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that if he had been born into a higher class he would have become a pastor, and they shared a steadfast faith, love of nature, interest in the common country people, ability to write simple but enthralling prose, unfortunate tendency to write inferior poetry, and a liking for young girls which would have landed them in serious trouble today.

It is very important to me that as far as possible Bräker should tell his own story in English as he did in his own language, through his autobiography and diary. But although his work would be interesting to read without any editorial notes, some readers will surely be as curious as I was to learn more about how he fitted into his environment. No-one wants to read a text smothered in notes, so I have also written sections notes on the historical context, both at the beginning and end of Bräker's life and at various points between. For those who would prefer to dispense with this introductory section, it may help to "place" him in the Europe of his time by mentioning a few better-known men and women who were his contemporaries:

Gilbert White, English naturalist, 1720-1793 Charles Edward Stuart, pretender to the thrones of England and Scotland, 1720-1788 Giacomo Casanova, Venetian con-man, spy and librarian, 1725-1798 Catherine the Great, empress of Russia, 1729-1796 Josiah Wedgwood, English manufacturer of ceramics, 1730-1795 Joseph Priestley, English scientist, 1733-1804 ULRICH BRÄKER 1735-1798 Ann Lee, blacksmith's daughter, founder of the American sect of the Shakers, 1736-1784 Edward Gibbon, English historian, 1737-1794 Eleanor Butler, Irish, elder of the Ladies of Llangollen, 1739-1829 James Boswell, Scottish laird and biographer, 1740-1795 John Paul Jones, American naval captain, 1747-1792 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, 1749-1832 William Hickey, English diarist, lawyer and colonist, 1749-1830

1735-58 Linnaeus compiles a classification of plants 1755 An earthquake at Lisbon kills some 30,000 people 1756-63 The Seven Years' War 1768-71 Captain Cook makes his first voyage to Australia 1771 Arkwright's "water-frame" spinning machine goes into operation 1775 America gains independence from Britain 1783 First manned balloon flight 1786 First performance of Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" 1787 First iron ship built

Bräker's world was Europe; only very seldom does he mention the existence of the world beyond it. On this one continent, however, there was a bewildering diversity of political, economic and cultural systems, and also enormous variation in the rate at which these changed during the 18th century. Officially, the supreme power in Europe was the Holy Roman Empire, a confederation of about 360 states, most of them very small. Since the mid-15th century the Imperial crown had been almost continuously hereditary in the house of the Austrian Habsburgs, rulers not only of Austria but of most of central Europe including Bohemia and Moravia (now included in Czechoslovakia), Croatia and the lands bordering the upper Rhine, and Hungary. The

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