Travels on the Continent and in England.

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TRAVELS

ON THE

CONTINENT

AND IN

ENGLAND-

BY DR. A. H. NIEMEYER*

Translated from the German,

lonOan:

PRINTED FOR SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS and Co.

BRIDE-COURT, BRIDGE-STREET,
1823.

• Volume Eight is now on sale, as well as all the former
Fblumes and Numbers^ and they may he had of all the Book-
sellers.

O; Sidney, Printer,'
Northumberland'Street, Strand.

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

It is amusing and instructive to see ourselves, as in a glass,
in the accounts of foreigners. Persons cannot see themselves
so well as they are seen by others. No nation has a higher
opinion of itself than the English. Foreigners, however, take
the liberty to speak of us as we do of them — as they find us 5
and though it may not in all cases be gratifying to hear what
they say of us, it is always amusing, and often affords a
valuable lesson.

Stephen Perlin, a French ecclesiastic, who was in England
in the reign of Edward VI., and who wrote with all the pre-
judices of his countrymen, is extremely scurrilous: — "One
may observe of the English," says he, " that they are neither
valiant in war, nor faithful in peace, which is apparent by ex-
perience 5 for although they are placed in a good soil, and a
good country, they are wicked, and so extremely, fickle, that
at one moment they will adore a prince, and the next moment
they would kill or crucify him. They have a mortal enmity to
the French, whom they conceive to be their ancient enemies,
and in common call us French dogs — but they hate all sorts of
strangers. It displeases me that these villains, in their own
country, spit in our faces, although, when they are in France,
we treat them like divinities. But herein the French demon-
strate themselves to be of a noble and generous spirit." He
afterwards tempers his abuse with some compliments, parti-
cularly to our females : — " The men are large, handsome, and
ruddy, with flaxen hair, being in a northern latitude; the

i^ PREFACE.

ufomen, of any estimation, are the greatest beauties in the
world, and as fair as alabaster, without offence to those of Italy,
Flanders, and Germany be it spoken ; they are also cheerful and
courteous, and of a good address." Of the country he says,
" In this kingdom are so many beautiful ships, so handsome
are hardly to be seen elsewhere in the whole world. Here are
also many fine islands and plenty of pasture, with such quan-
tities of game, that in these islands (which are all surrounded
with woods and thick hedges) it is not uncustomary to see at
one time more than one hundred rabbits running about in one
meadow." He speaks, perhaps, in just terms, of what was a
great fault in our national character then, and is even too
much so now — -our fondness for drinking. " The English are
great drunkards. In drinking or eating they will say to you a
hundred times, * / drmk to you, and you should answer them
in their language, * / pledge you* When they are drunk,
they will swear blood and death that you shall drink all that
is in your cup. But it is to be noted, as I have before
said, that in this excellent kingdom there is no kind of order,
for the people are reprobates, and thorough enemies to good
manners and letters, and know not whether they belong to
God or the devil."

Hentzner, the German traveller, who was here in the reign of
queen Elizabeth, is far more candid, and rather laughs at, than
censures us. He says, "The English are serious, like the
Germans, and lovers of show: they excel in dancing and music,
for they are active and lively, though of a thicker make than
the French j they cut their hair close on the middle of the head,
letting it grow on either side ; they are good sailors and better
pirates, cunning, treacherous, and thievish ; about three hun-
dred are said to be hanged animally at London ; they give the
wall as the place of honour ; hawking is the general sport of
the gentry; they are more polite in cuting than the French^
devouring less bread but more meat, which they roast in per-
fection ; they put a deal of sugar in their drink ; their beds
are covered with tapestry, evcu those of the farmers ; they are

PREFACE. V

often molested with scurvy, said to have first crept into Eng-
land with the Norman conquest. In the field they are power-
ful, successful against their enemies, impatient of any thing
like slavery ; vastly fond of great noises that fill the air, such
as the firing of cannon, drums, and the ringing of bells 5 so
that it is common for a number of them, that have got a glass
in their heads, to go up in some belfry and ring the bells for
hours together, for the sake of exercise. If they see a foreigner
very well made or particularly handsome, they will say it is a
pity he is not an Englishman."

Le Serve, who attended Mary de Medicis to England, when
she visited her daughter Henrietta Maria, the queen of Charles
I., and who partook of all the hospitalities of the English court,
(whatever he might think) speaks of us in the most enthusiastic
terms. Our ladies he describes as positive divinities, and the
country and inhabitants generally, as worthy the highest
admiration. To be sure, he was writing the description of a
most splendid spectacle, of which he was the witness, where
the people were all dressed in their holiday clothes, and as the
same kind of ceremony attended the queen's mother, all the
way from her landing at Dover, he may be said to have only
seen the best side of us.

Jorevin de Rochford, another French traveller in the .time of
Charles II., says — *' This nation is tolerably polite, in which
they, in a great measure, resemble the French, whose modes
and fashions they study and imitate. They are in general
large, fair, pretty well made, and have good faces. They are
good warriors on the land, but more particularly so on the sea :
they are dexterous and courageous, proper to engage in a field
of battle, where they are not afraid of blows. And the honour
of understanding the art of ship-building beyond all the other
nations of Europe, must be allowed to the English. Strangers
in general are not liked in London, even the Irish and Scots,
who are the subjects of the same king. They have a great
respect for their women, whom they court with all imaginable
civility. They always sit at the head of the table, and dispose

ri PREFACE.

of what is placed on it by helping every one, entertaining the
company with some pleasant conceit or agreeable story. In
fine, they are respected as mistresses, whom every one is de-
sirous of obeying, so that to speak with truth, England is the
paradise of women, as Spain and Italy is their purgatory/'

The above travellers, it will be recollected, are describing
our forefathers, and drawing a picture which, in some respects,
is as new to us as it was to them. The next is a traveller of
comparatively modern days — a man of information, and ap-
parently good nature. He speaks, as indeed almost all foreign-
ers do, of the same extreme rudeness of the lower orders of
English, but bestows every praise on the higher ranks, as well
as on the country generally. The person we allude to is M»
Grossly, who wrote his Tour in the year 1772. — Our custom
of shaking hands, he describes very ludicrously : — " To take a
man by the arm,'* says he, " and shake it until his shoulder is
almost dislocated, is one of the grand testimonies of friendship
which the English give each other, when they happen to meet.
This they do very coolly ; there is no expression of friendship
in their countenances, yet the whole soul enters into the arm
which gives the shake ; and this supplies the place of the em-
braces and salutes of the French."

The following sketches of London were drawn by Mr. Ka-
ramsin, a Russian traveller, who visited England about the
year 1/98 : —

" I sent for a barber, and they brought me a thick phlegma-
tic Englishman, who, having first unmercifully flayed my face,
plastered my head with flour and tallow. ' Alas, I am no
longer in Paris,* I said to myself, with a sigh, * where the
powder-pufF of the ingenious lively llulet played like a gentle
zephyr around my head, and strewed it with a resplendent
white aromatic rime/ To my complaints that he was flaying
me, that his pomatum stunk, and that his hair-powder was
only coarse flour, the unpolished English barber sullenly an-
swered, * 1 don't understand you, Sir ''

" I put on my Parisian frock, bethought me of dear France

PREFACE. Vii

with a sigh, and walked out in a very melancholy mood. But
the cloud that darkened my soul soon vanished at the sight of
the beautiful illumination, which presented itself to my won-
dering eyes. — Though the sun was scarcely set, all the lamps
in the streets were lighted up. There are thousands of them,
and which ever way I turn I behold a fiery string, as it were,
extended through the air ; I had never before seen any thing
similar to it, and I no longer wondered at the mistake of a
German prince, who on making his entry into London, ima-
gined that it was an illumination provided on purpose to wel-
come him with peculiar marks of honour. The English are
fond of light, and they spend millions to supply, by artificial,
the want of the solar rays— an indubitable proof of the national
wealth.

" Whoever calls London noisy must either never have seen
it, or must have no correct idea of what a noisy city is. Lon-
don is populous it is true; but, compared with Paris, and even
with Moscow, it is extraordinarily quiet. The inhabitants of
London seem to be either half asleep, or overcome with lassi-
tude from their excessive activity and exertion. If the rattling
of the carriages did not, from time to time, shake the auditory
nerve, a stranger might frequently suppose he had become
deaf, while passing along some of the most populous and most
frequented streets. I stepped into several coffee-houses, where
I found from twenty to thirty persons reading the newspapers,
and drinking their port ; while the profoundest silence reigned
in the room, except that perhaps every quarter of an hour, one
hears a solitary * Your health, Gentlemen !' Can it then excite
wonder, that the English are such deep thinkers, and that their
parliamentary orators know not when to leave off, when once
they have begun to speak ? it would seem as if they were tired
of, and willing to make amends for their usual taciturnity.

" But if my ears thus enjoy rest and quiet, my eyes are the
more busily engaged. In London, too, the women are very
handsome, and they dress with tasteful simplicity ; they are all
without either powder or paint, and wear hats, which seem to

Vlll PREFACE.

have been invented by the Graces themselves; they seem
rather to fly than to walk ; their neat little feet, which peep
out from under their snow-white muslin robe, scarcely touch
the pavement. Over their white corset an Indian shawl is
spread, on which their fair hair descends in charming ringlets :
for to me, at least, it seems that the greater part of the English
women have fair hair : the most beautiful of them, however,
are brunettes. The physiognomies of the men may be ar-
ranged under three classes ; they are either surly, good-natured,
or brutish. I can safely swear, that in no other country have
I seen so many brutish faces as here ; and I am now convinced
that Hogarth drew from nature. — Such physiognomies are, it
is true, fonly to be met with among the populace 3 but then
there is so much variety, so much characteristic expression in
them, that ten Lavaters would scarcely be able to point out
the bad qualities and propensities which they indicate."

Besides these, we have had Dr. Wendeborn's view of Eng-
land ; a very flattering and well-tempered account of our man-
ners, characters, and institutions, in the middle of the reign of
George the third. Afterwards, M. Von Archentoltz drew a
picture of England : he praised the nation, and held it up as
an example to others. But, during the last war, one Pillet, a
Frenchman, published a most disgusting portrait of England,
caricatured and libelled our women, and represented the men
as universal and habitual drunkards.

The last severe strictures were those of a New Englandman,
of which we gave the substance in a late number of this work.

In every respect it is useful, as a means of improvement, and
as a corrector of vanity, to read and study these notions of
foreigners. Like English travellers in other countries, they
make their own habits the standards of perfection : but their
criticisms enable us to make comparisons, and rub off the rust
of our own prejudices.

The veteran traveller, Dr. Niemcyer, will neither be found
to play the critic or eulogist. He describes honestly what he
saw, and, as a book of facts^ his work merits respect and attention.

TRAVELS

IN

GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS,

AND

ENGLAND.

An Opportunity of furnishing this first Volume of my general
Travels was afforded me by my Journey to England in the
year 1819. The public anxiety evinced for the work, and the
participation taken in my feelings, were alike pleasing and
affecting to me. Still, the request made to me, that I would
furnish the world with something to read upon this Country ^
gave rise to very serious reflection, and greatly encouraged
my own inclinations 5 for it is far easier to expect, than it is
possible to furnish, much matter, at least during the short
stay I made in so remarkable a country ; and the observations
and reflections which strike every one, even during the shortest
sojourn, are already known to most people.

However, as every person considers the objects with his
own eyes, and as these objects may receive an appropriate
character, even from the time in which they are contemplated,
what is already known may be repeated, and even the contrast
of the different views and ideas formed of them may afford an
interest to their treatment. This individuality, as it were, of
consideration, attended me in my contemplations, and I have
endeavoured to lay the same before the public in a represen-
tation of all that I saw and heard in England. A simple de-
scription of the objects, a precise topography, and detailed
narration of all that either was or was not remarkable, formed
much less my plan, than the communication of those parti-
cular ideas and sentiments which the objects produced in me.
Every man, without having stirred even from his own dwelling,
may write and fill whole volumes with reflections, and may
be enabled to complete a tenth work from the refuse of nine
more ancient ones. But, by following this manner, it easily
happens to the reader, like the young traveller in Italy, who.

Voyages and Travels No. XLIX. Vol. IX. B

2 Niemeyer^s Travels in Germany ^

indeed, in order to remain true to his plan of travels, left
nothing unseen, and wrote every evening in his journal how
many churches and galleries he had gone through, and always
ended with a *' God be praised^ — A certain dull and tedious
uniformity is invariably inseparable from a detailed description
of buildings, picture galleries, museums, country seats, and
gardens. Tliis is frequently carried so far as to obliterate even
the wish of being present ourselves, either at the periods or
situations referred to.

After this preface, simple historical relations will not be ex-
pected in the following sheets, but attempts rather to connect
more general considerations with the individual ones, to bring
the past to the present, and, upon the brilliant theatre of
events, to introduce recollections of those persons who have
moved, acted, and played their part, perhaps, even centuries ago.
This has introduced here and there some historical episodes,
which certainly may possess but little interest for many of our
readers ; but still, perhaps, as they are taken from the foun-
tains, will contain something new, and at any rate must be-
come newly interesting, by the history they afford, of our own
time. In representing the impressions made by single objects,
it is, moreover, impossible to avoid speaking of one's self. But
is not almost every description of travel a journal of our own
biography ?

The report spread in various places, that these Travels had
been undertaken by high appointment, for particular purposes,
and even at the public expense, with reference partly to the
system of English universities and schools, I positively refute.
I am ready to pay the merited compliment to the excellence
which all Europe have acknowledged in the customary tribute
to the English constitution. Much, however, as is certainly
excellent in it, greatly I fear a great part of it is not applicable
to the situation of my own country. But when the grand
effects of public spirit, and of unrestrained energy of every
kind, which the government afflirds to the citizen in tliat re-
lation, arc compared with other constitutions, where so fre-
quently every remedy is expected from narrow proposals,
little-minded formalities, and a mistrustful watchfulness,
which only lame and oppress, it becomes difficult to forego
the wish, that we approach not nearer the British public
spirit.

It was my rule to give an impartial representation of eveiy
thing I found in Oxford, Cambridge, and Eton. Notwith-
standing, however, the abofc assertion, I am just as far from
giving my unconditional disapprobation of every thing to be
found in those places, as to agree with the culogiunis upon

the Netherlands, and England, B

them, made by some of my own countrymen, who were cer-
tainly influenced rather by the deception which the appear-
ance of perfect order and morality occasions, than by a pro-
found acquaintance with the whole regulations of the in-
terior.

The religious and church institutions were certainly a prin-
cipal object of my observation ; and 1 have endeavoured, as far
as it was possible, to touch upon their various parties. Most
of the works which have appeared in England and Germany
upon them, have been hitherto little satisfactory ; it is, how-
ever, difficult, in forming a comparison of so many opposite
ways of thinking, not to incline, in our judgment, somewhat
more to the one than the other, according as we ourselves,
in the one or the other, think we discover more satisfaction to
our own religious views. The point of union, however, is
highly remarkable, which, in our days, thousands of the mem-
bers of ail these churches and spiritual corporations have dis-
coveredj and have extended, by their united endeavours, the
empire of Christianity throughout the world.

From early youth no foreign country possessed so high an
interest in my mind as England. Many circumstances con-
spired to awaken and to cherish this favourable predilection.

My first education was formed at a period when, notwith-
standing the continually augmenting number of German
classics, translations from British poets and prose writers,
appertained to the most approved productions, and gained
thereby a very considerable influence over the taste and the
ton of many dispositions. In the collection of works belonging
to the Belles Lettres, from which we were allowed every week
at school to select one book, were to be found by the side of
Bodmer, Haller, Klopstock, Kieigt, &c., the works of Milton,
Thomson, and Glover; the English Spectator, Harvey and
Richardson ; together with the first German translation of
Shakspeare by Wieland ; and, above all, Young, whose digni-
fied melancholy imparted itself to all young people of both
sexes, who were at all inclined to serious consideration.
Foreign writers, in fact, were mOre frequently sought after than
those of our own country. Successful, indeed, as many trans-
lations into the German have been, I panted still more after
the original, and the more tasteless I found the French litera-
ture at that time, from not being acquainted with the best
works in that language, the more zealously I cultivated the
English.

1 found every opportunity of speaking and writing the
English language in the society of Mr. Samuel Thorntouj at

4 Ntemeyer*s Travels in Germany,

that time a young Englishman who was studying with me at
the school, and whom, exactly 50 years after our first school
acquaintance, I again met with as the first Bank Director of
London. Whenever I wrote small notes to him, he gave him-
self the trouble to correct them, and supplied me occasionally
with the lecture of those periodical works, &c. which he was
in the habit of receiving from England. Thus my inclination
towards every thing which came across the channel found
much food in the years 1 passed at the University from 1771
to 1776^ added to which two young people from Calcutta, who
were to return to their native country, were given over to my
care, in order that I might freshen their memory with the
remembrance of their native language, which they had entirely
forgotten. Moreover, a young Gentleman of the name of
Meyer, from London, who studied at the University, and was
frequently my companion, contributed no little to my improve-
ment in the English language ; as in his frequent walks with
mc, it was his delight to speak of his native country, of the life
he had led in England, and the friend his heart had left behind,
in preference to study and sciences : and this conversation took
place in English.

The interest I took in the constitution of Great Britain, and
the History of the Nation, was increased by the reading of the
Public Papers, and still more by that of the English Historians,
Burnett and Hume. None of the Histories of modern States
attracted my notice so much. To me it appeared, particularly
in many of its periods, like a great drama which offers inex-
haustible matter to the reflection, presents new views to the
sentiments, and which, precisely on this account, can be conti-
nually read over and over again without tiring. By this repe-
tition I became also so well acquainted with the particular cir-
cumstances that had occurred in that period, that I only
wanted to gaze on the local picture, upon which once the
principal characters, partly so noble and so heroic, and partly
so dreadful and horrible, had figured, until they either terminat-
ed their career in the Tower, ov found their tranquillity in
Westminster Abbey.

Still, however, my longing after that Theatre of great events,
and the Pantheon of immortal iiritons, could only be satisfied
iu the years which are better devoted to repose than to new
wanderings. Every other plan of Travels appeared to me more
easily to be carried into execution, than a flight over the sea.
No inducement oftered from com|)anions who were equally
inclined ; exaggerated representations of the indispensable ex-
j)enditure of time and money ; even the idea which had easily
iuHucnccd nic, that, in order not lo be received coolly, it was

the Netherlands, ar0 England. 5

necessary to be a jterfect master of the language— all this
moderated my wishes, and weakened my expectations.

JVIy hopes, all of a sudden, received new life in the dread-
ful years of war, in which the sight of the endless misery of
the thousands who had gained the victory by their death and
wounds, on the neighbouring plains of battle around Leipsic,
scarce left us the'feeling or sentiment arising from a deliverance.
It is well known what England then contributed towards those
families in Germany who were become wretched. It became
my agreeable commission to be the Agent and Letter Writer
for this Committee. As our Orphan-house, at that time a large
Hospital of more than 2500 sick and wounded, was deprived of
almost all its resources, I renewed the connexion with my old
school-fellow, of whom I have already spoken, and was happy
enough, through his influence, and that of other excellent men,
such as Dr. Steinkopf, Messieurs Schwabe and Ackermann, to
meet with the most ardent support, which proved alike a bles-
sing to the town and the orphans.

The respect I had always borne towards a noble nation,
which wished to appropriate to herself, by a great liberality, at
once the fortune and the misery of a war, which set the con-
tinent in flames, and which she only viewed from afar upon her
secure island, was now augmented by a warm sense of grati-
tude. This 1 had been enabled to express to one of those per-
sons most actively employed for the relief of Germany, the
celebrated artist, Mr. Ackermann, upon the occasion of his
visiting his native country in the year 1818, when I shewed
him the benevolent institutions which had been also assisted
through his influence in the years of the greatest misery.
Much conversation upon England followed ; and the assurance
I received from him of a friendly reception, and that, according
to his avowal, even an imperfect acquaintance with the lan-
guage would be sufficient, gave greater weight to his pressing
invitation.

A year later the long wished for company offered itself quite
unexpectedly in the person of a gentleman who had been long
established in the Bookselling business in London, Mr. Bohte,
who was returning to England from the Eastern Fair of Leipsic.
What could have been more welcome to me, to whose compa-
nionship could my anxious friends have better entrusted me,
than to one who had experienced so much in his Travels, both
by sea and land, who was moreover in full possession of the lan-
guage, and who united the most pleasing, the most urbane, and
social disposition, with a thorough knowledge of the country
and its manners ?

Our journey took the direction of Halberstadt, Brunswick,

C Nkmeyer's Travels in Germany y

Hanover, Bremen, Oldenburg, and a part of East Friesland.
As far as Hanover all was new to me ; this heightened the inte-
rest. But it was of importance to us all to stop no where for
any considerable time, and to attain the end of our journey as
quickly as possible. ** What," might I say with Goethe in his
Travels to Italy, " what did I not leave unseen, both on right
" and left, in order to carry into execution the one intention,
'^ which had almost grown too old in my soul."

We left Halle on the 26th of May. Where is the man who
does not feel some anxiety upon quitting his home, his friends,
and his office, for a considerable period ? Nothing so much
recompenses us at such a moment, as a fine sky, good roads,
and expeditious travelling. On the enjoyment of all these we
had to congratulate ourselves. Nature every where surrounded
us with the nuptial ornaments of Spring. No cloud on the hori-
zon predicted any interruption. The most magnificent sunset
followed one of the most serene days, and the evening refreshed
us with its fragrance and coolness.

Bntnswicky 2Sth May.

In the year J 770, I first greeted the old town of the Guelphs,
To what men had not the youth to look up at that time ?
Ebert, the translator of Young, Zachariah, Gaertner, Schmidt.
The young Eschenburgwas then in the bloom of youth, alike
elegant in person and mind, possessing a high sounding pathos
in his declamation, and surrounded by all the superb works of
British art. To him Germany was indebted for her acquaint-
ance with English Literature. His Translation of Shakspeare
has only been rivalled by the later one of Schlegel.

Five and forty years after our first acquaintance, I now
availed myself of the opportunity which the interval of prepa-
ration for our further progress afforded, to find him out, and to
solicit his blessings for the country with which he was so well
acquainted. It was sur[)rising to me that, so well versed in
the English language, and connected with so many Englishmen
living in his house, he should never have seen the country, and
even scarce knew where to give an address to an acquaintance.
" But so it comes to pass," said he, "when we continually put
" off what appears easy to carry into execution. And at last
" the summons to our last journey hurries us on." And so it
has happened. He died on the 29th Fcbruaiy, 1820, and
though he did not belong to the original genius, Germany ac-
knowledges how much she is indebted to him for the liberal
participation he afforded her in the rich treasures of his literary
acquirements.

the Netherhnds, and England. J

Hanover, 29ih May.
No traveller, and least of all the young, ought to neglect an op-
portunity of makingacquaintance with respectable veterans in the
service of science or the state, whose spiritual being may remain
alive and powerful, when all that is temporal cannot remain
untouched by the hand of destroying time. This conviction
came forcibly upon me, when, the day after my meeting again
withEschenburg, I still found the father of Germarft^hilosophers
and pedagogues, J. G. H. Feder, alive, from whose compen-
dium I had first learnt to set logic and metaphysics in scientific
order, and had held my first lecture thereon in the year 1777.
He was eighty years old. But still joy and satisfaction beamed
from his wan countenance, animated by his expressive eye, —
what moderation in judgment, — what tranquil contentment
with the present, — what quiet expectation of the future ! In
his discourse there was no trace of the irremediable fragilities
of age ;— he pressed me warmly to his breast, when telling me,
should 1 touch Hanover upon my return from England, I might
probably meet with him again 1

Bremen, 30ih, Slst May, \st June,
The Museum, which rose from a small beginning to an
excellent institution, is an eternal monument of patriotism, not
merely mercantile, but of patriotism directed towards a generally
enlightened education. A single work, the Hawksworth Col-
lection of later Travels round the World, which some friends,
panting after knowledge, procured at their mutual expense^
first gave rise to the idea of a reading society. This reading
society gave rise to the establishment of a small library.
Hence became associated the idea of an union of physiology
and natural history ; afterwards the formation of a cabinet of
natural productions, of instruments, models ; which has since
become daily more important by continued purchases and
presents, under the excellent superintendence of Professor
Merten, who is distinguished by the great variety of his ac-
quirements. The Museum is publicly opened for this purpose
three times a week. Immediately regular meetings were form-
ed for conversation and information, until, at last, the plan
came to full perfection for an institution calculated for the
advancement and refinement of the inhabitants of Bremen, of
both sexes. At the present the rooms of the Museum are
only opened to those who wish to make themselves acquainted
with the literature and information of the day, from the most
important domestic and foreign periodical publications. There
is also a general Library for the use of all who wish to extend

8 Niemeyer^s Travels in Germany,

their knowledge to any department of science. This Library
appears to nie to realize the ideas in great measure which a
truly patriotic member, Professor Rump, in three lectures he
helsi before the museum, has developed ** regarding a public
collection of books for the national improvement."

The lectures too, which are read every Monday, upon
generally interesting and important objects in nature, history,
an,d literature, contribute no less to the advantage of both
sexes who thirst after knowledge. The effects produced in
the female circles will materially differ than when this life
consists only in an interchange of housekeeping with the toilette,
the gaming table or the ball room ; or, when reading finds
any place, it is only that of the corrupt stock of common cir-
culating libraries, which has no tendency to elevate the taste for
a higher order of literature.

Of what importance such institutions are for large trading
cities, will be visible to whoever has had an opportunity of
observing how frequently a narrow intellect characterizes the
man, who is no more than a merchant, and who displays an
ignorant as well as high-minded indifference towards every
advantage which is not connected with pecuniary gain ; whilst,
at the same time, he evinces a rude contempt for learning and
science in the midst of his respect for large capitalists, or at
least allows himself the most confidently asserted opinions
upon works of talent and spirit, particularly when the payment
of coin at once authorizes him to pass his judgment.

If Bremen be thus honourably distinguished above many
other great trading towns, she is just as little behind hand in
the warm participation on the two most important methods of
forming the mind, which are connected with all classes of the
citizens, viz. education and religion. The liveliest interest
has been particularly evinced in the last few years for school
learning, and the new organization of the higher, the middling,
and elementary institutions, promise the most magnificent
fruits.

If the zealous participation of all ranks in the christian
places of meeting did not only assure us of the outward respect
and attachment shewn to accustomed ceremonies, but at the
same time prove the interest the heart takes in religion, and
the lively effect of the same, the sight at least of the thronged
churches, although service is performed three times a day,
must give rise to the most favourable opinion.

The two subterraneous curiosities of Bremen, which all the
geographical descriptions remind the traveller of, must not
be passed over without a visit.

The Lead Cellar (Blcykcllcr) is a large vault under the choir

the Nelherlandsy and England. 9

of the cathedral. In former times, the lead with which part
of the roof was covered was melted in it, and thence it took
its name. For centuries ago it was the custom to place per-
sons of rank here, who accidentally died in Bremen upon their
travels; and, probably, the discovery was made just as acci-
dentally, that instead of rotting, they dried up, and were
changed into a kind of mummy. Thus the English Countess
Stanhope has been preserved more than two hundred years: a
Swedish General with his Aid-de-Camp, and a Swedish Coun-
tess, since the period of the thirty years* war ; the remains of an
unfortunate tiler, together with similar mummies of dead cats^
birds, &c. &c. The appearance is certainly more common
than is believed, and just as frequently to be explained from
the constitution of the bodies themselves, as from the dryness
and sharp draught of air felt in the vaults.

From these friendless tombs, where even the slow destruc-
tion of what was once animated makes the picture of death
only more dreadful, we went immediately into the justly-
prized subterraneous vaults over which the Town-house
(Rathhmis) and the Exchange are built. What a contrast \
From the stillness of death to the cheerfulness of active life*
When the business of the day is over, the citizens of the town
assemble here, form groups in smaller or larger boxes, which
are erected for the purpose, in confidential conversation, and
forget, over glasses filled with the juice of the finest grape j
their cares and troubles, at least for a few hours.

Oldenhurghy 2d Jane jj^Leer, Sd ;. — Aurich, 4th,
The road to Oldenburg, which is frequently very tedious,
leads partly through the Bremen, and partly through the
Hanoverian, territories. We arrived there, however, soon
enough to get a good view of the town, the rich ducal nursery
garden, and the pleasing disposal of the grounds and environs
of the palace.

Where the territory of Oldenburg ends, that of East Fries-
land begins, a small province, but distinguished by a variety of
peculiarities. Besieged towards the west and north by the waves
of an ocean, what an immense application of human industry
must it not have cost, from early times, to snatch it from the
reach of the most dreadful of elements, or to secure it against
the same by means of immeasurable dikes ; or, when from
time to time the flood, in reparation of its theft, places new
land upon it, by mounding it, to form Polder and Groden.
The tract of land through which our road led us foi-med the
most agreeable contrast with the sandy heaths through which
Voyages and Travels, No, XLIX, Vol. IX. C

10 Niemeyefs Travels in Germany,

we had passed. We found ourselves snrpiised with the luxu-
riant vegetation of the fertile soil, surrounded with smiling
meadows, animated by the well-known flocks of Frieslaud.
The villages, with their cheerful houses, built of tiles, became
more friendly and cleanly. A refreshing coolness blew upon
us from the thickest part of the plantations, and thus we
arrived at Leer about evening. Geography makes this place
only a maiket-town ; but, from the elegance of many of its
houses, and more from the activity in the streets, it presents
the idea of a very small, indeed, but wealthy city. What
makes it also still more animated is the Lede, which empties
itself into the Ems, and with it flows towards the North Sea,
and thus gives life to shipping and ship-building.

The straight road to Holland would have been through Emden.
A particular interest, however, attracted me to Aurich, the
capital and former seat of the court of the principality. The
hours passed too swiftly at Aurich. For a moment 1 saw the
former house of the fatnily Wurmbs, now belonging to the
Bachmeisters, and the amiable inhabitants pardoned the an-
noyance of a grateful man, who wished to pay homage to the
manes of his benefactress in her native place.

The Trechschyt (so the boat is called) brought us to Emden
earlier than we expected. The remaining hours of the even-
ing, and a few in the morning, afforded us at least time enough
for a general view of the town and port, in which the vessels
were just now getting ready for a cruise upon the herring
fishery, which is the principal source of subsistence of the in-
habitants.

bth June.
In the morning, about nine o'clock, we left Emden; and
about noon saluted the coasts of Holland in Dclfziel. The
large lake, known under the name of the Dollart, which we
passed over, afibrded rich matter for contemplation, by the
remembrance of the former ages which here lay buried. Here,
where restless floods are now streaming, stood, 500 years ago,
and, partly, somewhat later, upwards of fifty flourishing towns
and villages, large churches, and rich cloisters. Here, accord-
ing to the old chronicles, were market-towns which could
reckon 180 mothers of families, who wore massive golden
bucklers upon their breasts, according to the dress then in
fashion. Of all this nothing remains but the name. Even
the last tops of the steeples and of the walls, which, for a con-
siderable time, were seen topping out at the ebb tide, all sunk
without a trace. Over former fat pastures now sail richly-

the Netherlands, and England* li!

laden vessels, and fishing is followed where, formerly, the
sowing of the best corn, and the most luxuriant wheat, pro-
duced an harvest of one hundred fold. The present Iteider-
land, celebrated for the particular abundance otits vegetation,
for its Groden and Polder, is only a remaining part of the.
once so important tract of country which connected East
Friesland with Groningen. The larger part is formed into a
bay. Words can ill describe the great deluge which first broke
in at midnight, just as the people were preparing themselves
for Christmas morning, drove down the dams or mounds, and
scattered death and destruction in every direction. Our vessel
was thus floating over an immense grave of billows, over
which the lake, with thepleasing rays of the morning dawn, spread
itself out like a refulgent silver coverlid. But reflection drew
the eye down into the deep. It might have been able to look
down into the dreadful abysses in which so many productions
of laborious diligence, so many works of inventive art, so
many energetic bodies, lay sunk in ruins ; for more than
50,000 souls, of every class, sex, and age, who once, like our-
selves, rejoiced in life, were sent on that dreadful night, in a few
minutes, to their long and peaceful abode; the Christmas glad-
ness of happy children was turned into the cry of anxie^.y and
horror; and the chaunts of the mass preachers and the holy
cloistered nuns, were converted into an eternal silence. And
still, as many accounts say, the blind element would scarcely
have been able to effect such inroads, had not hostile elements
raged in the breasts of many of the principal persons; had
not hatred and envy separated those through whose service-
able labours of mounding and mending, the rage of the sea
could have been quelled, and the country secured. So, like
upon a thousand fields of battle, here too lay innumerable in-
nocent sacrifices of the passions and follies of a few. Who
can find out the exit from this labyrinth of human fate !

Holland, 6th, \2thJune,

The Trechschyt goes regularly at certain hours from Delf-
ziel to Groningen. We passed down the canals of the province
of this name in the company of some well-informed men,
from whom much was to be learnt. The journey continued
till late in the evening, and only one hour remained to wander
by moonlight through one of the finest towns of Holland,
together with its fine university, and to return the visit of the
naturalist, Mr. Professor Swindern. I found him accidentally
in the circle of young East Friesland students, around a table
richly provided with the natural productions of the country.

12' Nemeyer*s Travels in Germany y

It is necessary to leave Groningcn very early in the mornhig,
and take a good carriage, in order, by passing rapidly through
Fricsland, to arrive at a certain hour before evening in Lem-
iner, a small lively town, where the packet boat leaves for
Amsterdam. This time too the Sunday had animated the
roads, the villages, and the pleasing little towns, like Nordyk,
where we took our dinner. Sun-set imparted a magnificence
to the evening upon the Sudcrsee beyond all description. We
soon came in sight of the Islands of Lydan and Monnekendyk ;
but the wind was not favourable, and the rocking of the vessel
had a disagreeable effect upon many of the passengers, and
gave all of us an idea of what we had to expect in the open
sea. Before noon we v/ere in sight of Amsterdam, which was
continually rising more visibly from behind a wood of masts. At
getting out, one boat followed us upon another, contending
which should conduct us through the canals of the city to our
quarters. We arrived about dinner time. The journey through
Holland was indeed only a passage, but nevertheless, I did not
feel disposed to lose the few days in which we made it. I had
remained longer in this country, so highly interesting in many
respects, in the year 1806.

With regard to literary institutions, much more appears to
have been done for the lotvej- than the higher schools. The
French preacher. Monsieur Teissedre L'Ange, to whom my
maxims of education are indebted for a Dutch translation made
with great judgment and knowledge of the language, was just
now as actively employed for the good of the poor schools in
Amsterdam, as he had been formerly in Haerlem. In the
latter city 1 missed the supcrintendant of the united Belgian
national and citizen schools, but 1 overtook him in his journey
at Rotterdam. He was going to Brussels and the other French
provinces of the Netherlands, in order, if possible, to spread
the same good spirit which had gained him such high merit in
the Dutch ; for few laboured as he had done, in the spirit
and to the purposes of ihe highly respectable Nieuwen Heysen,
founder of Maatsh'ipj)ytot nut van't Algemeen. There werevery
few points upon wliich we did not agree in our conversation,
in a long walk we took iti the delightful environs of Rotterdam.
As historical information it deserves to be remarked, that eren
at the period when Holland had Buonaparte for a king, the
course of education was not at all impeded, and the French
commissaries, whom Napoleon sent into the Netherlands and
the Hansc Towns, in order to give an account of the condition
in which school education was found, could hardly say enough
in praise of the high perfection which the national school
(;L;i^'.:r Schocler) had attained in Holland.

the Netherlands, and England:' IS

In Leyden, a new picture was offered me of the dreadful
power of two destructive elements. On the 12th January, 1807,
a large ship, laden with 40,000 pounds of powder, in seventy
barrels, which was destined for Delft, and lay in the middle of
the canal, blew up, (no one has ever discovered by what acci-
dent) with a dreadful explosion. The effects of the shock
were felt at a still further distance, at the Hague, at Amster-
dam, at Utrecht, and at Zwolt. In the town itself it appeared
as if the earth had opened, the heavens were on flames, and
the end of the world arrived. Almost all the houses situated
in the Rappenburg, the most beautiful part of Leyden, fell
down at one instant ; a still greater number, upwards of 800^
were considerably damaged ; even in distant parts of the town
no tiles were to be found upon many of the roofs, no window
remained uninjured, and no door upon its hinges. In many
families they had just sat down to dinner. At the next mo-
ment, every thing in the palaces of the rich, and in the habita-
tions of the poor, lay in ruins. Of two large boarding establish-
ment, and a poor school, very few persons could be saved.
Whoever was struck in the street by the blow, was carried
into the air, either fell wounded if not dead, to the ground,
or if he remained alive, on seeking his home he no longer
found any shelter. For two or three days nothing was
heard but lamentation out of the holes under ground, which
were shut up from the efforts of the workmen by huge
masses of stone. There was scarce any considerable house
which had not to lament the loss of a friend or relation. Still
the number of the dead was less than at first believed. Many
had been preserved almost by a miracle. Of many, however,
not the smallest remains were any longer to be found. Lace-:
rated and disfigured bodies were continually brought to the
Town-house, that their relatives might discover who they
were. Many a family uas wholly extirpated with all its
branches.

Thus I found whole streets and quarters, in which at my first
visit, in the year 1806, 1 had wandered amongst sumptuous
buildings, at present converted into empty squares, covered
with grass and planted with young trees ; and had it not been
for the celebrated Doctor of Law, Professor Tydeman, who
honoured me with being my guide, 1 should hardly have found
my way in this tieiv Let/clen. A secret shudder overcame me,
when 1 placed myself as a stranger in Leyden during these
dreadful days. If they had happened four months earlier, 1
might have met with the fate which befel many a stranger,
whose business had carried him thither, and of whom no one
could tell on what spot he had found his grave.

l4 Niemeyer^s Travels in Germany,

Still, as time heals all wounds, these scenes of horror were
forgotten. Less was said about them, than I expected. People
too were already accustomed to the deserted quarters, and had
partly given them a very pleasing appearance.

Rotter daruy 1 \th June,

The only day which remained for me to view this extensive
and interesting town, as celebrated for its considerable trade
as for its delightful situation on the banks of the Maese, was
passed too quickly in conversation with M. Van dem Ende,
and in the benevolent hospitality of an old friend, Mr. Goede,
one of the most diligent translators and preservers of transla-
tions of German writings.

It was vacation at the flourishing institution of education of
Mr. de Raadt, and the master of the house was absent. Willingly
would I in person have imparted to him the hopes which his
worthy son, who during two years was my intimate companion,
and one of the most zealous in the study of the theory and his-
tory of instruction, had excited in us, and who, as might be ex-
pected, transplanted much of what he saw here, and every
where upon his travels, successfully upon the soil of his native
country. Certainly it will have become very clear to him, how
high the well-organised schools in Germany stand above the
best private institutions, where the supcrintendant feels him-
self always tied by a certain dependence upon under teachers,
whom he cannot do well without.

The following morning we hastened to the vessel which al-
ways goes away on the days when the packet-boat in Hel-
voetsluys weighs anchor for England. In Nieuvvesluis we
alighted, and found a carriage in readiness to conduct persons
and baggage toHelvoetsluys. We reached there at noon. As we
arrived, the captain of the Packet in rotation to sail, received
us in uniform. As the packet generally, unless there is a total
want of wind, goes out in the afternoon, no time is to be lost
in getting passports reviewed at the neighbouring office, and
settling for the passage, which amounted to about 15 or 1(5
dollars of our money.

On Saturday forenoon at four o'clock, we received an invita-
tion to come on board. At five o'clock all was in order. The
wind was throughout contrary; but tacking and cruizing soon
removed us from the sight of the Dutch coast. The continent
gradually disappeared as we sailed over the wide expanse of
sea, whilst we took an anxious survey of our native shore.

Our voyage lasted from the I2th to 15th of June, when we
landed at Harwich. The joy at landing, the comfortable
prospect before mc of clean inns, and convenient stage coaches.

the Netherlands, and England, 15

the latter so great a novelty to all strangers unacquainted with
the mechanical elegance and even refinement to which they
have arrived in England, perfectly enraptured me, and I could
not avoid giving rent to the grateful feelings excited, by praises
as flattering as they were just. How grateful was the impression
produced by contemplating this rich country teeming with the
highest cultivation, and now in all the pride of magnificent
bloom ! Every where traces of agricultural industry meet the
eye. I imagined I was arriving in beautiful and wealthy cities,
while I was only in a milage, I thought I was beholding the
most magnificent country seats, and still they were only the
habitations of the farmers or merchants. The houses in the
cities or market towns are indeed usually small and narrow —
but how friendly an appearance do they not afford by their
windows as bright as looking glass, by the pretty hedges, and
the small flower gardens through which a clean path conducts
you to the house door. And how the mercantile life begins
even in the country ! I drove by from one shop to another.
Behind the high windows of beautiful crown glass, which
form the lower story, all kinds of wares are artfully laid out to
view. And what cleanliness and neatness in the dress of
most people we met with, who, full of curiosity, advanced to
the door or window, when the coach passed by, expecting
friends or relations, and helping them down from the roof of the
carriage. As if borne by the almost indescribable crowd of
passengers in carriages and on horseback, which begins par-
ticularly after Rumford, two German miles distant from London,
where the road is already lined on both sides with dwellings, I
arrived, as all travellers have denominated it, in the town (die
Stadt) ; so London is plainly called, as formerly Rome in Italy
— but without knowing rightly where it begins, as there is not
the least appearance of gates. It was already dark, but the
illuQiination, which begins very early, displayed every object to
my view. The impression which the grandeur and extent of
the town cannot fail to make upon every beholder is truly
astonishing. The sumptuous buildings, the constantly moving
scene, are striking peculiarities and features which far surpass
those of Amsterdam, Paris, Copenhagen, Vienna, and Venice,
and impress every person who for the first time steps into this
little world, at present inhabited by at least 1,200,000 souls.
It is indeed a mixture of astonishment and anxiety.

Residence in England,

1 will now candidly and honestly impart, as it appeared to
me, whatever I have seen, observed, and experienced in the very
limited time to which I was confined. Others have seen many

1'6 Neimty€r*s Travels in Germd'ay,

thingfe quite otherwise, and judged of them accordingly. My
own opinion, which had been previously formed from the
earliest works upon England, has often become quite changed
by ocular inspection. I have generally found that writers have
been too hasty to see well; too prejudiced in order to judge
impartially ; too inclined to believe every thing in order to
examine with care ; and frequently sacrifice the rigid truth to
a witty conceit or striking representation.

Amongst the older works Alberti is become tolerably out
of use. Volkman remains still a good guide, and lias at
least registered all that is to be seen with diligence, although
he is frequently most laconic where details might iiavc been
expected. Others, such as Faugas, S. Fond, Nemnich, Young,
Gilpin, had rather the economical, the picturesque, a natural
history in view, which lay out of my plan. Moritz, without satis-
fying is interesting from the truth of narration, during the short
stay he made. Archenholz indeed, on the contrary, furnishes far
more, although much that he says can be considered only as a
sketch. I have found the well-informed Kuttner, Wendeborn,
and Goede, by far the most serviceable writers. Madame
Schopenhaver, in her English journey, possesses the talent of
making finebbservation, which, however, deviates here and there
into an unreasonable severity, arising from what she personally
experienced ; whilst she, however, retains a lively representa-
tion of all that she saw. In the Gallo American, Mr. Simond,
it is impossible not to perceive the liveliness which distin-
guishes the French character, although he lived more than
twenty years in America. It is tempered, however, by that
earnest and love of truth which mark the half nationalized
Englishman. Professor Spieker's, by far the best topographical
description, has appeared only lately.

I have formed to myself no particular plans and purposes
in making v..is visit, and still less have I been entrusted, as it
has been here and there hinted, with particular commissions.
The end of my endeavours was to get acquainted with this re-
markable country, in all its various points of view, as far as it
was possible in the short two months i resided in it, and with
uninterrupted enjoyment of good health and careful employ-
ment of every hour, I have succeeded far beyond my own expec-
tations, both in seeing much and in gaining a variety of useful
intelligence, I was naturally attracted towards every thing
that concerned the sjnrittiat and i-eligions education of the
nation. I think I am enabled, therefore, to give a more exact
description of every thing of this kind than other travellers,
who either hasten over it too quickly, or do not touch upon it
at all.

I

I

the Netherlands, and England. 17

London.
Many of the travellers who were making the journey for the
first time, had been ahcady consulting with each other what
curiositus of London they should first see. But when the end
of our journey was attained, every thing a[)peared, to mc at least,
quite different. In considering the immense wlwle, particu-
larities disappear. Here is no time to think upon what is dis-
tant, because what is near already chains the attention. It is
M^eli known too, that the great specimens of magUificence,
Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Exchange, the
Bank, and the Harbour, &c. will not escape observation.

All travellers have very properly observed that, Whilst other
capital cities create an impression by the magnificence of the
style of architecture in which their houses and palaces are
built, even when the towns are as quiet and depopulated as
Potsdam, or even Berlin is in some quarters, this impres-
sion is far from being produced in London, Of palaces, pro-
perly so called, there is no trace, as in the above cities, in
Prague, Vienna, Paris, or in the sumptuous, although smaller
Italian capitals. Even the dwellings of royalty bear the name
only of Houses, (the insignificant St. James's Palace excepted)
for example, Buckingham House, where George the Third and
his Queen used to reside, Carlton House, where the present
King resided when he was still Prince Regent, Somerset House,
&c. &c. &c. All the magnificence of which they can boast
must be sought for in the interior of the chambers, and not in
the exterior. The whole of London is built of a reddish and
white grey bricks, and these are very rarely covered over with
stucco. Stone is met with only in a very few modern build-
ings. From the smoke of the sea coal, which, particularly at the
end of autumn and winter, envelopes the whole of London, all
the houses soon receive a black appearance, which is only some-
what compensated for by the shining looking glass of which the
windows are composed. Most of the houses are perfectly like
each other, generally very narrovv.

Were we, therefore, to imagine to ourselves London, even in
its most beautiful and most modern quarters, depopulated and
without trade, it would become, indeed, particularly in the fre-
quently narrow streets of the city, a black melancholy mass of
houses, to live amongst which would create only enui and dis-
gust. But how totally different does it appear, when /7/^and
activity commence at the dawn of morning, and only terminate
towards midnight, and not only the moving stream of people,
but also the immoveable piles of goods which are presented to
the eye in countless shapes, in the production of an industry,
Voyages and Travels, No, XLIX, Vol. IX. P

/",

IS Niemeyer^s Travels in Germany,

direCtcc) to a tbousand employments, every where rivets the
attention.

If these magazines and shops afford by dat/ the most interest-
ing sight to the stranger, and fixes his attention at ever\' step he
takes, the effect becomes far superior in the evening. The itiu-
minatiun of the streets of London has always been celebrated.
Itjis at present greatly angnicnted by the use of Gas-lights,
This pure light, which burns in the lanterns of the streets as
well as in the sh()j)s, as soon as it becomes dusk, throws such a
magic splendour over every thing, that we may imagine our-
selves wandering amongst enchanted castles. As'loo/dng glasses
are made use of in many extensive shops, every thing is reflect-
ed in a doul)lc and threefold degree. The costly silk stuffs of
the most burning colours, laid in picturesque order by the side
of and over each other; the East India shawls, the works in
glass, the rarest fruits of all countries piled up pyramidically,
the natural and artificial flowers appear as beautiful again as at
day time. lietwccn them the large round flasks and vases of
the Chymists, as the Apothecaries are called, make a brilliant
display. They are filled with clear red, blue, green, and yellow
waters, and appear as if rubies, sapphires, topazes, and emeralds
were shining in them. At a distance they raise an idea of a
festive illumination, but these appearances are those of every
day. It cannot be denied that the streets of London, in this
respect, offer to the passenger every evening an extraordinary
and singular sight.

And still, aftt r all the magnificence and riches, the most sur-
prising object of contemplation for the foreigner, consists in the
hundred thousands of people who are continually moving up
and down in this vast panoran)a.

The endless stream of people who, in following their business,
particularly in the principal streets, are every where moving,
like the ebb and flow of a tide, would render walking in the
highest degree troublesome, were the passenger not secured
fron) all dnnger of being injured by the continually rolling
carriages, by the trottoirs^ or foot pavements, raised a little
above the street by the sides of the liouses.

i\ll the foot passengers, I met with in the large streets bore
almost without exception the appearance of being in east/ cir^
cumstancess. Poverty and filth, which are not wanting even in
London, arc to be found far more generally in the smaller streets
of the city. In the larger streets, on the contrary, almost every
one is well dressed ; the men usually wear black, and always
very white linen, for the latter is indispensable in order to ap-
pear as a gentleman ; the women, without exception, wear hats,
and are very elegantly attired. It is related that nothing struck

the Neiherlaiids, and England, igf

even the Emperor of Russia so much in London, as the great
number of well-dressed men and women whom he everj^ where
encountered ; generally speaking, too, the physiognomist and
observer of mankind finds no where such food for his reflection
as here ; for where does he meet with bright intellect and
stupid torpidity; bashful modesty and proud ignorance; idle-
ness and indefatigable activity ; the ugly and the beautiful, (the
latter however is here really predominant in both sexes,) in
such varied forms ? Where does he find more opportunity for
making reflections upon the varied application and misapplica-
tion of human abilities?

A similar throng and mass of people is to be seen, indeed,
at certain hours, in all large cities, and every where, where
there is something to be gazed upon. The jjeculiariti/ of
London, however, is, that it never leaves off. A foreigner,
who arrived at night, and towards noon came out of his lod-
ging, which was situated in a principal street, stood still at the
street-door, when he saw this stream of people flowing in
every direction around him, in order, as he himself afterwards
related, to let the people first pass hy I Hour passed after
hour, till finally a friend met with him, and assured him, he
might wait till the evening, and that it would only cease
towards night-time. He had, in fact, seriously thought that
some sight, or execution, had been the occasion of this im-
mense throng and the motion of so vast a crowd. Certainly,
when hanging-day arrives, which is frequent enough, the
pressure is, indeed, indescribable.

Manners, and way of Living, in England,

My stay in the country was too short to enable me to con-
sider the prevailing manners and ways of living in all the
various shapes they offer to the traveller. I have, indeed,
given myself every trouble to come in contact with persons of
different and manifold dispositions and employments, and, in
this respect, I have succeeded. I have neither neglected to
visit the poor miserable districts in the City, Southwark, and
St. Giles's, where the lowest classes dwell, nor the most sump-
tuous quarters, the abode of affluence. By far too many
figures, however, present themselves to me, that I could exe-
cute and give a proper finish to so great a picture. For this
purpose, too, it would be necessary to possess the talent of the
noblest historical painters, of a West, an Angelica ; and to
unite, that of a Tenier with those of the masters of carica-
tures, Hogarth and Rowlandson.

The difference of classes constitutes here, as every where,

20 Niemeyer*s Travels in Germany,

the principal difference in the manners. It is, however, cer-
tainly more difficult in England, than in other countries, to
ascertain this difference from external appearances. This
arises from the manner of dress. The men's costume displays
the greatest simplicity. The quality of the articles worn is,
indeed, various ; but, whatever meets the eye, whether in the
street, or in company, whether worn by the minister of state,
the opulent lord, the merchant, the wealthy mechanic, the
clerk in the counting-house, is, throughout, the same ; and, in
the usual intercourse of social life, the court gala alone ex-
cepted, no exception is made therein. In the most populous
streets I have never noticed any person who was to be distin-
guished by any external mark, particular uniform, the decora-
tion of an order, or anything similar. What in Germany be-
comes a kind of duty to wear, would here create surprize, and,
probably, would expose the wearer only to the insults and
ridicule of the populace.

Jt is in no respect different with regard to the dress of the
wofnen. The real worth and costliness of the articles, not the
particular n)anner of dress, constitutes the difference. In
certain parts of the town, I thought I perceived only persons
of rank, however they may vary in situation of life and property,
because, in ordinary life, the humblest chambermaid wears
her hat and muslin dress, as well as the richest lady; and,
upon occasions, only of court ceremony, sumptuous festivals,
or upon her visits to the Italian Opera, does the latter display
all the magnificence and expense of dress.

In many establishments the late hour of tea-time concludes
the arrangement of meals. A sin) pie but cold supper is,
nevertheless, to be met with sometimes, when the dinner hour
happens between four and five o'clock. This supper takes place
between the hours of nine and ten. It is natural, however,
to imagine, from the way of life led by the great, that when
we read of the supper commencing at four or five o'clock in
the morning, that the same bears a proportion to a dinner at
seven or eight in the evening, the natural consequence of
which is, that in such houses, the hours of rising correspond
almost with our dinner hour.

This is to be attributed partly to the immense size of the
town, and to the course of business. The courts of justice
and of law, the offices, the counting-houses the members, of
which are frequently obliged to make a journey of several
n)iles, cannot be shut so soon, opened again, and the business
terminated, as in smaller places. To which may be added,
that all the mails take their departure after midnight, and that
a letter is certain of being forwarded, if delivered, even at the

the Netherlands, and England, 21

office, a short time before twelve o'clock. Thus, in this
great emporium of the trade of the world, the merchant fre-
quently avails himself of the last moment he is allowed to
wait, to forward any fresh intelligence that may transpire.

The Sunday in England,

Almost all travellers complain that they found nothing
more melancholy than the British manner of keeping the
Sunday. They assure us that on that day all nature appears
expired, and that every tone of joy is hushed in sorrow. They
pity the people who are thus denied every lawful enjoyment,
and consider our laws far more happy, which are strangers to
this constraint. I frankly assert that the Sunday has not
appeared to me so gloomy and joyless, and that I reckon many
of the Sundays I passed in England amongst the most pleasing
days of my recollection, and cannot even suppress the wish
that we at least might see a little more of that practised in Ger-
many which is found in the highly respectable families of that
country, both with respect to character and religious education.
I am not here meaning to speak of those who, imbued with
a stern religious melancholy, consider it a sin to divert them-
selves with the most innocent recreations, such as playing upon
an instrument, or the reading of any book the contents of which
treat not of religious subjects, and think themselves obliged to
keep the sabbath holy, more in a sense of the old testament
than in a christian one ; but I mean to speak of those who
could not but wish, that a certain uniform sentiment were in-
troduced also into Germany in keeping the hours of Sunday. —

I think, however, that whoever does not consider the thea-
tre, balls, and gambling, as indispensable in order to be amused
or to get rid of his enui, whoever has not lost all taste for the
great beauties of nature and the joys of a noble and cheerful
sociability in the family circle, cannot fail in being merry both
within and without London, even on the Sunday.

First impression made by the National Character, the Social Life,
and the ton of Intercourse.

What first presents itself to the traveller in foreign countries,
and which he encounters at almost every step he takes, is the
peculiarity in the customs, manners, and habits of social life,
with which, in order not to appear singular, he must necessa-
rily make himself acquainted. Nevertheless, we become nearly
as soon accustomed thereto as the eye to new objects. After
a few weeks residence we begin to pass rapid ily over what at
the beginning was wont to fix our attention for several days,
and which we thought we should never grow tired of consider*

22 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany,

ing. — Just as easily we accommodate ourselves to the establish-
ed manner of arranging the day and plan of life.

1 had heard and read so much of the coldness, reserve, and
even of the pride of the English, who contemn every thing
foreign, that it would but little have astonished me had I found
this generally so. I will however not deny that single occur-
rences of this kind have come before me,and that, for example,
in my travels during the voyage, in the post coaches, I have
made many an acquaintance, which left not the slightest wish
in my mind to continue them. In places particularly where
many people meet together, for example, in coffee houses and
inns, there is opportunity to perceive the unusual taciturnitr/
and love of silence which prevails j as frequently persons who
have been long and intimately acquainted with each other, can
sit for hours by the side of the fire without uttering one
word ; nay, they seem to wonder if, according to our German
social manner which inclines so much to discourse, you endea-
vour to address it to them. In the domestic circles I found,
particularly the younger unmarried ladies, for the most part very
still, and always purposely shy. Persons, who have long lived
amongst the English, assert also, that in family circles and
friendly meetings it is not rarely the case, that a long pause
follows after a long conversation. It remains to be decided
therefore by the feelings of each individual, whether this has
not more charms for the man who knows how to employ himself
within the resources of his own mind, than an endless chatter
about nothings, and the tiresome endeavours of many compa-
nions, male or female, never to let the conversation drop, and
who, that they may only speak, are continually making the
most common-place questions.

Speaking, however, from my own experience, I cannot at all
agree in the complaint which has been made of a thorough cold
or repulsive conduct. First of all, I must praise the great polite-
ness with which the stranger is set right by those who are alto-
gether unacquainted with him. As 1 never had a Lnqnais tie
place, even in the first weeks of my stay, in order that I might
find my own way by myself the more readily, I have been fre-
quently exposed to the necessity of troubling persons I met with
questions ; and I have tried this purposely with people of all
conditions of life. Never has an unfriendly word put me to the
blush ; generally speaking, ho\vevcr,a polite manner in putting
people into the right road, is a tolerable common virtue, which
may have suffered here and there a little by incomprehensible
or even troublesome questions made by the foreigner. The
nature of man inclines him to participation ; and even the feel-

the Netherlands, and England. 28

ing, that we know something better than another who may be
our superior, is often an agreeable one.

In the society of the better-informed classes you indeed expect
in rain that formal ceremony, those low reverences, and es-
tablished usages of outward politeness upon arrival and taking
leave, to which formerly at least people were accustomed in
Germany, although they are daily losing their ground. On
the other hand, however, true politeness reigns in England,
together with the noblest simplicity of manner-, consisting
more in facts than in words. The hand is given to the person of
the highest rank, as well as to the equal, and you are certain
of a friendly return. The lord, as well as yowv friend, is saluted
\\\i\\ ?i good mornings 2iU^ leave taken of them, with a good
evening, or a good night. Embracing and kissing, amongst
men, appear to the English as unnatural, and the man would
be exposed to insult even, should he be seen following the
German custom in the street. This, indeed, may be carried
too fcir ; but we must still allow, that the fine token of love and
inivard friendship, is sacrificed by us too much to unnecessary
ceremony ; and we must rejoice rather, that vvhat had become
a frequently burthensome, and wherewithal a repugnant cus-
tom, is disappearing more and more from the circles of the
men ; for example, that of offering, after any great social
entertainment, 30 or 40 embraces, twice or three times as
many kisses, and, as formerly was the custom, of kissing the
hand of every lady. Amongst the English women, I have
never noticed this latter custom at coming and going, but
frequently in families, amongst affectionate parents, children,
brothers and sisters.

The strong exterior contrast of ranks, so common in our
country, appears less frequent in England, and in this respect
too, one of the finest peculiarities of British life is indisputably
displayed. Every one feels in that country, that he hfree born,
that, by theconstitutionof the country, as well as by his natural
liberty, he is a protected man, and that all, in the eye of the
law, have an equal right. He knows that, either personally, or
by his representative, he has a voice in the great concerns of
the nation ; that, if he commits a crime, his equals will judge
him, that he is secured from the oppressions of overbearance,
whether of the nobles, the military, or the clergy, so long as
he confines himself only within the bounds of the laws. At-
tempts are not wanting, even in England, of individual members
of these classes, to elevate themselves above the others. But as
every house proprietor thinks his house is his castle, so every
citizen of state considers the principles of the constitution as
he bulwark of his liberty. Much of this, indeed, may consist

24 Niemeyer*s Travels in Germany,

in imagination, but this, of itself, frequently makes us content-
ed and happy. This spirit is cherished from early youth ; it
grows up with the boy and the young man. Parents themselves
treat their sons, sacred as the paternal power is, in this spirit ;
and the domestic education is, in the highest degree, liberal.
Hence arises the unconstrained manner of intercourse of all
ranks amongst each other; hence the facility, as soon as a
person is only decently attired, of getting access ta the first
houses without much ceremony ; hence the candour in oppo-
sing in public meetings and assemblies of the people, the Duke
and the Earl, as well as a brewer of beer, if they should hap-
pen not to be of the same opinion. Of this the debates in
parliament are the best proof. But as these debates are public,
they are known to and read by all ranks, and form the public
spirit.

This public spirit is not a little cherished and promoted by all
public events, mutually serviceable enterprizes, and institutions
forming the most usual topic of conversation. In Germany,
even men of superior education can find delight for hours in
the petty novelties of the day, in the miserable prattle about
what other men say, how they dress themselves, receive visits,
or go out ; and frequently the most insipid jokes, which, on
account of their being so continually repeated, are called
stereotypes, are preferred to the most scientific subjects. Such
things are not suited, as many impartial observers who have
lived in England many years assure me, to the taste of well-
educated company in that country. Politics and trade are in-
deed the principal theme of discourse. But an interest is
also evinced for what is generally serviceable to mankind, and
many matters of this nature are frequently treated of with the
greatest earnestness over a glass of porter or wine.

From this kind of conversation, a certain seriousness must
naturally accompany social life ; and the loud and frequently
noisy behaviour, as well as the shout of any individual, would
appear as a failure in good manners. But this is the reason
of a large mass of sound ideas, of a perspicuity in opinion,
and an ability in expression, being extended in all classes of
people ; in which respect it cannot be denied that Life forms
the Englishman far more than the School, That public spirit, as
far as it consists in the participation in the general concerns
of the nation, sometimes displays itself in a manner which
would excite any thing but respect, or a wish that it might so
exist amongst us, is already sufficiently known from the events
which have lately occurred. If popular meetings, like the
last in London and Manchester; if at sometimes earnest, and
at others laughable speeches, proclamations and actions, astonish

the Netherlands, and England, 25

kss there, and probably occasion less harm than they would
with us ; this must be attributed to the constitution, which
affords security in such manifold ways; although the reflecting
and the reasonable part of the nation are not perfectly easy
at such scenes, and think of measures to ward otf the storm,
well knowing how much evil generally ensues, when the
poorer classes of people wish to effect by force, that change
which can only be the work of deep reflection, and a profound
insight into the real situation of things.

But there ^refiner effects of this public spirit, which, although
less taken notice of in German publications, and on that ac-
count too little known out of England, merit far more our
respect and consideration. Through that spirit, institutions,
coalitions, and foundations, have been brought about, partly in
the capital, partly in the whole country and the most distant
colonies, which, both in the excellence of their appointment,
as well as in the grandeur of their plans, hardly have their
cquaL

Two principal motives have certainly operated to this effect,
in an equal degree : on the one hand, it might almost be said,
that the disposition is inherent in the nation for every thing
which appertains to the public weal and national instruction,
were the latter only to be effected by the most rigid appli-
cation of human powers; on the other hand, the religious
spirit, which, whether more or less pure, is still indisputably
extended amongst all ranks in England more than else-
where. Both have had a very great share in very many of
the important institutions and coalitions of modern times,
which, as soon as we are better acquainted with them, exceed
almost all expectation and imagination. If the first idea of
these originated with a large number of enterprizing men,
animated with a religious spirit, and an high zeal for main-
taining and extending the doctrines of Christianity, they found
also, from those who probably participated not in that spirit
with them, or v/ere even unberfevers or indifferent, the most
powerful support. They are animated at least by a lively
spirit for every thing which the human weal, liberty, and in-
dustry demands, or which can contribute any thing to the
honour and renown of the nation. On this account it is that
we see princes, dukes, and many other members of the
highest classes, who enjoy not altogether the reputation of a
particular religious feeUng, or austerity of morals, still connect
themselves willingly and frequently with all assemblies or in-
stitutions, the end of which is directed to mutually useful en-
terprizes or the highest concerns of humanity ; and protect
and advance them by a patronage which they willingly under-

VoYAGEs and Travels, No, XLIX. Vol. IX. E

26 Niemeyer^s Travels in Gei-mcnry,

take. How far vanity may find a place therein is their con-
cern. The general good gains always byftheir interest and
influence.

VISIT TO SOME OF THE MOST REMARKABLE INSTITUTIONS, PUBLIC
AND PRIVATE BUILDINGS, IN AND AROUND LONDON.

Westminster Abbey,

In the year 1807 I stood in St. Deny's, upon the ruined
vaults of the rulers of France, and contemplated the building
of the marble hall, in which Napolewi formerly intended to
repose with his dynasty. Still earlier, in the year 1798, 1 saw the
magnificent Sarcophagus of Denmark's Kings in the Cathedral
oi Rothschild, In the year 1811, a poor capuchin conducted
nie, with a single taper in his hand, down into the damp vaults,
where a narrow space contained the coffins of the rulers of
the Austrian Empire. The remembrance of all these and
other sumptuous abodes of death was awakened in me, as I
wandered in London, amongst the lofty vaults of Westminster
Abbey.

Shakspeare's monument, the model of which is not un-
known to us, in plaster and cuts, from the editions of his
works, first attracted my attention. He stands thoughtful, in
a free position, leaning upon a pedestal, and points to a roll
of parchment, upon which some lines, taken from one of his
plays, are read ; which may be considered as the most appli-
cable inscription to the entrance of this abode of so many of
the powerful, who once stood upon the greatest terrestrial
height to which humanity can aspire.

An attractive feeling towards my native country drew me
from Shakspcare*s monument to the place of repose of two
great German artists, whose merits even proud Britain has
not disdained to do homage to ; that of the great painter
Kneller, in the reigns of Charles II., James II., William HI.,
and George I, and of the equally great musician, G. F. Handel.

Kncller's monument is simple ; but far more majestic that
of the immortal composer of so many oratorios, which are still
admired in Germany, and who still enjoys in England, down
to this moment, the most unlimited admiration. The genial
artist stands upright, noble alike in shape as in intellect, with
his left arm supported upon musical instruments. Highly
expressive is the erection of his head in order to pay attention
to the tones of a harp, with which an angel descends from the
clouds. His inscription is siniple. I in vain looked, however,
foi* an intimation that he was a German, and Halle his place
of birth.

the Netherlands, and England, 2?

If, indeed, some of these monuments are deserving of atten-
tion with respect to the art, it still bears reference only to the
smaller number of them, particularly the modern. It is not in
fine arts that the English generally distinguish themselvea. In
Westminster also many of those which possess merit are the
works of foreigners. Among those which even the British
prize the most, are the works of liuysbrack and Roubillac^
But the former was a Diitchtnan, the latter a Frenchman, At
present they possess an artist in John Flaxman, who is honour-
ed in foreign countries, and who has given an example of the
high talent he possesses in the monuments to Lord Mansfield, and
the great naval hero Lord Nelson, in St. Paul's Cathedral. »

Westminster Abbey approaches nearest, as a royal burying-*
place, to the cathedral in Rothschild, near Copenhagen, and
that of St. Deny's.

I have however not been able to suppress the wish, which
has been expressed by so many travellers, that, in a country of
the greatest cleanliness and elegance, a place which is so much
visited, might be kept cleaner, and secured from dust and cob-
webs ; and I have just as little been able to withhold my opinion
that the dressed wax figures of the Queens Elizabeth, Mary,
Ann, as well as of William Pitt, Chatham, and Nelson, w^hich
stand here in niches in some of the chapels, would be far more
appropriately placed in aby collection of curiosities, or in the
British Museum.

The Royal Residence^ Carlton House,

I have had an opportunity of making myself acquainted
with this residence.

It is necessary to have particular recommendations to see
the interior of Carlton House. The Armoury fills four rooms
on the second story, near which the Prince himself resides.
To a military visitor it must be in the highest degree interest-
ing and instructing to view the whole of the different arms
borne by all nations, from the Prussian Grenadier, or Chasseur,
to the Seapoy, the Chinese, Japanese, and the Body Guard of
the Great Mogul; and to be enabled to make observations upon
the progress of the art of war, and even of taste in the prepara-
tion of all these instruments of death. The riches which thes^
four rooms contain in single and precious articles, in the
noblest metals, in jewels and pearls, with which the sumptuous
sabres, daggers, turbans, and helmets are adorned, is indeed
incalculable. Above all, as might easily be expected, what has
been brought from the East Indies, that is to say, much of
the incalculable treasures which became a booty of the
English, in the year 1792 after the taking of Scringapatam

\

28 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany^

where Tippoo Saib lost both his life and empire, hold a dis^
tinguished place. The Chair of the Golden Throne of the
last King of Candy, Rajah Sindah, forms a large sun with in-
numerable rays broken by jewels of a very rare size. His
throne is shewn as the most modern monument of British
conquests in India.

When I see myself surrounded here by all these trophies,
which a spiritual, far more than a physical superiority, but
still more ^n unbounded lust of possession and coutroul, than
any just pretension, has here collected, how is it possible not
to be induced to as[: what gave Europeans, or, to speak more
accurately, what gavo a trading company the right of orer-
turniag kingdoms in z foreign part of the world; and sub-
jecting r?.tioaji to their sway, who certainly would never have
thought oi disturbing the tranquillity of a distant insular em-
pire ?

The priv**te dwelling rooms of the present king, in Carlton
HousSj t.:c r^t vi:.ible to foreigners. But the state rooms and
the halls ir. f.be lower story, afford by their appropriate magni-
ficence, modern LsJ.e, and incalculable riches, far more enter-
tainment thr.a wc are uciially wont to find, when we are obliged
to pa^j through, by the side of tiresome conductors, all the
apartments of royal residences. The connoisseur in the fine
arts, finds e::cellcnt pictures of the old and modern schools,
together with bastt of Fox, Lady Hastings, &c. — In the library
the literrtij and particularly the friend of elegant editions and
rarities of every kind, would willingly pass many days.

The Friccr^Sf — Kings Bench, Newgate, and Milt Bank,
It is a melancholy ccnsideratlon that^ together with the moral
excellence to be found in Knj^land, at the same time so great a
degree of corrapticii dicplayc itself in all possible shapes, that
scarcely c::n sufiiclen-t ro;i:. be found to prevent the malefac-
tors of every dsscripticn from be?n^' injurious to society by
separating them from It. This, indeed, would occasion little
surprize in London, which resembles a little world ; and where,
consequently, iio appearance either of bad or of good can be
unexpected ; but unfortunately, there is hardly a large town,
or one even of the middle class, in which the same observation
might not be made. To this depravity the necessities of the
lower classes have probably the most contributed.

The complaint, however, is nearly as general, that the usual
institutions of chastisement and improvement are become, to
many, the school of complete depravity; and numbers of
these persons lose in them, at once, both their physical and
moral character. It is well known that many cxccllcut men,

I

the Nethei'landSf and England, 29

both In Germany and in Kngland, have been deeply sensible of
this ; that Howard particularly has advised and done much,
in order to effect a radical reform in the prisons ; and we can
only be the more astonished, that in the native country of this
rare friend to humanity, the effects of his active mind are
not more generally visible. The nation has not denied him
his merit, a proof of which is to be found in the monument,
which is erected to him in St. Paul's Cathedral. But every
where, indeed, the most magnificent ideas meet with endless
difficulties, even where a good will to carry them into execu-
tion is not wanting.

u4 glance into the benevolent Institutions of London.

It would be necessary either to write an entire book, or
repeat what has been already written, were I only to confine
myself to the representation of those humane Institutions and
Establishments which are collected in London ; and it would
be indispensable to pass a whole year, and not merely a few
months, in order to become intimately acquainted with them.

I have purposely visited only some of the most important
establishments, because the man who wishes to see every
thing, seldom sees any thing rightly, and leaves the objects he
visits rather fatigued than informed. I would not even ven-
ture to give a decided character to those I have visited, because
I well know that great discrimination is necessary, in order to
enter into the spirit of great Institutions, that we may neither
become partial nor unjust. If they are not wholly in decay,
thejine side alone appears to the casual visitor, either because
this only is shewn to him, or because the defects, according to
their nature, are more secret and concealed.

A part of these Institutions is to be traced from early times,
when religious Institutions were met with every where in
Catholic countries, and were raised ,by that religious spirit,
which certainly may have had its origin more from the erro-
neous opinion of gaining a blessed life, or of making amends
for old sins, than from pure love of God and humanity. It
cannot be denied, that the zeal for them has very soon been
lost, together with the belief that works of this kind possessed
the power of affording a blessed life, which the reformers
contended against. But no where has this been the case less
than in England. Public spirit, and with many also, the spirit
of christian love, has maintained itself throughout the later
centuries, and still displays itself in new undertakings. A
great part of the most magnificent Institutions, the hospital of
St. Luke, for 300 persons, the Foundling, which provides for
400 children, the Insurance Institutions, for life and property,

30 Niemey€r*s Travels in Germany,

the great National and Sunday Schools, for which annually
half a million of dollars are collected by Voluntary Sabscrip-
tion, belong, like the Institutions for fallen girls, to the last
century, and partly even to more modern times.

Respecting Christ's Hospital 1 have to offer the following
reflections : as in England generally the preservation of what
is ancient in manners and customs is much attended to, this
attention is also to be remarked in the dress of the pupils of
the above Institution. At first sight, indeed, it appears some-
thing very singular. Represent to yourself young people, some
of 12, 16, or 17 years of age, in a dark blue coat, perfectly
similar to our children* s frocks, falling down to the feet ; under
the chin there is a small white facing, like the cape of our
clergy ; a small red stripe, or girdle, buckled round the body,
yellow stockings, and the head covered with a small blue cap,
with a tassel. Notwithstanding this strange uniform, which
can never be taken for any other, we look with the greatest
pleasure and satisfaction upon the 6 or 700 boys who are as-
sembled in the house. The greatest cleanliness is observed in
all of them. Hereto their peculiar washing establishment
greatly contributes. They bathe daily in a large room, with
long benches placed before the reservoir of water, 50 and 50
at a time ; head, hands, and feet are plunged into running
water, parJly cold and partly tepid, and they dry themselves
with towels hanging upon rollers. The most perfect health
and cheerfulness are visible upon every countenance. I was
present at one of their meals, which was animated by a joyful
behaviour, was simple, but wholesome and abundant. The
great Hall called forcibly to my remembrance the dining-room
in the Orphan House at Halle, where frequently 700 persons
have been also counted at table. The Prayer before and after
the meal, was said with much expression and reverence by
some of the pupils, and always finished with an Amen from the
whole assemblage. Stately matrons, well paid, belonging to
the house, distributed the soup and meat. Every table has
its superintendant, taken from the circle of the pupils. The
Steward, Mr. Huggin, superintended the whole at a table pla-
ced in the middle. I was much struck at seeing upon this table
all kinds of articles, such as keys, buttons, small money, buckles,
&c.; but the superintendent informed me that a strict account
was observed of giving back every thing, even the smallest
trifle, be it ever so insignificant, to the person who had lost it.
Generally speaking, these Blue-coat hoys, as they are univer-
sally called, enjoy a very good character. They are, indeed,
treated and educated according to strict rules, but very liberally.
They arc allowed to go out by two and two, as soon as they

the Netherlands, and England, 31

conduct themselves well ; and I have been assured that there
has hardly ever been an instance of these youths allowing
themselves to commit any irregularity in the street ; in which
respect they deserve to be held up for imitation by the youth in
many of our large and small German towns.

St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and St* Luke's,

I observed these great Institutions with attention. Even
had I only taken a peep into the few Institutions I have descri-
bed, I should entirely participate in the feeling which is pro-
nounced of them in a dignified and animated manner, by a
celebrated writer.

" In what other country in Europe/* says Goede, at the
conclusion of his Description of St, Luke's, " is only a single
institution of this extent to be found, which has maintained
itself flourishing, without any legislative controul, for half a
century, by free charitable donations. Yet what is this single
institution in comparison with more than two hundred others,
which continue uninterruptedly to flourish in London by
mere acts of free benevolence ! In speaking of institutions,
I understood by that name permanent foundatioUvS, not those
voluntary provisions for the poor and sick, which are not to
be numbered in London ; not those societies which are united
for charitable purposes for certain monthly contributions (the
friendly societies), and of which, a few years back, more than
680 were reckoned. If we compare, however, the immense
number of charitable foundations of this kind, which are
scattered throughout the kingdom, with the amount of all the
benevolent institutions of London, we find the former far
surpass them in number, grandeur, and riches ; and the whole
great picture of the patriotic benevolence of the English na-
tion, displays itself before us in so moving a magnificence,
that in the tranquil consideration of it, every better, holy, and
religious feeling, becomes heightened, strengthened, and ex-
tended."

FIRST VIEW OF THE INSTITUTIONS FOR THE EXTENSION ANI>
ADVANCEMENT OF RELIGION.

General View,

Amongst all the public undertakings in Great Britain, none
are of so great an extent, none awaken so general a partici-
pation amongst persons of all classes, sects, and parties, at
home and abroad, than those institutions which have for their
object the diffusion of the Bible amongst all the nations of the

32 Niemeyer's Travels in Germairy,

earth, and the communication of Christianity amongst unchris^
tian people.

In these endeavours, which are forwarded by so many thou-
sands in all countries, partly by the most charitable contribu-
tions, to which regents on their thrones, as well as the poor
in their huts, offer either large sums or humble mites, a greater
part of the Christian world, view the Jbiest character of the
times, the commencement of the fulfilment of the command of
Christ,—" There shall be but one shepherd, and but one flock."
But they are attended, in England as well as with us, not only by
good, but also by bad consequences. To the man to whom reli-
gion and Christianity is all a dream and nonsense, to the unbe-
liever, they are only vexation and folly; the indifferent man, to
whom the transition from one religion to another appears only an
exchange of errors, considers them as an useless waste of im-
portant powers, for vain enterprizes. But many too, who have
the highest respect for religion and the holy Book, are tempted
at times to doubt of the purity of the intent, and to think they
only wish to move God thereby to bless men, temporally, who
do so much for his honour : at times they are uncertain whether
rude nations by civilization gain any thing in happiness and
morality, or at least, whether, by this way and by this means,
the end can be best attained, viz. that of making knowledge
and virtue more general.

Who would deny his respect to that man who makes it the
business of his life to bring light into the understanding, and
tranquillity into the heart of his fellow creatures, however differ-
ent he may think of his person, his direct, or indirect calling,
and the means he chooses to produce that effect ? In truth,
the most inimical incredulity, and the most immoral neglect of
religion, can alone disavow the holy Being after whose name
we are called, whilst the modest doubter at least allows him
the merit of an honest enthusiasm, highly honourable to him,
from the greatness of his plan, and the sanctity of his purpose.
Let persons therefore decide for themselves whether their re-
proach, of such large sums being dedicated to this purpose, is
just. If it is considered munificent in a sovereign to devote
half a million to the decoration of his palace, to sump-
tuous edifices, to play-houses, shall it be called less munificent
in a nation which applies similar, and far larger sums, to human
improvement, and the felicity of mankind ?

But abstracting ourselves from the influence of religion, and
the Bible as its document upon the superior illumination,
instruction, and the consolation of the human heart, is not the
simple civilization of rude nations, and the salvation of the
game from heathen unbelief, from the most cruel aud revolting

the Netherlands^ and England. 33

feuatoms, sofnething highly benevolent ? and which even the
wisdom of the Bramins in India, among whom there are cer-
tainly many learned and very respectable persons, cannot or
will not destroy. But what ari important step is already
gained as soon as we succeed in making even the elements of
all higher knowledge more general amongst them. Ulp/iilas,
bishop of the Goths in the fourth century, lives continually in
the respectful remembrance of all succeeding ages, because he
it was who translated the New Testament into his language
for his rude tribe, and taught them at the same time to know
and read the alphabet. Through the zeal of the English Bible
Society, the Bible however becomes a book which, from the
great variety of its contents, and whilst it represents man in
all the degrees of his civilizatiof), gives the translator so much
opportunity for the formation and enrichment of language,
since it is given in the tongues of twenty-five Asiatic nations,
and as many in North America, who never had the least idea
of im-ithig and letters, !n Serampore, too, the greatest activity
reigns in this branch of literature. Moreover, the higher cul-
tivation of the mind has always been in close connexion with
the culture of languages.

We may, therefore, well ask the bitter rcproachers and
mockers of the Missionary and Bible Societies, whether they
should not highly prize every attempt to extend the empire of
hun)an knowledge, and to make rude nations by degrees sus-
ceptible of it, as it cannot be unknown to them, that those
nations also, amongst whom arts, knowledge, and learning have
attainied the highest point, were originally rude barbarians ;
and that the holy Bonifacius found our German forefathers
quite upon a lower scale of civilization than, thanks to God, we
stand upon at present? Or are they really so little disposed to be
citizens of the world, that they can only grant light to a small
part of the inhabitants of the earth ; and give themselves no
concern whether or not an innumerable host of rational beings,
who are as susceptible as themselves of spiritual improvement
and n)oral dignity, wander for ever in darkness, and are sacri-
ficed to all the errors and degeneration produced by their rude
and beastial inclination to sensuality? Have they no sense of
the raptures of the friend of humanity and the true christian,
when he reflects that, by his participation i i the union of reli-
gious persons, one tribe after another, enlightened and im-
proved by a truly humane religion like our own, not only abro-
gate the foolish and senseless, but also the murderous part of
idolatry; no longer kneel before altars which reek with the
blood of innocent children, youths, and maidens ; no longer

Voyages «wr/ Travels, A^o. XLlX.VoL.'lX. F

134 Niemeyer'i Travels in Germany^

consider the millions born to slavery as only half human, over
whom power is given to be free ?

Or is this picture somewhat exaggerated ? Let those who
probably think so read what Mr. Bowdich has detailed to us,
who, in the year 1 8 17, visited the State of Ashantee, upon
the gold-coast of Africa, as English ambassador. He was eye-
witness, at the death of one of their princesses, of three young
girls, and immediately after them of I'.i men, .who had
their arms and heads slowly taken off, in order to send a train
after the princess. *' Infinitely greater cruelties," says he,
" occur at the death of a king, as every faniily then must
repeat the human sacrifices for those who died under his
government. The orans, or gentlemen of the chamber, to the
amount of more than one hundred, are sacrificed together upon
his grave, besides a large number of women. At the funeral
celebration of the mother of the present king, her son offered
up only three thousatid human sacrifices, among which were
Uvo thousand prisoners. Tlie large towns sent each 100, the
smaller 10 persons, to slaughter."

If we rejoiced generally that, upon the appearance of the
Saviour of the world, light was spread over the nations to
which we belong ; if we have rejoiced at the spirit of reforma-
tion, that the night which had obscured it was obliged to give
place to the day,— shall we not wish success and the happiest
consequences to that enterprise whereby the same blessing
may be extended to nations which now wander in darkness?

Much time will still be necessary before the religious wishes
for a general civilization and moralization of the human race,
as they are now promised in a number of writings, which have
issued forth in England and her colonies, can be fulfilled. We
may, hovirever, cherish more ardent hopes, since at no period
has so much been done in a spirit at once so dignified and
forbearing as in ours, (resembling the endeavours made by the
Ron)an propaganda) both by the Bible Societies and the
Missionaries.

The British and Foreign Bible Society,

It is well known that, since the year 1804, another society
has connected itself with those which have long existed in
England, for the advancement of the knowledge of Christianity,
both in Great Britain as well as in the whole of Europe, and
the most remote parts of the world, the principal endeavours
of which are almost exclusively directed to the extension of
the Holy Scriptures. As together with many English, who
were warujcd with the interests of religion, both of secular
and ecclesias'tical conditions, foreigners living in London, and

the Netherlands, and England. 35

amongst them particularly the preacher at the German con-
gregation in the Savoy, Dr. Steinkopf, participated in the
interest, the same soon became extended on the continent, and
there is scarce a province at present of any importance,
wherein Sister Societies, which stand in the closest connexion
with the British, are not to be found. The society is of the
persuasion that, as the Holy Scriptures have ever been one of
the principal means of extending the true knowledge of God
and devotion amongst mankind, this religious disposition can
be animated amongst christians by nothing better than by
assisting all in the use of the Bible, nay, that even amongst
heathen nations, nothing can so certainly open the road to
Christianity, as by making it possible to deliver the holy do-
cument to each of them in their native language.

The centre of this society, from which, in the whole of Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland, as well as in all celebrated coun-
tries of the old and modern world, similar societies have arisen,
is in London. Perhaps in no empire of the world are so many
religious parties to be found as in. Great Britain, which differ
so greatly in their opinions and views, and a part of which are
very disinclined, even one towards the other. It is, therefore,
the more remarkable, that almost all are united in the advance-
ment of this purpose. The Bible Societies, like the Mission-
ary, reckon among them both Evangelical and Presbyterians,
Dissenters, Methodists and Quakers, and I heard even the
little party of the Unitarians, which departs from the church
in some of its principal doctrines, speak with respect of the
endeavours which had been made, although they did not ap-
prove of all the measures which were taken. Even this speaks
of the goodness of the purpose, for whatever is acknowledged
by so many parties to be salutary, and against which even party-
spirit has nothing to declaim, must certainly possess an intrin-
sic merit and value.

So great an undertaking could not be supported without
various economical and technical arrangements, and soon formed
itself into a large mercantile establishment. With regard to
the house in Essex Street, purchased for this purpose, the regu-
lation and general order deserve my highest praise. — I looked
with astonishment upon the vast supplies, and thespaces which
are daily exhausted and filled up again. The attention is not
less riveted by the superb mechanism whereby the bales and
boxes, destined for all the countries of the earth, are carefully
packed, weighed, bound and unbound, for their journey through
one half of the world. The number of hands daily employed in
the manufacture of paper, in printing, &c. &c. are incalculable.

36 Niemeyer*s TraveU in Germany ,

and the happy effects, produced by the cmploymcDt of so maa
vvorknicij of every kind, are indescribable.

On the 5th July I was introduced lo the weekly assemblage
of the Society. A place was ottered me, (as is usual wiih
strangers,) by the side of the President, Lord Teignmouth.
This highly respectable veteran, who was many years Goveruor-
General in India, introduced, at the same time with me, a Su-
preme Judge to the assemblage, Mr. Harrison, who had just
arrived from Calcutta, and had been at the head of the Bible
Society of that country. This gentleman gave an account of
the astonishing progress the same made in Bengal. One of the
British Secretaries, Mr. Owen, afterwards communicated
Letters he had received from Switzerland and France, upou
the same subject, and which countries he had shortly before
travelled through. I was now formally addressed, and request-
ed by Dr. Steinkopf, Secretary for the Society in Foreign parts,
to give an account of the progress of the Bible Society of
Halle, the founders of which, Canstein and Franke, belong to
the icw persons of my native country whose names are well
l%nown, and even celebrated, in certain circles. Although 1 was
not entirely ignorant of the language, still I was not a little
surprised at the commission ; nevertheless, my courage in-
creased during the address, by a benevolent participation taken
in my feelings, and even when I wanted the proper term of
expression, I was assisted by the friendly assistance of the sur-
rounding assemblage. 1 then endeavoured to satisfy them as
well as 1 was able. When I rei)orted that the Canstciji Bible
press had increased in modern times from 6 to J2 presses;
that these presses daily issued at least 12,000 sheets, printed
on both sides, aiid were, at the same time, unable to answer
the demand ; that the great augnjcntation in the price of paper,
and all materials for the press, and even the high duties upon
paper, made it almost impossible to continue the old price of
sale, without loss ; — when I reported all this, the words Hear,
Hear ! failed not to fall from their lips, which is a token, with,
the English, of any thing which appears to them important.
This gave me greater courage, partly to solicit the support from
this Institution, by a press of English manufacturey as some
of our own were grown very old ; and partly to propose that
copies of all the bibles hitherto printed in foreign languages,
might be sent to our Library.

I cannot reflect without emotion upon those solemn hour?,
and particularly upon the excellent replies with which Mr.
Owen, one of the most animated speakers I have heard in
England, replied to my wishes, which were, indeed, not uttered
without diffidence. ** We have perceived," said be, " with

i

the JSeiherlands, and England, 37

great participation, that the work continues to prosper and
take effect, through the means employed by the highly respected
gentlemen, Canstein and Franke. Only," said he, with a fine
application of feeling, "Only, I may be allowed to regret that
they have soiicited, where tliey had a right to demand. Nay, it
is our duty to support every undertaking connected with our
purposes. We are only the housekeepers, and receive the rich
gifts, in order to assist those who are in want of our assistance.
We will give whatever we are able, and let it be the tribute of
our high respect for an Institution which, long since, has been
a pattern to our own activity.*'

And the Society has indeed -kept its word ! Through its
liberality the Canstein Institution is not only in possession of
two of these presses, above 1000 dollars in value, but a present
has been made to it, by order of that Committee, of stereotype
plates, necessary to a perfect edition of the bible.

This Institution is indisputably one of the greatest which
have ever existed for religious purposes ; the yearly expendi-
ture thereof already amounts to nearly 500,000 dollars, without
mentioning what is expended directly by the sister Societies ia
all parts of the world.

It has been asked whether a part of this large sum could not
be .better employed in the appointment of enlightened teachers
and explainers of the scriptures, who are capable of handling
the contents of the holy book, as prudent fathers of families ;
since it can hardly be denied that the bible must not remain a
secret to a number of persons without education, and who even
possess not the least mechanical ability in reading ?

The British Bible Society, however, is governed by the maxim,
that, in order to attain a great end, its activity must not be
divided. Preaching of the word, or teaching, is the duty of
the Missionary Societies, The Bible Society has made it its
principal object to sacrifice every thing in order that the most
important means of instruction, the holy Scriptures, may be
wanting nowhere. On this account it is, that the Society
wishes to diffuse the bible without any assistance or impedi-
ment, without remarks and explanations, in order that the-
editions may not be exposed to the suspicion of being subject
to wilful changes, and that nothing may disturb the simplicity
of the endeavour, and that the insight into the understanding
and the use of the holy book may be more free to every one.

It is hardly possible to represent, in few words, what has
been already done by the united endeavours of so many thou-
sand members of this Society, both in and out of Britain. It
would be necessary to have read the annual accounts which
have appeared upon the subject, and, together with the Sum-:

S8 ?fietneyer*s Travels in Germany^

mart/ Review, at the same time to have received the detached
Reports from all parts of the world, in order to have any idea
of it. The chief Society contains, alone, in the British empire,
about 500 assistant Societies. The most brilliant idea, how-
ever, is presented to us of the grandeur of its effect, by know-
ing, for example, that in the first ten years alone, (from 1804
to 1814,) the same were placed in condition, by voluntary con-
tributions, of devoting the sum of ^*299,287 sterling, to these
purposes ; and that in the year 1818 alone, the outgoings, which
were fully covered by the amount received, amounted to
500,000 dollars ; that these sums only comprehended those
which, directly or indirectly, came into their treasury, and not
what was collected in other countries, upon the example of
England. Above 100 Editions of the Holy Scriptures, and of
the New Testament, have already been made in England,
Germany, Russia, and the East Indies, in the various European,
Asiatic, African, and American languages and dialects, and
millions of copies of the holy Book have been scattered through-
oat the world.

The Thames Bridges.
"' A very correct notion is acquired of the increase of the me-
tropolis of England, which even surpasses every representation
which has been made of it, and of the extension of the envi-
rons in all directions, by a comparison of the old plans of Lon-
don with the modern ones.

As in England, generally, they never omit to mention how
much every thing that is shewn may have cost, the descrip-
tions of London give circumstantial details of the expenses of
all the bold works to be seen in the metropolis, and inform you,
for example, how much stone and iron work may have been
employed upon the Bridges, according to measure and weight;
nay, calculations have even been made of the number of per-
sons, horses, and carriages, which may be received as the daily
average of the passengers to and fro. According thereto, on
one Sunday, 89,640 foot-passengers, and 1240 coaches passed
the London Bridge, and every thing in respective proportion.

The general impression which the view of this unique mer-
cantile traffic produced in me, and must, indeed, produce in
the breast of every unprejudiced observer, was the effect of
a variety of, and contrast between, opposite feelings. On the
one hand, that restless endeavour after wealth, which belongs
only to this world, which appears to exclude eveiy other con-
sideration, and to which wealth, sooner or later, even the
possessor must become indifferent, and, finally, can easily do
without ; which, moreover, even in the plenitude of possession,

the Netherlands, md England, 99

seldom affords what is so earnestly sought after, a contented
and happy life, free from care, appears rather to excite
our regret than to add to our satisfaction. On the other
hand, the tranquil philosopher, who, unobserved by the world,
or only known by some select friends, strives to obtain those
imperishable goods which make the loss of all others so easy,
appears not only to stand much higher in a moral character
than the milionary and the nabob, almost sinking under the
weight of India's gold, but he appears to be, in fact, by far
the happiest man. Who is there, who is not acquainted with
many a rich speculator, in his native country, who, however
he may assist and be useful to others by his activity, still de-
rives the least enjoyment himself, from the uneasy restlessness,
the night-watchings, the anxious dreams, to which he is ex-
posed, and from his increasing money coffers ? if, indeed, he
is not fool enough, as many of them are, to starve by the side
of the latter.

On the other hand it cannot, and it must not, be denied,
that the height upon which a large trading state stands, is not
throughout the work of physical, as w^ell as of spiritual,
powers. The endeavour to appropriate and employ every
thing to one's self, in a thousand ways, which the earth conceals
in her bosom, or which her bosom produces, has either given
the first impulse to many a science, or affords it the great
means of assistance, without which the world would hardly
have attained that degree of perfection at which we now be-
hold it. The fewest number of my readers will require to be
remembered, how far we should have remained behind,
without the art of navigation, in the knowledge of the firma-
ment, and the laws of the universe. And, would navigation
have existed without trade ?

The great and well-informed merchant may be said to have
attained that summit of knowledge of the world, upon which
alone views are to be formed of the generality of mankind,
whether ignorant or learned, as well as of the connexions be-
tween the niost distant nations, which lead him to enterprizes
so rich in their consequences, and which are hardly possible
to be effected in a lower scale of view. But there is some-
thing still more sublime, which lies beyond every thing that is
earthly. If he leave not the latter out of sight, and is able to
preserve in himself the feeling of a higher destination of man,
he belongs, indisputably, to the most respectable, as well as
^be most active and serviceable, member of human society.

40 NUmeyfr'M Travels in Germany,

The British Museum, — Lord Elgin* s Antiquities,

Time only allowed me to visit occasioually this celebratedf
collection of curjositics of every kind. The connoisseur alone,
too, is enabled to place a just estimation upon whatever
appertains therein to nature and art; but, in order to avail
one's self of the treasures in the library, it is necessary to have
leisure, and some decided purposes. As, however, I must
conclude, from many questions which have been made to me,
that my readers expect me to say somethit^g upon this subject
also, I will endeavour at least to set right many improper
representations which appear to be made of this, as the name
indicates, National Institution, and to give a general view of
the same.

First, let it be remarked, that the better part of the collec-
tiou was a legacy, made in the middle of the foregoing century,
by Hans Sloanc, a private individual, a physician and natural
historian, and became the property of the nation for a moder-
ate sum of money ; and was, very soon afterwards, so much
augmented and extended by the possession of Cotton's and
Harley's Manuscripts, by presents, and the purchase of private
collections, as well as by the patriotic zeal manifested by the
trustees, and, finally, by the interest which Parliament took in
the institution, that the room even in the very large palace
which formerly belonged to the Duke of Montague, is daily
becoming too small to contain the collection.

On that account it has been long since desirable that a
national building should be erected, which should properly
correspond to the value of the treasures here collected, and
render, at the same time, the inspection of the same more
convenient. But, even the very important augmentation of
value it has received in Lord Elgin's Grecian acquisitions, has
not been hitherto sufficient to satisfy this general expectation
of the nation.

I can offer no opinion of the value of the collection of
natural productions, of the purpose of their exhibition and
classification, of their relative comparison with other collec-
tions; as, for example, the Museum of Natural History, in
the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. The endless variety, the
public display of the inexhaustible riches of nature, afford,
however, the non-coimoisseur a delightful enjoyment.

As man generally feels interested most in all that concerns
his own nature, wc feel a desire to spend a considerable time
in the apartments which contain the dress, tools, arms, and
works of art, belonging to the most opposite nations. Where,

, the Netherlands, and England. 41

indeed, is a richer supply of these articles to be expected
than in a country whose seamen touch all parts of the habit-
able world, and are become so well acquainted, either by
force of arms or by trade, with the tneans of making the pos-
session of them their own ? What an addition alone has been
made by the great discoveries by sea? Any foreigner, of
whatever part of the globe, continent, or islands, may be cer-
tain to find something here which has once either clothed,
armed, given pleasure to, terrified, amused, or adorned, men
of his cast.

One of the most distinguished ornaments of the Museum,
is the valuable collection of Mr. Hamilton, who, it is well
known, when he was Ambassador at Naples, employed all his
diligence upon the study of antiquity, and took so great a part
in the excavations which were made in the two towns of
Pon)peii and Herculaneum, which disappeared more than 1700
years ago. Who does not know that we are indebted almost to
him alonefortheknowl'edgeoftheancientEtrurian vase pictures,
and that a new territory, as it were, has been gained thereby in
the map of antiquity ? The whole treasure of his gains in Italy
w^as brought back wMth him to England, and, in the year 1772,
was given over to the Museum for the sum of 48,000 dollars.
Here we behold, at present, the originals of thousands of suc-
cessful imitations, which at present adorn the castles and
houses of the inhabitants of taste in all countries.

The greatest, at least the most invaluable treasure of the
Museum, is the library. A learned man. Sir Robert Cotton,
in the seventeenth century, dedicated his life to make a parti-
cular collection of old manuscript documents, and numberless
original letters, both of his own time and of antiquity, the
catalogue of which alqne fills an entire folio volume!. What
secrets of the most retired family life, what documents of
human passions may not here lie before us, and still are se-
cured frOm all discovery. Enveloped in dark leather covers,
with short inscriptions or numbers, they may be said to remain
there like grey antiquity herself. Any person who had time
only to find out the interesting parts of them, which have
never been made use of, for the enriching of history, v^ould
fiot repent the trouble he has takeq. In the midst of these
manuscript antiquities, the fragment of the original Magna
Charta, which John was obliged to sign in 1215, reposes
in its own desk, under frames and glass, like a holy relic of
the palladium of British liberty. Some unknown accident had
conveyed that original into the workshop of a tailor, who was
about to cut out measures from it, when a connoisseur,

VoYAGKs and Travels, No, XLIX. Vol. IX. G

42 Niemeyer*s Travels in Germany,

»

acquainted with ancient writing, happened to step in, and
saved it i'roin total destruction.

The Harleian collection of manuscripts, the catalogue of
which contains 8000 numbers, is still more copious : this is
considered almost as the greatest treasure of the kind in Eng-
land. A similar collection bears the name o{ royal.

The printed works are contained in sixteen halls and rooms
in the lower story. The Librarian, Dr. Baber, who is as polite
as he is learned, made me acquainted with the regulation and
order of the library. As the greater part thereof has arisen
from legacies and presents, whereby it was frequently requested
that every collection should be preserved together, containing
its own works, the partitions, on this account, bear the name
of their original possessors. The proper lloyal Library^
which was formerly concealed in the dark corners of West-
minster Abbey, has now been placed in a beautiful and light
situation. The most costly of sumptuous works, which print-
ing and literature can show, appear to be here united. A copy
must be delivered of every thing which appears in London,
and you are carefully informed of the enormous prices of
many capital works.

The present King, when he was Prince Regent, granted an
unusual large sum (my memory has not clearly retained to
what amount), in order to represent, in print, a perfect fac-
simile of one of the most celebrated of all manuscripts of holy
writing, the Codex Alexandrinus. Some of the letters have
been cast entirely after the traits of the original. Only a
moderate number of copies is struck off, and they are rathei*
made a present of, than sold, by the government. The com-
inencement that has already been made, under Mr. Baber's
direction, awakens the best expectations of the undertaking.
This venerable document, which is at least twelve hundred
years old, of a religious industry, brings to lively remembrance
great names, who once were, and are still, dear to science.

The Gallery, in which the works of art of antiquity are ex-
posed in fourteen partitions, has been lately extended by a
very light, and, it is to be hoped, only temporary, erection, for
the Elgin collection. A sight of these ancient and modern
treasures of the Museum, n^ust afford every connoisseur a
high treat, although Italy and France, particularly when the
latter possessed the pro])erty of all countries, may have been
richer. We wander here, indeed, amongst many lamentable
ruins, and nmst, probably, bring with us as much power of
imagination as lov^ of the arts, in order to give a perfjtsction to
what is wanting by analogy, and to find particular parts^

the Netherlands y and England. 41

crippled as they are beautiful. But what has no longer charms
for the ej^e, may still be instructive to the artist ; and thus it
is that we must allow the zeal and animation of the antiqua-
rian to reverence every fragment of a period, which appears
before his eyes as the Golden Age. He must only allow those
who are uninformed in these matters, but whom he may
probably find more natural in their observations than those
who afTect to be connoisseurs in the arts, to pass their time
more willingly by the side of a pleasing imitation in plaster,
than by that of the most celebrated Torso, the value of which
they are not able to comprehend.

Yet above all the ancient works of art which the British
Museum possesses, scarce any thing rivets the attention more
than the modern acquisition made by the collection of Lord
Elgin, or the Elgin marbles, as they are generally called.

Like Hamilton had done in Italy, Lord Elgin, a Scotchman,
who was from the year 1799 ambassador at^ the Ottoman
Porte, availed himself of his high situation, in order to perfect
apian which he had already formed in England, and which he
had deliberated upon with friends of the art, viz. to collect not
only accurate drawings of the remains of ancient Grecian
architecture and sculpture, but casts in plaster, and thus to
snatch from entire destruction every thing that had escaped
the ravages of time, and the barbarity of conquerors. At-
tended by six artists, whom he had particularly associated
with himself, at his own expense, in Rome, he came to Con-
stantinople, and after many difficulties, which he overcame by
prudence and perseverance, finally received permission from
the Turkish government to send his attendants to Athens, in
order to commence the work. Indefatigable as they were,
still three years were consumed before all the monuments in
Athens, and partly beyond its territory, were measured, drawn,
and cast off. Still, however, a nearer acquaintance with the
situation in which they were found, furnished him with a fur-
ther conviction that the continual injuries done to them by the
Turks, the mouldering of whole statues, and their being
crushed to mortar, would shortly leave no trace of them be-
hind. On that account, every thing was now sacrificed to
save what still could be saved, and they succeeded so well
therein, that a Firman was delivered to the senior officer of
Athens, by which Lord Elgin was justified, not only to make
casts of every thing, but also to carry away, to order to be
packed up and shipped, whatever he might find serviceable to
his views. Thus he returned to England with a rare booty of
preserved remains of the magnificent period of Grecian art.

Are we to complain of him in the present situation of

44 JNiemeyer's TraveU in Gerinany,

affairs in Greece ? Are those acquisitions to be called ab
unworthy theft ? There is no doubt, that in order to enjoy to
the full the magnificent works of art, it is necessary to tread
on the soil and neighbourhood in which they have arisen ; that
in a mixed collection tliey are only laid out to the view of the
curious, and never produce the same effect; on that account
I have seen many a noble Frank, proud indeed at the victory of
his nation, still wander in mournful melancholy atnongst the
statues, which he had earlier admired as property of the Vati-
can, in the Bclvidere, or in the Medicean palaces of Italy. But
does that man deserve blame and re[)roach, who probably
avails himself of the only moment left, in order to prevent
the creations of masterly hands from being broken by the
hammers of barbarians, and the pestle of the mortar crushing
the marble which represented god-like forms ? Or is the
Briton to suffer himself to be outdone by the Frenchman, who
has long sighed after the possession of these treasures ?

Greatly as every thing may deserve the attention of the con-
noisseur, which belongs to those times when the arts flourished
in Athens, still we feel ourselves most penetrated and captiva-
ted, when, on the sides of the gallery, we view the ren)ains of
those celebrated reliefs Which formed the frieze of the temple
of Minerva, the greatest architectural work with which Peri-
cles adorned Athens. Little as this celebrated Parthenon,
executed in white marble, remained like its original form, still
the hand, or direction, of the great Grecian master could not
be concealed, neither in the magnificent statues of Theseus and
Ilyssus, nor in the /ne^e, originally 600 feet long, which went
over the Doric row of pillars, on both sides of the temple. For
Plutarch and Pausanias leave us in no doubt that we here be-
hold the works of that Phidias whose high sense of the beau-
tiful in the art, first conceived, and whose chisel has executed,
or at least perfected then).

No description can he cx[)ccted here of these costly works
** of such powerful effect by their grandeur, inimitable in their
grace and beauty." Such, after what Haniilton, Millin, Bot-
tiger, and Thierscli, have said upon them, would prove only
very deficient, and would be moreover beyond the limits of thi»
work. Even the extent of the value which they possess as one
whole and sejiarately, for the arts and for students, can only
be properly prized by a connoisseur living amidst these archaao-
logical studies, and who is well versed in tlie secrets of the same^
Still, however, the unpractised eye could not avoid noticing
what filled such competent judges as Viconti and Canovi
with astonishment—that variety and truth in the movement of
ao many figures, particularly in* the treatmcut of the Battle of

the Netherlands, and England, 45

the Centaurs, which adorned the entrance of the temple over
the colonnade, and still more of the great train at the festival
of the Panathenaon, which was represented in the frieze of
the proper temple in a long row of half-size statues. What
grandeur of design in the horses and animals, what richness
and taste in tiie drapery, what beauty in the positions adapted to
the purest models 1

What, however, more than all overpowered me was, the re-?
flection upon the ivonderful vicissitudes of time, which ar^
brought so lively to our remembrance upon beholding these
treasures of Athens transported to Londohl

What was Britain when these statues first came out of the
workshops of Phidias ? when that temple of IVlinerva first
stood perfected in all its magnificence before the astonished
Athenians ? A distant island, for the most part only known
to a few Phoenician sailors for its copper mines, the name of
which was hardly uttered by any Grecian lip, in the most highly
polished and elegant city of the former world. And now this^
same elegant city, the abode of sciences and arts, without
which Rome in her intellectual acquirements would scarcely
have become what she did become^ at whose sources of learn-
ing the noblest spirits of all centuries have drank — what is.
this Athens in these days ? A melancholy heap of ashes and
of ruins, towards which the metropolis of then unknown^
Britain, which has risen like a colossus, has stretched forth her
saving hand, of that metropolis more than double as large m,
number of inhabitants as the whole territory of the republip
of Attica, in order that whatever still remained possible to be
preserved, might not become a prey to those barbarians, at
the sight of whom the Muses have long since fled. They have>
taken their flight over the sea, and what once flourished;
tinder an Ionian sky, has found its asylum in the cold north.

" Is it, then, really so" — said 1 often to myself — as frequently
as I wandered amongst and under these treasures, " or is it illu-
sion? Has Pericles once stood before these marble statues direct-
ing how they should be divided in the temple ? Did Socrates,,
Plato, Sophocles, Euripides, and Pindar, once pass musing by
the same ? Under these metopes on the frontispiece of th^
entrance, did the stately Pon)pa once move, at the festival of
the Parthenon, into the interior of the sanctuary, to the statue
of the goddess carrying the holy veil, woven by the noblest
ladies of quality, as an offering of incense r"

Since I was considering the Elgin marbles amidst such mo-*
nologues, the history of our days has attracted the attention
irresistibly to the country whence they are derived. Greece is.
under arms from the streams of Epirus to the banks of the

46 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany,

Danube ; Macedonia, Peloponnesus, the coast of Asia Minor,
even Athens, are in contest, not with centaurs and statues, but
with a dreadful tyranny, destructive of all the rights of huma-
nity and of religion. Has the counsel of the Omnipotent de-
termined, every earnest reflecting man enquires, that ancient
Hellas should awaken anew, and the long-expired phoenix
again lift its head above the ashes ? May not, probably, many
of these marble statues, like a banished foreigner, again return
to their liberated native land ?

Who can dare to look into the book of Providence ? But if
victory should crown the oppressed, and if a real Liberty, under
the protection of the Laws, put an end, too, to its own degene-
ration, what an unexpected catastrophe would not attend all
that is great, which the history of our times has to hand over
to posterity !

The age of Phidias and Praxiteles, for the arts, may then
once more return, which may be connected too closely with
that mythological world, and those old gods, which no one can
wish back again, who possesses not, what a well-known writing
of Winkelman calls, an heathen nature. That Plato whom
the ancients called thegodli/, drove even poets from his repub-
lic, who had imputed every human passion and folly to the
godhead, and had induced them to all the errors of a degene-
rate humanity. There is something higher than art, although
the talent of art belongs to the godly, which lies in the spirit
of man. The addressing the godhead in spirit, is a more majes-
tic idea than any imagination which can float before the mind
of a Phidias, or a Raphael.

May then that truly classic soil become again the seat of
free, happy, and as it is to be wished, of far better tnen than
the mass of those ancient Hellenians were, and probably could
be at that time. May the resurrection of Greece, Heathen
or Mahomedan bigotry, give place to Christian superstition.
May the God, unknown to the ancient Athenians, whom an
apostle announced upon the Areopagus, be adored ; and a reli-
gion thus be exalted which is more than a sensual culture, and
from which moral maxims are inseparable; then may the
nation return to the enjoyment of a more real humanity than
antiquity was acquainted with, and much of that superstition
which belonged only to the time, and which was obliged to
conform itself to that period, and deserved to perish with it,
will never return. We shall the more joyfully celebrate the
victory of justice over oppression, and reckon it amongst the
events of our times which gladden the heart, that we have
survived such n period.

the Neilmlandsy and England, 4?

Visits to the Bell and Lancastrian Schools.

A method of instruction according to which many millions of
children are taught at present not only in England but also in
France, Switzerland^Denmark^ Russia, the East and West Indies,
and even in Hayti and St. Domingo, which, however it may be
looked upon by many as a dead^ spiritless, ax\d merely mechani-
cal discipline, is also encouraged by many intelligent men of
the most opposite parties, alike interested however for the
education of youth. Such a plan of instruction must naturally
contain something in it which produces the most blessed effects.
We hardly find any thing similar to it in modern days in the
whole history of scholastic instruction. If, indeed, it were
only a benevolent institution for those countries, provinces,
or towns, which still suffer from a want of instructors and
means of assistance, it still deserves^ nevertheless, as long as
this deficiency is assisted, the greatest attention of the friends
of humanity, and particularly of the friends of youth ; and if
only something valuable is preserved therein by experience, it
would be unjust to leave the good unreguardcd on account of
what may be faulty.

Much as I had read upon the subject from my calling, and
from being early appointed Foreign Member of the British ayid
Foreign School Society, had come into the possession of the in-
formation which has appeared upon the subject, still the im-
mediate personal contemplation of it surpassed all description.
I must, however, first assure my readers, that I have visited
and observed the Bell and Lancastrian Schools without any
prejudice in favour of their method, and rather with a pre-
conceived opinion against them ; and that I am even very far
at present from wishing their u7iconditio7ial adoption and imi-
tation in Germany ; that certainly, however, the view of their
Institutions, and of all that is effected by them, has convinced
me, that much therein is founded upon just, although not en-
tirely new, methodical maxims ; and that in a short time they
are able to produce much, with small means, for certain etids.
When we compare therewith, how badly elementary know-
ledge and mechanical rudiments are imparted in innumerable
towns and country schools of our native land, on account of
the unserviceableness, torpidity, or poverty of the instructors,
much as has been written upon the improvement of the educa-
tion of youth, and effected by benevolent governments, we
may well be induced to endeavour to remedy many evils by this
method.

48 Niem&yer*s Travels in Germany,

Foundation of the Schools.

The name of Bell and Lancastrian Schools, brings us back
imtnediately to the founders.

Dr. Hell is a Clergyman still living. He was first called as
a preacher to Madras, and, in the year 17^> appointed one
of the Directors of the Society, founded there for the educa-
tion of children who were for the most part born of Indian
mothers, and were not only grown up witliout having received
any education, but were even frequently sold for purposes of
vice. He directed the Institution, refusing the salary of some
thousand dollars, vv'iich was offered him ; introduced many
methods already in use amongst the Malabars, for example, the
painting of letters on sand, formed some able boys to be
teachers of the younger, and released hinjself thereby from
unserviceable older teachers, who every where conspired against
him. For seven years he executed this office, when his health
obliged him to return to England. He left behind him, how-
ever, perfect rules for instruction, and soon after his arrival
in London, gave out his work, — " Systeni, or Trial of Educa-
tion, according to which a Scholar or grown up Person may
educate hifnself, under the superintendence of a Teacher or
Father." When he offered the manuscript to the bookseller,
he said, — " I shall be called an enthusiast : should we, how-
ever, live a thousand years, we shall see the methods herein
(described followed by the whole world." And, in truth, some
schools, although slowly, began to be instituted in England
pfter this method.

Bell now withdrew himself into solitude, and came forward
again only when the Lancastrian Schools displeased the Evan-
gelical Churchy and the latter formed a National Society for the
support of thes chools: since that time Bell is become again an
active member. The more the zeal between the two institutions
has increased, the more he is taken notice of by the predominant
church ; and in the year 1819, he was upon his travels, and
gave me an opportunity of making his personal acquaintance.

Joseph Lancastkr opened, when only twenty years of age,
in the year 1798, a school for poor persons in a suburb of
London, for a trifling school charge. It soon increased to
many hundreds of children, a great part of whom paid nothing.
He too contrived to select ushers or under teachers from the
children, and thereby to save expenses. Of Bell at first he
had read nothing. Both however camo near to each other in
their ideas ; the school began to gain respect. Subscriptions
were opened for the support of the man who had shewn him-

the NetherlandSj and England, 49

self so zealous for the education of so many entirely neglected
children. The rich Duke of Bedford was at the head of it.
In the year 1804 the school had increased to 800, and soon
afterwards to 1000 children, and therewith two sisters educa-
ted 200 girls according to the plan of their brother. For these
thousand children, Lancaster was the only schoolmaster. The
encouragements given by money daily increased. The King
and the whole of the Royal Family interested themselves for it,
and Lancaster henceforward named his method the Royal
Lancastrian system of Education, But he was a quaker, and
explained not the catechism of the English church. — This dis-
pleased the high church, and very repectable nien, for exam-
ple, Bishop Marsh, considered it their duty to warn even
preachers against his system. It has been related to me, that
clergymen of influence felt it to be their duty to represent
Lancaster's undertaking to the King as dangerous to the
Church; but the latter replied, "I have supported him and I
will support him.'*

In the meantime the contributions in money decreased
during this party contest, and Bell's school continually gained
ground.

Still this animated' Lancaster's enthusiasm only the more.
He continued his school, making the greatest sacrifices, and
employing a restless activity ; travelled frequently, in order to
gain proselytes to his system, which appeared to him the con-
cern of humanity. He succeeded, too, in this. Wherever he
came a mass of people came forth to hear his Lectures, as he
was not deficient in a certain natural talent of oratory. He
was also convinced, as Bell had been before, that all the world
would gradually follow his system. The exclamation was read
in many of his Letters, — " I am only the instrument ; God has
given me a trumpet in my hand, and it must be sounded
throughout the whole country. The poor of Britain, the poor
of Europe, like the poor of the whole world, shall receive edu-
cation, and no human power shall prevent it.'* Of what a dif-
ferent kind is such an enthusiasm, were it even not wholly
void of a certain esteem of himself, to the miserable, contemp-
tible fanaticisms of a Southcott and others, who would endea-
vour, by their devotional nothingness, to introduce the king-
dom of God. Certainly, religious fanatics too are capable of
great sacrifices. But having no clear idea of what they propose
to themselves to obtain, they attach themselves to the most
indirect means, and leave a well-ordered and regular plan ' ^^
action to common men, above whom they consider themselves
so greatly elevated.

Soon, however, even with Lancaster's actions, it was the
Voyages and Travels, No. XLIX, Vol.^ IX. H

50 Ni€meyer*s Travels in Germany^

business, for which an interest was shown, rather than his
person. Althout,'h he wanted not money, he, understood no-
thing less than how to employ it. He soon fell into debt ; and,
according to the English laws, into the greatest danger of losing
his liberty. The noble spirit, however, evinced by some per-
sons, who were animated for the business of education of the
poor, and were free from all spirit of party, again saved him.

A society was gradually formed, under the title of the United
British and Foreign School ^ssocialion, through the restless
activity of which, which produced great effects, the method
became very soon extended to many schools. The centre
school remained in London. At first, Lancaster was the first
teacher. But, accustomed to act independently, and being
himself of a very restless character, he separated at last, com-
menced an institution on his own account, and lives at preseuty
suffering almost want, in Manchester, personally sunk in the
public oj)inion, whilst his institution has obtained an extension
which is hardly to be calculated. • "

Organization of the Bell and Lancastrian School Institutions in
Loudon y and their extension in and out of England,

Thus two men, by their participating ideas, have produced
an effect, with which all that has been done in Germany, by
siniilar methodical teachers, such as Basedow and Pcstalozzi,
cannot at all be compared. Schools have been appointed upon
the most comprehensive scale, where schools never existed.
Children out of number have been educated according to
fixed maxims. Little as may be thought of what has been
brought about, a large part of these children are still snatched
thereby from utter ignorance and depravity. This effect has
not been confined to Great Britain : it has penetrated into all
the neighbouring, and partly into the most distant, countries;
to people of the most opposite religions, and the most dif-
ferent manners. It is, in our times, just as much a pedagogical
phenomenon, as the expansion o.f the Bible Societies in the
province of religion. In England alone, two great Societies
are the two centre points whence every thing emanates, and
the members of which are represented by presidents, secre-
taries, treasurers, and other officers as their organs. .

Both of these Unions or Societies have, entirely independent
of, and almost in opposition to, each other, founded schools
throughout the whole of England, in all the possessions, and
in the East and West Indies. Those which the high church
takes under its protection, and have obtained, since the year
1817, II charter of incorporation, arc called National Schools 5

the Netherlands, and England. Si

the remainder are the Lancastrian, or schools of the British
and Foreign School Society.

Both have the same tendency -—Vac greatest possible ad-
vancement of education amongst all, particularly the poorer
classes of citizens, by the least possible expense in teachers
and means of instruction.

They are, throughout, similar; not only in the plan of
teaching, but in the whole nature of their appointment, even in
the local. The sexes only, and not the classes, are separated
in the London schools. However great the number of the
scholars, male and female, maybe, they are all collected in
one large hall. In the two great central schools of the metro-
polis, of which that of Bell lies in the heart of the City, the
other on the other side of the Thames, in the Borough Road,
in Southwark 5 these halls, or rooms, are lighted from above
by obliquely-placed windows (something similar to those in
large hot-houses), so that almost the whole roof is of glass,
whereby a clear and equal light is spread over all the seats of
the children. The Lancastrian school-buildings are entirely
new built ; and, when I saw them, every thing was far neater,
more agreeable, and convenient, than in the National School
in Baldwin's Gardens.

In the school-room the upper teacher stands upon an eleva-
tion before a table, and directs the whole by certain signs of
command. The children sit before small writing-desks, which I,
however, almost wholly missed in the National School, upon
benches which are still narrower, standing parallel with the
breadth of the room. Between the benches and the side walls
is a free passage, six feet broad. Half-circles of iron are laid
in the ground in this passage, and denote the places upon
which the children, the little iinder-teacher in the middle,
must form a half-circle of twelve or sixteen, in order to repeat
the exercise tables of letters, syllables, tvords, lines, and calcu-
lations, which hang upon the side walls. The dilferent classes
are pointed out by a glass telegraph on the bench where the
new class begins. The foremost small tables have borders
somewhat raised, between which fine sand is strewed, wherein
the first attempts at writing are made. All who arc present
receive instruction at the same time. I confess that it far sur-
passed my expectations, to find that, in spite of four or five
hundred children, who make such an unavoidable noise, the
instruction is not at all disturbed or distracted. The children
were clothed very poorl}', but were, withal, very cleanly both
in face and hands.

The only important difference is to be found in what respects
religious education. In the national schools, the Church Gate-

62 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany,

chism is considered as a fundameutal point according to the
thirty-nine Articles. In the Lancaster schools, they confine
themselves only to the Hible and religious hymns. Instructive
writings for young persons, maiiy of which particularly appear
in Ireland, are given into the hands of the children. The
clergy blame this, because the predominant religion of the
country is not planted in their youthful hearts ; but, on the
other hand, the friends of Lancaster grant admittance to chil-
dren of all parties, leave the choice of the system of instruc-
tion to riper years, and only wish religion, and not theology,
to be taught in the schools, it is on this account that, in the
directing society, members are to be found of all religious
parties.

Tiie extension and effect which hitherto the schools of both
societies have enjoyed and produced, may be nearly equal.
Above one thousand schools are connected with the two Lon-
don central schools. In these, upper teachers, male and
females, are continually fornjed and sent into all the provinces.
According to the last accounts, lying before me, of the year
1819, the number of children educated in England, accord-
ing to the Bell and Lancastrian method, amounts to above
200,000.

Since the year 1814, France has begun also to take the
liveliest interest in these kinds of national education, and
highly-distinguished individuals, such as the Baron Gerando
and Count Lasterie, placed themselves at the head of it. These
schools multiply every year, both in and out of Paris. The
Emj)eror Alexander sent young men to England^ from the
Pedagogical Institution at Petersburg, in order to learn the
method, and the most perfect work, which we hitherto pos-
sess upon this subject, has also been given out by the desire of
this Monarch, by the Russian Imperial Counsellor, in the
German, French, and Russian languages. M. von Karazay
assures us, too, in his work, which appeared in Casan in the
year 1819, that in this manner 200,000 Russian soldiers, and
other grown up persons, have learnt to read, to reckon, and
write, during the years 1817 and 1818. In Sweden, Denmark,
and Naples, this method has also been followed. The super-
intendents of the 7iational schools confine themselves particu-
larly to England. The society for Britain and Foreign parts,
however, according to the Ijancastrian methods, are in close
correspondence with all countries. 1 was presented to the
meeting by Dr. Schwabe, the worthy Secretary of the same for
the exterior, and was received in the most welcome manner,
as a foreign member. One of the most meritorious superin-
tendents, IMr. Allen, was absent. A Quaker held the chair.

tfi$ NwtherUxndsy and En^Xandi. J^

Letters were read, from all pai'ts> of the successful progress
that had been made.

A man, like Dr. Schwabe, to whom German pedagogical
maxims and plan of instruction are not unknown, would, in-
disputably, be best adapted to controul them.

Of the principal Maxims contained in the Institutions of these
Schoolsy and the most important Flan of Instruction which they
follow.

In order that we may not form an erroneous opinion of these
institutions, which have been so greatly extended, it is neces-
sary, first of all, to know how badly oflf the poorer classes of
people were for education, and partly still are, in England and
Ireland (but less so in Scotland). The Sunday-schools, which
have been already introduced into these countries, since the
year 1784, are a proof that innumerable poor were not at all
provided with daily schools, since the children of the poor, in
order to gain their bread, were often obliged to work, from the
tenderest infancy, inthemanufactories,from early in the morning
till late in the evening. Thousands and thousands have grown up
without having received the least instruction, or have, at
most, received the most wretched of all, from travelling school-
masters, who travelled about the country, in a circumference
of about thirty miles. Although the subject has been some-
times brought before parliament, it has still either been very
soon dropped, or it has been found a subject of hesitation to
make a certain knowledge and acquirements general property,
and, therefore, it has been strenuously opposed. England, in
this respect, cannot be compared with Germany, where there
is scarcely any place, however small, in which something of a
school, be the same ever so miserable, is not to be met with.

Whatever wishes the friend of humanity may still entertain
for the fulfilment of a better plan of instruction and improve-
ment of the rising generation, they tend rather to the interior
melioration of our school education, whilst Bell, Lancaster,
and the members of the school societies, are labouring only to
the end, that instruction may be generally imparted, and the
schools increased, according to the increase of the population.

If in Germany the system of improvement in the education
of youth has a tendency not only to confine his knowledge to
the principal and most necessary elements, but, as the poorest
child is just as capable of instruction, nay, often more so, than
the richest, to form every one as perfect as possible, and to
make all, if not learned, at least enlightened ; it is, on the
other hand, considered in England as a great object gained, if
only the hundred thousand of children, who are running abou

B4 Nknwyer's Traveli in Germany,

either in total ignorance, or miserably educated, are brought
*flto some discipline and order, and the most simple means of
/urther formation of the mind imparted to them.

Still, only even to attain this end, sums which could not
have been raised would have been necessary, to pay and
appoint a number of teachers, according to the comparison
with the number of scholars. That, however, one teacher
alone could employ hundreds for a continuance, without soon
sinking under the weight of the duty, was considered as im-
possible. The idea was therefore embraced, of proceeding in
the schools as in manufacturing establishments, to appoint
masters, workmen, and apprentices, to make use of the more
able scholars for the education of the incompetent, and, at the
same time, to let them learn and teach, and again, even by
teaching, improve themselves.

- It was, therefore, well understood, that even able scholars
could not be fitted for teaching or instruction, in the higher
sense of the word. But they were found perfectly sufficient
for rendering assistance, and promoting discipline. This was
considered sufficient for the first years. As in England, gene-
rally, the formation and practice of the powers of thought are
effected rather in the school of life, than in that of instruction,
it was considered proper lo leave the higher developement of
the understanding to later times. It was difficult, therefore,
to convince persons of the utility of our thinking exercises, so
called, particularly as their use is certainly much perverted in
many schools.

As the poorest of the people were to participate in the in-
struction, attention was paid to the greatest simplicity in the
method of imparting the same, and as the time of those per-
sons, in which they can visit the school, is generally very pre-
scribed, it became a matter of necessity that in the shortest
time possible, whatever is most important to all should be
darried on in a steady order without either leaving off, distrac-
tions of any kind, or interference of other matters. The con-
nexion of one thing with another is, indeed, the greatest ad-
vantage in manufactures. Where was this better known than
in England ? This appeared to be applicable also to school in-
struction.

If it be asked how far the ends, which are prescribed by this
institution, are attained by all these regulations and methods,
since I have visited both the two large central schools in
London, as well as others in the small towns, for example in
Harwich, and have attended the instruction, I venture to offer
the following impartial opinion.
• The children afforded in every class whatever was the in-

the Netherlands^ and England. 55

tention of that class. They read audibly and properly 5 in the
upper class, even with expression. They wrote upon their lit-
tle boards of slate (in the national schools even without having
a table, standing upon the hand) whatever was dictated to
them, very clearly, and mostly orthographically right 5 and
many could already write a fine hand. Their memory was
certain. The young monitors executed their office with great
punctuality, and a severity which gave their countenance and
voice almost the character of austerity. I could form no
opinion, however, how far the children are advanced in the for-
mation of intellect ; for every thing which I saw and heard of was
taught them. This, however, I know for certain, that we may go
into many of our country schools, and those of our small towns,
wherein the children will not be found half so practised in the
acquirements I have mentioned, which constitute, in Germany
also, the principal part of the elementary instruction. I know
also that the spirit of order and punctuality which distinguishes
those institutions must be wished for in every school, as well
as an obedience to command ; and, finally, that the citizens of
all towns would take as great an interest in, the concern of
popular instruction as is met with in England.

As in these institutions, moreover, the teachers are requested
to make the most rigid observation of, and pay attention to
every thing which the regulations prescribe, and nothing is
entirely left to their option, upon the whole they have appeared
perfectly adequate to the attainment of the principal object,
since the introduction of the system ; and departures there-
from have only been allowed in some particular points.

Idle children were placed in a cradle. If they ran from
their places they were enclosed, like young fowls, in a hanging
basket. A paper crown, or fool's cap, was placed upon the
heads of the obstinate, and thus they were carried about in the
school ; and two boys, who went before them, cried out the
faults they had committed. Those who would not learn were
bound with ropes, knotted in a coverlet, and at times were suf-
fered to sleep a whole night upon the ground. A wooden yoke
was also fixed upon the obstinate, who were sometimes
coupled together. Those who were resolutely bad, had an iron
hung about their necks of the weight of four or six pounds.
Little, faults were noted by punishment marks upon which the
fault was written, such as a babbler, disturber. The rewards
consisted, for the most part, in small presents, partly in marks
of honour and higher places.

Generally speaking, the school discipline of Bell appears to
have had, from the commencement, a milder character. I
thought I discovered softness and mildness in the treatment of

56^ titemmfe^i TrcsotU in Qermanr^f

the children, particalarly in the teachers, male and female,
and in the monitors of the national school, under the direction
of Mr. Johnson. However, a more humane spirit begins to
reign in the Lancastrian schools also, and corporeal punish-
ments and ill treatments are no longer heard of.

Be this as it may, this plan of education, which has been
instituted and extended with such particular success, has pro-
duced the most blessed consequences to Great Britain and
many other countries, and, at the same time, has immediately
advanced the higher purpose which the Bible Societies have in
view. For it may be asserted that, by this manner, millions of
children have at least laid the ground-work of knowledge and
acquirements, to which they would have remained strangers
for ever. The yearly accounts, too, which come in from so
many towns, prove the beneficial influence which this has had
upon the manners and the conduct of the children. Order,
cleanliness, and more quiet behaviour, have taken place of what
was always found the most contrary thereto — the greatest
dissipation in youth. The old remark, too, has hereby been
again confirmed, that good schools have a benevolent in-
fluence upon the parents, and that, from what the children
bring back to their homes, the former even may be induced to
reflection. The new appearance of the light, kindled in the
schools, has often penetrated into the most obscure hut. I
shall impart only a few facts here, from many which I have
collected upon this head.

In many places, where schools had been instituted with
apparent success, grown-up persons became sensible how
greatly their children surpassed them, and made known their
own ardent desire to learn to read and write. In North Wales,
a clever preacher, Mr. Charles, immediately made a beginning
with them. The education began with eighteen persons ;
after three months, however, the school contained more than
eighty ; and the example was imitated by the whole surround-
ing country, A sermon, which he gave, produced the conse-
quence, that, in a short time, no spectacles were any longer to
be found in the shops of the adjoining villages, as all the old men
and women had procured themselves a pair, in order to learn
therewith to read. Many of them made a very rapid progress.
Just as active was Mr. Smith, in Bristol. Attended by two
friends, he went throughout an entire parish, from house to
house, and wrote down the names of those, who declared
themselves willing to learn to read. The first man who
was registered was William Wood, sixty-three years of
age ; and the first woman, Jane Burrace, forty years old. Two
rooms, free from rent and taxes, were given over to Mr.

the Netherlands, and England, hj

Smith ; books were lent hirrij and two persons willingly offered
their services as teachers. Both schools were opened on the
8th of March, 1812, one with eleven men, the other with ten
women ; and they very soon saw, with pleasure, that the pro-
gress made surpassed all expectation; the beneficent influence
which the school visit had upon their plan of life^ was also
striking. The desire of learning to read extended itself from
one quarter to another. Smith, encouraged thereby, gave all
his attention to the work. Although he had only a salary of
eighteen shillings a week, he paid three to another man,
who was obliged to neglect part of his own duties, in order
that he might the more zealously devote himself to his new and
delightful employment. A place was assigned to him wherein
he held his schools, and books were given him for his use
therein. The inhabitants of Bristol directed their attention to
its success; and a few weeks afterwards, a society was formed
for the instruction of tlie grown-up poor in the reading of the
Holy Scriptures. Dr. Pole, a Quaker, and member of this
society, drew up an appeal to the public, wherein he chal-
lenged them to make similar institutions. He addressed
himself particularly to the members of the different Bible
Societies, and made them observe, that the end of these socie-
ties could never be attained, if the persons to whom they
made presents of the Bible could not read them ; and that
the utility of the schools, for grown-up persons, must not be
confined to them, but extended to their children. This appeal
to the public, of which nearly a thousand copies were dis-
tributed, occasioned a rapid augmentation of similar schools and
school societies in other places. In the year 1816, the number
of the Bristol schools, for men, amounted to twenty-four ;
those for womenj to thirty-one; and 3321 persons had already
enjoyed education in them. On the 11 th June, 1815, a society,
similar to the Bristol, was formed in the city of London^
under the superintendance of the Lord Mayor ; a year after, a
similar one was instituted in the suburb of Southwark. Almost
all the towns in the kingdom followed the example ; and
it is now thought, in some places, that few, and perhaps not a
sinsfle individual, are to be found who cannot read.

Very interesting proofs have been given that very old pisr-*
sons are capable of learning to read. In a school at Bath
there were, at one time, five old women, whose united ages
amounted to two hundred and eighty years : these persons^
when they began to go to school, were scarcely acquainted
with the alphabet; but at the end of the year they were
capable of reading very well in the bible. At Bristol, a woman
eighty-five years of age, learnt to read well in eight weeks ;

VovACES and Travels, No. XLIX, Vol. IX. I

99 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany,

many other grown up persons did the same in six months,
Mr. Henry Alexander, at Ipswich, educated, in the year 1814,
apiongst other persons, four women, one of whom v/as thirty-
five, another fifty-seven, the third seventy-five, and the fourth
ninety-four. The last surpassed the other three in the pro-
gress she made, and served as female monitor to her fellow
scholars.

The good eflects in the education of grown-up persons have
displayed themselves almost every where. It is observed, that
the churches are visited more diligently; that the attention
given in them is greater; that uncleanliness, drunkenness,
swearing, and other vices, take place more rarely; and that,
in some celebrated places, the character of the inhabitants has
become ennobled.

How far, by this new British System of education, a remedy
15 to be expected for our popular schools, or whether, at least,
in part, it can be made use of, has been far more frequently
asked, than earnestly enquired into, by schoolmasters, whose
duty, however, it was, to make the investigation. I shall now
offer a few reflections, as the result of my observations and ex-
perience.

It is already clear, from what I have historically imparted
upon the subject, that the method of education must appear
to us by far too partial, so far as its tendency appears to be
directed alone to the mechanical acquirements in readingy
writing, and arithmetic. But, even this we should not con-
sider so trifling. It lays the ground-work of much, which is
certainly higher, and more important, than those acquirements
themselves. In reading, much knowledge is unobservedly im-
parted 5 and we see already, in the expression of many coun-
tenances, and hear, in the tone of the readers, that their spirit
is also inwardly moved, and that they neither read nor write
thoughtlessly, nor without comprehending the contents. The
Bible narrations, and other extracts, which they avail them-
selves of in the National Schools, are, for the most part, adapted
to the purpose, and instructive. Care is also taken, particu-
larly in the Lancastrian Institutions, to excite activity of mind
in various ways. On this account, those who can write, are
obliged to deliver something, on Monday, in writing, of the
sermon which they have heard. For the most part, indeed, it
consisted of the text. The reading books, already mentioned,
of which a whole juvenile library is coming out in Ireland, and
which are given to the more diligent to take with them home,
employ the reason and fancy in various ways. Some of them
have no reason to shun a comparison with our better Germaa
writings for children.

the Netherlands, and England. 69

But, with all these good institutions, that is certainly want-
ing which is of the highest value for every school, the animated
delivery of the teacher^ the eloquent oration, the animating,
forming, and penetrating spirit of speech, which takes posses-
sion of the reason and of the mind, awakens and satisfies the
desire of knowledge, and, by the side of what is merely mecha-
nical, leads also to a clear, regular, and connected plan of
thinking. Had the Pestalozzi system, as at the beginning, iti
the well known books of teaching it was given to the teacher^
been taken up ; had this dead letter found entrance into our
popular schools, we should also have lost all that is excellent
in instruction ; and the teachers would have been exactly like
those little English monitors, who dare stir no step from the
maxim, turned into the mechanical implements of a school
machine. Did not the good Swiss himself assert, that the
most simple peasant's wife was just as clever at the application
of his method as the most learned teacher ? But Pestalozzi
too was acquainied just as little with our better popular schools
and school methods as we are acquainted with those in England.
It is infinitely more easy to obtain an hundred able masters
of exercise, than one qualified teacher in the noblest sense of
the word.

Do these latter increase amongst us, and are the plans of our
best methodicians, of our Rochow, Riemann, Natorp, Denzel,
Wilmseu, Terrener, and others, followed ? We come decidedly
further, and that which must be mechanical with all elemen-
tary education becomes then connected in the happiest man-
ner with the developement and formation of the higher powers
of the mind. But very much is still wanting before this can
be generally expected. As long as we are contented with find-
ing, even for so many of our schools, teachers who, in the
daily contest with the cares of their subsistence, at least afford
something, all expectation of, and demand for a perfect ability
in teaching are in vain. On that account it would be our true
gain to take advantage of much w^hich the English system of
instruction offers, and certainly much more life would be im-
parted to many an institution where^ at present, a worse and
ultogether lawless mechanism, introduced by different teachers,
is predominant. For the methods pursued by the British
system are well calculated for the attainment of certain ends,
which all elenientary schools must have in common with each
other, to the gain of all the mechanical acquirements, to the
disciplining of raw youth in large school classes ; and We should
contradict every thing which experience has taught us already
in a thousand places, if we longer doubted of their fitness. It
would also be an unpardonable indifference towards all that

^ Aiemeyer'a Tmveis in Gennany,

opportunity offers, if every teacher and superintendent iu
popular schoolfej every preacher, to whonj any superintendence
over them is entrusted, did not make hinisclt acquainted there-
witli in tlie most accurate manner.

It may be true too in some places amongst us, too, that the
employment of elder scholars in the education of the younger
is nothing uncommon, and has been introduced in many
popular schools. But partly it is by no means so general as it
deserves to be, partly it is not regulated according to fixed
rules ; and the proper gradation, which is exactly of such im-
j)ortance in elementary education, is too little observed.

The plan of the method pursued must be removed from all
higher objects of education-} all mechanizing of language and
scientific education set aside, with which attempts have been
made in France, and which still, like siniilar ones in Switzerland,
must fail, as soon as they are extended beyond the first
elements. For mere exercises of the memory much of this
(iescriptjon may in the meantime be serviceable to and assist it.

DOMESTIC EDUCATION IN THE GENTEELER CLASSES.

Private Institutions and Boarding Schools*

Were we disposed to exhaust the subje(?t upon the united
English system of schools and education, it would be neces-
sary lo dedicate a particular work to the consideration thereof.
It is also one of those which, properly speaking, are not to be
exhausted, since the opinion itself, after very long considera-
tion, can only depend upon the total impression produced, be-
cause the education and plan of family life in every house in
England, as well as in Germany, are displayed in a form ap-
propriate to it. In order that I might reniain quite unpreju-
diced and see as much as possible with my own eyes, 1 have
purposely read only little of what may have been said on
other works upon domestic and public education. Probably,
however, the following will correspond with what has fre-
(juently been said, since the nationality appears so striking iu
certain characteristic traits that it cannot remain unobserved
by any traveller.

The love and interest evinced for children in the early years
of life, is very great; and, in general, a very high value is set
upon true confidential domestic life. The intercourse between
children and parents is hearty, without toying and afi'eetation.
Openness and candour, in the sons particularly, does no injury
either to the feeling of dependence, or the duty of obedience,
and degenerates not easily into familiarity.
' This disinclination lo give the children a domestic education,

the Netherlands, and England. 61

kas given rise to the endless number of private institutions and
boarding-schools, and the consequence of new ones being con-
tinually announced in the public papers, — frequently by large
signs placed upon the houses. Generally speaking, they arc
trading establishments, in which every thing is calculated upon
gain. In this respect, pedagogical undertakings of this kind,
with particular honourable exceptions, are always inferior to
the public institutions ; and even amongst the latter, that which
is sufficiently endowed, and thereby altogether independent of
a concourse of pupils, is generally the most successful. They
depend neither upon the tempers and pretensions of the pa-
rents, nor of the teachers, who frequently make common cause
with the former against the institution. The public institutions
alone can prescribe laws, instead of either suffering laws to be
prescribed for it, or always yielding, from a fear of losing a few
scholars^ while the private establishments are frequently obliged
to court favour, in order to be enabled to maintain themselves*

In England, too, there are various opinions of these board-
ing-school establishments. Many think that they have a very
prejudicial influence, particularly over female education, as the
superintendents are frequently elderly unmarried people, or
French women, who consider the business entirely as a means
of subsistence; and probably the education is far worse than
the former French one which was obtained in the nunneries,
wherein the seeds of religious sentiment were frequently plafit-
ed in the juvenile minds. The best female boarding establish-
ment, too, can never compensate for the domestic education,
under the eyes of a mother, carried on as it should be.

The outward ap})earance of discipline bears, as far as a
foreigner can observe it, in the better private institutions at
least, the character of order, regularity, and strictness. These
virtues, at least, cannot be mistaken, where they appear to the
public eye. Many persons in Germany would reproach the
system of education with being pedantic, who frequently con-
found a relaxed discipline with the liberal treatment of youth.
Very frequently 50 or 100 boys and girls, belonging to such^
establishments, are to be met, walking in couples, in the town,
or in the country, going on Sundays twice a day to church,
under the superintendence of a male or female teacher. They
are very siniply clothed, but very cleanly, lightly, and deco-
rously. In this respect England, and even France, are far be-
fore Germany; and we have certainly to thank Locke and
Rousseau, whose example was followed by Basedow, that the
unnatural dress, and ridiculous ornament in which, 50 years
jigo, so many of our boys and girls paraded about, forming so

6ft ^ Niemeyer^s Travels in Germany,

many caricatures of the younger part of the world, have dis-
appeared.

In the institutions for boys, the education is confined, for the
nriost part, to elementary knowledge, although many of them
boast and talk loudly of the rarious acquirements which are to
be learnt in them. We should think, the almost marketing
annunciations which appear in the daily Journals, would rather
deter parents from sending their offspring to them. But still
these annunciations cannot fail in obtaining their end, since
they are always repeated. As it is at the option, moreover, of
every one who knows not what plan of life to commence, to
announce himself as a teacher, and the higher authorities give
themselves no concern about his qualifications, we may easily
suppose how badly such pupils are instructed in the house of
such a person, and how little they learn. There are still, how-
ever, particular establishments, which have been very much
applauded. Many country clergymen, particularly, are said to
form a very happy exception, who, whilst they are not, how-
ever, without paying regard to the improvement of their con-
fined situation, devote themselves to the undertaking with zeal,
earnestness, and dignity, and produce a very beneficent effect
upon those who are confided to them. Adult foreigners too, who
wish to learn the English language, often spend half a year with
such men, and live \\\ie one of the family, not without improve-
ment, in their quiet and respectable family circle.

As the boarding and private institutions, as well as the high-
er schools, have their fixed holydays, which are tolerably long,
the bond between parents and children becomes again fastened,
and those weeks wherein the children return home, are devo-
ted to family festivals. I was in London exactly at one of
these holyday times, and had, therefore, an opportunity of
being a frequent witness to the happiness the parents felt, in
their house being rendered more lively by the presence of their
children, and the sons not less so, who, being liberated from
the rigorous rules imposed upon them in the schools, could
enjoy themselves at the tables of the mothers, who never
omitted to indemnify them for the long deprivation they had
endured.

GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.

Fisit to Eton.

It is a very difficult matter to get well acquainted with the
interior of the British institutions for education. I was even
disadvised to make attempts, in London, to gain admission
cither into Westminster school or any other school of the mc-

tJie Netherlands^ and England, 63

tropolis. 1 hardly expected to have succeeded so far as I did in
Eton, the most eelebrated institution in the neighbourhood of
London.

The College, or the School of Eton, consists of two courts,
which are surrounded on all sides by buildings, and which are
close on each other. The entire middle wing, which separates
the courts, forms the dwelling of the Provost, &c. &c.

As it is not so easy to get acquainted with the system of
instruction, as it is imparted in Eton and the other learned
schools in and without London, every stranger cannot find
access to the public hours of teaching, and I could not, there-
fore, be present even at one of them ; it is, nevertheless, not
difficult to obtain some knowledge of the course of education^
from the descriptions given by the scholars and teachers.

We shall be enabled to judge how far every thing, even in
the exterior form, differs from the arrangements of our schools,
from the whole quire containing only two large Classes* In
the Westminster School even, all the seven classes were held
in a single smoky room. Formerly, says Wedderburn, a curtain
divided the hall into two parts. But this has been long since
torn away. In Eton three or four pulpits in each of the two
rooms, stand at some distance apart, upon which the different
divisions, without interfering with each other, are educated at
the same time. Hence it becomes clear to me at once in what
manner the Bell and Lancastrian method in England, which
also brings together so many hundred children into one space,
was far less stranger than it would have been in Germany.
Amongst the peculiarities, moreover, are the hours of instruc-
tion, which are continually interchanged with the free hours,
and that much is recited and repeated in the classes, but hardly
any thing is written down. The teachers have a fixed plan of
instruction, and they rarely find it necessary to prepare them-
selves much beforehand, as they perfectly answer the purposes
of their calling by making propositions, by examining what
they have learnt by heart, and correcting their labours.

The education is confined chiefly to the two ancient classic
languages, and in these, indubitably, the greatest advancement
is made. How far other branches of knowledge, that is to say,
geographical, historical, and natural historical acquirements,
are inferior to the instruction imparted in our schools, as an
acquaintance with foreign literature is not at all thought of;
how cold and meagre the religious part of instruction is, is
partly proved from the books of education which are in use,
and partly from the repeated conversations I have held upon
the subject, both with teachers and pupils. In the instruction
in the classic languages they appear only to have in view to

64 Niemeyer*8 Travels in Germany,

bring the scholars so far, that they may read the Greeks and
Romans without difficulty, in order to become acquainted with
their contents and spirit, and to acquire a certain facility in
their own use of the language. For this purpose, frequent
Latin and Greek poetical exercises, as formerly were in use in
our own schools, particularly the Saxon, are considered the
best, and in which individuals, as the Mus^e Etonienses prove,
make a considerable progress. Little care is bestowed, in the
hours of instruction, upon extensive interpretation or finer
(Criticism, because it is not the intention to form mere philo-
logists; but this is left rather to their own study, or to the
private instruction of particular tutors or under-teachers, when
able heads can be found to undertake it. But a certain general
classic instruction, imparted through the language and the
beautiful forms of the old authors, is certainly principally aimed
at. 1 am almost of opinion, that a more proper method is
followed, in this respect, than that which is pursued by many
teachers in our own leariied institutions, who already fre-
quently, in the lower and middle classes, embitter the learning
of languages by too difficult linguistical, grammatical, critical,
and metrical subtilitics, and by frequently bringing only their
own learning to view, never stir from one particular spot, but
neglect what ought to be first considered, a certain readiness
in analysing, construing, and cursory reading. The conse-
quence of all this is, that the majority, after the school-hours,
retain only a bitter remembrance of the oppressive moments
of teaching; and, frequently, a total oblivion or neglect of these
studies ensues, ft is an indisputable advantage, in the English
schools, that most is left to priv'ate diligence ; that the scholar
must read and work much by himself; and, thereby, can act
more freely, instead of being deafened by perpetual catechi-
sina:. Many, certainly, acquire thereby a greater activity,
ability, and love of study. The consequences thereof are seen
in the great res[)ect continually shown for classic literature,
which is proved by the libraries of statesmen, and even of
such persons who have devoted thctnselves to no learned pro-
fession, as well as in the frequent quotations of appropriate
passages from the ancictjt writers, which are made in parlia-
mentary speeches and upon other occasions. How very dif-
ferent is this, with few exceptions, in Gein)any. How rarely
men of business, nay, even clergynien, who, when they have
made a considerable progress at school in the classics, either
devote to them, occasionally, their hours of leisure, or even
remain in the possession of the most preferable authors. Must
wc not be discontented, therefore, if an entire separation en-
j&ucs, from all that is scientific, i^nd the whole life is divide^

the Netherlands, mid England, 65

between the employment of the calling and sensual enjoy-
ments.

AN EVENING AT SIR JOSEPH BANKS*S.

The people of England have been long accustomed to asso-
ciate the recollections of the highly-venerated King George
the Third, and the memory of those veterans. Dr. Herschel
and Sir Joseph Banks, who were not only his equals in age, bu
were distinguished by his particular confidence, and enjoyed
the frequent hospitalities of royalty. All three of this rare
society were still living, when 1 visited England. The astro-
nomer is the only one living at present.

1 hardly ventured to indulge a hope of making a personal
acquaintance with him however, as in Germany it was reported
that, on account of his old age, he was altogether inaccessible.
But I found exactly the contrary. On the 2d of June, I was in-
troduced into the company which usually assembles every
Sunday evening around him.

Only the elder part of my readers may remember the lively
interest the great voyage round the world awakened in Ger-
many. This voyage was ordered to be undertaken exactly 50
years ago, by the English government, and we are indebted to
it for so important a part of the nearer acquaintance we pos-
sess with the new quarter of the globe. That part of my readers
alone will remember with what curiosity the Hawkesworth
collection, as soon as the translation of it appeared, was read.
Then too we got acquainted, for the first time, with this
learned naturalist, who made the first South Sea voyage with
Captain Cook (like the two Fosters a few years later, the second)
and who, after surmounting dangers in the sea and in those
islands, which before then had been trodden by no European
foot, returned with a booty so valuable for the sciences.
Foreign parts too did honour to his restless endeavours to
extend the limits of human knowledge, and to bring to a
certainty what the earlier voyages of discovery oi Magellan,
and vdixioxjiS Spanish and Belgian navigators; and, since the
middle of the foregoing century, a Byron, Wallis, Carteret,
and Bourgainville, had made only probable.

In the possession of a large fortune, treated by his King as
a friend, invested with all the honourable tokens of merit,
unfettered by public business, he has lived almost half a
century in an indefatigable devotion to the purposes of science.
His house, which contains the treasures of a library almost
unique, particularly in natural history, notviithstanding the
many presents he has made to the British Museum, of many
botanical and other curiosities of natural liistory, was open

Voyages and Travels, No, XLIX, Vol.JJX. K

66 Niemayer's Travels in Germany, *

every day to all the learned. Every forenoon they were
allowed to make use of the chambers of the same for readings
investigation, and inspection, and they were certain of finding
every interesting pamphlet, or any other literary novelty, ready
upon the table lor their information.

On Sunday evening 13anks*s residence was properly the place
of resort of no inconsiderable number of natural historians,
chemists, and other well informed travellers, who came there
both to impart to the proprietor any thing that had appeared
to them remarkable in the different districts of knowledge and
science, and to maintain a scientific correspondence amongst
themselves.

I found the veteran in his middle library room, dressed in
splendid attire, with the broad ribbon of his order over bis
shoulder and breast, just as he was accustomed to appear, as
president, at the sittings of the Royal Society for the extension
of natural science, to which we are indebted, since the year
1766, for those valuable philosophical transactions. He sat,
as he was lame in the feet, upon an arm chair which moved
with rollers, supporting his left arm upon a table which was
standing by him. It was, indeed, scarce any thing more than
the outward form and cover of a spirit which was formerly so
animated; his sense and memory were weak; but still his
countenance bespoke the expression of a friendly participation
in the feelings of all around him. Every foreigner was at least
mentioned to him, and whoever had any thing to offer, omitted
not to lay it before him. I had also the pleasure of meeting
here with our Lichtenstein, whose acquaintance I had fre-
quently failed in making in Berlin, who was also so good as to
give me the names of the most important persons, who were
here assembled from the most remote countries. The eye,
however, always returned to the celebrated person with rap-
ture, and we rejoiced at contemplating him, at least, as a
holy ruin.

Few have, without at the same time shining as an author,
laboured so long, so actively, and so powerfully, in the advance-
ment of natural knowledge, as he has done. Well might Cuvier,
with the greatest justice, boast of him in the eulogy he read
not long ago to the French Academy of Sciences. " Every
where, where a useful undertaking has been brought about,
he has co-operated by the advice he has given and the services
he has performed ; wherever he has met with a worthy scholar,
or learned man, he has opened to them the treasures of nature
with the greatest liberality.'* How many have not borrowed
largely from his treasures? and thus has his uncommon rich
iVind of observations and collections been imparted for the

the Netherlands, and England. Q*^

greatest part to the worlds although he himself has fiiade but
little of them known. On the sea voyage he was, what with
respect to a man of Cook's character was not easy to accom-
plish, at all times the mediator and peace-maker. He has
richly scattered, in those islands, the seeds of the European
world, and from them again brought a number of seeds with
him to Europe, and liberally imparted them to all the great
nursery gardens. He proved himself also a benefactor to Ice-
land, which he visited a few years after his voyage round the
world; for he sent whole ships laden with provisions at his
own expense to the inhabitants of that island, who were suf-
fering want upon occasion of a famine.

In the long and sanguinary war between France and Eng-
land, wherein many of the rights of mankind and nations were
violated, he proved himself always the noble-minded protector
of learned men and travellers, as well as of all the scientific
enterprizes undertaken by hostile France. To him alone are
the English literati, who were made prisoners, indebted for the
interest he evinced for them at the National Institution in
Paris. During Cook's voyage, Banks instigated the British
government, notwithstanding the reciprocal enmities which
prevailed, to suffer the Frenchman, La Perouse, to sail peace-
ably in all seas. He availed himself of his extensive corres-
pondence to obtain information of the unsuccessful result.
When the considerable collection of natural curiosities, which
Labilladiere had sent to France upon his voyage, fell into the
hands of English cruisers, and thus became the proj)erty of
the government. Banks, with a noble mind, again employed
all his influence, and the boxes, without being opened, were
sent untouched to France. In this way men act, in whose
opinion that man stands above the citizen of any individual
state, who makes the empire of science of more importance
than the changeable empires of the earth.

It is now more than a year that his remains repose in the
bosom of that earth which he once sailed around, and with the
produce and manufactures of which he had made himself
better acquainted and enquired into, more than most have done.

visir TO A Quaker's meeting, with recollections of this

ORIGIN AND CONSTrrUTION OF THE SOCIETY.

The great merits which Mrs. Fry has gained by the improve-
ment she has introduced into the jails, are well known. She
belongs to the sect which bears the name of Quakers. The
more this church society distinguishes itself in so remarkable a
manner, both by its maxims and constitution, and the pecu-

68 Niemeyer*s Travels in Germany,

liarity of its worship, the more curious I became to attend one

of its Sunday meetings.

The founder of the society, George Fox, (born in 1624) was
the son of a poor weaver. He enjoyed only the education
which a small school afforded 5 was, from childhood, of an
earnest and cjuiet disposition, was put apprentice to a shoe-
maker, but was obliged, however, as his master traded also in
wool and sheep, frequently to watch over the flocks. This
monotonous employujent separating him from intercourse
with mankind, he became only more confined within himself,
continually making reflections upon religious objects, looking
wiih horror npon the corruptions of the great crowd, and often
breaking out when grown up a young man, and perceiving the
immorality which surrounded him, into exclamations which
had correction for their tendency. The lively fancy, however,
with which he was endowed, found much food in solitude, and
his mind was continually raised to the contemplation of the
Deity. God beholds hin) in nature, since he cannot find him
in the desert, romantic life of his fellow-creatures. Thus he
stands at one time, when 19 years of age, upon an high moun-
tain, surrounded with God in prayer, and begs that he will
shew him the way to holy salvation. There the man lost in
religious adoration thinks he hears the voice of God, which
makes known to him the corruption of the world, but at the
same time the prospect is held out that God's work may be
promoted by pure zeal. "Towards the north," so Penn re-
lates of him, " he thinks he beholds great nations, thickly
thronged on each other, like mists of the sun, which shall be
brought to the Lord, in order that, at last, they may become
one flock guided by one shepherd.'* He holds himself called
to be a moralist. The church life alTords him no satisfaction.
How could this have been possible at that time, when the par-
ties of the Evangelical, Independents, and Puritans were em-
ployed in the wildest dispute ; when the one persecuted the
other with rage, and all spirit of true Christianity appeared to
be lost ?

The enthusiasm which has attacked him, leads him in the
meantime, by degrees, to highly ron)antic imaginations. He
thinks wicked spirits have taken an oath that they are able to
cure diseases. He preaches rej)entance in towns and villages,
without art indeed, without rule, simple, frequently breaking
off, and speaking ungrammatically, but still so eloquent and
heart- touchitjg, that his own imagination even imparts itself
to the hearers. They think as he does on the inward light,
which is participated to him, and that what he teaches will be
beneficial to every man who seeks it, and guide them safer

the Netherlands, and England, 9

than any written education, or than, as he loudly asserts, tlie
altogether corrupted church condition of instruction, which on
that account can be easily dispensed with. His wife, Margaret
Feil^ co-operates zealously with him, since, according to his doc-
trine, inward illumination cannot be confined to one sex. Thus
she teaches and preaches as he does, as often as the spirit
moves her.

The effects of his doctrine,— the continually increasing bold-
ness with which he even interrupted the preachers in the
church, attracted the attention of the magistrates. He was
nine times carried into prison, but was always liberated, as he
could not be convicted of any crime. Persecution, however,
only increases his zeal. He travels through the greater part
of England, visits America, Holland, and Germany, and sees
his followers becoming daily more numerous ; by degrees,
however, he got rid of the wanderings and exti'avagancies of
fanaticism, particularly in the intercourse he carried on with
such excellent men as William Penn and Robert Barclay. At
last he lived in London, and looking back with great pleasure
upon his work, and still exhorting them, in the written Address
he left behind him, to peace and unity in spirit, he died, in full
possession of hi« faculties, in the year 1691.

If Fox and (as this is generally the case,) many of his still
more zealous followers were more warm, and made many
alterations ; if their zeal for their occupation sometimes led
them even into the commission of punishable crime; we must
not forget, that almost the whole at first consisted of persons of
the lowest class, who, partly out of want of knowledge, and
partly doubtful, by the bloody contentions existing between
the reigning church parties, of what they ought to believe, and
bow they were to serve God, attached themselves to men who
boldly contradicted these errors, and who at least kept them-
selves free from the many vices predominant in other clergy,
from avarice and intemperance. These persons, however,
found that the learning of which the latter boasted produced
little; and that frequently the most uncultivated men, soldiers,
women, children, prayed more devoutly, and preached more
powerfully, than the learned hirelings, who, living little accord-
ing to the spirit of the gospel, still called themselves clergy.

In all this there was much truth. Many persecuted persons
made so great an impression by becoming martyrs to their
constancy, that frequently even the judges were disarmed, by
the natural eloquence of the accused. By degrees, also, excel-
lent, well educated, and truly religious men, began to separate
the gold from the dross; and many religious, and wherewithal
free- thinking minds, thought they saw the business of christi-

70 Nicmeyer^s Travels in Germany,

anity consist, not in scholastical logical terms ; not in modes
ofinstruction, which even went beyond the holy scriptures; but
in that pure devotion to God, and real belief, which is unat-
tended by caprice of any kind. Hence we have an explana-
tion of the rapid and wide extension made by this Society,
which purified itself always more from excrescences, became
continually more mild and temperate thereby, however, be-
cause it suffered itself to be led astray by no persecutions,
which followed it every where, but remained faithful to its
maxims, manners, and customs. Thus this Society attained,
at last, the permission of acting as it chose, and the most per-
fect liberty of religion was allowed it.

In England the Quakers cannot fail in obtaining the public
respect, as they are amongst the most active promoters of all
benevolent and generally useful institutions and undertakings ;
and have gained themselves great merit, particularly in the
improvement of hospitals, schools, and prisons. That they
arc to be distinguished by their honesty and purity of manners,
may certainly partly be the consequences of the severe dis-
cipline, or church rules, to which they are subjected, and the
continual controul of morals over the members. With all this,
however, the clFects of a certain religious principle are not to
be denied.

From this picture of their manners, it may be well expected
that the method of their worship distinguishes itself from the
regulations of the other church parties in many points. As the
business of religion is, for them, altogether internal, they are,
therefore, disinclined to all outward demonstrations of the
same. They consider it, indeed, salutary and fitted to the spi-
rit of the Apostolic church, to meet at certain times, and
choose for this purpose the Sunday. But they have neither
churches, nor any kind of holy customs. There are six meet-
ing places, in the different quarters of London. I visited one,
tolerably large, in St. Martin's Lane, and found a large room,
with two rows of benches, for men and women, the one behind
the other, which were separated only by a passage. On the
wall at the end of the room, in view of the meeting, there is
a raised seat for the eldest person. There is no pulpit nor
altar, no organ nor painting ; nor the most trifling decoration
,upon the white walls.

The members assembled at a certain hour, were not even
summoned by a bell, and sat themselves down, quietly, wrapt
up in themselves, with their heads covered, and countenances
fixed upon the ground. There was no chant, no sound of a
human voice. They were silent and obstinate, until an inward
impulse was capable of animating any member among the

ihe Nelhei'lands, and England, J I

men or the women, of exciting them, and encouraging them
to loud discourse. I passed an hour and a half in this dead
stillness, which was only at times interrupted by a gentle sickly
cough, or a deep sigh. I still had hopes that the mouth would
be opened ; but in vain. It is not, however, always so. If any
member feels himself moved and encouraged by the spirit to
speak, he rises up from his place and speaks ; sometimes only a
few words, at times more at length, either praying, instructing,
encouraging, or admonishing; at other times he discourses,
either upon words of the bible, or at his own liberty, and un-
constrained. This time the spirit prevailed over no one. I
left, indeed, before the conclusion of the meeting, in order not
to miss another object I had in view. But an acquaintance
who had waited till the end, told me that the assembly soon
broke up in silence. Well acquainted with the Society, he
assured me that this quiet meeting, this temporal liberation
from all worldly affairs, this self-contemplation, this life in what
is above the sensual, this proper hour of devotion, was very
honourable to many, and had a beneficent influence upon them.
The more the body reposes, the more active is the spirit : the
less foreign influence disturbs the soul, the more active and
more appropriate becomes reflection, the more deep the feel-
ing. If any speech was made, there were individuals who
spoke well, generally very tediously, but at all times audibly
and intelligibly.

That the Quakers think themselves enabled to do without
learned preachers ordained by the church, is partly founded
in the opinion, that the Christian religion was, at the beginning,
extended in the world by religious persons, but not by school-
men ; and what may be necessary for all to know, is also intel-
ligible in the holy Scriptures, without learning; and partly
upon their disinclination to all systematical treatment of the
doctrine of religion, whereby nothing is gained. The pre-
scription of the Baptism, and ceremony of the Supper, they
do not explain literally, but imaginary, from an inward new
life, and purifying of the heart, and by a spiritual enjoyment
of the Redeemer. Marriage is fulfilled without any interfe-
rence of a Priest, as a contract before witnesses, and is there-
fore inviolable. Burials take place without any ceremony, and
no tomb-stone, which the English consider so much, point out
their graves.

72 Niemeyer*s TTauek in Germany,

A GLANCE INTO THE COURTS OF JUSTICE.

Corruption of the lower Class of People — Effects of Publicity —
Trial by Jury,

I would very wiUingly have made myself acquainted with
the English constitution, with regard to its judicial proceed-
ings, by a more frequent attendance at the public sittings.
An irresistible wish frequently arises even upon the reading of
the daily papers, wherein so accurate an account is given of
all that passes, to be an ocular witness thereof. Time, how-
ever, failed me. For there is no difficulty, since from the
perfect publicity of the trials, access is free to every one, and
only a very strong influx of the curious, (as the narrowness of
the local situation frequently makes it difficult to get in, even
when you have finally paved yourself a road by a small piece of
money) renders a long stay therein very troublesome.

This is always the case in the upper house of Parliament.
Here, it is well known, is the seat of the highest law authority.
It extends only over the first dignitaries of the empire, and
we know from history that, more than once, crowned
heads were obliged to appear before it as impeached persons.
We have ourselves survived to see a Queen before the bar.
The Lord High Chancellor, the third man after the King, is at
the head of the session. Generally his speech is short, and
sounds like the voice of an oracle. Lord Eldon, who is at
present invested with this distinguished office, appeared to me
to enjoy general respect.

He sits not in Parliament only, but in the high Court of
Chancery, which assembles in the environs of Lincoln's Inn
Fields, as the only judge. He hears the advocates who have
every thing prepared in writing, and pronounces sentence, from
which there is no appeal but to Parliament, When the writ-
ten law appears too severe for any single case, he is allowed
to decide according to reason and the internal judgment of his
conscience. As every court is held in the name of the King, and
the Lord Chancellor has the great seal in his possession, they
have therefore given him the name of the Keeper of the King's
Conscience.

In earlier times indeed the kings themselves were wont to
sit at justice at the tribunal, which was always in the neigh-
bourhood of the court, but has been held for several centuries
in Westminster. On this account this court of justice received
the name of the King's Bench. Under the empty places of
the king sit the judges. But even in these, notwithstanding

Vie Netherlands, ajid England. 73

the large room of Westminster hall which is so near, the space
is so narrow, the number of spectators frequently so great, that
without having understood any thing clearly I was glad to
squeeze myself out again, although a longer view of the various
physiognomies of the judges and lawyers, peeping out of theii*
large perukes, even without understanding them, would have
been very interesting to me.

Besides these courts of justice, there are many others accord-
ing to the difference of the objects, amongst which it is well
known, that that which bears the name of Doctors' Commons,
is at the same time the school for those who choose to devote
themselves to civil law.

It is easy to suppose that these numerous courts of justice
must be in constant activity in a town like London, where
such a mass of people are thronged together, even were we
less acquainted with the moral condition of the lower classes
of people particularly, and with the experience of those who
have long made observations thereon. It is imposvsible to read
the well known work of Colquhoun upon the London Police,
without being seized with the most painful feelings. To the
dreadful view of all the secret and public misdeeds and crimes,
which are committed daily, is added the [mournful experience
which he assures us he has made upon the little effect pro-
duced by the laws and punishments, which, in many cases, are
carried to a severity almost draconic.

Indeed, when we walk around the principal environs of
London ; when, on Sundays particularly, we see ourselves
surrounded with such a number of people, in whose counte-
nances and deportment, health, ease, spiritual cultivation,
honesty, security in feeling of liberty, nobility of mind and
contentment, are so visibly imprinted, scarcely can we be in-
duced to believe that, in the circumference of the very same
town, a countless number of the most despicable human
beings, a depraved class of people, are to be met with, in whom
even the last traces of all sense of morality are extinguished.
But at the same time we cannot suppress a deep feeling of
compassion, in observing how many of them, without it being
their own fault, appear to have been devoted to crime from
their birth, ere they could sink so deeply. Colquhoun thinks
that the great moral corruption, into which so many thousands
sink yearly, both publickly and in secret, is particularly to be
explained by two reasons; partly from the immeasurable trade
of the metropolis, which indeed raises the state to an extraor-
dinary summit of riches, but at the same time introduces an
endless number of temptations to excesses of every kind ;
partly from the love of gambHng, which is become predo-

VoYAGES and Travels, No, XLIX. Vol. IX. L

74 Niemey€r*s TraveU in Germany,

minnnt bcyoiifi all representation, and to which, time, fortune,
conscience, and frequently even life itself, are made a sacrifice.

Indeed, the greater part of the judicial proceedings arise
from fraud, theft, murder, and particularly the most unpardon-
able of all crimes, forgery, or issuing of false bank notes.
Wherever the latter is proved, neither youth, sex, inexperience,
nor seduction, are capable of averting the most severe judg-
ment. This severity has very frequently, in modern times,
been called into question, and on that account a reform of the
criminal code has been brought forward in parliament, par-
ticularly since Colquhoun has proved, even to ocular demon-
stration, how little that severity has hitherto either prevented,
or lessened crimes.

If this severity in England appear, moreover, justified, from
the consideration that in a trading state, fidelity and credit,
and the most unconditional respect for the property of others,
are objects of the highest interest ; and that the severity of
the law in this case j)ossesses indisputably something very
warning and deterring ; still, at least, our feelings cannot ac-
custom themselves to behold the obstinate adherence to the
syllable and words of the law, which just as often absolves the
guilty, as it condemns the less so, although it is not to be de-
nied that the accused may not calculate upon the greatest mild-
ness, and that not the smallest circumstance is overlooked
which might save him. Still the decisions must appear to us
frequently very strange. When a |)erson is declared innocent
of the charge of having adulterated port wine, because he can
prove that, in the mixture, there has not been a drop of pure
port wine ; when convicted coiners of false money get off,
because the stamp was not fully perfect ; when the smallest
oversight in the form of the proceedings, carries the greatest
cnlprits through ; when children of 14 or 16 years of age are
condemned to death, because death stands written upon theft ;
when search after gold and silver coin is not allowed, because
the law speaks of copper coin, — we can hardly comprehend
how the spirit of the laws can be so entirely sacrificed to the
letter and the words. This has, however, found its protectors,
even amongst German writers. They are, however, far more
unanimous in the praises they bestow upon the publicity giveu
to judicial proceedings and the trial by Jury. Hume, Montes-
quieu, De Lolmc, and aln)ost all travellers and authors who
have written upon England, consider the Jury particularly,
which moreover they are indebted to the Saxons for, as the
most perfect institution of a Constitution of justice, particu-
larly against the preponderance of the monarch, and as the
true palladiuni of English liberty. No wonder that this judg-

the Netherlands, and England. 79

ment is so general, as this kind of administration of law ap-
pears to gain the public favour, the sentiment, and even the
fancy, in an equal degree.

Who can deny that even the sight of a solemn assembly of
justice, in the antique costume, by commanding respect, pos-
sesses not something imposing, as well as attractive, by the
participation it awakens in the high-raised expectation, whe-
ther death or life shall be decided by one word. Hardly can
the mere reading, even, of the most interesting criminal trials,
produce a similar effect. Here the person of the defendant
stands opposite to the plaintiff, the plaintiff to the advocate,
and all stand before the Chief Judge, with his assistants. We
see how attentive and thoughtful the twelve of the Jury are,
how tranquilly they take up all that passes before them, until
the moment arrives in which the last decision will be demand-
ed from them. Like a narration bears reference to the repre-
sentation of a drama, so this public mode of justice stands
with respect to our written processes, or to an inquisitorial
proceeding carried on with closed doors. If the action passes
not exactly before our eyes, we still see the actor before us.
If curiosity excites all people as often as the person, who has
attempted or attempts any thing horrid, is taken up and
brought to prison, what a far greater satisfaction does this
curiosity derive from beholding and considering him for hours.
Where would the physiognomist, or the observer of mankind,
find more matter for his contemplation ? All the contradic-
tions and oppositions of feelings, of circumstances, of passions
in the human mind, come forward in undeniable signs, looks,
behaviour, and words. The coolness of the judge, who, be-
cause he is accustomed almost to see nothing around him but
the guilty, is not terrified by the exposition of any crime; the
warmth of the advocate who offers every thing to save, if pos-
sible, even the heavily accused ; then again the manifold guilt,
which sometimes e^^presses itself in confidence and choaked
sorrow, sometimes in anxiety and repentance, at times be-
tween fear and hope, and yet in tranquil resignation — all this
rushes forcibly before our view at every public trial.

What rich matter a visit to these public judicial proceedings
furnished me with, for contemplation upon all that I had seen
and heard, and particularly for a comparison with our consti*
tution. The repeated challenges made by a German acquaint-
ance, " still to allow that the English method of administration
of justice affords quite another security to the citizen, than
ours, and that in this publicity the nation possesses one means
more to form a right sense in the people of their rights and
duties," carried me frequently back to the subject. We liad

76 Niemeyer*s Travels in Germany,

also, in the period of the French Westphalian dominion, had
similar constitutions, and thereby earned our own experience.

Still, where men of deep insigljt into the study of law, and
who arc thereby not merely observers themselves, but who
are also accurately acquainted with every thing which history
and the experience of the advantas:es and faults of the different
kinds of administration, particularly of criminal justice, have
taught; where writers like Montesquieu, of France, FeuorbaCh,
of Germany, have given their voices, the laymen ought reason-
ably to withdraw in silence. However, it may still be allowed
him to impart the reflections which he opposed to that un-
conditional defender of the English court of justice, and
whereby he at last might offer something of his own observa-
tions, although made in quite other views, and the experience
which he was enabled to make himself.

First of all I must indeed allow what my worthy friend, the
upper president Vincke, has already made me attentive to, that
by the publicity of the administration of justice, as well as every
one being judged by his equal, man becomes influenced with
a feeling for his dignity as a man, and the citizen with public
spirit, and that has a powerful effect also upon the political
character of the nation. I must also allow that both by the
attention given to, as well as the reading of, the whole trial in
the public papers, the people in many respects become en-
lightened upon their laws, and become better acquainted with
the consequences of acts, than could be attained in Germany,
even after the introduction of the proposition that has been
made, of submitting to the schools an extract from the laws of
the country. On the other hand, it might also be asked, whe-
ther the effects of the expected morality appear in England so
visibly, and whether the almost monthly warnings of the
gallawshaye lessened the number of malefactors ? Morality,
which alone depends upon civil laws and fear of punishment,
has always a very shallow foundation. It acquires only
strength and life, when it is grounded upon the moral feeling
applied to conscience, which has its root in the breast of every
man, and is nourished and strengthened by true religion. To
know that death is marked upon the removal of a silver spoon
by a house theft, may deter many a domestic, but if the com-
mand, " Thou shalt not steal," thunders continually in the
heart, and that the intention is known lo the Highest Judge,
who sees what is hidden, something more is gained for the
cause of honesty and rectitude.

Thereto may be added, that at least much of what we hear
treated of in the courts of justice, or read in the papers, is not
at all adapted to encourage a moral feeling. It may b^, how-

the Netherlands, and England. 77

ever, for example, that the public mention which is made of the
names of all who are accused and convicted of adultery, pre-
vents much repetition of the offence. For when conjugal
infidelity becomes manifest in a woman, the better part of her
acquaintance and friends desert her even more than would be
the case in Germany ; consequently, in comparison with the
population, the trials of divorce are rarely considerable. But
they are never wholly wanting ; and is not many a corrupted
mind made acquainted, upon the removal of the veil, as soon
as the advocate demands it from the witnesses, with all descrip-
tions of human errors, and frequently even with the most secret
history of vice, of which, had it not been for this, it would
have scarcely entertained a suspicion ? Does not publicity in
such processes particularly tend to destroy the delicate feelings
of shame ? Since the vexatious particularities, which there
appear in language, become an object of the papers, which
every one reads, do they not furnish perfect matter for ridicule
and laughter at licentiousness? Follies may be chastised by
the exposing to ridicule, and will sometimes improve the fool.
If, however, wit and laughter are exercised upon sin and
shame, we are no longer disgusted with the latter. The
painters and judges of manners, like Tacitus, Persius, and
Juvenal, did not contend against the vices of their times with
wit and mockery, but with that noble anger which was enabled,
not only to scratch and lightly wound the monster, but destroy
him at once by strokes of the club. Finally, it is no proof of
morality that the spectators, as often as these matters are
treated of, are most numerous, and press forward to obtain
places with the greatest eagerness.

After this, it appears to me doubtful whether the advantage
is to be given so unconditionally to the decisions of the jury,
or to those of a college of sentence (spruch collegiums) whieh,
like the Royal Prussian Court of Justice, has ever enjoyed the
reputation of honest impartiality. Von Vincke, too, who in
other respects speaks of the English constitution with the
greatest respect, is of this opinion : — " I acknowledge," says
he, " according to the view which I have taken in England of
the proceedings of the jury in civil and criminal matters, that I
would much rather subject my life and property to the decision
of a Prussian court of justice than to a British judge with twelve
assistants ; that the form appears to me ill adapted to the
present condition of culture in the state, where scientific pre-
paration, ability, and incorruptible honesty are demanded from
the judges, and secured by a correspondent income, trial, and
education ; and where a regular protection is afforded against
the errors they may commit."

78 Niemeyer's Trc^els in Germany^

Indeed, we do not at all comprehend why more love of truth,
impartiality and uprightness, are to be supposed to animate the
court of jury than any other which, at least, in proper com-
prehension of the cases lying before them, in maturity of judg-
ment, in calm consideration and reflection, may very easily
surpass any jury, even when the latter consists of the most
upright individuals. In our courts too, it is not one voice that
decides, and every judge has to dread the most severe observers
of his conduct in the remaining members. Abuses, precipita-
tion, humanity, respect of person, will not here be wanting.
But is this not the case also in England ? Does not the num-
ber of very striking examples which formerly Archenholy,
Beschworner lately have collected, teach us this ? How great
a contrast do these bear to the assertion of Madame von Stael,
" that we have no example for 100 years of the innocence of a
person being acknowledged too late, as, (she adds in a decla-
matory manner) the citizens of a free state had attained so
high a degree of sound understanding and so much controul of
conscience, that with these torches they never went astray !
Does not the personal appearance in the literal sense, which
is peculiar to the public cultivation of justice, produce an in-
fluence, although an unconscious influence, upon the inclina-
tion, either to severity or mildness in the decision ? It has
indeed been said, " the decision of the juiy is not founded
upon a cold judgment, upon conclusion, comparison, or combi-
nation ; it is at once the extorted cry of the people." There is,
however, far more truth in nature, than what must first pass
through ideas, which mistake may too easily confuse. When,
however, we know how easily this imaginary instinct of truth
leads astray, it is impossible that the matter could be worse
defended, since the ability of perceiving objects of experience,
of coming to a probability or certainty upon facts and events, if
not entirely, lies at least chiefly in the understanding. It has
been said, ** that not only the declarations of the witnesses,
but the tone, deportment, confusion, the whole air of the ac-
cused has an effect upon the jury. But even if all this deter-
mine their conviction^ is it bail also for the absolute accuracy of
this conviction ?

The upright and collected man, who is to decide as member
of a college of sentence, or a court of justice upon criminal
acts, which have been carefully investigated, considers only th€
action and the circumstances under which that action has been
committed. The persons are to him quite foreign. He is
bribed by no deceitful voice of innocence, no eye darting
around and piercing him for pity, no expression of inward
calm or uneasiness. For the guilt which has been proved, no

the Netherlands, and England. J9

personal beauty of the guilty addresses his feelings ; and the
want of outward charms never makes him indifferent to the
irmocent. At the court of the Old Bailey, more than once re-
jected plaintiffs have been besmeared with mud, not because
they had demanded what was wrong, but because they had
brought beautiful female thieves before justice, who might
soften the heart of the judges, and in which females the sen-
suality of the spectators took an interest. It is very much to
be questioned, whether so many voices would have raised
themselves in favour of Sarah Price, who was lately executed
for forgery, had not her exterior excited so great an interest ?
Let every one ask his own bosom, whether, upon a refusal or
an acceptance, upon an acquittal or condemnation, the per-
sonal appearance of the individual does not influence him ?

Moreover, has not the judge in his power to decide upon
opinions ? If the representation of facts, upon which the jury
has to decide, be short, and the mitigating or aggravating cir-
cumstances brought forward by him, either with a true or an
artificial eloquence, the jury will not easily depart therefrom
in their decision. If the delivery be long, which, as the result
probably of monthly enquiries it often necessarily must be,
how soon is the attention wearied ; and whoever of the twelve
individuals shews himself the best informed and most capable
of handling the business, finally prevails over the votes of the
others.

I still have a very lively remembrance of having experienced
a similar occurrence, which I myself had occasion to meet
with, when my fellow-citizens, in the year 1800, reposed their
confidence in me, and entrusted me with the direction of the
business of the poor of the town, which then stood in need of
a radical reform, and for which I had collected some informa-
tion upon my earlier travels, by a nearer inspection of the ex-
cellent institutions for the poor in Hamburgh and Kiel. No
small number of patriotic individuals of all classes were ani-
mated with a noble enthusiasm for the cause. Every one was
ready to offer his council and to act. In earlier times the
enquiry into the state of the needy, or those seeking assistance,
had been made only very superficially. Premature compassion
and partial recommendations decided, and the modest poor
man was only too frequently overlooked. It was now agreed
upon that the town should be divided into quarters and dis-
tricts, in each of which a number of overseers of the poor
should be appointed ; that these, however, were in , common
to enquire into want. The business gained visibly. The
course became more steady and secure. But how clear was
it here too, that the fewest persons, even with the best will.

80 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany,

were fitted to enter into a thorough examination. Frequently,
when certainly contradiction would have been the consequence,
time pressed. They yielded, in order to come to a conclusion.
Even the most excellent members were at times moved by
inclination, by prejudice, by regards, or by passion. He who
could speak with warmth for the poor of his district; he who
possessed the talent to place their situation in a lively moving
picture before the eyes of the assembly, found ready attention ;
while the man who frequently was more fundamentally in-
formed, because he had examined the matter more dis-
passionately, was either talked down by the more eloquent,
or overpowered by cries, and thus withdrawing himself from
notice ; it proved fortunate in the end that the voices were not
counted, but that the opmions of the collective whole were
guided by a few, who interfered between the contending par-
ties. Similar experience has also been made in the few years,
in which the trials by jury were imposed upon us by a foreign
law. They did not even shorten always, as they expected, the
processes, and this, too, is just as little the case in England, as
that the expense of these processes is less. For, the prepara-
tions necessary to be made before it comes to the decision of
the jury, often demand the greatest expenditure of time and
money.

THE ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES.

The high schools of Great Britain have one common end in
view with the German, that is, a high scientific education of
the students, particularly those which are not catholic; but in
their constitution, in other respects, they are wholly different.

Whoever has read the well known, and indeed frequently
quoted writings of Wendeborn, Kuttner, Goede and Meiner,
upon the subject, and has them at hand, to him I shall have
little new to impart.

I have often, , however, perceived that this difference only
appears to the learned in the more general and common points,
without the peculiarities which mark the British universities
having been explained to them. As 1 could oidy make myself
acquainted with Oxford and Cambridge, I shall properly only
have to speak of the English. For Dublin, in Ireland, as well
as Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, in Scotland, are again
quite differently constituted, and the latter have a far greater
similarity with the German.

I hope that as brief a representation as possible will not be
welcome merely to academicians, as universities are institutions
on which all the learned citizens of a state, fathers and even
mothers, take the liveliest and most rational interest. More-

the Netherlands, and England. Sli

over, they are become, in our changeable times, very frequently
the matter of discourse and contention ; the public opinion
has pronounced upon them, not altogether uniformly indeed,
but louder than ever, that all the faults of German universities
would be removed, as soon as we could change them into
English. The more it will be expected from an old acade-
mician, that he should have devoted his attention entirely to
these institutions. Far removed from either admiring or
blaming what is native, unconditionally, I have given myself
the trouble to compare them impartially. In imparting the
results too, temperance and moderation have been my guides,
which I think I have missed in many writers.

The strict attachment to antique forms and legal statutes,
and the reciprocal jealousy of the respective institutions, which
greatly contributes to prevent departures therefrom, that they
may be without reproach, has indisputably had influence also
upon the maintenance of a certain severe discipline; but this
has also an eflbct upon the tone and the manners. It is certain,
however, that the most severe discipline for the most part
may j)revent public demonstrations of vulgarity, and of the
passions, but it is no reason why it should either improve the
character or make the manners pure and innocent ; and it
would betray the greatest unacquaintance with human nature,
and particularly with that of youth, were we to consider tha
English universities as the seats of virtue, and as places of
preservation from all the errors to which students would be
exposed, from our so called academic liberty. All unpre-
judiced observers allow, and many upright men, whose per-
sonal acquaintance I made there, did not deny, that there was
no want of irregularities, and even excesses of every kind,
which are probably only practised with greater foresight and
more secretly than in Germany ; that within these cloistered
walls a disposition to laziness, luxury, dissipation, and inebriety,
prevailed ; that the long vacations and the frequent residence
in the metropolis, were only too favourable thereto ; and al-
though personal enmity and bitterness may have been mixed
with Knox's severe judgment, although he was formerly mem-
ber himself of John's college, it was still not at all unfounded
upon many considerations. The regular members, taking into
view the princely salaries they enjoy, and enviable literary
leisure, afford comparatively far too little for the sciences.
Impartial people look for the foundation thereof in their parti-
cularly comfortable and agreeable situation, which, as formerly
was the case in rich cloisters, gives too much food to idleness
and sensuality, for ^ spiritual life to flourish amongst the
majority. This cannot appear to us at all strange, since, in

Voyages and Travels, No. XLIX, Nql, IX. M

82 Niemeyer's Travek in Germamfy

Germany also, many of our clergy, particularly as soon as they
have obtained a comfortable existence, free from care by con-
siderable endowments and benefices, sutFer their inclination
for sciences to die away, and too frequently make an exchange
of their books for gambling and cards, while others, who are ani-
mated by an inward and warm interest for learning, not only
study for their bread, but remain faithfully devoted to their la-
bours, amidst the oppression and the cares of life, and, by their
literary diligence, prove themselves worthy of the sciences.

Probably too, the lively interest many members of the uni-
versities take in public events, is the cause of the little literary
activity they display ; since, wherever political ideas become
prevalent, rarely do the scientific attract and improve in equal
degree. Each university has two representatives in Parlia-
ment; and as they choose them themselves, and without the
influence of bribery or other unworthy means, which are so
often employed in parliament elections, every fellow, nay,
every magister, may arrive at this honour ; and, as he
may beconie a bishop, may one day calculate upon a seat and
voice in the Upper house. It is on this account that the uni-
versities have ever maintained a certain political character,
and sometimes embraced the party of the whigs, at others, of
the tories. Since they form a true free state, and, so long as
they remain faithful to their statutes, depend neither upon the
orders of the king nor of an archbishop, nor of a consistory,
their voice upon certain occasions is very independent, and
has not been without its influence. As, moreover, the English
constitution finds the greatest support in the members of the
evangelical church, the universities are already important to
her, because they only belong to this church.

Both the towns of Oxford and Cambridge, with their large
colleges and halls, particularly strike the traveller with wonder,
who, probably for the first time, enters them quite unpi'epared.
He would rather believe he was arrived in the residence of a
prince or superior dignitaiies of an empire, than at an univer-
sity. For it is only necessary to go a few steps to have seen a
number of buildings, many of which, in their circumference,
in their antique as well as modern architecture, and whole
appointment, resemble rather castles and large abbeys, amongst
which some are so roomy and magnificent, that the ancient
kings of England and Scotland hardly resided so sumptuously,
and even at this day the royal and princely residences in Lon-
don are far overshadowed by them.

As almost, every one of the English colleges possesses it»
own autiquities and remarkable objectt, the historian, the
antiquarian, and the literal^ man, consequently finds in ks

the Netherlands, and England. 83

monuments, inscriptions, collections, and archives, the choicest
food for his intellect. The visitant at Cambridge likes to be
told, in Christ's college, that he reposes under the shade of
that mulberry tree which the greatest epic poet of England,
Milton, planted ; willingly attends the conductor into the
shadowy path which bears Addison's name ; or along the old
walls, now transformed into a barn, belonging to the so called
school of Pythagoras, on the Cam, where Luther's contempo-
rary, Erasmus, taught Greek.

The lover of the arts finds also food for his wonder in these
colleges. Many of them are ennobled by an excellent archi-
tecture, partly Gothic, partly Italian. They have been built
partly by earlier monarchs, particularly the Henries, the
Jameses, and the Charleses, or by high dignitaries of the
state, such as cardinal Wolsey, with a royal magnificence ; and
have been extended by rich patrons of the sciences, arch-
bishops and former heads, who devoted to them their whole
fortune. Time, war, and fire, have not been able to destroy
any one of them entirely. At all times the preserving spirit
of the nation, which suffers no possession to be lost, has either
taken care that nothing should fall into decay, or that what has
been somewhat decayed should rise again more magnificent
out of the ashes, and they are continually rebuilding, beauti-
fying, and improving. Portraits and pictures of the best
schools adorn the interior, the general assembly rooms, the
dining halls, the book rooms, and the chapels ; also busts and
statues of great masters, such as Roubillac and Flaxman, whose
chisel has lately completed the marble monument of the
orientalist, W. Jones, celebrated as the editor of the Asiatic
Researches^ upon which a Brahmin explains to him the holy
books of the Hindoos. Generally speaking, whatever member
distinguishes himself in church or state by merit, or has at-
tained to the higher dignitaries therein, may calculate upon
being once accepted in the list of those who convert the great
vaulted rooms into an historical room of pictures, and to look
down with an exhorting and encouraging smile upon the youth
who daily meet here, frequently by hundreds, either for com-
pleting propositions or problems for a premium.

England has ever set a great worth upon painting in glass.
Hardly any chapel or hall is entirely without it. It answers
the style of the old Gothic architecture, by the solemn chiara-
scuro which it diffuses in the churches. In modern times too,
there has been no want of artists in this branch of the art,
which certainly has become very rare in Germany. By
their works they have often replaced what time, the warlike
spirit of destruction, or religious fanaticism have destroyed

84 Nkjneyer's Travels in Germany,

in a more beautiful form and design. As the great eastern
window of Jervais, in Windsor, according to West's drawing,
is held for a master-piece, the magnificent glass painting,
which this master set up in the year 1777? in the new college
at Oxford, is not less so. In the splendour of the colours, the
size of the figures, and the beauty of the drawing, after the
originals by Joshua Reynolds, it was, to my mind at least, the
greatest and the most beautiful of this description which 1 had
ever seen in my travels. The western window of the chapel,
30 feet high, ten feet broad, is divided into two halves. The
lower partition represents, according to the old practice, cus-
tomary in scholastic morality, the four cardinal virtues, — Teni-
jierance, Confidence, Justice, and Prudence; and the three
Christian, — Belief, Love, and Hope, — in figures as large as life,
together with their chosen attributes ; the upper division re-
presents the birth of the Redeemer after the manner of Cor-
reggio.

The chapel of this college, generally speaking, is one, if not
of the largest, at least of the finest. White and black marble
squares adorn the ground, the sides of the marble altars,
bass-reliefs from the history of the bible; the steps of the same
are covered with costly carpets. A shrine in the vicinity con-
tains, since the fourteenth century, the costly bishop's staff of
the founder, W. Wykeham, and represents him above in the
act of bending, kneeling, and praying. The organ separates,
as in many English churches, the high choir from the remain-
ing part. As the pillars of the same are so placed that the
space left in the middle has the form exactly of the western
window, the large glass picture gives a finish to the view in
the most magnificent manner when you stand at the altar.

Stay 171 Oxford.

I should have remained in the above town wholly unknown,
even by name, where I knew nobody, for little do they know
in England of Germaii professors or German authors, had I
not been furnished with the best letters of recommendation.
I was particularly indebted for them to the lady of. the learned
Dr. Marsh, who had been just then nominated bishop of Peter-
borough, and was present at the parliament session in London.
This lady, by birth a native of Leipsig, assisted the German
stranger with the most friendly advice and zeal for his welfare.
The bishop being also professor of theology in Cambridge,
was himself and family well acquainted with the principal men
of both universities. 1 received letters to many heads of those
colleges. Moreover, I found in a young excellent orientalist,
whom duty of study had ^ long time connected iu literary

the Nethei'lands, and England, 85

pursuits with our Gesenius, Mr. Nichol, so agreeable a guide,
not unacquainted with our language, that I found myself,
almost|upon the first entrance, by no means a stranger.

On the 10th of July the holidays begin. On that account
most of the meuibers of the colleges, as well as the students,
were absent, but many an examination was still going on.
Opportunity was not wanting, even during the vacations, of
getting acquainted with the interior of the institutions and the
life led in them.

I divided my time between the visit to the principal colleges,
the public buildings, and some learned who were present. A
beginning was made with botany the very day of my arrival.
This branch of study interested the Baron de Geer, who had
attended me to Oxford as a connoissieur, and had claimed my
attention from very early youth as an amateur. The acade-
mical garden is not very large, but, under the care of professor
Williams, is in excellent condition, and, as it appeared to me,
very interesting for study. One of the buildings of the garden
contained the library and very rich herb repositories, amongst
which particularly a high value was set upon that of Dillens.

Professor Williams, as upper librarian, conducted us then
into the RadclifF library. Dr. Radcliff, who gained a very large
fortune in London as physician^ was the founder of it, in the
year 1749, and had devoted the sum of 240,000 rix dollars to
its building and maintenance. It is one of the newest, and
appears by its free situation one also of the most magnificent
buildings. As you approach the town, the cupola of the
rotunda, 70 feet high, raises itself majestically. We ascended
the open gallery which surrounds it. At once the most beau-
tiful panorama of Oxford lay before us. With one view we
overlooked all the colleges, temples, and halls, works which
cost the labour of six or seven centuries. Under their lofty
roofs and towers all the remainder of the town, as it were, dis-
appears. The library is particularly devoted to the history of
nature and medicine. The elegant bookcases of mahogany
are placed on the side of the great circle in the middle story
and the upper gallery. The broad space in the middle of that
circle, covered with a marble floor, afforded a superb local
situation to the university, in the year 1814, to give a public
entertainment to the conquering monarchs.

The far-famed Bodleian library is very inferior in situation,
but much richer in literary treasures. With this library, Mr.
Nichol, who is librarian, was enabled to make me best ac-
quainted. The rich Sir Thomas Bodley found, indeed, the
ground-work already laid by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester,
for an older collection which was much neglected, but took the

86 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany,

resolution, towards the end of the sixteenth century, of raising
it by what he possessed hinaself, as well as by rich legacies, to
the first rank. His example has subsequently induced other
possessors of large collections to make a legacy of them to the
collection, and by his own fortune, which has fallen to him by
accident, he has been enabled to obtain an incalculable treasure
of printed and unprinted works, of which last the catalogue
alone of the oriental fills two folio volumes. The learned
Nichol was now employed with the continuation and com-
pletion of the same. Many highly important collections of very
old bible and classic manuscripts, as well as library rarieties, are
here to be found, and treasures which the libraries of the
archbishop Laud, Selden, and Pocock have furnished. The
critical comparison of the manuscripts has already aflforded a
rich food, and is too well known to the learned to make it
necessary to repeat it here. For other readers, the mere
narration of many curiosities, for example, of the Latin writing
book of queen Elizabeth, of the mass book of Henry VI IL, of
the coran of Tippoo Saib^ would have just as little interest.
They can only awaken an interest by self-inspection.

The same is the case with the picture gallery connected with
the library, represented in three rooms, wherein a little of the
excellent is lost amidst much of the mediocre, and the Thorn-
hill copies of the celebrated cartoons of Raphael in the Vatican,
chain the attention longest. The Pomfret collection of antiques
is placed in a lower story of this same building. It may pos-
sess a few valuable works of art. To those who have seen the
British Museum or Dresden, it affords little entertainment.

The collection of old inscriptions must not be left unseen,
in order at least to gain a perfect impression of the remains of
antiquity which defied thousands oi; years, and which, after
that the greatest number of centuries had passed them over
unheeded, have at once given employment to the diligence
of Seldene, Maittaire, and other learned men. I speak
gree. I speak particularly of the marbles which the Earl of
bought up in the east, and which his son made a present
of to the university ; of the celebrated Parian inscription,
which is of such high importance to chronology and paleogra-
phy, since it begins its designs with Cecrops (1582 b. c.) and
the fragment which is still legible comes down to 354 years b. c.

A portico of doric pillars leads into the Clarendon printing
office, not far from the theatre ; the nine Muses adorn the
front. The history of the civil wars, which Hyde, earl of
Clarendon, left behind in manuscript, and which his heirs
made a present of to the university, brought so great a profit,
that they were enabled to raise this sumptuous builduig, and

the Netherlands, and England, 8/

devote it to & printing office. It bears, with justice, the name
of the writer, to whom it is indebted for its existence. In
Germany too, there is many a bookselling concern and printing
office, which should more properly bear the name of the writers,
who, probably suffering want themselves, have brought them
to riches and honours.

There are some presses entirely in the service of the univer-
sity, particularly for the older classes, as well as such works
which otherwise would find a publisher with difficulty. I re-
ceived from the superintendent, Mr. CoUingwood, a couple of
wet sheets of a new literal impression of the Greek lexicon of
Scapula, which stood in need of so many improvements. But
they choose rather to adhere to what is established. How
little even does the expensive undertaking of the new impres-
sion of the Stephanian treasure of language content us, and how
differently German diligence, which passes over no increase
of knowledge, would have delivered it ! Thus, at least, I have
heard even English literati judge of it.

Six presses are in uninterrupted work for English bibles,
and for the common prayer. The university possesses the
monopoly to the great regret of English booksellers. It was
pleasing to me, once more to meet with something in England,
which follows what we possess in our own vicinity. For in
no respect can the Clarendon Bible Press bear a comparison
with our Cansteinian, which, as has been already said, is novir
provided with twelve presses, and can furnish weekly the
number of 70 or 80,000 sheets. This printing office of Can-
stein has never endeavoured to obtain a monopoly, and still
less entertained the foolish intention of destroying, by their
presses, all the printing offices in Germany, as the count
Beugnot, when Westphalian minister in Cassel, earnestly as-
sured me in the year ISOJ.

After this, peep into the principal buildings^ which belong
to the whole university. I say nothing further of the single
colleges, many of which I have visited. As the institutions
upon the whole are tolerably alike, we see the same thing
pretty generally every where. Much, as is usually the case,
may still remain unknown to many persons who live even in
Oxford, since we are frequently prone to neglect seeing, even
once, what we have an opportunity of seeing daily.

Our attention is rivetted most by Christ church, which is
the greatest of all institutions, from its size, its riches, the
grandeur of its appropriations ; the dwellings of the eight
canons, who are always appointed by the king ; the consider-
able collections of pictures and works of art; the large and
veiy tastely decorated library, at the entrance of which we

88 Niemeyer*s Travels in Germiam},

willingly stop a moment to contemplate the statue of Locke, by
Roubillac. There is hardlyany college which can be compared
with this in cleanliness, elegance, and grandeur. The recency
of many alterations and decorations is visible in many places.
A lively remembrance is here excited of the first founders,
preservers, and benefactors of the institution, particularly of
cardinal Wolsey, who, before the plan was sufficiently
digested to be carried into execution, was hurled from
his pinnacle of greatness, and obliged to leave the completion
of it to king Henry the eighth, ** whom," according to his own
words, "he had served more faithfully than his God."

I wish I had found the respectable head of Christ church,
dean Jackson, alive, who, according to the testimony of
all his contemporaries, has done infinite good, quite according
to the spirit of an early ornament of this college, bishop Fell,
who rejoiced when foreign merit obscured his own. Dean
Jackson enjoyed above all the highest respect. But the poor-
est scholar, as well as the most illustrious son of a peer, felt
himself attracted to him. On that account it was frequent to
hear the opinion pronounced, " This man is not like any body
else.''

The more we become acquainted with the life led by the
heads and higher members of the colleges, the more we are
convinced that, for single men, there can be scarce one more
desirable or free from care, although, indeed, certain evils,
which are inseparable from that general life in cloistered foun-
dations, are not entirely wanting here, and the colleges too,
amongst themselves, are not always connected in the closest
bonds of friendship. But, although apparently shackled, a
fellow is still a very free and independent man. It depends
upon himself, how much or how little expenditure he chooses
to make; to what employment he will devote himself; whether
he will live in solitude or in society ; whether he will spend
his time more at home or abroad ; whether he will wait for
his old age in this quiet situation, or accept one of the many
places which his college has to give away ; and thus constantly
get higher and higher in the church, ^e may be every day in
the metropolis and take advantage of all its recreations and
pleasures, and every day visit the sister university ; which,
however, appears to be seldom the case. The booksellers
deliver over to him every new literary production ; the libra-
ries, all the treasures of ancient literature in every branch.
This life is an uninterrupted otium cum digniiate, if he himself
only knows how to preserve its dignity. Still, contempt would
very soon follow the contrary. The superintendent of such a
college governs, as soon as he keeps a good understanding

the Netherlands, and England, 8?

with the fellows, his little state very happily, and is frequently
as splendid and independent as a rich abbot. If he distinguish
himself, he has still more certain prospects of a bishoprick,
and may raise himself up to become archbishop of Canterbury,
the dignity of primate of the empire.

Stay in Cambridge,

Not long before my arrival, at the period of the commence-
ment, as the great promotion days are there called, the per-
sonal appearance of the chancellor of the university, the duke
of Gloucester, had occasioned great festivities. Academic
honours had been given away, prizes had been divided, solemn
speeches were held, and balls, concerts, assemblies, and din-
ners had been given. I found the town by far more quiet
upon my late arrival. We met with few academicians. Al-
most all the directors and members of the colleges, were taking
recreation in the country. I was enabled to view more at
my leisure the unmoveable curiosities, and thereby make some
very agreeable acquaintances.

I had been particularly recommended to doctor Wood,
theologian, master of the great John's college. It was impos-
sible to meet with more benevolence and zeal. In spite of
the almost continued rain which poured down, he chose to be
my indefatigable attendant. May that excellent gentleman
pass as many days and evenings as happily as he afforded them
to me.

The university library, in the hall of which I took a passing
view of the antiques which Clarke brought with him from his
travels to Greece, is very considerable. The number of the
volumes is reckoned, probably too high, at 100,000. There is
a large treasure in manuscripts ; amongst them the important
Codex Cantabrigiensis, so well known to the critic, which
Theodore Beza possessed, and made a present of.

The university church, an old Gothic building, bears a con-
trast to the modern senate house lying on its right. It has,
however, gained a pleasing appearance in the interior by
modern decorations. The high pulpit is at the same time the
chair for the lectures, which bishop Marsh used to read.

The senate house is a very noble building, not yet one hun-
dred years old. It consists properly only of a single large hall
with a gallery, which may contain about 1000 persons. This
is appropriated to all solemn promotions and other festivities.
It is adorned with a variety of statues of kings and dukes. The
finest represents Chatham's great son, William Pitt. Cam-
bridge has the right of being proud of reckoning him amongst
her former citizens.

VoYAOEs and Travels, No, XLIX, Vol. IX. N

90 Niemeyer^s Travels in Germany,

Amongst the colleges, although many of them are indeed
only built of brick, others may, without doubt, be placed by the
side of those at Oxford, and probably surpass them in many
respects. Trinity college bears, I think, at least in its magni-
ficent exterior, a comparison with Christ church. The open
portico is quite singular in its kind, which goes round three
sides, each above iOO feet long, in the inner court, and the
doric pillars of which support the upper story, in which is the
library. What a walk this forms for hundreds in wet weather,
and what an excellent locality, to entertain at times the whole
university, as had just happened. We were straitened for
time, and ])revented from seeing the particular curiosities con-
tained in the library. The most perfect collection of all the
editions of Shakespeare, many hundred volumes of contempo-
rary plays, designs of poems by Milton, a number of manu-
scripts of men important to history and literature, are certainly,
as well as many other things, rarities of high value.

I passed sometime with pleasure in the neighbouring college
of Clare hall, which enjoys so pleasing a situation, commanding
a fine view over the river and the smiling meadows, the more
so as I had been received so hospitably by Mr. Leason, one of
the members, who made me acquainted with the interior. I
had accidentally made acquaintance with this gemleman in a
bookseller's shop, in London. Amongst other things, we view
with reverence the likeness of the excellent archbishop Tillot-
son, who here passed his youth.

Much as King's college, which is altogether modern, distin-
guishes itself by its grandeur and regularity, the large chape),
however, lays a claim to our greatest attention. This, as well
as the institution itself, is indebted to Henry the sixth for its
foundation, about the year 1441. At the view at once of this
church, which looks like a cathedral, still more, however, at
the entrance into the same by the western portal, we are struck
at the magniticence of a building which many travellers declare
to be the first in all Europe of the Gothic. We are enabled to
comprehend, in some degree, the reason even of the architect
of St. Paul's, Sir Christopher Wren, making an annual journey
to Cambridge, in order to admire the boldness of the architec-
ture, particularly the roof, 80 feet high, and which, as well as
the chapel itself, 150 feet long, is not supported by any pillar.

Cambridge confirms us in the opinion too, that England is
the country where we arc not to reckon such large institutions
amongst the distinguishing features, which appertain only to
old times, and the sense for which is now departed. Thus, for
example, in the year 1815, the rich earl Fitzwilliam made a
present to the university of his library, which is so rich in fine

ike Netherlands, and England, 91

works and many historical and political writings, of a sumptu-
ous copper-plate cabinet, and a select collection of paintings,
and devoted large sums to the building, and for its mainte-
nance. How tastily is the hall decorated — how beautiful an
appearance the new golden frames around every picture,
(amongst which, one by Titian was shewn me, 3001) guineas
in value,) make upon the crimson tapestry on the sides I
Chests, furniture, every thing is after the finest forms, Happy
university, thought 1 to myself, where such legacies are consi-
dered almost as secondary matters 1

Cambridge, according to the opinion of many, who are nearer
acquainted with the life of both places, is probably even before
Oxford in cheerful sociability, and many other respects. I saw
almost all its curiosities under the guidance of the worthy Dr.
Wood. He made me acquainted with whatever was still inter-
esting to me at a confidential dinner, I may say, which he gave
me in the oiiicial residence of his college. We were quite
alone. This was the more favourable for a free interchange
of ideas. He united, with a warm interest, particularly for the
service of religion, a mildness and reasonableness in his judg-
ment, which is not the virtue of all episcopals. He was already
in the possession of many works of German theologians, of
Semler, of Rosselt and Michael, some of them even in our
language, which is foreign to him, and listened only the more
attentively to whatever had been produced since that time in
the different provinces.

He spoke of the interior regulation of the colleges with the
freedom of a man who every where sees clearly, and who will
not justify what is faulty. Much still remained to be considered,
when the evening came on. The time, however, for my return
was pressing, and we heartily squeezed each other by the hand.

Departure from the Universities, and the Result of my
Observations thereon,

I left both of those high schools with that mixed sensation
of joy and sorrow which the goodness 1 had enjoyed, and the
certainty of being for ever separated from them, leaves behind
in the soul. How many instructive and agreeable hours would
they not still have afforded me, could I have been enabled to
await the return of the many learned and religious men who
are here assembled !

Were I questioned upon the result, which was now become
possible for me to draw upon the comparison of the English
and German manner of conducting an university, I must allow,
that the longer 1 think upon it, the more difficult it api)ears to

92 Mcmeyer^i Trai}el6 in Germany,

me to form a thorongh comprehensive judgment upon the
subject.

The country, the national character, the future destination
and plan of lite of those who pursue their studies in them, all
this is so closely connected with their constitution, and is in
many respects so different, that both in universities and in
schools, an unconditional transplantation of the one or the
other into a foreign ground, would not be advisable. There
is also in England no insignificant number of very genteel men
of all ranks, who abound in knowledge, and who have never
studied at an university.

Whoever, however, (as there are many amongst us who do)
attaches himself not blindly to the antiquity of the German
institution, or, as probably, still many more confounds not the
merry life passed in his own university with that which is ap-
propriate to study, and casts a liberal eye upon Oxford and
Cambridge, will be able just as little to deny the good of certain
peculiarities of those colleges, as to suppress the wish, that not
indeed ivhollj/ the same, but much similar might be introduced
into Germany. Only a few brief observations can be given here.

First of ally it is certainly an advantage for the greatest num-
ber of those who are just, and frequently very young, returned
from the schools, that the further direction of their studies, by
the aid of experienced men, is not at once retarded, and the
school acquirements are not, by a sudden transition to the
higher, become almost entirely supplanted. Not the third
part of our young academicians, I know well what 1 assert, and
I assert probably still too little, not the third part of them ever
think of continuing the study of the classics, which is precisely
the most excellent method of forming and exercising the mind ;
nay, many consider it hardly worth the trouble to remain, at
least, in possession of their classic authors, as is well proved by
the shops of the antiquary. Most of them follow the general
stream, which carries them into lectures, even the name of
which they frequently do not comprehend, and thus the most
unmatured and weakest heads listen to that which scarcely the
most excellent are in a condition to understand. We may,
indeed, subject the ignorant to severe trials, adapted only to
matured learning, by removing from them the supports upon
which they leaned, but still not exclude them from the pri-
vilege of treading the academic career.

The education, in the English colleges of the university, is
immediately connected with that which is imparted in schools,
and the youth remains, although placed upon an higher class,
following entirely the course of his former studies. He comes
to maturity alike in the same soil in which his knowledge

the Netherlands, and England. 98

struck the first roots, instead of being placed in a hot-house,
and shooting up, indeed, apparently quick, but receiving only
an empty knowledge like vain blossoms. Whoever had an
opportunity of becoming as closely acquainted with thousands
who flock to the universities, as the many years connexion
with great schools, and the duty of academic institutions have
enabled me to be, would only latnent to see so many of them
participate in lectures, of which they are altogether unsuscep-
tible. For few only follow the advice of dedicating the first
year to the studies of humanity, or the easier preparatory parts
of philosophy ; and if even they wished it, how few are enabled
to do so in the little time they enjoy, and from the still greater
want of proper ij/.

This reminds me of the second advantage of the English
high schools. With all the inequality of property which is to
be found therein, the fewest number of all, probably only those
who are received as servants in the colleges, are deprived, to a
degree, of all means, as is the case in Germany with a great
number. The man who is entirely destitute can hardly think
of venturing upon an academic career, or if he once tread it,
he finds so much support in the rich institutions, that he scarcely
knows any thing of the deplorable poverty, which bears down
to the ground so many of our young academicians, and makes
it impossible for them even to provide themselves with the
most indispensable of all means of assistance. If even these
obstacles and difficulties to a free formation of the mind are
overcome by an irresistible love of learning, activity, and em^
ployment of every little advantage, still single distinguished
literati, who have worked themselves out of the deepest
poverty, are always exceptions only to the general rule. On
the other hand, the poverty of spirit of so many, who wish and
are destined to study, the illiberality of their way of thinking,
the vulgarity of their manners, the mere striving after employ-
ment and bread, without any love and taste for the sciences,
are a natural consequence of the first education in the poorest
ranks, who are not easily induced in England to bring up a son
to the learned professions. There are, however, some institu-
tions, as Christ's hospital, in London, and Christ church, in
Oxford, wherein, even poorer boys who greatly distinguish
themselves, are reserved for the study of the sciences. But
these are so well taken care of by ample endowments, that
they cease to be poor as soon as they are received in the insti-
tutions, and have, moreover,' a certain prospect of obtaining
a chaplain's or a curate's appointment,

A third advantage, which the course of study affords in the
first three or four years, I found to consist in the regulation,

94 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany,

according to which, far more time is appropriated to individtial
labour than is the case in Germany. The English student is
obliged to read much for himself, to write, translate, and make
memorandums of many things ; and when he is more mature
in years, is made acquainted with the whole contents and spirit
of the old capital works, which are only read and explained in
schools much by piecemeal. He must himself dive into the
compendium of history, of mathematics, and philosophy, more
in a practical than a speculative manner. Many premiums for
the best treatments of the subject, speeches, serve as an en-
couragement to zeal. He must render an account of what be
has performed. How rarely is this the case, constituted as our
universities are ! Who troubles himself about the private in-
dustry of our scholars ? And where is the professor who is in
a condition to do so from his situation? Those whom we call
the most diligent, often mis-spend five or six hours with hearing,
and frequently with a perfectly mechanical, thoughtless, and
insipid copying of what has been heard. Thus the most
foreign subjects intrude, in the next hours, upon the impres-
sions made by the first. Select talents only, among_'the many
who are invited, reflect upon what has been heard, making
attempts at writing, inventing, composing, delivery, whereby
the youth developes himself, and learns to participate without
prejudice. Thus the best head is overpowered by superabund-
ance of matter. Like one plant destroys another which is too
Dear it, while the single plant can neither take deep root nor ^
flourish.

A certain important character distinguishes the academic
discipline, with which the irresolute waverings and fluctuations
introduced into many of our German universities form the
highest contrast. In Germany, at times, an unseasonable se-
verity, at others a prejudicial mildness, are resorted to; whilst
impropriety in the application of the laws, or in the treatment
of youthful minds, a tedious and ceremonial course of justice,
where a prompt application would spare precious time, and
prevent greater evils, predominate. With the yearly change
of regulations, a change also of views and maxims is introduced;
an effeminate adoption is made of prejudices, which have
nothing to recommend them but their antiquity, which con-
demns the law, and takes opinion under its protection. There
is not unfrequently, too, a courting of applause and favour by
weak indulgence ; and, generally speaking, a want of public
spirit. All these are evils which have always been lamented,
sometimes even exaggerated, and still more frequently have
been considered too trifling, and, in which, at the same time,
many scenes which are at once vexatious and unworthy the

the Netherlands, and England. 95

teat oi the sciences, have their principal foundation. The last
cannot thrive at all in a constitution which has such fixed
forms and rules as the English. It becomes a matter of in-
terest with the English university and its governors, that where
every thing has a tendency to a spiritual education, and where-
ever we look, temples of religion and sciences advise us of the
destination of the place of residence, a perfect outward appear-
ance, at least, of tranquillity and order, should prevail. But
they have the means, too, of doing much, which we must
partly do without. Vulgar excesses are therefore very rare.

The age, which has been wonderfully enlightened during the
last forti/ years, has brought ideas into circulation, which,
rightly comprehended, and carefully applied, may bear glorious
fruits, and have already, indeed, counteracted much of what
was bad. The years of youth are, however, rather years of
power than of reflection, and power, without measure and rule,
may become a very dangerous element. On that account the
wisdom of governments hence considered many measures ne-
cessary, which in England are not at all so. The youth, who
is not wholly corrupted, will, upon the whole, follow nothing
but what is good. From some errors, diligence is the best
thing to secure him ; from others, the school of life warns
him. He may go astray, as daily history has taught us, but
those who lead him astray and blind him, are the most
culpable.

EXCURSIONS OUT OF LONDON,

Woodstock, Blenheim, Greenwich,

Notwithstanding all the economy I employed with my time,
I found it still too short to visit many of the charming country
seats and cottages, in which the wealthy pass the finest months
of the year, or, if they are situated in the neighbourhood of
towns, at least their Sundays. Woodstock is scarce two hours
drive from Oxford, and is indebted to its vicinity to Blenheim
for the frequent visits paid to it.

In this same Woodstock lived the greatest female ruler of
England, four centuries ago. It was the melancholy place to
which she was banished. Hated by her sister Mary, whose
weak feelings were sorely wounded by the painful recollections
that the powerful princess Elizabeth would be her successor,
she had almost fallen as a participator in the rebellion of Wyatt,
as well as lady Jane Grey, who was a sacrifice to suspicion.
She had been already a prisoner in the tower. The undaunted
defence she made liberated her from that suspicion, and she
was indebted for the mild treatment she received from her

96 Niemeyer*s Travels in Germany,

superintendent, to Mary considering it more advisable to
place her in the rural, but closely-guarded castle of Woodstock.
Here she lived in solitude, devoted to the sciences, and, far from
the noise of courts, attained that refinement of education,
which made her afterwards, when queen, the wonder of her
age. Probably the shadow of the great Alfred, who is said to
have translated, in Woodstock, the books of Boetius de Con-
solatione into his native language, floated before her eyes.
This Alfred still lives in the memory of the nation. The day
before my departure I received, by the post, a very kind invi-
tation to visit a certain Alfred club, which invitation 1 could
not accept of, and could learn nothing further of the ends for
which the club was established.

The great estate of the duke of Marlborough and his poste-
rity, the mansion upon which was built in the reign of queen
Anne, at the public expense, and for which parliament granted
three millions of dollars, in the year 1705, bears the name of
Blenheim, from a Bavarian village in the district of Hochstadt,
where that great English warrior gave battle to the French and
Bavarians, and returned to England crowned with victory.
Few travellers omit paying a visit to the magnificent castle, so
singular a monument is it of the national gratitude. It is sur-
rounded by one of the most beautiful parks, adorned with the
finest gardens. But almost all who have written of Blenheim,
at times complain of the heavy style of the architecture, at
others of the many fees which they have to pay to six or seven
guides or attendants who wait upon them, as well as of the
ennui which the lesson the latter have learnt by heart occa-
sioned them during the long journey they had to make through
the rooms, at the weariness of the passage through them, ac-
companied by many parties who diminished their enjoyment. I
have, indeed, experienced a little of this myself, and I am afraid
that the reader will not feel much pleasure were I to endea-
vour to entertain him with a long description of the place,
which can alone be interesting to him, if it be a repetition of what
he has himself seen. Where shall I begin ? From the entrance
of the great portal, which forms a triumphal arch, and which,
according to the inscription thereon, was built by Sarah the
wife of the hero, the proudest woman of her age, it is neces-
sary to make a tour through all the innumerable windings of
the park. Many hours arc also necessary to view, with
some attention, all the magnificent points of view which the
castle offers, the sumptuous rooms, the picture galleries, and
above all, the library, which is 200 feet long, the roof of which
is adorned with sculpture and painting, and supported by two
rows of expensive marble pillars cut out of one block.— For, in

I

the Netherlands, and England. 97

fact, every thing which can be separately met with in the
castles of the great, constituting riches, elegance, convenience,
and art, is here brought together upon one spot.

The great obelisk, situate upon the highest point of the park,
gave me the least satisfaction. The statue of the Duke, placed
upon it, appears paltry. The inscription is like, a little treaty.
It contains the whole act of parliament, which gives an enu-
meration of the deeds of the duke, and the donation which the
nation has made to him.

We went down the river to the grand hospital of Greenwich,
on one of the most cheerful mornings. Here quite another
view of the incomparable panorama of the metropolis is offered
to our eyes. What a continual change of prospect on both
sides ! What a contrast of riches and of misery, of the great
exertions of commerce, as well as the little painful occupations
which employ the inhabitants I On the one side, palaces ; on
the other, miserable fishermen's huts ; upon the right, the
narrow close streets of Southwark ; upon the left, the domi-
neering tower, at the foot of the ramparts of which are the
landing places, where formerly the sacrifices to death were so
frequently brought by night time : further to. the east is the
view of the Surrey and London docks. Upon the river itself,
what a continual throng of boats, which meet and get out of
the way of each other with astonishing dexterity, gondolas and
small boats with various coloured flags waving in the air;
well dressed rowers and joyful bands of music.

At a distance we get the first sight of Greenwich. In the
royal palace, which is now no longer inhabited, Henry the
eighth's three children were born, viz. : — Edward the sixth,
Mary, and Elizabeth, who were equally remarkable in history.
The pleasing and animated little town is lost sight of by the
contemplation of, as many travellers have assured us, the
most magnificent and cheerful hospital, which is any where to
be seen. It consists of two separated palaces, connected to-
gether by rows of pillars of the Corinthian and Doric order.
To the north, it is bounded by the Thames, which is here so
deep, as to bear fleets of merchantmen and men of war; to
the south, by the park with its lofty groups of old oak and
chesnut trees.

Upon the height lies the observatory, after the meridian of
which all astronomical calculations are reckoned in England.
The hospital, which is built in the most magnificent style, is
better adapted to be the habitation of a monarch of Great
Britain, than a charitable institution. It is devoted to the re-
ception of sailors, who have become incapacitated by age,
wounds, or other infirmities, as well as the widows and chil-
VoYAGBS and Travels, No, XLIX, Vol. IX. O

98 yiemeyer*s TTavels in Germany,

dren of those who have lost their life in the service of their
native country. The royal palace was begun to be built since
the beginning of the foregoing century, by Charles the second,
and dedicated to the purpose which all succeeding inonarchs,
and particularly George the second, have promoted by the
richest donations. About three thousand old seamen live here
together, and cast a tranquil look, with probably some-
times a feeling of anxiety, upon the flood, and listen, as in a
secure haven, to the storms and whirlwinds with which they
once contended. This strong contrast, indeed, may not be
adapted to make thcni contented, especially when brought
into comparison with what they were so long accustomed to.
But old age has still its place of security ; the table is daily well
covered, the lame and weak repose better upon their conve-
nient beds, one of which is prepared for each invalid in large
spacious rooms, than upon the unstable deck, or in the close
quarters of a vessel.

If the seaman, according to an observation which has been
frequently made, did not generally become as tacit at last as if
he had never learnt to speak, what an inexhaustible entertain-
ment must an intercourse with people afford, many of whom
have landed upon all the shores of the world — are at home in
all zones, who have tasted all means of subsistence, to whom
no custom is strange ; who have daily moved in danger of
death, and have saved themselves, as it were, by a wonder,
while thousands of their brethren have found their graves
by the side of them in the waters. Every ship which
sails up or down the Thames, passes before Greenwich,
and acquaintances and persons unknown to each other, may
shake hands upon the broad stairs which leads from the hospital
to the Thames, with the veteran, either upon their departure
or arrival. Every thing is grand, even in the decoration of
the buildings. Over one of the colonnades. Nelson's death is
celebrated. The four horses of the triumphant chariot are
guided by bewailing Britannia. The hero lies lifeless in her
bosom. Every where the pictures and bass-reliefs, particu-
larly in the chapel, which is built in the most noble style, have
reference to sea-faring matters, and call to the recollection the
great scenes which have taken place upon that powerful ele-
ment. Every old seaman may daily contemplate the mournful
car which bore the body of Nelson, (of the Nelson who for-
merly probably led him to victory), to the burial place in St.
Paul's cathedral.

The old men were cleanly dressed. Some kept guard. A
chair still stands at the sentry box for those who are weary.
Others were sitting upon their beds. Some were sauDtering

the Netherlands, and England. 99

about alone^ Many gave a cheerful answer to what I asked
them. The children, for whose instruction a large school is
appointed, played and frisked around old age. It happened to
be Sunday, and many parents and relations were paying them
a visit ; groups were formed every where. The sleeping rooms
were particularly cleanly ; the beds were hammocks, in which
the active boys swung themselves with astonishing dexterity.
Brought up early to the sea service, the reflection early steels
their courage, that should they become incapacitated, even
after a six years' service, they will still find an asylum here,
which, as it has done to their hoary fathers, will secure to them
an old age free from. care.

Another part of these veterans live out of the hospital with
their friends, and receive a pension. I doubt whether they live
not far happier in their little hut, than thronged together in the
sumptuous halls, which appear to me far too brilliant for their
destination. With this impression, Mr. Symonds, the Gallo
American, left the hospital of Greenwich, and I participated in
his feelings. The poor man, in my opinion, lives best in his
own house.

• The invalid hospital at Chelsea, which lies in the neighbour-
hood of London, is a similar institution to this. Here the
nation supports five hundred warriors, who are worn out by
service, but gives a pension to ten thousand. There is a school
also here for the education of orphans of meritorious officers
and soldiers.

OF THE STATE OF THE THEATRICAL[pROFESSION IN ENGLAND.

Whoever visits England as a traveller should not omit at-
tending the theatre, because it furnishes him with an oppor-
tunity, partly.of hearing a perfect pronunciation of the English,
for which the public, like the Greeks formerly, possess a fine
feeling, and partly because it may make him acquainted with
all the formalities of verbal delivery, such as discourse and
dialogue, from the deepest pathos to the most easy tone of
conversation. I must confess, too, that the verbal delivery of
any poetical or dramatical composition, in which all the power
and magnificence'of an elegant language, as well as the won-
derful capability of voice and eloquence, appropriate to human
nature, are displayed, appears to me to appertain to the finest
enjoyments and recreations which a person of education can
indulge in. I have attended many a representation, which
would have interested me but little on account of the subject,
entirely upon this consideration, and frequently read it after-
wards line by line. In this manner I have convinced myself
of the great difficulty which exists in comprehending the pro-

100 Niemeyer's Travels in Oermany,

per tone and accent, whilst it appeared to me that the per-
formers were frequently not equal to themselves, as is proved
by the final syllables which were so strikingly dissimilar in
rhymed poetry. In other pieces, however, the performance
and subject interested me in like degree. It happened very
lucky for me, that, during my residence in London, the six
principal pieces of Shakspeare — Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and
Juliet, and attractive Richard III., Henry VI., and VIII., were
given. Some of the representations, particularly that of
Richard 111., appeared to me highly deserving of the applause
which was bestowed upon them. Kean's acting displayed the
dreadful truth of the tyranny of Richard; and I can hardly
conceive any thing which touched the heart more, than the
leave taken by the queen of her children, which announced
the deepest feeling. I could not have supposed that the an-
guish of heart, breaking out into sighs and sobs, could have
been given so nobly, and that an actress could succeed therein
so well as Mrs. Glover did, who appeared to forget altogether
the performer while she was representing the mother. FalstalT
ap[)ears to be only at home upon the English stage. Miss
O'Neil, the goddess of the public, and highly esteemed for
her personal merits, gained all hearts in her representation of
Juliet, as well as the younger Kemble did in Romeo. Yates,
who filled five different parts in the Cozenage, the comic actor
Munden, Mathews, who is so well acquainted with the manner
of representing the peculiarities of his fellow performers, de-
veloped talents which certainly would be called rare any where.

Still, however, I could not participate in that unconditional
admiration of the English theatre, with which I found many a
German, who was not unacquainted with the merits of our
performers, penetrated. The plain dialogue or monologue
often approached a lesson learnt by heart, and appeared recited
in measured time. In expression of passion, they at least far
exceeded the limits which we consider the extreme points to
which an actor can go ; and the conclusion was frequently
nmde with those hvouvite s/irie/cs or piercing cries, which were
always rewarded with a clamorous applause. Even the pre-
judicial sarcasms of Richard III. often excited, particularly
upon Kcan's withdrawing himself, after the fashionable man-
ner, rather laughter than disgust.

In making these passing observations, I am far from willing
to appropriate to myself any particular privilege to give a de-
cisive opinion of the present condition of this criterion of the
national civilization. More perfect connoisseurs than 1 am
are requisite for this purpose. They should be persons who
have hud lotJiger time for observation, and I fear that 1 have

the Netherlands, and England. 101

already gone far beyond the sphere allotted to me. My views,
however, of the subject are almost without exception in coin-
cidence with those which our countryman, Goede, has given
in a particular section of his celebrated work upon England.
In England itself, too, people are pretty generally of an uniform
opinion, that the taste for any thing noble is partly corrupted
by the equestrian exercises and such like, which are exhibited
indeed with wonderful dexterity in the theatres of Astley and
Sadlers' Wells, and partly that the theatre is no longer that
which it was at the zenith of its fame. This fame which it
enjoyed, it is particularly indebted for to the two rare geniuses
in their art, Shakspeare in the sixteenth, and Garrick in the
last, century. The former was a man who was acquainted
with, and depicted, mankind better than any who had gone
before him, who was possessed of a mind inexhaustible in
ideas, and a fancy rich in the greatest, as well as the most en-
dearing, pictures, with a language which took possession of
the human heart, both from the lofty tones in which it was
written, the tenderest feelings it displayed, and was a n)an
who was at once an endless fountain, from which, as the Greeks
formerly did from Homer, innumerable British and German
poets have drank.

Garrick, who, according to the general opinion, gave the
most perfect idea of the rare spirit which animated Shakspeare,
is still frequently mentioned. He has always served as a guide
to the most respectable of his successors, such as Kemble,
Cooke, and Mrs. Siddons, who once both heard and saw him.
1 know not how greatly the latter may be indebted to her
pattern for the talent she has ever displayed ; I only know that
the reading of some of her principal parts, such as Lady Mac-
beth, Queen Catherine, ofArragon, readings which I attend-
ed in Cambridge, appeared to me to surpass every thing 1 had
heard from other actors. This far-famed actress, (who was
born in the year 1749) whose stately figure and dignity of
features are little injured by time, preserved also, when off the
stage, (from which she has some time since receded, as well as
her brother Kemble, into domestic life) that power whereby
she commands all the various cadences of tone, and is so per-
fect a mistress of the manner of preserving the fundamental
principles of the character in which she speaks, that she adapts
every expression to it with the most perfect harmony. She
was not only loudly applauded by the whole company, but by
the most impressive tranquillity, and that silent irresistible
proof of a deeply felt admiration ensued, which Iffland used to
say he valued far more than the repeated thoughtless tokens of
approbation, evinced by the clapping of thousands of hands.

102 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany,

RETURN FROM LONDON TO HAMBURGH.

Fragments from my Journal,

*' Farewell, Britannia, where the qocen of arts !?i(gn,-i

Inspiring vigour, liberty abroad ^fWYfilir

Walks through the land of heroes nnconfined,
And scatters plenty witii unsparing hand."

Harwich, ^th Jnly, 1819.— The tumult of the mctrojwlis
is silenced. We have been borne, as it were, upon wings,
fifteen German miles in a rather dark night. 1 am now
once more upon the coast of that country which, a short time
ago, lay before me enveloped in a mist, and which now floats
before my eyes like a magnificent and brilliant picture. For
a long time to come, 1 shall have no occasion to sigh for fresh
impressions, and may the more tranquilly reflect upon all that
I have seen and heard. If we should be enabled, upon our
landing upon the shores of another world, after our last journey
in this, to carry with us as lively recollections of all that the
earth has afforded us, we shall there too scarce stand in need
of new matter to occupy our minds; and when our curiosity
has been satisfied, gratitude and admiration will continue to
warm our hearts, and to strengthen our memory.

The prospect of a good voyage is very unfavourable. The
winds refuse us our departure. An unwelcome leisure is,
therefore, afforded me to call anew to my recollection the last
hours I passed in London.

The inconveniences attendant upon getting ready my luggage,
the settlement of my debts in the house where I lived, and
other necessary matters, were over. Before I took leave of
my room, I cast another glance upon the noble Thames, and
the incessant bustle which prevails upon it. My amiable
hostess appeared unwilling to let me leave her. Her daughter
entreated me to play another German air upon her piano, the
execution of which appeared to afford her great pleasure.
With a heavy heart I took leave of my companion, the Baron
de Geer, who had gained my sincere esteem. I parted no less
reluctantly from the amiable families of Messieurs Bohte and
Ackermann.

On board of the Henry Freeling, the 29th July,

We went yesterday evening on board the packet. By sin-
gular coincidence it was the same which had brought me to
England. 1 greeted the narrow abode which was so well
known to n)ej nor was 1 beconjc a stranger to captain Hart
and the crew. The sky was cloudless, but there was not the

the Netherlands, and England, 103

least wind. We were enabled to remain on the deck till a
very late hour.

I wish the night had not only afforded us sleep and rest, but
brought us further on our voyage. But we are still too near
the English coast. The good company we have on board af-
fords us some recompense.

Juli/ 30. Almost every body is sea-sick. No one feels a desire
of entering into conversation. The hours, which lately passed
as minutes, we wish we could accelerate with wings. They
creep on so slowly, that we are frightened when we look at
the watch, and hold it to our ears, in doubt whether it may
not have sto[)ped. Sleep appears to be the only friend of
those that are well : it deserts the sick like a false friend,

Juli/ 31. We have now lost sight of England. The Dutch
coast stretches itself out before us, but we are obliged, from
contrary wind, to be continually on the tack, to gain a little
way. Thus the 300 English miles of sea may be made 900.
At a distance we get a sight of the Texel, where the East India
ships used to rendezvous.

The company on board are getting better. We begin to
laugh at our own impatience, and to rebuke ourselves for
wishing to change what is unalterable. I myself become more
accustomed to the sea, and am already somewhat envied by
my sick companions. I have begun to read the Mazeppa of
Lord Byron with the English gentleman who is on board. He
is very attentive to the errors I make, and, although he is un-
acquainted with the German language, he endeavours to ex-
plain in writing all the words I do not understand.

^ug, 1. We have passed a very solemn and quiet Sunday.
The sea resembled a plain, over which green corn was waving.
The sun shone down upon us with all its brilliant splendour
from the beautiful azure sky. The ships bound to a contrary
direction slid slowly by us in this perfect calm. All kinds of
animated little forms were playing in the bosom of the ocean.
The crew were dressed in their best clothes, and appeared
well pleased at the returning tranquillity of the Sabbath. The
sailors were laying upon the deck, either reading or in conver-
sation. I saw the Common Prayer Book in the hands of many
of them,

Aug, 2. We are beginning a fresh week. We thought we
should have passed it upon our native soil. The captain does
not appear in the best humour. The clouds, which are contract-
ing together, bring us some hope. A storm arises ; lightning
flashes around ; the motion becomes greater ; the labours of
the crew are redoubled, and the lead is never still. We avail

104 Niemeyer's Travels in Germany, Sfc,

ourselves of some quiet hours for fishing, which costs several
fine turbot and niackarel their lives.

Jug, 3. This morning brings us better tidings. We are oppo-
site Heligoland, before the mouth of the Elbe, and near enough,
without assisting our eye-sight, to get a clear view of the
whole island, which suddenly grew so rich, during the war be-
tween England and France, as the Depot of Colonial produce.

At breakfast a pleasing emotion arises in my breast, when I
recollect that this day, nine and forty years ago, gave birth
to one of the most respectable of monarchs. There is no per-
son around me who can participate in my feelings. To make
them generally known appears to me throwing them away.
But different, however, as might be the political interests and
sentiments of individuals, none refused to filLhis glass, and all
paid homage to the bravery, constancy, and domestic virtues
which distinguish our prince and father of his people. God
save the King,

Aug, 4. The inviting Holstein village of Brunsbitttel, lays before
us ; but as the wherry can not approach it, and we can hail no
boat, we are prevented landing. A violent storm comes on,
with torrents of rain, which drives us all into the close cabin.
It clears up, and we repeat our hailing of a boat ; fishermen
draw near us, and bring us over the river, which is still suffi-
ciently rough.

The ease, cleanliness, and comfort, which, in my former
travels, I had found in all the villages of Holstein, are here
confirmed. Houses, rooms and furniture, are all superior to
what we are accustomed to sec in our part of the country.

Hamburgh in the Stadt London, bth AugiLst. — About three
o'clock in the afternoon we came before Blnnkenese, Who
is there who is not acquainted with this favourite resort of tlie
inhabitants of Hamburgh and Altona ?

The travellers were now all of one accord to dismiss our
boatmen, and to finish the remainder of our way upon a couple
of Holstein carriages, which are always standing in readiness.

Every thing on this road bears marks both of opulence and
increasing cultivation. The elegant and tasty country seats
and gardens continue in an uninterrupted line to Altona. I
hardly knew again the short road from thence to Hamburgh,
so greatly was every thing changed, since 1 had first seen it in
the year 1776. We stopped at Ottensen, where Charles of
Brunswick took refuge after the unfortunate affair oi Aiierstadt,
and finished his days, and where Klopstock reposes ; we
took a view of the tomb and monument of the sacred songster.

FINIS.

^