these we shall see thoroughly the condition of one particular
province, which suffered severely from the miseries of war, but not
more than most other parts of Germany, not indeed so much as the
Margravate of Brandenburg and many territories of Lower Saxony and
Suabia. It is the Thuringian and Franconian side of the "Waldgebirge,"
which formed, in the middle of Germany, the boundary between the north
and south; more especially the present Dukedoms of Gotha and Meiningen.
The following details are taken from the church documents and parish
records, and many, from the voluminous church and school stories which
were published by clerical collectors in the former century.

Germany was supposed to be a rich country in the year 1618. Even the
peasants had acquired during the long peace a certain degree of
opulence. The number of villages in Franconia and Thuringia was
somewhat greater than now; they were not entirely without defences, and
were often surrounded by broad ditches and palisades, or clay and stone
walls; it was forbidden to form entrances in them, but at the end of
the main streets were gates which were closed at night The churchyard
was usually defended by particularly strong walls, and more than once
it was used as the citadel and last refuge of the inhabitants. There
were night and day patroles through the villages and fields. The houses
were indeed ill formed and only of wood and clay, often crowded
together in narrow village streets, but they were not deficient in
comfort and household furniture. The villages were surrounded by
orchards, and many fountains poured their clear waters into stone
basins. Small poultry fluttered about the dung-heaps in the enclosed
courtyards, immense troops of geese fed in the stubble fields, teams of
horses stood in the stables, far more numerous than now, probably of a
larger and stronger stamp; they were rustic descendants of the old
knightly chargers, the pride and joy of their owners; and besides these
were the "Kleppers," the small and ancient race of the country. The
large parish herds of sheep and cattle grazed on the stony heights and
on the rich grass marshes. The wool fetched a high price, and in many
places much value was attached to a fine breed; the German cloths were
famed, and these were the best articles of export. This national wool,
the result of a thousand years of cultivation, was entirely lost to
Germany during the war. The district round the village (where