CXLIX.
Hanover, Germany, Nov. 29, 1858.
I thought I had quite finished up my peregrinations in the north of Germany, but I found I had left unvisited parts of Schleswig Holstein, which, since the war of 1848, has occupied so much of the attention of German and Danish diplomats.
This country is populated mostly by Germans, and that language is generally spoken, but it is governed by Danish officers and the military, in as mild a form as possible; the ill-will and hatred of the inhabitants, however, is so great, that little social intercourse is kept up between them. The currency is Danish, but German coin passes for nearly its value, as the trade with Hamburg, and the direct communication by railroad with Kiel and Schleswig, keeps up the German influence, to the detriment of Copenhagen. After long delay, and bitter recriminations and threats, the Danish king has granted many concessions, and a constitution for self-representation. The people hope, and, with Germany, desire its union with the Vaterland; but the balance of power is such a delicate question in Europe, and the jealousy of governments towards each other so great, that the matter may be put off until, perhaps, a revolution brings a change. The quickest and easiest communication with Copenhagen is, via Kiel, by rail, a distance of seventy miles from Hamburg, where steamers are found in readiness for embarkation.
Every stranger that visits Hamburg, if time permits, should make an excursion in Holstein, if only to get a passing view of nature’s beauties, of picturesque lakes, meadows, and fields, with their hedges.
Were it not for the three gates, one would scarcely know he had left Hamburg in driving through the city of Altona, in Danish territory, to take the railroad for Kiel, as the two cities are nearly grown together.
Kiel has some fifteen thousand inhabitants. Its environs may be called beautiful. The forests of beech and other trees along the water’s edge, with bathing places, and some elevated points of view, make it a desirable summer residence. It evidently has much improved of late. The country mansions and gardens bear testimony of the fact. The fish market is abundantly supplied, and what is better, there is no duty, as is the case the moment the German frontier is crossed in the interior. Among the delicacies, in smoked articles, are the “Schnebel,” and large sized eels, which are exported in great quantities to the interior. The oysters used in Germany are mostly from the North Sea. They are much smaller than ours, and have not unfrequently a coppery flavor. Salmon and lobsters come mostly from Norway. Hamburg is celebrated for its basement rooms, or Kellers, where are found all the dainties that land and water furnish.
Kiel has its monuments, public buildings, and attractions, but nothing very striking to the general traveller. Its harbor is fine and deep, and here lay at anchor, near the shore, the entire fleet, at one period during the war with Russia.
The terminus of the railroad which leads to this city is at Harburg, the new rival of Hamburg, upon the Elbe, and only eight miles from the last-named place. When I was last there, in 1855, the inundation of the river had flooded the island of Wilhelmsburg, carrying away houses, cattle, and crops, and destroying millions of property in the lower part of the metropolis. Hundreds of persons were shelterless. We were aroused at midnight in the midst of a terrific rain storm, by the alarm guns warning the occupants of basements and one story dwellings, to save themselves from drowning. When we took the steamer for Harburg, in passing the island we saw only the tops of trees where now I pass in an omnibus, over a well cultivated country, with dusty roads, and the people complaining for want of rain.
A few miles below lies Stade, a small town of six thousand inhabitants, which gives the name to the Stade Zol, or imposition of the River Elbe dues, which our government is trying to induce the Hanoverian authorities to renounce.
Harburg has made much progress, and grown to be quite a city under the protection of the Hanoverian government, and favors in the way of duties and manufactures.
The route to this place is an uninteresting one, tying in part over the Luneburger Haide or Heath, which is without cultivation. I perceive, however, that advances are made in the way of irrigation, and it is pleasant to see entire waste lands, by the use of water, made to produce bountifully. It called to mind an experiment of a rice garden, and olive and almond trees, which Mehemet Ali produced upon the white sand of the Egyptian desert, by the use of the Persian wheel, driven by oxen; and it struck me that the Arabs regarded him little less than Deity.
Having formerly described what was of most interest in this city when I made it a temporary residence, I can only add that the population has increased, the city limits extended, and many new improvements have been made. The large cotton and carpet factories flourish in consequence of the great protection in the tariff. Rents and living expenses, as well as taxation, are increasing, but workmen are better paid than formerly, as the country was chiefly agricultural and there is now more demand for labor, growing out of the manufacturing.
The King, although blind, is building a new palace, and has just called upon the Stande or Chambers, for an appropriation of six hundred thousand thalers for the work, as far as completed.
A fair has been recently held here, which for a stranger is well worth seeing. One day only is allowed for the furniture sale, and it is held in a different part of the city. Every variety of household article is exposed for sale, brought in from small neighboring villages, which gives the poor a chance to buy cheap. It is curious to see the stream of wagons and carts, drawn not only by horses, oxen, and donkeys, but single cows and spaniel dogs in harness, the drivers cracking their whips. Now comes a load of countrywomen, in fancy colored short corsets and jupes, then the Bauer, or peasant, with his high-topped boots, long-tailed coat, and big bright buttons. The market-places were filled with booths and venders from other cities, with every variety of articles, attractive and for use; jewelry, wearing apparel, and pumpernickel, or honey cake, in great quantities, an indispensable article for the multitude. The good-natured country people, with their Platt Deutsch, or land dialect, seemed to have a good time of it, and the national dishes of sausage and saur kraut, with light beer and pipes, were in great demand.
Here in Hanover, and also in Celle, a town of ten thousand population, which I lately visited, the language spoken by the upper classes is the most pure in all Germany.
1859.
CL.
Berlin, February 23, 1859.
The great event of the season was the birth of a prince to the crown of Prussia, and the first grandchild of Queen Victoria. Demonstrations, congratulations, and addresses have been made to the royal parents by the Lord Mayor, and other dignitaries of London. The street upon which I live, leading to the Palace, was crowded with vehicles, containing the nobility, civil, and military officers in full uniform, advancing to the royal residence to inscribe and present themselves in honor of the happy event. Crowds of persons were standing upon the sidewalks for many days afterwards, gazing up at the windows and walls which inclose this precious jewel of a monarchical people. The students have since had their torchlight celebration for the occasion.
In these reverences and a thousand other ways, through titles and orders given to all persons of any distinction, wealth, or merit, is the aristocratic band so linked together, that the very children imbibe that love and respect and awe for the royal family till it seems engrafted in their very natures.
In political matters you are kept fully advised through the European journals. As I suggested in my last, things look ominous for the future. The money and commercial marts are still agitated, and uncertainty prevails. France continues steadily her military preparations; Sardinia the same. Austria is stubborn, and sends further supplies of troops into Italy. Diplomacy is hard at work to prevent a general European war, and, if the issue must come, to confine it to the Peninsula. A slight outbreak at the present moment would put all Europe in a blaze. The demand for saltpetre in the London markets, even from the smaller powers, and the prohibition of the sale of horses shows that they fear the result, and must be prepared, if not against the enemy, against their own people. Cannon foundries and manufactories of arms are in full blast in different countries.
The horrors of a European war, the destruction of life and property, the anguish of widows and orphans, the demoralization of invading armies, the cost of maintaining the same, and the entailment of debt, are not to be portrayed. Already Austria and Sardinia are in the market for loans, consequently there is a depreciation of the whole outstanding debt in the hands of the public.
Since I visited the Crimea I feel myself better able to judge of consequences. The ruined and battered fortresses and public and private edifices of Sebastopol, Kertch, and other points, the graveyards of the half million of souls of Inkerman, Alma, and the Malakoff, all testify to the melancholy results. However, the question of the whole Italian race, suffering under the bonds and chains of tyrants, cannot be longer delayed, and we shall probably soon know the decision. Either the evacuation by Austria of the Papal States, and the duchies of Modena and Parma, and abandonment of her tutelage, with a system of reform, or war, must be the result.
Some persons contend that war, like cholera, or other epidemics, in over-populated countries, is as necessary as a thunderstorm to clear a sultry and vitiated atmosphere, to sweep off a part of the redundant population, lessen competition, and give the survivors a chance to earn their bread. More humane means can be substituted in the favoring of emigration to the vast regions of unoccupied territory, not only in Europe, but in both Americas.
While all Europe is in uncertainty, America stands without anxiety, as a looker-on. In the event of a European war her breadstuffs would find a ready market. Capitalists, looking at the uncertain tenure of things here, would turn their attention to investments on the other side. Emigrants, to escape army duty and save what little they have from destruction, would take refuge in this land of liberty. Her Mexican and Cuban question could be settled without the interference of foreign powers, who would have occupation at home.
Our Treasury it seems is exhausted, and loans are made in time of peace. We pay our President twenty-five thousand dollars a year. I notice the French Senate have granted Prince Napoleon eight hundred thousand francs, or one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, as expenses for his marriage to the daughter of Sardinia’s king, and two million francs, or four hundred thousand dollars yearly. In the event of widowhood she is to have forty thousand dollars, our currency, and a palace to her use. All that for a cousin of the Emperor. What would our honest yeomanry think of such outgoes with us, which are mostly made up by indirect taxation upon each and every article consumed by rich and poor?
Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of Washington at a splendid dinner given by our minister, at which assisted some sixty persons of both sexes—Americans residing in or passing through Berlin, naturalized Germans, Consuls and Senators from Bremen, Stettin, &c. Baron Humboldt sat vis-à-vis with Gov. Wright under the folds of the American flag. Toasts and speeches, as customary on such occasions, were made, and all passed off to the satisfaction of guests. Some fifteen or more of our states were represented, and were called upon for a sentiment or a toast, which, under the exhilarating influence of champagne, was generally well responded to, and brought forth some amusing and historical reminiscences of the American revolution. Portraits of the Father of his country, of Humboldt, Webster, and others, and the beautiful engraving of Washington crossing the Delaware, were suspended from the wall. An artist gave a toast which was rather a strong one in a monarchical government, and in a less enlightened age perhaps we would not have had the privilege of meeting together to commemorate the birthday of a republican victor; it was to “Humboldt, the King of Science, whose shoes most kings are not worthy to unloose.” The venerable old man is now in his ninetieth year; he is fond of ladies’ society, who adore him as a traveller and writer. He has remained a bachelor. His memory is fresh and vigorous; I asked him if he recollected my presentation by Gov. Vroome, some four years since, and the conversation about the island of Ceylon. “Yes,” replied he briefly, “and Singapore also,” and then recounted information derived from other sources since.