GERMANY. 



Chemnitz, DefTau, Drefdcn, Eifenacli, Erfurt, Erlangeii, 

 Erancfort on tlie Maync, Gorlitz, Gottingen, Gotha, Ham- 

 burgh, Hanau, Hanover, Hcrrnhuth, Hof, Leipzick, 

 Lubcck, Mmiheim, Meifien, Neiiftadt on the Do(re,Neuwied, 

 Niirnberg, Offenbach, Pluuci!, yuedUnburgh, Stutgard, 

 Uhn, and Zwickau. 



Situated almoll in the centre of Europe, bounded by the 

 Bahic and Norili lea, and interfiftcd by many large rivers, 

 Germany has enjoyed, till very lately, a mod cxtcnlive com- 

 merce. it& -principal fea ports are Hamburgh, Altona, Kiel, 

 I.ubeck, Wifmar, Rollock, Stralfund, vSlcttin, Emden, 

 Bremen. Inlar.d towns of great trade are Bronfvick, Mag- 

 deburg, Leipzick, Naumburg, Francfort on the Mayne, 

 and Francfort on the Oder, Vienua, Augfi>urg, Nurnberg, 

 Breflau, and U!m. The principal articles of exportation are 

 timber, corn, fruit, wine, tobacco, madders, cobalt, fmalts, 

 pota/h.horfes, oxen, fait and fmoaked meat, butter, cheefe, 

 honey, wax, leather, wool, cotton yarn, linen cloth to the 

 , amount of fix millions fterhng, linen yarn, thread lace, cotton 

 ttuffs, hardware, lead, copper, brafs, quickfilver, china, 

 earthen-ware, mirrors, glafs, wooden toys and trinkets, &c. 

 Gcrm:iny imports corn, oxen, and horfes chiefly from Hun- 

 gary, Poland, and Denmark, hogs from Hungary, butter 

 from Ireland and Holland, iilk and cotton, all forts ofco- 

 loniiil produce, wine and fruit, filk and cotton ftuffs, 

 paper, jewellery and trinkets. It carries on a mofl important 

 trade with European Turkey, from whence it getb by land 

 as far as Semlin, and from thence upon the Danube by way 

 of Vienna, an immenfe quantity of raw cotton, which is 

 diftributed all over the north of Europe, Germany and 

 Switzerland. As it has to pay annually from three to four 

 milhons of piafters in hard ca(h to the Turks, thefe nnoney 

 tranfadlions are carried on by means of the bankers of Vienna. 

 The principal infurance companies are at Hamburgh, Lu- 

 beck, and Bremen. Weights, ineafures, and coins differed in 

 every petty principality of Germany, and this circumftance 

 was one of the difadvantages which travellers at leaft ex- 

 perienced from that number of free cities and fmall ftates for 

 which Germany was partic\ilarly remarkable. It is true, 

 as has been juftly obfervcd by the intelhgcnt author of an 

 edliy on the Reformation of Luther, that all thefe cities snd 

 principalities of moderate extent had their principle of life 

 aftive, peculiar,and independent. Each prided itfelf on mak- 

 ing induilry, fciences and arts fiourifh in its little capital. 



By the treaties of Paffau in 1552, of Augfburgh in 1555, 

 and of Munfter in 1648, the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and 

 reformed religion, were acknowledged as dominant in Ger- 

 many : but aJl other fefts enjoyed a complete toleration, and 

 the number of Jews in feme parts is very confiderable. 



According to Mr. Charles Villier's view of the prefent 

 Aiie of ancient literature and hidory in Germany, in his re- 

 port to the third clafs of the French institute, the German 

 literati poffcfs a great facility in entering into the fpirit of 

 nations and of ages, different from thofe of the prefent day, 

 and are eminently fuccefsful in archeological refearches, and 

 in the interpretation and tranflation of the ancients, particular- 

 ly of the Greeks, perhaps on account of fome fecret affinity 

 between the two nations, as the analogy of the two languages 

 feems to indicate. But if any fpecies of literary production 

 can be faid to belong to Germany, almoft excluGvely, it is 

 the hidory of literature. The German literary and critical 

 journals, efpecially thofe publidicd at Jena, Halle, Leiphck, 

 and Gottingen, rank among the bed in Europe. Betore 

 the revolutionary wars, the number of authors exceeded 

 7000. Their literary prcdudlions found a ready market at 

 the two fairs of Leipfick in the fpring and autumn of every 

 year. The number of new books publiflvcd at tliofe fairs 



was rarely under 4000 : but fincc the fall of PrufTia, in 1 8ofr 

 it has never exceeded 1500 Two hundred German, and 

 about thirty foreign bookfellers, ufed to meet at Leipfick, 

 to barter their refpeclive publications ; the amount of thcle 

 exchanges was generally above 200,000/. derhng. Anci- 

 ently German authors wrote mod of their works in Latin. 

 In the beginning of the feventeenth century, there were at 

 lead 400 out ot 700 written in that language ; towards the 

 end of the eighteenth century the proportion was only 200 

 in 2COO. Before that period the literary labours of the 

 Germans were confined to theology, jurifprudcncc, and bibli- 

 cal and clallical erllicifm : but during the latter half of the lail 

 century they have been extended to every branch of fcienc9 

 and literature j mineralogy, natural hidery in general, che- 

 midry, adronomy, and geometry have been cultivated with an 

 intelligent ardour and perfeverance that have been reward..*d 

 with many brilliant difcoveries. .Statidics, which elucidates 

 the theoretical tenets of political economy, and furniihe* 

 important materials to the hidorian and the geographer, 

 is indebted alike for its origin and its improrement to 

 the literary indudry of the Germans. In metaphyfies 

 they have incurred the reproach of dogmatical obfcurity, 

 and in their dramas and novels they are juftly accufed 

 of a difguding affeftation of morbid fentimenlality. But 

 their epic and tragic poets, and their moral philofophers, 

 have immortalized themfelvcs by works, which have been 

 eagerly tranilated into all the idioms of modern Europe. 

 To the great names of Luther, Kepler, Leibnitz, Haller, 

 Euler, Mofiieim, Puffendorff, Pott, Margraff, Hagedorn, 

 Leffing, Gleim, Kleid, Heyne, Rabener, Klopftock, Rani- 

 ler, Geffner, who live in the records of literary fame, mull 

 be added thofe of Bcrnouilli, Lambert, Kacftner, Wicland, 

 Schiller, Gothe, Herder, Zollikoffer, Spalding, Bloeh, 

 MofesMendelfohn, Klaproth, von Humboldt, Vofs, Hblty, 

 Michaells, J. A. Eberhard, Von Zacli, and many others, 

 whofe merits are as confpicuous as tliey are generally ac- 

 knowledged. 



The German language is of Teutonic origin, and may be 

 regarded as a primitive one, as it is tiie mother tongue of the 

 Dutch, Flemifh, Danidi, Swcdifli, and Englilh languages. 

 Its dominion extends from the boundaries of Lapland and 

 Finland, to thofe of France and Italy. In the middle ages, 

 the limilarity between the idioms derived from the German 

 was lo great, that tlie German and Englidi miffionaries that 

 went to Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, had no difficulty 

 in making themfelves underftood in thofe countries. The 

 learned Ihre, in his introdu6tion to his Sueo-Gothic Gloffary, 

 has alfo difcovered a flriking conformity between the old 

 Teutonic and Perfian languages. That which it bears to the 

 Greek in its condruftion is not lefs drikiiig. The dialcA 

 known by the name of Low German, or Low Dutch, is 

 now difufed in writing, and wholly confined to the vulgar 

 in the kingdom of Wedphalia, in the duchies of Mecklen- 

 burgh and Holltein, and in Pomerania ; it comes very near the 

 Dutch. The High German, or High Dutch, has been con- 

 Cderably improved fince Luther's time ; it is remarkable 

 for drength, richnefs, bold inverfions, and compound words, 

 which render it admirably fit for the higher drains of epic 

 poetry. The learned dictionaries of Adelung, Eberhard, 

 and Campe, hare ferved to elucidate the meaning of every 

 one of its terms, fo that it may now be confidered as fixed. 

 It is fpoken in its greated purity in Upper Saxony, i)art of 

 Lower S;:xony, and on the banks of the Necker and the 

 Mayne. There are dill fome traces of the Slavonian lan- 

 guaj;e left on the (hores of the Baltic, in fome didrifts of 

 Pomerania, in Silefia, Bohemia, and Moravia : but it is dif- 

 appearing very faft. 



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