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Küttner remarks, as a peculiar characteristic of this city, that with all its wealth, luxury, and magnificence, we meet with none of that disgraceful penury which assumes such odious forins in London and Paris. At Vienna the luxury of the great, the opulence of the second class, and the easy circumstances of the middling ranks, enable the lowest orders to obtain a tolerable subsistence.

Population.

We know of no census made by government to determine the exact population of Vienna, and the statements of different authors are not in unison. In 1796 the number of houses in suburbs at 5102; but the buildings in the lat the city was enumerated at 1397, and in the ter are conually increasing. The "Vienna Guide" gives 320,000 souls as the whole population of the city and suburbs, comprising clergy, military, Greeks, Jews, and strangers. The annual deaths are stated at about 11,000, the births at 10,000, and the marBut in such a capital, riages at 2,500. either by business or pleasure, and who are where thousands of persons are collected, difficult to ascertain the correctness of a not born nor do they die there, it is very When the proclamation general statement. city, they were said to amount to 20,000, was issued in 1801 for all strangers to quit the cumstances, but it generally consists of two Besides, the garrison varies according to cirbattalions of grenadiers, and six of fusileers; the engineer corps, the bombardeer and waga regiment of artillery and one of cavalry;

services, to visit their friends, or to attend the | him for a trifle. Then, wrapped up in his theatres. cloak, he may walk beside generals, minis Cheapness is a great inducement to the mid-ters, and princesses, in all public places. M. dling classes, for living in the suburbs. House-rent is nearly one half lower in the latter; and the necessaries of life are in proportion. Hence, pensioners, governmentclerks, married officers, &c. and the great body of the lower orders reside there. Those, however, who have constant occupations in the city, must incur the expence of hackneycoaches, or submit to be stifled by the dust." Vienna possesses numerous advantages, in a philosophical point of view. It is the seat of one of the first monarchies in Europe; it is the capital of the Austrian states, an empire that ranks high among the nations, and it is the grand emporium of the Continent. Society is on so easy a footing, and strangers are treated with such marked attention, that there is no person of liberal education and genteel manners who cannot gain access into the first circles. Is the stranger a politician? The imperial ministry, the foreign embassadors, and the state counsellors, &c. will furnish him with ample subjects for political schemes, plans, and speculations.-Is he a soldier? He would be there in his element, and might thoroughly investigate every thing connected with discipline, tactics, and all the glories and horrors of war.-Is he devoted to the sciences? The professors will unfold to him all the wonders of botany, chemistry, mineralogy, anatomy, &c.--Is he an artist? The collections of paintings and engravings in the palaces of Raunitz, Lichtenstein, Paar, and many others, will fully gratify his curiosity.-Is he in the commercial line? The ports of Trieste and Fiume, the trade with Russia and the Porte, the manufac-gon corps. tures of Hungary, and the inland trade will store his mind with abundant objects relating to his researches.-Is he rich? Every thing that imagination can devise, or the pampered appetite crave, is spread out before him. He may breakfast on chocolate from Milan, and order oysters from Istria for his tiffin; he may dine on pheasants from Bohemia, and season his desert with Tokay. He may rattle over the stones in his phaeton and four horses, transported either from the shores of Britam, or from the banks of the Guadalquivir. The sables of Siberia will protect him from the chilling blasts of winter: and the silks of Italy, with the fashions of Paris, may contribute to his external decoration when he visits at court.-And lastly, is he poor? No where can he hide his distresses better than in Vienna. A small room in the suburbs, at a guinea a year, will serve him for shelter: he may dine for a few pence, and the old clothes-man will equip

* Compare Panorama, Vol. II. p. 1020.

Consumption.

Many persons lament that a great capital consumes all the corn, cattle, poultry, fish, fruits, &c. within fifty miles of it. But if we compare the villages in the Black Forest and in Gallicia with those in the vicinity of Vienna, we shall find that the peasantry of the latter are the wealthiest, have the finest cattle, vineyards, gardens, &c. and inhabit the best houses, precisely because they live in, the neighbourhood of a capital. The farmer who can convert into ready money the produce of every inch of ground is not to be pitied. In fact, Vienna takes off the superabundance of the adjacent provinces, and they, in return, are improved by it. Austria farnishes wine, wood, veal, salt, poultry and eggs, milk and butter, fruits and vegetables. Hungary sends innumerable herds of oxen, lambs, pigs, fish and poultry, corn, hay, wine, and tobacco. Bohemia and Moravia supply game of all kinds, fish, corn, straw, &c. Styria, oxen and capons: Milan, silk manufactures and cheese: Trieste, oysters and turtles: the

Tyrol, fruits, wood, and gloves; and the Netherlands, while under Austrian dominion, furnished cloths, stuffs, and lace.

What a field for meditation does the consumption of provisions offer to the reflecting mind! How indefinitely various are the degrees betwen want and superfiuity! What an immeasurable distance between the logic of the thoughtless spendthrift, and that of the destitute, on this subject! Let us contemplate distinctly the prince who lavishes fifty thousand a year, and the invalid pensioner who lives on fifty shillings; between the countess who has hundreds to expend daily, and the poor sempstress who cannot earn three pence; and then determine on the sum and essentiality of the necessaries of life. The man who feels as a philosopher, and would wish to live in medio tutissimus, and enjoy the society of the middling station, might maintain himself very comfortably on £100

a year.

The subjoined list of the annual consump

tion is extracted from the Vienna Guide. Oxen..

Cows

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46,400 19,300 71,400 48,998

146,300

98,860

12,869 36,800 Austrian wines........ (rundlets) 347,706 Foreign and Hungarian do. (do) 16,600 Beer

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(do.) 425,000 ..(cwt) 375,860

.(do.) 267,193 .(bushels) 87,000

.(do.) 52,200 .(do.) 176,809 .(do.) 130,300 .(do.) 637,800 (loads) 19,300 (trusses) 1,286,600 .(cwt.) 24,600 (cords) 500,000

From the above we may judge of the consumption of other articles, viz. fish, game, poultry, fruits and vegetables, coffee, sugar, oil, confectionary, tobacco, &c. &c.

ANECDOTE OF THE EMPEROR JOSEPH II.

The governments of most extensive monarchies are composed of heterogeneous materials; and the different parts of them are distinct in manners of thinking, as often in modes of life. To make laws that shall be universally executed, then, is not so easy an undertaking as the ill-informed may imagine Local advantages and disadvantages, local habits formed into a second nature, often less capable of being subdued than original nature

itself, local prejudices, will be consulted by the wise legislator, who, if he design to do his subjects lasung good, must accommodate his plan to their wishes, or must contrive to influence their wishes in behalf of his plans. Popular passions are often more attached to trifles than to objects of importance: and when they amount to superstitions, as superstition is usually the companion of weak minds, they should be carefully watched by superiors, who never lose any thing by tolerating them if they be tolerable, for it should be remembered that weak minds may have strong arms.

attachment of the German monarchs to the There is something rather remarkable in the insignia of their office: it might be thought that they too, as well as their subjects, fancied marks of dignity, distinct from the dignity a sacred talismanic power inherent in the itself. When Francis I. was hard pressed by his enemies, then fighting against his sohis crown, he ordered the insignia of royalty, vereignty, and threatening to deprive him of the crown, sceptre, &c. to be brought to him, and apostrophising them in deep contemplation he exclaimed "No! to whatever straits I am reduced, never shall they deprive me of you !”— Is not a sovereign then, a public officer for the welfare of his people, whether the tokens of his office be artached to his person or not? It is so in Britain we are certain, and though it be proper, that when meeting the States of the realm on public affairs, his Majesty as their chief, should bear the insignia of chieftainship, yet the loyalty of his people is exactly the same before such public and ceremonious appearance, as after it. Whoever reigns in the hearts of his subjects need attach very little importance to the decorations of authority, except on occasions dependant on reasons of state,

The Emperor wished to have the Bohemian and Hungarian crowns in his treasury at Vienna. Why? Sovereigns have many answers, or frequently, none, for a why. However, Joseph certainly had his reasons. He demanded therefore the Bohemian crown of the states. They answered very gravely, and even fundamentally, that, "The king should and ought to be where the crown is," and not vice versú; and to this answer they adhered. But at last, seeing it was his wish, they sent the crown to Vienna. With regard to the Hungarian crown, he did not apply to the states. He commissioned Counts B. and H., as having the official custody of it at Presburg, where it had hitherto been kept, to bring the crown to Vienna. One of them represented to the emperor, that "the laws required the crown to remain in the country," &c. ** My dear count," was the answer, I should not have thought that you were a prejudiced man ;" and this induced the noblemen to send the crown during a thunder-storm (a sid

omen to popular superstition!)-to Vienna. "There will be no longer a blessing on the country," said an old woman, who esteemed the crown as the ark of the covenant." Great of the Hungarian nation murpart mured, being instigated by knight errants and monks. Joseph paid no attention to it; he kept his holy treasures. A commotion excited among the nobility, which begun in Oct. 1789, and lasted till March 90--but particularly a dangerous illness which afflicted himled the emperor, at the earnest solicitation of the states, to release the crown from prison, as it was termed,

The rejoicings, the enthusiasm, with which the nobility received it on the frontiers, and more so at Ofen, are almost undescribable. The nobility in the Comitat of Pest raised a corps of cavalry, and went out to meet it. The corporations of Pest and Ofen, the body of clergy with their pupils, and the members of the University, &c. joined the procession. On the 21st of Feb. at least 500 guns were fired; and on the 22d, though they must have heard of the emperor's death, Te Deum was sung in presence of the cardinal archbishop of Gran, in great pomp. The city was illuminated, and the wine ran in torrents in the market-place. The mere news of the crown being restored, excited a certain national spirit among the nobility. The ladies threw off their French dresses, and partly burnt them. Every young nobleman of fortune procured a Hussar's sabre. Joseph's ordinances, without exception, fell into neglect; and a Comitat burut all the writings which were to have served as the basis of the physiocratic

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But we would also request attention to the issue of these perverse proceedings; corruption introduced brandy in excess; brandy in excess introduced licentiousness, waste, and profligacy; frand, their attendant, diminished the produce of the mines one half of their former quantity, and thus, to gratify the avarice of two speculators, the Sovereign lost a yearly revenue of immense value:--Was it possible that the gain of these favourites should be so much as one tenth part of the loss sustained by their incautious prince; to say nothing of the individual misery spread among the thoughtless miners, who indulged in their ruinous temptation? Never was there a more decisive instance that the revenues of

the state are not the strength of the state, when independent of morals; but are the cause or symptoms of the weakness and impoverishment of the state when contrary to morals. And if this Article should meet the eye of some youth hitherto unhackneyed in the ways of men, let him learn, from this instance, to suspect of greater regard to their own private interest, than to his real benest, whoever would induce him to a familiarity with intemperance: let him remember, that, in such circumstances, the diminished resources of the state, and those of an individual, obey the same invariable laws of cause and effect.

It is well known that Siberia abounds with mines of copper. The richest of them belong to the crown; others are in the bands of opulent individuals. From the year 1770 to 1780 the imperial mines of Kolivan and Oremburg were extraordinarily productive, not only in copper, but also in gold and sil. ver. A man of integrity bad the direction of them; and his virtue, which remained pure in presence of those corrupting metals, is an example that well merits our esteem,

Lieut. Gen. Yhrmann, a Livonian, commander of the frontier army against the Tâtars and Kalmuks, had the direction of the mines of Kolivan. It is well authenticated that, in the course of ten years, he raised and sent to Petersburgh 11,527 pouds (40 lb. each) of silver, and 394 pouds of gold in government of Tobolsk 100,000 roubles, to Moreover, he paid annually to the defray the expences of the miners; and every new year's day he sent to the empress's pri

bars.

country; but the wise regulations he had introduced perished with him. The mines of Kolivan scarcely produce at present half what they did in his time.

The general had also made many small rivers navigable. He caused them to be cleansed every year. Hence water-carriage was introduced at a trifling expence; but all these advantages ceased at his death.

vate treasury, 50,000 roubles in gold. An immense quantity of copper is not included in this calculation, neither are the expenses of working the mines, the pay of the officers, charges for buildings, embankments and tools The general left also 600,000 roubles in silver coinage, when the intrigues of his enemies obliged him to give up his situation. The upright and incorruptible Yhrmann had long become the object of the fear and The judicious working of the mines was not jealousy of Prince Wiasemsky, the imperial the only service Yhrmann rendered the state. grand treasurer, and Alsonfiew, one of the The small-pox, formerly unknown in Sibe cabinet ministers. As he set insurmountable ria, had been brought into the country by bounds to their avarice, they meditated his the Russians, and spread its ravages among ruin. His conduct, however, furnished no the inhabitants, inferior only to the plague. pretext; Catharine knew him personally, The natives considered this disorder as a and placed entire confidence in him. Wia- scourge of heaven; and mothers abandoned seinsky and Alsonfiew held under the crown their offspring when attacked with it. To the exclusive privilege of supplying Siberia its destructive influence must be attributed with brandy. They increased the number of the immense depopulation within these public drinking houses, and their profits were last fifty years. One of the first cares, immense. Any gentleman, who had busi- of the General was to apply a remedy ness with the senate, sent his peasants and by introducing inoculation, The super valets two or three times a week to get drunk sition of the inhabitants presented obsta at Prince Wiasemsky's public-houses, by cles almost invincible, and force was as neway of recommending himself to the Prince's cessary as persuasion. He ordered to be as stewards, and to curry his favour. These sembled at Barnaoul, the capital of Kolivan, two avaricious ministers wished likewise to between two and three hundred children open public-houses near the mines, where with their parents, and all the chiefs of the the number of workmen promised an abun- Tatar, Kalmuk, and Kirguis tribes, scattered dant consumption. The general, well aware throughout the neighbourhood. He had an of the tippling disposition of that class of only daughter, not three years old; he took men, and above all of the injury which her in his arms, and in the presence of the would accrue to the mines, had fortified him- whole assembly, had her inoculated in the self with an ukase, prohibiting public-houses open air by Dr. Kysing. The operation was within his jurisdiction. He ordered the dai-highly successful. The natives, not daring ly distribution to each miner of two glasses of brandy, before and after work, which was a sufficient allowance; and by this means he avoided the excess and disorders attendant on indulgence in that pernicious beverage. Consequently, he strongly opposed the views of those disorganising ministers. At first, they attempted persuasive measures, and at last had the effrontery to offer him a share in the profits. His noble spirit rejected their proposals with indignation; and he declared that, without a special order from the empress, he would never consent to the establishment of public-tonses, the destructive effects of which he strongly depicted. The ministers did not think proper to solicit such an order; but they found means of representing Yhrmann as a man quite intractible and capricious. He found himself constantly mortified and harrassed, and, at last, demanded his recall, which he obtained in 1780. He died soon after, almost in a state of poverty, at a small villa, the only fruit of his labours. After his death public-houses were opened, the miners got drunk, negligence and fraud ensued, and the mines diminished in propor tion. The activity, disinterestedness, and humanity of this amiable officer had rendered him beloved in that distant and uncivilized

to resist the example of their governor, submitted, though with reluctance. Among 11,000 children inoculated that year by the doctor, two only died. This fact is recorded in the books of the college of physicians in Petersburgh, and the child, who was inoculated, is now the wife of Col. Masson, the author of Memoirs on Russia.

ON THE UTILITY OF THE BIRCH TREE.

To the Editor of the Literary Panorama. with an account of the virtues, academical SIR,-You some time ago entertained us and juridical, of the birch tree and its twigs. their acquaintance with the subject when Most of your readers, I suppose, renewed perusing that paper; but it may not be known to all of them, that the natural virtues of the birch are both numerous and important; and that, in some parts, it is, if not the staff of life, yet one of the principal resources of life for comforts. Give me leave, therefore, to transmit you a description of the advantages derived from this tree by the hardy

natives of the north; and to instance it as an

invaluable gift of Providence to those countries where it is abundant.

Compare Panorama, Vol. IV. p. 134.

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Who would imagine that the birch, 'a_tree for the supply. I was lately ruminating on apparently the most barren, and one of the this subject, and, with Jaques, was "chewmost neglected in those favoured climes where ing the cud of sweet and bitter fancy," when fruit trees grow wild, was so valuable and I determined to string a few thoughts togeuseful in the north? Without this tree, ther for the use of my favourite work, the Finland, Ingria, and Esthonia would per- PANORAMA. I therefore beg your acceptance haps be deserted; for it furnishes the saine of a "cud" of recollections on that common resources to the natives of those provinces, article at our tables, salt; and I the rather that the cocoa-nut tree does to the Indians. select this, because I formerly sent you some The Finlanders, especially, almost subsist on remarkable accounts of the fondness of anithis productive trée. Of the wood they mals for this production, to which I beg make their waggons and agricultural imple- leave to refer as no improper introduction to ments. The outward bark, being impene- the present paper. To account for the fondtrable by water, serves to cover their huts. ness of animals for salt, I suppose, exceeds the Of the second bark they make cords, mats, observation, perhaps the suggestion, of man; and cloaks to protect them froin the rain; yet the fact is extremely well supported by they also weave it into baskets, sandals, and evidence. Animals, which by nature are relight shoes, and all kinds of domestic utensils. sident on plains distant far enough from any The buds nourish them in times of scarcity, coast, and which appear to be destined to and are often mixed with rye bread. The feed altogether on fresh herbage, to drink soft internal bark is also ground into flour. fresh water, and to enjoy the fresh dews of Heath cocks, and all those birds which win-heaven, yet are fond of salt.-We cannot acter in the north, feed on the buds. Of the sap the Finlanders make a pleasant flavoured vinegar; the leaves produce a yellow dye; the gum is considered as a delicacy, and in many cases recommended as a remedy; in short, the twigs are manufactured into baskets; and a female never goes to the bath without carrying a branch of birch as a flagellum, and to serve as a fig leaf when she comes out of the water.

It ought to be added, that the construction of birch canoes on the lakes and rivers of

N. America, enables the navigators of those waters to pursue their voyages, which they could not do unless aided by the impermeability of the birch bark to water; while it is so light of burden, that canoes made of it are easily carried over the portages, and so from one lake, or river, to another. The gum of the birch tree is of the utmost utility in stopping the cracks or damages made in the body of the canoe, and thus this tree alone supplies the demands of the navigator and the means of intercourse among the inhabitants of these regions.-I am, yours, &c. JUNIUS.

ON THE PARTIALITY OF CERTAIN ANI

MALS FOR SALT.

count for this predilection, any more than for the fondness of the cat for fish; a fact demonstrated daily in our kitchens; but, whence arises this powerfully expressed and urgent fondness;-what relation there is between the taste of this food, and the longings of an animal so completely anti-aquatic as the cat, has often puzzled my imagination; and, unluckily, continues to puzzle, not mine only, but that of wiser philosophers. than I am.

Salt appears, on the first mention of it, to be a preparation completely artificial, since we do not obtain it without great labour: and, it might be thought, that animals could have no more anticipatory gusto for this relishing article, than cats can have for fishes immersed in an element which forbids all access to them by the feline race. But, perhaps, on farther inquiry, w shall find, that among other beneficial results from the extensive prevalence of salts and saline principles over so 'great a proportion of the globe there may be some reference to the enjoyments of animals; nay, possibly, of vegetables also, for who knows how far sea breezes may be salutary to plants of various kinds, distributed in different places, though native, of apparently fresh-aud only fresh-propertied plains?

To the Editor of the Literary Panorama. It is true, that there are in divers places SIR,-I dare say it has not escaped your mines of rock salt; but animals, most sureobservation, that the full value of the mostly, never had access to these: and those common things with which we are acquainted, is very inadequately considered, and, indeed, is very imperfectly understood among us. There are many articles of our daily sus tenance, or to which we are beholden for daily services, that nevertheless we are too familiar with to treat with due respect. Providence is kinder to us in supplying our wants, than we are to ourselves in our esteem

rocks, or hills, or even mountains of salt that are known and distinguished by coming into open day, are so extremely rare, that the wildest theory cannot attribute to animals even the faintest recollection of them. Neither can it be thought that this disposi

Compare Panorama, Vol. II. p. 593 and 594.

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