PLAINS OF THE ELBE, ODEE, AND VISTULA. 319 



arrived from Bohemia, Tyrol, Salzburg, and Switzerland. But it was more 

 especially Frenchmen whom he sought to attract, by offering to pay the expenses 

 of their journey, and granting them horses and fields, and the full rights of 

 citizens. These promises were faithfully carried out, and 20,000 Frenchmen 

 settled in Brandenburg, which at that time had only 200,000 inhabitants. At 

 Berlin these Huguenot refugees, to the number of 6,000, constituted a third of 

 the population. They culled a sandy tract to the west of Berlin the "Land of 

 Moabites." It is now occupied by the suburb of Moabit. 



The influence of these foreign elements upon the destinies of Prussia has 

 perhaps sometimes been exaggerated, but it must naturally have been very great, 

 for the immigrants were nearly all men of energy, character, and superior 

 intelligence. It w^as they who introduced many important branches of industry, 

 and further developed existing ones. 



The immigration of Protestants went on during the reigns of the two successors 

 of the Great Elector. The refugees who came from Austria indirectly contri- 

 buted to the victories which Frederick II. gained over the imperial troops, 

 Sulzburgers and Bohemians arrived in large numbers. The former were sent 

 into Prussia and Lithuania, and the others scattered over the whole country. 

 When Frederick II. acceded to the throne in 1740, his kingdom had 2,400,000 

 inhabitants, 600,000 of whom were exiles or their descendants. Frederick himself 

 introduced 300,000 more, and in 1786 over a third of the inhabitants of Prussia 

 were foreigners by birth or descent. The influence of these foreign families is 

 still very great, and, proportionately to the general population, they have produced 

 a large number of men of eminence in all departments of human activity. 



A non- Aryan race, formerly persecited, has recently begun to exercise a 

 growing influence upon the destinies of Northern Germany — we mean the Jews. 

 The part played by them is more important than might be supposed from 

 their numbers, for they live in compact bodies only in Poznania and the large 

 towns. In every part of Europe the intelligence of the Jews, their varied 

 aptitudes, and their clannishness have secured a considerable social influence, and 

 nowhere else has that influence been greater than in Prussia. Most German 

 men of finance are Jews, and in art, science, and literature the Israelites are 

 most respectably represented. The Berlin press is almost exclusively in their 

 hands, and it is they who seek to direct public opinion. It is only a hundred 

 years since the Jews of Germany were made to adopt family names. Maria 

 Theresa first set the example, subsequently followed in all the other states of the 

 empire. They were allowed to select amongst three categories of names : those 

 derived from sweet- smelling flowers and woods were charged for at a high rate ; 

 names taken from towns cost less, and names of animals were granted for nothing. 



Towns. 

 Prussian Saxony and Anhalt. — The population of Northern Germany is 



ery unequally distributed, but in the southern region, bordering upon Moravia, 



