569 



RAMBLES IN GERMANY. 



A tout cceur bien ne la patri es tchere. 



IT is not in their martial character alone, it is not merely asthe conquerors 

 of imperial Rome, asthe founders of modern European institutions, that the 

 early Germans excite our interest. Their simple institutions, which so 

 captivated the imagination of the historian Tacitus, by their contrast with 

 the vices and corruptions of his own country, are the true sources of all 

 those systems of polity that have since prevailed. From these are equally 

 derived the feudal system of the middle ages, and the free constitution of 

 England j her parliament and her trial by Jury. Again, to the pure 

 chastity of their manners, and their chivalric devotion to the female sex, 

 may be justly ascribed much of that rank now held by women in the 

 scale of society, and of its superiority even in the lowest state over the 

 boasted civilization of the ancients. How that spirit of high-flown 

 gallantry and delicate respect for the softer sex should have sprung up 

 amid the rude barbarians of the North, while it was totally unknown to 

 the more polite and refined Greeks and Romans that gallantry which, 

 with its many fantastic and some dangerous maxims, has produced others 

 of the highest benefit to society, is one of those mysteries in the varying 

 history of the human race that eludes the grasp of philosophic research. 

 I stood musing thus, beside the tomb that marks the spot where Gustavus 

 Adolphus fell, on the far-famed field of Lutzen of Lutzen, the grave of 

 thousands, sacrificed at the shrine of religious fanaticism. How burning 

 is Schiller's description of this murderous conflict ! Both sides fought with 

 a deadly animosity unknown in modern warfare. The traveller stands 

 with the historian on the battle field hears the solemn hymn of the 

 Swedes on the eve of the action ; sees the gallant Gustavus fall mortally 

 wounded amid the Croatian horse ; witnesses the fierce onslaught of the 

 Swedish cavalry to recover his body j and, lastly, beholds Wallenstein 

 riding amid the deadly shower, as if he bore a charmed life. Darkness 

 put an end to the combat, and the trumpets from either camp sounded 

 the notes of victory. Here on this same field, did the star of Napoleon 

 for the last time burst forth with that vivid brightness that marked its 

 dawn on the field of Marengo. It was leaning on the tomb of Gustavus 

 Adolphus that Napoleon marked the retreat of the allied columns. 



There is something gloomy and stately in the gothic aspect of Leipsig, 

 that leads back the mind to the days of more picturesque manners. But 

 this city possesses another claim to our interest, it is the great printing 

 press of Germany, the mart of thought. 



In the public garden near the Plassenburgh gate, there is a cenotaph 

 erected to the memory of the ill-fated but gallant Poniatowski when we 

 behold the Elster (as it has been a thousand times before observed,) the 

 mind wonders that an insignificant rivulet which an English hunter would 

 clear at a leap, should have proved the grave of the gallant Pole ; but so it 

 did here sunk steed, rider, and hundreds of the flying French. The 

 Marquis of Londonderry, in his narrative, mentions, that the Prince was so 

 loaded with gold that he sunk almost immediately. If this were true, the 

 romantic halo that enshrouds the manner of his death will lose much of 

 its interest. There is a very curious anecdote current in Germany, rela- 

 tive to this Prince. A few years previous to his death, he was on a visit 

 M.M. New Series. Vol. XIII. No. 77. 2 Q 



