certainly bespeak none of that calm, prudent cast of thought which belongs to the Saxon. On these Sunday festivals, their whole soul seems to be occupied with music and dancing: The women, too, are not less lively, and then they have eyes which tell a tale, still more passionate and touching than that which is poured forth through the blue orbs of the fair-haired Saxon."-Vol. ii, pp. 187, et seq.

;

This "passionate and touching tale" is listened to with the most paternal indulgence by the Austrian Government; and with that peculiar piety which, in our country, still shudders at the discoveries of Political Economy in connexion with morals it invites profligacy to enjoy the comforts of a magnificent Gebârhaus, which " on an average of eight years afforded shelter to nearly 1000 women annually, of all ranks and conditions; and in 1827, there were no less than 1125 children born within its walls."*

The description of Berlint is a most pleasing and striking contrast to that of Prague. Happiness is diffused among the Prussians, in as large a proportion as the progress of mankind at this moment can enable a government to bestow it upon a nation at large. But it is a happiness which has its foundation, not in the senses but the mind. Cheap rational pleasures are placed within the reach of all.

"To witness the Linden during the throng of a Sunday forenoon, soon after the hour when the military band has ceased to delight the gay group which environs the Königswache, is indeed one of the most interesting sights in Berlin. We have certainly here neither the crowding and elbowing of London, nor the buz and blustering of Naples; but we have what perhaps is better, a well-dressed, well-pleased, and soberlooking population, pacing a street adorned with all that is beautiful in art, and decorated with all that is sweet in nature. The Germans are peculiarly fond of flowers, and at present the balconies of every house are teeming with the richest glories of the green-houses. The brightcoloured flowering hydrangias, which fill the vases that ornament the front of many of the buildings, and the numerous gardens which are scattered up and down this quarter of the town, with the total absence of coal-smoke, give a fragrance to the atmosphere of which the inhabitant of a British city can have no possible idea."‡

We call the reader's attention to the amusements of the lower classes, and beg that he will not lose sight of the enjoyments of the similar classes at Prague.

I have alluded above, to some of the more celebrated coffee-houses which form the peculiar delight of the better classes of this capital,

*Vol. ii, p. 193.

Vol. i, p. 192, et seq.

Vol. i, p. 196.

but if one is desirous to get a peep of those which are more especially patronised by the working and middle classes, and which may be said to exhibit the manners and tastes of the mass of society, he must visit certain of the well-known smoking-houses within the city, and one or other of the extensive flower-gardens beyond the gates. In the Estaminet of Wesotzky, for instance, situated in the Stahschreibergasse, you meet with a constant concourse of visitors gazing through clouds of tobacco-smoke, upon the performances of puppets, or listening over reaming tankards of beer, to the improvisation of Jacobi and the rhyming of Heinsius; two individuals who, in the eyes of the populace of Berlin, are quite worthy of being placed in the same poetical category with the famous Italian Sgricci.”—“ If you get some notion of the pastime of certain classes, by entering an Estaminet of the description I have just mentioned, it is in one or other of the many flower-gardens which surround the Thiergarten (that beautiful park of oak and beech trees, through which alleys for carriages and equestrians, and walks for pedestrians, have been cut in every direction) that you obtain the best idea of the general out-door society of Berlin. Last Sunday we made a tour through a few of the best of these gardens lying in the suburb beyond the Brandenburgh gate, and were delighted beyond measure with our visit. The walks and pavilions were crowded by a well-dressed happy people, and exhibited such a mixture of all classes as at once proclaimed the peculiarly democratical complexion of Prussian society. It was, indeed, delightful to see the mechanic with his whole household pacing up and down these flower-gardens, and entering the many splendid pavilions, where coffee, tea, chocolate, beer, and kalsschale, were to be had for a few pence, with the same nonchalance and happy expression in their faces as were exhibited by their more wealthy and exalted fellow-citizens. Each garden had its own peculiar music: one had a choir of singers; another, a military band; a third, a full orchestra, to the strains of which all seemed peculiarly alive. There was no boisterous mirth, no rude familiarity, no outward indecorum; the conduct of every one was, in fact, characterised by politeness and propriety. What a happy contrast the whole scene afforded to the Sunday beer-swilling, gin-drinking junketings of the working classes of Great Britain!"*

But our author's pictures of this kind, both respecting Prussia and Saxony, should be examined and considered in the work itself. It is there that, from a number of circumstances which, in a review, would lose their life and freshness, an impartial and reflecting mind may draw the most satisfactory inferences respecting European progress. The boisterous patriotism of such men as Börnet and Heyne, has raised a mist of prejudice through which it is, at present, rather difficult to see the real

* Vol. i, p. 256, et seq.

† There are translated specimens of the style of Börne in the Appendix to vol. ii, of the work under review.

state of Germany. To certain people, the only prospect of liberty is that which lies beyond the smoke and glare of destruction: social improvement without an accompaniment of din and clamour, is to them an impossibility. The mistake of this kind of politicians arises from a very narrow view of the most remarkable instances of useful revolutions. Because the European race could not break the fetters of the Middle Ages without blood and violence, it appears to these politicians that blood and violence were the direct means of social improvement. That they had their usefulness is unquestionable: for it is the recollection of the fearful scenes occasioned by resistance to improvement, that smooths the path of our present progress.

There is another source of mistake on this point:—the too prevalent habit of considering the European race as still consisting of necessarily rival nations; and forgetting that, independently of Protocols and Treaties, we are every day more and more united as one family, wherein the labours, the efforts, the advances of one portion necessarily contribute to the benefit of the whole. Who can point out the country that is not at this moment the better for the French Revolution? The knowledge, the labours, the sufferings of no part of this great family have, since printing became a cheap and general process, ever been in vain in regard to the improvement of the whole. To doubt this, because that improvement shows itself in different, and sometimes apparently opposite forms, betrays a very confined acquaintance with the philosophy of history and mankind. The European nations have finally been knit into one body. What the policy and courage of the Romans unconsciously prepared by aiming at universal dominion; what after the fall of that mighty empire Charlemagne promoted, with more enlightened views; what the Crusades still more clearly suggested when they formed that remarkable moral union, called Christendom, the Printing Press has fully accomplished. Europe is a body with a common sensorium, which we call opinion. In this body, it is folly to aim at a similarity of all its members; to expect from them all an identity of action. One spirit will certainly more and more animate this whole; but its operations will, must, should be distinct. In regard to Politics, it is enough that there is not one so backward and ignorant people in the European family (that family is not confined to Europe) that is not in full possession of the main principle, that government exists only for the sake of the governed. Let this principle become, as it certainly will, identified with the thinking soul of every man, and patriots and philanthropists need not distress themselves, and much less others, for the sake of political forms. The time

Mr Strang gives of Bohemia, contrasted with Saxony, which borders upon it, is not more interesting than it is instructive. Here the dominion of a most influential priesthood over the mind, makes oppression quite safe on the part of the Government. But let us hear Mr. Strang.

"You may easily conceive, that a country thus subject to the influence of priestcraft, will give no trouble to the Government; and so it is. Bohemia is king-ridden, as well as priest-ridden; for although, from all I can learn, there is not a little dissatisfaction among the people, in consequence of poverty and taxation, still the priest can always command them; and these idle knaves are ever found on the side of aristocracy and tyranny. Of all the dependencies of Austria, none are governed with greater severity than Bohemia. The peasantry are placed under the degrading vassallage of the feudal system in its worst form. The middle classes are subjected to heavy taxation, the hardship of which is aggravated by the vicious mode of collection. The tax-gatherer here, buys his office, and in the exercise of power, appears to be somewhat akin to the underlings of the Turkish Sultan. The noblesse, rich and highly privileged, look down upon the general mass of society as beings of almost a different species, and arrogate to themselves even a higher rank than the more modern nobility of Austria. There is in Bohemia a Landtag, or National Council, similar to that of Saxony, which occasionally meet; but the individuals who compose this assembly, rather study their own interests than those of the people, whose voice is never heard in it. A small minority once made a struggle for certain ameliorations in the existing system; but the party of the Government prevailed, and reform was nipped in the bud. Among the nobility, there is no doubt a strong feeling against the general principle of absolutism on the part of the Emperor; but their own privileges are so much mixed up with the question, that little can be expected from them in favour of better government. The want of political information among the people, and, what is of greater consequence, the want of confidence in one another, are the great bars to their political improvement as a nation. I have noticed the beauty of the river and its islands, as seen from the bridge. These islands form the chief points of attraction for the people of Prague on a Sunday, because there they can obtain, at a cheap rate, every sort of refreshment and amusement. On the Gross Venedig, or Great Venice, for instance, which is the principal resort of the lower classes, the scene is a perfect carnival. At one corner, you have music and dancing; at another, eating and beer-drinking; both under the wide-spreading canopy of the lime and the chestnut-tree. Here the stranger finds a pretty fair sample of the Prague populace, whose appearance and habits are very different indeed from those of their neighbours in Saxony. Instead of the grenadier figure and staid expression of the Dresdeners, you find the generality of the men about the middle size,active and nervous, with long black hair, hanging about a face whose chief characteristic is derived from a cock-nose and a projecting chin. Their countenances, upon the whole, rather indicate a careless roving disposition, and

...

certainly bespeak none of that calm, prudent cast of thought which belongs to the Saxon. On these Sunday festivals, their whole soul seems to be occupied with music and dancing: The women, too, are not less lively, and then they have eyes which tell a tale, still more passionate and touching than that which is poured forth through the blue orbs of the fair-haired Saxon."-Vol. ii, pp. 187, et seq.

This "passionate and touching tale" is listened to with the most paternal indulgence by the Austrian Government; and with that peculiar piety which, in our country, still shudders at the discoveries of Political Economy in connexion with morals; it invites profligacy to enjoy the comforts of a magnificent Gebârhaus, which "on an average of eight years afforded shelter to nearly 1000 women annually, of all ranks and conditions; and in 1827, there were no less than 1125 children born within its walls."*

The description of Berlin† is a most pleasing and striking contrast to that of Prague. Happiness is diffused among the Prussians, in as large a proportion as the progress of mankind at this moment can enable a government to bestow it upon a nation at large. But it is a happiness which has its foundation, not in the senses but the mind. Cheap rational pleasures are placed within the reach of all.

"To witness the Linden during the throng of a Sunday forenoon, soon after the hour when the military band has ceased to delight the gay group which environs the Königswache, is indeed one of the most interesting sights in Berlin. We have certainly here neither the crowding and elbowing of London, nor the buz and blustering of Naples; but we have what perhaps is better, a well-dressed, well-pleased, and soberlooking population, pacing a street adorned with all that is beautiful in art, and decorated with all that is sweet in nature. The Germans are peculiarly fond of flowers, and at present the balconies of every house are teeming with the richest glories of the green-houses. The brightcoloured flowering hydrangias, which fill the vases that ornament the front of many of the buildings, and the numerous gardens which are scattered up and down this quarter of the town, with the total absence of coal-smoke, give a fragrance to the atmosphere of which the inhabitant of a British city can have no possible idea.”‡

We call the reader's attention to the amusements of the lower classes, and beg that he will not lose sight of the enjoyments of the similar classes at Prague.

"I have alluded above, to some of the more celebrated coffee-houses which form the peculiar delight of the better classes of this capital,

* Vol. ii, P. 193.

Vol. i, p. 192, et seq.

Vol. i, p. 196.