The army consists of about 28,000 men; 21,500|"It is fit only for beasts to carry burdens." In infantry, 3,700 cavalry, and 2,400 artillerymen. one respect, however, their tastes are identical, The forces of Portugal, whether naval or military, bull-fights being quite as popular among the Porhave in general been very inefficient. A partial tuguese as among the Spaniards. The statements stimulus was given, in 1760, to the Portuguese of another traveller, Semple, as to the Portuguese army by a German commander, the Count de character, coincide with those of Du Chatelet. Lippe; but after his death his plans were not fol-The Portuguese are generally dark-complexioned lowed up; and it was not till 1809 that Portuguese troops, recruited by British funds, and disciplined by British officers, became worthy the ancient renown of their country. The navy, in 1863, comprised 34 men-of-war, with an aggregate of 294 guns. Many of the ships, however, were reported to be not seaworthy.

The public revenue, in the financial year 186364, amounted to-in the budget-15,371,266 milreis, or 3,415,8577., and the expenditure, in the same period, to 16,910,354 milreis, or 3,757,8561. The revenue has not much risen for the last thirty years. It was 11,940,151 milreis in 1834; two millions less, or 9,843,170 in 1844; and 10,793,407 milreis in 1854. In the financial year 1858-59 the public income amounted to 12,206,747 milreis, or 2,746,5181; and in 1860-61 to 12,504,534 milreis, or 2,813,5204 The public debt amounted, at the end of 1862, to 30,635,000, of which the foreign debt constituted about one-half.

and thin, with black hair, irascible and revengeful in their tempers, and eager in their gestures on trivial occasions. They are also said to be indolent, deceitful, and cowardly; but they are temperate in diet, and that may be classed at the head of their virtues, if, indeed, they have many more. They have no public spirit, and, consequently, no national character. An Englishman, or a Frenchman, may be distinguished in foreign countries by an air and manners peculiar to his nation; but any meagre, swarthy man may pass for a Portuguese.' All classes seem to despise cleanliness; and Lisbon and the Portuguese towns generally are, certainly, entitled to the not very enviable distinction of being about the filthiest in Europe. The morals of both sexes are said to be lax in the extreme, and assassination is a common offence. But the fair presumption is, that, under the beneficial influence of modern progress, the abuses that have depressed and degraded the nation will be extirpated; and that the Portuguese will once more recover their ancient place among European nations.

The Portuguese are but little indebted to the accounts given of them by travellers. But their character, as drawn by Du Chatelet (Voyage en Portugal, i. 69-71), though not very flattering, is History. This country, anciently called Lusiheld to be nearly correct. 'Il est, je pense, peu tania, was taken possession of by the Romans about de peuple plus laid que celui de Portugal. Il est anno 200 B.C., previously to which, some Phoenipetit, basané, mal conformé. L'intérieur répond, cian and Carthaginian colonies are supposed to en général, assez à cette repoussante enveloppe, have been planted on its shores. It remained a surtout à Lisbonne, où les hommes paroissent Roman province till the fifth century, when it was réunir tous les vices de l'âme et du corps. Il y a, invaded by the Suevi and Visigoths. The Moors au reste, entre la capitale et le nord de ce royaume, landing in the S. of Spain in the early part of the une différence marquée sous ces deux rapports. eighth century, and meeting with little resistance Dans les provinces septentrionales, les hommes from its thinly spread population, easily overran sont moins noirs et moins laids, plus francs, plus the greater part of Portugal; but the nature of lians dans la société, bien plus braves, et plus la- the country favouring the operations of the inborieux; mais encore plus asservis, s'il est possible, habitants, they were not long in recovering posaux préjugés. Cette différence existe également session of its more northern and mountainous porpour les femmes; elles sont beaucoup plus blanches tion. The name of Lusitania seems to have been que celles du sud. Les Portugais, considérés en exchanged about this period for that of Portugeneral, sont vindicatifs, bas, vains, railleurs, pré-cale, subsequently changed into Portugal, from somptueux à l'excès, jaloux, et ignoraus. Après avoir retracé les défauts que j'ai cru apercevoir en eux, je serois injuste si je me taisois sur leurs bonnes qualités. Ils sont attachés à leur patrie, amis généreux, fidèles, sobres, charitables. Ils seroient bons chrétiens, si le fanatisme ne les aveugloit pas. Ils sont si accoutumés aux pratiques de la religion, qu'ils sont plus superstitieux que dévots. Les hidalgos, ou les grands de Portugal, sont très-bornés dans leur éducation; orgueilleux et insolens; vivant dans la plus grande ignorance, ils ne sortent presque jamais de leur pays pour aller voir les autres peuples.'

The Spaniards and Portuguese regard each other with a deep-rooted national antipathy.

Well doth the Spanish hind the difference know "Twixt him and Lusian slave, the lowest of the low.' Strip a Spaniard of all his virtues, and you make a good Portuguese of him,' says the Spanish proverb. I have heard it more truly said,' says Dr. Southey (Letters, ii. 64), add hypocrisy to a Spaniard's vices, and you have the Portuguese character. The two nations differ, perhaps purposely, in many of their habits. Almost every man in Spain smokes: the Portuguese never smoke, but most of them take snuff. None of the Spaniards will use a wheelbarrow; none of the Portuguese will carry a burden: the one says, "It is fit only for beasts to draw carriages;" the other, that

the circumstance of Oporto, the principal stronghold of the Christians, being then called Calle, or Porto Calle. (D'Anville, Etats Formés en Europe, p. 192.)

In the 11th century Portugal became an earldom, under the kingdom of Leon and Castile; and during the 12th it was erected into an independent kingdom. Its power now rapidly increased; and by the acquisition of Algarve, in 1249, it arrived at its present limits. In the latter half of the 14th century the voyages and discoveries commenced which have shed immortal lustre on the Portuguese name. During the 15th century, Madeira, the Canaries, and Azores were discovered and colonised; and, in 1498, Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and opened a new route to India. In the following century the Portuguese explored the coasts of Newfoundland and America; took possession of Brazil; made important acquisitions in India and the Persian Gulf, and discovered the Moluccas; by which successful enterprises they monopolised the commerce of the East, and a great share of that of the West. But the prosperity of Portugal was short-lived. After the disastrous defeat and death of King Sebastian, in Africa, in 1578, Philip II. of Spain seized on the kingdom, which remained a Spanish prov. from 1580 to 1640; and when she regained her independence, the greater part of her commerce, and her foreign possessions,

the prov. It suffered greatly from earthquakes, especially in 1684 and 1812.

POTOSI (SAN LUIS DE), a city of Mexico, cap. of the state of same name, near the source of the river Tampico, 165 m. W. Tampico, and 75 m. NNE. Guanaxuato; lat. 22° N., long. 103° 1′ W. Pop. of the city itself estimated at 15,000, but including the barrios, or suburbs, which cover a large extent of ground, it may amount to from 50,000 to 60,000. It presents a fine appearance: the churches are lofty, and some of them very

were in the hands of the Dutch. But, notwithstanding the emancipation of Brazil, Portugal still preserves the Azores, Madeira, Cape de Verd, and Guinea Islands; the settlements of Angola and Mozambique, in Africa, and those of Goa, Dilli (Timor), and Macao, in Asia. In 1807, Portugal was invaded by the French, when the royal family removed to Brazil. John VI. dying in 1826, Dom Miguel usurped the throne in 1827, which he held till 1833; when, after a lengthened contest, Donna Maria II., founder of the still reigning house of Braganza-Coburg, was estab-handsome. The streets are well built, very clean, lished in its possession.

and intersect each other at right angles. The houses in the square, and in the principal avenues leading to it, are of stone, and two stories high; those in the suburbs are low, and of adobes (sundried bricks). The government house in the square has a front of cut stone, and is ornamented with Ionic pilasters. The market-place is well supplied with meat, fruits, and vegetables. From its situation the city is the natural depôt of the trade of Tampico with the N. and W. Mexican states. Its foreign trade is at present almost wholly in the hands of natives of Old Spain or of the U. States. The European imports consist principally of French brandies, wines, silks, and cloths, English hardware and printed cotton goods, with some mantas or ordinary cotton manufactures from the U. States. In addition to its foreign trade, San Luis supplies the neighbouring states of Leon and Cohahuila with homemade goods of various kinds. The people are better dressed, and there are fewer beggars here, than in almost any other part of Mexico.

POSEN, a prov. of the Prussian monarchy, comprising the portion of Poland assigned to Prussia by the treaty of Vienna in 1815, having N. the prov. of Prussia and Brandenburg, E. Poland, and S. and W. Silesia and Brandenburg. It is of a triangular shape. Area, 11.374 sq. m. Pop. 1,494,621 in 1861. Principal towns, Posen and Bromberg. It is divided into two regencies, and these again into 6 circles. Surface generally flat, and in part occupied by extensive marshes and forests. Principal rivers, Warta, Netze, and Obra. Soil various, but generally clay and black loam intermixed with sand, and naturally very fertile. Principal products, corn, timber, wool, and honey. Minerals and manufactures unimportant. A vast number of leeches are taken in this prov., especially in the circle of Bomster. This is the most backward of the Prussian provinces. When it first came into the possession of Prussia, in 1792, the great bulk of its inhabs, were in a state of predial slavery, and were as ignorant and brutalised as can well be imagined. The The mines in the neighbourhood have long vigorous and enlightened government of Prussia ceased to be wrought, from exhaustion of the at once put down the excesses of the nobles, and ores; they were, however, formerly very produchas exerted itself, by introducing an improved tive. A college, founded by voluntary subscripjudicial system, establishing schools and other-tion, and in a flourishing state, affords gratuitous wise, to improve the habits and condition of the people. These efforts, combined with the total abolition of servitude, have had the best effects; though a lengthened period will still have to elapse before the vices and habits engendered by centuries of slavery and degradation be completely eradicated, and the population become as intelligent and industrious as in the more advanced provinces.

PDSEN, a city of Prussia, cap. prov. and reg. of the same name, at the confluence of the Prozna with the Warta, 147 m. E. by S. Berlin, on the railway from Breslau to Stettin. Pop. 51,232 in 1861, exclusive of a garrison of 7,353 men. Since the peace of 1815 its fortifications have been vastly improved, and it is now one of the bulwarks of the kingdom on the side of Russia. Though an old town, it is pretty well built. Principal edifices, cathedral and town-house. It is the residence of the provincial authorities, and of an archbishop; and has a court of appeal, a gymnasium or college, a theological seminary for the education of Catholics, and a school of arts. The business of watch-making is carried on to some extent; and there are manufactures of leather, linen, and fire-arms. It has three great annual fairs. Here, as in the rest of Poland, the buying and selling of goods is chiefly managed by Jews, who occupy a particular quarter of the town.

instruction to poor students in Latin, jurisprudence, theology, and constitutional rights. The city was founded in 1586.

POTOSI, a city of Upper Peru or Bolivia, famous for its rich silver mines, on the N. declivity of the Cerro di Potosi, a mountain belonging to the Andes, lat. 19° 36′ S., long, 67° 21, 45′ W.; 64 m. SW. Chuquisaca. Early in the 17th century this city is said to have had 150,000 inhabs,; but it is now almost deserted. It is built on uneven ground, and has a spacious square in the centre. The government-house, the town-house, and the gaol, under the same roof, occupy one side; the treasury and government offices another; a convent, and an unfinished church the third; and private houses the fourth. Extensive suburbs, once tenanted by Indians and miners, are now without an inhab., and the vestiges of the streets are all that remain. Among the most remarkable public edifices is the mint, substantially built of stone, in 1751, at a cost of 1,148,000 dolls. In the principal square an obelisk 60 ft high was erected in honour of Bolivar, in 1825. The houses of Potosi, generally, are of stone or brick, and of only one story, with wooden balconies, but without chimneys. The country round is perfectly barren, and the climate disagreeable; the rays of the sun are scorching at noon, while at night the air is piercingly cold. The market is well supPOTENZA (an. Potentia), a city of South plied; though, from many articles having to be Italy, cap. of prov. of its name, on a hill in a brought from a considerable distance, the neceswild and rocky tract, near the source of the Basi-saries, as well as the luxuries of life, are very ento, 54 m. E. Salerno. Pop. 12,789 in 1862. dear. The city is fortified, and has a cathedral, several The Cerro di Potosi, which is 18 m. in circuit, other churches, and convents, a seminary, a royal and rises to the height of 16,037 ft., is supposed to college, lyceum, and hospital; but, speaking gene-be a solid mass either of the ores or the matrix of rally, it is poor and meanly built. It is a bishop's the precious metals, of which it has produced a see, and the scat of the superior judicial courts for vast quantity. Viewed from the city, it appears

dyed all over with numerous tints, green, orange, of that illustrious prince, and the place where yellow, grey, and rose colour. The discovery of he expired, on the 17th of August, 1785. The its wealth was made by an Indian, who, in hunt-new palace and the marble palace are also in ing some goats, slipped, and, to save himself, took its vicinity. hold of a shrub, which, in coming away from the POUGHKEEPSIE, a town and river-port of ground. laid bare the silver at its root. The mines the U. States, co. New York, on the Hudson, 70 were first wrought systematically in 1545, from m. N. New York. Pop. 15,200 in 1860. The which time, till 1803, they are said to have pro-river-bank here is 200 ft. in height, but the town duced 1,095,500,000 piastres, or 237,358,3347. has five convenient landing-places. It occupies worth of silver on which duty was paid; and, about 1,800 acres, on which some 50 or 60 streets during the same period, they also produced a have been laid out, several of which are well large quantity of gold; at the same time that paved. Many of the stores in the main street great quantities of both metals were smuggled, or are equal to those of the Broadway in New York, put into circulation without payment of the duty, and numerous private houses exhibit both wealth About 5,000 openings are said to have been made and taste. There are numerous churches, a courtin the mountain; but the number of mines house, a gaol, a co, workhouse, an academy, and a wrought during the present century has rarely Lancastrian school. Poughkeepsie has a consiexceeded 100. At one time, the mines yielded derable trade, and communicates regularly, by about 30,000 ducats a day; and for a lengthened steam boats, with New York, Newbury, and other period they produced about 9,000,000 dollars a towns. It was founded by some Dutch families, year. But they had begun to decline long pre- in 1735, and incorporated in 1801. viously to the revolution; and since then they have been, whether from their exhaustion, defects in the mode of working, or the want of capital, nearly unproductive. The ore is pulverised in water-mills, worked with overshot wheels, at from 1 to 10 m. from the city; but, according to Helms, both the mining and reduction of the ore were conducted in the most bungling manner.

POTSDAM, a town of Prussia, prov. Brandenburg, cap. reg.. at the confluence of the Rathe with the Havel, on an island formed by the two rivers, a canal and lakes, 17 m. SW. Berlin, on the railway from Berlin to Magdeburg. Pop. 41.824 in 1861, excl. of garrison of 6,955 men. Potsdam has been appropriately termed the Versailles of Prussia. It is a favourite royal residence; streets straight, broad, and well paved; and the houses, though frequently small, and not very commodious within, have, for the most part, splendid fronts. It is encompassed by walls and palisades; has numerous gates and bridges, some of which are highly ornamental; and is divided into three parts, the old and new towns, and Frederickstadt. The most remarkable edifices are, the palace, a magnificent structure on the Havel, having attached to it a theatre, a menagerie, and spacious stables; the church of the garrison, in which are deposited the remains of Frederick the Great; the church of St. Nicholas, and the great military orphan hospital. In the old market-place is an obelisk of red Silesian marble, 75 feet high, on a pedestal of white Italian marble; on the base are inscribed the names of the great elector and his successors. The barracks are very extensive. There is a lyceum, a military school, with various public schools of inferior note, and sundry literary establishments. There are also, exclusive of the military orphan hospital, mentioned above, an infirmary and workhouse. Potsdam was formerly more of a barrack than of a town; but for a good many years past it has been distinguished in various branches of manufacture, such as that of silk, hardware articles, and arms. Being situated on a navigable river, communicating by canals and railways with many large towns, and, with the Elbe and the Oder, it has a good deal of

commerce.

Potsdam is a very old town, having existed in the 8th century: it did not, however, become a place of any importance till the elector Frederick William selected it for a residence, and began the palace. It was materially improved by king Frederick William I., but, like Berlin, it owes it principal embellishments to the taste and liberality of Frederick the Great. In its environs is Sans Souci, the favourite residence

PRAGUE, a city of Bohemia, of which it is the cap., near the centre of the kingdom, on the Moldau, by which it is intersected, 73 m. SSE. Dresden, and 152 m. NE. Vienna, on the railway from Dresden to Vienna. Pop. 142,588 in 1857. The city stands in a basin, surrounded on all sides by rocks and eminences, upon the slopes of which the buildings rise tier after tier, as they recede from the water's edge; and few cities of Austria, or, indeed, of any country, have so grand and imposing an external appearance. It is divided into four quarters, of which two, the Altstadt and Neustadt, are on the right, and the others, the Kleinseite and Hradschin, on the left bank of the Moldau. The Altstadt, or most ancient part of the city, stretches along the margin of the river, and for a considerable distance up the ascending ground: it comprises the university and the archbishop's palace, the municipality, the principal churches and public edifices, the theatre, and all the superior shops. It is the district of commerce and general activity, and is crowded with a dense and active pop. Its streets are generally narrow, dark, and winding: the principal editices massive and gloomy; and the private buildings, usually of stuccoed brick, are black with age and dirt, and so lofty as to exclude the light from the avenues between them; but, on the other hand, there is an air of antiquity, and a singularity of architecture about many of the edifices, public and private, that renders them at once venerable and interesting. The open places are often surrounded by low heavy arcades, beside which are the churches or public buildings, exhibiting a fantastic mixture of Gothic and Italian decorations; while at every turn the eye is met by some memorial of historical events. Beyond the Altstadt, surrounding it on three sides, and separated from it only by a large wide street termed the Graben, from its having been formerly the city ditch, is the Neustadt (new city), founded by the emperor Charles IV., the streets of which are much more open and spacious, and are generally rectangular. Here are the vast convents, hospitals, and other public buildings, which owed their magnificence to the Jesuits, but the houses are poor, and the inhabitants, chiefly mechanics, artisans, and traders of the lower class. At one extremity of the Neustadt, up the river, is the fortress and arsenal of the Wissehrad, erected on a bluff rock, and connected with the line of works which extends in a curve behind the old and new city, embracing them both, and descending to the river at each extremity. On the opposite bank of the Moldau, the surface of the ground is for a small space comparatively even,

behind which arises a range of high, bold, craggy establishments. Among the chapels is one which hills. On the even space, and partly up the is an exact representation of that of Loretto. ascent, is built the Kleinseite (small side): this is the quarter of the aristocracy; in it are the palaces of the ancient Bohemian nobles, with attached gardens and shrubberies, which often extend high up the irregular ascent behind.

The town-hall, arsenal, military hospital, military orphan asylum, lying-in hospital, principal workhouse, and theatre are amongst the finest of the public edifices. Of the private palaces, that built by the famous Wallenstein, duke of Friedland, is the most remarkable. Though unfinished, it is of immense extent, 100 houses having been pulled down to make room for its site. It still belongs to a collateral branch of Wallenstein's family: the apartments and furniture, which are said to remain in their original state, are shown to strangers, and the park attached to the palace is thrown open to the public; but the residences of the nobility in the Kleinseite are mostly deserted. They are generally large ugly build

The lofty ridge above the Hradschin forms a magnificent termination of the prospect, as viewed from the bridge below or from the opposite side of the river. Here, on the summit of a long bold eminence, is the vast palace of the old Bohemian monarchs, and close behind it rise the choir and tower of the cathedral. Further on, along the hill, are groups of stately editices, and beyond these again may be seen, on a loftier point, the fine Premonstratensian monastery of Strahow, with its lofty towers and dark thick groves over-ings, some, however, with a good deal of archihanging the river. The quarters of Prague on the tectural decoration; and the dirty rubbishy apleft, like those on the right bank of the Moldau, pearance of their brick walls, half covered with are inclosed by fortifications, but these are of worn-out stucco, conveys the idea of prisons or little strength, and were raised by Charles IV. poorhouses rather than of mansions of distinmerely to give employment to the working popu-guished nobles. Their proprietors have transferred lation, as the chance of invasion was then but themselves and their wealth to the Austrian cap. ; inconsiderable. leaving to the Bohemians these sad memorials of times, when the court of Prague might have looked with scorn on the inferior splendour of Vienna. Yet in some of these desolate abodes, covered with dust and rubbish, there are immense collections of books. The Lobkowitz library is said to comprise more than 70,000 vols., the Martinitz 21,000, and others equal or superior numbers. In some of these palaces a few rooms are fitted up and occupied during winter by a minor branch of the family, and in many of them are offices for the stewards and managers of the Bohemian estates; but when, on particular occaThe Hradschin, or palace on the hill, is a vast sions, as, for instance, at the coronation of a sovepile, more remarkable, however, for extent than reign, it is requisite for the proprietors to visit beauty. It is said to be larger than the palace at Prague, they usually occupy apartments in some Vienna, and to comprise 440 apartments, includ- hotel, their own palace being quite unfit for their ing the hall of Ladislaus, imperial audience- reception. There are, however, a few exceptions room, and hall of assembly for the states. On to this general emigration. Here and there may a narrow terrace immediately below the palace, be found the mansion of some great noble, who two obelisks mark the spot where the imperial still upholds the local dignity of his ancestors; commissioners and their secretary, sent thither and below these highest magnates are a considerwith the most intolerant edicts against the Bo-able body of resident nobles, inferior in wealth, hemian Protestants, were indignantly thrown out though perhaps not in blood, who take a part of the windows of the green chamber, by the in the provincial administration, and who form deputies of the kingdom, in 1618. Notwithstand- among themselves, in the winter season, an agreeing the great height of the windows whence they able and elegant society. In the palace of Count were ejected, the commissioners escaped unhurt, Nostitz is a gallery rich in cabinet pictures of the by falling, as is said, on a dunghill. This event Dutch and Flemish masters; and in that of Count may be regarded as the commencement of the Sternberg is the national museum, comprising 30 years' contest, ended by the peace of West- extensive collections of paintings, books, fossils, phalia in 1648, which, while it secured the and natural objects. The library, in the Strahow liberties of the rest of Germany, unfortunately monastery, one of the finest apartments of its kind consummated the slavery of Bohemia, which had in Germany, comprises a collection of about 50,000 long been foremost in freedom and toleration. volumes. The cathedral, begun in 1344 and finished in 1486, is within the precincts of the Hradschin. It is a fine specimen of Gothic architecture, and is surmounted by a lantern-crown similar to that on the tower of St. Giles, Edinburgh. The choir, built by Charles IV., and the unfinished chapels that surround it, are much admired. In the cathedral are the tombs of many Bohemian sovereigns and other distinguished individuals; a fine altar piece and other paintings; mosaics, and the costly shrine of St. John Nepomuck. Others of the numerous churches, as that of the Theinkirche, in which is the tomb of the famous astronomer, Tycho Brahe, who died here on the 13th October, 1601, are interesting for their monuments. Prague had formerly a great number of convents, but Joseph II. secularised most of these

The bridge which connects Altstadt with the Kleinseite, the only one hitherto constructed within the limits of the city, is one of the longest in Austria. It is a ponderous structure of stone, 1780 ft. in length and 35 in breadth, with a lofty tower at each extremity, and colossal stone statues, single and in groups, among which is pre-Kinsky 40,000, the Klebelsberg 18,000, the Klam eminent that of St. John Nepomuck, the tutelar saint of the city. Not far from the bridge, and attached to the Altstadt, is the Judenstadt, a district allotted to the Jews, whose number is about 8,000, living, as usual, in crowded filthy abodes, forming a labyrinth of narrow winding streets.

The university of Prague, founded by Charles IV. in 1348, occupies a large edifice termed the Carolinum, and is remarkable as the first great public school established in Germany. The students were formerly divided into 4 nations, and are said, though there can hardly be a doubt that the statement is exaggerated, to have amounted, early in the 15th century, to 40,000. In consequence, however, of a measure proposed, in 1409, by Huss, who was then rector, to abridge the privileges of the foreign students, more than half the pupils attending the university withdrew to Leipsic, Heidelberg, Cracow, and other seminaries. The Carolinum is now exclusively devoted to instruction in medicine, law, and the sciences; while education in theology is conducted in the Clementinum, an immense building, founded by

Ferdinand III., in 1653, as a convent and semi- | nary for Jesuits. The university library, in the latter, comprises about 150,000 vols. It has also an observatory, botanic garden, and various museums; and is attended by about 1,700 students. There are 3 gymnasia, preparatory to the university, with several other high schools, ecclesiastical, teachers', and Jewish schools, a polytechnic institute, conservatory of music, academy of the fine arts, and many orphan and deaf and dumb asylums, and other charities. The Jews settled here at a very early period, and have an infirmary and orphan asylum of their own, and as many as 9 synagogues, one of which is very ancient.

Prague has manufactures of printed cotton, linen, silk, and woollen stuffs, leather, hats, liqueurs, earthenware, and refined sugar, and is the centre, not merely of the commerce of Bohemia, but of an extensive and rapidly increasing transit trade. It owes this distinction to its situation on the Moldau, or principal arm of the Elbe, which is navigable by large boats to Budweis (80 m. direct distance S. from the city), where it is joined by a railway from Lintz, on the Danube. Prague is thus rendered the centre, as it were, of the communication between Hamburg on the one hand, and Vienna on the other; and is, besides, connected by railway with Dresden, Leipsic, and other German cities. Several annual fairs are held here, including a large wool fair in June.

Owing,' says an English traveller, Mr. Spencer (Germany and the Germans, i. 207), to the number of its palaces, churches, public buildings, and other splendid remains of its ancient grandeur, Prague is more imposing than Vienna and far preferable as a residence; the situation being much more salubrious, and the climate more mild and equable, the cold in winter rarely exceeding 24° Reaum., and generally averaging between 7° and 10°; while, during the greatest heat of summer, the thermometer seldom rises above 239. Dr. Stultz, a celebrated German physician, who has written upon the relative salubrity of German towns, considers Prague as one of the most healthy in the empire, and affirms that it is no uncommon occurrence for the inhabs. to attain the age of 100, and even sometimes 115. Provisions are good and cheap, and an excellent red wine resembling Burgundy is produced in the neighbourhood. The theatre equals that of Vienna, and the musical department and orchestra cannot be too highly praised. Public and private concerts are also very frequent; and, except Vienna, there is no town in Germany where music is cultivated with so much success. Indeed, this taste may in the Bohemians be termed truly national, for they excel both in vocal and instrumental music; and not a few of the natives travel to Italy, acquire the language, Italianize their names, and make large fortunes in Vienna. The harp appears to a stranger their native instrument; for we meet with itinerant harpists in every part of the country, whose strains generally accompany the midday repast at every inn, however small, whether in the capital or the provinces. Their language, which is rich and expressive, is also musical, and sounds as pleasing as the Italian when wedded to melody.'

obliged to evacuate the city, and it has ever since belonged to Austria.

PRATO, a town of Central Italy, prov. Florence, on the Bisenzio, a tributary of the Arno, 10 m. NE. Florence. Pop. 12,135 in 1862. The town is surrounded with a wall and ditch; the streets are regular, and the houses generally good. It has several squares, of which the best is the Piazza Mercatale; but the chief ornament of the town is the cathedral, a fine edifice of white marble, with ornamental parts of dark serpentine. Several other churches are handsome and worth notice. Prato has two workhouses, several hospitals, the Cicognini college for secular instruction, normal Lancastrian and infant schools. The manufacture of straw hats and bonnets employs nearly 1,000 females; and it has also manufactories of woollen stuffs and caps, the latter for exportation to the Levant; with iron and copper works, paper-mills, a rope-walk, and a glass factory. In the middle ages, Prato was the cap. of the republic, conquered by the Florentines in 1353. The poet Casti was a native of the town.

PRAYA (PORTO), a sea-port town of the Cape de Verd Islands, which see.

PRENZLOW, a town of Prussia, the chief place in that part of Brandenburg called the Ucker Mark, at the point where the river Ucker escapes from the lake of that name, 32 m. WSW. Stettin, on the railway from Stettin to Wismar. Pop. 14.695 in 1861. The town is thriving and well-built; has various churches, schools, and hospitals, a valuable public library, and manufactures of linen, woollens, and tobacco, with breweries and tanneries. In 1806, a conflict took place in the suburbs of this town, which ended in the surrender to the French of 20,000 Prussian troops, escaped from the battle of Jena.

PRESBURG, or PRESSBURG (Hungar. Posony, an. Posonium), a royal free town, formerly the cap. of Hungary, immediately within its W. frontier, cap. co. of its own rame, on the N. bank of the Danube, 34 m. E. by S. Vienna, on the railway from Vienna to Pesth. Pop. 43,863 in 1857. The town stretches along the banks of the Danube, and offers a great number of handsome buildings. It has, however, more of the characteristics of a German than a Hungarian city, and has few public buildings worth notice. The most conspicuous of the latter is the castle, a huge square brick structure, built upon a height above the town. It is now a ruin, having been burnt in 1811, by an Italian regiment in the French service; it is, however, memorable as the scene of the appeal made in 1741 by Maria Theresa to the Hungarian states, which was so generously responded to by the latter. The hall of the diet, or landhaus, is a plain unpretending edifice, both externally and internally. The cathedral, a Gothic edifice, supposed to date from the 11th century, and in which the kings of Hungary are crowned; the county-hall, German theatre, barracks, and archbishop's palace, are the other principal public buildings. There are several handsome noble residences, but they are seldom occupied, for Presburg is not a favourite place of abode with the Hungarian nobility. Presburg was formerly surrounded with walls, but it has long outgrown these, and they are now mostly demolished. It is a bishop's see, and the residence of Jerome, the friend of the great Bohemian re- the archbishop of Gran, primate of Hungary. It former, John Huss, was a native of this city, and has a Rom. Cath, academy and a Calvinist lyceum, was thence surnamed of Prague.' He suffered both possessing good libraries; a Cath, high gymthe same fate as his illustrious friend, having been nasium, Cath. seminary, college for poor students, burnt alive, in pursuance of a sentence of the and various other public schools; 5 hospitals, inCouncil of Constance, on the 30th of May, 1416. cluding one supported by the Jews, who are very Prague was taken by the Prussians under Fred-numerous here, and have a quarter to themselves; erick the Great in 1741, but they were soon after and many charitable institutions. A fine library, VOL. IV.

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