The lager, or encampment, of fourteen thousand men, is situated in the suburbs of the city. The citizen army is composed of thirty thousand men.
We have just had a sham fight, which was seen to great advantage from a hill in the vicinity of the plain upon which the manœuvre took place, and gave a good idea of the battle-field. The approach of the marching forces, to the sound of drum and fife, and shrill tones of the bugle, and the bayonets glittering in the sun’s rays, were exciting. The cavalry was led by the king in person. Then came the conflict, the thundering noise of the cannon; the continued volleys of musketry from the infantry; the reconnoitring movements of the riflemen; the dashing charges of the horsemen, half-buried in smoke; the retreats, the reforming of the ranks; the advantages gained and lost; the leaps of the horsemen over artificial stockades and sloughs of water; the queen and royal family, with liveried outriders, drawn by and mounted upon magnificent steeds, hovered around the borders of the battle-field.
The thousands of citizens on this festival day crowning the heights, and the enthusiasm manifested, gave interest to the scene.
CIII.
Bremen, Germany, Nov. 21, 1854.
My last was from Hanover. I now write from this free port and commercial city, situated upon the banks of the Weser, which river divides the old and new town. Its gardens are laid out in English style, giving the new town a neat appearance, and many improvements have been made since my visit in the summer of 1848.
Small vessels come to the city, but the larger class of steamers and ships remain at Bremen harbor, a few leagues below.
The chief trade is with America. The quantity of cigars manufactured from our tobacco is enormous, employing some thousands of persons, and scattering the manufactured article throughout this land of smokers.
The number of emigrants forwarded to America is scarcely credible.
In most of the German cities, under the “Rathhaus,” or town hall, is a wholesale and retail wine cellar, the profits of which accrue to the church, bishopric, or city authorities, according to the circumstances of an early granted privilege. Since the German reformation the right here belongs to the municipality: and the cellars under the town-hall are shown to strangers as among the prominent curiosities of the city. The long succession of basements contains the choice qualities of Rhine wine, in huge oak casks, varying in size, the largest containing thirty-six thousand bottles of “Rudesheimer,” of the vintage of 1806. The heads of the mammoth casks are well braced by cross pieces, with sculptured allegorical and historical figures in wood, and highly gilded. In one room, the god Bacchus, and his followers, of life size, all gilded and crowned with wreaths of grape vines filled with fruit, are seated upon the centre of one of three large vats, dating back as far as 1624. One of the cellars most renowned for quality is called the Rose, and another the Twelve Apostles, from its containing only twelve casks, whose names are painted upon metal plates, which are attached to the heads. The wine in these casks is the delicious, light Hockheimer Rhine wine of 1718. The rivalry lies between Peter, Simon, and Judas. A manager is appointed by the city authorities, subject to the supervision of the director, and monthly reports are made. City funds are appropriated, and the supply is kept up from the last vintages, so that the public may be supplied with a pure article at moderate prices. A large old sign, in the Rose Keller, has the following inscription, literally translated from the German: “What to the stomach, to the body, and to the heart, health, vigor and spirit can give, can console the afflicted, can revive half dead persons, yields this Rose wine.”