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RIESBECK’S TRAVELS THROUGH GERMANY. mae
and the men were executed. What was the confequence? The General had a re-
primand from Vienna; but did he deferve it? ‘Was it not a fufficiently good excufe
for his conduét, to fay, that defertions were grown every day more common, from the
idea that fentences of death would never be carried into execution? In my opinion,
thefe grenadiers were victims-to the weaknefs of the legiflation. Stability, not mercy,
is the firft merit of a law. ‘
A general defect, which runs through the whole of this legiflation is, that it is loaded
with orders which are not made effective. There is no end of projects and writings.
There are orders upon orders, injunctions upon injunctions, and refcripts upon refcripts ;
the laft of which always overturns, or at leaft very much limits the preceding one. This
is fo conftant a thing, that feveral perfons in office in the country make it a rule, before
they carry an order into execution, to wait five or fix weeks to fee whether it will not
be contradicted. It would be acurious, and to the Auftrian {tate a very profitable bufi-
nefs, if any perfon would take the trouble of collecting the contradictory laws which have
been promulgated within thefe laft eighteen or twenty years. This, no doubt, arofe in
part becaufe the Emperor and his mother had different plans of legiflation; but now he
governs alone, he will find it very difficult to bring matters right, as he cannot depend
upon any afliftance whatever from his fubalterns.
‘The language of the courts of juftice here is very fingular. You muft know, that
they have a ftyle of their own, which is totally different from the common ftyle, and is
called the chancellery, or law ftyle. I have juft been reading a refcript of the Imperial
court to the chapter of Saltzburg, who are engaged in a law-fuit with their archbifhop.
It contains periods which fill a whole folio fide of paper, and in which, with all the at-
tention in the world, it is impoflible to find a connection. Indeed, the more uncon-
nected it is, and the more abounding in the fcarceft Latin and French words, the better
this ftyle is reckoned. There are likewife many German words, which are ufed ina
fenfe directly oppofite to what they have in common language. I look upon it as quite
impoflible that the grandchildren of the prefent generation fhould underftand a fingle
fyllable of all their jargon. Fare ye well.
LETTER XXXVIII.
Prague.
THE journey from Vienna to this place was one of the moft pleafing I have ever taken,
notwithftanding we did not meet with a fingle good town, during a journey of forty-
four German poft miles. My company confifted of an Imperial officer, a prieft, and a
traveller from Lower Saxony. ‘The officer had ferved in the laft war in Silefia. He
was a fenfible man, and aéted as our Cicerone on two of the moft noted fields of battle
recorded in modern hiftory.
As long as we continued in Auftria, the country appeared fingularly well cultivated,
and there was all the appearance of a high ftate of happinefs and eafe among the farm-
ers; but in the parts of Moravia we came through, the inhabitants did not feem near fo
happy as their neighbours. Notwithftanding this, however, the country is well culti-
vated throughout ; nor do you fee any of the wild deferts, which are fo ftriking in Hun-
gary. Snaym and Iglau are two very pretty villages. The inhabitants of thefe fpeak
German very well; but you obferve that it is not their native language.
The whole country is made up partly of a plain, and partly of gently rifing hills ;
but on the confines of Bohemia, the hills rife into more ftately, as well as more fruitful
‘mountains. ‘The parts of thefe through which our road lay, were covered with fine
s 2 woods,
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