MANHEIM.

It was twilight, when we approached Manheim; and the palace, the

numerous turrets and the fortifications had their grandeur probably

increased by the obscurity. The bridge of boats is not so long as that

at Mentz; but we had time enough in passing it to observe the extent of

the city, on the left of which the Neckar pours itself into the Rhine,

so that two sides are entirely washed by their streams. At the next

guard-house, where we were detained by the usual enquiries, the troops

were more numerous; and surely no military figures ever accorded so

well with the gloomy gates, and walls they guarded. The uniform of the

Palatine light troops is a close jacket of motley brown, and pantaloons

of the same that reach to their half-boots. They have black helmets,

with crests and fronts of brass, large whiskers, and their faces, by

constant exposure to the sun, are of the deepest brown that can be,

without approaching to black. As they stood singly on the ramparts, or

in groups at the gates, their bronze faces and Roman helmets seemed of

a deeper hue, than the gloom, that partly concealed their figures.

The entrance into Manheim, from the Rhine, is by a spacious street,

which leads directly into the centre of the city, and to a large

square, planted with limes, consisting, on one side, of public

buildings, and, on the other, of several noble houses, one of which

is the chief inn, called the _Cour Palatine_. This is the first city

in Germany, that can answer, by its appearance, the expectations of a

foreigner, who has formed them from books. Its aspect is truly that of

a capital and of the residence of a Court; except that in the day-time

a traveller may be somewhat surprised at the fewness of passengers and

the small shew of traffic, amidst such public buildings, and in streets

of such convenience and extent. The fairness, the grandeur and the

stateliness, which he may have seen attributed to other German cities,

till he is as much disgusted as deceived by every idea derived from

description, may be perceived in several parts of Manheim, and the

justness of disposition in all.

Nor is the beauty of the present city solely owing to the destruction

of the antient one by Louis the Fourteenth, in 1689, the year of

general devastation in the Palatinate. It was laid out in right lines,

though to a less extent, in the beginning of the seventeenth century,

when Frederic the Fifth laid the foundation of the fortifications,

behind which a town was built, that adopted the antient name of

Manheim, from a neighbouring one then in decay. These were the

fortifications and the town destroyed by the French in 1689. The plan

of both was but extended, when the present works were formed upon the

system of Cohorn, and the city by degrees restored, with streets,

which, intersecting each other at right angles, divide it into an

hundred and seven square portions. The number of the inhabitants,

exclusive of the garrison, was, in 1784, 21,858.

Some of the streets are planted with rows of trees, and there are

five or six open places, suitable for promenades, or markets. The

customhouse, which forms a side to one of these, is a noble stone

building, rather appearing to be a palace, than an office, except that

under the colonnades, which surround it, are shops for jewellery and

other commodities.

The Electoral palace, which opens, on one side, to the city, and, on

the other, to the ramparts, was built by the Elector Charles-Philippe,

who, in the year 1721, removed his residence hither from Heidelberg, on

account of some difference with the magistrates, or, as is said, of the

prevalence of religious disputes in that city. He began to erect it in

1720; but the edifice was not completed, till the right wing was added

by the present Elector, not to be used as a residence, but to contain

a gallery of paintings, cabinets of antiquities and natural history,

a library, treasury and _manege_. We passed a morning in viewing the

apartments in the other wing, all the paintings and books having been

removed from this, as well as great part of the furniture from the

whole palace, in the dread of an approaching bombardment. The person,

who shewed them, took care to keep the credit of each room safe, by

assuring us at the door, that it was not in its usual condition. The

Elector had been, for some months, at Munich, but the Duke and Duchess

of Deux Ponts and their family have resided in this palace, since their

retirement from Deux Ponts, in the latter end of the campaign of 1792.

The rooms are all lofty, and floored with inlaid work of oak and

chesnut; the ceilings, for the most part, painted; and the walls

covered with tapestry, finely wrought, both as to colour and design.

Some of this came from a manufactory, established by the Elector, at

Franckenthal.

The furniture, left in several of the rooms, was grand and antient, but

could never have been so costly as those, who have seen the mansions

of wealthy individuals in England, would expect to find in a palace.

The Elector's state-bed was inclosed not only by a railing, but by a

glass case to the height of the ceiling, with windows, that could be

opened at pleasure, to permit a conversation with his courtiers, when

compliments were paid literally at a levee. In the court of France,

this practice continued even to very late years, and there were three

distinct privileges of entrée, denoting the time, at which persons of

different classes were permitted to enter the chamber. In the Earl of

Portland's embassy for King William to Louis the Fourteenth, it was

thought a signal mark of honour, that he was admitted to his audience,

not only in the chamber, but within the rails; and there the French

Monarch stood with the three young Princes, his grandsons, the Count de

Tholouse, the Duke d'Aumont and the Mareschal de Noailles. The Duke

made his speech covered, after which the King entered into conversation

with him, for several minutes.

One room, at Manheim, was called the Silver Chamber, from the quantity

of solid silver, used about the furniture. Such articles as could be

carried away entire, had been removed, but the walls were disfigured by

the loss of the ornaments torn from them, on account of their value. In

several rooms, the furniture, that remained, was partly packed, to be

carried away upon the next alarm. The contents of the wardrobe were in

this state, and the interior of these now desolated apartments seemed

like the skeleton of grandeur. The beauty of the painted ceilings,

however, the richness of the various prospects, commanded by the

windows, and the great extent of the building sufficiently accounted

for the reputation, which this palace has, of being the finest in

Germany.

It is built of stone, which has somewhat the reddish hue of that used

at Mentz, and, though several parts are positively disapproved by

persons of skill in architecture, the whole is certainly a grand and

sumptuous building.

The situation of Manheim and the scenery around it are viewed to

great advantage from the tower of the Observatory, in which strangers

are politely received by the Professor of Astronomy, whose residence

is established in it. From this are seen the fruitful plains of the

Palatinate, spreading, on all sides, to bold mountains, of which those

of Lorrain, that extend on the west, lose in distance the variety of

their colouring, and, assuming a blue tint, retain only the dignity

of their form. Among these, the vast and round headland, called the

_Tonnesberg_, which is in sight, during the greatest part of the

journey from Mentz to Manheim, is pre-eminent.

But the chain, that binds the horizon on the east, and is known by

the name of the _Bergstrasse_, or road of mountains, is near enough

to display all their wild irregularity of shape, the forest glens,

to which they open, and the various tints of rock and soil, of red

and purple, that mingle with the corn and wood on their lower steeps.

These mountains are seen in the north from their commencement near

Franckfort, and this line is never interrupted from thence southward

into Switzerland. The rivals to them, on the south west, are the

mountains of Alsace, which extend in long perspective, and at a

distance appear to unite with those of the Bergstrasse. Among the

numerous towns and villages that throng the Palatinate, the spires of

Oppenheim and Worms are distinctly visible to the north; almost beneath

the eye are those of Franckenthal, and Oggersheim, and to the southward

Spires shews its many towers.

In the nearer scene the Neckar, after tumbling from among the forests

of the Bergstrasse, falls into the Rhine, a little below the walls of

Manheim; and the gardens of a summer chateau belonging to the Elector

occupy the angle between the two rivers.

These gardens were now surrendered by the Prince to be the camp of

three thousand of his troops, detached from the garrison of the city,

which, at this time, consisted of nearly ten thousand men. In several

places, on the banks of the two rivers, batteries were thrown up, and,

near the camp, a regular fort, for the purpose of commanding both;

so that Manheim, by its natural and artificial means of defence, was

supposed to be rendered nearly unassailable, on two sides. On that of

Heidelberg, it was not so secure; nor could the others be defended by

a garrison of less than 15,000 men. It was on this account, that the

Elector detained ten thousand of his troops from actual service,

contrary, as is said, to the remonstrances of the Emperor, who offered,

but without success, to garrison his capital with Austrians. From the

observatory, the camp and the works were easily seen, and, by the help

of a Dollond telescope, the only optical instrument remaining, the

order of both was so exactly pointed out by our guide, that it was

not difficult to comprehend the uses of them. Military preparations,

indeed, occurred very frequently in Manheim. In the gardens of the

chief Electoral palace, extending to the ramparts over the Rhine,

cannon were planted, which were as regularly guarded by sentinels as in

the other parts of the fortifications.

All the gates of Manheim appear to be defended by fortifications of

unusual strength. Besides two broad ditches, there are batteries,

which play directly upon the bridges, and might destroy them in a few

minutes. The gates are guarded, with the utmost strictness, and no

person is suffered to enter them, after ten at night, without the

express permission of the governor. When a courier arrives, who wishes

to use his privilege of passing, at all hours, he puts some token

of his office into a small tin box, which is kept on the outside of

the ditch, to be drawn across it by a cord, that runs upon a roller

on each bank. The officer of the guard carries this to the governor,

and obtains the keys; but so much time is passed in this sort of

application, that couriers, when the nights are short, usually wait the

opening of the gates, which is soon after day-light, in summer, and at

six, or seven, in winter.

The absence of the Elector, we were assured, had much altered the

appearance of Manheim, where scarcely a carriage was now to be seen,

though there were traces enough of the gaiety and general splendour

of this little Court. Here are an Opera House, a German Comedy, an

Amateur Concert, an Electoral Lottery, an Academy of Sculpture and

Design, and an Academy of Sciences. The Opera performances are held

in a wing of the palace, and were established in 1742, but have not

attained much celebrity, being supported chiefly by performers from

the other Theatre. This last is called a national establishment, the

players being Germans, and the Theatre founded in 1779 at the expence

of the Elector. The Baron de Dahlberg, one of his Ministers, has the

superintendance of it. The Amateur Concert is held, every Friday,

during the winter, and is much frequented.

The Electoral Lotteries, for there are two, are drawn in the presence

of the Minister of Finances, and one of them is less disadvantageous

for the gamesters than is usual with such undertakings. That, which

consists of chances determined in the customary way, gives the

Elector an advantage of only five to four over the subscribers. The

other, which is formed upon the more intricate model of that of Genoa,

entitles the subscribers to prizes, proportioned to the number of times

a certain ticket issues from the wheel, five numbers being drawn out of

ninety, or rather five drawings of one number each being successively

made out of ninety tickets. A ticket, which issues once in these five

drawings, wins fifteen times the value of the stake; one, that should

be drawn each of the five times, would entitle the owner to have his

original stake multiplied by sixty thousand, and the product would

be his prize. The undertaker of this latter Lottery has the chances

immensely in his favour.

From the very large income, to which these Lotteries contribute a part,

the present Elector has certainly made considerable disbursements,

with useful purposes, if not to useful effects. Of his foundation are

the Academy of Sciences, which was opened in 1763, for weekly sittings,

and has proceeded to some correspondence with other Academies; the

German Society, established for the easy purpose of purifying and the

difficult one of fixing language; the Cabinet of Physics, or rather

of experimental philosophy, celebrated for the variety and magnitude

of its instruments, among which are two burning glasses of three feet

diameter, said to be capable of liquefying bodies, even bottles filled

with water, at 10 feet distance; the Observatory, of 108 feet high, in

which all the chief instruments were English; a Botanical Garden and

Directorship; an Academy of Sculpture, and a Cabinet of Engravings and

Drawings, formed under the direction of M. Krahe of Dusseldorff, in 400

folio volumes.

Of all these establishments, none of the ornaments, or materials,

that were portable, now remain at Manheim. The astronomical

instruments, the celebrated collection of statues, the paintings and

the prints have been removed, together with the Electoral treasure

of diamonds and jewels, some to Munich and some to other places of

security. But, though we missed a sight, which even its rarity would

have rendered welcome, it seems proper, after such frequent notice of

the barrenness of Germany, to mention what has been collected in one of

its chief cities.

The expectation of an attack had dismantled other houses, besides

the Elector's, of their furniture; for, in the Cour Palatine, a very

spacious, and really a good inn, not a curtain and scarcely a spoon was

left. _A cause de la guerre_ was, indeed, the general excuse for every

deficiency, used by those, who had civility enough to offer one; but,

in truth, the war had not often incroached upon the ordinary stock of

conveniencies in Germany, which was previously too low to be capable

of much reduction. The places, which the French had actually entered,

are, of course, to be excepted; but it may otherwise be believed, that

Germany can lose little by a war, more than the unfortunate labourers,

whom it forces to become soldiers. The loss of wealth must come

chiefly from other countries. A rich nation may give present treasure;

a commercial nation may give both present treasure and the means of

future competence.

The land near Manheim is chiefly planted with tobacco and madder,

and the landscape is enlivened with small, but neat countryhouses,

scattered along the margin of the Neckar. The neighbourhood abounds in

pleasant rides, and, whether you wind the high banks of the majestic

Rhine, or the borders of the more tranquil Neckar, the mountains of the

Bergstrasse, tumbled upon each other in wild confusion, generally

form the magnificent back ground of the scene.

On returning from an excursion of this kind at the close of evening,

the soldiers at the gates are frequently heard chanting martial

songs in parts and chorus; a sonorous music in severe unison with

the solemnity of the hour and the imperfect forms, that meet the

eye, of sentinels keeping watch beneath the dusky gateways, while

their brethren, reposing on the benches without, mingle their voices

in the deep chorus. Rude and simple as are these strains, they are

often singularly impressive, and touch the imagination with something

approaching to horror, when the circumstances of the place are

remembered, and it is considered how soon these men, sent to inflict

death on others, may themselves be thrown into the unnumbered heap of

the military slain.