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permit him to maintain stock sufficient to manure and make the most of his soil. The better description of farmers kill a pig in autumn, and salt the meat for the winter; this is a treat reserved exclusively to grace their Sunday table; it is seldom eaten of oftener, and that sparingly. The reason given for their habitations being so dirty, though large and commodious, is that every one male and female, is obliged to labour in the vineyard or the field from morning to night, and consequently little or no time can be devoted to the preservation of domestic neatness.-They are for the most part very religious, and attend church regularly twice every Sabbath day. They firmly entertain the belief, that if a person acts wickedly and wrongs another, he or his descendants will certainly suffer punishment for it even in this world. When a friend of mine made inquiries among them concerning such and such individuals as he had formerly known, the invariable purport of their reply was either, that the man prospered because he was good, honest, and charitable, or that he came to ruin because he or his father or his grandfather was a bad character. They are very kind and generous one to another, sending food to their very poor and aged neighbours. Each parish maintains its own paupers; but as there are few who apply for relief, the rates are very low.

The extent of the kingdom of Würtemberg, from north to south, is two degrees, or 30 German miles; its width, from east to west, 21 German miles. The population amounts to about 1,500,000 souls; 4070 inhabitants on an average to a German square mile, which makes Würtemberg one of the most populous parts of Germany, and even of Europe. There are moreover several districts

which are in a manner crowded. This is particularly the case with the middle and lower valley of the Neckar, and along the Alp: there, it is calculated, that from 15,000 to 20,000 persons live on a square mile. In such crowded places spade agriculture has become general. The country produces grain of every description, also wine, fruit, and cattle in abundance: it exports a good deal of each, and likewise of common linen. It contains 132 towns, 3600 villages, and about 5000 farm-houses. There are 445,000 Catholics, 2366 Calvinistic Protestants, and 9000 Jews; the rest are Lutherans. There are in all 840 livings and 912 Clergymen: 1400 Protestant public schools, with the same number of school-masters and 562 provisors787 Roman Catholic public schools, with 740 schoolmasters and 224 provisors-all paid by the Government.

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CHAPTER XXV.

HEILBBONN-German Inns-Roads-Valley of the Neckar-HEIDELBERG-the Town-the Castle-the Great Tun-the GardensUniversity Students—The Palatinate—MANNHEIM-Palace-Gardens-Museum-Jesuits' Church-View from the ObservatoryThe Bergstrasse-Weinheim--Heppenheim--Bensheim-Mount Melibocus-DARMSTADT-the Ducal Castle-Picture Gallery Evening ride to FRANCFORT-German Theatre-Church of Suint Bartholomew Town Hall-Public Library-Cabinet of Natural History-Picture Gallery-Promenades & Gardens-The Ariadne of Dannecker-Monument of the Hessians-General observations.

HEILBRONN, formerly a free city, but now annexed to

the kingdom of Würtemberg, is a town of much commercial importance for this country. The church has a fine tower, and its architecture, of the 14th century, deserves to be disengaged from the ugly masses of building which have from time to time been allowed to clog and disfigure it. The town-house presents a curious façade, and its clock, a still more curious piece of sculpture, wherein the cock, the rams, the angel with a trumpet, and other things are brought together in a very inexplicable combination. We visited the famous spring, with its seven bronze spouts, whence the place takes its name of Healing or Holy-well. In the market-place a native merchant has just erected a handsome house of white stone. With this and a few other exceptions, the edifices, both public and private, are remarkably ancient in their appearance. They have

for the most part painted and carved fronts, upon which, however, no new coats of colouring have been bestowed. In a word, Heilbronn is strongly marked with the peculiar features of a true German town. Even the inn where we stopped was in the noble though heavy old stile. We were ushered into a large saloon, partly wainscotted with oak almost black with age, with handsome glazed folding doors to the bed-rooms on each side, fitted up in the same way; a broad cornice extending into the ceiling, which was gilt and painted. The saloon was much such an apartment as we should expect for a dining-parlour in our old English houses. A fault, however, there is in these German inns, which any countryman of mine will be apt to deem a thumping one, yet it is a fault common to all ou the Continent. When he arrives in a dark, cold, damp evening, and finds not a place in the house, except the kitchen, capable of imparting the genial warmth of a fire; when ushered into the spacious eating-room, he observes a large stove, covered with Dutch tiles, standing unheated in the middle of it; and shuddering and shivering, he shuts himself up in his bed-room till the table d'hôte is ready; 'tis then that he sighs for the warmer reception afforded at an English inn.

The view of Heilbronn from the Heidelberg road is extremely pleasing: a long range of lofty hills bounds the prospect in this direction behind it; over which we saw the sun rise. Our journey onwards lay across a vast plain, entirely of arable land, from which the crops were all cleared, and the soil was sown again. They grow great quantities of Mangel Wurzel as winter feed for the cattle and sheep, which are both of a fine breed. This root grows here to a very large size, and completely supersedes

the Turnip. There is also some Beet-root, but it is chiefly destined for the table. The road is excellent: posts are put up at the entrance of every place, on which are affixed the name of the principal town of the district, and that of the village where the post is placed. For example, OBERHEIM-HEILBRONN, meaning Oberheim, in the district of Heilbronn. This appears to be the general custom in Würtemberg and other parts of southern Germany, and would in my opinion be worthy of adoption in England, for the information of travellers. We were furnished with good horses, and a respectable "set out" of harness. The postillion, with his yellow and black, or light blue suit of Government livery, and his brazen cor de chasse slung at his back, prefers driving to riding, and succeeds to his wish on that point. Seated on the portmanteaus before our noses, he no sooner sets off than forth comes the pipe: he fills the bowl with tobacco, knocks a light into it with flint and steel, and, more free than welcome, pours full in our faces the fumes of the "pernicious weed," as my worthy friend agrees with Cowper in calling it. With all this enjoyment of creature-comforts, our driver exemplifies his national slowness and pertinacious habits by blowing his horn seldom, yet too late rather than not blow it at all.

After successively passing through Kirchesheim, a Catholic, Furfeld, a Protestant, and Kirschen, a Catholic and Lutheran village, we found ourselves in a country of greatly improving appearance; and on our left saw the castle of Weiler, seated on the rocky summit of one of those isolated mounts, which constitute peculiar features in this quarter of Germany: it belongs to the Grand Duke of Baden, whose dominions we had now entered again.

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