PRUSSIA

WHEN the article under this head in the Encyclopædia was written, the kingdom of Prussia was reduced to a very low condition, and its boundaries contracted within a very narrow compass. Its capital and fortresses were in possession of the armies of France, and the whole country was considered merely as the highway to the future scenes of conquest which Buonaparte had planned. By a treaty of peace, which was merely nominal, since France fulfilled none of her part of the stipulations, the Prussian dominions were considerably curtailed, by the cession of many provinces to the powers that were allowed to exist, with an apparent sovereignty, under the control of the French chief. The reverse which the arms of France received in Russia led the Prussian monarch, who was, in reality, a prisoner in his capital, to break the chains by which he was bound, and turn the whole force of his state against his conqueror. During the lowest depression of his kingdom, though his army was reduced and his finances seized by his enemies, yet some part of the internal management of his affairs was left under the direction of his own ministers. As long as the French occupied his country, though the number of

his troops in actual service were but few, yet, by dismissing those who had been sufficiently drilled, and enlisting a constant succession of new recruits, when the proper period for exertion arrived, so great a proportion of the inhabitants had been taught the use of arms, that, from the general spirit of indignation which existed against France, and the simplicity of the system of recruiting which had been long established, no difficulty was found in raising, almost instantly, an army of numerous and moderately instructed soldiers. The French had, indeed, stripped the kingdom of arms, but the deficiency was supplied, with unexampled promptitude, from the arsenals of Great Britain; so that, within a few months after the retreat of the French from Moscow, the Prussian monarch was enabled to bring into the field an army of more than two hundred thousand men. The principal fortresses were garrisoned by the enemy, but the communication between them was completely cut off, as soon as the French had been compelled to abandon the fields of Prussia, and collect their forces in Saxony for the campaign of 1813. During that year the arms of Prussia, united to those of Russia and Sweden, at

first, and subsequently with those of Austria, were splendidly victorious, and crowned a brilliant campaign by the decisive battle of Leipsic; by which Prussia and the whole of Germany were at length freed from that Gallic yoke which had pressed them down for the seven preceding years. The Congress which assembled in Vienna, after the conquest of France, had the difficult and dangerous task of assigning to the various powers who had contributed to that event the dominions which, by right of conquest, had fallen among them; and after various discussions, and it is reported, after alterations that threatened the renewal of hostilities, settled the state of Europe according to the divisions that now exist; and made such provision for extending the power of Prussia as was thought most conducive to the security of the balance of power on the continent.

Prussia has been gradually rising in importance in the scale of European politics, and has increased its dominions in the last hundred and thirty years by conquest and cessions, as well as by the augmentation of its territorial wealth and its population. On the death of Prince Frederick William in 1688, the number of Prussian subjects was 1,500,000; at the death of King Frederick in 1713, they were 1,620,000; at the death of Frederick William the First in 1740, they were 2,200,000; at the death of Frederick the Second in 1786, they were 5,800,000; at the death of Frederick William the Second in 1797, when the present king ascended the throne, they amounted to 8,700,000, and by the late acquisitions they have reached to 10,536,000. The divisions which Prussia received in 1815 were, from France,

the province of the Lower Rhine, and part of Juliers Cleeve and Berg; from the kingdom of Westphalia (created for Jerome Buonaparte), the principality of Munster and part of Berg and Cleeve; from the kingdom of Saxony, the ancient duchy of that name, and a part of Lausatia; and from Poland, the province of Posen, which had, indeed, been formerly added to this kingdom on the last division of that country.

Prussia has no intercourse betwixt its eastern and western provinces, without passing through the dominions of other princes. Hanover, to the north, is interposed between the eastern and western provinces of Prussia; and in the southward parts of it, the sovereigns of Brunswick, Waldeck, Hesse-Casel, Hesse Darmstadt, Nassau, Saxe Weimar, and Saxe Gotha, intercept the direct communication. The boundaries of this kingdom are on the north, the Baltic Sea, and a small portion of the duchy of Mecklenburg; on the east, Russia and its dependant kingdom Poland; on the south-east Austria; on the south the kingdom of Saxony, and the Saxon duchies; on the south-west Bavaria and part of France; and on the west France and the kingdom of the Netherlands. In describing these boundaries, it is, however, necessary to remark, that some parts of the kingdom are small detached portions entirely insulated by the dominions of other powers, such as Neufchatel in Switzerland, Suhl in Saxony, and Rahnis in Saxe Weimar.

The great division of Prussia is into those provinces which are in Germany, which form a part of the Germanic Confederation, and maintain a stipulated number of troops for its defence; and of those states which have no connection with that alliance.

Population. Of this population, by the census of 1817, the males were 5,244,308, and the females 5,320,535. The marriages were 112,034, the deaths 306,484, and the births 454,031; of which 53,576 were illegitimate; the proportion of sexes born was 20 males to 19 females. The deaths, two in 69, were one male to 33, and one female to 36. Of the illegitimate children that were born, three out of every ten died in the first year, of the legitimate only two out of every ten.

The inhabitants of this kingdom are distributed in the following manner:

The people of this monarchy are of different races. The most numerous body are of German origin, divided by language and customs into the High and Low Germans. These together amount to 8,600,000, and, with the exception of the province of Posen, form everywhere the great majority. The Low German or platt Deutsche language is generally spoken in the countries between the Rhine and the Elbe, on the north side of the Hartz mountains, and prevails along the Baltic, through part of Brandenburg and Pomerania. In Silesia, in the southern part of Saxony, in the trans-Rhænish provinces, and in East Prussia, a dialect, or rather differing idioms of the High German tongue, are spoken; but all far removed from the pure language of Saxony, or, as it is called, Der Meissnichen Dialect. The Walloons in the vicinity of the forest of Ardennes, and the colonists descended from French refugees at the time of the revocation of the edict of Nantes, are now much mixed with the German inhabitants, but many of them have confused the two languages, and speak a kind of German-French-Patois. Among the higher classes in every part of the kingdom the pure High German language is spoken, generally with the peculiar idiom and pronunciation of Berlin; and that language is universally used in books, in the churches, in the courts of law, and in the more important transactions of commerce.

The Prussian subjects of Sclavonian origin amount to about 1,750,000, and retain their original language. About 1,500,000 of these are usually denominated Poles, and are the inhabitants of parts of Posen, West Prussia, and Silesia. About 50,000 people in Lithuania have a peculiar language of their own. The Wenden or Vandals have also a different language from all the other subjects of Prussia. The whole number of them is about 225,000. They are settled, a few in the province of Brandenburg, the remainder in the province of Pomerania, and the districts of Leignitz and Kassabon in East Prussia. To these must be added the Jews, amounting to about 130,000 individuals, who are to be met with in every part of the Prussian territory, but principally in the province of Posen.

The predominant religion in Prussia is the Protestant, now denominated the Evangelical Confession; comprehending Lutherans, Calvinists, Hephurthers, or Moravians, and Hussites. The professors of it amounted in 1817 to 6,370,380 individuals; of whom more than 6,000,000 were, before the union, of the sects of the Lutheran persuasion. They form a large majority in the circles of Königsberg, Gumbinnen, Dantzic, Berlin, Potsdam, Frankfurt, Stettin, Koslin, Stralsund, Breslaw, Reichenbach, Leignitz, Magdeburg, Merseburg, Erfurt, and Minden. The Catholics amounted at the same period to 4,023,513; and formed the majority in the districts of Marienwerder, Bromberg, Posen, Oppeln, Münster, Arensberg, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Cleves, Koblenz, Aachen, and Treves. The Mennonites, a species of Anabaptists, amount to about 15,000, and the Jews, as before stated, to about 130,000. These different parties are all equal in the eye of the law, have the same protection for their worship, and are

all alike eligible to every civil, judicial, and military office.

The inhabitants are divided into classes. At the head of these the nobles are of two kinds practically, though not legally. The high nobility are the princes who were formerly petty Sovereigns on their own estates, but whose independence has merged in the general government; they amount to about fifty families. The lower nobility, consisting of about 200,000 individuals, have preferable claims to certain offices in the army, the state, and the church; but their privileges have been gradually contracting, and they are now in almost every point only equal to the burghers or citizens. The burgher class of inhabitants, including the military, amount to 2,900,000 individuals. The power of the guilds in the cities has been gradually diminished, and they are now scarcely obstacles, as they were formerly; here, and still are in other parts of Germany, to the exercise of industry and ingenuity in any profession which individuals may select for themselves. The inhabitants who enjoy personal rank are the civil officers of government, and the clergy; the former with their wives and children comprehend 170,000, and the latter about 50,000 individuals. The whole of the other people are the Bauern or peasants. They were formerly slaves, and were usually sold, as in Russia, with the estates to which they were attached; but their lot has been progressively ameliorated, and during the reign of the present king, the last vestiges of this barbarism have been totally abolished. The final extinction of personal slavery was not decreed till September 1811; and from the military events which speedily succeeded, it has not been practically destroyed till within the last four years. At present the peasantry, who amount to two-thirds of the whole population, are a species of copyholders with customary quitrents and heriots to the land owners; but they may purchase land, and become themselves proprietors; a benefit only recently conferred on them, and which those who are industrious and economical very eagerly avail themselves of.

As the cultivation of the soil is the employment of three-fourths of the inhabitants of the dominions of Prussia, it deserves the first notice in a description of the country. The greater part of the territory is a sandy soil, generally very level, and often covered with heaths. The woods of it are nearly one-fourth of the whole surface, and only certain portions near the rivers, or in particular situations, can be considered as fertile, or even grateful soils. The wants and the industry of the inhabitants, aided by a rigid parsimony, directed and stimulated by a paternal, though absolute government, have changed, in the course of the last century, the most sterile and unproductive kingdom of Europe into a territory which more than supplies the demands of its own inhabitants, and leaves a surplus quantity of corn in most years for provisioning other countries. Besides its corn, it exports to the neighbouring states vast quantities of fruits, whose cultivation was unknown in the kingdom, at the accession of Frederick the Great in 1740. In so extensive a territory there will necessarily be great inequalities in soil, in cul-

ture, and in productions. Many barren sandy plains are to be found, which are deemed to be more expensive to bring into cultivation than could be repaid by their productions. This is especially the case in the Churmark, in Lower Lausatia, and in some of the Westphalian provinces, where large spaces are occupied by heaths; such as the heaths of Minden, which extend over 10,000 acres, those of Lippstadt of 20,000, and the still larger ones of Senner and Fuhling. In East Prussia are several very extensive morasses, which require draining to render them productive. In the fruitful district of Magdeburg the bog of the Dromling covers more than 100,000 acres. A part of it, indeed, is in the Hanoverian, and a part of it in the Brunswick territory, which prevents the necessary drains from being executed, which would make it one of the most valuable tracts of land in that part of Germany.

The most fruitful corn land in the kingdom of Prussia is the vicinity of Tilsit, and some other districts of East Prussia, and the greater part of the province of Posen. In West Prussia the district of the Netz, the country round Marienburg, and that near Dantzic and Elbing, are excellent corn countries. In the Mark of Brandenburg only some districts, such as the Mark of Prignitz and the Uker-mark, are celebrated for the quantity and quality of their grain. In both Prussian and Swedish Pomerania, and especially on the island of Rugen, excellent corn is raised, as well as in some small portions of New Silesia. The soil is very favourable for all kinds of grains in the duchies of Saxony and Magdeburg, and in Thuringia, and in the principalities of Halberstadt and Quedlingburg. These divisions in favourable seasons may be considered as the real granaries from which the less fertile parts of Prussia draw their supplies of corn.

The western part of the Prussian dominions are far less productive in grain than the eastern. A few only of the Westphalian provinces are highly fruitful. The districts most eminent for corn are the vicinity of Minden and of Paderborn, the borders of the Soester, and circles of the Sieg and the Wupper. In the Rhenish provinces the neighbourhood of Julich, Bonn, Cologne, Coblenz, Kreuznach, Bacharach, and the banks of the Meuse, are tolerably fertile. Though some parts of the kingdom are deficient, yet, on the whole, Prussia grows more corn than its consumption requires; and in favourable years the value of the surplus exported to other countries has amounted to from 1,800,000 to 2,000,000 florins, each florin estimated at two shillings Sterling. The principal grains of Prussia are wheat, rye, barley, and oats. The quantity of rye far exceeds that of every other kind of corn; it forms the principal aliment of the inhabitants, among whom wheat is seldom eaten in bread. Pease, both white and grey, are extensively raised, and especially that description of them known in England by the name of "Prussian blues." Beans of all varieties are cultivated in the soils on the borders of the rivers, that are suitable to their growth. Buck wheat is much sown in some parts, and forms an important part of the sustenance of the labouring classes. An article

for food is collected in Prussia, especially in Brandenburg, from the seeds of the grass called Festuca fluitans. It is manufactured into a substance called Manna grits, and is more agreeable to the taste, though employed for the same purposes, as oatmeal with us. The cultivation of potatoes has for many years past been gradually extending, and is become so great as to supply almost the sole aliment of a very great proportion of the labouring population.

The most productive branch of rural economy, next to corn, is that of breeding and fattening cattle. The practices in this branch are, however, of a very low description; and though the different races, especially of cows, are to be found in Prussia, yet so little attention has been paid by crossing them, to obtain the most perfect animals, that they are almost all very indifferent. The sheep generally are bad; but of late years great improvements have been made in their fleeces by the introduction of the Merino and Paduan rams. The fine woolled sheep now amount to 7,000,000, and supply the manufacturers with that raw material which used formerly to be furnished principally from Spain. The races of horses are not good, though great efforts have been made by the government to improve them, and establishments of stallions, for gratuitous propagation, are fixed in several parts of the kingdom. The breeding of swine is a very considerable employment; and the hams, bacon, and sausages made from them form a large proportion of the animal food of the inhabitants of the Prussian dominions.

The great deficiency in the rural economy of Prussia, as in most parts of the Continent, is the small portion of land appropriated to pasture. Hence the number of cattle maintained is small in proportion to its extent; and the effects of the deficiency of manure is to be found in the small increase on the different crops of grain. The average increase is stated to be six for one of wheat, five and three quarters for one of barley, four for one of rye, and four and a half for one of oats. The land of this kingdom is thus appropriated:

The remaining 11,800,000 acres are either in lakes, ponds, rivers, canals, roads, the sites of cities, towns and villages, or of so bad a soil as not to be deemed worth cultivation.

Besides articles for food, the soil of Prussia produces many for commerce: the principal of these is flax, which is grown in every village, and almost by every peasant. Besides what is used by the growers for their own domestic manufactures, the quantity annually brought to the markets is calculated at 22,000,000 pounds. Two-thirds of this quantity is produced from Silesia alone. It is gene-

Prussia. rally of a good quality, with a fine and long fibre, especially when raised from foreign seed. This change of seed is found so essential, that large quantities are annually brought from Russia; and the seed preserved at home is mostly used for making oil and oil cake, with the latter of which the oxen are fattened. Tobacco, madder, woad, safflower, and hops, have been much grown, especially during the continental restrictions of Buonaparte; and though the openings of foreign commerce have much discouraged their cultivation, they are still continued upon a small scale. Chicorium, or succory, as in other parts of Germany, is much used as a substitute for coffee; and though the peace has reduced the price of the latter article, the succory finds an extensive sale, and is still cultivated very largely in many districts. The wine made in Prussia before the acquisition of the Rhenish provinces was of a bad quality, and scarcely superior to vinegar; but these territories yield wine of good flavours and great strength: the annual quantity is calculated to vary from six to eight million gallons. The forests, amounting, as before stated, to nearly two-sevenths of the whole country, furnish timber for building and for exportation, fuel, tar, pitch, rosin, and potash, and are more valuable from the great facilities which the rivers and canals afford to internal navigation, by which their products can be easily conveyed to the borders of the sea.

The mines are by no means worked to the extent of which they are capable. Every province possesses iron, which is prepared in forges and blast-furnaces in their vicinity. They are principally worked with charcoal from the neighbouring forests, but in some few instances with fossil coal. Little or no iron is exported, as it can be made cheaper in countries that have more easy access to the ocean. The mines of rock salt, and the salt springs, are sufficiently worked to supply the consumption of their vicinity, but the provinces in the Baltic Sea find it more advantageous to draw their supplies from the mines of Cheshire. Coals are found in Silesia, Saxony, and Westphalia; but the mines are not extensively worked: the whole quantity raised not exceeding 330,000 chaldrons. From the unproductive state of the gold mines of Silesia, they ceased to be worked in 1798. The silver mines are those of Tarnowitz and Rudelstad, in Silesia, and of Mansfeld and Rothenburg, in Saxony. Their united produce does not at present exceed 160,000 ounces. The other minerals are copper, lead, cobalt, calamine, arsenic, alum, vitriol, and saltpetre; but they do not yield sufficient for the internal consumption. Amber is almost an exclusive production of Prussia. It is found in mines, as well as procured by the fishermen on the shores of the Baltic. It belongs to the crown, and is let to farm.

The capital, and annual produce of the land of Prussia has been calculated, by Professor Krug, from documents in the Statistical Bureau, at Berlin, as follows:

According to the estimate of the same statistical writer, the live stock in the whole of the Prussian dominions, and their annual produce, was—

Prussia is a manufacturing country, though these branches of industry give employment to a far less portion of its inhabitants than the cultivation of the soil. The most natural manufacture is that of linen cloth, the raw material of which, and all the parts which contribute to its perfecting, are produced at home. It has been long established, and extensively spread. In Silesia, especially, the habit of spinning fine thread has given to the females a delicacy of tact, that is only excelled in some parts of the Netherlands. Besides, the common articles for personal and domestic use, the finest and most beautiful damask services for the table are made, which are generally preferred to all others, in the higher circles, through the whole of Europe. Before the late

war, the produce of the linen of Silesia, from 34,910 looms, amounted to L. 1,689,915 Sterling; of which L. 970,000 was destined for foreign consumption. In the western provinces, the linen cloth is principally made for home consumption. The number of looms in the whole kingdom, in 1816, was 207,870.

The increase of Merino sheep has given a great stimulus to the fine woollen manufactures, especially to those in the newly acquired provinces on the French frontiers, where some of the best superfine cloths that Europe can exhibit are made. In the late department of the Roer, or, as it is now denominated, the circle of Aachen, in the towns of Eupen, Aachen, Montjoie, Stolberg, and Montmedy, fine cloths and cassimeres are manufactured, which are estimated to amount to L. 1,500,000 Sterling, and afford employment to upwards of 50,000 workmen, as well as to every kind of machinery that has been invented in England, or in any other country. The cloths for the dress of the middle and lower classes are wholly made within the kingdom from their native wools.

Cotton goods have been made to a considerable extent. In some instances the yarn is spun in foreign countries, and the weaving, bleaching, and dyeing only, executed in Prussia; and as the raw material, a foreign article, cannot be rendered so cheap as in England, this branch of industry has much diminished since the general peace. The iron manufactures are more than sufficient for the domestic consumption, and furnish to the value of about L. 500,000 Sterling for exportation. There are three hundred paper-mills, which furnish the common kinds of paper in quantities sufficient for the consumption of the country; but the finer sorts are supplied either from England or France. Silk goods, and goods mixed either of silk and cotton, or silk and woollen, are chiefly made in the capital, in which, and in some other places, they give employment to about 20,000 looms. The various kinds of leather are made from skins produced at home, as far as they are found sufficient, and the deficiency is supplied from Buenos Ayres, through the intervention of England or Spain. Copper and brass wares, for all domestic purposes are made, partly from the copper and calamine of their own mines, but chiefly with copper furnished by other countries. The amount of these wares is estimated at about L. 200,000 Sterling. Tobacco, snuff, sugar, soap, candles, cabinet-ware, earthen-ware, porcelain, tin goods, and almost every article of common consumption, is made within the kingdom. As no wine is made in the eastern part of Prussia, the common beverage is either beer or brandy distilled from the native grains: the establishments for brewing and distilling are consequently very numerous, but none of them approach in magnitude to the larger concerns of a similar kind in England. The whole quantity of beer brewed is 4,243,100 casks, of 50 gallons each. The consumption of corn brandy is upwards of 8,000,000 gallons. In the larger cities, the letter-founders, printers, engravers, musical, optical, and mathematical instrument makers, gold and silver smiths, jewellers, watch-makers, and other similar artificers, are to be found as abundant and as skill-

ful as in the other countries on the Continent. The number of workmen, including masters, journeymen, and apprentices, exclusive of females and children, is estimated at 350,000, and the value of their productions, above the cost of the raw materials, is calculated to amount to L. 7,600,000 Sterling.

Few of the countries of Europe have been more favoured by nature than Prussia, with streams that contribute to fertility and intercourse; and the labour of the inhabitants has been advantageously directed to several public works, which have facilitated the communication between the different rivers. As the slope of the whole Prussian dominions is towards the west and north, all the rivers that rise in, or pass through them, empty themselves either into the Baltic Sea or the German Ocean. The streams that merge in the first of these are the Niemen, which comes out of Russia, and becomes navigable at Schmaleninken: about ten miles below Tilsit it divides into two branches, which, through the Kurish Haff, empty themselves into the sea. During its short course through the Prussian territory, it receives, on its right side, the waters of the Scheschappe, and on its left those of the navigable river Jura. The Pregel is composed of the united streams of the Pisa, Rarit, Russe, Augerap, and Inster: after it assumes its name it receives the Deine near Tapiau, and the Alle near Wehlau; it becomes navigable near Gatterburg, and, passing Königsberg, discharges its streams by the Frish Haff into the Baltic. The Vistula, or, as it is better known on the Continent by the name of the Weisel or Weichsel, rises in the Austrian part of Silesia. It passes through Poland, where, at Cracow, it becomes navigable. On its entrance into the Prussian territories, it divides into two branches, the eastern of which takes the name of the Nogat, and joins the Baltic near Elbing; the western is again subdivided into two arms, one of which is lost in the Frische Haff, and the other reaches the sea near Dantzic. Its course, after entering Prussia, is about 140 miles, and during its progress, it is augmented by the streams of the Ossa, the Brahe, and the Mottlaw. The Oder, rising in Moravia, enters the Prussian province of Silesia, soon after which, near Ratibor, it becomes navigable, and, after passing through Brandenburg and Pomerania, divides into two branches, and enters the great estuaries that communicate with the Baltic Sea, through the three mouths of Swine, Peene, and Divenow. Its course, in the Prussian states, is 370 miles, the general rate of its current is languid, and it is prevented from overflowing by embankments. It receives, near Oderberg, the waters of the Oppa, near Breslau, those of the Ohlau, near Groslogau, those of the Bartsch, near Neuzelle, those of the Neisse, and at Custrin, those of the Wartha. This last is the most valuable of all the secondary rivers of Prussia, because it affords the means of communication between the Oder and the Vistula. The rivers of Prussia which empty themselves into the German Ocean are the Elbe, coming from Bohemia. It is navigable at Mulberg, where it enters this kingdom. It receives the Elster, near Wittenburg, the Mulda, near Dessau, the Saale, near Saalhorn, and the Havel, near Werben, soon

Prussia. after which, in its passage to the ocean, it quits the Prussian dominions. The Weser enters but a small portion of the territory of this kingdom, though it forms the boundary on the eastern side of the Westphalian provinces, from Holtzminen to Carlshafen. The only part where both its banks are in Prussia, is near Minden, where it has forced its way through the range of mountains, and formed the celebrated passage, well known to the ancients as the Porta Westphalica. The Rhine enters the newly acquired provinces of Prussia, at Bingen, a little below Mentz, and quits them at Kerkerdom, above Nimeguen. It receives, within the Prussian territories, the streams of the Nahe, the Lahn, the Moselle, the Ahr, the Erft, the Roer, and the Lippe. The Ems, though it rises in the province of Westphalia, is a small stream, not navigable till it enters the kingdom of Hanover.

Canals. Most of the rivers of Prussia are so advantageously connected with each other, by means of navigable canals, that an uninterrupted intercourse is maintained by them from Halle and Magdeburg to Elbing; and the surrounding districts have the benefit of those facilities for exchanging their various productions. The Fredricksgraben canal, in East Prussia, is formed to avoid the dangerous navigation of the Kurische Haff, in the intercourse between Tilsit and Memel. The Bromberg canal joins the Netze and the Brahe, and by their means the Oder and the Vistula. It is the most expensive of all the Prussian canals, having, within eighteen miles, ten locks. The commerce on it furnishes freight to about 600 barges annually, each of 30 tons burden, besides smaller boats. The Finnow canal unites the Oder and the Havel, is about twenty miles long, and has on it about 4000 small, and from 1600 to 1700 large boats. The new Oder canal shortens the navigation of that river, and serves also for the purpose of draining the meadows through which it passes. The Plauen canal connects the Havel with the Elbe, and is the channel of intercourse betwixt Berlin and Hamburg. The Fredrick Williams canal unites the Oder and the Spree. Besides these are others of less importance, viz. the Storkow, the Werbellin, the Klodnitz, the Saxon, and the Munster canals, all of which are of local benefit; and the Rhine canal, begun in 1809, but not yet completed.

Lakes. The lakes of Prussia, especially on the eastern portions of the kingdom, are numerous and extensive. On the coast of the Baltic, those lakes, usually denominated Haffs, to distinguish them from the bays, are of fresh water. The largest of them, the Kurische Haff, on the north-east part, extends over 700 square miles. The Frische Haff, near Pillau, is of 360 square miles. The Stettin Haff is of nearly the same extent. Besides the lakes on the shore, those in the interior of the country are stated to exceed 1000, many of them from ten to twenty miles in length. In East Prussia are 300, in West Prussia 160, and in the province of Brandenburg 680. Many parts of these lakes have been contracted by embankments, and the soil they covered gradually appropriated to agricultural purposes. At present

they supply vast quantities of fish, the right to take which is in many instances farmed at very high rates.

Climate. The climate may be generally described as temperate and healthy, though, from the great variety of situations, there are many exceptions. On the borders of the Baltic, the winters are severely cold, and the weather changeable, raw, and foggy. The greatest degree of cold, in the last century, was from the 21st to the 25th January 1795, when Reaumur's thermometer was at 24° below zero. The greatest heat of that century was in the following summer, when the same thermometer was at 36° above zero. The middle provinces of Posen, Brandenburg, Silesia, Saxony, and the whole western parts of the monarchy, possess a more mild and less variable climate, but very different in the several localities. The heat on the sandy plains of Brandenburg is, in summer, very oppressive, and the air, from the abundance of stagnant water, frequently unhealthy; whilst in the vicinity of the Hartz, the cool mountain breezes are enjoyed. The banks of the Rhine and Moselle are covered with verdure before the inhabitants of Riesengebirgs and of the Lithuanian heaths have laid aside the fur pelisses of the winter. Upper Silesia, and the mountainous parts, have a much rawer climate and a longer winter than Lower Silesia; but though the air is milder in the latter, from the great quantity of its water, it is not more healthy.

Foreign Commerce. The commerce of Prussia with foreign nations is Foreign much less than the extent of the country and the number of its inhabitants would lead us to expect. It is loaded with many restrictions, which, however necessary they may be deemed in a fiscal view, are vexatious and harassing. The commerce by land, by internal navigation, is principally with Austria and Russia, and with both those states the balance is unfavourable to Prussia. From Russia she draws hemp, corn, hides, tallow, and some other productions of the soil, and sends in return both linen and woollen cloths. From Austria she receives salt and wine, and has only linen yarn to send to that country. The provinces on the Rhine carry on very considerable traffic in wine and manufactured goods with the adjoining provinces in the kingdom of the Netherlands, and with several of the states of Germany.

As Prussia possesses no sea-ports, except on the Baltic, and as none of its harbours are calculated to receive ships of a great draft of water, or enjoy good entrances, there is very little commerce carried on beyond the limits of Europe. The shipping belonging to the different ports of Prussia, in 1817, consisted of 883 vessels, capable together of carrying 90,290 last of corn, or about 950,000 quarters. The greater part of their exports are conveyed by foreign ships, of which the British exceed in number those of all other nations together. Dantzic, once a Hans town, and the seat of extensive commerce, has much declined since it has become subject to Prussia, notwithstanding its favourable situation for exporting the productions raised on the banks of the Vistula and its tributary streams. It still, however, exports corn, wood, pot-ashes, linen,

Prussia. wool, wax, honey, horse-hair, and feathers; and imports colonial wares and some few manufactured goods. Königsberg exports corn, but the vessels to be loaded with it can approach no nearer than to Pillau. Elbing has lately increased by dividing the commerce with Dantzic, and the articles imported and exported are of the same description as constitute the trade of that city. Memel is, at present, the largest exporting city, and the corn, ship-timber and masts, pot and pearl-ashes, with flax-seed, are its chief commodities. Stettin has the greatest portion of the import trade, as, from its position on the Oder, it is best calculated to receive colonial produce, and forward it to the capital and to the centre of the kingdom. It is also the port in which the greater part of the vessels for the fisheries are equipped. Stralsund, though it enjoys a good harbour, has but little trade, from being destitute of water communication with the interior of the kingdom. The other ports of Prussia, Colberg, Rugenwalde, Stolpe, Barth, Swinemunde, and Wolgast, carry on some trade, and though not to a great extent, it is valuable, from being almost exclusively conducted in national vessels. The whole exports of Prussia, both by land and by sea, amount to about L. 4,500,000 Sterling; the whole of the imports to about L. 3,750,000; but in the latter is not included the products of their own oil and herring fisheries.

Government. The government of Prussia is an unlimited Monarchy; for though in some of the provinces, by ancient custom, the States still exist, they seldom assemble, and only for such inferior purposes as regulating the debts or expences of their respective provinces. They have no legislative powers, and scarcely even the right to make representations to the monarch. The crown is hereditary in the oldest member of the royal family, whether male or female. The sole executive and legislative power is vested in the king, and his authority is less restrained by the ancient privileges and usages of his subjects, than that of any other European monarch. The administration is vested in a council of state, consisting of members of the royal family, and of the ministers of foreign affairs, of the finances, of justice, of public instruction, of trade, of the public debt, of police, and of war. The State Chancellor is president of this council, and to him all the heads of the different departments are accountable, and make their weekly reports. He is uncontrollable by his colleagues, and directed solely by the king. In the details of the administration, through all the inferior departments, there is much simplicity, and a degree of economy in remunerating public services, which scarcely finds a parallel under any other government.

Revenues. The revenues of Prussia are derived from taxes on the land, on persons, on patents and licences, which are denominated direct contributions; and from an excise, or rather a custom duty, on foreign productions. A small sum is derived from stamped paper. In those provinces which were taken from the French empire, the taxes on land, on trades, on doors, and windows, as then established, are still

continued, and will remain till the whole of these provinces are brought under the simple regulations established in the other dominions. More than one-fourth of the revenue of the monarchy is derived from the royal domains, and the hereditary rights or royalties, which are exercised over the mines, the salt springs, the game, the coinage, the postage and the other branches. Though the higher branches of the administration appear to be benefited, by parsimony in the salaries, yet in the inferior department it appears to be injurious; as the petty officers, who are very numerous, are too poor to refuse bribes, and they are not deterred from the apprehension of dismissal from office, whose fair emoluments scarcely equal the wages of a day-labourer. As the revenue is returned to Berlin in a mass, from the different provinces, we give them in that form, rather than in the more detailed one of the several branches from which it is derived.

Before the reign of the father of the present king, Prussia had no public debt, but usually a sufficient accumulation of money to meet any emergency that might occur. The present king, on his accession, by economy and regularity, had reduced the debt which his predecessor had incurred, when the rupture with Buonaparte in 1806 drew forth all his resources, and, till the year 1815, the debt continued to increase. Since the restoration of general peace, due measures have been taken for the reduction of it. The floating debt has been reduced to less than L. 2,000,000 Sterling, and the funded debt amounts to about L. 24,000,000 Sterling; in which is included a loan of L. 6,000,000 from British subjects, and the debts assumed on the cessions of territory from Sweden, Denmark, and Saxony, amounting to L. 650,000 Sterling. Besides this national debt, many of the corporate bodies have borrowed considerable sums, which were presented to the government in the most critical periods, and which are in progress of being liquidated from their own incomes.

The expenditure of the government is upon a very low scale: no court can be less expensive than that of Berlin, and no monarch can be less attentive to his personal gratifications than the present king, who, like his predecessor Frederick II. appropriates but a small portion of his patrimonial income to his private purposes, devoting it principally to the ser-

The army of Prussia consists of regulars, and two kinds of militia, called the Landwehr and the Landsturm; the regulars are,

The regular ranks are filled by a conscription, which compels every young man, as he arrives at 20 years of age, to serve for a limited period. If the conscript can purchase his arms and accoutrements, and pay a small sum, he may, at the end of one year, pass into the landwehr, which is composed of this class of men, and of all others between 25 and 40 years. In time of peace, the landwehr is exercised but one day in the year, but in war it becomes a disposable force, and is marched wherever its services may be deemed necessary. It amounts to 160,000 men, including cavalry, infantry, and artillery. The other militia force, the landsturm, is composed of all males capable of bearing arms above 40 years of age. This force is only called out in periods of great emergency, and then its duty is entirely domestic, being confined to guarding prisoners and maintaining internal tranquillity.

Prussia enjoys a peculiar Code of Laws, founded by Frederick the Great, upon the ancient customs and usages of the people, and finally reduced to a more regular system in 1794. The magistracy, in the rural districts, is still a patrimonial right, vested in owners of particular estates; but the power formerly possessed by them has been contracted within narrower limits than formerly. The judgment of those lower courts is not final, except in very trifling cases, and an appeal may be made to the tribunals of the second instance, which are established in the several provinces, and to whom is attached the superintendence of the colleges for imparting legal knowledge to pupils. These tribunals of the second instance, or Oberlandesgerichten, have the duty of promulgating the laws, of watching over the interests of lunatics and minors, as well as of deciding processes. They are usually divided into two portions, one of which attends to the appeals from the inferior courts, and the other pronounces sentence on such civil and criminal cases as originate in them. In the provinces on the Rhine, the legal code of Napoleon is yet in force, but in a short period, the Prussian system is to be extended over those districts. From all the Oberlandesgerichten appeals may be brought

before the high College of Justice in Berlin, whose decisions are final. The Prussian system of law is more simplified than most of those of feudal origin, and in its practice it is expeditious, economical, and uniform. The Police is under separate jurisdictions, and in the country, the Landraths resemble, in some measure, our petty sessions of justices of the peace. In the cities are peculiar Boards appointed, under whose direction the regulation of buildings, sewers, and the supplies of water and of food, are placed. The police has the superintendence of the examination of those who are licensed to practice the medical profession; of the assurance offices against losses by fire, and of the engines and other implements to prevent fires from extending. To this is added the keeping a watchful eye on all individuals who have no visible means of subsistence. In all the cities, the police is mildly and regularly administered, with more attention to the prevention than the punishment of crimes.

Few of the nations of Europe have, within the last two centuries, exceeded Prussia in the number and eminence of its men of learning, or in the various establishments for the promotion of science and literature that have been founded. In no other country is the instruction of the lower classes so sedulously provided for; and in none are there so few persons who are ignorant of the first rudiments of knowledge. With the exception of those provinces which formed a part of the French empire, where inattention to popular instruction prevailed to a great degree, and to which the system of Prussia is not yet extended, no village is without its school, in which reading, writing, and arithmetic, are taught, and moral and religious principles inculcated. Next to the village are burgher schools, where the pupils are taught the first elements of knowledge, and prepared for admission into institutions called Gymnasiums, similar to our great schools of Winchester, Eton, Westminster, and Edinburgh. In these, classical learning is pursued to a great extent, as preparatory to admission into the universities. The number of these gymnasiums is 105; some under the direction of the Protestants, others under that of the Catholics, and some few under a combined direction of both sects. They have, according to their extent, from four to twelve masters; and the pupils are divided into five or six classes; the lower of which differ but little in their pursuits from the burgher schools. In the larger and middle sized cities, schools are established for the instruction of the females, with which, in Silesia, are combined, among those of the lower class, the teaching the delicate art of lace-making. The universities, like those of the other parts of Germany, are either endowed, or the expenses of the professors and libraries are defrayed by the government. The course of study is left much to the choice of the students, and is, therefore, too much influenced by the temporary popularity of particular professors. The means of instruction in every branch of science and literature is abundantly furnished; and, in spite of the want of discipline which generally prevails, the foundation is laid in them of those eminent acquirements in which the students have afterwards

distinguished themselves in the various walks of science and literature. The universities are, Berlin, with 50 professors and 950 students; Breslau, 51 professors and 366 students; Geiswalde, 28 professors, 158 students; Halle, 51 professors, 500 students; Königsberg, 43 professors, 210 students; and Bonn, instituted in 1818, with 22 professors and 240 students. There are seminaries for the instruction of the village schoolmasters in fourteen of the cities; as well as theological academies for the Catholics, Lutherans, and Moravians, unconnected with the universities, where the clergy of the different parties receive the appropriate instruction to qualify them for the duties of their functions. Besides these are useful establishments for pupils in medicine, surgery, midwifery, the veterinary and military professions, rural economy, and for teaching the deaf and dumb, and the blind.

The collections of natural history, the philosophical and astronomical apparatus, and the public libraries, are upon a very liberal footing, and at the service of any individual who wishes to avail himself of their help. The libraries of Berlin, thus open to general use, contain more than 300,000 volumes; those of Breslau more than 100,000; Halle more than 50,000, and in the other cities are generally to be found large collections.

The freedom of the press has been of late somewhat restrained, as far as relates to fugitive and periodical publications of the smaller class. All books must pass under Censors previous to publication; but works of science are allowed to pass with scarcely any inspection; and there is no restriction on bringing into Prussia any works published in any of the other states of Germany. The universities have an unlimited right of printing without a previous censure. Thus, with the exception of the political writings of the lowest character, the practical freedom of the press is enjoyed to a greater extent than in any other country except Great Britain. In the year 1819, the newspapers were, sixty-two government weekly papers, which contained little but domestic intelligence and advertisements; fifteen political papers, written by individuals, but with much reserve; and one literary journal.

The currency of Prussia consists of metallic and paper money, but the former is so much greater in amount, that the latter suffers no depreciation. The metallic money is estimated to amount to 30,000,000 reichs thaleren; the paper money, including that of a privileged company (see Handlung obligationem), does not amount to more than 5,000,000, and by means of a sinking fund, is gradually diminishing, and will soon be extinct. The money is coined in

Berlin, Breslau, and Dusseldorf. The gold coins are double, single, and half Frederick Williams d'ors, valued at 10d. 5d. and 2½d. reichs thaleren. The silver coins are the thaler, half thaler, third, sixth, and twelfth of the thaler. The copper and mixed metal coins are groschen, sechser, drier, and pfennige. In the old provinces, accounts are kept in dollars (thaleren), groschen, and pfennigen. Twelve pfennigen make a grosch, and twenty-four groschen a dollar. The value of the dollar in exchange with London varies from 3s. to 3s. 2d. In the other provinces, the accounts are kept in various denominations of money; but they are easily reduced into florins or gulden; three of which are equal to two dollars, and whose value in exchange with London is about two shillings.

The legal long measure of Prussia is the Berlin ell of two feet, which contains 25½ Rhenish inches, or 296 French lines. In the distant provinces, a local measure of length prevails, which differs in each. The Prussian mile is 23,685 feet, or nearly the same as the German geographical mile, or one-fifteenth of a degree of latitude, being somewhat less than 4½ English miles. The land measure is the Magdeburgh morgen of 180 roods, each rood of 12 feet; the foot is about one-seventh longer than the English, thus a morgen is nearly two-thirds of an English acre. The dry measure is the Berlin scheffel of 2,758½ Parisian cubic inches, or nearly one bushel, one peck, and one gallon English measure. The liquid measures are more various than any other, and differ in every province; but as they are all legally reducible to Berlin measure, we give that, viz. a oxhoft is six eimer, an eimer two ankers, an anker thirty-two quarts, the quart two nöseln. The quart contains 58 Parisian cubic inches, or nearly one-ninth less than the English quart. The weights of commerce are the shipslast, containing 12 ships-pounds. The ships-pound contains 280 common pounds. The centner of 110 pounds is divided into light and heavy stones, having ten of the former and five of the latter. The pound is divided into two marks, the marks into sixteen loth, the loth into four quentchen, the quentchen into four pfennige.

See Stein's Landbuch der Preuss, Berlin, 1818; Statistische Darstellung der Preussische Monarchie, von J. A. Demain, 1818; Uebersicht der Bodenfläche und Bevölkerung des Preussische Staats, aus den für das Jahr, 1817, Eingezogenen Nachrichten, 1818; Heidemann, Handbuch der Postgeographie der Königl. Preuss. Staaten, 1819; Jacob's View of the Agriculture, &c. of Germany, London, 1820.
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