this city informed me, that, from 1806 to 1814 the visits of their French friends cost them one hundred and forty millions of marcs banco, partly by the robbery of the bank and partly by forced contributions.

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Since the peace, Hamburg has gradually retrieved her former flourishing condition, and now welcomes to her port the ships of every nation, while her own vessels continue increasing both in number and importance.Still her situation is precarious: the influence of Prussia extends to her very gates, for it controls the decisions of her neighbour Mecklenburg by means of the Erbverbrüderung established between the two powers; and is not the prize too valuable to render it probable that Prussian cupidity will resist the temptation of taking forcible possession, when a favourable opportunity presents itself? for it is a possession that would secure to her immense importance in the north of Europe, as her territories would then be bounded at once by the German Ocean and the Baltic. Against the rapacity of Denmark, Hamburg contended for centuries; but she was then ably supported by the powerful Hanseatic League: what barrier has she now to place against any aggression which Prussia may at some future time meditate? Is there not, then, reasonable grounds for apprehending that her prosperous condition will be transitory in its duration, and that futurity may be fraught with perils to the devoted city?

With respect to the Prussian commercial league the opinions of the Hamburgers are divided, and, as may

Compact of inheritance, by which two powers mutually agree that the surviver shall inherit the possessions of the other.

naturally be expected, are much modified by their individual interests; but the general impression seemed to be, that smuggling would increase to an extent most injurious to the Prussian revenue; indeed I was credibly assured that a company of contraband traders had been already formed: and this system will continue so long as Hamburg remains a free port, or England holds possession of Heligoland; and when we remember the powerful temptation to illicit traffic in the shape of protecting duties, can we feel surprised?—for instance, the duties upon cotton goods, are from eighty to a hundred per cent! and on calico for printing, a hundred and twenty-five per cent!

I shall now introduce my readers to Heligoland (insula sancta), which is only a few hours' voyage from Cuxhaven. It was taken by the British from Denmark during the late war, and confirmed to them at the peace of 1814, most probably because they would not give it up. The impression produced on a near approach is not agreeable, as the whole island, with its cluster of sand banks and rocks, presents an appearance of the most arid sterility, scarcely affording sufficient nourishment for a few sheep: however, with the aid of imported provisions, it maintains a population of 3,400. The women perform the agricultural labour; and the men, a fine athletic hardy people of the genuine Friesland race, are principally engaged in maritime occupations, such as fishing, piloting, and, if the truth must be told, in smuggling, and exhibit no small degree of selfcomplacency when they call themselves subjects of "Gross Britannien." The construction of the light-house

is worthy of the great despot of the seas, strong and massive: the stair-case and gallery are of iron, and the colossal lamp sheds a lustre so bright, that the distant mariner might almost deem it a brilliant meteor. It is the beacon to those ships which are about to enter the Elbe, the Weser, and the Eider; and it is scarcely necessary to add, that Heligoland is a possession of great importance to England, not alone in a commercial point of view, but in the event of a war with the Northern Potentates, for by commanding the entrance to these navigable rivers, together with the Holstein canal, which unites the Baltic with the German Ocean, she may be said without exaggeration to hold the key to the whole of north Germany. During the late war, it was the depôt from whence our colonial produce and manufactures were surreptitiously introduced into Germany, malgré Napoleon's prohibitory laws, edicts, and proclamations, as it now is, notwithstanding his most potent Majesty of Prussia's laws, edicts, and proclamations, and ever will be as long as it remains in the hands of England, and Englishmen manufacture cheaper and better goods than their neighbours.

The "Nord Albingia" of Charlemagne, Holstein, commences at the gates of Hamburg, and is decidedly the most valuable jewel in the diadem of Denmark. Altona, although not the capital of the duchy, is nevertheless the second town in point of commercial importance in the Danish dominions, and is with reference to Hamburg not inappropriately named " Altona," (too near) being merely separated from that city by a short avenue of lindens. Like its great rival, its

maritime commerce is extensive, and its manufactures flourishing, for which it is principally indebted to the settlement of a colony of enterprising Protestants, and also to the wise and prudent measures of the Danish government, who not only protected and encouraged commerce, but tolerated every sect of religion, and that at a period when less enlightened rulers chased from their territories all those who refused to conform

to the religion of the state. The town is remarkably pleasant, being built on a gentle undulating hill, shelving down to the Elbe; the public buildings are elegant, and the general aspect of the town neat and clean; the population, which is on the increase, amounts to upwards of thirty thousand, including three thousand Jews.

A description of my route from hence to Kiel would not afford more pleasure to my readers, than it yielded me amusement, when I passed over the dreary heaths through which it lay; but let it not be supposed that sterility is the general character of the duchy, for the west, washed by the German Ocean, is extremely fertile; the same observation is applicable to the east, on the shores of the Baltic, which abounds with picturesque views, romantic lakes, &c.

The principal attraction of Kiel is the Holstein canal, which commences at Friedrichsort, about half a league from the town; we would suppose this very useful undertaking, which unites the Baltic with the German Ocean and thereby saves a sea-voyage of several hundred leagues, would be the means of giving an impetus to commercial activity, and of producing a very considerable revenue to the proprietors: no such

thing; they are not even receiving three per cent. on their outlay of capital, and the commerce of Kiel itself is merely confined to a few commission houses, and a little ship-building. In short, it is only on those days when the packet arrives, or departs to Copenhagen, that we perceive a little bustling activity in its almost deserted port.

During my journey to the lake of Ploen, I was much interested by several mounds, from ten to twenty feet high, and from a hundred to three hundred feet in circumference: these simple but enduring monuments of a great people, of which we have so few traditions, are generally covered with moss, and romantically shaded by fine old oaks; they are held in great veneration by the natives, who term them hünen-graber (graves of the Huns). I also occasionally observed huge blocks of granite, of a square form, called Opfer-altaren, said to be those used by the Druids while celebrating their horrible rites.

After passing these relics of antiquity, the fine lake of Ploen suddenly unfolded itself: it is four German miles in circumference, surrounded by a chain of hills; the general character of its scenery is wooded fertility and beauty, no where rising into the sublime. On the banks we perceive several pretty villages, some rearing their tiny spires among the lofty pines, others shelving down to the water's edge; these, with its romantic islands, and the fine old ducal castle, form a very pretty picture. The little town of Ploen, which adds a pleasing feature to the landscape, is situated on a peninsula; the town, however, loses all its charms when we