a circle of Germany, bounded on the north by the circle of Franconia and that of the Lower Rhine; on the west by the circle of the Lower Rhine and Alsace; on the south by Switzerland; and on the east by the circle of Bavaria. Of all the circles of the empire, Suabia is the most divided; it contains four ecclesiastic and thirteen lay principalities, nineteen independent prelacies and abbeys, twenty-five cardinals and lordships, and thirty-one free cities. The prime directors of the circle, as they are termed, are the bishop of Constance and the duke of Württemberg. The duke has the sole direction of all that relates to war.

The mixture of the various forms of government and religious sects; the opprobrium exercised by the great on the poor; the game constantly played by the emperor, who possesses many pieces of detached country in Suabia, which depend not on the circle, and can, in consequence of his privileges as archduke of Austria, extend his possessions in it by various ways; are circumstances (says baron Riesbeck) which give the cultivation of the country, and the character of the inhabitants, a most extraordinary cast. In several of the post towns where you stop, you see the highest degree of cultivation in the midst of the most savage wilderness; a great degree of knowledge and polish of manners, mixed with the grossest ignorance and superstition; traces of liberty, under the deepest oppression; national pride, together with the contempt and neglect of the native country; in short, all the social qualities in striking contrast and opposition to each other. Those parts of Suabia which belong to the great potentates, such as Württemberg, Austria, and Baden, are certainly the most improved. The whole of Suabia may comprehend about nine hundred German square miles, and two millions of people. More than half of these are subjects of the three above mentioned princes, though they are not proprietors of near one half of the lands.