NOT AT HOME can hardly be a disadvantage that the instruments are about as large, musically speaking, as the brown-faced performers. What tune from the banks of Styx or Arno can that be? Oh, they are tuning up, and no wonder the crowd is puzzled to catch the air! Let us move on. "Coffees, teas, wines, liquors, wholesale and retail." You can buy almost any thing you want there, and a good many things you ought not to want, and the place is full, but it is worthy of note that the Germanic type is in a large minority among the customers. Can it be that lager has any thing to do with that? Perhaps we shall see. "Exchange?" signs like that. We have noticed several "No doubt the Germans bring with them heaps of outlandish coin, and these small bankers are a necessary provision." Not a bit of it! These are the pernicious dens of the lottery-policy dealers, and they are fewer here than elsewhere, in proportion to the population. So are the faro hells, of which Bowery maintains a few tenth-rate specimens. The Germans gamble, some of them; but it is not their national vice, and they are much too shrewd to invest their hard earnings largely where the investment is sure to be so sadly But Bowery has other types than these, and yonder, striding wistfully, if somewhat proudly, past stall after stall, is one who hardly seems at home. Unmistakable, with his head of long flaxen hair, he has "student" written all over him, and he has not been in America long enough to have received any other superscription. He may be a senator or a governor yet,"permanent." and he has a faint look of Carl Schurz about Here are other features, however, which offer him; but now he has decided on ten cents' worth of Bologna sausage, incomparable viand, which demands no fire, and has no tantalizing waste of bones to mock the record of its purchased weight. What a pity Dickens had not been for a few weeks a Tompkins Market butcher, or, at least, had been forced to do his marketing here until he had photographed the groups around us! If he had gone out by the south door, as we are doing, he would have found at the street side, a little lower down, that broken line of empty "truck wagons," and on the last of them that queer-looking lot of genuine Bowery "guttersnipes" of boys, brimful of mischief and all mirthful antics now, but destined to grow up into-who shall tell what? And that other lot-four of them-dickering with the squat old cake - woman on the curb - stone for their evening lunch of cakes and fruit. That is a Bowery "band," and the young gentlemen from Italy muster three fiddles and a harp. It powerful proof that the pawnbrokers ought not to be the enemies of the poor; and if it were not for our miserable laws these evidently flourishing establishments would be replaced by the Monts-de-Piété with which these people from the Rhine-land were familiar beyond the sea. Saturday night is the regular period for the REDEEMING A PLEDGE treasures redeeming of pledges. Even if scant wages or vicious expenditure will surely bring the household here again before the week is out, still lingering pride and hope of better things will carry them homeward once more. It is sad to see the shadowy doors open so frequently; but there are more mournful testimonies in the glaring windows yonder, where the "unredeemed pledges" are offered for sale. Jewelry of every shape and device, medals of merit, jeweled "orders," musical instruments, weapons, chess-men, battered plate, antiquated time-pieces-heir looms of a more frugal or more fortunate ancestry. Somehow-who shall guess how ?-for all these sad collaterals the appointed day went by, and here they are, each with its untold story. There is a dull look on some of them, discolored spots and corrosions: tears will rust almost any thing. A GERMAN INSTITUTION. or in company, and take his more or less fiery stimulus, like a "health to the dead," standing and in silence. But who ever yet saw a true German, in his right mind, take his Saturdayevening lager all alone? You will not witness such a solecism this evening, though the hour for recreation has arrived, and the public resorts are full. "Yes, no doubt; that's all very well for the men, but what of the women and children?" What of them? You shall see, and at the same time learn a lesson that is worth learning. If these Germans could only "naturalize" the idea of making a family matter of all amusements, fewer men would disgrace their manhood by going where they dare not take their wives and children with them. If there is any feature that is more characteristic of the Germans than their love of home, it is their sociability. Americans are at once gregarious and exclusive-witness the crowded solitude of our immense hotels, and the swarming isolation of our watering-places. Englishmen are neither one thing nor the other, being merely insular, and as much insulated as the condition of their individual pockets will admit. A shrewd look around us, and up and down a few of these parallel and side streets, will give us a tolerable notion of the several descriptions of "homes" supplied by the civic geography of this quarter, and the percentage of them is by no means large in which one would care to spend the evening, more especially a Saturday evening in summer. What is to be done, then? Shall the multitudinous heads that peer out of the windows, as if reaching for air, remain there all the evening? Some of them will, if they can not help it. Shall all the human bees of these hives swarm around the narrow stoops and entry ways? They are crowded with chattering coteries of beings of all ages, and yet but a few are there. Promenade these narrow and illsmelling streets? Yes, that also, if it does not As for the lager-beer salons, their name is lerain; but that is indeed a barren resource, and gion, with legions of names. The larger and woefully insufficient. What then? Why, here more pretentious supply more or less of music is the cause and secret of the endless cafés, beer--some of it of a very excellent character, and cellars, and "gartens," and their innumerable some of it, alas! of a character as debased and little tables with chairs for four, and their large round tables with chairs for a dozen. The Celt or the Yankee may march up to the bar, alone But there are French here as well as Germans, and both nationalities have developed to a high point, for good or evil, the idea of "café life," even as the Americans have gone mad after hotels and their unhomelike horrors. The painted bills of fare at the entrances, with prices annexed, announce that sustenance for the body can be obtained at the most reasonable prices. He must indeed be a poor man who can not make out to dine at these rates. Not that an opportunity can not be obtained hereabout to order an expensive dinner, and that, too, cooked by experts of Parisian training; but the majority of Bowery purses incline to the more modest and moderate establishments. execrable as that of those who make it and the audiences who hear it; for Bowery has its "free concert halls," as evil and disgusting, if THE HERO OF THE BOWERY DRAMA. possible, as those of Broadway, though not nearly so numerous. Time was, if we may trust tradition and the police records, when this region was the peculiar hunting-ground of ruffianism, and the "Bowery Boy" has received an established place in the local drama and flash literature; but the worst of that passed away with the Volunteer Fire Department, and now, except toward the lower end, which is liable to the incursions of the Chatham Square Comanches and other barbarous tribes that roam over the howling municipal wilderness south of Division Street, the Bowery, until after the orthodox German bedtime, is as orderly for its numbers as any other portion of the city. Not as much can be said for its auxiliaries and feeders; for there is a great deal of human nature in this part of the city, and mixed multitudes have their fermentations, especially after eleven by the clock. and over it the orchestra. In shape it is a parallelogram, with another smaller one jutting out from it there on the right. No matter for the exact dimensions; but they are huge enough, and all this space is closely occupied with narrow tables, flanked on either side by high-backed benches capable of seating four or five each, according to physical development. There is hardly a table or a seat vacant, and yet not many are compelled to stand long, for the thirsty multitudes come and go with a sort of irregular regularity. It is of no use to ask for strong liquors, for "ve does not geep visky," and the waiter will only scowl at you. Very good light Rhine wein, very good lager, however, and in unlimited quantities-hundreds of casks on any warm and pleasant night like this. But we must not fill our eyes with mere statistics, for this is a representative German institution, thoroughly national, and it is also, in more ways than one, a political power, for the beer garden has its distinct and audible voice in the answers of the November ballotboxes. It has done a great deal in the way of forcing our too hasty politicians to recognize important moral facts. "Moral facts?" Yes, think of the stifling tenement houses and the uninviting streets, and then look carefully around you. Germans all, and our own exceptional nationality is promptly and good-humoredly noted by the crowd. On every side are family groups, father, mother, and children, all merry, all sociable, all well-behaved and quiet. There is not the remotest danger of insult or disturbance, or need of the presence of any policeman. The Germans are proud to keep up the respectability of the place to which they bring their female friends and relatives, and we hope they may fully succeed in maintaining it. Here Travelers in the German father-land have and there are couples from whose appearance for many generations-Julius Cæsar being the not even the crowd, the laughter, and the lager first, though his account is dry and unsatisfac- can drive away the sheepish romance; for this tory-brought back with them marvelous stories is a great place for courting. Let us go forof the German breweries and beer gardens; and ward to the platform, if we can get there, and though our lager factories are situated in New-take a seat at the edge, where we can have a ark and other suburbs of New York, we are not look down upon these thousands of Bowery without one or two gardens that would do cred- Germans. it to any university town in all Deutschland. These and their multitudinous small imitators solve for us the evening recreation problem. The stoops and window seats in the side streets are not so densely peopled now as they were an hour ago, and we may as well follow the crowds that have left them. This is the "Atlantic Garden." A constant stream of people is pouring out, and we must take our time with the other torrent that is pouring in. Through a sort of huge vestibule, lined with busy "bars" and lunch counters, and we are in an immense hall, somewhat airily roofed with wood. Over the vestibule, at this end, is a capacious gallery, and away yonder, at the other, is a raised platform, while midway, on the left, is the "bureau of supplies," You wish they were not drinking lager-beer and Rhine wein? Your superior wisdom and philanthropy is to be bowed to, but what if it were whisky, or even the strong beer of old England, would that better the case? "There should be no compromise ?" Well, lager may fairly be viewed in that light, but it is a compromise up, not down; and then what about the tenement houses this hot night? It is doubtless true that Croton is a healthful, sociable, and stimulating beverage of a Saturday night, after a week's labor, and there are better places than the beer gardens, but also there are worse. And do not let us moralize over what we perhaps do not altogether understand. You think there is a crowd here that a part of "Father-land" was here, for they had brought it with them in their hearts. One more brief walk on our way up town through the still crowded street, for it is yet early. Not much extravagance in dress about us, and an endless stream of oddities in face and form and apparel, but very little noise, or nonsense, or glaring vice-that is, much less than you would naturally expect. to-night; and so there is, and a crowd so quiet | would have been if they had been, let us say over its beer and wine as to seem almost stupid; Patagonians; and one could not help feeling but you should have been here on Saturday night, September 10, 1870, when the details of the great French overthrow at Sedan were being brought in here from the telegraph offices, and you would have seen what a heat of intense enthusiasm slumbers under this calm, stolid, Teutonic surface. They made a sort of human pyramid there in the centre, and a big-voiced German shouted out the news, but no one could hear him at twenty paces. There were flags and portraits on the walls; and how they did cheer, and how the band up there, doubled for the occasion, did bang and work at the national airs! They sang the "German's Father-land" and Luther's Hymn, and patriotic choruses of a dozen lands, until they were hoarse, and hardly could get breath to drink the health of "unser Fritz" and Von Moltke, and every body else. They even tried to waltz, and nearly brought the platform down, but desisted out of regard for the ladies; and nobody was drunk, as they It is wonderfully easy to collect a crowd, for every body is out to be amused, and an excitement is an especial windfall. A dog-fight or a broken window would gather a thousand in a minute; but there are no fights or broken windows, and we are compelled to admit that Bowery has a respectability of its own. Two or three hours later things may have changed for the worse, but then these throngs who are passing us now will be at home and abed; for their week's work is over, they have had their Saturday evening, and every soul of them is honestly and reasonably tired. FREDERICK THE GREAT. XVII. THE CLOSE OF THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR, AND THE PARTITION OF POLAND. TH In HE fifth campaign of the Seven Years' War closed with the year 1760. By exertions such as mortal man perhaps never made before, Frederick succeeded, during the winter, in' raising an army of ninety-six thousand men. the mean time the allies had concentrated in Bohemia, to crush him, seventy-two thousand Austrians and sixty thousand Russians. The capture of four fortresses would drive Frederick hopelessly out of Silesia. Early in May Frederick, leaving his brother Henry with about forty thousand men to protect Saxony, set out with fifty thousand for the relief of Neisse, which was then besieged. General Goltz, probably the most able of the Prussian commanders, was detached to the fortified camp at Glogau. "But, alas, poor Goltz, just when ready to march, was taken with sudden, violent fever, the fruit probably of overwork; and in that sad flame blazed away his valiant existence in three or four days; gone forever, June 30, 1761, to the regret of Frederick and of many.' The Russians were entering Silesia from the northeast, by the way of Poland. Frederick, by one of his incredibly rapid marches, for a time prevented the junction of the two hostile armies. After innumerable marchings and manœuvrings, during which Frederick displayed military ability which commanded the admiration even of his foes, the Prussian king found himself, on the 16th of August, at Nicolstadt, in the very heart of Silesia, at the head of fifty-seven thousand men. In front of him, obstructing his ad 1 CARLYLE. | vance, there were sixty thousand Russians. In his rear, cutting off his retreat, there were seventy-two thousand Austrians. From a commanding eminence Frederick could watch the movements of both of these hostile bands. Both Russians and Austrians stood in such awe of the prowess of their redoubtable antagonist that they moved cautiously, like hounds surrounding the lion at bay. At three o'clock in the morning of the 20th of August, and after the march of a few hours, the little army of Frederick commenced constructing a fortified camp near the poor little village of Bunzelwitz, about half-way between the Silesian fortresses of Schweidnitz and Striegau. Spades were provided. Fifty thousand men were instantly employed, according to a well-matured plan, in digging and trenching. The extraordinary energies of Frederick seemed to nerve every arm. Here there was speedily reared the camp of Bunzelwitz, which has attained world-wide renown. An ordinary eye would not have seen in the position any peculiar military strength. It was an undulating plain about eight miles long and broad, without any abrupt eminences. A small river bordered it on the west, beyond which rose green hills. On the east was the almost impregnable fortress of Schweidnitz, with its abundant stores. Farm-houses were scattered about, with occasional groves and morasses. There were also sundry villages in the distance. Frederick himself was chief engineer. The army was divided into two forces of twentyfive thousand each. Carlyle gives a graphic description of this enterprise. |