Hanover lies on the small river Liene, and is the royal residence.
It contains the city palace, the summer palaces and grounds; among
the number is the _Herren Hausen_, with fountains, orange and
botanical gardens. In the latter is a palm house, of iron and glass,
a crystal palace in miniature--which is unique of its kind. It is
kept at an oriental temperature, and almost all the varieties of palm
and date trees familiar to me in the East and West Indies, are to be
found there. The mausoleum, at the extremity of the ground, is a snug
edifice, containing the royal remains of the late king and queen. The
beautiful, full length figure of the deceased queen, in white Carrara
marble, is a fine specimen of art, and is very like the much-admired
reposing statue of the queen of Prussia. The wilds and forests of the
king, extending for miles in the suburbs, give the citizens a variety
of walks and drives in different directions.
It is evident that the Germans, unlike the English, never paid for
light and air in the shape of a window tax. The old part of the city
is literally a town of windows; many are beautified with plants and
flowers, fancy screens and porcelain views, which give it an enlivening
appearance, in contrast with the gable-ended, projecting, overhanging
houses.
The _Konigliche Hoftheatre_ is a pretty monument to the memory of
the late king, Ernest Augustus, standing upon a beautiful site, two
hundred and eighty feet front, and one hundred and ninety deep; the
front portico is surmounted by life-size statues of twelve celebrated
writers and composers, among whom are Goethe, Schiller, Mozart,
Beethoven, Shakespeare, Molière, and others. The interior decorations
are luxurious for Germany. In the middle of the front range of boxes,
is the king’s loge, the inside of which is white and gold, covered with
the royal arms; outside are velvet curtains.
The theatre is regarded as instructive and moral, and is unlike what
it is in many countries. I was accompanied thither by a very worthy
minister and his wife, and the daughter of another divine, whom I had
travelled with up the Rhine, and who accidentally visited the city.
The officers of the army, nearly a hundred in number, are obliged to
subscribe monthly; their uniform gives the theatre a stiff, military
air, unlike that of the Thalia Club, which has fifteen hundred members,
or annual subscribers, with reading rooms, billiard rooms, refreshment
saloons, and a theatre four times per week, which is fully attended by
the respectable middle classes of ladies and gentlemen, and looks quite
democratic.
The Museum Club, of which I am a member, is composed of three hundred,
a large proportion of whom are active or retired civil and military
officers.
Here all is marked out by rule. So many branches of trade of each
description are allowed by royal authority. Application must be made
for permission to engage in an occupation; if it is considered that
there are already sufficient of that branch, the applicant is refused.
Such is the fondness for title or rank, which pervades most classes,
that the smith, shoemaker, tinman, or tailor, is delighted when he
attains the privilege of putting up the royal arms on his sign, to
signify that he is employed by his Majesty.
We have had a German Fair, which brought together a multitude from
the surrounding country and cities. Aside from the cattle show, I was
struck with the varieties of manufactured articles, the exhibition
of toys, curious costumes of the peasant girls, the playing of
mountebanks, and the general consumption of honey cakes.