The deceased King Ernest, who had a great passion for horses, had one of the finest stables in Europe. The present king is blind, but he rides a horse handsomely. In company with one of his councillors, I met him a few days since in a deep wood, his steed on a gallop, and his adjutant beside him. The adjutant held a check-rein attached, and gave the signal for a salute, when the king made a graceful bow; his infirmity would scarcely be noticed by a stranger.
When last in Austria I noticed the use of horse flesh as food, and now I find its introduction here also. I have before me a newspaper advertisement, with the figure of a capering horse, and three hands, with index fingers pointing to a plate of prepared food, with the announcement that at the slaughter-house stall may be had daily tender horse-flesh, liver, and stewed meats, with warm strengthening sauces, at all hours. Of course the poor avail themselves of this supply at low prices.
1857.
CXX.
Berlin, Prussia, Jan. 7, 1857.
After an absence of nearly two years I find myself once again in the Prussian capital, and when I recognise my former friends and acquaintances who have remained stationary, and answer their interrogatories, I can scarcely believe that most parts of Europe have been revisited by me within this short period; the Atlantic crossed and re-crossed; the head waters of our great Mississippi gazed upon; and I return here without finding any noticeable changes. I tell them from my own experience, that in 1844 the prairies were crossed from the head of Illinois river navigation to Chicago, and from Galena to Milwaukee, in ordinary coaches, with indifferent accommodations for man and beast; that wild waving grass and flowers bounded the horizon, and scarcely a sound was heard except the cries of the wolf and prairie hen, when the places named were villages. Then I tell them what great cities, with teeming population, I found in their stead during the past year, with lines of railway, expanding like arteries from the human heart, spreading life and activity in all directions. If they are inclined to doubt statements which appear fabulous, the fortunate presence of a famous bill of fare, of the Chicago Hotel, gives demonstrative evidence of the progress of civilization.
The Americans are becoming notorious on the continent as extensive travellers, which is not surprising, as our country is so extended, and the opportunities for locomotion are so great. During my first visit to Egypt it was rare to meet one of my countrymen; but five years since I was informed at Grand Cairo that more of them, than of English, had gone up the Nile that winter.
Our political system is to Europeans an enigma. A well-dressed person, at a public table, asked me how large a court Buchanan would have, and the emolument he would receive; and seemed greatly surprised that we had no court, and that the salary of twenty-five thousand dollars per annum would not equal the livery expenses of some crowned heads; and that the emoluments of four years would not equal the christening expenses of the imperial infant of France; that we travel without passports; that the press is as free as the air we breathe; and that our national army is scarcely seen or known.
Christmas-day I found myself the only stranger at the table, in a family gathering of twenty-five persons. The Germans dine much earlier than the French. At half past two P.M., an abundant repast, with various kinds of Rhine wine, was served, enlivened with the usual touching of glasses, and toasts. At the close of the dinner, the host struck up a hochlied, or hymn, accompanied by one of the ladies on the piano, which hymn was followed by shaking of hands and congratulations. The gentlemen retired to smoke, and the ladies amused themselves with dancing and waltzing. An hour later, we were seated again at the table, with coffee, conversation, and recitations from the younger members of the family. There was a constant change of diversions: juvenile violin players, exquisite performers upon the piano, vocal music, dancing, tableaux vivants, &c., kept the company incessantly occupied until about half-past ten, when abendbrod was announced. This meal (literally evening bread) consisted of a copious hot supper, not unlike the dinner, and required a stronger stomach than mine to digest, at that late hour. At midnight, with cordial salutations, after having enjoyed every moment of time, the company separated.
When the bulletins announced that the Eisbahn was in condition, hundreds of persons of both sexes might be seen upon the ice of the Thiergarten, or Royal Park. A small fee admits you on the ice, where seats are prepared, and gardrobe for clothing; supplies of skates are on hire, with servants to strap them; there are chair-sleds for those who do not skate, or for lady invalids, drawn by gentlemen skaters; and hosts of fashionable and beautiful city ladies, gracefully waltzing and performing various evolutions, or gliding rapidly in groups over the frozen surface; it is a pretty and characteristic scene of winter life in this region.
With the present railroad and steam advantages, travellers are brought together singularly. At the hotel, a heavy-whiskered gentleman at my right opened a conversation in German—the language spoken at the table—which was for a time continued, when it struck me suddenly who he was, and I asked if he recognised me? I received a negative reply. I asked if he had travelled in Egypt? He answered, “Yes, but many years since.” “True,” I responded; “you called upon me in Jaffa, in the Holy Land. You made the passage to Alexandria with us; you are an American,” and I called him by name. We were both mutually surprised and delighted.