Frankfort on the Maine.
We have been here two weeks.—To form a proper judgment of the genius
and manners of any nation, it is necessary to live familiarly with the
inhabitants for a considerable time; but a smaller degree of observation
will suffice to give a pretty just idea of the nature of its government.
The chilling effects of despotic oppression, or the benign influence of
freedom and commerce, strike the eye of the most careless traveller.
The streets of Frankfort are spacious and well-paved; the houses stately,
clean, and convenient; the shops well furnished; the dress, the numbers,
the air, and general manners of the inhabitants, sufficiently show,
without other information, that there is no little despot within their
walls, to impoverish them in support of his grandeur, and to put every
action of their lives, every movement of their bodies, under restraint by
his caprice.
The houses are of brick, but have a better appearance than brick houses
in general, owing chiefly to their being covered with a kind of reddish
stucco, which is come into use here of late, and, it is believed, will
render the buildings more durable. The fronts of many of the finest are
also adorned with bas reliefs, of white stucco, in imitation of marble.
These white ornaments, on the red ground, form too strong a contrast, and
do not please an eye fond of simplicity. But the Germans, in general,
have a taste for showy ornament, in their dress, furniture, and houses.
Frankfort is a free imperial city, having a small territory belonging to
it, and is governed by its own magistracy.
All religions are tolerated here, under certain restrictions; but
Lutheranism is the established faith, as the magistrates are of that
communion.
The principal church is in the possession of the Roman Catholics, but no
public procession of the host is permitted through the streets. All the
ceremonies of their religion are confined to the houses of individuals,
or performed within the walls of this church. In it there is a chapel, to
which the emperor is conducted immediately after his election, in order
to be crowned by the Elector of Mentz.
The Jews have a synagogue in this city, where they perform their
religious rites; but the Calvinists have never been allowed any public
house of worship within the territory of Frankfort. They attend divine
service at a place called Bockenheim in the county of Hanau, where they
have built a church.
This is but unkind treatment; and it seems, at first sight, a little
extraordinary, that Martin Luther should show more indulgence to his
old enemy Lord Peter, and even to Judas Iscariot himself, than to his
fellow-reformer John Calvin.
Though Frankfort is thought a fine town, and the effect produced by the
whole is magnificent, yet there are no buildings in particular worthy
of attention. It is expected, however, that all strangers should visit
the town-house, and see the chamber where the Emperor is elected. And
it would be reckoned a great want of curiosity, not to see the famous
golden bull which is kept there with the utmost care. A sight of this
costs a golden ducat; a sufficient price for a glance of an old
manuscript, which not one person in a hundred can read, and still fewer
can understand.
A countryman of ours, who expected more amusement for his money,
complained loudly of this as an imposition, and on hearing a German talk
of the high price which every thing bore in England, he retorted on him
in these words:—Il n’y a rien en Angleterre si cher que votre _taureau_
d’or à Frankfort.
There is a custom observed here, which I shall mention on account of its
singularity, though I enquired in vain for its origin. Two women appear
every day at noon on the battlements of the principal steeple, and play
some very solemn airs with trumpets. This music is accompanied by vocal
psalmody, performed by four or five men, who always attend the female
trumpeters for that purpose.
The people here have a violent taste for psalm-singing. There are a
considerable number of men and boys, who have this for their only
profession. They are engaged by some families to officiate two or three
times a week in the morning, before the master and mistress of the family
get out of bed.
When any person in tolerable circumstances dies, a band of these sweet
singers assemble in the streets before the house, and chant an hour every
day to the corpse, till it is interred. The same band accompanies the
funeral, singing hymns all the way.
Funerals are conducted with an uncommon degree of solemnity in this
town:—A man clothed in a black cloak, and carrying a crucifix, at the end
of a long pole, leads the procession:—A great number of hired mourners in
the same dress, and each with a lemon in his hand, march after him:—Then
come the singers, followed by the corpse in a hearse; and lastly, the
relations in mourning coaches.
The crucifix is carried in this manner at all funerals, whether the
deceased has died a Roman Catholic, a Lutheran, or a Calvinist. That this
custom should be followed by the two latter, surprised me a good deal. I
should have imagined that the Calvinists in particular, whatever they did
with the lemons, would never have been able to digest the crucifix.
There is a very considerable number of Calvinists in this place; it is
generally thought they are the most industrious. They unquestionably
are the richest part of the inhabitants. This may be partly owing to
a circumstance that some of them consider as a hardship—their being
excluded from any share in the government of the city.—Many of the
Calvinist families are descendents of French Protestants, who left their
country at the revocation of the edict of Nantz.
There are some villages near Frankfort consisting entirely of French
refugees; who, deserting their country at the same time, have settled
here in a cluster. Their descendents speak French in their common
conversation, and retain many of their original customs to this hour.
Two or three families now living at Frankfort are of English origin.
Their predecessors fled first to Holland, during the persecutions in
the reign of Mary, and being afterwards driven out of that country by
the cruelty of the Duke of Alva, they at length found an asylum for
themselves, and their posterity, in this free imperial city.
The number of Jews in Frankfort is prodigious, considering one dismal
inconvenience they are subjected to, being obliged to live all together
in a single street built up at one end:—There is a large gate at the
other, which is regularly shut at a certain hour of the night, after
which no Jews dare appear in the streets; but the whole herd must remain
cooped and crowded together, like so many black cattle, till morning. As
this street is narrow, the room allotted for each family small, and as
the children of Israel were never remarkable for their cleanliness, and
always noted for breeding, the Jews quarter, you will believe, is not
the sweetest part of the town. I scarce think they could have been worse
lodged in the land of Egypt.
They have several times made offer of considerable sums to the
magistrates of Frankfort for liberty to build or purchase another street
for their accommodation; but all such proposals have hitherto been
rejected.
The Jews in Frankfort are obliged to fetch water when a fire happens in
any part of the city, and the magistrates in return permit them to choose
judges out of their own body for deciding disputes among themselves;
but if either party refuses to submit to this, an appeal is open to the
magistrates.
They must unquestionably enjoy some great advantages by the trade they
carry on, to compensate for such inconveniencies. During the day-time
they are allowed the liberty of walking all over the town; a privilege
which they improve with equal assiduity and address. They attack you in
the street, ply at the gate of your lodgings, and even glide into your
apartments, offering to supply you with every commodity you can have
occasion for: And if you happen to pass by the entrance of their street,
they intreat your custom with the violence and vociferation of so many
Thames watermen.
I was twice at their synagogue. There is nothing magnificent in their
worship; but much apparent zeal and fervour. I saw one of their most
important rites performed on two children. It was impossible not to feel
compassion for the poor infants, thus cruelly initiated into a community,
who had formerly the misfortune of being despised by the Heathens, and
now are execrated by all pious Christians.