v 
 
A 
 
 VIEW 
 
 0 F 
 
 SOCIETY AND MANNERS 
 
 1 N 
 
 France, Switzerland, and Germany* 
 
 VOL. II- 
 
A 
 
 VIEW 
 
 0 F 
 
 SOCIETY and MANNERS 
 
 1 N 
 
 FRANCE, SWITZERLAND, 
 AND GERMANY: 
 
 WITH 
 
 ANECDOTES relating to fomeEMINENT CHARACTERS. 
 
 BY JOHN MOORE, M. D. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 Strenua nos exercet inertia: navibus atque 
 Quadrigis petimus bene vivere. Quod petis, hie eft. 
 
 Hor. 
 
 The SECOND EDITION, Corredled. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for W. Strahan ; and T. Cadell, in the Strand. 
 M DCC LXXIX, 
 
 
E 
 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 SECOND VOLUME. 
 
 LETTER L. p. i. 
 
 CONVERSATION with a foreigner 
 cerning the Englifh nation. 
 
 con - 
 
 LETTER LI. p. 17. 
 
 Inns at Frankfort. — Table d'hote, — French , 
 — Englifh . — German women. 
 
 A 3 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER LII. p. 25. 
 
 Collections of paintings. — Cabinets of natural 
 curiofities — Contraft of character between 
 the French and Germans , illuf rated by 
 their pofillions . 
 
 LETTER LIII. p. 33. 
 
 Court of Caffel. 
 
 LETTER LIV. p. 41. 
 
 Che Landgrave. — His troops . — The officers. 
 — A brilliant action by Marechal Laudohn. 
 —French comedy . — Courtiers . 
 
 LETTER LV. p, 51. 
 
 City of Cciffiel. — Palaces.— Academy .-Colo- 
 nade. — Noble cafcade at Wafenfein . 
 
LETTER LVII. p. 70. 
 
 The town of Brunfwic. — Saved by Pnnce 
 Frederic. — Academy at Brunfwic . — Wol- 
 f enbuttle .——Salbzdahlen. — Mr. de Weji- 
 phalen. 
 
 Journey from Cajfel to Brunfwic by Gottin- 
 gen. — The reigning Duke of Brunfwic 
 Wolf enbuttle. — The Dut chefs. — Duke Fer- 
 dinand. — The Hereditary Prince and Prin - 
 cefs . — Prince Leopold and his fifer . — 
 Duke Ferdinand's villa . 
 
 LETTER LVIir. p. 
 
 German nobility fond of mafquerades. — Eti- 
 quette. — Prince Leopold goes to Vienna 9 
 which awakens his mother s grief for the 
 death of his brothers. 
 
viii 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER LIX. p. 87. 
 
 Zell. — The Fpueen of Denmark. — Benevolent 
 conduB of the Princefs of Brunfwic . — 
 Hanover. — The troops . — The military ar- 
 dour of a corpulent general officer. — Herrt- 
 haufen . 
 
 L E T T E R LX. p. 97. 
 
 The violent paffiion for literature of a court 
 lady at Briinfvuic. — Field Marechal Spor- 
 ken . — George II. 
 
 LETTER LXI. p. 107. 
 
 Death of the Tffieen qj Denmark . — Magde- 
 burg. — Brandenburg. 
 
 LETTER LXII. p. 116. 
 
 Potfdam, — Troops in private houfes , not in 
 barracks . — 2 he palace. — The King's fudy. 
 His wardrobe . — The ruling paffiion of the 
 late King . 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 IX 
 
 LETTER LXIII. p. 128. 
 
 Sans-Souci. — The collection of 'pictures . — The 
 King's tajle criticized by a connoijfeur . — 
 The new palace . 
 
 LETTER LXIV. p. 133. 
 
 Reviews at Berlin. 
 
 LETTER LXV. p. 143. 
 
 PruJJian difcipline. 
 
 LETTER LXVI. p. 150. 
 
 PruJJian troops remain in the fame garrifons. 
 — The effeCt of the difcipline on the cha- 
 racters of the officers , and of the men.— 
 Reflections . 
 
 LETTER LXVII. p. 159. 
 
 Sentiments of a PruJJian officer on difcipline. 
 ■ — Story of an Englifh failor. 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER LXVIIL p. i6 9 . 
 
 Berlin , . 
 
 LETTER LXIX. p. 178. 
 
 The Queens court . — French manners 'prevail 
 at Berlin . — Matrimonial felicity. 
 
 LETTER LXX. p.187. 
 
 Freedom of difcourfe at Berlin . — Some touches 
 of the King s character. — Licentious man- 
 ners. 
 
 LETTER LXXI. p. 193. 
 
 The licence of the prefs. 
 
 LETTER LXXII. p.204. 
 
 King of Fruffia^s (economy . — Taxes. — The 
 army. — Singular motives for a murder . — 
 An execution . 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xi 
 
 LETTER LXXIII. p.214. 
 
 ' Journey to Mecklenburg Strelitz. — The reign- 
 ing Duke and his JiJler. — The Dutchy of 
 Mecklenburg. — Preparations for entertain- 
 ments at Sans-Souci . 
 
 LETTER LXXIV. p. 226. 
 
 Theatrical entertainments . — The tragedy of 
 Oedipus . 
 
 LETTER LXXV. p. 23 c*. 
 
 The King of Pruffia. — His converfation with 
 the D — of H . 
 
 LETTER LXXVI. p.244. 
 
 The King of Prujjia. 
 
 LETTER LXXVIL p.257. 
 
 Lord Marechal. — The Hereditary Prince of 
 Pruffia . 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTEH LXXVIIL p. §66. 
 
 Difficulty of deferring fromP ruffian garrifons* 
 — The King's valet de chambre . 
 
 LETTER LXXIX. p. 273. 
 
 Manufactory of procelaine at Berlin. — four - 
 ney to Drefden. — Electoral court . — Mu- 
 feum. — Gallery of p ictures. 
 
 LETTER LXXX. p. §82. 
 
 Sufferings of Drefden during l of war. — Saxon 
 troops. 
 
 LETTER LXXXI. p. 290. 
 
 Prague. — Piety of the inhabitants — St. 
 Nepomue. — An Irifh priefl. — A popular 
 commotion. 
 
 LETTER LXXXII. p. 300. 
 
 Vienna. — The court . 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xiii 
 
 LETTER LXXXIII. p.310. 
 
 The Countefs Thune. — Her character. — The 
 advantages vuhich the Englijh may enjoy 
 at Vienna. — Prince Kaunitz . 
 
 LETTER LXXX 1 V. p. 317. 
 
 A char after.' —Reflections on the Englijh , 
 French , and Germans. 
 
 LETTER LXXXV. p. 328. 
 
 An entertainment on the top of Mount Ca - 
 lenberg. — A convent of Monks. — Spiritual 
 gallantry. 
 
 LETTER LXXXVI. p. 335. 
 
 Manners. — A lady's difrefs . — An indulgent 
 hujband . 
 
 LETTER LXXXVII. p. 34a. 
 
 Prejburg . — A Hungarian villa. 
 
 I 
 
XIV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER LXXXVIII. p. 350. 
 
 The palace and' gar dens of Eflherhafie. — The 
 Hungarians, 
 
 Refections on gaming . — Effedi of great 
 i wealth on indolent minds. — Englifh , Ger- 
 man^ French characters. — Utility of a 
 tafe for letters . 
 
 Feafl of St. Stephen . — Annual cerejnony in 
 commemoration of the defeat of the Turks 
 by Sobiejki. — Mafquerade at Schonbrun. 
 
 • eror, 
 
 Prince Lichtenfein . — Hunting party 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 xv 
 
 LETTER XCIII. p. 403. 
 
 Aujirian army . — Peafants of Bohemia . — Re- 
 fledlions . 
 
 LETTER XCIV. p.412. 
 
 Sentiments of an Auftrian lady on religion . 
 
 LETTER XCV. p.421. 
 
 Idolatry of Roman Catholics . 
 
 LETTER XCVI. p.428. 
 
 Sentiments of foreigners on the difputes be - 
 tween Great Britain and her Colonies . — 
 Enghfh opinions refpedf 
 Hints to a young 
 
 A VIEW 
 
€ ^X^X^X^X^X^X^X*^ X-$*X«£* X4* & 
 ^ x^X^*X4*X^X ^X^X ^X$*X*$- X*$*X 3* 
 
 A 
 
 VIEW 
 
 0 F 
 
 SOCIETY AND MANNERS 
 
 1 N 
 
 France, Switzerland, and Germany. 
 
 Ke5C€5CDK3C€3C£30€53€38e3fle30C39€MO8OC€3K39e9C38630£30£»Q8QflS3BCjeGCOeC?eC 
 
 LETTER L. 
 
 DEAR SIR, Frankfoit. 
 
 ^3o3P*UNCE my return from Darmftadt, 
 $ 5 ^ ^ fig the weather has been fo very bad, 
 kJR£ji( tlia-t I have palled the time moftly 
 at home. That I may obey your injunc- 
 tions to write regularly at the Rated pe- 
 riods, I will fend you the fubftance of a 
 converfation I had within thefe few days 
 with a foreigner, a man of letters, with 
 Vol. II, B whom 
 
 f 
 
2 
 
 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 whom I am in a confiderable degree of in- 
 timacy. 
 
 This gentleman has never been in Eng- 
 land, but he fpeaks the language a little, 
 underflands it very well, and has ftudied 
 many of our belt Authors. He faid, 
 that he had found in fome Englifh books, 
 a folidity of reafoning, and a ftrength of 
 expreffion, fuperior to any thing he had 
 met with elfewhere; — that the Englifh 
 hiftory furnifhed examples of patriotifm 
 and zeal for civil liberty, equal to what 
 was recorded in the Greek or Roman 
 ftory ; — that Englifh poetry difplayed a 
 fublimity of thought, and a knowledge of 
 the human heart, which no writings, an- 
 cient or modern, could furpafs ; and in 
 philofophy it was pretty generally allowed, 
 that the Englifh nation had no rival. — He 
 then mentioned the improvements made by 
 Englifhnien in medicine and other arts, 
 
 their 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 3 
 
 their fuperiority in navigation, commerce, 
 and manufactures ; and even hinted fome- 
 thing in praife of a few Englifh ftatefmen. 
 He concluded his panegyric by faying, 
 that thefe confiderations had given him the 
 higheft idea of the Englifh nation, and had 
 led him to cultivate the acquaintance of 
 many Englifhmen whom he had occafion- 
 ally met on their travels. But he frankly 
 acknowledged, that his connection with 
 thefe had not contributed to fupport the 
 idea he had formed of their nation. 
 
 As I had heard fentiments of the fame 
 kind infmuated by others, I replied at fome 
 length, obferving, that if he had lived in 
 the moft brilliant period of Roman gran- 
 deur, and had accidentally met with a few 
 Romans in Greece or Afia, and had formed 
 his opinion of that illuftrious common- 
 wealth from the conduct and converfation 
 of thefe travellers, his ideas would, in all 
 probability, have been very different from 
 B 2 thofe 
 
4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 thofe which the writings of Livy, Csefar, 
 Cicero, and Virgil, had given him of the 
 Roman people: — That the manners and 
 behaviour of the few Englifh he might 
 have met abroad, fo far from giving him a 
 juft view of the character of the whole 
 nation, very poflibly had led him to falfe 
 conclufions with regard to the character of 
 thofe very individuals. For that I myfelf 
 had known many young Englishmen who, 
 after having led a diffipated, infignificant 
 kind of life while on their travels, and 
 while the natural objects of their ambition 
 were at a diftance, had changed their con* 
 du£t entirely upon their return, applied to 
 bufinefs as eagerly as they had formerly 
 launched into extravagance, and had at 
 length become very ufeful members of the 
 community. 
 
 But, continued I, throwing this con- 
 fideration out of the queftion, the real 
 character of a people can only be difcover- 
 
 ed 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 5 
 
 ed by living among them on a familiar 
 footing, and for a confiderable time. This 
 is neceffary before we can form a juft idea 
 of any nation ; but perhaps more fo with 
 refped to the Englifti, than any other: for 
 in no nation are the education, fentiments, 
 and purfuits of thofe who travel, fo different 
 from thofe of the people who remain at 
 home. 
 
 The firft clafs is compofed of a few in- 
 valids, a great many young men raw from 
 the univerlity, and fome idle men of for- 
 tune, void of ambition, and incapable of 
 application, who, every now and then, 
 faunter through Europe, becaufe they 
 know not how to employ their time at 
 home. 
 
 The fecond clafs is made up of younger 
 brothers, who are bred to the army, navy, 
 the law, and other profeflions; — all who 
 follow commerce, are employed in manu- 
 B 3 fa&ures, 
 
6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 failures, or farming ; — and, in one word, 
 ail who, not being born to independent 
 fortunes, endeavour to remedy that incon- 
 veniency by induhry, and the cultivation of 
 their talents. 
 
 England is the only country in Europe 
 whofe inhabitants never leave it in fearch 
 of fortune. There are, moderately fpeak- 
 ing, twenty Frenchmen in London for 
 every Englifhman at Paris. By far the 
 greater part of thofe Frenchmen travel to 
 get money, and almoft all the Englifh to 
 fpend it. But we fhould certainly be led 
 into great errors, by forming an idea of 
 the chara&er of the French nation from 
 that of the French fiddlers, dancing-maf- 
 ters, dentifts, and valet-de chambres to be 
 msft with in England, or other parts of 
 Europe. 
 
 The gentleman acknowledged, that it 
 would be unfair to decide on the French 
 
 charafler 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 7 
 
 character from that of their fiddlers and 
 dancing-matters; but added, that he did 
 not perceive that the Englilh could rear 
 fonably complain, fhould foreigners form 
 an opinion of their national chara&er 
 from the men of fortune, rank, and the 
 moft liberal education of their ifland. 
 
 I anfwered, they certainly would, becaufe 
 young men of high rank and great fortune 
 carry a fet of ideas along with them from 
 their infancy, which very often difappoint 
 the purpofes of the beft education. Let 
 a child of high rank be brought up with 
 all the care and attention the moft judi- 
 cious parents and matters can give ; — let him 
 be told, that perfonal qualities alone can 
 make him truly refpe<ftable; — that the 
 fortuitous circumftances of birth and for- 
 tune afford no juft foundation for efteem; 
 — that knowledge and virtue are the true 
 fources of honour and happinefs; — that 
 idlenefs produces vice and mifery ; — that 
 B 4 without 
 
8. VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 without application he cannot acquire 
 knowledge; — and that without knowledge 
 he will dwindle into infignificance, in fpite 
 
 of rank and fortune: Let thefe things 
 
 be inculcated with all the power of per- 
 fuafion; let them be illuftrated by ex- 
 ample, and infinuated by fable and alle- 
 gory; — yet, do we not daily fee the effect 
 of all this counteracted by the infmuations 
 of fervants and bale fycophants, who give 
 an importance to far different qualities, 
 and preach a much more agreeable doc- 
 trine ? 
 
 They make eternal allufions in all their 
 difcourfe and behaviour to the great eftate 
 the young fpark is one day to have, and the 
 great man he muft be, independent of any 
 effort of his own. They plainly infinuate, 
 if they do not diredly fay it, that ftudy and 
 application, tho* proper enough for hofpital 
 boys, is unneceffary, or perhaps unbecoming 
 a man of fafhion. They talk with rapture 
 
 of 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 9 
 
 of the hounds, hunters, and race-horfes of 
 one great man; of the rich liveries and bril- 
 liant equipage of another; and how much 
 both are loved and admired for their libera- 
 lity to their fervants. They tell their young 
 matter, that his rank and eftate entitles him 
 to have finer hounds, horfes, liveries and 
 equipage than either, and to be more liberal 
 to his fervants ; and confequently a greater 
 man in every refped. This kind of poi- 
 fon, being often poured upon the young 
 fprouts of fortune and quality, gradually 
 blafts the vigour of the plants, and renders 
 all care and cultivation fneffedual. 
 
 If we fuppofe that domeftics of another 
 character could be placed about a boy of 
 high rank, and every meafure taken to in- 
 fpire him with other fentiments ; he cannot 
 ftir abroad, he cannot go into company 
 without perceiving his own importance, and 
 the attention that is paid to him. His 
 childilh pranks are called fpirited adions : 
 
 his 
 
IO VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 his pert fpeeches are converted into bon 
 mots; and when reproved or punched by 
 his parent or matter, ten to one but Tome 
 obfequious intermeddler will tell him that 
 he has fuffered great injuftice. 
 
 The youth, improving all this to the pur- 
 poses of indolence and vanity, arrives at 
 length at the comfortable perfuafion, that 
 ttudy or application of any kind would in 
 him be fuperttuous; — that he ought only 
 to feek amufement, for at the bleded age of 
 twenty-one, diftin&ion, deference, admi* 
 ration, and all other good things will be 
 added unto him. 
 
 A young man, on the other hand, who 
 is born to no fuch expectations, has no fy- 
 cophants around him to pervert his under- 
 Handing ; — when he behaves improperly, he 
 inttantly fees the marks of difapprobation 
 on every countenance: — He daily meets 
 with people who inform him of his faults 
 6 without 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. n 
 
 without ceremony or circumlocution.— He 
 perceives that nobody cares for his bad hu- 
 mour or caprice, and very naturally con- 
 cludes that he had beft correct his temper. 
 
 He finds that he is apt to be negleded in 
 
 company, and that the only remedy for this 
 inconveniency will be the rendering himfelf 
 agreeable. — He loves affluence, diftin&ion 
 and admiration, as well as the rich and 
 great ; but becomes fully convinced that he 
 can never obtain even the fhadow of them* 
 otherwife than by ufeful and ornamental 
 acquirements. The truth of thofe precepts, 
 which is proved by rhetoric and fyllogifin 
 to the boy of fortune, is experiments 
 ally felt by him who has no fortune ; and 
 the difference which this makes, is in- 
 finite. 
 
 So that the fon of a gentleman of mo- 
 derate fortune has a probability of knowing 
 more of the world at the age of fixteen, and 
 of having a jufter notion of people s fenti- 
 
 ments 
 
i2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 merits of him, than a youth of very high 
 rank at a much more advanced agej for it 
 is very difficult for any perfon to find out 
 that he is defpifed while he continues to be 
 flattered. 
 
 So far, therefore, from being furprifed 
 that diffipation, weaknefs and ignorance, 
 are fo prevalent among thofe who are born 
 to great fortunes and high rank, we ought 
 to be aftoniffied to fee fo great a number of 
 men of virtue, diligence and genius among 
 them as there is. And if the number be 
 proportionably greater in England than ia 
 any other country, which I believe is the 
 cafe, this muft proceed from the impartial 
 difeipline of our public fchools; and the 
 equitable treatment which boys of the 
 greateft rank receive from their comrades. 
 Sometimes the natural, manly fendments 
 they acquire from their fchool companions, 
 ferve as an antidote againft the childiffi, fo- 
 phiftical notions with which weak or de- 
 igning 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 13 
 
 figning men endeavour to infpire them in 
 future life. 
 
 The nature of the Britifh conflitution 
 contributes alfo to form a greater number of 
 men of talents amongft the wealthy and the 
 £reat, than are to be found in other coun- 
 tries; becaufe it opens a wider field for am- 
 bition than any other government; — and 
 ambition excites thofe exertions which pro- 
 duce talents. 
 
 But, continued I, you muft acknowledge 
 that it would be improper to form a judg- 
 ment of the Englilh genius, by famples 
 taken from men who have greater tempta- 
 tions to indolence, and fewer fpurs to ap- 
 plication than others. 
 
 My difputant ftill contefted the point, and 
 aflerted that high birth gave a native dig- 
 nity and elevation to the mind ; — that di- 
 minutions and honours were originally in- 
 c troduced 
 
14 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 troduced into families by eminent abilities 
 and great virtues ; — that when a man of il- 
 luftrious birth came into a company, or even 
 when his name was mentioned, this na- 
 turally raifed a recollection of the great 
 actions and fhining qualities of the eminent 
 perfon who had firft acquired thofe ho- 
 nours; — that a confcioufnefs of this mull 
 naturally ftimulate the prefent poffeflfor to 
 imitate the virtues of his anceftors; — that 
 his degenerating would fubjeCt him to the 
 higheft degree of cenfure, as the world 
 could not, without indignation, behold in- 
 dolence and vice adorned with the rewards 
 of adivity and virtue. 
 
 I might have difputed this affertion, that 
 honours and titles are always the rewards of 
 virtue; and could have produced abundance 
 of inftances of the oppofite proportion. But 
 I allowed that they often were fo, and that 
 hereditary honours in a family always ought 
 
 to 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, Sec. 15 
 
 to have, and fometimes had, the effed which 
 he fuppofed : but thefe conceffions being 
 made in their fulleft latitude, ftill he would 
 do injuftice to the Englifh, by forming a 
 judgment of their national chara&er from, 
 what he had obferved of the temper, man- 
 ners, and genius of thofe Englifhmen with 
 whom he had been acquainted in foreign 
 countries ; becaufe three-fourths of them 
 were, in all probability, men of fortune, 
 without having family or high birth to boaft 
 of ; fo that they had the greateft induce- 
 ments to indolence, without poffeffing the 
 motives to virtuous exertions, which in- 
 fluence people of high rank. — For, though 
 it rarely happened in other countries, it was 
 very common in England for men of all the 
 various profeflions and trades to accumulate 
 very great fortunes, which, at their death, 
 falling to their fons, thefe young men, 
 without having had a fuitable education, 
 immediately fet up for gentlemen, and run 
 over Europe in the chara&ers of Milords 
 
16 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Anglois, game, purchafe pictures, muti- 
 lated ftatues and miftrefles, to the aftoniih- 
 ment of all beholders: And, confcious of 
 the blot in their efcutcheon, they think it is 
 incumbent on them to wafh it out, and 
 make up for the impurity of their blood, by 
 plunging deeper into the ocean of extrava- 
 gance than is neceffary for a man of here- 
 ditary fafhion. 
 
 Here our converfation ended, and the 
 gentleman promifed that he would abide by 
 the idea he had formed of the Englifh na- 
 tion from the works of Milton, Locke and 
 Newton, and the characters of Raleigh, 
 Hambden, and Sidney. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 17 
 
 Frankfort* 
 
 0 N G the remarkable things in 
 Frankfort the inns may be reckoned. 
 Two in particular, the Emperor and the 
 Red Houfe, for cleanlinefs, conveniency, 
 and number of apartments, are fuperior to 
 any I ever faw on the continent, and vie 
 with our moft magnificent inns in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 At thefe, as at all other inns in Germany 
 and Switzerland, there is an ordinary, at 
 which the ftrangers may dine and fup. This 
 is called the Table d’ Hote, from the cir- 
 cumftance of the landlord's fitting at the 
 bottom of the table and carving the victuals. 
 The fame name for an ordinary is ftill re- 
 tained in France, tho’ the landlord does not 
 Vol. II. C fit 
 
18 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 fit at the table, which was the cafe for- 
 merly in that country, and ftill is the cuftom 
 in Germany. 
 
 There are no private lodgings to be had 
 here as in London, nor any hotels garnis 
 as in Paris. Strangers therefore retain apart- 
 ments at the inn during the whole time of 
 their refidence in any of the towns. And 
 travellers of every denomination in this 
 country under the rank of fovereign prin- 
 ces, make no fcruple of eating oceafionally 
 at the table d* Hote of the inn where they 
 lodge, which cuftom is univerfally followed 
 by ftrangers from every country on the 
 continent of Europe. 
 
 Many of our countrymen, however, who 
 defpife oeconomy, and hate the company of 
 ftrangers, prefer eating in their own apart- 
 ments to the table d’ Hote, or any private 
 table to which they may be invited. 
 
 It 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, Sec. 19 
 
 It would be arrogance in any body to dis- 
 pute the right which every free-born Eng- 
 lilhman has to follow his own inclination 
 in this particular: Yet when people wifh to 
 avoid the company of ftrangers, it ftrikes 
 me, that they might indulge their fancy as 
 completely at home as abroad ; and white 
 they continue in that humour, I cannot 
 help thinking that they might fave them- 
 felves the inconveniency and expence of 
 travelling. 
 
 The manners and genius of nations, it is 
 true, are not to be learnt at inns ; nor is? 
 the mod feled company to be found at pub- 
 lic ordinaries ; yet a perlbn of obfervation, 
 and who is fond of the ftudy of character, 
 will fometimes find inftru&ion and enter- 
 tainment at both. He there fees the inha- 
 bitants of the country on a lefs ceremonious 
 footing than he can elfewhere, and hears 
 the remarks of travellers of every degree. 
 
 C 2 
 
 The 
 
20 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The firft care of a traveller certainly 
 fhould be, to form an acquaintance and fome 
 degree of intimacy with the principal peo- 
 ple in every place where he intends to re- 
 fide; — to accept invitations to their family 
 parties, and attend their focieties; — to en- 
 tertain them at his apartments, when that 
 can be conveniently done, and endeavour to 
 acquire a juft notion of their government, 
 cuftoms, fentiments, and manner of living. 
 — Thofe who are fond of the ftudy of man, 
 which, with all due deference to the philo- 
 fophers who prefer that of beafts, birds and 
 butterflies, is alfo a pardonable amufement, 
 will mix occafionally with all degrees of 
 people, and, when not otherwife engaged, 
 will not fcruple to take a feat at the table 
 d’ Hote. 
 
 It is faid that low people are fometimes 
 to be found at thefe ordinaries. This to be 
 fure is a weighty objection; but then it 
 Ihould be remembered, that it is within the 
 
 bounds 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 21 
 
 bounds of poffibility that men even engaged 
 in commerce, may have liberal minds, and 
 may be able to give as diftinCt accounts of 
 what is worthy of obfervation, as if they 
 had been as idle as people of the higheft 
 falhion through the whole of their lives. 
 A man muft have a very turgid idea of his 
 own grandeur, if he cannot fubmit, in a 
 foreign country, to dine at the table with 
 a perfon of inferior rank ; efpecially as he 
 will meet, at the fame time, with others 
 of equal, or fuperior rank to himfelf : For 
 all etiquette of this nature is waved even in 
 Germany at the tables d’ Hotes, 
 
 A knowledge of the characters of men, as 
 they appear varied in different fituations and 
 countries; — the ftudy of human nature in- 
 deed in all its forms and modifications, is 
 highly interefting to the mind, and worthy 
 the attention of the greateft man. This is 
 not to be perfectly attained in courts and 
 C 3 palaces* 
 
22 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 palaces. The inveftigator of nature mut . 
 vifit her in humbler life, and put himfelf 
 on a level with the men whom he wifhes to 
 know. 
 
 It is generally found* that thofe-who pof- 
 fefs real greatnefs of mind, never hefitate 
 to overleap the obftacles, and defpife the 
 forms, which may Hand in the way of their 
 acquiring this ufeful knowledge. 
 
 The mod powerful of all arguments 
 againft entirely declining to appear at the 
 public table of the inn, is, that in -this 
 country it is cuftomary for the ladies them * 
 fclves, when on a journey, to eat there; and 
 my partiality for the table d 5 Hote may 
 poffibly be owing in fome degree to my 
 having met, at one of them, with two of 
 the hand fome ft women that I have feen 
 bnce I have been in this country, which 
 ^bounds in female beauty. 
 
 There 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &'c. 23 
 
 There is more expreffion in the counte- 
 nances of French, women, but the ladies in 
 Germany have the advantage in the.fairnefs 
 of their fkin and the bloom of their com- 
 plexion. They have a greater refemblance 
 to Englifh women than to French; yet they 
 differ confiderably from them both. — I do 
 not know how to give an idea of the va- 
 rious (hades of expreffion, which, if I miftake 
 not, I can diftinguifh in the features of the 
 fex in thefe three countries. 
 
 A handfome French woman, befides 
 the eafe of her manner, has commonly a 
 look of cheerfulnefs and great vivacity.—* 
 She appears willing to be acquainted with 
 you, and feems to expeft that you will ad- 
 drefs her. 
 
 The manner of an Englifh woman is 
 not fo devoid of reftraint; and a ftranger, 
 efpecially if he be a foreigner, may ob- 
 ferve a look which borders on difdain in 
 C 4 her 
 
24 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 her countenance. Even among the lovelieft 
 features, fomething of a fulky air often 
 appears. While their beauty allures, this 
 in fome degree checks that freedom of ad- 
 drefs which you might ufe to the French- 
 woman, and interefts your vanity more, by 
 giving the idea of the difficulties you have 
 to conquer. 
 
 A German beauty, without the fmart 
 air of the one, or the referve of the other, 
 has generally a more placid look than 
 either. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 25 
 
 LETTER LII. 
 
 Frankfort. 
 
 gEVERAL individuals here are fond of 
 diftinguifhing themfelves by their paf- 
 fion for the fine arts, and ftrangers are in- 
 formed, that it is well worth while to vifit 
 certain private collections of paintings which 
 are to be feen at Frankfort. 
 
 You know I am no connoifleur; and if 
 I were, fhould not take up your time in 
 defcribing them, or giving a criticifm on 
 their fubjeCt. For though I have feen them, 
 you have not ; and nothing, in my opinion, 
 can be more unintelligible and tirefome to 
 the Reader, than criticifms on paintings 
 which he has not feen. I fliall only ob- 
 ferve, that as all thefe collections have ac- 
 quired the efteem and approbation of the 
 
 proprietors, 
 
2:6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 proprietors, which I prefume was the chief 
 end of their creation, they are certainly in- 
 titled to refpect from every unconcerned 
 
 fpedator.* One of them in particular 
 
 mull be very valuable, on account of the 
 prodigious fum of money which the pre- 
 fent poffeffor was offered for it, and which 
 he refufed as inadequate to its worth • 
 though the fum offered would have at once 
 made the gentleman eafy in his circum- 
 ftances, which, I am forry to fay, is far 
 from being the cafe. This anecdote can- 
 not be doubted, for I had it from his own 
 mouth. 
 
 It is dill more the fafhion here to form 
 cabinets of natural curiodties. Eefides the 
 rcpofitories of this kind, which are to be 
 feen at the courts of the princes, many in- 
 dividuals all over Germany have Mufeums 
 in their houfes, and drangers cannot pay 
 their court better, than by requefting per- 
 million to fee them.' This would be an 
 
 eafy 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 27 
 
 eafy piece of politenefs, if the ftranger were 
 allowed to take a view, and walk away 
 when he thought proper. But the mif- 
 fortune is, that the proprietor attends on 
 thefe occafions, and gives the hiftory of 
 every piece of ore, petrifaction, foffil-wood, 
 and monfter that is in the collection. And 
 as this ledure is given gratis, he affumes 
 the right of making it as long as he pleafes: 
 fo that requefting a fight of a private col- 
 lection of natural curiofities, is a more feri- 
 ous matter than people are aware of. 
 
 The D — of H— ■ — has brought him- 
 felf into a fcrape, out of which I imagine 
 it will be difficult to extricate him. Being 
 unacquainted with the trouble which thefe 
 gentlemen give themfelves on fuch occa- 
 fions, he has expreffed an inclination to 
 three or four virtuofi to fee their cabinets. 
 I attended him on his firft viftation yefter- 
 day. The gentleman made an unufual 
 exertion to pleafe his Grace. He faid 3 be- 
 
 6 ing 
 
VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 ing fully convinced of his tafte for natural 
 philofophy, in which people of his high 
 rank were never deficient, he would there- 
 fore take pleafure to explain every particu- 
 lar in the collection with the greateft deli-? 
 beration. He had kept himfelf difengaged 
 the whole forenoon on purpofe, and had 
 given orders not to be interrupted. He 
 then defcanted on each particular in the 
 collection, with fuch minutenefs and perfe- 
 verance, as completely fatiated His Grace’s 
 curiofity, and gave him fuch a knowledge 
 of earths, cryftals, agates, pyrites, mar- 
 cafites, petrifadions, metals, femi metals, 
 &c. & c. as will, I dafe fwear, ferve him 
 for the reft of his life. 
 
 Gaffe!, 
 
 I began this letter at Frankfort, not fuf- 
 peCting that our departure would be fo hid- 
 den. But as the day approached on which 
 we had been promifed the fight of another 
 
 cabinet 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, Sec. eg 
 
 cabinet of curiofities, I found the D 5 
 
 impatience to be gone increafe every mo- 
 ment. So fending our apology to the pro- 
 prietors of two or three which he had afked 
 permiflion to vifit, we paffed one day 
 with Madame de Barkhaufe’s family, and 
 another with Mr. Gogle’s, and then bid- 
 ding a hafty adieu to our other acquaint- 
 ances at Frankfort, we fet out for this 
 place. We flept the firft night at Marburg, 
 and on the fecond, about midnight, arrived 
 at Caffel, 
 
 As the ground is quite covered with fnow, 
 the roads bad, and the pofts long, we were 
 obliged to take fix horfes for each chaife, 
 which, after all, in fome places moved no 
 fafter than a couple of hearfes. The D — 
 bore this with wonderful ferenity, con- 
 templating the happy evafion he had made 
 from the cabinets at Frankfort. A Have 
 who had efcaped from the mines could not 
 have Ihown greater fatf$fa£tion. His good 
 
 humour 
 
30 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 humour remained proof agairift all the 
 phlegm and obftinacy of the German poftil- 
 lions, of which one who has not travelled 
 in the extremity of the winter, and when 
 the roads are covered with fnow, thro* this 
 country, can form no idea. 
 
 The contrail; of chara&er between the 
 French and Germans is Itrongly illuflrated 
 in the behaviour of the poftillions of the 
 two countries. 
 
 A French poftillion is generally either* 
 laughing, or fretting, or Tinging, or fwear- 
 ing, all the time he is on the road. If a 
 hill or a bad road oblige him to go flow, 
 Jie will of a hidden fall a cracking his whip 
 above his head for a quarter of an hour to- 
 gether, without rhyme or reafon ; for he 
 knows the horfes cannot go a~bit f after,, and 
 he does not intend they fhould. All this 
 noife and emotion, therefore, means nothing ; 
 and proceeds entirely from that abhorrence 
 
 of 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 31 
 
 of quiet which every Frenchman fucks in 
 with his mother’s milk. 
 
 I 
 
 A German poftillion, on the contrary, 
 drives four horfes with all poflible tranquil- 
 lity. He neither fmgs, nor frets, nor 
 laughs: he only fmokes; — and when he 
 comes near a narrow defile, he founds his 
 trumpet to prevent any carriage from enter- 
 ing at the other end till he has got through. 
 If you call to him to go fader, he turns 
 about, looks you in the face, takes his pipe 
 from his mouth, and fays, Yaw, Mynher; 
 — yaw, yaw ; and then proceeds exaCtly in 
 the fame pace as before. He is no way af- 
 fected whether the road be good or bad ; 
 whether it rains, or dimes, or fnows:— 
 And he feems to be totally regardlefs of the 
 people whom he drives, and equally callous 
 to their reproach or applaufe. He has one 
 objeft, of which he never lofes fight, which 
 is to conduct your chaife and the contents 
 from one pod to another, in the manner 
 he thinks bed for himfelf and the horfes. 
 
 And 
 
$2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 And unlefs his pipe goes out (in which cafe 
 he ftrikes his flint and rekindles it), he 
 feems not to have another idea during the 
 whole journey. 
 
 Your beft courfe is to let him take his 
 own way at firft, for it will come to that 
 at laft. — All your noife and blufter are vain. 
 
 Non vultus inftantis tyranni 
 Mente quatit folida, neque Aufter 
 Dux inquieti turbidus Adrise, 
 
 Nec fulminantis magna Jovis manus. 
 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 33 
 
 LETTER LIIL 
 
 Caffe!. 
 
 r jPHE attention and civilities which are 
 paid to the D — of H — by this court, 
 have induced us to remain longer than we 
 intended at our arrival. 
 
 As you feem curious to know how we 
 $pafs our time, and the ftile of living here, 
 I fhall give you a Iketch of one day, which, 
 with little variation, may give you an idea 
 of all the reft. 
 
 We generally employ the morning and 
 forenoon in ftudy. We go to the palace 
 about half an hour before dinner is ferved, 
 where we find all the officers who have 
 been invited, aflembled in a large room. 
 The Landgrave foon appears, and conti- 
 
 Vol. II. D 
 
 nues 
 
34 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 nues converting with the company till his 
 confort arrives with the princefs Charlotte, 
 and fuch ladies as they have thought pro- 
 per to invite. 
 
 The company then walk to the dining 
 parlour, where there are about thirty co- 
 vers every day, and the fame number in a 
 room adjoining. The doors being left open 
 between thefe apartments, the whole forms 
 in a manner but one company. The ftran- 
 gers, and fuch officers as are not under the 
 rank of colonel, dine at their Highneffes 
 table. 
 
 The repaft continues about two hours, 
 during which the converfation is carried 
 on with fome little appearance of con- 
 ftraint, and rather in a low voice, except 
 when either of their Highneffes fpeaks to 
 any perfon feated at a little diftance. 
 
 After 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE* &c. 35 
 
 After dinner the company returns to the 
 room where they fir.ft alfembled. In this 
 they remain till the Landgrave retires, 
 which he ufually does within about a quar- 
 ter of an hour. Soon after the company 
 feparates till feven in the evening, when 
 they again aiTemble. 
 
 The Landgrave plays conftantly at Ca- 
 vaniolle, a kind of lottery, where no ad- 
 drefs or attention is requifite, and which 
 needs hardly interrupt conversation. It 
 requires about a dozen players to make his 
 party. 
 
 The Landgravine plays at Quadrille, and 
 choofes her own party every night. — Other 
 card-tables are fet in the adjoining rooms, 
 for the conveniency of any who choofe to 
 play. The gaming continues about a cou- 
 ple of hours. The Landgrave then falutes 
 her Highnefs on both cheeks, and retires 
 Da to 
 
S 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 to his own apartments, while fhe and the 
 reft of the company go to fupper. At this 
 repaft there is lefs formality, and of con- 
 fequence more eafe and gaiety, than at 
 dinner. 
 
 When her Highnefs rifes from table, 
 moft part of the company attend her up 
 ftairs to a fpacious anti-chamber, where fhe 
 remains converftng a few minutes, and then 
 retires. 
 
 Thefe general forms are fometimes va- 
 ried by a concert in the Landgrave s apart- 
 ments. There are alfo certain days of 
 Gala, which are only diftinguiflied by the 
 company’s being more numerous, and oet- 
 ter dreffed, than ufual: two circumftances 
 which do not add a vaft deal to the pleafure 
 of the entertainment. 
 
 During the Carnival, there were two or 
 three mafquerades. On thefe occaftons the 
 
 court 
 
, MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 37 
 
 court affiemble about fix in the evening, the 
 men being all in Dominos, and the ladies 
 in their ufual drefs, or with the addition 
 of a few fanciful ornaments, according to 
 the particular tafteof each. 
 
 They amufe themfelves with cards and 
 converfation till the hour of fupper. Dur- 
 ing this interval, a gentleman of the court 
 carries a parcel of tickets in his hat, equal 
 to the number of men in company. Thefe 
 are prefented to the ladies, each of whom 
 draws one. T ickets in the fame manner 
 are prefented to the men, who take one a- 
 piece, which they keep till the card-playing 
 is finiffied. 
 
 The officer then calls number One, up- 
 on which the couple who are poffefled of 
 that number come forward, and the gen- 
 tleman leads the lady into the fupper- 
 room, fits by her, and is her partner for 
 D 3 the 
 
S 8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 the reft of the evening. In the fame man- 
 ner every other Number is called. 
 
 After fupper, all the company put on 
 their mafks. Her Highnefs is led into 
 the mafquerade-room. The reft follow, 
 each lady being handed by her partner. 
 The Landgravine and her partner walk to 
 the upper end of the room.— The next 
 couple ftop at a fmall diftance below 
 them ; — the third next to the fecond, and 
 fo on till this double file reaches from the 
 top to the bottom of the hall. If there 
 are any fupernumeraries, they muft retire 
 to the fides.— From this arrangement you 
 expert a country-dance : — a minuet how- 
 ever is intended— -~the mufic begins, and 
 all the maf&ers on the floor, ccniifting of 
 twenty or thirty coupie, walk a minuet 
 together. This, which is rather a con- 
 fufed affair, being over, every body fits 
 down, the Landgravine excepted, who 
 
 generally 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 39 
 
 generally dances nine or ten minutes fuc- 
 cefiively with as many different gentlemen. 
 She then takes her feat till the reft of the 
 company have danced minuets, winch being 
 over, the cotillons and country- dances be- 
 gin, and continue till four or five in the 
 morning. 
 
 Her Highnefs is a very beautiful woman, 
 graceful in her perfon, and of a gay and 
 uprightly character. She is in danger of 
 growing corpulent, an inconveniency not 
 uncommon in Germany, but which fhe 
 endeavours to retard by ufing a great deal 
 of exercife. 
 
 Befides the company who fup at court, 
 the rooms were generally crowded with 
 mafks from the town, fome of whom are 
 in fancy-dreffes, and keep themfelves con- 
 cealed all the time. And although thofe 
 wh'o came from the court are known 
 when they enter the mafquerade rooms, 
 D 4 many 
 
40 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 many of them flip out afterwards, change 
 their drefs, and return to amufe therq- 
 felves, by teafing their friends in their 
 affumed characters, as is ufual at mas- 
 querades. 
 
 The country-dances are compofed of 2j.ll 
 perfons promifcuoufly, who incline to join 
 in them. — Two women of pleafure, who 
 had come to pafs the Carnival at Caffel in 
 the exercife of their profeffion, and were 
 well known to many of the officers, danced 
 every mafquerade night in the country- 
 dance, which her Highnefs led down; for 
 the mafk annihilates ceremony, puts every 
 body on a footing, and not unfrequently, 
 while it conceals the face moft effectually, 
 ferves fo much the more to difcover the 
 yeal character and inclinations of the wearer. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 41 
 
 Caflel. 
 
 J^EXT to the Electors of the Empire, 
 the Landgrave of Hefle Caflel is one 
 of the greateft Princes in Germany; and 
 even of thofe, the ele&ors of Bohemia, 
 Bavaria, Saxony, and Hanover, only are 
 richer and more powerful than he. His 
 country is in general hilly, with a great 
 deal of wood, but interfperfed with fertile 
 valleys and corp-fields. The large fubfidies 
 this court received from Britain during the 
 two lafl: wars, with what is given in the 
 time of peace, by way of retaining fee, have 
 greatly contributed to the prefent flourilh- 
 ing Rate of its finances. 
 
 The 
 
42 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The reigning Prince forfook the Pro- 
 teftant faith about twenty years ago, and 
 made a public profeffion of the Roman 
 Catholic religion, in the lifetime of the 
 late Landgrave, his father. This gave 
 great uneafinefs to the old Prince, and 
 alarmed his fubje&s, who are all Pro- 
 teftants. 
 
 The hates of the Landgraviate were af- 
 fembled on this important occafion, and 
 fuch meafures taken as were judged necef- 
 fary to maintain the religion and conftitu- 
 tion of the country, againft any future at- 
 tempt to fubvert them. The Hereditary 
 Prince was excluded from all ihare in the 
 education of his Tons, who were put under 
 the tuition of the Princefs Mary of Great 
 Britain, his firft wife, living at that time 
 feparate from her hufband. The eldeft 
 fon, upon his father’s acceffion to the 
 Landgraviate, was put in poffeffion of the 
 
 county 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 4 3 
 
 county of Hanau ; fo that the inhabitants 
 have felt no inconveniency from the change 
 of their Prince’s religion. And as he 
 himfelf has reaped no earthly advantage, 
 either in point of honour or profit, by his 
 converfion, it is prefumable, that his High- 
 nefs’s hopes are now limited to the rewards 
 which may await him in another world. 
 
 This Prince keeps on foot 16,000 men 
 in time of peace, difciplined according to 
 the Pruflian plan, the Landgrave himfelf 
 having the rank of Field Marfhal in the 
 Pruflian army. The Prince is fond of 
 exercifing them ; but not having a houfe 
 on purpoie, as the Prince of flefle Daim- 
 ftadt has, he takes that amufement when 
 the weather is very bad in the dining-room 
 of his palace, where I have frequently 
 fcen two or three hundred of the fiift bat- 
 talion of guards perform their manoeuvres 
 with all poflible dexterity. 
 
 The 
 
44 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The Prince of Saxe-Gotha, brother to 
 the late Princefs of Wales, has a regiment 
 in the Landgrave’s fervice, and refides at 
 Cafiel, 
 
 The perfon who has the chief manage- 
 ment in military affairs, is General Scli- 
 ven, a man of an exceedingly juft and ac- 
 curate underftanding, which he has finely 
 cultivated by reading and refledion. 
 
 I have the happinefs to be intimately ac- 
 quainted with many other officers in this 
 fervice. — An open manner, and undefign- 
 ing civility, diftinguiffi the German charac- 
 ter; qualities which naturally baniffi re- 
 ferve, and infpire confidence. And what 
 makes the converfation of thefe gentlemen 
 ftill more agreeable and interefting to me, 
 is the juftice they feem fond of rendering 
 to the bravery of the Britiffi troops with 
 whom they ferved. They always mention 
 
 the 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 4 5 
 
 the names of Granby, Waldgrave, and 
 Kingfley, with the highefl encomiums, 
 and fpeak with affe&ionate regard of fome 
 officers with whom they were more in- 
 timately acquainted, particularly Mr. Keith* 
 now at Vienna, and Colonel John Max- 
 well, whom they applaud as one of the 
 braveft and moft adive officers that ferved 
 in the allied army ; and feem fond of men* 
 tioning inftances of the amazing intrepidity 
 of the Britifh grenadiers whom he com- 
 manded. 
 
 Befides thofe adually in the Landgrave’s 
 fervice, there are fome other perfons of 
 note who refide at CafTel. I fometimes 
 pafs an afternoon with old General Zaftrow, 
 who had the command^of the garrifon of 
 Schweidnitz, when it was furprifed by the 
 Auftrian general Laudohn. 
 
 If you recoiled:, that important place 
 had been taken from the Pruffians in the 
 
 year 
 
40 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 year 1 757, by Count Nadafti. It was 
 blockaded by the King of Pruffia in the 
 winter of that fame year, and furrendered 
 to him in fpring 175 8, after one half of 
 the garrtfon had fallen in defending the 
 place. In the year 1761, Laudohn retook 
 it almoft in fight of the Pruffian monarch, 
 by the mod: brilliant eoup-de^main that 
 perhaps ever was ftruck. 
 
 The King’s army and Laudohn’s were 
 both in the neighbourhood of Schweid- 
 nitz. The latter could not attempt a re- 
 gular fiege, while he was watched by fuch 
 an enterprifmg enemy. But obferving that 
 the King had moved at a greater diftance 
 than ufual from the town, and knowing 
 that more than one half of the garrifon had 
 been drafted, he refolved on an enterprife 
 as bold as it was fagacious. One morning 
 early this vigilant commander, taking the 
 advantage of a thick fog, marched his army 
 
 to 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 4 7 
 
 to the town of Schweidnitz in four divi- 
 fions. Scaling-ladders were applied to the 
 ramparts, and fome of the Auflrians had 
 a&ually entered the town, before they were 
 obferved by the centinels. 
 
 The garrifon, being at laft roufed, at- 
 tacked the aflailants in a furious manner. — * 
 The confulion was increafed by the blow- 
 ing up of a powder magazine, which de- 
 ftroyed great numbers on both fides. The 
 Governor was taken prifoner, fighting 
 fword in hand on the ramparts, and the 
 town furrendered. 
 
 This exploit eftablilhed the reputation of 
 Laudohn, while poor Zaftrow, according 
 to the ufual fate of the unfortunate, be- 
 came a prey to the calumny of the unfeel- 
 ing and ungenerous. He demanded a trial 
 by a court martial, — The King faid there 
 4 
 
 was 
 
4 B VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 was no occafion for that, as he did not ao 
 cufe him of any crime.— -But he did not 
 judge it expedient to employ him in any 
 command after this misfortune. 
 
 I have heard the old man relate all the 
 particulars of that affair, and the ac- 
 count he gave has been confirmed to me 
 by officers well informed, and unconnected 
 with him. 
 
 A company of French comedians are 
 lately arrived here, which forms a new re- 
 fource for the court. They remain fix 
 weeks, or two months. The Landgrave pays 
 them a ftipulated fum for aCting twice a 
 week during that time ; and they have 
 fcarcely any emolument befide; for the 
 inhabitants of Caffel, who are Calvinifts, 
 fhew no great paffion for dramatic enter- 
 tainments. 
 
 The 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 49 
 
 The playhoufe is neat, though faiall. 
 The front gallery, with a convenient room 
 behind, is appropriated to the court. 
 When the Prince or Princefs (lands up, 
 whether between the a£ts, or in the time 
 of the reprefentation, all the audience, pit, 
 box, and gallery, immediately arife, and 
 remain in a (landing pofture till their fove- 
 reign fit down. 
 
 Since the arrival of thefe players, the 
 court has been uncommonly brilliant, arid 
 the Gala days more frequent. Yefterday 
 was a very fplendid one. I then obferved 
 In the drawing-room, two perfons, neither 
 of whom is a Heffian, fainting each other 
 with great politenefs and apparent re- 
 gard. A little after, one of them touched 
 my (houlder, and, pointing to the other, 
 whifpered in my ear, — Prenez garde, Mon- 
 fieur, de cet faomme j c’eft un grand co- 
 quin. 
 
 Vol. IT, 
 
 E 
 
 the 
 
50 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The other within a few minutes came 
 to me, faying, Croyez vous, Monfieur, que 
 vous puiffiez reconnoitre un fou fi je vous 
 ie montrois ? — Le voila, added he, Slowing 
 the perfon who had whifpered me beforfc. 
 
 I have been fince told, by thofe who 
 know both, that each had hit exa&ly upon 
 the other’s character. 
 
 This little trait I have mentioned merely 
 on account of its Angularity, and to fhow 
 you how very different the manners of this 
 court, and the fentiments of the courtiers 
 here with regard to each other, are from 
 thofe at St. James’s. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 51 
 
 '*“j~ A HE city of Caffel is fituated on the 
 river Fulda. It confifts of an old and 
 new town. The former is the largeft and 
 moft irregular. The new town is well 
 built; and there, as you may believe, the 
 nobility and officers of the court have their 
 houfes. The ftreets are beautiful, but not 
 over-crowded with inhabitants. 
 
 Befides the large chateau in the town of 
 Caffel, which is the Landgrave’s winter 
 refidence, he has feveral villas and caftle 9 
 in different parts of his dominions. Imme- 
 diately without the town, there is a very 
 beautiful building, in which he dwells for 
 the moft part of the fummer. The apart- 
 E 2 ments 
 
52 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 ments there are neat and commodious, fome 
 of them adorned with antique ftatues of 
 confiderable value. 
 
 None of the rooms are fpacious enough 
 to admit of exercifingany confiderable num- 
 ber of the troops within their walls; but 
 his Highnefs fometimes indulges in this 
 favourite recreation on the top of this villa, 
 which has a flat roof, moft convenient for 
 that purpofe. 
 
 Around this are fome noble parks and 
 gardens, with a very complete orangery. 
 There is alfo a menagerie, with a confi- 
 derable colledion of curious animals. I 
 faw there a very fine lionefs, which has 
 lately loft her hufband— an elephant— three 
 camels in fine condition, one of them milk- 
 white, the other two grey, and much 
 taller than the elephant; — an African deer, 
 a fierce and lively animal, with a {kin beau- 
 tifully 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 53 
 
 tifully fpotted; — a very tall rain-deer — fe- 
 veral leopards — a bear, and a great variety 
 of monkies. — The colledion of birds is 
 Hill more complete, a great many of which 
 are from the Eaft Indies. 
 
 In the academy of arts, which is fi tuat- 
 ed in the new town, are fome valuable an- 
 tiques, and other curiofities, among which 
 is a St. John in Mofaic, done after a pi&ure 
 of Raphael’s, with the following infcription 
 below it. 
 
 IMAGINEM S. JOHANNES 
 EX ITALIA ADVENAM 
 
 IN RARUM RARiE INDUSTRIE HUMANA MONUMENTUM 
 HANC COLLOCARI JUSSIT 
 FREDERICUS II. HASSIi® LANDGR. 
 
 A. M. D. CCLXV. 
 
 But this art of copying paintings in Mq- 
 faic work, I underftand has of late been 
 brought to a much greater degree of per- 
 fection at Rome. 
 
 E S la 
 
54 * VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 In the veftibule is placed the trunk of a 
 laurel tree, with this infer ip tion on the wall 
 behind it. 
 
 QUA5 
 
 PER OCTO PRINCIPUM CATTORUM AETATIS 
 IN AMLENIS INCLYTI CASSEL. 
 VIRIDARII SPATIAM FLORUIT 
 LAURUS 
 
 ALT. CIRCITER LIV. LAT. IV. PED. RHENAN. 
 AD TEMPORA II ROUM 
 SERENISS. DOMUS HASSI/E 
 CORONIS CINGENDA, 
 
 SENIO, SED NON IMPROLIS, EMORTUA EST 
 NE VERO TOTA PERIRET 
 ARBOR APOLL1NI SACRA 
 TRUNCUM IN MUSEO SERVARI JUSSIT 
 FREDERICUS II. H. L. 
 
 A. M.D.CCLXIII. 
 
 They alfo (how a fword, ’ which was 
 confecrated by the Pope, and fent to one 
 of the Princes of this family at his fetting 
 out on an expedition to the Pioly Land. 
 What havoc this facred weapon made 
 among the infidels I cannot fay.— It has a 
 
 very 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 5 5 
 
 very venerable appearance for a fword, and 
 yet feems little the worfe for wear. 
 
 Near the old chateau, and a little to one 
 fide, is a colonade of fmall pillars lately 
 built, and intended as an ornament to the 
 ancient caftle, though in a very different 
 flyle of architecture. The llimnefs of their 
 form appears the more remarkable on 
 account of their vicinity to this Gothic 
 ftru&ure. 
 
 Some time fince, a mountebank came to 
 Caffel, who, befides many other wonder- 
 ful feats, pretended that he could fwallow 
 and digeft ftones. A Eleffian officer walk- 
 ing before the chateau with an Engli£h 
 gentleman, who then happened to be at 
 Caffel, afked him, What he thought of 
 the fine new colonade ? — It is very line in- 
 deed, replied the ftranger; but if you wilh 
 it to be durable, you ought to take care 
 E 4 not 
 
5 S VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 not to allow the mountebank to walk this 
 way before breakfaft. 
 
 Nothing in the country of HefTe is more 
 worthy the admiration of travellers, than 
 the Gothic temple and cafcade at Wafen- 
 ftein. There was originally at this place 
 an old building, which was ufed by the 
 Princes of this family as a kind of hunting- 
 houfe. It is fituated near the bottom of 
 a high mountain, and has been enlarged 
 and improved at different times. But the 
 prefent Landgrave’s grandfather, who w T as 
 a Prince of equal tafte and magnificence, 
 formed, upon the face of the mountain 
 opposite to this houfe, a feries of artificial 
 cataracts, c^fcades, and various kinds of 
 waterworks, in the nobleft fly le that can 
 be imagined. 
 
 The principal cafcades are in the middle, 
 and on each fide are flairs of large black 
 
 ftones 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 57 
 
 ftones of a flinty texture, brought from a 
 rock at a confiderable diftance. Each of 
 thefe flairs confifts of eight hundred fteps, 
 leading from the bottom to the fummit of 
 the mountain; and when the works are 
 allowed to play, the water flowing over 
 them forms two continued chains of 
 fmaller cafcades. At convenient diftances, 
 as you afcend, are four platforms, with a 
 fpacious bafon in each; alfo grottos and 
 caves ornamented with fhell-work, ftatues 
 of Naiads, and fea divinities. — One grotto 
 in particular, called the grotto of Neptune 
 and Amphitrite, is happily imagined, and 
 well executed. 
 
 The water rufhes from the fummit of 
 this mountain in various fhapes: — Some- 
 times in detached cafcades, fometimes in 
 large fheets like broad cryftalline mirrors; 
 at one place, it is broken by a rock con- 
 fiding of huge ftones, artificially placed for 
 
 that 
 
58 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 that purpofe.— -There are alfo fountains, 
 which ejed the water in columns of five 
 or fix inches diameter to a confiderabie 
 height. 
 
 All this muft have a very brilliant effed 
 when viewed from the bottom. T his 
 fight, however, I did not enjoy ; for there 
 has been a continued froft ever fmce we 
 have been at Caffe 1 ; and when I vifited 
 Wafenffein, the fields were covered with 
 fnow, which did not prevent my going to 
 the top, though it made the afcent by the 
 ftairs exceedingly difficult. 
 
 On the higheft part of the mountain, a 
 Gothic temple is built, and upon the top 
 of that an obelifk, which is crowned by 
 a colofial flatue of Hercules leaning on his 
 club, in the attitude of the Farnefe Her- 
 cules. This figure is of copper, and thirty 
 feet in height. There is a ftair-cafe within 
 
 the 
 
MANNERS' IN FRANCE, &c. 
 
 the club byAvkidh a man may afcend, and 
 have a view of ; the country from a window 
 at the top. 
 
 Wafenfteiri, upon the whole, is infinite- 
 ly the nObteft work of the kind I ever faw. 
 I have been* allured, there is nothing equal 
 to it in Europe. It has not the air of a 
 modern work, hut rather conveys the idea 
 of Roman magnificence. 
 
 We think of leaving this within a few 
 days for Brunfwick. — I (hall not clofe my 
 letter till we get to Gottingen, where we 
 may probably flay a fhort time. 
 
 P. S. The D. and I took our leave of the 
 Court and our friends yefterday, and actual- 
 ly fet out from Caffel this morning ; but 
 finding the roads entirely overflowed by the 
 extraordinary fwelling of the Fulda, we 
 were obliged to return. A great thaw for 
 
 fome 
 
6o VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 fome days paft diffolving the fnow and ice, 
 has occafioned this fwelling, and rendered 
 the roads impaffable. 
 
 After taking leave we could not appear 
 again at court, but dined at one of the 
 mefles with the officers. — From this party I 
 am juft returned, and finding it uncertain 
 when we may get to Gottingen, I fend this 
 to-night. 
 
 Adieu. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 61 
 
 LETTER LVI. 
 
 Brunfwick. 
 
 A s foon as the roads were paflable, we 
 left Caflel, and arrived, not without 
 difficulty and fome rifk, at Munden, a 
 town fituated in a vale, where the Fulda, 
 being joined by another river, takes the 
 name of the Wefer. 
 
 This town feems to run fome danger 
 from inundations. The road, for a con- 
 fiderable way before we entered it, and 
 the ftreets neareft the river, were ftill 
 overflowed when we pafled. 
 
 We went on the fame night to Got- 
 tingen, an exceedingly neat and well- 
 built town, fituated in a beautiful coun- 
 try. The univerfity founded here by 
 
 George 
 
62 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 George the Second has a confiderable re- 
 putation, We made but a fhort ftay at 
 Gottingen, and arrived about a month fince 
 at Brunfwick. 
 
 The D — of H had been expe&ed 
 
 here for fome time, and was received by 
 this court with every mark of attention 
 and regard. He was preffed to accept of 
 apartments within the palace, which he 
 thought proper to decline. We deep 
 every night at private lodgings, but may 
 be faid to live at court, as we conftantly 
 dine, pafs the evening, and fup there, 
 except two days in every week that we 
 dine with the Hereditary Prince and Prin- 
 cefs at their apartments. 
 
 The family of Brunfwick Wolfenbuttle 
 derives not greater luftre from its antiquity, 
 from having given empreffes to Germany, 
 and from having a younger branch on the 
 throne of Britain, than from fome living 
 characters now belonging to it. 
 
 o 
 
 The 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 63 
 
 The reigning Duke has that ftyle of 
 converfation, thofe manners and difpofi- 
 tions, which, in an inferior ftation of life, 
 would acquire him the chara&er of a fen- 
 fible* worthy gentleman. 
 
 The Duchefs is the favourite lifter of the 
 King of Pruflia. She is fond of ftudy, and 
 particularly addi&ed to metaphyfical in- 
 quiries, which, happily, have not fhaken, 
 but confirmed her belief in Chriftianity. 
 
 The military fame and public chara&er 
 of Duke Ferdinand are known to all Eu- 
 rope.- — In private life, he is of a ceremo- 
 nious politenefs, fplendid in his manner of 
 living, attentive even to the minutiae of 
 his toilet, and fond of variety and magni- 
 ficence in drefs. 
 
 He has lived conftantly at his brother’s 
 court fince the D — of H — came to Brunf- 
 wick; but he generally pafles the fum- 
 mer in the country. 
 
 The 
 
64 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The Hereditary Prince ferved under his 
 uncle during the iaft war, and commanded 
 detached parties of the army with various 
 iuccefs. His activity, courage, and third 
 of glory, were always confpicuous ; but 
 his youthful ardour has been fince mel- 
 lowed by time, ftudy, and reflection; and 
 if he fhould again appear in the field as 
 a general, it is imagined that he will be as 
 much diftinguifhed for prudence, policy, 
 and judgment, as he ever was for fpirit and 
 enterprize. He has at prefent the rank of 
 Lieutenant-General in the King of Pruflia’s 
 fervice, and the command of the garrifon 
 at Halberftadt. 
 
 I fay nothing of his Princefs; — Her 
 open cheerful character is well known in 
 England, and her affeCtion for her native 
 country is in no degree diminilhed by ab- 
 fence. 
 
 The Prince Leopold is a very amiable 
 young man. He fee ms much attached to 
 
 the 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 65 
 
 the D — of H , with whom he lives 
 
 on an intimate and friendly footing. 
 
 His filler, the Princefs Augufta, is greatly 
 beloved by every body, on account of her 
 obliging temper and excellent difpofition. 
 
 Thefe illuftrious perfons always dine and 
 fup together, except two days in the week, 
 as I have already faid. With them the 
 officers of the court, and the ftrangers who 
 are invited, make a company of about 
 twenty or thirty at table. 
 
 In the evening the affembly is more nu- 
 merous. There is a large table for Vingt- 
 un, the Dutchefs preferring this game, 
 becaufe a great number of people may be 
 engaged in it together. The reigning 
 Duke and Prince Ferdinand always join 
 in this game. 
 
 The Hereditary Princefs forms a Qua- 
 drille party for herfelf : Her hufband never 
 
 Vol. II. F plays 
 
66 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 plays at all. The whole is intended merely 
 for paftime, all kinds of gaming being dif- 
 couraged. The Dutchefs in particular al- 
 ways puts a very moderate flake on her 
 cards. — A man muft have very bad luck 
 to lofe above twenty piftoles in an even- 
 ing; fo we are in no danger from gaming 
 while at this court. 
 
 One wing of the palace is occupied by 
 the Hereditary Prince’s family. He has 
 at prefent three fons and as many daugh- 
 ters, all of the fair complexion, which 
 diftingu ifhes every branch of the Brunf- 
 wick line. 
 
 A few days ago, I accompanied Prince 
 
 Leopold and the D— of H on a vifit 
 
 to Duke Ferdinand, who was then at his 
 houfe in the country, about fix miles from 
 this place. In that retreat he palfes the 
 greateft part of his time. He is fond of 
 gardening, and is now employed in laying 
 
 out 
 
 4 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 67 
 
 out and drefling the ground, in what is 
 called the Englilh tafte. 
 
 His Serene Highnefs conduced the D— 
 round all his park, and fliewed him his 
 plans and improvements. The greateft 
 obftacle to the completely beautifying this 
 place, arifes from the furface of the coun- 
 try being a dead flat, and incapable of 
 great variety. 
 
 The houfe is furrounded by a Fofle, 
 and contains a great number of apart- 
 ments. The walls of every room are 
 hung with prints, from the roof to within 
 two feet of the floor. Perhaps there is 
 not fo complete a collection of framed ones 
 in any private houfe or palace in the 
 world. While Prince Ferdinand played 
 
 at Billiards with the D — of PL , I 
 
 continued with Prince Leopold examining 
 thefe prints, and could fcarcely recolleCt 
 a good one that I did not find here, 
 
 F 2 
 
 His 
 
68 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 His Highnefs faid it was equally diffi- 
 cult and expenfive to have a collection of 
 good paintings, and nothing could be 
 more paltry than a bad one: he had 
 therefore taken the refolution to adorn his 
 houfe with what he certainly could have 
 good of its kind; and next to fine pictures, 
 he thought fine prints the mod amufing 
 of all ornaments. But, added he, with 
 a fmile, every tolerable room is now per- 
 fectly covered, and I have lately received 
 a reinforcement of prints from England, 
 which will oblige me to build new apart- 
 ments to place them in, puifque je fuis 
 toujours accoutume a donner un pofte ho- 
 norable aux Anglois. 
 
 The company had been invited to break- 
 faft; but the rcpaft was a very magnifi- 
 cent dinner, ferved a little earlier than 
 ufual. 1 here were only fix perfons at ta- 
 ble; but the number of attendants might 
 without difficulty have ferved a company 
 
 of 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 6g 
 
 of thirty. The prince, who is always in 
 the utmoft degree polite, was on this oc- 
 cafion remarkably affable and gay. He 
 called toads after the Englifh cuftom, and 
 began himfelf by naming General Con- 
 way ; he afterwards gave Sir H. Clinton, 
 and continued to toaft fome Britifh officer 
 as often as it came to his turn. — You may 
 believe it afforded me fatisfaflion to have 
 had an opportunity of obferving a little 
 of the private life of a perfon who has 
 adted fo confpicuous a part on the theatre 
 of Europe. 
 
 As he has not returned to the Pruflian 
 fervice, and feems to enjoy rural amufe- 
 ments, and the converfation of a few friends, 
 it is thought he will not again take a part 
 in public affairs, but for the reft of his 
 life repofe, in this retreat, on the laurels 
 he gathered in fuch abundance during the 
 laft war. 
 
70 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Brunfwick. 
 
 T HE town of Brunfwick is fituated in 
 a plain, on the banks of the Ocker. 
 The houfes in general are old, but many 
 new buildings have been ereded of late, 
 and the city acquires frefh beauty every 
 
 Fortifications have been the caufe of 
 much calamity to many towns in Germany, 
 having ferved not to defend them, but 
 rather to attrad the vengeance of enemies. 
 For this reafon, Caflel, and fome other 
 towns, which were formerly fortified, are 
 now difmantled. But the fortifications at 
 Brunfwick were of great utility laft war, 
 and on one occafion they faved the town 
 from being pillaged, and afforded Prince 
 
 Frederick, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 71 
 
 Frederick, who is now in the Pruffian fer- 
 vice, an opportunity of performing an ac- 
 tion, which, I imagine, would give him 
 more joy than twenty vi&ories. This hap- 
 pened in the year 176*) foon after the 
 battle of Kirch Denkern, when Duke Fer- 
 dinand protected Hanover, not by con- 
 ducting his army into that country, and de- 
 fending it dire&ly, as the enemy feemed to 
 expert, and probably wifhed ; but by diver- 
 fion, attacking with ftrong detachments, 
 commanded by the Hereditary Prince, their 
 magazines in HelTe, and thus drawing their 
 attention from Hanover to that quarter. 
 
 c While the Duke lay encamped at Will- 
 hemflhall, watching the motions of Bro- 
 glie’s army, the Marechal being greatly 
 fuperior in numbers, fent a body of 20,000 
 men under Prince Xavier of Saxony, who 
 took pofieffion of Wolfenbuttle, and foon 
 after invefled Brunfwick. 
 
 F 4 
 
 Prince 
 
72 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Prince Ferdinand, anxious to fave his 
 native city, ventured to detach 5000 of his 
 army, fmall as it was, under his nephew, 
 Frederick, affifled by General Luckener, 
 with orders to harafs the enemy, and en- 
 deavour to raife the fiege. The young 
 Prince, while on his march, fent a foldier 
 with a letter to the Governor, which was 
 wrapped round a bullet, and which the 
 foldier was to fwallow in cafe of his being 
 taken by the enemy. — He had the good 
 fortune to get fafe into the town. — The 
 letter apprifed the commander of the gar- 
 rifon of the Prince’s approach, and particu- 
 larifed the night and hour when he ex- 
 pected to be at a certain place near the 
 town, requiring him to favour his en- 
 trance. 
 
 In the middle of the night appointed, 
 the Prince fell fuddenly on the enemy’s 
 cavalry, who, unfufpicious of his approach, 
 
 were 
 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 73 
 
 were encamped carelefsly within a mile of 
 the town. They were immediately dif- 
 perfed, and fpread fuch an alarm among 
 the infantry, that they alfo retreated with 
 confiderable lofs. 
 
 Early in the morning, the young Prince 
 entered Brunfwick, amidft the acclama- 
 tions of his fellow T -citizens, whom he had 
 relieved from the horrors of a fiege.— The 
 Hereditary Prince having deftroyed the 
 French magazines in Heffe, had been re- 
 called by his uncle, and ordered to attempt 
 the relief of Brunfwick. While he was ad- 
 vancing with all poffible fpeed, and had 
 got within a few leagues of the town, he 
 received the news of the fiege being raifed. 
 On his arrival at his father’s palace, he 
 found his brother Frederick at table, enter- 
 taining the French officers, who had been 
 taken prifoners the preceding night. 
 
 The 
 
74 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The academy of Brunfwick has been 
 new-modelled, and the plan of education 
 improved, by the attention, and under 
 the patronage, of the Hereditary Prince. 
 Students now refort to this academy from 
 many parts of Germany ; and there are ge- 
 nerally fome young gentlemen from Bri- 
 tain, who are fent to be educated here. 
 
 Such of them as are intended for a mi- 
 litary life, will not find fo many advan- 
 tages united at any other place on the con- 
 tinent, as at the academy of Brunfwick. 
 They will here be under the protection of 
 a family partial to the Britifh nation; — 
 every branch of fcience is taught by maf- 
 ters of known abilities; — the young flu- 
 dents will fee garrifon-duty regularly per- 
 formed, and may, by the intereft of the 
 Prince, obtain liberty to attend the re- 
 views of the Pruffian troops at Magde- 
 burg and Berlin: — They will have few 
 
 temptations 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 75 
 
 temptations to expence, in a town where 
 they can fee no examples of extravagance, 
 
 have few opportunities of diflipation, 
 
 and none of grofs debauchery. 
 
 I patted a day lately at Wolfenbuttle, 
 which is alfo a fortified city, the ancient 
 refidence of this family.— The public li- 
 brary here is reckoned one of the moft 
 complete in Germany, and contains many 
 curious manufcripts. They fhowed us 
 fome letters of Luther, and other original 
 pieces in that reformer’s own hand- 
 writing. 
 
 Having dined with Colonel Riedefel, 
 who commands a regiment of cavalry in 
 this town, I returned by Saltzdahlen. This 
 is the only palace I ever faw built almofl 
 entirely of wood. There are, nevertheleis, 
 fome very magnificent apartments in it, 
 and a great gallery of pictures, fome of 
 
 which 
 
j6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 which are allowed by the connoifieurs to 
 be excellent. I will not invade the pro- 
 vince of thefe gentlemen, by prefuming 
 to give my opinion of the merits or de- 
 feds of the pidur^s, though I have often 
 heard thofe who are as ignorant as myfelf, 
 decide upon the interefting fubjed of 
 painting, in the moft dogmatic manner. 
 The terms Contour, Attitude, Catling of 
 Draperies, Charging, Coflume, Paffion, 
 Manner, Croupe, Out-line, Chiaro Scuro, 
 Harmony, and Repofe, flowed from their 
 tongues, with a volubility that com- 
 manded the admiration of all thofe who 
 could not difcover, that in the liberal 
 ufe of thefe terms confifled all thofe gen- 
 tlemen’s tafte and knowledge of the fine 
 arts. 
 
 Confcious of my ignorance in the myf- 
 teries of connoifieurfhip, I fay nothing of 
 the pidures, and prefume only to give my 
 
 opinion, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 77 
 
 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 alfo a cabinet of 
 china porcelain, containing, as we were 
 told, feven or eight thoufand pieces ; — and 
 in another fmaller cabinet, we were (hewn 
 a collection of coarfe plates, valuable only 
 on account of their having been painted 
 after defigns of Raphael. 
 
 The country about Brunfwick is agree- 
 able. I was particularly pleafed to fee 
 fome gentlemens feats near this town ; a 
 fight very rare in Germany, where, if you 
 avoid towns and courts, you may travel 
 over a great extent of country, without 
 perceiving houfes for any order of men be- 
 tween the Prince and the Peafant. 
 
 I fpent 
 
y8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 I fpent yefterday very agreeably fourteen 
 miles from Brunfwick, at the houfe of 
 Mr. de Weflphalen. This gentleman at- 
 tended Duke Ferdinand during the late 
 war in the chara&er of his private fe- 
 cretary ; an office which he executed en- 
 tirely to the fatisfa&ion of that Prince, 
 whofe friendfhip and confidence he ftill 
 retains. 
 
 Mr.de Wefiphalen has written the hiftory 
 oi‘ thofe memorable campaigns, in which 
 his patron had the command of the allied 
 army, and baffled all the efforts of France 
 in YVeftphalia. Though this work has 
 been finifhed long fince, the publica- 
 tion has hitherto been delayed for poli- 
 tical reafons, It is to appear however 
 at fome future period, and is faid to be 
 a mafterly performance. Indeed, one would 
 natural ly fuppofe this from the remark- 
 able acutenefs and fagacity of the author, 
 
 who 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 79 
 
 who was prefent at the fcenes he defcribes, 
 and knew the fecret intentions of the Ge- 
 neral, whofe afliftance he has probably had 
 in finilhing the work. 
 
8o VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LVIIL 
 
 Brunfwick. 
 
 w E have had Tome mafquerade balls 
 here of late. — The Court do not go 
 in proceflion to thefe as at Caflel. — Thofe 
 who chufe to attend, go feparately when 
 they find it convenient. 
 
 There is a gallery in the mafquerade 
 room for the reigning family, where they 
 fometimes fit without mafks, and amufe 
 themfelves by looking at the dancers. But 
 in general they go malked, and mix in 
 an eafy and familiar manner with the com- 
 pany. 
 
 I am not furprifed that the Germans, 
 efpecially thofe of high rank, are fond of 
 mafquerades, being fo much harafled with 
 
 ceremony 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, Sec. Si 
 
 ceremony and form, and cramped by the 
 diftance which birth throws between people 
 who may have a mutual regard for each 
 other. I imagine they are glad to feize 
 every opportunity of afiuming the mafk 
 and domino, that they may tafte the plea- 
 ftlres of familiar converfation and focial 
 
 mirth. In company with the D — of 
 
 H— — , I once had the honour of dining 
 at the houfe of a general officer. His 
 fifter did the honours of the table; and on 
 the Duke’s expreffing his furprife that he 
 never had feen her at court, he was told 
 fhe coilld not poffibly appear there, becaufe 
 flie was not noble. This lady, however. 
 Was vifited at home by the Sovereign, and 
 every family of diftinction, all of whom 
 regretted, that the efiablifhed cufiom of 
 their country deprived the Court of a 
 perfon whofe character they valued fo 
 highly. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 G 
 
 The 
 
82 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The General’s rank in the army was a 
 fufficient paffport for him, but was of no 
 fervice to his fitters for this etiquette is 
 obferved very rigidly with refpetf: to the 
 natives of Germany, though it is greatly 
 relaxed to ftrangers, particularly the Eng- 
 iifh, who they imagine have lefs regard for 
 birth and title than any other nation. I 
 
 Public diverfions of every kind are now 
 over for fome time, and the Court is at 
 ppTent very thin.— Duke Ferdinand refides 
 in the country. The Hereditary Prince I 
 went a few days fince to Haberftadt, where 
 he will remain at leatt a month, to pre- 
 pare the garrifon, and his own regiment in 
 particular, for the grand reviews Avhich are 
 foon to take place. Diligence in duty, 
 and application to the diiciplining ot the 
 forces, are indifpenfable in this fervice. 
 Without thefe, not all the King’s partia- 
 lity to this Prince, or his eonfanguinity, 
 
 could 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c.' 83 
 
 could fecuire to him his uncle’s favour for 
 one day, perfonal talents and vigorous 
 exertion being the foie means of acquiring 
 and retaining the favour of this fteady and 
 difcerning monarch. 
 
 The Hereditary Princefs has left Brunf- 
 wick, and is gone to Zell, and will remain 
 during the abfence of her hufband with her 
 filter the Queen of Denmark. 
 
 The young Prince, Leopold, has alfo 
 left the Court. He goes diredly to Vienna, 
 and it is thought he intends to offer his 
 fervices to the Emperor. If proper en- 
 couragement be given, he will go entirely 
 into the Andrian fervice. In this cafe, he 
 will probably, when a war happens, find 
 himfelf in oppofition to his two brothers; 
 a circumftance not much regarded in Ger- 
 many, where brothers go into different fer- 
 vices, with as little hefitation as into differ- 
 ent regiments with us. 
 
 G 2 
 
 The 
 
84 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The ftri&eft friendfhip has always fub- 
 fifted between this young man and his 
 filler, who has been crying almoft without 
 intermiffion iince he went away. 
 
 His mother bears this with more com- 
 pofure, yet her uneafinefs is eafily perceiv- 
 ed. Independent of the abfence of her fon, 
 {he is diftrefled at the idea of his going in~ 
 to a fervice, where he may be obliged to 
 a£t in oppofition to her brother, for whom 
 I find {he has the greateft affe&ion, as well 
 as the highefl admiration. 
 
 I was not furprifed to hear her fpeak ot 
 him as the greateft man alive; but fhe ex- 
 tends her elogium to the qualities of his 
 heart, in which fhe is not joined by the 
 opinion of all the world. — She, however, 
 dwells particularly on this, calling him 
 the worthieft of men, the firmeft friend, 
 and the kindeft of brothers : — and as fire 
 founds her opinion on her own experience 
 
 alone, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 85 
 
 alone, fhe has the greateft reafon to think 
 as fhe does; for, by every account, the 
 King has always behaved with high regard 
 and undeviating tendernefs to her. 
 
 The departure of Prince Leopold has re- 
 vived this Princefs’s affli&ion for the un- 
 timely fate of two of her fons. One died 
 in the Ruffian camp at the end of the cam- 
 paign of 1769, in which he had ferved with 
 great diftindtion as a volunteer; the other 
 was killed in a fkirmiffi towards the end of 
 the laft war; having received a ffiot in his 
 throat, he died of the Wound fifteen days 
 after, much regretted by the army, who 
 had formed a high idea of the rifing merit 
 of this gallant youth. 
 
 He wrote a letter to his mother in the 
 morning of the day on which he died. In 
 this letter he regrets, that he ffiould be 
 flopped fo foon in the courfe of honour, and 
 laments that he had not been killed in fome 
 G 3 memorable 
 
86 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 memorable a&ion, which would have fav- 
 ed his name from oblivion, or in atchiev- 
 ing fomething worthy of the martial fpirit 
 of his family. He expreffes fatisfa&ion, 
 however, that his memory would at lead be 
 dear to fome friends, and that he was cer- 
 tain of living in his mother’s affe&ions 
 while fhe fhould exift. He then declares 
 his gratitude to her for all her care and ten- 
 dernefs, and concludes with thefe expres- 
 sions, which I tranflate as near as I can re- 
 member — I wifhed the Dutchefs to repeat 
 them ; but it was with difficulty, and eyes 
 overflowing, that fhe pronounced them 
 once : — (c My eyes grow dim- — I can fee no 
 <£ longer — -happy to have employed their 
 ■ ‘ lafl light in exprefling my duty to my 
 
 mother.’’ 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c, 87 
 
 LETTER LIX. 
 
 Hanover. 
 
 r JP H E D — of H having determined 
 
 to pay his refpeds to the Queen of 
 Denmark, before he left this country, chofe 
 to make his vifit while the Hereditary Prin- 
 cefs was with her fitter. 
 
 I accompanied him to Zell, and next 
 day w r aited on the Count and Countefs 
 Dean, to let them know of the D— — ’s 
 arrival, and to be informed when we could 
 have the honour of being prefented to the 
 Queen. They both belong to the Princefs 
 of Brunfwick’s family, and while I was at 
 breakfatt with them, her Royal Higbnefs 
 entered the room, and gave me the inform- 
 ation I wanted. 
 
 G 4 
 
 Before 
 
88 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Before dinner, I returned with the Duke 
 to the caftle, where we remained till late 
 in the evening. There was a concert of 
 jnufic between dinner and fupper, and the 
 Queen feemed in better fpirits than could 
 have been expected. 
 
 Zell is a fmall town, without trade or 
 manufactures; the houfes are old, and of a 
 mean appearance, yet the high courts of 
 appeal for all the territories of the Electoral 
 Houfe of Brunfwick Lunenburg are held 
 here; the inhabitants derive their principal 
 means of fub lift epee from this circum- 
 ftance. 
 
 This town was feverely haraiTed by the 
 French army at the beginning of the late 
 war, and was afterwards pillaged, in re- 
 venge for the fuppofed infraction of the 
 treaty of Clofter-Seven. The Duke de 
 Righlicu had his head-quarters here, when 
 Duke Ferdinand re-aflembled the troops 
 
 who 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 89 
 
 who had been difarmed, and difperfed, im- 
 mediately after that convention. 
 
 The caflle is a {lately building, fur- 
 rounded by a moat, and firongly fortified. 
 It was formerly the refidence of the Dukes 
 of Zell, and was repaired lately by order 
 of the King of Great Britain for the recep- 
 tion of his unfortunate filler. The apart- 
 ments are fpacious and convenient, and now 
 handfomely furnifhed. 
 
 The officers of the Court, the Queen’s 
 maids of honour, and other attendants, 
 have a very genteel appearance, and retain 
 the moft refpe£tful attachment to their ill- 
 fated miftrefs. The few days we remained 
 at Zell, were fpent entirely at Court, where 
 every thing Teemed to be arranged in the 
 flyle of the other fmall German courts, 
 and nothing wanting to render the Queen’s 
 fituation as comfortable as circumftances 
 would admit. But by far her greateft con- 
 
 folation 
 
90 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 folation is the company and converiation 
 of her fifier. Some degree of fatisfadtion 
 appears in her countenance while the Prin- 
 cefs remains at Zell; but the moment die 
 goes away, the Queen, as we were in- 
 formed, becomes a prey to deje&ion and 
 defpondency. The Princefs exerts herfelf 
 to prevent this, and devotes to her filler 
 all the time fhe can fpare from the duties 
 fhe owes to her own family. Unlike 
 thofe who take the firft pretext of break- 
 ing connections which can no longer be 
 of advantage, this humane Princefs has 
 difplayed even more attachment to her 
 filler hnce her misfortunes, than fhe ever 
 did while the Queen was in the meridian 
 of her profperity. 
 
 The youth, the agreeable countenance, 
 and obliging manners of the Queen, have 
 conciliated the minds of every one in this 
 country. Though die was in perfeCt 
 health, and appeared cheerful, yet, con- 
 vinced 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 91 
 
 vinced that her gaiety was affumed, and 
 the effed of a ftrong effort, I felt an im- 
 preffion of melancholy, which it was not 
 in my power to overcome all the time we 
 remained at Zell. 
 
 From Zell we went to Hanover, and 
 on the evening of our arrival, had the 
 pleafure of hearing Handel’s Meffiah per- 
 formed. Some of the befl company of this 
 place "were affembled on the occafion, and 
 we were here made acquainted with old 
 Field-Marfhal Sporken, and other people 
 of diftindion. Hanover is a neat, thrive 
 ing and agreeable city. It has more the 
 air of an Englifh town than any other I 
 have feen in Germany, and the Englifh 
 manners and cuftoms gain ground every 
 day among the inhabitants. The genial 
 influence of freedom has extended from 
 England to this place. Tyranny is not 
 felt, and eafe and fatisfadion appear in the 
 countenances of the citizens. 
 
 3 
 
 This 
 
9 2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 This town is regularly fortified, and all 
 the works are in exceeding good order. 
 The troops are fober and regular, and per- 
 form every efiential part of duty well, 
 though the difcipline is not fo rigid as in 
 fome other parts of Germany. Marfhal 
 Sporken, who is the head of the army, 
 is a man of humanity; and though the 
 foldiers are feverely punifhed for real 
 crimes, by the fentence of a court-martial, 
 he does not permit his officers to order 
 them to be caned for trifles. Caprice is 
 too apt to blend itfelf with this method of 
 puniffiing, and men of cruel difpofitions 
 are prone to indulge this diabolical pro- 
 penfity, under the pretence of zeal for dif- 
 cipline. 
 
 The Hanoverian infantry are not fo tall 
 as fome of the other German troops, owing 
 to this, that nobody is forced into the 
 fervice, the foldiers are all volunteers; 
 whereas, in other parts of Germany, the 
 
 Prince 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 93 
 
 Prince picks the flouted: and tailed: of the 
 peafants, and obliges them to become fol- 
 diers. It is allowed, that in adion no 
 troops can behave better than the Hano- 
 verians; and it is certain, that defertion 
 is not fo frequent among them as among 
 other German troops, which can only be 
 accounted for by their not being preffed 
 into the fervice, and their being more 
 gently ufed when in it. 
 
 It is not the mode here at prefent, to 
 lay fo much flrefs on the tricks of the ex- 
 ercife as formerly. The officers in gene- 
 ral feem to defpife many minutiae, which 
 are thought of the higheft importance in 
 fome other fervices. It is incredible to 
 what a ridiculous length this matter- is 
 pufhed by fome. 
 
 At a certain parade, where the Sove- 
 reign himfelf was prefent, and many of- 
 ficers aflembled, I once faw a corpulent 
 
 general- 
 
94 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 geueral -officer ftart fuddenly, as if he had 
 feen fomething preternatural. He imme- 
 diately waddled towards the ranks with 
 all the expedition of a terrified gander. I 
 could not conceive what had put his Ex- 
 cellency into a commotion fo little fuit- 
 able to his years and habit of body. While 
 all the fpedtators were a tiptoe to obferve 
 the iffue of this phenomenon, he arrived 
 at the ranks, and in great wrath, which 
 probably had been augmented by the heat 
 acquired in his courfe, he pulled off one 
 of the foldier’s hats, which it feems had 
 not been properly cocked, and adjufted 
 it to his mind. Having regulated the mi- 
 litary difcipline in this important parti- 
 cular, he returned to the Prince’s right- 
 hand, with a ffrut expreffive of the highefl 
 felf-approbation. 
 
 Two days after our arrival here, I walked 
 to Hernhaufen, along a magnificent ave- 
 nue, as broad, and about double the 
 
 length 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 95 
 
 length of the mall at St. James’s. The 
 houfe itfelf has nothing extraordinary in 
 its appearance; but the gardens are as 
 fine as gardens planned in the Dutch tafte, 
 and formed on ground perfectly level, can 
 be. The orangery is reckoned equal to 
 any in Europe. Here is a kind of rural 
 theatre, where plays may be a<fted during 
 the fine weather. There is a fpacious 
 amphitheatre cut out in green feats for 
 the fpe&ators; a ftage in the fame tafte, 
 with rows of trees for fide-fcenes, and a 
 great number of arbours and ftimmer- 
 rooms, furrounded by lofty hedges, for the 
 a£tors to retire and drefs in. 
 
 When the theatre is illuminated, which 
 is always done when mafquerades are 
 given, it muft have a very fine effect. 
 The groves, arbours, and labyrinths, feem 
 admirably calculated for all the purpofes 
 of this amufement. 
 
 In 
 
9 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 In thefe gardens are feveral large refer- 
 voirs and fountains, and on one fide, a 
 canal above a quarter of a mile in length. 
 
 I have not feen the famous jet d’eau, as 
 the water-works have not been played off 
 fince I came to Hanover. On the whole, 
 we pafs our time very agreeably here. We 
 have dined twice with Baron de Lenth, 
 who has the chief dire&ion of the affairs 
 of this ele&orate, and at his houfe have 
 met with the principal inhabitants. I make 
 one of Marfhal Sporken’s party every night 
 at Whift, and pafs moft of my time in the 
 fociety at his houfe. 
 
 The D — of H having promifed to 
 
 meet fome company at Brunfwick by a 
 certain day, we fhall fet out for that place 
 to-morrow — but have engaged to pay an- j 
 other vifit to Hanover before we go to 
 Berlin. — My next therefore will be from 
 Brunfwick, or poffibly from this place af- 
 
 ter our return. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, 8tc. 97 
 
 LETTER LX. 
 
 > Hanover, 
 
 w E remained a week at Brunfwickj 
 and returned to this town about ten 
 days ago. None of the family are there 
 at prefent, except the Duke and Dutchefs, 
 and the young Priocefs, their daughter. 
 
 The character of the Sovereign, at every 
 court, has great influence in forming the 
 tafte and manners of courtiers. This mult 
 operate with increafed force in the little 
 courts of Germany, where the parties are 
 brought nearer to each other, and fpend 
 the mod part of their time together. The 
 pleafure which the Dutchefs of Brunfwick 
 takes in ftudy, has made reading very 
 fafhionable among the ladies of that court: 
 of this her Royal Highnefs gave me a curious 
 Vol. II. H inflance 
 
9 8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 inftance the laft time I had the honour of 
 feeing her. 
 
 A lady, whofe education had been ne- 
 glected in her youth, and who had arrived 
 at a very ripe age without perceiving any 
 inconveniency from the accident, had ob- 
 tained, by the intereft of fome of her rela- 
 tions, a place at the Court of Brunfwick. 
 She had not been long there, till the per- 
 ceived thattheconverfationin theDutchefs’s 
 apartments frequently turned on fubje&s of 
 which {he was entirely ignorant, and that 
 thofe ladies had mod of her Royal High- 
 nefs’s ear, who were beft acquainted with 
 books. She regretted, for the firft time, 
 the negleCt of her own education; and al- 
 though {he had hitherto confidered that 
 kind of knowledge, which is derived from 
 reading, as unbecoming a woman of qua- 
 lity, yet, as it was now fafhionable at court, 
 fhe refolved to ftudy hard, that {he might get 
 to the top of the mode as faft as pofiible. 
 
 She 
 
 2 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 99 
 
 She mentioned this refolution to the 
 Dutchefs, defiring, at the fame time, 
 that her Highnefs would lend her a 
 book to begin. The Dutchefs applauded 
 her defign, and promifed to fend her one 
 of the ufefulleft books in her library — it 
 was a French and German di&ionary. Some 
 days after, her Highnefs enquired how fhe 
 relifhed the book. Infinitely, replied this 
 fludious lady. — It is the moft delightful 
 book I ever faw. — The fentences are all 
 fhort, and eafily underftood, and the let- 
 ters charmingly arranged in ranks, like 
 foidiers on the parade; whereas, in fome 
 other books which I have feen, they are 
 mingled together in a confufed manner, 
 like a mere mob, fo that it is no pleafure 
 to look at them, and very difficult to know 
 what they mean. But I am no longer fur^ 
 prifed, added fhe, at the fatisfa&ion your 
 Royal Highnefs takes in ftudy. 
 
 H 2 
 
 Since 
 
100 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Since our return to Hanover, we have 
 dined twice at the Palace. There is a 
 houfehold eflabliffied with officers and fer- 
 vants, and the guard is regularly mounted, 
 as at the time when the Electors refided 
 here conftantly. The liveries of the pages 
 and fervants are the fame with thofe worn 
 by the King’s domeftic fervants at St. 
 James’s. Strangers of diftinftion are enter- 
 tained at the Palace in a very magnificent 
 manner. The firft of the entertainments I 
 faw was given to the D — of H — — , and 
 the other to young Prince George of Hefle 
 Darmftadt, who arrived here a few days 
 fince, with Prince Erneft and Prince 
 Charles of Mecklenburg, brothers to the 
 Queen of Great Britain, both of whom are 
 in the Hanoverian fervice. 
 
 Moft of my time is fpent as formerly, 
 at Marffial Sporken’s. The converfation of 
 a man of fenfe, who has been fifty years in 
 
 the 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. ioi 
 
 the fervice, and in high rank during a con- 
 siderable part of that time, which led him 
 into an intimacy with fome of the mod ce- 
 lebrated characters of the age, you may be 
 fure is highly interefting. It affords me 
 fatisfaCtion to be informed from fuch au- 
 thority, of many tranfaCtions in the laft 
 war, the common accounts of which are 
 often different, and fometimes contradic- 
 tory. The Marfhafs obfervations are fen- 
 fible and candid, and his manner of con- 
 v'erfmg unreferved. He ferved with the 
 late Marfhal Daun in the allied army, op- 
 pofed to Marfhal Saxe, in the war 1741, 
 and has many curious anecdotes illufirating 
 the characters of fome of the commanders 
 who conducted the armies during that me- 
 morable period. He has a very high 
 opinion of Duke Ferdinand’s military cha- 
 racter, and declares, that of all the Generals 
 he ever ferved under, that Prince feerned 
 to him to have the heft talents for con- 
 ducting an army. He fays, that as Prince 
 H 3 F erdinand 
 
io2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Ferdinand had feldom held councils of war, 
 or communicated to the Generals of his 
 army, any more of his plans than they 
 were to execute, it was difficult for them 
 to form a juft opinion of his capacity, 
 while they remained' with the army imme- 
 diately under his command ; but that he 
 (Marlhal Sporken) had fometimes com- 
 manded a detached army, which obliged 
 the Prince to be more communicative, and 
 afforded the Marlhal the ftrongeft proofs of 
 the depth of his judgment. Above all 
 things, he admired the perfpicuity of his 
 written inftrudtions. — • — Thefe, he faid, 
 were always accompanied with the mod 
 accurate and minute defcription of the 
 country through which he was to march, 
 every village, rivulet, hollow, wood, or 
 hill on the route, being diftindly particu- 
 larifed, and the moft judicious conjectures 
 concerning the enemy’s defigns added, with 
 directions how to aft in various probable 
 emergencies. 
 
 Upon 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 103 
 
 Upon the whole, Marfhal Sporken Teem- 
 ed convinced that great part of the luccefs 
 of the allies, during the late war in Weft- 
 phalia, was owing to the forefight, pru- 
 dence, and fagacity of their General. One 
 memorable event, however, which has 
 been cited as the moft flriking proof of all 
 thefe, he imagined was not fo much owing 
 to any of them, as to the perfonal valour 
 of a few regiments, and the good conduct 
 of fome inferior officers. The Marffial 
 added, that his praifes of Duke Ferdinand’s 
 military abilities did not proceed from pri- 
 vate attachment, for he could claim no 
 ffiare in his friendffiip; on the contrary, a 
 mifunderftanding had happened between 
 them, on account of an incident at the 
 fiege of Caflel, the particulars of which he 
 recapitulated, and this mifunderftanding was 
 of a nature never to be made up. 
 
 The liberal, candid fentiments of this 
 venerable man carry conviction, and com- 
 H 4 mand 
 
io 4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 mand efteem. He is refpe&ed by people 
 of all ranks, and liftened to like an oracle* 
 In the fociety generally to be found at the 
 Marfhal’s, there are fome nearly of his 
 own age, who formed the private parties 
 of George the Second, as often as he came 
 to vifit his native country. The memory 
 of that monarch is greatly venerated here. 
 I have heard his cotemporaries of this fo* 
 ciety relate a thoufand little anecdotes con- 
 cerning him, which at once evinced the 
 
 . . v 
 
 good difpofitions of the King, and their 
 own gratitude. From thefe accounts it ap- 
 peared, that he was naturally of a very fo- 
 ciable temper, and entirely laid afide, when 
 at Hanover, the hate and referve which he 
 retained in England, living in that familiar 
 and confidential manner which Princes, as 
 well as peafants, will affuine in the com- 
 pany of thofe they love, and who love them. 
 
 Not only the perfonal friends of that 
 pionarch fpeak of him with regard, the 
 
 fame 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 105 
 
 fame fentiments prevail among all ranks of 
 people in the Electorate. Nothing does 
 more honour to his character, or can be a 
 lefs equivocal proof of his equity, than his 
 having governed thefe fubjedts, over whom 
 he had an unlimited power, with as much 
 juftice and moderation as thofe whofe 
 rights are guarded by law, and a jealous 
 conftitution. 
 
 fr he two vifits I have made to Hanover, 
 have confirmed the favourable impreffion 
 I had before received of the German cha- 
 racter. One of the moft difagreeable cir- 
 cumftances which attend travelling is, be- 
 ing obliged to leave acquaintances after 
 you have difcovered their worth, and ac- 
 quired fome degree of their friendfiiip. As 
 the feafon for the Prufiian reviews now 
 approaches, we have already taken leave 
 of our friends, and are to fet out to- 
 morrow morning on our return to Brunf- 
 wick, that after remaining a few days 
 
 there, 
 
IO 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 there, we may ftill get to Potfdam in pro- 
 per time. 
 
 I fhall not leave behind me every valu- 
 able acquaintance I have acquired fince I 
 came to Hanover. — We met, on our laft 
 
 arrival here, with Mr. E , fon of Lord 
 
 F . He has been of our parties ever 
 
 fince, and will accompany us to Brunfwick 
 and Fotfdam. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 107 
 
 LETTER LXL 
 
 Potfdaro. 
 
 o N returning to Brunfwick, we found 
 the Hereditary Princefs had come 
 from Zell a few days before, having left 
 the Queen of Denmark in perfed health. 
 The Princefs refided with her children at 
 Antonettenruche, a villa a few miles from 
 
 Brunfwick. She invited the D of 
 
 H , Mr. F , and me, to dine with 
 
 her the day before we were to fet out for 
 Potfdam. That morning I chanced to 
 take a very early walk in the gardens of 
 the palace. — The Duke of Brunfwick was 
 there. — He informed me, that an exprefs 
 had arrived with news of the Queen of 
 Denmark’s death. — They had received ac- 
 counts a few days before that fhe had been 
 feized with a putrid fever. — He faid that 
 
 no- 
 
io8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 nobody in the town or court knew of this, 
 except his own family, and defired that I 
 would not mention it to the Princefs, 
 who, he knew, would be greatly affeded; 
 for he intended to fend a perfon, after her 
 company fhould be gone, who would in- 
 form her of this event, with all its circum- 
 ftances. 
 
 When we went, we found the Princefs 
 in fome anxiety about her fiber ; — yet 
 rather elated with the accounts fhe had re- 
 ceived that day by the poft. She (bowed 
 us her letters. — They contained a general 
 defcription of the fymptoms, and convey- 
 ed fome hopes of the Queen’s recovery. 
 Unable to bear the idea of her fiber’s death, 
 fhe wrefied every expreffion into the mod 
 favourable fenfe, and the company met her 
 willies, by confirming the interpretation 
 fhe gave. To me, who knew the truth, 
 this fcene was affeding and painful. 
 
 As 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 109 
 
 As we returned to Brunfwick in the 
 evening, we met the gentleman who was 
 commiffioned by the Duke to impart the 
 news of the Queen’s death to her fifter.— - 
 We fupped the fame night at court, and 
 took leave of this illuftrious family. — The 
 Dutchefs gave me a letter to her fon, Prince 
 Frederick, at Berlin, which fhe faid would 
 fecure me a good reception at that ca- 
 pital. 
 
 On coming to the inn, we found a very 
 numerous company, and the whole houfe 
 refounded with mufic and dancing. It is 
 cuflomary all over Germany, after a mar- 
 riage of citizens, to give the wedding-feafl 
 at an inn. As there was no great chance 
 of our being much refrelhed by deep that 
 night, inftead of going to bed, we ordered 
 poft-horfes, and left Brunfwick about three 
 in the morning. 
 
 We 
 
no VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 We arrived the fame afternoon at Mag- 
 deburg. The country all the way is per- 
 fectly level. The Dutchy of Magdeburg 
 produces fine cattle, and a confiderable 
 quantity of corn, thofe parts which are 
 not marfhy, and over-grown with wood, 
 being very fertile. I have feen few or no 
 inclofures in this, or any part of Germany, 
 except fuch as furround the gardens or 
 parks of Princes. 
 
 The King of Pruffia has a feat in the 
 diet of the empire, as Duke of Magde- 
 burg. The capital, which bears the fame 
 name with the dutchy, is a very confide- 
 rable town, well built and ftrongly forti- 
 fied. There are manufactories here of 
 cotton and linen goods, of ftockings, gloves, 
 and tobacco ; but the principal are thofe of 
 woollen and filk. 
 
 The German woollen cloths are, in ge- 
 neral, much inferior to the Englifh and 
 
 French. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. hi 
 
 French. The Pruflian officers, however, 
 aflert, that the dark blue cloth made here, 
 and in other parts of the King of Pruflia’s 
 dominions, though coarfer, wears better, 
 and has a more decent appearance when 
 long worn, than the fineft cloth manufac- 
 tured in England or France. — Thus much 
 is certain, that the Pruflian blue is pre- 
 ferable to any other cloth made in Ger- 
 many. — The town of Magdeburg is happi- 
 ly fituated for trade, having an eafy com^ 
 munication with Hamburg by the Elbe, 
 and lying on the road between Upper and 
 Lower Germany. It is alfo the ftrongeft 
 place belonging to his Pruflian Majefty, 
 and where his principal magazines and 
 founderies are eftabliflied. In time of war, 
 it is the repofitory of whatever he finds ne- 
 cdflary to place out of the reach of hidden 
 infult. 
 
 Places where any extraordinary event 
 has happened, even though they fhould 
 
 have 
 
1 1 2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 have nothing elfe to diftinguifh them, in- 1 
 tereft me more than the moil; flourishing 
 country, or fineft town which has never 
 been the fcene of any thing memorable. 
 Fancy, awakened by the view of the 
 former, inftantly gives fhape and features 
 to men. we have never feen.— -We hear 
 them fpeak, and fee them a d ; the paflions 
 are excited, the mind amufed, the houfes, 
 the rivers, the fields around fupplying the 
 abfence of the poet and hiftorian, and re- 
 floring with new energy the whole fcene 
 to the mind. 
 
 While crofling the Elbe at this town 
 
 with the D — of H , I recalled to 
 
 his memory the dreadful tragedy which 
 was aded here by the Auftrian General 
 Tilly, who having taken this town by 
 florin, delivered up the citizens, without 
 diftindion of age or fex, to the barbarity 
 and luft of his foldiers. Befides the gene- 
 ral maflacre, they exhibited fuch ads of 
 <? wanton 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. u 3 
 
 wanton cruelty, as difgrace human nature. 
 We viewed with a lively fympathy, that 
 part of the river where three or four hun- 
 dred of the inhabitants got over and made 
 their efcape: — all that were faved ::ut of 
 twenty thoufand citizens l 
 
 This fad cataftrophe fupplied us with 
 converfation for great part of this day’s 
 journey. It is unnecefiary to comment on 
 an event of this kind to a perfon of the 
 D — ’s fenfibility. — Proper refledions arife 
 fpontaneoufly in a well-formed mind from 
 the fimple narrative. 
 
 The country is well cultivated, and fer- 
 tile for about two leagues beyond Magde- 
 burg ; afterwards it becomes more barren, 
 and within a few leagues of Brandenburg, it 
 is as naked and Tandy as the deferts of 
 Arabia. 
 
 Brandenburg, from which the whole 
 Electorate takes its name, is but a fmall 
 Vo l. lh I 
 
 town, 
 
1 14 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 town, divided into Old and New by a 
 river, which feparates the fort from both. 
 The principal trade is carried on by fome 
 French woollen manufacturers, whom the 
 King has encouraged to refide at this town. 
 The whole number of inhabitants does not 
 amount to more than 1500. 
 
 On entering the Pruflian garrifon towns, 
 you are flopped at the gate ; the officer of 
 the guard afks your name, whence you 
 come, whither you are going, and takes 
 your anfwers down in writing. This is 
 done in the French garrifons alfo, but 
 not with the fame degree of form and ac- 
 curacy. 
 
 When the title of Duke is given, the 
 guard generally turns out under arms. As 
 for Milord, it is a title treated with very 
 little ceremony, either in France or Ger- 
 many. It is often aflumed in foreign 
 countries by thofe who have no right to it, 
 
 and 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. it$ 
 
 and given to every Englishman of a decent 
 appearance. But Duke, in Germany, im- 
 plies a Sovereign, and is more refpeftable 
 than Prince. Bvery fon of a Duke in this 
 country, is called Prince, although he had 
 as many as old King Priam. 
 
 We arrived laft night at Potfdam, which 
 important piece of news, you will pleafe to 
 obferve, I have taken the earlieft oppor- 
 tunity of communicating. 
 
1 16 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXII. 
 
 Potfdam. 
 
 day after our arrival here, I waited 
 on the Count Finkenftein, and defired 
 
 to know when the D — of H and I 
 
 could have the honour of being prefented 
 to the King, requefting, at the fame time, 
 the liberty of attending at the reviews. 
 I was not a little furprifed when this mi- 
 nifter told me, that I muft write a letter 
 to his Majefty, informing him of that re- 
 queft, and that I fhould certainly receive 
 an anfwer the day following. It appeared 
 very fingular to write to fo great a Prince 
 upon an affair of fuch fmall importance j 
 but the Count told me this was the efta- 
 blilhed rule. So I immediately did as I 
 was defired. 
 
 2 
 
 Next 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 117 
 
 Next morning one of the court-fervants 
 called for me at the inn, and delivered a 
 fealed letter addreffed to me, and fign- 
 ed by the king, importing, that as the 
 court would foon be at Berlin, the mi- 
 nifter in waiting there would let the 
 
 D — of H and Mr. know when 
 
 they might be prefented, and that they 
 
 were very welcome to attend at all the 
 
 . 
 
 reviews. 
 
 In the evening we were prefented to the 
 Prince and Princefs of Pruflia, who refide 
 almoft conftantly at Potfdam. He is a talk, 
 ftout-made, handfome man, of about 
 thirty-five years of age. The Princefs is 
 of the family of Hefle-Darmftadt, and has 
 a great refemblance to her aunt, whom 
 we had feen at Carlfruhe. We have had 
 the honour of fupping with them twice 
 during the few days we have been at 
 Potfdam. 
 
 I 3 The 
 
*i8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The Prince and all the officers have been 
 employed every morning in preparing for 
 the reviews. Yefterday, for the fecond 
 time, there were feven thoufand men re- 
 viewed by the King. The Prince of Pruf* 
 fia’s fon, a child of fix or feven years old, 
 was prefent on foot with his tutor, and 
 unattended by any officer or fervant. They 
 mingled without any mark of difiindfcion 
 among the other fpe&ators. I mentioned 
 my furprife at this to the tutor. In France, 
 faid he, it would be otherwife: the Dau- 
 phin, at the age of this child, would be 
 carried to a review in a coach, with a 
 troop of mpfqueteers to attend him ; but 
 here, the King and Prince are equally 
 defirous that their fucceffor ffiould be 
 brought up in a hardy manner, and with- 
 out any ftrong impreffion of his own im- 
 portance. Sentiments of that kind will 
 come foon enough, in fpite of all the pains 
 that can be taken to exclude them. 
 
 The 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 119 
 
 The troops were drawn up in one line 
 along the fummits of fome hills. From 
 this fituation they defcended over very 
 unequal and rough ground, firing in grand 
 divifions all the way, till they came to the 
 plain, where they went through various 
 evolutions. But as we were to fet out in a 
 little time for Berlin, where the grand re- 
 views of that garrifon are to take place, I 
 {hall fay no more on the fubjed of reviews 
 
 till then. 
 
 Our mornings, fince we came hither, 
 have always been paffed with the troops 
 in the field. The forenoons we have fpent 
 in looking at every thing curious in the 
 town. The houfes are built of a fine 
 white freeftone, almoft all of them new, 
 and nearly of the fame height. The 
 ftreets are regular and well paved, and 
 there are fome very magnificent public 
 buildings; fo that Potfdam has every re- 
 
 quifite to form an agreeable town, if by 
 I 4 that 
 
no VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 that word is meant the ftreets, ftone-walls, 
 and external appearance. But if a tnore 
 complex idea be annexed to the word, and 
 if it be thought to comprehend the finiftungj 
 furniture, and conveniences within the 
 houfes, in that cafe Potfdam is a very poor 
 town indeed. 
 
 The King having exprefled a great in- 
 clination to fee this town increafe, feveral 
 monied people built houfes, partly to pay 
 their court to his Majefty, and partly be- 
 caufe, by letting them, they found they 
 would receive very good intereft for their 
 money. But as the town did not aug- 
 ment fo quickly as he wifhed, his Majefty 
 ordered feveral ftreets to be built at once, 
 at his own expence. This immediately 
 funk the value of houfes, and the firft 
 builders found they had difpofed of their 
 money very injudicioufly. 
 
 Towns 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 12a 
 
 Towns generally are formed by degrees, 
 as the inhabitants increafe in numbers; and 
 houfes are built larger and more commodi- 
 ous as they increafe in riches ; for men’s 
 ideas of conveniency enlarge with their 
 wealth. But here the matter is reverfed: 
 the houfes are reared in the firft place, in. 
 hopes that their fair outfides, like the 
 nymphs of Circe, will allure travellers, and 
 attract inhabitants. Hitherto their power 
 of attraction has not been ftrong; for few 
 towns are worfe inhabited than Potfdam, 
 though the houfes are let to merchants and 
 trades-people at very fmall rents. 
 
 I was not a little furprifed, while I walk- 
 ed through the town, to fee buff-belts, 
 breeches, and waiftcoats, hanging to dry 
 from the genteeleft looking houfes, till I 
 was informed, that each houfekeeper has 
 two or more foldiers quartered in his 
 houfe, and their apartments are, for the 
 moft part, on the firft floor, with windows 
 to the ftreet ; which I am told is alfo the 
 
 cafe 
 
122 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 cafe at Berlin. The King choofes that 
 his foldiers fhould be quartered with the 
 citizens, rather than in barracks. This, 
 ought to be a fufficient anfwer to thofe 
 military gentlemen, who infill; on building 
 barracks for the foldiers in Britain, upon 
 the fuppofition, that our army cannot be 
 well difciplined without them. For it 
 could fcarcely be expected, or wilhed, that 
 the Britifh army were under more rigid dis- 
 cipline than the Pruffian. 
 
 I imagine the Pruffian foldiers are quar- 
 tered in private houfes rather than barracks, 
 from confiderations diametrically oppofite 
 to thofe which produce the fame. effeCt in 
 England. — The Britifh parliament have al- 
 ways fhown an averfion to lodging the mi- 
 litary in barracks, and have preferred quar- 
 tering them in the citizens’ houfes, that a 
 connection and good-will may be cultivat- 
 ed between the foldiers and their fellow- 
 citizens ; and that the former may not con- 
 
 fider 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 12$ 
 
 fider themfelves as a diftinft body of men, 
 with a feparate intereft from the reft of the 
 community, and whofe duty it is implicitly 
 to obey the will of the crown at all times, 
 and upon all occafions. 
 
 Whereas here it may not be thought 
 expedient, to lodge great bodies of armed 
 men together in barracks, left they fhould, 
 during the night, form combinations de- 
 ftru£tive of difcipline, and dangerous to 
 government. This cannot happen in the 
 day-time, becaufe then the officers are pre- 
 fent, and the foldiers are not allowed even 
 to fpeak to each other when under arms ; 
 and while off duty, their time is wholly 
 filled up in cleaning their arms, accoutre- 
 ments, and clothes, and preparing for the 
 next guard.-— I imagine thefe may be part, 
 at leaft, of the reafons which induce the 
 King of Pruffia to prefer quartering his 
 men in private houfes; for in all other re- 
 fpe&s, lodging them together in barracks 
 
 would 
 
224 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 would be more convenient, and more agree- 
 able to the genius of his government. 
 
 The palace at Potfdam, or what they 
 call the caftle, is a very noble building, 
 with magnificent gardens adjacent. I fhali 
 not trouble you with a defer iption of either, 
 only it (truck me as a thing rather uncom- 
 mon in a palace, to find the ftudy by far 
 the fineft apartment in it. The ornaments 
 of this are of mafly filver. The writing- 
 defk, the embellifhments of the table, and 
 the accommodations for the books, were all 
 in fine tafte. 
 
 The perfon who attended us, afked if 
 we had any defire to fee his Majefty’s 
 wardrobe ?- — On being anfwered in the af- 
 firmative, he condu&ed us to the chamber 
 where the monarch’s clothes are depofited ; 
 it had a very different appearance from his 
 library. The whole wardrobe confided 
 of two blue coats, faced with red, the lin- 
 
 ing 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 125 
 
 ing of one a little torn ; — two yellow waift- 
 coats, a good deal foiled with Spanifli 
 fnuff; — three pair of yellow breeches, and 
 a fuit of blue velvet, embroidered with 
 filver, for grand occafions. 
 
 I imagined at firft, that the man had 
 got a few of the King’s old clothes, and 
 kept them here to amufe flrangers; but, 
 upon enquiry, I was allured, that what I 
 have mentioned, with two fuits of uniform 
 which he has at Sans-Souci, form the 
 entire wardrobe of the King of Prullia. 
 Our attendant faid, he had never known it 
 more complete. As for the velvet fuit, it 
 was about ten years of age, and (till enjoyed 
 all the vigour of youth. Indeed, if the 
 moths fpared it as much as his Majefty has 
 done, it may laft the age of Methufalem.— 
 
 ■ In the fame room, are fome ftandards be- 
 longing to the cavalry. Inftead of the 
 ufual fquare flag, two or three of thefe 
 
 have 
 
12 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 have the figures of eagles in carved filver 
 fixed on a pole. 
 
 In the bed-chamber where the late King 
 died, at the lower part of the window 
 which looks into the garden, four panes 
 have been removed, and a piece of glafs 
 equal in fize to all the four fupplies their 
 place. We were informed that his late 
 Majefty’s fupreme delight through life had 
 been to fee his troops exercife, and that he 
 had retained this paffion till his laft breath. 
 When he was confined to his room by his 
 lafl illnefs, he ufed to fit and view them 
 through the window, which had been 
 framed in this manner, that he might en- 
 joy thefe dying contemplations with the 
 greater conveniency. Becoming gradually 
 weaker by the increafing diflemper, lie 
 could not fit, but was obliged to lie on a 
 couch through the day. When at any 
 time he was uncommonly languid, they 
 
 raifed 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 127 
 
 raifed his head to the window, and a fight 
 of the men under arms was perceived to 
 operate like a cordial, and revive his fpi- 
 rits. — By frequent repetition, however, 
 even this cordial loft its effect. — His eyes 
 became dim — when his head was raifed, he 
 could no longer perceive the foldiers, and 
 he expired. 
 
 This was feeling the ruling paffion as 
 ftrong in death as any man ever felt it. 
 
 # 
 
128 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXIII, 
 
 Potfdam,. 
 
 J Have been twice or thrice at Sans- 
 Souci, which is at a fmall diftance from 
 Potfdam. The King lives conftantly at 
 the Old Palace, except when fome people 
 of very great diftin&ion come to rehde with 
 him for fome days. He then receives th$m 
 at the New Palace, and remains there him- 
 felf during their flay. 
 
 The gallery contains a great colle&ion 
 of paintings, fome of them originals, high- 
 ly efteemed. — The moll valuable are of the 
 Flemifh fchooL — Some people who pafs 
 for connoifleurs, and for aught I know 
 may be what they pretend, afiert, that the 
 King has not a juft tafte in painting, which 
 appears by his purchafing a great many 
 
 very 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 129 
 
 very indifferent pictures. Whatever may 
 be in that, it is certain, that his Majefty 
 does not give the leaf! importance to the 
 opinion of thefe connoiffeurs; but buys, 
 admires, and avows his admiration of fuch 
 pieces as appear excellent in his own eyes, 
 without regarding what they or others 
 may think. It has no weight with him, 
 that the piece is faid to be by Raphael, 
 Guido, or Corregio. If he fee no beauty 
 in it, he fays fo, and without ceremony 
 prefers the work of a modern or obfcure 
 painter. 
 
 This is confidered by many critics in 
 painting as blafphemy, and fhocks them 
 more than any other fpecies of impiety. A 
 painter and great connoiffeur whom the 
 King had difgufted, by rejecting fome 
 pictures of his recommending, and by 
 purchafing others which he had condemn- 
 ed, faid (fpeaking of the King), The man 
 imagines, becaufe he can play on the Ger- 
 
 Vol. II. K 
 
 man 
 
VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 man flute, and has been praifed by a par- 
 cel of poets and philofophers, and has 
 gained ten or a dozen battles, that there- 
 fore he underftands painting; but fighting 
 battles is one thing, and a true knowledge 
 of painting is another, and that he will 
 find to his coft. 
 
 A few years after the late war, the King 
 of Prufiia began to build the new palace 
 of Sans-Souci, which is now completely 
 finifhed, and is certainly a very noble and 
 fplendid work. The office-houfes are at a 
 confiderabie difiance, and are joined to the 
 body of the palace by a double colonnade, 
 which has a very grand effeft. The front 
 of the palace feems rather crowded, by the 
 great number of ftatnes which are intended 
 to ornament it. Thefe are generally in 
 groups, reprefenting fome fiory from Ovid. 
 This building has a cupola, terminated by 
 a large crown, fupported by the three 
 
 Graces. The D — of H obferved, 
 
 2 that 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 13s 
 
 that tjbree Pruffian grenadiers would have 
 been more fuitable. On the ground-floor, 
 in the middle, there is a large hall, whole 
 floor, Tides, and roof, are all of marble. 
 It is called the grotto, and the ornaments 
 correfpond with that name. This room 
 can be agreeable only when the weather is 
 exceflively hot. In Italy it would be de- 
 lightful. The roof of this hall is low, and 
 vaulted, and fupports another room in all 
 refpe&s of the fame dimenfions, only 
 higher. This fecond room is alfo lined 
 •with beautiful marble. The other apart- 
 ments are adorned with rich furniture and 
 paintings, all very fhowy. Many people 
 think them gaudy. — It mull be owned, 
 that the gilding is laid on with a very 
 lavilh hand. 
 
 Oppofite to the old palace of Sans-Souci, 
 and immediately without the gardens, 
 Lord Marechal has built a houfe, where 
 he conllantly refides. You are well ac- 
 K 3 quainted 
 
*32 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 quainted with the amiable character of this 
 nobleman. We waited on him foon after 
 our arrival, and have dined with him fe- 
 veral times fince. On the front of his 
 houfe is this infcription : 
 
 * FREDERICUS IT. NOBIS H^EC OTIA FECIT. 
 
 Adjoining to this houfe is a fmall garden, 
 with a door which communicates with the 
 King’s garden of Sans-Souci, fo that his 
 Lordfhip has the full enjoyment of thefe 
 gardens. The King alfo has a key to my 
 Lord’s little garden, and frequently walks 
 by this paflage to vifit him. 
 
 We fet out for Berlin to-morrow. Adieu. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 133 
 
 letter lxiv. 
 
 Berlin* 
 
 w E arrived here in the height of the 
 preparation for the reviews. No- 
 thing was to be feen in the ftreets but fol- 
 diers parading, and officers hurrying back- 
 wards and forwards. The town looked 
 more like the cantonment of a great army, 
 than the capital of a kingdom in the time 
 of profound peace. The Court itfelf re- 
 fembled the levee of a General in the field 
 
 except the foreign minifters, and a few 
 
 ftrangers, every man there (for there were 
 no women) was drefied in a military uni- 
 form. 
 
 Mr. Harris, the Britifh minifler, attend- 
 ed the D— of H , the day we were 
 
 prefented to the King. A fon of Prince 
 K 3 Kaunitz’s, 
 
134 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Kaunitz’s, and Tome other Grangers, were 
 prefented at the fame time. The Count 
 Reufe, chamberlain of the Court, named 
 each perfon to his Majetty as he approach- 
 ed. He converfed a confiderable time with 
 the D — , and fpoke a few words to 
 every perfon who was prefented. — His 
 countenance and manner are exceedingly 
 animated. — He feemed that day in very 
 high fpirits, and fpoke to all his officers in 
 an eafy ftyle, and with a kind of gay affabi- 
 lity. On their part, they appear before 
 their matter with an erect military bold- 
 nefs, free from that cringing addrefs which 
 prevails in many Courts, but would not 
 fucceed here. 
 
 The King was three days at Berlin be- 
 fore the reviews began, and patted fome 
 hours every morning in the park, where 
 there were four or five thoufand men or- 
 dered daily, not to be exercifed, but (im- 
 ply that the King might examine the ftate 
 
 of 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 135 
 
 of each corps in particular: and it is incre- 
 dible with what accuracy and minute at- 
 tention he did examine them, the Colonel 
 of the regiment under fcrutiny walking 
 along with him, to anfwer any queftion, 
 and hear his diredions and remarks. By 
 this exadnefs, he not only knows the con- 
 dition of the army in general, but the ap- 
 pearance, degree of difcipline, and fhength 
 of each regiment. 
 
 The whole number reviewed was about 
 thirty-fix or thirty-eight thoufand, confift- 
 ing of the garrifon of Berlin, and troops 
 from fome of the adjacent towns and vil- 
 lages. This army was in the field three 
 mornings fucceffively, and the opeiations 
 were different each day. I fhall endeavour 
 to give you an idea of the plan of the laft 
 day’s review, which is frefheft in my me- 
 mory. 
 
 K 4 
 
 At 
 
136 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 At break of day, about eight thoufand 
 men marched out of Berlin, under the 
 command of a general officer, and took 
 poffeffion oi a village, fituated on a riling 
 ground, at the diftance of two or three 
 miles. About an hour after, the King 
 himfelf joined the army, which was af- 
 fembled without the gates. Fie divided 
 it into three columns. 1 wo general officers 
 took the command of two of them ; he 
 himlelf led the third. The whole marched 
 by three different routes towards the vil- 
 lage, where the former detachment had 
 now taken poll. In the attack and de- 
 fence of this village the review conlihed. 
 
 As the army advanced, they were can- 
 nonaded from the village, but could not 
 be fuppofed to fuffer much, becaufe the 
 leader of each column advanced with cau- 
 tion, taking fuch circuits as expofed the 
 men very little. 
 
 At 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 137 
 
 At length the three columns met on a 
 large plain near the village, but prote&ed 
 from the batteries by a rifing of the 
 ground. Here the King formed the army 
 into two lines. While this was doing, 
 they were perfe&ly fecure ; but they could 
 not advance towards the village otherwise 
 than by going over the fwell in the ground, 
 and being expofed to all the cannon of the 
 enemy. This was to be performed, there- 
 fore, with as much expedition as could be 
 confiftent with good order. The right 
 wing of the army made the attack. As 
 foon as the fignal was given, all the drums 
 and fifes ftruck up at once. The foldiers 
 advanced with a rapid pace. A numerous 
 train of large field- pieces, placed at proper 
 intervals, advanced with equal velocity, 
 and kept in a line with the front rank. 
 The rapidity with which they were charged 
 and difcharged as they advanced was quite 
 aflonifhing. When the line came within 
 proper diftance of the village, the fol- 
 diers 
 
 a 
 
138 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 diers began to ufe their firelocks. In the 
 mean time there was a furious cannonade, 
 and difcharge of fmall fhot from the vil- 
 lage. The King was between the advancing 
 line and the village during the attack. 
 When they had got very near the hedges, 
 a new battery opened from the village. 
 The King gave a fignal, and the firft line 
 broke, fell into an artificial confufion, and 
 gave back towards the fecond line, which 
 opened at feveral places, and clofed again 
 the moment the retreating line had pierced 
 through. The fecond line then moved to 
 the attack, as the former had done. This 
 alio feemed to be repulfed — a retreat was 
 founded, and the whole wing began to 
 retire. A body of cavalry then appeared 
 from the village, and were advancing to 
 charge the retreating army, but were thern- 
 felves charged, and driven back, by the 
 cavalry of the right wing. 
 
 A body 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 139 
 
 A body of huflars purfued alfo from the 
 village, and harafled the retreating army. 
 Thefe were fometimes repulled by the fol- 
 diers, who turned and fired on them, and 
 fometimes by detached parties of cavalry, 
 which drove them away. 
 
 Thefe various operations lafted from 
 five in the morning till noon, when the 
 troops returned to Berlin. — It is hardly 
 poflible for any words of mine to convey 
 an adequate idea of the perfect manner 
 in which thefe evolutions were executed. 
 The charges made by the cavalry were 
 praifed by the King himfelf. I had never 
 feen fo great a body together, and had no 
 idea that it was poflible to charge at full 
 gallop, and keep the ranks and diftances 
 fo exadlly as they did. 
 
 Upon the principle, that velocity is equal 
 to weight, they endeavour to compenfate 
 
 for 
 
i 4 o VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 for the lightnefs of the horfes by the 
 quicknefs of their motion. The huflars 
 in the Pruffian army are taught, not only 
 to harafs a retreating army in detached 
 parties, but to charge like heavy cavalry 
 in a large body. The late General Seid- 
 litz, who had the reputation of being the 
 beft officer of cavalry in Europe, brought 
 the Pruffian dragoons to a wonderful de- 
 gree of perfection, and it is faid that he 
 gained the battle of Rofbach by one brifk 
 charge. Ever fince, the King of Pruffia 
 has bellowed great attention on his cavalry. 
 They are now habituated to charge in 
 large bodies, and at full fpeed. 
 
 The cuiraffiers are the flower of the 
 Pruffian army. They are dreffed in buff 
 coats, and wear very heavy iron bread;- 
 plates, which cover all the fore-part of 
 the body, and have been tried by mufket- 
 ihot before they are delivered to the men. 
 
 I neg- 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 141 
 
 I neglected to mention, that the infantry 
 were ordered to fhout as they advanced to the 
 attack on the village, and that this practice is 
 adopted by the Pruffians in a&ual fervice. 
 The King, as I am informed, is of opi- 
 nion, that this keeps up the fpirits of the 
 men, and prevents them from reflecting 
 on the danger of their fituation. There 
 are a greater proportion of drummers in 
 the Pruflian fervice than in moft others : 
 a regulation, in all probability, founded on 
 the fame principle. 
 
 The evening after the reviews, there 
 were a concert and fupper at Prince Hen- 
 ry’s palace. The Queen was prefent, and 
 the King’s brothers, Henry himfelf, and 
 Ferdinand, with their Princefles; alfo the 
 Prince and Princefs of Pruflia, Prince 
 Frederick of Brunfwick and his Princefs, 
 and a numerous company. I here deli- 
 vered to Prince Frederick the letter I had 
 brought from his mother, who 1 found had 
 
 before 
 
142 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 before apprized him of my intention to go 
 to Berlin. 
 
 The King himfelf was not prefent. He 
 feldom appears at feftivals. All his hours, 
 not employed in bufmefs, he fpends in 
 reading, or in the fociety of a few people 
 whom he efteems. The Hereditary Prince 
 of Brunfwick is at prefent the King’s moft 
 conftant companion, a choice which does 
 not more honour to the Prince than to the 
 King’s difcernment. 
 
 Prince Henry’s palace is one of the moft 
 magnificent buildings in Berlin. No fub- 
 je£t of the King of Pruflia lives in a more 
 fumptuous manner than this Prince, who 
 keeps a numerous eftablifhment of fervants, 
 moftly handfome young men, very richly 
 drefled. The entertainment on this occa- 
 fion was remarkably fplendid. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 143 
 
 pe&ed at Potfdam for fix weeks 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 'yHE day after the reviews, the King, 
 attended by his nephew, the Prince of 
 Pruffia, and the Hereditary Prince of Brunf- 
 wick, fet out for Magdeburg, where there 
 is a camp of 15,000 men. He afterwards 
 will proceed to Silefia, and his new ac- 
 quired dominions in Poland, and is not ex- 
 
 at leaft. 
 
 His Majefty makes the fame circuit 
 twice every year. — Surely no King in Eu- 
 rope can have fuch a thorough knowledge 
 of his dominions and fubjeSs as this mo- 
 narch.- — His abfence from Berlin has made 
 but little relaxation in the duty, and none 
 in the difcipline of the troops. The re- 
 views were fcarcely over, when field-days 
 
 began. 
 
144 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 began. There are 1500, or 2000 of the 
 troops belonging to this garrifon, exercifed 
 in the park almoft every morning, befides 
 thofe who appear on the parade for the or- 
 dinary guards. 
 
 A review, fuch as that which I endea- 
 voured to defcribe, is undoubtedly one of 
 the fineft fhows that can be exhibited : but 
 when a fpe&ator of fenfibility refle&s on 
 the means by which thefe poor fellows are 
 brought to this wonderful degree of accu- 
 racy, he will pay a fevere tax for this fplen- 
 did exhibition. — The Prufiian difcipline on 
 a general view is beautiful; in detail it is 
 fhocking. 
 
 When the young ruftic is brought to 
 the regiment, he is at firft treated with a 
 degree of gentlenefs; he is intruded by 
 words only how to walk, and to hold up 
 his head, and to carry his firelock, and he 
 is not punifhed, though he fhould not fuc- 
 
 ceed 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 145 
 
 ceed in his earlieff attempts : — they allow 
 his natural aukwardnefs and timidity to 
 wear off by degrees : — they Teem cautious 
 of confounding him at the beginning, or 
 driving him to defpair, and take care not to 
 pour all the terrors of their difcipline upon 
 his aftonifhed fenfes at once. When he 
 has been a little familiarifed to his new 
 flate, he is taught the exercife of the fire- 
 lock, firft alone, and afterwards with two 
 or three of his companions. This is not 
 entruffed to a corporal or ferjeant j it is the 
 duty of a fubaltern officer. In the park at 
 Berlin, every morning may be feen the 
 Lieutenants of the different regiments exer- 
 cifing with the greateft affiduity, fome- 
 times a fingle man, at other times three or 
 four together ; and now, if the young re- 
 cruit fhows negledt or remiffnefs, his at- 
 tention is roufed by the officer’s cane, which 
 is applied with augmenting energy, till he 
 has acquired the full command of his fire- 
 lock. — He is taught fteadinefs under arms, 
 Vol. II. L and 
 
1 46 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 and the immobility of a ftatue; — he is in- 
 formed, that all his members are to move 
 only at the word of command, and not at 
 his own pleafure ; — that fpeaking, cough- 
 ing, fneezing, are all unpardonable crimes ; 
 and when the poor lad is accomplished to 
 their mind, they give him to underhand, 
 that now it is perfedly known what he 
 can do, and therefore the Smallest deficiency 
 will be punifhed with rigour. And al- 
 though he Should deftine every moment of 
 his time, and all his attention, to cleaning 
 his arms, taking care of his clothes, and 
 pradtifing the manual exerciSe, it is but 
 barely pofiible for him to efcape punish- 
 ment ; and if his captain happens to be of 
 a capricious or cruel difpofition, the ill- 
 fated foldier lofes the poor chance of that 
 
 possibility. 
 
 As for the officers, they are not indeed 
 fubje&ed to corporal punishment, but 
 they are obliged to beftow as unremitting 
 
 attention 
 
 5 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 147 
 
 attention on duty as the men. The 
 fubalterns are almoft conftantly on guard* 
 or exercifing the recruits : the Captain 
 knows, that he will be blamed by his Co- 
 lonel, and can expert no promotion, if his 
 company be not as perfect as the others : 
 the Colonel entirely lofes the King’s favour 
 if his regiment fhould fail in any particular: 
 the General is anfwerable for the difcipline 
 of the brigade, or garrifon, under his imme- 
 diate command. The King will not be 
 fatisfied with the General’s report on that 
 fubjed, but mull examine every thing him- 
 felf ; fo that from his Majefty, down to the 
 common centinel, every individual is alert. 
 And as the King, who is the chief fpring 
 and primum mobile of the whole, never 
 relaxes, the faculties of every fubordinate 
 perfon are kept in conftant exertion : the 
 confequence of which is, that the Pruffian 
 army is the beft dilciplined, and the readied: 
 for fervice at a minute’s warning, of any 
 now in the world, or perhaps that ever was 
 L 2 in 
 
148 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 in it. Other monarchs have attempted t-0 
 carry difcipline to the fame degree of per- 
 fection, arid have begun this plan with 
 aftonifhing eagernefs. But a little time 
 and new objects have blunted their keen- 
 nefs, and divided their attention. They 
 have then delegated the execution to a 
 commander in chief, he to another of in- 
 ferior rank, and thus a certain degree of 
 relaxation having once taken place, foon 
 pervades the whole fyftem ; but the perfe- 
 verance of the King of Pruffia is without 
 example, and is perhaps the moil remark- 
 able part of his extraordinary character. 
 
 That degree of exertion which a man 
 of a vigorous mind is capable of making 
 on fome very important occafion, the King 
 of Pruffia has made for thirty years at a 
 Itretch, without permitting pleafure, indo- 
 lence, difguft, or difappointment, to inter- 
 rupt his plan for a {ingle day. — And he 
 has obliged every perfon through the va- 
 
 rious 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 149 
 
 yious departments of his government to 
 make, as far as their characters and 
 ftrength could go, the fame exertions. — I 
 leave you to judge in what manner fuch a 
 man muft be ferved, and what he is capable 
 of performing. 
 
 r 3 
 
150 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER .LX VI. 
 
 Berlin, 
 
 condition in life can be more aftive, 
 and at the fame time have lefs va- 
 
 riety in it, than that of a Pruffian officer 
 in the time of peace. He is continually 
 employed in the fame occupation, and con- 
 tinually occupied in the fame place. There 
 is no rotation of the troops as in the Britiffi 
 fervice. The regiments which were placed 
 in Berlin, Magdeburg, Schweidnitz, and 
 the other garrifons at the conclufion of the 
 war, remain there ftill. It is dreaded, that 
 if they w r ere occafionally moved from one 
 garrifon to another, the foreigners in the 
 fervice, who are exceedingly prone to de-> 
 fertion, might then find opportunities, 
 which according to the prefent plan they 
 cannot : for however defirous a Pruffian 
 
 foldier 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 151 
 
 foldier may be to defert, the thing is ai- 
 med impoffible. The moment a man is 
 miffing, a certain number of cannons are 
 fired, which announce the defertion to the 
 whole country. The peafants have a con- 
 fiderable reward for feizing a deferter, and 
 are liable to fevere penalties if they har- 
 bour, or aid him in making his efcape, 
 and parties from the garrifons are fent after 
 him in every direction. 
 
 As none of the foldiers are ever allowed 
 to go without the walls of the town, it re- 
 quires great addrefs to, get over this firif 
 difficulty ; and when they have been fo far 
 fortunate, many chances remain againft 
 their efcaping through the Pruffian domi- 
 nions ; and even when they arrive fafe in 
 any of the neighbouring Rates, 
 
 Nunc eadem fortuna viros tot cafibus ados 
 
 Jnfequitur. 
 
 L 4 
 
 For 
 
152 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 For there they will probably be obliged to 
 inlift again as foldiers j fo that on the 
 whole, however unhappy they may be, it 
 is abfurd to attempt defertion in any other 
 way than by killing themfelves, which me- 
 thod, as I am told, begins to prevail. 
 
 In confequence of th^ir remaining con- 
 ftantly in the fame place, converfing always 
 with the Tame people, and being employ- 
 ed uniformly in the fame bufinefs, the 
 Pruftian officers acquire a ftaid, ferious ap- 
 pearance, exceedingly different from the 
 gay, diffipated, degage air of Britiffi or 
 French officers. Their only amufement, 
 or relaxation from the duties of their pro- 
 feffion, feems to be walking on the parade, 
 and converfing with each other. The in- 
 rerior officers, thus deprived of opportuni- 
 ties of mixing in general fociety, and not 
 having time for ftudy, can have no very 
 extenfive range of ideas. Their knowledge. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 1 53 
 
 it muft be confefled, is pretty much con~ 
 fined to that branch of tadics in which 
 they are fo much employed ; and many 
 of them at length feem to think, that to 
 {land firm and Ready, to march ered, to 
 wheel to the right and left, and to charge 
 and difcharge a firelock, if not the foie 
 ufe of human creatures, is at leaft the chief 
 end of their creation. 
 
 The King, as I have been informed, 
 has no inclination that they fhould reafon 
 on a larger compafs of thought, which 
 might poffibly lead them to defpife their 
 daily employment of drilling foldiers, 
 counting the buttons of their coats, and 
 examining the ftate of their fpatter- 
 dafiies and breeches. For as foon as men’s 
 minds become fuperior to their bufinefs, 
 the bufinefs will not be fo well performed. 
 Some application to other ftudies, and op- 
 portunities of mixing with a more general 
 fociety, might make them more agreeable 
 
 men, 
 
154 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 men, but not better captains, lieutenants* 
 and adjutants. 
 
 His Majefty imagines he will always find a 
 fufficient number of men of a more liberal 
 turn of mind, and more extenlive notions, 
 for officers of great truft and feparate com- 
 mands, where the general muft ad according 
 to emergencies, and the light of his own 
 underftanding. He believes alfo, that this 
 general fyftem will not deprive him of 
 the advantage of particular exceptions, or 
 prevent genius from being diftinguifhed, 
 when it exifls in the humbleft fpheres of 
 his fervice. As often, therefore, as he 
 ©bferves any dawnings of this kind ; when 
 any officer, or even foldiej*, difcovers un- 
 common talents, or an extenfive capacity, 
 he is fure to be advanced, and placed in a 
 fituation where his abilities may have a 
 full power of exertion; while thofe muft 
 ftand ftill, or be moved by a very flow gra- 
 dation, who have no other merit to depend 
 
 on 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 1 55 
 
 on for promotion but affiduity alone, 
 which, in the Pruffian fervice, can never 
 conduct to that rank in the army, where 
 other qualifications are wanted. 
 
 As to the common men, the leading 
 idea of the Pruflian difcipline is to reduce 
 them, in many refpeds, to the nature of 
 machines ; that they may have no volition 
 of their own, but be actuated folely by 
 that of their officers ; that they may have 
 fuch a fuperlative dread of thofe officers as 
 annihilates all fear of the enemy ; and that 
 they may move forwards when ordered, 
 without deeper reafoning or more concern 
 than the firelocks they carry along with 
 them, 
 
 Confidering the length to which this 
 fyftem is carried, it were to be wifhed 
 that it could be carried flill further, and 
 that thofe unhappy men, while they re- 
 tained 
 
i 5 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 tained the faculties of hearing and obey**- 
 ing orders, Could be deprived of every 
 other kind of feeling. 
 
 The common ftate of flavery in Afia, 
 or that to which people of civil profef- 
 fions in the moft defpotip countries are 
 fubjed, is freedom in comparifon of this 
 kind of military flavery. The former are 
 not continually under the eyes of their 
 tyrants, but for long intervals of time may 
 enjoy life without reftraint, and as their 
 tafte didates ; but all the foreign foldiers 
 in this fervice, and thofe of the natives, 
 who are fufpeded of any intention to de- 
 fert, and confequently never allowed fur- 
 loughs, are always under the eye of fome- 
 body, who has the power, and too often 
 the inclination, to controul every adion 
 of their bodies, and every defire of their 
 hearts. 
 
 Since 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 25 7 
 
 Since {uch a number of men all over 
 Europe are doomed to this Rate of con- 
 ftraint, it is much to be lamented that, 
 from the nature of the fervice, the doom 
 fhould fall on the ufeful, induftrious pea- 
 fantry, who, when uncontrolled by cruel 
 and abfurd policy, pafs their days in cheer- 
 fulnefs, tailing every real pleafure without 
 the naufea of fatiety, or the flings of re- 
 morfe, and perhaps, of all mankind, have 
 the greateft enjoyment of life. The fum- 
 total of happinefs, deflroyed by removing 
 men from this fituation into a ftate of mi- 
 fery, muft be infinitely greater than if 
 many of the ufelefs, wealthy, and luxuri- 
 ous could be tranflated into the fame 
 Rate. This would not be annihilating 
 happinefs, but only fhifting the fcene of 
 the wretched. Such recruits would only 
 be haraffed by the caprices of others in- 
 ftead of their own ; — plagued with the 
 manual exercife, inflead of being tortured 
 
 by 
 
158 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 by peeviflmefs and difguft ; — laid up in 
 confequence of running the gauntlet, in- 
 ftead of being laid up with the gout 5 — 
 and, finally, knocked down by a cannon- 
 ball, inftead of being killed by a fit of the 
 apoplexy or a forfeit. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, See. 159 
 
 LETTER LXVIL 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 JN STEAD of troubling you with any 
 more obfervations of my own, on the 
 nature of the Pruffian difeipline, or the 
 principles on which it is founded, I fhall 
 give you the fubftance of fome converfa- 
 tions I have had on that fubjed with a 
 Pruffian officer of chara&er. 
 
 Walking one morning in the park, we 
 faw a poor fellow fmartly caned, for no 
 other reafon, but becaufe he did not re- 
 turn the ram-fod into his piece with fo 
 much celerity as the reft of the platoon. 
 I turned away with indignation from the 
 fight, which the officer obferving, faid. 
 You think the pimifhment too fevere foi* 
 the crime ?•— There was no crime, faid I: 
 
 the 
 
s So VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 the ram- rod dipt through, his fingers by 
 accident, and it is not pofiible to imagine* 
 that the man had any intention to per- 
 form this important- motion lefs. rapidly 
 than his comrades. Every thing muft be 
 confidered as of importance by a foldier, 
 replied my Pruffian acquaintance, which 
 his officer orders him to do. In all pro- 
 bability, the fault was involuntary ; but 
 it is not always poffible to diftinguiih in- 
 voluntary faults from, thofe that happen 
 through negligence. To prevent any man 
 from hoping that his negligence will, be 
 forgiven as involuntary, all blunders are 
 puniffied, from whatever caufe they hap- 
 pen ; the confequence of which is, that 
 every man is more attentive and alert than 
 he would otherwife be. I remember, added 
 he, that it was very ufual on field-days for 
 the dragoons to have their hats blown off*. 
 Nobody lufpedled that they had bribed 
 the wind to play this trick ; yet a general 
 officer being put in bad humour by the 
 
 fre- 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE* &c. 164 
 
 Frequency of the accident, gave orders to 
 purtilh every man to whom it Ihould hap- 
 pen; and fince that order was put in force* 
 the hats have been much feldomer blown 
 off; 
 
 i then mentioned a fad which appeared 
 to me ftill more extraordinary. A huffar, 
 at the laft review, had fallen from his 
 horfe at full gallop, and was fo much 
 bruifed, that it was found neceffary to 
 carry him to the hofpital; and I had been 
 affured, that as food as the man Ihould 
 be perfectly recovered, he tfaould certainly 
 he punilhed for having fallen. Now, con- 
 tinued I, though a man may be a little 
 carelefs about his hat, it cannot be ima-* 
 gined, that this huffar was not ferioully 
 inclined to keep his feat ; for by falling, 
 he might have broke his neck, or have 
 been trod to death : Or, even if you 
 choofe to fuppofe, that he did not ride 
 with all the attention he ought, yet, as 
 Vol. II. M he 
 
t& VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 he received one fe'vere punifhment by the 
 fall, it would be cruel to inflid another. 
 I have nothing to oppofe to the folidity 
 of your argumeht, replied the Prullian, 
 but that General Seidlitz, who was the 
 bed: officer of cavalry in the world, firft 
 introduced this piece of cruelty, fince 
 which it is certain, that the men have 
 not fallen fo often. The King imagines, 
 continued the Pruffian, that difcipline is 
 the foul of an army; that men in the dif- 
 ferent nations of Europe are, in thofe 
 qualities which are thought neceffiiry for 
 a foldier, nearly on a par; that in two 
 armies of equal numbers, the degrees of 
 difcipline will determine how far one is 
 fuperior to the other. His great objed, 
 therefore, is to keep his own army at the 
 higheft poffible degree of perfedion in this 
 effential point. If that could be done by 
 gentle means, undoubtedly he would pre- 
 fer them.— He is not naturally of a cruel 
 difpofition. — His general condtid to officers 
 
 of 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 1 63 
 
 of rank proves this.— Finding that the 
 hopes of promotion, and a fenfe of ho- 
 nour, are fufhcient motives to prompt 
 them to their duty, he never has had re- 
 courie, except in cafes of treachery, to 
 any higher punifhment than difmiffing 
 them. In fome remarkable inftances, he 
 has difplayed more mildnefs than is ufual 
 in any other fervice. Some of his Generals 
 have allowed towns of the greateft im- 
 portance to be taken by furprife; others 
 have loft intire armies ; yet he never was 
 influenced by popular clamour, or by the 
 ruinous condition of his own affairs in 
 confequence of thofe Ioffes, to put any of 
 the unfortunate generals to death. And 
 when any of them have been fufpended 
 for a certain time, or declared, by the 
 decree of a court-martial, incapable of a 
 military command under him, he has ne- 
 ver aggravated the fentence by any- oppro- 
 brious commentary, but has rather al- 
 leviated it by fome claufe or meffage, 
 M 2 which 
 
i6+ VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 which fpared the honour of the condemned 
 general. 
 
 The common foldiers cannot be kept to 
 their duty by mild treatment. Severe and 
 immediate corporal punifhment is found 
 abfolutely necefiary. — Not to ufe it at 
 all, or to ufe it in a degree incapable 
 of producing the full effed, would be 
 weaknefs. Soldiers are fometimes punch- 
 ed for flips, which perhaps all their at- 
 tention cannot prevent; becaufe, though 
 it is impoffible to afcertain, that any par- 
 ticular man could have avoided them, yet 
 experience has taught, that, by punifhing 
 every blunder, fewer are committed on 
 the whole. This fufficiently juftifies the 
 pradice of what you call cruelty, but 
 which is in reality falutary difcipline; for 
 an individual fuffering unjuftly is not fo 
 great an evil in an army, as the permit- 
 ting negligence to pafs unpunifhed. To 
 allow ten guilty men to efcape, rather 
 
 than 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 165 
 
 than rifk the punifliment of one innocent 
 perfon, may be a good maxim in morality, 
 or in civil government, but the reverfe will 
 be found preferable in military dlfcipline. 
 
 When the Pruflian had finifhed his dif- 
 courfe, I faid, You feem to negledt all 
 thofe incitements which are fuppofed to 
 influence the minds of foldiers; the love 
 of glory, the love of country, you count 
 as nothing. You addrefs yourfelf to no 
 paflion but one. — Fear is the only inftru- 
 ment by which you compel your common 
 men to deeds of intrepidity. — Never mind 
 the inftrument, replied the Pruflian, but 
 look to the effeft. 
 
 I am convinced, anfwered I, that Britilh 
 foldiers, with that degree of difcipline 
 which fubfifts in our army, which is not 
 near fo rigid as yours, animated by their 
 native courage, and the intereft which even 
 the common men take in all their coun- 
 
i66 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 try s quarrels, are at leaft equal to any other 
 troops. 
 
 I hope, faid he, the experiment will 
 not be made foon, for I efteem your na- 
 tion, and fhould be forry to fee your troops 
 oppofed to ours in the field : but till they 
 are, you cannot be fure of the juftnefs of 
 your aflertion. The advantages you gain- 
 ed over the French in the late war rather 
 makes for my argument, becaufe the French 
 army is more remifs in the article of dis- 
 cipline than yours. 
 
 I then returned to my old ground, the 
 cruelty of haraffing and tormenting men 
 without intermiflion; and afferted, that 
 the advantages arifing from fuch exceflive 
 feverity, even though they fhould be as 
 great as he reprefented, coulcj not form a 
 fufficient reafon for rendering the lives of 
 fo many men miferable. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 167 
 
 I do not know that they are miferable, 
 replied he. — When men are but indiffe- 
 rently fed, forced to perform very hard 
 duty, certain of being feverely. putpfhed for 
 the fmalleft faults, and fometimes even for 
 they: misfprtunes, can you. doubt, faid I, 
 that thefe men are miferable? — They do 
 not feem miferable, replied h e , they b^ar 
 it very well.- — j — And would, you? added I, 
 have the feff femprfe iy tormenting 
 bec.au fe they have the ftrength of miyd to 
 bear it well r 
 
 I then told him a ftory I had heard of 
 an Englifh failor, who was tried for a rob- 
 bery he had committed on the highway. 
 While his doom was pronouncing, he raff- 
 ed a piece of rolled tobacco to his mouth, 
 and held it between his teeth till he heard 
 the fentence of death paffed on him. He 
 then bit off a piece of the tobacco, and be- 
 gan to chew it with great unconcern. 
 Sirrah, faid the judge, piqued at the 
 man’s indifference, do you know that you 
 M 4 are 
 
s6'8 VIEW OF SOCIETY ANP 
 
 are to be hanged in a very fhort time? — So 
 I hear, faid the failor, fquirting a little to- 
 bacco juice from his mouth- — Do you 
 know, rejoined the judge, where jou fhall 
 go when you die? — I cannot tell indeed, 
 an’t pleafe your honour, faid the failor.— 
 Why, then, cried the judge, with a tre- 
 mendous voice, I will tell you: You will 
 go to hell, you villain, and there be. burnt 
 to all eternity.— If I fliould, replied the 
 failor, with perfect tranquillity, I hope, 
 $ny Lord, I fhall be able to bear it. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 169 
 
 LETTER LXViri. 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 gERLIN is certainly one of the moft 
 beautiful cities in Europe. The ftreets 
 are built in a very regular manner, and of 
 a commodious breadth. In the. new town 
 they are perfectly ftraight. Frederick- 
 ltreet is reckoned two Englilh miles and a 
 half, or a French league, in length. Others 
 which go off at right angles from that, are 
 a mile, or a mile and a half long. 
 
 Some people aflert, that Berlin covers 
 as much ground as Paris. Thefe are not 
 Frenchmen, as you will readily believe; 
 neither am I of that opinion, but it cer- 
 tainly approaches much nearer to Paris in 
 fize than in number of inhabitants ; Ber- 
 lin is undoubtedly more than half the fize 
 
 of 
 
1 7P NUi\y OF SOCIETY AK'D 
 
 of Paris, yet I am convinced it does not 
 contain above a fifth of the inhabitants. 
 
 There are a few very magnificent build- 
 ings in this town. The reft are neat 
 houfes, built of a fine white free-ftone, 
 generally one, or at moft two ftories.high. 
 Here, as at Potfdam, the finifhing within 
 does not correfp'ond with the elegance of 
 the outfide, and the foldiers are quartered 
 on the ground-floor in rooms lopking to the 
 ftreet. The principal edifices are the 
 King’s palace, and that of Prince Henry* 
 Both of thefe are very magnificent. ^ ho 
 arfenal, which is a noble ftrutture, is 
 built in the form of a fquare. W e were 
 informed, that at prefent it contains arms 
 for 200,000 men. I am convinced this, is 
 no exaggeration. 
 
 The new Roman Catholic church is by 
 far the moft elegant place of worfhip in 
 tlie city. The King allows the free exe;- 
 
 4 cife 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, See, 171 
 
 cife of every religion over all his dominions. 
 He thinks the ftnalleft controul over men’s 
 confluences highly unjuft. He even has 
 the delicacy not to influence them by his 
 example, and offends no religion, by giving 
 a preference to any one in particular. 
 
 On the front of the opera-houfe, which 
 is a very beautiful ftru&ure, is this in- 
 feription .- 
 
 FREDERICUS REX, APO.LLINI ET MUSIS. 
 
 After obferving the inferiptions and or- 
 naments of the palaces and other public 
 buildings, the new method of decorating 
 the churches, the number of Mercuries, 
 Apollos, Minervas, and Cupids, that are 
 to be met with in this country, a ftranger 
 might be led to fufped:, that the Chriftian 
 religion was exploded from the Pruflian 
 dominions, and old Jupiter and his family 
 reftored to their ancient honours. 
 
 There 
 
172 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 * There is an eqiieftrian ftatfie of William, 
 the Great Elector, on the new bridge over 
 the Spree. This is highly efteemed as a 
 piece of fine workmanship.-— In the corner 
 of one of the fquares, is a ftatue of Marthal 
 Schwerin. He is reprcfented holding the 
 enfign with which he advanced at the 
 famous battle of Prague. — Perceiving his 
 troops on the point of giving way, he 
 feized this from the officer’s hands whofe 
 duty it was to carry it, and marched to- 
 wards the enemy, calling out. Let all but 
 cowards follow me. The troops, afhamed 
 to abandon their general, charged once 
 more, and turned the fortune of the day. — 
 But the brave old Marfhal was killed, in 
 the eighty-fourth year of his age. — Do 
 not you think the trouble of living fo long 
 was amply repaid by fuch a death ? 
 
 Inftead of faints or crucifixes, the King 
 intends, that the churches of Berlin fhall 
 be ornamented with the portraits of men 
 
 who 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 173 
 
 who have been ufeful to the Rate. Thofe 
 of the Marfhals Schwerin, Keith, Winter- 
 field, and fome others, are already placed 
 in the great Lutheran church. 
 
 The fociety into which ftrangers may be 
 admitted in this capital, is not various or 
 exteniive. The Pruffian officers of the 
 higher ranks, whofe time is not entirely 
 engrofied, like that of their inferiors, by 
 the duties of their profeftion, live moftly 
 with their own families, or with each 
 other. Excluftve of other reafons which 
 might determine them to this, it is under- 
 flood, that the King does not approve of 
 their forming intimacies with foreign mi- 
 niflers, or with ftrangers. 
 
 The D — of H followed the King 
 
 to Magdeburg to fee the reviews there, and 
 has fince made a tour as far as Leipfic, 
 with two Englifh gentlemen. My con- 
 nection 
 
i 7 4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 ne£tion with him, and the letter I brought 
 from the Dutchefs of Brunfwick, have pro- 
 cured me invitations, which I Ihould other- 
 wife have had but a fmall chance of re- 
 ceiving. I palled a day lately at a very 
 pleafant villa, about fix miles from Berlin, 
 belonging to the King’s brother, Prince 
 Ferdinand. He is married to a filler of 
 the Princefs of Helfe Calfel’s. The Prin- 
 cefs of Prufiia was there at the fame time, 
 and Prince Frederick of Brunfwick, with 
 his Princefs, who is remarkably pretty. 
 I have the honour of fupping fometimes 
 with Prince Frederick, who lives conflant- 
 ly at Berlin. To the fpirit and vivacity 
 common to all his family, he adds a talle 
 for poetry, and has compofed fome dra- 
 matic pieces in the French language, which 
 have been reprefented on a little theatre in 
 his own houfe, and in private focieties at 
 Berlin. — There has been a continued round 
 of feafting all the laft week. 
 
 The 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 175 
 
 The Princefs of Pruffia gave a breakfaft 
 at a garden in the Park, to which a large 
 company was invited. There was dancing, 
 which continued all the forenoon. Upon 
 all thefe occafions, I law fione of that Rate 
 and ceremony of which the Germans are 
 accufed. Thofe of the higheft rank be- 
 haved with the greateft eafe and affability 
 to every perfon prefent, and joined in the 
 country-dances, without obferving any 
 form or etiquette. 
 
 The minifter. Count Finkenftein, gave 
 a great dinner and ball, on account of the 
 marriage of one of his Tons. The Count 
 Reufe, and fome others, have alfo given 
 entertainments; but the chief and perma- 
 nent fociety is to be found at the houfes of 
 the foreign minifters who refide here. I 
 have been introduced to all of them by Mr. 
 Harris, his Majefty’s envoy extraordinary, 
 
 who 
 
176 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Who lives hete in a ftyle which does honour 5 
 to his country and himfeifi 
 
 We have received vdry great civilities alfo 
 from Baron Van Swieten, minifter from 
 the Court of Vienna, a man of wit and 
 erudition. He is fon to the celebrated 
 phyfician, whofe works are fo highly 
 efteemed all over Europe. There are two 
 or three general officers who are pretty 
 often at the houfes of thefe miniflers, and 
 entertain ftrangers occafionally at home. — - 
 Befides thofe I have named, there are very 
 few of the King of Pruffia’s fervants who 
 have any connection with the ftrangers that 
 come to Berlin. I have had the happinefs 
 of forming an acquaintance here with two 
 very agreeable French gentlemen, the 
 Marquis de Laval, fon of the Duke of 
 that name, and the Comte de Clermont, 
 grandfon of that Monf. de Saint Hillaire, 
 whofe arm was carried off by the fame 
 
 bullet 
 
MANNERS IN. FRANCE, &c. r 77 
 
 bullet which killed Marihal Turenne. 
 You remember, the fentiment which St. 
 Hillaire exprefied to his fon, who lament- 
 ed his wound.— A fentiment. which proved, 
 that his magnanimity was equal to that of 
 the hero whom he fo greatly preferred to 
 himfelf. Adieu v : : 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 N 
 
178 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXIX. 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 WHEN we arrived herefirft, the Queen 
 lived at Mont Bijou, a fmall palace 
 juft without the gates. Her Majefty had 
 a public day twice a week while fhe re- 
 mained there; but fhe has lately removed 
 to Shoenhaufen, another palace, fituated 
 two leagues from Berlin, where fhe paffes 
 the fummer. Here fhe has a public day 
 only once a week. The Princes, the no- 
 bility, the foreign minifters, and ftrangers, 
 generally attend on thefe occafions at five 
 in the evening. After her Majefty has 
 walked round the circle, and fpoke a few 
 words to every one, fhe fits down to cards. 
 There is a table for the Queen, and one 
 for each of the Princeffes, all of whom 
 choofe their own parties. The reft of the 
 
 company 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 179 
 
 company prefent themfelves for a few mi- 
 nutes at each of thefe ^card-tables, after 
 which the duty of the day is over, and 
 they walk in the garden, or form parties 
 at cards in the other apartments, as they 
 think proper, and return to Berlin when it 
 begins to grow dark. On fome particular 
 nights, her Majefty invites a conliaerable 
 number of the company to Tapper, who 
 then remain till midnight. 
 
 The Queen’s court refembles the other 
 Courts of Europe ; whereas that at Sans- 
 Souci is upon quite a new plan. No 
 Grangers are received there, nor any other 
 perfons, except fuch as have real bufinefs 
 with the King. There his Majefty is em- 
 ployed in his affairs from morning till even- 
 ing, and fpends the hours he deftines for 
 relaxation in the company of two or three 
 men of letters, and a few officers, who 
 dine with him daily. — When he has bufi- 
 nefs with any of his fervants, or with the 
 N 2 foreign 
 
i 80 VIEW OF. SOCIETY AND 
 
 Thofe affemblies at Shoenhaufen are the 
 only eftabliffied amufement for the ladies 
 of quality at Berlin during the fummer; 
 but you have frequent opportunities of 
 meeting with the court ladies at the houfes 
 of the foreign minifters. 
 
 The French manners and turn of think- 
 ing certainly prevail very little among the 
 Pruffian officers ; but the ladies of the 
 court of Berlin have more the air of French 
 women, than thofe of any court I have 
 feen. Mademoifelle de Hartfeld, firft lady 
 of honour to the Queen, with an infinite 
 deal of wit, has all the eafe and elegance 
 which diftinguiffi the ladies of the Court of 
 Verfailles. 
 
 foreign minifters, which cannot be execut- 
 ed by letter, they attend him at Sans-Souci, 
 and come away as foon as that bufinefs is 
 tranfa&ed. 
 
 His 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 181 
 
 His Majefty very feldom appears at the 
 Queen’s court, or at any place where 
 women form part of the aflembly. When 
 he inclines to unbend, his amufements are 
 of a nature in which they can take no {hare. 
 I once faid to a lady of this Court, that it 
 was a pity his Majefty did not love women. 
 — Confidering his time of life, faid fhe, we 
 could difpenfe with his love, but it is hard 
 that he cannot endure us. 
 
 Notwithftanding this humour of the 
 King’s, the ladies here are by no means 
 neglected by the men in general. Many 
 of the married women particularly, have 
 avowed admirers, who attend them on all 
 occafions, are invited with them to all en- 
 tertainments, fit next them at table, and 
 whom the mafter or miftrefs of' the feafl: 
 takes care to place in the fame party with 
 them at cards. When a lady is not pro- 
 vided with an attendant of this kind, her 
 hufband, as well as herfelf, is generally 
 N 3 a little 
 
J 82 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 a little out of countenance, and both feem 
 rather in an aukward fituation, till this ne- 
 cefifary concomitant be found. 
 
 A misfortune of a very ferious nature 
 happened lately to a certain gentleman 
 here; inftead of expreffing concern about 
 him or his wife (for he was a married 
 man), every body fympathized, in the ten- 
 dered; manner, with another lady, between 
 whom and this unfortunate gentleman the 
 mod intimate connection was thought 
 t-o fubfift : they faid fhe was one of the 
 worthieft women in the world, and of fuch 
 delicate feelings, that her health might be 
 injured by the impreffion the gentleman’s 
 misfortune would make upon her mind — 
 Being furprifed that no mention was made 
 of his wife all this time, I afked if fhe 
 might not alfo be in fome meafure affedfced 
 by her hufband’s difafter ?— I was told, that 
 fhe was other-wife occupied, and that any 
 thing which could happen her hufband w r as 
 
 of 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 183 
 
 of little or no importance to her. I then 
 enquired if flie and her hufband lived on 
 bad terms ; I was informed, that, on the 
 contrary, they were on the beft footing in 
 the world, for that he was much attached 
 to another woman— (the very lady they fo 
 greatly lamented) and that his wife was 
 entirely devoted to another man ; fo the 
 account between them being perfectly ba- 
 lanced, they lived free of all domeftic de- 
 bates, in a hate of mutual negleft, and 
 quite engroffed with feparate pafiions. 
 
 In this country, when both parties are 
 willing, and when there are no children, 
 a divorce may be obtained with very little 
 trouble or expence ; we are frequently in 
 companies, where a lady, her prefent, and 
 former hufband are at table, and all parties 
 behave in the moll polite and friendly man- 
 ner to each other. 
 
i8 4 VIEW of society and 
 
 I have heard of one gentleman, who 
 having lived in a fate cf domeftic jarring 
 with his wife, got her perfuaded to con- 
 cur with him in applying for a divorce. — 
 This was foon obtained.-— He then mar- 
 ried another woman, with whom he was 
 violently in love, and expected, as ufual, 
 eternal happinefs. After marriage, how- 
 ever, this paffion cooled rather fooner than 
 common, and within a few months he 
 became the profeffed admirer of his fir ft 
 wife, fie now law a thoufand charms in 
 her perfon and converfation, which had 
 entirely efcaped his notice, while the bonds 
 of wedlock fubfifted. He alfo difcovered 
 that certain peculiarities in her manner, 
 which he had formerly thought exceed- 
 ingly aukward, were in reality graceful. 
 He exprefled his remorfe for his former 
 blindnefs in the moft pathetic terms : the 
 lady was foftened, and at length gave the 
 moft perfect marks of forgivenefs j and it 
 
 was 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 185 
 
 was univerfally thought, that he thus 
 contrived to live in adultery with the 
 very woman to whom he had been lawfully 
 married. 
 
 Here jealoufy is held in equal contempt 
 and deteftation, and fcandal is very little 
 known. People feem fo fully occupied 
 with their own private affairs, that they fel- 
 dom trouble their heads about the bufinefs 
 of their neighbours. If, in the courfe of 
 converfation, an intimacy of a particular 
 kind is hinted at between people of different 
 fexes, it is mentioned accidentally as a fa£t 
 of no importance, and without the fmalleft 
 blame or ill-natured reflection on either of 
 the parties. One reafon of this may be, that 
 there is fcarce fuch a thing (I am affured) as 
 an old maid in his Pruflian Majefty’s do- 
 minions. 
 
 The moft fafhionable walk in Berlin, is 
 in the middle of one of the principal ftreets. 
 
 Before 
 
186 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 — Before the houfes on each fide there is a 
 eaufeway, and between thefe two caufeways 
 are fine gravel walks, planted with lime- 
 trees. — Tents are pitched under thefe, and 
 ice, lemonade, and other refrefhments fold. 
 The hands of mufic belonging to the regi- 
 ments pra&ife here in the fummer. — The 
 Company generally are in the greateft num- 
 ber in the evening, and often walk till it 
 is very late. 
 
 — Nunc et campus, et arese, 
 
 Lenefque fub no&ern fufurri, 
 
 Compofita repetantur hora. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 187 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 N O T H I N G furprifed me more, when 
 I firft came to Berlin, than the free- 
 dom with which many people fpoke of the 
 meafures of government, and the conduct 
 of the King. I have heard political to- 
 pics, and others which I fhould have 
 thought hill more ticklifh, difcuffed here 
 with as little ceremony as at a London 
 coffee-houfe. The fame freedom appears 
 in the bookfellers 5 (hops, where literary 
 productions of all kinds are fold openly. 
 The pamphlet lately publifhed on the di- 
 vifion of Poland, wherein the King is very 
 roughly treated, is to be had without dif- 
 ficulty, as well as other performances, 
 which attack fome of the moft confpicuous 
 characters with all the bitternefs of fatire. 
 
 Ago- 
 
i S 3 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 A government, fupported by an army 
 of 180,000 men, may fafely difregard the 
 criticifms of a few fpeculative politicians, 
 and the pen of the fatirift. While his 
 Majefty retains the power of difpofing of 
 the lives and properties of his fubje&s as 
 his wifdom fhall direct, he allows them 
 the moll perfect freedom to amufe them- 
 felves with as many remarks or jokes on 
 his conduct as they pleafe. 
 
 The mind of this monarch is infinitely 
 fuperior to that goffiping difpofition, by 
 which the defpicable race of whifperers 
 and retailers of fcandal thrive at fome 
 courts. Convinced that the fame perfidy, 
 which can betray a real converfation, may 
 invent a falfe one, he liftens to no little, 
 malicious tales of what has palled in pri- 
 vate companies, or during the hours of 
 convivial mirth. Any perfon who Ihould 
 attempt to repeat anecdotes of this kind 
 to him, would be driven from his prefence 
 
 with 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 1S9 
 
 with difgrace. He treats with eqfual con- 
 tempt all anonymous letters, and every 
 kind of injurious information, when the 
 informer declines appearing openly in fup- 
 port of his affertions. 
 
 This great Prince is fo perfectly devoid 
 of fufpicion and perfonal fear, that he re- 
 fides at Sans-Souci without any guard 
 whatever. An orderly ferjeant, or cor- 
 poral only, attends there in the day-time 
 to carry occafional orders to the garrifon 
 at Potfdam, whither he always returns in 
 the evening. In this houfe, where the 
 King fleeps every night, there are not 
 above ten or a dozen perfons, the fervants 
 included. When you recoiled that Sans- 
 Souci is a folitary manfion, about half a 
 league from Potfdam, where all the guards 
 are fliut up, and therefore could be of no 
 manner of ufe, in cafe of any attempt on 
 the King’s perfon during the night ; when 
 you confider that he, who lies thus de- 
 s fencelefs 
 
190 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 fencelefs and expofed, is a defpotic mo- 
 narch, who governs by the dictates of his 
 own will and underftanding, without mind- 
 ing the ill-humour or difcontent of any 
 man, or any fet of men, and who, no 
 doubt, has many inveterate enemies, you 
 muft confefs, that all thefe circum (lances 
 argue great magnanimity. 
 
 Berlin, though not a fortified, is cer- 
 tainly a very military town. When all the 
 foldiers of the garrifon are prefent, they 
 amount to 30,000. In their general conduct 
 they are quiet, and the police of the town is 
 pretty well regulated. Yet there are fome 
 kinds of irregularities which prevail in the 
 higheft degree. Public courtezans are more 
 numerous here than in any town in Europe, 
 in proportion to the number of inhabit- 
 ants. They appear openly at the win- 
 dows in the day-time, beckon to pafien- 
 gers as they walk in the ftreets, and ply 
 
 6 for 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 191 
 
 for employment in any way they pleafe, 
 without difturbance from the magiftrate. 
 
 It feems to be a received opinion here, 
 that the peace and happinefs of the com- 
 munity are not interrupted by this fpecies 
 of licentioufnefs ; or perhaps it is believed, 
 that an attempt to reftrain it would be at- 
 tended with confequences worfe than the 
 thing itfelf. Therefore nobody is allowed 
 to molefl or abufe thofe who have chofen 
 this for a trade, and as little attention is 
 paid to cuftomers, who frequent the cham- 
 bers of thofe ladies, as if they ftept into 
 any other houfe or fhop, to purchafe any 
 other commodity. 
 
 Another fpecies of debauchery is faid to 
 prevail in this capital. — I imagine, how- 
 ever, that what is related on that naufeous 
 fubjedt is greatly exaggerated. 
 
 The 
 
i 9 2 view of society and 
 
 The better kind of citizens and manufac- 
 turers live entirely among thofe of their own 
 rank, and without affeding the manners of 
 the courtiers, or hooping to the mean de- 
 bauchery of ,the commonalty, maintain the 
 decency, plainnefs, and honefty of the 
 German character. 
 
 His Pruflian Majefty has applied his at- 
 tention to no objed with fo much zeal, and 
 fo little fuccefs, as to the eftabli fifing of 
 commerce in his dominions. All his ef- 
 forts, in order to this, have been rendered 
 abortive by injudicious taxes, by monopo- 
 lies, and other reftridions. Commerce, 
 like the wild commoners of the air and the 
 foreft, when confined or (hackled, imme- 
 diately droops and dwindles, or, being 
 alarmed, like Love, 
 
 “ — at fight of human ties, 
 
 ct Spreads its light wings, and in a moment flies.** 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c, 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 J THANK you. Sir, for the poem and 
 
 pamphlets you fent me by .. I 
 
 own I do not think the former a very ca- 
 pital performance ; yet am not furprifed at 
 the great run it has had. For though it 
 had contained ftill a fmaller proportion of 
 wit, it would have been a good deal re- 
 lifhed on account of the malignity and 
 perfonal abufe with which it abounds. 
 
 The Englifh nation have always had a 
 great appetite for political writings; but 
 thofe who cater for them have of late 
 ferved up fuch mefles of mere politics, as 
 feem at length to have turned their fto- 
 machs. A little wit or perfonal 
 now found neceffary to make even a news- 
 Vol, II, O paper 
 
194 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 paper go down. The firft is not always 
 at the command of the caterer : he there- 
 fore ufes the other in its place, which an- 
 fwers his purpofe as well. 
 
 I never had any delight in contemplat- 
 ing or expofing the dark fide of human na- 
 ture; but there are fome ihades fo obvi- 
 ous, that you cannot open your eyes with- 
 out obferving them. The fatisfa&ion that 
 many people enjoy in reading libels, where- 
 in private characters are traduced, is of 
 that number. If to be abufed in pam- 
 phlets and news-papers is confidered as ad- 
 verfity, the truth of Roehefoucault’s max- 
 im is uncontrovertible:^ — Dans l’adverfite 
 de nos meilleurs amis, nous trouvons tou- 
 jours quelquechofe qui ne nous deplait 
 pas. 
 
 The common fcribblers of the age have 
 turned to their own account this malevo- 
 lent difpofition, which they perceive to 
 
 i&e 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, & c. 195 
 
 be fo prevalent among men. — Like the 
 people who provide bulls and other animals 
 to be baited by dogs for the amufement of 
 the fpeCtators, thefe gentlemen turn out 
 a few characters every week to be mangled 
 and torn in the moft cruel manner in the 
 public news-papers. 
 
 It is the favage talie of thofe who pay for 
 thefe amufemeiits, which keeps them in 
 ufe. The writers of fcurrilous books in 
 London often bear no more malice to the 
 individuals they abufe, than the people at 
 Paris and Vienna, who provide the other 
 horrid amufement, bear to the boars, bulls, 
 and other animals, which they expofe to 
 the fury of dogs. 
 
 As for the fcribblers, they feldom have 
 any knowledge of the perfons whofe cha- 
 racters they attack. It is far from being 
 impoffible, that the author of the fevere 
 verfes yoti fent me, has no more acquaint- 
 ance of the lords and gentlemen againft 
 O 2 whom 
 
1 96 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 whom he writes with fuch bitternefs, 
 than the weaver who wove their pocket- 
 handkerchiefs. The motive for the fa- 
 brication of the one as well as the other 
 commodity mod probably was daily bread, 
 and this poetafter has preferred fatire to 
 panegyric, merely becaufe he knew the 
 firft was mod to the tafte of his cuftomers. 
 
 I remember once to have been in a cer- 
 tain bookfeller’s Ihop, when a letter was 
 delivered to him, inclofing a paper, which, 
 after he had thrown his eyes over it, he 
 prefented to me, telling me it was a 
 character of Lord S , which he in- 
 
 tended to infert in a certain work then 
 publifhing. — I fancy, added he, it will do 
 pretty well; the author is a fharp blade, 
 I allure you; — none of my boys carry fuch 
 an edge, or cut fo deep, as that little gla- 
 diator. 
 
 I found this a moll: bitter invedtive 
 
 againH: the above-mentioned nobleman, 
 
 c written 
 
 / 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 197 
 
 written with all the inveteracy of malice 
 and perfonal enmity, branding him as a 
 prodigy of fenfuality, and accufing him of 
 every villanous difpofition and propenfity 
 that ever tainted the molt corrupt heart. 
 
 This, faid I, is a much more harmlefs 
 produdion than is intended. The violence 
 of this poifon will prove its own antidote. 
 The moll voracious flomach for Hander 
 and defamation will not be able to bear 
 fuch a dofe, but muft rejed it with dif- 
 guft. Every reader of common underftand- 
 ing will clearly perceive, that all this 
 abufe has been didated by malice and per- 
 fonal refentment. 
 
 Then, replied the bookfeller, every reader 
 of common underftanding will clearly per- 
 ceive what does not exift ; for the writer 
 of that paper, to my certain knowledge, 
 never had the fmallefl intercourfe or con- 
 
 nedion with Lord S $ never bore him 
 
 O 3 any 
 
198 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 any ill-will, and has not the moft diftant 
 wifti to injure that noble Lord ; as a proof 
 of which, added he, taking another paper 
 out of his drawer, here is a chara&er of 
 the fame nobleman, written by the fame 
 author, which is to appear about a week 
 after the publication of the former, by way 
 of anfwer to it. 
 
 This fecond paper was a continued eu- 
 
 logium on Lord 3 from beginning to 
 
 end, in which the candid author, having 
 compared him to fome of the greateft and 
 moft: celebrated men, and having collected 
 many of the brighteft flowers, with which 
 Plutarch has adorned his worthies, he 
 forms them into one large wreath, which 
 he very ferioufly binds round the Englifti 
 nobleman’s brow, concluding with this 
 obfervation, That as his Lordlhip refem- 
 bled them in their virtues, fo like them 
 he had been diftinguiftied by the moft vi- 
 rulent attacks of envy and malice, which 
 6 
 
 was 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 199 
 
 was a tax that had always been paid for 
 fuperior talents. 
 
 How comes my Lord S , faid I to 
 
 the bookfeller, to be fele&ed from his bre- 
 thren of the peerage, and diftinguifhed 
 fo remarkably by the obloquy and the 
 praife of your ingenious friend ? 
 
 Becaufe, replied he, that nobleman is at 
 the head of an adtive department, and is 
 one of thofe vigorous and decifive charac- 
 ters, which never fail to create a number 
 of enemies and of friends. His enemies 
 are delighted to fee him abufed, and it is 
 expended, that his friends will be charmed 
 to hear him praifed ; and, between the 
 two, my friend’s produ&ions will find a 
 brifk fale, and I hope to make a tolerable 
 job of his Lordihip ; which, let me tell 
 you, cannot be done with every man of 
 rank. — Lord, Sir ! there are fome of them 
 of fuch mawkiih, water-gruel charac- 
 O 4 ters, 
 
200 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 ters, as to intereft no mortal. There is 
 
 a man of fucli high 
 rank and fuch a known name, that I 
 thought fomething might have been made 
 of him : — -And fo I employed my little 
 Drawcanlir for and againft him, and two 
 very pretty pamphlets he produced; — but 
 juft as I was going to fend them to the 
 prefs, I happened to fliew them to a 
 friend of mine, who is an admirable judge 
 in thefe matters. — Thefe pamphlets, fays 
 he, are very well wrote ; but they’ll never 
 pay the printing. The perfon who is the 
 fubjeft of them is of fuch a cold, tame, 
 civil, cautious difpofition, and has ba- 
 lanced fo exactly through the whole of 
 his life, that he has neVer obliged or dif- 
 obliged any one. He has neither friend 
 nor foe in the world : — Every body fays, he 
 is a good enough fort of a man ; but were 
 lie to break his neck to-night, no human 
 creature would feel either forrow or fa- 
 tisfa&ion at the event, and a fatire or pa- 
 negyric 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 201 
 
 negyric on his grandmother would be as 
 much read as thofe written on him. 
 
 In faith, fir, concluded the Bookfeller, I 
 took the hint, and fo the pamphlets never 
 appeared. 
 
 Though I was a good deal entertained 
 with my friend the Bookfeller’s reafoning, 
 yet I could not help feeling indignation at 
 the literary bravo, who lived in this in- 
 famous manner, by wounding and murder- 
 ing, or at lead attempting to murder 
 people’s reputations. And thofe are not 
 entirely free from blame, who detefting 
 the writer, take pleafure in the writings. 
 He has very poffibly the plea of neceffitous 
 circumftances to urge in alleviation of his 
 wickednefs: — but the pleafure they take 
 feems to proceed from a pure, difinterefted 
 fondnefs of feeing others abufed. Many 
 of thofe who cry fhame on the licentiouf* 
 n,efs of the prefs, and exclaijn againft the 
 
 injuftice 
 
202 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 injuftice and cruelty of tearing private cha- 
 racters to pieces in public papers, have the 
 molt virulent of thefe productions ferved 
 up every morning as regularly as their 
 toafl and butter. If they would forego the 
 pleafure of reading the moft malicious of 
 thofe compofitions, the evil they complain 
 of would ceafe dire&ly. 
 
 But it is ridiculous, and feems ungrate- 
 ful, for people to affedb an appearance of 
 indignation againfl thofe who provide for 
 them one of the greatell enjoyments of 
 their lives. To chuckle over fcandal all 
 the forenoon with every mark of pleafure, 
 and decry it in the evening with affedted 
 anger, is as prepoilerous as it would be in a 
 judge, firft to feduce a poor wench to for- 
 nication, and then punifh her for the fin. 
 
 You may poflibly retort upon me, by 
 putting me in mind of the admiration I 
 expreiled of the flyle of certain celebrated 
 
 letters, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 203 
 
 tetters, wherein fome eminent characters 
 are differed, and tortured with the fcientific 
 fkill of an anatomift, and the refined cruel- 
 ty of an inquifitor. I anfwer, that I ad- 
 mired the wit and genius, but not the dif- 
 pofition difplayed in thofe letters. 
 
 Malice, when introduced by genius 
 and wit, is often tolerated on account of 
 the refpeCt due to the introducers; but 
 when the wretch comes alone, or is ac- 
 companied by dulnefs, which often hap- 
 pens, fhe will be expelled with infamy 
 from all good company. 
 
St 04 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXXII. 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 ^JpHE Pruffian army at prefent, accord- 
 ing to my information, confifts of 
 180,000 men. If twenty, or even thirty 
 thoufand are deduced from this ac- 
 count, on the fuppofition that it is exagge- 
 rated, {till the remainder will be very great, 
 and the expence of fuch an eftablilhment 
 in time of peace, feems to many almoft in- 
 compatible with the King of Pruffia’s re- 
 fources. Although the revenues of this 
 monarch are much greater than is general- 
 ly imagined, yet the armies he has fupport- 
 ed, and continues to fupport; the palace 
 he has built, and other expenfive under- 
 takings which he has completed, are not 
 fuch proofs of the greatnefs of his revenue, 
 as of the prudence with which it has been 
 
 managed. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c» 205 
 
 managed. Many other Princes have greater 
 revenues, which, like water fpilt on un- 
 cultivated land, and affifting the growth of 
 ufelefs weeds, are diffipated without tafte 
 or magnificence on the trumpery of a 
 court and their dependents. Perhaps it was 
 never known what miracles, oeconomy, and 
 alfiduity through all the departments of 
 government could perform, till this mo- 
 narch made it apparent. 
 
 In the King of Pruflia’s dominions, there 
 are none of thofe pofts which enrich indi- 
 viduals at the expence of the public; 
 places fuited to the abilities and the luxury 
 of the great, where the falary is large, be- 
 caufe the application and talents requifite 
 are fmall. If thofe who hold the molt lu- 
 crative places in this court, can fupport a 
 becoming dignity by the emoluments of 
 their office, and lay up a very moderate 
 provifion for their families, it is the titmoft 
 they ever expert. 
 
 All 
 
206 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 All commodities are highly taxed in the 
 Fruffian dominions. At Berlin, though 
 money is a great deal fcarcer than at Lon- 
 don or Paris, a flranger will find very little 
 difference in the ordinary expence of living* 
 There are no means by which his revenue 
 can be augmented, which this King has not 
 tried. He has taxed even the vanity of his 
 fubje&s, and drawn confiderable fupplies 
 fince the beginning of his reign from that 
 plentiful fource. The rage which the Ger- 
 mans, above all men, have for titles, 
 prompts many of the wealthy citizens to 
 purchafe that of fome office about court; 
 and although the King employs no perlon 
 void of abilities, he never fcruples to per- 
 mit this kind of traffic. The title, how- 
 ever, is literally all that is fold, for with re- 
 gard to the real bufinefs of the office, the 
 purchafer has as little connection with 
 it after the bargain as before. Though 
 his Majefty fcarcely ever confults with 
 any body, he has more nominal privy-* 
 
 counfellors 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 207 
 
 coimfellors than any King in Chriften- 
 dom. 
 
 The taxes in general are invariably fixed; 
 but methods are found of drawing contri- 
 butions from the proprietors of the very 
 great eftates, which do not affe£l the 
 fmaller landlords, or the reft of the fub- 
 je<fts. The fpirit of the government is 
 not favourable to great and independent 
 Lords. But both the great and the fmall 
 landlords are prevented from fqueezing or 
 opprefling the peafants. As the foldiery 
 are drawn from them, care is taken that 
 they fhall not be deprived of the chief 
 fource of health and vigour, and there is 
 no peafantry in Europe better fed than the 
 Pruffian. 
 
 The army is chiefly compofed of pro- 
 vincial regiments. The whole Pruffian 
 dominions being divided into circles or 
 cantons; in each of thefe, one or more re- 
 giments, 
 
208 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 giments, in proportion to the fize and po- 
 puloufnefs of the divifion, have been ori- 
 ginally raifed, and from it the recruits con- 
 tinue to be taken; and each particular re- 
 giment is always quartered, in the time of 
 peace, near the canton from which its re- 
 cruits are drawn. 
 
 Whatever number of fons a peafant may 
 have, they are all liable to be taken into 
 the fervice except one, who is left to affift 
 in the management of the farm. The reft 
 wear badges from their childhood, to mark 
 that they are deftined to be foldiers, and 
 ready to ferve when the ftate requires them. 
 If a peafant has only one fon, he is not 
 forced into the fervice, except he has the 
 misfortune to be uncommonly flout and 
 well-made. The King, however, endea- 
 vours to fave his own peafantry, and draw 
 as many recruits as he can from other 
 countries: — For this purpofe, there are 
 Pruffian officers employed at Hamburgh, 
 
 Frankfort, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. icg 
 
 Frankfort, and other free towns of Ger- 
 many. I have feen them alfo at Neufcha- 
 tel, and at places near French garrifons, 
 attempting to inlift men, and pick up de- 
 ferters. The recruits procured in this man- 
 ner, remain continually with the regiments 
 in which they are placed ; but the native 
 Pruffians have every year eight or nine 
 months of furlough, during which they 
 return to their fathers’ or brothers’ houfes, 
 and work at the bufinefs of the farm, or 
 gain their livelihood in any other way they 
 pleafe. Here is at once an immenfe fav- 
 ing in the expence of the army, and a great 
 gain to the (late from the labour of fo 
 many men. 
 
 From this it appears, that the Pruffian 
 army is neither more nor lefs than a (land- 
 ing militia, embodied for two or three 
 months every year, and then difperfed to 
 their ufual labours as farmers. 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 P 
 
 I think 
 
2io VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 I think this decides our old difpute on 
 the fubjedt of {landing armies and militia. 
 I expert therefore that you will, by the re- 
 turn oi pod, fairly and candidly acknow- 
 ledge that I was in the right, and that all 
 your arguments to prove, that a militia 
 could not be depended on in the time of 
 adtual fervice, are built on falfe principles, 
 and that my opinion was juft and well- 
 founded. 
 
 Before clofing this letter, I will inform 
 you of a very fingular incident, the cir- 
 cumftances of which I relate, not fo much 
 with a defign to illuftrate the character or 
 fentiments of the vulgar of this place in 
 particular, as to furnifh you with a curious 
 fadt in the hiftory of human nature in 
 general. 
 
 I went a few days fince with Mr. F 
 
 to fee a man executed for the murder of a 
 child. — His motives for this horrid deed 
 3 were 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 211 
 
 •were much more extraordinary than the 
 a&ion itfelf. Fie had accompanied fome 
 of his companions to the houfe of a fellow, 
 who affumed the character of a fortune- 
 teller, and having difobliged him, by ex- 
 prelling a contempt of his art, the fellow, 
 out of revenge, propbefied, that this man 
 fhould die on a fcaffold.-^-This feemed to 
 make little impreffion at the time, but af- 
 terwards recurred often to this unhappy 
 creature’s memory, and became every day 
 more trouble tome to his imagination. At 
 length the idea haunted his mind fo in- 
 cehantly., that he was rendered perfectly 
 
 endure 
 
 imfelf to death with 
 his own hands, had he not been deterred 
 by the notion, that God Almighty never 
 forgives filicide; though, upon repentance, 
 he is very ready to pardon every other 
 crime. He refolved, therefore, to commit 
 P 2 murder, 
 
212 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 murder, that he might be deprived of life 
 by the hands of juftice ; and mingling a 
 fentiment of benevolence with the cruelty 
 
 n 1 
 
 of his intention, he reflected, that if he 
 murdered a grown perfon, he might pofli- 
 bly fend a foul to hell. To avoid this, he 
 determined to murder a child, who could 
 not have committed any fin which de- 
 fended damnation, but dying in innocence, 
 would go immediately to Heaven. In 
 confluence of thefe ideas, he a&ually 
 murdered an infant of his mafter’s, for 
 whom he had always fhewn an uncommon 
 degree of fondnefs. Such was the ftrange 
 account which this infatuated creature gave 
 on his trial ; — and thus the random pro- 
 phecy proved, as in many other cafes, the 
 caufe of its own completion. 
 
 He was executed about two miles from 
 Berlin. As foon as he afcended the fcaflfold, 
 he took off his coat and waiftcoat; — his 
 fhirt was rolled down below his fhoulders ; 
 
 8 —his 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 213 
 
 — his night-cap was pulled over his eyes; — • 
 he was placed on his knees, and the exe- 
 cutioner with a fingle flroke of a broad 
 fword fevered his head from his body, — It 
 was the firft time this executioner had per- 
 formed : — there were two others of the 
 fame trade on the fcaffold, who exhibited 
 an inftance of infenfibility more ffiocking 
 than the execution. — While the man’s head 
 rolled on the fcaffold, and the arteries of the 
 trunk poured out their blood, thofe men, 
 with the gayeft air you can imagine, fhook 
 their brother by the hand, wiffied him joy, 
 and clapped him on the back, congratulat- 
 ing him on the dexterous and effe&ual man- 
 ner in which he ha 4 performed his office. 
 
214 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXXIII. 
 
 \ 
 
 Berlin. 
 
 T HE D of H having expreff- 
 
 ed an inclination to vifit the court of 
 Mecklenburg Strelitz, I accompanied him 
 thither foon after his return from Magde- 
 burg and Leipftc, The weather being ful- 
 try, his Grace thought that travelling in 
 the night would be mod agreeable. We 
 did not fet out therefore till about fix or 
 feven in the evening. The firft poft-houfe 
 is four German miles from Berlin ; but as 
 great part of the road is through a large 
 wood, and the night became very dark, 
 the poftillions loft their way. In a fhort 
 time we were perfe&ly bewildered, and 
 without the fmalleft notion which direc- 
 tion we ftiould follow. After many in- 
 effectual attempts to find out the path, we 
 
 thought 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 215 
 
 thought it would be moft prudent to unyoke 
 the horfes, and allow them to graze a- 
 round, while we flept in the chaife till day- 
 break. This plan was literally followed : 
 as foon as the fervants, by the light of the 
 rifing fun, had difcovered the path, we 
 proceeded by Oranienburg and Seidneek 
 to Reinfburg, which is a magnificent caftle 
 belonging to Prince Henry of Pruffia. 
 
 The gardens here are very extenfive, and 
 have been highly improved and ornament- 
 ed by this Prince, who has a good tafte, and 
 a magnificent turn of mind. 
 
 When we arrived at the town of New 
 Strelitz, we were informed that the court 
 was at Brandenburg. The Ducal refidence 
 was formerly at Old Strelitz ; but the 
 palace there, with all the magnificent fur- 
 niture and effects, was burnt to afhes about 
 fifty years ago. The fire having broke out 
 P 4 m 
 
21 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 in the night-time, the family themfelves 
 had a very narrow efcape. 
 
 A new palace has been fince built at the 
 diflance of two Englifh miles from where 
 the former flood, but in a much more 
 agreeable fituation, being placed on a 
 gentle eminence near a fine lake ; and the 
 town of New Strelitz has gradually arifen 
 in the neighbourhood. 
 
 After a fhort flay at Strelitz, we proceed- 
 ed to New Brandenburg, which is fome 
 leagues farther north, and within a fmall 
 diflance of the Baltic. We arrived there 
 in the morning of the third day after we 
 had left Berlin. When the Chamberlain of 
 
 the Court was informed of the D of 
 
 H— — — ’s arrival, we received an invitation 
 to dinner, and a coach and equipage were 
 ordered to attend his Grace. 
 
 The 
 
1MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 
 
 The reigning Duke of Mecklenburg 
 Strelitz is unmarried, as well as the Prin- 
 cefs, his filler, who lives conllantly with 
 him. They are both of a darker com- 
 plexion than the Queen of Great Britain, 
 and neither of them fo tali ; nor have they 
 much external refemblance of her Majefty, 
 except in the affability of their manner. 
 The Duke is beloved by his fubje&s, on 
 account of the humanity and benevolence 
 of his difpofition, which feem to be char 
 ra&eriftic of the whole family. — After 
 dinner there was a concert of mufic, and 
 card-playing till fupper. 
 
 The whole country of Mecklenburg was 
 for many centuries under the government 
 of one Prince. In the year 1 592, on the 
 death of the Sovereign, it was divided be- 
 tween his two fons. The eldeft, retaining 
 the Dutchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin, 
 which is confiderably the largell fhare; the 
 younger obtained the Dutchy of Mecklen- 
 burg 
 
2 1 8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 burg Strelitz. This Iaft branch became 
 extinft in the year 1695-, and Duke Fre- 
 deric William, of the eldeft branch, laid 
 claim to the inheritance of the Dutchy of 
 Strelitz. But he was oppofed by Adolphus 
 Frederic, his father’s younger brother, and 
 the conteft was fettled by compromife be- 
 tween the parties in 1701. The right of 
 primogeniture, and the lineal fucceffion, 
 were then eftablifhed in both houfes, and 
 this final agreement was ratified by the 
 Emperor. 
 
 The country here is not a fandy flat, as 
 around Berlin ; but the foil becomes gra- 
 dually better as you move from that city, 
 and around New Brandenburg it is re- 
 markably fertile. Though the fouthern 
 border of this Dutchy is flat, fandy and bar- 
 ren, yet all the northern part is of a rich 
 verdure, finely diverfified with hills, mea- 
 dows, woods, and feveral beautiful lakes 
 from four to ten miles in length. The coun- 
 try 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 219 
 
 try yields plenty of com, hemp, flax, ex- 
 cellent paftu re for numerous flocks of fheep, 
 and a good breed of horfes. — New Bran- 
 denburg is a neat and thriving town, very 
 agreeably fituated. The inhabitants carry 
 on a con fide r able trade in hops, which grow 
 in great abundance all around. 
 
 This country, which feems to be happy 
 in its prince and other particulars, cannot 
 rank among its bleffings the neighbourhood 
 of fo great and warlike a monarch as the 
 King of Pruffia. In the courfe of the late 
 war, both the Mecklenburgs buffered very 
 feverely from this circumftance. The Ruf- 
 fians and Auffrians, who pillaged the mid- 
 dle Mark of Brandenburg, did not afcertain 
 with nicety where the King of Pruflia’s do- 
 minions ended, and the Duke of Strelitz’s 
 began ; but as often as there was any thing 
 valuable to carry away, plundered both 
 without diftin&ion. And when that Mo- 
 narch 
 
220 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 narch himfelf was driven to extremity, and* 
 obliged to ufe every means of recruiting his 
 army, the Mecklenburghers were cajoled 
 and feduced by every art into the Pruffian 
 fervice; and when thefe methods failed, they 
 were, as it is faid, taken by force. Even 
 at prefent, whenever the Pruffian recruiting 
 officers know of a ftrong well-looking pea- 
 fant belonging to the Dutchy of Mecklen- 
 burg, they ufe every means they can devife 
 to feduce him into their matter's fervice. — ■ 
 Complaints are frequently made of thefe 
 practices to his Pruffian Majefty, and redrefs 
 will be given when it fhall pieafe the 
 Lord. 
 
 The fecond day after our arrival, we 
 fpent the forenoon in viewing every thing 
 worthy of notice in the town, and dined 
 again at court, where there was a more nu- 
 merous company than had been the firft 
 day. After dinner we accompanied his 
 Highnefs aqd the Princefs to an affembly in 
 
 the 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 221 
 
 the town, and returned to fup at the court. 
 During fupper there was a concert of vocal 
 and inftruraental mufic. 
 
 Having received every mark of polite at- 
 tention from this Prince, we took leave of 
 him and the Princefs, and left the town early 
 next morning, and returned by Old Stre- 
 litz, which is not in fuch a flourilhing con- 
 dition, or fituated in fo fine a country, as 
 New Brandenburg. While Britifh fubjeds 
 pafs through this country, they will na- 
 turally refled with gratitude and veneration 
 on the charader of a Princefs whofe virtues 
 are an ornament to the Britifh throne, and 
 whofe amiable manners and prudent con- 
 dud have united the affedions of a people 
 divided by party, and irreconcilable in fen- 
 timent on almoft every other fubjed. 
 
 On our return to Berlin, I found a letter 
 from Lord Marechal, informing me, that 
 the King was expeded at Potfdam within 
 
 a very 
 
222 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 a very few days; that great preparations 
 were making for the reception of the Prin- 
 cefs of HeiTe and the Dutchefs of Wur- 
 temberg, who were then both at Berlin, 
 and were to pay a vifit to the King at 
 Sans-Souci ; that they would be accom- 
 panied by the Princefs Amelia, the King’s 
 unmarried filler, and his two fifters-in- 
 law, for all of whom apartments were 
 preparing at the new palace, where his 
 majefty alfo was to refide all the time that 
 his illuftrious guefts fhould remain. My 
 Lord added, that the celebrated Le Kain, 
 and a company of French comedians, were 
 already arrived, and alfo a company of 
 Italian aftors and fingers for the opera ; 
 and that both companies were to perform 
 at the theatre within the palace; that a 
 great concourfe of company was expedted 
 at Potfdarn on the occafion ; that moll of 
 the apartments in the town were already 
 befpoke, and, as he imagined we w r ou!d 
 incline to be there, he had engaged lodg- 
 ings for us. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 223 
 
 The Duke was extremely pleafed with 
 this obliging behaviour of Lord Marechal. 
 I afterwards fpoke to Mr. Harris on this 
 fubjed, and enquired if he intended to be 
 at Potfdam on the occafion ? He told me, 
 that as the plays, operas, and other enter* 
 tainments, were to be given in the palace, 
 nobody could attend them except thofe 
 who had particular invitations ; that nei- 
 ther he nor any of the foreign minifters had 
 been, or, as he underftood, were to be 
 invited, nor did he hear that any ftrangers 
 were expeded and that he imagined it 
 
 would be unbecoming the D — of H 
 
 to be at Potfdam at that time, except he 
 could with propriety attend the entertain- 
 ments at Sans-Souci. 
 
 His Grace, on hearing this account, 
 determined to remain here ; but fome days 
 after, I received a letter from Count Fin* 
 kenftein, acquainting me, that he had 
 orders to invite the D— of H— — and me 
 
 to 
 
224 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 to attend the entertainments to be given at 
 Sans-Soucii This afforded us great fatis- 
 fadion, not fo much on account of the 
 public entertainments, as becaufe it will 
 give us opportunities, which we could not 
 otherwife have, of feeing the King of 
 Pruflia, and probably in an eafier way 
 than at Berlin. As for the ufual amufe- 
 ments and fplendor of courts, his Grace 
 difplays more coolnefs about them than 
 one would naturally imagine, confidering 
 the manner in which he is received, his 
 time of life, and his perfonal appearance. 
 
 . — namque ipla decoram 
 
 Casfariem nato genitrix, lumenque juventae 
 Purpureum, & l^tos oculis afflarat honores. 
 
 Since our return fronq Mecklenburg, 
 we have paffed our time almoft conftantly 
 with Mr. Harris, who accompanied the 
 Duke yefterday on his laft vilit to Shoen- 
 haufen ; for we fhall probably not return 
 to this place from Potfdam. Mr. F — fet 
 
 out 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 225 
 
 out a few days ago for Frankfort on the 
 Maine; his eafy humour, and original 
 turn of thought, make his abfence felt 
 ■with pain by all who have tafted the plea- 
 fure of his converfation. 
 
 Adieu. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 CL 
 
226 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXXIV. 
 
 Potfdam. 
 
 W E . have been here about a fortnight. 
 His Majefty arrived at the new pa- 
 lace of Sans-oouci about the fame time 
 tnat we came to Potfdam. The Princefs 
 Amelia, who is miftrefs of the ceremonies, 
 was there to receive him. The company 
 I formerly mentioned are all lodged in the 
 palace. I will give you a fhort (ketch of 
 what has palled. 
 
 There has been a theatrical entertain- 
 ment every fecond or third day. His 
 Grace and I attend at Sans-Souci on 
 thefe days only. We drive from Potfdam 
 about hve in the evening. The company 
 afi'emble in one of the apartments of the 
 palace about that time, and walk to the 
 
 play- 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 227 
 
 playhoufe a little before fix. The theatre 
 is very well contrived for the accommo- 
 dation of a fmall audience. There are 
 neither boxes nor pit; but femicircular 
 benches in the front of the ftage. The 
 foremoft bench is upon the floor ; the 
 others rife gradually behind, .that all the 
 fpeftators may fee equally well. 
 
 A few minutes after the company are 
 placed, the Royal Family arrive. The 
 Princefs Amelia is led in by Prince Fre- 
 deric of Brunfwick, and the Princefs of 
 Hefle by the King. The Dutchefs of 
 Wertemberg, and the other Princefles, are 
 led in after; they, and the ladies their 
 attendants, fit in the firft rows. The 
 King generally feats himfelf in the third 
 or fourth. The piece then begins, and 
 is ufually finifhed about nine, after which 
 all the company return to the large apart- 
 ment, where the King remains converfmg 
 in a familiar manner till fupper is ready. 
 
 CLs He 
 
228 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 He then retires, and goes to bed at 
 ten. 
 
 Thofe whom the Princefs Amelia 
 orders to be invited, flay to (upper ; 
 and there is generally a pretty nume- 
 rous company. — We have been at this re- 
 pa ft three or four times, and ufually get 
 to our lodgings at Potfdam about mid- 
 night. 
 
 Hitherto there have been no comedies 
 aded, and I underhand there are to be 
 none, becaufe Le Kain never ads in co- 
 medy; and for another reafon, which is 
 equivalent to a thoufand, — his Majefty 
 loves tragedy better. 
 
 Le Kain has already appeared in fome of 
 his principal charaders. — You need not 
 doubt of his exerting all his powers be- 
 fore fuch an audience. — I might have faid, 
 fuch an auditor. The King feemed pleafed 
 
 with 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 229 
 
 with his adting, and of confequence the 
 courtiers wete in raptures, and vied with 
 each other who fhould praife him moft. 
 
 The tragedy of Oedipus is his Majefty’s 
 favourite piece. This has been reprefented 
 twice, and he feemed to enjoy it very 
 much on both occafions ; particularly when 
 the following fpeech againft priefts was 
 pronounced : 
 
 Tandis que par vos Coins vous pouvez tout apprendre. 
 Quel befoin que le Ciel ici fe fade entendre ? 
 
 Ces Dieux, dont le pontife a promis le fecours, 
 
 Dans leurs temples, Seigneur, n’habitent pas toujours; 
 On ne voit point leur bras fi prodigue en miracles; 
 
 Ces antres, ces trepieds, qui rendent leur* oracles, 
 
 Ces organes d’airain que nos mains ont formes, 
 
 Toujours d’un fouffle pur ne font point animes. 
 
 Ne nous endormons point fur la foi de le.urs pretres; 
 
 Au pied du fandluaire il eft fouvent des traitres, 
 
 Qui nous adervidant fous un pouvoir Caere, 
 
 Font parler les deftins, les font taire a leur gre. 
 
 Yovez, examinez, avee un Coin extreme, 
 
 Philodlete, Phorbas, & Jocafte clle-meme, 
 
 Ne nous fions qu’a nous, voyons tout par nos yeux, 
 
 Ce font la nos trepieds, nos oracles, nos Dieux. 
 
 CL3 
 
 And 
 
230 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 And afterwards, when Jocafta pours 
 forth another tirade of the fame kind, 
 which terminates with thefe lines : 
 
 Nos Pietres ne font point cequ’un vain peuple penfe; 
 
 Notre ciedulite fait toute leur fcience. 
 
 I happened to fit next to the Abbe 
 Baftiani, and, while the a&refs fpoke this, 
 the king ftarted up, coughed, and laughed, 
 with very fignificant geftures, to the eccle- 
 fi aftic. 
 
 But though thefe paflages, and fome 
 others, feem at firft fight to be fevere ' j 
 againft priefts, the tragedy of Oedipus, 
 upon the whole, does them great honour. 
 For all that is faid againft them, turns out i 
 to be unjuft, and it appears that the ora- 
 cle, which had been treated in fuch fevere 
 terms, was true, and that the high-prieft 
 had a&ed throughout like an honeft and 
 virtuous man. It furprifes me, therefore, 
 that Voltaire fhould have taken the plot 
 
 of 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 231 
 
 of his play from the Greek tragedy on 
 this fubje£t, which has conftrained him, 
 like Balaam the fon of Barak, to do ho- 
 nour to thofe whom he would have been 
 better pleafed to have curfed. — And the 
 King on his part (if I may prefume to 
 fay it) could not have pitched upon a tra- 
 gedy lefs a-propos, if his intention was 
 to turn the clergy into ridicule. 
 
 I have no obje&ion to this piece,- on 
 account of the honour done to the clergy ; 
 becaufe I cannot help forming an opinion 
 of men from my own experience : And I 
 have known fo many good men of that 
 profefiion, that I would refpeft it on their 
 account, exclufive of other reafons. 
 
 But I own I have the misfortune not to 
 follow this great monarch, and many other 
 refpe&able critics, in their admiration of 
 the tragedy of Oedipus. — The fable, in my 
 poor opinion, is too horrible. — 'The cir- 
 0^4 cumftance 
 
232 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 cumftance of Oedipus being married to his 
 mother, and having children by her, is 
 highly difgufting ; and the idea it gives of 
 Providence and the conduct of the gods, 
 cannot have a good effed on the mind. 
 Nothing could be more unjuft, than that 
 Heaven fhould fend a plague among the 
 inhabitants of Thebes, and pour fuch 
 vengeance on poor Oedipus and Jocafta, 
 for crimes of which it knew them to be 
 innocent. We cannot help admitting the 
 juftice of Oedipus’s reproaches againft: the 
 gdds, when he fays, 
 
 Le voila done rempli cet oracle execrable, 
 
 Dont raa crainte a prefle l’effet inevitable ; 
 
 Et je me vois enfin, par un melange affreux, 
 
 Incefle, & parricide, & pouitant vertueux. 
 
 Milerable vertu, nom fterile & funefle, 
 
 Toi par quij’ai regie des jours que je decelte, 
 
 A mon noir afeendant tu n’as pfi refiHer: , 
 
 Je tombais dans le piege, en voulant l’eviter. 
 
 Un dicu plus fort que moi m’entrainait vers le crime; 
 
 Sous mes pas fugitifs il creufait un abime ; 
 
 Etj’etais, malgre moi, dans mon aveuglement, 
 
 D’un pouvoir inconnu l’efclave & l’inftrument. 
 
 Voila 
 
MANNERS in FRANCE, &c. 233 
 
 Vqila tous rocs forfaits, je n’en connais point d’autrcs. 
 Impitoyables dieux, mes crimes (optics ypir.es, 
 
 Et vous m’en punifTez 
 
 We mu ft fufpeCt, however, that Jocafta 
 was miftaken in the opinion fhe utters in 
 the concluding lines of the tragedy. 
 
 Pietres, & voup Thebains, qui futes mes fuipts, 
 Honorez mon bucher, & fongez a jamais, 
 
 Qu’au milieu des horreurs dudeftin qui ro’opprime, 
 
 J’ai fait rougir c(i£ux> qui m’ont forces qq erim?- 
 
 For thofe, who could force innocent peo- 
 ple to commit criminal actions, and then 
 punifli them on that account, were not 
 capable of blufliing for any thing. A 
 French tragedy and Italian opera are re- 
 prefented at this theatre alternately ; the 
 King attends the latter as punctually as 
 the former, and difplays in his counte- 
 nance that extreme fenfibility to mufic, 
 which forms part of his character. I ima- 
 gine this Prince would fucceed better in 
 any thing than in Emulation, if he fhould 
 ever think it worth his while to attempt 
 
 that 
 
234 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 that part of hypocrify, — his features are fo 
 expreflive of his feelings, that the firfl 
 would be conftantly in danger of betray- 
 ing the other. When there is no repre- 
 fentation at the theatre, his Majefty has 
 a private concert in his own apartment, 
 •where he himfelf performs on the German 
 flute, in which inftrument he has attained 
 the higheft degree of excellence. — To thefe 
 Concerts no ftranger is admitted. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. ?3 5 
 
 LETTER LXXV. 
 
 Potfdam. 
 
 w HEN we firft arrived here, there 
 was nothing I was fo eager to fee as 
 the Pruffian troops at their exercife; but 
 the reviews at Berlin have completely fa- 
 dated my curiofity. And though the gar- 
 dens of the palace are juft oppofite to the 
 windows of our inn, I hardly ever go to 
 look at the guards, who are paraded there 
 every forenoon. — A few days ago, how- 
 ever, I happened to take a very early walk 
 about a mile out of town, and feeing fome 
 foldiers under arms, in a field at a fmall 
 diftance from the road, I went towards 
 them. An officer on horfeback, whom I 
 took to be the Major, for he gave the 
 word of command, was uncommonly ac- 
 tive, and often rode among the ranks to 
 
 reprimand, 
 
2 3 5 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 reprimand, or inftrud: the common men. 
 When I came nearer, I was much furprif- 
 ed to find that this was the king himfelf. 
 He had his fword drawn, and continued to 
 exercife the corps for an hour after. He 
 made them wheel, march, form the fquare, 
 and fire by divifions, and in platoons, ob- 
 ferving all their motions with infinite at- 
 tention ; and, on account of fome blunder, 
 put two officers of the Prince of Pruffia’s 
 regiment in arrefh — In fhort, he feemed to 
 exert himfelf with all the fpirit of a young 
 officer, eager to attract the notice of his 
 General by uncommon alertnefs. 
 
 I exprefied my furprife to an officer pre- 
 fent, that the King was not willing to take 
 fome repofe, particularly from that kind 
 of employment of which he had had fo 
 very much of late, and that he could take 
 fo much pains with a mere handful of men 
 immediately after he had come from exer- 
 cifing whole armies. 
 
 This 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 237 
 
 This gentleman told me, that on this 
 particular day, the King had been trying 
 fome new evolutions; but though this had 
 not been the cafe, he might very poffibly 
 have been in the field : — for his maxim 
 was, that his troops fhould difplay as 
 much brifknefs on a common field-day as 
 if they were to engage in battle ; and 
 therefore it was never known when he in- 
 tended to be prefent, or when not ; — that 
 as for repofe, he took it between ten at 
 night and four in the morning, and his 
 other hours were all devoted to a&ion, 
 either of body or mind, or both; and that 
 the exercife he had juft taken, was probably 
 by way of relaxation after three hours pre- 
 vious labour in his cabinet. 
 
 The more I fee and hear of this extraor- 
 dinary man, the more am I aftonifhed. He 
 reconciles qualities which I uied to think 
 incompatible. I once was of opinion, that 
 the mind, which ftoops to very finall ob- 
 4 je£s, 
 
23S VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 je&s, is incapable of embracing great ones $ 
 * — I am now convinced, that he is an ex- 
 ception; for while few objects are too great 
 for his genius, none feem too fmall for his 
 attention. 
 
 I once thought that a man of much vi- 
 vacity was not capable of entering into the 
 detail of bufinefs : — I now fee that he, who 
 is certainly a man of wit, can continue 
 methodically the neceffary routine of bufi- 
 nefs, with the patience and perfeverance of 
 the greateft dunce that ever drudged in a 
 compting-houfe. 
 
 Since my laft, we have feen the Italians 
 perform; but neither the plays nor the 
 operas, nor any part of the entertainments, 
 intereft me half fo much, or could draw 
 me fo affiduoufly to Sans-Soiici, as the op- 
 portunity this attendance gives of feeing 
 the King. Other monarchs acquire im- 
 portance from their ftation j this Prince 
 
 gives 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 239 
 
 gives importance to his. The traveller 
 in other countries has a wifh to fee the 
 
 King, becaufe he admires the kingdom : 
 
 here the objedt of curiofity is reverfed : 
 
 and let us fuppofe the palaces, and the 
 towns, and the country, and the army of 
 Pruffia ever fo fine, yet our chief intereft in 
 them will arife from their belonging to 
 Frederic the Second ; — the man, who, 
 without an ally but Britain, repelled the 
 united force of Auftria, France, Ruffia, 
 and Sweden. 
 
 Count Neflelrode, talking with me on 
 this fubjedl, had an expreflion equally live- 
 ly and juft: C’eft dans ladverfite quit 
 brille, lorfqu’il eft bien comprime il a un 
 reffort irrefiftible. 
 
 The evening of the day on which I had 
 feen the King in the field, I was at Sans- 
 Souci; for I wifh to negledt no opportunity 
 
•i 40 
 
 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 of being prefect where this monarch is. I 
 like to hand near him, to hear him fpeak, 
 and to obferve his movements, attitudes, 
 and mod indifferent actions. He always 
 behaves with particular affability to the 
 
 D of H . One evening, before 
 
 the play began, his Grace and I were 
 Handing accidentally with Count Finken- 
 ftein, in a room adjoining to the great 
 apartment where the company were. The 
 King entered alone, when he was not ex- 
 pected, and immediately began a conver- 
 fation with the D . 
 
 He afked feveral queftions relating to the 
 Britifh conftitution; particularly at what 
 age a peer could take his feat in parlia- 
 ment?— When the Duke replied, At twen- 
 ty-one. — It is evident from that, faid the 
 King, that the Englifh Patricians acquire 
 the neceffary talents for legiflation much 
 fooner than thofe of ancient Rome, who 
 
 were 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 241 
 
 were not admitted into the Senate till the 
 age of forty. 
 
 He then enquired about the Rate of Lord 
 Chatham’s health, and expreffed high 
 efteem for the character of that minifter. — > 
 He afked me, if I had received letters by 
 the laft poft, and if they mentioned any 
 thing of the affairs in America ? — He faid 9 
 there were accounts from Holland, that 
 the Englifh troops had been driven from 
 Bofton, and that the Americans were in 
 
 poffeffion of that place. d told him, our 
 
 letters informed us, that the army had 
 left Bofton to make an attack with more 
 effedl elfewhere. 
 
 He fmiled, and faid— If you will not 
 allow the retreat to have been an affair of 
 neceflity, you will at leaft admit, that it 
 was tout-a-fait a prof os. 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 R 
 
 He 
 
242 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 He faid he heard that fome Britifh of- 
 ficers had gone into the American fervice, 
 and mentioned Colonel Lee, whom he 
 had feen at his Court. He obferved, that 
 it was a difficult thing to govern men 
 by force at fuch a diftance; — that if the 
 Americans ffiould be beat (which ap- 
 peared a little problematical), flill it 
 would be next to impoffible to continue 
 to draw from them a revenue by tax- 
 ation; that if we intended conciliation 
 witn America, fome of our meafures were 
 too rough; and if we intended its fub- 
 jedion, they were too gentle. He con- 
 cluded by faying, Enfin, Meffieurs, je 
 ne comprends pas ces chofes la ; je n’ar 
 point de colonie j’efpere que vous vous 
 tirerez bien d’affaire, mais elle me pa- 
 
 roit un peu epineufe.' Having faid 
 
 this, he walked into the Princefs’s apart- 
 ment, to lead her to the playhoufe, while 
 we joined the company already affembled 
 
 there. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 243 
 
 there. — The tragedy of Mahomet was per- 
 formed, which, in my opinion, is the fineft 
 of all Voltaire’s dramatic pieces, and that 
 in which Le Kain appears to the greateO: 
 advantage. 
 
 R a 
 
24+ VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXXVI. 
 
 Potfdam. 
 
 yOU exprefs fuch an earneft defire to 
 be made acquainted with every thing 
 which regards the King of Pruflia, that I 
 am in danger of lengthening my defcrip- 
 tions with a tedious minutenefs. Yet I 
 will rifk it, rather than give you reafon to 
 complain that I have not gratified your cu- 
 riofity as fully as is in my power. 
 
 Do not imagine, however, that I pre- 
 fume to draw a complete portrait of this 
 monarch. That mufl: be the work of much 
 abler painters, who have feen him in a 
 more familiar manner, and whofe colours 
 can give an exprefiion worthy of the ori- 
 ginal. I {hall only attempt to give a 
 faithful {ketch of fuch features as I was 
 
 able 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 245 
 
 able to feize during the tranfient views I 
 myfelf had, or which I have learnt from 
 thofe who have pafled with him many of 
 the hours which he dedicates to free conver- 
 fation, and the pleafures of the table. 
 
 The King of Pruffia is below the middle 
 fize, well made, and remarkably adive 
 for his time of life. He has become hardy 
 by exercife and a laborious life; for his 
 conftitution originally feems to have been 
 none of the ftrongeft. His look announces 
 fpirit and penetration. He has fine blue 
 eyes 5 and, in my opinion, his countenance 
 upon the whole is agreeable. Some who 
 have feen him are of a different opinion. 
 All who judge from his portraits only, muft 
 be fo; for although I have feen many 
 which have a little refemblance of him, 
 and fome which have a great deal, yet 
 none of them do him juftice. His features 
 acquire a wonderful degree of animation 
 R 3 while, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 247 
 
 His hat would be thought extravagantly 
 large in England, though it is of the fize 
 commonly ufed by the Pruffian officers of 
 cavalry. He generally wears one of the 
 large fide corners over his forehead and 
 eyes, and the front cock at one fide. 
 
 He wears his hair cued behind, and 
 d relied with a fingle buckle on each fide. 
 From their being very carelefsly put up 
 and unequally powdered, we may natural- 
 ly conclude, that the frifeur has been 
 greatly hurried in the execution of his 
 office. 
 
 He ufes a very large gold fnuff-box, the 
 lid ornamented with diamonds, and takes 
 an immoderate quantity of Spanilh fnuff, 
 the marks of which very often appear on 
 his waiftcoat and breeches. Thefe are alfo 
 liable to be foiled by the paws of two or 
 three Italian greyhounds, which he often 
 careffes. 
 
 R 4 
 
 He 
 
248 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 He dreffes as foon as he gets up in the 
 morning. This takes up but a few mi- 
 nutes, and ferves for the whole day. — You 
 have often heard that the King of Pruffia's 
 hours, from four or five in the morning, 
 till ten at night, are all dedicated methodi- 
 cally to particular occupations, either of 
 bufinefs or amufement. This is cer- 
 tainly true, and the arrangement has not 
 fuftained fuch an interruption for many 
 years, as fince the prefent company came 
 to Potfdam, 
 
 Some who pretend to more than com- 
 mon penetration aflert, that at prefent 
 they can perceive marks of uneafinefs in 
 his countenance, and feem convinced, that 
 there will not be fuch another company 
 at Sans-Souci during this reign. 
 
 All bufinefs with the King is tranfa&ed 
 by letters. Every petition or propofal 
 mud be made in this form, which is ad- 
 hered 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 249 
 hered to fo invariably, as I have been allur- 
 ed, that if any of his Generals wifhed to 
 promote a cadet to the rank of an enfign, 
 he would not venture to make his propofal 
 in any other manner, even though he had 
 daily opportunities of converting with his 
 Majelly. 
 
 The meaneft of his fubje&s may apply 
 to him in writing, and are fure of an 
 anfwer. His firft bufmefs every morning 
 is the perufing the papers addrefled to him. 
 A tingle word wrote with his pencil in 
 the margin, indicates the anfwer to be 
 given, which is afterwards made out in 
 form by his fecretaries. — This method af- 
 fords the King time to deliberate on the 
 jiitiice and propriety of every demand, and 
 prevents the poffibility of his being fur- 
 prifed into a promife, which it might be 
 inconvenient to perform. 
 
 He 
 
s 5 t) VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 He fits down to dinner precifely at noon. 
 Of late lie allows more time to this repaft 
 than formerly. It is generally after three 
 before he leaves the company. Eight or 
 nine of hrs officers are commonly invited to 
 dine with him. Since our coming to Fotf- 
 dam, Count Neflelrode, and the Abbe 
 Bafliani, two men of letters, were the only 
 company, befides the officers, who dined 
 with the King, while he lived in his ufual 
 way at the Old Palace of Sans Souci ; and 
 thofe two were then of his party almoft 
 every day. The Count has now left this 
 Court; the Abbe has an apartment in the 
 Palace. He is an Italian by birth, a man 
 of wit, and an excellent companion. 
 
 At table, the King likes that every per- 
 fon fhould appear to be on a footing, and 
 that the converfation fhould be carried on 
 with perfect freedom. The thing, by the 
 way, is impoffible. That confidential un- 
 
 reftrained 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 251 
 
 reftrained flow of the heart, which takes 
 place in a fociety of equals, is a pleafure 
 which a defpotic Prince can never taffe. 
 However, his Majeffy defires that it may 
 be fo, and they make the bell; of it they 
 can. 
 
 At one of thefe meetings, when the 
 King was in a gay humour, he faid to Baf- 
 tiani, — When you fhall obtain the tiara, 
 which your exemplary piety mull; one day 
 procure you, how will you receive me 
 when I arrive at Rome to pay my duty to 
 your Holinefs ? — I will immediately give 
 orders, replied the Abbe, with great readi- 
 nefs, Qu’on fade entrer l’aigle noir,— qu’il 
 me couvre defesailes, mais — qu’il m’epargne 
 fon bee. 
 
 Nobody fays more lively things in con- 
 versation than the King himfelf. Many of 
 his bons mots are repeated here. I fhall 
 only mention one, which is at once an 
 
 inflance 
 
252 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 inftance of his wit, and greatnefs of mind, 
 in rendering juftice to the merit of a man 
 who has caufed him more vexation than 
 perhaps any other perfon alive. — When 
 the King of Pruffia had a perfonal meeting 
 fome years fmce with the Emperor; they 
 always dined together, a certain number of 
 their principal officers being with them. 
 One day, General Laudohn was going to 
 place himfelf at the foot of the table, when 
 the King, who was at the head, called to 
 him, Venez, je vous en prie, Monfieur 
 Laudohn, placez vous ici. J’aime infini- 
 ment mieux vous avoir de mon cote que 
 
 •vis-a-vis. 
 
 Though all the cordiality of friendfhip, 
 and the full charms of unreferved fociety, j 
 cannot exift where the fortune of every 
 other individual depends on the will of one j 
 of the company; yet the King endeavours 
 to put every one as much at his eafe as j 
 the nature of the cafe will admit, and I 
 
 have I 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 253 
 
 heard of his bearing fome very fevere re- 
 
 I torts with perfect good humour. He has 
 too much wit himfelf, and is too fond of 
 it in others, to repel its attacks with any 
 other weapons than thofe which it fur- 
 niffies. None but the mofl: abfurd of 
 dunces could attempt to rally, without be- 
 ing able to allow of raillery; and only the 
 meaneft of fouls would think of revenging 
 the liberties taken with a companion by the 
 power of a King. 
 
 A very ftriking inftance of the freedom 
 which may be ufed with him occurred a 
 little before the late reviews, and what 
 makes it more remarkable, it happened, not 
 during the gaiety of the table, but on the 
 very fcene of military ftri&nefs. 
 
 Two regiments were in the field. That 
 of General — was one of them. This 
 officer is fond of company, and pafles more 
 
 J 
 
 of his time in the fociety of ftrangers, and 
 
 with 
 
254 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 with the foreign minifters, than moft others 
 in the Pruflian fervice.— Something, it is 
 probable, had chagrined the King that 
 morning. While the regiment advanced 
 in a line, he faid to the General, who flood 
 near him, Votre regiment n’eft pas aligne', 
 
 Monfieur , et ce n’eft pas furprenant, 
 
 vous jouez tant aux cartes. The General 
 called out inftantly with a loud voice to 
 the regiment, Alte! and they immediately 
 ftopt : then, turning to the King, he faid, 
 II n’eft pas queftion, Sire, de mes cartes— 
 Mais, ayez la bonte' de regarder fi ce re- 
 giment n’eft pas aligne. — The regiment was 
 in a very ftraight line, and the King mov- 
 ed away without fpeaking, and feemingly 
 difpleafed, not with the General, but with 
 himfelf. — This manly officer never had rea- 
 fon afterwards to believe that the King had 
 taken his freedom amifs. 
 
 I have already faid, that it is abfolutely 
 
 impoffible for any man to enjoy an office 
 
 in 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 255 
 
 in the King of Pruflia’s fervice without per- 
 forming the duty of it. He is himfelf 
 a&ive and afiiduous, and he makes it a 
 point that all his minifters and ferrants 
 ihall be fo too. But to thofe who know 
 their bufinefs, and perform it exa&Iy, he is 
 an eafy and equitable mailer. 
 
 A gentleman, who has been many years 
 about his perfon, and is now one of his aid- 
 de-camps, allured me of this: — The King 
 underftands what ought to be done; and 
 his fervants are never expofed to the ridicu- 
 lous or contradictory orders of ignorance, or 
 the mortifications of caprice. 
 
 Idis favourites, of whatever kind, never 
 were able to acquire influence over him in 
 any thing regarding bufinefs. Nobody 
 ever knew better how to difcriminate the 
 merits of thofe who ferve him in the im- 
 portant departments of flate, from theirs 
 who contribute to his amufement, A man 
 
 who 
 
256 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 who performs the duty of his office with 
 alertnefs and fidelity) has nothing to appre- 
 hend from the King s being fond of the 
 company and converfation of his enemy* 
 Let the one be regaled at the King’s table 
 every day, while the other never receives a 
 fingle invitation ; yet the real merit of both 
 is known : — and if his adverfary fhould ever 
 try to turn the King’s favour to the purpofes 
 of private hatred or malice, the attempt 
 will be repelled with difdain, and the evil 
 he intended to another, will fall on him- 
 felf. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 257 
 
 LETTER LXXVII 
 
 Potfdam. 
 
 o N the days when there is no public 
 court at Sans-Souci, we generally dine 
 with Lord Mareehal, who is always happy 
 
 to fee the D — of FI , and is of great 
 
 fervice to all Britifh fubjefts. while they 
 remain here or at Berlin. Exclufive of 
 other reafons he may have for efteeming 
 the Duke, his Lordfhip evidently difplays 
 a kind of partiality for his Grace, as the 
 firft man in point of rank belonging to his 
 country. This appears in a thoufand in- 
 ftances ; for with very liberal fentiments, 
 and a molt benevolent heart, this venerable 
 nobleman fill retains a few Caledonian 
 prejudices. 
 
 Vol. II. S Fie 
 
258 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 He afked one day of theD — , If he 
 reckoned himfelf a Scotchman ? Moft 
 certainly I do, replied his Grace. By fo 
 doing you lie under a miftake, faid my 
 Lord ; for I can allure you, and I am con- 
 vinced the belt lawyers in England will 
 do the fame, that you have a much jufter 
 claim to all the privileges belonging to 
 
 your Englilh title of B n, though fome 
 
 of them, I fear, are Hill difputed. 
 
 It is to be hoped, faid the D — , that 
 the Houfe of Peers will not always refufe 
 to do my family juftice; on a thorough 
 examination of the cafe, I flill flatter my- 
 felf they will grant me thofe privileges, 
 which have been, for no valid reafons, 
 refufed my anceftors. But in the mean 
 time, why will your Lordfhip, more cruel 
 than the Peers, deny my birth-right as a 
 Scotchman f 
 
 Becaufe 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 259 
 
 Becaufe your birth gives you no fuch 
 right, replied the Earl ; for you in reality 
 are but a North Briton : — unlefs your 
 Grace can prove that you were born be- 
 fore the Union. But, continued he, with 
 an air of triumph, I am a real Scotchman : 
 
 — adding a little after, with 
 
 a figh, and in a plaintive accent — 
 
 and almoft the only one in the world 
 
 All the Scots of my acquaintance are now 
 dead. 
 
 The good old Earl is infinitely fond of 
 talking of his country, and of the days of 
 former years. When I make any enquiry 
 about the King of Pruffia, or concerning 
 Spain or Italy, in which countries he re- 
 dded fo long, he anfwers with a kind of 
 complaifant brevity, and immediately turns 
 the difcourfe back to Scotland, to which 
 his heart feems wonderfully attached. 
 
 S a 
 
 In 
 
26 o VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 la the time of dinner, one of his fer- 
 vantSj a flout highlander, generally enter- 
 tains the company by playing on the bag- 
 pipe. I have obferved, that thefe North 
 Britons (to abide by Lord Marechal’s dif- 
 tinTion) who are the mod zealous for 
 the intereft and honour of their country, 
 and who value themfelves on being bom 
 north of the Tweed, are particularly, if 
 not exclufively, fond of this inftrument* 
 You will, at leaf!, allow that your gallant 
 
 friend, Lord E n, is no exception to 
 
 this obfervation, and perhaps you will ad- 
 mit, that it requires a confiderable degree 
 of patriotifm, or amor Caledonia, to have 
 a great relifh for the melody of a bag*- 
 pipe. 
 
 I called on Lord Marechal one after- 
 noon, juft as the King had left him; for 
 the monarch, without any form or pre- 
 vious notice, fometimes walks through the 
 garden, and pays a fhort viftt to his old 
 
 friend, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 261 
 
 friend, to whom Ihe has an unalterable 
 attachment, both from perfonal regard, 
 and on account of the high eftimation in 
 which he holds the memory of his brother 
 Marechal Keith. 
 
 Another day I was with the Earl, when 
 the Pnncefi.es of Prufiia and Heffe, with 
 Prince Frederic of Brunfwic, all en- 
 tered and demanded coffee, which my 
 Lord immediately ordered, with the ad- 
 dition of a couple of melons ; telling the 
 Princeffes, he knew they would not flay 
 long enough with a man of eighty, to 
 give time for preparing a better repafh-r- 
 Thus favoured by the monarch and the 
 Princes, you will not doubt that the old 
 Earl’s friendfhip is cultivated by the reft of 
 the court. 
 
 The Piereditary Prince of Prufiia lives 
 in a fmall houfe in the town of Potfdam. 
 
 S 3 His 
 
262 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 His appointments do not admit of that 
 degree of magnificence, which might be 
 expedited in the heir of the crown; — but 
 he difplays a fpirit of hofpitality far 
 more obliging than magnificence ; and 
 doubly meritorious, confidering the very 
 moderate revenue allowed him. We ge- 
 nerally fup there two or three times 3 
 week. 
 
 This Prince is not often of the King’s! 
 parties, nor is it imagined that he enjoys 
 a great fhare of his uncle’s favour. In 
 what degree he poflefles the talents of a 
 general is not known, as he was too young 
 to have any command during the late 
 war. But he certainly has a very juft un- 
 derftanding, which has been improved by 
 ftudy. ITe has taken fpme pains to ac- 
 quire the Englifti language, to which he 
 was induced by an admiration of feveral 
 Englifti authors, whole works he had read 
 
 in 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c, 263 
 
 in. Rronch and German. He i : s now able 
 to read Englifh profe with tolerable faci- 
 lity, and has been of late ftudying Shaken 
 fpear,. having adually read two or three 
 of his plays. 
 
 I took the- liberty to obferve, that as 
 Sha^efpear’s genius had traced every la- 
 byrinth,. and penetrated into every recefs 
 of the human heart, his fentiments could 
 npt fail to pleafe his Royal Highnefs; but, 
 as his language was uncommonly bold and 
 figurative, and full of allufions to national 
 cuftoiins, and the manners of our ifland 
 two centuries ag?o, the Englifh themfelves, 
 who had. not made a particular Rudy of his 
 works,, did not always comprehend their 
 full energy. I added, that to transfufe the 
 foul of Shakefpear into, a tranflation, was 
 impoffible ; and to tafte all his beauties in 
 the original, required fuch a knowledge 
 pf the Englifh manners and language as 
 S 4 few 
 
264 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 few foreigners, even after a long refidence 
 in the capital, could attain. ' 
 
 The Prince faid, he was aware of all 
 tins j yet he was determined to ftruggle 
 hard for fome acquaintance with an au- 
 thor fo much admired by the Englifh na- 
 tion ; that though he fhould never be able 
 to tafte all his excellencies, he was con- 
 vinced he fhould underhand enough to re- 
 compence him for his trouble ; that he had 
 already ftudied fome detached parts, which 
 he thought fuperior to any thing he had 
 ever met with in the works of any other Poet. 
 His Royal Highnefs attends to military 
 bufinefs with as much affiduity as moft 
 officers of the fame rank in the armyj for 
 in the Pruffian fervice, no degree of emi- 
 nence in the article of birth can excufe a 
 remiffion in the duties of that profeffion. 
 Fie. is much efleemed by the army, and 
 confidered as an exceeding good officer. 
 
 To 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 2%. 
 
 To the franknefs of a foldier he joins the 
 integrity of a German, and is beloved by 
 the public in general, on account of his 
 good-nature, affability, and humane turn 
 of mind. 
 
gt6S VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 l 
 
 • LETTER LXXVIJIi 
 
 Potfdam. 
 
 JAM afraid you will think the anecdotes 
 and converfation which I fometimes 
 fend you are rather tedious. Your curiofity 
 about certain characters has led me into 
 this pradice ; for I choofe to give you op- 
 portunities of forming an opinion of your 
 own, rather than to trouble you with mine. 
 My opinion might very probably be erro- 
 neous ; the accounts I give of what I have 
 feen or heard are always true. And, not- 
 withftanding that the aCtions and conver- 
 fations I relate, may be apparently of fmali 
 importance, ftill as the perfons in fome 
 meafure defcribe themfelves, an under- 
 {landing like yours will be able from thence 
 to draw jufter ideas of character than I 
 could have given. 
 
 In 
 
MANNER'S IN FRANCE, &c. 267 
 
 In a former letter I mentioned the great 
 difficulty of deferting from a Pruffian gar- 
 rifon, and of what importance it is thought 
 to prevent it. An incident which happen- 
 ed a few days fince, will give you a ftronger 
 idea of this than any general account. 
 
 Two foldiers of the Prince of Pruffia’s 
 regiment got over the walls in the night- 
 time, with an intention to defert ; but un-* 
 luckily for them, this town hands on a 
 peninfula formed by the river, and the 
 neck of land is guarded in fuch a manner 
 that it is almofi: impoffible to pafs that way 
 without permiffion. Thefe men could not 
 fwim, and they durfl not prefent them- 
 felves to any of the ferries, becaufe the 
 boatmen are forbid, under the fevered 
 penalties, to connive at the efcape of any 
 deferters, and ftridly ordered to affift in 
 apprehending them. A reward is alfo of- 
 fered as a greater inducement to this piece 
 of fervice. 
 
 All 
 
263 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 All thefe circumftances being known in 
 the garrifon, it was imagined that, as none 
 of the peafants would in all probability ven- 
 ture to harbour them, they were ftillfkulk- 
 ing in the fields among the Handing corn; 
 On this fuppofitidn, parties of men were 
 employed for three days fucceffively in tra- 
 velling the fields, and beating the bufhes, 
 as if they had been in chace of a hare. Great 
 numbers of 'the officers of this regiment, 
 fome of the higheft rank, rode about for 
 three or four hours every day, all employ- 
 ed in the fame manner. But not finding 
 the 'men, they were at laft convinced that 
 they had by fome means or other got out 
 of the peninfula, and all farther fearch was 
 given up as unnecefiary. 
 
 Oil the morning of the fourth day, thefe 
 two unfortunate men came and furrender- 
 ed to the guard at one of the gates. Find- 
 ing it impracticable to effeCt their efcape, 
 and not daring to enter a houfe, they were 
 
 at 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c, 269 
 
 at length compelled by hunger and fatigue 
 to deliver themfelves up. 
 
 Before I clofe this letter, I will give you 
 an account of an adventure of an affeding 
 nature, which happened in the King’s 
 family, at the time when all thefe refearches 
 were made for the two de-ferters. 
 
 The King’s principal valet-de-chambre 
 was a man confiderably refpeded. Having 
 conftant opportunities of being about the 
 King’s perfon, and having enjoyed his ap- 
 probation for feveral years, people of the 
 jfirft rank paid him Lome degree of atten- 
 tion. He was liked by his acquaintances, 
 as I have been told, on account of his per- 
 fonal qualities, and had accumulated a little 
 fortune by the perquifites of his office. He 
 had built a houfe near that of my Lord 
 Marechal, and kept a coach for the ufe of 
 his miftrefs. 
 
 It 
 
4 yo VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 It was this man’s misfortune to difo'blige 
 the King, probably by fome neglect of 
 duty; or it might poffibly be fomething 
 worfe: — -I never could hear exactly how 
 this had happened ;-*-But while the Prin- 
 eeffes were at the New Palace, the King 
 had blamed him in very {harp terms ; and 
 not being fatisfied with the excufes the 
 man made, he told him, that, as foon as 
 the company was gone, he fhould be taken 
 care of. 
 
 When the Princefles went to Berlin, his 
 Majefty returned to his old palace at Sans- 
 Souci; and the day after, he fent for an 
 officer of his guards, and ordered him to 
 conduct this man to Potfdam, and place 
 him in the quality of a drummer in the firft 
 regiment of foot-guards* 
 
 The poor man endeavoured to pacify 
 his matter by prayers and entreaties, but 
 without fuccefs. — He then faid to the of- 
 8 hcer, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, Bee. 271 
 
 fieer, that there were fame things in his 
 room which he wifned to put in order-be- 
 fore he went, and defired that he might be 
 allowed a little time for that purpofe. The 
 officer readily affented, and as Toon as this 
 defperate man had entered his own apart- 
 ment, he feized a piftol, which he had 
 prepared from the time the King had 
 threatened him, and immediately ffiot him- 
 felf through the head. The report of the 
 piftol alarmed the King and the officer.— 
 They bdth went into the room, and found 
 the poor creature expiring. 
 
 Though the King certainly had no idea 
 that his valet would ffioot himfelf; and 
 though, it is mod probable, he would not 
 have allowed him to remain long in the 
 fituation to which, in a fit of refentment, 
 he had condemned him ; — yet there is 
 fomething exceedingly harfh in daffiing a 
 man at once from a fituation of eafe and 
 refpedt, into a fphere of life fo very diffe- 
 
 rent. 
 
272 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 rent. — Such an order was more becoming 
 the fury of an intemperate defpot, than the 
 dignity of fo great and fo wife a monarch 
 as the King of Pruffia. 
 
 I converfed with a perfon who had been 
 at, Sans-Souci immediately after this me- 
 lancholy event. — He faid the King feemed 
 to be very much affected.' — If he felt it as 
 he ought, he was an objed of companion; 
 
 if he did not, he was Hill more fo, for no- 
 thing can be a greater misfortune to a man 
 than to want humanity. 
 
 
IN FRANCE, &c. 273 
 
 MANNER 
 
 Drefden, 
 
 J Believe I neglected to mention in any of 
 my letters from Berlin, that when I 
 vifited the manufactory of porcelain, I was 
 fo much {truck with the beauty of fome 
 of it, that I ordered a fmall box for you. 
 But as I take it to be a matter of indiffe- 
 rence, whether you fip your tea out of the 
 china you have already, or this, you may 
 fend it as a prefent to the female you love 
 and efteem moll. If by this direction it 
 fhould not go ftraight from you to Mifs 
 
 , pray let me know to whom you fend 
 
 it. The factor at Hamburgh will give you 
 notice when he {hips it off. 
 
 I did not imagine that this manufactory 
 had arrived at fuch a degree of perfection 
 
 Vol. II. T 
 
 as 
 
47 4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 as it has in feveral places in Germany, 
 particularly at Brunfwic and Beilin. The 
 parcel I have ordered for you, is thought 
 equal to the fineft made at Drefden. 
 
 
 The day we left Potfdam we dined with 
 good Lord Marechal, who took leave of 
 
 the D , with an emotion which at 
 
 once marked his regard for his G— , and 
 his fears that he fhould never fee him 
 again. 
 
 If I were flrongly in a humour for de- 
 fcription, our journey through the mod 
 beautiful and mod fertile part of Germany, 
 would afford me a fair opportunity. I not 
 only could ring over the whole chimes of 
 woods, meadows, rivers, and mountains, 
 rich crops of grain, flax, tobacco, and hops; 
 I might animate the landfcapes with a 
 copious breed of horfes, black cattle, flieep, 
 wild boars, and venifon, and vary the de- 
 fcription with the marble, precious flones, 
 
 ana 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 275 
 
 and mines of lead, copper, iron, and filver, 
 which Saxony contains within its bowels. 
 I might expatiate on the fine china ware, 
 and fine women, that abound in this coun- 
 try, formed of the fineft clay in Germany, 
 et tres joliment travailles; — but I am long 
 fince tired of defcription, and therefore beg 
 leave to convey you at once from Potfdam 
 to Drefden. 
 
 Having been prefented to the Eledor 
 and Eledrefs by Mr. Ofoorn, the Britifli 
 minifter here, we had the honour of dining 
 with them the fame day. The Eledrefs is 
 young, tall, well made, and lively.—We 
 were afterwards prefented to the Eledrefs 
 Dowager, and to the Princefs Elizabeth, 
 the Eledor’s aunt, to the Princefs, his 
 fifter, and to his three brothers, the eldeft 
 of whom has loft the ufe of his legs, and 
 is moved about the room in a chair with 
 wheels. 
 
 T 2 
 
 The 
 
2 ]6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The court was numerous and fplendid. 
 In the evening there was card-playing for 
 
 about two hours. The D of H— 
 
 was of the Eledtrefs’s party, while I played 
 two rubbers at whift with one of the 
 Princefles, againft the Eledtrefs Dowager 
 and the Princefs Elizabeth. — I have never 
 feen deep gaming at any of the German 
 courts.' — What approaches neareft to it, has 
 been at mafquerades, or where the Sove- 
 reign was not prefent. 
 
 Drefden, though not one of the largeft, 
 is certainly one of the moil agreeable cities 
 in Germany, whether we confider its fitu- 
 ation, the magnificence of its palaces, or 
 the beauty and conveniency of the houfes 
 and flreets. This city is built on both fides 
 of the Elbe, which is of a confiderable 
 breadth here. The magnificent and com- 
 modious manner in which the two oppofite 
 parts of the town are joined, adds greatly 
 to its beauty. 
 
 There 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c.' 277 
 
 There is an equeftrian ftatue of King 
 Auguftus, in a kind of open place or fquare, 
 between the old city and the new. The 
 workmanfhip is but indifferent; however, 
 I was defired by our Ciceroni to admire 
 
 this very much, becaufe it was made 
 
 by a common fmith. I begged to be ex- 
 ciifed, telling him that I could not admire 
 it, had it been made by Michael Angelo. 
 
 Few Princes in Europe are fo magni- 
 ficently lodged as the Elector of Saxony. 
 The Palace and Mufeum have been often 
 defcribed. — -The laft was begun by the 
 Elector Auguftus, and ftill retains the name 
 of the Green Room, though it now confifts 
 of feveral apartments, all painted green, in 
 imitation of the firft. I will not enume- 
 rate the prodigious number of curiofities, 
 natural and artificial, to be feen there. Some 
 of the laft are curious, only becaufe they 
 are invifible to the human eye. Of this 
 T 3 number, 
 
278 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 number, is a cherry (tone, upon which, by 
 the help of a microfcope, above a hundred 
 faces may be diftinguifhed. Undoubtedly 
 thefe little mechanical whim? difplay the 
 labour, perfeverance, and minute attention 
 of the workman; but I cannot think they 
 are proofs of the wifdom of thofe who 
 could employ artifts to fo little purpofe. 
 Let the aftonifhing minutise of nature be 
 admired through microfcopes; but furely 
 nothing is a proper work for the hands of 
 man, which cannot be feen by the unaided 
 human eye. 
 
 A work of the jeweller Djnglinger, 
 which reprefents the celebration of the 
 Mogul’s birth-day, is much admired. The 
 Mogul fitting on his throne, his grandees 
 and guards, with a great many elephants, 
 are all exhibited upon a table about an ell 
 fquare. This work employed Dinglinger, 
 and fome affi&ants, above ten years. Do 
 
 not 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 279 
 
 not you think this was leaving fo inge- 
 nious an artift a little too long in the Mo- 
 gul’s fervice ? 
 
 A fimple lift of every thing valuable 
 and curious in this Mufeum, would exceed, 
 the bounds of one of my longeft letters; 
 
 I fhall therefore pafs them all over in 
 hlence, except the ftory of the prophet 
 Jonah, which it would be impious to omit. 
 The fhip, the whale, the prophet, and 
 the fea-fhore, are all reprefented in pearl; 
 but the fea and rocks are in a different 
 kind of ftone, though, in my opinion, there 
 was no occafion to vary the materials ; 
 for furely there is as great a difference be- 
 tween a prophet and a whale, as between 
 a whale and a rock. So that if the firfl 
 two could be reprefented with the fame 
 materials, I do not think it was worth 
 while to change the compofttion for the 
 third. 
 
 T 4 
 
 The 
 
2 80 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The gallery of pi&ures is highly efteem- 
 ed. To enumerate the particular merits 
 of each, would fill many volumes, and ref- 
 quires a far greater knowledge of painting 
 than I can pretend to. The moft valuable 
 pieces are by Raphael, Corregio, and Ru- 
 bens. There are only a few by the two 
 former, but a very confiderable number by 
 the laft. The ftrength and expreflion of 
 this great artifi’s pencil, the natural glow 
 of his colouring, and the fertility of his 
 fancy deferve the highefl: encomiums. Yet 
 one cannot help regretting, that he had 
 fo violent a paifion for fat women. That 
 kind of nature which he had feen ear- 
 ly in life in his own country, had laid 
 fiich hold of his imagination, that it 
 could not be eradicated by all the ele- 
 gant models he afterwards fludied in 
 Italy. Some of his female figures in 
 this gallery are fo much of the Dutch 
 make, and fo fat, that it is rather op- 
 
 prefiive 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 281 
 
 preffive to look at them in this very hot 
 weather. 
 
 In the Mufeum, within the Palace, there 
 is a moft complete collection of prints, from 
 the commencement of the art of engraving 
 till the prefent time, 
 
p 2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXXX. 
 
 Drefden, 
 
 j^O THING feems clearer to me, than 
 that a fortified town fhould have no 
 palaces within it, and no fuburbs without. 
 As the city of Drefden has both, it would 
 have been good for the inhabitants, during 
 the laft war, that the town had been en- 
 tirely without fortifications. In the year 
 1756, when the King of Pruffia thought 
 it expedient to invade Saxony* he made 
 himfelf matter of this city* and kept 
 peaceable pofleflion of it till 1 7 when 
 Marechal Daun, after the battle of Hoch- 
 kirchen, threatened to befiege it. The 
 Fruffian General Schmettau began his de- 
 fence by burning part of the fuburbs. 
 The Saxons and Auttrians exclaimed at 
 this meafure, and Daun threatened to, 
 
 make 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. £83 
 
 make the governor anfwerable, in his own 
 perfon, for fuch defperate proceedings. 
 Count Schmettau was totally regardlefs of 
 their exclamations and threats, and feemed 
 attentive only to the orders of the King 
 his matter. He gave Marechal Daun to 
 pnderftand, that the remaining fuburbs 
 would flhare the fate of thofe already de- 
 ttroyed, if he perftfted in attacking the 
 ■' {own. The King appearing foon after, the 
 Auftrians retreated into Bohemia. 
 
 The inhabitants of D.refden, and all Sax- 
 ony, were now in a very difmal fituation, 
 and found their hardfhips increafe in pro- 
 portion to the fuccefs of their friends 
 and allies j for whatever exactions were 
 railed in the King of Pruffia’s dominions 
 by the Auftrians and Ruffians, the like 
 were impofed by way of retaliation on the- 
 miferable Saxons. A people mutt be in a 
 deplorable ftate indeed, when the fuccefs of 
 their enemies is the moft fortunate thing 
 which can befal them. 
 
 In 
 
28 4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 In ' 1759, after the dreadful battle of 
 Cunerfdorf, near Frankfort on the Oder, 
 the King of Pruffia being neceffitated to 
 repair, the (laughter of that day, called the 
 Pruffian garrifon from Drefden, which then 
 fell into the hands of the Imperialifts. But 
 the calamities of this city did not end 
 here; for his Pruffian Majefty having 
 deceived Marechal Daun by a very mafterly 
 feint, while he feemed to bend his courfe 
 for Silefia, he wheeled fuddenly about, 
 and threatened Drefden, which Marechal 
 Daun had abandoned, in the full convic- 
 tion, that the King had marched to the 
 relief of Schweidnitz. While the Auftri- 
 ans hurried on by forced marches into Si- 
 lelia, the King attacked Drefden, which 
 was refolutely defended by General Mac- 
 quire. 
 
 livery poffible effort \vas made to reduce 
 this city before Count Daun fhould return 
 to its relief;— and the wretched citizens 
 
 were 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 285 
 
 were expofed to a continued cannonade and 
 bombardment. This perhaps was jufti- 
 fiable by the laws of war, as long as there 
 were hopes that the town might be 
 brought to furrender by fuch means.— 
 But the enemies of his Pruflian Majefty 
 aflert, that the bombardment was conti- 
 nued, and churches, fine buildings, and 
 whole ftreets laid in afhes, even after 
 Mareehal Daun’s return: and when thefe 
 vindictive proceedings could only tend to 
 the ruin and deftruCtion of private people, 
 without contributing in the fmalleft de- 
 gree to the reducing the town, or being 
 of any ufe to the public caufe. 
 
 Many of thefe houfes fiill lie in rub- 
 bifh ; but the inhabitants are gradually 
 rebuilding, and probably all the ruined 
 ftreets will be repaired before a new war 
 breaks out in Germany. While they re' 
 build the houfes, I cannot help thinking 
 it would be fortunate for the proprietors, 
 
 that 
 
286 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 that they were allowed to deftroy the for- 
 tifications, which perhaps might be placed 
 with more advantage around fome towns 
 on the frontiers. 
 
 The curious manufa&ory of porcelain 
 fuffered confiderably by the Pruffian bom- 
 bardment. The Ele&or has a complete 
 colle&ion of the fineft pieces, from the 
 firft attempts made here in this elegant 
 work, to the lateft improvements. This, 
 independent of the beauty of many of the 
 pieces, is a matter of real curiofity, as 
 it marks the progrefs of ingenuity and in- 
 vention. 
 
 Our morning-walk is in the gardens of 
 the late Count Bruhl, fituated on the high 
 banks of the Elbe. Nothing can be ima- 
 gined more delightful than the view from 
 a lofty terrace in thefe gardens* The 
 Count’s magnificent houfe is now fiript 
 of many of its greatefi: ornaments. The 
 fine colle&ion of paintings has been fold 
 8 to 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 287 
 
 to the Emprefs of Ruffia for 150,000 rix- 
 dollars. The library, which is in the gar- 
 den, is two hundred and twenty feet long, 
 I am not certain, whether it was abfo- 
 lately neceffary to have To large a room 
 for containing this nobleman’s books; but 
 it muft have required one of that fize at 
 lead for his wardrobe, if the account that 
 is given of it be juft. They tell us, that 
 the Count had at leaft three hundred dif- 
 ferent forts of clothes ; each of thefe had 
 a duplicate, as he always drifted his clothes 
 after dinner, and did not choofe that his 
 drefs fhould appear different in the after- 
 noon from what it had been in the morn- 
 ing. A painting of each fuit, with the 
 particular cane and fnuff-box belonging to 
 it, was very accurately drawn in a large 
 book, which was prefented to his Excel- 
 lency every morning by his Valet de Cham- 
 bre, that he might fix upon the drefs in 
 which he wifhed to appear for the day. 
 This minifter was accufed of having accu- 
 mulated 
 
*88 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 mulated a great fortune. The reverfe of 
 this, however, is true. His houfe and 
 gardens belong now to the Eledor. 
 
 The Saxon troops make a very fine ap* 
 pearance. The men in general are hand- 
 fome and well made. Neither they nor 
 their officers are fo very upright, and ftiff 
 in their manners, as the Pruffians. Hav- 
 ing been fo long accuftomed to thefe laft, 
 this difference ftruck me very ftrongly at 
 firft fight. The uniform of the guards is 
 red and yellow; that of the marching re* 
 giments white. The foldiers, during the 
 fummer, wear only waiftcoats, even when 
 they mount guard ; and always appear 
 extremely neat and clean. The ferjeants, 
 befides their other arms, have a large piftol. 
 This is fo commodioufly fattened to the 
 left fide, that it gives no trouble. The 
 band of mufic belonging to the Saxon 
 guards is the molt complete and the fineft 
 I ever faw. 
 
 Ido 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c.' 289 
 
 I do not expert to receive any accounts 
 from you till we arrive at Vienna; but I 
 frail probably write again from Prague, 
 for which place we intend to fet out to- 
 morrow. 
 
 Vox.. IL 
 
 U 
 
*96 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Prague. 
 
 JgOHEMIA, though by no means fo 
 fertile, or fo fine a country as Saxony, 
 does not deferve the bad character which 
 fome travellers have given it. I thought 
 many places very beautiful, and varied with 
 the moll agreeable rural obje&s. 
 
 the capital of Bohemia, ftands 
 in a hollow, furrounded on all fides with 
 hills. Thofe neareft the town, and which 
 command it, are comprehended within the 
 fortifications. It is a very large town, re- 
 taining fome marks of former fplendor, but 
 many more evident fymptoms of prefent 
 decay — Symptoms which naturally attend 
 thofe places which once have been the refi- 
 dence of royalty, and are fo no more. 
 
 All 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 291 
 
 All the houfes, with any appearance of 
 magnificence, are old, and it is not pro- 
 bable, that any new ones will be built in 
 that ftyle ; for the Bohemian nobility, who 
 are in circumftances to bear fuch an ex- 
 pence, live at Vienna, and the trade and 
 manufactures of this town are not fuffi- 
 cient to enable any of the mercantile peo- 
 ple to build fine houfes. 
 
 In whatever degree this city may have 
 dwindled in wealth and magnificence, the 
 piety of the inhabitants certainly flourilhes 
 as much as ever. I do not recollect to 
 have feen fo many glaring marks of devo- 
 tion in any place. — The corners of the 
 ftreets, bridges, and public buildings, are 
 all ornamented with crucifixes, images of 
 the Virgin of all fizes and complexions, 
 arid ftatues of Saints of every country, con- 
 dition, age, and fex. — People are to be 
 feen on their knees before thefe ftatues in 
 every part of this city, but particularly on 
 U 2 the 
 
2 9 2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 the large bridge over the Moldaw, where 
 there is the greateft eoncourfe of paffen- 
 gers. This bridge is fo profufely adorned 
 with the ftatues of Saints, that croffing over 
 it, you have a row of them on each fide, 
 like two ranks of mufketeers. 
 
 Travellers, efpecially fuch as arrive di- 
 rectly from Berlin, muft be aftonifhed at 
 the people’s devotion in this city, in a par- 
 ticular manner at the vehemence with 
 which it is exprefled by thofe who exhibit 
 before the faints upon the bridge. 
 
 Not contented with kneeling, I faw fome 
 proftrate themfelves on their faces, killing 
 the earth ; and others, who offered their 
 petitions to thefe faints with fuch earneft- 
 nefs and fervour, that, if their hearts had 
 not been of flone, they muft have paid 
 more attention to the petitioners than they 
 feemed to do. 
 
 There 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 293 
 
 There is one faint who has more votaries 
 than all the reft put together — Saint Ne- 
 pomuc, I think they call him : — As my ac- 
 quaintance with faints is not extenfive, I 
 never heard of him till I came hither, 
 but his reputation is very great in this 
 town. This faint, it feems, was ordered 
 by fome cruel tyrant, to be thrown over a 
 bridge, and his neck was broke by the fall, 
 and he is fuppofed to retain a particular 
 affection for bridges ever fince ; an effect 
 fomething different from what was to 
 have been expeded from the caufe ; how- 
 ever, the people here are perfuaded, that 
 fo it happened to Saint Nepomuc; and to 
 put the fad beyond controverfy, he is at 
 this moment the tutelar faint of bridges;-- 
 almoft all thofe in Bohemia are dedicated to 
 him. He has alfo the reputation of ex- 
 celling every faint in Heaven in the cure 
 of barrennefs in women. — How his charac- 
 ter for this was eftablifhed I did not 
 enquire. 
 
 U 3 
 
 It 
 
294 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 It is a melancholy reflexion, that the 
 wealthy are more carelefs about religious 
 duties than the indigent, and that poverty 
 and piety are fo often linked together. I 
 often obferved, when we flopped at any 
 town or village, which had fymptoms of 
 great poverty, that the inhabitants feemed 
 alfo unufually devout. 
 
 It would appear, that hope is a more 
 powerful fentiment in the human bread 
 than gratitude, fince thofe who ought to 
 feel the greated thankfulnefs to Heaven 
 difplay the lead. 
 
 We found an acquaintance at Prague 
 when we lead expected it, for as the D — - 
 of H— and I dood talking in the dreets, 
 a pried, who belongs to a feminary of 
 learning in this town, overheard us ; up- 
 on which he dopped, and after looking at 
 us very earnedly for fome time, he at 
 length came up, and addrefled us in thefe 
 
 S words • 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 295 
 
 words .:~rJ[ do allure you now, I am an 
 Irifhman too. This eafy kind of introduce 
 tion foon produced a degree of intimacy ; I 
 afked how he knew fo readily that we 
 were Irifli? Am I not after hearing you 
 fpeak Englifh, my dear ? replied the honeft 
 prieft, for he really was a very honeft ob- 
 liging fellow, and the moft ufeful and en- 
 tertaining Ciceroni we could have had at 
 Prague. 
 
 After having vifited the royal apart- 
 ments, they fhewed us the window in the 
 fecretary of ftate’s office, from whence, 
 three noblemen were thrown in the year 
 1618. This was rather a violent mode of 
 turning out the people in power; but it is 
 probable the party in oppofition had tried 
 gentler means in vain. 
 
 As one great ufe of hiftory is to furnifh 
 leflons and examples, by which pofterity 
 in all ages may profit, I do not think it 
 U 4 would 
 
296 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 would be amifs to remind your friends in 
 adminiftration of this adventure, that they 
 may move off quietly before their op- 
 ponents take defperate meafures. For it 
 has been obferved, that the enemies of 
 tottering ftatefmen are much more a&ive 
 than their friends, who, when things 
 come to the laft pufti, are apt to ftand 
 aloof. 
 
 Like people viewing, at a diftance. 
 
 Three men thrown out of a cafement. 
 
 Who never ftir to their afiiftance, 
 
 But juft afford them their amazement. 
 
 In cafe however a fimilar outrage fhould be 
 threatened in England, it is to be hoped 
 that Apollo (as he was wont of oid 
 when any of his friends were in danger)- . 
 will interpofe with a cloud, and fave 
 the Minifter ; for, in the prefent fcarcity 
 of wit and good-humour, it would be a 
 tlicufand pities to lofe a man fp much 
 
 diftin- 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, See. 2 97 
 
 diftinguifhed for both, at one defperate 
 throw. 
 
 We walked over the heights from which 
 the Pruflians attempted to carry the town, 
 immediately after the defeat of Prince 
 Charles of Lorraine and Count Brown. 
 The bombardment of this town was a 
 more defenfible meafure than that of Dref- 
 den ; for while the army within were 
 under the dejedtion natural after the lofs 
 of a battle, and unprepared for a fiege, 
 it might be fuppofed, that the confufion 
 and terror produced by the bombardment, 
 joined to the vaft confumption of pro- 
 vifions by fueh a numerous garrifon, would 
 induce the befieged to furrender. But al- 
 though the King’s hu manky has not been 
 called in queftion for his condudt here, 
 I have heard many military men cenfure 
 him for want of prudence, particularly 
 on account of his defperate attempt at 
 
 Kolin, 
 
298 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Kolin, when leaving the half of his army 
 to continue the blockade of Prague, he 
 marched with little more than thirty thou- 
 
 that number, ftrongly fituated, and com- 
 manded by one of the ableft generals of 
 the age. 
 
 After all, it is more than probable, that 
 the King had very good reafons for his 
 conduft But as the attempt was unfuc- 
 cefsful, and as the fad reverfe of the Pruflian 
 affairs may be dated from that epoch, the 
 voice of cenfure has been very loud in 
 blaming an a&ion, which would have been 
 exalted to the Ikies had it been crowned 
 with luccefs. If Hannibal had by any ac- 
 cident been defeated at Cannae, it is very 
 poflible, that hiftorians would have found 
 out many reafons why he fhould not have 
 fought that battle, and would have en- 
 deavoured to prove, that his former vic- 
 tories 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 299 
 
 tories had been gained by chance, and 
 that he was a mere ignoramus in the art 
 of war. 
 
 Adieu, my good friend ; I wifh you good 
 luck in all your undertakings, that you may 
 continue to be reckoned by the world, a 
 man of prudence. 
 
300 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXXXII. 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 o N arriving at Vienna, the poftillions 
 drive diredly to the cuftom-houfe, 
 where the baggage undergoes a very fevere 
 fcrutiny, which neither fair words nor 
 money can mitigate. As nothing contra- 
 band was found among our baggage, it 
 was all carried diredly to our lodgings, 
 except our books, which were retained to 
 be examined at leifure, and were not re- 
 ftored to us till fome time after. The Em- 
 prefs has given ftrid orders, that no books 
 of impiety, lewdnefs, or immorality, fhall 
 be allowed to enter her dominions, or be 
 circulated among her fubje&s ; and Maho- 
 met himfelf dares as foon appear publicly at 
 Vienna as any one of them. 
 
 Unfortu- 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 301 
 
 Unfortunately for us, Sir Robert Keith 
 is lately gone to England, and is not expect- 
 ed back for feveral months. We have reafon 
 to regret the abfence of fo agreeable and 
 fo worthy a man ; but every advantage we 
 could have received from him as a minifter, 
 has been fupplied by his fecretary, Mr. 
 Erneft, who has introduced us to the Count 
 Degenfelt, ambafiador from the States- Ge- 
 neral. This gentleman, furnilhed us with 
 a lift of the vifits proper to be made, and 
 
 had the politenefs to attend the D of 
 
 H on this grand tour. 
 
 The firft day we waited on Prince Kau- 
 nitz, we were invited to dine, and found a 
 very numerous company at his houfe, many 
 of whom, as I afterwards underftood, had 
 been prepoflefled in our favour, by the po- 
 lite and obliging letters which the Baron 
 de Swieten had written from Berlin. 
 
 Some of the principal families are at 
 their feats in the country, which we fhould 
 
 have 
 
302 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 have more reafon to regret, were it not 
 for the politenefs and hofpitality of the 
 Count and Countefs Thune, at whofe houfe, 
 or that of their filler the Countefs Walftein, 
 there is an agreeable party every evening ; 
 among whom is the Vifcount de Laval, 
 brother to the Marquis, whom I had the 
 honour of knowing at Berlin. The Vif- 
 count has been as far north as Peterfburg, 
 and intends to make the tour of Italy before 
 he returns to France. 
 
 The city of Vienna, properly fo called, 
 is not of very great extent ; nor can it be 
 enlarged, being limited by a ftrong fortifica- 
 tion. This town is very populous : It is 
 thought to contain above feventy thoufand 
 inhabitants. The ftreets in general are nar- 
 row, and the houfes built high. Some of 
 the public buildings and palaces are mag- 
 nificent ; but they appear externally to no 
 great advantage, on account of the nar- 
 rownefs of the ftreets. The chief are the 
 
 Imperial 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 303 
 
 Imperial Palace, the Library and Mufeum, 
 the palaces of the Princes Lichtenftein, 
 •Eugene, and fome others, which I know 
 you will excufe me from enumerating or 
 defcribing. 
 
 There is no great danger that Vienna 
 will ever again be fubje&ed to the incon- 
 veniencies of a fiege. Yet, in cafe the 
 thing fhould happen, a meafure has been 
 taken, which will prevent the necefiity of 
 deftroying the fuburbs: No houfes with- 
 out the walls are allowed to be built nearer 
 to the glacis than fix hundred yards ; fo 
 that there is a circular field of fix hun- 
 dred paces broad all around the town, 
 which, exclufive of the advantage above 
 mentioned, has a very beautiful and falu- 
 tary effe&. Beyond the plain, the fuburbs 
 are built. — They form a very extenfive and 
 magnificent town of an irregularly circular 
 form, containing within its bofom a fpa- 
 cious field, which has for its centre the 
 original town of Vienna. 
 
 Thefe 
 
304 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Thefe magnificent fuburbs, and the town 
 together, are faid to contain above three 
 hundred thoufand inhabitants; yet the 
 former are not near fo populous, in pro- 
 portion to their fize, as the town ; be- 
 caufe many houfes of the fuburbs have ex- 
 tenfive gardens belonging to them, and 
 many families, who live during the winter 
 within the fortifications, pafs the fummer 
 months in the fuburbs. 
 
 Monfieur de Breteuil, the French am- 
 baffador, lives there at prefent. The Duke 
 and I dined at his houfe a few days ago. 
 This gentleman was attached to the Due 
 de Choifeul, and had been appointed an*- 
 baffador to this court, in which character he 
 was about to fet out from Paris, when that 
 minifter was difmiffed by the late King of 
 France; upon which M. de Breteuil, 
 inflead of Vienna, was fent to Naples. 
 But fince the new King’s acceffion, he has 
 been eftablifhed at the court for which he 
 
 was 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 305 
 
 Was originally intended. He is a man of 
 talents, and not calculated for a fituation 
 in which talents have little or no room for 
 exertion* 
 
 About a week after our arrival at Vienna, 
 we had the honour of being prefented to 
 the Emperor. The Count Degenfeldt ac- 
 companied us to the palace between nine 
 and ten in the morning. After walking a 
 few minutes in an adjoining room, we were 
 conducted into that where the Emperor was 
 alone. His manner is affable, eafy, and 
 gracefully plain. 
 
 The fame forenoon we drove to Schon^ 
 brun, a palace about a league from Vienna, 
 where the Emprefs refides at prefent. I had 
 no fmall curiofity to fee the celebrated Maria 
 Therefa, whofe fortunes have interefted Eu- 
 rope for fo many years. Her magnanimity 
 in fupporting the calamities to which the 
 early part of her life was expofed, and the 
 Vol. II. X moderation 
 
3 o 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 moderation with which fhe has born pro- 
 fperity, havefecured to her univerfal appro- 
 bation. She alfo was alone when we were 
 prefented. She converfed for fome-time 
 
 with the D — of H , in an eafy and 
 
 cheerful manner, and behaved to all with 
 an affable dignity. She now poffeffes but 
 fmall remains of that beauty for which fhe 
 was diftinguifhed in her youth ; but her 
 
 countenanceindicatesbenevolence and good- 
 
 humour. I had often heard of the fcrupu- 
 lous etiquette of the Imperial court, but 
 have found every thing diredtly oppoffte to 
 that account. 
 
 Prince Kaunitz having feen a young Eng- 
 lifh gentleman fcarcely fourteen years of age, 
 
 whom the D — of H patronizes, and 
 
 who has accompanied us on this tour, the 
 Prince delired that he alfo might be pre- 
 fented to the Emperor and Emprefs, which 
 was accordingly done, and they both re- 
 ceived him in the moft gracious manner. 
 
 I men- 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 307 
 
 I mention this circumftance as a ftrong 
 proof how far they are fuperior at this 
 court to trifling punctilios, and how greatly 
 they have relaxed in ceremony ftnce the ac- 
 ceflion of the Lorrain family. 
 
 Two or three days after this, we were 
 prefented, at a full court, to the two un- 
 married Arch-Dutchefles, their After the 
 Princefs Albert of Saxony, and the Prin- 
 cefs of Modena, who is married to the Em- 
 peror’s brother. The laft couple are lately 
 arrived from Milan on a vifit to the Em- 
 prefs. 
 
 The Imperial family are uncommonly 
 well- looking, and have a very ftrong refem- 
 blance to each other. They are all of a fair 
 complexion, with large blue eyes, and fame 
 of them, particularly the Arch- duke, are dif- 
 tinguiflied by the thick lip fo long remarked 
 in the Auftrian family. The beautiful 
 Queen of France is the handfo'meft of this 
 X 2 family, 
 
3 oS VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 family, only becaufe (he is the youngeft; 
 fome people think that her filter the Prin- 
 cefs Albert has ftill the advantage. 
 
 One of the unmarried Arch-duteheffes, 
 who formerly was thought the moft beau- 
 tiful, has fuffered confiderably by the fmall- 
 pox. — A lady of the court told me, that as 
 foon as this princefs underftood what her 
 difeafe was, fhe called for a looking-glafs, 
 and with unaffected pleafantry took leave of 
 thofe features fhe had often heard praifed, 
 and which fhe believed would be greatly 
 changed before fhe fhould fee them again. 
 The diminution which the fmall-pox has 
 made in the beauty of this Princefs, has not 
 in the fmalleft degree impaired her good- 
 humour, or the effential part of her cha- 
 - ra&er , which by every account is perfectly 
 amiable. 
 
 When the King of Pruflia faw his army 
 defeated at Gunerfdorf, after he had written 
 
 2 
 
 to 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 309 
 
 to the Queen that he was fure of victory ; 
 or when any of thofe monarchs, of whom 
 hiftory gives examples, were dallied from 
 their thrones to a Rate of dependence or cap- 
 tivity, unqueftionably it required great 
 flrength of mind to bear fuch cruel reverfes 
 of fortune; but perhaps it requires more in 
 a woman, whofe beauty is admired by one 
 half of the human race, and envied by the 
 other, to fupport its lofs with equanimity 
 in all the pride of youth. — If thofe veteran 
 beauties, who never had any thing but their 
 faces to give them importance, whom we 
 fee ftill withering on the ftalk, and repining 
 that they cannot retain the bloom of May 
 in the froft of December, had met with 
 fuch an accident, it would probably have 
 killed them at once, and faved them many 
 years of defpifed exiftence. 
 
310 VIEW OP SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXXXIII. 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 J Never patted my time more agreeably 
 than fince I came to Vienna. There is 
 not fiich a conftant round of amufements as 
 to fill up a man’s time without any plan or 
 occupation of his own ; and yet there is 
 enough to fatisfy any mind not perfectly 
 vacant, and dependent on external objects. — 
 We dine abroad two or three times a week. 
 We fometimes fee a little play, but never 
 
 any deep gaming. At the Countefs 
 
 Thune’s, where I generally pafs the evening, 
 there is no play of any kind. — The fociety 
 there literally form a converfazioni. 
 
 I dare fay, you will be at a lofs to imagine 
 how a mixed company, fometimes pretty 
 numerous, can pafs feveral hours every 
 6 evening, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c; 311 
 
 evening, merely in converfing, efpecially 
 when you are told that the converfation is 
 not always fplit into parties and tete-a-tetes ; 
 but is very often general. You will fufpedt 
 there muft be many melancholy paufes, 
 which, after a certain length, are prolonged, 
 from th6 reludance of people to be the firft 
 breakers of a very folemn filence ; or you 
 may think that fometimes there will be fo 
 many tongues moving at once, that nothing 
 can be heard diftindly ; and you may pof- 
 fibly figure to yourfelf the lady of the houfe 
 at other times endeavouring, by formal ob- 
 fervations on the weather, or politics, to 
 keep alive a converfation .which is juft ex- 
 piring in all the yawnings of death. 
 
 Nothing of this kind, however, happens. 
 The Countefs has the art of entertaining a 
 company, and of making them entertain one 
 another, more than any perfon I ever knew. 
 With a great deal of wit, and a perfed 
 knpwledge of the world, fhe poflefles the 
 X 4 
 
3 i2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 moft difmterefted heart. She is the firft to 
 difcover the good qualities of her friends, 
 and the laft who fees their foibles. One of 
 her greateft pleafures is to remove prejudices 
 from amongft her acquaintances, and to pro- 
 mote friendfhips. She has an everlafting 
 flow of fpirits, which (he manages with fuch 
 addrefs as to delight the gay, without dif- 
 pleafing the dejeCted. I never knew any 
 body have fuch a number of friends, and fo 
 much generous friendship to beftow on each : 
 She is daily making new ones, without al- 
 lowing her regard for the old to diminifli. 
 She has formed a little fyftem of happinefs 
 at her own houfe, herfelf being the centre 
 of attraction and union. — Nobody is under 
 the leaft neceflity of remaining a moment in 
 this fociety after being tired.-?— They may 
 retire when they pleafe.- — No more notice 
 is taken of the entries or exits of any perfon 
 who has been once received, than of a fly’s 
 poming in or going out of the room.- — There 
 js pPt the fliadow of reftraint. — If you go 
 
 every 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 313 
 
 every night, you are always treated with 
 equal kindnefs ; and if you ftay away for a 
 month, you are received on your return with 
 the fame cheerfulnefs as if you had been 
 there every evening. 
 
 The Englifh who come to this place are' 
 in a particular manner obliged to this family, 
 not only for the polite reception they ge- 
 nerally meet with, but alfo for the oppor- 
 tunities this affords them of forming an ac- 
 quaintance with the principal people at 
 Vienna. And I imagine there is no city in 
 Europe where a young gentleman, after his 
 univerfity education is finifhed, can pafs a 
 year with fo great advantage ; becaufe, if 
 properly recommended, he may mix, on an 
 eafy footing, with people of rank, and have 
 opportunities of improving by the conven- 
 tion of fenfible men and accomplifhed wo- 
 men. — In no capital could he fee fewer ex- 
 amples, or have fewer opportunities of deep 
 
 gaming. 
 
31 4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 gaming, open profligacy, or grofs de- 
 bauchery. He may learn to pafs his time 
 agreeably, independent of a continued round, 
 of amufements. — He may be gradually led 
 to enjoy rational converfation, and at length 
 acquire the blefied faculty of being fatisfied 
 with moderate pleafures. 
 
 To the politenefs of the Countefs Thune, 
 and the recommendation of the Baron 
 Swieten, I am indebted for the agreeable 
 footing I am on with Prince Kaunitz, who 
 at prefent lives at Laxenberg, a pleafant 
 village about ten miles from Vienna, 
 where there is a fmall palace and very 
 extenflve park, belonging to the Imperial 
 family. 
 
 ■ Prince Kaunitz has lately built a houfe 
 there, and lives in a flyle equally hofpitable 
 and magnificent. He is not to be feen be- 
 fore dinner by any but people on bufinefs ; 
 
 but 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 315 
 
 hut he always has a pretty large company 
 at dinner, and ftill greater numbers from 
 Vienna pafs their evenings at Laxenberg; 
 not unfrequently the Emperor himfelf makes 
 one of the company. This.minifter has 
 enjoyed the favour of the Emprefs for many 
 years. He was her envoy at the treaty of 
 Aix la Chapelle in 1748, and has been of 
 her cabinet council ever fince. At prefent 
 he is minifter for all foreign affairs, and is 
 fuppofed to have greater influence with her 
 than any other perfon. 
 
 He is certainly a man of knowledge, 
 genius, and fidelity, and the affairs of this 
 court have profpered greatly under his ma- 
 nagement. His friends are very much at- 
 tached to him, and he fhows great difcern- 
 ment in difcovering, and employing men of 
 talents. He is the friend and patron of 
 Monf. de Swieten. It is fuppofed that he 
 advifed and negociated the French alliance, 
 
 yet 
 
3i 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 yet he has always had a ftrong partiality in 
 favour of the Britilh nation 
 
 ■He has fome 
 Angularities ; but as they do not affed any 
 effential part of his character, they need not 
 he mentioned. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 317 
 
 LETTER LXXXIV. 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 T Had the pleafure of yours by the laft poft, 
 wherein you inform me that our ac- 
 quaintance C — talks of fetting out for 
 Vienna very foon. As nothing is fotirefome 
 
 as the company of one who is continually 
 * 
 
 tired of himfelf, I fhould be alarmed at your 
 information, were I not abfolutely certain 
 that his flay here will be very Ihort, come 
 when he will. 
 
 C— called at my lodgings one morning 
 the fummer before I had left London. — I 
 had remained in town merely becaufe I had 
 no particular bufinefs ellewhere; — but he 
 allured me, that the town was a defett ; — 
 that it was lhameful to be feen in the 
 ftreets ; — that all the world was at feright- 
 
 helmltone.— 
 
3*8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AN’D 
 
 helmflone. — So I allowed him to condu£t 
 me to that place, where we had remained 
 only a few days, when he told me, that none 
 of the people he cared for were there; and 
 as I had nothing particular to detain me, he 
 begged as a favour that I would accompany 
 him to .Tunbridge.-- *We went accordingly, 
 and. to my great fatisfa&ion I there found 
 
 Mr. N :’s family. C— remained pretty 
 
 quiet for about four days ; — he yawned a 
 good -deal on the fifth ; — and on the fixth, 
 I thought he would have diflocated : his jaws. 
 As he perceived I was pleafed with the 
 place, and would take none of hia hints 
 about leaving it, he at laffc pretended that he 
 had received a letter which made it abfolute- 
 ly neceflary for him to fet out for London: 
 —and away he went. 
 
 I ftaid three weeks at Tunbridge. — On my 
 return to town, I underflood that C — had 
 taken a genteel furnifhed houfe for the fum- 
 mer, in Yorkfhire, where he had already 
 
 pa (Ted 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 319 
 
 pafTed a week, having previously engaged a 
 female friend to go along with him. — He 
 left word in town, that he was not to be ex- 
 pected till the meeting of parliament. 
 Though I never imagined that he would re- 
 main quite fo long, yet I was a little fur- 
 prifed to fee him enter my room two days 
 after I had received this account. — He told 
 me, he was quite difgufted with his houfe, 
 
 , and more fo with his companion : — and be- 
 sides, he had taken a violent fancy to go to 
 Paris, which you know, added he, is the 
 molt delightful place in the world, efpecially 
 in fummer; for the company never think 
 of rambling about the country like our 
 'giddy fools in England, but remain to- 
 gether in the capital as fenfible people ought 
 to do. 
 
 He then propofed that we fhould pack 
 up a few things,— take poll,— pafs over,— 
 and fpend a couple of months at Paris. 
 Finding I did not relilh the propofal, he 
 
 wrote 
 
320 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 wrote an apology to the lady in Yorkfliire, 
 with an lncloied bank billj and let out next 
 day by himfelf. I heard no more of him 
 for fix weeks, but at the end of that time 
 happening to be at Bath, I faw my friend 
 C — enter the pump-room. — ’Egad, faid he, 
 you were wife to flay at home : — Paris is be- 
 come the moil; infipid place on earth : — I 
 could not fupport it above ten days. — But 
 having heard a good deal of Holland, I even 
 took a jaunt to Amfterdam, which, between 
 friends, I found very little more amufing 
 than Paris ; two days after my arrival, 
 finding an Englifh Ihip juft ready to fail, I 
 thought it would be a pity to let the oppor- 
 tunity flip. — So I ordered my trunk aboard. 
 ■^■We had a difagreeable paflage : — How- 
 ever, I arrived fafe a few days ago at Har- 
 wich. After this Iketch of poor C— ’sturn 
 of mind, you fee, I have no reafon to fear 
 his remaining long with us, if he fhould 
 come. 
 
 Foreigners 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 321 
 
 Foreigners affert that the Englifh have 
 more of this reftlefs difpofition than any 
 other people in Europe. 
 
 II faut que votre ville de Londres foit un 
 trifle fejour.— >-1 afked the perfon who made 
 this remark to me, wherefore he thought fo ? 
 
 • — Parceque, anfwered he, tous vos jeunes 
 gens que je vois en France s’ennuyent a la 
 mort. — But, faid I, there are a great many 
 of your countrymen in London. — Allure- 
 ment, anfwered he, with polite infolence, 
 cela fait une difference. 
 
 Our climate is accufed of producing this 
 ennuy. If I rightly remember, I formerly 
 hinted fome reafons againft this opinion, 
 and of late I begin to fufpeft that the excef- 
 five wealth of certain individuals, and the 
 Rate of foqiety in our capital, are the foie 
 caufes of our having a greater fhare of that 
 malady among us than our neighbours. 
 The common people of England know 
 
 Vol. II. Y nothing 
 
322 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 nothing of it.:— neither do the induftrious of 
 any rank, whether their objed be wealth, 
 knowledge, or fame. But in England there 
 is a greater number than in any other coun- 
 try, of young men, who come to the pof- 
 feffion of great fortunes before they have 
 acquired any fixed and determined tafie, 
 which may ferve as a refource and occupa- 
 tion through life. 
 
 When a youth has acquired a habit of ap- 
 plication, a thirffof knowledge, or of fame, 
 the moft ample fortune which can fall to 
 him afterwards, cannot always deftroy dif- 
 pofitions and paflions already formed — Par- 
 ticularly if the paffion be ambition, which 
 generally gives fuch energy to the mind, and 
 occafions fuch continued exertions as fiiffi- 
 ciently ward off laffitude and tedium ; for 
 wealth cannot lull, or pleafure enervate, a 
 mind ftrongly infpired by that adive princi- 
 ple. Such therefore are out of the prefent 
 queftion. But when a full and uncontrolled 
 
 command 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, See. 323 
 
 command of money comes firft, and every 
 object of pleafure is placed within the reach 
 of the unambitious, all other purfuits are 
 too frequently defpifed ; and every tafte or 
 accomplifhment which could inform or 
 ftrengthen the mind, and fill up the tedious 
 intervals of life, is negle&ed. 
 
 A young man in this fituation is prone to 
 excefs, he feldom waits the natural returns 
 of appetite of any kind; — his fenfibility is 
 blunted by too frequent enjoyment; — what 
 is defired to-day, is lothed to-morrow; — • 
 every thing at a diftance, which bears the 
 name of pleafure, is an object of defire; — 
 when prefent, it becomes an object of in- 
 difference, if not of difguft. — The agitations 
 of gaming are tried to prevent the horrid 
 ftagnation of indolence: — All amufements 
 lofe their relifh, and ferve to increafe the 
 languor they were meant to expel. 
 
 y 2 
 
 As 
 
3 24 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 As age advances, caprice, peevilhnefs* 
 and tedium augment :—The fcene is often 
 changed ; but the fame fretful piece is con- 
 ftantly aded till the curtain is dropt, or 
 is pulled down by the impatient ador him- 
 felf before the natural end of the drama. 
 
 1 
 
 Does not all this happen in France and 
 Germany? — Doubtlefs ; but not fo often as 
 in England, for the reafons already men- 
 tioned. In France, a very fmall proportion 
 of young men have the uncontrolled pof- 
 felfion of great fortunes. They have not 
 the means of gratifying every defire, and in- 
 dulging every caprice. Inftead of fpending 
 their time in clubs or taverns, with people 
 of their own age, the greater part of the 
 young nobility pafs their evenings with fome 
 private family, or in thofe focieties of both 
 fexes to which they have the entre'e. There 
 the decorum due to fuch company reftrains 
 of courfe the vivacity and wantonnefs of 
 
 their 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 325 
 
 their behaviour and converfation ; and ad- 
 ventures occur which intereft and amufe, 
 without being followed by the naufea, lan- 
 guor, and remorfe, which often fucceed 
 nights fpent at the gaming-table, or the 
 licentioufnefs of tavern fuppers. 
 
 Nothing has a better influence on the tem- 
 per, difpofitions, and manners of a young 
 perfon, than living much in the company 
 of thofe whom he refpeds. Exclufive of 
 the improvement he may receive from their 
 converfation, he is habituated to felf-denial, 
 and mull relinquiih many indulgencies 
 which lead to indolence and languor. 
 
 The young French nobility, even al- 
 though they fhould have no gre&t fhare of 
 ambition, no love of ftudy, no particular 
 turn for any of thofe higher accomplifh- 
 ments which enable men to pafs the hours 
 of life independent of other amufements ; 
 yet they contrive to keep tedium at a dif- 
 Y 3 tance 
 
326 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 tance by efforts of a different kind, by a 
 fpecies of activity peculiar to themfelves ; 
 they perceive very early in life, the abfolnte 
 neceffity of pleafing. This fentiment per- 
 vades their general condud, and goes a great 
 way in the formation of their real charader. 
 They are attentive and obliging to all, and 
 particularly endeavour to acquire and retain 
 the friendfhip of thofe who can affifl their 
 fortunes ; and they have a relifh for life, 
 becaufe it is not always in their power to 
 anticipate enjoyment, nor can they cloy 
 their appetites by fatiety. Even the moft 
 diffipated among them are unacquainted 
 with the unbounded freedom of a tavern 
 life, where all the freaks of a whimftcal 
 mind, and a capricious tafle, may be in- 
 dulged without hefitation, and which, after 
 long indulgence, renders every other kind 
 of fociety infupportable. 
 
 With regard to the Germans, there are 
 very few men of great independent fortunes 
 
 among 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, 8rc. 327 
 
 among them. The little princes, by whom 
 the riches of the country are engrafted, 
 have, I fufped, their own difficulties to get 
 through life with any tolerable degree of 
 fatisfadioo. As for their younger brothers 
 and the middling gentry, they go into the 
 army, and are fubjeded to the rigorous and 
 unremitting attentions of military difcipline. 
 This, of confequence, forms a charader, 
 in many refpeds different from that of the 
 Englifh or French gentleman. 
 
 But I have not yet mentioned the cir- 
 cumftance, which, of all others, perhaps 
 contributes the moft to render London the 
 trifle fejour which foreigners often find it ; 
 I mean the efiablifhment of affemblies, 
 from which that part of the community 
 are excluded who have the greatefl: power 
 to foothe the cares, and enliven the plea- 
 fures of life. 
 
 Y 4 
 
328 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 W E had an invitation lately from Monf. 
 
 de Breteuil to dine on the top of 
 Mount Calenberg, a very high mountain in 
 the neighbourhood of this city. Common 
 coaches or chariots cannot be dragged up ; 
 but having drove to the bottom, we found 
 chaifes of a particular conftru&ion, calcu- 
 lated for fuch expeditions. Thefe had been 
 ordered by the Ambaflador for the accom- 
 modation of the company, and in them we 
 were carried to the fummit, where there is 
 a convent of Monks, from which two 
 landfeapes of very oppofite natures appear. 
 The one confifts of a feries of wild moun- 
 tains ; the other, of the town, fuburbs, 
 and environs of Vienna, with the various 
 6 branches 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 329 
 
 branches of the Danube flowing through a 
 rich champaign of boundlefs extent. 
 
 The table for dinner was covered in a 
 field near the convent, under the fhade of 
 fome trees. — Every delicacy of the feafon 
 
 was ferved up. -Madame de Matignon, 
 
 a very beautiful and fprightly lady, daugh- 
 ter of M. de Breteuil, did the honours.— 
 Some of the fineft women of Vienna, her 
 companions, were of the company; and 
 the whole entertainment was conducted 
 with equal tafte and gaiety. 
 
 During the deflert, fome of the Fathers 
 came and prefented the company with 
 bafkets of fruit and falad from their gar- 
 den. — The Ambaffador invited them to fit, 
 and the ladies pledged them in tokay. 
 Monf. de Breteuil had previoufly obtained 
 permiflion for the ladies to enter the con- 
 vent ; which they accordingly did, as 
 
 foon 
 
330 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 foon as they rofe from table, attended by 
 all the company. 
 
 You will readily believe, that the ap- 
 pearance of fo many handfome women 
 would be particularly interefting to a com- 
 munity which had never before beheld a 
 
 female within their walls This indeed 
 
 was fumciently evident, in fpite of the 
 gravity and mortified looks of the Fa- 
 thers. 
 
 One lady of a gay difpofition laid hold 
 of a little fcourge which hung at one of 
 the Father’s belts, and defired he would 
 make her a prefent of it, for {he wilhed to 
 life it when fhe returned home, having, as 
 flie faid, been a great finner. The Fa- 
 
 ther, with great gallantry, begged fhe 
 would fpare her own fair {kin, afTnring her 
 that he would give himfelf a hearty flog- 
 ging on her account that very evening ; — 
 and to prove how much he was in earneft, 
 
 fell 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 331 
 
 fell dire&ly on his knees before a little 
 altar, and began to whip his own fhoulders 
 with great earneftnefs, declaring, that when 
 the ladies fhould retire, he would lay it 
 with the fame violence on his naked body; 
 for he was determined fhe fhould be as 
 free from fin as fhe was on the day of her 
 birth. 
 
 This melted the heart of the lady. — She 
 begged the Father might take no more of 
 
 her faults upon his fhoulders. She now 
 
 allured him that her flips had been very 
 venial, and that fhe was convinced what 
 he had already done would clear her as 
 completely as if he fhould whip himfelf 
 to the bone. 
 
 There is fomething fo ludicrous in all 
 this, that you may naturally fufpedt the 
 reprefentation I have given, proceeds from 
 invention rather than memory. I allure 
 
 you, 
 
33 2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 you, however, in downright earneft, that 
 the feene palled nearly as defcribcd ; and 
 to prevent farther mifchief, I put the 
 fcourge, which the zealous Father had 
 made ufe of, in my pocket. 
 
 On my return to Vienna, I called the 
 fame evening at the Countefs Walftein’s, 
 and foon after the Emperor came there. 
 Somebody had already mentioned to him 
 the pious gallantry of the Father at the top 
 of Mount Calenberg. — He afked for a fight 
 of the whip, which he underftood I had 
 brought away; — I had it ftill in my pocket, 
 
 and immediately fhowed it him. He 
 
 laughed very heartily at the warmth of the 
 Father’s zeal, w r hich he fuppofed had been 
 augmented by the Ambaflador’s tokay. 
 
 You have often heard of the unceremo- 
 nious and eafy manner in which this great 
 Prince lives with bis fubjedts. Report can- 
 not 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 333 
 
 not exaggerate on this head. The Countefs 
 Walhein had no expectations of his vifiting 
 
 her that evening. When the fervant 
 
 named the Emperor before he entered, I 
 ftarted up, and was going to retire. — The 
 Countefs defired me to remain, for nothing 
 was more difagreeable to him than that any 
 company fhould be diffurbed on his enter- 
 ing. — The ladies kept their feats, fome of 
 them knotting all the time he remained. 
 The men continued handing while he hood, 
 and when he was feated, mod part of them 
 fat down alfo. — The Emperor put Count 
 Mahoni, the Spanifh ambaffador, in mind 
 of his gout, and made him fit, while hitn- 
 felf remained handing. 
 
 This monarch converfes with all the eafe 
 and affability of a private gentleman, and 
 gradually feduces others to talk with the 
 fame eafe to him. He is furely much hap- 
 pier in this noble condefcenhon, and muh 
 
 acquire 
 
334 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 acquire a more perfect knowledge of man- 
 kind. than if he kept himfelf aloof from 
 his fubje&s, continually wrapt up in his 
 own importance and the Imperial fur. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 335 
 
 LETTER LXXXVI. 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 ^J^HE manners of this court are conilder- 
 ably altered fince Lady Mary Wortley 
 Montague was here, particularly fince the 
 acceflion of the prefent Emprefs, whofe un- 
 demanding and affability have abridged 
 many of the irkfome ceremonials formerly 
 in ufe. Her fon’s philofophical turn of 
 mind, and the amiable and conciliating 
 characters of her whole family, have no 
 doubt tended to put fociety in general upon 
 a more eafy and agreeable footing. 
 
 People of different ranks now do bufinefs 
 together with eafe, and meet at public 
 places without any of thofe ridiculous dif- 
 putes about precedency, of which the in- 
 genious Englifh lady has given fuch lively 
 
 defcriptions. 
 
•Sg6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 defcriptions. Yet trifling pundilios are not 
 fo completely baniffied, as I imagine, the 
 Emperor could with, he himfelf being the 
 leaf! punctilious perfon in his dominions 
 for there is certainly (till a greater reparation 
 than good fenfe would direCt, between the 
 various claiTes of the fubjeCts. — The fenti- 
 ments of a people change very gradually, 
 and it takes a courfe of years before reafon, 
 or even the example of the Sovereign, can 
 overcome old cuftoms and prejudices. 
 
 The higher, or ancient families, keep 
 themfelves as diftinCt from the inferior, or 
 newly-created nobility, as thefe do from the 
 citizens : So that it is very difficult for the 
 inferior daffies to be in fociety, or to have 
 their families much connected with thofe of 
 the fuperior ranks. And what is of more 
 importance in a political fenfe, there are cer- 
 tain places of high truft in the government?, 
 which cannot be occupied by any but the 
 higher order of nobility. 
 
 Would 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE* &c. 337 
 
 Would you not think it disadvantageous 
 for a government to keep a law in force 
 which ena&s, that the offices in the Rate 
 which require the greateft abilities, fhould 
 be filled from that clafs of the community 
 in which there is the leaf! chance of finding 
 them ?~Perhaps the ufage above mentioned 
 is nearly equivalent to fuch a law. As for 
 the peafants, who are entirely out of the 
 queftion, they are* in many parts of the Em- 
 peror’s dominions, in a ftate of perfect 
 flavery, and almoft totally dependent on the 
 proprietors of the land. 
 
 The ideas relative to drefs feem to have 
 entirely changed fince Lady Mary’s time* 
 and if the drefs of the ladies be ftill as ab- 
 furd, it is at leaft not fo fingular; for they* 
 like the reft of Europe, have now adopted 
 the Parifian modes. 
 
 The prefent race of Auftrian ladies can 
 differ in nothing more than they do in looks 
 
 ,Vol. IL Z from 
 
338 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 from their grandmothers, who, if any of 
 them are {fill alive, may be as beautiful at 
 this day as they were when fhe wrote; for 
 time itfelf could hardly improve that ugli- 
 nefs, which, according to her, was in full 
 bloom fixty years ago. I have not as yet 
 enquired what method the parents have de- 
 vifed to remedy this inconveniency ; but 
 nothing is more certain than that it is reme- 
 died very effe&ually, for at prefent there k 
 no fear city of female beauty at the court of 
 Vienna. 
 
 This being the cafe, it is natural to ima- 
 gine that gallantry muft now be more pre- 
 valent than when her lady {hip was here* 
 But excluhve of any real difference, which 
 may have happened in the fentiments of the 
 ladies themfelves, they are obliged to obferve 
 an uncommon degree of circumfpedion in 
 that particular, as nothing is more heinous 
 in the eyes of her Imperial Apoftolic Ma- 
 jefty. She feems to think that the ladies 
 
 of 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 339 
 
 of her court, like the wife of Csefar, ffioukl 
 not only be free from guilt, but, what is 
 ftill more difficult, free from fufpicion, and 
 ftrongly marks by her manner, that fhe is 
 But tbo Well informed wheii any piece of 
 fcandal circulates to the prejudice of any of 
 them. 
 
 With regard to what Lady Mary calls fab- 
 marriages, and of which fhe has given fuch 
 a curious account, I do not imagine they are 
 common at prefent, in all the latitude of her 
 description. But it is not uncommon for 
 married ladies here to avow the greateft de- 
 gree of friendfhip and attachment to men 
 who are not their hufbands ; and to live with 
 them in great intimacy, without hurting 
 their reputation, or being fufpe&ed, even 
 by their own fex, of having deviated from 
 the laws of modefty. 
 
 One evening at the Count Thune’s, when 
 there was a pretty numerous company, I 
 Z 2 obferved 
 
340 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 obferved one lady uncommonly fad, and eii- 
 quired of her intimate friend who happened 
 to be there alfo, if fhe knew the caufe of this 
 
 fadnefs? — I do, replied fhe; Mr. de 
 
 whom fhe loves very tenderly, ought to have 
 been here a month ago ; and laft night fhe 
 received a letter from him, informing her 
 that he cannot be at Vienna for a month to 
 come. But pray, faid I, does your friend’s 
 hufband know of this violent paffion ihe has 
 
 tor Mr. de — ? Yes, yes, anfwered fhe*' 
 
 he knows it, and enter's with the moil ten- 
 der fympathy into her affliction; he doea 
 all that can be expected from an affectionate 
 hufband to comfort and foothe his wife, 
 alluring her that her love will wear away 
 with time. But fhe always declares that 
 {he has no hopes of this, becaufe fhe feels 
 it augment every day. — Mais, au fond, con- 
 tinued the lady, cela lui fait bien de la peine, 
 parceque malheureufement il aime fa femme 
 a la folie. Et fa femme, qui eft la meil- 
 leure creature du monde, plaint infiniment 
 
 fon 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 341 
 
 fon pauvre mari ; car elle a beaucoup d’ami- 
 tie et d’eftime pour lui mais elle nefcau- 
 roit fe defaire de cette malheureufe paflion 
 pour Monf. de . 
 
 I was not in the leaft furprifed that a dis- 
 appointment of this nature fhould affed a 
 woman a little; but I own it did aftonifh 
 me that fhe fhould appear in public, on 
 fuch an occafion, in all the oftentation of 
 forrow, like a young widow vain of her 
 weeds. Here this paflion was lamented by 
 her friends as a misfortune: In England, if 
 I rightly remember, fuch misfortunes are 
 generally imputed to people as crimes* 
 
342 VIEW Of SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXXXVir. 
 
 Prefburg. 
 
 ^ H E VifcQunt de Laval having propofed 
 to me lately to make a fhort tour with 
 him into Hungary, I very readily confented, 
 and we arriyed at this town yefterday 
 morning. 
 
 Prefburg, which 4s the capital of Lower 
 Hungary, like Vienna, has fuburbs more 
 magnificent than itfelf. In this city the 
 States of Hungary hold their aflemblies, 
 and in the cathedral church the Sovereign 
 is crowned. 
 
 The prefent Emprefs took refuge here 
 when the Eledtor of Bavaria was declared 
 Emperor at Prague, when fhe was abandoned 
 by her allies, and when France had planned 
 
 her 
 
 2 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, ' &c. 343 
 
 her deftru&ion. Her own magnanimity’, 
 the generous friendlhip of Great Britain, 
 and the courage of her Hungarian fubje&s, 
 at length reftored her fortunes, and fecured 
 to her family the fplendid fituation they now 
 hold in Europe. 
 
 What politician in 1741 could have 
 thought that in the courfe of a few years the 
 Emprefs would be in ftridf alliance with 
 France, and one of her daughters feated on 
 the throne of that kingdom ? — Should a 
 foothfayer of Bofton prophefy, that John 
 Hancock, or his fon, will, fometime hence, 
 demand in marriage a daughter of Eng- 
 land,— pray, dornot lay an uncommon odds, 
 that the thing will not happen. 
 
 Monf. de Laval and I walked up this 
 morning to the caftle, which is a noble 
 Gothic building, of a fquare form, with a 
 tower at each corner. The regalia of Hun- 
 gary, confifting of the crown and fceptre of 
 Z 4 St, 
 
344 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 St. Stephen, the firffc king, are depofited 
 here. Thefe are carefully fecured by feven 
 locks, the keys of which are kept by the 
 fame number of Hungarian noblemen. No 
 Frince is held by the populace as legally 
 their Sovereign till he be crowned with the 
 diadem of King Stephen; and they have a 
 notion that the fate of their nation depends 
 on this crown’s remaining in their pofief- 
 fion. It has therefore been always removed 
 in times of danger to places of the greateft 
 fafety. 
 
 The Turks, aware of the influence of fuch 
 a prejudice in the minds of the vulgar, have, 
 it is faid, made frequent attempts to feize 
 this Palladium. — The fate of Hungary feems 
 now to be pretty much decided; fo that ex- 
 clufive of the value they put upon the crown, 
 as a relic of confiderable antiquity, the 
 Hungarians need not be folicitous whether 
 it remains in this caftle or in the Imperial 
 palace at Vienna. 
 
 By 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, Sic. 34$ 
 
 By the conftitution of Hungary, the 
 crown is flill held to be elective. This point 
 is not difputed.— All that is infilled on is* 
 that the heir of the Houfe of Aultria lhall 
 be elected as often as a vacancy happens. 
 
 The caflle of Prefburg is the ufual reli- 
 dence of Prince Albert of Saxony* who 
 married one of the Arch-dutchelfes, a very 
 beautiful and accomplilhed Princefs. As 
 M. de Laval and I entered one of the rooms, 
 we observed them at a window. We im- 
 mediately llarted back, and withdrew, being 
 in riding frocks and boots. Monf de La- 
 val had feen their Highnefles a few days be- 
 fore at Schonbrun, and thought they had 
 been there ftilL— ' The Princefs fent a polite 
 meflage after us by a fervant, who had or- 
 ders to conduct us through every apartment 
 of the caflle ; Ihe herfelf flept into another 
 room, that we might fee that which Ihe left. 
 
 Ail 
 
34 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 All the Princefles of the Auftrian family* 
 arediftinguilhed by an attentive and obliging 
 politenefs, which is the more remarkable, 
 as thofe who live much at courts often ac- 
 quire a fpecies of politenefs which is by no 
 means obliging. The fplendor and dif- 
 tindions of a court frequently infpire an 
 overweening vanity, and have a peculiar 
 tendency to fhake the fteadinefs of the fe- 
 male underftanding. Court ladies in ge- 
 neral, but particularly fuch as fubmit to be 
 abjed fycophants to Queens and Princefles, 
 are apt to render themfelves ridiculous by 
 the arrogant airs they aflfume to the reft of 
 the world, and while they ufurp the im- 
 portance of royalty, fill the breafts of all 
 who know them with as mueh deteftation 
 as is confident with contempt. 
 
 The view from this citadel is very extea- 
 five, commanding the vaft and fertile plains 
 of Hungary. 
 
 Having 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 34.7 
 Having dined at the inn., and regaled 
 ourfelves, at no great expence, with tokay, 
 we went to vifit a villa at the diftance of 
 four miles from Prefburg, belonging to a 
 Hungarian nobleman. This houfe is de- 
 lightfully fituated, — the gardens laid out a 
 little too methodically ; but the park, and 
 fields around, where lefs art has been ufed, 
 difplay a vaft luxuriancy of natural beauties. 
 — While wandering over thefe, we entered 
 a little wood in a very retired place ; as we 
 advanced into this, we faw a venerable look- 
 ing old man with a long beard, who, 
 ftretching out his hand, feemed to invite us 
 to an hermitage which we obferved hard by. 
 
 The Vifcount, impatient to cultivate the 
 acquaintance of a perfon of fuch an hofpi- 
 table appearance, ran before me toward him > 
 when he got up to him, he hopped Ihort, 
 as if furprifed, and then, to my utter aftonifh- 
 ment, he raifed his foot with every mark of 
 
 indignation, 
 
348 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 indignation, and gave the poor oid hermit 
 a violent kick. - 
 
 I do not remember that I was ever more 
 Ihocked in my life ; I was at the fame time 
 quite confounded at an action fo unworthy 
 in itfelf, and fo incompatible with the cha- 
 ra&er of Monf. de Laval. — I was foon re- 
 conciled, however, to the treatment the old 
 fellow had received, when I difcovered that 
 this venerable perfonage was not the honeft 
 man we took him for, but a downright im- 
 poftor, made of painted wood, and drelTed 
 in the robes of a hermit to deceive paflen-* 
 gers. 
 
 Over the door was an infcription from 
 Horace 
 
 Odi profanum vulgus. 
 
 On the infide of the door ■ 
 
 Fata volentes ducunt, nolentes trahunt. 
 
 And 
 
There were alfo feveral infcriptions taken 
 from Cieero, in favour of the foul’s immor- 
 tality, which I am forry I negle&ed to 
 tranfcribe. — We returned in the evening to 
 this place, and are to fet out to-morrow 
 for Prince Eftherhafie’s. 
 
 MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 349 
 
 . And in another part, within the hermi- 
 tage — 
 
 Omnes eodem cogimur : omnium 
 - Verfatur urna, ferius ocius, 
 
 Sors exitura, et nos in aeternum 
 Exilium impofitura Cymbae. 
 
35'd VIEW Of SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER LXXXVnr. 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 UAVING left Prefburg, we travelled 
 eight pofts acrofs a very fertile country 
 to the palace of Eftherhafie, the refidence 
 of the Prince of that name. He is the 
 firfl; in rank of the Hungarian nobility, and 
 one of the raoft magnificent fubjedts in Eu- 
 rope. He has body-guards of his own, all 
 genteel-looking men, richly drefled in the 
 Hungarian manner. 
 
 The palace is a noble building, lately 
 finifhed, and fituated near a fine lake. The 
 apartments are equally grand and commo- 
 dious ; the furniture more fplendid than al- 
 moft any thing I have feen in royal palaces. 
 In the Prince’s own apartment there are 
 fome curious mufical clocks, and one in the 
 
 Ihape 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. §& 
 
 fhape of a bird, which whittles a tune every 
 hour. 
 
 Juft by the palace, there is a theatre for 
 operas, and other dramatic entertainments, 
 and in the gardens, a large room with com- 
 modious apartments for mafquerades and 
 balls. 
 
 At no great diftance, there is another 
 theatre exprefsly built for puppet-fhows. 
 This is much larger, and more commodious 
 than moft provincial playhoufes, and I am 
 bold to after t, is the moft fplendid that has 
 as yet been reared in Europe for that fpecies 
 of actors. We regretted that we could not 
 have the pleafufe of feeing them perform ; 
 for they have the reputation of being the 
 beft comedians in Hungary* 
 
 We had the curiofity to peep behind the 
 curtain, and faw Kings, Emperors, Turks, 
 and Chriftians, all ranged very fociably - to- 
 gether.—' 
 
352 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 gether. — King Solomon was obferved in a 
 corner in a very fufpicious tete-a-tete with 
 the Queen of Sheba* 
 
 Amottgfl: other curiofitieSj thfere is in the 
 garden a wooden houfe, built upon wheels. 
 It contains a room with a table, chairs, a 
 looking-glafs, chimney, and fire-place. There 
 are alfo clofets, with many neceffary accom- 
 modations. — -The Prince fometimes enter- 
 tains twelve people in this vehicle, all of 
 whom may eafily fit round the table, and 
 the whole company may thus take an airing 
 together along the walks of the garden, and 
 many parts of the park, which are as level 
 as a bowling-green. The machine, when 
 thus loaded, is eafily drawn by fix or eight 
 horfes. 
 
 Prince Eflherhafie having heard of M. de 
 Laval’s being in the garden,- ferit us an invi- 
 tation to the opera, which was to be per^ 
 formed that evening ; but as we had brought 
 
 with 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 353 
 
 tvith us no drefs proper for fuch an occa- 
 fion, we were forced to decline this oblig- 
 ing invitation. — The Prince afterwards fent 
 a carriage, in which we drove round the 
 garden and parks. Thefe are of vaft ex- 
 tent, and beautiful beyond defcription ; ar- 
 bours, fountains, walks, woods, hills, and 
 valleys, being thrown together in a charm- 
 ing confulion. — If you will look over 
 Ariofto’s defcription of the gardens in Al- 
 cina’s inchanted ifland, you will have an 
 idea of the romantic fields of Eftherhafie, 
 which are alfo inhabited by the fame kind 
 of animals. 
 
 Tra le purpuree rofe e i bianchi gigli> 
 
 Che tepid aura frefchi ognora ferba, 
 
 Sicuri fi vedean lepri e conigli : 
 
 E cervi con la fronte aha e fuperba, 
 
 Senza temer chc alcun li uccida o pigli, 
 Fafcono, e ftanfi ruminando l’erba : 
 
 E Saltan daini e capri fnelli e deftri, 
 
 Che fono in copia in quei luoghi campeftri. 
 
 Vol. II. A a M. de 
 
354 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 M. de Laval was in raptures with the 
 gardens of Eftherhafie. In the height of 
 his admiration, I afked him how they 
 flood in his opinion compared with thofe 
 of Verfailles ? 
 
 Ah, Parbleu ! Monfieur, anfwered he, 
 Verfailles eto.it fait expres pour n’etre com- 
 pare a rien — He acknowledged, however, 
 without difficulty, that, except France, 
 no other country he had feen was fo beau- 
 tiful as this. 
 
 Having wandered here many hours, we 
 returned to the inn, where a fervant wait- 
 ed with Prince Eflherhafie’s compliments, 
 and a bafket containing two bottles of 
 Tokay, and the fame quantity of Cham- 
 paign and of Old Hock. We lamented very 
 fincerely, that we could not have the ho- 
 nour of waiting on this very magnificent 
 Prince, and thanking him perfonally for fo 
 much politenefs. 
 
 6 
 
 A com- 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. .355 
 
 A company of Italian fingers and a&ors 
 Were then at the inn, and preparing for the 
 opera. Great preparations were mak- 
 ing for the entertainment of the Emprefs 
 and all the Court, who are foon to make 
 a vifit of feveral days toEftherhafie. Though 
 the Imperial family, and many of the nobi- 
 lity, are to lodge in the palace, yet every 
 corner of this large and commodious inn is 
 already befpoke for the company which are 
 invited upon that occafion. 
 
 Hungary is a very cheap country, the 
 land being infinitely fertile, and in fome 
 places producing the moft efteemed grape 
 in Europe. It is beautified with lakes, 
 the windings of the Danube, and many 
 flreams which flow into that fine river. In 
 the woods of Hungary are bred a race of 
 horfes, the moft active, hardy, and fpirit- 
 ed, for their fize, in the world. Thefe 
 have been found very ufeful in war, and 
 A a 2 the 
 
35 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 the huflars, or light dragoons of the Auf- 
 trian army are mounted on them. 
 
 The men in Hungary are remarkably 
 handfome, and well-fhaped. Their ap- 
 pearance is improved by their drefs, which 
 you know is peculiar, and very becoming. 
 
 Lady M. W. Montague aflferts, that the 
 Hungarian women are far more beautiful 
 than the Auftrian. For my part, I think 
 of women, as M. de Laval does of Ver- 
 failles ; — -that they are not to be compared 
 with any thing, — not even with one an- 
 other. And therefore, without prefuming 
 to take a comparative view of their beauty, 
 it may be remarked in general, that where 
 the men are handfome and well-made, it 
 is natural to fuppofe, that the women will 
 po fiefs the fame advantages ; for parents 
 generally bellow as much attention to the 
 making of their daughters as of their 
 fons. In confirmation of which do&rine, 
 
 I can 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 357 
 
 I can allure you, that I have feen as hand- 
 fome women, as men, in Hungary, and 
 one of the prettied women, in my opinion, 
 at prefent at the Court of Vienna, is 3. 
 Hungarian, 
 
 None of the Emprefs’s fubjefls are taxed 
 fo gently, or enjoy fo many privileges as 
 the Hungarians. This is partly owing to 
 the grateful remembrance die has of their 
 loyalty and attachment in the days of her 
 didrefs. But although this fentiment were 
 not fo ftrong in her bread as it really is, 
 there are political reafons for continuing to 
 them the fame exemptions and privileges ; 
 for nothing can be more dangerous than dis- 
 obliging the inhabitants of a frontier coun- 
 try, which borders on an inveterate enemy- 
 —Nor could any thing pleafe the Turks 
 more, than to find the hearts of the Hunga- 
 rians alienated from the houfe of Audria. 
 
 I found this country, and the company 
 of M. de Laval, fo very agreeable, that I 
 A a q fhou .14 
 
35 s VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 fhould have been happy to have extended 
 our excursion farther ; but he is obliged to 
 fet out foon for Chamberry to pay his duty 
 to the Comte d’Artois, who is expeded 
 there to wait on his future fpoufe, the 
 Princefs of Savoy. We therefore returned 
 by the dired road from Eftherhafie to, 
 Vienna, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 359 
 
 LETTER LXXXIX. 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 g O the fate of poor is finally decid- 
 
 ed, and he now finds, that to be ruined 
 is not a matter of fo much indifference as 
 he once imagined. I neither fee the pof- 
 fibility of his extricating himfelf from his 
 prefent difficulties, nor in what manner he 
 will be able to fupport them. Accuftomed 
 to every luxurious indulgence, how can 
 he bear the inconveniencies of poverty ? — 
 Diffipated and inattentive from his child- 
 hood, how can he make any exertion for 
 himfelf? — His good-humour, genteel fi- 
 gure, and pliant difpofition, made him well 
 received by all. — While he formed no ex- 
 pectations from their friendfhip, his com- 
 pany feemed particularly acceptable to fome 
 who are at prefent in power : Whether it 
 A a 4 will 
 
$ 6 q VIEW OF SOCIETY ANp 
 
 will be equally fo now, when he has no- 
 thing elfe to depend on, is to be tried. 
 And I really think it is as well for him 
 that it be tried now, as five or fix years 
 hence. 
 
 This calamity has been long forefeen.-^ 
 There feemed to be almoft a ncceffity that 
 it fhould happen fooner or later; for he 
 had neither caution, plan, nor object in hig 
 gaming. — He continued it from habit 
 alone. Of ajl mankind, he was the leaf!: 
 covetous of exceffive wealth ; and exclu- 
 five of gaming, he always lived within hi§ 
 income, not from a defire of faving money, 
 but merely becaule he had no tafte for great 
 expence.^— How often have we feen him 
 lofe immenfe fums to thofe who could never 
 have paid the half, had he happened to 
 win it ; and to fome of whom he had 
 lent the money which enabled them tq 
 flake againfl him ? 
 
 There 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 361 
 
 There are. many carelefs young men of 
 great fortunes, who game in the fame 
 Ryle, and from no other motives than 
 thofe of our unhappy friend. — What is 
 the confequence ? — The money circulates 
 for a while among them, but remains 
 finally with perfons of a very different 
 chara&er. — I fhall not fuppofe that any of 
 the very fortunate gamefters we have been 
 acquainted with, have ufed thofe means 
 to correct fortune which are generally 
 reckoned fraudulent. I am fully per- 
 fuaded, they are feldomer pra£tifed in the 
 clubs in London than in any other gam- 
 ing focieties in the world. — Let all flight of 
 hand, and every fpecies of downright 
 lharping, be put out of the queftion; but 
 fiill we may fuppofe, that among a great 
 number of carelefs inattentive people of 
 fortune, a few wary, cool, and flirewd 
 tnen are mingled, who know how to con* 
 ceal real caution and defign under ap- 
 parent inattention and gaiety of manner 
 
 8 who 
 
3 6z VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 who have a perfect command of them-? 
 felves, pulh their luck when fortune 
 fmiles, and refrain when fhe changes her 
 difpofition ; — who have calculated the 
 chances, and underftand every game where 
 judgment is required. 
 
 If there are fuch men, is not the pro- 
 bability of winning infinitely in their fa- 
 vour ? — Does it not amount to almoft as 
 great a certainty, as if they had a&ually 
 loaded the dice or packed the cards ?—I 
 know you live in the habit of intimacy 
 with fome who anfwer to the above de- 
 fcription ; and I have heard you fay, that 
 however fortunate they may have been, 
 you were fully convinced that nothing 
 can be fairer than their manner of playing. 
 
 I accufe them of taking no other advantages 
 than thofe above mentioned ; but I appeal 
 to your own experience, — pray recollect, — 
 and I am greatly miftaken, if you will not 
 find, that by far the greater part of thofe 
 
 who 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 363 
 
 ■who have made fortunes by play, and 
 have kept them when made, are men of 
 cool, cautious, fhrewd, and felftfh cha- 
 rafters. 
 
 If any of thefe very fortunate people 
 were brought to a trial, and examined by 
 what means they had accumulated fuch 
 fums, while fo many others had entirely 
 loft, or greatly impaired their fortunes (if 
 the word efprit be allowed to imply that 
 artful fuperiority which belongs to their 
 charafters), they might anfwer in the 
 words of the wife of Concini Marechal 
 d’Ancre, when the was alked what charm 
 ftie had made ufe of to fafcinate the mind 
 of the Queen ? — De Pafcendant, fhe re- 
 plied, qu’un efprit fuperieur a toujours fur 
 des efprits foibles.— -Certainly there can 
 be no greater weaknefs, than for a man of 
 independent fortune to game in fuch a 
 manner as to rifk lofing it, for the chance 
 
 of 
 
s 6 4 view of society and 
 
 of doubling or tripling his income : — be- 
 caufe the additional happinefs ariling from 
 any fuppofable addition of wealth, can 
 never be within a thoufand degrees fo great, 
 as the mifery which would be the confe- 
 rence of his being ftripped of his original 
 fortune. 
 
 This confideration alone, one would 
 imagine, might be fufficient to deter any 
 reafonable man from a conduct fo weak 
 and abfurd : yet there are other confidera- 
 tions which give much additional weight 
 to the argument ; — the difmal effects which 
 the continued practice of gaming has fome- 
 times been obferved to produce in the dif- 
 pofitions of the mind, and the molt effen- 
 tial parts of the character, deftroying every 
 idea of ceconomy, engroffing the whole 
 time, undermining the beft principles, per- 
 verting the qualities of the heart, render- 
 ing men callous to the ruin of acquaint- 
 ances, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, 365 
 
 ances, and partakers, with a favage in- 
 fenfibiiity, in the fpoils of their unwary 
 friends* 
 
 The peculiar inftances with which you 
 and I are acquainted, where the long-con- 
 tinued habit of deep play has had no fuch 
 effe&s, are proofs of the rooted honour and 
 integrity of certain individuals, and may 
 ferve as exceptions to a general rule, but 
 cannot be Urged as arguments againft the 
 ufual tendency of gaming. If men of for- 
 tune and chara&er adopted the practice 
 of gaming upon any principle of reafoning, 
 there might be a greater probability of 
 their being reafoned out of it : but moft of 
 them begin to game, not with any view or 
 fixed plan of increafing their wealth, but 
 merely as a fafhionable amnfement, or per- 
 haps by way of (bowing the liberality 
 of their fpirif, and their contempt for 
 money. 
 
 I would 
 
VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 I would not be very pofitive, that fome 
 of them have not miftaken for admiration 
 that furprife which is exprefled when any 
 perfon has loft an immenfe film. And this 
 miftake may have given them lefs repug- 
 nance to the idea of becoming the obje&s 
 of admiration in the fame day. Afterwards 
 endeavouring to win back what they had 
 fo idly loft, the habit has grown by de- 
 grees, and at length has become their foie 
 refource from the wearinefs which thofe 
 bom to great fortunes, and who have not 
 early in life acquired fome faculty of aoiuf- 
 ing themfelves, are more prone to fall in- 
 to than others. Men born to no fuch ex- 
 pectations, whatever their natural difpofi- 
 tions may be, are continually roufed from 
 indolence by avocations which admit of 
 no delay. The purfuit of that independ- 
 ence, for which almoft every human bo- 
 fom fighs, and whofe value is unknown 
 only to thofe who have always pofleffed it. 
 
 is 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 367 
 
 is thought a necefiary, and is often found, 
 an agreeable employment to the generality 
 of mankind. This, with the other duties 
 of life, is fufficient to engrofs their time 
 and thoughts, and guard them from the 
 pains and penalties of idlenefs . 
 
 As the purfuit of wealth is fuperfluous 
 in men of rank and fortune, fo it would be 
 unbecoming their fituation. Being de- 
 prived of this, which is fo great an objedt 
 and refource to the reft of mankind, they 
 ftand in more need of fomething to fupply 
 its place. I know of nothing which can 
 fo completely, and with fo much propriety, 
 have this effedt, as a tafte for letters and 
 love of fcience. I therefore think thefe 
 are more eflentially necefiary to the happi- 
 nefs of people of high rank and great for- 
 tune, than to thofe in confined circum- 
 ftances. 
 
 If independence be defired with univer- 
 fal ardour by mankind, the road of fcience 
 
 is 
 
s 6 8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 is neither the moft certain, nor the fhorteft 
 way to attain it. But thofe who are al- 
 ready in poffeflion of this, have infinite 
 need of the other to teach them to enjoy 
 their independence with dignity and fatil* 
 fa&ion, and to prevent the gifts of fortune 
 from becoming fources of mifery inftead of 
 happinefs. If they are ambitious, the cul- 
 tivation of letters, by adorning their minds, 
 and enlarging their faculties, will facilitate 
 their plans, and render them more fit for 
 the high fituations to which they afpire. 
 If they are devoid of ambition, they have 
 Bill more occafion for fome of the purfuits 
 of fcience, as refources againft the languor 
 of retired or ina&ive life. — Quod fi non hie 
 tantus fruftus oflenderetur, et fi ex his fludiis 
 dele&atio fola peteretur ; tamen, ut opinor, 
 hanc animi remiffionem, humaniffimam ac 
 liberaliflimam judicaretis. 
 
 This love of letters confidered merely as 
 an amufement, and to fill up agreeably 
 
 the 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 369 
 
 the vacant hours of life, I believe to be 
 more effentially neceffary to men of great 
 fortune than to thofe who have none;— to 
 men without ambition, than to thofe who 
 are animated by that adive paffion; and to 
 the generality of Englifhmen more than to 
 the natives of either Germany or France.— 
 The Germans require very little variety. 
 They can bear the languid uniformity of 
 life always with patience, and often with 
 fatisfadion. They difplay an equanimity 
 under difguft that is quite aftonifhing. — 
 The French, though not fo celebrated for 
 patience, are of all mankind the leaf! liable 
 to defpondence. Public affairs, fo apt to 
 difturb the repofe of many worfhipful ci- 
 tizens of London, never give a Frenchman 
 uneafinefs. If the arms of France are fuc- 
 cefsful, he rejoices with all his heart ; — if 
 they are unfortunate, he laughs at the com- 
 manders with all his foul. If his miftrefs 
 is kind, he celebrates her goodnefs and com- 
 Vol. II. B b mends 
 
37 ° VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 mends her tafte;— if fhe is cruel, he derides 
 her folly in the arms of another. 
 
 No people ever were fo fond of amufe- 
 mentj and fo eafily amufed. It feems to 
 be the chief objecT of their lives, and they 
 contrive to draw it from a thoufand fources, 
 in which no other people ever thought it 
 could be found* I do not know where I 
 met with the following lines ; they are na** 
 tural and eafy, and feem expreffive of the 
 conduct and fentirnents of the whole French 
 nation. 
 
 M’amufer n’in 
 Fait toute ma 
 Je'crois ne pe 
 Flors le mome 
 
 importe comment, 
 ilofophie. 
 
 ne perdre aucun moment 
 moment ou je m’ennuie j 
 e.tiens ma tache finie, 
 
 Pourvu qu’ainfi tout doucement j 
 Je me defaffe de la vie. 
 
 Our countrymen who have applied to 
 letters, have profecuted every branch of 
 
 fcience 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 371 
 
 fcience as fuccefsfully as any of their neigh- 
 bours. But thofe of them who ftudy 
 mere amufement, independent of literature 
 of any kind, certainly have not been fo 
 happy in their refearches as the French. 
 Many things which entertain the' latter, 
 feem frivolous and infipid to the former. The 
 Englifh view objeds through a darker me- 
 dium. Lefs touched than their neighbours 
 with the gaieties, they are more affeded 
 by the vexations of life, under which 
 they are too ready to defpond. They feel 
 their fpirits flag with the repetition of 
 lcenes which at firft were thought agree- 
 able. This ftagnation of animal fpirits, 
 
 ' ■ 1 • ■ J ' ' ' f 
 
 from whatever caufe it arifes, becomes it- 
 felf a caufe of defperate refolutions, and de- 
 bafing habits. 
 
 A man of fortune, therefore, who can 
 acquire fuch a relifh for fcience, as will 
 make him rank its purfuits among his 
 amufements, has thereby made an acquifi- 
 B b % tion 
 
372 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 tion of more importance to his happinefs, 
 than if he had acquired another eftate equal 
 in value to his firft, I am almoft con- 
 vinced, that a tafte of this kind is the only 
 thing which can render a man of fortune 
 (efpecially if his fortune be very large) to- 
 lerably independent and eafy through life. 
 Whichfoever of the roads of fcience he 
 loves to follow, his curiofity will continu- 
 ally be kept awake.— -An inexhauftible va- 
 riety of interefting obje&s will open to his 
 view, — his mind will be replenifhed with 
 ideas, — and even when the purfuits of am- 
 bition become infipid, he will dill hav$ 
 
 antidotes againd tedium, and (other things 
 being fuppofed equal) the bed chance of 
 faffing agreeably through life, that the un- 
 certainty of human events allows to man. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 373 
 
 LETTER XC. 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 jN yoUr laft, you fhow fuch a paffioii 
 for anecdote, and feem fo defirous of 
 toy infilling on manners and characters, 
 that I fear you will riot be pleafed with 
 toy laft long epiftle upon a fubjeCt entirely 
 remote from what you demand. But you 
 mull remember, that you were warned 
 from the beginning of this correfpondence, 
 that I would retain the privilege of di« 
 grefling as often as I pleafed, and that my 
 letters fhould frequently treat of what I 
 thought, as well as what I faw. How- 
 ever, this fhall confift entirely of fights. 
 
 The firft I fhall mention was exhibited 
 foon after our arrival at Vienna. This was 
 B b 3 the 
 
374 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 the feaft of St. Stephen, at which the Em- 
 peror dined in public with the knights. 
 
 i 
 
 He was at the head of the table ; his 
 brother and brother-in-law next him, and 
 the other knights fat according to feniority. 
 The Arch-dutcheffes, with fome of the 
 principal ladies of the couTt, were at a 
 balcony within the hall to fee this cere- 
 mony. — The Emperor and all the knights 
 were dreiled in the robes of the order. 
 The Hungarian guards, with their fabres 
 drawn, furrounded the table.’ 
 
 The honour of ferving the Emperor at 
 this folemnity belongs entirely to the Hun- 
 garians. When he called for drink, a 
 Hungarian nobleman poured a little of the 
 wine into a cup and tailed it ; he after- 
 wards filled another, which he prefented 
 with one knee touching the ground. The 
 Emperor often fmiled to this nobleman 
 as he went through the ceremony, and 
 
 feemed 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &e. 375 
 
 feetned to indicate by the whole of his 
 behaviour, that he confidered fuch fub- 
 miffive bendings of one man to another* 
 as greatly mifplaced, and that he fuffered 
 this mummery merely in compliance with 
 ancient cuftom. 
 
 There was great crowding to fee this 
 feaft, and it was not without difficulty 
 I got admiflion; though, after all, there 
 was nothing to be feen but fome well- 
 d re fled, men, who ate an exceeding good 
 dinner with tolerable appetite. 
 
 Since the feaft of St. Stephen, we have 
 been witnefles to the annual ceremony in 
 commemoration of the defeat of the Turk- 4 
 iffi army, and the raifing the fiege of Vi- 
 enna by John Sobiefki king of Poland. 
 The Imperial family and the principal no- 
 bility of both fexes walked in folemn pro- 
 ceffion, and heard mafs at the church of 
 St. Stephen on this occafion. In the 
 B b 4 middle 
 
37 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 middle of the ftreet, leading from the 
 palace to the church, a platform was 
 raifed, upon which the company, who 
 formed the proceflion, walked. — The 
 ftreets were lined with the Imperial guards, 
 and the windows and tops of the houfes 
 were crowded with fpe&ators. — The D— 
 
 of H and I found a very good fitu- 
 
 ation at a window with the Venetian am- 
 bafiador. 
 
 This ceremony would have been too 
 fatiguing for the Emprefs: — She there- 
 fore did not attend: — The Emperor, the 
 Arch-dukes and DutchefTes, with all the 
 nobility, did. A prodigious train of bi- 
 fhops, priefts, and monks followed; and 
 a numerous band of mufic played as they 
 went along. 
 
 As this is a day of rejoicing, the richeft 
 and gayeft drefles are thought the moil ex- 
 preffive of the pious gratitude becoming 
 2 fuch 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 377 
 
 fuch an occalion. The ladies difplayed 
 their devotion in the moft brilliant manner. 
 Their minds, however, were not fo much 
 exalted by heavenly contemplations, as to 
 be above taking notice of their earthly 
 acquaintances at the windows, whom they 
 regaled with fmiles and nods as they 
 walked along. 
 
 Next day the Imperial family dined in 
 public, and many people went to fee them. 
 I was not of the number, though nobody 
 can more fincerely wifh them the enjoy- 
 ment of all the comforts of life. I know 
 not on what principle the Royal Family 
 in France, and other countries in Europe, 
 have adopted the cuftom of eating in pub- 
 lic. They cannot imagine, that the fee- 
 ing them chew and fwallow their victuals 
 can create a vaft deal of admiration in the 
 beholders. It would certainly be taken 
 for granted, that they could perform thefe 
 neceffary fun&ions, although a cloud of 
 
 witnefles 
 
373 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 witnefles were not admitted to confirm the 
 fade. If thefe exhibitions are defigned for 
 the entertainment of the fubj efts, a thou- 
 iand could be thought of more ainufing 
 to them ; for however interesting the part 
 of an adtor at a feaft may be, that of a 
 fpe&ator is furely one of the moft infipid 
 that can be imagined. 
 
 But the fame evening there was a grand 
 mafquerade at Schonbrun, which was more 
 generally amufing. — Four thoufand tickets 
 
 were distributed on this occafion. A 
 
 large party of dragoons were placed 
 along the road from Vienna, to keep the 
 coaches in a regular line, and to prevent 
 confufion. The principal rooms of this 
 magnificent palace were thrown open for 
 the reception of the company. — In three 
 large halls on the ground-floor, tables 
 were covered with a cold collation of all 
 kinds of fowls, ham, and confections, with 
 pine-apples and every fort of fruit. Thefe, 
 3 with 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 379 
 
 with Old Hock, Champagne, and other 
 kinds of wine, were ferved with readinefs 
 and profufion to all who afked for them. 
 
 At the end of the large dining-room, 
 there was a railed feat for the Emprefs, 
 and fome ladies who attended her. Here 
 a grand Ballet was danced by the Arch- 
 duke, the Arch-dutcheffes, the Princefs 
 of Modena, and fome of the chief nobi- 
 lity, to the number of twenty-four. The 
 dancers, both male and female, were 
 dreffed in white filk, flounced with pink- 
 coloured ribands, and enriched with a vail 
 profufion of diamonds. 
 
 This ballet was performed three times 
 at proper intervals. Thofe who had feen 
 it once, pafled into the gallery, and other 
 apartments, giving way to a new fet of 
 fpeflators. In the garden, on a rifing 
 ground oppofite to the palace vrindows, a 
 temporary fabric was erefled in the form 
 
 of 
 
s8o VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 of a large and magnificent temple. This 
 was illuminated by an incredible number 
 of lamps, and gave the appearance of a 
 very extraordinary piece of architecture, 
 which continued flaming through the 
 whole night, and had a very fine effeCt, 
 viewed from Vienna, and other places at a 
 greater diftance. 
 
 The Emperor mixed with the com- 
 pany without ceremony or diftin&ion, tak- 
 ing no part himfelf but as a fpe&ator. 
 He was converfing in the middle of th« 
 hall, in the moft familiar manner, with 
 an Englifh gentleman, without obferving, 
 that the third ballet was going to be 
 danced, when the matter of the ceremo- 
 nies whifpered him in the ear. — The Em- 
 peror, feizing the Englifhman by the arm, 
 faid, AHons, Monfieur, on nous chafle — . 
 il faut fe retirer; and immediately walked 
 into another room, to give place to others 
 who had not yet feen the dance. 
 
 This 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 381 
 
 This very fplendid entertainment was 
 given to the Arch-duke, and the Princefs 
 of Modena, whofe ufual refidence is at 
 Milan. — The Emprefs, thus furrounded by 
 her offspring, appeared cheerful and hap- 
 py. — She feemed to enjoy the vivacity, and 
 fympathize with the gaiety, of the com- 
 pany — She is greatly beloved by her own 
 children, and by her fubje&s in general, 
 whom fhe alfo confiders as her children in a 
 greater degree than is ufual for fovereigns. 
 
 It is an error to imagine, that great de- 
 votion has a tendency to four the temper : 
 Though it muft be acknowledged, that it 
 has not always the power of fweetening 
 the very auftere trunks on which it is fome- 
 times grafted ; but in a character na- 
 turally benevolent, every good difpofition 
 will be ftrengthened and animated by real 
 piety. Of this I have feen a thoufand in- 
 ftances, and I believe her Imperial Majefly 
 affords one. 
 
VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 3 82 
 
 LETTER XCL 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 T HE Emperbr is of a middle lize, well 
 made, and of a fair complexion. He 
 has a confiderable : refemblance to his filter, 
 the Queen of France, which, in my opi- 
 nion, is faying a great deal in favour of his 
 ooks. — Till I faw fomething of his ufual 
 behaviour, I did not. think poffible for a 
 
 perfon in fuch an elevated fituation, to put 
 every body with whom he coovcrfes upon 
 fo eafy a footing. 
 
 Elis manner, as I have often mentioned, 
 is affable., obliging, and perfectly free from 
 the referved and lofty deportment affumed 
 by fome on account of high birth. Who- 
 ever has the honour to be in company with 
 him, fo far from being checked by fuch 
 
 defpicable 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 383 
 
 defpicable pride, has need to be on his 
 guard, riot to adopt fuch a degree of fami- 
 liarity as, whatever the condefcenfion of 
 the one might permit, would be highly im- 
 proper in the other to ufe. 
 
 He is regular in his way of life, mo- 
 derate in his pleafures, heady in his plans, 
 and diligent in bufinefs, He is fond of 
 his army, and inclines that the foldiers 
 fhould have every comfort and neceffary 
 confident with their fituation. He is cer- 
 tainly an ceconomift, and lavifhes very 
 little money on ufelefs pomp, miftreffes, or 
 favourites ; and it is, I frippofe, on no bet- 
 ter foundation than this, that his enemies 
 accufe him of avarice. 
 
 I cannot help regarding ceconomy as 
 one of the molt ufeful qualities in a Prince. 
 Liberality, even when pufhed to an im- 
 prudent length, may, in a private perfoni 
 proceed from a kind of greatnefs of mind, 
 
 becaufe 
 
3S4 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 becaufe his fortune is in every fenfe his 
 own, and he can injure nobody but him- 
 felf by lavifhing it away. — He knows that 
 ■when it is gone, nobody will reimburie 
 him for his extravagance. — He feems 
 therefore to have taken the refolution to 
 fubmit to the inconveniency of future po- 
 verty, rather than renounce the prefent 
 happinefs of acting with a magnificent li-r 
 berality, and bellowing on others more 
 than he can afford. 
 
 This is not the cafe with a Prince.— 
 What he fquanders is not his own, but 
 the public money. — He knows that his 
 pomp and fplendour will be kept up, and 
 that his fubjeds, not he, are to feel the 
 inconveniencies of his prodigality. When 
 I hear, therefore, that a King has given 
 great fums of money to any particular per- 
 fon; from the fum given, the perfon who 
 receives it, the motive for the gift, and 
 other circumftances, I can judge whether 
 
 it 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE,, &c. 385. 
 
 it is well or ill difpofed of; but in either 
 cafe, it cannot be called generofity. 
 
 The virtue of generofity confifts in a 
 man’s depriving himfelf of fomething ror 
 the fake of another. There can be no ge- 
 nerofity in giving to John what James 
 mult replace the next moment. What is 
 called generofity in Kings, very often con- 
 fills in bellowing that money on the idle 
 part of their fubje&s which they have 
 fqueezed from the induflrious. I have 
 heard a parcel of fiddlers and opera dancers 
 praife a Prince for his noble and generous 
 behaviour to them, while men near his 
 perfon of ufeful talents and real worth were 
 diftrefled for bread. — The Emperor cer- 
 tainly has none of that kind of generofity. 
 
 His ufual drefs (the only one indeed in. 
 which I ever faw him, except at the feaft 
 of the Knights of St. Stephen) is. a plain, 
 uniform of white faced with red.' — When 
 Vol. II, C c he 
 
386 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 he goes to Laxenberg, Schonbrun, and 
 other places near Vienna, he generally 
 drives two horfes in an open chaife, with 
 a fervant behind, and no other attendant 
 of any kind. — He very feldom allows the 
 guard to turn out as he paffes through the 
 gate. — Nobody ever had a ftronger difpo- 
 fition to judicious inquiry. — He is fond of 
 converting with ingenious people. — When 
 he hears of any perfon, of whatever rank 
 or country, being diftinguifhed for any 
 particular talent, he is eager to converfe 
 with him, and turns the converfation to 
 the fubject on which that perfon is thought 
 to excel, drawing from him all the ufeful 
 information he can. Of all the means of 
 knowledge, this is perhaps the moft power- 
 ful, and the moft proper that can be ufed 
 by one whofe more neceffary occupations 
 do not leave him much time for ftudy. 
 
 He feems to be of opinion, that the 
 vanity and ignorance of many Princes 
 
 are 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 387 
 
 are frequently owing to the forms in 
 which they are intrenched, and to their 
 being deprived of the advantages which 
 the reft of mankind enjoy from a free 
 comparifon and exchange of fentiment. 
 He is convinced, that unlefs a King can 
 contrive to live in fome focieties on a foot- 
 ing of equality, and can weigh his own 
 merit, without throwing his guards and 
 pomp into the fcale, it will be difficult 
 for him to know either the world or him- 
 felf. 
 
 One evening at the .Countefs Walftein’s, 
 the co.nverfation leading that way, the Em- 
 peror enumerated fome remarkable and lu- 
 dicrous inftances of the inconveniencies of 
 etiquette, which had occurred at a certain 
 court. One perfon prefent hinted at the 
 effe&ual means his Majefty had ufejd to 
 banifh every inconveniency of that kind 
 from the Court of Vienna. To which he 
 C c 3 replied. 
 
3 88 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 replied, It would be bard indeed, if, be- 
 caufe I have the ill fortune to be an Em- 
 peror, I fhould be deprived of the pleafures 
 of focial life, which are fo much to my 
 tafte. All the grimace and parade to 
 which people in my fituation are accuftom- 
 ed from their cradle, have not made me 
 fo vain, as to imagine that I am in any 
 effential quality fuperior to other men; and 
 if I had any tendency to fuch an opinion, 
 the fureft way to get rid of it, is the me- 
 thod I take, of mixing in fociety, where I 
 have daily occafions of finding myfelf in- 
 ferior in talents to thofe I meet with. Con- 
 fcious of this, it would afford me no en- 
 joyment to affume airs of a fuperiority 
 which I feel does not exifh I endeavour 
 therefore to pleafe, and to be pleafed ; and, 
 as much as the inconveniency of my fitua- 
 tion will permit, to enjoy the blellings of 
 fociety like other men, convinced that the 
 man who is fecluded from thofe, and 
 
 raifes 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 389 
 
 raifes himfclf above friendfhip, is alfo raifed 
 above happinefs, and deprived of the means 
 of acquiring knowledge. 
 
 This kind of language is not uncom- 
 mon with poor philofophers ; but I ima- 
 gine it is rarely held by Princes, and the 
 inferences to be drawn from it more rarely 
 
 put in practice. 
 
 A few days after this, there was an ex- 
 hibition of fire-works on the Prater. This 
 is a large park, planted with wood, and 
 furrounded by the Danube, over which 
 there is a wooden bridge. No carriages 
 being allowed to pafs, the company leave 
 their coaches at one end, and walk. There 
 is a narrow path railed off on one fide 
 of the bridge. Many people very inju- 
 dicioufly took this path, to which there is 
 an eafy entrance at one end, but the exit 
 is difficult at the other; for only one per- 
 C c 3 fon 
 
390 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 fern can go out at a time. The path 
 therefore was very foon choaked up} 
 the unfortunate paffengers crept on at a 
 fnail’s pace, and in the mod ftraitened 
 and difagreeable manner imaginable ; whilffc 
 thofe who had kept the wide path in the 
 middle of the bridge, like the fortunate 
 and wealthy in their journey through life, 
 moved along at their eafe, totally regardlefs 
 of the wretched circumftances of their fel- 
 low-paffengers. 
 
 Some few of the priforiers in the nar- 
 row paflage, who were of a frnall fize, 
 and uncommon addrefs, crawled under 
 the rail, and got into the broad walk 
 in the middle; but all who were tall, 
 and of a larger make, were obliged to 
 remain and fubmit to their fate. An 
 Englifliman, who had been at the Court- 
 tefs Walftein’s when the Emperor ex- 
 preffed himfelf as above mentioned, was 
 
 of 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 391 
 
 of the laft clafs. The Emperor, as he 
 paffed, feeing that thofe of a fmall fize 
 extricated themfelves, while the Englifh- 
 man remained fixed in a very aukward 
 fituation, called out, Ah, Monfieur ! Je 
 vous ai bien annonce combien il eft in- 
 commode d’etre trop grand.— k prefent 
 vous devez etre bien de mon avis 
 Mais comme je ne puis rien faire pour 
 vous foulager, je vous recommende a Saint 
 , George. 
 
 There are people who, having heard 
 of the Emperor’s uncommon affability, 
 and of his total contempt of pomp and 
 parade, of which the bulk of mankind 
 are fo much enamoured, have afferted, 
 that the whole is affedation. But if 
 * the whole tenor of any perfon’s words 
 and adions is to be confidered as affec- 
 tation, I do not know by what means 
 we are to get at the bottom of his real 
 C c 4 chara&er. 
 
30 2 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 charafler. Yet, people who have a 
 violent tafle for any particular thing, 
 are extremely ready to believe, that thofe 
 vrho have not the fame tafte are af- 
 fefted. 
 
 I do not remember that I ever told 
 5 ou > that our friend R ~— ■ who loves 
 his bottle above all things, and who, 
 I believe, efteems you above all men, 
 let me into a part of your character 
 of which I never had the final left fuf- 
 picion. 
 
 One day after dinner, when a couple 
 of bottles had awakened his friendfhip, 
 and laid open his heart, he took it in- 
 to his head to enumerate your good 
 qualities, and concluded the lift, by fay- 
 ing, that you were no milk-fop. — I know 
 what that expreffion imports in the 
 mouth of R — — t-. J therefore flared, 
 
 and 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 393 
 
 and faid, I had feldom feen you drink 
 above three glades at a time in my life.— 
 Nor I, faid he; but take my word for 
 it, he is too honeft a fellow not to love 
 good wine, and I am certain his fobriety 
 is all affectation. 
 
394 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 J Returned very lately from Prince Lich- 
 tenftein’s houfe at Felberg in Auftria, 
 where I pafled a few days very agreeably. 
 The Lichtenftein family is one of the firft 
 in this country, whether confidered in 
 point of antiquity, wealth or dignity. This 
 Prince, befides his lands in Auftria, has 
 coniiderabJe eftates in Bohemia, Moravia, 
 and that part of Silefia which belongs to 
 the Emprefs. Like Prince Eftherhafie, he 
 has body-guards in his own pay. — I be- 
 lieve no other fubjedts in Europe retain this 
 diftin&ion. 
 
 Felberg is a fine old manfion, about forty 
 miles from Vienna. The apartments are 
 
 large. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 395 
 
 large, convenient, and furniffied in the 
 magnificent ftyle which prevails in the no- 
 blemen’s houfes of this country. The 
 company confifted of the Prince and Prin- 
 cefs, the Count Degenfeldt and his Lady, 
 a very accompliffied woman; the D — of 
 
 H , Mr. M , an Engliffi officer, an~ 
 
 other Engliffi gentleman, and myfelf. Our 
 entertainment was in every refped fplendid, 
 particularly in the article of attendants. 
 Some of the Auftrian nobility carry this 
 point of magnificence to a height, which 
 could fcarcely be fupported by the beft 
 eftates in England, where one footman is 
 more expenfive than four in this country. 
 
 The day after our arrival, breakfaft was 
 ferved to the company feparately in their 
 own apartments, as is the cuftom here. 
 We afterwards fet out for another villa 
 belonging to this Prince, at fix miles di- 
 ftance, where he intended to give the D — 
 the amufement of hunting. The Prin- 
 
 cefsj 
 
39 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 cefs, the Countefs Degenfeldt, the D— , 
 
 and Captain M , were in one coach ; 
 
 the Prince, the Count, and I, in another ; 
 the two young Princes, with their gover- 
 nor and the young Englifh gentleman, in 
 a third, with a great retinue on horfe- 
 back. 
 
 As the day was well advanced when we 
 arrived, I imagined the hunting would be- 
 gin immediately : — But every thing is done 
 with method and good order in this coun- 
 try, and it was judged proper to dine in 
 the firPt place. This in due time being 
 concluded, I thought the men would have 
 proceeded diredlly to the fcene of a&ion, 
 leaving the ladies till their return. — But 
 here I found myfelf again miftaken The 
 ladies were to affift in the whole of this 
 expedition. But as there was a neceffity 
 to traverfe a large wood, into which coaches 
 could not enter, vehicles of a more com- 
 modious conftru&ion were prepared. I 
 
 forget 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 397 
 
 forget what name is given to thefe car- 
 riages. They are of the form of benches, 
 with fluffed feats, upon which fix or eight 
 people may place themfelves one behind 
 the other. They are drawn by four 
 horfes, and fide over the ground like a 
 fledge, palling along paths and tracklefs 
 ways, over which no wheel-carriage could 
 be drawn. 
 
 After being conveyed in this manner 
 acrofs the wood, and a confiderable way 
 beyond it, we came to a very large open 
 field, in which there were feveral little 
 circular inclofures of trees and underwood 
 at wide intervals from each other. — This 
 hunting had hitherto been attended with 
 very little fatigue; for we had been car- 
 ried the whole way in coaches, or on the 
 fledges, which are ftill eafier than any 
 coach. In fhort, we had been perfectly 
 paflive fince breakfaft, except during the 
 time of dinner. 
 
 But 
 
393 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 But when we arrived at this large plain, 
 I was informed, that the hunting would 
 commence within a very Ihort time. I 
 then expected we Ihould have fome vio- 
 lent exercife after fo much inactivity, and 
 began to fear that the ladies might be 
 over-fatigued, when, lo! the Prince’s fer- 
 vants began to arrange fome portable chairs 
 at a fmall diftance from one of the thickets 
 above mentioned. The Princefs, Coun- 
 tefs, and the reft of the company took 
 their places j and when every body was 
 feated, they affured me that the hunting 
 was juft going to begin. 
 
 I own, my curiofity was now excited in 
 a very uncommon degree ; and I was filled 
 with impatience to fee the iffue of a hunt- 
 ing, which had been conducted in a ftyle 
 fo different from any idea I had of that di- 
 verfion. While I fat loft in conjecture, 
 
 I perceived, at a great diftance, a long line 
 of people moving towards the little wood, 
 
 near 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, See. 399 
 
 near which the company was feated. As 
 they walked along, they gradually formed 
 the fegment of a circle, whofe centre was 
 this wood. I underftood that thefe were 
 peafants, with their wives and children, 
 who, walking forward in this manner, 
 roufe the game, which naturally take {bel- 
 ter in the thicket of trees and bufhes. As 
 foon as this happened, the peafants rufhed 
 in at the fide oppofite to that where our 
 company had taken poll;, beat out the 
 game, and then the maffacre began. 
 
 Each perfon was provided with a fufil, 
 and many more were at hand loaded for 
 immediate ufe. The fervants were em- 
 ployed in charging as faft as the pieces 
 were fired off: So that an uninterrupted 
 {hooting was kept up, as long as the game 
 continued flying or running out of the 
 wood. — The Prince hardly ever miffed.— 
 He himfelf killed above thirty partridges, 
 a few pheafants, and three hares. 
 
 5 
 
 At 
 
400 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 At the beginning of this fcene, I was a 
 good deal furprifed to fee a fervant hand 
 a fufil to the Princefs, who with great 
 coolnefs, and without rifing from her feat, 
 took aim at a partridge, which immedi- 
 ately fell to the ground. With the fame 
 eafe, {he killed ten or twelve partridges 
 and pheafants, at about double the num- 
 ber of fhots. — The execution done by the 
 reft of the company was by no means con- 
 fiderable. 
 
 Though I had not heard of it before, 
 I now underftood, that {hooting is not an 
 uncommon amufement with the German 
 ladies : And it is probable, their atten- 
 tion to the delicacy of the fair fex, has 
 induced the hardy Germans to render this 
 diverfion fo little fatiguing. 
 
 The company afterwards walked to 
 other little inclofures of planting, where 
 fome game was driven out and killed as 
 
 before. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 401 
 
 before,— The following day, the Prince 
 condu&ed us to another of his feats, where 
 there is a very fine open wood, full of 
 deer of every kind, fome of them the 
 largeft I ever faw. There is alfo a great 
 number of wild boars, one of which, by 
 the Prince’s permiffion, the E> — of H — — * 
 killed. 
 
 Nothing could furpafs the politenefs and 
 magnificence with which the company 
 were entertained during the whole of their 
 day. The Princefs is a woman of an ami- 
 able character, and a good undemanding ; 
 educates her children, and manages her 
 affairs with the utmoft prudence and pro- 
 priety. 
 
 This family, and many of the nobility, 
 who have hitherto been at their country- 
 feats, are now about to return to Vienna. 
 The family of Monfieur and Madame de 
 Pergen have been here for fome time. This 
 Vol, II. D d ^dy 
 
402 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 lady is an intimate friend of the Countefs 
 Thune ; and nearly the fame company, 
 who form her fociety, now affemble twice 
 a week at the houfe of Madame de Pergen, 
 who rivals the Countefs in good fenfe and 
 many accomplifhments, and, without raif- 
 ing jealoufy or ill-will, divides with her 
 the efteem of the belt company of this 
 place. The agreeable footing on which 
 fociety is eftabliihed here, and the number 
 of refpe&able people with whom we are 
 acquainted, fills me with regret at the 
 thoughts of leaving Vienna; but theD — of 
 
 H- inclines to pafs the winter in Italy. 
 
 Indeed, if he did not, he would be ob- 
 liged to delay the journey a whole year, 
 or fubmit to the inconveniencies of travel- 
 ling in the fummer months, which, in fo 
 hot a climate, is rather to be avoided. 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &e. 403 
 
 LETTER XCIII. 
 
 Vienna, 
 
 Inftead of coats with long fkirts, their 
 uniform is a fhort jacket of white clothe 
 with waiftcoat and breeches of the fame, 
 and each foldier has a furtout of coarfe 
 gray cloth, which he wears in cold or 
 rainy weather. This he rolls up in a very 
 D d 2 fmaU 
 
 J Have not faid any thing of the Auftrian 
 army, having fome fufpicion that I 
 rather over-dofed you with military de- 
 tails from Berlin, where the fubjed of 
 my letters was continually before my eyes* 
 But the Emperor has very few of his 
 troops in garrifon at Vienna. They make 
 a fine appearance, and the army in general 
 are more judicioufly clothed, than any other 
 I have feen. 
 
404 
 
 VIEW 
 
 OF SOCIETY 
 
 AND ' 
 
 fmall bulk when the weather is good, and 
 it is little or no incumbrance on a march. 
 They have Short boots for fhoes ; and, in 
 place of hats, they wear caps of very flout 
 leather, with a brafs front, which ufually 
 hands up, but which may be let down 
 upon occafion, to prevent their eyes from 
 being incommoded by the fun. 
 
 Except a very few Hungarians who do 
 duty within the palace, there are no 
 troops in the Auftrian fervice with in- 
 creased pay, and exclufive privileges, un- 
 der the denomination of body-guards ; the 
 marching regiments on the ordinary efta- 
 blifhment, form the garrifon of Vienna, 
 and perform the duty of guards by ro- 
 tation. 
 
 The infolen.ee of the Praetorian bands 
 at Rome, fo often terrible to their maf- 
 ters ; the frequent infurredions of the Ja- 
 nifiaries at Conftantinople, and the revolu- 
 
 tions 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 405 
 
 tions effected by the. Ruffian guards at 
 Peterfburgb, fufficiently point out the dan- 
 ger of fuch an inftitution. Thefe ex- 
 amples may have influenced the Auftriaa 
 government to renounce a fyftem which 
 feems to render certain regiments lefs ufe- 
 ful, and more dangerous, than the reft of 
 the army. 
 
 The Auftrian army is calculated at con- 
 fiderably above two hundred thoufand ; 
 and, it is imagined, that there never was 
 .a greater number of excellent officers in 
 the fervice than at prefent ; fo that in cafe of 
 a war with Pruffia, the two powers will be 
 more equally matched than ever. It would 
 be unfortunate for this Court if it ffiould 
 break out at prefent, for there are fome 
 commotions among the peafants in Bohe- 
 mia, which occafion a general difquiet, 
 and by which fome individuals have fuf- 
 tained great Ioffes. One nobleman of 
 Dd 3 the 
 
4c6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 the firft rank has had his houfe, and all 
 the furniture, burnt to the ground, to~ 
 gether with fome large out-houfes near 
 his caftle. 
 
 Thefe excefles, according to fome, pro-*- 
 ceed from mere wantonnefs, and love 
 of mifchief, in the people. Others aflert, 
 that they are excited by the tyranny of 
 the lords, which has driven thofe poor 
 men to defpair. Whichfoever of thefe 
 accounts is true, it feems evident to me, 
 that it would be much better for the lords* 
 as well as the peafants, that the latter, 
 inftead of being bond-men, were in a ftate 
 of freedom. At prefent, they pay their 
 rent by working a certain number of days 
 in the week for their mailers, and main- 
 tain themfelves and families by labour- 
 ing the other days on their own account. 
 You will readily believe, that more real 
 bufinefs will be done in one day when 
 they work for themfelves, than in two 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 40,7 
 
 days labour for their lords. This occafions 
 ill-humour and blows on the pait of the 
 mafter, and hatred and revolt on that of 
 the peafants. 
 
 If the eftates in Bohemia were let to 
 free-men at a reafonable rent, freedom 
 and property would excite a fpirit of in- 
 duftry among thefe indolent people. They 
 would then work every day with cheer- 
 fulnefs and good-will, and I am con- 
 vinced the landlords revenues would in- 
 creafe daily. In confec|ueoce of this, the 
 peafants would, in all probability, con- 
 tinue as much attached to the ground 
 from choice, as they are at prefent from 
 necelfity. — Do we not fee families in 
 Great Britain remain for many generations 
 on gentlemen’s eftates, though the mafter 
 has the privilege of changing his tenant, 
 and the tenant his mafter, at the end of 
 every leafe ? 
 
 Dd 4 
 
 In 
 
4 oS VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 In alrnofl every country in Europe, 
 except England, the inhabitants are con- 
 fined by fome barrier or other, to the 
 fituation in which they are born. The 
 total want of education neceflarily obliges 
 the greater part to gain their livelihood by 
 bodily labour. National opinions prevent 
 others from ever rifing above the level of 
 their birth, however fublime their genius, 
 or however great their acquired knowledge. 
 Eut in oui ifland the door of fcience, 
 and confequently the road to ambition, 
 is open to almoft every individual. Even 
 m the mofl remote villages fome degree 
 of education is bellowed on the pooreft 
 inhabitants . 
 
 This may be of little or no importance 
 to ninety-nine in a hundred ; and if the 
 final! number who, by improving this 
 pittance of knowledge, raife themfelves 
 above the fiate in which they were born, 
 very few arrive at any degree of eminence ; 
 
 the 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, 8 c c. 409 
 
 the reafon of which is, that great genius 
 is a quality very fparingly dealt out to 
 mankind. Though it mult be allowed, 
 that much the greater part of the inhabit- 
 ants of the fame country and climate are 
 born with nearly the fame natural abilities ; 
 arid that the degrees of education, and 
 other opportunities of improvement, gra- 
 dually form all the difference which appears 
 among them in future life ; yet I cannot, 
 with Helvetius, believe that genius is en- 
 tirely the work of education. 
 
 I am fully convinced, that Nature is 
 continually producing fome individuals in 
 every nation of a finer organization, with 
 an infinitely greater aptitude for fcience 
 of every kind, and whofe minds are capable 
 of a more fublime and extenfive range of 
 thought, than is attainable by the com- 
 mon run of mankind with any poffible de- 
 gree of culture. This natural fuperiority 
 is what I call genius. Wherever a confi- 
 a derable 
 
4io VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 derable fhare of this is lodged, a little cul- 
 tivation will be fufficient, but fome is ab- 
 folutely requifite to make it appear. 
 
 When it does exift in the minds of pea- 
 fants in Rufiia, Poland, and fome parts of 
 Germany, it remains dormant from negleft, 
 or is fmothered by oppreffion. But in Great 
 Britain, the degree of education which is 
 now univerfal, fmall as it is, will be fuf- 
 ficient to roufe, animate, and bring into 
 action the fire of extraordinary genius, the 
 feeds of which impartial Nature is as apt to 
 place in the infant bread: of a peafant as of 
 a prince. The chance of great and diftin- 
 guifhed men fpringing up in a country, is 
 therefore not to be calculated by the num- 
 ber of inhabitants, but by the number whofe 
 minds receive that degree of cultivation ne~ 
 ceflary to call forth their latent powers. 
 
 On the fuppofition, that one kingdotn 
 contains eight millions of inhabitants, and 
 
 another 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 411 
 
 another triple the number, many more 
 men of original genius, and great eminence 
 in every art and fcience, may, from the cir- 
 cumftances above mentioned, be expe&ed 
 to appear in the firft than in the fecond. In 
 Great Britain, for example, almoft all the 
 natives may be included in the calculation ; 
 but in the other countries which I have men- 
 tioned, the peafantry, who form the molt 
 numerous dafs, muft be (truck out. 
 
412 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER XCIV, 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 w HETHER it is owing to the ex- 
 ample of the Emprefs, or to what 
 other caufe, I fhall not take upon me to 
 decide ; but there certainly appears a 
 warmer and more general attachment to 
 religion in Vienna, than in any other great 
 town in Germany : There is alfo a greater 
 appearance of fatisfa&ion and happinefs 
 here than in many other cities, where 
 religious impreflions are more feeble and 
 lefs prevalent : It is not improbable, that 
 the latter may be a confequence of the 
 former. 
 
 Irreligion and fcepticifm, exclusive of 
 the bad effects they may have on the 
 
 morals 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 413 
 
 morals or future deftiny of men, impair 
 even their temporal happinefs, by ob- 
 fcuring thofe hopes, which, in fome fi- 
 tuatlons, are their only confolation. In 
 whatever fupericr point of view thofe men 
 may confider themfelves, who deride the 
 opinions which their fellow- citizens hold 
 facred, this vanity is often overbalanced 
 by the irkfome doubts which obtrude on 
 their minds. Uncertainty with refped to 
 the moft ihterefting of all fubjeds, or a 
 fixed perfuafion of annihilation, are equally 
 infupportabie to the greater part of man- 
 kind, who fooner or later endeavour to put 
 in a claim for that bright reverfion, which 
 religion has prorriifed to believers. If the 
 idea of annihilation has been fupported 
 without pain by a few philofophers, it is 
 the utmoft that can be faid ; fuch a ftate 
 of mind can never be a fource of fatisfac- 
 tion or pleafure. People of great fenfibi- 
 Uty feldom endure it long ; their fond 
 
 defire 
 
4H VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 defire of immortality overturns every fa- 
 bric which fcepticifm had attempted to ' 
 raife in their minds; they cannot abide - 
 by a dottrine which plucks from the 
 heart a deeply-rooted hope, tears afunder 
 all thofe ties of humanity, affe&ion, 
 friendfhip, and love, which it has been 
 the bufinefs of their lives to bind, and 
 which they exped will be eternal. Since 
 fenfibility renders the heart averfe to 
 fcepticifm, and inclinable to devotion, 
 we may naturally expeft to find women 
 more devout than men ; very few of that 
 delicate fex have been able to look with 
 ftedfaft eyes on a profpeft, which termi- 
 nates in a difmal blank; and thofe few, 
 who have had that degree of philofophi- 
 cal fortitude, have not been the mofl 
 amiable of the fex. 
 
 None of my female acquaintance at 
 Vienna are in this uncomfortable fiate of 
 
 mind, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c.' 415 
 
 mind, but many of them have embroidered 
 fome fanciful piece of fuperftition of their 
 own upon the extenfive ground which the 
 Roman Catholic faith affords. In a lady’s 
 houfe a few days ago I happened to take up 
 a book which lay upon the table, — a fmall 
 picture of the Virgin Mary on vellum fell 
 from between the leaves ; under the figure 
 of the Virgin there was an infcription, 
 which I tranflate literally. 
 
 “ This is prefented by to her 
 
 “ deareft friend , in token of the 
 
 “ fincereft regard and affection; beggingthat 
 “ as often as fhe beholds this figure of the 
 “ bleffed Virgin, fhe may mix a fentiment of 
 “ affe&ion for her abfent friend, with the 
 “ emotions of gratitude and adoration (he 
 “ feels for the Mother of Jefus.” 
 
 The lady informed me, that it was ufual 
 for intimate friends to fend fuch prefents to 
 each other when they were about to fepa- 
 
 rate, ' 
 
4 16 VIEW OE SOCIETY AND 
 
 rate, and when there was a probability of 
 their being long afundcr. 
 
 There feems to be fomething exceedingly 
 tender and pathetic in blending friend fhip 
 with religious fentiments, and thus by a 
 kind of confecration endeavouring to pre- 
 ferve the former from the effects of time and 
 abfence* — Theperufal of this infcription re- 
 called to my memory certain connections I 
 have at home, the impetuofity of which 
 recollection affeCted me beyond expreffion. 
 
 I remarked in this lady’s houfe another 
 beautiful picture of the Virgin, ornamented 
 with a rich frame, and a filk curtain to pre- 
 ierve it from duft; I obferved that the never 
 looked at it but with an air of veneration 
 and love, nor paffed it when uncovered by 
 the curtain without a gentle bending of the 
 knee. — She told me, that this picture had 
 been long in the family, and had been al- 
 ways held in the higheft efieem, for that 
 
 both 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 417 
 
 both her mother and {he owed fome of the 
 moft fortunate events of their lives to the 
 prote&ion of the blefled Virgin, and (he 
 feemed not intirely free from a perfuafion 
 that the attention of the Virgin was in fome 
 degree retained by the good offices of this 
 identical pi&ure. She declared that the 
 confidence {he had in the Virgin’s goodnefs 
 and prote&ion, was one of the greate ft com- 
 forts ffie had in life — that to her fhe could, 
 without reftraint, open her heart, and pour 
 out her whole foul under every affliction, 
 and fhe never failed to find herfelf com- 
 forted and relieved by fuch effufions. 
 
 I obferved, that devout Proteftants found 
 the fame confolation in addreffing the Al- 
 mighty. 
 
 She faid— She could not comprehend how 
 that could be— for that God the Father was 
 fo great and awful, that her veneration was 
 mixed with fuch a degree of dread as con- 
 Vo u ll E e founded 
 
458 view of society and 
 
 founded all her ideas when lhe attempted 
 to approach him ; but the blelFed Marv was 
 of fo mild, fo condefcending, and compaf- 
 fionate a chara&er, that fhe could addrefs 
 her with more confidence. 
 
 She faid, fhe knew it was her duty to 
 adore the Creator of the univerfe, and fire 
 fulfilled it to the beft of her power, but 
 fire could not diveft herfelf of a certain de- 
 gree of reftraint in her devotions to him, or 
 even to her Saviour ; but the Hefted Mary 
 being herfelf a woman, and acquainted with 
 all the weaknefs and delicacies of the fex, 
 fire could to her open her heart with a de- 
 gree of freedom which it was not poflible 
 for her to ufe to any of the Perfons of the 
 Holy Trinity. — Regardez fa phyfionomie, 
 added fhe, pointing to the picture, — mon- 
 Bieu, qu’elle eft douce, <ju*elle eft gra- 
 de ufe ! 
 
 Thefe 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 419 
 
 Thefe fentiments, however contrary to the 
 Proteftant tenets, and the maxims or philo- 
 sophy, are not unnatural to the human 
 heart. — Voltaire fays, that man has always 
 {hewn an inclination to create God after his 
 own image ; this lady formed an idea of 
 the blefied Virgin from the reprefentation 
 of the painter, as well as from the account 
 given of her in the Evangelifts ; and her re- 
 ligion allowing the Mother of Chnft to be 
 an object of worfhip, {he naturally turned 
 the ardor of her devotion to her whofe power 
 Ihe imagined was fufficient to protect her 
 votaries here, and procure them paradise 
 hereafter, and whofe character fhe thought 
 in fome particulars fympathifed w T ith her 
 own. 
 
 Some zealous Proteftants may poffibly be 
 {hocked at this lady’s theological notions; 
 however, as in other refpe£t s fhe is a woman 
 of an excellent character, and obferves the 
 £ e 2 moral 
 
420 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 moral precepts of Chriftianity with as much 
 attention as if her creed had been purified 
 by Luther, and doubly refined by Calvin, it 
 is hoped they will not think it too great an 
 extenfion of charity to fuppofe that her fpe^- 
 culative errors may be forgiven? 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 4^ 
 
 LETTER XCV. 
 
 HE preference which is given by indi- 
 
 viduals in Roman Catholic countries 
 to particular Saints, proceeds fometimes 
 from a fuppofed connedion between the 
 charaders of the Saints and the votaries *, 
 men exped the greateft favour and indul- 
 gence from thofe who moft refemble them- 
 felves, and naturally admire others for 
 the qualities which they value moft in their 
 own charader. 
 
 A French officer of dragoons, being at 
 Rome, went to view the famous ftatue of 
 Mofes by Michael Angelo ; the artift has 
 conveyed into this mafter-piece, in the opi- 
 nion of fome, all the dignity which a human 
 form and human features are capable or re- 
 
 Vienna, 
 
 E e 3 
 
 ceivmg; 
 
422 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 ceiving; he has endeavoured to give this 
 fiatue a countenance worthy of the great le- 
 giflator of the Jews, the favourite of Heaven, 
 who had converfed face to face with the 
 Deity. The officer happened to be ac- 
 quainted with the hiftory of Mofes, but he 
 laid no great ftrefs on any of thefe circuni- 
 ftances he admired him much more on ac- 
 count of one adventure in which he ima- 
 gined Mcfes had acquitted himfelf like a 
 man of fpirit, and as he himfeli would have 
 done- — Voila qui eft terrible! voila qui 
 eft fublime ! cried he at light of the ftatue — - 
 and after a little pa.ufe he added, on voit la 
 un drole qui a donne des coups de baton en 
 fon terns, et qui a tue fon homme. 
 
 i he crucifixes, and ftatues, and pictures 
 of Saints, with which Popifh churches arc 
 lifted, wet e no doubt intended to awaken 
 devotion when it became drowfy, and to 
 excite in the mind gratitude and veneration 
 for the holy perfons they reprefent • but it 
 
 cannot 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 423 
 
 cannot be denied that the grofs imagina- 
 tions of the generality of mankind are ex- 
 ceedingly prone to forget the originals, and 
 transfer their adoration to the fenfelefs figures 
 which they behold, and before which they 
 kneel. So that whatever was the original 
 defign, and whatever effe&s thofe ftatues and 
 pictures have on the minds of calm, fen- 
 fible Roman Catholics, it is certain that 
 they often are the objects of as complete 
 idolatry as ever was pradifed in Athens or 
 Rome, before the Ratues of Jupiter or 
 Apollo* 
 
 On what other principle do fuch multi- 
 tudes Rock from all the Roman Catholic 
 countries in Europe to the fhiine of our 
 Lady at Loretto ? Any ftatue of the Virgin 
 would ferve as effectually as that to recai 
 her to the memory, and people may adone 
 her as devoutly in their own pariffi churches, 
 as in the chapel at Loretto. The pilgrims 
 therefore mult be perfuaded that there is 
 E e 4 fome 
 
424 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 fome divine influence or intelligence in the 
 flatue which is kept there; that it has a 
 confcioufnefs of all the trouble they have 
 taken, and the inconveniencies to which 
 they have been expofed, by long journies 
 for the foie purpofe of kneeling before it 
 in preference to all other images. 
 
 It was probably on account of this 
 tendency of the 1 human mind, that the 
 Jews were forbid to make unto them- 
 felves any graven image. This indeed feems 
 to have been the only method of fecuring 
 that fuperftitious people from idolatry; 
 and notwithflanding the peremptory tenor 
 of the commandment, neither the zeal 
 nor remonflrances of their judges and pro- 
 phets could always prevent their making 
 idols, nor hinder their worfhipping them 
 wherever they found them ready made. 
 
 Statues 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, & c. 425 
 
 Statues and pictures of Saints which have 
 been long in particular families, are generally- 
 kept with great care and attention ; the pro- 
 prietors often have the fame kind of attach- 
 ment to them that the ancient heathens had 
 to their Dii Penates. — They are confidered 
 as tutelary and domeftic divinities, from 
 whom the family expert prote&ion. When 
 a feries of unfortunate events happens in a 
 family, it fometimes creates a fufpicion that 
 the family ftatues have loft their influence. 
 This alfo is a very ancient fentiment; Sue- 
 tonius informs us, that the fleet of Auguftus 
 having been difperfed by a ftorm, and many 
 of the fhips loft, the Emperor gave orders 
 that the ftatue of Neptune fhould not be 
 carried in proceflion with thofe of the other 
 Gods, from an opinion that the God of the 
 Sea was unwilling or unable to protect his 
 navy, and in either cafe he deemed him not 
 worthy of any public mark of diftinc- 
 tion. 
 
 The 
 
4 %6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 The genuine tenets of the Roman Ca’* 
 tholic church certainly do not authorife 
 any of the fuperftitions above mentioned, 
 which are generally confined to the credu- 
 lous and illiterate in the lower ranks of 
 life,— Yet infiances are fometimes to be met 
 with in a higher fphere : a Frenchman in 
 a creditable way of life had a fmall figure 
 of our Saviour on the Crofs, of very cu- 
 rious workmanfhipj he offered it for fale 
 to an Englifh gentleman of my acquaint- 
 ance ; after expatiating on the excellency 
 of the workman (hip, he told him that he 
 had long kept this crucifix with the mod 
 pious care, that he had always addrefied it 
 in his private devotion, and that in return, 
 he had expected fome degree of prote&ion 
 and favour ; inftead of which he had of 
 late been remarkably unfortunate ; that all 
 the tickets he had in the lottery had proved 
 blanks ; and having had a great lhare in 
 the cargo of a fhip coming from the Wefi- 
 Iridies, he had recommended it in the mod 
 2 fervent 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 427 
 
 fervent manner in his prayers to the cruci- 
 fix, and that he might give no offence, by 
 any appearance of want of faith, he had 
 not infured the goods — notwithftanding all 
 which the veffel had been fhipwrecked, 
 and the cargo totally loft, though the 
 failors, in whofe prefervation he had no 
 concern, had been all faved — Enfin, Mon- 
 fieur, cried he, with an accent of indigna- 
 tion mingled with regret, and raifing his 
 fhoulders above his ears, Enfin, Monfieur, 
 il m’a manque, et je vends mon Chrift. 
 
 Happy for Chriftians of every denomina- 
 tion, could they abide by the plain, rational, 
 benevolent precepts of the Chriftian reli- 
 gion, rejecting all the conceits of fuperfti- 
 tion, which never fail to deform its original 
 beauty, and to corrupt its intrinfic purity ! 
 
428 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 LETTER XCVI, 
 
 Vienna. 
 
 o UR difputes with the colonies have 
 been a prevailing topic of converfation 
 wherever we have been fince we left Eng- 
 land. The warmth with which this fubjedl 
 is handled increafes every day. — At prefent 
 the inhabitants of the continent ieem as im- 
 patient as thofe of Great Britain, for news 
 from the other fide of the Atlantic, but 
 with this difference, that here they are all 
 of one mind : — all praying for fuccefs to 
 the Americans, and reinirincr in pvg ry 
 
 army. 
 
 That the French fhould be pleafed with 
 commotions which muft diftrefs and weaken', 
 Great Britain, and may transfer to them an 
 3 equal* 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 429 
 
 equal right to every advantage we gained by 
 the laft war, is not furprifing ; but why the 
 inhabitants of every other country fhould 
 take part againft England, and become 
 partizans of America, is not fo apparent. 
 
 I fhould forgive them, and even join in 
 fentiment with them, as far as my regard 
 for the honour and happinefs of my coun- 
 try would permit, if this proceeded from an 
 attachment to liberty, and a generous partia- 
 lity for men who repel oppreffion, and 
 druggie for independency.— But this is not 
 the cafe. — Thofe who can reap no poffi- 
 ble advantage from the revolt of America ; 
 thofe who have not an idea of civil liberty, 
 and would even be forry to fee it edabl idl- 
 ed in their own country ; thofe who have 
 no other knowledge of the difpute, than 
 that it is ruining England; all join as allies 
 to the Americans, not from love to them, 
 but evidently from diflike to us. 
 
 When 
 
430 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 \V*hen I fird obferved this hodile difpo- 
 fition, I thought it might proceed from their 
 being offended at that preference which the 
 Eiiglifh give to their own country and 
 countrymen, above all others : but this con- 
 ceit we have in common with every other 
 nation on the globe, all of whom cherilh 
 the fame favourable opinion of themfelves. 
 It affiiredjy prevails in France in an eminent 
 degree.— -There is hardly one fceptic or un- 
 believer in the \thole nation.— -It is the 
 univerfal creed, that France is the fined 
 country in the world ; the French the mod 
 ingenious and mod amiable people, ex- 
 celling in all the arts of peace and war; 
 and that Paris is the capital of politenefs, 
 and the center of learning, genius, and 
 tade. 
 
 This fatisfadlion at the misfortunes of 
 Great Britain cannot therefore arife from a 
 Cauie which is applicable to every other 
 country. It may, indeed, in fome mea- 
 
 fure, 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 431 
 
 fure, proceed from envy of the riches, and 
 jealoufy of the power of the Englifh nation; 
 but, I believe, dill more from our taking no 
 trouble to conciliate the affedions of fo- 
 reigners, and to diminifh that envy and ill- 
 will which great profperity often creates. 
 The French, though perhaps the vaineft 
 people on earth of their own advantages, 
 have fome degree of confederation for the 
 feelings and felf-love of their neighbours. A 
 Frenchman endeavours to draw from them 
 an acknowledgment of the fuperiority of his 
 country, by making an elogium on whatever 
 is excellent in theirs. But we are apt to build 
 our panegyric of Old England, on the ruin 
 and wretchednefs of all other countries. 
 — Italy is too hot, the inns miferable, and 
 the whole country fwarms with monks and 
 other vermin. — In France, the people are 
 {laves and coxcombs, the mufic execrable; 
 — they boil their meat to fags, and there is 
 
 no 
 
432 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 no porter, and very little ftrong ale, in the 
 country. — In Germany, fome of their Prin- 
 ces have little more to fpend than an Eng- 
 lifh gentleman : — They ufe ftoves inftead of 
 1 grates : — They eat four crout, and fpeak 
 High Dutch. — The Danes and Swedes are 
 reminded, that they are rather at too great 
 a diftance from the equator ; and many fly 
 hints are given concerning the inconve- 
 niencies of a cold climate. — Of all things, 
 I fhould think it moft prudent to be filent 
 on this laft topic, as fo many paltry ftates 
 will take precedency of Old England, when- 
 ever it is the eftablifhed etiquette that rank 
 (hall be determined by climate. 
 
 But this confideration has no effed on 
 my honeft friend John Bull. When he is 
 in a choleric humour, he will not fpare his 
 beft friends and neareft neighbours, even 
 when he has moft need of their afliftance, 
 
 and 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 433 
 
 and when thofe at a di dance feem to have 
 plotted his ruin. — If his own filler Peg 
 fhould fhow a difpofition to forget old 
 fquabbles, to live in friendfhip with her 
 brother, and fhould declare that all who 
 renounced his friendfhip were her enemies, 
 and refolve to conquer by his fide, or if that 
 fhould fail, to die hard along with him. — 
 No! d — n ye, fays John, none of your 
 coaxing: — You ! be d — d ! you are farther 
 
 North than I: — :Keep your didance.' 
 
 And fo he falls a pelting Peg with her own 
 fnow-balls; and then turning from her, he 
 attacks Lewis Baboon, Lord Strut, Lord 
 Peter, and dafhes their foup maigre, olio’s, 
 and maccaroni, full in their teeth. 
 
 But to drop allegory; the univerfal fatis- 
 faftion which appears all over Europe, at 
 the idea of England’s being flript of her 
 colonies, certainly does not intirely origi- 
 nate from political fentiments; but in a 
 great degree from that referve which keeps 
 
 Vol. II. F f Englifhmen 
 
434 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 Englifhmen from cultivating the friendship 
 of foreigners; that pride which hinders 
 them from hooping to humour prejudices; 
 that indifference which makes them dis- 
 regard the approbation of others, and be- 
 tray the contempt they are too ready to 
 Show for cuftotns or Sentiments different 
 from their own. 
 
 Thefe are things not eafily forgiven, and 
 for which no Superiority of genius, magna- 
 nimity, or integrity, can compenfate. The 
 fame caufes which have made foreigners 
 take part again!! us in the difpute with 
 America, induce thofe of them who are 
 rich, and can Spend their revenues out of 
 their own country, to prefer France to Eng- 
 land for that purpofe. The difference be- 
 tween London and Paris in point of climate 
 is very Small. The winter amufements of 
 the former are more magnificent; and per- 
 haps every conveniency, and moft of the 
 luxuries of life are to be found there in 
 
 4 greater 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 435 
 
 greater perfe&ion. During the fummer 
 months, by fuperior {kill in agriculture and 
 a better tafte in gardening, England difplays 
 fuch fcenes of cultivation, of verdure and 
 fertility, as no country on earth can equal. 
 To thefe are added the bleffings of liberty; 
 yet few or no foreigners refide in England, 
 except thofe fhe maintains entirely at her 
 own expence ; all the wealthy, after a fhort 
 vifit to London, returning to fpend their 
 fortunes at Paris. 
 
 Exclufive of pecuniary advantages, it 
 flatters the natural vanity of the French to 
 find their fociety preferred to that of all other 
 people, and particularly to that of their 
 proud rivals. — Let them enjoy this advan- 
 tage; let them draw to their capital the 
 idle, the diflipated, and the effeminate of 
 every country in Europe: — but for heaven’s 
 fake, do you and your friends in parliament 
 fall on fome meafure to prevent them from 
 V f 2 engaging 
 
43 6 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 engaging the affe&ions of our induftrious 
 brethren of America. 
 
 Such an event would be attended with 
 fevere confequences to Great Britain, and 
 probably to America. There are, however, 
 fo many repelling points in the American 
 and French characters, that I cannot ima- 
 gine the adhefion between them could be 
 of long duration, fhould it take place. 
 
 You may naturally fuppofe, from fome 
 things in this letter, that the people here are 
 in a particular manner inveterate againfl 
 England, in her difpute with America. But 
 in reality this is not the cafe : for although 
 in general they favour America, I have not 
 feen fo much moderation on that queftion 
 any where as at Vienna. The Emperor, 
 when fome perfon afked which fide he 
 favoured, replied very ingenioufly, je fuis 
 par metier royal i he. 
 
 I wifh 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 437 
 
 I wifh thofe of our countrymen, who by 
 your account feem to be carrying their zeal 
 for America too far, would remember qu’ils 
 font par naifance Anglois. 
 
 Juft as I was concluding the above I re- 
 ceived yours, informing me that your young 
 friend was in a fhort time to fet out on the 
 ufual tour through Europe. I fhall take 
 another opportunity of writing to him on 
 the fubjed you defire, at prefent I muft con- 
 fine myfelf to the few following hints. 
 
 I hope he will always remember that vir- 
 tue and good fenfe are not confined to any 
 particular place, and that one end of tra- 
 velling is to free the mind from vulgar pre- 
 judices — he ought therefore to form con- 
 nedions, and live on a focial footing with 
 the inhabitants of the different countries 
 through which he paffes; let him at leaft 
 feem pleafed while he remains among them ; 
 this is the moft effedual method of making 
 
 them 
 
43 8 VIEW OF SOCIETY AND 
 
 them pleafed with him, and of his accom- 
 plishing every object he can have in vifiting 
 their country. 
 
 There are inftances of Englishmen, who, 
 •while on their travels, Shock foreigners 
 by an oftentatious preference of England to 
 all the reft of the world, and ridicule the 
 manners, cuftoms, and opinions of every 
 other nation, yet on their return to their 
 own country, immediately affume foreign 
 manners, and continue during the remainder 
 of their lives to exprefs the higheft con- 
 tempt for every thing that is Englifh. 
 
 I hope he will entirely avoid fuch perverfe 
 and ridiculous affedation. 
 
 The tafte for letters which he has ac- 
 quired at the univerlity, I dare fay will not 
 be diminished on claffic ground, or his 
 mind be diverted, by a frivolous enthufiafm 
 for mufic, or any other paftion, from the 
 
 manly 
 
MANNERS IN FRANCE, &c. 439 
 
 manly (Indies and purfuits which become 
 an Englifh gentleman. 
 
 As he regards the confidence of his 
 friends, the prefervation of his character, 
 and the tranquillity of his mind, let no ex- 
 ample, however high, lead him into the 
 practice of deep play. By avoiding gaming 
 he will fecure one kind of independence, 
 and at the fame time keep pofleffion of 
 another, by continuing the habit of ftiidy, 
 till the acquifition of knowledge has become 
 one of his mod pleafing amufements.— -Un- 
 like thofe wretched mortals, who, to drag 
 through the dreary hours of life, are con- 
 tinually obliged to have recourfe to the 
 affiftance of others, this fortunate turn of 
 mind will add to his own happinefs, while 
 it renders him more ufeful to, and lefs de- 
 pendent on, fociety. 
 
 The preceding fermon, if you think pro- 
 per, you may deliver to the young traveller, 
 with my beft wifhes. 
 
 Having 
 
440 VIEW OF SOCIETY, & c . 
 
 Having delayed our journey feveral weeks 
 longer than was intended, merely from a 
 reludance of leaving a place which we have 
 found fo very agreeable, we have at length 
 determined to fet out for Italy — ^and are to 
 go by the Dutchies of Stiria and Carinthia, 
 which is a fhorter route than that by the 
 Tirol. As the time we are to remain at 
 Vienna will be entirely employed in the ne- 
 eeflTary arrangements for the journey, and 
 the painful ceremony of taking leave of 
 friends,, you will not hear again from me 
 till we arrive at Venice.— Mean while, I 
 am, &c. 
 
 THE END.