[Footnote 39]: The bunch of keys in the middle ages was not only an important symbol of right, but also the popular weapon of women.
[Footnote 40]: We have to thank Professor Brückner of Meiningen, for the communication of the following summary: it is printed in 'Memorials of Franconian and Thuringian History and Statistics,' 1852.
In nineteen villages of the former domain of Henneberg there were in the years--
| 1634 | 1649 | 1849 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Families | 1773 | 316 | 1916 |
| Houses | 1717 | 627 | 1558 |
| In 17 villages--Cattle | 1402 | 244 | 1994 |
| 13 " Horses | 485 | 73 | 107 |
| 12 " Sheep | 4616 | -- | 4596 |
| 4 " Goats | 158 | 26 | 286 |
[Footnote 41]: Brazier here means tinker and scythe-sharpener. The oldest accounts of them are in a free paraphrase of the 1st Book of Moses, in rude verses, which were at all events written before 1122; printed in 'Hoffmann's Fundgrubben,' 2. There they are represented as foreign Jew traders. These remarkable verses are as follows:--
"From Ishmael come the Ishmaelitish people;
They go peddling throughout the wide world;
We call them braziers.
Oh! what a life and habits are theirs!
On all they have for sale
There is a blot, and it is unsound.
If he, the brazier, buys anything,
Good or bad, one must give him somewhat over;
And if he sells his wares
He never replaces the damaged ones.
They have neither house nor home--
Every place is alike to them;
They rove through the country,
And cheat the people with their tricks:
Thus they deceive mankind.
They rob, but not openly."
[Footnote 42]: Here, and further on, he gives the fixed characters of the old Italian comedy.
[Footnote 43]: Some tedious passages are shortened, and it is necessary in one place to soften the angry expressions for the reader of this book.
[Footnote 44]: They did not fail to make an engraving of the mysterious doves, which appeared shortly after with an interpretation.
[Footnote 45]: A copper coin in the south of Germany.