hood of this city by the French, after a severe combat of five days. The territory in its vicinity formerly constituted a bishopric, but the bishop had no jurisdiction in the city. It enjoys a great trade by means of the Danube; and from this place, large quantities of grain, wood, and provisions, are shipped for Vienna. Over the Danube there is a stately stone bridge of 15 arches, 23 feet broad, and 1091 feet long; begun in 1135, and finished in 1156. The Papists have the cathedral and 28 other churches; but the Lutherans are most numerous, and held the government when Ratisbon was an imperial city. Ratisbon is 30 miles W. of Straubing, 82 miles N.W. of Passau, 124 miles N.W. of Lintz, 246 miles N.W. of Vienna, 72 miles N.E. of Augsburg, and nearly the same distance N.N.E. of Munich, and 370 miles S. of Hamburg. N. Lat. 49° 2′, and 12° 5' E. of Greenwich.—At Ingolstadt on the Danube, with 4,820 inhabitants, in the church of our Lady, is the tomb of the well known Dr. Eck, who disputed with Luther.

4th. The Upper Mayne Circle.] The territorial surface of this circle is estimated at above 4000 square miles, and the population exceeds 500,000, being partly Catholics, and partly Lutherans, besides a few Calvinists, and about 2,200 Jews. This circle contains 37 towns, 72 boroughs, and 2,271 villages and hamlets. On the E. rise the Bohemian Mountains; on the N.W. a part of the Thuringian Mountains; and inthe midst the Fichtelgebirge. The circle is almost throughout mountainous; but except the highest tops of the Fichtelgebirge, the mountains are of moderate height, and fertile. The principal river is the Mayne, of which the source is on the Fichtelgebirge. It receives the Radach and the Regnitz. Some other streams fall into the Danube and the Elbe. There are no lakes, but many mineral springs. The climate, at least in the S., is as warm and mild as in any other part of Germany. This whole circle is well-cultivated; all kinds of corn, vegetables, and fruit, are cultivated here; and of the latter a large quantity is sent to Saxony. The cultivation of the vine on the banks of the Mayne is not important. Wood is a considerable production; and the rearing of cattle is well attended to. Among the minerals, iron is the most important. There are also extensive coal-pits. There are more than 300 species of marble found here. Industry is more animated than in the other circles. A principal branch is the iron manufacture. The principal articles of exportation are fruit, flax, hemp, young fruit trees, wood, coal, iron, and ironware. The Mayne and the Regnitz are navigable, and the roads very good. The chief town is Baireuth, with 14,000 inhabitants. It lies in a pleasant country on the Mayne.-Bamberg, with 20,000 inhabitants, is one of the finest towns in the monarchy; it lies on the Regnitz, and has a magnificent castle, with 24 churches and 15 chapels. Gardening is a principal branch of industry, there being upwards of 400 gardeners here, who conduct a very animated commerce in seeds and graft-plants.

5th. The Rezat Circle.] This circle is rather of less extent than the preceding, and has a population of 446,604 inhabitants, being one of the most populous districts of the monarchy. It contains 42 towns, 55 boroughs, and 2004 villages and hamlets. The majority of the inhabitants are Lutherans. There are several ridges of hills running through this circle, but none of any considerable height; and none of the circles of Bavaria has so many and so fertile plains. There are also extensive forests. The Danube touches it on the south; the principal river is the Regnitz, which flows into the Mayne; among the smaller rivers are the

Rednitz, the Pegnitz, and the Wernitz. The climate is mild and healthy. No circle in the whole kingdom is better cultivated and more productive. Agriculture is very well carried on; the rearing of cattle is better conducted here than in any other part of Bavaria. In this circle are situated most of the manufacturing and the principal commercial towns. Anspach is the chief town. It is built on the Rezat, and contains 16,000 inhabitants.-Erlangen, a town of 12,000 inhabitants, contains the Protestant university of the kingdom, with a library of 30,000 volumes, a botanical garden, and several scientific societies.-The townhouse of Nuernberg, on the Pegnitz, and several churches, particularly that of St. Sebald, are remarkable for beautiful paintings. In the church of St. Clare is found the most ancient paintings upon glass. There is a well here 536 feet deep. It is the birthplace of the celebrated painter Albrecht Duerer, who is buried in the church of St. John. This city is chiefly celebrated by the corporation of the Meistersanger, of whom one of the most renowned, Hans Sachs, was a native of the town. Nuernberg is celebrated in the annals of invention. Martin Beheim, who drew the first useful globe, Erasmus Ebner who invented brass, and Peter Hele who invented watches, which were at first called Nuernbergian eggs, resided here. The population is said to exceed 32,000. Balbi states it at 40,000.

6th. The Upper Danube Circle.] The population of this circle is reckoned at 438,146. It contains 23 towns, 47 boroughs, and 1,778 villages and hamlets, and is nearly of the same extent as the circle of the Upper Mayne. The Arlberg, a branch of the Rhetian Alps, runs on its boundaries, and joins the Alps of Algau. The S. part of the circle is covered with mountains, which partly rise to the snow-line. In the northern part towards the Danube, there are beautiful plains and a fertile soil, but also large mosses. The principal river is the Danube; to which basin some other rivers, such as the Lech, the Wertach, the Iller, &c. run. A small part of the Lake of Constance belongs to this circle; the other lakes are but of small size. There are several mineral springs. The climate is much milder and more healthy in the northern plains along the Danube, than in the south, where it is in most parts an Alpine climate. No corn is reared in the south on account of the high mountains; but in the north, agriculture is successfully carried on in all its branches, and also the cultivation of vines. The rearing of cattle is the principal branch of industry in this circle.

City of Augsburg.] Augsburg, formerly an imperial city, is situated at the confluence of the Lech and Wertha, and contains 36,000 inhabitants, of whom about 17,000 are Catholics, the rest Protestants. It was founded by the Romans, in the reign of Augustus, in honour of whom it received the name of Augusta Vindelicorum, and is consequently one of the most ancient cities in Germany. It lies in a pleasant, fruitful, and healthy territory, and is one of the most handsome towns in southern Germany, somewhat resembling Antwerp. Most of the houses are built of clay and timber, but a fourth part of the town is built of freestone. The public buildings, as the cathedral, churches, town-house, conduits, &c. are in general stately and magnificent; but the glory of Augsburg is that part of it called the Fuggery, which consists of several stately streets and palaces built and possessed by the noble family of the Fuggers, who were formerly lords of a great part of the adjacent country. Augsburg was anciently a place of great trade, when Venice enjoyed the con.merce

of India and the Levant, as the Eastern commodities were wont to be brought to Germany from Venice, by the way of Augsburg; and in the commencement of the emperor Charles V.'s reign, the Fuggers above mentioned, who were Augsburg merchants, several times supplied him with the loan of immense sums. But the trade of Augsburg declined

with that of Venice; and the war of Thirty years annihilated the commerce of this city. Augsburg, however, is still a considerable city, abounding with skilful and industrious mechanics of the Lutheran persuasion.-Lindau is a town of nearly 3000 inhabitants, built on two islands in the Lake of Constance; a wall of 300 feet length unites it with the main land. To the harbour here belong 69 large, and 200 smaller vessels. In the neighbourhood a considerable quantity of wine is produced.

7th. The Under Mayne Circle.] This circle has a surface of 3,320 square miles, with a population of 440,452 souls, of whom the majority are Catholics; there is, however, a considerable number of Lutherans, and about 5,800 Jews. This circle contains 44 towns, 55 boroughs, and 1188 villages and hamlets. The greatest part of the country consists of mountains of moderate height and fertile valleys. In the N. are higher mountains belonging to the Rhöngebirge; on the E. is a part of the Steigerwald; and on the W. the Spessart. These mountains are covered with large forests. The principal river is the Mayne; next to which the Tauber, the Itz, the Kinzig, the Lohr, and the Fulda, are the most important. There are no lakes of any considerable size. The eastern part of the country is one of the most fertile districts of Germany; and even on the west, near the Spessart, there are some very rich districts. Gardening, and the cultivation of fruit, is carried on very extensively here; apples and cherries are grown in great quantity in the E., and prunes in the W.; and wine is a staple production in the vicinity of the Mayne. The wine of Wurzburg, called Leisten and Steinwein, is much valued. The rearing of cattle is also carried on very extensively. The Mayne is navigable. Wurzburg is the chief town of this circle; it lies on the Mayne, which divides it into two parts. It has about 20,000 inhabitants, and conducts a considerable commerce in wine. On a rock 400 feet above the town rises the fortress of Marienberg, where is an old castle, a church, and an arsenal, under which latter is an enormous wine-cellar. Schweinfurt on the Mayne, with 5,114 inhabitants, conducts an extensive commerce in wine and fruit.

8th. The Rhine Circle.] The surface of this circle is about 2250 square miles. It contains 518,000 inhabitants, 28 towns, 16 boroughs, and 665 villages. The inhabitants are of German origin, and speak a very corrupt dialect, for which reason most of the more refined classes prefer to speak French, which in Landau, for instance, and in the neighbourhood, has almost superseded the German altogether. They are partly Catholics, partly Protestants. This circle consists entirely of mountains and valleys; on the S. spreads the Wasgau over the country, to which belongs the Donnersberg, an oval mountain with a conical summit rising 2,102 feet above the Rhine; none of the other chains equals this in height. Most of the mountains are covered with wood; the largest valley is that of the Rhine, which, between Spire and Frankenthal, opens into a small plain. The Rhine, which bounds the circle on its E. side, receives the Lauter and the Queich. The Blies, which waters the S.W. corner of the circle, falls into the Saar. The soil is on the whole very

productive; even the hills are fertile, and when properly cultivated produce all the necessaries of life. The principal productions are rye, which is grown more than wheat; flax, hemp, and vegetables; walnuts and chesnuts are very important productions. The best wine is grown on the borders of the Rhine. Manufactures are not carried on upon a large scale in this circle. Spire, or Speier, is the chief town of this circle. The population is about 6,400, chiefly Lutherans. In the cathedral eight emperors and three empresses are buried; but their marble monuments were destroyed so early as 1689.-Frankenthal, situated upon a canal by which it communicates with the Rhine, has about 800 inhabitants, and is the most industrious town in this circle. The principal manufacture is one of china, which rivals the best in Europe. Landau, with 4,240 inhabitants, on the Queich, is a fortress of the German confederacy; but belonging to Bavaria, is only occupied by Bavarians. The fortifications of Landau are considered as particularly strong. It sustained remarkable sieges in 1702, 1704, 1713, and 1793.

CHAP. X.-THE KINGDOM OF SAXONY.

THE kingdom of Saxony was formed from the electorate of the same name. It was reduced by the congress of Vienna to about half its former size. It is bounded on the N. and N.E. by the kingdom of Prussia; on the S.E. and S. by the Austrian empire; on the S.W. by the kingdom of Bavaria; on the W. by the principality of Reuss and by Altenberg; and on the N.W. by Prussia. Stein reckons the population at 1,273,615, and the superficial extent at only 273 German, or 5,870 British square miles.

History.] The countries now forming the kingdom of Saxony and the possessions of the Saxon princes, were not originally inhabited by the ancient Saxons, who had their seats between the Elbe and Weser, from whence they spread to the Ems and the Rhine. They were in the time of Charlemagne divided into Westphalians, Eastphalians, and Augrivarians. Charlemagne, after a war of 33 years, subdued them, and forced them to embrace the Christian religion. But in later times Saxony had again dukes; Otto I., when he set out on his Italian expedition, named Hermann Billung governor of the Saxon provinces, and afterwards gave him some of them as the present provinces of Lüneburg, and some districts on the other side of the Elbe-as a duchy. After Hermann's male descendants had been extinguished in 1106, the duchy came, after many contests, into the house of Ascania; and Bernhard of Ascania, at the end of the 12th century, had possession of the districts then called the duchy of Saxony. After this period the name of duchy of Saxony was extended to other German territories, and Wittemberg became the principal city of the new duchy. The inhabitants of the countries now belonging to the Saxon princes are mostly of the races of Hermundurians, Sorbes, or Wendes. The first were before the great migration established in Misnia, and Thuringia; their name is lost in history towards the end of the 4th century, and appears again in that of Thuringians. The mark Misnia had been established by the German king, Henry I., as a defence against the Slavonians; he placed Saxon colonists here, and built the town of Misnia, or Meissen. The Ascanian line became extinguished in 1423 with the death of the elector, Albert III., after a series

of conflicts and changes whose history would lead us too far from our present purpose. Frederic the Warlike succeeded the last prince of the Ascanian line in 1423. We are again obliged to pass over the reign of several electors till we come to the elector Frederic III. who succeeded his father Ernest,49 and by his manly and prudent conduct at the election of the emperor Charles V. obtained the honourable appellation of the Wise.' He founded the university of Wittemberg, on the 18th October, 1502, where the professors Luther and Melancthon began the Reformation, in which, however, the elector took no other part than to protect Luther from his enemies. He was succeeded in 1525 by his brother John, who introduced the Protestant religion in all his dominions, and caused his chancellor to read the Confession of Faith of the Protestant States at the diet of Augsburg. John was succeeded in 1532 by his son, John Frederic, the last elector of the elder Ernestinian line, whose history we have related in our general historical article on Germany. This prince was succeeded by his brother August, whose laws became the basis of the Saxon constitution. This wise prince received and protected numbers of the Flemish Protestants, who were driven from the Netherlands by the tyranny of Alba, and who founded several manufactures in Saxony. His unfortunate interference with theological controversy caused the Crypto Calvinistic disputes, which cost the chancellor Craean his life under the torture in 1575. August was succeeded by Christian I. and Christian II. the latter of whom died in 1611, and was succeeded by his brother John George I., who obtained Lusatia from the emperor Ferdinand as a pledge for the expense of the war carried on against the elector palatine Frederic V. But after his death, the elector having concluded a peace with Austria on the 30th of May 1636, obtained Lusatia as a hereditary fief of the Bohemian crown. John George in 1656 divided his lands among his four sons. The eldest, John George II., succeeded him in the electorate, and was succeeded in his turn by John George III. in 1680; John George IV. succeeded in 1691, and his brother, Frederic Augustus, in 1694. The latter, after having embraced the Catholic religion, was elected king of Poland in 1697. The expenses of the new king, and his war with Charles XII. king of Sweden, threw the country into debt, and in the peace of Altranstädt, in 1706, Frederic Augustus was forced to resign the Polish crown. But Charles XII. having been defeated at Pultawa, he obtained it again in 1709, and maintained it till his death in 1733. His son, Frederic Augustus II. (as king of Poland Augustus III.) reigned from 1733 to 1763, and claimed some of the Austrian States after the death of the emperor Charles VI.; but after having made peace with Austria he assisted Maria Theresa against Frederic II. of Prussia. The circumstances and consequences of this alliance will be related in the history of Prussia. Saxony, which was treated like a conquered province, was only, in the peace of Hubertsburg, restored to the king, who had during the war resided at Warsaw. An enormous debt was incurred by this war. The king died the year of the peace, and his eldest son, Frederic Christian, reigned only a few months, and was succeeded by his son, Frederic Augustus, who, till 1768, stood under the guardianship of his uncle the prince Xavier.

49 Ernest and Albert, the two sons of Frederic, surnamed the Mild,' founded the two lines of Saxon princes existing in the present monarchy, namely, the Ernestinian and the Albertinian. The Ernestinian was in the possession of the electorate, and the Albertinian of the other principalities in Saxony.