Every attempt has been made to replicate the original as printed. Some typographical errors have been corrected;a list follows the text. Archaic spellings (i. e. visiters, wo, scissars, apalling, recal,mattrass, etc.) have been retained. A few misspellings in French and Germanhave not been corrected. The footnotes have been moved to the end of the text body. (etext transcriber's note) |
TOUR
IN
ENGLAND, IRELAND, AND FRANCE,
IN
THE YEARS 1826, 1827, 1828, AND 1829.
WITH REMARKS ON
THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INHABITANTS, AND ANECDOTES OF
DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC CHARACTERS.
IN A SERIES OF LETTERS.
———
BY A GERMAN PRINCE.
———
PHILADELPHIA:
CAREY, LEA & BLANCHARD, CHESTNUT STREET.
.......
1833.
TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE
TO THE
FIRST AND SECOND VOLS. OF THE LONDON EDITION
THE following work being the genuine expression of the thoughts andfeelings excited by this country in the mind of a foreigner whosestation, education, and intelligence seem to promise no common degree ofaptitude for the difficult task of appreciating England, it has beenthought worth while to give it to the English public. The Translator isperfectly aware that the author has been led, or has fallen, into someerrors both of fact and inference. These he has not thought it expedientto correct. Every candid traveller will pronounce such errorsinevitable; for from what class in any country is perfectly accurate andimpartial information to be obtained? And in a country so divided byparty and sectarian hostilities and prejudices as England, how must thisdifficulty be increased! The book is therefore given unaltered; exceptthat some few omissions have been made of facts and anecdotes, eitherfamiliar to us, though new to Germans, or trivial in themselves.
Opinions have been retained throughout, without the least attempt atchange or colouring. That on some important subjects they are not thoseof the mass of Englishmen, will, it is presumed, astonish no reflectingman. They bear strong marks of that individuality which characterizesmodes of thinking in Germany, where men are no more accustomed to claimthe right of thinking for others, than to renounce that of thinking forthemselves. This characteristic of the German mind stands in strongcontrast to the sectarian division of opinion in England. The sentimentsof the author are therefore to be regarded simply as his own, and not asa sample of those of any sect or class in Germany: still less are theyproposed for adoption or imitation here. The opinion he pronounces onFrench and German philosophy is, for example by no means in accordancewith the popular sentiment of his country.
The Letters, as will be seen from the Preface, were published as thework of a deceased person. They have excited great attention inGermany; and rumour has ascribed them to Prince Pückler Muskau, asubject of Prussia, who is known to have travelled in England andIreland about the period at which these Letters were written. He haseven been mentioned as the author in the Berlin newspapers. As, however,he has not thought fit to accept the authorship, we have no ri