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RIESBECK’S TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. 31
behold the wide boundaries of its poffeflions inceffantly contracting, notwith{tanding the
various favourable circumftances that have concurred to elevate it, if it would have lif-
tened to the dittates of found policy. When the elector palatine was chofen King of
Bohemia, who would have thought that his own coufin, the Duke of Bavaria, would
have been the perfon to diftrefs him moft, and to increafe the already dangerous power
of Auftria, at the expence of his own family? Had it not been for this, Bohemia would
have been now under the fame government as Bavaria and the Palatinate, and the pre-
fent elector, a great king. At the peace of Weltphalia, the members of the proteftant
league indemnified themfelves for the heavy expences of the Swedifh war, by. putting
themfelves in pofleffion of the neighbouring church principalities; but Bavaria, which
had fought to the laft drop of blood for the Pope and the Houfe of Auftria, thought
itfelf abundantly paid with the Electorate and the Upper Palatinate, (which it could only
obtain by the failure of another branch of its own family,) and let flip the belt opportu-
nity of poflefling itfelf of the bifhoprick of Saltzburg, with whichit has fo much wrang-
ling at prefent, the bifhoprick of Friefingen, which lies in its very bofom, and many other
adjacent bifhopricks ; fo conftantly has it {trove again{t its own proper interefts, from
the impreflion of falfe religious tenets *.
Thefe wars, which we may fay it has waged againft itfelf; that on account of the
Spanifh fucceffion ; and laftly, that of the Emperor Charles VII. have given creat wounds
to this Houfe, wounds which, however, it might have cured, had not religious prejue
dices and caprice rendered it blind, and infenfible to its own internal fituation. But
now they rankle, and prefent an obferver with the difgufting fpectacle of a deeply con-
fumptive body politic.
It was thought that the laft elector had paid the greateft part of the national debts ;
but on the acceflion of the prefent prince, thefe expectations were found very erroneous.
Some indeed of the oldeft incumbrances have been paid off; but on the other hand,
feveral new loans have been made. ‘This elector was, indeed, quite unequal to the
management of his own finances, which he left entirely to the difpofal of his fer-
yants, contenting himfelf if his expenfive hunting matches could be defrayed ; and the
prefent court feems to be as little inclined to limit the enormous expence of the opera-
houfe, for the fake of paying its debts, which may now amount to near twenty-five mil-
lions of florins, or 250,000l.
As I {trolled through the country, I fhuddered at the fight of the ravages which war
had made. There is no town of any importance in all Bavaria, except the capital. You
would never imagine what pitiful little holes, Landfberg, Wafferbing, Landfhut, and
many other places, which make a great figure on the map, are. ‘To all appearance
neither Ingoldftadt, nor Straubingen, nor any of the greater towns, except Munich,
contain above four thoufand fouls. Nor are there more than forty of thefe towns ;
whereas Saxony, which is no larger than Bavaria, contains above two hundred and
twenty, if the accounts in print are to be depended upon. But indeed the want of po-
pulation in thefe parts is very remarkable, as well as the remains of thofe vices which
armies generally leave behind them. Excepting the brewer, baker, and innkeeper, you
may feek in vain for a rich tradefman. There is not a vellige of indultry either in town
or country, but every body feems to confider idlenefs and beggary as the happieft ftate
of man.
As what Bavaria loft at the peace of Tefchner, was nearly made up by the junction
of the principalities of Neuburg and Sulzbach; we may reckon with the Palatinate, it
* Surely not falfe religious opinions, if thefe countries were only to be obtained by fraud and violence.
contains
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