German composition

Section 33 The⁠ Means of Conveyance in the Time of Charles II. I.1

Heavy articles⁠2 were (S. 2, N. 1) in the time of Charles II generally conveyed from place to place by waggons⁠3. The⁠4 expense of transmitting them was⁠5 enormous. From London to⁠6 Birmingham the charge was £7 a⁠7 ton, and from London to Exeter £12, which⁠8 is a third more than was afterwards charged⁠9 on turnpike-roads, and fifteen times more than is now demanded by⁠10 railway companies. Coal⁠11 was seen only in districts where it was produced⁠12, or⁠13 to which it could be carried by sea, and⁠14 was, indeed, always known in the South of England by the name of sea-coal.

Notes

1 Die Beförderungsmittel zur Zeit Karls des Zweiten.

2 objects.

3 Lastwagen, which place after ‘generally’.

4 ‘The — them’, may be briefly rendered by the compound noun ‘Die Transportkosten’. It may here be pointed out that the German language lends itself more easily than any other living language to the formation of compound expressions. Many advantages result from this adaptability of the language to express in one single term which, otherwise, would require a number of words; but the greatest of these advantages seems to me to lie in the power it gives us to avoid the too frequent use of the Genitive, a power which, if rightly wielded, will impart great vigour, conciseness, and elegance to the student’s style of writing.

5 were extraordinary high (groß).

6 nach; ‘charge’, here Fracht, f.; ‘to be’, here betragen; £7, sieben Pfund Sterling.

7 The def. art. is used in stating the price of goods, when the English use the indef. art.; as—
Dieser Kattun kostet fünfzig Pfennige die Elle. This cotton is sixpence a yard. (10 pfennigs = 1⅕d.)

8 The pron. ‘which’ referring to a whole clause, and not to a particular word in that clause, should be rendered by the indef. rel. pron. was; as—
She acted without thinking about the consequences, which was very wrong. Sie handelte, ohne über die Folgen nachzudenken, was sehr unrecht war.

9 berechnen; turnpike-road, Chaussee, f.

10 von, followed by the def. art.; to demand, beanspruchen.

11 Steinkohlen, used in the pl. without the art. Use the active voice with man, S. 4, N. 4.

12 gewinnen.

13 or — sea, oder wohin sie verschifft werden konnten.

14 Say ’and it was (sie wurden) in the South of England therefore (daher auch) only called sea-coal (Schiffskohlen)’.