SAXONY

SAXONY, one of the provinces of the kingdom of Prussia. It has been formed out of several of the hereditary states of the monarchy, and also by the addition of the territory of some mediatised princes, and in a great measure by extensive parts of the kingdom of Saxony which were transferred to Prussia by the negotiations for the general peace of 1814. The parts then conveyed from Saxony were the duchy of that name and its province of Thuringia. The actual province now extends in north latitude from 50° 27' to 53° 5', and in east longitude from 9° 44' to 13° 58', being 9902 square miles. The division of the province is into three governments, assuming the names of the cities where the several administrative boards are established, viz. Magdeburg, Merseburg, and Erfurt. The population amounted in 1817 to 1,214,219, but had, like that of the other parts of Prussia, increased so as to amount in 1831, according to the census at the end of that year, to 1,449,587. Of these persons, two thirds adhere to the Lutheran church, and the other third are mostly Catholics, but with a small number of other protestant sects, and some Jews. The Catholics are chiefly found in the circles of Upper and Lower Reichsfeld, and in that of Erfurt.

The greater part of the province is a plain, with a few undulations; but on the western side, in the circles of Merseburg and Erfurt, are the Thuringian Hills, which are elevated but fertile, and include a part of the Hartz Forest, which is mountainous and woody. The whole is well watered by various small rivulets, which form the rivers Mulda, Saale, Ohre, Aland, Black-Alster, and Havel, all of which run through the Elbe to the German Ocean. There are three canals, viz. the Plauen, which unites the Havel with the Elbe, which is about twenty miles in length, and is used for navigation; the Schiffgraben, between Magdeburg and Brunswick, which is chiefly constructed for draining a rich tract of land; and the Flossgraben, in Merseburg, which connects the Elster and the Pegau, and is chiefly used for floating timber. The rivers, lakes, and ponds are very fully stocked with a variety of fishes.

No part of Germany is better cultivated than this province, and as the land is of a moderate quality, it yields abundant crops, and is considered as the granary of the Prussian dominions. The number of sheep is very great, and the wool of them, which has been much improved of late years, both supplies the home manufacturers, and also exports much to other countries. The inhabitants are industrious, cleanly, and temperate, like all the Saxons; and there is the appearance of ease in the villages and towns, where the manufacture of linens and woollens is the usual employment. There are mines, in that part which is within the Hartz, that produce silver, copper, iron, and coals; but the most productive of the mines are those of salt, which are found at a great depth in various parts of the province, and supply abundance of culinary salt when refined.

The country of Saxony is remarkable for being the cradle of the present English nation; but concerning the Saxons themselves previous to that period, we have very few particulars. The Saxons, says Mr Whitaker, have been derived by our historians from very different parts of the globe; India, the north of Asia, and the forests of Germany. Their appellation, too, has been equally referred

to very different causes; the name of their Indian progenitor, the plundering disposition of their Asiatic fathers, and the short, hooked weapons of their warriors. But the real origin of the Saxons, and the genuine derivation of their name, seem to be different.

In the earlier period of the Gallic history, the Celtae of Gaul crossed the Rhine in considerable numbers, and planted various colonies in the regions beyond it. Thus the Volcae Tectosages settled on one side of the Hercynian Forest and about the banks of the Neckar; the Helvetii upon another and about the Rhine and Maine; the Boii beyond both; and the Senones in the heart of Germany. Thus also we see the Treviri, the Nervii, the Suevi, and the Marcomanni, the Quadi, the Venedi, and others in that country, all plainly indicated as Gallic nations, by the Gallic appellations which they bear, and all together possessing the greatest part of it. And, even as late as the conclusion of the first century, we find one nation on the eastern side of this great continent actually speaking the language of Gaul, and another upon the northern side using a dialect nearly related to the British. But as all the various tribes of the Germans are considered by Strabo as γινῶντα Γαλάτας, or genuine Gauls in their origin, so those particularly that lived immediately beyond the Rhine, and are asserted by Tacitus to be indubitably native Germans, are expressly denominated Γαλάτας, or Gauls, by Diodorus, and declared by Dio to have been from the earliest period distinguished by the equivalent appellation of Celtae. And the broad line of nations which extended along the ocean, and reached to the borders of Scythia, was all known to the learned in the days of Diodorus by the same significant appellation of Γαλάτας, Gauls.

Of these the most noted were the Sicambri and Cimbri, the former being situated near the channel of the Rhine, and the latter inhabiting the peninsula of Jutland. The denominations of both declare their original, showing them to have been derived from the common stock of the Celtae, and to be of the same Celtic kindred with the Cimbri of our Somersetshire, and the Cymbri or Cambrians of our Wales. The Cimbri are accordingly denominated Celtae by Strabo and Appian; and they are equally asserted to be Gauls by Diodorus, descendants of that nation which sacked the city of Rome, plundered the temple of Delphi, and subdued a great part of Europe and some of Asia.

Immediately to the south of these were the Saxons, extending from the isthmus of the Chersonesus to the current of the Elbe; and they were equally Celtic in their origin as their neighbours. They were denominated Ambrones as well as Saxons; and as such, they are included by Tacitus under the general appellation of Cimbri, and comprehended in Plutarch under the equal one of Celta-Scythae. The name of Ambrones appears particularly to have been Gallic, being common to the Saxons beyond the Elbe, and the Ligurians in Cisalpine Gaul; as both found to their surprise, on the irruption of the former into Italy with the Cimbri. And, what is equally surprising, and has been equally unnoticed by the critics, the Welsh distinguish England by the name of Loegr or Liguria, even to the present moment. In that irruption these Saxons, Ambrones, or Ligurians, composed a body of more than thirty thousand men, and were principally concerned in cutting to pieces the large armies of Manlius and Cæpio. Nor is the appellation of Saxons less Celtic than the other. It was originally the same with the Belgic Suessones of Gaul; the capital of that tribe being now entitled Soissons by the French, and the name of the Saxons pronounced Saisen by the Welsh, Sason by the Scotch, and Sasenach by the Irish. And the Suessones or Saxones of Gaul derived their own appellation from the position of their metropolis on a river, the stream at Soissons being now denominated the Aisne, and formerly the Axon; Uesson or Axon importing only waters or a river, and Suess-on or Sax-on on the waters or the river. The

Saxony. Suessones, therefore, are actually denominated the Ues-sones by Ptolemy, and the Saxones are actually entitled the Axones by Lucan.

These, with their brethren and allies the Cimbri, having been more formidable enemies to the Romans by land, than the Samnites, Carthaginians, Spaniards, Gauls, or Parthians, in the second century applied themselves to navigation, and became nearly as terrible by sea. They soon made themselves known to the inhabitants of the British isles by their piracies in the northern channels, and were denominated by them Lochlyn or Lochlynach; lucd-lyn signifying the people of the wave, and the d being quiescent in the pronunciation. They took possession of the Orkney Islands, which were then merely large shoals of sand, uncovered with wood, and overgrown with rushes; and they landed in the north of Ireland, where they ravaged the country. Before the middle of the third century they made a second descent upon the latter, disembarked a considerable body of men, and designed the absolute subjection of the island. Before the conclusion of it, they carried their naval operations to the south, infested the British channel with their little vessels, and made frequent descents upon the coasts. And in the fourth and fifth centuries, acting in conjunction with the Picts of Caledonia and the Scots of Ireland, they ravaged all the eastern and south-eastern shores of Britain, began the formal conquest of the country, and finally settled their victorious soldiery in Lancashire.

In the course of time these barbarous tribes were civilized, and settled in their lands, on which they began to exercise their industry in cultivation, and in various manufactures for their own convenience. Their possessions extended from beyond the north-western part of Germany to the southern extremity of the Erzgebirge, and were denominated the Duchy of Saxony, forming one of the most powerful German states, which was governed till the commencement of the tenth century by various Vandal houses, when Henry I. took from them the land lying between the Saale and the Elbe, and founded for its protection the margravate of Meissen, which was governed at first by various houses, but latterly became hereditary in the Askanian family. When the duchy of Saxony was taken from Henry the Lion, in the twelfth century, it was split into so many parts, that Bernhard of Askania, who succeeded to this duchy, being unable to procure any thing but the mere title, transferred the name of Saxony to the lands which he already possessed, and which still constitute a principal part of the present kingdom. After the death of Bernhard, and the extinction of his family, Frederick, landgrave of Thuringia, succeeded in the year 1423 to his titles and property. In 1485, however, his family divided itself into two distinct lines; the elder, or Ernestine, which possessed Thuringia and the electorship, and the younger, or Albertine, which possessed Meissen and the title of duke.

In the year 1547, Frederick the Magnanimous was made prisoner, and forced to resign a great part of his territory and his electorship to his cousin Maurice, of the Albertine line; and thus the kings of Saxony are descended from the younger of the Thuringian family. In 1697, the royal family went over to the Catholic church, in the reign of Augustus I. and thereby procured for a season the crown of Poland.

During the early stages of the French revolution, Saxony took little or no part in the struggle, and only as a member of the Germanic empire furnished the contingent of troops required by that relation, which were withdrawn when Prussia formed a combination of the northern states of Germany to counteract the confederation which France had formed in the southern states. To this extent Saxony was in alliance with Prussia when France, in 1806, began the war with that power. At the decisive battle of Iena, in October of that year, a body of twenty thousand Saxons were joined to the Prussian army. The complete victory of Napoleon in-

duced the Duke of Saxony to conclude a peace with him, and to become a member of the Rhenish confederation, of which the French emperor was acknowledged the protector.

In July 1807, the peace of Tilsit, between Russia, France, and Prussia, was concluded. In conformity with its conditions, the whole of the dominions of Prussia on the left bank of the Elbe, including the strong fortresses which commanded the passages over that river, were ceded to Saxony, and the duke was acknowledged as king. A part also of Poland, which at the last division of that country had been shared by Prussia, was, with the capital, erected into a grand duchy, called by the name of Warsaw, and the sovereignty of it was conferred on the king of Saxony. After the peace between Austria and France, which followed the battle of Wagram, the newly-created grand duchy of Warsaw was extended by additions from Austria of West Galicia and the city of Cracow, with the vast salt mines of Wieliczka, whilst to the Saxon crown there were conveyed some portions of the kingdom of Bohemia.

When Napoleon declared war with Russia in 1812, the Saxon capital was the spot on which the several monarchs of Europe were assembled to pay homage to him whose dependents they had become. In the grand army that invaded Russia, the troops of the king of Saxony formed a part of the right wing, and advanced into Russia. They had little opportunity of distinguishing themselves, and after the burning of Moscow retired to their own country.

When in the following year the French army advanced into Germany to oppose the Russians and Prussians, the king of Saxony treated with Austria, with the pretext that it was only for the purpose of obtaining a peace. He declared his own neutrality, and gave orders to his general, Thielman, to refuse admission to the troops of any of the belligerent parties into his fortress of Torgau on the Elbe. While these negotiations with Austria were proceeding, the king left Dresden, and repaired first to Ratisbon, and from thence to Prague, whilst the French general Davoust entered his capital. About five weeks afterwards (2d May), Napoleon had gained a battle at Lutzen, over the united army of Russia and Prussia. Upon this the French emperor, who by the victory was master of Leipzig, and the whole of the king's dominions, peremptorily demanded by a special messenger to Prague, "Je veux que le roi se déclare; je saurai alors ce que j'aurai à faire; mais s'il est contre moi, il perdra tout ce qu'il a." This determined the conduct of the king. He returned to Dresden. His forces joined the French army, and the troops of that nation occupied Torgau and the other fortresses. His troops joined those of Napoleon in the successful resistance of the attack by the Russians and Prussians on Dresden, when the French general Moreau was killed; and at length, after an armistice, proceeded to Leipzig with the French. At the fatal battle before that city on the 19th of October, when the French retreated, the king was left in that city, where he was made a prisoner by the confederate armies of Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Sweden, and was removed to Berlin. The king remained under restraint from October 1813 till June 1815; whilst the allied powers were fully occupied, first, in annihilating the government of Napoleon, then in quelling his attempts to resume that power, and, finally, in settling the arrangements which the state of Europe demanded. At the congress of Vienna, the first intention seems to have been to depose the king of Saxony, and allot to other powers the whole of the territory; but gradually a more tender feeling prevailed. He was compelled to sign a treaty soon after Napoleon had arrived in Paris from Elba, by which he consented to the partition of his dominions, and joined his forces to those of the allies then advancing towards France.

By the partition Prussia received from Saxony more in extent than one half of its territory, and somewhat less than half as regarded the number of inhabitants. The loss most

lamented was that of the province of Saxony, the cradle of the reigning dynasty, which was 5700 square miles in extent, and contained 875,000 inhabitants. Among the subjects of regret, the greatest was the loss of those portions of the kingdom which chiefly supplied the corn, the wood, and the salt.

Amidst the calamities that had been endured, not a complaint was made by the subjects against their monarch. They were universally satisfied, that in all the changes, he had acted more out of regard to the happiness of his people than his own aggrandisement; and when he returned from his captivity to Dresden, he was received with the affectionate feeling which would be displayed in a domestic circle, when the virtuous head of a family returned home among scenes of distress and common suffering. The country was at that time, from having been so long occupied by numerous armies of various nations, in a most dreadful state of poverty, disease, and moral depravity; but the return of peace, the restoration of the monarch, and the confidence reposed in his goodness and wisdom, produced in a very short time a wonderful effect. Order and credit in the finances were first established, and the fruitful soil, by the application of the skill and industry for which the natives are distinguished, soon produced abundance of the necessaries of life; by breeding fine-woolled sheep, the means of restoring that manufacture was effected; and the surplus wool being exported, brought in return much real wealth. The fabrics of linen, cotton, iron, and other goods, were much extended, whilst the great fairs at Leipzig became two central points yearly for beneficial commerce with foreign countries. As the tranquillity gradually produced prosperity, judicious improvements were made in the establishments for the education of the common people, as well as for the training of the medical students, of the civil and military engineers, and of the higher branches of knowledge. The king lived to a great age, the last twelve years of which were attended with improvements in every public department, and exhibited among all classes, whether agricultural, commercial, mining, or manufacturing, an advance which excited surprise in all who attentively watched its steps, and inspired that mutual confidence between the king and the people, which was retained till his death in 1827. The progress was continued under the successor of the king till the year 1831. At that time the revolution in France, which expelled the elder branch of the Bourbons, was felt in every part of Germany, and excited popular tumults. Dresden had its share, and a mob destroyed one or two of the inferior public buildings. It was, however, soon suppressed, by the discharge of a good but unpopular minister, by the division of the states into two chambers, and other trifling alterations. From that period peace has continued and prosperity has advanced.

The kingdom of Saxony, in its present state, is a compact and connected territory. It extends from 28° 5' to 31° 13' east longitude, and from 50° 10' to 51° 31' north latitude. It is bounded on the north and north-east by Prussia, on the south-east and south by Austria, on the south-west by Bavaria, on the west by the principality of Reuss and the duchy of Saxe-Gotha, and on the north-west by Prussia. By a recent arrangement it has been divided into four circles, and these again are subdivided into aunts or bailiwicks in the following manner:

By a subsequent addition of the births, and a deduction of the deaths, the population at the end of the year 1836 was found to be 1,618,495. In the year 1818 the population was found to be 1,282,082, having thus increased in eighteen years 336,413, being at the rate of about twenty-five per cent.

The cities whose inhabitants amount to more than 5000, with their present population, are,

The northern part of the kingdom of Saxony is for the most part a level or an undulating country; but on the south it is very mountainous. The mountains rise in three successive ridges, denominated the Vorgeberg, Mittelgeberg, and Hochgeberg; the southernmost of these, bordering on Bohemia, is the loftiest. The highest points of these mountains are those of the Fichtelberg, 3730 feet; Auersberg, 2931 feet; the Lausche, 2400 feet; and Hochwald, 2299 feet.

A part of this mountainous district, between Dresden and Bohemia, usually denominated Saxon Switzerland, has peculiar charms for the lovers of picturesque scenery. It is about twenty-eight miles in length and twenty-three in breadth, displaying deep chasms bordered by perpendicular rocks, some naked, and others clothed with every variety of trees. Rapid streams pour from declivities, forming cascades in some parts, and in others, in deep vales, meandering through verdant meadows, without their issue or their egress being discoverable by the observer from the precipices which enclose such recesses, and whence he can see no path by which the vales can be reached. Through this mass of mountains the river Elbe has worn itself a passage, by a most tortuous course, and washes the bases of rocks, in some parts of near a thousand feet in perpendicular height, from the summit of which that stream appears to the beholder as an insignificant rivulet. From the surface of this mountain plain rise pinnacles of rocks, on which castles in the feudal times were erected, some of the ruins of which add to the romantic grandeur of the prospect; whilst others, such as Königstein and Litherstein, have had applied to them all the arts of modern fortification, and are the most impregnable fortresses in the Saxon dominions. Königstein especially, though, from its great height, it appears to terminate in a point, has on its apex strong walls, surrounding buildings in which the treasures of the crown are secured in times of danger, with ground to yield potatoes enough to feed the garrison, as that vegetable grows there to perfection, though, from being fourteen hundred feet in height, the rigid cold of winter is most severely felt. This fortress, and that of Lilienstein on the opposite side of the Elbe, are considered as the keys to Bohemia. Few spots in Europe create greater interest in the geologist, the botanist, or the lover of picturesque scenery, than this portion of the country so appropriately denominated Saxon Switzerland.

The principal river of Saxony, and that to which almost all the others contribute their streams, though not till it has left this kingdom, is the Elbe. It enters from Bohemia, and is navigable for barges through the whole of its Saxon course. The other rivers are the Black Elster, which rises in Lusatia, and soon enters the Prussian territory; and the Spree, which comes out of Bohemia, divides itself into two