The Königstrasse is the principal street and a very fine one it is; next to it in point of beauty is the Französische Strasse. The Wilhelm Platz is adorned with the statues in marble of Schwerin, Seidlitz, Keith, Winterfeld, and Ziethen. But I cannot enumerate all the splendid public establishments and fine things to be seen in this beautiful city. The most striking church is that of St Hedwig. I call it the most striking from its resemblance to the Pantheon at Rome. The Cathedral is perhaps a finer building. 'Tis in this last that the Electoral and Royal remains are deposited.

The streets 'here swarm with military, and indeed the profession of arms seems to have too much sway in the Prussian dominions. The subalterns and young men of the Prussian Army are said to have republican sentiments, and they, in common with all the burghers, desire a constitution. It galls them to see one enjoyed by the Bavarians, whom they affect to look upon as inferior to them in intelligence, and that it should be refused to them. Most of the nobility and the greater part of the General and field officers are however inveterate aristocrats.

You have heard, I dare say, of the attempt made by some officers among the nobility to exclude from the service, after the peace, those officers who were not noble. When it is considered that their best and most zealous officers sprung from the burghers, and that Prussia, when abandoned by her King and nobles, was saved from permanent subjection only by the unparalleled exertions of her burghers and peasantry, one is shocked at such ingratitude and absurdity. But the officers of the Royal Guard went so far as to draw up a petition to the King, requesting him to dismiss all the officers of the corps who were not noble, and Blucher was applied to to present this petition to the King. Blucher read the paper and ordered all the officers to assemble on the parade and thus addressed them: "Gentlemen, I have received your paper and read its contents with the utmost astonishment. All the remarks that I shall permit myself to make on the subject of this petition, are, that it makes me ashamed of being myself a noble." He then tore the petition in pieces and dismissed them.

I have been once at the theatre. Lodoiska was performed. I saw a number of fine women in the boxes. Formerly gallantry and pleasure were the order of the day at Berlin; but now, the Court assuming the exterior of rigid morality and strictly exercised religious devotion, mystic cant and dullness is the order of the day. The death of the Queen of Prussia threw a great damp over the amusements of the Court. At Charlottenburg, which is a short distance from Berlin, in the grounds there, they point out to you her favourite spots. She was a most amiable Princess, and united to great personal beauty so much grace and fascination and so many good qualities that she was beloved by all, and the breath of calumny never ventured to assail her.

The alley Unter den Linden in the evening presents a great assemblage of Cyprian nymphs, who promenade up and down; they dress well and are perfectly well behaved. There is a superb establishment of this kind at Berlin, which all strangers should visit out of curiosity. It is not indispensably necessary to sacrifice to the Goddess whose worship is carried on there; but you may limit yourself to admire the temple, call for refreshments and contemplate the priestesses.

There is the utmost moral and political freedom at Berlin, and tho' the Government is despotic in form, freedom of speech is allowed. An army of 200,000 men admirably disciplined and armed, of these a garrison of 15,000 men in Berlin and as many at Potsdam, are quite sufficient to keep in check all attempts to put political theories and speculations into practice. Indeed, it would be very difficult to excite a revolt; the various German governments are carried on very paternally and the government is scarcely felt; habits of obedience have taken deep root among the people, and a German peasant as long as he gets enough to eat and drink, does not conceive himself unhappy, or thinks of a change. I could not help laughing the other day, at a little village near Berlin, when I heard some peasants talking of Napoleon; one of them, who seemed to have some partiality for him, exclaimed, meaning to blame him for leaving Elba: Aber warum verliess er seine Insel? Er hatte doch zu essen und trinken so viel er wolte (Why did he leave Elba? He had surely plenty to eat and drink). This good peasant could not conceive that a man blessed with these comforts should like to change his situation or run any risks to do so.

French as well as German is commonly spoken in Berlin, and I am glad to see that the prejudice against the French is wearing off. If the French and Prussians could understand one another, and knew their own interests, or if the French had a liberal national Government, I mean, one more identified with the interests of the people than the present one is, what advantage might not rise therefrom? They are natural allies, and united they might be able effectually to humble the overbearing insolence and political coxcombry of the Czar, shake to its centre the systematic despotism and light-fearing leader of Austria, and keep in check the commercial greediness, monopolizing spirit and Tory arrogance of England. The German political writers duly appreciate the illiberal policy of England towards the continental nations, by which she invariably helps to crush liberty on the Continent in the hopes of paralysing their energies and industry, in order to compel them to buy English manufactures, and in fine to make them dependent on England for every article of consumption. England, ever since the beginning of the reign of George III to the present day, has been always ready to lend a hand to crush liberty, to perpetuate abuses and to rivet the fetters of monarchial, feudal and ecclesiastical tyranny.

These are facts and cannot be denied. The English people have been taxed to the last farthing to support a war of privileges against Freedom; and Europe is in consequence prostrate at the feet of an unprincipled coalition, thro' England's arms and England's gold; and then an English minister, and his vile hireling journals, tell you that the continental nations are not ripe for and do not deserve liberty. Even the Pope and Grand Turk, both so much dreaded by our pious ancestors, have been supported, caressed and subsidized, in order to help to put down all efforts made to obtain rational liberty, which the courtiers always affect to stigmatize with the name of "Jacobinism," while a number of needy individual have enriched themselves by the public plunder and byaiding and abetting the system, all novi homines, men who, had there been more to gain on the other side than by espousing Toryism, would not have been backward; men who are Jacobins in the real sense of the word, however they cloak themselves under the specious names of Church and King men; upholders of Pitt and his system, for which they affect a veneration they are far from really feeling; men, in fact, whose political scruples of whatever nature they be, would soon melt away.

DRESDEN, 5th October.

I have been fortunate in getting into very comfortable lodgings, having two rooms and as much firing as I chuse for eight Reichsthalers per month. Coffee is made for me at home in the morning, and I generally dine and sup at a restaurant close by near the bridge. The Platz in the Neustadt is close to my lodgings, and being very large and well paved and lined with trees, it affords a very agreeable promenade. Rows of elegant houses line the sides of this Plata, among which the Stadthaus is particularly remarkable. The famous Japan Palace, as it is called, is also in the Neustadt, and but a short distance from the Platz. The gardens of Count Marcolini afford also a pleasant promenade; but by far the most agreeable walk, in my opinion, is on the Zwinger, a sort of terrace on the left bank of the Elbe in the old town, adjoining the palace and gardens of Count Bruhl. From this place you have a noble view of a long reach of the Elbe. It is besides the favorite promenade of the ladies. On the Zwinger too is a building containing a fine collection of paintings. Here are cafés likewise and a restaurant. The evening promenades are in the gardens of the Linkischer Bad (Bath of Link) on the banks of the Elbe, where there is a summer theatre. This is the favourite resort of the bourgeoisie on Sundays and jours de fête; goûters and supper parties are formed here and very good music is heard. The Elbe bridge is of beautiful structure, and there is a good regulation with respect to those who pass over this bridge; which is that one side of the bridge is reserved for those going from the new to the old town, and the other side for those going from the old to the new town, and if you attempt to go on the wrong side you are stopped by a sentry, so that there is no jostling nor lounging on this bridge. An arch of this bridge was blown up by Marshal Davoust in order to arrest the progress of the Russians, and a great deal of management was necessary to effectuate it, for the worthy Saxons have a great veneration for this bridge, and in order to inforce the execution of this resolution on the part of the Marshal, the personal order of the King and the employment of Saxon troops were necessary. It has been rebuilt since, and no one would know that the arch had ever been blown up, but from the extreme whiteness of the new arch, contrasting with the darker color of the old ones.