HANOVER. 



739 



trade and manufactures. The electorate of Saxony was raised to the dignity of a kingdom in 

 1806 ; but the limits of the kingdom were very much reduced by the Congress of Vienna, ia 

 consequence of the adherence of the king to the cause of Napoleon. 



CHAPTER CI. KINGDOM OF HANOVER. 



1. Boundaries and Population. The kingdom of Hanover is bounded north by the Ger- 

 man Ocean ; east by the Elbe, which separates it from Denmark, by Mecklcnburg-Schwerin, 

 and by Prussia ; south by Prussia and Electoral Hesse, and west by the Netherlands. Area, 

 14,600 square miles ; population, 1,680,000. 



2. Surface and Soil. The Ilartz Jlfountains extend through the southern part ; the highest 

 summit, the Bracken, has an elevation of 3,650 feet. These mountains are rich in minerals, 

 yielding some gold, with much silver, iron, lead, copper, &c. They are well-wooded, and the 

 forests are also a source of wealth to the inhabitants. The Brockcn is famous as the supposed 

 resort of the German witches, and of the wild huntsman of the Hartz. What is called the 

 Spectre of the Brocken, is the magnified and distorted image of the spectator, reflected under 

 certain circumstances from an opposite cloud. The northern part of Hanover is level, form- 

 ing a part of the great European plain, which extends along the North and Baltic seas, from 

 Paris to Moscow. In the south, the valleys are fertile ; in the north, are many barren heaths 

 and moors. There are many shallow lakes, and on the coast is a wide bay, formed by the 

 bursting in of the sea in 1277, when above 50 villages were destroyed. In East Friesland, is 

 a subterranean lake, so thickly overgrown, that wagons pass over it. The climate is not agree- 

 able. The winters are severe, and even in the greatest heats of summer, frosty days are not 

 uncommon. The temperature is very variable. 



3. Rivers. The Ems is a navigable stream, which flows northerly through the western part 

 of the kingdom into the North Sea ; the Weser., which traverses the kingdom from south to 

 north, and the Elbe., which washes its northern boundary, empty themselves into the same sea. 



4. Industry. Agriculture is in general in a low state ; the heaths of the north are not sus- 

 ceptible of cultivation, but they are used as sheep-walks, or for the raising of bees. The 

 mines and forests of the Hartz are diligently worked, and boards, iron, and copper, are, with 

 cattle, the chief articles of export. The inland trade, favored by the Weser and Elbe, is con- 

 siderable, but the foreign commerce is not extensive ; the articles imported are manufactured 

 goods. 



5. Religion., Education., and Government. About four fifths of the inhabitants are Lutherans, 

 the rest are Roman Catholics, Mennonites, and .lews. The government is a limited monarchy, 

 but the representative principle is imperfectly in operation. There is a university at Gottingen, 

 one of the best in Germany, and the gymnasia and common schools are numerous. 



6. Divisions and Toions. The kingdom is divided into 6 governments,* taking the names 

 of their capitals, and the captainship (Berghauptmannschafl) of Clausthal. 



Hanover., the capital, situated in a sandy plain upon the Leine, contains a population of 

 28,000 inhabitants, employed in commerce and manufactures. Hanover belonged to the Han- 

 seatic league during the Middle Ages, and it has an antiquated appearance. The houses are 

 generally of brick and timber in alternate layers, and resemble in appearance the stern of a ship 

 of the 16th century. The date of their erection is always marked upon them. In those of 

 1565, each story projects over the one below i-t, and all are embellished with confused mixtures 

 of medallions. Pagan deities, warriors, and verses from the Psalms. The palace is an elegant 

 structure of hewn stone. 



Gottingen., situated in a fertile valley on the Leine, is one of the literary capitals of the 

 world. Its university is the principal in Germany, or inferior only to that of Berlin. The 

 library, the richest in the world in the department of modern literature, has 300,000 volumes. 

 The observatory is furnished with excellent instruments ; the botanical garden is one of the 

 best in Europe ; the collections of natural history, the cabinets of natural philosophy, &c., and 

 the valuable journals y)ublished here, render Gottingen the resort of the studious from all part.'' 

 of the world. Population, 11,000. 



Hildesheim, with 13,000 inhabitants ; TAuichurg., with 12,000, and Osnahurg or Osnabruck, 

 with 11,000, have considerable manufactures. 



* Hanover, Hildeslieini, Luneburtr, Stade, Osnaburg, Aurich. 



