196 



PRUSSIA. 



Prussia.^ accomplishments. There are various universities of 

 "*-^Y~ m ~ / eminence: Berlin, Konigsburg, Breslau, Halle, Frank- 

 fort on the Oder, Geisswalde, Bonn. There are also 

 an almost infinite number of other seminaries for in- 

 struction respectively in medicine, surgery, midwifery, 

 natural philosophy, the veterinary and military pro- 

 fessions, rural economy, &c. There are alsO separate 

 theological academies for the Catholics and the different 

 denominations of Protestants. The number of books 

 published in Prussia is great ; periodical literature, 

 particularly newspapers, (no less than seventy-nine be- 

 ing published weekly in 1819) are also extremely com- 

 mon : and learning and intelligence are thus diffused 

 throughout every corner of the kingdom. In almost 

 every city may be found museums, some of them large 

 and valuable, and libraries, which are conducted on 

 the most liberal footing ; every respectable person, 

 even though a stranger, having it in his power to avail 

 himself of the advantages they can confer. The li- 

 braries of Berlin contain 300.000 volumes, those of 

 Breslau 100,000, those of Halle 50,000, while those of 

 the other cities are seldom less than the number la;t 

 mentioned. 



Liberty of From what we have advanced respecting the litera- 

 the press. t ure aru l literary institutions of Prussia, it may be in- 

 ferred that the liberty of the press has been fully recog- 

 nised. This, indeed, is virtually the case in as great a 

 degree as in Britain, except with regard to low cheap 

 political writings, which the censors of the press inter- 

 dict. All books, it is true, must be submitted to cen- 

 sors ere they can be published ; but the inspection 

 thus exercised is merely nominal, with the exception 

 just stated. The universities have an unlimited right 

 of printing, without a previous censurate ; and there 

 are no restrictions on the importation of foreign 

 works. 



Language. The provinces of which the Prussian dominions are 

 composed having, till lately, belonged to different 

 countries, a corresponding variety may be expected to 

 obtain in the language of these newly united territo- 

 ries. This union is of too recent a date for the original 

 difference between the several provinces to be softened 

 down, or to have formed a universal standard dialect. 

 And indeed centuries may elapse ere this result be ob- 

 tained, as may be inferred from the analogous history 

 of -Wales, or the Highlands of Scotland, and various 

 other places. The greater number of the inhabitants 

 being of German origin, the high and low German is 

 the predominant speech. The high German, in- 

 deed, is the national language, as it is the dialect of the 

 court, and of the higher classes in society, and that 

 invariably used in literary productions, in the churches, 

 and in the courts of law. The French refugees, par- 

 ticularly those who sought an asylum in Prussia after 

 the revocation of the edict of Nantes, (1685) so con- 

 fused the German and French tongues, that their de- 

 scendants now speak a dialect peculiar to themselves, 

 and formed by the union and amalgamation of the two 

 languages in question. In the provinces wrested from, 

 Poland, the language of that country is carefully che- 

 rished as a relict and a memorial of its former inde- 

 pendence. In Silesia, the German is gaining ground, 

 though in the mountainous districts, and in the tracks 

 bordering on Poland, the ancient dialect of the coun- 

 try, which seemed to hold a middle rank between the 

 Bohemian and the Polish, is still preserved. Some de- 

 scendants of the aboriginal inhabitants of Prussia, like 

 the Poles, retain their original Sclavonic dialect ; and 



in the most easterly parts of the kingdom about 

 50,000 people have a peculiar language of their own. 



The manners of the people are as various as their 

 language, and from the same cause. The character of of the in- 

 the original Prussians is dull and heavy, approaching habitants, 

 somewhat to the phlegmatical features of the Dutch. 

 Frederick the Great, who showed a decided taste for 

 French manners, as well as French literature, imparted 

 a tinge of contentment and vivacity to his subjects 

 which is still retained. The German character pre- 

 vails, which consists in industry, activity, a regard to 

 good morals, a reverence for religion, bravery, pa- 

 triotism, inquisitiveness, a thirst for knowledge, hospi- 

 tality, attachment to their chiefs, and loyalty to their 

 sovereign. The Prussians are inclined to emigration, 

 particularly the inhabitants of the German provinces ; 

 and except the British and Irish, they formed the 

 largest proportion of emigrants in the New World. 

 They are credulous, superstitious, proud of antiquity 

 of family, and cherish the traditions and peculiar cus- 

 toms of their native country with uncommon eagerness 

 and affection. They are, as in other countries, divided 

 into classes. The high nobility, amounting to above 

 50 families, are those princes who were formerly petty 

 sovereigns on their own estates. The lower nobility, 

 above 200,000 families, enjoy preferable claims to cer- 

 tain offices in the army, the state, and the church. 

 This division, however, into high and lower nobility, 

 is merely nominal and practical, not recognised by law : 

 and the exclusive privileges which they both long pos- 

 sessed have been gradually contracted, and they now 

 enjoy few distinctions separate from the superior classes 

 of society. The other classes are the burgers, or citi- 

 zens, and the bauers, or peasants. The latter were, 

 till lately, slaves adscripli glebae, as in various other 

 parts of Europe ; and having no direct interest in the 

 commercial and political welfare of the nation, had very 

 little spur to industry and patriotism, in neither of 

 which, however, were they deficient. Their condition 

 has been gradually ameliorated ; and by the liberality of 

 the present monarch (in September 1811) the last vestiges 

 of their thraldom have entirely disappeared. They are 

 allowed not only to purchase land and become proprie- 

 tors, a benefit of which they are rapidly availing them- 

 selves, but, as in Britain, a Prussian, however ignoble 

 his birth, may, by talents, energy, and integrity, elevate 

 himself to the highest situations either in the state, the 

 church, or the army. 



The present revenue of Prussia is estimated at seven Revenue 

 millions and a half sterling, more than double what it and ex pen- 

 was during the reign of Frederick the Great, and con- diture. 

 sidering the population and the circumstances of the 

 kingdom, is as great in proportion as the 30,000,000 

 now levied in France. This revenue is derived from 

 taxes on the land, on persons, on patents and licences, 

 on stamped paper, and on a custom-duty on foreign 

 productions. In those provinces lately obtained from 

 the French empire, the same taxes continue to be le- 

 vied that were paid to their former government. But 

 nearly a third of the whole revenue is obtained from 

 the royal domains, and other departments, namely, 

 mines, game, coinage, posting, over all which the king 

 exercises an hereditary right or royalty. 



But though the king's official income be so great, 

 there is no court in Europe less extravagant than that 

 of Prussia, and the present sovereign pays, if possible, 

 less attention to external splendour, or personal grati- 

 fication, than any of his predecessors ; and the revenue 



