GERMANY. 



751 



hours' ride is another at Heidei jerg, of 30,000 volumes. At the distance of 30 miles, ib a third 

 at Darmstadt, of 90,000 volumes ; at Mentz is another of 90,000, and another still, at Frank- 

 fort, of 100,000. Thirty miles from Frankfort is a small library of 20,000 volumes, but at 

 Marburg, 20 miles further, is one of 55,000. At Cassel the library contains 70,000 volumes, 

 and from this town the traveler may arrive in a day at Gottingen, where he finds a collection 

 of 300,000 books ; and at Wolfenbuttel, about 40 miles distant, is another of 200,000. At 

 Hamburg are 2 libraries, one of 25,000, the other of 80,000 volumes. At Weimar is anoth- 

 er library of 95,000 volumes, and at Jena a second of 30,000. Dresden has one of 260,000 

 volumes ; Berlin another of 300,000, and Munich, one of the greatest, 540,000. Thirty-one 

 libraries in Germany contain more than 3,300,000 volumes, or, on an average, 107,000 each 

 The 31 largest libraries in the United States do not contain 250,000 volumes. There are 

 all Germany 150 public hbraries, containing 5,000,000 volumes. 



The Germans are indefatigable students, and many of the learned have devoted 15 hours 

 daily to study. The students at the universities have many peculiarities. Their dress is affect- 

 edly uncouth, and it is worn with negligence. The coat is shapeless, the hair is worn long, 

 and a wide shirt collar is turned over the shoulders. Boots are always worn, and to these are 

 fixed spurs of enormous dimensions. One or more rings, as large as watch-seals, generally 

 adorn the fingers, and no student in full dress is without a rufile of unreasonable length, though 

 many have no shirts. This, with a pipe 4 or 5 feet in length, completes the equipment. 



The moustache is permitted to grow several inches long, and it is twisted to a point. The 

 students call themselves Burschen, or " young fellows," par excellence, and the town's people 

 they call Philistines. The students in the north of Germany are great consumers of beer • 

 and those of the south are no less devoted to wine. In their evening potations, each one has 

 several tankards set before him, sometimes as many as 9, so that a line of students on each 

 side of a table, may look down upon IS rows of tankards. In the south, the Burschen 

 songs are in praise of wine ; but in the north, they celebrate the virtues of beer. The follow 

 ing is a stanza ; 



" Come, brothers, be jovial, while life creeps along, 

 Make the walls ring around us, with laughter and song; 

 Though wine, it is true, be a rarity here, 

 We '11 be jolly as gods, on tobacco and beer. 

 Vivallerallcrallera." 



The students unite in clubs called Landsmannschaften, composed of those of the same 

 country or district, and their club is generally indicated by the color or trimming of the cap. 

 They pay a few dollars on entering, for the expenses of the club, though the money thus 

 raised is generally applied to the purchase of duelling apparatus, and each Landsmannschafl 

 has a complete armory. Duelling may be said to be universal ; of course it is not attended 

 with much peril. It is an example of moderation to have passed several years at a university 

 without a duel. The party challenged has not the privilege of choosing his wea])ons ; he must 

 fight according to the established mode. The weapon is a straight sword, about 3 feet in 

 length, with a double edge near the point, that will cut both ways. The combats are generally 

 held in rooms, and few of them are fatal. A few friends and a surgeon are present, with the 

 two seconds, and an umpire chosen by them. The hands and arms are covered with thick 

 gloves, and a stuffed leathern breastplate completely protects the body. The face only is ex- 

 posed. For a trifling oflisnce, 12 blows are struck, and if no blood is drawn, the parties shake 

 hands and separate. For a greater ofl^ence, blood is to be drawn ; on its first appearance, the 

 umpire orders a suspension of hostilities, and the surgeon examines the wound. If it be two 

 inches in length, and opens of itself one fourth of an inch, enough has been done for glory, and 

 the parties are reconciled. The seconds are dressed like the combatants ; they stand by the 

 side of their principals and are permitted to ward off the blows. The combatants sometimes 

 lose an eye or a nose ; many have scars on their faces, and some are miserably hacked. The 

 Landsmannschaften are the nurseries of duelling j each club being exceedins^ly tenacious of its 

 own dignity. Fencing, very improperly, makes a part of the university instruction. All the 

 details of the duel are fixed in the comment, or Burschen Pandects. 



12. State of the Jlrts, Science, and Literature. The Germans had Albert Durer and otli- 

 ers 'm painting; and Schadow and Danneker are living sculptors of merit; but music is the 

 national art ; the taste for it is universal, and at a German concert the deepest silence prevails 

 every eye is fixed on the performers, and a general disapprobation would be expressed should 

 any one interrupt the attention of the audience. At Berlin, the silence of night is broken by 



