from that street towards the south, and is called the Neuer Wall. It is the street where there are many of the finest shops or stores of Hamburg, and has been called the Bond street of the city, in allusion to the famous street of that name in London. Whilst on the west there runs, at right angles to the Alster, a street called the Esplanade, which is bordered, on each side, by a row of high dwelling-houses, uniform in size and appearance, and all stuccoed and painted white. It is the finest street in the city.

But however confined the city of Hamburg proper is, and destitute of extensive Places or gardens, to serve as public promenades, it is not wanting in fine environs. On the west lies a plain of irregular shape, called the Heiligengeist Feld, (Field of the Holy Ghost,) which is unenclosed, and is appropriated to the use of graziers for their cattle. Here, too, military reviews take place. In the neighborhood of this common there are many very pleasant residences, occupied chiefly by merchants, whose business confines them to their counting-houses during the day, but who spend the nights with their families, in these very pleasant abodes, without the walls. There are several places of amusement for the people also in this vicinity, at one of which a friend of ours informs us he saw a large number of people enjoying a theatrical representation one summer's afternoon. It was, in fact, a sort of primitive theatre, being only an enclosure open above, and filled with seats, where, whilst the actors were performing on a stage on one side of the area, the ladies sat knitting whilst looking on, and the gentlemen enjoying their pipes and their mugs of beer. This is certainly a method of finding amusement which has at least the appearance of industry, so far as the ladies are concerned, to plead in its favor. The Hamburgers who thus strive to blend economy with amusement, are not far from being equal in ingenuity to some people in Florence, who take places in certain

theatres of that city, during the winter season, and occupy them every night, from dark until ten or eleven o'clock, for the purpose of avoiding the expense of fuel at home.

Between Hamburg and Altona lies the very pleasant and wide-spreading suburb of St. Paul, which is a most agreeable quarter for a residence both summer and winter. Immediately north of the city and along the western shore of the Grosse Alster, are many very beautiful country seats. Pleasant hours have we spent, once and again, at the residence of Mr. D*****, and of Mr. W*****, the former a wealthy German gentleman, who has a charming seat on the very border of that fine sheet of water; the latter is an Englishman, whose residence is at some distance from the lake, in the midst of the highly cultivated and garden-like plain which stretches out in that direction.

North-eastward of the city, and immediately east of the Grosse Alster, lies the large and handsome suburb of St. George, in which are some very pleasant streets-many of them, however, not so well paved as they should beand which are occupied by an industrious and respectable population. Beyond the suburb of St. George, there is an almost continuous village, along the road which leads to Berlin, for the distance of three English miles. At that point is the very agreeable village of Ham, which is the spot where the foundation of a town in these parts was first made, and from which Hamburg derives its name. There are many pleasant country-seats in this village, one of which is occupied by our good and distinguished friend Mr. S*****, one of the Syndics of Hamburg, a gentleman of fortune and of letters, whose reputation extends far beyond the Republic in which he holds so important an office, and who is beloved by all who have the pleasure of knowing him.

CHAPTER III.

HAMBURG.

But few fine public buildings in Hamburg-The Old Exchange-The Bank and currency of the city-Churches-Want of places of worship-Low state of religion-A fine motto-Great St. Michael's-View from one of its towersHumane establishments-Orphan House-The Asylum-The Hospital of the Holy Ghost-The General Infirmary or Krankenhaus-St. Job's HospitalThe Convent-Prisons-Almshouses, etc.-Literary establishments-Primary schools-The gymnasium-The Johanneum-its history-Other schools and scientific institutions--The book-trade--The press-The Censorship.

THERE are but few public buildings of any note in Hamburg. As in most other free governments, the inhabitants of this Republic-if republic it may be called-have preferred the useful to the ornamental, in the construction of their public edifices. There is no want of a due study of those things which promote comfort, convenience and individual enjoyment, and this is displayed in a thousand ways; but those objects in which utility to the masses, or what is the same thing in this case, to every individual, directly or indirectly, is not apparent, receive but little encouragement and aid from the resources of the commonwealth. Individuals there are, who are lovers of the fine arts, and who do something to encourage them, but the number of such is not great. Hamburg is emphatically a commercial city. Trade, under almost every variety of form, interests all, and occupies all; and inasmuch as it is wholly free from all restrictions, there is, as might be supposed, a vast competition. Consequently, large profits are out of the question; and great fortunes are not the result of few years' speculation, but the fruit of long and patient

industry, united with the most prudent economy. This fact constitutes the true key which opens to us the mysteries, if we may so speak, of the character of the inhabitants of this city, as displayed both in their individual and in their public life.

The Old Exchange stands almost in the centre of the city, and within the limits of the Old Town, as it is called. It is approached by narrow and dark streets, from all directions. It is a long wooden building, of two stories, the upper one of which rests on pillars. It resembles a great shed more than anything else. Here, in the lower or open story of this building, and in the court on its northern side, and even in the adjoining streets, you may see a vast crowd of men every day except the Sabbath, from 12 till 2, which are the hours of business. Considering the great amount of business which is done here, it is wonderful that the merchants of Hamburg have so long endured this miserable edifice. We are inclined to think that it is the shabbiest Exchange in the world. But we ought to add that at the moment in which we write these lines, a New Exchange-such a one as is worthy of the city-is approaching a state of completion. It stands at some distance from the old, but in the same quarter.

Hard by the Old Exchange is the Rathhaus, or Senate House, which is the seat of the civil government of the city. It is a building convenient for the purposes for which it was erected, but has nothing showy about it, nor is it worthy of a particular description.

The Bank is a plain, substantial building, but a few paces distant from the Senate House, and the Old Exchange. There is nothing in the architecture which deserves notice. But the principles upon which its financial operations are conducted, are remarkable, and wholly unknown among us, as principles of banking. A brief account of them may not be uninteresting.

If we are not mistaken, the Bank of Hamburg is the third, in the order of time, of all the banking institutions in the world. The first was the Bank of Venice, which was established in 1171, during the crusades, and for the promotion of those memorable expeditions. It was a bank of deposit only, and strictly a public bank, as the government became responsible for the amounts deposited, and the whole capital was in fact a public loan, the funds of the bank being made use of by the government. At first, the amounts deposited in this bank were not withdrawn, but remained to the credit of the depositor, and this credit might be transferred by him to another person, instead of paying the money. Subsequently, however, the deposits were allowed to be withdrawn, when desired, for the convenience of travelers, and to make distant payments, and in cases where a mere transfer of credit would not answer the purpose. The Bank of Venice continued in existence until the dissolution of the Republic in 1798.

The next bank established was that of Amsterdam, in 1609. This bank was established to remove the vexations to which the circulating medium was exposed, from the fact that the Jews and others fell into the practice of clipping the gold and silver coins, and carried this so far that these coins ceased to have the convenience of coins. The bank, when established, received the coins at their true weight, and gave a credit for them, and this credit was, as in the case of the Bank of Venice, transferable. The deposits remained in the vaults of the bank, and certificates of credit circulated. A small per centage was charged on transactions, and which was more than sufficient to sustain the expenses of the establishment.

The Bank of Hamburg was established in 1619, and consequently ten years after that of Amsterdam. Like that institution, it is merely a bank of deposit and transfer it neither makes loans nor 'circulates bills. But it