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56 RIESBECK’s TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY.
penetration, in his defence of himfelf. Several of the prefent canons were hoftile to him,
from his firft coming to the archbifhopric, which they had entertained hopes of themfelves,
and which was procured for him by the Court of Vienna. Suppofing him, however, to
rob the country of part of its property, it is certain that he difpofes of the reft to the beft
advantage. He has founded feveral good feminaries of education. He is not at all par-
tial to his own order, as appears from his having taken away at a ftroke 100,000 florins
from the Auguttinian monks. One half of this he put in his own pocket, the other
half he has given to the public. As in every thing elle, fo alfoin his paflion for hunt-
ing, the only paflion he has, he is extremely parfimonious. - A batallion of the finelt
foldiers I have hitherto be held, difciplined in the Auftrian manner, and the officers of
which are attached to him, fecures him i 8 all accidents.
Every thing here breathes the air of pleafure and joy. ‘They eat, drink, laugh, dance,
fing, and gamble in the extreme; nor have I yet feen a place where you may have fo
many different pleafures for fo little money. They converfe here upon religious and
political topics with a freedom that does honour to the place; and with regard to books,
you may have almoft every thing which the German preffes produce, without any
reltraint. One of the reforts of pleafure is the garden of Hellbron, belonging to th2
prince, which is about three miles off, and where they fell beer and wine. ‘The moit
remarkable thing, except fome very fine marble ftatues, isa very large park, in the midft
of which is a hill.
The univerfity of this place is kept up by the congregation of Benediétines, who fup-
ply it with profeflors. As having ftudied here is a kind of requifite for preferment to
the fubjeéts of the Suabian prelates of the empire, it is a place of great refort for thefe ;
but there are few {tudents befides thefe and the natives, though the chairs are filled with
able men. ‘The funds of the univerfity are indeed too fmall to make it poflible for all
the objects, which the literature of the prefent day embraces, to be properly taken care
of. ‘They do not amount in all to above 5000 florins, or 500]. per annum, ~
I do not know what to fay about the national pride, for which thefe people are fo
much cenfured. With regard to myfelf, I refpect whatever at al contributes to the
happinefs of mankind, how {mall and infignificant foever it may appear. How wretched
fhould we be if we were to be robbed of the pleafant play of our fancies! The inhabi-
tants of this country are extremely angry if you call them Bavarians. I had conceived
to myfelf, that as their country is within that circle, they were as true Bavarians as the |
Wirtembergers are Suabians ; but I was told that the comparifon with the Suabians did
not hold, for that no particular part of Suabia is properly called Suabia; whereas the
circle of Bavaria, taking its name from the dukedom which conftitutes the greateit part
of it, might as well have been called the circle of Saltzburg. All I can make out
clearly from this is that the Saltzburghers will have nothing to do with the Bavarians,
whom they confider as infinitely inferior to them. Indeed it is true that there is a little
more tafte, a little more /cavsire vivre, and a little lefs bigotry in this place than in Ba-
varia ;~but the rating themfelves fo exceflively high, and degrading the Bavarians be-
low the rank of wild bea{ts, is undoubtedly owing to the good fairy Phantafy. At leaft
the gentlemen and ladies ought to remember that if the horizon is a little clearer here’
at prefent than it is all around them, it is entirely owing to the prefent archbifhop, who,
with his holy rod, has difpelled the magic darknefs of fuperftition in his domains. A re-
volution of the fame kind may raife the Bavarians much above what they now are in a
fhort time. Indeed there are ftill fymptoms enough-here of the darknefs which totally
overfpread the place fifteen or twenty years ago. The prifons allotted to ecclefiaftios
have in them a prieft, who, fome time fince, in order’to imprefs his parifh with a greater
hatred
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