How The Palace Itself Escaped Being Knocked To Pieces Is Wonderful;
But I Suppose Napoleon Must Have Given Orders To Spare It As Much As
Possible.
This Palace is of beautiful structure and in the style of an
Italian villa; statues of the twelve Caesars and bas-reliefs adorn the
exterior.
The columns and pilasters are of the Corinthian order. As for the
interior, it is unfurnished, and has been so since the Seven Years' war,
when it was plundered by the enemy, and has never since been inhabited by
the Electoral family. There is a superb rectangular basin of water in this
garden. These gardens are delightfully laid out; why they are not more
frequented I cannot conceive, but I have hitherto met with very few people
there, tho' they are open to all the world. They will form my morning's
promenade, for I prefer solitude to a crowd in a morning walk. But one of
the gardeners here tells me that on Sunday evening there is generally a
good deal of company, who come to listen to the music which is played in a
building fitted up for the purpose at one side of the garden. Wine, coffee,
beer and other refreshments are to be had; but beer is the favorite
beverage. Smoking is universal among the young men; the most ardent
admirers of the fair sex never forget their pipe. During the courtship the
surest sign that the fair one does not intend to give her lover the
basket is when she presents him with a bag to hold his tobacco. Her
consent is implied thereby.
During the battle of Dresden, the slaughter in this garden was immense, and
the Allies were finally driven out of it. The gardener related to me an
affecting story of a young lady of Dresden, whose lover was killed in this
battle and buried in the Grosser Garten. She has taken it so much to
heart that she comes here three or four times in the week to visit this
grave and strew flowers over it. She remains for some time absorbed in
silent meditation and then withdraws. She has a settled melancholy, but it
has not yet affected her understanding.
DRESDEN, Oct. 15th.
I met with my old friend, Sir W.I., who was travelling to Berlin, with the
idea of passing the winter there and of proceeding in the summer to Moscow.
Thro' the interests of my friends, Col. D - - - and Baron de F - - - I have
been ballotted for and admitted a member of a club or society here called
the Ressource. It is held in a large house on the Markt Platz, and is
indeed a most agreeable resource to all foreigners; for 'tis in this
society that they are likely to meet and form acquaintance with the
noblesse, principal bourgeoisie and litterati. It is conducted on the
most liberal scale and not confined to those of birth and fortune. Good
character, polite behaviour and litterary requirements will ensure
admittance to a candidate. This society consists of members and honorary
members; among the honorary members are foreigners and others whose stay in
Dresden is short; but whoever remains for more than one year must cease to
be an honorary member and must be ballotted for in order to become a
permanent member, and should he be blackballed he ceases to belong to the
society altogether. This is a very good regulation. A year is a sufficient
time of proof for the character and conduct of a person, and should he
during this interval prove himself obnoxious to the members of the society,
they can at its expiration exclude him for ever afterwards.
No enquiry is made as to the character and conduct of a person who is
admitted as an honorary member: it is sufficient that he be recommended by
a permanent member, which is deemed a sufficient guarantee for his
respectability. In this society there are dining rooms, billiard rooms,
card rooms, a large reading room. Here too is a small but well chosen
library and three or four newspapers in every European language; all the
German newspapers and reviews and the principal periodical works in the
German, French, English and Italian languages. The English papers taken in
here are the Times, Courier and Chronicle. Of the French, the
Moniteur, Journal des Debats, Constitutionel, Journal du Commerce, Gazette
de France and Gazette de Lausanne, and of the Italian the Gazette di
Milano, di Venezia, di Firenze and di Lugano. Every German newspaper is,
I believe, to be found here. The Society lay in their stock of wine, which
is of the best quality; good cooks and servants are kept. Dinners go
forward from one to three. You dine a la carte and pay the amount of what
you call for to the waiters. Coffee, liqueurs and all sorts of refreshments
are likewise to be had. Supper, likewise a la carte, goes forward between
nine and eleven. The evening before supper may be employed, if you chuse,
in cards, billiards, or reading. Very pleasant and useful acquaintances are
made at the Ressource, since if a foreigner renders himself agreeable to
the gentlemen who frequent this society, they generally propose taking him
to their houses and introducing him to their families. After an
introduction, you may go at any hour of the evening you please: but morning
visits are not much in fashion, since the toilette is seldom made till
after dinner, which is always early in Germany. There is no getting dinner
after three o'clock in any part of Dresden. Besides the Ressource there
are several other Clubs here, such as the Harmonic and others. The public
balls are given at the Hotel de Pologne twice a week, viz., one for the
Noblesse and one for the Bourgeoisie. None of the female Bourgeoisie
are admitted to the balls and societies of the Noblesse, and only such of
the males as occupy posts or employments at Court or under Government such
as Koenigs-rath, Hof-rath, or officers of the Army.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 139 of 149
Words from 141101 to 142112
of 151859
