The Alley Unter Den Linden In The Evening Presents A Great Assemblage Of Cyprian Nymphs, Who Promenade Up And Down; They Dress Well And Are Perfectly Well Behaved.

There is a superb establishment of this kind at Berlin, which all strangers should visit out of curiosity.

It is not indispensably necessary to sacrifice to the Goddess whose worship is carried on there; but you may limit yourself to admire the temple, call for refreshments and contemplate the priestesses.

There is the utmost moral and political freedom at Berlin, and tho' the Government is despotic in form, freedom of speech is allowed. An army of 200,000 men admirably disciplined and armed, of these a garrison of 15,000 men in Berlin and as many at Potsdam, are quite sufficient to keep in check all attempts to put political theories and speculations into practice. Indeed, it would be very difficult to excite a revolt; the various German governments are carried on very paternally and the government is scarcely felt; habits of obedience have taken deep root among the people, and a German peasant as long as he gets enough to eat and drink, does not conceive himself unhappy, or thinks of a change. I could not help laughing the other day, at a little village near Berlin, when I heard some peasants talking of Napoleon; one of them, who seemed to have some partiality for him, exclaimed, meaning to blame him for leaving Elba: Aber warum verliess er seine Insel? Er hatte doch zu essen und trinken so viel er wolte (Why did he leave Elba? He had surely plenty to eat and drink). This good peasant could not conceive that a man blessed with these comforts should like to change his situation or run any risks to do so.

French as well as German is commonly spoken in Berlin, and I am glad to see that the prejudice against the French is wearing off. If the French and Prussians could understand one another, and knew their own interests, or if the French had a liberal national Government, I mean, one more identified with the interests of the people than the present one is, what advantage might not rise therefrom? They are natural allies, and united they might be able effectually to humble the overbearing insolence and political coxcombry of the Czar, shake to its centre the systematic despotism and light-fearing leader of Austria, and keep in check the commercial greediness, monopolizing spirit and Tory arrogance of England. The German political writers duly appreciate the illiberal policy of England towards the continental nations, by which she invariably helps to crush liberty on the Continent in the hopes of paralysing their energies and industry, in order to compel them to buy English manufactures, and in fine to make them dependent on England for every article of consumption. England, ever since the beginning of the reign of George III to the present day, has been always ready to lend a hand to crush liberty, to perpetuate abuses and to rivet the fetters of monarchial, feudal and ecclesiastical tyranny.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 267 of 291
Words from 139252 to 139767 of 151859