Part 26 (2/2)

Bohemia resembles Moravia, being an exceedingly rich corn country, generally open; not many trees about the country near the road side, except at the _Chateau_ and farm houses. The language is a dialect of the Sclavonic, mixed with some German; but at the inns there is always one or two servants who speak German. In Bohemia a traveller not speaking German, and who has no interpreter with him, would find himself greatly embarra.s.sed. The Bohemians call themselves in their own language _Cherschky_, and the Hungarians call themselves _Magyar_.

[117] Ta.s.so, _Gerusalemme liberata_, canto XV, ottave 31, 32:

Un uom della Liguria avra ardimento All' incognito corao esporsi in prima...

Tu spiegherai, Colombo, a un nuovo polo Lontane si le fortunate antenne...--ED.

[118] Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, XL, 31, 1.--ED.

[119] See reference to Eustace p. 131.

[120] Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, XXVIII, 38, 7.--ED.

[121] Boileau, _Satires_, XI, v. 117.

[122] The drama, _Der Wold bei Hermannstadt,_ is the work of Johanna Fraenul von Weissenthurn (1773-1847), a celebrated Viennese actress and auth.o.r.ess. An opera was written on the same text by W. Westmeyer, --ED.

[123] Because I am an Englishman--You are an Englishman? you are certainly a North-German; you speak very correct German.--Gentlemen, I tell you I am an Englishman; many English study and speak the German language and if you had held a long conversation with me, you would soon have perceived from my faults in speaking, that I am not a German.--But you have answered our questions so correctly.--Why not, the same questions have been put to me so often that I have all the necessary answers by heart like a catechism.

[124] Where is my father?

[125] ”You wish to know where your father is? He is under arrest; people were well disposed to him; but he is placed under arrest, because he was unruly, and if you are unruly you will be placed under arrest likewise.”

CHAPTER XVII

SEPTEMBER 1818-MARCH 1819

The splendid city of Prague--The German expression, ”To give the basket”--Journey from Prague to Dresden--Journey from Dresden to Berlin--A description of Berlin--The Prussian Army--Theatricals--Peasants talk about Napoleon--Prussians and French should be allies--Absurd policy of the English Tories--Journey from Berlin to Dresden--A description of Dresden--The battle of Dresden in 1813--Clubs at Dresden--Theatricals-- German beds--Saxon scholars--The picture gallery--Tobacco an ally of Legitimacy--Saxon women--Meissen--Unjust policy of Europe towards the King of Saxony.

PRAGUE, 4 Sept.

Prague is a far more striking and splendid city than Vienna, without its faubourgs. The streets are broader; and it has a more cheerful and less confined appearance than the old town of Vienna. The position of Prague too is very romantic and picturesque, part of it lying on a mountain and part on a plain; and it stands on the confluent of two rivers, the Mulda and the Braun. The upper part of the city, called Oberburg, stands on a height called Ratschin, and on this height stands a most magnificent palace and other stately buildings. There is a beautiful panoramic view from this part of Prague. In this part of the city too is the cathedral of St Wenzel or Wenceslaus, who was its founder. His tomb and that of St John Nepomucene, a favorite saint of the Bohemians, is in this church. The Cathedral is of extreme solidity, but little ornamented, having been plundered by the Swedes in 1648. The canopy over the shrine of St John Nepomucene has a profusion of votive offerings appended to it. The lower part of Prague is divided into two parts by the Mulda. The bridge across the Mulda is one of the finest in Europe. It has twenty-four arches, its length is 1700 feet and its breadth 35. Among several statues on this bridge is a very remarkable one of Jesus Christ, made of bronze gilt, which cost a large sum of money to its founder, a Jew! There is a Latin inscription on it which explains the paradox. There stood on the same spot a wooden statue of Christ in the XVI century. One day an opulent Jew, on pa.s.sing by, made some scoffing or contemptuous remark on it. He was overheard by some of the people, accused of blasphemy and condemned to die; but on expressing great contrition and offering to pay a fine to any amount, he was pardoned, on the condition of his promising to erect a bronze statue gilt of Jesus Christ on the same spot, at his own expense, with an inscription explaining the reason of its construction; which promise he punctually performed.

Prague abounds in Jews. Two-thirds at least of its population are of that persuasion. In the lower town the most striking edifices are the palace of the Wallenstein family, descendants of the famous Wallenstein, so distinguished in the Thirty Years war. Annexed to this Palace is a s.p.a.cious garden, which is open to the public as a promenade. It is well laid out.

There is a large aviary. This Palace covers a vast extent of ground. The Colloredo family, who are descended from Wenceslaus, have a superb Palace in this city; and there is a stable belonging to it, partly in marble and of rich architecture, capable of containing thirty-six horses. No traveller who comes to Prague should omit visiting these two Palaces of Wallenstein and Colloredo. On the bridge over the Mulda before mentioned, is the statue in bronze of St John Nepomucene, on the spot from whence he was thrown into the river by his brother saint, King Wenceslaus, for refusing to divulge the gallantries of his (Wenceslaus') wife, to whom he was confessor. A favorite promenade on Sundays is on the _Farber Insel_ or Dyers island, which is a small island on the Mulda. Here the young men of the town come to dance with the _grisettes_ and milliner girls of Prague, who are renowned for their beauty and complaisance.

The Jewish burying ground is a curiosity for a person who has never visited the Oriental countries. The tombstones are stowed thick together. Everybody recollects the anecdote of the ingenious method adopted by Joseph II for squeezing a large sum of money from the Jews of Prague, by giving out that he intended to claim this cemetery, in order to build therein a Palace. The Jews who, like all the Orientals, have the most profound veneration for the spot where their ancestors are buried, presented a large sum of money to the Emperor, to induce him to renounce his design.

The _Stadt-Haus_ (Hotel de Ville) is a fine building; and the _Marktplatz_ (market square) is very s.p.a.cious, and contributes much to the beauty of the town. In the centre of it stands an ancient fountain of a dodecagonal form.

The basin is of red marble, and near it stands a large stone column, with a statue of the Virgin, bronze gilt, on its summit. A well supplied market, or rather fair, is carried on here every day in the week. The Theatre is a fine building and is of immense size. I witnessd the representation of a burlesque tragedy called _Die Belagerung von Ypsilon_ (the siege of Ypsilon), but I could not at all comprehend the cream of the jest. Madame Catalani, who is here, sang at this theatre one night. The theatre was completely filled and the price of admission to the boxes and _parterre_ a ducat. The street adjoining to the theatre was crowded by people endeavoring to catch the sweet sounds. Immense hommage has been paid to Catalani by the authorities here.

The b.a.l.l.s of the _bourgeoisie_ of Prague are splendid and well attended.

The _bourgeoisie_ is very opulent in this city. There are but few residents _n.o.blesse_. The expences at the inns here are rather greater than those at Vienna, wine being a foreign commodity and beer the national beverage. My daily expences here for lodging, dinner, supper and breakfast amounted to four florins _Convenzions Munze_, about nine franks nearly, French money.

<script>