BERLIN, PRUSSIA, _Jan. 7, 1857_.
After an absence of nearly two years I find myself once again
in the Prussian capital, and when I recognise my former friends
and acquaintances who have remained stationary, and answer their
interrogatories, I can scarcely believe that most parts of Europe have
been revisited by me within this short period; the Atlantic crossed and
re-crossed; the head waters of our great Mississippi gazed upon; and I
return here without finding any noticeable changes. I tell them from my
own experience, that in 1844 the prairies were crossed from the head of
Illinois river navigation to Chicago, and from Galena to Milwaukee, in
ordinary coaches, with indifferent accommodations for man and beast;
that wild waving grass and flowers bounded the horizon, and scarcely
a sound was heard except the cries of the wolf and prairie hen, when
the places named were villages. Then I tell them what great cities,
with teeming population, I found in their stead during the past year,
with lines of railway, expanding like arteries from the human heart,
spreading life and activity in all directions. If they are inclined to
doubt statements which appear fabulous, the fortunate presence of a
famous bill of fare, of the Chicago Hotel, gives demonstrative evidence
of the progress of civilization.
The Americans are becoming notorious on the continent as extensive
travellers, which is not surprising, as our country is so extended, and
the opportunities for locomotion are so great. During my first visit to
Egypt it was rare to meet one of my countrymen; but five years since
I was informed at Grand Cairo that more of them, than of English, had
gone up the Nile that winter.
Our political system is to Europeans an enigma. A well-dressed person,
at a public table, asked me how large a court Buchanan would have, and
the emolument he would receive; and seemed greatly surprised that
we had no court, and that the salary of twenty-five thousand dollars
per annum would not equal the livery expenses of some crowned heads;
and that the emoluments of four years would not equal the christening
expenses of the imperial infant of France; that we travel without
passports; that the press is as free as the air we breathe; and that
our national army is scarcely seen or known.
Christmas-day I found myself the only stranger at the table, in a
family gathering of twenty-five persons. The Germans dine much earlier
than the French. At half past two P.M., an abundant repast,
with various kinds of Rhine wine, was served, enlivened with the usual
touching of glasses, and toasts. At the close of the dinner, the host
struck up a hochlied, or hymn, accompanied by one of the ladies on the
piano, which hymn was followed by shaking of hands and congratulations.
The gentlemen retired to smoke, and the ladies amused themselves with
dancing and waltzing. An hour later, we were seated again at the table,
with coffee, conversation, and recitations from the younger members of
the family. There was a constant change of diversions: juvenile violin
players, exquisite performers upon the piano, vocal music, dancing,
tableaux vivants, &c., kept the company incessantly occupied until
about half-past ten, when _abendbrod_ was announced. This meal
(literally evening bread) consisted of a copious hot supper, not unlike
the dinner, and required a stronger stomach than mine to digest, at
that late hour. At midnight, with cordial salutations, after having
enjoyed every moment of time, the company separated.
When the bulletins announced that the _Eisbahn_ was in condition,
hundreds of persons of both sexes might be seen upon the ice of the
_Thiergarten_, or Royal Park. A small fee admits you on the ice,
where seats are prepared, and gardrobe for clothing; supplies of
skates are on hire, with servants to strap them; there are chair-sleds
for those who do not skate, or for lady invalids, drawn by gentlemen
skaters; and hosts of fashionable and beautiful city ladies, gracefully
waltzing and performing various evolutions, or gliding rapidly in
groups over the frozen surface; it is a pretty and characteristic scene
of winter life in this region.
With the present railroad and steam advantages, travellers are brought
together singularly. At the hotel, a heavy-whiskered gentleman at my
right opened a conversation in German--the language spoken at the
table--which was for a time continued, when it struck me suddenly who
he was, and I asked if he recognised me? I received a negative reply. I
asked if he had travelled in Egypt? He answered, “Yes, but many years
since.” “True,” I responded; “you called upon me in Jaffa, in the Holy
Land. You made the passage to Alexandria with us; you are an American,”
and I called him by name. We were both mutually surprised and delighted.
I notice across the street, outside of the double window sashes, heavy
coarse curtains drawn up, which are lowered at night to protect from
cold and storms. What are the white and colored objects hanging against
the glass, and what do the flower-vases contain? They are a counterpart
of the porcelain variegated transparencies suspended from mine, with
similar tulips; but it strikes me that my two India rubber trees, with
their long green leaves, are more attractive. The people are very fond
of these window decorations.
The droschki drivers, thickly clad, are dozing upon their seats. Here
comes a customer. The driver gives him a ticket, as he enters, with the
number of his vehicle, in case of reclamation, in default of which he
is amenable to the police. He receives so many checks from his employer
daily, and is responsible for them.
Our American ladies are shocked at seeing women sawing wood, carrying
coal, making mortar, working upon the land, and performing all sorts of
manual labor. A pair of harnessed cows before a wagon containing five
or six ruddy-faced, thick-waisted, bare-headed, or cap-covered, country
costumed _bauerinnen_, or peasant women, is quite a ludicrous
sight.
This last sentence, I notice, partakes a little of the German form of
writing. It must be atmospheric. In the works of some German writers,
one sometimes reads a third of a page before finding the meaning of
the sentence, the construction of the language having the advantage
of keeping up and increasing attention to the end. The word which
least defines the subject is placed at the beginning of the sentence.
Then come those words which define it in a higher degree, so that
the word which most determines the meaning of the phrase, is at the
end. It is one of the richest and most beautiful of living languages
for its literature, but exceedingly difficult to acquire, and few
Germans speak their language grammatically. Dialects are found all
over Europe; and in many parts, the distance of a few miles changes
the _patois_. In no single country, for its extent, is a language
(notwithstanding the slang, or provincialisms) so generally well
spoken, as in the United States. With a knowledge of English, the
traveller may visit all parts of our country, with slight exceptions,
and hold intercourse with all classes, which cannot be done even in
some parts of Great Britain.
Unconsciously this letter has been drawn out to an unusual length, and
I fancy I hear you cry out, “Halten sie an!”