THE Habitable World DESCRIBED.
Inscribed by Permission to His Royal Highness Frederick DUKE OF YORK, &c. &c.
HONI SOIT QUI MAL Y PENSE
LONDON: Published as the Act directs, by the Author, No . 62. Wardour-Street, Soho.
1788.
THE HABITABLE WORLD DESCRIBED, OR THE PRESENT STATE OF THE PEOPLE IN ALL PARTS OF THE GLOBE, FROM NORTH TO SOUTH; SHEWING The Situation, Extent, Climate, Productions, Animals, &c. of the different Kingdoms and States; Including all the new Discoveries: TOGETHER WITH The Genius, Manners, Customs, Trade, Religion, Forms of Government, &c. of the Inhabitants, and every thing respecting them, that can be either entertaining or informing to the Reader, collected from the earliest and latest Accounts of Historians and Travellers of all Nations;
With some that have never been published in this Kingdom;
And, nothing advanced but on the best Authorities.
WITH A great Variety of MAPS and COPPER-PLATES, engraved in a capital Stile, the Subjects of which are mostly
new,
and such as have never yet been given in any English work.
BY THE REV. DR. JOHN TRUSLER.
VOL. IX.
LONDON.
Printed for the AUTHOR at the LITERARY-PRESS, No. 62, WARDOUR-STREET, SOHO; and sold by all Booksellers.
M DCC XCI.
HUNGARY.
CHAP. VII.
Transylvania.
TRANSYLVANIA is environed on all sides with mountains, whence it enjoys a temperate air and wholesome river waters. It is both woody and mountainous; yet the soil in the vallies is fertile, and produces every necessary of life. The mountains run from north to south, branching out likewise east and west. The Carpathian mountains divide it from Poland on the north, Moldavia on the east, Walachia and a part of Hungary on the south, and on the west by the principal provinces of Hungary.
The province of Transylvania extends from 45 deg. to 48 deg. north latitude; and from the 22d to the the 25th deg. east longitude, from the meridian of London: being about 40 leagues in length from north to south, and about as many from east to west.
The air is excessively hot in summer, but, notwithstanding, it is reckoned very wholesome. The water which comes from some of the springs is accounted unwholesome, on account of the pernicious quality of the mineral substances through which it passes. The famous river Atlanta takes its rise in the Carpathian mountains, and falls into the Danube. It is the boundary of the Ottoman and German empires.
Besides this, there are the Merish and Samos, two large rivers, both which disembogue themselves into the Teysse.
There are several mineral springs, some cold and some hot; and a singular petrifying spring, that resolves every kind of wood into a kind of a congealed substance, resembling stone.
In this country there are four different kinds of inhabitants; the first originally Saxons; the second Huns; the third Walachians; and the fourth Cinga, or gypsies. These last pitch their tents in all convenient parts of the country; are in fact a sort of licensed vagrants, and, as in England, deceive the credulous part of the fair sex, who are fond of the flattery of fortune-tellers.
A BOHEMIAN GIPSY.
It is singular that throughout the world, human nature should be so strongly impregnated with a desire to know future events; and that nothing can stem the credulity of both sexes, whilst the juvenile passions are warm; that satisfaction of being told some fable from the cabinet of genius, whence the roving diviner draws the source of a casual subsistance, or rather existence, by the futile productions of a fantastic brain, stored with luxuriant imagery to solace the giddy youth of either sex, who gladly pays the impostor's price, and for years to come lays up the tale as part of the creed of fortune, nor dares to overtop the seer's sage advice!
The established religion in Transylvania, is the Roman-catholic, as in all the rest of the Emperor's hereditary dominions; but nevertheless there are great numbers of Lutherans, Calvinists, and Protestants of all denominations, who are great sufferers on account of their religion. The severity exercised towards them, has been the occasion of many insurrections; but we see the day approaching, and probably not far distant when the dark recesses of bigotry, and the tattered cloak of religion will be finally removed from the Imperial dominions: the late
Joseph
has done much, and it is to be hoped the present
Leopold
will do more; but we shall speak more of this hereafter, in describing of Austria.
It may not be unnecessary to say that Transylvania, is annexed to the kingdom of Hungary; consequently subject to the Emperor of Germany. This province has been conquered by the Hungarians so early as the year 1004.
But it is also necessary to observe that the government of Transylvania is totally different from that of Hungary, although united under one crown; which has induced us to mention it separately, as appears by the approbata, concordata, and diplomata, or joint consent of prince and people, formed into a kind of an Aristocratical government: which is carried on in the name of the prince and nobility by the diet, the office of state, the royal government, the exchequer, the assembly of courts, the tribunals of justice, and the magistrates.
The diets meet by summons from the prince at the capital, and are divided into an upper and lower table. The first consists of the prelates, counts, and barons; and the second, of the king's council, the deputies and tribunes: and at both, sits a president, who represents the sovereign, and draws up and sends the Emperor their deliberations for his sanction or royal assent.
The high government which resides at Hermanstadt, superintends the affairs of the principality, whether temporal or spiritual. At the head of it is a governor, with the commissioners of the three nations, catholicks, the reformed and protestants. The police of the whole nation is divided into seven grand tribunals, each governed by a count, and four inferior ones, under the jurisdiction of judges or magistrates.
The revenue of this country arises from the customs on metals, minerals, royal demesnes and confiscations. Hermandstadt is the capital, which is pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Cibin, about 80 miles N. E. of Temeswaer. This is a royal free town, seated in a plain, being large and well built, and fortified with a double wall and deep moat, which render it, in general, very strong.
It is also the seat of government, as was before observed, and is governed by the royal chamber, the tribunal of appeal and the diet; besides which the commanding general and royal governor of the Saxon nation have their residence in this place.
The church of the Lutherans here is built, as near as can be, on the model of St. Peter's, at Rome. There is a Gymnasium likewise. It is a bishopric. Cronstadt or Corunna, is the next in magnitude, which is 50 miles N. E. of Hermanstadt: beside these, there are six or seven smaller cities and towns of little note.
Cattle, fowls, and other animals, are very numerous and cheap in Transylvania; and the wild bees are a peculiar branch of commerce in this country, as great quantities of honey and wax are exported to all parts of Europe from them.
The only manufactures of this country, besides those of iron, tin and copper, are cloth, tallow, wine, mead, and rock-salt.
The manners and customs of the inhabitants of Transylvania are rather singular; for at their funerals the women, in the true stile of Hibernian sorrow, set up a howl, and follow the corps to the grave, with all the apparent marks of grief, till the body is interred; and then they severally greet each other with perhaps a smiling countenance, or a hearty laugh, and it is not improbable some of the mock mourners may ask who the deceased was! Thus they are sorrowful, and lamentably oppressed externally, as shewing marks of despair and agony, for the loss of one whom perhaps they do not know!
The cloathing of the Transylvanians, is usually a waistcoat, over which is a short loose coat lined with fur: their breeches and stockings are of one piece, and sit close to the leg and thigh, with clogs shod with iron, and on the head a cap like that of an English light dragoon, lined with fur. And like the Germans, they never become acquainted with any one till they have got drunk together.
They are very fond of music and dancing, as well as various sports which exercise the agility of the body. And there is no peasant, be his station ever so low, but what pretends to be the descendant of some great family. Thus a Scotchman, a Welchman, and a Transylvanian will equally agree on the topic of noble ancestry, flatter themselves, or at least each other, that they are men of honour; and will assume a title very unsuitable to the rank or mean occupation they are necessarily engaged in; which ridiculous idea must cause every honest Englishman to exercise his muscular features in a hearty fit of laughter.
Transylvania is part of the ancient Dacia, the inhabitants of which long employed the Roman arms before they could be subdued. Their descendants still retain a military character. The population of the country is not ascertained. But it is asserted by most of the modern writers that this country can produce an army of 30,000 men, consequently the whole number must be very considerable.
At present its military force is reduced to six regiments of 1500 men each; but it is well known that during the last war, in which the Austrians were engaged, the Transylvanians did great services.
The various revolutions in their government prove their impatience under slavery; and though the treaty of Carlowitz, in 1690, gave the sovereignty of Transylvania to the house of Austria, yet the natives enjoy what they call a loyal aristocracy, which their sovereign does not think proper to invade.
Although Hermandstadt is its only bishoprick, yet it is to all appearance quite sufficient; as the natives, at present, seem very little inclined to concern themselves with religion, learning, or any science human or divine.
CHAP. VIII.
Hungarian Illyricum, or the Kingdoms of Sclavonia, Croatia, and Dalmatia.
MODERN Sclavonia is bounded by the Drave and Danube, which separates it from Hungary towards the N. and E. by the river Save, which divides it from Servia and Bosnia on the S. and by Styria on the W. is computed to be upwards of 200 miles long, and about 70 broad: and lies between 16 and 22 deg. of E. long, and 45 and 47 deg. of N. latitude.
The air is good, the country for the most part level, and not much incumbered with woods and mountains, but exceedingly well watered by those noble rivers, the Danube, Save, and Drave, besides many lesser streams; from whence we may conclude it to be a very fruitful country.
The bounds of the respective divisions or counties of this province have been so frequently altered, as being a frontier between Turkey and Christendom, that it is impossible to lay down its exact dimensions.
The chief or capital town of the first division, called the Banat, is that of Posega, or Rosega, situated in lat. 45 deg. N. on the river Oriana, 120 miles W. of Belgrade. It consists of about 1000 houses, and is a place of good trade. Walpo is the next town of note; Esseck next, famous for its bridge, near the confluence of the Drave and the Danube, which has already been described in treating of Hungary. Peterwaradin, Carlowitz, Semlim, and Gradiska, are places well known in the late war between the Turks and Imperialists.
The natives of Sclavonia are of a good stature and sound constitution, well adapted to laborious employments. The reason assigned by several authors, that Hungary, Transylvania, Sclavonia, and other nations subject to the house of Austria, in those parts contain a surprising variety of people, differing in name, language, and manners, is, because liberty here made its last stand against the Roman arms, which by degrees forced the remains of the different nations they had conquered into those quarters.
The thickness of woods, the rapidity of rivers, and the strength of the country in Sclavonia, favoured their resistance: and their descendants, notwithstanding the power of the Turks, Austrians, Hungarians, and Poles, still retain the same spirit of independency. Without minding the arrangements of Europe, they are quiet under the government that leaves them most at liberty. That they are generous as well as brave, appears from their attachment to the house of Austria, which, till the last two or three wars, never was sensible of their value and valour.
The Sclavonians formerly gave so much work to the Roman army, that it is thought the word slave took its original from them, on account of the great numbers of them that were carried into bondage, so late as the reign of Charlemagne.
Though Sclavonia yields neither in beauty nor fertility to Hungary and Transylvania; yet the ravages of war are still visible in the face of the country, which lies in a great measure unimproved.
The navigable rivers which pass through this province, render it exceedingly proper, to carry on trade between the German empire and Turkey. But the misfortune is, that notwithstanding these frontier-countries are blessed with all the advantages that nature can bestow upon them, yet great part of them are often a perfect desart, and only considerable for the strength of their towns, and the number of their garrisons, which are always pernicious to trade and husbandry; for none will attempt to establish manufactures or improve their lands, where the soldier perhaps will probably reap the fruits of their labour.
The whole province being now under the dominion of the Emperor, the Roman-catholic is the established religion, though Greeks and Jews are tolerated. There are two bishoprics, that of Rosega and Zagrab: but no universities.
The inhabitants are composed of Servians, Radzians, Croats, Walachians, Germans, Hungarians, and a great number of other nations as the military muster-roll specifies, whenever the Emperor has occasion for their services.
In the late war with the Porte, this province was over-run by the Turks, and ravaged with all the terrors of war; so that it will be many years before it recovers its losses in the articles of building, furniture, &c. But with respect to the face of the country little injury can be sustained there, as the animal verdure and agricultural industry of the husbandman supply every defect occasioned by the untimely incursions of the enemy's troops.
Croatia lies between the 15th and 17th degrees of east longitude, and the 45th and 47th of north latitude. It reaches from the river Drave to the Adriatic, turning eastward on Sclavonia and Bothnia; westwardly on Stiria and Carniola. It is 80 miles in length, and about 70 broad.
The chief towns are Carlstadt or Carlowitz, the capital of Imperial Croatia, situated on the river Culp, 20 miles southward of the Save; and being a frontier-town is tolerably well fortified; Castanovitz, is situated on the river Unna, 30 miles westward of Gradiska.
This country is naturally fruitful, producing plenty of corn, wine, and oil, where it is cultivated; but, being a frontier against the Turks, it has not yielded much more than would supply the necessities of the inhabitants of late years.
The people are of a good stature; and in their manners, customs, language, government, and laws, are modelled exactly like the Sclavonians, who are their neighbours.
They are excellent irregular troops, and as such are famed in modern history, under the name of Pandoms, and various other designations. The truth is, the house of Austria finds it its interest in suffering them and the neighbouring nations to live in their own manner. All the sovereignty exercised over them by the Austrians, seems to consist in the military arrangements, for bringing them occasionally into the field.
The Croatians derive their origin from the Sclavi, who were the first inhabitants of Sclavonia, and anciently had kings of their own, who were stiled kings of Croatia, and tributary to the emperor of the East. In the 11th century, Croatia devolved to the king of Hungary, and the Croats have continued ever since under the dominion of that monarchy, though not without frequent attempts to recover their independency.
Dalmatia, or Hungarian Delmacia as it is usually called, lies on the upper part of the Adriatic sea, and consists of five districts, most of which are under the generalship of Carlstadt. This country is of very ancient date. Most cabinets produce coins and inscriptions of the atchievements of its kings previous to the building of Rome, There was a famous city called Dalmatia, which was the capital, and was took and destroyed by the Romans about the 597th year after the building of Rome.
Various changes took place, till at length the country became subject in a great measure to the Hungarians: but at present the Venetians, Turks, and Ragusans claim part of it. The maritime towns are possessed by the Republic of Venice. The two latter powers possess some of the interior parts of this kingdom, which is now reduced to a province.
The rivers of Dalmatia have no long course, but are mostly navigable. The country is as it were strewed with mountains. The soil on them is very fruitful and produces olives, vines, myrtles, and a great variety of palatable and wholesome vegetables growing upon them, besides treasures of gold and silver ore within them. It has also many fertile plains, and besides a sufficiency of horned cattle, feeds large numbers of sheep. The air is temperate and pure.
The most remarkable places are the two following viz. Segna and Ottoschatz. The first is a royal, free town fortified both by nature and art, situated near the sea, in a bleak, mountainous and barren soil.
The bishop of this place is a suffragan to the archbishop of Spalatro. Here are twelve churches, and two convents. The governor resides in the old palace called the royal castle.
The last mentioned town, is a frontier fortification on the river Gatzka. That part of the fortress where the governor, and the greatest part of the garrison reside, is surrounded with a wall and some towers; but the rest of the buildings, which are but mean, are erected on piles in the water, so that one neighbour cannot visit another without a boat.
Near Segna dwell the Uscocs, or Huscocks, a people who, being galled by oppression, escaped out of Turkish Dalmatia, from whence they obtained the name of Uscocs from the word Scoco, which signifies a deserter or run-away. They are also called Springers or Leapers, from the agility with which they leap, rather than walk along this rugged, and mountainous country. Some of them live in scattered houses, and others in large villages. They are a rough savage people; large bodied, courageous, and given to rapine; but their visible employment is grazing.
The dress of the native Uscoc, is rather curious, they wear a coarse, baize jacket, belted round the waist, and generally green; a pair of blue linen trowsers, red stockings, and wooden shoes in winter, but light slippers in summer. Their head-attire is a cap of woollen with a tassel, like our charity-children in England, and a loose cloak gathered at the neck. Their arms are a long knife in a sheath, with a long pole. They also know perfectly well the use of fire arms, but generally prefer a bow and arrows.
The dress of the female is a jacket and petticoat, of green baize in winter, or blue linen in summer; half-boots and a straw bonnet. The superfluous appendages of dress are not here, consequently the luxury of that article is deemed a matter unworthy the notice of the uncultivated inhabitant.
In their religion, they come nearest to the Greek church, but some are Roman-catholics. They have an arch-bishop, bishops, priests and monks. The priests are not prohibited marriage, but their wives must be of a good family, which is only to be distinguished for the multiplicity of its flocks and herds. But at her decease they are proscribed from second marriage. Their children are not baptized till they are adults. None among them go to confession till they are thirty years of age. They are strong predestinarians.
In their language they use a dialect of the Walachian. Literature is not cultivated, consequently all the refinements of a polite education are unknown to them. Therefore it is not to be wondered at, if they despise what they deem an unnecessary task. To instance this, we need go no further than the natives of our own country, who are as ready to censure literary acquisitions as the Uscocs possibly can be, if they are without letters themselves. Nor will the pious Methodist, although scarcely able to read a text out of the bible, scruple to say, that he is certain all human learning is useless in expounding the sacred oracles, and will tramples on those gifts of knowledge, because he is unacquainted with their efficacy and valuable possession!
The Hungarian Illyricum produces every necessary of life in plenty, and we may add, many of its superfluities also. Its chief rivers are the Drave, Save, Danube, Culpa, Unna, and Maraka: all which discharge themselves in the Adriatic sea. All the inhabitants are of Sclavonian extraction, and, according to the different provinces, divided into a different people.
The principal nations are those already described, who make as it were one people with the Hungarians. The lesser parts or subdivisions, such as Sclavonia and Rascia, have a mixture of Germans and Hungarians amongst them. The Croats are augmented by colonies from Germany and Wallachia. The Dalmatians, including the Uscocs just now described, who may be termed christian refugees from Bulgaria, Servia and Thrace, with the Marulachians or Black Latins, a people much like them, are the other branch of the Huns, fashioning their manners and shaping their attention to the custom of their nearest neighbours. However, the Uscocs may still be said to be partial to their ancient Garb, as has already been described.
The Illyrians, in general, apply themselves to trade, agriculture or war; but to these arts the Dalmatians add navigation, in which they are very bold and expert.
The only religion publicly tolerated throughout Hungarian Illyria is that of the Roman-catholic. Most of the bishops have Hungarian titles without revenues. The government of all the countries, described in this chapter seem to have a connexion together, notwithstanding they are three several kingdoms or rather large provinces. The government of Sclavonia and Croatia is connected with that of Hungary and Stiria, being hereditary in the arch-ducal house of Austria. The government of Dalmatia is three-fold. That of Venetian Dalmatia is administered by certain proveditors in the name of the republic of Venice. Turkish Dalmatia is governed by a Bashaw, deputed by the grand Seignior: and the government of Ragusan-Dalmatia is lodged in a rector and magistrate under the protection of Hungary, Turkey and Venice.
The prelates, nobility, gentry, and royal free Castellans, enjoy the same privileges with the Hungarians. At the diets, which consist of the four orders of each province, all deliberations run in the name of the Sovereign. At the Hungarian diets the states of Illyria appear by representatives.
The administration of justice in Sclavonia and the Bannat of Croatia is the same as in Hungary: the free towns having inferior courts, from whence causes may be removed to the royal treasurer. The like also have other towns, from whence there lies an appeal to the Bannat-court, which is so called from the ban or prorex, who is president thereof. And this man at certain times, hears causes brought to him from the gospenchafts, holding consultations on other important matters: sometimes when the causes require a further inspection, he dismisses the litigants to the tabula regalis at Pest, from whence they may proceed farther to that of the seven men.
The public revenue arises from contributions, customs, trade, tillage and grazing: and is divided between the king of Hungary in the person of the Emperor of Germany, the republic of Venice, the grand signior and the Ragusian states, according to the extent of their several dominions.
The military force of the Hungarian Illyrians is very considerable, and, when in a collective body, musters at least an hundred thousand able troops, fit to endure the hardships of a campaign in any quarter of the globe. The late emperor
Joseph
II. highly applauded the personal bravery and intrepidity of the army collected from those parts, as they were well suited to oppose the ferocity of the Turks, who are in battle frantic to excel each other in the honours of the field; upon a supposition that he who dies in the bed of honour, in defence of his religion, king, and country, directly partakes of the paradise of the blessed in the regions of life beyond the grave.
Though the peculiar happiness of our government leads every thinking subject to disclose freely his sentiments, as far as he may judge them conducive to the natural welfare; yet in speaking of public affairs, the mind ought in a peculiar manner to be divested of all prepossession, or it can answer no end but to adopt or confirm a principle, which, though true, loses its charms by being founded in prejudice.
If the pursuit of wisdom and virtue is the proper business of life, we ought to examine before we pronounce sentence, and always to be diffident, where we have not had opportunities of knowledge. I am very sensible that even general reflections on political interest belong to those who are grown grey in experience, rather than for transient spectators.
How can it be imagined in an age in which corruption abounds not in England only, but in every country, that only virtuous men should be in office? To rail at them, without considering the corruption of mankind in general, must render the complainant suspected of discontent, because he is not in office himself.
When the influence of the crown preponderates and the measures which are pursued do not immediately produce all the good we fondly expected: the subjects who do not receive any pecuniary advantages from government, (for others have generally the wit to hold their tongues) are apt to cry out against the court, or against the minister, forgetting that the true source of national calamities in a free state is the venality and impiety of the people.
I shall close this chapter with a remark on polished states, in order to contrast these with the foregoing countries which are scarcely yet civilized.
The passage of a merchant from one country to another in pursuit of commercial affairs, ought not to be considered in the same light as the travels of a man of letters, in search of arts or learning; but if in the course of their observations, they have supported one common spirit of national affection; in proportion to their advantages of education and natural abilities, the effect will be in a great degree similar. Their own country must necessarily become the dearer to them according as they discover the superiority it enjoys in laws and government above other nations.
Being thus excited by a generous emulation, instead of bringing home the vices of other countries, they will strive to plant the virtues which are more peculiar to foreign climes and not the proper growth of their own soil.
The ravages of time, the ruins of cities, the desolation of countries, the tyranny of kings, the folly and iniquity of subjects in selling themselves like beasts to the slaughter; with all the pernicious effects of arbitary power, must in a serious mind draw reflections on the uncertainty of human affairs.
By tracing these events, as near as possible to their source, the heart will be lifted up to the great Author of nature, and adopt a consistent principle concerning the general law of his moral government, by observing that vice is ever productive of misery.
Though the dispensations of Providence are sometimes incomprehensible, yet this ought not to weaken a steady persuasion, that virtue is in every region, and under every government, acceptable to him.
"That what he delights in must be happy,"
however the face of things may appear. And to check every fond presumption of independency, though we grasp the fleeting moments, it is but as to-morrow, when a curtain will be drawn over all the glories as well as the miseries of this world.
In the mean while, whether we go abroad or remain at home, enjoy a profusion or mediocrity of the gifts of Providence, we are travelling to another country. Our noblest science, our highest accomplishment and supreme felicity, is the knowledge and observance of that compass whose needle points to our proper home; to those regions where millions of blessed spirits inhabit: where the eye will be satisfied with seeing, the understanding with knowledge, and the heart with delights, of which this world can give but faint ideas.
Let us not despise therefore, the uncultivated tribes of the countries just now described, from a supposition that we are of a superior order of mortals, or have a prior right to the attention of the Deity: for as in every nation he that doth the will of God is accepted; it is not to be understood that this
will
is a particular system laid down by men; but it is to be understood to serve one another in brotherly love, or as a celebrated author stiles it
"public love."
Then, of course, we shall adore that Being who hath done all things for his good pleasure.
In a word, whether we are hackneyed in the paths of gain and ambition; or pursuing the delights of a philosophic and religious cast of thought, life still ebbs out much faster than we are aware of, or can easily discover; or even to deal fairly with ourselves to acknowledge. But a day, an hour employed in the exercise of reason and the practice of religion is, upon the whole, preferable to an age wasted in foolish pursuits which rise no higher than this perishable world.
A DESCRIPTION OF GERMANY. From
Busching, Brown, Keysler, Reisbec, Moore, Wraxall, Marshall, Salmon, Hanway, Montagu, and others.
CHAP. I.
Of the Country, Climate, Productions, and Polity.
A MAP
of
GERMANY
BOHEMIA
(&c.)
The air in the southern provinces is temperate, and healthful, and the soil extremely fruitful; but towards the north, it is very cold, and severe in the winter, and the land by far less prolific, producing none of the fruits of the warmer climates, or the oils or wines which are so plentiful in the south. The open or level parts enjoy a different air from the mountainous; and the deep, moist and marshy places feel different from the more elevated, dry and sandy parts: hence also, the produce of the fields, gardens, and trees, ripen at different times in one place to what they do in another. Formerly Germany was very woody, but it has now few of those valuable forests that were it's former boast, so that the natives figuratively feel the evil effect of the prodigality of their ancestors, who wantonly cut down the woods to supply themselves with fuel, and to build houses; instead of raising the former out of the coal pits, or making bricks of the latter.
The productions of Germany are very numerous; and its agriculture is every day improving; thus it is rendered annually more fertile, rich, and beautiful. It yields all kinds of grain in plenty: and many of the American products; tobacco, rice, and saffron, are cultivated with great success, and every species of herbs is found in great plenty in the gardens of the curious.
The German wines are known under the denomition of Rhenish, Mozel, Franconian, Neckar, Cocher, and Muscadel. Lemons, oranges, olives, almonds, figs, and chesnuts are the productions of the southern parts of Germany, as well as of France, Spain, or Italy: but the northern parts are so fertile in the products of our own country, that it is unnecessary to enumerate them. Their cattle, fowls, and other tame animals are commonly the same species as those found in England: but their exotics are, bears, wolves, linxes, wild-boars, wild-cats, wild-goats, and a species of leopard, and another of beavers; besides the usual wild-beasts, we find here, such as foxes, badgers, polecats, &c. The chases in Germany are extensive, and numerous, abounding with deer, hares, rabbits, &c. nor is game of any kind wanting to employ the sportsman.
The mineral kingdom is likewise very full of necessary supplies in this empire; the sand-stone, alabaster, shiver, variegated marble, cornelian, chalcedony, onyx, jasper, and various species of chrystals and precious stones, such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, and carbuncles, are found in different parts of Germany.
Of the species of ore, I shall only enumerate, vitriol, allum, salt-petre, spring-salt, and stone-coal; and the mineral productions such as virgin and quick-silver, black amber, sulphur, bizmuth; and of metals, only iron, steel, lead, gold and silver. Added to these there are various petrifactions in the form of different objects, both in the animal and vegetable kingdoms found in this country.
The number of the excellent acid waters and Fhemae here is great, particularly those of Pyrmont, Seltzer and Spa, of which we shall speak hereafter.
The seas of Germany are the Baltic and German ocean; and frequently the gulph of Venice is reckoned amongst the number. The ocean washes but a small part of the German shores, though Germany gives name to that sea which flows between Great-Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway: but, as it lies to the North of Holland and Germany, it has also been called the North sea.
The Baltic lies between Denmark, Germany, Prussia, Courland, Russia, and Sweden. This sea is not observed to ebb or flow, but seems to discharge itself into the Sound, or the Swedish and Norwegian sea.
The principle, navigable rivers of Germany, are, the Danube, which is ranked as the first in Europe; it takes its rise in Swabia, and is augmented by a number of others, particularly the Drave, a large navigable river, which separates Hungary from Sclavonia, and falls into the Danube near Esseck, and the Save, which passes through most of the cities of Sclavonia and Servia, and discharges itself into the Danube at Belgrade. The Teyse rises in the Carpathian mountains, and running southward through Hungary, falls into the Danube over against Salanakenem.
The swiftness of the current is very remarkable, for it renders the waters of the Danube muddy and of a whitish colour; insomuch, that the clear streams of some of the rivers which fall into it are plainly discernable after a course of several miles. And what is still more remarkable is, that notwithstanding the many large rivers which the Danube receives into it, it never is observed to rise higher than usual, though the banks of the lesser rivers which fall into the Danube are often over-flowed.
This river has so deep and so wide a channel, that both the Imperialists and Turks have had fleets of men of war on it, as well as many engagements, particularly at the late siege of Belgrade. The whole course of this river from its source to the Euxine sea, into which it discharges itself by six or seven mouths, is computed to be about 1500 English miles; in its course it washes the walls of Ratisbon, Passaw, Vienna, Esseck, Belgrade, and contains several islands, of of no small extent.
There are three cataracts, or whirlpools in the course of this famous river; the first is called the Swines Snout, so named from the craggy rock which hangs over the river near Lintz in Austria. This vortex is dangerous, as its draught is directed downwards, so that both small craft and large shipping may alike be subject to danger and sink, if too heavily laden.
When the river is high this whirlpool is safest, for then the water runs off a great space above the rocks, but the stream is at that time more violent and rapid, as it boils the stronger, and its extent the larger. This danger too is at that time heightened by a counter current, which joins it to the right of what is called the Loch, which is a narrow passage winding round the rocks, and at low water quite dry.
The second fall is called the Thunderer; this cataract is near the town of Gran in Austria; and the third is a whirlpool about a furlong lower down. But however terrible they have been represented of old, yet, by modern experience, we find the pilots of the river wade this danger.
The next great river, is the Rhine, which receives its source in the country of the Grissons in Switzerland, and passes by the cities of Strasburg, Heidelberg, Cologn, Bonn, Dusseldorf, and Cleve; thence through Holland and empties itself into the German ocean.
There are reckoned nine cataracts in this river; the first of which are only considered as dangerous; one is a little below Schaffhuysen in Swisserland, where the whole river falls from the top of a rock 75 feet high; the other is at Lauffenberg. The Rhine runs to the northward, between Swabia and Alsace into the Palatinate, receiving in its way the Mayne.
The Elbe is a large river that rises in Silesia, runs northward into Saxony, to Hamburg, and thence disembogues itself into the German ocean. This is reckoned the deepest river of any in Germany, and navigable for large ships up to Hamburgh, which is 70 miles from the sea. Near Hamburg it joins many islands, and between these and the sea is a very broad stream.
The other principal rivers are the Weser, and Oder.
Of the lakes the principal is that of Constance, between Suabia and Swisserland; that of Bavaria; the Cirkeritzer-see, in the duchy of Carniola; the sweet and salt lake of Seeburg, in the country of Mansfield; the great Haaf in Pomerania; the lake of Mecklenburg; and the Dammer-see of Diepholz.
Next to the lakes and waters, the caves and rocks are the chief natural curiosities of Germany. Mention is made of a cave near Blackenberg in Hartzforest, of which none have found out the end, though many have advanced 20 miles to it; but the most remarkable curiosity of this kind is near Hammelen, about thirty miles from Hanover, where, at the mouth of a cave, stands a monument which commemorates the loss of 130 children, who were swallowed up in 1284; though this fact is strongly attested, it has been disputed by some. Frequent mention is made of two rocks near Blackenberg, exactly representing two monks in their proper habits, and of many stones which seem to be petrifactions of fishes, hogs, trees, and leaves. We will now proceed to the polity of the country.
In former times there were neither towns in Germany, nor any places of strength. Single houses, detached from others, were built in commodious places, generally straw huts, sometimes washed over with a pure glossy earth. Places of strength here are of more ancient date than the towns; the Romans having erected the first castles in Germany. In the time of the Frank emperors, Christian churches and other buildings were erected here in the Gothic taste, and every mountain and eminence fortified with a castle. The wars of the Huns caused
Henry
I. to build towns and places of strength, and from that period civil and military architecture in Germany, rose to great perfection; so that it may now boast of some thousands of boroughs and cities, many of which are very considerable, large and fine, and also of important places of strength, not to mention some thousands of villages, and a great number of cloisters, castles, and gentlemens seats. The vast Gothic palaces, cathedrals, castles, and above all, town-houses throughout Germany are very curious, they strike the beholder with an idea of rude magnificence, and sometimes have an effect preferable to Grecian architecture.
The chief houses in great cities and villages, have the same appearance probably as they had 400 years ago, and their fortifications generally consist of a brick wall, trenches filled with water, and bastions or half-moons.
In the first century after the birth of
Christ,
Germany was divided into several petty states, which had no common supreme governor. After the dissolution of the western Roman Empire, six principal nations arose in it, the Swabians, Alemans, Franks, Frisians, Saxons, Thuringians, and Bavarians. The French reduced Gaul to their subjection, and conquered the other five nations above-mentioned, so that under
Charlemayne
all Germany was united into one kingdom, though not independant; but as a part of the Frank monarchy. The conquered German nations had hereditary dukes of their own at first, and were governed by their own laws, but
Charles,
that is
Charlemayne
put an end to the former, and governed the countries by counts, and royal missionaries. The diets, however, which had subsisted of old, were still retained. In the year 800,
Charles
also revived and confered the dignity of a Roman Emperor on himself and family. His son
Lewis
divided the kingdom among his sons, upon which the greatest troubles ensued, which in 843 were adjusted, and
Lewis
the German obtained all Germany, quite to the Rhine, with the three towns of Spires, Worms, and Mentz, and thus Germany became an independant kingdom. In 94 the German
Carolingian
line, that is the descendants of
Charlemayne
became extinct. Germany was, at this time, a hereditary state, but the power of its kings was limited by the diets; yet it continued hereditary till 1224, when it was torn by intestine commotions. In 1273, however it began to recover from its distracted state, and by a compromise of the electors,
Palegrave Lewis
was chosen supreme head, and from him has sprung the race of the house of Austria.
The empire is now elective, but the election seems to be settled in the Austrian family. During the life of the Emperor, his successor is chosen king of the Romans by the nine electors, and on the death of the Emperor succeeds to the empire of course.
The revenue of the Emperor including all his territories, Bohemia, Hungary, &c. amounts to almost four millions and a half sterling.
Every new king of the Romans must solemnly renounce all attempts of rendering the empire hereditary to his heirs and followers; but it seems I say, to be settled in the Austrian family. The laws of the empire require no other qualifications in a candidate for the Roman crown, than to be
Justus, bonus et utilis,
that is just, good and useful, without any limitation of religion, nation, state, or age. This choice is settled by the electors, and declared by the elector of Mentz, as soon as conveniently can be done after the decease of the former emperor, by means of envoys and public rescripts to the electors, which ceremony lasts for three months, and is performed at Frankfort, on the Mayne.
The electors appear in person or by their envoys, who must be invested with unlimited power. After settling the deliberations, as well relative to the capitulation of election as other matters propounded by the estates, foreign envoys or others, and after all foreigners, who belong not to the retinue of the electors, or their envoys, have been ordered to depart the town before the day of creation, the election proceeds; that is to say, all the electors, who are present, with the first envoys of such as are absent, betake themselves in their respective electoral habits, and in formal procession, on horse-back from the council-house to the church of St. Bartholomew, where after mass they solemnly promise before the altar, that they will elect the fittest person to be the emperor, and then they shut themselves up in the chapel of election.
When they have once bound themselves by oath, to let a plurality of votes stand good; these votes are collected by the elector of Mentz, according to the rank of the electors; after which the electors of Saxony ask the elector of Mentz, for his own. Whoever has more than half of the voices of the college for him is elected, and an elector may give his vote for himself.
When the election is over, the person elected, or his plenipotentiary, or proxy, must directly swear and subscribe to the capitulation of election, upon which he is congratulated, and the choice made public in the church.
If the elected king of the Romans, be not present in person, he must yet give a peculiar counter bond for the maintenance of the capitulation of election, and before the coronation swear to it himself, till which he cannot take upon him the government, but must leave it to the vicars of the empire.
An authentic copy of the capitulation of election, subscribed by the elected, or his envoy, and confirmed by the seal of the former, is delivered to each of the electors; on the contrary, the electoral college, causes to be delivered to the elected an instrument of election, and, when absent, it is to be carried to him by a prince, with a writing of notification.
On this he appoints a day for his coronation, which according to the etiquette of the empire, ought to be held at the Imperial city of Aix la-Chapelle; but the custom has been of late dispensed with, and it is held in the town of election; and a counter bond is given to the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, and then the jewels of the empire are delivered up at the place of coronation, with great state and solemn formality.
The several things delivered are, a rich crown and sceptre, two Imperial rings, a book of the gospel richly ornamented with diamonds and precious stones, two broad swords, belts, vestments, &c.
Then having the jewels of the empire carried before him in state, he goes in procession to the church, where he is also received by the spiritual electors: and at mass they present him with a book, when he takes the oath of a ruler, and, among other things, promises all due veneration to the Pope and the church. After which he is anointed seven times by either the elector of Mentz or Cologne, and then adorned with the ancient vestments and Imperial ensigns, and once more sworn. Upon which he dubbs some new knights; and suffers himself to be admitted a canon of the Collegiate church of St.
Mary's,
at Aix la Chapelle, and is then conducted on foot in solemn procession to the council-house, to a table, at which the hereditary officers attend.
Of the nine electors there are three spiritual and six temporal; the three spiritual electors are those of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne: the temporal are those of Bohemia, Bavaria, Saxony, Brandenburg, Elector Palatine, and Hanover; next to these rank the princes of the empire, which are numerous. The title of the Emperor runs thus:
L.
by the grace of God elected Roman Emperor, at all times augmenter of the empire, in or out of Germany, King.
The arms of the empire are a black eagle with two heads, hovering with expanded wings in a field of gold, and on the head of this eagle the Imperial crown. To these the arms of the several hereditary countries are annexed.
The Emperor is considered by all states as the first European potentate; being the supreme of the German empire, he enjoys all manner of privileges; but is subject to the ancient laws of the empire. He has the right of bestowing dignities, creating honours, and establishing privileges. He can secure a debtor against a creditor, give letters of protection against illegal power, and can confer majority or minority, that is, give a minor power to enjoy his estates. He can render bastards legitimate, can confirm contracts and remit extorted oaths. In short, he can do many things which other princes cannot.
The estates of Germany are divided into ecclesiastical and temporal. The ecclesiastical estates are either Catholic or Protestant, but the one has not more privileges than the other: the temporal are electors, princes, counts, lords, and Imperial towns; but these are not subject to each other. They arrive to the succession of these estates by blood, consent of the Emperor and empire, public treaties, inheritance, and compact of confraternity, and the states of the empire are obliged to marry conformable to their rank. With respect to leagues and wars of the empire, alienations, and mortgages of lands belonging to it, and all cases which concern its security and public state, the Emperor can do nothing without the consent of the electors, or at their desire. They may meet together in common consultation, or hold what is called an electoral diet. A subject may be guilty of treason against them, and they rank as princes. The ecclesiastical are stiled
Electoral Grace;
the temporal electors,
Most gracious Lords.
They give precedence to kings; their envoys yield place to those of crowned heads, and kings call them
brothers.
The diet of the empire is an assembly of the Emperor and all the states of the empire, or their envoys and plenipotentiaries. This diet is summoned by the Emperor, who, in consultation with the electors, appoints the time and place. The first diet of an emperor is to be held at Nuremberg. The present received its beginning at Ratisbon, in 1663, and has been continued there, at stated times, ever since. The Emperor either attends in person, or by a prince, his commissary, and the other electors, either personally or by their envoys, or charging the envoys of other states with their voice. The estates of the empire divide in their consultations into three colleges, namely, into the electoral and princely, the latter of which comprehends the prelates, counts, and lords, and into the college of the Imperial cities; and the business is conducted much in the manner of our parliaments.
The taxes of the empire are imposed by the diet only. Each state contributes its proportion to the maintenance of the Emperor and empire, and for support of the army. But the Emperor cannot commence a war of the empire, without the consent of the diet, nor can he make any peace, but with their approbation.
The empire of Germany in the year 1552, was erected into ten circles, established for its maintenance and promotion of its external peace, repelling hostile violence, and for the disposal of such things as tend to the common good: but all states and divisions of the empire are not comprized in these circles, for example, Bohemia, Moravia, the Lusatias, and Silesias, the nobility of the empire, and in some circles, certain counties and seigniories are without seat or voice at the diets of these circles.
The circles have each their summoning prince, who appoints the diet of separate circles, regulates these diets, receives all matters addressed to them, communicates them to other states, and executes the sentence of the supreme courts of the empire passed against a state of their circle, &c.
There are 73 siess in Italy, belonging to the empire, among these are the duchies of Milan, Mantua, Modena, Tuscany, &c. But the power of the Emperor in these states is inconsiderable, He promotes to dignities there, and grants immunities, and can put them under the ban of the empire; yet they are often refractory and seldom pay their stated taxes, in time of war, without compulsion. After having given a general account of Germany, I mean to treat of it according to its several circles, when I shall enter more minutely into matters that occur.
CHAP. II.
Of the Character of the Germans, their Habits, Dispositions, Manners, Customs, &c.
THE description of the cities and buildings will occupy their proper portions, when we come to speak of the various circles of which this empire is composed, particularly the court, and Imperial seat, at Vienna.
A curious and observing traveller must soon distinguish a very remarkable difference among the Germans in regard to temper, and mode of living, which is no small argument that they consist of several distinct nations; and these characters of distinctions will never fail to continue.
That strong passion for imitation, peculiar to the Germans, is often times, in many of them, a dangerous infection, yet frequently produces beneficial and laudable effects. It is to their honour, that almost all the kingdoms in Europe owe to German blood their crowned heads.
The number of inhabitants in Germany can only be determined by comparing it with other countries; being, in general, populous; and containing, at least, a thousand square miles more than France, which being estimated at twenty millions, Germany must fairly be allowed to contain 24 millions.
The ancient Germans, as well as the present race, were always considered as athletic and robust. Whether the French nation is justifiable or not in its charge, I cannot pretend to say, but they tax the whole German nation with stupidity and want of sense; insinuating that it is not possible for the soul to animate so vast a bulk with the same advantage it does one of an inferior size. The leaden temper of the Germans (says
Voltaire
) wants to be mended by mingling the French quick-silver with it. And certainly it is true, that almost every people have something in their tempers, as well as in their persons, to characterize them. The levity of the French, and the gravity of the Spaniard, are as much occasioned by the situation of their respective countries, as the different tastes of their wines. Animals of such and such a frame of mind and body, are as natural to some certain soils, as the plants peculiar to the country.
But, notwithstanding the different tempers, and capacities, that are to be met with in the world, the heaviest and most intractable part of mankind are capable of being wonderfully improved by education, and application to business. Nor is it the youth of the quickest parts that always makes the greatest man. If one, whom nature has been more bountiful to, at first, makes swifter advances in his studies than usual, perhaps he wants the patience and diligence of others, who, by their unwearied application, at length may possibly surpass him.
Again, if one person wants a ready wit, it is frequently made up to him in good judgment. And, as it is with particular persons, so I apprehend it to be with nations. If they are defective in one respect, it is made up to them in another. Heaven has not given us all the same endowments, but has, however, distributed the gifts of nature so equally, that every one is satisfied with his particular portion; and, perhaps, there are very few defects but may be surmounted by diligence and application: not a German, but, if his genius was duly considered, and he was introduced into an employment suitable to it, might make a figure in the world; of which we shall be further convinced, when we come to speak of their learning, their arts, and their sciences.
The morals of the Germans also have been censured, for drunkenness is said to be a vice peculiar to the country; but whether they are more addicted to drinking than their northern neighbours, or, indeed, than the English at present, is very much questioned. Certain it is, they cannot exceed the Russians in disorders of this kind. Drinking societies are common in Germany, much upon the same plan as in England. Vices equally culpable in both nations. According to the celebrated
Melancthon,
the Germans were guilty of eating, as well as drinking to excess, for he used to say, "We Germans eat ourselves sick, we eat ourselves into hell." It is no extraordinary thing for them to sit from twelve at noon to five in the evening at dinner; and from seven at night, to two or three in the morning.—But, query: are not we equal slaves to the vices of the table?
In the delicacies of the table the snail-pie is not omitted, being a singular delicacy. There is scarce a nobleman's garden but has a snail-house in it, which furnishes his table. In other respects they eat and drink as do the English.
The Germans, however, with all the vices and vanities ascribed to them, are allowed to be endowed with some very commendable virtues, particularly honesty and fairness in their dealings:—and are, for the most part, free and open, and great enemies to flattery and dissimulation in trade; yet are the greatest dupes possible in their etiquette on every supposed mode of fashion.
Hospitality is another good quality which the ancient, as well as the present Germans, are allowed to have. If a traveller can obtain a passport, he may travel all over the empire without a shilling.—And, what is still more to their credit, few countries in the world can boast of less robberies, murders, or acts of deception and fraud. There is no nation more in love with travelling than the Germans: we meet with them in all the courts of Europe; and if it should be admitted that their natural parts are not equal to their neighbours, the experience they gain abroad makes ample amends for what they are supposed to be naturally deficient in. But the misfortune is, their passion for travelling frequently ruins their estates, and impoverishes their country: for a German nobleman will not be seen in a foreign court without an equipage suitable to his quality, and perhaps beyond it.
The courage and bravery of the Germans must always be acknowledged.—And if the empire is ever conquered it must be by Germans, as an elegant writer expresses it; which implies, that it must be either from the mercenary troops hired from thence, or by their own dissentions. The singular peculiarities of this people shall be treated of in their proper places, when we come to speak of the different circles.
Hunting the wild boar is a fashionable sport among the Germans of quality; but there seems to be but little riding in the case; for the beast being found by the huntsmen some time before, is surrounded by a large company, who with their guns, lances, spears and dogs, dispatch the creature as soon as they can, without suffering him to run for his life.—Sometimes, indeed, a wild boar will break through the crowd, and it is well if he do not wound either man or horse with his tusks.—
Another diversion in winter is the riding through the streets on the snow in sledges, which are drawn by horses richly accoutred, and adorned with bells and feathers, &c. The game which they chiefly delight in is chess— and is the grand entertainment of every polite circle; and may be said to be the amusement of every rank down to the lowest peasant.— The Germans, however, are well acquainted with all our modes of gaming, from none of which are they precluded, except the pernicious national folly of lotteries: a mischievous mode of government-finance in this country, which in the memory of every one of our readers has destroyed the lives and fortunes of many of his majesty's subjects, both in this and the neighbouring kingdom.
CHAP. III.
Of the Learning, Language, Universities, and Police of the present Germans.
THERE are but very few who write and speak the German language with purity and correctness; and even the very Grammarians themselves are of different opinions, with respect to the rules and principles on which it is formed; a fate common to all living languages.
The present language of the Germans is much corrupted by the introduction of Italian, French and Latin words. There are also several dialects of the High Dutch or German; so that the natives of distant parts of the empire can scarcely understand what is said by those of the hither parts, so great is the vanity to which this error leads.
Busching
boasts, that the German language yields not, by any means, in elegance, softness and charms, to any one language whatsoever. It must, indeed, be acknowledged to be very flowery, copious and pathetic, for the works of Gesner, Wieland, and Lavator, have those desireable elegancies in the highest perfection.
With respect to learning, the Germans, at present, dispute the palm with all other nations. Not only their natural vivacity and strong itch of imitation, but also the variety of government in Germany, their mutual emulation, and the freedom protestants enjoy there of writing according to their own judgment, has procured the greatest improvement of the sciences among them: their itch for reading too, is become so great and general, and particularly amongst the protestants, that it is deemed unbecoming the fair sex, and persons of any rank, either not to read or to have read.
Nor is there any place in the world where more books are written and printed than among the Germans; and though this itch for writing gives rise to many ordinary and mean performances, yet have many important and weighty writings appeared, from time to time, in their publications.
It may be also said, that printing is encouraged to a fault in Germany; for every man of letters is an author; and therefore they multiply books without number, whether they have any thing new to entertain the world with or not: but it were to be wished that a little more moderation were used in publishing those various suppositions and disputations which annually overstock Frankfort and Leipsic.
In Germany there are 36 universities, viz. seventeen protestant ones, as follow:
1 Altorff. 2 Duisburg. 3 Erlangen. 4 Franckfort on the Oder. 5 Giessen. 6 Gottingen. 7 Griefswalde. 8 Hall. 9 Helmstadt. 10 Jena. 11 Kiel. 12 Leipsic. 13 Marburg. 14 Rinteln. 15 Rostoch. 16 Tubingen. 17 Wirtemberg.
And 17 Roman Catholic ones,
viz.
1 Bamberg. 2 Cologne. 3 Dillengen. 4 Freyberg. 5 Fulda. 6 Gratz. 7 Ingolstadt. 8 Inspruch. 9 Louvain. 10 Mentz. 11 Olmutz. 12 Paderborn. 13 Prague. 14 Saltzberg. 15 Treves. 16 Vienna. 17 Wurtzburg.
And two other dissenting ones, viz. 1 Erfurth. 2 Heidelberg.
The number of riding academies, colleges, gymnasia, paedagogies and Latin schools, is here also very great. And there are likewise academies for sciences and societies of literature. viz.
1 The Imperial Leopoldine academy of the naturae curiosi. 2 The Gottingen society of sciences. 3 The Erfurth academy of useful sciences. 4 The Leipsic society of liberal arts. 5 The Duisberg learned society. And 6 The Latin society of Jena.
The public libraries are: 1 Vienna. 2 Hanover. 3 Wolfenbuttel. 4 Gottingen. 5 Leipsic. And 6 Weimar.
There is no species or branch of learning which has not already been cultivated among the Germans, or which has not been carried by them to a greater perfection. The theological sciences are not more indebted to any people than the Germans of the reformed churches. They have written largely upon the Roman and canon laws.
Sthal, Van Swieten, Storck, Hoffman
and
Haller,
have contributed greatly to the improvement of physic;
Ruvinus
and
Dillenius
of Botany;
Heister,
of anatomy and surgery: and
Newman, Zimmerman, Pott,
and
Margraff,
of chemistry; but the late publication of
Fourcroy
superceeds even those.
In astronomy
Kepler
deservedly obtained great reputation; as did
Puffendorf,
for the Elements of the Laws of Nature and Nations.
Leibnitz
and
Wolfius
opened the way to philosophy; and
Gottsched,
who was a great favorite of
Frederick
II. King of Prussia, introduced a standard for composition and the best grammar, with directions for studying the Belles Lettres.
Mosheim, Jerusalem, Spalding, Zollikoser,
and others, have written sermons on the model of our best English authors, particularly
Tillotson, Sherlock,
&c. and whose publications would do credit to any country. The only error in composition, which deserves censure, is their prolixity: but it still remains a fault, that great numbers of the German priests are too much addicted to vulgar language, and absurd opinions.
Some of the English periodical writings, such as the Spectator, Tatler, and Guardian, being translated into the German language, excited great emulation among the writers of that country; and a number of periodical papers appeared of various merit. One of the first and best was published at Hamburg under the title of
"The Patriot;"
in which Dr.
Thomas,
late bishop of Salisbury, was concerned; he being, at that time, chaplain to the British factory at Hamburg, and a considerable master of the German language. Professor
Geliert,
one of the most elegant of the German authors, and one of the most esteemed, has greatly contributed to the improvement of their taste. His way of writing is particularly adapted to touch the heart, and to inspire sentiments of morality and piety. His fables and narrations written in German verse; his letters and his moral romances, are so much read in Germany, that even many of the ladies have them by heart. His comedies are also very popular, though they are rather too sentimental, and better adapted for the closet than the stage.
The sons of Apollo, may be ranked with the poets,
Haller
(a physician,)
Hagedom, Uz, Cronegh, Lessing, Gleim, Gerstenbuger, Kleist, Klopstock, Reuenler, Zachariac, Wieland,
and
Gesner. Schlegel, Cronegh, Lessing, Wieland,
and
Wiese,
have acquired fame by their dramatic writings.
Rabener
has, by his satyrical works, immortalized his name, as have the beforementioned
Gesner,
whose Idylls and Death of
Abel
having been translated into the English language, is known among us in a more favorable light.
In chemistry and medicine the merit of the Germans is very conspicuous; and
Reimanus, Zimmerman, Abt, Kaestner, Segner, Lambert, Mayer, Keuger
and
Sulzer,
have acquired fame by their philosophical writings.
Busching
is an excellent geopraphical writer; and
Mascow, Bemau, Putter, Gattner
and
Gebaur,
have excelled in historical works, but it cannot be denied however that the Germans are behind us in romances, by nearly a century; for most of their publications in this line are productions in imitation of ours, and this species of theirs is very dry and uninviting, which perhaps is owing to education, to false delicacy, or to a certain taste of knight-errantry, which is still predominant among some of their novel writers.
In works of literature relative to antiquity the names of
Klag, Lessing
and
Winckleman,
stand forward. In ecclesiastical, philosophical and literary history, the names of
Albertus Fabricius, Mosheim, Sembler
and
Brucker,
are well known amongst us.
Cellarius, Burman, Taubman, Reishe,
&c. are excellent classical publishers of Latin and Greek.
It is an unfavourable circumstance for German literature that the French language should be so fashionable in the courts instead of the German, and that so many of their Princes should give it so decided a preference; but the Prussian court has, within the last two years, fully adopted, and we say, restored the language.
And with respect to the fine arts, the Germans have acquitted themselves tolerably well. Germany has produced some good artists in painting, sculpture, architecture and engraving, and claim to themselves the origin of engraving, etching and metzotinto, and even claim the origin of printing, gun-powder, and great guns. The celebrated
Handel,
the musical composer, was of this court, as was the late
Bach, A
el, Hesse,
and the present
Hadyn,
&c. Yet we cannot omit this opportunity of observing, that though
Handel
arrived at the sublime of music, he had not the smallest idea between music and sentimental expression; therefore it is yet to be accomplished by some future genius to unite sense and sound, as none of the modern composers have thought of any expedient to adapt such a plan.
The language of the Germans at this day is the Teutonic, and has no relation to the Celtic,—and by way of eminence is called the High Dutch, of which the following is a specimen:
The
Pater noster.
Unser vater, der du bist im himmel. Geheiliget, weird dein name. Zukomme dein reich. Dien wille gesche
e, wil im himmel also auch auf erden. Unsertaglich brodt gib uns heute. Und vergib uns unser schuld, als wi vergeben unsem schuldigem. Urnde fuhre uns nickt in versuchung. Sondem erlose uns von dem bosen. Dem dein is is das reich, und die krafft, undie herrichkeit, en ewigheit. Amen.
In the taste of the Germans, as has been already observed, they affect splendor; for both men and women are fond of rich dresses, which in fashion are the same as in France and England; but the better sort of men are excessively fond of gold and silver lace, especially if they are in the army. The ladies at the principal courts, differ little in their dress from the French and English, except their not being so fond of paint as the former. At some courts they appear in rich furs, and all of them are loaded with jewels, if they can obtain them. The female part of the Burghers families, in many of the German towns, dress in a very different manner, and some of them inconceivably fantastic, but in this respect they are gradually reforming, and many of them make quite a different appearance in dress, from what they did 30 or 40 years ago.
As to the peasantry and labourers, they dress as in other parts of Europe, according to their employments, conveniency and circumstances.
The stoves in Germany are the same with those already mentioned in the Northern nations, and are sometimes made portable so that the ladies carry them to church. In Westphalia, and many other parts of Germany, they sleep between two feather-beds with sheets stitched to them, which by use becomes a very comfortable practice.
The most unhappy part of the Germans are the needy, little petty princes, who squeeze them to keep up their own grandeur, but in general the circumstances of the common people are far preferable to those of the French.
The Germans, in general, are thought to want animation, and indeed industry, application, and perseverance are the great characteristics of the German nation, especially the mechanical parts of it. Their works of art would be incredible were they not visible, especially in watch and clock-making, jewellery, and turnery. At the greatest tables, though the guests drink freely at dinner, yet the repast is finished with coffee, after three or public toasts have been given. But no people have more feasting at marriages, funerals, and on birth-days.
All the sons of noblemen inherit their father's titles, which greatly perplexes the heralds and genealogists of the country. It is recorded by
Reisbec,
that the German husbands are not so complaisant as those of some other nations to their ladies, who are not entitled to any preheminence at the table, nor indeed do they seem to affect it, being far from either ambition or loquacity, though they are said to be too fond of gaming.
Many of the German nobility having no hereditary estates, by the sound of their titles easily get admission into the army of the Emperor, or of the neighbouring kingdoms. Their fondness for titles is attended with many inconveniences. Their princes think that the cultivation of their lands, though it might trebly pay their attention, of no consequence; such is the error of pride!
CHAP. IV.
Of the Religion.
ALL Historians agree that the ancient Germans were heathens, but yet they had more rational principles of religion than either Greeks or Romans. About the beginning of the seventh century they received the christian religion, by the mission of
Killion,
an Irish bishop. In the eight century this attempt was further improved, and under the specious name of propagating the doctrines of the gospel, the missionaries from Rome subjected the people to the Romish yoke.
In the 16th century a reformation in religion took place, and the protestant faith was introduced; but as we profess not to write an ecclesiastical history, we shall leave the manner how, and the means by, which it was effected, to be searched for in other authors.
It is computed that the Calvinists gain ground of the Lutherans, in Germany, being supported by dissenters of every persuasion: but much the greater part of the Empire adhere to the Roman-catholic religion, however the doctrines of the reformation produce this effect, that many bishopricks have been converted into secular principalities, and a new form of church-government set up in many places, instead of the episcopal.
Those bishops, who are still of the Roman-catholick communion, exercise a greater authority in their dioceses than any prelates in Europe. They are most of them temporal princes, and have as absolute a dominion over their subjects, spiritual and temporal, as the secular electors have over the laity in their territories.
Besides the three ecclesiastical electors, there were formerly five archbishops and thirty bishops who had voices in the diet of the empire; but the archbishops of Magdeburg, Bremen and Riga, with the bishoprics of Halverstadt, Minden and Verden, have, since the reformation, turned into secular principalities. Those of Metz, Toul, Verdun, Besancon and Strasburg, have been cut off from the empire and united to France or Lorrain. Those of Valesia, Losanna and Coire, have been abolished by the Swiss Cantons; so that, except the ecclesiastical electors, there is in the college of the princes of the empire only the archbishop of Saltzburg and seventeen or eighteen bishops who have votes.
The loss of the bishoprics may be considered as a great disadvantage to the younger branches of great houses, who used to get a princely maintainance on being preferred to them: whereas they enjoy now little more than an empty title, without any patrimonial estate or inheritance, and the court or army is their only refuge at present.
The bishopric of Lubeck is still an ecclesiastical preferment, altho' in the hands of the Lutherans; and is in the gift of the dukes of Holstein and Sleswick.
The archbishop of Saltzburg is the first German prelate, being born legate of the see of Rome, and gives place to none but the electors in the public diets. The other popish bishops, who still have a voice in the diets of the empire, are Bamberg, Wurtzberg, Worms, Spire, Erichstedt, Augsburg, Constance, Hildesheim, Paderborn, Munster, Passau, Frisingen, Liege, Trent, Brix and Bazil. The late dukes of Hanover were also possessed of Hildeishem, but now it is in the dominion of the elector of Cologn. Vienna is also a bishopric, subject to the archbishop of Saltzburg.
By the authority of the council of Trent the sole power of confering dignities and prelacies, is vested in the pope, not only in Germany, but also in all christendom, where the Romish yoke is tolerated.
There are other ecclesiastical princes, besides bishops, who have voices in the diets of the empire, the first of whom is the great master of the Teutonick order, the abbots of Fulda, Hirsesfield, Murback, Kempton, Corbray, Prum, Stabel, Ludos, the grand prior of Malta, the provosts of Elvang and Beresfoldaguden; these sit on lower benches than the bishops in the assembly of the diet.
There are also 23 other prelates, and 14 abbesses, who are placed below the secular princes, but these have no voices in a full body any more than the counts. The abbesses send their representatives to the diets of the empire, being excused a personal appearance upon account of their sex.
The 23 inferior prelates have either the title of provost, abbot, or bailiff, of some popular place, and the revenues annexed to their dignities are frequently superior to those of the princes.
The protestants in the German empire, whether Lutherans or Calvinists, acknowledge the supremacy of the prince in whose dominions they reside, and he is appealed to in all cases, unanimously, as supreme judge in all spiritual cases as well as temporal causes: but the church-discipline of the Lutherans and Calvinists is very different. The Calvinists have neither bishops nor superintendants, whereas the Lutherans have their general and particular superintendants; the general superintendants answering to our archbishops, and the particular superintendants to our bishops; and in the dominions of every prince is held a consistory, which answers to our convocation. This assembly has the power of degrading and punishing offenders, and of making rules or canons for the better government of the clergy.
The superintendants visit their dioceses once a year, and make a strict enquiry into the doctrine and manners of all the clergy under their care. There are some Lutheran princes that have the title of bishops, who are as absolute in their dioceses, as secular monarchs in their temporal dominions, and have an unlimited command over both clergy and laity.
The countries or states of Germany where the Lutheran opinions chiefly prevail, are those of Saxony, Brandenburg, Brunswic, Lunenburg, Holstein, Mecklenburg, Wirtemberg, Darmstadt, Domlach, Lawenburg, and East Friesland. But there are a great number of Calvinists among them; which sect, as I have observed, seems to gain ground of the Lutherans.
CHAP V.
Of the Military Power, Revenue, Constitution, &c.
THE Elector of Mentz keeps what is called a matriculation or register-book, which contains the assessments of men and money, which every prince and state of the empire is obliged to advance when the Imperial army takes the field.
The contributions are called Roman months, on account of the monthly assessments paid to the emperors when they visited Rome. These assessments however are subject to great mutability.
It is sufficient to say, that upon a moderate computation, the secular princes of the empire can bring to the field 379,000 men, and the ecclesiastical 74,50, in all, 453,500; of these the Emperor as head of the House of Austria, is supposed to furnish 90,000.
The quota of each is thus stated,
1 The Elector of Mentz,
6000
2 The Elector of Triers,
6000
3 The Elector of Cologn,
6000
4 The Bishop of Munster,
8000
5 The Bishop of Liege,
8000
6 The Archbishop of Saltzburg,
8000
7 The Bishop of Wurtzburg,
2000
8 The Bishop of Bamberg
5000
9 The Bishop of Paderborn,
3000
10 The Bishop of Osnaburg
2500
11 The Abbot of Fulda,
6000
12 The other Bishopricks of the empire,
6000
13 The Abbies and Provostships of the empire,
8000
Total of the ecclesiastical princes,
74,500 men
1 The Emperor for Hungary,
30,000
2 — for Bohemia, Silesia, and Moravia,
30,000
3 — for Austria and other dominions,
30,000
4 The King of Prussia,
40,000
5 The Elector of Saxony,
25,000
6 The Elector Palatine,
15,000
7 The Duke of Wirtemberg,
15,000
8 The Landgrave of Hesse Cassel,
15,000
9 The Prince of Baden,
10,000
10 The Elector of Hanover,
30,000
11 The Duke of Holstein,
12,000
12 The Duke of Mecklenburg,
15,000
13 The Prince of Anhalt,
6,000
14 The Prince of Lawenberg,
6,000
15 The Elector of Bavaria,
30,000
16 The Prince of Nassau,
10,000
17 The other Princes and the Imperial towns,
60,000
The Secular Princes,
379,000 men
The Ecclesiastical Princes,
74,500
Total,
453,000
By this list, which is far from being exaggerated, it appears that the Emperor and the empire is the most powerful government in Europe; and if the whole force was united and properly directed, Germany would have nothing to fear from any of its ambitious neighbours. But the different interests pursued by the several princes of Germany, render the power of the Emperor of little consequence, except with regard to his own forces, which are indeed very formidable. The army of the present Emperor is computed to amount to 200,000 men.
The ecclesiastical princes are as absolute as the temporal ones; the principal of whom are the archbishop of Saltzburg, the bishops of Liege, Munster, Spire, Worms, Wurtzburg, Strasburg, Osnaburg, Bamberg, and Paderbon. Besides these, there are other ecclesiastical princes. Germany abounds with many abbots and abbesses whose jurisdictions are likewise absolute, and some of them very considerable, and all of them are chosen by their several chapters.
The chief of the secular princes are, the landgrave of Hesse, the dukes of Brunswic, Wolfenbuttel, Wirtemburg, Mecklenburg, and Saxa-Gotha; the marquisses of Baden and Culmbach with the princes of Nassau, Anhalt, Furstenburg, and many others, who have all high titles and are sovereigns in their own dominions. The free cities are likewise sovereign states, those which are Imperial or compose a part of the diet bear the Imperial eagle in their arms; those which are Hanse towns have still greater privileges and immunities, but they subsist no longer as a political body.
Busching
gives us this account of the Hanse-towns. Towards the middle of the 13th century, many towns in Germany, as well as in other countries, lying in
the German Ocean and the Baltic, entered into a mutual league with each other for the security and promotion of trade and navigation, and were therefore called
Hanse towns.
Though the trade of these fell greatly to decay in the fifteenth century and the name of the league ceased in time, yet the trading towns of Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen are still so called and have a league still subsisting between them, under the name of which they conclude treaties of commerce with foreign powers. Hamburg is the most important town of trade in all Germany, and much resorted to by the English and Dutch. The other principal towns of trade are, Francfort-on-the-Maine, Leipsic, Nuremburg, Augsburg, Vienna, Fiume, and Trieste, which last is also a free port. At Embden is established a new East India company.
Indeed with respect to commerce, Germany enjoys all kinds of advantages, for it not only borders on the German Ocean, the Baltic, and gulph of Venice, but is watered by many navigable rivers, and seated in the heart of Europe, so that it can commodiously export what it has to spare, and import all it wants. For the promotion of inland trade, so many land-carriages have been introduced, that the expence is very low. Each German sovereign has a privilege of establishing manufactures, and prohibiting foreign merchandize, limiting exportation, and excluding the trade of foreigners, &c. The goods exported from Germany into the neighbouring and remote countries are corn, tobacco, horses, lean cattle, butter, cheese, honey, syrup, wine, particularly Rhenish and Moselle, linen, woollen-stuffs, yarn, ribbands, silk, and cotton-stuffs, Nuremberg wares, goats-skins, wool, wood, particularly for ship-building; iron plates and stoves, cannon-balls, bombs, grenadoes, tin-plates, steel-work, copper, brass-wire, porcelaine, earthen-ware, mirrors, glasses, beer, Brunswick-mum, tartar, smalt, Zaffer, Prussian blue, hog's bristles, printers ink, and many other things.
The revenue or private income of the Emperor does not exceed £.6000 English, which arises from a few inconsiderable fiefs in the Black Forest: but the magnificence of many of the German courts is so great, that a stranger would be induced to conceive very high ideas of the income of their princes; which is owing to the high price of money in that country, and consequently the low price of provisions and manufactures.
Few of the revenues or territories of the German princes are so large, as to be assigned to viceroys, to be oppressed and fleeced at pleasure; nor are they entirely without redress when they suffer any grievance; they may appeal to the general diet or great council of the empire for relief.
The subjects of the petty princes are most unhappy, for as they affect the grandeur and splendour of the most powerful monarch, in the number and appearance of their officers and domesticks, whether in their palaces, gardens, curiosities, pictures, guards, bands of music, tables, dress, and furniture, they are obliged to support all this vain pomp and parade at the expence of their vassals and dependants.
With respect to the burghers and peasants of Germany, the former in many places enjoy greater liberty or privileges; the latter also, in some spots, for instance, in Franconia, Suabia, and on the Rhine, are generally a free people, or perform only certain services to their superiors, and only pay taxes: whereas in Brandenburgh, Pomerania, Lusatia, &c. they may strictly be denominated slaves, though in different degrees.
Were the many improvements which have been talked of by the court of Vienna for the hereditary dominions, put into execution, it would, at the same time, much improve the revenue, and in a manner free the country of those evils which usually flow from increasing the public income of a crown. But there is a dilatoriness and a languor in every thing transacted at this court, even in its most intricate concerns, that damp the spirit of all improvement, so that any object of this sort, upon a moderate computation, will be talked of half a century before it is executed: this was the case with the establishment of the woollen manufactory in Hungary, and with every thing else; so that it is not thought that the Austrian revenues, however they would admit of it, will for a long time be put upon a better footing than they are, or have any other improvements than what result from oppressing the lower classes of the people still more; than which no measure can give a greater stab to all general, national improvements.
Had the king of Prussia possessed the Austrian dominions in exchange for his own, we should have seen them make a very different appearance; he would have raised much greater revenues, with far greater ease to the people, and would have thrown such a vigour into all the transactions, which the possession of Flanders and the Italian dominions would have introduced him to, that the importance of them would have speedily appeared in a very different light from what they do at present.
CHAP. VI.
Of Moravia, Austrian Silesia and Lusatia.
BEFORE I begin to treat of the regular circles, I will speak of those places not included in them: these are Moravia, Austrian Silesia and Lusatia.
Moravia is bounded, to the west, by Bohemia; to the north, by Glatz and Silesia; to the east, by Silesia and Hungary; and to the south, by Austria, being about 360 German square miles in extent. It is called Moravia from the river Morava. Towards Hungary, Bohemia and Silesia, it is partly environed by mountains, and partly by woods. Above one half of it is mountainous and woody; and many of the mountains are so high, as to be almost desolate. In the more open parts are many morasses, bogs and lakes, where the water is unwholesome; and in the mountainous regions the air is rough; and so cold, that in many places, even in summer, the people are obliged to use st
ves. More corn, however, grows here than the inhabitants consume. It produces also plenty of hemp, flax, vegetables, fruit, and fine saffron. They dig both frankincense and myrrh out of the earth, and some places produce good wine, both white and red. Its wide forests are favourable to bees, afford plenty of venison, wolves, bears and leopards. Quarries of marble, bastard diamonds, amethysts, and other minerals, are also found here, and their lakes and ponds yield variety of fish. The number of towns and villages are about 2550. The native language is a dialect of the Sclavonian, little differing from the Bohemian; but the German language is very common also.
The states of the country consist of the clergy, lords, knights and burgesses. That of the clergy, is formed of the bishop of Olmutz, and the ecclesiastics entitled to wear a mitre and possessed of estates; that of the lords, of the princes, curates and barons; that of the knights, of the rest of the gentry; and that of the burgesses, of some few particular towns. The diets are appointed by the regency, and held at Brunn.
Olmutz has a university; a learned society is there established, and the sciences begin to flourish greatly. The religion of the whole country is Roman-catholic, and subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop of Olmutz, who stiles himself duke and prince of the holy Roman empire. In the commotions of the Hussites in Bohemia, the Moravians bore a considerable part; and, in the end, divided from the Roman-Catholics, and called themselves
Moravian brethren;
of these there are still some descendants in the country, who externally conform to the Romish church, but privately hold separate assemblies, and partly, as opportunity offers, fly to protestant countries. We have had them in England.
The chief commodities of this country are the cloth manufactures at Iglau and Trebitz, where are also some iron and glass works, and where they make paper, gunpowder, &c. but their commerce is very trifling. Brunn, however, enjoys the principal part. Olmutz is the capital of the province; has a castle of considerable strength, surrounded by the river Morava; the town is well fortified, rich and populous, and divided into the old and new. It contains 26 churches, five chapels, nine cloisters, several hospitals, and two seminaries, besides the university. It has been frequently besieged and damaged by fires. In 1741 it was blocked up for some months by the Russians. Moravia contributes about one third to the exactions which Bohemia pays. Seven or eight regiments are generally quartered there.
Austrian Silesia was once a part of Poland; but many German colonies having settled there in the 13th century, a separation of the country was then began, and afterwards effected and united to the crown of Bohemia; but, in 1740,
Frederick
II. king of Prussia, claiming several duchies in it, marched an army into Silesia; a war broke out between him and the house of Austria; and the king having conquered all lower Silesia and part of Glatz, it was confirmed to him by the treaty of Breslau and Dresden in 1742 and 1745. Hence it is this part only of Silesia that belongs to Austria as a Bohemian fief. We have described Russian Silesia, which sufficiently depicts that belonging to Austria. The territories of Austrian Silesia are the principality of Teschen; that part of the principality of Troppau, which lies to the south of the river Oppa, a part of the principality of Jagerndorf, and a part of that of Grotkau.
Lusatia runs from north-west to south-east, bounded on the east by Silesia, on the south by Bohemia, on the west by Misnia, and on the north by the marquisate of Brandenburg, exclusive of that part of Brandenburg which belongs to it, and which makes about 20 German square miles. This province is about 180 miles in extent.
Upper Lusatia abounds more in mountains and hills; and enjoys a purer air than the Lower, on which are many bogs and moorish parts, but has some fine woods. In the mountainous parts there is but little room for agriculture; and the heaths on the confines of Lower Lusatia and those of Silesia, consist of a pure soil, affording little else than fine hunting. But where there is husbandry, grain of all kind is cultivated, and flax; and throughout is found what is usually called manna. Garden-stuff they have little; but they make wine, both white and red. A great quantity of cattle is here bred; and they have plenty of venison.
In Upper Lusatia are six cities, 16 smaller ones, and four market-towns; but in the Lower, only four cities, two market ones and 13 county towns; these towns are almost wholly peopled with German inhabitants; but in the villages we meet with some of the Wends, the ancient inhabitants of this country, who retain the Wendish dress and language. Each marquisate of Upper and Lower Lusatia consists of two state, the country and towns. In Lusatia are made all sorts of linen from unbleached and bleached yarn, common and fine, as also fine white damask, for table and bed-linen, and white tick. There are also in Lusatia good manufactures of hats, leather, paper, gunpowder, iron and glass, and wax bleaching.
I cannot pass over the Wendes without acquainting my readers from
Reisbec
of their gross superstition. The characteristic of the inhabitants of all this country is striking bigotry, united with manifest sensuality. You need only see what is going forwards here, to be convinced that the religion taught by the monks is as ruinous to the mind, as it is repugnant to christianity. The cicisbios, or gallants, accompany the married women from their beds to the church, and lead them to the very confessional. The pilgrimage to Mariazell, which is a watering-place, like Bath, is a ceremony half religious and half profane. A friend of mine says
Reisbec,
had the honour to accompany a lady who went there with her lover. As it was expected the next day, being the feast of the Virgin, there would be great crouds at confession, the lady was asked, whether it would not be better to expedite matters and confess the night before? 'No,' answered she, 'if I do, I shall have to confess again tomorrow morning, before I can go to sacrament, with a pure conscience.' Their lovers are chiefly officers and high churchmen, between which orders, on this account, there is a constant jealousy.
MAP
of the CIRCLE of
AUSTRIA.
CHAP. VII.
Of the Circle of Austria.
THIS Circle borders, to the north, on Moravia, Bohemia, and the Circle of Bavaria; to the west, on Swisserland; to the south, on the territory of the republic of Venice and the Adriatic sea; to the east, on Hungarian Illyria and Hungary. Those territories which are called the hither Austrian countries, lie scattered in and about Swabia.
Austria is reckoned among the circles that are entirely catholic. It is called from the arch-duchy of the same name, which constitutes the principal part of the circle-country, whereof Vienna is the capital.
The arch-duke, now Emperor of Germany, is the governing prince, director and sovereign of the whole circle. Diets for the circle are not usual in this country, the greatest part of it standing under one single lord, according to whose good pleasure the rest of the states regulate themselves. To the aids of the empire this circle contributes its share, as often as the public security requires it; which contribution usually amounts to a fifth part of the empire.
Lower Austria would breathe a very unwholesome air, was it not purified by very strong gales; it is principally level, except the lofty mountain which commences about two hours, or two leagues (each league four miles) from Vienna, on the Danube, and extends for 50 miles.
The country is fertile, and yields such plenty of corn, that the inhabitants are able to dispense with considerable quantities of it to their neighbours. The natural productions are very numerous, as here almost every native production of the empire is raised.
Upper Austria is mountainous, particularly towards Stiria and Bohemia, in which countries several tracts also lie uncultivated. The soil of Upper Austria, on account of its numerous water-springs, is wet, and the air, all the year round, moist and cool; which latter property seems to be owing to its saline earth, and chiefly to the situation of the country; for as it lies on the shady side of the mountains of Upper Stiria and Saltzburg, the warm southerly and westerly winds are thereby precluded access.
Upper Austria, on account of the nature of its soil and air, as just described, is uncommonly fertile in mushrooms, and it is likewise for the very same reason, that the inhabitants plant a vast number of fruit-trees. In corn it has not a sufficiency; but that deficiency is supplied by Lower Austria. The breed of cattle here is pretty good. They abound also in all sorts of game.
Near Munden is a considerable mine of salt, out of which both the crystal and variegated sort is dug, but the latter of these is little esteemed. In these parts also fresh water is conveyed into the salt-works, or pits, which after it has impregnated itself with
alcaline particles,
is extracted by machines, and conducted through canals to the distance of four miles for boiling.
The rivers and lakes here yield many sorts of fish. There are also two medicinal baths in this country, one at Millack and district of Misel, near the Danube; and the other at Kirchslag, near the borders of Bohemia, and district of Mackland.
In Lower Austria are fifteen royal towns, together with eighteen others belonging to particular lords, as also market-towns, and many common boroughs, foundations, and cloysters, which enjoy both seat and voice with the country; as also some cloysters, citadels and noblemens seats.
In Upper Austria are seven royal towns, together with five belonging to particular lords, 81 market towns, many common boroughs, 13 foundations and cloysters, which enjoy both seat and voice with the country; two knights-commanderies, two colleges, one residence of jesuits, 17 other cloysters, and 217 citadels and noblemens seats.
The Austrian-German dialect, which differs greatly from the High-Dutch, is spoken from the Adriatic sea, to the N.—N. W. and westerly quite as far as Silesia, Saxony, Franconia, Suabia, and Swisserland. It also extends itself to the E. and S. through Hungary and the Sclavonian territories, yet there is an observable difference in the pronunciation, and in a few particular words used in certain parts of this large tract of country.
The states of this country consist of four orders, viz. 1st, Of the prelates, under which title are included bishops, abbots, and provosts. 2d. Of lords, under which class are reckoned princes, counts, and barons. 3d. Of the knights. 4th. Of the towns and markets.
The nobility of this circle are numerous and powerful, and divided into two ranks, one of counts, the other knights. The estates of the nobility are either allodial or feudal. The elector of Brandenburg presides by his deputies the margraves, over the fief court of Austria, which consists of the commissary, the fief provost, and fief advocate. But the party aggrieved may appeal to the Austrian government. And for the differences between lords and vassals, a main court is generally appointed. This is also observed by the archbishop of Saltzburg, together with the bishops of Bamberg, Passau, Ratisbon, Freysingen, and others, who are possessed of vassals in Austria, Stiria, and Carinthia.
The sciences here are in an improving condition. For the promotion of learning in this country have been established the lower schools and Gymnasia, together with the university of Vienna, which ever since the year 1752, has been put on a better footing, as also the Theresian college. The importation of foreign commodities is prohibited under great restrictions. The exports of this circle are chiefly saffron, wine, allum, and gun-powder.
To the high privileges of the house of Austria, belongs an arch-ducal title, which no other prince in the world bears, and which in the year 1245, was raised to the royal dignity. The arch-dukes are at liberty to appear, or not, at the diets of the empire, agreeably to their pleasure. They are exempt from the taxes of the empire, yet are under the immediate protection of it.
The particular colleges for Lower and Upper Austria, are the Imperial royal representation and chamber, as also the government in matters of justice, or the land government for Lower Austria at Vienna, with two colleges of the same nature at Lintz, for Upper Austria; the justice-council in Lower and Upper Austria, together with the Imperial royal town and land judicatory.
The civil law is also in force in Austria; unless where the sovereign or the land usage has prohibited it: as in both cases it has no precedence. To the revenues of the sovereign belong the collections and subsidies which the states grant.
Vienna is the principal city, and being the residence of the Emperor, is accounted the capital of all Germany. This city lies on a branch of the Danube; its situation is pleasant, as the E. and N. country around it are entirely level; but to the W. and S. are seen an entire range of mountains, covered with trees and vines; the Danube here is wide, and divides itself into several arms, forming so many islands, which are planted with wood.
PLAN
of the CITY of VIENNA
References.
1.
The Castle
2.
City Hospital
3.
Chranen
4.
The Mint
5.
Salt Store House
6.
The Arsenal
7.
The Foundery
8.
St . Peter
9.
St . George
01.
Augustin's Convent
11.
The Pauliner
12.
Little Father Convent
13.
St . Catherine
14.
Cordeliers Convent
15.
Hall Sant
16.
Capuchin Convent
17.
St . Agnes
18.
St . John
19.
St . Ursulla
20.
St . James
21.
St . Ignace
22.
Jacobins Convent
23.
Benedictins Convent
24.
St . Elizabeth
25.
Magdalen Church
26.
The Hall
27.
Our Lady
28.
Carmelites
29.
Town Hall
30.
St . Leopold
31.
Nusdorff Gate
32.
The Hospital
33.
Lerchenfeld Gate
34.
Mariahalf Gate
35.
Royal Mill
36.
St . Egidi
37.
Jesuits Convent
38.
Dominician Convent
39.
Starenberg
40.
Vienerberg Gate
41.
Favourite Gate
42.
St . Mark
43.
St . Mark's Gate
44.
St . Roch
45.
The Jesuits
The city is not seated upon the head channel of the Danube, but a part of it, for here it divides itself into seven branches, forming several distinct islands. The river Wien-passes on the east side of the town, and a little below it falls into the Danube. After heavy rains this little river swells prodigiously, and does a great deal of mischief in the suburbs.
There is a remarkable bridge at Vienna, called the High Bridge, made by crossing the two streets at right angles; but as the ground in one street is as high as the tops of the houses of the other, it was found necessary to build a bridge in the lower street, to let the upper street pass over it; so that the lower street passes under the arch of this bridge.
The city of Vienna, independent of the suburbs, is not very large, as a person may walk round the Glacis in an hour; it is well fortified, having a strong rampart with 11 stout bastions, 10 ravelins, very broad and deep ditches, with necessary outworks. The number of the inhabitants from pretty exact computations, does not exceed 50,000; but the suburbs, which all round exceed 5 or 600 paces from the fortification of the city take up a great deal of ground, which make the aggregate of the inhabitants to be about 500,000. The streets are very narrow and winding, and the fronts of the houses are also very narrow and extremely high, some of them being eight stories. The palaces of Vienna are indeed, for the most part almost hid in narrow streets; but in splendor and magnificence they greatly surpass the hotels of Paris; but more especially if we take in the noble structures in the suburbs.
Vienna however is a noble and strong city, and the princes of the House of Austria, have omitted nothing that could contribute to its grandeur and riches: it contains an excellent university, a bank, which is in the management of its own directors, or magistracy, and a court of commerce.
One of the suburbs stands on an island in the Danube, so that the river runs through the town. The garrison here consists of one regiment of foot. Out of the countries belonging to the Emperor lying on the Danube, and of course out of Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, Stiria, Tyrol, and Italy, all sorts of provisions, together with necessary and agreeable things are brought here. The protestants frequent the worship held in the houses of the protestant ambassadors. In the city are all sorts of artists, manufactures, and handicraftmen, &c. The many high colleges and judicatures, which have their seat here, add to the credit and vivacity of the place.
Vienna certainly stands upon much more ground than Paris, but it is not so much built upon. No houses without the walls of Vienna are not allowed to be erected, nearer to the glacis, than 600 yards; so that there is a circular field of 600 paces all round the town, which has a beautiful and salutary effect. Beyond this plain, the suburbs are built, and there are six and twenty of them; thus they form a very extensive and magnificent town of an irregularly circular form, containing within its bosom, a spacious field; which has for its centre the Imperial town of Vienna, consisting only of 1230 houses, and these very narrow.
These magnificent suburbs, are not near so populous as the town, because many houses in the suburbs have extensive gardens belonging to them; and many families who live, during the winter, within the fortifications, pass the summer months in the suburbs.
Reisbec
says, there are three or four hundred such garderns; the air and water are much better here than at Paris, of course the city is more wholesome as a place of residence.
There are scarce eight buildings in the whole city, which can be called beautiful or magnificent. The most distinguished of these are the palace of Leichstenstein, the Emperor's library and the chancery. The Emperor's palace is an old black building, that has neither beauty nor stateliness. It is a great mass of stone, which was built seven stories high, in order to contain as many people as possible. It consists of several courts, surrounded with irregular buildings; the apartments are neither spacious, nor furnished equal to what one might expect at one of the most expensive courts in Europe. Though there are 15 squares or places, there are hardly three which make any figure. The greatest thoroughfare is from the palace over the coal-market, the Graben, the Stirkameisenglass, and through the Carnthnerstrasse. In either places the thoroughfare is as great, and the motion as lively as in any street of London or Paris. There are not more than eight buildings, worth looking at, in the suburbs; and the taste of the buildings, about the gardens and summer-houses, is miserable. The streets, which are about 80, are crooked and narrow; and, in the winter, are lighted with lanterns.
It would be endless to enumerate the many palaces, two of which are Imperial, of this capital; its academies and libraries, and, among others, the fine one of prince Eugene, with his and the Imperial cabinet of curiosities hereafter described. Among its rich convents is one for the Scotch nation, built in honour of their countryman, St. Colman, the patron of Austria; and one of the six gates of this city is called the Scotch gate, in remembrance of some noble exploits performed there by the troops of that nation.
After all that has been said of this magnificent city, the most candid and sensible of those who have visited it, are far from being lavish in its praise: the houses and furniture of the citizens are greatly disproportioned to the magnificence of the palaces, and other public buildings; but, above all, the excessive imposts laid by the house of Austria, upon every commodity in its dominions, must always keep the manufacturing part of their subjects poor.
The late emperor,
Joseph
II. was sensible of the truths which were plain to all the world, but his predecessors and their counsellors: he examined things with his own eyes, and descended from that haughtiness of demeanour which rendered the Imperial court so long disagreeable, and indeed ridiculous to the rest of Europe. In general, the condition of the Austrian subjects has been greatly meliorated under his government.
What distinguishes the people of this place from the Parisians, says
Reisbec,
is a coarse pride not to be described, an unsurmountable heaviness and stupidity, and an unaccountable propensity to guzzling; the hospitality of the table, about which great noise has been made, is only the effect of pride. It is the custom, when a man is first introduced into a new house, to six a day in every week for him to be a regular guest there, and are greatly offended if he forgets it. The middle rank of people have five or six dishes at dinner, over which they sit, at least, two hours, and have three or four sorts of wine.
At the best tables, of the second order, you commonly meet a monk, but more commonly a player, whose very refined air enlivens the whole company. The monk is generally served by the lady of the house, with whom he coquets, and the player is seated at the other end, and laughs at them, till the whole company breaks out into shouts of laughter, far above the capacity of common lungs or ears either to join in or to bear.
Nobody here makes remarks upon the minister or the court; nor entertains his company with the news of the day. None here speaks in public at the expence of his neighbour; but the public places of resort are all adapted to eating and drinking, instead of talking. They breakfast till they dine, and dine till they sup, with only the interval, perhaps, of a short walk, or going to the play.
If you go into a coffee-house, of which there are about 70 at Vienna, or into a beer-house, which are the most elegant and best furnished of all the public houses (I saw one, says
Reisbec,
with red damask tapestry, pictures with gilt frames, looking-glasses, clocks,
a la Grecque,
and marble tables) you will see nothing but a perpetual motion of jaws. No one in these places talks, but to his neighbour, and that in a whisper, so that one would think they took one another for spies.
Notwithstanding the care that is taken by the Emperor of the morals of his subjects, all the charities here depend on the court alone for support. I question, says
Reisbec,
whether it would be possible to get a collection of 10,000 guilders at Vienna. Though this place has several houses in it, with which the most opulent in Paris cannot be compared; pride, gallantry and dissipation are all the feelings the people of Vienna are susceptible of. Though most of the richest people have been, for years, oppressed with debts, they have not yet learned to confine their expences, and would think it a shame to live within bounds. As to the middling orders, they live from hand to mouth, and are well satisfied if, at the close of the year, they can make both ends meet. Economy is a term unknown here; every man swills and lives for the pleasure of sensuality.
In some houses the masters of which affect to live in the highest state, it is customary when an entertainment is given, to provide doses of tartar emetic, and set them in the adjoining room: here the guests retire when they happen to be too full, empty themselves, and return to the company again, as if nothing had happened, and this, says
Reisbec,
is a characteristic of the country.
There are a great number of sinecure offices in the country, but many counsellors and assessors have either nothing to do, or appoint deputies to do the duty for a very little money. The luxury in which these people live is beyond conception;
his honour
(for every pettifogging judge of the court of conscience is so stiled) must have his gentleman; and
her honour,
his wife, must have her waiting lady, nor is it, as it is with us, where between the gentleman and the footman, there are no intermediate ranks; here there must be a
maitre a'hotel
and a secretary, and as
his honour
has great business every where but in his own court, he must likewise have his coach. In a word there is not a court in Europe, except the Turkish, which pays its officers of the second order so well as this, and yet is so ill served by them.
Notwithstanding many great princes at Vienna have vast estates, they are mostly in debt. In most countries some one favourite luxury has the ascendancy, but here they all reign, and are all carried to the utmost excess. Here are several stables of 50, 60, or more horses; whoever has an estate of 50 or 60,000 florins, must have from 24 to 30 horses, and it is a moderate establishment, says
Reisbec,
which consists only of a
maitre d'hotel,
a secretary, a
valet de chambre,
two running footmen, two huntsmen, two coachmen, five or six footmen, and a porter. The houses of
Lichtenstein, Esterhazy, Schwartzenburg,
and some others, keep 50 footmen, and the two former have a body-guard. A single plate of fruit often costs from 60 to 70 florins; and Count
Palm
once appeared in a coat that had cost him 90,000 guilders. (£.3000 English) It is common to give from 30 to 40,000 florins for a lady's dress, and though hazard is forbidden, there are several games at which you may lofe from 15 to 20,000 florins at a sitting.
The women of this place are handsome and well made, but have no colour, and their faces are not interesting. They are easy and lively in their motions, and also in their gait and their speech. They are more composed, more determined and more manly, than the French women, but not so heroic as the English women. I cannot give you a better idea of them, than by telling you they are between the French and English.
A tinge of superstition, peculiar to the women of this place, is united to great sensibility of heart, and rather tends to increase, than to repress love, friendship and benevolence.
Moore
has made some good observations upon this subject; but nothing gives a better idea of it than seeing a lady bespeak masses in a convent, and give alms, with a wish that God may recover her sick cicisbeo.
The Cicisbeat is upon the same footing here as in Italy; it subsists among the great as a mode that has been once established; the poor take it up as a matter of trade, and it is only amongst the merchants and manufacturers that jealousy prevails: I shall here present our readers with an anecdote from
Reisbec,
which he vouches for, as being a fact.
A man of fashion having been rather too frequent in his visits to a rich tradesman's wife; the husband, who was displeased with the intercourse, as every fond husband should, took the following method of putting a stop to it:—One morning, when he knew the loving couple were together, he ordered all his servants to be in waiting with flambeaux on the stairs; he then stept into the room, and told his excellency that his servants were come to light him home; the other was exceedingly surprized, but affected not to understand him; upon which the merchant immediately took him by the arm, and led him very ceremoniously into the street, the servants holding the lighted flambeaux on every side, although it was about mid-day, which brought together a concourse of people, to the great disgrace and confusion of the guilty nobleman, and the remedy took the desired effect.
In the short time I was there, says
Reisbec,
I saw more splendid equipages and horses than there are in all Paris. French fashions prevail here universally. Dressed dolls are regularly sent from Paris, for the purpose of teaching the women to put on their gowns and dress their heads: even the men get, from time to time,
memoranda
from Paris, and lay them before their taylors and hair-dressers. All the women are painted up to the eyes and ears, as at Paris. The knowing ones tell you, that the eyes acquire a kind of fire by these means, which gives an inexpressible animation to the whole look. Indeed, paint seems a necessary evil to hide the yellowness of their skins. I saw several of them, says
Reisbec,
who had every reason to cry out,
La verole, mon Diéu, má rougé jusqu'aux os.
It is not here as at Paris, where there is an office in every part of the city, giving an account of what houses or lodgings are to let, and for what price. Here every owner of a house puts up a bill before his door, stating very circumstantially what rooms he has empty.
And as the houses consist of five or six stories, and each story has an owner, who may have a room or an apartment to let, you often find the doors plaistered all over with bills; and may be near half an hour reading, before you get the information you wish. The first room, says
Reisbec,
who hunted for a lodging, the first room I saw, was up four pair of stairs; the looks of it did not displease me, but I disliked the owner, and instantly trudged to another that was up six pair of stairs; and when I got to the top, there came out of a lower apartment a little diminutive man in a night-gown: he had a pen behind his ear, and was followed by a maid, who gave him the appellation of
your honour.
Only your
honour,
thought I, may do: I should have been off at a higher title; I went into the room, and was half induced, by the pure air I breathed in these upper regions, to close the agreement; but opening the window, and seeing nothing but a prospect of roofs and chimnies, I altered my mind. I saw six apartments that day without finding any thing that would suit. Among other landlords we met with an
excellence,
rather a
magnificence,
(for, I had choice of titles) who lived in the back part of a ground floor, and with whom I did not choose to partake of the foul air he breathed. The next day's sally opened with a
gnadige frau,
who recommended her
fraeleii tochter
to me for so many things, that it was impossible to think of coming to an agreement with her. 'Look here,' says she, '
my daughter, herself,
will bring you your coffee in the morning; if you choose tea in an afternoon,
my daughter, herself,
will attend you; if you choose to go now and then to the play,
my daughter, herself,
will accompany you,' and so on. For it is not in Germany as at Paris; where a woman of character considers it as an affront to be offered to be treated to a public place, by one who is not a relation or a particular friend. Here it is the custom to frank women, wherever you go with them, and I soon saw that the pretty girl's services were included in the price of the lodging; so off I was again, and tired myself another day with searching for what I could not find, namely, an apartment to my liking. The best houses in the town are very dear, because the second story of every such house is allotted for the residence of the imperial court officers. From six, to eight guilders a month, is paid for one of the best rooms in a good street, and three, for one of the worst. Those who lodge in the suburbs cannot stir out in summer without being choaked with dust. Vienna lies open to the drying east and north winds; but is protected, by its neighbouring hills, from the south and west. When it has rained here a whole night, all is dry again a few hours after sunrise; and, by noon, the clouds of dust begin to rise. Indeed, when it rains more than a day, the dust is all mud, and very deep. Those who cross from the suburbs to the citadel, must pass over the naked plain that parts them, and put his handkerchief in his mouth, that it may not be filled with dust. The hackney coaches of this place are always on a trot or gallop; and it requires care, in some streets, to pass through the clouds of dust, without being run over by a coach, or running against some traveller.
Many families in this city live by letting their houses; there are several habitations, says
Reisbec,
worth from two to 300,000 guilders, or from 20 to 30,000l. a year, which constitutes the whole fortune of their possessors. Any man out of debt, and who has a house in this city, is accounted a rich man. The house of the bookseller, Trattnem, is an object of 30,000 guilders, or 3000l. a year to him. The houses at Paris are more magnificent than those at Vienna; but, owing to the walls and gates before them, they make but little appearance.
Among the ecclesiastical buildings at Vienna, the principal is St. Stephen's church, a Gothic structure, adorned with many pieces of sculpture, and the roof of which is covered with glazed tiles of various colours. If the tower of Strasburg is looked upon as the most curious, and that of Landshutter to be the finest in Europe, St. Stephen's tower is unquestionably the strongest; which, as well as the church, is built with large square blocks of free-stone, fastened together with iron braces. The height of this tower is 74 fathoms, three feet and a half, it was finished in 1400, and contains a bell, according to Dr.
Kuchelbecker,
above 10 feet high and 32 in circumference, which, without the clapper, weighs 1328 lb. the whole weight of the bell, iron-work, &c. amounts to 25 tons and 1400 lb. The church is so very dark that, even at noon; a distinct view of its several objects cannot be had. It has a superb marble tomb of the emperor
Frederick
III. which is said to have cost 30,000 ducats.
Of late years, says
Keysler,
if any woman enters St. Stephen's church, or any other large church at Vienna, in a French sack, she is immediately ordered to withdraw. It was grown a custom among the ladies at Vienna, in the morning, to slip on a sack without stays, or hardly any other covering; and, in that garb, hurry away to mass, which indecent custom occasioned this Imperial prohibition. The clergy, from the pulpit, have given vent to their zeal against such loose dresses in very bitter terms. One, with great warmth, exclaimed, "that the women came to church in sacks, not to repent, as believers of old used to do in sackcloth and ashes; but the better to expose their wares to sale; so that no priest in administering the sacrament could, with a safe conscience, look at them." Another indecently threatened, 'that if he ever saw a lady with her neck uncovered, he would spit down her bosom.' A little before the wearing of sacks in churches was suppressed, three ladies, with bare necks and dressed in the abovementioned robe, presented themselves for the communion, among other persons round the altar; but the priest passed by them, as if he had overlooked them.
In that part of the suburbs called Wieden, their late Imperial majesties began to build a most magnificent church, in pursuance of a vow made in the time of the pestilence, but it will be many years in finishing. Without the city, near the court, the empress dowager,
Wilhelmina Amelia,
has built a nunnery for ladies. These nuns observe the rule of St.
Francès de Sales;
and, among other vows, engage themselves to educate and instruct young ladies of noble families; and on account of the illustrious founder, it is accounted a very great honour for a young lady to be admitted into this convent for a few years. On the large area called the Hoff, opposite to the noviciate college, stands a brass pillar erected by the emperor
Leopold,
in 1667. On this pillar is a masterly figure of the Virgin
Mary;
and the gilding, though exposed to all the injuries of the weather, still retains its lustre. This same emperor, in 1693, erected another pillar to the Holy Trinity, in the moat called by that name; it cost 300,000 guilders; and is an admirable piece of architecture, built with stone, 66 feet in height.
Formerly it was usual for people, by way of amusement, to sit round these pillars, which often produced many pleasing incidents; but a company, among which were several countesses, having, by way of diversion, given too much to the soldier on guard, at the Virgin
Mary
's pillar, such a disturbance ensued as caused these assemblies to be forbidden; at present, people only kneel round them; but, in the evening, the resort does not so much proceed from devotion, as from appointments of assignation.
But of all the buildings at Vienna, the palace of prince
Eugene,
in the suburbs, is undoubtedly the finest. It has a suite of eleven rooms in a direct line, in the front and the towers at the angles, and another of seven rooms in the wings. In the room adjoining the prince's bedchamber are several exquisite pieces of painting in little; and in the next apartment is a lustre of rock crystal, valued at 20,000 guilders; here is also a Dutch painting, which cost 13,000 guilders, representing an old woman on her death-bed, with her daughter on her knees, taking leave of her, whilst her maid is stirring a medicine in a spoon, and the physician looking into the urinal. Among the excellent paintings in the other apartments are a piece representing Adam and Eve, as large as life, said to have cost 50,000 guilders; a woman embracing a youth in a bath, valued at 30,000, with Endymion and Diana, worth 12,000 guilders; a guilder is 2s. 4d. sterling.
The gardens lie in a slope, and are very well adaptted for the elegant water-works there exhibited. In one part, called Paradise, is a spacious aviary made of curious wire-work, with beautiful walks and gilt summer-houses; also a fine orangery, where some of the trees remain out all winter, with a cover only over the tops of them. The species of uncommon herbs growing here are computed at 2000. In this palace is also a fine menagerie. There is another palace within the city, in which Prince
Eugene
resided in winter, a superb building magnificently furnished, with very expensive articles and costly pictures. Here is a chimney-piece of grey marble that cost 20,000 guilders, and a crystal lustre that cost 10,000. In this palace is a fine library, consisting of 14,000 volumes, mostly folios, gilt, lettered, and bound in red Turkey, and a fine collection of engraved portraits, consisting of 48 volumes of illustrious persons in France, 61 volumes of those in Germany, ten of the United Provinces, nine of the Spanish Netherlands, &c. two of Lorrain, 13 of Great-Britain, &c.
The Prince of
Lichtenstern
has three palaces in Vienna, with fine paintings and great curiosities. The great staircase in one of these palaces consists of two flights, and every step being a single block of red marble, seven common paces long, cost 60 guilders. In the two flights are 108 steps. In short, Italy which is famed for magnificent structures affords very few equal to this: the walks, parterres, water-works, and statues, make the garden a most delightful place, and it commands a fine prospect.
Close by Prince
Eugene's
gardens in the suburbs, is the Prince of
Schwartzenburgh's
palace, celebrated for its gardens. The sumptuousness of this edifice eclipses the Favorita, or Imperial palace that stands near it. The place was built by the late Prince of
Fondi,
and cost 300,000 guilders, but his heirs after his decease sold it to Prince
Schwartzenburgh
for 50,000 dollars, who expended on it 300,000 dollars more. This last owner was killed in hunting in the year 1732. The saloons, stair-cases, marble tables, looking-glasses, porcelain vases, paintings, beds, and other rich furniture, make this one of the finest palaces in or near Vienna. The trees in the large orangery stand here also in the open ground, but are sheltered in winter by a little shed placed over them, and which can occasionally be warmed. The walks, groves, and water-works, are extremely beautiful; the last are supplied by a hydraulic machine, worked by fire, which cost near 20,000 guilders, and throws up in 24 hours into a large reservoir above, 11,880 hogsheads of water. The honour of this invention is due to the English, and is such as are used in some coal-mines in Scotland for draining them. It is such a one as is used at York Buildings, London, to supply that part of the town with water.
On the red tower here hangs the flitch of bacon, (though at present made of rind) which, according to the common story, may be claimed by that extraordinary person who can prove that he absolutely rules his wife.
Every court in Germany produces a sort of petit museum, or cabinet of curiosities, artificial and natural, ancient and modern. The Imperial library at Vienna is a great literary rarity, on account of its ancient MSS. It contains upwards of 80,000 volumes, among which are many valuable MSS. in Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Coptic, and Chinese; but the antiquity of some of them is questionable, particularly a new testament in Greek, said to be written 1500 years ago in gold letters, upon purple. Here are likewise many thousand Greek, Roman, and Gothic coins and medals; with a vast collection of other curiosities in art and nature.
It is very lofty, and adorned with good paintings in fresco, sculpture, and a superb gallery, so that it has the appearance of a temple. The importance of its manuscripts may be seen in
Lambecci
's Bibliotheca Vindobonensis, published in 10 vols. folio, as also in
Nesselius's
catalogue. They are said to be above 10,000 in number. Among the Greek MSS, is a very ancient Dioscorides, written in a large character on vellum, with the herbs painted in their natural colours. In truth, this library is inferior to none but the Vatican at Rome, and that of the King of France; these may exceed it as to manuscripts, but not in printed volumes, which are far above 100,000. Here are likewise a Greek translation of Genesis, supposed to be above 1200 years old, illustrated with near 50 historical paintings,
Ptolomy's
Geography finely written, and
Nicephorus's
Ecclesiastical history; the only Greek MS. from which all the editions of that author have been published. Among the Latin MSS. is a Livy, which is of great antiquity, being written in capitals, and without points: but those decads which are wanting in the other copies are also missing here. Here is also a vellum MS. of the golden Bull, illuminated with many golden letters. It is written in the year 1400, by order of the emperor
Winceslaus.
On the first page, and in the first letter, which happens to be a W, the initial of the emperor's name, he is represented as being in prison at Prague, bound with hand-cuffs, and his feet confined in the stocks. Near him is a representation of his maid servant
Susanna,
by whose assistance he made his escape. Here are also eight volumes of
Jacobus de Strada's
treatise of medals.
The collection of medals in this library consists of no less than 16,000 ancient and modern. Here is also shewn a tooth weighing several pounds, which is pretended to have belonged to a giant, but in reality is one of the
dentes molares
of a whale.
The model of the quick-silver mines at Idra, will be viewed with great pleasure by the lovers of mechanics.
At the end of the library, is a particular cabinet appointed for antient, Roman inscriptions and monuments; and a considerable collection is to be seen by the curious inspector.
The expence of this library annually including the salary of officers and servants belonging to it, is about 12,000 guldens, or 400l. British money.
The library is open every day; the Emperor's chief librarian is always the first physician, who appoints two sub-librarians. The attention paid to foreigners who visit this royal collection is both pleasing and flattering, as true politeness is scrupulously observed.
The Imperial museum is in the castle; and one cannot, without astonishment, see the infinite variety of curiosities in gold, silver, ivory, and mother of pearl; mathematical instruments of exquisite workmanship, excellent pictures, antique intaglios; vases of agate, jasper, crystal, garnet, emerald, &c. jewels of inestiable value, and abundance of reliques.
One of the most remarkable curiosities in this museum is a large bowl of agate, three spans in diameter, in the middle of which are these characters, said to be delineated by nature.
B. XRIS R. S. XXX.
which is thus deciphered:
Beatori orbis; or, Beatori generis Christo,
Regi Sempiterno, Triuno, crucifixo.
To Christ the Saviour of the world, the King eternal, the crucified Triune.
The three crosses, and particularly the last, are somewhat obscure; and no small strength of imagination is required to make them signify Tri-uno crucifixo.
This bowl is said to be a
Fidei Commissum,
or feoffment of trust, brought hither as part of the inheritance of the house of Burgundy.
In this museum is also to be seen, among other pieces, the city of Buda, the Duchy of Austria, and the arms of Hungary, on three pieces of agate; but how far art may have assisted nature in these representations cannot be determined without an accurate examination. In the mean time I apprehend, that the above-mentioned agate bowl will be of no more weight towards the conviction of anti-trinitarians, than the natural representation of Apollo and the muses on an agate in the possession of King
Pyrrhus,
in convincing the ancients of the divinity of those imaginary persons.
This collection has a curious specimen of the transmutation of metals, to which the favourers of alchymy with great confidence appeal; particularly a very thick gold medal, weighing 300 ducats; with this inscription:
Performed at Prague, on the 16th of January, 1648, in the presence of his Imperial majesty
Ferdinand
the Third.
The artifices which pretenders in alchymy generally make use of to blind those whom they have once drawn in, are too numerous to be related.
It is surprising, that in our enlightened age, such impostors should meet with any dupes to impose on, since the history of former ages have detected so many palpable frauds practised by them. The projectors at Worms who have been stigmatised for their deceptions, seem to have been followed by the late unfortunate, but ingenious Dr.
Price,
F. R. S. for having once got through the fiery ordeal of alchymy, his fame soared aloft on eagles wings, and he was extolled to the skies as the golden idol of the day; but alas! all human acquisitions are vain and transitory; for, on being required by his brethren of the Royal Society to perform the like process before that august body of the literati; so great was his shock, confident he could not deceive the close and minute examination of the philosophers who were to be his judges, that he put a period to his existence, A. D. 1782.
To the curious reader, the process of our own ingenious countryman must be very satisfactory; it was as follows:
He melted together one part of fine gold, and two of silver, which he beat into thin leaves, and cut into very small pieces; and then he made a very strong powder of crocus martis, which he mixed with corrosive sulphur, salts, and pulverized pumice-stone; and incoporating them with the prepared metal; he burnt the mass in an intense fire, repeating the process three times. At last, he separated the silver from it with aqua-fortis, and produced some gold, which stood the test both of the aqua-fortis, and the cuppel. The process was accounted just and authentic, till by the means of antimony, the imposture was discovered.
But to return to our subject. Among the pictures in this museum, is that of Cupid scraping and polishing his bow, said to be an original by
Corregio,
and is valued at 18,000 ducats.
Here are also several other fine paintings; but the picture-gallery and Imperial chamber of curiosities particularly deserve a traveller's notice. In the anti-chamber, are two portraits, with this inscription in High Dutch:
Janos Rovin, aged a hundred and seventy-two, and Sarah his wife, aged a hundred and sixty-four years, both of the Greek communion; they lived together in wedlock and hundred and forty-seven years. They were born and lived at Stadova, in the district of Curansezeser and the Bannerate of Tameswaer; and had issue two sons and two daughters, who are still living; the youngest son is in his hundredth and sixteenth year, &c.
Among the many pieces in the gallery, the following are the most remarkable, viz. A Pietâ, by
Andrew Del Sarto;
St.
Margaretta
by
Raphael,
which cost 26,000 guilders, and our Saviour standing before
Pilate
sitting on the tribunal, by
Titian,
valued at 60,000 scudi, or crowns; the Rape of Proserpine, by
Solimene,
is remarkable for its fine amber frame.
In the fourth apartment of the museum is seriously shewn a daemon or familiar spirit, which, being conjured out of a daemoniac, was confined in a glass; but, in reality, is nothing but a dark coloured piece of moss, or some such species of the vegetable kingdom, naturally inclosed within a triangular piece of chrystal, which, in shape, has some resemblance of a little man.
Among the diversions of the Imperial court, those of the carnival are not the least, though the strictness of the ceremonial checks the liberty and freedom allowed at other courts in the carnival masquerades. No ladies but those who have access to the empress's chamber are admitted at court on these occasions. The Emperor generally dances several times with the empress and archduchesses; but the empress dances with the Emperor only. In country dances their Imperial majesties are spectators only, but the archduchesses mingle with the company. Some months before the carnival, lots are drawn; and, from that time, the gallant is obliged to wait upon the lady, his partner, every day with a nosegay of natural or artificial flowers, with ribbands and such little presents. The cavalier is likewise to provide his lady's dress; so that the whole expence to him is seldom less than 3000 guilders. Besides, if the weather prove snowy, the expence of a sledge, &c. amount to near 500 guineas, English. For, on this occasion, every one strives to outshine each other in the splendor of their liveries.
The opera at Vienna is carried on at the expence of the Emperor; and, on certain gala days, costs him a considerable deal of money; for the magnificence of the theatre, the splendor of the decorations, the richness of the habits, and the performance in the orchestra, surpass any thing of the kind in Europe. The band of music for the Imperial chapel and the palace consists of above 120 persons; and stands the Emperor, at least, in 200,000 guilders a year; tho' several of the female vocal performers have a salary of 6000 guilders (200l.) yet it is a saying among the Italians, that Vienna is the hospital of the
virtuose
in singers, and that they never go there till they are worn out.
The players also are in the pay of the court; money is taken at the doors, and whatever the receipts are, if they exceed the expences, the ballance is divided among them according to their talents. The highest salary is about 180l. English, per year, and the lowest, 40l. The whole expences amount to about 8000l. a year, and the receipts to 12,000l. The author of a new piece is (besides a premium) entitled to a third part of what his work produces, and he may sell the copy. The cabals and intrigues, however, of the players, a foreigner can have no conception of. Every new part makes a new quarrel, in which the courtiers take part, and the public suffers accordingly. The public indeed, at Vienna, have a very bad taste. Every thing here cries out
panem & circenses,
and the multitude seem to have here no other wishes than to fill their paunches, and have a theatrical entertainment by way of desert. Besides the national theatre, six or seven strolling companies occupy the suburbs; these are such as Suabia is accustomed to; the actors consist of taylors, barbers, apprentices and ruined students, who are sometimes on the stage, sometimes in the hospital, and sometimes in the army. These gentlemen play by a half light, favourable to intrigue. Of these, they succeed best who have their booths in a garden, where a man may walk with his friend between the acts. They are conscious that the public does not come to see the play, that half the company is commonly at the alehouse, whilst the piece is going on, and one man acts three or four parts.
One of the most pleasing sights is the company of the lemonade booths in the summer evenings. They erect a large tent in some of the public parts of the town, and round it are several hundred stools occupied by the ladies and gentlemen of the place. At some distance there is a band of music; the wonderful music, the festive dance, the silence and the familiarity which night diffuses over every thing, have all of them an unspeakable good effect.
To see the equipages of Vienna, you must go to a firework, on the Prater, in the summer time. This Prater is a wood of oaks and beaches on an island of the Danube, near the city. Towards the entrance, under the trees, there are about 30 tents, furnished with chairs and tables, in which you meet with all kind of refreshments. This place is constantly resorted to by day, but, to see it in its splendor, you must go to a fire-work: at this time about 12,000 people assemble and take their supper under the trees. Towards the beginning of the night, on a signal given, they flock to the meadow, surrounded with high trees, in which the spectacle is exhibited. Directly opposite to the firework is a magnificent amphitheatre filled with several hundred ladies, whose high painted cheeks, rich jewels, and light summer-cloths, have a delightful effect. The pit, between the amphitheatre and the fire-work, is filled with men, as full as it can hold. At the conclusion of the festival a most extraordinary sight takes place, a row of from 12 to 1400 coaches, phaetons, and other four-wheeled carriages, goes from the wood to the city, in so direct and close a line, that when they stop, the ham of the hinder carriages are close upon the chest of the fore, ones, the consequence of which is, that, as they go in full trot or gallop, many of the carriages are liable to be broken, and the people in them exposed to the utmost danger; most of these are gentlemen's coaches, with four or six horses; the number of them at Vienna is at least 3,500; there are about 500 hackney coaches, and about 300 job coaches. Notwithstanding the number of equipages on this occasion, there is hardly ever the least disorder, the foot passengers have their road, which no coachman dares break in upon; the bridge between the suburb of Leopold and the Prater, in which the pressure is the strongest, is divided into four parts; the two outermost of them are for the foot passengers, and the innermost for the coaches, that is, one for those going, and another for those coming. This order is kept up through the wood and on the
Chauseé
in the suburb, till you come to the city, and some cuirassiers ride to and fro with drawn sabres, to see that the order is observed. There is no instance of an accident having happened at the time of a festivity; all the casualties that take place through the neglect of coachmen, happen in the daily business of the city.
As to the firework itself, I set it, says
Reisbec,
far above all the amusements of the place, not excepting the national theatre itself. M.
Stuwer,
who was the artificer when the Baron was there, understood it thoroughly, he exhibits whole gardens, large palaces, and temples, in due perspective, with all their different shades and colours, and almost as large as nature. His machines are particularly large and beautiful, and often make from six to eight fronts, from fifty to sixty feet long. At the opening of the exhibition they let off several hundred rockets, which fly up with a noise like thunder, shake the whole forest, and make it light as at noon day.
The
Augarten
is likewise one of their summer amusements, at which you may meet with all the great world. This is a large park in the same island of the Danube in which the Prater is. It is a park of the late emperor's, who, as an inscription on the door states, first opened it, as a friend to mankind, for a place of relaxation to all ranks; it is however visited only by the higher orders; those who see it is not made for them voluntarily exclude themselves. It is a true English garden, and the Danube washing its banks gives life to the whole. But the most pleasing perspective is that of a large forest in view at a distance, which has been cut through on the other side of the river, and is bounded by the remote hills of Moravia, which flit about it like light clouds. There is a magnificent pavilion, in which is a billiard table, and refreshments of all kinds. Here all ranks, particularly the noblesse and literati, mix together. Spa waters are brought from Spa, Pyrmont, &c. The ladies drink, that they may shew themselves in negligeés, and the men drink, because the ladies are not so stiff in negligeés, as when they are full dressed.
There are several other places of public resort in this city. That which is most generally visited is the rampart, which, though exposed to a very warm sun, is almost always full. The middling people cannot go to church in the afternoon without taking a turn round the ramparts, which takes them up an hour; those of higher ranks walk out to shew their dogs, which, in this place only, are safe from horses and carriages. Hounds are a great article of luxury here; the great endeavour to outvie each other in them; at present the little Pomeranian breed is all the mode, one either snow white, or coal black, with a sharp snout, will fetch from 10 to 15 ducats: Prince
Christian
gave 25 ducats for one. Every man who aims at all for ton, must have his
Spisschen,
that is, his dog. The peasants who profit by this folly, have built a dog market, adjoining to the poultry market.
They have also their winter amusements, as I shall mention presently. A person of quality and fortune, who is fond of cards, may here gratify such a disposition as far as he pleases, and be assured of being well received in all assemblies. The usual questions, particularly of the ladies, with regard to a stranger, introduced by any of their acquaintance into an assembly, turn upon these three capital points, viz. 1. Whether he be of old nobility? 2. Whether he be rich? and 3. Whether he be fond of play? If these three questions are answered in the affirmative, no further enquiry is to be apprehended. Sometimes if a stranger gambles deep, that qualification makes up any deficiency in birth or fortune: this vice being as pernicious in Germany as in any part of England. Vienna swarms with what they call new nobility, i. e. persons who have acquired fortunes by trade, and then assume what titles they please. It also swarms with literati; when a man accosts you, says
Reisbec,
whom you do not know, by his dirty hands, to be a painter, a smith, or a shoe-maker; or, by his livery, to be a footman; or, by his fine clothes, to be a man of consequence; be assured he is either a man of letters, or a taylor, for between these two classes I have not learned to distinguish. Indeed the title of a man of letters is now so much despised at Vienna, that such of high rank as cultivate knowledge for themselves, or employ their talents in the service of their country would be ashamed of it. The principal men of merit here are foreigners:
Stork
is a Suabian;
Denis,
the great Austrian poet, a Bavarian, and
Hill,
the mathematician, a Silesian. Many of the higher posts of the state are filled by natives; the Emperor's confidential secretaries are foreigners: nay, what is more, all the new enterprises have been also set on foot by foreigners, who have been poorly rewarded. The inventor of the penny post was obliged to run away for debt: a French officer who was called in to improve the artillery was driven away by ingratitude, and an Englishman, who taught the art of gelding horses safely, being paid only by fair promises, shot himself.
Music is the only thing for which the nobility shew a taste; several of them have private bands of musicians, and all the public concerts attest that this finest of arts is here in the greatest esteem. You may bring together four or five large orchestras, which are all incomparable. The number of private virtuosi is small, but there is no finer orchestras of music in the world. I have heard, says Baron
Reisbec,
thirty or forty instruments play together, all which gave so just, so clear, and so precise a sound, as to seem but that of a single, very strong instrument; a single draw of the bow gave life to all the violins, and a single blast to all the wind instruments. An Englishman, by whom I chance to sit, continues the Baron, was astonished not to hear, in a whole opera, I will not say, a single difference, but a hasty stroke, too long a pause, or too loud a blast; though just come from Italy, he was enraptured with the justness and the clearness of the harmony. There are about 400 musicians here, who divide themselves into particular societies, and often labour together during a long course of years. On a particular day of the year they have a general concert for the benefit of musicians widows, and I have been assured, that the 400 play together as distinctly, as clearly, and as justly, as when there are only twenty or thirty.
The Kalteburgh, which lies on the Danube, about three miles from the city, is a delightful place of resort: the way to it is through a wonderfully well cultivated country. At some distance to the left, on the slope of a hill, and under some very old oaks, is Field-marshal
Lacy
's elegant villa, with his English garden. By degrees you gain a thick forest on the brow of the hill; at the top of this stands the Camaldeuleuse convent in the finest point of view you can imagine. Under some trees before the convent, are a table and some benches, where the ladies, who cannot visit the inside of the monastery, without special leave of the Archbishop, are entertained till their friends return. Each monk has his own separate hut, with a little garden belonging to it. To the outer cells there is a terrace, which looks over a perpendicular precipice into the Danube, and commands a prospect of which a monk of this sort is quite unworthy. You have the whole city of Vienna like a ground-plot under your feet; you think you hear the constant hum in it, and your eye carries you over this part of Austria, as far as to the borders of Hungary and Moravia. The majestic Danube winds its way thro' an immense plain; at some distance it considerably widens, and, not being varied with woods and elevations, casts a silver appearance on the landscape to the right: the wood-crowned hill you are upon gradually decreases to the suburbs, whilst, to the left, it stretches its high neck along the Danube; where at three miles distance, we see the golden hill of Enserdorf, which produces one of the best Austrian wines. The numberless fine valleys, the blue hills swimming on the horizon, and all the various aspects of wood and water, diffuse a delight which impressed me to such a degree, that I could not help exclaiming with enthusiasm to the monk who was near me,
Happy must be that brother, who inhabits the outer cell!
"No," returned he,
we are not of your opinion; none of us chuse to live in it; it is too much exposed to the winds, and is as cold again as any other.
In a moment the man brought me out of my enthusiasm, and convinced me, I am one of those who, in summer, never think of winter, and who hate nothing more than to be forced to see the ugly side of things, be they as natural as they may, whilst I am taken up with the beautiful ones.
Dr.
Moore
tells us, that he, with the Duke of Hamilton, went up to this convent in a party to dinner; when they got to the foot of the hill or mountain, as the common carriages could not be drawn up, they found chaises of a particular construction calculated for such expeditions; these had been ordered by the ambassador for the accommodation of the company. The table for dinner was covered in a field near the convent, under the shade of some trees. Every delicacy of the season was served up; a very beautiful and sprightly lady did the honours, some of the finest women of Vienna, her companions, were of the party; so the whole entertainment was conducted with equal taste and gaiety.
During the desert, some of the fathers came and presented the company with baskets of fruit and sallad from their garden. The ambassador invited them to sit, and the ladies pledged them in Tokay. A permission had been obtained for the ladies to enter the convent; and they did, with the company, as soon as dinner was over.
You would readily believe that the appearance of so many handsome women would be particularly interesting to a community which had never before beheld a female within their walls. This was sufficiently evident in spite of the gravity and mortified looks of the fathers.
One lady, of a gay disposition, laid hold of a little scourge, which hung at one of the father's belts, and desired he would make her a present of it, for she wished to use it when she returned home; having, as she said, been a great sinner; the father, with great gallantry, begged she would spare her own fair skin, assuring her that he would give himself a hearty flogging, on her account, that very evening; and, to prove how much he was in earnest, fell directly on his knees, and began to whip his own shoulders with great earnestness, declaring that when the ladies should retire he would lay it, with the same violence, on his naked body; for he was determined she should be as free from sin, as she was on the day of her birth.
This melted the lady's heart; she begged the father might take no more of her faults upon his shoulders; the lady assured him that her slips had been very venial, and that she was convinced what he had done already, would clear her as completely as if he should whip himself to the bone.
There is something, says Dr.
Moore,
so ludicrous in all this, that you may naturally suspect the representations here given to proceed from inventions, rather than memory. I assure you, however, continues he, in downright earnest, that the scene passed as nearly as described; and, to prevent the mischief, I put the scourge, which the zealous father had made use of, into my pocket.
On my return to Vienna, I called at the countess of
Walstein's,
where the late emperor,
Joseph
II. was on a visit. Some one had mentioned to him the pious gallantry of the father. He asked for a sight of the whip, which he was told I had brought away; I had it in my pocket, and immediately shewed it to him. He laughed very heartily at the warmth of the father's zeal, which he supposed had been augmented by the ambassador's tokay.
The first class of people not only live luxuriously, but are much addicted to feasting and carousing, dancing and fencing, which are their ordinary recreations within doors: but in the winter, when the several branches of the Danube are frozen over, and the ground covered with snow, the ladies take their recreation in sledges of different shapes, such as griffins, tigers, swans, eagles, scollop shells, &c. a representation of one of the most elegant of which we have presented to our readers.
(See the plate.)
Here the lady sits dressed in velvet lined with rich furs and adorned with laces and jewels, having on her head a velvet cap; and the sledge is drawn by one horse, set off with plumes of feathers, ribbons and bells: and as this diversion is chiefly taken in the night-time, footmen ride before the sledge with torches, and a gentleman sitting on the sledge behind, guides the horse. The winters are much severer at Vienna than at London; though the latitude at London is between three and four degrees further north, but then the weather is more constant and severe there; and they clothe themselves so well with furs and warm caps in the day-time, and cover themselves with feather-beds at night, that they are not very sensible of the difference, especially as every one, male and female, drink some strong waters to preserve an internal warmth and circulate the fluids in the animal system.
AMUSEMENTS AT VIENNA.
At the carnival, which begins the new year, all sorts of diversions are carried to the greatest height, except that of masquing, which is never permitted during a war with the Turks, or any of the surrounding nations.
The balls are at public places, where the gentlemen pay a gold ducat at entrance, but the ladies nothing; where it is not uncommon to have an assemblage of 1000 gentlemen, and as many ladies. The rooms are well decorated, and the music good; but the din of hunting-horns would be sufficient to deafen any one besides the people of Vienna, who never have a concert without them. The ball always concludes with English country dances; which, for the most part, are so ill danced, that there is little pleasure in seeing them, and much less to be of the party.
The manners of the court of Vienna are considerably altered since
Lady Mary Wortley Montague
was there; particularly, since the accession of the Empress, the people of different ranks now do business together with ease, and meet at public places without any of those ridiculous disputes about precedency, of which
Lady Mary
has given such lively descriptions. Yet trifling punctilios are not so completely banished as could be wished; for there is certainly still a greater separation than good sense could direct, between the various classes of the subjects.
The higher, or ancient families, keep themselves as distinct from the inferior, or newly created nobility, as those do from the citizens; so that it is very difficult for the inferior classes to be in society, or to have their families much connected with those of superior rank. There is a law in force that obliges the offices of state to be in the hands of the higher order of people, whether they have abilities for the office or not. As for the peasantry, they are, in many parts of the Emperor's dominions, in a state of perfect slavery, and almost totally dependent on the proprietors of the land.
The ideas, respecting dress, seem to have entirely changed since Lady
Mary's
time; and if the dress of the ladies be still as absurd, it is at least not so singular; for they, like the rest of Europe, have now adopted the Parisian modes; and if the ladies were ugly 70 years ago, they are not so now, and of course gallantry may be more general.
It is not uncommon for married ladies here to avow the greatest degree of friendship and attachment to men who are not their husbands, and to live with them in great intimacy, without hurting their reputation, or being suspected even by their own sex of having deviated from the laws of modesty.
One evening, says
Moore,
at Count
Thune's,
when there was a pretty numerous company, I observed one lady uncommonly sad, and enquired of her intimate friend, who happened to be there also, if she knew the cause of this sadness? I do, replied she, Mr.
De
—, whom she loves very tenderly, ought to have been here a month ago, and last night she received a letter from him, informing her that he cannot be at Vienna for a month to come. But pray, said I, does your friend's husband know of this violent passion she has for Mr.
De—?
Yes, yes, answered she, he knows it and enters, with the most tender sympathy, into her afflictions; he does all that can be expected from an affectionate husband to comfort and soothe his wife, assuring her, that her love will wear off with time. But she always declares that she has no hopes of this, feeling an increase of it daily.
Mais, au sond,
continues the lady,
cela lui fait bien de regret, parceque malheureusement il aime sa femme à la folie. Et sa femme qui est la meilleure créature du monde, plaint infiniment son pauvre mari; car elle a beaucoup d'amitié et d'estime pour lui; mais elle ne sçauroit se défaire de cette malheureuse passion pour Monsieur De—?
Its university is very famous throughout Germany and Hungary; the number of students is considerable, and they have good accommodations for those of fortune, and many valuable privileges.
This city, like most others in Roman-catholic countries, is over-run with lazy, indolent priests, who do nothing to gain their livelihood, but are maintained by the industry of every body else. It is amazing, that Roman-catholic princes do not find out that every monk in their dominions might be a soldier, without the country suffering any thing the more; and, in many cases, the soldier would pay well for his maintenance; but, as to the monk, he is supported in the most unuseful of all species of idleness.
The late Emperor,
Joseph
II. was truly sensible of this; and, with a great deal of wisdom and polity, put an end to the monkeries: he abolished the convents, and obliged the inhabitants to find out some other mode of living; and it was truly laughable to see the effect of this event.
Those drones of society were removed from their nests by the edict of this wise monarch, and stript of their sacerdotal habits, which were replaced by the less distinguished ones of laymen. Nor were the secluded nuns free from the general alarm; but were obliged to resume the cloathing of useful females.
DESTRUCTION OF THE MONASTERIES.
But there are other instances of the catholic piety of Vienna, besides her monks and her nuns; in one of the squares is a very large and costly statue of the Trinity, representing the Deity clasping Christ in his arms; and the Holy Ghost hovering over them. To this famous piece of folly all the Roman-catholics bow as they pass.
Religious prejudices should certainly be laid aside by travellers; but is it possible for a man of sense not to rejoice that education has not enslaved him to an observance of, or veneration for such mummery? In many instances religion makes Roman-catholic countries very disagreeable.
There is a haughty reserve in the citizens of Vienna, so that it is impossible to get an intelligent person to acquaint the most polite stranger with any particulars relative to agriculture, manufactures, commerce, revenue or military power: for, in the fashionable circles, none of these instructive lessons are regarded; vice and folly taking the lead of all wholesome considerations.
The great attention at Vienna is the army; this is so far reprehensible in politics, as it increases the necessity of laying a foundation previous to every superstructure: it is the revenue that supports and pays the army; and all the increase of the latter, must depend on a foregoing increase of the former: to raise a great revenue is much more essential than to raise a great army; but the soldiers have a peculiar faculty of swallowing up a revenue, they have none at creating it. That prince, therefore, who would be truly formidable, should attend to the prospects of his income before he thinks of greatly increasing his troops.
The police of this place is intirely taken up with the object of suppressing every thing that indicates vigour and manly strength, as will be seen; that, however, is not the best police, whose object is to make every member of society as secure as possible; but that which knows how to give the greatest security to the whole, and, at the same time, encroaches as little as possible upon the freedom of individuals.
It is certain, that by setting watches about every citizen's house, to take an account of what is going forward at his table and in his bed, and to follow the several members of his family wherever they go, is to guard effectually against disorder; but who is there existing on earth that loves the order kept up against galley-slaves exercised upon themselves?
The wise Creator, whose government ought to be the model of every prudent legislature, left us that free will which we so often abuse. He gave us strong incitements to good, without taking away the power of doing evil. In this liberty, notwithstanding the mischiefs which arise from it, consists the true greatness of man. Religion teaches us that, in his own good time, God will punish the wicked and reward the good. Without the freedom to do ill, we should have neither moral feelings nor moral happiness.
We cannot follow a better method of legislation and police, than what is set us by the Creator. As it is the business of legislation to punish the wicked without partiality, and reward the good with a liberal hand; so the police, which is subordinate to it, ought to have no other object, than to give it the means of rewarding virtue and punishing vice.
To go farther than this, and endeavour to make moral evil physically impossible, is subverting the order of nature.
Human justice knows of no evils but those which spring from offences, and are hurtful to society; for the tribunal of justice must not imperiously extend to the internal morals of man, but to his outward actions only.
Probably Vienna is the only city in the world, which has a court called a special Commission of Chastity. A few years ago, the spies of this extraordinary tribunal used to follow the young people into their houses, and even break open their bed-chambers, and visit their beds in the middle of the night. The horror which this raised in society was so universal, that the Emperor was constrained to remove the evil by limiting this abused power. Now it is safe to walk in public, yet spies are numerous, under pretext to guard against the excesses or indulgences of youth.
It is the opinion here, that the best way to prevent criminal intercourse, and infant-murder, is to compel the man who has a child sworn to him to marry the woman immediately. This is done with a view, also, of increasing population. The following curious fact will serve as an example. A young man was summoned before the consistory to make answer to a young woman, who claimed him for a husband. As he was in the outward chamber waiting for her, he saw another poor young woman who was come there on the like errand. Having made himself acquainted with all the circumstances of her case, and finding that the supposed father of her child was fled, he offered her a good sum if she would take him in his stead, and date her complaint prior to the time of that which he expected to be brought against him. She agreed to his proposal, and he went to the judges full of confidence in the success of his project. The court put the usual question, whether he had criminal intercourse with the female before the bar? He confessed he had; upon which he was told to give his hand to the woman. To this he replied, he had no objection, but that there was a person in the anti-chamber, who had prior claims upon him. Upon her being called, it appeared visibly she was farther gone than the other. The first plaintiff was restrained, and satisfied with a little money. After she was gone, the judges desired he would give his hand to the other, whereupon he pleaded the artifice, but having no witnesses to produce in evidence, he was compelled to give his hand to a woman he had not known above half an hour.
These marriages by compulsion are attended with very pernicious consequences both to society and the state. And if it prevents the evil complained of, it is equally certain it must increase adultery. Truth, confidence and love, the most holy and useful bands of society, they entirely dissolve. The man who from the circumstance of his having been compelled to marry, considers his wife as a prostitute, consequently cannot so respect her, as to make the yoke of matrimony sit light and easy. It is indeed astonishing how indifferent the married people of this place are to each other. In Paris their indifference arises from the national manners, but here from necessity, and by the force of compulsory laws. It is no doubt owing to this want of the affections of social and domestic life, says
Reisbec,
that the people have here so few moral feelings.
It is always allowed, every thing has its good as well as weak side. From this analogy we may deduce, that the people here, want spirit; consequently their vices are few, and as weak as their virtues. Nothing of the tragedies of London, Paris or Naples, is seen here. For the choler of two stout men extends only to menace and grinning: blows being scarcely ever made use of to decide the contest; lest any of the six hundred spies which creep round the metropolis should,
sans ceremonie,
put the combatants into safe ward. Thus the frays at Vienna, like those of Billingsgate, in London, all vanish into air.
We seldom hear of any extraordinary instances of impropriety and indecency in this place. Considering the state of the country, it is not extraordinary that a taste for pleasure should be so prevalent as it is. it having certainly more food here than any where else. The number of poor is much smaller than at Paris, and probably than at London. Every thing, even the cloathing of the lowest servants, bespeaks a degree of affluence. The prodigality of the higher nobility, the many and great appointments paid by the court, and the extensive commerce of the midling classes, greatly assists the circulation of money. The expence of living here is likewise less than it is any where else, and Vienna is probably the only town in which the price of the necessaries of life is not equal to the quantity of gold in circulation. This arises from the great want of money in the neighbouring Hungary. You have good wine here for three kreutzers, or three farthings English, the bottle, and a very good dinner for 3d. I knew a traiteur, says
Reisbec,
who for 13 sols a head, furnished a
table d'hote,
consisting of vegetables, broiled meat, a pudding, roasted calf's liver, and beef fried, and a gill of wine included. In a word, a man of small fortune may live here very well, but if he has a great one, he will be certainly tempted to spend it. The more nature gives, the more necessities men create to themselves, and she is so profuse here, that they of course become so too. The infinite number of richly pensioned dependents of the court, the numerous nobility, and the many strangers who come here, merely for amusement, know no other pleasure than to follow it, wheresoever it leads, riches, idleness, and the liberality of nature must render a people dissipated, where religion is the opposite to frugality, and whose governors cannot give their spirits any other occupation.
The individuals of a country which exists only by subordination, will, of course, be weak and feeble characters. Though no nation has so much checked the power of their kings at different periods as the English: yet history affords no greater instances of the devotion of individuals to the sovereign. The same love which the Englishman has for liberty, extends to the person of the prince, as long as the sovereign leaves the constitution unmolested, and manifests a love for his people. So that a Briton will preserve strength of character, as long as his constitution lasts.
The government of this place endeavours to make some amends for the universal subjection under which these people are held by a most exact administration of justice, by taking measures for universal security, and by the free admission and encouragement of every pleasure (the single one of lawless love alone excepted) that can delight the human mind. The police is so vigilant and acute, that the most subtle thefts are commonly discovered, and the owner gets his goods again. The Imperial houses and gardens are almost constantly open to the public. The players are under the peculiar protection of a court, who shews, in every thing, that the restraint it lays the people under, arises more from principle than the desire of tyrannizing over them.
Yet, notwithstanding all this pleasure, and all this security, I had rather, says
Reisbec,
be exposed to a London footpad, or have the bottles and glasses whistle round my head on the last night of Vauxhall, than enjoy all the placid tranquillity of this place. These last are disorders indeed, but they are disorders which are inseparable from a strong national character, such as is the people by whom they are committed.
The late Emperor
Joseph
II. was of an affable disposition, and in fact the sitting magistrate of Vienna. He heard the complaints of all ranks of people; for the meanest of his subjects had free access to him. His dispensations in justiciary matters were truly excellent, and well worth the attention of princes, whose desire is to administer equity and justice to their subjects.
The following anecdote of him is well known: a poor family, the father of which had worn out his better days as a soldier, in the service of the state, and was entitled to some claim for those services, not having sufficient interest to procure them, was pining out the remainder of his life in want and distress. He at last thought of petitioning the Emperor, and sent one of his daughters with the petition. The Emperor was so struck with the appearance of the girl, and so won by her modest deportment, that he not only signed the paper, ordering the claims to be made good, but added Let a pension of 600 livres be annually paid him.
(See the plate.)
The hand of justice in all christian states should be tempered by the soft feelings of mercy, and the wretch, who, violating the laws deserves punishment, should be meliorated by the remission of every species of torture. A noble fundamental principle of British laws! In Vienna, the way of executing criminals is commonly done by cutting off their heads; though in cases of high treason, they first cut off the right hand: the executioner generally strikes off the head with one blow.
In the city of Vienna, as I have observed, swarms of literary characters are to be found. Some of whom are above and some below mediocrity. It would be invidious in me to point out their defects, and weak to speak in their praise; suffice it therefore to say, that there are some of all denominations. Were we to point out the literary societies, and mark out all the rules and regulations of this great mart for literature, it would swell this article to the size of a volume, without adding to the entertainment of our readers; we shall dismiss therefore the subject with only observing, that a habit of writing is generally adopted by the students of Vienna; of course, it must naturally be supposed that some of them are not very bright geniuses.
JOSEPH II: EMP: OF GERMANY.
The flowery diction of a
Gesner,
a
Wieland,
or a
Lavater,
must ever be regarded by men of letters as the effusion of a daring imagination cloathed in the diction of politeness and elegance, as well as sublimity and flowing periods.
The German ladies are not wanting in this article; for very neat productions have been ushered into the world, from some of those studious females at the capital.
The taste for dramatic writing is now revived, and the rational amusement of the stage seems now to be in a fair way to be retrieved from its long neglected state. The late emperor began it, and the present one seems to have fixed a resolution of raising it to the highest pitch of excellence. It is carried on, and the performers salaries paid at the Emperor's expence, as has been before observed.
The city of Baden is situate about 18 miles south of Vienna. It is a neat well built town, and a place of public resort in the summer, on account of its hot baths. The German physicians prescribe its waters, (and issuing from rocks of salt, allum, and brimstone, they taste strangely of these minerals) as salutary for valetudinarians; and particularly beneficial in all disorders of the head, such as head-aches, dimness of sight, deafness, &c. They are used by internal and external applications. Modern practice of the faculty recommends this water as an antidote against the gout; as well as for the dropsy and other chronical distempers.
There is nothing to attract the traveller's attention in this city, except the salubrity of the climate, and the fashionable resort of the higher ranks of the citizens of Vienna. The usual taste for dissipation and genteel vices are not wanting here. For there are no spies of chastity, nor yoke of moral conduct, as at the capital, so that all ranks indulge in those pleasures that are most suitable to their inclinations.
Baden wants none of the requisites that constitute a place of luxurious enjoyments, added to the great good qualities of its springs.
The dukedom of Stitia, and the earldom of Cilley, have Gratz and Cilley as the principal cities. The former situated on the banks of the river Muer, and the latter on the banks of the river Drave. There are no vineyards in this part of the country, but the native supplies are plentiful in every other article of life. It is very remarkable that in this country, the natives are frequently troubled with a struma, or swelling on their throats or chins, to a monstrous degree. This epidemical distemper is supposed to proceed from the snow-water they drink, which falls from the mountains; but the nobility and better sort of people, who drink wine and other strong liquors, are seldom troubled with it.
Gratz is a well built town, its streets are spacious and well laid out, the castle stands on a high hill, and has the conveniency of a well that has a communication with the Muer, for the convenience of water carriage to Hungary. It has a good armory and also spacious magazines. In the Jesuits library here is shewn a manuscript translation of the Bible, at the conclusion of which is a memoir, signifying that it was written and finished by
Erasmus Stratter,
at Saltzburg, before the Ember week in autumn, 1469. In this manuscript, the so much disputed text in the 5th chapter of the 1st Epistle of St.
John,
v. 7. concerning the three witnesses in heaven is to be found, but the sixth verse runs thus,
And the spirit is that which witnesseth that Christ is the truth.
The text in a printed Bible, to be seen there, is expressed in the same manner. The reason why this text is not to be found in so many manuscripts is well known, but all the craft of the enemies of our holy faith has but little weight, as the connexion not only necessarily requires the sentence in dispute, but
Tertullian,
so early as the second, and St.
Cyprian,
in the third century, expressly appeal to this passage. At the Dominican convent, which lies between the church and the area before the palace, is a piece of painting representing
Catharine,
of Sienna, exchanging her heart for that of Christ. Not far from it is the portrait of St.
Alan,
a Dominican monk, who was a native of England. An inscription beneath, according to
Keysler,
says, that the Virgin
Mary
was so pleased with the love he bore her, that in the presence of the Son of God, an infinite multitude of angels and blessed spirits, she was espoused to St.
Alan,
gave him with her virgin mouth a kiss of everlasting peace, refreshed him with the milk of her chaste breasts, and presented him with a ring in token of the marriage. This pretended step-father and foster brother of our Lord, died in 1475. That the Virgin
Mary
should expose her bosom in the presence of many spectators, will not appear strange to those who from other legends have learned, that it is not uncommon for them to represent her as condescending to such familiarities with her favourite votaries, as not to be read without a blush. This devout
Alan
informs us, that the Virgin once paid a formal visit to St.
Dominic,
the founder of his order, attended by three maids of honour, each of which had a retinue of 150 angels. He adds, that these three maids of honour represented the three persons in the blessed Trinity, by whom
Dominic
(who had fallen into a swoon at the radiancy of this celestial visit) was raised and delivered into the hands of the Virgin
Mary,
who received him as her bridegroom, kissed and suckled him at her breast.
Crassus
and
Caesarius
give us an account of many more such condescending weddings. Some sensible Romanists however, not of this order, have openly expressed their abhorrence of such impious fictions.
In the market-place at Gratz is a fine pillar of gilt brass erected to the Trinity; the town is well fortified, and contains besides a parish church, eight cloysters with their churches, and about 30,000 inhabitants.
There are persons in it who have incomes from 30 to 40,000 florins, and the luxury that prevails is not to be described; they have four regular meals, morning, noon, evening, and night; ducks and chickens are the ordinary food of the common citizens. They made me almost sick, says
Reisbec,
with the sight of their pasties, tarts, ragouts, &c. They talk of nothing but the kitchen, and the cellar, the attention to cooking only excepted, and do not seem many degrees above Orang-outangs. This also is the great mart for all indecent and irreligious books; and hence they are sent into other countries.
Two stages from Gratz, in the way to Vienna, on the right of Retelstein, is a cave, out of which are continually dug several large bones called
unicornu fossile,
not unlike those of Canstein. The entrance is very large and the cave runs under a rock to the distance, 'tis said, of two German miles, or eight English ones. It is conjectured that these bones belonged to cattle or wild beasts, who, at the time of the deluge, or some other extraordinary inundation, had sheltered themselves here. The vulgar call them dragons teeth, or giants bones, and imagine that before the deluge, this cavern was the abode of savage women.
The Dukedom of Carinthia has St. Veit for its capital, and is famous for its early reception of the christian religion. The duchy of Carniola has Trieste for its chief town. There is a curious lake in this dukedom, 70 miles in length, and 35 in breadth, surrounded by high mountains, that in the month of June, annually, retires under ground, and returns again in September, with great violence spouting up the water to a great heighth. But what is most singular, during the absence of the waters, the bottom of the lake is suddenly covered over with grass, so that cattle graze there with safety.
The county of Tyrol has Inspruc for its metropolis, which contains 14,000 inhabitants. And those of Brixen and Trent, have towns of the same names. These three states are remarkable for their productions in fossils, both in stones and gems.
The commerce of this country is now extremely flourishing, but it was a long time before the Austrians knew how to enjoy the advantage, which nature had given them. Notwithstanding they were masters of one of the largest rivers in the world, which carries ships upwards of 70 German miles before it comes to them, and afterwards opens them a way into the Levant and Black sea; there was no spirit of trade before the time of
Francis
—. Trade was considered as below the attention of a gentleman; and though the emperor
Francis
was himself a merchant, and by degrees the nobility began to look upon the industrious tradesman with somewhat less degree of contempt; still a great deal was reserved for the late emperor,
Joseph
II. whose popularity and aversion to old prejudices, are in no instances more conspicuous than in this. He introduced ingenious artists and merchants into the first societies. It is true indeed, that those who think all merit consists in birth and external appearance, neglect nothing to make the plebean feel he is out of his element; but a word from the monarch sets all to rights, and the more the noblesse disturbed themselves, the more
Joseph
was sure to take opportunities of humbling their pride. Some years ago, when he was at Prague, he came into a large company, leading a citizen's wife by the hand: all the ladies immediately began to stare, but he took no farther notice of it, than by going down a dance with her, the only dance he danced.
With all this, however, trade is still far below what it might be; but it makes great strides every day. It is said there are already above a hundred silk-weavers looms in Vienna. There are also plush and cotton manufactures; and foreign trade is carried on with Austrian and Hungarian wines, Bohemian and Moravian linens, (which go by Trieste into Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey) wrought iron, steel, and copper, leather, china, and other articles.—These produce many millions. All this the government protects so heartily, that it has always a fund ready for the encouragement of the enterprising and discrete projector. This fund lends out money without interest, for five, six, or even ten years, after which it receives interest gradually, from one to two or three per cent. From these beginners great advantages are, no doubt, to be expected in the next generation, when instead of being proud of their debts, the nobility shall deign to be in company with a rich trader, and instead of reasoning on a bill of fare, will converse with him on the profits of the year.
MAP
of the CIRCLE of
UPPER SAXONY
CHAP. VIII.
The Circle of Upper Saxony.
THIS circle terminates on that of Franconia, the Upper Rhine, and the circle of Lower Saxony, as also on the Baltic sea; Prussia, Poland, Silesia, Lusatia and Bohemia. Its whole extent being estimated at 1950 square geographical miles.
It contains as follows: Pomerania N. E. Brandenburg, and Middle hall subject to the king of Prussia; Pomerania N. W. subject to Sweden; Thuringia W. subject to the elector of Mentz: Saxe-Hall, subject to its bishop; Anhalt N. subject to the prince of Anhalt Dessau; the duchies of Saxe Meinungen, Saxe Zeitz, Saxe Altenburg S. E. Saxe Weimar W. Saxa Gotha W. Saxe Eisnach S. W. Saxe Saalfeldt, and Saxe Naumburg, subject to their own dukes; the counties of Schwartsburg W; Belchingen N; Mansfeldt N; Stolberg N. W; and Hohenstein W. subject to their respective counts; all the rest of the circle belongs to the elector of Saxony. Such parts as belong to Prussia and Sweden, we have spoken sufficiently of already, when describing those kingdoms; the lesser dukedoms, &c. we shall pass over in silence, as describing the country and manners of Germany in general, is describing of these; we shall dwell only on the electorate of Saxony.
The duchy of Saxony, which gives the Elector the title of Duke, is of no great extent, and bounded by the principality of Anhalt on the N. Lusatia and part of Brandenburg on the E. Misnia on the S. and Mansfeldt and Thuringia on the W. But the electoral country contains 210 towns, 61 market-towns, 3157 villages, 1591 gentlemens estates, with villages annexed, 130 royal citadels, and 196 royal manners; in the whole 225 towns, and 5685 villages.
The air of this country is cold, but healthful. The soil yields wheat and some wine, though not in great plenty. There are several mines of silver, and other metals, but the want of fuel to work them with, prevents the Elector from rising the ore.
Of this duchy, which alone contains 24 cities and towns, three boroughs, and 494 villages, Wittenburg is the chief city, but Dresden is the metropolis of the electorate.
This electorate has had the honour of giving rise to the reformation in the tenth century, and the Protestant Lutheran church is the prevailing sect here. The Calvinists, as well as the Roman-catholics, have, at Dresden and Leipsic the free exercise of their religion.
The sciences flourish in this electorate, printing being at no place more common, and book-selling no where more considerable than at Leipsic. At Meissen, Pforte, and Grimma are princely, country schools, and good seminaries at other places.
The useful and fine manufactures and fabricks are very numerous in this electorate. Great quantities of yarn are spun here, thread bleached, coarse and fine linen wove, and tick made, together with cerecloth, fine lace, ribband, edging, and paper. The porcelain of Meissen is famous throughout all Europe, and known also in other principal parts of the world, under the name of Dresden china. Fine glasses and mirrors are made here, and out of the serpent stone all manner of things. Iron is wrought here, also steel and brass. Saxony has likewise its manufactures of gold and silver; cotton, wool, and silk are made up here in handkerchiefs, cloths, fustians, flannels, stuffs, plush, and stockings. It makes also gloves, caps, and hats. Here are besides fine tapestries; and in these manufactured wares, as well as in the natural productions of the country, namely, in corn, flax, anise, woad, blue, starch, arsenic, saffron, wine, &c. and in cattle, wool, and many other articles an important foreign commerce is carried on. The tin here is very exellent, and gems they have in great plenty.
The Elbe is the principle river in this country, and greatly promotes its trade. Leipsic is not only the greatest trading town in this electorate, but one of the greatest in all Germany.
The Elector of Saxony stiles himself, Duke of Saxony, Juliers, Cleve, and the Berg; also of Engers and Westphalia; archmarshal and elector of the holy Roman empire, Landgrave in Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen and of Upper and Lower Lusatia, Burgrave of Magdeburg, princely count of Henneberg, count of the Mark, Ravensberg, Barby, and Hanau, and lord of Ravenstein, and he is now chosen presumptive heir to the crown of Poland. His arms for Saxony are a garland of rue for the head and hair. The diet is held at Dresden.
The chief cities in this electorate, and those we shall speak of, are Wittenburg, Leipsic and Dresden.
Wittenburg is the head town of the circle, lying not far from the Elbe, over which it has a ferry; the city is not large but fortified; the old citadel was formerly the electoral palace, and here are kept the common archives of the Saxon houses. It has a university, and the number of students are about 700, where they are taught the arts of dancing, fencing, and other polite accomplishments. They are under the care of 12 professors who teach Latin, Greek, and French. Young persons are sent hither from all parts of Germany, particularly from Hamburg and Dantzic.
The
Sokoloff
church here is a building of about 300 years standing, where
Martin Luther
first preached the doctrine which occasioned the revolt from the Roman principles. He is also interred here, but has no other monument than a simple brass plate with an inscription, except his original portrait at length, painted on wood, and well preserved since 1540.
The people in Leipsic, as in most places, where the Lutheran religion prevails, have a strong tincture of Romish superstition. Among several instances of which the credulous firmly believe and report as a fact, that in the library now belonging to the academy, the
Devil
paid a visit to
Luther,
and offered to shake hands with the reformer, as a mark of politeness and respect, at which the pious man was so incensed that he took up his large, leaden ink-stand, and threw it right in the intruder's face, so that he was obliged to make a precipitate retreat, all smeared over with ink, muttering horridly that he would be revenged of the doctor, who had so saucily treated him, for no other cause than his friendly attention to him to call and ask him how he did!
Indeed this mark of disrespect in
Luther,
strongly indicated his resolute determination to be at continual variance with the prince of the air; for honest
Martin,
built his fabric on a solid foundation, and erected the whole fabric with faith and good works as the stone and lime of durability, which, no doubt, greatly displeased his highness who is highly delighted with the frivolity of ceremony.
But as all human inventions are imperfect in their construction as well as application, and always admit of several amendments, we cannot omit this opportunity of paying the good man the highest compliment for his extraordinary talents in removing the veil of darkness from the eyes of millions then unborn! not to speak of the grand work he performed then of disciplining thousands by the force of rational argument and appealing to the understandings of men of common capacities.
In this city are at least 500 private manufactories in various branches; particularly the art of dyeing is performed here in a superior stile, so that from all parts of the country for many miles distant, cloths are sent to be dyed, blue, green and scarlet. Hence the elegant colours of these hues, are emphatically called
Saxon,
thereby implying that they are of fast colours. The nap, pile, or sheering, is grained according to any order sent, with extraordinary neatness, and the newest face possible appears on the goods; an act worthy of imitation and attention.
Leipsic is the next city in this electorate, and is the capital of Misnia; it is a very small but very handsome, and, in some places, splendid city, though it has been the theatre of almost every German war. It is situated in a pleasant, fruitful plain, at the meeting of three small rivers,
viz.
the Elster, Pleisca, and Parda, about 40 miles N. W. of Dresden. It is a town of great trade, especially at the three annual fairs of Christmas, Easter, and Michaelmas, when their streets are crowded with foreign merchants.
The civility and politeness of the inhabitants, its elegant buildings and the delightful gardens with which it is surrounded, make it appear superior to many capital cities. The country round it is very pleasant and well cultivated. Its fertility draws hither multitudes of larks which are very fat and has a delicate flavour, so that Leipsic larks are famous all over Germany, and the excise on them produces £.900 a year sterling to the city; the revenue accruing to the Elector from this city alone is computed at £. 70,000 a year. In the sand-pits about Leipsic are dug up corals, star-stones, shells, and other marine productions, which seem to confirm the account of the universal deluge, for though the land be mostly level, it lies pretty high, the neighbouring rivers are never known to overflow the country, nor are the marine productions, found here, ever found in those rivers.
The commerce and manufactures of this place are very considerable. It is the centre of the book-trade of all Germany, and of the wool-trade of all Saxony, and there are few cities in Germany which surpass it in commerce and exchange. Here they make velvets, woven silks, shags, linens, cloths, rattines, carpets, and a great variety of other things. This city supplies the greatest part of Saxony with drugs, and has a considerable share of the trade which is carried on betwixt the south of Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the north. There are several wealthy houses here. The fair is no more than a shadow of what it was thirty years ago. The most remarkable part of the present trade, is the exchange of books, carried on by the German booksellers. Their number is about 300, and the value of the books they exchange amounts to 500,000 rix-dollars, or about £.73,000 sterling: formerly they had three fairs, and merchants brought or sent goods from every part of Europe; vast magazines were formed of East-India goods of all sorts, and of West-India commodities; but the wars have been its destruction.
There are no ecclesiastical buildings here worth notice, except the church of St. Nicholas, which is said to be the finest Lutheran church in all Germany. The exchange is a very noble structure, and the cieling of the hall well painted. There is a famous university here, which consist of only four colleges, as the students are not confined to their chambers, as in other places, but the buildings are not so fine in any respect, as those of Oxford.
In this city the purity of the German language is preserved with great care. The library of this university contains 12,000 well chosen volumes. The half of which are in folio. This library is open for the use of the public from ten to twelve, on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
On the same days, in the afternoon, free access is allowed to the magistrates' library, which consists of 25,000 volumes, many of which are well chosen.
The cabinets of urns, antiques and medals, are kept in good order. There are also several copper-plate prints and designs by the most celebrated masters; an Egyptian mummy, entire, with its coffin and hieroglyphical characters; four globes, each 12 feet in circumference. Here are likewise shewn petrifactions, fossils, minerals, and other curiosities of nature and art. There are also several fine paintings to be seen here, in high preservation.
In
Richter
's collection, various curiosities of the kingdoms of nature are to be seen preserved in balsamic spirits. The animal kingdom takes up 800 glasses, and are very rare subjects, amongst which are several extraordinary skeletons of the human species, well worth the inspection of the learned traveller. The exotics of land and water are very numerous and interesting. In the mineral kingdom there are 130 glasses, exhibiting petrifactions of many parts of animal and vegetable nature, particularly the complete skeleton of a large crocodile. In this curious collection, there is one pearl valued at 1800l. English.
The connoisseur will find plenty of matter for an unlimited indulgence here; for every thing that can delight the virtuoso is to be selected by the scientific adept.
The way of living, says
Reisbec,
is totally different here from that of the other Saxon towns; and much more luxury and profusion reigns here than at Dresden. They play in all companies, and often extremely high. The ladies of this place are far behind-hand with the rest of their country-women of other towns, in domestic oeconomy, but agree with them in the articles of dress and coquetry.
Amongst the literati, who swarm here, there are too many petit-maitres, boasters, ignoramusses and fools of all sorts. But you meet with men in all sciences, (continues
Reisbec,)
who, from the extent, as well as the depth, of their learning, are really desirable companions.
There are 40,000 inhabitants within the walls, and the suburbs also are filled with people. They have six churches for the Lutherans, which is the established religion, one for the reformed, and a chapel for the Roman-catholics in the castle; but this last is not permitted to use bells.
They have adopted a new kind of luxury, even in their devotion, says
Hanway,
for one of the capital churches has a number of chapels projecting about six feet from the main wall, through which they communicate with the church, each chapel having its distinct door without. Some of the richest citizens have bestowed on these auxilliary buildings 1500, or 2000 dollars.
The sober part of the people think the expence had been better bestowed on the poor, as the affectation of so great a distinction is by no means consistent with that equality which is supposed to be among their addresses to Almighty God. It seems to be the remains of that passion which the Romans had for the splendid embellishments of their temples.
The people here affect to be religious; and it is a constant custom observed, to shut their shops up every Friday morning, and during their devotions, which last till 10 o'clock, if any person presumes to sell any thing, they are subject to a fine of ten crowns.
The fortifications of Leipsic seem rather calculated for the use of the inhabitants to walk on, than for defence. These, however, have four stone gates, and the citizens support 200 soldiers; this exempts them from quarters, though they are otherwise subject to be taxed as arbitrarily as any town in Saxony.
This city is of a very small extent; but the houses are lofty, as well as elegant, in their fronts. Some of them have three stories of cellars, as well as of granaries on the tops of them, to the number of three or four stories; so that the whole makes an appearance of seven, eight, or nine stories. The streets are clean, commodious and agreeable, and there are two or three large squares which they use as market-places.
PLAN
of the CITY of
DRESDEN.
References.
1
Work houses
2
Black House
3
Great Guard
4
The City House
5
Bridge Guard
6
The Lions
7
The Bears
8
Work house
9
Barracks
10
Black Gate
11
New Town Church
12
White Gate
13
Palace Guard
14
The Palace
15
The Chapel
16
The Castle
17
Opera House
18
The Laboratory
19
St . Sophia
20
Play House
21
The Virgin Mary
22
Riding Academy for the Young Princes
23
Riding Academy
24
The Stable
25
The Cisterns
26
St . Cross
27
Water House
28
Our Lady
29
The Powder Mag• .
30
The Arsenal
31
Post Office
32
Duty Office
33
Pirna Gate
34
Hussenberg Bastions
35
Pirna Gate Guard
36
Jupiter Bastions
37
Jews Lake
38
Seeberg Bastions
39
Ausder Platle Bastions
40
Wilsch Gate
41
Hospital for Men
42
Holy Ghost Hospital
43
The Gallows
44
Freyberg Gate
45
Church Yard
46
New Ch. Yard
47
The Princes Gardens
48
Hotel of Moshinska
Dresden is the metropolis of the electorate, has a grand appearance, and opens on all sides a magnificent object. It is beyond all comparison, says
Reisbech,
the finest city in all Germany he ever saw. The houses are built in a much better taste than those of Vienna; and the eye is quite dazzled with the large and magnificent appearance of the bridge over the Elbe, which joins the two parts of the city together, and which is built on a plain, on both sides the river, surrounded by lofty hills, at the distance of ten leagues. The bridge is built of stone, 540 feet long, and 36 broad, on 18 arches. The passage over it is horizontal, and takes off very much from the grand effect it would otherwise have, if formed in a curve, as are the bridges of Blackfriars and Westminster in London.
Great order is observed in passing this bridge, one side being appointed to lead to the new city, and the other to the old. Near the latter, it is adorned with a crucifix of brass, of curious workmanship, about half as big as life. It is fixed on a stone pedestal, on which are the emblems of death and the devil, represented by a human skull and a serpent in brass.
The river, which at some distance from the city, is comprised within very narrow bounds, widens by degrees as you approach, and is here a powerful stream, which bespeaks all the magnificence of the town and state. The hills, at a distance, have a superb appearance; and the mountains on both sides the river, partly naked and partly planted with vineyards, form an uncommonly beautiful perspective.
Here are several squares and lofty stone buildings, in which are six or seven stories. The rooms, though neat, are not large. The buildings make an elegant appearance, but are inferior in beauty to Berlin. Dresden is an ancient city, and many of the streets, of course, are narrow.
In a kind of open place or square, between the old city and the new, is an equestrian statue of King
Augustus,
made by a common smith, the workmanship however is but indifferent.
Few princes in Europe are so magnificently lodged as the Elector of Saxony.
The Electoral Palace, in the New Town, is well worth the attention of the curious. It is large, and contains many beautiful apartments. The hall, especially, is admired for its many beautiful paintings in fresco. On both sides of the gallery stand several large vases of beautiful porphyry, with a great number of marble and brass busts. The room adjoining to this gallery is full of portraits of the first personages of Europe.
But the place that will afford the greatest entertainment, to the curious, is the Green Vault, as it is called, which is a museum. Here are seven apartments painted green, and the curiosities disposed classically, and deposited in them. I will not enumerate the prodigious number of curiosities, natural and artificial, to be seen here, as it would fill a volume. Some of the last, indeed, are curious, because they are invisible to the human eye. Of this number is a cherry-stone; upon which, by the help of a microscope, above one hundred faces may be distinguished. These little mechanical whims, undoubtedly, display the labour, perseverance and minute attention of the workmen; but they are not proofs of the wisdom of those who can employ artists to so little purpose. In the first apartment are all manner of models of metal statues and busts, in plaster of Paris; in the second, is a variety of curious works in ivory; in the third, pure silver work; in the fourth, gilt silver plate and vessels of pure gold; in the fifth, pure precious stones and curiosities formed in them; the sixth, the arms of the several Saxon countries, the crown, sceptre and Imperial apple; and, in the seventh, some very rare jewels. I will mention some few of the most curious articles for the information and amusement of such of my readers as may delight in such reading.
In one of these rooms are various pieces of clock-work well worth examining. These are automata of various kinds in gold and silver, made by
Dinglinger,
the famous mechanist. Among these is a ship sailing round a table, while some of the sailors in it weigh anchor, and the rest are in continual action; and, at the same time, it performs a piece of music. Another piece of clock-work represents the Virgin
Mary
and
Joseph,
with the infant
Jesus,
in a manger, and the shepherds, with the eastern magi, performing their adorations to the Messiah, while the heaven seems to open with a surprizing effulgence: besides many others equally curious and interesting.
In the next room is a different species of artificial works in ivory. And, in like order, other rooms shew, gold, silver, precious stones, and gems of great value. Added to these, enamelled tables of exquisite workmanship, and really things highly advantageous to the artist and man of science.
A work of jewelry is also much admired; this represents the celebration of the Mogul's birth-day, the Mogul sitting on his throne, his grandees and guards, and many elephants, all exhibited on a table about an ell square. This employed the artist and 15 assistants above ten years, and cost 85,000 dollars. Here is likewise represented, in pearl, the story of the prophet
Jonah,
the ship, the whale, the prophet, the rocks and the sea. Another article shewn and made by the same jeweller, for which he was paid 46,000 dollars, is a tea equipage, with the table, &c. all of gold enamelled, and set with diamonds.
The great value of the different gems and jewels in this cabinet is almost past belief. There is here an onyx that cost 48,000 dollars. It is of an oval form, near a quarter of an ell in its longest diameter; also a bason of oriental agate, as large as half a cocoa nut, cut longitudinally. Among the single gems are a large oriental sapphire, a very extraordinary large topaz, of a reddish water, with a great number of precious stones to an immense value; particularly an entire assortment of diamonds, being a set of buttons for a suit of cloaths, and the badge of the order of knighthood, with the star, buckles, and head of a cane, &c. In the order of knighthood is a diamond for which the king of Poland, a few years ago, paid 200,000 dollars, it weighs 194½ grains. It is placed between two diamonds, each of which is equal to a large nutmeg, and in the cane-head is a diamond of the same bigness.
The Elector
Augustus
was the founder of this museum, and valuable articles are every year added to it. There is also another in the palace very little inferior
o this of the green vault. The museum of Florence, with its contents, may in value exceed this collection, but the judicious arrangement of the several pieces here, give it an appearance which pleases the eye beyond the Florentine museum.
In the palace is an apartment full of a collection of fine prints of all kinds, and a mineral gallery containing every thing relating to metallurgy, assay, ores, &c. and a model of a mine. Here is a topaz weighing two or three cwt. but impure: some few years back, an inhabitant of Averbach, about two miles from Dresden, discovered a topaz quarry in a wood; it was in a rugged rock, 70 ells high. This rock is 240 paces in circumference. The topazes found here cut glass like the best diamond, and are not much inferior in colour to the oriental.
In short, this green room or museum is filled with every production of nature that can be said to be valuable and worth the labour of a minute inspection.
The library of this Elector is very large, and well-chosen, and the cabinet of medals, as well as the anatomical figures and putrifactions, are singularly curious, and well disposed, in order of arrangement. Exotic plants, (and their generical characters are finely displayed by the anatomy of them) are also shewn in an adjoining apartment. It would be too tedious to enumerate the collections of wood, doubtful names, animals and other natural singularities; suffice it to say, that no place can exceed Dresden for such various specimens of art and nature; monsters and strange productions in a variety of shapes.
The arsenal is supposed to contain arms for 100,000 men besides 15,000 brass cannon, among which field-pieces are the smallest. There are two large mortars, which were presented by the late king of Prussia, that will throw bombs of 500 lb weight.
Under the arsenal are the king's cellars, consisting of four large and two small vaults. Two of the former are 175 common paces in length, and 100 broad, therefore by far the biggest of any set of cellars in Europe, and sufficient to stow five thousand pipes of wine at a time without incommoding the passage; a thing almost incredible, was not
Keysler's
veracity pledged for the fact.
The next curiosity is the Chinese palace, so called from the taste of the buildings, and the intention of furnishing it with porcelain. But
Marshal
says, notwithstanding the exaggerated account of it in different writers, he thinks it a silly affair, and by no means elegant. The ornaments of the architecture and the relievo in the frontispiece, are after the Chinese and Japan manner. This palace stands on the Elbe, and commands a view of the bridge and of the Romish chapel, but it is far from being an elegant building, and is seated too near the river.
The vaults of this palace consist of 14 apartments filled with China and Dresden porcelain. Figures of various kinds are to be seen here in porcelain, both scriptural and historic: besides these, birds, beasts, and fishes.
In this Chinese, or Japanese palace, there is a state bed, with some chairs, made of beautiful feathers of different colours, which cost 30,000 dollars. This palace,
Keysler
tells us, was pulled down when he was there, which was in 1729, and it was to be new built in a quadrangular form, with four grand entries. The ground-floor was to be 20 feet high, and all ornamented with modern China. The second floor was to be 38 feet high, and nothing admitted but Meissen china. In this story was to be a gallery 170 feet long, filled with all kinds of birds and beasts, both wild and tame, made of China, and in their natural size, and colour. Many of these were finished, and he could not sufficiently admire them.
In the menagerie were two mule leopards, each of which cost 2000 dollars, got between a lion and a tygress, swift as the latter, and some apes that bred. At the Elector's country seat, he had 14 tame stags which drew in a carriage, and one used for the saddle. These set out with great spirit, but soon slagged.
A superstitious reverence for the Meissen china has induced the Elector to preserve some of the first efforts of the porcelain fabric, and other performances in their several gradations to the perfection the art is now arrived at.
In order to preserve this art as much as possible a secret, the fabric is rendered impenetrable to any but those who are immediately employed about the work, and the secret of mixing and preparing is known to very few of them. The workmen are all confined as prisoners, and subject to be arrested, if they go without the walls; consequently a chapel and every thing necessary is provided within.
There are about 700 men employed, most of whom have not above ten German crowns a month, and the highest wages are 40, so that the annual expence is not estimated above 80,000 crowns. This manufacture being intirely for the Elector's account, he sells yearly to the value of about 600,000 crowns, or 105,000l. besides the magnificent presents he occasionally makes, and the great quantities he preserves for his own use.
It is almost impossible to enumerate the multitude of pieces of fine porcelain, both foreign and homemade that are to be seen here. The culinary porcelain vessels only are valued at a million of dollars. In one apartment are 48 vases of blue and white China, for which the Elector gave the king of Prussia a whole regiment of dragoons. The manufactory of common porcelain is carried on near Dresden, but the fine sort, which has a high price, is made with the strictest precaution and secrecy in a castle at Meissen. Dresden owes the invention of its porcelain to alchymy.
Botticker,
the first inventor of it, died in 1719, but he arrived at no farther than the white sort, and it was not till 1722, that the art of making brown and white porcelain-ware was found out.
The articles of mineralogy and metallurgy seem to be better understood here than in any other part of Europe, for the greatest works of nature are represented by the modellers, with such scrupulous exactness, that no feature of the original is omitted: to such an effect have those ingenious people brought the imitative arts.
The palace is furnished as becomes the mansion of such a prince. The drawing-rooms are particularly worth seeing, were it only for 12 pictures by
Louis Sy
ster,
representing the rape of
Proserpine,
the metamorphosis of
Act
on,
and other fables of
Ovid:
the looking-glasses, in some of these apartments, are between eight and nine feet high, and six and seven broad; the assembly-room for the royal family is hung with rich tapestry, representing the atchievements of
Alexander
the Great. Among the surprizing quantity of plate which is kept in the plate-cabinet, are four stands, each weighing 470 marks, and 12 others not of much less weight; two vases, each above five feet high, scarce to be fathomed by two men, weighing 600 marks each; two pieces of the same fashion, little inferior in weight; eight cisterns, with the vessels standing in them, each weighing 800 marks. Not to mention the great number of curious clocks, beautiful tables, rich cabinets, and other furniture, here is a confident's table, a curious piece of mechanism, by means of which the Elector dines privately with his confidents; for this table, with all its appurtenances is brought up through the floor from the lower apartment into the upper, and not one servant seen in waiting. The ball-room is paved with marble, and in the pavement are two large oval pieces, six Dresden ells in the longest diameter, and between these another piece of red and white marble, cut out of a single block, which is four ells broad, and eleven ells or ten common paces in length. This extraordinary piece of marble was brought from Voightlande, and cost 14000 dollars. The room opens into fine walks made on the ramparts, from whence we have a view of several boats, &c. on the Elbe. On each side of this ball-room are several fine water-works, cascades, grottos, and baths. In the gardens are above 1500 statues of white marble, well disposed, with a vast number of ancient ones; the palace stands in the centre of the gardens. The garden is laid out in a square form, each side of which is 2600 common paces in length, that is more than an English mile. The stables, which, with the addition of a second story, may be properly called the old wardrobe, are full of such ornaments as are used to decorate the royal apartments on public days, rich habits, with the arms and furniture of foreign nations. These take up no less than 42 rooms. In one is shewn the armour worn by the corps de guard on the marriage-feasts of the ancient Electors, so ornamented with silver, that a single dagger weighs ten pounds, and the quantity of silver is
at 12 cwt. In another room are shewn a giant's sword, sent as a present from Denmark, the blade of which is five Dresden ells in length, and a horse
ith its furniture, which formerly belonged to a
am of Tartary: this horse, with others here shewn, are carved in wood, but exactly resembling the originals both in size and colour. In this apartment, hangs the Elector
Augustus
's wedding cloaths of black velvet laced with gold, with some powder flasks made out of cocoa nuts by himself. He had a taste for turnery, and here are several of his tools. Here are figures of many fine horses, with very rich furniture, gold and silver set with gems, presents from other states: also statues as large as life, dressed as officers of the Turkish court, and among others one representing the Grand Seignor sitting in the seraglio, a number of Turkish arms, the arms of the different Electors, also a figure of the Elector
Augustus,
in the habit he wore when he was crowned king of Poland. The robe is of blue colour, flowered with gold, faced with ermine and lined with silver tissue. The crown, sceptre and globe, are only set with false stones. A step lower stands
Charles
XII. of Sweden, in a silver, half cuirass on the left, and the Czar
Peter
on the right; and near these an executioner's sword, by which 1400 persons are said to have been beheaded. There are a thousand other curiosities of great antiquity, too tedious to mention.
In the stables are very handsome apartments, where foreigners of distinction are generally entertained. The ground-floor contains stabling for 130 horses. The Doric pillars in the centre are adorned with basso relievos of brass, and by turning a cock in these pillars, the stables are supplied with water for the horses.
In speaking of the curiosities to be met with at Dresden, it would be unpardonable to pass over in silence
John Melchior Dinglinger,
the Elector's modeller and jeweller, who flourished in the beginning of this century. When the Czar,
Peter
the Great, was at Dresden, in 1712, his majesty chose to lodge with
Dinglinger,
with whose ingenious contrivances in his little box, he was so pleased, that he ordered a model of it to be made in wood, and sent it to Russia as a perfect specimen of a commodious dwelling-house. On the top of it is a cistern, which one man, by means of a machine placed below in the yard, could fill with water in a very short time, and from this reservoir the water was distributed all over the house. On the stair-case, at every landing-place, was a brass cock, with two leather buckets, so that in case of fire water could be carried to any part. The leads on the top served for an observatory, and had a complete collection of mathematical instruments. He had a water-work which chimed a set of musical bells, and a machine for forcing a loaded waggon up hill, by the help of water.
The Elector's country seat at Konigstein, about 13 miles from Dresden, stands on a rock, cut so steep that it appears quite perpendicular; it is a fortress, and the fort in many places has projections or bastions which command the sides of the rock. Wood and other necessaries are raised up to the fort by cranes. Konigstein is always stocked with provisions for 26 years. The garrison consists of only 150 men, but on the first alarm the neighbouring villages are obliged to furnish some hundreds more. This place, however strong and otherwise serviceable for securing the archives and other things of value in case of emergency, is not sufficient to cover the country or annoy the enemy: on the top of the rock is a large green area, a wood and several gardens, in which are 38 different kinds of forest and fruit trees. It takes half an hour to walk round the ramparts. The fortress is provided with five cisterns or small ponds, as reservoirs for snow and rain-water, and in them are several kinds of fish for the governor's use. The water which the garrison drinks is drawn up by a wheel from a well 900 Dresden ells deep. The sinking of this well was a work of 40 years, before a sufficient quantity of water could be obtained, which stands at present 18 ells deep. I observed, says
Keysler,
that when a pitcher of water was poured down the well, it was 45 seconds before it reached the surface of the water. It is always kept clean, and a machine is contrived to let down workmen to repair or clean it. In this fort is a winecask, which took three years making; it is 17 Dresden ells long, and its diameter at the bung, 12 ells. It consists of 157 staves, eight inches thick, and 54 boards for the heads; each head weighs 77½ cwt. The cask was filled in 1725 with 6000 quintals of good Meissen wine, which cost above 40,000 ducats, or £.6000 sterling, reckoning the quart only 3d½. English. It holds 3,709 hogsheads of Dresden measure. Till this was made, the tun of Heidelberg was reckoned the largest in the world, but th
s at Konigstein contains 649 hogsheads more. The top of this cask is railed in, and affords room for 15 or 20 persons to sit and regale themselves. The Konigstein cask lies in a vault, as in a temple of
Bacchus.
The town does not seem to be peopled in proportion to the ground it stands on. The number of inhabitants is estimated at 50,000; though the fact is, that it lost near a third of the people since the breaking out of the Silesian war, and the death of king
Augustus.
Provisions are dear; and few men of large fortunes are to be met with here. The artificers are extremely pinched, and find it difficult to provide the necessaries of life by their industry, as the wages of tradesmen are very low. And, notwithstanding all these disadvantages, this single town contains more manufacturers and useful artists than all Bavaria besides. Several fabrics of woollen cloth, serges, silks, &c. are well wrought here.
The opera and theatres here are in the same state as all other public amusements which require expence. The inhabitants are too oeconomical to pay for an entertainment, which the court formerly gave them for nothing, and the loss of which is easily made up by the charms of their private societies. Rural theatres, where children act, flourish much more here than the rational one does.
In the late Elector's time this court was, perhaps, the most brilliant in Europe. The court-band of music, the opera, and the dancers alone, were supposed to cost the Elector, yearly, upwards of 780,000 French livres, or upward of 34,000l. sterling. His table, stables and his hunters, were all in the same stile of expence. Strangers used to flow here from all countries to partake of this magnificence; and Dresden was the rendezvous of the north for taste and refined living. The numerous followers of the court, and the great number of strangers, occasioned an extensive circulation of money, and made all the arts alive. Amid the intoxication of prosperity, the minister adopted a plan of operations, which it was impossible he should see the end of; and which left him at the discretion of the more powerful monarch, with whom he entered into a league against a dangerous neighbour.
The Saxons entered into an alliance with Russia, then formidable to Poland; they attached themselves to Austria, and endeavoured to weaken the king of Prussia. The king of Prussia fell on the country, as
Charles
XII. had fallen upon Poland under
Augustus
II. and their army, which was 17,000 strong, and was expected to do wonders, surrendered without striking a stroke.
The manners, and way of living of the people in this city, is quite opposite to those of the rest of Germany. Finer shapes▪ more animated countenances, easier and less constrained motions, general courtesy, universal cleanliness, are the features which characterize the people of this place. The ladies, in short, are handsome. I recollect, says
Reisbec,
that an Austrian lady made the following answer to a gentleman who was extolling the Saxon women in her company. "Give us only," said she, "as handsome and strong built men as the Saxons are, and we will take care of the rest."
Eating and drinking do not go forwards here quite so briskly as in the southern parts of Germany; the broth here is so thin, the meat sent up to table so cold, and always so slender, that an inhabitant of Vienna could not make shift to live a month with a family in the middling ranks of life here. There is even, in the best houses, a parsimonious attention to the cellar and kitchen, which, in Austria and Bavaria, would pass for poverty.
This rigid oeconomy extends to every article of houskeeping; the only appearance of expence is in that of dress, which is carried farther here than in the south of Germany. Every person of the middle class of life, nay, of the lower one, men, as well as women, dress according to the fashion; whereas, at Vienna, Munich, and some other places, there is a kind of national dress, which persons, even of the better kind, conform to.
The contrast between the women of the two countries is equally striking. Those of the southern parts of Germany have nothing but their beauty; but these have beauty and animation too; they appear, however, soon to fade; and there are few women past thirty, without some marks of old age. The Bavarian women, perhaps, excel these of Dresden in complexion; but the latter are much better made, and their countenances are much more interesting.
Dresden suffered much when attacked by the King of Prussia in 1759; and the wretched citizens were exposed to a continued cannonade and bombardment. Churches, fine buildings, and whole streets, were laid in ashes. Many of the houses still lie in rubbish; but the inhabitants are gradually rebuilding; and, probably, all the ruined streets will be repaired before a new war breaks out in Germany. No fortified town should have palaces or suburbs; and it would be fortunate for the proprietors of estates in Dresden, if they were allowed to destroy the fortifications; these fine buildings would then be in little danger of being overthrown.
The late Count Bruhl's magnificent mansion, now belongs to the Elector; and his fine collection of paintings were sold to the empress of Russia for 150,000 rix-dollars; they say, here, that the Count had, at least, 300 different suits of cloaths; of each of these he had a duplicate, as he always shifted his clothes after dinner, and did not chuse that his dress should appear different in the afternoon from what it had been in the morning. A painting of each suit, with the particular cane and snuff-box belonging to it, was very accurately drawn in a large book, and presented to his excellency every morning, that he might fix upon the dress in which he wished to appear for the day. This minister was accused of having accumulated a great fortune.
There is at Dresden a very ingenious foundery for bells and cannon. The fine arts of painting and sculpture are well performed in this place. Needlework and lace are articles for which this city is famed all over Europe. The commerce of the town is considerable for the works of art it produces.
But the silver that is brought from the mines at Fridburg every fifteenth day, and reduced to a regular coinage for the benefit of the proprietors, is a great article of general utility here. The reason which may be assigned for it, is on account of its virgin purity, being seven per cent better than our English standard; consequently, an advantageous trade may be followed by the merchants, in this single branch of exportation, to other countries. The produce of the whole of the mines may now be estimated at 10,000l. a month.
The chief religion of the inhabitants is Lutheranism; but there are professors of all denominations; and the clog of superstition seems to be here intirely done away.
The Saxon troops have a very martial appearance. The men, in general, are very handsome and well made. Neither they nor their officers are so very upright and stiff in their manner as the Russians. They are like the English, who are soldiers only when in action; and are as brave as any thing you can call brave; but, at this time of day, bravery alone is not sufficient. They tell you a story of them, which would appear ridiculous in the eyes of a Prussian or Austrian commander; but which must recommend them to a friend of human nature and a citizen of the world. The officers of a Saxon regiment of dragoons, which made part of the army that fought against Prince
Henry
of Prussia in Bohemia, took an oath,
sub dio,
that they would put to death any of their number who should run away in action. The Saxon army is 25,000 strong. The uniform of the guards is red and yellow; that of the marching regiments white. The soldiers, during the summer, wear only waistcoats, even when they mount guard, and always appear neat and clean; the serjeants, besides their other arms, have a large pistol; this is so commodiously fastened to the left side, as to give no trouble. The band of music belonging to the Saxon guards is the completest of the kind that can be.
Dr.
Brown
ingeniously gives a description of the mines of Friburg, which, he says, lie remarkably deep, and produce such rich ore, that it yields 65 pounds of silver for every 112 pounds of it. These mines, since they were opened, have produced, according to the most authentic accounts, upwards of 30 millions sterling.
The method of discovering mines, as practised here, must gratify the curious reader, therefore we shall lay before him what two authors of known veracity, Dr.
Brown
and Dr.
Nicholson
declare, and they were eye-witnesses to the experiment.
A person took in his hand a hazel stick, forked at the end, which he carried horizontally, whilst he walked over the ground; and, on his crossing a place where ore lay under the surface of the earth, the stick changed its position by turning in his hand; whereupon he marked the spot, and then proceeded further, and as often as there was ore in his way, the same thing was experienced by the experimentalist.
The working of these mines is very dangerous to the workmen, who frequently meet with damps that prove mortal. Another inconveniency is, that the dust of the ore cankers and frets the skin, lungs and stomach, and brings them into irrecoverable consumptions: to save themselves against which, they frequently wear masks with glass eyes.
The mines are cold, as far as the air can penetrates but afterwards warm enough.
The Saxons have distinguished themselves by their skill in mining all over Europe. Their strong bodies, their indefatigable industry, and their good understanding, particularly qualify them for this kind of employ, which is the most complicated and laborious of all human occupations, and which requires the greatest variety of knowledge to bring to perfection.
Eysleben is the principal city of Mansfeldt county, and is famous for its giving birth to that eminent character, Dr.
Martin Luther,
in 1483, who died here in 1564.
As we boast of Saxon original in this country, I have endeavoured to display the character of the people, in a comprehensive manner, so that the reader may easily compare the one with the other, and judge of the copy from the original. But, that the former has the advantage by the polish and gracefulness of manners, from his situation in a land of freedom, I doubt not will be readily admitted.
Hunting is the ruling passion of this electorate, and a fatal passion it is; for the rational inhabitants are more distressed by it than the brutes. In the hard winter some years ago, it was computed that above 30,000 head of deer died in the Duke's dominions; and yet in the open lands and forests there is now supposed to be upwards of that number, none of which are to be destroyed by the inhabitants under the penalty of being condemned as a galley-slave; and these, with the wild boars, are a great nuisance to the country. In every town of note there are 50 of the inhabitants to watch, five every night by rotation, and ring hand-bells every quarter of an hour, to frighten the deer, and defend their corn from the incursions of so formidable an enemy.
This ill-timed passion, joined to a foolish respect for the custom of their forefathers, thus induces the Electors of Saxony to violate the property of their subjects, at the same time they depart from the true ends of government, and consequently from the true happiness which they fondly seek by such gratifications.
The adjacent country to the electoral palace, near Messein is highly proper for the sport; and the dogs and horses are kept in order, being exercised twice a week. The hunting equipage of the Saxon court is very gay and brilliant, a uniform of yellow cloth laced with silver, being worn on these occasions by every one who appears in the field.
The inhabitants of the smallest villages in the Saxon mountains, though often shut out from the world by hills on each side, are more polished, better bred, and more alive than those of the largest towns in the south of Germany.
Reading is almost universal in this country, sociability and hospitality accompany and encourage the hardest labour. Even the societies of the inferior ranks are distinguished by the liberality, knowledge of the world, wit and jollity, to be met with in them. The women are throughout remarkable for the beauty of their shapes, the animation of their looks, and their infinite spirit, ease and vivacity, and yet they are quite good natured, and admirable house-wives. The men have of late, indeed, began to complain a little, that, for some time past, their beautiful partners have been too much addicted to vanity, but their clamours would soon cease, if the women were to unite and make a law, that every eighth or tenth man should take an Austrian or Bavarian wife for the edification of the whole community. For my part, says Baron
Reisbec,
the article of dress alone excepted, I have not been able to discern a single excrescence which wants pruning; whereas the Bavarian and Austrian women, besides being full as fond of dress, break out a little both at bed and board, and do not concern themselves at all with domestic matters.
Conspicuous as the industry and commerce of the people is, the situation of the farmer amongst them is truly to be pitied. This is owing to the quantity of land in the hands of great farmers. Along the foot of the Ertzgeberg mountain, and in the plain, the villages on all sides are so numerous that you can hardly count the steeples. Those in the electoral territory, taking in the Lausits, amount to near six thousand. I saw several farmers ploughing with one ox and one cow, many have only a cow, that serves them for milk and to plough with. It is true the soil is very light, but no farmer can do well with so little cattle. Great part of them live upon potatoes, cabbage, and turneps; seldom is meat seen at their tables. But they all drink coffee, and the profuse use they make of it is a strong contrast to their penuriousness in other respects. It is made in large pots, but so weak as to have scarcely the colour of the berry. Their cleanliness, however, in the midst of their poverty, is remarkable.
Throughout the whole level country, even the common people speak good German, and excepting on the mountains, so do the farmers. Some miles from Leipsic I visited a gentleman, continues the Baron, on his estate, for whom I had letters from Dresden, and I thought myself in a school of pastoral felicity, and shall ever consider the few days I passed with him as some of the happiest in my life. The estates of these gentlemen are small; as the Saxon nobility, in general, are as poor as they are numerous, but it is to this very poverty that they owe their happiness. They understand how to unite the beautiful with the useful, taste with simplicity, economy with various amusements, and nature with art; in such a manner as to make that business, which other men look upon as a punishment, a source of endless and uninterrupted felicity. They relish pleasures as Epicureans do rich wines, which they keep a long while on the palate, in order to relish the flavour; they understand how to mix the amusements and the occupations of the country, so as to make them follow each other in agreeable succession so well, that it is worth while to come among them to read
Virgil
's Georgics, which I am persuaded cannot be read any where else with so much pleasure. Fishing is with them a very weighty and important business, and no where have they brought the art to greater perfection. They have separate ponds, in which fish are kept according to their age, and with different intentions. These ponds are in fallow lands, which at certain times are broke up and ploughed again, so that the estate reaps thus a double advantage, they fill their lands with great judgment, and study the art of planting beyond other nations. Saxon wool next to Spanish and English is the best in Europe, and so on.
To such various practical and theoretical improvements of their lands, do the nobility add small walks, visits to their friends in town or country, collections of nature and art, and attention to improve the schools of their districts, poetry and music. The rich, I mean those who have from 800l. to 1000l.a year, English, (most have only from 80l. to 100l.) come to town for only one or two months in the year. Their daughters are the cleverest and liveliest creatures in the world. Their natural sensibility contracts a romantic turn in the stillness of the country, which appears in their conversation and actions, and leads them to take unguarded steps in the first years of their life. Unequal marriages and elopements, of course, are extremely frequent here. In Swabia, Bavaria, and Austria, I met, says the same author, with Saxon girls of good family, who in the last Silesian war had enlisted with officers of the Imperial and Circle armies, and who all made excellent wives and mothers. The country girls have not in general great liveliness or much coquetry. They are pensive and tender, and all of them are as handsome as angels. The kind of reading in fashion in Germany, which is chiefly novels and romances, is no proper improvement for the ladies of Saxony, who are, by nature, of such inflammable constitutions.
The Court cannot make the smallest law without the consent of the states; these are made up of three orders, viz. the spiritualities, noblemen, and gentry; and they compose a sort of diet; for the power of the Elector is confined to their direction.
The revenue of this country amounts to 1,100,000l per annum. The taxes are all appropriated by the states to specific purposes; nor can the Elector make any alteration in the destination of them, without their consent. He has his own privy purse, to the supply of which particular revenues are also appointed.
The industry of the natives makes this circle one of the most respectable in Germany, for they neither want food or cloathing; even the very lowest among them makes an ample provision by his assiduity and attention to the calling he has been brought up in. A peasant will carry a couple of hundred weight of provisions to market eight or ten miles, in a wheelbarrow adapted to his use, and return to his home, having disposed of his commodity, and all in good time to breakfast! Hence we may infer that the Saxons are not an indolent people, but on the contrary an active, industrious race of men.
Before we dismiss this article, we shall remark, that from the disposition of the natives to strangers, are historic traits of narrative frequently drawn; which is a source pregnant with danger, and for the most part full of erroneous principles.
The Saxons are honest, blunt, and fair in their dealings and conversation: therefore a traveller will be some time before he arrives at a knowledge of their natural propensities and dispositions.
It is a fact well known in our own country, that the art of retailing falsehood is become a practice reduced to scientific principles, though we pique ourselves on being nationally frank, and resolve the queries of foreigners without reserve, and in an open honesty, peculiar to our country. Yet many needy pillars of state, have their tale-bearer to the duns at the door, whose chief employment is to assert in the forenoon
"his master's not up,"
—in the afternoon
"he is out,"
in the evening
in company and at dinner,"
— but at night the deluded crowd are informed — the desired object
"is gone to the play—ball—masquerade, &c."
and will only be home with the new born day, then to succeed! Yet this disposition of the member, who is personally protected by his title or seat in the legislative assembly, can be no proof that the English nation are not punctual in paying the just demands of creditors; for on the contrary no people are more regular in doing it.
MAP
of the CIRCLE of
LOWER SAXONY. &c.
CHAP. IX.
Lower Saxony.
LOWER Saxony comprehends Holstein N. Ditmarsh W. Stomaria S. and Wagerland E. subject partly to the king of Denmark, and partly to the duke of Holstein Gottorp; Hamburg, a sovereign state; Mecklenburg Schwerin, and Strelitz, subject to their dukes; Hildesheim, subject to its bishop; Magdeburg and Halberstadt, subject to Prussia; Brunswick Wolfenbuttle, subject to its duke, and Brunswick Lunenburg, Hanover, Bremen, Verden, &c. subject to the king of England, as elector of Hanover. Of Danish Holstein, and the Prussian territories, we have already spoken; of the rest we will now speak.
The northern division of Germany comprehends the upper and lower circles of Germany, which are bounded by the Baltic Sea, Denmark, and the German Ocean, on the North; by Poland and Silesia, on the East, by Bohemia, Franconia, and the Langravate of Hesse Cassel on the South, and by the circle of Westphalia on the West; situate between 8 and 18 deg. of E. long and between 50 and 55 deg. of N. latitude.
As to the duchy of Magdeburg, and the principality of Halberstadt, which are usually reckoned to be contiguous to, and are incorporated with, the other dominions of the elector of Brandenburg, we shall not consider them here, having treated sufficiently of them when speaking of Prussia. This circle is bounded by the German Ocean, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea, towards the North; by Pomerania, and the Marquisate of Brandenburg, towards the East; by the territories of the Landgrave of Hesse, on the South; and by the circle of Westphalia towards the West, extending in length from East to West 200 miles, and from North to South 190. The winters here are long, and air exceedingly cold; but the country produces corn in many places and does not want rich pastures.
The Duchy of Mecklenburg, which includes the territories of the two families of Schwerin, and Strelitz, and the Swedish town of Wismar, is bounded by the Baltic Sea on the North, by Pomerania, on the East, Brandenburgh on the South, and Lunenburg towards the West. It is computed to be from 24 to 30 German miles long, with a breadth of nine, ten, and eighteen.
This country has the advantage of the Baltic Sea for many miles, besides great number of rivers and large lakes, which is one reason that the air is unhealthful in summer; and its northern situation renders it intolerable cold in the winter.
According to the remonstrance of the nobility in 1718, to the Imperial court against the contributions required of them, the whole duchy is full of large and small lakes, from one to three German miles long, and from one to one and a half broad, yielding little or nothing. There are likewise large and desolate heaths here, with moors, woods, fens, and quarries. One half of the country consists of a sandy soil, which when well dressed, will produce, only a little rye and oats; and the pastures, compared with those of Holstein and Pomerania, are very indifferent; of the other arable lands when well manured, a third bears barley, but produces very little wheat. In general the soil is light and sandy, and yields only four for one. But the fact is, according to
Busching,
quite different. The land is incomparable, and nothing in Holstein or Pomerania can exceed it; and, when well manured, produces not only four-fold, but generally five, six, or eight. The country is interspersed with delightful eminences, very pleasant and profitable woods, and good fruit-trees. The lakes and rivers yield large revenues, abounding in fish, and the whole duchy has been much improved, and is still capable of greater improvement. Many of the nobility here have received the value of their lands double and treble. In it are also some salt springs, with allum, iron, and copper. According to estimation in 1628, the farms in the whole country amounted to 2496. The nobility are accounted a free state, and enjoy very considerable privileges. The peasants are under villenage.
The inhabitants are Lutherans. There are some Calvinist congregations, and in Schwerin the Roman-catholics are permited the private exercise of their worship. The towns have grammar-schools, and at Rostock is a university. The country is not without woollen-manufacturers, tanners, leather-dressers, tobacco-spinners, and other trades, but the number of them is not sufficient. Its exports are corn, flax, hemp, hops, wax, honey, cattle, butter, cheese, wool, and several kinds of wood.
The Duke of Mecklenberg Schwerin, has, by virtue of the duchies of Schwerin and Gustro, two votes at the diets among the princes. The annual revenues of this dukedom is 300,000 rix-dollars, and those of the Duke of Strelitz, between 70 and 80,000 rix-dollars.
The duchy is generally divided into six parts, wherein are 45 cities and towns. The chief of which are those of Schwerin and Gustro. The former is the capital of the circle of that name, and the usual residence of the Duke, being pleasantly situated on a lake, which partly surrounds the town, abounding with a variety of fish. The city is neat and well built. The Duke's palace stands on an island in the lake, being fortified and communicating with the town by means of a bridge. Some parts of it command a most delightful prospect.
The collection of paintings in this palace is very valuable, and its gardens laid out in a fine taste, to the greatest advantage possible.
The town church is called the Domkirk, and was formerly the cathedral of the see of Schwerin, which is now reduced to a temporality, and bears the name of a Dukedom.
Gustro is the capital of the circle of that name, situated in the principality of Wender, on the little river Nebel, and is one of the largest and most pleasant towns in the whole country, as also the seat of the chief courts of judicature, and a superintendancy.
In this town there is a fine palace belonging to the Prince, and in the church belonging to it lies the vault of the ducal family. It likewise contains a cathedral and one parish church.
Though Mechlenberg is a level country, it is not without some pretty landscapes, where soft eminences are beautified with a great variety of woods; where we see meadows covered with flowers, and little cottages surrounding small lakes, all forming very pleasing pictures. Then as to their countrymen, the Mechlenberg farmers are a very strong and healthy race of men. Their curling, white hair reminds the traveller of the old Germans who heretofore contributed to the Roman luxury; that
aurea Caesaries,
which on the head of a thin-boned, sallow-faced and coughing, young senator, must have been the greatest satire on the corruption of Rome, in the eyes of thinking men. Almost all the farmers in Mechlenberg are slaves; but then their fate is not so hard as it seems, the nobility being humane, enlightened and good-natured. But these, as well as the burgesses of certain cities, enjoy a freedom here which has been lost in Upper Germany. The dukes of Mechlenberg and the electors of Saxony, are the most limited princes of the empire; nor have any decrees at the Imperial court, which they have brought forward in their several contentions with their states, yet been able to humble their nobility, whose jealousy of the power of their governors sometimes amounts to an almost ridiculous excess.
But notwithstanding this, in a company of Mechlenberg noblesse, the society is very agreeable. It is true, we meet with no academicians, no abbés, no virtuosi, no journalists, no players, nor any of the characters which contribute so much to enliven conversation; but, on the other hand, we meet with sound understanding and good hearts, which give social intercourse a stronger and more substantial relish than all the anecdotes and
historiettes de cour,
comedies,
brochures,
and all other artificial ragouts, with which so much assafoetida is mixed.
I have seen no noblesse happier, says
Reisbec,
or more hospitable than those of Mechlenberg; and
Nugent
was in raptures with the attention and reception he met with. Their tables are wonderfully well covered, and they are tolerably well acquainted with the life of courts. Literature is found among all ranks above the populace. The women know nothing of what is called
Ton;
that is to say, they have none of that boldness and imperiousness, nor yet any thing of that desire of conquest in our countrywomen. They are gentle and attentive to their children, still and bashful; but all they say is so
naif
and hearty, that, compared to it, the wit of Parisian dames appears loathsome and flat.
At New Strelitz is a palace belonging to the Duke; near which a genteel town has been built, since the year 1733. The old town, called Strelitz, it is intended shall in time be joined, by elegant buildings, to this new one.
The title assumed by both the Dukes of Schewrin and Strelitz, is Duke of Mechlenberg, Prince of Wenden, Schwerin and Ratzburg, &c. There is still subsisting two lines of the Dukes of Mechlenberg. The Schwerin line commenced in 1695, and the Gustro line having failed, the Schwerin line laid claim to it, but the Duke of Strelitz opposed it. In 1701, this contest was adjusted at Hamburg by an agreement, importing that the principality of Gustro should be added to the principality of Schwerin; and the principality of Ratzburg and county of Stargard, be added to the principality of Strelitz, with several commendaries and tolls. At the same time the right of primogenitureship and lineal succession was established in both houses, and the compact ratified by the Emperor. This latter branch has, in the person of our most gracious queen, given us an excellent princess.
A MAP
of the
BALTIC SEA
with the Surrounding Countries.
The province or duchy of Holstein, including the Lordship of Pinnenberg, is separated, towards the north, from Sleswic and Denmark; the Baltick sea to the east; Lavenburg west; and the German ocean to the south. It is divided between the King of Denmark and Great Duke of Holstein Gottorf. The King of Denmark, for his share, sends a stadtholder to Gluckstadt, and has a voice in the diet of the empire.
Its situation, between the Baltick and the German ocean, exposes it to frequent storms: which, if they purify the air, occasion also a heavy expence to the districts along the German ocean and the Elbe; for the inhabitants, to secure themselves from the inundations which they have cause to dread in stormy weather, are obliged to raise strong dykes, and to secure them constantly for their personal safety.
The land is excellent in its kind, producing every sort of bread-corn, vegetables and nutritive herbs; by which means it affords fine breeds of cattle, strong and healthy.
In this country are found fish-ponds of a very singular nature, abounding with carp, lampreys, pikes and perch, for two or three years; but which, every third or fourth year, are drawn and drained, and the fish sold; after which the pond, for some years, is sown with oats and used as pasture-land; then again, laid under water and stored with fish. This is a most lucrative piece of oeconomy. Throughout the duchy there are no hills which can be properly so called.
This country is not without several manufactures and fabrics, particularly in the towns of Altena and Gluckstadt, but these might be considerably augmented. Hamburg and Lubeck supply the inhabitants with most foreign commodities. The principal inland trading towns are Altena, Gluckstadt and Kiel. Its exports are grain, malt, fine wheat, peas, beans, rape-seed, horned cattle, sheep, rams, swine, horses, poultry, butter, cheese, venison and fish.
Holstein has an order of knighthood, that of Saint Anne, a red enamelled cross worn pendant, at a red ribbon edged with yellow, from the left shoulder to the right side. The seat of the Great Duke's privy council and regency is Kiel.
Holstein is still a part of Germany; yet
Reisbec
tells us, that he no sooner got a few posts beyond the Eyder, which is the natural boundary between Germany and Denmark, than he found a manifest difference between the two countries; as striking as any between Bavaria and Saxony.
THE HOLSTEIN PRIEST
In no protestant country are the priests held in such profound reverence by the people as in Denmark. Pride and insolence in the ministers of an humble religion are sure marks of little knowledge and a bad government in the place where it is found. The government of Denmark is the most despotic in the universe. This form of government has its advantages and disadvantages; the smallness of the country renders it easy to govern thus; and, on the other hand, this very circumstance makes the people feel, more severely, the weakness and oppression of its governors.
Denmark is, in truth, the smallest of all the European powers; it contains scarce two millions of inhabitants, Lapland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Holstein included. The king's income does not amount, in all, to more than 83,333l. sterling. He cannot cope with the elector of Saxony, and the elector of Bavaria is on a footing with him. Without subsidies the king of Denmark is unable to maintain an army of 40,000 men, and a fleet of 20 ships of the line, only for a few years.
We shall not say more of Holstein, having mentioned it when speaking of Denmark, but proceed to the principal towns of Kiel, Hamburgh, &c.
Kiel is the capital of the Great Duke's part of Holstein, situated on a bay of the Baltic, with a convenient harbour. The place is well built; the streets strait and wide, but disfigured by rows of trees, which Dutch taste of
rus in urbe
is detestable. It contains the Duke's palace and some state colleges. It has also a university and a consistory of its own. The prosperity of this place is not a little promoted by the annual resort to it, by the nobility and persons of wealth of Holstein and Sleswick, for the transferring and placing out their money. This pecuniary intercourse lasts eight days; and at the same time, also, is held a considerable fair, which is rung in on Twelfth-day; and, on the eve of the purification, terminated by a second ringing of the same bell. It was anciently one of the Hans-towns.
Hamburgh is a free Imperial city, independent of any other power but the Emperor, to whom it pays homage, a Hans town of the utmost importance of any in Europe. It stands on the borders of that part of Holstein called Stormar, about 70 miles from the influx of the Elbe into the Ocean, and properly situated on the rivers Elbe, Alster, and Bille. The Elbe at Hamburgh, including the islands on which part of the town stands, is not less than four English miles broad, forming two spacious harbours, and running through most parts of the city in canals, which being generally pretty broad and deep, are of great convenience to the merchants, whose houses stand on them. The houses of some of the warehouses are from five to seven stories high, owing to want of cellaring: even their wines are kept in upper lofts. The merchants make their halls into ware-rooms, and they live upon the first floor; so that on entering the first houses you find yourself at once amidst hogsheads and bales of goods; and what is full as bad, they use them also for coach-houses, and in some houses the stables are under the same roof with the apartments. In the canals, as well as in the river itself, even to the distance of 12 or 16 miles above Hamburgh, the tide ebbs and flows twice a-day, which is serviceable to the inhabitants, but subjects them to inundations, when the wind blows strong at North-west, at which time the lower buildings and cellars are filled with water. There are no less than 84 bridges over the canals, many of them paved like the streets, on a level with them, and houses built on each side. Within the city are 40 water-mills, six wind-mills, six sluices, and six large markets. The streets are for the most part of pretty considerable breadth, but the houses recommend themselves more by their inward conveniences, and the gardens with which they are interspersed, though more especially still by their situation for trade, than by any outward ornaments of architecture. Some of these streets however make a grand appearance; but on the other hand several of them are very narrow and crooked, and there are still a greater number of dark lanes, wherein the houses are very high, and many families live together; so that the circuit of the city is by no means proportionate to the number of its inhabitants. The walls form nearly a circle of five miles and a half, and the number of inhabitants within this circuit exclusive of Jews, is estimated at 100,000. On a calculation taken of the inhabitants of Hamburgh, compared with those of other large cities, and made from their registers of births and burials, they are found to be to those of Paris, as one to four; to those of Amsterdam as four to seven; to those of Vienna, as eight to thirteen, and to those of Copenhagen nearly on a par.
It is naturally to be imagined that in so populous a place there must be great numbers of poor, and this has given occasion to so many public charities, that Hamburg is greatly admired by foreigners. The house of correction is a very large building, and the persons committed to it, among whom are all who are found begging in the streets, are employed in various kinds of labour, particularly in rasping Brazil and other kinds of wood. The
Waysenhaus
is a place where orphans are maintained and educated, and whose revenue is 6000l. a year; the
Pesthof,
where lunatics are confined, and these sometimes to the number of one thousand; the
Pockenhaus,
where those are received who are afflicted with contagious disorders; the
Spenhaus,
where prostitutes and such like offenders are confined, and many others instituted for the relief of the deserving poor, so that not a beggar is seen. There is one place where children are educated gratis, and another where unmarried women may be admitted for a small sum and maintained during life, and there is another institution for the redemption of seafaring persons taken by the corsairs of Barbary, with many others no less deserving of commendation. With respect to fires, such regulations are made, that every one knows the part he is to act. The town is regularly watched, and wise precautions are taken to prevent fires breaking out.
The fortifications of this city are in the old Dutch taste, a high wall and a vast ditch, made deep and wide, with some outworks of no moment, the ramparts lofty, covered with grass and planted with trees, and such a breadth that several carriages may go a-breast. On these ramparts any one is at liberty to take the air. The garrison never exceeds 2,500 men, too few by 10,000 to defend the town. The
Hamburgerberg
may be stiled a suburb, but this is not environed by any works, and the houses in it extend almost as far as Altena, a town belonging to Denmark, so that it is merely a ditch that separates the one from the other.
To the city are some capital gates, but these are not so much frequented as the two entrances by water from the Elbe, that is to say the upper and lower basons. Through the latter pass all ships going to or coming from sea. Every morning at the opening of it, is seen a multitude of boats and small barks, whose cargoes consist of milk, fruits, and all kinds of provisions, all rushing in at the same time. And in this manner the country people, who are for the most part under the neighbouring jurisdiction, together with a great number of others on the land side, in carriages, as likewise most of the neighbouring peasants, daily bring in part of the subsistence necessary to the city, and on the other hand return home with their own.
In the north of the town is also another entrance by water, which in this part runs into the city, so as to form a kind of lake, but included within the fortifications. Here also in summer-time, the inhabitants amuse themselves in barges, of which some have cabins and are called arks. Near this port too, up the river Alster, is a walk consisting of a double row of trees of considerable length, which in summer evenings is crowded with people, and called the
Junfern Stiêg,
or the Young Ladies Walk.
The churches of Hamburg with their lofty steeples make a grand appearance. The most remarkable of these is the great church destroyed by lightning, in 1750, and not yet repaired. In St. Catherines church is a prodigious organ, with 6000 pipes, perhaps a lie usually told to strangers. The tower belonging to the cathedral leans as if falling, yet on account of the beauty of the architecture, the danger attending it has been overlooked. There are nine capital churches in all of which is something worthy of notice, such as tombs, splendid altars, pulpits, organs, paintings, and the like. The tower of St. Peter has two sets of chimes belonging to it, one of which plays by clockwork. The houses are chiefly built with a bad-coloured brick, and the city appears on the whole not more elegant than Bristol, though much larger.
The public edifices are wanting in nothing so much as in outward stateliness. The other structures here are chiefly worth seeing, for their utility and the prodigious quantity of stores in them, such as the building-yard, the arsenal and two armouries; and a stranger who has never seen such a number of large ships together at one time, cannot but see the
Baumbeuse
on the Elbe with astonishment. The lovers of old Rhenish, who have not before satiated themselves at Strasburg or at Bremen, will not fail to visit the carpenter's cellar here. There are a number of inns here, but of these few are large enough to entertain foreigners with all their attendants; every part of the city being so closely built upon, and the insides of the houses not so judiciously disposed, as in other places of a more modern date; so that the want of accommodation ill corresponds with the plenty of provisions and wines. There is one house on the Elbe which was formerly a guard-house, with a very large room on the top, with windows all round, a room of entertainment, which commands a view of all Hamburgh and a large tract of country on both sides, with a view of the shipping down the Elbe. As to the constitution and form of government, it exhibits a perfect model of a well ordered state.
The burghery of Hamburgh is divided into five parishes, agreeable to the five principal churches, and the magistracy is composed of 36 persons, with a recorder at the head. It is now much above two hundred years since Lutheranism has been the established religion of this city, and no other except the Jewish is here tolerated. But Papists and Calvinists have an opportunity of attending the worship of the envoys of the emperor and other sovereigns. The Hamburg clergy amount to 53 persons; each of the five principal churches has a head minister and three or four deacons belonging to it: on Sundays there are four sermons in most of the churches, and on every week day one, at least in three places.
Hamburgh is so occupied by trade and manufactures, that scarce any diversions are to be met with, except billiards, coffee-houses and concerts. They are fond of music, and are expensive in their public establishments in its favour. The principal merchants have private concerts at their houses, at which company who have ideas beyond a counting-house is sometimes met with, but there is an inelegance, says
Marshall,
through every thing, some few houses of the more wealthy inhabitants excepted.
There is one species of luxury, in which however none of the Hamburghers vie with our English merchants, that is in the expensiveness and elegance of their houses, and in their costly and ornamental furniture. Some of the merchants houses in London are furnished like palaces, but those of the richest in Hamburg, have nothing in them that ever reaches mediocrity. The highest appearance of luxury in this city, or at least of unnecessary expence, is in the entertainments given at taverns, at weddings, christenings, burials, name-days, &c. In these many of the wealthy expend as much as would build houses, and furnish them when built; and they entertain at the death, as well as the birth of their relations.
The Hamburghers, says
Marshall,
much affect the manners of the French, in language, dress, ceremony, and compliment. They had once an Italian opera, but it dropped, and they are now confined to one theatre, in which, in the winter-season are exhibited, French and German comedies.
In short, continues
Marshall,
this city is not a place where a stranger should resort for pleasure, for the people are envelopped in trade; their numerous markets afford but indifferent provisions; their meat is not excellent, and their fish not of the best sort, and they have no oysters. Good claret is not met with in taverns, but their old hock and Rhenish is in great perfection. A gentleman cannot spend less than a guinea and a half a day.
The king of England as duke of Bremen is possessed of the Cathedral of Hamburg. Its chapter consists of a provost, and dean, 13 canons, eight minor canons, and 13
vicarii immunes.
The prebendines here are alternately in the gift of the king and chapter. The king of Denmark, as lord of Pinnenburg, nominates to one prebendary. The chapter generally consists of nobles and men of letters.
Formerly the principal occupation of the inhabitants (commerce excepted) consisted in brewing and making cloth. At present, the chief manufactory is refining of sugar. The cotton, stocking, gold thread, ribband, and velvet manufactures here, with others, are much esteemed abroad.
With respect to its several branches of commerce, linen, cloth, silk-ware, wine, sugar, coffee, colours, spices, metals, tobacco, wood, leather, grain, dried and salt fish, train oil, and furs are accounted the most considerable. A
Preis Courant
is published at stated times as a newspaper, specifying the course of exchange, with the prices of every article of merchandize The exchange is always crouded at one. This building is half covered and half open, being composed of an area or square, with covered piazzas round it.
The state of carving and the fine arts are in great esteem at Hamburg, and nothing omitted in the encouragement of them. Hamburg may be said to abound in libraries, every church almost having one. There are many public schools here; in a word, few places equal this in its several institutions for the liberal and religious education of youth. Among the fine arts, music is particularly encouraged; painting also is not without its admirers and connoisseurs, and it were well for the public, if architecture and mechanics were a little more in vogue. There is a city militia, consisting of five regiments, belonging to the five parishes. The regular forces consist of 12 companies of infantry, and one troop of dragoons, and a company of artillery. The night-guard, like a regular corps, has its several officers, parades every evening, and calls the hours.
Within the jurisdiction of Hamburg are several villages and estates of value and importance. Its arms are a castle crowned with three towers.
The first appearance of Hamburg, says
Reisbec,
is very disgusting and ugly, the streets being narrow, close, and black, and the people fierce, wild, and in general not very clean. As soon, however, as a man has made his way into the principal houses, he begins to conceive a more favourable opinion of it. In some houses of the rich merchants we see taste, cleanliness, magnificence, and even at times profusion. The Hamburghers, continues the baron, were the first Protestants he saw, who continued good Catholics in the material points of eating and drinking; nor is there a place in the world where they have so many refinements in sensual pleasure as in this. Though in few parts of Germany, gardening is in as flourishing a state as it is here, yet they are not contented with the wonderful vegetables which their own country affords, but import many species of them from England, Holland, and various parts of Germany. They collect from all points of the compass, what every country produces peculiar to itself and costly for the table. It is the custom in great houses to give particular wine with every dish, according to the established courses of good house-keeping, Burgundy, Champaigne, Malaga, Port, Madeira, have each their different dish to which they belong. With young green beans, which is a dish of some ducats, and new herrings, which costs a guilder, the Hamburghers seldom drink any thing but Malaga. Burgundy is the standing
vohiculum
of green pease; oysters must swim in Champaigne, and the costly salt meats admit of no other convoy than Port and Madeira. This is not on festivals only, but the daily food of the rich, and their way of living is proportionable. Few assemblies of Parisians are more brilliant than the parties who meet in villas here, and they scarcely play so high. Those who can afford to spend no more than 20 or 30,000 livres, that is about 1,000 or 1,200l. sterling, a year▪ rank among the middling class, and though they are all obliged to support themselves by their own industry, and there is scarce any nobility with a stated income to be met with, there are many families who spend from two to 3,000l. a year in house-keeping.
Notwithstanding all this love of good eating, the mind is not oppressed or borne down by the body here, as it is in southern Germany. The Hamburghers of the higher class are still more jovial, more happy, more conversible, and more witty than the Saxons. We meet here with many literati of the first class. Natural history flourishes much, and it was a Hamburgher that gave
Linnaeus
the fundamental ideas of his
Systema Naturae.
As most young people are sent abroad to form trading connections in the several ports of London, Petersburg, Calais, Bourdeaux, &c. in all which the Hamburghers have houses, a stranger is sure to meet with some persons who are acquainted with his native country.
The women of this place are handsome, genteel, and freer in their manners than they are generally in Protestant countries. One of the great pleasures of this city arises from the Als
ersluss. It comes from the north, passes through the middle of the city, and forms a lake in it nearly 800 paces in circumference.
In a summer evening this lake is almost covered with gondolas, which have not such a melancholy aspect as the Venetian ones; they are filled with a family, or other parties, and have often boats in attendance upon them, with music. The whole has an astonishing good effect; which is still greater from there being a much frequented public walk by the lake; the liveliness of which corresponds, very pleasingly, with that of the people on the water.
Near the city are some villages on the Elbe, called the Four Lands, which are in summer also a rendezvous of pleasure. The farmers who live in these villages are in very good circumstances, and take a prodigious sum of money from the town, for their excellent vegetables, and particularly for their green peas. Every day, during the summer, we meet here with parties from the city, who are as conspicuous for their genteel appearance, as for their excesses in eating and drinking. The farmers daughters are very pretty, and their dress the handsomest to be met with among this class of people. They allure the young men of the city to their cottages, and many quarter themselves here under the pretence of a milk diet; but, in fact, to be near their sweethearts.
These four villages supply the town with vegetables, butter, milk, hay, and many other things of the kind; also with most of the women of pleasure, and most of the spinners.
The city of Altona, which joins Hamburgh, affords also the Hamburghers many opportunities of amusement. The King of Denmark, who from the jealousy of Hamburge, endeavours by every means in his power to make this place flourishing, appears to have it in his head, says
Reisbec,
to hurt the inns and brothels of the city, as well as the trade. Through his care, Altona has, in a short space of time, from a small village, become a town of 35,000 inhabitants; among whom, however, to speak freely, there are far too many rascals.
Altona is seated on a high shore of the Elbe, contains about 3000 houses, better in appearance than those of Hamburgh, with two Lutheran and two Calvinist churches; a fifth for the French Calvinists, a sixth for Roman catholics, two Menonite churches, exclusive of other sects who are here tolerated. The Jews also are very numerous here and have a synagogue; they pay 2000 ducats a year for protection. Here is also a royal
g
mnasium,
and three docks for ship-building. The town was professedly built to steal the trade from Hamburgh, and is made a free port.
The streets are strait and regularly built, wide and well paved. There is a new town-house erected, and several other public buildings shew, that the place is in a flourishing and improving way. The merchants houses, like those at Hamburgh, are on the waterside, so that ships load and unload at their doors. The King of Denmark has made it the staple of the Danish East-India Company; and, owing to this, it sends large quantities of India goods into most parts of Germany, and herein rivals the Hamburghers, who are forced to buy their's of the Dutch; but the misfortune is, says
Marshall,
that the great freedom of reception here brings all sorts of wretches; even malefactors, from Hamburgh, here find an asylum; nor does a merchant or tradesman, of any kind, fail and defraud their creditors; but he appears here again on the stage, and carries on a fresh trade, as if nothing had happened. No stews, or street-walkers are allowed at Hamburgh; but both abound at Altona in the greatest plenty; and the place swarms with Jews.
The country round about Hamburg, though a flat, is extremely pleasant; the various and flourishing agriculture gives it a very gay appearance, and the water contributes much to its beauty. The river conduces extremely to the advantage of the city, which by taking the last toll, has almost an unlimited command over it. Notwithstanding the quantity of water and low situation, the air is very good, owing to the strong winds which blow upon it from all quarters.
A word or two of its trade, and we have done.
Hamburgh is, without comparison, the most flourishing commercial city in all Germany. Except London and Amsterdam, there is hardly a port in which so many ships are constantly seen. The present business consists in great part of commission and carrying; but the stated trade of the people is also very considerable. Hamburgh has supplied Spain with most of its linens, and with large quantities of iron, copper, and other articles of the north. The Danish government omits nothing that can hurt them. The Danish ministry have a favourite prospect of uniting the Baltic to the German ocean, by a canal joined to the Eyder. This seems to be a death-stroke to the commerce of
and Hamburgh; but the intelligent part of the country are as easy about this as they would be, if his Danish majesty was to order a canal to be dug in Greenland.
Hamburgh is truly singular as a commercial city; for you meet in it with person
who have been bankrupts three or four times, and yet have been rich at last. The misfortune is▪ that as soon as a merchant makes 100,000 guilders, that is about 12,000l. sterling, he must have his coach and country-house. His expences keep pace with his income, so that the least blow brings him back to poverty; but which, however, the slightest exertions will extricate him from. He sets out in life again as a broker; and scarce shall his old estate and country-house and carriages be sold, but he purchases another estate, another country-house, is able to drive through the town with two prancing Holsteins; has his garden, his coach, his gambling box—till,
heigh presto!
—he is a broker again. This inexplicable facility of making use of one's money, renders the Hamburgher here too bold; so that he does more business with 50,000 florins, than a Dutchman will do with four times the sum. However, the security he is under of not being obliged to beg in his old age, renders him quite careless. There are indeed no where such good retreats for bankrupts as in this place. If broken merchants do not chuse to try their luck again; by turning brokers, they have employments given them, on which they can live comfortably. The Hamburgher, however, works himself up again with the same ease with which he falls. Rich inheritances here are very scarce, in comparison to the sum of money there is in the place; and as this is divided among too many, the ebbs and flows are too frequent. The great capital of every inhabitant is industry and understanding.
The government of Hamburgh is wonderful, a just mean between aristocracy and democracy. The legislative power is in the hands of the burgesses, of which there are houses or colleges. The first consists of the aldermen, three of whom are chosen by the inhabitants of the rest of the five parishes. Each parish also sends nine to the second college, and twenty-four to the third. All laws must pass these three houses; the executive power is lodged in the hands of 36 persons, who are graduated
literati,
and have given proofs of their learning. The income of the state is very large, partly from standing sources, and partly from occasional taxes. Hamburgh is, in truth, the model of a well-regulated commonwealth; and the best sign of its wise administration is, that it is almost the only Imperial city that carries none of its suits, between its own members, to the tribunal of the empire.
A PRIEST & BURGOMASTER OF HAMBURGH
The burgomasters of this place, says
Chisul,
never appear in public, but in a peculiar dress, which consists of a high crowned hat, made of cloth, plaited thick and strong in numerous folds, with a large ruff, and a black velvet coat ending at the knees, and plaited from the middle. There are likewise several other ancient habits used by all public persons, even to midwives, dressers of the dead, and those who bear the corps at funerals. The habit of their divines is a round black cap, a ruff, and a gown without sleeves. All these may commonly be seen at once in the solemnity of a funeral, which they here affect to make very pompous, for all persons, even those of little children. The burgo-masters, senators, divines, lawyers, physicians, and as many of all sorts as they can procure, attend the corps from the house to the church, for which they are paid a certain fee; the chief about a florin, and inferiors proportionally. It is observable that the bearers of the corps have a peculiar step, all moving their legs at the same time crosswise, from one side to the other.
Mr.
Chisul
tells us, that he was informed of a detestable practice frequent among many melancholy and disordered persons of this place, who, weary of life, and apprehensive of the sin of self murder, rather chose to murder some innocent child, and by this means be brought to capital punishment. This tragedy happening every year, and the frequency of the practice, is attributed to the too great facility of their confessors in affording peace and fair promises to all sorts of dying penitents.
In this duchy, the lordship of Pinnenburg and town of Altona included, there are 14 towns and 18 boroughs. The established religion here is Lutheranism.
Lubeck is an Imperial city, the capital of Wagerland, and is the chief of the Hanse-Towns. It is pleasantly situated in the duchy of Holstein Gottorp, on the river Trave, ten miles from the Baltic sea, and 40 miles north of Hamburgh. The uniformity and beauty of its buildings, as well as its groves and gardens, proclaim it to be a delightful spot. Several of the streets are planted with rows of trees, and from a public reservoir water is laid in to every house.
The city is oddly built on two sides of a hill, and on that account is romantic to look at. At the bottom of each declivity is a river. The streets are better laid out than those at Hamburgh, broad and regular, but in general steep; the houses are pretty well built with free-stone, but old fashioned; they have large apartments, and spacious cellars, but the doors of the houses are so wide and high, that a cart loaded with hay may pass through them. The city is kept very clean, by means of its uneven situation, every shower of rain washing down all the dirt and leaving it in better order than any scavengers could. Here are some public buildings, which they make a parade of shewing to strangers, but they have nothing remarkable. It has five churches, a town-house, an arsenal, and an hospital.
St. Mary's church is the largest of the five. It is a lofty building, standing in the centre of the city, has a double steeple, 217 yards high, built in 1304. The inside is properly decorated with gilt pillars, monuments, &c. but few worth notice. The most remarkable thing at Lubeck is the clock in this church. It exhibits the ecliptic, zodiac, equator, and tropics, and the planets in their several courses; which are so minutely done, that the station of any of them is to be found at every time of the day, it shews the regular variations of the celestial bodies, sun rising and setting, the eclipses of the moon, and other remarkable days, all which it will continue to shew till the year 1875. Besides all this, it has several automata, among others, a figure of Christ, with a door on its right hand, which opening at 12 at noon, out come in order of procession, the emperor and the seven eldest electors, and turning to the image, make a profound reverence; this the figure returns, by a wave of his hand; after which the whole group retires in the same order through a door on the left, and both doors shut directly. In the lower, is another piece of machinery, and a much more agreeable one, the chimes. These play the hours with a most pleasing melody and minute exactness. Under them is the bell, on which is struck the hour by a figure of Time, whilst a lesser figure, representing Mortality, and standing at the other side of the bell, turns aside its head at every stroke. This work, for its preservation, is surrounded with a wire frame, and by an inscription we are told it was erected in 1405.
The Cathedral at Lubeck is a building of great antiquity, being erected in the year 1170, by Duke
Henry,
ancestor of the present elector of Hanover. Lubeck has a trade that is not despicable, her situation and port are extremely commodious. From the Baltic, she imports the products of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Poland, and by her inland navigation, distributes them through many parts of Germany.
In many particulars there is a similarity, between the way of living, diversions and manners of the people of Lubeck and those of Hamburg, and the inns here are very good, and entertainment full as cheap again as at Hamburg.
The bishop of Lubeck, though a Lutheran prince of the empire, sits neither on the spiritual nor temporal bench, in the courts of princes, but in a particular place crossways, laid there purely for him and the bishop of Osnaburg, when a protestant. The Cathedral of Lubeck, and the chapter, consists of 30 persons, four Roman-catholics and 26 Lutherans.
The magistracy are 14 burgomasters, elected out of the noblesse and civil lawyers; and the council of 16, which may be either men of letters, patricians, or tradesmen.
The territory of this city extends 60 miles in circumference, and contains several small towns and villages. It is in point of independance the same as Hamburg.
The convents and nobility in the duchy of Holstein, and the tenants of both, are subject to the joint government of the duke and king of Denmark, to which they alternatively succeed every Michaelmas.
The bishoprick of Hildesheim is generally reckoned in this circle (it is subject to its own bishop,) the capital of which bears the same name, being situated 30 miles S. W. of Brunswic, and
7 S. E. of Hanover. It is an Imperial city and sovereign state. The inhabitants are a mixture of Lutherans and Papists.
Of the TERRITORIES of the ELECTORAL HOUSE of BRUNSWICK-LUNEBURGH.
The territories of this electorate belong chiefly to the circle of Lower Saxony, with a small part of them in the Lower Rhine, and the smallest part of all in Upper Saxony. Amongst the first are the duchies of Bremen and Lauenburg, with the principalities of Luneburg, Calenburg and Grubenhagen, and their incorporated counties and lordships: among the second is the principality of Verden, &c. and the third class consists of the county of Hohnstein. All these several domains form a square of about 700 geographical miles, being thus nearly of equal extent with the kingdom of Prussia, or the whole circle of Suabia, or even with the electorate of Saxony, or all the lands under the elector of Bavaria; the number of places in them, cities, plains, villages, and single farms included, exceeds 4000; among which are 58 cities, and about 60 market-towns. In 1756, by a calculation, the inhabitants amounted to near 750,000.
These countries, in general, produce all the necessaries of life, and abound with fossils and minerals. The manufactures are improving considerably, such as starch, powder, linen, damask linen, ribbands, laces, cere-cloths, printed and painted, carpets, linen-printing, hemp and cotton worked up in all forms, tobacco and snuffs, madder and woad made into colours, leather, and manufactured wool, and woollen stuffs; hats, fringes, laces, &c. gold and silver, embroideries, wax, sugars, glass-houses, works in iron, copper and brass, paper and powder mills, with yards for ship-building. They export and import a great deal.
The chief towns have grammar-schools, and there is an excellent university at Gottingen. The established religion throughout is Lutheranism; the parochial churches are about 750, divided into 43 superintendancies, under the inspection of four general ones. In the electoral lands, properly so called, are seven Calvinist churches, and as many in the duchy of Bremen. The catholics have a school and church of their own: the secular catholic priests are nominated by the Emperor, and the exercise of the Romish religion is tolerated at Gottingen. The Jews are tolerated throughout.
These territories now belong by regular descent to the King of Great-Britain, whose electoral title is
Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg, arch-treasurer and elector of the Holy Roman empire.
The privy council of Hanover, is called the regency, as representing the chief sovereign. It directs in all affairs, both foreign and domestic, makes laws, and issues ordinances in the Elector's name, superintends the polity, nomination of magistrates, and judicial officers in the country towns, grants investitures of fiefs, &c. but in important affairs, sends to London for the Sovereign's instruction and approbation; their council consi
of nine, among whom are divided the second
a
ministration, each of which has its o
; but things of moment are referred to the whole.
The revenues of the Elector, arises from demesne land-farmed out, from tolls, mine-works, held jointly with the house of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, salt-works, forest-profits, postage of letters, coinage, exci
e and contributions in Bremen and Verden.
The military establishment consists of 12 regiments of horse, some bodies of hunters, with hussars, and light-horse, 26 battalions of foot, and 31 companies of militia; making in all about 15,000 men.
The duchy of Bremen is about 50 miles long, and 42 broad. It is a level country, environed by the Elbe and Weser. It has but two cities, and three places called towns, the chief cities are Stade and Bremen, but the latter is the principal.
Stade is a town that has a strong fort on the Schwinge that falls into the Elbe, about a mile below; it is the seat of the regency of the duchies of Bremen and
erden; but Bremen is a much finer city. It is strong by nature as well as art, the whole country round being easily laid under water, by cutting the banks of the Weser, which annually 'tis said, like the Nile, overflows its banks, and enriches the sandy soil about it. It was one of the Hans towns, a free city, has a gymnasium under seven masters, an episcopal palace, a chapter-house, containing 200 dwellings, an orphan-house, and two abbeys. The cathedral has the controul of 14 country parishes, and this belong to the King of Great Britain.
The only thing worth seeing here is some human bodies wonderfully preserved without embalming; Mr.
Wraxall
declares it to be so singular and extraordinary, that unless he had been an eye-witness of the fact, no testimony would have convinced him of its reality. Under the cathedral church there is a vaulted apartment, supported on pillars, near 60 paces long, and 30 broad; the light and air are constantly admitted into it by three windows, though it is several feet beneath the level of the ground. There are five large oak coffers, rather than coffins, each containing a corpse. I examined them, continues this author, severally, for near two hours. The most curious and perfect is that of a woman. Tradition says, she was an English countess, who, dying at Bremen, ordered her body to be placed in this vault un-interred, in the apprehension that her relations would order it over to her native country; they say, it has lain here 250 years. Though the muscular skin is totally dried in every part, yet so little are the features of the face sunk or changed, that nothing is more certain than that she was young and even beautiful. It is a small countenance, and round in its contour; the cartilages of the nose and nostrils have undergone no alteration; her teeth are all firm in the sockets, but the lips are drawn away from over them; the cheeks are shrunk in, but yet less than in embalmed bodies. The hair of her head is more than
8 inches long, very thick, and so fast, that I heaved the corpse out of the coffin by it; the colour is a light brown, and as fresh and glossy as that of a living person. That this lady was of high rank, seems evident from the fineness of the linen, which covers her body. The landlord of the inn who accompanied Mr.
Wraxall,
told him he had remembered it for forty years past, and during which time there was not the least perceptible alteration in it. In another coffer is the body of a workman, who is said to have tumbled off the church, and was killed by the fall. His features evince this most forcibly. Extreme agony is marked in them, his mouth is wide open, and his eye-lids the same; the eyes are dried up. His breast is unnaturally distended, and his whole frame betrays a violent death. A little child who died of the small-pox is still more remarkable. The marks of the pustules which have broken the skin, on her hands and head, are very discernible, and one would suppose that a body which died of such a distemper, must contain in a high degree the seeds of putrefaction. There are in this vault likewise, turkeys, hawks, weasels, and other animals which have been hung up here since time immemorial, some very lately, and are in the most complete preservation, the skins, bills, feathers, all unaltered. The cause of this phenomenon is doubtless the dryness of the place. It is in vain to seek for any other. The magistrates do not permit that any fresh bodies be brought here, and there is no other subterraneous chamber that has the same property. It would have made an excellent miracle in proper hands, two or three centuries ago; but mankind are now grown too wise.
This city is celebrated for its old hock; the wine is all brought here from the banks of the Rhine, by land-carriage, and deposited in the public cellars, which are wonderfully capacious, running beneath the town-house and exchange, but are not to be compared with the marquis of Pombals at Peyras in Portugal, or those of Constantia at the Cape of Good Hope. There is one particular room in these cellars, where they keep wine (as they say) of 170 years old, and for which they ask seven dollars (or 25s.) a bottle; but it is not fit to drink.
Bremen is situated on the same river as Verden, but here it is known by the name of the Weser. Vessels of burden, lie 12 or 15 miles below the city, there not being sufficient depth of water higher up. It contains 45,000 inhabitants, and it is said, would exceed even Hamburgh in commerce, if the river was not an impediment. It is a free city under the protection of the Emperor, and, on the money struck here, stiles itself a republic. The King of England, as Elector of Hanover, has however some important rights within the place, and not only the cathedral belongs to him, but a considerable number of buildings, public, and private. He possesses likewise a species of supreme, judicatorial power, as though the magistrates take cognizance of all crimes within the territory of Bremen, his delegate must pronounce sentence. The fortifications, though kept in good order, are of no consequence or strength; the strongest army in the field is always master, and during the last war in these parts, French or English were alternately received into the place, as they appeared before it. The stile of building here is horrid, all the upper stories being granaries, and totally uninhabitable; it has a most grotesque appearance to the eye, though many of the houses now are in some degree modernized. The streets are all narrow; the quay is the only pleasant part of the city, being broad and commanding a view of the water.
By the municipal laws, all the race of
Abraham
is excluded from trading or residing here; each Jew being obliged to pay a duty of a ducat (near 10s.) a day, so that not one is seen.
Plutus
and
Bacchus,
riches and drinking are the chief deities venerated in this city, and like the senate in the time of
Tiberius,
they will not admit the gods of strangers. Pleasure under every shape, of dance, of comedy, and of masque, seems peculiarly hateful. She has indeed lately stolen in, once a month during the winter, in the form of a concert, to the no little terror of the burgomasters, who have endeavoured to proscribe this unprecedented refinement. The most polite manner of spending an evening, known for several centuries past at Bremen, has been that of meeting in small boxes about 20 feeRaong, and six wide in the public cellar, where they drink hock under a cloud of smoke raised from their own pipes. One may swear these are genuine descendants of the ancient Saxons, who imagined the joys of heaven to consist in drinking ale out of the skulls of their enemies! Women, the only venial object of idolatry, seem not here to hold any rank in society, or to form the connecting charm which binds the jarring principles of human nature together. Man, solitary man, meets in clubs and companies, to doze, to drink, and to dispute.
Bremen is a rich city, and carries on a large trade for iron, flax, hemp, and linen, with France, England, Spain, and Portugal; taking back other provisions, with which it supplies Westphalia, and the countries about Hanover.
The duchy of Verden is small, about 24 miles square. It consists chiefly of heath and high, dry land, but has good marsh land, near the rivers Weser and Aller. The city of Verden is seated on the Aller, and contains five churches. It was once a bishop's see, and has a cathedral, built in 786. It contains only 500 inhabitants, exclusive of a battalion of Hanoverian soldiers; has no trade, and is very poor.
The principality of Luneburg Zell is watered by the Elbe and two other rivers; about 4000 acres of it are barren, but the rest is prolific. It contains three large cities, Luneburg, Uelzen, and Zell, eleven towns, and 13 large villages. The general diets here are convened by the Sovereign, and held twice a year at the council-house at Zell: the princes proposals are laid before the states by a minister, and their sentiments delivered verbally by their syndic.
Luneburg and the capital of the principality, lies on a navigable river, which runs through part of the town, is environed with moats and walls, fortified with towers, and is two miles in circuit, consisting of about 1,300 houses, with between eight and 9,000 inhabitants, and three parish churches, with a palace for the prince. Here is also an academy, where young gentlemen of the principality are educated gratis; but foreigners, at a certain price, are taught French, fencing, riding, and dancing; the members of this academy live in a spacious stone edifice, built in 1711, and counts and princes have been of their number.
Zell is a fortified and well built town, situated on a navigable river, and contains about 1400 houses. It is a small town, without trade or manufactures; the houses are old and of a mean appearance, chiefly built with wood, yet the high courts of appeal in all the territories of the Elector are here held, and the inhabitants derive their principal means of subsistence from this circumstance. Here are four Lutheran churches, one French, one Dutch, and one Spanish. A corps of 700 men are continually quartered here. It has long been distinguished for a stud of fine horses kept on purpose for state. They are 150 in number, and the pedigree of each horse is marked on the post of his stall. Besides many beautiful saddle-horses, here is a fine set of cream-coloured horses for the state-coach. The castle near the town is a stately building, surrounded by a moat, and strongly fortified. It was formerly the residence of the dukes of Zell, and was repaired by order of the King of Great Britain, for the reception of his unfortunate sister. The apartments are spacious and convenient, and handsomely furnished, but the country on every side is barren, sandy, and unpleasant. About 20 miles from Zell, on the southern side of the river Aller, is the little palace, celebrated for the imprisonment of the Electress
Sophia,
wife of
George
I. where she died a short time before the accession of her son
George
II. the late king, to the crown of England. It is said, that he once made an attempt to see his mother, whilst under confinement, and having separated himself from his attendants in hunting, came unexpectedly to the place, but the noblemen to whose care she was entrusted, refused him admittance.
Dr
Moore
tells us, that when he was at Zell, he saw the queen of Denmark frequently; that every thing seemed to be arranged in the style of the other small German courts, and that nothing was wanting to render the queen's situation as comfortable, as the circumstances would admit; that her greatest consolation was in the company of her sister, the princess of Brunswick; that whilst she was with her, some degree of satisfaction appeared in her countenance, but the moment she left her, the queen became a prey to dejection and despondency; that the princess devoted to her sister all the time she could spare from the duties she owed to her own family; unlike those which take the first pretext of breaking connexions which can be of no advantage, this humane princess displayed even more attachment to her sister under her misfortunes, than she ever did, whilst in the meridian of her prosperity. The queen died of a putrid fever.
I shall pass over the principality of Grubenhagen, belonging to the King of England, with noticing only the mine-works of the Hartz, jointly carried on by our King, as duke of Brunswick Luneburg and the duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttle. The Hartz is a part of the ancient Hercynian forest, and is renowned for its mines, the private property of which, according to
Busching,
in the year 1724, did not produce less in silver, copper, iron, lead, and brass, than 706,120 rix-dollars, the profit of which to the two dukes amounted to 136,000 rix-dollars, (each rix-dollar 3s. 6d.) though the profits to the other proprietors were 120,567 rix-dollars; but there are other mine-works which produce gold, silver, copper, lead, borax, sulphur, vitriol, zink, pot-ash, &c. to a great amount. The whole Hartz yields annually about 1,172,733 rix-dollars, of which, gold, to the value of 2880, is coined into ducats, and 802,860 of silver. The sovereigns purchase the whole produce of the mines of the proprietors at a certain fixed rate. The silver and gold are coined immediately; the other products are taken at fixed prices to Hanover and Wolfenbuttle, making their returns in tallow and other necessaries for the mine-works, which are also furnished at stated prices.
The principality of Calenberg contains 19 cities, and 17 towns, of which Gottingen and Hanover are the two principal. Hanover is only second in rank, but being most familiar to an English ear, we will speak of it first.
Hanover was formerly the capital of the electorate, and the proper residence of the Elector; it is even now the seat of the regency, of course, it is very populous. It lies on the left shore of the river Leine, which, after running in two channels between the old and new town, and thus forming an island, unites into one stream again, and becomes navigable. The town itself is fortified and well kept, and contains about 1200 houses, among which are many large and handsome buildings. It is a neat, thriving, and agreeable city, and has more the face of an English town, than any town in Germany; and the English manners and customs gain ground in it every day. The general influence of freedom has extended to this place; tyranny is not felt, and ease and satisfaction appear in the countenance of the citizens.
Plan
of the CITY of HANOVER.
References.
5
Great Brew House
6
Sovereign Cot . of Justice
7
City's Ho
or Guildhall
8
St . James's Church
9
Royal Printing Ho.
10
The Consistory
11
Church for the Garrisn .
12
Reformed Church
13
Cross Church
14
Pump House
15
Riding Academy
16
Royal Arsenal
17
Tower or Powder Magaz
18
Castle Chapel
19
Electoral Castle
20
The Kings House
21
Royal Archives
22
Royal Chantier
23
French Reform'd Ch.
24
New Town Place or G• . M• .
25
St . John's Church
26
D'Osnabrug Hotel
27
Princes Court
28
Jews Synagogue
29
Catholick Church
30
Cl
s Gate
31
Court of Great Plat
32
Barnstorf Inn
33
Calemberg Gate
34
St Egide Church
35
The Court of Chanc• .
36
St . Egide Gate
37
The Post Hotel
Hanover, says Baron
Reisbec,
consider it in what light you will, is a very fine city; the number of its inhabitants is about 20,000. There are very good societies here, to which the officers contribute not a little. The people are sober and regular, and perform every essential part of duty well, though the discipline is not so rigid as in some other parts of Germany. The infantry are not so tall, as some other German troops, no person being here forced into the service; whereas, in other parts of Germany, the prince picks out the stoutest and tallest of the peasants, and obliges them to inlist. It is allowed, in action, that no troops behave better than the Hanoverians, and they seldom desert. The forces are always rated at 24,000 men.
It is not the mode here, at present, to lay so much stress on the tricks of exercise as formerly. The officers, in general, seem to despise many minutiae which are thought of the highest importance in some other services. It is incredible to what a ridiculous length this matter is pushed by some.
At a certain parade, says
Moore,
where the sovereign himself was present, and many officers assembled, I once saw a corpulent general-officer start suddenly, as if he had seen something preternatural. He immediately waddled towards the ranks with all the expedition of a terrified gander. I could not conceive what could put his excellency into a commotion so little suitable to his years and habit of body. Whilst all the spectators were on tiptoe to observe the issue of this phenomenon, he arrived at the ranks, and in great wrath, which probably had been augmented by the heat acquired in his course, pulled off one of the soldier's hats, which it seems had not been properly cocked, and adjusted it to his mind. Having regulated the military discipline, in this important particular, he returned to his prince's right hand, with a strut expressive of the highest self-approbation.
At the palace there is a houshold established, with officers and servants, and a guard regularly mounted, as at the time when the electors resided here constantly. The liveries of the pages and servants are the same with those worn by the king's domestic servants at St. James's. The memory of George II. is greatly venerated here. Many of the cotemporaries of a society he formed were still living when
Moore
was there; and from their accounts he learned that he was naturally of a very sociable temper; and entirely laid aside, when at Hanover, the stile and reserve which he retained in England, living in that familiar and confidential manner which princes, as well as peasants, will assume in the company of those they love, and those who love them.
Reisbec
says, the nobility in this place are as refined in their manners as those of any other German city. He was at Osnaburg when the duke of York, the present bishop of Osnaburg, resided there; and declares that, by his deportment, he made a particular circle of the inhabitants very happy; and it was the wish of the people that he would be made governor of this electorate, and reside constantly among them.
Herenhausen lies near this city. It is a pleasant walk through a magnificent avenue of trees, as broad, and about double the length of the Mall in St. James's park. It is a small hunting-palace, with very magnificent gardens, in which the water-works are particularly admired; but these gardens are in the old Dutch style, the ground perfectly level, and composed of strait lines and compass-work, water, hedges, lawns, walks; every thing regularly fatiguing. The
jet d'eau
is, in its kind, fine; but the man who has been in England, and can admire
jets d'eau,
must have a miserable taste indeed. The house itself has nothing extraordinary in its appearance; but the gardens are as magnificent as the Dutch style will permit them. The orangery is reckoned equal to any in Europe. Here is a kind of rural theatre, where plays may be acted during the fine weather: a spacious amphitheatre is cut out in green seats for the spectators; a stage in the same taste, with rows of trees for side scenes, and a great number of arbours and summer-rooms, surrounded by lofty hedges for the actors to retire and dress in.
When the theatre is illuminated, which is always done when masquerades are given, it must have a very fine effect. The groves, arbours and labyrinths, seem admirably calculated for all the purposes of this amusement. In these gardens are several large reservoirs and fountains; and, on one side a canal of a quarter of a mile long.
Though some parts of the electorate of Hanover, continues
Reisbec,
are very fertile, yet on the whole it is the most miserable part of all Germany. It is about 700 German miles or 2,800 English in circumference, but scarcely contains 700,000 inhabitants, a slender population considering the extent; but this is owing to the soil. The country abounds in sand-heaths, which are almost impossible to cultivate. The whole revenues of Hanover amount only to 480,000 guilders, each guilder 2s. 4d. English, or 56,000l. of which the mines in the Hartz contribute a fourth part. The country belonging to the elector of Saxony, which is very little larger, transfers nearly as much again.
The government of this country is gentle. The great offices of state are held by active and enlightened patriots. No money is here extorted from the poor; little of it goes to London; but almost the whole is spent in the improvement of the country.
Gottingen is, in fact, the chief city of the principality of Calenberg; it is situated in a spacious, fertile and pleasant vale, along the water called the New Leine, which is a canal drawn from the river of that name, the town being about 100 rods from it. This canal separates the old from the new town; and, at about the distance of a mile, joins the Leine again. The ramparts amid the town, which are about 690 rods in circumference, command a delightful prospect of gardens of aRakinds, with meadows, fields and eminences; and would form a most delightful walk, were the useless breast-works on it removed, and the wall levelled and planted with lime-trees. The town itself consists of upwards of 1000 houses, and about 80,000 people; and, since the erection of the university, has been so embellished with new buildings, and the old so repaired, that it is at present one of the best built towns in all Lower Saxony; and for the fine free-stone pavements on both sides of its streets, may be said to have few equals. In winter, the town is illuminated with lamps. It has five parochial churches, and one for the Calvinists. The papists here celebrate worship in a private house.
The principal ornament and advantage of Gottingen, is the university founded in 1734, by
George
II. of England; which, by the care of its curator, has acquired a very distinguished reputation and pre-eminence over the other universities of Germany, and indeed throughout the whole republic of letters. It has been full of Russian, Danish, Swedish, and English students, the last of late have been banished as lost to every sense of glory. The library is one of the most capital, not only in Germany, but even in all Europe. A royal society of sciences, founded in 1751, and a royal German society form part of the university. It has also a fine observatory, and an exquisite physic garden; with an anatomical theatre, of ingenious construction; a school for teaching midwifry, a
seminarium philologicum,
and an academy of exercises. At Hanover are two celebrated gold and silver manufactories for galoons and laces, fringes, tassels, &c. silk stuffs, leather, stockings, and ribbands; and at Gottingen, are a number of woollen manufactures, and one of a kind of dried saussage, or smoaked pudding, sent to all parts, and in high esteem. It is to this university that the English princes, sons of
George
III. have been sent for education. I will next speak of
The PRINCIPALITY of WOLFENBUTTLE.
This is a part of the duchy of Brunswick, and is included in the circle of Lower Saxony. The diocese of Hildesheim and the principality of Halberstadt divide it into two parts. In this principality are ten boroughs, eight market towns, 386 villages, and 17 sees and convents. The established religion is Lutheranism. But at Brunswick, the Calvinists and papists are both permitted the use of a church. Not to mention the spinning of thread and the weaving of linen, here are sundry manufactures in wool and silk, with houses for bleaching of wax, which likewise is prepared in various ways; and Turkey, and other sorts of leather are dressed here. Its porcelain, lead, iron and steel founderies too, are in great repute; and the glass-houses are much admired for the beauty of their productions. Walnut-tree, turnery and cabinet-makers ware, &c. with the celebrated Brunswick mum and duckstein, which is beer brewed at Konigslutter, are not without their celebrity.
Brunswick is the capital of the country, and residence of the Duke. It is a fortified city, and lies on the Ocker, which enters the town by two branches, but within it divides itself into a great number, uniting again in one stream as it leaves the town. The ramparts are planted with mulberry-trees. The town is large, but its buildings are in the old taste; however, lately, it has been beautified with new buildings, and its streets better paved. In the library of the palace is a valuable collection of scarce and curious bibles, or parts of bibles, in various languages, to the number of 1000 volumes, collected by
Elizabeth,
widow to duke
Augustus,
in 1731. In this city is an opera house and a theatre, some good public foundations, and several manufactories. The first spinning-wheels were invented here, in 1530, by
Jurgen
a statuary. Brunswick has two yearly fairs, and very considerable ones.
The number of inhabitants of this city are said to exceed 30,000. The constitution of the place affords a military government; for a summary law instantly decides all litigated points between individuals.
Wolfenbuttle is the chief residence of the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttle, and is also situated on the river Ocker, seven miles south of Brunswick, and 30 west of Halberstadt.
It is surrounded by bogs and morasses, and strong by nature and art. This place Dr.
Brooke
in his Modern Survey, says, is the strongest town in Germany. It is well fortified, and elegant in appearance.
The public library is very considerable, and reckoned one of the most complete in Germany, containing upwards of 200,000 volumes; amongst which are many curious Mss. some of which were written by the two leaders of the reformation,
Luther
and
Calvin.
This edifice, says Dr.
Moore,
is entirely of wood, nevertheless there are some very magnificent apartments in it; and a great gallery of pictures, some of which are allowed by connoisseurs to be excellent. The picture gallery is 200 feet long, 50 broad, and 40 high; and altogether is surprizingly elegant in appearance.
In the palace there is a cabinet of porcelain, containing between 7 and 8000 pieces: and in another smaller cabinet is shewn a collection of coarse plates, valuable only on account of their having been painted after the designs of
Raphäel.
The circumjacent country is very picturesque and pleasing. A person is agreeably surprised on beholding the number of seats and noble mansions; a sight very rare in Germany, where, if one avoids the towns and courts, you may travel over a great extent of country without perceiving houses for any order of men, between the prince and the peasant.
The family of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttle was, till very lately, divided into three branches, viz. Brunswick-Proper, Brunswick-Wolfenbuttle, and Brunswick-Beveren. The two first are extinct, and now the Duke of Bremen is stiled Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttle; as the Elector of Hanover is stiled Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg.
The princes of both houses are descended from Ernest Duke of Luneburg and Zell; the branch of Wolfenbuttle from
Henry
his eldest son, and that of Hanover from
William
his youngest son. Indeed this family derives not greater lustre from its antiquity, then from having given empresses to Germany, and from having a younger branch on the throne of Britain.
The established religion of the principality or duchy is that of Lutheranism. Calvinists and Papists are likewise tolerated.
In this duchy and capital are several large manufactories for thread and linen cloth, and other fabrics; besides all sorts of dressed leather, turnery, foundery wares, lead, glass, with various large tobacco manufactories.
The Duke's palace at Salzdalum, or Saltzdahlen, is worthy the curiosity of a traveller; it is situated at the distance of half a league from Wolfenbuttle, and about a long German mile from Brunswick, in a very mean village, and the road to it but indifferent. The greatest part of this palace is of timber; the rooms are mostly lined with painted cloths, which have a taste of grandeur at a small expence. Here the garden is in fine taste, but the statues are very mean. The gallery of pictures is a noble apartment, and its contents not less worthy of attention. The end of it divides into several apartments. The left wing is furnished in a grotesque taste, with porcelaine ranged in an agreeable manner. Another is full of painted enamelled ware, great part of which is said to be done by
Rhaphael de Urbino,
when he was enamoured with the Potter's daughter. This collection is said to be of above 200 years standing.
Of pictures there are many curious originals, some remarkable for the subject, and others for the execution.
There are various seminaries for learning and educating of youth; but the university of Helmstadt, which is situated about four miles east of Wolfenbuttle, may be reckoned a very excellent finishing school.
The revenues of this country are said not to exceed a million and a half of dollars, or 262,000l. and though the court is so numerous, the oeconomy of it is such, that the duke has his theatrical and musical entertainments, and foreigners are received with great civility. Persons of great distinction being considered in some measure upon an equality, seldom leave this court without being extremely well satisfied with the reception they meet with. English noblemen in particular are well received when they occasionally pass that way. The Duke seems to consult his ease and happiness, rather than the parade of life. He generally appears in his coach with three others of his family. His livery is yellow, laced with a galoon of blue silk and silver, and has usually four footmen behind his carriage: two pages in blue cloth laced with silver on each side of it, and a servant in livery riding before him to prepare the way.
The character of the sovereign at every court has great influence in forming the taste and manners of the courtiers. This must operate with increased force in the little courts of Germany, where the parties are brought nearer to each other, and spend most of their time together. The pleasure which the duchess of Brunswick took in study, I mean, says
Moore,
the wife of the late prince Ferdinand, who was the favourite sister of the late king of Prussia, made reading very fashionable among the ladies of that court; of this her royal highness gave me a curious instance.
A lady, whose education had been neglected in her youth, and who had arrived at a very ripe age, without perceiving any inconveniency from the accident; had obtained, by the interest of some of her relations, a place at the court of Brunswick. She had not been long there, before she perceived that the conversation in the duchess's apartment frequently turned on subjects of which she was entirely ignorant, and that those ladies had most of her royal highness's ear, who were best acquainted with books. She regretted, for the first time, the neglect of her own education; and although she had hitherto considered that kind of knowledge which is derived from reading, as unbecoming a woman of quality, yet, as it was now fashionable at court, she resolved to study hard, that she might get to the top of the mode as fast as possible.
She mentioned this resolution to the duchess, desiring, at the same time, that her highness would lend her a book to begin. The duchess applauded her design, and promised to lend her one of the most useful books in her library. It was a French and German dictionary. Some days after her highness enquired how she relished her book. Infinitely, replied the studious lady; it is the most delightful book I ever read. The sentences are all short and easily understood, and the letters charmingly arranged in ranks, like soldiers on the parade; whereas in some other books which I have seen, they are mingled together in a confused manner, like a mere mob, so that it is very difficult to know what they mean. But I am no longer surprized, added she, at the satisfaction your royal highness has in study.
The academy at Brunswick has been new modelled, and the plan of education improved by the attention, and under the patronage of the hereditary prince, who married the sister of
George
III. of England. Students resort to this academy from many parts of Germany, and there are generally some young gentlemen from Britain, who are sent here to be educated.
Such of them as are intended for a military life, will not find so many advantages united at any other place on the continent, as at the academy of Brunswick. They will be here under the protection of a family, particularly partial to the British nation: every branch of science is taught by masters of known abilities; the young student will see garrison-duty regularly performed, and may, by the interest of the prince, often have liberty to attend the reviews of the Prussian troops at Magdeburg and Berlin. They will have few temptations to expence in a town where they can see no example of extravagance; have few opportunities of dissipation, and none of debauchery.
It is well known that the Germans are fond of masquerades, and I am not, says Dr.
Moore,
surprized at it, especially among those of high rank, being so much harrassed by the ceremony and form, and cramped by the distance which birth throws between people who may have a mutual regard for each other. I imagine they are glad to seize every opportunity of assuming the mask and domino, that they may taste the pleasures of familiar connection and social mirth. In company with the duke of Hamilton I once had the honour of dining at the house of a general officer. His sister did the honours of the table, and on the duke's expressing his surprize that he had never
een her at court, he was told she could not possibly appear there, because she was not noble. This lady, however, was visited at home by the sovereign, and every family of distinction, all of whom repined that the established custom of their country deprived the court of a person whose character they valued so highly. The general's rank in the army was a sufficient passport for him, and would have been for his wife, but was of no service to his sister, for this etiquette is observed very rigidly with respect to the natives of Germany, though it is greatly relaxed to strangers, particularly the English, who they imagine have less regard for birth and title than any other nation.
The Prince's title is only duke of Brunswick and Luneburg, but his arms are more extensive, consisting of thirteen fields, with suitable emblematical atchievements for several districts besides those now mentioned.
The principality of Wolfenbuttle is possessed of a vote among the princes both in the college of the empire, and likewise in the diets of Lower Saxony, in each of which, by virtue of an agreement concluded in 1706, when the seniority lies in the house of Brunswick Wolfenbuttle, it precedes those of the elector of Brunswick and Luneburg, for Zell, Grubenhagen, and Calenburg, but otherwise comes after them. Further, the house of Wolfenbuttle, when senior, obtains the joint directory of the circle of Lower Saxony.
The military force, lately maintained by the Duke, consists generally of four regiments of foot, each of two battalions, a body of horse-guards, a regiment of dragoons, a militia regiment of five companies, each containing 128 men, with a corps of engineers and matrosses. The invalids also form one regiment.
Brunswick is a rich populous city, dealing largely in the articles of hides, butter, and mum. It was formerly one of the Hanse-Towns, and an Imperial city, governed by its own magistrates, but now their Duke is an absolute sovereign.
The town is of a square form, and upwards of three English miles in circumference. It has a citadel, erected by the Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttle, when he conquered it in 1671. The Duke's palace and the Stadthouse are magnificent buildings; the former of which is surrounded by a fosse, and contains a great number of apartments. The walls of every room are hung with prints, from the roof to within two feet of the floor. Perhaps there is not, says Dr.
Moore,
a more complete collection of framed ones in any private house or palace in the world.
In the square before the castle is a famous stone statue, with a lion made of block tin, done after life, with great exactness. In the arsenal is a curious gun, ten feet six inches long, and nine feet two inches in diameter, which is an unparalleled piece of ordnance, capable of carrying a ball 750lb. weight to a great distance.
Brunswick is the rendezvous of the German Freemasons, at the head of whom is the Prince; indeed most of the protestant princes in Germany are members of this numerous order, and it is allowed that it has made many of them more affable and gentle in their manners. Four princes of this illustrious house fought in the last Silesian war for the honour and freedom of Germany; the youngest of them only 17 years of age died, covered with wounds, under a heap of hussars, who had been the witnesses of his valour, and whom he comforted to his latest breath. This is the elder branch of the house of Brunswick, and the King of England is descended from a younger son. The present Duke is married to the sister of
George
III. of Great Britain, and is allowed to be one of the first generals of the Russian army, and to have the first talents for conducting an army.
Being now in the north of Germany, I cannot but observe from the general accounts of all travellers, that though the German ladies in the north are, as the women of Florence in the south, far superior to all their countrywomen in life and spirit; yet the ideal beauty which dances before the eyes of our artists, and so often vanishes under their pencils, was never taken from Germany; for all the human figures you meet with between Brunswick and the northern and eastern seas, are so far from possessing it, that there are no lines of it to be discerned among them.
In vain would you look for a girl's body resembling the Grecian model. There are, it is true, faces enough with very soft strokes in them, but they all want the Greek profile and spirit; nor has the fine white flesh the firmness inseparable from a truly fine form. In the lower parts of the Elbe and Weser, we see, indeed, some snow bosoms, and some lily and rosy cheeks, but they soon vanish when the girls have once passed their bloom; and the white is so flat and lifeless, that you cannot give it the name of a fine form. Even among the Saxons, says
Reisbec,
the fairest creatures under the sun, who are not Grecians, we seldom meet with a face which has any appearance of ideal beauty.
CHAP X.
Of the Circle of the Upper Rhine.
THIS circle includes the territories of the different landgraves of Hesse, Cassel, Darmstadt, &c. the Dukedom of Deuxponts; the bishopricks of Worms and Spire, the territory of Frankfort-on-the-Maine, and the domains of the several courts of Nassau, and other sovereign counties, as also the abbey of Fulda, subject to its abbot; we will speak of the principal of these.
From this circle, simply called the circle of the Rhine, almost all lands and states situated on the other side of the Rhine have been from time to time taken away by France; that is to say, the greatest part of the bishoprick of Strasburg, as also those of Metz, Tull and Verdun, together with the archbishoprick of Besancon, the princely abbey of Murbech, the abbey of Munster, the duchy of Lorraine, and the landvogtey of Hagenau which comprised the ten ancient Imperial cities of Alsace.
MAP
of the CIRCLES of
the UPPER and LOWER RHINE.
Of the TERRITORIES of HESSE-CASSEL and DARMSTADT.
Next to the electors of the empire, the Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel is one of the greatest princes in Germany, and even of those, the electors of Bohemia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Hanover only, are richer and more powerful than he; the Landgravate of Hesse alone, is above 80 miles long. This country is in general hilly, with a great deal of wood, but interspersed with fertile vallies and corn fields. The large subsidies this court received from Great Britain, during the late wars, with what is given in time of peace, by way of retaining fee, greatly contributed to the present flourishing state of its finances.
The reigning Prince forsook the protestant faith in 1749, and made a public profession of the Romish religion in the life of his father. This gave great uneasiness to the old prince, and alarmed his subjects, who are all protestants. The states were assembled on this important occasion, and measures were taken to maintain the religious constitution of the country against any future attempts to subvert them. The hereditary prince was excluded from all these in the education of his sons, who were put under the tuition of his first wife, daughter of
George
II. of England, being at that time separated from her husband. The eldest son on his father's accession to the Landgravate, was put into possession of the county of Hanau, so that the people have felt no inconveniency from the change of their Prince's religion; and as he himself has reaped no earthly advantage, either in point of profit or honour, by his renouncing, it is presumed, his highness's hopes are now limited to the rewards which may await him in the other world.
The number of his subjects is about 330,000, the parish pastors are about 320, and his income amounts to about 220,000l. sterling; add to this the county of Hanau, which contains 100,000 men, and brings in about 50,000l. a year. The university of Marburg also belongs to him.
Hesse Cassel is the most military country of all Germany; the peasants are not only in continual discipline, but always ready to march any where through the wide world. Sending the Hessian troops to America, cannot be considered as a hardship in itself, considering its intimate connection with Great-Britain; but it was a very unprofitable one for Hesse. The English subsidies can never make amends for the loss which the treaty has brought hitherto both on prince and people. The country was stripped of all its young men, after the last Silesian war; and scarcely had it began to bloom again, when they were sent to America. At least 20,000 Hessians, of whom one half will never come home, are gone to that part of the world. The country has therefore lost a sixth of its most useful inhabitants by the tea-burning business at Boston. The taxes being very considerable, the people desert in great numbers, and go into Hungary, Poland and Turkey.
The military constitution of Hesse has, on several occasions, been as useful to the German empire in general, as it has been prejudicial to the people themselves. So early as the reformation, the Hessians contributed exceedingly towards maintaining the freedom of the empire, and the Silesian war would not have ended nearly so well for England, or the king of Prussia, if 16, or 18,000 brave Hessians had not stood the brunt.
This prince keeps on foot 16,000 men in time of peace, disciplined according to the Prussian plan, the Landgrave himself, in 1770, having the rank of field-marshal in the Prussian army. Dr.
Moore
tells us, that when he was there, which was about twenty years ago, the prince was so fond of exercising his men, that in bad weather he would have two or three hundred of the first battalion of guards in the dining room of his palace, and there make them go through their manoeuvres.
During the life-time of Prince
Ferdinand,
the hereditary prince resided at Hanau. He lived there in a state of independency, possessed of the revenues of that country, guaranteed to him by the kings of Great-Britain, Denmark, and Prussia. The prince was not on the best terms with his father, and there was no intercourse between this little court and that of Hesse-Cassel.
Hesse-Cassel and Darmstadt formerly belonged to one prince, being divided between the sons of one man; they are now the property of two families, but that of Hesse Darmstadt has the primogeniture. Many articles however are still common between the two princes. Hesse-Cassel constantly keeps on foot 12 battalions and eight squadrons, which are reckoned as so many regiments, a troop of hussars, and 300 matrosses. Hesse-Darmstadt maintains a body of horse-guards, two companies of grenadier-guards, two squadrons of dragoo
, two regiments of infantry, and four battalions of regular militia. The inhabitants of Hesse-Darmstadt are protestants, as well as those of Hesse Cassel. The universities of Marburg a
d
intein belong to Hesse-Cassel, that of Geissen, to the House of Darmstadt, and the prince of Darmstadt has about half the revenue of the prince of Hesse-Cassel. The prince of Hesse-Cassel resides at Cassel, the prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, at Darmstadt.
The city of Cassel is situated on the river Fulda. It consists of an old and new town; the river divides them, over which is a stone bridge. The old town, which is the largest and most considerable, forms a semicircle on a hill, and, like the lower new town, is old fashioned; but the French, or upper new town, betwixt which and the old town lies the esplanade, being delightfully planted with rows of trees, is very regular and handsome. The streets are beautiful, but not over-crouded with inhabitants. Here the nobility and officers of the court have their residence.
Besides the large chateau in the town of Cassel, which is the Landgrave's winter-residence, he has several villas and castles in different parts of his dominions. Immediately without the town there is a very beautiful building, in which he dwells for the most part of the summer; the apartments here are neat and commodious, some of them adorned with antique statues of considerable value. Round the palace are some noble parks and gardens, with a very complete orangery and a menagerie, with a considerable collection of curious animals. In the Lycaeum is an anatomical theatre, a cabinet of natural curiosities, and an observatory well furnished with instruments. Among their curiosities they have a sword which was consecrated by the pope, and sent to one of the princes of this family, at his setting out on an expedition to the holy land.
Near the old chateau, and a little to one side, is a colonade of small pillars, lately built, and intended as an ornament to the ancient castle, though in a very different style of architecture. The slimness of their form appears the more remarkable on account of their vicinity to this Gothic structure. I mention this to introduce an anecdote.
Some time since, a mountebank came to Cassel, who, besides many wonderful feats, pretended that he could swallow and digest stones. A Hessian officer, walking before the chateau, with an English gentleman who then happened to be at Cassel, asked him, what he thought of the fine new colonade? It is very fine, indeed, replied the stranger; but, if you wish it to be durable, take care not to suffer your mountebank to walk this way before breakfast.
Nothing in the country of Hesse is more worthy of the admiration of travellers, than the Gothic temple and cascade at Wasenstein; there was originally, at this place, an old building used by the princes of this family as a kind of hunting-house. It is situated at the bottom of a high mountain, on the face of which is a series of artificial cataracts, cascades, and various kinds of water-works, in the noblest stile that can be conceived.
The principal cascades are in the middle; and, on each side, are stairs of large black stones of a flinty texture, brought from a rock at a considerable distance. Each of these stairs consists of 800 steps from the bottom to the summit of the mountain; and when the works are allowed to play, the water flowing over them forms two continued chains of smaller cascades. At convenient distances, as you ascend, are four platforms, with a spacious bason in each, also grottoes and caves, ornamented with shell-work, statues of Naïads and sea-divinities. The water rushes from the summit of this mountain in various shapes: sometimes in detached cascades; sometimes in large sheets, like broad chrystalline rivers; at one place it is broken by a rock consisting of huge stones. There are also fountains which eject the water in columns of five or six inches diameter to a considerable height: all this has a very brilliant effect when viewed from the bottom.
On the highest part of the mountain a Gothic temple is built; and on the top of that, an obelisk, crowned by a Colossal statue of Hercules, leaning on his club, in the attitude of the Farnese Hercules. This figure is of copper, and 30 feet in height; there is a stair-case within the club, by which a man may ascend, and have a view of the country from a window at the top.
Wasenstein, says
Moore,
is, upon the whole, infinitely the noblest work of the kind I ever saw; and he had travelled over the greatest part of Europe. I have been assured, continues he, there is nothing equal to it. It has not the air of a modern work, but rather conveys the idea of Roman magnificence.
Moore
was at this court about 20 years since, with the duke of Hamilton, and gives us the following relation of their stile of living there for one day; which, with little variations, will answer for other days; and as all the German courts endeavour to imitate each other, it will serve to shew how young noblemen generally spend their time in travel. We went, says he, to the palace, about half an hour before dinner was served, where we found all the officers that were united, assembled in a large room. The Landgrave soon appeared, and continued conversing with the company till his consort, and the ladies with her, arrived. The company then walked to the dining-parlour, where there were about 30 covers every day, and the same number in an adjoining room. The doors being left open between these apartments, the whole formed, in a manner, but one company. The repast continued about two hours, during which, the conversation was carried on with some little appearance of constraint, and rather in a low voice; except when either of their highnesses spoke to any person seated at a distance.
After dinner the company returned to the room where they first assembled. In this they remained till the Landgrave retired, which he usually did within a quarter of an hour; soon after the company separated till seven in the evening; when they again assembled, and cards were then introduced, and gaming continued about two hours. The Landgrave then saluted her highness on both cheeks, and retired to his own apartment, whilst she and the rest of the company went to supper. At this repast there was less formality, and, of course, more ease and gaiety than at dinner.
When her highness rose from table, most of the company attended her up stairs to a spacious antichamber, where she remained conversing a few minutes, and then retired. These general forms were sometimes varied by a concert in the Landgrave's apartments. There were also certain days of gala, distinguished only by the company's being more numerous and better dressed than usual.
During the carnival there were two or three masquerades. On these occasions, the court assembled about six in the evening, the men being all in dominos and the ladies in their usual dress, or with the addition of a few fanciful ornaments. They amused themselves with cards and conversation till supper. During this interval, a gentleman of the court carried a parcel of tickets on his hat, equal to the number of men in company. These were presented to the ladies, each of whom drew one. Tickets, in the same manner, were presented to the men, who drew likewise, keeping their tickets till cards were over. The officer then called number one, on which the couple who drew that number came forward, and the gentleman led the lady into the supper-room, sat by her, and was her partner for the rest of the evening. In like manner every other number was called.
After supper all the company put on their masks; her highness was led into the ball-room; the rest followed, each lady handed in by her partner. The landgravine and her partner walked to the upper end of the room; the next couple stopped at a small distance below them; the third next to the second, and so on, till this double file reached the whole length of the room. From this arrangement one would naturally expect a country dance. No, a minuet is all. The music began; and all the maskers, consisting of 20 or 30 couple, walked a minuet together. This being over, which was rather a confused affair, every one sat down, the landgravine excepted, who generally danced nine or ten minuets successively with as many different gentlemen. She then took her seat till the rest of the company had danced minuets; which being over, cotillons and country-dances begun and continued till four or five in the morning.
Besides the company who supped at court, the rooms were generally crowded with masks from the town, some of whom were in fancy dresses, and kept themselves concealed all the time; and although those who came from the court were known when they entered the ball-rooms, many of them slipped out afterwards and changed their dresses and returned to amuse themselves by teasing their friends in their assumed characters, as is usual at masquerades.
The country-dances were composed of all persons, promiscuously, who were inclined to join in them. Two women of pleasure who had come to pass the carnival at Cassel, in the exercise of their profession, and were well known to many of the officers, danced every masquerade night in the country-dance which her highness led down: for the mask annihilates ceremony, puts every one on a footing, and not unfrequently, while it conceals the face most effectually, serves the more to discover the real character and inclinations of the wearer.
The playhouse is neat, though small. The front gallery, with a convenient room behind, is appropriated to the court. When the prince or princess stands up, whether between the acts, or during the representation, all the audience do the same. From the arrival of the company of French comedians, who remain six weeks or two months, the court has a new resource. The Landgrave pays them a stipulated sum for acting twice a week during that time; and they have scarce any emolument besides; for the people of Cassel, who are Calvinists, shew no great passion for dramatic entertainments.
Whilst the players are here, the gala-days are more frequent and brilliant. I observed, continues the same author, two persons in the drawing room saluting each other with great politeness and apparent regard; but neither of them was a Hessian, a little after one of them touched my shoulder, and, pointing to the other, whispered in my ear,
Prenez garde, Monsieur, de cet homme, c'est un grand Coquin.
The other, within a few minutes, came up to me, saying,
Croyez vous, Monsieur, que vous puissiez reconnoitre un fou, si je vous le r
mtrois? Le voilà,
added he, shewing the person who had whispered me before. I have been since told, by those who knew both, that each had hit exactly upon the other's character.
This little trait I have related merely on account of its singularity, and to shew how very different the manners of this court and the sentiments of the courtiers here, with regard to each other, are from those of St. James's.
The Hessians, says Baron
Reisbec,
take them in general, are deformed to a degree. The women are the ugliest creatures I ever saw; their dress is horrid. Most of them are clad in black, and wear their petticoats so high, that you can see no shape,—the ugly thick leg, as high as the knee, is most conspicuous. The men, in some degree, make up in strength, what is wanting in beauty. Upon the whole, though not a large, they are a stout strong-built people. Here and there you see a gigantic figure; but they have all large bodies and large feet. Most of them are white, and their hair is crisp. Their way of living is such, that their best food is potatoes and brandy, which last they give even to their children.
The people are much the same in the Fuldese. The whole tract of country, from Cassel to the borders of Franconia, is rough and wild. The people are like the country, which abounds in woods and hills.
The abbot or Prince of Fulda, calls the pope his brother. He is, without doubt, the richest abbot in the catholic world; the number of his subjects amount to 700,000; and he has an income of thirty thousand pounds sterling. The palace of Fulda is a very pretty building, and not without good company. The Abbot has established several useful establishments for education, and allows his ecclesiastics a freedom in speaking and writing, which distinguishes them from those of the other parts of Germany.
Notwithstanding this tolerant spirit and knowledge, the priesthood are far beyond their brethren of Austria and Bavaria, but there are some exceptions to the general character.
Reisbec
says, he was speaking to a priest here about the exclusion of witches, with which this government has been so often and so justly reproached, that he did not at first seem to understand him; but at last replied, with a confidential air, that the most intelligent persons were not satisfied with the grounds of trial; as several learned divines had determined, that the woman who had been lately burnt for a witch, might have been
Obsessa,
as well as
circumcessa,
by the devil; as much as to say, that the devil was not absolutely in the circumference of her body; but that Satan, in order to play her into the hands of justice, made the miracles seem to come from her belly, and blinded the spectators at her cost; and the same author assures, as they told him at Wurtzburg, with a serious, confidential face, that the watch cannot be set, in a certain street, between 11 and 12 at night, on account of a very dangerous man walking at this time through it, who carries his body under his right arm.
Darmstadt, the residence of the prince of Hesse Darmstadt, is seated on a river of the same name in a fruitful and pleasant country. Its fertility may be inferred from the largeness of asparagus.
Keysler
saw a head that weighed half a pound. The gardeners in Austria lay small sticks over the beds when they begin to shoot, to shelter them from the weather and cold winds. Darmstadt contains a new palace, one church, the burial-place of the family, a regency, a court of appeals, a consistory, a criminal court, a grammar school, and an orphan-house. There is no regular fortification round the town, but a very high stone wall, not so much to defend it against an enemy, as to prevent desertion; for the soldiers seemed to take no delight in the warlike amusements which constituted the supreme joy of the Prince.
Centinels (
Moore
tells us, when he was there) were placed, at small distances, all round the wall; who were obliged to be extremely alert. One soldier gave the words,
all is well,
in German, to his neighbour on the right, who immediately called the same to the centinel beyond him; and so it went round till the first soldier received it from the left, which he transmitted to the right, as formerly; and so the call circulated, without intermission, through the whole night. Every other part of garrison-duty is performed with equal exactness, and all neglects as severely punished, as if an enemy was at the gates.
The men are seldom in bed more than two nights out of the three. This, with the attention requisite to keep their clothes and accoutrements clean, is very hard duty, especially when the frost is uncommonly keen, as it often is, and the ground covered with snow. The Prince has a small body of cavalry, dressed in buff coats, and magnificently accoutred; these are his horse-guards; and they are all not less in height than six feet three inches English; several of them considerably above it.
The Prince of Hesse Darmstadt formerly kept a greater number of troops; at present, his whole army does not exceed 5000; and there are those who blame him for keeping so many; as an army of 5000 men, though sufficient to burthen the country, is not sufficient to defend it; as the number is far too great for amusement, and infinitely too small for any manner of use; as his finances are too much disordered to support such an establishment; and as agriculture and manufactures must suffer by taking away the stoutest men and exhausting their strength in useless parade.
The parade is an object of great attention at this place. Prince
George
has a most enthusiastic passion for military manoeuvres and evolutions. Drilling and exercising his soldiers are his chief amusement; and almost his whole employ; and that he may enjoy this in all kinds of weather and at every season of the year, he has built a room sufficiently capacious to admit 1500 men to perform their exercise in it altogether. This room is accommodated with 16 stoves, by which it may be kept at the exact degrees of temperature, which suits his highness's constitution. The Darmstadt soldiers are tall, tolerably well clothed, and, above all things, remarkably well powdered. They go through their exercise with that dexterity which may be expected of men who are constantly employed in the same action, under the eye of their prince, who is an admirable judge and severe critic in this part of the military art.
Darmstadt, says Baron
Reisbec,
is a small, but lovely place, where there is charming society. If it depended upon myself to fix the place of my abode, I do not know where I should pitch my tent so willingly as here. You are in the midst of several large cities not far distant from each other. The air is good, provisions are cheap, and you have it always in your power to unite the city and country life. Add to this, the popularity of the court, the delicate English garden open to every one, the magnificent parade, the number of agreeable women and the hunting-parties, which are to be made at no great expence, render it a most desirable habitation.
Some districts of this country are uncommonly fruitful; the asparagus of Darmstadt are famous all over Germany for their size and beauty; at several places they make a tolerable wine. The little hamlet of Gerau sells from four to five thousand guilder's worth of cabbage, every year. The villages here have an uncommon neat and gay aspect. The peasants are a strong and handsome race of men, well boned and well sinewed. Better or more active troops than the three Darmstadt regiments of infantry are not to be seen in Germany; nor are they to be purchased as the troops of Hesse Cassel.
The farms between this and Frankfort would pass for towns in Bavaria or the north of Germany. They all bespeak a high state of opulence in the inhabitants. The beggary we occasionally see, are the consequence of the way of thinking of the German-catholics, who are liberal to a degree; and if there were not so many givers, the beggars would learn to work. A peasant is, in general, extremely happy throughout the whole country. He is almost every where a freeman and oppressed with no hard taxes. The earth yields uncommon returns, and the corn of this country is exported, far and wide, on the Rhine.
The duke of Hamilton accompanied a nobleman to his country-seat near Darmstadt. The carriage was of a peculiar construction. The nobleman sat on a low seat next the horse; the duke on a higher place, behind him. Each of these is made for one person alone; but, behind all, there was a wooden seat, in the shape of a little horse, on which two servants were mounted. The usual post-chaises in this country hold six persons with ease; and persons even of the first rank have generally two or three servants in the chaise with them. In point of oeconomy, these carriages are well imagined, and, in time of frost, not inconvenient; for here travellers take special care to defend themselves against the cold, by cloaks lined with fur. But when it rains hard, two of the company, at least, must be drenched; for the German chaises are never entirely covered over.
The contrast of character between the French and German is strongly illustrated in the behaviour of the postillions of the two countries. A French postillion is generally either laughing or fretting, or singing, or swearing, all the time he is on the road. If a hill, or a bad road, oblige him to go slow, he will, of a sudden, crack his whip over his head for a quarter of an hour together, without rhime or reason; for he knows the horses cannot go faster, and he does not intend they should. All this noise and emotion, therefore, means nothing; and proceeds entirely from that abhorrence of quiet which every Frenchman sucks in with his mother's milk. A German postillion, on the contrary, drives four horses with all possible tranquillity. He neither sings nor frets, nor laughs nor swears; he only smokes; and when he comes near a narrow defile, sounds his trumpet to prevent any carriage from entering, at the other end, till he has got through. If you call to him, to go faster, he turns about, looks you in the face, takes his pipe from his mouth, and says,
yaw, Mynheer, yaw, yaw;
and then proceeds exactly in the same pace as before. He is no way affected, whether the road be good or bad; whether it rains, or shines, or snows: and he seems regardless of the persons whom he drives, and equally callous to their reproach or applause. He has one object, of which he never loses sight, which is, to conduct your chaise and its contents from one part to another, in the manner he thinks best for himself and the horses. And unless his pipe goes out (in which case, he strikes his flint, and rekindles it) he seems not to have another idea, during the whole journey; your best course is to let him have his own way at first, for it will come to that at last. All your noise and bluster are vain.
Not the proud tyrant's fiercest threat;
Nor storms, that from their dark retreat,
The lawless surges wake;
Not Jove's dread bolts that shakes the pole,
The firmer purpose of his soul,
With all it's pow'r, can shake.
BLACKLOCKE.
In 1731,
Keysler
saw a very strong stag-hart that drew in a chaise, and five others, bridled and put to a coach, which were as tractable as so many horses.
Frankfort on the Maine is a free Imperial city, the usual place of the election and coronation of the kings of the Romans, the place where the states of the Rhine-circles meet, one of the four legestadts in Germany, and celebrated for its commerce. It lies in a delightful, fertile and healthy country along the Maine, which divides it into two parts. Frankfort and Sachsenhausen, the former being the largest, is divided into 12 wards; the latter into two. Both are reckoned to contain 3000 houses, large and small, and not a few of them modern; some of them are rather stately palaces, particularly the palace of the prince de la Tours and the German house, an august edifice near the bridge, which is 400 feet long, supported on 14 wide arches. It has three principal squares; in one is the town-house, an old-fashioned building, the fore-part of which is supported by arches; under it, in fair-time, are a number of toy-shops. Over these arches is a stall, where the Emperor usually dines after his coronation, and into which opens the chamber, where the election of a new chamber is canvassed. Among the archives of the town-house is kept the celebrated golden bull of the emperor Charles IV, which is a parchment book of 43 quarto leaves, containing the fundamental institutes of the empire, written in Latin capitals; which famous piece is kept in a tortoishell bag, set with mother of pearl and lined with yellow velvet; a sight of it costs a ducat.
A countryman of our's, who expected more amusement for his money, complained loudly of this as an imposition; and on hearing a German talk of the high price every thing bore in England, retorted on him in these words.
Il n'y a rien en Angleterre si cher que votre taureau d'or à Frankfort.
The horse-market, one of the squares is laid out in walks and rows of trees. In the town are three arsenals. The magistrates and city officers profess Lutheranism, which is the established religion; but most of the churches, and those too the chief, are in the hands of the catholics. French and German Calvinists are very numerous here, and are doubtless the richest of the inhabitants; but the inquisitorial state of the Lutheran clergy will not allow them a church; and they are forced to go three miles out of town, every Sunday morning throughout the year, to worship. There is a common saying at Frankfort, "that the Roman-catholics have the churches; the Lutherans, the magistrates, and the Calvinists, the money." The number of coaches that attend on a Sunday morning, to carry the congregation, is about 250. Hackney-coaches are hired, by four persons, at ten guineas for the year. The Jews have a public and a very considerable synagogue, their number is about 6000; they are confined to a certain narrow street, built up at one end, with a gate at the other, and are regularly shut up at a certain hour of the night. There are some who are worth a million, and vie with the christians in every article of expence. Their industry is not to be conceived; they are pimps, language-masters, fencing-masters, dancing-masters, writing and arithmetic masters, and their daughters are at the service of the uncircumcised. Those who go into their street are in danger of being pressed to death by them; they fall upon strangers by dozens, and compel them to buy their wares. It is very difficult for a man to disentangle himself from them, without the help of a good stick, and they call to strangers from the distance of three or four hundred paces. The houses of their well-encompassed street are filled to the very top with inhabitants. In seven of them, which hardly occupied a space of 50 yards, and were burned down some years since, there were 1200 persons. But, on the other hand, there is often only one family in the houses belonging to the rich. This is the sign of an incredible affluence; for house-rent is dearer in this street, than in any part of London, Paris, or any other great city. There is a law which forbids the Jews to live any where out of their own quarter, but the magistrate winks at the breaking it; and only renews it from time to time, to extort money from those who chuse to live elsewhere.
The catholic foundations and convents are subject to the archbishopric of Mentz. In the cathedral of St. Bartholomew is a small chapel where the Emperor is elected. Two other churches are collegiate; in the whole there are about 12. The city is fortified, and it contains nine companies of soldiers. It has several villages within its territory, and is governed by its own magistracy. It's yearly revenue is about 70,000l. sterling.
In the cathedral is a curious clock, consisting of three parts; it is divided into several circles, shewing the days and months, the golden number, the dominical letter, the age and change of the moon, the ancient Roman calendar, the names of the apostles and martyrs, the length of the days and nights, the entrance of the sun into the twelve signs of the zodiac, the rising and setting of the sun, the months, the seasons, and the variable feasts. The figures which strike the hours, represent two smiths with hammers in their hands. This curious piece of clock-work was put up in 1605; and repaired, for the first time, in 1704.
Cabinets of curiosities are found in almost every considerable town in Germany; so great a number of private collections are made. Strangers cannot pay their court better, to such collectors, than by requesting permission to see their museum; but the misfortune of attending them is, that the proprietor waits on you himself, and gives you the history of every piece of ore, petrefaction, and monster he has; and as this lecture is given gratis, assumes the right of making it as long as he pleases, till he quite tires you.
In the year 1731, when
Keysler
was there, he saw, in the cabinet of Dr.
John Kismer,
a learned physician, who died in 1734, a very remarkable human skull, which is said to have petrified on a gibbet; also the head of an elephant, dug up near Gotha in 1695, where the whole skeleton was found; it was at the depth of eleven ells, on an eminence, where the best white sand, for hour-glasses, is found. It had four large teeth, each weighed 12lb. and two horns, each four ells long. Where this extraordinary skeleton was dug, a large quantity of long and round shells were found. A Frankfort ell is about two feet three inches.
In a garden in this city is a hazel-tree, which the Frankfort chronicles make mention of 250 years ago; whose trunk, in the lower part, is seven Frankfort ells in girth. Its height equal to that of the houses near it, and it has nuts every year; the shells of the nuts are very thick, but the kernels like those of other nuts. The emperor,
Leopold
I. dined twice under this tree. This soil must be particularly favourable to hazels, for though the adjacent grounds yield only common shrubs, yet,
Reisbec
says, four hazel trees, planted within 15 years, were then above 20 feet high. The above-mentioned old tree was beginning to decay in 1731.
The streets of Frankfort are spacious and well paved, the houses stately, clean and convenient; the outsides of them are very splendid, and the style of the architecture shews that the inhabitants know how to lay out their money with taste. There are about thirty inhabitants in the place that are worth 50,000l. each, and there may be about 200 houses who have incomes of 10,000l. a-year and more: there is a high appearance of affluence throughout; the furniture of their houses, their gardens, their equipage, dress and female ornaments, every thing in short, bespeak a state above the ordinary citizen, approaching the extreme of magnificence. In a word, the air and genteel manners of the people sufficiently shew, without other information, that there is no little despot within their walls to impoverish them in support of his grandeur, and to put every action of their lives, every movement of their bodies, under restraint by his caprice.
The houses are of brick, but have a better appearance than brick houses in general, owing to their chiefly being covered with a kind of reddish stucco lately come into use, and which it is thought will render the buildings more durable. The fronts of many of the finest are also adorned with bass-reliefs of white stucco, in imitation of marble; these white ornaments on the red ground form too strong a contrast, and do not please an eye fond of simplicity, but the Germans in general have a taste for shewy ornaments in their dress, furniture, and houses.
Though the principal church is in the possession of the Roman-catholics, no procession of the Host is permitted through the streets, and the ceremonies of this religion is confined to houses of individuals, or performed within the walls of this church.
There is a custom observed here, which I shall mention, on account of its singularity, though its origin cannot be learned; two women appear every day at noon on the battlements of the principal steeple, and play some very solemn airs with trumpets, their music is accompanied by vocal psalmody, performed by four or five men, who always attend the female trumpeters for that purpose.
The people here have a great taste for psalm-singing; there are a considerable number of men and boys who make it their only profession. They are engaged by some families to officiate two or three times aweek in the morning, before the master and mistress of the family rise. When any person in tolerable circumstances dies, a band of these sweet singers assemble in the streets before the house, and chaunt an hour every day to the corpse till it is interred. The same band accompanies the funeral, singing hymns all the way.
Funerals are conducted with an uncommon degree of solemnity in this town, a man dressed in a black cloak, and carrying a crucifix at the end of a long pole, leads the procession. A great number of hired mourners in the same dress, each with a lemon in his hand, march after him. Then come the singers followed by the corpse in a hearse, and lastly the relations in mourning coaches. The crucifix is carried in this manner at all funerals, protestant or Roman-catholic.
Many of the Calvinist families here are descendants of French protestants who left their country at the revolution of the edict of Nantz. There are some villages near Frankfort consisting entirely of French refugees, who deserting their country at the same time have settled here in clusters. Their descendants speak French in their common conversation, and retain many of their original customs to this hour. Two or three families now living at Frankfort are of English origin, their predecessors first fled to Holland during the persecutions in the reign of Mary, and being afterwards driven out of that country by the cruelty of the Duke of Alva, found an asylum in this free Imperial city.
The Jews in Frankfort are obliged to fetch water when fire happens in any part of the city, and the magistrates, in return, permit them to choose judges out of their own body for deciding disputes among themselves.
Frankfort, says Baron
Reisbec,
is a fine large city; there is no city in Germany which has larger and more magnificent inns. Excepting Hamburg, this is the only Imperial city which keeps up all its pristine splendour. The inns, says Dr.
Moore,
for cleanliness, conveniency and number of apartments, are superior to any I saw on the continent, and vie with our most magnificent inns in England; at these, as at all other inns in Germany and Switzerland, there is an ordinary at which strangers may dine and sup. It is a true
table d'hôte,
the landlord sitting at the bottom of the table, carving, which is not the case in France; there is no private lodgings to be had here as at London, nor any
hôtels garnis,
as at Paris; strangers therefore are obliged to put up at inns, during their stay in any of the towns, and travellers of every denomination in this country under the rank of sovereign princes, make no scruple of eating occasionally at the
table d'hôte
of the inn where they lodge; which custom is universally followed by strangers from every country on the continent of Europe; even ladies themselves, in a journey, eat at these ordinaries, where all orders of superior rank are for the time laid aside.
The celebrated colleges have a wonderful institution. These consist of associations of people of some rank, who assemble on a certain day. There are colleges of nobility, of artists of all kinds, of booksellers, of doctors of law and physic; and, in short, of all orders. It is not difficult for a stranger to be introduced to these; and the advantage he derives by it, of being acquainted, in an hour, with the most respectable people of his own rank, is incredible.
Society here is divided into noblesse and burgeois, the first consists of some noble families from various parts of Germany, and who have chosen this place for their residence, and some few original citizens of Frankfort, who have now attained the rank of nobility, some of these nobility take pains to point out the essential difference there is, and the distinction that ought to be, made between them and the burghers, who always, according to their opinion, retain a vulgarity of senment and manners, unknown to those whose blood has poured through several generations, unmixed with that puddle which stagnates in the veins of Plebeians. But the Plebeians, in return, smile at such noblesse, and take pains, by a magnificent shew, to convince the world they are the greatest men of the two.
Moore
says, he was one day riding along the banks of the Maine, in the territories of the elector of Mentz, and observed a building, which seemed to be the residence of some prince, or sovereign bishop at least; was surprised he had never heard it spoken of before, having a more magnificent appearance than any modern building he had seen since his arrival in Germany. He rode up, and on entering it, found that the apartments within, though not laid out in the best taste, seemed to correspond, in point of expence, with the external appearance.
On enquiry, he was informed that this palace belonged to a tobacconist in Frankfort, where he still kept shop, and had accumulated a prodigious fortune by making and selling snuff.
Near to the principal house was another great building intended for a manufactory, with apartments for workmen, and vaulted cellars for store-houses. There were exactly 300 rooms in both buildings, and the greater number of them belonged to the dwelling-houses. The owner of these premises is an Italian, of the name of
Bolongaro,
and his snuff is known by the same name; the government of Frankfort wanted to tax him as an out-burgher, and he was called on to lay an account of his property before the regency. He offered an immense sum of money, if they would take his word for the sum total; but nothing would satisfy them but an exact inventory. This enraged him, and he withdrew himself into the territory of Mentz, to a place called Hochst, six miles from Frankfort. The consequence of this is, that he now pays at least 8000 guilders less to the customs of Frankfort, than he did before, when his whole business was done in that city. The legislature of Mentz have built him a crane, on the Maine, before his palace, and Mr.
Bolongaro
has carried his revenge still further, by enticing one of the most intelligent of his countrymen, out of one of the best houses in Frankfort, and entered into partnership with him, for establishing a commerce in drugs, the most capital branch of trade in Frankfort. To encourage
Bolongaro,
the government of Mentz have granted him an exemption of custom for 20 years, which soon put 16,000l. into his pocket. Almost all his tobacco is prepared up the country; and even the greatest part of it is exported from Frankfort, he only removed that part of his trade to Hochst, which he could not so well carry on at Frankfort, and availed himself of the privileges of a citizen of Mentz, to hurt his former place of residence. This man is supposed to be worth 150,000l. sterling, and has spent more than a third of the sum on his vast pile of buildings.
There is a public assembly at Frankfort once a week for the nobility, at which they drink tea, converse, and play at cards from six till ten. On the other nights the same company meet alternately at each others houses, and pass the evening in the same manner. None of the burgeois families are invited to these parties; but they have assemblies of the same kind among themselves, and often entertain their friends and strangers in a very hospitable manner. The nobility who reside at Frankfort, and the nobility of all degrees and every nation, who accidentally pass through it, chearfully accept of these invitations to dine with the citizens; but none of the German ladies of quality condescend so far.
Distinction of ranks is observed in Germany with all the scrupulous precision, that a matter of that importance deserves. There is a public concert in Frankfort, supported by subscription. One would imagine that the subscribers should take their seats as they entered the room, and that those who came earliest would have their choice as in England. No such thing. The first two rows are kept for the ladies of quality; officers and daughters of the citizens must be contented to sit behind. Whilst
Moore
was there, the theatre was opened for the winter, by a troop of German comedians; he was present the first night, and, previous to the play, there was a kind of allegorical compliment to the magistrates of the place. This was performed by
Justice, Wisdom,
and
Plenty,
each of whom appeared in person with the usual attributes. The last, says he, was very properly personated by a large fat woman big with child. As to the two former, I hope for the sake of the good people of Frankfort, that they are better represented in the town council, than they were on the stage. The prologue was concluded by a long harangue pronounced by the plumpest Apollo, I dare venture to say, that ever appeared "in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath."
The play was a German translation of the English play of George Barnwell, with considerable alterations. Barnwell is represented as an imprudent young man, but does not murder his uncle as in the English play, or commit any gross crime. The translator, therefore, instead of hanging, only marries him at the end of the piece.
Most of the plays represented on the German stage, are translations from the English or French for Germany, so fertile in writers of divinity, jurisprudence, medicine, chemistry, and other parts of natural philophy, has produced few poets till of late; but
"Now a new progeny from heaven descend,"
and the German music is admired all over Europe. Her beauties are felt and applauded by men of genius, and even through the medium of a translation, which is a strong proof of her original energy. It is, however, a great discouragement to German poetry in general, and to the dramatic in particular; but the French language prevails in all the courts, and French plays are represented there in preference to German.
The native language of the country is treated like a vulgar and provincial dialect, whilst the French is cultivated as the only proper language for people of fashion. I have met, says
Moore,
with persons who considered it as an accomplishment to be unable to express themselves in the language of their country, and who have pretended to be more ignorant in this particular, than in reality they were.
That the German language is nervous, copious, most expressive, and capable of all the graces of poetry, appears by the works of several late writers, who have endeavoured to check this unnatural prejudice in their countrymen, and to restore the language of their ancestors to its native honours.
Among the winter amusements of this place, traineau parties may be reckoned. These can take place in the time of frost only, and when there is a considerable quantity of snow upon the ground. I have given a representation of these traineaus, when speaking of Vienna. (See the plate, page 296). There is a little difference at Frankfort, the traineau is there drawn by two horses instead of one, and sometimes conducted by a postilion. And in the Frankfort traineau, a pole is fixed up on one side of it, to which an ensign or flag is fastened, which waves over the heads of those, placed on the machine, and the horses have little bells hanging to the trappings.
Whole processions of such traineaus parade the streets of Frankfort at night; the horses go a brisk trot, or canter; the bells, ensigns, and torches make a gay, shewy appearance, and the motion in them is easy and agreeable.
CHAP. XI.
Of the Circle of the Lower Rhine.
THIS circle is sometimes called the Electoral Rhenish Circle; and sometimes the Circle of the four Electors on the Rhine; it terminates on that of Westphalia, Franconia, Suabia, and Burgundy, as also on Loraine and Alsace, dividing the circle of the Upper Rhine. Its real extent is scarce to be determined, but in conjunction with the Upper Rhine, it amounts to 960 square German miles.
The present states of this circle are the Electors of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne, with the Elector Palatine, the Duke of Aremburg, the Prince of Taxis, the Teutonic bailiwick of Coblentz, the Prince of Nassau Dietz, on account of the seignory of Beilstein and the Count of Sinzendorf, as burgrave of Rheineck. The summoning prince is the Elector of Mentz. The religion is mixed.
THE ELECTORATE OF MENTZ.
The Electorates of Mentz, Treves, and Cologne, are ecclesiastical states and archbishopricks. In the electoral counties of Mentz, which are in this circle, there are forty-one cities, and twenty-one boroughs. In the proper archbishopric there are no proprietary nobles, but the nobility there belong to the body of the immediate knighthood of the empire. In it are also no provincial states, except on the Eichsfelde.
The electorate affords sufficient subsistence for the inhabitants; exclusive of corn, are also fine garden-fruits and breeds of cattle, with an abundance of excellent wines, particularly the Rhenish wines that grow in the Rheingau. Here and there too are iron-mines. This state is watered with the Rhine, the Mayne, and two other rivers. In the archbishopric are some woollen and other manufactures; at Hochst, an ingenious porcelain, and on Eichsfelde, they cultivate tobacco and flax.
The electorate is inseparably connected with the archbishopric, and the archbishop is chosen by a free choice of the chapter, which consists of twenty-four persons, viz. five prelates, and nineteen capitulars. The former wear a mitre, the rest are generally priests, but need not be so. When the archbishop is chosen, he must have the papal confirmation, and this is expensive, and he is obliged to pay the Pope 10,000 florins annually, and is subject to him; he is, however, the first archbishop of Germany▪ and first of the electors. His title is N. N. by the grace of God, of the holy see of Mentz, archbishop of the Roman empire throughout all Germany, archchancellor and elector, &c. The arms are a wheel
argent
in a field of
g
les,
with the addition of the family-arms. At the assemblies of the Emperor and states, the Elector of Mentz appears not only every where as the first state of the empire, and next after the King of the Romans, but he also regulates all consultations relative thereto. The bishopricks subject to Mentz, are Worms, Spire, Strasburg, Constance, Ausburg, Chur, Wurzburg, Eichstadt, Padderborn, Hildesheim, and the abbey of Fulda; the electoral revenues are estimated at about 1,200,000 florins (a florin fourteen-pence English). The military consists of a life-guard of horse, a number of dragoons, three regiments of foot, and three provincial regiments.
Mentz is the capital of the electorate, lying on the Rhine, and not far from the Mayne; it is reckoned a barrier fortress of the empire, and the Circle of the Upper Rhine considers it as one of its fortresses, therefore keeps it under certain restrictions. The city itself is very large and populous, but consists, for the most part, of narrow streets and old fashioned burghers houses; though, in some few places, we see some fine buildings and a considerable palace. The electoral palace of Martinsburg, which, in 1750, received the addition of a beautiful new wing, together with the well built Favorita of the Elector, have fine gardens belonging to them. It has a cathedral, seven parish-churches, a benedictine prelature, a Jesuits college, six monasteries, five nunneries, six hospitals, and a university.
The greatest part of the town consists of a heap of black houses, many of which threaten to fall into the narrow streets; but the northern part of the city is full of very regular buildings; here are three streets, called the
Blerchen,
a mile and a half long, which run parallel to each other from the banks of the Rhine, and are cut almost regularly by very pretty cross streets. The archbishop's palace has a commanding view of these streets, the Rhine and the Rhinegau. The beast-market is well worth seeing, and the market in the middle of the town is one of the finest places in Germany.
The cathedral is an immense large, old Gothic building, the spire of which, being wood, was struck with lightning some years ago, and burnt fourteen houses before it was consumed; it is now re-built with stone, and cost 4000l. sterling; but this grand edifice is so choaked up with shops and houses, as scarce to be visible; the scarcity of ground in the city occasions this, a shop and single room to live in, letting for 15l. English
per annum;
there is scarce another church in Germany of the height and length of this cathedral. The inside is decorated with several magnificent monuments of princes and other great personages; in it is a treasury, shewn for a ducat or two, consisting of jewels, rich vestments, and other church-furniture. The other churches are modern. In another century the externals of the city will be quite changed; for new streets are forming, and the houses rebuilding.
Before the Rhine reaches Mentz it is joined by the Mayne, and the waters of these rivers continue unmixed a considerable way from the place of their conflux, nearly the distance of four miles. A bridge of boats crosses the Rhine at Mentz, 766 paces long, Roman historians make very early mention of this city; some will have the Eichelstein, or acorn-stone, so called from its figure, to be the tomb of
Claudius Drusus Germanicus,
but the opinion is founded on a weak foundation, it stands within the citadel, on St. Jacobsberg.
The inhabitants, who together with the garrison, amount to 30,000, are a good kind of people, who, like all the catholics of Germany, pride themselves in a good table; their faces are interesting, and they are not deficient either in wit or activity. There is no catholic state which contains so many learned and deep-thinking men as this does, or so rich and numerous a nobility; there are some houses here with estates of 10,000l. a-year, sixteen or eighteen houses have from 1500l. a-year to 3000l. The nobility of this place are some of the oldest and most untainted in Germany. After the Pope, there is no doubt but the Archbishop of Mentz is the most considerable and richest prelate in the christian world. The provinces the most considerable in the whole papal dominions, all Swabia, Franconia, Bohemia, and almost all Saxony, with a part of Friezland, Bavaria and the Upper Rhine, belong to this diocese, and the temporalities annexed to it add greatly to its splendor. Though the Elector of Mentz does not absolutely possess the largest, yet he certainly has the richest and most populous domain of any ecclesiastical potentate in Germany. The country does not contain more than 125 German square miles, whereas Saltsburg contains 240, but then Saltsburg has only 250,000 inhabitants, whereas Mentz has 320,000, Saltsburg has but ten cities, Mentz has forty. The clergy in this place are the richest in Germany, a canonry brings in 3500 Rhenish guilders in a moderate year (362l.) the provostship is upwards of 4000l. a-year, the richest in Germany; the income of the chapter amounts to upwards of 30,000l. a year. Many of the canons have three or four prebends, so that there is scarce a man among them who has less than 8 or 900l. a year. The late provost, a count of Elts, had prebends enough to procure him an income of near 8000l. To give my readers an idea of the riches of the monasteries of this place, I need only mention that at the destruction of the Jesuits, their cellars of wine which sold cheap, produced 120,000 rix-dollars, each rix-dollar, 3s. 6d. A little while since the Elector abolished a Carthusian convent and two nunneries, in the holy cellars of which there was found wine, to the value of at least 500,000 rix-dollars.
Notwithstanding this great wealth, there is not a more regular clergy in all Germany than in this place. The nobility here refuse the burgeois admittance among them; speak a miserable French jargon, and are ashamed of their mother-tongue, of course know nothing of the literature of their own country; and their tables, dresses, and equipage, are all in the high Parisian ton.
The peasants are strongly built, and are distinguished from the people of Bavaria and the rest of Germany, by their ruddy fresh complexions: the former have very sallow complexions; but though the peasants are strong, they are not well limbed, owing to the absurd custom of swaddling their infants; their knees are either all bent in like a taylor's, or stand out straight like a stick. Black and brown hair is much more common than white, the characteristic of the Germans in the time of
Tacitus.
There is a great deal of wine made in the countries south and west of the Rhine, but the true Rhenish, which sells here for 3s. 6d. a bottle, comes only from the Rhinegau, which lies on the northern banks of the Rhine.
Reisbec
tells us he went to the Rheingau on a party of pleasure, and was present at one of the prettiest village festivities he ever beheld. It was that of a gentleman celebrating the first ripe bunch of grapes his vineyard produced, a custom religiously observed by all the rich inhabitants of this country. On a sudden the doors of his saloon were opened, and there came forth before it in festive order, a band of music followed by two pretty girls, well dressed, who brought in a large bunch of grapes on a table, covered with a fine cloth; the sides of the table were ornamented with flowers. They put the bunch of grapes into the middle, on a kind of throne that was raised on the table; this being done, the proprietor of the vineyard made an excellent speech, suited to the nature of the festivity, and then they danced round the grapes. Can there be a more sacred, or more respectable holiday than that, in which we joyfully thank the Creator for the benefits he has bestowed upon us?
THE VINEYARD FESTIVAL
In the approach to Mentz, the city presents itself to your eyes, with a majesty not to be described. The numberless brooks which deck its banks, as well as the numerous and magnificent towers of its churches, are reflected by the clear stream of the river. In a word, Dresden, magnificent as it is, is scarce to be compared with Mentz.
In the territory of Mentz, behind Cronberg is a mountain called
Altkoniger,
or the Old King, which raises its head above the ridge of hills that protects the fine plain along the side of the Mayne, between Frankfort and Mentz, from the rude north winds.
Reisbec
ascended this mountain for the sake of viewing the rising sun; to the south it overlooks a plain thirty-three miles broad, terminated by the mountains Spessart, and Odenwalde, the forest of Spessart adjoining has a road through it sixteen miles long, but very safe travelling, being guarded by Hussars. In this plain you see all the villages, hamlets, and towns, between Frankfort and the Mayne; the eastern view is closed by the Spessart, fifty-one miles distant. All the country along the Mayne and Neckar, lies like a map under the feet. In order to enjoy the sight of the rising sun from this mountain, Baron
Reisbec
wrapt himself in furs, though in a warm August, and made a fire of wood in the night, but the break of day fully overpaid the toils of the night. Never did I feel, says he, my own existence, or that of the Being that animates all nature more fully than at the instant in which the first ray of the moon gilded the tops of the Spessart and Odenwalde, both which at a distance appeared to be islands of fire. As far as this hill, all was thick darkness, but this eastern view appeared like an illuminated island swimming in the black ocean of night. The morning, spreading wider and wider, shewed us the most beautiful landscape in miniature that we had ever seen; we beheld villages afar off in the shade, which one ray of the morning sun broke through and dispelled the darkness of. By degrees we saw the separation of the hills with their several tracks and windings; every thing appeared as a fine and well illumined landscape through a perspective glass. A sensation never before experienced took possession of me: in beholding the scene, I felt as if expanded, and as if a weight was taken off my heart, and I breathed a pure air. But the first break of the sun surpassed all the beauties of the dawn; the grandeur, variety and magnificence of this appearance is above description. The plain seventy-five miles long and forty-two broad, which lies between the Spessart, the Donnersberg, and the eastern part of the Odenwalde, and our hills were overspread with large streaks of light contrasted in the strongest manner, with the thickness of the shade. The top of the Donnersberg was gilded over, whilst deep darkness brooded at his feet, and over all the Rhine beneath. We were ourselves in light, but the plains and villages below were in a kind of half darkness, broken only by the reflection of the light from the hills on which we stood; the elevated parts of the immense plains which lay before us, broke through that darkness, with a cheerfulness which brought them much nearer to our view, and produced the most agreeable deception. Now, a spire emerged from the gloom, next the summit of a hill covered with wood, and then a whole village with its trees seemed to swim upon the earth; here lay a corn field in sight, as it were, and raised up from the country round it. The river Mayne, which hitherto appeared like a dark stripe of the prospect, began also to be illumined with silver, and the Rhine in a similar manner was soon brought nearer to our eyes; this was followed with such a blaze, such a flood of light — but I feel I am attempting to describe a scene that is indescribable, and to which I am inadequate. In short, I have often seen, says our author, the sun rise, but never so magnificently as on the Altkonig. A man may travel through many countries and not meet with so favourable a spot as this, for such an object.
Notwithstanding the great reduction made by the archbishop of Mentz on his civil list, it still remains by much too immoderate and expensive; he has his ministers, his counsellors of state, and eighty or ninety privy counsellors of various denominations. The expence of this establishment is disproportionate to the revenue of the state, owing to the large number of poor nobility who can only accept of employments of this kind. Ignorance of the true principles of government are the causes of this evil; the consequences are, that a great number of persons who might be usefully employed, live in idleness.
The military establishment seems equally disproportionate. At the accession of the present Elector, though the whole army consisted only of 2200 men, there were six generals; the regular establishment paid for, and supported by the country is 8000 men, though only 2000 are kept up. This army consists of a German guard of fifty men, and twenty-five horses; a squadron of Hussars of 130 men (the most useful of the whole, as they serve as a patrol through the roads, and purge the land of robbers and murderers) a corps of artillery of 104 men, three regiments of infantry of 600 men each, and some companies belonging to the armies of Franconia and the Upper Palatinate.
Of the fortifications of Mentz, we may say much the same as of the army. Were they improved and kept up as they ought to be, they would vie with Luxemburg, and be the most powerful of all the barriers of France. The beauty and size of them are objects of wonder, but though great sums have been expended in building them, part of them are still unfinished, and parts are falling to decay. Their extent would require a great army to garrison them, but this is evidently beyond the power of this court, or indeed, the whole circle of the Upper Rhine united, of course are to be looked upon as one of those things, which serve more for shew than for use.
Whilst the greater courts of Germany are endeavouring to simplify their several systems as much as possible, and to introduce efficacious economy; the dissipation, pomp and love of outside show of the lesser ones, is beyond all bounds, and past all belief. These courts very much resemble the expensive puppet-shew theatre of Prince Estherhasi. The orchestra is fine, the scenes beautiful, and machinery delectable, but the actors are only puppets, deficient in what constitutes true greatness. This reproach, however, does not so much affect the present Archbishop, who, as far as circumstances allow him, is, perhaps, the only prelate, who endeavours to render his court more useful than ostentatious.
Was I to describe all the little courts of Germany, and all the capital cities, it would take up many volumes of this work; if I describe the principal, I trust my readers will think it sufficient, there being a similarity throughout the whole. I shall proceed, therefore, to the electorate or archbishopric of Treves, which is bounded on the west, by Luxemburg; on the south, by the territories of the elector palatine of the Upper Rhine; and on the north, by the archbishopric of Cologne. Its length is about eighty miles, its breadth various.
THE ELECTORATE OF TREVES.
The country here is rather mountainous and sandy, but contains good pasturage and some cattle-land, yet much corn is imported; the growth of wines here, on the Mosel, is considerable; there is also plenty of game, and some valuable mines. The archbishopric contains twenty-eight towns, of which Treves is the capital. The nobility of this electorate enjoy almost a third of its estates. The electoral subjects are Roman-catholics, but there are some protestants subject to the Elector.
The Archbishop is chosen by the chapter; he is the second spiritual elector, and his title is—"By the grace of God, archbishop of Treves, of the holy Roman empire, throughout Gaul and the kingdom of Arles, archchancellor and elector. The arms of Trems are a shield quartered, in whose upper dexter field and lower field sinister, is a cross of gules in a field argent. The suffragans to this archbishopric, are Metz, Tull, and Verdun. The chapter consists of forty canons, all of noble family. The chamber revenues of the Elector amount to about 50,000 rix-dollars (each three shillings and six-pence); he has an army of between eleven and twelve hundred men, and a life-guard of forty.
Triers or Treves was a town of note before the christian aera; it was the head town of the first Belgium, the residence of the ancient Roman emperors, and so early as the days of
Constantine the Great,
it was the capital of all Gaul. Of the ancient town, there are some remains, particularly of the Roman theatre; the cathedral church stands on a hill, and is a large building; there are three collegiate churches, and five parish ones, with three Jesuits colleges, thirteen convents, and a university. The city is of a square form, it is seated between two mountains on the Mosel, over which there is a fine stone bridge. The churches, monasteries, and the Elector's palace, are esteemed magnificent buildings, but have suffered in the late wars.
Coblentz is the second city in this electorate, fifty miles N. E. of Treves, situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel, wonderfully pleasant, surrounded with vineyards, and at the distance of forty miles from Cologne. It is of a triangular form, having two of its sides washed by the above rivers, and the third enclosed with a wall and modern fortifications; its convenient situation has rendered it a town of good trade, in corn, wine, wood, and iron; the houses are well built, and the streets uniform; there is a stone bridge over the Mosel, and a bridge of boats over the Rhine; and on the opposite side of the Rhine, a castle, on a hill, commanding the town and the passage of both rivers, and at the bottom of this hill stands the Elector's palace, the front of which, and the two large wings, look towards the rivers.
Coblentz is a very pretty city, the usual residence of the Elector, and yet rather a dead place; it contains about 12,000 inhabitants. The elector is also bishop of Ausburg, which brings him in near 20,000 guilders; he has also another appointment that brings him in 8000 guilders; these, with the income of the electorate, would almost make
me
think with
Bellarmine,
"Only make me Pope (said a Roman patrician to one who wanted to convert him), and I will be a christian!"
THE ELECTORATE OF COLOGNE.
The country between Coblentz and Cologne is very fine and very well peopled; there is a beautiful town near the latter, viz. Newvied, quite a new town, regularly built, and full of industry. The inhabitants enjoy not only a perfect freedom of religion, but an exemption from taxes. It is a colony of Moravians; but Bonn is the largest and handsomest town between Coblentz and Cologne; it is the residence of the Elector of Cologne, and contains 12,000 inhabitants.
The territories belonging to the archbishopric lie not all together, but are many of them separated from each other by foreign territories; the chief part of it lies along the Rhine, and is above eighty miles in length, but very narrow. These countries are of a very different nature; one mountainous and woody, another sandy, and a third very fruitful.
This electorate has fifty-two towns, and seventeen boroughs; the land-diets are held at Bonn. Roman-catholics only enjoy the public exercise of their reliligion, but it has also many protestants. The Elector's title is, "By the grace of God, &c. archbishop of Cologne, and archchancellor of the holy Roman empire throughout all Italy; also elector and
legatus natus
of the holy apostolic see, Duke of Engern and Westphalia, &c." The arms of Cologne are a cross sable in a field argent. The electoral revenues are but small; the military establishment is a life-guard of halbardiers and yeomen, and a regiment of footguards.
Near Rentz, on the Rhine, in this electorate, is to be seen the
Konigstuhl,
or
Thronus regelis,
a remarkable piece of antiquity, consisting of a round vault, built of free-stone, and resting upon nine stone pillars, one of which stands in the middle. This vault is eight German ells and a quarter high (each German ell half an English one) forty and half a quarter in compass, and twelve and a quarter in diameter, being furnished above with seven seats, agreeable to the number of electors at that time; the ascent to it is by stairs of stone, consisting of seventy-eight steps, and it has two stone doors. On this regal chair the electors formerly held consultations for some time, concerning the election of the king and emperor, previous to the election day at Frankfort, and whenever any thing prevented the election at that place, it was held here. The emperor, Henry VII. was here elected in 1308; here also was established the electoral league in 1338; but it has not been used since the election of
Maximilian
I.
Cologne, an Imperial city, in the circle of Westphalia, is nevertheless the capital of the electorate, and of course mentioned here, it lies on the Rhine in the form of a semicircle, and is one of the oldest and largest cities, but at the same time, the ugliest in all Germany; not a single building worth seeing within its walls, which are nine miles in circumference; most of the houses are falling to the ground, and a great part of them stands quite empty; and as to the population, we cannot give a better idea of it than by saying, that every large house, with a court, stables, and a large garden, in one of the best streets in the city will not let for more than about 5l. 10s. a year English. Round the walls which enclose the whole domain of the state, there are some hundred farm houses, which produce all the vegetables, with as much butter, cheese, and milk, as is used in the city. In many streets there is dung laying before the houses on each side; many are so empty that you may walk in them for an hour and not see a single person. The great square or place would, however, from its size and the beautiful rows of lime-trees in it, be one of the most magnificent in the world, if it was not darkened by the half-fallen buildings about it.
The city was built before the time of the Romans; it is a free Imperial one, and maintains four companies of soldiers. In time of war it is garrisoned. Though the fortifications seem to have but little strength, they are of vast extent, inclosing a great deal of ground that is not built on, and many gardens and vineyards of more than 300 acres. It has twenty-four gates, a vast number of public buildings, twenty-seven churches, thirty chapels, twelve monasteries, twenty-two nunneries, and four large hospitals. The public edifices indeed are so numerous, in proportion to the city, that most of it is taken up with them; the streets are large and well paved, but there are only two squares or market-places. The cathedral is a large building, would be very magnificent if it were finished, but that is not the case, though it was begun in 1254. In this cathedral they shew three skulls, richly enshrined, which according to tradition, belonged to the wise men that came from the East to worship our Saviour, first brought to Constantinople by the mother of
Constantine the Great,
from thence moved to Milan, and in 1164, removed to Cologne. In the church of
St. Gereon,
they expose to view the heads of 1000 saints, who are said to have suffered martyrdom under the emperor
Maximilian.
The forest of ships in the port, and the numerous church-steeples give Cologne at a distance, a very magnificent appearance, but it all vanishes on entering the city. The streets and inhabitants, says
Reisbec,
are alike dark and ugly; I came by water, and I had scarce made my entry, when I met with an event which gave me no very high idea of the police of the place. On my landing from the vessel, they sent a soldier with me to the inn, to search my baggage; but we were no sooner alone, than he told me how old he was, what a trouble it would be for him to go to the inn, and provided I would give him a few pence, I might go where I pleased; but I had hardly got rid of him, when a heap of beggars assailed me and followed me quite to the inn. Indeed a third part of the inhabitants are privileged beggars, who form here a regular corporation; they sit upon rows of stools in every church, and take precedence according to seniority. When the oldest dies, his next neighbour takes his place; the old people who belong to the fraternity, consider a place upon these stools as a provision for a son, or a marriage portion for a daughter. Many of them have stools belonging to them in several churches, which they visit alternately on the days of the most brilliant festivities, and divide among their heirs when they die. On the few days of the year on which there are no festivities, they disperse about the city and molest the passengers, with an insolence and rudeness not to be conceived. Here it was king
Charles
II. of England spent the last two years of his exile.
When I came to the inn, continues the Baron, the hostess was bargaining with a dirty Monk to say a mass for her, he asked fourteen stivers (that is fourteen pence) and she would give him only twelve. At last when they had struck their bargain, and the priest was gone, there came another who had overheard all that passed, and offered her, if she would be off, to say mass for ten stivers. One third of the inhabitants I have observed are beggars, another third are ecclesiastics; for besides the numerous convents, the place is crowded with a motley race of men, which are called abbés, not such powdered, smirking, ecclesiastic beaux as are seen at Paris, who make parties with the ladies and attend at their levees; but rough and dirty clowns, besmeared all over with tobacco, who play for pence with the peasants in public ale-houses, or after having said mass in the morning, run of errands, clean shoes, or are porters for the rest of the day. I have never seen the church, says
Reisbec,
in so contemptible a state as it is here. There are several ecclesiastics, who do not themselves know what they are. I was acquainted with a canon who made 2000 guilders annually of his stall, but who told me himself that he neither said mass, or saw his church for twelve months together. I met another of them in a coffee-house kept by a young woman whom he loved, but who was likewise courted by a merchant's clerk. The rivals having engaged in a game of billiards, from words proceeded to blows, until the prebendary was fairly laid under the table. When I had, with some difficulty, made peace, the clerk went his way, and another extraordinary scene followed. The canon had a pretty young man with him, whom he had lodged and boarded for some time; he took it so ill that this toad-eater had not taken his part, that after reproaching him with the favours he had conferred upon him, he renounced his friendship before the whole company. The part of the French abbés is played here by these regular canons, the Antonites and the priests of the order of Malta; you see them about the ladies in all great houses. As to the nuns,
Reisbec
assures us, there were four big with child when he was there, and six were immured for not having understood the art of not being with child. In the first days of my abode here, the son of a gentleman to whom I was recommended, took me with him to a nunnery to see his sister, we found her with another friend in a sick room where they are allowed to receive visits. In the first quarter of an hour of the visit, I discovered that my friend was not come to see his sister, and that her friend's disorder was not very dangerous. I found the sister agreeable enough, not to be tired of her, whilst the brother was entertained by the friend. The next week the sister was ill and the friend attended her to the hospital; she gratefully returned the favour the week after, and I soon found that, let me stay here as long as I pleased, we should have visits to make every week, till the whole circle of diseases had been gone through by these nuns.
Want of proper government is the cause of the unlimited freedom which is enjoyed by the ecclesiastics of this place, they live in the greatest anarchy; for though they are properly subject to the Archbishop of Cologne, the magistracy of the place is jealous of the Archbishop's power, and will suffer none of his orders relating to discipline to be carried into execution; thus between the two powers, poor discipline falls to the ground.
The last third of the people consists of some patrician families and of merchants and mechanics, on whom the other two parts live. On the whole, Cologne is at least a century behind the rest of Germany, Bavaria itself not excepted. Bigotry, ill manners, clownishness, slothfulness are visible every where, and the speech, dress, and furniture of the houses, every thing, in short, is so different from what is seen in the rest of Germany, that you conceive yourself in the midst of a colony of strangers. There are certainly some exceptions where masters of families are distinguished for their taste and elegant manner of living, but these exceptions are very few.
It is owing to the government of the country that this city is so far behind the other states of Germany. Together with the hatred of innovation common to all republics, and the usual impatience and weakness of the magistrates, the absurd corporation-system prevails here with more force than in any other of the free Imperial cities. One instance will shew how impossible it is for this town ever to go on improving, as the rest of Germany has done. A few years since settled here, a baker from the Palatinate, who from the circumstance of the other bakers, baking such bread as only an inhabitant of Cologne could eat, soon carried on a thriving trade. Jealousy at his good fortune, soon brought his brethren of the company to his house, who pulled down his oven. The affair was brought before a court of justice; on the day it was to be determined, not only the company of bakers, but the other companies of barbers, shoemakers, &c. assembled round the court-house and swore they would put an end to the magistrates and magistracy together, if they licensed any man to bake better bread than the other gentlemen of the corps. The magistracy knew its men, who, on a former occasion had hustled some of them in the church-yard, and admonished by the precedent, they made this spirited decree. "That whereas the audacious baker had taken upon him to bake bread, such as the rest of the corporation did not bake, he should build up his oven again at his own expence, and for the future be cautious and only bake such bread as the town has been used to feed upon."
The obstinacy with which the several corporations of the place defend their privileges, the rudeness of the common people, which some think proper to dignify with the name of liberty, and the immoderate and unrestrained licentiousness which universally obtains, render Cologne very deserving of the name of Little London, and indeed by which name some of its inhabitants love to distinguish it. Like the Great London, it is remarkable for the pride of the common people and the insolence with which they treat strangers. Having behaved rather impertinently to their neighbours, the elector of Cologne, and the elector Palatine; an attempt was made to reform them in the most effectual way, by cutting off their provisions. The magistracy immediately dispatched messengers to the Emperor to acquaint him that they were upon the point of being starved to death, and in the mean time the burghers rubbed up their old swords, and assembling in crowds in the ale-houses and other public places of the city, denounced death and vengeance on the Elector. The Emperor out of pity had the interdict taken off, and ever since the populace have exclaimed, "we have brought the Elector to reason, he was apprised of our intended march, and has acted very wisely in not suffering matters to run to extremities!" Precisely in the style of a London mob.
The government of the city consists of six burgo-masters, seven aldermen, and one hundred and fifty common councilmen, who all continue for life. Two of the burgo-masters are regents by turns; the aldermen are appointed by the archbishop, and the common council elected by the trading companies of the city. A governing burgo-master of Cologne holds nearly the same state as the Lord Mayor of London. He wears a Roman toga, half black, half purple, a large Spanish hat, Spanish breeches, and waistcoat, &c. he has also his
lictors,
who carry the
fasces
before him when he appears in his public character. In the last war, a French regiment desired to march through the city, but it was opposed, on the pretence that the king of Prussia was their liege lord, as duke of Cleves and count of the Mark, and they told the colonel, who desired to have the gates opened to him, that they were determined to observe a strict neutrality. It was in vain for him to remonstrate that he was conducting auxiliary troops to the service of the Emperor, their sovereign lord. The gates were kept shut, and nothing less than the pleasure of having their houses burnt about their ears, would content the mob of the place. However, when the cannon were planted and ready to fire, the council thought better of it, and to the great mortification of the populace determined to permit the passage. The commanding officer, as soon as he had got in, made the best of his way immediately to the hall to remonstrate with the mayor, whom he found with all the
insignia
of majesty on his throne, encompassed with his lictors. As these however did not prevent a few remarks being made, the magistrate immediately drew up, and ordering the lictors to raise the
fasces,
asked the colonel "whether he had a proper conception of the dignity of a Roman burgo-master, or whether he knew that he represented the majesty of the Roman Caesars, and had opened the gates to him merely out of good will." The officer who had drawn up his troops with their bayonets fixed, and firelocks primed, in the great square, and was in full possession of the city, could not abstain from laughing, but as he had already the door in his hand, the only answer he made was, "you are not quite right in your head."
The want of all police, a want which in this town constitutes the essence of liberty, brings here from the Upper Rhine, Westphalia, the Imperial Netherlands, France, and Holland, vast numbers of people who choose to live incognito. There are very good societies to be met with, made up of the better sort of these adventurers, numerous Prussian and Imperial officers, the canons of the place, some patrician and protestant merchants. For though the established religion of the place is Roman-catholic, yet the principal merchants and tradesmen are protestants, of whom the Lutherans have a church in the city, but the Calvinists are obliged to go six miles on the other side the Rhine, to Mulheim to worship. The brisk navigation, particularly of the Dutch, for which this town is the staple, and which they dare not pass by; the low price of all the necessaries of life; the neighbourhood of Bonn, the total absence of the insupportable court airs, and insolence of the noblesse, which is met with in almost every other city, the wholesomeness of the air, and the cheerfulness of the inhabitants of the neighbouring electorate and duchy of Berg, renders, this is a very agreeable abode to those who wish to mix somewhat of the country with the city life, notwithstanding the disagreeable manners of the majority.
These morose and heavy people are equally distinguished from the rest of Europe, for their religious, as well as for their political superstitions. The republican pride gives a colouring to every thing done here, which cannot but highly interest a friend of humanity, were it only to make him laugh; which was the use
Democritus
of Abdera made of his fellow citizens, to the no small advantage of his lungs.
The superstition of this Little London surpasses every thing we can imagine. They are not contented here with single saints, but must have whole armies of them. In the church of St.
Ursula,
is shewn the tomb of that saint, who, if their records may be credited, came over from Britain, with 1100 virgins, to convert the infidels of this country, and who all suffered martyrdom under the Huns; and although a collection of 11,000 British virgins in the days of the heptarchy, may appear an impossibility on the face of it, a man who should attempt here to subtract a single one from the number, would stand a very great chance of being knocked on the head. Wonderful as this story is in itself, other wonders are brought in confirmation of it. Among the rest, there is a monument which has a small coffin enclosed in it, and on which the following words are written. "A natural child was buried in this church with the virgins, but innocent as he was, they would not suffer him to mix his bones with theirs, but drove him out again, and there was a necessity of
burying
him above ground." It is natural to suppose, that there are authors who do not agree with this account; some scout it wholly, and others think the princess had a maid of honour called
Undecimilla,
which, by some blundering monks was changed into 11,000. Here also lies interred in a church, which bears his name St.
Gereon,
with 1200 or 12,000 (for they do not stand for a cypher here in reckoning up saints) of his soldiers; but what is most laughable, is two wooden horses painted white, which are looking out of a window of an old building in the new square. The history of this monument is as follows: "A wealthy young woman was formerly buried from this house, with very rich ornaments, which the grave-digger having observed, he came in the night to rob the corpse; scarce was the coffin opened, but the woman stood up, and seizing the lanthorn, which the astonished grave-digger dropped in his fright, walked directly home with it; she knocked at the door, and the maid came to the window, and asked, Who was there? Your mistress, answered the other. The girl immediately ran with the account to her master, who, perhaps, not being pleased at the return of his wife from her grave, cried out. It is as impossible for it to be
my
wife, as for the two horses to come out of the stable, run up into the garret, and look out of the window. No sooner said than done. The two white nags trotted immediately up stairs, and have remained at the window to this day." The poor man had no remedy but to take back his wife, who lived seven years with him after this, and wove a great quantity of linen, which, together with a set of paintings, exhibiting the whole story, is still to be seen in the neighbouring church. Unfortunately for the Colognese, who are in every thing distinguished from the rest of the sons of men, this same story is told precisely with the same circumstances in two other places of Germany; but the people of Cologne have added the visible and perpetual monument of the two horses.
It is not here as in the other dark parts of Germany, where small tales only serve for the amusement of the idler; the Colognese are in downright earnest, they consider their country as the special habitation of the saints, call it the holy city, and the earth itself as holy, and are equally ready to become martyrs for the truth of what they advance, or to make martyrs of any who doubt it.
The priests of the place, especially the monks, carry no better stories with them into their pulpits, and the necessary consequences are, that the manners of this people are more corrupted than in any other place under the sun. The churches themselves, says
Reisbec,
are made places of rendezvous, where every kind of licentiousness is in part agreed upon, and in part carried into effect.
The evening services of the monks are like the evening walks in the suburbs of Vienna, and every ale-house round the place teems with adultery and fornication. Go into them on a holiday, and you will commonly find the visitors in such a state of drunkenness, as exactly reminds you of the Germans and Scythians of old.
Formerly Cologne could reckon 30,000 men bearing arms, and in the twelfth century, it stood a siege against the whole empire united. Her commerce was so flourishing, that she was at the head of the Hans towns of the third order. Indeed, when we consider her situation, lying on one of the most navigable rivers in the world, the shores of which are covered with inhabitants; its staple; the republican form of its government; the admirable roads which connect it with all Germany, and various other advantages; the greatest wonder of all the wonders of this wonderful city is, how it can possibly have contrived to have fallen so low; at present, it does not contain more than 25,000 people. Their manufactures are low, save that of tobacco, a few insignificant laces, and the pins which are made by the wives and daughters of the poor, all spirit of industry is effectually suppressed by monkery, and a dissolution of manners annexed to it. Those who pass for merchants are only brokers and commissioners for other countries. Excepting a few small bankers, there is scarce above ten or twelve houses that have any thing like a solid commerce; the object of these are drugs, wine, wrought and unwrought iron from the mines of Nassau, wood from the Upper Rhine, Mayne, and Neckar, and a few other less important articles.
When a stranger objects to the people of Cologne, their intollerance towards the most useful inhabitants of the city, namely, the protestants; when he compares the stupidity, the barbarity, debauchery, and poverty of the citizens of the place, with the knowledge, industry, frugality, and riches of the foreigners there residing, they are not the least affected with the justness of the remarks, but turn them to their own advantage in the following manner. "These heretics, say they, are lost souls, their hearts are wrapt up in worldly possessions, which God vouchsafes them, in order to render their damnation the greater. God has evidently reprobated the rich in his holy writ, and their riches are the faggots, which, in another world will be piled up to burn them." With opinions, like these, which the monks hold forth from every pulpit, can it be wondered at, if the third part of the inhabitants are beggars?
Nothing displays the constitution of the German empire, in a better light, than the navigation of the Rhine; every prince, so far as his domain on the banks reaches, considers the ships that pass as foreign vessels, and loads them, without distinction, with intolerable taxes, determined to get by the navigation, whether they lose by the export of commodities or not. In the small district between Mentz and Coblentz, which, with the windings of the river, scarce makes 27 miles, there are not less than nine tolls to pay; each of these produce annually from 25,000 to 30,000 guilders, not to mention a number of articles which pay toll in specie, and make a part of the pay of the toll-gatherers. These tolls contribute in a great measure to the ruin of the country, and have been called, by an English writer, an incomprehensible duty. When the Elector Palatine made it difficult for the city of Mentz to export the corn of his country, the archbishop endeavoured to revenge himself by raising the toll of the grape of the Palatinates, the tobacco, and the other productions. On the other hand, the Elector Palatine made reprisals by his toll on the Lower Rhine, and revenged himself on the Mentz wines carried into Holland. Every species of chicanery, which hostile powers can use towards each other, was made use of on this occasion.
The present government of the archbishopric of Cologne, and the bishopric of Munster, which are held by the same person, is, without a doubt, the most active and most enlightened of all the ecclesiastical governments of Germany. The ministry of the court of Bonn, where the archbishop resides, is excellently composed, and the bishopric of Munster, besides the effect, which their influence has on it, is happy in the protection of the several members who compose the assemblies of its states. The ecclesiastics of both the countries are a most striking contrast to those of the city of Cologne, for their great learning and good manners. The cabinet of Bonn is singularly happy in the establishment of seminaries, the improvement of agriculture and industry, and the extirpation of every species of monkery. The Electorate of Cologne is worth about 100,000l. sterling, and the bishopric of Munster about 110,000l.
The passage on the Rhine from Mentz to Cologne is the most delightful of its kind, the hills which hang perpendicularly over the Rhine, are some of them covered with various greens, some with naked stones, and others with blue and white slates. Their appearance, their slope, the different and various cultures, together with the windings of the river, change the prospect almost every moment. There is a village almost every three miles, and every hill is covered with a castle, formerly the habitation of some German knight. The most picturesque fancy can paint nothing more romantic, than the situation of their cities and villages. In the midst of the Rhine, between the two cities, on a rock, which hardly rises above the surface of the water, stands a high, thick, solid tower, called the
Palatine,
supposed to have been originally the seat of the elector, and nothing can be conceived more singular or striking in a landscape, when viewed at a certain distance, than the situation of this tower.
OF THE PALATINATE ON THE RHINE.
The country of the Elector Palatine is also called the Lower Palatinate, and thereby distinguished from the Upper Palatinate, in the circle of Bavaria. To the east, it terminates on the county of Katzenellnbogen, the archbishopric of Mentz, the bishopric of Worms, and a part of the territories of the Teutonic order in Franconia; to the south, on the duchy of Wurtemburg and the bishopric of Spire; to the west, on Alsace, the duchy of Deuxponts, the county of Spanheim, the duchy of Simmeren, and certain districts belonging to the Elector of Mentz; and to the north, on a part of that archbishopric and the county of Katzenellnbogen. A straight line drawn from Bacharach to the Neckar, near Neckarsulm, which may be considered as the greatest extent of the electorate, will measure about eighty miles. It contains forty-one cities and several boroughs.
This country is partly mountainous, but very fruitful, producing all manner of corn and fine heads of cattle, with plantations of tobacco, and good Neckar and Rhenish wine. The Rhine runs partly through the borders of this electorate, and partly through its centre. Out of the sands near Germersheim and Seltz, is washed the best Rhenish gold, which is considered as a royalty, and farmed by the Elector.
The electoral title is that of Palsgrave of the Rhine, arch-treasurer and elector of the holy Roman empire, duke in Bavaria, Juliers, Cleve, and the Berg, prince of Mors, marquis of Bergen-op Zoom, count of Veldem, &c. The electoral arms are a lion or, in a field sable. There is here an order of knighthood, that of St. Hubert, a quadrangular cross pendant to a red ribband, and a star on the breast. The Elector maintains two regiments of life-guards of horse, and another of Swiss, with some few regiments of horse and foot. The cities which are part of this electorate, are Manheim and Heidelberg.
Manheim is the second town in this electorate, and the residence of the Elector. It is a strong fortress lying in a low plain, near the influx of the Neckar into the Rhine, twelve miles N. W. of Heidelberg. It is generally esteemed as one of the most beautiful cities in Germany. The streets are all straight as an arrow, being what they call
tirées au cordeau,
and intersect each other at right angles, so that the spectator has at each corner a view of four streets. This never fails to please at first, but becomes sooner tiresome, than a town built with less regularity. When a man has walked through the town for half a forenoon, his eyes search in vain for variety; the same objects seem to move along with him, as if he had been all the while on ship-board.
To the great market here, the Roman-catholic church, and the council-house, with the tower standing between them, add an ornamental symmetry. In this market is a fine fountain with four pillars, in which stands a lion, but still the town so labours under a want of good water and wholesome air, that the people use the water of Heidelberg. The electoral palace is one of the finest buildings in all Europe, situated at the junction of the Rhine and Neckar. The collection of paintings in this palace and the cabinet of curiosities, is worth attention; here is deposited the golden crown of the unhappy elector and Bohemian King, who married the daughter of James I. and from whom the present reigning family of Great Britain is descended. Besides the church above-mentioned, here is a Calvinistical one, and a Lutheran one, besides a jesuit's college, and a fine church belonging to it; there are also two other convents and a Jewish synagogue. Manheim contains likewise some manufactories, with a considerable trade, and a fine staple magazine.
They calculate the number of inhabitants at 24,000, including the garrison, which consists of 5000 men. This city has three noble gates, adorned with basso relievos, very beautifully executed. It is an easy hour's walk round the ramparts. The fortifications are well contrived, and in good order, and the town acquires great additional strength, being almost surrounded with the Neckar and Rhine, and situated in a flat, not commanded by any rising ground.
The lives and manners of the inhabitants of this city seem to be as uniform as the streets and buildings; no noise, mobs, or bustles; at mid-day every thing is as quiet as the streets of London at midnight, a presumption that the citizens are under some restraint and discipline with the troops. These last perform their exercise every morning on the parade. All their motions, even those of their bodies, are under the direction of the major's cane. For example, the major flourishes his cane—the drum gives a single tap, and every man, under arms, raises his hand to his hat;—at a second stroke of the drum, they take off their hats, and are supposed to pray;— at a third, they finish their petitions, and put their hats on their heads again.—If any man has the assurance to prolong his prayer a minute longer than the drum allows him, he is punished on the spot, and taught to be less devout in future.
At this court is kept a royal jester, the only remaining instance of such an officer.
Moore
tells us, he dined with the Elector, that the table consisted of thirty covers, and that with the desert, this jester introduced himself. He walked round the table, and conversed in a familiar manner with every body present, the princes not excepted. He spoke German, but his observations being followed with loud bursts of applause,
Moore
supposed there was some wit in them, but not knowing the language, and being ill explained to him in French, he could not say, whether the wit was keen or not.
Heidelberg is the capital of the electorate, situated in a hollow on the banks of the Neckar, surrounded by charming hills properly cultivated, enjoying a wholesome air and good water. The city is but small, but it is finely built. The Elector's castle is placed on an eminence which commands the town, and a view of the valley below; but the castle itself is commanded by another eminence near it, from which this noble building has been and may be cannonaded. In this castle stands the famous Heidelberg tun, which was repaired in 1727, and decorated with a great variety of ornaments. It is sometimes full of wine, and holds 204 tons of liquor. The head of this cask is railed round, so that several persons may walk about, and have an entertainment on it. It was made by order of the Elector in 1664, the weight of the iron hoops is one hundred and ten quintals; on it is the following inscription in High Dutch.
God bless the Elector of the Rhine,
From year to year with gen'rous wine.
The university has fourteen professors, about 180 protestant students, and eighty Roman-catholic ones.
The Calvinists are possessed of St. Peter's church, the Lutherans, of the church of Providence; but the next church is divided into two apartments, in one of which the protestants, and in the other the papists perform public worship, a singular proof of their moderation. Besides these there is a fine college of jesuits, and six other cloisters, all with churches, and a university, with Calvinist and Roman-catholic professors. The bridge on the Neckar is covered. From Heidelberg runs an avenue to Schwetzingen, a hunting palace of the Elector's, lying at one hour's distance from the city.
About two leagues from Heidelberg, the Bergstrasse or mountain-road begins, in travelling along which, an Italian is said to have broke out into this exclamation:
O Germania, Germania, quam velles esse Italia!
that is, O Germany, Germany, how fain would'st thou be Italy! The Bergstrasse extends as far as Darmstadt, but the best part of it is from Heidelberg to Bensheim, where it is about eight leagues long and four broad. This continued chain of hills and eminences on the right, is covered with woods near the top, and nearer the plain with vineyards. The level road is all along planted with rows of walnut-trees, with fields and meadows of an exuberant fertility on each side, and the eye is entertained with a variety of fine and extensive prospects.
CHAP XII.
Of the Circle of Franconia.
MODERN Franconia lies almost in the heart of Germany, and is bounded by Hesse and Thuringia N. Bavaria E. Swabia S. and the Lower Rhine on the W. It extends about 130 miles from E. to W. and 100 from N. to S. The soil is fertile and the country beautifully diversified with hills and valleys, producing great plenty of corn and wine. Its principal rivers are the Maine and the Sala; the latter of which gives name to the country where the famous Salique law was made, which restrains the succession to the heirs male.
This circle comprehends the bishoprics of Wurtsburg, Bamberg, and Aichstat, subject to their respective bishops; the marquisates of Cullenbach and Anspach, subject to their respective margraves; the principality of Henneberg, the duchy of Coburg, subject to its own duke, and the duchy of Hilburghausen, subject to its dukes; the burgravate of Nuremberg, an independant state; the territory of the great master of the Teutonic order, Margentheim, and the counties of Reineck; Bareith, subject to its own margrave; Paphenheim, subject to its own count; Wertheim, Middle Cassel, Schwartzburg, subject to its own count, and Holach; all having chief towns of the respective names of those places. The summoning princes of the circle are the bishop of Bamberg and the margraves of Brandenburg, Bayreith and Anspach. In point of religion, this circle is one of the mixed. Of the cities we shall speak only of Wurtsburg, and Nuremberg.
Wurtzburg is the capital of Franconia, and stands on the river Main, sixty miles E. of Frankfort in lat. 49 deg. N. The river runs through the middle of the town, over which is a very fine stone bridge 300 paces long. The Bishop's palace stands on an eminence in the suburbs of the town, from which there is a delightful prospect of the city and the adjacent country.
The Bishop has a great extent of country under his jurisdiction, in which it is computed there are no less than 400 villages. It is one of the richest bishoprics in the country, and contains within the diocese 190,000 people. He is an absolute prince in his own dominions, and lives in all the state of a sovereign monarch. In his equipage, a sword of state is carried before him; and at the diet of the empire, he takes the fifth place on the spiritual bench. But in the circle of Franconia he has the first voice.
The town is divided into eight parts, viz. four quarters and four suburbs, and has a university. The prevailing religion here is the Roman-catholic, but there are also Lutheran and Calvinist churches within the jurisdiction of the city. The Bishop's palace is one of the finest in Germany. The town is seated in a large plain, very fruitful in vines, and watered by the Mayne.
There is among the people here such an alacrity, such a love for the pleasures of the senses, and freedom of intercourse between the two sexes, as bespeaks very strongly the great affluence and ease of the country. Wurtsburg has a fine manufactory of looking-glasses and china. The prebends of the cathedral are worth 350l. a year, several prebendaries have four or five prebends in as many cathedrals, and receive from 20 to 30,000 florins a year. The whole trouble of a German canon consists in a month's residence yearly, and no other qualification is required of him, than to be able to read Latin, and prove himself descended from a good family on the mother's side. It is credibly asserted, that every canon of Wurtsburg, at his first entrance into the chapter, receives a stroke with a switch from each of his colleagues. This extraordinary inauguration is continued with a view of preventing any prince (who, of course, cannot submit to such a ceremony) from desiring to be of the chapter.
Nuremberg or Nurenberg is an ugly town, which grows daily more and more deserted: at the end of the thirteenth century it contained above 50,000 men, who were not above one fourth of the whole, whereas the whole population now scarce amounts to a sixth part of the number. Many hundred houses stand quite empty, and the rest are tenanted only by single families.
This bishop is supreme head of the Imperial tribunal established in the circle, and all the neighbouring states appeal to his duchy court in matters of litigation. This college of justice consists of a spiritual regency to settle all episcopal differences; a vicarate which determines all disputes relating to religious persons and things, and a consistoral, which has the management of matrimonial affairs; besides these there are five other councils for temporalities. The episcopal revenues are estimated at 800,000 Rhenish florins, each florin 1s. 2d. Besides this the bishop holds the see of Bamberg, worth 70,000l. English for ever. There are five regiments of horse and foot, which are maintained at the expence of the Bishop, and are under the direction of his aulic council of war.
The burgravate of Nurenberg is an independent state. The city, which bears the same name, is a well built town, situate forty miles S. of Bamberg, and as many N. of Ingoldstat, in the very heart of Germany, and centre of Europe. It contains, says
Keysler,
128 principal streets, 400 lanes, and is adorned with twelve large and 133 smaller fountains, besides 117 wells. There are sixteen churches, forty-four religious houses, and ten markets, and it takes up three hours to walk round the city and its suburbs. The river Pegnitz runs through the town and divides it in equal parts, over which there are twelve bridges, six of stone, and six of wood; but the river is not navigable. The town is environed with double walls, and fortified with 365 towers, and a broad deep ditch in circuit about five miles. The number of houses are about 8000, none of which are extraordinary buildings.
This city stands in a plain, therefore enjoys a temperature of air and wholesomeness of climate, as the extremes of the seasons are thereby precluded from exercising their intenseness.
In curiosities this city may compare with most cities in Germany. In the town-house are several valuable paintings, amongst which are, one of the Virgin
Mary,
with the child
Jesus,
by
Cranach;
and another of
Adam
and
Eve,
by
Albert Durer,
both of which are well worth the traveller's curious eye; each of them are said to be worth 50,000 dollars! But the former are only shewn to reigning princes, persons descended from ancient noble houses, and the ambassadors of emperors.
Nuremberg has had the honour for many centuries past to keep the Imperial crown, jewels, and relicks. In the latter of which is said to be a tooth of St.
John
the Baptist, three links of the chain with which St.
Peter,
St.
Paul,
and St.
John
were bound; a piece of the manger wherein Christ lay when an infant, an arm of St.
Ann;
a piece of the table cloth used by Christ and his disciples at the last supper, the spear with which his side was pierced, and five thorns of his crown! Such is the gross superstition of this catholic repository!
The new church and that of St.
Sebbald
are very well worth seeing. There is a fine library in the predicant convent, containing near 60,000 volumes. The oldest of which is said to be of 800 years standing, and contains the primitive liturgy in Greek, finely illuminated.
The arsenal contains 274 large pieces of brass cannon, and 18,000 stands of arms. The small arms are very beautifully disposed in the form of columns, shields, suns, trophies, and the arms of the city; curiously arranged, like those in the tower of London.
This opulent, Imperial city, keeps in constant pay seven companies of foot, 100 men each, with several troops of cavalry, and a large body of artillery. The observatory is in a castle, which stands on the top of a hill in the middle of the town, and well worth inspection. There are several elegant pieces of statuary to be seen in various parts of the town; also the fountains are very remarkable for their order and construction.
There are divers other curiosities and museums to be seen here, so that the philosopher and virtuoso will find very agreeable entertainment for several weeks, in exploring the numerous collections of art and nature.
But few things deserve a traveller's notice more than a machine which is put in motion by water, where the silver ingots are drawn through a succession of small holes, gradually lessening into the finest silver wire imaginable. Though it is obvious to the senses, yet it is difficult to form an adequate idea of the incredible extension of metals, as it is here performed, until it is demonstrated by computation. A cylinder of silver weighing nine ounces, 12 penny-weights, and about twenty-two inches in length, in the hands of the wire-drawer becomes above nine thousand times smaller in diameter, and is drawn out to a length of 224 English miles. But the ductility and extension of gold, by this method, is still more wonderful. As the silver cylinder of twenty-two inches in length, is gilt before it is drawn into wire, the thickness of the gold laid on it diminishes in proportion to the length, to which the cylinder or the wire is extended.
The gold at first is commonly but the ninetieth part of a line in thickness, and never exceeds an entire line, so that only six ounces, oftentimes two, and sometimes but one ounce is used for gilding a cylinder of twenty-two inches in length. If the gilding be computed at two ounces to the above-mentioned cylinder, it may be demonstrated by the drawing of the silver, that the extension of the gold surface is so great, that a single ounce of gold (1220 of which go to a cubic foot) is sufficient to cover 1190 square feet of silver. When the gold is thus extended, its thickness is but 75,000½ part of a line. But, as I observed before, the gilding of a cylinder of silver weighing nine ounces, 12 penny-weights, may be performed with one ounce of gold, it is evident that the latter may be drawn to that fineness, that it shall not exceed 525,025th part of a line. The consideration of such ductility must absorb the human mind and elude its comprehension; especially if we reflect, that even this amazing tenuity may be doubled to 1,050,080th part of a line, a line being but the 12th part of an inch. That the gold does not only communicate its colour to the silver, but that its constituent parts remain in their natural arrangement, is proved by the following experiment. viz. If you lay the gold wire in aquafortis, it will corrode the silver, but without damaging the gold in the least, for such wire or thread becomes a hollow tube, of a fineness beyond imagination.
Those who are fond of mechanical arts and manufactures, may here abundantly gratify their curiosity. It is a town filled with an abundance of the works of art and nature; and may, with justice, be esteemed the first city in Europe for singular productions and curious subjects of inspection.
Here is an anatomical theatre founded at the expence of the city, in which are near one hundred skeletons of different animals, especially of the winged tribe. The skeleton of a tortoise, that was dissected here, shews that the outward shell makes a part of its body. The amphisbaena is generally supposed to have two heads, but in the serpent preserved here in spirits, which goes under that name, the head and tail are manifestly distinguishable. Dr.
Treu's
cabinet contains a collection of near 6000 plants, several petrifactions, all kinds of seeds, and many curious skeletons of leaves and fruit; Dr.
Thomasius's
800 volumes of epistles of learned men, and a very extensive collection of coins and medals. In a word, there are such a number of private collections in this place, of natural and artificial curiosities, that it would be endless to enumerate them.
PEOPLE of NUREMBURG
The vocal musicians and singers here who have a great affinity to the
bardi
and
scaldi
of the ancient Germans, generally hold their meetings on festivals, and perform even in private houses for money. Music flourishes greatly at Nurenberg, where they have frequently their
krantzel
or concerts.
Conversation with the fair sex is under much greater restraint at Nurenberg, than in most other large cities. A stranger is seldom allowed to see them in the assemblies, which they held among one another, and even the natives of the place are not admitted, unless they are particular friends. And although a foreigner is recommended to a Nuremberger in the strongest manner, he will very seldom invite him to his house, if he has a wife or daughter, but is so mistrustful, that he rather chuses to carry him to a tavern, and there do him the honour of a
kausche,
that is, make him drunk.
The shops of this city are loaded with merchandize, and the commonalty are clean and chearful, though the streets are narrow and dirty. A sort of shabby finery is perceptable amongst the quality. Here there are established sumptuary laws, which distinguish men of rank by their dress, and prevent the excess which ruins so many other cities. The plate exhibits a gentleman, his lady, and a peasant.
When one considers impartially the merit of a rich suit of clothes in most places, the respect and the smiles of favour it procures, not to speak of the envy and sighs it occasions, which is very often the principal charm to the wearer; one is obliged to confess, that there is no need of an uncommon understanding to resist the temptation of pleasing friends and mortifying rivals; and that it is natural to the inexperienced to fall into errors, which betrays them into various species of folly and extreme poverty.
This town has the greatest trade of any place on the continent, if we consider that it has neither a navigable river or any water-carriage convenient. Their artificers in wood, iron, steel, ivory, alabaster, &c. are said to be inimitable, and afford their goods very cheap. It is from this part of Germany that those toys, which we call Dutch toys are imported here. The annual profit to the city from those toys, exceed 17,500l. sterling; in 1728, as many were sold at Constantinople only, as amounted to 1983l. It is nothing but the genius and extraordinary diligence of the people, that procures this flourishing trade and plenty; for they live in a barren country, which affords scarce any merchandize to traffic with, but what receives the greatest part of its value from their labour and ingenuity.
Nurenberg has long produced artists, who vie with the best English ones in making mathematical and physical instruments. You meet no where out of England, with such good manufactures in steel, iron, and copper, as in this place, and will any man condemn their making of toys amidst their more important business, when it gives a useful and profitable employment to their wives and children?
The great cause of the ruin of this town is the Austrians. The government is in the hands of twenty or thirty families, who very ill treat the rest of the citizens. Every tradesman here taxes himself, he gives in an account of his property, and if he mistates it, is liable to have his books examined, so that the rich citizens have left the place, and taken refuge in the Austrian or Prussian territories.
The morals of the Nurenbergers are better and purer than those of any other German city. The magistrate is particular anxious to put a stop to fornication, and it is a fact, says
Reisbec,
that the young men of the city, at one particular time, underwent a medical visitation by some of the members of the magistracy, attended by physicians.
The established religion here is the Lutheran; the Roman-catholics are only allowed to perform divine service in a church of the Lutherans when they have done with it. The Calvinists are not allowed any public place of worship, but are forced to go to church some distance out of town.
The governors and principal magistrates of the city are elected out of the nobility and gentry. The common-council consists of forty-two members, of whom thirteen are burgo-masters, and as many aldermen; the rest are only stiled elders or sages of the people. One burgo-master has the military, and one alderman the civil government of the city, for a month, and are then succeeded by two more; so that there is a burgo-master and an alderman for every month of the year, in whom the executive power is vested in by turns.
The ordinary affairs of the government are debated in the common-council. The raising of forces or levying taxes are equally referred to a select number of the common-council, stiled, by way of eminence, the eight. And, upon any extraordinary emergency, the principal burghers, elected out of every trade and profession in the town, are summoned to the number of 400, who have also the power of electing the members of the other councils, and of the magistrates of the place, which are chosen annually.
The Nurenbergers have a country of about twenty miles in extent, and several towns and villages under their jurisdiction, which is a more considerable territory than any other Imperial city. The number of its subjects, in the country, is estimated at 400,000. Their villages are very pretty, though a great deal of sand about them, and every thing besides has a great degree of opulence in the farmers, who, as well as the town's people, remain faithful to their old dress.
OF THE TERRITORY OF THE GRAND MASTER OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER.
Margentheim is a small city, situated on the river Tauber, twenty-two miles W. of Wurtsburg, where the great master of the Teutonic order hath his residence; it is the capital of the small territory belonging to him. There are no particularities that are worth distinguishing in it. I will only observe, that the knights of this order possess thirteen commanderies in Germany, and have a right to chuse their grand master out of the princes of the empire, who, in consequence of this election, has the first seat in the diet after the electors. The knights, on their admission, are obliged to prove their nobility, for sixteen descents, both by father and mother.
The arms and ensigns of this order are; an erect cross
sable
in a field
argent,
which arms Pope
Celestine
III. granted to it. In the field is a cross,
or,
which was conferred by King
Henry
of Jerusalem; and in the center is to be seen the Imperial eagle, bestowed by the Emperor
Frederick
II. At each of the four corners is a lily,
or,
which was added to these arms by Saint
Louis
of France.
This Teutonic order was founded in Palestine in 1190, and the knights of this order were called knights of the Virgin
Mary,
or brothers of the Teutonic house of our lady of Jerusalem. They bound themselves by vow to the defence of the christian religion and the Holy Land, and to the service of the poor and sick, to be all of them Germans, and to be of true ancient nobility. This order removed from Venice to Marburg, and thence to Marienburg in Russia, gradually subdued all Russia, Courland, Semi-gallia, and Livonia, but lost them again, since which time, the grand masterdom is become little better than a mere title.
Both Roman-catholics and protestants may be invested with this order, and the protestant knights are permitted to marry. On solemn occasions the knights wear a white mantle, with a black cross on it, edged with a rim of silver. In other respects, their dress is the same with that of the seculars.
The seigniories and elders which the Teutonic order is still possessed of in Germany, and which they obtained partly by purchase, and partly by donation, lying contiguous, would form a considerable principality. These elders consist of what is properly called the masterdom of Margentheim, and 12 bailiwicks, in which the grand master exercises such a sovereignty, as at present the state of the empire enjoys. The remainder of Franconia is composed of a number of small principalities, where the people in general suffer great oppression from their sovereigns, who reside at the great courts; spending their money away from them, and leaving them to the plunder of their despotic agents.
END OF THE NINTH VOLUME.