AGRICULTURE ON THE RHINE. 13 



at 3d. to 34^ per lb., with wine at Is. per bottle, are the 

 chief articles of consumption of indigenous growth. 

 Until recently tea and coftee were much less taxed than 

 in England, and only in manufactured wares could the 

 balance incline in favour of the English consumer. In 

 cloth and dress generally, in harness, furniture, plate, and 

 the ornaments of a gentleman's establishment, a German 

 cannot indulge on a moderate fortune ; and he is wise 

 enough not to pretend to do s-o. His position in society 

 does not depend upon such adventitious circumstances, 

 but is fixed by his birth, and still more by his education. 

 Besides, if any supercilious traveller were to remind a 

 proprietor on the Rhine of deficiencies in the conven- 

 tional arrangements or decorations of his " interieur," his 

 best retort would be to lead the fastidious guest to the 

 nearest window, and desire him to produce elsewhere the 

 clear sky and sunshine that for seven months in the year 

 can be enjoyed upon the Rhine. In the castles of the no- 

 bility there is no want of comfort and of elegance, as may 

 bo seen by a visit to the villas of Prince Salm-Reiferscheid, 

 at Dyk, near Neuss ; or of Ileldorp, the seat of Count 

 Spec, near Diisseldorf. 



In the Prussian Rhenish provinces the trial by juiy, 

 a valuable relic of the French sway, and almost the only 

 one the people care for, offers opportunities to the 

 countiy gentlemen to meet at assizes, as with us. They 

 indeed are shorn of the aristocratic element of the grand 

 jury. Elections have only recently inspired interest, and 

 the exercise of this right is too indirect to be very attrac- 

 tive. The "noblesse," or gentry, called in German 

 " adel " (the reader may think of Sir Walter Scott's 

 " Udaller,"' in the 'Pirate'), have no longer personal 



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