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42 RIESBECK’S TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY,
mechanics. The prince’s caftle is pleafantly fituated upon the fide of a mountain, from
which it commands a delightful profpect over great part of Bavaria, and the mountains
of ‘Tyrol and Saltzburg. The bifhop’s poffeffions lie feattered through Bavaria and
Auttria.. His-income may perhaps amount to 30,000 florins, or 3000l. a year, and he
keeps his lord high fteward, his mafter of the hounds, his counfellors, his body guards,
his mufic, and his cook and butler, which two laft have undoubtedly the moft to do.
From Freyfingen I travelled on to Ratiibon, a dark, melancholy, and very large
town, which you know is the feat of the diet, and contains about twenty-two thoufand
inhabitants. I really do not know what to fay to you about it, except that the bridge
over the Danube is a very heavy one, which was built by the Devil, and that I met with
very good quarters at the White Lamb, the mafter of which is the civileft and moft ac-
commodating landlord that I have yet found in Germany. One would imagine the
number of envoys from the different princes of the empire who are conflantly refident
here, would give life to the place; but you cannot think how dead every thing is. If
it were not for the prince of ‘Vhurn and Taxis, the Emperor’s principal commiflary, and
poft-mafter-general of the empire, you would not believe the town to be the feat of the
diet. But this gentleman, whofe income is about four hundred thoufand florins, or
40,c00l. per annum, gives operas, comedies, wild-beaft baitings, balls, and fire-works..
He is indeed a very worthy perfon, and does honour to his place by his greatnefs of
mind and noble way of thinking. ‘This gentleman may be faid to do the honours of the
dict in the ftricteft fenfe of the word; for the reft of the Ambafladors are forced to live
very ceconomically, on account of the fmallnefs of their comes. Many of them go
about in hackney-coaches. As every thing that is for their ufe comes into the city duty
free, the people of the place make heavy complaints of their fervants for carrying on
a large contraband trade. Indeed they conceive that what they lofe by this, is more
than an equivalent for what they gain by the diet in other refpects. The fact is, that
the Ambafladors from the greateft powers, who have large incomes, and {eem to be paid
for holding great ftate, hold none; and as the other minifters regulate themfelves by
their example, one may be feveral weeks in town without being fenfible that the diet is
aflembled. -Cur Ambaflador is one of the foreigners who is moft eminently diftinguifhed
for his knowledge. Both he and the fecretaty to the embafly, Mr. Herffant, the fon
of a bookfeller at Paris, are particularly well acquainted with German politics, and alfo-
with German literature.
The bufinefs of the diet is very tedious. This is owing to the prevalence of party on
all great occafions, and the jealoufy which the great powers entertain of each other;
for the forms according to which bufinefs is done, are in themfelves very fimple. The
diet confifts of three colleges, to wit, the electorate, that of the prince’s, and that of the
college of the ftates. ‘The two firft are called the higher colleges, though they have no
efflential pre-eminence over the other in the common bufinefs of the diet. All thefe
colleges aflemble in a hall, to receive the Emperor’s propofitions; thence they retire
into three feparate chamber’s, where the votes of each other are collected, in a manner
well calculated for the purpofe. ‘The majority decides in each chamber as to the rules
of that chamber, and fo does the majority of the three colleges as to the determination
of the whole. When the three colleges are unanimous, it is called a conclufion of the
diet, and is laid before the Emperor, or his principal commiflary, as a judgment of the
diet. When one college differs from the two others, its conclufions are tran{mitted to
the Emperor. The refolutions agreed on are immediately executed, and at the conclu-
fion of the diet, are entered among the decrees of the empire.
The
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