H O ME-L I F E
IN GERMANY.
BY
eHARLES LORING BRACE,
AUTHOR OF "HUNGARY IN 1a1."
"We want a history of flresides."-WEBaTma,
NEW YORK:
CHARLES SCRIBNER, 145 NASSAU STREET.
1856.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern Disty * 4 New York.




PREFACE.
THERE are very many things we want to know about
foreign countries, which we never do know from books.
What people eat and what they drink, how they amuse
themselves, what their habits are at home, what furniture
they have, how their houses look, andLabove all, what the
usual talk and tone of thought is, among the great middle
classes of a country- these things are interesting, and
are very hard to learn, except from  travellers themselves.
WEBSTER, in almost his last great speech, said with
reference to England, "there is still wanting, X *  *,
" a history which shall trace the progress of social life, in
"the intercourse of man with man; the advance of arts,
" the various changes in the habits and occupations of
"individuals, and improvements in domestic life. We
"still have not the means of learning *  *  * how our




iv                    PREFACE.
"ancestors in their houses, were fed, and lodged, and
" clothed, and what were their daily employments.  We
"want a history of firesides. *  *  *  We wish to see
"more, and to know more, of the changes which took
"place from age to age in the homes of England." * *
Of course, what I have given in this volume of the
" Home-Life of Germany," can only be a suggestion for
such a History of the Germans. My observations are
merely the glimpses of a traveller, welcomed intimately
in the homes of North and Middle Germany, during
parts of two years. To the German, they will seem often
superficial; still, they may be valuable hereafter, as the
impressions of a stranger upon a subject of which so little
is usually written or known —the internal social habits
and thought of a leading civilized Nation. It will be
seen that my facts and experiences are mostly gained
from association with the middle classes. These —the
men of business, the farmers, the merchants, the lawyers
and scholars-are the influential portion of a People, who
stamp especially its social character. It is their habits
and manners we mean, when we speak of the social life
of the Germans.
In view of this plan. I shall be pardoned if I have
"cut" entirely guide-books, and the usual objects of
interest to the tourist.
No one can understand even the modern domestic life
of Germany, without knowing something of its Past.
With intelligent men of foreign countries, there is usually




PREFACE.
the utmost vagueness of idea as to what Germany is, or
what it has been; or what changes have brought it to its
present form. I have accordingly devoted several chapters to Political and Theological History, as indispensable
to a right understanding of my subject.
I have tried to give a true picture of German HomeLife, and all will, of course, draw their own conclusions.
But I do not hesitate to confess that a definite purpose
has been before me. It has seemed to me that in this
universal greed for money, in this clangor and whirl
of American life, in the wasteful habits everywhere
growing up, and in the little heed given to quiet home
enjoyment, or to the pleasures from Art and Beauty, a
voice froro those calm, genial old German homes, might
be of good to us;-telling of a more simple, economical
habit, of sunny and friendly hospitalities, of quiet cultured
tastes, and of a Home-Life, whose affection and cheerfulness make the outside World as nothing in the
comparison.
On but one subject, do I hesitate much at my conclusions. I earnestly wish they may be proved incorrect.
I mean my remarks upon the German religious character.
On those solemn and mysterious relations which bind
man with his Maker, I would be the last to speak
dogmatically. The expression of the religious Principle
is not to be limited by any local or partial measure.
Still, the observations, sad as they are, which I have




vI                  PREEACE.
stated, seemed to me true of the masses of the people.
Our hope is, however, for Germany, that the darkest time
of Unbelief has past, and that a day of purer Faith and
Reason is dawning.
COARLES LORimG BRACE.
NEW YORK,.Aarch, 1853.




CONTENTS.
PAG6
CHAPTER I.-FRox LErTH TO HAsuae. —Meeting with a German gentlemanRoughing it in the second cabin-Talk. about German economy-The firemenStorm-The port of Hamburg,.............................................   I
CHAPTER IL.-HAM uRua.-The great fire-Style of building-Supper with a
friend-Intslduction to a German home —Furniture-Simplicity-Arrangement
of rooms-The beds-Mr. Lindley; his works-A country-seat-LunchDishes-Table-talk — Dinner conversation-" Inner Mission "-MR. WICnHRN,   19
CHAPTER III.-SOCUAL LIFE.-German habits-Meals-Courses-Wine-drinking-Impressions of America-A dinner-Talk between a clergyman and a
sceptic-Discussion on a State-church,.......................................   82
CHAPTER IV.-A Glua-s LADY.-Miss Sieveking; her benevolent efforts-An
interview-Blunderings-Her good sense-Ideas of women's sphere-Institutions she had started-Heroism-Her appeal to the German women,........   89
CHAPTER V. —ExcURsION T THio Ducmas.-A rail-road station-Eating-The
rooms-The cars-Smoking forbidde7 —Peasants-Their politeness-A foot
again-My walk-The scenery-Low German-A visit to a country houseThe welcome,................................................. 48-56
CHAPTER VL-A HoLsTrni FaRm —The house-The grounds-Farming-Draining-Horses-Peasants' cottages-Singular style —Number of peasants-Their
education-Laws on Religion-Holstein scenery-Mode of life-Manners-~
BSilenat " grace "-Hospttalit.-The Father-Conversation about the War,.......



vii1i                           CONTENTS.
PAGN
CHAPTER VII.-THE  CAMPS.-Journey-EuTrI-An inn-A political meetingExtempore speaking —German  Sociality-KIEL —Middle  Holstein —Rendsburgh-The approach —" Panoramas" of the War-English officers-A pleasant
evening-Walk to the camps —The army-Visit to a lieutenant-The positionFortifications-Student-soldiers-Their quarters-Supper-Return by night,...   66
CHAPTER VIII.-THE WAR oF THE DurOHIzs.-Origin-Three demands of the
insurgents-Letter of the Danish King —Interference of the German LeagueNew Constitutlon-Outbreak in'48-Its results-The position of foreign governments-The war nzot constitutional,.........................................    78
CHAPTER IX. —HAMBuRGs.-A walk-The Spanish undertakers-Talk with a
friend-The prosperity of the city-" The Rough House "-Its formation-The
appearance-Wichern-Elihu Burritt-An interlude-The plan of the Institution-" Groupings "-Overseers-The children-Their homes-Occupations —
Work-shops —The girls-The practical success-Its profit-" A Home among
flowers,".8.......................................................   88
CHAPTER X.-A BREAKFAiT.-Duchy of MELEBLNBuRGe-Letters of introduction-Cordiality-" Morning coffee "-Talk with a Liberal-The mother's views
-A warm discussion-German disagreements-A Sunday-The services —mode
of spending it-The walk-German idea of the day-An American Sabbath,...   97
CHAPTER XI.-BEBLIN.-War-Recruiting the army —Excitement-Strength of
Austria-Prussian claims-Real objects —The King-His character-Burritt's
peace-efforts,............................................................  107
CHAPTER XII —BERLIN.-Its taste -Architecture-AssocIations-Old Frederick
-The statues-The night-march-New Museum-Its classic style-A Greek
tragedy on the stage-Classic costumes-The acting —Its consistency-Music,  118
CHAPTER XIII. —LrE IN BERLIN. —My lodgings-Landlady-German manners
-Salutations-Politeness-Visit to a Royalist-Statuary-Tasteful furnitureArgument on Republicanism-Enthusiasm-Poetic theories-Friendly parting
-A letter from a Royalist lady-Geniality,..................................  121




CONTENTS.                                    ix
PAGI
CHAPTER XIV. —A DINNER PAR'Y.-Berlin house-The wall-painting —Furnituro-Conversation on the mode of life-Economy-" Parties" —Ladies' questions
-American gallantry-Sociality-News from the War-German " Punch"-Tho,
Prussian literati-Talk over the coffee-Degeneracy of our language-Ladies'
eeapletives-Books read-Jane Eyre-Dr. Arnold-Views of America-My defence,..................................................180
CHAPTER XV. —TsE GERMAN PASTOR.-The walk to his house-The " study" —
His parish-The number-Rationalism-Labors-Lodging-houses-Saving-societies-Temperance-society-Salary-Mode of forming churches-ConfirmationAnecdote,.................................................................. 140
CHAPTER XVI.-PAINTING.s.   -Modern German Art-Kaulbach and Cornelius"The battle of the Huns"-Berlin Museum  gallery-Spiritual conceptions —
Painters' ideal of CHRmsT-Disappointment in Art; its true sphere,............ 151
CHAPTER  XVII.-DREs DEN.-The Saxons-War-Galleries closed-Population
and statistics of Saxony-Character of people-Evils of petty governments-Artists of the city-HESSR-CASSEL-Conflict between Elector and people-Intervention-Sad result,.......................................................  158
CHAPTER XVIII.-STUDENT LIFB.-Halle-A visit-Dr. Tholuck; his " conversation-party"-The remarks —His labors-Coffee-party with students-Lecture on
student-life-Long talks-Radicalism-Costume-Manners to professors-A jovial
gathering-The war-song,................................................  16T
CHAPTER  XIX. —UNIvEtRSITis.-Contrast between American and GermanCauses-MAGDEBURG-HANovER —The King; his rough way-An incidentRights bestowed by him-The Steuerverein-Statistics of Hanover............  1T6
CHAPTER XX.-WINTER AmIUSEMENTS.-Skating-The scene-Love of sports in
Europe-Difference in America-Effects-National health-Practical conclusion
— Conccrts-Specimen-Programmes —Sinsg-Academie-Prices of admissionQuartette Soirdes-Church music-Mozart-Birth-day party at a pastor's-Rooms
— Amusements —Woman's position-The courses-Toasts-Speeches-Philosophy of eating,.............................................................. 184




x                                 CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER XXI. —RoNGa's SECT.-A transcendental sermon-Walk home with a
lady-Unbelief-Discussion-Denial of a future life-HIer views —An account of
the Ronge movement-The Laura hiutte letter; its effects-Ronge's history; his
character-The uncertainty about him-The first German Catholic churches;
their Creeds-Important as political organizations,............................ 201
CHAPTER XXII.-POLITICS.-T'~yranny in Prussia-Diplomacy-Vincke's speech-Prussia's humiliation-Banishment of editors-New press-law-A soldier's remark,....................................................... 218
CHAPTER XXIII.-CHRISTMasS.-My landlady-The shoemaker's tree-The gaiety
of the city-Sermons upon the subject-The eve-party at a friend's-TreePresents-Epigrams-Gnmes-Christmas hymn-Another family-Enjoyment
My welcome —Reading to the children —rhe supper-Christmas-cakes,......... 221
CHAPTER XXIV. —TuE GERMAN UNION.-An abstract of history-The Empire
-Formation of present Constitution-Confederation of Rhine-Conferences of
Vienna,.................................................................................    227
CHAPTER XXV.-GERMIAN CONFEDERACY.-Articles of the Treaty-The feelings
at the result-Later proceedings of the Diet; its tyranny —NATIONAL PARLIAE.ST of'48,.................................................................  235
CHAPTER XXVI.-LAsT ATTEMPTS FOR GERMAN UNION. —The Parliament-The
PrussianUnion-The Austrian-Congress of Princes-Reestablishment of old
Confederacy-Hopes for future Union.......................................  245
CHAPTER XXVII. —TsE ARMY. —Interview with a Prussian officer; his opinions
-Loyalty-The rifle-The Prussian military system-The' line"-Its formation-The Landwehr-The Reserve-Whole number-Character of the armyits costs....................................................................  253
CHAPTER XXVIII.-AN ErlENING PARTY.-Strictness 6oetiquette-Scientific society-A lady's views of instinctive passion —European freedom from pruderyCard playing-The dance-Chat with a lady-Hood's poems —The "spleen"Sauerkraut —-Defence of Hungary-The retort and rebuke —-Slavery,.......... 261




CONTENTS.                                   Xi
PAGB
CHAPTER XXIX.-TssE FETEa.-Anniversary National Festival-The grand Levee
-Liveries-Career of Prussia-Her different provinces-Silesia-The famine of'48-The Press-Webster's Letter-The German newspapers-The Times...... 2T4
CHAPTER XXX.-A VISIT TO THE CHAMBERS. —Talk with a Democrat-The Review-Hatred of the Church-Our walk-The Prussian Commons —The Prime
Minister-The orators-Vincko-The debate-Walk home-Lunch-Conversation on Dercracy-Constitution of Prussia; its features...................... 289
CHAPTER XXXI.-SuNDAY IN GERMANY.-My Landlady —The Cathedral-The service-Sermon —Quaint subject-Talk with a Skeptic-Danger to the Protestant
clergy-Warning-A Baptist meeting-Supper at Pastor -'s-A chat-SectsSocialism-Children's Questions-Indians-Family customs-European sermonizing,...................2........................................
CHAPTER XXXII.-UNIoN or GERMAN CHuRtaHEs.-Different forms-Luther and
Calvin-Dissensions-Efforts at reconciliation-Union in 1817-New Church
service-Oppposition-Quarrels-Attempts for reunion in'46-The failure,...... 312
CHAPTER XXXIII.-A DAY WITH A BURGER —Our party-The silver wedding
-Ladies' work-Stroll in the gardens -Betrothal-A lawyer; his labors-Juries
-Peekvee,.-Talk on woman's position-Lunch-German bread-PuddingsFree Trade debate-German andnpAerican manner-Phrenology-Dinner-The
dishes-The watchman,..................................        32T
C0HAPTER  XX:XIV.-AamERIcAN STUDENTS.-Berlin University-Expenses-Its
advantages-Mr. Theo. Fay-Rationalism in Germany-The sad aspect-Its good
effects-Sc nLEIEz MACUsE....................................................   345
CHAPTER XXXV.-DRESDE-.-Interview with Dr., —Slavery-Our example
-Our disgrace-A German lady-My visit-her type of character............... 852
CHAPTER XXXVI.-PRAGuE.-The rail-road-First view of Austria-Bank notes
-Currency-Walk in the city-The old bridge-Evening with the ProfessorsReforms in Universities-The Slavonic movement,...................  360
CHAPTER XXXVI. —WALK To LAURENrZIBERG.-M-       y companions —The Catholic
worship-Costumes-Our chat —The grand scene-A droll warden-The State's
prison-The Jews-Freeing the peasants-The convents.................... 869




xii                              CONTENTS.
P AGE
CHAPTER XXXVIII.-A BOHEMIAN LADY.-Odd housekeeping-Blunder —Long
talk upon Catholicism-Confession-Bowing to Saints-Prayer-Celibacy-Jesuits
-Barrenness of Protestant worship-Lavater,................................ 376
CHAPTER XXXIX. —VIENNA.-Reflections-The Carpathians-The Prater-King
of Greece-Emperor's turn out-Count Griinne, the favorite-Shows-Costumes
-Sports-Another side-The Cathedral worship-The priests' appearance......  383
CHAPTER XI.-LIFE IN VIENNA.-The homes-Dress of ladies-Morals —A Rovlutionist; his hopes-A Vienna gentleman-Education-Count Thun-A dinner
party-The apartments-The flower vase-Chatting-Expenses of living-An interesting company-Tho amateur Revolutionist-Table talk-Austrian art-Canova's group-The wines-Freo Trade-Coffoo and cigars-Story of Viennese
manners-Marriage in high life,........................................... 892
CHAPTER XLI.-VIENNA.-The  Turk-An excursion-The arsenal —CuariosityThe Briel dinner-Nine-pins-Peasants; ther degradation-An evening party —
Austrian Conservatives-Conversation-Finances-The Times-" Protection"A liberal lady-Discussion upon Hungary-Mr. Bowen-Kossuth-Austrian 
opiniqn of America-Argument-Admissions-Adieus —CONOLN ION.......... 410
APPENDIX.-GERMAN TARIFF-UNIONS.
No. L —The Zollverein; or Prussian Union....................................... 425
No. II.-The Steuerverein; or Hanoverian Union................... 433
No. III.-The Austrian Union............................................... 486




SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
CHAPTER I.
FROM LEITH TO HAMBURG.
I WAS leaning on the bulwarks of the steamer, watching the bold
hills behind Edinburgh gradually sink away, and the long line of blue
mountains, opposite to Leith, become more and more mellow in the
distance, when I was interrupted by a pleasant voice, with
"The Nature is very fine on this coast!" I assented warmly,
turned and found a man leaning on the fo'castle house, engaged like
myself in watching the receding shore. From his language, though
not his accent, a German, I judge-a gentleman evidently-tones
refined and full —dress very simple, shaggy outside coat, rough vest,
coarse gray pantaloons, but with a neat travelling cap, a fine shirt,
and, as accidentally appeared, a handsome watch and chain-face
closely shaven, like the English, and with well-cut features, still a
German face. He has a pamphlet in his hand which he has been
reading-very likely, some North-German gentleman, who has been
on his travels in England, and is returning home by way of Hamburg.
We fall into conversation; and I ask him soon whether he has
been long in Scotland?




14             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
"Oh no," he says, "only since three months in Scotland, but a
year in England." He is not very communicative, until at length,
I let fall incidentally, that I am an American.
"I am very glad,"' he says, " I thought you were an Englishman
from your appearance, and I always am a little-eh — genirt-how
call you it?-embarrassed with an English traveller. You know
how they are to strangers?"
I tell him that I like the Germans very much, that I have been
on my travels for about a year, mostly on foot, and last year that I
was on the Rhine, and was so much interested in South-Germany,
that I determined to see something of the other parts, " and now I
am going to Hamburg for that purpose."
This confidential account of my plans was enough, and he at once
spoke as frankly with me. He had been a tutor in German to two
young Scotch noblemen on the lakes, and teacher of this language
in one of the English Universities; had graduated a short time before at Bonn, and his father was'a distinguished scientific man,
whose name I had often heard. His object in going to England
was to perfect himself in English, and to earn money enough to continue his studies. He was now crossing to Berlin, to spend the
winter there.
Such a companion was an especial windfall for me, but I was in
somewhat of a perplexity. I had sent my luggage-carpet-bag
and knapsack-down to the steamer in Leith, and had booked myself for the second cabin, for Hamburg, but on getting on to the
boat, the second cabin proved to be filled up with casks and spare
canvass, as they were not in the habit of taking second-cabin passengers on this line! So that the choice was left me, either of tak
ing a first cabin passage at ~2, with one or two dull, stiff-looking
gentlemen, or of "roughing it" indiscriminately for three days with




A RENCONTRE.                        15
the sailors and engine-hands, at ~1. A part of my plan, through
my whole journey, had been to see the undercrust of Europe, as
much as possible. So I chose the latter. But this appearance of
my new German fiiend made a difference, and I told him the case
and my perplexity.  "So! Vortrefflich! excellent!" said he, "I
came on board exactly in the same way. Now we will be comrades!" and we shook hands heartily over it, and at once sat down on
a pile of canvass for a long chat.
"You see," said he, "a pound goes a great way in Germany-as
far as three or four in England-and I thought I might as well
save it here.  It would carry me to all the concerts and theatres of
the winter in Berlin.  Besides, I should like to get acquainted with
these fellows here!" and he pointed to the crew at work around us.
This led on to various questionings and answerings about Germany
and German habits.
" Would you like to have your wealthy friends know you travelled
in this way?" I asked.
" Certainly," he answered, "I always travelled so, when I was a
student, and half the Professors do it now. The truth is, there are
not many circles in Germany, where poverty is a disgrace. It is not
as it is in England; our higher classes are not ashamed of econowhat is your word?-money-saving.  Ach —how glad I shall be to
be back in the old Fatherland again, where one must not be always
looking out, for-that for which we have no German word-the
Respectability! "
He did not say it distinctly, but lie had been much annoyed, I
should gather, while a teacher in England, by the weight of caste
above him; and he longed to be in a land again, where a man is
taken for what he is worth, and not for what his grandfather was.
He was intending to spend the winter in Berlin, and I meant to




16             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
be there in a few weeks. We engaged to meet, if possible. I then
told him my more especial plan. I had seen enough of the usual
sights of travel, and I wanted particularly now to see German society, to become acquainted with the Home-life.  I thought an
American could learn more from that, than from all other things in
Europe. " As for your governments and your institutions, we have
little to gain from studying those. Your Art, I hope to examine."
" Ach! and what beautiful! You know not our modern German Art. If you only could see Kaulbach and Cornelius i —but
pardon! go on!"
"I want especially to see how you Germans live and talk at
home, and I am going mostly with that object. Still my prospects
do not seem very good, as I have only three letters to Hamburg!"
" Es thut nichts!  It makes no difference! You need not the
recommendation-letters. If you like the Germans, they will like
you, and will pass you on from one to the other. Only, mein
lieber Herr, is your mind fully made up for the Sauerkraut, and to
renounce your English port 2"
I laughed, and made him the earnest assurance that it was.
"Ach! how you will our Germany enjoy! You are right. It is
the Home which is the best thing with us. We know how to enjoy.
Ah! when shall I see mine again, dear L-n! way off on the
Rhine! the sunny Rhine land!"  He was looking off to the South,
where the waves were gilded under the setting sun. I said nothing.
After a pause we were soon again in pleasant conversation.
" What do you think it would cost a man by the year," said I,
"in Berlin, living as we should want to live?"
"It is very different in different quarters of the city," he replied,
" and the cost will so vary, as one shall understand the modes of the
place. I shall take a room in one of the best streets, dress like other




CHATTING.                        17
gentlemen, and have all our best pleasures-music, the art and the
pleasantest society-all for about 300 Shaler ($225) a year. It
would cost you or a stranger more. Berlin is more expensive, asthan the University-towns, or the cities in Southern GermanyMunich, for instance-I have lived there for 200 Shaler,-and such
musique and theatres! But in general, living is very cheap in
Gelrmanv."'
Engaged in pleasant talk, we hardly noticed that the evening was
coming on, until we remembered that there were sleeping-places to
get for the night. Our first attempt was in the engine room, where
we found some sociably-inclined firemen, who took us into their little
cabin.
We were all soon on the best terms. The firemen brought out
pipes, and N. (my German) sent for whiskey for them. I took a
pipe, and we sat long chatting over our adventures.
At length I left my companion, stowed away in one of the dirty
berths, and went forward and hired a bunk of one of the hands, in
the little forecastle, and was soon sound asleep.
The next dav there came on a hard storm-one of those tremendous gales which sweep often across the German Ocean. The waves
poured over our bows in a constant stream, so that I was compelled
to keep quietly in my berth all day. I am never sea-sick, and was
well used to all possible rough quarters, but I thought my German
friend would find his first experience in cheap travelling in English
steamers, rather too much for him. He did come forth the next
day, a most woe-begone, soiled, draggled-looking man. But he
only laughed at his own miseries, and insisted that he had had "a
grand time" with the boys below.
The contrast was most pleasant, when after the incessant tossing
and rolling for three days, we entered the quiet river of the Elbe;




18             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
and a few hours later, came to anchor before the long, handsome
quay of the city of Hamburg.
I said a hearty farewell to N., who was going up to Kiel to visit
friends; we engaged where to meet in Berlin. My luggage was
pitched into a boat, and in a few moments, I was being rowed
quietly along through the still canals, overhung with trees, and
under the fantastic warehouses of this quaint old city. A polite
bow from the custom-house officer as we landed; my bags passed
without examination; and behold me following the porter through
the narrow streets of old Hamburg.




CHAPTER II.
HAMBURG, AND A GERMAN HOUSE.
October 9, 1850.
HAMBURG is a much more interesting city, in appearance, than I
had any reason to suppose from the accounts of travels and guide
books.
The contrast between " the old city" and the new, is very striking.
The quiet antique alleys, like those of the Dutch cities, with canals
and shade trees, and fantastic gables and rather anomalous statuary
in the niches of the walls in one quarter, and in the other, the
grand, new, bustling streets, built in the finest style of modern
architecture, and opening out imposingly around the wide Basin of
the Alster.
In May, of the year 1842, a great fire occurred here, which
raged for four days, and reduced the finest part of the city to ashes.
Over seventeen hundred houses were destroyed, and the flames were
only checked by the skilful exertions of an English engineer, Mr.
LINDLEY, of whom I shall have more to say hereafter. After the
fire, the town was rebuilt under the direction of this gentleman, and
in a very complete and splendid manner. The narrow, unhealthy




20              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
alleys were widened; new streets laid out; the old stagnant ditches
filled up, and some of the most imposing lines of buildings erected,
which are to be seen in Europe. In fact, I know no city on the
continent, whose business-streets make so fine an impression at first
sight. Stone is very scarce here, so that nearly all the houses are
built of brick, with a hard cement or stucco over it. Either the
climate is more favorable, or it is a much better cement than with
us,-certainly the stuccoed houses look far better than in our cities;
and it has afforded an opportunity for something which is extremely
needed in our country, that is, giving to each house its own peculiar
ornament. One becomes so heartily tired of long rows of monotonous houses, exactly corresponding to each other, without an attempt
at variety or character. Here I passed through streets of high,
handsome houses, where they had all the advantage which ours
have-and undoubtedly it is an advantage-of a succession of similar parallel lines of structure on the front, one above the other; but,
besides, peculiar independent ornaments to each building. Every
house had a character. Every man could show his own peculiar
taste on the front of his home. And this cement gives a beautiful
opportunity for all kinds of graceful moulding and ornament, and
even for small statuary. The Hamburgers have improved it well.
I found the public walks, also, and gardens of the city, very pleasing. The old bastions are laid out into agreeable promenades,
which were gay on this day with merry parties. At length, in the
evening after my arrival, after much pleasant rambling about the
city, I resolved to deliver one of my letters of introduction, and
while away an hour or two. With some delay, I found the house;
the servant carried up my card with the letter; a friendly, hearty
voice bade me welcome in English, and I found myself in company
with a genial old gentleman and;two younger ones, engaged over a




INTRODUCTION.                       21
decanter of Teneriffe and a round of cold beef. A place was made
for me at once, and we were all soon in animated conversation.
They spoke English well, and were very much interested to hear
anything of America, and especially of our recent extravagancies
about Jenny Lind. Punch seemed the great authority about us,
and they asked if "Barnum would really smoke at her concerts, as
he is there pictured!"
After the supper was thoroughly disposed of, cigars were lighted
without ceremony, and we spent a long evening in very pleasant
talk.
They entered into my objects of seeing German life, rather than
the usual sights, with much interest; and at the close, I had
engaged to spend the next day with the old gentleman, and to
submit myself entirely to his guidance. It was late in the evening
when I groped my way to my hotel, very happy at the friendly
welcome I had found so soon, in a German home.
OCTrOBE -, 1850.
"There is certainly a kind of simplicity about these Germans, which  one does not see in America," I thought to
myself, as I sat in my friend's parlor, the next morning, in a
comfortable house, looking out over the  Alster.  It was the
house of a man of fortune, a retired merchant; yet the whole,
though bearing tokens of a cultivated taste, showed a remarkable
plainness. The parlor in which I sat-a high, handsome room,
with prettily-painted ceiling and tasteful papering, had no carpet.
The furniture was simple; there was no grand display of gilt and
crimson anywhere; and it was evident very little had been laid out
on mere splendor. Yet one could not but notice how carefully




22             SOCIAL LIFIE IN GERMANY.
even very common implements had been chosen with reference to
grace of form. The candle-stands, the shade-lamps, and even the
pitcher, or the common vase, had something exceedingly graceful
and almost classical in their shape. The designs of the music-holders, and of the table ornaments, caught the eye at once-every
article seemed to have a meaning. The pictures on the walls or the
table were not expensive-often mere sketches; yet they were very
pleasant to look at, and had not been placed there, evidently,
merely because " pictures must be hung in every respectable parlor."
The figures of the daguerreotypes showed the same traits; not formidable ranks of stiff forms, but easy groups around some animal,
or in some natural position. There were flowers, too, everywhere;
and especially that most graceful of all flower vessels, which I have
seen alone in Germany, though I believe it came from Italy, called
the " Ampel." It is simply a half vase, very much like the old
Grecian lamp, hung with cords from the ceiling, with some flowering vine in it, which twines and wreaths around it; yet the beauty
of it all can hardly be imagined. The only exception in this house
to the general good taste, was the high white Berlin stove, looking
like a porcelain tower with gilt battlements; but possibly one who
is accustomed to our quiet, sombre machines, must need a little
discipline to get used to these gay articles.
While noticing all this, my friend came in and welcomed me cordially, as he had hardly expected I would be up early enough to
accept his invitation to breakfast.  " We keep much earlier hours,"
said he, " than you English. Business begins here at eight, where
it would not in England till ten, and breakfast is even earlier than
curs-usually at seven."
The breakfast was simply coffee and Brodchen-little bread-rolls
-for which Hamburg is famous. The coffee was made at the table




HOUSEKEEPING.                       23
by the ladies, as it is in France, and sometimes with us, by pouring
Doiling water over the coffee and letting it drain for a few minutes
in a machine for the purpose; the principal care being that it
should drain slowly, through both a sieve and some tissue paper.
After breakfast, we went out to look at the garden. The house
below-and I shall not fear to offend my friend by particularising,
as the description would apply to two-thirds of the houses in
Germany —resembles the upper part in its plainness of appearance.
There are no carpets or matting on the stairway. On one side of
the hall is a long dining-room, lined with portraits, with gilt moldings and tasteful papering, but the floor again, bare, though scrupulously neat. There are handsome curtains at the windows and a
few substantial articles of furniture, but, altogether, it has a rather
naked appearance, axid probably serves as a danding-room. The
other side of the hall opens into a small room, looking out on the
garden, and connected with a pleasant grapery, which is warmed
from within, as grapes cannot be raised here without artificial heat.
This room is used, perhaps, as a smoking or coffee-room-a cool,
shaded room for the summer.
Like most of the buildings here, the house stands directly upon
the street. The outer door is left unlocked, but the opening it stirs
a bell, and the inner door is unfastened by a servant. The garden
was tasteful and pleasant, with the fruits and flowers of a northern
climate. It is singular that the apples here, as almost everywhere
in Europe, are small and poor in flavor, compared to ours. My
friend, like the English, considers our American pippins one of the
rarest and most beautiful additions to a dessert-table.
The other parts of the house, so far as I saw them, had the same
general air of simplicity and good taste. The bed-rooms are
without carpets, too, at least in the summer.




24              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
Not having tried my friend's beds, I may claim without discourtesy, a traveller's privilege, in sayving something here of Gerarna
beds. The whole nation, with all their intellectual progress, have
not made the first step in the philosophy of beds. And to one
coming from' England, Germany presents a most deplorable contrast.
In England, the bed is considered almost a sacred spot. It is
carefully and nicely made; it is curtained off from the world; and
there are very few inns so poor, as not to have many ornaments
and comforts about their beds. But in Germany, it does not seem
to be considered a place where an important part of life is to be
spent. It is only a narrow, open lounge-always too short for a
long man, and too narrow  for a restless one.  The mattrass
is a most light, flimsy affair, which is attempted to be counterbalanced by an  immense hard pillow, reaching half way down
the bed, so that one is obliged to lie at a half-sitting posture.
And to crown all, for a coverlid, is a large, light feather-bed
or pillow, which  makes one intolerably warm  under it, and
leaves one very cold without it. These beds have been the subject
of malediction with travellers, since Coleridge's feeling remarks on
the subject, but they do not appear to have changed much, except
in a few places on the Rhine, where the English have fairly grumbled
them away.
The remainder of the morning my friend kindly devoted to
showing me the principal sights of the town; and in the afternoon,
I presented my other letters.  One was to Mr. Lindley, the English
engineer. Mr. L. is the last one to wish his name brought out in
this conspicuous way; but I cannot forbear expressing my thanks for
his many attentions to me, and my admiration for what he is
accomplishing  in  Hamburg.  A  free-minded, untiring, hopeful
man-one who believes that God's world is not quite a stagnant




AN  ENGLISHMAN                       23
pool of wretchedness, but that something can be done to clear it
and make it flow on again-and who is doing his part for this in a
very thorough way. I had the pleasure of meeting him frequently,
and the account of all his efforts in the city, his attempts to stop the
progress of " the great fire" by the general blowing up of buildings;
his struggles with the lower classes, who at first believed him almost
a demoniac man, plotting the destruction of the city; his gigantic
plans for rebuilding, and endeavors to inspire the Germans.with
something of the English practical spirit, would form an interesting
history in itself.
He has just offered, I was told in private, $10,000 to the city
corporation, if they would subscribe the rest, for building several
large bath-houses for the pool;r, after the manner of the London
houses. At his suggestion, and by his plan, some grand waterworks have been erected, which supply the whole city with pure
water, and the pipes from which can be used for the engines in
every block, in case of another fire. He has constructed, too, an
immense building and machinery, with a very high tower, for the
gas-works-much of it contrived on new principles. He was
superintending, while I was there, some new extensive docks, laid
out by himself. One of the best quarters of the city, on the right
bank of the Elbe, has been gained by him, from the marsh, by
thorough drainage and by pumping out the water with a steamengine, and filling in the space with the rubbish from the fire. Mr.
Lindley has been the rebuilder of Hamburg; and all agree, that to
his improvements a great change in the health of the poorest
quarters, is due. The first feelings, as I said, towards him during
the fire, by the lower classes, were of intense suspicion and hatred.
Under his direction, some of the finest buildings in the city
had been blown into the air. The crowd cried out that "the
2




26             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
foreigner was trying to ruin Hamburg," and he hardly escaped with
his life. But afterwards, as they saw the fire subsiding through
these measures, and when later, they beheld his unceasing exertions
to rebuild and improve the city, they began almost to idolize him.
And now, by workmen and Biirschen, no man is better beloved
than Mr. Lindley, the English engineer.
OooBER 13, 1850.
I went out to-day in company with one of my friends, to visit
a wealthy gentleman, living in the outskirts of Hamburg. I
preferred to walk, and was well repayed by the opportunity
it gave me for examining the pleasant villas which surround
the city. For some time, I wondered to myself what it was
that gave so different an air to them  all, from  that of our
country-seats. They were built not unlike them, of wood or
stuccoed brick, in rectangular forms, or with slightly varied outline
The grounds in general did not seem especially "foreign" in their
designs. I concluded finally, the difference was in the universal
tendency to make the most of the open air. The houses were all
surrounded with pleasant balconies, opening into the sitting-rooms;
there w.re porticoes, leafy boudoirs connecting with the inside; the
gardens were full of arbors, and summer-houses and seats, where
people were eating and drinking, as if it were as habitual there as
within doors.
We found the family we would visit just sitting down to " lunch,"
and we were at once placed at the table. There was a little
company accidentally assembled; and the lunch, though it was
only eleven o'clock, presented itself as a rather formidable mealsteaks, bread-cakes, fish and claret, with a close of some beautiful
grapes and pears from the gentleman's conservatories, and decanters




THE TABLE.                        27
of choice pale sherry. There was little form, though several
servants were in waiting. The great topic of conversation was the
war then going on in Schleswig-Holstein, against Denmark. All
seemed to sympathise most deeply with the insurgents. I was
somewhat surprised to notice, too, considerable conversation on
religious subjects. My German is rather limited yet, and a very
rapid conversation, where there is a confusion of voices, I find it
difficult to follow; but I was struck with the earnest, practical tone
of what was zid. The subject seemed generally connected with
something they called the "Inner Mission," which I did not at
the time understand. My neighbors at the table were very polite.
and very much was asked about America, where many of them
seemed to have friends.
Our time, the remainder of the day till dinner, at five o'clockfor they would not hear of our returning till after we had dined
with them-was spent in examining the very handsome estate of
the gentleman, and in talking with the various friends who chanced
to come in.  As a considerable company of the neighbors had
assembled, in part through invitation of the host, to compliment us,
the dinner proved quite a formal affair. The ladies in full dress;
a splendid dining-hall with flowers and lights; and a line of respectable-looking servants. I was curious to see what the arrangement
of courses would be. Soup, as everywhere, the first-then a Rhine
wine poured out to each one who would take it; the second course,
boiled beef; next, fish with a red wine; then pigeons and Saxony
larks, a little delicacy much valued here; pudding; and champagne
served; and last of the solid courses, roast venison. The dessert
was black bread and cheese, with port wine.
-The especial enjoyment of the meal was evidently in the
conversation, and there was little hard drinking. The ladies did




28              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
not drink wine at all. The principal person at table, and one to
whom all listened with marked attention, was a strong-featured,
earnest-looking man, who, though he made a keen joke occasionally, was talking mostly of very serious matters. His voice was
deep and fervid, and as he spoke some times of the social evils in
Germany; of the wrongs of the poor; of the little hold which
religion has upon them; and of the utter want through the nation
of any practical piety, I could see from the deep stillness of the
company, that they felt they were listening to great truths, uttered
by an earnest man. He spoke of the " Inner Mission" again, as
a means of reform.
I could not restrain my curiosity longer, and asked in a whisper
of my next neighbor what this "Inner Mission" was, of which
they were speaking so much. He answered with the enthusiasm
which they all seelned to feel in regard to it, still his explanation
had something of the German vagueness, and I only gathered that
it was a grand Religious Institution, and that he himself was
strongly "Evangelical" in his views. The gentleman who was
speaking, he said, was a man well known through Germany-HERR
WICHERN. From this, we fell into something of a conversation on
these matters.
He asked me whether I did not notice a very great contrast here
in tL. observance of the Sabbath, to my own country. I had, I
replied, and I had been wondering whether the people really held
it as a religious day, only in a different outward mode from ours;
or whether it was merely a day of amusement.
"There is not the least trace of religion in it," said he, "with
the most of them. In the Protestant Church, which I attend, there
are 20,000 members, and not 1200 of them ever come to the




INNER}  MISS[3IO7N.29
Church. The lower classes drink beer and roll nine pins (Kegel) on
that day, and the higher saunter about and go to dinner parties."
"I could hardly credit it," I said.  "This was but a small part,"
he replied, " of what I would see, as I travelled more in Germany."
I asked him, farther, whether he did not find a great want of symplathy in his peculiar views. " Yes, certainly, but, thank God! the
darkest days for Germany in practical irreligion, are past!"
Our conversation was interrupted by the company rising,
and each gentleman taking his lady again to the drawing-room.
Here each bowed to the other, and said a few words, as if in salutation, all which of course I followed, with the exception of the
" good wishes for the meal," which I did not well understand. A
traveller's ignorance in these matters is always very charitably
treated.
In regard to the Inner Mission, it may be well now to state,
what I afterwards learned, especially as it is a movement which is
even yet deeply influencing the religious condition of Germany.
The name, Innere Mission, I will not attempt to translate, fcr it
seems hardly to correspond to anything we have. It is not a Society, though the word sounds like it, nor a Brotherhood; but apparently it is an immense popular movement to meet the influence
of Rationalism in Germany. The object is to call back the people
from the abstract, mystical, skeptical tendencies which have distinguished them so long, and bring them  to the practical good wor;s
of religion. They mean, as many of those engaged in the movement will tell you, to ".Englicise Germany,"  They have found
that religion has lost its practical hold of the people; that the
churches are poorly attended; that spirituality has little connection
with education; and that works of charity are shamefully neglected
They design to change this. To go around and influence individu



30              SOCIAL LIf E IN GERMANY.
ally the lower classes; to introduce religious education in the
schools; to bring together more to the churches, and to reestablish
family-worship in the houses; to form ragged schools and asylums,
and places of reform for prostitutes; to establish temperance (not
abstinence) societies in some communities; and to found sailors'
homes in the seabord towns. The plan seems too great, and to embrace too wide a variety of objects, to be the plan of one movement. Yet so it is. And many who are joining in it look even
higher than to these ends. They hope to change the relations of
governments to one another, and gradually to make the State only
one branch of this immense institution, the Church. The plan
itself, perhaps, has something of what they are objecting to-the
German Idealism. Yet I am bound t.  say, that thus far the results
have been very practical. Institutions almost unknown before in
Germany have arisen under its influence, for the poor and the unfortunate.  Orphan asylums, vagrant schools, and "homes" for
abandoned women have been erected by these faithful followers of
the Inner Mission. Under its working, the attendance on churches
and prayer-meetings, has -widely improved. And if I can judge at
all from the accounts of those interested in it, families have already
felt the effects of it in a more hearty attempt to worship together,
and in greater efforts for a useful religious life.
The King of Prussia-a man apparently very quick to feel any
noble idea, and very uncertain sometimes in his action, and fitted to
be anything better than a good King-has taken deep intereet is
many of these movements for forming charitable institutions, and has
given very substantial aid.
The meetings of the "Missions" are held in various parts of Germany, and are some periodical, and others chance gatherings. Those
connected with this enterprise are called the " Friends of the Inner




HERR WICHERN.                       31
Mission," and can belong to any sect of Christendom; even prominent Roman Catholics have sometimes taken part in it. At the
head of it all, holding the various strings which connect with its
wide operations, the life and centre of the movement, is a man who
in another age, and in other circumstances, would have been the
Loyola of a religious society-HERR WICHERN. A man of indomitable energy, of high and enthusiastic nature, yet uniting with it in
a combination not often seen in human nature, except in such characters as Ignatius Loyola, the shrewdness of a man of the world,
and a thorough practical talent. By his efforts many of these charitable institutions have been formed througlh various parts of Germany, and he is now himself at the head of an immense charity or
vagrant-school in Hamburg, of which I shall have more to say
hereafter, conducted as it is on principles quite new in the management of such institutions.  He is summoned constantly to different
parts of the country on the work of this " Mission," and report says,
has no little influence with the crowned heads of Germany. On
the whole, the movement appears to be a grand one, and is certainly
a tremendous protest against Rationalism; or, at least against the
present religious condition of Germany, under the influence of Rationalism. "It is a second Reformation,"' some of those engaged in
it will tell you, except that "it begins in the Church, and has the
support of the Church." One might fear it would become in process of time, an immense religious society, controlling the populace
everywhere, and liable to be used by ambitious men for bad purposes. But the day seems to have gone by for that, and we may
hope for better things.




CHAPTER III.
SOCIAL LIFE IN HAMBURG.
HAMBURG is one of the wealthiest cities in Germany, in constant
connection with England, and where English habits of luxury have
penetrated.  It is famous in the German States for the good dinners and the riches of its citizens. Yet there is throughout the
middle classes-with a few inconsistencies-a simplicity and frugality,
of which we know little in America. Money is made with more
difficulty than with us, and is naturally not spent so freely. People
talk of economy, as if it were a thing really to be considered. I
find that merchants, in good business, not unfrequently retire on a
fortune of $20,000 or $30,000. The gentlemen, too, travel in
cheap conveyances, such as we Americans would never endure.  I
have scarcely seen carpets on the floors of a single house, except
among a few of the wealthiest; and the furniture, in general,
though tasteful, is not at all expensive. People are contented with
mall means, and yet they make those means go a great way, in
comfort and beauty.
I have said, there were some inconsistencies in this home-life of
the Germans.  With a most grateful and comfortable sense of all
the hospitality I have received from them, I must be permitted to




HABITS.                           33
say, that in eating, and in a few of their habits, they are hardly
consistent with their simple and ideal tendencies elsewhere.
The hours for rising in the city are much earlier, as I before
remarked, than in England; usually in the middle classes half-past
six or seven. The breakfast is always merely a cup of coffee and
bread-cakes. After this slight meal, the gentlemen go to their business and the ladies to their household work; and I have been surprised to observe in the various families of my acquaintance how
much the ladies do of housekeeping work, and even cooking.
At eleven or twelve, those of the family who are at home, meet
again for " lunch." This is a moderately substantial meal of cold
meat, bread and butter, preserves and fruit, with some light wine
like Burgundy or Claret. Then at three o'clock comes the dinner,
the meal of the day of course. With many of the business men,
the same custom prevails as in our large cities and in England, of
having the dinner at five or six o'clock, after the business of the day.
But three or four o'clock is the more general hour. The meal commences according to the world-wide custom, with soup; then succeed roast meat and vegetables, and then perhaps fish and various
courses to the number, often, of five or six, each course however being only a small dish-and the remarkable thing about it all, being
that the fruits come in, in the middle of the courses, and the roast
meats just before the end.  The dessert, according to an English
custom, and one which does not prevail much in our country, is
bread with butter, or cheese. The wines do not seem to be as
varied, as in family dinners in England, being generally the light
red wine, either of France or the Rhine, together with Teneriffe.
The last dish is always a cup of strong black coffee. Of course,
this arrangement of dinner differs somewhat in different families, and
perhaps the order of courses is not strictly fixed; yet such a dinner




34              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
would not be at all uncommon, and might be considered a fair sample of a good family dinner.
I have spoken of wine drinking-and it may not be out of place
to mention my observations with respect to it here in Hamburg.
Wines are cheap here, owing to the absence of all duties and the
aeighborhood of wine countries, Rhine wines are from 10d. to is.
per bottle; common Burgundy from  8d. to 10d.; Bordeaux from
4d. to 8d.; and Champagne from 2s. to 4s. The people drink the
lighter wines universally, yet the number of cases of intoxication is
surprisingly small, and I never see men unduly excited by liquor at
table, as I frequently have seen in Scotland, where the strong wines
and whiskey are so much in use. The appearance of Hamburg, too,
at night, is a wonderful contrast to that of Glasgow and Edinburg,
where I have lately been, and the hideous rioting and drunkenness
which disturb one in those cities, are seldom known here. These
are facts which I cannot connect with any particular theory, but
which are worth considering, as showing that there are countries
where drinking is common, and yet where much truer ideas of temperance prevail, either than. in rigid Scotland or in our own country.
Whether the Scotch strictness in other matters drives men to extremes in this; or, what may be the reason, I cannot say. To one
who would wish to look at all sides of the question of temperance,
these facts will be worthy of attention.
The afternoon, among the Hamburgers, is devoted to exercise,
walking and riding, and amusement-and the lady, who has been
perhaps working in the kitchen, now escapes to pleasanter occupations. In some families we used to meet again at six, for tea,
handed around without eatables-a custom probably derived from
the English. The evening follows, and is spent either over whist or
in pleasant conversation, or at concerts-and again at nine or ten




DIET.                          35
o'clock, is another hearty cold supper, with meats and fruit and wine
finished on the gentlemen's part by cigars, which are smoked here
apparently as freely in the parlor or dining room as any where else.
Such an, overflowing hospitality of good things, all day, is very
pleasant, but how the Germans ever succeed in bearing up under it,
is a matter of some surprise to the stranger. In fact, the nation
seem generally most daring transgressors of all the rules of dietetics,
and yet one cannot see, but that they are as healthy and work as
hard as most other nations.
I have been very much amused in conversation with various people, at the popular impressions about America. They are all excellently well informed on the subject of our government and
the character of the people; but their ideas of small matters are
frequently taken altogether fiom the jokes circulating about us.
Punch's " hits" and caricatures, and even the mere good-humored
extravagancies of the "New York Herald," such as the loss of life
attending on the rush for an " Extra Herald," are all believed with
astonishing readiness.  "Did our gentlemen sit at the opera, with
their feet over the backs of the boxes I" some one inquired of me. I
find it one of the hardest things to convince them that there is a
difference between the North and the South; and that gentlemen
do not carry bowie-knives about with them as they would toothpicks, in the old States.
There is one subject I have found it best not to touch upon too
much with many of the Hamburgers.  It is the remarkable number of Prussian uniforms one sees every where in the city. I can
scarcely go by a public building without meeting the plain spiked
helmet and blue coat; and not a day passes when I do not come
upon companies of Prussian soldiers, drilling in the squares. When
the Prussian troops returned from Holstein through Hamburg, a




36              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
year or more ago, they were thought by the worthy democrats of
that city, to have given up quite too easily the support of Liberalism, and in consequence were hooted at, and pelted by them. The
City Senate and BiUlgher Guard could do nothing against them,
and it is generally supposed these foreign troops were privately
invited in, for the sake of keeping down the ultra-republicans. At
any rate-much as the citizens dislike the term-Hamburg, like the
free city of Frankfort and independent Duchy of Baden, is under
the protection of Prussia, and Prussian bayonets uphold the representative government!
OcToBEBn 20.
I was to-day at a dinner party, and in the evening after
it, a very  characteristic conversation  took place.   We  were
gathered around a table, looking at some spirited illustrations of the
Bible. A young man with finely cut features and full moustache,
whom from, his whole appearance, I took to be an artist, seemed
much interested in them. His remarks upon them were very appropriate, and showed the deepest feeling for the beauty of outline,
as well as the thought expressed. At length he dropped some
depreciatory expression in regard to the facts thus illustrated. His
words were at once taken up by a benevolent-looking old gentleman-a clergyman-who stood near, and then ensued a well-sustained discussion, the young man maintaining the mythical theory
of the Bible, and the " Pastor" arguing the literal. The artist's
points were well put, but on the whole, fairly met by the other.
Yet it struck me that the younger disputant was far the most in
earnest, and there was a half-sorrowful expression occasionally in his
eye, which showed he had some other object than mere talk, in the
discussion. The Pastor argued as if it was his business, and the




DISCUSSION.                       37
young man as if he sought with whole soul for Truth. The conversation soon passed, in some way, to these struggles in Europe for liberty.
Here the religious man had changed his ground. Hopeful before,
when he met the sombre doubts of Immortality, he was now faith
ess, gloomy, timid.
"' Europe is not ready for fireedom, and does not at heart want it,"
said he. "The people are wild with Socialism  and Infidelity.
They want license, indulgence. They have tried and failed enough
in their efforts for Liberty. Have we not now a steady, Christian
Government in North-Germany? A  King on the throne of Prussia,
known as an humble, faithful Christian? Why should we tempt
Providence, by aiming at what God shows himself unwilling to give?"
"Mein Gott!" said the artist, almost with a burst of passion.
"And is this Religion-to lie down as slaves always? The people
are infidels, Herr Pastor, because the Church and Tyranny are
bound together. Not a word of free noble sentiment against the
oppressions of Germany ever comes from your pulpits! Look at
Prussia, and see that accursed unconstitutional rule upheld by the
priests of God! Yes, we have failed. We gained the victory and
then trusted the princes-but so has every noble cause failed. We
shall not trust so much again! The King of Prussia"-and by
this time he had gained the attention of the whole room-" is perjured before God and men! He has publicly broken the oath he
gave only two years ago. And what is going on now over poor
Holstein, but another act of this same oppression?"  His appeal to
Holstein evidently aroused the sympathies of the whole company,
and the preacher was almost silenced, though he could not restrain
some allusions of contempt to the struggles in Hungary and SouthGermany. I took up the cudgels here, and an animated debate
followed, and desultory conversation, until at length we came to




33              SOCIAo L LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
the subject of the German laws enforcing Confirmation, and the connection of Church and State.
" In our country," said I, " we find religion far better sustained
by leaving it entirely to individual, voluntary support."
"It might be so with you," he replied, " but the system  would
not work here. By the laws of confirmation, every child must go
thnrough with a certain course of religious instruction under the Pastor. In this way, thousands of children are instructed, who would
never otherwise come near a clergyman. I myself spend some two
hours almost every day in the week, in such labor with the children
of my parish. Besides, the certificates of baptism and confirmation
are absolutely necessary for the numbering the population and proving their legitimacy."'; But," said I, "' do you not find, where a religious confession is
enjoined by law, that Religion becomes a matter of form, not of the
heart? And does not the church pass into a mere instrument for
upholding established authority? I should expect to find many,
like this gentleman, considering orthodoxy and tyranny as very
much bound together."
He was obliged to admit that these evils often did result, though
counterbalanced, he thought, by the advantages.
I fell into a very interesting conversation, afterwards, with the
artist, and I think he was surprised to meet any one with a distinct
religious faith, yet sympathising in the great struggles of the day.
"Thank God!" I said to myself as I walked home, "it has not
come to this yet in our country, that Religion and a dead Conservatism are the same thing.  Young America is Religious America
until now!"




CHAPTER IV.
A  GERMAN  LADY.
I HEARD much during this visit in Hamburg, of a remarkable
lady, long resident in the city, and gratefully known through all
Germany. As my friends described her, she seemed the Mrs. Fry
of Germany-a woman who had visited the lowest prisons of the
city for objects of charity, and to gather facts relative to prisonimprovement; who had erected institutions for the abandoned and
outcast of her own sex, and had thoroughly familiarized herself with
the late establishments for reform in all the countries of Europe. They
also represented that she was a woman of high cultivation and
intelligence-a personal friend of the Queen of Denmark, and a
correspondent of the first men in Germany, in talent and benevolence
Her plans, too; were far more wide-reaching than for any temporary
reforms. She aspired to raise the position of woman in social life
throughout Germany, and to spread her own ideas, in the most efficient way, by education. With this purpose she had formed a
school, they said, where fourteen or twenty scholars from the most
influential families were instructed by herself gratuitously. It was
one of the best schools in Germany, as Miss SIEVEKING-for that is
her name-is very accomplished in modern languages and in all the
higher branches of instruction.




40             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
Her plan was, to imnplant indirectly, during her intercourse, her
own fervent religious convictions, and her ideas of woman's duties,
in these pupils' minds. The first ladies in Hamburg were glad to
commit their daughters to her; and the result was, that she had
sent abroad, through Germany, accomplished women filled with the
same purposes of practical usefulness.
I may say here, interrupting my narrative, that I afterwards
met in various parts of Germany these ladies, and have found
them every where leading the movements now in progress in
Germany for spreading a purer and more practical piety. One I
remember-a lady of rank-as the overseer of the " Hospital for
women" in Berlin; another, the earnest and actively religious lady
of the court-chaplain in the same city-Madame Snetlage-and
others equally devoted with these, to works of reform.
Besides these labors, Miss Sieveking had organized a society of the
ladies of Hamburg, whose objects should be thoroughly to investigate the condition of the poor through the whole city. The city
was divided into small districts: each lady took one, went over it
every few days, made note of those needing relief or work, or talked
with those in sorrow, and carefully inquired as to those who had
had no religious instruction. The reports thus made are read at
each general meeting and measures there adopted for relief, unless
the need is too pressing to allow of delay-the great principle being to give the people work, not alms.
I asked, in the course of our conversations, how this lady man
aged to get money to support herself in so many gratuitous labors.
They said, that originally she had owned some property, which she
had now entirely spent for these objects, but that she lived in so
simple a way that it was easy for her to get along on very little
indeed; and now, when any rich Hamburger died, even if he had




MISS SIEVEKING                       41
never given a penny in his life, he was sure to leave something to
Miss S., as a kind of salve for his conscience.
I felt very desirous of knowing her-it is so seldom that a woman
has the courage or ability to stand out from her sex, in a life worthy
of a being of high powers; and of all countries in the world where
it would be hard for a woman to act against the usages of society,
for some great intellectual or benevolent purpose, Germany is the
worst. The cry of "emancipirt / ) (emancipated!) is worse than
ever blue-stocking was with us, and is a sentence of death to any
lady's success for evermore in society. All accounts, too, so agreed,
that with this lady, rough work on the realities of life had not worn
away refinement, or modesty, or good sense, that I anticipated much
in meeting her.
I shall remember long my first interview with her, from a sidecircumstance that occurred-one of those little blunders which a
stranger may always make in first speaking a foreign language, and
to which he must harden himself, if he would ever progress at all.
In the course of our conversation, I inquired in regard to an " Appeal" she had been lately making-of which more presently-to
the ladies of Germany; but by a slight change of one consonant, I
had politely asked after the " uproar," she had been making among
the ladies of Germany. She was too sensible to notice it, and the
rest of the company preserved a courteous silence; the only effect
being that the conversation soon turned into English, which I found
she spoke very well.
I had expected in such a position to meet a very enthusiastic,
ideal person. but was agreeably surprised to find her a sensible, practical woman, not particularly "exalted" with these ideas, but evidently carrying them out under a deep sense of Christian duty. An
odd figure she was, too, at the elegant table where we were, with




42             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
her simple, quaint dress, her little active form, and her keen blue
eyes, moving so quickly when she spoke. She did not appropriate
the conversation, though all listened with great respect when she
spoke. I had much talk with her.
She told me of the difficulties she had had in starting benevolent
institutions in Germany —how unused the people were to give, in
their lives, for such objects; how little of the evangelical spirit, with
which she had been so delighted in England, was to be found here.
The ladies, too, at first could not be induced to come forward in
practical efforts. No one was "good" here till she began to be
passe, and the young ladies feared to rise above this public opinion.
The name of " emanciprit " was worse than martyrdom.  Some of
the parents, too, objected in the beginning to their daughters entering her Asssociation for the Poor, because it might. have a bad influence on their moral purity to see the worst classes. She thought it
a good thing, on the contrary, for a young woman to see something
of the dark sides of life. Besides, any modest ignorance of such subjects, she said, was altogether out of place on the part of the ladies,
as every one knew they were entirely familiar in one way or another
with them. She had found it very difficult, too, with the higher
classes, to break down the unreasonable customs about fashionable
work. Every lady of rank has come to think it an unchangeable
duty to embroider, or do ornamental sewing, a certain number of
hours each day. The best part of her time-hours which might be
given to educating her mind or laboring for others, is spent in this
useless way. "And worse than useless," said she, " for it is not economical, as the thimbles and needles and nicknacks for all this cost
more than the profits, and work is taken away from poor women
who need it."  She remembered, she said, to have read very early
in life a treatise on woman's duties, in which it was declared to be




A CHRISTIAN  WOMAN.                     43
the " first duty of woman to sew and embroider." She could not
see then, and had not been able since to discover, why it was the
universal duty of every woman to sew, any more than for every man
to cobble or to dig. She thought there was quite as much variety in
women's capacities as in men's. She had at last been able to
induce many ladies from the higher class to leave this baby-house
occupation, and engage in real, benevolent work for the suffering;
and it seemed to her now that there was more of practical, evangelical piety among the wealthier classes than any other.
I made in the conversation some remark about the institutions
of reform in London, but found at once that she was far more
thoroughly informed than myself about them, though I had visited
them carefully.  The "Schools for vagrant children" and the
6" Homes for reformed women" she had thoroughly examined, under
the guidance of the most prominent nobleman of England, and she
bad already aided to found such institutions here. Still, she had
not much hope for the reformation of these women, she said, unless
families would consent to take them in and give them work. Merely
living in a " home," hearing preaching, and having repentant
thoughts, was not enough. They must have something in place
of the intense excitement of their life-some steady, honorable labor.
I drew the conversation to her efforts, a few years ago, in the
fearful year of the cholera. She described to me a few scenes, but
she did not say-what the citizens of Hamburg will never forgethow heroic and untiring her labors were in that dreadful time of
pestilence. She did not say, that when clergyman and friend and
father had fled in terror from the dying-bed, she could be seen, hour
after hour, entering the deserted houses, bringing medicine and aid
and her kind words of Christian consolation to the sufferers; that
when the magistrates of the city had almost abandoned the hospi



44             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
tals, she was there to regulate again, to encourage, to give her
judicious counsel, and to collect food and medicine,
There is many a family in Hamburg, both of rich and poor, who
will forget every friend and benefactor before they cease to remember that little, active, quaintly-dressed woman, with the keen, kind
eye, who came so like an angel among them, in those terrible days
of disease and death.
I had been very much interested in this conversation. The
woman's benevolence was so evidently rational, and there was such
a common-sense and almost sharpness of tone to her ideas, that
you saw at once she was no mere enthusiast. As soon as possible
afterwards, I obtained her "Appeal to the Women of Germany,"
and read it with great interest.
I will give some extracts from it, as the pamphlet has had considerable influence in Northern Germany.
"APPEAL TO THE CHRISTAIN WOMEN AND MAIDENS OF
GERMANY.
"You have, during these last few years, often heard of the' Emancipation of Woman,' but for the most part in the antichristian
sense of the Communists, and it is very natural that you have a certain repugnance to the word. Yet I believe it admits also a Christian interpretation, and I shall not fear therefore to use it." * * *
Then follow her opinions as to the position of woman in modern
society, and the accompanying passage: "After these explanations
you will recognize, my dear sisters, that in that which I wish for
our sex, my purpose is not at all directed to a removal of natural
limitations, and those by God himself arranged. What I want is
only a freedom from the reigning fiivolity, and from the iron forcerule of fashion and a senseless propriety. Understand me, it is not




THE APPEAL.                        45
my purpose to utter a sentence of condemnation upon every occupation of women with the thousand trifles, which belong to the decorations of life. It is not my meaning that they should raise
themselves above every law of fashion and propriety. What I
mean is this: the side-matters of life should not be made its headmatters; the toilet and needle-work and novel-reading should never
be the principal occupation of woman, or that filling up the greatest
part of her time."
She then alludes to those to whom this is especially addressed"Those who in general have the good will to do their duties, but
are not sure of the nature and extent of them; and who on this
account often neglect the essential for the unessential, and, not
accustomed to a regular activity, split up time and powers in such a
manner, that a true enjoyment comes neither for themselves nor for
others, not to say any lasting profit."   *   *   *   *   *   *
Her opinions of the sewing-work among the ladies of the wealthy
classes, are given as I before expressed them: "I really believe that
many a lady who places her highest glory in this-that nothing is
ever sewn out of the house, or that she does all the needle-work of
the house with her own hands-would do far better if she would
give this work over to some poor sewing woman or tailoress, and
thus be of real assistance to them, and at the same time buy, at so
small expense, valuable time to herself, to be devoted either to
the common interests of the family, or to their higher spiritual
interests."
She then enumerates some of the objects to which she would
call forth woman's activity, especially that of wives and mothers.
"A rational guidance of the housekeeping and attention to detail, where the limited circumstances of the husband demand it; if
in a higher position, a supervision and oversight of accounts, with




46              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
the duty always upon her of watching over the bodily and spiritual
good of the servants;-the education oj7 her mind, so that the wife
can be something more to the husband than a mere housekeeper or
Plaything; so that she may be capable of sharing the interests of
his profession, and of being to him a helpmate in the most beautiful
sense of the word; so that her conversation can be a refreshment to
him from his earnest business and cares, without drawing his spirit
down to what is entirely vain and trifling; education of children in
the nurture of the Lord; and finally, whenever the household circumstances allow it, a share in useful public labors, especially for the
poor brethren and sisters."
One or two extracts more must suffice. This is characteristic:
"THE RIGHTS OF THE POOR. With careful consideration do I
choose these words. I would produce in every Christian woman,
mistress of a household, the conviction that, as such, she is under
an obligation to give aid to the needy. In the oldest Christain
churches, this was decidedly the ruling idea." Or this address to
"The Unmarried."  " To the last named, who come especially near
me, since I belong to.them, I would address a warning word of
love. Oh, dear sisters, I know many a one among you who, freshly
and joyfully, is working under God's visible blessing in His kingdom;
but many another is also known to me, to whom such an activity is
wanting, and it does not surprise me that such a one looks out sad
and out-of-harmony (verstimmt) on the Life which has perhaps
cheated her in its sweetest hopes. Is it so, thou dear, poor sister 
Oh, take fresh courage! It is indeed a beautiful calling-the calling
of wife and mother; but meanest thou the Lord has this one blessing only for those who serve him? I tell thee this blessing is as
manifold as is the mode in which we can devote our powers to His
honor in the service of others. Rest not till thou hast found such




WOMAN'S SPHERE.                        47
a life's calling. That this must of course be in the circle of the
sick and the poor, is no way hecessary. It is not there alone that
there is need of the free labor of love. In all circles of human
society, can a -field for this be found, if only each one understand
her own correct limitation and work.
"One thing only would I lay to thine heart, that in the forming
thy life-plan thou shouldst not place the demands upon thee too low;
that thy activity be as much as possible a regularly arranged one;
and that thou subjectest thyself to a binding rule, and never, without absolute necessity, variest from it."
We close with this extract, in regard to woman's engaging in
politics, which shows the same sensible tone, and gives us a glimpse
at Germany. "In general, I believe that the natural capacities of
woman's mind are as little favorable to the deeper study of politics
as to that of mathematics. * * * Women here have no reason
to lament that they see the entrance to the depths of politics closed
to them. Alas! there are so many discords there, which it is so
hard to bring in harmony with the feelings of a soul directed
by the gospel-truth to a universal philantrophy! * * * 
And to what end would her activity here be?  To man, and to
woman especially, in all efforts, there is ever a need to have a practical aim before the eyes, and here it must be entirely wanting."




CHAPTER V
EXCURSION TO THE DUCHIES.
MY purpose had been, in visiting this part of Germany, to make
an excursion into the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, both that
I might see something of a country in a state of war, and because
this is said to be one of the most truly original parts of Northern
Europe.  The people, as they are fond of boasting, are from  the
old, original Anglo-Saxon stock, from whose coasts came the wild
freebooters that peopled England and gave to it and to America
their most vigorous race.* The inhabitants please themselves now
with tracing their resemblance to the English, and there is much
attachment among them for that people; so that the position England has taken in their war with Denmark is peculiarly bitter to
them. The country varies much in the capacities of its soil and its
appearance. The central tracts running from Altona up as far as
Flendsburg, are flat and sandy, and in some parts exceedingly
boggy, with no very productive land. On the west of this, near
* It will be remembered that the JTtti, and Angli, and Frisi who invaded England in the fifth century, and eventually conquered it, came from
these various districts of Denmark.




THE DUCHIES.                       49
the coast of the German ocean, is a wide strip of marshy country,
but wherever recovered and drained, the best land in North Europe;
while on the other side, all along the Baltic, and reaching in near
the interior lakes, and embracing the small Duchy of Oldenburgh,
is the pre-eminently fertile land of the Duchies; a country generally
level and with springy soil, but highly cultivated, and containing in parts some of the richest pastures and best dairy farms in
Europe.
Towards this part of Holstein I directed my journey, purposing
to go farther into the northern and western districts, if I could obtain the requisite " permits," or if the country seemed sufficiently
safe.
Encumbered with no luggage, and with only my knapsack and
walking-stick, I took the omnibus for Altona, a very thriving commercial town, only some three miles down the Elbe from the city,
and so connected by country-seats and numerous houses of refreshment that it seems almost another quarter of Hamburg. It is
however, in fact, a prosperous rival in commerce to the larger city,
and the citizens say, answers too well to its name " All-zu-nahe,"
"All-too-near." Before this war between the Duchies and Denmark, it was second only to Copenhagen in the Danish kingdom,
both for population and commerce. It took sides strongly with the
provinces against the king, and has suffered much during this unfor
tunate war. The inhabitants are mostly of German descent and
speak the German language, so that they joined heartily in the
universal movement for a nationality in Germany, and are bitterly
reluctant to come again under the Danish rule. At Altona my
plan was to take the cars for Neumiinster, on the railroad which
connects Hamburg with Kiel and the Baltic. The train was
delayed somewhat, and I waited at the station.
a




50              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY
A railroad depot in North Europe is an entirely different affair
from anything of the kind with us. The principal and peculiar
trait which the stranger observes on entering it, is the remarkable
adaptation of the building for eating and drinking. The whole
structure may be as large as our best station-houses; but the best
halls, the finest rooms are reserved for dining and lunching rooms.
The waiting halls, the baggage-closets, the platforms are small,
ill-furnished, or inconvenient, but wherever there is any eating to
be done, you have convenience and even comfort.
I entered a large, handsome apartment that morning, filled with
small tables, which even at that early hour (seven o'clock) were
crowded with various parties, and ordered my glass of coffee and
rolls. Every variety of class seemed to be gathered there at their
Frihstihick (breakfast). The common Holstein peasant women, with
their neatly-fitting red boddices and sun-browned faces, eating the
Wurst (a kind of sausage) and black bread. The men, their huge
baskets by their side, drinking beer and smoking the long pipes.
At other tables, soldiers playing cards, with interludes of sour wine
and bread and butter; officers in dashing helmets reading their
morning papers over bottles of Rhenish; travellers in great fur
wrappers drinking coffee, and ladies sipping tea. All in one room;
a cloud of tobacco-smoke rising over it all, and a confused noise
coming forth of clinking beer glasses, German oaths, jangling sabres,
and cheerful gossip.
On each side there appeared to be smaller breakfast rooms,
where the more select parties met-usually officers of rank going to
the Holstein camps. At the signal of a bell, we all arose and went
through different doors marked with the numbers of the three different classes, to get our tickets. Each class had its own ticketoffice, and there were officers stationed everywhere to prevent




THIRD-CLASS TRAVEL                        51
mistake. Scarcely any one, except a few foreign-looking travellers,
went to the first-class office. I took a place in the third class.
In England, the great principle of rail-road arrangements as re
spects third class travelling, is to discourage it in every way possible.
The " parliamentary trains" are always the slowest, the most uncomfortable, and the most uncertain and inconvenient in times of
departure and connections, of all the trains. In Germany it is not
so. The accommodations for the third class are very nearly equal
to those of the second; and the time and speed is the same for all
classes. After the tickets were bought, each of us who had heavy
baggage went to another office, presented the luggage and the
ticket, received a baggage receipt, and if the baggage was overweight, paid accordingly. At the end of the journey, the baggage
is returned at the presentation of the receipt. These arrangements
on all the German roads are remarkably thorough and faithful. I
have travelled over thousands of miles on them, and never yet saw
the slightest difficulty on any of them with the baggage of travellers.
Nor, in fact, have I ever witnessed the smallest accident. The
double tracks, the sentinels stationed every half-mile, and the very
strict regulations for the companies, make any dangerous occurrence
very improbable.
The cars, or " carriages," as the English say, I found differently
arranged from our own. In place of one long apartment running
through the whole car, there are several different compartments
entered from the sides, and with seats extending from one door to
the other. In the first class, the coupes or partitioned parts contained only two or four seats, each a cushioned arm-chair, as in our
own cars, though not half so elegant. The divisions in the second
and third classes can contain each some twelve or fourteen persons,
Bitting on two lines of seats facing each other. The third class seats




52              SOCIAL tIFE IN GERMANY.
have no cushion, and the second only a thin hair covering. Smoking
was forbidden on these cars in notices, printed in some three or four
different languages; and I should not exaggerate in saying, that
there were no less than three or four different " nationalities," smoking
all tobacco from the strongest "Virginia" to the mildest Hungarian,
in every compartment of every car! The militarly-looking man, who
at once demanded our passports and our tickets, kept a cigar smoking
in one hand behind him while he took them with the other.
The only other thing which struck me as peculiarly foreign in
the arrangements, was the locking every door, just before the trains
started. There is no rail-road either on the continent, or in England, which will at all compete with the American roads in the
convenience and elegance of the carriages. Even the " royal cars"
have not that grace and airiness, and the conveniences attached
which belong to our common cars; and the providing of a stove,
or of an apartment for sickness in a rail-car is altogether unknown
in Europe.
Our ride this day towards Neumiinster was at first quite uninteresting-the country fiat and dreary, and so like many of the
sandy and boggy tracts along our rail-roads at home, that, sunk in
my newspaper, I had quite forgotten I was in a Strange land, until
the" Wohl bekommts " —" May it be well with thee! "-from  a
little girl opposite, at my sneeze, reminded me I was not at all in
Yankee land. Farther on, the country became gradually more interesting. There were more cultivated farms, and various little villages, with the red-tiled roofs, and high-pointed gables. Pretty
hedges, too, began to appear over the whole country, much like the
English. They are raised on mounds, and many of them are of
small beach trees. There were signs along the road of a country in
a state of was  Crowds of soldiers stood at the different stopping




AFOOT AGAINI                       63
places, and filled up the cars, hastening on generally towards Rendsburgh, near which is the central camp of the army. They were
young, and seemed in high spirits, and were apparently farmers and
business men, drafted in to fill up the army, so much thinned by
some of these late'assaults. Many of them had almost the Prussian
uniform, especially the round smooth helmet, with a spike in the
top. Near one or two of the stations were hospitals, and the sight
of men walking about with bandages, or limping on their crutches,
and with weapons battered and worn, began to make War seem a
reality. My car was occupied by the peasants for the most part, and
I was much struck with their politeness to one another. Every
clumsy Bauer that tumbled in with his bags, or that left the cars,
wished us all " good morning," with the greatest ease and politeness;
and the Kiel students, who came in with their jaunty caps and long
pipes, bowed to the old apple women as they would have done to
ladies.
At Neumiinster I left the rail-road and struck off on foot eastward
towards the "Ploner See," a large interior lake.  It was reallly
exhilarating to be travelling away on foot again-knapsack on my
back and walking-stick in hand-with such perfect independence of
vehicles and conveniences. I have traversed something of Europe
in this way; and over an interesting country, I know no more exciting mode of journeying. There is a dash of adventure in it all
the while. You meet strange comrades, see what books and travellers do not tell of much; and can have many a chat with common
people in their own homes. There is so much less of the usual
traveller's annoyance of cheating and bargaining. It is all so independent. I was, at this time, in very good condition for walking,
having just " finished " the highlands of Scotland, and accordingly
felt nothing to lessen the interest of the walk. There was something




54               SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
stimulating to my fancy in the idea of journeying over this old
patriarchal country. I found much, too, all along the road new to
me. The one-story farm-houses with their immensely high peaked red
roofs; and the heavy thatched barns quite as handsomely built as
the houses; the long green banks with the hedges upon them, and
the huge wagons of wicker were all peculiar to this part of Europe.
Occasionally, too, I passed a squad of the new recruits, or walked
through a village where military drilling was going on. I feared
some interruption, or insult with my foreign look, and travelling
in this rather peculiar way, but there was never anything of the
kind. And, I may say here with real thankfulness, that in ll my
wanderings and rough adventures in Europe, at least, on the Continent, I have never experienced from the lowest or highest classes
anything but courtesy and kindness. The only annoyances I have
suffered have been from Governments.
As I went on in my walk in Eastern Holstein, the country became
more and more interesting. The beautiful lakes which mark this
part of Europe began to appear. The banks were all skirted with
trees to the water's edge, and were bright now with autumn coloring. The foliage is not so brilliantly tinted as with us, yet it has a
soft, pleasant coloring, and the frequent mingling of the American
wild vine, (ampelopsis quinquefolia,) throws in a vivid hue with
striking effect. The waters were filled with pretty little fringed
islands, and on every side stretched away cultivated fields, with
hedges or graceful clumps of trees here and there. Over all was
the soft, rich October light, so that the landscape left upon me an
indescribable impression of gentleness and peacefulness. And in the
quiet scene, I forgot that I was entering a land where every green
valley and hill-side had just been stained by the blood of its best and
bravest sons.




A VISIT.                         55
It was only till after night-fall, that I judged I must be near the
estate of the gentleman I intended to visit.
As I could find nothing of it, I turned to a peasant's cottage
knocked and entered a large room which extended the whole
length of the house. It seemed a stable, as the cows were fastened on one side, though on the other, rooms opened into it. At
the other end was a great fire burning, and an old woman
tending it. When she heard me entering, she came forward, and
in answer to my inquiry, delivered an unintelligible speech in
Platt Deutsch, (Low German). I repeated, and she apparently
understood me, while I could make nothing of what she said.
We laughed at our difficulties; and she called a boy, who took
my knapsack at her direction, and beckoned to me to follow him.
I walked along after him, and after winding in the twilight through
a long lane, and then through an avenue of old trees, we reached
the house.
I had been growing gradually more and more timid at the idea
of penetrating thus, a stranger with my limited German, into a
family who probably knew nothing of English; but my fears were
quickly removed by the friendly and almost primitive hospitality
with which I was received, and I was soon in pleasant conversation
with an excitable young politician, who had served awhile against
the Danes, and who labored most earnestly to show me the wrongs
heaped upon the Duchies by the accursed Denmark. Some pleasant
ladies welcomed us to one of those bountiful German suppers which
travellers only can fully appreciate, and I listened till a late hour, as
the " Politiker " argued or fought his battles over and described how
the Danes fled at Schleswig beyond all pursuit or trace, and how
the canals and ramparts drove back the brave Holsteiners at Fried



56              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
richstadt; or while the sisters told their hopes and fears for their
two brothers in the camp.
At the close of the evening, I was shown into a large " guest,
chamber" on the ground floor, and was soon sound asleep on a genuine, old, patriarchal, Saxon bed.




CHAPTER VI.
A HOLSTEIN FARM.
THE next morning, as soon as possible after breakfast, I started out
with the son of my host, the young politician, to see the buildings and
grounds on the estate. The house itself, like nearly all I have seen of
the " proprietors " (Guts besitzer) here, is built of oak beams, filled in
with bricks, similarly to the "timber houses" of England.  It is
only one story, but very long and with high pointed roof, covered
with red tiles. Within, there are great numbers of those large
rooms which the Germans appear to delight in. Here again, as
everywhere, are the high porcelain stoves, and beside, heavy articles
of oak furniture with brass ornaments, giving a most antique air to
the rooms. There are the same marks which one finds in nearly all
the German houses of a highly cultivated taste.
The buildings on most of these estates are arranged in the form
of a parallelogram. Here, for instance, we passed down the court
from the house under a fine avenue of lindens, with high roofed
buildings on each side which had brick walls and windows, and
looked like dwellings, but were only barns and cattle-stables, until
we came forth under a gate-way, through a large granary at the
Ad*O




68              SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
end of the court.  This farm, like most of those in Holstein, is
principally a dairy farm, though having large fields of grain. I saw
in the pastures some hundred and fifty cows, many of them crosses
of the Ayrshire breed, with the old native Angeln stock. Agriculture is carried to a high degree of perfection in the Duchies. The
whole system  of "thorough draining," an improvement so little
known even in our country, with its immense advantage to such a
soil as this, has been understood and successfully practiced in Hlolstein nearly eight years.
We passed in our walk large fields, where wheat, oats and barley
had been grown, and long stretches of turnips and carrots for cattle.
Generally, however, in Holstein, these are not used for cattle-feedthe common fodder in winter being hay and corn-straw, with bran
or oil cake. The barns and stables were all of brick, and were remarkably comfortable and substantial.
The horses were of good blood, and were the best I have seen
out of England. The export of horses from Holstein is one of the
most profitable branches of business.
Our path carried us by, also, some of the cottages of the
Bauer, or peasants, who are tenants on this estate. They seemed
many of them to be living in considerable comfort, though the barns
looked better often than the houses. I observed here again that
singular arrangement of houses which surprised me the first evening
in the peasant's cottage. Large folding-doors at the end of the
house open into the stable, and the rooms for the family are on one
side, and entered from this. The high loft above is used for fodder
and rubbish. Everything is kept so neatly that little inconvenience is experienced from this arrangement. The inside rooms
are often quite tastefully ornamented.
My host, as I said before, is a landholder-with some 300 acres




PEASANTS.                        59
These large estates of from 100 to 5,000 acres are now mostly
farmed by tenants. They are reckoned by Laing, at 3,057. The
land of the Duchies is generally occupied by small proprietors,
corresponding to our American " farmers," on dairy farms supporting ten or fifteen cows. These farms, according to the same authority, number 125,150. Originally these estates all had the "Bauer"
attached to them, as serfs; but within forty years, serfdom has been
entirely done away, and the only remains of it are a kind of perpetual rent, (Abgabe), which a few of the Bauer are still obliged to
pay, though they are considered owners of the land; somewhat as
it is on part of the Patroon estates in New York, with the exception that these tenants are obliged to pay in money, and that
their estates would be sold at auction, if they refused. Some of
the Bauer are bona fide owners of the land, and hold large estates,
with an income insome cases of $10,000 a year. Others are tenants,
paying rent like the small farmers of England. In a population of
662,500 souls in the Duchies, there are 67,700 peasants who own
a house and land; 17,480 who own a house alone; and 36,283
who are merely day-laborers.*
A great deal has been done in the Duchies, and indeed in all Germany, for the education of the lower classes. Every man is obliged
to send his children to school, or he is exposed to a fine. Advancement in the army, attaining of the commonest state offices and even
confirmation in the church is made dependent, in a greater or less
degree, on the previous education. Yet I am bound to say, I am
struck everywhere with the fact-a fact which all good men in
Germany deeply feel-that the great results of education are not
apparent in their lower classes. The peasants can write and read,
* Laing's Denmark.




60             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
and cast up accounts, but they never have been taught to think.
There is very little active intelligence among them, very little which
would fit them to support a system of self-government. When we
talk of our grand system of schools and colleges at home, it may
be worth while to remember that they are not by any means all
the basis of our education. The American people has been passing
through, and is passing still through, an education very different
from what is gained from either books or lectures.
It is always hazardous, accounting for the condition of a whole
people on one cause; but I would say, that if any one thing could
be found which deadened all religious life, and along with it, all
intellectual life in the peasantry of Germany, it is this making Religion and the developments of religion a subject of Law. Wherever I have been in Germany, the conversation has fallen very
naturally on this " Confirmation-law;" and I have never yet heard
any sound reason given for it. By this enactment, no man can
attain to any civil office, no man can be a pedlar or a soldier,
or even claim the protection of his country's law, without having
first made a solemn confession of his faith and hope, and received
confirmation from his pastor. The natural consequence is, that
every Bauer comes to look upon the profession of his faith much as
he does upon his drill and his tax-paying, as a task commanded by
government, which he had better go through with quietly, and so
save himself from fine. But the deep experience in religion, as an
individual matter of the heart; the personal interest in the church
and in the preacher; the consciousness of sympathy with those who
have united voluntarily for good objects, he very seldom feels. In
Holstein, and wherever I travel in Germany, I hear constant complaints of the very little interest taken by the lower classes in
religion, and in the institutions of worship. They are honest and




CONFIRMATION.                       61
moral and industrious; but as to troubling their minds very much
about the Being above them, or a future, that is quite another
matter. They are content to go on, as their fathers have gone
before them, to smoke their pipe and drink their coffee, go to church
as little as possible, and then quietly and easily drop away from life.
It is a sad picture, perhaps one of the saddest to draw of any
people. Yet, I am compelled to believe it is true.
Many of the Germans will defend this law on the ground that
the great object of it, is education; to give the State everywhere
educated servants, and that the religious confession is only a side
matter. Others, with the usual tendency of the nation, will carry
you back to the original " foundation-idea" of government, as including in it that of church and of education also.
Waiving this last argument here, as somewhat too remote in the
mists of metaphysics, we may say, as far as mere education is concerned, or as far as the idea of religious life being generally a
gradual development is included, we could not have so strong an
objection to this system of the Germans. But the whole appearance of the law, and the general effect, is something entirely different from this. It is, in fact, compelling a man, by formidable
punishments, to do that which of all acts of his life should be the
freest and the truest-to make publicly a profession of religious
belief and religious obligations; and the natural effects seem to me
easily foreseen.
But to return to the Holstein farm, where I was walking around
among the Bauer-houses and in the harvest fields. The morning
was very pleasant, and my friend took me up to a hill from which I
could get a good view of the neighboring country. It was a beautiful land. My eye passed over a wide landscape of gently-sloping
hills, and smooth fields, and graceful clumps of beeches and elms,




62              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
the whole mellowed by the soft tint which autumn-light throws
over everything; while far in the distance we could just see the
sparkle of the first of the lakes which vary so beautifully the surface
of Eastern Holstein. There were green hedges everywhere, and the
whole had the appearance of a quiet, peaceful English landscape.
It was one of the last scenes which would remind one of fierce fight
and bloodshed and war. Yet it is such quiet country-scenes as this
all over Holstein, which have been trampled and wasted in this
hotly-contested struggle. Every one of its features has had its
influence in the war. The hedges which beautify the whole country of the Duchies, planted as they are upon high mounds, have
almost entirely prevented the use of cavalry by either party, and
have afforded excellent shelter for the rifleman.  The low, level
character of the land, and the frequency of lakes, has given the
Danes their greatest defence-the inundations which they could
cause around their works; while the gentle, easily-sloping hills,
have prevented the opportunity everywhere for very strong defences,
except in the cities.
My companion was a very intelligent person, and despite my
imperfect German, we discussed everything about both America
and the Duchies, which would interest either of us.
On our walk back to the house, we passed through a large
garden, showing not by any means such careful cultivation as the
fields.
In such a family, and with so many interesting objects around, a few
days passed very pleasantly. The whole life here has something extremely generous, and almost oriental, about it. When we meet in
the morning at " morning coffee," we all shake hands as if we had been
to a distant country, and wish each other almost solemnly the morning




DOMESTIC HABITS AND CHARACTER.                   63
salutations.,very one pays great deference to the father, a simple,
dignified old man; and the Bauer come up constantly to the house
as though they were members of the family, for his advice and assist.
ance. And as I walked over the farm, I observed that every laborer and boy we met, took off his hat, and the master did the
same. We meet again about eleven for the breakfast, a more formal meal. Here, as nearly everywhere in Germany where thanks
are offered at all at a meal, it is done in silence-a much more impressive ceremony, than our hurried, careless form.  It is very difficult for most persons to preserve the life in words so often repeated,
or to invent new words for each occasion; but in these few moments
of solemn stillness, thoughts can be breathed which are really
prayer.
After this morning meal, comes the principal business of the day;
and in this family, the ladies do the principal part of the housework.
Again,in the middle of the afternoon, we meet at the great meal of
the day, the dinner. This is a long, social meal, with a strange
variety of dishes, which I will not try to enumerate. After it is
over, we all rise and shake hands, with the words, " Gesegnet die
MaAhlzeit," (blessed be the meal!) in a quite serious manner; then
follows coffee in the sitting room, and in the beginning  of the evening again, tea and biscuit; and at the end, another hearty supper
of meats, &c.
In education and refinement, the whole amunily would comrnare
favorably with the families of our best farmers at home.  The father
is very much like some of the English country gentlemen I have
seen, in the genial, hospitable way he has; yet his politeness seems
much more from the heart than theirs, and there is much less that
is coarse and animal about him. He drinks the light -wine, but
does not seem to consider it at all a duty, that he should force every




64              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
guest to drink till he is under the table. They were all well-read,
and I was surprised to find that Cooper's novels had penetrated
there, (in translation,) and that they were deeply interested in them.
Of course they were thinking and talking mostly of the war; and,
like nearly all I meet, they could not but acknowledge, how little
object there was in it.
As one reads in the Times how England and Russia on one side,
and Prussia on the other, stand looking down upon this little War
of the Duchies, ready like sportsmen in the ring, to bet now on this
side and now on that, and admiring complacently the "pluck" of
the two combatants, one gets a very different idea of the struggle
from what one does when among the parties. Here every man's
heart and soul are in the war, as a struggle for independence from
the hated Danes; and the issue assumes a terrible aspect to them,
as they see that life and property will depend on it.
This family had two sons in the army; and as I saw that day
the trembling anxiety of the mother for the news from the campand as I heard from the sisters, how in the battle of Idstedt, which
was not very far from them, they listened all day to every boom of
the cannon with beating hearts-and how happy the home was
when the news came that their brothers were unhurt-I felt how
terrible a thing, even on the smallest scale, this " War" is! My
friend had served awhile in the army, and we had many conversations on this contest with Denmark. I have since seen many of the
party of the Duchies, and have read quite thoroughly the documents and state papers issued in regard to the grounds of the war.
Of the questions at issue, I shall have more to say hereafter.
But the melancholy thing about it all is-whichever side has the
right —that all this loss of life, and bombarding of cities, and
desolating of happy provinces, is of no use so far as the result is




THE RESULT.                        65
concerned. The destiny of Schleswig-Holstein will be decided
by diplomatists far away; and the great powers of Europe, whichever side gain the victory, will settle the disputed question themselves.




CHAPTER VII.
HOLSTEIN AND THE CAMPS.
October, 1850.
I FELT as if parting from old friends, when after a few days' stay,
I shook hands with each one of the family, and started off in my
host's carriage for the neighboring town of EUTIN. The country
all through this part of Holstein is very beautiful. I was constantly reminded of England, in the gently sloping hills and hedges,
and level, carefully tilled fields. The farm houses, howe ver, are not
at all English; being, as I before mentioned, usually only of one
story, with a high pointed roof, covered either with thatch or red
tile. There are pretty lakes too, scattered all through the country
-and groves, where sometimes on the estates of the large proprietors, the trees are grouped with a great deal of taste. Eutin, (pronounced Oiteen,) which we reached in a few hours, is the capital of
the little Duchy of Oldenburgh-a province situated in the midst
of the Duchies, but belonging to Oldenburgh. There is nothing,
however, very remarkable about it; it being only the usual collection of red-roofed houses, with a modern castle, bearing a strong
resemblance to one of our factories. The town and the province
have thrived well through these neighboring wars; for they escape
entirely the burdens which press upon the Duchies, while they find
a far readier market for their produce.




A POLITICAL MEETING.                     67
I took up my quarters at once in the best inn-and a very pleasant specimen of a neat German inn, it was. A large, handsomelyfurnished room with a fire; a boy kept in attendance; my
meals sent up, and everything arranged in the most comfortable way-all, as I afterwards found, at the price of 871 cents a
day!
I spent a day or two in the place, and had the pleasure of attending, in company with some friends, a political meeting, summoned
to collect subscriptions for Schleswig-Holstein. I was quite curious
to see how they would conduct it. When I entered, the speaker
and every one else, from the " Amtmann" (county-magistrate) downwards, were puffing at their cigars. The principal speaker of the
day, however, denied himself this universal luxury; and, apparently
not being much accustomed to extempore speaking, contented himself for sometime, with reading minutes of the great convention at
Hanover for the Duchies, as well as various spirited appeals, issued
by the Assembly. When he did address the meeting, it was in a
very melancholy, drowsy tone, which would have been utterly irresistible to the heavy-looking farmers assembled, had it not been for
the cigars. However, his appeal for the Holsteiners, on the ground
of their longings for a share in the " German Nationality," evidently
found an answer in the breasts of very many, and after the meeting,
considerable enthusiasm was shown in the planning for collecting
subscriptions.
One cannot readily imagine in America, how very little facility
there is in Germany in extempore speaking. I was talking with a
German lately about the Peace Congress in Frankfort, and I happened to ask him, why there were so few speakers from Germany
there. He replied, he supposed it was from the little practice the
Germans had in that kind of speaking. And I have found that




08             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
very generally, they acknowledge their inferiority in it. Yet this
nferiority must be only from want of practice; for in private, I have
seldom heard men speak with more enthusiasm and readiness.
My time in Eutin, in spite of its being so uninteresting a place,
passed very pleasantly. There were some army officers stationed
there, and very social and intelligent fellows I found them. I know
not how to express my pleasure, the more I see of Germany, in the
social, kindly character of the people. It seems almost as if the
usual selfishness of humanity were laid aside in some respects.
When you ask a man the way in a city, half the time he will go
around one or two squares to show you it. If you are in a hotel or
any public place, and are in difficulty about your route, instead of
the cold " its-none-of-my-business" look of an English company, you
find every one taking an interest in the matter and ready to assist
you. People do not shut themselves within themselves, as in our
country or in England; and when a party meet in a diligence or
boat, they are ready and expect to talk at once, and not seldom
about their own private matters. One is surprised to find himself
forming confidential friendships with acquaintances not twenty-four
hours old; and as he looks back on a week, he wonders whither
the caution and coldness which used to distinguish him have departed. And in friendly and almost patriarchal hospitality, the
Germans, thus far, seem to me unequaled over the world.
From Eutin, we took the night diligence northward for Kiel, on
the Baltic. There were four or five travellers, all muffled in those
huge furs which I have never seen except here, waiting in the
office of the Eilwagen. They wished me good evening as I entered
-and we fell at once into pleasant talk.  This was continued
farther, after we had settled each into a comfortable corner of the
diligence —I having called out an admiring exclamation of praktisch!




KIEL.                           69
(practical!) by shutting up my hat (a spring hat) and putting it in
my pocket, and drawing on a warm travelling cap. The conversation, as everywhere, was of War, and the chances for little Holstein.
It was morning, when we were aroused by rattling into the gates of
Kiel.
Kiel is the principal port and city of the Duchies, with a University which has been somewhat famous. It is all quiet and empty
now, however. The war has pressed hard upon it. Business is
nearly at stand-still; every class is weighed down by taxes, and the
best of the population are away in the army. The University is
closed, for the students are all soldiers; and altogether Kiel
has very little reason to wish well to the war with Denmark.
Kiel, I met with Herr Bargum, the President of the Assembly
of the States; a man of great power as a speaker, and one of their
prominent statesmen.  He kindly gave me the letters required to
gain admission to the camps around Rendsburg.  Though my opinion, before expressed, that this struggle is not a constitutional struggle,
has not changed, still I am bound to say, that I find more among
the party of the Duchies ready for constitutional changes, than I
had expected. They argue and perhaps justly, that the great mass
of the common people in the Duchies and in Germany, are not
yet ready for freedom; that universal suffrage or a complete Republic would only result as it has in France; that the mass must
first be more educated; must be accustomed more in small matters
to self government, ere it will be safe to throw the interests of the
country entirely into their hands. Accordingly, they are approaching this general freedom gradually. In this new constitution of
Schleswig-Holstein, the Representative Assembly is composed, I
think, of one hundred members. Fifty of these are chosen by universal suffrage; of the remainder twenty are chosen by the cities,




70              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
twenty by the landed proprietors of a certain moderate revenue, and
ten by the great proprietors, having a somewhat higher revenue.
Perhaps in view of the existing circumstances of the country, no
better arrangement of suffrage could be devised. It is due, however,
to Denmark to say, that an equally liberal Constitution would probably have been allowed the Duchies, if they had been united to
that kingdom.
In travelling from Kiel to Rendsburg, I passed through the middle districts of Holstein —and found here again, the wide tracts of
level land which are the characteristic of this part of Europe. But
in general, they were far less fertile in appearance and less cultivated,
than the eastern parts of this province. As we approached Rendsburg, we were obliged to stop in one of the neighboring towns,
through; some arrangement of the trains. Everywhere the signs
again of approach to a scene of war. Officers in handsome uniform
filled the coffee-rooms; soldiers with well-worn, weather-beaten
arms drinking in the beer-houses, and a band of Tyrolese Minstrels were singing with great spirit, a song about Schleswig-Holstein
and its great deeds, to the air of the " Mlarseillaise," while the patriotic ditty of" Schleswig-Hlolstein, meeru7nschlungen!" (SchleswigHolstein, sea-surrounded!) rung on every side. It was certainly not
a little comical to see on the walls-close by the scene of the opera
tions themselves-Panoramas advertised of the battles with the
Danes, Pictures of the onslaught at " Schleswig," and of the terrible explosion of the Danish frigate at "Ekernfiorde" —here almost
within sound of the cannon, in either battle!
Rendsburgh, of course, is under martial law. My pass was demanded in the Station House, and as I walked up, in'the evening,
towards the City walls, sentinels met me every few rods, and I
passed through a guard at the gate. The town was completely




NEW  COMRADES.                      71
filled with a large body of troops, and I had to try almost every
hotel before I could find a place. At length, however, I chanced
upon a hotel, where, the waiter said, two English gentlemen were
quartered who might be willing to take me in. I was shown up to
their rooms, stated my case, and was interrupted almost before I
had begun, by their saying, at once, I was welcome to a share in
their quarters, and that they were " right glad to meet any one who
spoke something besides this d-d Dutch!"
Cigars and Bavarian beer were brought out, as I would drink
nothing stronger, and we had a merry evening together. I found
they were English army officers, who had been spending the summer salmon-fishing in Norway, of which they related marvellous
stories in the sporting way. They had come here, on the strength
of their military rank, to inspect the works.
The next morning I presented my letters, and rambled over the
town. It must have been before the war a quiet shady, pleasant
country town, now, it is full of bustle and noise. Large battalions
of soldiers were exercising in the square; heavy artillery wagons
thundering along the pavement, and the streets were crowded with
every description of person and vehicle-dashing young officers on
gay horses; peasants with baskets of vegetables on their heads;
huge market wagons with provisions for the troops; little parties of
soldiers with the smooth helmets running up to a spike in the top;
and all the innumerable characters which a camp attracts.
Yet both that day and the next, despite the numbers crowded
into the little city, I saw scarcely any outward signs of dissipationand I am inclined to believe that many of the worst evils of war, in
the ungovernable crimes it engenders, are escaped thus far in this
War of the Duchies.
One of my acquaintances, by good luck, happened to be a soldier




72             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
who was on furlough from another town, and he walked out of the
gates to show me the route through the camps. Here again I had
an instance of this German " Gutmiithigkeit," (good nature). All
that I had expected, at the most, in my acquaintance, was some
good advice about the best course among the many roads around
the town. But, instead of that, he insisted on accompanying me,
guided me everywhere, introduced me to his friends, and in all must
have walked some fifteen or eighteen miles with me that day!
As we went out of the city, the first thing that struck the eye
was the flat, unbroken country all around the walls. It is naturally
a plain, and now every high tree and bush and hillock is " rasirt,"
(shaved off) as they say, to give free range to the cannon. About the
town itself there are two ranges of solid brick and turf wall, with a
wide moat before each. These moats are supplied with water from
the Eider, and are used as canals. Farther on, some half mile from
the walls, my companion pointed me out a range of " Schanzen," or
forts, on various heights at a considerable distance from one another,
encircling the city. The roads, as we went on, became worse and
worse, fiom the heavy travel over them, and we were met constantly
by various parties hurrying into Rendsburgh; the " Dragoner" splashing through the mud-the infantry officers riding in the large basketlike farm wagons; and the privates, with the short sword which
they all wear, working their way like ourselves along the pavement.
My friend, whose eye was quicker than mine in detecting distant
military movements, would occasionally stop to show me, far off on
the heights, some black mass, which only from its motion I could
discern to be soldiers, or point out at a long distance on the plain,
quick moving objects, which he said were the horse artillery in
exercise.
The whole country was evidently filled with troops. In fact, there




MY GUIDE.                        783
are about 4,000 men now in Rendsburgh, and some 10,000 in the
works around it. We walked on in very pleasant conversation for
some distance. Though a private soldier, this man was a highly
educated person; had been a studenit in Kiel, when the war broke
out, and having some influence in his native town, he had collected a
company of recruits and joined the army. It must have been almost
entirely from motives of patriotism, for he knew that, like the rest,
he must go through his term of service as a private. He was evidently sick of the life of a common soldier, though he was too manly
to complain. I saw that all the officers treated him in a very equal
manner-and he says that all distinctions of rank among them,
when not on duty, are very nearly lost. In him, and the many I
saw, I was struck with the quiet determination manifested, to push
the contest through. They all say, that the German recruits are
rather chilled at the little high enthusiasm they find when they come
on; they cannot understand the calm, settled resolve which the
army feels.
The first encampment we found in a small village of Bauerhouses. The soldiers are quartered with the peasants. My friend,
or the "Doctor," as they call him, had an acquaintance here, and
we stopped at one of the houses to see him. He was a lieutenant,
and occupied with his " Sub," one part of the house, while the
farmer and his wife, and three cows and some horses, lived in the
other. He had been a student, as well as his under-officer, and they
received my companion most cordially. A huge mass of roast beef
and potatoes was soon brought on, and without apology from them
or us, we fell to most heartily; and lighting our cigars, we talked
for a long time over the comparative merits of the American and
Holstein equipments, and the general ills and jovialities of a soldier's
life. They are all tired enough of the war, but they are fully con4




74             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
fident they can beat the Danes. In fact, they have some reason to
be confident; it is long since the Danes have ventured to meet them
in open field. After passing through this encampment, I went in
company with this officer and the " Doctor," on towards the outer
works of the line, which has thus far been the separation between
the Danish and Holstein armies.
If any one will look at the map, it will be seen that the boundary
line between the Duchy of Holstein and Schleswig is the River
Eider, and a Canal, connecting it with the Baltic. On this river is
Rendsburgh, and it may be considered, for some distance at least,
as the base line of the position of the IIolstein army. The works
around Rendsburgh, the centre of this line, reach some twenty miles,
forming a very strong position. Where we were, on a high hill a
short distance within the outer line, we had a fine view of it all. On
the right, stretched away a beautiful lake, fringed with the bright
colored woods. This, together with the Eider, formed the great
cover of the right wing, though between it and the Eider, strong
works had been thrown up. In front, was a smaller lake, so that
any attack must be made either between these two lakes, or upon
the left. The ground between them was well.defended by " Schanzen," with palisades and deep ditches, perhaps the strongest works
on the line; while the left part of the centre was secured naturally
by a series of rocky heights, on all which, fortifications with bombproof block houses and the usual appurtenances had been placed.
Far away on the left, could be seen the reflection of water, which
was the overflowing of a branch of the Eider, and which, along with
that river, effectually secured their left wing from attack.  On all
the fortified heights I observed telegraph poles, with arrangements
for communicating at once to head quarters, the news of attack,
either by day or night. These heights could be seen rising at vali



THE  OUT-WORKS.                       75
ous intervals through all the country, between the outer lines and
the city. On the whole, it seemed a very strong position, not easily
to be turned by the Danes, even if they felt disposed to attempt it,
which they appear very far from doing.
The Danes themselves occupy a line reaching from Ekernfiorde on
their left, to Friedrichstadt on the right, having Schleswig for the
centre. The last attack had been made by the iolsteiners on the
right on Friedrichstadt; and before that, on the left, so that many
expected the next attempt to force their position, in the centre, on
Schleswig. The probability is, that the Holstein General, Von
Willisen, is waiting now for more recruits, which come in constantly
from Germany, as well as for the approach of winter, which will
give an opportunity to force the position of the Danes, where they
are defended by the inundations. Though for my part, I do not see
why this last would not be an advantage to one side as well as the
other. The Danes would at least be cut off from the aid of their
ships by the winter, which would be a great disadvantage to them. I
notice the English papers dwell much on the sacred regard for treaties, apparent in the conduct of the Danish monarch, in thus carefully
keeping himself within the boundaries of his ancestral duchy. Any
one. however, who examines the position of the Holstein line may
find some other fully as influential, though not quite so flattering,
motives for this great self restraint.
The country, which stretched out on all sides around the hill
where we were, was singularly mild and peaceful in its aspect. The
fiat, barren land around the city, had changed into a fertile and
gently undulating country, with clumps of trees scattered over it,
with that soft and pleasant outline, which everything wears under
the autumn sunlight. The fortifications seemed only like fresh
ir:ounds in the distance, and the peasants were ploughing or sowing




76              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY
their barley, right under the mouths of the cannon. Before us lay
the lakes with hardly a ripple on their surface, and far away,
gleamed peacefully in the light, the waters of a branch of the
Eider. It was not at all a scene of blood. It was difficult to
realize, as one looked at it all, that it had so lately been trampled
and stained in fierce fight. As I looked closer down, however, at
the calm  scene before us, I could gradually discern a long black
line, moving through the valley, which soon resolved itself into
smaller lines; then in front of us a dark object could be seen, moving towards the small lake, and extending itself into a line, and on
the heights similar objects were stirring; and it needed no longer
observation to ascertain that this whole "peaceful" country was
filled with heavy masses of troops.
As we went down from the hill, we passed through a valley where
there had been lately a battle with the Danes, and the blackened
ruins of a farm house showed its effects. As we passed through
the next range of fortifications, one of the Bauer houses appeared
almost entirely surrounded by a " Schanze," (fort) and the chickens
and sparrows were flying about among the cannon and breastworks.
The next encampment we visited, was far less comfortable than
those nearer the city, the quarters being mud and log huts, with no
flooring except straw. My companions had some acquaintance
here, and we went into one of the huts. We found four officers
quartered there, evidently doing their best to make their hard life a
jovial one. They welcomed us very heartily; coffee and cigars
were produced, and we talked over the rough table for a long time.
They had all been students; one was a student of theology; and
(lamp and cold as the low hut was, they managed to get a great
deal of fun o ut of their wild life. Still, they and the privates have




THE RETURN.                          77
suffered much fiom the wet cold weather of late, and I should think
were heartily tired of the war, though they may all be determined
not to yield, in the contest. Very naturally their dislike to the
Danes has not at all decreased by this two years fighting
We returned at night, and the heavy rumbling of cannon and
the creak of wagons, sounded incessantly on the main road from the
gates. It was the preparation for a night attack, expected from the
Danes. I found on my return, the English officers still in the hotel.
They had been treated very politely by the General-as the English
are now-and had seen all the works, and though military men are
rather critical in such matters, professed themselves entirely
satisfied.
Thus ended my day in the Holstein camp; a passing glimpse into
the interior of that struggle which has so agitated the North of
Europe, and whose heart-burnings and bitter animosities, yet surviving, shall burst forth fearfully in another convulsion of Europe.




CHAPTER VIII.
THE DIFFICULTIES BETWEEN DENMARK AND THE DUCHIES.
IT is now about six years since a member of the Danish " Assembly,"' then in session at Roeskilde, rose with the following motion:
that " The States' Assembly propose that the King should solemnly
declare Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg a single indivisible kingdom, and that this indivisible kingdom, according to the
Danish crown-law, should become the inheritance of thefemale posterity of Frederick III."
From this motion we may date the commencement of the present troubles between the Duchies and Denmark. It is true,
before this time, since the vear 1808 and the accession of Frederick
VI. to the throne, Denmark had been accused of constantly
encroaching on the Duchies, both in introducing the Danish language and in converting State-institutions into National; and a
tendency to separation from the banish crown had been given by
the fact of Holstein's being included in the German confederacy.
Still no very decided manifestations were made till this motion was
put forward. The effect of it was stirring. Addresses poured in
from every part of the Duchies to the " States," then meeting at
Itsehoe, and a " Bill of Rights" was at once prepared by them, and
sent to the king, containing the three great Articles, which lie, as




"THE  OPEN  LETTER."                    79
they claim, at the basis of their political rights, and to support
which, they have entered on this bloody war.
I. That the Duchies are Independent States.
II. That the male line rules in the Duchies.
III. That the Duchies, Schleswig and Holstein, are States united
to one another.
From this time till the year 1846, there was no open hostility,
except in the press, between the two parties, when there appeared
what is called "The Open Letter" of the King of Denmark.  As
this is much referred to, in this dispute, and, in some degree, will
determine the justice of the Holstein cause, it may be well to
mention particularly some of the positions taken in it.
The Letter is addressed to his subjects, and after some preliminary
remarks, the king states that he had placed this whole question of
the Inheritance of the Duchies in the hands of an able committee,
and that after a deliberate investigation, they had reported that the
Duchy of Schleswig comes under the same law of inheritance by
which the kingdom of Denm ark is governed. But, that in regard
to the Duchy of Holstein, there were certain parts where doubts
existed as to their being included under the Danish law, and in consequence being necessarily assured to the loyal line. Yet, the king
continues, every effort will be given to do away with these objections, and to preserve the unity of the Danish State, and to unite
under one sceptre, all these various divisions of the country, in such a
manner that they shall never be separated. And he assures the
people of Schleswig that in thus uniting that State with the
Danish ntonarchy, it is not in the least his intention to encroach
upon its independence, or to produce the slightest change in its
close relations with the Duchy of Holstein.
There were not a few things in this letter which would naturally




80              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
be exceedingly disagreeable and even alarming, to the people of the
Duchies. In the first place, there appears to be in it a recognizing
of the independence of the Duchies, as a matter of favor, while
they had always claimed that their independence did not in the
least depend on the will of their ruler. Then again, the laws of
inheritance, which had always governed them, as they viewed it,
were by this entirely annulled, and they were placed under a foreign
law, and therefore under a foreign race. While the old laws, established by their fathers, were in force, they would fairly and justly
abide by them, and remain connected with a foreign State; but
when, in the natural course of events, these had become abrogated,
they " wished under their own Dukes, to join in the movement for
the unity of the great German Fatherland."
Beside this, the position taken by the King, that Holstein was not
included under the same laws with Schleswig, seemed like an attempt
to separate those two States,-a measure, which would be very
alarming to all those in both, who believed that the prosperity and
independence of the two Duchies depended on their union. Still
less was the expression approved of, in which the King spoke of
" preserving the unity of the Danish State," —and of bringing under
one government all these divisions of the country, (Landestheile.)
This letter and the " Remonstrances" succeeding it, were followed
by an extended war of "Petitions," on the people's part, and " Declarations" on the king's, until it was finally made known publicly,
that the king would receive no more bills or petitions from " The
States," on the subject of the Laws of Inheritance. Many of these
"Declarations" and " bills" are written with great eloquence, and
show a people thoroughly aroused in the contest. They are interesting, many of them, from the great similarity in tone with those
of our revolutionary patriots. The same elaborate respect to royal




THE CONSTITUTION.                      81
authority, while they are busily engaged in undermining it; the
same charitable assumption, that it is the ministers who are thus conspiring against a loyal people, and that the king is only an unhappy
tool. There are respects, however, in which they are widely different from the documents of our Revolutionary days, as I shall show
afterwards. To the political student, these papers are interesting;
they are not necessary to an understanding of the question now at
issue.
After these " Declarations," came spirited appeals to the German
Fatherland, which was now becoming deeply interested in the dispute. Even the" German League," or Bund, put forth a resolution
favoring the cause of the Duchies; so that the result was another
letter from the king, assuring the disaffected States of their independence and of his desire to preserve them in union. At this
point, in the year 1848, affairs were changed somewhat by the
death of the King, and by the accession to the throne of his successor, Frederick VII.
The first efforts of the new king were to pacify his subjects by
the grant of that panacea for all evils-a " Constitution," to the
whole kingdom.  By this Constitution there was to be a " General
Assembly" of the representatives both of Denmark and the Duchies,
meeting alternately in the different countries; with such powers as
would enable them to legislate on the various changes necessary in
finance and other matters, throughout the kingdom; and it was
assured that, by this new " Assembly," nothing would be changed
of those laws which granted the meeting of provincial "States" or
" Chambers" (Stdinde), or which secured the other right before mentioned, of the Duchies.
In addition to this, the king proposed a law for lightening the
extremely strict supervision of the press, which had before existed
4*




82             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
in Holstein-and for entirely doing away in some cases with the
censorship. None of these conciliatory measures appear to have
given satisfaction; and a very bold address was presented from Al
tona, demanding (1), the entire freedom of the press; (2), the freedom of holding any kind of meetings desired; and (3), the privilege
of forming a citizen militia.
To this was added a demand for a new Constitution for the Duchies
based on the freest democratic principle; the responsibility of the
minister to their Assembly; the power of eending representatives to
the German Confederacy; and the formation of new courts, on the
principle of Jury Courts-(Geschwornen gerichte.)
Similar addresses-or addresses revolutionary in character-were
presented by the higher classes, the prelates and nobles, as well as
by the citizens. And it was apparent that the hostility to the government was very deep and wide spread. The first open outbreak
occurred on the 24th of March, 1848, in Kiel, when the news arrived of the formation in Copenhagen of an ultra Danish ministry,
and of the probability of their endeavoring to incorporate the Duchies
by arms, in the Danish kingdom. A provisional government was at
once formed in Kiel, the military enrolled-and the Duchies were
proclaimed free, independent States. Movements of the same kind
commenced throughout the two provinces, more especially in Holstein, which is more decidedly German in its character, and addresses
were made to the throne, containing the same demands as those
mentioned above. A letter appeared, too, of the King of Prussia,
supporting these demands, at least as far as the independence and
union of the Duchies was concerned.
This was the day of Revolutions, when the old monarchies of
Europe threatened all to be swept away by the storm. The king
wisely bowed to it, and in an answer to a Deputation of the




THE  RESULTS.                         83
States, he said that, in view of all these circumstances, it was his
intention to grant to Holstein, as an independent member of the
German Confederacy, a Constitution based on the most liberal principles of suffrage; that he was ready to secure with this, the right
of the freedom of the press, and the full power of forming a citizen
militia; and that this province should, as soon as circumstances
would allow, have its own separate finance. He should not be unfavorable, besides, to the formation of a powerfill German parliament, representing the people, so much desired.  But in regard to
Schleswig, it was his duty to say, that he " had neither the right,
nor the power, nor the will, to incorporate it in the German Confederacy." But, by a free constitution, and at the same time, by
preserving its provincial institutions, he was resolved to attach it,
unimpaired in its independence, to the Danish monarchy.
This is the last public document containing a statement of the
points at issue, and may be considered as presenting the policy
against which the Duchies are now contending.  Many " Addresses"
and "Proclamations" follow on both sides, which, though eloquent,
throw no light on the question.
This answer of the king was made in March, 1848. In the following April, hostilities were in full progress. The events succeeding this, for the last two years, need not be related, though they
will be interesting topics for history.  The struggle of the Duchies
with the crown; the marching in of the Prussian troops, and the
terror they everywhere inspired to the Danes; the annoyance caused
to Prussia by the blockade of her Baltic provinces, and the disagreements between her troops and their allies, all resulting finally in
her leaving the Provinces to fight out the contest themselves-important events, but not especially affecting the merits of the contest, on one side or the other.




84             SOCIAL LIl E IN GERMANY.
The great powers of Europe have taken a very deep interest in
this war-much greater than its importance would seem to claim.
And, perhaps to their own surprise, England, and France, and Russia. find themselves side by side in the support of a constitutional
monarch, contending with his subjects; while the German people
are glowing with an ardor we can hardly even imagine, to throw
themselves into the struggle of their "brothers" with a foreign
race; a race united with that Nation whose mighty power is already
overshadowing their Eastern provinces. In regard to the English
position in this contest, it is no easy matter to determine exactly its
causes. Perhaps the ministry have considered that the entry to the
Baltic would be much safer to the English, under the guard of a
weak nation-their ally-than if placed in the power of the great
German Confederacy,-and the old commercial jealousy may have
concurred in depressing any efforts of Germany to make herself a
maritime power. Then, if we come to minor causes, " The Times"
may have happened to take that position and thus led the English
mind; or that old English generosity may have arisen, at the sight
of the pluck of the little Denmark against her formidable adversary,
Prussia; or to come to the last reason, usual in such cases, the English government may have believed Denmark right in her position
towards the Duchies. Still, so far as I had an opportunity to observe in England, there was very little understanding of the question,
among either the people or the press.
Russia's course in the matter is very natural and very easily explained. It can never be for her interest, that any of the great rival
powers-especially Germany-should hold the keys of the Baltic,
and it is not improbable, as is frequently hinted, that some foot-hold
in that part of the Northeirn seas may be the reward for the coun



UNITY WANTED.                        85
tenance, and, very probably, the more substantial aid, given to the
kingdom of Denmark.
The statement which I have made of the various difficulties and
disputes between the Duchies and Denmark for the last six years, I
conceive to be a fair one, and certainly as favorable to those provinces as truth would allow. It has been gathered mostly from
their own documents, and from conversation with men of their own
party. When I came here, I supposed, in common with many of
the liberal party in England, that this whole contest was a constitutional contest-a struggle of a free oppressed people for their
rights, and for more liberal institutions. I found, that so it was regarded here by many, and I have been, not a few times, reminded
by Germans of its great similarity to our own struggle for Independence. But, the more I examine it, the more I am inclined to
the opinion, that it is not a constitutional contest at all.
The Holsteiners have as great a dread of "democratic progress" as the Danes. I know that German democrats and Hungarians are often refused admission into their ranks, that the institutions which they now uphold in their own provinces, are not as free
as exist in Denmark. And it is only within a few days, I heard of
men, still confined in the prisons of Altona by the Provincial Government, for libelling that king whom they have been so fiercely
combating. In connection with this, should be noticed one of the
inducements for making peace, presented by the members of the
Peace Convention lately to the Danish Government, namely, that
"a peace would release them from their obligations to foreign
diplomacy, and give them an opportunity to develope their
free institutions." Is this an inducement to be presented to a
very conservative government.
It is to be observed in the history of this contest, that the hos



86              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
tility does not begin as in our Revolution, in a complaint of oppression and a demand for justice and fieer institutions. It is only that
these Duchies should be restored to that intensely loved but most
mysterious and intangible Union-the German Fatherland; and
that they should no longer exist as parts of a "foreign State!" in
connection with which, it may be remarked, they had been for
generations. It is not constitutions, nor better institutions, nor freer
government which they want. Their forefathers had once formed a
part of the glorious Fatherland, and this is enough! They must
be members of that dazzling, incomprehensible Fraternity! Perhaps it is one-sided in me, but I must confess, I cannot but look
upon these bloody struggles for such a visionary, impractical idea,
as most foolish. It certainly is something as if the Celtic Race in
all parts of the world should shake off the governments over them;
fight and bleed, that they might carry out the beautiful idea of one
great Irish or Gaelic or Celtic Fatherland! I do not mean that the
analogy holds in all respects. But this struggle for " German
Unity" has something of that appearance to the uninitiated
stranger.
Since the Revolutions of Europe began, (in 1848), one must
allow that the insurgents have made truly constitutional demands
on the Danish Government. But those demands will not be found
in their official documents the great matters insisted on, and they
do not seem the great points at issue. Besides, when the king does
yield his full consent to all these, and still preserves his position in
regard to the union of Schleswig to Denmark, there does not
appear the least change in the feelings of the provinces. They are
determined to be members of the Fatherland, and any other proposition is odious to them. And for my part, I fully believe, that if
German sympathy and German aid do at length give the victory to




NOT LIBERTY.                       87
these insurgent provinces, it will be seen to be no triumph of the
liberal cause, and, that the institutions which the Duchies will form
for themselves, will not equal in freedom those they might have had
under the Danish Government.
Of the sad and gloomy close of this struggle, and of the prostration of the Duchies under the iron rule of Austria-events which
occurred in the succeeding year-I shall have more to say in
another portion of this volume.




CHAPTER IX.
HAMBURG AND THE RAUHE HAUS.
I WAS walking out one morning, after my return to Hamburg,
to call upon my friend, the artist before mentioned, when I came
suddenly on a sight rather remarkable in such a nineteenth-century
city as this. A procession of Spanish cavaliers, apparently, was
passing through the streets; just the same dark-haired men, with
peaked sombreros, stiff white ruffs, short black cloaks and swords,'
as Velasquez or Rembrandt delighted to paint. They were following a coffin. It almost seemed as if I were looking at some touching tragedy among the exiled hidalgos of Spain.
My friend  laughed  when I told  him  my conceit, and
assured me that the tragedy was all on the other side-as the
family of every respectable Hamburger who died, had to pay ten
dollars apiece for each of those hidalgos-and funerals frequently
cost now some two hundred Thaler, ($150), much to the trouble of the afflicted families.
This gentleman was thinking much of emigrating to America.
"Europe was no place for art for years to come. All Germany and
the Continent might be in the full blaze of revolution, in a month,
at any time. And now," said he. "in such disturbed times,




FREE  rRADE.                       89
there are few purchasers. Besides Hambvg is <ar too material a
city for the encouragement of such a profession. People are wealthy and benevolent here, but there is no; great inclination for these
pursuits."  It was too much a commercial city, he thought,
and was inferior in intellectual tastes to most' of the cities of
Germany.
Like all who have studied the history of Hamburg, this gentleman considered its prosperity due to its long and steady adherence
to Free Trade.
The success of this city alone, however, would be no test of the
Protective question, as it is peculiarly a commercial Republic, and
can have no great variety of interests to support. Still, it is a fact
that the four cities in the Hanseatic League, Hamburg, Bremen,
Liibeck, and Frankfort, did from the beginning adopt a most liberal
Protective system, and that of all the cities of Germany, these have
been the most prosperous.
"If Germany ever should become one united country," said this
gentleman; "for which I most devoutly pray, Hamburg would be
the most important point of all North Germany. It would be the
outlet for all our commerce and naval enterprise. There is no situation like it. Here on one of the greatest rivers of Germanyconnected by rail-roads with Prussia, Saxony, Austria, and Hanover;
and with an excellent harbor, what might we not expect for it?."
This conversation and others of the same kind led me to examine
more the commercial position of the city
The great currents of commerce on which Hamburg reached such
prosperity have left it, and it is hardly probable that the days can
come again when its fleets shall struggle equally, as once, even with
those of Denmark. Within the last few years, however, its business
and commerce have been steadily advancing; and especially since the




90              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
raising of the Danish Armistice, (August, 1849), there has been a
remarkable activity developed in the city. The number of vessels
arriving at the port in 1849, is given at 3,459; of those sailing, 3,416.
In 1850, the ships owned in the city are reckoned at 277, and the
steam-ships, 9, with a tonnage of 82,053. The population of the
city and its territory is 188,054. Naturally, with such capabilities
of a great commercial growth, the inhabitants desire a free connection with the rest of Germany.  Hamburg was one of the German States which urged vigorously a union of Germany in the
Assembly, at Frankfort, in 1848, and which refused to recognise the
old Diet established by Austria, in 1850. It sent, likewise, deputies
to the Parliament assembled in 1850, by Prussia, at Erfurt, in her
attempt to get up another "Union." Still, I gathered everywhere,
the hope was that the United Germany would be a Free-Trade Germany, as the citizens are entirely convinced that the Austrian Protective system would ruin them.
There is great anxiety even yet with them, lest this late German
Confederation, established by Austria, should force upon them a
scale of protective duties. The contingent which Hamburg is
obliged to furnish the German Confederation, when demanded, is
3,560 soldiers, and 7 cannons; and in money 4,083 Thaler, (about
$3,000.)
OCTOBER 28, 1850.
THE ROUGH HOUSE.
i went out this morning to visit one of the Hamburg Institutions,
which has interested me more than anything else in the city. And




A VAGRANT HOME.                       9j
I know of no similar institution, in any land, commenced on this
plan, or carried on with such wonderful practical skill, and such widereaching benevolence. I see, however, that the French government
have imitated it, in a grand school of the kind, established in Mettrai. I speak of the IHamburgh RAUHE IHAUS, (Rough House), a
large Vagrant School, established by Mr. Wichern, in 1833.
An omnibus ride of three miles carried me to its neighborhoods
and after a walk through a pleasant wooded lane, I reached the
place. The whole looked as little like the usual home for vagrants,
as is possible. I saw no squads of boys walking demurely about,
but looking as though the very devil was in them, if they could only
let it out.  There were no heavy-looking overseers, discoursing
piously of the number whom Providence had committed to their
charge-and thinking of their pockets. And there was not even
the invariable home for forsaken children-the hu(e stone building,
with one bare sunny court-yard. The idea seems to have been here,
that to those who have no home of their own, as much as possible
should be given of the home which God has prepared for all.
It was a large, open garden, full of trees and walks and flowers
and beds for vegetables, while on each side stretched away green
corn-fields. Among the trees there were some dozen plain, comfortable little wood-houses, like old-fashioned farm-houses, scattered
about, and one quiet, shaded chapel. The boys visible outside, were
busy cleaning the flower-beds, or working in the harvest field; some
also, repairing fences and buildings.
I walked up to the largest of the houses, and was directed pleasantly by a lad to Mr. Wichern's rooms. A little interlude occurred
here very characteristic of our times.
Among the visitors who arrived just before me was dear old




92             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
ELIHU BURRITT, fresh from the Peace Congress, and on his way to
Denmark, with two associates, to attempt to mediate between the
Duchies and the King.
While we were all waiting in Mr. W.'s room, a conversation commenced between Wichern and Burritt on the subject of these peace
efforts, which soon grew into a warm discussion. The one did not
understand much German nor the other much English, yet there
was such a natural eloquence in the two men, that, with the aid of
a few interpretations thrown in by myself, they argued as well as if
in the same language. I never saw a better contrast-the fine,
mild, winning, thoughtful face of the American, as he spoke of the
all-subduing power of Love, of the virtue that existeth in patience and
forbearance and meekness, to hurl back the greatest violence; or pictured the time when havoc and war and hate should no more rage
among men. And on the other side, the strong, marked, stern
features of the German, denouncing in deep tones the oppression
which was cursing Germany, and now soon to prostrate Holstein,
and demanding how the injustice of the strong is to be met, but by
the strong blow.
The name " Rough House " for this place originated, as Mr. W.
informs me, seventeen years ago, when he took a little broken-down
farm-house here to try if he could not start, on a new plan, a school
for vagrant children. It were better called now-as some English
traveller has already named it-the "Home among the Flowers."
The great peculiarity of the plan is the dividing the children into
families. In each of the little houses I visited is a family group of
some twelve children, managed by a young man (an " overseer ")
with two assistants. The overseers are theological students, who
have some way imbibed the idea that two or three years' practical
labor among the helpless and forsaken is quite as good a prepara



" GROUPING."                        93
tion, for their duties, as preaching to admiring audiences or laying
up a complete- system of antiquated dogmas. The " assistants " are
young men-farmers or mechanics of a religious turn, who intend
to spend their lives in this kind of work. They are employed at
first on the most common out-door labor; then are placed in the
different workships to learn, and afterwards to direct; next are admitted to a care of the boys within the houses, and are taught by
the overseers the various needed branches of education, and finally
take a share with the Principal, in the general supervision of the
Institution. After a four or six years' course here, they are sent
abroad to preside or assist in similar institutions through Germany.
They are mostly supported by voluntary contributions, or by their
own labor. There are twenty-three here now. Mr. W. says that
there is a great demand for them; and that they have been sent
for even from Russia, for orphan asylums, houses of correction, ragged schools and the like; and that some are now preaching among
the emigrants in America.
The matter of principal interest, of course, was the situation of the
children. The first house we entered was a little wooden building
among the flowers and the apple-trees. It was of only one story,
with the exception of an attic chamber for the assistants. The first
room was a long, clean one, where ten or twelve boys were sitting
round a table, working at their slates, under the inspection of the
students. Their time is divided off into so many hours for out-door
work, so many for play and for study. This was the school-time.
The lads were all clean, comfortable and cheerfully busy. When a
wretched little vagrant from the gutter is sent in here, he is not at
once thrown into a mass of boys, to work himself out to ruin or to
goodness as he best can; to be kicked and cuffed; to grab what he
can get, and to either teach others or learn fi-om others. all the vile




94             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
things which boys are certain to know. The little stranger is put
with a few other new comers, into a separate house (" the novitiate
house ") where two or three young men have constant charge of
him. He eats at their own table with his few comrades, and has
enough. The overseers study his disposition, and set him either
at a trade or at garden and farm-work, as he seems best fitted.  He
has his play, and playmates, and free fresh air, and friends to care
for him, who hold it a labor of love, to do for the fatherless one, in
a feeble mannel, as Christ did for them.
He must work hard, but there is variety, and it is healthy work.
After a time, he is introduced into one of the regular families, and
there, in simple quarters, under kind care, he spends the five or six
years. No wonder that it comes to be such a home to them alland that the apprentices, whom the Ratuhe Haus has sent out so
plentifully through Germany, are so glad to come back, and work in
the shops on the place.
Besides the room I have mentioned, there were in this house a
sleeping room, a room for the sick, a little kitchen, and two bedrooms for the students-all plain, but very neat.
After this, we went round to the various workshops-for shoemaking, tailoring, joinery, pattern-making, spinning, baking, etc.in all these the boys w, rking very handily. In addition, there were
other buildings, where the boys, in company with workmen, were
busy at book-binding, printing, stereotyping, and wood and stone
engraving. A few were employed out of doors at the regular farm
work. There was one good-sized building, where washing, ironing,
and washing of dishes, and sewing work were done by the girls, for
there must be some thirty or forty girls here. There is the same
general arrangement for them as for the boys. They are usually
taught all branches of housekeeping, and are expected to enter




ITS SUCCESS.                        9~
service. The boys are generally apprenticed to masters. And it
is said, from the number of affiliated schools started by the students
of this through Germany, and from its many friends, that no
apprentices on their journeys, find a better reception than theso
from  the Rauhe Haus.  We found the chapel a quiet, tasteful
building, just decorated by the boys for some festival which they
wished to celebrate.
Perhaps the most remarkable feature about the whole institution,
was the practical power displayed in it. It is so rare for a
man, with the moral enthusiasm which would raise up the helpless
and outcast from their degradation, to have, at the same time, the
business talent for such a scheme as this. HERR WICHERN has
shown that he unites both.  His first step, after establishing a few
of the "family groups" and common workshops, was to set up
printing presses, where the boys could strike off, under the direction
of a master workman, the tracts and little books needed in the
school, and the Reports of the Rauhe Haus. They succeeded so
well at this, that the works were enlarged, and now do a considerable external business, and go far towards supporting the other
parts of the establishment.  Many of the boys are apprenticed here,
instead of being placed with masters.
In addition, a commercial agency (Agentur) has been formed to
sell the various articles made by the boys. This is separate from
the school, upon which its losses will not fall. The profits are to be
devoted to meeting the general expenses for the children. Connected with it are the lithograph and stereotype shops; the woodengraving and the book-binding.  All these last have proved very
successful, and the business done.by the agency is quite extensive.
it is expected that with the printing and the agency, the institution,
expensive as it is, will in a few years support itself. Of course, all




96             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
this complicated mass of detail needs a clear head to manage itand for this management, Mr. Wichern appears to be the man.
This, however, is only a small part of his labors. He is a powerful speaker, and has a great faculty of influencing any man with
whom he is thrown in contact. He has pleaded thecause of his
Vagrant Home well through Germany; and has gained liberal aid
even from the princes. Of his labors for a wider object, I have
already previously spoken. That I did not exaggerate, when I said
this institution has not its counterpart in other countries must be
apparent.
A "Home among the Flowers," where the vagrant-the child
nourished amid filth and squalor-in the dark cellars of a great
city, should at length see something of God's beautiful world;
where among friends, in the midst of orchards and corn-fields, he
could grow up, invigorated by healthful labor, to manhood-all
this would seem alone more like the dream of a philanthropic
French novelist, than the reality. But still farther, that this institution should have a system, almost Fourier-like, of " groups" and
families, and yet be imbued with the simplest, truest spirit of the
Christian religion; that it should send out not only skilled apprentices, saved from the prison and the alms-house, but educated young
men to teach others, and to spread abroad the self-denying, Christian principles of the place-and most of all, that it should have
existed seventeen years, and by its well-conducted industry, have
almost supported itself; may fairly constitute it one of the wonders
in benevolent effort. The friend of man, searching anxiously for
what man has done for his suffering fellows, may look far in both
continents before he finds an institution so benevolent, so practical,
and so'truly Christian, as the Hamburg ROUGH HOUSE.




CHAPTER X.
A BREAKFAST-TALK.
L-1, Duchy of Meklenburg Scnwerin, Nov., 1850.
A LITTLE German country inn again! The tall white stove in one
corner of the room; a well-stuffed, most uncomfortable German
bed in another, and the floor, scrubbed and polished to the highest
possible brightness which soap and water will give. I am seated at
the table with the well-worn portfolio which has acco,:nanied me in
so many a tramp through Europe, and the little pocket inkstand,
apparently contrived by the manufacturer with special reference to
being knocked over. Thanks to the fates, this neat table-cloth, at
least, remains unstained as yet! I have bid good bye to Hamburg, though it hardly seems yet, as if I had really parted from
friends so warm and true; friends soon made, but not soon to be
forgotten. You who wish really to know what a home is, must
enter Germany as I did, a stranger; and then with the slightest
introduction, be received as I was, at once into the midst of a kindhearted family. You must see the mutual forbearance of all-the
open, unconscious affection-the simple and cordial ways-the free
respect for the old father, and the care for the amusements and
plays of the children. You must see the generous, though plain hospitality —the unaffected friendliness towards all who enter —the sunny




98              SOCIAL LI1 E IN GERMANY.
and confiding life through the whole family-and you must be as I
was, a traveller, long away from  all family influences, and tired
with the incessant round of sights and the superficial life in picture
galleries and museums, if you would understand how pleasant and
satisfactory was this my reception into German Home-Life.
It seems to me that there is an element running through familylife here, of which we know little in America; but I reserve any
very definite conclusions, until I see more of the Germans in the
interior. I shall spend a day or two in this village, and then proceed at once to the central point of North-Germany-the old Prussian capital —Berlin. "Ich bitte Sice. I beg your pardon, sir; a
gentleman for you! sir!" came forth in the midst of my meditations from an old servant, who had entered almost without my
perceiving it.
I found my visitor was one of the acquaintances to whom I had
presented letters of introduction the day before. "You must come
right up, and take breakfast with us, and give the day to us!" said
he. I met the invitation as freely as it was given, and only excused
myself from taking up quarters in his house, by alleging the many
letters I must write, and my wishing to be alone. In a few minutes
I was seated in a snug little library, in a great arm-chair, with a
coffee-cup in my hand. On another side, is the father, in a similar
chair, his coffee on a book-stand beside him, and a long pipe in his
mouth. The mother, a dignified lady, with one of the sweetest
expressions of face I ever saw, sits at aslittle table in the midst of
the room, making the coffee, or passing us a bread cake, and seeming as if she were trying to make the stranger forget he were
among any other than his oldest friends, in which she succeeds
very well.
The only other member of our coffee-party, is the gentleman who




A " IABERAL.))                     99
had come with me, a young lawyer from Schwerin, the capital of
this little Duchy, the son of my friends.  His breakfast, he
says, is merely a cigar, a not uncommon custom here, as I observe.
Here we are then, most pleasantly arranged for a morning chat!
The conversation turns at first, on my own travels, my observations,
and the contrasts I notice here to America. Then, as everywhere
now in Germany, to the subject of most absorbing interest —politics. I asked the young lawyer, what the state of feeling towards
the government was in this Duchy.
"Discontent, utter discontent! and we have reason."
I inquired for the particulars whether they were worse off than
other German governments.
" Perhaps not," said he, " but look at our situation. Here we
are, a little Principality,* with not more than 530,000 inhabiLsnts,
supporting a prince and expensive court. We are Germans and
want to belong to Germany, and not be merely the providers for
this duke. Our debt now is over ten millions of thalers, and the
taxes come to some three millions and a half! How could we be
contented al"
I saw I had stumbled upon a Liberal, and followed up the conversation eagerly.
" But the people have a constitutional government in the Duchy,
have they not a" said I.
"Yes, the two Principalities of Mecklenburg, are under a common parliament, and a very old one, still the people do not take
much part in the government. Our nobles and office-holders control
everything."
I inquired about the aristocracy and whether the feudal relations
still existed in Meklenburg.
The Principality of Mekieburg- Schwtri.t




100             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
"No," said he, "there are no serfs now, either in Prussia or in
these Duchies; but we have an old nobility which weighs upon us.
Our party, the Liberal, have just passed through a long struggle
with the aristocracy. The noblemen have before always had everything under their thumbs, and have governed the Principality,
when the parliament was not in session, by a most unconstitutional
assembly of their own. We attacked them, and carried our point,
and that accursed old " Committee" was abolished. But now they
are getting the upper hand. They have appealed to the "Austrian
Union" at Frankfort, and we shall have all the troops of the Bund,
(Union) upon us, if we do not give in!"
"This comes from our divided Germany," said another gentleman, who had just entered. " If we had a real union-a German
Fatherland, the people could protect themselves! But now, look
at us! No German cares for Germany!"
"But do you think, dear Adolph," said the mother to the liberal
young lawyer, " that we should be any the better for another revolution and bloody war?'
t"Why not, mother? What could be worse than this? Look
at poor Holstein! and Hesse! that old forger (Hassenpflug) will
trample her down yet, and we shall have Austrian soldiers over every
thing."
"Yes, my son, it looks dark, but God will not leave poor Germany, we know. And I do not believe He works through these
violent outbreaks. Let us trust in Him, for we have tried the
sword, and we must believe that the good time is not yet. Perhaps the people are yet in their sins too much, to be free; we must
still-  "
She was interrupted by a burst of feeling from the young man,
"What, mother, wait!  Mein Gott!    Wait still longer!  God




DISCUSSION.                    101
made us to be free men. He never could have meant us to
be a nation of slaves! I would rather have a war, than this grinding of tyranny day after day. Give us a revolution-anything!
We had a glorious Germany once, and, by God's will, we can have
it again!"
"Mein liebes kind, my son!" said she, and though I sympathised
with the passionate son, I felt almost awed by the expression of
earnestness, so loving, yet so deep, which settled on her face. "I
started in life when the French movement for liberty was in full
sweep. I threw myself into it, as all the young did around me, with
all my heart. I would have died so gladly, then, to make my
countrymen free.
" But this all fell to the ground, and nothing but infidelity was the
firuit in France. I was all aroused too by the movements after the
Conferences in'15, and I thought we were going to have a resurrection of Germany. But here bad passions, and want of trust in
God, came in, and everything was worse than before. And then,
when 1848 came, I had lost hope. I see that we must all be
purified, and there must be more faith in God, and more true religion, before our German people are ready for Freedom.
" God knows, dear Adolphe, that I long and pray for happiness to
poor Germany, but He must first prepare us! Perhaps we can
never have a free government!"
"But it is not thoroughly tried, Mother! The kings promised
and cheated us in 1812 and'15; and we were cheated again in'48.
We trusted them too much. Look at that-King of Prussia!"
" Careful! Adolphe, be careful," said the father, looking anxiously
round.
"I do not care, father; you know he was completely in the
hands of the mob, and he swore to a Constitution and everything



102             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
and now! That would not happen twice. The Germans are goodnatured, but they know the princes now and woe to    "
"Let us not speak evil, my son, of those in authority. The King
of Prussia is doing much for his people and the Church. It is not
Liberty, dear Adolphe, which the mob wants; it is license and social.
istic community of property, and the overthrow of the Church.
See how it all succeeds now in France! Did we ever have a worse
Despotism, than in your Republic there? "
"Still, mother," answered the young man, " there can be Revolutions which work well. The American Revolution, this gentleman
will tell you, was not an infidel movement. They fought for freedom and built up a religious State. May not we too here?"
I ventured to put in a word here, and said something of our free
institutions, and described the deep hold which religion has of the
heart of the nation; and then asked, whether they ought to test
these struggles by their success in France. The French character
was certainly different from the German; and had been trained in
another school.
The mother admitted our success in America, but they thought
we had fresh materials and imore room; and, especially, a basis in
the old English -Puritan religious character.  "You have escaped
much in the New World. Time only will show what will be the
result from all these fearful wars and troubles in the Old. Where
the Spirit of God is, there is Liberty."
I was intensely interested in this conversation at the time, though
it is only a sample of what one hears everywhere in Germany.
The pure-minded, the religious, the old on one side, who have seen
too often the passionate hopes with which these struggles have begun, and the sad disappointments and lame conclusions;,who i'ecogpise in the blind struggles for Liberty and these excesses and conse



A GERMAN  SUNDAY.                    103
quent defeats, the finger of God pointing out that the nations are
unfitted for freedom. And the young, hopeful, enthusiastic on the
other, who believe that there is a future of Liberty and Love for
Humanity, and that they can do something to help it on; who see
in every defeat, only another impulse to exertion; and who cannot
think that tyranny is anything but an exception-an excrescence
in God's world, to be cut off by the strong hand, and through many
toils, if necessary.
One of the days which I spent here was a Sunday, and I was
desirous to see how it would be observed. My friends had the
charge of a boarding-school for young ladies. In the morning, the
pupils met in a Bible-class, as they would in a similar establishment
at home. There was more cheerfulness than is usual on this day
with us;,and, indeed, there was on all days more of an unconstrained, home-like aspect than T ever saw in an American boarding
school. About'eleven o'clock, we all weht out to the Lutheran
Church. Here, however, there was nothing to remind of America.
A gray, mediwavl church, very high and spacious, with a few seats
placed in the centre of the transept; cold too and damp, with the
voice of the clergyman barely audible under the lofty arches. The
old, monkish preaching-desk-the images and paintings and stained
windows-the chaunting by the clergyman, and the wax candles
burning at the altar, almost made me think I was again in a Catholic cathedral. A great part of the audience were obliged to stand.
The serrdon was one of the usual sentimental, milk-and-water exhortations, of which the German clergy are so fond; and the hearers
seemed especially sleepy, except during the music, which was very
good, so that on the whole I did not get a very favorable impres



104             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
sion of the religious privileges in this part of the Duchy of Mecklenburg
We met at dinner. Xs in all Christian countries, our Sabbath
dinner was excellent; opening with red wine-soup, and terminating
in the great delicacy of this Principality, a Meklenburg roast-goose.
The conversation was very pleasant and cheerful, but mostly on
religious or moral subjects. After it was over, the ladies went out
to the Sunday-schools, and the gentlemen gathered in the drawingroom to their coffee. The talking, much more naturally too, than
in most of our religious families, was serious in its tone.
There was another service in the afternoon in the same Lutheran
church. At the close, all who felt inclined, started on a walk
through the fine large park belonging to the Duke, and surrounding
his palace-one of the finest palaces, by the way, in Europe, in the
exterior.
A German never understands our mode of observing the Sabbath. It seems to him an utter change fiom the old idea of the
day-a day set apart as a religious festival. He holds that to be
gloomy, unsocial or averse to enjoying Nature on that day, is not
only contrary to the old Jewish custom, which he does not consider
binding, but opposed to the Christian event commemorated in it;
an event beyond all others joyous to the believer. There is nothing
with Germans who have visited England, which they look back
upon with such such utter gloom and aversion, as the aspects they
gained of the "English Sabbath," as they call it. One half of a
city, with sour faces, shutting itself up in churches and houses on
that day, and the other half, sunk in the lowest brutality.
Their object, as they will often tell you, is to make the day one
of worship and practical benevolence, and at the same time, of religious sociality. They take long walks in the afternoon and evening,




THE CONTRAST.                      105
urging that it is unnatural to confine oneself to the house sv closely
a whole day; and that to a religious mind, nothing is so conducive
to good thoughts, as a free movement among the beautiful things
God has made.
This can be abused, they allow; but so can every privilege; and
it may be doubted, say they, whether for the young any abuse is
worse than the stupid, impatient hours they must have, if shut
in the house through the long pleasant day. It is a time beyond
all others, which they wish connected in their children's minds with
pleasant, natural associations. These are the views of the religious
community. The mass of Germans do not at all recognize the day
as in any sense religious. Concerts, theatres, nine-pins, beer-drinking, and universal amusement and excess fill up the hours. A few
of the women attend church service in the morning; the men
seldom.
I have stood in German villages on the Sabbath, and as the
memory of our New England homes came over me, I have felt
almost sick at heart at the contrast.  Here the  workingmen
suinken, degraded, with dull, sodden faces; dignified by little consciousness of an Immortality, and elevated by no share in an intelligent worship; almost without hope or aspiration, and spending the
hours of a day, which God and man had given him for the elevation of his whole nature, in swilling beer, in dull games, and heavy
sleep.
There, the man, intelligent; aroused; solemn-it may be gloomy
sometimes-in memory of his Duty and his Destiny; his mind
internsely active over the thoughts presented, and filled with infinite
hopes; the day too formal often, but beautified with a few pure,
calm hours, whose influence goes with him long in the whirl and
5*




106             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
excitement afterwards. " Thank God," I have said to myself, " the
laborer with us has not forgotten that he is a man!"
I would never for a moment advocate any strict legal mode of
observing the Sabbath; or any mode giving the impression that
we are more bound to be religious on one day than on another.
The very idea of the day is, that it should be a time for free spiritual exercise; a change fiom  usual pursuits, and a means necessary
in the arrangements of society, for building up our piety. There
may be hypocrisy, and formality, and a needless seriousness of
manner on that day with us; still it will be long before any rational
well-wisher to humanity would desire to see our New England
Sabbath exchanged for the German Holiday.




CHAPTER XI.
WAR!
Berlin, Nov. 12,1850.
BERLIN has been like a camp this past week; drilling and arming
the recruits going on all the while; and the streets echoing, almost
every hour of the day, to the'tramp of companies, marching through
the city to the railroad. All business is interrupted, for the workmen
in almost every branch of employment are obliged to hurry off at
once to their regiments. There is the greatest enthusiasm among
all. Press and pulpit, the democrat and the royalist, alike sustain
the war, and exhort all parties on, to uphold the honor of Prussia
and the cause of constitutional liberty.
A war against Austria and her allies for poor Hesse-Cassel!
I have often laughed over the struggles of the Germans for
the mysterious " Unity," and the incessant efforts for freedom, always
ending in pamphlets and speech-making.  But I shall not be
inclined do so again. During the last two weeks, I have seen
something of the deep German feeling on these matters. In our
quiet, comfortable condition at home, where we vote at town-meetings, and choose a President, and come to look upon " liberty" much
as we do on our ireakfasts-as a very pleasant thing, but quite a
matter of course-it is somewhat difficult to appreciate the intense




108            SOCIAL  LIFE IN  GERMANY.
feeling about it in foreign countries, and still more difficult, the feeling which exists in Prussia at the present time, as connected with
German Unity and this war with Austria. But, if any one will
imagine a despotic Power, pouring its masses of troops over our
own land, not alone about to destroy our position among nations as
an independent and self-protecting people, but with the Union to
blot out the last hope of liberty in our part of the world, he will
have some idea of the feeling of the Prussians, as they look at this
mighty combination against them.
The patriot, who has been longing and laboring for liberty in
Germany, sees in this attack of Austria, the breaking up of the
Union, in which rested the great hope of constitutional changes;
sees the advancement of the old "Bundestag" (Diet) with its
hatred of free institutions, and its crushing of constitutional resistance; and Russia and Austria, the old arbitrary powers, fastening,
hand in hand, their influence on Germany. All hope of carrying
out the constitution in Hesse is gone; and Prussia, the representative in Germany of freer institutions, must take, henceforth, the
position of a second-rate power.
The soldier-and in this feeling the majority of the people sympathize-sees the firm old state which he has loved so much, built
up by the Great Frederick against overwhelming odds, sustained
through many a reverse and powerful attack by a military organization hardly less stringent than the Lacedemonian, and by a military
pride as high as was ever that of the Romans-he must see all
this, at last, disgraced. The ignorant Austrian, and the beerdrinking, heavy Bavarian, are to give the law to his country.
Can we wonder at the excitement with which the news of the
war was received throughout the land? Never, we believe, was
the drafting for an army more cheerfully borne with. The law for




RECRUITING.                      109' mobilizing" the army-that is for putting it on a war footingrequired 200,000 men in twenty-four hours' time; yet in many
districts, it is said, many more volunteers presented themselves than
the regular number demanded.
Throughout the week previous there had been every appearance
that the Ministry in the conference at Warsaw, intended to yield to
the demands of Austria. The original order for mobilizing the
army was countermanded. The official journal was peaceful in its
tone, and the King was known to be for concessions. It cannot be
imagined how deep the indignation and regret was at this, throughout the land. From every quarter, from conservative and constitutional journals, from soldiers and citizens, came the most heartstirring appeals'against this " disgrace" of Prussia-this bowing
down to the arbitrary powers of Germany. And when, at last, the
order came to fill up the army-that is, to prepare for war-there
was a burst of joy throughout the kingdom. Thanks poured into
the cabinet from every part. Not a newspaper which did not utter
its congratulations over the step at last taken. And yet it was a
joy tempered with serious forebodings in the minds of many.
Prussia was entering upon a war, whose result no man could tell;
a contest which might be as long and disastrous to German development as was the Thirty Years' War. It was against fearful odds
also. There was Austria with an army of 120,000 men, many of
them veterans in the campaigns of Italy and Hungary, right upon
the borders of Hesse. There was Bavaria, with a body of 80,000
eager to pour themselves over Prussia. The other German states —
unless perhaps Hanover-were either neutral or united with
Austria. The colossal Power on the eastern frontier was an ally of
Austria, and might at any moment take the opportunity to gain a
foothold in Germany, by sending an immense army over Silesia.




110             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
England was averse, and France was reported even to have designs
on the Prussian provinces on the Rhine.
Besides, it was felt Prussia was a country in the last degree
unfitted to be defended. Open on every side, disjointed, with the
enemy's forces between the two extremities, it could hope for nothing
but in bold attacks.
Such was the feeling in Berlin, these last two weeks. Two more
exciting weeks I have not passed in foreign lands. So many events
in such quick succession. First the conferences in Warsaw, the
countermanding the order for mobilizing the army, the resignation
of Radowitz, the momentary withdrawing of the ministry; then
war, with all its exciting preparations; and in the midst of all this
turmoil, the quiet death of the brave old man* who was one of the
chief actors, worried to his grave, some said, by these troubles in his
country's affairs.
Such, as I have said, is the Prussian view of this war; but it is
a view which I cannot at all take. I have talked about this contest
often with my friends, and I feel deeply the hopes and desires which
they connect with it, but I am compelled to believe they are deceived in the intentions with which it is carried on.
It is true, the old Bundestag is the enemy of constitutional
changes; it is true, that in the Cassel affair, Prussia is on the side of
the people against the arbitrary Curfiirst, and that, as a nation, she
is the representative of the constitutional party. Still I have no
confidence whatever in the Government. They have crushed liberty
in Baden; they have put down democratic efforts in Hamburg;
they have cajoled the people into a constitution which is no constitution, and I do not see why they may not act consistently to their
old character in Cassel, when the war is over.
* Count Brandenburgh, Prime Minister after the resignation of Radowitz.




THE KING                        111
At the head of this government is a most remarkable characterthe present King of Prussia —on whom much of the results of the
war will depend. Probably on no throne of Europe has there been
for many years, so gifted a personage. In all the accomplishments
which make the cultivated gentleman, in delicate taste for art, in a
refined ear for music, in general scholarship, and in elegant address,
he has no superior. Unlike the matter-of-fact character of most
kings of the present day, he has a highly imaginative nature-given
to Phantasie, as the Germans say —and quick often to move to
noble impulses. But, as both friends and enemies confess, there is
no dependence to be placed on his phantasies-and the enthusiasm
of one day may altogether die away on the next. Still in all his political changes he has been true to one " ideal," an ideal formed long
ago, and growing more real to him, till he forgets entirely the age in
which he lives.
He believes in a State where no written constitution shall existwhere the king rules with a patriarchal authority, directly derived
from God, and where different classes (Mdchte) form the elements
of government, restraining one another. This idea appears throughout his reign; under it, he has promised constitutional changes
which he has never granted, deceived the people with constitutions
where the true elements of liberty were gone, and has acted, whether
fickle or false, again and again, with most disastrous influence
on the liberties of Prussia. This idea comes forth again this very
year, when he gives the Constitution of February; promising to
observe this instrument, but with this condition always, that "the
King reigns;" for " he reigns by God's ordinance."
From such a man I do not believe Constitutional Freedom has
anything to expect; and I cannot hope for favorable results from a
war of which he has the guidance.




112             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
In my opinion, the government and the people have a different
object, and the result will show either that the Cabinet will evade a
war, which may strengthen the constitutional party, or that, when
they have gained the victory in Cassel, they are no more desirous of
granting constitutional privileges there than they have been in Heidelberg, or are now in Berlin.
Amid all this clangor of arms, and tumult, and passion of opposing nations, there is a plain, quiet, good-hearted man in one of the
great cities of Germany, devoting his whole time and no small
talents, in sending forth, through the German papers, messages of
Peace. He has separated himself from his country, and even from
those who sympathise with him, to do this. It is a work of labor,
and of expense-for every article has to be paid for as if it were an
advertisement. There is no honor in it; for the sneer, or the goodnatured joke, is all that he gets in return. Yet through it all, in all
this whirl and preparation of war around him, he works away;
sending out, in faith, these little " Olive Branches," as he calls
them. Need I say, it is dear ELIHu BURRITT-the sturdy Yankee
workman of former days-the kind-hearted, industrious friend of
man, in these? If his voice be indeed so far beyond the age that
none can hear it, one may still wish him God's blessing!




CHAPTER XII.
BERLIN.
IN wandering about Berlin, I felt myself at once in an entirely
different atmosphere from that in Hamburg.  The books in the
windows, the objects of art, the shops, and even the very external
of the citizens were all changed. I had left commercial Germany
for intellectual Germany. There were fewer marks of individual
wealth-but far more of general taste and culture.
Berlin, as a whole, is not an agreeable city in appearance. Why
any one should ever have chosen such a site for the Capital of a
large kingdom;-a place in the midst of a wide, sandy plain, with
no beauty of scenery, unprovided with stone or building materials,
and on the banks of a miserable little rivulet, is difficult to understand. The main street, (the Friedrichs strasse,) some two miles in
length, is on one dead level, so that the water in many spots never
flows off in the drains. The back and side streets are very dirty
and without sidewalks. All the finest parts of the city are built
of brick, stuccoed, and in this hot dusty locality, the stucco either
crumbles off badly, or becomes very much discolored. Even the
Royal Palace-one of the largest palaces in Europe, looks as soiled
and begrimed as a Liverpool warehouse.




114             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
Nothing seems built completely.  The Brandenburg Gate-the
most imposing portal perhaps in the world-is constructed of brick,
stuccoed in imitation of stone, and the only genuine thing on it, is
the copper car of victory, crowning it.
Still refined taste has atoned for the want of scenery, or of building material.   The architectural points of view seemed to me
without an equal in any city of Europe, except Edinburgh. I shall
never forget my impressions, when first walking down the broad
street, " Unter den Linden," (Under the lindens)-a street perhaps
twice as wide as Broadway, with a noble avenue of lindens in the
centre. At one end, were the columns of the splendid Brandenburg Gate, like the portico of a Grecian temple, and at the other,
as I stood on the bridge, was a view of as many noble buildings in
various directions, as any modern city will show. The sturdy, compact-looking arsenal, the most original and consistent architectural
conception in the city; the New Museum with its colonnades and
brilliant frescoes; the little temple-like building relieving the foreground —a guard-house; the gloomy and massive palace behind
the university, and seen through an interval of the houses, a square
(the Gens d' armes Platz,) lined with imposing buildings and
churches.
But there was about it all to me an interest greater even than
the pleasure from its architecture. None but one who has felt, can
understand an American traveller's first fresh feelings, in standing in
scenes of old historic association. To me the whole was speaking of
the Past. The old iron-hearted, indomitable king, whose campaigns
I had followed when a boy, as if they were a tale of romance,
seemed to me still to fill the scenes with his presence. The martial
air over everything, the statues of general and soldier, the designs
and sculpture, everywhere picturing war and struggle and victory,




MEMORIALS.                       115
the buildings he had erected, and even the squadrons of men who
marched incessantly by with the precision of working machines, all
spoke to me of the stern old General and Martinet, who had himself
by his unconquerable purpose built up a Capital and a Kingdom of
soldiers. Everywhere, too, voices from Prussia's short, but glorious
history. There right by me, the bare head whitened by a squall
of November snow, as it might have been on many a battle field,
the foot treading proudly over a dismounted cannon, and the sword
waving triumphantly in the air, is a bronze statue of the fiery
Bliicher.
Across the street, in reflective posture, a marble figure of the man
who beyond all others prepared Prussia, and organized her army
for the grand struggle with the French in'14 and'15-Scharnhorst; behind him, as the trophies of the city, the cannon and mortars brought back from Paris, in 1816. And beyond, on the great
gate, the car of victory recovered from Napoleon after the battle of
Waterloo.
In the gathering darkness, as the thick ranks of soldiers hurried
eagerly on over the bridge, towards the road for Southern Germany,
or as some more enthusiastic shouted, "Fiir K6nig und Vaterland!" (For King and Fatherland!) it almost seemed as if the
Great Frederick might again appear in his three-cornered hat and
careless uniform to lead the armies on to victory; or as if there
were again an uprising of Prussia with her old war-cry, to oppose
a combined Europe. But, alas! a most degenerate descendant sits
oI1 the throne of the " soldier-king; " and the contest, towards which
they enthusiastically hasten, shall be but another of the valorous
displays and cowardly retractions, which have marked the reign of
FREDERICK WILLIAM.




i16             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
The city, as I said before, shows everywhere the marks of a high
culture and taste.
I have already visited an Institution, founded, I think, by the
Government, whose sole object is to instruct gratuitously apprentices
of the various trades in the fine arts, with reference to improvements
in the patterns of manufactures, and in the designs of common
utensils. The King has been very earnest in his endeavors to improve the taste of the people, and to beautify the city. The large
galleries of painting and sculpture, and the fine collections of antique vases, coins and medals, are entirely open to all. He is putting
up also a colossal bronze equestrian statue of Frederick the Great,
by Rauch, in the Linden Avenue, and is now erecting besides one
of the most tasteful and consistent structures which is to be found in
Europe, designed as a building for the reception of the numerous
collections of sculpture and works of antiquity, in Berlin. It is constructed throughout, as much as possible, in the classic style. The
floors are, in most instances, of the most minutely tesselated marble,
of all varieties of color. The walls, and cornices, and roof, are painted
in the elaborate classic mode; every appropriate space filled with
minute, exquisite colored figures, or with those strange devices from
mythology, and history, and life, which one can still see in the houses
of Pompeii. The columns are of every variety and color of marble,
carefully chiseled, even to the finest leaf on the capitals. On some
of the side walls there are bold, free, almost startling frescoes, by
Kaulbach and Cornelius; and on others, genuine classic alto-relievo
work, brought from Rome or Athens. The niche for each statue is
painted appropriately to the character, with beautiful minute figures,
and the wall-veils beneath the cornices are filled with mythological,
grotesque combinations from the hands of German artists, as luxu



THE MUSEUM.                        117
riant, or wild, or sensuous in composition, as any which ever adorned
the temples of Venus or of Bacchus.
The whole, like the ruined houses of Pompeii, or the remains of
the palaces and baths of Rome, leaves an impression of the most
wonderful combination of elaborate and solid work. It was the
splendor and massiveness of an ancient temple, with the fineness of
a modern miniature museum. I wandered a long time through
the splendid halls and lofty porches, and could not but think, as I
looked at it all, that there were some advantages from this centralizing of power in the Old World, which we must wait long for in
the New.
But, as I go abroad among the people; as I see soldiers stationed
at every corner and in every public place; as I find that a man cannot stir from his city and hardly from his house, without feeling this
strong grasp of the central power; as I hear the desires of noble
men expressed for something freer and better for their nation; and
as I observe how confused and unsatisfied, and unhappy, the condition of these German monarchies is now, I feel how poor the exchange of this, with all its splendor and taste would be, for our free,
unchecked society.
Soon after my arrival, an entertainment occurred quite characteristic of Berlin, and which is considered one of the great literary enjoyments of the season. It is the acting over of one of the old
Greek plays, with all the appropriate accompaniments. In this case
it was the tragedy of Antigone. Tieck, one of the first poets and
literary men of the age, and B6ckh, the great classical scholar from
the University, were consulted as to the decorations and scenery.
The choruses were translated by Donner, and the music composed
for them was by Mendelssohn,-I suppose the greatest of modern
composers. The more difficult parts of the scenery had been pro



118              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
vided by the King himself, from whom, I believe, the whole idea
originated.
At an early hour there was gathered in the theatre an immense
audience of students and professors, and all the principal literary
people of Berlin. The very first aspect of the scenery and stage,
was strange. Beside the customary stage behind the curtain, there
was another lower stage, in front, with entrances on each side for
the actors. On each side of the curtain were beautiful fresco figures
of the Comic and the Tragic muse. The curtain fell instead of rising,
as in modern days; and the actors came in from the front, instead
of the back-a much more difficult thing, by the way.-The principal characters alone enter from the opposite side to the audience.
I believe there was some further arrangement also, which my blassical knowledge hardly carries me through, such as the servants
and one set of characters entering from the left, and another fiom
the right.  The scene was the front of a Grecian house-some beautiful columns,-an altar and small statue, with offerings upon it,
and an opening occasionally into the peristyle beyond.
On the lower stage, was an altar with offerings of flowers upon it,
around which were grouped the members of the choroi. These
were old men, with long white hair, and holding staffs in their hands,
in tunic and robe and sandals. There were two parties, each with
different color and responding to one another in the chorus; the
leaders sustaining the dialogue, where it was required in the play.
Their "grouping" throughout-and their positions about the altar,
which they were continually changing, were very striking.  In the
first scene, or " episode," Antigone is seen coming out of the house,
with the graceful costume which the old wall-paintings give us of
Grecian maidens, and with a classic urn on her head, which had




A. GREEK  PLAY.                    119
quite probably been borne in that very way some two thousand years
ago.
It is a very difficult play to act. The conceptions are, very many
of them, so foreign to modern ideas; the allusions to old historical
events and to Mythology are so very hard to render appropriatelyand the expressions of Greek passion and pathos, sound so strangely
in modern version, that it is not to be wondered at, if the acting
had failed. Still, with all this, and with the fact that one accustomed to read dramas, is always disappointed, when they are acted,
I found myself carried away by the whole representation. There is
an idea, running through the whole play, of dark, inexorable Fate
hanging over the unfortunate House, and urging them to mad crimes.
And yet one can see, as perhaps the poet meant to show of all
Fate, that after all, it is their own voluntary madness. These ideas
were left almost painfully on my mind. Then the nobleness and
rashness of Antigone as she resolves to defy Creon's and the State's
command, and bury the corpse of her brother, Polynices  The inflexible will of Creon, as he dooms her to death, and denies the
prayer of his favorite son-the betrothed of Antigone-for mercy,
and his terrible grief, as he finds that with her, he has destroyed his
son and his beloved wife, Eurydice. All this wild, fierce emotion,
was wonderfully brought out-and in every part, came the glorious
music of the choroi, as they sang alternately of the blindness of
men in the hands of inexorable Fate; of the sweep and power of
human passion; or of the unspeakable greatness of the All-powerful who sits above this-a passage worthy of Job. I have never
heard music that was more thrilling, and there was in it all, a wild,
strange tone, as consistent to that mysterious Fate hanging over this
House. That tender passage too, where Antigone half excuses her




120            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
own heroic devotion to her brother, which had impelled her to defy
law, and almost to forget her love to her betrothed,
"Not for Hate, but Love, was I, by nature formed,"
was given with touching truthfulness. The death of Eurydice was
beautifully shown, by throwing open the inner portals of the house,
where were seen the funeral maidens gathered around a white form,
with burning torches and flowers.
There was no division of the play into acts-only episodes. The
whole throughout, in costume, decorations, scenery-even manners,
in the most wonderful consistency to what we know of the Grecian
modes; though probably the thing most inconsistent, was the music;
which I suppose would have been far inferior in the original. Altogether, it was a very high intellectual enjoyment, and impressed old
Grecian Drama on the mind, more than many a college lecture.




CHAPTER XIII.
LIFE IN BERLIN.
Nov. 1850.
I HAVE taken lodgings in a very pleasant street-the Dorotheen
Strasse-near the Linden Avenue, and where several of the
Americans and Germans, to whom I have letters, reside. My room
is on the second story, with a pleasant exposure, and on the whole
neatly furnished, though it has required a long-sustained argument
to get rid of that enormous feather-bed coverlid. I pay four Thaler
(about $2 80) the month, which is cheap enough; and the breakfast of coffee and rolls costs eight cents, and dinner at the cafes,
from twelve and a half to thirty-seven cents, very neat and with
several courses; so that living in Berlin does not seem likely to be
specially expensive. My landlady must have been a beauty in her
day, though she is very slatternly now. I scarcely ever saw more
finely chiselled features. She comes in in the morning with my
coffee, and wishes me Guten.3forgen! in such a merry tone, and
always gets my name wrong, sometimes making it Herr Bric,
s)metimes Brac, or Brahey, or even Brass, and always apologizing
in a compassionate way, as if the men were to be truly pitied who
were forced to have such unchristian names.
I nearly always induce her to stop and chat, and being of rather
6




122            SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
a speculative turn, she is very fond of putting knotty theological
points to me; which if I cannot solve, I avoid, by taking refuge in
my bad German-a sufficient excuse to her for any amount of ignorance.  She is the best-natured creature in the world, and of
course never has anything done in time; never keeps any engagements, and lets everything run at loose ends.  I have saved her
conscience a great load by taking all our accounts and keeping them
myself; paying her some weeks ahead, to keep her out of debt.
She has a very pretty daughter, who keeps my room neatly, so that
I am satisfied; though I must say, her utter unpunctuality is very
provoking; and perhaps it is quite as much so, that I am entirely
cut off from scolding! A man must be proficient in a language
if he would scold well, and'I cannot do it. Long words and book
phrases will not serve, and I do not know Berlin slang, and could
not conscientiously, even if I knew how, swear in German. Perhaps my looks and terrible English ejaculations and impatient
German do as well, as she always at once beats a retreat with a
half-comic, half-terrified look when I commence. Her own manners
and those of the children are very pleasant; they never enter or
leave the room without a bow and salutation to me. The husband,
who is a tailor, has far more the bearing of a courtly gentleman,
than most of our cultivated men, and always raises his hat when
he meets me in the street.
I notice a similar peculiarity through all classes. In the restaurante, if a gentleman takes a place at the same table, it is always
with a bow; if he reaches over for the paper you have finished, he
uses some half apologetic expression, " Ich bitte "' The shopkeeper
gives the morning salutation as you come in; and says "Empfehle
mich!"" as you leave. No one enters an omnibus or a railway
* "I recommend myself," the almost universal formula in Berlin for




LIFE  IN  BERLIN.                    123
carriage without saluting the others. I have seen now many classes
of the Germans, from the Hacndwerksbursch (apprentice) on his
travels and the soldier in the camnps, to the highest literary people,
and I find through all, this " humanity" as the Latins used to call
it; this open-hearted, pleasant, human way, as if men were really,
without any poetry, "members of the same family." Men in the
lower classes do kindnesses for you, and neither claim nor accept
the "everlasting  shilling," as in England.  In a rail-car or public
conveyance, people talk of their own private matters as if it was a
thing of course that other persons would take an interest in them.
Something of my impressions may be due to visiting-one of the
most unselfish forms of human life-still there is much, which cannot be accounted for in that way. The politeness too, seems
genuine.'It does not burden you; or make you feel that you are
impolite, or appear as if it were worn for the occasion. It is a part
of every-day, habitual life. Not a politeness, expressing itself
in grimaces and bows; or fearing openness and downright words in
others; but a quick, almost unconscious respect for others as men,
which speaks constantly in German manners.
I have asked an English groom the way in the streets of London, and been told in answer "How the h —l should I know "
An American workman would tell you very clearly-but in a fever
of impatience at being stopped. A German stands-says to you
with a half bow, " Be good enough to take the second street," etc.,
and touches his hat as he goes, which is, perhaps, a little too much
of a virtue, and yet is a very pleasant thing.
I notice that there is one expression of deference, which neither
the Germans nor the English often use, but which is almost univerparting, where adieu is not used. The old German expression, " Leben Sie
wohl," (Farewell!) is seldom heard, except between intimates.




124              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
sal with Americans.  I mean the word, Sir!  Mein Herr, (Sir), is
seldom heard in Germany, except from servants or inferiors, and is
considered slavish between equals.
In general, the contrast in manners between our lower classes and
the European, is very striking. It has often surprised me. The
cultivated classes, in that respect, are very nearly the same, the
world over. But why a poor man, or an uneducated man with us,
should be so much less polished, than one in the same position in
the old world, I have never been able to explain.
I used formerly to think it was a natural result of our new society, not softened as yet by the appliances and influences of an old
civilization. But I have seen the manners and courtesy of the most
complete gentleman in a Hungarian cattle-driver, whose whole
civilization had not carried him above undressed sheep-skins and
half-cooked meat. It is the more remarkable, as we are not naturally a grumbling, or whimsical, or domineering race, like the English; or a strict and pragmatic people,-like the mass of the Scotch.
We seem to have in our character all the elements of high courtesy,
fearlessness, generosity, kindness-yet few  of us are habitually
courteous.
The causes begin early —manner, expression of any feeling is
laughed at in childhood; later in life it is called a humbug; and
afterwards in the gigantic, absorbing plans and pursuits of our American society, so small a thing as manners, or the promotion of
others' happiness in these petty ways is altogether lost sight of and
neglected.
As though feeling could grow where its expression is always
pruned, and as though all our grand outward success were worth
anything, if there be a basis in home-life of cold, unsocial, disagreeable intercourse.




POLITENESS.                       125
The type also of religious character most reverenced, and very
naturally so among us, has not included courtesy as one of its
traits. We have forgotten the old patriarch, with his simple
hospitality and native courtliness; and Paul, who could "become
all things to all men," and have taken to ourselves as a model the
severe, ascetic, form-hating Puritan. A character whose faults men
have caught but too easily, but whose grand and massive virtues
become more rare each day.  There is a feeling too among
our sturdy filrmers and Western " boys," that any courtesy is unmanly. A feeling, boyish as it is, connected with our old English
gruffness which we have inherite.  If Kossuth has done nothing
else in this country than show that a tact and politeness, like a
woman's, is not inconsistent with the strength of an indomitable
manhood, he has not been without his use to us.
There is something higher in Politeness than Christian moralists
have recognised. In its best forms as a simple, out-going, all-pervading spirit, none but the truly religious man can show it. For it
is the Sacrifice of self in the little habitual matters of life-always
the best test of our principles-together with a Respect, unaffected
for man, as our brother under the same grand destiny. In its lower
and more common development in every-day life, we have very much
to learn of the Europeans.
NOVErMBER 26.
Have just called on a family to whom I had letters, and who have
already been very friendly to me. They are among the first literary
people of Berlin, and are well known throughout Prussia. I found
them living in the third story of one of these great houses. The
door belcw was opened by a porter at my ring, and then on the




126             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
third landing, their own door by their servant. They occupy only
four or five rooms, and keep but one servant.
The sitting-room is more filled up, with various objects, than is
usual in Germany. There are some exquisite ornaments, in plaster,
scattered about, mostly casts from antiques in the classical Museum;
a very much more tasteful mode of beautifying a room, for a man
of limited means, than laying out all his money on one or two pieces
of expensive and second-rate statuary. Few of us can afford to buy
really good statuary, or fine paintings. Why cannot our American
housekeepers learn that good engravings are a better ornament to a
room, than poor paintings in gilt frames; that flowers set off a window better than tawdry curtains; and that casts of something truly
graceful, or objects with a real meaning are worth all your secondhand marble nymphs, gaudy mirrors, or gilded cornices. They received me this evening, as they always do, cordially; not so much,
I think, because I was a foreigner-for the Berliners see as much
foreign society as native-but because I was a friend of their friends.
I had found previously that they were royalists; and this evening
we fell into a spirited discussion on our political creeds, which may
have some interest to my American readers.
Men need, they urged in the course of the argument, a central,
definite object for their reverence and obedience. In a Republic,
there is no reverence for government; no moral tie to the centre; it
is merely the bond of interest. There can be no loyalty to a President; he is, according to your own definitions, the " servant of the
people; " and not always chosen because he will be the best servant.
You tell me that your best Statesmen are seldom Presidents. All
that is most poetic and noble is excluded from such a form. The
only Government, resembling God's, is a Monarchy.
"Wme.love our king," said they; and their voices quivered with




ROYALISTS.                         127
emotion, as they spoke of the present chances of his being driven
into exile.  "Where he goes, we will go! "
I could hardly realise, as they talked, that I was conversing
with persons of the present age; it seemed as if I were among
the loval cavaliers and ladies of chivalric times. Yet these were
people of the highest cultivation, and accustomed to think on all
subjects.
I have an unconquerable tendency to take in my own mind, the
stand-point of the persons I am with, and on this occasion I was
deeply impressed with the earnestness and the poetic tone of their
views, so that, though I battled stoutly for Republicanism, I was
a little blinded to the wrong of their opinions. I forgot for the
time, that it is such theories among the cultivated and noblehearted, which have helped to deliver over the forty millions
of Germany to the blind caprice and heartless tyranny of twenty or
thirty as weak and inefficient and unprincipled men, as have ever
disgraced humanity.
I said in reply, that none of us in America considered our Government any the less " fiom God," or any the less an object of love and
reverence, than they their Monarchy.  We believed it to be the
form especially springing from the wants and the nature of developed man, and thus directly from  God.  We believed God had
thus far guarded it in its outward growth; and we loved it-would
die for it, not as impersonated in any one imperfect ruler, but as
expressed in the institutions it forms, and the fruits it everywhere
bears amongst us.  Even if we were sure of finding the " best possible man," to impersonate Government, and to rule us without check,
we still would prefer our system. Our creed was that the highest
development of humanity is insured by leaving the greatest possible
liberty to individual development. And that under a few limitations,




128           SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
it would more and more be found true in our country, that the best
government is that which governs least; until the good time comes
on the earth when all outward government ceases, and the only
checks on human intercourse are the Love and Principle of the individual man.
All which and a great deal more of a metaphysical and transcendental kind, I leave to the imagination of the reader, picturing an
argument-loving American and a philosophical German sitting late
at night over Mnugs of Bavarian beer, and some genuine German
mystifying tobacco.
A warm shake of the hand when it was over, " Schlafen Sie
recht wohi und kommen Sie bald wieder!" and I returned to my
lodgings.
I take the liberty of quoting here from a letter which I received
after I left Berlin, as farther showing the feelings of the Royalists,
and the open-hearted German manner to a stranger. It is from
Madame  w-, who will pardon the freedom for the object intended.
BERLIN.
"I thank you very much, lieber Herr B., for the friendly sympathy which you have retained for us in the distance. Take with you
our most cordial (innigsten) wishes into your Fatherland; and
think whiles of the old custom of our dear Germany, that those
who have once grasped hands, do not again forget. Do not
let yourself be disturbed, if neither I nor my husband answer your
letter as it deserves. We stand before great events. The Lord
hath not yet torn aside the curtain. It will soon be shown whether




A FAREWELL.                       129
elevation or ruin is our fate. One of either must happen; and as
the heart of our dear, dear king is moved, so is the destiny of our
Fatherland determined. Without the Hohenzollern there is for us
no power and no respect on earth. " With God for king and fatherland!"
"A Republic is something great and noble. The history of the
ancients teaches, indeed, that it has Tyranny as a companion, and
ruin as its bequest. To me is a Republic like a beautiful woman
full of glorious gifts, but without soul, like the lovely fable of
Undine.      *       *       *       *          
" You will not laugh at a woman's truth, if she tells you, that
sometimes there is no pleasure like subjection.
"God grant his blessing on you! If you on the sea or on the soil
of your fatherland have any desire to greet us, do it certainly, and
my husband and myself will thank you! " And the husband adds
in a postscript, "On the last day of your stay in Germany, receive
our hearty greetings and wishes for, your happy home-return. You
will now be able to imagine how dear one can hold Germany, with
all its wants and confusions. Think of us friendly the-other-side
the ocean."




CHAPTER XIV.
A BERLIN DINNER-PARTY.
" Icn bitte, mein Herr! nehman Sie Platz! Der Herr Geheimrath erwartet Sie!"  "Take a seat, sir, please!  His honor, the
Geheimrath, is expecting you!" said a respectable looking German
servant, as he threw open the doors of a handsome parlor for me..Der Herr Geheimrath, or in every-day language, Mr. C. was a Berlin gentlemen in comfortable circumstances, who had formerly been
in political life. I found him living, like most of the aristocratic
people in the city, way up in the top of one of the great houses.. I
had entered through a large portal, the door of which was opened
by a porter, in a story above, with a wire and pulley. Each story
was occupied by a separate family, and. I could see from the names
above their bells, by persons of high rank. None of the stair-ways
had any carpeting on them, but the material was rich-looking, apparently varnished oak in inlaid figures, and the banisters gilded
The walls in the hall were broken up by oval compartments, in which
were pretty little colored designs of faces or figures, in the classic
style, and were ornamented with arabesque borders-all having a
rich and massive air, and entirely different from our own Ktyle of
ornament.




FURNITURE.                       131
Mr. C.'s drawing-rooms were truly German again.  High, cheerful rooms, with painted ceilings, light curtains, many objects of Bohemian glass-ware, and vases of flowers scattered around; but no
carpet on the polished parquette oak floor, and no heavy articles of
furniture. On the whole, tasteful and airy, but somewhat bare comrn
nared to English rooms.
Mr. C entered soon, and we fell into pleasant conversation.  In
the course of it, I said something about this mode of occupying each
an etage or story, and asked him, whether it was general?  He replied, that there were not half-a-dozen families in the city who leased
a whole house. The houses had been originally built of a large
size by Frederick the Great to fill up the space, and since that all
who built had followed the same style. It was much cheaper, too,
for each family, " and we Germans you know," said he, " have not
the objection of you English to living all in the same house together.  It seems more geminthlich!' *
I thought then and I have often thought since in our large American cities, as I have seen the immense burden of rents on young
business men, how convenient and pleasant such an arrangement
would be with us. For a man with family, a boarding-house is the
last residence to be desired. And yet there is no other resort in
our great cities, under these exorbitant rents. In this Berlin-mode,
each family can be private, carry on its own house-keeping; and
yet need not be at much more expense than in a respectable boarding-house.
The more I see of the middle classes in Berlin, the lawyers, professors, merchants, &c., the more I am  surprised at the economy
shown everywhere. Hamburgh seems luxurious by the side of it.
* I cannot'translate this word, though " cosy " comes near it, in this place,
except that gemuthlich expresses something higher-something of feeling.




132             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
No house with carpeting; and few with rich furniture even. A
family seems seldom to have more than two servants. In some
houses of wealthy merchants, I have seen the dining-room furnished
with beds in curtained alcoves, so shortened are they for room.
And in nearly all, some of the sitting-rooms are turned into bedrooms, as the first thing with a German is to have a place in which
to chat with his fiiends, and after that where to lay his head. I
see, too, that the Hamburg bountiful dinners are not in vogue here;
and invitations are usually to supper-a substantial, plain meal.
Yet there is the most constant and easy sociality everywhere; and
it is apparent at once to the stranger, he is among people of the
highest culture and rednement. Money seems to be spent readily
on entertainments in music and art, and for social enjoyment; but
not much on mere luxury or display. When a Berlin scholar, or
man of business gives a party, he does it in a simple, unexpensive
way, generous enough in its provision, but that not of a very costly
kind. If he would ride out with his family, he quietly takes a
droschky (hack). None but a few of the superannuated noblemen
sport our New York equipages. Something of all this is due, without doubt, to the small means of the people; but more to their good
sense. Towards the foreigner, there is less too of outward hospitality than in other German cities; but the want is more than made
up by the lively, easy, intellectual intercourse into which he can be
admitted; and the genuine interest taken in him, if he has anything worth being interested in.
But to return to my visit at Mr. C.'s. There was to be a dinner
party, and the rest of the company were gradually coming in. The
ladies were in full dress; the gentlemen had much the same
appearance with any dinner company at home, except that the moustaches were more common.




TABLE-TALK.                       133
After taking our ladies into the dining-room, conversation commenced at once.
" Sind Sie ganz orientirt in der Stadt?."  (Are you thoroughly
familiar with the city?)  I find is the most general first question to
me, the stranger.  That use of the word orientirt was quite new to
me, as it is seldom found in books till of late years. " Have you
found your eastings? taken your bearings-known where you arebecome familiar?"  I suppose to be the meaning and derivation.
It seems applied to almost everything.
The ladies in our chat were quite interested to know whether all
the fine stories were true about the American gallantry to women.
It was the paradise for women, they had heard. I told them of the
universal attention shown them in public places; how a man would
be thought "no gentleman" to let a lady stand on a steamboat or
in a rail-road car, while he occupied a comfortable seat; and that a
woman could travel through our country in safety, without an escort. They thought it must be " because there were fewer of the
fair sex,"-a reason I indignantly repelled-whereupon they assured
me kindly, they quite " understood why the Americans were such a
free and happy people! "
It was very apparent in this dinner, as everywhere, how much
better the Germans have the art of enjoyment than we. Of the
particular courses I will not speak, as they were much handsomer
than is customary in the middle classes, and would be no fair specimen, of Berlin dinners. But the little haste through it all; the
variety of small dishes intended rather to fill up the time and sharpen
the appetite, than to gorge the stomach; and the general air of the
company, as met rather for pleasant converse than for earnest gluttony, were all characteristic of this people, and very unlike American
habits. Everybody of course just now is deeply interested in poli.




134             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
tics. The news has come of a skirmish between the outposts of
the two great armies of Austrians and Prussians at Fulda, in Hesse
Cassel; perhaps the first meeting of those opposite tides which shall
desolate all Europe. The troops marching towards that little province
are equal, they say, to the armies of Napoleon's time, in number.
In fact, since 1815, Europe has not seen the gathering of such
mighty masses of soldiers. The Austrian left wing, resting on
Frankfort, numbers 80,000 men, mostly Bavarians and Wiirtembergers; as the king of Wiirtemberg hopes, it is said, to have his
share of the plunder when it comes to the picking of Prussia-in
the shape of the Prussian Rhine provinces. The centre now gathering in Saxony and Bohemia amount to 120,000 men, under the
command of Radetzky himself. On the right, near the borders of
Silesia, is a body of 70,000 Bohemians, who will penetrate the
passes of the mountains, occupy that province, and act in co-operation with the centre. It is probable 150,000 Prussians will soon
be concentrated there likewise.
The talk at table is that there are orders to the Prussian outposts
to withdraw, from " strategical considerations." The only losses in
the skirmish were two horses. They are describing too with great
zest a picture in Kladderadatsch, (the German "Punch,"-a very
weak mixture by the way,) wherein the Prussian soldiers are seen
marching grimly away from a battle-field, on which are the corpses
of two horses; at the same time all looking behind fiercely at the
line of fat, easy Bavarians, and saying, " Aus strategischen Riicksichten (From strategical back-looks, i. e. considerations).
No one can believe that after this grand preparation, the king
will now retreat; yet they notice that the tone of the Deutsche
Reform, the ministerial organ, is becoming more submissive, and
that there is a rumor, Holstein will be utterly given up to the troops




POLITICS.                       135
of the Confederation. I can see the idea of yielding to those " beerdrinking Bavarians," galls them to the quick. There is a considerable variety of political characters in the company, one or two intimately connected with the king and attached to him; some of the
old Constitutionalists who worked in'48 for a United Germany, and
who are now becoming fast the most steady opponents of Government; and a few Free-Traders of somewhat democratic sentiment.
Yet they all seem to have such a love for "' poor Holstein," and they
relate many a story of the oppressions going on there, which I know
to be much exaggerated, though I do not care to tell them so.
It is plain, though little is said, that even the friends of the king
are in doubt of him.  "No one who does not know him," said one
in a whisper to me, "should judge him. His misfortune is that he
has too delicate moral perceptions.  He dreads the responsibility of
a WAR!"  I had little doubt, in my own mind, that he dreaded
much more rousing up the Democratic spirit in such a strugglewhich, perhaps, afterwards neither he nor any ruler in Germany
could put down.
I have never been in a literary circle before, where there were not
some intellectual dilettantists, men who pride themselves on a philosophical indifference to subjects which are life and death to the
masses. I do not know whether this comes from a want of heart or
fiom cowardice, but I do know I would rather meet the coarsest
boor with a meaning in him, than these literary faineants. There
were none here, however; and with all the Berlin persiflage, I seldom  heard any on such subjects. Men spoke of their country,
and her future with an expression of pain, as of the disgrace of a
friend.
At the close of the dinner, we all returned to the drawing-room
for coffee, where the conversation became more general. There had




136            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY
been a great Panorama, in the city, of the Mississippi, and many
questions were put to me about it. Nothing seemed to so arouse
the imagination of the ladies as the idea of a "primeval forest,"
where the trees were not planted. They all lamented, however,
that we "had no singing-birds in our woods!"  I find this idea
general in Europe. I told them that I had noticed no difference
in-that respect, though in England I had heard several songsters far
surpassing any of ours, except the mocking-bird.
During the evening one of the gentlemen turned to me, and said
in English, " Your country will soon have a different language from
that which your fathers brought over! " I told him, I thought not.
Taking all our classes, there was more pure English spoken than in
England itself. Of course we should invent new words in new circumstances, but the old tongue would be always ours.
In reply, he reckoned up to my discomfiture the number of words
added or changed in America; showed the change in English everywhere since Chaucer's time; alluded to the gradual variations which
came over the classic languages, and thought English as likely to
degenerate as Latin or Greek. It was a good instance of the German's learning and theorizing. The man knew far more of the
technicalities of my language, than I did myself. I told him, however, that we had one great safeguard for the purity of the tongue
for all classes, which the Romans did not have-our old Saxon
Bible.
He allowed that, and said that it was equally the case in Germany. "There is no German like those plain, strong words in
Luther's translation."
As we were upon the subject, I took the liberty of asking him
whether some of the purists there, were not fearful of their own language? For of all disagreeablh medleys, the modern conversational




MODERN NOVELS.                       13"
German seemed to me the worst. " You have only to add an iren
to a foreign word, and it becomes German; and near half your
ords seem of that kind, amusiren, -discursiren, and a thousand
others!"
He quite agreed with me. I told him, also, how few vigorous
terse writers I found on political subjects among the modern authors; and that Bulan seemed to me the only one who could at
all compete with our essayists in style.
" It is too true, alas!" said he; "we Germans seem to have lost
vigor of words as well as of character, of late years."
In colloquial language, nothing will so utterly surprise the stranger
-ryes, shock him-as the universal profanity among the ladies. In
the best circles of Germany, I have heard more oaths in one evening, than I would in the same time from a ship's crew. " Ach Gott!
Mein Gott! mein Gott!  Jesus Christus!" rung over and over
at the veriest trifles.
It was some time before I could accustom myself to it. Of
course the words have no irreverent sound to them, and are
used like the French " Mon Dieu! " still how so foolish a habit
could have become so general among sensible people surprises one.
It is singular in the usual literary conversation, how little is
said of modern German literature. Gothe and Schiller are " classics"
now; and Jean Paul, is even quite passe, so that few of the
young people know anything about him, except his inextricable
sentences. This would not be so strange, for the great Teachers of
a nation are seldom discussed in common talk; but among all the
many romances read, there is scarcely one of the German. And an
American is surprised to find himself discussing the naturalness of
Johanna (Jane) Eyre's character, or the morality of Bulwer, or




11q8            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
laughing over the remembered jokes of " Bots," (Boz) as they call
him, iust as he did at home.  Cooper and Irving I find everywhere,
and the children all know "Leatherstocking,"' and the Indian Chiefs
perfectly, and have confident hopes of meeting him, if they should
ever cross to the New World.  In fact, the English and American
novels are the mode at present in Germany, and there has scarcely appeared one of any worth for several years without being speedily translated into German. But the foreign work, which of all others has
been read most.eagerly by thinking men in Germany these late years,
and which is exerting a most happy influence, is lMacaulay's History of England. And if Macaulay never does any other good
through it, than what is effected in this land, he will have accomplished a great work.
It is almost the first instance to the Germans, of history made
dramatic; and in its exposition of the English Constitution, and its
vivid account of the English Revolution, it is of incalculable benefit,
and singularly appropriate to the present state of Germany.  It is a
new thing too, to the Germans, to see in union a genuine Christian
belief and an ardent love of Liberty.
There is another writer too of England, the fireest, truest, most
earnest spirit of this century, whose influence seems to have been as
great here as in his own country, or in America-DR. ARNOLD.  It
is very grateful to those who have admired and loved Dr. Arnold in
secret, to find that in distant lands and under foreign languages, that
simple, truthful spirit, that warm heart, that free, practical, reverent
mind are equally known and appreciated. Strange, how little is
ever said of the man, and yet how wide and deep is his influence.
Though our American novels were spoken of warmly on this
evening, and one or two of our scientific men, the tone was generally
of pity at our devotion to " the practical," and our neglect of the




MODERN NOVELS.                        139
intellectual. "But it must be;" said one of the learned gentlemen
present, "it will be long before your people have leisure to give
themselves to Art, or to any high intellectual cultivation in one direction.  You must clear the forests first!"
I assured him we were not quite all " pioneers," and that he must
remember the national mind had thus far been most applied, apart
from directly practical subjects, to oratory and politics.  In these, in
specimens of eloquence and in a philosophical understanding of political questions, I thought our short records would bear a very
favorable comparison with the best of classic times.
Besides, with us every man was far more generally furnished with
information than in Germany.  No German ever knew much out
of his particular line of study or business.  I told him, I thought in
practical politics and useful information, he would find our " peasants"
superior often to his learned men. Though under a severe temptation, which every American will sympathize in, I did not gasconade, and they all listened courteously. Indeed, the last thing a
German can ever praise is " the poor Fatherland; " and he is quite
too ready to believe anything good of other countries. "Yes-yesdie Zukunft ist fitr Sie!-The Future is'for you!" said they
gloomily.
" Society is worn out here. Perhaps Europe is to become like
Asia. But you! everything is before you!" and as I wished them
"good evening," the ladies assured me, if they ever were exiled
from the old Fatherland. they would remember first our American
gallantry to the weaker sex.




CHAPTER XV.
THE GERMAN PASTOR.
I WENT' out on a Sunday lately to a pretty modern church in the
Thiergarten, (the great park of Berlin,) where Biichsel preaches.
The church is very fashionable, and almost the only one in the city
which has a full congregation on the Sabbath. There were several
handsome equipages of the nobility at the doors as I came up. I
noticed that most of the pews within, had plates with the owners'
names upon them, and that each family had its own key. The
whole arrangement within-ornament, seats, &c. were modern, much
like those in our best Episcopal churches. There were candles
burning at the altar. Mr. Buchsel is a very simple, effective preacher,
but exceedingly conservative and devoted to the Government. His
sermon was a beautiful, heart-felt discourse, on the "signs of the
times."  He deplored this "Brother war "-this strife of German
with German; spoke feelingly of the dark days which had come to
their beloved Fatherland; of the dangers threatening Prussia, and
the death of the firm, true-hearted old soldier, Count Brandenburg,
a member of his church, who might have done so much to avert
these evils. These were judgments on the country for its atheism
and irreligion; still it was every Prussian's duty to go forth in the
strength of God into this war, on which their very existence as a




A WALK.                         141
nation depended, and He would be with them in their just cause.
As I went out, I fell into conversation with a theological student,
who was just going to be "licensed" as a preacher, but before he
had passed his examen, was summoned to his regiment in the
army! He was sorry, he said, yet he went forth feeling " it was a
war for the Lord 1"
I felt desirous to see how a Pastor lived and worked in Germany;
and a few days after attending this service in Mr. B.'s church, I
took the opportunity to visit one of the prominent clergymen, to
whom I had letters.
Mr. K. lives somewhat out of the city, though still within the
limits, and the walk to his house is a long one. We pass through
a pleasant part of Berlin, which is comparatively new, and where
this stucco on the houses, that looks so rusty and crumbly in other
streets, appears quite handsomely. I suspect that in a dry climate
and dusty situation the stucco never can be made to look well a
long time. In Hamburg, with its moist atmosphere and sea-board
position, houses with this plaster, no older than these in Berlin, made
a far finer appearance. Our walk carries us through one of the large
city gates, with a guard-house on each side. Officers are patrolling
to and fro, prepared to search every hand-cart if necessary, or to
pounce upon the luckless individual who has no passport. There,
just beyond the gates, is the famous Royal iron foundry, where all
those beautiful little iron ornaments which adorn the shop windows
of Berlin are made.
A part of it, it will be noticed, is still under the builders' hands,
the part which was burned down by the people in mere spite in
1848. Few such acts were committed in that Revolution; and




142             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
about this gate was some very exasperating fighting.  Beyond this,
we pass along by the side of the railroad, built almost solely to connect the railway termini, so that in case of emergency cars could
be sent from one to the other to convey troops from a distant part
of the kingdom.  These arrangements are now so complete in Berlin, that tens of thousands of soldiers could be transported in a few
hours from the most extreme provinces to the Capital.  Mr. K.'s
house is a plain, one-story parsonage, with a pleasant little garden
around it.  The church, a modern-looking building, stands close
by: I am shown at once into the " study," which has the somewhat
unusual luxury in Berlin of a small carpet in the middle of the floor.
The walls are lined with well-used books, showing from their titles
that their owner has a strongly orthodox and Lutheran tendency.
There is a very good selection too of English literature; and, as one
almost invariable accompaniment of everyGerman pastor's equipment,
must not be forgotten the long Meerschaum-pipe and the bundle of
choice Hamburger segars to offer to a friend.
Mr. K. is a man of talent and accomplishments, and could have
easily held a position more honored in other professions, and certainly far more comfortable. But he evidently does not think of
his circumstances; his heart is with his work.  And a very considerable work it is.
The parish-the " Gemeinde"-over which he is placed, numbers,
he tells me, 19,000. Of these, be it remembered, every child must
be baptized, and, after it has reached the age of fourteen, "Cconfirmed," or it will be entitled to no civil or legal rights.  As a preparation for the confirmation, each child must receive instructionUnterrichten-in religious subjects two hours a week for two years,
from the pastor. It can be imagined what a task this imposes.
One would suppose also, that the funerals in such an immense parish




BERLIN PARISHES.                    143
would take up a large portion of his time; but in answer to my inquiry he said, that though he had given notice that the offices of a
clergyman were at the service even of the poorest, such was the indifference to religious ceremonies among them, that out of over 500
funerals during the year only about 80 were attended by a pastor.
Large as this parish seems, compared to an American, it is quite
small placed beside some of the parishes of Berlin. I am acquainted
with one clergyman who has only one assistant, whose Gemeinde
numbers 25,000, and there is another neighboring to it containing
between 50,000 and 60,000 persons.  Yet with all this, are their
churches half empty, their weekly meetings scarcely attended, and
all church enterprises almost lifeless.
I asked Mr. K. how he accounted for this extreme indifference
among the lowel classes in Germany to religion. He thought it
the result, he said, of the old. Rationalism, which had now somewhat
left the educated classes and had begun to work among the lower,
and was producing an utter want of faith in anything unseen.
" There was one good aspect to it in Germany," he thought: "there
was no mere resting in forms, such as one sees in England. There
were plenty of Sadducees in Protestant Germany, but very few
Pharisees i"  The class where the purest religious feeling existed
now, he conceived was the aristocratic.  There was more being
practically done now for humanity among the nobility than in any
other grade of society; and he described how ladies of the highest
rank, from the Queen downward, were engaged in these enterprises
of the Innere Mission, and how they frequently left the most elevated stations to join the Protestant institution of -Diakoninnen
(Deaconesses) at Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine, and to give up their
best years to labors of charity. There were not a few, even then,
ladies of noble family, he said, working as common assistants and




[44             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY
religious teachers in the famous Hospital for Females in Berlin, under
the superintendence of the Fraiilein von H-, herself a lady of
rank. The middle-the most intellectual circles-he thought as
yet more, if not unbelieving, at least indifferent.
His own efforts in his parish against this indifference of the lower
classes, appear to have been constant and very comprehensive in
their nature. He has mingled sociably with the people, and has
won very considerably their confidence; and I observed afterwards,
as we walked out, that all the little dirty children from every quarter
run pleasantly up to him to get a shake of the hand.
He believes-in practice at least-in accompanying spiritual reforms with material. Accordingly he has built two houses, corresponding to the model lodging-houses in London, where healthy
quarters are given to the poor at a low rent. Besides these, there
are some other lodgings now being built, where he hopes he can
furnish two rooms, comfortable and dry, for about half a thaler (36
cents) a week. In addition to this,. a savings' society has been established in the Gemeinde, where the poor once a week deposit their
money, and receive it in return at the end of the season in fuel or
provisions, furnished to them at wholesale prices, by which the immense loss of buying at retail price is saved the laborer, and the
temptation to spend, lessened.
Is it noticed how in all the best charities of Europe, that grand
principle of Socialism is applied, of combining, in order to produce
certain advantages to the laborer which shall not bear after them
the bad effect of mere charities?
The above labors would seem to be quite enough for one man to
perform. They are only a small part, however, of what Mr. K. has
taken on himself. Twice a week he or some of his friends deliver
lectures before a Mechanics' Society, which he has formed and pro



A PASTOR'S DUTIES.                   145
vided with a library and newspapers, Once a month -he holds a
meeting for Foreign Missions; twice for Home Missions, together
with divers religious meetings during the week, when he can get any
one to attend. Then he has formed among them a " Society for the
Sick," the members of which devote themselves to caring for the sick
of the parish; a " Temperance Society," to work against the use of
brandy, (not wine); a " Business Society," whose duty it is to provide work for the poor sewing women and weavers out of employ.
In addition to these, by great exertion, a society has been formed to
seek out the workmen who have fallen into difficulty, and to advance
them money. without interest; and also another to take charge of
infant schools, of which there are thlree in the parish. It must not
be supposed, all these societies are managed in the effective way they
aro with us. There is little "voluntary" work among them. Mr.
K.'s energy is probably the only thing which supports and keeps
them alive. Still they accomplish something, and will undoubtedly
do more and more. Besides all these duties mentioned above, there
are two sermons to prepare every week for Sunday, and all the immense business of such a parish to attend to. To assist him is one
curate, and firom six to twelve voluntary co-workers, who take something of the place of our deacons. For such unceasing, anxious
labor, as this must bring, Mr. K. receives, reckoning fees firom baptism, confirmation, and marriage ceremonies as salary, about 800
thalers, that is, not quite 600 dollars, and his assistant perhaps
400 dollars. He smiled at tlte idea, when I asked if the pastor's
salary was ever increased by presents fiom the congregation, and
assured me very few ever took interest enough in the whole cause
to do such things. These various facts he did not relate to me at
all in any whining or melancholy way, but merely as facts which
would be interesting to a stranger; and it was evident he himself
7




146             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
was very little conscious of his self-denial, and very little troubled
by his circumstances in any way.
I inquired in the course of the conversation, how his church was
first built. A company of citizens in that quarter of the city, he
said, came together and petitioned for a church.  The King, in
reply, made inquiries as to whether they could pay any part of the
sum required? They could not, they said. Whether, if the church
was built, they could in any way endow it? "They were utterly
unable to do anything for it," was the answer. Learning that this
was the fact, he built their church, endowed it, and thus became the
Patron of that parish, with the power of choosing their pastor, and
what may be called, the Presbytery. I asked my friend whether he
felt no inconvenience from thus being under the patronage of the
King. " No, most certainly not," he said; " there could be no better." He was left entirely free; and the Presbytery, who aid him
in managing the financial matters of the church, but in nothing else,
were the very best possible men who could be found in the parish.
It appears, they were selected with great care by his predecessor,
and approved by the King. From  what I hear, there seem to be
three modes in Prussia in which a pastor is appointed: —by the
King, as in this instance, where he builds the church, or where the
Gemeinde are on the crown-lands; by some nobleman, who in like
manner has founded the church, and has the privilege, like the
English nobleman, of appointing his own clergyman to the living,
though it should be mentioned here, with thankfulness, that no
English custom exists of letting out the place to poor curates. The
third method is, as in our own churches, the selection of the pastor
by the congregation, which privilege is allowed them where they
have built their own church.
The church of Mr. K. is comparatively a modern-looking build



A PASTOR'S DUTIES.                    147
ing, and has the very unusual luxury among the Berlin churches
of being warmed. In fact, I know nothing in Berlin which gives
one a more vivid idea of the indifference of the population to religious observances than the cheerless, comfortless aspect of the
churches. The opera houses and concert rooms of the city are all
of the most cheerful, comfortable, modern style; but there are not
more than two or three of all the churches where a man can sit
through a morning-service without extreme discomfort, and even
without considerable danger of an attack of rheumatism.
The situation and duties of Mr. K. would correspond very nearly
to those of most German clergymen, except that as he has been
some time in England, he has acquired a more practical, systematic
mode of doing good than most of his brethren. It will be seen that
the place is no sinecure.
My friend's opinions on the state of piety among the upper
classes, expressed in this conversation, are to be taken with great
allowance, as he was an enthusiastic rcyalist. Yet I am disposed to
think, that in the main he was right. There is no doubt, that just
now, "orthodoxy"-evangelical religion-in Prussia, is fashionable;
that is, the King and the highest authorities favor the opinions and
practices in that direction, and this would naturally have its influence. Indeed, all accounts represent the King as sincere in his
outward piety, and as giving very substantial aid-though rather
enthusiastically bestowed sometimes-to these benevolent movements.
His manner, with respect to public worship, is exceedingly simple.
I often notice him on Sunday, walking over from the palace to the
Domkirche (the Cathedral) attended only by a single adjutant, and
dressed like any other army officer, in great blue overcoat, buttoned to
the chin, and with the usual spiked helmet. His whole beawing




148            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
also, during the service, shows the same simplicity, and is very
reverential indeed.
The practice of which my friend spoke, of requiring every child
to receive so much instruction before being confirmed, is a great
task upon the pastor, but it must be of very considerable benefit to
the children. I notice that the children of my landlady, and in
other places where I have been, the children of the lower classes
seem to set a great value on the pastor's teachings, and read for
them beforehand and talk about them afterwards-and I presume
often they get almost their only real " instruction" from him. The
clergymen themselves wonder how any land can ever do without a
law, requiring religious instruction. And one of the first questions
they ask an American, always is, " How can you be sure without a
law, that your lower classes will not grow up utterly irreligious?"
It is not difficult, generally, to explain to them the immense
advantage of our "voluntary system;" but they always take refuge
at last. in the argument, that " it may be all very well adapted for
a young country like America, but it will never do for such a
society as this here!"
I have often asked them, whether there were not some who could
not conscientiously make the "Confession of Faith," required by
law in order to become a citizen. They say, and I suppose justly,
that very few at the age of confirmation (fourteen years) ever have
interest enough in the matter to be very scrupulous. However, I
have one friend whose family took a more honest view of the subject, and brought themselves into very considerable legal difficulties, by refusing to make a "confession" which they could not believe. They escaped annoyance at length, by joining the "Freien
Gemeinden," (German Catholics), though they could not accept all




PETTY TYRANNY.                      149
the doctrines of this sect. Its very simple creed, they could assent
to, and thus received, what at present is a legal " confirmation."
There are cases of great tyranny under this law for enforcing
Baptism and Confirmation. While upon the subject I should not
omit to mention one which has attracted much attention recently,
in Germany and England, and which is certainly one of the most
remarkable instances of petty tyranny on any police record.
It appears on the 31st of March, last year, a child was born at
Seehausen in Prussia, which the father wished to be baptized under
the name of "Jacobi Waldeck," each name being that of a distinguished democrat. The officiating clergyman refused to baptize the
child under such detested names. The father was determined it
should be baptized as a Democrat, or nothing else, and accordingly
was letting it grow lup without the rite.  Such a heathenish state
of things was not to be permitted, and he was summoned before a
court, and a guardian appointed to the child, who was empowered
"to baptize it with or without the names desired" by the father,
according as the Consistory (of clergymen) should determine. They
decided that it should be baptized with the " usual names." The
parents still refused to send the child, and the guardian was proceeding to administer a forced baptism, when the mother with her
babe, suddenly disappeared, and could not be found.
A long search was made, and at length they were both discovered
by the police in the neighboring village of Arendsee. They were
immediately transported by the gens d'armes to Seehausen and put
into prison. From there, at the command of the Biirgermeister,
the child was taken by the soldiers, packed away in a basket, to the
church, and with closed doors, the Btirgermeister and gens d'armes
as witness, it was introduced into the great Christian family; ani in
a few minutes was carried back to its surprised parents a thoroughly




150             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
baptized Christian child! This was not the end of the matter.
The mother, says the legal reporter of the Vossische Zeitung, "has
been summoned before the court, for resistance to an officer of the
government, in the lawful performance of his duty, and has been
sentenced to two months' imprisonment." From later accounts, it
seems she has appealed to a higher court, but the sentence has been
sustained!
Nothing has occurred for years, better fitted to throw light over
the whole system of law in Prussia, and the feelings of certain classes
as connected with if'. Clergymen so horrified at democratic names,
as to be willing to baptize at the point of the bayonet! And courts
able to decide what name a child shall have, and sentencing a mother to the cell of the convict for objecting!




CHAPTER XVI.
PICTURES.
I AM disposed to think Art has reached a higher grade of cultivation in Germany now, than in any other country. Of the fine and
elaborate school, we in America, have had very good specimens in
the Duisseldorf paintings. But in the grand and bold works, one
must go to Berlin or Munich, for the masters. I know nothing in
modern painting, which can equal in genius and boldness, these
frescoes and paintings of KAULBACH and CORNELIUS. T'hey are
the reaction of strong minds against modern frippery. Ornament,
decoration, gaudiness-are nothing.  The thought-the reality
they demand and utter with uncompromising sternness. Beauty!
for beauty is the highest expression-but if that is not possible, let
the truth be bare and strong, is their principle. Not many words,
not many lines, but a few bold and grand strokes!
An excellent specimen of their style, is laulbach's " Battle of the
iuns," in Count Raczynski's Gallery in this city.
There has long been a tradition among various nations that thoss
who perished in some great world-battle, in the very moment of
fierce conflict, met again in fiercer fight after death. There is such
a tradition in regard to a spirit-battle between Attila's army and the
Romans. This picture takes its idea from that tradition. The scene




152             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
is a battle-field, with corpses strown about, and beyond, the towers
and battlements of Rome rising in the distance.  The light is a
pale, cold, unnatural light, like the light of early morning. From
the battle-field the forms of the dead are rising.  They are stupefied, half-unconscious at first; the warrior only faintly clasps the
sword, and the spearman can hardly raise the lance; but as they
comprehend the strange scene above, they seem to burst from  the
earth as if into a new existence.  Imagination never pictured or
scarcely dreamed of such a conception of motion. They do not fly,
nor are they wafted, but they rise with a free, eager movement, as
if their own spirit and passion pressed them  up; as if they had
powers of moving not possessed by man, or were creatures of a new
element. Among the rising forms is a woman's, her face towards Heaven, and her hands clasped together above her head.
The features are hardly visible, but the outline of form is the most
free and graceful, I ever remember to have seen in painting. All
have human features; but there are strange, fearful expressions on
them, and there is something bloodless and unnatural about them
all. Faces once seen, not easily to be forgotten; such as one sees
in night-mare dreams.
Above is passing a strange, terrible scene. On one side, moving
swiftly on through the air, is a host of wild forms-the army of the
Hluns.  At their head, in half-oriental robes, supported by four
slaves on a shield, stands Attila.  He holds a scourge in his hand,
and drives on before him a crowd of fngitives, who are grappling in
fierce fight among themselves, or are fleeing before him, and on
whose faces are the most terrible expressions which the mind ever
dreamed of; looks of unearthly wrath, and fear, and malice, and
revenge.  On the other side are seen the warriors of the Romans,
with noble and dignified faces, but saddened and almost fearful.




BATTLE OF THE HUNS.                      153
They do not move so swiftly; and they look and point at the cross
which is borne in their centre.  Before them, is their king leading
them  on as if to desperate battle; yet still with confidence apparently in the cross. Two timid, youthful forms, his sons, are clinging to his sides. Far in the heights of the air, other forms are struggling, seemingly in fierce conflict, but so mist-like and uncertain
that one can hardly tell whether they are shapes only of the morning clouds, cr the spirits of the dead.  Both armies appear to have
risen from  the field of battle, and others are continually rising to
join passionately in the strife.
There is no coloring scarcely in the picture, except a faint yellow.
But the outlines and expressions are bold beyond anything I have
ever seen in painting. The forms seems as if they might melt away
with the first morning light, yet they are animated with a passion
which is almost superhuman. I do not believe throughout painting,
such intense, absorbing rage and hate is pictured as in those faces,
and always a passion which does not seem to belong to this life.
The first sensation before it is almost of shuddering. You remember the name which mankind gave in fear to this conqueror, " The
Scourge of God;" his own conviction that he was sent by the
Almighty; and the traditions even among the Christians of his connection with the Unseen. And as you gaze at the wild, dream-like
picture, a feeling crosses over the mind, not easy to describe or account for. A glimpse for a moment as it were into what is not
of earth.
I have always been much interested in galleries, in studying bhe
different religious conceptions of painters.  The large Musaem gallery of Berlin, though containing no great works of art, is excellent
7*




154            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
for this purpose, as it gives the best historical exhibition of painting
in Europe, beginning from its Byzantine origin, down to the latest
Dutch and Flemish masters.
In the very earliest of this collection, one finds little beauty of
coloring or gracefulness of outline; but there is an intensity of fervor,;
an earnestness in their conceptions of the unseen, which puts at defiance all the more refined spiritualizing of later masters. You are
very sure they meant what they painted. And when a drunkard
in the future world is pictured as tied to two hideous devils, while
liquid fire is pumped into his mouth by another devil, you are quite
sure the artist's idea of punishment was an earnest one, to say the
least.  They are very material, all of them; and I have often
thought in walking among these works of theirs, that it would make
a man skeptical to think of them much. Still it is a terrible materialism, the materialism of a Dante, or of Job in his pictures of
Deity. Every form or image which can convey a disagreeable or
painful idea, is used to represent the sufferings of the wicked in the
future world.  Hideous toads are swallowing them-serpents with
disgusting human faces are winding themselves around themcreatures for which there is no countertype, except in the creations
of nightmare, are crawling over them. The revellers are havingi
their orgies over again with lizards, and worms, and scorpions. The
gluttons are crammed with loathsome substances. Others are sawed
and turned on wheels, and crushed and roasted.
In their conceptions of future happiness they are not so striking.
Perhaps it is less revolting to give material representations of pain
than of pleasure. One is shocked, too, to see Deity itself pictured
as a gray-headed old man.  Their only heaven is an assemblage of
immense numbers of simple-looking winged beings, with harps and
violins and hand-organs; or rows of comfortable monks who ars




SPIRITUAL  CONCEPTIONS.                   155
saved by angels from the abyss below. Still with all their stiffness
and bareness of coloring, and material conceptions, there is such an
evident fervor about those oldest masters of the Berlin Gallery, such
a devotion, and such an affection, that they must ever be dear to
the student of art.
When one gets down as far as Rubens, the representations are
not so much of material torture as of expressions of pain, and of
faces with demoniac malice.  Beautiful female forms, with his wonderful flesh-coloring, are clasped and hurried away by demons, who
look back with that terrible scowl of malignity which Rubens alone
can fully give; or faces are just seen through the darkness, writhed
in contortions of pain.
In nothing have all the painters made so many attempts as in
their picturing of the spiritual world, and in nothing have they
shown themselves so inferior in the genius of expression to the great
artists of language.  Angels have again and again been attempted,
from the beautiful, intellectual-looking youths of the Diisseldorf
school, and the winged, Cupid-like children for which all the
painters, religious and profane, have such a strange affection, up to
the abnormal creatures of the earlier masters, composed only of
round heads and large wings, but never scarcely in a single instance
do they give one the idea of a spiritual being-of a higher existence under different laws. Perhaps the very appearance of wings
immediately forces on us the idea of animals; or perhaps their own
highest ideal of angels was of pure, happy children. Raphael has ascended very high in his ideal when he merely paints children with
an expression of intelligence and affection, unnatural to their years.
I am not surprised that the painters have thrown so much of
their highest religious ideals, into the picturing of Christ as a
child.




156             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
It was, perhaps, their unconscious thought, that God can easiest
touch the sin-hardened heart, through the purity and simplicity of
childhood.
Of CHRIST himself, no artist has ever had even a faintly adequate
conception.  It was some womanly monk's imagination, not the
Bible, which has first traced the effeminate, sentimental features,
that now cover the canvas through the schools of all ages. If those
pages picture anything, it is a dignified Manhood; a character of
strong and indomitable purpose; a nature filled indeed with boundless affections, but capable of the most sweeping indignation, and
stern in inflexible Truthfulness. The Christ of the Bible is not the
Christ of Art.
Still, with all the enjoyment which I have derived from European
Art, I must say, I turn from it with a sense of disappointment. Not
alone from the eternal disappointment of the soul with its ideal;
but I had no thought that Painting, as an art of expressing human
feelings, was so much below the power of expression in Words.
Beside the great Painters in language, the most gifted Artists are
poor. In all the range of painting, there are no lines of passion,
such as Shakspeare draws.  No such absorbing, hopeless sorrow;
no such fierce, sweeping passion. There are no faces on the canvas
which are half so noble, as those which look upon us from the pages
of Schiller or of Scott.
There is so much, too, of superficiality, of want of earnestness
about the best painting.  Relpenting Magdalenas are painted, and
you forget all idea of the repentance in the beauty. Scenes of sorrow are drawn, and the eye is caught and absorbed in beautiful
costume and graceful posture; and the great idea disappears. Then
the greatest of artists have devoted their talents to such ignoble
subjects; to conceptions which only could have arisen from a people




DEFECTS.                        157
altogether unmanned by luxury. It seems strange-one can
hardly understand it-that a painter so gifted as Correggio, could
employ his wonderful conceptions of beauty, and his power of soft,
dreamy coloring, to consecrate subjects which would disgrace the
foulest page of Grecian mythology, or of modern French literature.
Rubens, too, of grosser and stronger nature, has given too often his
life-like coloring and power of vivid expression to scenes which
should have passed away with the sickly imagination which gave
them birth. In truth, I have sometimes thought that these old
Grecian conceptions, however much they have embodied themselves
in the most beautiful forms of art, have done almost as much
evil as good. It has needed centuries before Painting could break
loose from them; and modern sculpture and the forms of monumental record, have not even yet reached any originality under them.
But it is not alone mythology, which is searched for its most
debasing dreams. Everything in the Jewish History, wtnich was
the fruit of a wild age; every deed of lust and blood and unnatural crime which the Bible has recorded as a warning, is worked
over and again, with delighted pencil, till the mind sickens of the
Art, which could so revel in such scenes.
Not that painting should be a hieroglyphic art. Beauty will
always have its own wonderful language-even if no other idea be
expressed —a language, telling of the highest and most solemn
thoughts. But Art can only reach its highest point; can only
compete with its kindred, Poetry and Oratory, when the language
from beauty of line and color and shading, all unite in expressing
intensely and directly the one great Idea of the painter, and that
idea is such as can thrill the noblest and purest feelings of the
human heart,




CHAPTER XVII.
DRESDEN.
Nov. 1850-1.
I HAVE djtermined to vary my winter in Berlin, by an excursion
to the other cities of North Germany. The weather is very bad
now for travelling, as it rains almost every day. My objects, however, are so much in-doors, and so little with the usual "sights,"
it does not trouble me. I have taken lodgings at once here in
Dresden, as being much the quietest and cheapest mode of living.
My principal object was to study Art for a few days in this quiet
citv, but I find everything in the greatest turmoil. My readers will
remember that the little Kingdom of Saxony-not numbering so
large a population as the State of New York-lies as a most tempting bait, right between the two great powers of Austria and Prussia,
and it has been the jealousy alone of each toward the other, which
has prevented its being swallowed up long ago. Well, at this present time, the King has taken it into his head to reverse the authority of the old Diet, and has allied himself with Austria, with whom
are also his religious sympathies. His people, who are mostly
Protestants, sympathize more with Prussia, but they have been
obliged to yield, and the Saxon army has been mobilized, to give
their assistance to the old Confederation.  As Saxony lies in the
direct line of the Austrians into Cassel, or of the Prussians towards




SAXONY.                        159
Vienna, there is naturally no little fear that their quiet, inoffensive
territory may be the teriible battle-ground of foreign nations, as it
has been so often before. Beside, the treasures collected by the old
Saxon Kings and placed here in Dresden, would be altogether too
great a temptation for the most virtuous government of Europe,
provided there was once a war. Indeed, the jewels alone of the
Griine Gewblbe (Green Vaults), would pay the expenses of Prussia
for years to come. Accordingly, everything of value among the
works of art, which can be carried off, is being packed up and sent
away to the old fortress, where they rested so securely during all
the fighting and plundering of Napoleon's wars-the fortress of
K.niqgstein, on the Elbe, the only one in Europe which has never
been taken-the old shelter of the Saxon Kings and Saxon treasures,
and upon which, even the storm of war in 1812 and'13 made no
impression.  The whole kingdom is aroused, and as I came on from
Berlin, I could see masses of troops all along near the borders,
ready to beset the railroad, in case of an attack of the Prussians.
Through the town, too, there is a continued marching of companies
of " J ager" or of cavalry, all attired for a rough campaign, on towards
the Prussian boundaries. Andc beside these, horses and wagons,
and heavy cannon, and an unceasing stream of straggling'soldiers,
over the old bridge so famous in Napoleon's great battle here, and
all the accompaniments which an approaching war brings with it.
It will give an idea of the weight which these petty governments
lay upon the people in Germany, to examine briefly the statistics of
Saxony.
The whole population of this kingdom numbered last year, (1849)
1,894,431, or about half the population of the State of New York.
The total expenses of government for the last three years, have
amounted to about $5,720,000 per annum. Yet the whole civil




160             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
and diplomatic expenses of the United States per annum, are
only $7,339,000. The annual duties and taxes amount to over
$3,611,000. The public debt is about $16,830,000. Before 1848,
the Saxon army according to the laws of the German Confederation,
numbered 13,000 men, together with 6,000 men in reserve.
In 1849, the new Federal allotments required two to every hundred of the population, so that the regular forces reached the number of 36,546, and 72 cannon. Out of the 1,894,000 inhabitants,
more than 1,857,000 are Protestants, and yet they are saddled with
a Roman Catholic Government. The old grandeur of Saxony has
been very much reduced in this century  and the truly noble devotion of her king to Napoleon, during all his calamities, has cost her
some of her finest territory, and occasioned in [814 immense losses
to her capital.
I have been surprised at the difference which mere political situation makes in the character of a people. It did not need a day's
intercourse with my friends and acquaintances, to show that I was
among an entirely different population, from  what I had seen in
Prussia. Saxony has been a small, unimportant country, having
most to fear from contentions, and very little to expect in war, so
that gradually the whole nation has acquired a peaceful, ease-loving,
almost effeminate character. National pride it has not-only national fear; and the whole mind and strength of the country have
turned to art and quiet intellectual pursuits. The proud, manly
characters of the Prussians, one does not find here. Their scholars
do not, as in Berlin, interest themselves in political matters. They
"rather hide their heads in their books and specimens," that they
may not hear the storms which are raging all around them. Every
one you meet at such a time as this, is fearful or desponding, and
one longs to inspire a little of the Anglo-Saxon pluck into them.




ARTISTS.                         161
How constantly everywhere in Germany, do the evils of this
miserable system of little separate governments, come before my
eye! It is as if every State in our Union were a distinct petty kingdom, with its own separate administration, its own expenses, its
own tyranny too and hold over the people.  All the burdens of a
great government and none of its power! May God preserve our
Union from ever splitting into the petty and factious and inefficient
Principalities of the German Confederacy!
As I said before, everything was in confusion, and the most valuable articles of vertu packed up. By good luck, they had not begun
on their picture gallery, and through the kindness of friends I
gained admission and have been able to study its beautiful collection every day. The fine collection of plaster casts, and the tasteful,
though rather meagre gallery of antique statues, was also untouched.
I was kindly introduced also to the ateliers of the various painters,
a cultivated, really original set of men. These artists are among
the most celebrated in Europe, though they do not have the mutual assistance of a school, to press their pictures forward, as the
Diisseldorf. Wherever I meet artists in Europe, I am most pleased
to see that so many are men of earnestness and intellectuality-and
with noble ideas of their profession. And among the continental
artists, I have certainly not found, that a dissolute life and devotion
to art, are at all necessary companions, according to the old prejudice.
Still I may be permitted to express the wish without impertinence.
that among men of such generous purposes, for the sake of themselves and humanity, and for the sake of that noble Art, which they
study, there might be a deeper religious character.
Art is not, in these days, fulfilling its highest destiny. And




162            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
there are means of elevating humanity-not yet essayed —which
belong alone to its field, and which the cause of Progress cannot do
without.
HESSE-CASSEL.
December, 1850.
As the Conferences of Olmiitz have just finishet. and as the Conferences which are to determine the condition of Germany for the
next year, are to be held in Dresden within a few days, it may be
proper here to speak briefly of the matters in dispute.
It will be remembered, that during this last year, there have been
two German Unions-the Austrian in the form of the old Bund,
represented at Frankfort, and the Prussian, represented at Erfurt.
The little principality of iHesse-Cassel at first joined the Prussian.
But the Elector, being in want of money, and not being able to collect it in a constitutional manner, thought the old Confederacy, naturally, more suited to his purpose, and left the Prussian for the
Austrian.
Twice he demanded supplies, not permitted by the budget, and
the Chambers refused and were adjourned. The country was now
put under martial law, though army and officials and people protested against such an arbitrary act. The Elector persevered, confident of his game, and appealed to Austria for aid.
The people, on the other hand, appealed to Prussia, and Prussian
troops were ma:ched in to protect this member of the separate
Union (Sonderbund.)
The threats and bold bearing, and the sudden retreat of Prussia
have already been incidentally mentioned. Her present position will




THE  CONFERENCE.                      163
best appear from the results of this conference between Schwarzenberg and Manteuffel, at Olmiitz, (November 29, 1850).
These are thus reported: —. That each government, together
with its allies, shall appoint Commissioners to meet in Dresden, for
the final settlement of all these difficulties.  2. That, in order to
preserve order in Hesse-Cassel, the troops which the Elector may
call in,' shall have the right of passing over the Prussian military
roads, and that, for the after preservation of law and order, one battalion of Prussians, and one of Austrians, shall be allowed to remain
in the kingdom. Next, that Commissioners from each government,
shall proceed to Holstein and attempt to induce the government of
the Duchies to reduce their army, and withdraw their forces behind
the Eyder, and also endeavor to persuade the Danish government to
send in no more troops into Holstein than shall be absolutely necessary for the establishment of order.
These are the principal points of the agreement. H:ow do they
compare with the former claims of Prussia? It will be remembered
the Prussian government has always asserted that the old Union
did not at all represent Germany, and, accordingly, had no right to
interfere in the affairs of a member of the new Union and an ally of
Prussia. This is altogether waived, and the legal existence of the
Bundestag is acknowledged; or if not, it is quite clearly implied, in
the authority conceded to herl. Prussia had objected also to any invasion of Cassel, on the ground that she alone had the right of passage through the kingdom; and that any stationing of foreign troops
there would be in effect the separating her Rhenish Provinces from
the central.  Here, however, such invasion is not only allowed, but
the use of the " Military Roads " given to the foreign armies.  She
had claimed beside, that the cause of the Duchies was a just one.
Her armies had fought for it, and her soldiers and means had sup



164            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
plied the insurgent troops.  She had acknowledged their rightful
independence, and had claimed Holstein as a part of the new German Union. This too is all quietly abandoned, and the deputies
will induce the men, whomu    a year ago they honored as patriots
strucggling  for their rights, to forsake their cause —" to withdraw
their troops behind the Eyder! "-in other words, to hasten as fast
as they can from a land where they are rebels and traitors! This
is the result of Prussian diplomacy! Can we wonder at some slight
discontent on the part of people, who have not learned this rapid
diplomatic mode of changing facts?
In the mean time, now goes it with poor Cassel?  The country
is not a rich one, and, in the best of times, the people have a hard
work to live. Now, not only has their court, with its profits, been
dispersed, but, in the first place, an immense force of the Prussians
has been quartered upon them.  The Prussians have acted kindly;
still of coulse, they consumed enormously the substance of the land.
Now the Prussians retire, and close upon their heels, the Bavarians
pour in over the land; more greedy, less friendly to the people.
They encamp in their houses; they consume their carefully saved
provisions, force the peasants to give up their horses for the cavalry,
and are, in fact, bringing the country near upon a famine; so that
in some parts, the price of provisions has arisen beyond all parallel.
No sign of yielding, however, appears as yet in that quiet, but most
steady population. The officers of the army, to the number of sevcral hundreds, have thrown up their commissions and have left
themselves and families without any means of support, rather than
help to violate the Constitution which they have sworn to obey.
Deputies of high character have gone on from Prussia, to induce
the members of the Chambe'a to assent only in part to some of the
unconstitutional demands of the Elector. But in vain. The people.




A  NOBLE  RESISTANCE.                     65
know their right; and, very quietly, but with a firmness infinitely
nobler than any noisy courage, they stand by it.  I have alluded to
this resistance before. I never can think of it without a thrill of
sympathy and admiration for that suffering and unyielding people.
I do not believe History can give a parallel of a resistance to oppression so reasonable and so deeply founded.  One wonders, as he
looks at it, how the usual passions and excitement of men have been
governed, that they could act so wisely and carefully. An open rebellion would have laid their country in a day, under an overpowering army of either Austrians or Bavarians, and the tyrannical,
stupid old Elector would have been reinstated more firmly than
ever. They have simply rested on their Constitution, and have tried
the virtues of passive resistance. They are suffering merely for
their rights.  In my opinion, a better act for constitutional progress
has not been done this century, than this quiet resistance of the
Hessians. The spectacle of a whole people, calmly and rationally
letting their land be trampled and wasted of almost its last morsel,
by foreign armies, rather than yield an item of their Constitutional
rights, has something in it, rather grand, and gives men the impression that there must be something hare worth defending!
Of course the only result can be defeat-defeat by the overpowering brute-force of Austria-another act in that sad, sad drama,
which began with Italy and Hungary; and which will endwhere?
As I see more and more of these wrongs in Europe, I find myself praying with tears, "RHow long, 0 Lord! Is this heart-crushing
Tyranny to be forever?  Shall the day ever come when these oppressions, and this'.ampling on Freedom and Justice, and crushing of men's rights, cease 2 Shall these brave,. free hearts, who have




166            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
struggled and suffered so long for Germany, have no ray, no glim
mer of hope?"
HIs ways are not to be judged from a year or a century. We
will not doubt. Wrong and violence triumph now among men;
yet not for ever, as He is good!
In the words of the mournful old chaunt of the Jews, " Even in
our day, 0 Lord! even in our day, build again Jerusalem! "




CHtAPTER XIX.
HALLE —STUDENT-LIFE.
Dec.:850.
THERE arc not many more disagreeable places in Germany than
Halle in winter.  The streets are narrow, and get little of the sunlight in them. The mud and water settles in the thoroughfares,
and never runs off, and the luxury of dry, level sidewalks is altogether unknown-what ale called "sidewalks" being jagged, macadamized paths, which are quite as muddy as the streets. The
town, too, has an old, worn, dreary look, which might be interesting
in another season, but is gloomy in this. Still, despite all this, for
myself I am enjoying Halle quite as much as if it were a more
beautiful place. It is a University town, and as is usual in such
places, a cultivated, learned society has gathered in it. I could not
form  any very definite opinion of the tone of society in Halle,
though, apparently the same fact holds here which does usually
in exclusively literary towns:-that society becomes one-sided and
less interesting, where there is not a mingling in it of men of various
pursuits.
One of the literati, to whom  I had letters, was Dr. Tholuck, and it happened the first night, as I called on him, I
stumbled in on a little exercise which is quite peculiar to him. It
seems he has always been very desirous of becoming intimately
acquainted with the students, and for that purpose allows some to




168            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
live in his family, and takes them with him on his travels, and is
very familiar with them.
With the same object he has commenced during the last year or
two, a kind of conversational meeting, where, however, he usually
does most of the talking.  There was such a meeting that night in
one of his parlors, and as I came into the crowded room, he was
giving an animated description of a journey he had taken the last
summer in Wiirtemberg.
In personal appearance he has decidedly a scholarly air, with a
fine forehead and keen eye, though in size he is somewhat small.
He spoke with a clear, deep voice, much deeper than one would
have expected from his reduced frame. He told, first of his travelling, then of the great meeting of the friends of the " Inner Mission" in Stuttgart (the Kirchentag, as they call the meeting), of
the hospitality of the citizens, and the intense interest of all in the proceedings; then of their own discussions in the assembly, and the
narrow escape they had from making it merely an arena of political
contests, especially with reference to the Schleswig-Holstein question. Something of the objects and the great results, also, of the
Inner Mission, were touched upon; and finally, he came to what
was the more especial subject of his remarks-the former condition
of the Universities.  He spoke of Halle, of his connection with it,
of the command which some five-and-twenty years ago came to him
from the king, to take a professorship in that University which had
so abandoned the faith of its fathers.  He loved Berlin, he said;
in Berlin was his home. His old friends, and many who sympathized deeply in his religious views, were there. He dreaded to
leave it. In Halle, among a large and influential corps of learned
men, there was only one pastor and a superannuated" Candidat,"
who could in any way stand by him. He was to go there, a young




THOLUCK.                        169
man, with unpopular opinions, to stem the general tide of Rationalism. He had many fears, but he at length resolved to attempt it.
He then described in a most amusing manner, the condition of the
University at the time of his coming-the universal rowdyism
among the students; the highflown religious instruction, and transcendental tone even in prayer, so that the common people used to
look on, almost stupefied. At first, he said, he only had four
students who embraced the views he was supporting, and three of
these were not especially remarkable for intellectual acumen, and
the fourth rather prided himself on his deep religious struggles.
Rationalism was all the vogue. To be an " Orthodox" was the
mark either of a " Dummkopf" (dolt), or a "g'Fanatiker" (fanatic).
In all that concerned Christian faith and practical religion the
University was almost lifeless.
He did not relate the result of his labors. But it may not be
unknown in America, that Tholuck's influence under a Higher, has
been the means of almost Christianizing Halle. With a mind
fresh and interesting-even if not always strictly logical-with a
learning of wonderful extent and variety, and all the accomplishments of a " man of the world," it is not surprising he has gained
a deep influence over the students and the University at Halle.
The simple, humble, practical piety, too, which spoke out all
through this speech, has worked its way among the minds here;
and instead now of their being but one Professor with what are
called " evangelical views," the whole Faculty, nearly, are of that
school, and the exceptions are the Rationalists. Tholuck's orthodoxy, too, is not of that strict, narrow kind, which one finds now
occasionally in Germany, as a re-action from Rationalism-the
orthodoxy which dreads inquiry and forbids freedom. It is evident, his mind works freely on all religious questions. Some
8




170             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
thoughts of his, of late, on a subject whose philosophical theory
demands an investigation from earnest minds everywhere-" Inspiration"-have called forth no little opposition from certain orthodox
quarters.
The close of his remarks consisted mostly of heartfelt advice on the difficulties peculiar to students-the conceit and selfconfidence they are liable to, and the discouragement they will often
feel in struggling with their defects, and the strange struggle which
with them, as with all, rages between what they desire for the
moment and what they desire really; what they "would," and
what they "do." His tone was deep and full of feeling; and the
earnestness of his manner and thought must have reached every
heart.
I was considerably surprised in what I saw of Tholuck that evening. I had expected to find an elegant, somewhat mystical scholar,
with no especial practical bias whatever. All his remarks, however,
showed a keen knowledge of human nature, and even a somewhat
humorous eye for its weaknesses. He had evidently been among
men, and. knew something of the art of managing them. As a
speaker and preacher, too, he must be a man of no inconsiderable
power. Perhaps fault might have been found with his speaking so
often of himself; but, after all, when a man has accomplished so
much as he has, it seems to me he ought to have the liberty of telling of it.
I found, while in Halle, that there were several Americans there,
very intelligent, gentlemanly fellows. Through them I was made
acquainted with the students.  We met a circle of them first, at a
"coffee party" in the afternoon. They were hand and glove with
us in a few minutes; most social, easy men. A kind of romance
and enthusiasm, too, about them, which is very refreshing. One of




A' COFFEE PARTY."                    171
them told me, that no student ever saluted another with " Guten
Abend!" (Good evening), but always " Guten Morgen!" (Good
morning), as "with them it was always morning!"
We discussed politics; they were enthusiastic for freedom, but
evidently had rather vague ideas of it. I told them, that " they,
like all the Germans, did not have confidence enough in the people."
They allowed it, and said they had no reason for it, thus far in
European revolutions. We explained to them our system in
America; and, after some discussion, they admitted its success, and
very politely too, that we were "the most unprejudiced set of
Americans they had met."
The walls of the room were covered with various spruce little
figures of students, in outline or charcoal sketching. On inquiry,
it appeared, these were the heroes of the respective " Corps" or
Secret Societies in former years, and that their fame was thus transmitted to posterity. After a very sociable afternoon together, in
which coffee enough was absorbed and cigars smoked to have
shattered irretrievably the nervous constitution of any one but a
German, we adjourned to a lecture, from which they promised us
much entertainment. It was from ERDMANN, and one of the regular Historical Course-subject, " Student Life."
It was amusing to hear such a subject as this, carefully and
laboriously analyzed, and the effect of it, as one element of German institutions, so closely traced. According to the lecturer the
student was the " Aristocrat" of German life-in the class which
possessed the most peculiar privileges and influence.  Without
going minutely into the lecture, I would say that the idea
throughout was not that the student was a man of the world and
with the responsibility and aims of other men, but that he was a
member of a peculiar class-a class whose distinct existence was




172             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
necessary to the welfare of the other classes of the country; and
that, therefore, any sinking of the importance of this body, as occurs
in a large city, or any uniting it with other classes, was very much
to be deprecated.
I told our German friends, in returning home, that such a lecture
could never apply to our country; that the students never have
formed a distinct class with us, and we hoped they never would.
We would prefer them to be like the other citizens of the State,
and many of us found it one of the greatest evils of our sytemn now,
that College-men knew so little of the world.
They replied, and very justly, I think, that in Germany almost
the only class which contains within it any free and independent
principles, is the student-class. " We should have had no Resurrection of Germany in 1814," said they, "if it had not been for the
universal movement among the students; and in'48, it was the
students who headed the Revolution everywhere, and who stirred
up the People!"
It is true, without doubt, that in Northern Europe, and even in
Austria, the Universities, beyond all other Institutions of the State,
are the repositories of free and noble ideas. The student is a sacred, inviolable personage, whose rights even the Austrian police
dare not as yet invade; and we do not deny that any merging of
these universities into other Institutions, or breaking down of the
guards which they have thrown around themselves, is to be deeply
deplored by the friends of Freedom. Still, I could not avoid thinking in this conversation, though I said nothing, that it was a bad
sign for a country, when its boys are the leaders of its Revolutions.
In America and Hungary, it was the prime of the manhood which
headed the struggle. And that it did not speak very favorably for
the boasted influence of these Institutions that the Radical of the




STUDENT MANNERS.                     173
University, so soon became a Conservative after leaving it; and
that a government-office had with the majority such a tranquilizing
and soothing influence over their enthusiastic ideas of Human
Freedom.
In parting with my friends in the evening, I felt as if I had known
them for years, and they assured me in the most handsome manner, that I was made for a student, and that I had "die echte
Deutsche Gutmiithigkeit! " (the genuine German good nature!)
I notice in Halle, and in Leipsic also, more of the genuine
student-costume than in Berlin, or in many other university towns,
The high jack-boots, reaching up to the thigh, the jaunty little red
or yellow caps, just set on the front part of the head, and the velveteen coats with curious devices, figure everywhere in the streets.
Here, as everywhere, the students seem to differ very little in age
from our own, though I understand the average age of entering at
Halle is about nineteen, which perhaps is a little higher than in
some of the New England colleges.
I like very much the bearing of the Professors and students toward one another, in these Universities. The manners are gentlemanly, but nothing more. There is no repelling distance on one
side, or excessive deference on the other. They walk together and
meet each other in society, and make excursions in company in summer; and the feeling between them is of friends, though of friends
differing in years and experience.
It is rather amusing to see how the students in the lecture-room
govern themselves, and indeed the Professor too sometimes. If a
man comes in late, or makes any unusual noise, so that they cannot
hear the lecturer, he is hissed in a manner which is decidedly unpleasant; and if the lecturer himself speaks so fast that they do not




174             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
catch the idea, a sort of " hush " always passes around, and the unintelligible passage is repeated.
One evening while I was there I was invited to what is called a' Verbindung " among the students. My readers may know that
all the students through the German universities, who are members
)f a " Chor," have what they call the " Kneipen," a social party,
where they smoke and sing and drink beer in a way which would
alarm a veteran toper. I was present in one at Heidelberg, and a
more senseless, stupid, beer-swilling performance I have never seen
in any tap-room of England.
It has been the desire of Dr. Tholuck and some others here, that
something different might be formed, especially among the theological students, and that a society might be started in which any
religious student could have social enjoyment, and at the same time
sympathy in higher matters. Accordingly with this idea, the Verbindung was formed, and I suppose the majority of the members
are theological students. As I came in, I found a company of
some thirty or forty seated at a long table, each with his mug of
beer and pipe before him, and all in the most animated conversation. I have hardly ever seen a more intelligent, genial-looking set
of men, and the conversation was really very interesting, and often
serious in tone. They evidently met, after hard study, for relaxation, and though there was great liveliness, there was no kind of excess. The evening was varied with some amusing mock-auctions,
and various songs which were sung with the greatest spirit. One
patriotic song, in which the valor of the Prussians was the theme,
was sung again and again in a manner which showed something
more than common interest in it. I observed that there were a few
who took no part in it-probably students from  South Germany
who sympathized with the Austrians.




THEOLOGICAL  PARTY.                        175
About eleven o'clock, I left the party, with very agreeable impres~
sions of the Verbindung as compared. with the Kneipen, and with
the chorus of the valorous song, ringing long after through my
dreams that night:
" Die Preussen sind da! Die Preussen sind da 1"
U For the Prussians are there I The Prussians are there 1"




CHAPTER XIX.
UNIVERSITIES-   *  *       *  HANOVER.
I CANNOT leave Halle without expressing my sense of the contrast between the American and the German Universities.
Whatever our Colleges may have done, they have certainly in
one respect proved a failure-they have never succeeded in producing
any genuine intellectual enthusiasm whateyer, among the mass of the
students. I never yet met a set of College-men in America, who
took any deep interest in their pursuits. The idea with most is,
that College-life is a kind of wearisome sea voyage-the great
object lying beyond-and that their first duty to the studies is to
get rid of them. With some of the best minds, half of the most
laborious efforts of the four years are spent in gulling tutors, and
rushing through recitations on small capital. If the lesson is broken
up, or the lecture put off, it is considered a victory. The teacher
is the student's natural enemy in  our Colleges. Those  who
do study, work so mechanically, for " honors," or under some
equally unworthy motive, that it is hard to imagine any high
intellectual interest in the pursuit. The thing is the more remarkable, as in all the intellectual pursuits of active life. we find in
America, the most absorbed enthusiasm and activity. But the
moment we enter a Coilege, even among men no younger than




AMERICAN  UNIVERSITIES.                    177
those without, it is all changed. The student's business is a bore-a
task —a punishment —and the sooner it is over the better.
There are exceptions to these remarks; but I am sure that in
their general truth, I shall have the agreement of the mass of College graduates throughout the country, whether they care to express
it or not.
The appearance of things in a German University is utterly different, and one sees at once that the common idea of their pursuits,
is quite another from that of our students at home. There is the
deepest attention in the lectures. The students constantly discuss
and talk over their studies.  There is as much enthusiasm among
them for an abstract theme, or a scientific subject they are investigating, as there is among the politicians or the business men without, in their pursuits. This studying is their business, their profession, and they know it; and the mass of them would no more
think of shirking lectures, than a botanist would of getting rid of
his flowers, or a lawyer of his briefs.
The feeling towards the teachers, too, is very different. With
less outward deference than with us, there is a far deeper love and
reverence —a feeling that these are great men among them, who are
helping them on to higher stages of knowledge, and that any assistance from them is a kindness, and that their intercourse and instruction is a privilege to be received with gratitude.
I am aware that there are many exceptions to this, especially
among the " corps members," and exceptions there naturally would
be, where so many attend the University merely because it is required by their station in society; but among the great majority of
those who enter the institution-as with us-for the sake of education, and who expect to gain their livelihood by their intellectual
efforts, I am confident there is generally this high intellectual en8*




178              SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
thusiasm, an enthusiasm which seems to me almost utterly wanting
in our colleges.
The causes of this difference will not be found in the greater youth
of our students, as contrary to my expectation, there is very little
difference in years. Nor will it altogether in the different nature of
the studies pursued, as the last half of our course corresponds almost
precisely with a part of the course in a German university. The
great and prominent reason of this difference is in the fact that the
German system is, from beginning to end, a voluntary system. No
student is obliged to attend lectures.  No account is taken of presence or absence. No strict supervision is maintained over him with
respect to his studies. The whole matter is left to his own sense of
responsibility, or his interest in the subjects taught.  He is treated
at once as a man-as a reasonable and responsible man.  And the
effect is, with a few exceptions, what we might expect-lie acts like
one. The idea is not in any way brought before his mind, that the
studies are a task-a burden, placed on him by another. He can
stay away or attend, as he chooses. The whole impression left is
that study is a privilege, an intellectual pleasure.
This is not the idea in our colleges.  And whether this be the
right explanation or not of the difference, the fact is worth considering. And it is worth considering, also, that where the voluntary
system is tried, as in our professional schools, the intellectual life,
the enthusiasm for study, is far higher than what appears under the
other system.
We know that against the evils mentioned here, many of the
teachers of ouir colleges have struggled long and earnestly. That
more than anything else, they have labored to infuse into college
life a higher moral enthusiasm. If they have not succeeded, the
fault, with many, has been in the system, not in themselves.




MAGDEBURG.                         179
No one can doubt, of course, that even with these defects, our college system has done much for the thought of the country.  But
in my opinion, the great benefit of the course, the highest intellectual life, will be found to be not so much from the regular studies
as from the contact of the students' minds with one another, from
the general intercourse, from  the "voluntary studies," and from
those literary and debating societies which form the most original
feature of our college course.
From Halle, I travelled by rail to Magdeburg, on my course to
Hanover. I was interested to see the old city which had borne so many
terrible sieges, and which is destined yet, if another European war
takes place, to play an important part. It is probably the largest
fortified town in Europe, and would require an army of more than
50,000 men to thoroughly invest it. Its importance consists in its
artificial defences, and in its commanding the line of the Elbe. As
I studied from the high Cathedral tower its long green lines of fortifications, and saw how marsh and river, and every contrivance of
art defended it, I wondered more than ever at that utter prostration
of the Prussian nation in 1806, which had delivered it almost without a stroke to Napoleon. There were heavy masses of soldiers in
various parts of the defences, in preparation for the coming war, so
that the war-like picture was complete.
From this city, a pleasant ride on the railroad carried me to Hanover, where I spent a few days most happily. I cannot refrain here
from expressing my obligations to Prof. Oesterly, the court painter
of Hanover, a most accomplished and truly religious artist, to whose
courtesies I owe some very pleasant hours in the city. Everywhere
that I went among the citizens, I heard accounts of their gruff,




180            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
honest, indomitable old king.*  He had come there (in 1837) from
England, determined to govern absolutely, not so much because he
objected to popular principles, as because he wanted his own way.
The reputation which preceded him was notoriously bad. A brutal,
imperious man; brave indeed, but under strong suspicions of having murdered his own valet; and disgraced by the worst immoralities —to such a degree, that he could not appear in the public
streets of London, without being "groaned."  His fame had not
belied him, for he commenced a most unprovoked attack at once on
the Constitution of'33, under the pretext of reverting to that of'19.
The great fault of the former, in his eyes, being that one of its provisions declared the "incapacity of any heir to the throne who
suffered under a physical or moral defect."  His only son was blind.
The country resisted his efforts, especially for the reason, that the
last Constitution gave a control over the finances to the ministry.
Many of the cities refused to send deputies to the Parliament, under
the old Constitution. And several of the most prominent professors at Gbttingen entered a public protest against this violation of
the people's rights. Resistance only inflamed the imperious old
man; and he swore, that he would leave them no Constitution at
all. The Parliament was declared dissolved, and the professors
were banished. The contest continued for some years between
King and People, until the former had carried all his points, and his
subjects had settled down into a discontented submission. Then,
very characteristically, when not forced, he restored of his own
accord many of their old privileges. The administration of justice
was reformed; an,. though the old Englishman was arbitrary, it
was found soon, he was always on the side of the poor man and of
justice. He managed his own finances too, without a responsible
* Ernest Augustus, formerly Duke of Cumberland, son of George IIL.




ANECDOTE  OF THE KING.                   181
ministry; but it soon appeared, they were much more honestly
farmed than under the old system.
It is related of the King, that a poor countryman applied one
day for an audience, and according to his rule that no one should
be refused, was admitted, The man complained that the judge of
his village neglected his duties-left the business with the clerkand was amusing himself with hunting and sports, so that the poor
could not get their rights.
Ernest heard him  through-said nothing-but before the countryman could have fairly reached the city gates, was posting in a
private carriage as fast as horses would carry him, to the village ot
the unfortunate judge. The carriage stopped before the court, the
King, in citizen's dress, rushed up the steps, demanded the judge,
and found that he was engaged as described; called for the clerk,
and substantiated everything through him; sat down and wrote
off something hastily on a bit of paper and handed it to the clerk,
and was rattling off again in his carriage. The clerk to his amazement, on opening the paper, found that it contained an order for
the dismission of the judge, and his own appointment in his place,
signed with the name of the King of Hanover!
Ernest had much of the worst English qualities. He was coarse
and brutal; and it was said, he would curse and beat even the
ladies in attendance, if they offended him. No one loved him, and
the most stood in mortal fear of his anger. Still he had, too, something of the English punctuality and honesty.  Before his reign,
the court tradesmen and workmen were in the habit of executing
orders with true German ease and leisure, whatever speed they had
promised.  With Ernest, if any man-carpenter or artist-did
not have his task fully completed at the exact time promised, his
work was rejected, or his services refused henceforth entirely. The




182             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
people told me, that a great reform had been introduced everywhere
in the Hanoverian business, through this exactness of the court.
The King, too, always kept his word, and was inexorable to any
one who did not. He has the glory of being almost the only
sovereign in Europe who promised liberty to his subjects in 1848,
without being compelled to it, and who kept his promise, after he
had the power to break it.
In that year, the trial by jury, a fair liberty of the press, and a
parliamentary system of two Houses, whose election was based on
a property-qualification, was definitely settled in Hanover. Still,
though liberal in its tone, the Government of Hanover has never
corresponded in its fundamental principles with the wishes of the
majority of the citizens.
It remains to be seen in a few years whether that liberty-loving
people will remain as quietly under the blind, weak son, as they
did under the strong, imperious old father.
It is probable, in these last years, the interest taken in the Federal
question of Germany has removed public attention in Hanover, from
their own difficulties. After the extinction of the Great National
Assembly at Frankfort, the king of Hanover, as we have before
related, formed an alliance (May 26, 1849) with the kings of Prussia and Saxony. The reservations, however, made by him in this
alliance, gave him liberty to leave it, when it suited his convenience.
And accordingly at the summoning of a new German Parliament at
Erfurt, by Prussia, Hanover quietly broke her relations with the
parties; and much to the vexation of Prussia, stood for a while
separated both from the Austrian and Prussian ranks. This position, the confidence of the people in their king, and the weight of
his character through Germany, have given Hanover much influence
in the various crises, during this last year. To its honor, be it said,




HANOVER.                        183
the Hanoverian Government firmly refused to have any share in the
late tyrannical federal intervention in Hesse-Cassel.
The general prosperity of Hanover, the citizens say, has been
much improved since the residence of their own king among them
as the court draws many branches of labor to it, and the royal revenues are now spent within the country.
Hanover is the centre of another of those singular " ProtectionUnions," which exist in Germany-the Steinerverein.* Of this and
the larger Prussian Union, the Zollverein, I may have more to say
hereafter. It will be sufficient to observe here, that this Union
founded in 1834, embraces nearly all of Hanover, the Duchy of
Oldenburg, the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, a part of Brunswick, and certain small provinces of Prussia.
The basis of the Union is a lower rate of duties than that of its
rival, the Prussian. Its commerce is principally through the ports
of Bremen and Hamburg. Hanover has never been a manufacturing country; agriculture is the principal branch, and perhaps in
consequence, she has always, thus far, inclined to low tariffs.  One
cause, without doubt, of the low state of the manufacturing interest,
is in the burdensome laws with regard to apprentices in trades; requiring each one to travel three years in foreign countries; to be
member of a corporation and to possess the right of citizenship, before he can set up business for himself.
The annual duties in Hanover, have amounted for several years
to about $1,400,000. The commercial marine this year (1850) is
estimated at 55,000 tons.
Hanover is not so populous as Ohio, numbering only 1,759,000
inhabitants, yet her expenses are more than $5'780,000 per annum,
of which the king takes about $420,000; and the contingent which
she must always stand ready to furnish to the Union is 36,000 men.
* See Appendix.




CHAPTER XX.
BERLIN AGAIN! WINTER AMUSEMENTS.
December, 1850.
I EXTRACT from a letter, as giving best my impressions on returning.
" DEAR T-: I only stopped for a short visit in Hamburg, and
came back at once here to my old quarters.
"I did not go directly to my German acquaintances, but having
gekriegt your letter and refreshed myself with it, I called on some
Americans, whom I knew here. I was not at all prepared for the
contrast.  The truth is, I had been in Hamburg, as in a home; and
the last night, my friends looked quite as blue as I did, at my leaving. Then to come right down among these men-all of them
with a kind of supercilious indifference to everything —and a sort of
hardness of manner which I begin almost to think, American-it was
like jumping into a cold bath. It disappointed me, and I was glad to
get to bed and forget it. This humanity of the Germans, becomes
almost a necessity of life to one. To be able to meet men, as if you
had an interest in them, and they in you-as if it wasn't poetry that
you were "brothers," and it was no impertinence to talk freely of
their affairs, or intrusion or impropriety to speak of your own-to
have the abiding, underlying idea of your intercourse, all the while




SKATING.                          185
tkind of open-hearted, social respect. This is what I like so in
diem, and what I did not find in these fellows, and the want of
which will coot me off so, when I get home."
One of our pleasantest out-door recreations now, is a skatingparty on the Wiesen, or "Meadows," about a mile from the city,
through the Thiergarten. We usually make up a party of ladies
and gentlemen and walk out. The Meadows are some broad flats
overflown by the water, making an admirable skating-ground; and
the scene on them on a pleasant winter afternoon, is one of the most
lively I ever saw.
The ice for a mile beyond is covered with a labyrinth of whirling,
gayly-dressed groups; there a man cutting the most artistic and
mysterious figures of the science; there two ladies skating off gracefully together; here a lady and gentleman hand in hand, or a whole
line together, moving across, and again through them all, rushing
on at a most alarming speed, the sled-chairs with ladies, pushed on
by servants or fiiends-all moving and whirling and dashing around
among one another, and yet no one injured or getting a fall. Then
on the bank, other groups again-men renting skates, women with
coffee-tables and cakes, boys with fresh flowers from the conservatories, and crowds of hacks and private carriages waiting to take
the skaters, and scattered about through them all, that omnipresent
and most inquisitive individual —the Berlin policeman-grand in
helmet, blue coat and sword. Add to all this, to complete the
scene, a clear winter's air; the rich light of the sun, far sunk in the
south, falling over the groups, and just tinging with rose-color the
white columns of smoke; and for a back-ground, the delicate




186             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
tracery and dark masses of the old trees against the cold gray
eastern sky.
There must be nearly a thousand people out, some days, from all
classes, young and old, ladies and gentlemen, and the ladies in
their prettiest dresses, much as if for a fashionable promenade.
I have never seen a more graceful exercise for women, and
the  most here  were well accomplished  in  the  science.  It
has only been tried among the ladies of Berlin for a few years,
since one of the Princesses set the fashion, though now it is
quite the mode. The most surprising thing to an American was
the number of elderly men joining in the sport-men of stationthe Professor and students together, or the worn-out business
man coming out to have one of the free sports of his youth over
again.
I know of nothing, in the habits of foreign nations, which struck
me at first, as so entirely new, as this love for out-door sports.
In England, I did not pass through a village, without finding the
green cricket-ground; and, be it remembered, not with boys at play
on it, but men-men often of rank and character. Later in
the season, were the boat-races, where the whole population
gathered; gentlemen of the highest rank presiding, and the nobleman and student tugging at the oar, as eagerly as the mechanic or
waterman.
In September, we were making our foot trip through the Highlands of Scotland, and we scarcely found an inn so remote, which
was not crowded with gentlemen, shooting, riding, or pedestrianizing through the mountains, and with the zest and eagerness of
boys let out of school.
On the Continent, with the exception of Hungary, there is not
uch a passion for exciting field-sports; but the same love for the




OPEN AIR LIFE.                      187
open air. In Paris, a pleasant day will fill the Champs Elysees
with cheerful parties, sipping their coffee under the shade; or watching the thousand exhibitions going on in open assemblies. And in
the Provinces, every man who can have a spot six feet by ten
in the free air, uses it to sip his wine, or take his "potage"
therein.
In Germany, the country-houses seem to be made to live out of
doors, and people everywhere take their meals, or receive their
friends in balconies and arbors. Every city has its gardens and promenades, which are constantly full. There are open air games too,
where old and young take part; and in summer, the studying
ilasses, or all who can get leisure, are off on pedestrian tours through
the Harz, or Switzerland, or nearer home.
There is throughout Europe, a rich animal love of open air movemerit, of plays and athletic sports, of which we Americans as
a people, know little. A Frenchman's nerves quicken in the sunlight, even as the organization of plants; and a German would be
very old and decrepid, when he should no longer enjoy a real tumbling frolic with his children. The Englishman, cold as he is in
other directions, would lose his identity when his blood did not flow
fresher at a bout of cricket, or a good match with the oar. We on
the other hand are utterly indifferent to these things.  We might
pull at a boat-race, but it would be as men, not as boys; because
we were determined the Yankee nation should never be beaten, not
because we enjoyed it. We do not care for children's sports. We
have no time for them. There is a tremendous, earnest WORK to
be done, and we cannot spare effort for play. It is unmanly to roll
a ball in America. Our amusements are labors. An American
travels with an intensity and restlessness, which would of itself ex



88            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
haust a German; and our city enjoyments are the most wearying
and absurd possible.
We like being together well enough, but our gregarious tendencies are nearly always for some earnest object. We can crowd for
a lecture or political meeting, but as to gathering in a coffee-garden
or in a park, it would be childish (or vulgar).
I have noticed here this contrast to the Germans, because a most
important subject is bound with it-a subject which must more and
more demand earnest attention from  our scientific men-I mean,
our National health.
We are an unhealthy race. No one can doubt it, who sees the
old races of Europe. Our faces are thin, complexions sallow;
dyspepsia and consumption are universal in a land, which in all
physical comforts, presents the greatest advantages for the preservation of health. Life may be as long in the average, but it is much
less enjoyed. An American is as capable of strong muscular effort,
and is as enduring as a European; but he does not get half the
pleasure fiom his vigor. Indigestion and nervous diseases sour the
life of half our people. The evil increases too; and the probability
is, the health of the Nation is degenerating. These facts are notorious in Europe, and our sharp, worn American faces are known
everywhere. There is much disease and bodily weakness among
the poorer classes of the Old World; but in classes, enjoying equal
comforts, it will be found that the Americans are confessedly inferior
in robust health. The dyspepsia, which so curses our whole population, is comparatively unknown among the older nations.
In accounting for this, too much weight, in my opinion, is laid to
the effects of climate. I could not see in North Germany in the
autumn and winter, or in Hungary in the summer, that the differences in climate were very appreciable. There were the same




MORE PLAY!                        189
sudden changes, the same extremes of heat and cold, and an atmosphere quite as remarkable for dryness as our own. The great and
sufficient cause will be found to be, in this very difference in respect
to out-door exercise and amusement.
We work too hard, and play too little.
Our nervous and digestive systems cannot sustain such an intense
action of brain, as the American life demands, without frequent
pleasant muscular exercise. The people need out-door manly sports,
and healthy amusements. Those wearing, formal city enjoyments,
with late hours and unhealthy fare, and those most useless trips to
crowded watering-places, must be dropped for something Germanlike —something cheering, healthful, boyish-or we shall be a nation
of dyspeptics.
Other causes for our sickliness, can be found in our general
habits-our diet-our excessive greed for money-the little heed
we give to quiet family enjoyments. And if in these respects, I
shall be able to show how much vitally important to our future we
have to learn from  the Germans, I shall have written to good
purpose.
As a practical conclusion, I would say to every man, who would
deserve well of his country, play! play more-patronize, encourage
play!
Why should bowling-alleys and cricket-clubs be given up to
"fast men a " Why should rowing-matches and yacht-races, fencing
bouts and boxing lessons, fishing and shooting, be any more the
privilege of " the world," than the church? Why should not respectable, moral, religious people go into any, or all of these as they
fancy, and invigorate their bodies and cheer the mind? Do not let us
grow old and dyspeptic, because we are growing more religious.




190              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
Let there be something of healthful boyhood in us always! No
sports, but what are pure, humane and moral in tone; but where
there are such, let no notion of asceticism, or false dignity restrain
us! Of course each one will have his favorite amusement; whatever it be, let him remember it is nearly as important for his health
of mind as his regular work. For my own part, as a " brother of
the angle," I most recommend the " gentle art."
Those cheery mountain-walks, the clear dashing brooks, the air,
the light, the easy occupation, which always absorbs just enough to
let the full, almost unconscious enjoyment of scenery pour into the
leart. It makes one a boy again to remember!
DcEMBEsR, 1850.
The concerts still continue, and are a great treat to us Americans.
Every Friday afternoon, we have in the coffee-gardens out of the
city, instrumental concerts, where Beethoven's symphonies are given
with a skill, which no band in America could equal. The entrance
fee is six or eight cents, and each visitor is expected to order a cup
of coffee, or mug of beer.  There are ladies in the centre of the
building usually, but how they bear that condensed atmosphere of
tobacco-smoke is a mystery to me. Where I sit on the side, I could
hardly see the orchestra for the thick clouds; and though somewhat
hardened to " the weed " myself, I had once or twice to cut a symphony in the midst; all enjoyment being out of the question, amid
such a burning of bad tobacco.
As a specimen of these concerts, I give a programme for an evening lately, in Liebig's saloon.




AMUSEMENTS.                        19W
OVERTURES.
Iphigenia, by Gluck.
Midsummer Night's Dream-Mendelssohn
Don Juan-Mozart.
Coriolan-Beethoven.
SYMPHONIES.
G Major-HIaydn.
The Andante from C Major —Mozart.
C Minor (5th) —Beethoven.
Of the other concerts, the most celebrated are given by the SingAcademnie. This is an association founded by Fasch in 1789. They
only hold some three or four concerts during the year, and usually
sing Oratorios and Masses. This season they have given Haydn's
"Creation" and a Mass by Cherubini, together with Handel's
"Messiah" and "Sampson," and Mendelssohn's " St. Paul."  The
admission fee is seventy-five cents and fifty cents; when they sing
in the Garrison Church, only twenty-five cents. There are beside
two or three similar societies, but less important, which perform
oratorios. The best orchestral music is from the Royal Orchestral
Society, which gives a series of nine concerts. I copy as a specimen
of their evening, a late programme. On this occasion only three
symphonies:
1 Symphony C Minor-Haydn.
2. Symphony A Major-Mendelssohn.
3. Symphony F Major, (8th)-Beethoven.
More commonly there are two Symphonies and two Overtures
as on January 16.
1. Symphony C Minor —Gade.
2. Overture to Fingal's Cave-Mendelssohn.




192             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY
3. Overture, Coriolan-Beethoven.
4. Symphony Pastorale-Beethoven.
The price of admission to these concerts is the same as at the
other-seventy-five and fifty cents. They rank so high, that seats
are taken by families year by year. The orchestra numbers from
one hundred and sixty to one hundred and seventy members, of
whom one half must be all the time occupied. The services
required are performances in the theatre and opera, and private concerts for the King. Every member must pass a severe examination
before he is admitted; and with thousands of players, the great
object of their ambition is to become a member of the Royal
Orchestra. The salaries are small, but are increased, so as to support the members when they are superannuated.
The usual price for the chance concerts, corresponding to those
we have at home, is seventy-five cents. For Jenny Lind's, it was
one dollar fifty, and seventy-five cents.
There are also Quartette and Quintette Soirees, given by the first
artists in Berlin; similar to Eisfeldt's in New York and those of
the Mendelssohn in Boston.
The rehearsal of the royal bands before the guard-house, is in
itself a fine entertainment. From fifty to one hundred instruments
are in play, and you hear music such as you can only hear at home
in our best concerts.
Of Church music, not much can be said. I have often listened
with intense delight to the choir of men and boys in the Cathedral.
Artists tell me, that there is no choir equal to it in the world-not
even that of the Sistine Chapel. They sing the Psalms and Chants
from Mendelssohn, Neithardt, and all the best composers. I




BIRTH-DAY PARTY."                    193
heard, too, once, Mozart's Requiem, from a grand choir of operatic
singers in the Catholic Church.
DECMBEssR, 1850.
A very pleasant " birth-day party" came off last night at Pastor —, one of the purest Pietisten, as they call the Evangelical
orthodox. I went at about eight o'clock, and found quite a large
company already assembled; and tea and  rum  being passed
round. Pastor -- received me in his usual cordial way, and I
found a number of my acquaintances present. If I might be allowed to especially mention any, whom one meets in the Berlin circles, and whose names are already widely spread in other lands, I
would not omit the genial and eloquent Krummacher, a man so
favorably known in America; Nitsch, the most scientific and profound of the Berlin preachers, and the successor, I believe, of Schleiermacher, Snetlage, the court-preacher, at whose house such pleasant
companies of English meet; Lepsius, whom I had not the pleasure
of knowing personally, famous for his researches in Egypt; and
Curtius, the youthful Professor of Grecian Art in the University, a
man who, I do not hesitate to say, will win the gratitude of Prussia,
when the results of his free and earnest course of instruction with
the young prince-the future king-shall appear.
There were several rooms open this evening. In one there was
music; in another were people playing chess, or looking over prints;
and in another, the elder part of the company engaged in conversation. All was easy and social, and very little of forced enjoyment appeared. At half-past nine or ten began the most social part of the
evening around the supper table, with the sparkling wit and
lively conversation for which the Berliners are so famous. I was
struck that evening, as I have often been in these supper-parties, by
9




104             SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
the superiority of the Europeans over us Americans in the art of
conversation.  We are better orators, but I suspect seldom so grod
conversationists.  Is it that as a nation we are too earnest for "small
talk?"
Another peculiarity in most of German society which would at
once attract an American's attention, is the much less prominent place
womanz takes.  It is very seldom, you hear a lady taking any great
share in table conversation.  There are very few subjects on which
her opinion or her feelings seem to be listened to with much attention.  It is quite evident she has a very different position fiom what
is given her in Amnerican life.  And I may add, I think without
presumption, that it is seldom in completeness of education, she can
claim  the same position with the ladies of our educated classes at
home.  There is something too, perhaps, in the exceeding strictness
of the rules of society here with regard to the intercourse of ladies
and gentlemen, which may have checked that lively, intellectual
converse, which, after all, forms often one of the best means of
education.
But to come back to our supper-table.  The Berliners are not at
all gross eaters, but they hold firmily, at least in pt'actice, to the good
old German  idea —of good eating being the aid of kindly social
feelings.  Through all the old world Inuch more of the best social
life is over the table than with tus in the new.  Ouar first course
here was fish, the Berlin pike, a fish resembling our pike, but coarser
and softer. The salmon firom the Elbe too, or the carp fromn the Spree,
are much eaten in this way at supper.  This was folloved by roast
meat, with preserves or pickled firuit.  Mutton is the common meat
for this, sometimes venison or turkey.  Then came the pudding or
the confectionery.  We had, as an imitation of the Engglish, a genuine "plum-pudding," greatly to the glee of the children.  Accord



A  TOAST.                             195
ing to the popular idea it can only have the true English flavor by
heatilng it, in burninog alcohol; so that there was a long line of blazing plates down the table, and a,great deal of sport for the children,
even if no better pudding.   The  last course, according to the
universal custom:, was black bread and cheese.
Through every coulrse light wines were passed around, either Bordeaux or the sour Rhenish.
Towards the close, one of the Pastor's fiiends ro3e, rapped on the
table for silence, and bade the company fill up  for a birth-day
"health."   Every  glass was filled, and the speaker  commenced.
He mentioned the long and close friendship which had existed between him  and their revered host; described with a comical touch
their early difficulties in the ministry; spoke in a tone whichl called
the tears to many an eye of the dear hearts who had  been with
them  ill the Morningll, anllld were gone now as they drew towlards the
Evn\'gln', of tlhe strug'riles hlis f'iend had lhad with the infid-elitV anld
ildift-llrence' of thle Ilaltion, and the ablundant success whichl had been
gr,!ited him.  " God too had dea lt imercifully wVith his fAil," ihe
said,  and s/te was with  him  still  who had so sustained him in his
i.n.   ws, beifo rt   a cojimplr y of friends, and  lihe could not
avind 1 sl.kii}::' witil th: ft'Ilas  fi the light whicl she hadl tlhrown
i.ttld t(e palt wvay of Lhcn all-Jithlt abl)ouli'llg cheer'flness, thlat,i~c, itaLm  e:ii. fa fuitfoai 4 of{ I sel!ish pilaszu'e!  lie woutldl
li,)i    "h(,   il.!lthe l:al taida   ]  iXg lift: o(  ti tle, o esteeled f'ienldl., the
1)L ator n11d iiS Wif! "
It \wN1a dr~aik wvith  manyl  a.ioch!  After this followed several
speeches, all fail of tllt genllial home11-to)lle; anllld abot)Lt half-p:st
elyevenil, w;e bi'ke up.  Tie eveilint il lad be en a daeliolitful oa1e;;and
there \was mucl h to -iite'rest me as I recalled the conllvel.rsation.
I)oIiic;ll Subjects do riot folrm a great topic just at present for




i96               SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
Brllin tablle-talk.  Every man of whatever party is so thoroughly
dissaltistied %withl the prl'esent state of political affairs, and so hopeless
of tile futur1e, tXhat it seems as if any mention of the subject was
carefully avoided, and they all took refuge in their wit and their
literatulre to escape the thoughts of it.
As I see the quick joke pass around and hear especially those keen
stories which the!Berliners so delight to tell, ag;ainist the heavy,
"n material" English, it oftenl seems to me like the wit of the Greeks
as their deglrada;tion was coming' on, agcainst the sturdy Romanss; the
wit of an intellectual race which is losing its power to act.
I have spokenl before of the unbelief or indiffelence on religious
matters vwiich meets one everywhere in German life.  There was
little of it aplparent in such a company as met at my friiends; still,
in general, it is a trait of Berlin society.
The city seems still somewhat to deserve its old name, " The
Voltairian Berlin;" tho)ug'h one must confess there is nothing of
the mnaliciousness of Voltaire in its unbelief. And yet fiom
this, there is much less danger to one minglingo with the Germans
than would be supposed. If I might be allowed to speak of my
own experience, I would say, and with deep gratitude, that my faith
has only been strengthened by my experience of the want of faith
among the Germans.  I. feel this the more gratefully, for after all,
when the best and noblest spirits around one, doubt, it is seldom
that even the strongest belief can remain altogether unshaken.  So
far as I can judge, too, the faith is not in this case from that homesick love which every man under almost any religion, feels for the
teachings of his childhood in a strange land. But I cannot help
seeing that the Germans are not at all happy under the change,
that there is a dissatisfaction, a sense of want in their present condition, which speaks most painfully of the injury they have done their




A  LETTER.                         197
own natures.  And besides, the more I see of them  and of men
generally, the mole.1 am convinced that even in the practical emergencies of life, no height of moral principle, no nobleness of
character, can in any way take the place of the religious Principle;
that there is a certain "ground-trait," a certain reliableness even in
every-day difficulties  in  the  religious character, which no mere
moral culture can ever give, and which is, to my mind, one of the
best proofs of its origin.
It will make my impressions of German Social Life more fresh
to others, to give an extract from a private letter written about this
time.
"MY DEAR J.-   * *    I want to tell you about my friiends.  I
have spoken often of Mr.. T. He is a retired merchant, living
in a very pleasant house; a warm-hearted, social, sensible man.
*  *  *  Fraulein F., his daughter, who keeps house for him, has a
kind of suffering, pressed-down look, which wears off as she becomes
interested in the conversation, and which is owing, probably, to a
great sorrow  a few years ago-the death of her betrothed.  She
is full of kindness, with the shape of head and marked features,
which indicate strong feelings.  She is simple, heartfelt, and selfsacrificing, and her kind-manners give one the impression, at first,
she is very amiable and nothing else; but after a while, you see
under this, that there's a strong understanding and', very vigorous
character.  Her milnd is not the most highly cultivated, but in all
this f;mily there is such a taste for Art, that it in some degree has
inmade up for this, and she has an excellent practical sense.  H1er
impulses are kind and noble-and she will g.row.        *  *  I will
not describe her sister.  She might have been a genius in other




198              SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
trainino —as it is, she is the simplest-sometimes most deep-see.
ilng, unpracticalest, phatas'ireedste Fridlein (most phantasizing
young  lady) I knowl-yet again not highly cultivated, except by
her own dreamrs.  Tlhere is one son at home —a nmerchant-been in
Soutllern Illdia some years — rather witty and boylike.  Like all the
falmily lie driaws well.  The other children are married, and all live
close by in the srame block.  One is an artist; a deep-feeling,
under-thinlking, somewhat sceptical man, with  decided  genius.
-*  *   *  I visit here every  day —sometimes to  Morgencaffee
(Inorilillg  coffee) —generally to Frl.hstuck (breakfast) at eleven;
cllhat with the hl.dins; go downll with the father and visit his fiiendls;
din-e witll tlemn, when I aln not en,)'.aed out; then after diliner
walk witth the ladies, and in evenling call on otllers, or meet theln
again at ihalf-past eighllt o'clock to sppller.  The meals are the most
pleasanlt and social affairs I ever saw.
"Il min inclined to believe, dear J ——, adl don't laugh! —that
the true view of humanta  life, would bring in ertilg as an important
element.  Not eatilng  as.a merle means  of animal pleasure, butfirst as the emibrace alnd thle kiss tare at once the expressions and the,aid of affection-so eating as an expression of joy and an aid of
sociality.  We mi,1ght wish to hlave sociality anti the higher intercourse freed entirely fiorn the bodily inftlence, and purely spiritual.
But they never are; and for some wise reason, there is no lofty
emotion which is entirely separate fraom bodily states.
"I am dispo-s' —not like Jane Eyre and perhaps Emerson —to believe tlhat the true course, is to sanctify'eatinzg.  Not to look down
upon it-but to make it a means of the higher influences.  This
seems to me the idea of the Bible.  As was natural in an early age,
eating in the Old Testament was always the expression of happiness and sociality.  In the New, is it not remarkable, how much




EATING.                           t99
Christ is spoken of at neals?  His noblest thoughts, his fireest outpourings of real feeling are at the table, where good cheer has been.
His best speeches and teachings are often at dinner.  The peculiar
rites-yes, the only rite —which he transmits, is the chanlgig of the
convivial meal into a remembrance of Himn.  His appearance tafter
the crucifixion is at the breakfast table.  And His last appearance
on earth, is at a dinner in the open air.  Is not this thie idea of the
CGrace?
"As Charles Lamb said,'IHe could not see why he should thank
God more for a dinner, than for a new p)air of boots!' I have felL
this so, that I have asked God'to bless us in this, even the smallest
action of our lives!'
"But is not the real idea, that the meal is one of the bast aids of
sociality and best expressions of happiness; and that in that time
of fiiendly, pleasant intercourse, we especially want the aid of God
and His company, in making it all noble and good.
" Is not every meal a Lord's supper-and should not every Lord's
supper be a social meal 2' Is not this the healthy, natural idea of eating —of a man, who
had not been a glutton and was now reactzig-with good appetite
and social affections?  I fear this sounds irreverent in some parts,
but it should not.  Of course, you will say it is' dangerous,' and
that if Appetite and Duty were in the same path, men would go
with a rush.  I do not mean to say, you know, that I hold precisely
this —but something like it-at any rate, you can think of it.  Don't
think that my lips are smacking now with the remembrance of my
German dinners! If I could have a tip-top Senator Meyer German
dinner, with eighteen courses and wines, all by myself, I should not
prefer it to my bouillon and ganseklein (soup and roast goose) for




200             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY
seven and a half cents —but give me a company or family-dinner,
where thought and kind feeling and language are waked up by the
good cheer, if it be only tea, and bread and butter, and I confess I
do like it far better."




CHAPTER XXI.
THE GERMAN CATHOLICS.
December, 1&60.
AMONG my friends here, are a family, to whom I have become
especially attached, who are followers of Ronge (pronounced, Ronggay), or " German Catholics," as they are called. I have been attracted to them by their genial humanity, and their free, democratic
principles; and through them have become acquainted with several
of their persuasion.
I accompanied them  last Sunday, to hear their preacher, Mr.
Bratiner, who was formerly a Catholic priest. A small, meagre
man, who spoke with a fire and enthusiasm, you would not expect
from his appearance.
His sermon was on " Love," showing the progress of love for the
individual, to the wider and more unselfish love for mankind;
touching sadly on the evils now, which are cursing Germany, but
full of confident hope that a better Future was dawning on humanity, when Love should govern the relations of rulers to subjects,
and state to state, as well as those of man to man. The heavenappealing oppressions in Hesse were denounced in a tone, which I
have heard yet from no pulpit in Prussia; and the supineness and
time-serving disposition of the Protestant clergy met with a stern
rebuke.




202            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANI
"Let us have courage," was the conclusion.  "Time will change
it all!  We are going hence, soon to be absorbed into the worldspirit (Welt-geist); our feeble and selfish love to be merged into
His eternal and ineffable Love; and the times and events all tend
thither!"
The whole-church and preacher-struck me as in consistency
with this Ronge movement-the union of the old and the new, of
the venerable Past with the reforming Present —chanting of liturgies, with a popular, transcendental sermon; antique panel-pictures
in carved oak, set into modern brick walls; and dear old stiff paintings of martyrs with gilt images of saints, lighted by nineteenth
century chandeliers; and to crown it all, a man who had been a
Catholic priest, declaiming over one of the carved pulpits of the
middle ages, on unlimited democracy, and denouncing tyranny
as boldly as an American stump orator.  It is to be hoped, the
~nalogy goes no farther, for the church had all the inconveniences,
with none of the associations, of the old buildings; it was very
damp without being antique.
In walking home with my fiiends, I told one of them-Madame, a very spirituelle and benevolent lady-how much I lad liked
the sermon in the main; that it seemed to me fieer and bolder than
any I had heard; but that some allusions towards the close, were
hardly plain to rme. " Do you all believe," said I, " that your souls
are absorbed into God, or are you only speaking figuratively l"
" Te do," said she, " and the most of our sect, though it is not
an article of our creed."
"But, that our souls have no individual existence at all after
death?" I inquired.
"They live in God," she answered, " in so far as they are pure




A  " RONGIST."7                     203
and good.  The evil in them  perishes.  God and they will be
one!"
"And do none of you expect to meet those you love, again."
said I.  "Have you no hope of living on and working for others'
happine.s?  Is your Ich (I) to disappear altogether and forever?
Can you bear to think that this half-life is all "
"W'   can bear to think what God has appointed us," she answered.  "We believe that our fiiends and ourselves will be happier, or rather better, by complete union with RHIM! We do not
ask for a reunion with them, but for something higher-a reunion
with God!"
"But can you preach this to men when they are in suffering and
sorrovw.   Can you tell them  that there is no remedy for thisno other life, where there is peace and rest again?  Are they to die
with no hope beyond?  Is this most incomplete, mysterious existence to be all?  How are you ever to place motives in the Future,
Defore the sinful, if there is no Hereafter? "
"' That is it! " said she. " Precisely for that reason, we believe God
takes away a future life, except as it is in Himself. You Protestants
have fiightened men into goodness, or bought them with promises.
We want a holiness which does not care for a Future, which rests
in God alone.  We do not believe in the goodness that fears Hell,
or looks forward to Heaven. Our idea of holiness is that Love which
embraces all, without thought of anything but the happiness of those
who need happiness.  Not selfishness, not looking to reward or
praise, but the Love of Truth because it is truth, even if there were
no God; the purpose to sacrifice happiness, pleasure, everything for
those who are suffering and helpless and guilty."
" We believe, Herr B., that just as Protestantism with its spiritual life has supplanted Romanism, so this belief of ours will grad



204            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
ually cover the world. It may need time, but it is sure; it has
God's Spirit with it! "
I will not detail the conversation farther. I was impressed with
the beauty and purity of their ideas, and their enthusiasm for them,
though it could not but be sad to me, believing that these theories
without their beautiful accompaniments would gradually work among
the masses here, and produce, as they have done so often before,
universal skepticism and irreligion. I inquired after we reached
the house, whether all their preachers were equally bold on political subjects. "Yes," said they; " we want men who are not afraid
to speak of rulers as well as ruled, and our ranks are crowded with
those from the Protestant charches, who cannot believe that system
true; they say that no pure faith could support clergymen, so conservative and truckling to authorities, (Obrigkeiten) as these in
Prussia."
I must here, though not denying the errors of this sect of German
Catholics, express my hearty admiration for the tone of their preachers
on public matters. Theirs are the only pulpits where a man dares
gets up and speak a word of sympathy for the immense masses of
crushed and oppressed men in Germany; the only place where one
hears of the rights of the subject, as well as of the "respect for authorities," and where the idea is sometimes broached, that one of
the results of Christian Love is to be FREEDOM for man.
I asked my friends, whether they had experienced no annoyance
from belonging to such a heretical sect. "We have," they said,
" the Government is bitterly opposed to us.  We are not even legally recognized yet; and our children may lose the right of citizenship possibly, from not being confirmed by an orthodox pastor."
I saw much afterwards of these persons, and of various members
of the sect, and, I must confess, that in practical benevolence, in a




ORIGIN  OF THE SECT.                   205
genial humanity, and in all the evidences of a sincere love of
God, they seem to me quite equal to any of the more orthodox
denominations.
The German Catholics are to occupy no unimportant place in the
political development of Germany, and a brief account here of their
progress and principles may be of interest.
Probably few of my readers will forget the thrill of surprise and
hopeful feeling which passed through the American people when, a
few years ago, the news of a bold movement in the heart of
the Romanist Church of Germany, and of the formation of the
new sect of the "German Catholics," came over to us. Not many,
probably, know the singularly different direction the whole movement has taken since that time.
It will be remembered that after the Congress of 1815, the
general position of Roman Catholicism in Germany became, from the
re-action of the French Revolution, as well as the measures of the
Congress and various other causes, much strengthened. Footholds
were soon gained even in the Protestant States, and rights were
publicly granted to the Pope and his ministers in Hanover, Bavaria
and Prussia, such as before they had not even ventured to claim.
Encouraged by this success, further attempts were made, and the
marriage of Protestants with Catholics was attacked with a vigor
and lordly authority which might have belonged to the proudest
days of the Roman Church. These last efforts struck at the very
heart of society, and threatened to disturb the peace of thousands
of families through all Germany. In Silesia and East Prussia, especially, the excitement over them was intense, and even the government of Prussia entered into a controversy on the matter. At
length, as a climax to these efforts, a grand blow was struck in the
provinces of Rhenish Prussia. There, on the great highway of




206             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
nations, in these matter-of-fact, unbelieving days, a leading Archbishop of the Church of Rome had the presumption, and not only
the presumption, but the success, to collect more than half a million
of men from all parts of Germany, at immense expense and suffer
ing, to worship an old coat, which he affirmed to be the coat of
Jesus, and to induce them to give their trouble and money as an
offering to it! One can hardly understand it; and if it were not
for the most convincing records, we should say at once it was one
of the fictions of the enemies of the Church of Rome.  Yet such
was the fact, and a fact dating only seven years back! This was
the last, however, of these attempts to bring back the middle ages.
Amid the lull of astonishment and indignant feeling through all
Germany, at such a daring assault on human Reason on so grand a
scale, there came forth from  an obscure priest in Upper Silesia, a
letter-a letter whose thrilling effects through the German nations
we cannot understand, without appreciating the preparation of the
people for it, caused by these various movements of the Romanist
Church-the Laurahiitte Letter of Ronge.  "For a long time,"
it begins, "like a fable, like a tale, has it rung in our ears, that the
Bishop Arnold of Triers, has exhibited for worship and religious
reverence, a piece of clothing called the coat of Christ.  Ye have
heard it, Christians of the nineteenth century! Ye know it, German men! Ye know it, teachers of the people and teachers of
religion! It is no fable and tale-it is reality and truth!"  Then,
after a vivid exposure of the idolatry, as well as the injury to the
poor people, in expenses which they could little afford, from the
exhibition, he says: "Bishop Arnold of Triers, I turn myself then
to you, and in virtue of my office and calling as priest, as a teacher
of the German people, and in the name of Christianity and the
German nation, I call upon you to put an end to this unchristian




RONGE'S LETTER.                      207
exhibition of the holy coat, to withdraw the article from public notice, and to make the scandal no greater than it is! For do you not
know —as Bishop you should know-that the Founder of the Christian religion left to his disciples and followers, not his coat but his
Spirit?  His coat., Bishop of Arnold of Triers, belongs to his
executioners "  Without following the letter through farther, we
would only say, it is a most impassioned, spirited appeal against the
imposture, and shows a mind burning with intense hatred of oppression in all forms.
It met at once with a response through thousands of hearts.
Within twenty days one congregation had separated itself from the
Catholic Church, at Schneidemlhll, and their priest was to be heard
celebrating the mass in the German language.  In a little longer
time, Ronge himself was summoned to assist in the formation of a
larlge and influential church in Breslau, composed altogether of
those who had been Catholics, and based on the freest Protestant
principles; while the idea spread itself with more and more power
that a new and glorious Church was to be formed, freed from.the
defects of the'lomanist Church, and yet so independent of the
Protestant as to attract those from the Romanist body, who would
otherwise find many prejudices in their way. Such was the first
influence of the " Laurahiitte Letter."
To Ronlge himself this does not appear to have been any sudden
movement.  According to his own account, and what other evidence I can get access to, he had been now for four years deeply
agitated with indignation at these mummeries of the Church which
he had once so filially trusted, and with doubts of the whole soundness of its system. In 1839, with hopes of a quiet, useful calling,
as religious teacher, he had entered a seminary for the education of
priests.  lie was not there long, without finding his confidence in




208             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
the general spirit of the church shaken; and from  that time till he
entered on his office as priest in Grottkau, in 1841, he appears to
have become more and more conscious of the unmanning, debasing influence of the principles in vogue among his brother
priests.
In entering on the sacred office, he tells us he was determined
that for his part he should be, in the true sense of the word, a
Teacher of the people, and that without fear or hypocrisy, he would
speak, what he thought the truth.  Under such a determination, he
naturally soon brought himself into trouble. And during the next
three years, at various times he found himself accused of all kinds
of heresies-of wearing his robes too short and his hair too long,
of teaching German history in the children's schools, of deviating
too much from the catechism in his instructions, of talking too
much of faith and too little of works, and divers other misdeeds of
the kind, until at length a letter of his, addressed to the CathedralChapter at Breslau, exposing various corruptions and superstitions
in their midst, caused  his suspension from  his office.  During
this suspension, while at Laurahitte, he wrote his celebrated'*Letter."
In regard to the subsequent career of Ronge not much can be
said. He appears to have assisted for a while in the formation of
the new churches among the German Catholics, and to have given
his impassioned, spirited style of writing, heartily to the aid of the
new movemenf.  Men hailed him for a time as a second Luther.
But gradually, whether from the fact that in cultivation and general learning he did not correspond to the place he was taking; or
because so long in a cloistered life, he had lost his practical power
over men, his influence became less and less. Then occurred some
events in his private life, in respect to which there are very different




RONGE'S CHARACTER.                     209
opinions. In fact in regard to these as well as the general character
of the man, it is very difficult to get any definite information.
The orthodox and conservative parties detest him, the Catholics
hate him, and the Freien-Gemeinden seem equally strong on the
other side. The fact, at least, is certain that he married another man's wife, though it is claimed she had been first legally divorced.  Soon after this, a violent letter appeared from him against
the King of Prussia, and in order to escape trial and the imprisonment which was threatened, he fled to England, where he is probably
living at the present time.
Whatever the man may have become afterward, every appearance shows him to have been honest and sincere in his first movement against the Roman Church. It was no easy thing for a quiet
recluse to leave his calm pursuits, his companions, his means of support, and, without any knowledge of the results, to step out boldly
in the world and strike such a blow as that against the corruptions
of the Old Church. It was a bold, manly stroke, and for that let
us give him honor.
Butlto our account again of the Freien-Gemeinden, or German
Catholics. The first important church, as I have said before, was
formed at Breslau, and under the freest Protestant and Congregational principles. The supremacy of the Pope, forced celibacy,
"confession," were rejected, together with the practices of praying
to saints and worshiping relics. The Scripture was to be opened
to all, the church services to be performed in the German language,
and entire freedom of conscience and belief to be secured to each
man. Every Gemeinde or "congregation " was to be entirely independent, and to have the power of choosing its own pastor; and if
synods met, they were to be endowed with no power other than
advisatory.




210                SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
This was followed by the founding of numerous other churches
through Germany on a similar basis, and in 1845 the first Synod
of the new sect assembled in Leipsic.  The principles declared  by
this Synod were similar to  those stated above, except that after
great discussion, a new form. of creed was established, very much the
same with the Apostles' Creed, with the exception that nothin(g is
said  of " Christ being the Son of God," or of his "dying for our
sins."*  And now began to appear the great direction of the sect.
It was not so much in maintaining of the doctrine of faith as opposed
to works, nor in the opposition to the PRoman Church, that the
nlovement found its life.  It was a struggle for perfectly untraczmeled belief.  All the fieest, most ultra thinkers through Germany
* We give an abstract of some of the principles of the Creed, set forth by
this assembly at Leipsic.
( 1) " The founmation of the Christian Faith shall be singly and alone the
Holy Scriplures, whose interpretation and exposition is given entirely to the
Reason, penetrated and moved by the Christian Idea."
For Creed they give among the articles, (12) " I believe on God the Father, who created by his omnipotent Word, the world, and who governs it
in wisdom. justice and love. I believe on Jesus Christ, our Holy One. I
believe on the Holy Spirit; a holy, universal Christian Church; the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. Amen.;
(9) "We allow full freedom  of conscience, free investigation and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, limited by no external authority; we abhor all force, hypocrisy andt all lies, and we find in the difference of the
interpretation of our articles of Faith, no ground for separation or condemnation."
(10) "We recognize only two Sacraments-Baptism and the Lord's Supper."
Marriage in the 13th is declared a civil contract, and (14) "We believe
and confess, that it is the first duty of the Christian to exercise his Faith in
works of Christian Love."




THE  RESULTS.'11
joined  it-all those most filled with  enthusiasm  and not always
most judicious in their efforts for the prog'ress of freedom and liberal
ideas alnong men.  Its basis soon appeared inot so nuch a religious
one as simply the desire for freedom.?   The wildest forms of religious belief started up in the sect.  The personality of God was denied and the existence of a future life.  Men were mere emanations
of the  great Weltgeist, (World-spirit.) to return and be absolrbed
in Him  at death.  The divine  authoritxy  of the Scriptures was
only a dog'nma of Jewish tradition, and any othe.r character to Cllhrist
than that of a p)uire and benevolelt lphilosolpher could never be nmaintained; and thlere arose a wilnl  of the party, represented by Wislicelus,   \who could not rank otllerwise tllan as infidels anld atheists.
The sect naturally attracted the attention of goverlznment, and it was
stuilosed most truly to be a nursery of democratic ideas ald ldanoemolus political sentiments.  Il Vielnna, wherle the Gemei'zden, had
number(e d  somee  10,000, the whole society, in the reactiol of'49,
was utterly suppressed.  In Prussia they lave had manly difficulties,
but have succeeded in keeping their foothold.  Byv the Constitution
of tl!' vear, all religious societies are allowed their legall place in thle
State; but it remllains a questionl whether thlis is a religious society
or a corporation-an important question for the Geimelinde; for if
the pastorl is not a legal pastor, no c'iild baptized by himn can have
TVagner in his Report to the Assembly of German Catholics at Halberstadt 1849, thus defines their principles of Union.
(1) " A Protest against the'Old Church, with all its tendencies, traditions
and doctrines, with its power and its claims, and (2) the u:nlimited struggling
after knowledge and perfctir.,n in the spiritual ground, and after the uncondlitional independence of each conglregation.:
Uhlich defines their princeiple, as "'The freeldom  of the human m1infd.
Herrcndorfer, as an assertion that ": all knowledge comes from the Thought
of man; a Divine Revelation, there is not.;2




212              SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
a citizen's rights-can hold property, or peddle goods, or shoot an
enemy of Prussia, legally! As I said before, their practical benevolence and their popular sympathies, I heartily respect. There are
many individuals too among them whose views are not very dissimilar from our own.  But, as a whole, one can find little religious
character in the sect.  The wildest, vaguest dreams of German philosophy appear to constitute their religious belief, and to be the oh
ject of their faith. In practical sympathies they are eminently
Christian. It is not, however, as a religious party that the existence
of the German Catholics is important under any aspect.  In that
character the sect will soon die out. But it is as a party cherishing
the freest principles, as a combination where sympathies may be
nursed and plans formed, affecting the political future of Germany,
that it is worthy of attentive consideration;-and it is as such, that
I shall watch with deep interest its future operations




CIAPTER XXII.
POLITICS.
DECEMIBER, M150.
I HAVE just been conversing with Mr. —, one of the leaders
of the opposition party, and a gentleman very favorably known in
the political circles of Berlin.  He has resided some time in America, and his acquaintance with our system of government, and with
the Constitutional forms in England, give him a great advantage in
the debates of the " Chambers."  I observe that he is frequently
called upon in doubtful points of order or legislation. He tells me
that he has great hope through all these present difficulties. He
thinks the nation are desirous of supporting a Constitutional Government, and that they only at present need experience. The great
drawback, he and every patriot find  in their present system, is in
the number of office-holders, through each branch of the Legislature.
He has no fear, however, that this will not be remedied, and believes in a few years that this Monarchy will take the position of a
thorough Constitutional Monarchy.
Still there is quite enough in the present condition of Prussia, to
make any reflecting man serious about its future. A stormy session
of the "Chambers" has just been ended by the king's summarily
adjourning theln till the middle of January.  It was a short session, but it was long enough to show what the temper of Lhe coun



214              SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
try is, towards the ministry; or, in othei' words, towards the policy
of the king.  Bolder words have not bee. spoken in any representative Assembly of Europe, than were by certain members of these
Prussian RIammer.  They have denounced this whiffling, vacillating
policy, which is endangering the honor and the position of Prussia,
as an iindependent monarchy.  They have exposed the folly of a
government which began with such mighty preparations, and contented' itself with such mean results. The) r eind the ministry, that
in the beginningi their claims upon Austria were manys.  and such as
might rouse the whole nation to support them; that they then
demanded that no troops of the Bwudestag should settle the internal afirs of fHesse —a country inl which, as belonging  to the later
German Union, Prussia and her allies alone had the right to interfete; that any such attempt must be at once desisted frolm, as being an
insult to Prussia and a separation of the two parts of her monarchy
by a foreign force; that a new Union should be formed, where
soliething beside Austria and Absolutism  should have a voice;
that Scllleswig-I-ollstein should be left to maintain her own " good
right," or that the dispute should be so settled that the Duchies
could form a, pal't of the great Geiman Union.  These were positions which the Prussian people could stand by.. They were claims,
to urge which, 200,000 men had left. their business and their homnes
at the call of government, with an alacrity unknown il the history
of militar'y recruiting.
But now, after all this brave opening, what was the close?  A
whole people hbad been aroused to arms; the most magnificent preparations known in modern warfare had been made; and what,
according   to the confession of the ministry themselves, had they
gained, or supposed they hald  gainedl?  Simnply and principally the
right fo. Prussia to occupy the military roads through Hesse-a




VINCKE'S  SPEECH                         215
right which had never been decidedly questioned, and which was
not even mentioned in the early period of the dispute; and
secondly, the opportunity of holding' some " Conferences," between
the various powers of Germany.  At this period of the session of
the Chambers, the results of the agreement entered into at Olmuitz,
between the Austrian and Prussian Governments, were not known;
except as they could be gathered from  the speeches of the ministers; but those two claims mentioned above, were supposed to be
all which the Prussian diplomnatists had succeeded in establishing.
The issue shows that hardcly even those were maintained.
The most spirited speech of the session was made by Herr Von
Vincke-a speech which in skillful management of arg'uments, and
in ready, lively oratory, has very few superiors in parliamnentary
orations.  It was the great " Constitution" speech, and told with
wonderful success.  A  more complete, thorough expose of this
chang'ing policy of the ministry could not hlave been made.  Manzteufel, the Minister, tried to reply, but it was manifest he ihad a
bad cause to plead, iand that the sympathies of the Assembly were
decidedly with the "Left"-the opposition —and he had finally to
acknowledge he would much rather be where " Spitz-Kuyeln'
(pointed bullets) than where " Spitz-Reden" (pointed words) were
fly'ing.  In Von Vincke's speech, and in all the others, the Kiig's
name is hardly mentioned; or, if he is spoken of, it is done in the
most respectful manner.  Still tie tendenlcy of it all, was evidently
to weaken, in the most dangerous muanner, the royal authority.
The king was known to be at the bottom of all these inconsistencies
and changes; and every sarcasm and every bold attack was really
a blow at him.  Whilen one of the orators closed a vivid st:temenlt
of this fickle, dishonoring policy, with the words "Away with the
ministry!" it must have been felt by very many, that these strong
V                      n  ""   ^~~ ~'



4016O            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
words were equally true against the head of the ministry, and that,
if the servants disgraced Prussia, the master was at least equally
guilty.
Without doubt, the great motive of this attack on the mifiistry is
rot a desire for any constitutional improvements.  The mass of the
delegates have very little conception what a genuine constitutional
government is, and just now their ideas are quite in another direction.
It is the Prussian pride that is injured by this assumption of an
authority in Cassel, which Prussia had claimed alone. That the
Bavarian-the stupid, heavy-headed, beer-loving Bavarian-should
be giving the law to one of Prussia's allies, in utter contempt of her
threats! This is what galls so the national pride.  That the great
antagonist of Prussia-the rival in power, and the representative of
a different religion and different politics-should be usurping a
right which Prussia had claimed and had not been able to maintain! It is this, much more than the questions of freedom involved.n the contest, which has aroused so thoroughly the popular mind.
Still, all the best and noblest spirits, undoubtedly always under the
success of Prussia, see the success of the great principles of freedom
which she represents in Germany.  They regard any concession as
a concession to that immense absolute Power at the East, whose
influence now is so visibly seen in the affairs of Germany. And the
humbling of their country is the humbling of the last defence of
constitutional liberty in this part of Europe.  As one of the Delegates said, in the late session, "the Prussian pride rested on an
unstained, an honorable history; but what would become of
national honor, if an ally in the time of its trouble, in an attempt
so reasonable and so constitutional to restore its rights, were left to be
crushed by a foreign power."  And, whatever may be true of the
great body of the members, I have certainly been struck by the




TYRANNY!                       217
tone prevailing through the speeches of the leAders of the Opposition-a tone of recognition, all the while, that the great idea of this
struggle is, that it is a constitutional struggle. The great men,
who, throughout Prussia, through the press and in the chambers
have been dealing such heavy blows against the ministry, undoubtedly believe, that they strike in the cause of constitutional freedom
The multitude, however, want War-war against their overbearing
enemies, and they are indignant that the Ministry have so disappointed them.
In the mean time, everything seems to go on gloomily enough for
the Constitutional party. Right under the very eyes of the Representative Assembly, with the'law fresh on their statute books for
the liberty of the press, one of the most prominent editors of Berlin is banished from the city, without an hour's notice, or the form
of a trial. Nothing has happened for a long time, that shows better how few Constitutional rights they have in Prussia. This man
was not an agitator, did not belong to a party, where even a reproach of lawlessness could be fastened. His paper-the " Constitutionelle Zeitung" —is one of the ablest and most respectable
journals issued in Germany. It appears, after attacking for a long
time, in the most able manner, the policy of the ministry, he at
length wrote an article against the king; hinting particularly, that
the king was playing into the hands of Russia,-and either in that
article or one soon after, comparing his course to that of one of the
Stuarts, and warning him of a similar end to his family. This was
not done as plainly as I have put it here; still it was very bold,
and there was something undoubtedly in the last comparison, which;
was peculiarly offensive. No one can have studied the character of
the present ting of Prussia,' without being struck by its great resemblance in many points, to that of James II of England, and in
10




218            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
others, to traits which that ill-fated family ever displayed.'[he
same lofty ideas of kingly prerogative; the same remarkable cultivation as an individual, with James II, and the same inefficiency as
king. All the fickleness, all the double-dealing, and all the tyranny
which ever characterized the worst of that house; and which, with
him, as with them probably, is not so much the result of a bad
heart, as of a weak head.
It was this, most probably, which gave the peculiar point to Dr.
Heym's attack. The king had the opportunity to summon him,
according to the fine-sounding "Press Law," to a trial for libel.
Or, according to that late provision which the ministry made themselves, and which the Chambers have hardly thought of assailing,
he might have confiscated the paper, and the sum deposited by the
editors, But, with a littleness which has rarely been known in
kings, he personally at once has ordered the man from his home
into a disgraceful banishment.  Frederick the Great, used to
command the numerous libels put up in the streets against him to
be pasted lower down., so that every body could read them! The
contrast in his descendant is striking!
All the free Journals in Germany now are put under strict censorship. The ministry are making constant use of the ordinance
before alluded to. The mode in which this Ordinance was passed,
will illustrate the present condition of this most Constitutional Monarchy.
In June, 1850, an attempt at assassination was made upon the
King, by a discharged soldier. The act met with universal indignation from the nation. The king, however, either really supposing
it revealed the wicked passions fermenting among the people, or
using this as a good pretext, enacted through the ministry a temporary law for the Press, (June 5, 1850). The whole proceeding was




PRESS-LAW.                       219
utterly opposed to the Constitution.  This instrument contained a
provision in regard to the Press, and can only be changed by a
vote of the Chambers. The law, too, thus summarily passed by the
king, was of a most oppressive nature. According to this, every
journal issued more than three times in the week, must deposit
with the public authorities, a sum varying from 1,000 to 5,000
Thalers, which sum is forfeited whenever, in the view of the judge,
the journal has endangered the public security. A more secure,
quiet repressal of the liberty of the press cannot be imagined.  In
addition to this, the law enacts that transit by the public mails shall
be forbidden to such papers, as the police may deem expedient.
As was well said by one of the members in the Session just closed,
"the ministry might with equal right, without trial or sentence, forbid the transit by public coaches of such members of the opposition,
as the police might deem expedient 1"
In fact, the Government is everywhere drawing the reins tighter;
and when in addition to this, it is mentioned, that in Prussia, the
only body through which the Constitutional Party could have an
influence, is suddenly adjourned, quite probably to meet for a longer
adjournment, and that the absolute parties in Austria and Prussia
are, without doubt, now combining to carry out their own objects,
we may well say, that it looks gloomy for the cause of liberty in
Germany.
The discontent at the result of the" Olmiitz Conferences" I find
very great, and report says, the Prince of Prussia —brother of the
king and next heir to the throne-a brave soldier, arbitrary enough,
but true as steel to his word and to Prussia's honor, is quite as much
dissatisfied with it as the people. I was conversing recently with
an army-officer, who told me that when the news of those stipulations reached Berlin, and there was such a danger of a revolution,




220             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
he " could not have fired on the people," and that multitudes in the
ranks felt in the same way.
I have felt sometimes, in these old States, a momentary regret in
comparing the rawness of our American society, our superficial cultivation, with their elegant and finished culture. But the moment
I have turned to the political relations-to the complicated difficulties and long-standing abuses-to the capricious tyranny of
rulers, and the astounding ignorance of subjects in these European
governments, I have felt satisfied. Learning and Refinement can
spring up even in the wilderness; but whether Freedom will ever
grow where Slavery has so long been, seems a more doubtful
question.




CHAPTER XXIII.
CHRISTMAS.
MY landlady has been rushing in now and then of late in the
mornings in an excited way. "Ach! Herr Bric —pardon! Herr
Braez! are you not getting ready for the Weihnachts-Fest?" or,
" will you have no Fest on the Weihnacht-you must join in ours I
But I know, you Americans work too hard for such things!"
I assure her, we do play sometimes, and ask her how she means
to celebrate it. She has put up a nice large Christmas tree in the
kitchen, she says, and the children are cutting out gilt spangles and
fastening on candles, and then they are all to go next day to the
Arabian Circus. I see, too, that the husband is bringing home an
armful of presents, though the poor man is hopelessly in debt, and
must creep in and out in the stealthiest way, to escape the needylooking men, who are always lying in wait for him, with "accounts."
There is a shoemaker's family, too, I have often noticed, in the
back basement, a very bright industrious set, but so poor.  My
landlady says the mall only earns twelve groschen (30 cents,) a day,
and she always gives them what there is left of her own dinners,
but " the children look very hungry some days-die armen! (the,6




222            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
poor things!)"  I see, however, as I walk by, through the low window, a green Christmas tree, and the children are tying on the bits
of candle. One gay evening in the dull year, at least. I find the
whole city alive with preparations. Children hurrying about in the
highest state of excitement; handsome carriages rattling from one
shop to another; gigantic dolls staring you in the face everywhere,
and gorgeous trees of wood and gilt paper, flaunting at every
window.
The square by the Schloss, (Castle,) is green with Christmas
trees; and behind it are long rows of booths, each one filled with
all imaginable articles, and each booth with its price. "Here, everything for 2i groschen, (six cents)!"  "Here for six groschen!" &c.
The pfefer-kuchen-the immemorial cake for Christmas-are selling off by the loads; and the walls are all covered with advertisements of books, songs, exhibitions, concerts, dioramas, circuses, for
Christmas.
I am surprised at the hold the festival has on the whole population. There are not a dozen families so poor, as not to have their
tree and pfeffer-kuchen on the Weihnachts-eve.
Even the preachers have alluded to it now for some weeks.
Their analogies would be childish to us, but are evidently all real to
the people. I went last Sunday to hear Biichsel, the preacher,
of whom I have before spoken. Almost his whole subject was the
Christmas Festival.
He reminded the people how much reason there was for being
happy; that for a time now, they should put away their cares, and
think of the great Gift of which this " Fest" was the memorial.
As those were the unhappy children who have no home and no
presents on this joyful evening, so were the men pitiable, who had
not received the Greatest of presents from above. And, as the




THE TREE.                         223
child who is unhappy or discontented, while receiving on these
Christmas days so many marks of love from  his father, is most
ungrateful, so are they, if they are gloomy now, while celebrating
this festival in memory of their Father's love.
At an early hour in the evening, I was at the house of a friend,
who had hospitably invited in an English gentleman and myself, to
share in the Christmas festivities.
We were at once shown into the dining-room, where the whole
family were gathered, the children in an excited state of suspense;
only one or two of the older people being allowed to make mysterious visits into the parlors, where the presents were being arranged.
Of course, none of the children would, for worlds, have broken in
before the appointed signal of the bell; but they were continually
making little incursions to the key-hole; and the grave old father
was kept in a constant frolic, in driving back these attacks.
The excitement was raised to fever-heat when a large Christmasbox came suddenly in from  a married daughter at a distance,
packed full of unknown treasures. These were all carried into the
parlors; and after a little longer waiting, the bell rung, the doors
were thrown open, and we all rushed in a promiscuous throng into
the bright rooms. In the centre stood the large Christmas tree, all
blazing with lights, and gilt, and tinsel; the presents hung upon
it. We stopped to admire it, and especially the pretty little oratorio made of pasteboard, with wax candles, where were the mother's
presents; next to hers came the father's, and then the sons' and the
daughters', and so on.
Great were the huntings at once, each for his own. The mother
had a surprise. for the father, and the father for the mother, and the




224            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY
children for both, and even the little youngest, who was altogether
overwhelmed by the outcries at first, became quite consoled when
she found the stores of enormous dolls and unnameable animals,
which were her part. The strangers were not forgotten, and we
each found a pleasant memorial, with a spicy little epigram attached.
As a traveler, I received with some books, a box of Berlin sand as
a specimen of the place, and with a delicate allusion, that I
would have it occasionally " thrown in my eyes," in some of my investigations.
The verses on each set of presents, as they were read off, were
received with shouts of laughter; and when the father, a clergyman,
found a nice cigar case, with a bit of witty-poetry, there was a general clapping.  After this, there were games and various quiet
amusements, until at length in the middle of the evening, the mother said, " We will have our Christmas hymn, now! "  So she sat
down to the piano, and all the little ones were made quiet, and the
whole family sung one of those sweetest of old German hymns,
speaking of His patient goodness-of their own unworthiness, and
the gratitude which they all forever will owe to Him.
I was rather surprised at the half-solemnity of the evening-the
almost subdued happiness, and I asked them, whether they would
ever dance on such an evening?' Oh no! " they said, " scarcely
any family would."
I left in the middle of the merrymaking, as I had been invited to
another friend's, whose family I much wished to see.
The night was cold and blustering, so that the contrast was very
pleasant as I stepped again into a warm, cheerful room, with tree
and candles and presents, and met the hearty greeting. There is
something about this German Festival, which one would seldom see
in our home enjoyments. People do not seem to be enjoying them




CONTRAST TO AMERICA.                      225
selves, because it is a " duty to be cheerful;" and because a familygathering is a very beautiful and desirable thing. They are cheerful, because they cannot help it, and because they all love one
another.
The expression of trustfulness through the children of these families; the open and unconscious affection shown by them  all, was
very beautiful to see. They were all so happy, because they had
been making one another happy.
As I recall our hollow home-life in many parts of America-the
selfishness and coldness in families —the little hold HOME has on
any one, and the tendency of children to get rid of it as early as
possible, I am conscious how much after all we have to learn from
these easy Germans.
There is a compensation, to be sure, in all these matters-our
faults connect themselves with our strength-and a boy is an independent, self-reliant man with us, when he is in leading-strings in
Germany.  But there is growing up in our cities, a hankering after
exciting pleasures, an aversion to the simple and pure enjoyments
of home among the young, which forbodes badly for our familylife.
Materialism-the passion for money-making, and excitement, is
eating up the heart of our people. We are not a happy people;
our families are not happy.  Men look haggard and anxious and
weary.  We want something more genial and social and unselfish
amongst us. A piety which prompts to petty self-sacrifices, and
takes a pleasure in them, as well as in great.  Any family-festivals
of this kind; anything which will make home pleasanter, which
will bind children together, and make them conscious of a distinct
family-life, is most strongly needed. Good people are to recognize
that there is a religion in Christmas feasts, as well as in prayer10t




226             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
meetings; that a father who has made his home gloomy, has done
quite as great a wrong to his children, perhaps, as he who made it
irreligious.  We want these German habits-these birth-day and
Christmas festivals-this genial family-life, without the German
weaknesses, if possible.
In my friend's family here, there were the same genial enjoyments,
as in the other-perhaps even more subdued. I found myself again
remembered kindly, with Christmas-tokens, so that I quite forgot
the old family circle over the waters, which used to have its cheery
gathering this evening-now wide scattered and broken.
At the close, my friend read some touching, beautiful letters from
Luther to his boy, which fastened the children's attention quite as
much as they did mine.
After this, came the merry Christmas Eve supper, with the ancient Berlin dish for the occasion, carps stewed in beer, followed by
the Christmas-cake, pfefferkuchen, which to the unitiated may be
described as a mild form of ginger-bread, sweetened with honey.
Then at a late hour, hearty shakes of the hand, " Viel Glitck!"
and many good wishes for the future, and my first Christmas Eve
In the German Fatherland was over.




CHAPTER XXIV.
THE GERMAN UNION.
THUS far in my travels through Germany, the question has constantly arisen to my mind, " What is this German Union, about
which I hear so many and such ardent thoughts?"  What has it
been in former times? Was there ever a" United Germany," and is
it probable that there ever will be?
I must confess to a very vague and indefinite knowledge previously, as to the answers for all these queries; and not improbably,
I shall have many companions, even among historical scholars, in
my difficulty. We all know, either from  German literature, or
from European Journals, of this intense and almost poetic desire
through the German race for " Unity; " we know also, that there is
a Confederated whole, called Germany; but what the nature of this
Confederacy is; on what pact it rests; what basis this desire of
Union has had in past history, or what probabilities there are of its
realization in the present time, or what are the causes of the
strangely high-wrought German feeling on the matter, probably but
few even among intelligent men can explain.
In investigating this subject, I must forewarn the reader of some
very dry chapters. Still, the facts to be given are indispensable to




223             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
a correct understanding of Germany, and the movements even now
at work within it.
The Germanic Empire of history-the basis of the present Confederacy —dissolved through the influence of Napoleon in 1806,
may date its origin from the year 962, when Otho the Great, King
of Germany, gained, by the conquest of Italy, the title of Emperor.
The kingdom thus elevated into an Empire, was made up of five
different nations, each governed by its own prince, and all united
under one elected monarch. Its limits, especially on the east, were
by no means those of modern Germany; still, in the main, they
were determined by German Nationality, and the provinces and
kingdoms lying beyond the territory of the original tribes, though
belonging to the empire, were not represented in the Diet of the
German States. The development of the empire, from this time,
gradually into the Confederacy, which ensued, is very curious, and
altogether different from the political changes in any other country
of Europe.
In France, and through all the feudal kingdoms, the different
provinces or duchies were bestowed by the King on his favorite
vassals as temporary governments, finally reverting to the Crown as
fiefs, the result being, that each kingdom became at length a compact whole and the king absolute ruler. In Germany, on the other
hand, there was a principle of law from the first, that the Emperor
should unite no fief to his own property, nor hold one which he
hald possessed before his election or accession. The effect of this
r'egulation and of other causes was, that gradually each of the
Dulkes or Electors became independent of the Crown; and the
blcrmlan Empire, in place of beingone State under the command




THE EMPIRE.                       229
of a single head, resolved itself into a Confederation of States, yielding a nominal obedience to their elected ruler and diet, but each, in
fact, independent and self-governing. This result was not obtained
without difficulty.  From  the crowning of Otho to the peace of
Westphalia, the history of the German Empire presents nothing
but a scene of unintermitting discord and quarreling. The Emperor
oppressing the Electors, and the Electors encroaching on the imperial right; the princes carrying on war against one another, and
against the cities; the cities forming unions against the princes;
and the knights combining against them all. In the eleventh century, Henry III succeeds for a short time in exercising almost absolute power; but his posterity is soon dispossessed; and in the
thirteenth century, says HIallam, "The place was now become a
mockery of greatness. For more than two centuries, nowithstanding the temporary influence of Frederick Barbarossa and his son,
the imperial authority had been in a state of gradual decay. From
the time of Frederick II, it had bordered on absolute insignificance;
and the more prudent princes were slow to canvass for a dignity so
little accompanied by respect."
In 1220 and 1232 the territorial independence of the princes
was first legally acknowledged by the Emperor, by two decrees, in
which he engages "Neither to levy the customary imperial dues,
nor to permit the jurisdiction of the palatine judges within the
limits of a State of the Empire."*
During all this period, up to the peace of Westphalia in 1648,
Germany, though nominally an Empire, was'scarcely, on one occasion, able to exert any combined power on the rest of Europe.
There was no national army of any account; no metropolis; no
representative of the government, except an impoverished Emperor;
* Hallam.




230            SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
no union between the separate provinces; no court to decide upon
their differences, or permanent Congress to give them all a combined influence. Germany was neither a powerful Confederacy of
States, nor an absolute monarchy. Its strength was spent in internal dissensions. Besides the existing wide divisions into dutchies
and archbishoprics-each almost an independent state-the Empire,
as if to make more absurd the claim to a German Union, was split
up at different times into various'internal Unions, each a rival to
the other. There was the Hanseatic Union in the fourteenth century, or Union of the free cities; the Electoral Union; the Rhenish
Alliance; the Union of the Knights; some of the leagues being
expressly formed to oppose the action of the Imperial Government.
As the last source of complete separation of the different parts,
was the spread of the Protestant Reformation; and, before the close
of the seventeenth century, the distinction between the Protestant
and Catholic States of Germany, grew to be as great as that between the different nations of Europe.
The old Constitution of the German Empire, though giving, as we
see, no efficiency for foLeign action, was somewhat more useful for
internal administration ~ and, even if the Diet could not unite the
whole confederacy for an effort against strangers, we must allow that
it could at least sometimes protect a weaker member of its own
body against a strong. However, it needed five centuries, before
even a Federal Court could be formed to settle the national differences, or an Executive established to carry out the decisions.
The first great exposition of the German Constitution is in the
Treaty of Westphalia, 1648; and on this as a basis, have rested the
internal relations of the Empire, up to the time of its dissolution.
Through the whole treaty, the different provinces of Germany are
recognized not as members of an undivided kingdom, but as sepa



TREATY  OF  1648.                      231
rate states. Each of the princes is established "in his entire right
of sovereignty over his own territory, in the power of making war,
concluding peace, and forming alliances," whether with the other
princes or with foreign states; the only stipulation being that " such
alliance shall not be to the injury of the Empire." The central
power is stripped of almost all prerogatives of control over the individual states; and the different parts are settled in their relations
to each other, much as if they were hostile countries.
So little is there of the constitution of a confederacy in this document, and so much of a treaty regulating the rights of conflicting
states, that the principles settled here, have formed the basis of the
European code of international law, since.
There is no appearance, certainly, thus far, of "German Union"
in the constitution of Germany. Nor did this treaty tend to promote it. The weak, it is true, were better protected by its stipulations, against the strong; but the forces of the Empire were just as
useless for any foreign object as before. Various causes also tended
now to sink still more the dignity of the Central Power.
By various means, and through the strangest reverses, always
rising  strongest after defeat, gaining alike from  marriage and
alliance and even reverse, by robbery, and by purchase, by accident
and by scheming, the House of Austria was building itself up an
Empire, which would surpass even the ancient empire of the Czars,
and under whose brilliancy the name of the German Empire would
quite be lost.
The King of Austria was, indeed, the Emperor of Germany, but
all the forces which he could lead in his imperial capacity, were not
a third as numerous as the standing army of his own kingdom; and
those could only be collected under the greatest difficulty and oppo



232             SOCIAL  LIFE IN GERMANY.
sition.  The great power of Central Europe became Austria and not
Germany.
A century later, also, another state suddenly rose in Germany,
by a series of successes even more wonderful, and by acts of fraud
and injustice, even more base-Prussia.  It is not my purpose here
to trace the growth of this petty Dukedom  into one of the first
European kingdoms. It is sufficient here to observe, that the successful position of Prussia in the eighteenth century as the Protestant rival of Austria, destroyed the last semblance of unity to the
German Empire.  Germany was lost out of view, as a separate state,
and Austria and Prussia appear henceforth on the field of European
politics. The German States were still nominally provinces of an
empire, but were, in fact, independent powers, holding a loose confederacy for the maintenance of internal peace, and clustering around
the two great Kingdoms, who were for the future to dispute the
power and the territory of Central Europe.  The last blow to the
falling empire was struck in 1806, when fifteen of the German
States separated themselves from the Imperial Alliance, and formed
the Confederation of the Rhine, under the protectorship of Napoleon. Thus was the old Empire of Charlemagne, after a nominal
existence of more than a thousand years, in fact, dissolved; and, in
the same year, Francis II completed the legal act of dissolution, by
relinquishing the crown of the Empire, and declaring himself simply,
henceforth, Emperor of Austria.
The Confederation of the Rhine, supported alone by the power
of Napoleon, fell with his falling fortunes; and in 1814-15, the
German States, with their European allies, met at Vienna, to reconstruct Germany, and to give it a constitution, which should in some
degree remedy the evils of the past, and answer the enthusiastic
wishes of the People,




CONGRESS OF VIEiNNA.                   233
To the Constitution here given, after many changes and some almost magnificent experiments, has Germany again returned; and he
who would understand the present position of the German States,
wili perhaps find it worth his labor to accompany us in a brief survey of the provisions of that Instrument, and of the changes wrought
upon it, in the few succeeding years.
The first gathering of the Deputies to the Congress of Vienna
in November of 1814, was amid the almost boundless hope
and enthusiasm of the whole German race. A mighty effort
had just been made to cast off foreign oppression. The people
had risen to the aid of their princes, with an exalted heroism
and a self-sacrifice, such as has not been seen in the popular
movements of modern days. Something of the solemnity, and
of the inspiration of those stupendous events, which had delivered Germany from the power of Napoleon, still rested on the nation and its rulers. The first proclamations of the sovereigns have
almost a religious tone. And in the preceding year, at Jcalisch,
they had called upon the German people to " struggle with them,
with heart and mind, with good and blood, with body and life for
the return of Freedom and Independence to Germany, and for the
restoration of a worthy kingdom in suitable form, as may please the
peoples and kings of Germany, and such as, in its traits and outlines,
may spring from the original spirit of the German race; so that
Germany, renewed in youth, vigorous and united, may take a position among the peoples of Europe."
"For this object," too, said Prince Metternich to this Congress,
"have the people seized arms; and all the States who have joined
themselves to the great alliance, have declared themselves at their
entrance, for the same end."
Already previously, (May, 1814) also in Paris, the allied sove



234            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
reigns had declared, that " the States of Germany shall be indepen.
dent, and united by a Federal tie."
Everything seemed to promise that Germany would at length be
established, as her patriots had so long and ardently desired-as a
vigorous Federal State, governed by a Parliament, at once representing people and princes, able to act with power in foreign relations,
yet made up of independent States, each possessing its own popular
constitution. Unity of Germany and provincial constitutions, were
the objects, everywhere, before the hopes of the people-to which
many added a Federal Court, empowered to decide upon differences
between the States. How these expectations were realized will be
hereafter seen,




CIAPTER XXV.
THE GERMAN CONFEDERACY.
THE first year of the Vienna Congress passed away with scarcely
one tangible result. The old spirit of Austrian diplomacy seemed
to have settled down on the members; and amid the universal stretch
of excitement among the people, incredible time and breath were
wasted in the most superficial matters of ceremony; and wordy
plans succeeded plan, until there seemed no end to the discussions.
The sudden return of Napoleon from Elba, at length aroused the
Deputies to the times in which they were living; and with a mar
vellous despatch, the document was prepared which was to be the
ground-work of the Constitution of Germany. The essential articles, concerning the internal government of Germany, were as
follows:(Art. 2.) The object of the German Confederacy is the maintenance of the
internal and external security of Germany, togther with the independence and
inviolability of the confederated States.
(Art. 3.) All the members of the Confederacy have, as such, equal and
uniform rights.
(Art. 4, 5, 7 and 9.) The general interests of the body shall be discussed
and arranged at a Diet, in which each member shall have a vote, (either a
single vote or a share in a collected vote). This Diet is appointed to sit.at
Frankfort-on-the-Maine. It is perpetual, and the period of its adjournment




236               SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY
must not extend beyond four months, at the most. Austria is to hold its
presidency.
(Art. 10.) The first business of the Diet, after its opening, will be the settlement of the fundamental laws of the Confederacy, and its organic relati'ons,
in connection with its internal, external, and military relations.
(Art. 11.) All the members of the Confederacy promise to unite together
against any and every attack, and when a war takes place, they pledge themselves not to enter upon any secret compact, nor conclude any partial armistice or peace with the enemy. Meantime, they reserve to themselves the
right of forming alliances of every kind, but they bind themselves down not
to conclude any sch alliance, which may injuriously affect the welfare and
security of the country, or be opposed to the interests of any one individual
member. At the same time, the members shall not be allowed under any
pretext whatever, to carry on a war against each other, but shall lay all
matters of dispute before the Diet, which shall either mediate or adjudge,
and to the decisions of which the parties must submit.
Article 13.- TIn all the States of the Confederation, there shall be a government
by Constitutional Chambers (landstdindische Verfassung.)
Articles 18 and 19.-The subjects of the German princes shall have the
right to pass from one state into another and to accept of either civil or military offices therein, if no military engagement already binds them to their
native place. The Diet shall occupy itself with the formation of laws for
the liberty of the press, and against piracy, as well as for the commercial
and trading intercourse, between the states of the Confederation.
Besides these provisions, there were stipulations with regard to the
religious rights of the various sects; and others regulating the military contingent for each member of the Confederacy.  The army
was to consist. of 300,000 men, to which Austria contributes 94,000;
Prussia, 79,000; Bavaria, 35,000; Wiirtemberg, 13,600; Hanover, 13,000; Saxony, 12,000; Baden, 10,000; and the other members in proportion.  The commander-in-chief for the whole army, is
appointed by the Diet, to whom  he renders the oath of duty and
service, and from whom he receives orders and authority.




RESULTS OF THE  CONGRESS.                    237
S ech was the gift of the Congress of Vienna to the German people, in return for their heroic efforts and sufferings.
Even the ambassadors* of some of the monarchical powers of
Germany had expressed the desire before the meeting of the Assembly, that the future constitution should contain at least provisions
for a Federal Court to decide between subjects and the rulers; that
provincial representative constitutions should be guaranteed by the
Confederacy, and a popular representation have a share in the Diet.
None of these were given. There is no approach made to the
Unity of the People. No Federal Court is established; no executive depa.rtment; no representation abroad; no common code of
law. Neither people, nor provincial legislatures have any share in
the government of Germany.  And so little weight had the 11th
article, even at the time, enjoining that "no member of the Confederacy should conclude a partial armistice or peace with the enemy,"
that at the second Peace of Paris, Austria and Prussia alone of the
Confederacy, were parties in the treaty, which was to settle the
affairs of Germany.  In truth, it was not a unity of Germany which
was gained, but a unity of her princes.
Neither do popular rights fare better. Liberty of the press, publicity of trials, and trial by jury-so long demanded-are nowhere
bestowed. Popular representation in the legislatures, is not secured; and the provincial constitutions are not protected. The
only answer to the universal cry of the nation for a constitution, is
answered by the enigmatical words of Art. 13. " Landstandische
Verfassu'ng," skillfully contrived to mean a constitutional government, based either on popular representation, or on assemblies ap* Von Stein, Humboldt, and others. (Stein's Leben. Entwurf der Deutschen Verfassung. Die Gegenwart, 1848. 12th Heft. Wirth's Geschichte der
Deutschen Staaten, vol 1 )




238            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
pointed by the Government. Pure monarchical rule is the principle recognized throughout. Constitutional Government is the exception.
The result, in fact, of this long hoped-for Congress, was not to
make Germany more united, or more free, but to throw more
power into the hands of Austria and Prussia; and to strengthen
the rule of the princes over the people.
It will be seen, as we go on, that the progress of events from 1815
to our day, has only confirmed these tendencies; that more and
more the German Confederacy has been changing into a Confederacy of princes, and the Diet of the League, yielding itself up into
the hands of Austria as an instrument of absolute power, until the
sudden and terrific outburst of popular passion in 1848, has scattered the whole structure to the winds. That the new Government raised by the people has proved as unsatisfactory as the
old, and that this year, (1851) has witnessed a return to the
princely Confederacy of'15, more unconditional and more absolute
than ever before, and to a prostration and oppression of the people
more hopeless and more complete than in the worst days of the
Past.
The acts of the Vienna Congress, naturally aroused a universal
discontent among the free spirits of Germany; which showed itself
during the next four years, in very manifest forms. The students
and young men especially, felt the disappointment, and vented their
feelings, sometimes a little extravagantly. The governments professed to be alarmed. And at length, when in the increase of the
excitement, KOTZEBUE Was murdered by a crazed young man, a
student and a member also of some of the secret clubs, they sounded




NEW  TYRANNIES.                      239
the alarm of a universal conspiracy for murder and revolution among
the German youth. A more unfortunate act for German liberty
never occurred, than this maniac-blow of the over-wrought student.
It gave to the princes the pretext, so much desired and so influential upon the whole conservative party of Germany, for passing
stricter measures. The Conferences at Karlsbad were the result,
and in Sept. 1819, a new set of ordinances still more thoroughly
enslaving the nation.
These were directed especially to limiting the freedom of the
press and to strengthening the central power of the Diet. A commission was appointed to watch over the execution of the decrees of
the National Assembly. Another to investigate all revolutionary
movements, with powers to arrest any suspicious or dangerous individuals, and to control any local authorities. Officers, too, are
chosen to watch over the universities, and report the names of those
professors whose instructions are opposed to the spirit of these Conferences. A professor displaced on this ground can enter no other
university in any State of the Confederacy.
No writing, it is also provided, under twenty pages, can be printed
without the consent of the State authorities; and any State, where
such writings are issued, dangerous to the public welfare, will be held
responsible to the Diet.
The Diet, too, shall have the right, at pleasure, of suppressing
any such printed writings in any State of the Confederacy.
It will be seen that these decrees throw a very great power over
the individual States into the hands of the princes, and almost completely muzzle the popular press. The despotism was completed by
the "Closing acts of the Vienna Congress" the next year-(June
1820). Among these, we only quote the following:
(Art. 57.) As the German Confederacy, with the exception of the free




240               SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
cities, is composed of sovereign princes, so must in consequence of this fundamental idea, the collected power of the State remain united in the ruler of
the State; and the sovereign, by the Constitution, can be bound to cooperate with the Chambers, only in thepractice of definite rights.
(Art. 58.) The sovereign princes united in the Confederacy, shall be
hindered or limited in their federal obligations, by no provincial Constitution.
Article sixty-one forbids interference by the Confederacy in the
contests between rulers and the chambers, unless through the resistance of the subjects to the authorities, the internal tranquillity be
disturbed; or unless the government, after the use of all lawful and
constitutional means, appeals to the assistance of the Confederacy.
Thus was Metternich's policy triumphant. The ruling power is
declared to be vested alone in the princes.  The provincial legislatures are not only under the control of these princes, but also under
that of the Diet. The great constitutional right-that of raising
the revenue-is taken from  the Chambers.  The powers bestowed
on the separate rulers, are so vaguely worded, that they would
admit of almost indefinite extension. And the unity of Germany is
at length secured, by giving nearly absolute power to the organ of
its princes.
From this time (1820) till 1848, the Diet of the German Confederacy has kept on a regular and consistent course of oppression.
The people have cried for " Unity" of government, and the Diet
have given them "Unity" of police.  Nothing has been done for
Germany.  No German fleet appointed; no representation abroad;
no common law; no united postage, or united revenue system,
or common weight, or measure, or coinage.  But wherever free
thought could be stifled; where the press could be curbed, or
the university watched; where associations could be restrained,
or the efforts of an oppressed population to regain its rights




THE DIET.                       241
be crushed, there has been unity of action enough on the part
of the Diet. Every year it has sunk in the respect of the
people. \In 1824, it is found passing laws which utterly destroy
the independence and the lowest rights of the provincial chambers.
In the year succeeding, there is no object of a revolutionary
character so insignificant, in which the National Assembly of Germany cannot interfere. It legislates upon political clubs, on popular festivals, on radical newspapers; it passes acts against red
cockades and democratic hats; and at length, it is seen in 1834
enacting four solemn decrees on the travels of German apprentices!
It had become, amid the contempt of the people, the great policeoffice of Germany.
The news of the Revolution of'30 in France, spread deep excitement through Germany. The people became more urgent in their
demands; and insurrections took place through various provinces.
No good result, however, ensued. The government saw that any
popular representation in the National Assembly, would limit the
power of the rulers. And each feared to take measures for any
greater unity  of administration, lest in the new  Constitution
some of the rival governments should gain the ascendancy. If
there were to be a united Germany, Austria dreaded that Prussia
would become the executive head; and Prussia feared to take a
second place to Austria; and the smaller governments apprehended
their being entirely swallowed up by the two combined.
So again did Germany-the " patient, much-suffering" Germany
with its forty millions of inhabitants, resign itself to be robbed of
its rights, because thirty princes-mere men, and very common
place men-could not arrange their petty and interminable rivalries
and jealousies.




242            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
As I study the records of this time of darkness; as I observe the
inquisition-like watchfulness of the police, the open and unrebuked
acts of oppression, the subserviency and poltroonery of leading
statesmen; as I see in the correspondence of men of the period, the
indignation and discontent, working terribly through the middle
classes of the people; and at the same time, the step of the oppressors bolder and steadier than before, I am recalled to the present
aspect of Germany.
The Diet of'51 differs not a hair's breadth from that of'31,
unless in being, if possible, more absolute and more unprincipled.
There is the same discontented, unhappy, oppressed Germany.
To the wise man of that day, there were warnings in the movements around him, of that terrible convulsion which in a few years
was to shatter almost every throne in Germany.  Are there not
signs now to the watchful observer, darker and even more threatening?
To follow through the acts of petty oppression, or wide injustice
wvhich characterize the history of the German Bundestag, or Diet,
till 1848, is happily beyond my present object. In February, 1848
a member of the Second Chamber of Baden, rose and offered the
motion, that a petition be addressed to the Duke for the formation
of a popular Chamber, in the Diet. The motion met with universal
applause through Germany; and amid the increasing murmurs of
revolution from every side, was discussed with the utmost freedom.
The talk soon became openly of a new "German popular Confederacy."  The governments were alarmed; the Diet put forth proclamations; but in the midst, the news came thundering through
Germany of another French Revolution, and a French Republic!
All saw at once that the days of the old regime were numbered.




THE  PARLIAMENT.                     243
Six months before, words disrespectful to the Diet were high
treason. Now a Prussian minister dared to say, that the " Constitution of the Confederacy was so much worthless papel," that " he
would know nothing of the Confederacy, as a Confederacy of sovereign Princes." And another, (Bodelschwingh) that " the Constitution of the German League was something more than a piece of
paper, on which were written the articles of Confederation, a mere
treaty-that it was a powerful, mighty Being-a brotherhood of
forty millions of Germans!"
The Diet made every struggle for existence. It issued liberal
proclamations; it voted the old German colors, which it had once
so stringently denounced; it proposed to the Governments to send
deputies to Frankfort, to revise the old Constitution.  But it was
too late. The people could not believe, that anything good could
come out of the Bundestag. And on the 31st of March, 1848, a
Revolutionary Assembly had met at Frankfort, composed of about
five hundred deputies from all parts of Germany, to deliberate on the
election and formation of a grand new NATIONAL PARLIAMENT.
With this almost self-elected body, (the Fore-Parliament) and
with its successor, the National Parliament, the old Diet strove hard
to agree. But it found continually, that its young rivals were encroaching on it; that the law-giving power was first taken away,
and then, by the formation of a "provisional central power," its
executive office was reduced to nothing; and that all parties, princes
and people, had lost respect and confidence for it.
At length, on the 12th of July, 1848, it terminated its existence,
by the President of the Diet formally transferring its rights and authorities to the Administrator of the new Federal Germany, ARcH
DUKE JOHN.
Whether, says a spirited writer in the " Gegenwart" of'49, the




244             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY
German League was also dissolved by this dissolution of the Diet,
is still a question. One thing is certain, The League which the
sovereign German princes and free cities had made, and whose organ
and representative was the German Diet, is on the 12th of July,
buried for eternal times. Over its tomb, has the League of the
NATION been erected; a new covenant with a new meaning is made,
to which also the new form will not be wanting. May soon to our
descendants, the disgrace of the old League, be only an incredible
fact!
Alas! the writer himself has probably lived to see the "Old
League returned " tenfold worse than before."




CHAPTER XXVI.
THE LAST ATTEMPTS FOR GERMAN UNION.
OF the German NATIONAL PARLIAMENT in 1848-9, I do not
propose here particularly to speak. It is an interesting historical
fact, but in no way closely connected with the present condition of
Germany. The attempt was a splendid experiment-thus to build up,
on popular representation, a consolidated empire, of thirty independent sovereign states. The intense hopes and almost passionate expectations of the lovers of freedom through the whole German Fatherland, followed the effort. The Germany, which the Professors at
Frankfort would frame in one session, was such as the Past had
never seen. It was neither the old Empire, with its rival and conflicting, States; nor the modern Confederacy, with its union of despotic princes. It was a free, popular, compact Germany. The forty
millions of the German race were at length to stand, as one people
in Europe. A new state, more powerful than the Germany of
Charlemagne, of Frederick II, or of Charles V, was at once to be
erected. Prussia was to disappear as Prussia; Austria to be only a
second-rate power; Saxony, Bavaria, Hanover, to be only provinces
in this mighty kingdom. A common law, a common coinage, a
common force was to rule from the Baltic to the Adriatic-and an
executive to be chosen with powers such as the old German Em.




246             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
peror never dared to claim. All this grand Empire was to be
governed by a constitutional Parliament, based on free, popular
representation-a magnificent project, and formed under the influence of the noblest purposes. Still, we are forced to confess it was
one for which Germany has never yet shown herself prepared. Innumerable difficulties incumbered the Frankfort legislators on every
side. They knew no~hing themselves of practical politics. Each
one had his own political theory, elaborated long in the study or
the lecture-room; and now, on this grand theatre, it must be displayed and realized. Endless, hair-splitting discussions occupied the
golden time, when they might have firmly settled their authority
over the whole nation. Questions pressed upon them, also, which
might have puzzled much older legislators —the relations of the
Central Power with the different States, and the obligations of the
States to this new, undefined general government. The democracy
besieged them on the one hand, with their demands for a universal
license, and the governments, on the other, asserted the independence of the separate kingdoms. They could content neither party;
and asserted rights over each, which the other would not aid them
in maintaining. In excluding the non-Germanic provinces, they
offended Austria; and in their democratic discussions, alarmed
Prussia. Even the offer of the crown of the new German Empire
could not win over the Prussian king. And when, at length, they
called in the soldiers of the princes, to save them from the violence
of the people, it was felt that their day of power was over. The
first formal intimation of the helplessness of the Parliament was
given in May, 1849, to its envoy, by the Prussian Minister, who
coldly " declined any foreign interference in their interior affairs," and
recommended to the Central Power, to "confine its attention to
matters nearer home."




NEW  UNIONS.                       247
Nothing daunted, that body (May 10th) made a bold deciaration that a recent act of Prussia-her interference in the Dresden
insurrection-was a violation of the public peace; whereupon (May
14, 1849) the Prussian Government proclaimed the authority of the
Parliament at an end, and that it " was no longer the representative
of the German Nation."
With this terminated, so far as its influence over Germany was
concerned, the existence of the German National Parliament.
Despite this sad failure of the popular attempt to form a
United Germany, the efforts were still continued on the side of the
princes.
The king of Prussia now made.overtures for a German Union;
and on the 26th of May, (1849), struck a league with the kings of
Saxony and Hanover, known as the "League of the three Kings."
In this Union, twenty-eight States were gathered. It was not
claimed to be a universal union, but according to one of the articles
of the Treaty of Vienna, was formed as a separate league (Sonderbund) within the German League.
As an offset to this, Austria (September 30) instituted a Federal
Commission or Executive Council, to take the place of the executive
adlninistered by Archduke John; thus forming-another German
Federal Government.
T he " League of the three Kings" did not enjoy a long existence.
The kings of Saxony and Hanover soon found that its great object
was to make Prussia the leading state of Germany; and as they no
longer had need of Prussian soldiers to restrain their turbulent peoples, they abruptly retired, with the declaration, that " the measures




248             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
of Prussia for forming a Federal State were hardly opportune, when
the whole of South Germany was wanting."
"German Union" was in fact now nearly given up, -and the
struggle was to be between Prussian Union and Austrian Union.
To complete the division, the smaller kingdoms, Bavaria, Wiirtemburg and Saxony, in their fear of the two great rivals, formed (February 27, 1850) another Union. Thus did the opening of 1850
show to the world, as the result of the enthusiastic struggles of
1848, for a united Germany, no less than three separate Unions,
rivals and enemies, within the limits of the German Confederacy.
The king of Prussia did not yet, however, entirely abandon his
efforts for a confederacy. Whether with his ideal enthusiasm he
had really formed a scheme for a United Fatherland, which, with
characteristic fickleness, he as easily threw aside; or whether he
merely intended the whole movement as a blind to his disappointed
people, is not to my mind, from the result, clear. On March 20th,
he summoned a Congress at Erfurt, seriously to consider the formation of a Federal Germany. The plan laid before this body, for the
Constitution of the German Empire, was perhaps too democratic
and too favorable to unity, to please even the court itself.
Within a month, the Congress was dissolved, to be replaced by a
"Congress of Princes," who were to meet the 10th of May, at
Gotha, to consult for similar objects. On that same day, however,
Austria had taken a much more important step, which has determined the condition of Germany up to the present time. With a
bold forgetfulness of thirty-five years of popular discontent and fear.
ful suffering and out-bursting rebellion, under the old German Bund;
with an insulting defiance to all Prussia's efforts and those of the
nation for a new confederacy, she calmly summoned the plenipo



POLITICAL  CHANGES.                       249
tentiaries of the German Governments to Frankfort, on the 10th of
May, to hold the full session (Plenum*) of the old Diet.
In other words, she returned formally, to the Vienna Treaties of
1815, as the basis of the German Constitution. Of her success in
this apparently difficult and presumptuous undertaking, I shall not
here speak minutely. It is enough to say, that by bold bearing
and shrewd diplomacy, she ousted Prussia from every new position,
degraded her in the eyes of her own friends, and succeeded in
carrying every point of her daring policy.
Germany, so long agitated, torn and wounded in her struggles
for National Freedom, and Unity, now lies calmly under the old
arbitrary regulations of 1815; governed by the detested Buind ot
confederated petty tyrants, with the House of Hapsburg at the head,
enjoying an unchecked dominion, such as her proudest emperors
have not held.
That the Past gives but little hope of a union for Germany must
be painfully evident, even from  this brief abstract of her history.
There never has been a United Germany. The old Germanic
Roman Empire was only an ill-adjusted League of independent
states for the sake of internal peace. The modern confederacy has
been only a Confederacy of princes, banded to oppress the people.
Kings, who from motives of ambition or of romance, have labored
* The Plenum was the legislative body of the Diet, with sixty-nine
voices, of which each state had at least one, and some four. The smaller
Executive Council had only seventeen voices, of which eleven States had
each one, and all the others only six. The discussions in regard to the number of votes to each state, formed, afterwards, the most important part of the
proceedings at the "Dresden Conferences," in 1851.
11*




250             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
to rebuild a grand German Empire, have equally failed with Parliaments and representatives elected to construct a popular state.
Eveiy experiment has had its trial, whether coming from the prince,
the professor, or the popular statesman-and each has come to
nought.
Neither do present appearances promise better. There are now
in Germany, taking the statistics for 1849,* thirty-eight separate,
independent states, containing 46 millions of inhabitants.  Of these
the two largest, (Austria and Prussia,) have nearly 28 millions, or
more than half the whole number. Of the others, the three kingdoms, (Hanover, Wiirtemberg, and Saxony,) have not any one, a
population as great as London; and the seventeen smallest states, or
more than half of the whole, have not together, more inhabitants
than Paris.
The population of the different states ranges fiom 6,500 (Princedom. of Liechtenstein,) to 15,648,000 (Prussia.)
Each one of these petty states, princedoms, duchies, and kingdoms, has its own distinct government; its own code of laws; its
own past history; and especially, its own ineradicable jealousy of
its nearest neighbors. The only bond to this multitude of states, is
a common language and a common blood. It is manifest from the
very statement of their population, that the two largest powers completely hold the others in check; and that no attempt at Union can
succeed, in which both these do not join.
When it is remembered that these two States are the representatives of different religions, and of different political schools; that
behind them lies a long history of bitter hatred and warfare; that
each has its national pride and local interests, must we not feat
* Die Gegenwart, No. 25, 1849.




HOPES FOR GERMANY.                        251
many a year will pass yet, before a German Union is firamed by the
union of Prussia and Austria.
It is true, cur own American Confederacy of heterogeneous races,
and religions, and interests, might give us hope for Germany.  But
withl us, there is not tlhis past histol'y of intense jealousy and unceasing dissension; tllere is not thie local boundary, wlhicil at once separates
religions and interests. Thie FrIenchmllan of NTew Orleains, tile CatlholicGerman of Olhio, and the planter of the Calolinas, look back to the
same history-, and work often side by side with the Anglo-Saxon and
the Puritan.  But for the ]'lrussian to forglet he is a Prussian, or for
the Austrian to sink his memory of a proud history, for the Saxon, the
Bavarian and the Hanoverian to bury their time-embittered jealousies;
for one and all, Monarchist and Republican, the Jesuit of Vienna,
and the Rationalist of Betlin, the passionate Southerner and the cool
North-German, to unite and form  a new compact Federal State,
seems as yet like a dream only of the lovers of Freedom.
Yet it shall not be always so.  It is manifest through the whole
history, that it is the PEOPLE who have always most longed for
union. They have seen that liberty from these thirty tyrants, could
only be secured by their own harmony. A united, popular Germany would throw off as encumbrances, this horde of petty oppressors.
When, at length, there is a Germany with a common people educated for Liberty, when revolution is a struggle not for license but
for righits, then will there be the first approach to Unity.  A fieo
Germany must be a united Germany.  Sectional jealousies will disappear in the great victory of popular rights.  Prussia may still be
Prussia, as distinct fiom Austria, as with us Massachusetts is from
Louisiana; but, with a people disciplined for freedom and with no
princely houses to foment the jealousies, what is there to hinder them




252            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
at length from combining for great public objects under one common
Constitution.
If the nations of Europe ever learn the lesson of self-government
from these many defeats, we believe that Germany may at length,
realize the old dread of her patriots —A GERMAN UNION.




CHAPTER XXVII.
A PRUSSIAN OFFICER-AND THE ARMY.
JANUARY, 1851.
I HAVE been holding a very interesting conversation to-day with
a Prnssian gentleman, a retired officer, Colonel -, well known
to the Americans here. He is of the old school, having served under Bliicher; and was wounded, I think, at Waterloo, and afterwards pensioned. He has all the Prussian pride, and that military
corps-feeling which the government has so cherished. A devoted
Royalist, though just now it seems to pain him, as we speak of the
king; and we are quite cautious about alluding to these late events.
He thinks this recent disgrace in Cassel before the Austrians is all
from " the evil counsellors of His Majesty."  " New men are in,"
he says, " who do not care for the honor of Prussia!"  According
to his account, and the general opinion, the tone of the army has
been wonderfully raised within a few years. No flogging, or brutal
punishment is allowed now. A man previously sentenced for a
criminal offence is never admitted into the ranks.  There are " courts
of honor," too, among the officers, which can punish, and severely,
any infringement of the " code." Their decisions in weighty matters are submitted to the king. Every means is used'to give this
high, gentlemanly tone to the army. The officers (of the line)




254             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GLRMANY
must all be men of education, and pass an examination at every new
step in rank. Every private can reach the highest place, if he only
show merit enough.  Colonel —'s account is entirely substantiated by what I observe everywhere in Bellin.  The city is crowded
with soldiery, but the manners of officers to privates are the most
exact possible. A failure in courtesy on either side is considered an
offence.  An under-officer was recently put under arrest for neglecting to touch his hat to a superior; and there is a story told of a
Lieutenant B., who lately met a private in the street, and in return
for his salute, stopped and chucked him under the chin, in an insulting way. The soldier, though bitterly offended, remained true
to his military etiquette, touched his hat again with the words, " I
report myself insulted!" and at once entered a complaint. The
Lieutenant was publicly disgraced.
I find soldiers generally in society here; and there is a very considerable sprinkling of epaulettes in the lecture-rooms at the University.  The three years course at the Military Academy demands
a certain amount of time to be spent in the University. Besides
this school, there are Artillery and Engineering Schools in the city,
Riding Schools and a Medical College for the Army. Everything
shows that the greatest possible pains are taken to make the soldiers' profession, an educated profession.
I asked Colonel  ~, whether the soldiers ever took part in political life at all?  " No," he said.  " An army, in the nature of the
case, must obey; and we do not permit the soldiers to take oath on
the Constitution.  We all obey the king alone.  Besides, according
to the Constitution last year, there can be no assemblies or elections
in the army, and we hope there never will be. May God long
preserve our gallant host from these poisonous democratic movements  "




A LOYAL SOLDIER.                       255
Did not he fear combinations among them?
No; for the officers are usually so distinct from the privates, and
from such different districts, that they would not easily unite.  Besides there is a great deal of esprit dlu corps in the militia, (Landwehr) as the battalions are raised each fiom its own district, and
represent that part of the country. As for the regular line, they
will never combine, with God's aid, except as in 1814 to defend their
country.  "No, monsieur; it is not Democracy which our brave
army has to fear; it is these misguided men who are now at the
helm of government. If our soldiers lose the sense of Prussian
honor-alles ist verloren-all is gone! "
My friend, the Colonel's,views were equally exaltirt, as the Germans say, or enthusiastic on everything pertaining to the army.
He even defended that ugly, blue frock-coat, a garment made apparently neither for peace nor war-too ill-fitting for a citizen, and too
plain for a soldier.  The spiked leather helmets, he assured me,
were also the most convenient head-pieces, and were often bulletproof.  The minie, or Zundnadel rifle, so much in use in the Prussian army, he says will strike its mark a half-mile without difficulty,
and is a very great improvement. Other military men, I find, do
not speak so well of it. It is cumbersome; and takes much time
in the cleaning and loading, and is very liable to get out of repair,
they say.
Whenever I converse with a Prussian soldier, or study the military system which has formed him, I am struck with the skill with
which a nation of soldiers is thus educated, and put at the disposal
of one man.  An organization so compact, so easily managed, and,
at the same time, so calculated to uphold the sovereign, has, perhaps, never been witnessed in history.  The army of nearly 800,000
fighting men is not a set of war-machines, like the Austrian troops,




256             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
or of blind, ignorant devotees, like the Russian.  It is a proud, chivalrous, high-spirited body. It is entirely separated from the State;
while its internal organization is essentially popular.  No political
sympathies are allowed. Its thoughts and feelings are all turned
within itself.  Merit, talent and bravery can win the highest rank;
and the soldier is taught early, that the honor of his corps and his
King are especially entrusted to him. He owes no allegiance to the
State. The king is his Commander-in-chief, and alone has the power
of promoting him.
It will furnish a clearer idea of the power thus put into the hands
of the King of Prussia, to give a brief description of this famous
military system.
Every young man in Prussia, on reaching the age of twenty, is
liable to be drafted into the ranks of the standing army. No substitute is allowed; and except in princes of the blood, no exceptions
are made-not even for the nobility or the clergymen. If he is
drafted into the infantry of the line, he serves two years; if, into that
of the guard, three years. If, however, he be a volunteer, and can
show a certificate of previous examination, proving a certain moderate degree of scientific education, his time of service is shortened to
one year, at his own expense. A part, too, of the regular service is
often shortened for the others, by their being placed in the "Reserve," as the regiments are not filled out in time of peace. Whenever the army is to be prepared for war, or mobilised, the Reserve
step into their respective regiments again. Though all the men
through Prussia twenty years old are liable thus to be drawn into the
ranks, not more than half are drawn annually. In 1846, it is reckoned
that there were 160,000 men in Prussia of that age; of these
77,779 were called out, and only 39,790 sent to the regiments



THE  ARMY.                        257
the rest being kept as Reserve. The regular army numbers 138,810;
with the Reserve 225,550.
Besides this, there are two divisions of militia (Landwehr); and
another body of reserve (Landsturmn).  To the first division belong
all the men of the kingdom  fiom  twenty-five to thirty-three years
of age, or those who have served five years in the line. The time
of service in this is seven years. This body is designed mostly for
defence, and numbers (in 1850) 174,616. It can be used, however, for external war, in aid of the regular troops. The second
division takes all those, who have served seven years in the first
and who are between thirty-three and thirty-nine years. This is
employed for fortresses and for internal defence alone. It numbers
175,196.
The last reserve (Landsturm) is never called out except in case
of an invasion by the enemy within the country, or in any great
danger, at the command alone of the King. To it, belong all who
have served in the other divisions, who are yet under fifty years of
age, and all who have not served, from seventeen to twenty years
of age.
The standing army, with the two divisions, would reach the number of 574,362; and on a war footing would not be far from 600,000
men. Adding the last reserve of militia, and the Prussian host
would amount to nearly 800,000 fighting men.
This immense host, too, be it remembered, is not a multitude of
raw soldiers, such as we usually call militia; but nearly all men,
drilled for many years in military exercises, commanded by carefully educated officers, and animated by a common military pride.
A more tremendous weapon has scarce ever been in the hands of a
modern State. It should be borne in mind, too, that since it was
used with such fearful effect upon Napoleon, it has hardly been




25 8            SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
wielded in these modern wars. In 1806, the army had become
thoroughly vitiated by luxury, and altogether turned from the popular and spirited direction given to it by the Great Frederick. It
needed the fearful and disgraceful punishment, which Napoleon
inflicted, to bring it back to a suitable spirit. Under those days of
sore trial and crushing disgrace, it learned a lesson which it will
never forget; and with the skillful organization of SCHARNIIORST, it
resumed its old character. It was popularized; ranks were thrown
open; new honors held forth; and the ancient esprit du corps
evoked. Every nerve, too, of the lamed and exhausted kingdom
was strained to fill it. And with success.  Or all the attacks which
beat back the iron columns of Napoleon in the disastrous campaign,
that ended in the battle of Paris, none were so unrelenting and so
irresistible as those of Blicher and his fiery Prussian corps.
In these late years, the army has been only occasionally employed; and then for no cause which could especially arouse its
spirit. To shoot down democrats in Baden, or extinguish revolutions in Dresden, would hardly satisfy the old Prussian pride. The
war in Holstein against the Danes was of a more popular nature.
And in this the Prussians swept everything before them. This
winter has witnessed the first grand preparations for war in Prussia,
since the campaigns against Napoleon. The whole nation rose, as
they did in 1814. Had this king possessed the genius or the
spirit of his great ancestor, he might have led a conquering army
fiom one end of Germany to the other. At the head of the whole
liberal party of Germany, with a nation of soldiers confident of victory,
nothing could have withstood him.  Twice has Frederick William
thrown away those grand opportunities which fortune seldom offers
men even once. The first time, the imperial crown of Germany




ITS EXPENSE.                        259
was within his reach. The second, a whole people stood in arms at
his summons, burning for vengeance.  By his timidity in the first,
he has alienated the whole liberal interest of Germany; by his fickleness in the second, he has lost his greatest support, the devotion of
the Prussian army.
Who shall say, that in these strange weaknesses of its rulers,
Providence is not bringing on a better day for Prussia?
This great army organization, is an immense expense and loss to
Prussia. In 1848 there were in the kingdom 1,794,051 men between the ages of twenty and thirty-two.  Of these, more than one
quarter were withdrawn from all the pursuits which tend to increase
the wealth or the happiness of the people, from all care of their
families, and all steady labor, to spend their time in military drilling.
Everywhere in the country, one sees, that the fields are tilled by
women, while the men are leading idle and mechanical lives in the
barracks of the cities.
All active thought is extinguished, except in professional matters;
practice in political affairs is lost, as the soldier, ".Nach der Natur
der Sache," in the nature of the case, as my friend the colonel said,
cannot be a citizen. The whole system over the modern Prussian
tends only to make him a loyal feudal servant of his lord the King,
and of the great " Prussian Royal Army."
Besides the loss, in the absence of so many able-bodied men from
all useful pursuits, Prussia pays in time of peace for her army,
$19,150,000 per annum —-or nearly three times the sum  paid for
the same object by the United States, with a population ten millions
greater, and a territory a hundred times as large, to defend.  Still,
the Prussian finances have always been managed with extraordinary
economy. The whole pay of a private is only from 21 to 3 groschen (6 to 7-2 cents) a day. In 1847, the clothing for every pri



260            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
vate soldier only averaged $7.50 for the year; and it is estimated
that each soldier only costs the state $135 per annum for food,
lodging and all expenses.
Of the whole expenses of the Prussian Government, the army take
somewhat more than forty per cent.




CHAPTER XXVIII.
A PROFESSOR'S EVENING PARTY.
February, 1851
I WAS invited last evening to a small party at Prof.'s. I
went about eight o'clock, as the invitation was to tea, and found the
company just assembling. The same plainness here, again, in the
furnishing of the rooms, which I observe everywhere. No carpets,
furniture light but pleasing, and pretty shows of flowers throughout.
The writing-desk in the corner, is arched with a trellis-work of vines;
and the deep alcoves of the windows show through the curtains,
flowers and tropical fiuit, arranged so as almost to give the effect of
a bower. There is to be, contrary to the custom, only a little dancing at this party, and the most of the time shall be for conversation.
An especial god-send too, such a company is to the Berlin young
people; for generally the laws of society for the intercourse of
young gentlemen and ladies, are the strictest possible. Every gentleman is assumed-before anything is known to the contrary-to
be of lax principles. He cannot walk out with a lady; he cannot
accompany her to a meeting, a concert, or a theatre; he must not
see her at her own house, except in company with her mother, or
guardian. She never goes into company, without an older relative;
and for her to invite any young gentleman to her house, would be
Mhe greatest breach of etiquette. The proper place for intercourse




262             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
between the sexes, is considered to be the ball-room; and the few
words passed there, are usually the basis, and often the main part
of their knowledge of one another, before the parties become more
nearly connected.  Of course, there are exceptions to this-families
where all the fiee, social intercourse of American life is carried onbut, in general, this treating of the two sexes, as if they were morally
dangerous to one another, is kept up through Germany.  A stranger
never suffers from such rules. He is charitably supposed to be utterly ignorant of them, and can break over as many as he chooses
I certainly transgressed them  ad libitum.
Beside many pleasant young people in the company this evening,
there were a considerable number of scientific men. In all society,
I think the pleasantest set, is usually the scientific.  The study of
the natural sciences seems to give a freshness and geniality to the
mind, which no other pursuit does.  Of those who meet at different
times in the scientific circles of Berlin, there occur to me with pleasure, the genial Mitscherlich, professor of chemistry, the Roses,
Humboldt, who appears even yet in social circles, with all the liveliness of youth; the brothers Schlagentweit, who, though mere
boys, have won a European reputation from their researches in
physical geography in the Alps; Professors Dove and Magnus, and
many an other.
It is pleasant to an American to find certain of our scientific men
spoken of and respected among these, as authorities; Dana in
Mineralogy, and Gray in Botany, seem as well known among the
learned in Prussia, as in New England.  Silliman, too, is everywhere
gratefully recognized as the founder almost of natural science in our
western continent.
I found myself in the course of the evening, how, I forget, in easy
conversation with a young lady, over Goethe's " Wahlverwand



OUR COMPANY.                       263
chaften," or "Instinct Affinities," as it might be translated,-a
novel the most dangerous possible to a weak mind. The story, it
will be remembered, represents two married people unsuited to one
another, but who each find the objects of their sympathies in another couple living with them. The struggles and the sorrows in
the temptation, and the final triumph of instinct over all obligation
and duty are most painfully pictured. I had no thought of any
one ever defending it, as other than an exquisitely drawn picture of
passion. But the lady, who though young is well known in Berlin
for her genius and her noble heart, did not hesitate to say, that it
contained its truth. Partly to draw out her meaning, I ridiculed the
whole idea, in the strongest language.
It was altogether striking to see the noble and free way, in which
she roused herself to maintain the idea of the author. It was a
delicate matter to handle; but in full, free tones, she told me we
could not appreciate the great heart of a Goethe. He believedand she believed that there was an affinity of one heart to another,
which was above all law. God himself had created it!  There are
instincts which no one can govern. And even if the tie is not
broken legally, there is a relationship of heart!
"But he would do away with the obligation of marriage; he
would make a communism in wives!"
"No;-he would make us more creatures of instinct, so that our
marriages and everything may be more natural. Now are we not
all artificial! We fear to think, or act, or feel, as our hearts prompt
us. People who are so cold and dry, may talk of laws, but the
men of heart do not own such laws. Goethe believed that men are
mere shells now, and that every one feared to be himself."
" But do youi not believe," said I more sieriouslgy, as I saw how




264            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
much in earnest she was, " that the greatest thing man can ever do,
is to govern Passion for the sake of Duty?"
"No, a greater is to be able to let all passions free.  If we were
harmonious, there would be no duty and no work-all would be
pleasure."
"What, still on your electic theory," said a friend coming up;
"our practical American friend will hardly understand your loose
philosophy-I must explain!"-The explanation the reader himself
can make.
I give this, though the rich tones and language which fastened it
for many a day on my mind, are mostly folrgotten, as a specimen of
that philosophy, which has crept among many of the noblest minds
of Europe; a philosophy which, in one aspect, I can heartily recognize, but which, in another, would make Passion and Selfishness the
guides of the soul.
In another respect, it is a specimen of what I so much like in
European society, the free, unassailable manner, in which a refined
lady will speak of such subjects. That universal prudery, which so
hampers a man in America and makes him ignore half the facts of
life, for fear of treading on some unknown delicate sensibility, is
never seen in European circles. It is boldly assumed, what. every
one knows to be the fact, that both sexes are equally aware of a great
variety of things, and where the allusion is natural, no one troubles
himself about it.
There were in our company, this evening, two who were invited
as betrothed, and I was very much struck with their manners
towards one another. I think in an Anglo-Saxon company, the
fact would have been dropped out of view as much as possible, and
certainly the slightest expression of their feelings would have been
intensely dreaded by the parties.




NATURALNESS.                       X2
-But here there was the whole evening, an unconscious beautiful
expression of affection and confidence, which really, I think, gladdened the whole company.
You never thought of watching them for it, but you never
thought of anything else with them. Love seemed to speak out as
naturally from their tones and glance and manner, as friendly feeling did with us. Nothing else would have seemed in place. It
was above criticism,-above surprise even-though if any other of
the young bachelors were like myself, they retired with a sufficiently
vivid appreciation of the woes of bachelordom.
I often have observed this naturalness of expression among the
Germans. It is more apparent in the families, of course. There
are not in all my memories, pictures so warm and glowing, as of
some of those families in North Germany; families where the
look and language of Affection were not blurred by that everlasting formalism and coldness and selfishness which hangs over our
households; where love was without dissimulation, neither worn for
duty, nor worn for effect; where mutual kindness and self-sacrifice
and affection had so long been, that the very air and aspect seemed
to welcome and sun the stranger.
This habit of expression in love affairs, appears to be carried
rather too far, sometimes. In Hamburg, it seemed to me that every
one knew when any lady was engaged; and a broken engagement,
or even a disappointment in love was as fair a topic for conversation
before strangers, and as generally known as a marriage. The parties
must evidently talk of such matters, in a way altogether averse to
our English feeling.
In our entertainment on this occasion, I am happy to say, there
was no card-playing.  Generally this is the universal amuempat of
12




266            SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
the Berlin circles, especially in the mercantile and in the aristocratic
classes.
I sincerely hope this amusement will never become as general in
American, as it is now in European society. Why any company of
intelligent and social people could ever have adopted it, seems strange
to me. It is a complete stoppage on the pleasantest enjoyment, after
all, of life to the man of sense-conversation.  Besides, we Americans should never be able to play for counters or dimes. We should
be a nation of gamblers, inevitably.
In one of our rooms this evening, the dance went on, most spirit
edly. Here, as everywhere in Germany, the dance is an entirely
different affair, from what it is with us at home.  There is a life and
spirit in it, which contrasts most pleasantly with the solemn and
measured ceremonials in our parlors in America. For the first time,
I gained the true idea of the dance-a musical, joyous, childlike
expression of good spirits.
" What! you dance not?" said a young lady to me, whom I knew
well, in English, as I stood watching the merry groups.
"No, I never dance!"
"Perhaps.you are from the Pietisten, who think it wrong to
dance?"
"Oh no, I like to see it very much!"
"Are your country people so strict as the English in dancing and
Sabbath-keeping 8"
I told her, I thought they were in the last, but that a great many
good people approved of dancing. Still we did not have that dance
among us.
"So/"* said she. "That is one of our prettiest dances-a
* This So I is the Indeed I of the Germans, which they always transfer to
English, when they speak it.




AMUSEMENTS.                        267
Hungarian dance. See, the gentleman pfeift-what call you itI
whistles! "
A Hungarian was at the piano, and he commenced a running
accompaniment by whistling the air, which had a very enlivening
effect.
"They say your people never play; they work always!" said she
again.
" Yes; it is too true," I answered; "we make our play, work."
"But we poor Germans have nothing else than play to do," said
she with a half-sigh.  "How should I like to see America!   The
Nature must be grand there. But then you Americans are so praktisch, (practical)."
I said, I did not think we all were; and asked her, if she had
read the volume of Poems, (Homes' Poems) which I had lent
her.
"Oh yes! " said she, " I am so much obliged! There is no other
poetry like it. It is utterly characteristic-so fresh and originaland how simple! remember you that of the old man "
"And the mossy marbles rest
On the lips he once has pressed
In their bloom! "
"But then so practical! No German young gentleman would
so write to his bride, as that one who speaks of his dollars and shillings; and his presents, which he shall not again have! "
I could not restrain a good laugh. The poem was that one of
Homes'"Of my cooings and my billings
I do not now complain;
But the dollars and the shillings
They will never come again-! 2




268             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
I was obliged to explain to her, that to us Americans, that was
the very joke.
"Ach Gott! I see. You are a strange people!" and she took
my arm into another room.
"Is it true," she asked, as we sat down together, "that your ladies in America sit still in the houses, and read, and cause the husbands and the servants to work everything? "
" Oh, no!" I answered; and then tried to explain to her the
position of woman in American society.
"So! It is very different here. You see that lady across the
room, very stout, with ear-rings, and light hair, that is the Frau Professor and Geheimrath S —, but she goes down every morning
and cooks in the kitchen till eleven hour. I myself divide my house
holding with my sister; and since six months, I have kept the accounts, and I go to the markets, and look the cooking every-day
over, and brush the rooms and clarify the dishes. The next six
months will my sister take; and oh! will I not be glad! 1'
I assured her, she would have an easier time in America in many
circles. Yes, she was sure she would. She liked America, even
much better than England. She had been in England, and it did
not please her.
I asked, why?  "Well, I was so afraid all the time.' People are
so much more strict as we. I did not dare to do anything. In
Germany, we can act in the public places as we choose-and no
person considers us-then we are not so stiff and cool to the strangers. I always so feared to be laughed in England. Then the
English so have the spleen!"
I did not agree with her about the English; and asked her, what
the meant by the spleen a
"Why, do you not know? The low snirit which in their bad




ENGLISH  SPLEEN.                    269
weather comes on-the oddities, such as you Americans have not,
nor we Germans-the spleen!  Par exemple, see you the Herr
Engluinder by the table, the tall, fresh young man. We all know
him. He is very honorable and good, and is much gebildet-I mean,
educated. A true friend also, but so odd-so, as we in German
say, unexplainable. He shuts himself in his room up for many days
sometimes-then he becomes very social; then again he studies all
the night and sleeps the day through. In the bad weather, he is
so gloomy, that we pity him; but if we say, he is at once displeased.
His Frau Wirth says, that he much money to the children gives;
but that he drinks tea infinitely, and has fourteen pairs of boots for
winter! This is the spleen!  You understand, Herr B.?"
I expressed myself entirely satisfied.
I inquired soon in regard to the fashions in the room, whether
they were German, most of them?
" Ach, no! " she replied; "it is not thought so noble to dress in
German fashions. We borrow the French. I sometimes think we
have nothing original, unless our musique. No one reads a German
novel now; and in the South, they often teach the children never
German, only French and English-"  "Will the Herr Americaner
be good enough to take the lady out to supper," said the hostess,
interrupting us.
" Very lucky  " whispered my companion, as we walked into the
supper room, "for otherwise, we should have sat at the lower end
among the children and stupids."
The soup was passed around, while I helped my lady to tea flavored with vanilla, with a few drops of rum.
" Do you know," said I, " you would utterly shock any of our
tea drinkers by such a mixture as that? "
"I know it is not English," she answered. "You will find it




270             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
through all Germany. We think the tea will not awaken us at
night, if we sprinkle in rum."
"Is it so," said she again, after a little while, "that you in America have those heavy English breakfasts with meat? How can
you? It is so gross  "
I defended the habit as well as I could; at the same time, making
an insidious attack on some of the standard German dishes, especially the Sauerkraut. She held up her hands in a comic astonishment, "Mein Gott!  Not to like Sauerkraut?  Where have you
educated 2 "
The conversation of the table now began to turn towards me. A
gentleman near, asked me in regard to my plans of travelling in
Hungary in the summer. I explained them. He said, he would
strongly dissuade me. Hungary was a very uninteresting countryhalf barbarous. There was nothing there to see. No works of
art-no theatres-no good hotels or roads. The country had scarce
ever been heard of till this late red republican outbreak. "' It was
a wild, lawless insurrection, and the land has not yet recovered
from it."
As the Hungarian was gone, I took up the defence of poor Hungary. "I was not sure of the facts," I said, " but I had a different
impression of the struggle.". I commenced in German, and then,
waxing warm, left it for English. I described the commencement
of that heroic struggle-pictured the old Constitution-told my
opponent, that he and his countrymen were not prepared to appreciate a Constitutional struggle-and in my ardor, from the deep
stillness at the table, began to fear I had offended the political prejudices of some; when I was interrupted, as I stopped for breath,
by " Vortrefflich!" (excellent!) " the vowels have even a clearer sound
than ours, and the consonants are smoother. A strong language




TALK  UPON  SLAVERY.                  271
but not so clear, not so many small words in speaking, as German!"
And I found, that my English, much more than my ideas, had been
listened to, so I turned again to German; and it is a curious fact,
that the speaking a foreign language varies as much, at different
times, and depends as much on moods, as any extempore speaking.
When under a strong flow of excitement, I could always speak good
German.
I spoke now in words which my opponent could not help attending to, of the wrongs of that unhappy land, of its noble and rational
struggles for freedom, of the crushing attacks of Russia, and of the
Austrian tyranny, of whose abuses we heard each day in the
papers.
I could not avoid, as I was upon it, and as I knew my audience
well, speaking sadly also of the oppression over the dear old German Fatherland. I alluded to their strict police laws; to the open
acts of injustice from the authorities everywhere, and mentioned
that well known measure of injustice by which, lately, liberal editors had been imprisoned and banished. I said that the times
seemed dark in the Old World-and that we in the New looked
with pity over to all this, and longed to right it again. I had spoken
with very considerable feeling and the company had listened intently;
but here I was interrupted by a gentleman whom I knew to be
somewhat more acquainted with America, than the others.'[he
words I can only imperfectly give, but the rebuke will never leave
ime.
"Sir," said he, very earnestly, " we admit that the times look dark
here in Europe, and that there is much wrong here, but we do not
admit the right of your country to rebuke it. There is a system
now with you, worse than anything which we know, of tyrannyyour Slavery. It is a disgrace and a blot on your free government




272            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
and on a Christian state. We have nothing in Russia or Hungary
which is so degrading, and we have nothing which so crushes the
mind. And more than this, we hear now of a law, just passed by
your National Assembly, which would disgrace the cruel code of
the Czar. We hear of free men and women, hunted like dogs over
your mountains, and sent back, without trial, to a bondage, worse
than our serfs have ever known. We here in Europe have many
excuses in ancient evils and deep-laid prejudices, but you the young,
free people, in this age, to be passing again, afresh, such measures
of unmitigated wrong and oppression! We have not been able to
understand it."
I must say that the blood tingled to my cheeks with shame as he
spoke.
I could say nothing in defence. I told him party-movements
had carried this act through, which I could not understand. But,
as to the existence of Slavery, he, like all foreigners, labored under
a great mistake. That I, that my countrymen at the North, had
nothing whatever to do with it. We detested it. We condemned
it. But we, in the free States, could not reach it; we were not responsible for it. And even if we were, it was a momentous and
very difficult question, how it was to be done away.  Sudden
and complete emancipation would often be only a curse to the slave.
I then tried to unfold our Constitutional system, the peculiar independence of our several States.
They understood easily, and admitted there were many more
difficulties, than they had supposed. Perhaps, unfortunately, there
is nothing that a German understands quicker, than the evils of a
Confederacy, where the members have their independent rights.
The company at length rose from the table. "You have well
your Fatherland defended," said my companion, as she took my




"'GUTE NACHT 1"                   273
arm into the other room, " but perhaps you will think once more,
before you speak so hard into German tyrannei, again! And it is
posseeble, you may even sometime find good in the Sauerkraut /
Now let us shake hands, T like so your English custom, and you have
not yet learnt the hand to kiss! Gute Nacht!"
12'




CHAPTER XXIX.
BERLIN FETES —-EWS.
Feb. 11, 1851.
WITHIN the last month the city has been enlivened by several
brilliant ftes. First, in January, came the festival commemorating
the origin of Prussia, as a kingdom-the 150th anniversary, and
therefore especially celebrated. Now, there is a grand levee, which
makes the rusty old palace gay again, in honor of the king's taking
up his residence in the city, for since 1848, he has not deemed his
liebe Berlin quite safe enough for a residence, and has held his
court in Charlottenburg, about five miles distant.
It is the first levee which has been held in the Palace since the
Revolution of'48; and report says, it is the first time the queen
has entered the building, since that terrible day when the fate of
Marie Antoinette hung over her; and when the shouts of the populace called her out on the balcony, to look at the ghastly corpses,
as they were carried into the Palace-court, of those who had died
fighting against the throne.  A friend of mine, who was in front of
the Palace the day after this, says it was a humiliating sight to
witness the forced complaisance of the king with the crowd, shaking
hands with the Blouses and the ragamuffins of Berlin; and his servants emptying the palace cellars to supply them with wines and
delicacies.  Of course, all this is forgotten now.  Such an occasion




LIVERIES                        275
is almost the only one in the year which calls out the country gentry, and we have a display of liveries, the most unique. Many of
these worthy gentlemen have only means to appear once at court,
and the old carriages and dresses are carefully preserved for this opportunity.
There are all imaginable colors of livery, and powdered and ruffled coachmen in the style of Louis XIV's time, with the ponderous
vehicle and outriders, side by side with the graceful carriage and
simple footmen of the modern court-beau. They are pouring on
in a continuous line to the castle gates, while the mounted police
are keeping the way clear amid the crowd. The people are having
great enjoyment in cracking jokes at this display of the thread-bare
nobility.
The Fest in January, though not more showily arranged, was to
me much more interesting. It is difficult to realize that this powerful kingdom has only been in existence 150 years; and that its
brilliant history dates almost within the memory of the living.
The name too, of Prussia, is taken from one of the rudest and
poorest provinces in Europe.
In 1417, Frederick, of the family of Hohen Zollern of the Burgrave of Nuremburg, bought from the German Emperor, the province, which now constitutes the centre of Prussia-Brandenburg.
To his descendants in 1618, was conveyed by marriage the " Duchy
of Prussia," a fief of Poland, and a desolate province which had
been won and held by an Order of Teutonic Knights.  The title
of Elector of Brandenburg, was merged into that of Duke of Prussia; but it was not till after the splendid victories of Frederick
William the Great, and the spoils gained in the Peace of Westphalia, that Prussia was fully recognized as an independent state. It
was at length raised to the rank of a kingdom on the l1th January




276            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
1701, by Frederick II crowning himself as King of Prussia. It
needed, however, sixty years before the Republic of Poland would
deign to acknowledge its old fief, as a kingdom.
From the peace of Westphalia, the history of Prussia has been a
course of continued and skillful acquistion. Marriage, negotiation, war
and peace, defeat and victory, have all alike added to its territory.
What it has not openly plundered, it has gained by cunning bargain
or by fortunate accident. The Saxon provinces, the Pommeranian,
the Rhenish, the Westphalian, have all been won in these modes,
and the history of the acquisition of Prussian Poland is still fresh.
Like many of the German States, Prussia is a disjointed country; and
were one to judge only from present appearances, it would be natural
to predict that another half-century anniversary would not be celebrated by the Prussian kingdom. The inhabitants of the Rhenish
provinces, with their warm southern blood, their popular sympathies,
their French customs and laws, are as diverse as possible from the
loyal and aristocratic population of Brandenburg, or the sturdy and
often chivalric farmers of Prussia, bred up only to the old German
ideas. And again, the proud Polish gentry of Posen, the mechanics
of Silesia, and the easy intellectual Saxons, form other as irreconcileable elements in the Prussian State. Free institutions would,
we are persuaded, unite even these opposing populations. But with
the present system of a centralized monarchy, we believe that parts
of Prussia-especially the provinces on the Rhine —will become
more and more alienated, and that any well-sustained attempt on
the side of France to regain them, would, in a few years, meet there
with a welcome reception.




FAMINE.                        277
SILESIA.
Accounts come each day, in the papers, of the sad condition of
one province of the kingdom, Silesia —the Ireland of Prussia. No
description of Prussia or of recent Prussian administration, would be
complete, without some mention of the mournful history of this
district.
It will be noticed on the map, that there is one point of Prussia
protruding down between Poland and Austrian Silesia, to the southeast of Breslau; this forms the province of Upper Silesia.
The province, it appears, is a barren country, inhabited mostly by
weavers or small farmers, professing the Catholic faith, and kept by
their priests in a state of great superstition and ignorance. In 1 847,
their potato crop, on which they almost entirely depended, failed;
and their other harvests, which had been gradually growing worse,
this year were poorer than ever. They lived much during the autumn on roots and poor vegetables, and meal mingled with chalk or
stone. The winter set in with an unexampled severity-and the
year 1848 opened on a scene of suffering and destitution in Upper
Silesia, such as the word has seldom witnessed. Men wandered haggard and starving in the streets, grasping food where they could
find it. Corpses lay unburied on the way-sides. Houses were
filled with the dead, and no one knew of it. And the officers of the
government, who forced open the doors, not unfrequently found the
famishing wife in the arms of the husband who had been dead perhaps for days. We will not go further into the details. All that
is disgusting, heart-sickening in human misery, was experienced by
thousands and tens of thousands in this Prussian province. The
Catholic clergy labored incessantly among the sufferers, and the




278            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
"Sisters of Charity" were known, not seldom, to have slept in the
snow, while going about to help the starving.  But all aid was of
no avail. As the spring came on, to the horrors of famine, were
added the raging of a fearful pestilence, caused by the unburied
dead, and the foul nourishment on which the inhabitants had lived.
The priest was swept away with the sick whom he would relieve.
And even the immense establishments for feeding the people, erected
by the Catholic clergy, were of little use. The whole population
were so weakened and hopeless, that the highest wages could not
induce them to labor, and they could hardly make the necessary
exertion to receive the food which was offered them.  The Government, for a long time, paid no attention to the complaints firom the
province; and it was only, till in some districts one-fifth, and in
others, nearly a half of the population, had perished, that it deigned
to contribute its aid.
The causes of these terrible calamities are to be sought, as in the
so strangely similar Irish sufferings, in many sources. Disproportionate taxation, division of the land into great estates, absenteeism
of the owners, a bad government and corrupted religion, and finally,
all these working on the character of the people, till they themselves
became so lazy and inefficient, that no good government coald save
them. These, with sudden events in the natural world, may account for that terrible famine and pestilence in Upper Silesia. As I
said, the Romanist clergy have been working nobly there. No sect
in Prussia was found to show such self-sacrifice, such heroism, amid.these scenes of pestilence and death, as these Catholics showed.
Herr Wichern, whom I mentioned in Hamburg as leading the
operations of the "Innere Mission," has carried his indefatigable
efforts even to this distant province. And strict Protestant though
le be, the Catholic clergy have joined with him, and in the common




NEWSPAPERS.                        279
society of the "' Mission," they are working together for this wretched
province; their especial design now is, to establish orphan asylums,
as there are said to be some ten thousand orphans in that country.
The bishop has even consented to send some of his young clergy to
Wichern's Rauhehaus in Hamburg, for the purpose of learning his
system in the management of such institutions.
The news comes to us now, (February, 1851,) of a protest of
France against Austria entering the German Confederacy with all
her provinces. A very natural step-as any such successful movement on the part of Austria, secures the whole German confederated
army in her favor-and completely frees her fiom all present ap
prehension for Hungary or Italy or any of her disaffected statesinasmuch as a revolt in them would be a revolt against the Union
of forty millions of Germans. France has no wish to see Austria
thus strengthened.
A much more interesting piece of news to me is the appearance
of Webster's letter to Hiilsemann, in full, in the Constitutionelle
Zeitung (Constitutional Gazette) of Berlin. It is attracting great
attention, and will be read in every coffee-house of North Germany,
There is no greater infliction upon a newspaper-loving American,
than the German press. No one understands, apparently, how to
publish or how to edit a newspaper in Germany. The dailies in
the largest cities are not one-third the size of our common country
papers. There is seldom any good foreign correspondence, or foreign news, little important telegraphing, few connections with distant quarters, and no great talent in editorials. The advertising is
carried on in a separate sheet often, from the reading sheet, and the
great object of advertising lost. What news these journals contain,




%S0            SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
is so badly arranged and given out, that I have frequently gained a
more distinct idea from articles in the London Times or Daily News,
of events transpiring here, than I have from daily reading of half a
dozen local papers. Except in the large cities, families seldom take
newspapers; they are read in coffee-houses or club-rooms. The best
journal, in my opinion, of Germany, is the Cologne Gazette (K/.lnische:Zeitung)-a bold, spirited, free-spoken journal, which has
been prosecuted twice this winter by the Prussian Government. It
represents the liberal constitutional feeling of South Germany. The
correspondence from abroad, and the arrangement of news, seems to
me much superior to that of the other German journals. In Berlin,
the organ of the Ministry now is the " German Reform" (Deutsche
Reform)-a journal of fair ability, and of course, strongly conservative. The National Zeitung is the democratic paper-sometimes
permitted to speak a bold word; the Constitutionelle Zeitung is
the leading constitutional paper of Prussia. This has occasionally
articles of much spirit, but is usually too heavy. It takes the middle ground now between the Democratic and Governmental party,
and has been strongly for war. There is also a German Punch in Berlin (Kladderadatsch), whose principal characteristic, is its unbounded
impudence.
In Hamburg, the Nachrichten has a good circulation, though by
no means remarkable for genius. In Southern and Austrian Germany the Allgemeine Zeitung (Universal Gazette) of Augsburg,
has long had the greatest influence. This has been a very able
journal, and for statistical and scientific articles, scarcely surpassed
in Europe. Now, however, it is conducted in deadly fear of the
Austrian or German police, and has lost much of its life.
The best paper of Vienna is not the most liberal-the Lloyd's.
The editors write under the eyes of that accursed detective police,




THE TIMES.                         281
and of course, can say little to any purpose. They have been permitted to speak in financial matters, and there they have uttered
new and bold truths.
American papers are seldom seen in Germany. The Times, of
England, and that most non-committal and prudential journal, the
Galignani of Paris, are everywhere. What American will ever
forget their really home-like look in the German cafes?  How often
wearied by the strange streets outside, or by the foreign gossip
within, have I settled myself down over their columns, as if for a
chat with a countryman, just from home!
The influence of the Times throughout Europe, is wonderful, and
one of its strong, practical, carefully-prepared " leaders" makes almost
as strong a sensation in Germany as it does in London. The Times
represents the great common sense of England more than any other
paper; and it is these practical articles of it, penetrating into the
bombast and idealizing which cover these German affairs, that give
it such an influence —or at least make it so feared by the leaders of
the parties.




CHAPTER XXX.
A VISIT TO THE CHAMBERS.
U WHAT do yo I say to making a call upon our Prussian Chain
bers. " said a friend to me one morning, as we were chatting in my
room over the morning coffee.  "An acquaintance of mine, one of
the members, has offered me a ticket, and we can get it as we go
along."
I assured him, I should like nothing better; and we at once sallied out, to be in time for a good seat.
My companion was a young merchant of some property, and an
ardent, almost violent Democrat.  We usually had a great deal of
discussion together-agreeing very well in the main principles, but
differing on detail; I finding him somewhat ultra and unpractical,
and he me a little tainted with the " verdammte Reaction," as they
call the conservative tendencies.
"There are some of those accursed soldiers again!" said he, as
we came upon a company drillino in the fine avenue "under the
Lindens;" "and the old' Hauidegen' (Slasher) at the head, I believe. Think of him for our next King! 7
It was the Prince of Prussia, the King's brother, a heavy-looking,
stout soldier, who was cantering up and down the line with a few
staff-officers.




A " RED."                       283
"Tell me," said I; "these soldiers are quartered on you, are they
not, whether you will or no? "
"Yes," he replied, " there were two of them put upon me last
month; and I only got rid of them by paying their Kosten elsewhere. I hope as a citizen of Prussia, I should always be willing to
support our brave army, if they were fighting for the people or
the country. But now I know, they are nothing but tools of the
King!"
" I hear," said I, as we passed the position of the staff, " very favorable accounts of the Prince's son. Those who know him well,
tell me he is far superior to his old father. A very honest and
good-hearted young man, with high purposes to benefit the nation,
they say. He may make you a good King! "
" No; it is impossible," said he, " the whole kith and kin are utterly unreliable. You cannot trust them; and the best thing for
Germany would be to take off the heads of the whole brood! "
I lauohed at his excitement; and asked whether he would not, at
least, acknowledge that the present king and his nephew, (the heir
presumptive) were religious men; and were trying to spread abroad
religious influence.
" No;" he answered, " it is not so. You mustn't get your views
from those Pietisten. All the religion they care about, is to have
a State Church. See what the old King did-trying to make us
religious and belong to his church with the bayonet. And then
take this reign. That old hypocritical tyrant, Eichhorn, (one of the
State ministers) tried for years to choke all thought-freedomand would not even appoint a school-teacher, unless he was an
orthodox! The King has broken every promise he ever made
to our people. It was not till four years ago, that we had the first
shadow of a Constitution, though his father promised it, in 1815;




984            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
and now our " allergnidiste," (most all gracious) breaks it every.
day. His piety is to pay preachers to delude the people!"
" What!" said I, "do you think all the preachers hypocrites
too?"
" Oh no; not that. But they are paid by the King, and are
naturally influenced by him; and they preach to please him. Who
ever heard a word from them against tyranny, or for the oppressed,
or for the victims all through Germany to these execrable princes?
When did they ever speak for poor Cassel, or Holstein?  They talk
often enough of the' Obrigkeiten,' (the authorities) and the godless
Socialism-and these impious attacks on religion and government;
but who ever heard a free word from them? I don't believe in such
religion! I would rather have Infidelity!  We must sweep away
kings and preachers, before we can be free!"
I told him, I agreed with him as to the public teachings of these
men, though I liked them personally, and thought them very selfdenying and good men. "It all comes," said I, " from your State
Church. You must have a free voluntary church; and then you
won't confuse religion, and the abuses of government together  "
"But look! " said I again, as we passed the bridge of the canal,
"there's a specimen of your German practicality-just like what
you are doing in Constitutions-six men doing the work of one, and
all hindering one another! " The six men were engaged with poles
and ropes, in pulling open the gates of the lock, a work which one
Yankee would easily do with a lever.
He laughed, and admitted it; and we turned soon into the alley
of the post-office, as it was hardly time for going to the Chambers.
"You send passengers as well as letters by post 8 " said I, as we entered the court-yard, full of coaches, just ready for starting.




AN INCIDENT.                      285
"Certainly. Everything-mail-coaches, rail-roads, telegraphs, are
government propevty here."
As we walked down the narrow street from the Post-office towards the large bridge, my companion showed me with ardor the
different points, where the people had forced the soldiers back in the
Revolution of'48, till they retreated across the bridge to the
castle.
" You see that corner house there! " said he. "Our people did
almost the only violent thing, which was done in those days, on that
building. There was a wretch of an officer lived there, who sheltered some of the soldiers as they hurried down the street, and let
them fire on the crowd from the windows. When we reached there,
the fellows were on his story in a moment-the doors broken
through-and out came through the windows the fine mirrors, the
pictures, the chairs, every possible article; and a great heap was
made for a bonfire below. They were beginning at one room,
when the servant-maid rushed in, and said it was hers; and not one
article was touched! I had gone off at a little distance at the time,
but I remember now of seeing one poor fellow tumbled into the
heap; and then beaten and flogged by the crowd, with everything
tney could lay their hands on. It seems, he was one of their own
number, who was caught thieving "
We now made our way to the " Chambers," and after presenting
our tickets, took a good seat, near the diplomatic benches, in the
gallery. The House would not meet for some half-hour yet, and
we had time enough to look about. The appearance of the building outside and in, was not at all remarkable. The hall, where we
were, wag of oblong shape, with various galleries, a curtained box
for the royal family, a slight desk and stage for the speaker, and
Beats for three or four hundred members. There was no verv rich




286            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
furniture, yet all neat and cheerful, and well-kept, and altogether, a
much more comfoitable hall of legislation, than the English Hall
for the Commons, which I visited last year.
"There's Vincke!  Do you see him?" said my companion, " the
stout man in a snuff-colored frock-coat, with a rather important air,
here in front! He's the leader of the opposition now, was one of
the old Constitutionalists. You saw his speech the other day, the
best we have had this session- tremendous cuts on Manteuffel!"
"And there comes der Teufel selbst, (the devil himself!)"  It
was the Prime Minister, Manteuffel, who entered by a side door,
followed by a page, bearing his port-folio. He took his seat on a
little raised platform, behind a long desk-the ministerial benchesand quietly received the members who came up to pay their
respects. A little and insignificant man he is, except in the outline
of his head, which shows decided intellectual power. His face has an
expression of much shrewdness. This man guides now the destinies
of Prussia, and probably will for years to come. He has ousted the
military Radowitz, has adopted the pacific and cringing policy-and
avoiding war, he has managed, even -while yielding to Austria, to
strengthen the material interests of Prussia. Whether all the tergiversations of his administration are to be laid to him, is doubtful. He has a difficult master-and it must need great skill to
adapt his policy to the ever-changing tendencies of Frederick William.
Among the crowd, I was pointed out Beckerath, Camphausen,
Count Schwerin, Prof. Tellkampf, and many other.eminent members
of the Liberal party.
PROF. TELLKAMPF is well known in America. He has distinguished himself this winter, in all constitutional discussions and de



PRUSSIAN COMMONS.                     287
bates on points of order, by his minute knowledge. His acquaintance with the American and English Constitutions is very exact, and
stands him in good stead.
The house was at length called to order, and the members took
their seats; those on the right being occupied by the friends of the
ministry and those on the left, by the opposition. The members do
not wear their hats like the members of the English Parliament;
and in general have not so independent and careless an aspect, but
seem more like a company of gentlemanly well-fed office-holders, as
in fact, most of them are.
The discussion opened on the late Press-ordinance, enacted, as I
have before explained, by the ministry in an illegal manner, while
the Chambers were not in session, and completely cutting off in its
workings, liberty of the press.
The discussion was rather spirited, though in general, the speaking was awkward and uneasy. VON VINCKE made a short speech
which was listened to with marked attention. He has all the ease
and force of our best orators, and must be a very effective speaker,
I should think, when thoroughly aroused.
The Ministerial party defended the Ordinance as a temporary
measure, and made the usual objections to the license of the press.
The Opposition attacked it, especially on the ground of its arbitrary
character, and defended free speech, and urged the old promises
and the guarantees of the Constitution for Freedom of the Press.
There was nothing new to an American in the discussion, except
the fact that any members of a Constitutional Parliament could be
found, to defend a measure, so obviously unjust and arbitrary.
This is the second Chamber, or Lower House. It dates its peculiar formation to the constitution given last year (Jan. 31, 1850).
The members number 350. They are chosen by electoral colleges,




288             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
made up of electors from certain fixed districts, or certain cities,
numbering at least 10,000 inhabitants. The qualifications for a
member are that he should be thirty years of age, in full possession
of civil rights, and a resident of Prussia three years. For a voter,
the conditions are a residence of one year in his parish, property to
the amount of one hundred Thalers, (about $75,) or a payment of
the parish taxes, and at least two Thalers of direct taxes; and furthermore that he should be of a sane mind, and twenty-five years
of age. Apparently a very liberal basis of suffiage.
The First Chamber is composed of the princes of the blood, and
of certain members of ancient princely families; of members nominated by royal order, whose number shall never exceed one-tenth
of those chosen by the people; and of. the regular representatives
from the nation. Of these last, sixty are chosen by two hundred
large landed proprietors in each province; thirty-eight by the common councils of the large cities, and six by the professors of each
of the six universities.
After some time, spent in listening to the closing speeches on the
debate, which grew more and more dull, my friend and myself left
the hall, and I accompanied him to his house, for a lunch after the
long fast. "The worst of it all is," said he, as we walked along,
"there is such a quantity of office-holders among them. The
Constitution reads well enough, but it -says nothing about threequarters of the membels being in the pay of the Government. We
can carry no liberal bill through, of course.
"Then we have no good hold on the king, by the purse-strings,
as you have in England.  To be sure, the Chamibers have a nominal control of the budget-sbut die diimms! —(tbe stupids!)..-..they
don't know what it's worth, nor how to keep it. Oh die Deutswe
Outmiithigkeit! the German good nature, it is infinite!"




A DEMOCRAT.                       289
I spoke of my pleasure in Vincke's bearing and words. "Yes,"
said he, "he and the old Gotha party (the Constitutionalists) are
trying all they can to undo what they did in'48 and'49. But we
Democrats do not care for them.  They defeated us then and
brought back the Reaction, by their accursed theories. If there is
another Revolution, we shall soon sweep them from the board!
The only hope for Germany now is in unlimited Democracy.
These half-men are not the men for the times I'
I expressed my disagreement; that these men seemed to me
rational liberalists, who thought the people unfit for a Republic, and
would give them what they could bear. They wanted a free constitutional government like the English. I told him I did not like to
see parties separated, as they were now in Prussia. " The Democrat and the Constitutionalist ought to unite, to gain the best form
of government possible under the circumstances."
" What! you a Republican, advocating these courses! You have
learned this from your conservative friends here. Did you know
that that Constitutional party ruined Germany, when they had
everything in their own hands? They can't save us. It is too late.
We have tried gentle measures long enough. No-to the devil
with them all!  A Republic -for us!-Universal suffrage! —Free
speech l —No State Church, and a chance for social reform again!
This is the Democratic doctrine! You think me, perhaps, too
much excited and unreasonable. But you have not been here!
You have not seen all Germany buy its liberties with blood, and
then entrust them to these scholars. You have not seen us wait
and hope and pray, always believing that these great, learned men
would work us out something, and then, at last, to find, that they
were only engaged over their own selfish theories and hobbies! To
13




290             SOCIAL LIFE. N  GERMANY
forget this great crushed people in their damned professorial quibblings!-But here we are-come in, and we'll take a bite!"
WVe went in, and were soon over a very good cold joint, an excel'ent German Wurst, some unnameable pickles, and a flask of
wine. After a busy engagement with the eatables for a few minutes,
to stay our appetite, I went on to tell hin, that we, in America, did
not believe in that kind of Democracy.  We believed in bestowing
on a people what they were fit for, and in educating them always
for the highest freedom. That our liberty was not the product of a
moment, or a year-it was the fruit of generations of political habit
and training.  "You do not know our system," said I, " though the
best explication of it ever made was by a foreigner, De Tocqueville"Ach yes-I have read him. But take a glass of wine before
you begin your argument. It is the Cap-wine;* a very peculiar
wine; I think you never saw it; sweet as Tokay."
" No, thank you, not this morning. As I said, or meant to say;
this is a most thorough system of political training with us. Every
village and district and state, is a distinct political school; the one
represented often in the other, and each fitting for the other, so that
the boy, and then the man, gets a constant training, through life,
in practical politics. Our municipal constitution, as you call-"
" I see," said he, " it is precisely what Stein meant to found here
in 1808, and a whole-souled man he was, even if no DemocratI
But you are neglecting the joint; allow me!"
" Well," said I, " our principle is this;" and I entered on a long
explanation of the American Constitution, showing its wonderful inluence in political education. I then told him, that for one I should
hope more from  seeing that or a s&milar municipal constitution
* Wine from the Cape of Good Hope, occasionally Irank as a cordial in
INorth Germany; u sweet, pulpy wine




DEMOCRATtC CREED.                     291
planted in Prussia, than from the most successful revolution. "Not
but that a revolution would be preferable to your present oppressions
-but the only lasting liberty, I am  persuaded, must spring from
such institutions."'
"' I think you are right; but, mein lieber, we have tried all that.
We had an excellent municipal constitution promised us, and then
made out last year. But, Ich bitte-beg your pardon-light a
cigar —they are the best Hamburger, though of course not equal to
your American. When you get back to your rooms, just look in
those documents you are poring over, and you will find that a Constitution very like the one you have sketched, was published last
year. And now, where is it 8 The'all-graciousest king' reigns by
the grace of God, and he never will suffer a piece of paper to come
between him and his beloved subjects. He keeps it in his pocket.
(He referred in these words, to an expression used by the king, in
one of his speeches to the Chambers.)  No, mein Herr Republicaner,
there is no use! You wouqd be a Democrat, if you were here.
There is nothing to do with this Gesindel (rabble) but to get rid of
it! Our German Volk will bear long, but not always. You can
have no idea of the petty oppressions over the lower classes. All
associations forbidden; even an evening party was broken up lately,
because the dancers were Democrats and the Gasthaus was a
liberal house. The only free sects we had, the German Catholicsyour friends, the T.'s, belonged to them, you know-are declared
illegal. And now we cannot own a house or peddle cigars, without
being confirmed in that --  State Church. Pardon me-but it is
enough to make a man excited!"
I asked him, after some farther discussion, in regard to the first
Chamber, and the nobles, whether they were of much account.
" No," he said, " they were not. No one cared for them, or re



292             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
spected them especially. They have not wealth or talent enough to
give them  influence. They make up fine liveries and carriages for
the king on the Fest days, but the people scarcely know any one by
name. The king has a pet-theory that he must be surrounded with
a chivalric corps of peers. He has tried a great deal to build up a
House of Lords, as in England, but without success, Gott sei Dank I"
(God be thanked!)
" So," said he at length, as I rose, "you must go... Well;
leben Sie recht wohl! and may your Fatherland never come to be
like our poor Germany-tha Reaction or the Revolution to choose
between. Adieu."
The constitutional history of Prussia only dates four years back.
The father of the present king had promised in the universal enthusiasm of Prussia in 1815, to bestow a constitution on the kingdom.
The gift was delayed from year to year, by various pretexts, and at
length the old king died. At the accession of the present king, in
1840, all parties confidently awaited the long-promised instrument.
It was still withheld; and it was only till the increasing discontent
of the people almost made it necessary, that it was finally given (in
1847.)  The constitution then bestowed was framed after the feudal
and chivalric principles, so favored by the king, and did not at all
suit the present condition of Prussia. The Parliament was made
up of the eight Provincial Assemblies, and the representatives of
-lasses, and did not represent the people. The king evidently had
no plan of founding a constitutional monarchy, but rather of establishing a feudal rule, which should rest on the loyalty, as well as
the mutual antagonism of various ranks in the state.
This Constitution soon gave place to another in 1848, and then




CONSTITUTIONS.                       9
again, after further changes, to the Charter of 1850.  Over this,
there were long'discussions between the King and Parliament. He
was urgent to carry out his favorite plan of a hereditary peerage, and
to make perpetual the feudal fiefs held nominally in the kingdom.
The Chambers were equally opposed to both of these aristocratic
measures.
The king, at length, yielded on the fiefs; and compromised the
question of the peerage, by consenting to postpone the nomination
of the Lords, till August, 1852. By this Constitution, the present
Chambers were granted; and the law, establishing the responsibility
of the ministers.
The King in bestowing it, still made a reservation for his much
loved theories of regal right.
In the course of a characteristic and eloquent speech to the Chambers, he said, "in Prussia, the King alone must govern. And I
govern, not because it is my pleasure, God knows! but because it
is God's ordinance.  Therefore, also, I WILL GOVERN!"
The Constitution was well received; the only exception being the
disposition of the Poles in Posen towards it. They demanded a
distinct provincial organization to their province, incorporated since
1848, in Prussia; and not obtaining it, their deputies retired from
the Chambers. The most important portion of the Constitution was,
probably, that relating to the municipal regulations; published in
two distinct laws, March 11, 1850; but never yet carried out into
practice.
These are worth considering briefly, as constituting the best possible political reform, if they ever are realized.
The laws relating to the reform of city governments date as far
back as 1808-those establishing legislatures in the Provinces, to
1823   The difficulty thus far with all these measures, had been,




294            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
that they rested too much on the feudal basis, and threw the power
into the hands of the country gentry. According to the new law, the
government, in the first place, of the parishes (Gemeinde) is left with
the people. Every native-born Prussian, aged 25 years, and possessing property to the amount of $75, or paying the parish taxes together
with $1.50 of direct taxes, is a voter. The administration of the parish is committed to the common council, (Gemeinde-rath) elected
by the people. This, in parishes of from 1,500 to 2,500 inhabitants,
numbers twelve members; in towns of fiom  90,000 to 120,000,
sixty members. Beyond 120,000, the allotment is six for every
50,000. The qualification for this body is determined by property —
half the members being landed proprietors. The session lasts six
years, and is always public. The Council chooses the board of aldermen, (Gemeinde-obrigkeit) who administer the executive authority, and whose number vary according to the population. The
parish has the power of changing its own internal government, by a
particular statute, subject to the approval of the council of the canton, (Kreise). In the smaller parishes, more power is given t) the
lords of the manor.
Previous to these laws, as I have before said, the influence was
entirely in the hands of the nobility-this was especially the case in
the provincial Legislatures. By the new laws, the deputies to these
bodies are chosen by the assemblies of the cantons, (Kreisen).
Every person is qualified to be a member, who has owned property
within his district for three years, or who is engaged in a profession,
and aged thirty years. Every canton sends a deputy, if the population be below 60,000; if above, two; and one for every 50,000
beyond. The Session is six years, and is public. These "State
Legislatures " are at the head of the internal administration of Prussia. The royal power is represented with them by a Lord Lieu



STATE ASSEMBLIES.                      205
tenant, (Ober-praesident) who is obliged to present every year, a
report on the administrative condition of the province.
These Legislatures, in some provinces, have given the King already much trouble, and very probably will much more. The fiery,
liberty-loving deputies in the Rhine Assembly, the independent
Poles in the Assembly of Posen, and the stuldy farmers and landowners in the Provinco of Prussia, who are not forlgetful that they
form the kernel of the kingdom —have all spoken bold words these
last few years against the encroachments of regal power.  The Legislature of Brandenburg feels too much the influence of the court,
and along with that of Pommerania, has distinguished itself by its
cringing and servile attitude.  The Saxon Assembly has been somewhat bolder; but the Silesian and the Westphalian again have
shown the "reactionary" tendency.
Under this State government, (of the Provinz) come the governments of the districts, (Bezirk) and of the cantons, (Kreise). That
of the districts appears to have only a minor importance. The cantons hold the principal administration, after the States or Provinces;
and are in many respects, almost independent of the central power,
Their administrative bodies are elected by representatives chosen by
the parishes, ( Gemeinden); and the qualifications for membership, are
a house or other property within the canton, and the payment of
the class-tax, (about $6); if the property lies beyond the canton, the
candidate must possess an estate worth 5,000 Thalers. or have an
income of 500 Thalers.  Inl addition, he must be thirty years of
age.
The especial office of these Canton assemblies is the division of
taxes.  They meet, also, for six years, and renew themselves every
two years by a third.  As they are elected by representatives firom.he parishes, their basis is equally popular, with that of the parishes,




296            SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
The crown is represented in these bodies, by a provincial couetillor, (Lalndrath) who must be heard whenever he demands it.
It will be seen from this brief sketch, that this new municipal
Constitution is of a very popular nature, and though possibly a little cumbersome, is eminently adapted to train the people. It would
give them, what all their schools and universities and learned men
do not-political education.
In the various councils of parish and canton and district, in the
large and stormy Assemblies of the Province, in the thousand little
offices, executive and financial, which the Constitution creates, each
man would gain a familiarity with  political principles.  The
great defect, which appears now in all the German political enterprises, a want of skill in the details of politics-would in a few
years, be very much removed by such a system. The Prussian
peasant would get the idea thoroughly infused into him-of a selfadministered government. He would come more and more to trust
in the ballot-box, and not in the bayonet, for political reforms,
and in time, we might hope that, like the Englishman or
American, he would be a supporter and advocate of Self-Government, almost from instinct. In respect to such a system, I should
say, what I said to my friend, that "I would hope more from
its adoption for Freedom, than from all the Revolutions of a ceutury."




CHAPTER XXX.
A SUNDAY IN GERMANY.
MY landlad3 came in this morning with my coffee, unusually
neatly dressed, "Herr B., you must hurry! you will not be ready
for the Domkirche (Cathedral)!"
" Why, what is there, this morning 8?"
"Did you not know? This is Lent, and we have not been to
the theatre the whole week, and I have cooked puddings every day,
and now there will be some beautiful music for the king, at 8 o'clock I
Are you not Christians in America?"
" I thought you said you never went to church!"
"I do not usually; but now one must go for the sake of the lit.
tie ones, and then you know, no one stays away in Lent!"
"Do you like Prediger Nitsch, as. well as you used to i" said I,
after a little further conversation.
"Yes, I do like him, but I find it hard to understand him. He
seems to me the only honest one. Perhaps it isn't so, in America,
Herr B., but you know here, the preachers do not believe what
they say, and we all know, they do not care for us common
people."
I told her I found many of them very good men indeed, and
13*




298              SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
doing much for the poor; " but what makes you think they do not
believe what they say?"
"How can they?  You will pardon me, for perhaps you believe
so, but how can they believe that miracles ever happened. Why
should we not have them now? And then who supposes God
would have created us poor sinners just to be miserable always, after
we die?  I do not often speak of these things, mein Herr, especially before the children, but I do not believe in the God of the
Pieti.sten. I have done very many foolish things, and I was a gay
pretty young girl once, though you would'nt think it now; but if
I should die now, I should have no fear. Perhaps that will be all
of me —the dear God knows best; one thing I am sure of, He will
treat me kinder than I would treat my dear little ones. I always
remember what Schleiermacher said once in a funeral of a child,
here,'There is hope of a tree, that if it be cut down, it will sprout
again, but man dieth, and where is he?  Yet one thing we are certain of, the little one and we, are in the hands of the All-Merciful,
and whether we shall exist or not, it shall be well with us!' I think
so also, Herr B!"
This speech of Schleiermacher, I have often heard from others beside my landlady, so that there is probably some foundation for it;
still it must have been uttered very early, as his later writings show
an unwavering faith in Immortality. Our conversation I will not
follow further; it was soon interrupted by the summons to the
church.  It was a bright, peaceful winter-like morning, as I stepped
out, the fresh snow over everything, and the spires and towers of
Berlin, standing up cold and distinct against the clear sky.  Cheerful parties were returning from  the morning concerts held in the
coffee-houses out of the city, all hastening towards the Cathedral.
These Sunday concerts, I understand, are to be forbidden in future,




CATHEDRAL SERVICE.                     299
by the government, which is determined to have Sunday more
strictly observed.
The walls, as usual, are all covered with placards of the grand
entertainments for this evening; though, it being Lent, the Kingo's
theatre will be closed. There is much excitement, apparently, about
one play which is to come off to-night-Julius Ccesar-as only
last week an opera not nearly so democratic in its sentiments, was
forbidden, and the crowd expect the police will interfere'in this.
No one seemed to have ally private seat in the Cathedral, and I
took a good one in front. It was very cold and damp in the building. The soldiers crowded in so thickly, that very many stood
up, but there was no disorder. At length the king entered the gallery dressed in his usual blue overcoat, with only one officer in attendance. The service at once began with a chant, and then a
young man in a gown, apparently a Candidat or theological student, stepped forward on a low platform, and read the service, while
the responses were made by the choir. He read appropriately, yet
with deep feeling of the great wants and sorrows of the human
soul, of its infinite needs, its essential weakness, its dependence, and
its love for the Highest One, and the music answeredin tones of
more than earthly sorrow, or of repentance, or joy, or hope. It
was a sublime service, as given in that crowded Cathedral, with the
best trained choir, perhaps, of Europe.  I never hear a good liturgical service in any church, without being conscious of how bare is
the simple form to which I have been accustomed at home. From
a man of real life and feeling, prayers of the heart are beyond all
forms and liturgies. But how seldonl is he to be found! IIow
much of our present church prayer, is the most utter and monotonous
form and repetition, without the advantage of its being a repetition




300'            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
selected by the best taste, and hallowed by the associations of many
centuries.  Would that some new service might be fiamed, where
the prayers of the moment, of the heart's feeling, might be mingled
with prayers, culled fiom the Bible and from the best aspirations of
the holy men of the past.
Our preacher was one of the regular chaplains, and appeared to
view in a high box or pulpit, in another part of the building. He
opened with a short introduction, then read his text, and then
preached from memory. The sermon was a quaint one, upon the
subject of Sampson's life, the object being to draw an analogy between the history of Prussia and the experiences of Sampson I
The contamination of the people by French influence under Frederick the Great; the merging of their own morals and taste into the
French, and the subsequent degeneration, and disgrace under the
French rule, was found pictured in the sinful intercourse of Sampson with the heathen.  " He took a wife from the Philistines."
His principles were injured and his strength weakened by this union,
and he fell utterly into their hands. Still, through it all, he retainedihis faith in God, and this, at length, wrought out his salvation. So with their dear Fatherland. Through all those years of
weakness and dishonor, she still held, in some degree, to the Faith,
and when finally, she was delivered, it was because Infidelity and
French sensuality were repented of, and the people believed in God
again. Sampson, still later, fell into the hands of the Philistines,
and again, through his intercourse with the Philistine harlot. So
with Prussia. She will not keep herself from the Delilah of French
infidelity, and socialism, and falsely-called Freedom. Again, like
Sampson, she has fallen in these late days of the Revolution, into
the hands of the Philistines, and " who shall say, whether she shall
escape, like the Jewish leader, only by her own ruin 8 " Meine go



A SERMON.                        3t 
liebten! —beloved! these are dark days for Prussia! A godlesi,
heathenish' spirit is abroad. Men are seeking to uproot all Law and
Religion! They cry Liberty, but they are really seeking license,
indulgence. The people do not believe on a God, they do not respect their lawful rulers. They revile the church. See the excesses
of the Revolution, and see here, what they have resulted in. Look
at these outbreaks in Hesse-Cassel and in other parts of Germany.
Blood and disorder, and irreligion, are the fruits. These are what
the Socialists, the Revolutionists, and all who are stirring up the
ignorant crowd, seek. No, to have true liberty, we must return to
the Faith of our Fathers, we must learn to honor our rulers, we
must attend to the instructions of the clergy. In every way, we
must be separate from this French Delilah-the Socialism and Unbelief-then only will strength return unto our poor Fatherland!"
The sermon was listened to with profound attention, and was
really eloquent in many passages. It was followed by a hymn and
short prayer, and the congregation broke up.
As I was walking home, I was joined by a young gentleman, an
acquaintance, who is at the head of a manufacturing business of
some extent; not a man of University education, but of quick intelligence. We spoke of the sermon, and its quaint analogies, and
at length he said, " I do not know how you feel, Mr. B., but such
sermons sicken me of the Bible!"
I told him I detested them.
" There was not one generous or noble word," said he, again, " in
the speech for these millions of poor, oppressed men in Germany.
ile spoke as if the whole of these immense wrongs rested on the
ignorant and degraded people. He did not even mention the promises which have been broken over and over by these princes; nor
the deception and injustice practised so long by our rulers. Who




302              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
has made the people degraded?  Who keeps them  so I  One
would think from him that the masses had no rights."
"And that allusion to Cassel," said I, " seemed to me base, and
ungenerous and false."
" I am glad you think so. But these'things are what we hear all
the while. There has not been a wrong or an act of tyranny these
last ten years, which these men have not supported from the Bible.
And, for my part, I have come to abhor much of the Bible. If it
upholds a system like this, I shall not wish to know more of it."
I told him I was sorry he felt so about the Bible. To me, its
spirit seemed to be the very spirit of liberty, and for myself, the
highest aspirations I had ever had of human freedom, I believed
prompted by it. My most ideal dreams, I said, of what humanity
might at length attain to-the highest possible perfection to which
society could progress-were always only the realizing of the simple
words of Jesus. This has always been to me, said I, the proof of
the divine origin of Christianity, much more than miracles or his
toric evidence.
He acknowledged this was true of the New Testament, but the
Old, which these preachers used so much, " How did that answer
my conceptions of progress."
I told him that I looked on it, in the main, as a history of the
first development of the race, where complete growth was not to be
expected.  "Yet, even there," said I, " I find ideas and pictures of
human progress, far beyond that age or any age since. That grand
Future of Justice and Love for mankind, which Isaiah paints, is beyond even our highest theories. Yes, and nothing to me so completely foreshows what the purest of your patriots in Europe might
feel. Kossuth, for instance —"
"Kossuth is no Democrat I"




:INFIDELITY.                       303
" Well, any who hate oppression and long for liberty. Nothing,
I say, so souids like what they ought to speak, as the words of
these Jewish prophets-that passionate love for their country,
through all the dark days of oppression —tht hope irrepressible of
liberty for their native land, and thus for the world, and the belief
never to be shaken in the God of justice, and in a happy Future for
humanity.  Is not all this fully equal to the spirit of our nineteenth
century?  Isn't it a great way beyond your cowardly German faith
in progress?"
He confessed it had never struck him quite in that light.  "But,"
said he, "I cannot escape my early prejudices. I do not desire to
disbelieve. I sincerely long for some support to faith, but, as I have
little time to study, my impressions of the Bible are mostly taken
fiom the teachings of these men. And now I cannot separate them
from their arguments for tyranny and injustice. I know it is not
reasonable; possibly it would not have been so, if I had been brought
up in America; but now the Bible seems to me an instrument of
priestcraft.  My first emotion towards it, as I see these tremendous
wrongs among my poor people, is almost of indignation.  And I
find many of my workmen have the same feeling, or if they have
not consciously, it affects them, and they prefer beer-drinking to
hearing such things.  I always argue against them, when they say
anything, yet I must confess to thoughts of the same kind."
I told him I was very sorry that he should have been forced to
such a view of the Bible, but that he must leave these (to him)
"blind guides," and study for himself. I thought our American
Liberty was planted on the Bible, and if he would only look, he
would see that the spirit of Christ everywhere is the spirit of
liberty.
Such are the views I hear throughout Germany, from the honest



304             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
minded anai the earnest; the seekers for truth and lovers of freedom.  I respect the Protestant clergy of Germany; they are, in
general, self denying, laborious nmen, who have certainly not entered
on their profession with any motives of selfish advancement or ease.
But I cannot avoid seeing that they are losing their hold on the
heart of the people. Their connection with the State, their associations, their education, unite them to the upper, not to the lower
classes. They do not sympathize with the people. They are not
" with the age," and the age will leave them.
When the next Revolution comes in Germany, as come it will,
woe to the Protestant clergy! The storm which is gathering against
royal power, and the privileged class, and the accumulated abuses
of ages, will burst fearfully on them also. It will be found that
they have built on the sand.
Clergymen in America! This is a fact worth considering by you.
Your influence over the American people has been great; greater,
perhaps, than the moral influence of the clergy has ever been in any
land. It has been gained by the deep-seated conviction among all,
of your sincerity, of your unwavering love of Liberty, of your hearty
sympathy with human progress. It is remembered, that your body
led the Puritans, that you arou~ed the people, and even led them
in the struggle of the Revolution; that you have stood first ever
since in the promoting of social reform, and the defence of genuine
Freedom! For this, you have the full confidence and affection of
the nation.
But if the time ever comes, in which your Order is found siding with
the powerful against the weak; if from motives of paltry fear, or of
caution, or of selfish interest, you are seen upholding wrong, however
legalized and sanctioned; if the voice which has so often rung for
Freedom, is heard on the side of oppression; if the holy influence of




SUNDAY EVENING.                     305
your office, the sanctions of the Word which you teach, are turned
to support the strong in high places, and to press down the helplessthen is your influence over the American heart gone! Nor is that
all. If Religion and the Bible are made to excuse or defend
Tyranny —': away with the Bible!" will be the cry. And we shall
have an Infidelity wide-spread, worse even than the German —
because all the best impulses of the age will gather around it.
Let us be warned in time.
In thte afternoon of this Sabbath, I attended a meeting of the
Baptists, iu a distant part of the city-quite as simply conducted as
the service vf our least formal sects; and with an air of unassumed
sincerity ania,pirituality. After this, I took that pleasantest of all
walks, the Sun,.ay evening walk in the park, adjoining the citythe Thiergartec,  Many parties were out enjoying the bracing winter air; but on the whole, not especially gay or noisy. There seems
much less dissipation on Sunday, in Protestant than in Catholic Germany. In the evening, I was invited to a friend's, Pastor L —, a
man much beloved in Berlin for his simple Christian character, and
well known for his talents. There was some pleasant singing of
hymns by the family-those earnest old German hymns-in the
early part of the evening; and about eight o'clock, we sat down to
supper. Dried goose flesh, Wurst, tongue with bread and butter
made the principal part, followed as a close by a large pudding with
a cup of tea to each. We were a long while eating, and still longer
talking. At length, the things were cleared away; a huge punchbowl was brought in, the pipe filled for the Pastor, and a cigar offered me, and the cups being passed around, the long conversation
of the evening began.




FO8             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
I spoke in the course of it, of the hymns they had been singing;
now very expressive and heart-felt they seemed to me. Yes, they said,
the old hymns were a treasure to their people, only next to the Bible. " They have become so identified with various parts of our
lives, that we cannot do without them.  This hymn for instance has
been sung at thousands of death-beds.
"'Mein Jesus ist mein Leben, und Sterben mein Gewinn; ihm
hab Ich mich ergeben, in Friede fahr ich hin.'
" Have you Americans hymns, that you love so much? We Germans, perhaps, feel music more than you."
I told him, I thought that our people had a great love for music,
though of course they were not so cultured in it, as the Germans.
And I believed the most intellectual part of us, felt the music in
church-service quite as much as the ignorant, "for it is the language
of the heart, and the head is not offended by it, as in many of our
religious forms."
"To which of your sects do you belong, Mr. B. 8 " said Madame
"To the Independenten," I answered, and then attempted to explain the position of our Congregational churches-" selbst-stdndige
Gemeinden," as I called them.
"Are they Lutheran or Reformed? " was the next inquiry.
Their creed was more from Calvin, I said, though we did not make
the same division as in Germany.
"Is not the splitting up into so many sects a great evil with you,
in America?" they asked.  "It does not seem  right that the
Church of Christ should be so divided!"
I replied, that if these sects were rivals, or were continually quarrelling, or if they felt each that the other was out of the church, it
would be so, But as it is now, they only represent a few of the in



TALK.                           307
finite differences of the human mind. "You here in aqermany, in
the United Church, are in fact just as much divided; that is, if you
are honest.  You yourself, Herr Pastor, have told me of the very
great difference of opinion in the German Church, in regard to the
doctrine of eternal punishment, and I think, if you ask cach thinking man, you will find quite as great a variety here of theological
views, as are shown by our sects."
They allowed it would probably be so.
"What sulprises us most here in Germany, about America," said
the pastor, " is that you sustain so religious a state and such a steady
self-government-for we have taken that word into German-when
you are getting from Europe all our wildest elements. You have
our proletairiat, our escaped convicts, our reddest Republicans, our
Socialists and Jesuits.  I myself hardly believe the American Republic can last, with such a continual pouring in of these classes."
I told him the fiery Revolutionists cooled down there very fast,
having as much as they could do, to earn their " butter-brod," and
besides, finding nothing which needs revolutionizing.  " And as for
the immigration of your proletairiat, your paupers and your rogues,
it is an awful evil; but for my part, I am glad that there is one
land where the man who has gone wrong before, can start afresh.'We do not want the refuse of your prisons on our shores, but we
do offer hope to the outcast again, and if his influence is bad, with
God's aid we will meet it."
" Gut! g — ood' —said they all; " a health to your Fatherland!"
"Thank you! I think," I added, "you are under some mistake
in regai d to our Socialists. I find every one here looks on them as
the worst people."
" What! You do not think that there is anything good in Soeialism?"




308             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
"'Certainly I do. Socialism as Communism, the voice of common sense everywhere condemns. And it is very plain, that Europe
has passed its sentence on the Socialists, as a party.  Perhaps those
in Europe may be worse men than ours in America. But I think
with us, the movement will have its good effects. Our Socialists
especially advocate the raising up of brute labor, by uniting it with
Capital and making it responsible. And you will find in many of
our mranufactories the workmen holding shares of the stock. They
encourage Association, too, especially for those who cannot protect
themselves. Then, for my part, I think it good, particularly in our
crowded cities, that they preach up so continually the advantage to
every man of owning land, and through its great advocates in the
New York Tribune-have you seen this journal?"
"' No; the only American papers we ever see here are the New
York Herald, and the Staats Zeitung."
"Well, through the articles of that paper, though very few agree
with its theory, much attention has been drawn to the laboring
classes. We begin to feel more the claims and rights of the poor.
You understand? We are not Socialists; but many of us think
there are truths in this Socialist movement."
" But do you not at least fear the Catholics l" said the pastor.
"We are in much alarm here in Prussia. Some report —though I
do not credit it-that His Majesty himself is influenced by the
Jesuits. And we hear that they are making great advances in tho
Rhenish provinces. Will not the enemy soon be in like a flood
everywhere, even in your fiee land? I fear it, mein Freund."
I answered that many good people feared it with us. I did not.
Jesuitism was behind the age; "and if it ever influences America,
it must be very different from what it has been."




THE CHILDREN.                     309
"Ach! —you don't know it as we do, Herr B —.  It changes
everywhere."
" But, Vater!" said one of the children, " you must not forget to
let der Herr B. tell us about the Indian chief, he promised. To
think that he has really seen the Indianer —only they are very often
not at all as Cooper makes them, and he says that they wear old
hats and long coats, like other people. Do tell us, Herr B.!"-and
accordingly I am drawn into a long description of a poor tribe I
once saw and its chief. "Oh! how hard it must be for them to
leave the old hunting-grounds!" they all say at the close; and the
Frau Mutter half brushes away a tear, as she thinks of the sad lot
of the exiles, and the pastor says solemnly, " God will hold your
Fatherland accountable!"
"But tell us more, Herr B.," the children say, as they cluster
around me, "about the great steamboats you told us of once, which
have so many thousand people in, and the cars with sofas and fireplaces, and the buffaloes and all that. We want to hear again!"
So I spin another long story, when, at length, it is time for the children to go to bed. We all leave the table for the other room, and
family prayer is held; a short, heart-felt exercise, breathing with
love and charity and child-like dependence on the Giver of all their
mercies. The children embrace " the father" and me, and are taken
up stairs. I say a few words of parting, kiss the hand of the Frau
Mutter, and am conducted to the outside door by the pastor, where
he kisses me on both cheeks, " Gott sei mit Ihnen I" (God be with
you!) —Gute Nacht! —and I return home. The Sunday has been
a happy one to think of, though after all, there are no church services like those in one's native tongue.
The sermons, as usual, have disappointed me. Since I have been
in Europe, I have listened faithfully to the preaching in the coun



310             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
tries of the highest culture, and I am satisfied that in that mode of
influencing men, the European nations are not at all equal to us. It
is not only in a facility of speaking-which is much more generally possessed by our people than by any other unless the Hungarian-that I find this inferiority, but in the genial sympathy with
humanity, and in the thorough intellectual cultivation of oratory, by
which alone a great part of the community can be reached. In
Scotland, where the preachers have a greater influence than in any
other country of Europe, the sermons are models of consistent and
thorough logic; and I know nothing more interesting than the sight
of a Scottish audience, settling itself down with such an air of comfortable enjoyment, to the hearing of a lengthy discussion on some
of the driest, knottiest points of a technical theology. Still, with all
this, and though the Scottish oratory is often of a very effective
kind, and the Scottish clergymen of the Free Church, since that
grand, noble act of "'Separation," take a position which no other
clergymen in Europe can take, it will be found that their preaching
has very little hold of great masses in the community.  The
sympathies of the preachers are not with the immense classes of the
poor and degraded.  The Scottish religious thought is trammeled
by systems. The ministers denounce from the pulpit, and they lay
down their dogmas; but, as they themselves confess, there are large
classes, both of earnest, inquiring minds, and of degraded, sunken
characters, whom they never at all influence.
In England, oratory is by no means so generally cultivated as with
us; and sermonizing in the Church has become often a mere form,
while in the Dissenters, it is not generally supported by the highest
culture, or most thorough labor. At least, that was my impression
in England. The French pulpit oratory is often very touching and
beautiful; full of an affectionate earnestness-sometimes not suffi



GERMAN PREACHING.                    311
ciently chaste; but usually showing much pathos and poetry; a style,
which under a free-church system, might be developed into a very
effective means of influence.
In Germany, there are two distinct styles of preaching, so far as
I have observed-a very abstract and obscure style, and a superficial and " popular," the latter much predominating.  Whether this
is owing to the fact that the preachers must address so many very
ignorant people, or to some deficiency in " the practical" in the
German character, I do not know; but certain it is that the German
preaching, at least in Prussia and Saxony, is usually inferior in intellectual power, and very little adapted to make any lasting impression on any one. The sermon is a well-meaning religious exhortation, not well delivered-for the Germans are seldom good speakers —
but pathetic to the weaker part of the audience, and sometimes
flowery. For deep and earnest thought, which penetrates men's
minds and rests there; for the eloquent expression of the preacher's
own life and experience, one must not go to the usual German
preaching; and, quite naturally, there is very little interest among
the majority of the community in preaching.
The best pulpit orators I heard, were Dr. Tholuck, Wichern of
Hamburg, and one or two of the Berlin pastors. I would not take
it on myself to say where exactly the preachers are at fault; for very
many things are to be considered, in an old country, with almost
hopelessly ignorant classes like this. But such, in general, is my
imDression of German preaching.




CIIHAPTER XXXII.
THE UNION OF THE GERMAN CHURCHES.
THE traveller in Germany will find himself with surprise, on entering certain Protestant churches, under a form of worship which
seems to him scarcely to differ from the Catholic. The clergyman
is going through with similar manifold genuflections and movements
to and fro, before the altar, or is singing passages of the worship
with his back to the audience; candles are burning before the crucifix at mid-day; there are old pictures over him and images of saints
on the walls, and everything reminds him of the church whose
power has always been in her striking and sensual ceremony.
Again, he will enter other churches and join in a worship plain
and simple as the simplest to which he has been accustomed in any
land. A prayer, a hymn sung by the congregation, the sermon,
and the closing blessing-and then perhaps will flash upon him the
history and the opposing tendencies of those two minds who have
left their ineffaceable impress on every nation of Christendom-LuTHER and CALVIN,-and he will see that he has been standing before
the embodiment of their thoughts and feelings, in the forms of the
" Reformed " and the " Lutheran " churches. If he should carry his
researches still farther, he will find, especially in North Germany,
churches where both the modes of worship he has seen before seem




LUTHER AND CALVIN.                     313
combined-where the " wafer " is not used at communion, but the
candles still burn at the altar; where the clergyman sings the service, but the service itself is " Reformed;" where the creed speaks of
Calvin and the ceremonies of Luther; and then, on inquiry, he will
learn for the first time, with surprise at his ignorance-if he be in
my own situation-that these forms are the results of a most important religious Movement, which has been going on for more than
a century in North Germany, and which has called out more bitter
feelings and at the same time more ardent hopes, than any other
religious movement of the age-a movement whose thorough success would have changed the whole aspect of the German Protestant
Church: I mean the attempt for the Union of the Reformed and
Lutheran Churches.
I wish in this chapter to enter into an examination of these efforts
for a Union, both because of their very important influence on the
present state of the German Church, and because of the very little
knowledge there is generally on the whole subject.
In doing this, it is not necessary that I should speak at any length
of the differences of these two churches, or of the minds which
founded them.
Luther, we all know, clung to the Past, loved a strong mingling
of " the material " in his worship, and could not avoid a tone of
mysticism in his creed; Calvin and his school were men more of
the new times —men of clear intellect, of abstraction, of progress.
They do not seem to me either of them to have been so much
opposed to one another, as rather to have represented different sides
of the human mind. We are all Calvinists or Lutherans, almost
by nature, and sometimes we become one or the other, as our years
or our circumstances change. For my part, I must say my sympathies are always with the Lutheran and my practice with the Call
14




14             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
vinist. I should like to believe with such men as LUTHER, and
COLERIDGE, and BUSHNELL, that there was a mystic, mysterious influence in the partaking of the Lord's Supper, deeper and more
sacred than that from a mere "memorial;" or with Melancthon,
that an unseen power acted in Baptism, which made it something
more than a "symbol."  I could hope that their belief would prove
the true one; —but it will not stand the cold touch of Reason;
it does not fit the " compasses of Logic "-and I must doubt. Yet
those are the minds which are much the most interesting, with whom
one can have the deepest sympathies, whom one can most love, but
with whom, alas! one cannot think.
To understand this subject of the " Union," it will be necessary to
go into historical detail somewhat, and the research will necessarily
be dry. Yet this detail is indispensable to understanding the present condition of religious parties in Germany, and it opens an important movement, in regard to which there is very little known in
Amerlica, among those who ought to be much better informed.
The dissensions between the Lutheran and Reformed churches in
Germany, had been now almost for centuries one of the crying evils of
the Protestant Church. Theological bitterness and controversy had
well nigh exhausted itself over the points of difference. Churches had
been severed which should have acted together in the same great
cause; and the contest had reached such a height among the common children of the Reformation, that not only the preachers of one
side would not interchanmge with those of the other in performing
church services, but that even Lutheran families would not associate
or intermarry with Reformed. It was not till the eighteenth century, that any great effort was made to heal these dissensions.
Princes had occasionally issued proclamations, but it was always
found that " Orders from Cabinets" had very little influence over




THE FIRST EFF ORTS.                     31S
the odium theologicum.  At length, in 1730, the Centennial Festival of the Reformation, or rather of the formation of the Augsburg
Confession, took place, and it was anxiously desired that all parties should join amicably in it. Accordingly the preachers from both
churches publicly redcmmended the two parties, "in speaking and
writing to preserve theologicdal prudence and suitable moderation
and calmness, and to avoid'all abusive expressions or invectives
against those related in the Faith!"
At this Festival, several distinguished men ventured to speak out
in favor of a union of the two parties. The son of Bishop Jablonski
boldly asserted that " the difference of opinion did not concern the
ground of Faith."  More impressively still, a certain Dr. Tllner, in
his Miscellaneous Theses, declares that " the easiest and most attainatle means of union, was a common Declaration, that the difference
of opinion is no essential ground of separation between the two
churches, and that they should unite in the great ideas of the Reformation." All these efforts by prominent men, and the general
friendly influence of such a festival, had a good effect in preparing
the minds of the people for a nearer union hereafter of the opposing
sects. At the close of the century many other voices were raised
with the same object; and among them that of Kosler, of Epping
in a somewhat remarkable appeal: " We have a great, an immortal
work before us, which in earlier and later times the most celebrated
philosophers, princes and kings, have attempted in vain-the unity
of Lutherans and Reformed, or rather the melting together of both
these Protestant religious parties into one. Calvin and Luther shall
embrace before the altar of Religion, break their shepherds' staves,
and deliver over the sceptre to the Genius of Protestant Freedom
alone!  The names'Reformed' and'Lutheran' shall die away




316          - SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY
(verhallen) forever, and only the name of' Protestant' be given and
taken," &c., &c.
In 1800, an address of Simon Van Alpen appears to have pro
duced much effect, wherein he says: " Of no giving up of this or
that doctrine, no yielding of this or that sect, is the talk; and as
little would we introduce a community of goods, or melt together
the means of the different parties. No; we will only think upon
this, how good and beautiful it is to be in union. We will only
work for toleration, for sociality, for harmony of spirit, but neverforce
Faith —Unity!"
At this time, as the result of all these efforts and perhaps of greater
enlightenment, there began to prevail a much more friendly spirit
between the two churches. The preachers interchanged in church
services and even in celebrating the Communion, and the families
of one party were known not unfrequently to intermarry with those
of the other. There seemed hardly an objection in some places to a
formal union, except in the difficulty of arranging the property of
the various denominations. In these years, too, Herder uttered his
voice for the uniting of the sects, though warning that " only two
things can unite opposing religious parties-Time and Truth "
Here, in the beginning of this century, came the sweep of war
over Germany, and began the long years in which the power and
the laws of a foreign conqueror were fastened upon Germany. The
immediate effect of Napoleon's " Confederation of the Rhine," by its
prostrating all religious sects to the same level and bringing them
all under the same laws, was undoubtedly to unite and soften their
differences of doctrine. But the greatest influence arose from the
nature of those wonderful events during the first years of the nineteenth century, The common sufferings of Germany, the long years
of disgrace, the sudden, inspirited, almost religious uprising against




317                     THE  " APPEAL."
the French, the well nigh miraculous deliverance, all conspired to
deepen the religious feelings throughout the land. Even in the complicated diplomatic negociations of 1815, and in the later Conferences,
there is a religious tone manifest, which is very singular indeed, and
which, if we consider the astounding deceptions of the princes at the
time, we might regard as mere hypocrisy. But the inconsistencies
of human nature are manifold, and we are justified perhaps in believing that, even here, there was a basis of truly religious feeling.
With this general state of feeling through Germany, as the Centennial Festival of the Reformation in 1817 drew near, the desires increased among all parties for a nearer union of the churches. A
day of truer freedom  and unity seemed dawning for Germany,why should not the common disciples of the Reformation, pitted
against one another so long in fierce contest, at length join hands
over their common principles? What better expression of gratitude
to God for His dealings with Germany, than this harmony of His
servants?
These feelings, strong and deep, were wonderfully increased that
year by an "' Appeal," made by the king of Prussia with reference
to the Union, to the various " Consistories" of the monarchy.  This
" Appeal" is the basis of all the subsequent proceedings in Prussia.
We will extract briefly from it:*
"Already have my enlightened predecessors-now resting in
God-Prince John Sigismund, Prince George William, the Great
Prince, King Frederick II, and King Frederick William II, made
* I copy these extracts from an old newspaper of the year 1817, containing the Appeal in full. And I would say here, that the details given in this
chapter are taken from a great variety of histories and newspapers, or gathered from conversation with those well-informed on the subject-as indeed
no comprehensive account of the whole movement exists, so far as I know.




318              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
the attempt with pious earnestness, as the history of their lives and
governments prove, to unite into one Evangelical Christian Church
the two separate Protestant Churches, the Reformed  and the
Lutheran.
Lutheran.        *        *        *         *       *
"Such a true religious unity of both churches, as yet only separated by outward differences, is suitable to the great objects of
Christianity; it answers the first views of the Reformers; it lies in
the spirit of Protestantism; it is healthy to household piety; it will
become the source of many useful improvements, often only hindered by the difference of confessions, both in churches and schools.
"But much as I must desire that the Reformed and Lutheran
churches in my kingdom should share with me this my well-tested
conviction, yet equally far am I, in my regard for their rights and freedom, from wishing to force them or to determine their choice in any
degree in this matter. This union can only have a true value, if
neither indifference nor persuasion have a share therein, if it comes
from the freedom of individual conviction, and is not a unity of outward form alone, but a unity of heart."     *        *
We will not follow it through farther. Suffice it to say, it contains the most admirable principles of church unity, is written in a
lovely tone of toleration and of true Christian feeling, and forms, in
connection with succeeding events, one of the most beautiful instances in history of the utter contrast between the public professions of princes and their actions. However, at the time it made a
great impression, and the long-wished for Union seemed to many at
length close at hand.
Schleiermacher took up the subject with great earnestness, and
with him, as presiding officer, a synod of Berlin preachers from both
churches met to adopt suitable measures. The king had already




UNION.                         319
made known his intention of celebrating this Festival of the Reformation, by uniting the two court churches of the different sects into
one "Evangelical Christian" Church, and partaking with them in
common of tile Lord's Supper. In ag'reement with the above, this
Synod decided that in the parishes the names "Reformed" and
" Lutheran" should no more be applied to the different churches,
but the name " Evangelical Christian," and that they would all
unite at once in the communion-the only change in this last being,
that bread should be used instead of the wafer, and that simply the
words of Christ should be said, "Take, eat, this is my body," &c.
Still, it was added, that both in this union and in this change of
ceremony no change of doctrine or uniting of confessions was implied, and that no one who joined them should be considered as
having left his own church. At the same time notice was given
that the Candidats in Theology who presented themselves for examination before the Consistory of this church, could be of either
Confession.
The " Union" was now an organized thing. There was a "United Evangelical Christian Church" in Prussia.  Thus far, matters
had gone on well. Before the assembling of the synod, the uniting
seemed almost a natural process; but with the proceedings of this
body began many objections to arise. It was noticed, with distrust,
that very many of those most prominent in the efforts for the union,
were men of no especial earnestness of Christian character. The
harmony in many quarters seemed very much like the harmony of
indifference. It was urged too, with much force, that the union was
a merely apparent union-a melting together of ceremonies which
never would have differed fiom each other, unless they had represented different opinions. Time, it was claimed, would have done
much more for true union. The Berlin synod had been in too much




320            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
haste to pluck the fruit. Despite these querulous voices, the king
was determined to carry the matter through, and accordingly, in
1821, issued a public " Church-Service" (Agende), which he ordered
to be adopted in the "Court Church" and cathedral of Berlin,
and which he recommended to the other parishes of Prussia. The
service here recommended is the one, with some slight modifications, at present used by all the united churches in the kingdom,
and it may not be superfluous to examine it briefly.
It will be remembered that the Reformed churches of Germany
early simplified their form of worship as much as possible, while
Luther, in the churches under his influence, preserved many of the
traits of the old Romish ceremony. Still more than the Lutheran
worship, did the form in the Church of England approach the Roman
Catholic form, while the creed of that church leaned to that of the
Reformed. Accordingly in this new Prussian Church-Service the
model taken is the service of the Church of England, with the design of satisfying both parties in the German Church. The great
points of difference between this and the old Lutheran form, are in
the words spoken at the Lord's Supper, and in the change of certain
expressions in the Litany. Various passages, too, which appeared
to smack too much of the "old orthodoxy," in this new form are
modernized. At the breaking of bread, under the Lutheran service,
it is said, "This is the true body of Christ Jesus, which shall
strengthen us," &c. In the United-Service, " Our Lord and Holy
One Jesus Christ speaks,'This is my body,"' &c. In the Old, in
the prayer, "As we now purpose to celebrate the Supper of our
Lord, wherein he has given us his flesh for food, and his blood for
a drink," &c. But in the New, merely " As we now intend to hold
a memorial-meal, which has been established by Him for the
strengthening of our faith," &c.




NEW  SERVICE.                        321
The Lutheran exorcism  at baptism, "Depart, thou unclean spirit,
and give place to the Holy Spirit!" becomes "Let the spirit of impurity give place to the Holy Spirit!"
The forswearing of the devil under the old form by the baptized,
in three separate questions and answers, is simplified into "Dost
thou deny the Wicked (B~sens, which may mean either a person
or a thing) in all its (or his) works and being."
Our limits will not allow us to go more particularly into an examination of this service. Suffice it to say all the old expressions
with reference to inherited depravity are softened, all allusions to the
existence of Satan as a being are carefully rooted out, together with
the Lutheran belief of the bodily presence in the bread and wine at
the Supper. The whole has besides a much more modern look than
the Lutheran services, and is filled with more expressions of homage
and obedience to the king, "the highest bishop," than are the
former.
The official publication of this church-service, and the prospect of
its soon being forced upon the nation, at once aroused all the old
slumbering spirits of controversy. From far and near, from Lutherans* and Reformed, from  the Unionists themseldes, came the
attacks on this new mode of worship.
* Among the very strong opposers of this service, at this time, was Steffens, and as he was a man of feeling and vigorous thought, it may give an
idea of what modern Lutheranism is, under its best forms, to quote some of
his thoughts on the " Communion Supper."
" Through the communion the whole mystery of Redemption sinks in its
rich fullness into the feeling personality. * * * * What Christ believes,
what impregnates his whole life, what overpowers death-this becomes by
the sanctifying presence of the Redeemer (in the Communion Supper)
Certainty, Enjoyment, Nourishment. Only he who knows the being of
Love (and he only knows it who has lived it) can comprehend this inner In.
spiration. All that we think and will, eve:v,urking idea of the spirit
14*




322              SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
The Lutherans disliked it because it omitted their peculiar doctrine with regard to the Communion, and because of its modem
half-rationalistic tone. The Reformed could not endure the Romish
customs it enjoined-of singing at the altar, and burning candles
before the crucifix, and the half Catholic arrangement of the liturgy.  The indifferent objected to the King's assuming to himself the
ecclesiastical power, and among the Unionists, one who had been
most prominent in the first movement-Schleiermacher-came out
with characteristic boldness, and denied that this jus liturgicum was
included among the royal rights; in other words denied that the
king had the right to prescribe in what way his people should worship. All the opposition, however, could not delay the progress of
the "Agende."  In four years, it was adopted by nearly 6000
churches in Prussia; the government requiring a direct yes or no,
as to its reception, from  every preacher.  And in 1826, directly
against all the beautiful principles of toleration put forth by the
king in the beginning, it was forced upon every parish under governmental influence. In 1830 it became the legalized mode of worship
in the National Church.
One would have supposed that this would have at length settled
the subject of the " Union."  Bnt it was very far from doing so.
The great question now arose what peculiarly the Union was 
Was it merely a union of ceremonies?  If so, what was it worth,
and how could ceremonies be changed without in some degree imeverything which we gaze at and enjoy, as great and noble-body and soul,
pressing themselves through to a higher spiritual union, step to meet the
present Holy One. All which he was and will be to the world: all which
he taught and suffered, forms itself anew in us. His words are HIMSELFare Spirit and Life."
"I am no theologian, *  * I but the Communion Supper seems to me
the highest, the most important, most mysterious of all religious acts'




UNION  QUARRELS.                     323
plying a change of the opinions which they represented?  Was it
a union of creeds?  But this idea, it was well known, was str'ongly
deprecated by some of the most strenuous supporters of the measure. Besides, if it was such a uniting of opinions, what was now
the common basis? Was it the Augsburg Confession, which was
the only one on which they could appear to be in harlmony?  But
here, tliere was the insurmountable objection that the Lutherans held
to a different form of the Confession (invariata confessio) from that
recognized by the Reformed (variata.)  Beside all this, the difficulty
arose as to the point whether the United Church was the National
Church or not. The supporters of the movement claimed nationality for it, as vehemently as the opposers denied. So that now
there was not only fierce dispute on the question what the Union
was, but where it was. To these endless quarrelings over the long
hoped for " harmony," was added the intense opposition of the " old
Lutherans," who would have nothing to do with the Union, who
abhorred it as our Puritanic ancestors would have abhorred being
" united" into the Church of England. In Silesia and Breslau, this
opposition rose to a determined resistance. And here the king, forgetting the beautiful sounding principles which he had uttered in
the beginning of the movement, proceeded to drive the opposing
sects into a union; " united" clergymen were installed over unwilling congregations by companies of infantry, and those who would
not " harmonize " were sent to prison, or driven to foreign lands, to
acquire a more fraternal disposition.
So vanishes the beautiful dream of Christian Unity! The king,
however, still continued his efforts, and in 1834 issued the " Cabinet
Order," on which the present dispositions of the Prussian Church
rest. According to this document the Union is a matter of free
resolve; the reception of the new Church-Service does not include




324             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
the Union in itself: and furthermore, churches that wish the pastors about to be placed over them pledged on the "Augsburg Confession," are allowed this privilege.
But we will quote a passage"The Union purposes and intends no giving up of the previous
Confessions of Faith, nor is through it the authority, which the confessional writings of both churches have thus far had, in any way
abrogated. By the connection with it, will only the spirit of moderation and mildness be expressed, a spirit which would not let the
difference of single points of doctrine in the other Confession, be held
as a ground for denying it outward churchly society."
The last movement of any importance with reference to this matter, is the assembling of the "General Synod" in Berlin in 1846.
Nothing, however, of the existing relations of the churches was
changed by this body. Their efforts appear to have been directed
to an ingenious and benevolent plan for jointing together a Union
by the aid of a double-meaning Confession. For instance, in the
" Ordination-formulary " proposed by them, in the expression " God
the Father and the Son," &c., the commna is introduced after "Father," with the design of leaving the liberty to those who wished of
applying the name " God " to the Father alone. And in respect to
Christ, the word " Self-privation " (Selbstentdasserung) is used, and
the words, " of the glory which he had with the Father," are expressly left out. Throughout this form for Ordination, Scripture
terms are as much as possible alone employed, so that the preacher
who pledges himself to them  may apply his own interpretation.
The object of the Synod seems to have been, by means of such an
elastic Confession, to bring all the clergymen under one union, and
then to have allowed each church to propose its own particular form
of faith, (if it so desired) to the candidate for Ordination. The plan




WHAT  RESULT  3$2
fell through, however, and the present Prussian Union rests on the
legal basis of the " Cabinet Order" of 1834.
An apology, perhaps, is due to the reader for carrying him
through such a mass of dry detail. But it is only by these historical facts that the present condition of the Prussian Church can be
understood; the parties into which it is divided, and the hopes and
feelings which have gathered long and which still exist in connection
with these parties. It is believed, too, that the facts here presented
are exceedingly difficult to obtain in any clear and compact form,
even in Prussia itself.
It will be seen, that the result, after all, of these many governmental efforts to unite the opposing sects is a failure.  There is r )
more real unity than there was in the old days of bitter controversy.
What harmony there is, either began before government put in its
aid, or is the result of the present wide-spread indifference to the
whole subject of religion and its ceremonies. Lutheran and Reformed, indeed, worship often now under the same forms, but either
holding different beliefs of certain dogmas, or with no earnest belief
whatever. Probably the next generation, brought up in this
"Unity," will be entirely indifferent to the theological controversies
of their fathers.  But whether this harmony, cnnected as it is with
that deadness of religious life always the effect of governmental interference, is of any value, is a question.
Another great result is the important ecclesiastical power allowed
the king by the Union. With his right as " Patron," of appointing
the clergymen to a great number of the churches of Prussia, with
the power he has assumed, of imposing a Liturgy on the people,
and with his privilege of either nominating or approving the members of the "Upper Consistory," the great ruling Synod of the
kingdom, he has certainly a very extensive and dangerous influence




326            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.,
over the Church of the nation. Indeed it is the opinion of very
many that the only object of Frederick Third's many efforts in this
matter, was to strengthen the power of the crown. This is possible.
But the general history shows the King of Prussia during at least
the years of Napoleon's rule, to have been a weak man much rather than a bad man. And accounts which I have heard in pri-',ate, of his remorse in later years at the forcible measures he had
employed to fasten the Union on the people, lead me to think his
motives might not have been bad. However that may be, the results are the same, and they at least show us that the great problem
of the " Union of Sects " is not at all solved in the Prussian Union.




CITAPTER XXXIV.
A DAY WITH A BURGER.
I HAVE been invited to spend the day with my friend T., just out
of the city. It is beautiful Spring weather, and I find it very delightful to be strolling out in gardens again, in this mild air. There
are young ladies in the company, the daughters of my fiiend, and
a university student of theology from Halle, a young lawyer just
about to pass his examen, and a sociable clever fellow of middle age,
who may be a physician or a scientific man of property. They call
him Doctor, and I am told he is a strong Free Trader. Some other
young ladies have come in almost with me-true specimens of
German beauties, with oval faces, flaxen hair in ringlets, pure speaking complexions, and eyes of clear, deep blue, of which you can
hardly say whether they are more expressive of reflection or feeling.
There seems a good prospect of a very sociable day.
"I suppose you did not know, Herr B.," said one of the young
ladies, as I came in, "that we are having a holiday for the mother's
silver wedding?" I told her I did not, and unfortunately, did not
even know what the silver wedding was. "So!  I suppose you
have no such things in your practical Fatherland.  Bien; in Germany when a couple have been married twenty-five years, they cele.
brute the silver wedding, and the friends make them presents, and




328            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
if they are good fromme Leite-pious people, they go to church
and have a ceremony, and it's all a grand holiday. We Berliners
leave out the church part, but we always have a merry time. Of
course, you know no more, what the golden wedding is."
"Alas! no."
"That is for the couple who have been married fifty years, and it
is the custom in many parts, for them then to be married over again
in church!"
I professed myself very glad to have part in such a pleasant
thing, and we turned to join with the rest of the company.
The ladies at once sat down with their baskets of worsted and
silks, and we of the male part, strolled out in the gardens. I asked
soon in regard to the betrothal in North Germany-whether that
was also much celebrated. They said, it was not; there was usually
a formal announcement-nothing more. " You will find," said the
Doctor, " that these pretty customs of which you hear so much as
German, are not much observed in North Germany. They are more
Southern. We here are more cosmopolitan. I have been a great
deal in England, and I notice very little difference in outward matters, between our country and that. We are more social, and we
like a good home-chat and frolic; but as for superstitions and interesting customs, we have few of them."
I told him, that there was one thing in which I found a great
difference between the two countries, and for which I liked the Germans-that was, the very few distinctions of rank here. "I have
never heard," said I, "a German talking about any other class or
set, as if he especially troubled himself with it; and for all that is
said, I should never know that an order of nobility existed here."
" You are right, to a degree," he replied. "We Germans usually
enjoy what we have, without asking whether others enjoy more or




TITLES.                          329
less, and we know little about the English, and as I understand
your American-jealousy of those above us. Perhaps it is, because no one ever expects in Germany to be anything more than his
father is."
" But," interrupted the young lawyer, " the Herr Americaner has
not known all our ladies yet. If you only could see the stout lady
of our chef, how indignant she is if a single title is left out.' The
Madame Councillor of the Court, and Professor and County Magistrate, &c. &c.' I have only to string all these together, and add a
von in the end, and I can put her into a heavenly humor!"
" Yes, our Advocat has hit it," said the other, "there is a very
foolish fondness for these titles among certain people, but in general
our nobles are of no account. They are neither rich nor talented,
and of course, blood alone goes a very little way."
I questioned the Advocat as to his profession, in the course of
the conversation, whether he studied a regular course, and whether
he could go at once into practice?
" No;" said he, " and that is the worst of it. I cannot practice
or afford to marry for ten years after passing my examinations. The
drudgery is tremendous. Our code involves such an immense
amount of study on the sources of the present law, on the collateral law, on so many branches of law, I must pass three very severe
public examinations, and then I receive a small salary from government, and can either be a pleader, or solicitor, as I choose. The work
is enormous. It seems to me, I was a fool for ever beginning it!"
I asked how the jury courts worked.
" Miserably," said he; " it is an absurdity to suppose that twelve
of our common Germans would either be honest or knowing enough
ever to sit in judgment on any important case. Why should it not
be left to a court of judges, educated for that very purpose."




330             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
"But your judges are appointed by Government;" said I. "Are
they qualified to decide on a case between the Government and the
people."
" Yes; quite as much so as the other party. Professional character alone would generally impel them to decide honestly. The fact
is, Herr B., we have before our juries, just such pleadings as you
may remember in that famous case of Peekveek (Pickwick). Our
jurymen are a mere Gesindel, (rabble) and would be completely
blindfolded by these Sergeant Bootsfoots, (Buzfuz)-how do you
call it?"
I laughed at finding this classic of legal actions in the German;
and the conversation turned, as it always will when that enclycopedia of fun is mentioned, into a delighted and hearty recalling of
scene after scene of Pickwick.
"But, where are the young ladies?" said the Doctor, as we entered the house again, through one of the large windows on the
halcony. "Why you know, Doctor," said one of those who had
come in with me, " that we all have come rather early; and Fraulein S. must oversee the kitchen awhile, and L. is engaged up stairs.
You find all this," turning to me, "echt Deutsch, genuinely German, I dare say!  We hear ladies never trouble themselves about
such things in America." I assured her it was quite a mistake; it
depended entirely on the lady's position and circumstances. " Well,
you at least see a difference in the place a lady occupies in the two
countries!" they continued, "confess that your American lady is
very much flattered."
In the large cities, I allowed it was so often; " but in the country
and in our small towns you will find our ladies as sensibly treated
as you could desire; and many of them are good housekeepers."
Still I told them, I had beforehand expected one difference, and I




WOMAN'S POSITION.                     331
had found it everywhere the fact. They inquired what it was, and
why I had expected it?
"I have always observed," said I, "in your literature, in the;orrespondence of your cultivated people, that the women very seldom are allowed to hold as high a position, as with us. Now take
that life and correspondence of Richter, a man who had the most
-xalted theories of woman's capabilities; and whose wife was an
uncommonly accomplished person-he always writes to her and
treats her, as if she were his housekeeper or head servant. You see
the tame thing pictured in his'Flower and Thorn pieces' —you
have read that? "
"Oh, no; no one reads Richter now."
" Well," said I, "I think I see the same thing in the feelings of
the men generally. They are afraid of having women superior to them;
and you never find, at a large table or in a company, that a woman's
words are listened to as respectfully, as in America!"
"SchOn! good!" said the ladies, clapping their hands; "we
always said the same thing. What do you say to that, Herr
Doctor. "
"Oh," said the Doctor, laughing; the Americans like the women
to be blauienstriimpfe-blue stockings!  We want a woman, a
woman. What's the use of Greek and metaphysics to her?  She
must know how to sweep and cook, and take care of the children —
that will do for her! "
"As for Richter," said the Advocat, "he's no authority; we all
know he drank brandy and water too hard the last few years, to
write to any one decently."
"Yes; it was traurig-melancholy! " said the Candidat, who
had been listening in silence thus far.
" No, Doctor," said I, " we want no blue stockings; but we do




$332           SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
want a woman to be something more than a housekeeper. We
believe that woman's education is only just in its commencement
now. We cannot see a reason, why a person of the finest capacities, and destined in life to exert the greatest influence which one
human being can ever exert over another-a mother's-should be
cut off in her intellectual training, just where we begin. We think
that a woman should in every respect be equal to a man, in which
her nature is capable of being equal. We want a companion, a
friend in a woman-not a servant."
" Vortrefflich! excellent! " said the ladies.
"But," said the Doctor, " see how it would be! We should have
a whole race of' emancipated women;' each knowing a little Greek,
or Hebrew, or Philosophy; and then thinking that she knew
everything.  Look at these pedant-women now-pah! there's
Madame T —, who always turns everything into its relation to
the Kantean system, and who lets your coffee get cold, while she is
lecturing! I would rather have a Bavarian apple-woman for a
wife! "
" And very pretty women they are too, I can tell you," said the
Advocat, " especially the Munich, in the little gilt caps."
"Besides," he continued, "a woman cannot in all respects equal
a man, intellectually; and she cannot have time, at least in our poor
country, to study metaphysics and the cook-book at once. She
must not neglect the household! "
"But," said one of the young ladies, "it is all the fault of you
men. If you would do with fewer puddings, we should have more
time. Every one of us could learn all that is necessary in housekeeping in one-tenth of the time we spend at it. It is your
luxuries, which make us so busy."'
"You must let me explain myself," said I. "Remember, we




LUNCH.                        333
Americans do not want learned women, but educated women,
What we desire is not books and languages and metaphysics, and
all that, but the result of these —the power of thinking aud appreciating. I believe generally among the most highly educated people, there is the least said about the means. We do not care what
books a man has read, or how many languages he knows; but we
ask, can he think for himself. Has he thoughts and judgments
which are worth hearing? So with a woman. I conceive that a
woman will cook a turkey better, for being educated."
" No, no; " said my opponent, " she will put salt into the Pfannekuchen, (pan-cakes) instead of sugar, like our learned Fraulein C.,
when she was so absorbed in the study of the early Greek tragedy.
Besides, what's the use?  She never has been equal with man;
and she never can be."
" If learning were common among women, there would not be
these difficulties," I replied. " No woman is conceited now beQause
she knows French. We do not expect, that she will be equal to
man in all respects, but we think she has some finer and superior
capacities. As for her neglecting her natural duties at home, I suppose her instincts would always restrain her. One of our writers
says, that probably no woman would ever desert an infant for a
quadratic equation! "
" Will you close the discussion in a friendly way," said one of our
hostesses, coining in, " by first trying a little of our German housekeeping? Lunch is ready!" and we all walked out informally to the
dining-room, where we found a table set with flowers and some
pretty fruit from the conservatories, Wurst, tongue, bread and butter, and beer. My friend also came in, and the talk went round
with animation. " There's nothing I do so envy you Germans," said
I to a young ladv next me, " as your bread!"




334            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
"Why! do not you have good bread in America?"
"Very seldom. I suppose it is owing to our yeast not being
much obtained from breweries. Our bread is always too heavy
or too lioht."
"That is a misfortune! But you must go to Vienna, if you
would eat good bread! and such puddings! The Strudel!  Have
you those much in America, Herr B. 8"
"Oh yes.  We eat all that kind of dishes, much more than
you here. The universal breakfast over the whole land, of rich
and poor almost, are these Pfannekuchen of buckwheat or Turkish
corn, eaten with molasses, or syrup. I suppose you never tasted
any syrup?"
" No, not that refined syrup, though we have heard in the books
very much about it. But what a droll breakfast! You must eat
sweets a great deal more than we."
Our attention here was called, by a growing discussion between
the Doctor and our host upon Free Trade.
"Mein lieber Freund," said the Doctor, "you will find Austria is
ruining herself by her close protective system. She has been
obliged, it is true, to raise every kreutzer possible on account of her
debt, but those heavy duties are crushing very much of her resources. See the change in the export of wool alone, both from
Hungary and the other provinces. She may have built up one or
two manufactures, though I doubt that, but her general agricultural
interest is exceedingly damaged. Depend upon it, you cannot interfere with the natural laws of trade, without injury. I believe
that with these enormous prices of foreign articles in Austria, these
few inflated manufactures, and the depressed condition of the agriculture, there will soon be a tremendous crash."
Our host argued in return, that very many of the difficulties in




FREE-TRADE.                         335
the Austrian Empire, resulted from  the wasteful expenditure on
armies, &c., and that at least, the condition of the linen and silk
manufactures, and the coarse cottons, spoke favorably for the high
tariffs.
" No," said the Free Trader, "it does not. They have gained to
the loss of the other interests of the Empire. And it will be equally
so here, if we unite with the Austrians on a high protective system.
Prussia has now in our Customs' Union, tariff enough. It is a
pity that all Germany has not a common system of tariff, but when
we do have one, it should be based on the lowest protection or on
Free Trade. I do hope we shall carry this out eventually."
"But," said the other, "our silk and iron manufactures demand
more protection. They say, they can do nothing against the French
and English."
" Well, if they cannot, let them sink. Why should we pay more
for an article, merely because it is made here. Of course, Prussia
must always be more or less dependent on others. It is strange,
people do not understand this here. Everywhere else in the world,
the tendency is to a liberal system. Belgium has just renounced
her old protective theories. Holland has had low tariffs for some
years. Sardinia offers free trade to all, who will return it to her.
England grows rich on it, and America tends more and more to it
every year-though your Secretary Corwin," turning to me, "has
some most maedieval ideas on the subject. Then the only parts of
Germany, which ever have been really prosperous, in a mercantile respect, have always been free traders. Bremen, Hamburg, Frankfort
-the Hanse-towns."
"Still they are only commercial cities," the other replied.
"Not at all. Hamburg has now most flourishing manufactures.
There is one of the largest factories in Europe there-the Meyers,




336             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
built up under free-trade-a factory, which imports its wood, &cc,
from America, and sends back the same in canes and whips to
America!"
" A poor business for the United States," said the other.
" Gar nicht! —not at all! or they would have found it out. Ingenuity is paid for better, somewhere else."
I inquired, here, what the policy of Prussia would probably be in
this matter.
"We cannot tell," said the Free Trader; "the Government has
no fixed policy, and the people in general know nothing about the
subject. If we decline this high Protective Union offered by Austria, it will be more because we hate Austria, than because we like
Free Trade. There are some manifestly absurd provisions in the
present Tariff-especially in determining the duties by weightwhich we shall induce Government to change. We are arousing
the thinking men everywhere, and holding meetings continuallyby the way, there is one next Monday evening in the Englischen
Gasthaus; will you attend?-and we hope gradually to bring our
policy away from the protective system."
We now returned again to the drawing-room, and sat chatting or
reading, or amusing ourselves, as each one pleased, the rest of the
morning.  The young ladies were surprisingly industrious; the
daughters of our host running out every few minutes to see to the
household arrangements, and the others keeping up an incessant
sewing or embroidery-work.
I speculated in myself then and have often since, as to the difference between German ladies of this class and ours at home. There
is a great contrast, though precisely where, it is somewhat difficult
to say. Nearly all those in this company spoke several different
languages yet there was singularly little interest in books or litera



GERMAN WOMEN.                        337
ture among them. At first, too, you would have said that they
were very free and independent in thought, and you would have
given them credit for earnest investigations, which had brought out
such free results; but, after a little while, you would find that Freedom of thought was their Orthodoxy, and that their independent
thoughts were merely the echo of what they had been taught. You
would see, that the attaining these results, had not required at all
the mental or moral power which the same would with us. Yet, with
them all, there was a very happy natural intelligence and quickness; on
the whole, however, much less culture and power of original thought
or reasoning, than with ladies in the same rank of life at home. Where
they were superior, was in a certain individuality, a certain simplicity, and natural following-out of their own bent and tendencies;
and, also, in a spontaneous easy expression of themselves.
Our ladies at home, especially in New England, strike one as too
much cut in the same pattern, as under a similar mould-not intellectually, but in their habits, tendencies, sentiments. It is seldom
you meet any one with us, either man or woman, who comes before
you as a spontaneous, natural person —one who really feels and expresses feeling, as she has it, and not as she thinks it "proper" to
have it, or as she is taught she should have it.
A New Englander, like an Englishman, is for ever thinking, " What
will others say? " or he is dreading " humbug;" or an iron system
of duty and obligation has been around him so long, that it has
crushed in his easy, spontaneous impulses.
In each of these German women there was a greater distinctness
of nature; a play of passion and feeling, which might be ill-governed
sometimes, but which was very beautiful because it was hers, and
was the effect of no instruction or public opinion. The Continental
people seem to me, in general, to show more of that most pleasing
15




338            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
and exquisite variety of nature, which GoD has bestowed on all His
works, and which no Creed and no System has the right to mar.
It is possible the' expression" here was much improved by the
full and sweet tones of these ladies. I know not why it is, but our
Yankee schools or Yankee air, has given rise to the most disagreeable intonation, which any where disfigures thevoices of a cultivated
people. An American (from the Northern States) is known almost
any where in Europe, from his nasal twang and whine.
Want of refinement and education will produce in every country,
bad modulations and tones of voice, which even in different languages, do not essentially differ from one another. But in America, people the most refined show this nasal defect of tone. It is
comparatively rare, in New England, to meet a lady without some
tinge of it, and the preachers manifest it almost universally. I have
no doubt that if any one physical cause could explain the superior
natural oratory in our Southern States, during our whole history, it
would be their superiority in voice. It is remarkable how seldom
the Americans themselves are conscious of this defect.
Throughout Europe-especially, however, in Ireland and Hungary-this richness of tone struck my ear.
Strange! the power of the human voice, when strung with genuine passion, or when bursting up, as it were, directly from the deep
places of the heart! I have listened to tones in those old Irish
homesteads, and I have heard voices by that death-bed of a Nationin Hungary-voices of home-affection, of sorrow, of love for native
land which many waters should not quench, of indignation at longsuffered injustice, which thrill constantly anew with an undiminished
power over my memory, and to whose tones, the chords of my soul
cannot cease to vibrate, while they move to any feeling.
In our rather desultory conversation, I was answering their ques



PHRENOLOGY.                        339
tions about America, and philosophizing in traveller style upon the
differences of our two nations, when I said something about the
shape of head of the Germans, and the breadth of the front part as
greater than in the American, corresponding to their greater ideality
and hopefulness.
" What! you do not believe in that, Herr B.? " said one.
" Certainly I do," I replied.
" But is it possible," said the Candidat from iHalle, " that Phrenology is generally believed in America?"
No; I told him; it was not. It had been so much employed as
a htlmbug, that most sensible people quite doubted it.
"What is that? Hoombooc! Herr B.," said one of the ladies.
"Explain!" I translated it as well as I could, for the German language is not capable of conveying that compendious term in one
word.
" We here believe," said the theologian, "that Phrenology is a
materialistic system; and inconsistent with the idea of the free
agency, which the Holy Scriptures teach. Besides, to use your own
word, Germany has found the humbug so much in Phrenology, that
the educated (gebildete) do not have any confidence in it."
In reply, I unfolded my own ideas of the science, and I must do
the Germans the justice to say, that they have the most courteous
and candid way possible of listening to new theories. If you should
present an argument which denied your opponent's identity, or which
proved that the moon was made of green cheese, a German would
always listen with attention, as if there was a possibility of there
being some basis of truth, somewhere in it. I told them, that we
did not believe that the brain determined the mind, but that certain
traits or rather tendencies of the soul were connected with certain
shapes of the head, just as they were with certain shapes of the




340             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
features. And that the value of the science to me, was not in
the manipulation, or in the determination of character from the head,
but in its analysis of human nature. It was the only practical
mental philosophy which I knew. It was the only one which
analyzed and put together tendencies (Eigenschaften) of character,
and showed the results which they form in the every-day developments of human nature. It did not so much make a strict metaphysical division of the mental faculties, as it took up and explained
the separate tendencies, which lie as it were at the basis of each
soul, and which shape human nature, as it practically is, in the
various relations of life. The old systems favored abstract thought
on the human mind, and the searching of one's deepest consciousness. This concerned itself more with the observation of human
nature, as it appears around us. I thought its value as a practical
philosophy could not be better shown, than by the universal use of
its terms, now through both England and America.
As to its Craniology, its division of organs on the head, I considered it defective; yet in its main principles, I had never known
it fail with any head.
They all listened very courteously, though I suppose with perfect
scepticism; and it was proposed I should make a trial on some of
their heads.
I may say here, that of all means of entertainment, in a set of
ale-house tipplers, among a ship's crew, or in a fashionable drawingroom, before gentle or simple, I have never found anything half so
taking, as a phrenological examination. To the traveller, Phrenology is worth a host of accomplishments.
Though a no very good "manipulator," I made some good hits
here; and we kept up the laugh for some time, until the old ser



COOKERY.                       341
vant put his head in the door, and bawled, " The dinner is on the
table."
The dinner in Berlin is usually at one o'clock, except when company is invited, when it is delayed to three or four o'clock, after the
business hours are over. Our dining-room here was a high, bare
room, with walls and ceilings painted in pretty patterns, a tall white
porcelain stove in one corner, and a sofa, together with a few plain
articles, by way of furniture. There was no carpet on the floor, and
the room had in general a naked aspect. It was used mostly as a
dancing-room.
The table was very prettily set out; the desert-fruit and flowers
being in the centre, and a handsome show of Dresden china and of
graceful dishes, surrounding them. No grace was said; and one
of the young ladies commenced at once by helping the soup, which
was passed by the servant.
" How find you the German cookery  " said the lady next to me,
in English. I told her, I liked it very much-much better than
travellers generally do-especially the soups.
"The travellers judge so from our guest-houses-inns, I mean;
where much fat is employed. But have you not the soups 8 "
" We had them," I said, "but nearly always cooked so as to be
indigestible."
"That is very unfortunate, for we regard them  the healthiest
victual."
After the soup came the boiled beef, cut up in small pieces, and
handed by the servant to each one. This is eaten without vegetables. This was succeeded by small bits of a roast chicken passed
again to each, and eaten with pickles and preserves. The Bordeaux
red wine was now passed, our host pouring first a few drops in his
own glass, and then helping his right hand guest. When he pours




342             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
the last glass, it is the custom for him to empty the last drops also
into his own glass. This wine is not stronger than claret, which it
very much resembles. No lady in the company took wine. I observed, that both gentlemen and ladies used finger and teeth on the
chicken, in primitive fashion-a common habit of ordinary life in
Germany. Our middle course, was a pudding and sauce, after which
came the great dish of roast beef, the only meat carved by the host
at the table, eaten with various vegetables.
" Is this quite different from your home dinners  " said the lady
at my side again.
"Oh, yes;" I replied, and described our American meals.
"So! pudding last! how droll! But which think you most
healthy a "
I thought the German diet, especially as her countrymen did not
eat so much pies and pastry, as we Americans; and despite the
long meals, were not so hearty eaters.
"Achi   Here comes the dish of dishes!-the-pardon! how
call you it? "
"Salad / " and each one set to work, preparing his mixture, as
for the especial dish of the day. Through the courses, all ate very
slowly, and conversation continued in the liveliest manner.
" Now, confess! Herr B.; is not this infinitely more comfortahble,
than the rich English dinners?"
"That is a genuine English word, you know," said I, " and the
English think they have comfort in perfection."
" Ach! no;" she replied," I have been at those dinners in England. They are horrible! So stiff. I could not dare to say, once!
We Germans do not find comfort in sofas, and carpets, and the wine;
our comfort is in friends and conversation, and in the feeling. You
know our word. I find it better-gemiithlich."




COFFEE.                       343
Our last course was black unbolted rye bread and butter, with a
little fruit and confectionery, and after some farther chatting, the
whole company went to the drawing-room, for the coffee, and the
gentlemen to smoke.
"How much more pleasant is this," said my companion as we
went out, "as your English way to leave the gentlemen to drink and
talk without ladies-as if you were ashamed."
"I think so too;" I replied, "we seldom do that in America.
But how can you housekeepers bear this smoking in your parlors? I should think you would be obliged to smoke yourself, for
defence."
" No? Why should we oppose it? Is it not better for them to
be in habit to smoke with us, than without us? Beside it never
trouble me. I like it now. But do not think we smoke. No re
spectable lady smokes."
"I see Fraiilein N. is making the coffee," said I, "Do you never
leave it to servants l"
"Oh no," she replied, "it would never be so good. We always
make it fresh on the table, for it must not long kochen-what is
the word-boil. It only drops very slowly through a-a —cross,
ing of-"
"Sieve," I suggested.
" Ja! a sieve and paper very thin. But have you good coffee in
America?"
" No; not often. I have very seldom drank good coffee, at least
in a hotel. We do not know how to make it.'
" Here is your coffee. You must Aput no cream in it, but sugar
much. Will you light your cigar?"
" Danke Ihnen."




344            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
"Have you not as yet learned, Herr B., that thank you, in German, always means, nein-no?"
I told her I ought to have learned, for I had lost many a dish
at public tables, by saying Danke! to the servants when they offered it.
After our coffee, came various games and merrimakings till evening. Other friends called with presents and mementoes to the Frauz
Mutter; good wishes were said and pleasant speeches made, and at
length, after a hearty supper at 10 o'clock, on broiled sturgeon and
Bavarian beer, the company broke up, with abundance of Adieus
and Empfehle michs, and Good byes for me.
On reaching my lodgings, I found I had left my key inside-a
rather blank prospect, as it would be too late probably to find a
room in a hotel. In the midst of my cogitations, I heard a cry far
up-street of " Wdichter!" and I remembered there was a useful
member of the community, who patrolled the streets at night, with
keys of the houses, to be furnished for a few groschen, to any luckless individual, who was locked out like myself.
So I commenced in a stentorian voice, " Wdchter, Wa-d-chter!"
" What the devil are you yelling in that way for?" said a voice
close by, and I found one of the night-police in helmet and sword
just behind me, looking in anything but a Christian humor.
I answered shortly that " I wanted to get in!"
"Well, you need not make such a --   of a noise, if you do!"
" Every one does it, I hear the cry every night," said I, as the
Wa/chter came up and turned the lock, " and you might learn a more
civil way of addressing a stranger!" I added, at the same time, discreetly getting inside the door.




CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE UNIVERSITY —RATIONALISM.
AN account of Berlin society as it appears to an American, would
be altogether incomplete without speaking of th, many American
students who are attending the University, and who have met in
such pleasant circles this winter at the houses of Mr. Barnard,
our Ambassador, and of Mr. Fay. They are in general very inte'ligent, gentlemanly fellows, and far better representatives of our
country than one usually meets in the travelling public of Europe.
A large proportion are from our Southern States.
The choice of studies among the working part of these young
men here and in other universities of Germany is remarkable, and
seems almost to show a new tendency in our studying classes. One
for instance is engaged in investigating the whole family of languages related to the Anglo-Saxon, with a view of explaining the
early English literature; another is at work on the Sanscrit and kindred tongues, with a special reference to philology; others on the
study of music as a science; others on the higher branches of chemistry; and one with an enthusiasm most worthy of success has
travelled through many difficulties to Berlin to gather the documents
for a Life of Beethoven, and intends even to walk to Vienna to collect the last materials for his work.
15*




346             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
The day has probably passed by in our country, in which such
studies as these can be objected to as " unpractical." It is beginning to be seen that human life is made up of a great many parts,
and helped on by a great many different pursuits, and that Sanscrit
has its place among them as well as shoe-making. For one I am
rejoiced at the work these men are doing. The reproach against
our nation in an intellectual respect has been its superficiality-and
without doubt, often deserved. Such workers as these, for they are
hearty, faithful students, will do much with the immense advantages
offered by German libraries to remove this reproach, and to give a
more thorough direction to the Mind of our country.  Nor is there
danger to be feared for our students, from the influence of foreign
institutions in Germany. If anything would make a man republican or disposed to give the very highest value to the " practical," it
would be an experience of the infinite confusions and inefficiency
which appear now in German affairs, and of the political oppression
which curses the people.
Whatever may be said of the older students, there is a most decided objection to the practice, now beginning to be common in our
country, of sending boys to these foreign Universities. Not to mention the want of sympathy it almost invariably causes with our own
institutions in the student's mind; and the weakening influence it
has on his power to use his own language-a loss not to be replaced
by a knowledge of all the foreign languages in existence;-it is beside a most terrible experiment. No one has any idea of the dangers which surround a young man in these foreign Universities.
Even in the worst of our Colleges there is some glimmering of the
good old religious influences of our fathers; there is the restraint of
acquaintances and the fear of future loss of reputation. Here, of
all these good influences, there is scarcely one which can still work.




THE UNIVERSITY.                     347
Some of our good parents appear to have a great confidence in
Berlin, as the centre of Protestantism, and in its orthodox influences.
But it is a most sad mistake. In my view there is but one city
more dangerous to a young man, on the Continent-Paris. And
Berlin is only better than Paris in that vice here is more gross, and
therefore more offensive.
In regard to Berlin, as a place of study, it is difficult to advise.
The choice of a University depends so much on the personal plans
of each student. There is no doubt that the Berlin University is
not by any means equal to what it was a few years since. The loss
of such men as NEANDER, and JACOBI, and LACHMANN in one year
has made no slight difference. Still, now, in all branches there is
quite enough of talent to satisfy even the most fastidious student.
Where such men as RANKE, and RITTER, and BocaH, and BoPp,
and HIENGSTENBERG teach, there can be no very great deficiency
The usual course among the foreign students is to try different Universities, avoiding Berlin in the summer, as it is an exceedingly hot,
unpleasant city at that season. The expense of living in Berlin is
small compared with that of our own cities, yet it is nearly double
the expense of the smaller University towns. A student could live
here very comfortably I think, on $300 a year, including the cost of
clothing and every necessary article except books.
As a place for learning German, Berlin is not at all to be recommended. There are so many Americans and Englishmen whom one
would not, if he could, avoid; so many Germans who speak excellent English; and it is so difficult to board in any private family,
where practice in the language could be gained, that almost every
foreigner residing here, finds his progress in German very slow.
Still as a place where German life in its most interesting aspect can
be observed, where German politics and religious movements can be




348             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
best studied, where Music in its highest forms can be enjoyed, where
the most intellectual and accomplished society of the Continent has
gathered itself, Berlin is of all others, the city to be chosen by a foreigner for a residence.
I cannot bid good-bye to Berlin without speaking of a gentleman
there to whom every American who has been of late years in that
city must feel sincerely grateful,- Mr. Theodore S. Fay, at present
the Secretary of the Embassy. A man in whom fifteen years of
diplomatic life have not worn away manly simplicity and truth
of character; one in whom we can see that the purest Christian
traits are not inconsistent with the refinement and accomplishments of
a man of the world. A genuine whole-hearted republican too, well
representing our country. He is the last to wish to be spoken of
in this public way; yet I cannot refrain from giving utterance to
what I know is the sentiment of most Americans who have resided
in Berlin with regard to him.
Before leaving North Germany, it is right that I should give my
general impressions of a very important subject; and yet it is a difficult matter, on which to speak. I refer to the Religious Character
of the German people. Religious Principle is not at all to be tested,
as many are accustomed to test it. Its manifestations must be as
various, as are the forms of human nature. No local and external
measure can fit its infinite developments. Especially is this true of
the intellectual expression of religion. Believing that the worst
heart may be joined with the purest creed, and that a simple, loving
Faith may be connected to the most wild and crude opinions; conscious that in our practice and instincts, we often reject what we




RELIGIOUS CHARACTER.                      349
professedly believe, I would never test a religious character by its
usual language of expression, or by its avowed system of belief.
I had thought it possible, that even under the wild theories, the
unsparing criticism, the apparent Skepticism of the Germans, I might
find in practical life, the humble, fervent, loving heart, worshipping
almost unconsciously to itself, the Infinite Being. But I am compelled to say, in my experience thus far with the mass of the people,
I am disappointed. Religion does not enter as a great element into
society in Germany.  It is not a principle any one considers, in estimating the influences at work on the people. Few appeal to it, or
speak of it as one of the great facts in human life. Very little seems
to be sacrificed for its great objects. There are seldom enterprises
under it for the poor, and the helpless, and the unhappy. Not much
is given or suffered, through its impulse. There is seldom expressed
worship. In fact, I do not believe there is a heathen land where
less outward ceremony of worship is seen. The churches are half
empty, and one beholds the painful sight of a church attended only
by women and children, as if Religion was a thing belonging only to
the weaker part of the race. It is not that the men one meets are
bitterly hostile to religious truth, or abusive towards it; but there
is a sort of deadness to the whole subject among them, an indifference, or a kind of smiling, quiet incredulity, which comes over one
chillingly and sadly.-Of course there are numerous exceptions to
this. Men with whom we can have the delightful consciousness that
in distant lands, under foreign languages and a different culture,
there is a certain bond of sympathy and principles and common
hopes uniting us; about which little can be said in words, but which
forms one of the most pleasing evidences of a common Christian
Faith. And I believe, that in many of the families, the beautiful
home-virtues-the Affection, and Self-sacrifice, and cheerful for



350             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
bearance and geniality, are the appropriate expressions of their Love
to Christ; perhaps even higher than our bolder and more heroic
expressions. In what I have said, I speak only of the mass of the
people.
There are favorite aspects, however, to the effects of this Rationalism. It seems to me it has done away with intellectual narrowness very much from the theological circles. No one dares to step
out on the arena now in Germany, with a crude, bigoted, ill-equipped
opinion. He knows if it cannot stand the attacks of the sharpest
criticism and the most vigorous philosophy, it must go down-no
matter if all the authority of ages is at hand to back it. The consequence is, the theological mind of Germany is very well furnished,
and possesses a certain candid mode of looking at subjects, a certain
readiness to acknowledge Truth wherever it is, which has not been
a general virtue in the theological class. I meet a great many who
belong to the strictest of the orthodox, the most extreme " Pietisten,"
and who hold the Evangelical views with all the strength and depth
of feeling any one cculd desire, yet I have nearly always found them
men of real liberality, ready to admit that their own particular view
did not embrace all of the truth, and disposed to see what there
was of truth in opposite views. Certainly in no country of the
world could a Theological History be written like that which has
appeared here within a few years from HIAGENBACH-a work so
clear and strong in'its own religious purpose, yet recognizing so candidly even in the vagaries of a Schiller, or the Romanism of a
Schlegel, all that there is good and noble in them.
The man whose spirit, as we believe, most works now in Germany, modifying the influences of Rationalism, and reaching those
who are world-wide from him in their theories or their philosophy,
is SCHLEIERMACGRER. His philosophy is passing by, his merciless




RSCHLEIERMACHER.                     351
criticism has lost its power, his daring speculations are scattered
to the wind; but that simple, fervent spirit, that candid, truth-loving mind, that life so thoroughly imbued and inspired with the one
great TRUTH, which, as we believe, has been the life and the inspiration of the best spirits through all ages-the truth of " GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH," of God, made near to man through human
sympathies and a human life-this all works, and will not soon
cease to work through the German people




CHAPTER XXXV.
SOUTH-GERMANY AGAIN.
"Es ist ein harter Schluss
Weil ich aus Berlin muss!
So schlag lich Berlin aus dem Sinn
Und wende mich. Gott weiss! wohin;
Ich will mein Gliick probiren,
Marschiren."
So humming the student-song, I bade good-bye to Berlin. My
friends had parted from me, as only German friends ivill; and I felt
almost like leaving home for strangers again. It is the hardest part
of traveling, that you just build up a satisfactory friendship, when it
is all demolished, and you go on to new experiences. And it is
hardest of all in Germany, where confidence and kindness are so
freeIy shown the stranger.
I have found DRESDEN in its full spring beauty-so green, sunny,
quiet, trustful-a beautiful city now.  The parks and gardens and
squares full of pleasant groups, the women sitting sewing, and the
children playing in the sunlight, or listening to the bands of music.
Oh! when will an American city learn so to provide for its free population, health, beauty, broad fields and cheerful landscapes, as these
German princes have done for their subjects 




CHILDREN'S GARDEN.                     35:
Among the other sights I have come upon, is a children's garden.
A merry company of children, in bright dresses, are dancing on
the hard ground round a pole, hung with flowers, under the instruction of a spruce dancing-master. Others swinging, rolling the hoop,
or running through the paths; others at some pretty calisthenic exercises under the trees. There are a few candy and cake tables on the
outskirts. Only two or three nurses have the charge of them, though
there must be nearly fifty children there. It appears, the mothers
club together, hire the nurses and the garden, in order to save the
expense of separate nurses, and at the same time to secure healthful
open air sports for the children-an idea, perhaps, worth something
for our large cities.
APRm.
I have just dined with Rev. Dr. -., one of the most popular
and distinguished preachers in Germany. He laments, as usual, the
want of any earnest Christian life among the people, and especially
among the young men. You never meet a young man with any
high, noble aims, unless it is professional to have them-the result,
he says, of German Rationalism. He thinks we are getting, in
America, a very Lad importation of Rationalistic German Theology.
He asked me what I thought of the present political condition of Germany. I told him candidly, and expressed how faint my hopes
were for the future.
"; It has seemed to me possible," said I, " that the German race has
played out its part in the world's history-that it has irretrievably
degenerated, lost its vigor, manliness, energy. We know such
instances constantly occur in history. Look at the old Spaniards,




344            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
and the Dutch and Italian Republics, and compare the same peoples
and cities now. Perhaps it is so with Germany. Perhaps, until
this race is united with some more vigorous, it will continue to become more and more weak and inefficient. I must confess, I am
astonished on every side, at the practical weakness of your people.
Even those, who know their rights, have no spirit in asserting
them!"
"A bad outlook, certainly, for us!" said he. "You may be right.
Such things have been. Alas, for poor Germany! Bad government,
and especially this universal irreligion, have brought *this about!
But, mein lieber Herr, have you no fears for your own countrylook at your Sclaverei/ (Slavery.) I must say that if that does
ruin your country, we in the old world, shall lose faith in Humanity!
It seems to me, sometimes, yours is the last experiment in self-government-that grand English word!-who would ever trust it, if
you fail? "
In reply, I detailed at length our difficulties in that matter, and
my hopes, ultimately, of a change.
He hoped also; " but it is a strange fact," said he, " and one that
much shakes my hopes, that during all ages Republics have rested
on a basis of slaves!  I have thought that it might be almost necessary to the system-one class made intelligent and free, by being
freed from menial labor through the service of another."
I was able easily to show him, that our Republic differed essentially in this from the Classic States; that Slavery with us was rather
a fungus, an evil from without, than a foundation.
I suppose it is said over in public speeches at home, no less than
fifty-two times in the year at least, that the United States is the
great example to the tyrannical Governments of Europe, and the
hope and comfort to the oppressed, &c., &c. And possibly some




OUR EXAMPLE.                      355
of us have heard it so much, that we begin to doubt whether it
is so true after all. But if one will only mingle with the various.
classes of Europe, the low as well as the high;'if he will really get
hold somewhat of the thought and feeling of men, he will not only
never doubt the truth of such expressions, but he will feel that he
never began even faintly to realize them. The existence of our Republic is a stubborn, unconquerable FACT, which speaks more to the
minds of the masses here, than volumes of argument. The supporters of the arbitrary forms of Government may prove most conclusively that our Constitution is defective, that Republics are not
consistent with the highest development of man. They may bring
forth beautifully the theories of monarchy, and show the divinity of
its origin, and almost demonstrate its necessity to mankind-but
there, ever in the background of their theories, looms up over in the
West, the great prosperous FREE STATE of the age-the undeniable
happy existence of a self-governed people. No argument can get
around it. There it is! People have become so well informed on
these matters, that here in Germany for instance, no discussion is
ever carried on in the Parliaments, or through pamphlets, on any
great change of Government, without at once the example of the
United States being adduced. I am struck with that, as I attempt
to penetrate the immense mass of pamphlets and " Debates," which
any one must work through who would understand German politics. The first thing to be overthrown by the Legitimist writer or
orator, and the first to be presented by the Democratic, is nearly
always the practice in our Republic, and the success of such and
such a provision under our Government. And the orators in the
German " Kammer,) will not unfrequently discuss an article in our
Constitution with as much spirit, if not with the same objects, as
the members of our House of Representatives at home.




356             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
But I am bound to say, there is another side to this picture.
America is known widely-her glory and her prosperity; yet there
is one stain on her escutcheon which is blazoned still more widelySlavery. I sometimes think the German papers take a real pleasure
in giving details about this evil of ours. Some foreign journals, the
Russian, for instance, contain more about our slavery difficulties,
than any one subject connected with our country.  The first objection you meet in an anti-democratic pamphlet against the " Model
Republic," is the system of oppression within it. I have often wondered to myself, how a Southern gentleman could ever travel through
Europe with any comfort. There is scarcely a drawing-room on the
Continent, where, if the subject of the United States is brought up,
one will not hear one voice of indignation against the system of
slavery. Through all the best circles, among the noblest and best
men, in every land, and especially in Great Britain-men whom
the traveller would most like to associate with-the universal feeling is, if not of indignation, of something still more annoying-of
pity for the supporters of such an institution! How often have I,
within the first fifteen minutes of acquaintance, been asked about
that great evil in our society; and it is such a comfort to be able to
explain that I have no part or parcel therein, that my government
has none, that the responsibility rests not with us, and that there is
many a man among us, who gladly would lay down fortune and
life to aid in doing it away, if there were any possibility of success.
No one can imagine the public opinion of civilized Europe, till he is
here, on this matter. Indeed, I must be allowed to say, the tone
of the whole civilized world, is far higher and nobler on this question, than even that of our free States




A GERMAN  LADY.                      357
Probably, much that my friend the clergyman said, of the want
of religious earnestness among the young men is true. It corresponds with my own observations in North Germany. Still, let the
German spontaneity and a clear sense and sound Christian principle
go together, and there spring up the most beautiful combinations of
character I have ever seen-natures such as are seldom found under
our English civilization.  I have just been making a visit to
Madame —, to me a marked example of this. I extract from a
letter"On reaching the town where she lived, I at once left my card and
letters, rambled about, delivered other letters-and called again in the
evening; my introductions were from her mother and sisters whom
I knew well in      -; and I had a letter, also, to her husband,
a young scientific man of note; so that we had many common
topics. We fell at once into the midst of things-a conversation
easy but under the surface, and leaving something to be remembered when it was over. I spent tha evening there, and was
invited to a supper-party the next-dined there the day after, and
then went to a famous Castle with them, and staid till a late hour
the last evening.
" I have never known a woman with so happy a balancing of qualities, and yet so little extraordinary.
"Imagine an oval face, a fine, soft complexion, fine auburn hair,
nose slightly retrousse, yet not too small, good forehead, with the
head rising nobly over it;'Benevolence,' full, as a phrenologist
would describe it; Ideality, large; the emotive faculties full, and
the passionate, moderate; Comparison and the logical, large; and
hazel eyes, full of feeling and thought, working continually in a




358             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
quick, eager way; a mouth, just half on the edge of running over
into a laugh, and a tall, full woman's form.
"She has a true woman's wit —that sort of playful, fine warding
off, and quick catching of others' expression, but without the least
sharpness to it — always under the control of the kindest feelings.
But her glory and beauty, and that which speaks so in ever-changing language in her face, is that overflowing life, and interest in
others, her geniality, the highest trait, or result of many traits in
any human character; yet in her, accompanied with an exceedingly
sharp, instinctive, keen knowledge of human nature. One gets the
idea of no soft amiability in her, no blind benevolence; and at the
same time, not as in our New England geniality, of a kindness, the
result of a sense of duty. It is natural, keen, overflowing, genialnot exactly affectionate, or passionate, or principled-a happy combination of all.
"Then add a mind, very highly cultivated-independent, worked
out opinions-strong moral sentiments-much ideality, coloring all
her language and thought, but even more reason to limit them-a
vitality, as of ardent, healthy youth, but always very tasteful and
beautiful, and a great musical talent-and have we not a happy
product? I have not exaggerated a single trait, except as one must
necessarily in writing, abbreviate.
" Her husband is utterly unlike her. Calm, solid, deep in his learning-no ideality-and as yet from his easy disposition, led by her
greater life, though in the end, his solidity may outbalance her activity.
Manly, in that he had just as lief others should see, she led him.
" She talked of his foibles and of educating him, and of their educating one other, laughingly told me of a way he had of being
stupid at precisely a certain hour in the evening, and wanting to go
to bed, and how she had broken him of his habit!-described to




GERMAN  TRAITS.                     35g
us how he would keep up his puns after they were married, which
was insufferable-before, an attention, now a bore!
"Is not all this truly German, with a two days' acquaintance!
"Her husband is aliberal Constitutionalist; but she is a Republican, as fully as I am myself. She is almost the first German woman,
I have seen, who has the deep indignation of a generous heart at these
crushing wrongs in her Fatherland.  Her religion is very simple
and fervent, yet utterly and entirely separated from all necessary
bonds to form and externality, a mingling of Freedom and Faith,
such as I have seldom met. She and her husband are deeply interested in efforts for the poor; in Sabbath Schools, and charitable
movements here-the first instance of the kind I have encountered
among the learned laity. Her very strong love for home, and for
every detail about it, was truly German.
" We talked infinitely in those three days, and I know her better
than I do many years' acquaintances. She speaks English beautifully, though we generally spoke German.
"The charm of her is, that happy mingling of animal, cheerful,
genial traits, with real earnestness of character. She is one, who
wins her servants and the lowest as well as her equals, to herself,not because she tries, nor because she does it to please her own vanity, or for effect, or for duty, but because her nature flows out thus
kindly towards all. Then with this, working continually, is a clearsighted intellect and deep religious sense.
" The memory is a light over my path. I remember not so much
a noble, or an intellectual, or a witty spirit, as a genial, clear-headed,
refined, religious woman, who met me a stranger, as a friend. I
shall never see her, and may never hear of her again. But I am
grateful that God has created a few such happy combinations of
qualities, and that I have known the embodiment!" *  *  *




CHAPTER XXXVI.
PRAGUE.
I NEVER remember to have taken a more interesting railroad ride
than on the route between Dresden and Prague.  The road, for the
great part of the way, winds up the valley of the Elbe, through the
"' Saxon Switzerland." The first few miles are in the open country
on the banks of the Elbe, with the green hills, covered with the
vine, rising on the other side. - But gradually the river is forced in
between the mountains, and the track is obliged to accompany it,
and we found ourselves puffing along right under immense jagged
precipices, then cutting through in a dark tunnel a rocky promontory
then rushing across, on solid bridges, some bend of the stream, with
the wildest of scenery around us. It was like a railway through the
Alps. If any one of my readers has travelled up the Naugatuck
road in Connecticut, or followed the lower valley of the Wye, in
England, he will have, on a smaller scale, a very good idea of the
Dresden and Prague Railroad. This road has only been opened a
week, and I could see all along the route, signs of the grand celebration they have just had at its first opening-great festoons of
evergreens and flowers over the station houses, and varieties of decorations everywhere. By its completion, the traveller can leave-Berlin at 7 o'clock in the morning, reach Dresden at 12, stop an hour




THE RAILROAD.                        361
and a half, and be in Prague by 9 o'clock in the evening, and,
spending the night in Prague, can reach Vienna the next evening,
so that the two capitals are, in fact, within thirty hours distance of
one another. Many hopes are felt for the great Bohemian city from
this line, and it is thought her manufactures will now pour themselves more freely into the Northern Zollverein.
The road seemed well-built, and must necessarily have been very
expensive. This makes no difference, however, in the prices, as the
Austrian railroads are all government property, and the fares fixed
without reference to the cost of building. On this and most of
their roads I have known, the price for the second class passengerswhich perhaps represents the average-is 11 kreutzers per German
mile, which is about' 2  cents the English mile. The seats in the
Austrian cars in the second and third classes, are arranged like ours.
The first class has coupes, or little separate compartments, each with
two or three seats.
One of the most striking objects on the route was the immense
fortress of KUnigsstein, perched on what seems an utterly inaccessible precipice. It boasts, you know, of being the only inexpugnable fortress of Europe, and has formed the refuge, many a time,
of the Saxon kings and their treasures. In modern warfare, such a
Strong-hold is of no great importance, and would hardly repay the
trouble of taking.
As we passed the Austrian borders, I felt the excitement which
every traveller feels at entering a land he has heard of so often, and
where such new forms of life will open to him, and I looked
eagerly out of the windows to see if there was anything in the
appearance of the country, to remind one of the old bigoted Empire. The first objects peculiar were the multitude of saints'
images and.crucifixes along the road.  At every turn of the
16




362             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
track, and on every high point of the banks, these memorials
met the eye.  The white-coated officers, too, appeared in the
villages, and the Bohemian language could be heard oftener at
the stations. The Austrian paper began to show itself, and I had
my first sight of a little expedient which surprised me much at the
time, though I have found it common enough since. I bought a
trifle of a woman standing by the cars, and handed her a bank bill
of six kreutzers, (about four cents). The article cost three kreutzers,
and she tore off half, and gave me the other half! I saw a man
afterwards tear a ten kreutzer into four pieces, and pass them in the
same way. No one passed or received silver.
The talk of the people also around me sounded more " Austrian."
They were discussing that question of questions for their country, the
currency —and what the Gulden were worth, and the chances of
bankruptcy, &c. I ought to mention here for the benefit of travellers, that my Prussian gold and paper brought me a premium of
about thirty-three per cent!
I was very glad from the conversation going on around, to get
some idea of this perplexing Austrian currency-this " Guldenschein" and " Guldenmunz," and these complicated kreutzers and
groschens. A mall has to keep a sharp look out, or he will be continually paying Miinz for Schein, or in other words, two and. a half
times as much as he should. The innkeepers have a way of presenting their bills in " Schein money," and the unlucky traveller will
be paying over in an extravagant manner, until he remembers that
he settles in Miilnz. That is, if the bill is ten Gulden Schein, it
means four Gulden common money-a very considerable difference
in a long bill.
Another very characteristic thing in the cars, was the conversation of two men near me over the new Tobacco Law and the " cursed




FIRST  VIEW.                      363
monopoly."  "A man could not even smoke his pipe now, without
being taxed by the Government! "
It was a beautiful sunny spring afternoon as we rushed over
the railroad bridge at Prague, and the first sight of that crowd
of towers and Moorish domes and turrets, as they rose one above
the other on the hill side, crowned by what seemed a mosque on
the summits; or stretched away on the other bank of the river among
the multitude of houses, was very striking. I had at length reached
the antique Bohemian capital-once the Paris of an old civilization,
and now filled with monuments which make it, perhaps, the most
interesting city of Europe. An interest which is increased by the
strange movements of which it has been the centre during these last
few years.
Thinking over such matters, and quite ready to be interested
in anything, I walked out after engaging a room in a hotel, to see
the old city. Not having any guide with me-and not wanting
any-I wandered around quite at random in the narrow old streets.
In fact, among all the pleasures of travelling, I know hardly a greater,
than the first independent wandering through the streets of one of
the old historic cities. You do not feel obliged to learn anything.
You are not bored with guide books, or guides. You are deciphering yourself all the while, the thousand strange inscriptions written
all around you; written in various architectures, in the style of the
monuments, in the age of the buildings, and even in the faces and
bearing of the inhabitants. I have found by experience, that the
Past never comes before one's mind as in these first few moments,
and I lay more value on these first impressions, than all the guide
book information afterwards. The next time you see the hoary
monument and crumbling walls with Murray in hand, or with monotonous " Commissionaire " at your elbow, exploring their history —




364             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
their glory has all departed, and you see nothing but very sooty
stones or common-place statues; and are quite likely, in the midst
of the most entrancing historic associations, to be speculating on the
chances of the next election at home, or wondering whether it is not
time for " lunch."
THE OLD BRIDGE AT PRAGUE.
I had not rambled long before I came on-what is perhaps the
most interesting object in this interesting city —the old Bridge over
the Moldau. You know the Moldau separates Prague into two
parts, the old city and the " Kleine Seite," (Little Side). These two
quarters are connected by two bridges, one beautiful modern chainbridge, and this solid, ancient structure.
This is lined at the distance of every four feet, with statues and
images. They are rough affairs, and peculiarly battered in the
various bombardments which Prague has undergone, and especially
in the Revolutionary contests of 1848.  Still they are very characteristic, and speak forcibly of the long history and of the superstition
of the nation. The turbaned Turk, and his companions the demons
appear frequently, and are really terribly dealt with by the artists,
while the stints always figure in great glory. There is one of the
monuments which, though coarse, shows a good deal of power.
You see a dark hole in one of the stone buttresses, with a fierce-looking Turk on one side, and a ravenous dog, just springing forward, on
the other; within the hole are three saints, whose faces just appear,
and really more dolorous, forlorn-looking visages one seldom sees.
They are praying. Above, forming the statue for the bridge, is.a
group of Christ and some of his apostles, breaking the chains of pri



THE BRIDGE.                      365
soners, and apparently about to descend to the three saints in the
dungeon. The great statue of the bridge is Nepomuck's, who seems
almost the patron Saint of Prague. This is of bronze, with five
stars about the head to represent those which appeared on the water
when he was drowned. He seems, from all accounts, to have been a
very good man in the middle ages, and to have been thrown into
the river from the bridge, because he opposed one of their Kings in
some way. There is a difference of tradition about him. But there
seems. little doubt he met his death in a manly rebuke of the
King's vices.
I stopped some time near his statue, to get the whole aspect of
the scene. It was a curious mingling of the new and old. There
was the venerable bridge, with its battered and quaint images-the
same old bridge that Wallenstein's forces had tramped over, and
where many a hard fought fight between bUrgers on one side, and
the garrison on the hill, on the other, had swayed to and fro. Now,
handsome modern carriages with liveries, and new hacks, such as
one sees in London or New York, of the prettiest styles, were hurrying over. Yet, right alongside of them-the oldest sight to me
in all Prague-were sane, keen-looking men of this nineteenth century, walking, and taking off their hats reverently to this image of
Nepomuck! I watched for some time, what kind of men especially
did this —and though, of course, the lower class were most particular in the matter, yet men of all ranks and classes seemed to do the
same. It was my first experience of a genuine Catholic peopleand I went away wondering.
The evening drew on, in these rambles, and I hastened to a
fiiend's house, where I had left my letter of introduction and a
card, during the day. I had been long expected, and it did not
need many minutes, with the truly German sociability, for us all to




366              SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY
be on the best of terms. A number of their friends came in, in the
course of the evening,-mostly Professors in the University,-and
the conversation soon fell on the Bohemian school system. These
gentlemen were German professors, invited by the Austrian government to this University, and what is more singular still-Protestants. Their remarks on the general cultivation and school arrangements in Bohemia were anything but complimentary. They describe
the teachers as wretchedly paid, till within a year, in all the common
schools, and the Gymnasia, or schools preparatory to the University,
as in a miserable condition.
The Austrian Government, they tell me, has been making, this
last year, immense efforts at reform-and the first change in the
Universities has just commenced. These are now all put on the
same basis as the German Universities-that is, the studies are thrown
open to the students, and they are allowed to choose their own field
to work upon, and are free from all restraint, except the examinations necessary for entering most of the professions.
Another change, too, which has exceedingly gratified the Bohemians, is the putting the Bohemian language on an equality with
the German, in all public schools and universities. So that there
are a good number of lectures now delivered in this university, in
the Cheski tongue.  The students, according to the account of these
gentlemen, are very poorly prepared for a university course, and the
labor of a professor is much less pleasant than in a German University. These divisions of Nationality have even affected society, and
this divides itself into the German and Sclavonic, which is unfortunate, especially as the Germans are so few in number. The Bohemian part, according to all accounts, is much inferior to the other, in
cultivation.
It was related, by one of the party, as a sign of the feeling pro



SLAVONIC MOVEMENTS.                    367
vailing through many in the town, that a friend of his, a man of
considerable influence in the Slavonic party, had recently had a seal
made, with the figure of a Cossack above, and below the words
"Immer nach derm Westen!"  "Ever towards the West!'
These impulses for a Slavonic Nationality, of which Prague was
the centre in 1848, and by which it is still agitated, are to me, one
of the most singular developments in history. I do not understand
them.
They were first carried out into action in 1848, and produced
most momentous effects. The old kingdom of Hungary was shaken
by them into disjointed fragments. Bohemia itself, was split off
from Austria. Their influence reached Poland and the provinces
of Russia, and even the principalities of the Danube, wherever a
tribe of the old Slavonic stock yet lived.
If these Slavonic tribes bad been of one language and religion,
all this, though remarkable, would have been less strange. But with
many of these tribes, it would have needed the scent of an ethnologist to determine that they belonged to one " nationality." Their
religions were different, and their languages-though all of the
same family —now so unlike, that in the great Slavonic Congress in
Prague, in 1848, the different members could not even understand
one another, and a foreign tongue was the organ of the much hopedfor "Union."
Their interests and their past history were widely separate. Yet
was the movement very deep and far reaching. It affected some of
the first minds of the Slavonic race; and the Slavonic literature here
in Prague and elsewhere, has shown in these last few years such a
progress, as it has not since the time of its bloom in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. To our ideas, the movement seems fantastic
and useless-hardly more singular and unpractical, if the whole




368            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
Celtic race (the Highlanders in Scotland, the Irish, the Oriental
tribes from which they sprang, all who anywhere belong to that
stem), should unite and agitate to form a great "Celtic national.
ity!" I consider it as one of those visions for which these people in
Middle Europe have so often lost realities. They have fought for
"nationalities," and have forgotten Freedom.




CHAPTER XXXVI.
WALK TO THE LAURENZIBERG.
I MUST confess it-more interesting to mne than the old Bridge;
more than iuss's pulpit, or Nepomuck's Statue, or Wallenstein's
Horse, or the Eradschin Palace, was a certain clear-sighted, genial
woman, and an accomplished, intelligent man, here in Prague,
true children of this nineteenth century. I met them a stranger,
and left them such friends, as I scarcely have in Europe. It is difficult, except with people of peculiar culture, to meet on all points
under a foreign language.  There is always something coming up
at an unexpected moment, which strikes one aback-which is not
to be accounted for on our ideas-which isforeign, and you see no
possible way of explaining it. But it was not so with any of us
here. My friends were from North Germany, highly cultured, with
the best German candor and freedom of thought-but with a certain earnestness of character, which is not so common in Germany,
just now. People of the world, yet with that real German simplicity and friendliness of manner. They both knew America well,
and seemed to take almost as deep an interest in its future, as I
myself. Though in an Austrian state, and though loyal subjects,
they felt and worked for the great poorer classes of men, recogniz16*




370              SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
ing it as a duty before the enjoyment in learning, and before even
the regular round of religious duties, to help th se great masses
who are so helpless. I think my friend is almost the first German
Gelehrter, (scholar,) I have met, who is at all devoting his talents to
popular education. I was glad to tell him, how well his name was
known among American scholars, and that his few efforts in science
had reached so far.
To-day we have been taking a long walk to the Laurenziberg, a
high hill, which overlooks the city. It is a glorious spring afternoon'; the trees are in tbEn first freshness of foliage; the green fields
in the valley glisten pleasantly in the sunlight, and the fragrance
and softness in the air make one's heart glad.. Every one is out
enjoying the fine weather, and there are unusual numbers here today; for it is a religious holiday, and the people are making pilgrimages to the chapel on the hill. There is the Slovack with his
broad-brimmed hat and soiled sheep-skin mantle thrown gracefully
over one shoulder, ready to sell his little wares to whoever will buy.
There the ruddy Bohemian peasant woman, with kerchief about her
head, and bright-colored dress, reading piously her prayers. Right by
her clatters along the Austrian soldier, with sabre, white coat and
dainty little cap. And once I observed a tall Hungarian hussar, in
his short blue cloak, sauntering moodily by, thinking perhaps of his
far away Magyar fatherland and its crushed people.
As we climb the hill, we pass groups kneeling before the little
shrines on the road-side, and even occasionally kissing devoutly the
glass before the images.
We speak, as we pass in our walk by old historic scenes, of the
new land over the waters. And amid these relics of an old feudal
government, I am describing that which is ever new to the Germans,




PRAGUE.                        371
and of which I never weary of speaking to tnem-the success of
this grand modern experiment in Self-government.
We climbed for a long time, following the throng of pilgrims
toward the chapel on the hill, until at length on the summit, the
wide, grand view of the valley of the Moldau opened before us.
These panoramic views are never the finest to me, yet this gave a'ery distinct idea of Prague. The rich golden sunlight was pouring
civer the scene, but did not obscure at all the forest of towers and
spires and domes and Moorish-like turrets, which characterize the
city. In the midst of the valley wound the Moldau, dividing the
town into two parts. On the banks toward the hill where we were
standing (the Klein-seite), the houses rise one above the other on
the hill side, till the summit is crowned by the immense structure of
the Hradschin, the old palace of the Bohemian kings. The whole
of that part has just the appearance of one of the old feudal towns,
with the castle on the summit, from which the baron can rush down
in his forays upon the peaceful citizens. Indeed such has been
almost its character; and that solid bridge which connects this side
with the "old town," has been the scene of many a fierce fight in
olden tin;e.
Below this, forming a very pretty object in the view from where
we stand, is the new chain bridge over the river.
On the other end of the " Old Bridge," rise the massive buildings
of the university, where, once, more than 30,000 students were
gathered. Even yet it is one of the most numerously attended universities in Europe. Beyond this, to a great distance on that side of
the river, stretches out the "Old City," varied with innumerable
towers and fantastic spires, which, mostly built in the Byzantine
style, give a peculiarly oricrtsl air to the whole place. On the outer
limits can be seen those iwuisnse hospitals for the sick and the in



372             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
sane, for which Prague is now celebrated. The population of the
city is only 120,000, yet the buildings are so numerous and grand,
that it makes a very imposing appearance. It is stated that even
with this comparatively small number of inhabitants, the city is some
twelve miles in circumference.
We stayed long, enjoying the different views, and only as evening
drew on, turned away for our walk home. I went back a moment,
to take a last good-bye of the old city, which seemed even more
rich and fantastic in the evening light,-then followed my friends
down the hill, quite sure that its like I should never see again.
As we went down, we stopped to look at some of the little chapels on the roadside-they were nearly all filled with pictures-some
of no inconsiderable power-representing the sufferings of Christ.
The people kneeling before them, seemed earnest and engaged. We
stopped in one place to rest on some stones, near a dark entrance,
where persons were going in and coming out continually. We
hardly dared go in ourselves, until at length, the lady of our party
ascertained that strangers were allowed to enter, and that a fragment of the holy Sepulchre of Christ was exhibited there! Accordingly we all crept through the passage into one apartment, and
out of that into a small gloomy cave, lighted with one lamp, and
hung with black.  On one side of it was lying a full-length, wooden
figure of the naked dead Christ, with his bleeding wounds, and
above, the cross on a fragment of stone, which I suppose must have
been the relic in question. In front was a plate for the offerings.
The whole was very well rananged and had an exceedingly oppressive effect on one, and I must confess we were glad to deposit our
kreutzers, and get out again. One may judge, how well contrived
it was for affecting the common people.
In all these ceremonials, we agreed it was possible for a truly




VIEWS.                          373
Christian spilit to be engaged. Whether th:,t'was the fact with
theso people, or not,. was Ptite another questlo:..
We returned in the evening tO my friend's house, or 2a'cer auite
of rcoms, which by the way are much handsomer than v;ould be
these of a gentleman of his station in Berlin; end then ceor a; ro
supper, continued a pleasant conversation till a late hour.
AP=L -.
To-day my friends and rnyself have climbed the Cathedral tower,
which, with the hill, gives an elevation of some 500 feet over the
surface of the Moldau. On the summit, we found a droll, sociable
fellow, the warden, who had lived up there for many years, and who
t)old us of his " high-born seon"-born 250 feet above the ground,
and 500 and odd above the river!  His description of the old
buildings we could see, was very well given indeed.
To one of them, there was a melancholy interest for us, in that
it was the place where the rr3olutionists of'48 —mostly young students-are confined. It had been a nunnery, but is now a State
prison. They are allowed, he said, to walk around in the court, we
see there —" most of them, poor fellows, are sentenced for many
years."
Another building which equally spoke of. late events, was a new,
strong fort, just out of the city, built on a hill side, where the onlpossible range of the cannon was over the city. The Government
are evidently securing themselves against any repetition of the rsc:ts
of'48.
In the afternoon, in company with a Bohemian gentleman, I
visited a great variety of interesting objects. Perhaps uothing of
all these was more striking, than the old, tangled, glook y buryir:gground of the Jews-an immense field, right in the heart of the




374             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
city, filled to every square foot of ground with plain slabs of stone,
and ovefgrroew with very ancient twisted trees and vines. It forms
throughout, one-of the wildest, strangest scenes imaginable.
We alsked cur Jew guide about the little pebbles on some of the
tombs.  These were laid, he said, by those who came to the tombs
to pray, and it was his private opinion that the spirits came back
into the graves when a good man prayed.
It is a curious fact that the Jews here are almost entirdy on the
German side, against the Slavonians. They are quite numerous,
numbering some 8,000, out of a population of 120,000.
My companion was a genuine SIavonian, and seemed to hope
much from the recent measures of the Austrian Government with
regard to his countrymen. The equal position now of the two languages in Bohemia, and the complete abolishment of serfdom
through the whole Empire, would do much, he thought, for them.
The plan adopted in Bohemia in this freeing the peasants, is that
the State should pay one-third of the loss, the peasant himself another third, and the master take upon himself the remaining third.
Such a measure causes an immense loss to the landholders, and occasions a very complicated mass of business for the Austrian Governinent to settle, as not unfrequently the rents for years from the
pe.asants' labor have been mortgaged. It was the opinion of this
geLtleman, though a Catholic, and, so far as I could judge, a Conrin,xative, that the attachment of the whole Slavonic race was very;we"k, indeed, towards the House of lapsburg.
MONASTERIES.
-I.atpr ir, lhe day we visited some of the old monastic estab
llshmenris  bhiere my companion had been educated, which are still




CHARITIES.                       375
cloisters and hospitals. It was strange to be wandering around through
the long corridors, and under the rows of old pictuies, and to be meeting real, living monks. I must say, however, there was nothing in
the arrangements which smacked of the comfort-loving tendencies
of which the brethren have been accused. Everything was plain
and simple,-even the "Refectory," though a grand, arched hall,
had a table just set, which would have hardly contented a common
laboring man with us.
The chapel was the only exception to this plainness. Here the
treasures of ages seem to have been expended in gilding and carving,
and monuments, and every variety of rich painting.
One establishment which I visited,-that of the "f Merciful Brethren"-had an admirable hospital arranged within, with all the
most modern practical conveniences, and some hundred or more
patients. These are admitted and taken care of by the "Brethren"
without charge; and what I was especially glad to hear, no preference was given to any particular religious faith. The Heretic or
the Infidel, is equally admitted with the Catholic. The means for
this are gained by the personal solicitations of the Brethren, from
house to house. Verily there is many a good side to the old Romish Faith.




CIIAPTER XXXVII.
A BOHEMIAN LADY.
PaGuE, APRImu 1851.
AMONG my acquaintances here, is a very intelligent Catholic
family-Bohemians-who have treated me with much kindness.
They have taken me out in their carriage, among the antiquities of
this famous city; and have sent their own family tutor with me, to
show me over the various places of historic interest. I came in today, after a ride, and took "afternoon coffee" with them. The
house has a most dingy, unpromising exterior, and the outside door
at the head of the great stair-way, opens into a kitchen, through
which we pass to the parlor. Yet the parlor is richly finlnished
beyond almost any I have seen in North Germany —massive oak
chairs, deep sofas, carpets, heavy curtains, and rich Bohemian glass
in abundance. The lady is evidently a woman of the world-has
been in England and France-speaks French and German, as if they
were native languages to her; and is beside a person of real
thought and intelligence. Her husband is a merchant, much interested in the new rail-road operations in Austria. He wants extremely a rail-road chart of America, and I have promised to get
him one, if possible.




A  BLUNDER.                       377
While waiting for our coffee, I asked for a glass of water, and the
Bohemian servant brought in a pewter vessel, looking very much
like what we should use in our quarter of the world for a wateringrot. I thought it was odd; especially as the hostess seemed so
much like a lady of the world; still in such a queer house and queer
city I was ready for anything, and did not feel at all sure but that
this might be the regular drinking cup of the inhabitants; so I took
it, and was bringing it to my lips very gradually, when the lady
caught a glimpse of me. " MAin Gott! You are not drinking out of
that i " and the servant was ordered sharply, this time in Bohemian
which she understood, to bring a glass; and then such a laugh, as
we all had-especially the children and myself! The coffee was at
length brought in, and a small cup of it with a glass of ice-water,
and a sweet cake was passed to each one. In our conversation, I
made an allusion to the grand religious ceremonies, then going on
in Prague, and told her, I had seen that morning in the Cathedral near
the Castle, for the first time in my life, the Confession. It had left a
deep impression on me-the kneeling, humble penitents, pouring out
so the history of the heart into the ear of man. It seemed a tremendous instrument of power. I asked her, what she had observed
of its practical influence?
"Oh! Confession," said she, "like a great many of our ordinances, and of the ordinances of other churches, was good in its
origin, but has now been much abused.  So far as I have observed,
among my servants and the common people, the influence is very
good. It is very desirable for such persons, you know, and for most
persons, when they are confessing their sins, to have a distinct idea
of them. Merely saying,'I am a sinner,' is not enough; the man
must see clarly where he sins, and then he can more truly repent;
we think confession to the priest meets this difficulty."




378            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
"Have you ever known direct effects of it? " said I.
"Oh, yes, often," she answered. "I have had again and again
things restored to me by the priest, which bad been stolen either
by my servants, or others.  And many and many a family strife
here has been healed by our confessors. Of course, everything told
them in the confessional, is sacred; still they can use it often for
good. I must allow that very often it is abused. Very many of
the common people put it off till such a time as this, and then there
is such a crowd, that the priest has no time to give good advice;
and the penitents themselves hurry it over in such an indecorous
manner!
"And there are such absurd confessions! I wonder how the
good fathers can bear it!  There is Madame L —, they say, is
always mourning with tears, in the box, that she has made bad butter, and keeps the dinner waiting-"
" Peccatum mortale, in my opinion," murmured her husband.
"Then the Frau Z, who laments so often that her house is
not washed every fortnight! Still on the whole, I find the influence
good."
" But do you feel no reluctance at unfolding all your faults and
foibles in this way to another?" I asked.
"' Gewiss nicht! certainly not! How can I; and how can any
Christian woman who really wants her faults corrected, and confesses
for that purpose?"
" Ich bitte-pardon!" said a young lady, a friend, who had just
come in, "I cannot agree with Madame -- in that! I find confession a great bore! I shall never tell my secrets to any one! "
I said something then about the dangerous influence on the mind
of the priest from hearing, for a few years, such a history of the
human heart.




A DISCUSSION.                      379
"I do not see that," she said, "on a pure-minded man. I allow
that very great care shouJd be used in appointing a confessor; and
for my part, I always prefer a private confessor, who understands
my own character and peculiar difficulties."
I did not ask her, whether she thought this confession could really
obtain absolution from the priest, for the whole manner in which
she defended it, evidently supposed the contrary.
" I have been on your interesting old bridge to-day," said I, " and
I see the people taking off their hats to the statue of Nepomuck.
Do you all do that?"
" Ach i no. Nepomtick was a very good preacher and priest in
his day, and died for the truth, and is very much reverenced here;
still no educated Catholic would take off his hat to his statue-we only
bow to the image of Christ, which is at this end of the bridge.'"
In my visit to the Cathedral, I had bought at the door a little
copy of a prayer to Nepomuck, and now showed it to her. She
looked it over.
"This praying to saints, you know, is not commanded by the
church," she said. " Of course, there is but one real " Intercessor."
Yet I find it very natural. Sometimes I believe it fully, and then
again I cannot-I do not know. The whole subject of the next
world is very mysterious. Who can tell, but that those we love,
and the good of all ages, still have an influence on us here? I love
to believe it," she said, looking up for a moment, her eye kindling
with feeling. " How glad should I be to think some were still by me!"
She stopped, and her husband took the opportunity to make his
escape.
"There are a great many ordinances and ceremonials of the
Church," she continued, " which I do not feel at all necessary for
myself. I have no need of public worship. I am conscious of wor



380             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
shipping the Infinite better among His works. These fast days are
useless to me, and generally disturb my health, and so with confession often; but I observe these, because wise and good men of the
past have recommended them, and because T shall influence ignorant
people-my servants for instance. They always connect real heart
religion with such forms, and if they neglect the one, they will be
very apt to become weakened in the other."
" I am glad you think so about fast-days!" said her friend, " they
give me such head-aches!"
" In my opinion," she continued again, " the greatest defect of the
Catholic Church, as compared with your Protestant, is the celibacy
of the clergymen.
" This ordinance, like the others, I think was very good in the beginning. In the earlier ages and the times of persecution, marriage
interfered with the duty of the priest; but now, in my view, this
forced celibacy is the great cause of the ignorance of our native
priests. No man of any cultivation and refined feelings, will place
himself where he alone of society is cut off from the most tender
enjoyments and the best discipline. Besides it makes our priests
form such dishonorable connections, and which from  this very rule,
become often sinful to them.
" Nothing pleases me more in Protestant countries, than to see the
confidence with which clergymen are received into the families.
"No respectable family in Prague will admit a priest to regular in
timacy. Besides, I do not see how a priest can ever advise; or console, or sympathize with a family, who has never had himself the
cares and responsibility of a family."
"Are the foreign priests as illiterate as the native?" I asked.
"No, not at all," she replied.  " The Jesuits are men of very high
cult vation."




CATHOLIC WORSHIP.                      381
"Ach, yes —what an excellent teacher was my dear Father C-;
out so skilful! I should have been one of the sisterhood certainly,
if he had staid!" said her fiiend.
" It is not probable," said the other, "that the Jesuits will ever
return. They have left so bad a reputation here."
We conversed in this way some time, and I found her in all her
thoughts with the same beautiful ideality and religious feeling. At
the close I told her how glad I was, to get the views of an educated
Catholic on these matters.
" I must have quite wearied you," she answered. "I have talked
very frankly about my faith, and I will tell you frankly, what I find
so objectionable in your Protestant mode of worship. It is too bare
and cold for me. There is no appeal in it to the feelings and the
imagination. Humran nature is made up of many parts, and I believe imagination has its claim, as well as the reason. Your forms
may be different in America, but those I have seen in the Reformed
Church here, never affect me in the least. And in England, at
least in some churches-people seemed to me to come together to
hear an essay, and not to worship the dear God! Perhaps I am
saying too much. You will understand me. I must follow the instincts of my nature, and they are never satisfied with your forms!"
It was not the time to argue the matter; so I only said, that we
did not exclude feeling from our services, but " preferred to excite it
by other means, through the reason, by oratory and persuasion.
And we too employed poetry and music."
I was deeply interested in the conversation, and have given this
lady's expressions, as much as possible, word for word.
As I left, I thought of the beautiful words of Lavater, which have
often come over me since, in Roman Catholic countries.




382               SOCIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
Der kennt noch nicht dich, JESUS CHRISTUS!
Wer deinen Schatten nur entehrt,
Mir sei, was dich nur, Jesus Christus I
Zu ehren meint, verehrenswerth.
Wenn's TAuschung wur, nur Fabel ware,
Es fable nur zu deiner Ehre;
Es mag mich dricken und betriben
Um deinetwillen, will ich's lieben,
Erinnert's nur an dich, tragt's nir
Von dir, die allerkloiste Spur i




CHAPTER XXXVII1.
VIENNA.
A FIFTEEN hours' ride by rail carried me from Prague to Vienna.
I know nothing more enlivening than travelling in this fresh spring
season. It makes one grateful to see the world so beautiful. Then
this incessant meeting with so many varieties of minds; and finding
friendships and affinities with people of such different culture and
habit! It is very pleasant. Prejudices wear off fast. One meets
so many, who unwaveringly swear to that as black which their
neighbors call white; one finds such firm prejudices on the most
opposite matters, that it seems hardly worth while forming very
fixed opinions on small matters. I find, too, I come more and
more to the conviction, that men belong to just the same family,
have just the same weaknesses, foibles, and virtues, whether
they speak German or English, wear moustaches, or are closeshaven, sport beaver or turban.  The thought, too, settles on
me, half unconsciously but very deeply, from seeing so much
of oppression and degradation-of the great Want and unhappiness of mankind. I find myself, also, strangely and unpleasantly
losing my sense of the importance of the individaal man. Men are
used in masses, like cartridges for war; or they give themselves in
flocks to their rulers for such ignoble purposes  w they aro so fixed




384             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
in circumstances, and so apparently beyond good influences, that
lose confidence in individual Reform, and have more in the great
Causes, which shall change the whole structure of society. Not,
perhaps, a logical effect, but a natural.
Every new station, showed, as we went on, the presence of a very
different people from the North German; the swarthy, dark-haired
boys, the number of beggars, the chapels and crosses by the way,
and the animated talk and gesture of people were all characteristic
of a more southern race.
In the afternoon, at an angle of the road, we came suddenly in
view of a line of massive blue mountains in the distance. Why did
my pulse throb quick at the sight — They were the hills, where a
nation had made its last gallant, unflinching struggle for life. The
first glimpse of a land, which had always seemed too heroic and
dream-like to me, that I should ever see -it.
The Carpathians! HUNG&RY!'Lhe neighborhood of Vienna was indicated, as a large city is
usually, by the different style of men, whom we saw. People
more unobservant of strangers, more quick, keen, social, unformal;
and at the same time, more polite. A very pleasant population
must the Viennese be, if these are good specimens.
Our passports at the last station were strictly demanded; but the
baggage was passed easily. In fact, I am surprised everywhere at
the politeness of the Austrian police. My quarters were soon taken
up; and to-day, I have been on the Prater-the Hyde Park of
Vienna; and the:best place for viewing the outside of the city.
A  grand spectacle it is-almost the most brilliant I -have seen
in Europe. Otho, the King of Greece, is here, and the young
Emperor gives an entertainment to his.guest, by calling out all the
finest equipages into the Prater drive.  The people, too, bave




THE PRATER.                      385
turned out in multitudes, and every walk and road under these
grand old oaks and lindens is filled with a most picturesque crowd.
Here, on this alley on my right, sweeps down a dashing cavalcade
gf riders, with those fine-limbed, deep-chested horses, such as one
seldom sees anywhere, except in England. At their head is a young
officer, with the white military coat and a diminutive little green
cap. His features could never be mistaken by any one who had
seen the portraits of the late emperor, as those of the House of
Hapsburg. A brother of the Emperor, as you may learn from the
crowd. In the great alley on the other side, comes a fine open carriage with gentlemen in red caps; Turkish officers, as you hear, who
are in Vienna studying engineering. Then some riders in the gay
and graceful short cloaks and plumed shakoes of the Hungarian
noblemen-the few at the court who are yet allowed, as if in
mockery, to wear the much-loved costume. After them a modest
carriage with a kindly-looking man within, and a boy at his side.
The crowd all salute him with great heartiness. It is the father of
the Emperor, who declined the crown, it will be remembered, at the
abdication of his brother in 1848, in favor of Francis. The boy at
his side is his youngest son.
Following, and quite putting to shame his simple equipage, appears the most splendid carriage of the day, with four handsome
horses, and gilt trappings, and out-riders and footmen. Within is
a little man with a red cap and singular costume, who keeps almost
continually nodding to the people. He looks like a court-fool. This is
the Sovereign of the old Classic Land-the Bavarian King of Greece.
Not far behind is a simple, neat carriage, looking something like one
of our large buggies, but with two perfectly trained, powerful horses.
There are two footmen in white liveries behind, and in front sits a
young man driving. He is dressed in the usual costume of an Aus
17




386             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
trian officer, white coat and small green cap. His face has a thin
and worn look, and gives you an impression of a person of no great
strength of character.  He chats easily with a friend at his side, and
occasionally with a gentleman who rides near by. He holds the
reins well, and seems an accomplished " whip," —and that is all you
would ever notice in him. Yet that man is, perhaps, the most important personage of fhese times; the absolute monarch of the Austrian Empire —the Conqueror of Hungary and of Italy-the Leader
of Germany and the great and almost only " Defender of the Rolnan
Catholic Faith." On his will, depend perhaps the liberties of Germany, the continuance of Hungary as a nation, and the safety, if
not the existence, of Protestantism  in the empire. Do you notice
the gentleman who reins up near him, so easily and steadily;-a fiery
horse; a man of sharp features and keen eye, with full whiskers,
looking much like one of our New York "fast men?"  This is
Count Griinne, the chief favorite, the initiator of the young Emperor into the mysteries of dissipation, and the great authority on all
matters of the chase or the table. He has acquired, it is said, a
boundless influence over the young man's mind; and through him,
the whole thoughts and attention of the Emperor are given up to
horses, and dogs, and soldiers' uniforms, and all manner of trifles.
Alas for thee, Hungary, and Italy, and Bohemia, when such are thy
rulers!
I know no so grand expression of wealth and rank, as fine horses
and carriages. They give an idea of power, which scarcely anything
else can express. The Austrian nobility is one of the wealthiest in
Europe; and of late years, they have devoted much attention to the
breeding of horses. The display to-day in horses is much superior
to any I have seen, except in London. Their best blooded animals
are crosses of the Arabian with the English hunter.




VIENNESE SHOWS.                       387
After this royal party, came an indiscriminate crowd of all imaginable liveries and costumes, whirling rapidly by. There is Metternich's carriage —next him a little fisherman's box with a rough, fast
trotting nag; then Esterhazy's, then a nobleman's, then a hack, then
a buggy, and pressing close after them, amid the laugh of the crowd,
a large-wheeled, long-thilled sulky, like one of our New York Third
Avenue turn outs. Uhlan lancers and Austrian dragoons; Grenzers from  the "Borders," and Jtgers from  Bohemia, Hungarian
Huzzars, and Viennese police mingle pel-mell in the hurrying
line. The alleys are equally lively. There the neatly-dressed gentleman from the city, then the tall Tyrolese with green hat and
feather, the Turk in turban and robes, the Greek with his graceful
red cap, the Slovack with sheepskin and broad-brimmed hat, and the
peasant women with bright handkerchiefs about their heads; all
merry and happy, for the pleasure-loving Viennese are in their element in such a scene as this. I follow the crowd almost at random.
There is an exhibition of the " Gigantic English horse; " just beyond
in a tent, "The unrivalled panorama of the Mississippi;" and wedging my way out of that crowd, I find a large company seated at
tables under the trees, eating ices or drinking coffee, while an excellent band is playing in the balcony of the restaurante in front.
After a quiet enjoyment, sipping an ice and watching the partycolored crowd, I turn off more to the left towards the " Sausage
park," as it is called.  Here  they are, the  Volk-the populace-of Vienna in their element!  Dances, jugglery, circuses,
gymnastic performances, swings, sail-boats full of children sailing in
imaginary ponds around revolving poles, beer tables, sausage tents,
fruits, meats, puddings-everything in the open air, and all mingled
together in endless confusion. Every one full of the enjoyment,
and very unconscious of everything else.




388            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
In Berlin, in such an entertainment as this, there would have been
a moustach6ed, helmeted policeman at every beer-table. Here, except on a "drive," to regulate the procession, I have scarcely seen
one. As is well known, the Austrian paternal government likes
nothing better than to see its good-natured subjects altogether,
absorbed in show and pleasure. Theatres, and wine, and women
will drive all impertinent political questionings out of their heads.
Yet probably here, there was not a tent or booth, or small assembly,
which had not its "secret police" officer, or its"government agent."
In Austrian diplomacy, tyranny must never be shown, where it can
be avoided.
tunday, April.
I have just seen another and more serious side of Vienna-life
which has impressed me very much. I know not why it is, but
there is something to me in the early beauty of Spring, more thoughtful and solemnizing, than any other aspect of nature. And I have
often wondered, whether our spring Revivals in the American
churches, or the long and serious time of religious penitence and
worship in the Episcopal and Roman Churches, might not connect
themselves somewhat with this feeling. However that may be,
there is an appropriateness which neither Cant on the one side, nor Superstition on the other, can destroy, in the reviving of religious feeling with this beautiful revival of nature. I had felt this through
my whole journey, and it was with no slight readiness for religious
impressions that I entered this bright Sabbath morning the old Cathedral of St. Stephen. The building is capable- of holding some
three or four thousand people without any inconvenience, and this
morning it was full throughout. A scene, most solemn and im



CATHOLIC WORSHIP.                      389
pressive. I had never appreciated before the power of the Catholic
worship. Of course in our country one sees nothing of it, and in
France-at least in Paris-the people are so indifferent, and the
whole service is so dramatic, that it produces no great effect. On
the Rhine, too, there are such crowds of spectators in the churches
that a general air of earnestness is wanting. Here, however, despite the immense crowd, there was the stillness and solemnity of
our own most affecting religious services.  Scarcely any one was
looking around to watch any one else; very many were kneeling on
the stone pavement in silent prayer,others reading from the prayerbook, or bowing before the altar to partake of the communion
wafer. Everything added to the impressiveness. The massive and
antique architecture, the soft-glowing light, the shadowy arches, the
ornament, rich, yet in harmony with the old and time-worn building, and everywhere tending less to dazzle than to impress.
If there is anything in proportion, in grandeur, in harmony of
outline, in beauty of form, and of coloring, of itself adapted to call out
or to aid religious feelings, then was the old Cathedral of St. Stephen
wonderfully framed for religious worship. The pictures too! One
evidently gets no appropriate idea of religious paintings as they are
placed in galleries. They were never made to be set in rows in
bright, bare rooms, with sharp-eyed connoisseurs clustered around
them, any more than the beautiful thoughts and passages of Shakspeare to be gathered in one book. They must be taken with theii
natural accompaniments.  Here, in a shadowy niche, with just light
enough to see the upturned look of pain, and while the rites of
worship are still going on around, a " Head of Christ " is peculiarly
affecting; but when one hundred and fifty of them are in one hall,
with all kinds of Satyrs and doubtful Nymphs distributed among
them, the effect is gone. These stiff old pictures of martyrs and saints




390             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
too, which look so out of place in a modern gallery, seem entirely
appropriate and natural in these venerable churches.  I could not
but feel the effect of them  in this Cathedral.  There were pictures
of Christ in his sufferings, rough, but powerfully drawn, which in
the solemn stillness I could most vividly realize, and could hardly
gaze at without tears. The martyrs, portrayed in their torments or
their triumphs, seemed for the first time like the ideal of the artist;
noble and pure men, who had died for the truth.
To these sources of impression was added the full and rich swell
of music, which softened by the distance of the choir, reached one's
feelings with an indescribable, touching effect. Surely one of the
objects of Church music is to soften the feelings and prepare the
mind for religious thoughts; and in this respect, one must allow
that no form of worship is superior to the Roman Catholic. The
full force of it, I felt that morning. And, as I knelt in prayer with
the crowd, I could not but believe that in all the superstition around
me, there were many who worshipped the Invisible Being as purely
and spiritually as I. I felt glad to think that all which this mummery originally pictured, was equally reverenced by me. This mild
and suffering face which meets one on every column, this bowed and
stricken form, are representations of Him whom Protestant and
Catholic can equally adore. This cross carved on every beam and
in every niche, which the crowd mechanically imitate with their
gestures, is the emblem to us, too, of the Greatest of all events.
These men, pictured in all forms of pain and torment, are those
whom we equally with them, can reverence as the noble martyrs for
Truth.
I was glad that the idea at the ground of this worship was no
false one, and that in its origin, and sometimes now, in its practice,
there was something true and good.




THE PRIESTS.                      391
-I went out conscious that it had not been the worse for me, being
in the Catholic Cathedral, and half ashamed, as I met a procession with a crucifix, that I did not take off my hat too, with the
crowd.
These were the first impressions fiom the Catholic worship; but
I am bound to say, what hardly need be said, that there is an entirely different side to the picture.  Nothing is more calculated to
destroy anly good impressions with regard to the Romanists of Austria, than a sight of the priests themselves. I am in the habit of
judging much from the form of the face and shape of the head, of
a man's character, and I must say, more unpromising physiognomies and " organs " I have seldom seen, than on these men. There
was a sneaking, under-handed expression to them which could not
belong to men whose manhood had been properly developed. Their
heads were, some of them, base, and animal, and sensual; or so
deficient in the intellectual and so developed in certain moral propensities, as to indicate most distorted natures; or, as was the case
with most, with a full intellectual shape, but with an expression of
astuteness, cunning, suppleness, very disagreeable to look upon. I
did not see one genuine, manly, intelligent face. Then, to observe
the slavish adoration of the crowd to them, to watch their own
mummeries, to become more and more convinced of the ignorance
and stupidity of the masses, whose education mostly depends on
them,-all this, step by step, has given me such an impression of
the curse which they are to the whole nation, that I have felt ready
to vow myself forever more, to the most Puritanic simplicity, rather
than to bring upon mankind again this accursed hierarchy.




CHAPTER XXXIX.
LIFE IN VIENNA.
I FIND the mode of life and manners among various classes here,
quite different from that in North Germany. Nobody seems to
live at home much. A friend invites you to meet him at a cafe or
restaurante, instead of his house. You find your acquaintances in
gardens, and promenades, and concerts, and wine-saloons, and seldom anywhere else. People come before you as more lively, gay,
passionate, than in the North, but with less intellectuality. The
subjects for conversation are more from music and dress, and incidents in every-day life. Books are not much read or spoken of;
and important or serious matters seem generally avoided. Yet are
the Viennese a very social, kind-hearted, cheerful people, with much
real force and deep feeling I am convinced, if they were in circumstances to awaken it.
The ladies dress much more richly, than in North Germany,
though in the morning you will often see a lady of rank riding round
to the shops in an old merino and a common velvet bonnet, which
would almost shame one of our belles. With the fashionable classes,
the day begins at noon. After a light breakfast, comes the drive in
the Prater, and amusement till the dinner hour, from 4 to 6. The
time for receiving calls is from dinner till 71 o'clock, the hour for
2




A REVOLUTIONIST.                      393
opera. After this, at 9- and 10 o'clock, the parties and balls begin,
and last often till 8 or 9 in the morning. Though rules for intercourse are very strict, all accounts represent the aristocracy of Vienna,
as the nit dissolute in Europe. Liaisons seem strangely public;
and married ladies drive out with their lovers. Prince Schwarzenberg is living openly now with the wife an officer, who is said to be
quite proud of the honor!
APRrL, 1851.
I went last evening to call on a mechanic, to whom a friend in
Hamburg had given me a letter. He is living in one of the suburbs,
in the third floor of a large house. He received me most heartily
as an American. A dark-browed, dark-haired man, who looks just
the one for a leader in a desperate enterprise. I met him cordially,
but let him lead the conversation. He did not wait long.
" I wish I was in America! I would go there, but there may
great events happen here, in a few years, and I want to be on hand.
Ach! you are happy there i Here they have conquered. Nothing
but tyranny and priestcraft for us!"
"You saw the Revolution, I suppose! "
"Ach, yes! I see you are to be trusted, from this letter, and I
will tell you. I fought through every street with these accursed soldiers! We did not yield an inch without blood. Come to the
window! You see that long line of blotches along those handsome
house-fronts there8"
"Yes."
"Those are from grape-shot. We lined those fine houses with
picked shooters, and the soldiers could not get on a step-and
6o the battery kept up a tremendous fire right through that broad
17*




394             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
street. They could not dislodge us, until they got some men around
in the gardens, in the rear of those houses. Mein Gott! what a
time was that! I had a company in that-you see it-that tall
stuccoed building. There was no escape in the rear-ant, in front,
the grape swept like a tempest. So I went up to the attic, and a
part of us kept up a continued fire, while the rest broke through the
wall into the next house-and so we went on from house to house,
sometimes climbing over the roof. I went last-and lost but one,,
poor fellow, who was picked off, just as we were scrambling over a
roof."
" Have you any hopes of trying it again," said I.
" Certainly. This war shall never end, till tyrants or people are
gone. I know how the working-men feel. Give them another
chance, and they will fight till the last man.  We cannot bear this
long!  Taxes, spying-every damned annoyance of tyranny. We
get little work-we have no kind of freedom —and then we are paying all the while for these immense armies. You have no idea of
the brutal oppression here. Every day women are publicly
scourged-you must have seen the Notizen on the walls-and if I
should go out with a white hat or a long beard, I would be in the
guard-house in an hour!"
So he went on, in tones earnest and passionate, telling of the
wrongs and sufferings of the laboring classes-the dark eye kindling
at the thought of fighting the good fight over again with the hireling soldiery. A determined, dangerous man for the Austrian authorities, when the next struggle comes.
To-day, I have delivered some letters to a genuine Vienna gentleman, living in the centre of the old city, where, strangely, are the




A  MERCHANT.                        395
most aristocratic houses. Very polite, profuse in his offers of service;
evidently could make nothing of me. A traveller, not interested in
theatres-not going to the Casino-ball-lives in lodgings and en
route for Hungary i An anomaly to the Viennese.  He accompanies me to the door and bows me out with the sweetest " Unter
thiinigster Diener i" (Most humble servant!) —and I receive a note
of invitation in the evening, directed to Herr von B.
I find a great deal of genuine activity in the government, in matters of education. The Ministry have kindly furnished me with
documents, and every convenience for studying the system.
COUNT THUN, himself, has been truly friendly. A condensed sketch
of these improvements has already been given to the public.* The
main points are the, introduction of the voluntary system in the
Universities; and the connecting the various popular schools by
gradations with one another. I am convinced that there is a spirit
of real reform abroad; and that the Professors and the Ministry of
Instruction are laboring to raise the standard of education. The
great drawback, which either originates with Count Thun's rigid Romanist views, or from the obstinacy of the priests, is that many of
the people's schools must still be left in the hands of the clergy.
The influence of the Catholic priesthood is one of the great causes
which check all progress in Austria.
I find the Protestants have a very precarious foothold here. They
*' Hungary in 1851," p. 3. A full description of the improvements in the
Austrian School System, put forth by the Austrian Government, has been
deposited by the author in the Yale College Library, New Haven, Ct., for
public examination.




396             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
are barely permitted to exist, and are in constant fear of having
their meetings broken up, as those of the Freien Gemeinden or
"' German Catholics" have been. I attended the Protestant service
last Sunday, in a room like one of our large " conference rooms."
A very simple, fervent exercise, and much more satisfactory than
those which I have listened to, generally, in North-Germany.
APRIL.
My friend, a scientific gentleman and known as a man
of liberal sentiments, asked me to dine with him to-day, and meet a
small number of his friends. The hour was to be four o'clock. I
rung at the time —the door was opened by a smart-looking manservant in livery, who conducted me to the drawing-room, where
Mr.        met me with the usual oft-repeated "most humble servant," and warm shakes of the hand —and then led me to die gnddige Frau" (" the gracious lady"), as they call the mistress of the
house. There were several rooms opening into one another, very
handsomely furnished-much more richly than the houses in North
Germany. The floor was oak in mosaic and waxed. No books on
the tables, but many Chinese articles, and vases and mirrors. The
walls delicately painted in frescoe and arabesque-a so much more
beautiful style than our papering. This room was filled with little ottomans and sofas, like our own parlors. The ladies were in full dress,
and looking very pretty, though in general the cast of face was a little
different from the common German type-more harsh and passionate-half-brunette. The manners of all were very cordial and easy.
"tHimmlisch! Heavenly! heavenly!" I heard soon from a
group in one corner, and on going there, found them  looking at
some beautiful little specimens of Bohemian glass-ware.




COST OF LIVING.                      397
"Have you anything half so pretty in America, Herr B.  " said
one to me; " look at this Ampel!"
It was a beautiful little hanging glass vase for dower-vines, the
prettiest ornament in the German houses, swinging amid the curtains
of the window, or on the balcony. I expressed my admiration for
it, and the conversation then turned on the ornaments in American
and German houses. "Ach! you will not see," said one, "such
pretty furniture in our houses now as once-it costs so much to
live. The funds are so low, you know, and all that."
One of them asked me soon about the expenses of living in
America, especially in the large cities, and whether ladies went to the
theatre in their own carriage, &c. I told them as nearly as I could,
and then asked about the style and cost in different ranks in Vienna.
They talked the matter over, making different statements, and
finally one said: "It is very hard, Herr B., to say exactly. There
are ourt great nobles, who are as rich  as princes-rbut you
mean the middle classes, eh?  Well first, for the Professors and
such people.  Prof. H.,-you  know  him-gets about 3000
Gulden ($1500) a-year; some only 2000. The merchants and
professional men live on —some of them-2000, ($1000,) up to
20,000 ($10,000.)  I should think a good average income for the
merchants, would be 4000 Gulden-though that would hardly keep
a carriage. People are rather extravagant here in Wien. I have
been in Berlin and Dresden, and I know it costs twice as much here.
One must go to the opera, you know, and for my part, I fall sick, if
I do not have a drive in the Prater. In Berlin, I could stay in the
house more, over books, though it was very langweilig, (stupid,) was
it not, liebe Tante? " This was addressed, very affectionately, to a
spirituelle, dignified elderly lady, who had just joined us.
"No, liebes Kind. dear child, I did not find it so!"




398            SO CIAL  LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
" Why, aunt! you do not mean to say you like cold North Germany best?-better than la belle Vienne?"
" I do. I always have, in many respects. We are not so much
cultivated here. Our society is not so thoughtful. It is true, it is
very pleasant here in the cheerful, sunny south-but I do not find
it so satisfying —and to you here I feel free to confess, it pains me,
pains me every day, to see the condition of the people! "
" Ach, Tante-nichts politisch! no politics!" said the young-lady.
"I was not thinking of that, but are we not much the warmest
hearted here, and most poetic? They are so cold and prosy in the
North."
"I do not know that," replied the other. "You are more expressive here, but their feelings stand trial much better-are more lasting. Still I would never forget that many of our most beautiful
souls in Germany-poets and writers, are from the South."
After farther talk of this kind, I took the liberty of asking the
lady, who had defended the North, whether she was not originally
fiom Hanover? She answered that she was, and inquired with some
surprise, how I knew it. I told her it was from the purity of her
accent, the Hanoverian tone and pronunciation being generally
quite distinct and peculiar."
" Ach! you are noticing our accent. It is shrecklich! horrible!"
said one of the young ladies. "Have you observed the Viennese
never says Ich but Ik, and nicht is always nit, and kann is kawnn
[ am forever running into it before I think."
"It is not so much matter," said another, " for almost as many
peak French and English now, as our own language. Your English is spoken everywhere."
In the other drawing-room, I found several gentlemen gathered,
whom I was very anxious to know better. One a University pro



AN  EXPLOIT.                      399
fessor, a keen, clear-headed man from one of the Northern universities, who, though a loyal servant of the Emperor, is doing good
service also for the people-in attempting to improve the means of
education. Another, a civilian who usually passed under the title of
Doctor, I was very desirous to see.
When in Prussia, I had been much with his intimate friends, and
they had confided to me his most adventurous history. He had
reached Vienna accidentally the very day the Revolution of'48
broke out, and without a word from any one, disguised.in a Tyrolese
costume, he had gone out with his trusty rifle, and had fought the
streets step by step, against the soldiers. I knew his friend, who
was at his side through much of it. He said that the Doctor never
seemed to fire, without a white coat coming down. His aim was
as cool, as if shooting ducks. The students finally began to notice
that the Tyrol hat -was always at the head, wherever there was dangel, and they at last sent an officer to him, requesting his name for
the " Student Committee," that they might suitably promote him.
He declined giving it-preferring to fight by himself. There came
an emergency at length, in the siege of Vienna by Windisgratz,
when, if a message could be carried beyond the besieging lines, the
city might be saved. Kossuth with a brave army, flushed with victory, lay within thirty or forty miles distance. If the condition of
Vienna could be intelligently stated to him, it was thought he would
not hesitate to deliver the city and terminate the war. But the
difficulty was, to find the man. The Committee of Students metoffered rewards, made patriotic appeals-but no one would present
himself to the almost certain danger, of either being shot by the
sentinels or hung as a spy. Dr. -, the moment he heard of the
case, offered himself to some of the leaders, refusing still to give
his name-and only demanded one companion, and two of the best




400             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
horses of Vienna. A comrade was easily found, if he would lead,
and two blood-horses from the Emperor's stables were brought out
The Doctor presented himself, dressed in the height of the sporting
fashion-red coat, white breeches, handsome top-boots, nice gloves
and the et cetera, while the other followed as groom. They rode
leisurely out from the gates of Vienna, and at some distance came
upon the first sentinel. He demanded the " word!" and the Doctor
muttered something and rode quietly on. The soldier supposing
it was some country gentleman, did not fire. The two now turned
by cross roads, which they knew and penetrated some distance, before the challenge startled them again. This time, bowing their
heads to their horses' necks, they struck in their spurs and sprang
on. There was a quick shot-without effect-and then a hot pursuit. Their horses, however, soon distanced the hussars. After
this, they were not molested, the sentinels supposing them a gentleman and servant living within the lines. When nearly through,
they were suddenly surprised by the sight of a knot of officers in
front of an inn which they must pass. Fearing, that if they rode
by, the Austrians might suspect something, the gentleman with a
most characteristic coolness rode up to the door, dismounted, and
called for wine, and was soon in a very social talk with the Austrian officers, even inviting them to call at his country-seat, near by.
They parted amicably, and in a few hours the two were far beyond
the Austrian lines. On reaching the Hungarian camps, they were
conducted to Kossuth, and stated their mission. He himself, was
in favor of marching directly on Vienna-how much might have
been saved, had he done so! —but his officers and companions
opposed it, as being a step beyond the design of the Hungarian
movement-as committing them irretrievably to a war with all the
arbitrary powers. The ambassador plead much, and eloquentlv



THE " RUN."                      401
out to no purpose, and he and his companion returned on their
hazardous enterprise. The escapes on the way back, were as wonderful as before. At the last line of sentinels, their muttered reply
was not enough. The sentinel fired, wounding the groom's horse,
and in a moment the patrolling hussars were in rapid pursuit. It was
a terrible run. I have often heard the Doctor relate it. He himself
could easily have escaped, but, of course, he would not abandon his
comrade. They were often within pistol-shot of the hussars, and
once he had raised his pistol on the foremost, but without firing.
He is a dead shot, and had resolved to sell his life dearly. There
was no need. Just at nightfall, they came within range of the gates.
A joyful shout from the walls-quickly rattling shots among their
pursuers-and their jaded and bloody horses were just able to bear
them safely in.
Besides this adventure, I had known of the Doctor's going down
into Croatia, in the beginning of the war, and fighting on his own
account on the side of the Hungarians-always at the most dangerous outposts, never accepting a commission or honor-as cool in
the battle as in the drawing-room, and an unerring shot.
I had pictured to myself beforehand a real lover of the battle —a
brawny, blustering, swearing blade, who would be most disagreeable
anywhere, except at your side in a tough fight. I found, however,
a very quiet, modest, polite gentleman, attentive to the ladies, with
no especial marks of courage, except only a certain steady directness
of eye in looking at you, which I have always observed in men much
accustomed to shoot, and who have been tried much in scenes of
danger. I saw him frequently afterwards. He never would speak
of his adventures, except under great solicitation; and only occasionly
alluded, in a quiet way, among his intimates to his " little ride in'48."
A true man for these stormy times; and to be heard from again, I hope.




402             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
Luckily for him, my acquaintance with him was never suspected
by the Austrian police. It was strange how well in this very company, my instincts were afterwards confirmed. There was a big
blustering man, who thumped the table and often protested loud
friendship for me, and cursed the government violently when I met
him at his house, whom I always suspected to be a sneak; and there
were others on whom unconsciously I had a most unwavering reliance. Afterwards in my imminent peril, this quiet Doctor and some
others as unexpressive friends risked their lives for me, while the others
either utterly disowned me to the police, or acted like children. There
was a very interesting English gentleman present, who had almost
forgotten his English, who stood by me, also, in a noble manner
afterwards-as I should have known he would, and who was obliged
to leave the capital, after his long residence there, in consequence
of his interference.
Our dinner-table was set out very handsomely, with more of
beautiful glass-ware than I had been accustomed to see-and with
a greater variety of wine-indicating the neighborhood of wine
countries.
" Have you seen everything in our beautiful Wien; and do you
not like it all? " said the lady next me.
"' All except the trottoirs," I replied, " they are execrable; it is
really risking one's life to go sight-seeing on foot in Vienna! "
"But you must not leave anything," said she. "There is the
People's Theatre, close by you in the Leopoldstadt. You get the
best broad Viennese wit there. Then have you seen the dancehalls? travellers always go there; and we ladies, too, sometimes for
curiosity. They dance till four o'clock in the morning. And you
must taste all the Vienna ices, better even than the Paris; and our
puddings, perhaps we can show you some to-day."




PICTURES.                       403
"And you should not forget, Herr B., our works of art," said the
elderly lady, of whom I have before spoken. I inquired more particularly of them.
"You know the public galleries of course from your guide-books.
The collection of Rubens in Prince Lichtenstein's, one of the best in
Europe; and the Spanish school at Esterhazy's. The engravings
you must not forget-perhaps the finest collection in the worldthey are in the royal Palace. But you must see beside some of our
private ateliers, to judge of modern Austrian art. There is Professor
Rahl's studio. I think you told me you knew him."
I told her, I had been introduced to him, and had seen a large
wcrk he was preparing for a gentleman in Boston. "A rich
colorist," I said, "but he seemed to me somewhat meretricious."
"Ah, you speak of that Venus nude!  Yes; you are right. In
fact, our school is not as simple as the Northern, though superior in
my opinion to that finical Diisseldolf."
"But, Herr B.," said the young lady, " you should have seen the
great picture of the year, here last winter. Ach! Himmel! De la
Roche's'Napoleon on the Alps!' All Vienna was en fureur
for it!"
I had seen it, I said, in the gentleman's gallery who had owned
it, in Leipsic.
I inquired, whether any of Calam's landscapes could be found in
Vienna. I had never seen but two, but they seemed to me the
finest; and, indeed, the only satisfactory landscapes I had ever met,
except Turner's.
" So! Calam!  I think there, is one here. I will inquire. I
see you English always speak much of Turner. We do not know
him at all in Germany. The truth is, we cannot often afford to buy
paintings from England."




404             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
"But especially," said the elder lady, or Madame Von Z —, as
I found she was called, "you must see Canova's funeral group in
the Church of the Augustines."
I told her I had seen it; and that I scarcely ever saw statuary
which affected me more at the first impression. The white marble
forms against the dark opening of the tomb which they were entering, every line so sad and drooping; nothing affected; no attempt
to show features which should be concealed; the bowed matron
with the urn, the tottering old man, the sorrowful maiden, the bitterly-weeping child, the crouched lion at the portal. It made an
impression of sorrow so much on me, that I could not refrain from
tears, without having really known the design intended. But the
effect was exceedingly injured, when I turned to my guide-book, and
found it was an "allegorical group."
"Yes; that is true. I felt it at first in the same way.  I never
enjoy allegorical designs."
"Ich bitte Sie, Herr B.!-pardon!" interrupted our host, "you
are not doing justice to the wine. There is the Hungarian champagne by you, or the Adelsberger-an excellent wine, I can recommend it. Here, Karl! fill up a glass of Menesch-the extract, sir!
I imported it from Hungary myself! Zu Ihrer Gesundtheityour health! " I bowed and sipped of the little thimble-glass, filled
with a dark, sweet, cordial-like wine
"Herr L. says ycu are going into Hungary.  Is it so?" said one
of the ladies to me.
"Yes."
" Why do you? What can you find there? There is no good
theatre now in Pesth, since the Revolution, and the roads are terrlble.  Ungarn always seems so far off. I would rather take a trip




DINNER TALK.                       405
to England, for the trouble of it. Then I should not like to see that
poor people now, die armen! "
"But do you not like the Hungarians, here?" said I.
" Oh yes, we all like them. They are great favorites in Viennathat is the men-we think the women. a little ungebildet, (uncultivated,) you know. But the gentlemen are real cavaliers-very
manly-looking! They have not at all your odious English custom
of shaving the face. They think it girlish. Do you see what an
influence we have had on Meester N.?" and she pointed to the full
beard and moustache of the English gentleman.
All other conversation was now absorbed in a discussion, going on
in the middle of the table, around our host. He was denouncing
the financial measures of the Government, as utterly ill-judged and
insufficient. This issuing of paper, he said, was only putting off the
evil day. There must be thorough measures, or Austria would be
bankrupt.  Retrenchment! economy! that was the only thing.
"But look at this taxation!" said the Professor; "this will soon
go far towards meeting the difficulty."';Ich bitte Sie Verzeihung-I beg your'pardon! It will do
nothing. It embitters the people-that is all. We must retrench
these expenses in armies and uniforms, and police. There is enough
spent there to pay half the interest."
"Ach!'" said the other, shrugging  his shoulders, "that is
quite another question. You know soldiers cannot be given up
here."
"Leider! Alas I no! —but fewer of them! Then a better management of the public property. I agree so far with the Lloyd, in
an entirely different systemn  being needed by our Ministry. And
this attempting to force commerce-it's absurd!
" There would be no difficulty," said another gentleman, " for the




406            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
Austrian Government, if there was any public confidence in.t. These
foreign gentlemen here, know, that the debt of England is incomparably greater than Austria's, even in comparison with her resources. Look at our State property-it is immense. The mines of
salt and iron and lead-our public forests-the monopolies of our
Government-the State domains-there is security enough for the
heaviest funded debt. Give us quiet and peace here a few years,
and we shall have credit. That is all we want."
" You will find this the subject of subjects in Vienna," whispered
one of the ladies to me, "especially to us who want to go to your
Great Exhibition so much. A  pound is worth now-how much,
Herr S.? You know!"
" About 13-4;" and to me, " usually, 9 florins and 54 kreutzers."
"I fear I shall never get to the Exhibition," said she, with a
sigh; "but they are going to the drawing-room again!"
Coffee was brought up-always in Vienna with iced water-and
I had a long conversation, in English, with the Doctor and the
Englishman. They were both confident the present state of things
would-not hold long in Austria. Discontent, they said, was working through every class, except the nobility. Tyranny had now
reached a very tender part with the Viennese-the pocket. " They
would have succeeded in'48," said the Doctor, "but there were no
competent leaders. They fought well."
"A bad lot, all of them," said the Englishman; "though the
students did show some pluck."
" No men ever fought braver," said the Doctor;.' but it's time for
the band in the Volksgarten-let's be off for a walk. Die gnadige
Frau will give us a light for our cigars."
"Adieu I"




ETIQUETTE.
"Unterthanigster Diener!!"
"Adieu!"
APRILn, 1861.
I am much amused at the Viennese strictness in matrimonial matters. A friend of mine, Mrs. -—, an American lady residing
in Vienna, was lately visited by a young German friend of hers.
"Have you heard, Mrs.," said the young lady, "of the
great indiscretion which your American friend, Mr. S., has been
guilty of in our family?"
No; she had not.
"Well, I was in our boudoir, yesterday morning, and I heard my
sister in conversation in the front drawing-room with Mr. S.; at
length her tones grew so loud that I feared something was the
matter, and on going to the door, I could see through the rooms,
that my sister was walking up and down in her riding-dress, in a
terrible excitement, brandishing her little whip most violently. I
rushed into the room, and found Mr. S. standing on one side, pale
and in deep emotion, and my sister with a letter crushed in her
hand.'Mein Gott!  That I should be insulted so in my own
house, and by one who has been treated so kindly!' she was saying.
I asked what it was, and found that Mr. S. had had the presumption to write a letter to my sister, offering his hand, and had handed
the letter to her! It was enclosed to my mother, indeed, but he
had sent the letter to her! We had never expected such an insult
from Mr. S., and certainly we had given him no pretext for it! "
Mrs. -      could not get the point of the offence, at first, but
when she did, she burst into a laugh, and told her indignant friend,
that that was the custom in America; and, indeed, that a gentleman




IDS             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
seldom even informed the mother at all, until the matter was settled.
Mr., too, who was present, told her that " American parents
felt abundantly satisfied, if they were even invited to the wedding!"
The lady was much mollified by this, and would inform her sister,
who would be glad to know that Mr. S. had not intended to offend
her.
A WEDDING.
A friend gives me the following account of a wedding lately in
Vienna high life, of the daughter of Count, a favorite of the
Emperor. "It was in the morning at the house of the pope's Nuncio, who performed the ceremony. We found the rooms filled with
princesses of all high names, Metternichs, Esterhazys, Lichtensteins,
&c., in full dresses and diamonds, all in bonnets, except the troops
of bridesmaids. The groom was an elegant young Hungarian nobleman, in his national costume. It was of a rich blue silk, closebreasted, tight-fitting short coat, slashed with gold cords across the
breast; tight blue silk breeches, joining at the knee the high, snug,
polished, and spurred boots. From his shoulders, fell back the short
national cloak of heavy blue watered silk, lined with white. It is
only the form of the dress that is characteristic, the color is at the
choice of the wearer; and the bright Mazarine blue with white lining and gold trimmings, was very becoming to the dark, brilliant, oriental beauty of the young count. Other Hungarians were there,
with deep-colored velvets, trimmed with fur. The dress of the ladies
is not peculiar, except of those who are of Hungarian blood; theirs
is of deep black; but they are not often found at Court, unless to
beg the life or liberty of some of the thousands still lying in Hungarian prisons.




A  WEDDING.                       409
"The groom was in the room all the time. Presently came in the
bride, with her mother and one or two lady-friends. She went up
to her father, kissed him, then kissed her step-mother, and then the
father and mother of her husband, and afterwards passed about the
room, kissing her intimate friends. They always kiss both cheeks;
first on one side and then on the other. The bride was very pretty,
and dressed like all other brides.
"After she came, the whole party crowded into the little private
chapel of the Nuncio. The service was in French, and very much
like that of the Episcopal Church, except that there were more ceremonies. It was finished by administering the communion to the
bridal pair."
18




CHAPTER XLI.
AN EXCURSION-AN ARISTOCRATIC PARTY.
As I awoke up this mornincg, the first object which caught my
eye was a flowing beard, a placid countenance, turbaned head, and
long smoki'bg pipe, in the window opposite.
I could see nothing else, where I lay, and for some time, in my
hbllf-dreamy state, I puzzled myself with wondering how I had at
length reached Turkey, the country I had so longed to see, and how
intended leaving it, and what strange land was next before me,
when a rap with " Ist der Herr schon auf?  (Is the gentleman
up?) roused me to realities, and I remembered I was in Vienna,
where Turks are plentiful enough.
The summons proved to be fiom a servant of my friend, the
"Doctor," with an invitation to a country excursion to-day. I accepted it, and in a short time was breakfasting with him at Dagim's
(a celebrated coffee-house,) the breakfast consisting of two small
kipfel, or bread-cakes to each, the whitest and best bread in Europe,
crumbled into a tumbler of rich coffee.
We were intending to go to the valley of Briel-and accordingly
walked towards the city gates to the rail-road station without the




PLAN  OF VIENNA.                     411
walls. VIENNA has been very well compared in its plan, to a spider's web. The den-the centre of all-the object by which the
stranger everywhere guides himself through the mazes of the city,
and the last which he sees at a distance in leaving it, is the Cathedral of St. Stephen, with its lofty and graceful spire. From this
radiate all the streets of the " old city," until they are cut off by
the ancient walls, turned now into agreeable promenades. This,
though it embraces the most mouldy, interesting, and aristocratic
part of the city, is only a small portion of Vienna. Beyond it, radiate out again the streets of the "Suburbs," mostly fine broad
avenues, lined with handsome stuccoed houses, and only changing
near the outskirts into the narrow dirty lanes of ordinary European
cities. There are innumerable public gardens and parks all around
and within the city, and the broad promenades of the Bastions encircling it, so that the whole has a very attractive appearance. But
the glory and beauty of Vienna, in which it is equalled by no city
of Europe, is in its surroundings-its environs.
Those jagged hills on one side, with their green quiet valleys, and
monasteries, and castles perched along the summits, the rich plains
at their base, the broad silvery stream of the Danube on the other,
and the blue massive summits of the Styrian Alps in the distance,
with the cheerful gardens, the walks, the towers of the city in the
centre-such a scene of picturesque beauty is not in my memory.
My friend and I walked hurriedly, as every one does in Vienna,
dodging the rapid vehicles, for which the pedestrian must keep the
most constant look-out, as the streets are very narrow and have no
sidewalks, until we came to the gate. This is a heavy arch under
the Bastions, guarded by sentinels, with cannon above raking the
street, a token of the martial law which still rules the city. As we
came out on the broad glacis beyond, we stopped a moment with




412             SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY
the crowd to look at a handsome light carriage, sweeping on rapidly
towards us. Hats in the air i yes; it is-the Emperor  No outriders, or carriages, or attendants, and he himself driving four in
hand, like a Jehu! Not bad!-and I feel inclined for the first time
to touch my hat to the young Nero-but do not.
"Do you see that large brick building," said the Doctor, in English, after we had walked some ways, " with a clean sweep all around
it-nothing which can command it any where? That is the new
Arsenal, built so that we cannot get arms as easily for another fight.
Ah! such a beautiful little rifle, as I found that night in the old
one! They say all the muskets of the Hungarian nation are in
this. It would be devilish hard to storm!"
I took on myself the buying the tickets-as the Doctor was busy
with some ladies-and bought first-class tickets for M_5dling, where
we were going. The Doctor laughed, and said he always took the
second or third class. There were a frank, jovial set of gentlemen in this — some Hungarians, and Austrian country landlords.
They passed cigars to us, and after a little while, one of them in a
very good-natured, fiee and easy way, begged to know what country I was from?  "He saw from  my dress I was foreign."  I told
him to guess. He said from my accent, he should judge me to be
from  North Germany-Holstein, perhaps?  "No."  "Well, Denmark?"  "No."  Sweden, and then Russia, and finally back again
to Meklenburg and Bavaria, and at last to England. Baffled in all
this, he gave it up. "Where the d —1 are you from, then a?'
I answered vaguely, and did not gratify his curiosity till at the
close of the ride,
"Ach Himmel! America! Who would have thought of that?"
Did any English traveller ever meet anything more completely
Yankee, in a backwood American village?




A WALK.                         413
M6dling is about nine miles from the city, full of beer-houses and
restaurantes for the Viennese, who crowd the village on Sundays.
We struck across into the range of hills, and after some hard climbing, were on the summit, with the wide view of the valley of the
Danube beneath us. We lay a long time on the grass, enjoying
the beautiful scene; my friend showed me the course of his "ride"
in'48; and pointed out the various objects of old historical interest.
There the green trees and occasional church-spires of Aspern, the
scene of Napoleon's great battle; there~again the heights of Wagram; here, below, the palace of Sch6nbrunn, with mathematically
laid gardens, where "Napoleon II" died; and near us, along the
hills, the picturesque ruins of feudal castles, yet showing the
ravages of the Turks. We stopped in our ramble at various country-seats, with whose owners my friend was acquainted. These were
not generally as tasteful as the other surroundings of Vienna might
lead one to expect; there was something bare, unsheltered, incommodious about them. The people have the usual lively, cheerful,
urbane appearance of the Viennese. The valley of the Briel is the
property of Prince Lichtenstein, and contains one of his modern
castles, with some interesting ruined castles, and some artificial
ruins. A quiet, sheltered, peaceful green valley, with pretty perspectives, and excellent inns for pleasure parties. Our appetites
were well sharpened, when we reached one of the best of thesethe Weisse Kreutz, I believe. We found a pleasant little table under a vine-covered arbor in the garden, and ordered a good quantity
of the famous Vienna dishes. The Doctor laughed when I asked
the waiter for a place to wash.
"I have not heard that since I was in England!" said he. "Das
thut man nie hier!"  (We never do that here!)
" Good!" said he, as the first course came on; " Brod suppe mit




414             SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
Ey! (Bread soup and eggs!) that is right!"  1" Now Kellner! the
gebackenes Huhn quick, and Fogasch-and your best Mehl-speise
(pudding)-the gute Frau knows what I like!  Tell her not to
make the black coffee very strong'
The Huhn is chicken fried in lard; Fogasch is a perch, much
prized here.
The waiter brought in each dish, hot, as a separate course; and
at length, when we had finished them, handed us our coffee, with
"A good digestion! meine Herrn!"-a German salutation, especially appropriate after some of their meals.
In one corner of the garden, there were a number of workmen,
rolling nine-pins, and we crossed over to look at them. The alleys
were mere hard-beaten earthen tracks. The pins and balls were
only about half the size of those in ordinary use with us. They
played for money, and were drinking beer from large mugs, continually. A more degraded, lifeless, heavy-faced set of laboring men
I scarcely ever saw, even in the worst agricultural shires of England.
"Now do you hope, Doctor, ever to raise up such creatures as
these, into men for a free government? " said I.
" We shall come to it gradually," he answered. " Educate them!
that is the first thing. But you must remember, these are not the
men who want a Revolution. All they care for is their beer and
time for a Kegelspiel like this, occasionally.  The most discontented
class now in Austria is the middle class-there is where the outbreak will begin. The mechanics and shopkeepers, and higher, the
studying men-they understand Liberty, and they are galled by
these restrictions."
"The merchants and nobles, then, will stand by the govern.
ment?"
" Yes —es versteht sich-of course! They can only lose by an




NINE-PINS.                         415
overturning-tbough we may become so completely bankrupt, that
even the merchants would be glad of ally change.  But see that fellow drink! —he has taken three quart mugs while we have been
standing( here!"
I told him it sickened me to see such a set of men as these.  It
was discouragring.  " When I amn with the better classes," said I, " I
can see that they are superior in many things, to ours, and where
they are not, they can improve themselves.  But these brutes, will
they ever be men?  It is such a contrast to our laborers."
" Yes, it must be," he replied. "These fellows have no hope.
Their place in life seems to them just as fixed as one of the laws of
nature.  It never enters their heads that they or their children can
be any better. Ach Gott! is the Old World wearing out?-But it
is time to be getting down the hill. Kellner! bring the bill!"
A pleasant walk down the hill brought us to M6dling, and we
were in Vienna again, at a seasonable hour.
I was invited in the evening to the house of a gentleman, who
had been quite polite to me, though he himself belonged to the
ultra aristocratic party in Austria, and even to the extreme Jesuit
side. I always expected to meet at his house, the most thorough
conservatives of Austrian conservative society.
A servant in livery admitted me, and another conducted me to
the drawing-room and announced my name.
It is singular, in the best houses of Vienna, you never find an
ante-room. Even if a lady is going to a ball, there is no private
roo001  o glass.  The servant nerely assists the visitor in the hall.
There were only a few present here, this evening, sitting  around
easily, in different parts of the room, chatting with one another —




418            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
the lady on a lounge in one corner, before a small table, making
tea, with two or three gentlemen talking in a lively way in French
with her. The language used by the company seemed to be French,
generally, though I heard English words.
I fell in at once with a stout elderly gentleman, who spoke English, and who, I believe, was a merchant or banker. We spoke of
the universal subject, Austrian finances and debt. "Very much
exaggerated, sir," said he, " very much. We have public property
enough to meet double the amount. There will be no difficulty.
A loan must be taken up, and heavier taxes laid. This proletairiat
have cost us something, and they should pay the debt."
"But do you not fear to make the people discontented " I
asked.
"No. All the order-loving citizens will stand by the law. They
see it is a question of life and death for us. We are under the necessity of sustaining a heavy taxation, in order to preserve the
credit of our State."
I told him most of the impressions abroad about the Austrian
moneyed difficulties were derived from the correspondent of The
Times.
"I know it," said he. "I know the man well, Mr. -; he
has been here a long while, and he did us good service in'48; and
he was even favorably noticed at court. The Times was on very
good relations with us then. One of the proprietors came on and
held a long interview with Prince Schwarzenberg, and got a very
good understanding of that Hungarian matter. Since then, this
Mr. —, has taken offence at something, and gives very incorrect
advices on our financial condition."
"You do not credit these stories," I inquired, "about The
Times being paid by the Austrian Government i"




A PROTECTIONIST.                    417
"Oh! earlier information may have sometimes been furnished
it, nothing more.  Our Imperial Government has not condescended yet-God be thanked! —to hire such tools!"
He went on to speak with a bitterness, singular in a staid, old
commercial man, about England, and the attempts of the English
to interfere in continental matters.
"The truth is," said he, " the English give us more trouble in Europe than any other people. If it was not for their own pockets, they
would have had all the Continent in a blaze long ago. You Americans seem to mind your own affairs. But the English! Do you
know that Lord Palmerston has done more to disturb the order of
Europe, than any Revolutionist!"
I made some inquiry in regard to their future policy on the Tariff
question.
"A difficult matter, sir. I have been in England, and I have studied
their commercial policy; yours, I know, is very different. I must
say, I like it better. We want here to push up Austrian manufactures. We do not like to be overflooded with English goods and
English iron, when we can make them ourselves. There are immense resources in the empire, which have never been developed. I
wish these English could be driven out of every market in the civilized world. Our tendency is to high tariffs now, but it may not
last."
"Always on the money question, Herr Von T —," said our
host, coming up; "excuse i let me present you, Herr B., to a lady,
who much likes the Americans!"
A very pleasant, intelligent lady I found, and I had a long talk
with -her on America, and our cities and ladies, &c. I soon discovered that she was more liberal in opinion, than I had expected
to find any one in the room. In speaking of Vienna, I told her




418            SOCIAL LIFE IN GERMANY.
how much impressed I had been by the Roman Catholic services
in the Cathedral-how solemn they were.
" So! You were there! Yes, they were good; but, I must confess, they tire me. The best part is the lighting up the dark
churches at the moment of the Resurrection. Did you see that. "
I asked her soon whether the priests came much into general
society. "Ach! no. Only the Jesuits. You see there is one, that
smooth, nice-looking Abbe in the corner. He is talking French
with Madame —. How bland! I never like to meet him. They
say he is a secret agent of Government."
"Our friends here," said she again, " are of the ultra-montane
(Jesuit) party, which many of us Catholics you know dislike almost
as much as you Protestants."
I inquired in the conversation, what the feeling was towards the
Emperor among the higher classes.
" We do not know what he may be when older," said she. "But
I cannot understand, how so young a man could refuse so long any
act of mercy towards those poor misguided Hungarians. We have
hopes though. Persons in the court say, he is much controlled by
others; and that his great ambition is to be a General. I do not
know, however. But Madame ---  is serving tea; let us draw
nearer the table."
A haughty, brilliant-looking lady was speaking with much animation, as we came into the circle, sometimes in English and sometimes in German-each language so perfectly, that I could not tell
which was native to her. She was talking of the Hungarian Revolution; after a little while she turned to me.
"We think it strange, sir, that there is so little informain in
foreign countries about this infamous rebellion! The English literally know nothing about it. Your countrymen seem much more




AN  ARISTOCRAT.                     419
enlightened, but you will pardon me, if I say, that they are not
always unprejudiced."
I answered, that it was unfortunate the Austrian paity had not
issued more documents on the subject. All the brochures and histories appeared to take the opposing view.
"Yes," she replied. "It was an error. We were so confident
of our cause, that we had not thought it necessary. And Gott sei
Dank! the Austrian Empire, does not yet depend on success in
pamphlet warfare!"
"But," said a gentleman, "we have documents; and if the monieur is interested in the matter, I shall be pleased to furnish them
to him."
I inquired what he had.  He mentioned two histories of the war
by Austrian savants, and some pamphlets.  "And beside," he
added, "what I had forgotten-the articles of your countryman,
Monsieur BOWEN, if you have not read them, in the Nord Americanischer Revue! "
I thanked him, and promised to call for them.
" Your countrymen are strangely mistaken in KossAth," said the
lady again. "I was in Hungary in the war, with my husband,
General -—, and I know him. He is a low-born radical!"
The rest joined in with expressions, uttered with a fervor which
amused me.  "Red-republican!" "vulgar agitator! " a mere
demagogue-strange that foreign nations should take such an interest in him!"
"Nothing would please me so much," said the lady of the General again, in excited tones, " as to see Kossuth's head!"
I looked up in surprise at such a wish; and inquired more particularly for his errors or vices, but did not gather them, except
that he was a kind of a Robespierre, who desired nothing better




20ao            SOCIAL LIFE IN  GERMANY.
than anarchy or revolution; and who used a certain windy popular
eloquence to effect his objects with the crowd. With regard to
Mr. BOWEN, I was asked,
"Is it true that he has been obliged to resign a professorship in
one of your universities, on account of his views upon the lIungarian question? "
I answered, that I had heard the report through the papers; or,
at least, that he was rejected as a candidate.
"Pray! why is not that tyranny?" said the gentleman, " as
much as anything complained of here? "
I did not know the facts, I replied. I suppose the university authorities did not object to Mr. Bowen's holding what
opinions he chose, but they thought those opinions indicated a tone
of mind, which would unfit him to teach American youth.
" But we thought, my dear sir, you boasted for your land that it
was the very place for free expression of opinion. If it is, why should
monarchical views on historical subjects injure the young men
Why would it not do them good to hear the other side? "
I admitted, if the facts were as they stated them, I should not
consider Mr. Bowen's rejection, justifiable.
"You must confess, Mr. B.," said our host, "there is a power in
your country, quite as tyrannical and troublesome as the European
police-system. I mean public opinion. People say, you dare
not move a step against it."
I admitted its power; " but the free and independent could face
it. and have faced it. Besides, it comes from ourselves."
"Pardon! my dear sir, I was in England at the time of some of
your slavery riots. I know how men are treated, who oppose it.
For my part, I would rather be under one tyrant than twenty mil



VIEWS  OF AMERICA.                     421
lien; though Gott bewahr! (God forbid!) that I should imply, we
were under a tyrant! "
I answered that this tyranny was not as great as they supposed.
Our most popular journals are the most independent.
"We see many of your papers here," said the banker, " and you
will pardon us, if we say that their tone seems most faulty-I
should certainly hope our Austrian press would never wish such
freedom."
"' You must admit, Mr. B." said our host, " that there is a personality, and low abuse of a private man's character in your newspaper
writing, which is not worthy of your country. It looks like the
worst kind of subjection —the subjection to a vicious public opinion.
Excuse our frankness, but so it seems to us i"
" Then the rioting and the bloody crimes, we hear of!" said the
lady who had before spoken. " We admit your country is powerful, and is going on to a wonderful influence, —but these things I
Are they not horrible!"
I admitted something of the truth of what they said, and as
calmly as possible, stated at length, the causes. That our State was
yet only some seventy-five years old-and, of course, there would
be much which was wild and uncultivated, and even ungoverned in
parts of it. But these stories, which I saw in the German press,
were much exaggerated. Crime, and lawlessness, and rioting, in all
the old States of our Union, were as rare, as in the best governed
countries of Europe. I appealed to the value of private and public property with us, as an evidence. I spoke of the most striking
fact, that with the exception of Russia, ours was the only civilized
government, which was undisturbed in the convulsions of 1848.
This personality of the press was an evil-perhaps a necessary
evil-yet it was much worse in appearance, than reality. Nobody




422             SOCIAL LIFE  IN  GERMANY.
cared much for it. I described too, the general intelligence and
happy condition of all classes. " Possibly we may fail, yet," said I;
"there are many dangers before us. Still our success thus far has
been beyond all expectation, and these evils are slight to the blessings."
They were softened by my admissions, and allowed in return,
gloomily enough, the old, long-fastened defects and evils of their
own society. "Yes, yes. Die Zukunft ist fir Sie!  The Future is
with you!"
In taking leave, the lady who " wanted Kossuth's head," asked
me very politely to call upon her husband, Gen.  ~, and the conservative banker recommended himself arm freundlichsten, most
cordially, and my host could not repeat enough " Unterthdnigster
Diener'" I returned to my lodgings to make preparations for my
approaching departure for Hungary.
" THE FUTURE IS WITfH You!"-how often have I heard it in
Germany! What a sad story does it tell for the poor old World!
It speaks of a Past, sown with injustices and wrongs, and contempt
of human rights, and disdain of the hopes and the sufferings of multitudes of men, ripening fast into a Present of degradation, anarchy,
and fierce, defying passions.
It tells the same old sad story of human Tyranny, and its curses
and ills sent on to distant times; of Injustice heaped up year after
year, till man can no longer bear; of the evil deeds of one age
laying up retribution terrible for another. The Present so poisoned,
that even the Future hath no hope!
Poor Europe! I have seen thy sufferings and experienced some



THE FUTURE                       423
thing of the despotism which has crushed thee; and here, at home
again, in a land, uncursed by the vices and wrongs of the Past,
with a youth opening before it, glorious and beautiful-save one
shadow, which HE shall surely remove-as that pictured by the old
Greek dreamers for their " Ideal State," I can pray from the heart,
"A better Future for thee!"
May it no longer be, "'; The Future is with America!" but " THM
FUTURE IS WITH HUMANITY!"








APPENDIX.
THE GERMAN TARIFF UNIONS.*
No. I.-THE  ZOLLVEREIN.
THE most important financial question which has ever agitated Central Europe, that of the German Tariff Unions, is scarcely known in our
country, except by name. I propose, in as brief a manner as possible,
to make the matter clearer to American readers, by presenting facts.
Every one of the thirty-four States of Germany, had, until 1818, considered it the first condition of its existence, to- separate itself from
every other State, by heavy protective duties. Even different provinces
of the same kingdom, were barred by Tariffs. Every city had its Custom-houses; and the rivers seemed lines intended by nature for collecting revenue duties. The celebrated Vienna Congress, which met in
1815 to give unity and freedom to Germany, devoted one article of the
Constitution, then drawn up, to this difficulty.
They premise (Art. XIX,) " at the first assembly of the League in
* For the sources of thes statistics, I refer to the following: 1. " I-IHbner's Jahrbuch
Fur Volks wirthschaft, &c., 1852."  2. "Vergleichende Zusamnlenstellung der GrenzEingangs-A-bgaben in Oesterreich, &c., von Reden, 1848." 3. " Far und wieder Schuz
zOlle, 1848." 4. "Die Seg nungen des Zollvereins. 1852." 5. "Statistiche Uebersicht, &c.,
von Kotelmann, 1852." 6. "Die Krisis des Zollvereins, &c., von Dr. Rau, 1852." 7. " Der
September vortrag, &e., in Hanover, 1852." 8. "Zur handels politischen Frage, 1852."
9. "Dieterici's Statistische Uebersicht, 1846-1848."  10. "Die Zollconferenz zu Wien,
1852." 11. "Die Zoll conferenz zu Berlin,"




426                       APPENDIX.
Frankfort, to take into consideration, the question of commerce and
traffic between the different States of the League."
This, like all the efforts of that body for the good of Germany, ended
in words. At length, in 1818, Prussia passed a law removing all duties
between its various provinces; promising only such protection to exports as would secure home industry and provide a revenue for the
State, without burdening trade. Any foreign country granting privileges of commerce to the Prussian subjects, should be met with an equal
return. The duties on foreign manufactures should never exceed ten
per cent. of their value; and this " Freedom of Trade " should be the
basis of future legislation.
The effect of the System, thus established, was so favorable to Prussia,
that in 1828, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and in 1831, the Princedom
of Hesse, united with her in a Commercial Union. During the same
years, a Union was formed (1828) between Bavaria and Wiirtemberg,
and (1833) a Union, called the Thuringian, between some of the smaller
States. All these associations were thus far on the basis of low duties,
while Austria and other States held to the high protective system.
The Prussian Union soon surpassed all its rivals. It was found to
offer a securer and larger market to those who would join it, than any
other single League. Its scale of duties appeared judiciously contrived,
so as to stimulate industry. It commanded all the outlets to the North
Sea-and the privileges held out to the other provinces, were remarkably favorable.
In 1833, both of the last mentioned unions were merged into the
Prussian, and the Treaty was formed, which is at the basis of the present German Tariff-Union, or Zollverein.
According to this treaty, there shall be a common system of trade
and revenue between the States of the Union. All native productions
shall pass the line of each, free of duty, with the exception of (1) certain
articles, liable to a home-tax; (2) those competing with objects already
patented, in other States; or (3) two monopolies specified-salt and
playing cards. Foreign imports pass without duty. On all exports and




APPENDIX.                            427
imports, a similar tariff is laid throughout the Union; and the revenue
everywhere from these sources, is divided among the different States,
according to their population. A meeting of the deputies from the
Union shall be held annually, and the present treaty shall be binding
till 1842. If no announcement is made at least two years before this
period, it shall be extended for twelve years more.
This engagement, however, shall be considered to be dissolved, if, in
the mean time, the united German States, according to Art. XIX, form
a commercial league, which shall fulfill all the objects of the present
Union.
To this treaty various additions were made at the entry of Saxony,
Brunswick, Lippe, and other provinces. In 1841, it was formally renewed for twelve years, till 1853, and various needful articles annexed.
All these changes have in general tended to promote a greater freedom
of trade between the several provinces. The standards for weight alld
measure are more carefully fixed; the taxes on home products limited
to certain definite articles, as spirit and malt liquor, tobacco, and the
like; and the internal commerce in foreign goods, which have entered
by the custom-houses of the Union, is made free of all restraint. A
separate provision is also passed, with reference to the tax on beetsugar as a home product, and to protective duties, to be laid on foreign
sugars and syrups.
The Union formed under these various treaties, embraced in 1849,
the following States and population:
Prussia......H............ 16,669,153   Hesse (Princedom).............. 731,554
Luxemberg...............  189,783   Hesse (Grand Duchy)....  862,917
Bavaria.                 4,526,650   Thuringian Union..............1,014,954
Saxony.......................   1,894,431  Brunsick.................. 247,070
Wurtemberg...........  1,805,558  Nassau.................. 425,686
Baden........................ 1,360,599  Frankfort (on theMaine).....   71,678
Total population.29,800,06
The peaceful continuance of this Union is a thing quite unexampled




428                           APPENDIX.
in Germany. Scarce any one, among the many German Unions, for
various objects, has ever lived so long and so peacefully.
The high-sounding principles, however, in which it was based, have
many of them been dropped.  Instead of the Free Trade, to which the
German Tariff-Union should eventually lead, duties have been laid on
some articles, almost prohibitive. The privileges granted by foreign
countries have never been answered. And there is scarcely a foreign
import, the duty on which does not exceed ten per cent. Even internal
trade is much impeded by the duties on liquors, tobacco and salt.
Among the changes in the Tariff are the following:
Cotton Web (1843-5) from 2 Th. per cwt. to 3 Th., or from 5 5-19 per cent. up to about
8 per cent. duty.
otton Yarn from 5 per cent. up to about 8* per cent. duty.
Linen Thread.-Duty raised from 1 Th. (75 cents) per cwt. up to 4 Th. ($83). Price
per ewt. 60 Th. (1847).
Silk.-Duty raised from 6 Th. to 8 Th. per cwt. Price 600 Th. per cwt.
Woollen Goods.-From 30 Th. to 50 Th. per cwt., or from a duty of 33j per cent. to 50
per cent.
Iron.-Till 1844 pig-iron was free, and bar-iron paid 1 Th. per cwt. Since then, pig-iron
pays f Th., or 838 per cent., and bar-iron from 1* Th. to 2 Th.; that is, a duty of 50 to 66*
per cent.
Segars. —Duty raised from 11 Th. to 15 Th.
Zinc Wares. —From 38 Th. to 10 Th.
Paper.-Gilt Paper, &c., from 5 Th. to 10 Th.
It will be seen from this, that the present tariff of the Zollverein is
not at all, in the important articles, based on low duties. Since the
years 1843 and'44, it has been a high protective system. The average
of duties upon all manufactured articles would far exceed that of the
American Tariff of 1846.
We propose, as a specimen of the success of the protective system of
Europe, to briefly set forth the progress of the Zollverein since 1835.
The object to which the Government has especially devoted itself,
in a financial respect, is the encouragement of the beet sugar manufacture.




APPENDIX.                         429
For this purpose, a duty on refined Sugar was laid in 1840 of nearly
100 per cent.; and on raw Sugar of more than 100 per cent. for common use, and of about 70 per cent. for the manufactories.
On the former, the amount of revenue from the duties sank from
279,754 thalers in 1836 to 14,580 in 1850.
Raw Sugar yielded in 1837 only 5,067 thalers, and has since sunk to
1,080 thalers in its import duties.
The quantity imported has diminished of refined, from 38,888 cwt. in
1836, to 1,905 cwt. in 1851; and of raw, from 1,064,998 cwt. to 781,503.
The internal produection of Beet Sugar has grown from 25,000 cwt. to
736,215. Yet with all this immense tax upon the foreign article, the
consumption of Sugar, for every purpose, during these fourteen years,
has only increased from 1,032,418 cwt. up to 1,356,722 in 1851, or from
an average of 4.04 lbs. to each inhabitant up to 4.52; the population
having grown from twenty-five and a half millions to nearly thirty millions. A most manifest failure and loss, so far as this attempt to bolster up the home-manufacture of Beet Sugar is concerned.
As a mere question of revenue, too, it has equally proved a losing
operation. The whole amount of taxes and duties on imported and domestic Sugars fell from an average of 6.26 sgr. (about 15~ cents) per
head in 1838,'39 and'40, to 4.63 sgr. (about 11 cents) per head in
1851; though the tax on home Sugar, (from the beet,) had been raised
to six times its original amount during those years.
The whole production of Beet Sugar in the Zollverein, from 1840 to
1850, has amounted to 3,727,480 cwt.; the taxes on this for the ten
years to 3,946,495 thalers.
The established duties on the same quantity of Cane Sugar would
have amounted to 18,647,400 thalers, leaving a deficit in this financial
operation to the Treasury of 14,700,905 thalers, or of about $12,000,000
for ten years. This, be it remembered, not counterbalanced in any degree by the additional cheapness of Sugar to the people. As for the
employment given to home-labor, it may be dcubted whether more labor
has been engaged in the manufacture of Beet Sugar, than was formerly




430                       APPENDIX.
in the importation and exchange of Cane Sugar; while against this
must be balanced the loss of the Colonial market for German linens,
which were given in exchange for the Sugar, and besides, this immense
taxation for ten years, which, in some form, must come out of the
pockets of the people.
Iron.-The article of Iron is a no less plain instance of the bad results of the protective system of the Zollverein. The last fifteen years
have been remarkably favorable to the manufacture of Iron. Twentyfive hundred miles of railroads have been built during that time in the
Tariff-Union of Prussia. There has been through the world a rapid
progress in all the mechanic arts. From 1834 up to 1844, Pig Iron
was admitted duty free, and the consumption of it through the whole
Zollverein increased from 2,492,736 cwt. up to 6,629,736, or from
11.60 lbs. to 21.46 lbs. per head of the whole population-a gain of
about 90 per cent.
After the placing a new duty on Pig Iron, and raising the duty on
Bar-Iron, in 1844, the consumption, for all purposes, fell, in the first
three years, to 16.37 lbs. per head, or 24 per cent; in the second, to
14.55 lbs., or about 30 per cent. There is every probability that the
home manufacture of Bar-Iron would have fallen off still more, had not
the Belgian Pig-Iron, by a special exception, been admitted, in 1845,
on a duty of 16 per cent., when all other Pig-Iron paid nearly 100 per
cent. The manufacture of both Pig-Iron and Bar-Iron reached their
ultimum in 1847, and has been falling off since, Bar-Iron rising from
1,534,558 cwt., in 1834, to over 4,000,000 in 1847, and falling again to
3,429,054 in 1850. The price of Iron in the Union through all these
years, despite the immense protection, have varied with the English
prices, and have only in a slight degree been cheapened. The 1,000 lbs.
Bar-Iron cost, in 1834, $37 50; in 1840, $41 50; in 1847, $39 25;
in 18.50, $34.
In the first three years of the Zollverein, English Bar-Iron cost 78
per cent. less than the Prussian; in the last triad, it cost 110 per cent.
less.




APPENDIX.                        431
So much for the economy of " Protection" for Iron in the Zollverein.
Coffee.-The duties upon this article have averaged 79 per cent., and
are now about 50 per cent. Its use both for home-consumption and
export, may fairly be considered one test in such a people as the German, of material prosperity. The import in the Tariff Union in 1836
was about 547,000 cwt.; in 1850, about 733,000. The export in 1836,
43,242 cwt.; in 1850, 49,129, or in all, the average per head in 1836,
1.96 lbs.; in 1850, 2.28 lbs. A poor advance, if this heavy duty be
considered.
Cotton.-Raw cotton has been duty free. Cotton thread has averaged a duty of 2j per cent. Cotton goods pay now from 33j to 50 per
cent. The importation of raw cotton has advanced from 175,377 cwt.
in 1834, to 494,298 cwt. in 1850. The increase of imports over exports in cotton yarn and goods has been from 195,728 cwt. in 1834,
up to 545,283 in 1845, and has then sunk to 492,640 cwt. in 1850.
Silk.-The duty upon Silk has also been small, averaging about
54 per cent; though now upon Silk goods it varies from 5 to 10 per
cent. The German manufacturers have had to contend not only with
the great experience of the French operations, but with the protection
of the French Government; an export premium of 4j per cent. being
offered to the French manufacturers by the State. Yet the exports of
Silk goods from the Zollverein exceeded the imports in 1837 by 3,079
cwt., and in 1850, 5,540 cwt.; and the use of silks for all purposes increased from 3,890 cwt. in 1837 to 7,050 in 1850.
Woolen Goods.-Not so close estimates can be made in regard to
these. The duty on Woolen Yarn has not averaged quite 2 per cent.
The duties now on Woolen goods vary from 20 to 50 per cent. Coarse
Wool is duty free. There has been in general an improvement under
the Zollverein, though not important. The whole production of Wool
in 1841 was 443,451 cwt.; in 1847, 446,933. The use of Woolen Yarn
for all purposes in 1841 and'43 averaged in the Union 1.17 lbs. per
head; in 1844 and'47, 1.07 lbs.-a falling off of about 8.5 per cent.




432                      APPENDIX.
In Linen Goods, owing to the much greater use of Cotton Cloths,
and to the loss of the colonial market, there has been a diminution. No
complete statistics are to be obtained. Of rough linen, the export falls
off from 25,429 cwt. in 1834 to 13,330 in 1850; of linen thread, from
6,338 cwt. to 2,188 in 1850; colored and printed linen falls from
101,720 cwt. in 1834 to 58,552 in 1850.
Nearly all other articles of consumption which indicate, in their general use, the well-being of a people, have fallen off in quantity since the
beginning of the Zollverein.
In the large cities, the average consumption of ryeflour falls from
245 lbs. per head in 1831 to 230 in 1845; while, in wheat, the average
in 1836 of 93.31 lbs. is only 93.3 in 1843, and 99 lbs. in 1845.
Spices of every kind average 0.18 lbs. per head in 1837, the same in'46, and only 0.16 lbs. in 1847.
The same diminution appears in the use of luxuries —wine, to
bacco, &c.
On the whole, from these statistics, one great fact must be clearthat the Zollverein, as a high protective system, has not succeeded.
Since the advance in duties in 1845, there has been a falling off in
the production of almost every article of importance, and this before the
disturbances from the revolutionary movements had begun. As a general fact, the Union has been most prosperous with the articles not protected by high duties; yet even in these-as, for instance, the linens —
tile evil effects of the burdensome duties in other articles have been felt.
No more striking instance of the bad economy of high protective or
rather prohibitive duties can be found, than in the most strenuous and
expensive efforts made by the Prussian Union to protect their iron and
sugar manufactures. An immense financial loss and disturbance, as
these statistics show, have been almost the only result. One branch
has been bolstered up to the weakening of another. The people have
paid what was never returned to them in the cheapening of the article;
the channels of business have been interrupted at the caprice of the
Government, and endless dislocations and disturbances occasioned, which




APPENDIX.                               433
no one afterward could guard against or prevent. As a profitable pro.
tective system, the Zollverein must be considered a failure.
No. II.-THE STEUERVEREIN.
A neighboring and rival Union to the Prussian Zollverein has been
the Import Union of Hanover.  This association-the Steuervereindates from a Treaty in 1831 with Brunswick, by which portions of that
State are included under the EIanoverian Tariff system.  During the
succeeding ten years, various small States were added. In 1841, Brunswick, as a whole, retired from the Union and joined the Zollverein. In
1848, the Steuerverein consisted of the following States and populpay
tion:Hlanover,......................1,719,857   Provinces of Brunswick.....8.....  3,29
Oldenburg and Knyphausen....  225,910   Provinces of Prussia............ 1,2I1
Schaumburg Lippe..............   2,895 -
Total.......................................... 1,991,6
This Tariff Union was based on low duties, and proved wonderfully
successful. The revenue from the duties was far greater, in proportion
to the population, than in the Prussian; while the average consumption of articles of luxury and comfort equally exceeded that in other
parts of Germany.
We take this table of the average receipts per head from duties, from
Hubner's Jahrbuch, p. 210.  The Sgr. is a groschen, equal to about 2j
Gents:
Zofverein. SM44*00fn                  Zo1          bw"60 6Ks
Sgr.          6r.                     $gr.          So9n
1 $87887...... 21.4         24.9   184-4.............. 28.       80.8
1841-42     -.........2....4.7  81.8  1S4840.0.......28.5          28.5
1942.43........2.....25.6    527.9   118t......... 
1814-.,......28.8 -           8O
19




434                             APPENDIX.
The following is a table of the average consumption per head:
Zollvereinm. Steuerveretn.               Zovereit  Steserverem
lbs.         lbs.                        lbs.         lbs.
Coffee..............150         20.25   Wine.............. 2.85         17.05
Rico.......... 3.45.            8.30   Sugar and Syrup.... 285         41.60
Tropical Fruits...... 2.75       5.30   Iron for rail-roads.... 37.00   42.00
Tea..........10          1.05   Iron for other objects..77.40    110.00
The following abstract will show some of the relative duties in tho
two Tariff Unions and in Austria. It is taken from a semi-official document called, "A   Comparison  of the Boundary Import Duties, &c.,
by REDE:N-Frankfort, 1848." The Thaler is worth about 75 cents:
Austrta.        Zollverein.     SteuLerceirn.
Ti.  Sgr.         Ti.  Sgr.  T. Sgr.
Cotton, per cwt...............  1    1             free.             free.
Cotton yarn........................ 8    8}          8                1
Cotton goods.............         72   27*          50               12
Bar iron, per cwt................ 8   22*            8                1    01
Steel............................  3   22*           1   15           0    7
Iron works, fine..................     15           10                6    4
Glass, gilded............... 1...                   10                6    4
Copper wares, per cwt..............  8    15        10                6    4
Leather goods.......... 6.....  3   14*             22               12    8
Linen, fino....................... 18    12*        20                12   T7
Raw Sugar, per cwt....0........... 9   10           8                3   10
Silk goods......................... 624    8*      110               12?*
Woolen goods, fineo...............114   17         50               12   7t
To all familiar with the prosperity of Hanover under this low Tariff
system, the announcement was very surprising that she had formed
(September, 1851) a Treaty with Prussia, and would henceforth be a
part of the Zollverein. For this movement, political much more than
financial reasons were the cause. Austria was at this time pressing
strongly on Prussia her demands for a universal German Tariff Union.
It was to be based on her favorite system of high protective duties.  If
she succeded, Hanover would inevitably be forced later into the Union,
and become involved in an association which might ruin her commerce.
It was better for her to take the Prussian protective duties than the




APPENDIX.                           435
Austrian prohibitive  Prussia, too, offered her flattering inducements
in the scale of division of the revenues.
For Prussia herself, it was a vital measure. In two years, the term
of the Zollverein would expire, and if notice of a change were not now
given, she was bound to the Union till 1865. The South German
members were becoming more and more attached to Austria.  Cassel,
who ruled the connection between her provinces, was already under
heavy obligations to the Viennese Ministry. They might be enabled,
in the coming years, to force her to a financial Union with Austria.
In a commercial view, it was vastly more important that she should
be united with Hanover, than with all South Germany together. In
alliance with the Steuerverein, she would secure the connection between
her Eastern and Western provinces-the great road by Magdeburg
from Berlin to Cologne; she would hold possession of all the great
rivers in the North, and gain a speedy outlet to the sea through the
Hanoverian ports.
It will give an idea of the losses for Hanover in this measure, to compare the costs of certain articles under the two Unions.
For a ship of 700 tons, 731 cwt. of iron are reckoned, according to
the Lloyd's estimate, necessary for anchors, chains, &c., in the outfit.
These cost in Hanover, inclusive of freight and duty, 3,000 thalers. In
Prussia, 7,000 thalers-or a difference of $3,000 which Hanover must
pay under the Prussian Tariff. If imported direct, ready-made from
England, they cost in the Steuerverein 260 thalers. In the Zollverein,
2,348 thalers. Iron knees cost for one such ship, in Prussia, 1,900
thalers; in Hanover, 740 thalers-a difference of 160 per cent. against
the latter. Iron nails cost 100 per cent. more in the Prussian than the
Hanoverian Union.
The treaty is to come into operation on Jan. 1, 1854, and shall extend to December 31, 1865.
Should the present Zollverein be dissolved by the retiring of the
South German States, the new Union, in connection with Hanover,
would consist of twelve different States, and 20,330,000 inhabitants.




"436                     APPENDIX.
NO. III.- TnE AUSTRIAN UNION.
AUSTRIA has always been a constant friend to high Protective Tarifft.
In MARIA THERESA'S time, the importation of all goods, which could
possibly be manufactured in the country, was forbidden. The theory
of commerce being that the gold which was carried out from the Austrian States was so much loss. In consequence, even on tropical
productions and " colonial wares," the highest possible duties were
laid.
When the Empire was reconstructed after the fall of NAPOLEON, the
same system was continued and extended by the Emperor FRANCIS.
Nothing prospered under this medieval policy, and attempts were made
in 1835 to reform it. They failed; and until 1848, the only changes
were the removal of some prohibitive duties, to be replaced by exorbitantly high protective duties; and the lowering of the taxes on colonial
goods, as it was found that the smuggling defied all the precautions of
Government. In addition to this " Protective Tariff," the State
enjoyed a monopoly of salt, tobacco, and gunpowder. At the close
of the war with Hungary, the Austrian Government issued various
i' memorials" with reference to a change of their Tariff-system, and a
Union with Germany.
In the memorial of December 30,1849, the Ministry declare that they
"recognize it as a need of the public administration to pass over from
a prohibitive to a protective system, and to prepare thereby a nearer
connection with Germany."
Various communications and negociations were entered upon with the
other States of Germany for this same object-a Tariff Union-but
without much success. At length, the news went over Germany of
the sudden union of the Zollverein with Hanover, and of the invitations
to a " Conference " at Berlin, to consider this matter of a universal
German Revenue Union. Almost at the same time,* (November 25,




APPENDIX.                         437
1851,) the Austrian Government put forth a new Tariff, and an invitation to a general conference in January, 1852, at Vienna, for the same
purpose. Of the Tariff, I shall have more to say hereafter. In this
Assembly at Vienna, six States of the Zollverein met-Bavaria, Saxony, Wiirtemberg, Baden, the Hesses, and Nassau. Prussia, and the
remainder, together with the Mecklenburgs and Holstein, declined all
share in the proceedings.
The six States above mentioned held a separate Convehtion (April,
1852,) in Darmstadt, in which, after various resolves, they conclude that
if Austria will pledge them their Tariff revenues in the interval, they
will enter into no new relations with the Zollverein until 1853, when
the negociations now in process between the Austrian Government and
that Union will be terminated.
For Austria, this question of the Tariff Union is more than a financial question.
Among the pamphlets and works qnoted at the beginning of these
articles is one recognized by the Prussian press, as a semi-official Austrian document-" Die Zoll-conferenz zu Wien."  (The Tariff Convention at Vienna. In this work the whole subject is argued with an
earnestness, such as no matter of revenue would ever call forth. It is
a basis-principle of the Austrian policy that Austria, as a whole, must
be united with Germany. As long as Hungary and her Italian provinces are separated from her German, so long the Empire is not secure.
But, incorporated in the German League, she has all Germany pledged
to support her, and to put down insurrections.
SCHWARZENBERG'S unceasing efforts to bring Hungary and Italy into
the German Union have failed —France and England have protested
and Prussia has steadily opposed.
lWhat could not be done on the political ground, perhaps can be on
the financial. The great aim of Austria now is to make the Empire and
Germany one in revenue. Every motive which could reach Prussian
pride, and honor, and interest, is employed in the above Brochure.
To the enthusiastic lovers of German unity; the picture of a united




C48                      APPENDIX.
Fatherland is presented-when Germans shall have one Tariff and one
revenue; when a common scale of duties shall hold at Hamburg and
at Venice; from Stralsund and Bremen to the " Iron Gate" of Hungary, and the coast of the Adriatic. The conservatives are warned of
the immense unoccupied class of laborers which Free Trade shall produce-rabble-the fomentors of revolution and outbreaks. The Free
Traders are told that at present their theory is only an " ideal," —and
that they will act the rational part, to promote Free Trade at home, as
a preparation for Free Trade abroad. If English iron and French silks
are admitted free, all the laborers in those branches in the Zollverein
must become paupers, and their support be thrown on the agricultural
classes.
In union with Hanover and North Germany, Prussia must be drawn
into this destructive policy of Free Trade. The inhabitants of her
northern provinces, and of the coasts of the Baltic and the German
Ocean, will always have an ineradicable prejudice in favor of cheap iron
and cheap manufactures from England. They will drink French wines,
if they are lower than Austrian; and they can never be induced to prefer dear colonial goods for the sake of building up manufactures in
Vienna.
For her manufactures, Prussia will have an almost boundless market
in Hungary, while that country in return will pour forth her corn and
wine into Germany. By this Union, thirty-eight millions of men will
be added to the Zollverein, of which twenty millions shall be pure consumers. At present, says the Brochure, 30,000,000 thalers are carried
away annually by the emigrants to America.
Under a universal German Tariff Union, Hungary would again revive
in prosperity, and something of this great export of men and money
would be turned towards her unoccupied lands to aid again in the wellbeing of the Fatherland.
Prussia is reminded of a recent season, when human beings were
dying by the thonsands from famine in Silesia, and just over the Austrian border, corn was in plenty. If these scenes would be avoided, let




APPENDIX.                         439
there be a remo al of all frontier duties, and the wheat from the Danube and Bohemiaqill be exchanged for the products of the weavers
of the Harz, and of Eastern Prussia.
Finally, as the best guard against future " democratic outbreaks,'
will be the union of the German Governments,-even only for matters
of finance and revenue.
On the part of Prussia, there had been three great objections to a
Tariff Union with Austria:-1-. The Austrian monopolies; 2. The difficulties of the united revenues; and 3. The Austrian finances.
In reply, the authors of this document promise, almost officially, that
the Government will waive their monopoly in tobacco, if Prussia insists, and urge that at the worst, this and salt will only be liable to the
same conditions, with the two present monopolies-salt and playing
cards-of the Zollverein.
As regards the division of the Tariff revenues, the writers do not
claim that it should be made according to population, whereby of course
Austria would gain a great advantage. They propose to leave a
"Transition-period" of four years from January 1854 to December,
1858, for the gradual change of duties, during which the average of
revenues from each province may be calculated, and the division made
accordingly.
In the finances, the Government for the first time abandons its old
position. Hitherto the Government paper has always been considered
to be at par value. Even when 33 per cent. below its exchange value,
by a legal fiction, it has been given as at par for all taxes, revenues,
duties, &c., &c. Soldiers have even penetrated the Exchange, and the
gens d'armes have examined the books of tie brokers, as if Austrian
bank paper could be driven up at the point of the bayonet. In the
proposed Union, the ministry admit that the Government paper shall
pass at all Custom-houses and offices, for its average worth by the current month in the Exchange at Augsburg.
Of the articles which shall be free of all duties in this Union, are
mentioned, the raw products of the field, garden, forest, and the mines;




440                           APPENDIX.
certain materials for manufacture, as dye-woods, sulphur, potash, saltpetre; certain manufactures, as raw silk, rough linp yarn, pack-thread,
sail-cloth, straw and basket goods of common kind; cheap wood, brick
and porcelain-wares; and books, pictures and cards on paper manufactured in the Union.
Most of these articles, it should be mentioned, were already free in
the Prussian Union.  In addition, wine is to pay 3 thlr. ($2 25) per
centner; Iron 71 sgr. (18 cents) per cwt. These are all the propositions, thus far made by the Austrian Government.
We will now briefly compare the Austrian and Prussian Tariffs, as
showing the change which the Zollverein must make to enter the Austrian Union:
PRUSSIAN TARIFF.                     AUSTRIAN TARIFF.
Thlr.                                  2l'r.
Cotton Goods................50 per cwt.   Cotten Goods, 138, 883 50, 66*, 100
Linen,,....1, 20, 80 and 60,,                          and 16GG  per cwt.
Silk,,..... 55 and 110,,        Linen,,  5,, 13, 50, 661 and
Woolen,,..... 20, 30 and 50,,                              166*,,
Leather and Leather Goods, 6, 8,       Silk,,...... 1661 and 400 
10 and 22,,     Woolen,,  8*, 838, 50, 66-, 100
Iron Wares..........1, 6, and 10,,                       and 166*,,
Leather and Leather Goods, 5, 10,
16f, 38j, and 66*,,
Iron Wares, 1*, 0i, 61, 10, and 16*,,
The Austrian Tariff, whose rates are here given, is to come into operation in January, 1854. It is distinguished from the Prussian, by
grades of duties, proportioned to the fineness of the article; so that on
almost all of the commonest manufactures the Austrian duty is lower,
though its average of duties is much higher.
In the event of a Union between the Zollverein and Austria, the
principal exports from the latter to Prussia, will be the following 
Bohemian glass, steel and iron wares, shawls, leather gloves, book
binders' goods, porcelain and earthen wares, silk webs from Milan, Como
and Vienna, silver, woiks of art, cloths and stuffs. The fine table-covers




APPENDIX.                                        441
from Bohemia and Moravia would compete with those from Saxony and
Westphalia, Leather, Vienna matches, white lead and fine wood wares
would be in much demand in the provinces neighboring to Austria  on
the west.  Especially would the  unequalled  Hungarian  wines be exported to every part of Germany.
Comparison of Products in Zollverein and Austria:
ZOLLVEREhIN.          AUSTRIA.
ThZr.      T/ r.
Iron Wares..........................................   85,200,000  19,200,000
Glass Manufactures.....................   8,500,000           10,500,000
Sum of all manufacture in mineral and metallic substance, glass, copper, iron, &c., &c............... 172,200,000        110,450,000
Cotton, Spinning..................................        8,200,000            9,600,000
Wool,....................................   29,600,000     22,200,000
Fla,,....................................  58,000,000        81,200,000
Cotton, Weaving........................ 67,800,000                 81,200,000
Wool,,...............................   64,200,000             48,000,000
Linen,,................................  94,800,000      45,000,000
Silk................................................ 23,690,000  11,700,000
Total............................... 250,490,000            135,900,000
ZOLLVZEREIN.          AUSTRIA.
Thzr.               Th7tr.
Leather and leather goods........................... 42,400,000               27,000,000
Paper.................................                   15,700,000            4,920,000
Material for literary business of all kinds............  14,750,000            4,200,000
Sum of all manufactures............................ 642,840,000             878,060,000
STEAM ENGINES.
For Navigatiton.    Railroad&.  Mlfanufactures.
Zollverein..............      98.                 480                 1,519
Austria.......,                            68                 240                   464
For all purpose.                      Zorse power
Zollverein............................ 2,097                                   63,425
Austria...............................0                               24,784
19*




-442                         APPENDIX.
SPINDLES AND LOOMS.
ZOLLVEREn.                    ABSTILA
pin tile&   Loosm&.        Spindtes.     Zoom&.
Cotton...............9..... 02,030  160,000     1,26T,980     17T,000
Wool...................... 750,000  60,000          650,000      56,000
Linen................. 50,000      450,000           20,800     800,000
Silk.........    14,000......       I1,S00
Total..   1,702,030      6S4,200.1,938,780     545,800
In the quality and general value of her manufactures, Austria is far
inferior to the Prussian Union.  In the cheapness, however, of the
coarsest and most common articles, as coarse cutlery, coarse linen, cotton bagging and cloths, stockings, &c., she is superior-a fact due in
part to the very low rate of wages for operatives in that Empire.
In iron manufacture and machine spinning both Unions are weak.
In wool carding and flax spinning (by machine) Austria falls behind,
while in cotton spinning she is superior to her rival.
In earthenware and porcelain manufacture, the Zollverein leads, while
in glass manufacture she is inferior again.
In leather productions the Zollverein stands first, though in a few
common articles, as ladies' gloves, gloves, &c., Austria has best succeeded.
Austria has been through Europe the great representative of the
ultra, high protective school, for some thirty years.  Her resources
are immense, both in agriculture and in mineral wealth. She has great
rivers, roads, railroads, and harbors, one of which has been the leading
commercial city of the world.  We propose briefly to examine the effects of this system upon her development.
The worth of the whole produce of the mines, coal, copper, iron,
gold, silver, &c., &c., has fallen from 10,443,163 florins in 1823,
and 13,874,213 florins in 1833, to 7,906,901 florins in 1847; showing
in twenty-four years, a loss on the most important articles of production
of about 33 per cent.
The use of iron for all purposes averaged before 1848, 11 pounds pet




APPENDIX.                          443
head in Austria; in the Zollverein, 21.79 pounds; in England, 94;
Belgium, 41; France, 34:; Sardinia, 33.
An equal attempt with that of the Zollverein to bolster up Beet-Sugar
manufacture has been made, and with like success. With a heavy duty
laid upon foreign sugars for about twenty years, sugar is dearer than it
was before the protection. And for every 200,000 cwt. produced of
beet and potato sugar, 500,000 cwt. of cane sugar are imported an.
nually. The duty on cane sugar is 7 florins, ($3 15) per cwt., and the
tax on beet sugar 1 florin, (45 cents) so that as a matter of revenue
merely, the State loses about a million of florins per annum.
COFFEE. —In 1844, the duty on this article was put down, and the
import has risen from 149,705 cwt. in 1844, to 226,275 cwt. in 1850.
In products of the soil, the total exports fell from 30,409,356, in 1844,
to 26,593,500 in 1847, and to 18,924,800 in 1850.
During the last three years, the diminution in every article of export
and production has been enormous. But along with the injuries to
trade from high duties must be reckoned the losses and disturbances
from their late revolutionary struggles. So that from the latest statistics, no conclusive result can be obtained as regards the question of
" Protective Tariffs " in Europe. Still, enough has already been given,
in the comparison of the high-protected manufactures and commerce of
Austria, with the low-tariff system of Hanover, or the medium-protective system of Prussia, to show that no argument in favor of hi(gh
protection can ever be taken from its success in Germany. Equally in
the Protestant, liberal Prussia, and the despotic Austria, has the high
tariff economy failed. And the States of Germany may almost
measure their commercial and material success by the approach which
each has made to the policy of Free Trade.
What the results of these negociations between the Austrian and
Prussian Tariff Unions will be cannot yet be affirmed. My own belief
is, that the Prussian King, scared by the old phantom of revolution, will
yield to the demands of Austria; and that an Austrian high-protective
tariff will cover Germany from one end to the other.








All the Books on this Cataloee  sent by lmail, a, any part of the Ulion, free
of postage, upon receipt of Price.
CATALOGUE OF RBOOKS
ON
AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE,
PUBLISHED BY
_A. O. MOOR E,
(LATE C. If. SAXTON & COMPANY,)
No. 140 FULTON STREET, NEW YORK,
SUITABLE FOR
SCHUOL, TOWN, AGRICULTURAL, AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES.
THE AMERICAN FARMER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA,    -4 00
EMBRACING ALL THE RECENT DISCOVERIES IN AGRIUILTURAL CUHEMistry, anol the use of Mineral, Vegetable and Animal Manures, with Descriptions and
Figu.res of American Insects injurious to Vegetation. Being a Complete Guide for the
cultivation of every variety of Garden and Field Crops. Illustrated by numerous Engravings of Grasses, Grains, Animals, Implements, Insects, &c. By GOTTVERNEUr
EMERSON, of Pennsylvania, upon the basis of Johnson's Farmer's Encyclopedia.
DOWNING'S (A. J.) LANDSCAPE  GARDENING.                  -     -       3 50
A  TREATISE ON THE THEORY AND PRACTI''.DSCAPIE GARdening. Adapted to North America, with a view to the iMn,,,,ement of Coumtry
Residences; comprising Historical Notices and General Principles of the Art, directions for Laying out Grounds and Arranging Plantations, the Description and Cultivation of Hardy Tjees, Decorative Accompaniments to the Ilouse and Grounds, the
Formation of PIeces of Artificial Waters, Flower Gardens, &c., with Remarks on
Rural Architecture. Elegantly Illustrated, with a Portrait of the Author. By A. J.
DOWNNGo.
DOWNING'S (A. J.) RURAL ESSAYS,             -.            -       3 00
ON HORTICULTURE, LANDSCAPE GARDENING, RURAL ARCHITECTURE,
Trees, Agriculture, Fruit, with his Letters from England. Edited, with a Memoir of
the Author by GEORGE WM. CURTIS, and a letter to his friends, by FREDERIKA BREHMR, and an elegant steel Portrait of the Author.
DADD'S ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY  OF THE HORSE, Plain,  2 00
Do.           Do.             Do.             Do.   Colored Plates, 4 00
WITH  ANATOMICAL AND QUESTIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS; ConlltaininT,
also, a Series of Examinations on Equine Anatomy and Philosophy, with Instructions
in relerence to Dissection, and the mode of making Anatomical Preparations; to -lici.
is added a Glossary of Veterinary Technicalities, Toxicological Chart, and Dictionary
of Veterinary Science.
DADD'S MODERN  HORSE DOCTOR.                 -                         1 00
CONTAINING PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THIE CAUSES, NATURE
and Treatment of Disease and Lameness of Horses, embracing the most recent and ap
proved methods, according to an enlightened system of veterinary therapeutics, for
the preservation and restoration  health. With Illustrations




2             Books Published by A. 0. MOORE.
DADD'S (GEO. H.) AMERICAN  CATTLE DOCTOR,    -                   -      1 00
CONTAINING  THE  NECESSARY  INFORMTATION FOR PRESERVING TIlJ,
esalth and Curing the Diseases of Oxen, Cows, Sheep, and Swine, with a great variety
of Original Recipes and Valuable Informationu In reference to Farm and Dairy management, whereby every man can be his own Cattle Doctor. The principles taught in
this work are, that all Medication shall be subservient to Nature-that all Medicines
must be sanative in their operation, and administered with a view of aiding the vi tal
powers, instead of depressing, as heretofore, with the lancet or by peison. 2)3 G ii.
D)ADD, M. D., Veterinary Practitioner.
IHE DOG AND GUN,   -             -.                          5-' 
A  FEW  Loose CHIAPTERS ON SHOOTING, among which will be fou'llr
some Anecdotes and Incidents; also, instructions for Dog Breaking, and Interesting let.
ters from Sportsmen. By A BAD SnoT.
MORGAN  HORSES,            -                                             1 00
A  PIREIIuMa ESSAY ON THE ORIGIN, HISTORY, AND CHARACTERISTICS
of this remarkable American Breed of Horses; tracing the Pedigree from the original
Justin Morgan, through the most noted of his progeny, down to the present time.
With numerous portraits. To which are added hints for Breeding, Breaking, and
General Usc and Management of Horses, with practical Directions for training them f(,r
exhibition at Agricultural Fairs. By D. C. LINSLEY.
SORGHO AND IMPHRIE, THE CHINESE AND AFRICAN SUGAR
CAN ES,.          -.                             1 00
A  COMPLETE TiREATISE UPOIN THEIR ORIGIN AND V ARIETIES, CULTURE
and Uses, their value as a Forage Crop, and directions for making Sugar, Molasses,
Alcohol, Sparkling and Still Wines, Beer, Cider, Vinegar, Paper, Starch, and Dye
Stuffs. Fully Illustrated with Drawings of Approved Machinery; With an Appendix
by Lr.ONARD WRAY, of Caffraria, and a description of his patented process of crystalliz.
ing the juice of the Imphee; with the latest American experiments, including those oi
18S7, in the South. By IlENEY S. OLCOTT. To which are added translations of v:tlu
able French Pamphlets, received from the Bon. JOHN Y. MAsoN, American Minister
at Paris.
THE STABLE BOOK -.                                                      1 03
A  TREATISE ON rTitE  M!ANAGEMINT OF HORSES, IN REI,ATION  TO
Stabling, Grooir'';:. Watering and Working, Construction of Stables, Venti a
tion, Appendag,....  l,,cs..lanagement of the F'eet, and of Diseased and Defective
Horses. By JoIIN STI:WA RT, Veterinary Surgeon. With Notes and Additions, adapting it to American Food and Climate. By A. B. ALLEN, Editor of the American
Agriculturist.
THE HORSE'S FOOT, AND HOW  TO KEEP IT SOUND,                    -         50
WVITH CUTS, ILLUSTRATIN(I TiiH  ANATOMY OF THE FOOT, and contain1bg valuable Hints on Shoe'ng and Stable Management, in Health and in Disease. By
WILLIAM MILES.
THE FRUIT GARDEN,   -1 25
A  TREATISE, INTENDF.D TO EXPLAIN AND  ILLUSTRATE THE PslvsSology of Fruit Trees, the Theory and Practice of all Operations connected with the
Propagation, Transplanting, Pruning and Training of Orchard and Garden Trees, as
Standards, Dwarfs, Pyramids, Espalier, &c. The Laying out and Arranging different
kinds of Orchards and Gardens, the selection of suitable varieties for different purposes
and localities, Gathering and Preserving Fruits, Treatment of Diseases, Destruction If
Insects, Description and Uses of Implements, &c. Illustrated with upwards of 150
Figures, representing Different Parts of Trees, all Practical Operations, forms of Trees,
Designs for Plantations, Implements, &c. By P. BARRY, of the Mount Hope Nurseries.
Rochester, N. Y.
FIELD'S PEAR CULTURF,.                                        75
TIIlE  PEAR  GARDEN; or, a'I'reatise on the Propa~gation on!d
CultIvation.f the Pear Tree, with Instructions for its Management from the Seedling
to the Bearing Tree. By TnoMAS U.. FIELD.




Books Published by A. O. MOORE.
BRIDGEMIIAN'S (THOS.) YOUNG GARDENER'S AESTETANT,                    $1 50
1N THREE PARTS, Containing Catalogues of Garden anil Flower
Seed, with Practical Directions under each head for the Cultivation of Culinary Vegetables and Flowers. Also directions for Cultivating Fruit Trees, the Grape   ine, &c.;
to which is sdded, a Calendar to each part, showing the work necessary to be done in
the various departments each month of the year. One volume octavo.
BRIDGEMAN'S KITCHEN GARDENER'S INSTRUCTOR,   I Cloth,    50
6"           " 6'                       "             Cloth,    60
BRIDGEMAN'S FLORIST'S GUIDE,..                            I   Cloth,    50
"c           "         "                         o-  -  Cloth,. 60
BRIDGEMAN'S FRUIT CULTIVATOR'S MANUAL,.        Cloth,    50't- "       "                              Cloth,    60
COLE'S AMERICAN FRUIT BOOK,  -                    -     -     -         50
CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR RAISING, PROr'AGATING AND MANAGing Fruit Trees, Shrubs and Plants; with a description of the Best Varieties of F,:!ft.
including New and Valuable Kinds.
COLE'S AMERICAN VETERINARIAN,    -    -                 -    -          50
CONTAINING  DISEASES  OF  DOMESTIC  ANIMALS, THEIR  CAUSES,
Symptoms and Remedies; with Rules for Restoring and Preserving Health by good
management; also for Training and Breeding.
SCHENCK'S GARDENER'S TEXT BOOK,   -                -    -      -        50
CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE FORMATION  AND  MANAGEMENT
of the Kitchen Garden, the Culture and Use of Vegetables, Fruits and Medicinal Herbs.
AMERICAN ARCHITECT,             -     -    -      -     -            6 00
THE AMERICAN ARCHITECT, Comprising original Designs of Cheap
Country and Village Residences, with Details, Specifications, Plans and Directions
and an Estimate of the Cost of Each Design. By JOHN W. RITCH, Architect. First
and Second Series,.4to, bound in 1'ol.
BUIST'S (ROBERT) AMERICAN FLOWER GARDEN DIRECTORY,  1 25
CONTAINING PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTURE OF PL ANTS,
in the Flower-Garden, Hot-House, Green-House, Rooms or Parlor Windows, for every
NMonth in the Year; with a Description of the Plants most desirable in each, the nature
of the Soil and Situation best adapted to their Growth, the Proper Season for Transplanting, &c.; with Instructions for Erecting a Hot-House, Green-House, and Laying
out a Flower Garden: the whole adapted to either Large or Small Gardens, with Instructions for Preparing the Soil, Propagating, Planting, Pruning, Training and Fruiting the Grape Vine.
THE AMERICAN BIRD FANCIER,
CONSIDERED WITH REFERENCE TO THE BREEDING, REARING, FEEDIng, Management and Peculiarities of Cage and House Birds. Illustrated with Engravings. By D. JAy BROWNE.
REEMELIN'S (CHAS.) VINE DRESSER!S MANUAL,  -                  -         50
AN  ILLUSTRATED  TREATISE ON VINEYARDS AND  WINE-MAKING,
containing Full Instructions as to Location and Soil, Preparation of Ground, Selection
and Propagation of Vines, the Treatment of Young Vineyards, Trimming and Training
the Vines, Manures, and the Making of Wine.
DANA'S MUCK MANUAL, FOR THE USE OF FARMERS,  -                        1 00
A  TREATISE  ON THE PHYSICAL AND  CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF
Soils and Chemistry of Manures; including, also, the subject of Composts, Artificial
Manures and Irrigation. A new edition, with a Chapter on Bones and Superphosphates.
CHEMICAL FIELD LECTURES FOR AGRICULTURISTS,    -                      1 00
By Dr. JULIUS ADOLPHUS STOCKHARDT, Professor in the Royal
Academy of Agriculture at Tharant. Translated from the German. Edited, with
notes bv JAx s E. TwEcIMACHZ.L




4             Books Published  by  A. O. Mooia
BUIST'S  (13BOIRT) FAMILY KITCHEN GARDVENER,.    $0 75
CONTAINING PLAIN AND ACCURATE DESCRIPTIONS OF 4UL  TEE DIFferent Species and Varieties of Culinary Vegetables, with their Botanical, English,
French and German names, alphabetically arranged, with the Best Mode of vuld'vating
them in the Garden or under Glass; also Descriptions and Character of the most teleet
Fruits, their Management, Propagation, &c. By ROBERT BuesT, author of the " Am.
erican Flower Garden Directory," &c.
DOMESTIC AND ORNAMENTAL POULTRY, Plain Plates,.                    1 30
Do.                Do.             Do.    Colored Plates,.         2 00
A TREATISE ON THE HISTORY AND MANGEMENT OF ORNAMENTAL
and Domestic Poultry. By Rev. EDMUND SAUL DIXON, A.M., with large additions b*
J. J. KERR, M.D. Illustrated with sixty-five Original Portraits, engraved expresly ffol
this work. Fourth edition revised,
HOW  TO BUILD AND VENTILATE  HOT-HOUSES,    -1 25
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CONSTRUCTION, HEATING AND
Ventilation of Hot-Houses, including Conservatories, Green-Houses, Graperies and
other kinds of Horticultural Structures, with Practical Directions for their Manage
nent, in regard to Light, Ileat and Air. Illustrated with numerous engravings. By
P. B. Lxucarnas, Garden Architect.
CHORLTON'S GRAPE-GROWER'S GUIDE, i                 -     -     -         60
INTENDED  ESPECIALLY  FOR  THE AMERICAN  CLIMATE.   Being a
Practical Treatise on the Cultivation of the Grape Vine in each department of HoL
House, Cold Grapery, Retarding HIouse and Out-door Culture. With Plans for tie
Construction of the Requisite Buildings, and giving the best methods for Heating the
same. Every department being fully illustrated. By WILLIAM CHORLTON.
RORTON'S (JOHN P.) ELEMENTS OF SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE,   60
OR, THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SCIENCE AND THE ART OF PRACTICAL
Farming. Prize Essay of the New York State Agricultural Society. By JohN P.
NORTON, M.A., Professor of Scientific Agriculture in Yale College. Adapted to the
use of Schools.
JOHNSTON'S (J. F. W.) CATECHISM  OF AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY,            -.                    25
BY  JAMES F. W. JOHNSTON. M.A., F.R.SS.L. and  E., Honorary
Member of the Royal Agricultural Society ot England, and author of "Lectures on
Agricultural Chemistry and Geology." With an Introduction by JOHN PITKIN NORTON, M.A., late Professor of Scientific Agricultulre in Yale College. With notes and
additions by the author. prepared expressly for this edition, and an Appendix compiled
by the Superintendent of Education in Nova Scotia. Adapted to the use of Schools.
JOHNSTON'S (J. F. W.) ELEMENTS OF AGRICULIURAL CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY,    -.       1 00
With  a  Complete Analytical and Alphabetical Index  and an
American Preface. By Hon. SIMON BRowN, Editor of the "New England Farmer.'
JOHNSTON'S (JAMES F. W.) AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY,                       1 25
LECTURES ON THE APPLICATION OF CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY TO
Agriculture. New edition, with an Appendix, containing the Author's Experiments
in Practical Agriculture.
THE2 COMPLETE FARMER AND AMER1CAN GARDENER,                             1 25
RURAL ECONOMIST AND  NEW  AMIERICAN GARDENER; Containing
a Compendious Epitome of the most Important Branches of Agriculture and Rural
Economy; with Practical Directions on the Cultivation of Fruits and Vefetables, including Landscape and Ornamental Gardening. By TnoMAs G. FEssENDEN. 2 vols,
in one.
FESSENDEN'S (T. G.) AMERICAN KITCHEN  GARDENER, -                        50
CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES AND
Garden Frute. Cilth




Books Published by A. O. MOORE.                             5
SIASH'S (J. A.) PROGRESSIVE FARMER, -              -           -      g0 60
A  SCIENTIFIC TREATISE ON AGRICULTURAL  CHEMISTRY, TITE GEology of Agriculture, on Plants and Animals, Manures and Soils, applied to Practical
Agriculture; with a Catechism of Scientific and Practical Agriculture. By J. A. Nasn
BRECK'S BOOK OF FLOWERS, --                             -1 00
IN  WHICH ARE DESCRIBED ALL THE VARIOUS HARDY HERBACEOUS
Perennials, Annuals, Shrubs, Plants and Evergreen Trees, with Directions for their
Cultivation.
OIITH'S  (C. H. J.) LANDSCAPE GARDENING, PARKS AND PLEASURE
GROUNDS,                            -,                        1 25
WITH PRACTICAL NOTES ON COUNTRY RESIDENCES, VILLAS, PUBLIC
Parks and Gardens. By CHARLES H. J. SMITH, Landscape Gardener and Garden
Architect, &c. With Notes and Additions by LEWIS F. ALLEN, author of "Rural
Architecture."
ZHE COTTON PLANTER'S MANUAL,                                            1 00
BEING A COMPILATION OF1j FACTS FROM THE BEST AUTHORITIES ON
the Culture of Cotton, its Natural History, Chemical Analysis, Trade and Consumption,
and embracing a History of Cotton and the Cotton Gin. By J. A. TUriNER.
COBBETT'S AMERICAN GARDENER,                 -     -     -     -         50
A TREATISE ON THE SITUATION, SOIL., AND LAYING-OUT OF GARDENS,
and the making and managing of Hot-Beds and Green-Houses, and on the Propagation
and Cultivation of the several sorts of Vegetables, IIerbs, Fruits and Flowers.
ALLEN  (J. FISK) ON THE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE,    -                     I 00
A  PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTURE AND TREATIMENT OF THE
Grape Vine, embracing its History, with Directions for its Treatment in the Untited
States of' America, in the Open Air and under Glass Structures, with and without
Artificial Heat. By J. FIsK ALLEN.
ALLEN'S (R. L ) DISEASES OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS,                   -         75
BEING A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF TEE  otIORSE. MUIE, CATTLE,
Sheep, Swine, Poultry, and Farm Dogs, with Directions for their Management, Breed.
ing, Crossing, Rearing, Feeding, and Preparation for a Profitable Market; also, their
Diseases and Remedies, together with full Directions for the Management of the Dairy,
and the comparative Economy and Advantages of \ orking Animals, the Horse, Mule,
Oxen, &c. By R. L. ALLEN.
ALLEN'S (R. L.) AMERICAN FARM  BOOK,    -                -     -       1 00
TIHE AMERICAN FAR-M BOOK; or, a Compend of American Agriculture, being a Practical Treatise on Soils, Manures, Draining, Irrigation, Grasses, Grain,
Roots, Fruits, Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar Cane, Rice, and every Staple Product of the
United States; with the Best Methods of Planting, Cultivating and Preparation for
Market. Illustrated with more than 100 engravings. By tR. L. ALLEN.
ALLEN'S (L. F.) RURAL ARCHITECTURE;                   -     -          1 25
BEING A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF FARMI IOUSES, COTTAGES, AND
Out Buildings, comprising Wood Houses, Workshops, Tool Houses, Carriage and
Wagon Houses, Stables, Smoke and Ash Houses, Ice Itouses. Apiaries or Bee Houses,
Poultry Houses, Rabbitry, Dovecote, Piggery. Barns, and Sheds for Cattle, &c., &c.,
together with Lawns, Pleasure Grounds, and Parks; the Flower, Fruit, and Vegetable Garden; also useful and ornamental domestic Animals for the Country Resident,
&c., &c. Also, the best method of conducting water into Cattle Yards and houses.
Beautifully illustrated.
WVARING'S ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE;                         -     -       75
A  BoOK FOR YOUNG FARMErs, WITH  QUESTIONS FOR TEE USE OP
Schoola




6             Books Putbli.~hed  by  A. O. MOORE.
PARDEE (R. G.) ON STRAWBERRY CULTURE;.      -     $0 60
A  COMPLETE MANUAL FOR TIIE CULTIVATION OF THE STRAWBERRY;
with a description of the best varieties.
Also, notices of the Raspberry, Blackberry, Currant, Goosebe'y, and Grape; with
directions for their cultivation, and the selection of the best varieties. " Every process
here recommended has been proved, the plans of others tried, and the result is hers
given." With a valuable appendix, containing the observations and experienc oa
some of the most successful cultivators of these fruits in our country.
GUENON ON MILCH COWS;.-.                    GO
A TREATISE ON MIILCH Cows, whereby the Quality and Quantity of
Milk which any Cow will give may be accurately determined by observing Natul a'
MIarksor External Indications alone; the length of time she will continue to give
Milk, &c., &c. ByM. FRANcIs GtUENON, of Libourne, France. Translated by NilcIio
IA8S P. TRIsT, Esq.; with Inti oduction, Remarks, and Observations on the Cow and
the Dairy, by JOsHN S. SKINNER. Illustrated with numerous engravings. Neatiy
done up in paper covers, 37 cts.
AMERICAN POULTRY YARD;.                         1 00
COMPRISING THE ORIGIN, HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION Of the different
Breeds of Domestic Poultry, with complete directions for their Breeding, Crossing,
Rearing, Fattening, and Preparation for Market; including specific directions for
Caponizing Fowls, and for the Treatment of the Principal Diseases to which they rare
subject, drawn from authentic sources and personal observation. Illustrated wiih
numerous engravings. By D. J. BBOWNE.
BROWNE'S (D. JAY) FIELD BOOK OF MANURES;                        -       1 25
OR, AMERICAN MUCK BOO0K; Treating of the Nature, Properties,
Sources, History, and Operations of all the Principal Fertilizers and Manures in Common Use, with specific directions for their Preservation, and Application to the Soil
and to Crops; drawn from authentic sources, actual experience, and personal observation, as combined with the Leading Principles of Practical and Scientific AgricultureBy D. JAY BROWNE.
RANDALL'S (H. S.) SHEEP HUSBANDRY;                                      1 25
WITH  AN ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS, and general directions in regard to Summer and Winter Management, Breeding, and the Treatment of
Diseases, with Portraits and other Engravings. By HENRY S. RANDALL.
THE SHEPHERD'S OWN BOOK;                    -      -     -     -       2 00
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT BREEDS, DISEASES AND MANagement of Sheep, and General Directions in regard to Summer and Winter Managemrent, Breeding, and the Treatment of Diseases; with Illustrative Engrav!ngs, by
YOUATT & RANDALL; embracing Skinner's Notes on the Breed and Management of' heep in the United  tates, and on the Culture of Fine Wool.
YOUATT ON  SHEEP,.                         75
THEIR BREED, MANAGEMENT AND DISEASES, with Illustrative Engravings; to which are added Remarks on the Breeds and Management of Sheep in
the United States, and on the Culture of Fine Wool in Silesia. By WILLIAM YOUATT.
YOUATT AND MARTIN ON  CATTLE;.                              -       1 25
BEING A TREATISE ON THEIR BREEDS, MANAGEMENT, AND DISEASES,
comprising a full History of the Various Races; their Origin, Breeding, and Merits;
their capacity for Beef and Milk. By W. YOUATT and W. C. L. MARTIN. The whole
forming a Complete Guide for the Farmer, the Amateur, and the Veter.nary Surgeon,
with 100 Illustrations. Edited by AmBROSE rSTEVENS.
~OUATT ON THE HORSE;.              - 1                              I  5
YOUATT ON  THE STRUCTURE AND DISEASES OF TIIE [IORSE.   ith}
their Remedies. Also, Practical Rules for Buyers, Breeders, Smiths, &c. Edited by
W. 0. SPOONER, M.R.O V S. With an account of the Breeds in the United tates, by
]IIIXR S. RANDALk




Books Published by A. O. MOOgE.                             7
YOUATT AND MARTIN  ON THE HOG;                                        $0 75
A  T1REATISE ON TIlE BREEDS, MANAGEMENT, AND MEDICAL TREATment of Swine, with Directions for Salting Pork, and Curing lacon and Hams.  y
WM. YOUATT, V.S, and W. (0 L. MARTIN  Edited by ABasaosE STEVENS. Illustrated
with Engravings drawn from life
BLAKE'S (REV. JOHN  L.) FARIIBER  AT HOME;                              1.5
A  FAEMIL  TEXT Boo1300K FOR THE COUNTRY; being a Cyclopedia of
Agricultural Implements and Productions, and of the more important topics in I)omestic Economy,  cience, and Literature, adapted to Rural Life. ry Rev. JouN L
L, AE,x ) )D.
MUNN'S (B.) PRACTICAL LAND DRAINER;    -                         -       50
BEING A TREATISE ON DRAINING LAN-D, in whieh the most approved
systems of Drainage are explained, and their differences and comparative merits discussed; with full Directions for the Cutting and Making of Drains, with Remarks upon
the various materials of which they may be constructed. With many illustrations. I y
B. MUsN, Landscape Gardener.
ELLIOTT'S AMERICAN FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE IN ORCHARD
AND GARDEN; -...                     1 25
BEING A COMPEND OF THE HISTORY, MIODES OF PROPAGATION, CULuare, &ec, of Fruit Trees and Sh ubs, with descriptions of nearly all the varieties of
I ruits cultivated in this country; and Notes of their adaptation to localities, soils, and
a complete listof  ruits worthy of cultivation. ty F. R. ELLIOTT, Pomologist.
JRACTICAL FRUIT, FLOWER, AND KITCHEN GARDENER'S COMPANION;                                                             1 00
WITH A CALENDAR.  BY PATRICK NEILL, LL.D., F.R.S.E., Secretary of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society. Adapted to the United States
from the fourth edition, revised and improved by the author. Edited by G. EMEs.soN,
M D., Editor of "The American Farmer's Encyclopedia." With Notes and Additions
by R. G PARDEE, author of "Manual of the Strawberry Culture." With illustrations
STEPHENS' (HENRY) BOOK OF THE FARM;                      -     -       4 00
A  COMI'LETE GUIDE TO TIlE FARMER, STEWARD, PLOWMAN, CATtleman, Shepherd, Field Worker, and Dairy Maid. By HENRY STEPHENS. With Four
Hundred and Fifty Illustrations; to which are added Explanatory Notes, Remarks,
&c., by J. S. SKINNER. Really one of the best books a farmer can possess.
PEDDERS' (JAMES) FARMERS' LAND MEASURER; -                    -         50
OR, POCKET COMPANION; Showing at one view the Contents of any
Piece of Land from Dimensions taken in Yards. With a set of Useful Agriculturv
Tables.
WHITE'S tW. N.) GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH;                                1 t5
OR, THE KITCHEN AND FRUIT GARDtN, with the best methods for
their Cultivation; together with hints upon Landscape and Flower Gardening; con.
taining modes of culture and descriptions of the species and varieties of the Culinary
Vegetables, Fruit Trees, and Fruits, and a select list of Ornamental Trees and Plants
found by trial adapted to the States of the Union south of Pennsylvania, with Gardening Calendars for the same. By Wm. N. WHITE, of Athens, Georgia.
E&STWOOD (B.) ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE CRANBERRY;   50
WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE BEST VARIETIES.  BY B. EASTWOOD,
"Septimus" of the New York Tribune.
AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER'S MANUAL;                   -        -.       1 00
BEING A PRACTICAL  TREATISE ON THE HISTORY AND  DOMESTI (;
]Economy of the Honey Bee, embracing a full illustration of the whole subject,,with
the most approved methods of managing this Insect, through every branch of its
Cultu e; the resnult of many years' experience. Illustrated with many engravings
By T. B. MiNEX




8             Books PublisI/,cd  by  A. 0. MOORE.
THAER'S (ALBERT D.) AGRICULTURE                  -     -    -      $2 CO
TIE PRINCIPLES OF AGRICULTURE, by ALB RT D. TH SER; translated by WILLUA  SIIAW and CUTHIBERT W. JOHNSON, Esq., F.R.S. With a Memoir
of the Author. 1 vol. 8vo.
This work is regarded by those who are competent to judge as one of the most
beautifal works that has ever appeared on the subject of Agriculture. At the same
time that it is eminently practical, it is philosol hical, and, even to the general reader,
remarkably entertaining.
BOUSSINGAULT'S (J. B.) RURAL ECONOMY,                         -      1 25
IN ITS RELATIONS TO CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, AND METEOROLOGY:
or, Chemistry applied to Agriculture. By J. B. BOUssnGAurLT. Translated, with
notes, etc., by GEORGE LAW, Agriculturist.
" The work is the fruit of a long life of study and experiment, and its perusal will
aid the farmer greatly in obtaining a practical and scientific knowledge of his profes
sion.?'
MYSTERIES OF BEE-KEEPING EXPLAINED;  -    -    -                     1 00
BEING A COMPLETE ANALYSIS OF THE WVHOLE SUBJECT, COnSiSting
of the Natural IIistory of Bees; Directions for obtaining the greatest amount of Pure
Surplus Honey with the least possible expense; Remedies for losses given, and the
Science of Luck fully illustrated; the result of more than twenty years' experience in
extensive Apiaries. By M. QUINBY.
THE COTTAGE AND FARM BEE-KEEPER;                 -                     60
A PRACTICAL WORK, by a Country Curate.
WEEKS (JOHN M.) ON BEES.-A MANUAL;    -    -                 -         50
OR, AN EASY METHOD OF MANAGING BEES IN THE MOST PROFITABLE
manner to their owner; with infallible rules to prevent their destruction by the Moth.
Wit4 an appendix, by WOOSTER A. FLANDERS.
THE ROSE;   -    -    -    -    -                                      50
BEING A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE PROPAGATION, CULTIVATTON,
and Management of the Rose in all Seasons; with a list of Choice and Approved Varieties, adapted to the Climate of the United States; to which is added full directions for
the Treatment of the Dahiia. Illustrated by Engravings.
MOORE'S RURAL HAND BOOKS,    -                    -    -             1 2b
FIRST SERIES, containing Treatises onTHE ITORSE,          THE PESTS OF TIlE FARM,
THE HOG,             DOMESTIC FOWLS, and
THE HONEY BEE,       THE Cow,
SECOND SERIES, containing-..... 1 25
zVERY LADY HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER,   ESSAY ON MANURES,
XLEMENTS OF AGRBIULTURE,                AMERICAN KITC1IEN GARDENER,
6IRD FANCIZR,                          AMERICAN ROSE CULTUII8T.
THIRD SERIES, containing -                                      1 25
MILES ON THE HORSE's FOOT,     VINE DRESSER's MANUAL,
THE RABBIT FANCIER,            BEE-KEEE:R'S CHART,
WEEKS ON BEES,                 CHEMISTRY MADE EASY.
FOURTH SERIES, containing-                                      1 25
PERSOZ ON THE VINE,             HoOPER'S DOG AND GUN,
LIEBIG s FAMILIAR LETTERS,      SKILLFUL lIOu8SEWIFF,
BROWNE'S MEMOIRs OF INDIAN CORN.
RICHARDSON ON DCGS: THEIR ORIGIN AND VARIETIES.                        50
DIRECTIONS AS TO THEIR GENERAL MANAGEMENT.  WViih nlumerousl
orliinai anecdotes. Also, Complete Instructions as to Treatment under Disease. By
IT 9D. RICHARDSON. Illustrated with numerous wood engravings.
This is not only a cheap work, but one of the beat ever,published on the Dog




Books Published  by  A. O. MoolaE.                         9
LIEBIG'S (JUSTUS) FAMILIAR LECTURES ON CHEMISTRY,                    $0 50
AND ITS RELATION TO COMMERCE, PHYrSIOLOGY, AND AGRICULTURE.
Edited by JOHN GABDENEB, M.D.
BEMENT'S (C. N.) RABBIT FANCIER;.               50
A TREATISE ON THE BREEDING, REARING, FEEDING, AND GENERAL
Management of Rabbits, with remarks upon their diseases and remedies, to which are
added full directions for the construction of Hutches, Rabbitries, &c., together with
recipes for cooking and dressing for the Table. Beautifully illustrated.
THOMPSON (R. D.) ON THE FOOD OF ANIMALS                                  75
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHES ON THE FOOD OF ANIMALS AND TIHE
Fattening of Cattle; with remarks on the Food of Man. Based upon Experiments
undertaken by order of the British Government, by ROBERT DUNDAS THox'BON, M.D.,
Lecturer on Practical Chemistry, University of Glasgow.
THE WESTERN FRUIT BOOK;               -...             1 25
BEING A COMPEND OF THE HISTORY, MODES OF PROPAGATION, CULture, &c., of Fruit Trees and Shrubs, &c., &c. By F. R. ELLIOTT.
THE SKILLFUL HOUSEWIFE;  -..             50
OR COMPLETE GUIDE TO DOMESTIC COOKERY, TASTE, COMFORT, AND
Economy, embracing 659 recipes pertaining to Household Duties, the care of Health,
Gardening, Birds, Education of Children, &c., &c. By Mrs L. G. ABELL.
THE AMERICAN FLORIST'S GUIDE;..                       75
COMPRISING THE AMERICAN ROSE CULTURIST AND EVERY LADY HIEB
own Flower Gardener.
EVERY LADY HER 0 ON FLOWER GARDENER;.    50
ADDRESSED TO THE INDUSTRIOUS AND ECONOMICAL ONLY; conttaining
simple and practical Directions for Cultivating Plants and Flowers; also, Hints for the
Management of Flowers in Rooms, with brief Botanical Descriptions of Plants and
Flowers, The whole in plain and simple language. By LouIsA J OINSON.
FI311 CULTURE;..-       -     -         1 00
A TREATISE ON THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION  OF CERTAIN KINDS OF
Fish, with the description and habits of such kinds as are most suitable for pisciculture.
Also directions for the most successful methods of Angling, illustrated with numerous
engravings  By THEODATUs GARLICK, M.D., Vice President of Cleveland Academy
of Natural Science.
FLINT ON GRASSES;.                 1 25
A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON GRASSES AND FORAGE PLANTS, COMPRISing their natural history, comparative nutritive value, methods of cultivating, cutting,
and curing, and the management of grass lands. By CuAS. L FLINT, A.M., Secretary
of Mass. State Board of Agriculture.
WARDER ON HEDGES AND EVERGREENS;                                     1 00
A  MANUAL ON LIVE FENCES, WITH PARTICUIAR DIRECTIONS FOR THEIR
planting, culture and trimming, especially with regard to the Maclura hedges, and
how to make it. Also an essay on Evergreens, their varieties, propagation, transplanting and culture in the United States. By JouN A. WARDER, M.D., President of
Cincinnati Horticultural Society.




I G           -Books Published  by A. O. MooRE.
MOORE'S
~anb  Nooks  oDI ~hral anlb    lomen fit  (Conomg.
All arranged and adapted to the Use of American Farmer&.
PRICE 25 CENTS EACH.
HOGS;
TiEIR ORIGIN, VARIETIES AND MANAGEMENT, with a View to Profit, and Treatment under Disease: also Plain Directions relative to the most approved
rmodes of preserving their Flesh. By H. D. RIcHaRDsoN, author of "The Hive and the
Hloney Bee," &c., &c. With illustrations-12mo.
THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE;
WITH PLAIN DIRECTIONS FOR, OBTAINING A CONSIDERABrLE ANNUAL;income from this branch of Rural Economy; also an Account of the Diseases of Bees
%nd their Remedies, and Remarks as to their Enemies, and the best mo(le of protecting
the Hlves from their attacks. By H. D RICHARDSON. With illustrations.
DOMESTIC FOWLS;
TIHEIR  NATURAL  HISTORY, BREEDING, REARING, AND GENERAL
Mana;ment. By II. D. RPICHARDON, author of "The Natural History of the Fossil
Deer, ac. With illustrations
THE HORSE;
THEIR ORIGIN AND VARIETIES; WITH PLAIN DIRECTIONS AS TO THE
Breeding Rearing, and General Management, with Instructions as to the Treatment of
Disease. IHandsomely illustrated-12mo. By H. D. RICIARDSON.
THE ROS E;
T'IiE AMERICAN ROSE CULTURIST; being a Practical Treatise on the
Propagati n, Cultivation, and Management in all Seasons, &c. With full directions for
the Treat-nent of the Dahlia
THE PESTS OF THE FARM;
~WITH  INSTRUCIONS FOR THEIR EXTIRPATION; being a Manual of
Plain Dirctions for the certain Destruction of every description of Vermin. With
numerous llustrations on Wood.
AN ESSAY ON MANURES;
SUBMITTED TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE MIASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR
Promoting Agriculture, for their Premium. By SAMUEL H. DANe.
THE AMERICAN BIRD FANCIER;
CONSIDERED WITH REFERENCE TO THE BREEDING, REARING, FEEDing, Management, and Peculiarities of Cage and House Birds. Illustrated with Engravings. By D. JAY BRowNE.
CHEMISTRY MADE EASY;
FOR THE USE OF FARMERS.  By J. TOPHAM.
ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE;
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH, and Adapted to the use of American
Farmers. By F. G. G. 8INN.




Books Published  by  A. 0. O.           oJ.              11
THE HORSE'S FOOT AND HOW TO KEEP IT SOUND;
WITII CUTS, illustrating the Anatomy of the Foot, and contailnine
valuable hints on shoeing and stable management, both in health and disease. By WILLIAM MILES.
THE SKILLFUL HOUSEWIFE;
Or, Complete Guide to Domestic Cookery, Taste, Comfort, and Economy, embracing 659 recipes pertaining tollousehold Duties, the care of Healthll, Gas
dening, Birds, Education of Children, &c., &c. By Mrs. L. G. ABELL.
THE AMERICAN KITCHEN GARDENER;
CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR THE CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLECS tw11t
Garden Fruits. By T. G. FESSENDEN.
CHINESE SUGAR CANE AND SUGAR MAKING;
iTS HISTORY, CULTURE, AND ADAPTATION TO THE SOIL, CTI,1InMA-!E.
and Economy of the United States, with an account of various processes of Man ufacturing Sugar. Drawn from authentic sources by CHARLES F. STANSBURY, A.AM., late
Commissioner at the Exhibition of all Nations at London.
PERSOZ' CULTURE OF THE VINE;
A  NEW  PROCESS FOR THE CULTURE OF THE VINE, by PERSOz, Pro.
fessor to the Faculty of Sciences of Strasbourg; directing Professor of the Schoo
of Pharmacy of the same city. Translated by J. O'C. BARCLAY, Surgeon U. S. N.
THE BEE KEEPER'S CHART;
BEING A BRIEF PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE INSTINCT, HABITrS. and
Management of the Honey Bee, in all its various branches, the result of many years'
practical experience, whereby the author has been enabled to divest the subject of
much that has been consideed mysterious and difficult to overcome, and render it
more sure, profitable, and interesting to every one, than it has heretofore been. By
E. W. PUELPS.
EVERY LADY HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER;
ADDRESSED TO THE INDUSTRIOUS AND ECONOMICAL ONLY; COlitaliiilt
Simple and Practical Directions for Cultivating Plants and Flowers; also, Itints f(,r
the Management of Flowers in Rooms, with brief Botanical Descriptions of Plants and
Flowers. The whole in plain and simple language. By LoulsA JonNssoN.
THE COW; DAIRY HUSBANDRY AND CATTLE BREEDING.
By M. M. MILBURIN, and revised by H. D. RICHARDSON and AMBROSE
STEVENS. With Illustrations.
WILSON ON THE CULTURE OF FLAX;
ITS TREATMENT, AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL; delivered before
the New York State Agricultural Society, at the Annual Fair at Saratoga, in Septem.
ber last, by Joux WILsoN, late President of the Royal Agricultural College at Ciren
cester, England.
WEEKS ON BEES: A MANUAL.
OR, AN EASY  METHOD OF MANAGING BEES IN THE MOST PROFITAble manner to their owner, with infallible rules to prevent their destruction by the
Moth; with an Appendix by WOOSTER A. FLANDERS.
REEMELIN'S (CHAS.) VINE DRESSER'S MANUAL;
CONTAINING FULL INSTRUCTIONS as to LOCATION and SOIL; Preparatin of Ground; Selection and Propagation of Vin' s; the Treatment of a Young
Vineyard; trimming and training the vines; manures and the making of ~ ine. Every
department illustrated.
HYDE'S CHIN ESE SUGAR CANE;
CONTAINING ITSi HISTORY, MODE OF CULTURE, MANUFACTURE of the
Sugar, &c.; with Reports of its success in different parts of the United States.




Books Published  by  A. O. MooRE.
BEMENT'S (C. M.) RABBIT FANCIER;
A TREATISE ON TIIE BREEDING, REARING, FEEDING, AND GENERAL
Management of Rabbits, with remarks upon their diseases and remedies; to which
are added full directions for the construction of Hutches, Rabbitries, &c., together with
recipes for cooking and dressing for the table.
RICHARDSON ON DOGS: THEIR ORIGIN AND VARIETIES:
DIRECTIONS AS TO THEIR GENERAL MANAGEMENT.  With;umerie.m
original anecdotes. Also Complete Instructions as to Treatment under Disease. i;.
H. D. RICHARDSON. Illustrated with numerous wood engravings.
This is not only a cheap, but one of the best works ever published on the Dog.
LIEBIG'S (JUSTUS) FAMILIAR LETTERS ON CHEMISTRY;
AND  ITS RELATION TO COMMERCE, PHYSIOLOGY, and AGRICULTUI-TP
Edited by JoHN GARDENER, M.D.
THE DOG AJID GUN;
A FEW LOOSE CHAPTERS ON SHOOTING, among which will be found
some anecdotes and incidents. Also instructions for Dog Breaking, and interesting
letters frnm Sportsmen. BY A BAD SUOT.
THE PRESERVATION  OF FOOD;
THE VARTIOTS METHODS OF PRESERVING MEATS, FRUITS, VEGETABIES,
Milk, Butter. Graip, &c., by drying, smoking, pickling, and other processes. By F.
GOODRICH SIhrTTL.