Dresden.
I believe I neglected to mention in any of my letters from Berlin, that
when I visited the manufactory of porcelain, I was so much struck with
the beauty of some of it, that I ordered a small box for you. But as I
take it to be a matter of indifference, whether you sip your tea out of
the china you have already, or this, you may send it as a present to the
female you love and esteem most. If by this direction it should not go
straight from you to Miss ——, pray let me know to whom you send it. The
factor at Hamburgh will give you notice when he ships it off.
I did not imagine that this manufactory had arrived at such a degree
of perfection as it has in several places in Germany, particularly at
Brunswic and Berlin. The parcel I have ordered for you, is thought equal
to the finest made at Dresden.
The day we left Potsdam we dined with good Lord Marechal, who took leave
of the D——, with an emotion which at once marked his regard for his G——,
and his fears that he should never see him again.
If I were strongly in a humour for description, our journey through
the most beautiful and most fertile part of Germany, would afford me a
fair opportunity. I not only could ring over the whole chimes of woods,
meadows, rivers, and mountains, rich crops of grain, flax, tobacco, and
hops; I might animate the landscapes with a copious breed of horses,
black cattle, sheep, wild boars, and venison, and vary the description
with the marble, precious stones, and mines of lead, copper, iron, and
silver, which Saxony contains within its bowels. I might expatiate on the
fine china ware, and fine women, that abound in this country, formed of
the finest clay in Germany, et très joliment travaillées;—but I am long
since tired of description, and therefore beg leave to convey you at once
from Potsdam to Dresden.
Having been presented to the Elector and Electress by Mr. Osborn, the
British minister here, we had the honour of dining with them the same
day. The Electress is young, tall, well-made, and lively.—We were
afterwards presented to the Electress Dowager, and to the Princess
Elizabeth, the Elector’s aunt, to the Princess, his sister, and to his
three brothers, the eldest of whom has lost the use of his legs, and is
moved about the room in a chair with wheels.
The court was numerous and splendid. In the evening there was
card-playing for about two hours. The D—— of H—— was of the Electress’s
party, while I played two rubbers at whist with one of the Princesses,
against the Electress Dowager and the Princess Elizabeth.—I have never
seen deep gaming at any of the German courts.—What has approached nearest
to it, has been at masquerades, or where the Sovereign was not present.
Dresden, though not one of the largest, is certainly one of the most
agreeable cities in Germany, whether we consider its situation, the
magnificence of its palaces, or the beauty and conveniency of the houses
and streets. This city is built on both sides of the Elbe, which is of
a considerable breadth here. The magnificent and commodious manner in
which the two opposite parts of the town are joined, adds greatly to its
beauty.
There is an equestrian statue of King Augustus, in a kind of open place
or square, between the old city and the new. The workmanship is but
indifferent; however, I was desired by our Cicerone to admire this very
much, because—it was made by a common smith. I begged to be excused,
telling him that I could not admire it, had it been made by Michael
Angelo.
Few Princes in Europe are so magnificently lodged as the Elector of
Saxony. The Palace and Museum have been often described.—The last was
begun by the Elector Augustus, and still retains the name of the Green
Room, though it now consists of several apartments, all painted green,
in imitation of the first. I will not enumerate the prodigious number of
curiosities, natural and artificial, to be seen there. Some of the last
are curious, only because they are invisible to the human eye. Of this
number, is a cherry stone, upon which, by the help of a microscope, above
a hundred faces may be distinguished. Undoubtedly these little mechanical
whims display the labour, perseverance, and minute attention of the
workman; but I cannot think they are proofs of the wisdom of those who
could employ artists to so little purpose. Let the astonishing minutiæ
of nature be admired through microscopes; but surely nothing is a proper
work for the hands of man, which cannot be seen by the unaided human eye.
A work of the jeweller Dinglinger, which represents the celebration of
the Mogul’s birth-day, is much admired. The Mogul sitting on his throne,
his grandees and guards, with a great many elephants, are all exhibited
upon a table about an ell square. This work employed Dinglinger, and
some assistants, above ten years. Do not you think this was leaving so
ingenious an artist a little too long in the Mogul’s service?
A simple list of every thing valuable and curious in this Museum, would
exceed the bounds of one of my longest letters; I shall therefore pass
them all over in silence, except the story of the prophet Jonah, which
it would be impious to omit. The ship, the whale, the prophet, and the
sea-shore, are all represented in pearl; but the sea and rocks are in a
different kind of stone, though, in my opinion, there was no occasion to
vary the materials; for surely there is as great a difference between a
prophet and a whale, as between a whale and a rock. So that if the first
two could be represented with the same materials, I do not think it was
worth while to change the composition for the third.
The gallery of pictures is highly esteemed. To enumerate the particular
merits of each, would fill many volumes, and requires a far greater
knowledge of painting than I can pretend to. The most valuable pieces
are by Corregio and Rubens. There are three or four by the former, and
of his most capital works; and a very considerable number by the latter.
The strength and expression of this great artist’s pencil, the natural
glow of his colouring, and the fertility of his fancy deserve the highest
encomiums. Yet one cannot help regretting, that he had so violent a
passion for fat women. That kind of nature which he had seen early in
life in his own country, had laid such hold of his imagination, that it
could not be eradicated by all the elegant models he afterwards studied
in Italy. Some of his female figures in this gallery are so much of the
Dutch make, and so fat, that it is rather oppressive to look at them in
this very hot weather.
In the Museum, within the Palace, there is a most complete collection of
prints, from the commencement of the art of engraving till the present
time.