LETTERS FROM A TRAVELLER AT BERLIN. I33 



even ; in one part raifed and in another low : in fhort, 

 it is in vain to look for that entire correfpondence, 

 which alone can gratify the eye of tafte. The pave- 

 ment, as I have already obferved, is as bad as can well 

 be imagined ; and after a fhower of rain, it is fo entirely 

 ufelefs, unlefs by fplafhing the traveller up to the neck, 

 that a man can fcarcely tell whether he is in a city or 

 palling the road through a miferable village. At every, 

 itep he either ftrikes his foot againft a ftone that has 

 got its head up in the world, or ftumbles into a hole 

 that has been forfaken by another. In mort, he muft 

 have ftudied the pavement, as he would a chapter in 

 Burgerfdicius, if he would go out of an evening on 

 foot, as the lamps to the houfes, from the width of the 

 ftreets, only put one in mind of a commentator on the 

 Bible, generally rendering obfcurity ftill more obfcure. 

 For my own part, I never walked abroad of an evening 

 in fo much terror as hers ; for at every moment I run 

 the hazard of getting a fall or bruiling my toes. To 

 enter a home is attended with great difficulty, as they 

 ftand higher than the ftreet, and confequently are made 

 with fteep afcents ; which, befides being inconvenient, 

 contribute greatly to fpoil the look of the ftreet. Ano- 

 ther nuifance is occasioned by the broad gutters which 

 run between the houfes and the pavement, and in many 

 places are badly covered, and in others not at ajl : fo 

 that a man muft keep a conftant eye to his feet, and 

 beware of indulging himfelf in any plealing meditation. 

 In all the fquares, and even on the very bridges, ftand 

 little booths, for the fale of trifling commodities and 

 articles of frippery. Thefe booths or fhops for fmali 

 dealers, are never taken down or removed, fome being 



k 3 even 



