s the only thing thought of; a few years later
it was considered truly patriotic in the finance minister, von
Struensee, to remit to the Berlin poor a considerable portion of his
salary. At the same time there were loud complaints of the increasing
immorality, and of the preponderance of poor. It was remarked, with
alarm, that Berlin, under Frederic II., had been the only capital in
the world in which more men were born in the year than died, and that
now it was beginning to be the reverse. At Berlin, Dresden, and
Leipzig, beggars were no longer to be seen; indeed there were few in
any of the Prussian cities, with exception of Silesia and West Prussia;
but in the smaller places in Lower Saxony they still continued to be a
plague to travellers. They congregated at the hotels and post-houses,
and waylaid strangers on their arrival.

But a greater and more satisfactory improvement was made by the
exertions of the government in the increased care of the sick: the
devastating pestilence and other diseases were--one has reason to
believe--shut out from the frontiers of Germany. From 1709-11 the
plague had raged fearfully in Poland, and even in 1770 there had been
deaths from it; whole villages had been depopulated by it, but our
native land was little injured. There was one disease which still made
its ravages among rich and poor alike--the small-pox. It was Europe's
great misery--the repulsive visitant of blooming youth, bringing death
and disfigurement. It was the turning-point of life, how they passed
through this malady. Much heart-rending misery has now ceased; the
beauty of our women has become more secure, and the number of diseased
and helpless, has considerably diminished since Jenner and his friends
established in London, in 1799, the first public vaccinating
institution.

Everywhere, about this time, began complaints of the want of economy,
and immoderate love of pleasure of the working classes: complaints
which certainly were justified in many cases, but which must inevitably
be heard where the greater wealth of individuals increases the
necessities of the people in the lower classes. One must be cautious
before one assumes from this a decrease in the popular strength; the
awakening desires of the people is more frequently the first unhealthy
sign of progress. On the whole it does not appear to have been so very
bad. Smoking was indeed general; it constantly increased, although
Frederic II. had raised the price