favoured by nature, is the most populous, in relation to its extent, of any that belongs to Prussia.

The province of the Lower Rhine occupies a considerably greater extent of the course of the river higher up than that last described. The principal part of it belonged formerly to the archbishopric of Trèves, which, with various little states and cities, has now merged into the Prussian dominion. The Rhine flows through the middle of this tract, receiving on one side the Moselle, and on the other the Lahn and the Lieg.

The province of Prussia forms an extensive range of sea-coast, describing a sort of semicircle of nearly 400 miles round the southern shore of the Baltic, and extending from 50 to 100 miles into the interior. The whole is a continuous and almost dead level, scarcely rising above the surface of the water on which it borders. Only in the south-east quarter appear a few sand-hills, blown together by the winds: one of them rises to 500 feet, but none of the others attain half that elevation. A portion of this province formerly belonged to Poland.

Prussian industry is divided between agriculture and commerce; manufactures being yet in their infancy. The soil is in many places sandy and marshy; yet there are few parts which are not fit either for grain, flax, or hemp, and many tracts are very productive. The cattle are numerous, and the breeds in general good; that of horses, in some parts, is extremely fine.

Posen, bearing the title of grand duchy, is now the principal part of the Polish territory annexed to Prussia. It forms an extensive level plain, analagous in all its features to that which crosses the whole north of Europe. The country is finely watered, having the Vistula for its eastern boundary; while the Wartha, receiving the considerable tributaries of the Netze and the Obra, traverses it from east to west, enters Germany, and falls into the Oder at Kustrin. Population of the provinces of Prussia in 1827:

Berlin, the capital of Brandenburg, and also of the kingdom of Prussia, stands on the Spree; with its suburbs it is 12 miles in circumference, but this extent incloses many gardens and fields. It is defended by a wall and palisades. The city exhibits striking contrarieties of aspect in the admixture of magnificent buildings with ruinous houses, and the whole mass of edifices composing the city have a straggling, discrepant look. The streets, in the better part of the town, are straight and well-paved: and there are several handsome squares, with pleasant walks. The houses in general are built of white freestone. The suburbs are of wood, stuccoed to imitate stone. There are 15 gates to the city. The royal gate is defended by a half-moon, and two bastions faced with brick. On the stone bridge over the Spree is an equestrian statue of the Great Elector William. Beyond the bridge is seen the Royal Palace; a superb edifice containing magnificent apartments, and the most splendid service of plate belonging to any palace in Europe.

The royal library has 150,000 volumes. Berlin has 4 colleges, 5 gymnasiums, and 250 other seminaries of learning, with various charitable institutions. It is the centre of learning for the north of Germany, and has manufactures of silk, cotton, woollen, porcelain, jewelry, &c. Population, 223,520.

Potsdam, on the Havel, one of the most elegant cities in the Prussian dominions. It has a splendid royal palace, and many fine architectural embellish

ments. It has also a cannon foundery and manufactures of silk and velvets. Population, 30,000. On a hill in the neighbourhood, stands the palace of Sans Souci, erected by Frederick the Great. Stettin, the capital of Pomerania, near the mouth of the Oder, has a great trade. Population, 25,000. Breslaw, the capital of Silesia, stands on the Oder. It is well built, strongly fortified, and famous for its large gates. It has manufactures of linen, and an extensive internal trade. Population, 87,119. Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony, on the Elbe, is a handsome city, with a noble palace, an arsenal, and a magnificent gothic cathedral. It has manufactures of silk, woollen, cotton, linen, &c. Population, 32,000. Munster, the capital of Westphalia, is an ordinary place, but has an university, with several colleges and schools. Population, 18,212. Cologne, the capital of Julich-Cleve-Berg, on the Rhine, is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It has a great number of ancient churches. The cathedral is an immense gothic pile, founded in the 13th century, but yet unfinished. The city has a decayed look. It has manufactures of silk, linen, woollen, lace, and thread, and is celebrated for its Cologne water, of which it exports 80,000 or 90,000 flasks. Population, 64,000. Coblentz, the capital of Lower Rhine, at the junction of the Rhine and Moselle, is a well-built city, with considerable trade and some manufactures. It has a bridge of boats over the Rhine, and one of stone over the Moselle. Population, 15,000. Posen, the capital of the Duchy of Posen, on a branch of the Oder, is a compactly built town, with an university. Population, 25,000. Konigsberg, the capital of East Prussia, on the Pregel, is 7 miles in circumference, and contains many elegant buildings, and an university of high reputation. Part of the town stands on an island in the river. It is a place of considerable trade. Population, 63,000. Dantzic, the capital of West Prussia, on the Vistula, near the southern shore of the Baltic, has a good harbour, and was once the chief town of the Hanseatic-league. The houses are high and the streets crooked. It has much commerce and internal trade, exporting hemp, flax, linen, timber, potash, &c. It has a great annual fair in July and August, which lasts six weeks. Population, including the military, 52,821. Aix-la-Chapelle, once the capital of the German empire, is famous for its warm baths. Many parts of it are elegant, and it has manufactures of cloth and needles. Population, 32,000. Dusseldorf, on the Rhine, is a handsome modern city, with considerable trade and manufactures. Population, 27,000. Halle, in Saxony, is a flourishing city on the Saale. It is celebrated for its university and literary institutions. It has also many manufactures. Population, 21,500. Frankfort, on the Oder, is a rich and handsome city, with an university, three great annual fairs, and manufactures of woollen, silk, and leather. Population, 12,000.

BAVARIA.

THIS kingdom is bounded north by Hesse Darmstadt, Hesse Cassel, Saxe Meiningen, Saxe Cobourg, and the kingdom of Saxony; east and south by the Austrian states, and west by Wirtemberg, Baden, and Hesse Darmstadt. It contains 30,997 square miles, and 4,037,017 inhabitants. The north-eastern limit is skirted by a chain of mountains, and another range extends across the northern part. The country is watered by the Danube and its numerous head streams: the northern part is traversed by the Mayne, and the western by the Rhine. The Lake of Constance lies partly within this territory, and there are other small lakes. Much of the soil is unproductive from its ruggedness and marshy quality. The best arable land lies along the Danube and Inn. A great part of the country is covered with forests. The mountains contain quarries of marble and mines of quicksilver. Iron and copper are also produced. Agriculture is so much neglected in Bavaria that except in very productive years the kingdom does not produce sufficient grain for its own consumption. Wine is the chief article of produce along the Rhine and Mayne. Fruit is raised in great quantities. Hops, flax, and garden vegetables, are also cultivated. There are some manufactures of woollen cloth, but this

branch of industry is much less active than formerly., Tobacco is manufactured throughout the country. Fruit, salt, hides, wool, flax, hemp, saffron, and licorice, are exported. Bavaria is a constitutional monarchy. The national assembly consists of two chambers. Every citizen enjoys perfect equality in the eyes of the law. The army amounts to 53,898 men.

Munich, the capital, is seated in a plain on the Iser. It is a well-built city, and many of its edifices are very splendid. It has an university, a library of 400,000 volumes, and a gallery of paintings ranked among the finest in Europe. Population, 80,000. Ratisbon, on the Danube, was once an imperial city. It is built in the form of a crescent, and is strongly fortified. It has considerable commerce by the river. Population, 26,000. Augsburg was also formerly an imperial city, and was founded by the Romans in the reign of Augustus. One fourth of the houses

are built of stone, and the remainder of timber and clay. The public buildings are magnificent, and the city is one of the handsomest in Germany. Population, 32,000. Nuremburg, on the Regnitz, has large manufactures, and several churches noted for their beautiful paintings. Watches, brass, and globes, were invented in this city. Population, 40,000. Passau, at the confluence of the Inn and Danube, is an ancient town, strongly fortified. Population, 10,300. Bamberg, on the Regnitz, is a fine city, with a magnificent castle. Population, 20,000. Wurtzburg, on the Mayne, has a large trade in wine. Population, 20,000.

SAXONY.

THIS kingdom is bounded north and north-east by Prussia, south and south-east by Austria, south-west by Bavaria, west by Reus and Altenberg, and north-west by Prussia. It contains 7200 square miles, and 1,497,000 inhabitants. It is watered by the Elbe, Muldawa, and many other small streams, which flow through beautiful valleys, forming landscapes of the most charming appearance. The soil in the valleys and level parts is fertile. The vegetable products are similar to those of the other parts of northern Germany. Saxony has lost its principal agricultural provinces, and little is raised in the kingdom except corn. Manufactures are active, and employ three-fifths of the population. The wool trade of Saxony centres at Leipzig. Trade is flourishing and is much facilitated by the Elbe and its tributaries. Saxony is a constitutional monarchy. The army amounts to about 10,000 men. The electorate of Saxony was raised to a kingdom in 1806, and formed a part of the Rhenish confederation. The limits of the country were much reduced by the Congress of Vienna, in 1815.

Dresden, the capital, stands on the Elbe. It is elegantly built; the houses are all of freestone, and nearly all of the same height. It has numerous palaces and public buildings, beautiful in architecture, and magnificently furnished. Dresden is called the German Florence: it has a gallery of 1184 paintings, inestimable in value; many establishments for the fine arts and for education; a royal library with above 250,000 volumes, and three other public libraries. The city is strongly fortified. Population, 60,000. Leipzig is one of the most important cities in Germany. It stands in a plain watered by the Pleisse, the Elster, and the Partha. The city is well built and surrounded by spacious and handsome suburbs, between which and the town is an elegant walk of lime trees. The streets are clean and commodious, and the houses are mostly very high. Here are held, yearly, three great fairs, which draw together above 2000 merchants and a vast concourse of purchasers. The books sold at these fairs are valued at nearly 1,000,000 dollars annually, and the other commodities at about 18,000,000. All sorts of manufactures are carried on here; in particular, those of gold, silver, silk, woollen, and linen yarn. Leipzig has been the scene of many sieges and battles: the two most memorable are the victory gained by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, over the Austrians, in 1641, and that of the allies, over Napoleon, in 1813. Population, 41,000. Chemnitz has large manufactures of cotton and woollen cloth,

hosiery, and silk handkerchiefs. Population, 16,000. Freyberg, on a branch of the Muldawa, is a famous mining town. It stands on a lofty site, and is completely undermined by galleries and caverns. Population, 12,000.

KINGDOM OF HANOVER.

THIS kingdom is bounded north by the German Ocean and Oldenburg; east by Holstein, Mecklenburg, Prussia, and Brunswick; south by Prussia, Hesse, and Lippe, and west by Holland. It contains 14,720 square miles, and 1,549,000 inhabitants. The Hartz Mountains occupy a portion of territory in the south, detached from the main body of the kingdom; otherwise the whole country is an immense plain, diversified here and there by sand-hills, sterile heaths, and moors. The sandy soil is interspersed with blocks of granite. The Elbe washes the north-eastern boundary, and the Weser, Leine, Aller, and Ilmenau, water different parts of the country. There are many shallow lakes, and on the coast is a wide bay formed by the bursting in of the sea, in 1277, when above 50 villages were destroyed. The mineral products are numerous. Gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, cobalt, zinc, marble, slate, limestone, coal, manganese, calamine, vitriol, and sulphur, are produced here. The mines of the Hartz are rich in silver, and afford annually 1,172,733 dollars. The lead mine of Caroline produces yearly 194,000 | dollars. The salt springs are also productive. This country does not produce sufficient grain for its own subsistence, and in some parts the land is so poor, that 6000 of the inhabitants leave the country annually for Holland, in quest of employment. The articles of cultivation are various sorts of grain, hops, flax, and garden vegetables. In the sandy soil potatoes are raised. On the heaths of Luneberg considerable numbers of bees are reared. The manufactures consist of linens from flax, coarse damasks, yarn, silver plate, gold and silver lace, jewelry, amber, saddlery. The internal trade is assisted by four annual fairs at Hanover, and two at Osnaburg, where are sold the commodities purchased at the fairs of Brunswick, Leipzig, and Frankfort. The chief exports are horses, cattle, wax, lead, linens, leather, salt, oats, barley, thread, iron, copper, peat, and timber. The king of Hanover is the king of Great Britain, but the interests of the two countries are kept apart. It has occasionally happened, however, that this connexion with a German state has involved Great Britain in continental disputes from which she might have otherwise been exempted. Hanover is a constitutional monarchy, and has a general assembly consisting of two chambers. The administration is directed by a Governor General appointed by the king. The army amounts to 13,000 men. Nine of the towns are garrisoned.

Hanover, the capital, stands on the Leine, in the midst of a sandy plain. It is built in the form of a half-moon, and has several handsome streets. The houses are generally of brick and timber in alternate layers, and resemble in appearance the stern of a ship of the 16th century. The date of their erection is always marked upon them. In those of 1565, each story projects over the one below it, and all are embellished with confused mixtures of medallions, Pagan deities, warriors, and verses from the Psalms. The electoral palace is an elegant structure of hewn stone. The public library has 24,000 volumes. The environs of the city are very pleasant. Population, 28,200. Gottingen, on the Leine, is famous for its university, which has one of the largest and best libraries in Europe, containing 300,000 volumes. The town stands in a valley, and is surrounded with gardens. Population, 9600. Emden, at the mouth of the Ems, is the chief seaport of the kingdom. Its commerce is very active, and it employs 300 vessels in the herring fishery. Population, 10,985. Osnaburg, on a branch of the Ems, is a considerable seaport, famous for the manufacture of coarse linen called Osnaburgs. Population, 10,000. Luneburg, on the Ilmenau, has an ancient castle, and considerable trade in salt and horses. Population, 12,000.

KINGDOM OF WIRTEMBERG.

THIS kingdom is bounded north-east, east, and south-east, by Bavaria; south by the Lake of Constance; south-west, west, north-west, and north, by Baden. It contains 7500 square miles, and 1,562,033 inhabitants. It is traversed by several ridges of mountains. It is watered by the Neckar and Danube, with their several head streams. The climate is mild and healthy, but in the more elevated parts the winters are severe. The soil is very fertile. The minerals are silver, copper, iron, cobalt, sulphur, coal, limestone, alabaster, agate, &c. Warm baths and medicinal springs are numerous, and those of Heilbron are particularly celebrated. This kingdom produces great supplies of grain, chiefly spelt; for rye and wheat are little cultivated. Flax and hemp are raised, and the mountains are covered with vines which produce a rich and wholesome wine called Neckar. Cherries are cultivated extensively in some parts, for manufacturing the strong liquor called Kirschwasser. Fruit trees are abundant: cider and perry are made in great quantities. A singular, yet considerable branch of industry, is the feeding of snails; millions of which are fattened in the neighbourhood of Ulm during the autumn, and exported to Vienna and Italy. Manufactures are not numerous; but some cloth and lace are made in a few of the towns; and there are many large distilleries and oil mills. The exports are cattle, corn, wood, tar, potash, oil, and a few manufactured goods.

Wirtemberg is a constitutional monarchy. The legislative body consists of two chambers, one of the nobility, and the other electoral. The army amounts to 5943 men.

Stutgard, the capital, is situated near the Neckar. It is indifferently built, but contains a magnificent royal palace; an academy for painting, sculpture, and architecture; a large opera-house and theatre. It is surrounded by a wall, flanked with towers. The suburbs are large and handsome. The seminaries of learning are numerous and respectable: the royal library has 200,000 volumes. The inhabitants manufacture silks, hosiery, and ribands. Population, 32,000. Ulm, on the Danube, at the head of navigation for large vessels, has the largest cathedral in Germany, with five spires, and an organ with 2952 pipes. It has some commerce by the river. Population, 14,000.

GRAND DUCHY OF BADEN.

THIS territory is bounded north by Hesse; east by Bavaria, Wirtemberg, and Hohenzollern; south by Switzerland, and west by France. It contains 5800 square miles, and 1,201,300 inhabitants. The whole country forms the eastern side of a valley traversed by the Rhine, and bounded on the east by the Black Forest. The Rhine washes the western limit, and some of its tributaries pass through this country. The Danube rises in the southern part. The Lake of Constance forms a part of the south-eastern boundary. The soil is good and vegetation luxuriant. There are mines of silver and iron, and quarries of freestone and marble. Mineral springs and hot baths are very numerous. In the city of Baden are above 300 hot baths, some of which are scalding hot; all of them spring out of rocks of alum, salt, and sulphur.

Corn, fruits, the vine, almonds, and chestnuts, are raised in this country; but wine is the chief product. The government is constitutional, and the sovereignty hereditary. The army amounts to 11,566 men.

Carlsruhe, the capital, is 3 miles from the Rhine. It is one of the finest cities in Germany. All the streets diverge in straight lines from the castle in the centre. The houses are regularly built. The public library has 70,000 volumes. The gardens of the grand duke are very handsome. Population, 20,000. Mannheim, on the Rhine, is regularly built in squares, and with houses all of the same height. It has a magnificent castle, 750 feet in length, and a library of 70,000