166 GERMANY. 



men who have risen above mediocrity. We shall feel bound then to admit the 

 German to be capable of a profound love of nature, to possess rare poetical 

 instincts, and to exhibit a naïve and sincere attachment to any cause he may have 

 embraced. At the same time he is easily led into extremes, true feeling deterio- 

 rates with him into touchiness, politeness is transformed into an adherence to 

 rules of etiquette, anger rises into fury, just resentment turns into rancour, and the 

 pride of being degenerates into extravagance. The German, in spite of his tenacity 

 and strength of character, possesses less individuality than either Frenchman, 

 Italian, or Englishman. He is more easily influenced than they are by popular 

 opinion, and delights to move in masses. There is method even in his follies, and 

 he readily submits to discipline. 



In the history of the world Germany has played a leading part. When first 

 the Germans entered upon the stage of history, they covered Europe with ruins to 

 the , extreme west and south ; but once civilisation took hold of them, they 

 contributed largely towards its conquests. The Germun cities became workshops 

 of human thought and industry, and were the rivals of those of Italy and Flanders. 

 What greater glory can there be than that of having presented the first printed 

 book to the world ? 



The events which proved fatal to the Italian republics led likewise to the ruin 

 of the cities of Southern Germany. Whilst the Turks closed the direct roads to 

 the East, the discovery of the New World and of a maritime route to India 

 revolutionised the world's commerce. Augsburg and other wealthy cities struggled 

 against the inevitable. They established factories at Lisbon, Antwerp, and 

 liOndon ; but when Spain ceased to be governed by German emperors, when the 

 Dutch rose into power, and closed the Rhine and the Meuse against German 

 merchants, the cities of Southern Germany were doomed to decay. 



Then came the Thirty Years' War, which destroyed the industry of the towns, 

 and flung back the country into a state of barbarism. One-third of the total 

 population is supposed to have perished during that fearful period, and when the 

 treaty of Westphalia (1648) put a stop to the horrors of war, Germany, still 

 bleeding from a hundred wounds, found itself reduced to a very inferior position 

 amongst the nations of Europe. The small sovereigns who had divided it between 

 them took for their motto the words of Louis XIV., " L'État c'est moi ! " They 

 treated their subjects like game, accepted the wages of France to betray their 

 country, and even sold their subjects to be employed in the wars which England 

 then carried on in America.* At a time when art and science began to revive in 

 Germany, the political condition of that country had become most deplorable. 



So vile a system of government was doomed to extinction. The French 

 Hevolution shook the organization of the empire to its foundations, and swept 

 away the greater number of its princes. It was in vain that it was attempted 

 afterwards to repair the old machinery. The states of the German Confederation 

 became the battle-ground of Austria and Prussia ; but the nation soon awakened 



* Between 1775 and 1783 £2,600,000 was paid to the Elector of Hesse, and £2,526,000 to other 

 German princes. 



