The absence of the Elector, we were assured, had much altered the appearance of Manheim, where scarcely a carriage was now to be seen, though there were traces enough of the gaiety and general splendour of this little Court. Here are an Opera House, a German Comedy, an Amateur Concert, an Electoral Lottery, an Academy of Sculpture and Design, and an Academy of Sciences. The Opera performances are held in a wing of the palace, and were established in 1742, but have not attained much celebrity, being supported chiefly by performers from the other Theatre. This last is called a national establishment, the players being Germans, and the Theatre founded in 1779 at the expence of the Elector. The Baron de Dahlberg, one of his Ministers, has the superintendance of it. The Amateur Concert is held, every Friday, during the winter, and is much frequented.
The Electoral Lotteries, for there are two, are drawn in the presence of the Minister of Finances, and one of them is less disadvantageous for the gamesters than is usual with such undertakings. That, which consists of chances determined in the customary way, gives the Elector an advantage of only five to four over the subscribers. The other, which is formed upon the more intricate model of that of Genoa, entitles the subscribers to prizes, proportioned to the number of times a certain ticket issues from the wheel, five numbers being drawn out of ninety, or rather five drawings of one number each being successively made out of ninety tickets. A ticket, which issues once in these five drawings, wins fifteen times the value of the stake; one, that should be drawn each of the five times, would entitle the owner to have his original stake multiplied by sixty thousand, and the product would be his prize. The undertaker of this latter Lottery has the chances immensely in his favour.
From the very large income, to which these Lotteries contribute a part, the present Elector has certainly made considerable disbursements, with useful purposes, if not to useful effects. Of his foundation are the Academy of Sciences, which was opened in 1763, for weekly sittings, and has proceeded to some correspondence with other Academies; the German Society, established for the easy purpose of purifying and the difficult one of fixing language; the Cabinet of Physics, or rather of experimental philosophy, celebrated for the variety and magnitude of its instruments, among which are two burning glasses of three feet diameter, said to be capable of liquefying bodies, even bottles filled with water, at 10 feet distance; the Observatory, of 108 feet high, in which all the chief instruments were English; a Botanical Garden and Directorship; an Academy of Sculpture, and a Cabinet of Engravings and Drawings, formed under the direction of M. Krahe of Dusseldorff, in 400 folio volumes.
Of all these establishments, none of the ornaments, or materials, that were portable, now remain at Manheim. The astronomical instruments, the celebrated collection of statues, the paintings and the prints have been removed, together with the Electoral treasure of diamonds and jewels, some to Munich and some to other places of security. But, though we missed a sight, which even its rarity would have rendered welcome, it seems proper, after such frequent notice of the barrenness of Germany, to mention what has been collected in one of its chief cities.
The expectation of an attack had dismantled other houses, besides the Elector's, of their furniture; for, in the Cour Palatine, a very spacious, and really a good inn, not a curtain and scarcely a spoon was left. A cause de la guerre was, indeed, the general excuse for every deficiency, used by those, who had civility enough to offer one; but, in truth, the war had not often incroached upon the ordinary stock of conveniencies in Germany, which was previously too low to be capable of much reduction. The places, which the French had actually entered, are, of course, to be excepted; but it may otherwise be believed, that Germany can lose little by a war, more than the unfortunate labourers, whom it forces to become soldiers. The loss of wealth must come chiefly from other countries. A rich nation may give present treasure; a commercial nation may give both present treasure and the means of future competence.
The land near Manheim is chiefly planted with tobacco and madder, and the landscape is enlivened with small, but neat countryhouses, scattered along the margin of the Neckar. The neighbourhood abounds in pleasant rides, and, whether you wind the high banks of the majestic Rhine, or the borders of the more tranquil Neckar, the mountains of the Bergstrasse, tumbled upon each other in wild confusion, generally form the magnificent back ground of the scene.
On returning from an excursion of this kind at the close of evening, the soldiers at the gates are frequently heard chanting martial songs in parts and chorus; a sonorous music in severe unison with the solemnity of the hour and the imperfect forms, that meet the eye, of sentinels keeping watch beneath the dusky gateways, while their brethren, reposing on the benches without, mingle their voices in the deep chorus. Rude and simple as are these strains, they are often singularly impressive, and touch the imagination with something approaching to horror, when the circumstances of the place are remembered, and it is considered how soon these men, sent to inflict death on others, may themselves be thrown into the unnumbered heap of the military slain.
[SCHWETZINGEN.]
An excellent road, sheltered for nine English miles by rows of high poplars, conducted us through richly cultivated plains from Manheim to Schwetzingen, a small village, distinguished by an Electoral chateau and gardens. This was one of the pleasantest rides we had found in Germany, for the road, though it exhibited little of either the wild or picturesque, frequently opened towards the mountains, bright with a variety of colouring, and then again was shrouded among woods and plantations, that bordered the neighbouring fields, and brought faintly to remembrance the style and mingled verdure of our native landscape.