The Present State of Germany

Chapter VII. Of the Strength and Diseases of the German Empire

179 u c h a p t e r v i i u Of the Strength and Diseases of the German Empire. 1. The Forces of any State may be considered as they are in themselves, or [as by reason of the elegant Structure of its Form or Constitution they may be used].a Forces considered in themselves, consist inMen and Things. As to the first of these, Men, Germany has no reason to complain that it wants numbers of them, or they Wit or Ingenuity. There is so great a multitude of the principal Nobility, and they too are in such splendid circumstances, that there is scarcely the like to be found elsewhere in all the World. The Gentry or Inferiour Nobility are neither for want of Ground, or by their over-great number compell’d to condescend [descend ] to the exerciseof meanandsordidArts(Trades).Perhapsyetthere are more of them employed in Learning [letters] than is convenient, though [amongst the many Graduates there are not many eminent Scholars].b Of Merchants, Tradesmen, and Mechanicks there is a great plenty: But then in many places there is now a want of Husbandmen , considering the largeness of the Country. This isowingpartly to the Thirty years War, by which Germany was most miserably desolated ; and partly because the Countrymen [rustics] are of that Temper, a. Rather: according to the employment they can easily have in an ordered form of state b. Rather: there are few Apollos to be found amongst the many laurel-bearers The Subjects of Humane Force. Husbandmen most wanted. 180 chapter vii that as soon as they arrive at any considerable Estate, they put out their Children [sons] to Trades, as thinking those that live in the Cities much more happy than themselves. Though I can scarce think that any Man [had so much leisure as to take an exact account]a of the Cities and Burroughs [villages] of Germany , yet I believe no man would be suspected [of boasting] by one that knew that Country [regionis], if he should say, that an Army of Two Hundred Thousand Men might be levied, by taking out of every City five men [soldiers], and out of every Burrough-Town one, or two at most. For a Specimen of this, there are some Authors that say, That in the Ten Circles there are 1957 Cities, Towns, and Castles, besides the Kingdom of Bohemia, in which, according to Hagec,1 in the Reign of Ferdinand I.2 there were 102 Cities, and 308 Towns, and258considerable Castles, 171 Monasteries, and of Villages 30363. {In Silesia [there are]b 411 Cities, 863 Towns, and 51112 Villages. In Moravia thereare100Cities, 410 [lesser] Towns, 30360 Villages.}AndbeforetheProtestantsdestroyed [so many of] them, there were 11024 [Monasteries, Priories, Abbies,and Nunneries].c Thus Ferdinand II.3 is, by his Zeal for the [Church of Rome],d said to have brought [back] into her Communion One [hundred thousand]e men. This Nation4 [is not only thus wonderfully Populous, but]Ⳮ from all times of which any memory has been preserved, it has beenever a. Rather: has taken a count b. Rather: they count c. Rather: abbeys and monasteries [Coenobiorum] d. Rather: Catholic Church e. Rather: ten million 1. Wenceslaus Hagecius, Böhmische Chronica . . . Jetzt aus Böhmischer in die Deutsche Sprache . . . tranßferiret . . . Durch Johannem Sandel (Prague, 1596). 2. Ferdinand I (1503–64) was emperor from 1556. 3. Ferdinand II (1578–1637) was emperor from 1619. 4. The following account anticipates Pufendorf’s Introduction to the History, in which he describes the respective strengths and weaknesses of the main European states in the context of an explicit reason-of-state analysis. A vast Army may be easily levyed. strength and diseases 181 famousforWar,andgreedyof MilitaryGlory[eagerformilitaryservice], spending freely, for [a little]Ⳮ Money, its Blood in [all the Nations]a of Europe. As they are not over-hot in their Passions, so they are very constant , [and have Souls]b very capable of Discipline and Instruction.Nor is this Nation less [to be admired and commended for their Mechanick Arts and Ingenious Manufactures]:c And which [crowns all, and tends wonderfully to the Security and Welfare of Societies],d they are not at all inclined to promote Changes in their Governments, and [can with Patience and Submission endure the most Rigid Government].e //I cannot forbear saying, the English Nation has all the German Virtues, which they brought over with them...