Such of them as are intended for a military life, will not find so many advantages united at any other place on the continent, as at the academy of Brunswick. They will here be under the protection of a family partial to the British nation;—every branch of science is taught by matters of known abilities;—the young students will see garrison-duty regularly performed, and may, by the interest of the Prince, obtain liberty to attend the reviews of the Prussian troops at Magdeburg and Berlin:—They will have few temptations to expence, in a town where they can see no examples of extravagance,—have few opportunities of dissipation, and none of gross debauchery.
I passed a day lately at Wolfenbuttle, which is also a fortified city, the ancient residence of this family.—The public library here is reckoned one of the most complete in Germany, and contains many curious manuscripts. They showed us some letters of Luther, and other original pieces in that reformer’s own handwriting.
Having dined with Colonel Riedesel, who commands a regiment of cavalry in this town, I returned by Saltzdahlen. This is the only palace I ever saw built almost entirely of wood. There are, nevertheless, some very magnificent apartments in it, and a great gallery of pictures, some of which are allowed by the connoisseurs to be excellent. I will not invade the province of these gentlemen, by presuming to give my opinion of the merits or defects of the pictures, though I have often heard those who are as ignorant as myself, decide upon the interesting subject of painting, in the most dogmatic manner. The terms Contour, Attitude, Casting of Draperies, Charging, Costumé, Passion, Manner, Groupe, Out-line, Chiaro Scuro, Harmony, and Repose, flowed from their tongues, with a volubility that commanded the admiration of all those who could not discover, that in the liberal use of these terms consisted all those gentlemen’s taste and knowledge of the fine arts.
Conscious of my ignorance in the mysteries of connoisseurship, I say nothing of the pictures, and presume only to give my opinion, that the gallery which contains them is a very noble room, being two hundred feet long, fifty broad, and forty high.
In this palace there is also a cabinet of china porcelain, containing, as we were told, seven or eight thousand pieces;—and in another smaller cabinet, we were shewn a collection of coarse plates, valuable only on account of their having been painted after designs of Raphaël.
The country about Brunswick is agreeable. I was particularly pleased to see some gentlemen’s seats near this town; a sight very rare in Germany, where, if you avoid towns and courts, you may travel over a great extent of country, without perceiving houses for any order of men between the Prince and the Peasant.
I spent yesterday very agreeably fourteen miles from Brunswick, at the house of Mr. de Westphalen. This gentleman attended Duke Ferdinand during the late war in the character of his private secretary; an office which he executed entirely to the satisfaction of that Prince, whose friendship and confidence he still retains.
Mr. de Westphalen has written the history of those memorable campaigns, in which his patron had the command of the allied army, and baffled all the efforts of France in Westphalia. Though this work has been finished long since, the publication has hitherto been delayed for political reasons. It is to appear however at some future period, and is said to be a masterly performance. Indeed, one would naturally suppose this from the remarkable acuteness and sagacity of the author, who was present at the scenes he describes, and knew the secret intentions of the General, whose assistance he has probably had in finishing the work.