land and France
feudalism was entirely destroyed, or, at least, reduced, as in the
former country, to a few insignificant forms, by a powerful and
wealthy middle class, concentrated in large towns, and particularly in
the capital, the feudal nobility in Germany had retained a great
portion of their ancient privileges. The feudal system of tenure was
prevalent almost everywhere. The lords of the land had even retained
the jurisdiction over their tenants. Deprived of their political
privileges, of the right to control the princes, they had preserved
almost all their Mediaeval supremacy over the peasantry of their
demesnes, as well as their exemption from taxes. Feudalism was more
flourishing in some localities than in others, but nowhere except on
the left bank of the Rhine was it entirely destroyed. This feudal
nobility, then extremely numerous and partly very wealthy, was
considered, officially, the first "Order" in the country. It furnished
the higher Government officials, it almost exclusively officered the
army.

The bourgeoisie of Germany was by far not as wealthy and concentrated
as that of France or England. The ancient manufactures of Germany had
been destroyed by the introduction of steam, and the rapidly extending
supremacy of English manufactures; the more modern manufactures,
started under the Napoleonic continental system, established in other
parts of the country, did not compensate for the loss of the old ones,
nor suffice to create a manufacturing interest strong enough to force
its wants upon the notice of Governments jealous of every extension of
non-noble wealth and power. If France carried her silk manufactures
victorious through fifty years of revolutions and wars, Germany,
during the same time, all but lost her ancient linen trade. The
manufacturing districts, besides, were few and far between; situated
far inland, and using, mostly, foreign, Dutch, or Belgian ports for
their imports and exports, they had little or no interest in common
with the large seaport towns on the North Sea and the Baltic; they
were, above all, unable to create large manufacturing and trading
centres, such as Paris and Lyons, London and Manchester. The causes of
this backwardness of German manufactures were manifold, but two will
suffice to account for it: the unfavorable geographical situation of
the country, at a distance from the Atlantic, which had become the
great highway for the world's trade, and the continuous wars