But though the linen manufacture is cultivated chiefly in Silesia, it also forms the staple manufacture in almost every other quarter of the Prussian dominions. In the provinces of Posen and 'Westphalia, in particular, it is very extensively cultivated. And the number of looms employed in 1816 in the whole kingdom amounted to 207,870, being fully three times the number used in Silesia at the same period. The damask manufacture of Prussia is preferred to all others, in the higher circles, in the whole of Europe. The manufacture of broad cloth is also carried to a great extent, particularly since the introduction of the Merino and Paduan breed of sheep ; and the best kind of cloth is said to rival that of France or of England, and is about a half cheaper than that of the latter. Cotton works, though of recent introduction, have been established at Berlin, Erfurt, Elberfeld, and various other parts of the kingdom. This manufacture, however, is not destined to attain to great distinction, as the raw material must be imported. The Prussians also manufacture leather, earthen-ware, glass, paper, tobeo, starch, potash, vitriol, beer, brandy distilled from the native grains, and music•l, optical, and mathematical instruments, with types, watches, and articles of a similar description. The want of coal is severely felt, but what 111r. M'Culloch says in reference to Silesia is applicable to the whole kingdom. "The low wages of labour, the great industry of the inhabitants, and the cheapness of provisions, will ensure the prosperity of its manufactures." The manufactures of Poland have been promoted, in no mean degree, by French refugees, who, after the revocation of the edict of Nantz, in 1685, sought an asylum in Prussia, and by their skill and industry roused the Prussians to exertion, and showed them their true interests. The descendants of these refugees amount in Brandenburg alone to about 10,000, who still remain a separate people, and retain their original habits and princi ples.
The situation of Prussia in regard to the number of her navigable rivers, and her various sea-ports on the Baltic, give her many natural facilities for commerce. But in opposition to these facilities, she labours under many dis advantages. The restrictions imposed by Frederick the Great and his predecessors, which, though sometimes beneficial in a rude country, where the people are strangers to mercantile or manufacturing industry, are found to be extremely pernicious in an improved country, have not yet been entirely laid aside in Prussia. Duties are still levied on goods imported into Prussia by the Rhine, and by the Hanoverian government on goods imported by the rivers that flow through their territories. And previously to 1818, a tax was imposed on the transmission of commodities from one province to another. The commerce of Prussia, however, has flourished to no mean extent, notwithstanding these disadvantages. But as she is possessed of no colo nies, and her sea-ports, though exceedingly numerous, are not calculated to receive ships of a great draught of water, her commerce can scarcely be said to extend beyond the limits of Europe. The greater number of her exports are conveyed in foreign ships, of which the British exceed in number those of all other nations taken together. Linen
is the great export of Prussia, and is indeed of so high a quality, and in such demand, that vast quantities of it are purchased in Holland, and sold there as if it were Dutch manufacture. Timber is also a great and permanent object of export, chiefly from the eastern provinces, though Brandenburg, it has been calculated, exports timber by the Elbe to the amount of one million of dollars. Notwithstanding the backward state of agriculture, Prussia, particularly the provinces wrested from Poland, exports corn in considerable quantities. The other chief exports are amber, wool, pitch, tar, potash, linseed, tobacco, horses, cattle, and from some districts, fish. The list of imports is as diversified as that of exports, including sugar, tea, coffee, and other colonial products, wines, silks, fruit, printed cottons, the finer kinds of hardware, furs, dye stuffs. The connexion of Prussia with Britain consists chiefly in her sending thither corn, (when the British ports are open,) and wood; and in her taking in return our manufactures and colonial goods. Memel, in East Prussia, is the largest commercial city. The other most frequented ports are Dantzick. Konigsburg, Elbing, Stettin, Magde burg, Colberg, Swipe, Swinemunde.
Of the several cities and towns of Prussia, (which are extremely numerous,) an account may he found in this work under their respective heads, to which we refer the reader for information on this subject. At present w'e shall merely give a list of the most important, with the number of their inhabitants, and a reference to their situa ticn.
These cities (20 in number) are the most populous; but there are altogether 26, which contain severally 10,000 inhabitants or upwards ; 136 which have more than 3500, and less than 10000 ; 194 that amount to more than 2000, and less than 3500 ; 665 which contain less than 2000 : making altogether the number of inhabitants in the cities to amount to 2,895,832.
Before the recent acquisitions, the Roman Catholic was the predominant religion ; to which, however, scarcely a third of the inhabitants now belong. Calvinism and Lutheranism, the two chief divisions of the protestant faith, include about six millions and a half. The Mennonites, a species of anabaptists, amount to about 15,000 ; and 130,000 are Jcws. There are also a few Moravian brethren, Uni tarians, and members of the Greek church. Universal toleration is established on the most liberal and just prin ciples: the different sects are equally under the protection of the government ; and members of every denomination are alike eligible to every civil, judicial, and military office. In 1317, the three hundredth anniversary of the Reforma tion, the Lutherans and Calvinists agreed to lay aside their characteristic distinctions, and to unite themselves into one body, under the appellation of the Evangelical Con fessions ;—a union that is highly commendable, and which promises to be attended with the most beneficial effects ; and in religious matters there is probably no country in the world more distinguished than Prussia for Christian har mony, liberality, and benevolence.