456 miles, and had, in 1807, 13,750 inhabitants. Porto Ferrajo has 3000 inhabitants, and Marciana 2500. The islands called Hyeres near Toulon have a barren and naked appearance, and only present a few stinted and scattered pines. On the western coast are the isle of Oleron, and the isle of Ushant, or Ouessant. GERMANY. THE geography of Germany has always been the most difficult of any country in Europe. It is subdivided into so many states, and these again into so many petty districts, each an independent principality, governed by its own laws, and regulating its own police, that the geographer has found it impossible to be concise, without being defective; minute, without being tedious; or either, without being obscure. The late changes have not relieved him from these difficulties. Extent. Germany anciently reached from the Rhine to beyond Its modern the Vistula, and from the Baltic to the Danube. breadth, from the Rhine to the eastern confines of Silesia, is 500 miles; and its length, from the isle of Rugen to the southern limits of Austria, is 600. Boundaries. On the N. are Denmark and the Baltic; on the E. Prussia, Poland, Hungary, Sclavonia, and Croatia; on the S. Italy and Switzerland; and on the W. France, the Netherlands, Holland, and the German ocean. 4. Historical Epochs. 1. The state of savage independence, be2. The subjugation by fore Germany was known to the Romans. 3. The successthe Roman arms, under Germanicus, A. D. 17. ful revolt from the Roman dominion in the reign of Domitian. The conquest of Rome by the Heruli, who made Odoacer, their general, king of Italy. 5. The establishment of the empire, by Charlemagne, king of France. He conquered both Italy and Germany and was crowned emperor of the west, A. D. 800. 6. The rejection of the Carlovinian line in 880, since which time Germany has been considered as an elective empire. After much contention, Henry duke of Saxony was chosen in 918; and this line failing in 1624, was followed by that of Franconia. To this succeeded the line of Swabia. 7. The interregnum after the death of Frederic II. which lasted 23 years. No less than six candidates claimed the empire, all of whom were destroyed. 8. The permanent annexation of the imperial dignity to the family of Austria in 1440. 9. The reign of Charles V. which was the period of the Reformation. 10. The dissolution of the Germanic body in 1809. Since that time the western and middle parts of Germany have been divided into many large and small kingdoms and principalities, nominally independent, and really so of each other, but actually under complete subjection to France. These now constitute what is called the CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE. Religion. The religion of the greater part of Germany is the Reformed, first introduced into Saxony by Luther, but variously modified. The south, however, continues firmly attached to the Roman Catholic faith, now chiefly supported by the house of Austria. Literature and Universities. The Germans can boast of a greater number of useful discoveries and inventions in arts and sciences, than any other European nation. They have the honor of discovering the Art of Printing about the year 1450. It would be easy to enumerate nearly one hundred of their inventions, without filling up the list with mere improvements in machines and mechanical arts. Literature and the sciences are arrived in Germany at a very high degree of eminence, both with respect to universality and solidity. Within these fifty years their improvements have been rapid and astonishing. Universal geography, chronology, antiquities, and heraldry owe their perfection to the Germans, and the science of Statistics its origin. The number of readers in the German empire, and in the neighboring countries, especially in the north of Europe, where the German language has an extensive circulation, is large enough to encourage the publication of no less than 5000* annual literary productions, of which two thirds are original performances, and one third translations from other languages. The book trade is no where equally important; at the Leipsic fair, books are sold and exchanged to the value of several hundred thousand dollars. There are 38 universities in Germany, of which 19 belong to the Protestants, and 17 to the Roman Catholics. Government. The government was that of an aristocracy, which elected a monarch, who may be of any family, Catholic, Lutheran, or Calvinist. To consider the constitution at length, which has been called by a German writer "a confusion supported by Providence," would be foreign to the nature of this work.There is now no empire of Germany, nor are the states connected by any common bond. Population. The states composing the confederation of the Rhine have, according to Hassel, a population of 16,927,500; of whom 2,277,000 are in the dutchy of Warsaw; and 84,000 in the district of Dantzic. The remainder 14,566,600 are in Germany. Of the present Prussian population 3,584,000 are Germans; and of that of Austria 8,660,000: to which, if that of the dutchy of Ho!stein be added, the whole amount of the population of Germany will be, according to Hassel, 27,140,600. Army. The whole military force of the states, composing the confederation of the Rhine, is stated, by Hassel, at 205,700 men, of whom they are obliged to furnish 116,750 men as a contingent to the French emperor, the head of the confederacy, whenever its principles are infringed upon by other nations. What proportion In the year 1792, " at the Easter fair, (there is another not so productive at Michaelmas) were published 2227 new books, inclusive of 468 continuations, 194 new editions, and 154 translations, most of them in the Belle Lettres, Geography, History, and Physic." Professor Ebeling's letter to the auther. of the Austrian, Prussian, and Danish troops is derived from Germany, we are unable to state. Revenues. The whole revenue of the confederation of the Rhine is stated by Hassel, at 94,193,000 guilders. The Austrian revenues derived from Germany are not less than 50,000,000; the Prussian 20,300,000, and those of Holstein about 1,300,000; making a total of 165,793,000 guilders annually yielded by Germany. Face of the Country. To the N. of the Mayn, Germany chiefly presents wide sandy plains, which seem as if they had been, in the first ages of the world, overwhelmed by the sea. A few hills be gin to appear in the neighborhood of Minden; and in the south of the Hanoverian dominions arise the most northern mountains of Germany, those of Blocksberg, and others in the Hartz. To the S. W. are the mountains of Hessia, and others, extending towards the Rhine while on the east the rich and variegated country of Saxony, one of the most beautiful and fertile in the empire, extends to the southern limits of the mountains of Erzgeberg, abundant in mines and singular fossils. The regions to the south of the Mayn may be regarded as rather mountainous. Rivers. Both portions are watered by numerous and important rivers. In the north the Elbe is the most distinguished stream, rising in the Sudetic mountains of Silesia; and, after running S. for about 50 miles, it suddenly assumes its destination of N. W. receives the Bohemian Muldo and Eger, the Mulda and Sala of Saxony, and the large river Havel from the east, and enters the sea near Cuxhaven, after a comparative course of more than 500 miles. The chief cities on the banks of the Elbe are Dresden, Meissen, Wittenberg, Magdeburg, from which it runs almost a solitary stream to Hamburg. The tide is perceived to the height of 22 miles; and, when raised by the north wind, middle sized vessels may arrive at Hamburg, but they are in general obliged to anchor a mile below the city.* Not far to the W. is the mouth of the Weser, which first receives that name when its two sources, the Werra and the Fulda, join near Munden in the principality of Calenburg, about 16 miles S. W. of Gottingen. The principal towns on this river are Bevern, Minden, and Bremen. The inundations of the Weser are terrible, the adjacent towns and villages seeming to form islands in the sea: hence the shores are esteemed unhealthy. The Danube has already been described. The Necker is a tributary stream of the Rhine, rising in the Black Forest, not far from the Danube, and running a picturesque course of about 150 miles through a country variegated with vineyards. Lakes. In the dutchy of Mecklenburg, the lake of Plau extends under various names about 25 miles in length, by 6 in breadth. The lake of Constance is the most distinguished expanse of water, described under Swisserland. Next is the sea of Bavaria, 14. miles by 5 in size. • Busching vi. 16. Mountains. The most northern mountains in Germany are those of the Hartz. These rise in the form of an amphitheatre, the highest being what is called the great Blocksberg. But the most celebrated mountains, in that part of Germany which lies to the N. of the Mayn, are the Erzgeberg, or Metallic mountains, running between Bohemia and Saxony, but supplying both countries with silver, tin, and other metals. Among the German mountains to the S. of the Mayn, may be named the Bergstrass, passing from near Manheim to the vicinity of Frankfort, the mountains of Wurtemburg, and those of the Black Forest, whence the source of the Danube. The southeast of this portion of Germany is bounded by the high mountains of Bavaria and Salzia or Salzburg; being branches of the Swiss Alps. GERMANIC STATES. THE constitution of the Germanic body, the only semblance of union between its various sovereignties, has lately been dissolved; but its numerous divisions still remain; and the same disunion will probably prevail, until its various states are united under a common government. Of these Austria and Prussia claim separate heads. The others will be described under the two following divisions. GERMAN STATES NORTH OF THE MAYN. 1. THE kingdom of Saxony is the most powerful state in this division of Germany. It is one of the modern kingdoms, having been merely an electorate, till the peace of Tilsit, when it received a large addition from Prussian Poland, called the dutchy of Warsaw. It now comprises 56,970 square miles, with a population of 4,363,000. Saxony Proper, lies N. W. and N. of Bohemia and reaches from the head of the Weser, to that of the Oder. It is about 220 miles from E. to W. and 130 from N. to S. The kingdom comprises the following territories. 1. Old Saxony, containing 11,485 square miles, and 1,612,000 inhabitants, and divided into 11 counties. 2. Margrave of Lausitz, or Lusatia, containing 4915 square miles, and 474,000 inhabitants; and divided into Upper Lusatia, and Lower Lusatia, with Korbus. 3. Dutchy of Warsaw, containing 40,570 square miles, 2,277,000 inhabitants; and divided into 6 departments. Posen New Silesia This dutchy is in the western part of Poland, and constitutes the great part of the acquisitions of Prussia, in the division of that kingdom. The possessions of Prussia entirely separate this dutchw from Lusatia. The distance across, however, in the narrowest place, is not more than 40 miles. And in the treaty of Tilsit, a communication was stipulated for by means of a military road. The religion of the electorate is the protestant, which was here introduced by Luther; and there are two bishoprics, Merseberg and Naumburg. That of the dutchy is the catholic. The government is nearly absolute, but conducted with moderation through different councils. The army is 65,000, of whom 30,000 are raised in the the dutchy of Warsaw. The contingent of Saxony, as a member of the confederation of the Rhine, is 20,000 men. The revenue is stated by Hassel at 17,500,000 guilders, the expenditure at 16,750,000, and the debt at 35,000,000. The credit of Saxony has always been high. The language and literature of Saxony are the most distinguished in all Germany, most of the writers who have refined the language having been born, or having resided in this country. Leipsig is a celebrated mart of German literature. There are many schools, colleges, and academies; among the latter, the mineralogic academy of Freyberg, instituted in 1765, is esteemed the leading school of that science. Dresden, the capital, is built on the Elbe where the Weissesitz falls into it. It is one of the handsomest towns in Europe. It contains 61 streets, 40 public schools, and 18 churches. In 1803 the population amounted to 49,094, and the dwelling-houses to 2644. Warsaw, the former capital of Poland, is built upon the Vistula, partly on a plain and partly on a gentle ascent rising from the river. The town is very extensive, and wears a melancholy appearance. The palaces are numerous and splendid, but the great body of the houses are mean wooden hovels. Population in 1803, 64,421; lat. 52 14 23 N. Leipsig stands on the Plisse, in a pleasant fertile plain. Its university, founded in 1409, has been one of the most celebrated in Europe. There are 8 Lutheran churches, 1 Calvinistic, and 1 Catholic. Three annual fairs are held here, and the commerce is very extensive. Inhabitants, in 1801, 30,796; lat. 51 20 15 N. II. The next kingdom in size is that of Westphalia. It contains 15,120 square miles. Its situation is nearly central in this part of Germany. The Saale, and the Elbe, on the E. separate it' from Saxony and Prussia. On the West it reaches to the Ems. It is formed out of the southern part of the circle of Lower Saxony, and the castern part of the circle of Westphalia. It is di vided into 8 departments, which are subdivided into 27 districts. I. Elbe, 1. Magdeburg 2. Newhalden 3. Stendal 4. Salzwedel II. Fulda, III. Harze, Heiligenstadt IV. Leine, Gottingen |