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“ It must be a dreary life to enter upon at eighteen; for the chances of marriage are not very many, and no other career is open to them.
As far as a foreigner’s observations go, the Prussian social system appears to be in a most precarious condition. The lower classes are in a state of ferment and upheaval; while the nobility is crystallized, with its medieval institutions, its antiquated habits of thought, and its utter want of sympathy with any class but its own. ”

“ Sunday is not observed more strictly than in Roman Catholic countries, the only perceptible difference being that it is not considered correct in Silesia for gentlemen to go out shooting on Sundays; but it is the favorite day for dinner-parties. The government schoolmasters are often professed infidels, besides being a very ignorant set of men; and the children grow up wild, and ready to receive any mischievous teaching that may come in their way. ”

“ There is a dismal tract of country between the German Ocean and the mountains of Saxony, bordered on the west by Holland and on the east by Poland, which forms the nucleus of the Prussian kingdom. Berlin is placed in its midst, and no one who has travelled by daylight from Hamburg or Bremen to that most uninteresting of European capitals can fail to understand some at least of the causes which combine to form the singularly unimaginative character of the ordinary North-German. ”

“ An immense sandy plain on which verdure and cultivation are principally represented by melancholy pine forests, and which is sparsely dotted with tiny, red-roofed villages; no welcome hill to break the oppressive monotony of the distant horizon—such is the landscape which for mile after mile stupefies the faculties of the unlucky traveller. ”

“ So there is an amiable rivalry among the great ladies as to who shall secure the shortest servant. The great feature in the day is undoubtedly dinner, which takes place at two or three in the afternoon, when the food is of that frightfully substantial kind wherein the German nation excels. The length of the meal on occasion of a party is appalling, and it is apt to be taken for rudeness if one of the unfortunate guests finds it out of his power to do ample justice to every dish. Two gastronomic delicacies belong especially to Silesia ”

“ The ladies need not be orphans, and if their parents are alive they spend so many months in the year with them; if they marry, a suitable dowry is provided for them. In many cases they spend their whole lives in the Stift. The Meisterin has absolute control over the others, and has to keep peace and order, which must sometimes be a difficult task among a dozen or more idle women. One Stift, which is just within the Saxon frontier, and where the ladies are half Saxons, half Prussians, is on a palatial scale. ”

“ Where the power is exercised leniently, as in this case, the system may not work badly; but it seems a dangerous weapon to place in the hands of practically irresponsible persons, and one can but tremble at the thought of what may happen when the iron hand that now crushes out all liberty of thought and action shall be relaxed in death, and when weaker wills may in vain strive to stem the torrent so long repressed by force. ”

“ All about the district are scattered villages of the Wends, a Slav race who have retained their own language, habits, and dress in the midst of the German population for many centuries. They are curious-looking, folk, short and square, with high cheekbones; they intermarry and live entirely among themselves. ”

“ The endowment funds are invested in farms, which are rapidly increasing in value; so that there is absolutely a surplus of revenue. One cannot help wondering, how these luxurious institutions would fare under a democratic order of things. Their raison d’être is not likely to be perceived by any but the aristocratic class for whom they are founded, and whom alone they benefit. ”

“ Just now, when the dread of Socialism is influencing so strongly the mind of the government, this last duty is no sinecure. Anyone who, on being questioned, cannot give a satisfactory account of himself, is liable to be imprisoned at the magistrate’s pleasure. The prison consists of a room at the back of a cottage close by, where the prisoner is well lodged and fed ”

“ The Evangelisch form of faith has proved an utter failure, as might have been expected from its origin; it is dead already with respect to any influence it may have over the people; morality is undermined, party spirit runs high, and there is little feeling of security in the country. ”

“ A dog is always tied up near the house, and there are usually a few cows, sometimes goats. The peasants appear well-to-do and industrious; but they drink a great deal of the highly intoxicating Schnapps distilled from potatoes, which are grown for this purpose in great quantities all over the district, and drunkenness is but too common. ”

“ The village consists of three divisions—Ober, Mittel, and Nieder— but the houses are nearly continuous, and its total length must be four miles. The houses are all detached, and each stands in its own little plot of ground; a little further back a second smaller building is usually to be seen, provided for the comfort of the parents when the eldest son marries. ”

“ It is explained by our hosts that the taller men are more liable to be suddenly called upon to fight for their Vaterland, whereas these small people would only be called out in the case of a very pressing emergency. ”

“ There is apparently an almost total absence of religious feeling among the peasantry. Very few attend the Sunday services, which are certainly not attractive by their liveliness; and the Herr Pastor, a well-meaning man of the Dissenting-minister type, has little influence with them. ”