nd frequently the
old castle of some landed proprietor, or the house of some former
magistrate or count appointed by the Emperor, were fortified. They were
not fortresses in our sense, but they could, if the walls were thick
and the citizens stanch, resist even a great army, at least for a long
time. Thus Noerdlingen maintained itself in 1634 for eighteen days,
against the united Imperial armies of King Ferdinand, Gallas, and
Piccolomini--forming together more than 60,000 men: the citizens
repulsed seven assaults, with only five hundred men, Swedish
auxiliaries. For a defence like this, earth sconces were thrown out as
outworks, and rapidly united by trenches and palisades. Many places,
however, far more than at present, were real fortresses. Their chief
strength consisted in their outworks, which were planned by Flemish
science. It had long been known that the balls of carronades were more
destructive to stone and breast-works than to earth-works.

In the larger cities the cleanliness of the streets was much attended
to; they were paved, even in the carriage ways; the pavement was raised
in the centre for carrying away the water; the chief market-place, as
for example in Leipzig, was already paved with stone. Great efforts had
long been made to procure for the cities a certain and abundant supply
of drinking-water; under the streets ran wooden conduits; stone
cisterns and fountains often decorated with statues, stood in the
market-places and principal streets. The streets were not as yet
lighted; whoever went out by night required torches or lanterns; later,
however, torches were forbidden; but at the corner houses were fixed
metal fire-pans, in which, in case of uproar or fire at night, pitch
rings and resinous wood were burnt. It was the custom on the breaking
out of a fire to allow the water to run from the cisterns or the
fountains to the streets which were endangered. For this purpose
flood-gates were hung, and it was the duty of particular trades--in
Leipzig, the innkeepers--to dam up the water with these flood-gates at
the burning-places; at the same time from dung that was heaped up, they
formed a traverse. The street police and patroles had been improved in
the course of the last sixty years. The Elector Augustus of Saxony had
organized this department of administration with no little skill. His
numerous ordinances were used as models by the whole Empire, according
to which the princes and cities regulated the