730 



PRUNES PRUSSIA. 



at Dijon. After having studied in Rome, whither 

 he was sent by the Burguiidian estates, Prudhoi 

 returned to France in 1789, and lived some time ii 

 obscurity in Paris, but finally gained reputation by 

 his celebrated allegorical picture, Crime pursued by 

 Divine Justice. He died in 1823. Mis principal 

 productions are Psyche borne away by the Zephyrs, 

 Zephyr sporting over the Water, an Assumption, 

 and a Dying Christ. Some have censured his de- 

 sign, and the sameness of his heads ; but his brilliant 

 colouring, and the fine expression and grace of his 

 pencil, are generally admired. 

 PRUNES. See Plums. 

 PRUSSIA ; the smallest of the (so called) great 

 powers of Europe ; a country in several respects 

 singular, being composed of very heterogeneous 

 parts, several of them not connected by any com- 

 mon feeling or common interest, not even by geo- 

 graphical situation, but merely by artificial political 

 system ; and yet it holds an influential station among 

 the European powers. Another very striking fea- 

 ture of this monarchy is the care which it bestows 

 on science and education. The sciences are no 

 where fostered with more care, and there are few 

 countries in which common schools are more widely 

 diffused. Notwithstanding the effect which this 

 must have in enlightening the people, and notwith- 

 standing the attention which has been paid, for se- 

 veral generations, to the administration of justice, 

 there is an almost incomprehensible backwardness 

 in every thing which belongs to a civic spirit, chief- 

 ly, it is probable, from three reasons : 1. that the 

 greatness of Prussia proceeded from, and has been 

 supported by, military power, the power of stand- 

 ing armies, and the whole system of government 

 has been carried on with something of a military 

 spirit by numerous officers in regular gradations, 

 who execute the orders received from their superiors. 

 2. That many of the various parts composing the 

 monarchy have no national interest, as Prussians, 

 in each other ; so that the noblest germs of civil 

 virtue remain undeveloped in the breasts of the 

 people, whose interests are diverse. We may add 

 here, by the way, that Prussia, of late, has neglect- 

 ed the most important means of giving coherency 

 to her population, namely, the assembling of repre- 

 sentatives from all the various provinces in one 

 legislative body. Nothing would have united the 

 people more strongly than thus awakening a na- 

 tional feeling for a common institution. 3. That, 

 since the time of Frederic the Great, Prussia has 

 felt obliged to seek a stronger ally in Russia to 

 strengthen herself against Austria an alliance 

 which has much retarded her civil advancement. 



We shall now proceed to the Statistics and Geo- 

 graphy of Prussia. The Prussian monarchy, which 

 contained 3,000,000 of inhabitants, on 46,428 square 

 miles, with an army of 76,000 men, when Frederic 

 the Great ascended the throne, contained, in 1804, 

 without reckoning Neufchatel, 9,977,497 inhabi- 

 tants, upon 120,395 square miles (with 38,000,000 

 of Prussian dollars income, about 32,000,000 Span- 

 ish), and at the end of 1828, 12,726,823 inhabitants, 

 upon 106.852 square miles, with 3,316,459 build- 

 ings, to which is to be added Neufchatel, with 51,580 

 inhabitants, upon 296 square miles ; and, at the 

 close of 1830, the number of the inhabitants was 

 12,939,877. The whole increase of the population 

 in fourteen years has been 2,247,082. In 1826, the 

 population stood thus : 



Germans 10,038,457 



Of Sclavonic origin, ..... 2,028,500 



French Walloon*, 87,600 



Ji?ws, 153,687 



The numbers belonging to the chief religious deno- 

 minations, in 1826, were, 



Evanif.-lic.il (rninpriclilg I u- 

 tin-ran, mill CalvinUU) ...... 7,485,818 



Mfiiuonites, 



l(j,i"l 



The military consisted, in 1829, of 165,000 regular 

 troops (of which 17,908 were guards, 19,132 ca- 

 valry, 15,718 artillery, and 104,712 infantry of the 

 line), and of 524,248 Landu-eAr (q. v.), of which 

 179,624 were of the first class, and 179,624 of the 

 second class: the whole military force, therefore, 

 comprised 524.248 men. Revenue for 1829 about 

 36,190,000 Spanish dollars; national debt, in 18'20, 

 135,370.000. The revenue, for 1829, was levied 

 thus : 



dollar*. 

 Domains and royal forests, ..... 3,223,350 



Sale of domains, ...... 7I*.5<N> 



Mines, salt works, ...... 712,-M).i 



Manufacture* of porcelain ...... 9,975 



Post department, ...... 773.750 



Lotteries, ....... 4^7 :( <i 



Salt monopoly, ....... 3,307,8*7 



Balance from Nenfchatel ...... 18,52,i 



Tax on real estate, ..... 6,880,611! 



Tax called class-tax, ..... 4,537.200 



Tax on occupations, ...... 1.2:iG,!KK) 



On, excise, duties and stamp, . . , 13,347,362 



Highway toll, ....... 408,2'>'2 



Extraordinary revenue, ...... 436,0.0 



The army cost, in 1829, 15,692,562 dollars. The 

 number of students at the universities stood thus in 

 the following years : 



Founded. Tear. Student* 



Berlin, .... 1810 1829 1706 



Halle, ..... Jfi94 1828 1185 



Breslau ...... 1702 18*8 Kttl 



Bonn, ..... 1818 1829 1002 



Konigsberar, .... 1544 18*9 523 



Greinwalae ..... 1456 1829 1S4 



Minister, .... 1631 1837 284 



(For the schools of Prussia, see the article Schools.) 

 The chief cities are 



Inhabitant*. 



Berlin (the capital), ...... 236.8:iO 



Breslaii .......... 90,090 



Cologne, ........ 64,499 



KBnigsberg, ....... " 67,941 



Dantzic ......... 61,902 



Magdeburg 1 , ........ 44,049 



The peace of 1815 did not give compactness to 

 the irregular territory of Prussia. It consists (Neuf- 

 chatel not included) of an eastern and a western 

 part : the former, which is much the larger, is bound- 

 ed by Russia, Austria, the kingdom of Saxony, the 

 small states in Thuringia, the electorate of Hesse, 

 Hanover, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, and on the 

 north by the Baltic. The latter is separated from 

 the former by the electorate of Hesse, Hanover, and 

 Brunswick, and is bounded by the Netherlands, 

 France, Bavaria, Lippe-Detmold, Nassau, Waldeck, 

 and other small territories. The country is mostly 

 level, with small elevations. The island of Rugon, 

 with its promontory Stubbenkammer, is the highest 

 point in the lands on the Baltic. The principal 

 hains of mountains are the Sudetes, with the Rie- 

 sengebirge (the Schneekoppe, 4950 feet high) ; the 

 Hartz (q. v.), with the Bracken ; the Thuringian 

 Forest ; the Westerwald, with the Siebengebirge ; 

 the Hundsruck, with the Hochwald ; and the Eifel, 

 a continuation of the Ardennes. The rivers are 

 mentioned below. The climate is, on the whole, 

 variable, and severe rather than mild and warm ; 

 yet, in the valleys of the Nahe, Moselle, Saar and 

 .he Rhine, it is very fine. Since 1815, the monarchy 

 las been divided into ten provinces and seven mili- 

 tary districts. The provinces are subdivided into 

 two or three governments, of which the smallest in 



