Chapter C: W. V (14)

The admiral accompanied me up the coast by steamer some thirty miles to Helsingsen, and visited the famous old castle of Kronburg and its fortifications, whose thirty-six pounders reach the Swedish coast opposite, but as the Sound dues are now compromised with all foreign powers, the neat and formerly flourishing town looks cheerless. The neighboring bathing place, Marienburg, if once brought into notice, would help to revive it.

Omitting the Dardanelles, few straits are so much used by vessels as this passage. A strong north wind was bringing in many ships, while almost an entire fleet were at anchor waiting to get out.

The settlement of this knotty Sound question is a source of gratification to all ship navigators, and the result, I trust, will be quite as advantageous for Denmark.

A ride of twenty-two miles from the city to the castle of Fredericksborg, with the visit to the beautiful grounds and the interior of the immense edifice, with its richly decorated saloons, halls, church, and picture galleries, and return, occupied a full day, even with fast horses and equipages from the royal stables.

My friend ranks as chamberlain to the king, and presented me to his majesty, whom we found with his master of ceremonies on a fishing excursion. He is passionately fond of angling, and had already caught sufficient for a good dinner, which he had served in a little summer-house, upon a small island in the lake. He received me cordially, and we had a long chat in French together, and he assured me I should always be welcome in Denmark. I enjoyed a lunch in the palace, a stroll in the flower and fruit gardens, and through the extended park, and immense and majestic Black Forest, a glance over the beautiful lakes and picturesque sheets of water, and the return drive to town, and the setting sun found me at a family dinner with one with whom I had passed through many interesting scenes nine years before.

CXLVI.

SWINEMUNDE, PRUSSIA, _Sept. 20, 1858_.

In my last communication from Denmark, space did not permit a description of many objects of attraction in and about Copenhagen, which might afford pleasure and information to the tourists, most of whom, however, wend their way to the south of Europe.

The celebrated Danish sculptor, Thorwaldsen, left his fortune for the founding of a museum, in the court of which repose his remains, surrounded by the models and many of the originals of all his great works of art. The government collections of antiquity, from the earliest occupation of the country, when hatchets and weapons of stone were only known, marking the various periods of civilization, and improvements from wood and stone to iron and steel, are of great interest.

The visitor can form a pretty accurate idea of Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland life from the many objects of costume, boats, sledges drawn by dogs, &c., in use in those countries. The suburbs of the city abound with beautiful gardens, and places of public resort for concerts, summer theatres, and amusements for the masses, who flock thither on festival occasions. The now gay appearance of the city, and the air of comfort among the people, struck me favorably, having seen them first during the Schleswig-Holstein war, under disadvantageous circumstances.

By steamer I came to this place, from which I write, lying upon the island of Usedom, about fifty miles from Stettin, upon the river Oder. It is a harbor, bath, and garrison city of five thousand inhabitants.

The abolition of the Sound duties has proved of great advantage to Stettin, to this place, and indeed to all the Prussian ports of the Baltic. They should thank our government for the initiative measures in the matter. Denmark felt aggrieved, without doubt, at our obstinacy, but eventually it will probably be for her interest, as the revenue fund, the respective sums contributed by different powers, will perhaps quite equal the former receipts, particularly after passing through the hands of many office-holders.

The communication daily between this place and Stettin, up the river, the departure and arrival of sailing vessels, steamers for Sweden, Denmark, and Russia, gives an additional interest to bath guests, whose numbers amount to perhaps a thousand at some periods of the season. The bath-houses for both sexes lie about a mile from the town, upon a beautiful sandy beach, and are reached by shady walks for those on foot, or by good carriage roads. The excursions are by steamer to the island of Rugen; by carriage to another bath called Herrings Dorf, prettily situated among leafy groves, with a delightful and invigorating salt atmosphere. A village of fishermen is found in the vicinity, who furnish a good supply of the eatables of the briny sea. The weather is still mild, the water sufficiently warm, and the baths are considered serviceable until the first of next month. It being however late, the majority of the guests have departed, leaving the theatre players with a light audience, and the weekly balls thinly attended. The house owners can repose for the winter upon the summer harvest, until spring, when the whitewashing, painting, and little flower gardens must be looked after, and made as attractive as possible, to the eye of the tenant.

The new fortifications here are of remarkable strength and beauty, effectually protecting the narrow entrance to the harbor. The brick lighthouse, two hundred feet in height, ascended by a spiral staircase of three hundred steps, is provided with the French Reflectors, and can be seen for many miles. A view from the top over the sea, the river, and the surrounding country, well repays the climber. Our worthy German vice-consul, Herr Krouse, and his excellent family, have offered civilities tending to make my sojourn very agreeable. The soil is sandy, the streets unpaved, and in some respects I am reminded of Cape May; but an excursion a few miles brings one to dense pine forests, then to fertile pasture fields, where fine crops of hay have been gathered; then come turf meadows, with inexhaustible quantities of fuel, which, strange to say, after being dug over a few years is found to be renewed. These belong to the Crown, that leases them out for a term, for extracting or cutting, and derives a large revenue therefrom. Then we ascend a high hill covered with beech trees, affording an extensive and enchanting view of the neighboring country. At one point some four thousand acres of land are covered with water, or shallow lake, which is in process of being reclaimed, or pumped out, after the system of Holland. Altogether, the country has attractions for one accustomed to sights where nature is more lavish of her gifts; but those from the flat lands of the north of the kingdom, who smell salt water for the first time, are quite in raptures, and chant the praises of the baths of Prussia’s most prominent watering-place.

On inquiry I find the laboring classes are better paid here, as is the case in most sea-ports, than they are in the interior. In Denmark the condition of that class seems easier, and there are less dispositions to emigrate. The female portion of some parts of Germany are the most entitled to sympathy. They are made slaves and beasts of burden, and ill paid for their services. Even in hotels where the wirt, or master, taxes in his bill eight silben groschen (or twenty cents per day) for service, not including the _porter_ or _boots_, the poor domestics get in many cases only twenty-four thalers (or eighteen dollars) per year, and where the good will of the traveller makes a donation in many cases it is extorted from them under penalty of dismissal. More would emigrate if they had the means to get away, and would be industrious and valuable citizens in any country. The tender feelings of Europe, through incendiary works and pamphlets, have been so excited that, as Americans, we are called upon to rebut the charges of inconsistency of slave-holding under our republican system, as if _we_ at the north were responsible for the south, and can only reply that millions on the continent might well envy the well-fed negroes upon southern plantations.

It is to be regretted that our laws are so lax in the punishment of crime, and that so many high-handed examples of public outrage occur, all of which are portrayed in glowing colors in the European journals.

CXLVII.

FRANKFORT-ON-THE-ODER, PRUSSIA, _Oct. 15, 1858_.

Having formerly seen Austrian and Russian Poland, whose capitals are Cracow and Warsaw, I was induced to make the detour on my route from Dantzic to look in upon Posen, the chief city of Prussian Poland, which by rail was soon accomplished.

Among the forty-five thousand inhabitants ten thousand are Jews. I came in on Saturday, their Sabbath day, and on a festival occasion, and thus had a good opportunity of seeing the multitude, as also the wealthier classes, upon the promenade, and the many pretty faces of the Hebrew women. They have recently erected a splendid synagogue, as is the case in Frankfort-on-the Maine, Pesth, in Hungary, and other places. The Jews, as a people, are acquiring wealth and importance, and making advances in science. Had they the same privileges enjoyed in our country, the distinction between the races would not be so marked.

Among the twenty-three churches of the city, a number of which I visited on the Sunday, the newly rebuilt Dome of the thirteenth century contains the Golden Chapel, in which are placed the bronze gilt statues of two Polish kings there interred. High mass was being celebrated in the Latin and Polish tongues when I visited it. The original Bauer, or peasant costume of the country was well represented. It is picturesque but somewhat ridiculous, fashion’s innovations not having yet reached it.

In the Stanislaus Church, which is of strict Italian architecture, with its marble statues of saints, illuminated glass windows, altars, pulpit decorations and paintings, I could fancy myself in the Pope’s dominions.

The Poles are decided Romanists, and cannot be converted readily by the Russians to the Greek faith, or by the Prussians to the Evangelical. The Prussian or German population is about one-third professing the Protestant and reformed religion. The balance are Israelites and Catholic Poles.

The city is fortified in the strongest manner, with walls, batteries, gates, and trenches, throughout the entire circumference, and contains immense barracks for the soldiery, stables and magazines of supplies for quite an army, if required. Several thousand troops are here stationed.

One sees no prospect for the regeneration of Poland. To occupy a position under the government the young must acquire the German language, notwithstanding their prejudice and hate of their subduers. They are divided up between three powers, and get little sympathy from the great nations they looked towards for relief. Little by little their identity will be lost, and they will become part and parcel of the governments which deprived them of their liberties.

When I look upon and examine the bulwarks of defence newly erected, and in progress of erection, at Swinemunde, Stettin, Konigsberg, here, and at Custrin, I am not surprised that from one-third to one-half of the whole revenue of Prussia is employed in the army department. These are besides only a small portion. Look at the immense establishment of Ehrenbreitstein, the Gibraltar of the Rhine; at the fortress of Mayence, and the many others on the frontiers. How thankful should we be as a people that we are not obliged to tax every article of food put into our mouths, every garment we wear, and abridge all pursuits and pleasures to sustain masses of soldiers and hordes of officers for defence against our sister states, thereby employing the youngest and most active of our youth, incapacitating them for other pursuits, and demoralizing the society of wives and daughters.

Dirschau, where the road branches off for Dantzic, has one of the finest Gothic station houses which I have seen in the north of Europe. The line belongs to the government, and the iron bridges over the river Weichsel or Vistula at that place, and over the Nogat at Marienberg, in connexion with the old castle, formerly the seat of the grand masters of the German Order of Knights, altogether attract many visitors. The old town in itself, for its antiquity, is worth a visit, but the castle is of much interest to Germans. It was built in the thirteenth and fourteenth century, during the conquest of the country, and rebuilt by the government from 1819 to 1820. The saloons are beautifully arched, and one of them is sustained by a single column gracefully supporting its burden not unlike the branches of the palm tree. A cannon ball still sticks in the wall, thrown by the besieging Poles, from which the centre pillar barely escaped.

The portraits of the Knights, with their names and coats of arms, were, for me, in some respects souvenirs of the original Knights of St. John, from which the order sprang, and of whose monuments I found so many in the islands of Rhodes and Malta. The antique figures, weapons, and coats of mail are to the people very curious.

Frankfort-on-the-Oder is in steam communication with Stettin. It is a dull city for a population of thirty thousand persons, although active during its four annual fairs, when it overflows with purchasers and sellers from all parts of Germany. Many of its warehouses are afterwards closed until the season returns, which gives it a melancholy appearance. Its suburbs and gardens, however, are pretty, as indeed they generally are in Germany, and the people have great taste for flowers and plants, as is noticed in the windows of the humblest village cottage.

I had passed through here twice before, but now I hold up for a rest, for which this city is well adapted, where nothing remarkable demands attention. It is a mistaken notion that the tourist lives a life of pleasure and indolence; on the contrary, untiring labor, application, and energy are required to enable him to profit by his travels. One is rejoiced at times to get to some quiet spot where no obligation is felt to take advantage of the sojourn, and have time for repose and to review the ground passed over.

The government is building new salt stores here upon the river bank, that article being a monopoly. Strolling along I observed some sixty men employed driving piles for the foundation, with only two drivers. I counted thirty men, each with cord in hand, a wooden handle thereto attached, and all fastened to the main rope. At a given signal up went the hammer, and down it fell upon the head of the pile. I was so astonished at the loss of power I asked the overseer why he did not use a machine, and that with six men I could accomplish more work than with his sixty. He answered they had none. I observed he would save the cost in a few days. Then an officer remarked that machines were a great curse, as they deprived the laborer of employment. The other dissented thereto, and added that they could not get men enough even at ten silben groschen (or twenty-five cents) per day. Think of that, where coffee is from thirty to forty cents per pound, sugar fifteen cents, and meats and rents in proportion, and tell me how the poor man lives!

A few days ago I met at a station an under forester in crown employ, with his wife and four children. He was being transferred from one domain to another. I asked him how much salary he had. He replied, ten thalers per month, or one hundred and twenty per year, equal to ninety dollars of our money. I inquired, “How can you get through the year?” The reply was, “I must; rye bread is now cheaper, and water costs nothing.” A young girl was also waiting with a free passage ticket from her brother in America, via Hamburg to New York. Her position was evidently envied.

CXLVIII.

HAMBURG, GERMANY, _Nov. 5, 1858_.

In the extreme north of Germany lies the grand duchy of Mecklenberg, a country less visited by travellers than most other parts of the Vaterland, whose institutions are peculiar to itself, and which is not included in the Zollverein, or Tariff Union. As it was the last of the German States I had not seen, I was desirous of visiting it. The lines of railroad from Frankfort-on-the-Oder, where I last wrote you, conveyed me to Schwerin, the capital of the Duchy.

It has a population of twenty thousand, and can boast of one of the finest schloss, or palaces in Deutschland. Wonders never cease. I was astonished to find this new Gothic edifice, which stands upon a small island, and upon which some millions have been expended, and could only wonder how in the nineteenth century the potentate of a small territory could gather together and expend such sums in extravagant construction. The saloons, halls, and dining-rooms, as well as bed-chambers, are luxuriously finished and furnished in modern style. A spiral staircase from the first floor to the upper apartments is of black marble, and the railing of bronze gold gilt. The church, or chapel, is richly decorated, and the windows are of stained glass. Several sentinels were under arms; permission was granted, for a fee, to inspect the whole premises, with the hot-houses, and obtain a fine view over the beautiful lake, reminding one of the sheets of water in the western part of our state.

The peasants are still attached to the soil, without the privilege of obtaining title for lands. The landholders own large estates, and are wealthy. The duties upon importations are light. This class of citizens can obtain at small cost all articles they require. The crown is possessed of an immense domain, which brings in large revenues, enabling the grand-ducal family to expend large sums without extorting from the land proprietors; but inquiry may be made, “who pays?” the answer naturally is, “the labor of the peasant.” Time will make a change. The downtrod workman, if he can raise the means, will find his way to America, and they will have to introduce hired cultivators from the neighboring countries, or abandon the system.

Rostock and Weimar are their sea-ports on the Baltic; the former has a population of twenty thousand, and is quite noted for its shipbuilding. I found many vessels lying in ordinary for want of employment, growing out of the commercial crisis, and but few on the stocks.

Mecklenberg not being a manufacturing state, and the wealthy land proprietors not being able to loan on home securities, turned their attention to interest in shipbuilding, and are groaning over their losses.

A horticultural, agricultural, and mechanical exhibition was being held, which was of interest. The farm implements were of a heavy character, and capable of much improvement. As in most German towns, the walks and promenades have received much attention. The old fortifications and ramparts have been planted with shade trees and flowers, and afford a delightful stroll for the inhabitants.

The Blucher square, or place, contains the bronze monument erected to the memory of the marshal, celebrated at Waterloo, who was born in Rostock, in 1743. The parks, grounds, and lakes in and about Schwerin are as lovely as could be desired; but the residence city, notwithstanding its arsenal, port, and other public buildings, has the air of a forced growth.

An hour’s ride by railroad brought me to this great commercial, free trade city, with its population of one hundred and sixty-five thousand.

The great fire of 1842, which burnt over seventy-one streets and squares, and destroyed nearly two thousand houses, was the cause of making the new city as beautiful as it now is, and one sees no traces of the great conflagration; but, on the contrary magnificent rows of tall, solidly constructed houses, public buildings, churches, exchange, immense hotels, of American internal arrangements, a number of which are situated upon the Alster Basin--a fine sheet of water, with broad avenues and sidewalks surrounding it. The streets of the old city are narrow, and paved with round cobble stones, dirty and dreary, making the contrast more striking. Almost continuous walks upon the site of the old walls surround the city, and are planted with shade trees and shrubbery. The view of the harbor and the Elbe, with its shipping, and the forests of masts, obtained from a height, is truly grand.

Hamburg being strictly a commercial city, and divested of the military parade, titles, orders, and the pomp of a court of monarchical cities, strikes an American coming from other parts of the continent, as being more like a Republican metropolis. The peculiar costume of the women water-carriers would be exceptional. Altona, in Holstein, belonging to Denmark, has almost grown into the city.

The gates are closed at night, and toll must be paid by every person passing, according to the lateness of the hour. The currency of the city is its peculiar kind--_shilling, and mark Banco_; the former worth _two cents, and sixteen for mark_. The traveller in Germany, in passing from one frontier to another, must dispose of the small coin of the country, which may be of no value after a few hours’ ride by the railway. A gentleman bound for Russia, whom I lately met in the cars, wished to purchase some fruit for his wife. He was on his way from Paris, did not speak German, and pulled out a handful of coin which he had received in change along the road, none of which would pass. The train was almost moving, and he was giving up in despair, when I came to the rescue. Mecklenberg, Denmark, and even Bremen change, is of little value here, although only separated by the frontier. A story is told of a Frenchman, who, starting on a tour through Germany and Italy, as an experiment put a twenty-franc gold piece in his vest pocket, changing the same into the currency of each country as he passed, and on his return found the entire sum had gone into the hands of the money-changers.

CXLIX.

HANOVER, GERMANY, _Nov. 29, 1858_.

I thought I had quite finished up my peregrinations in the north of Germany, but I found I had left unvisited parts of Schleswig Holstein, which, since the war of 1848, has occupied so much of the attention of German and Danish diplomats.

This country is populated mostly by Germans, and that language is generally spoken, but it is governed by Danish officers and the military, in as mild a form as possible; the ill-will and hatred of the inhabitants, however, is so great, that little social intercourse is kept up between them. The currency is Danish, but German coin passes for nearly its value, as the trade with Hamburg, and the direct communication by railroad with Kiel and Schleswig, keeps up the German influence, to the detriment of Copenhagen. After long delay, and bitter recriminations and threats, the Danish king has granted many concessions, and a constitution for self-representation. The people hope, and, with Germany, desire its union with the Vaterland; but the balance of power is such a delicate question in Europe, and the jealousy of governments towards each other so great, that the matter may be put off until, perhaps, a revolution brings a change. The quickest and easiest communication with Copenhagen is, via Kiel, by rail, a distance of seventy miles from Hamburg, where steamers are found in readiness for embarkation.

Every stranger that visits Hamburg, if time permits, should make an excursion in Holstein, if only to get a passing view of nature’s beauties, of picturesque lakes, meadows, and fields, with their hedges.

Were it not for the three gates, one would scarcely know he had left Hamburg in driving through the city of Altona, in Danish territory, to take the railroad for Kiel, as the two cities are nearly grown together.

Kiel has some fifteen thousand inhabitants. Its environs may be called beautiful. The forests of beech and other trees along the water’s edge, with bathing places, and some elevated points of view, make it a desirable summer residence. It evidently has much improved of late. The country mansions and gardens bear testimony of the fact. The fish market is abundantly supplied, and what is better, there is no duty, as is the case the moment the German frontier is crossed in the interior. Among the delicacies, in smoked articles, are the “Schnebel,” and large sized eels, which are exported in great quantities to the interior. The oysters used in Germany are mostly from the North Sea. They are much smaller than ours, and have not unfrequently a coppery flavor. Salmon and lobsters come mostly from Norway. Hamburg is celebrated for its basement rooms, or Kellers, where are found all the dainties that land and water furnish.

Kiel has its monuments, public buildings, and attractions, but nothing very striking to the general traveller. Its harbor is fine and deep, and here lay at anchor, near the shore, the entire fleet, at one period during the war with Russia.

The terminus of the railroad which leads to this city is at Harburg, the new rival of Hamburg, upon the Elbe, and only eight miles from the last-named place. When I was last there, in 1855, the inundation of the river had flooded the island of Wilhelmsburg, carrying away houses, cattle, and crops, and destroying millions of property in the lower part of the metropolis. Hundreds of persons were shelterless. We were aroused at midnight in the midst of a terrific rain storm, by the alarm guns warning the occupants of basements and one story dwellings, to save themselves from drowning. When we took the steamer for Harburg, in passing the island we saw only the tops of trees where now I pass in an omnibus, over a well cultivated country, with dusty roads, and the people complaining for want of rain.

A few miles below lies Stade, a small town of six thousand inhabitants, which gives the name to the Stade Zol, or imposition of the River Elbe dues, which our government is trying to induce the Hanoverian authorities to renounce.

Harburg has made much progress, and grown to be quite a city under the protection of the Hanoverian government, and favors in the way of duties and manufactures.

The route to this place is an uninteresting one, tying in part over the Luneburger Haide or Heath, which is without cultivation. I perceive, however, that advances are made in the way of irrigation, and it is pleasant to see entire waste lands, by the use of water, made to produce bountifully. It called to mind an experiment of a rice garden, and olive and almond trees, which Mehemet Ali produced upon the white sand of the Egyptian desert, by the use of the Persian wheel, driven by oxen; and it struck me that the Arabs regarded him little less than Deity.

Having formerly described what was of most interest in this city when I made it a temporary residence, I can only add that the population has increased, the city limits extended, and many new improvements have been made. The large cotton and carpet factories flourish in consequence of the great protection in the tariff. Rents and living expenses, as well as taxation, are increasing, but workmen are better paid than formerly, as the country was chiefly agricultural and there is now more demand for labor, growing out of the manufacturing.

The King, although blind, is building a new palace, and has just called upon the Stande or Chambers, for an appropriation of _six hundred thousand thalers_ for the work, as far as completed.

A fair has been recently held here, which for a stranger is well worth seeing. One day only is allowed for the furniture sale, and it is held in a different part of the city. Every variety of household article is exposed for sale, brought in from small neighboring villages, which gives the poor a chance to buy cheap. It is curious to see the stream of wagons and carts, drawn not only by horses, oxen, and donkeys, but single cows and spaniel dogs in harness, the drivers cracking their whips. Now comes a load of countrywomen, in fancy colored short corsets and jupes, then the Bauer, or peasant, with his high-topped boots, long-tailed coat, and big bright buttons. The market-places were filled with booths and venders from other cities, with every variety of articles, attractive and for use; jewelry, wearing apparel, and pumpernickel, or honey cake, in great quantities, an indispensable article for the multitude. The good-natured country people, with their Platt Deutsch, or land dialect, seemed to have a good time of it, and the national dishes of sausage and saur kraut, with light beer and pipes, were in great demand.

Here in Hanover, and also in Celle, a town of ten thousand population, which I lately visited, the language spoken by the upper classes is the most pure in all Germany.

1859.

CL.

_Berlin_, _February 23, 1859_.

The great event of the season was the birth of a prince to the crown of Prussia, and the first grandchild of Queen Victoria. Demonstrations, congratulations, and addresses have been made to the royal parents by the Lord Mayor, and other dignitaries of London. The street upon which I live, leading to the Palace, was crowded with vehicles, containing the nobility, civil, and military officers in full uniform, advancing to the royal residence to inscribe and present themselves in honor of the happy event. Crowds of persons were standing upon the sidewalks for many days afterwards, gazing up at the windows and walls which inclose this precious jewel of a monarchical people. The students have since had their torchlight celebration for the occasion.

In these reverences and a thousand other ways, through titles and orders given to all persons of any distinction, wealth, or merit, is the aristocratic band so linked together, that the very children imbibe that love and respect and awe for the royal family till it seems engrafted in their very natures.

In political matters you are kept fully advised through the European journals. As I suggested in my last, things look ominous for the future. The money and commercial marts are still agitated, and uncertainty prevails. France continues steadily her military preparations; Sardinia the same. Austria is stubborn, and sends further supplies of troops into Italy. Diplomacy is hard at work to prevent a general European war, and, if the issue must come, to confine it to the Peninsula. A slight outbreak at the present moment would put all Europe in a blaze. The demand for saltpetre in the London markets, even from the smaller powers, and the prohibition of the sale of horses shows that they fear the result, and must be prepared, if not against the enemy, against their own people. Cannon foundries and manufactories of arms are in full blast in different countries.

The horrors of a European war, the destruction of life and property, the anguish of widows and orphans, the demoralization of invading armies, the cost of maintaining the same, and the entailment of debt, are not to be portrayed. Already Austria and Sardinia are in the market for loans, consequently there is a depreciation of the whole outstanding debt in the hands of the public.

Since I visited the Crimea I feel myself better able to judge of consequences. The ruined and battered fortresses and public and private edifices of Sebastopol, Kertch, and other points, the graveyards of the half million of souls of Inkerman, Alma, and the Malakoff, all testify to the melancholy results. However, the question of the whole Italian race, suffering under the bonds and chains of tyrants, cannot be longer delayed, and we shall probably soon know the decision. Either the evacuation by Austria of the Papal States, and the duchies of Modena and Parma, and abandonment of her tutelage, with a system of reform, or war, must be the result.

Some persons contend that war, like cholera, or other epidemics, in over-populated countries, is as necessary as a thunderstorm to clear a sultry and vitiated atmosphere, to sweep off a part of the redundant population, lessen competition, and give the survivors a chance to earn their bread. More humane means can be substituted in the favoring of emigration to the vast regions of unoccupied territory, not only in Europe, but in both Americas.

While all Europe is in uncertainty, America stands without anxiety, as a looker-on. In the event of a European war her breadstuffs would find a ready market. Capitalists, looking at the uncertain tenure of things here, would turn their attention to investments on the other side. Emigrants, to escape army duty and save what little they have from destruction, would take refuge in this land of liberty. Her Mexican and Cuban question could be settled without the interference of foreign powers, who would have occupation at home.

Our Treasury it seems is exhausted, and loans are made in time of peace. We pay our President twenty-five thousand dollars a year. I notice the French Senate have granted Prince Napoleon eight hundred thousand francs, or one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, as expenses for his marriage to the daughter of Sardinia’s king, and two million francs, or four hundred thousand dollars yearly. In the event of widowhood she is to have forty thousand dollars, our currency, and a palace to her use. All that for a cousin of the Emperor. What would our honest yeomanry think of such outgoes with us, which are mostly made up by indirect taxation upon each and every article consumed by rich and poor?

Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of Washington at a splendid dinner given by our minister, at which assisted some sixty persons of both sexes--Americans residing in or passing through Berlin, naturalized Germans, Consuls and Senators from Bremen, Stettin, &c. Baron Humboldt sat vis-à-vis with Gov. Wright under the folds of the American flag. Toasts and speeches, as customary on such occasions, were made, and all passed off to the satisfaction of guests. Some fifteen or more of our states were represented, and were called upon for a sentiment or a toast, which, under the exhilarating influence of champagne, was generally well responded to, and brought forth some amusing and historical reminiscences of the American revolution. Portraits of the Father of his country, of Humboldt, Webster, and others, and the beautiful engraving of Washington crossing the Delaware, were suspended from the wall. An artist gave a toast which was rather a strong one in a monarchical government, and in a less enlightened age perhaps we would not have had the privilege of meeting together to commemorate the birthday of a republican victor; it was to “Humboldt, the King of Science, whose shoes most kings are not worthy to unloose.” The venerable old man is now in his ninetieth year; he is fond of ladies’ society, who adore him as a traveller and writer. He has remained a bachelor. His memory is fresh and vigorous; I asked him if he recollected my presentation by Gov. Vroome, some four years since, and the conversation about the island of Ceylon. “Yes,” replied he briefly, “and Singapore also,” and then recounted information derived from other sources since.

CLI.

FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE, GERMANY, _March 22, 1859_.

I left the agreeable city of Berlin with mingled feelings of regret and pleasure. To get rid of an obstinate attack of bronchitis when all other remedies fail, my usual course is change of climate, and I put myself on the road for Dresden, the Saxon capital, as well as the business city of Leipzig, which I next touched. I had visited it before on different occasions and described it to you, and it offered but little new.

I thought I had seen the thirty-two empires, kingdoms, duchies, landgraves, and other imperial, royal, and ducal residences of Germany, but recollected an unexplored tract through the Erzhogthum of Weimar, and of Gotha and Coburg, the latter duchies celebrated as furnishing husbands for most of the Princesses of Europe, Prince Albert of England being one of the number. As I was at a loss to know what route to take for a change in such an emergency the smallest favors are thankfully received.

It is really curious and interesting to look into these little Dutch settlements, and scrutinize the efforts made by these pigmy potentates to imitate the regal residences of great sovereigns, as I once described to you, from Port au Prince, Island of Hayti, that the guards and cannon at the entrance of the Imperial gates of the black despot looked as formidable as those of the Emperor of Russia. But the people have there wrought a change, and Soulouque is a wanderer. In time similar changes will take place in Germany.

The towns of Jena and Nuremburg, and the battle-fields of 1806, with the bivouac of Napoleon upon the height called Landgrafberge, are all of much historical interest. The town of Weimar has thirteen thousand inhabitants, and lies upon the slope of a beautiful valley, through which runs a limpid stream. On the opposite side are elevated commanding grounds, upon which stands a new caserne containing an entire regiment of one thousand men. The town appears neat, is well paved, and has the air of a regal seat, without much trade or commerce, where the residents are in part dependent on the government, or persons whose means allow them to enjoy the advantages of such facilities as cannot be obtained in the small villages or upon the land.

The large and beautiful palace contains rooms with fresco paintings consecrated to the poets Goethe, Schiller, Herder, and Wieland, who were patronized by the then existing duke. The summer cottage of Goethe, _vis-à-vis_ to a rustic resort of the duke, in the wood, is still in the possession of the poet’s family. At twelve A.M., the band played before the palace. A Greek chapel is found here, as well as in several German courts, in consequence of Russian marriages. The mother of the present duke is sister of the ex-emperor Nicholas. So you perceive how the family alliances are calculated to divide political influences in the Fatherland. The library has one hundred and fifty thousand volumes, also a good collection of medallions and objects of art. A fine large theatre is supported. The park is prettily laid out with rich and rare plants, hot-houses, and a summer palace for the duke. All these and much more might be added from a little domain of three hundred thousand inhabitants, about one-third that of New York and Brooklyn, with a salary of two hundred and eighty thousand thalers, say two hundred and twenty thousand dollars our currency. Horses, carriages, liveried servants must be kept up, three thousand troops entertained, and--who pays? These princes have generally large land incomes in addition to salary, and in this case Russia contributes a portion.

The territory of Gotha and Coburg is smaller. The population of Gotha is one hundred and twenty thousand, Coburg forty thousand, making one hundred and sixty thousand in all. The town of Gotha has fifteen thousand inhabitants, and is beautifully situated upon a side hill, with water running through all the streets. The new part looks well, but the old dull, and not so fine as Weimar. The Schloss or palace stands upon a high hill called Hochberg, and is of quadrangular form, some four hundred feet or more in extent, with a high tower. The grounds are extensive, and the terrace is compared by some to that of Windsor in England. The view is very extensive. The alleys and public walks around the little city are strikingly beautiful. There are several other palaces and summer residences belonging to the Duchy, a library of one hundred and sixty thousand volumes, a collection of coins consisting of some forty thousand pieces, a Chinese cabinet, galleries of pictures, copperplates, etc. One naturally wonders where and how such collections and public buildings have been put together and paid for, and by whom. The theatre is a fine building, and a regular company is kept up.

The Duke receives one hundred and forty thousand thalers from the land yearly, say one hundred and five thousand dollars our currency. He was absent with his wife in Berlin at the christening of the infant Prince of Victoria, whose mother is his niece, the daughter of Prince Albert. He has no family, and at his death Gotha and Coburg fall to Prince Alfred, the second son of England’s sovereign, who is now in the navy. The present Duke is a soldier, and lives in a small palace, like a sensible man, and is esteemed by his people. The army contingent is sixteen hundred troops. All these things are very pretty to gaze upon, and quite attractive to travellers who look only upon the surface, but talk with the people a little and get their views.

The manufacturing of lucifer matches has become a heavy business for exportation. You can scarcely believe it that in this unhealthy occupation girls are employed at three and a half silver-groschen, or nine cents, per day, whose food consists of potatoes and rye meal cooked together, who scarcely know what it is to get a piece of meat. In Erfurt, an old city of thirty thousand inhabitants, where nothing of interest offered except the cathedral, dome, and the fortifications, I mounted the steeple for a view and to look at a bell of great weight, here considered a wonder, and called the Maria Gloriosa. I asked the girl who conducted us if she had ever heard of the Moscow bell, which is really of monstrous size. She did not even know the name. I inquired if many visitors came, and what she earned. She replied the sexton paid her twelve thalers the quarter year, or thirty-six dollars our currency, yearly. The gifts of visitors she must hand over, or they would be taken from her. One cannot but pity such objects. I then said I will pay the sexton and what we give is extra for your use. People complain of untrusty servants, of peculations and unjust reckonings in short weights, etc. I tell them it is their own fault; they have driven them to dishonesty by low wages, which makes slavery on the plantation a preferable position.

My next halting-place was Hesse Cassel, from whence the English imported troops to fight against us in the revolution. I saw a review of the Gross Furst, or Elector. He has a passion for military. The country has nine thousand soldiers, but in case of war the number demanded by the German confederation is twelve thousand. The people are not satisfied with their elector. His salary is eight hundred thousand thalers. He has a large family, and his wife was the daughter of a hotel-keeper, consequently his children cannot occupy his place, and it is said instead of spending his money at home for the good of the people, it is sent to England, or used, in the purchase of estates in Bohemia, for the future provision of his heirs.

I have twice before visited Cassel, and described to you its position, its suburbs of Wilhelmshohe, the great artificial cascades and fountains, and other gigantic works executed with English gold received for the sale of Hessian soldiers.

I have said nothing about politics. The excitement in Germany has been great, but no unity of action. The Austrian papers lash Prussia for her neutral policy. The attacked journals reply that they are ready to defend the interests of the Fatherland, but unwilling to assist in the perpetuation of tyranny in Italy, and in the total want of religious toleration in Austria. The _brochures_, or pamphlets, in Paris, advising the conquest of the Rhine provinces, have done more to wake up the German population than anything else.

CLII.

FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE, GERMANY, _April 22, 1859_.

The free city of Frankfort is historically known since the eighth century. It is the seat of the Deutsche Bund, or German Confederation. In the old Roman Hall in the Rathhouse, or City Hall, where the German emperors and kings were chosen, the full length portraits, in costume, of the entire line are exhibited. In the Dom Kirche, or cathedral, is found the monument to the memory of Kaiser (or Emperor) Gunther, of Schwarzberg, dated in the year 1352; also the tombstone, under date of 1371, of the Ritter, or knight Rudolph, of Sachsenhausen, which little town lies on the opposite side of the river Maine, connected by a stone bridge twelve hundred and sixty feet long and thirty-three feet wide, resting upon fourteen arches.

Strolling through the settlement the other day I found the streets narrow, the town surrounded by a wall, the egress by the same gates through which one goes in, and the language of the people almost unintelligible and quite different from those who come in contact with the world where pure German is spoken.

Last Sunday I found myself in the Protestant, St. Paul’s, Church, consecrated in 1833, on the site of the old Roman Barfusse Kirche. It is in an elliptical form, built of square freestone blocks. While listening to the tones of the immense organ, my mind was carried back involuntarily to the events of 1848, when I had seen this edifice used for the General Assembly of nine hundred delegates, presided over by the Grand Duke Johan of Austria, whom it was proposed to elect emperor of all Germany. The torchlight and window illuminations of the city upon his arrival was a striking feature, but it was all a flash in the pan--an entire failure. The revolution was soon over. Austria had gained the battle of Novara over Sardinia, and reinstated her power. France was again quiet. The kings of Europe, who had in the presence of the enraged masses promised constitutions and all else required, soon found the people themselves disunited, and began to contract their strength and forces, and finally refused to perform any of the acts named.

The central position of this city gives it a decided advantage for trade and commerce. The activity of the eighty thousand inhabitants is striking in comparison with the ducal residence of Darmstadt, an hour’s ride by railway, with its long broad streets and population of thirty thousand, but looking dull and dreary as a village. The railroad in an hour conveys one to Wiesbaden, in a half hour to Mayence, and in an hour’s ride by omnibus and rail one arrives at Homburg.

The baths of the first and last-named places are now open for the season, but it is too early for many guests. On festival days they are full, and the sums of gold lost and won upon roulette and _trente et quarante_ are scarcely credible. A Russian nobleman attracted the attention of the numerous bystanders recently, as he used only gold and one thousand franc bank notes, a pile of which he had before him, and won and lost equal to one thousand dollars, our currency, upon the turn of the wheel--now reducing his capital, and then increasing. The bank of Wiesbaden paid its shareholders thirty-one per cent. dividend the last year, after expending fabulous sums in the embellishment of the gardens, fountains, magnificent Kursaal, and reading rooms; and after giving semi-weekly balls, hunting parties at the close of the season, &c., &c., besides paying to the Duke of Nassau a large annual sum for the privilege of fleecing the public. It is an interesting study to see how these things are managed at Homburg and Wiesbaden. In addition to the immense expenses for laying out and beautifying the grounds with trees and flowering plants, the best restaurateur from Paris is employed to furnish a table d’hôte in the superb ornamental gilded and frescoed dining hall at a moderate price, thereby attracting strangers. The omnibus line receives a portion of the fare from the bank, making it easier accessible. The entrance to the reunions is gratis. Musicians, and even the police taxes, and other charges upon passports are paid at the expiration of the season by the company. Many families spend the winter at Homburg, where the bank is kept open the entire year, and they enjoy without charge the use of reading-rooms, with papers and periodicals in all modern languages. The managers, however, calculate adroitly upon the general average. If the father or mother do not play, the son or daughter, or friends perhaps will, and they can extricate so much gain per head on the average. Ladies are not free from the vice, large and small sums being risked by the fair sex. The bank even employs them for that purpose as a decoy. The Landgrave, or petty prince of this piece of land, about the size of one of our small counties, receives a handsome annuity.

The system is immoral and wicked, and ruins many families; but as long as Germany remains disunited, cannot be suppressed. At the close of the last business season at Wiesbaden, there were, I learn, as usual, many who had lost all, and could not get away. The bank in such cases advances the means, takes a note or draft for the same, and if not paid, the party does not return, consequently it is clear of them, and don’t incur the odium of suicides through despair.

The old town of Frankfort, with its narrow, tortuous streets, gabled-end projecting houses full of windows, is curious. Outside the walls surrounding the city are magnificent shady walks, highly ornamented with shrubbery and plants. The season is forward, and the trees in full bloom add to the beauty of the promenades. The suburbs are well laid out with broad streets and superb houses, occupied by the wealthy. It has become a favorite residence for strangers, being so central, and in connexion with so many attractive watering-places and cities.

The Jews are here very numerous. Many of them are bankers, at the head of which is the original house of Rothschilds. In the same neighborhood has recently been erected an immense freestone synagogue.

In the Burger Verein, or Citizens’ Club, an institution established on an extensive scale, I find among other correspondence some of our New York papers.

Frankfort and Leipzic are celebrated in Europe for their fairs. Two are held here yearly. The Oester Messe, or Easter Fair, now exists, and lasts three weeks. The quay along the River Maine and the public squares are occupied with booths filled with wares from all parts of the country. The concourse of merchants and buyers from neighboring towns gives activity to the place. Of course amusements are provided for guests, and America comes in for a part. There is an immense circus from Berlin, in which Jas. Robinson, the most celebrated bareback rider in the world, is employed, making his summersets over star-spangled flags and ribbons, backwards and forwards, with the agility of a cat. Bands of volunteer musicians from other cities, and Tyrolese minstrels, find themselves here, who make the rounds, and whose notes are heard from morn until late in the night, and who adopt this method of picking up the crumbs. The theatre is crowded; the flying horse machines and puppet shows please the children; gaping crowds are listening to the marvellous tales of outcriers at the entrance of travelling menageries, museums, camera obscuras, and of the fat girl nineteen years old, weighing six hundred pounds; the railroads profit by freight and traffic, and lager beer, sausages, and cheese are in the ascendant.

The political situation of Europe exerts a baneful influence upon all general trade. The complaint on all hands is prostration of business. The game of chess now playing between France and Austria is discouraging to all classes. They would prefer open hostilities to indecision. The belligerent parties have gone so far that we must soon see the bloody sword of war, or the olive branch of peace.

CLIII.

PARIS, _May 24, 1859_.

I find myself once again in the great European capital. It is now a month since you heard from me last at Frankfort, Germany. I then left for Baden-Baden soon after the opening of the season. I never saw the country look more smiling and lovely. Nature had put on her most beautiful spring attire, and indeed nothing in Europe can surpass the natural scenery of the suburbs of this renowned watering-place.

The little city was brushed up as usual, and every hotel and lodging-house awaiting anxiously the arrival of guests, but in this I fear they will be woefully disappointed this year. The anxieties and financial difficulties growing out of the war, and the bitter feeling manifested by Germany towards the French, will prevent the usual rush of visitors. Few persons were there, and the magnificent gas-lighted saloons, with their bands of music, had few occupants. The employees of the gambling tables looked wistfully at every stranger, hoping their business will soon commence.