BRESLAU, SILESIA, _Feb. 10, 1857_.
On my way south to the Austrian capital, instead of taking my former
route, via Dresden and Prague, from which cities you heard from me two
years since, I have made the detour to this place ostensibly to visit
a travelling acquaintance, who had passed several months with me in
Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land.
Breslau, with its suburbs, has a population of one hundred and
twenty-five thousand, and has its attractions for the students, nine
hundred of whom attend the University, which has a public library of
three hundred thousand volumes. There is an interesting Zoological
Museum, some antique churches, and other objects worth seeing. The
public walks upon the former bastions, now planted with trees, with
views upon the river Oder, whose branches traverse the city, are quite
pretty, but fevers are the natural result there in summer. It is a
bustling, active, trading city. The carnival season is now at hand. At
a citizens’ masked and unmasked ball, given at the theatre, I noticed
more variety of costume, more characters assumed and carried out with
more life and animation than is generally manifested in Germany on
similar occasions. I was struck with the contrast, having in Berlin
recently attended the first of a series of three balls, given at the
grand opera-house, and attended by the king and royal family. The
attendance consisted only of those whose names guaranteed the privilege
of a ticket, and ladies could not appear without the expenditure of
large sums in dress; foreign ministers, civil and military officers,
were covered with orders. The galleries, passages, and stairs, as well
as the rear of the stage and parterre, which were planked over, were
converted into a tropical garden of plants, flowers, and festoons of
laurel. There was an excellent orchestra, and the supper halls were
well garnished with dainties and substantials. The quantities of
diamonds, emeralds, and rubies, with the scores of gas-lights, dazzled
the eyes; the value of these baubles, properly applied, would prevent
any further increase of taxation, a subject which is now agitating the
country. The ball was numerously attended by the leading nobility and
the whole retinue of the court; beauty and ugliness were there in the
richest and most extravagant apparel. The variety of characters and
uniforms in the waltz and dance, was undoubtedly calculated to strike
one at first glance with wonder and admiration, but with a certain
amount of restraint; the guests did not seem to enjoy themselves very
much.
I adverted in my last, or meant to if I did not, to the practice of
duelling still kept up by the German students, and winked at by the
authorities, and even the professors themselves, who not unfrequently
wear the marks of old duels upon their faces. Many clubs exist among
these youths, whose different colored caps denote their members. They
have their different places of rendezvous for pastime, drinking, and
smoking.
An opportunity presented itself recently at Berlin to witness this
foolish and shameful spectacle, which some consider a source of
amusement. They fight for fifteen minutes, unless one or the other
cries enough. The weapon is a straight sword, somewhat over three
feet long, with a sharp blade; the end is about three fourths of an
inch wide. The duellists are clad in a leather suit, the whole body
protected except the head; the neck is bound with a scarf, and the
right arm heavily bandaged with cloths; it is supported by a second
during a halt, while a third stands with a sword to parry side-blows.
Judges give the word of command, keep the time, and decide the contest.
The students of both corps sit and stand around, smoking their pipes,
without manifesting any particular concern, further than regards the
manner in which the work is executed. It is incumbent upon each member
to pass the ordeal, and the others have no hesitation in taking a
hand for amusement. A cut upon the face or head, sometimes the loss
of an eye, or a broken nose, is not unfrequently the result of this
barbarous relic of the days of chivalry. I am happy to say that our
Americans, with two exceptions, avoid this foolish exposure; one of
whom has a mark upon his face, which he will always carry. Disgusted
with the whole system, I was glad to escape.
The German railroad companies are yet far behind in the comfort of
their cars. In France, the coaches are heated with vessels of hot water
under the carpet; going last winter from Paris to Marseilles, I found
it as comfortable as in a parlor. From Berlin to this place I noticed
that only the ladies’ carriages were warmed with bags of hot sand;
fortunately, I obtained a seat in one of them. I learn that from hence
to Cracow, and also to Vienna, in Austrian territory, they are not
warmed, and shall make my arrangements accordingly. The people in these
latitudes in winter accustom themselves so much to the use of furs that
they don’t seem to require this precaution.
The houses, cafés, and places of amusement, are well warmed, and one
suffers less from cold than in northern Italy.
Since the release of the royalists from the Swiss prisons at
Neufchatel, and the anticipated call of the Prussian Landwehr to the
battle-field, the war excitement has cooled off, and the community have
been excited with the judgment and execution of Verger, for the murder
of the Archbishop of Paris.