Germany in MDCCCXXXI

Preface

. It is not without diffidence, that the following Letters, written during a tour through Prussia, Saxony, Aus tria, and Bavaria, are submitted to the judgment of the public. The writer is well aware, that to give any thing like a just picture of so vast a country as Germany, by means of epistles, written, as these chiefly were, under the excitement of a rapid jour ney, may be considered a very hopeless task. But even Avere it otherwise, he is not without a suspicion, that the slight and imperfect sketch which he has attempted, will be deemed alto gether superfluous, when it is remem- A

PREFACE.

. VI bered how many far abler pens have been employed on the subject. One consideration alone, therefore, has in duced him to publish; and it is one which he flatters himself will in some measure plead his excuse for claiming a little attention, at least from the literary public. The tour which these Letters de scribe, was undertaken, not so much with the view of beholding the scenes and remarkable objects in nature and art, with which Germany abounds, as to indulge a long-cherished desire which the writer entertained, to make a personal acquaintanceship with some of the many living literary men of that country, whose genius had acquired for them a lasting reputation, and the perusal of whose works had formed the chief source of solace and enjoyment to him from his earliest years. In consequence of the peculiarly fa-

PREFACE.

. VII vourable circumstances under which he travelled, his hopes in this respect were in a great measure realised, and hence it will be found that the following Letters are rather a record of his opinions regarding literary men and literary matters connected with Ger many, than of the more ordinary sub jects with which the attention of the Tourist is generally occupied. It is this' consideration chiefly, that, after so long an interval, has induced him to send these volumes to the press. In giving them to the world, he ventures to hope, that if they have no other merit, they will at least form an au thentic record of matters that were then considered of deep and surpass ing interest. The year in which they were written, was marked by extra ordinary events; at one and the same time, Europe was agitated and alarmed by the sweeping devastations of pes-

PREFACE.

. tilence, and the convulsive throes of revolution. Although in the course of the writ er's journey he enjoyed much delightful intercourse with living men of genius, the haunts and habitations of the departed were not forgotten; and ac cordingly, the reader will find, mixed up with the sketches of living charac ters, a due portion of the memorabilia which the Germans have recorded of their mighty dead. While the main object of his pere grination was altogether personal and literary, it is perhaps proper to state, that he felt a more than ordinary anx iety to behold the effects which the suc cessful struggles for freedom that had just been made in France and Belgium, were producing on the educated and enlightened men of a country, which Madame de Stael has so well desig nated La Patrie de la pensee. This

PREFACE.

. IX will account for the political tinge of some of his observations, more especially in reference to recent and passing events, since it was impossible to avoid noticing the very peculiar sentiments and opinions which then prevailed among the sons of the vari ous sub-divisions of the divided Ger manic empire — sentiments and opinions which, at that critical moment, seemed doubly interesting, coloured, as they were, by the immediate conse quences of the " Three Days of July," and the prospective fears which were everywhere created by the fast ap proaching pestilence. If the progress of events has not since been so favour able to a liberal system of govern ment in Germany, as was then antici pated by the friends of freedom, it does not lessen the interest that belongs to the popular cause. At this moment, there is assuredly no portion of Eu-

PREFACE.

. X rope, the moral, literary, and political condition of whose people is more in teresting and worthy of study, than that of Germany. There, it is plain to the most casual observer, that the hearts of its more enlightened chil dren are yearning and striving after a new and improved political and social condition. At this hour, there is a struggle making after new constitutions, not merely a desire of change for the sake of change, as has been often laid to their charge, but from a conviction that it is a matter of right, and essential to the well-being of society, that they should be emancipated from the long-endured shackles of ancient forms and the odious remains of feudalism. In short, every thing loudly pro claims, that not only are the people making rapid progress in moral, physical, and political improvement; but that the result of that improvement

PREFACE.

. XI will ere long exhibit itself in a manner not to be misunderstood. The struggle is between knowledge and prejudice, between enlightened equity and antiquated wrong. It is evident that the ancient despotisms totter to their fall. Should any objections be raised against the slight admixture of poli tics which these Letters contain, the answer is shortly this: much political excitement prevailed at the time, and it forcibly occurred to the writer, that even a few brief notices of the im mediate effects of the political storm which raged at the close of 1830 — and the consequences of which were at that moment manifesting themselves in the more liberal feelings of the people, as well as in the increased fears and greater police restrictions of their masters, — could scarcely fail to be in teresting to Englishmen. The writer has this farther to add here, that if, in

PREFACE.

. the few political remarks occasionally interspersed in the narrative, there is afforded any thing like a key to the restlessness which then prevailed — any thing to show what it is that now retards the then threatened contest between the governed and their gover nors — any thing to mark the charac ter of the parties who are still opposed to each other, or to illustrate the con sequences which may be supposed to follow from the issue of the conflict, he will consider his humble labours amply rewarded. It will be observed, that the writer has occasionally attempted to give an outline of the more leading landmarks of the Cities, Towns, and Scenery, through which he passed, as a sort of background to the sketches of men and manners. He thinks it right to explain, that on resolving to publish this portion of the correspondence, he

PREFACE.

. XIII did so, merely in the hope that the well-known landscape, although often painted by more skilful hands, might perhaps be tolerated for the sake of its more novel accompaniments. The writer cannot allow the present opportunity to pass, without publicly adverting to the many obligations un der which he lies to his friend Dr. C. F. Wurm, Professor of History, and Editor of the " Zeitschrift" of Ham burgh; and to a courteous and very at tentive acquaintance, Mr. Kaufmann of Berlin, the successful translator of Shakspeare and Burns. To the kind ness and zeal of the former, in parti cular, in forwarding the main object of his journey, he owes a deep debt of gratitude. It was through the nu merous introductions to literary men, which Dr. Wurm libei*ally furnished, that a humble foreigner's long-cherished wishes were in a great measure realised.

PREFACE.

. XIV Since these letters were put to press, the writer has to lament the death of an intimate friend, Mr. William Mo therwell, to whom an allusion is made in a note appended to page 265 of this volume; and he regrets to think that the hope there expressed, and which he then warmly entertained, of that gentleman's performing a task, for which he of all men was best fitted, is now blasted for ever. Before closing these remarks, the writer feels it necessary to state, that from the multifarious duties incident to an important public office, the fol lowing Letters have been unavoidably delayed in their progress through the press ; and from the same cause errors may have passed unobserved which might otherwise have been corrected. Critics will doubtless find blemishes in the style ; and, perhaps, not a little fault with the quality and complexion

PREFACE.

. XV of the writer's sentiments. He sin cerely craves their pardon for the first ; for the last, he holds himself to be responsible, and dreads not to avow his responsibility. 1st June, 1836. CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

Letter I

The Elbe — Splendid Morning Scene — Cuxhaven Packet Boats — Gluckstadt — Stade — Stader-zoll unjust — ought to be Abolished — Blankanese — Peculiarity of its Inhabitants — Hamburgh — first view of the City from the River— its Harbour — the interior of the City does not fulfil the expectations which a distant view of it is calculated to excite — the Streets narrow, crooked, and dirty — Canals — the Jungfernstieg open and handsome — the Chief Resort of the Fashionables of the City — National Costume — Distinction of Dress among the Working Classes — the Jungfernstieg at night — Cholera the leading topic of Conversation at this juncture — intense anxiety felt as to its progress — a Journal entirely devoted to News regarding this remarkable Disease, 1

Letter II

Restless activity of my Companion — aided by the Cheapness and Excellence of Street Carriages — Expense of a Droschki — Beauty of the lately planted Ramparts— Scottish destructiveness contrasted with Hamburgh tastelessness — the Churches of Hamburgh — St. Peter's — St. Nicholas' — St. Catherine's — Likeness of Goetz the Religious Fanatic — St. James's— the Great St. Michaelis's — its lofty Tower — Splendid View from its summit — Watchmen placed there to announce the approach of Thunder-storms, and to ring the Alarum-bell when a Fire occurs in the City — Interior of the Church — the Crypt — Burial in Churches deprecated — the Public Cemeteries of Hamburgh — their Beauty and Extent — Hired Mourners employed to bury the Dead — the Privileged Class of Reiten Diener employed in this Office— their Peculiar Dress and Emoluments — Pompous mode of announcing Deaths, Marriages, and Births, in the Newspapers CONTENTS. XVIII

Letter III

Amusements of Hamburgh— Promenading— Skating— Theatres- Music— Dancing and Dancing Saloons— Gambling — the Hotels —Hamburgh a Refuge for the Gourmand— Smoking almost universal—the principal Theatre— the late Schroder— the interior of the Theatre— Goethe's Faust— its first Performance on the Hamburgh Stage— its Characters and Peculiarities not easily appreciated by Foreigners— Story of Faust — Object of Goethe's Drama illustrated — not suited for Representation — Acting good, particularly that of Marr and Legaye in the characters of Mephistophiles and Margaret — Effects of the Drama on the Audience and on my Companion — Hamburgh Watchmen, 36

Letter IV

The number of Deformed met with on the Streets — Charitable Institutions, the Gast-haus, &c. — Orphan Hospital, &c — Allgemeine Kranken-haus — Splendid Establishment — its Interior Arrangements — its Kitchen — the Infirmary not restricted to the Poor, but open for those who pay — Expense of Boarding — Institution for the Cure of Decrepit Children — No Beggars on the Streets — Cause of this — Rise and Progress of Hamburgh — Hanseatic League — Effects of the League — tended to spread Liberty over Germany — Government of Hamburgh democratical — Commerce calculated to uphold Freedom — Contrasted with Venice, no such stains on its History, as those which disgrace that Republic — the Senate — the mode of Electing a Senator — Prerogatives of the Senate — the Biirgerschaft — Colleges of the Oberalten — of Sixty — of One Hundred and Eighty — the Cammerei— Assembly of the Biirgerschaft — Advantages of the Hamburgh Government— Two Orders of Citizenship— Ecclesiastical Government — Schools — the Johanneum and Gymnasium — Military Establishment — Garrison— Burgher Guard — Desirable Residence for a Merchant, 53

Letter V

Few Public Buildings in Hamburgh— the Stadthaus— the Niedergericht and Obergericht— the Handelsgericht, or Court of Commerce—Advantages of this Court, worthy of English imitation— CONTENTS. XIX the Pillory — the Bank — the Borsenhalle — the Borse or Exchange, the favourite field of the Hebrew — Restrictions upon the Jews — general Character of the Hamburgh Jews — Vices arise from their Sufferings — Emancipation from thraldom calculated to change their character — late Jewish Persecutions in Germany — Com merce and Trade of Hamburgh — its Exports and Imports — its Shipping — its Manufactures — Sugar-Refining much decreased — Marine Insurances greatly increased — Probable Causes of this Increase — Foreigners cannot carry on Business without being Citizens — English Merchants — Hamburgh notorious for Vicissi tudes of Fortune — State of the Bankrupt Law — Three Species of Bankrupts — Privilege connected with a Wife's Dowry — Ticklish Period of a Merchant's Affairs — Females of Hamburgh 79

Letter VI

Few Literary Men resident in Hamburgh — past Litterateurs — present Litterateurs — Dr. Wurm, editor of the Kritische Blatter, excellent English scholar — his Political Opinions and those of the Mass of his Countrymen— Hamburgh Newspapers — Periodicals — Dr. Julius — his Work on Prison Discipline — Characteristics of Hamburgh Prisons — Henrich Heine — Writings of Heine and Borne — their ultra-political Opinions not sympathised with by the reading Public — Character of the Liberals of Germany — Germans more at home in the ideal than the practical world — Dr. Kruse — his Criminal Novels — German Crime more melodramatic, and more fitted for Romance than that of Britain — the case of Riembauer — Schiller-like Character of Kruse's Romances — singular practice in Hamburgh previous to the Execution of a Culprit, .. 107

Letter VII

The Environs of Hamburgh — Altona — Rainville's Garden — House of Dumourier and Bourrienne — Smuggling during the existence of the Berlin Decree — Ottensen — Klopstock's Grave — Late birth of German -Literature — Works through which the Language was conveyed and improved — first, chiefly indebted to Klopstock, Wieland, and Lessing— Klopstock chalked out an original path — Peculiarities of hisMuse — Religion and Patriotism the elements of his Poetry — his Messiah — his Odes — Peculiarity and Popularity of his Writings — Monument raised to the Davoust-per- CONTENTS. XX .edited Hamburghers-a Key-note to the Sufferings endured by Hamburgh during the Years of French Occupation— Village of Flottbeck— Park and Demesne of Herr Jenische— State Lottery drawing in Front ofthe Stadthaus of Altona 130

Letter VIII

Environs of Hamburgh— Harvestehude— the Poet Hagedorn's Tree — Wansbeck— the Resort of all Classes, particularly on Sundays — interesting to Literary Strangers from having been the Residence of Voss— one of the leading Members of the famous Gottingen Dichterbund—Voss celebrated as a Translator and Original Writer his Translation of Homer wonderful— his " Louise" — its Peculiarities— Quarrel with Count Stolberg on account of his Religious Apostacy— Stolberg's change of Religion attributed to his love of Aristocratical Supremacy— the Aristocratical and Democratical Principle of Government the Bone of Contention at present among German Writers — Visit to the Vierlands — Peculiarities of the Peasantry — Marienruhe and its handsome Hostess — Hospitality of the Hamburghers somewhat neutralised by the practice of Servants receiving vails from Visitors — Contributions made on the Friends of a Family on certain occasions and certain days — Christmas Presents to the Family Physician — Preparations for leaving Hamburgh, 150

Letter IX

Road between Hamburgh and Berlin excellent, with the exception of the portion belonging to Denmark — the Schnell-wagen — Few objects of interest on the Road between Hamburgh and Berlin — Grand Duchy of Mecklenburgh, a Grain Country — Companion in the Coach tended to keep away Ennui — Conversation about Theodore Korner, who was killed at Rosenberg — Monument of the Soldier-poet — Korner imbued with the true spirit of Freedom his Lyrics tended to rouse dormant Prussia — Sketch of Korner's Life — his Residence, and Occupation at Vienna — his First Love — quits Vienna for the Liberating Army of Prussia — Enrols himself in Liitzow's Volunteers — Specimen of one of his most energetic Songs — is wounded — rejoins his Corps, and is killed in a few days afterwards — Character of his Literary Productions — his Lyrics, from their Simplicity and Proverbial Phraseology, difficult to CONTENTS.

XXI Translate — Korner's Betrothed now Married — Ludwigslust — Villages and Peasantry of Mecklenburgh— Enter Prussia at Warnow — Customhouse-Officers and Cholera Medicine — Perle berg — Spandau — Splendid Approach to Berlin — the Brandenburgh Gate, 164

Letter X

Berlin, a City of Palaces — Splendid group of Buildings, as seen from the Niederlass Strasse— Similarity and Modern Character of the Buildings — Unter den Linden, the most lively portion of the City — a Fine Sight on Sunday — Two Discomforts connected with Berlin, the Sand and the Pavements— the Public Droschkis— Statue of Marshal Blucher — the Sculptor Rauch — the Enthusiasm with which the Memory of Blucher is regarded by the Prussian People — Public Buildings numerous — the Royal Museum, a splendid piece of Architecture — Collection of Antique Busts and Statues — the Worshipping Boy — Picture Gallery, one of the finest collections in Europe, arranged according to the various Schools of Art — Advantages of a National and Chronological Arrangement — a record of the Peculiar Condition and Ruling Passions of the Human Race, as well as a History of Taste — Lessons to be learned from such a study — other Modern Buildings — the Konigswache — the Architect Schinkel — the Singing Academy — its Architect, Karl Theodore Ottmer — Modern German Architecture, original and tasteful, 192

LETTER XL

Theatres of Berlin — in the days of Frederick the Great, Berlin could scarcely support one — now it has three — the German Drama of late Origin — Created by the Criticism and the Example of Leasing — owes its Celebrity chiefly to Schiller — Peculiarities of his Tragedies — Degeneracy of the Modern Drama — Characterised by being founded on the Fate Principle, and worked out by the machinery of Playwrights — Stage of Berlin well supported by the Public — two Causes which tend to encourage it, Early Dinners and Short Performances — Berlin Actors — Devrient and Madame Krelinger — Fate Tragedies — their Rise — attributable to Werner — their most Celebrated Authors — Mullner — his Tragedy of " Guilt" — Milliner's use of Terror attributable to his being a A CONTENTS. XXII Nephew of Burger — Houwald and Klingemann— Grillparzer — the " Ahnfrau" performed at the Royal Schauspielhaus— Music composed for it by Schneider— Miss Gley and Herr Kriiger— Theatre in the Konigstadt— the Grand Opera— Music splendid— Gluck's Iphigenia— Spontini— universal Taste for Music through out Germany 221

Letter XII

Coffee-houses and Wine-houses of Berlin numerous — each frequented by Visitors of similar Tastes and Pursuits— Wine-house of Lutter and Wegener— the favourite haunt of E. T. A. Hoffman, the celebrated Romance-writer — his Character and Writings — Estaminet of Wesotzky — Flower and Pleasure Gardens that surround the Thiergarten, crowded with all Classes on a Sunday — Happy Expression and Polite Demeanor of the Working Classes — Immorality much the same in all Capitals — Berlin apparently more Moral than London— the Streets very Quiet at an early hour of Night — Vulgar Popular Literature of Prussia, compared with that of France and Britain, more Superstitious and less Coarse and Indelicate—War and its Effects its chief Theme — Hospitality of the Berliners — Society superior to that of Hamburgh — the tone of good Society liberal — Dinner at a Banker's — Ladies of Berlin- Evening Parties — the Educated Population of Berlin drawn from all Countries — Domestic Manege of Berliners Frugal — the Generality of the Houses Small but Comfortable — City Rental — Equipages Simple — View of the City from tho Marienkirehe — Berlin by Moonlight, 247

Letter XIII

Berlin a desirable home for the Literary and Scientific — Litterateurs of the Past — Remarkable Living Writers — Interview with Langbein — his Writings — Philip Kaufmann — the Successful Translator of Shakspeare and Burns — Raupach — the First Dramatic Writer of Berlin — his Raphael — Von Raumer — the Historian of the Hohenstauffen — Censorship of the Prussian Press — more Severe of late — its Evil Effects — Professor Gans — Great Popularity of his Lectures on Modern History— Chamisso the author of Peter Schlemihl — Dr. Mitscherlich the Celebrated Chemist — the University of Berlin — valuable Geological Museum — Alexander Von Humboldt— the Royal Library CONTENTS. XXIII

Letter XIV

German Politics— theoretically Correct in notions of Government — Effects of the Parisian " Three Days" on Bavaria, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt — Prussia but little affected by the Political Storm of July 1830— limited to a Tailor's Riot at Berlin, and a Commotion of Workmen at Elberfeldt — growing feeling in Prussia for a more Responsible Government — but little sympathy with the Ultra-movement Party of Paris— in spite of the Restrictions on the Press, and the growing desire for a Representative Government, Prussia upon the whole not discontented with her present Condition— arising from the Monarchy being one of the most Paternal in the World — Reforms introduced by his present Majesty — Municipal System purely Democratical — Municipal Government of Berlin — Prussian Government Anti-aristocratical — Leading Men chiefly belonging to the Middle Classes — although an irresponsible Monarchy, it exhibits the spirit of an economical Democracy — late State Reforms gave a great stimulus to Trade — Cotton Manufactures — Dyeing and Printing — Iron Manufactures — Agriculture and Wool-growing — Linen Manufacture — Roads — Increase of Traders — Intellectual Advancement — Flourishing Condition of Prussia — Commercial League — Education based on Christianity, but free from the Domination of any particular Sect — the Religious Tenets of the Prussian People — less Religious Animosity than in Britain — favourable to a National System of Education — Number of Elementary Schools — Gymnasia and Universities — Every Prussian a Soldier — Peculiar Feature of the Prussian Army — District Physicians appointed for the Poor — very Favourable Circumstances of the Prussian People, and comparatively Contented Feelings of the Nation — Power of an educated and armed Nation to will its own Government, ..306

Letter XV

Environs of Berlin not so Picturesque as those of Hamburgh — Charlottenburgh — the Palace — the Park and Gardens crowded with Sunday Promenaders — The Mausoleum of the Queen of Prussia — Patriotic Feeling of Queen Louisa— the National Monument — the Cemeteries of Berlin — Cast-iron Monuments unpoetical — Church-yard of Prinzlow— Strange Whim of a Lady, whose Remains occupy a handsome Coffin exposed in a Mausoleum — Numerous Visitors to the Cemetery — the Cholera the CONTENTS. Universal Topic of Conversation — its Effects — Smoking on the Streets formerly Forbidden, now Permitted — Berlin Hotels — Want of Time a preventive to speaking of the Royal Porcelain Manufactory — the Invaliden-Haus— the Tivoli Gardens and the Foreign Literary Society — Departure from Berlin,

Letter I

The Elbe— Splendid Morning Scene— Cuxhaven Packet Boats— Gluckstadt— Stade — Stader zoll unjust — ought to be abolished — Blankanese — peculiarity of its inhabitants — Hamburgh — first view of the City from the river — its Harbour — the interior of the City does not fulfil the expectations which a distant view of it is calculated to excite — the streets narrow, crooked, and dirty — Canals — the Jungfernstieg open and handsome — the chief resort of the Fashionables of the City — National Costume — Distinction of Dress among the Working Classes— the Jungfernstieg at night — Cholera the leading topic of conversation at this juncture — intense anxiety felt as to its progress — a Journal entirely devoted to News regarding this remarkable Disease. Hamburgh, 1831. After the listlessness and tedium consequent on a sea voyage, the mind and the body become doubly active.

The eye, limited to the successive waves that chase each other over the bosom of the ocean, to a passing sail or a distant landmark, no sooner is left again to range among the varieties and beauties of earth, than it experiences a curiosity as restless as that of prying boyhood. Each B HAMBURGH. object is invested with a novel interest; and if the country to which the traveller has bent his steps be one with features different from those of his father land, the magical feelings then experienced fail not to give a powerful impulse to the mind and the im agination. Be this as it may, I can only say, that when I found myself sailing along the lovely banks of the Elbe, adorned as they are with towns, with villages, with villas, and with wood, I felt, as it were, in a sort of paradise, and eager to enjoy it.

The lower banks of the Elbe, from Cuxhaven to Gluckstadt, resemble those of the Thames in a striking degree. They are verdant and rich in foliage, with every now and then a village or a spire to break the extreme flatness of the landscape. The river is much broader than its English rival, and almost equals it in the number and variety of the vessels that shoot in all directions along its bosom. The splendid morning scene which met my eye on entering the Elbe, I shall indeed never forget, studded over as a river twenty miles broad then was with every species of craft — from the stately and spanking ship, to the picturesque and swallowy HAMBURGH. 3 Blankaneser fishing-boat, all glittering mid the glow ing tints of a sun rising and bursting over the low wooded shores of Holstein. It was one of those effects of sky and sea which a Vandevelde so fre quently, but with all his pictorial genius and art, has so vainly attempted to transfer to canvas — an effect which depends for its beauty almost altogether on its ever-changing, Protean, and even evanes cent character.

At Cuxhaven the steam-boat stopped for a short time, to receive a boatful of passengers bent on an excursion of pleasure, among whom I discovered a very intelligent Hanoverian clergyman and his lady, who had just escaped from the drudgery of a boarding-school, to take their annual vacation tour ; the poor Protestant parsons — and Heaven knows, there are abundance of these in Germany — like certain of our own at home, being obliged to eke out their slender incomes by " teaching the young idea how to shoot.'" The party, on reaching the deck, broke out into the most hyperbolical praise of the scene that surrounded them; but the long winded and inverted Teutonic sentence of commen- HAMBURGH. dation was scarcely well uttered, before the whole pleasure party descended to the cabin to take their morning doze of cheese and butterbrod, with a bumper of schnaps to secure the stomach against the pernicious consequences of the air of sunrise !

I may here mention, that since the establishment of steam navigation between London and Ham burgh, Cuxhaven has fallen off considerably in importance as a port. Formerly it was the rendez vous of all strangers going by the packet-boats to, and returning from England; but the visitors who now go thither, are chiefly Hamburgh and Han over valetudinarians, who calculate on getting a new lease of life from taking advantage of the health-inspiring springs and baths of Ritzebiittel. The steam-boat navigation, therefore, while it is calculated to injure Cuxhaven as a packet station, will improve it as a watering-place. At present there are nine packet-boats plying between Har wich and Cuxhaven, the commanders of which get each £1000 a-year; but since the establishment of steam vessels direct from Hamburgh to London, the number of letters sent by the packets are scarcely HAMBURGH. 5 sufficient to defray the expense of transit.

There are about two thousand letters despatched weekly by the steam-boat, and the certainty and rapidity of this mode of conveyance, are so great, that it is not difficult to foretell when Joseph Hume will be altogether relieved from the trouble of looking into this department of the Post-office expenditure, — ■ which, however, is perhaps not altogether unworthy of his attention at the present moment. After passing Gluckstadt, which is a fortified town of no great size, we soon reach Stade, placed on the right bank of the river, formerly one of the Hanse atic towns, and interesting to Englishmen, as hav ing been at an early period the residence of the English Factory. This town was sold, together with the whole Dutchy of Bremen, to George I. soon after the fatal battle of Pultowa. A certain toll or duty, called Stader zoll, is here exacted upon all cargoes going up the Elbe ; with this exception, that property belonging to the citizens of Ham burgh under the Hamburgh flag, are free from these dues.

This duty, however, is paid to the Hanoverian collector in Hamburgh. HAMBURGH. English merchants have for many years been loudly complaining to the Government at home, against this heavy and vexatious impost upon Bri tish property, but hitherto without avail. Even as far back as the Congress of Vienna, this subject was urged upon the attention of the Hanoverian and British Governments ; and had the mercantile interest of Great Britain been at all attended to, or even thought of, by its representatives at that celebrated conference, there is little doubt but that these Stade dues would have been long ago abolished. It is a matter certainly which should be settled immediately, especially before the crowns of Hanover and England are divided, and when the interests of the two countries will not be so much in unison as at present.