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.