mii Jjifpi' iiii iiiiii-- ii YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, INA SERIES OF LETTERS) WRITTEN IN GERMAN By The Baron RIESBECK, AND TRANSLATED BY The Rev. Mr. MAT Y, J,ATE SECRETARY TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY, AND UNOEK LIBKAKIAN TO THE BRITISH MVSEUM. VOL. II. LONDON: Printed for T. CADELL, in the Stranb. m dcc lxxxvii. I „ , .1. EflicTio. "J-W vvv r CONTE NTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. LETTER XXVIIL p. i. '^TIENNA-— -Imperial cabinet of medals., extremely valuable and curious Court Li brary T'he women and their drejfes defcribed-- Cicifoeat Droll account of a Cicijheo Com merce in a flourifhing fate, by being mofly in the hands of f rangers. LETTER XXIX. p. 14. Emprefs I'herefas death Extint and opulence qf Hungary, &c. Negled of cultivation, and ineffedlual method of threfhing corn-—De- a fcriptions C O N T E N i; S. fcriptions of the produSl'ions Inhabitants Croats. LETTER XXX. p. 27. StriSiures on Roujfeau's idea of a focial con- traSl True legiflators, lohence — PoUtical def potijm the offspring of fuperflition, &c. fefuits introduced Machiavelifm Hungarian taxes very heavy Degeneracy of the lower clafs of Auflrians Pernicious tendency of reUgious perfecutions in Hungary Proteflatits Priefls Caufe of emigrations, and reinedies propofed. LETTER XXXI. p. 47. Hungarian Hujfars Opprejfed flate of Auflrian foldiers Hungarians weU qualifled for a miUtary life, if properly educated ¦-Fur ther account of the Croats. LETTER XXXIIL p. 59. Hungarian exports and imports Mines Country and animals Count Eflerhazys caflle, its^ extraordinary elegance and niagniflcence Lake of Neufledkr Puppet-fljcw theatre. 3 LET- CONTENTS. LETTER XXXIV. p. 70. Auflria Inhabitants Country Cloflers Revenue Some account of 'Tyrol, Injpruck, Carinthia, &c.— -Population Dijeaje called the Goitre, whence it is Juppofed to arife Bigotry and Jenjuality of the inhabitants Windes, their flrange Juperflitious cuftom, and influence. LETTER XXXV. p. 84. Lifl ofthe population of fome of the Auflrian hereditary dominions Income of the houfe of Jbflria-^-Expenditures Revenues of feveral emperors-— Partition of T'urkey. L E T T E R XXXVI. p. 94. Outlines of the emperor s plan of reformation —jEra of arts and fciences precede their fall — Ufeful aSls ofthe emperor encourages ufeful employ nient s and manufa5tories makes roads, ¦builds villages, towns, and harbours, andjup^ ports an army of 300,000 men, LETTER XXXVIL p. 102. Great revolutions effeSled by the emperor—- a 2 Rc^l:,- CONTENTS. Regulations in the army Pains taken by him to throw more light upon the adminiflration of juflice, and render it more impartial--Criminal juflice in a mofl piteous condition Military Language of the courts of juflice. LETTER XXXVIII. p. i lo. ' State and cultivation of the country of Bo^ hemia Roads excellent Battle of Kolin fatal to ihe king of Prujfia Dejcription of the little town of Kolin Battle of Prague fuccefsful to him, but dearly bought, by the lofs of a great number of men, and the brave General Schwerin. LETTER XXXIX. p. 123. Climate of Bohemia Produce of the coun try Hatred of the Bohemians to the Germans Hufs and Hujfttes Dejcription of the Bohe mians Pcajaniry, their manner oJ life, and dijfipation cruelly opprejfed hy their maflers Excellent horjes. LETTER XL. p. 138. Prague fe'r^s there defcribed— Commerce and C O N T E. N T S. and manifoMures inconflderable in this city Literati— -Bohemian ecclefl aftic s, their way of Ufe The Riefengeberge hill. LETTER XLL p. 151. Erfzgibergepeak--Drefden Fortifications Account of the eleSiors impolitic conduSi, and the capture of his army The Green Vault, or private treafury. LETTER XLII. p. 162. Drefden mantfaSlures People commended for blending intelleSlual pieafures with fenfual Defcription of the theatres Army. LETTER XLIIL p. 173. Limited power of the eleSlor Bavaria and Saxony compared Religion — Italian Waljhes, their frugality and induflry Re^ markable anecdote of tbe eleSlor Variety of religions in Germany. LETTER XLIV. p. 186. ' Saxon induflry — Mines — Commendable qua Uties of the Saxons Population Granaries wanted CONTENTS. •wanted here Pitiable fltuation of the farmers Fifhing Women defcribed— -Leipfick — In habitants, their way of living, and amufe-' ments Poets. LETTER XLV. p. 199. Commerce and manufaSlures of Leipfick--'^ Fair inconflderable — Books Seeds of litera ture arid tafte firfl fown in Germany— -Lan guage Genius and arts. LETTER XLV- p. 207. Weimar and Gotha, fome account of them — ¦ CharaSier ofthe duke Wieland, a celebrated German writer Gothe, the duke s favourite, account of him Inhabitants of Gotha, their difpofition and manners Export Income Inhabitants. LETTER XLVI. p. 222. Origin of the Reformation JEneas Syl- vius—'Mayer — Italy and France, their in- difpofednefs to a reformation Depraved man ners of ths German clergy tended to produce a change CONTENTS. a change — Luther — Erafmus Catholics no lefs enlightened than proteflants Wherein the merit of reformers confifts — Lutherans. LETTER XLVII. p. 244. Wlttemberg — Berlin defcribed—^^Caufes of dearnefs of provifions in Saxony Government in general^ here, not myjlerious. LETTER XLVIII. p. 254. Poifdam King of Pruffta, remarks con cerning him Prufftan government State of Englijh and Priiffian farmers compared-— Agriculture Prufflan taxes Anecdote of Brenkenhofl'—Sh^ep Silk Traits ofthe king ef Prvjflds charaSler. , LETTER XLVIL p. 281. True principles of the excife and monopoly yet in Prujfta Influence of high taxes on the neceffaries of Ife T'reafury Prufftan ftate the richeft in Europe Jfifdom and happy efl^eSis of the Prufftan government. The Reader will obferve fome irregularities in the Numbers of the Letters, owing to the difFerent times at which they were tranflated, and other caufes ; —but the Letters them- Idves are placed right. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. LETTER XXVIII. Vienna. 'TH H E prefent court poflefles feveral valu- -*¦ able coUedtions, all of which are as much as poffible open to the public. The imperial cabinet of medals hath fcarce its equal in the world J there are twenty-two thoufjnd ancient coins; the modern coins are extremely valuable; hkewife^ very valuable, and to thofe who wifti to ftudy the hiftory of the middle ages, a very precious part of this coUedion, is, that which VOL.II. B confifts Z TRAVELS THROtyGH GERMANT. confifts of all thc coins and medals fromCharle- maine to this time. The thought was Charles the Vlth's, but the coUeftion owes its exiftence to the emperor Francis, who laid out great fums upon it. I fay nothing to you of the feveral other rich colleftions of natural hiftory, mathe matical inftruments, &c. &c. but, ' that like every thing the court pofTefles, they are open to every body, without the leaft trouble. But the library is one of the moft precious in the world. It confifts of more than three hundred thoufand volumes, twelve thoufand of which are valuable manufcripts. The building in which they are preferved is one of the handfomeft in the town. It is open every morning till twelve o'clock, for all perfons who choofe to come. They are furniftied with tables, chairs, pen, ink, and paper; a fecretary looks in the catalogue for the books wanted, which are immediately taken down from the {helves by fome livery fervants belonging to the court. There are fires in the room all the winter. None of the fervants are allowed to take any thing. V^''hen once you are acquainted with tlie librarians, one of whom is always in a room adjoining, it is not fo difficult to obtain prohibited books as has been pretended. Mr. Pilati, indeed, inhis travels, fays, that you cannot have a good book without TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. ^ without the arehbiftiop's perhiiffion ; but I my felf read the Hiftory of the Council of Trent, and all Machiavel's works through, without any leave. Exclufive of the court library, there are fe veral other public places where people may read. The bookfeller Trattnern once took it into his head to have a learned cofFee-houfe in his great palace. He promifed to provide the fubfcribers with all the newlpapers, periodical publications, and pamphlets, in all the liv ing languages. If this projedt had been pro perly followed, it might have proved the foun dation of an academy, or learned fociety; but the fubfcribers foon faw that Trattnern had no view but what regarded his own pocket. This Mr. Trattnern compels the profeffors to fell him their manufcripts, and pays them not a far thing fbr them. He conceives himfelf to have this privilege as bookfeller to the court, and exercifes an intolerable tyranny over all the bookfellers and literati of the place. Notwith ftanding the high tone he affedls, he does not fcruple to defcend to the loweft meanneffes. He prints over again, with the imperial privi lege, works which have been already printed , with this privilege in the other parts of Ger many. They fay he has perfuaded the Emprefs, B 2 that 4 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. that let a book be ever fo fuccefsful, the book feller gets nothing by it, if he pays the expence of printing; fo that befide giving him the copy, ftie often pays the whole expence of printing the books lhe takes an intereft in; but though Trattnern fiatters her foibles in many re fpefts, there is not a perfon in Vienna who dif- obeys her orders more ftrenuoufly. If you will pay him enough for them, he will procure you all prohibited books, even the moft fcandalous ; and thefe are the only books which the gene rality care for ; for it is not as^ with us, where you meet with Montejquieu's Sprit of Laws, Voltaire's 'Univerfal Hiftory, and Rouffeau's Social Contrail, in the hands of people who make no pretences to literature. Here are many literati wlio know nothing of thefe, and the like books, which they leave entirely to the higher nobility, and fome of the officers. What fucceeds moft here is buffoonery, and even the bettermoft part of the reading public, is fatisfied with plays, romances, and fairy-tales. I know a dozen young men of letters, as thefe creatures here call themfelves, who have read nothing fince they came from fchool, but German and French poets. I was once tempted to go round the table of the public library to fee what the read ers were employed in; two or diree out of about ^ four TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 5 four and twenty were reading ancient writers, one was readiAg Sully's Memoirs, and alf the reft had either romances, or were looking over fuch books as the Mufeum Floretitinum, and the defcriptions of the Antiquities at Herculaneum, for the fake of the prints. I muft, however, make one obfervation in honour of the Hungarians ; thefe generally call for the feveral hiftorians of their own country, and they appeared to me to read them with an animation that befpoke the freedom of their government. May it not .be owing to this difference of govemment, that the Hungarians, as I have generally obferved, have more patriotifm, and confequently care more for the hiftory of their native country than the Aufb-ians do .' I have not found one of all the latter, who had i. tafte for any fuch thing. After what I have been faying, it is not ex traordinary that the focieties of this country fhould be as dead as they are. The fubjedt of the theatre is foon exhaufted, after which there is nothing left, but the news of the day, and trifling obfervations It is only the women who keep up the converfation at all,; thefe have infinitely more wit, vivacity, and knowledge of all kinds of things, than the men. In feveral houfes I was in, die men had nothing to fay after the firft quarter of an hour, but their wives p ^ and 6 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, and daughters kept up the converfation with great chearfulnefs. It is very true, that their fund confifts only of the news of the day, but the news gives rife to remarks, and remarks give rife to obfervations and debates that often prove very interefting ; with the men there is not even this refource, for they are too ftupid «V€n for this. The women of this place are handfome and well made, but they have no colour, and their faces are not interefting. They are eafy and lively in their motions, their gait, and their fpeech. , They are more compofed, more determined, and more manly than the French women, but not fo heroic as the Englifti. I cannot ^ve you a better idea of them, than. by telling you they are between French and Englifh. There are no great beauties here, nor any very ugly wo men. They 'have not yet imitated our country women in their winter-drefs, which continues to be of Polanaifes, trimmed with very expenfive furs, which reach down to the feet. As thefe drefi;es have no high pockets, are open at the breaft, and fall eafily about the lower part of the body, they are favourable to the fhape, and remind us of the Greek fimplicity. A tinge of fuperftition, peculiar to the women of tliis plac€, is united to great fenfibility of heart, and ra-* ther TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. ^ ther tends to increafe, than to reprefs love, friendfhip, and benevolence. Moore has made fome good obfervations upon this fubjeft, but nothing gives a better idea of the thing, than feeing a lady befpeak maffes in a convent, and give alms, with a wifh that God may recover her fick Cicifbeo^ The Cicijbeat is upon the fame footing here as in Italy ; it fubfifts amongft the great as a mode that has been once eftablifhed ; the poor take it up as a matter of trade ; and it is only amongft the merchants and manufafturers that you meet with any inftances of jealoufy. I can not forbear giving you a droll inftance of the effefts of this, which took place fome years ago. A man of faftiion having been rather too fre quent in his vifits to a rich tradefman's wife ; the hufband, who was difpleafed with the inter courfe, took the following method of putting a ftop to it : one morning, when he knew the lovers were together, he ordered all his fervants to be in waiting with flambeaux on the ftairs ; he then ftepped into the room, and told his excel lency, that his fervants were come to light him home; the other was exceedingly furprifed, but affefted not to underftand him ; upon which the merchant immediately took him by the arm, and led tim very ceremonrotifl'y down ftairs; here 3 4 the 8 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. the fervants, armed With their flambeaux, fur rounded him on all fides, and led him into the middle of the ftreet in broad day light; the tradefman in the mean time (landing upon the fteps of his houfe making bow upon bow, and under the pretence of recommending himfelf to the nobleman's cuftom, fhouting out his name as loud as he could. You feldpm hear of any extraordinary in ftances of impropriety and indecency in this place. Confidering the ftate of the country, it is not extraordinary, that a tafte for pleafure fhould be fo prevalent as it is, it having certainly- more food here than any where elfe. The num ber of poor is much fmaller than at Paris, and, probably, than at London. Every thing, even the clothing of the loweft fervant-maid, befpeaks a great degree of affluence , The prodigality of the higher nobility, the many, and great appoint ments paid by the court, and the extenfive com merce of the middhng claflTes, greatly aflHls the circulation of money. The conftant circula tion of the town is eftimated at twelve million of imperial guilders, or i2,oool. fterling. The expence of living is likewife lefs than it is any where elfe, and Vienna is probably the only town, in which the price of the neceflaries of life is not ecjual to the quantity of gold in circulation. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 9 circulation. This arifes from the great want of money in the neighbouring Hungary. You have good wine here for three kreutzers the bottle, and a very good dinner for twelve. I know a traiteur, who, for thirteen fois ahead, furnifhes a table d'hote, confifting of vegetables, broiled meat, a pudding, or roafted calf's-liver, and beef; the bread and a gill of wine are included : in a word, the man with xht forty crowns might live here very well, but if he has more, he will certainly be tempted to fpend it. The more nature gives, thc more neceffities men make to themfelves, and fhe is fo profufe here, that they of courfe become fo too. The infinite number of richly penfioned dependants of the court, the numerpvs nobility, and the many ftrangers who come here only for amufement, know no other pleafure, than to follow it wherefoever it leads. Riches, idlenefs, and the liberality of nature, muft render a people diffipated, whofe religion is the oppofite to frugality, and whofe governors cannot give their fpirits any other occupation. The commerce of this country is now ex tremely flourifhing; but it was a loig time be fore the Auftrians knew how to enjoy the ad vantages which nature had provided them wiUi. Notwithftanding they were mafters of one of j:he largeft rivers in the world, .which Carries |hips upwards of feventy German rnile^ before it IO TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. it comes to them, and afterwards opens them a way into the Levant and Black Sea ; there was no fpirit of trade among them till tbe laft Em peror's time. It is true, Charles the Sixth had done what he could to promote this fpirit throughout the whole of his dominions, but though his attempts had been fuccefsful in other places, he met with a difappointment in thc dutchy of Auftria and the capital, for the no bility of thefe places ftill confidered merchants as a kind of brute beafts ; and the jefuits kept the proteftants, who, in the fequel, did moft for induftry, either entirely at a diftance, or were fure to crufti them, when they found means to creep in. The court, in fhort, contrafted many debts, and its credit grew too weak, to afford any fubftantial fupport to thofe who needed its affiftance. The Emperor Francis, having re ftored the finances, was himfelf a merchant, and by degrees the nobility began to look upon the induftrious merchant with a fomewhat lefs degree of contempt. Still, however, a great deal was referved for the prefent Emperor, whofe popularity, and averfion to old prejudices, are in no inftance more confpicuous than in this. He introduces ingenious artifts and mer chants into the firft focieties. It is true, indeed that thofe who think all merit confifts in birth and TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. II and external appearance, negleft nothing to make the plebeian feel he is out of his element ; but a word from the monarch fets all to rights, and the more the nobleffe difturb themfelves, the more Jofeph is fure to take opportunities of humbling their pride. Some years ago, when he was at Prague, he came into a large com pany, leading a citizen's wife by the hand ; all the ladies immediately began to ftare, but he took no farthernoticeof it, than by going down with her the only dance he danced.. After all, commerce would not be very flou rifhing, had not the clogs it was under, when the monarch's confeffor was the direftor of all thc departments in the ftate, been taken off, arid were it not moftly in the hand of ftrangers. The facility with which fo many foreign fa milies make large fortunes, is a public and ftriking inftance of how much they furpafs the natives in aftivity and underftanding. Thc baron de Fries, the court banker, a Mhulhauje by birth, who had no capital, has become, in an incredible fhort time, one of the firft bankers in Europe. He is worth at leaft four milhons of guilders. Moft of the principal manufac^ turers and merchants come from Suabia, Fran-? conia. Saxony, and other parts of Germany, The citizens of Nurenberg, Augflaurg, Ulm, Liadaw, 12 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY'. Lindaw, and other cities, met here with a re fuge from the tyranny, which every day more and more obtains in their own countrips. Mdt of them have made their fortunes by good fenfe, induftry, and efpecially by that frugality which fo eflfentially diftinguiflies them from the na tives. There is no doubt, but that the ftrangers, and efpecially tbe proteftants, will likewife make a flourifhing place pf Triefte. With all this, however, trade is ftill far below what it might be ; but it makes great ftrides every day. It is faid, there are already above a hundred filk weavers looms in the place. There are alfo plufh and cotton manufaftures, and foreign trade is carried on with Auflrian and Hungarian wines, Bohemian and Moravian linens (which go by Triefte into Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey), wrought and unwrought iron, fteel' and copper, leather, china, and other articles ; thefe produce feveral millions. All this the government protefts fo heartily, that it has always a fund ready for the encouragement of the enterprizing ^nd difcrete projeftpr. This fund it lends out without intereft, for five, fix, or even ten years, after which it receives intereft gradually from one to two or three per cent. From thefe beginnings great advantages are, JIO 4oubt, to be expefted in the next generation, when. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I^ when, inftead of being proud of their debts, the nobility fhall deign to be in company with a rich trader, and, inftead of reafoning on a bill of fare, will converfe with him on the profits of the year ; but education muft firft be thoroughly reformed, for whilft it is trufted to French abbes and chambermaids, all that is done for trade is but patch-work. There is bad news about town ; a few days ago the Emprefs returned indifpofed from a country expedition, and this indifpofition is now beqome a ferious diforder. The phyficians fear an inflammation in the lungs, which from the frequent changes of the weather, is the common illnefs of this place. I hope to begin my next letter in better fpirits than I finifh this. Fare thee well. LETTER 14 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. LETTER XXIX. Vienna. IT is paft, and the great Therefa, v.ho, with all her weakneflfes, was one of the greateft monarchs that ever fat on the throne, is no morc. —I will fay nothing to you of the grief of her fubjefts, nor of the pompoufnefs of the funeral, nor of the mighty attendance that followed her to her grave ; all thefe you will fee in the public prints. It was well known that, either from the weaknefs natural to old people, or the ap prehenfion that her fucceffor might make in novations fhe difapproved, fhe had long looked upon death with fome kind of fear and ter ror. This made her wifh to avoid it, as it drew near ; but when fhe found this impoffible, reli gion fliewed itfelf in its fiill luftre, and, though conquered, the Emprefs was ftill the heroine. She converfed for feveral hours together with her fon, and employed her cares about her fa mily. To the laft inftant flie was the beft of mothers. The fucceflor, on his part, though at the time of life when all the paffions are at the higheft, and though he felt himfelf on the eve not only of poflTefling a large empire, but of being free from the controul he had hitherto mct TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 5 met with in his moft favourite projefts, was in. this moment only a fon. He forgot every thing ^Ife, and could only weep for a mother, with the value of whofe heart he was ac quainted. The femily affeftion that obtains in die im perial houfe is very remarkable. I muft lay before you fome paffages that fet this amiable ¦princefs's charafter in a very ftrong point of view. — No ftranger to the pieafures of virtuous iove, fhe wifhed her children to enjoy them, but would have them enjoy them in the bounds impofed by virtue and religion. With, thefe vi«ws fhe had given a free confent to her daugh ter's marriage with a portioned prince of the houfe of Saxony, though contrary to the Em peror's inclination, who was afraid of the im perial houfe being burthened with too many dependants. Upon the farne principle, when her fon Maximilian was made coadjutor of the Teutonic order, and in confequence obliged to take a vow of chaftity, fhe obtained a difpenfa tion for him from the pope, in cafe he fhould ever choofe to leave the order and mat^ry. Nor was it her fault that her other two daughters were not .married, as nothing would have made her fo happy as to fee herfelf furrounded with a numerous train of grand-children. Another trait l6 TRAVELS THROUGH GfiRMANV- trait o( the fame kind was her retaining the truly maternal love of her children, however elevat ed or however diftant they were from her. As a proof of this, flie would frequently write both to the Quetns of France and Naples, letters not only filled with the beft of advice, but when there was occafion for them, with the tendereft mo therly reproofs. She would often reprove the Emperor in company for trifles, after he had come to the imperial crown. This authority, however, which flie preferved over all her chil dren to the laft inftant of her hfe, was fo tem pered with true affeftion, that it difpleafed none of thofe over whom it was exercifed. Her happieft hours ufed to be thofe in which fhe received letters from the courts of Verfailles, Parma, Naples, and Milan. Then fhe would fhut herfelf up in her clofet, with her moft in timate friends, and pour into their bofoms the pleafure of being the mother of fo fine an off spring. The archduke governor of Milan, and the duke of Saxe Tefchen, whom the Emperor is wont to call his very dear relations, will feel her lofs very feverely, as they cannot but fuffer from the oeconomy which the Emperor is fo ri gid a mafter of even towards himfelf. Since TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I7 Since the Emprefs's death is known, you may obferve a wonderful change in the faces and aftions of the priefts and court attendants. The prelates, who a few days fince rode overthe bellies ofthe people in the ftreets, now fneak about chop- fallen, and the courtiers feem to be buried in thought how to pay their debts. But before I indulge myfelf in conjeftures on what is to come, I will lay before you the prefentftate of the country as the Emprefs left it. The houfe of Habpfburg Loraine, now ranks as one of the greateft powers in Europe ; the only rivals of its greatnefs are Ruffia, France, and Great Britain ; but at the beginning of this century, and till the time it belonged to the late "Emprefs, it was one of the middling powers of Europe, and it required all the ftrength of England, and all the money of Holland, to fup port it, whenever it attempted to take any great part in bufinefs. Even at the time when the fun did not fet in its dominions, it was not as formidable as it is now : at length the lofs of fo many kingdoms and provinces taught it, that the ftrength of a ftate does not fo much confift in the quantity of its internal power, as in the ufes it is able to make of it. A great man, who ferved it at a time when it was ftill in pof feffion of Alfatia, Naples, Sicily, and feveral VOL. ir. C other 1 8 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. other countries, compared it to a pyramid, which ftands upon its point, and totters by the weaknefs of its principal part. The pyramid is now fomething lighter, but it ftands, as nature intended it ffiould, on its own proper founda tions, firm and unfhaken. If all the Auflrian dominions lay together, they would contain a larger extent of country than France. Hungary, with Tranfylvania, Croatia, Sclavonia, Temefwar, and part of Dalmatia, contains 4760 fquare miles j Bo hemia 900, Moravia, with partof Silefia, 430 j the circle of Auftria, Styria, and the Duke dom, with Carynthia, the Ukraine, the coun try belonging to Auftria in Suabia, the Earl dom of Falkenftein, the newly acquired part of Bavaria, and part of Fri oui, 2200 j the Ne therlands, 5005 the poffeffions of Lombardy, 200 ; the kingdoms of Galicia and Lodo- meria, together with Buckovina, which has been taken from the Turks, 1400 j in all 10,360 fquare miles; whereas, France hardly contains 10,000. You will fay, the difference is not very great— it is not ; but when the ex pefted junftions of Tufcany, and the Modenefe are made, it will be worth attending to. As to natural bleffings, they have been beftowed ftill more plentifully here than in France j for there TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 9 there are no luxuries to be met with in the latter which fome countries belonging to the Emperor do, or may not produce, wine, oil, and filk not excepted ; and as to matters of printie neceffity, fuch as corn and cattle, they would be .able to furnifh half France with them, after providing their own people. The feveral ores too, which are found in the hills round Hungary, in the Tyrol, Carinthia, Carniola, and Styria, are of as much profit to the coun try, as thofe of Portuguefe and Spanifh Ame rica to their poffeffors j fo that if there was dnly fuch a fea coaft as ours, and the country was improved to what it might be, no doubt it would be a fourth richer than France ; but our fortunate fituation, the waters we com mand on all fides, and the navigable rivers, which carry out our exports from the moft remote parts of the country, give an advantage which is not to be difputed. Hungary is, without doubt, the richeft. part of the Auflrian dominions ; — it not only pof feffes every thing that is produced in the other countries, but feeds them with iti overflow, and excels them as much in the quality, as in the quantity of what it produces ; but here we have great occafion to obferve the truth of that axiom, that the more nature does for man, the c a lefs 20 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. lefs he commonly does for himfelf. The inha bitant of the Swifs mountains cxtrafts his fuf tenance from his nakednefs, and has changed wilderneffes into cultivated and inhabited lands ; the Hollander has turned the muddy fands of the Rhine and Maefe, what the fea is conftantly difputing with him, into a garden, whilft the excellent grounds in Hungary ftill lie wafte. I believe, that at Vienna, they think that the plenty Hungary is able to ex port, is owing to its own population ; but it is not fo ; for werc it three times as much peopled as it is, it would export in much greater plenty ftill, if the cultivation was what it is in the greateft part of Suabia. As things now are, not only a great part of this fruitful land is imcultivated, but even that which is cultivated is not turned to near the advantage it might. In this country they know nothing of artificial culti vation, fuch as dunging in a cheap way, the mixture of different earths, and the ufe of chalky clay to manure, though parts of the country produce this laft commodity in greac abundance. They fuffer, at leaft more than half the ground there is need for, to lay fal low. Their common way of threfliing, is by driving oxen over the corn, by which half of it is left for ftraw. When you are travelling through TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 21 through this country, you think yourfelf going over a wild, though you are in faft upon a bottom, which with very little trouble would produce fifty, fixty, or even one hundred fold. The roads are of an immenfe breadth, and the fields adjoining them of fo little value,, that the poftilions drive through them, without the leaft ceremony, whenever a little mud or rain in the highway reminds them of its being more convenient. The inhabitants excufe their bad farming by the little value which grain bears, and fay, that if their harvefts were ten times greater, they fhould gain nothing by them. There may be fome truth in this, but the fault is certainly owing originally to a had govern ment. The value of grain would undoubtedly increafe, with an increafed population, and if the farmer had fufficient encouragement, the land might be put to other ufes, befides the growing of grain. They already grow agreat deal of tobacco, faffron, and other valuable articles ; but there are numberlefs other? which might be produced, if, what you will fcarce believe, government did not rather feek to dif courage, than promote agriculture. The exportation pf the Hungarian wines, one of tl^e richeft produfts of the country, and c 3 which. 22 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. which, if it were free, would foon ruin the fale of the French wines in the North, is clogged with innumerable obftruftions. Thefe the le- giflature impofes under the idea, that if once they did not exift, the trade of the Auftrian wines would be ruined. The difcouragement in confeqy^ence has been carried to fuch a height, that not long fince there exifted a law, that no quantity of Hungarian wine fhould be exported without exporting fo much Auftrian wine with it. This, no doubt, fu its the Auf trian nobility who have eftates with vines upon them ; but it is feeding the little finger at the expence ofthe whole body; for, as none but thofe who can afford to pay exorbitantly for their drink will buy the Auftrian wines, the confequence is, that, except a few of the rich nobility, France fupplies all the North, which otherwife would take its wine from Hungary. Nor does the evil end here: the Hungarian peafant, who is oppreffed by his lord, feeks to drown his forrow in the cup, which he either makes himfelf, or can buy in moft places for two, three, or four creutzer the bottle. The confequence of this is, that men who in their youth are plump, ruddy, and feemingly built for ever, grow pale, emaciated, and dwarfifli, and begin to droop after thirty, fo thaf the TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 23 the population is already much diminifhed, and would grow lefs and lefs, if it were not for the acceffion of foreigners. It is partly owing to this, and partly to the want of education, that many trafts of the country have the exaft ap pearance of American lands, and, were it not that you fee no fcalps or enemies fkulls to drink out of, you would often think yourfelf in company with fo many Cherokees. The tax on Hungarian tobacco, when exported, is no lefs hurtful to the agriculture of this country. Certainly the farmers of this part of the revenue in the Auftrian dominions ought to have it in command to import fuch a proportion of Hun garian tobacco, with all they import from other places. There is no country in the world which has a greater variety of inhabitants than Hungary. The ancient poffeffors of the country were partly Tartars, and partly Sclavonians. Amongft the former we may reckon the Hungarians, now properly fo called, the Cumanians, the Seders and the Yatfigers. Their manners and appearance plainly fhew that they are of kin to the Calmucks, and defcendants of the old Scythians, Their deep eyes, angular cheek bones, and yellow flrins, diftinguifli them from the Sclavonians, who befides are whiter. 24 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. more flefhy, and ftouter built. There are fe veral parts of the country in which both the races are continued pure and unmixed. The Sclavonians confift of Croats, Bohemians (who originally are a branch of the Croats), Servians, Ruffians, and Wenden Polackers. There are befides German colonifts, but if they choofe to poffefs lands, they muft buy their nobility for 2000 ducats, which make about 22000 livres. Befides all thefe, there are Walachians, Bulga rians, Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Gypfies, which laft are the richeft of all thefe foreigners. All thefe people, a few of the German co lonifts only, and the higher nobility, which is modelled after the fafliion of the court of Vi enna, excepted, are ftill in a barbarous ftate. Indeed it muft be owned that the court in ftead of fucceeding in improving them, as ic has done the reft of its fubjefts, has rather done them harm than good, by the attempts it has made for the purpofe. Whilft they were left to themfelves, they were wariike, and, like all the children of nature, whom a falfe policy has not fpoiled, open-hearted, hofpitable, frank, and fteady to their promifes. An old officer, who fpent his youth among the Croats, has affured me, that they are not to be known fince they TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 25 they have been difciplined j for, inftead of be ing a trufty, fpirited, and generous foldiery, they are become a band of treacherous, trick ing, cowardly robbers. ' I had much rather,' faid he, ' have had to do with them when they ' were entirely undifciplined, and under the * influence only of their own laws and cuftoms. ' It is true they plundered both friend and foe ' when we went into the field, and committed * every kind of depredation in the towns where * they were quartered j but thefe were the * workings of a ftrong fenfual appetite, which ' did not prevent their being of the greateff * fervice. They ufed to take the moft dange- * rous out-pofts, in the very teeth of the ene- * my — never deferted — would follow' their * officers with the utmoft fidelity through any * dangers-^could faft many days without mak- * ing any complaints, and provided you left * them what they had ftolen, which they did * not affeft to conceal, were indefatigable on * a day of battle. The alteration which dif- ^ cipline has effefted in them is, that they, in- * deed, fteai no longer openly, but they fteal * fecretly, and fteal from each other whenever * they can ; they have learned the methods of * concealing their thefts, and are always mak- * ing cabals againft their officers , and though f become 26 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. * become too cowardly to defert when there * is any danger attending defertion, they are * fure to do it whenever they can with fafety. * They grumble whenever they are kept two * days embodied in the field, and never put on * their uniform without curfing it. They look * upon their overfeers as their enemies, and * hate them. Formerly it was an unheard of * thing, for a Croat to go over to the Turks, * but now they join them to the number of ' 20 and 30, and plunder their native country. * The fame thing is true with regard to the * Sclavonians ; and even the reft have been » rather hurt than bettered by regulations not * adapted to their circumftanees,' What this gentleman faid from experience is conformable to true philofophy ; for it is only by religion that you can ever be fuccefs- iiil in civilizing a barbarian. Any other at tempt, any reftriftion which tends to cure him of his vices, without fhewing him the ad vantage of virtue to himfelf, only makes a motley compofition of the faults of the two ftates. LETTER TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. Z"] LETTER XXX. Vienna; NO doubt but there is much illufion in Rouffeau's idea of a focial contraft. Fate, which plays fo many other games with us, throws us into fome peculiar fociety, by which we are fettered before we have time to think of a contraft. Accident, and iron heart ed neceffity, have been the true legiflators, of all the monarchies, ariftocracies, democra cies, and their numerous fubdivifions, that ever exifted in the world. It , is likewife certain, that upon the whole, we find ourfelves better under the direftion of capricious fortune, than if we had fet down originally to bind and con- neft each other in eternal chains. The will of the ftrongeft ftill remains the ultimate decider of all difficulties, and whatever covenants there might' have been, it muft have been fo, as often as the ftrongeft fhould have felt his weight, or his intereft fhould have come in compe tition with that of others. It is neverthelefs true, that in thefe various gallies to which we are chained, the good of the whole cannot be better promoted, than when the will of the whole, or at leaft of the majority. gS TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. majority, are direfted according to the plumb- line of legiflation, and of focial contraft. No Sultan has any thing to fear from this partici pation of his power, though he fhould divide it with all his fubjefts, from his Grand Vizier, to the loweft flave under him. The fovereign, whether he has one head, or a hundred, can not promote his own intereft more effeftually, than by confidering his fupreme will as the re fult of the enlightened wills of all, or thc greater part of his fubjefts. A real oppofi tion between the interefts ofthe governor and his fubjefts never exifts, when it feems to do fo, it is only the cofenage of accident. All hiftory is full of this truth, the attendon to which, will effeftually fecure the people from tyranny, even when the private charafter of the fovereign is a cruel one. The prince can never be more fecure from murder, treachery, and rebellion, than when he has convinced his fubjefts that their interefts is the rule of his legiflation, and it muft be fo, if he will not hurt himfelf. Intereft is the moft facred band among men, and their happinefs depends upon knowing what it truly is. The misfortunes of men, have been always more owin 3 C athol icj 38 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. Catholic, it was natural to expeft' that the Roman Catholic religion would be the efta bliflied one of the ftate. With this no fen fible man would have been offended ; — but to take away three hundred ch irches from the Proteftants, while the Jews had the power of building as many fynagogues as they pleafed; — to force Proteftants to go twelve miles to church, whilft many Catholic churches wftere tenanted by rats and mice only ; — to take away the Proteftant fchools, and yet to allow the parents to fend their children abroad for educa tion ; — to be eager after improvement in agri culture and induftry, and yet rather fee the land inhabited by Calmucks and Gypfies, than by laborious and moral Proteftants ; — to treat thefe worfe, in fliort, in every refpeft than the Turks or Jews, this certainly was pulling down with one hand, what the court was en deavouring to rear with another ; it was de- ftroying the national charafter, without improv ing the external circumftanees of the people. It is now well knov;n, and the example of the Englilh fully proves it, that the Only w.iy out of barbarifm, is through real religion. Judge then what it muft be to tread this road backwards, and to fubftitute the fuperftitious fpirit of monkery, for the mild and induftrious fpirit of pro- TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY.' 39 proteftantifm. And yet the Auftrian govern ment has done this, and it has done it, at the Very time when it was endeavouring to curb the power of the priefts in the other parts of its dominions, and forming fuch eftablilhments of education, as muft fooner or later lead to Proteftant principles. The Proteftants in Hungary are, it muft be confeffed, far behind their brethren in other countries, in induftry and knowledge, and yet, notwithftanding this, and that they are only one fourth of the inhabitants of Hungary, they pay half the taxes,' and are ftill much richer than their Catholic or Greek brethren. A ftriking fign, fure, if ever a ftriking fign there was, how much their religion correfponds with the good of the whole, and how little the court knows of its own intereft. What the court has moft hurt itfelf by, is its treatment of the Greeks, who form fo large a part of the in habitants of this country. Inftead of rendering the priefts of thefe femi-barbarians ufeful paf tors, and thus enabling them to civilize their countrymen, and make them good members of fociety, all they have been folicitous about has been, now and then to convert an ambitious, or avaricious prelate, to the eftablifhed church. The fwarms which generally followed thefe D 4 deferters. 40 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY.' deferters, commonly changed nothing but their name. From being Greek barbarians they became Catholic barbarians, or, as a refpeft- able Auftrian officer faid, it was only adding another mark to the forehead of the fwine. In the mean time, the court troubled itfelf very little with the education of the Catholic, and united priefthood, and ftill lefs with that of the non-united, things which it is fo much the inte reft of the legiflature to attend to, as the fureft means of improving the agriculture of the country, and promoting its exports. The Greek priefts in Hungary, and Illyria, are exaftly in the fame ftate as the Roman Ca tholic priefts were, in the time of Charlemagne that great man, who laid the firft grounds of national improvement in religion, and began his work with the priefthood. I doubt much, whether moft of them can write and read, but I am fure they cannot reckon beyond three or four, without the help of their fingers, and kriow not the ufe of the pocket handkerchief. One of thefe fhepherds of fouls, a Macedonian by birth, who valued himfelf much on his know ledge of the Greek, and the reputation of his countryman, Alexander, took it into his head to inftruft me, as a young man, in the hiftory of the Trojan war. He told me that a Trojan prince. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 4I prince, having run away with a French princefs, the Greek and Roman Emperors, the King of France, and the feven Electors, went to Troy, and took the city, after an aftonifhing long fiege, by means of a wooden horfe filled with armed metf. — The man had heard the hiftory by tra dition, in Saloniki,. or fome other town of his ignorant country, but had not read a fingle old Greek author, or a fingle hiftory. Notwith ftanding this, he was looked upon as a won der of learning by his colleagues. Spite indeed of their grofs ignorance, thefe priefts are held in greater veneration by the people, than either oracles of Delos, or Delphi were. Thefe are true privileged thieves, who never fhew a fpark of underftanding, but in the tricks they play to rob the people of the fruit of their toil; but are yet fd convinced of their pretenfions to the wool of their ffieep, that they make no fcruple of taking the head with it, if the patient ani mals will not fuffer themfelves to be fheared quietly. The Catholic priefts, who live at any diftance from the large towns, are little behind the Greeks in ignorance, and ill manners, — nor are they far behind them, in fhearing the ffieep. Their whole library confifts of their breviary, and the only thing they ftudy is the Latin lan guage. I happened to converfe with one of them 42 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. them who is extremely refpefted in his own dlf- trift, and really is diftinguifhed for a better underftanding, and better manners than the reft of them. The converfation turned on the German colonifts who go into Hungary. I afked them how they treated them when they could not bear the climate. • His anfwer wasj * Damus illis licentiam repatriandi.' — And now I mention thefe Germans, I cannot help obferving to you how extraordinary it is, that whilft a third of North America is peopled by thefe wandering Germans, whilft one half the inhabitants of the Cape, Batavia, and Surinam, (the two laft fome of the moft unhealthy places any where to be found) are Germans, who thus crofs extenfive feas to break up wafte lands, or to get hard bread in the capacity of day labourers ; Hungary, which has work and bread for fo many millions, ffiould receive fo fev/. Surely this muft be owing to the preva lence of greater barbarifms than any poor priefts barbarous Latin ; for as to the pretended caufe, unhealthinefs of climate, Hungary is no more unhealthy than feveral other climates, and the natives know how to take precautions againft the damps arifing from the moraffes. But the want of freedom in religion explains all; it is gready owing to tliis caufe that all the ufeful 4 men TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 43 raen emigrate, and leave Hungary only the worthlefs ones. The great fault of this go vernment is, that they baniffi the Proteftants, who are the moft ufeful part of their fubjefts. Thefe irideed have little defire to fettle in a country in which they muft often go journies of feveral days, to fee a prieft of their own per fuafion, where they are not allowed to build a church, and where the hatred towards them and their religion, effeftually and perpetually excludes them from civil employments. All thefe hindrances are removed, under the gen tle government of the Dutch and Engliffi, who of courfe run away with all the ufeful emigrants, and leave Auftria only the worthlefs ones. The perfons who fettle in Hungary, are for the moft part abandoned fcoundrels from Bavaria, Sua bia, Franconia, and the countries about the Rhine. On their arrival they commonly fquan- der the fmall fums of money they have raifed at home, by the fale of their eftates, and as government takes little care about them, they generally die of grief, or diforders arifing more from their diffipation than the climate. That part of them which happens to beg its way back again, reprefents the climate worfe than it is, as an excufe for having left it. This alfo deters many people from coming. Thofe who 44 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. who have money enough, prefer America to Hungary, which by this means becomes the refuge of fuch only who have a few ducats to pay their paffage on the Danube. Thefe, however, fuch as they are, would ftill be a confiderable gain to fo poor a country as Hungary is, if government was fufficiently in terefted in their fate, to provide for the diftreffes they muft be expofed to, from the danger of the climate, and their own inexperience, and to give them fome affiftance in their firft fettle ment. There ffiould be an office eftabliffied at Vienna, or Prefburg, where thefe wanderers ffiould be taught the firft rudiments of the arts they have occafion for. They ffiould be told in what places they are likely to meet with moft of their own countrymen, as nothing promotes colonization fo much, as when the new comers find perfons of the fame man ners and language with themfelves, or with whom they are connefted by the ties of friendffiip, or relationffiip. The Germans, as it is well known, are fo divided amongft themfelves, that thofe of one circle look upon thofe of another as abfolute ftrangers to them. All the Bavarians fliould therefore be fettled in one diftrift, and the inhabitants of Franconia, Suabia, &c. in fo muny others. Above all things. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 45 things, they ffiould be taught to guard againft the dangers of the climate. Hungary is in it felf not more unwholefome than Italy, Spain, the South of France, or any other warm coun try ; only as there are moraffes all over it, the difference betwixt the heat of the day, and the cold of the night, muft of courfe be very fenfible to a German ; but he has nothing to do but to imitate the natives, who follow what inftinft teaches them, and wear a warmer cloathing. The rich Hungary wines, like- wife, deftroy many a ftranger, and they fuf fer ftill more from the very palatable, but dangerous melons, which are in fuch plenty that you may have them almoft for nothing. Where the body is conftantly weakened by the influences of a very warm fun, thefe fruits muft be very prejudicial, and the rather, as it is the cuftom here to eat them without bread. Againft all thefe dangers and difficulties the emigrant ffiould be fecured. The fmall fum of money which is given for the journey, is not fufficient to obviate thefe inconveniences ; on the contrary, the emi grants ffiould have as little ready money as poffible ; as they cannot know how to make a proper ufe of it in a new country, they muft confequendy either be robbed of it, or wafte it. What 46 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. What they ought to be fupplied with is wood fof building, cattle, and corn; and it ffiould be the peculiar duty ofthe civil and religious minifters of the ftate, to affift them in their civil and reli gious neceflities. It muft be confeffed, how ever, that the priefts and governors of Hun gary, are not the people fit for this bufinefs ; for if the court was to be at this expence, they would take care to be themfelves the greateft gainers by it ; but the court has hitherto ma nifefted too fmall a defire for the cultivation of Hungary, to beftow much expence upon it ; its principle has been to reap all it could, with out fowing any thing. If it had not been for this, what has been fpent upon the conqueft of a very fmall part of Bavaria, would havc brought in ten times more, in a much ffiorter time, by laying it properly out on the cultiva tion of Hungary. The greateft fource of confidence for a Hun garian patriot is, that his prefent king feels die conneftion betwixt his own intereft and that of the ftate. That he knows how to value liberty, and mankind ; is blinded by no prejudice, will not fuffer his hands to be bound by any adhe rence to old cuftoms, and has ftrength and re folution enough to attempt the Herculean la bour of civilizing this important part of his hereditary dominions. LET- TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 47 ' LETTER XXXI. Vienna. I TOLD you in my laft, that the great Hungarian nobility live entirely according to our ton. Our faffiions reach to the borders of Moldavia, and Walachia, and, from Pref burg to Cronftadt, all that is called the fine world fpeaks our patois. Formerly they ufed their own language, at leaft to exprefs common things, but every body now gives dints, Joupes, and dejeunes. There are balls par's and balls majque ; every town with four or five houfes in it, has its ajfemhl'ees, and redoutes. The men play whift, and the v/omen wear poudre a la Marechale, and have vapours. The bookfellers fell Voltaire in fecret, and the apothecaries fell Mercury openly. The men have an, ami de la maijon for their wives, and the wives a file de chamhre for their huffiands. They have men cooks, and maitre d'hotels ; they have ballets, comedies, and operas, and they have debts upon debts. In the year 1740, when the Hungarian no bility took the field for their king Maria The refa, the firft fight of fuch troops ftruck the French 4$ TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. French army with a panic. They had, indeed, often feen detachments of thefe diables d'Hongrie, as they ufed to call therti, but a whole army of them drawn up in battle array — unpowdered, frond the general to the common foldier — half their faces covered with long whifkers — a fort of round beaver upon their heads inftead of hats — without ruffles,, or frills to their ffiirts, and without feathers — all clad in rough fkins — monftrous crooked fabres ready drawn and uplifted — their eyes darting flaffies of rage ffiarper than the beams of the naked fabres — was a fight our men had not been accuftomed to fee. Our oldeft officers ftill remember the impreffion thefe terrible troops made, and how difficult it was to make the men ftand againft them, till they had been accuftomed to their formidable appearance. All this is now at an end, the Hungarian nobleman begins to leave off his long beard, and dreffes much after the French faffiion. It is remarkable enough, that whilft in imi tation of the Hungarian foldier, the Huffar has become an effential part of the Pruffian army, and has alfo been received into the French re gular troops, the true original is loft in his own country. Not one of the fourteen or fifteen regiments TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY* 49 regiments of Huffars in the emperor's fervice is made up entirely of Hungarians. Expe rienced officers have, it feems, thought fuch regiments could no longer be of any fervice ; it may be fo, but it is certain that the Hun garian has entirely loft his fpirit by difcipline, for, like other wild men, he detefts the artificial arms againft which his ftrength and courage are of no avail, and if ever he ffiews himfelf in his native fiercenefs, it is only when the firing is over, and he comes to clofe engagement. Here indeed the hero fometimes ftarts out again. But this was not enough to make the Hungarians a match for the Pruffian Huffars in the Silefian war; on the contrary, they always proved inferior to them. — After all, however, if this laft change had not been made, it is certain that the prefent nobility of Hun gary could not bring into the field, and main tain fuch armies as were raifed in 1740. The Efterhazy, whofe eftate amounts to above 600,000 guilders a year. The Palefy, Schaki, Erdoby, Sichy, Forgatffi, Kohari, Karoly, &c. and many others, who hztvc frorii ioo,0QO to 20Q,ooo guilders a year, are una ble, notwithftanding thefe large eftates, to live •within their incomes, The expences they have YOI-, n- E been 5© TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. been put to, by the political alteration of manners of the laft forty years, have reduced theni to neceffitous dependance. The court, however, does not look upon even this weak nefs as a fufficient fecurity. The Hungarian regiments of infantry, amongft which there are likewife many Germans, and feveral regi ments of Huffars, are conftantly quartered in Bohemia, Moravia, and the German cities ; on the contrary, feveral of the German regi ments, particularly the heavy horfe, and the dragoons, are quartered in Hungarj'. There is no province in the hereditary dominions of Auftria, which has fo many troops in it as Hungary has, in proportion to its population aud exports. This may in fome degree be owing to the cheapnefs of provifion for man and horfe. If it be fo, in cafe of a war break ing out, on the confines of Germany, the court lofes in a few weeks, what it has been favins by this policy for many years ; for the forced marches which the cavalry are obliged to make to their places of deftination, generally kill half the horfes before they have got there. For my own part I have litde doubt, but that the true modveof this allotment of troops are to make the Hungarians acquainted with the other members TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. ^l members of the empire ; to extinguiffi their na tural fpirit by the fight of numerous armies in every part of their country ; to accuftom them to fubordination j and in fome degree, perhaps, to increafe the confumption of the country, and fb promote the circulation of i:oin. The Engliffi proceed upon a quite different plan ; their principle is, to keep up as much as poffible the national fpirit ofthe troops, from an idea that the interefts of the government are the fame as thofe of the people, and that they have nothing to fear from a mudny. Upon this ground it is, that their patriots have taken up a notion, which no doubt will foon be rea lized, of making every regiment provincial, by quartering it conftantly in the county whofe name it bears, and by fuffering na man to be enlifted in it but thofe of that county ; whence they think, a ftill greater degree of attachment to the native place will be produced. The Imperial council of war wbuld not be pleafed with a projeft of this kind. It confiders it as a ftated maxim of policy, to fend tl^e foldier as far as may be from the place of his birth, and to compofe the regiments of men taken from various countries. Thus different caufes havc different effefts, and John Bull, and Squire Soyth, ftiU aft upon different grounds. E 2 None 52 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. None of the Auftrian hereditary dominions have a national militia, excepting only the Bannat troops, or lUyrians ; but thefe are only half foldiers, and their officers are at leaft for the moft part Germans or Hungarians. In time of war, every Hungarian nobleman, in proportion to his eftate, either raifes a number of men, or fends the money for them to the war-department. Thefe recruits feldom form feparate bodies, but are incorporated with the reft of the army. Above all, care is taken that the foldiers ffiould be free from all other ties, and only animated by the foul of the army, the wonder-working ftick. You muft not however conceive this Pal ladium of the Auftrian army, this wonder working ftick, as the abfolute Jine quo nen, A few years fince, indeed, it ruled the great ma chine altogether; but now that has been brouwhc into regular movements, it is only looked up to with reverential awe and fubmiffion. Accord ing to a proclamation of the humane Emperor, the officers are to make as \\x.xX^ phyjtcal ufe of it as poffible. But as to moral purpofes, it is in all its glory, and its idea takes place, in the common foldier, of all love of his country, all good humour, all fenfe of honour all hope of advancement, and every other feelino-. All TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. ^^ All his occupations bring him back to this idea, and from his A, B, C, to his logic, alj he knows is comprifed in the two little words, thou muft. There cannot be a doubt, but in obedience, and ftrong fubordinatipn, the' principal ftrength of an army confifts ; but is it impoffible to unite them with any idea of feeling for felf, in the fubaltern and underling ? Are fentiments of perfonal honour, of bravery, and of patriotifm, entirely prejudicial to an army ? Certainly not: and were it only to meliorate the condition of the poor foldier, were it only to make his hard fate lefs fevere, it ffiould be the policy of prin ces to promote thofe feelings which can fweeten fo many bitter hours, and alone enable them to meet death. With the power which Auftria now poffeffes, it might at one ftroke cut off all the privileges of the Hungarian nobles, which are contrary to the good of the whole, and which it has been fo many years endeavouring to undermine. A few hundred families would murmur for a few years, but the thing would not go beyond murmurs ; the inhabitants of towns, and the peafants, would ftand up for the interefts of the court, which are their own. The religious animofities, which formerly ferved as a pretence E 3 for 54 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. for an infurreftion, no longer blinds the people to their real good ; and open, liberal treat ment, would foon win over the nobility, whom the ardfices now in ufe only alienate and cor rupt. If once that part of their privileges,' which militate againft the good of the whole^ were well defined, and fuppreffed by one fingle aft of authority, they would then become fuf- ceptible of patriotic virtues ; whereas, at pre fent, they look upon the government as hoftile to them, and do nothing but what they arc compelled to by power or bribes. In that cafe, the multitude of the nation would not be the moft abjeft flaves, nor the great the moft cruel defpots that are known. If, befides this, the court was to fpend the fums neceffary on efta- bliffiments for education, and the priefts ofthe feveral religions would endeavour to eftabliffi them without perfecution, or partiality, in the next century, Hungary would be one of the moft flouriffiing countries in Europe. The Hungarian would no longer be poor, in the middle of a country abounding with every ne ceffary of life. The poverty of the people, and the exceffive riches of the nobility, would no longer offend the eyes of the humane by the ffiocking difproportion between them. Then the court . alfo would no longer objeft to the raifing TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 55 raifing provincial regiments, as it would be confiftent with its interefts. The lively Croat, or Hungarian, animated by the love of his country, and a fenfe of duty, would no longer refufe to fubmit to proper difcipline ; all the army would be infpired with a fpirit, which difcipline alone cannot give, but which united to difcipline, is the ftrongeft fecurity for ter ror abroad, and happinefs at home. The Hungarians, in general, are extremely proper for a military life ; they want nothing to be perfeft foldiers, but the kind of education' which a good government might give them. The Croats particularly have all the requifites for fervice. Their mean height is fix feet; they are bony, fleffiy, quick, and lively, and can bear the extremes of cold and hunger. In a word, there are no better made men in Eu rope, notwithftanding which, they are the moft miferable part of the Imperial army ; a fure fign that government either neglefts them, or does not know how to dicipline them properiy. Sometimes it has been propofed to incorporate' them with other corps, but this would only be to take away their natural advantages, and furniffi them with artificial ones in their ftead. Such a change would put an end to their ufual way of life, to which they are indebted for E 4 their ^6 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. their hardinefs. They commonly dwell fix or feven families under the fame roof. As their frugality enables them to bring up many chil dren, they marry early, in the vigour of their youth, and their children are the produce of their unimpaired manhood. Their juices are ftill uncorruptj and the deftruftive diftempers which poifon the fources of life, are not yet introduced amongft them. The patriarchal go vernment ftill fubfifts amongft them, and the grandfather, who has grown old amidft his children and grandchildren, ftill retains an authority over them. As by this means their manners are preferved uncorrupt, nothing more is requifite than to humanize their priefts ; this would render them ufeful fubjefts to the ftate, without commerce, manufaftures, or arts, which the court has lately endeavoured to introduce amongft them, in my opinion not to their advantage. An education more fuitable to the nature of their country, and their pecu liar conftitution, would by degrees deprive them of their natural ferocity, and they would be come the more traftable, in proportion as they acquired better notions of religion, agriculture, a^nd the other things connefted with their well being. Their ferocity, the natural confequence of their barbarity, is the true reafon why rhey are TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 57 are fo averfe to difcipline, and the only way of getting the better of this, and making them like the other fubjefts of the houfe of Auftria, fit for military fervice, is domeftic edu cation : this alone can bring them out of their barbarity, without depriving them of their other advantages. Suppofe the new court was to adopt the other plan, and incorporate them with the other troops, fuppofe it was to make flaves of them in the beft years of their lives, and when the voice of na ture crieth moft loud, what would be the con fequence ? Accuftomed to all the vices which obtain in a ftanding army, they would confume . the vigour of their lives in pernicious indulgen- cies ; they would return to their native country corrupted with a variety of wants they did not know before. Having acquired a tafte for the pieafures of forbidden love, they would either not marry at all, or marry later than their an ceftors ; all their domeftic ordinances would be aboliffied, nor would their wives be any longer diftinguiffied for their chaftity. Their children would imitate them in their vices, and the con fequence of all would be, that in the fecond ge neration you would hardly be able to diftinguiffi them ; and in the third, or at moft, the fourth, not know them at all from the other fubjefts of thc 58 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. the empire, fo totally would they have loft the fize, ftrength, frugality, and fine form, which now fo eminently diftinguiffi them. To at tempt the change propofed, would be taking a dangerous leap from barbarous to civil life, and all that could be expefted from it would be a broken limb, if not a broken neck. LETTER TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 59 LETTER XXXIII. Vienna. IHAVE given myfelf all the trouble pof fible to come at an exaft eftimate of thc goods annually exported from, and imported into Hungary, and by that means to acquire a tolerable idea of the national riches ; but the receipts of the cuftoms, the only ones by which you can fprm a good judgment, are either fo imperfeftly or fb fecretly kept, that there is no depending upon them. All I can there fore fay upon the fubjeft muft confift of report and conjefture.— -I was affured then by a cre ditable man, that the exports amounted to twenty-four, and the imports to eighteen mil lions a year, making a balance of fix millions in favour of the country. With refpeft to thc exports, I can fay nothing upon them with cer tainty, for the reafon I have juft given ; they are, indeed, greater than I could have .imagined, even from the pofitive calculations I have been able to make ; but if we compare the exports and imports, we ffiall find it is impoffible but that the former ffiould be ftated too high ; for with 4 fuch 6o TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. fuch a balance of trade as Hungary muft by this means have, it ought to be one ofthe richeft countries in Europe, whereas nothing is fcarcer than money in this country. Of the twenty millions of revenue which Hungary, together with Tranfylvania and Illyria contributes to the ftate, three at the moft comes to Vienna, and the films which the few noble families that refide out ofit carry from the country, are replaced by what foreigners in employment fpend in it ; many ' millions therefore muft remain in Hungary, and if to thefe are added, fuch a balance of trade as I have ftated, fuppofing it only to have conti nued five years, the country muft be much richer than it is. If we confider a little the variety of commo dities which Hungary muft import from abroad, it is impoffible it ffiould have even an equal trade ; it is obliged to' purchafe almoft all the produftions of art, befides an aftoniffiing num ber of thofe of nature. Clothes alone coft four or five m.illions of florins per annum ; wrouo-ht filks, linens and cottons as much more ; coffee and fugar muft at leaft come to two millions and a half; dn, glafs, colours, and drugs, muft coft them annually many millions. In this eftimate we do not take in toys of every kind ; foreign wines fpr the liquoriffi palates of the great men, who TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 6l who cannot be contented with the admirable produce of their own vineyards ; foreign horfes, coaches, harneffcs, and a great many other fo reign articles. The quantity ofthe natural pro duftions, which Hungary, on the other hand, gives the ftranger, cannot come up to any thing like the fums thefe articles muft coft. Accord ing to a rough calculation I have made, Hun gary exports the value of about five millions and a half of oxen, fwine and horfes, four mil lions of corn, hay, &c. three millions of wine, half a million's worth of tobacco, filk (moftly from Sclavonia), citrons, chefnuts, and other fruits ; and fome millions of minerals, efpeci ally copper ; fo that if I fet the exports at fix teen, and the imports at eighteen milhons, it will be much nearer the truth. I do not think I do Hungary any injuftice by thus ftating its expences at two millions ; it^ fituadon, and the nature of its government, pre vent it from making all the ufe poffible of the rich treafures it poffeffes; and the high degree of luxury which obtains in all orders prevents its owing to its own induftry feveral articles which it procures from the ftranger, though it might prepare them itfelf. Having juft told yoq the great fums annually paid for clothes, it will perhaps aftoniffi you to hear, that there is no 62 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. no country in Europe fitter for breeding ffieep than this is. Prince Eugene, who was as great a judge of political improvements as he was a ge neral, perceived this, and having procured Jheep from Arabia, gave himfelf all the trouble pof fible to propagate the breed in the country of Ofen. The Emperors Charles, and Francis, made many wife regulations for the fame pur pofe; but hitherto it has been unfuccefsful. The nobility, who poffefs almoft all the lands, are too proud and fooliffi to attend to agriculture ; the farmers have no property, and the inhabit ants of the towns are depreffed by religious per fecutions. The negligence of the police in not ftemming the torrent of luxury is inconceivable. I have often been tempted to believe, that government did not think it worth its while to attend to the circumftanees of this country, either becaufe it did not yield in proportion to its greatnefs, or that the impetuous temper of the court was fuch, as not to allow of any eftabliffiments that were to produce fruit in after ages : be this as it may, whether the court is all for prefent enjoyment, or has not political wifdom enough to ereft for futurity, the inftances of its negleft are moft glaring. I will lay one of them before you : Notwithftanding the extreme poverty -of the country. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 6^ country, they allow the Jews to go about with coffee, fugar, tobacco, oil, and quack medicines of all kinds, from village to village, where they fell them in fmall quandties, and much adul terated. The climate ofthe fouthern part of Hungary is extremely favourable tp the growth of filk; but except in Sclavonia, which is not improved as it ought to be, there grows none, notwith ftanding the example Of their neighbours the Venetians, and the facility of procuring mul berry trees from Italy. The only art which is carried to any degree of improvement is that of mining. Here all that mathematics could do has been adopted. You would be aftoniffied at the fight of the machhies in ufe to clear thc water from the pits, and to carry on the other neceffary operations. The gold and filver mines of Cremnitz and Shemnitz produce but httle to the crown, owing to its keeping part of them in its own hands, and not farming the whole. There are othef gold and filver mines in the country, but thofe of Tranfylvania excel them all at prefent, and protnife to do ftill more fo in future. I believe, however, that the court gets much more by the copper than it does by the gold and filver mines, efpecially fince the cuftom of ffieathing the men of war with cop per 64 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. per has prevailed. Hungary is able to furniffi all Europe with copper ; upon the whole, half of the four millions of florins which the country- gets by its mines comes from Hungary. The country has an extraordinary appear ance; it is inclofed on all fides with high hills, in the midft of which are plains, which you may travel through for fome days without perceiv ing the leaft elevadon. You meet with im menfe deferts, in the midft of which, as in thofe of Tartary, are wild horfes. The woods are filled with wolves, an animal fcarce ever feen in Suabia, Bavaria, or Auftria. Near the banks of rivers, in the plains, there are moraffes, which here and there form lakes ; the drying up of thefe will be a great advantage to the country, by making its rivers navigable, adding great quantities of land to it, and purifying the air. The beafts are all very different from thofe of Germany ; the horfes are fmall, light, and not handfome, but uncommonly lively and ftrong ; a Hungarian ufes only three or four in going from Vienna to Turkey, in a conftant trot or gallop; their breed has been greatly improved in the ftuds of the nobility, in feveral parts of the country. The oxen are the largeft and mofl beauteous I have ever feen ; they arc all affi-colour, or white, and 1 do not recoUeft to have Travels throu6h Germany. 6^ have feen a red or brown one in the whole coun try ; their fleffi is remarkably well tafted ; even the poultry, are diftinguiffied from thofe of other countries by their fize and ffiape : In -ffiort, all that has breath here, attefts, either by its growth or its agility, the wonderful vigour of nature. The artificial appearance of the country is as remarkable as the natural. In one place, perhaps, you fee palaces upon which art has exhaufted all its magnificence,and within afew paces you come to countries where men dwell in caverns under ground like the wild beafts. At Preffiurg, Port, and Offen, which are the largeft cities in the country, and each of which contains 30,000 men, you believe yourfelf in the moft enchant ing country in the world ; and within a few miles of their gates, you feem to be in Mingrelia. The ftrongeft prpof poffible, that the coun try is miferable, is the contraft of extreme po verty with extreme riches, and the more ftriking that contraft is the greater is the mifery. A people may be very poor, and yet very happy ; but when amidft ftraw huts, which hardly pro teft their inhabitants from wind and weather, you fee marble palaces towering to the clouds, when in the midft of immenfe wilderneffes te nanted by miferable flceletons, who hardly find VOL. 11. F roots dd travels through GERMANY. roots in the fields to keep body and foul toge ther, you meet with gardens with fountains in them, grottos, parterres, terraffes, ftatues, and coftly pifturcs ; it is a fure fign that one part of the inhabitants live by pillaging the reft. Not long after my arrival here, I made a party of pleafure to the caftle of Count Efterhazy, which lies at about a day's journey fromPrefburg. Without a doubt, you are already acquainted with it from Moore's travels. There is no place in France, Verfailles alone excepted, fo magnificent as this ; the caftle is immenfely large, and full of every fumptuous article of expence that can be conceived. The garden contains every thing that human wit has invented for the improvement, or, as you may call it, the" perver- fion of nature. The pavilions of all kinds ap pear like the habitations of fo many fairies, and every thing is fo much above what you meet with in general, that you think you are dream ing when you behold it. I ffiall not attempt to give you an exaft defcription of what I faw here, but muft, however, obferve, that to the eyes of one, who docs not profefs himfelf a con- noiffeur, there appeared to be fomewhat too much. I recoUeft, that the walls of a Sola-' Terrina were painted with figures twelve feet high, which to a fon of the earth, as I am, ap- 2 peared TRAVlfiLS THROUGH GERMANY. d'] peared much too lofty for the fize of the roorti, I know how much you are for the great ftyle, and remember all you ufed to din into my pro fane ears about the fine forms of the Roman fchool, but yet, I think if you had been here, you would have thought this rather too great a ftyle. What renders the magnificence of this place ftill more ftriking, is the very extraordinary contraft of it with the country round. The lake c{ Neujiedler, which is not far from the caftle, forms a large morafs, which extends for the fpace of feveral miles, and threatens in time to lay the great edifice under water, as it has already done great part of the country, which was formerly very produftive. The in habitants of the country round have the appear ance of fo many ghofts, and are regularly plagued with agues every year. About half the money which the prince has laid out in beautifying his caftle, would not only have been fufficient to drain the fens, but would have taken as much land again from the lake. As this is ever upon the encreafe, there is great reafon to fear it will entirely overflow the low country : the only way to prevent this, will be by mak ing a canal to communicate with the Danube, an enterprize which would do the prince more. F 2 honour 68 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. honour than all the trifles he has been about. Within lefs than a day's journey from the caftle, on the other fide, you will meet the Kalmucks, Cherokees, Hottentots, and inhabitants oi Terra del Fuego, in all their feveral occupation.9 and fituations. Unwholefome as the country is, particularly in fpring and winter, and though the prince himfelf has the ague very often, yet is he tho roughly fatisfied, that there is not a finer, or more wholefome fpot under the fun. His caftle ftands quite alone, and he fees nobody but de pendants, or ftrangers who come for the pur pofe of admiration. The prince has a puppet- ffiew theatre, which is really extraordinary in its kind, for the puppets perform whole operas. You really do not know whether you ffiould wonder or laugh moft, when you fee the Didone, the JlceftealBivio, played throughout by puppets. The prince's orcheftra is one of the beft I have yet heard. The great Haydn is his compofitor; and hc has got a poet, who is often very for tunate. The fcene-painters too are diftinsuiffi- cd men; in a word, the thing itfelf is little, but all the appendages are very great. The prince often hires a company of ftrolling play ers, and keeps them for a month tp play to him, and his fervants compofe all the audience. Thefe TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 69 Thefe gentlemen, appear upon the ftage with their hair about their ears, and thc dreffes it pleafes fporting fortune to furniffi them with at the time; but it all does very well, for the prince is not fond of grand tragic movements, but on the contrary, delights in any extempore pieces of wit, which thefe gentlemen may ftrike out, or which may be ftruck out for them. This prince has alfo a body-guard, compofed of very fine men. I was very forry that I could not fee the famous Haydn, who was gone to Vienna to conduft a large concert. It is faid, the prince has given him permlffion to make a journey to England, France, and Spain, where he will be received as his merits deferve, and get enough to come home with his purfe well filled. He has a brother, who is Maejiro di Capella at Straf- burg, a man of as much genius as Haydn him felf, but who has not induftry enough to arrive at thc fame degree of reputation. LETTER ^O TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. LETTER XXXIV. Vienna. I SHOULD not have faid fo much of Hungary, had I not recoUefted, that you con fider it as an unknown country. What I have to fay of the other parts of the hereditary domi nions of the Houfe of Auftria will be fo much the ffiorter. Auftria, properly fo called, has throughout the appearance of a happy country ; here are no figns of the ftriking contraft betwixt poverty and riches, which offends fo much in Hungary. All the inhabitants, thofe ofthe capital only except ed, enjoy that happy mediocrity, which is the confequence of a gentle and wife adminiftration. The farmer has property; and the rights of the nobiUty, Who enjoy a kind of lower judicial power, are well defined. The fouth and fouth- weft parts of the country are bounded by a ridge of hills, the inhabitants of which enjoy a ffiare of profperity, unknown to thofe of the interior parts of France. I faw feveral vil lages on the banks of the Danube, whofe in habitants dwelt in ftone houfes, A fure fign of TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 7I of their well-being, is their eating meat almoft every day, and roaft meat once or twice a week. There are many villages and market towns, the inhabitants of which have bought themfelves off from vaffalage, are now their own governors, and belong fome of them to the eftates of the country; amongft thefe is the beautiful town of Stockeraw, about which is one of the prettieft countries I have yet feen- The cloyfters, the prelates of which, belong to the eftates of the country, are the richeft in Ger many, after the immediate prelacies and abbacies ofthe empire. The cloyfters are fome of the richeft in Ger many. One of the great convents of Benedic tines is worth upwards of four thoufand millions of French livres, half of which goes to the ex chequer of the country. A monk of this clpy- fter, with whom I was converfing on the ftate of religion, endeavoured to convince me of its decreafe fince the reign of Charles VI. by tell ing me, that in thofe times they paid only five or fix thoufand florins to the ftate, whereas now they pay near ten times as mueh. . There are no great hopes that this thermometer will ftand ftill under the prefent emperor ; on the contrary, it is rather to be feared that it will fall to nothiag; Klofterneuburg, Polten, Gottevaich, F 4 and 72 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. and fome other prelacies, are as warm as that I have juft mentioned. Lower Auftria yearly exports more than two millions worth of guilders of wine to Moravia, Bohemia, Upper Auftria, Bavaria, Saltzburg, and part of Styria and Carinthia. This wine is four, but has a great deal of ftrength, and may be carried all over the world without danger ; when it is ten or twenty years old it is very good. Notwithftanding this, however, all this trade would be knocked up at a blow, if the exporta tion of the Hungary wines was not reftrained by fevere prohibitions. Thefe limitations, ofwhich I have faid fome thing to you in a former letter, make part of a plan, which was probably originally devifed by the priefts, and which the nobles have helped them to make perfeft. It is an ancient law, that the peafant ffiall introduce no alterations on his eftate. He is not aUpwed to root up his vines and turn his land to tillage or pafture. There is no doubt, but this extraordinary law took its rife from the tithes paid to the clergy ; as thefe were always to be paid in kind, they of courfe oppofed every degree of alteration. Were the law now to be altered, many eftates would cer tainly lofe a great deal by it, but others would be increafed in proportion; for inftance, agreat number TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 73 number of the faffron fields, the cultivadon of which is always troublefome and expenfive, would be turned to other and better purpofes. Even in Krems, where the beft faffron growsj the inhabitants complain exceedingly of being obliged to cultivate this commodity. There are likewife. feveral other articles, fuch as flax, hemp, tobacco, and the like, which the farmer might grow were it not for this prohibi tion, which alfo prevents him from taking the advantage of the markets, and varying the pro duce of his land in proportion as the value of the things changes. With regard to agriculture itfelf, every fpecies of prohibition is detrimentalj all that the legiflature has to do is to remove natural obftacles; when this is done nature Will do the reft of herfelf. This country is very well peopled. Mr. Schloffer, in his pohdcal journal, which contains an account of the popu- ladon of Auftria, eftimatcs that ofthis country at 2,100,000 nien. For my part, I confider this eftimate as much too large; but the faft is, that partly from the ignorance, and partly firom the pride of people, here, who love to fwell and magnify every thing that belongs to the country, it is extremely difficult to get at the truth. A ftranger, however, who has been here fome time, and ha§ ftudied Avhatever belpngs to the coun try *r4 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. try very accurately, affured me that the popula tion of Upper and Under Auftria together did not amount to more than 1,800,000 men. If you include the inhabitants of the capital in the number, ftill this will be a very confiderable population. The revenue of this country is about 14,000,000 offlorins, ofwhich the city of Vienna contributes above five, as one man in the ca pital earns as much as three in the country. The fouthern parts of Auftria are covered with hills, which rift gradually from the banks of the Danube to the borders of Stiria, and are covered with woods. They lofe themfelves in the mafs of mountains which run to the fouth of Germany, and ftretch through all Stiria, Carniola, Carina thia, and Tyrol, to the Swifs Alps, and are pro bably after Savoy and Switzerland, the higheft part of the earth. The inhabitants ofthis extenfive ridge of moun tains are all very much alike, they are a ftrong, large, and, the goitres excepted, a very hand fome people. Thc people of Tyrol, whom I vi- \ fited in an excurfion from Munich, diftinguiffi themfelves by their diligcncci Some drive a trade with figures made of ftucco as far as Hol land; others make works in ftone and wood for the churches; another part of them travel through TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 75 through Germany with Italian wares and fruits, and bring home a large quantity of money. A fourth fet deals in quack drugs, falves, wonder working pills, effences, tinftures, &c. Notwithftanding its woods and the hills cover ed with fnow, Tyrol is well inhabited and well peopled. It contains about fix hundred thou fand fouls, and pays the ftate about three mil lions of florins. The filver and copper works at Schwafs are one of the moft profitable things in the Emperor's hereditary dominions, and the fait works at Halle yield annually about three hundred thoufand florins. Infpruck is a fine city, containing fourteen thoufand inhabitants. Boffen is the moft con- derable after this. They had formerly very fine fairs, but thefe have been entirely ruined by the cuftoms ; all Tyrol complains of, and cuffes the cuftoms. The Carinthians excel the other inhabitants of thefe mountains in ftrength and fize. They are like their horfes, which are reckoned the ftrong eft in Europe, and never tire. Their bread is made of maize ; and their land produtes the beft fteel known, which the Engliffi ufe for their fineft works. Thc population confifts of four hun dred thoufand fouls. The inhabitants of Carin thia, Gortz, and the Auftrian Iftria, may be fet at 76 TRAVELS THROUGH G'ERMANY. at five hundred thoufand. Stiria contains about feventy thoufand inhabitants. Gratz, the capi tal, is a fine city; there are perfons in it who have from thirty to forty thoufand florins income, and the luxury that prevails is not to be defcrib ed. They have four regular meals, viz. at morning, noon, evening, and night. Ducks and chickens are the ordinary food of the com mon citizens. They made me almoft fick only with the fight of their pafties, tarts, ragouts. Sec. They talk of nothing but the kitchen and the cellar; and, their attention to the preparation of their dinners only excepted, do not feem many degrees above orang-outangs. The other luxu ries are in proportion. This is the great mart for all indecent and irreligious books. Hence they are exported into the reft of the country. You find villages in Tyrol entirely inhabited by ftatuaries ; they will, however, always be more famous for their capons thar^ their learning. You ipay have a capon here for twenty creut- zers, a pair of fine chickens for ten or twelve, a bottle of very- good wine for twelve, and a pound of rye bread for one. Gratz and the fuburbs contain about thirty thoufand inhabit ants. Thc . TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY* 77 , ' The country is cultivated to the top of the higheft hills. Though pafturagc'is the princi pal bufinefs of the people, the land produces corn enough to nouriffi its numerous inhabit ants, or if there is ever the leaft want, they are fupplied from Hungary almoft for nothing. The flax and hemp, which have been introduced here, as well as in Carinthia, are extremely good, and produce very large fums. The mines em ploy a great number of people, and as they arc worked very cheap anfwer extremely well. In deed the whole of the country is favourable to this kind of bufinefs. The hills are covered with wood, which in general cofts no more than the expence of cutting down and tranfporting to the place where it is to be ufed in the fur- -naces. Sometimes too it is floated by the rivers without any expence of tranfporting at all. The numerous brooks in the valleys afford opportu nities of erefting the furnaces near the pits, fo that every thing contributes to fave expence. The beft mineral of the country is iron, ofwhich they make an excellent fteel. The numbers of thofe who have »the goitre, and the fize of it, is more remarkable in Stiria than in Carinthia, Ukrania, or the Tyrol, Some think this diforder owing in part to the fnow and yS TRAVELS THROUGH GEllMANY. and ice water, and in part to the particles of earth and ftone with which the wells of the country are impregnated. Others will have it, that it arifes from the cuftomoffeafoningthe meat agreat deal, and drinking cold water afterwards. I beg leave to add a fourth caufe, and leave all to operate to gether for the produftion of this phoenomenon. The caufe I mean is the cold, to which all the in habitants are expofed. You know that the folar rays, being reflefted on all fides by the hills which cncompafs the valleys, occafion an extraordinary heat. I recoUeft, as I have been wandering through narrow valleys, to have breathed an air fo glowing, that it feemed to come from a furnace. Whenever, therefore, there is the leaft motion in the air, the preffure will make it more fenfibly felt than on higher vales or hills, where it can expand more; the cold is confequendy greater. Now as thefe people commonly go with their necks and throats bare, whenever there is a cool current, the weak part of the throat is the firft attacked by the moifture, and thc perfpiration there is ftopped. It is an obfervation which has been made in Valois, Savoy, and other countries, that the in habitants of the lower vallies are more expofed to this evil, than thofe which live higher up. This, TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 79 This, no doubt, muft be owing to the more fre quent changes of air in the low grounds, whereas higher up it always continues cool. There are alfo a kind of ideots in this country, who can hardly fpeak, and are only fit for the labours of the field. Their number is great, and the neg left with which they are treated, whilft they are young, may probably have tended to increafe their ftupidity. All the inhabitants of thefe hills are freemen, who have long fince ffiaken off the feudal yoke, under which the greateft part of Europe ftill groans. The marks of their freedom are very vifible, for, ill as this country has been treated by nature, in comparifon with its neighbour Hungary, it is every where much better culti vated, and more populous than the latter. When you fee the farmer here force his nouriffi- ment from the almoft bare rocks, and think of the beautiful plain's in Hungary that lay wafte and uncultivated, the value of property and li berty ftrikes you in its full force. Thefe coun tries and Auftria are not half as large as Hun gary, and yet they not only yield a much greater revenue than that does, but there is an appear ance of eafy circumftanees throughout, ofwhich the Hungarians have no notion. O that go vernors go TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. vernors would but fee how much the intereft of the governed is united with their own ! The charafteriftic of the inhabitants of all this country is ftriking bigotry, united with ftriking fenfuality. You need only fee what is going forwards here to be convinced, that the religion taught by the monks, is as ruinous for the morals as it is repugnant to Chriftianity. The Cicifbeos accompany the married women from their beds to church, and lead them to the very confeffion al. -r-T he pilgrimage to Mariazell is a ceremony half religious and half profane, with which the ladies of Gratz are highly de lighted. Their lovers generally accompany them there; in ffiort, it is to the people of this country, what Bath, and the other water-drink ing places, are to the reft of Europe. A friend of mine had the honour to accompany a lady who went there with her lover. As it was ex pefted that the next day, being the feaft of the Virgin, there would be great crowds at confef fion, the lady was afked, whether it would not be better to expedite matters over night : ' No,' an fwered ffie, ' for if I do, I ffiall have to confefs * again to-morrow morning, before I can go to ' the facrament with a pure confcience.' She was preffed to andcipate a confeffion, but this it feems would not do. The women of faffiion make TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 8l make no more fcruple of fpeaking of their lovers in public companies than thofe of Vienna do. A cicifbeo is, it feems, as much the faffiion, as Hun gary water. The women of this place are not like the French ones, who let their lovers lan- guiffi a great while ; on the contrary, they are eafily gained. Their lovers are chiefly officers, or high churchmen, between which orders, on this account, there is a conftant rivality and jea-^ loufy. The bigotry of the public in thefe parts, which, from the mixture of gallantry with it, is ftill to be found even amongft people of rank, degenerates amongft the common people into the groffeft and moft abominable buffoonery. The Windes, who are mixed with the Germans in thefe countries, diftinguiffi themfelves by a fuperftitious cuftom, that does little honour to the human underftanding, and would be incre dible, if we had not the moft unequivocal proofs of the faft before our eyes. Many years ago, they fet out, in company with fome Hungarian enthufiafts, to Cologne on the Rhine, which is about one hundred and twenty German miles diftant, to cut of the beard of a crucifix there. Every feven years this ciferation is repeated, as in this fpace of time the beard grows again to its former length. The rich perfons of the af- VPL. II. G fociadon 82 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. fociadon fend the poorer ones as their deputies, and the magiftrates of Cologne receive them as embaffadors from a foreign prince. They are entertained at the expence of the ftate, and a counfellor ffiews them the moft remarkable things in the town. I know not whether we ought to laugh moft, at the remote town of Co logne, or at thofe poor peafants. There is, in deed, fome excufe for the former, as the farce brings in large fums of money at ftated times, and may therefore deferve political encourage ment, but ftill, however, it is the moft mifer able, and meaneft way of gain that can be ima gined. Thefe Windes have alone the right to ffiave our Saviour, and the beard grows only for them. They firmly believe, that if they did not do this fervice to the crucifix, the earth would be ffiut to them for the next feven years, and there would bc no harvefts. For this reafon they are ob liged to carry the hair home with them, as the proof of having fulfilled their commiffion, the returns of which are diflxi buted amongft the different communities, and preferved as holy reliques. The Imperial court has for a long rime endea voured in vain to prevent this emigration, which deprives agriculture of fo many ufeful hands. ¦ Whenthe^/Wa could not go openly, thev would go clandcftindy. At length the court thought ¦ ^ ' of TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 83 of the expedient of forbidding the regency of Cologne to let them enter the town. This hap pened fix years ago, and the numerous embaffy was obliged, to beg its way back again without the wonderful beard, (which, without doubt, the capuchins, to whom the crucifix belonged, ufed to put together from their own). In future, they will not, rnoft probably, run the danger of travelling fo far for nothing. I do not hear but that, fince this accident, the cprn has come up as well as it did before; but whether the beard is ftill growing, or not, I cannot fay. — I could give you ftill more ftriking traits of the fuper ftition of the inhabitants of the inner parts of Auftria, but as this furpaffes them all, it may ferve as a fiifficient meafure of the human un- derftandirig in theffe parts. The trade which the monks carry on with holy falves, oils, &c. is ftill very confiderable ; a prohibition of the court, lately publiffied, has rather leffened it, but it cannot be entirely fuppreffed till next generation. It is now carried on fecretly, but perhaps to nearly as great an amount as formerly. GS LETTER 84 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. LETTER XXXV. Vienna. AS there were fome of the provinces of the hereditary dominions of the houfe of Auftria which I did not vifit, you muft content yourfelf with fuch accounts of their population and commerce, as I have been able to coUeft, partly from public papers, and partly from converfations with fenfible men. In order to give you an idea of their comparative merits, we will firft caft our eyes upon the whole. Mr. Schloffer, whofe ufeful letters I have al ready mentioned, and ffiall have occafion to fpeak more of hereafter, gives a lift of the re- Ipeftive populations of the Auftrian monarchy, according to which, the whole amounts to twenty-feven millions. I fancy he is now con vinced himfelf that his correfpondent faw the fubjefts of Auftria through a magnifying glafs. As feveral parts of this lift have been amended from better accounts : thus, for inftance, in Auftrian Poland and Bukowina, they now reckon only 2,800,000 fouls ; whereas, in the firft lifts, they were reckoned at 3,900,000. Thc TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 85 The firft number o£ thek Political Letters con tains another lift, which feems to me to ap proach much nearer to the truth ; for though the population of particular parts may ' be laid too high, this is made up for, by thc omiffion of the particular provinces of Illyria and Buko wina, which are entirely left out. The follow ing lift I have, in a great meafure, froni the beft hands : Hungary, with the now annexed Temefwar - - . 364,000,000 fouls Illyria - . 1,400,000 Tranfylvania , - . . 1,000,000 Auftrian Poland, together withBuko. wma .... 2,800,000 Bohemia .... 2,100,000 Moravia .... 1,000,000 Silefia ...... 200,000 Upper and Lower Auftria, and Styria 700,000 Carniola, Ukrania, Gorts, and Iftria 1,000,000 Farther Auftria and Falkenftein 300,000 Tyrol . . . - T 600,009 Netherlands , , . 1,800,000 Lombardy , - . . 1,200,000 1^500,000 I will not infift upon it that this lift is fo ac curate as to make it a great violation of truth, to give round numbers, and ftate the whole at twenty millions; but I wpuld not believe in G 3 more 86 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. more than twenty millions, if all the privy counfellors in the empire faid it together. It only requires eyes to fee, that the terri tories of Auftria are not fo well peopled through out as France is. The difference in the fize of the two countries is inconfiderable. How then is it poffible that Auftria ffiould be as well peopled as France (which hardly contains twenty-four millions), when the greateft part of it has no confiderable manufaftures, and, in great part of Hongary and Poland, there are not even hands to do the neceffary work ? Agri culture, in however flouriffiing ftate it be in a country, does not render it as populous as ma nufaftures do. Thc fphere of the former is contrafted, that of the latter not. You would fill a large traft of country with the men who inhabit one of our large manufafturing towns. But befides this, the agriculture of Hungary and Auftrian Poland, which make above one half of the Imperial dominions, is not nearly fo good as that of moft of our provinces. In France the towns are at leaft as full again of inhabitants as thofe of the Auftrian dominions, and yet the country, take it altogether, is well peopled. It is only thofe parts of the heredir tary dominions of Auflria, that are German, which TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 87 which can vie with France in agriculture and population. Some of the data on which the Hfts which make the populadon of Auftria amount to twenty-feven millions are founded, are truly ridiculous. For inftance, Mr. Schloffer's cor refpondent will have it, that the Auftrian Ne therlands contain 4,000,000 ; though the United Netherlands, which are fo much larger, and moft uncommonly peopled, do not Contain more than 2,500,000 inhabitants. The cir cumference of all the Auftrian Netherlands con tains, at rnoft, .500 German fquare miles. Ac cording to this account, therefore, each fquare mile would contain 8000 men ; and as Luxem burg, and the northern parts of Brabant, are confeffedly but thinly peopled, the remaining provinces muft have at |eaft 10,000 fouls in every fquare mile ; a population, I will venture to fay, not to be met with in any part ofEurope, the environs of London, Naples, and Paris, not excepted. In a journey I made to Holland, I was affured, from good information at Bruf- fds, that the population of the lluftrian Ne therlands amounted only to 1,800,000 fouls, and this is a great deal ; as even, according to this ftatement, there will be 3,600 men for every geo* graphical German fquare mile. G 4 The 88 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. The ftatement of the income of the houfe of Auftria, which Mr. Schloffer gives us, is accu rate as far as it goes, but is not quite perfeft. He does not reckon Illyria, Lombardy, and the Netherlands; and the exports from Hun gary and Tranfylvania arc put rather under the mark. I fancy the following will turn out a pretty accurate account : Bannat ... - 1,500,000 Imperial Tranfylvania - - 3,000,000 Illyria .... 2,000,000 Poland, together with Bukowina 1,200,000 Bohemia .... 11,600,000 Moravia ... 400,000 Silefia - - . - . 700,000 All the circles of Auftria - 22,700,000 Netherlands ... 7,000,000 liOmbardy _ . . 4,000,000 82,000,000 Thefe 82,000,000 of Imperial guilders make about 98,400,000 Rheniffi guilders, or about 215,000,000 of French livres; which is about 145,000,000 livres lefs than the income of our court (the colonies not included), and about as much as the revenue of Great Britain. When we confider that France contains about 4,000,000 more inhabitants than Auftria does, that its commerce is much more flouriffiing, and TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 89 and that Hungary and Illyria yield fo little, in proportion to their fize, the proportion of the produce of the two countries will be thouo-ht pretty near the truth. The account of the expenditures, which Mr, Schloffer's correfpondent has fubjoined to his account of the revenue, is notorioufly falfe. The expences of the army are laid at 17,000,000 of guilders ; but though, in proportion to the ftrength of the two countries, the army of this court cofts a third lefs than ours does, the Em peror's military expences, including the large magazines, and recruiting money, come to 28,000,000 a year. Some perfons of credit make the fum ftill larger. Mr. Schloffer's cor refpondent ftates the penfions only at a miflion j but it is eafy to fee, that as much again may be given in penfions, and yet none of thofe who muft neceffarily fubfift by the bgunty of the court be much richer. Befides all this, the ac count of the expenditure muft be falfe; for Mr. Schloffer's correfpondent has made it agree with the revenue, which he has ftated at 27,000,000 guilders kfs than it really is. I recoUeft to have read^ in a fpeech, fpokea in parliament by an Engliffi minifter,. who wanted to ffiew the rank his country held in thc fyftem, a comparative ftate of the revenues of the QO TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. the feveral great powers in Europe. He efti mated the revenue of France at twelve, that of Great Britain at nine, that of Ruffia at feven, and that of Auftria at fix millions fterling. This is filly enough ; but it is not as abfurd as what is faid by Linguet, who, in his annals of Europe, ventures to entertain a doubt, whether Auftria has power enough to fecure the weft of Europe from the danger of a Turkiffi invafion ; and therefore gracioufly advifes the other Eu ropean powers to help this houfe to a flice of Germany or Turkey, in order to enable it to meafure fpears with the Turk. Auftria is ftill, without doubt, the fecond power of Europe. The revenue of Ruffia confifts of 32,000,000 of rubles, which, according to the prefent value of the ruble, does not amount to more than 64,000,000 of Imperial guilders. No doubt but Ruffia may do aftoniffiing things with its income at home, where the firft neceffaries of life are all fo cheap; but it has not nearly the number of refources, to carry on operations out of its own borders, as this court has. The dmes of . Leopold and Charles VI. have long been gone by. Within this laft twenty years, a change has taken place in the adminifljadon of the Imperial finances, which will aftoniffi the world, as foon as this court has an opportunity of ffiewing TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 91 fhewing its power, I do not believe it wants as much time as Ruffia wanted, when it began the laft war, to be a full match for the Turks. As the revenue of Great Britain was nearly equal to that of this country, previous to the breaking out pf this war, but has been a little leffened by the lofs of America, Auftria has no rival to fear, even at prefent, but France ; but the former is a rifing power, and in fifty years time, the two crowns will be nearly equally ftrong. Though it be true, that Ruffia does contain fbme millions of men more than the Auftrian monarchy, there are amongft the for mer feveral Kamtfchatdales, Samoides, and Laplanders, who are of little more political cftimation than their cattle. Both powers are making hafty ftrides to greatnefs, and in thc next century, will probably play the parts, which France and England played, from the end of the laft to the middle of this, that is, the quiet and balance of Europe will depend upon them. This court will not fuffer the Ruffian to take one ftep, withput taking the fame, or perhaps two, as was the cafe in the partition of Poland, which I now know for certain, originated in this country. Ruffia bore all the expence of the Turkiffi, or to fay better, of the Poliffi war; and 92 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. and when matters came to a divifion, Auftria gained more than Ruffia and Pruffia together. The Auftrian part of Poland, together with Bukowina, which was taken from the Turks, is not larger than thc ffiare which Ruffia had ; but it contains more men, and produces at leaft half as much again as the Ruffian and Pruffian parts put together. According to thc beft ac counts, the Ruffian part contains only 2,100,000, and the Pruffian 650,000; whereas in the Au ftrian, as I have ftated them, there are 2,800,000 fouls. Befides this larger population, Auftria has likewife the advantage of the very produc tive falt-works of Widitfka, and the greateft part of Poland is dependent upon it for this ne ceffary of life. The ftrength of Auflria is com- paft ; but that of Ruffia is broken. They talk hereof a partition of Turkey, as a thing refolved on by the two Imperial courts, and even the pub lic papers begin to mention it ; but I do not believe it, as it is well known that there was a plan of the fame kind formed by the two courts in the year 1730. Should there, however, bc any thing in it, and ffiould not our court have a power to conjure the ftorm, this would pro bably be the laft treaty of friendffiip between Auftria and Ruffia j for as foon as tbe Porte ffiall TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 93 fhall be deftroyed, and the two Chriftian em pires have their limits on the borders of the Black Sea, they muft of neceffity grow jealous of each other, as with refpeft to trade, and other circumftanees, they will be exaftly in the fame fituation as France and Great Britain were jn,^ with regard to each other. LETTER 54 TRAVELS THROUGH gM^Iai^Y. LETTER XXXVI. Vienna. BY degrees the Emperor begins to ffiew a litde of the plan which he has fo lang kept concealed in his own breaft. You muft not expeft me to give you a circumftantial ac count of the new regulations which have ap peared, pr will appear in future. I think of leaving this town next week; but you will have quicker, and more complete intelligence from the newfpapers, than I can give you on my travels. Certainly our chafte French Gazette is not the channel to convey matters of this kind to you ; it will, indeed, inform you very circumftantially, that the Emperor went one day to church, another day a hunting, and a third to the concert; that he let his hand bc kiffed, and what coat, or great coat he wore in one and the other place. You will not hear, by this channel, of the laws relating to toleration, of the abolition of cloifters, of the diminution of the papal authority; you will not hear that li berty is promifed to every feftary to worffiip God in his own way ; that Auftria has become inde pendent of all foreign influence; that monkery is TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 95 is no more; that the, clergy are become the fervants of the ftate: the abolition, too, of feudal tenures ; the diminution of the per nicious privileges of the nobles ; the reform in the courts of juftice ; greater fimplicity in all the operations of government; univerfal and rigid oeconomy; advancement of philofophy; extenfion of civil liberty and patriotic feelings ; encouragement of merit; all thefe things are attended to by Jofeph, with a zeal and fteadi nefs which will render Auftria, in a ffiort time, the aftoniffiment of the world, and one of the moft flouriffiing and mighty empires in it. Perhaps you will afk, what is to become of the arts ? Will there alfo be academies of in fcriptions and belles lettres; Arcadian affem blies, academies of painting and ftatuary ? Moft certainly there will. One of the latter is an old inftitution ; and as for the others, there are as many able fubjefts here as at Paris. Here are perfons enough who have time and talents fuf ficient to make each other fenfdefs compliments in periodical publications; to makeoarties to raife fome infipid performance, the author of which has flattered their vanity into repute, and to opprefs a writer of merit, who has ventured to difpute their judgment. Nor are there want ing perfons who are capable of giving the moft old q6 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY* old faffiioned thought an air of novelty, or pub- liffiing mutilated tranflations as their own works. It is, indeed, but eight or ten years fince moft of the newpieces which appeared on the French and Engliffi ftages, were publiffied here as original compofitions. Thefe things, therefore, wfll exift; but the Emperor will fcarcely lay out a penny in this way ; he knows better what to do with his money ; and it had been well for us, had we applied the money which thefe infti tutions have coft us, to any other purpofe, had it been only that of making canals to carry off the dirt which makes fuch a ftink in the choaked up common fewers, and has already fuffocated many. Here, methinks, I fee you look on me with contempt ; for I know you live and move only for the belles lettres, and pity us barbarians, who do not facrifice fo ardently to the divine arts. Well do I remember all the kind things you ufed to fay of my ftupidity and coldnefs, or whatever elfe you pleafed to call it, whenever I happened not to have the feeling you had, on meeting with a good epigram, a lively defcrip tion, or a fine print or drawing. But, my dear brother, every man fees things in his own way, and, as in compliance with your leading paffion* I have taken the trouble to give you a great deal of TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 97 of intelligence about the German theatre and poetry, &c. &c. and promife you a great deal more from the northern parts of Germany, you will not take it amifs, if I fay fomething to you in juftification of my own tafte, and peculiar way of thinking. Tell me then, my deareft brother, if it be not a truth which all hiftory attefts, that in every nation, the srra of the arts and fciences has im mediately preceded their fall ? I will not be at the pains to prove thisi, by a long deduftion of events, from the hiftory of Greece to this time. You may recoUeft the excdlent note of a Ty- rolefe monk, upon a paffage in Columella, pub liffied by the author of Voyages en differents Pays de rEurope. It contains the ftrongeft evidence which hiftory can give, that a country in which thofe arts which contribute chiefly to amufement, are held in high cftimation, and are the moft fuccefsful way of gaining honour and fortune, is a country verging faft to ruin. You will fay, that the fault is not in the arts and fciences them felves. Right; but when they get a certain fuperiority in a nation, over the other employ ments of the mind, they muft draw deftruftive confequences after them. Frivolity, weaknefs, profufion, negleft of more laborious purfuits and occupadons, oftentation, wrong judgment VOL. II. H Jtt 98 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. in choofing the fervants of the ftate, a warm and immoderate defire of ornaments, &c. are ne ceffary confequences of all thefe elegancies, when they are carried to that abufe which bor ders fo near on the good ufe of them. And what do they contribute to the real happinefs of men } Are they any thing more than a fplendid dream ? How ffiort, too, has this sera been with all nations ? After the generation of wits, ge nerally there has fucceeded a totally illiterate horde, who have wakened thofe the arts had put to fleep with blows, and laid them in chains be fore they had well rubbed their eyes. How long is it fince the days of CorneiUe and Ra cine ? And we are already exhaufted ! Poor nation ! Not that I altogether refufe my approbation to works of genius, or would leave them quite unrewarded. I only wiffi that an exceffive libe rality ffiaU not confound merit and demerits, and encourage that contagious fpread of virtii and bei ejprit, which, if not guarded againft, foon infefts a whole nation, and deftroys the balance that ffiould ever fubfift between the ufe ful and agreeable. I am convinced the Em peror will not refufe to do juftice to the poet, the painter, and every artift of real merit, nor leave them unrewarded. But the applicadon of phUofophy TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 99 philofophy to the improvement of governmentj but thofe branches of mathematics and phyfics, which are connefted with civil induftry; — but thofe arts and fciences, in ffiort, which contri bute to the lafting happinefs of the country^ have ftill more to expeft from him. And can you take this ill of him > His court will hardly refemble that of an Auguftus, who could give a penfion of 4000 louis d'ors to a poet, whilft he owed bis old foldiers their pay. Certainly not. But Auftria is advancing apace to the happy times of Henry IV- the times in which a nation begins to feel itfelf; when the foundation of national -riches are laid; when civil liberty and peace are fecured frorn the attacks of the monks and nobles ; when the proper balance is eftabliffied between all ranks of the ftate; when the fine arts' and fciences, agreeable to their proper diftinftion, are only ufed for recreation, and more is not expended on them than a prudent ceconomical father, who meafures all his expences by the ftate of his for tune, would lay out on his pieafures ; and when from this very reafon, to wit, becaufe they hold the rank they ought to hold, they thrive better than when exceffive encouragement connefts a train of votaries to them, who only love them for the fake of what they procure. When the H 2 arts lOft TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. arts become the means of gaining a livelihood, there is an end of all great works ; and when artifts form a corporation, as with uSj it is a cor- poradon of apes and monkies. How rare are original geniufes ! Would millions raife a Vol taire ? Pardon this digreffion, which was not fo much a laffi to your hobby horfe, as an effufion of my efteem for thc Emperor, whom I would wiffi to juftify in your fight. I know that you cannot eafily forgive his doing fo Uttle for the fine arts; but confider, brother, he lays out from ten to 20,000 louis d'ors, in fuppordng thofe who carry on ufeful employments, every one of whom, that wiffies to eftabliffi a ufeful manufaftory, may have any fum advanced at a fmall, or even without any intereft at all. He affifts all who will fetde in the country in every way. He makes roads, builds villages, towns, and harbours, and has an army of at leaft 300,000 men to fupport. Ought he to be cir- cumfcribed in thefe expences, in order to efta bliffi an academy of Infcriptions and Belles lettres? Forbid it patriotifm, forbid it humanity. Perhaps, in time, he will do fomething for your goddeffes, when all the court debts are paid, his finances in complete order, and thc cloifters thinned. His debts are certainly not fo TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 10 1' fo great as ours, and yet they amount to about 1 60 millions offlorins, and he is obliged topay eighteen millions a year, in intereft and capital. The lands belonging to the cloifters and religi ous foundations, in the Imperial hereditary lands, are eftimated at 300 millions of florins, of which nearly one half comes from the Ne therlands and Lombardy. Poffibly the mufes may, in time, inherit fome of this immenfe wealth. H 3 LETTER [lOi TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, LETTER XXXVII. Vienna. TO-MoRROw I leave this place ; I ffiaU ftay fome time at Prague, where I expeft to hear from you. It is now evident what the Emperor was about, during his mother's life-time. All the ftrangers who are here are aftoniffied at the ffiort dme in which one of the greateft and moft total revolutions has been effefted ; a fure fign that it was thought of long before, and all the mate rials prepared. The nobility and clergy are every day more convinced that it will go harder and harder with them. But they make no re fiftance ; fbr both orders are entirely difarmed. Notwithftanding their great riches, the nobility are enfeebled by their effeminacy and diffipation, and the clergy have a fnake in their own bofoms which will fting them to death. This fnake is philofophy ; which, under the femblance of theology, has glided even to the epifcopal chair. Moft of the younger ecclefiaftics are infefted by the poifon of this fnake in thc univerfities. They all know that there is a Febronius in the world, and fome of them are only acquainted with TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I03 with him as a heretic ; yet as the arguments of the cowl have a much greater effeft upon them than the arguments of their profeffors, and as the court is evidently friendly to him, they are not unwilling to be reconciled to their old ene my. The Bellarminifts, who poffefs all the great benefices, ftill make, it is true, the greater number ; but if once they are in danger of lofing their cures, or the 25,000 advocates in the Im perial dominions, who have long been ready with arguments, are ordered to charge, they will, no doubt, make very little refiftance. I do not believe there is a fingle man of un derftanding in the army, who does not moft thoroughly approve the Emperor's new regu lations. This part of the adminiftration of the country has been in his hands a confiderable time ; and it carries marks in every part of it, of having been fo. Amongft all the Imperial officers I was acquainted with, I did not meet with one, of a certain age, who did not poffefs a certain fund of philofophy. During my ftay here, I found them by far the beft company in the place, and, with the permlffion of the Pro- feffors, Doftors, and other Literati, muft think them by far the moft enlightened people in the Auftrian dominions. I will anfwer for finding many corporals in thc Imperial army who have H 4 more 104 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. more fenfe than nine out of ten of the liferad. There has long been a freedom of thinking and reafoning in the army, which is a ftrong contraft to what obtains elfewhere, and does the Em peror the utmoft honour. Every regiment has a library to itfelf, and the officers find means to procure every good book, however prohibited it may be. The King of Pruffia has no longer Tope be-/alved a.nd be-corjecrated generals, as he ufed to call Daun, to contend with. Even amongft the common foldiers, you may obferve a kind of natural logic, which is the confequence of the way in which they are managed, and which you may trace in their tents, in their ma noeuvres, in their tables, and in every thing that belongs to them. There is not a veftige left ofthe bigotry which heretofore made the Im perial army fo confpicuous. What, indeed, will the black troop undertake againft a corps condufted as this is ? The Emperor.will not find the fame facility in reforming the adminiftration of civil and criminal juftice, as he will meet with in reforming the church. There is ftill a formidable darknefs over all this part of legif lation. The defefts, partly owing to the laws themfelves, and the forms of adminiftring juftice, and partly increafed through the ftupidity, pe dantry^ diffolutenefs, fdfiflincfs and want pf pa triotifm TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, IO5 triotifm of the fervants of the court, have long been felt. The late Emprefs endeavoured to remedy them, but in vain ; for were the Codex Therejianus ten times lefs barbarous than it is, ftill little would have been done. There is a \vant of men to give vigour to laws; hpwever good. During the time he was only a kind of vice roy, the Emperor took all the pains he was able, to throw more light upon the admini ftration of juftice, and to render it more impar tial ; inor do I believe there is a fingle inftance of a ftriking and notorious aft of injuftice hav ing been committed by any of his immediate fervants ; but he could not create new fubjefts, and as long as pride, lazinefs, and the love of ffiew, continue to be leading features in the charafters of the principal members of the courts of juftice, it is impoffible but that fraud, chi canery, and, indeed, roguery of every kind, muft find their way, in proceffes fo complicated as thefe are. Criminal juftice is, indeed, in a moft piteous condition. When you read the Codex Thereji anus, you would conceive that it had been com pofed for a horde of Bajchis. Here are puniffi- ments for crimes which have not been heard of in the country for a century; and penaldes, very grievous ind?,edj but at the fame time moft ri diculous, Io6 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. diculous, when you compare the ftate of the country and the ftate of the law, for offences which happen every day, but raife no clamour, fuch as fornication, adultery, and fodomy. This, however, is not fo great an evil ; for let laws be as fevere as they wiU, ftill they expofe civil and natural liberty to no danger, and the moft inhuman laws that can be devifed, are bet ter than no law at all ; or what amounts to the fame thing, the non-obfervance of any. The latter unfortunately is the cafe here. It was foon feen that the Codex Therejianus agreed nei ther with the manners nor the charafter of the people, and the court became affiamed, at the time that all Europe was making an outcry . about humanity, the abolition of capital puniffi- ments, &c. &c. of a ftatute-book which had nothing in it but halters, gibbets, fwords, &c. What was to be done ? They would not repeal the law ; but contented themfelves with an uni verfal requifition to the judges to be mild, and not to inflift capital puniffiments without ne ceffity. This mifunderftood lenity is the greateft tyranny in the world. The moft cruel law that can be devifed cannot commit murder. On the contrary, the more cruel the law is, the more depravity and obftinacy it befpeaks to fin againft it ; but the general direftion, to ' have • recourfe to no capital puniffiments without ? ' neceffity,' TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I07 * neceffity,' tends to fubmit the guilty to the difcretion of the judge, and thus undermines one of the principal props of civil liberty. As long as laws, let them be as fevere as they will, are rigidly obferved, the tranfgreffor is without excufe. He knew the law, and not to guard againft the penalty of it, befpoke wickednefs and weaknefs ; but in the laft caf^ he may bc the viftim of circumftanees, with which his crim6 has not the leaft conneftion. I will relate a faft to you, which happened fome years ago at Lintz, which, though it relates to military juf tice, will give you a very good idea of the ftate of criminal juftice in this country. Two grenadiers, who were amongthe hand fomeft men of the regiment, agreed to defert from Stein, and engaged others to defert with them. They were detefted and condemned to die, as ringleaders, by the council of war. The whole regiment knew, that every general in the army had it in comfcand, to fuffer no fentence of death to be put in execution without the utmoft neceffity. As this neceffity did not exift. General Brown was determined to grant a pardon, and he would have done fo ; but on a fudden the whole fcene changed. The com rades of the prifoners went to them in prifon, got drunk with them, and offered to go to the gallows in their ftead j fo perfuaded were they that I08 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. that the pardon would come. The whole of this was related to the general. The day came ; the young men went cheerfully to the field ; all Lintz had no doubt but a pardon would meet them there, when lo, and behold ! General Brown found out, that this was the referved cafe of extreme neceffity, and the men were executed. What was the confequence ? The general had a reprimand from Vienna ; but did he deferve it? Was it not a fufficiently good excufe for his conduft, to fay, that defertions were grown every day more common, from the idea that fentences of death would never be carried into execution ? In my opinion, thefe grenadiers were viftims to the weaknefs of the legiflation. Stability, not mercy, is the firft merit of a law. A general defeft, which runs through thc whole of this legiflation, is, that it is loaded with orders which are not made effeftive. There is no end of projefts and writings. There are orders upon orders, injunftions upon injunftions, and refcripts upon refcripts ; the laft of which always overturns, or at leaft very much limits the preceding onc. This is fo conftant a thing, that feveral perfons in office in the country make it a rule, before they carry an order into exe cution, to wait five or fix weeks to fee whether it wiU not be coritradifted. It would be a cu rious, and to the Auftrian ftate a very profitable 4 bufinefs. TRA,VELS THROUGH GERMANY. lO^f bufinefs, if any perfon would take the trouble of coUefting the contradiftory laws which have been promulgated within thefe laft eighteen or twenty years. This, no doubt, arofe in part, becaufe the Emperor and his mother had dif ferent plans of legiflation ; but now he governs alone, he will find it very difficult to bring matters right, as he cannot depend upon any affiftance whatever from his fubalterns. The language ofthe courts ofjuftice here is very fingular. You muft know, that they have a ftyle of their own, which is totally different from the common ftyle, and is called the chancellery, or law ftyle. — I have juft been reading a refcript of the Imperial court to the chapter of Saltz- burgh, who are engaged in a law-fuit with their archbiffiop. It contains periods which fill a whole folio fide of paper, and in which, with all the attention in the world, it is impoffible to find a conneftion. Indeed, the more uncon- nefted it is, and the more abounding in the fcarceft Latin and French words, the better this ftyle is reckoned. There are likewife many German words, which are ufed in a fenfe direftly oppofite to what they have in common language. I look upon it as quite impoffible that the grandchildren, of the prefent generation ffiould underftand a fingle fyllable of all their jargon. Fare ye well. LETTER JIO TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. LETTER XXXVIII. Prague. THE journey from Vienna to this place was one of the moft pleafing I have ever taken, notwithftanding we did not meet with a fingle good town, during a journey of forty- four German poft miles. My company con fifted of an Imperial officer, a prieft, and a traveller from Lower Saxony. The officer had ferved in the laft war in Silefia. He was a fen fible man, and afted as our Cicerone on two of the moft noted fields of battle recorded in mo dern hiftory. As long as we continued in Auftria, the country appeared fingularly well cultivated, and there was all the appearance of a high ftate of happinefs and eafe among the farmers ; but in the parts of Moravia we came through, the in habitants did not feem near fo happy as their neighbours. Notwithftanding this, however, the country is well cultivated throughout ; nor do you fee any of the wild deferts, which are fo ftriking in Hungary. Snaym and Iglau are two very pretty villages. The inhabitants of thefe TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. Ill thefe fpeak German very well ; but you ob ferve that it is not their native language. The whole country is made up pardy of a plain, and partly of gently rifing hills ; but on the confines of Bohemia, the hUls rife into more ftately, as well as more fruitful mountains. The parts of thefe through which our road lay, were covered with fine woods, villages, and feve ral very ftately caftles, and there are mile-ftones all the way. The roads are excellent. We met with few villages on the plains of Bohemia; it feems the Germans have a proverb, which fays of a thing that is fcarce, * that it is fcarce * as- a village in Bohemia.' As, however, it is evident from the Hft of thofe who draw for foldiers, that the country^ is extremely well peopled, and as we faw fome very good agri culture, and no barren ground, we did not at firft know what to make of thefe appearances ; but our officer, who had travelled over the coun try far and near, explained themnto us. He told us, that moft of the villages lay off the great road, in the neighbourhood of rivers and brooks, or behind woods, and that if wei would go a mile and a half, either to the right or left, we ffiould fee enough of them. This cuftom of hiding the habitations in the rocks of the coun try, or behind woods, probably took its rife in 2 the 112 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. the time of wars, when the inhabitants endea voured to procure ffielter from the robbers and knight.errants who infefted the land. — No doubt the convenience of having water contributed fomething to it. Between Kolin and Planiani, which are diftant two German miles from each other, we came to the noted field of battle, which has taken its name from thefe two places, though it ought to have it from the fmall vil lage near which thc aftion really happened. Here we got out, and our Cicerone, who was proud of Iiaving had his ffiare in the honour of that day, which did away the ignominy of Au ftria, went over the ground with us. Many reafons have been given why this bat tle proved fo fata^ to the king of Pruffia, and, as in all other cafes of the kind, the hiftorian will be puzzled to choofe between the different rdadons of various fenfible men, who were all eye-witneffes, and all took part in the labour and difficulty ofthe day. — Here, however, the event evidently depended upon the ground, which Daun knew how to make his advantage of. Along the road, and to the right of it, there is a plain which extends as far as the eye can reach; on the left of this there is a gentle rife, which makes a kind of a peak near the village where the great aftion took place. On the right of this rifing. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. II3 rifiiig, which you can hardly call a hill, you difcover ftreight before you a long, deep, ditch, encompaffed with fteep walls, which have the appearance, at a diftance, of a plain betwixt woods. To the left this hill finks in a re markable hollow, and lofes itfelf backwards in a great plain, Daun's right wing was placed on the top of the rifing, and the remainder of his army was covered by the ditch on the left. The king of Pruffia approached by the plaia through which we were to pafs. He was eompcL led to fight, or give up the fiege of Prague, and evacuate Bohemia. The only part of the Im perial army he could attack was the right wing. The gallant Pruffians were not at all diffieart- ened by the inequality of the ground. Ever accuftomed to conquer, their right wing ad vanced in filenqe up the hUl, The Im^perials, who had the advantage pfthe ground, beat them back again. Six times the Pruffians returned to the attack ; but as the ground was very nap- row, they were at length much impeded by the numbers of their own dead, who lay on thc flopes of the hill they had to afcend. Notwith ftanding all this, they would ftill have gained the day, if Daun had not had time to flank his beaten right wing with cavalry. This imme diately charged tp the left of the hiU in the flank vol.. II. I of 114 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. of the Pruffians, who, after the ffiarpeft conteft, were at length obliged to give way. Whilft they were retreating in good order, prince Mau rice, of Deffau, whofe bravery often approach ed to raffinefs, took a fingle battalion, and with it encountered the whole force of the Auftrian army. This made the rout much greater than it would otherwife have been. The prince would have fought his troops to the laft man, if he had not been called off from his raffi-head- ed attempt by the king's fpecial command. As among other loffes the king's guard had been entirely cut off, when the prince came up to him, hc began crying out, " My guard, prince! f my guard!" To which the other made an fwer, " My regiment, your majefty ! my regi- ?' rnent!" He thought, that as his regiment had been cut off, there was nothing worth fav ing. Now it may probably have been a fault in the king not to have had any cavalry in his left wing; but if it was fo, it arpfe from the une- vennefs pf the grpund. If the Auftrians had not • had the great advantage of having their right wing on an eminence, and the reft of their army fecure, in all probabiUty the Pruffians, who notwithftanding theie difadvantages, made the viftory dubious for a great while, would have got TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. II5 got the day before Daun could have fupported the attajcked part with his cavalry, and in that cafe no perfon would have thought of a failure of cavalry on the Pruffian part. The king, too, could not obferve the motions of the German fabrfe, whofe fudden appearance from the hollow was the more formidable, from its being entirely unexpefted, and what a priori muft have feem ed very improbable to the king. Others fay, that the king purpofed to do no thing with his left wing, but intended to alter his mode of battle, and charge with his right, whilft tbe prince of Deffau was amufing the enemy. — In that cafe his flanJc would have been fecured from the attack of the enemy's cavalry, and he would have had nothing to fear from the Auftrian left wing on this fide the deep ditch. — But, fay thofe who maintain this opinion, the prince of Deffau, inftead of amufing the enemy, made fo lively and ferious an attack, that the king was obliged to fupport him, out of apprehenfion, that if the prince was repulfed, the whole army might have been brought into diforder by the flight of his regiment. 1 take this likewife to be one of thofe after-thoughts which ffiew what a man ffiould have done, but not what he did, or had a mind to do. — Others think, that the king trufting folely to his good I 2 fortune. Il6 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. fortune, which had done fuch great things for him a little before at the battle of Prague, had neglefted fome neceffary arrangements, partJT cularly the bringing up his cavalry. But this feems one of the obfervations which a fenfible writer makes after the time, to give himfelf the air of appearing to know more than other peoi- pie. A man like the king of Pruffia, who gives continual proofs that he does not fuffer himfelf to be depreffed by any reverfe of fortune, is not likely to have been too much raifed by his fuc cefs. Being now beaten, for the firft time, after fo many fucefsful battles, Frederick retreated in the beft order poffible to Saxony, through Leut- merijs andi Aifftg. Depreffed he was not, but a lit tle out of humour at his oldeft brother, fince dead, who carried part of the army back into Saxony, by Gabel, experienced. — But, np doubt, you are well acquainted with this wonderful retreat, and the anecdotes concerning it, to be found in the book entitled, Recueil de Lettres de Ja Majefte. le Roi de Prujfe, regardant le demiere guerre. If the king had gained this battle he would have been mafler of all Bohemia. All Auftria would have ftood open to him, and Ollmutz only would have prevented his going to Vienna. In this <;:afe he vyould have diftated to his enemies the Travels through Germany. 117 the conditions of peace, whereas the mifcarriage was followed by fix years of bloody war. The king commanded this aftion from the window of an upper ftory of a public houfe, which ftands alone, and is very near the road. It was with inexpreffible pleafure that we dined in the room, which commands a view of the field of battle on both fides. Every thing here appeared facred to me : as I ftood in the place occupied by the king, in the window which di reftly fronts the eminence which occafioned his defeat, I fdt all the mortification he muft have experienced, when he found his troops giving ¦Way. — There were fome marks of cannon-balls ift the Walls of this houfe, and the king was not altogether fafe. Kolin is a pretty little town, it is, without a doubt, the beft place you meet with betwixt- Prague and Vienna ; the ' garrifon, however, excepted, it does not contain above three thou fand 'five hundred fouls. The houfes are not m.ore than feven hundred, and do not feem to be very well inhabited. We refted a little here, and were extremely wdl treated ; you live very cheap and well all over Bohemia. Small hares, ducks, geefe, &c. are the common food met with, in the fmalleft inns. I 3 In 11^ TRAVELS through GERMANY. In order to give you an idea of the price of provifions, I will give you an account of what the Saxon and I paid for a night's entertainment. You muft know, that almoft all the inns here . have a bad appearance, and the innkeepers, notwithftanding the plenty they afford travellers, feem to be but in indifferent circumftanees. Their houfes generally ftand alone in the ftreet, and have neither orchard, kitchen-garden, or any piece of land near belonging to them. They are obliged to pay fo heavy a rent to the land lord, or nobleman to whom the houfe belongs, that they can gain but very litde. At laft we faw an inn in a vUlage we came to, which had a better appearance ; it had a roomy court, good ftables, a neat garden, and was the property of the landlady. Now, faid we, as we got into our bed-chambers, we ffiall have another kind of a bill, and, no doubt, pay for the fine pro- fpeft which this room commands, the fine fur niture, the exquifite glaffes and china, and, in fliort, all the fine things which we enjoy or do not enjoy. We had for fupper a rice foup, with an exceeding good chicken, a falad, and two young hares broiled. We had excellent beer, which is remarkably good in Bohemia, and a pot of wine, which we found very bad, and would not have another, as we knew that wine was very ¦TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I19 very dear all over Bohemia. We had two very clean beds, and fome very good coffee for breakfaft ; and would you think it > when the bill was called for, it amounted only to forty- two creutzers, that is, about one livre and forty- two fois French. We ftopped about three miles from Prague, and went fome furlongs out of the way to fee the famous field of battle of the year 1757. Here the Pruffians overcame nature itfelf. It was impoffible for the Auftrians to have more favourable ground. A deep, broad, perpendi cular ditch protefted them from the enemy. They had a very formidable artillery, which defended the ditch by batteries placed to great advantage. When the Pruffians made their firft attack by the ditch, they fell like flocks of fnow : the Auftrian fire was terrible. There has not been a harder or bloodier aftion in the prefent century, nor is there perhaps in hiftory, a fingle inftance of a battle won under fuch cir cumftanees as the Pruffians had to contend with. It is almoft literaUy true, that they had at the the fame time a fort to take and an army to beat, which was ftronger than theipown. Con ceive to yourfelf, a deep ditch flanked with can non, on the other fide of which is encamped a I 4 bold I20 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. bold looking army of at leaft feventy thoufand men. The Pruffians marched through the ditch, and through the fortifications oppofed to them, put the enemy to the moft complete flight, and befieged Prague, in which part of the flying Imperial army took refuge. But they paid dear for the viftory ; their lofs of men was in finitely greater than that of the enemy ; ac counts differ with regard to the numbers flain ; fome make them feven, others from nine to ten thoufand men. This is the cafe with all modern aftions. The truth, however, without the leaft exaggeration is, that the immenfe ditch was filled throughout its whole breadth with dead men, who in many places likewife, lay in great heaps upon each other. The ftroke which the king felt moft of all, was the lofs of the brave general Schwerin. We looked with the moft folemn melan choly on the tree near which he fell. The prefent Emperor has erefted a monument to him, which does ho lefs honour to the perfon who {et it up, than to him whofe name it bears and eternizes. Many anecdotes are current with regard to the death of this brave man. It has been faid, that a rough anfwer given by thc king to a meffage he fent him by an adjutant in TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 121 in the midft of the batde, to let him know it was impoffible to- win it, occafioned him to feek death; -but I do not believe this ; fbr even fup pofing Schwerin to have remonftrated on what he thought an impoffibility, the king knew well enough that the word obey was fufficient tO' re mind him of his duty, and to make him do all that could be expefted from a man of his cha rafter, for courage and abilities ; no, we muft do Schwerin the juftice to fay, that he died be caufe, according to the proverb, every man Owes a death. He died like a patriot ; he faw the violence of the conteft, faw the good will of his foldiers, and their courage, which the havock death made all around them could not tame. Nothing, he found, but an aft of defpe- ration on his pirt could fave them, he therefore fnatched the colours out of the hands of a dying cornet, crying, follow me, my brave boys, and rode up to the mouth of the cannon. A ball took him off, at the head of his brave troops, but they, fired by his courage and example, got up the hill, broke in on the enemy, and by that deed turned the day in favour of 'the king. After the battle the king befieged Prague. Daun in the mean time coUefted the broken Imperial troops, got an army together, and haftened 122 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. haftened to the relief of the town, the garrifon of which was making a brave refiftance ; this army the king was compelled to attack, or raife thc fiege ; this brought on the above defcribed battle of Kolin, in which he loft all that he had won before. LETTER TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 12^ LETTER XXXIX. Prague. BOHEMIA is a country favoured of heaven, the climate is excellent. In this excurfion I have become acquainted with feveral foreigners who make their conftant refidence here, and are induced to it by the wholefome- nefs of the air, the goodnefs and cheapnefs of all the neceffaries of life, and the cheerful good- humour of the inhabitants,' — and yet .^neas Silvius defcribes the country as a part of Sibe ria, though it was, in all probabiUty, more flouriffiing in his time than it is now ; to be fure, the difference of the climate muft have been ftriking to a Roman, but I believe his eminence was here only in the winter; thc fpring is not fo beautiful even at Rome, as it is here; fpring and fummer are as remarkable as the winter is at Vienna, where you feldom fee a regular fpring, but the winter and fummer almoft join. The climate of this country is not expofed to any of thofe fudden and incle ment changes which are fo fatal to health in other places. The winter colds are neither too 4 ffiarp. |24 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, ffiarp, nor the fummer heats too ftrong. The air is dry, clear, and temperate. The country Ues high, and forms a large extended plain, fur rounded on all fides by very high hills covered with rich woods. The vale in the middle, whicTh is watered by the Elbe, the Moldaw, and the Eyer, of which you may eafily form an idea, by cafting your eyes on the mapi is protefledr frPni rii^ force of the wind. The feveral hol lows i'ri the middle coritribute to let out thd wa'ters, fo that there are neither lakes nor mo raffes to fill the' air with unwholefome vapours'. As the foil is ftony only in very few places, the waters flow eafily through the country, and make it fruitful, without filling the air, as is the cafe in feveral parts of Upper Switzerland, with catarrhs and coughs. The country produces every thing tliat can contribute to the comfort of life in aftoniffiing abundance, wine and fait only excepted. The greateft part of the former is brought at a very moderate price from Lintz, where is a. ware houfe for fait, which is brought from Gerund in Auftria, and Halle in the Tyrol. The remain der is brought from Auftrian Poland at a mo derate price. There have been many fuccefs ful experiments made to produce wine, and I have tafted fome melnikers, very litde inferior 2 to . TRAVEI^ THROUGH GERMANY. 1 25 to the fecond fort of Bourdeaux wines. The ^rft ftpcks were brought frorn Burgundy. Thp .country, however, will hardly be able to pror- duce a fufficiency of this article for confump:- tion, but it has other advantages to make up for the lofs. A s it poffeffes moft of the prime neceffaries of Ufe, and by that means commands a fuperiority of trade, which none of the neigh bouring countries can difpute ¦ with it, it pro vides a great part of Silelra, Saxony, and Au ftria with corn, and alfo fells them fome cattle. The circle of Saajfer is alone able to furniffi all Bohemia, populous as the country is, with corn, fven in moderate years. The excellent Bohe- ' ' mian hops are carried as far as the Rhine in gre§,t quantities. The breed of horfes is like^r wife wonderfully improved within thefe few years, and bring annually large fums of money into the country. The Bohemian tin is the beft pf any, next to the Engliffi ; and they carry oh a very cojifiderabje trade in alum, and feveral kinds of" precious ftones, particularly garnets. The large woods, in which the country abounds, furniffi materials for the wonderful jnanufafto- ries of glafs, whichj bring a great deal of money into the. country, and find their way into every part of Europe from Pprtugal to Sweden. ' ' Within thefe few years they have alfo made large 126 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. large quantities of very good, and uncommonly cheap hats, with which they fupply great part ofthe inhabitants of Auftria, Bavaria, and Fran conia. The handkerchief and linen manufac tories are alfo in good repute. The Bohemians travel much. Some as dealers in glafs, who go as far as England and Italy, and fome as bafket and fieve makers. I have met with large caravans of thefe on the Upper Rhine, and in the Netherlands. Thefe people commonly come home with pretty large fums of money ; they keep together like bro thers, whilft they are in foreign countries. They have indeed an uncommon ffiare of pa triotifm, and a kind of confidence in each other, which often makes them pafs in the eyes of ftrangers for a favage and barbarous people, though they really are not fo. Since the days of Hufs they have a fecret Hatred to the Germans, which does not arife fo much from bad temper as from a kind of national pride. Moft of thc farmers who live near the roads, fpeak German; but as they do not like to talk to a ftranger without neceffity, they pretend not to underftand a word of what the traveUer fays, and make their fport of him amongft themfelves. It has been attempt ed to make them fend their children to German TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I27 German fchools, but hitherto they have ail proved abortive. They have an unfpeakable averfion to whatever is German. I have heard young men here talk of the battles which their anceftors, under Zifka, fought againft the Germans, with a degree of warmth and pride, which made them very amiable in my eyes. They ftill remember too, that the refidence of the court at Prague formerly rendered the country flouriffiing, and lament that the prefe rence which has been given to Auftria, in con fequence of a flight mifunderftanding, carries off large fums annually from the country, which are fent to Vienna, partly by the court, and partly by the nobility. The late Emprefs was extremely offended with them on account of this mifunderftanding, and Bohemia was the only one of her old hereditary dominions which ffie never vifited. The Huffites are ftill very numerous in the country. Some think that a fourth part of the inhabitants are of this feft, which has alfo fpread widely in Moravia. Scarce four years are paft fince above 10,000 farmers made a little ftand to recover their freedom of opinion; but they were foon quieted, and the thing had no furtljer confequences. Volsaire, 128 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, Voltaire, and fome other hiftorians, have much mifreprefented the famous Hufs and his doftrines. They look upon this reformer as a man of a very limited underftanding, and think that his objeft went no further than to procure the clergy leave to marry, and let the people have the ufe of the cup, at the facrament. They love to make fport with him, and fay, that hc endeavoured to make the incomprehenfible myftery ftill more incomprehenfible, without having the leaft attention to how much the human mind was lowered by fuch myfteries. They deny him the philofophical fpirit, both of his predeceffor Wickliff, or of his followers, Luther, Zwingle, and Calvin. I had formerly the fame opinion of him myfelf; but fince I have ftudied his hiftory, and the hiftories of his foUowerSj I have conceived a much higher idea of him. I fearched in the library of Vi enna for all the documents that relate to this interefting hiftory. ^ In Menker, I found a vindication of the opinions of the Huffites, ad dreffed to the diet of Nurenberg. It is writ ten in a German which I could not underftand, till I had read it over fix or feven times, and procured affiftance from feveral of my friends. This wonderful reprefentation contains the whole confeffion of faith of the Huffites. They TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 39 They attack the whole fyftem of the Roman CathoUc church, purgatory, fafts, monkery, — ¦ and it is certain that they were only one ftep behind Calvin. The ftyle of this vindication has all the marks of intimate perfuafion, and of the foundeft underftanding, only like Luther, the author fometimes falls into the ftyle of the times, and runs into low languagCi , In faft, the fole advantage which the other reformers had over Hufs, arofe from the in vention of printing fince his time, as in confe -^ quence of this, knowledge was much more widely fpread, as the doftrines could be much more widely diffufed. The doftrines of Hufs were loft amidft the wars which followed his death. They were ftifled in the barbarity which overfpread Bohemia, when the people no longer attended to any teacher, but the fword became the fole decider of all controverfy. I found fufficient proofs, that Hufs, not withftanding his obftinacy and prefumption, poffeffed an enlightened and philofophical mind, which, however, partook fomewhat of the un- poliffied charafter of the age in which he lived. I am fometimes tempted to write his hiftory, which perhaps is not yet fufficiently under ftood. Whether I fliall perfevere I know not, but in the mean time will coUeft what mate- roL. II. K rials 130 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. rials I can, and when I have time, try whe ther I have any talents for writing hiftory, — at leaft I feel a great temptation to do this. The prefent race of Huffites, flatter them felves, that the Emperor, whofe fentiments of toleration are well known, and who is very fond of the Bohemians, will reftore to them their freedom of opinion ; but people here generally think, that they are deceived in their expec tations; for as their fentiments nearly approach thofe of the Lutherans, it -would not be very prudent to allow the eftabliffiment of a new feft, which always fpreads fome roots that may grow, and be dangerous. The Bohemians are a wonderfully ftrong- built race of men. Dubravius, one of their hiftorians, who was Biffiop of Olmutz, in the fixteenth century, compares them to lions. ' As ' the land (fays he, according to the manner of < writing of thofe times,) lies under the influ- ' ence of Leo, fo do its inhabitants poffefs aU ' the qualities of that noble animal. Their high ' chefts, fparkling eyes, ftrong thick hair, ftout « bones, ftrength, courage, and irrefiftible fpi- * rit, when oppofed, all fliew evidently that f the Uon is their flar, which they bear likewife * in their coat of arms.' They TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I3I They are a handfome, flrong-built, and aftive race of people ; and you fee evidently that they are defcended from the Croats, who are fome of the f handfomeft people upon earth. Their heads are a little too large; but their broad ffiouldcrs, and their thick-fet bodies, render the difproportion not fo vifible as it would otherwife be. They are without doubt the beft ss foldiers of all the Emperor's troops. They bear the inconveniencies of the military Ufe longer than any. Even hunger, that deadly fiend to every thing that calls it felf an Imperial foldier, they can fupport for a confiderable dme. My journey through the hereditary domi nions of the Houfe of Auftria, confirmed an opinion I had long fince taken up in other countries, which is, that the inhabitants of the mountains are by no means as'good foldiers as thofe who inhabit the plains. Thc Tyrolefe, Carinthians, Ukranians^nd Styrians, have as ftrong bodies as the Bohemians, but they are by no means as good foldiers as thefe, ' and without a doubt are the moft wretched of all the Emperor's troops. Even in Switzerland, as I have heard from fome of the moft intdUgCnt officers of the country, the Zurichers, and that part of the inhabitants pf Berne, who Uve in K 2 the 132 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, the lower parts of the Canton, are infinitely better foldiers than the Graubundtners, and other nations who inhabit the top of the Alps. The true reafon of this is no doubt to be' fought for in the peculiar way of living of a mountainous people, which is too particular for them ever to be able to .change their way of life, without fuffering by it. All people likewife who live by pafturage, are known to be much weaker than thofe who live by agriculture, who are hardened by the weather, and continual labour. The inhabi tants of mountains, who according to. the tef timony of hiftory, are moftly herdfmen, defend their country with more perfeverence, than the inhabitants of plains, becaufe the property they have in it, makes them fonder of it, and be caufe the defence of their almoft inacceffible poffeffions, is naturally much eafier to them ; but they are by no means as formidable out of their own country, and they foon get the ma ladie du Pais, which you know is fo common amongft the Swifs. The conftitution and manners of the coun try contribute much to make the Bohemians fuch foldiers as they are. The farmers live in a poverty, which preferves them froni effemi nacy and luxury much more effeftually than any TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I33 any pofitive fumptuary law could do. Befides this, the feudal flavery fyftem, which obtains here in the extreme, accuftoms them, from their youth^ upwards, to unconditional obe dience, the great miUtary virtue of our days. Their conftant labour and fcanty food, renders them, hardy, and, like the Spartans, they find the foldier's life far eafier than ploughing the fields of their mafters. It is inconceivable how a people in fuch a wretched fituation ffiould poffefs fo many vir tues as thefe do. They have given irrefraga ble proofs of their love of liberty, and in no city of the Auftrian hereditary dominions have I met with fo many true patriots as there are here. The Bohemian peafant is generaUy look ed upon as ftupid and infenfible, but take them all together, they have a great deal of feeling and natural underftanding. I have converfed with feveral of them, who lamented the horrors of thdr fituation to me in terms fufficiently ex preffive, and fpoke of the cruelty of their tyrants as it deferved to be fpoken of. They love the Emperor with a degree of enthufiafm, and are confident that he will break their chains. In • the H uffite war they gave proofs of courage, which would obfcure all the famed deeds of the Helvetic one, if they were but half as well de- K 3 fcribed 134 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. fcribed or fung as thefe have been : without any advantages of fituation, and on even ground, they have with a handful of men defeated bands far better armed, and far better difciplined than themfelves. Their onfet was irrefiftible, and they would have inevitably fecured that freedom to themfelves, for which they fought fo well, if towards the end of the war, diffenfions, moftly foftered bythe fpirit of party and prieftcraft that had arifen amongft themfelves, had not ruined them, and if they had not been betrayed by treaties with their enemies. I could not without the greateft commifera- tion look upon the handfome young farmers, who barefooted, with torn Unen, and ftockings vncommonly tattered, and yet clean clothes, without necke-loths, often without hats, were carrying corn or wood for their mafters to market. Their good appearance and cheerfulnefs feemed to me but ill-fujied to their hard " fortune. One of them, who carried my great-coat (which I had bjroyght out with me for fear of rain, but could not wear on account of the heat) in his waggon during a three days journey I took on foot, to the pretty viUage of Brandeis, was the droUeft and beft young man in the world. He had nothing on but breeches and ftockino-s, but ffiewed us with a kind of vanity, a fort of linen frock TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 35 frock which was in the waggon, and which had almoft as many holes as threads in it. His ffiirt was almoft in pieces, and yet he affured me, in his broken German, that he cared neither for wind nor weather : this led me into feveral phi lofophical refleftions upon the luxury of my ufelefs great coat. My young man was all life and fpirits, and his good-looking legs, and funburned face, had almoft reconciled me to the flavery I had been fo angry with. Thought I to myfelf, luxury is gerierally complained of, and temperance and hardinefs recommended to the farmer; but is it poffible to preferve them from effeminacy and luxury, if you once open the door of riches to them. On the other hand, the mafter is obliged to furniffi his flave with neceffaries, if he does not choofe to ruin himfelf; and though the latter has no property, he is fure of never being expofed to beg his bread. No fire, no weather, no war can put him in a dif ferent fituation at the end of the year, from what he was when he began it. In this man ner I was going on; but the thoughts that their hardinefs and frugality is no confequence of their own good will, and that they are no more in their mafters eftimadon than the catde which plough the fidds, broke off at once the con traft I was making with flavery. — In the m.ean K 4 time 136 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. time my fellow-traveller accompanied my re fleftions with dancing and finging, and in the intervals talked to his two fine horfes, whofe wonderfully fleek fkins were a ftrong contraft to his own miferable clothing. He feemed to have a great love for the horfes, ftroked and patted them ; and yet they were not his, but belonged to a prelate, whofe flave he was. For my part, brother, I have no good idea of a prelate, who covers his horfes backs with fine trappings, and fjffers his flaves to go naked. But, is a man to expeft conjtftency in apjJ..:te? < — 'My good young peafant gave me a proof of ftrength which aftoniffied me. Not far from the village where I intended to pafs the night, his fpirited horfes attempted to run away, but the waggon fell into a ditch, loft a whed, and the horfes were forced to- ftand ftUl. The young man lightened the hinder axletree, wliere the whed had failed, and thought the horfes would do the reft, but the ditch was too deep; I would have affifted him, but he protefted highly againft it, and fetting himfelf with aU his force to the waggon, in a moment it was right again, without the horfes having done any thing. — He refufed the fmall prefent I would havemade him, and, as we went along, laughed at me whenever I talked of his miferable cir- cumftances. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 37 cumftances, and feemed to think it ftrange I ffiould imagine that he wanted any'thing: pof fibly his mafter makes up to him in good eat ing and drinking, what he fuffers him to want in clothes. I faw every where amongft the peafants ex cellent horfes. The Emperor, and all the Ger man nobiUty, have furniffied their ftuds with Moldavian, Tartarian, and Tranfylvanian ftone- horfes, which have much improved the breed. For a guilder any man may get his mare co vered in the Imperial or nobles ftuds. Bohemia furniflies a great part of the horfes for the dragoons, and the race becomes every day better and more numerous. LETTER 138 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. LETTER XL. Prague, THIS is a very large town, it is above three miles long, and above two broad, but the population by no means anfwers to the fize of the place. In feveral parts you feem as if you were in a village. Near the bridge, which ftands at the upper part of the city, the number of people is very great, but the further you go from hence the more defolate you find every place. The number of inha bitants is about feventy thoufand, and there is about five thoufand houfes. — The bridge over the Moldau is feven hundred feet long; it is built of large freeftone, and ornamented on both fides with ftone ftatues as large as Ufe, but not more than three of thefe are worth feeing. There are very few good buildings in this place, and almoft every thing looks very dirty. The royal caftle is a very large irregular building, but it is built on a hill, which commands a very fine profpeft over the whole city and country round. Not far from hence ftands the arch- biffiop's houfe (a pretty modern building), and the old cathedral, in which there are fome piec^ 4 of TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 39 of architefture, which deferve to be feen ; they are the work of a celebrated German, or Bohe mian artift, whofe name I have forgotten. Though the city is in general ill built, the fituation of it is extremely fine.. There is a better profpeft from the bridge than I have feen in larger cities. The mafs of houfes rife like an amphitheatre to a confiderable height. To the right the hill rifes above them as far as the imperial palace, majeftically fituated on the top. To the left it is covered as far as thc middle with beautiful garden^ and pleafure houfes, which have a fine effeft, and form a moft extenfive and moft magnificent amphi theatre. From thefe gardens you command a very fine profpeft over the oppofite part of the city.. In . the midft of the broad, but dry Moldau, there are two fmall iflands, called Great and Little Venice, in which the inhabitants make pardes of pleafure. The people of this place enjoy fenfual piea fures more than thofe of Vienna, becaufe they know better how to conneft mental enjoyments with them. The fociety I have lived in here, has proved fo good as to detain rue a full fort night longer than I intended. Freemafonry l^uriffies extrem^^ here, and fome perfons, ^ amongft 140 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, amongft -^hom Count R-i is one, doat on it to enthufiafm. The freemafons in general do fo much good, particularly by their eftab liffiments for education, that it is impoffible the Emperor ffiould be difpleafed with them. It is time to have done with iUiberal prejudices againft an inftitution which has done no harm to mankind, and has done it a great deal of good. The Bohemians, who addift themfelves to the purfuit of the arts and fciences, generally fpeak ing, are very fuccefsful in them. They do not want genius, and have uncommon induftry. Their fondnefs for mufic is aftoniffiing. I have heard feveral orcheftras here which equalled thofe of Paris in brilliancy of execution, and furpaffed them in accuracy and exaftnefs of harmony. Bohemian players on the horn and harp are to be met with throughout all Germany. As they always bring home great fums of money, you feldom fee a mufician of this kind, who has not travelled. This paflion for mufic is generally attributed to thenumberofmonafteries and cathe drals ; but the cathedrals of Auftria and Bava ria, which are no lefs numerous, have no fuch effeft upon the public tafte of thofe countries. I ffiould therefore fuppofe, that the true reafon is to be fought for in the cuftoms and natural genius of the people. Mofl^'of the ftudents ofthe place TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 14! place are muficians, and begin very early in life to give ferenades and concerts in the fquares and public places of the city. The numerous garrifon, which is conftantly kept here,- contributes not a little to the liveli nefs of this place ; there are about nine thou fand men conftantly quartered here. The fix reginients of grenadiers are the fineft body of infantry I have ever feen. The officers are ex cellent companions, and quite free from thofe prejudices, from which other bodies of men are not yet totally exempt. The Jews make a cpnfiderable part of thc inhabitants of this place ; there are at leaft nine or ten thoufand of them ; they have artifts and mechanics of their own religion, who live in the part of the town appropriated to them, which is called the Jews city. It is pleafant enough to walk through this part of the town, and fee their taylors and ffioemakers at work in the middle of the ftreet. Their workmen are diftinguiffied from the Chriftian ones by their clowniffinefs and dirt. I am aftoniffied as often as I think, how little of what was pe cuUar to themfelves in their cuftoms, thefe peo ple have loft by their mixture with other na tions : wherever I have feen them, excepting only in HoUand, they are infinitely behind the Chriftians 143 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. Chriftians in every elegant refinement of life; and that they are otherwife in Holland, may be owing to moft of thofe who are fettled there having come chiefly from Portugal, where the perfecutions they are expofed to compel them to affimilate as much to Chriftians as poffible. At Prague they are diftinguiffied from the Chrif tians by a yellow handkerchief, which they are obliged to wear round their arms. Their in duftry is wonderful; in almoft every inn there is a Jew, who does the bufinefs of a houfe- fervant ; he fills my fnuff-box, garters my ftock ings, does all the little matters I have occafion for; bruffies my ffioes, dufts my clothes, andi$ in every refpeft a valet de place, excepting that he will take no money. He looks upon himfelf as extremely well paid for his trouble, by the gift of fome old clothes, which he difpofes of again. Thefe fellows ferve many ftrangers on the fame terms, and content themfelves with what they can make by trucking and bartering among their own people, without afking any thing farther. If you give them fomething to drink befides tliey are very thankful, but I have never feen them troublefome with their de mands. What poUdcal inconfiftency! — The govern- ment of this place allows the Jews, the profeffed enemies TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 43 enemies of Chriftianity, freedom of thought, and liberty to ferve God in their own way, and re- fufes it to the Proteftants, v/ho think as we do in all the fundamental points of religion ; whUft a hoftile, deceitful, treacherous people, are main-. tained in the full poffeffion of their rights and privileges; contrafts have been repeatedly (I do not fpeak only of what happened in former times, but under the laft government) violated with the Huffites. — It is a remarkable phoeno menon, dear brother, in the hiftory of the hu man underftanding, that while philofophers all contend, that the more alike men are, the more they love each other, in religion it ffiould be quite different. Here the more likenefs the more hatred. A member of one of the great houfes ofthis place, would ten times rather treat with a Jew than with a Lutheran, though thc Lutheran's reUgion and. his own are fo nearly alike. In Holland the reformed are much more favourable to thc Catholics than to the Luthe rans, and the States General had much rather allow the former freedom of religion than the latter. The Anabaptifts and Calvinifts hate each other much more than either of them do the Catholics, and fo, in ffiort, you will find it uni verfally, the nearer the religious fefts approach> the more they hate one another. This 144 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. This city has neither an extenfive commerce nor any manufaftory of confequence. There has long been a projeft of rendering the Mol dau navigable, but hitherto this court has not been difpofed to be at any expence for the pub lic, and the thing cannot be done without a great expence. With us it would have been done long ago, as you know we have improvements, in comparifon ofwhich, this is only child's play. Were it once done, Prague would certainly gain a good deal by it ; but ftill a great deal more would be required, before commerce could flou- riffi here; there are, indeed, many inipedi- ments to get over ; amongft the principal one may be reckoned the pride of the nobiUty, who with the greateft part of the national means in their hands are afliamed of trade; — the bad education of the children, which, within thefe ten or fifteen years, has been entirely monkiffi, and by that means fitted them more for ftrenuous idlenefs than induftry ; — the intolerance of the regency.^ — Such obftacles as thefe all Jofeph's efforts will hardly be fufficient entirely to re move. There is a found adon of Engliffi, or rather, for fo they are called, of Iriffi nuns here. Throughout all Germany you meet -with Eng liffi, Scotch, and German nuns. It is generally imagined, that moft of thefe feminaries have" been TRAVELS THR0U6H GERMANY. 1 45 , been founded fince the reformation took place in England. But this is a miftake, and moft of them have probably fubfifted ever fince the time of Charlemagne, when Britain abounded in monks, and furniffied Germany with them. An Engliffi and Scotch nunnery founds as, well in Germany as an Engliffi and Scotch freemafons lodge. This place abounds, like Vienna, in literati, who are content to ornament their rooms with the bufts, medals, prints, and profiles of learned men, but neither think nor write themfelves ; and only have their titles from their belonging to no other affociation of men whatever : for it is here as at Vienna, whoever has neither military nbr civil employment, nor is profeffor, nor prieft, nor merchant, nor handycraftfman, nor manufafturer, nor fervant, nor day-labourer, nor (what in the catalogue paffes for a man) executioner, is a man of letters, whether he ftudies or not. In the general acceptation, a man of letters is only a negative quality. I am indeed acquainted with a ievi pofitive literati here, but their number in comparifon of the negatives is very inconfiderable. The women ofthis place are handfome, and you may make love with more eafe than at Vienna. VOL. II. L By 146 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. By way of poftcript to this letter, which muft ftill wait ten days before it is finiffied, I wUI give you a ffiort account of an expedition wc took : We went poft as far as Konigingrajs ; there we took horfe, and made a fix days tour round by Jaromers, Neujiadt, Naehod, Braunau, &c. to the borders of Silefia, with the double purpofe of feeing the encampments and fidds of battle of the war that took place two years ago, and of vifiting fome rich abbots houfes, in which my companions had friends. We had an officer with us who commanded in both ex peditions, and fucceeded very weU. The marches and encampments did not intereft me much, becaufe little was done in the war ; but I was extremely pleafed with our excprfions into the cloyfters. My principal objeft was to fee the manners and way of Ufe of Bohemian ecclefiaftics upon thc fpot, and I was richly rewarded. They arc the moft determined epicureans, particularly the regular bodies of them, which I have yet met with any where. They want nothing in the convents, for the accompliffiment of all earthly gratifications, but a cloy fter of nuns, made up ot the maidens who do bufinefs at Prague by nightj Jub Jove pluvis, intriviis et quadriviis. What ever bad effeft it might have in fome refpeft, thc TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 47 the farmers and manufafturers who live in the neighbourhood of the cloyfters, and confider their wives as their property, would undoubt edly be pleafed with the arrangement. As things now are, the monks and half monks, to whom the vUlages round belong, appear like fo many hunters of women ; nor do I believe them very different from thofe old lords of manors, who ufed to claim the firft night's poffeffion of every woman married to one of thdr vaffals ; it is at leaft certain, that in every village we went through, we found one or two of them, who took no pains to conceal their belonging to the fraternity of jolly boys ; to know them thoroughly one ought to be acquainted with their fuperiors, who would, no doubt, furniffi good anecdotes for the fcandalous chronicle :^- in fome convents we met with finging women. The lives ofthe regular bodies, and evgn of the Benediftines, whofe abbot, or prelates, has not yet given up the pieafures of the world, is a perpetual caroufal, which is only interrupted by country walks, and certain ftated bdchings in church. They look upon chaunting the fervice as a kind of expeftoration good for thc lungs. One of them, for whom I expreffed fome con cern, on feeing 'him eat immenfe quantities of eggs, butter, &c. on a fafting day, faid in ajeft- L 2 ing I4o TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, ing way ; ' pffiaw, pffiawj it will all come up ' again at afternoon fervice.' My companions being defirous to ffiew me a very wonderful natural curiofity, we took our way by Trautenau for this purpofe. About three miles from this city the fineft profpeft offered itfelf to our eyes that can be conceived. Near a village, whofe name I have forgotten, we beheld on a fudden, a great number of high towers, feveral of which in many places were in regular rows, but moft of them lay difperfed in an extraordinary manner. We walked near a mile as if in a kind of labyrinth, encompaffed with thefe towers on each fide, and there was no end of my aftoniffiment, Moft of thefe are from fixty to feventy feet high, and fome from one hundred to one hundred and fifty. When you view them obliquely their fummits form a kind of waving line, like the back of a hill, which rifes and finks again. They are all formed of a hard quarry ftone, and would give Mr. Buffon much food for thought. Nature has for the moft part ffiaped them into more or lefs regular fquares ; they are commonly taken for the fke- letons of a hill, through which the water has made its way. This opinion feems to merit attendon ; but if it be a true one, and other hills have alfo their flceletons, it will ffiake hard TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 49 hard upon Buffon's fyftem; for he probably con fiders the maffes, of which thefe towers confift, as large maffes of ftone body, chalk and earth, which are jumbled together and have different degrees of hardnefs. From hence we took our way back to Frd- heit, and began to afcend the Riefengeberge -, this hill, though very famous in Bohemia, is really no more than a mole-hifl, in comparifon of the Savoyard and Swifs Alps, or even of the Tyrol, Saltzburg, and Stirian hills. We paffed over the famous Snowhead, which is, the higheft partof thefe mountains. Some perfons fay, that it is twenty thoufand feet high ; but I think I may venture tp affert, that it is not abo,Ye eight thpufand, forlVfount St. Gothard in Switzerland, is by no means orie of the higheft of the Alps, and its elevation above the Mediterranean is npt above thirteen thoufand feet, and yet there is .eternal ice and fnow on its funi^iit^ whereas here we faw no veftige of ice or fnow, though the fummer is not yet much ad-^anced. We were not above three hours iii getting to the top on foot. The profpeft of the great moun tains at our feet, and intp Bohemia, and Silefia, was ftriking and magnificent, On the top. pf the hill there is a plain, with a chapel on it, which is vifited by pious people once a year, h 3 The T^O TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. The perfons who Uve at any diftance from thefe hills, look upon it as a kind of wonder when any perfon goes to the top of them, and yet I afcended feveral in other parts of Germany, whofe diftance from the bottom is much greater, and whofe elevation above the Mediterranean is as great again. Though I was difappointed in my expefta- tlons of a great mountain, by finding only a hill of a moderate fize, I was extremely pleafed with my journey upon thc whole. We faw the moft romantic landfcapes it is poffible to imagine, particularly feveral vallies below the Schmeekopp, which were wonderfuUy pifturefque. Moft of the hills are covered with wood, and now and then a ragged peak ftarts up above them. The well watered plains are extremely wdl culti vated; and, upon the whole, the inhabitants feem to be in better circumftanees than thofe of the level plains of Bohemia. LETTER TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, I5I LETTER XLI. Drefden,' Dear Brother, IHAVE at once got into an entirely new world. As foon as you have paffed the con fines of Bohemia, which are difdnguiffied by a painted brick poft ten feet high, with the arms of the country on it ; you meet with an entirely different agriculture, a different people, and a different language. I now, for the. firft time, heard the common people fpeak intelligible German, for throughout Bavaria, Suabia, and Auftria, they fpeak a jargon, which a man, who has learned the language of a language-mafter, has the utmoft difficulty to underftand. I am now, for the firft time, really in Germany; only a very fmall part of the country I have hitherto travelled through, to wit, the fmall ftrip of land which is betwixt the Danube. and the Rhine in Suabia, made part of that old Gq-many, the inhabitants of which were fo fpmiidable to the Romans ; the remainder is all conquered coun try, which at that time was called VindeUcia, Rhaetia, and Pannonia. In the times pf Pepin 1 4 and 152 TRAVELS THROUGH. GERMANY. and Charlemagne the Umits of Germany were confined even bn this fide ; for as the Sclavo nians had before driven the Burgundlans, Sua bians, and other German nations over the Elbe, thefe now poffeffed themfelves of their ha- biutions, and drove the inhabitants of Ger many, who lived in the diftrifts of Mentz and Rheims, into Gaul. The nations were like a row of balls, the moft eaftern of which was ftruck and drove the others forward in fuccef fion. In modern times, that is, ever fince IjU- ther. Saxony has been looked on as one of the firft provinces of Germany, in every fenfe ofthe word. In regard to literature particularly, the Saxons were to the reft of the Germans, what the Florentines were fome centuries ago to the , other people of . But I am going too faft, you ffiall know all this in due time ; I muft firft tell you how I got here, and what was the face of the country through which I came. The part of Bohemia, through which our way from Prague hither lay, feems infinitely richer and more beaudful than that betwixt Prague and Auftria. The agriculture, like the country itfelf, is mpre varied, the people live clofer together and feem to be happier. HiUs, woods, plains, and vales, form an agreeable contraft with each other; and the vine, which is not TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY* 1 53 not to be feen elfewhere on this fide Prague, here covers the fides of the hills. We faw the well wooded peak of the Ertzgi- berge, the higheft fummit of which parts Saxony iind Bohemia. Thefe hills are but of a very moderate height, and if they make a refpeftable appearance here, it is only becaufe, from hencp to the mouth of the Elbe and the eaftern fea, there is no other remarkable hill to be fcen. The people who come up here from the low lands, and for the firft time of their lives fee a hill which deferves the name, make a great ffiout, and think that they have feen the pedeftal of heaven; juft fo in Bohemia, the Riefengeberge is indebted for its reputation to the fmall notion which thofe who have brought it into repute have of hills ; and thus it may for merly have been with Atlas, Olympus, Athos, Parnaffus, and the other hills fo noted in hif tory. Moore, who travelled this road before me, afferts that there is a great difference in point "of natural fertility, betwixt the borders of Saxony and the borders of Bohemia, to the advantage ofthe former; I havefound the direft contrary. It is certain, that the foil of Bohe mia is by nature much richer than any part of Saxony, which it fupplies with great part of its provifions. s 1 4c TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. provifions. The circle of Leutmeriffer in par ticular, through which the common road paffes, is uncommonly produftive, nor is there any part of Saxony that can bear a comparifon with it; but then, on the other hand, the improved ftate of agriculture is vifible, as foon as you fet your feet on Saxon ground. One need only look round to be convinced that the conftitu tion of Saxony is infinitely more favourable to induflry and aigriculture than that of Bohemia. The Saxon farmer ffiews more underftanding and refleftion in the management of his land than the Bohemian one does, and every thing about him attefts that he is no flave. Drefden has a proud appearance, and offers on all fides a magnificent objeft; it is beyond all comparifon the fineft city which I have yet feen in Germany. The houfes are buflt in a much better tafte than thofe of Vienna, and the eye is quite dazzled with the long and magni ficent appearance of the bridge over the Elbe. This river, which at fome diftance from the city is confined within very narrow bounds, widens by degrees as' you approach, and is here a powerful ftream, which befpeaks all the mag nificence ofthe to-wn and ftate. The hills op pofite to the Lawjnrjs have a moft magnificent appearance, and the mountains on both fides the TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I55 the river, partly naked and partly planted with vineyards, form an uncommonly beautiful per- fpeftive. The manners and way of living of thefe peo ple is as oppofite to what I have hitherto feen in Germany, as the beauty of thefe ftreets, and the tafte difplayed in the buildings, is different from Suabia, Bavaria, Auftria, and Bohemia. Finer ffiapes, more animated countenances, eafier and lefs conftrained motions, general courtefy, uni verfal cleanlinefs, are the features which im mediately offer themfelves to obfervation, and muft ftrike every one who comes into this coun try by the fame route which I purfued. It was in an unfortunate moment that the fortifications about this town were firft built, but it is more unfortunate ftill, that inftead of pulling them entirely down, thofe who are con cerned are at this inftant employed in repairing them. Commanded as this city is, from every fide, and with no reafonable expeftadons, in its prefent fituation, of ever being able to preferve a neutrality on the breaking out of any war be twixt the king of Pruflia and the Auflrians, it is more than any other in dangerof being plundered and laid wafte. Indeed one would have imagined that the devaftations of the years 1758 and 1760, were 156 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. were ftill freffi enough in every man's memory to have been a warning to the regency. The town docs not feem to be peopled in proportion to the quantity of ground it ftands on. The number of inhabitants is generally eftimated at fifty thoufand, which many think too high. The faft is, that it has loft a third of its inhabitants fince the breaking out of the laft Silefian war, and the death of king Au guftus. The ftrangers who knew this city before this jera, cannot fay enough of the difference there now is, a difference not fo much arifing from the misfortunes of war, as from the oeconomy ofthe court, which has followed clofe onthe diflipation of other times. In the late deftor's tirae, this court was perhaps the moft briUiant in Europe. The court band of mufic, the opera, and the dancers alone, were fuppofed to coft the Eleftor annuaUy 300,000 Saxon guild ers, or upwards of 780,000 French livres. His table, his ftables, and his hunters, were all in the fame ftyle of expence. Strangers ufed to flow hither from all countries, to be partakers in this magnificence,, and Drefden was the rendez vous of the north for tafte and refined living. The numerous followers of the court, and the great number of ftrangers, occafioned a very extenfive TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY; 1 57 extenfive circulation of money, and made all the arts alive. In the midft of this proft) fiort debts were contrafted, but they gave the Eleftor little concern, as is evident from the foUowina anecdote. One night at the opera, having a fire -work, which was part of the decoration of a temple, and ufed to coft feveral hundred tha lers, he called for his chamberlain, and defired to know the reafon of the omiffion ; the cham berlain told him, that the heathen gods and goddeffes muft for this night be contented with a fire of twenty or thirty guilders, as there was no money left in the treafury to pay for any thing more fplendid. The Eleftor was compelled to acquiefce for the moment, as it was too late for him to do otherwifCj but he gave ftrift orders, that in the next reprefentation, and in every fucceeding onc, the whole fum of thalers ffiould be burnt out. A court which is mounts cd on this ton is feldom poffeffed of a firm, and found government. The minifters were dazzled, like the Eleftor, with outfide ffiew and fplendour ; they wanted to give themfelves airs of confequence, and embarked in enterprizes to which the impover- iffied ftate of the country was not equal ; the refult was, that they got into a confufion which prevented them from knowing either their own ftrength. 158 TRAVEiS THROUGH GERMANY. ftrength, or that of the other powers they had to contend with. Univerfal diffipation pro duced falfehood, treachery, and every other vice; the moft important pofts were fold, or given to flattery and intrigue ; one was made a privy- counfellor, becaufe he danced wdl, and another a general, becaufe he could blow the flute. I need not add, that women are ulti mately the grand movers of the politics of fuch a court. It is generaUy agreed on, that the Eleftor? himfelf loved ffiew and expence more than he did women; but the fcandalous chronicle of his court goes beyond ail that has ever been heard of the kind, and his love of ffiew encouraged, at leaft, if it did not produce, the diffolutenefs of his fubjefts. Amidft the intoxication of prof perity, the minifter adopted a plan of operations it was impoffible he ffiould fee the end of, and which left him at the difcretion of the more powerful monarch, with whom he entered into a league againft a dangerous neighbour. This was probably one of the moft impolitic treaties which hiftory has to recount. The Saxons en tered into an aUiance with Ruffia, which was fo formidable to Poland ; they attached them felves to Auftria, which without them was ftronger than the king of Pruffia ; and they en deavoured TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I59 deavoured to weaken thc power of this laft nam ed monarch, who was able to maintain the ba lance of power in Germany. In all thefe three things they broke through the firft maxim of a nation, which is in the midft of others, never to take the part of the ftrongeft, but always that of the weakeft. A minifter whofe preparatives were fo weak, could not be expefted to do much when he came to aftion. The king of Pruffia fell upon the country as Charl^ XII. had fallen upon Poland* under Auguftus theSecond. The army, which was feventeen thoufand men ftrong, and- which was expefted to do fuch mighty things, furrendered without ftriking a ftroke, and no wonder, for fome of the colonels were eunuchs. This total rout by degrees waked the genius of Saxony from his flumbers ; all thc gentry of the country, excepting only the creatures of thc minifter, were in a flame ; and now there was a chorus of creditors and complainants of all orders, who made a horrid diffonance with the Bacchanalian revels of former days. All the world gave the country over for loft, nor could it have been faved but for the free courfe given to the extraordinary fpirit of fru- gaUty and induftry, which marks the people; and for a minifter, who was as aftive and patriotic 2 as J 66 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY". as the other had been diffolute and cowardly. In one of my future letters I will give you an exaft account of the prefent ftate of the country. One of the wonders which makes die moft noife here, is the celebrated green vault, or pri vate treafury, in the deftoral palace. You would naturally imagine they would be ffiy of ffiewing it to ftrangers, till what was carried to Holland and fold there during the laft Silefian war was replaced^ no fuch thing, they made no difficulties whatever, but the man who ffiewed it me, and two Ruffian noblemen in my com pany, affured me, that things were exaftly in Jatu quo. The coUeftion, after all, is ftUl ad mirable; Iam, hovvever, of opinion, that the treafures of Vienna and Munich are but little inferior; and I am much deceived, if thofe of fome cathedrals I have feen are not fully equal. The pifture gallery, the coUeftion of antiques, the prints, and the coUeftion of natural hiftory, are much greater objefts of curiofity, in my eyes, than the green vault. The pifture gal lery is the moft remarkable in Europe; be fides the piftures in water-colours, it contains twelve hundred pieces of the beft mafters. Amongft them is the famous birth of Chrift, commonly called The Nativity, by Corregio, which paffes for the beft work of that mafter; it TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. l6l it coft above half a mUlion of livres. Some per fons, however, prefer The St. George, likewife by Corregio ; this ought properly to be called The Virgin, for ffie is the principal figure in the piece, and thc St. George, with other faints, is ftanding about her. The gallery contains fe veral pieces by Carrachi, amongft which is his beft work ; it is a St. Roch giving alms ; this pifture is known in Italy by the name of Opera ieW Elemofina, VOL.II. M LET- I(5a TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANTf-*- LETTER XLII. Drefden. f j~^ H E longer I ftay here, my deareft bro- A ther, the more I think myfelf at home j the manners, way of living, amufements, con verfation, and, in ffiort, all that belongs to the inhabitants of this place, make me think my felf at Paris. I only wiffi that our ladies, both married and unmarried, were as freffi and as handfome as the ladies of this place arc. I re coUeft that an Auftrian lady made the following anfwer to a gentleman who was extolling the Saxon women iri her company. ^ Give us only,' faid ffie, * as handfome and ftrong-built men, * as the Saxons are, and we will take care of * the reft.' Eadng and drinking do not go forwards here, quite fo brifldy as in the fouthern parts of Ger many; in this refpeft, 'indeed, the difference betwixt the Saxons and Germans I have hitherto lived with is total. The broth here is fo thin, the cookery fometimes fo cold, and always fo flender, that I do not believe an inhabitant of Vienna TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 16^ Vienna could make ffiift to live a month with a famUy in the middling ranks of life here. In deed I have had occafion to obferve, even in the very beft houfes, an attention to the cellar and kitchen, which in Auftria and Bavaria would pafs for poverty. This rigid oeconomy extends to every article of houfekeeping. The only appearance of ex- pence is in the article of drefs; this, indeed, is carried farther here, than it is in the fouth of .Germany. Every perfon in the middling rank of life, I might add in the lower ones too, men, as well as women^ drefs according to the faffiion ; whereas at Vienna, Munich, and other places I have vifited, there is a kind of national drefs, which perfons even of a better kind con form to. I lodge at a watchmaker's, whofe two daughters have their regular toilettes, and have their hair dreffed every day ; on the other hand, they con tent themfelves with a flice of bread and butter, or bread and cheefe for fupper, which I often par take of with them. There are hardly three no blemen's houfes here which have ftables with twenty horfes in them ; and porters, valets de chambres, &c. which make fo great an objeft at Vienna,, are very fcarce. It is true, they call a footman here valet de chambre, as they do at M 2 Paris, a64 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. Paris, but the wages ofa Vienna valet de cham bre ave twice as high as thofe of a Drefden one, though living at Vienna is as cheap again. — Here the women are not affiamed to go into their kitchens, tell out their candles and bits of candles, and calculate how long they will burn. In a word, excepting only the article of drefs, every thing is in a ftyle of the ftrifteft oeco nomy. There are very few ricli people here ; hardly any of the nobility have more than 30,000 florins a year, and moft of the beft houfes have only from 1 5 to 20,000. As to the comm.on people, they are always crying out on the want of mo ney, the dearnefs of provifions, and the Utde that is to be got here by induftry ; and, if they compare things as they are now, with what they were under the late Eleftor, they have certainly fome reafon for their complaints, but I know no city in Germany, where there is fuch a general appearance of eafe and plenty as there is here; extreme poverty is as rare as overgrown fortunes. The money in circtulation is for the moft part thrown into motion by the induftry ofthe peo ple, a thing which, more than any thing elfe, diftinguiffies this place from Vienna and Mu nich, which fubfift only by the expences of the court, and the vices of the nobiUty. Thi5 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 165 This fingle town contains more manufaftur ers and ufeful artifts than all Bavaria. They make a large quantity of ferges, woollen, and filk cloths, &c. with which they carry on a great trade all through Germany. As the money is got by fuch hard labour, it is not mat ter of wonder that they ffiould be fparing ofit. The circumftanees which the country was in during the reign of the late Eleftor, are by no means the moft favourable to political profpe rity. They remind one of a body which takes too much food and too Uttle exercife, for the fluids to be equally diftributed through the fe veral canals. Some of the inhabitants of the place, with whom I have talked on the fubjeft, have been forced to allow, that even during the time in which the court was in its greateft fpleii- dour, there was much more poverty amongft the lower claffes than there is at prefent. The prodigality of the higher orders had tainted their inferiors, and the eafe with which it was to be got leffened the value of money in the eyes of the poffeffors. The greateft part of it went to foreigners, without firft circulating,*as it ffiould have done, amongft the natives. Flatterers, pimps, whores, projeftors, dancers, fingers, and the like, divided the booty of the court amongft tbemj and carried thc greateft part of it out of jM 3 the l66 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. the country; only thofe who were near the court partook in any confiderable degree of the fpoils ; the remainder was loft in fo many nar row channels, that the greateft part of the people never got a ffiare of it. Indeed, Munich is a vifible inftance, in our own day, how little even the moft unUmited paffion of a court for plea fure and expence can co-ntribute to the well-be ing and true happinefs of the inhabitants of a great city. I am ready, h' wever, to allow, that there is lefs mirth here than there was formerly; at leaft it is certain, that the natural good- humour and joviality, which nature has given to thefe people, is often clouded over with a certain mdancholy ; this may be occafioned, as at Paris, by the recoUeftion of their great debts, but I rather think it is owing to their uncom mon and extraordinary ceconomy, and the re ftraint this throws on the freedom of their minds. It is, however, certainly in confequence of this provident caft, that there is more true pleafure to be met with here than in any town of Germany I have hitherto vifited. The people of Vienna and Munich know no other delight than to fill their paunches, divert themfelves with the nonfenfe of a harlequin, and play at nine pins. All the gardens of the inns of Vi enna are laid out in bowling-greens; I reckoned twenty TRAVELS THROUGH GEllMANY. iPj t^verity of them in orie garden. Here they know how to mix inteUeftual pieafures with fenfual ones. They, like us, are in the •habit of making frnall country parties, arid have a tafte for the various beauties of na ture : even amongft the middlirig ranks, there is a tafte for the fine arts, and reading is almoft univerfal ; nor is the latter, as in the fouthern parts of Germany, confined within the narrow bounds of plays and romances, but it extends to good books of hiftory, moraUty, and other important fubjefts. The fociety of nobles have a reader with a title and appointments. I think Mr. Pilati's obfervation of the difference there is betwixt the Proteftant and Catholic parts of Germany in this refpeft a very juft one; he fays, that the young men of twenty in the former know more than many old literati by profeffion do in the latter. The difference ftruck me fo much, that I felt as if I had juft come out of Spain into prance, All that they are endeavour ing with fo much clatter to introduce into the fchools pf Vienna, feems to have heen done here fome generations ago, A few days fince, I vifited a fchool in a village at a little diftance from the town, and found more order and real inftruftion in it, than in the beft fchools at Vi enna, The mpft ordinary people htiQ difplay M 4 i«. l68 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY* in every thing a nice acquaintance with what ever regards good manners, and the conduft of focial life. In the fouthern parts of the coun try, excepting only a fmall ftrip of Suabia, a common citizen is a ftranger in his own circle, and thinks of nothing in the courfe of the week, but how to guttle on the Sunday. The contraft betwixt the women of the two countries is equally ftriking. Thofe of the fouthern parts of Germany have nothing but their beauty, but thefe have beauty and ani mation too. They appear, however, foon to fade, and I faw few women paft thirty, in whom the marks of oM age were not appa rent. Poffibly this may be owing in fome de gree to their extreme vivacity; but I ffiould ra ther think it owing to the flender nouriffiment, joined to their great labour, and the weight of their domeftic cares. The Bavarian women perhaps excel thofe of Drefden in complexion, but the latter are much better made, and their countenances are much more interefting. The theatres here are in the fame ftate as all Other public amufements which require expence. The inhabitants are too ceconomical to pay for an entertainment, which the court formerly gave them for nothing, and the lofs of which is eafily made up for by the charms of their private fp- ciedes. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 169 cieties. A few years ago, there was one ofthe beft company of comedians in all Germany here; the manager, Mr. Seller, had no fettled abode, but ufed to vifit the fair of Leipfick, and the other neighbouring cities, where he got toge ther all the aftors he could pick up from dif ferent parts of the world, fo that his company was at one time feventy-feven perfons ftrong. He gave uncommon falaries for the mafter of a ftrolling corapany to give. Madam Helmett, orie of the beft fingers in Germany, and now firft finger to the court of Mentz, had 2000 thalers, near 200I. a year from him; at that time, however, he could eafily afford to do thefe things, as no people in Germany were more at tached to theatrical amufements, than the people of Leipfick and thofe of Drefden. — But thefe times are gone by, and their being fo, convinces me that the people of this place have founder heads than thofe of Vienna, Munich, and other places.— Mr. Seller has latterly met with fo litde encouragement here, that after having con trafted debt upon debt, and tried his fortune oh the Rhine, in the end he is become a bank rupt. At prefent the court has a national thea tre on the fame plan with that of Vienna ; that is, it pays the expences and takes the receipts ; thefe laft, however, arc not very confiderable, owing l)o TRAVELS THR0U6ii 6ERMANy. owing to the frugality of the people, fo that it is probable this theatre will ceafe as the court theatre did at the beginning of the Bavarian war. Private theatres, efpecially thPfe where children are the aftors, flouriffi much more here than the national one does. One of the moft honourable and beautiful charafteriftics which diftinguiffies the Saxons from the inhabitants of the fouth of Germany, is their warm attachment for their native country, and the intereft they take in every thing that relates to it; even far down in the middling ranks, every body here feems ac quainted with the circumftanees of both court and country : it was here that I heard, fbr the firft time, the words my country pronounced with energy, and a kind of intelligent and honour able pride. The ladies of the place ufe their gallantry as ours do, as a fpur to make the men do their duty; they bear a ffiare in converfa tion on war, treaties, and every bufinefs of ftate ; they love their officers and foldiers, and fpeak with pleaifure of the aftions in which they have diftinguifhed themfelves. The younger officers recommend themfelves to them by afr fuming a military air, which, in my opinion, is unbecoming. Whenever they happen to mention the minifters who betrayed their country, it is always TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I7I always with contempt and abhorrence. — -Though the king of Pruffia has not done much to gain their affeftions, they fpeak with wonder of his great aftions, and think, with all mankind, that it would have been better for all parties if they had attached themfelves to him, inftead of unit ing with the Auftrians, towards whom, the perfon ofthe prefent Emperor alone excepted,every body ffiews great animofity, notwithftanding all that the country has fuffered from the king of Pruf^ fia. In a word, brother, it is as if I was at home, where a participation in the common interefts ofthe country animates every fociety, and is the life and foul of all company. The Saxon troops have a very martial appear ance ; they are not, however, fo wdl difci plined as the Auftrian or Pruffian ones, nor yet fo ftiff;. they are Uke the Engliffi, who are only foldiers when they are in aftion,, and do not trou ble themfelves much about the bufinefs at other dmes. They are as brave as any thing you can call brave, but at this time of day, bravery alone is not fufficient. They tdl you a ftory of them, which would appear ridicultous, per haps, in the eyes ofa Pruffian or Auftrian com mander, but which muft recommend them to a friend of human nature, and a citizen of the 3 world. lyz TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. world. The officers of a Saxon regiment of dragoons, which made part of the army that fought againft Prince Henry of Pruffia in Bo hemia, took an path, Jub dio, that they would put to death any of their number who ffiould run away in aftion. Of late there is a projeft fet on foot to put the army, which confifts of twenty -five thoufand men, upon the fame footing as the Pruffian one, but hitherto the reform has hot gone very deep; and, for my own part, I believe it to be as mad a fcheme, as it would be to attempt making a^ EngUffi array adopt Pruffian taftics. LETTER TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 73 LETTER XLIII. Drefden. IT is owing to the conftitution of the coun try, that the Saxons are poffeffed of a quite different fpirit from that of the Bavarians or Auftrians. The power of the Eleftor is more limited than that of any other fovereign in Germany. The Saxon ftates have had fpirit enough to maintain themfelves in the poffeffion of their rights, which moft of the ftates belong ing to other countries have loft, more through their own negligence and cowardice than by the defpotifm of the princes. The court cannot make the fmalleft law without the confent of the ftates ; thefe arc made up of three orders, the abbots of Merje^ burg, Meijen, and Naunburg, as reprefentatives of the clergy ; the count Schwartzburg, Solms, Stollburg, and Schomburg, as the reprefentatives of the higher nobility, and the univerfities of Leipfick, and Wirtemberg, compofe the firft; the fecond confifts ofthe gentry belonging to the feven circles of the empire; the number of thefe is uncertain. A member of this body, befides eight quarters of nobility on the fide of both father t74 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. father and mother, rauft poffefs a freehold eftate; but if, which is often the cafe, he has even three or four of them, he has only a fingle vote ; fo that the exercife ofthe office is more attached tothe perfon than the property. The reprefentatives ofthe towns, in number one hundred and two, form the third order. The general affemblies meet only every fix years, but there is a depu tation, which commonly affembles every two years, to confider of all the extraordinary cafes that come before it. Thefe ftates do not only direft the levy of taxes, and attend to the pay ment of debts, but they watch over fidei commijfa, the maintenance of the eftabliffied religion, the non-alienation ofthe deftoral lands, and various other matters. The conftitution ofthe Lawjnifs is the fame in every refpeft. The payment of the debts is what gives them the moft employment; the whole of thefe amount to twenty- fix milUons of thalers, of Saxon money, orfomething more than 2,600,000 pounds. They pay every year about 1,200,000 guilders, or 154,100 pounds. If you add to this, three and a half per cent. of intereft, it will be a long dme before the debt is paid. Eut notwithftanding this, the ftate treafury is in very good credit, as it is fecure from all ]naiia-uvres TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 175'- mnixuvres of the court, and diftinguiffied by the meft exaft reftitude : when the country was' almoft exhaufted by the diftreffes of the laft war, and its credit much impaired, the bills feU confiderably; this gave rife to the fpecu lations of fome foreign and domeftic merchants, who bought up the biUs at a low price. Three years, however, were not elapfed before it be came vifible that the country had fufficient re fources, and the paper rofe to its original value. Moft of the fpeculators gained from 50 to 60 per cent. The wonderful alteration ftruck the merchants of Hamburg, Lubeck, Bremen, and Holland, and the ftates proceeded to pay the remainder ofthe debts, which by this manoeuvre had been already in a great degree difcharged by their fubjefts. The revenue of the country amounts to about 6,200,000 thalers, or about 620,000 pounds. The taxes are all appropriated by the ftates to fpecific purpofes ; nor can the Eleftor make any alteration in the deftination of them with out their confent. He has his own privy purfe, to the fupply of which particular revenues are alfo appropriated. The ftates have agreed, that the army ffiall be increafed in the farae proportion as the debts leffen. Each prince of •the blood has a revenue of 50,000 thalers, or about 176 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, about 5000I. which, as the prefent family is ex ceeding numerous, is a confiderable article.— The Imperial court confidered it as a great aft of condefcenfion, to fuffer a Saxon prince of this court tp raarry the archdutchefs Chriftina ; but the Saxons tell you, that great as the honour was, it would have been ftill greater, if the raag nificence of the Imperial court had enabled the duke of Saxe Tefchen to do without this allow ance. There are few countries in Germany, which, in proportion to the fize of it, produce as good a revenue as Saxony. It is true, that the taxes are very high, but there are few other countries who have ftrength enough to bear fuchj and as the exchequer is in the hands of true patriots, and effeftually fecured againft any at tempts of the court, what is paid is fure to be employed to the beft advantage of the country. There is nothing more ftriking in the poli tical world, than the difference betwixt Bavaria and Saxony. Both countries are of an equal fize, and enjoy an equal number of natural ad vantages. Both have alfo a conftitution, only the Bavarians have of late years fold, and even paid away their privileges ; both are parts ofa circle, and yet the firft contains eighteen large, and two hundred and fix fmall towns ; wherea$ the TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY,' I77 the latter has only forty in all, amongft which there is not oriC; Munich only excepted, that is to be compared, I do not fay in riches, l)ut in population, with the fmaUeft of the eigh teen Saxon towns; and there are at leaft fifty out ofthe two hundred and fix fmall Saxon towns, which are richd- than the richeft of the Bavarian ones. Saxony has orie million nine hundred thoufand; Bavaria, one million one; hundred and eighty thoufand inhabitants. The firft raifes above eleven raillions of guilders ; the latter not more than fix millions. Saxony has a much greater debt, but the debt is inthe way to be paid, and the country was able to raife twenty thoufand men to join the Pruffian army in refcuing Bavaria from the fioufe of Auftria j whilft Bavaria could only raife fix thoufand men^ iri order to have the appearance of entering a pro- ieftatiori againft the Auftrian pretenfions, and its debts reraain unpaid. It is riot uncommon in Geritiany id afcribe thefe political differerices to the difference of reli gion; but why then does not the.fame rdigion pro duce the fame effefts in France, Tufcany, Ge noa, Venice, the Imperial ISfetherlands, and Auftria, all which are flouriffiing countries, not withftanding that the inhabitants are not Proteft ants ? Shall we fay, that the catholicifm of Ba- voL. II, • N varia 17^ TRAVELS THROUGH GERMAlfff * * varia is of a better kind for the purpofes of theology, and of a worfe for thofe of pPlitics ? or that the fault lies thiefly in the government, which has the fame influence on religion as the air has on the barometer ? Religious enthufiafm is not of itfelf hurtful to induftry and focial virtues, as is evident by the example of the EngUffi independants and Quakers,' who are aftive and alert enough, notwithftanding their religious creed. No reUgion neceffarily re quires a corruption of manners, wantonnefs, or lazinefs. When, therefore, a religion proves hurtful to the ftate, it arifes from the mode of education, the manners, the jgovernment, and other local circumftanees. Under a weak ad miniftration religion breaks out into abiife, from the interefted views of its minifters, and the folly and ftupidity of the people ; but every other human inftitution does the fame ; fo that I be lieve every religion, like every government, to be good, when it is well adminiftered. A wife and efficient regency is omnipotent ; and the example of Peter the Great has ffiewn clearly enough, that a wife man may make every re ligion contribute to render a ftate flourifhing. With refpeft to opinions, the religion of the mtiltitude is nearly alike in all places. It almoft TRAVELs THRotlGH GERMANY. 1 79 almoft univerfally confifts in a blind fubmif fion to the authority bf the prieft; I have feen enough to convince me of this, in fome Proteftant countries, which pafs for the moft enUghtened in religious matters. The great difference betwixt mankind^ that by which fome are rriade good and others bad citizens j depends upon the morals; which are a confequence ofthe education, and with which religious opinions have Uttle to do. I ffiall make you under- ftarid my feritiments on this fubjeft better in my hext ietterj in which I mean to fay fomething of the reformation; butj irt the mean time, I cannot help communicating fPme remarks 1 have made upon the fubjeft in my journey through Ger many, as they ferve to Uluftrate my pofition. In almoft all the CathoUc ftates I have travelled through, I have raet with Italians who wel-e moft of therii in affluence. All thefe came beg gars into Germany; and have made their for tunes in a foreign country, withoutany domeftic affiftance whatfoever. It is riot more than thirty or forty years ago; that almoft all the rich mer chants in the middling and leffer ftates of Ger many were Italians. I think this fufficient to prove, that the induftry and frugality by which thefe people have made their fortunes, are no N 2 attributes iSo TRAVELS THROUGH GERMAN^. attributes of a particular mode of religion, bvrC arife from circuraftances in the local charafter, which moftly takes its colour from education. The frugal, deep-thinking, and induftrious Walfhes have capital ia^cient in their charafter, eafily to gain an advantage in the management of worldly raatters, over the lazy, diffipated, and ftupid German Roman CathoUcs, though the reli gion of both be the fame. I have fpoken with fome of thefe Italian parvenus, who complained bit terly, that it was much more difficult to make a fortune in Germany now than it had formerly been. No doubt, but that this is owing to a much better mode of education having been introduced by the government amongft the people with whom they have do. Is there any man, who is not aftoniffied at the different degrees of induflry which prevail among the Italians themfelves ? and yet they all have the fame religion. — There is, perhaps, lefs fuperftition at Rome, than in any part of the Roman Catholic world ; but are the Romans therefore riaore induftrious than the Genoefe, who are the groffeft bigots known f Mind, I am not fpeaking of the difcipline ofthe church, nor of the rir .es of the cloyfters, nor ye^ of Annates, Palliums, difpenfations, and other popiffi tributes, nor even of the ufurpation of the fpiritual power and the like, all of which may Travels through Germany. i8i may be very hurtful to a ftate, but do not be long to the effence of religion. The difpute is only on the influence which fpeculative opinions have on the induftry of men. In my opinion they have none. It is an obfervation every day made, that a man may be the moft fuperftitious of mortals in fome things., and yet the ffiarpeft and moft ckar-fighted of all mankind in others; nor are the Saxons, according to my way of thinking, indebted to their mpre philofophical religion, for the greater degree of happinefs they enjoy as citizens. The religion of the court of this place is not well calculated to leffen the prejudices of the Saxon public againft Catholicifm. It is formed upon the Jefuit plan, and I have already told you, that the German Jefuits are of all monks the greateft. I was told an anecdote, which, is certainly true, and does the ppurt ecclefiaftics no great honour. At the beginning of the pre fent reign, the Jefuits were afraid that the fo vereign might change thenational religion; for, befides that he was at that time very young; he loved his people, and had had overtures made him on the fubjeft. The Eleftrefs too, a very pene trating, and, in every refpeft,amiable woman, was much diffatisfied with the Jefuits. To prevent N 3 innovations. 1 82 travels through GERMANY. innovations, a fpe^tre appeared to the duke, an4 after having threatened him with all the tormentg pf hell-fire, if he ventured xo make the purpofed change, forbad him to fay any thing of what had happened, and promifed to return again at a cer tain period. The dyke was very penfive for fome time, at length his wife, who loved him as he deferyed, wrung the fecret from hira, and tol4 it to the prince pf . . . . . who waited for the fpirit on the appointed night, and put him to. death with his Spaniffi toledo. The following day he came into company and faid, f I have f faved myfelf the payment of 500 thalers, by f accidentally kilUng my confeffor.' Notwithftanding his little tinge of German jefuitifm, the Eleftor is a mpft amiable prinCe ; Jie knows nonp ofthe vices, which princes who are obliged to truft the greateft part of their bufinefs to their rainifters, generaUy addift themfelves to. He has alfo underftanding and aftivity fufficient to form a right judgment of iraportant affairs, which he often carries through entirely, either by his perfonal exertions, or the orders he give^ for the purpofe. All his rainifters Ukewife are men who deferve his confidence. They are ¦vvell informed and induftrious patriots, whoj^ with regard to foreign affairs and internal adminiftration. travels through GERMANY. 183 adminiftradon, follow a uniform fyftem, a thing, amongft many others, by which they diftinguiffi themfelves from the Bavarian minifters. Their entering into the Bavarian war, as they did fom§^ years ago, was a certain proof of their not be ing wanting in fpirit, ^though their hands were fomewhat cramped by thc internal circumftanees of the country. When once the money, which now goes towards difcharging the intereft and principal of the debts, can be applied to the augmentation pf the army, and the court is en abled to make ufe of its whole ftrength, no doubt the minifter will take other ground than that he now ftands upon. The country will then be in a ftate to keep up an army of forty or fifty thoufand raen, without any uncoramon exertion, and of courfe will be always able to maintain a neutraUty. As things are now cir- cumftanced, it muft neceffarily take a fide,'' and attach itfelf either to Pruffia or Auflria, As long as the peace lafts, it gives equal hopes to both fides ; but, in cafe of a breach, it will, in my opinion, incline rather to the Pruffian than the Auftriart party, not merely on account pf the at tempts which the Auftrians are dauy making to enflave the empire, and the weight which their Enormous power gives to thofe attempts, but be- W 4 cauf§ 184 travels through GERMANY. paufe the Saxons, on their part, have many pri^ vate reafons for being diffatisfied with the con.? duft ofthe Imperial court towards them. The difference there is betwixt the religion of the prince and that of thepeople, has no effeft on the national bufinefs. It is not therefore pro bable that this court will ever facrifice its reli gion to its temporal interefts, as Auguftus did when he afcended the throne of Poland, if they ffiould come into competition. In Germany reUgion is naturally various. The houfe of Wirtemberg has every feft of Chriften dom in it. The family of prince Frederick Eugene is Lutheran; the great dutchefs has embraced thc (jreek religion, and the bride of the hereditary prince of Tufcany wUl, no doubt, turn Catholic. As there are likewife princeffes of Branden burg in this houfe, it has alfo a mixture of Calvinifm in it. Certainly this is the fureft way to fpread toleration throughout Europe, and the friends of mankind are much indebted to the princes of Germany for it. With refpeft to the Saxons, if the reigning monarch were a prince of lefs fenfe than he is, they are perfeftly fafe frora the fear of all religious perfecutions. The ftates have fo liraited his power in this fefpeft, as to oblige him to have only two CatholiQ TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. iSj Catholic priyy counfellors, This is the reafori ¦why, notwithftanding the animofity of the Sax-- ons -againft the Catholics, which is much greater than moft people imagine, they have a grea^; ^ffeftion fpr their prince, LETTER J 86 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, LETTER XLIV. Leipfick, SAXONY is a princely country, brother. I have taken a confiderable tour, and have come hither through the Ertzgeberg, over Frey- berg, Marienberg, Annaberg, and then over Swickau, and Altenburg. One would imagine that the number of hills which border Bohemia muft be entirely undermined. There are pits upon pits dug in them, and all the valleys re- found with hamraers, A more induftrious peo ple than the Saxons I have not yet feen. The whole chain of mountains is filled with men, who force their nouriffiment from the naked woods. They not only work ftones and mi nerals in every poffible way you can conceive, but every town has befides fbme manufafture of linen, lace, ribbands, cotton, handkerchiefs^ fiannel, or fomething elfe, which takes up an innumerable quantity of hands. When faffiion, pr the caprice of their neighbours, ruin one ma nufaftory, they hive always ten others to fel; ^p to make up for the lofs, Freyberg TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 87 Freyberg contains upwards of twenty-five thoufand, and Swickau upwards pf fifteen thou fand inhabitants. The other cities I faw arc like the market towns, uncommonly populous and animated.' — The fame induftry and eafy circumftanees are met with pn the other fide of the Elbe, throughput the Laufits, whither I raade an excurfion from Drefden. Bauffen, Gorlifs, and Zittaw,. are ftatefy cities, full of trade and bufinefs. What a contraft with thc fouthern parts of Germany ! an immenfe traft, throughout the whole of which I did not fee a fingle place, excepting the refidence of the court, and fome Imperial cities, which could bear a comparifon with any of thefe Saxon towns.' — : You would imagine that the Ertzgeberg and foreft pf Thuringia, had been fet by Proyidence as the limits betwixt light and darknefs, induftry and lazin^efs, freedom and flavery, riches and poverty, Poffibly you cannot find in the -whole world fo ftrong a, contraft bet-vvixt two people, who are fo near each other, ag there is between the Saxons and Bohemians ; and yet nature ha^ done infinitely more for the laft thati ffie has for the firft. The mines are an inexhauftible fource of riches to this country ; they almoft all belong to com panies of priyate men, Th^ works are divided l88 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. into certain portions, part ofwhich the com.. pany works free of cofts for the court, which re ceives what is got from them. The revenue of the court, from all the mines of the country, is eftimated at 400,000 guilders, which is hardly a fifth part of what they produce. A ftill much more confiderable. fura is gained by manufac turing the produce, as very little of it is export ed raw. The Saxons prepare fteel and copper, and have a great number of gold and filver manufaftories. The Saxon arms are known ^11 over the world. The Saxons have diftinguiffied themfelves by their fk.iU in raining all over Europe. It is fpoken of even by Spaniffi and Neapolitan writ ers. Their ftrong bodies, their indefatigable Induftry, and their good underftanding, particu larly qualify thera for this kindof em.ployment, which is undoubtedly the moft compUcated and laborious of all human occupations, and which requires the greateft variety of knowledge to bring to perfeftion. In my opinion, mining is one of the ftrong charafteriftics which diftinguiffies the Germans, particularly the Saxons, from our countrymen. The Frenchman, though much quicker, is eafily conquered by difficulties, is di fpirlted when the firft heat does not get the better Travels through Germany. 189 fef the oppofition, is fond of changing the objeft ofhis purfuit, is defirous of getting a great deal at once, in a word, is only adapted to enter prizes, which require a quick comprehenfive genius and readinefs ; he is confequently much lefs fit for this work, than the cold, penfive, inquifitive, penetrating, perfevering, and inde fatigable German, who can employ himfelf in the moft unthankful offices without being weary. No doubt, there are raany valuable raines in the French dominions. Every body knows the projefts of Colbert and his fucceffors. They have been taken up again in our own tirae by M. Turgot ; but the genius of the nation has hi therto counterafted every effort ofthe kind that has been raade. The inhabitants ofthe fmalleft viUages in the Saxon mountains, though often ffiut out from the world by hills on each fide, are more po- liffied, better bred, and raore alive, than thofe ofthe largeft towns in the fouth of Germany. Reading is almoft univerfal in this country ; fociability and hofpitality accompany and en courage the hardeft labour ; even' the focieties of the inferior ranks are diftinguiffied by the liberality, knowledge of the world, wit, and jollity to be met with in them. The woraen are throughout remarkable for the beauty of their ffiapes. i9lO TRAVELS TJHROUGH G^RMANir; ffiapes, the animation of their looks, and thelf infinite fpirit, eafe, and vivacity, and yet they are quite good natured, and admirable houfe- wifes. The raen have of latcy indeed, begart to complain a little, that, for fome time paft^ their beautiful partners have been top much ad dift ed to vanity; but their clamours would foon ceafe, if the women Wert to unite and make a law, that every eighth Pr tenth man ffiould take an Auftrian or Bavarian wife^ for the edificatiori of the whole community. For my own part^ the article bf drefs alorie excepted, I have not been able to difcover a fingle excrefcence which -wants pruning; whereas the Bavarian and Auftrian wPmen, befides being full as fond of drefs, break out a little both at bed arid board,- and do not concern therafelves at all with do^ meftic matters. The uncomm.only large population of this country expofes the inhabitants to no fmall diftrefs in times of fcarcity. The land dPes not produce a tenth part of the grain neceffary for the confumption of the people, who are obliged to fupply their wants from Bohemia, The uni-; verfal fcarcity which prevailed in Europe nine or ten years ago, was no where more feverdy' fdt than hercj Many thoufands died, a part through abfolute want, and a part frpm be ing TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I9J ing obliged to eat bad provifions. Great num bers were indebted for their lives to the free- mafon's lodges at Drefden, Leipfick, Fridburg, and other places, the members of which did an incredible deal for the relief of the neceffities of their brethren. Ifany country ftands in need of granaries, it is this. As foon as the fmalleft fcarcity is perceived, the exportation frora the neighbouring countries is ftopped up, and the Saxon plains are too much peopled eafily to bear the lofs of their harveft. Governraent has raade fpme regulations ; but in the prefent ftate of the finances of the country, it is impoffible that ic ffiould do as much as would be requifite to fe cure the inhabitants of the mountains againft every event. Confpicuous as the induftry and commerce of this people is, the fituation of the farmer amongft them is in all refpefts pitiable. The fault, however, is in the conftitution of the country, not in the inhabitants, who are a frank, diligent, and intelUgent people. No doubt, but the dif trefs is owing to the quarttityof l^and in thc hands of great farmers. AJong the foot of the ^rtzgeberg mountain, and in the plain, you tati hardly count the fteeples, which you fee on all fides ofyou. The number of viUages in the Eleftoral territory, taking in the Laufits, is ijear 3 fix i^Z TRAVELS THROUGH GERMAN^. fix thoufand. I faw feveral farmers who plough-* ed with one ox and one cow. Many of them have only one cow, which furniffies them with milk, and likewife ferves them to plough with. It is true, indeed, that the fine and light foil of this part of the world requires, in general, no uncomraon exertion ;' but it is impoffible that a farmer ffiould do well with fo little cattle. You eafily difcover in their houfekeeping, that they are obliged to cut very clofe. Great part of them live upon potatoes, cabbage, and turnips, and you very feldom fee meat at their tables. Their attachment to coffee is extremely great j it is the only nouriffiment of fome of them ; and the profufe ufe they make of it,is a ftrong contraft with their perturioufnefs in other refpefts. It is made in large pots, but is fo weak as to have ^ hardly the colour of the berry. Moft likely they confider it as the cheapeft and moft ftrength ening of liquors. Their cleanlinefs in the midft of their poverty is remarkable. — The Sua bian farmers are lords, in comparifon with thofe of Saxony, and, on the whole, the happieft I have yet feen. Throughout the whole level country, even the common people fpeak good German, and fo, ex cepting in the mountains,, do all the farmers. There is no province in France of a Uke extent^ in TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 93 In which the people throughout fpeak French as well as the Saxons do German. Some miles from Leipfick I vifited a gentleman, for whom I had letters from Drefden, on his eftate. I thought myfelf corae to a fchool of paftoral felicity, and I ffiall ever look upon the few days I fpent with him as fome of the happieft of my life. The eftates of thefe gentlemen are fmall, as the Saxon nobility in general are as poor as they are numerous ; but it is to this very •poverty that they owe their happinefs. They underftand how to unite the beautiful with the ufeful, tafte with fimplicity, ceconomy with various amufements, and nature with art, in fuch a manner as to make that bufinefs, which other raen look upon as a puniffiment, a fource of endlefs uninterrupted felicity. They re- liffi pleafure as epicureans do rich wines, ' which they -keep a long while on the palate, in order to reliffi the flavour. They un derftand how to mix the amufements and the occupations of the country fo as to make them follow each other in agreeable fuccef fion fo well, that it is worth while to come amongft them to read Virgil's Georgics, which I am perfuaded cannot be read any where elfe with fo much pleafure. Fiffiing is a very weighty and moft important bufinefs with them, VOL. II. O and 194 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. and the art has been no where brought to fo great a perfeftion as it is here. They have fe parate ponds in which the fiffi are Jcept, accord ing to tlieir ages and with different intentions. Thefe ponds are in fallow lands, which are at certain tiraes broke up and ploughed again ; fo that the eftate reaps a double advantage by this method. The raanagement of woods and of ffieep is alfo brought to a great degree of perfeftion here. They not only cut down their trees with great judgment, but ftudy the art of planting, and what trees are fit for each foil with fingular felicity. I am perfuaded, that we Frenchmen might learn much of the Saxons on this head, as well as on every other part of rural ceconomy. The Saxon wool is famous for being the beft in Europe, after the Spaniffi and EngUffi : fome tiraes it is ufed raw, fometimes it is manufaftured into clothes, ftockings, and gloves, but moft generaUy it is coloured and exported as a ma nufafture. The inimitable blue wools, which have their name from the country, are brought into France. To thefe various praftical and theoretical improvements of their lands, the nobiUty add fmall walks, vifits to their friends in town and country, coUeftions of nature and art, attention to TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I95 to improve the fchools of their diftrifts, poetry, and mufick. The rich, araongft whom I reckon thofe who have from 8 to 10,000 guilders a year, (raoft of them have only from 3 to 6, and feveral from 800 to 2000 guilders,) come to town for only one or two months in the year. Their daughters are the loveUeft and clevereft creatures in the world. Their natural fenfibility generally contrafts a romantic turn in the ftill- nefs of the country, which appears in their con verfation and aftions, and leads them to take unguarded fteps in the firft years of life. Un equal raarriages and elopements are extremely- frequent here. In Suabia, Bavariaj and Auftria, I met with Saxon girls of good family, who in the laft Silefian war had enlifted with officers of the imperial and circular armies, and who all made excdlent wives and mothers. At Prague I met with a Saxon girl of a good family, who partly from a confiderable ffiare of fenfibility, as ffie confeffed herfelf, with tears in her eyes, and partly from want of knowledge ofthe world, was a common woman. Leffing's comedy, Minna von B'amheim, which doubtlefs you have read, ex hibits fome of the romantic part of this cha rafter, liut in general it is raore a pifture of the to-wn ladies. The country girls have not in general the coquetry and livelinefs of Minna : o 2 they 196 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. they are more penfive and more tepder, but all of them are as handforae as angels. The kind of reading in faffiion in Gerraany, which is moftly novels and romances, is no proper nou riffiment for the ladies of Saxony, who are by nature of fuch inflammable conftitutions. Leipfick is a very fmall, but very handfome, and in fome places, fplendid city. The num ber of its inhabitants, reckoning the fuburbs, amounts to near thirty thoufand ; it was greater formerly. The way of living is totally dif ferent from any I have hitherto feen in the other Saxon towns. Much more luxury and profufion reigns here than at Drefden. They play, in all companies, and often extremely high. The ladies of this place are far behind hand with their countrywomen of the other towns in do meftic oeconomy, but agree with them in the articles of drefs and coquetry. Amongft the literati, who fwarra here, there are too many boafters, petit maitres, ignoramuffes, and fools of all forts ; fo that I fometimes thought myfelf got to Vienna again, where the frijeurs and li terati meet in the fame companies, and are almoft equaUy numerous. But the infinite num ber of raen of merit, whofe conduft and raan ners do honour to their native country, foon made "JRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. I97 made me find out the difference. You meet here with men in all fciences, who, from the extent, as well as the depth of their learning, but particularly from their knowledge of the world, are entirely different from the Vienna literati, for whom all is dead that is out of their own line. I paid a vifit to Mr. Weiffe, whofe excellent work called the Children s Friend, Mr. Berquin propofes partly to imitate, and partly to tranf late. The authpr is not only one of the beft Gerraan poets, but an extraordinary learned man, in the moft extenfive fignlfication of thc word. He is elegance itfdf ; and the income of a good place, which he poffeffes, enables him to give up his latter days to philofophical repofe, benevolence, and the mufes. He is one of the determined enemies of thofe Uterary Calmucks, I raentioned to you in my letter on the theatre of Munich, who like the troops of Gengifkan, fome years fince made an inroad upon Par naffus, drove out' the the mufes, deftroyed the flower-beds of the old German poets, mangled the language, hacked the words with Tartar fury, and would probably in their rage have be gotten children Uke the fathers, if their difci pline had anfwered the violence of their attack, o 3 and 193 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. and fuch enlightened men as Mr. Weiffe had not difcorafitted thera after the ardour of their firft onfet. They have been compdled to retreat behind the hedges, whence they fometimes fire upon paffengers, but they will not be able to keep even this poft long. LETTER TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 1 99 LETTER XLV. Leipfick, THE commerce and manufaftures of this place are very confiderable. It is the cen ter of the book trade of ail Germany, and of the wool trade of all Saxony, and there are few ci ties in Germany which furpafs it in commerce and exchange. Here they make velvets, woven filks, ffiags, linens, cloths, rattines, carpets, and a great variety of other things. This city fup plies the greateft part of Saxony with drugs and apothecaries wares, and has a confiderable ffiare ofthe trade which is carried on betwixt the fouth of Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the North. There are feveral wealthy houfes here. The fair, which ended a week before my ar rival, according to the report of both natives and foreign merchants, is no more than a ffia- dow of what it was thirty years ago. The moft remarkable part of the prefent trade, is the ex change of books, carried on by the German bookfellers. This they fometimes execute by comnaiffiQrt, but for thc moft part they appear ih their own high perfons. Their number is about o 4 three 20O TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. three hundred, and the value ofthe books they exchange amounts to 500,000 rix-doUars, or about 1,751,000 Uvres. Leipfick raaintains itfelf in the poffeffion of this trade, not fo much from its having once taken that channel, as from the great quantity of books publiffied in the city itfdf, and its cen trical fituation in the midft of a country where all the arts flouriffi., and reading and writ ing are moft univerfal. Thefe are the caufes, which, in my opinion, have rendered all the at tempts to deprive the city of this trade abortive. The Auftrian bookfellers have hitherto been the only ones who have not appeared regularly and in great numbers at this mart of Uterature. The reftraint they lay under from the licence office, and the reftraints they are lain under by the hea-vy wit of their writers, have difabled thera from bringing any paper to marker, good enough to procure an exchange from the other dealers. Leipfick is indebted for this trade, which, in my opinion, is the only one of the kind in aU Europe, entirely to the merit of the inhabitants ^ of this place, and other parts of Saxony. Sax ony was the cradle of literature and tafte in Ger many. The Swifs had indeed contributed*fome- thing by theories towards raifing the edifice of the TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 20r the arts, but theories forra neither arts nor tafte, nor has the Gerraan part of Switzerland produ ced a fingle literary produftion of merit, Gef- ner's works excepted. Thofe of Haller are written in a barbarous dialeft, and few of them are uniformly good. Flis beauties are fingle ones; they are. feparate piftures, woven into philofophical declamations. Nature gives the firft direftion to art, which afterwards is not to be im- • proved by any theories, but by the fight of, and fenfibility for, thc moft ftriking and raoft beau tiful objefts of nature. Thefe it is, which form the original artift. And it is the reading, feeling, and comparing the works of thefe original artifts, that form the imitator. Nor is tafte itfelf a confequence of any theoretical knowledge; for it is well known, that thofe who have formed the foundeft theories, have been very unfuccefsful, both in the works produced by themfelves, and the judgraent they have paffed upon thofe of other people. Theories depend upon conclufions of the underftanding, which will always be falfe when the preraifes are fo ; but the quicknefs occafioned by the per ception and comparifon of various beautiful objefts, which conftltutes what we call tafte, wUl never go aftray. It is true, indeed, that this 302 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. this perception and quicknefs cannot exift with out fome natural difpofitions towards them. The firft feeds of literature and tafte were fown in Germany, by perfons who were no li terati by profeffion. Since the firft sera of French tafte, one or thc other of the princes of Germany have always been in alliance with France, The negociations this has given rife to, and the abode of the French armies in Germany in confequence, have rendered the knowledge of French abfolutely neceffary to the German no bility. Hence all perfons of confequence, mi nifters, counfellors, officers, and fecretaries, poUffied themfelves by their intercourfe with our countrymen ; fo that the tafte of feveral German courts was formed before there was a man of letters of confequence in the country. Prince Eugene, who had been brought up at the court of France, laboured with all his might to in troduce the arts into Germany, but he found the Jefuits in his way at the court of Vienna, for a long time the only one in which the French language could not gain admittance. In all the others there were perfons of as much tafte and good fenfe as prince Eugene, true children of the Mufes, who were more or lefs fuccefsful in the?r attempts to extend good tafte. , Much in the fime manner the arts came to us TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 203 us from Italy, and much in the fame manner they came to Italy from Greece. After this intercourfe with France, the only thing wanting to awaken the Germans to emulation, was a language, and in this refpeft Saxony had a great advantage over the other German provinces. Ever fince the time of Lu ther, this country has had a manner of writing, which diftinguiffied it from the barbarous manner of the fchools that obtained over the reft of Germany. The fervice of the church contributed rauch in thefe parts to the im provement of the language. The fchools for young people were very good here long before the brilliant sera of German literature. The language of fome of the Saxon writers who lived betwixt the years 17 15 and 1725, a time in which the reft of Germany was ftill plunged in the barbarous ftyle of the Can celleria, is remarkable for its grammatical clear nefs and accuracy. The natural wit of the Saxons, together with their pecuUar and, as it were, innate love for all that is beautiful, foon made it their peculiar pride and pleafure, as it had been that of the Athenians, to diftinguiffi themfelves by fpeaking the-ir language correftly. The loweft handycraftfman here is more foli citous to fpeak purdy and wdl, and is much more 204 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. more fortunate in his, attempts for the purpofe, than feveral learned raen by profeffion, with whom I have had the honour to converfe in the fouthern parts of the country. The very wo men are fenfible of grararaatical errors, arid take notice of them. Befides the language, the Saxons had other advantages, which contributed to fpread literature fooner and wider amongft them than amongft the other Germans. Phi lofophy and the higher parts of the belles lettres, had had the duft rubbed from them in this coun try long before the bright sera of Gerraan lite rature. Leibnitz, Puffendorf, Thomafius, Wolf, and others, had broken up the extenfive field of literature, had ploughed it with tafte and fim plicity, and had brought about a happy revolu tion in the minds of the people in all the north of Germany, particularly in Saxony. The cele brated journal, known by the name of ASI a Eru- ditorum, was begun in 1682, and was foon equal to the journals of the moft enlightened nations, fuch as the Journal des Scavans, the Engliffi Tranfaftions, and the Giomale di Literati, whilft in the other ftates of Germany, BerUn not excepted, knowledge w^as confined to a few per fons about the court. The beginning of the prefent century alfo produced feveral editions ofthe ancient claffics, which contributed more to TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 205 to the nurture of genius and true tafte, than the beft rules and theories. No doubt, the magnificence and peculiar tafte of the Saxon Auguftus, for the fine arts, contributed much to the early poliffiing of tafte, and the awakening of genius in this country. All the arts have a fifterly affeftion for each other ; they do not like to be long out of the fame company. Painting, fculpture, ar chitefture, mufic, and all the arts connefted with them, flouriffied more at the court of Au guftus the third, than they did in any court of Europe. From this fchool came Mengs, the greateft painter of our days ; Haffe, who was able to do juftice to the poetry ofa Metaftafio; Gluck, Hiller, and raany others. The art of fpeech would naturally join itfdf to fo brilliant a fociety. The opera made the Saxons ac quainted with the Italian poets, juft as the language of the court had brought thera ac quainted with the French ones. At length they made fome trials in their own language, and their trials were fuccefsful. Gellert, Rabbener, and many others, evidently formed fhemfdves upon Engliffi models. Ever fince this period. Saxony has furniffied a much larger proportion of ingenious men than the other parts of Germany. In polite Uterature their numbers furpafs thofe 206 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. thofe of all the reft of Germany put together. Their tranflators, reviewers, magazine-writers, almanack and catalogue-makers are innumer able. There are raany perfons in this country as well acquainted with the antient and modern literature of England, France, and Italy, as the natives of thefe countries themfelves. There is always a warehoufe of Spaniffi and Portuguefe literature here, and (which is almoft peculiar to Germany,) they forage to the uttermoft bounds of the north, and explore the Daniffi, Swediffi, Ruffian, and Poliffi Parnaffus. As far as re gards the mechanical part of the bufinefs, i. e. the working up of materials and making them fit for fale. Saxony will for a long time continue fuperior to the other Germans; but their genius feeras worn out. Nothing can bc more frivolous than the prefent purfuits of the men of genius here ; but other parts of Germany are in the prime of youth, and others again feem to be juft awake. LETTER TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 20/ LETTER XLV. Leipfick. I MADE an excurfion from hence to Wei mar and Gotha. This part of the country is the beft cultivated, and in a political view, the moft beautiful I have hitherto feen in Ger many. Every two or three mUes you come to a town, which contains a flouriffiing manufac ture. The villages are innumerable, and the agriculture much more varied than on the other fide of Drefden. Nature appears to have been more favourable to thefe parts. Weimar is a fmall but handfome town. The court is remarkably affable, and the reigning duke carries popularity as well as philofophy almoft too far. He puts himfelf on a level with all kinds of perfons, and takes parts in private plays afted by his fervants and the literati of his court. To a natural fondnefs for the fentimental and adventurous, he unites an exdlent improved tafte for every thing that belongs to the arts. This court is made up entirely of wits, and 'even his general Juperintendant, (a title you are not ac- 4 quainted 2o8 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, quainted with, but which anfwers to a little Pope,) is a bei efprit, who has publiffied a rhap- fodical extraft from the firft book of Mofes, under the title of the Origin of Mankind. The wonderful charafter of this duke, the romantic part of it only excepted, for which he has to thank Mr. Gothe, is the work of the ce lebrated Wieland. Wieland is, without a doubt, the firft of all the German writers. No writer, Leffing alone excepted, unites fo much ftudy with fo much genius as he does. He has not only forraed and fixed his tafte on a thorough acquaintance with the beauties of the ancient writers, but poffeffes alfo all the literature of France, Italy, and England. His works are not like thc rhapfodies of the raodern Gerraan poet- afters, but have the true fmack of the art. Even the moft fugitive trifles that fall from his play ful and humorous pen, befpeak a workraan who is thorough raafter of his bufinefs, and has a manner of his own. It has been faid of the great painters, that you may know them by the daffi of their pencils. Wieland is one of the few German writers who will go down to pofte rity as a claffical writer, when thc works of fcr veral of his cotemporaries ffiall ferve for dung ofthe fields. It is generally objefted to him, that he repeats the fame things too often, and copies TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 209 copies himfelf; but for ray part, I have not obferved much repetition. It is true, that like other great writers, he has favourite ideas, which he is ever turning and poliffiing, in order to fet them before the reader in every point of view. I have no fault to find with him, but that he hides his ftudy too little, expofes his immenfe reading too much, and often forgets that his reader may not be fo enamoured with his eru dition as he is himfelf. I likewife think, that before he was privy- counfellor and tutor to the prince, he wrote much more naturaUy than he does now. In order that no part of literature ffiould be unexplored by him, but more with a view of filling his purfe, whilft his reputation was at the height, he undertook a literary journal, which he carried on with uncommon fpirit and aftivity. None of the German writers know fo well how to pleafe the public as Wieland does. He is moft fruitful in the invention of trifles, in order to raake his journal, which is as good as any other we have, fell. Soraetiraes, like a Dutch tobacco-raerchant, he will tye a pifture to his wares ; fometimes he promifes in one number a folution of a riddle in a paft one, and in the next, inftead of a folution of the riddle, gives you a rattle, or a trumpet for children to VOL. II. P play 2IO TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. play v/ith. At times he publiffies one number in a year, at others he will write the whole vo lume in a month. Riddles, nev/fpapers, anec dotes, literary quarrds, every thing, in a word, is crammed in thac may give his wares the ap-- pearance of novelty, or amufe the people. You will fay thefe are little bookfeUing tricks ; and fo they arc, but they are raore venial in a Ger man than in other authors, as without them it would be difficult for the greateft induftry and the greateft talents to live by the profeffion. Wieland is, what few poets are, a good do meftic man. He lives, in faft, raore for his fa mily than for the public. He would furniffi a new proof, if there wanted any, of the juftice of a favourite aphorifm with rae, to wit, that the generative powers of man are in the fame pro portion as his underftanding, and that it is good for him when he ufes the one with as much order and oeconomy as the other. Wieland has feven or eight fine children. No poet, he obferves himfelf, ever had fo many ; and he has written the lives of the poets, folely to affure himfelf of the truth of it. A good penfion from the court, added to what he gets by his journal, enables him to fee the approach of old age with tranquillity, and gives him the profpeft of enjoying the comforts of Ufe to the end. There TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, 211 ^ There are fome extraordinary traits in Wie- land's charafter, which feem a contraft to his writings : I will give you fome of them. In all he has written, he difcovers great knowledge of the world, and you would take him for a, cour tier out of place, yet no man knows lefs of man-r kind. In polite circles, and in the conduft of a common affair of life, he is entirely at a lofs. Evert fince the publication of the Agathon, which you know contains every evolution and revolu- tiort of the female mind, and, Uke his other works, befpeaks one of the politeft writers that ever exifted ; there have been feveral inftances of his not knowing how to converfe with a w.o- mart. His knowledge of the gay world confifts Crttirdy in theory, and he muft be fome time in company, before he can make ufe of it. This is not altogether owing to continual ftudy and want of intercourfe with the polite world, but' is in fome degree conftitutional irt him. He is by nature very Uvely, but not very refolute, dif fident of himfelf, and eafy of belief towards pthers ; in fine, he is one of thofe men to whom nature has refufed every grain of that felf-fuf ficiency, a fraall dofe of which is of fo much ufe in the affairs of this life. His kriowledge of the world is of the kind which Montaigne, p 2 obferved 212 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. obferved in a mqn who refembled him ; it is in a place which he knows where to find it in, and not in himfelf. The cortfcioufnefs of this has fome times made him a coward. To this caufe are to be attributed the frequent variations in his way of thinking ; his flattery towards thofe who can ferve him ; his fubmiffion towards thofe who refift him ; his toleration of thofe whofe opi nions are oppofite to his own ; his love of party, and all the manoeuvres to which he has had re courfe, whenever he has thought his reputation in danger, for which reputation he would have had nothing to fear, if he had but known his own ftrength. Before Gothe was known, Wieland ftood as he ought always to have done, at the top of the German Parnaffus. It fo happened, that, contrary to his intention, he inferted a very fevere critique of Gothe's Play of Gojs of Ber- lichingen, in his review. Gothe revenged him felf by a farce, written in his ftrongeft raanner. Wieland, ever ready to found a retreat when danger is nigh, endeavoured to make his peace in a fecond number, in which he was raore civil. This, however, would hardly have faved him, but fortunately for him, his pupU, thc reigning duke, foon after went to Francfort, where he met with Gothe, whom he brought with him to Weimar, and of courfe introduced him TRAVELS THROUGH GEJrMANY. 2I3 him to his old tutor. Would you believe it ? the cajoled Wieland not only took fomething of Gothe's manner himfelf, but wrote apologies for fome followers of his fchool, whom in his former writings he had fatyrized. Upon the whole, he is one of the greateft fophifts of our days, who has always a fadre, or an apology ready, and produces that which brings him the moft pence. Gothe is the duke's favourite ; they are al ways together ; he poffeffes a full portion of that which nature has refufed to Wieland. Formerly his felf-fufficiency led him into abfurdities, but fince that time things have much changed. He is not only a genius, but poffeffes a great deal of learning. Many circumftanees, for which he is not entirely anfwerable, were the occafion ofhis giving the fignal to a horde of Calmucks, who fome years fince raade an inroad on the German Parnaffus, and laid it wafte. In all thirtgs he is uport principle, for the natural, the extraordinary, the adventurous, the ftriking, and the bold, and has as great an averfion to the common forms of governmertt, as to the comraort rules of writing. His philofophy bor ders nearly upon that of Roufleau. I ffiall not ftop here to compare them, but only obferve, that they have both come two hundred years p 3 to» 214 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. too late, and that the man who gives a flat con- tradiftion to the opinions of all his cotem poraries, abounds either irt fdf-opirtion or fdf-love. — When Gothe firft began to feel his genius, he ufed to go about with a ffiort hat, his hair about his ears, an out of the way drefs ; and, in ffiort, affefted a fingularity irt every thing. His looks, his gait, his fpeech, the whole of hira befpoke an extraordirtary man. Even in his writings, he rather affefted graceful negUgence than any laboured delicacy. He ffiortened all his periods in the moft ex traordinary manner, ufed coramon and vul gar words, and, what was of no great fervice to the poor German language, already fo bare of them, cut off half of the vowels, and introduced paufes and ftrokes of admiration at every three words. His writings contain a great deal of that happy feizure of circumftance which be fpeaks a knowledge of mankind, united to a ftrong ¦and fertile imagination, and a great vein of humour. You fee in every thing he writes, that he is able to lay a piart and conneft the parts ; this diftinguiffies him from the whole herd ofhis imitators. Whenever it happens, as it fometiraes does, that one part of his work does not hang well with the other, you eafily difcover that the defeft has not arifen from ignorance, but TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 2x5 but becaufe the author did not choofe to give himfelf the trouble to weave them together. Gothe has read a great deal, is wdl acquainted with the beft ancient and modern writers, paints, underftands mufick, is a good companion and wit, and — counfellor of legation to the duke. Doubtlefs, he is by this time convinced of the injury he has done German literature. Several young perfons, encouraged to it by his example, imagined that nothing more was requifite to become a genius, than to be bold, impudent, and carelefs about language and ftyle, and to entertain contempt for every thing that is called order or regularity. They conceived that alJ ftudy and attention to rule was needlefs, that every thing that was natural muft of courfe be good, that a true genius required no education, but had all powers of creation in himfelf^ and that when he became a genius, he was entitled to produce himfelf in his ffiirt, or in puris natu ralibus, OH the market-place, or in the courts of princes; that real judgment only made affes of men, and that an unreftrained imagination raif ed them to the rank of divinities ; Aat dreams and enthufiaftic raptures in his own greatnefs, and the littlenefs of the world about him, was the proper ftate of man ; that all the occupa tions by which his daily bread was to be earned, p 4 degraded 21 6 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. degraded him, and that in the beft of all poffi ble worlds he muft go on all-fours and eat acorns. You muft not think that I am exagge rating when I fay this, for I can give you proofs of every thing I have afferted, Gothe has this in common with Rouffeau ; that his philofophy (whether true or falfe) overturns foundations, and gratifies diffolutenefs and idlenefs ; for which reafort it has been adopted by thofe who have no foundatiort, but feek only to be happy through an impUcit belief in their mafter. As Gothe was his own mafter, his excrefcences were the more eafily forgiven, becaufe of their cort- fiftency with his principles and with each other, of a certain moderatiort he obferved irt them, and of his affability towards all he converfed with ; but his fchool is the moft ridiculous that can be conceived. I queftion whether many of thefe gentlemcrt are themfelves able to give explanations of the obfcure parts of their writ ings. The flattered nonfenfe was cried up by the critics of the feft, as the quinteffcnce of human wit and human imagination. As to the underftanding, as I told you above, they de clared open war againft that. To have a true idea of the tafte of the public, one ffiould read the produftions of thefe gendemen, which ftill pafs for wonders with many. This herd of Cal mucks TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 217 mucks gained recruits from every order of men, even out of the phyfical tribe, who formed fyfteras of the fame kind in their profeffion. They taught, that to roll in fnow, to bathe in cold water, to leap like bucks about the fteepeft precipices, to eat nothing warm, but to live en tirely on the fruits of the earth, not tp give the leaft interruption to the operations of nature, but evert to drop the excrement ftanding, at any time and in any place, was all that could be done by man, either for thc prefervation or re covery of his health. A well-known phyfician, who has laid many a patient in the duft, by the purfuit of this new mode of cure; grouuded all the reafonings made ufe of in his publications, on the example of thc firft wit irt Germarty. If he ordered a raan a cold bath, and the paticrtt expreffed a fear, left it might poffibly occafion a fever, or a flux, the doftor would affure him, that he need not be afraid of any thing of the fort, for that the great Gothe went into the cold bath in froft artd fnow. — The young painters, too, would for * fome time paint nothing but ftorms, lightning, tops of Apertrtines, or Alps; dephartts, liorts, and tygers ; Didos on the furtcral-pile, Lucre- tias and Medeas murdering their childrcrt. All the fofter landfcapes, all the common animals, and 21 8 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. and all the ordirtary fituadons of coramoft life, they entirely excluded frora their canvafs. Truth and keeping are nothing with them ; fuch little- neffes, they fay, a genius leaves to your day- labourers for bread, and men of ordinary under ftandings. Art, according to their definition, confifts in what is out ofthe comraon courfe. The more unnaturally a Dido flings her arms about, the more portentoufly flie rolls her favage eyes, and the greater diforder there appears in her hair and drapery, the more beautiful ffie is. In this raanner artifts of all denomirtations mif- cortceive Gothe's theory. His flatterers imitate him in the raoft ridiculous raanner, in his drefs^ irt his walk, and even in his fpeech. Gothe is in fome meafure refponfible for thefe excrefcences. Having difcovered fparks of ge nius in fome of his friends, fuch as Lentz, - Clinger, and others, by proper encouragements he foon blew the fparks into a real flame. Thus far was fit and right ; but as foon as he had com menced proteftor, there came people to him by no means worthy of his proteftion. Inftead of fending theie back to their brethren of the foreft, the bubble of reputation led him on, and he was not affiamed, at leaft for a tirae, to fet himfelf at the head of a little acaderay — very different in this refpeft from Rouffeau, who 2 neither TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 2 1 9' neither commended nor protefted any one. At prefent Gothe does not feera to difturb himfelf much about literary purfuits. He is at work on the life of the celebrated Bernard of Weimar, and enjoys Ufe as much as it is to be enjoyed amidft a number of little troubles. Formerly he ufed to be regularly befieged with recom mendations, and his difciples carae frcm all parts to vifit him, in hopes to be brought for ward by his patronage. He is now grown wifer, and has made it a rule to himfelf, to be very nice in his recomraendations. In this he is extremely in the right, as he would be account able for the follies of all thefe people. Neither indeed does it follow as a natural confequcrtce, that becaufe the minifter, counfellor, and pri vate fecretary of a prince is a wit, his cooks, and butlers, valets de chambre, huntfracrt, and ftable-boys, ffiould alfo be wits. Gotha is a large towri, richer artd hartdfomer than Weimar ; the number of its inhabitants is eftimated at nine or ten thoufand. There are fome valuable manufaftures in this place. The court is as popular as that of Weimar, and equally fond of ftrangers. Some years ago the duke had one of the beft German theatres in Germany; but he fent away the whole company on finding that the expence was too large, that he 220 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. he had fufficiently araufed hirafelf, and that thc players began to affume airs of importance. The fubjefts of both thefe dukes are very happy. Their finances too are well regulated, and their adminiftration ofjuftice and police is perfeft. Neither of them have the weak nefs of other German prirtces, who fpend a great part of their incomes in the maintcrtance of a regiraent or two of foldiers, and make the yourtger part of their fubjefts do the mUitary exercife, inftead of keeping them at the plough. The income of each of them is about 600,000 Rheniffi guilders, or 54,000 French louis-d'ors. Their country is extremely produftive, and ex traordinarily well inhabited. Erfurt is a very large, old, black, and ill-in habited town ; it is near a mUe in circumfer- ertce, and contairts rtearly eighteen thoufand men. The moft remarkable thing here is the art of gardening, which is carried to a greater perfeftion than in any other part of Germany I have yet had occafion to fee. The people of the country carry on a confiderable trade in fruits and plants. The inhabitartts, like thofe of the reft of Saxony, are a handfome, fenfible, and friendly people. The prefent vice-governor for the Eleftor of Mentz, to whom the city, with feventy villages which lie round it, be longs. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 221 longs, is a baron of D'Alberg, canon of Mentz, whora you may probably have feen at Paris. He was irt the houfe of the marquis of , artd, if I miftake not, well knowrt to the duke of Choifeul. Hc is a man of uncommort krtow- ledge of the world, a man of letters in the full extent of the word, and a patriot. He under ftands all the bufinefs of the higher world, and all that concerns governmertt; poffeffes the Belles Lettres artd the arts, artd is ort terms of fricrtd- ffiip with the moft fertfible mcrt of Germany. He expefts in time to be the firft ecclefiaftical prince of.the Gerraan erapire, and, after the Pope, the richeft and moft diftinguiffied prelate in the ca tholic world. Erfurt and its territory yields an nually about 1 80,000 Rheniffi guUders. It con tains about thirty-fix thoufand men. LETTER 222 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. LETTER XLVI. Leipfick. ICANNOT quit Saxony without faying fomething to you of the reformation which began here. The origin of the reformation, as a queftion of learning, is difficult to determine. Between the times of John Hufs and Luther, Paul of Tubingen, Brulfer, Bafil of Groningen, and feveral Engliffi, openly profeffed the doc trines of the reformed. The Valdenfes had fpread their opinions very cortfiderably long before the time of Hufs ; and between their time and the aera of Hufs, Wicliff, John ofPa ris, Arnaud de Villeneuve, WiUiam of St. .Amour, Evrard, biffiop of Saltzburg, andmany others taught the tenets of Luther and Calvin, It is certain, that from the time of the Albi- geois to the breaking out of the reformation, there was no period in which fome remarkable man did not openly maintain the principles of the Proteftant religion. Between the time of Peter de Waldo, (who did moft towards the fpreadingof ithe feft of the Albigeois, though. they TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 223 they do not take their name from him, as fome have thought,) and Berenger, who came not a hundred years after hira, we meet with Pierre de Bruis, Henry de Thouloufe, and Arnaud Hot, who, with many others,made the doftrines hdd by the Proteftants of the prefent day, known all over France. The celebrated biffiop Honore of Autun, who wrote upon free will, and, in the fpirit of the Proteftants of this day, called the Pope the great beaft, and the Whore of Babylon, lived in 11 15, and Berenger died in 1091 ; fo that there is hardly a generation between them. In the fame century with Berenger, Arnolph, biffiop of Orleans, diftinguiffied himfelf at the council of Rheims, by a fpeech much more violent than any thing which Luther has written againft the power of the Pope. In a word, the opinions of Proteftants are to be met with in the earlieft ages ofthe church; and an attentive reader of ecclefiaftical hiftory will foon fee, that they are connefted with the opinions of the firft feft aries, and that it was not the bare no velty of his opinions which made Luther re markable. I' Whoever is a little acquainted with the hil^ tory of the century before Luther, and can form to himfelf a precife idea of the ftate of Saxony, previous 224 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. previous to the breaking out of the reformation, will eafily fee, that other things befides theo logy contributed to this event, and that La ther only gave the long waited for fignal of re volt. Since the tirae of the eraperor Sigifmund, (who would have brought about the revolution himfelf, ifhis knowledge had correfponded with 1 his thirft for reforraation, and who for want of that knowledge fuffered himfelf to be led by the nofe by fome cardinals) -Germany had been at work on a reformation. If a Catholic at this time was to fay what was faid, not Ortly in the fchools and in publications, but at the council of Conftance before the whole nation, at thc diet of the empire, and by particular princes in their tranfaftions with each other, he would be put into a prifon as a violent heretic. It is indeed wonderful, how the minds of the CathoUc princes weie changed by the heat of difpute after that ftep was once taken,which they them felves had before endeavoured to produce. The well known hundred grievances (which in the end grew to much more than a hundred) of thcGerman nation plainly ffiewed, that moft of the courts of Gerraany were ready to proteft the firft bold man who would revolt againft the court of Rome, and TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 325 and fupport the political grievances with theo logical argumertts. The cunning, aftive, and very eloquent JEneas Sylvius, who effefted the concordats betwixt the Pope and the empire by his crafty manceuvres, awakened ftill more the jealoufy of all the thinkirtg patriots of Ger marty. Though he was a fubtile geuius, who for the momertt could gairt the afcendancy overthe cold Germans, and make them acquiefce in filence, yet after all the declamations and fine intrigues of this Cicero of his time, the obfti nacy natural to the cold charafter returned, and again brought forth the old complaints. .Slneas Sylvius thought his enemies weaker than they really were. In all his writings you fee that he imagined that he ffiould be able to cheat the Germans ; but their genius was awake, and they faw through him, though they had neither ex perience enough, nor union enough amongft theriifdves, to refift the ardfices he played off againft them. Mayer, chancellor of Mentz, ac that time the moft enlightened, moft refined, and moft brilliant court in Germany, and which contributed exceedingly to the fuccefs of the reformation, in his letters (to be found in feveral compilations of the times), fpeaks to the Italian in a tone that would have put to filence any advocate of the court of Rome, but the very vol. II, Q^ witty 326 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, witty fophift iEneas Sylvius. Whoever con fiders the intrigues and webs which the court of Rome rauft have wove to keep the duke of Bavaria and the Palfgrave of the Rhine in good huraour (fome proofs of which are to be met with in Febronius), will only wpnder how the reformation came to be put off fo late as to the time of Luther. Whilft the politics of feveral courts of Ger many were thus direfted againft the fcourt of Rome, the reputation of the latter was daily finking in confequence of the philofophy that gained ground in the fchools, and the inter courfe of learned men with eaeh other. Thc progrefs made in printing, which became gene ral in Germany in the laft part of the fifteenth. century, contributed to the general fpread of knowledge. As early as in the beginnings of the fixteenth century, the Germans began to write their own language with correftnefs. The way was prepared for the people to be foon taught. This, no doubt, was the golden age of Ger many. It had warm patriots, induftrious phi lofophers, and thinking princes. The awakened fpirit of improvement had manifefted itfelf in legiflation and the improvement of the police ; peace was eftabliffied at home, arts and tafte had begun to fpread over Germany from Italy. Bolognft TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, 227 Bologna was the refort of all the German nobi lity. It is true, indeed, that they brought home with them the barbarous mixture of the Roman, Papal, and Lombard law, but they alfo brought home good manners, a knowledge of the Italian and Latin languages, and a tafte for the fine arts and fciences. Erafmus of Rotterdam, Reachlin, Hutteu, and many others, are fignal proofs how foon tafte was purified in Germany. Saxony in particular had feveral good fchools. The univerfity of Leipfick had fucceeded to the fame of that of Prague ; and that of Wirtemberg, out of which Luther was foort to give the fignal for battle, was frequented not only by Ger mans, but by Hungarians, Poles, Danes, and Swedes, Luther's other writings are evident proofs how much the German language itfdf was cultivated in Germany, and his tranflation of the bible teftifies how well the ancient languages were underftood in the fchools, Irtdeed it is probable, that Germany would have been the firft country enlightened by Italy, and fo have arrived at the prefent brilliant zera of liter ature immediately, had not religioi||P difputes difturbed the minds of the people, and the war of thirty years, which followed, laid wafte the country. Italy, at that time the moft flouriffiing country 0^2 jn 828 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY* in Europe, thought of no reformation, though it probably faw the religious abufes ftill more clearly than the Gerraans themfelves. The wits of Italy amufed themfelves with fatires on the pope, cardinals, and their adherents thc monks and nuns. They confidered the abufes of religion with as little ferioufnefs as men iri the polite world look upon adultery and gal lantry, which are now grown too univerfal for the police to have any hope of being able to reftrain them. Indeed the exceffes in which ItaUan priefts and prelates indulged themfelves, were not of that low favage kind which dif- graced thofe of Germany, but accorded better with the poUffied manners, the charafter of the people, and focial life; and the arts, which contributed all they could to the outward fplen dour of reUgion in this country, covered many defefts in the eyes of thinking men, juft as a coquet procures admirers by a charming patch, with which ffie contrives to cover a wart or ugly ^ot of another kind. When we add to thefe confiderations, that the commerce with the fpi ritual colonies brought home great riches, with out the leaft hazard or expence to the nation ; that fince the time of Charlemagne thefe colo nies had fpread almoft to the borders of the fro zen fea, and that many Italian nobles made their fortune TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 229 fortune in the church; it will be no wonder that this country took no ffiare in the reformation, albeit it was fuperior to the reft of Europe in philofophy and politics, and probably faw the corruption with a quicker eye than Luther and his affociates, As tp France, fince the days of Philip le Bel, it had learned to fport with the holy fpirit of Rprae, . The court of Rome was no longer formidable to it. Our kings had a fecret underftand ing with the popes, and knew how to make the vicar of Chrift fubfervient to their purpofes. Our rinartners too were more correft thart thofe of the Germans, and our ecclefiaftics confined themfelves mpre within the bpunds of their order and of honour. As a prppf of this, the coun cil of Trent found nothing to alter in the French difcipline, though it made a fignal revolution in the manners of thcGerman ecclefiaftics. Though, we had not indeed fo many briUiant writers as the Germans had, knowledge in general was much more univerfally fpread ; and there are proofs fufficient that men faw the abufes of re ligion as clearly in France, as they did any where elfe. Thf behaviour of our envoys at the coun- cU pf Conftance one hundred years before, and 'the manner in which our court united with lhe Qerman Proteftants, &% wefl, as many other Q>^ 3 inftances. ^op TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. inftances of the kind that might be brought, are a plain proof that religion was confidered in France as a fubordinate thing to politics. Many other caufes befides the knowledgeof the abufes in religion, muft alfo have contributed to the breakirtg out of the reformation in Germany. Thefe are very various ; doubtlefs, one of the prirtcipal was the pride with which the court of Rome affefted to treat the Germans : it had fo often cheated and bullied this compliant and, till the fifteenth century, ftupid people, that it began to imagine it raight increafe the burthen, ad infinitum, without any danger of meeting with refiftance ; but, according to the old pro verb, oppreffion is the parent of liberty. Rome iraagined that the eoncordateof AJchaffenburghad. fecured it againft any farther attempts from the nation; butthis agreement had had quite a differ ent effeft, and had made the people fee that they were betrayed by the craft of thePopiffi mediators. Another caufe of the reform is to be fought for in the charafter of the nation. A phleg matic man, when he once fees that he is be trayed and brought under the harnefs, is the moft untraftable and ftubborn of men. The numberlefs feftaries in France, previous to the reformation, paffed by like the faffiions of the country, and were forgotten. T^9 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 231 The manners ofthe clergy of Germany likewife contributed to produce a change. The nunneries were open brothdsj and whertever the prelates or abbots happened to be lords of manors, they ex ercifed the right of pralibation over the daughters of their tenants, in the fame manner as the tem poral lords. Debauchery was not covered over in this country, as in Italy and Gerraany, by good corinpany and good manners, but it broke out into the moft brutal and difgufting exceffes: for inftance, a little before the breaking out of the reformation, a prieft of Augffiurg carried his effrorttery fo far, as to have krtowledge of a womart in the open ftreets. Child murder, fo domy, and all the unnatural vices, had their full play amongft the German ecclefiaftics. Thefe horrid afts muft have ftruck that part of the German public, who had been poUffied by an acquaintance with the arts and fciences of other countries, more than they would do the ftupid irthabitartts of a lartd whofe priefts went no farther than other people. To all thefe caufes there ftill remains to be added, the heat with which Luther, carried on his attack. The Proteftants themfelves do not deny, that the paffions of the man, his pride and vindiftiye fpirit, contributed much to his fuccefs. Q.4 Wc 2^2 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. Wc Frenchmen know nothing at all of Lu ther; both our ecclefiaftics and hiftorians havc equaUy miftaken his charafter. Even Voltaire, who was coramonly fo fortunate in delineating features which had efcaped others, knew no more of Luther than, that he had called the Pope an afs. Luther's writings difplay not only a large quantity of knowledge, but an uncom mon ffiare of wit, and at the fame time ftrong figns pf a lively imagination. As to his wonr derful humour, it is a kind of mean betwixt the manner of a well-fed monk, a true brother, and that of a fenfible, learned, and patriotic pro-r feffor ofthe prefent day. If we judge him by our prefent rules of tafte, we ffiall find that he often falls into coarfenefs and vulgarity ; but we muft recoUeft, that he had to do with the populace, and thaj his fcholars, animated by the zeal which the luft of reformation brought upon them, publiffied many things which he did not intend ffiould fee the light. They began all their works with their prophet, and would not fuffer a word: of his to be loft, though fpoken when he was drunk : it is thus his table converfations have- come to be printed. You read in fome edidbns of them, that when the great man perceived that fome of the perfons prefent were writing down his jokes, he faid, * Ye affes, how ' comes TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 233 * comes it that you pick up the excrement that « I let fall ?' But it was as much owing to this rough kind of wit as to his learnirtg, that his writings fpread fo far as they did. Like a truly phlegmatic man, he was irrecortcilable and un traftable when once he had been provoked. He raoved heaven and earth againft the popes. From the cloyfters and jovial focieties, in which he had made every body merry at their expence, he hurried to the courts of princes to urge the battle, or wrote himfelf the moft bitter in- veftives againft them. Though he would often put himfelf into no very decent paffions with pther reformers, on account of difference of opi nion, he took care always to keep the fovereigns he had to do with united; a fure fign that he was a man of the world, who knew how to treat with the great, as well as with the fmall ones of the earth. Befides all this, and above all, Lui- ther was a good man; he kept an expenfive houfe, left debts behind him, and, what does thc Proteftant princes in Germany of that time no great honour, his wife and children fell into almoft extreme poverty. i Erafmus of Rotterdam, and others, who in the beginning adhered to Luther's party, werc undoubtedly more learned and experienced men than he was ; but a far different being from a mere learned man was required to ftrike the ftroke. 234 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY.- ftroke. It was neceffary that the man who was to take the firft ftep, ffiould unite pre-eminence of learning with boldnefs and intrepidity, qua lities which feldom fall to the ffiare of a man of letters. He was alfo to be a man for the people, which is feldom the cafo with a man of Erafmus's charafter; in a word, he was to be a Luther. Some people have been willing to deprive him of the honour of having ftruck the firft blow, but this is very immaterial : they fay that Zwingle had preached againft the abufes ofthe church in Switzerland before the year 1507, in which Luther publiffied his thefis ; it is true, that Zwingle had done fo, and fo had many others in Germany, before either Zwirtgle or Luther. From the time of the courtcil of Con-. ftance, there never had been wanting men to preach and write againft the injuftice of the court of Rome, and the freedom of their pens was a fingular contraft enough with the tyranny of the church government. Bi\t fermons alone could do nothing ; all the political negociations of the moft refpeftable courts could do nothing before Luther. To effeft any thing confider able, there wanted a man to fet himfelf at the .^ead of a large party, urtder whom all the learrted mert of the times would enlift, whom one of the moft powerful princes pf the dmes •would TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 235 would fupport, artd who ffiould charge from fo refpeftable a place as the univerfity of Wirtem berg at that time was :•,— this man was Luther. Circumftanees, too, miift have concurred, the influence of which we cannot at this time calcu late. Preaching alone would have done as little in Switzerland, as it did in Gerraany. It was neceffary to proceed to aStion, and to fethands to work. All the other reformations followed the example which had been fet them in that of Saxony; and though other reformers afterwards broke with Luther, and fome of them went farther than he had done, they all looked up to him as their chief, and as having broke the ice for them, Without him, or rather without the circuraftances which impelled him, in all probability matters would never have come to aftion. Senfible men would have written fatires, they would have made patriotic repre fentations, and have preached ; and, in the eridj the Pope would have been compelled to do in Germany what he had done in France, froni which laft kingdom the fale of indulgencies (which was the firft fignal of rebclUori irt Ger many), and the great abufes, have been baniffied •jvithout reformation, , It is ufual for later writers to dwell much on the degree of light which the reformation has fpread oyer the \yorld. In my opinion, this is treating 2^6 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. treating the matter, in a very partial way. The faft is, that as to Germany, the illumination or the cultivation of it was put off for two hundred years by the reformation ; during that period, France and Italy became very flouriffiing and enlightened countries, and Germany would un doubtedly have vied with them in cultivation, had not the theological difputes baniffied phi lofophy, and the country been torn up by civil war. Even Italy flouriffied in a degree which Germany will not yet arrive at for fome time. Venice, Genoa, and Tufcany were fo enlight ened, fo poUffied, and, for their fize, fo powerful, that, makirtg allowances for the different mag nitudes of the countries, Europe has nothiag at this time to produce that can compare with tiiem. Venice alone was able to find em-. ployment for the empire and the whole power of Germany, and raifed the jealoufy of all the princes of thofe times. Naples alfo was a moft flouriffiing ftate. As for myfelf, I confefs, that I cannot fee what pre-7eminence the Proteftants have a right to claim even at this day, with regard to general illumination, over the Ca- tliolics} for inftance, the French, and part of the ItaUans. The general enlightening of the underftanding does not depend upon two or three myfteries of religion more or lefs in one country than in another, I, tpp, fet out on my journey TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, 237 journey with the prejudice that the great body of Proteftants rauft be more enlightened than. the Catholics ; but I was foon obUged to give it up, artd found that many of our countrymen have much more knowing heads than can be found irt thc people of feveral Proteftant coun tries I paffed through. Even amongft the Pro teftants themfelves, the knowledge of the peo ple is in no proportion to thc fimplicity of their different religions. The Saxons, whofe reli gion is by no means fo fimple, or, as fome peo ple would call it, fo philofophical as that of ibme of the reformed, are, upon the whole, a much more enlightened people than the reform ed Swifs and Dutchmcrt : the difference amongft the peafants is very ftriking. — In Germany, after the darknefs in which war and theology had involved the country, the Catholics applied themfelves much fooner than the Proteftants to the fciences. Sturm, the firft improver of the Proteftant fchools, in his treatife De Infiitutione Scholarum, allows, that the Jefuits had an ad vantage over the Proteftants in the fchools, and that thefe muft exert themfelves, if they would come up with them. It has been folely owing to the indolence and ftupidity of the Catholic princes, that the Proteftants have not only over taken them, but got a great W^y befbre them. Whilft %^% TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. Whilft the latter made ufe of the liberty which had been procured to their fchools bythe change of their religion, the former fuffered the papal huntfmen to entrap them under the authority of their unthirtking princes; butthis was not the cafe in France, Venice, and other Catholic countries. It may, I think, admit of fome doubt, whether the abolition of the ancient church government did much more for the happinefs of the people, than it did for their under ftandings; at leaft in every Proteftant country I paffed through, I heard the ecclefiaftics com plain of the decay of their credit, the narrownefs of their circuraftances, and the diforders which were the confequences of them; amongft which, that they moft enumerated and complained the moft bitterly of, was the not having a bond of union amongft themfelves, but every man's being allowed to be a pope in his owrt circle. No doubt but the reformers merited much by im provements they introduced into the ecclefi aftical police as connefted with the civil, I mean by their baniffiment of celibacy, fafts, Popiffi difpenfations and indulgencies; but thefe iraprovements are confiftent with the ex iftence of the Catholic religion, and have been introduced more or lefs into feveral countries. The trade of indulgencies is ruined almoft over the Travels through germanyv ^239 the whole Catholic world. Even the Spaniards •and Portuguefe crufades, formerly the moft produftive of .all, now bring in very little to the holy father. For a long time purgatory has only produced the trifling fums which monks, religious brotherhoods, and other com munities, whofe feftivals are connefted with indulgencies, pay for their bulls of foundation; and this fource of revenue is now almoft dried up ; for in moft Catholic countries there are no ereftions of new cloyfters, nor new fraternities, nor any introduftiou of new feftivals; on the con trary, they are endeavouring as faft as they can to aboUffi the old. Indeed it is only to the eccle fiaftics of the Catholic countries that purgatory is at all produftive ; but I have feen the eccle fiaftics of Proteftant countries ufe artifices to extort money from their people, particularly the peafants, far more dangerous than purga tory, which, after all, produced only offerings freely given. The great merit of the reformers confifts in the change Jwhich their reformatiort made in the morals ofthe people: indulgencies, proceffions, feftivals, fafts, and the like, might hiive been cut off by the civil power, without its haying made any feparation in the church; but no civil power can at once render a debauched j diffipated 2 people 240 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY*' people induftrious and frugal. Luther, who was not thc beft oeconoriiift himfelf, preached nothing up fo much as abftinence, frugality, and in duftry. The Calvinifts went ftill farther ; they taught that the world was a place of torment, and that the true life of man confifted in the mor tification ofthe fleffi. Their catechifm forbad all enjoyments, and made a fin of laughter. A man muft read Swift's writings to fee how much far ther the Calvinifts went in this poirtt than the Lutherans. It muft be owned, at the fame time, that this command of abftinence is the caufe why the Calvinifts are every where richer than the Lutherans ; for they are neither more aftive nor more induftrious than thefe, but, on the con- trary,their melancholy humour,(a confequence of their education and their manners) which amongft the common people, in marty countries, almoft borders on ftupidity, renders them heavy at every thing ; indeed this is fhe reafon that they have not done fo much in the arts as either the Luthe rans or the CathoUcs. I remember to have read in an EngUffi Review, an eftimate ofthe propor tion between the artifts and ingenious men pro duced by the Puritans or Calvinifts, and thofe of the eftabliffied church; according to this ac count, the forraer ftood to the latter as ortc to fix, and yet the diffenters make two fifths of the TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 24^^ the inhabitants of England. — The Dutchmant li-yes more carkingly in the midft ofhis money, than the Catholics and Lutherans of middling incomes in other places ; hc knows no pleafure in the whole world, except that of fitting over his diffi of tea in winter, to converfe about war or peace, and in fummer vifiting his gar den once a week ; he is tedious, and in a cer* tain degree torpid about his bufinefs, and it is to his indefatigable attention to the main chance, but ftill more to his niggardlinefs, that he is in debted for his riches. This is the charafter of the Caivinift every where ; and the fpirit, which is a confequence of this melancholy humour, al lows fome of them frauds in the daily trade and intercourfe of life, which a Catholic or Luthe ran would confider as manifeft cheating. They have a text of fcripture ready for all occafions, but give the preference to this, be ye wife as. ferpents. — The Memnortites and Quakers are ftill more niggardly than the Calvinifts, and in confequence much richer, but likewife ftill duUer ; thefe, as far as I can perceive, have no genius whatever for the arts. It was natural enough to expeft, that the re* formation ffiould here and there lead to abfur dities, and that men would go from one extreme ^0 the other ; but as only a part pf the Proteft- TOL. II. R ant$, 242 TRAVELS THRdUGM GERMANS; ants have carried thefe tenets to this excefs, they' are as profitable to the whole ftate, as they are probably pernicious to the happinefs of the in dividual. Though the immenfe riches of the Dutch contribute little to render them happier than poorer people, they enable them, not only to fupport the greateft wars for themfelves, buC to furniffi friends and foes with confiderable^ fumS.- As for the Lutherans, they poffefs part of the humour of their founder, andto a high degree of induftry and frugality unite a great love of plea fure and jollity, which makes the enjoyraicnt of fociety. The unnatural hatred to pleafure does not damp their wit and good humour, and they have nothing ofthe favage flovenlinefe, the darfe hypocrify, and the ill breeding, which diftin^ guiffies the majority of other fefts.^ By thefe regulations in the raanners, we fee how powerful religion is on the hearts of men. Priof to this miracle, for it really was one, Germany was in a conftant frenzy ; drinking, dancing, and intriguing, kept priefts and laity in a perpetual dream, and fenfdefs fpeftacles of every kind con tributed their ffiare to the perverfion of the un derftanding ; when lo ! in an inftant, the people ran from the alehoufes and brothels to church, opened flERAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 243 t)pened their eyes, beUeved, and became induf trious, frugal, and aftive. To bring about fuch a change as this was, required a degree of refolution, which is only to be met with among a barbarous people, fuch as the Gerraans of that time were. When plea fure has once enervated a nation, nothing of the kind is more to be expefted. In the fouthern parts of Germany, particularly in Bavaria, the objeft would be as difficult to compafs as it is defirable* * 2 LET' 244 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMAN YJ LETTER XLVII. Eerllo. MY way hither lay through Wlttemberg, a good looking town, but which ftill preferves the marks of the frequent change of mafters it underwent in the laft Silefian war, and which it has not yet entirely recovered. It ffiould be properly the capital of the deftorate, but muft yield the firft place to Leipfick. In deed, in point of riches and population, it is inferior to many other towns in Saxony. As far as the Elbe, the country is as well cultivated as Upper Saxony, and feems to have the fame foil ; but you are hardly got a poft beyond Wittemberg, before you difcover a great alteration ; inftead of the rich black foil of Saxony, you meet with nothing but fand ; there is alfo a tedious uniformity in the profpeft: there are large moraffes near the rivers, and the number of thick black woods give the whole an unplcafing appearance. Of all the German provinces I have hitherto paffed through, nature feems to Jiave treated Brandenburg the moft like a ftep-mother. Thc TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 245 The inhabitants endeavour to remedy the nig gardlinefs of nature by their induftry. Where.* ever the foil has allowed of any kind of agri culture, they have made the beft of it. The appearance of the villages and farms, as well as of their inhabitants, befpeaks profperity. My own experience confirms what feveral other travellers have obferved before me. The cuftom-houfe officers in Pruffia are neither fp tedious, nor fo diftreffing and vexatious to 9 traveller, as thofe of Auftria ; they are for the moft part irttdligible, fenfible men, and by no means fo defpotic and booriffi as the Auftrian gentlemen of the fame profeffion. Berlin is a remarkably beautiful and magni ficent city, and may certainly be looked upon as one of the fineft in Europe. Jt has nothing of the uniformity, which in the Ipng run raakes the appearance of moft of the new and regular built towns tirefome. The architefture, the diftribu tion of the buildings, the appearance of the fquares, the plantadorts of trees both in thefe and the ftreets; every thing, in a word, befpeaks tafte and variety. I haye Ipecn for fome days reconnoitring the town according tp my common cuftom. Ber lin is ijpt fo large as either Paris or Vienna; itis ^bput fQur miles and a half long from the Mub- R 2 lenthovt 246 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, lenthor, which is fouth-eaft, to the Oramen-- i>urgerthor north-weft, and about three miles broad from the Bernaverthor to the north-eaft, to the Potjdamerthor to the fouth-weft; but within this extenfive enclofure there are many gardens, and in fome parts evert fields taken in : there are not more thart flx thoufand houfes in this towrt, whereas irt Paris there are near thirty thoufand. The emptinefs of many places is a fingu lar contraft to the magrtificence ofthe buUdings. Nor is the contraft of this magnificence with the circuraftances of the people lefs ftrik ing. Sometimes while you are ftanding gazing at the beauty of a building in the Ionic ftyle, finely, ftuccoed, with a magnificent front, and all the outward appearance of the habitation of a farmer general, or at leaft a duke; on a fudden a window opens in the lower ftory^ and a coblei- brings out a pair of boots and hangs them under your nofe, in order to dry the leather. As you are loft in wonder at this phsertomenon, the fecond ftory opens, and a breeches-maker treats you with a pair of new waffied breeches ; a little while after another window opens in the fame ftory, and a taylor hangs out a waiftcoat before you, or fome wo man empties a diffi of potatoe parings on your Ijead : well, you go on a fevv fteps farther, and 3 CQm% TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 247 come to a palace of the Corinthian order, which looks like a houfe belonging to a miftrefs ofthe king, or of one of the princes of the blood. Scarce have your wandering eyes reached the top, but you are faluted by a Jew from the attic ftory, who aflcs you whether you have any thing to fwop ; you caft your eyes a ftory lower, and behold ffiirts hanging out to dry,, which, belong to an officer who is ffiaving hirafelf, and whom you would hardly conceive to have two ffiirts belonging to hira. You march ori through two or three ftreets of the fame kind, and in all of them fee inhabitants of the fame fort ; at laft you arrive at the houfe of a general officer, as you jeafily difcover by the guard bcr fore the door ; but you fee neidier porter, nor running footmen, nor any thing of the train of .attendants ofthe nobUity at Vienna, 1 have now been three days in the houfe ofa privy-counfcljor, and am fortunate enough to have a lord of the war-office for my fellow-te nant. It v/as impoffible for me to remain at the inn. The hoft raade bows upon bows, and was fo very civil, that I had my fufpicions of hira the very firft moment ; nor was I raiftaken, for upon my ftaying dinner the. next day at a gen tleman's houfe, for whom I had letters of re- eommertdation from Drefden, at my return Y.e ^ . . R 4 made 248 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. made his remarks upon it; and the day after took it in ferious dudgeon, that I would not leave a fine garden and good company, I had ftroUed to, and walk three miles home to add another item to his reckoning. We were, however, re conciled; but as he perceived I was one of thofe who do not hold long converfations with inn keepers, he came into my room, and would read me the Berlin newfpapers, which for lies and nonfenfe are not behind hand with the French ones. As he was going on with the weighty and important intelligence, that a Pruffian general had died of the gout ; that his royal highnefs prince Henry was gone a journey to Rhinfberg; that a perfon in the Newmark, who was a man of letters, was afflifted with the cholic ; and that the wife of a general officer in Silefia was fafely delivered of a daughter, I fnatched thc paper out of his hands. He took this affront fo civilly, that I was on the point of forgiving thc infolence of the night before, when he gave mc to underftand, that he could provide me with » companion to fleep with, as well as with my board, if I chofe it; upon this I immediately went out to look for a private houfe, it being a maxim ^ith me, that every inn-keeper who is a bawd, is of courfe a cheat. In general, the inn-keep- crs of $hi? place feem to be a peculiar kind of people; TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 249 people J they are all outrageoufly civil at firft, but extremely furly when they meet with any one who does not choofe to be impofed on by them; there is likewife no end of their imper tinent queftions, and when they have no girls ' in the houfe, they make it no fecret, that this is an article which they undertake to provide ftrangers with. They have lifts in which thc ladies of the neighbourhood are forted accord ing to their prices, and a fervant is always ready to fetch the wares which the ftranger bargains for. My landlord, the privy counfel lor, affured me, that there was hardly one landlord in twenty who did not deal in this tradcj A traveller who comes out of Bohemia into Saxony, is apt to be ftruck with the dearnefs of provifions in the latter, but it is nothing to what he meets with when he comes from Saxony hither. Several caufes contribute to this, among which may be enumerated the natural poverty of the country in feveral commodities, the high cuftoms, and many monopolies. To give you a fmall idea of the latter, the meafure of wood, which you know cofts a trifle at Paris, here comes to aguinea and ahalf, notwithftanding that Brandenburg is full of woods of all forbs. Indeed the fmall quantity of money in circulation, and the 25O- TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. the p rice of every neceffary of life, forms a ftrong contraft betwixt this place and Vienna. At Vienna you are amazed that, with foch a circulation of money, every thing can be fo cheap, and here can hardly conceive how, with fo fmall a proportion of caffi, every thing can be fo dear. Conceive that you pay fix or feven livres hei'e for a bottle of Bur gundy which has nothing but the name of Bur-r gundy ; our common wines of Orleanois, Ifle de France, Guyenne, &c. fdl for three or four Uvres a bottle. Indeed, the king is a little too hard upon the drinkers of wine. In all the private houfes 1 have hitherto feen, there prevails a rigid ceconomy in the kitchen, cellar, and indeed in every part : the only ar-; tide of expence is drefs ; but you fee that the belly has been pinched fpr the fake of powder ^nd ruffles, The ladies drefs in the faffiion, pnd I faw fome ornaments in very great tafte, and very rich, There is no town in Europe, except Con ftantinople, which has fo numerous a garrifoq 8s Berlin has: it confifts of twenty-fix thoufand men, For a Uttle money you may have every thing done for you by a foldier; they clean your ffioes, waffi, mend, pimp, and, in ffiort, do all that is done elfewhere by Savoyards and old women, They j^re ^Ifo iji the cuftom of begging . J. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 25^ begging of ftrangers, not abfoluifdy charity, but fomething to drink, with which, hovvever, they coramonly purchafe fomething to eat, as the Sprey has water enough to quench their thirft. They are not fo furly as the Imperial troops, and you meet with feyeral fenfible men ^mongft them. As far as I can hitherto fee of the people ofthis^ place, they are better provided, as to the upper region or head, than the inhabitants of Viennaj but cannot vie with thera inthe raiddle regionsj the belly, and the pockets. The -vacuum in thofe, particularly the purfe, may eafily be difcovered by an attentive obferver, and it ftrikes a ftranger forcibly. They have indeed fo .little refpeft for the eyes and ears ofthe public, that officers . and counfellors will drive a bar-. gain for guilders with Jews in a public coffee- houfe, a thing I faw with my own eyes the day after I arrived here. Thc merchants, manu-. Tafturers, and that part of the nobility which have places, deal fo myfterioufly in all matters of money, that you firid it very difficult to dif, tinguiffi thera from thofe who have not any. On the other hand, you obferve here fuch an Information with regard to the ftate of the coun-. try, fuch a freedom in difcourfing on the mea-. fur^s of goyernmentj fuch a national pride, fuc^ %$Z TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. fuch a participation in every public occur rence; and in the military and civil officers, fuch an aftivity for the ftate, and (notwithftanding tbeir fmall falaries) fuch a jealoufy of doing their duty, that in all thefe refpefts you would think yourfelf in London. This is an evident fign, that the fpirit of a people does not depend upon the form, but on the adminiftration of a government, and that patriotifm is not the ex clufive privilege of republics. They talk here about the king's regulations, as wdl as about his smijjions and commiffions, with a degree of free dom, that you would only expeft to find in an Engliffi mart. Though I have been here but a ffiort time, I think I can take upon me to contradift an opi nion, which has pretty generally gone abroad, tipon the authority of fome gentlemen who havc travelled poft through the country, about the wyfierioujnejs of this government. It is faid, that there is a cloud round thc king's opera tions, and that all is fupported by his power ; for my own part, I have not feen a more open or more popular governraent than this is, that pf England itfelf not excepted. The whole plan of adminiftration appears to me fo plain, and at all times fo open to every man's infpeftion, that I cannot conceive hpw fo falfe an eftimate can TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 255 can have been made. Some Engliffimen, who think that the effertce of liberty cortfifts in bab bling, and giving vent in parliament to every fpecies of Ul-humour; and, who from their im pudence and felf-fufficiency, are the worft ob- fervers that travd, have moft probably fpread this opinion. It is not, however, neceffary to be long in the country to difcover that the king is no fortder of clandeftine meafures than he is ofhis power. The department of foreign affairs, and poffibly fome things which relate to the difcipline of the army, are the only things which are kept in fome obfcurity ; and furely no man will expeft, that the king will fuffer his corre fpondence with his minifters, and the fecret of his treaties, to be printed and fold in the ffiops: but I will talk to you more at length about this another time. LETTER .^54 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, LETTER XLVIII. Berlin* FORGIVE mej brother, for having raade you wait fome tirae for a letter, but I have made feveral excurfions through the country, and will now fit down to give you an account of ray peregrinations. I was three days at Potfdam, This city has ftill finer houfes in it than thofe at Berlin ; but, like thefe, they are inhabited only by perfons of thc lower and middling ranks. The fituation of the town was much extoUed to rae, and for a coun- • try with fo much famenefs irt it as Brartdenburg has, it may pafs for a fine one : Neither, how ever, the buildings nor the fituation were the chief objefts of my vifit here ; what I came for was to fee the king, who has for fo many years been the god of the Parifian idolatry, the won* der of all Europe, the mafter and terror of his foes, and, in fliort, who throughout all the ' neighbouring flates is called The Kingpar ex cellence. I was told that I might very eafily be prefented to him, but I have always thought it a great piece of impertinence to think fo lightly «f TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, &^$ of the leifure of a mighty monarch, as to intro duce yourfelf to hira without the fmalleft pre- tertfiort* I had the good fortune to fee hint twice ori horfeback on the parade, where, however, he is not fo regular an attendant as formerly. All the prihts 1 have hitherto feen of him are only half lengths ; but there are many copies of avery good pifture, in which he is drawn at full length. You may fee one of thefe at Madam S — 's, at Paris, and they are fo common here, that you meet'with them in feveral inns, Tbe orio-jnal Was painted by an Italian, who having been extremely fortunate in hitting off the likenefs, the king fuffered copies of the pifture tobe takeri by many good mafters here, and made prefents of them to feveral German princes, and thus the copies have become common. Heavily as the hand of age now feems to lye on this im mortal man, the very ftrong likenefs ofthe face ftill reraains. The king of Pruffi,a is hardly of the middling fize, but ftrong built and thick fetw His body is now much be.nt, and his head ffiakes, but his eyes are ftill piercing, and roll about when he is obferving. Peace, order, re folution, and earneftnefs are marked upon his - face. There is likewife that particular fook about him, which is common to all great per fonages. 2^6 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, fonages, and which I ffiould call indifference to all that furrounds him, were it not that yotr fee evidently, thathe takes an uncommon in tereft in the things which he conceives fpecially to belong to his province. The editor of Voyages en difierents Pays de V Europe, Mr. Pilati, fays, that every thing at Berlin and Potfdam is car ried on in filence, and that nothing can be krtown cither of the king's private life, or of his pubUc affairs. There is an univerfal opinion ofthe kind gone out about this court : If you will believe forae Engliffimen, efpecially Mr. Wrax^l, the genius which animates the Pruffian monarchy, is a raan-hating, light- ffiunning genius, who in imperceptible darknefs ftrikes conftantly at the eftates of the fubjefts and lays fnares for them. It is impoffible to form a falfer judgment of thc king, Mr, Pilati, who contradifts himfelf in more places than one, fays in another part of his letters, that the king's hours are fo regularly diftributed, that at any time you may know what he is then doing. Indeed the true caufe why fo little is to be faid of the king's private life, i& the great fimplicity and regularity of it. Here is no minifter to enter into intrigues with, to ruin a man of honour who ftands in his way } no miftrefs whofe humour a man muft ftudy to get the favourable minute to obtain a right, or hare TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 257 have juftice done him for an injury, or of whofe adventures he muft keep a regifter, to revenge himfelf on her by bon-mots, epigraras, and anecdotes ; — no queen to puzzle and perplex the court every morning with the yery great problem, whether ffie has -flept with her huf band or not, whether ffie is breeding or not, and whether the faffiiort will rtot undergo fome revolution, commanded by her Majefty, in the courfe of the enfuing week. The princes and prirtceffes of the blood have neither difputes for precedency to fettle, nor cabals to contrive, nor large play debts to difcharge, nor any of the mighty bufineffes which are the daily occupa tions of other courts to difpatch ; the king nei ther hunts nor goes to balls or theatres (a few operas only excepted) ; he has no occafion to advife " with a minifter of finance, how, or from what funds the miftrefs's new drefs, or her new houfe, or her new garden, or her jourrtey to — ffiall be paid ; — nothing is undertakcrt here for which the money is not ready. The king of Pruffia has neither favourite, nor confeffor, nor court fool (who, mutatis mutandis, is ftijil in good credit in the other courts of Germany, and whofe part the confeffor moftly plays). Under thefe circuraftances the court anec dotes of the day muft neceffarily be very few ; VOL, II. S but 258 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. but yet the king gives himfelf fo little trouble to be concealed, that as the Engliffiman, Moore, obferves, it is no difficult matter to arrive at his bed-chamber unperceived : hc is furrounded ueither by a guard or a fwarra of footmen and valets de chambre -, he often walks alone in the gardens of Sans-Soucy, and wher ever he is, except at a review, no raan is kept at a diftance. It is owing to the fame fimplicity and order which obtains in his private life, that the opera tions of the king of Pruffia's government make fo Uttle noife. Whoever confiders his admini ftration as myfterious, or his deaUngs as eftab liffied in intrigue, falls into the error fo common to all us raortals, of thinking there is intrigue wherever there is fimplidty ; hence it, is, that we do not fee the truth that is under our 'nofes. Sometiraes, however, a raan's over zeal works out fomewhat bitter from his own gall, and this I conceive to have been Mr. Wraxall's cafe. It is true, that the king neither holds ftated councils, nor yet a Lit de Juftice ; he has no parliament whofe members are promoted for their flatteries, and baniffied for their oppofition. The princes of the blood have rto opporturtity of compeUing him by reprefentations or protefta- 4 tions TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY," 259 lions againft his meafures, either to forbid them appearing at court on certain days, or to pay their debts ; men of honour are not baniffied from him by Lettres de Cachet, nor can the mi nifters cabal againft them ; neither is this king corapelled to appeal to the love and patriotifm ofhis fubjefts, as often as the invention of the minifter of finance is exhaufted, and the poor man has no artifice, fave flattery, left to wring the laft penny from their purfes ; he knows nothing of ftate lotteries, nor of annuities, nor of loans, nor of new vingtiemes, nor of aug menting the capitation ; he has no dons gratuits to expeft from his clergy, nor is he obliged to threaten them with reformation in religion, if they will not make hira the prefents required ; he has no biffiops nor Jor bonne, who imprifort fenfible men, and take away their charafter in the public cftimation, in order to preferve their own places : his rainifters can neither make parties amongft themfelves, nor play at the blind cow with him. — All this muft in truth render the government very uniform, and affords very little fubjeft for news. * I fpent many days in confidering in what part of this adminiftration it would be poffible to introduce myftery, without being able to raake a probable conjefture. There is, indeed, a s 2 piyft^'"y 26o TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, myftery incidental to foreign affairs, from the very nature of them, which even the Engliffi miniftry contrive religioufly to conceal from the eyes of parliament; but as to hornc occafions, neither the reUgion, the nobility, nor any part of the ftate is ever at variance with the whole. Far from endeavouring to underraine the rights of the nobiUty, the king takes all poffible pains to raaintain thera in the full poffeffion of them. He has affifted the SUefian nobiUty, who are the moft powerful in his country, by lendirtg them large fums of raoney, at one and a half per cent. The fame thing has been done for the nobility of other countries who have wanted his affiftance. No coramunity, city, or reUgious order, is in the leaft danger of having their privileges in truded upon, as long as they are not detrimental to the advantage of the whole. The rich cloy fters in Silefia and the Weftern Pruffia, have not the leaft thing to apprehend. The Pruffian government is generally cortfi- dered in other countries as the moft defpotic that exifts, though, in faft, nothing can be lefs fo. The raaxim which is the foundation of the Britiffi conftitution. Lex in regno Juo Juperiores habet Deum et Regem, is no where fo well obferved as it is here. People will not furely call a rigid obfervation of the laws which promote the good TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 261 good of the ftate defpotifm ; and what inftancci are there of the king's ever having aUowed himfelf any thing that befpoke arbitrary fenti ments ? In no country are the rights of reafon, the rights ofnature, the cuftoms, and particu lar ftatutes which do not raUitate againft the hap pinefs of the whole, better obferved and guard-" ed, than they are in the Pruffian dominions. No where does government direft all its fteps fo exaftly according to the rule of right as it does here. The ftrongeft proof that can be given of this affertion, is the confideration of the adrai niftration of finances. Taxes are the only raark of univerfal defpotifm, all other afts of power affefting only particular perfons, and chiefly thofe who for their own intereft fubjeft them felves to them; but taxes are levied equally upon all the people. Let us therefore fee how it is with taxes in the Pruffian dominions. Exclufive of the crown lands, mines, manu faftures, and other revenues of royalty, the finance fyftem of the king of Pruffia refts upon the two plaineft grourids that can be, the taxes and cuftoms. The taxes fall upon the moft nu merous and moft ufeful clafs of the people, to wit, the farmers and holders of land ; and they are as moderate when compared with the value of things, as thofe of any other country in Eu- s 3 rope. 262 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. rope. The farraers in the Pruffian dorainions, as the Engliffiman Moore himfelf acknowledges, are as well off as thofe of any other country whatever : they compofe at leaft three-fourths of the king's fubjefts ; and the good circura ftances of fo large a part of the nation, is a good compenfation irt the eyes of humanity for the nobility not being fo rich as in England and France. In both thefe countries the farmers, though they conftltute what is properly called the nation, or people, are the laft thought of by the government. It is worth while to compare the ftate of the Engliffi farraers with that of the Pruffian ones ; as it is by fuch coraparifons alortc that we can forra to ourfdves diflinft notions of Uberty and defpotifm, as wdl as of the little depend ance that is to be placed on the accounts of things given by Engliffi travellers, who are wont to treat as flaves all nations who have no nabobs, nor lords, nor corrupt brawlers in par liaraent, nor yet a king whora every fafcal is at liberty to throw dirt at under the raafk of patriotifm. The fubftantial Engliffi farmers cannot be taken into our comparifon, on account of the fmaUnefs of their numbers ; for, according to the accounts the EngUfli writers themfelves give, TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 263 give, they hardly make the fixtieth part of the whole, and are exaftly what the poffeffors of fmall eftates and the farmers of the crown lands are here ; or rather the number of thefe is much greater in Pruffia than that of the fub ftantial farmers in England. The nuir^ber of yeomen, freeholders, and copy-holders, who have the right of chufing members of parliament, is alfo very fmall, and it is well known that their right of deftion is a vain title. The nobility, whofe tenants they are in great raeafure, or who can bring them under their dominion various ways, rob them of their votes either by open power or fecret bribery. In the prefent ftate of things in England, the farmer has evidently no ffiare in the legiflation; he is in the ftrongeft fenfe of the word, a flave of a fuperior order. He is compelled to go as a foldier or failor to America, or the Eaft or Weft Indies, and the higheft and lefs nuraerous clafs ofthe people enjoy the fruits of his labours. The quantity of gold which he brings back to England, at the expence of his blood, raifes the price of things, fo that he is not able to export the pro duce of his lands; and a part of the beft land in Europe muft have remained uncultivated, had not parliament granted fuch large bounties on exportatiortjas enabled the holders ofit to fupport s 4 the 264 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. the competition of other nations : nor can even this precarious ftate of the corn trade laft longer than till fuch times as the navy of Ruffia and the other ftates, which border on Poland, ffiall improve. As foon as Ruffia aud Pruffia ffiall have a fufficient navy, and the agricul ture of Poland is become what it is capable of being brought to, the Engliffi corn trade will of courfe be deftroyed. That fyftem of convertlence, which Great Britain has taken up for fo raany years paft in defiance ofjuftice and the law of nations, is as oppreffive to the farraer, as it is advantageous to the nobility and trading part of the country. It is the former who muft fight out the wars which this fyftem introduces; they are principally affefted by the ftagnation and fall of national credit, the immenfe debt of the country, and the exchange of coin for paper-money. The increafe of taxes, in the cafe of a war, all fall ultimately upon them, as this event at once takes a great number of hands from the plough, and the internal confumption is leffened by the abfence of fo many thoufand men from their native country. The dangers of the fea, and the political ftate in which Great Britain has been for thefe fourfcore years paft, alraoft confirtc their corrt trade to the coun tries from which the largeft quantities are ex ported TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 265 ported in tirae of peace. A long war necef farily occafions a great increafe of ftreet rob bers and thieves, who are ali of the clafs of farmers, and are a new plague to the courttry- people. The wars Ertgland has been engaged in during' the laft century, which taken altoge ther occupy half that period, have diminiffied the population, to the great detriraent of agri culture. Whatever is faid ofthe population of England, it does not bear any proportion to thofe of France, Italy, and Gerraany, the fize of the refpeftive countries being taken into thc account. In thefe countries there are two thou fand five hundred men to every fquare mile, and irt England hardly one thoufand nine hun dred ; and yet it has a greater proportion of thc neceffaries of life than any country. BUnded by a falfe appearance of freedom, thc EngUffi farmer thinks that he is fighting for the good of his country, whilft in faft he is fight ing to fupport the vices of the great. This is the true caufe why fome Engliffi writers havc thought, that inftrufting farmers prejudiced thc ftate, artd havc corttcrtded for keeping them in a ftate of favage barbarity, as a thing effential to the happinefs of the whole. The true mean ing of this is, that the nation would have fol diers and failors to fight through ftprms and batteries 266 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. batteries for a freedom which hardly a twentieth part of the nation poffeffes. Dr. Moore thinks that the king of Pruffia's reafon for contributing fo much to the profpe rity of his farmers is, that they may fupply him with foldiers. None but an Engliffiman, who is ufed to diftort every thing to the opinion which beft fuits his prejudices, could have had fuch an idea. Hardly two-fifths of the Pruf- fiart army confift of farmers fons ; above half are foreigners, and the other half is raade up equaUy from town and country. Pilati flatly contradifts Moore in this particular. He in forms us, that the Pruffian armies are made up of men which ancient Rome would not have accepted of for her defenders, to wit, raanufac turers. I fliall not take up your time nor my own in writing down any more of thefe con ceits, which only raake a fenfible man laugh. The king of Pruffia, as the reafon of things di- refts, and far differently from the Engliffi legif lature, confders the peafants as the moft ufeful members of the community. He does rtot trou ble himfelf with foreign colonies, which de prive the land of the hands neceffary to till it, and which the peafant is obliged to defend for the advantage of the diffipated part of the na tion. His fyftem of politics refts neither on being TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, 267 being raafter of the fea, nor on the vanity of interfering in all the concerns of the European powers, for the fake of having the doubtful name of the maintainer of the balance and freedom of Europe, which has embroiled the EngUffi in fo many wars, whatever may have been falfdy faid to the contrary. His peafants, as I will ffiew you in a future letter, are in no danger of being the viftims of ambition, as thofe of England conftantly are. It is impoffible for the Pruffians ever to be put to the difficulty of not being able to part with what their land produces. In England, according to the ac count of the beft politicians, large trafts of the beft land is uncultivated. In Pruffia, even thc dry fands are ploughed. In England a man of fortune has it in his power to put a forced price upon the corrt in the market to his own profit, and to the great detriment of the neighbouring farmers. Here the country is not only free from all fuch afts of power of the nobility, but thc king, by wife regulations and by magazines, contrives to keep the corn at a conftant high _ price : this he effefts by wife regulataons, and ^ laying out large fums to keep his granaries al ways full. The bounty granted by the Engliffi parUament for the exportation of corn, bear's no proportion to the fums fpent by the king of Pruffia 268 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. Pruffia on the improvement of agriculture. He not only gives thofe who are inclined to im prove the wafte lands, wood for building, cat tle, and ftock of all kinds, but lays out large fums of money amongft the poor farraers. For feveral years paft he has given the inhabitants of the Middlemark alone 10,000 thalers a year, and, according to a computation made, he gives every year about 700,000 guilders i. e. 2,500,000 French livres amongft the poor farmers. The yearly outgoings for colonies, caufeways, ca nals, &c. all which have the advancement of agriculture in view, coft him no lefs. The great advantage which the Pruffian farmer has over the EngUffi, that which renders him, without a doubt, the freeft and happieft farrrier upon earth, is, that his land-tax is never increafed; this circumftance alone would be fufficient to filence all the clamours raifed about Pruffian defpotifm, were the perfons who raife thera capable of any ffiarae, or did they take any trouble to fee more of the country than it is poffible they ffiould fee by riding poft through it. The taxes in the king of Pruflia's dominions are fubjeft to no alteration. In the very preffure of the Silefian war, when all Europe thought that the Pruffian country rauft be drained to the uttermoft farthing, they were not raifed a fix- pence; TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 269 pence ; and had the war been longer and ftill more violent, they would not have been raifed. This is due to the perfeft knowledge which the kirtg has of the ftate of the country, and his averfion to defpotifm and arbitrary power. He knew that taxes are doubly diftreffing to the farmers amidft the defolations and diftreffes of war, and that any increafe of them muft be extremely pernicious, at a time when from the abfence of the troops the confumption of the produce is leffened, the country plundered by incurfions of the enemy, and many ufeful hands taken from the plough, Mr, Pilati, who does juftice to the king's at tention to the improvement of agriculture, con cludes what he fays on this fubjeft with this remark : Notwithftanding all that the king has done to promote it, agriculture will not flouriffi in the Pruffian dominions, on account of thc fmaUnefs ofthe circulation, I could obferve no diftrefs arifing from any circumftance of this kind; on the contrary, what I faw of the drefs, the furniture of thdr houfes, and the way of life, befpoke a degree of ea^e, which approached very nearly to luxury; indeed, it ap pears a priori, that the inhabitartts ofthe couutry cannot be expofed to that want of money which is felt in the great towns'; they are the great canals. 270 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. canals, or, if I maybe allowed the expreffion,*the great refervoirs ofthe gold, which comes to thera through the fmall canals of the ftate, and re turns from them through fmall canals to the body. The whole machine of government is calculated for, their benefit : they fed the ex cife and monopolies lefs than any perfons, and may free themfelves entirely from their burthens, if, according to the king's paternal requifition, they will abftain frora luxury. It is the raanu- fafturers, artifts, petty tradefmen, and above all, the lower and middling inhabitants of the great cities, who are compelled to confume the produftions of the country, and the farmer has all the benefit of it ; indeed, the whole Pruffian fyftem of cuftoms is adapted for the peculiar advantage of the latter; for inftance, the objeft in the extravagant duties on foreign wines, is to compel the people to drink the beer of the country, in the making of which the farraer employs his barley and his hops. The foldier gives every thing to the farmer ; his clothing, his eating, his drinking, all contribute to the profperity ofthe inhabitant of the country. An evident reafon why the Pruffian farmers muft be the very people who cart krtow no want of money, is, that the produftions ofthe country are much TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 27I much dearer than they are in any of the neighbour- ing countries, though the fale is much greater. I have read in a German review the account of a work, the author of which attempts to prove, that the advantages enjoyed by the Pruf fian farmers over the other orders of the ftate, will fome tirae or other prove dangerous to the conftitution ; but is it not natural, is it not republican, is it not confonant to the dignity of man to conceive, that the moft ufeful, and moft numerous part of a community ffiould have the greateft authority in it ? Shall a parcel of lords poffefs all the advantages of that freedom which the farmer is obliged to give his blood to defend? Mr. PUati, who often contradifts what he has proved, and often proves what he has con- tradifted, makes a remark in his account of Sicily, which, though it does not agree with what he himfelf had faid before of the ftate of agriculture in Pruffia, does great honour to the Pruffian adrainiftration. After having con-" trafted the profufe bleffings of nature in this ifland, with her ftepmother treatment of the countries under the Pruffian dominions, he tells us, that notwithftanding this, the Pruffian farmers are happier than thofe of Sicily. What a god-like adminiftration muft that be, which makes 273 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. makes the inhabitartts of a fartdy wafte happier than the poffeffors of a country, which both ancient and raodern writers extol as a rairacle of fruitfulrtcfs and wealth ! The land in SicUy produces a hundred fold, and in Pruffia it is a miracle when the Mays yields fevcrt or eight times, and the corn twelve or fifteen tiraes, what has been fown. The Sicilians, befides the corn trade, have oil, filk, wine, citrons, oranges, fugar, and feveral other moft valuable articles. The Pruffians have only a few turneps, crab- apples, and nuts ; and yet the latter are richer than the former : and is it not far raore honour able to the adminiftration of Pruffia, that not withftanding rhe niggardlinefs of nature, the greateft part of the inhabitants are happier, than if it poffeffed a dozen lords Clive, Cavendiffi, and Baltimore, and three fcore dukes Pigna teUi, Monteleone, and Matalone ? If one confiders, as it is juft to do, the very unfa vourable foil that was to be worked upon, it will appear that the king has done wonders in agriculture. I faw feveral trafts of cultivated land, which fourteen or fiftecrt years ago were bar ren fands. The number of villages and houfes in his feveral dominions, which he has either made, or fo improved, that they are not to be known again, amounts to feveral hundreds. As TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 273 As the moraffes contain fome of the beft land here, he fpends immenfe fums in drying them; upon the whole, you fee that agriculture here, IS what nature prefcribes it ffiall be, the ground work of every political operation of the coun try. — The minifters and privy- counfellors de dicate to the improveraent of it thofe private hours, which irt other courttries they give to pleafure, play, or caballing for each others places. The prirae-minifter Hertfberg, who, irt every fertfe of the word, is- one of the greateft men of the prefcrtt ccrttury, has art eftate fome miles from hcrtce, in the improvement of which he fpends his hours of relaxation from the cares of ftate. Irt almoft every viUage you raeet with a nobleman, whofe principal occupation is agri culture, and who poffeffes the art of inaking his amuferaent and bufinefs coincide. In order to find out to what produce the foil of Pruffia is beft adapted, they not only import feeds from Poland, Ruffia, England, SicUy, andthe bther countries ofEurope, but have made fe veral fine experiments with corn from Barbary and Egypt. The raofl: brilliant sera of the iing's governraent, in his own eyes, is that -which is diftinguiffied by forae ufeful iraprove ment in agriculture. I was told art anecdote which does him more honour than the emperor VOL, 11. T of 274 TRAVELS THROUGH GlElfeMANY. of China derives from openirtg the ground witlt a golden plpugh. There is a privy-counfeUof here of the name of Brferikehhoff, a man wh6,i born withbut a penny, had raade himfelf worth millions by his induftry. This gentleman, fome years fince, diftinguiffied himfelf by his im- provemertts in agriculture. Amongft other things, he fent for rye from Archarigd, which fucceeded fo well, that by degrees they begged his feeds all through Pomerania, Silefia, Bran denburgh, and Pruffia ; and the country gained confiderable fums, which before ufed to be paid to the Poles and Ruffians for this commodity. in confequence of this, whenever Mr. Bren kenhoff has any thing to afk of the king for himfelf of the province, he always couches his requeft in the foUowirtg manner : ' Had not I ' brought rye from Archangel, youf majefty ' and your fubjefts Would have been without fo *^ raany thoufands you now poffefs ; it is there- ' fore fit and proper that you likewife grant me ' my requeft.' The king not only makes it a rule never to deny him any thing he afks, but ha:s often faid, ' Brenkenhoff is the moft extra- ' ordinary man born in this country under my * adminiftration, and I am proud of him.' Mr.- Brenkenhoff has imported large quantities of camels and buffaloes from Afia, for the im- I provement TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 275 provement of agriculture. The race of the latter thrive very well under the Pruffian fky. I have likewife feen fome of them at Saltzburg, where, notwithftanding the fouthern fituation, the climate is not warmer than it is in Pruffia; but the lazinefs of this animal renders all his other advarttages of no account. The experimcrtt with camels was attended with no fuccefs. The rearing of ffieep, and cultivation of tobacco are, after the corn trade, the greac refources of this country. They alfo make a large quantity of coarfe filk, but this is rather the entertainment of fpeculative farmers, than a re gular produce of the courttry. The nobility, clergy, and poffeffors of great eftates, are the only ones who attend to it. It is, however, very remarkable, that there are twelve thoufand pounds of filk wove every year in Pruffia; whilft Hungary, whofe cUmate is undoubtedly as fa vourable to this produce as any country in Eu rope, canrtot raife above feven or eight thoufand pounds worth, notwithftanding all the pains taken by government for the improvement of this branch of commerce. — Once again, bro ther, I muft repeat it, the Pruffian land-hold ers, who are fecured againft every arbitrary ira pofition, and irt every poffible way fupported and protefted, are a greater fymptom of na- T 2 tional 276 TRAVELS THROtJGH G£RMANY. tional Uberty, than a dozen fat lords, or a corrupt parUaraent. In ray next letter I will fpeak td you of the people who really feel the preffure of excife and raonopolies, and araongft whom there is of courfe extreme poverty. I cannot fend away this letter without obferving^ that the very way in which the king exercifes the funftioris ofhis g6verrtmertt,is a plain proof of his not having any fecret or myfterious views \yith refpeft to any ofhis fubjefts. A defpot, who is not to be confined by any regard to reftitude and juftice, who is always diftinguiffiirtg betwixt his own advarttage and the utiUty of the whole, and who wants to cheat his people without their obferving it, rauft have either fools for his rai nifters, whom he may cheat as he does the people, or he muft have a favourite, whom he can make ufe of for his myfterious purpofes. Neither of thefe is the cafe with the king of Pruffia. His minifters and counfellors are all of them the moft enlightened patriots; arid many of them would make a figure as men of letters, if they had time, or would give themfd-ves thc trou ble of writing. With regard to a favourite, the very name is unknown in this country. Vol-^ taire, the Marquis D'Argens, Algarotti, ,Quin- tiis Icilius, and Baftiani, Were only the com panions of idle hours, arid knew lefs ofthe go vernment TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 277 vernment than any body, as Voltaire has often proved by his bon mots. Thefe beaux ejprits were obliged to keep within their proper fphere, and never could bring the king to be familiar with them, how little foever he made thera fed the difference ofrank in the ordinary affairs of lifb. ¦- ' The king poffeffes the rare and great talent of letting himfelf down to every mart, without forgetting hirafelf in the leaft. His reader and fecretary dare rtot bring hira either com plaint or petition. The king appears to be ex ceedingly miftruftful of hirafelf, and to fear left his daily converfa,tiort artd familiarity with all forts of pepple ffiould lead him into error. His fecretary, who paffes fo raany hours of every day with him in private, muft lay all the bufi nefs to be done befpre him in form. His mi nifters are the only perfons he refers to ; they are the executors of his will. ( It has been frequently obferved, that no king upon the face of the earth is fo well ferved as the king of Pruffia, though there is none who pays his fervants fo ill. But thefe gooi fervants are not to be procured by mere feverity ; they muft have obferved, that the king far excels them in underftanding, and that he himfelf ftriftly adheres to the rules of jyftice and equity, which T -? hei 278 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. he lays down for the conduft of others. Had they difcovered a wcak fide, either in the head or heart of the monarch, there -would have been an end of their good fervices. It is only to his extreme impartiality, his juftice, and his fupe rior underftanding, that we muft afcribe the aftivity and order in the Pruffian courts of juf tice. No prince of the blood has the flighteft advantage over a farraer in a law-fuit. When a difpute happens with a fubjeft upon any part of thc doraain or crown lands, there is no judge who dares have a leaning towards the king's fide ; on the contrary, in this cafe they are or dered to have a leaniqg againft him. The fame averfion to defpotifm leads him to raake it no fecret, that he does not think the kings ofthe earth placed here as gods of it, and vicegerents of the Almighty. He looks upon the royal dignity as a ftation, which, like that of a gene^ ral, and many others, has been eftabliffied through human difpofitions, and to which, in confequence of thefe difpofitions, birth alone gives a title. He makes as Uttle ufe of reU gion as he does of politics, to blind his people, or keep up his authority by faith and opinion. The confcioufnefs that he is capable of no in juftice or aft of power, can alorte fet him above this Machiavdian policy. To conclude my diefis, TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 279 thefis, that the king is nothing lefs than a def pot, I muft obferve, that he has rto over-bear ing paffiort; fame is by np means his purfuit; he defpifes all the applaufe pf men from 4iis heart. The great phyfiognomift, Lavater, muft have pbferved in his countenance, that he de fpifes man hirafdf ; at leaft I thirtk I cart affirm, with a degree of fufficient confidence, that the king appears lefs in no man's eyes than he does irt his own. Flatterers have very little to ex peft from him ; and thofe who have written againft him with the greateft bitternefs, may be affured that he has no gall againft them. The Abbe Raynal, who is at prefent here, is a fore proof of this. There is no place in the world In which there is lefs noife made about the king's aftions than there is at Berlin. None of the newfpapers of the country fay a word about them ; a.rtd there would rtot have been a word faid about them at all, if fome patriots of other countries had not taken it into their heads, of late, to blow the trurapet of fame, whenever their governors did any thing that was not pal pably abfurd or irapertinent. Thefe fulforae pa- negyrifts ftirred up forae Pruffian patriots, who, love their king, to ffiew" the world, that Fre deric, who is fo unknowrt to moft ftrartgers, does more in filence than half a dozen other demi T 4 go'^s^ 28o TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. gods of the earth put together. The world was aftoniffied when it learned, that for years paft, the king had diftributed feveral millions amongft his fubjefts, and the writers of rtcwfpapers took it very ill that he had done this without their knowledge. It was not till within thefe few years, that we knew that the land-tax in the Pruffian domirtiorts is never altered, though this fyftera is as old as the tirae of the king's com ing to the crown. Long before the philofo phers of the laft twenty-five years (for, till within thefe laft five and twenty years, there has beert rto philofophy) begart to declaim againft capital puniffiments, the torture, and thc duration of law-fuits, all thefe things had been baniffied out of the Pruffian dominions, without any fcribbler taking the trouble to fing a Te Deum about it (Beccaria hirafdf raakes this obfervation.) Avarice is as little the king's weak fide as the love of farae. Nobody gives more wil lingly than he does, whcrt he fees that the rao ney is likely to be made good ufe of. He has money in his head, and not in his heart; and ceconomy is one of the firft virtues of a gover- ilior, — But I ffiall fay more of this in my next. LETTER TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 281 LETTER XLVII. Berlin. THROUGH all Germany, and particu-: larly through all Saxony, it paffes for an eftabliffied truth, that the king of Pruffia knows; nothing of the true principles of trade. In the Dutch coffee-houfes, thofe eternal fountains of political nonfenfe, he is treated as an ighorant dabbler. That fpreign merchants ffiould think this, or fay fo, does not at all furprife rae : When they blarae the Ifing, they only fpeak like the great Roman orator, pro domo fua ; ,i,t is impof fible that they fhould be pleafed with thofe prin ciples which preclude them from the power of robbing the king's fubjefts of their money; — but we hear the fame cpraplaints here, and in the other countries fubjeft to the king. There are men here, who are always crying out on ex cife, cuftoms, and monopolies, and extolling univerfal liberty as the firft principle of trade. It is very true, that the excife makes the ma nufaftures fo expenfive, that feveral of the Pruf fian, whofe produftions are extremely good, cannot 282 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. cartrtot fupport a competitiort with thofe of other courttries. It is very true, that the many mo nopolies tp be met -v/ith here, are a great re ftraint upon rtational indyftry ; ftill, however, in my opinipn, the king of Pruffia may be de fended. The faft is this ; every thing here is conneSied, but the true principles on which the excife artd monopoly fyfteras in Pruffia are grourtded are not feen, becaufe, like many other things in thc Pruffiau dominions, they are too. near the eyes — let us fee if we can explain thefe matters a little. Neither commerce, nor manufaftures, nor ' the encouragement of private induftry, which tend to produce a great inequality in rtational riches, and render part of the people affluent atthe expence of the reft; neither all thefe, rior ariy part of thefe, are the corner-ftone of the Pruffian edifice of ftate ; it refts on agricul ture only ". and if ^fc cpnfider the king of Pruf fia's politics irt this point of view, we ffiall find, an exaft fymraetry of parts in them. It is on this principle, that that part of the fubjefts which is the raoft nuraerous, has the Ieaft bufinefs, and is moft inclined to live at the expence of the working inhabitant of the country, is obliged to contribute moft to the expences of the ftate. Whoever will take thc ? trouble TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 283 trouble of comparing the feveral articles of the Pruffiart excife with each other, will foon find that they bear the exafteft proportion poffible to luxury, and are, as they ought to be, always the higher, thc more the article of confumption on which they are laid is remote from the firft neceffaries of life, which the farmer fupplies; For this reafon the excife always varies, and muft do fo. The king has an exaft account laid before him of all the articles of luxury im ported from abroad. When he fees that the confumption of any article rifes imraodcratdy, Jie iramediately leffens it, by raifing the excife on that article ; he has done fo lately by coffee, which, according to his account, had taken many mUUons out of his country for fome years paft. The raeaning of this raanoeuvre was to recommend to his fubjefts warm beer, which is the produce of the country, is a raore whole- forae, and more palatable food than coffee, and from the ufe of which he himfelf had found great benefit when he was young. Another time he obferved, that 1 2,000 florins worth of eggs were every year brought to Berlin out of Saxony. In order to fave his fubjefts this ex- pence, he immediately laid a confiderable tax on the Saxon eggs, and thus encouraged his own farmers to breed chickens. This principle ' is 284 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. is one of the plaineft in legiflation; it is that which prevails in aU enlightened countries, only not with the fame good fenfe and equity as in Pruffia. Indeed the Engliffi cuftoms and excife are much more hoftile to eating and drinking thart the Pruffiart ; and it is a proverb in Hol land, that of every diffi of fiffi he eats, a man pays five parts to thc ftate, and one to the fiffi- monger. The complaints which have the moft founda tion of truth in them, are thofe which are made with refpeft to the price of the abfolute uccef^ faries of life. Thefe, it is faid, are fo high, that it raifes the price of work too much, and by fo doing tends to ruin, not ortly the Pruffian manufaftures, but the monopoly itfelf. But thefe taxes only affeft the inhabitants of the towns, the artifts, manufafturers, labourers, merchants, and 9II who live by the fervice of the ftate. In order to form a juft notion of the influ ence which high taxes have upon the neceffa ries of life, one ffiould confider the connec tion which the induftry pf the citizen has with the produftions of the country, before one allow^s one felf to think of its effefts on foreign trade. The king of Pruffia, who in every thing foUows the order pf nature, has npt been fo fo„ licitous TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 285 licltous to procure money from foreigners, as to ftop the channels through which his own money went out of the country. Confider things in this light, and you wUl find, that the impofts on the neceffaries of life have not been any reftraint on private induftry ; for the price of -work has kept on a level with the price of the ne ceffaries of life;, and the excife has only been a new and larger canal to affift the circulation of raoney. The king, who regularly purfued his plan of making the country irtdependant of foreign induftry, took care that the money paid by the fubjeft ffiould flow back from the exche quer by the fureft channels. Thus all that was fpent by the foldier, and all that the in habitants of great towns fpent for the com- - forts of life, flowed back again to the farmer, and encouraged internal agriculture and in duftry. In order that this might be fo, the duties on foreign goods, fuch as cloths, linens, and the like, were always fo high, that only the higheft degree of luxury could prefer them to the fame comraodities made at home ; and it was proper that thofe who had this degree of luxury ffiould be puniffied for it. Asto the exportation of Pruffian manufaftures, which of courfe would be affefted by the excife ; all that is to be faid, is, that the leffer evil is to bc 286 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. be preferred to a greater. Luxury is the ruin of a ftate. Immoderate enjoyment is the greateft political fin. An unequal participa- tiort of rtatiortal riches is the caufe why half a people are tyrants, and the other half flaves. Thus cry out our philofophers here, and they are in the right. Still more, you find it ob ferved ih almoft every parUamentary debate in England, that Britiffi freedom will be ruined by the dilproportionate riches of part of its members, and the facility there is of acquiring them. They fay that pleafure, corruption, ambition, and extreme poverty, have enervated the nation ; but how is it poffible to fet bounds to luxury and immenfe riches, except by the Pruffian excife ? The more a raan fpcrtds, artd the richer he is, the more he pays to the ftate, which divides this overflow of the richer clafs amongft the poorer, and by this means reftores the ba lance as miich as it is poffible to do it. Once ^rant that the real ftrcrtgth of a people confifts in frugality, induftry, and art equal divifion of property, and you muft be content to put your felf above the trifling inconvcrtiertcics, which a fmall part of the whole muft unavoidably be expofed to, from an attention to thefe maxiras. Is there any courttry that has wafted its ftrength Ort merchandize, that has been able to fupport TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 287 fupport itfelf long ? The immenfe quantity of riches, the inevitable confequences of the free dom of trade, have always drawn along with them luxury, extravagance, effeminacy, tyran ny; and the confequcrtt ruin of the country. Mr. Wraxall hirafelf, who has echoed the out cry of the merchant on the Pruffian fyftera of finance, but who might have convinced him felf, in the houfes of the Pruffian farmers, that the king's fubjefts are not at all in arms againft him, as he fays they are ; Mr, Wraxall himfelf is the warmeft declaimer againft the pride and tyranny which great riches have introduced in England ; but let him ffiew rae another dam to thefe ravages, befides that which has been op pofed to them by the king of Pruffia. It is a ftrange perverting of political reafon ing, when one hears the fame man cry in Eng land, that the great wealth of the nobility hath iindermined the wealth of the ftate, and finds him in Pruffia joining the Pruffian nobility, in fayirtg; that the profperity of the farmers is hurtful to the interefts of Pruffia. Hiftory can ffiew no example of the profperity of the farmers having excited convulfiorts in a ftate ; whereas it abounds in inftances of ftates over turned by the power ofthe nobles and the free dom 'of trade. The farmer feldom has too much; 288 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, much ; but if he does happen to be rich, his incorae is more equally divided than that of the inhabitant of the city; he has befides more chil dren to provide for out of it; befides this, as the farraer's fubftance is procured by hard la bour, he is raore frugal in the management of it, and on that account likewife lefs hurtful to the ftate. The Pruffian fyftem of excife does not in the leaft affeft the real profperity ofthe fubjeft ; it affefts only the confuraptiort and the diforderly foreign trade. The only objeft of it is to make the fubjefts frugal ; and frugality is the mother of induftry. There is no fcience irt which fo much fophiftry has beeu ufed as irt thatof ftate oecortomy. It is gcrtcrally thought that trade alone will make a country rich, whereas nothing is fo falfe. Cadiz, Naples, Liffion, Smyrna, Aleppo, and many other flouriffiing trading towns I could raention, flouriffi at the expence of the countries to which they belong. When they cry out in Pruffia, that trade has fallen off, it only raeans that the confumption has de- creafed ; no doubt it is a falling off to the dealers in coffee, that they cannot fell as much coffee as they were ufed to do ; but thefe people, who arc the perfons that have raifed the outcry againft the TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, 289 king, ought to confider, that a country cl vvs (I fpeak of modern Jews) is the moft retched of all countries, and that a governor s in the right to concern hirafelf very little about what may be for their advantage. If foreign trade has decreafed in the Pruffiart dominiorts, on the other hand induftry has in creafed. There is a vifible proof of this in the aftoniffiing increafe of towns and of popu lation. No country in Europe of thc farae fize has doubled its population, as the Pruffian dominions have done (irt thefe I do not comprife the conquered countries) within the fpace of fifty years. This fingle faft contradifts all the outcry about Pruffian defpotifm. Effefts muft always correfpond with their caufes, and no adminiftra tion hoftUe to huraanity, could produce fuch an aftoniffiing increafe of men. Even the monopolies make part of the king's fyftem of univerfal benevolence. I ffiall not enter into an exaft difquifition of every fingle artide, but only confider that which raifes the greateft outcry, namely the raonopoly of wood. The company who is in poffeffion of this large fum of money, pays the king, or what is the farae thing, the ftate, for the king has neither ftables of fix thoufand horfes, nor coach-houfes with vox,. II. U coaches 290 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. coaches irt them worth 50,000 livres, nor a table of fifty- covers, nor miftreffes, nor hunts, nor journies which coft feveral mUlions. This company is not aUowed to fet an arbitrary price on its commodity, but the wood is taxed, and it is obliged to furniffi the beft fort. Though the price of the wood be high, it keeps pace with the wages of the manufafturers ; fo no mairt feels it but thofe who live upon their own eftates without doing any thing, or -thofe who receive ftipends from the court. If the former of thefe would work like the other parts of the induftrious public, they would reckon the articles of fire-wood in their account ; as they do not, they are very properly puniffied for their lazinefs. As to the latter, to be fure they do not get rauch, but what they get is fufficient for the. decent purpofes of life, and the. king's maxira is, that every raan ffiall have enough, but no man ffiall have too much. To the far mer the monopoly is of fervice, for the company is obliged to fell him the wood as cheap as if there was no raonopoly, and befides, he is hira fdf allowed to carry a certain portion of it to market, where the regulations enable hira to fell it to better advantage than he would do otherwife. The monopoly alfo ferves to preferve the forefts, which TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, 29 1 which all Europe has long lamented the dimi nution of. The fcarcity of wood makes people raore cautious how they grub up and burn. Nor does the monopoly affeft any but the inha bitants of Berlin and Potfdam, who have great advantages over the reft of the country, from the refidence of many officers of ftate in them, and the faciUty with which money circulates. Stran gers, indeed, who reafon from the ftate of their owrt purfes, and fee that the materials for fire are as dear at BerUn and Potfdam asBrafil and Cam peachy wood, form no prejudices in favour of the Pruffian monopolies, and thus far they are in thc right; but when they build uport fuch grounds to call the king of Pruffia a tyrant, as Mr, Wraxall does, it is going a Uttle too far. The other monopolies are like thofe we meet with in other countries, to wit, on tobacco, fait, cards, and the like. The king encourages every kind of manufafture and trade which does not militate with the whole fyftem of his admi niftration, but he endeavours chiefly to promote the exportation of fuch articles as are of real advantage to the country, and leaft likely to be affefted by a corapetition with other pow ers, or the variations of faffiion. Of this u 2 kind 292 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. kind are the woollen ftuffs of this place, the Silefian linerts and cloths, tobacco, and various other articles ; the prime materials of which grow in the country, and find an eafy admit tance every where. Befides thefe primary arti cles, the manufaftures of filk, wrought iron, and fteel, looking- glaffes, china, fugar, and above all, the trade in wood bring great fums of fo reign gold into the country. The Poles pay a large tribute to Pruffian induftry; and, indeed, every where the balance is in favour of the Pruffian merchant, in confequence of that fru gality and abftinence, which follows from the king's fyftera of excife. The king's treafury, into which fo rauch money flows every year, is commonly looked upon as onc of the greateft obftacles to the trade ofthe coun try. This raay be true with regard to the coraraon Jewiffi fort of trade, which, though favourable to lazinefs and avarice, is, in faft, as hurtful to the ftate as the fale of mountebank and quack medi cines ; but in my opiniort, the king's treafury is one ofhis wifeft inftitutions. He yearly lays by in it a fum of raoney,which bears a fixed proportion to that which the balance of trade in his favour brings him in from the ftranger. It is gene raUy TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY, 293 rally thought that the fura thus fet by amounts to ioo,oool. or as much as the new buildings, the payment of the troops, and the iraproveraents made in the country refpeftively coft; but if we confider that the whole income of the ftate is appropriated to particular and fpecific pur pofes, according to a fettled and permanent order, never interrupted by any menus plaifirs ; and that, according to the higheft calculation, the balance in favour of the Pruffian trade produces only two hundred and fifty thoufand pounds, it will appear that the king does not lay by half of what comes from foreigrt trade. Itisortc ofthe rtonfenfical maxiras of the prefent age, which, Uke a great many others of the fame kirid, have crept into our modern political theories and romances, that all the money of a country muft be employed in the circulation, and none of it be laid by for cafes of neceffity ; but it was owing to the royal .treafure that no t^xes were raifed in the laft war, and it is for this very purpofe that it was intended; for in the American war, thc increafe of taxes feU hea vier on the French and EngUffi thm all the other preffures of the ftate put together. Schroeder, who is one of the oldeft and moft acute 294 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. acute of the German political writers, has long ffiewn the falfity of this maxim. Befides, that, taxes fall more heavily on the fubjeft, and are more difficult to raife in time of war than in time of peace, they cannot be fo foon col- Icfted; and if in confequence of this you are compelled to add new ones, the refult will be what we have feen happcrt in France, many provinces will be fo exhaufted in three or four years as not to recover for a whole cen tury. In thefe emergencies minifters have re courfe to ftate lotteries, loans, &c. which final ly produce the fine fyftem of debt, which an nually confumes half the revenue of Great Britain. If the king of Pruffia had had no treafure, it would have been impoffible, after the terrible war which lafted from 1756 to 1763, for his lands not ortly to recover, but to be iu a morc flouriffiing fituation than they were before. There is alfo a local confideration, which makes the king of Pruffia's treafure of peculiar confe quence to that country, which is, that as feveral parts of it lie open to the enemy, were it not for this refource it would be poffible at the break ing out of a war, to cut off a great part of the revenue, by feizing upon a principal town. Indeed 2 it TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 295 it is to the referved fupplies which have enabled him to parry every evil of this kind, that the king owes the fuccefs of thofe operations which have rendered his name immortal. Nor is the trea fury intirely inaftive at arty period. At differenc times the king has lent very confiderable fums at a very inconfiderable intereft to the ftates of feveral of his provinces ; thefe fums are in cir culation, and all that the king requires, is, the exaft reimburfemcrtt at the tirae fixed. The Pruffian ftate, confidered as a ftate, is the richeft in Europe; and it is abfolutely impoffible that it ever ffiould be expofed to feel any incorivenience from the want of money ; for its fyftem of finartce is eftabliffied uport fuch folid fourtdations, that if any ofthe king's fucceffors were to think'of introducing a change, it would overturn the whole build ing. You would hardly think it, but I can affure you, that the bank bills of this place are bought up with avidity. No body has any opi nion that they will ever lofe their credit. The Dutch are very happy when this bank wUl take their money, as notwithflartding all the out cry about Pruffian defpotifm, they are con vinced it cartrtot be more fecure any where than it is here. Upon the whole, itis eafy to fee, that 296 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. that moft of our very wife declaimers againft the governmertt of Pruffia, draw their topics from the difference they obferve between it and the other European governments ; whereas if they would give themfelves the trouble to Uft up their eyes and give matters a little clofer and nearer infpeftion, they would foon give up their prejudices, unlefs, indeed, their fdf-love made them incapable of all judgment. I have known none of thefe gentlemen but what have praifed, in forae part orother of their works, the very principles on which the Pruffian govern ment is buUt, though they overlooked them and could not fee them when they were \vriting profeffedly about it. This arifes from the araazing difference that there is betwixt theory and praftice, and that in all philofophical de- claraations people commonly only confider the end, without thinking of the means by which it is to be brought about ; nay, they often over look the only means by which it can be brought aboutatall. Hence it has appeared, that thofe who have written the moft ftrongly againft luxury, have not been favourable to the Pruffian fyftem of excife, though it is the only fure dam whereby all exceffes may be reftrained. All the poli tical principles with refpeft to the happinefs of nations. TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 297 nations, which I'Abbe Raynal gives us in that famous Hiftoire Politique et Philojophique of his, in which he is fo violent againft the king of !l^ruffia, without knowirtg any thing about him, had been adopted in Pruffia, and perhaps no where elfe in the wide world before the Abbe put pen to paper. Artother part of thefe declaimers find fault only for the fake of appearing fingular. Mr. Guibert, and forae others of our countrymcrt, are amongft this clafs. Thefe gentlemcrt took it in their heads to exhibit the king to a people, the god of whofe idolatry he has long been, through a kirtd of magic lanthorn, with his head where his heels ffiould be. Doubtlefs, the in difference with which the king is accuftomed to behold all fuch buffooneries, rauft have raade them vaftly pleafed with their wife work. The king of Pruffia, and his father, have folved the three moft difficult problems of ftate that exift, and hiftory affords no example of their having been folved fo quickly, fo hap pUy, and fo univerfally, as they hav^ been by thefe princes. They have made a lazy, pro digal, and ftupid people induftrious, aftive, and alert; theyhave given to a country, which had been entirely neglefted by nature, a value which many 298 TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. many of the moft highly favoured countries have not, and they have placed a fmall nation in a fituation not only to vanquiffi in a favourable moment all thc combined forces of thc raightieft monarchies of Europe united, but to be able at any time to meafure fwords with either of them fingly. £ N D OF VOL. 11. YALE UNIVERSITY a39002 002i4U796b I I HSBIf tv-