little or no surplus ; 
 all is consumed where it is produced ; and the trifling rent 
 must be paid either by personal service, part of which is 
 unproductive ; with the fruits of the field, which are consumed 
 by the lord and his retainers ; or by petty payments, collected 
 from week to week, which deprive the poor copyholders of all 
 that small portion of ready money which they might invest in 
 improvements ; which take from them the few comforts that 
 might cheer their labour, and sweeten their existence, and 
 keep them in a state much worse than that of the labourer, who 
 depends on his daily work for his daily bread. It is easier to
 
 MQEGELIN. 189 
 
 see the evils under which a country labours, and to mark the 
 causes of its depression than to point out the remedy wliicli 
 may administer a cure. This can only be done by those who are 
 intimately acquainted with all the minute links in the chain 
 by which the body politic is bound together, and who can 
 exert their strength on the whole without the risk of any of the 
 parts giving way. The king of Prussia has done much, and is 
 said to design more, by lessening the feudal claims of tJie lords ; 
 by permitting estates even of knightly tenure to be purchased 
 by burghers and non-nobles ; by simplifying the modes of con-; 
 veyance and investiture ; by setting an example of renouncing 
 most of the feudal dues on his vast patrimonial estates ; and by 
 making good communications by roads, rivers, and canals, 
 through his extensive territories. By these proceedings, he is 
 conferring benefits on his country, which it is very doubtful if it 
 would receive from the adoption of any of the projects which 
 have been constantly clamoured about by that class of writers 
 who have assumed the title of liberals ; and who, mistaking 
 tlieir own echoes for the applause of the public, have wished tO( 
 direct the rulers of their country. ,,; 
 
 ; [I left Moegelin with a feeling of grateful respect, and shall 
 Long remember the days I spent there with much pleasure-r. 
 My return to Berlin was by the same road I had travelled on 
 my way to it. In passing through the extensive wood wiiich I 
 have noticed before, I had been much struck with the singular 
 mixture of trees. Some of the oaks as large, as high, and as 
 straight, as any I had ever seen, were growing beside lofty 
 pines, in a soil which would have appeared tome capable only of, 
 raising the latter, and totally unfit to bring the former to eyen-^ 
 moderate dimensions. The singularity had been explained by: 
 Professor Koerte, who informed me, that the whole tract 
 
 2 B
 
 190 BERLIN. 
 
 consisted of a very light sandy soil, mingled with granite 
 stones, varying in depth from four to ten inches. Underneath 
 this stratum, is a bed of stiff clay, from six to fourteen feet in 
 depth ; below that, the sand again occurs, for two or three 
 feet, and then conies the solid bed of granite rock. Thus the 
 trees of one class derive their nourishment from the surface soil, 
 and those of the other classes, particularly the oaks, from 
 the clayey subsoil. I remarked the birches, as the largest 
 trees of their species I had ever observed, and some of the 
 willows had attained very unusual dimensions. The elms were 
 the only kind of tree that did not appear flourishing; they 
 were all stunted and scrubbed, and showed the want of 
 moisture in the ground. In ascending a gentle rising in the 
 wood, which I walked up whilst the carriage followed me, I 
 met ajagcr, or gamekeeper, with his gun and dogs. He said, 
 the wood abounded with wild deer, wild swine, and the 
 inferior kinds of game. He had been out the whole day ; but 
 the drought was so great, that no scent could be perceived by 
 his dogs ; and, his day's sporting had been totally unsuccessful, 
 not having once discharged his piece. 
 
 When a traveller arrives at Berlin, by which ever gate he 
 enters, the contrast between the wretched country that sur- 
 rounds it, and the city itself, cannot fail to excite his surprise. 
 Till better acquainted, he will not cease to wonder what 
 inducement could have caused such a city, or even any 
 city, to be built in such a situation ; from whence the 
 supply of food can l)C drawn, and in what manner so 
 numerous a population can iind the means to purchase the 
 necessaries they need. Its situation on the river Spree, 
 which is here divided into several branches, and navigable 
 both to the Oder and the Elbe, first, probably, caused the 
 
 t.
 
 BERLIN. 191 
 
 erection of a small city, and will account for the choice of 
 this particular spot. 
 
 When once entered, and all remembrance of the surrounding 
 country banished from the mind, nothing can strike a visitor 
 with more ideas of grandeur and magnificence than the streets, 
 places, and public and private buildings display. It is like 
 Potsdam, a city of palaces, but upon a larger scale. Though 
 scarcely any of the buildings are recently erected, yet none 
 are of a date to appear antique, not even in the old city, for 
 all were modernized by the taste of Frederick, in conformity 
 with the plan on which the new parts built during his reign, 
 were constructed. Berlin is less changed in the twenty-two 
 years that have passed since I first saw it, than any other city 
 I am acquainted with in Europe. Except a new guard-house, 
 near what is now the University, and was then the palace of 
 Prince Henry, I saw no one object that was not quite familiar 
 to my recollection. That guard-house is, indeed, an edifice, 
 which, though not large, displays the finest architectural taste ; 
 and, being placed in a conspicuous situation near the entrance 
 to the promenade, iinter den Linden, under the lime-trees, natu- 
 rally drew my attention. 
 
 When Frederick the Great built this city, (for though long 
 before his time it had existed under that character, yet the 
 part he added is so much greater than was before in being, 
 that it may be properly described as of his erection,) it 
 was traced upon a plan far beyond the extent of a capital, 
 which the narrow limits of his kingdom, and the poverty of his 
 subjects, could maintain ; hence, for many years, the houses 
 were unoccupied, or occupied gratuitously. The capital 
 did not grow up naturally with the kingdom; it was a pre- 
 mature and forced growth ; but, by various circumstances, 
 
 2 B 2
 
 192 BERLIN 
 
 the kingdom has grown up to the capital, and one is now 
 scarcely too large for the other. That it is still somewhat 
 too large, I think clear from the low rent of houses, which 
 repays a very insufficient interest on the cost of building them, 
 and which is too small to aiford any encouragement to erecting 
 new houses. In the year 1797, the number of private dwelling- 
 houses was 6,661, and of civil inhabitants 124,730 ; twenty 
 years after, in 1817j the number of houses was 7,105; and 
 the inhabitants, exclusive of military, 182,387- Thus, in 
 the period which had increased the inhabitants at the rate of 
 near fifty per cent., the augmentation of the houses has scarcely 
 exceeded five per cent. This increase of inhabitants beyond 
 the rate of increase of houses may long continue ; for if the 
 former were as closely wedged together as they are in London, 
 Paris, or Amsterdam, there is house-room sufficient in the 
 city for double its present population. Berlin is enclosed 
 by walls, not to protect it against an enemy, for which purpose 
 they are too slight, but to defend the revenue from the invasion 
 of smugglers. Of the area enclosed within these walls, little 
 more than one-third is covered with buildings, and they 
 enclose gardens, orchards, and fields, which, if built upon, 
 would afford room for as many inhabitants as Paris con- 
 tains, without the streets being built so narrow. Several of 
 the gates of this city are very fine, two of them peculiarly 
 so ; the Leipsick and the Brandenburg gates. To my taste, 
 the proportions and the simple style of the architecture 
 of the first, are to be preferred ; but the general opinion 
 is more favourable to the latter. It is built on the exact 
 model of the Coliseum at Athens ; but, on its summit 
 are placed the brazen chariot and horses which were con- 
 veyed with other plunder, to Paris, in 1806 ; and returned
 
 BERLIN. 
 
 ]93 
 
 hither when that city was compelled to disgorge its stolen 
 treasures. ^j ei 4i 
 
 To describe all the remarkable objects which are to be seen 
 in this show city, would fill a volume, if done with minuteness, 
 and would probably be as tiresome to the reader as I found it 
 to walk the long streets of the most abominably paved place 
 that I ever entered. I shall, however, notice briefly some of the 
 more remarkable, and as what engrossed my first attention, the 
 royal library. This collection has been formed, by bringing 
 together the books from the different royal residences, by 
 purchases of libraries, which individuals had made, and by 
 the accumulation of new books, as they are published in the 
 diff'erent countries of Europe. The number of volumes are 
 about two hundred thousand ; they are arranged and placed in 
 different apartments of this noble edifice, according to their 
 subjects. I was glad to see that the deficiency of modern books, 
 which I formerly regretted, had ceased. Besides the old 
 literature, the best editions of the Greek and Latin classics, 
 of the ancient historians, civil and ecclesiastical, of the Fathers 
 and of the Jurists, there is to be found almost every valuable 
 work which recent science has produced in various languages. 
 The collection of English, German, Italian, French, and Dutch 
 works, is considerable ; and that of Spanish, much larger than 
 I ever saw in any library in Spain. Besides these, every 
 assistance that the architect, the antiquarian, the musician, or 
 the natural historian can derive, may be found in one apart- 
 ment. The liberality exercised, in making this library as 
 extensively beneficial as possible, cannot be too strongly 
 commended. Not only are places allotted for reading in the 
 building, but the books are lent out, on proper caution, to any 
 who wish to read them at their own houses.
 
 194 BERLIN. 
 
 Some curiosities here are shewn to strangers in the library 
 of manuscripts. The Hebrew Bible, from which Luther made 
 his translation of the Old Testament into the German language, 
 is preserved, with numerous marginal notes in his hand-writing. 
 There is also the English Bible which our Charles the First 
 carried with him to the scaffold, with a memorandum of the 
 fact, in the writing of Bishop Juxon. The greatest curiosity 
 of this kind is a book, with beautifully illuminated portraits 
 of the reformers, Luther, Melantthon, Zuinglius, and the others, 
 as well as of their principal supporters among the princes and 
 nobles of Germany. Under eacli portrait are a few lines written 
 by the individuals whose likenesses it depicts. 
 
 The number of other public libraries in Berlin is very great; 
 several of the churches have large collections ; and several 
 relate to philosophical, medical, surgical, military, and even 
 free-masonry societies, and all are allowed to be used with 
 great liberality. 
 
 The collection of natural history, brought together in a part 
 of the building now appropriated to the purpose of a univer- 
 sity, is very consideral^ie, and with a few exceptions, tolerably 
 arranged. Each specimen has a label, with the Latin and 
 German names. The madrepores and corallines are not well 
 classed. The collection is deficient in both sea and river fish, 
 not even the common saw-fish, so easily to be got in all the 
 West India islands, is to be seen. Tlie snakes are not classed, 
 and there are no large specimens of the boa tribe. Among the 
 amphibia, there is a great deficiency of the cayman species, 
 though there are some fine specimens of crocodiles. With 
 these few exceptions, it appeared to me, a most valuable and 
 splendid addition to the scientific stores which are collected in 
 this capital. A collection of eggs formed the least interesting
 
 BERLIN. 195 
 
 part of the whole, especially as those from the larger tribes of 
 birds, were none of them of great size, the few ostriches eggs 
 were all small. 
 
 The mineralogical collection or rather collections, for there 
 are two of them, are very fine ; one is arranged systematically 
 in species and genera, and includes the stones and earths. 
 The other is classed topographically, and includes minerals from 
 the Prussian dominions, from other parts of Germany, from 
 Russia, from England, from Sweden, and from Norway, in 
 six divisions. The herbarium is but a poor collection, con- 
 sisting principally of plants collected in the East, by a com- 
 panion of Tournefort. 
 
 The catalogue of other collections of natural history be- 
 longing to individuals, to gymnasiums, and to societies, 
 formed either to promote its knowledge or that of science, is 
 very great; amounting to between thirty and forty, well de- 
 serving the attention of the curious, who have more time than I 
 allowed myself. 
 
 The veterinary college, rewarded the inspection by the 
 collection of the skeletons of horses and other animals, and 
 casts of their respective parts. The anatomical theatre at 
 that place is well contrived, with galleries round it for the 
 students, lighted from the top by an elegant cupola. The 
 old white English horse, which carried Frederick the Great 
 to his battles, and which I formerly saw, has been dead so 
 long, that the period was unknown to the man who showed me 
 the stables. 
 
 It would have been inexcusable to have left Berlin, without 
 visiting the royal palace, called the Schloss (castle). It is in 
 the centre of the city, a part of it is at present inhabited 
 by the crown prince ; but by far the largest portion is
 
 igQ BERLIN. 
 
 untenanted. The apartments for show are very sumptuous, 
 and possess great chastity of decoration. The eating hall is 
 richly furnished with massy silver utensils ; and the orchestra, 
 which is cased with silver, has a most striking effect. The 
 walls of the best apartments are covered with silk tissue, of 
 various designs, and great richness. Some of the furniture, 
 however, presents a strangely inconsistent contrast to the per- 
 mament decorations. The chairs are of common ash or beech, 
 and the long table of deal. 
 
 The collection of paintings is fine, several by Rubens, 
 Vandyke, Corregio, Teniers, and other great masters. There 
 is a remarkably fine picture of our Charles I., by Vandyke, 
 in a different costume from any other portrait of that un- 
 fortunate monarch, by the same master ; it possesses all the 
 ease and elegance of that artist. The picture of Buonaparte 
 crossing the Alps, by David, is a fine piece ; the attitude of 
 the principal figure is admirably executed, but there is a glare 
 about it, as a whole, which is characteristic of the modern 
 French school. Many of these pictures are so excellent, 
 that I wondered they, as well as the silver utensils, had 
 not been taken away by the French, when they were here. 
 I hinted my surprise at it to my conductor, who indignantly 
 said, " they were all sent away before the Spitzbiihe (the 
 rogue or sharper) came, or he would have stolen them." 
 
 The animosity of all classes here, towards the French, 
 is excessive ; perhaps as much from the mortified vanity which 
 was wounded by the defeat of Jena, as from the atrocious 
 conduct in which the French officers indulged themselves. 
 The borders round the pictures, instead of splendid frames, 
 have mean narrow bands only, which have a miserable effect. 
 Except the show apartment^, the rest of the palace is in
 
 BERLIN. 197 
 
 a neglected state, many of the external parts of the qiiadranojc 
 needing repairs very much. It is a large pile of building, 
 460 feet in length on one side, and 430 on the other; the 
 breadth is 276 feet, and it is 101 feet in height. The 
 architectural beauty of it, as a whole, is very considerable, 
 but the houses in front of it are too near to admit of its being- 
 seen to the best advantage. 
 
 In Berlin the access to every branch of knowledge is easy; 
 and the necessary expense very small. The University has, 
 at present, nearly twelve hundred students, owing to circum- 
 stances which have recently increased their number. The only 
 expense to them is about fifteen shillings on matriculation ; 
 and honoraria to the lecturers, on whom they attend, varying 
 from fifteen shillings to forty-five, for the whole course. There 
 are two terms in the year ; one from October to March, and 
 the other from the beginning of April to the middle of August. 
 The professors are classed under the heads of Divinity, Law, 
 Physic, and Philosophy, and are all men of considerable 
 eminence in their different departments. The students lodge 
 ill private houses, within that district of the city in which the 
 University stands, where they are provided with apartments 
 and attendants, at low rates, varying from fifteen to eighteen 
 shillings per month. The regulation of the University is under 
 the control of the Rector, who is a judge in all the inferior 
 matters that relate to it, is dignified with the title of Magni- 
 ficent, and has a Syndic under him,' to assist in the adminis- 
 tration of justice. There are five Gymnasiums or Academies, 
 where excellent plans of instruction are pursued, and where 
 the pupils are either prepared for the University, or for 
 immediate entrance on the different walks they are to follow 
 in their future course through life. 
 
 2 c
 
 198 BERLIN. * 
 
 Professional education is communicated in clinical, medical, 
 surgical, and military schools. There are also schools for 
 the deaf and dumb, and for the blind ; where those unfortu- 
 nate persons are taught. Many private lectures are delivered 
 during the winter season, on a variety of important subjects, 
 by men of eminence, in the different branches, who are not 
 connected with any of the public institutions. Among these 
 have been the lectures of Bode on astronomy, Klaproth on 
 chemistry, Huefland on longevity, Mursinna on operative 
 surgery and midwifery, and Von Thaer on agriculture. An 
 institution is established for instructing those who are destined 
 to become parochial schoolmasters. The number of establish- 
 ments for the education of young people of both sexes, is as 
 great as in any city in Europe. 
 
 J, The charity schools, for the gratuitous instruction of the 
 poor, are numerous ; and, in proportion to the population of 
 the city, far greater, probably, than in any other capital in 
 Europe. 
 
 The manufactories of Berlin are very considerable in num- 
 ber, and some few in comparative extent. The china has 
 been long celebrated ; it is made on account of the govern- 
 ment. A beautiful service, presented by his Majesty to the 
 Duke of Wellington, was packing to send to England. The 
 quantity annually made is about 360,000 pieces ; the value of 
 which amounts to 150,000 rix-dollars, of which, nearly one-half 
 is sold to foreigners. The fine manufactures executed by 
 governments can scarcely ever be made sources of profit, nor, I 
 believe, is this. It is expected to be rendered profitable by 
 some recent discoveries in the art of glazing earthenware, 
 without the assistance of any metallic substance. Various 
 utensils of this kind are now made, calculated for the apotiie-
 
 BERLIN. 199 
 
 caries, for cookery, for plates, dishes, and otlier ordinary 
 domestic purposes ; and the demand for them beini^ consider- 
 able, sanguine expectations are entertained of beneficial conse- 
 quences. The prices of each article of porcelain is fixed, and 
 printed lists delivered, so that purchasers are saved from all 
 apprehensions of imposition. Each visitor pays about a 
 shilling to see the process, which, I believe, is applied to form 
 a fund for the old and invalid working people of the establish- 
 ment. The whole number is about three hundred, and the 
 wages, even to the inferior kind of artists, who are employed 
 in painting the china, is very low. t.jiMsi. 
 
 A manufactory in Berlin, which excited greater interest, and 
 drew more attention from me, than any other, was, that of 
 stone printing, carried on by the government, under the 
 direction of Major Von Reiche, to whom I had the pleasure of 
 being introduced by a friend, and who has succeeded better 
 than any of those who have made attempts in the litho- 
 graphic art in England. The Major first made the attempt on 
 his own account, upon a small scale ; but the advantages of it 
 soon became so apparent, that it was converted into a royal 
 establishment, upon an extensive plan ; and is become one of 
 the economical resources of this most economical of all govern- 
 ments. The presses differ little, either in their form, or in 
 the accuracy or expedition of their execution, from the 
 copper-plate presses used in England. The stone, from which 
 the impression is taken, about six inches in thickness, is a hard 
 lime-stone, approximating to marble. It is first brought to a 
 smooth surface, and polished by the friction of pumice-stone 
 and sand, and thus prepared to receive the requisite inscription. 
 There are two modes of proceeding adopted ; one of which 
 is very simple, and very expeditious. The writing is made on 
 
 2 c 2
 
 200 BERLIN. 
 
 the stone, wit!i an inlcy composition, compounded with gum 
 arable, amber, butter, and some other substances, which are im- 
 penetrable to aqua-fortis. When the letters are thus written, 
 the whole stone is sponged over with a mixture, the basis of 
 which is aqua-fortis, which eats quickly into those parts of the 
 stone that are not covered with the fatty composition. The 
 writing is left on the stone, and it is thus prepared for printing. 
 The whole operation is speedily executed, and was, indeed, 
 performed, whilst I was in the apartment. The kind of print- 
 ing from this mode of preparing the stone, is principally used 
 in books for regimental accounts, muster-books, store-books, 
 and other purposes connected with military aflPairs, where only 
 division lines are required, and a few words written at the 
 head of the columns, formed by those lines. I saw one stone 
 of this description, with merely columns and heading-words, 
 from which three hundred thousand impressions had been 
 taken. 
 
 ' The other kind of printing from stone seems more applicable 
 to the purposes of maps, plans of towns, or fortifications, and 
 fields of battle, and is principally used in this establishment 
 for preparing them. It is engraved on the stone, which is 
 previously covered thinly with a fatty composition, with a 
 style, used in the manner of a pencil ; and this part is executed 
 with great dispatch, as well as accuracy. The finer parts are 
 engraved with a diamond, similar to that used by glaziers, but 
 brought to a sharper point; very common artists can perform 
 this work; when ready for the purpose, the biting liquor is 
 applied in a manner similar to tliat used by our aquatinta 
 engravers. If any error in the engraving is made, the part is 
 scraped off, and the error rectified by a new impression lieing 
 made on the stone. The surfiace of the part corrected is thiLS
 
 BERLIN. 201 
 
 somewhat below tlie level of the stone, and in rolling ofl' the 
 impressions, a small piece of leather is placed on the paper in 
 that part, and tiie alteration is quite invisible. 
 
 The merit of this invention arises as well from its cheapness 
 as its expedition, the saving in the printing is full one half, and 
 hence it is universally applied to military accounts ; and as 
 soon as the requisite extension can be effected, it will be 
 carried into the financial and other departments. The 
 expedition of this work is such, that Major Von Reiche shewed 
 me a whole length portrait of the King, thirty inches high, and 
 eighteen broad, which had been executed in fourteen days ; 
 which he said would occupy years for an engraver on 
 copper. The effect is very good, and there is a softness in 
 the impressions, which has never yet been equalled by en- 
 graving either in the line, mezzotinto, or aquatinta method. 
 Moveable presses, in a small compass, have been contrived 
 here with great ingenuity, adapted to accompany an army 
 to the field, by which all necessary printing may be dispatched 
 with great celerity and precision. Many minute circumstances 
 necessarily engage the close attention of the operators, and 
 much circumspection is necessary, which seems to be ad- 
 mirably supplied by the intelligent director before named, 
 to whose polite attention I feel much indebted. This esta- 
 blishment is carried on in the splendid-looking palace, belong- 
 ing to the late Prince Ferdinand, the King's uncle, in the finest 
 square in the city, the Wilhelm Platz, where are the statues 
 of the great Prussian heroes, Schwerin, Winterfeld, Seidlitz, 
 Keith, and Ziethen. 
 
 The system of the Prussian government, has always 
 been that of manufacturing at home every thing consumed 
 within the kingdom ; of buying from others nothing tliat can
 
 202 
 
 BERLIN. 
 
 be dispensed with; and of selling whatever can be spared. 
 This system, though in opposition to every sound principle 
 of political economy, which teaches to buy wherever purchased 
 can be made cheapest, and to make that only which can 
 be manufactured at home as cheap or cheaper than in foreign 
 countries, and which can be justified to the extent it is carried 
 here bv no result founded on experience, has been the 
 foundation on which the manufactories of Berlin have been 
 erected, and on which they now almost wholly depend. 
 
 A3 scarcelv any competition exists, but with their own 
 countrymen, there is little inducement to adopt the inventions 
 of other nations or to exercise their own faculties in perfect- 
 in": their fabrics ; none of them have kept pace with those of 
 other countries. As almost the whole Prussian dominions are 
 manufacturing countries, and are supplied by their own 
 domestic labour, on native materials, with those articles whose 
 everv-day consiunption forms the greatest amount of what is 
 consumed by the middle and lower classes ; the manufactories 
 of the capital are almost exclusively devoted to supply luxuries 
 for the higher orders of the community. 
 
 In point of extent, the woollen manufactory carried on at 
 the royal storehouse by ^Messrs. Woolf, is the most considerable, 
 and good machinery is used. But in spite of the excellence of 
 the blue dve, arising, it is said from some properties which the 
 water of the Spree is supposed to contain, and though they 
 have now the tine wool at hand which they have beneficially 
 substituted for Spanish, their products are so inferior to those 
 of Flanders and of England, that nothing but the kind of 
 monopoly which they and their neighbours enjoy, can enable 
 them to dispose of their goods to a profit. I must, however, 
 acknowledge, that the cloths of Berlin are much improved of
 
 BERLIN. 203 
 
 late years, and some thin ones of fine wool are good ; but the 
 cassimeres are still very far inferior to ours. Besides this great 
 house, there are twelve or fourteen others^ very respectable, 
 and several upon an inferior scale. 
 
 The quantity of silk goods manufactured in Berlin is very 
 considerable, they are, however, inferior both in design and 
 quality to those of Lyons. Cottons, hats, gloves, hosiery, 
 shoes and boots are all inferior to ours ; cutlery, ironmongery, 
 and glass-ware are the same ; and many of the minuter articles, 
 such as needles, pins, and a thousand others, which every 
 hour present themselves, are awkwardly and clumsily made. 
 It would be unpardonable after these derogatory remarks, not 
 to state some of those commodities, in which the fabrics of 
 Prussia excel. The linens, and especially their damask 
 table cloths and napkins, yield to none in any part of Ger- 
 many, and are far superior, not perhaps to what may be 
 made, but to what are usually seen from Dunfermline, and 
 other northern parts of our island. The cabinet ware in 
 most houses discovers great taste, both in the forms and in 
 the gilded ornaments ; and though more commonly of native 
 woods than of those from the warm climates, yet the 
 mode of polishing and finishing them, whilst they are very 
 cheap, makes them appear handsomer than much of our 
 mahogany furniture, which costs a price very far above it. 
 Gilding is remarkably well and durably executed, and very 
 profusely displayed in the houses of people of fashion. The 
 durability may be greater than ours, from the climate being 
 less moist and foggy than in England. Some beautiful orna- 
 ments of iron are made, which receive impressions with a 
 distinctness equal to wax, and by some chemical preparation 
 are preserved from rust. The gold and silversmiths' work is
 
 204 BERLIN. 
 
 very tastefully executed, and on reasonable terms. I was also 
 
 informed, that in some of the chemical preparations for the 
 
 7nateria mecUca, for the use of manufacturers, for the fine arts, 
 
 and for philosophical experiments, they excel other nations. 
 
 From the quarter in which I received this communication, 
 
 I have no reason to doubt it, though I am incapable of 
 
 fgiving my own opinion on the subject, not having seen either 
 
 {the process or the productions. In this, however, I must 
 
 except that beautiful oxid of iron, known by us as Prussian 
 
 blue, which in our variable climate, can never be made to 
 
 that certain degree of excellence which it can here, where the 
 
 weather is more regular. The whole number of workmen 
 
 employed in all the manufactures in Berlin in the year 1817, 
 
 .were 34,210, including apprentices. Those of them with 
 
 •whom I conversed, lamented very sadly the deadness of all 
 
 ' business. 
 
 The commerce of Berlin consists in sending its manufac- 
 tures to the other parts of the kingdom, and drawing from 
 thence the supplies for its own consumption. This is con- 
 siderable, especially since Prussia has added to her dominions 
 the territories on the Rhine, whence the capital is supplied 
 with wine, charged with lower duties than that imported 
 from foreign countries. The luxuries of the East and West 
 Indies which are required for the supply of the capital, 
 generally pass through Hamlnirg, and are conveyed up the 
 Elbe till it joins the Havel, into which tlie Spree runs. 
 
 There is n\uch intercourse between the capital and the 
 other territories carried on by the canals and rivers. Tlie 
 building of barges for this inland navigation, is a considerable 
 employment to many persons on the banks of the river. An 
 nicorporatcd company, engaged in trade of various kinds, called
 
 BERLIN. 20.5 
 
 the Scchandlungs society has its agents and oflices at Dantzic 
 and Hamburg, and sometimes its oi)erations are considerable ; 
 but as Berlin is not a commercial city, there is no spirit of 
 enterprise, and no great efforts directed to make it become 
 one. 
 
 The places of public amusement in Berlin are as numerous 
 and as various as in other great cities, but 1 found so much 
 polite and intelligent society each evening, that I had no 
 inclination to seek for, or visit them. I went once to the 
 theatre, and sqmv Schiller's fine play, the death of Wallenstein, 
 admirably performed. As the German theatre, which was burnt 
 down is not yet rebuilt, the company have the use of the 
 edifice usually occupied by the Italian opera. The house is 
 large, and well decorated, but imperfectly lighted, except on 
 the stage. The boxes and the part of the pit nearest the 
 stage, are appropriated to annual subscribers, so that casual 
 visitors must sit at such a distance, as to hear the performers 
 very indistinctly. 
 
 The public walks, both in the city and in its vicinity, have 
 nothing very striking to recommend them. I had seen them 
 formerly at a more favourable season, and even then they by no 
 means excited admiration. I only now viewed the park with- 
 out the Brandenbourg gate, and the palace of Charlottenburg, 
 at which it terminates ; and in which is the sumptuous monu- 
 ment to the memory of the late Queen ; which, however, I did 
 not see, it being open only on the day of her death, the 
 nineteenth of each month. 
 
 A small duty is collected by the corporation of the city on 
 all provisions brought into it ; and having met with a return of 
 the number in 1802, it may shew the proportionate con- 
 
 2 D
 
 206 
 
 BERLIN. 
 
 sumption between it and other great towns, where the tacts 
 are accurately ascertainable. 
 
 Oxen 
 
 . 22,107 
 
 Butter . . 
 
 . 16,761 hundred. 
 
 Cows 
 
 8,747 
 
 Cheese . . 
 
 2,305 hundred. 
 
 Calves 
 
 . . 46,020 
 
 Meat, including 
 
 bacon, 57G cwt. 
 
 Sheep 
 
 . . 159,107 
 
 Wine . . . 
 
 4,749 hogsheads. 
 
 Lambs 
 
 5,816 
 
 Brandy . . 
 
 . 49,283 gallons. 
 
 Goats 
 
 204 
 
 Sugar . . 
 
 4,160 cwt. 
 
 Swine . . 
 
 . 53,720 
 
 Coffee . . 
 
 . 11,495 cwt. 
 
 Sucking pigs 
 
 2,145 
 
 Tea . . . 
 
 6,600 pounds. 
 
 Bucks 
 
 345 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 6,145 cwt. 
 
 Fawns 
 
 . . 1,374 
 
 Corn . . . 
 
 . 214,737 quarters. 
 
 Wild Swine . 
 
 114 
 
 Meal and floiu- 
 
 . 168,160 bushels. 
 
 Hares 
 
 . . 6,366 
 
 Fire wood 
 
 44,206 heaps, some 
 
 Herrings . 
 
 4,358 tons. 
 
 what largei 
 
 than two of our cords. 
 
 Eggs . . 
 
 . . 15,760 score. 
 
 
 
 I have here reduced the measures and weights as far as 
 was necessary to our English denominations. At that period, 
 the population, including the military, was about one hundred 
 and forty-five thousand. For the sake of any person who may 
 try to make a comparison of the consumption of various 
 articles in different large cities, I think it right to observe, that 
 as far as I could judge from those I saw, the oxen and cows 
 weigh full one third less than the average of those brought to 
 the London markets ; that the calves do not Aveigh half so much, 
 the sheep one-fifth less ; but the swine are nearly of the same 
 size, or somewhat larger. 
 
 In London, it is impossible to ascertain the consumption 
 of any but exciseable commodities, and every estimate 
 can be only an approximation to the truth. The quantity 
 of sheep and lambs sold in Smithfield annually, according
 
 BERLIN. 20,7 
 
 to the market returns, amounts to about 1,200,000; go that, 
 supposing the meat brouglit to Berlin is principally mutton, 
 the consumption of it is not much less than in London, 
 in proportion to its population. In Berlin, it is much more 
 used by the poor than by the rich. The proportion between 
 sugar and coffee will appear very unnatural ; but honey is an 
 abundant production in Germany, and, as well as molasses, is 
 used by the poor as a substitute for sugar. The quantity of 
 brandy is very small, considering the extensive use of it that 
 prevails ; but there are, within the walls, no less than one 
 hundred and forty-three distillers of spirits from grain. In the 
 account, there is no notice taken of beer. I am not sure that 
 it is subject to the octroi ; if it be, the fact of there being forty- 
 two breweries within the city will account for its omission. 
 The fish is not stated, except that which is salted ; yet the 
 market is very well supplied with that species of food, though 
 it is too dear for the tables of the poor. The lakes and rivers 
 abound with fish ; but the expense and risk of bringing them 
 to the capital is considerable. If they die, they cannot be 
 exposed for sale. The fish-market has fixed tanks, and some- 
 times moveable tubs, filled with water, in which variety of 
 river fish are seen alive. The city is most copiously and 
 cheaply supplied with fruit, and many barges are constantly to 
 be seen at the wharfs, with apples stowed in bulk. 
 
 The city contained, in 1817j a population of 174,428 Pro- 
 testants of both communions, 4,258 Catholics, 2 Mennonites, 
 and 3,690 Jews. The number of burials in that year were 
 5,646, of marriages 2,181, and of births 6,987. In the latter 
 number is included 1,395 illegitimate children. The inhabitants 
 of the suburbs, who amounted to 7,944, are not included m 
 this enumeration. The proportion of those inhabitants, divided 
 
 2 D 2
 
 208 BERLIN. 
 
 into religious sects, was eleven Lutherans to one Calvin ist ; 
 the Calvinists doubled in number the Catholics. The Jews 
 were about half as numerous as the Catholics, and the other 
 sects were very insignificant. The royal family and court 
 profess the Calvinistic religion. The King has been anxious to 
 unite the two protestant sects, and has succeeded in forming a 
 kind of junction, by which they have become, for some pur- 
 poses, one ecclesiastical establishment, under the denomination 
 of the evangelical. They are, however, still under distinct 
 superintendents or bishops, three of whom are Lutheran, and 
 one, however inconsistent with the usual aversion of the sect 
 to inequality in its pastors, is Calvinistic. 
 
 This union of the two communions, which was, undoubtedly, 
 designed by the King, to remove all religious animosities, is 
 said to have spread still wider a spirit of indifference upon 
 sacred subjects, the too great prevalence of which was before 
 felt and lamented by the wisest and best men in the country. 
 In this union of parties, however, no great concessions of 
 principles to which they were attached was necessary on either 
 side.(i' The distinguishing tenet of the Lutherans, and that 
 which is contained in their symbolical books, to which the 
 clergy profess adherence, is the doctrine of the real presence 
 of the body and blood of Christ, in the bread and wine, in the 
 sacrament of the Lord's Supper. This tenet, thougli it has 
 been ever the profession of the Lutheran church, has been long 
 abandoned by almost the whole of its ministers, who, though 
 they may have differed as to the nature of that sacrament, as 
 some of the most distinguished ornaments of our own church 
 have done, have, in no recent instance, advocated that opinion 
 of the great reformer, usually designated by the term consub- 
 stantiation. The Reformed or Calvinistic ministers had, like
 
 BERLIN. 209 
 
 their brethren of the Lutheran party, little to give up. Tixeir 
 distinguishing- tenets of predestination, election, perseverance, 
 and impelling grace, were passed by in their public services as 
 obsolete dogmas never to be introduced ; and it was generally 
 understood, that for a century past, they have been scarcely 
 entertained by any considerable number of the clergy. The 
 superiority of episcopal ordination to that by ministers or 
 presbyters, happened never to have formed a subject of con- 
 troversy ; and as to the form of church government, they 
 seemed to unite in the opinion, that, as the founders of their 
 faith had communicated no commands on the subject, it was 
 left to each country to form such as best suited its general 
 civil polity. 
 
 Though the union between the two communions is to a 
 certain extent effected, so that the clergy may officiate indis- 
 criminately in the churches of both sects, and the hearers join 
 in the worship of each indifferently, yet for the purposes of 
 charity, and of education, and in the distribution of the sums 
 arising from the endowments on their churches, hospitals, and 
 schools, they still have, and must continue to have separate 
 administrations ; and as this was before the most obvious line 
 of distinction between the sects, the union that has been 
 effected is not imagined to have had any other practical effect, 
 but that of making the common people think religious worship 
 under any form, as much a matter of indifference, as this union 
 thus easily effected, shows that different opinions are to their 
 teachers. 
 
 It cannot be denied, nor ought it to b?j concealed, that many 
 of the clergy of both sects, had given up not only the peculiar 
 doctrines of their respective churches, but even the christian 
 faith itself; and that to such a degree, that even our avowed
 
 210 BERLIN. 
 
 Socinians would by them b6 considered as equally credulous 
 with the orthodox clergy. The mysterious doctrines which 
 have long, and very justly, been denominated the doctrines of 
 the Reformation, were continued in their catechisms, and other 
 books for the instruction of the young, and in the psalms and 
 hymns used in the public service ; but had almost ceased to be 
 alluded to mi the prayers or sermons of the clergy. The 
 irreligion of Frederick, of Voltaire, and of Lessing, had made 
 much progress before the commencement of the French re- 
 volution ; that event furthered its increase ; and the general 
 subjection to the imperial ruler made religion, if not a matter 
 of contempt, at least of indifference. 
 
 The clergy imbibed the sceptical philosophy, and carried 
 it to an extent far beyond what it has ever reached among any 
 of our sectaries, who have wished to retain the name of 
 Christians. The belief in miracles is so distinguishing a line 
 betwixt infidelity and revealed religion, that the teachers 
 could not with any decency deny their existence, and still hold 
 their ecclesiastical character; but they symbolized them in 
 such a way, as to leave their auditors uncertain whether the 
 various miraculous facts, recorded in the New and Old 
 Testaments, were occurrences that actually took place, or 
 merely figurative relations of other events which happened 
 naturally, and according to the usual course of affairs. 
 
 Thus the miraculous draught of fishes, would by their mode 
 of illustrating it, be nothing more than a much greater degree 
 of success in fishing, than was usually experienced, which is 
 thus recorded to excite gratitude to the great Giver of all 
 good things. The miraculous increase of the loaves and 
 fishes, the healing the sick, and other similar fiicts, were 
 treated in the same manner. They were not denied, but so
 
 BERLIN. 2 1 1 
 
 represented, as to leave the auditors to infer either that they 
 were real events correctly recorded, or beneficial fictions to 
 illustrate tiie divine goodness, as might best accord with the 
 previous views of the auditors. The love of paradox, and 
 the desire of distinction, seem to have excited a degree of 
 rivalry among the clergy in wild and absurd speculations. 
 Thus one of them who calls himself a christian, who professes 
 to believe in the authenticity, if not the inspiration, of the 
 Scriptures, has published a work to prove that our Saviour did 
 not ascend to heaven, nor did his disciples believe that he had 
 so ascended ; but lived twenty-five years in retirement, 
 having occasional intercourse with them. He contends, that 
 what is rendered " a cloud received him," should be, a fog in- 
 tercepted their vision. With a most abundant display of 
 critical acumen, and of great knowledge of the Greek 
 language, he has defended this absurd fancy. This ac- 
 count of the work I had from a very respectable clergy- 
 man, who lamented over the wanderings of his brethren, 
 and had an intention of replying to this piece of folly, which 
 he assured me, had met with very extensive circulation among 
 the learned, but was too abstruse to produce any mischief with 
 others. The resurrection of our Lord, a fact upon which the 
 whole of the external testimony of our faith rests, was either 
 neglected or disbelieved by those who were the public in- 
 structors, and who confined their teaching to such moral 
 topics, as could be enforced from motives of a social nature, 
 rather than from the more powerful one of a future strict 
 account. 
 
 The natural effect of this infidelity among the clergy, was 
 to produce indifference among their hearers ; and the churches, 
 which especially in the cities bore no due proportion to the
 
 .2J2 BERLIN. 
 
 population, became almost deserted by all but the old and 
 the lower classes; and the latter, in imitation of their superiors, 
 were gradually declining in their attendance. Among many 
 men of pious feelings, and of much learning, this aberration 
 of the protestant ministers, which they carefully marked and 
 regretted, had the effect of withdrawing them from their com- 
 munions, and reconciling them to the Catholic church. The 
 church of Rome has, in consequence, received into her bosom 
 several members from the Protestant religion, who are distin- 
 guished for their virtue, their talents, and their learning. It has 
 been remarked among the more uninformed people, especially 
 those of warm imaginations, that in proportion as Christianity 
 has been less endeared to them, and less venerated, they have 
 been falling into the most degrading superstitions. Confidence 
 in animal magnetism, in fortune-tellers, in visions, and mock 
 revelations, have increased to an extent which would be 
 scarcely credible, without good evidence, and if we did not 
 know that the mind cannot be a blank, but in the absence 
 of impressions from true religion will receive without hesi- 
 tation the most degrading stamp that superstition can imprint. 
 Scepticism may exist in some few minds, but the majority of 
 our race can never long be in a state of doubt; and if they 
 become unbelievers on some points, will not be the less 
 credulous on others. The Germans are naturally ardent and 
 enthusiastic, and with such feelings, when not corrected and 
 restrained by the doctrines of reasonable faith, easily receive 
 the most wild and fanciful impressions. 
 
 The remarks I have made on the state of religion in 
 Prussia, I am sorry to think, are in a greater or less degree 
 applicable to the whole of the Protestant states of Ger- 
 many, and more especially to those, which, like Hanover,
 
 BERLIN. 313 
 
 Brunswick, and Cassel, formed a part of the kingdom of 
 Westphalia ; but they refer much less to the kingdom of 
 Saxony, where the court having adopted the Catholic religion, 
 whilst almost all the subjects are Protestants, the latter have 
 been more sedulous in maintaining their adhesion to their 
 primitive faith. « ' 
 
 ^ The different princes of Germany have become alarmed at 
 the progress of infidelity among their people, and have taken 
 some measures to reclaim them from the errors into which they 
 have been betrayed. The different consistories have taken 
 a tone from the governments, and have in some measure, been 
 treading back their steps. The higher classes affect to treat 
 religion with a degree of respect, from which if they had never 
 deviated, their inferiors would not have gone the length they 
 have in many instances done. In appointing professors in 
 the universities, in the theological branch, regard has been 
 had to those, who were supposed most likely to lead the pupils 
 to the orthodox faith, and to guard them from the errors which 
 have recently spread. u^ 
 
 In looking at the ecclesiastical establishments of these coun- 
 tries, it is impossible not to contrast them with our own, both 
 in their principles and effects. The obvious defects of these 
 establishments is the want of sufficient independence, and the 
 too great equality of the clergy. Instead of being a class of 
 men existing upon rewards for their labours, which are derived 
 from a species of property exclusively appropriated for the 
 support of the church, which keeps pace with the fluctuations 
 of other property, and of which the body cannot be deprived, 
 they are in some degree stipendaries of the government ; and 
 peculiarly subservient to it, since the alterations in the value 
 
 2 E
 
 214 BERLIN. 
 
 of commodities, has made an increase in their salaries desirable. 
 This alone tends to degrade the whole body, and to lessen any 
 beneficial influence they may be disposed to exert. The chief 
 evil, however, appears to me to arise from the great equality 
 of ranks among them. It is not that the whole revenue of 
 the church is too small, so much as from there being no 
 great inducements to aim at distinction in their own pro- 
 fession, that makes them wander into extravagancies. A 
 pastor can never rise much higher, and the prospect of 
 rising at all is very slight; hence, instead of adhering 
 to the faith of his church, which he must do if he hoped 
 to rise in it, he indulges in speculations, which lead him 
 to wild opinions, and bewilder his auditors in the same 
 perplexing maze. 
 
 If the whole revenues of the English church were equally 
 divided among all its ministers, the remuneration to each would 
 be less, considering the relative value of money, than is re- 
 ceived by the Lutheran clergy in Germany. In England, the 
 unequal division gives to some of the clergy establishments, of 
 a princely nature, which become objects of laudable ambition 
 to men of the most distinguished rank, or the greatest learning. 
 The church is a receptacle for those of the first connexions, 
 and is therefore treated with a respect beyond what some 
 of high rank would feel towards it, if their own family did 
 not form a part of it. It is generally supposed, that the 
 whole revenues of the English church are by no means 
 equal to the expenditure of all its clergy, but that their 
 private fortunes, or their labour as instructors of youth, forms 
 a material |)ortion of their incomes. The importance given 
 to the profession induces men to enter it, not as the mere 
 
 M^
 
 BERLIN. 315 
 
 means of existence, but as givin<^ a claim to a certain esti- 
 mation in society, and creating a rank which will enable them 
 at all times to be on a footing of respectability. There ai'e 
 always thirty peers of the realm, who must once have been 
 curates or rectors ; and they with the other dignitaries certainly 
 raise the whole body of the clergy. The estimation in whicli 
 they are held in society gives a weight to their examples, their 
 instructions, their warnings, and their consolations, which they 
 would not possess, if, like the Protestant clergy of Germany, 
 they were all taken from the middle and lower ranks of life, 
 and from their stations, had no intimate and natural access to 
 the higher classes of society, and no possibility from any 
 professional promotion of reaching it. 
 
 In England, the clergy are the connecting link that bind 
 together the different ranks of individuals, and bring into contact 
 and union, classes that could not be otherwise so well united. 
 This is not indeed, so obvious in London and other large cities, 
 as it is in smaller towns, and in country villages ; but every 
 observer of society among us, will see and acknowledge, that 
 a class of men drawn from all the various ranks, and distri- 
 buted among all the different descriptions, of the community, 
 the specific objects of whose profession, is to inculcate virtue 
 and diffuse religious knowledge, really are, as they naturally 
 must be, more successful, than if connected only with a single 
 class. 
 
 The clergy of Germany are mostly the sons of the lower 
 classes of tradesmen, and farmers, and sometimes of clergy- 
 men. They receive an education almost gratuitous, enter on 
 a parish benefice with very moderate stipends, from their 
 family alliances have no connexion witii the higher ranks, and 
 their profession does not, as with us, raise them to an equality 
 
 2 E2
 
 216 BERLIN. 
 
 with those classes. They know but little of the world are 
 unfit for any practical application of their talents, and indulge 
 in speculative dreams, heated by the national schwarmeri/, 
 or visionary feelings, and not corrected by much association 
 with those who mix in the business of active life. 
 
 Besides the want of sufficient rank in the clergy, the decline 
 of religion among the people may be attributed, in a great 
 measure, to the want of some prescribed forms of public 
 worship, which would attest and perpetuate the real doctrines 
 of their faith, by constantly impressing them at every repetition 
 of the service of the church. For want of this, the worship is 
 as various as the mouths that pronounce it, and generally at 
 variance with that part which is metrical, and therefore pre- 
 scribed, and to which what remains of the ancient faith is 
 principally owing. The king of Prussia is so sensible of this, 
 that being pleased with what he saw in England, he has nomi- 
 nated some ecclesiastical commissioners to prepare a iiturgy 
 for the public service of the evangelical church. Nothing, 
 however, has yet been produced, though the work has been 
 three years in preparing, and it is said that some intractable 
 difficulties present themselves, which cannot, ait present, be 
 overcome. 
 
 After what has been said of the Protestant church, it would 
 be unjust not to add, that whatever may be the errors and 
 heresies of the clergy, the great body of them, especially the 
 rural pastors, are men of good morals, have a sympathy with 
 the distresses of their poorer parishioners, console them in their 
 sufterings, advise them in their difficulties, and, as far as their 
 narrow means extend, relieve them when in want. As this 
 was a subject to which, in almost every village, I directed my 
 attention, and, as my informants were generally the farmers,
 
 BERLIN. 
 
 217 
 
 I j^ive the result of my inquiries with more confidence than if 
 I had derived it from the higher orders only. -,; au.,; 
 
 In Berlin, there is no compulsory law for the maintenance of 
 the poor, nor is such a provision made for them in any part of 
 Germany, as we have, unfortunately, established. As there is 
 no check on benevolent feelings, created by a legal provision, 
 spontaneous charity is most abundantly exercised, and the 
 workhouses and hospitals for the relief of the sick, the aged, 
 and the destitute, are both numerous, well endowed, and 
 economically administered. The charity-schools, belongino- 
 to different churches, as well Sunday as others, are very 
 numerous. There are several houses for the reception of 
 orphans, and hospitals, which receive annually several thou- 
 sand patients. Besides these charitable institutions, others of a 
 provident nature have been founded, by which, on the payment 
 of certain annual sums, the widows of officers, clergymen, 
 civil officers, and many others, receive pensions, after the 
 death of their husbands. I do not believe that any capital in 
 Europe exceeds Berlin in the number and variety of its bene- 
 volent institutions, designed to afford relief to the various kinds 
 of distress to which man is subject. 'fr'»iflfh 
 
 In speaking of that social intercourse which assumes in 
 every place a somewhat different character, but, on which, if 
 not on its mode, much of the happiness of life depends, I can 
 only state, what occurred to my observation, in the circles to 
 which I had access. After the first introduction, there is little 
 ceremony, and no constraint ; parties meet at certain houses, 
 on given nights, where conversation is the principal amuse- 
 ment, where cards, or chess sometimes, and music occasion- 
 ally, forms a part of the entertainment. There are, however, 
 I was informed, other houses, some of which play, and, in
 
 218 
 
 BERLIN. 
 
 others, music may be said to form, not the amusement, but the 
 business of the company. Wherever I was introduced, I 
 found the conduct of the hostess was easy, polite, and hospita- 
 ble. The refreshments were slight, and confined to tea, coffee, 
 and cakes, with occasionally negus or puncli, and were 
 evidently considered by the company as sec(Hidary_obj^c^s* 
 The general tone of the conversations, which were carried 
 on in groups, was intelligent and well-bred, and with much 
 more of discussion than of disputation. I was frequently both 
 surprised and pleased at the knowledge displayed by the 
 ladies on subjects which they had borrowed from our best 
 books of travels and voyages, a species of reading which they 
 seemed mucii to deliglit in, and for which, of late years, they 
 all most thankfully acknowledge themselves indebted to the 
 enterprise and spirit of our countrymen. 
 
 There are scarcely any works of our English travellers 
 which are not immediately translated into the German language, 
 and read with avidity by those who cannot understand, or 
 cannot afford to buy the originals. English is, however, very 
 much read, especially by the rising generation ; and many are 
 acquainted with our literature, who never attempt to speak the 
 language, or to understand it when it is spoken to them. 
 Almost the only circumstance by which I ever felt annoyed in 
 good company, was, when some person, who had read much 
 English, and fancied they could pronounce it, has addressed 
 me in a language meant to be ours, but which was unintelligible 
 to me. It would have been too rude to say, their English was 
 so badly pronounced, that I understood their German better, 
 though I was often tempted to make the remark. 
 
 The prevalence of the English language is checked by two 
 circumstances, which arc not likely to be speedily, if ever
 
 BERLIN. 219 
 
 changed. Our books are very ex.pensive, principally from 
 the superiority of the printing and the paper. The, Ger- 
 mans are a frugal people, and, in their luxuries, of which 
 books are the chief, they carry their parsimonious habits 
 to a great extent ; hence tJie books they publish are on 
 wretched paper, and the types are, if possible, still worse, 
 but as they are purchased for the sake of their contents, 
 and not for their beauty, their appearance, though coarse 
 and homely, satisfies their readers. Some few of our more 
 popular works are reprinted, but the majority of readers 
 are obliged to content themselves with translations of the 
 greater part. 
 
 Another obstacle to the more general diffusion of English 
 conversation, is the want of masters who speak it correctly, 
 or without foreign accent, I believe there is not a single 
 teacher of English in Berlin, who is a native of England. 
 Education of every kind here is cheap ; lessons of music and 
 drawing are not paid for at the rate of more than eight-pence 
 or ten-pence each hour, and the teachers of our tongue can 
 scarcely obtain so much. These are prices, at which no native 
 of England, competent to the task, will engage his time and 
 attention, and there are not a sufficient number of pupils who 
 will pay a better price to give employment to a master. One 
 unfortunate person, who, from some treasonable practices, at 
 the early stage of the French Revolution, was compelled to live 
 out of England, was patronised by the royal family, and con- 
 trived to earn his bread by teaching. He is now dead, and no 
 other master is established in his room. 
 
 I seldom heard any French conversation in Berlin. It was 
 evidently avoided, and only used when there were Englishmen 
 present who did not speak German.
 
 220 BERLIN. 
 
 It is a fortunate circumstance, as far as a taste for conversa- 
 tion is concerned, that there are few newspapers published 
 here, and that their contents occupy but a small portion of 
 attention in the social circles. When so many papers -are 
 published as in London, and are so universally read, it too 
 often happens, that conversation, instead of presenting the 
 ideas which have sprung up in the minds of the speakers is 
 only a repetition of something they have gleaned in their daily 
 perusal, and which, having been seen there by the rest of the 
 company, has neither novelty nor individuality to recommend 
 it. The literary journals, which are here produced are numer- 
 ous, and certainly give a tinge to the conversation, but as they 
 are not quoted so near to the period of their publication, as 
 when the ideas originate from a daily paper, the interval is 
 sufficient to allow of some reflections being imbibed, besides 
 those which the periodical writing has supplied. 
 
 The admiration of Shakspeare is in Berlin, and indeed 
 throughout Germany, carried to an extent which is very 
 gratifying to our national taste. Schlegel has pointed out 
 his beauties with so much discriminating genius, and has, in 
 his contrasts between him and the other modern poets, so 
 exalted him, that when the name of Shakspeare is uttered, 
 I have always been prepared for, and not frequently disap- 
 pointed of hearing a quotation from Schlegel. Milton is a 
 great favourite, and Young in some degree ; but I thought 
 it a proof of improvement in the taste of this city, that Ossian, 
 who was formerly the greatest favourite, was now seldom 
 named. At the period of my former visit, too, the philosophy 
 of Kant, and the poetry of Wciland, were much in vogue in 
 the society of some literary ladies to which I was introduced ; 
 but in the parties now, they were never spontaneously named.
 
 BERLIN. 221 
 
 and when I wished to know the views of this generation, I 
 found both ihese authors considered as obsolete. 
 
 Of our present poets, I think Walter Scott seemed to be 
 preferred ; his bustling battle scenes are much to the taste of 
 the Germans, and they generally agreed, that his writings were 
 more intelligible to them, than those of Lord Byron. I met, 
 
 however, one lady, the daughter of Baron K^ , who was a 
 
 most enthusiastic admirer of the noble peer, who had studied 
 him in the original, who thoroughly understood him, and pre- 
 ferred his works to every thing English, except the immortal 
 Shakspeare. As the taste of this lady was not of the common 
 cast, so neither was hers the common opinion of the merits of 
 the two writers. Southey is less read than I should have 
 expected. His " Curse of Kehania" is in the taste which Ger- 
 many valued twenty years ago, but seems of late to have aban- 
 doned ; and his " Roderick, the last of the Goths," has not been 
 so widely known in Germany, as it deserves to be ; where I 
 heard it mentioned, it was with decided, but not rapturous 
 applause. Of their own recent poets, I think Schiller is by far 
 the most highly prized ; perhaps, I ought to except Klopstock, 
 but he was certainly less spoken of in the circles I visited, than 
 he was formerly. 
 
 In such mixed societies as I have spoken of, almost every 
 subject that can interest persons of taste and information, is 
 at one time or other introduced ; and as most have some pur- 
 suits of a literary nature, which engross their attention, there 
 are few subjects in which some new, or apparently new thought 
 is not communicated, and often pursued to the neglect of the 
 common tattle which every city will afford. On the whole 
 the state of that society of which I saw most, was good, and 
 politics, the fruitful source of discord, were seldom mentioned. 
 
 2 F
 
 222 BERLIN. 
 
 but left to smaller circles of quidnuncs, where full scope was 
 given to every wild and theoretic speculation, but without 
 any factious intentions, or any design beyond mere specula- 
 tion. In such companies I sometimes mixed, with great 
 pleasure ; and thought the parties listened with attention to 
 an Englishman, who; if not profound in his theories, might 
 be thought to have acquired some little knowledge from 
 living in the only country where they would allow that 
 practical liberty existed. 
 
 In the company of those men of letters who have assumed 
 the appellation of Liberals, I heard much complaint of the want 
 of a, constitution, and many censures on the King, who having, 
 as they say, promised one, had not fulfilled his engagement. 
 Among these gentlemen, I heard the acknowledgment cheer- 
 fully made, that their own government was the most econo- 
 mical in Europe ; that it was regular in all its details, faithful 
 to all its engagements, and more desirous of preventing than of 
 punishing crimes. I could never understand from such per- 
 sons, whose acuteness, talent, and intelligence was consider- 
 able, what kind of a constitution they desired, nor what 
 materials they had in the country, either for erecting or main- 
 taining such a fabric as they imagined to be necessary. I 
 asked frequently, if it was possible to form in Prussia, a repre- 
 sentative body, which while it asserted its own independence 
 would define and maintain the necessary prerogatives of the 
 monarch. The answers I received were such as convinced me 
 that those who were most vehement for a change had the 
 least contemplated the nature of the one they required. 
 
 No two that I conversed with, could agree on even the pre- 
 lin)inary step to what they all clamoured to obtain. If asked, 
 whether they thought one or two chambers best; if the 
 
 ^s /
 
 BERLIN. 223 
 
 upper chamber should consist of representatives chosen by 
 all the noble families, or if the heads only of those families 
 should be entitled to seats and votes : if asked, how the lower 
 house should be erected ; if it should be chosen by the landed 
 proprietors and the corporations of the cities, by the whole 
 of the householders, or by the universal and equal suffrage 
 of all persons at years of maturity ; it was easy to ascertain 
 that none of these things had occupied their thoughts, or been 
 even slightly adverted to. By the ancient constitution of all 
 the territories of which Germany is composed, meetings of the 
 states used to be held, to advise rather than to control the 
 sovereigns. If the Liberals were asked, if such constitutions 
 were the objects of their desire, and would satisfy their wishes ; 
 it was clear that they speculated on some greater change, 
 neither the progress nor issue of which they had ever con- 
 templated. 
 
 I found some desirous of a representative body founded on 
 the basis of the population, and divided in proportion to it ; 
 whilst some others were favourable to a representation on the 
 basis of property. I endeavoured to show that in the present 
 state of Prussia, the result must be the same in which ever 
 way this project of representation was allotted among the 
 inferior actors. The great mass of the population are 
 husbandmen, residing on the lands of the greater nobles, to 
 whom if they pay no rent, they pay some equivalent in feudal 
 services. Among these copy-holders, it is not possible to 
 extinguish all sense of the obligations they may receive from 
 lenient lords, or of apprehension from offending severe ones. 
 If a body of representatives are to be chosen by this, the majo- 
 rity, they must necessarily choose their lords, some member 
 of his family, or some person he may recommend; they have 
 
 2 f2
 
 224 BERLIN. 
 
 no knowledge of fit persons but through their information ; 
 and if they had, they have none of that sturdy inde- 
 pendence which would induce them to act in opposition to 
 their wishes. .'omr^i'' >^'>?) 
 
 tnit seems to me clear, that any representative body would in 
 Prussia be a pure aristocracy, which might check the 
 monarch, but would not elevate the people. Prussia is a 
 military monarchy ; its nobles, who would be its represen- 
 tatives, are themselves military men of high rank, or aspiring 
 to high rank. Whatever corporation spirit such men might 
 acquire by being associated together as a deliberating body, 
 they would certainly have no great aversion to a war which 
 might yield them fame or promotion, and no great sympathy 
 with those who are subject to the conscription. They would 
 be more likely to keep the army up to a high numerical 
 standard, than to sacrifice their prospects of promotion, and 
 their hopes of military glory out of regard to those whom they 
 consider as born to be commanded, and who having ever lived 
 under the system, they would contend, neither complained, nor 
 had a right to complain, of its being continued. 
 
 Any assembly that could be collected in Prussia from the 
 elements that are to be found there, and by the voices that 
 must choose them, would most probably become a body with 
 an eager desire for war ; and would compel their monarch to 
 employ them in hostilities against his weaker neighbours, 
 Hanover, Saxony, and Brunswick; and thus would kindle 
 a tiame which might become general over the civilized 
 world. 
 
 ^^If any thing resembling the British constitution could be 
 introduced in Prussia ; if the king and his ministers would 
 offer up a portion of the prerogatives of the monarchy ; if the
 
 BERLIN. 225 
 
 nobles would abandon a part of their privileges; and if, what 
 is more improbable, the demagogues would retrench their wild, 
 extravagant, and impracticable notions ; and if by these sacri- 
 fices a free constitution could be framed ; yet the want of 
 those supports which can only be created in a long course of 
 time and by gradual steps, would deprive it of all prospect of 
 durability. Our institutions, which support the general frame 
 of our constitution, have grown up with it, and have created 
 orders of men, such as could only be produced under those 
 circumstances, and who, though they may bear the same name, 
 are utterly unknown in Prussia, j jjj-.» .» ,.>.3^i; ^iiv^d i^ ui.iipJiJ 
 The class from which the great number of our tnagistrate's 
 are taken, the country gentlemen, who are neither nobles, 
 military, nor legal men, is unknown. A body of merchants- 
 and manufacturers, who by their capital give employment to 
 numerous workmen, and who, like the country gentlemen, 
 are too rich to be dependant on the smiles or frowns of the 
 court, is not to be found in Prussia. 1 have already spoken 
 of the church, which, unlike our own, is nearly dependant on 
 the state. But above all, a body of lawyers acquainted with 
 the constitution, and devoted to its support, as much by esprit 
 cle corps as by their known duty, rising gradually from the 
 employment of advocate to that of judge, and in the former 
 capacity, qualifying themselves for the discharge of the duties 
 of the latter, is very remote from the system in Berlin. There 
 the practice of law is not deemed necessary previously to a 
 man becoming a judge, and the knowledge required, is to be 
 obtained by a course of lectures in the University, and an 
 examination founded on them ; and not, as is the case with us, 
 by twenty years' assiduous attendance in the courts of justice. 
 -^ ' juj xo JioiJJoq u qu i^iio
 
 226 
 
 BERLIN. 
 
 The ablest advocate has no prospect of being elevated to the 
 bench, nor is the highest of the profession, even in the capital, 
 in a rank in society equal to that of many provincial attorneys 
 in England. 
 
 mfTv/o things have appeared to me of more importance than 
 what they call a constitution, but of which, from none of the 
 felamourers for it, could I obtain any definite description. Per- 
 gonal security is essential to a moderate degree of national 
 prosperity, and our Habeas Corpus may be considered the 
 best step to solid improvement ; but, its importance seemed to 
 me, not to be duly impressed on the minds of the German 
 liberals. With us, the practical enjoyment of this right de- 
 pends on the independence of our judges, whose high character 
 cannot be created by the summary process in which it is here 
 formed, or supported without emolument and rank, which the 
 office does not confer. 
 
 The military conscription, by which every young man, at 
 the age of twenty-one, is compelled to serve in the army, is a 
 tremendous evil ; but, from being familiarized to it, it is here 
 much less a subject of complaint than many other evils which 
 appeared to me of inferior moment. Prussia is indeed a 
 military monarchy, and the support of her power depends on 
 her armed force, as she is surrounded by powerful and jealous 
 rivals ; but that state of society must be very bad, in which the 
 armed force is so considerable, as to demand the service of the 
 whole population. Great as is this evil, it is the last which 
 would be cured by any of the projects for a constitution, which 
 i have ever heard suggested in this country. 
 
 In conversing on our institutions, which was an agreeable 
 topic with many persons of good understanding, 1 found our
 
 BERLIN. 227 
 
 trial by jury was by no means a favourite. It was urged, that 
 it was very absurd to bring together twelve men with dilFereut 
 portions of intellect, with conflicting prejudices, under biases 
 of various discordant natures, and to expect from them any 
 unanimity of decision, which was not rather a compromise 
 between right and wrong, than an enlightened and upright 
 judgment. With an attachment, not to say pertinacity, such 
 as all our countrymen feeU I urged the practical ett'ect which 
 endeared the institution to us, and endeavoured to illustrate it 
 in various ways ; but either my eloquence was feeble, or their 
 regard to abstract theory was greater than to plain matters 
 of fact ; and, though all applauded the institution of our 
 grand juries, I found few who could see the full excellence 
 of our common juries, especially in cases between man and 
 man. - , p 
 
 The number of authors in Berlin is very great : by a list, 
 which I have seen, they amount to three hundred and eight, 
 besides those at Potsdam, and in the other places of the king- 
 dom. This arises principally from the very cheap rate at 
 which a good education may be obtained in this country. In 
 consequence of this. Universities are tilled with youths of a 
 lower rank in society than are usually sent to Oxford and 
 Cambridge ; and, as they lodge and eat in the towns, the 
 tutors have little control over their studies, and still less over 
 their religious principles or moral habits. 
 
 - For a long period, there has existed among these students 
 a spirit partaking of free-masonry and chivalry. They have 
 been divided into orders of a kind of mock knighthood, and 
 these different orders have imbibed so much of a singular kind 
 of party feeling, that a young man, entering on a college 
 course, is frequently compelled to fight some duels with one
 
 228 BERLIN. 
 
 party, that he may stand on good terms with the one into which 
 he has enlisted himself. These duels, being fought with 
 swords, and terminating as soon as blood is drawn, are seldom 
 fatal ; though more than one family has to lament the loss of a 
 hopeful youth, who, in such contests, has fallen a victim to this 
 detestable spirit. 
 
 When Germany rose against France, in what is called the 
 War of Deliverance, the students from the Universities took 
 up arms, and entered zealously into the cause of their country, 
 and the chivalrous spirit fostered within their college circles 
 was well directed to the defence of the nation. When peace 
 was made, those who survived returned to their colleges, and 
 there that enthusiasm which had been nurtured by war, and 
 inflamed by the successful result with which it was crowned, 
 was directed to political speculations, with a degree of 
 ardour which left no room for any pursuit but that of re- 
 medying the defects they imagined to exist in their own 
 governments. 
 
 It is difficult to convey to an English reader the enthusiastic 
 feelings which prevail in Germany, especially among the young 
 men. They have been naturally portrayed by Goethe, in the 
 Sorrows of Werter, as far as relates to love ; but the same 
 intensity is extended to other passions, and kindles emotions, 
 and gives utterance to expressions as fervid and impassioned as 
 any that are to be found in that extraordinary tale. These 
 strong sensations became directed to politics, partly from the 
 scenes in which the youths had been recently engaged, and 
 partly from the stimulus applied by some of the professors, 
 who, with more zeal than judgment, rather favoured political 
 fury than scientific application. The governments have prohi- 
 bited some of the orders in the Universities, but they only
 
 ''Berlin. 229 
 
 assumed a different and more general title, and increased in 
 numbers. 
 
 The assassination of Kotzebue, and the attempt to commit 
 the same crime on the President Ibell, were more probably 
 the eifects of the mad enthusiasm with which the two perpe- 
 trators of the horrid acts were inspired, than of any con- 
 certed and connected plan. However this may be, many of 
 the professors did not express that horror of the transactions 
 which every man, not heated by political metaphysics, natu- 
 rally felt. Some even offered apologies, which, if they did 
 not express, at least implied, admiration, and, in indirect 
 terms, insinuated that the end justified the means. 
 
 As it must appear singular, that a man like Kotzebue, who 
 filled no political character, and was only supposed to be 
 employed in composing comedies, should be selected as a 
 victim. I narrate the particulars of the event as I received 
 them from an intimate friend of his, with whom he had con- 
 versed on the subject, a short time before his assassination. 
 
 The Emperor of Russia had sent Kotzebue into Germany, 
 and allowed him to address him without official intervention 
 on a variety of subjects, literary as well as political. He wrote 
 in French, and employed as his amanuensis, a young German, 
 who wrote a distinct hand, but was acquainted with no other 
 than his own language. Having finished a letter to the Em- 
 peror, he left it with this person to make a fair copy. A word 
 occurred so obscurely written, that the amanuensis could not 
 make out the letters which composed it. He applied to a 
 person who lodged in the same house for an explanation, who, 
 seeing the subject of the letter, and knowing by whom it was 
 written, and to whom addressed, was curious to take a copy, 
 and, under some pretence, desired the amanuensis to leave it 
 
 2 G
 
 230 BERLIN. 
 
 for a short time, when he would give him the explanation ot 
 the doubtful word. The interval was employed in extracting 
 some portions of it ; these were soon handed about among 
 the democratic party, and they, among themselves, kindled 
 a flame, which heated their party against the writer in an 
 immeasurable degree, and his murder, by one of them, was the 
 consequence. 
 
 I was disappointed in not seeing the copy of the whole letter 
 which Kotzebue, who was aware of the storm raised against 
 him, had given to my informant, who had sent it for perusal to 
 a distant correspondent. I was assured that, as a whole, there 
 was nothing that ought to have excited indignation ; and even 
 the detached passages, which were surreptitiously obtained, 
 and secretly handed about, contained no more strictures on the 
 professors, or the students, than any impartial spectator might 
 communicate, and not written in terms more severe than 
 I have employed to place the same things before my English 
 readers. 
 
 The conduct of many of the students, and of some of the 
 professors on this occasion, justified a severity of language, 
 which, if the victim had lived, he would probably not have 
 used. The family of the murderer was the object of their 
 especial sympatiiy, whilst that of the victim was disregarded, 
 and his memory loaded with the basest charges of every kind, 
 which were probably false, but which, whether true or not, 
 did not render the conduct of Sand less atrocious, nor that of 
 his apologists less detestable. 
 
 It was certainly high time, where such doctrines were 
 taught as many avowed, that a thorough reform should take 
 place. Several of the professors have been dismissed without 
 any regard to their attainments in learning, when those attain-
 
 BERLIN. 231 
 
 ments had been prostituted or made subservient to political 
 purposes. By a regulation among the dift'erent princes, those 
 professors who have been dismissed for political intrigues from 
 one university, cannot be received into another ; a regulation 
 which, in Germany, has been stigmatized with every oppro- 
 brious epithet that could be invented, but which every 
 Englishman would applaud, if it were necessary to make 
 similar enactments respecting Oxford and Cambridge. 
 
 The number of students in the Universities of Germany is 
 tnucli greater, in proportion to the population, and to the 
 wealth of the country than in England. Hence the market for 
 literature and literary acquirements, is overloaded with compe- 
 titors, who, with a decent quantity of learning, and mediocrity 
 of talent, (for great learning and extraordinary talents are 
 sure to meet their reward,) cannot find situations that require 
 their attainments. Many young men, after completing tlieir 
 university career with honour, are glad to fill stations, the 
 duties of which could be as well performed by youths of very 
 common acquirements. The natural effect of there being a 
 greater portion of learned education than the wants of the 
 community demand, is that of lessening its value in the 
 general estimation: hence the literary character is lower in 
 Berlin than in London. 
 
 The political influence of men of letters is but small beyond 
 their own circles. They mix little with either the higher or 
 the lower classes of society ; but form rather an insulated body, 
 which might become the depository of all sorts of revolu- 
 tionary projects, if there was any prospect that by the same 
 liberty of the press as we enjoy, they could give vent to 
 their speculations. The press though not rigidly, is carefully 
 watched, and though theories of government are indulged 
 
 2 G 2
 
 232 BERLIN. 
 
 to a considerable extent, no invective or abuse can be pro- 
 mulgated ; and mere theory without invective has little 
 influence on the populace, who in every country, can only 
 be roused by bold abuse and exaggerated representations. 
 
 I by no means wish to intimate, that all the literary men have 
 given their minds to wild political theories. I believe, that 
 many are as cool in their judgments and in their conduct, as 
 any men ; if they wish for reforms, it is only for such as 
 are practicable, and they would not think even those de- 
 sirable, unless they could be obtained by honourable and 
 peaceable means. 
 
 After this long account of Berlin, it will be obvious that 
 I found it a very agreeable place. I found access to society 
 easy, when it was seen that I was not fastidious ; a fault 
 very commonly attributed to our countrymen in foreign coun- 
 tries, and which may, in some measure, arise from being 
 accustomed to various comforts, which habit has made 
 almost necessary, and which seldom can be found in even 
 the capitals on the Continent. Berlin is at present rendered 
 a more agreeable residence to an Englishman, from the 
 polite, attentive, and hospitable conduct of our ambassador, 
 Mr. Rose, to whom every one who visits that city feels 
 the warmest obligations ; and to whom I am happy to add 
 my grateful acknowledgment to those of all others, who have 
 been there. 
 
 Under the Prussian government, there is an office in the 
 department of the treasury, called the Statistical Bureau, 
 where statements of the various classes of inhabitants, of 
 the extent of the provinces, of tlieir productions, and 
 other similar matters, are collected and arranged. The 
 state of the finances, the income, expenditure, and debt.
 
 PRUSSIA. 233 
 
 like the collections at the statistical bureau, are open to 
 the knowledge of the public ; so that under the absolute 
 monarchy of Prussia, a great degree of notoriety is given 
 to public affairs, and so far it approaches to, and is pro- 
 ceeding towards, the establishment of the institutions of a 
 free government. From the various documents open to 
 general inspection, the view of the dominions of Prussia, which 
 I here present, is taken. 
 
 The whole of the Prussian states in 1817, contained a 
 population of 10,536,571, of whom 5,244,308 were males, and 
 5,320,535 were females ; the marriages were 1 12,034, the 
 deaths 306,484, and the births 454,031, of which 33,576 were 
 illegitimate. The proportion of sexes born was twenty males, 
 to nineteen females. The deaths, two in sixty-nine, were one 
 male to thirty-three, and one female to thirty-six. Of the 
 legitimate children that were born, two out of ten died in the 
 first year ; of the illegitimate children, three out of every 
 ten. 
 
 The increase of the subjects of Prussia, may be thus stated for 
 the last hundred and thirty years. On the death of Prince 
 Frederick William in 1688, they were 1,500,000, at the death 
 of King Frederick, in 1713, they were 1,620,000; at the death 
 of Frederick William the First, in 1740, they were 2,200,000; 
 at the death of Frederick the Second in 1786, they were 
 5,800,000 ; on the death of Frederick William the Second, 
 and the accession of the present king in 1797, they were 
 8,700,000. 
 
 The inhabitants at present, are distributed in the following 
 manner :
 
 234 PRUSSIA. 
 
 In 26 cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants 836,079 
 136 of more than 3,500 and less than 
 
 10,000 765,936 
 
 194 between 2,000 and 3,500 inhabi- 
 tants 508,933 
 
 407 between 1,000 and 2,000 . . 597,947 
 
 258 below 1,000 186,937 
 
 2,895,832 
 Villages and farms 7,640,739 
 
 10,536,571 
 
 The religious denominations, and the number of each were 
 in 1817: 
 
 Lutherans 6,064,379 
 
 Catholics . 4,023,513 
 
 Reformed 300,101 
 
 Jews 127,345 
 
 Mennonites 15,333 
 
 Moravians, Hussites, Socinians, and 
 
 other small sects, about .... 6,000 
 
 10,536,571 
 
 The whole surface of Prussia, according to the measurement 
 of Hofmann, is 5,034 German square miles, or 74,108,800 
 British statute acres ; being a little more than six acres, and 
 three quarters to each human being, that subsists upon it. 
 The inliabitants are divided into nobles, burghers, and pea- 
 sants. The first class is subdivided into two, the higher and 
 the lower nobles. The high nobility are those who were formerly
 
 PRUSSIA. 235 
 
 a kind of petty sovereigns, distinguished by the epithet 
 mediatisirte/i, but whose independence is merged in the general 
 government, The whole number of these families do not 
 exceed fifty. The lower nobility amount to about 200,000, 
 but their privileges have been gradually contracting ; and in the 
 eye of the law, they are only equal to the other inhabitants, 
 but have some preferable claims to certain offices in the army, 
 the state, and the church. The burghers are the inhabitants of 
 towns, who are not noble, and either carry on some trade, 
 or possess houses within the towns. The power of the different 
 guilds over the burghers, has been of late diminished ; so that 
 now they may carry on whatever business they please, without 
 those restrictions which formerly confined them to particular 
 lines of exertion. The peasants in Prussia as well as in some 
 other parts of Germany were formerly slaves, like those of 
 Russia, and like them were sold with the land ; but their 
 condition has gradually improved, and during the reign of the 
 present king, the last vestiges of this barbarism have been 
 removed. The final abolition of personal slavery in the whole 
 of the provinces, was not decreed till September, 1811 ; and 
 though the war, that soon after occurred, suspended in part the 
 practical operation of the law, the peasantry have availed 
 themselves of it, to some extent, and it will be gradually acted 
 upon when agriculture becomes again flourishing, till the whole 
 of this description, amounting to more than two thirds of the 
 population, will feel the important benefit. The peasantry can 
 now purchase lands, and many of them have already availed 
 themselves of the advantage conferred by this extension of 
 practical freedom. 
 
 The Prussian dominions are divided into those provinces, 
 which are within Germany, and form a portion of the German
 
 236 
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 confederation, and tliose which have no connexion with that 
 alliance. 
 
 The German Prussian provinces are 
 
 Brandenburg 
 
 Pomerania 
 
 Silesia 
 
 Saxony 
 
 Westphalia 
 
 Juliers, Cleeves, and Berg . . 
 The Lower Rhine 
 
 Prussian Provinces out of Germany 
 
 East Prussia 
 
 West Prussia 
 
 Posen 
 
 Extent in British 
 statute acres. 
 
 Number of Inbabi- 
 tants. 
 
 Capitals. 
 
 11,025,280 
 8,331,520 
 
 10,598,400 
 6,663,040 
 5,534,720 
 2,325,760 
 4,039,360 
 
 10,333,440 
 6,844,800 
 7,919,360 
 
 73,615,680 
 
 1,297,795 
 
 700,766 
 
 1,992,598 
 
 1,214,219 
 
 1,074,079 
 
 935,040 
 
 972,724 
 
 919,580 
 581,971 
 847,800 
 
 10,536,571 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 Stettin. 
 
 Breslau. 
 
 Magdeburg. 
 
 Miinster. 
 
 Cleeves. 
 
 Coblentz. 
 
 Kcinigsberg. 
 
 Dantzic. 
 
 Posen. 
 
 The difference betwixt the detailed statement of the number 
 of acres in each province, and that given before as the general 
 result, may be accounted for by the great rivers and lakes, 
 which are the boundary lines of several of the provinces ; and 
 whose surface is included in the general calculation, but 
 necessarily omitted when the several divisions are separately 
 estimated. The province of Neufchatel is under the protec- 
 tion of the Prussian government, but is, in some respects, 
 considered an independent state, forming one of the Swiss 
 republics. Its extent is about 2'20,8()() acres, and the number 
 of its inhabitants 4<j,7'iO. 
 
 From the provinces of East and West Prussia, of Silesia, 
 of Magdeburg, and from many dcpartmeiits of the other
 
 PRUSSIA. 037 
 
 provinces, returns have been obtained. These returns extend 
 to more than four-fifths of the territory. The others are 
 estimated by calculation, and the result of the whole is, that 
 the land is thus appropriated : 
 
 ACRES. 
 
 Under the plough 29,224,741 
 
 Under garden culture 295,302 
 
 Vineyards 36,908 
 
 Meadows and pasture J 4,6? 2,000 
 
 Woodlands and plantations .... 17,574,294 
 
 61,803,245 
 
 The remaining 11,800,000 acres are either in ponds, lakes, 
 rivers, roads, the sites of cities, towns, and villages, or of a soil 
 so bad as not to be deemed worth cultivation. 
 
 A very acute statistical writer, Krug, in the year 1805, 
 published an account of the value of the land, and its annual 
 income in the year preceding, which bears the marks of very 
 great accuracy. Since that period, considerable changes 
 have taken place in the territories subject to Prussia. A large 
 portion of Poland, which then was under the government of 
 Prussia, has been dissevered from it ; but, as on the other hand, 
 the provinces beyond the Rhine have been added, which are 
 more fertile, though less extensive, the difference in the 
 quantity of the products cannot be considerable. I do not 
 give this estimate made by Krug as any thing more than an 
 approximation to the truth, but I notice many marks of high 
 probability, in the coincidence of his statements with what I 
 have myself heard and seen of the very small increase from 
 the seed that is yielded in this poor and badly-cultivated land. 
 
 2h
 
 238 
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 Ploughed land 
 
 Pasture and grazing land . . . 
 
 Woodland 
 
 Garden and vine land .... 
 
 Mines 
 
 Fishery on lakes and rivers . . 
 Game (which is sold in the markets) 
 
 Value of the Cnpitai in 
 Pounds sterling. 
 
 Annual Income. 
 
 200,513,150 
 
 8,029,530 
 
 77,890,150 
 
 2,614,566 
 
 75,729,150 
 
 1,029,166 
 
 11,591,650 
 
 440,483 
 
 1,195,850 
 
 47,500 
 
 2,964,775 
 
 118,592 
 
 2,642,290 
 
 105,291 
 
 £372,527,015 
 
 £12,376,128 
 
 In rendering the rix-dollars into pounds sterling, I have cal- 
 culated at the rate of three shillings and two-pence each, which 
 is somewhat more than their usual value in exchang-e. 
 
 The provinces of East and West Prussia, of Pomerania, 
 and of Posen, are thinly peopled, the land is more pro- 
 ductive of corn than Silesia or Brandenburg, which draw 
 a part of their consumption from those districts. After sup- 
 plying their own demand, and the wants of the adjoining 
 provinces, there is a considerable surplus in most years, which 
 is shipped from Dantzic, and is held, especially the wheat, in 
 great estimation in foreign countries. The whole of the corn 
 that is exported from Dantzic is not, however, from the surplus 
 of the Prussian territory ; much of it is brought from Poland, 
 and some from the Russian provinces, when the price is suf- 
 ficiently high to pay the expense of the transit. Though these 
 provinces export corn, it is rather from the peasantry being in 
 a state of great depression, and consuming but little them- 
 selves, except potatoes and the coarsest grain, and, from the 
 great extent of land, in proportion to the number of inhabitants, 
 than from any extraordinary productiveness in the seed that is
 
 PRUSSIA. ^^g 
 
 sown. The average increase is estimated to be six for one of 
 wheat, five and three quarters for one of barley, four for one 
 of rye, and four and a half for one of oats. The produce of 
 the four provinces of East and West Prussia, of Pomerania, and 
 Posen, on the average of seven years, was the following, 
 which I have reduced to English quarters of eight bushels, 
 Winchester measure, from the German wispel, in which the 
 accounts of corn are kept : wheat 300,083, rye 2,300,970, 
 barley 1,660,010, oats 2,173,560, buck-wheat 113,225, and 
 pease 329,178. And further, as food for man, 17,508,880 
 bushels of potatoes were harvested. 
 
 Besides the plants cultivated for food on the arable lands, 
 the Prussians grow many articles for commerce. The most 
 important of these is flax, which is cultivated almost univer- 
 sally for domestic use by the peasantry, and of which one 
 million stone of twenty-two pounds each is produced for sale, 
 on an average of years. Of this quantity, two-thirds is grown 
 in Silesia, and is used by the manufacturers there. The flax 
 is generally of a good quality, with a fine and long fibre, 
 especially when raised from foreign seed. This change of 
 seed is so necessary, that large quantities are imported from 
 Russia, and that which is raised at home is used to make 
 oil and oil-cake, with the latter of which the oxen are 
 fattened. 
 
 Tobacco was cultivated to a great extent, whilst foreign 
 commerce was under an interdict ; and, though opening the 
 ports has reduced the quantity very much, yet some of the 
 soils are so well adapted for its growth, that it is still continued, 
 though upon a small scale. 
 
 Madder is raised both in Silesia and on the Lower Rhine, 
 and woad was grown in large quantities, during the existence 
 
 2 H 2
 
 240 PRUSSIA. 
 
 of the continental system, but the price of indigo has fallen 
 so much, that woad has ceased to be profitable, and its 
 cultivation is much reduced. Saflour is grown in Langen- 
 salza, Erfurt, Miilhausen, and some other parts, especially in 
 Silesia. 
 
 Hops are raised in Brandenburg, Pomerania, Silesia, West 
 Prussia, Saxony, and on the Rhine, in sufficient quantities, 
 to supply the brewers within the kingdom. The average 
 quantity produced is about 550,000 bushels, for they are sold 
 by measure, and not, as with us, by weight. 
 
 An article, produced from the arable land, lately of great 
 importance, and still of some consequence, is the cichorium, 
 or succory, which, during the continental system, was ex- 
 tensively used as a substitute for coffee ; and though that 
 commodity is now cheap, yet the succory is so much cheaper, 
 and the flavour so very pleasant, that it is still mixed with the 
 coff"ee, both from taste and economy. It was, indeed, in use 
 before the period alluded to, and was ever a favourite be- 
 verage with those who could not afford to buy cofffee. 
 
 The most productive branch of rural economy, next to the 
 use of the plough, is that of breeding cattle ; one, in which, 
 on every part of the continent, except the kingdom of the 
 Netherlands, the practice is so much worse, and the extent so 
 much smaller than in England, that no surprise is excited in 
 those who remark it, that the quantity of corn grown on the 
 arable land bears so small a proportion to the extent that is 
 sown. According to the estimate of Krug, the live stock of 
 all kinds, is as follows : 
 
 Horses and foals 1,661,800 
 
 Cows 2,355,902
 
 PRUSSIA. 241 
 
 Oxen and bulls 1,255,000 
 
 Heifers and calves .... l,64b",.918 
 
 Sheep and lambs 11,230,000 
 
 Swine 2,644,000 
 
 Goats 181,000 
 
 Asses and Mules 9,680 
 
 Bee-hives 521,000 
 
 To these must be added the featliered tribe, but princi- 
 pally the geese, whose number is very considerable, but has 
 not been estimated with any tolerable precision ; and the 
 amount of annual income they are stated to yield, appears to 
 me rather a guess than a calculation. 
 
 The income furnished by the live stock of the kingdom is 
 estimated 
 
 From the cows £9,077,566 
 
 Calves and heifers .... 1,062,250 
 
 Sheep 1,663,450 
 
 Swine 622,408 
 
 Bees 356,091 
 
 Goats 7,441 
 
 Horses, mules, and working oxen 312,983 
 
 Feathered tribes .... 266,475 
 
 13,368,664 
 The annual profit presumed to arise from 
 meadow and pasture land, (see page 
 238) is £2,614,566 
 
 Which gives income from live stock . £10,754,098 sterling 
 
 »•
 
 242 ' PRUSSIA. 
 
 i'> The nextmd^fpfddtictive branch of wealth derived from the 
 soil is, that which arises from the extensive woods that cover 
 more than one quarter of the surface of the kingdom. About 
 two-fifths of these woods are the King's hereditary domains ; the 
 rest belong either to the corporations, to the nobles, or to 
 other individuals ; but all are under the direction of the forest 
 administration, whose business it is to secure the public from 
 the want of fuel. The produce of these woods have been 
 already stated, including- timber for building, for fuel, for 
 joiners' work, and for converting into pot-ash, turpentine, 
 rosin, and tar. 
 
 Fruit, esculent vegetables, and wine, may be classed together ; 
 though, since the acquisition of the Rhenish province, the 
 latter production is one of great importance. Fruit-trees were 
 very rare in Prussia before the reign of Frederick II., but, by 
 the encouragement he gave, they were vastly multiplied, and 
 are now calculated to be 15,140,000 in number. The wine 
 made in Prussia before the acquisition of the province of the 
 Lower Rhine, was of a bad quality, and scarcely better than 
 vinegar. The banks of the Rhine now yield good wine, of 
 various kinds, the quantity of which together, is from 390^000 
 to 420,000 eimers, a measure of about 15 of our gallons. 
 
 The fisheries and the game are not unfrequently farmed, 
 and there are instances of individuals, who give from 600 to 
 900 pounds sterling per annum, for the right of fishing in 
 certain lakes and rivers. Where the game is not farmed, but 
 remains in the hands of a nobleman, even of the highest rank, 
 what is not consumed at his own table, is carried to the market, 
 and the practice of selling it is not deemed in the least dis- 
 graceful, or unworthy of his rank. 
 
 The last branch of those sources of production which the
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 243 
 
 land of Prussia yields is the mines. These are by no means 
 worked to the extent which tiiey are capable of, thouo-h 
 progress is making in almost all of them. There is not a 
 province within the Prussian dominions in which iron ore of 
 some kind is not found, and scarcely any part in which the 
 mines of it are not worked. The forges and blast furnaces 
 are almost wholly supplied with charcoal fuel from the woods 
 in their vicinity, though, in some few instances, and upon a 
 small scale, fossil coal in the form of coke is used. From the 
 circumstance of iron ore and charcoal being almost every 
 where found, the different works and mines supply a certain 
 circuit round them; but, if they extend that circuit a little 
 wider, they come in contact with some other work, which 
 compels them to contract themselves within their natural 
 sphere. As little or no iron is exported, because it can be- 
 made cheaper in countries that have more easy access to the 
 ocean, the mines of that article are not likely to become 
 productive beyond the demand for domestic consumption, and 
 can only increase as that may increase. 
 
 The quantity of iron at present made in Prussia, is about 
 one hundred and twenty thousand tons per annum. A part 
 of this is converted into steel, and a part is applied to the 
 fabrication of various utensils, some of which are exported to 
 the amount, on the whole, both of raw and manufactured 
 goods, of 300,000 pounds sterling. 
 
 The article from the mines, next in importance to iron, is 
 salt, made partly from the solution of sal-gem, partly from 
 saline springs, and prepared for culinary purposes by evapo- 
 ration. The quantity annually produced is two million 
 bushels ; but considerable cargoes of rock-salt are imported 
 by the provinces bordering on the Baltic sea, who can draw
 
 244 PRUSSIA. 
 
 their supplies of that indispensable commodity cheaper from 
 the mines of Cheshire, than from those in the distant Prussian 
 dominions. 
 
 Coals are found in Silesia, Saxony, Westphalia, and on the 
 Rhine. The most extensive works belong to the crown. 
 There is a general prejudice in this country against the use 
 of this fuel, perhaps, not wholly without foundation, as 
 those I have seen are certainly more sulphureous than ours 
 usually are ; but, if a scarcity of wood made it necessary, other 
 veins would, doubtless, be discovered, not so much impreg- 
 nated with that substance. The whole quantity of coals, 
 at present raised from the mines of Prussia, is only about 
 twelve millions of our bushels, or three hundred and thirty 
 thousand chaldrons. 
 
 Gold mines were worked in Silesia, but ceased in 1798, 
 when the gross produce was reduced to about one hundred 
 ounces. Silver mines are wrought at Tarnowitz and 
 Rudelstadt, in Silesia, and at Mansfeld and Rothenburg in 
 Saxony ; but the whole annual produce does not exceed 
 one hundred and sixty thousand ounces. The other minerals 
 are, copper, lead, cobalt, calamine, arsenic, alum, vitriol, 
 saltpetre, and sulphur ; but none of these suffice for the 
 consumption. 
 
 The fishery for amber is a property of the crown, carried on 
 by those who farm it, as well as the mines of the same article 
 at Dirshkeim and Groshubnichen, near Pillau. 
 
 The manufactures of the kingdom, like the erection of its 
 metropolis, have been produced by extraordinary and even 
 unnatural efforts on the part of its rulers. Not only were 
 prohibitions laid on some, and heavy taxes on other articles, 
 of foreign fabrication, but such raw productions as were
 
 PRUSSIA. 245 
 
 capable of being manufactured at home, were forbidden to be 
 exported ; many manufactures which were originally nursed 
 up to strength by these means, have now become established 
 and extended, and would be continued without such aids. 
 
 The most natural manufacture of Prussia is that of linen cloth, 
 which has been long made in Silesia, where constant practice 
 has given to the females a peculiar skill in spinning the 
 finest threads from flax. In 1805, there were 34,910 looms 
 employed in weaving linen in that province, whose pro- 
 ductions were estimated at 1,689,915 pounds sterling, of which 
 te foreign demand amounted to 970,000 pounds sterling. 
 From that year, owing to the war, and the closing of the 
 ports which followed it, the trade was much reduced, and has 
 never since attained the standard it had then reached. The 
 linen manufactories in the western provinces which have been 
 recently added to the Prussian dominions, are extensive, and 
 may be found in almost every house ; but they furnish little 
 for foreign consumption. The number of looms in the whole 
 kingdom, in the year 1816, were 207,870. 
 
 The increase of Merino sheep has given, and still con- 
 tinues to give, a great stimulus to the fine woollen manu- 
 factures, especially to those in the newly-acquired provinces 
 bordering on France, where some of the best fine woollens 
 that Europe can exhibit are made. In the department of the 
 Roer, or as it is now called, of Aachen, just within the 
 boundary line that separates the Prussian dominions from 
 France, the towns of Eupen, Aachen, Montjoie, Stolberg, 
 and Malmedy, prepare from the native wool, the finest cloths 
 and cassimeres, the annual value of which is, at present, about 
 1,250,000 pounds sterling, and they give employment to 50,000 
 workmen, as well as to every kind of machinery that has been 
 
 2 I
 
 246 PRUSSIA. 
 
 invented in England or elsewhere. The fabrics have been 
 much improved ; the manufacturers contend, that their cloths 
 are superior in quality, and lower in price, than any that we 
 make ; and, at the last fair at Leipsic, where the buyers and 
 sellers met in great numbers, in consequence of a dispute on 
 the subject, a committee was appointed, who were neither 
 interested in the manufactures of England, nor in those of the 
 Rhine, but who, as purchasers, may be presumed to be both 
 competent and impartial judges, to examine and report on the 
 best cloth in the city from the two countries. Their decision, 
 I am sorry to say, was unanimously in favour of the cloths 
 from Eupen. The encouragement given to them by the 
 merchants from Greece and from Turkey, who meet the 
 manufacturers at Leipsic, and at Frankfort on the Oder, has 
 acted as a stimulus to greater exertions, and to a greater ex- 
 tension of their several establishments. The fine cloths of 
 Eupen appear to me not to be sheared so close as ours, or to 
 have more wool raised by the teazles ; so that, though they do 
 not look so beautiful when new, they can be worn longer before 
 they become threadbare. 
 
 The amount of the iron manufactures has been already 
 noticed, and it is only necessary to observe, that the fabrica- 
 tion of arms, one branch of them, is very extensively carried on 
 by the government. Paper is made sufficient for common pur- 
 poses in 301 mills, but the superior kinds fit for printing maps 
 and plates are supplied from England or France. Cotton goods 
 are made in many parts of the country ; but, since 1805, the 
 manufactories of them have gradually declined. The silk and 
 mixed goods, of silk and wool, and silk and cotton, and 
 ribbons, are sufficiently extensive to supply the home con- 
 sumption, and employ together in the capital and other places.
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 247 
 
 about 20,000 looms. The different kinds of leather are made 
 here, the skins produced in the kingdom are insufficient to 
 supply its demands, and considerable quantities of Buenos 
 Ayres hides are imported from England and Spain. Copper 
 and brass articles for all domestic uses are made partly from 
 the copper and calamine raised from the mines within the 
 kingdom, but principally from copper furnished by other 
 countries. The amount of these wares annually fabricated are 
 estimated at about 200,000 pounds sterling. 
 
 Tobacco, snuff, refined sugar, soap, candles, glass, earthen- 
 ware, and almost every article of common consumption, is 
 made within the kingdom. 
 
 In the eastern part of Prussia, as no wine is grown, the 
 common beverage is either beer, or spirits distilled from corn ; 
 the establishments for brewing and distilling are consequently 
 numerous, but none of them approach in magnitude to the 
 larger concerns of a similar kind in England. The whole 
 quantity of beer that is brewed is 4,243,100 fass or casks of 
 fifty gallons each. The consumption of corn brandy, on an 
 average, is upwards of eight million gallons annually. 
 
 The artists, or the traders that approach to that character, 
 are in sufficient numbers for the wants of the country. Printers, 
 letter-founders, copper-plate engravers and printers, instrument- 
 makers, watch-makers, and persons of similar professions, are 
 to be found in all the larger cities. 
 
 The number of workmen, including masters, journeymen, 
 and apprentices, employed in the various branches of the 
 manufactures, are estimated to be about 350,000; and the 
 value of their productions, beyond the cost of the raw materials, 
 are calculated to amount to 7,600,000 pounds sterling. 
 
 Prussia is in a situation to command a considerable 
 
 2 I 2
 
 248 PRUSSIA. 
 
 transitu commerce, and to become an entrepot for the north 
 of Europe ; but her system of prohibitions is so strict, and the 
 conduct of her revenue-officers so vexatious, that no mer- 
 chandise passes through it to other countries, that can find a 
 passage by otlier routes. The foreign commerce of Prussia, by 
 land, is principally with Russia and Austria ; with both those 
 states, the balance is against her. From Russia, she obtains 
 hemp, corn, tallow, hides, and other productions of the soil ; 
 and, in return, sends both linen and woollen cloths. From 
 Austria, she receives salt and wine, and sends linen yarn in 
 return. The provinces on the Rhine carry on considerable 
 traffic in wine and manufactured goods to the adjoining 
 provinces in the kingdom of the Netherlands, and to several 
 states of Germany. 
 
 Though Prussia possesses several sea-ports on the Baltic, 
 yet none of them are capable of receiving ships, of a consi- 
 derable draft of water, nor are the entrances to any of them 
 either easy or perfectly safe. Dantzic, once a Hans-town, 
 commanding the commerce of the Wesel, is now much declined. 
 It still, however, exports corn, wood, pot and pearl-ashes, 
 linen, wool, wax, horse-hair, and feathers; and imports 
 colonial wares, and some few manufactured goods. Konigsberg 
 exports corn, but the vessels that are loaded with it, can 
 approach no nearer than Pillau. Elbing has lately increased, 
 by dividing the commerce with Dantzic, and the exports as well 
 as imports are of the same description of articles as in that city. 
 Memel is the most considerable port at present, and exports 
 corn, ship timber, and masts, flax, pot-ashes, and flax-seed, to a 
 considerable extent. Stettin has the largest import trade of 
 any Prussian port, as, from its position on the Oder, it is best 
 calculated to receive and forward colonial produce to the
 
 PRUSSIA. 249 
 
 capital, and the centre of the kingdom. It is also the place 
 from whence the greatest portion of the fisheries is carried on. 
 Stralsund, though the best port, has but little trade, from 
 wanting water communication with the interior of the kingdom. 
 Colberg, Rugenwalde, Stolpe, Barth, Swinemunde, and Wol- 
 gast, have but little trade ; it is, however, carried on princi- 
 pally by their own shipping. The whole shipping belonging 
 to the different ports of Prussia, in 1816, were only 883 vessels* 
 capable together of carrying 90,292 lasts of corn, or about 
 950,000 quarters. The greater portion of tlieir exports are 
 conveyed by foreign ships, of which the British exceed in 
 number those of all other nations together. 
 
 The whole exports of Prussia, consisting of corn, woollen 
 goods, and wool, linen and linen yarn, wood, and a variety 
 of smaller articles, amount, on the average, to 4,500,000 
 pounds sterling. The imports, consisting of sugar, coffee, 
 French and Hungarian wine, cotton-wool, silk, and a vast 
 number of other commodities of trivial value, amount to 
 3,750,000 pounds sterling. 
 
 The extent of Prussia is greater than that of Great Britain, 
 and its population only one sixth less, and yet the surplus pro- 
 ductions are not more than one twentieth part of ours ; and 
 probably, the domestic consumption of the various commodities 
 produced from the soil and the labour of man, does not amount 
 to more than one third of what is consumed in this island. 
 Tlie climate of the two countries is nearly the same. The 
 soil of Prussia is naturally not inferior to that of Great Britain. 
 The sandy plains around Berlin, in Pomerania and in East 
 Prussia, do not exceed in extent the mountainous districts in 
 the north of England, and the highlands of Scotland, and
 
 250 
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 with all their sterility are easily made to produce aliment in 
 greater abundance than the worst districts in our island. 
 
 The forces of the kingdom are of three descriptions, viz., 
 1st., the troops of the line or regulars, a kind of conscripts 
 formed of young men between twenty and twenty-five years of 
 age, who are all compelled to serve. Those who purchase 
 their own arms and accoutrements, and pay a certain sum, may 
 be allowed after one year's drilling, to pass into the second 
 class of troops, the landwehr, and become jagers or sharp- 
 shooters. 
 
 The landwehr consists of all those between twenty and 
 twenty-five, who have been excused from serving in the line, 
 and all other males between twenty-five and forty. In time 
 of peace, this body meets for exercise one day in the year ; 
 but in time of war, becomes a disposable force, and marches 
 wherever it may be required. 
 
 The landsturm is composed of all males capable of bear- 
 ing arms, from forty years of age and upwards. This force is 
 only called out in time of war, but not to march against the 
 enemy, as its duty is confined to maintaining internal tran- 
 quillity, and guarding prisoners. 
 
 Men. 
 The regular troops are the guards, which form a 
 complete army of cavalry, infantry, horse-artillery, 
 
 and foot-artillery 18,220 
 
 Infantry of the Line : 
 
 34 regiments of three battalions of 801 men each, 
 
 2 battalions of jagers, and two of sharp-shooters, t 112,140 
 
 34 garrison battalions 
 
 Carried forward 130,360
 
 PRUSSIA. iJ51 
 
 Men. 
 Brought forward 130,360 
 
 Cavalry : 
 
 4 cuirassier, eight dragoon, twelve hussar, and 
 
 8 hulan regiments, each of 60 » men . . . 19,232 
 
 Artillery and Engineers : 
 8 brigades of artillery, 1,656 men each, eighteen 
 companies of engineers and pioneers, 120 men 
 each 15,408 
 
 165,000 
 The Landwehr consists of 
 
 8 battalions of guards 3,204 
 
 25 regiments of infantry, with artillery 
 
 attached to each corps .... 142,900 
 
 100 squadrons of cavalry 13,900 160,004 
 
 325,004 
 
 The officers of the different ranks in this army, in the year 
 1817» were 7,405, of whom 4,140 were nobles, and 3,265 
 burghers. As the pay of the officers of the army is small, 
 they are rewarded by decorations and orders, which are very 
 flattering to them, and which are usually distributed both 
 with judgment and good effect. The orders of knighthood 
 are the black eagle, the red eagle, the order of merit, the 
 order of St. John, of the iron cross, and the female order 
 of Louisa, instituted to favour those ladies who, in 1813, 
 assisted the distressed, and stimulated the warriors. 
 
 It excites some degree of surprise in an Englishman, when 
 he first learns how small the public revenue of Prussia is, 
 that its army should be so numerous, and yet the national
 
 252 PRUSSIA. 
 
 debt so small. The conduct of this government shows what 
 wonders may be performed by economy and regularity in 
 matters of finance. 
 
 The accounts of the revenue, state the produce of the 
 several provinces thus : 
 
 East Prussia 8,100,000 
 
 West Prussia 3,750,000 
 
 Posen 3,100,000 
 
 Brandenburg 9,000,000 
 
 Pomerania 3,000,000 
 
 Silesia 13,500,000 
 
 Saxony 10,417,000 
 
 Westphalia 8,431,000 
 
 Juliers, Cleeves, and Berg 8,670,000 
 
 Lower Rhine 7,000,000 
 
 74,968,000 gulden, or 
 
 7,5:28,000 pounds sterling. 
 
 The private estates of the King, which are extensive in all 
 the provinces, form an important item in this amount. They 
 are mostly farmed, and produce an income of more than 
 10,000,000 gulden. Another branch, called the Regalia, or 
 royalties, consists of the produce of the mines, salt-springs, 
 the game, the profits on the coinage, on the posting and 
 postage, and some other branches, which are hereditary in the 
 crown ; some of these are farmed, and the others administered 
 by officers of the King. The income, from these royalties, 
 varies from 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 gulden. The property of 
 the crown thus forms more than one quarter of the whole
 
 PRUSSIA. 253 
 
 revenue of the kingdom. The other sums are derived from 
 taxes on the land, on persons, and on patents and licenses, 
 which are denominated direct contributions, and from an 
 excise, or rather a custom-duty on various foreign productions. 
 A small sum arises from stamp-duties. In those provinces 
 which formerly were a part of the French empire, the taxes on 
 land, on trades, and on doors and windows, as then established, 
 are still continued. These sources of revenue occasion a host 
 of petty officers, whose salaries absorb one quarter of the sum 
 drawn from the subject, and who, by the rigidity of the 
 system, as well as its complexity, present great obstacles to 
 all commercial transactions. The whole system of Prussian 
 revenue is peculiarly harassing to the neighbouring states ; 
 and is more vexatious, from the territories being in detached 
 portions, which intervene betwixt different states, and some- 
 times between different parts of the same state. 
 
 The expenses of the Prussian government have always been 
 so far below the income that a large sum has been accumulated 
 in time of peace, to meet the exigencies of war; and no 
 debt existed, till the fatal irruption of the French, in 1806. 
 That, and the succeeding events of the subjugation, of the 
 war of deliverance, and the efforts made on the return of 
 Buonaparte from Elba, have created a debt, which is, however, 
 already considerably reduced, and will be liquidated in a 
 few years, by the revenues from the newly-acquired territories. 
 The funded debt, including 6,000,000 pounds sterling to the 
 British subjects, and that to Denmark and to Sweden, 
 amounted, in the beginning of J 819, to 240,000,000 gulden, 
 and the floating debt to about 30,000,000, but much of the 
 latter has been extinguished in the current year. The present 
 expenditure is thus ; 
 
 2 K
 
 254 PRUSSIA. 
 
 Establishment of the royal household 2,250,000 
 
 Military expenditure 37,500,000 
 
 Civil expenditure 7,500,000 
 
 Interest on the public debt . . . 15,000,000 
 
 62,250,000 gulden, or 
 
 6,510,000 sterling. 
 
 In this account of expenditure, the cost of collecting the 
 revenue, and the expenses of several departments are not 
 noticed, because they are charged on the different branches, 
 and deducted before the money comes into the treasury. 
 
 No court can be less expensive than that of Berlin, and no 
 monarch less attentive to his personal gratifications than the 
 present king, who, like his predecessor, Frederick II., ap- 
 propriates but a very small portion of his patrimonial income 
 to his private purposes, but devotes it principally to the 
 service of the state. 
 
 I left Berlin by the road which I entered, and proceeded to 
 Dresden through Potzdam. I was alone in the carriage, and, 
 wishing for a companion, invited a very well-dressed young 
 man, who was walking the same road, to take a seat with me, 
 which he very readily accepted. On engaging him in con- 
 versation, I soon learned his short history. He was a young 
 tradesman, the expiration of whose apprenticeship, and his 
 twentieth birth-day, had nearly arrived. According to the 
 general lot of his countrymen, he was to become a soldier 
 in a few days, and was repairing to Potzdam, to join the 
 corps to which he was designated. He frankly told me, that 
 if he could have got to Hamburg, he would there jiave worked 
 at his trade till he iiad saved money enough to carry him to
 
 PRUSSIA. 255 
 
 England, where, like all the young Prussians, he supposed 
 money to be so plentiful, that a fortune must soon be acquired. 
 The fear of a very rigid police, which watches every young 
 man about twenty years of age, and is peculiarly vigilant on 
 the frontiers, and the dread of the severe punishment which 
 follows what is called desertion, when detected, had prevented 
 him from attempting it. Such deserters, like others, are 
 sentenced to hard labour for six months, and afterwards 
 compelled to serve in a condemned regiment for the remainder 
 of their lives. Community in calamity seemed to have recon- 
 ciled my young companion to his lot ; and he consoled him- 
 self by thinking, that, when not on duty, he could earn 
 something which would make his situation more comfortable 
 than that of the peasants, who usually form the greater part 
 of the regiments, and who can get no employment in the 
 garrisons where they are quartered. The pay is only two 
 groschen, or three-pence a day, and a ration of black rye- 
 bread, weighing about eighteen ounces. When the time of 
 service expires, my young man told me, a less strict watch 
 would be kept over him, and then he should escape from the 
 country. 
 
 I have been told, that this desire to leave their country is 
 almost universal among the youth in the cities, as they approach 
 the period when they must enter the service ; and it is so natu- 
 ral, that I have no difficulty in believing it : among the peasants, 
 the case is different ; they live poor as soldiers, but not more so 
 than in the houses of the farmers, and the labour of exercising 
 is not so great as that of ploughing or thrashing ; so that they 
 are not, like the tradesmen of the cities, placed in a worse 
 situation by being compelled to serve. 
 
 The approach to Potzdam from Berlin is more striking than 
 
 2 K 2
 
 256 ■ PRUSSIA. 
 
 the prospect appears when going from the former to the latter 
 city. The Havel, on the left, extends itself to a fine lake, 
 from whose very edge plantations rise above each other, regu- 
 larly increasing in height, to a considerable elevation. 
 
 Whilst changing horses at Potzdam, I was induced to go to 
 the lake, to see what is quite a phenomenon in this country, a 
 steam-boat. It has been finished some time, and was designed 
 to convey passengers to Hamburg. It is, I think, the largest I 
 ever saw, it is very neatly fitted up within side with accommo- 
 dations for passengers of various ranks, at different prices; 
 owing to some unsettled points about the tolls to be paid to the 
 sovereigns through whose dominions the river Elbe passes, ithas 
 never made a voyage. Whether it will ever be in operation, is, I 
 find, now a matter of doubt ; but it would be a vast advantage 
 to have an intercourse with Hamburg from the centre of Prussia, 
 and even of Saxony, by any means which would enable pas- 
 sengers to avoid the deep sands which compose the only road 
 between Berlin and the nearest sea-port. 
 
 On the side of Potzdam, towards Saxony, by which I left 
 that city, the meadow lands are very good, but, I suppose, 
 generally flooded in the winter; for the bridge over the lake 
 is continued to the end of the meadows, for nearly half a mile. 
 
 There appeared more activity on this part of the river, than 
 I had observed in any other. Many large flat vessels were 
 navigating, some loaded with hay, and others with various com- 
 modities. The vessels are about sixty feet in length, very 
 narrow, with remarkably lofty prows. They had a single 
 sijoulder-of-mutton sail, with a sprit, which was shifted as the 
 vessels tacked, and used as an out-rigger when sailing large. 
 
 A gentle ascent brought me to the royal woods of C'unncrs- 
 dorf, which are of great extent, a part of which was felling.
 
 BELITZ. 
 
 257 
 
 and converting, on the spot, to the various purposes for whicli 
 it is required. The land gradually improved, and though a 
 sandy soil, was more of a loamy appearance than I had lately 
 seen; and as I approached to Belitz, it changed to a clayey 
 loam well calculated for wheat. The three-course rotation 
 is universally followed, but frequently wheat instead of rve 
 succeeds the fallow crop of flax or potatoes. 
 
 Belitz, a market-town of 1,850 inhabitants, has some linen 
 manufactories, but principally depends on its agriculture. It 
 has a gay and pleasing appearance. The houses are none of 
 them large, and mostly of mud, between upright and diagonal 
 wood frames. The wood-work is painted of a very dark green 
 colour, and the mud of a light pea green, whilst the doors and 
 windows are yellow, which has a good effect. This place is 
 surrounded by some most fertile meadows, on which between 
 ninety and a hundred fine cows were feeding. I was told, that, 
 when the summer is moist, these meadows afford three crops of 
 hay in the year, and have never yielded less than two. The 
 corn-land too is good, and the fertility of this neighbourhood 
 is visible in the size of the barns, and the comparative neatness 
 of the farm-houses in the villages around it. There is a beau- 
 tiful lake at the end of this town, extending from the meadows 
 and terminating on a bank rising from it, that is covered with 
 plantations. 
 
 As I was proceeding from Belitz, I overtook a very well 
 dressed man with a military appearance, and, being again 
 alone, invited him to a seat, which he accepted. He was well 
 bred, but appeared, for some time, rather sulky. When forcing 
 my conversation on him, I happened to make some allusion to 
 England, and calling it my country, he seemed surprised, and 
 said, he thought I had been a Frenchman. When assured an
 
 258 TREUENBRIETZEN. 
 
 that point, after venting some vehement exclamations against 
 France, Frenchmen, and Buonaparte, I found him an interest- 
 ing, though not very intelligent, companion. He had been 
 adjutant of a regiment, and during the war had fought at 
 Bautzen and Leipsic, and was proceeding to join Blucher, 
 when he was saluted with the intelligence of the battle of 
 Waterloo. When the war ended, he became a farmer on one 
 of the King's estates, near Treuenbrietzen. I was rather 
 amused with his slight knowledge of the state of the world 
 beyond the boundaries of Germany. He thought England 
 was now at war with Spain, and with the United States of 
 North America, as well as fighting with what he called the 
 rebels of Manchester, but he thought the latter must be de- 
 feated, if Wellington commanded the army against them. Like 
 all the military, he was almost wild in his praises of our great 
 commander, and seemed proud to have once seen him, when in 
 Paris with his regiment. 
 
 This ignorance of what is passing in the world, is by no 
 means uncommon among those who live wholly in the country, 
 and gain no other intelligence but what reaches them by the 
 meagre articles in the few newspapers that are circulated in 
 the provincial districts. It has frequently afforded me much 
 amusement to hear the views of our affairs which are taken by 
 those who are constant readers of their own journals, in which 
 articles of intelligence from England are so much abbreviated, 
 as to communicate very indistinct notions. I have met with 
 few who had any knowledge of the difference between the 
 common-hall, the common-council, and the common's-house ; 
 and the short sentences from the city orators are received with 
 as much confidence as the equally short ones from the most 
 distinguished statesmen in St. Stephen's chapel.
 
 TREUENBRIETZEN. 259 
 
 Treucnbrictzen, a small city, which I reached in the after- 
 noon, is on the river Neiplitz, which runs to the Havel. It 
 here turns a paper-mill, which I found at work, making- very 
 coarse printing-paper. The water is beautifully clear, and 
 if the rags from which the paper was made had been sorted, 
 in the same manner as is practised in our mills, they certainly 
 might make as good paper ; but, in that article, as well as 
 most others, economy and utility are deemed of more conse- 
 quence than beauty. This city has now no walls, but fertile 
 gardens occupy the place formerly covered by them and the 
 ditches. The gates still remain, to maintain its claim to the 
 rank of a city. It contains 3,690 inhabitants, one half of whom 
 are employed in various manufactures. The principal of these 
 is coarse woollen cloths, which are wove in one hundred looms ; 
 none of those which I saw were weaving from fine wool, but 
 I was told that some little cloth from the wool of the Merinos 
 was made in the place. The looms were on the common 
 principle, and differed in nothing from ours, except in the 
 parts being heavier and stronger, and, consequently, requiring 
 more exertion to weave with them. The number of looms 
 used for weaving linen-cloth are about seventy, and some of their 
 productions are of a fine quality. Besides this business, there 
 is a large tannery, a brewery, and a considerable distillery. 
 
 As the inn was clean, I resolved to pass the night at it. After 
 conversing with the quidnuncs of the place in the coffee-house, 
 and surprising them with the indifference with which I treated 
 the events at Manchester, which, to people who never heard of 
 fifty thousand men being assembled for any purpose but tliat 
 of fighting, appeared terrific, I retired to my apartment, 
 I found there were neither blankets nor quilts in the house, 
 and therefore was obliged to sleep between two feather-beds.
 
 260 PRUSSIA. 
 
 to the corners of which the sheets were attached. This mode 
 of sleeping, which is very agreeable in severely cold weather, 
 in warm or in temperate weather, is rather annoying ; but in 
 many of the inns in the smaller towns, there seems to be no 
 medium between sleeping with no other covering, but that 
 of a sheet, or being melted by the heat of an upper light down 
 or feather bed. 
 
 I left my quarters too early to see the environs of the town 
 on the road to Dresden, and reached the village of Heyde to 
 breakfast. On my left hand, I passed close to the village of 
 Grossbeeren, which has become a place of some notoriety, 
 as the field of battle, where in August 1813, the king (then 
 Crown Prince) of Sweden checked the advance of Vandamme, 
 and saved the capital of Prussia from the fury of the invaders. 
 A small stone obelisk, with an iron cross on the top of it, 
 marks the spot. Some Prussian officers asserted to me, that 
 in the battle, which continued two days, the whole brunt was 
 borne by their troops, and that the Crown Prince, who com- 
 manded the united army, very carefully kept his Swedish troops 
 threatening, but not fighting the enemy. Such representations 
 are of course liable to su picion, and perhaps ought not to be 
 noticed, but certainly should not be credited without other 
 evidence than that of one party. 
 
 Around Heyde, Grossbeeren, and the whole road to the 
 small town of Kertsberg, the land is a sandy loam, partly in 
 woods, which would be of immense value if there were water 
 carriage, for many of the oaks were some of the largest timber 
 I have ever seen; but I was informed the expense of conveying 
 them to the Elbe, would exceed their value when they reached 
 that stream. The arable land is all cultivated on the three- 
 course rotation. The ploughs are very small, drawn by three
 
 PRUSSIA. 261 
 
 oxen or cows abreast ; the mould board has no curve, but is 
 perfectly straight, forming an angle of about fifteen degrees 
 with the share, so that the soil instead of being turned over, 
 is merely stirred. In this district, I remarked that the leaves 
 which drop from the fir-trees in the woods, are carefully 
 collected, and are spread as a bedding in the farm-yards, and 
 used in the stables as litter for the horses and cows. The 
 whole of the straw, when cut in the usual manner, is used 
 as food for the horses, cows, and sheep ; the two latter, 
 however, have potatoes besides, and the former oats. 
 
 The increase of grain, here, is about six for one in rye and 
 barley, and eight for one in oats ; but little of the land is 
 adapted for the latter crop. In this district the sheep are all 
 of the Merino breed, and many of the flocks were large, con- 
 sisting of from 600 to 1,000, of all kinds. 
 
 In this tract of country quite to the village of Kosdorf» 
 the last in the Prussian dominions, the land belongs to the 
 King, or to the nobles who, have feudal rights over the 
 peasantry that live in the villages, and cultivate the soil. 
 The flocks of sheep generally belong to these lords of the 
 manor, (Rittergut), and their copy-hold tenants, called their 
 subjects, (Unterthanen), labour on small portions of land, and 
 live in the hardest manner ; and yet neither improve their 
 own condition, nor the soil they cultivate. The houses and 
 barns are almost uniformly of long standing, and the latter 
 very large, capable of containing their whole growth of corn. 
 I did not see a single stack either of hay or corn. 
 
 2 L
 
 SAXONY. 
 
 2 L '2
 
 SAXONY. 
 
 rlOAJESK was the first village I reached in the dominions 
 of the King of Saxony ; and whilst the horses were refreshing, 
 I looked over the establishment of the amtmnn or verwalltr, 
 who exercises the manorial rights, and superintends the pro- 
 perty of the lord. The flock consisted of 650 sheep, they 
 were 1,000 till the year 1813 ; but so many were consumed in 
 that year, first by the French, and next by the Swedes, that 
 they have not yet reached their former number. They seemed 
 to me of the pure Merino breed, with very fine wool ; I was 
 told that no wool in Saxony bore a higher price in the market, 
 than that which was clipped from this flock. The land over 
 which it ranges is very extensive, and the amtman told me 
 that they had a good stock of potatoes and straw for winter 
 food. The land is not good enough to grow flax, so that 
 potatoes generally form the fallow crop, and are succeeded by 
 rye and barley. I saw here the process of husking barley, 
 similar to what is done in making what we call Scotch-barley ; 
 I learnt that it was made into broth, enriched by those who 
 can aff'ord it with meat, and constitutes the most common food 
 of this neighbourhood. I had not seen or heard of this dish 
 before ; and excellent as it is, it is not very common in other 
 parts of Germany. 
 
 Beyond this village, I passed a canal, begun, but un- 
 finished, communicating with some extensive woods, and 
 designed to have terminated in the Elbe ; but the division
 
 <2QQ GROSSENHA^TS". 
 
 of this part of the country in 1815, by which the boundary 
 line between Prussia and Saxony intersects it in several parts, 
 has suspended the work. 
 
 All the rural inhabitants on the Saxon side of the line of 
 division, expressed great joy that they had not been delivered 
 over to Prussia, but were allowed to remain under their old 
 King'; a gratification they felt more strongly, from having been 
 long kept in painful suspense about their fate, and from the 
 reduced numbers of the Saxon army, which does not, like that 
 of Prussia, require the rigid enforcement of a conscription. 
 
 There are in this district very extensive tracts of land, 
 covered with recent plantations of firs, as well as I could judge, 
 of about ten years growth ; one of these plantations must be 
 five or six miles through, as it took me rather more than an 
 hour in passing it. 
 
 Grossenhayn is a beautiful little city on the banks of the 
 river Roder, which flows to the Elbe. The streets are wide, 
 well paved, and lighted ; the houses large, and the square or 
 market-place remarkably fine. It contains three churches, a 
 public school of the superior kind, and two hospitals. The 
 inhabitants amount to about 4,500. It is one of the most 
 considerable manufacturing places in the Saxon dominions. 
 An establishment for j)rinting calicos is conducted here upon 
 a larger scale, than any I have met with. 1 believe the whole 
 is block-printing, for I saw no copper-plates ; the work 
 is remarkably well executed, but the designs without taste, 
 or only such taste as prevails here. This factory employs 
 more than 150 hands. There is, besides, a considerable 
 quantity of woollen cloths made here, some of very fine 
 quality from wool clipped in the vicinity. The master 
 manufacturers of this branch, amount to about one hun-
 
 GROSSENHAYN. 267 
 
 (ired and fifty. The dyeing part of the business has been 
 long celebrated in Germany, and indeed in some measure 
 tlirough Europe, from a person of the name of Barth, 
 having in the year 1743 discovered a preparation for dyeing 
 the colours so well known by the name of Saxon-green, and 
 Saxon-blue, which is still used here. The fulling-mills, 
 and dye-houses, are considerable establishments. There are 
 fabricks of white tanned and curried leather, eight mills for 
 making starch, and the females find constant employment in 
 knitting worsted-stockings. 
 
 I was told that the manufacturers of this city would have 
 been as well pleased, and, were it not for the conscription, 
 much better pleased, to have fallen within the Prussian division. 
 Now they have only the small market which the kingdom of 
 Saxony presents, and, in that, have to contend with powerful 
 domestic rivals, as well as with those of England and other 
 countries ; whereas, in Prussia, they would have had a much 
 larger demand to supply, and would have been protected 
 against foreign competitors, by duties, amounting almost to 
 prohibitions. The inn at which I passed the night was much 
 better than is usually found in cities of similar extent in 
 Germany. 
 
 The stage (of fifteen miles) from Grossenhayn to Dresden, 
 is a delightful road, and the country improves at almost 
 every step as the capital is approached. The soil was better 
 and better cultivated. I remarked some good upland meadows, 
 where the herbage was thick and fine, and the plants were 
 of every valuable kind of grass. I observed, for the first, and 
 almost for the only time, in Germany, a good coat of manure, 
 spreading over the grass land. Passing through a pine wood, 
 apparently of about twenty years' growth, by a long but
 
 268 DRESDEN. 
 
 gentle ascent, a summit is reached, below which is displayed, 
 the narrow, but most beautiful valley, through which the 
 Elbe flows; the splendid city of Dresden, with its. towers, 
 palaces, and bridge ; and the picturesque, rocky scenerj^ 
 which bounds the fissure, through which the river has wot* 
 its passage. The gradual descent improved the prospect, by 
 developing the verdant meadows which expand below the 
 city, on the left bank of the stream, and the entrance to 
 the place, the passage over the bridge, and the noble streets 
 of the new town, create impressions, on entering Dresden, 
 which are more favourable than I ever experienced, 
 on first seeing, in the same transient manner, any other 
 place. -, " 
 
 Although no country has suffered more from the wars 
 which originated in the French revolution than Saxony has 
 done, and though the marks of their ravages are visible in 
 every part of the kingdom, yet the outward buildings in the 
 capital were exempt from such calamities as leave any durable 
 marks, and though it is certainly poor, yet the signs of that 
 poverty are not discoverable in either the public or the 
 private edifices. 
 
 The only public erection that was deranged by the hostile 
 events, the fine bridge over the Elbe, has been completely 
 restored, and no marks of the two explosions which it suffered 
 from the Russians, and from the French, are now to be seen. 
 The vast assemblage of specimens of the fine arts, which are 
 collected here, are undisturbed ; so that, in spite of the poverty 
 by which the kingdom of Saxony is pressed down, its capital 
 presents as many objects to gratify the curiosity of a traveller 
 of taste as any city in Europe. It is scarcely possible to visit 
 Dresden, and inspect the treasures of art and the costly edifices
 
 DRESDEN. 269 
 
 it contains, without being led to reflect on the great amount 
 of unproductive capital, which has been here expended, and 
 comparing it with that parsimony that has been applied to 
 the cultivation of the soil, where the same capital, by its 
 -^Reproductive powers, if less splendidly, might have been more 
 beneficially employed. 
 
 Although the buildings of Dresden have not suffered by the 
 calamities of war, yet the effect on the population has 
 been very distressing. In the year 1811, the number of 
 inhabitants was about 61,500; but in the three following 
 years they were greatly diminished. In 1813, the deaths were 
 5,552, and the births only 1,660. In 1814, the deaths were 
 3,541, and the births only 1,183. A small increase was 
 observed in the two following years, when the births exceeded 
 the deaths by 940 ia both. The scarcity which visited the 
 country in 1817, had a, bad effect again, and the population 
 is not supposed (for no recent enumeration has been made) at 
 present to exceed 45,000, of whom, about 4,000 are Catholics, 
 200 Reformed, 900 Jews, less than 100 other sectaries, and 
 the remainder are Lutherans. A circumstance worth recording- 
 is, that when the births were fewest, the proportion of illegi- 
 timate children was the greatest, and, in the year 1816, the 
 number of them were 366, and those born in wedlock 
 only 499- 
 
 The finest view of Dresden is from the cupola of the 
 Fniuenkirchc, or St. Mary's church, which takes in the 
 whole valley, for a distance of about twenty-five miles, through 
 which the Elbe winds its way from Pirna to Meissen ; but 
 it is bounded by the hills on the opposite bank, called Saxon 
 Switzerland, which in some parts have a narrow border 
 betwixt them and the river, and, in other spots, rise perpen- 
 
 2 M
 
 270 DRESDEN. 
 
 dicularly from it banks, to a considerable height. This 
 church, one of the largest in Saxony, belonging to the Pro- 
 testants, has a heavy appearance. It is built without any 
 wood in the roof, the large square stones being clamped 
 together with iron, and it is so strong as to have been unhurt 
 by the bombs thrown, when the city was besieged, in 1760, 
 and all the houses around it were full of ruins. The interior 
 of the church discovers great simplicity. The altar is a very 
 fine object, and the pulpit and chancel so commodiously 
 placed, that the whole of the large audience can both hear 
 and see the minister. 
 
 The most interesting religious edifice in Dresden, and 
 that which far excels every other that I ever recollect to 
 have seen, is the Catholic church, built for the royal family, 
 communicating with the palace by a narrow gallery, that 
 crosses a street. The church is of a square form, but the 
 nave is an oval. The roof of the nave is elevated above 
 that of the church, and both are surrounded with elegant 
 balustrades ; on the roof, are about sixty excellent statues 
 of various apostles and confessors, produced by the chisel 
 of an Italian artist, Mattielli, from Bologna, who spent many 
 years in the work. The tower, three hundred feet high, 
 gives an excellent finish to the exterior. Within this, is the 
 most neat, elegant, and simple edifice that I ever saw de- 
 signed for the Catholic worship. It has no images, and no 
 pictures, except over the high altar, where there is a beautiful 
 painting of the Ascension, by Raphael Mengs ; and over 
 other altars, by the same artist, the Virgin and Child, and 
 St. Joseph. The confessionals, and the galleries for the 
 Royal Family, arc adorned with richness and simplicity. 
 The floor is of black and white marble ; the pillars that
 
 DRESDEN. 271 
 
 support the edifice are of white marble, and very light ; there 
 are no pews, but benches, on which the females kneel or 
 sit, on one side, and the males on the other. The King main- 
 tains a band of excellent musicians for the service of this 
 church, and their vocal and instrumental powers collect a 
 large congregation ; but it was evident that few of them were 
 Catholics, for I remarked, that scarcely any used the holy 
 water at entering the church, and most of them went away as 
 soon as one celebrated vocal Italian performer had finished 
 the part allotted to him. The catholic service, at least high 
 mass, at which the King and royal family attend, and when 
 the musicians perform, does not interfere with the hours of 
 the Protestant service ; and those who are fond of music, 
 which is here a prevailing taste, may enjoy a great treat, 
 without neglecting their own religious exercises. 
 
 At a Lutheran church, which I attended, the congregation 
 was numerous and attentive; but, as is commonly the case where 
 a liturgical form of worship is not used, a very small part o fthe 
 audience were present when the devotional part of the service 
 began ; many came in when it was half over, and some not 
 till just before the sermon began. The Psalms sung, which 
 form a greater part of the worship, were the old version, 
 not unlike, in quaintness, that of Sternhold and Hopkins, or 
 the one used in the church of Scotland. The prayers and 
 sermon were either extemporary or memoriter ; from the 
 regularity of their composition, I supposed the latter. I was 
 glad to see that the appearance of Dresden, on a Sunday, was 
 much unlike Berlin. The shops were closed, no artificers 
 were carrying on their trades, nor any great crowds in the 
 public walks. After the hours of public service, though the 
 
 2 M 2
 
 272 DRESDEN. 
 
 shops are not opened, the day is generally spent rather in a 
 social than in a gloomy manner. 
 
 The rich productions of art collected here, are more pleasing 
 on inspection, than they can be made by any description. 
 Since the return to their right owners of the valuable pictures 
 from the gallery of the Louvre in Paris, the collection of 
 Dresden is superior to any in Europe, unless, perhaps, that of 
 Florence, which is said to equal it. The building is a square, 
 with large apartments on the four sides, looking outwards, and 
 similar ones looking on the court within the square. The 
 walls of these apartments are covered with green damask, and 
 the pictures have all rich gilt frames, which add to the effect 
 in well-lighted rooms. These pictures have been long in 
 collecting, but the most important additions were made to 
 them by various purchases in Italy, and other countries in 
 detail, and by the whole of the Modena collection being 
 bought for 1,200,000 rix-dollars in the year 1747, since which 
 time few valuable pieces have been added. 
 
 The outer gallery consists principally of the works of the 
 great Flemish masters, some from the Dutch and French, and a 
 few from the Italian painters. There are thirty pieces by 
 Rubens ; among others the Lion-hunt, Meleager, Neptune, 
 portraits of botii his sons, the rape of Proserpine, and others, 
 if not inferior, yet to my eye less striking. 
 
 Several exquisite portraits by Vandyke, amounting to about 
 twenty, are collected ; among the rest, our King Charles I., 
 his queen, and their three sons in one piece. The works 
 of Rembrandt are not numerous, but are select and admirable ; 
 one, a portrait of his daughter, with a flower in her hand, 
 is a most delightful picture, and has less than is usual in his
 
 DRESDEN. 273 
 
 pieces of tlie darkness which is deemed the peculiar cha- 
 racteristic of that great artist. His pupil, Ferdinand Bol, 
 has produced two pictures that are very striking ; one, the 
 Rest during the Flight into Egypt ; the other, David reading 
 a letter, announcing the fate of Uriah. There are a vast 
 number from tiie pencils of Gerhard Dow, of Teniers, of Von 
 Ostade, Netcher, Vander Werf, Breughel, Ruisdael, Berghem, 
 Wouvermann, and other Flemish artists of inferior fame, but 
 of great merit. 
 
 The works of the Dutch painters are not numerous ; the 
 best are, Albert Durer's taking our Saviour from the Cross, and 
 the Death of the Virgin Mary. A picture by Hans Holbein, of 
 the family of a Burgomaster of Basle before a representation 
 of the Virgin, is one of the finest specimens of the old Dutch 
 school that I ever remember to have seen. 
 
 The best paintings of the French artists are, the Sacrifice of 
 Noah, the Worship of the Wise Men, and the exposing of 
 Moses on the Nile, by Poussin ; a Holy Family by Le Brun, 
 and two beautiful landscapes by Claude Lorraine. Among 
 the smaller Italian pieces in the outer gallery, is a remarkable 
 one of John the Baptist by Battone ; and a copy of Raphael's 
 St. Cecilia, which was in Paris, and is returned to Bologna, 
 said to be executed by Julius Romano. 
 
 The inner gallery looking on the court, contains the Italian 
 pictures, and the finest specimens of the best artists which that 
 country has produced. The most prized, is the Madona of 
 Rapliael with St. Sextus, and St. Barbara before her. It was 
 executed when his talents were in their best state, three or 
 four years before his death, and expresses in the countenances 
 of all the personages, the most sublime ideas of devout 
 feeling.
 
 274 
 
 DRESDEN. 
 
 This picture was painted in 1520, for the Benedictine 
 monastery at Piacenza. 
 
 The next striking objects in this gallery are six pictures, 
 by Corregio, each painted at a different period of the life of 
 the great artist. These are the Worshipping of the Shepherds, 
 — Night, an exquisite piece — St. George, with St. Peter and 
 John the Baptist, before the throne of the Virgin and Holy 
 Child — St. Sebastian, with St. Geminiani, and another saint, 
 before the Holy Virgin with the Infant, seated on a cloud of 
 glory — St. Francis, with St. Katharine, and St. Anthony of 
 Padua, worshipping the Virgin ; and the Infant on her lap — 
 and a Magdalen, sunk in penitence and devotion. 
 
 A portrait, by Leonardo da Vinci, the founder of the 
 Florentine school, of Francis Sforza of Milan, has wonderful 
 force and expression. Carlo Dolce's painting of St. Cecilia, 
 and of our Saviour blessing the bread, have a most deserved 
 reputation. 
 
 This vast collection is completed by pieces of inimitable 
 beauty, from the pencils of all the greater masters that Italy 
 has produced. Titian, Tintoretto, Paul Veronese, Hannibal 
 Carrachi, Guido-Reni, Parmegiano, Guercino, Lucas, 
 Giordana, Spagnolette, and Raphael Mengs, have all con- 
 tributed their share to form this admirable assemblage of the 
 proofs of human skill. 
 
 A day is but a short time to view beauties, whose gratifica- 
 tions would be sufficient to fill the mind for months, if constantly 
 occupied in contemplating them. From May to September, 
 the galleries are open, both in the morning and afternoon; 
 and artists are allowed to study in the apartments, many of 
 whom were so employed when I visited it. 
 
 By the kindness of a worthy gentleman, to whom I had
 
 DRESDEN. 
 
 275 
 
 brought introductory letters from England, and who super- 
 intends the gallery of statues, I was enabled to see it on a 
 . day when it was not open to the public, accompanied only by 
 this intelligent friend, imbued with an exquisite taste in all 
 that appertains to the arts. 
 
 The Gallery of Statues is in a splendid building, called the 
 Japan palace, which looks into beautiful gardens, that extend 
 to the banks of the Elbe, and would be a more appropriate 
 residence for the monarch than the old palace or schloss, 
 which he now inhabits. The only defect in this building is 
 in the saloon, by which it is entered, whose height and 
 breadth are so disproportioned to its length as to produce a 
 disagreeable effect. Except this saloon, the whole of the 
 principal floor, consisting of ten spacious apartments, is filled 
 with the ancient statuary. 
 
 The arrangement of the statues is admirable, so as to 
 produce a very striking effect at the first coup cCccil. The 
 collection contains many master-pieces of exquisite art, among 
 which, instead of a few hours, many days may be delightfully 
 spent. One of the most ancient pieces, supposed to be of the 
 age of Phidias, is a candelabra of marble, presumed to have 
 belonged to the temple of Delphos, but whether so or not, 
 beautifully worked, and in good preservation. Many of the 
 antiques have been mutilated, and the deficient parts supplied 
 by the best modern artists. A Cupid and Psyche struck me as 
 admirable. A Roman matron and two younger female figures, 
 supposed to be her daughters, exhibit most wonderful displays 
 of skill, both in the countenances, and in the disposition of 
 the drapery of the dresses. A figure of Bacchus appeared to 
 me very beautiful, and I was particularly pleased with another 
 Bacchus of smaller size, who was naked, and in a tub,
 
 276 DRESDEN. 
 
 pressing grapes with his feet. Some of the antique busts are 
 most wonderful productions, particularly the head of Alexander, 
 and a well-preserved Anti noils. It is, however, impossible to 
 enumerate, or even recollect, all that conferred exquisite 
 delight in this copious repository of ancient taste and superior 
 talent, in an art, which, is less ardently and less skilfully 
 pursued by the moderns, than by their remote ancestors. 
 
 The other collections of curiosities are numerous and 
 valuable. An apartment of the monarch, which is only to be 
 seen by a previous application, and by a very few persons at a 
 time, called the green vault, contains the valuable jewels of 
 the crown, and many rare productions of art and nature. 
 An onyx, six inches and a half high, and four inches and a 
 half broad, which cost 45,000 dollars. A garnet, the largest 
 ever discovered, a green brilliant, and many other similar rare 
 precious stones invite the inspection of visitors. An ancient 
 armory contains many articles, which are specimens of the 
 arms used by warriors in remote periods ; such as the dagger 
 worn by Rudolph, a king of Swabia, in a battle fought at 
 Meresburg, in 1080; an axe that had beheaded 1,400 persons; 
 and another that had performed the same operation on 300; 
 and many arms and dresses which may gratify the antiquarian. 
 
 The museum of natural history is a very extensive collection 
 in the garden of Count Bruhl ; the birds are many of them 
 rare specimens, and the arrangement of the whole is very 
 excellent. It would require a volume to detail all that is 
 worthy of attention in this city. The public library, a very 
 liberal establishment, contains 200,000 volumes well arranged, 
 besides a considerable number of manuscripts ; the collection 
 of the most ancient specimens of typography are both curious 
 and valuable. The library is particularly rich in the Spanish
 
 DRESDEN. 0-jY 
 
 and Portug:uese works, containing the rare historians of the 
 former nation, as well as their ancient poetical chronicles, 
 with those of Albuquerque, and others of the latter. 
 
 The public place called the Zwinger, (Fauxbray,) on the 
 site of the ancient fortifications, deserves some notice. It 
 is an oval building, enclosing an extensive piece of ground, 
 covered with orange-trees, among Avhich is a pleasing summer 
 promenade. The building, which is low but elegant, is a 
 gallery, containing a good philosophical and astronomical 
 apparatus. It was gratifying to my English feelings to observe, 
 that the sextant bore the name of Cary, the circle that of 
 Troughton, the chronometer that of Mudge, and the teles- 
 copes that of Herschel. A thermometer is preserved here, 
 made by the celebrated Fahrenheit, who has given his name to 
 the scale now generally in use. 
 
 The number of learned societies is considerable for the 
 extent of the population, and the institutions for the education, 
 both of the rich and the poor, are quite as extensive as the 
 country can require. Besides establishments for such edu- 
 cation as is common to all the different professions, there 
 are specific ones for military, medical, surgical, and veterinary 
 pupils. 
 
 Dresden is scarcely a place either of manufactures or com- 
 merce, except that artists of various kinds, but none of 
 very great merit, seem to have been attracted to a residence 
 here, by the valuable specimens which they may study, and 
 by the general tendency, at least, to talk about the fine arts 
 which these have created. I believe the painters, modellers, 
 statuaries, and engravers, constitute a more numerous body, 
 than the manufacturers of cotton, linen, silk, and woollen 
 goods,, and other similar but smaller commodities, whicli are 
 
 2 N
 
 278 
 
 DRESDEN. 
 
 made here. The principal trades are the breweries and 
 distilleries; from one of the former, belonging to the cor- 
 poration of the city, the chief part of the municipal revenue 
 is drawn. The china, bearing the name of this city, is not 
 made in it, but at Meissen. The collection preserved here 
 displays the various steps in the progress of that beautiful art, 
 by which the discoverer Bottcher, in the beginning of the last 
 century, was enabled to bring it to a degree of perfection 
 which gave it celebrity throughout Europe. This manu- 
 factory is carried on by the King, and, like other royal fabrics, 
 is a very expensive concern. The warehouse is overloaded 
 with goods, for which there is little demand ; and the workmen 
 have been lately kept in employment by making a superb 
 service as a present to the Duke of Wellington, or, perhaps, 
 a e'reat number of them must have been dismissed. 
 
 The commerce of Dresden is very inconsiderable. A navi- 
 gable river, connecting Bohemia with the ocean, is well 
 calculated for traffic ; but the jealousy of municipal cor- 
 porations is an impediment, and the variety of fiscal laws 
 of the different states through which it passes is a greater. 
 The barges which navigate the Elbe as high as Dresden, 
 owing to some obstacles between Torgau and Wittenberg, are 
 not of more than ten tons burden, and those which proceed 
 to Bohemia, of not more than five or six. From local cir- 
 cumstances, the colonial goods, for the consumption of 
 Bohemia, are deposited at Pirna rather than in Dresden. 
 The trade in fine linen was once considerable, but has 
 declined, in consequence of the calamitous events which 
 have oppressed Saxony within the last twelve years, and is 
 now very insignificant. The principal raw material of the 
 kingdom, its fine wool, is sent in greater quantities from
 
 DRESDEN. 
 
 19 
 
 Leipsic than from the capital, though some finds an outlet 
 from it. An internal trade in corn centres here, whereby the 
 inhabitants of Lausatia, and of the mining districts, are sup- 
 plied from the corn countries around Meissen, and from some 
 parts of Silesia. 
 
 The rides and walks round Dresden present picturesque 
 scenery of the most striking kind. One ride through what is 
 called the Plauensche ground, behind the village of Plauen, 
 interested me much. A valley is entered, bounded on the 
 right hand by verdant swelling hills, and, on the other, by a 
 mass of perpendicular granite or sienite rocks, that rise to the 
 height of more than a hundred feet. In this chasm, close to 
 the foot of the rocks, and betwixt them and the road, a trans- 
 parent stream rushes with great velocity. The stream turns a 
 mill, which, with the dwelling of the owner, and the trees that 
 surround it, placed in this chasm, present a picture of a very 
 fascinating kind. The valley recalled strongly to my mind the 
 lower part of the river Wye above Chepstow, and the upper 
 view, from the top of the rocks, bears a resemblance to that 
 which Piercefield would present, if art were less apparent in 
 the manner of laying out the grounds at that place. 
 
 The road through the valley was crowded with carts, 
 loaded with coals, from a mine at its termination. The coals 
 are raised by a shaft, and, consequently, rather in an 
 expensive manner ; if a tunnel could be driven into the hill, 
 and a railway formed, the property would be of very great 
 value ; but the proprietor, like all the possessors of landed 
 property in Saxony, is too deficient in capital to execute such 
 an undertaking, though he is very sensible of the benefit, and 
 estimates the expense at not more than two thousand pounds. 
 
 2 N -2
 
 280 SAXON SWITZERLAND. 
 
 These coals are so sulphureous, that they are disliked by 
 those who can aiford to purchase wood, and are only used by 
 the poor, or by manufacturers. 
 
 The vicinity of Dresden displays a country, betwixt that 
 city and the boundary of Bohemia, which has peculiar charms 
 for those who enjoy picturesque scenery. A group of 
 mountains, about twenty-eight miles in length, and twenty- 
 three in breadth, are filled with deep chasms, bordered by 
 perpendicular rocks, some naked, and some clothed with trees 
 of great variety. Rapid streams pour from declivities in 
 some parts, and, in others, through deep vales, meander 
 along meadows, without their issue or their egress being- 
 discoverable by an observer from the precipices which enclose 
 such recesses, and from whence he can see no path by which 
 the vales can be reached. 
 
 With a worthy friend resident in Dresden, I determined to 
 pass two days in viewing and enjoying the delightful scenery 
 of wild nature, which I shall attempt to describe, but to which 
 I am conscious I have not powers to do justice. 
 
 The theory of the geologists respecting this mass of moun- 
 tains, here commonly known by the name of Saxon Switzerland, 
 Der Saechnhhcn Sclmcltz, is, that in in remote ages, the whole 
 kingdom of Bohemia was an extensive lake ; that it was 
 drained by means of the Elbe, which first formed a small 
 channel, and, as its waters rushed towards a lower level, 
 heaped together this mass of sand, that by friction and com- 
 pression, became converted into that assemblage of rocks, 
 through which the river, by increasing in rapidity, has forced 
 its present tortuous course. 
 
 With this theory of the celebrated Werner, the present
 
 SAXON SWITZERLAND. 281 
 
 geological lecturer at Dresden coincides, and gives reasons, 
 in which I felt much less interest than I did in viewing the 
 etFects he attempts to account for. 
 
 We left the city as soon as day-light appeared, and kept 
 along the right bank of the river, passing between the seat of 
 the late Lord Findlater, which was on the side of the stream, 
 and that of Marcolini, the Italian minister of the king of 
 Saxony, who is accused of being the author of all his cala- 
 mities. Both these mansions and the land around them are 
 for sale; but like the other estates in this country, though 
 very trifling sums are demanded for them, no purchasers can 
 
 be found. 
 
 Keeping the river generally in view below us, and passing 
 by very narrow roads, through the King's extensive vineyards, 
 which are planted on the declivities of the hill, we reached 
 Pilnitz, a royal palace, which has been rendered famous by 
 the meeting of sovereign princes at it in 1792, when a treaty 
 was reported to have been made to resist the progress of the 
 French Revolution, which appeared to threaten greater 
 dangers in the optics of the princes than it did in those of 
 many of their subjects, who were then duped by the specious 
 professions of the prominent actors in that commencement of 
 every thing ferocious and unjust. 
 
 The castle of Pilnitz, which appears to have been a very 
 extensive pile of building, is now in ruins, having been de- 
 stroyed by an accidental fire. Some small part has indeed 
 been repaired, and is visited every week by the King and 
 royal family, on the same day, I believe Monday, with a 
 regularity which seems to prevail in all the movements of this 
 venerable monarch. 
 
 By a long and gradual ascent we reached the village of
 
 282 SAXON SWITZERLAND. 
 
 Lohmen, where is an extensive farm and castle belonging to 
 the monarch, and cultivated by an overseer or vervvalter. 
 From the back of this castle, a rapid torrent descends from 
 the plain above, on which the parish church stands, passes the 
 castle with a furious noise, and dashing over rocks, in a 
 deep and narrow chasm, reaches a bridge, about a hundred 
 feet below, where it disappears from the sight. The church 
 above, the well-clothed hills on both sides the chasm, and 
 the single arch thrown over the foaming stream, at a great 
 height above it, exhibit a most impressive scene. After seeing 
 the farm and the stock, whilst our horses were refreshing, we 
 ascended to a higher level, an extensive plain, on which 
 various projecting masses of other rocks rear their heads to 
 sublime heights, and, in picturesque forms, whilst the whole 
 is intersected with deep ravines, in such devious directions, 
 that they can only be developed by an experienced guide. 
 
 A ride of a few miles brought us to the village of Ottewalde, 
 leaving which by a gradual descent, of about a mile, we 
 reached the edge of a deep ravine, where the perpendicular 
 walls of rocks, on both sides, presented a most horrific chasm. 
 By descending some steps, rudely cut in the face of the wall, 
 we reached the bottom. The perpendicular rocks on one 
 side are about one hundred and fifty, and on the other one 
 hundred and eighty feet in height. These walls are mostly 
 bare, but here and there a large birch-tree was shooting out 
 from crevices in the rocks, where there appeared no soil from 
 which its roots could find nourishment. The bottom of the 
 chasm had a small rivulet trickling through it, by passing the 
 side of which, we reached what is called the gate das Tlior, 
 which is an entrance through a passage formed by the large 
 rocks having fallen, and been suspended, before they reached
 
 SAXON SWITZERLAND. 283 
 
 the bottom, by projecting stones which impeded their passage. 
 There are three of these stones, at almost equal distances, 
 whose fall has placed tliem on nearly similar positions, so as 
 to form a succession of three natural arches, beyond which 
 the rivulet rolled over a precipice that we could not approach. 
 From the top of these natural bridges, there are some lofty 
 birches shooting up from the solid rock, and presenting a singu- 
 larly pleasing appearance. Whilst in the bottom of the chasm, 
 the wood-cutters above us were transporting their blocks of 
 fire-wood over it, by means of a cable stretched across, to 
 which a cart was suspended by an iron eye, which descended 
 from the upper to the lower wall of rocks, over the gulf, 
 and when unloaded, was drawn back by a line affixed to it. 
 
 After regaining our horses, we passed through some ex- 
 tensive woods by an excellent road, formed by the labour of 
 the peasantry, whilst the French army occupied this country ; 
 and on our way, surveyed much of that peculiar scenery, which 
 a mountainous country, when interspersed with thick and 
 various kinds of trees, can alone exhibit. 
 
 A ride of two hours brought us to one of those high 
 pinnacles, which overlook the surrounding plain, called the 
 Bastei. It is the projecting summit of a heap of rocks, of 
 860 feet in perpendicular height, around whose base, the 
 river Elbe winds with most beautiful curvatures. In the 
 bottom of the valley, some verdant meadows intervene, 
 between the river and the opposite wall of perpendicular 
 rock; on these plains some neat farm-houses, with compact 
 enclosures, and varieties of fruit-trees present to the view, the 
 picture of seclusion, tranquillity, and competence. The rocks 
 on that side the river are less lofty, and the plain they support 
 is extended before the eye, either adorned with cultivated
 
 '284 SAXON SWITZERLAND. 
 
 fields or lofty woods, among which are seen other groups of 
 rocks, lifting their heads with all the grandeur which vast and 
 .confused masses of naked granite can exhibit. The prospect 
 from the Bastei on its own side the river, is, however, by far 
 the most majestic. Perpendicular masses of rocks with a 
 chasm near 1,000 feet in depth, are opposed to the summit 
 on which we stood ; some of them bare, some adorned with 
 trees, whose various tints of every shade, from the pale yellow 
 of the dyeing birch to the deep green of the darkest pines, 
 gave an indescribable charm to the autumnal scenery. 
 Beyond this chain, we remarked that the Elbe took a sudden 
 turn, and passed between a group of still higher rocks; 
 whose tops, though at first they seemed to be a portion of the 
 chain immediately before us, we at length ascertained to be 
 another, and a higher, ridge. Beyond this ridge the masses of 
 Konigstein and Lillienstein, reared their bristly pinnacles to the 
 height of several hundred feet above the level of the main 
 body of rocks. On the whole, the views from this point com- 
 bined the most majestic grandeur with the pleasing contrast 
 of deep, verdant, and quiet valleys, whose habitations were 
 indistinctly seen, and whose grazing cattle were so far below, 
 as to render it difficult to distinguish their kind. 
 
 On this summit, some appropriate huts have been constructed 
 wholly of the bark of the trees ; in a cottage near, rye-bread 
 for the horses was sold, and water supplied, whilst we took a 
 slight refreshment which we had brought with us. An album 
 is preserved here, in which visitors are requested to inscribe 
 their names, and any thing they please besides. The names 
 were very numerous, and the remarks or ])oetry appended 
 to them ; but only three were those of Englishmen in the 
 last two years. One had the initials H. C, and some bcauti-
 
 SCIIANDAU. 285 
 
 fully appropriate lines, which form the opening of CamphelJts 
 Pleasures of Hope. I can only ascribe this deficiency of 
 English names to the unobtrusive modesty peculiar to our 
 national character, which, on almost every occasion, avoids, 
 rather than seeks, display. 
 
 In descending from the Bastei, we beheld below us, at a 
 great depth, one of those inaccessible sequestered vales, 
 which are frequently observed among these mountains, sur- 
 rounded on every side by walls of rock which have never 
 been descended, and whose perpendicular height would dis- 
 courage the attempt. It was at the foot of the group of 
 Honigstein, from whose base issued a transparent rivulet, 
 which meandered through the green meadow, and, dividing 
 into two streams, disappeared under the hanging woods that 
 rose between our feet and the bottom of the vale. 
 
 From this part, we continued to descend, though with 
 various undulations, through several villages, where the ledge 
 on which they stood was barely wide enough to give room for 
 small gardens between the habitations and the mountains that 
 towered above them. At one of the broader crevices we, at 
 length emerged from the mountains to the side of the Elbe ; 
 and, by a short ride, reached Schandau, a small town of one 
 thousand inhabitants, on a narrow strip of land between the 
 river and the rocks that impended over it. There, at a decent 
 gasthoff, we passed a quiet night, after a day of fatiguing 
 enjoyment. 
 
 In conversation with our host, he talked of the dreadful 
 scenes which the late war had repeatedly produced in this 
 small town; it was frequently occupied by the French, the 
 Russians, and the Prussians, and eagerly contended for, almost 
 daily. On one day, he said, it was occupied by the different 
 
 2 o
 
 286 KONIGSTEIN. 
 
 armies no less than four times, who successively fought in the 
 streets, and drove each other out. Though his neighbours 
 were plundered, he and the other inn-keepers escaped; and 
 the officers, in the intervals of the skirmishes, spent their 
 money freely, and paid liberally. I suspected he had found 
 his gain so great, that he looked back to these scenes with 
 regret rather than horror. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of Schandau are some medicinal 
 springs to which invalids repair to bathe, as well as to drink 
 the water ; and, for the accommodation of the company, con- 
 venient lodging and boarding houses have been established, 
 which are frequented for pleasure as well as health. 
 
 We crossed the Elbe by a ferry-boat, at an early hour, and 
 till we began to ascend the hills on the left bank, the road 
 passed along that side of the river. There was a fine con- 
 trast between the calmness which the stream and its softened 
 scenery displayed, and that rude confusion of rocks and trees 
 that on both sides towered over our heads. Kbnigstein was 
 on the side of the river we had reached, and Lilienstein on 
 that we had quitted ; but so tortuous are the bendings of this 
 stream, and, consequently, such the curvatures of the road, 
 that it was impossible to determine by the sight on which side 
 cither of them were situated. The ascent was gentle, and 
 occupied about two hours and a lialf, and would have been 
 excessively ftitiguing but for the varied beauties which every 
 turning and almost every step disclosed. 
 
 When we had reached the plain, which may be called the 
 floor on which Konigstein stands, we enjoyed a most extensive 
 prospect over the whole of this undulating region ; as, with 
 the exception of the fortress of Konigstein, of Lilienstein, and 
 some other similar groups, we were elevated above the level
 
 PIRN A. 287 
 
 of the country. This plain is about eleven hundred feet 
 above the river. The two fortresses of Lilienstein and 
 Konigstein are fourteen hundred feet above the river. The 
 latter is elevated above the city of the same name about 
 three hundred feet. On every side but that where the 
 narrow entrance to the fortress is situated, the rock on 
 which it stands rises perpendicularly, and the walls which 
 surround it are on the edge of the precipice. This for- 
 tress has been considered as one of the keys of the passes 
 into Bohemia, and is the place where, in time of war, the 
 treasures, jewels, and archives, of the house of Saxony, are 
 deposited. It is strongly fortified on the only side by which 
 it can be approached, and appears an almost impregnable 
 fortress. A garrison of about eight hundred men is stationed 
 on it, and civil officers of several descriptions also inhabit this 
 spot, where, in the winter, the sufferings from the cold are 
 said to be extreme. A well within the fortress, nine hundred 
 feet deep, is abundantly supplied with water, and the gardens 
 and fields contained in the inclosure are sufficient to supply 
 food to a garrison capable of defending it. The fortress of 
 Lilienstein on the opposite bank of the river, distant from 
 Konigstein about 1,500 yards, is the other key to the Bohemian 
 passes. During the campaign of 1813, the French besieged 
 it, but without success. These two fortresses are like the 
 hill forts in India, and resemble also the celebrated rock in 
 Spain between Granada and Antequera called la Pena de los 
 Eriamorados. 
 
 The town or rather city of Konigstein, at the foot of the hill 
 on which the fortress stands, contains about 1 ,500 inhabitants 
 only. From thence, with feelings almost of regret, we left 
 the lofty region, and descended to the city of Pirna. The 
 
 2 o 2
 
 288 PIRN A. 
 
 fields around it form a fine amphitheatre of good land, though 
 badly cultivated. Adjoining to Pirna, but on more elevated 
 ground, is Sonnenstein, a building of vast dimensions, now 
 used as a lunatic asylum, in which are one hundred and forty- 
 two patients. As it commands the town, when the French 
 garrisoned it, the Russians occupied this building, and from 
 it bombarded the city, the marks of which are still visible. 
 
 In this place, I remarked a considerable number of women, 
 with enormous glandular swellings ; and on inquiry found, that 
 the appearance of them was as common at the foot of this 
 granite region as it is in some parts of Switzerland. 
 
 Pirna contains about 4,500 inhabitants, who are celebrated 
 in Saxony for their industry and skill in various manufactures. 
 The printing cotton establishments are considerable, and em- 
 ploy about four hundred persons ; one of the largest of them 
 belongs to an Irishman. There are also leather, hosiery, cloth, 
 linen, cabinet-ware, earthen-ware, buttons, and many other 
 goods, made here. Some barges are built on the river near it ; 
 and, on the whole, it has the appearance of activity, but the 
 complaints of being overstocked, and of having no purchasers 
 for their commodities are universal, and, I fear, too true. 
 
 Round Pirna the country is good, the land light, but very 
 well calculated for corn ; and the plants of clover on a few 
 spots, and of turnips on others, demonstrated the capability of 
 the soil under good cultivation. Rye seems, however, the 
 principal grain that obtains the attention of the farmers in 
 this as well as in other parts of Germany. 
 
 We rode to the royal palace, and turned through the park, 
 or rather garden, to view the place where Moreau received his 
 fatal wounds. The spot is marked by a square block of por- 
 phyry, about six feet high, on which is placed, a helmet,
 
 DRESDEN. 289 
 
 resting on a sword of iron, bronzed over. The inscription is 
 simple, and merely relates that the hero Moreau, by the side 
 of Alexander, received here his mortal wounds. 
 
 To say nothing of the scenery which I had enjoyed in the 
 two days, the whole country inspired a peculiar interest, from 
 having been the theatre of numerous and bloody skirmishes, 
 that preceded the great day of Leipsic, with which terminated 
 Buonaparte's dream of universal empire. Most of the houses 
 in the villages were destroyed during the hostilities, and have 
 been since rebuilt. Those that were not destroyed, as well as 
 the trees that surround them, attest the scenes that have taken 
 place, by the numerous marks of cannon-balls which they 
 display. These the inhabitants have, in many instances, 
 painted, to make them more conspicuous. 
 
 The unfeeling wantonness of the French despot was dis- 
 played in the vicinity of Dresden as much as in the other 
 countries which were afflicted by his presence, and which 
 belonged to monarchs with whom he was at war. He wished 
 to pay the King his ally, the compliment of celebrating his 
 birth-day. The military operations he was then conducting 
 required his removal from Dresden three days before the 
 anniversary. He was resolved, however, not to omit the 
 review of his troops, which was one part of the appointed 
 ceremonial; and, in the manoeuvres, they trampled down 
 five hundred acres of standing corn in a field that I passed ; 
 which, but for this wanton devastation, would, in a few days, 
 have been fit for the sickle. A part of the road I had travelled 
 over in the mountain district was constructed by orders from 
 the French emperor, to facilitate a plan he had formed for 
 the occupation of Bohemia. At his command, ten thousand of 
 the peasantry were instantly withdrawn from the labour of the
 
 290 
 
 DRESDEN. 
 
 fields to make this road, and were occupied on it without' 
 wages, and without being supplied with food by their em- 
 ployer, till the event of the campaign made him withdraw 
 his army from the vicinity. It is not difficult to produce 
 great effects, when those who execute them, exercise power, 
 without any feelings towards the human instruments they 
 employ for their purposes. The state to which Dresden was 
 reduced by the harpies that surrounded the energetic despot, 
 has been feelingly described by those who were its victims, 
 and the brutal filthiness of his soldiery, added every thing 
 that was disgusting to the other sufferings of the inhabitants. 
 
 In the parties at Dresden, I found political discussions much 
 less introduced than in the circles of Berlin. As the society 
 of the city is small, the same persons more frequently met, 
 and yet the conversation took a less local turn than I was 
 prepared to expect, though, from the circumstance of a 
 princess of the royal house having recently departed, after a 
 marriage by proxy, to ascend the throne of Spain, the anec- 
 dotes of the family, and of the young Queen, were more topics 
 of remark than any thing of the same kind seemed to be in 
 Berlin. The King has a regular court-day here, which is not 
 the case in Prussia ; and, as most of the persons I met were 
 in the habit of going to court, that gave some tinge to the 
 conversation, which, as long as there was novelty in it, was 
 not tiresome to a traveller. The King preserves more civil, 
 though less military state, than his brother of Prussia. He 
 has a regular band of music, an expensive establishment for 
 the chase, in which he joins regularly on stated days, and 
 an expensive taste in carriages, horses, and attendants. 
 He has now reigned more than fifty years, and the vicis- 
 situdes which he has experienced seem to have fixed him
 
 DRESDEN. 
 
 291 
 
 in the affections of his subjects, who all s))eak of him with 
 kindness, if not with reverence. His adherence to the for- 
 tunes of Buonaparte a little longer than some of the other 
 sovereigns is a subject rather avoided ; but the effects of it, 
 in tiie diminution of his territory, are commented upon with 
 a degree of severity, which is generally indulged when Prussia, 
 or her monarch, happen to become the subject of conversation. 
 The national hatred which exists towards Prussia, even among 
 people of good manners and good understanding, is obvious ; 
 and, perhaps, that animosity may make them more readily 
 overlook the enormities which France has perpetrated in these 
 countries, and be jealous of the revenge which Prussia has 
 been enabled, in some measure, to execute. 
 
 The young Queen of Spain is said, by those who have been 
 as intimate with her as court etiquette would allow, to possess 
 most unbounded ambition, and to have such a commanding 
 spirit as to have obtained, at her early age, almost the sole 
 power over the Royal Family. When her elder sister was 
 demanded in marriage by an Austrian arch-duke, she declared 
 she would never marry but to a kingly throne. When the 
 ambassador of Spain, the object of whose mission was known, 
 was first introduced to the family, the elder sister, who was 
 attached to the prince she has since married, in order to avoid 
 the honour of Ferdinand's hand, disfigured, by her mode of 
 dress, a person not unpleasing. The younger, Josepha, did 
 not need much persuasion to induce her to accept the proffered 
 crown, nor did she practise any hesitation when the formal 
 proposal was made. 
 
 She is said to be an extremely pious, or what some call 
 a bigotted. Catholic, observing all the injunctions of that 
 church with most scrupulous exactness. She is distinguished
 
 292 DRESDEN. 
 
 by an undeviating sincerity in all her expressions, by the 
 most rigid adherence to truth, and the punctual observation of 
 all her engagements. She had studied the Spanish language, 
 and at an early period of her engagement with Ferdinand, had 
 begun to correspond with him. It was suggested that her 
 letters had better be corrected by some person who was an 
 adept in that tongue ; but she repelled the suggestion with 
 great scorn, declaring that it would be practising a deception 
 on the King, which she would never use. 
 
 After the formal marriage, she appeared much flattered by 
 the Spanish minister addressing her on his knee ; though it is 
 said, when he first placed himself in that posture before her, 
 she was alarmed by the apprehension that he was about to 
 communicate some disastrous intelligence from Spain. 
 
 The picture of Ferdinand superbly set with diamonds, was 
 presented to her, with which she was much pleased, as he was 
 certainly a fine looking man. It was afterwards known, and 
 by some person communicated to her, that the picture was 
 painted for and presented to his first wife ; that after her 
 death the same present was sent to Brasil for his late Queen ; 
 and now for the third time, presented to the Saxon Princess as 
 the resemblance of one, who must have passed a longer period 
 than she has lived, since it was painted for him. Whatever 
 chagrin the discovery might have occasioned, the prospect of 
 a crown seemed to have healed the wound and allayed the 
 feeling. 
 
 The conditions to which this young Princess was called to 
 submit, in conformity to the etiquette of the Spanish court, 
 were such as would have been deemed harsh by most persons, 
 but are said to have been easily acquiesced in when they 
 were appendages to a throne ; and were not objected to,
 
 DRESDEN. 293 
 
 because they were known before the formal proposals were 
 made. The principal conditions are, that she is to visit a 
 theatre but twice in a year, and then accompanied by the 
 Kino-; — that if she wishes to ride out, or to walk even in the 
 garden, she must give twelve hours' notice in writing of her 
 intentions ; and that no attendants from her own country must 
 accompany her to Madrid, but must leave her at the first town 
 after her passing the Spanish frontiers. This last condition 
 has been literally complied with, and her Saxon attendants 
 have all returned to Dresden. 
 
 The friends of the Royal Family augur very favourably of 
 this alliance, in a political view, as well as of another, recently 
 completed between the heir apparent, and an arch-duchess 
 of Austria; which, together, they think may be the means 
 of preserving this small kingdom from any further reduction 
 of its territory. 
 
 In most parties where I passed the evenings, I found that 
 every thing relating to Spain received attention, and was 
 eagerly listened to. There have lately been few books on the 
 subject published here, and few of the Saxons have been in 
 Spain ; while in some other parts of Germany, where the 
 officers of the British German legion were dispersed, the 
 knowledge of that country is pretty generally diffused. 
 
 I remarked in society, here, that those persons of rank who 
 had neither civil nor military employments, occupied their time 
 in some pursuit either of a literary or scientific kind, which 
 they seemed to pursue with considerable ardour. One noble- 
 man whom I frequently met, was deeply engaged in botanical 
 pursuits, and arranging a Flora of Spain and Portugal. 
 Another was busily occupied in preparing for publication, 
 translations into German, of the poetry of Lope de Vega, and 
 
 2 P
 
 294 
 
 DRESDEN. 
 
 some other of the old Spanish writers ; whilst a third was 
 sedulously involved in all the details of experimental agri- 
 culture. Natural history seems, however, to be the favourite 
 pursuit, and making collections of different kinds, a source of 
 employment and gratification to many. I found a more general 
 acquaintance with English literature than I expected, and 
 quite as high a respect for it as I had noticed in Berlin. 
 The females, I generally found well informed and well bred ; 
 some who had visited Italy, the favourite resort of those few in 
 Saxony who have any money to spend in visiting foreign 
 countries, were full of discussions on the manners, the lan- 
 guage, and tlie antiquities of that country, and gave me reason 
 to think, that, unlike most of our English travellers, they mixed 
 a good deal with the natives of the country. 
 
 Though I was in several parties, I never once saw cards 
 introduced, nor any other species of play ; music was generally 
 a part of the entertainment, but not to such a degree as to be 
 an impediment to conversation. I met frequently the same 
 persons, but the manners of the whole were too correct to 
 satiate by repetition ; and I am persuaded that no society 
 would be found in England, except in London, and, perhaps, 
 at Bath, the average of whose intellect is higher, or the 
 average of whose manners is more polished. 
 
 The Resource, an institution upon the plan of our sub- 
 scription houses, and two other similar establishments, but 
 rather of a lower cast, give the gentlemen the means of 
 meeting ; where play is generally practised, but where also 
 are collected the journals and periodical publications of dif- 
 ferent countries. 
 
 Though Saxony was the seat of war for a short time only, 
 yet both before and during that period, it suffered most
 
 DRESDEN. 295 
 
 severely. After the battle of Jena, in 1806, peace was 
 made with France, but the country was the highway to 
 the ulterior operations, and it was perpetually drained of its 
 resources by the vast numbers of French troops, or troops 
 under the direction of France, that were almost continually 
 marched through it. These troops were quartered on the 
 inhabitants, in numbers proportioned to the size of their 
 houses, and were supplied with daily rations, without any 
 payment being made either by their own King, or his allies 
 the French. 
 
 When the great operation against Russia was in progress, 
 Saxony was the high road to that country. When the invading 
 army was dissipated, on its retreat from Moscow, its shattered 
 remains obtained food from Saxony, till they were driven out 
 by the pursuing Russians, who, like them, lived at free quar- 
 ters. When Buonaparte had organized a new army, and 
 advanced towards the united forces of Russia and Prussia, 
 Saxony again became the theatre of the several battles of 
 Bautzen, Lutzen, and ultimately Leipsic ; during which time, 
 scarcely a town or village escaped the successive occupation, 
 free quartering, and pillage, of the different combatants. 
 
 The quartering of the troops was regulated solely by the 
 size of the houses ; thus, a nobleman in the city, where he 
 had a large palace, might frequently have from six to eight 
 hundred soldiers to provide with food for a day for that house ; 
 and if he had another in the country near the road, perhaps 
 as many more, who, as the case might be, were either 
 Russians, Prussians, or French. Many of the possessors of 
 the largest estates were in this situation. As those who had 
 so great a number of troops could not have provisions to 
 subsist them, the millers, bakers, butchers, brewers, and 
 
 2 P 2
 
 296 DRESDEN. 
 
 farmers, naturally raised their prices with the increased 
 demand, and thus made great profits from the distresses of 
 the superior classes. These were compelled to mortgage 
 their estates, on very disadvantageous terms, to raise money 
 to supply food to the numerous soldiers that successively filled 
 their houses. 
 
 The armies sometimes trampled down the growing corn, 
 and more frequently destroyed houses and barns in the villages 
 and small towns ; but the farmers had got most of their corn 
 thrashed and sold to the millers and bakers, who, though they 
 gave high prices, were enabled, especially when they gave 
 credit to the nobility and gentry, to gain enormous profits. 
 The advance in the prices of productions I think must have 
 more than compensated to the mass of cultivators, for the suffer- 
 ings occasionally experienced, by the destruction of their 
 dwellings, with their scanty contents. The shop-keepers and 
 traders in the cities, though, in proportion to the size of their 
 houses, they were burdened with soldiers, were, in most 
 instances, more enriched than impoverished by the war. The 
 Russian or the French soldier, that found money in the pocket, 
 or an epaulet on the shoulder, of an officer, would most com- 
 monly get rid of it in the first city he reached. Most soldiers 
 enter on a campaign with some money, and whether they return 
 or not, leave it in the country which is the seat of war. The 
 manufacturers were badly circumstanced ; the soldiers wanted 
 few of their commodities, and their houses being large, in 
 proportion to their property, they had usually more than their 
 share quartered on them. The great weight of suffering has 
 fallen on the landed proprietors. They have extensive do- 
 mains, with copy-holders under them, who may have been 
 enriched, but they themselves are impoverished to a degree
 
 DRESDEN. 
 
 297 
 
 that is scarcely conceivable. Their estates were mortgaged 
 at a time when their produce, and, consequently, their value 
 were high ; but now, from the fall of the produce, and the 
 vast quantity of land that is to be sold, little or none can be 
 disposed of, at nearly tlie price for which it is mortgaged. 
 The effects of war on the nobility have been particularly felt, 
 because much of the cattle, especially the sheep, belonged to 
 them, and were principally fed after harvest on the stubble 
 lands of their tenants ; they were, also, in a great degree, 
 dependant on the wood of their forests for income. In sup- 
 plying the troops, the cattle have been very considerably 
 diminished, and the forests, in many instances, ruined. Though 
 the upper classes have been thus reduced, those of the middle 
 ranks, who had been enabled to accumulate during the war, 
 have suffered much since by the vast reduction in the prices 
 of their commodities, and by the debts which they cannot 
 recover from the land-owners. The separation of the best 
 agricultural parts of the kingdom, by giving them to Prussia 
 and leaving to Saxony all the manufacturing districts, has 
 been an injury which, added to others, must require many 
 years of peace to surmount. 
 
 My residence of ten or eleven days at Dresden was highly 
 agreeable, and I left it with much regret, and many grateful 
 feelings for the hospitality and pleasure I had received. 
 
 The road from Dresden to Meissen is extremely beautiful 
 by the side of the Elbe, sometimes close to the river, at other 
 times receding from it, when most luxuriant meadows inter- 
 vene with fine rows of trees planted by their sides. On the 
 right of the road, the hills rise somewhat abruptly, and exhibit 
 in some parts naked and lofty precipices, and, in others.
 
 OQQ MEISSEN. 
 
 gradual slopes, which are covered with vines. These vine- 
 yards are the property of the King, and yield wine which is in 
 higher estimation than any other in his dominions. The whole 
 road is of so beautiful a description, that it would be easy to 
 make a good picture at almost every spot. Many gentlemen's 
 seats on the sides of the hill, surrounded with gardens and 
 plantations, overlook the river, and, among the rest, the one 
 in which Frederic of Prussia resided, when he was conducting 
 that siege by which Dresden fell into his power. 
 
 The city of Meissen is a very interesting object. It is on the 
 left bank of the river, which is crossed by a bridge half roofed 
 over. Part of the city rises gently from the banks, and the 
 whole of it is overlooked by a projecting mass of rock, eighty 
 feet high, on which stands the old castle, which was the 
 original seat of the family that now fills the throne of Saxony, 
 and the domkirche, or cathedral, with its lofty spire, pre- 
 senting together a fine specimen of Gothic architecture. 
 The castle is now used as the manufactory where the cele- 
 brated china, which receives the name of Dresden, is made. 
 It employs, at present, about five hundred workmen. Besides 
 the royal manufactory, various articles are made here, and 
 give employment to a great part of the population. They 
 consist of woollen cloths, flannels, hosiery, hats, linen cloth, 
 leather, and earthen ware. The towns in this country are not, 
 as with us, destined to some one class of manufactures, which 
 would enable the inhabitants to perfect that particular kind; 
 but in every town, there are makers of various goods, whose 
 fabrications have no connexion with each other, and do not 
 tend to their improvement. 
 
 Meissen, besides the Cathedral, contains two other churches,
 
 OSCIIATS. 299 
 
 a college, three hospitals, a workhouse, and several other 
 public buildings. At the last census, the inhabitants were 
 4,071. This place is subject to great inundations. In the 
 streets nearest the river, I observed a mark in a room at the 
 inn ten feet from the floor, and a note that the water had risen 
 to that height in 1799. The floor must be ten feet higher than 
 the banks of the river. In the same house, I remarked a 
 portrait of Buonaparte's son on his knees, with an inscription 
 below it in German, " I pray for my father, and for France." 
 I think this must be an accidental ornament, indicative of no 
 political feeling, because by the side of it was the portrait of 
 the late Princess Charlotte of Wales. 
 
 From Meissen, the road continued by the left bank of the 
 river for several miles, only quitting it to pass over pro- 
 montories, whose near approach to the stream, forbade a 
 passage under them. At length, I reached an open plain of 
 light sandy soil, where the sprouting rye looked thick and 
 healthy. Oschats a town, or, having gates, a city, of 3,300 
 inhabitants, is the next place. Except the market square, 
 it has a mean appearance ; but around this, which is large, 
 there are some spacious buildings. The town-house is a 
 very singular edifice. In the front wall there are three rows 
 of windows ; but in the roof there are no less than seven 
 stories, each gradually decreasing in length, till the upper 
 one ending in a point, has but one window. There is a 
 considerable woollen manufactory for fine cloths, and smaller 
 ones for other articles. 
 
 With little variation in the appearance of the country which 
 was still open and sandy, I reached Wurzen, a town finely 
 situated on the banks of the river Moldau, which empties itself 
 into the Elbe at Dessau. It is the seat of an ecclesiastical
 
 300 WURZEN. 
 
 superintendent, and of a provincial court of justice. The 
 inhabitants are about '2,500, many of whom are employed in 
 making linen cloth, hosiery, cabinet ware, and in considerable 
 breweries. It was a market-day, and the women brought 
 their ware in large wicker baskets at their backs, fastened over 
 the shoulders like the knapsacks of the soldiers. There is an 
 unusually large church, and two others of moderate dimen- 
 sions, and a fine old castle, besides some other public 
 buildings. 
 
 An excellent ferry-boat is the passage over the Moldau, a 
 beautiful stream, but unnavigable, from its numerous shallows 
 in summer, and excessive floods in winter, by tlie latter of 
 which the fine meadows around Wurzen, are generally covered 
 during that season. The number of people in the market, and 
 the greater number repairing to it in difi'erent directions, im- 
 pressed me very forcibly with reflections on the loss of time and 
 labour, which necessarily arises from the system of small farms 
 which is common in Germany. The quantity of potatoes, 
 turnips, corn, or other articles, that some of the people had 
 brought, could not be sold for more than the value of the 
 day's labour, which would be sacrificed in bringing them to 
 market. I am persuaded, that more business is done, and 
 better done for all parties, in a small market-town in England, 
 where not thirty country people with samples meet, tha,n in 
 such a market as this, where, perhaps a thousand people lose 
 a day's labour each. 
 
 After leaving the meadows that surround Wurzen, the same 
 kind of open plain was spread out, with a good light soil, but 
 from the bad rotation of crops, far from being productive even 
 of rye; the rotation is i)case, rye, oats, with a very slight 
 dressing for the pea crop. The ploughs of all this district
 
 LEIPSIC. 301 
 
 are small, the beams resting on a cross piece between two 
 upright posts, and with wheels, the mould board without due 
 curvature, and the share with a broad fin. It is a very imperfect 
 implement, stirring, but scarcely turning the soil ; but it is 
 worked cheap, with two oxen, and sometimes, notwithstanding 
 the Mosaic prohibition, with a horse and a cow. 
 
 Though generally what is called the three-field rotation is 
 followed, yet there are patches in different cultivation, which 
 clearly shew, that the deficiency is in the husbandry, not in the 
 soil. The cabbages, and kohl riiben, well earthed up, were 
 growing luxuriantly ; and the turnips, though the hoe had 
 not been applied to them, were healthy, but too thick. There 
 are some fine meadows on the borders of the brooks near 
 the villages, but they are in general much neglected, and for 
 want of draining, yield but coarse and rushy grass. 
 
 The villages are large, and populous, with generally one 
 good house occupied by the amtman, another by the clergy- 
 man, and the rest nearly of a size, and between the class 
 of cottages and farm-houses, calculated, as well as the 
 numerous barns, for poor cultivators of thirty or forty acres 
 of land. The churches, and especially the towers, are far 
 superior to our religious rural edifices, and give a good 
 appearance to these villages. 
 
 The whole tract of land from Meissen to within two English 
 miles of Leipsic, is a sandy loam, admirably calculated for 
 our Norfolk four-course system, by which it would be enabled 
 to maintain a great quantity of live stock, and produce double 
 or treble the quantity of corn it now yields. In the whole 
 distance from Wurzen, about fifteen miles, I saw but three 
 flocks of sheep ; two were small, the other which I examined, 
 consisting of about one thousand ewes, wedders, and taggs, 
 
 2 Q
 
 302 LEIPSIC. 
 
 belonged to a count, whose name I did not ascertain. As 
 he is lord of a considerable tract of country, the flock has the 
 range of many thousand acres in the summer, and in the 
 winter are fed with chopped straw and potatoes. Upon our 
 system, which might be advantageously introduced, the 
 same quantity of land would maintain ten times as many 
 sheep, and still produce much more corn than it does at 
 present. 
 
 The cows near the villages, between Meissen and Leipsic, 
 are numerous compared with the sheep, but generally looked 
 poor. As I saw no hay or corn-stacks in the whole distance, I 
 had been puzzled to conceive in what manner their cows could 
 be supported through the winter. Upon inquiring, I learnt 
 a mode of keeping them, which was quite new to me, but 
 which I cannot condemn. The land is favourable to the 
 growth of cabbages, and abundant quantities are raised, and 
 form a material article of human sustenance ; the surplus, which 
 this year is considerable, is made into sour-krout, with a less 
 portion of salt than is applied when it is prepared as food 
 for man. This is found to be very good for cows, and favour- 
 able to the increase of their milk, when no green food or any 
 thing but straw can be obtained. 
 
 The land within two miles of Leipsic is almost wholly in 
 garden culture, and is vastly productive of every kind of 
 culinary vegetables. The fruit trees and orchards, notwith- 
 standing many of them shewed vestiges of the war, sur- 
 prised me by their abundance. The inhabitants of this country 
 subsist much less on animal food than we do, but a larger 
 quantity of fruit and vegetables is consumed ; and Isence 
 they have greater inducements to improve their quality, 
 and to increase their quantity, tlian exist in those rural
 
 LEIPSIC. 303 
 
 districts of Great Britain, which arc removed from the great 
 towns. 
 
 Before entering Leipsic, I passed over that field on which 
 the momentous battle was fought, which decided the fate 
 of Buonaparte's plan of universal empire, and ultimately led 
 to his downfall. It is impossible to pass the theatre of such 
 transactions without feeling the most lively interest; and mine 
 was peculiarly excited by the circumstantial details of a com- 
 panion who had been a spectator, and in some measure, an 
 actor in the events of that day. An officer in the Saxon army, 
 who had joined me at Meissen, represented the desertion of 
 his countrymen from the French line, as a spontaneous and 
 sudden act, prompted by an impulse, which as soon as excited 
 was communicated to the whole body, and became irre- 
 sistible. Others give a very different account, and impute the 
 result to some intrigues carried on by officers, who had 
 formerly commanded them, and who had afterwards entered 
 the service of Prussia. 
 
 However it may have been occasioned, the consequence was 
 important, though I was assured by several eye-witnesses, that 
 the Saxon troops were marched to the rear of the Prussian line, 
 and took no part in the transactions of the day, after they had 
 abandoned the French. This is a subject which I found the 
 Saxon officers generally avoided ; there was certainly no mili- 
 tary glory acquired by the transaction, and the feeling that 
 the result of that battle led to the captivity of their King, the 
 division of their country, and the increased power of their 
 detested enemy, the Prussian, is not very grateful to their 
 recollection. It is one of those events which it is difficult to 
 reconcile to any defensible principle, either of fidelity to engage- 
 ments, or of military subordination; and the Saxon troops, who, 
 
 ■2 Q 2
 
 304 LEIPSIC. 
 
 however they may dislike the French, dislike the Prussians 
 still more, are both dissatisfied with, and ashamed of, their own 
 conduct. 
 
 Leipsic is without walls, or at least such as can be 
 defended, which was a fortunate circumstance for those who 
 lived within the city, during the important battle around it. 
 The immediate storm fell mostly on those country-houses 
 which are situated in the environs of the city. A gentleman 
 to whom I had a letter of introduction, whose house, a very 
 large one, is in a garden without the town, told me, that during 
 the contest, one of his female relations died of fright; and 
 that in the evening, he had seven hundred wounded soldiers 
 in his premises. 
 
 The river Pleiss, the small stream in which Prince 
 Poniatowski was drowned, which runs on the lower side of 
 the city, and is rendered smaller by being divided into three 
 branches, to turn several mills erected across them, seems 
 scarcely deep enough to drown a man, especially if on 
 horseback. I understand, that at the close of the engage- 
 ment, the number of bodies that were wedged together in 
 the stream, acted as a dam to raise the water ; and that 
 when the Polish prince met his fate, the number of dead 
 bodies was so great, and they were so close together, that the 
 most expert swimmer had not the power to use his limbs. 
 A small monument to this unfortunate officer is erected on the 
 meadow near to tlie spot where he met his fate. 
 
 Leipsic, in point of population, is the second city in Saxony, 
 but in wealth, activity, and prosperity, it is far before the 
 capital. The resident iidiabitants in 1818, were 36,093 ; the 
 birtiis the preceding year were 1,257, and the deaths 1,208. 
 Though the wealth of tills city has been much affected by
 
 LEIPSIC. 505 
 
 the calamities of which it was the theatre, and the losses from 
 which, in the year 1813, were estimated at £450,000 sterling, 
 yet, there is a large commercial and manufacturing capital 
 remaining, which amidst the general depression of all trading 
 concerns, gives to Leipsic more of the appearance of pros- 
 perity, than to any other place I have seen on the Continent. 
 
 The city is indebted to its two annual fairs for the greater 
 part of its commerce, and it may be considered as the central 
 point at which the trade from the east of Europe, and from 
 Asia, meets that of the western parts of Europe, and the 
 various colonies in the other divisions of the globe. Manu- 
 facturers from England, from Flanders, from France, Holland, 
 and other parts, resort to it in considerable numbers, and meet 
 there the purchasers from Hungary, Greece, Turkey, and from 
 even Asiatick Tartary. Much of the business is transacted by 
 means of brokers, and commission merchants, who are re- 
 markable for their fidelity and assiduity ; and by the various 
 languages they speak, the different weights, measures and 
 monies of distant countries which they are enabled to com- 
 pare, and by knowing the best routes for the transport of 
 goods, make transactions very easy and simple between natives 
 of countries very remote from each other. It is generally the 
 custom for the manufacturers of our part of Europe to exhibit 
 their specimens at one fair, and receive orders for goods to be 
 ready at the following one, when they are delivered to the 
 purchasers, and payment is made. Besides these distant 
 purchasers, there are many houses in Leipsic who order goods 
 from our manufacturers, and keep warehouses for the supply 
 of such purchasers as come to the fair to buy articles for 
 immediate consumption. The situation of Leipsic is very 
 favourable for this kind of traffic ; it may be reached by good
 
 S06 LEIPSIC. 
 
 roads in almost every direction, the public carriers are careful 
 and regular, and it is not necessary to pass through the 
 Prussian states, where the officers of the revenue, though 
 less troublesome than they were formerly, are still sufficiently 
 annoying to present serious impediments to free trade. The 
 fairs are said to be visited by more than 2,000 merchants 
 of different nations, and the quantity of goods bought and 
 sold, is estimated at three millions sterling annually. A very 
 considerable, and by no means the least interesting, portion 
 of tlie trade of the fairs of Leipsic, arises from the publication of 
 books. In every part of Germany there are printing-presses, and 
 in the larger towns their operations are considerable. Books 
 printed in one state, if published there, would not find an 
 extensive sale, as the means of advertising in newspapers, 
 that have but a local circulation, would not extend the know- 
 ledge of them far from home. The books printed in diff'erent 
 parts of the country are therefore sent to Leipsic, and when 
 the fair time arrives are published there. The booksellers 
 from every part of Germany meet at the fairs, and exchange 
 publications with each other. The catalogue makes all 
 new books known, without the expense of advertising, which, 
 to be effectual, would be considerable, but the necessity for 
 which is avoided by this general congress of literary traders ; 
 the members of which endeavour to dispose of as many of their 
 own publications as will enable them to supply their customers 
 at home with books written and printed in other states. The 
 number of readers of the German language is probably greater 
 than that of any other European tongue. All iiave been 
 taught, and it is rare to meet with any one, however low his 
 station, that cannot read, write, and ciplier. The supply 
 of books for such numbers nuist be necessarily great ; but, as
 
 LEIPSIC. 
 
 307 
 
 the rich who can afford to buy splendid copies, are but few, 
 the works are brought before the public in that state which 
 will render their purchase within the compass of the great 
 mass of readers. Hence tiie books are printed on very coarse 
 paper, with small and usually bad types, and are more commonly 
 bound in marble paper than in leather. In proportion to the 
 number of pages, books in Germany are published at about 
 one third the price they are in England; but, by being closer 
 printed, they are rendered still lower in proportion. 
 
 Besides the books printed in other towns, there are many 
 both written and printed in Leipsic, and some of the con- 
 siderable booksellers of the other cities of Germany have 
 permanent establishments in this place. There are here one 
 hundred and twenty printing-presses generally at work. The 
 number of books published in the year 1818, at the fairs, and 
 their subjects, were as follows : 
 
 On theology and practical devotion .... 438 works. 
 
 On law 141 
 
 On physick and surgery 208 
 
 Metaphysicks and moral philosophy .... 64 
 
 School books ^ 20,5 
 
 Editions of classic authors 145 
 
 History, biography, mythology, and antiquities . 224 
 
 Geography and statistics 198 
 
 Natural history • . . . 70 
 
 Rural economy and finances 192 
 
 Politics 121 
 
 Mathematics, astronomy, and physics . . • 9.3 
 
 Military science • . 58 
 
 Carried over 2,1 65
 
 308 LEIPSIC. 
 
 Brought forward ...... 2,165 works. 
 
 Commerce . 23 
 
 Fine arts 219 
 
 Miscellaneous 396 
 
 2,803 
 
 As there are many of them large works, the number of 
 volumes must be considerably greater than four thousand ; 
 and, besides these, there were many not included in catalogues, 
 such as plays, romances, and editions of such popular works 
 as are published in England, France, or Italy. 
 
 It is a very general and well founded complaint, both 
 among authors, booksellers, and others, that too many 
 books are published. The contracted nature of German 
 society, and the want of a point which could be considered 
 the focus of literature, occasions this excess of writing. 
 Every man, who thinks he has any thing to communicate, 
 runs to the press, with great eagerness, and he is sure to find 
 some admirers in his own little circle, and some flattery from 
 the critical journal connected with his publisher or liimself, 
 that circulates within his own province. The distant traders in 
 books at the fair will each take a few copies, without knowing 
 any thing of the merits of the work. Thus, an unnatural 
 stimulus is given to the habit of composition, and to printing, 
 without presenting a corresponding stimulus to the habit of 
 mature deliberation or deep tjiinking. The natural effect of 
 this is to produce mediocrity in every species of composition. 
 
 The division of the literature of Germany into so many small 
 states, is unfavourable to it in anotjier point of view. In each 
 of these states, the authors mix in society, the members of
 
 LEIPSIC. 309 
 
 such society must read, in order to converse in their particular 
 circles, on the works produced within it. A gentleman or 
 lady from Munich is not at home in literature at Berlin or 
 Dresden. The local publications, therefore, are read by all 
 who desire to appear to advantage in the society in which 
 they move. These are so multifarious, that, after reading 
 them, there is little or no leisure for the study of the best 
 authors of even the last century ; thus, as with us, the daily 
 perusal of several newspapers prevents many from more 
 improving studies, so, here, the perusal of their numerous 
 temporary and local works which qualify for conversation, are 
 deemed sufficient, without referring to older and better books. 
 
 It would be wrong, however, not to state, that the industry 
 of many of the German literati; their labour in editing classical 
 authors ; their diligence in the investigation of antiquities and 
 history ; and, especially, their patient observation of the 
 animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, and the pains they 
 take to classify and arrange, are deserving of the highest 
 praise. They certainly have amongst them names inferior to 
 none that England, Italy, or France, can boast ; and the 
 diffusion of knowledge descends lower in society, and creates 
 a greater number of usefully moderate scholars than any other 
 country in Europe possesses. 
 
 There is a University in Leipsic which confers degrees in 
 Divinity, Philosophy, Law, and Medicine. It has about 
 thirty professors, and generally from live to six hundred stu- 
 dents. The library contains thirty thousand volumes. Besides 
 the University, there is connected with it an anatomical 
 theatre, a clinical institution, a botanical garden, and an 
 astronomical observatory. There are several other valuable 
 public libraries ; among them, that belonging to the corpora- 
 
 2 R
 
 310 LEIPSIC. 
 
 tion, with forty thousand volumes, some museums of natural 
 history and antiquities, and several learned societies. 
 
 The manufactures of Leipsic are numerous, if not large ; 
 and produce linen and woollen cloths, silks, velvets, paper, 
 leather, hosiery, and various other articles, which give 
 employment to between two and three thousand persons. 
 
 The streets, and even the lanes, are well paved, and the 
 former of a good width. Many of the houses look more like 
 the palaces of princes than the residences of private individuals. 
 The public buildings are of various dates and architecture, 
 among them are the town-house in the market-place, the 
 cloth-hall, the exchange, the new theatre, but they have no 
 very peculiar attractions about them. There are eight Lu- 
 theran, and one Catholic, churches, a chapel for the Reformed 
 and the Greek church, and a synagogue for the Jews. 
 
 I was pleased here, as well as at Dresden, to see that on 
 the Sunday, the shops were closed, and working suspended. 
 I was lodged opposite the Reformed chapel, in which the 
 celebrated Zollikofer formerly officiated, and wished to have 
 attended there on his successor, whose talents were represented 
 to me to be equal to his, but every part of the building, 
 though a very large one, was so crowded, that I could 
 not even find room to stand in the aisles. I never saw 
 the spectators in a theatre more closely wedged together than 
 those were who stood, and every seat was filled. I then 
 went to the Lutheran church of St. Nicholas, where I found 
 the first service concluded, and the celebration of the com- 
 munion about to take place, and I staid to witness it. The 
 church is one of the handsomest, and most appropriate places 
 for Protestant worship that I recollect to have seen. The 
 roof is supported by two rows of lofty pillars of the Ionic
 
 LEIPSIC. 31] 
 
 order; the principal light is from the top ; there are no pews, 
 but benches stuffed and covered with horse-hair, witli a slight 
 back rail. The pulpit is most advantageously placed, both for 
 seeing and hearing. It is of statuary marble, with appropriate 
 devices on it, and the whole a model of neatness and sim- 
 plicity. The walls are not disfigured with old bad paintings 
 of the deceased clergy, or benefactors to the church, as is 
 commonly to be seen in the Lutheran places of worship. The 
 organ at one end of the building, and the altar at the other, 
 were the only ornaments of this neat edifice. 
 
 The mode of administering the sacrament in the Lutheran 
 church differs from ours, and approaches nearer to that of the 
 Catholics. The doctrine of the real presence may have given 
 rise to some forms which are still retained, now that the 
 belief in it is generally exploded. The chancel occupies a 
 considerable portion of the church, and is railed off" from 
 the body of it. The altar (for it is not, like ours, a communion 
 table,) is placed at the end of the chancel, without being 
 enclosed, but so far from it, as to allow of a passage behind. 
 This altar is ascended by three steps, and the top is about 
 four feet above the highest of them. This is furnished with 
 a large crucifix, two large wax tapers burning, and the gold 
 or silver gilt sacramental plate. As in the Catholic church, 
 wafers are used instead of bread ; and this, I am told, forms 
 the chief difference between the Lutherans and their Reformed 
 brethren. The officiating priests were habited in flowing 
 black gowns which reached to their feet, and over that the 
 white surplice or rocket, which descended only to the waist. 
 Instead of bands, they had large projecting ruff's, very neatly 
 crimped, and of snowy whiteness. I think the Lutheran 
 clergy attend more to costume, and if I may be allowed the 
 
 2 r2
 
 312 LEIPSIC. 
 
 expression, to stage effect, than our English clergy, and far 
 more than any of our dissenting sectaries. This, though 
 derived from Rome, is, perhaps, commendable ; for the greater 
 portion of attendants will always be somewhat influenced by 
 forms and ceremonies, and those of more taste become dis- 
 gusted by slovenly and vulgar manners in the reading-desk 
 or the pulpit. 
 
 After some appropriate prayers which were chanted, and 
 accompanied by the organ, the consecration prayer was 
 pronounced by the minister on his knees on the upper step 
 of the altar, with his face towards the crucifix. I admired 
 the attitude, though his position rendered the words inaudible ; 
 but, by the books, I saw they were nearly the same as 
 are used in the English church. The bread was placed 
 at one end of the altar, and the wine at the other, and an 
 ofliciator stood by the side of each. Two boys, dressed in 
 surplices, then appeared, with a kind of silk sheet, which 
 they opened and spread out before the priest, on the right 
 hand, where the wafers were placed, whilst two others did 
 the same at the opposite extremity of the altar. These sheets 
 are spread to prevent any crumbs or drops of the consecrated 
 elements from falling to the ground in the action of dispensing 
 them, and the practice is evidently founded on the ancient 
 notion of the real presence. 
 
 When these preparations had been made, the men rose from 
 their seats, repaired to the chancel, and fell into a regular line, 
 which moved towards the right of the altar. The priest in 
 giving the wafer pronounced tlie same words as in our church, 
 the communicant then passed behind the altar, and on the left 
 side of it received the cup with similar words from the other 
 clergyman. When the men had thus all communicated and
 
 LEIPSIC. 
 
 313 
 
 returned to their places, the women advanced in a similar line, 
 till the whole of the communicants had partaken. As the 
 numbers of those who joined in this rite were very numerous, 
 amounting to some hundreds, it occupied a long time, durin"- 
 which the organ played, and the people accompanied it, by 
 singing with great reverence, some appropriate hymns. The 
 whole ceremony closed with a benediction, accompanied with 
 such accents and attitude as must have been the effect of study, 
 but which was not on that account the less impressive. 
 
 I think I never saw a religious ceremony of any kind in any 
 mode of worship more correctly, gravely, and impressively 
 performed, nor in which the minds of the participators, 
 seemed more engaged. After the service, the communicants 
 dropped an offering for the poor in a wire box, where it could 
 be seen what each had put in. 
 
 The clergy here are more respected than in many other 
 cities, their salaries are more liberal, and several of them are 
 professors in the university, or are otherwise engaged in the 
 business of tuition. 
 
 The charity schools belonging to the diff'erent churches, are 
 well provided for by contributions, and a part of them are col- 
 lected by the master, and some of the scholars singing through 
 the streets on fixed days, and applying to every house for some 
 offering, which is rarely, if ever refused, though the sum given 
 is generally very small. 
 
 As the kingdom of Saxony on this side terminates near 
 Leipsic, I have here sketched a view of its present condition. 
 Saxony is divided into five provinces, denominated circles, 
 viz. :
 
 314 
 
 SAXONY. 
 
 Meissen 
 
 Leipsic 
 
 Erzgebirge 
 
 Voigtland 
 
 Lusatia 
 
 Number of Inbabi- 
 tants. 
 
 Exteut in English 
 
 acres. 
 
 Cajiitals. 
 
 297,945 
 
 1,006,080 
 
 Dresden and Meissen. 
 
 216,355 
 
 743,080 
 
 Leipsic. 
 
 459,264 
 
 1,403,520 
 
 Freiburg. 
 
 88,639 
 
 440,320 
 
 Plauen. 
 
 169,879 
 
 1,031,680 
 
 Bautzen. 
 
 1,232,077 
 
 4,624,680 
 
 
 The inhabitants are divided into those who live 
 
 In two large cities 
 
 In six cities between 5.000 and 15,000 souls 
 In thirty-four cities between 2,500 and 5,000 
 In ninety-three towns, between 1,000 and 2,500 
 In towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants, and in 
 villages 
 
 85,167 
 
 51,319 
 
 11 2,665 
 
 130,418 
 
 852,508 
 1,232,077 
 
 Few of the kingdoms of Europe have so large a proportion 
 of their population employed in manufactures as the Saxon. 
 Before the calamitous cession of its provinces to Prussia, it was 
 calculated that two-fifths of the inhabitants were subsisted by 
 manufactures, and by working the mines. The part assigned to 
 that kingdom was chiefly an agricultural district, with very few 
 manufactories, except linen. In consequence of this change, 
 the relative proportion of the manufacturers and agriculturists, 
 is changed ; and the former are supposed to be now three-fifths, 
 and the latter only two-fifths. As the market for consumption 
 is narrowed by the exclusive system of Prussia, the greater
 
 SAXONY. 
 
 315 
 
 part of the inhabitants of Saxony are in a distressed condition, 
 from not finding vent for their goods. 
 
 The only article which Saxony requires from other manu- 
 facturing countries is paper, as their own mills do not supply 
 more than one-third the quantity which the printers of Leipsic, 
 Dresden, and the other towns require. Before the general 
 peace, the cotton goods of Saxony were almost universally 
 circulated through Germany. The produce of their looms 
 in one year*, were 150,000 pieces of white, and the same 
 quantity of printed cottons; l60,000 pieces of fustians of 
 various kinds, 270,000 pieces of muslin, besides 80,000 dozen 
 pairs of stockings and gloves annually ; but to what extent they 
 have been since reduced, I could not ascertain. Their linen 
 goods form a very extensive branch of industry, especially in 
 the province of Lusatia, where the finest cloths, as well as the 
 most beautiful damask table linen, are made. In almost all the 
 towns, woollen cloths are manufactured, and some of the finest 
 (juality : more are now made than the domestic consumption 
 requires ; and at the fair of Leipsic, they vigorously attempt to 
 compete with those which are brought there from England, 
 France, and Holland. 
 
 The silk manufactory of Saxony is inconsiderable : as the 
 supplies from France and Italy could reach them during the 
 continental system, they had no inducement to direct capital 
 and labour to that object. 
 
 Wooden wares of various kinds are made, and employ a very 
 great number of persons, who not only prepare furniture of 
 every description, from the produce of their woods,, and polish 
 and finish it with remarkable neatness and elegance, but supply 
 
 * Hassel, Vol. IV.
 
 316 SAXONY. 
 
 the greater part of Germany with some kinds of musical 
 instruments, such as flutes, fifes, violins, harps, drums, and 
 bassoons. 
 
 The southern boundary of Saxony consists of a range of 
 mountains, which gradually increase in elevation till they reach 
 the frontiers of Bohemia, of which they form the boundary. 
 Their highest point, within the Saxon limits, is the Fichtclberg, 
 3,730 feet above the level of the sea ; and several other points 
 are from 2, '250 to 3,000 feet. This district, the Erzgeberge, is 
 the repository of the mineral wealth of the kingdom. The 
 school of Freiburg has been long celebrated for the skill that 
 prevails in working mines, and the economy which has alone 
 made some of them productive. Freiburg, the capital of the 
 district, 1,180 feet above the level of the sea, is the place 
 where the direction of the mines is carried on. A mining 
 academy was established there in 1 765, where four professors 
 and assistants give instruction in every branch of geology and 
 mineralogy, and teach the practical application of those 
 sciences to the business of these mines. To assist them in the 
 work of teaching, they are furnished with a good library, a 
 cabinet of minerals, and models of the various implements and 
 machinery applicable to mining. The silver mines are in a 
 valley near the city, through which the Mulda, a small stream, 
 but suflliciently large to bring fuel to supply the furnaces, runs. 
 
 *The mines of Saxony belong to the crown, and their mean 
 annual product is about 
 
 400,000 ounces of silver. 
 500 tons of lead. 
 
 ■^ .Vlfrkf I's Erdebeschreibung von Kursaclisen.
 
 SAXONY. 517 
 
 450 tons of cobalt. 
 125 tons of tin. 
 30 tons of copper. 
 5 tons of manganese. 
 880 tons of sulphur. 
 800 tons of vitriol. 
 20,000 tons of coal. 
 24,000 tons of iron ore, besides smaller articles. 
 
 The whole country around the mines is filled with manufac- 
 tories, in which a great part of their produce is made into the 
 various kinds of goods for which they are adapted, so that 
 little of the mineral wealth leaves the district where it is 
 raised, without some additional value being bestowed on it. 
 It is to the manufactures carried on in the Erzgebirge, that 
 the high ratio of population is owing, in a country naturally 
 very barren, and where, from the great elevation of most parts 
 of the land, the winter is uncommonly severe, and of very 
 protracted length. 
 
 By the unfortunate division of the kingdom in 1815, Saxony 
 has lost the mines of salt which were an invaluable treasure ; 
 and, from the transfer of Thuringia, which was her principal 
 granary, she does not now produce sufficient corn for the 
 consumption of her population. 
 
 I do not think that the agriculture of Saxony is inferior to 
 that of Prussia. In one respect it is superior, as no portion of 
 the soil is wholly without some cultivation ; but that cultivation 
 is far below what the land requires, and the produce much 
 less than the inhabitants of the parts that still remain, must 
 need for their subsistence. 
 
 I had an opportunity, whilst in Dresden, of examining the 
 
 2 S
 
 318 SAXONY. 
 
 written accounts of several estates belonging to the King, and 
 farmed by himself. These accounts are kept with statistical 
 accuracy, and exhibited with the veracity of official forms, 
 the particulars of the labour executed by each man and horse, 
 the extent of land appropriated to different crops, the quantity 
 of seed corn, the total of the produce that was thrashed out, 
 the particulars of what was consumed by the cattle, and of 
 what was sold, with the prices. The apparatus of book-keeping 
 might, perhaps, have been simplified, but the details of the 
 minutest circumstances were inserted. I was induced to 
 examine these with more attention, because I was at first 
 much surprised to see the increase in the quantity of grain so 
 small, and the profit on the flocks which had the range of 
 vast districts, without any other expense than that of the 
 shepherds, amount to so little. 
 
 The sheep of Saxony, since the introduction of the Merino 
 race, have yielded one of the principal productions which 
 the country has had to export, and to exchange for those 
 foreign articles that it needs ; and the high price obtained for 
 the wool has been an encouragement to extend the breed. 
 The increase has been great at the same time in the neigh- 
 bouring countries, and the general deadness of trade, both in 
 England and the manufacturing countries on the continent, 
 being added to this increase, has lowered the price, though not 
 to such an extent as to destroy the whole profit on sheep. 
 
 The exports of Saxony are estimated at about one million 
 sterling, which, besides fine wool, the most considerable part 
 of it consists of manufactured linen, woollen, iron wares, and 
 books. The imports consist of corn, wine, salt, coflcc, tea, 
 tobacco, spices, and dyeing drugs, and, in the present dulness 
 of sale, these somewhat exceed the exports.
 
 SAXONY. ojy 
 
 The kingdom of Saxony, if not a simple monarcliy, approaches 
 very nejirly to it. The states of the kingdom exist, and some- 
 times assemble, but having no ))ower to make laws, to institute 
 inquiries, to examine the public accounts, or even to place a 
 veto on royal decrees, their power is very limited, and has 
 been seldom exercised. The states are rather the representa- 
 tives of the privileged orders than of the nation, and being 
 appointed by the nobles, and the corporations, are more so- 
 licitous to secure the ancient rights of their own bodies, than 
 to give up any part of them for strengthening the crown or 
 benefiting the people. 
 
 The public income is supposed to be about one million 
 sterling ; a part of it is derived from the domains and royalties 
 of the crown, consisting of farms, woods, and mines ; a part 
 from direct contributions on land, on trades, and on persons, 
 and a part from indirect contributions, in which the nobles are 
 most unjustly favoured. The public debt amounts to about 
 four millions sterling, the interest of which is regularly paid, 
 and it has been reduced nearly one-third since the year 1814, 
 partly by payments, and partly by certain portions of it having 
 been assumed by the King of Prussia. 
 
 2 S 2
 
 PRUSSIAN SAXONY, SAXE WEIMAR, 
 
 AND 
 
 SAXE GOTHA.
 
 PRUSSIAN SAXONY. 
 
 Leaving Leipslc by the bridge, substituted in the place 
 of that which was blown up towards the conclusion of that 
 decisive battle which will ever make this city celebrated, we 
 gained the fine meadows surrounding the place on that side, 
 and which are bordered by some neat villages, and some few 
 very extensive gentlemen's houses. 
 
 With these meadows the kingdom of Saxony terminates, 
 and a part of the territory ceded to Prussia, in 1815, intervenes 
 between it and the dutchy of Saxe Weimar. After a gentle 
 ascent, and gaining an open plain of a sandy loam, which 
 is capable of being made very productive, but is now but 
 indifferently cultivated, the road passes over the plain, which 
 has been rendered famous by the two great battles that have 
 taken their names from the town nearest to it. The battle 
 of Liitzen, where Gustavus Adolphus met his death, and 
 which his chancellor Oxenstern gained, was fought on the 
 left hand-side of the road ; and a rough stone, which every 
 traveller turns aside to see, marks the spot where the 
 Swedish hero met his fate. It has no inscri])tion, but simply 
 the date 1632 engraved upon it, in uncouth figures. 
 
 The field where Buonaparte gained his indecisive, but 
 more bloody victory, over the Russians and Prussians, in 1813, 
 is an English mile to the north of the place where the former 
 battle was fought, and, except a few mounds over the graves 
 of the soldiers, which are gradually sinking to the level of the
 
 324 
 
 LUTZEN 
 
 rest of the land, has nothing to distinguish it. The town of 
 Liitzen is small, but neatly built, containing about 1,100 
 inhabitants ; but when I passed through it, a large fair filled 
 the market-place, and the inn was so crowded with guests, 
 that I could not find a room to sit in whilst the horses were 
 changing. The assemblage of people at this fair seemed to 
 me out of all proportion to the value of the wares brought to 
 it for sale. 
 
 The country beyond Liitzen has no variation in character, 
 till the fine vale is opened, through which the Saale runs. 
 On descending to it the prospect is very beautiful, the country 
 rich, and remarkably well planted with every kind of fruit 
 trees. The ridge of hills that bounds this valley is not very 
 steep, and is cultivated to the top. It is stony land, ex- 
 cellent for vines, as far as a plentiful quantity of grapes 
 deserves that character, when the wine they yield is not good, 
 and most profitably applied to make vinegar and brandy. 
 
 Thus far in Germany, with a few and slight exceptions, no 
 part of the soil rested on any other than a granite bottom ; 
 but near the banks of the Saale, the basis changed in the most 
 definite line I ever observed, and became suddenly calcareous. 
 This was so striking, that in approaching the town of Weis- 
 senfels, it was easy to mark at a distance, by the verdure of 
 the meadows, those which were on a granite, and those which 
 were on a limestone basis. Some of the land was stony, 
 admirably calculated for pease, which, on inquiry, I found 
 were very extensively cultivated on it. The valley is very 
 delightful from the verdure of the meadows, the well-enclosed 
 fields and the newly-built villages, most of which had been 
 destroyed by the war, and have been since rebuilt. 
 
 The entrance to the city of Weissenfels is gained by
 
 NAUMBURG. 323 
 
 crossing the Saalc, over a very handsome bridge, 330 feet 
 long. The town has no particular beauties to engage the 
 attention of a traveller ; it is tolerably well built, and though 
 tlie fortifications are destroyed, the gates still remain. There 
 are two Lutheran churches; in one of them, which formerly 
 belonged to a religious house called the Cloister church, the 
 body of Gustavus Adolphus was interred. There is a public 
 seminary for the education of young men, two hospitals, and 
 a large workhouse, where many of the distressed poor arc 
 received. It contains a population of 5,050 persons, a part of 
 whom are employed in making gold and silver ornaments, and 
 some hundreds are occupied in the trade of shoemaking, 
 which is here carried on largely. The salmon caught in this 
 river is very good, and very abundant. 
 
 The country, from Weissenfcls to Naumburg, on the banks 
 of the Saale, is very beautiful ; it is well enclosed, and tolera- 
 bly wooded ; its general character somewhat resembles that of 
 the banks of the Thames between Henley and Maidenhead ; the 
 hills recede farther from the river, and are covered with vines. 
 The valley itself is equally rich, and equally beautiful. The 
 fruit-trees are very abundant, and the villages thick and 
 populous. Wheat, rye, hops, flax, and clover-seed, are very 
 abundantly raised in the whole district, whilst the meadows 
 afford excellent pasture for horned cattle, which are kept for 
 the sake of butter and cheese, and many are fattened. 
 
 The city of Naumburg is well built, and the great square 
 has a magnificent appearance. The houses on three sides 
 of it are on piazzas, under which is a promenade that is 
 agreeable in all states of the weather. The private houses 
 are large and well built, and I have seen few cities of its 
 size whose outward appearance is better. 
 
 2 T
 
 326 NAUMBURG. 
 
 The public buildings are a venerable castle in one of the 
 suburbs, and six churches ; one of which, the Domkirche, has 
 some very fine monuments, which arc curious, as specimens of 
 the old German style of decorating the graves of their nobles. 
 The others I did not enter, but they appeared to me much 
 larger than the population could require, however, much dis- 
 posed they may be to attend divine service. The charitable 
 institutions are upon a scale of similar extent to the churches, 
 for there are two orphan houses, six hospitals, and a work- 
 house, all of which enjoy some endowment, as well as collect 
 voluntary contributions. There is a large endowed school, 
 belonging to the Domkirche, and a good library. 
 
 The inhabitants, including the suburbs, amount to 8,750, 
 some of whom are employed in manufactories of various kinds. 
 A great number are engaged in making turnery goods, and 
 there are besides fabrics for making soap, starch, powder, 
 vitriol, aquafortis, beer, vinegar, and brandy. The trade of 
 the place is flourishing, and the rich country around supplies it 
 amply with fruit, corn, wine, and salt, in which considerable 
 commerce is carried on. 
 
 I found that near this place, there was a large farm to be let 
 by public auction, and had suflicient curiosity to see it, and to 
 know the particulars of the terms, extent, and wortli of it. It 
 is finely situated on the bank of the river, and the great road 
 passes through it. This property called Schul-pforte, was 
 formerly a nunnery of the Cistertian order, but at the reforma- 
 tion was turned into a public school, or pedagogium, where 
 from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and eighty boys are 
 boarded and instructed gratuitously. The estate with wiiich 
 this establishment was endowed, is in possession of the King of
 
 NAUMBURG. 
 
 327 
 
 Prussia, who out of the profits, pays the expenses of the pro- 
 fessors and the board of the pupils. 
 
 The farm consists of 770 acres of open field land, 2,000 acres 
 of enclosed land, 145 acres of rich old meadow, sixteen acres of 
 garden ground, extensive orchards, hop garden and vineyards. 
 The premises are capacious and handsome, consisting of a good 
 dwelling, barns, stables, and cow-houses; and besides these, 
 a brewery, water-mill, bake-house, and considerable lime-kilns, 
 with the use of agricultural implements and harness. A lease 
 of twelve years is to be granted to the best bidder ; but the 
 minimum must be 21, 668 Prussian dollars, or three thousand 
 three hundred pounds sterling, being scarcely twenty shillings 
 an acre for the land, allowing nothing for the premises, and the 
 use of the implements. The same land in England would let, 
 in spite of the depressed state of agriculture, at more than forty 
 shillings an acre, without any of the contingencies attached 
 to these premises. I was, however, told, that the capital 
 which this undertaking required was so large, that little or 
 no competition was expected, and that not much more than 
 the upset price was likely to be obtained. 
 
 Near this city are the salt springs, the loss of which is 
 severely felt in the dominions still left to the King of Saxony ; 
 the brine is not very strong, containing only six per cent, of 
 salt. It is evaporated by turf, as being the cheapest fuel in 
 this country. These springs issue from the mountains, which 
 rise in prodigious masses near the town. 
 
 After leaving Naumburg, I soon reached the foot of the 
 mountains, from which the brine springs issue, and to ease the 
 horses, as well as to enjoy the fine prospect of the picturesque 
 country, which displayed itself during the gradual ascent, 
 I walked an hour till I reached the top of the hills, and 
 
 2 T 2
 
 328 SAXE WEIMAR. 
 
 lost on the plain that was there spread out, the fine scenery 
 which had cheered the toil of a long and winding road to 
 the summit. 
 
 The country I had reached, was the beginning of the 
 dominions of the Duke of Saxe Weimar. With the elevation, 
 the character of the country had changed ; the soil was a clayey 
 loam, upon a calcareous basis. It was not, however, stiflP, but 
 worked easily. I saw some ploughs with a single horse ; they 
 do indeed, but scratch the ground, and yet the rye which was 
 the principal production, looked healthy and well ; it had, 
 however, been sowed in the early part of September, as some 
 peasants told me, in the villages I passed through. The other 
 land looked full of weeds, as might be expected from such very 
 shallow ploughing. 
 
 The farms in the populous villages I passed through are 
 small, and the occupiers very poor, without the means of pro- 
 viding sufficient horses for the requisite tillage, or cattle to 
 create manure. I saw some ploughing performed by two half- 
 starved cows. These small occupiers live harder and work 
 harder than day-labourers, and yet are unable to increase their 
 small store. I observed, however, through the whole of this 
 district, that there was a great abundance of fruit trees ; 
 every farm-house was surrounded with them, and I under- 
 stood, that the produce of apples, pears, plums, and cherries, 
 is very great. 
 
 On this hilly plain, I first saw sainfoin to any considerable 
 extent. I had remarked small patches of it near Weissenfels, 
 but here the portions of it are large, and it seems to be the 
 only plant they have from which to make hay. It was culti- 
 vated in a very slovenly manner, and was filled with abundance 
 of other grasses as well as weeds, and instead of remaining.
 
 SAXE WEIMAR. 32.Q 
 
 as it does in England, ten or twelve years for hay, it generally 
 becomes choked and unproductive, after being mowed three 
 or four times. 
 
 As I passed along the road, the spot was pointed out to me, 
 but at some distance on the left hand, where was fought, in 
 ]806, the battle of Jena, the consequences of which led to a 
 depression of the Prussian monarchy for the succeeding six 
 years ; till the war, known in this country by the name of the 
 war of deliverance, again raised it to its former elevation. 
 
 As I approached Weimar, the country became more undu- 
 lating, and discovered many deep ravines, which the winter 
 torrents, formed by the melting of the snow on the hills, had 
 worn through the soft lime-stone rocks whicii compose the 
 basis of this district. Within two or three miles of the city, 
 the Grand Duke's plantations by the side of the road gave a 
 variety to the appearance of the country ; and the stubble 
 fields which bordered on them were more plentifully stocked 
 with pheasants than any country I ever passed through. They 
 were walking about very leisurely, undisturbed by the noise of 
 the carriage ; and, in their habits, more resembled barn-door 
 fowls than undomesticated birds. Their tameness arises from 
 their being unattacked, as every one is prohibited by the Duke 
 from killing them by very severe penalties ; and he, with his 
 party, do not commence their campaign till Christmas. 
 
 The soil here was changed to a rich black mould, and the 
 rye appeared very luxuriant. The villages are thickly placed, 
 and very populous, but the scarcity of cattle evinced a degree 
 of poverty, which is a wonderful contrast to the wealth dis- 
 played by the flocks and herds fed on similar soils in England. 
 On this tract, besides the luxuriant appearance of the growing 
 rye, the stubbles of the late harvest proved the goodness of
 
 530 
 
 WEIMAR. 
 
 the soil, which is highly productive, in spite of the bad culture 
 which the poverty of the occupiers induces. 
 
 There are few places that inspire more interest, in those who 
 have paid any attention to German literature, than the city of 
 Weimar. It has been called the Athens of Germany ; and, at 
 one period, contained within it some of the greatest names 
 that Europe has produced. Schiller, Wieland, Goethe, and 
 Herder, were living here at the same period, and formed a con- 
 stellation, amongst whose stars of the inferior magnitude were 
 Musaeus, Falk, and Kotzebue. Though, with the exception 
 of Goethe, who resides at Jena, they are all dead, there 
 still remains a taste for knowledge and information pretty 
 generally diffused, which is patronised by the Duke, and 
 fostered by a literary institution which flourishes in this 
 small city. Whilst, in the other parts of the empire, the 
 press is under restriction, or subjected to a previous censure, 
 here it has been suffered to exist without any other controul, 
 than what is created by the desire to publish nothing which 
 shall be deemed so offensive in the other states as to check 
 the circulation. 
 
 Under this influence of a free press, there has grown up 
 here a private establishment, which comprehends the whole 
 process of the manufactory of books and maps, from the col- 
 lecting materials for composing them to the binding and selling 
 them. The Lnudes-industiie-comploir belongs to a gentleman 
 of great merit and perseverance, who is connected with his 
 son-in-law, a man of great talents, learning, and enterprise. 
 The building resembles a j)alacc, both in extent and elegance 
 of exterior; within it, besides the residences of the partners, 
 there are dwellings for the various persons who arc engaged in 
 litt^raturc, or the occupations connected with it ; four luindred
 
 WEIMAR. 331 
 
 persons are constantly living- in the house. These comprehend 
 several respectable writers engaged in works of general circula- 
 tion, or in the composition of periodical publications, engravers, 
 copper-plate and letter-press printers, and painters. One 
 great object is the construction of maps, with which tlie greater 
 part of Germany is supplied. As far as relates to their own 
 country, these maps are correct ; when they delineate foreign 
 and distant countries, they must depend on conflicting autho- 
 rities, and, therefore, like the rest of the profession, sometimes 
 fall into errors ; but I believe as much pains is taken here to 
 avoid them as by composers in any part of Europe. These 
 maps are executed in a coarse manner, and printed on bad 
 paper, and, consequently, can be rendered very cheap. A 
 large military map of Germany, contained in two hundred and 
 twenty sheets, has lately been published, and is sold on 
 common paper for fifty-nine rix-dollars, (about nine pounds,) 
 and on fine paper for seventy-nine. The single sheet maps, 
 even when coloured, are sold for less than one shilling and 
 sixpence. 
 
 The stone printing, upon the same principle as I saw it at 
 Berlin, is carried on in this establishment, and applied to plans 
 of battles, towns, and fortifications. I was shewed an ingenious, 
 if not a useful, plan of making globes. The wooden globe is 
 covered with plaster of Paris, and then varnished. The maps 
 are engraved in the inner side of two half copper globes which 
 exactly fit that covered with the plaster of Paris. The ink is 
 applied to the inner part of these copper half globes, and, 
 when fitted to them, comnumicates the impression to the plas- 
 ter of Paris. By this process there are no joinings in the 
 map, as occur in our common globes. The globes, when 
 finished, have certainly a beautiful appearance ; but I much
 
 33'i WEIMAR. 
 
 doubt if there be any advantage so considerable as to cause 
 the general adoption of this plan of making them. 
 
 From this institution, there issues a very valuable pe- 
 riodical geographical w^ork, called the Epiiemeriden, which 
 contains notices of all new facts in geography, and criticisms 
 on such new books or maps as are produced. Translations 
 from the English and French popular works are executed on 
 the premises, and pass through the press, as well as many 
 books originally compiled or composed in this city. A very 
 minute and accurate geographical manual is in course of 
 publication, of which, I believe, six volumes have already 
 appeared, the composition of four men of considerable cele- 
 brity and great industry in statistical pursuits. These are 
 Hassell, Gaspari, Cannabich, and Gutsmuths, whose volumes, 
 if finished as they are commenced, will be a complete work 
 of statistical geography. 
 
 The principal proprietor of this concern is a great horticul- 
 turist, and with that tendency to classification which the whole 
 nation seems to cultivate, has composed a work on potatoes, 
 divided very minutely, if not accurately, into their several 
 species. In order to have correct drawings, he had formed a 
 collection of models of potatoes, in wax, of the size and 
 colour of nature, which were neatly arranged in a cabinet. 
 The work had drawings of each, and a printed description in 
 German and French. 
 
 The large garden belonging to this gentleman, and attached 
 to the establishment, was laid out with taste, and the green- 
 houses and forcing-houses, which contained many curious 
 exotic plants, were managed with an attention to economy in 
 the use of fuel that I much admired. 
 
 The cit) of Weimar contains {^,,'350 inhabitants, exclusive of
 
 WEIMAR. 33.3 
 
 the few military and the court, which together cannot make 
 the whole 9,000 ; but from it, at one period, there issued more 
 newspapers than from the whole city of Paris. Though, from 
 their titles and their professed objects, they were not appa- 
 rently political, they were made subservient to the propagation 
 of discontent, and the production of exaggerated expecta- 
 tions from an ideal state of reform or revolution which 
 have been very injurious to practical liberty. The Isis was 
 professedly a physiological journal, but its main though covert 
 design was to inflame the minds of the young men, by fan- 
 tastical representations of human nature and human govern- 
 ments. The Annubis professed to be a metaphysical work, 
 but its metaphysics were directed against all religions and all 
 governments. The Osiris, the Nemesis, and the Patriot, were 
 avowedly political. These have, however, all disappeared, 
 and left only the " Oppositions Blait," the Opposition Leaf, 
 which is published daily, and the editor of which has acquired 
 the tact of writing it in such a style as not to create any 
 impediment to its general circulation through all the states of 
 Germany, and yet with such spirit as to make it extensively 
 perused. 
 
 The theatre of Weimar has long been looked up to by all 
 the people of Germany, who felt an interest in stage repre- 
 sentations. It was the place from which emanated those plays 
 of Schiller and of Goethe which will be rapturously admired as 
 far as the language of those great poets is known, whilst the 
 love of natural representations of the powerful emotions of 
 the human mind, and exhibitions of characters, in all their 
 force and energy, shall continue to give delight. This was 
 the native place of Kotzebue, an author of more merit 
 than can be allowed him by the readers of his translated 
 
 2 U
 
 334 WEIMAR. 
 
 works ; for except his " Virgin of the Sun," and " the Spaniards 
 in Peru," which have been converted into the English piece, 
 entitled Pizarro, his plays are so completely representations of 
 characters and situations, exclusively national, that without 
 an acquaintance with such characters and situations, they 
 cannot be properly appreciated. Some of his first efforts were 
 made here, and well received, and his later pieces are as great 
 favourites in Weimar as in the other cities on the continent 
 where the German language is spoken. 
 
 I was at the theatre three or four times, and enjoyed more 
 pleasure from it than from any others I had visited. The 
 house is small, well calculated for hearing, with most neatly 
 appropriate scenery and decorations. The costume of the 
 performers, the representations of the characters, and the 
 appearance of what was meant as the inside of houses, excited 
 in me much surprise, by the accuracy of the delineation, of 
 which I was tolerably enabled to judge. The piece I refer to 
 was a recent one by Kotzebue. The scene was in Spain ; the 
 events supposed to happen between a native of Germany, 
 an officer in the French army, and Spanish nobles, priests, 
 peasants, and females, of whose dwellings the troops he 
 commanded had taken possession. I do not think that in Spain 
 itself, the dress and manners of the people, or the appear- 
 ance of the interior and exterior of the houses, could have 
 been more minutely or more accurately copied. In the other 
 pieces I saw performed, the same rigid regard was paid to all 
 the circumstances peculiar to their characters, the talent of 
 the writer was admirably seconded by the attention and skill 
 of the manager, and the actors being excellent, the illusion 
 became complete, and enabled the spectators to enter with 
 feeling into the spirit of the whole performance.
 
 WEIMAR. 335 
 
 In these small cities, the seat of a court, more attention is 
 paid to rank than in lare;er capitals. I remarked it here, 
 because boxes on one side the house are appropriated to the 
 nobles, and on the other to the citizens. I thoui>,ht the latter 
 the better looking class, and I am sure they were by far the 
 best dressed. Tiie distinction of being received or not 
 received at court is kept up in tiiis city as well as in Dresden; 
 but so little is the privilege esteemed, that many persons who 
 might go, and would be flatteringly received, are too inde- 
 pendent to accept the honour. 
 
 The palace of the Grand Duke is a handsome and extensive 
 modern building, forming three sides of a square, sufficiently 
 capacious to accommodate the various establishments of the 
 different personages of the Sovereign's family. The apartments 
 occupied by the family are handsomely but not splendidly 
 furnished, more in the French than the English style. There 
 is, however, less to remark in the building than in the gardens 
 and in the park, which is separated from it by the small river 
 Ilm. It is small, but laid out with some taste, approaching in 
 its manner to Kensington Gardens, but more favoured from 
 the ground being somewhat vmdulating. An antique temple in 
 one part of it exhibits an appropriate object, and is useful 
 -as well as ornamental, from the back of it forming a green- 
 house. 
 
 The ducal library, like others in Germany, is a liberal insti- 
 tution, allowing not only of reading in the building, but of 
 borrowing any books to take home. The Duke is fond of 
 literature, and curious to know what passes in other countries. 
 A gentleman in London sends him, periodically, an account of 
 all books published in England with his critical remarks on 
 them, by which the purchases are regulated. Whilst I was in 
 
 '2 u 2
 
 336 WEIMAR. 
 
 Weimar, the recent publications were received, consisting not 
 only of the most prominent periodical works, but of such other 
 books as his intelligent correspondent had represented in a 
 favourable light. The collection of books in the library, 
 consists of about ] 10,000 volumes; some very ancient, on the 
 topography and history of Germany, many on various branches 
 of natural history, many on civil law some on history, geo- 
 graphy, and natural philosophy. The ancient works are by 
 far the most numerous. The whole are badly arranged. The 
 pictures are generally very indifferent, some were copies, the 
 originals of which I had seen in Dresden. The most valuable 
 were some portraits of the age, and somewhat in the style of 
 Albert Durer, which are very good. Some busts display the 
 admirable skill of the statuary ; a colossal one of Schiller is 
 very fine, and the other heads of the eminent men that flou- 
 rished here, Wieland, Herder, and Goethe, are well executed. 
 
 One of the most pleasing objects belonging to the Duke of 
 Weimar, that I had an opportunity of viewing is Belvedere. It 
 is about two miles from the city, on the side of a hill that 
 overlooks it, and is approached through a fine avenue of lime 
 and chestnut trees. The palace has nothing very striking ex- 
 cept the situation, which is fine ; but the gardens, green- 
 houses, and forcing-houses are laid out in a style of considerable 
 elegance. The orangery is peculiarly tasteful ; and through 
 it, as well as the rest of this assemblage of vegetable beauty, 
 there are excellent avenues, so that the visitors may approach 
 and examine any of the numerous assortments of exotic plants, 
 here brought together. In the centre of these buildings, 
 a room is appropriately decorated for the reception of any 
 parties that may choose to repair to them, and indulge them- 
 selves in viewing the surrounding collections of botanic scieiice,
 
 WEIMAR. 337 
 
 whilst regaling themselves with coffee or tea, which may be 
 provided at a trifling expense by the attendants. 
 
 The city of Weimar has nothing to recommend it. It is a 
 strange contrast of a few good buildings, with many wretched 
 habitations. Most of the streets are narrow, crooked, and ill- 
 paved, and the market-place is small, but has a handsome 
 fountain in its centre, which is almost the only elegant object 
 within the city of a public nature. There are two Lutheran 
 churches, in one of which is the vault of the sovereign's family, 
 and some good portraits, by a German painter of celebrity, 
 Lucas Kranach. In the buryijig-ground belonging to the other 
 church, rest the bodies of Schiller, one of the first of German 
 poets, of Musaeus, and some other men of literary fame. The 
 Catholics and the Greeks, have each a chapel for their modes 
 of worship, the latter is principally used by the consort of the 
 heir-apparent and her suite. She is a Russian princess, sister 
 to the Emperor Alexander, and has a religious establishment on 
 a small scale, for the sect to which she adheres. Tiie charita- 
 ble institutions for the sick and indigent, and for the education 
 of the poor, are upon a scale of liberality similar to that of 
 other cities in this country. They are partly endowed, and 
 partly exist by voluntary contributions. 
 
 The manufactories and trade of Weimar are very inconsider- 
 able, a little woollen cloth is made here, and some linen and 
 silk goods, for the consumption of the city. Hats are made, 
 and some of them are sent to the fair of Leipsic. The breweries 
 and distilleries are employed to supply the city. The only 
 other trade is in corn, which is sent from hence to the mining 
 district in the kingdom of Saxony. 
 
 Agriculture is the principal pursuit of this duchy, the 
 sovereign has an enthusiastic attachment to it, and takes such
 
 336 WEIMAR. 
 
 measures to promote it as he thinks best ; whether they are, is 
 more doubtful than the goodness of his intentions. The ancient 
 laws and customs appear to me to be the principal impediments, 
 and these he cannot alter ; but others arise from being sur- 
 rounded with great and powerful states, whose governments 
 are jealous of each other. 
 
 In my rides round the city, I had opportunities of viewing 
 the general plan of cultivation, which is contined almost 
 exclusively to the three-course rotation, that prevails in tlie 
 other parts of Germany. The Grand Duke's farms attracted 
 my attention, and I visited several of them. One at Old 
 Weimar had nothing to be remarked, but the filthy condition 
 in which the cattle are kept, from a deficiency of straw, and 
 the singular attempt to propagate the race of buffaloes in this 
 country. The Duke has several of them here with young- 
 ones, but the experiment is scarcely worth making, as their 
 meat is much inferior to that of our European cows. 
 
 At another farm, about four miles north-west from the city, 
 on the side of a hill, I found the sheep in their houses, feeding 
 on barley-straw, the grain of which had not ripened, and w^as 
 therefore unthrashed. The ewes of the flock were 340 in 
 number, and had produced in the preceding year 274 lambs ; 
 they were all of the Merino race. 
 
 One farm, at about nine miles from Weimar, was by far the 
 best-conducted concern of any I had visited in Saxony. The 
 Duke's agent is a man of substantial property, and manages 
 his own farm, and that of his sovereign, extremely well. The 
 whole estate is 900 sheffels, eight-elevenths of an English acre; 
 of this, J75 shcfl'cls are laid down to sainfoin. The mode of 
 doing it, is to make a year's clean fallow, then to sow it with 
 wheat or rye; after that with barley or oats, and with the
 
 WEIMAR. 
 
 339 
 
 spring-corn to sow the sainfoin seed. It remains for hay five 
 years ; in the sixth it is fed by sheep, and then ploughed up, 
 and the three-course rotation followed with it. In the five 
 years that it is mowed, it scarcely produces five tons of hay ; 
 exclusive of the sainfoin there is no iiay or pasture land, and 
 only ten sheft'els in green crops of turnips, mangel-wurzel, and 
 cole-rueben. 
 
 The corn land is on the three-course rotation ; but, on every 
 tiiird rotation, a clean year's fallow is made. The effects of 
 this, as well as of the abundance of live-stock, which creates 
 manure, is visible in the fields, and is very sensibly experienced 
 at the harvest. The average increase is ten for one in wheat, 
 rye, and barley; and fourteen for one in oats, as the Verwalter 
 assured me, and I saw good reason to believe him. The wages 
 of a labouring man are ninepcnce a day without, and sixpence 
 with food; which consists of rye-bread or potatoes. The thrasii- 
 ers receive the fourteenth sack of corn for their labour. The 
 dairy consisting of sixteen cows is well managed ; and, in ad- 
 dition to their other food, they have each ten oil-cakes per week. 
 I was much pleased with the civility that was every where 
 shown by the country people, and the patience they evinced 
 in satisfying my inquiries ; by which I generally endeavoured 
 first to obtain information about the measures of capacity, and 
 also of land, which vary in almost every village. The first 
 and most materials questions, were such as could enable me to 
 find some common standard of measures, by which to obtain 
 any estimate of the productive effects of their mode of farming. 
 The price of land, in this district, varies more within a 
 small compass, than in any other where I have had the means of 
 obtaining information. Some of the land is poor and stony, 
 and in this country, where there is no capital to expend upon
 
 340 WEIMAR. 
 
 it, is literally worth nothing, except to make plantations as 
 cover for game. Tlie land in the valleys is worth from 150 
 to 200 rix-dollars per acre, according to its quality, and to the 
 feudal rights which are attached to it. On some parts of their 
 inferior land, gypsum is found, which is used for manure with 
 beneficial effects. Much of the worst land has been planted 
 in a very careless manner, not with a view to profit, but to 
 create rough bushy places, as harbour for game. 
 
 The Duke is generally beloved by his subjects, and the only 
 complaints that are uttered against him originate in his 
 attachments to tlie sports of the field, to which the comfort 
 and the interests of all under him are too much sacrificed. 
 His woods abound with both kinds of deer, and with wild 
 swine, and are plentifully stocked with hares, pheasants, 
 and partridges. The distinction betwixt dift'erent kinds of 
 game is strictly marked, and deer, wild swine, and pheasants, 
 under the name of the liolte jogd, must only be killed by those 
 of noble blood. The permission given here, as well as in Prussia 
 and Saxony of late, to burghers to purchase knights tenures, 
 has indeed made an exception ; and some of those tenures, 
 though not all, have this right of ho/ie jagd attached 
 to them. In general these animals may be said to be 
 exclusively preserved for the sport of the princes. The 
 mode of hunting, (for so it is called, though the game is 
 killed with guns), is by ordering the peasants of the villages 
 in a certain district, to form an extensive circle and 
 inclose the game ; this circle is gradually contracted, till 
 the whole enclosed within it, is driven towards the spot, 
 where the party armed with guns, and accompanied by dogs, 
 performs the operations of butchers, rather than of sportsmen. 
 On some occasions, a thousand hares have been killed in one
 
 WEIMAR. 341 
 
 day, and have been afterwards sold in the city at a shilling 
 each. In the beginning of January, each year, as many 
 pheasants are killed, which are also sold ; and partridges may 
 be commonly bought for about three-pence each. 
 
 The liberties of England may be said in some measure to 
 have originated from contests relating to the forest laws ; and 
 the tenacity of the King and the nobles respecting the chace, 
 produced good effects, far beyond the ideas of those who 
 were engaged in the struggle. In Germany, though I have 
 heard much wild declamation about the rights of man, I have 
 not heard those who assume the denomination of Liberals, 
 turn their wrath against the game laws, or talk of them as 
 some of their evils. They seem to me to be more ready to 
 exclaim against evils that arise from the inevitable distinctions 
 of society, and which must always exist, than against such as 
 admit of a practical remedy. 
 
 A measure, adopted by the sovereigns of Prussia, Saxony, 
 and some others, is beginning to produce a good effect, and 
 may lead to important consequences at some future time,— I 
 mean the permission to alienate estates, even those which could 
 formerly be held by none but nobles. This enables thepea- 
 sants or copy-holders to purchase those feudal rights of hunt- 
 ing, of personal service, and stipulated work for their cattle, 
 which, though secured, and as sacred as any other property, 
 are found more harassing to the peasantry than profitable to 
 the lords. The sovereigns favour such sales, and the courts 
 of justice do all they can, by stretching the law in favour of 
 the tenants, to second the views of the princes. In almost 
 every case that comes before the courts, the decision is in 
 favour of the tenants. Where the law and the covenants are 
 so strongly on the side of the lords that they cannot be 
 
 2 X
 
 342 WEIMAR. 
 
 resisted, the judges sometimes delay the decision till the object 
 contended for ceases to be of any importance ; and then, in 
 pronouncing judgment in favour of the lord, recommend him 
 not to enforce his rights. 
 
 An instance related to me is the best illustration of this 
 feeling of the courts. The proprietor of a large estate and a 
 castle on it, with many copyholders under him in several 
 villages, found it necessary to rebuild his residence. The 
 tenants were bound by precedents and covenants to draw 
 stone from certain quarries, when the manorial house required 
 to be rebuilt. They were called upon to perform these 
 services, which, on various pretences, were refused. Suits 
 were commenced against them, but proceeded more slowly 
 than the building, for the stone was dug, and the wood pre- 
 pared, before the refusals were known. By the time the house 
 was finished, the court decreed that the services should be 
 performed, but those services were no longer wanted, and, 
 perhaps, may not be needed for the next hundred years. The 
 lord might have instituted other processes to obtain compen- 
 sation, but this would have given rise to disputes and 
 discussions on the value of other services in place of those 
 which had not been performed when tl>ey were needed. The 
 court certainly would not have ordered a compensation in 
 money ; but, perhaps, in some other labour which the lord 
 might not require, and even then recommend him not to 
 enforce his demand. 
 
 When the tenant or copyholder is bound to plough a certain 
 quantity of land for his lord, or to execute any other work, it 
 maybe well imagined, that he will choose the most convenient 
 time for himself, and perforin it in the easiest, which is gene- 
 rally the worst, manner. If contentions arise, and it becomes
 
 WEIMAR. 343 
 
 the duty of the courts to decide, as I said before, they usually 
 do so in favour of the tenant. It may be easily supposed, 
 that such a state of things very much favours the sale of 
 those harassing claims to those tenants who are able to pay 
 for them. 
 
 There can be no doubt but the converting these copyholders 
 into freeholders would in time produce a considerable effect, 
 if the progress of the operation were not checked by those 
 ancient laws, which it is difficult in every country to alter. 
 On the death of a peasant, his land must be disposed of, not 
 according to his will, but among all his family; and thus, a 
 number of small farms are created, often of ten or twelve 
 acres, on which a family cannot subsist, except by living 
 wholly on potatoes, and whose owner is superior in rank, but 
 inferior in comforts, to a day-labourer. An alteration in this 
 system seems to me indispensable, in order to give due effect 
 to the permission to sell land and feudal rights to those who 
 are not nobles. 
 
 With a friend from Weimar I went to spend a day in seeing 
 Jena, where he had formerly studied. The road was, for six 
 or seven miles, the same which I had passed in coming from 
 Naumburg. The city is in a valley, and is first seen when 
 descending a steep hill, by a winding road. The valley is 
 surrounded by naked and lofty rocks, which tower above it, 
 but whose lower sides are covered with vineyards and fruit- 
 trees, in which a number of neat white garden-houses give a 
 relief to the scenery. A fine Gothic mass of ruins on the top 
 of one of the hills overlooks the beautiful vale, and produces 
 a good effect on the whole landscape. The river Saale runs 
 at the side of the city, and waters some verdant meadows. 
 The walks in the environs are very agreeable. If the vicinity 
 
 n X 2
 
 344 JENA. 
 
 pleased me much, I was no less disgusted with the appearance 
 of Jena itself. I certainly had anticipated something ap- 
 proaching to Oxford and Cambridge. There are, however, 
 no Gothic or any other halls. The professors deliver their 
 lectures at their own houses, or rather lodgings, where the 
 youths may or may not attend them, as they please. The 
 students live wherever they can hire an apartment, and are 
 under no restraint for the purposes of enforcing either study 
 or morality. The streets and houses present a picture of 
 filth and poverty beyond any thing I have seen in Germany, 
 and there is nothing about the miserable place that could give 
 one the idea of its being a seat of learning. 
 
 The Botanic Garden and the Observatory seemed to be in 
 a neglected state ; and a single room, neither large, ancient, 
 nor handsome, in which the professors sometimes meet on 
 public business, is the only thing that can be called the 
 University. 
 
 The usual number of under-graduates was about twelve 
 hundred, but they do not at present amount to two hundred 
 and fifty. I am satisfied that none of the other places for 
 education in Germany are so bad as Jena. Drinking, smok- 
 ing, and duelling, were, for a long time, the prevailing prac- 
 tices among the young men ; and some of the professors, 
 not much older than their pupils, often joined in, if they did 
 not encourage, such habits. TJie party societies, called 
 Lcnuhmamliafls^ did not, however, assume a form purely 
 political, till the French were expelled from Germany ; but 
 they soon after became the depositaries of all those fervid 
 feelings which naturally spring in youtliful minds, freed 
 from restraint, especially when more encouraged by their 
 superiors to indulge in dreams of political speculation, than to
 
 JENA. 34.5 
 
 apply to their studies, which shouhl be the principal objects 
 in such seminaries, and by vv^hich alone they can become 
 qualified, after some years' experience in active life, to act the 
 part of teachers, magistrates, or legislators. 
 
 The professors, men of much knowledge of books, but with 
 no other knowledge of mankind than could be gained within 
 the precincts of this city, possessing those enthusiastic feelings 
 almost peculiar to Germany, dreamt in their closets, that they 
 could overturn the order of European society, and recast it in 
 a perfect mould. Their process was short ; to destroy every 
 thing first, and then try if they could agree on some plan of a 
 new erection. This summary was easily taught and quickly 
 imbibed ; the more rash and thoughtless the pupil, the 
 quicker could the lesson be communicated. Instead of a 
 seminary of learning, Jena became the hot bed of sedition ; 
 and fantastic dresses were assumed, and daggers carried with 
 " the ornament of a citizen" on the blade, to imitate ancient 
 republican forms ; coarseness of manners increased, where 
 they had never been very polished, and instead of applying to 
 classics and mathematics, their time was spent in gymnastic 
 exercises, to qualify them for revolutionary movements ; or in 
 spouting societies, which inflamed, but could not instruct, 
 them. 
 
 A knowledge of such practices and feelings being encou- 
 raged, was more than suflicient to justify the dismissal of the 
 most noxious professors, and the prohibition on the youthful 
 subjects of Russia and Prussia to repair to Jena, under the 
 pretext of education. 
 
 The governments of Germany have been most freely abused 
 by those calling themselves Liberals, for doing that which with 
 half the reason would be instantly done in this land of liberty ;
 
 346 JENA. 
 
 where, though political discussion is indulged, it would never 
 be suffered to engross those valuable years of youth, which, if 
 once squandered in such agitating occupations, can never be 
 redeemed. 
 
 As the universities of Germany have of late years engaged a 
 large portion of the public attention, I may be indulged with 
 some more general remarks on the nature of those institutions. 
 The most remarkable circumstance relating to them is their 
 total freedom from the municipal laws, which govern the coun- 
 tries in which they are established. Neither the professors, 
 the students, nor the members of their families, were amenable 
 to the general laws ; but all affairs, whether civil or criminal, 
 were judged by courts within the universities, the judges 
 of which were appointed from among the superior professors. 
 The professors, though appointed by the princes, in whose 
 dominions the universities were founded, had but small salaries 
 either from the estates of the colleges, or from the treasuries 
 of their princes. The emoluments of their offices depended 
 principally on their making themselves acceptable to their 
 pupils, who attended such lectures as they chose, and paid a 
 stipulated sum for each course. 
 
 In general, those professors, who were the most eminent for 
 learning, in the different branches they taught, were most 
 numerously attended ; but none of them could wholly disregard 
 the arts of popularity, though such arts were less obvious with 
 them, than witli the teachers of a lower standard. The magis- 
 trates of the university, the higher professors, however, were 
 compelled to pay deference to the opinions, and the caprices 
 of the young men, and were influenced by them in their judi- 
 cial capacity, whenever disputes arose between the students 
 and the inhabitants. The latter, under the denomination of
 
 JENA. 
 
 347 
 
 Philisters, Philistines, were exposed to every species of in- 
 dignity from the former ; and those who were to judge in the 
 complaints made against the pupils were disposed to treat 
 grave offences as youthful follies, and to inflict such slight 
 punishments as rather tended to encourage, than repress, mis- 
 conduct. 
 
 In such a state of misrule, where the judges were more 
 desirous to obtain for their university such a character for 
 liberality as might attract pupils, than to enforce submission 
 to the laws they administered, it was natural, that discipline 
 should be relaxed. In order to induce among the students 
 some attention to rules, the division of them into orders or 
 societies was winked at, if not encouraged ; and out of these 
 grew associations, which though originally, perhaps of an 
 innocent nature, became the depositaries of every species of 
 disorder. These societies, called Lamhmans/wjh, were con- 
 nected together by various kinds of links, which not only 
 comprehended those of the same university, but the students 
 of all the universities of Germany. 
 
 A system of regulations was at length established among the 
 whole, which bore the title of the comment, and demanded 
 implicit obedience, under the penalty of an interdict of a 
 most intolerable kind. The interdict called verriif, forbade 
 any student from associating with the person who had violated 
 the comment, and allowed any one to insult him without being 
 called to account. This power of interdict was sometimes 
 extended to particular tradesmen, who had offended the 
 students, and at length proceeded so far as to place the whole 
 university of Gottingen, with all its professors, under the 
 ban. By a resolution of the youths, no one, not a subject of 
 Hanover, was allowed to study at that university ; and if any
 
 548 JENA. 
 
 should attempt it, the natives of the kingdom, who were com- 
 pelled to graduate there, to qualify them for offices in the 
 state or the church, were ordered to banish them from all their 
 societies. 
 
 Although some of the laws of the comment were conducive to 
 learning, as far as regarded quietness and order in the lecture 
 rooms, yet many of them were harassing and vexatious, and 
 well calculated to generate disputes, which terminated in 
 duels. Any one, who in conversation with another, applied 
 the term ridiculous, childish, foolish, or even wonderful, or 
 extraordinary, to him, was compelled to single combat, from 
 which no apology or explanation was allowed by the comment 
 to excuse him. 
 
 As the number of these duels was great, the formalities of 
 them were regulated by the same system of students-law ; and 
 though almost always bloody, they were seldom fatal. Neither 
 pistols, nor swords to thrust were used on such occasions ; the 
 only weapon was the short sabre or hanger, and the number of 
 rounds that were to be fought was proscribed. If I could 
 judge from what I heard, and from the marks of the wounds in 
 the faces of many of the young men, I should think, that the 
 beauty of the combatants was more endangered than their 
 lives, by such rencontres. 
 
 The governments of Germany had their attention frequently 
 called to this conduct in the universities ; but it was observed 
 by them, and acknowledged by those who reprobated the 
 system, that the period of turbulence which the youths passed 
 in their seminaries, had little or no inHuence on their cha- 
 racters or conduct in future life. It was remarked, that those 
 wiio luul been distinguished l)y their irregularities, their 
 /(uarrels, and their dissoluteness, when they retired front the
 
 JENA. 349 
 
 scene, and the incitements to such youthful excesses, becanne 
 as exemplary in the humble character of parish priest, of attor- 
 ney, of advocate, or of officer of the government as the more 
 orderly among them. 
 
 The wish to appear as the patrons of education, which 
 inspired all the princes of Germany, induced them to bid 
 against each other for such professors, as enjoyed the reputa- 
 tion of great learning ; and little attention was paid in their 
 appointment, to those faculties, which are, perhaps, of more 
 importance in a seminary; to that unison of firmness with 
 urbanity, upon which discipline must depend. 
 
 In these seminaries, there was little or no discipline, for 
 though the learned magistrates promulgated laws and regula- 
 tions without number, and extended them to the most frivolous 
 minuteness, they were scarcely ever enforced, and never when 
 the students disapproved of their execution. In fact, both the 
 princes and the professors were jealous of the reputation of 
 their universities ; and, for the sake of increasing the number 
 of the pupils, were disposed to gratify their caprices, rather 
 than correct them. 
 
 In Germany, as in every other part of Europe, there is a 
 party wholly bent on mischief, but too small and contemptible 
 to effect any of their nefarious purposes, without allies of a 
 more respectable class. These were found among numerous 
 speculative men, with indistinct views and impracticable pro- 
 jects, who attributed those evils, which are the inevitable con- 
 sequences of all society to some fault in their constitutions, 
 or their governors. These men, zealous for reforms, neither 
 the utility or practicability of which they had fully considered, 
 became the followers of the more envenomed class, and uncon- 
 sciously were enlisted under their standards. The general 
 
 2 y
 
 350 J'-^NA. 
 
 distress which the long war had inflicted, came in aid of this 
 party, and increased their numbers. The ardour of the stu- 
 dents, and their uncontrolled and increased licentiousness, was 
 an inviting field on which to try the experiment of a revolution, 
 and it was occupied with eagerness. Many of the professors, 
 whose exclusion from active life might be an apology for their 
 principles, but should have prevented them from interference 
 in matters beyond their contemplation, became the tools of the 
 worst class of their countrymen, and encouraged among the 
 pupils such political associations as were unfitted to their age, 
 and could only tend to injure the state of society. 
 
 By these associations, a degree of fanaticism was kindled 
 among the young men, which showed itself in excesses in many 
 of the universities, and which at length led, under vague sur- 
 mises, such as only fanaticism could imbibe, to the assassina- 
 tion of Kotzebue, and the similar attempt on Ibell, the pre- 
 sident of Nassau, which have been before noticed. Happily 
 the attention of the different princes was called to this subject, 
 before the folly of these youths had plunged them deeper in 
 crime ; and the laws that have been enacted, and the measures 
 that are pursued, will, it is to be hoped, prevent the severe 
 punishments which it would otherwise be necessary to inflict 
 on a greater number of them than are now likely to suffer. 
 
 Whatever political or economical reforms, the states of 
 Germany may need, such as are suggested by the prompters 
 of these young men, and such as they most vehemently 
 clamoured for, in moments of enthusiasm, would produce 
 greater calamities than even those which were inflicted by the 
 domination of France. 
 
 Though the representation I have given of the conduct of 
 the universities applies to its members generally, yet I am
 
 JENA. , 351 
 
 persuaded, there are several young men of most respectable 
 characters, who have kept themselves as far removed as possi- 
 ble from the associations I have spoken of, and quite free 
 from the disorders which have naturally sprung from them. 
 They are, liowever, exceptions to the general rule, and when 
 compared with the mass, form but a small portion. 
 
 In all the German universities, differing as they do in some 
 respects from each other, the mode of conveying instruction 
 is by lectures, the compositions of the professors who read 
 them. The number of these lectures is very great ; some of 
 the professors deliver five or six of an hour long each, every 
 day. Their compositions are methodically arranged, and read 
 in so slow a manner, that those who attend them may commit 
 to writing, the heads and leading thoughts, if not the whole. 
 They are most minutely particular, and leave little occasion for 
 the students to read books on the subjects of which they treat. 
 These occupy so much of the time, both of the professors 
 and pupils, that only those of the latter who are very diligent, 
 find leisure to examine other authorities, than those of the 
 lecturer. In many respects, the modes of instructing approach 
 nearer to those of the Scotch, than of the English universities ; 
 but at Halle, at Tubingen, and some few others, where the 
 best classical scholars are formed, the practice of versification, 
 and the attention to prosody, occupy as large a portion of the 
 time of the students as in our collegiate schools of Eton, West- 
 minster, and Winchester, 
 
 I had one inducement to visit Jena, in which I was disap- 
 pointed ; a friend had conditionally promised to meet me, and 
 introduce me to Goethe, who has taken up his residence there ; 
 but my friend was unable to join me, and I was deprived of the 
 pleasure of making an acquaintance with that extraordinary 
 
 2 Y 2
 
 352 ' SENA. 
 
 man. He is said to be in good health, but living in great 
 seclusion, and seeing few people. 
 
 I heard a story of him, which, being short, may be worth 
 preserving. A minor poet had addressed some verses to one 
 of the reigning family, which contained some most exaggerated 
 compliments. In criticising the production, the old poet 
 remarked, that " there was too much sugar in the composition ; 
 that princes were pleased at sugar-plums being given to them, 
 but did not like being pelted with sugar-loaves." 
 
 Jena contains, exclusive of the University, 4,500 inhabitants. 
 It has three Lutheran, and one Catholic church. I went to one 
 of the former, where a venerable looking divine preached to 
 an attentive audience, a loyal rather than a religious sermon, 
 on the duties which subjects owe to their princes, which he 
 extended rather farther than was quite consistent with English 
 constitutional feelings. 
 
 Jena does not wholly depend on its University, but is the 
 seat of some of the courts of justice, and of some other public 
 boards. It has also some manufactures of woollen cloth, 
 stockings, and hats, and a few of linen, but all of them of 
 inconsiderable magnitude. 
 
 At the battle that took place on the plain above this city, in 
 October, 1806', the French were conducted through some 
 ravines by a clergyman, who was pressed into the painful 
 service. When they reached the summit, a fog so dense as 
 to impede the sight of near objects is said, by the Prussians, 
 to have given their enemies all the advantages of a surprise, 
 and to have caused the disasters of that calamitous day. Jena 
 suffered severely af'er the battle ; and, for three days, was 
 given up to the plunder of the French troops. 
 
 The dominions of tlie Grand Duke of Saxe Weimar are much
 
 SAXE WEIMAR. 353 
 
 intersected by other states. In one part, they are crossed 
 by the territory of Prussia, in another by that of Saxe Gotha, 
 of Saxe Meiningen, and Schwartzburg. *The whole extent 
 of the Duchy is 1,407 square miles on 900,480 acres. Its 
 inhabitants are 201,000, so that the density of its population 
 nearly equals that of the best peopled agricultural English 
 counties. The number of houses is 39,198, of these 38,988 
 are insured in the fire-office of the capital, for the sum of 
 12,190,525 rix-dollars, or 1,978,400 pounds sterling, being 
 about 500 pounds each, on the average. The greater part of 
 the inhabitants are of the Lutheran profession ; they amount 
 to 184,700, the Reformed to 6,100, the Catholics 100, the 
 Jews 1,100, and the rest are of the smaller Protestant sects. 
 
 The Duke has very wisely reduced his army, and thus 
 freed his subjects from the conscription ; his regular troops do 
 not exceed fifty men ; the landwehr, or militia, consists of 
 about 18,000, not more than 5,000 of whom are furnished with 
 muskets. 
 
 The income of the state is about £150,000, exclusive of the 
 Duke's patrimonial property, which is very considerable. The 
 revenue exceeds the expenditure, and about £10,000 is annu- 
 ally appropriated to a sinking fund, to extinguish the debt 
 incurred during the late war, which amounted, in 1818, to 
 about £600,000. 
 
 The whole executive government is in the Duke ; but an 
 assembly, chosen by the possessors of land of Knight's tenure, 
 by the cities, and by the peasants, may be called together, 
 when new laws or new taxes are wanted. It is chiefly an 
 agricultural country, but there are some few manufactures, 
 
 * Hassel, 1st part of the 5th Volume.
 
 354 ERFURT. 
 
 though they are principally consumed at home. The most 
 valuable article sent from the country is the tine wool ; besides 
 it, some dried fruits, hosiery, implements for linen, and 
 woollen-workers, potash, some linen, and many books and 
 maps, are exported. As the only good road from Cassel, and 
 from Frankfort to Leipsic, is through this country, it is some- 
 what enriched by the transport of goods, and the great flux of 
 travellers that pass through it twice in the year. 
 
 At leaving Weimar, the country is very bare in its aspect, 
 and the soil of a sandy nature. The ascent is gradual till 
 the road enters a portion of the recently-acquired Prussian 
 dominions, which projects into the Duchy of Saxe Weimar. 
 This small district, called the circle of Erfurt, consists of a 
 portion of rich land, which surrounds the city of that name. 
 
 The city of Erfurt is very strongly fortified, and has two 
 citadels : Petersberg, on a hill on one side of the city, and 
 Fort Cyriaksberg on the other. From its position on the 
 highway to the great scene of the military operations, which 
 terminated in the liberation of Europe from the dominion of 
 France, it has suffered much by the incessant quartering of 
 troops, and by several sieges, so that the inhabitants have 
 become generally impoverished, and have not yet recovered 
 from the dreadful miseries which they have undergone. After 
 passing the gates, and entering the outskirts of the city, the 
 marks of suffering are seen in the dilapidated state of the 
 dwellings, and the ragged and coarse dresses of the inha- 
 bitants. The centre of the city exhibits one or two very fine 
 broad well-built streets, and some open places, which can 
 scarcely merit the name of squares. 
 
 Being the capital of what formerly was an independent state, 
 the number of public buildings, such as churches, monasteries,
 
 ERFURT. 355 
 
 and hospitals, is greater in proportion to the extent of the 
 city than is usually seen in Germany, and j>ives it somewhat a 
 magnificent appearance. Tiiere are eight Catholic and eight 
 Lutheran ciuirches. The Domkirche, belonging to the former, 
 is a large and venerable pile, though now much dilapidated ; 
 it has ten bells of remarkably great weight and dimensions,' 
 the largest of them being thirteen tons fifteen hundred weight. 
 There is both a Catholic and Lutheran gymnasium, or public 
 school, for classical instruction; fifteen or sixteen charity 
 schools for the poorer classes, and institutions for instruction 
 in the healing art. 
 
 The number of inhabitants is 18,200, of whom the Lutherans 
 and the Catholics are nearly equal. As difference of religion 
 makes no distinction under the Prussian government, both 
 sects are indiscriminately placed in corporate and magisterial 
 capacities. 
 
 There are some manufactories, but none in a flourishing 
 condition. About three hundred looms are employed in 
 weaving woollen cloths, and about two hundred in ribbons, 
 and many persons are occupied in making thread. The other 
 goods made here are leather, shoes, paper, cartouch-boxes, 
 and snuff, and there are several printing-presses. The trade of 
 Erfurt, however, depends principally on the excellent soil of 
 the district that surrounds it. I was surprised at the extent to 
 which I observed the garden cultivation to be carried. Within 
 the fortifications, as well as around the city, the best of vege- 
 tables are raised in prodigious quantities, and furnish the towns 
 whose soil is less favourable to their growth. It is a con- 
 siderable place also for raising the seeds of the rarer plants, 
 and this town is a market, from whence the seedsmen of other 
 parts of Germany obtain their supplies. Annis-seed, canary- 
 seed, coriander-seed, mustard, and poppy-seed, is furnished
 
 356 ERFURT. 
 
 from hence, and teasles for the cloth-workers. Some madder 
 and woad are cultivated, both of which are prepared within 
 the city for the use of the dyers. Although the land adjoining 
 to the city is too valuable to be cultivated with sainfoin, 
 yet the hills in the vicinity produce it in abundance, and 
 Erfurt is a good market for purchasing the seed of it. 
 
 I was at Erfurt on a market-day, and had the curiosity to 
 examine the corn of various kinds, and to ascertain the price ; 
 the latter was not very easy on account of the local measure, 
 but at length I ascertained the proportion between the Erfurt 
 and Berlin sheffel. The quality of the wheat was good, but 
 all red ; the rye, barley, and oats, a fair middling sample. 
 The prices I learnt were those at which the different articles 
 were sold in the market in small quantities ; and in English 
 measure and money, is, wheat six shillings and nine-pence ; 
 rye, five shillings and six-pence ; barley, four shillings and 
 eight-pence; oats, two shillings and six-pence; white. pease, 
 eight shillings ; beans, twelve shillings and three-pence, per 
 bushel. The beans are a remarkably fine kind, peculiar to 
 this country, where they have been long cultivated, and being 
 wanted for seed in other districts, the price is comparatively 
 higher than other corn. I very strongly suspect, that these 
 beans are the species which were a few years since brought to 
 England, and whose good qualities were blazoned abroad, 
 under the name of Heligoland beans ; a place where, probably, 
 a bean never was grown. 
 
 On account of the best land being so much appropriated 
 to the garden culture, I was told that corn was very con- 
 siderably higher in the market of Erfurt, than in that of 
 Miihlhauscn, Nordhausen, and most of the other neighbouring 
 towns. 
 
 After leaving Erfurt, and the valley in which it is situated,
 
 SAXE-GOTHA. 357 
 
 the first part of the plain which is reached is a poor soil, on 
 which the usual three-course system is alone adopted, and 
 where rye, but no wheat, was growing. The country soon 
 improved, and when the lofty castle of Gotha appeared in 
 front, which it does on entering the dominions of the Duke 
 of Saxe-Gotha, the soil every mile became better and better, 
 the cultivation improved, green crops to a considerable 
 extent were growing, and both the stubbles, the young wheat, 
 and the rye, exhibited striking proofs of the productive nature 
 of the land. 
 
 The city of Gotha is a beautiful object. It is built round a 
 hill of considerable elevation, and towers above the surround- 
 ing country, presenting fine prospects in every direction. The 
 suburbs, which are extensive, contain a number of houses in 
 the midst of elegant gardens, and give a cheerful aspect to the 
 environs. The streets within the city, though some of them 
 are steep, are handsome, many of the houses very large, and 
 the whole has the appearance of opulence and comfort. 
 
 The most prominent object is the schloss or ducal palace, in 
 which the reigning duke resides. It is raised considerably 
 above the city, and overlooks every part of it. By the mea- 
 surement of Baron Zach, it stands 1,240 feet above the level 
 of the sea. It is one of the most extensive piles of building 
 that I recollect to have seen. It is surrounded with beautiful 
 walks and plantations ; and, on the side by which the city is 
 entered from Erfurt, it overlooks a fine lawn, descending to 
 t!ie road, with a circular sweep of plantations around it, that 
 is called the Englisli garden. 
 
 The interior of the palace scarcely corresponds either in 
 the furniture or the decorations with the exterior appearance. 
 Some old pictures, a few of them good, are to be seen ; but 
 none of such superior merit as to strike those who have 
 
 2 Z
 
 358 CiOTHA. 
 
 recently seen the superb collection of Dresden. The Dukes of 
 this house have, however, assembled some collections, which 
 do them great credit. The library, including the Duke's, of 
 20,000 volumes, and that belonging to the state, amounts to 
 near 100,000 volumes well arranged; the modern ones judi- 
 ciously selected, and the use of them is generally and liberally 
 permitted to all the inhabitants. The most curious and 
 valuable collection is that of medals and coins. It contains 
 10,000 ancient coins, 52,000 modern ones, 13,000 impressions 
 in sulphur, and 9»000 drawings of coins. There is, with the 
 collection, 6,000 volumes of numismatic books. A collection 
 of natural history, and of antiquities too, will reward the 
 inspection of the visitor. 
 
 Near the city is an astronomical observatory, Avherein Baron 
 Zach for a long period conducted his observations ; it is near 
 a small palace, where the ducal orangery, and some pleasant 
 gardens enliven the scenery. 
 
 The city, including the suburbs, contains 11,100 inhabitants, 
 almost all of whom are of the Lutheran confession. There are 
 seven churches for their use, and a small chapel for the few 
 Catholics. The church of St. Margaret, in which is the ducal 
 vault, is large and handsome, as is that belonging to the 
 orphan-house. The most remarkable of the other public 
 buildings are the old and new town-house, and the landshaft's 
 house, or place of assembly of the states. 
 
 The institutions for education are sufficiently extensive for 
 the size of the territory, and consist of a gymnasium, or free 
 grammar-school, an institution called tlie Coenobium, where 
 twenty youths are boarded, lodged, and educated on the 
 foundation, and a great number of free schools, for both sexes, 
 of the inferior kind. 
 
 Tiic charitable institutions, the hospitals, vvorkhouses, and
 
 GOTH A. 55f^ 
 
 alms-houses, are quite as liberal, and as well endowed, as in 
 the other German cities, ail of which give strong evidence, 
 tliat the sick and indigent are as well if not better provided 
 for, when left to rely on the kind sympathy of their superiors, 
 as when, like our poor, they are dependant on the means 
 which those who can are obliged to supply, and, therefore 
 seldom do it cheerfully or judiciously. 
 
 The manufactures of the inhabitants of this industrious city 
 are very numerous, and some are considerable. In spite of 
 the influx of English goods, the muslin and cotton trades 
 employ four hundred workmen. Woollen-cloths, friezes, and 
 camblets, occupy nearly the same number. Many persons are 
 busied in spinning woollen and linen yarn for other districts. 
 Musical and surgical instruments, tin-ware, cabinet-ware, 
 spinning machinery, gun-powder, shoes, saddlery, china, 
 earthen-ware, and wooden toys, all contribute to create trade 
 and employ the poor. The manufactory of sausages, minute 
 as it seems to us, is a very important one in Germany, and is 
 conducted in Gotha quite on a wholesale scale. 
 
 Besides the sale of these various productions, the land around 
 the city is highly fertile in corn, which creates considerable 
 commerce. During the existence of the continental system, 
 much sugar was made here, but that manufacture has ceased 
 with the return of peace. I saw some specimens of it that 
 appeared quite equal to any sugar that is brought from the 
 tropical regions, and the maker of it assured me, that the 
 refiners found, they could make more refined sugar from an 
 equal quantity of it, than from the West India produce. Indigo 
 too was made here in considerable quantities from the plant 
 woad, which, by their process, was found equal, for the dyer's 
 purposes, to any that came from Asia or America. 
 
 ^ Z 2
 
 360 GOTHA. 
 
 The gentleman, at whose house I saw these specimens, had 
 them very neatly classed and labelled, meaning to keep them 
 as a curiosity, and hand them down well-attested to posterity, 
 who, without such evidence, would never believe that sugar 
 and indigo could be grown in the fifty-first degree of latitude, 
 on a spot elevated twelve hundred feet above the level of 
 the sea. 
 
 I generally felt, whilst in Germany, too much indifference 
 about accommodations, to have committed to writing any 
 remarks upon the inns where I took up my transient residence ; 
 but, in Gotha, I found the Moor so excellent a house, that I 
 cannot avoid noticing it. The apartments are clean, the 
 provisions good, the servants attentive, and the charges mo- 
 derate. The landlord, who is superior to that class in general, 
 told me, that wlren, after the battle of Leipsic, Buonaparte, 
 with his suite, lodged in his house, they went away without 
 paying him any thing, though they had emptied his cellar and 
 larder of all their contents. 
 
 The Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg contains two divisions, 
 called the principalities of Gotha and of Altenburg ; and these 
 are again divided into smaller districts, called anits, or baili- 
 wicks. 
 
 The principality of Gotha contains 399»360 acres of land, 
 and 81, .31 7 inhabitants; four cities, besides the capital, having 
 gates and corporate bodies, five market towns, one hundred 
 and sixty-four villages, and sixteen gentlemen's seats or castles. 
 The principality of Altenburg contains 348,160 acres, 103,200 
 inhabitants, nine cities, three market towns, and five hundred 
 and six villages, single houses or castles*. 
 
 • Uassell, 1st Part, itli Volume.
 
 SAXE-GOTHA. 36 1 
 
 The whole of the duchy is either on the mountains of Thu- 
 ringia, or on their declivity. The southern part of it is of an 
 irregular surface, partly lofty hills mixed with rich valleys, all 
 of which are highly productive either of corn or cattle. The 
 highest point of the mountains, within this territory, is the 
 Beerberg, about three thousand feet above the level of tlie 
 sea, and several other peaks exceed two thousand feet, which 
 are mostly covered with wood. These hills are the sources 
 from whence many rivulets are formed, which fertilize the 
 land : those from the eastern part discharge themselves into 
 the Elbe, through the Saale ; and those from the western into 
 the Weser. 
 
 There are few parts of Germany, where the agriculture is 
 so well conducted, where the natural soil is so good, or where 
 the produce is so great. In the province of Gotha, there are, 
 indeed, too many common fields, common rights of pasture, 
 and small divisions of land, to allow of husbandry being 
 carried on in the most beneficial manner. 
 
 In the province of Altenburg, there are many unmingled 
 estates that cannot be divided into small portions, but must 
 remain in the possession of the head of the family ; where there 
 are no common pastures, or commons of arable land, where 
 the cultivator is independent of the restrictions which common 
 land creates, and tiiere the best husbandry prevails. There 
 a degree of wealth and prosperity is exhibited, far exceeding 
 any thing that Saxony presents, and only to be equalled on 
 the marshes of the Elbe, in Brunswick, and around Magdeburg. 
 
 I am assured, that there are plains around the city of Alten- 
 burg, that yield in rye seldom less than twelve grains for 
 every one sown, but frequently fifteen, and in extraordinary 
 years twenty for one ; where the wheat comes up with so much
 
 3(52 SAXE-GOTHA. 
 
 strength, that it must be mowed, and where the rye is usually 
 six feet in height. These Thuringian^ hills have ever been 
 the granary for the surrounding districts. Fruit is not, how- 
 ever, abimdant; and the apples and pears, especially, are not 
 generally of a very good kind. Flax grows in every part ; 
 hemp in many. Hops luore than sufficient for the consump- 
 tion are produced. Potatoes, the general food of the working 
 classes, are plentiful ; and in some parts, great quantities of 
 carrots are grown, whose juice is expressed and preserved, by 
 boiling, for future use in various ways. Aniseed and cummin- 
 seed are raised, and converted into essential oil, which cir- 
 culates very extensively, and is used to give a cordial-like 
 flavour to the ardent spirits distilled from corn. 
 
 The cattle are neither abundant nor remarkably good ; but 
 most excellent butter is made on the elevated plains, and is 
 an article of export. Cheese is made in small quantities, nor 
 is it an article of such universal consumption in any part of 
 Germany, as it with us. The sheep are improving, and some 
 of the fine wooUed kind have been recently introduced ; but 
 the far greater part of the flocks are of coarse wool. Pigs 
 are very abundant, and their flesh is converted into a kind 
 of sausage cake, for distant consumption ; large flocks of 
 geese are kept, and their flesh employed for the same purpose 
 as the swine. The livers of these birds are deemed a great 
 luxury, and the sale of them is very considerable. They 
 are made into pasties, or sold in the form of sausage cake, 
 to supply the tables of the richer inhabitants. The woods 
 abound with roe and fallow deer, but there are few wild 
 swine. The quantity of vermin of the mouse tribe, has 
 increased of late, to a degree almost incredible. The local 
 magistrates give rewards for their destruction. In the year
 
 SAXE-GOTHA. 3()3 
 
 1818, more than 200,000 field mice were brought to them for 
 the jDreaiiums. In the Raths-kammer of the city of Gotha, 
 between the ninth of May and the ninth of September, 1817, 
 the number for wliich the rewards were paid reached to 
 89,.56o. Tlie regularity with which the accounts are kept in 
 these local treasuries leave no room to doubt of the authenti- 
 city of this fact, which is both novel and extraordinary. 
 
 Nearly one hundred thousand acres of the land of Saxe- 
 Gotha, is covered with wood. The preparation of this for 
 fuel givese mployment to many of the poorer people ; much of 
 it is used for building ; and in the woods, the frames of houses 
 are made, and the different parts fitted to each other ; so that 
 when removed to the spots where they are to be erected, very 
 little additional labour is required. 
 
 The government of the country is almost exclusively in the 
 hands of the Duke. The states do indeed exist, and sometimes 
 meet, and without their sanction, new laws cannot be made, 
 or new imposts levied ; but as neither of these operations have 
 been lately needed, the proceedings of the states have created 
 but little interest. They consist of those land-owners, who 
 possess noble or knightly tenures, and of the members nomi- 
 nated by the corporate bodies of the cities. 
 
 The income of the duchy is divided between the control of 
 the Duke and that of the states ; a portion is under their in- 
 spection, and all beyond is at his disposal, but on this subject 
 much privacy is observed. The debt of the government is not 
 large, but the distinct debt of each of the two principalities 
 is stated to be considerable. The income arises partly from 
 the sovereign's domains and royalties, and partly, but less, from 
 direct and indirect taxes, which are very light. The whole 
 revenues from all those sources are not estimated to exceed.
 
 364 SAXE-GOTHA. 
 
 if they amount to, one hundred and sixty thousand pounds 
 sterling annually. 
 
 The army is more numerous than seems necessary, for any 
 purpose but that of parade. It consists of one troop of dis- 
 mounted cavalry of one hundred men, and one regiment of 
 infantry of one thousand eight hundred, being nearly the con- 
 tingent which, in case of need, this duchy is bound to furnish 
 to the general confederation. The militia or landsturm, when 
 mustered in the year 1815, on the return of Buonaparte from 
 Elba, amounted to 28,784 men, of whom 2,600 were armed 
 with rifles, and 10,000 with muskets. 
 
 The dukedom contains 272 parish churches, and 156 chapels 
 of ease. The benefices of the clergy are generally small, and 
 many of them are compelled to assist in the cultivation of their 
 glebe lands, and carry their produce to the markets. They 
 are under the inspection of fourteen superintendents or bishops. 
 The education of the clergy is very much to be commended ; 
 after a due preparation at the gymnasiums at home, they are 
 sent to Jena. If they have imbibed any of the notions incul- 
 cated in that place, when they sit down quietly on a rural 
 benefice, their influence is too small to have any political effect ; 
 they can only make themselves respectable or comfortable by 
 the regular discharge of their professional duties, and would 
 become very obnoxious to their superiors, if they meddled with 
 the affairs of government. I was informed, that the clerical 
 body were generally of exemplary lives, and as highly esti- 
 mated as could be expected from their rank, which is much 
 too low. 
 
 Soon after leavin"' Gotha, the road aoain enters the do- 
 minions of the Duke olSaxe Weimar. This part of them, the 
 duchy of Eisenach, dispjajs a rich corn country, similar in
 
 EISENACH. 365 
 
 appearance, soil and productions to the whole of the terri- 
 tories of Saxe-Gotha. It is indeed, a continuation of that 
 country so well known under the title of the golden moun- 
 tains of Thuringia. On approaching the capital of the 
 duchy, a descent brought me to the banks of the river Neisse, 
 through a country which presented great inequalities of sur- 
 face, many steep declivities, and lofty precipices ; and whose 
 general appearance was highly picturesque. The most remark- 
 able feature of the landscape, is the sugar-loaf hill of Wartburg, 
 which towers above the surrounding country, and forms a 
 conspicuous object from every part of it. The castle on the 
 pinnacle is kept in good repair, and contains a state prison, 
 a collection of antique armour, and other curiosities. In 
 early feudal times, when the places in which princely families 
 took up their abodes, were always the most defensible spots in 
 their territories, this castle was the palace of the ancient 
 Landgrafs of Thuringia, and must have been an impregnable 
 fortress. When Luther on his return from the diet of Worms, 
 was seized by the followers of his great protector, the Duke 
 of Saxony, he was conveyed for security to this hill fort ; and 
 there, in what he called his Patmos, wrote some of those works 
 which increased the zeal of his disciples, and finally produced 
 that great revolution in the opinions of the European world, 
 which has established religious freedom on the ruins of eccle- 
 siastical tyranny. In October, 1817, when the celebration of 
 the secular year in honour of the great reformer, took place 
 in all parts of Lutheran Germany, this spot was chosen as the 
 point to which hundreds of people, and among them many- 
 students from the universities, made a grand procession ; florid 
 harangues were pronounced amidst shouts of applause, and 
 
 the whole was terminated by committing to the flames many 
 
 3 A
 
 366 EISENACH. 
 
 books, most of them of an ancient date, and several which 
 defended the privileges of the sovereigns and the nobles. The 
 transactions of that day were represented to some of the courts, 
 as having a Jacobinical tendency, and combined with other 
 circumstances caused real or affected alarm among the princes. 
 This event, of which so much has been said in England, as 
 well as on the Continent, was treated not as the momentary 
 ebullition of youthful minds, but as a serious matter, indi- 
 cating revolutionary projects, and has received more attention 
 and investigation than such a frolic, for it appears to have 
 been no more, was entitled to. 
 
 A singular group of rocks rising between this hill and the 
 city, present themselves, and naturally attract the attention of 
 travellers ; the highest, called the Madehtehi, is surrounded by 
 a park ; the others, more properly a collection of several, are 
 commonly called the monks and nuns. 
 
 The river Neisse, with a bridge over it, is a great addition 
 to the beauty of the city of Eisenach, on one side of which it 
 flows. I have seen no provincial city in Germany, whose 
 appearance pleased me so much as this. It is remarkably 
 well built, the houses large, lofty, and clean ; it is admira- 
 bly paved, well lighted at night, and the principal square 
 or market-place, in size, in proportion, and in the buildings 
 that surround it, may rival the best parts of any city in 
 Saxony. 
 
 The Grand Duke has a palace here, and as it is the seat 
 of the provincial government, and of the offices of justice, 
 contains numerous other good buildings, designed for public 
 purposes. There are five churches, two hospitals, an orphan- 
 house, a lunatic asylum, and an institution called the gym- 
 nasium, in which are eleven professors for the higher branches
 
 EISENACH. 367 
 
 of instruction. The inferior schools are numerous, and liberally 
 supported. 
 
 Eisenach is, for its extent, one of the most considerable 
 manufacturing cities in Germany. There are mills for spinning 
 cotton twist, but their business is declining. The most flourish- 
 ing, or rather most considerable, for where complaint is so 
 general as I found it here, none can be called flourishing, 
 are the manufactories for weaving stuff's, composed of half 
 woollen, which employ about a hundred and fifty looms. 
 Some woollen cords and carpets are made, and other woollen 
 goods. About thirty looms are occupied in weaving linen, 
 and ten in ribbons. The other trades are, preparing leather, 
 which employ between thirty and forty master workmen, who 
 are both tanners, curriers, and fellmongers. Perscico, a dyeing 
 material, from the cudbear, that grows on the rocks, is here 
 prepared in considerable quantities for the dyers in other parts 
 of Germany; and the place furnishes wool-combs, white lead, 
 and some other commodities. It is a place of considerable trade 
 for colonial productions, in which some of the commercial 
 houses carry on very extensive transactions with the districts 
 farther from navigation than themselves. During the war, 
 when the continental system had raised the prices of all 
 colonial articles, the capitalists of this city contrived to have 
 establishments at Malta, in Greece, at Trieste, at Heligoland, 
 and in Holstein ; and, by means of bribes to the revenue- 
 officers, so managed, as to introduce large quantities of coff'ee, 
 sugar, indigo, and other similar articles. These transactions 
 are supposed to have been highly profitable, and, in spite of 
 the decrees of France, and the fear of her vengeance, the 
 subdued governments of Germany, when once the goods had 
 reached their dominions, took no decisive measures to impede 
 their free circulation. 
 
 3 A 2
 
 2gg EISENACH. 
 
 Eisenach contains 1,490 dwelling-houses, and, according to 
 a census taken in 1818, there were 8,258 inhabitants*. Though 
 not the capital, it is, in many respects, the first city in the 
 Duke of Saxe Weimar's dominions. 
 
 The great road from Weimar to Frankfort is wholly under 
 the management of the Grand Duke. By some very ancient 
 compact with the intervening princes, he collects the tolls, and 
 keeps it in repair, and executes the duty he has undertaken 
 with admirable liberality, and greatly to the accommodation of 
 travellers. On leaving Eisenach, a lofty mountain presented 
 itself, sufficiently precipitous to fill a traveller with some 
 apprehensions ; but the road, from the base to the summit, by 
 various traverses, was rendered of such gentle ascent, that 
 the post-horses were enabled to surmount it with very little 
 exertion. In the ascent, the lofty woods towered above our 
 heads most majestically ; at about two-thirds towards the 
 summit, when passing round the head of a deep glen, I 
 was induced to rest, and enjoy the extensive prospect behind 
 me, and never felt higher gratification from any vie4 I had 
 contemplated. We had gained a considerable elevation. 
 Through an avenue-like glen, spreading, as it receded from 
 the spot where I viewed it, a fine country expanded below, 
 and, in the centre of the vista, the castle of Wartburg, 
 on the top of its pyramidical hill, reared its lofty summit, 
 crowned with battlements and towers, and seemed, by its 
 isolated position, to have been rather the work of nature than 
 of man. The city of Eisenach was below my feet, and the 
 meandering Neisse, which, from the elevation, presented the 
 appearance of a brook, flowed through the verdant meadows. 
 When we had reached the summit, an extensive plain was 
 
 *" Hasscl, 1st Part, 5th Volume.
 
 MARKTSUHL. 3(J9 
 
 Spread, broken by various lofty peaks that rose to considerable 
 heights around in every direction, and the highest points of 
 some few of which were slightly tinged with snow, tliough 
 their elevation could not be more than three thousand feet 
 above the level of the sea. I had sufficient time in the three 
 hours wliich were occupied in surmounting this hill, to examine 
 the soil. The limestone had disappeared near Eisenach, and 
 these hills were all of granite, upon which was a rag stone, or, 
 as the Germans call it floetze, and the surface was in places 
 covered with a good reddish clay, like that in some of the 
 best parts of Devonshire, and resembling it also in the 
 good natural herbage it bears, which I believe is never 
 cropped but by the wild animals that abound in these thick 
 woods. 
 
 A gradual descent from the summit brought me, in an hour, 
 to the small town of Marktsuhl, with eight hundred inhabitants, 
 situated in one of those narrow and beautiful valleys through 
 which the streams find their way in this Alpine country. 
 
 In the small towns of Saxe Weimar, the post-masters are 
 generally the largest farmers in the district, and, I believe, 
 in most instances, as here, are the most substantial tenants 
 on the Sovereign's patrimonial domains. My host was very 
 intelligent, and excessively civil when he knew I was an 
 Englishman, but had at first taken me for a Frenchman, and 
 was then rather surly. He seemed to have a high idea of the 
 fertility of the land, and the modes of cultivating it in England. 
 When I assured him that we had very little land in our island 
 so good as that which surrounded him, he was both surprised 
 and puzzled ; for he had known, that after the calamities his 
 country had suffered, sums of money, which to him seemed 
 immense, had been presented to his poor neighbours, by the
 
 370 MARKTSUHL. 
 
 English Parliament, and could not conceive how it could be 
 procured in England if the soil was no better than their own. 
 
 The land here is a red clay, exactly like that of the South 
 Hams in Devonshire, and the washings of the field were of a 
 blood colour; the orchards, too, of great extent; and the mud- 
 walled thatched cottages and barns, made the resemblance 
 appear more striking. If the size of the houses had not been 
 larger, I could have fancied I was at North Tawton or Bow, 
 in that county. 
 
 The three-course rotation is generally followed : beans very 
 frequently form the fallow crop, succeeded by wheat and oats; 
 but as much of the land is inclosed, there is more variety in 
 the rotations than can be permitted in common field land. 
 The Duke has here a hunting-seat, and establishment for his 
 field-sports ; and, what is much better for the country, a stud 
 of stallions, appropriated for the gratuitous improvement of 
 the breed of horses among his subjects. 
 
 When Buonaparte returned from his Russian campaign, he 
 was like myself, detained here for horses, till some in a distant 
 pasture could be caught, brought home, and fed. He stood, 
 said my host, where you now stand, was sulky, said nothing 
 but a few impatient exclamations at the delay, and took a vast 
 quantity of snuff, till his cloths were completely besmeared 
 with it. I have seen him, said he, three times ; the first in his 
 glory on his way to Russia; the second time, in desptiir when 
 he returned from thence alone ; and the last time, in his fury 
 after the battle of Leipsic, when my house, as well as every 
 other in the town, was burnt by his orders, after all the pro- 
 visions in them that were moveable had been taken away. 
 
 The rage of the discomfited warrior, was exercised with 
 peculiar severity in the whole dominions of the Duke of Saxe
 
 \ 
 
 MARKTSUHL. 37 1 
 
 Weimar, whom he accused of having deserted him ; he, there- 
 fore, directed his vengeance on the harmless peasantry ; and 
 scarcely left a house or barn standing. On my remarking 
 that all the houses were newly built, I was told that few could 
 have been erected without the opportune help of the money 
 that was sent from England. What few houses escaped de- 
 struction, owed their safety to alarms given by the country 
 people, that the Cossacks were coming round the mountains 
 by the sheep tracks, wliich sometimes caused the retreat of 
 the French before the work of demolition was fully completed. 
 After a halt of such length as required some degree of 
 patience, I left Marktsuhl. The road continued in a valley 
 of beautiful meadows, fringed with corn-fields, which extended 
 to the foot of lofty and often abrupt hills, covered with wood. 
 The river Werra, a copious stream, wandered through the 
 valley, with many inflections, and turned several mills ; which 
 as well as the villages around them, were all recently built, 
 for this portion of the district had been universally pillaged, 
 and the houses burnt. At Buttlar, I crossed the Werra by 
 a good bridge ; and found a post-house just without the gates 
 of that town, kept by an intelligent widow, who was tenant on 
 a large farm of the duke's. This town suffered much during 
 both the advance and retreat of the French ; and Buonaparte 
 was within it five times. The hostess told me he remained 
 two days in her house after the battle of Leipsic, to which 
 circumstance she owed the safety of her habitation ; the only 
 one that was not burnt. He and his attendants ate and drank 
 all she had, and paid nothing. They were at length frightened 
 away by reports of approaching Cossacks, who, however, did 
 not appear till three hours after the French had evacuated the 
 town.
 
 372 
 
 BUTTLAR. 
 
 In a conversation with the schoolmaster of the place, I heard 
 a sad tale of the calamities which had been inflicted in his 
 vicinity. He said the French in their retreat, had eaten, 
 carried away, or destroyed all the provisions that were above 
 ground. The Russians, who followed them, dug up the pota- 
 toes, on which the inhabitants depended for their winter subsis- 
 tence; and that, in consequence of the scarcity, within the town- 
 ship, in the following winter, more than five hundred people, 
 out of a population of 1,500, had died of absolute starvation; 
 a tale difficult to believe, though positively asserted. I felt not 
 a little gratified at the praises lavished on the English Regent 
 and Parliament, for the liberality with which the distresses of 
 this country had been alleviated by the money that was dis- 
 tributed, when its condition appeared to be hopeless 
 
 The people with whom I conversed here, expressed great 
 pleasure, that as Buonaparte was not hanged, as in their 
 opinion he deserved to have been, he was now under an 
 English lock ; because they said, England, who had sent them 
 so many millions, must be too rich to be bribed by any money 
 the Emperor's family could give to let him loose. Their duke 
 was a very good man, they said ; but he was so poor, that it 
 would have been dangerous to have intrusted to his care the 
 keeping of him; for though the castle of VVartburg was a 
 very secure place, yet, perhaps, it might be opened by a 
 golden key. 
 
 When he went forward towards Russia, they said, he was too 
 proud to speak to any one ; when he came back from thence, 
 he was too much depressed to ask any questions, or to do any 
 thing but promise large fees to the postillions, if they drove 
 him rapidly ; but after the battle of Leipsic, he tried almost 
 every man he met, to know if he spoke French, and if he
 
 BUTTLAR. 373 
 
 did, asked, with evident alarm, a thousand questions as to the 
 positions of the different villages not very distant from the 
 road ; and especially about the various narrow tracks by which 
 the passages round the mountains might be traversed by 
 horsemen. His apprehensions of the pursuing Cossacks, were 
 represented in a ridiculous light by these people, who seemed 
 to derive great delight from that kind of conversation. 
 
 3 B
 
 HESSE CASSEL. 
 
 3 B Q
 
 HESSE CASSEL. 
 
 1 HE dominions of the Prince of Hesse Cassel commence 
 soon after leaving Buttlar. The same Alpine country continues 
 with large and populous villages, almost every house of which 
 has been built since the wasting hostilities of 1813. The 
 condition of the very few working cattle, and the dress and 
 countenances of the peasantry, had the appearance of extreme 
 poverty and depression. Nothing looked well except the 
 houses ; and those, though of mud, being whitened and 
 covered with new thatch, had at least a clean appearance. 
 
 The first place I reached was Huenfeld, a town, or rather a 
 city (as it has gates) of 1,700 inhabitants, who depend prin- 
 cipally on agriculture. There is, however, some linen manu- 
 factured, and a great deal that is made elsewhere brought 
 here to be bleached; for which purpose the water of the river 
 Huen that runs by the place, is considered to be admirably 
 adapted. The post-house, belonging to the Prince of Tour 
 and Taxis, tlie post-master-general of the ancient Germaii 
 empire, has been built since the general devastation, upon a 
 scale of unusual extent ; the barns and cattle-houses were 
 constructed upon a similar plan ; and the host seemed to have 
 more comforts about him than I had seen in any small place 
 since I left Gotha. 
 
 He assured me, that Buonaparte, who staid at his house to 
 collect his fugitive forces, had caused him to be very liberally
 
 378 
 
 HUENFELD. 
 
 paid, but that his premises were destroyed by a straggling 
 party of the French army, who arrived after their commander 
 had departed. I am rather disposed to think, that, in other 
 instances, where his bills were not paid, it arose from some 
 fraud among his attendants. 
 
 I was pleased here to find, as I had done on the whole road 
 I had passed, that the pecuniary contributions, which had been 
 transmitted from London to assuage the sufferings of the poor, 
 were very judiciously and honourably apportioned. I asked of 
 many persons if there had been any partiality in the distribu- 
 tion; and except in one instance, had the agreeable assurance, 
 that all were satisfied ; because the largest portions had been 
 assigned where the distress was the greatest. I met, indeed, 
 with one man of a very talkative disposition, who expressed 
 astonishment at the immense quantity of money that must be 
 in England to be able to send so many hundreds of millions 
 (of gute groschen, about two-pence each) to that country. 
 He then with a grave countenance, desired as I was going to 
 England, that I would tell the Parliament of one very bad 
 thing that had been done with their money, and which he 
 thought they ought to know. The corporation of a small 
 town, he assured me, had applied the money which was in- 
 tended to build the peasants' houses, to repairing the church, 
 which by their charter, was their own duty. The sum accord- 
 ing to my informant's evidence, amounted to as many groschen 
 as made near a hundred pounds. I as gravely asked him, if 
 he was sure of the fact, and how he knew it; because I should 
 hardly make the Parliament believe it. He declared, tliat 
 he had seen it in a printed paper, and that it must be true. 
 I think it fair to infer from this insignificant conversation, 
 opposed as it was to general testimony, that if any irregularity
 
 HUENFELD. 
 
 379 
 
 or favouritism was practised, it was to a small extent. It is 
 gratifying to know that bounty is fairly applied, and highly 
 pleasing to be assured that those who have been partakers of 
 that bounty know their, benefactors, and feel grateful for the 
 favour. The commonest people in this country with whom I 
 happened to converse, and I did so promiscuously, never failed 
 to contrast the conduct, and make remarks on the character, 
 of the two nations ; — the French, who came with promises of 
 liberty, and robbed them ; and the English, who relieved 
 their necessities, but made no professions. 
 
 Proceeding from Huenfeld, I passed over the most uneven 
 country I recollect ever to have viewed ; there was no such thing 
 as a plain of even moderate extent, for the valleys are narrow, 
 each with a limpid brook in the bottom, from which the land 
 rises immediately to the hills. The whole country is romantic 
 beyond description, lofty precipices, towering woods, and 
 basaltic rocks, rise in every direction, about what, but for 
 the deep fissures, might be called a plain ; and, though two 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea, appears as a valley, 
 surrounded by lofty peaks. The soil on the lower part of the 
 fissures is very rich, and the appearance of the wheat and rye 
 was luxuriant. The higher parts are bleak and barren, except 
 where covered with wood. The whole district is most pro- 
 fusely planted with fruit-trees, and the excellent highway is in 
 many places lined with them. 
 
 The poverty of the country is however manifest from the 
 scarcity of every kind of live stock ; scarcely a horse was to 
 be seen ; few cows, except those that were ploughing ; and 
 but very small flocks of sheep, of a bad long-woolled race. It 
 is really lamentable to see, in passing through so beautiful 
 and fertile a country, so much poverty and depression. Much
 
 380 FULDA. 
 
 of this doubtless arises from the tremendous, though temporary 
 evils, which war has inflicted on it ; but much must be owing 
 to the relations between the different orders of society, which 
 no government can with justice rapidly change. 
 
 The city of Fulda is at a distance a strikingly-beautiful 
 ornament to the prospect. The two lofty towers of its cathe- 
 dral, and those of ma^ny other churches, are conspicuous in the 
 approach ; and near the city, on an insulated and precipitous 
 conical hill, the ruins of the palace of the ancient rulers of the 
 country, the Abbots of Fulda, rear their shattered battle- 
 ments and tottering walls, in Gothic majesty. On the entrance 
 to the city, a castle or palace of ancient erection, but 
 recently improved as a residence for the Prince of Orange, is 
 the most impressive object, and around it are some pleasant 
 gardens, and a good promenade under some fine lime-trees. 
 
 Fulda is situated on a river of the same name, which, 
 after descending from the elevated country, joins the Werra, 
 another stream, originating also in a neighbouring range of 
 mountains ; and, when united, they assume the name of the 
 Weser, which is navigable from Minden to its mouth at 
 Bremen. The city is antique, the houses large and lofty, the 
 streets narrow and gloomy, containing many old Gothic 
 public buildings. The cathedral is an ancient pile, in which 
 is the tomb of St. Boniface, much venerated by the pious 
 German Catholics. Besides the cathedral, there are ten 
 Catholic and one Lutheran churches, a Franciscan monastery, 
 and a nunnery. The walls of the city are in a dilapidated 
 state, but the gates arc all in perfect preservation. It has 
 several institutions for education ; the Lyceum, wliich is built 
 on the foundation of a suppressed university, lias a good 
 library.
 
 SALMUNSTER. 381 
 
 The inhabitants, by a late census, were found to be 7,468, 
 many of whom are employed in various manufactories *. The 
 master-manufacturers of linen and woollen goods are seventy, 
 the hosiers twelve, the dyers eight, the hatters five, leather- 
 makers twenty-three ; besides these, are makers of musical 
 instruments, snuff, and saltpetre. The commerce of Fulda is 
 very inconsiderable, though it is situated on some of the finest 
 roads of this part of Germany. What little is carried on, 
 consists principally in the sale of colonial produce brought 
 from Bremen, or in the export of potash, which is the most 
 abundant production, to various countries. Tiiis trade, such as 
 it is, is almost wholly conducted by the Jews, the number of 
 whom residing here is considerable. 
 
 A good road over the bridge, and then by the side of 
 the river, leads to Neuhof, a small town of 450 inhabitants, 
 who seemed to be very poor. An extensive wood, and a con- 
 tinued, but gradual ascent, brought me to the small city of 
 Schluchtern, containing ],425 inhabitants, who appeared to be 
 busily employed in weaving either linen or woollen goods ; 
 every house seemed to have a loom of one kind or the other. 
 There are remains here of a fine Gothic monastery, which 
 drew my attention, and was the only thing I thought worth 
 seeing, whilst a change of horses was preparing, which took 
 but half an hour. From thence, through a woody and moun- 
 tain country, I reached Salmiinster, another weaving town, 
 of 1,325 inhabitants. It has an old Franciscan monastery, the 
 inmates of which are very few. This place, one of the most 
 elevated in this part of the country, is stated to be 2,150 feet 
 above the level of the sea ; the climate is raw and cold. 
 
 * Schneiders Versuch einer Topographie der Stadt Fulda. 
 3 C
 
 382 GELNHAUSEN. 
 
 The winter commences early in October, and continues till the 
 middle of April. The summer, which is excessively hot, seldom 
 lasts more than two or three months ; yet at this elevation, 
 good flax is grown, and some rye. The cutting down, and 
 converting into fuel, the extensive woods is the principal 
 rural occupation. Between Schluchtern and Salmiinster, a 
 short part of the road passes through a portion of the King 
 of Bavaria's dominions ; the whole distance does not exceed 
 half a mile, but at each end a heavy toll was required, though 
 it was the worst part of the road. 
 
 My way continued through thick woods, in which a very 
 winding road made the ascent over a lofty mountain tole- 
 rably easy ; on the western side of which, in a very elevated 
 situation, and looking over the valley through which the 
 Maine flows towards the Rhine, is the neat town or city of 
 Gelnhausen. It contains 2,618 inhabitants ; some of them are 
 employed in weaving linen, but chiefly depending on agri- 
 culture. It is the first place in this direction, where the vines 
 produce good wine. They are indeed planted considerably 
 lower than the town, on the sides of a stony hill that faces the 
 south and south-west. 
 
 From Gelnhausen the road is most picturesquely beautiful. 
 It is a gradual descent carried round the side of a mountain, 
 with a steep declivity to a river below it on the left, and the 
 lofty mountain on the right, rising almost perpendicularly to 
 an increasing height as the road proceeded, and clothed with 
 richly-variegated hanging woods, that displayed all the mixt 
 tints of autumnal foliage. Beyond the river, the rich and 
 extensive plain was spread, on which the city of Hanau stands. 
 It was by this defile, that after the battle of Leipsic, Buo- 
 naparte retreated with the collected fragments of his defeated
 
 HANAU. 383 
 
 hosts. At the termination of the defile, the army of Bavaria, 
 under General Wrede, was drawn up to intercept his retreat. 
 The battle of Hanau was there fought, in which the French, 
 as usual, claimed the honour of the victory. It was, however, 
 not much beyond honour, for it only served to precipitate 
 their flight, till they had secured themselves by passing the 
 Rhine. 
 
 The plain that intervenes between the termination of the 
 mountains and the city of Hanau, is, I think, one of the finest 
 tracts of arable land I ever passed over. The soil is a 
 rich black mould, and so light, that it is easily and well 
 ploughed with two oxen. Much of the rye, and some of the 
 wheat was up, and looked luxuriant ; the operation of sowing 
 was proceeding in many parts of this plain. It is unfortunately 
 common field-land, and the mode of cultivation must, there- 
 fore, be in conformity to ancient prescription ; but even with 
 this drawback, its produce is large. I was told that the com- 
 mon increase was twelve for one in wheat, and frequently 
 twenty for one in oats ; and if I could judge from the stubbles 
 of the preceding harvest, the reports did not exaggerate. 
 
 I felt a great gratification in reaching Hanau. I had 
 been for several days on the chilly mountains, where 
 winter had commenced. The inns were miserably bad, and 
 all the accommodations both at them and on the road, very 
 uncomfortable. I had but little opportunity of conversing 
 with any but persons I causally met with, having neglected 
 to provide myself with an introduction to any one at Fulda ; 
 besides this, the patois of the peasants was scarcely intelli- 
 gible to me. At Hanau all was changed ; a fine town, mild 
 summer atmosphere, a good and clean inn, and people who 
 
 3C2
 
 384 HANAU. 
 
 spoke pure high German, caused the fatigues and annoy- 
 ances of the mountains to be speedily forgotten. 
 
 Hanau is finely situated on the banks of the Maine, where 
 it receives the beautiful river Kinzig, which by various 
 windings descends to join it from a range of mountains 
 beyond Salmiinster. The banks of both these streams, and 
 indeed the whole environs of the city, are covered with 
 gardens filled most profusely with the finest culinary vegetables. 
 The city itself is unlike any place in Germany I have seen, 
 except the new part of Berlin. It is divided into the new and 
 old town. In the former, the streets are well built, well 
 paved, and cross each other at right angles ; it is remarkably 
 clean and neat throughout. 
 
 Though not the capital of the Hessian dominions, it has 
 many of those appendages usually found in capitals, and the 
 public buildings are by no means inferior to those which 
 commonly surround the residences of the German princes. 
 It contains a palace, various courts of justice of the provin- 
 cial aovernment, different boards for collecting the revenue, 
 for regulating the forests, and other property belonging to 
 the sovereign, as well as the superintendants of ecclesiastical 
 affairs. 
 
 Hanau contains 1,466 houses, and by a recent enumeration, 
 the inhabitants were found to be 11,997 in number, many of 
 whom were emigrant Netherlanders, and Walloons, who mostly 
 compose the working classes. There are 550 Jews, all of whom 
 reside in a street by themselves, where they have a synagogue. 
 There are four churches, one for the Catholics, one each for 
 Lutherans and Reformed, and one the occupation of which 
 is divided between them. There is no university, but a
 
 HANAU. 335 
 
 gymnasium, divided into the upper and lower branches. In 
 the former are six, in the latter four professors ; and the whole 
 establishment is well adapted for instruction in the higher 
 species of learning. There is besides, a well-regulated classi- 
 cal school, where the youths are prepared for their reception 
 in the gymnasium. The education of the poorer classes 
 is well attended to, in various charity schools, which are 
 under the management of persons of the different religious 
 persuasions. 
 
 The manufactories of this city are numerous, and some of 
 them extensive. The largest is that of silk, especially of 
 velvets and velvet ribbons, which give subsistence to more 
 than four hundred families, and produce some very excellent 
 goods. The making of various toys employs about four 
 hundred hands ; they are some of them very curious, and 
 are sold as well in distant countries as in Germany. The 
 tanneries are numerous, and one of them on a very large 
 scale, where I counted more than sixty pits, in which 
 leather for soles of shoes, were in various stages of the pro- 
 cess of preparation. Besides these, there are smaller manu- 
 factories of leathern gloves, hats, linen, cutlery, and musical 
 instruments. 
 
 The river Kinzig turns several mills, which are employed in 
 grinding snutf, gypsum, and dyeing drugs, in fulling cloth, and 
 making paper. Considerable commerce of the transit kind 
 centres here, owing to the city having the advantage of a 
 navigable canal, which communicates with the Maine at 
 Frankfort ; and from whence by means of the Rhine, it becomes 
 connected with all the countries bordering on that long river. 
 It has, besides, the advantage of two great annual fairs, which 
 attract dealers from considerable distances.
 
 386 HESSE CASSEL. 
 
 The principality of Hesse was formerly the Landgravate of 
 Hesse Cassel*, whose principal dominions in the middle ages, 
 were in the environs of the rivers Fulda and Werra. The in- 
 habitants are descended from the Catti, described by Tacitus ; 
 but since mixed with other German tribes. 
 
 The present extent of it according to recent surveys, is 
 4,413 square English miles, or 2,824,320 acres. The whole 
 of the territory may be described as mountainous. Every where, 
 mountains, hills, and woods are seen, with valleys between of 
 different extents ; and every where the eye is regaled with 
 picturesque prospects. Few of the mountains exceed 1,500 
 feet in height, though one near Schmalkalde rises to 3,120, 
 and some other peaks attain upwards of 2,500. 
 
 The only navigable river is the Weser, which is composed 
 of the two rivers Fulda and Werra, which pass through this 
 whole territory. These two rivers receive a vast number of 
 smaller streams, derived from the numerous brooks that trickle 
 down from the sides of the woody mountains, and un 
 together, where they assume the name of the Weser. 
 river Maine does indeed wash one part of its frontier, but th 
 extent of land on its bank belonging to Hesse is so small 
 it scarcely deserves notice. » 
 
 Agriculture is the principal employment of the inhabitant, 
 but the cultivation is, with the exception of the district round 
 Hanau, far behind any other part of Germany. The land is 
 divided into less portions, the cattle to make manure are fewer, 
 and the proportion of pasture to arable land is less than is to 
 
 * For those notices in this account, which did not fall under my own inspection, I am 
 indebted to the following works. Erdebcschreibung von Hassel, vol. V., part I ; Dor 
 Kurhessiche Staatskalender Seit, 1815, von Appell ; and to Raise durch den hartzund die 
 hessichen Lander von Wagner.
 
 HESSE CASSEL. 
 
 .'387 
 
 be seen in the surrounding districts of Hanover, Brunswick, 
 Saxony, and Prussia. By a late measurement, the arable land 
 was found to be 1,337,420 morgens, fruit-gardens and vine- 
 yards 329,688, meadows and pasture 436,675, woods 984,160, 
 and wastes, with the rivers, and the sites of towns and villatres, 
 724,560 morgens, which are about three quarters of an English 
 acre. This measurement is not, however, completed, havine 
 yet only been applied to about six-sevenths of the territory. 
 The proportion of wheat to rye is as two to thirteen : oats are 
 more cultivated than barley in the proportion of four to three. 
 The land appropriated annually to the growth of potatoes is 
 about three times as much as to wheat. It is an increasing 
 crop, the extent being greater every year, almost thg^whole 
 of the bauers or farmers subsisting on them. The most 
 valuable production, next to the vegetables for food, and wood 
 from the vast forests, is flax. Some hemp, tobacco, and hops, 
 
 are grown. 
 
 The cattle of every description are very thinly scattered. 
 An enumeration was made a few years ago, by which it ap- 
 peared, that there were 39,570 horses and foals, 159,728 
 horned cattle, 363,937 sheep and lambs, 25,438 goats, and 
 139,173 swine. The number is supposed to have been dimi- 
 nished since that period. 
 
 The mines of coal are very numerous, and the veins easily 
 worked, but where wood is so abundant, there is little induce- 
 ment to work them extensively. There are many iron mines, 
 but charcoal is universally used in the manufactory of that 
 metal. There are several saline springs, yielding annually 
 about 500,000 bushels, which provide the principality with 
 culinary salt. The principal manufacture is spinning the 
 flax into yarn for sale in other countries, and making that
 
 388 HESSE CASSEL. 
 
 coarse kind of brown linen generally used for packing, which 
 has obtained in England and America the name of hessens. 
 
 The prince is a sovereign whose powers are almost absolute 
 both in making and in executing laws ; the representatives of 
 the states have indeed met since the restoration, but their 
 power is so undefined, that they have had continued contests 
 with the Sovereign, which have not yet been, nor appear 
 likely to be, terminated. They are an aristocratic body, more 
 anxious to preserve their own privileges, than either to secure 
 the prerogatives of the Monarch, or to extend the liberties of 
 those who are not noble. There are so few of the middle 
 classes that have any property, that they have no political 
 weight ; and the cultivators, if not absolutely slaves, are so 
 fettered by the feudal tenures, that they are scarcely in a better 
 condition. 
 
 The revenue amounts to about 400,000 pounds sterling, nearly 
 one-half of which is derived from the domains and royalties, and 
 from the titlies which, taken from the church at the Reformation, 
 are collected by the government. Before the French seized 
 upon this country, the state had no debt, but on the contrary, 
 a large sum lent upon interest to various individuals and 
 communities. It was restored to the Sovereign, deeply involved 
 in debts, which had been contracted by the government of 
 Jerome Buonaparte. As these debts were principally owing to 
 the subjects of the country, the prince thought himself under the 
 necessity of assuming the responsibility for them, and of making 
 provision for their discharge, and for the due payment of the 
 interest till that could be clTected. It is said that the income 
 exceeds the expenditure more than C"0,000 pounds, by the due 
 application of which, the debt is expected to be extinguished 
 in a few years.
 
 HESSE CASSEL. 
 
 389 
 
 The whole of the regular forces do not now exceed 2,000 
 men ; but 16,000 militia, who are exercised fourteen days in 
 each year, are regimented, and could, in a short period, be 
 made available for the defence of the country. In the year 
 1814, 22,500 men were readily mustered, and 82,600 foot, 
 with 2,1 60 horse, under the denomination of the landsturm, 
 were prepared to engage in hostilities, which were rendered 
 unnecessary by the battle of Waterloo. 
 
 Hesse Cassel is divided into ten provinces, viz.. 
 
 Lower Hesse 
 Upper Hesse 
 Hersfeld . . 
 Ziegenhain . 
 Fritzlar . . 
 Schmalkalde 
 Fulda . . 
 Isenburg . . 
 Hanau . . 
 Schauenburg 
 
 Extent in English 
 Acres. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Capitals and Inhabitanta. 
 
 1,205,520 
 
 248,000 
 
 Cassel 19,500 
 
 359,200 
 
 58,319 
 
 Marburg 
 
 
 
 . 6,470 
 
 101,960 
 
 19,010 
 
 Hersfeld . 
 
 
 
 . 5,222 
 
 142,930 
 
 28,600 
 
 Ziegenhain 
 
 
 
 . 1,100 
 
 87,130 
 
 16,102 
 
 Fritzlar 
 
 
 
 , 2,267 
 
 74,880 
 
 22,826 
 
 Schmaliialde 
 
 
 
 . 4,697 
 
 395,360 
 
 68,006 
 
 Fulda 
 
 
 
 7,468 
 
 61,120 
 
 47,457 
 
 Birstein 
 
 
 
 1,000 
 
 273,280 
 
 63,000 
 
 Hanau . . 
 
 
 
 11,997 
 
 123,940 
 
 27,000 
 
 Rintelen 
 
 
 
 2,666 
 
 598,320 
 
 
 The inhabitants are 340,000 of the Reformed sect, 150,000 
 Lutherans, 90,000 Catholics, 8,500 Jews, and the remainder 
 Mennonites, and other smaller sects. 
 
 Though education is not altogether neglected, it has re- 
 ceived less attention in Hesse Cassel, than in most other parts 
 of Germany. The higher kinds of instruction are better pro- 
 vided for than that of a more common description. There is 
 a university at Marburg, with forty professors, to not more 
 
 3 D
 
 390 HESSE CASSEL. 
 
 than two hundred students ; which, besides the gymnasium at 
 Hanau, and the Lyceums at Fulda and Cassel, provide amply 
 for those destined to the learned professions ; but the parochial 
 schools are very much neglected. 
 
 There is far less freedom of all kinds in Hesse Cassel, than 
 in any other country of Germany. The press is under more 
 rigid restrictions, the previous censure more severe, and the 
 watchfulness to prevent the introduction of books, that are 
 disapproved of more vigilant than elsewhere in Germany. A 
 law was promulgated in 1818, which cannot be too severely 
 reprobated. It forbids any to receive a learned education, but 
 the sons of nobles, of counsellors, or others of similar rank. 
 The clergy may indeed send their eldest sons to the universities; 
 but all the others are prohibited from studying in them The 
 narrow views of the present sovereign seem to lead him to 
 check all improvement, except in the system of finance, to 
 which he is said to be very attentive. 
 
 Great agitations have existed, and are still far from being 
 allayed, respecting the property that has been acquired by 
 purchase from the French governors, out of the confiscations 
 they decreed. Much of this, with the rapidity peculiar to 
 revolutionary periods, has passed through several hands. The 
 former proprietors wish to have their estates restored to them ; 
 and naturally expect it, now that the lawful sovereign is re- 
 turned, through attachment to whom they had lost them. 
 Those who have acquired such property, naturally defend their 
 right to it, upon the guarantee of the government de facto. As 
 a question of abstract justice it would perhaps be less difficult 
 to decide, than mixed as it now is, with such various combi- 
 nations. A prescription of a few years, though recent, should 
 scarcely be a bar to a prescription of as nuuiy preceding cen-
 
 HESSE CASSEL. 
 
 391 
 
 turies. The hardsliip on bona Jide purchasers, would doubtless 
 be great, if the whole property were to be returned to the 
 former owners without any compensation. In some of the 
 neighbouring states, these difficulties have been adjusted by 
 a kind of compromise between strict justice and temporary 
 policy, by which the loss has been divided between the new 
 possessors and the ancient owners. In Hesse, however, the 
 question is yet unsettled ; the sovereign is resolute in support- 
 ing the ancient proprietors, but many of the leading nobles 
 and magistrates are decidedly opposed to his measures on 
 this subject. 
 
 3 o
 
 FRANKFORT.
 
 FRANKFORT. 
 
 1 HE stage of ten miles from Hanau to Frankfort, is over 
 the luxuriant plain, watered on one side by the Kinzig, and 
 the other by the Maine. It resembles that on the other side 
 of Hanau, and is one of the most productive common fields 
 I saw in Germany ; the young rye had most thickly taken 
 root, potatoes were harvesting from very abundant crops, 
 and the land from which they had been dug, was by a very 
 slight ploughing, prepared for wheat, the sowing of which 
 followed close to the ploughs. The whole soil seemed to be a 
 rich vegetable mould, and the ploughing was performed by 
 two cows. This kind of land interspersed with handsome 
 gentlemen's residences, adorned with plantations and gardens, 
 continued to the bridge, which crosses the Maine at the gate 
 of Frankfort. 
 
 The city of Frankfort, from its having become the point of 
 union, for the ministers of all the states of Germany to confer 
 on what relates to the general confederation, possesses at 
 present within it, a much larger number of able practical 
 statesmen than can be found in most other places; and they 
 have naturally drawn around them a society, which unites 
 intellectual attainments with habits of political business. 
 
 I found the days I spent in this city peculiarly interesting, 
 from having brought with me letters of introduction to several 
 gentlemen, who by their politeness and knowledge, imparted
 
 396 
 
 FRANKFORT. 
 
 both pleasure and information ; and those of them who were 
 occupied with diplomatic affairs, did not conduct themselves with 
 that reserve and coolness, which is generally, but perhaps 
 improperly, supposed to be attendant on such offices. 
 
 In conversation with a very distinguished nobleman, whom I 
 found there, our attention was turned to subjects of rural 
 economy, and he remarked, that though the agriculture of 
 Germany was so much inferior to that of England, it arose 
 neither from the want of skilful theoretical or practical men ; 
 both of whom he thought were more abundant in Germany than 
 in any other part of Europe ; but solely from the deficiency of 
 disposable capital, which is scarcely to be found in any hands. 
 The evils arisino- from the feudal tenures, he treated as of 
 inferior, though acknowledged bad, tendency, but agreed with 
 me, that if such an abolition of them could be effected without 
 great injustice to the possessors in the whole of the country, as 
 is gradually proceeding in Prussia and Saxony, more benefit 
 would be derived from it than from any constitution which in 
 the present condition of the empire, could be communicated to 
 it. The greater quantity of rye than of wheat, that is usually 
 grown, he accounted for from this feudal system. Those tenants 
 (unterthaner), who pay their rents in produce, are in many 
 parts, the most numerous. The proportion of the grain which 
 must be delivered or accounted for to the lord, is much greater 
 in wheat than in rye ; so much so, though from not noting it 
 down immediately, the difference has escaped me, that it is 
 sufilcicnt to induce the sowing of rye on soils as well adapted 
 for wheat, and which would probably bear an equal quantity 
 of the latter grain. 
 
 The notorious truth, that throughout Germany, Flanders, 
 Holland, France, and England, every kind of agricultural
 
 FRANKFORT. 397 
 
 produce is sold for less than the cost to the growers, naturall) 
 excited our attention and investigation. It is a very singular 
 state of affairs, and. more distressing, because it enables the 
 malignant party to avail themselves of it to promote discon- 
 tents and disturbances, which must greatly increase the evil. 
 The only way in which it can be accounted for, seemed to be 
 the difference between the consumption of war and that of 
 peace. The long continuance of hostilities, and the great 
 demand created by them had communicated a high stimulus to 
 those who could produce alimentary articles. The full effects 
 of the exertions this occasioned, were not seen in the increased 
 quantity of the productions, till some years had passed in 
 strenuous eff'orts ; and when they had nearly reached their 
 height, a peace arrived, and diminished the consumption. The 
 man who has been engaged in war, when he returns to the con- 
 dition of a husbandman or labourer, is compelled to practise a 
 degree of economy by which his daily consumption is much less 
 than it was when fulfilling the duties of a soldier ; who is in that 
 state of alternation between deficiency and superfluity, which is 
 ill adapted to create habits of economy ; where no care of those 
 who provide for his subsistence can accurately estimate how 
 much will be wanted, and who consequently heap up in stores 
 all tliey can obtain, a great portion of which is often ultiniatel} 
 wasted. The men actually under arms at one period could not 
 be much less than eight millions. If these consumed as much 
 as sixteen millions do ip a tranquil condition, the diff'erence 
 between such consumptions must have a great effect where the 
 jiroduce and demand approach so near to each other as they 
 manifestly do on the whole surface of Europe, which is 
 covered by one hundred and eighty millions of people. 
 
 When contemplating any great improvement in the agricul- 
 
 3 E
 
 398 FRANKFORT. 
 
 tare of Germany, we naturally looked to the habits of the 
 inhabitants, and the effect which would be produced on them. 
 They are a very economical people ; they subsist principally 
 on rye, potatoes, buck-wheat, and fruits, and eat very little 
 animal food. All agricultural improvement presupposes a 
 great augmentation in the number of cattle of every kind. If 
 those for food be very much increased, it must either reduce 
 the price of them so as to make animal as cheap as vegetable 
 food, or the habits of the people must become altered and 
 changed from their cheap subsistence on vegetable to the 
 comparatively dear one on animal food. 
 
 It may be doubted if the general increase of wealth will be 
 so rapid or so great as to enable the mass of the people to 
 exchange a cheap for a dear food, with the quickness with 
 which the increase of the latter may be eff*ected. Like most 
 practical men, we agreed, that though our discussions on these 
 and other subjects were highly interesting at the time they 
 were carried on, no great changes could be very speedily 
 effected by any legislators, that would not produce more harm 
 than good ; and tliat tiie less governments interfered, and the 
 more freedom was given to individual exertions, the more 
 certainly each one taking care of himself would benefit the 
 whole conununity. 
 
 The institutions here for promoting the pleasures of society 
 are numerous and well regulated, and strangers, who are . 
 properly introduced, find easy admission to them. The 
 cassino, somewhat upon the plan of our subscription-houses, 
 but where admission is allowed to any foreigner who is once 
 introduced by a sul)scriber, collects all tlie newspapers of 
 (iermany, and many of the English, French, and Italian 
 journals, as well as the periodical publications of these different
 
 FRANKFORT. 399 
 
 countries. The suite of apartments is spacious, and hand- • 
 somely furnished; in some of them are card parties; there are 
 four billiard tables, and other rooms where only conversation 
 is carried on. These kind of establishments are indeed to be 
 found in all the large cities, but none of them I think so well 
 conducted as this. 
 
 I was introduced by a very learned and friendly man, with 
 whom I became acquainted through a letter of introduction, 
 and to whose polite attentions I was much indebted, to the 
 museum, a kind of evening party, which was to me a novelty, 
 A very spacious apartment, through which the company 
 loitered, and conversed at their leisure, was hung round with 
 many pictures and engravings. At intervals, music was played 
 from an orchestra at one end of the room; and, occasionally, 
 readings or recitations of original poetry, or of prose com- 
 positions, were delivered by the authors. If these could not 
 bear severe criticism, they were not forced to endure it, for 
 the remarks of the company on them were very good-natured. 
 Music, poetry, and conversation, thus relieved each other, 
 and prevented either from becoming tiresome. 
 
 The fine arts are not neglected in Frankfort. There is a 
 good collection, at a house of great extent appropriated to 
 them and to engravings. A merchant of this city bequeathed 
 about 150,000 pounds to found this establishment; his heirs 
 are still at law with the Government about a large share of 
 the bequest, but the power and intention of the testator 
 appears so clear, that the money has been already invested in 
 the purchase of a house and pictures ; to these are added some 
 which the city possessed before. Several pieces of the old 
 Dutch masters, and some landscapes by Italian painters, are 
 
 exquisite. There is a most admirable piece by Murillo, ot" 
 
 3 E 2
 
 400 FRANKFORT. 
 
 • two beggar-boys, painted in his best manner. Two of the 
 finest paintings by Spagnoletti are shown here, which display 
 wonderful powers in the artist bestowed upon most revolt- 
 ing subjects ; one the Passion of our Saviour, the other a 
 man dying from a stab he had inflicted on himself. In one 
 apartment, by itself, is a fine portrait of Buonaparte, by Girard. 
 He is painted in full imperial costume ; the drapery is very 
 finely executed, the face a very flattering likeness, if it be a 
 likeness at all. I was told that it was a custom to present to 
 ,each of the ambassadors of France a picture of their master; 
 and this was one of thirty copied by the artist for the 
 original of which Buonaparte sat to him. In this building, 
 they have casts from all the Elgin marbles in the British 
 Museum, and the largest collection of engravings, from all 
 masters of every age and country, that I ever saw together. 
 
 The public library contains 80,000 volumes, among which 
 are some curious specimens of ancient typography, a large 
 collection of the autographs of celebrated characters, and a 
 well-stored cabinet of ancient medals. 
 
 Few cities of the size present so many magnificent houses as 
 Frankfort. When this was the place for electing and investing 
 the Emperors of Germany, most of the greater princes of the 
 empire had palaces here ; these have since been converted into 
 the dwellings of individuals, or into hotels, and, in the latter 
 case, still retain the name they formerly bore. The most remark- 
 able of these buildings is one formerly belonging to the Prince 
 of Thurm and Taxis, but now appropriated for the assembling 
 of the members of the German confederation ; and that called 
 tiie Romcr, where the ancient emperors held their court, and 
 in which the imperial crown and the golden bull were kept. 
 
 The inhabitants are about 45,000. Of these near 1(),()0()
 
 FRANKFORT. 401 
 
 are Jews, who reside in a quarter by themselves, inclosed 
 within gates, which shut them out at night from the other 
 parts of the city. There are seven Lutheran, four Catholic, 
 and two Reformed churches ; but, though all the Christian 
 sects are equally established, the Lutherans are in possession 
 of all the powers of the government. 
 
 The city, with a district around it, containing two market- 
 towns and five villages, with 6,880 inhabitants, is under a 
 republican form of government. The constitution made in 
 1816, like most paper constitutions, does not work well, and is 
 already undergoing alterations. By it there were two chambers, 
 one chosen from the descendants of two noble houses, the other 
 by the citizens of certain descriptions, and of certain property. 
 Each of these chambers choose one burgomaster, and the two 
 burgomasters, thus chosen, form the executive power. The 
 transit trade of Frankfort is very great, and the two fairs 
 cause a vast deal of business to centre here of the commission 
 kind, which gives employment to several hundred merchants. 
 The manufactories are very numerous, but generally small, and 
 comprise the preparation of minute luxuries, rather than of the 
 more necessary articles of life. 
 
 The fortifications of the city are either destroyed or level- 
 ling, and the ditches filling up. On some parts where the 
 walls stood, beautiful houses have been erected ; and the 
 encouragement to building, since the independence of the city 
 has been resolved on, is such, that in every part of the en- 
 virons, new houses are springing up. A beautiful row of 
 buildings facing the river, called the Schone Ansicht, lately 
 erected, may vie with that of any city on the continent, and 
 they are already almost all occupied by some of the diplo- 
 matic residents.
 
 402 
 
 FRAKKFOE.T. 
 
 Anioiii^- the edifices, the religious ones must not be neglected, 
 especially the largest of them,— the Dom-kirch or cathedral, 
 still appropriated to the Catholic worship. It is an enormous 
 mass of building, of a date so ancient, that the time of its 
 erection is unknown, as well as tiie name of the architect. It 
 has been long celebrated as the place in which the emperors of 
 Germany were crowned, and the burial-place of a great 
 number of them. 
 
 I was at Frankfort on a market-day, and observed there, as 
 I Jiad done in many other parts of Germany, how much it was 
 crowded with the peasants offering their commodities for sale 
 in very small quantities. Some had a few apples, plums, 
 pears, or grapes, the whole value of which could not be more 
 than three-pence or four-pence. I remarked many with not 
 more than half a peck of pease or beans, or a peck of oats. 
 Several women were sitting in the market with small bundles 
 of hay before them of ten pounds weight each, and few with 
 more than five or six of them. The loss of time this must 
 create is very great. The labour tliat is thus applied to the 
 business of vending their commodities would be better be- 
 stowed on the production of them, and the business of selling 
 them be left to middle men.
 
 RHENISH PROVINCES.
 
 THE RHINE. 
 
 FROM having been pleased with the mode of water-travel- 
 ling in Holland, I was induced to embark on board what is 
 called the water-diligence for Mentz. I found it cheap, for it 
 cost only eightpenee for my passage in the cabin; and that 
 was about three times as much as the steerage passengers paid. 
 This vessel was in every respect unlike the Dutch treckschuyts, 
 the cabin was filthy, dark and cold, without good seats ; and 
 there was no way from it to the deck, but by passing through 
 a crowd of passengers in the steerage, who were smoking 
 tobacco, gambling, and trafficking, and exhibited a most un- 
 pleasant scene of the vulgar humours of low life. 
 
 The vessel was about seventy feet in length, drew only two 
 feet water, and was at first set in motion by poles from the 
 bottom of the river ; but when below the city, four horses were 
 attached to it by a tow-rope, on the third of which the pos- 
 tillion sat, and trotted at the rate of about six miles an hour. 
 The gentlemen's houses are rather thickly scattered near the 
 city, and the whole of the land seemed to be cultivated in the 
 garden mode, but as we proceeded farther the common crops 
 and culture made their appearance ; the rye and wheat looked 
 very luxuriant. 
 
 At about half way between the two cities the diligence 
 halted, to give those passengers who chose it time to dine. As I 
 was stepping on shore, the best dressed of the female passengers, 
 
 3 F
 
 406 THE RHINE. 
 
 who had scarcely spoken in my hearing, asked in my native 
 tongue, if I was not an Englishman. He, who has passed 
 weeks, or even days, without once hearing the sound of his 
 own language, will understand the pleasure derived from it 
 wlien he is unexpectedly greeted in it, and from a female 
 mouth. An acquaintance is soon formed in such circum- 
 stances ; and though ours only lasted five minutes, whilst we 
 walked from the barge to the inn, it was quite long enough to 
 hear her history, and make us both regret our necessary separa- 
 tion. She had married in London to a German tradesman, 
 and bitterly lamented her absence from her native country, 
 and the many comforts it afforded ; and complained that she 
 had no society but the wife and daughter of the clergyman of 
 the village, who were now her companions, and with whom 
 I found she could not converse fluently. I handed them into 
 a vehicle that was in attendance, and sat down to an ordinary, 
 or table d'hute, which was served. The dinner was good, con- 
 sisting of soup, boiled and roast meat, and a dessert of fruit, 
 for which including a bottle of Seltzer water, twenty kreutzers, 
 not quite sevenpence halfpenny, was demanded. The small 
 place where we halted (Hochste), though containing but six 
 hundred inhabitants, having gates, and having formerly had 
 walls, is denominated a city ; and is in the grand duchy of 
 Hesse Darmstadt. 
 
 As we continued our course down the river Maine, with the 
 territories of Nassau on the right bank, and those of Hesse 
 Darmstadt on the left, we passed many enormous rafts of float- 
 in<>- timber descending from the upper part of that river, and 
 proceeding by the Rhine to the kingdom of the Netherlands. 
 As they merely floated, two men were sufficient to guide them, 
 tiiough they were from four to five hundred feet in length.
 
 MENTZ. 407 
 
 In approaching the junction of the Rhine with the Maine, the 
 vineyards on the right bank of the river covered a continued 
 acclivity, the soil of which appeared to be thin and sandy ; 
 but the peasants were applying manure to them in a more 
 liberal manner than I had before observed afforded to any 
 other crop in Germany. 
 
 The Maine is a turbid stream, about 1,200 feet in breadth; 
 the Rhine a translucid river, 500 feet wider, and the effect of 
 the mud of the former river is definitely visible for a con- 
 siderable distance after their union. This junction of these 
 two great rivers, and the venerable city of Mentz rising from 
 the banks of the united stream, forms a fine picture ; and it 
 possesses additional beauty from the contrast of the ancient 
 city, with the more modern villages around it, most of which 
 were burnt during the late war, and have been since rebuilt. 
 The gate of the city of Mentz towards the water, is reached 
 by passing between enormous piles of wood, which are heaped 
 there as a supply of winter fuel for its inhabitants, and as an 
 article of trade to all other towns in its vicinity. The cele- 
 brated bridge over the Rhine of 1,720 feet in length, which 
 communicates with the strong fortress, Cassel, on the opposite 
 bank, rests on posts, supported by fifty-two large pontoons or 
 barges, which rise and fall with the variations in the height of 
 the water. 
 
 Mentz is the principal city, though not the capital of the 
 dominions of the Grand Duke of Hesse Darnstadt, which ex- 
 tend over 3,617 square miles on both sides the Rhine, and 
 contain 620,630 inhabitants ; of whom 366,000 are Lutherans, 
 140,000 Catholics, 98,000 Reformed, 15,000 Jews, and about 
 1,000 Mennonites*. The revenue is about four hundred thou- 
 
 • Gemalde von Mainz, von P. A. Paiili, 1819. 
 3 F2
 
 408 MENTZ. 
 
 sand pounds sterling ; but it was left deeply indebted by the 
 French. The regular army is about 6,000 men, and the 
 landwehr, or militia, includes almost the whole male popula- 
 tion. The strong citadel and other fortresses of this important 
 city, are under the authority of the German confederation, and 
 are garrisoned jointly by the troops of Austria and Prussia. 
 The strength of the defences of this city, is known to all mili- 
 tary men. It has been the cause of tremendous sufferings, at 
 various periods, to the inhabitants, the marks of which are still 
 visible in shattered houses, fallen towers, and numerous ruins 
 of extensive public buildings. 
 
 The streets are generally narrow, the houses large and 
 gloomy, and there is over the whole, a general appearance of 
 poverty and desolation. The cathedral, one of the oldest and 
 largest religious buildings in Germany, has suff'ered much by 
 the various sieges, as well as by accidental fires, which have 
 destroyed or defaced it no less than five or six times, and it is 
 now partly a heap of ruins; but its lofty tower, the only one left 
 of seven that formerly rose from its roof, is in good preservation, 
 and four hundred feet in height. The church of St. Ignatius, 
 a modern erection, upon the foundation of one formerly be- 
 longing to the Knights Templars, is one of the most elegant 
 buildings, both externally and internally, that I have seen in 
 Germany. The other churches, ten in number, of which one 
 is Lutheran, liave nothing to attract the attention of a stranger. 
 There is a public library belonging to the city, with 90,000 
 volumes, and a museum of Roman and other antiquities. The 
 remains of the Romans are most profusely exhibited about this 
 city, the ancient Moguiitinciif/i, which was built by Drusus, and 
 long the most important station of that people. In the museum 
 are collected various specimens of their domestic utensils, orna-
 
 MENTZ. 
 
 409 
 
 ments, and coins, which from time to time have been dis- 
 covered in the vicinity. A respectable medical college is esta- 
 blished here, where five professors, and eight doctors dispense 
 instruction to students in the healing- art; and there are some 
 other institutions for education, upon a good footing. 
 
 The manufactories are upon a small scale. The most con- 
 siderable is the spinning of cotton in a mill, with three hun- 
 dred and twenty spindles, but it is not a profitable concern, 
 nor is a fustian manufactory, which employs twelve looms, in a 
 much better state ; and it is probable they will both be re- 
 linquished. Sugar refining, card -making, leather-dressing, and 
 dyeing, and china-making, give some employment, but are 
 all upon a very limited scale. 
 
 From its position, Mentz in peaceable times, must be a place 
 of considerable trade, especially as the port is free, and very 
 few restrictions interpose to prevent the circulation of goods 
 from it through the whole of the surrounding districts. It is a 
 depot for fire-wood from the territories on the upper parts of 
 the Maine and the Rhine ; and for the colonial and other 
 goods, that arrive from distant countries by the latter river. 
 Its vicinity produces much wine, which is shipped from hence, 
 the value of it in the last years, has amounted at the place 
 of shipment to about three hundred thousand pounds sterling 
 annually; and the foreign goods dispersed from it are calculated 
 to be of nearly the same value. 
 
 The civil inhabitants of Mentz at the last census, in 1816", 
 were 25,251, of whom 1,320 were Lutherans, l,()10Jews, and 
 the rest Catholics. At that period, there were nearly 8,000 
 persons in such distress as to need assistance from their more 
 wealthy neighbours ; but I was happy to learn that their 
 number has much diminished in the last three years.
 
 410 MENTZ. 
 
 Since entering Germany, I had never once been accosted 
 by a beggar; but in this city I found them, if neither so 
 numerous nor so clamorous as in France, yet some of them 
 were sutliciently importunate. Although in Germany there is 
 no legal provision for the poor, and though begging is uni- 
 versally forbidden, yet the spontaneous charity which is 
 exercised, and the regulations >of society which have long- 
 been established, have prevented the sufferings from want 
 being more severe than in other countries. The diseased 
 poor are in general tolerably provided for by the numerous 
 hospitals that are to be found in every city. Those in the 
 towns who are distressed from the want of employment, are 
 in general placed in the workhouses, where occupation is 
 provided for them, which, with a trifling addition from the 
 funds of the institution, enables them to subsist till they can 
 obtain more profitable labour. 
 
 There are, however, two modes of administering relief, 
 which are almost universal. In every city, a stranger is visited 
 by a respectable kind of man, who solicits contributions for 
 the relief of the poor, and produces a book where contributors 
 insert their names, and the sums they give. This money is 
 fairly apportioned for the relief of distressed objects, usually 
 under the direction of the clergy, or otlier prominent persons. 
 
 In almost every town of Germany, there are guilds for the 
 various handicraft trades. Before a man can follow such 
 trades, even as a journeyman, he must not only have served a 
 regular apprenticeship, but must have travelled a certain 
 period in otlier parts of the country to perfect himself in his 
 art. During this journeying, they seek employment from the 
 guilds of the same trade in the different places they visit. If 
 occupation cannot be furnished by those guilds, they afford
 
 MENTZ 411 
 
 them relief, and they depart for some other place. Youiin 
 men of this description frequently ask assistance, but rather in 
 the manner of a demand than of charity ; it is hardly ever 
 refused by the natives, and they seldom or never accost a 
 foreigner. It is not considered degrading to those who ask. 
 and scarcely a favour from those who bestow. 
 
 The institution of the guilds, and the difficulty a young 
 man has in marrying before he can convince the magistrates, 
 whose license is necessary previous to the celebration, that 
 he has the means of supporting a family, bad as they 
 are, in most respects, have at least a tendency to prevent 
 mendicity. 
 
 In Mentz, whilst it was a part of France, the old habits and 
 institutions of the Germanic kind were destroyed, no new ones 
 were formed, or none of sufficient efficacy ; and in spite of the 
 attempted re-establishment of the ancient customs, the houses 
 are crowded with paupers, and the streets somewhat infested 
 with beggars. 
 
 As I wished to view with some attention the part of Ger- 
 many which had been for seventeen years under the regimen 
 of France, I did not travel post, but with hired horses, which 
 were to proceed at my own pace, and to be returned, when I 
 reached the frontiers. 
 
 After passing through the fortifications of Mentz, and gaining 
 the open country, I found a gradual ascent of some hours. 
 Large villages were in sight, and tolerably close to each other ; 
 but the country wanted those indispensable requisites to rural 
 beauty, woods and streams. The whole of the district rests 
 on a bed of limestone, and the soil, though mostly a sandy 
 loam, varies very much both in depth and qualities. On the 
 sides of the surrounding hills, many small vineyards appeared.
 
 412 ALZEI. 
 
 but the greater part of the land was sowed with rye or wheat, 
 which was just shooting up. The wlieat was much more 
 extensive than the rye. Some portions of rape were growing, 
 which I learnt was generally suffered to ripen into seed, and 
 furnished oil for home consumption as well as for exportation. 
 Some parts of the land had surface-stones, and, on those, 
 patches of sainfoin were growing, some of which looked clean, 
 whilst many others were covered with weeds and grasses, 
 which sufficiently showed the difference of management in the 
 individuals to whom they belonged. 
 
 The common rotation of crops here, is first, pease or flax, 
 then rye or wheat, and lastly, oats, when they fallow again. 
 Wine is so cheap that little barley is cultivated, and only after 
 tiiat small portion of rape which is fed in a green state. 
 
 I rested at the small town of Worrstadt, where there is an 
 ancient castle now unoccupied, and which is watered by a 
 beautiful little stream, (the Seltz,) that runs to the Rhine. 
 It is a place of 1,200 inhabitants, depending on the trade of 
 corn and wine from the surrounding district. My guide had 
 a bottle of red wine here, containing nearly a pint and a half, 
 for which I paid about three half-pence. 
 
 With scarcely any perceptible difference in the appearance 
 of the country, I reached the small city of Alzei, the capital 
 of a canton. Its walls are dilapidated, but its gates are still 
 remaining. It is a most miserable-looking place, and poverty 
 seems stamped on every object that is to be seen in it. It has 
 three churches, and 3,200 inhabitants. Under the ancient 
 Germanic constitution, this was the head of a small princi- 
 pality, called a burgravate, and the residence of the Sovereign. 
 Like most other large houses on this side the Rhine, the castle 
 or palace, stands in ruins near the city.
 
 ALZEI. 413 
 
 Alzei is the last town in the dominions of the Duke of Hesse- 
 Darmstcadt, in this direction. In passing- through them, I 
 remarked, that the barns were not filled, and that I did not 
 see a single stack of hay or corn in the whole district. Few 
 cattle were grazing, and not a horse that I saw at plough was 
 fit to be employed in that work. The houses of the peasantry 
 were filthy, and their clothing and furniture miserable. 
 
 During the seventeen years that this country was a part of 
 France, all tithes, lords'-rents, and services, and the rights of 
 rittergut siwAjagd were abolished ; the tenants, or copyholders, 
 were thus converted into proprietors or freeholders. The 
 possessions, in general, are very small, from thirty to eighty 
 acres. The new masters, however, laid on them speedily the 
 French tax, denominated fondcre, which, by the mode of 
 valuation that was adopted, amounted to more than all the 
 harassing petty dues tiiat were formerly demanded by their 
 lords. This has continued since the government has been 
 transferred to the ancient dynasty, which, having found the 
 communes in debt, was compelled to levy additional taxes, of 
 which the poor peasants complain very bitterly. They lament 
 too the limits which the new order of things has placed to the 
 vent of their commodities, especially fruit and wine ; for the 
 consumption of these, they had before not only the markets 
 of Germany, but the whole of France ; whereas now, they are 
 excluded from the latter country, and much cramped in the 
 former, by the commercial jealousy of the neighbouring 
 princes, who interrupt the intercourse by their custom-houses 
 and fiscal regulations. The low prices which are obtained 
 for their productions tend, not a little, to increase their dis- 
 content. Under these circumstances of distress, it is not 
 
 surprising that they should lament tiie change of masters, and 
 
 3 G
 
 414 ALZEI. 
 
 wish again to be united to France, a wish that I am persuaded 
 prevails very generally, if not universally. 
 
 Since the abolition of tithes, the pastors have been paid one 
 thousand francs a year, and have, besides a house, glebe 
 land and surplice fees. The predominant religion of the district 
 is Catholic, but the two Protestant sects have an establishment 
 with it. It did not appear to me, that the French, during 
 their rule, had abolished all sense of religion from the minds of 
 the Germans. I saw in several houses, in the hands of the 
 young people, books of devotion, consisting principally of 
 very excellent Catholic forms of prayer, in the vernacular 
 tongue. In one, on a Sunday, the children were reading a 
 translation (not Luther's) of the four Gospels, bound in a 
 small volume, without the Epistles, or the book of Revelations. 
 These latter, the Catholic clergy deem to be too difficult, and 
 the construction of the sentences too much involved to be read 
 with advantage, or even to be understood, by young persons. 
 
 From various accounts of the productiveness of the soil, a 
 subject to which I directed my inquiries in conversing with 
 different cultivators, I was induced to conclude, that the 
 average increase does not amount to more than six grains for 
 one in wheat and rye, and seven for one in oats. The soil is 
 naturally excellent, but is gradually exhausting, from the 
 constant growth of corn, and the scarcity of animals to make 
 manure. There are no sheep, and the few cows that are to 
 be found in the district are fed in the winter with straw; 
 with such treatment, the best land cannot be long productive ; 
 and all with whom I conversed, who were somewhat advanced 
 in life, informed me, that the crops were much lighter than 
 before the troublesome times which, for the last twenty-five 
 years, had visited them.
 
 SOMBACH. 415 
 
 As we entered the territory of the King of Bavaria, the 
 dismal-looking mountain, the Donnersberg, or, as the French, 
 when they made it the name of this department, called it 
 Mont Tonnere, reared its black crest before us, above all the 
 surrounding hills. The top of this mountain is 2,150 feet 
 above the level of the Rhine. It was covered with light 
 clouds that sometimes discovered, and sometimes concealed, 
 by their variations, the snow that lay thinly spread on its 
 summit. This picturesque object, gradually rising in sublimity 
 during several hours in which we were approaching it, is 
 clearly seen to be granite, many of the naked pinnacles 
 projecting through the thin soil that generally covered it. 
 The lower parts of this mountain are covered with pines, the 
 space above nearly to the top, is sprinkled with some deciduous 
 trees, but they were too distant for me to ascertain of what 
 kind. 
 
 As we proceeded into the Bavarian territory, the soil 
 gradually changed to a most excellent clayey loam, of a 
 deep red colour, resembling the best of the land near Exeter. 
 At the village of Sombach, where I found an intelligent 
 farmer, I was informed by him, that he harvested frequently 
 seventeen bushels for one of oats sown, and fourteen for one of 
 rye and wheat. The same person, whose house, barns, and 
 conversation, proved him to be rather above the level of his 
 neighbours, assured me, that most of tiie cultivators in the 
 place, though they paid no rent, could with difliculty raise 
 sufficient surplus produce to pay their taxes. They had few 
 or no horses, and no money to purchase them; and my 
 informant told me, that he sometimes let his horses to his 
 neighbours, the hire being paid in produce, after the following 
 harvest. His land required four horses in a team to plough it ; 
 
 3 G 2
 
 416 KAISERSLAUTERN. 
 
 those who used but two for that work, he assured me, did not, 
 on an average, harvest half the quantity of corn on the same 
 portion of land. He hired labourers, his own family not being 
 sufficiently numerous to perform all the work. He provided 
 them with food and lodging, and paid them about two-pence 
 half-penny a day wages. I saw the men assembled at their 
 evening meal, (at about five o'clock,) which consisted wholly 
 of potatoes, flour, and rye-bread, made into a kind of soup ; 
 and was assured, that none of the small farmers of their own 
 land, lived so well, or had any thing but potatoes to eat, as 
 what little corn they grew must be sold to pay taxes, and other 
 necessary expenses ; and that, unless they were very parsi- 
 monious, their stock of potatoes would fail before the next 
 crop would be fit for use. 
 
 This soil is admirably calculated for fruit-trees, and they 
 are most abundantly planted, though very few of late years. 
 Walnuts, chesnuts, and filberts, are very plentiful, and when 
 the market of France was open, the sale of them and of other 
 fruits was very advantageous. 
 
 The first town in the Bavarian dominions is that of Kircheim, 
 containing 1,990 inhabitants, all apparently very poor, and 
 the only building that seemed to have been inhabited by a 
 gentleman's family stood in ruins near it. From thence I 
 reached Kaiserslautern, on the river Lauter ; it is the capital 
 of the district, and seemed to have a slight appearance of 
 animation about it. There is a cotton manufactory, and 
 several frames for weaving stockings; but, especially, coarse 
 worsted stockinett, which seems to form the clothing of almost 
 all the female peasantry. In this place is a gymnasium, and a 
 school for the education of schoolmasters for the adjacent 
 villages. In the neighbourhood are some iron mines, the
 
 LANDSTUHL. 
 
 417 
 
 produce of which is made into various articles, at some small 
 manufactories in and around this city. It contains 2,4()() 
 inhabitants, with three churches, one for each of the religious 
 sects. Near this place a battle was fought, between the 
 Prussians and French in 1793, and another on nearly the 
 same spot in the succeeding year. 
 
 Kaiserslautern has a lake on each side of it ; but one of 
 them, when I passed, more properly deserved the name of a 
 morass, though in winter when the torrents descend from the 
 lofty mountains that are near it, it is covered with water to a 
 great depth. On these banks are some fine meadows, but the 
 inhabitants possess very few cattle to feed upon them. 
 
 From thence I spent a whole day in travelling, at the foot 
 of the Donnersberg, by the road on the western side, which 
 runs parallel to it, and upon which it looks down most terri- 
 fically, filling the passenger with a degree of awe by its 
 abrupt and sometimes perpendicular precipices. The town 
 of Landstuhl is at the foot of this mountain, apparently a 
 poor place, with 750 inhabitants, and like the other towns 
 with a castle or gentleman's seat in ruins. In the woods near 
 it, at the foot of the Donnersberg, there is a considerable 
 quantity of potash made, and much rosin extracted from the 
 pines. On a hill of very great height, the ruins of a most 
 extensive ancient castle look down upon Landstuhl. It must 
 have been an impregnable and capacious fortress, when in its 
 flourishing state. It was the original seat (Stammxchlos.s') of 
 the family of Sickingen, a noble race now gone to decay, who 
 were the petty sovereigns of the surrounding district. 
 
 Beyond Landstuhl the valley widened ; and while on one 
 side the mountain towered, an extended plain of bog was 
 displayed on the other, which probably becomes a lake after
 
 418 HOMBURG. 
 
 much rain, or when the snow on the mountains is melted in 
 the spring. I observed many persons employed in dioging 
 turf, which rather surprised me in a country where wood is so 
 abundant, and where coals, though not much used, are plentiful. 
 
 As we approached the town of Homburg, the mountains 
 receded considerably from the road, and left a space of many 
 hundred acres of meadow land, parts of which were being 
 drained with small open drains very near to each other, and 
 which will, doubtless, improve the herbage, at present of a 
 very coarse and mossy nature. Homburg is a miserable looking 
 town of 1,800 inhabitants, watered by the small river Blies. 
 It has a small manufactory of muslins, and some woollen cloth 
 of a very coarse kind is made there. A lofty hill at the back 
 of the town has been formed into terraces, rising one above 
 another quite to the top, and these have been planted with 
 fruit trees of various kinds ; the whole vicinity is well covered 
 with vineyards, which this year have yielded abundance of 
 wine. The growers assured me, it could not be sold for more 
 than two-thirds of the cost of raising the vines and making 
 the wine. Homburg has several good houses in and about it, 
 in a dilapidated state ; and upon two hills near it, are two 
 extensive piles of the ruins of ancient castles, or princely 
 residences ; one called Carlsberg, the other Martinshohe, and 
 many other antiquitjes. 
 
 From Homburg to Rohrbach the country exhibits nearly 
 the same appearance, except that the mountains approached 
 nearer to each other, and in some places were so close, as 
 scarcely to leave any space between the road and the foot 
 of the precipices. The country round Rohrbach abounds 
 with iron ore, and coals ; the foundries are numerous, but 
 small ; and though coal is plentiful and good, the use of coke
 
 ROHRBACH. 41 9 
 
 has not been introduced in the iron manufactories ; but 
 charcoal is alone used. 
 
 At Rohrbach the territories of Bavaria terminate, and a 
 small strip of country belonging to Prussia intercepts tlie 
 direct communication with France. From Kaiserslautern to 
 the boundary the land is very indifferent, and produces little 
 or no corn. The rye was come up, but very thinly ; there was 
 little or no wheat to be seen ; the sainfoins were very foul, 
 and much mixed with bad grasses, and what few patches of 
 clover were to be seen in the oat stubbles, had been very thinly 
 and irregularly planted. The soil is generally a light red 
 sandy loam, mixed with many surface stones, much better 
 calculated for vines and fruit-trees than for corn. 
 
 This portion of the kingdom of Bavaria, the greater part of 
 which is beyond the Rhine, belonged to the King beforehe 
 attained the royal dignity, or even the Electorate of Bavaria, 
 and was known as the Hertzogthum Von Zweibrucken, or by 
 the French name of Deux-ponts. It was united to the French 
 republic in an early stage of the revolution, and followed its 
 changes till the peace of Paris, and the treaty of Vienna 
 restored it to its former sovereign. The description given 
 of this department by the French statistical writers in 1802, 
 forms a striking contrast to its present condition. * "This 
 department (Mont Tonnere) though very mountainous, is 
 highly fertile. It produces in abundance all kinds of grain, 
 not more than half of which is consumed at home ; and 
 large quantities of vegetables, fruit, and especially nuts, 
 and chesnuts. Hemp and flax are in abundance, and very 
 
 * See " Statistique generate et particulifere de la France, et de ses colonies par unp 
 Societe des gens de lettres et de savans. Tome 5. p. 17.
 
 420 SAARBRUCKE. 
 
 excellent. There are rich pastures, covered with horned 
 cattle and with sheep, whose flesh is very celebrated, but 
 whose wool is of an inferior quality." A German writer says, 
 " The breed of horses, which before the province was united 
 to France was excellent and numerous, and supplied the neigh- 
 bouring districts, has been so deteriorated and lessened, that 
 scarcely one horse is to be found fit for the cavalry service *." 
 
 Wlien I reached Saarbriicke, I had passed over the whole 
 of the district which had been joined to France, and deno- 
 minated the department of Mont Tonnere, but which for 
 the last four years has been again returned to its ancient 
 masters. The whole distance from Mentz, is between ninety 
 and one hundred miles. In that space, I saw nothing that 
 looked like the mansion of a gentleman that was not in ruins 
 and without inhabitants. The villages are numerous and large, 
 the barns adjoining to each house in them, small, and with 
 scarcely any stables or sheds for cattle. The cows are very few, 
 and yield all the butter that the district consumes ; though less 
 than it wants. Flax is grown, spun, and wove by every family, 
 but none is sent to other parts of the country. I did not see 
 fifty sheep in all my journey, though much of the land is fit for 
 them, and for nothing else ; and wherever I inquired, I was 
 told there were no flocks. The furniture of the peasants' 
 houses was uniformly wretched, and their dress far, very far, 
 worse than I had seen in any part of Germany beyond the 
 Rhine. 
 
 I had not seen this country before it fell under the dominion 
 of France, and therefore can only judge of its condition from 
 the reports, perhaps partial ones, of either writers or natives ; 
 
 • Beschreibung von Rheinbairen in Zweibriicken gedrucktet, 1818.
 
 SAARBRiJCK. 421 
 
 but of this I am confident, that such good natural soil could 
 never have been in a much worse state, nor much less productive 
 than it is at present. I except from this observation the fruit 
 trees, most of which however, especially the walnuts, must 
 have been planted long before the French possessed it. 
 
 The old feudal tenures kept up a connexion betwixt the 
 lord and his tenants ; the dues paid to him were small, and 
 rather troublesome and vexatious than onerous, but the in- 
 fluence and example of a resident gentry, must have been of 
 great advantage ; and the military service was rather a nominal 
 than a real evil, and a very trifling one, when compared with 
 the conscription that France enforced. The military claims of 
 their ancient lords, founded on the tenures by which the pea- 
 sants held the lands, were never very rigidly enforced; but under 
 the French system, their conscription was strictly and equally 
 extended over the whole population, between certain defined 
 ages. Under the governments that have succeeded to that 
 of France, the demand for personal service is various. Under 
 Prussia it is universal, but the period is limited ; and to those 
 in such circumstances as to afford the purchase of their equip- 
 ments, one year suffices. Under the government of Hesse 
 Darmstadt, the conscription is not universal ; but it is far from 
 being impartial. The finest and best made young men are 
 selected and compelled to serve. Under the government of 
 Bavaria it is equal, but not extensive ; and the administration 
 is very mild in its demands of personal service. 
 
 With the introduction of the French system into the country, 
 the nobility and gentry, deprived of that from which they 
 derived the greater part of their incomes, naturally withdrew, 
 and the spirit of improvement declined. With the removal of 
 the gentry, the capital also fled, and in times of abundance 
 
 3 H
 
 422 SAARBRUCK. 
 
 there were none to purchase the surplus, and keep it till a 
 scarcity occurred. The peasantry, now become proprietors, 
 could find neither money nor credit to improve their lands ; 
 and thus its husbandry, if it has not retrograded, has remained 
 stationary. 
 
 When the French system of taxation, including the heavy . 
 fonciere, was imposed in the place of the feudal dues and the 
 tithes, a value was put on every portion of land, and a per 
 centage demanded upon that valuation. I believe this contri- 
 bution was at first beyond, and certainly it was recently very 
 far beyond, the whole amount of what was paid, or would have 
 been paid, as a composition for the rent, feudal services, and 
 tithes, which were thus nominally abolished, but really in- 
 flicted under another name, and to a more burdensome extent. 
 Under the French system, the clergy were at first either re- 
 moved, or became dependant on the peasantry; afterwards 
 they were allowed one thousand francs a year, and though their 
 fees rose, they have gradually been replaced, as they have 
 died, by men of a lower caste. 
 
 Thus the imposts were not lessened, nor the requisitions for 
 their services diminished, but the people were tricked by the 
 words liberty and equality, out of a greater portion of their hap- 
 piness and comforts than their ancient paternal governments 
 had ever required them to sacrifice ; and they were deprived 
 of the benefits which are derived in every country from the 
 examples of a resident gentry, and a body of respectable clergy. 
 In no part of Germany did the pictures of wretchedness 
 present themselves to my observation, either so frequently or so 
 strikingly, as between the Rhine and the present frontiers of 
 France; and the reflections I have recorded, are the natural 
 expression of the feelings which were excited in my mind,'
 
 SAARBRUCK. 423 
 
 from step to step through the country. Those reflections were 
 strengthened by the inquiries I made at each town for the book- 
 sellers' shops. In every other place, to the eastward of the 
 Rhine, I uniformly found a shop or shops, with a greater or less 
 quantity of books for sale. Except at Mentz, where there are 
 very few, I did not find a single bookseller of any kind in any 
 of the towns. At Saarbriick, indeed, one was pointed out to 
 me, which I visited, but except almanacks, the whole stock in 
 the shop was of less value than I carried in a small portmanteau. 
 The same may have been formerly the case, but that I could 
 not ascertain ; and I should rather judge, that when the gentry 
 were driven from the country, the taste for reading, and the 
 desire to acquire knowledge, speedily followed them. 
 
 The city of Saarbriick is on one bank of the river Saar, and 
 the suburb of St. John's on the other ; together, they contain a 
 population of 0,380 persons. The river being navigable, 
 creates some commerce, which principally consists in shipping 
 wood, iron, and steel, and some small quantities of glass, 
 earthen-ware, and coals. These are sent by the river through 
 the Moselle and the Rhine to Coblentz. The houses of this 
 city are large, some of them even elegant and splendid, such 
 as are usually seen in the capitals of small principalities, which 
 this formerly was. Now, the best of them are hastening to 
 decay, and are inhabited by mechanics or paupers ; and not a 
 modern house is to be seen, except one or two without the 
 gates, built in 1806, and a very few small ones erected since 
 the cession to Prussia. The palace or castle, a fine build- 
 ing, now occupied by the governor, and others near it, in 
 a dilapidated condition, shew that the place was formerly 
 inhabited by a more elegant and refined population than at 
 present fills it. 
 
 3H2
 
 424 SAARBRUCK. 
 
 The Prussian government is certainly most unpopular in all 
 the newly-acquired provinces ; and principally, as appeared to 
 me, from the faults of its predecessors, or from circumstances 
 over which it has no control. The complaints I heard here 
 were as vehement as in any place I had visited. The low 
 prices at which the productions of the soil are sold, prevents 
 the occupiers of it, from making any purchases ; the sales are 
 insufficient to provide money for the payment of the taxes, 
 which are the same as under the French dominion. The 
 people say, that a few years ago, all the money went to Paris, 
 that now all goes to Berlin ; that then, France purchased their 
 fruits and surplus corn, but that Prussia takes nothing but the 
 taxes. 
 
 I was at Saarbriick on a market-day, and having leisure, went 
 through it to make my remarks. The quantities of each seller 
 were very small, and could not amount, in many instances, to 
 more than the value of a day's labour. The price of wheat 
 was eight shillings and sixpence for one hundred and forty -' ^ 
 
 pounds; it was red wheat, such as would weigh about fifty-six 
 pounds the bushel. Rye was offered at seven shillings for one 
 hundred and thirty-six pounds ; oats, one hundred and twenty 
 pounds, for three shillings and sixpence ; pease, one hundred 
 and fifty pounds at seven shillings ; and potatoes, two hundred 
 pounds for sixteen-pence. Hay is grown but to a small extent, 
 and the price of it was out of all proportion to the other articles, 
 it was three shillings and sixpence for one hundred pounds. I 
 have reduced the weights and prices to our own ; because, in 
 some instances, the prices were mentioned in francs, and in 
 others in florins and kreutzers ; and the weights were of dif- 
 ferent denominations, as the sellers came from the east or west 
 side of the city. The selling corn by weight, and not b}
 
 SAARBRiJCK. 425 
 
 measure, is a great improvement, for which the people are 
 indebted to the French, and is worthy of adoption in every 
 other comitry*. 
 
 I was assured, that though no rent was paid by the bauers, 
 the taxes, seed, labour and necessary disbursements, amounted 
 to full one-third more than the produce had been sold for in 
 the three last years ; and that those who grow provisions, are 
 almost starved just before the annual harvest has ripened. I 
 discovered in almost every person I conversed with, from the 
 Rhine to Saarbriick, much anxiety about the wine which had 
 just been made, the quantity of which was unusually large. 
 They all eagerly asked, if I thought there would be much 
 demand for it in England ; and seemed surprised when I 
 assured them that it was not used by us, except at the tables 
 of the few of the richer classes, who spared no expense to have 
 the superior kinds, known as Hochheimer, Johanisberg, or the 
 produce of other rare vineyards. 
 
 The river Saar, which begins to be navigable here, is a rapid 
 stream, descending from the picturesque mountains, which are 
 a continuation of the chain of the Vosges, and run parallel to 
 the Rhine, about half the distance from this city to that river. 
 The barges which descend the Saar, are built in this place, 
 and are from thirty-five to forty tons burden. 
 
 • Having learnt, but not by personal inquiry, the prices of flour and grain in the market ot 
 Mentz, I insert them here. The price of corn was given to me in the measure called malter, 
 of which there are two kinds used in Hesse Darmstadt; one is 4,591 Paris cubic inches, 
 the other is 5,050 of those inches. My calculation is founded on the first of those dimen- 
 sions. Wheat, four shillings and ten-pence per bushel; rye, four shillings and three-pence; 
 barley, three shillings and sixpence ; and oats, two shillings and six-pence. Wheaten flour, 
 ten shillings for one hundred pounds ; rye flour, six and nine-pence for one hundred pounds. 
 The flour is not dressed so fine as by ourmealmen, which accounts for its price appearino- 
 low, when compared with that of the corn from which it is made.
 
 426 SAARBRtfCK. 
 
 I cannot take leave of Germany, without recounting a tew 
 of those observations, which had occurred to me on the cha- 
 racter of the inhabitants, in passing through the country. It is 
 a subject on which it is difficult to generalize ; the dispositions 
 and habits of most people are so various, as to create this 
 difficulty, and all general observations must be understood to 
 admit of very numerous exceptions and irregularities. I 
 should rather characterize the Germans" as frank, honest, and 
 sincere, than polite ; and as more to be trusted than beloved, 
 as more ready to do kind offices than to use kind expres- 
 sions to strangers. I cannot, however, allow, that their man- 
 ners and conduct are rude or clownish, and, of all people, they 
 are the farthest from being impertinent. I had opportunities 
 of mixing with all classes, from the nobility to the peasants ; 
 with the former, an introduction was necessary, and, with the 
 latter, an apology ; but, with all, I found a readiness in 
 giving information, a patience in explaining what was not 
 clear in their first answers to my inquiries, and less assumption 
 of superior knowledge than is to be found in most other 
 countries. 
 
 I have heard from many of my countrymen complaints of the 
 want of hospitality among the Germans. I cannot but attribute 
 this to an opinion rather prevalent among them, that we are 
 rendered so fastidious from being accustomed to luxuries of 
 the table, that their frugal fare would, if not despised, be 
 scarcely acceptable to us. From my own observation, I should 
 judge this to be the principal, if not the sole, cause of the 
 very few invitations that travellers, even when well introduced, 
 have received. I found it otherwise ; and when my indifference 
 to the kind of provisions that was set before me was known, 
 1 experienced frequent and sincere invitations to be a partaker
 
 SAARBRUCK. 427 
 
 of their family meals. The inn-keepers have none of the 
 abundant civility which is found in England, and scarcely 
 seem to act the part of persons who expect to gain any 
 advantage from the guests in their houses. They welcome 
 those who arrive rather as if conferring than receiving a 
 favour; and their whole demeanour is rather lofty, and dis- 
 covers no disposition to deviate from their accustomed routine. 
 This difference probably arises from their being of a nmk 
 relatively superior to that of men of the same profession in 
 England. They are the associates of their guests, who are 
 seldom their superiors, and frequently their inferiors ; and they 
 expect to be treated by those in their houses as the heads of 
 families at their own table. 
 
 With inn-keepers, with the different tradesmen of whom 1 
 made purchases, and with the volets de place whom I engaged 
 at the different cities, I had no reason to complain of any 
 petty cheating tricks, or, in any transactions, to suspect the 
 honesty of the persons with whom 1 dealt. I should, however, 
 have been better pleased with a little more civility from them, 
 and a less rigid adherence to their own plans. 
 
 The Germans are as much superior in cleanliness to the 
 French, as they are inferior in it to the Dutch and the English. 
 I felt the want of it on entering Germany from Holland, and 
 regretted the loss of it on leaving Germany for France. I 
 remarked, notwithstanding, every where, that the table and 
 bed-linen, though sometimes coarse, was always scrupulously 
 clean, and I thought the dress and persons of all classes were 
 equal in cleanliness to those of any other part of Europe. 
 
 It appeared to me that the manner of smoking tobacco was 
 more cleanly in Germany than it is in England : the habit of 
 spitting during the use of that herb is not so common ; and I
 
 428 SAARBRUCK. 
 
 never remarked any, even of the lowest classes, chewing it. 
 Smoking is now much less practised than formerly : I never 
 was in a party where it was allowed, if any ladies were present, 
 and I seldom saw it in private houses of the more respectable 
 class in the cities, except in the study, or separate apartment 
 of the gentlemen. In coffee-houses and taverns, it is, how- 
 ever, carried to an extent somewhat annoying, and I observed 
 it was practised in the public carriages that I met on the 
 road. 
 
 Temperance and sobriety are the general characteristics of 
 this nation. Their tables are usually served with great 
 economy, and gourmands are not very common, nor do the 
 pleasures of the meal, or the detail of its cookery, furnish so 
 much matter for conversation as among the French, or I think 
 as even with the English. I never observed any intoxication 
 among the lower classes ; and, with the higher orders, I saw 
 not the most distant approach towards inebriety. 
 
 The people seldom appeared to me to express any strong 
 emotions, or to experience those violent and agitating feelings 
 which are so significantly evinced by the accents and gesticu- 
 lations of the inhabitants of the more southern countries of 
 Europe. All within them seems quiet, calm, and tranquil, 
 and their enthusiasm is more felt than displayed; their man- 
 ners almost discover that subdued mildness and softness which 
 is to be seen among many of our English quakers ; and their 
 conversation with each other abounds with those expressions of 
 endearment which are soothing to those to whom they are ad- 
 dressed, and have a tendency to create kind feelings in those 
 who utter them.
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 3 1
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 r* RANGE is entered, from Germany, a few miles beyond tlie 
 river Saare, and a toll-gate and custom-house mark the division 
 of the two countries. My passport and baggage were slightly 
 examined, and I reached the small town of Forbach, a 
 most miserable place, where the auberge was cold and filthy ; 
 one part of it was a shop, furnished with a few goods, the 
 state and quantities of which bespoke great poverty. I was so 
 fortunate here, as to meet with an intelligent man, who wished 
 for a conveyance to Metz, and who gladly accepted my offer 
 of a seat in the vehicle I had engaged for myself. 
 
 He was a man nearly fifty years of age ; in his youth had 
 been a soldier, and served under Buonaparte in Italy ; but 
 having received a wound which disabled him from marching, 
 had been discharged with a pension of about six a pounds a 
 year. He had established himself as a tanner at Sarguimines, a 
 small town on the Saare ; and in the course of years, had risen 
 in fortune above the mediocrity of his neighbourhood. I found 
 him a shrewd man in his affairs, and very anxious to know if 
 he could get his Buenos Ayres hides direct from England, 
 and save the profits of the importer at Rouen, and of the 
 dealer at Metz. His object in the present journey was to pur- 
 chase these hides. He was much pleased that the town in 
 which he resided, had fallen to France in the late division, as 
 the market for his goods now extended over all that kingdom ; 
 
 3 I 2
 
 432 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 whereas the Prussian territories were so circumscribed by 
 other powers, that had it fallen to that nation, his manufac- 
 tory would have been ruined. As to any feelings of patriotism 
 or liberty, with him, like most of the people of his country, 
 they were out of the question, and seemed not to enter into 
 any of his causes of liking or aversion. 
 
 This man had suffered in his peaceful occupation, by the 
 different military who had been quartered on him. He said, 
 the troops of Buonaparte behaved worse in their own country, 
 than the Cossacks had done ; that if the latter had sufficient 
 to eat and drink, and that they must have, they practised no 
 plunder and committed no acts of cruelty ; but that he had 
 found the insolence and cruelty of the French intolerable, 
 and very diff*erent from what their conduct had been when he 
 was a soldier. 
 
 My companion, though speaking freely on all other subjects, 
 was very reserved on every thing relating to the Bourbons. 
 He expressed, by looks, more regard to his old commander 
 than he chose to utter ; seemed proud to have partaken of 
 his triumphs in Italy, and rather lamented than blamed the 
 licentiousness which he permitted in his troops, and his attempts 
 on Spain and Russia. He contended that the battle of Wa- 
 terloo was gained by a great superiority of numerical force, 
 and lost owing to the great fatigues which the Frencli had 
 endured, and the want of food on the previous days. I had no 
 inclination to dispute this with him, because I wished rather 
 to ascertain the feelings of my companion, and of his coun- 
 trymen, than to correct his information. He asked me, with 
 much earnestness, if I was sure tliat Buonaparte was still at 
 St. Helena, because he said most of his old soldiers believed 
 he was now in North America.
 
 FRANCE. 433 
 
 I have given the abstract of a conversation which occurred 
 at intervals during a journey of fifty miles, because I after- 
 wards found the same kind of feeling as this man discovered, 
 generally prevail among the persons I conversed with. The 
 royal family seemed to interest scarcely any one I conversed 
 with in France. 
 
 My companion was a farmer as well as a tanner, and 
 was acquainted with the nature of the estates, and the modes 
 of cultivating them. Around Forbach the land is light, but 
 encumbered with many surface stones. It is generally in 
 large open common fields where ancient customs are invariably 
 followed. The rotation is flax, wheat, oats, and rye, by 
 which the land, naturally fertile, is gradually deteriorated. 
 The price of wheat was much below its cost to the grower, 
 viz., nine francs for one hundred and forty pounds. 
 
 Not far from Forbach we passed some iron-works, in whicii 
 both pig and bar iron is made from ore found near them. 
 There is abundance of wood to furnish charcoal, which is 
 alone used, though coals are near at hand. The cottages of 
 the labourers had a miserable appearance, but there was one 
 decent house belonging to the proprietor. We then reached 
 the town of St. Avoid, a place of 2,500 inhabitants, with the 
 appearance of antiquity and poverty in every part of it. It was 
 a market-day. The complaints here were the same as I had 
 so frequently before heard, that the farmers got so little for 
 their produce that they were scarcely able to pay the taxes, 
 had no money to expend with the shopkeepers, and that both 
 classes were excessively distressed. Wheat was selling at eight 
 francs, or seven shillings for one hundred and thirty pounds, or 
 about three shillings and four-pence the Winchester bushel ; 
 oats, five francs for one hundred and thirty pounds, or little
 
 434 FRANCE. 
 
 more than one shilling and six-pence the bushel, and potatoes 
 proportionably low. 
 
 From St. Avoid, the land was poor and stony, till, on 
 descending into a narrow but beautiful valley, we reached the 
 convent of Loshvielle, which was confiscated and sold at the 
 Revolution. The land, on the sides of the hill above it, is 
 stony, but covered with vineyards. The poles used to prop 
 the vines were collected in stacks, and carefully covered with 
 straw. At this valley, the military road, constructed by 
 Buonaparte, at an immense cost to the department, begins ; 
 it winds along the sides of the hill, with a very gentle acclivity, 
 for about two miles, and presents the convent below, with 
 the fruit-trees and vineyards that surround it, in a variety of 
 striking points of view. On the summit of the hills, a tract of 
 good wheat land, of a clayey loam, encumbered with surface- 
 stones, and resting on a calcareous subsoil, was displayed, and 
 continued till we reached the town of Courcelles, another 
 miserable-looking small place. 
 
 There are three lines of custom-house officers, stationed at 
 different places on this frontier. At Courcelles were the third 
 set ; the first had affected to examine my baggage, but, on 
 receiving two francs, gave me no trouble; the second took no 
 notice of any thing ; but here I was asked if I had any cari- 
 catures, or foreign newspapers ; and, not satisfied with my 
 answers, my little baggage was opened, and searched with 
 great vigilance : this, I was told, arose from some recent 
 orders. From Courcelles to within a mile of Metz, the soil 
 was of a very heavy clayey nature, covered with stones, 
 requiring five or six strong horses to plough it, resting on a 
 calcareous basis, and is, I was informed, the best land in the 
 department for producing wheat, wine, and fruits of all kinds.
 
 FRANCE. 435 
 
 Up to the gates of Metz, the German or rather a patois 
 of that language is universally spoken by the lower class, and 
 there seemed to be none of any other rank. Between the 
 servant-maids at the inns and their mistresses, there appeared 
 to be no difference either in dress, manners, or language. 
 
 Through the whole distance of fifty miles from the Prussian 
 boundary to Metz, there is not a single good house to be seen, 
 except the convent, and that of the iron-master, noticed 
 before. There is nothing in any of the villages, large and 
 populous as they are, nor within sight of the road, though it is 
 an open country, that looks like a decent farmer's or clergy- 
 man's house. All seemed of the same standard ; each filthy, 
 dilapidated, and small, with barn and stables adjoining of 
 corresponding appearance. The horses and waggons looked 
 miserable ; the cows, few, and poor ; and I did not see more 
 than fifty sheep, which were of a bad race, and nearly half 
 of them black. The inhabitants were ill-clothed, and at 
 every stoppage we were assailed by numerous beggars, " pour 
 I'amotir de Dieu." The churches are small, and seemed to be 
 dwellings recently converted to that use, and mostly dis- 
 tinguisliable only by a crucifix on them. One, and only one, 
 indeed seemed to have been of a hundred years' duration. 
 
 Such a country, and a population in such a condition, is 
 admirably calculated by means of the conscription, to furnish 
 soldiers ; and whether its present state has been brought about 
 by the revolution, or is the same as existed before that event, 
 it will be sure to submit implicitly to whatever exertions or 
 severe privations may be exacted by those who can obtain 
 the supremacy in Paris. There is no building going on, 
 and scarcely any old houses under repair. Equality seems to 
 have led to equal poverty. My companion, though a staunch
 
 436 FRAN€E. 
 
 defender of the Revolution, said the taxes paid by the pea^fits 
 now amounted to more than the rent, tithes, and taxes, toge- 
 ther, did, when they were tenants and not proprietors. '^' 
 
 Metz is a fine old city, at the confluence of the rivers 
 Moselle and Seille ; but like most fortified places, the streets 
 are narrow, and the houses lofty. Near the river, it is 
 more open, the quays are broad, and the bridges magnificent. 
 The river is clear and rapid, and swells to an expanded 
 stream, where not confined by the embankments as it is within 
 the fortifications. The inhabitants in 1803, amounted to 
 32,099, and by subsequent increase, are now said to be near 
 40,000. It is a manufacturing city, in which are made 
 woollen goods of various kinds, hosiery, cotton goods, table 
 linen, printed paper, musical instruments, starch, and powder; 
 it contains also several extensive tanneries. Much trade 
 originates here from the produce of the vines, some of which 
 is converted into wine, but more into brandy and vinegar. 
 Metz is very celebrated for the preparation of various kinds 
 of confectionary. 
 
 This city is the seat of several legal tribunals, the station 
 of the provincial boards of revenue, and of the forests for the 
 department of the Moselle, and is the see of a bishop. The 
 cathedral is the most perfect of the Gothic kind that I have 
 observed on the continent; and though not so old as West- 
 minster Abbey, may vie in external beauty with that venerable 
 pile. The establishment for military education, called I'Ecole 
 de GSnie AJi/itaire, has its seat in this city, and the number 
 of the pupils is very great. I did not learn any thing definite 
 respecting the mode of education, but I remarked that a 
 coffee-house I visited to see the journals, was filled with these 
 young men, and that no other papers were to be found but
 
 FRANCE. 437 
 
 those calling themselves liberal ; the journal of Benjamin 
 Constant seemed more in request among them than any 
 other. 
 
 In passing through the different states of Germany, my 
 passport had been seldom inquired for, and never much 
 examined ; but at Metz, the vigilance of the police appeared 
 to be more alive. I was under the necessity of going to the 
 prefecture, where a description of my person was made, and 
 the various answers to the questions proposed to me were 
 registered. My age, birth-place, residence, profession, from 
 whence I came, and where I was going, were all noted with 
 a minuteness, that gave no very favourable impression of the 
 degree of liberty that France enjoys. After some detention, 
 a passport to Paris was given to me ; and on my demanding 
 my English passport, which had carried me without being 
 questioned, through other countries, I was told, I should re- 
 ceive it in Paris, if Lord Castlereagh's signature was verified 
 by the English minister in that city. On my road to Paris, the 
 passport delivered to me here, was taken at the entrance of 
 each city, and given to me again when going out at the oppo- 
 site gate; such is the freedom which France allows ! 
 
 I spent but one day at Metz. After passing the bridge over 
 the Moselle, and clearing the numerous gates, the various 
 canals, and the narrow ways that form the defences of this very 
 strong city, we began to wind up a lofty hill, whose sides 
 were wholly covered with vineyards ; and as we continued to 
 ascend, so as to gain a clear view over the city and its imme- 
 diate vicinity, it displayed Metz divided by the river, situated 
 in the centre of a circle of hills, on which from the bottom to 
 the top, nothing but fruit-gardens, and vineyards were to be 
 seen. The vineyards are mostly in small divisions, and are 
 
 3 K
 
 438 FRANCE. 
 
 principally cultivated by small proprietors, who are extremely 
 poor, and almost all involved in debt to the capitalists of the 
 city, who take from them their wine, brandy, and vinegar, as 
 soon as it is made. Some few of the vineyards are cultivated by 
 the capitalists ; but one of the number, who was my companion 
 over this part of the country, assured me that he could buy the 
 productions much cheaper than he or any man could grow 
 them. Brandy especially, he said, was so low, that it scarcely 
 paid more than the cost of gathering the grapes, expressing 
 and distilling them. The soil on the sides of these hills is a 
 light sand, very shallow, and resting on a bed of soft lime-stone, 
 very friable when first disclosed, but gradually hardening by 
 exposure to the atmosphere. 
 
 After two hours' tedious ascent, we reached the level plain 
 above. The soil is a very tenacious clay, of a dark yellow 
 colour, inclining to red, with a quantity of large surface stones, 
 equal to any thing exhibited on the Kent and Surrey hills. This 
 land bears most excellent wheat. The usual course is a clean 
 fallow one year, during which it is ploughed from three to five 
 times, according to the season. Wheat is then sown. It is 
 followed by barley or oats, and with that trefoil seed is sown ; 
 the hay made from which, the next summer, forms the third 
 crop in the four years. The increase of grain is usually from 
 seven to eight for one. The ploughs used in this district 
 resemble the Kentish turn-wrest plough, in having the prin- 
 cipal draft from the centre of the beam, and thus preventing 
 the share from being thrown out of the furrow, when it en- 
 counters one of the large stones imbedded in the tenacious clay. 
 It differs from that description of plough in not sliifting the 
 wrest, which serves as a mould board at every turning. The 
 depth of the ploughing is regulated by the end of the beam
 
 FRANCE. 439 
 
 resting on a moveable cross piece, whose elevation or depres- 
 sion causes the share to enter as deep as the nature of the soil 
 requires. The work is executed by five or six horses, and they 
 plough less than an English acre in a day. 
 
 The cultivators are all proprietors. They, or their parents, 
 generally bought the land at the Revolution for paper money ; 
 before which, they were bound to their lords in certain feudal 
 services and payments, and were supplied by them with the 
 capital requisite for cultivation. The tithes were abolished at 
 the same period that the feudal claims were annihilated ; but 
 the withdrawing of the capital, and the imposition of the heavy 
 tax, called the contribution fonciSre, has placed them in a worse 
 situation than before. In the worst parts of Germany,, where 
 the soil is poorest, and where the feudal power is still in force, 
 the peasantry are belter clothed, have more furniture in their 
 houses, and display more new and repaired houses than are 
 seen in the district extending from Metz to Verdun. Between 
 those cities, the towns of Gravcllotte, Mars-le-Tour, and Har- 
 ville, with the intervening villages, are miserable receptacles 
 of filth and poverty ; but in approaching Verdun, the country 
 appeared somewhat better from its being woody, and from tlie 
 woods advancing nearer to the road. 
 
 On the whole way to Verdun, the mountains of Vosges on 
 the left hand, at forty or fifty miles' distance, presented them- 
 selves with their tops already covered with snow, and formed a 
 striking contrast with the green of the intervening country. 
 
 Verdun, on the river Meuse, is too well known to many of 
 our countrymen, who were detained in it for many years. It 
 is one of the strongest fortified places in France, and from 
 never having been taken, has acquired the name L(2 Puceik. 
 It is the capital of the department of the Meuse, contains 
 
 3 K2
 
 440 FRANCE. 
 
 betwixt ten and eleven thousand inhabitants, crowded together 
 as usual in fortified cities. There are within it manufactories 
 for a species of fine striped serges, and several large tanneries. 
 The inn at which I passed the night, like all the houses I had 
 seen since entering France, was excessively dirty ; but the 
 provisions were excellent, and the cookery good, for which a 
 sufficiently high price was charged. 
 
 After ascending from Verdun, we passed through the village 
 or small town of Dombasle, and reached Clermont, by a hilly 
 country, with open fields, on some of which the newly-sprung 
 wheat had a healthy appearance. Clermont is a very poor 
 looking town, the soil round it light loam, easier to work than 
 much I had passed, but equally encumbered with surface- 
 stones. The forest of Argonne commenced at the end of the 
 town, and the road was through it to St. Menehoud ; before 
 we reached which place, we passed a collection of cottages, 
 with a good house near it, which is so unusual in France as 
 naturally to draw inquiries. I found it belonged to a manu- 
 facturer of glass bottles, who provides them to the best 
 vineyards, whose wine is sent in them from the place of its 
 growth to that of its consumption. St. Menehoud, the com- 
 mencement of Champagne, is on a little island, formed by 
 the river Aisne, contains about four thousand inhabitants, 
 some of whom are employed in making earthen-ware and glass 
 bottles. It is a well-built town. The hotel-de-ville is a 
 handsome edifice, with a date 1730, and none of the houses 
 seemed to be of more recent erection. This place is the dep6t 
 for fire-wood, which is collected in vast piles on the borders 
 of the river, ready to be transported towards Paris. This, 
 I was told, was the principal commerce of the city. 
 
 The plains of Champagne begin near this place ; the soil
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 441 
 
 is in general a sandy loam, resting on a bed of soft lime-stone, 
 with many stones on the surface. It is not very fertile in 
 grain; wheat, barley, and rye, are grown. Most part of this 
 district is calculated for wines of the best flavour, the greater 
 portion of which are sent to foreign countries, especially those 
 from the vineyards of Ambouay, Verzey, Mailly, Mombret, 
 and Sillery, which are esteemed the most valuable. 
 
 Chalons, the next city beyond St. Menehoud, on the banks 
 of the river Marne, is the capital of the department of that 
 name. It is a gloomy place ; all the houses are old, and many 
 of them close together. The population between eleven and 
 twelve thousand. The thin stuffs which have given a name 
 (shalloom) to similar kinds in England are still made here ; 
 there are manufacturers of hosiery, machinery for spinnino- 
 cotton, with about ten thousand spindles, and several tanners 
 and fellmongers. A great quantity of the mill-stones, called 
 burrs, are drawn from quarries in the vicinity of the city, and 
 are prepared here for the use of the millers ; the banks of the 
 river were very thickly strewed with them, waiting for means 
 of conveyance. Some of these stones were of an unusually 
 large size, and hooped with iron. Beyond Chalons, I passed 
 a long straggling village, very poor, and only remarkable for 
 its church, which is a beautiful Gothic structure, of large size, 
 with two lofty towers. I was told that this edifice was built by 
 the English, when they were masters of France, in the rei"-n 
 of Henry V., and that it commonly bears the name of the 
 English church. 
 
 Epernay, the next place, is a small city, of four thousand 
 five hundred inhabitants. It is a depot for the wines of Cham- 
 pagne ; several rich merchants collect it here to supply distant 
 markets. There are some woollen manufactories, and some of
 
 442 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 hosiery, cutlery, leather, and paper. Epernay seemed, though 
 old, to be better built, and less filthy, than any town I had 
 before passed in France. The road was by the side of the 
 INIarne, through the towns of Dormans and Chateau-Thierry, 
 when, to avoid the curvature of one of its larger bends, it left 
 the banks, and reached the river again at La Ferte sous 
 Jouarre, near the junction of the Morin, a smaller stream. 
 The towns I have noticed have nothing remarkable about them, 
 but the numerous villages have a wretched appearance. The 
 houses of the peasants, and there are no others, are mostly 
 constructed of thin weather boarding, and a very few of them 
 were covered with plaster, but the greater part admitted the 
 air at every joining, and almost all were covered with shingles. 
 There are neither decent houses nor any trees to be seen on the 
 plains of Champagne. 
 
 From La Ferte to the city of Meaux, the land and the 
 appearance of the people and their habitations, were much 
 improved ; the fields seemed to be better cultivated, and here 
 and there a stack of wheat was to be seen. The whole district 
 between Chalons and Meaux, with a few slight exceptions, is 
 rather a heavy soil, and I saw no plough at work with less than 
 four horses, and frequently five or six were attached to them. 
 
 The city of Meaux is finely situated in the midst of rich 
 natural meadows, the best I have remarked since entering 
 France. On these much cattle is reared and fattened ; there 
 are some dairies, which furnish good butter and cheese, and 
 the "-round a little elevated above tlie river is fertile in corn. 
 Tiie Marne divides the city into two parts. A canal, upon a 
 very extensive, and, I should think, an unnecessarily expensive 
 scale, is constructing, designed to connect the Marne with the 
 Seine.
 
 FRANCE. 44o 
 
 Meaux contains about six thousand five hundred inhabitants; 
 it is the seat of a bishop, of two courts of justice, and of some 
 provincial revenue boards. There are several manufactories 
 for tanning and currying leather, and making glue, some 
 commerce in corn, cattle, wool, mill-stones, and fire-wood, 
 is carried on. The buildings are as old and gloomy as in the 
 other cities. 
 
 Beyond Meaux the general appearance of the country was 
 better, the soil generally a sandy loam, which would bear 
 excellent turnips. Some patches of that root were to be seen 
 occasionally, which, though scarcely hoed, discovered strong 
 plants, and showed the capabilities of the soil. A few stacks 
 of wheat were to be seen, but, in no instance more than two 
 belonged to one farm, and those not in my judgment con- 
 taining more than from thirty to thirty-five quarters. In the 
 first ten miles from Meaux, I saw two flocks of sheep, the 
 first about three, and the second about two hundred. They 
 were of a fine woolled race, appeared to be a cross of the 
 Merino breed, and were feeding on the stubbles. I remarked 
 the whole way through France the absence of artificial grasses. 
 Clover and trefoil in the stubbles are very rarely to be seen, 
 though the advantage of sowing them would be very great. 
 
 About ten miles from Meaux, the road entered a wood, 
 which continued for a distance of nine or ten miles, when the 
 country became open ; but, though so near to Paris, there was 
 no appearance of ornamental farming, of gentlemen's seats, 
 or those other indications of wealth and prosperity such as 
 the environs of London and other cities display. A few good 
 houses were visible at the end of avenues, but at Considerable 
 distances from each other, and without any of those neat 
 decorations or exhibitions of rural beauty which indicate the 
 approach to a capital.
 
 444 FRANCE. 
 
 I was much impressed during the whole journey from Mentz 
 to Paris, a distance of nearly four hundred miles, with the 
 great inferiority of the appearance of France, and of what had 
 been incorporated with France, to any part of Germany that I 
 had lately passed through. The land is certainly as good, 
 perhaps generally better, but the cultivation of it was by no 
 means superior. The towns and cities in France are, perhaps, 
 on a par with those of Germany, or nearly ^o ; but, in 
 Germany, none of them had been without recent improve- 
 ments, and all showed some new buildings, and many old 
 ones repaired and modernized. In France, every thing 
 looked old; no houses seem to have been built since the 
 commencement of the Revolution, and those dilapidated and 
 needing repairs, do not seem to have received them. It was 
 not so much, however, in the towns, as in the villages, that 
 the inferiority of France struck me most forcibly. In every 
 village in Germany, a neat church, ornamented commonly 
 with an elegant tower, is to be seen ; a decent house for the 
 pastor, and one better for the bailiff, is universal in the 
 villages where no nobleman resides ; and where there is one, 
 the houses of the peasantry appear to have copied some portion 
 of neatness from those of their superiors. The houses of the 
 peasants there are superior to the cottages of our English 
 labourers, and very far better than those of the French 
 farmers. The churches in those French villages which I passed 
 through, are miserable hovels, and the dwellings of the 
 inhabitants are all alike dilapidated and filthy. 
 
 They have no superiors to improve them by their examples, 
 and the tax-gatherers that cojlect for the government, reside in 
 the neighbouring towns. The want of a gentry is evident in 
 France, and of course in the villages, much more than in the 
 towns and cities. I remarked too the little intercourse which
 
 FRANCE. . 445 
 
 the roads in France exhibited. In three hundred miles, I met 
 but three gentlemen's carriages, and either two or three dili- 
 gences. Water-conveyance may diminish the number of 
 waggons, but I met a greater number of waggons loaded with 
 goods, between Naumburg and Weimar, a distance of twenty- 
 four miles, than I saw between Saarbriicke and Meaux, a 
 distance of three hundred. The dress of the rural inhabitants 
 is very miserable, and very much inferior to what I observed in 
 any part of Germany. In every part of Germany, 1 remarked 
 on the poor soils many plantations, very extensive, and recently 
 formed. In some instances, these extended over thousands of 
 acres, but after entering France, I saw nothing recently 
 planted. The woods appeared to be as ancient as the period 
 when Julius Caesar described them. At each town in France 
 I inquired for the journals, but at Metz only could I procure 
 the sight of one ; except indeed at Meaux, where by accident 
 I got one three or four days old, which I was assured was the 
 latest in the city, though it is only thirty-five miles from Paris. 
 The ignorance of the country people, and the little interest 
 felt by the inhabitants of the provincial cities in public affairs, 
 is very different from tlie state of Germany, where, as all can 
 read, and as journals are very plentiful and cheap, no one is 
 so completely ignorant, as most appeared to be in France. 
 
 If I were to judge of the whole kingdom, by what I observed 
 between Germany and the capital of France, within that city, 
 and on my rapid journey from thence to Calais, I should con- 
 clude that Paris was every thing, and France nothing, in the 
 estimation of the government that now rules, or in that of any 
 that have ruled the country for the last thirty years; I should 
 be disposed to think that France rears soldiers, provides food, 
 and pays taxes, and that Paris directs those resources to such 
 
 3 L
 
 446 FRANCE. 
 
 objects as the prevailing factions in the capital deem most 
 suitable to their purposes. 
 
 As I spent but one week in Paris, and as that city has be- 
 come familiar to most English readers as well as travellers, I 
 forbear to give any account of the exhibitions that are dis- 
 played there. Among the natives I mixed but little, and will 
 not give the crude opinions I heard on the state of society, or 
 on political affairs, because the few I conversed with, were 
 much too vehement in their party feelings, to be relied on as 
 authority for the simplest facts. 
 
 The country between Paris and Calais is certainly better in 
 appearance, than that which I had passed through in my way 
 to the capital ; here and there a respectable house is visible, 
 and, I think, five or six new ones were built, or building, in a 
 space a hundred and fifty miles in extent ; but there was the 
 same absence of intercourse on the road, though relieved by 
 a few carriages posting on it, which, from their neatness, and 
 the dresses of the servants, were apparently English. The 
 filthiness of the villages, the clothing of the inhabitants, and 
 the numerous beggars, were nearly as disgusting as those I 
 have already noticed. 
 
 The contrast between Germany and France is great, but on 
 landing at Dover, and proceeding to Canterbury, and from 
 thence to London, no Englishman can fail to be proud of his 
 country, when he compares it with that from which it is sepa- 
 rated but by a few hours' sailing.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Aa, river of, 80 , 92, 94 
 
 Aachen, town of, 245 
 
 Agerrsberg, bishoprick of, 129 
 
 Albemarle, origin of family, 62 
 
 Alkmaar, town of, 33 
 
 Alopeus, minister, 12 
 
 Altenberg, 3, 61 
 
 Alvensleben, 153 
 
 Alzei, city of, 413 
 
 Ambouay, vineyard of, 411 
 
 Amsterdam, description of, 33, 34, 35, 
 
 40, 41, 43, 44. 
 Anholt, town of, 77 
 
 Arangoen, agriculture of, 48, 49, 50, 51 
 Argonne, forest of, 440 
 Arnhem, description of, 54, environs of, 
 
 55, 58, 59 
 Artlenberg, district of, 133 
 Aurich, consistory of, 129 
 
 Baltic sea, 243, 248 
 Barth, sea-port, 249 
 
 , chemist, 267 
 
 Bastei precipice, 283, 284, 285 
 Bautzen, battle of, 258, 295, 314 
 
 Bavaria, 419,383 
 
 Belitz, town of, 257 
 
 Berg, duchy of, 86 
 
 Berkel, river of, 83 
 
 Berlin, decrees of, 60, 67, reviews at, 162, 
 166, description of, 154, 160, 164, 
 165, 170, 172, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 
 194, 197, 199, 202, 203, 204, 205, 207, 
 217, 220, 225, 227, 231, 232, 249, 254, 
 255 
 38, Beerbourg, 361 
 
 Blies river, 415 
 
 Belvedere garden, 336 
 
 Blomberg, village of, 170 
 
 Blour village, 160 
 53, Blucher, 139,258 
 
 Bode, astronomer, 198 
 
 Bockholt, 78 
 
 Bohemia, 157, 278, 280, 287, 289, 316 
 
 Borken, 80, 81 
 
 Bornholm, 141 
 
 Bottcher, inventor of china, 278 
 
 Brandenburg, 158, 160, 161,232,240 
 
 Bremen, 103, 106,119, 134, 141, 146, 380, 
 
 381 
 5 L 2
 
 448 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Brower, painter, 30 
 
 Brunswick, city of, 144, duchy of, 124, 125, 
 
 139, 140, 141, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 
 
 154 
 Brunswick Oels, 146 
 Buckebourg, 107, 108 
 Buonaparte, Jerome, 77, 93, 134, 388 
 
 , Louis, 36, 47, 88 
 
 , Napoleon, 22, 35, 38, 55, 87, 
 
 127, 186,251,258,289,303, 361,364, 
 
 371, 372, 373, 374, 382, 400, 431,432 
 Burg town, 158 
 Buttlar town, 372, 377 
 Byron, Lord, opinion of, 22 1 
 
 Calais, 446 
 
 Calenbourg, farm at, 121, 123 
 
 Canabich, 332 
 
 Capel, castle of, 62 
 
 Carlsburg,418 
 
 Cassel, fortress of, 407 
 
 , city of, 134,213, 354 
 
 Chalons, 442 
 Champagne, 441 
 Chateau Thiery, 442 
 Charlottenburg palace, 205 
 Clermont, 440 
 
 Coehorn, fortifications by, 54 
 Coesfield,83,85 
 Colberg, trade of, 249 
 Cossacks, 371,372,432 
 Courcelles, 434 
 
 Creeching, 94 
 Cunersdorf, 256 
 
 Dantzic, commerce of, 238, 248 
 
 Delft, 5, 7,9, 13,13,20 
 
 Dessau, 299 
 
 Deux-ponts, 419 
 
 Deutichem, 62, 64 
 
 Deventer, 55 
 
 Dirchkeim, mines of, 244 
 
 Doesburg, 58, 62, 69 
 
 Domballe, 440 
 
 Donnersberg mountain, 415, 417 
 
 Dormens, 442 
 
 Dresden, 258, 260, 267 to 280, 289, 290, 
 
 294, 309, 310 
 Drusus, canal of, 59 
 Durer, Albert, 336 
 
 East Prussia, 180, 236, 238, 239, 249 
 
 Eburg, town and castle of, 96, 97 
 
 Elbe, 148, 155, 157, 160, 190, 204, 256, 260, 
 
 265, 266, 268, 269, 275, 284, 285, 286, 
 
 297, 299 
 Eisenach, 365, 367, 368, 369 
 Elbing, 248 
 Embden, 244 
 Ems river, 94 
 Emsbuhren, 99, 133 
 Epernay, 441, 442 
 Erasmus, 13 
 Erfurt, 240, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358
 
 Erzegeburge, 314, 316 
 
 Eupen, cloth manufactory, 245, 246 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Giittenburg, 28 
 
 449 
 
 Falk, 330 
 
 Faust, 28, 29 
 
 Fichtelburg mountain, 316 
 
 Findlater, seat of Lord, 281 
 
 Flanders, 87, 202, 305, 396 
 
 Forbach, 431,433 
 
 Frankfort, descriptionof, 385, 395, 399, 400, 
 
 402 
 Freiburg, 314, 316 
 Freizland, linens of, 27 
 Fulda, 380, 381, 382, 383, 386 
 
 Gaspari, author, 332 
 
 Guelmenhausen, 382 
 
 George II., birth-place of, 97 
 
 Guerwith, 158 
 
 Goeree, painter, 37 
 
 Goethe, 228, 330, 332, 336, 351, 352 
 
 Gotha, 357, 360, 361, 362, 363, 365, 377 
 
 Giittingen, 130, 132, 133, 178, 347, 348 
 
 Gravellotte, 439 
 
 Greece, trade from, 246, 305, 368 
 
 Grossbeeren, 260 
 
 Groshubichen, mines of, 244 
 
 Grossenhayn, 266, 267 
 
 Grubenhagen, 133 
 
 Guelderland, 54, 62, 65 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, 323, 325 
 
 Gutsmuths, works of, 332 
 
 Hague, 21,22,23,25, 37 
 
 Halle, 331, 352 
 
 Hamburg, 116, 134, 147,204,205,256 
 
 Hanau, 382, 383, 384, 386, 390, 395 
 
 Hanover, 96, 98, 109, 113, 115, 117, 118, 
 119, 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, 131, 132, 
 133, 134, 139, 140, 142, 146, 166, 170, 
 
 Hanse Towns, imports of, 157 ' 
 
 Harlem, 27, 28, 30, 33, 38, 40 
 
 Hartz, forest of, 133, 146 
 
 Harpertz, monument to, 14 
 
 Harville, 439 
 
 Havel river, 158, 160, 164, 204, 256, 259 
 
 Heligoland, 357, 368 
 
 Helmstadt, 144, 149, 153, 158 
 
 Helvoetsluys, 3, 4, 5 
 
 Herder, 330, 386 
 
 Herenhausen, 115 
 
 Hesse Cassel, 377, 386, 389, 390, 391 
 
 Hesse Darmstadt, 406, 407, 413 
 
 Hewetson, artist, 115 
 
 Heyde village, 260 
 
 Hildesheim, 125, 126, 129, 133 
 
 Hoajesk village, 265 
 
 Hbchste town, 406 
 
 Hoffman, 234 
 
 Holland, field mice of, 8, foreign built ships, 
 12, mills of, 18, alluvial country, 17, 
 tulip mania of, 30, prosperity of, 67, 
 linens of, 27, carrying trade of 42
 
 450 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Homberg, 418 
 Hohenstein, 129 
 Honigstein, group of, 285 
 Hope, family seat of, 33 
 Huenfeld, 377, 379 
 Hungary, traders from, 385 
 
 Japan palace, Dresden, 275 
 
 Ibell, president, 350 
 
 Jena, city of, 351, 352, 353, 354 
 
 , university of, 344, 345, 346, 347, 350, 
 
 351 
 
 , battle of, 155, 294, 329 
 
 John of Leyden, 74 
 
 Jordaens, painter, 38 
 
 Josepha, queen of Spain, 291, 292, 293, 
 
 294 
 
 Kaisers-Lautern, 414, 417 
 
 Kalenbourg, 113, 133 
 
 Kant, philosophy of, 220 
 
 Kasan, manufactures of, 181 
 
 Keith, statue of, 201 
 
 Kinzig, river of, 384, 385 
 
 Kircheim, town of, 416 
 
 Klaproth, chemical lectures of, 198 
 
 Klopstock, poetry of, 22 1 
 
 Knipperdoling, fanatic, 74 > 
 
 Konigsberg, exports of, 248 
 
 Konigslutter, 142, 143, 144 
 
 Konigstein, 284, 286, 287 
 
 Kotzebue, 229, 230, 330, 333. 334, 350 
 
 Kosdorf, village of, 261 
 Koster, printer, 28, 29 
 Krug, author, 237, 240 
 Kunnersdorf, 172 
 
 La Ferte sous Jouarre, 442 
 
 Landsberg, farm of, 82 
 
 Landsmanschaft, 344, 347 
 
 Landstuhl, 417 
 
 Langensalza, 240 
 
 Lausatia, 279 
 
 Lauter, river of, 416 
 
 Leibnitz, bust of, 115 
 
 Leeuwenhook, monument to, 14 
 
 Leipsic, 304, 305, 310, 314, 354, 361, 371, 
 
 372, 373, 379 
 Leipsic, fair of, 117, 147, 246, 306, 315, 337 
 Leipsic, book trade of, 306,307,315 
 Leipsic, battle of, 289, 295, 303, 304, 382 
 Lessing, the poet, 210 
 Leyden, 23 
 
 Leige, stone and iron of, 14, 17 
 Lillienstein, fortress of, 284, 286, 287 
 Line, river of, 113 
 Lingen, 99, 133 
 Liss, town of, 25 
 Lohmcn, 282 
 
 Loshvielle, convent of, 434 
 Lubeck, 10 
 Luneburg, 125, 183 
 'Lusatia, 314, 315 
 Luther, 194, 366
 
 INDEX. 
 
 45 1 
 
 r 
 
 Liitzen, town of, 323, battles of, 295, 323 
 
 Maeslandsluys, 5 
 
 Magdebourg, 154, 156, 157,236, 362 
 
 Mailly, vineyards of, 441 
 
 Maine, river of, 382, 384, 386, 406 
 
 Maine, department of, 407, 409 
 
 Malmedy, manufactory at, 245 
 
 Mansfeld, mines of, 244 
 
 Marbourg university, 389 
 
 Marne, river of, 441, 442 
 
 Marktsuhl, 370, 371 
 
 Mars le- Tour, 439 
 
 Martinshbhe, 418 
 
 Matielli, an artist, 270 
 
 Meaux, city of, 445 
 
 Meissen, 269, 278, 279, 297, 298, 301, 308, 
 
 314 
 Melancthon, portrait of, 194 
 Mentz, 405, 407, 408, 409, 410, 41 1 
 Meppen, 99, 133 
 
 Metz, 431, 435, 436, 437, 439, 444, 445 
 Meuse, river of, 5, 10, 17, 439 
 Minden, 100, 101, 102, 105, 170, 380 
 Moegelin, 173, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 
 
 186, 189 
 Moldau, river of, 229, 300 
 Mombret, vineyard of, 441 
 Montjoye manufactory, 245 
 Mont Tonnerre, 415, 419, 420 
 Moreau, monument to, 288, 289 
 Morin, river of, 442 
 
 Moselle, river of, 436, 437, department of, 
 
 436 
 Miihlhausen, 356, 357 
 Mulda, 316 
 Munich, 309 
 
 Miinster, 78, 85, 88, 94, 95, 99, 100, 129 
 Mursinna, surgical lectures of, 198 
 Musaeus, 330, 336 
 
 Naarden, 33 
 Napoleon, code of, 66 
 Nassau, 350, 406 
 Naumberg, 325, 327, 343, 445 
 Neiplitz, 259 
 Neisse, 365, 367, 369 
 Nettlested, 100, 101 
 Neudorf, a spa, 108, 109, 113 
 Neufchatel, 236 
 Neuhof, 381 
 Nordhausen, 357 
 Nottulen, 85, 86, 87 
 
 Oder, theriverof, 154,170,171,179, 190, 
 
 246, 248 
 Old Weimar, farm at, 338 
 Oschats, 299 
 
 Osnabruck, 95, 102, 109, 127, 129 
 Ostbevern, 95 
 Ottewalde, 282 
 Overschee, 10 
 Oxenstern, the Swedish minister, 323
 
 452 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Palis, 443, 444 
 
 Pillau, mines at, 244, 248 
 
 Pilnitz, castle at, 281 
 
 Pinia, 269, 278, 280, 287, 288 
 
 Plauensche, canal, 158 
 
 Plauen, village of, 279, 314 
 
 Pleiss, river of, 304 
 
 Poland, sheep and pastures, 181 
 
 Pdmerania, 238, 240, 249 
 
 Poniatowski, death of, 304 
 
 Potsdam, 161, 162, 163, 164, 254,2,55,256 
 
 Prussia, from page 154 to 261 
 
 Prussia, population and extent of, from 233 
 to 236, cultivation of, from 237 to 242, 
 manufactures of, from 244 to 248, 
 commerce of, from 248 to 250, forces 
 of, from 250 to 252, revenue of, from 
 252 to 254 
 
 Ramburg, painter, 115 
 
 Rammelsburg, the mountain of, 126 
 
 Ransdorf, 95 
 
 Ravensburg, castle of, 81 
 
 Rhenen, 50, 53 
 
 Rhine, the river of, 45, 51 55, 57, 204, 237, 
 
 240, 242, 244, 248, 382, 383, 385,406, 
 
 407, 409, 412 
 Roder, river of, 266 
 Roer, department of, 245 
 Rohrback, 418 
 Rosenberg, island of, 6 
 Rothenburg, mines of, 244 
 
 Rotter, river of, 10 
 Rotterdam, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 
 Ryswick, 23 
 
 Rudelstadt, mines of, 244 
 Rugenwalde, trade of, 249 
 
 Saale, river of, 324, 343, 361 
 
 Saarbriick, city of, 420 
 
 Saarden, 33 
 
 Salm-Salm, prince of, 77 
 
 Salmiinster, 382, 384 
 
 Sans-Souci, palace of, 162 
 
 Saxe-Gotha, 353, 357, 361, 362, 363, 365 
 
 Saxe-Weimar, 323, 327, 352, 353, 354, 365. 
 
 366, 368, 370 
 Saxony, kingdom of, from 314 to 319 
 Schandau, 285, 286 
 Schauenbourg-Lippe, 107, 113 
 Scheveling, 23 
 Scheidam, 10 
 
 Schiller, the poet, 205, 330, 333, 336 
 Schliichtern, 381 
 Schmalkald, 386 
 Schulenburg, 118, 119 
 Schulpforte, 326 
 Scciflin, 28 
 Schwarzcnburg, 353 
 Schwcrin, statue of, 201 
 Seehandlungs, society, 205 
 Seille, river of, 436 
 Seine, river of, 442 
 Silesia, 235, 238, 240, 244, 245
 
 Sillery, vineyards of, 441 
 
 Sonnenstein, 288 
 
 Sombach, 415 
 
 Spain, Queen of, 290, 291 
 
 Spree, river of, 190, 202, 204 
 
 St. Avoid, 433, 434 
 
 St. John, Order of, 251 
 
 St. Menehoud, 440 
 
 Stadt, city of, 129 
 
 Stadthagen, 108, coal mines, 109 
 
 Statues, gallery of, Dresden, 275, 276 
 
 Stettin, trade of, 248 
 
 Stolberg manufactory, 245 
 
 Stolpe, trade of, 249 
 
 Stralsund, trade of, 249 
 
 Switzerland, Saxon, 280 
 
 Tamowitz, mines of, 244 
 
 Tartary, traders from, 305 
 
 Telget, town of, 94 
 
 Teyler, foundation of, 30 
 
 Thuringia, mountains of, 317, 361, 365, 
 
 366 
 Thurm and Taxis, prince of, 377, 400 
 Torgau, 278 
 
 Truenbreitzen, town of, 258, 259 
 Trompe, monument to, 14 
 Tubingen, university of, 351 
 Turkey, merchants from, 246, 305 
 Tyrol, cows of, 121 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Utrecht, 33, 36, 44, 45 47, 48, 55 
 
 453 
 
 Universities, 191, 197,225,228 
 
 Vandyke, paintings by, 196 
 
 Vecht, river of, 39, 94 
 
 Verdun, 439. 440 
 
 Verzey, vineyard of, 441 
 
 VonThaer, 169, 170, 173, 174, 176, 178; 
 his sheep, 1 79, 181; classifications, 
 183, 184; lectures on agriculture, 198 
 
 Voigtland, 314 
 
 Vosges, mountains of, 439 
 
 Wageningen, city of, 53 
 Wallenstein, tragedy of, 205 
 Wartberg, castle of, 365, 369, 373 
 Waterloo, battle of, 87, 116, 258, 389, 432 
 Weimar, 329, 330, 332, 336, 337, 339, 340, 
 
 343, 354 
 Weiland, 220, 336 
 Weissenfels, 324, 325, 328 
 Werra, 371, 372, 380, 386 
 Wernichen, 171 
 Wesel, 248 
 Weser, 101, 104, 105, 107, 113, 361, 380, 
 
 386 
 Westphalia, 88, 97, 91, 98, 103, 110, 122, 
 
 153, 213, 244 
 West Prussia, 36, 240 
 Woolf's manufactory, 202 
 
 Wolgast, trade of, 249 
 3 M
 
 454 
 
 Wrede, General, 383 
 Wurzen, 299, 300, 301 
 
 Yssel, 5.5, 59 
 
 Zach, Baron, 358, 359 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Zell, courts of, 125, 128 
 Ziethen, statue of, 201 
 Zollikofer, 310 
 Zuinglius, portrait of, 194 
 Zuyder Sea, 33, 37, 55, 94 
 Zweibriicken, 419 
 
 Till. END. 
 
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