BERKSHIRE, is an inland county of England, which contained the whole of that British principality inhabited by the Atrebatii, who are supposed to have been originally from Gaul. When Constantine divided the island into Roman provinces in 310, this principality was included in Britannia Prima, the first division, whose boundaries were the English channel on the south, and the Thames and Severn on the north. On the Romans quitting the island, and civil dissensions enabling the Saxons to establish the Heptarchy, this part of the country was included in the kingdom of the West Saxons, which commenced in 519, and continued till 828, when it became the only remaining sovereignty, having conquered all the others, and they were incorporated by the name of England, under Egbert; whose grandson, Alfred, a native of Wantage, in this county, in 889 divided his kingdom into counties, hundreds, and parishes, and at this time this division first received its appellation of Berkshire, or Berocshire. At present it is in the Oxford circuit, the province
Berkshire. province of Canterbury, and diocese of Salisbury. The general shape of it somewhat resembles the form of a slipper or sandal. It contains an area of 654 square miles, or 527,000 square acres; is 39 miles long, 29 broad, and about 137 in circumference. It supplies 560 men to the national militia; is situated north-west of London; has 140 parishes, 62 vicarages, 12 market towns but no city, 671 villages, 135,000 inhabitants, 11,560 houses that pay the tax; is divided into 20 hundreds; sends nine members to parliament, two for the county, two for Windsor, two for Reading, two for Wallingford, and one for Abingdon; and pays 10 parts of the proportion of the land-tax. Its principal river is the Thames. It also has the Kennet, great part of which is navigable; the Loddon, the Ocke, and the Lambourne, a small stream, which, contrary to all other rivers, is always highest in summer, and shrinks gradually as winter approaches. The air of this county is healthy even in the vales; and though the soil is not the most fertile, yet it is remarkably pleasant. It is well stored with timber, particularly oak and beech, and produces great plenty of wheat and barley. Its principal manufactures are woollen cloth, sail-cloth, and malt.
Its market towns are Abingdon, Faringdon, Hungerford, East Islsey, Lower Lambourne, Maidenhead, Newbury, Ockingham, Reading, Wallingford, Wantage, and Windsor, remarkable for its royal castle, as the county is for White-horse-hill, near Lambourne, where is the rude figure of a horse, which takes up near an acre of ground on the side of a green hill, said to have been made by Alfred in the reign of his brother Ethelred, as a monument to perpetuate a victory over the Danes in 872, at Ashdown, now Ashburg-Park.
The Roman Watling-street, from Dunstable, enters Berkshire at the village of Streatley, between Wallingford and Reading, and crossing this county proceeds to Marlborough. Another Roman road from Hampshire enters this county, leads to Reading and Newbury, the Spine of Camden, where it divides: one branch extends to Marlborough in Wilts, and the other to Cirencester in Gloucestershire. A branch from the Icknield-street proceeds from Wallingford to Wantage.
There is a Roman camp near Wantage on the brow of a hill, of a quadrangular form; there are other remains of encampments at East-Hampstead, near Ockingham, near White-horse-hill, near Pusey, and upon Sinodun-hill, near Wallingford. At Lawrence Waltham is a Roman fort, and near Denchworth is Churbury castle, a fortress of Canute. Uffington castle, near White-horse-hill, is supposed to be Danish; and near it is Dragon-hill, supposed to be the burying-place of Uter Pendragon, a British prince. Near White-horse-hill are the remains of a funeral monument of a Danish chief slain at Ashdown by Alfred. In this county the following antiquities are worthy the notice of travellers: Abingdon church and abbey; Aldworth castle, near East Islsey; Bysham monastery; Dunnington castle; Lambourne church; Reading abbey; Sunning chapel; Wallingford church and castle. Windsor castle beggars all description for situation, &c. Berkshire is an earldom belonging to a branch of the Howard family, the representative being earl of Suffolk and Berkshire.
Berlin. BERLIN, a city of Germany, capital of the electorate of Brandenburg, and of the whole Prussian dominions, seated in E. Long. 13. 37. N. Lat. 52. 53. This city is one of the largest, best built, and best governed, of any in Germany. The streets are large, straight, clean, and well paved, and some of them very long and elegant. There are also several large and beautiful squares, with pleasant walks. It is surrounded with handsome gardens, which produce excellent fruit. The river Spree, that crosses the city, has a communication with the Havel Oder, and Elbe, which greatly facilitate commerce. The French refugees have greatly contributed to the embellishment of the grandeur of Berlin; inasmuch as they have introduced all kinds of manufactures, and various arts.
Berlin is divided into five parts, without reckoning the suburbs, which are very large. The houses in these last are almost all of wood; but so well plastered, that they seem to be of stone. In the suburb called Spandau is a house belonging to the royal family, with well contrived apartments, and furnished in a very fine taste. In the suburb of Stralau is a house and garden belonging to the king. The royal gate of the city is defended by a half moon, and two bastions, covered with brick; it fronts the royal street, which is one of the longest and most frequented in the city. It contains very handsome houses, particularly those belonging to some of the ministers of state.
The royal street is crossed by five others, which are large and fine. On the new bridge, which is of stone, over the Spree, is an equestrian statue of William the Great, which is esteemed an exquisite piece of workmanship. The elector is represented in a Roman habit, and his horse stands on a pedestal of white marble adorned with basso relievos, and four slaves bound to the base.
After this bridge is past, the king's palace appears, which is a grand and superb edifice; it is four stories high, and the apartments are extremely magnificent. No place in Europe has such a great quantity of silver tables, stands, lusters, branched candlesticks, &c. In the knights hall there is a buffet, which takes up all one side, where there are basons and cisterns of gilt silver, of extraordinary magnitude. The furniture of the great apartment is extremely rich; and there is a very handsome gallery, adorned with paintings, representing the principal actions of Frederick I. Formerly there were fine gardens to the palace, but they are now turned into a place of arms. The king's stables are large, stand near the palace, and front the great street. Externally they make a Gothic appearance, but within they are very magnificent. The mangers are of stone, and the pillars that divide the stalls are of iron, adorned with the king's cypher, gilt. Over the racks are pictures representing the finest horses which the king's stud has produced. Over the stables there are large rooms, containing all sorts of horse-furniture, particularly the horse-equipage of Frederick I. all the metallic part of which is gold, set with diamonds. Besides these, there are handsome lodgings for the officers of the stables. Over the riding-house is a theatre, where plays have been acted, and balls have been made for the entertainment of the court.
The arsenal consists of four grand buildings, that form a court in the middle, like a college: each front has
has three large porticoes. On the principal gate is a medallion of Frederick II. in bronze; and the four cardinal virtues, of a colossal stature, placed on pedestals on each side of the portico, seem to look at the portrait of the king, which is supported by Fame and Victory. The Corinthian order is prevalent in the first stage, and is managed with a great deal of art. The whole edifice is surrounded in the upper part with a balustrade, adorned with trophies and statues, among which is Mars seated on a heap of several sorts of arms. This altogether forms a noble and majestic decoration. It is bounded with iron in the shape of cannon, which are placed at proper distances, and support iron chains that hang like festoons, to prevent passengers from approaching the windows below. The lower rooms are filled with a great number of brass cannon; the walls and pillars which sustain the floor are set off with cuirasses and helmets. The upper story contains several rooms filled with arms, which are disposed in a curious order. Behind the arsenal is the house of the general of the artillery, which includes the foundry, where they are continually at work. Besides this, there are other places where they keep the train of artillery.
The opera-house is an elegant modern edifice. The front has a noble portico supported by Corinthian columns, and a pediment adorned with basso relievos and statues. The columns that support the roof throw the whole into a grand saloon. It has three galleries, and is said to be capable of containing 2000 persons.
A rampart and fosse separate Worder from Dorothea Stadt, or the New Town, inhabited chiefly by French. There are seven great alleys or walks, which divide this quarter into two parts. The middle walk is broader than the rest, and is surrounded with balustrades, having a grass-plot in the middle: this is for persons that take the air on foot. The alleys on each side are paved, and serve for those that come abroad in coaches. These alleys, which are about three miles in length, are terminated with a bar, that leads towards the park. The alleys with trees are bounded by rows of houses. In one of these is a building, formerly called the lesser stables, and now made into lodgings for the guards. The apartments above these are occupied by the academy of painting and the academy of arts and sciences. Behind these is the observatory, where there is a great number of astronomical and mathematical instruments.
There are other things worthy of observation, such as the cabinet of medals, and of the antiquities belonging to the king; that of natural curiosities; the chemical laboratory, and its furnaces and medals, of a new invention: the theatre for anatomical demonstrations; the royal library, which is one of the completest in Germany, and has many scarce books and manuscripts.
The city was taken in 1760 by an army of Russians, Austrians, Saxons, &c. who entered on the 9th of October. They totally destroyed the magazines, arsenals, and foundries, seized an immense quantity of military stores, and a number of cannon and arms; called first for the immediate payment of 800,000 guilders, and then laid on a contribution of 1,900,000 German crowns: not satisfied with this, many irregularities were committed by the soldiery; but, on the whole, though some shocking actions were committed
a far more exact discipline was observed than from such troops could have been expected upon such an occasion, where there was every incentive which could work upon the license of a conquering army. Their officers no doubt with great difficulty preserved even that degree of order.
But though their behaviour was tolerable with regard to the private inhabitants, there was something shocking and ungenerous in their treatment of the king's palace. The apartments of the royal castle of Charlottenburg were entirely plundered, the precious furniture spoiled, the pictures defaced, without even sparing the antique statues collected by Cardinal Polignac, which had been purchased by the house of Brandenburg. The castles of Schonhausen, belonging to the queen, and that of Fredericksfeld, belonging to the Margrave Charles, were also plundered.
The palace of Potsdam, the famous Sans-fouci, had a better fate; Prince Esterhazy commanded there, and it was preserved from the smallest violation. The prince, on viewing the palace, only asked which picture of the king resembled him most; and being informed, desired that he might have leave to take it, together with two German flutes which the king used, to keep them, he said, in memory of his majesty. This was a sort of taking very different from pillage.
They staid in the city four days: but hearing that the king, apprehensive of this stroke, was moving to the relief of his capital, they quitted it on the 13th of October; and having wasted the whole country round for a vast extent, and driven away all the cattle and horses they could find, retreated by different routes out of Brandenburg.