the offence, the delinquent shall be deprived of his papers, which shall
be sealed up and sent to his home Government. On his release from
prison(!) he shall receive a restricted pass for his immediate and direct
return home; and on his arrival there he shall be strictly confined
within its limits, nor ever be permitted to travel into the other states
of the German Union, until by a long course of repentance and good
behaviour his home government may think him worthy of such a favour." It
will easily be understood from this that mechanics' or other
institutions, independent of the government, are unknown.

The German Herberge is the home of the travelling workman. It should be
clean and wholesome; there should he be provided, together with simple
and nutritious food, every necessary information connected with his
trade, and such aid and reasonable solace as his often wearisome
pilgrimage requires. All this is to be rendered at a just and
remunerative price, and it is usually supposed that the fulfilment of
these requisites is guaranteed by the care and surveillance of the
police. But this is a fiction.

Our Herberge is in the Schuster-gasse; and a vile, ill-conditioned,
uncleanly den it is; nor, I am sorry to say, are its occupants, in
appearance at least, unworthy of their abode. But we must not be
uncharitable; it is a hard task this tramping through the length and
breadth of the land; and he is a smart fellow who can keep his toilet in
anything like decent condition amid the dust, the wind, the pelting rain
or the weltering sunshine that beset and envelope him on the implacable
high road. As there is no help, we take our places among the little herd
of weary mortals without a murmur; among the ragged beards and uncombed
locks; the soiled blouses and travel-worn shoe-leather; the horny hands
and embrowned visages of our motley companions. We are duly marshalled
to bed at eight o'clock with the rest; huddled into our loft where nine
beds await some sixteen occupants; and having undergone the customary
examination as to our freedom from disease and vermin, are safely locked
in our dormitory, to be released only at the good will of the "Vater" in
the morning.

Your German is truly a patient animal; the laws of his Guild compel him
to wander for a period of years, but the laws of his country do not
provide him with even the decencies of life upon the road. With his
humble pack, and his few hoarded dollars, he