HANDBOUND
AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF
JOURNEY
THROUGH
HO.LLAND, &C.
J' *'
MADE IN THE SUMMER OF 1794.
1 HE Author begs- leave to obferve, in
explanation of the ufe made of the plural
term in the following pages, that, her jour-
ney having been performed in the company
of her neareft relative and friend, the ac-
count of it has been written fo much from
/
their mutual obfervation, that there would
be a deception in permitting the book to
appear, without fome acknowledgement,
/
which may diflinguifh it from works en-
tirely her own. The title page would,
therefore, have contained the joint names
of her hufband and herfelf, if this mode of
appearing before the Public, beiides being
thought by that relative a greater acknow-
ledgement than was due to his fliare of the
work, had not feemed liable to the impu-
tation of a defign to attract attention by
cxtraordinary novelty. It is, however, ne-
ceflary to her own fatisfa&ion, that fome
notice mould be taken of this affiftance.
She may, therefore, be permitted to intrude
A3 a few
a few more words, as to this iubject, by
faying, that where the ceconomical and por
litical conditions of countries are touched
upon in the following work, the remarks
are lefs her own than elfewhere.
With refpect to the book itfelf, it is, of
courfe, impoffible, and would be degrading
if it were not fo, to prevent juft cenfure
by apologies ; and unjuft cenfure fhe has
no reafon, from her experience, to fear ;
but fhe will venture to defend a practice
adopted in the following pages, that has
been fometimes blamed for its apparent na-
tionality, by writers of the moft refpecta-
ble authority. The references to England,
which frequently occur during the foreign
part of the tour, are made becaufe it has
feemed that one of the beft modes of de-
fcribing to any clafs of readers what they
may not know, is by comparing it with
what they do.
May 20, 1795.
A JOUR-
JOURNEY, &c.
HELVOETSLUYS.
ABOUT twenty hours after our em-
barkation, at Harwich, and fix after our
firft fight of the low-fpread and barren
coaft of Goree^ we reached this place,
which is feated on one of many inlets, that
carry the waters of the German Ocean
through the fouthern part of the province
f Holland. Goree, rendered an ifland by
B thefe
* HOLLAND,
thefe encroachments of the fea, is always
the firft land expected by the feamen ; or
rather they look out for the lofty tower of
its church, which, though feveral miles
more diftant than the more, is vifible when
that cannot be difcerned. The entrance of
the water between the land, in a channel
probably three leagues wide, foon after
commences ; and Helvoetfluys is then pre-
fently feen, with the mafts of veflels rifing
above its low houfes, amidft green embank-
ments and paftures, that there begin to
reward the care of excluding the fea.
The names of Dutch towns are in them-
felves expreffive of the objects moft intereft-
r~
ing to a people, who, for opportunities of
* commerce, have increafed their original and
natural dangers, by admitting the water in
fome parts, while, for their homes and their
lives, they muft prevent it from encroaching
upon others. Dam^ Sluice^ or Dyke occur
in aimoft all their compounded titles. The
fluice,
HOLLAND. 3
iluice, which gives this town part of its name,
is alfo its harbour ; affording, perhaps, an
outlet to the overflowings of the country
behind, but filled at the entrance to the depth
of more than eighty feet by the fea, with
which it communicates.
Upon the banks of this fluice, which are
partly artificial, the town is built in one fhort
ftreet of fmall houfes, inhabited chiefly by
tradefmen and innkeepers. The dockyard
bounds the fluice and the town, communi-
cating with the former by gates, over which
a fmall pivot bridge connects the two fides
of the ftreet. Each head of the pier, or har-
bour, has been extended beyond the land, for
feveral yards by pile work, filled with earth
and large flones, over which there is no
pavement, that its condition may be con-
ftantly known. We flepped from the packet
upon one of thefe, and, walking along the
beams, that pafs between the immenfe piles,
B 2 faw
4 HOLLAND.
faw how clofely the interfticcs were filled,
and how the earth and ftones were again
compacted by a ftrong kind of bafket-work.
The arrival of a packet is the chief inci-
dent known at Helvoetiluys ; and, as ours
entered the harbour about noon, and in fine
weather, perhaps, a fourth part of the inha-
bitants were collected as fpectators. Their
appearance did not furprife us with all the
novelty, which we had expected from the
firft fight of a foreign people. The Dutch
feamen every where retain the national drefs ;
but the other men of Helvoetfluys differ
from Englifhmen in their appearance chiefly
by wearing coarfer clothes, and by bringing
their pipes with them into the ftreet. Fur-
ther on, feveral women were collected about
their balkets of herbs, and their drefs had
lome of the novelty, for which we were
looking ; they had hats of the fize of a fmall
chinefe umbrella, and almoft as gaudily lined
within ;
HOLLAND. 5
within ; clofe, white jackets, with long flaps ;
fhort, coloured petticoats, in the (hape of a
diving bell ; yellow flippers, without quar-
ters at the heel ; and caps, that exadly fitted
the head and concealed the hair, but which
were ornamented at the temples by gold
iiiiagree clafps, twirling, like vine tendrils,
over the cheeks of the wearer.
Our inn was kept by Englifh people, but
the furniture was entirely Dutch. Two
beds, like cribs in a fhip, were let into the
wainfcot ; and we were told, that, in all the
inns on our journey, we fhould feldom, or
never, be fhewn into a room, which had not
a bed.
Helvoetfluys, it fufficiently appears, is a
very inconfiderable place, as to its fize and
inhabitants. But it is not fo in naval, or mi-
litary eftimation. It is diilant about ten or
twelve miles from the open fea, yet is nearly
fecure from attack on this fide, becaufe that
B 3. part
6 HOLLAND.
part of the approach, which is deep enough
for large veiTels, is commanded by batteries
on fhore. It ftands in the middle of an im-
menfe bay, large enough to contain all the
navy of Holland, and has a dockyard and
arfenal in the centre of the fortifications.
When we pafled through it, fix fhips of
the line and two frigates were lying in
the dockyard, and two fhips of the line and
three frigates, under the command of an
Admiral, in the bay.
The fortifications, we were allured upon
good military authority, were in fuch re-
pair, that not a fod was out of its place,
and are flrong enough to be defended by five
thoufand men againft an hundred thoufand,
for five weeks. The fea water rifes to a con-
fiderable height in a wide ditch, which fur-
rounds them. We omitted to copy an in-
fcription. placed on one of the walls, which
told the date of their completion ; but this
was
HOLLAND. 7
was probably about the year 1696, when
the harbour was perfected. Though the
dockyard can be only one of the dependen-
cies upon that of Rotterdam, the largeil (hips
of that jurifdiclion are preierved here, on ac-
count of the convenient communication be-
tween the port and the fea.
Near this place may be obferved, what
we examined with more leifure upon our
return, the ingenuity, utility and vaftnefs of
the embankments, oppofed by the Dutch to
the fea. From Helvoetfluys eaftward, for
many miles, the land is preferved from the
fea pnly by an artificial mound of earth,
againft which the water heavily and often
impetuoufly drives for admiffion into the
flickered plains below. The fea, at high
water, is fo much above the level of the
ground, from which it is thus boldly fepa-
rated, that one who (lands on the land fide
of the embankment hears the water foam-
B 4 ing,
8 HOLLAND.
ing r as if over his head. Yet the mound
itfelf, which has flood for two centuries, at
leaft, without repair, though with many re-
newals of the means, that protect it, is ftill
unhurt and undiminimed, and may yet fee
generations of thofe, whom it defends, rifmg
and paffing away, on one fide, like the-fluo
tuations of the tides, which aflail and retire
from it, on the other.
It is better, however, to defcribe than
to praife. The mound, which appears to
be throughout of the fame height, as to the
fea, is fometimes more and fometimes lefs
raifed above the fields ; for, where the na-
tural level of the land affifts in refinance to
the water, the Hollanders have, of courfe,
availed themfelves of it, to exert the lefs of
their art and their labour. It is, perhaps,
for the moft part, thirty fet above the ad-
joining land. The width at top is enough to
permit the paflage of two carriages, and
there
HOLLAND. 9
there is a fort of imperfect road along it.
In its defcent, the breadth increafes fo much,
that it is not very difficult to walk down
either fide. We could not meafure it, and
may therefore^ be excufed for relating how
its fize may be gueffed.
On the land fide, it is faid to be ftrength-
ened by ftone and timber, which we did not
fee, but which may be there, covered by
earth and grafs. Towards the fea, fomewhat
'above and confiderably below high- water
mark, a ftrong matting of flags prevents the
furge from carrying aw r ay the furface of the
mound ; and this is the defence which has
fo long preferved it. The matting is held to
the more by bandages of twifted Hags, run-
ning horizontally, at the diftance of three ,
or four yards from each other, and flaked
to the ground by flrong wooden pins. As
this matting is worn by every tide, a fur-
vey of it is frequently made, and many parts
appear
io HOLLAND.
appear to have been juft repaired. Further
in the fea, it is held down by ftones ; above,
there are pofts at every forty yards, which
are numbered, that the fpot may be exactly
defcribed where repairs are neceflary. The
import for the maintenance of thefe banks
amounts to nearly as much as the land-tax ;
and, as the land could not be pofTefled with-
out it, this tax has the valuable character of
being occafioned by no mifmanagement, and
of producing no difcontent.
ROTTER-
HOLLAND. ii
ROTTERDAM.
FROM Helvoetfluys to this place the
ufual way is by the Brill and Maefland fluice,
with feveral changes of carriages and boats ;
but, on the days of the arrival of mails, a
Rotterdam {kipper, whofe veflel has been
left at a hamlet on the Maefe, takes his party
in carriages acrofs the ifland of Voorn, on
which Helvoetfluys {lands, to his fchuyr,
and from thence by the Maefe to Rotter-
dam. We paid two ducats, or about feven-
teen (hillings, for the whole, and found this
the higheft price given for travelling in Hol-
land. Our carnage was a fort of fmall coach
of the fafhion, exhibited in paintings of the
fixteenth century, but open before, and fo
ill-furnifhed with fprings, that the Dutch
name,
12 HOLLAND.
name, " a covered waggon," was not an im-
proper defcription of it. A bad road led us
through fome meadows of meagre grafs, and
through fields in which corn was higher,
though thinner, than in England. The
profpect was over an entire level to the ho-
rizon, except that the fpires of diftant vil-
lages, fome fmall clufters of trees, and now
and then a wind-mill, varied it. As we ap-
proached any of thefe clufters, we found
ufually a neat farm-houfe flickered within,
and included, together with its garden and
orchard, in a perfect green fence : the fields
were elfewhere feparated from each other
and from the road, neither by hedges or
walls, but by deep ditches filled with water,
over which are laid fmall bridges, that may
be opened in the middle by a fort of trap-
door, raifed and locked to a poft, to prevent
the intrufion of ftrangers.
On the way we pafled now and then a
waggon
HOLLAND. 13
waggon filled with large brafs jugs, bright
as new gold. In thefe veflels, which have
fhort narrow necks, covered with a wooden
ftopper, milk is brought from the field
throughout Holland. It is always carried
to the towns in light waggons, or carts,
drawn frequently by horfes as fleek and
well -conditioned as thofe in our beft coaches.
The hamlet, at which we were to embark,
was bufied in celebrating fome holiday. At
the only cottage, that had a fign, we applied
for refrefhment, partly for the purpofe of
feeing its infide, by which we were not a
little gratified. Thirty or forty peafants were
feated upon benches, about a circle, in which
children were dancing to the fcraping of a
French fiddler. The women wore their
large hats, fet up in the air like a fpread
fan, and lined with damafk, or flowered
linen. Children of feven years old, as well
as women of feventy, were in this prepofte-
rous
i 4 HOLLAND.
rous difguife. All had necklaces, ear-rings,
and ornamental clafps for the temples, of
folid gold : fome wore large black patches
of the fize of a fhilling. The old woman of
the houfe had a valuable necklace and head-
drefs. Among the group were many of
Teniers' beauties ; and over the countenances
of the whole aflemblage was an air of mo -
defty, decorum, and tranquillity. The chil-
dren left their dancing, to fee us ; and we
had almoft loft our tide to Rotterdam^ by
{laying to fee them.
Our fail up the Maefe was very delight-
ful. The river flows here with great dig-
nity, and is animated with veflels of all coun-
tries paffing to and from Rotterdam. The
huge Archangelman, the lighter American,
the fmart, fwift Englifhman, and the bulky
Dutchman, exhibit a various fcene of fhip-
ping, upon a noble furface of water, wind-
ing between green paftures and rich villages,
fpread
HOLLAND. 15
fpread along the low mores, where pointed
roofs, trees, and mafts of timing-boats, are
feen mingled in ftriking confufion. Small
trading fchuyts, as flout and as round as
their matters, glided by us, with crews re-
pofmg under their deep orange fails, and fre-
quently exchanging fome falute with our
-^
captain. On our left, we pafled the little
town of Flaarding, celebrated for its (hare
of the herring-fifhery en cur coafb ; and
Schiedam, a larger port, where what is called
the Rotterdam geneva is made, and where
feveral Englifh vefiels were vifible in the
chief ftreet of the place. After a fail of
two hours we diftinguifhed Rotterdam, fur-
rounded by more wood than had yet ap-
peared, and overtopped by the heavy round
tower of the great church of St. Lawrence.
The flatnefs of its fituation did not allow us
here to judge of its extent ; but we foon
perceived the grandeur of an ample city, ex-
3 tending
16 HOLLAND*
tending along the north fhore of the Maefe,
that, now fpreading into a noble bay, along
the margin of which Rotterdam rifes, fweeps
towards the fouth-eaft.
The part of the city firft feen, from the
river, is faid to be among the fineft in Eu-
rope for magnificence and convenience of
fituation. It is called the Boom Qyay, i. e*
the quay with trees, having rows of lofty
elms upon the broad terrace, that fupports
many noble houfes, but which is called a
quay, becaufe mips of confiderable burthen
may moor againft it, and deliver their car-
goes. The merchants accordingly, who have
refidences here, have their warehoufes ad r
joining their houfes, and frequently build
them in the form of domeftic offices. The,
quay is faid to be a mile in length, but ap-
pears to be fomewhat lefs. There are houfes
upon it, as handfome as any in the fquares
of London.
i At
HOLLAND. 17
At the top of the Boom Quay is one of
the Heads, or entrances by water into the
city, through which the greater part of its
numerous canals receive their fupplies. On
the approach to it, the view further up the
Maefe detains attention to the bank of this
noble river. A vaft building, erected for
the Admiralty, is made, by a bend of the
Maefe, almoft to face you ; and the inter-
val, of more than a quarter of a mile, is
filled by a line, of houfes, that open direct-
ly, <and without a terrace, upon the water.
The fronts of thefe are in another ftreet ;
but they all exhibit, even on this fide, what
is the diftindion of Dutch houfes and towns,
a nicety and a perfectnefs of prefervation,
which give them an air of gaiety without, and
prefent you with an idea of comfort within.
What in England would be thought a fymp-
torn of extraordinary wealth, or extrava-
gance, is here univerfal. The outfide of
every houfe, however old or humble, is as
C clean
i8 HOLLAND.
clean as water and paint can make it. The
window-fhutters are ufually coloured green ;
and whatever wood appears, whether in cor-
nices or worfe ornaments,, is fo frequently
cleaned, as well as painted, that it has al-
ways the glofs of newnefs. Grotefque or-
naments are fometimes by th^fe means ren-
dered confpicuous ; and a ftreet acquires the
air of a town in a toyfliop ; but in general
there is not in this refpect fuch a want of
tafte as can much diminifh the value of their
care.
Our fkipper reached his birth, which is
conftantly in the fame place, foon after pag-
ing the Heady and entering by a canal into
one of the principal ftreets of the city. Be-
tween the broad terraces of this ftreet, which
are edged with thick elms, the innumerable
mafts of Dutch fchuyts, with gay pendants
and gilded tops ; the hulls of larger veflels
from all parts of the world ; the white draw-
bridges, covered with paflengers ; the boats,
6 continually
HOLLAND. 19
continually moving, without noife or appa-
rent difficulty ; all this did fomewhat fur-
prife us, who had fuppofed that a city fo
familiarly known, and yet fo little mentioned
as Rotterdam, could have nothing fo remark-
able as its wealth and trade.
In our way from the boat to the inn, other
fine canals opened upon us on each fide, and
we looked at them till we had loft the man,
whom we fhould have followed with our
baggage. We had no fear that it would be
ftolen, knowing the infrequency of robbe-
ries in Holland ; and the firft perfon, of
whom we could enquire our way in broken;
Dutch, acknowledged his country people by
anfwering in very good Englim. There are
many hundreds of Britifh refidents in this
place, and our language and commerce have
greatly the fway here over thofe of all other
foreign nations. The Dutch infcripdons
over warehoufes and (hops have frequently
Englifh tranflations underneath them. Of
C 2 large
20 HOLLAND.
large veflels, there are nearly as many
Englifh as Dutch in the harbour; and, if
you fpeak to any Dutchman in the ftreet,
it is more probable that he can anfwer in
Englifh than in French. On a Sunday, the
Englifh fill two churches, one of which
we attended on our return. It is an ob-
long brick building, permitted by the States
to be within the jurifdiction of the Bifhop of
London, Parliament having given 2500!. to-
wards its completion in the beginning of the
prefent century. There are alfo many Pro-
teflant diflenters here, who are faid to have
their offices of worfhip performed with the
ability, fimplicity, and zeal, which are ufu-
ally to be obferved in the devotions of that
clafs of Chriftians.
Rotterdam is the fecond city for fize, and
perhaps the firft for beauty, in the United
Provinces; yet, when we walked through
it the next day, and expected to find the
magnificence of the approach equalled in its
interior,
HOLLAND. 21
interior, we were compelled to withdraw a
little of the premature admiration, that had
begun to extend to the whole place. The
ftreet, where there is moft trade and the
greateft paflage, the Hoogjlraat, is little
wider, though it is abundantly cleaner, than
a London lane. The Stadthoufe is in this
ftreet, and is an old brick building, with a
peaked roof, not entirely free from fantaftic
ornament. It has been built too early to
have the advantages of modern elegance,
and too late for the fanction of ancient dig-
nity. The market-place has only one wide
accefs ; and the communication between the
ftreet, from the principal Head, and that in
which the Exchange is placed, is partly
through a Very narrow, though a fhort paf--
fage. The Exchange itfelf is a plain ftone
building, well defigned for its purpofe, and
completed about fifty years ago. The hap-
pieft circumftance relating to it is, that the
merchants are numerous enough to fill the
C 3 colonnades
22 HOLLAND.
colonnades on the four fides of its interior.
Commerce, which cannot now be long dif-
couraged in any part of Europe, becaufe
without it the intereft of public debts can-
not be paid, is the permanent defender of
freedom and knowledge againft military
glory and politics.
From the Exchange there is an excellent
walk to the market-place, where the well-
known ftatue of ERASMUS is raifed. Be-
ing reprefented in his doctor's drefs, the
figure can difplay little of the artift's Ikill ;
but the countenance has ftrong lines, and a
phyiiognomift would not deny them to be
expreflive of the difcernment and ihrewd-
nefs of the original.
The market-place is really a large bridge,
for a canal pafles under it ; but its fize, and
the eafmefs of afcent from the fides, prevent
this from being immediately obferved. Some
of the furrounding houfes have their dates
marked upon glazed tiles. They were built
during
HOLLAND. 33
during the long war, that refcued the pro-
vinces from the Spanifh dominion ; a time
when it might be fuppofed that nothing
would have been attended - to, except the
bufmefs of providing daily food, and the
duty of refifting the enemy ; but in which
the Dutch enlarged and beautified their
cities, prepared their country to become a
medium of commerce, and began nearly all
the meafures, which have led to their prefent
extenfive profperity.
Near this place is the great church of St.
LAWRENCE, which we entered, but did not
find to be remarkable, except for a magnifi-
cent brafs baluftrade that crofles it at the
upper end. A profufion of achievements ,
which cover the walls almoft to the top,
contribute to its folemnity. In addition to
the arms of the deceafed, they contain the
dates of their birth and death, and are ufed
inftead of infcriptions, though no names are
cxprefled upon them. Under the pulpit was
4 an
24 HOLLAND.
an hour-glafs, which limits the difcourfe of
the preacher : on one fide a wand, having
at the end a velvet bag and a fmall bell ;
this is carried about, during an interval in
the fervice, and every body puts fomething
into it for the poor. The old beadle, who
{hewed us the church, laid his hands upon
us with pleafure, when he heard that we
were Englifh, and Proteftants. There are
three minifters to this church, with falaries
of nearly two hundred pounds flerling
each.
We went to our inn through the Hoog-
ftraat^ which was filled with people and car-
riages, but has no raifed pavement to fepa-
rate the one from the other. In all the
towns which we faw, the footpath is diftin-
guifhed from the road only by being paved
with a fort of light coloured brick. The
Dutch fhops are in the mape, which thofe
of London are defcribed to have had fifty
years fmce, with fmall high windows, and
blocks
HOLLAND. 25
blocks between them and the ftreet. Sil-
verfmiths expofe their goods in fmall glafs
cupboards upon the blocks, and nearly all
the trades make upon them what little mew
is cuftomary. Almoft every tenth houfe
difplays the infcription Tabak te koop y " To-
bacco to be fold." This ftreet, having no
canal, is occupied entirely by retail traders.
We bought in it the Antwerp Gazette for
two doights, or one farthing ; ftrawberries,
large and well coloured, at a lower price
than they could be had fix weeks later in
England, but without flavour ; and went
into feveral bookfellers' fhops, expecting to
have found fomething in Latin, or French,
but could fee only Dutch books. In another
ftreet a bookfeller had feveral Englifh vo-
lumes, and there are no doubt well filled
fhops, but not fo numerous as that we could
find any.
Over the canals, that flow through al-
moft every ftreet of Rotterdam, are great
numbers
26 HOLLAND.
numbers of large drawbridges, which con-
tribute much to the neat and gay appearance
of the city ; but, when thefe are raifed, the
obftruction to the paflage occafions crowds
on each fide ; and, therefore, in fome of the
moft frequented parts, the bridges are entire
and permanent, except for the breadth of
three feet in the centre, where there is a
plank, which opens upon hinges almoft as
cafily as the lid of a trunk. Through this
opening the mafts of the finall Dutch fchuyts
are eafily conducted, but {hips can pafs
only where there are drawbridges. The
number of the former is immenfe ; for,
throughout the provinces, every village, if
it is near a canal, has feveral fchuyts, which
carry away the fuperfiuous produce of the
country, and return with the manufactures,
or ftores of the towns. But neither their
number, nor their neatnefs, is fo remarkable
as the eafe and ftillnefs, with which they
traverfe the city ; and indeed eafe and ftill-
nefs
HOLLAND. 27
nefs are much the characteriftics of all the
efforts of Dutch induftry. The noifc 7 and
agitation, ufual whenever many perfons are
employed together in other ' countries, are
unknown here. Ships are brought to their
moorings, fchuyts pafs each other in crowd-
ed canals, heavy burthens are raifed and
cargoes removed, almoft without a word,
that can be heard at twenty yards diflance.
Another circumftance, rendering Dutch
towns freer from noife than others of equal
traffic, is the little ufe which is made of
waggons and carts, even where fome fort
of land carriage mufl be employed. Heavy
commodities are ufually carried about the
ftreets on fledges ; and almoft the greateft
noife is, when the driver of one of thefe,
after having delivered his load, meaning to
render himfelf a prodigy of frolicfomenefs,
ftands upon the hinder edges of his fledge,
and then, preventing himfelf from falling
backward
28 HOLLAND.
backward by his hoM of the reins, is drawn
rapidly through the admiring crowd.
We were long enough at Rotterdam,
during three vifits, to fee how well it is
provided with avenues towards the country
and along the banks of the Maefe. To
one of thefe the way is over the two Heads ^
or chief canals, each of which you crofs
for a doight, or half a farthing, in boats
that are continually paffing between the two
fides. This little voyage faves a walk of
about three hundred yards to the neareft
bridge. The boats will hold twenty or
thirty perfons, and the profit of them is
very confiderable to the City government,
which applies the money to public pur-
pofes. Each boat is worked by one man,
who pulls it over by a rope in about two
minutes.
Many of the inhabitants have what they
call garden-houfes upon thefe walks, and
upon
HOLLAND. 29
upon a femi- circular road, which pafles on
the land fide of the city; but the moft
wealthy have feats at greater di fiances,
where they can be furrounded with grounds,
and make the difplay of independent refi-
dences.
Upon the whole, Rotterdam has from
its fituation many conveniences and delights,
and from its ftructure fome magnificence,
together with a general neatnefs ; but is, for
the moft part, deficient in elegance, and its
beauties have too much the air of pretti-
nefTes. The canals are indifputably fine,
crowned with lofty terraces, and deep
enough to carry large veflels into the centre
of the city.
DELFT.
30 HOLLAND.
DELFT.
BETWEEN Rotterdam and this place
we commenced our travelling in trecht-
fchuyts, which are too well known to need
defcription. The fare is at the rate of about
a penny per mile, and a trifle more hires the
roof, which is a fmall feparate chamber, near-
eft to the ftern of the vefTel, lighted by win-
dows on each fide. In engaging this, you
have an inftance of the accuracy of the
Dutch in their minuteft tranfadions ; a for-
mal printed receipt, or ticket v is given for
the few pence which it cofts, by a commit
fary, who has no other bufinefs than to re-
gulate the affairs of the trechtfchuyts at his
gate of the city. We could never learn
what proportion of the fare is paid as a tax
to the State, but it is faid to be a confider-
able
HOLLAND. 31
able part ; and not only thefe fchuyts, but
the ferries, the poft waggons, and the pilot-
age throughout the United States, are made
contributory to the public funds.
The punctuality of the departure and
arrival of the trechtfchuyts is well known,
and juftifies the Dutch method of reckoning
diftances, which is by hours, and not by
leagues or miles. The canals being generally
full to the brim, the top of the veflel is
above the level of the adjoining country,
and the view over it is of courfe extenfive ;
but the houfes and gardens, which are beft
worth feeing, are almoft always upon the
banks of the canal. We pafled feveral fuch
in the way to Delft, towards which the Rot*
terdam merchants have their favourite feats ;
but Dutch gardens are rather to be noticed
by an Englifhman as curiofities, than as
luxuries. It is not only by the known ill
tafte of their ornaments, but by the effects
of climate and the foil, that gardens are de-
prived
3 2 HOLLAND.
prived of value, in a country, where the
moifture is fo dif proportioned to the heat,
that the verdure, though bright, has no
fragrance, and the fruit, at its utmoft fize,
fcarcely any flavour.
A paflage of two hours brought us to
Delft, which we had expeded to find a fmall
and ill-inhabited place, knowing it to be not
now occupied by any confiderable trade.
Our inn, we fuppofed, muft be within a
few minutes walk. We proceeded, however,
through one ftreet for half a mile, and,
after fome turnings, did not reach our inn,
though we were led by the neareft way, in
lefs than twenty minutes. During all this
time we were upon the terraces of clear
canals, amongft excellent houfes, with a
fmall intermixture of mops and fome public
buildings. The mingled admiration and
wearinefs, which we felt here, for the firft
time, have been, however, often repeated ;
for if there is a neceffity for faying what
is
HOLLAND. 33
is the next diftin&lon of Dutch towns, after
their neatnefs, their fize muft be infilled
upon. There are Dutch villages, fcarcely
marked in a map, which exceed in fize
iome of the county towns in England.
Mae/land Sluice y a place oppofite to the
Brill, is one. And here is Delft, a place
with fcarcely any other trade than confifts in
the circulation of commodities from Rotter-
dam through fome neighbouring villages ;
which is not the feat of any confiderable
part of the national government, and is in-'
ferior, in point of fituation, to all the fur-
rounding towns. Delft, thus undiftinguifhed,
fills a large circumference, with ftreets fo
intricately thick, that we never went from
our inn without lofmg our way.
The Doolen, one of the beft inns in Hol-
land, is a large building of the fixteenth
century, raifed by the Spaniards, and firft
intended to be a convent ; but, having been
ufed by the burghers of Delft for public pur-
D pofes,
34 HOLLAND.
pofes, during the druggie of the Province*
againil Spain, it is now venerable as the
icene of their councils and preparations. In
the fuite of large apartments, which were
ufed by them, fome of the eity bufmefs is ilili
tranfacted, and in thefe ftrangers are never
entertained. Behind, is a bowling-green, in
which the burghers to this day perform
their military exercifes : they were fo em-
ployed when we came in ; and it was pleaf-
ing to confider, that their inferiority to their
anceflors, in point of martial appearance,
was the refult of the long internal peace fe-
cured by the exertions of the latter.
Over two arches of the building is the
date of its erection, 1565, the year in which
the deftrudion of all families, profeiling the
Proteftant religion either in France or Spain,,
is fuppofed to have been agreed upon at
Bayonne between the fovercigns of the two
countries, and one year preceding the firft
meafures of confederate refinance in the
Low
HOLLAND. 35
Low Countries, which that and other efforts
of perfecution produced. One of thefe
arches communicates with the rooms fo long
ufed by the burghers ; and our hoftefs, an
intelligent woman, accompanied us through
them. The fifft is ornamented with three
large pictures, reprefenting feveral of the
early burghers of the Commonwealth, either
in arms or council. A portrait of BARNE-
VELDT is marked with the date and the
painter's name, " MICHAEL MIEREVELD
" delineavtt ac perfunfforie pinxit, 1617,**
one year before the flagitious arreft of
BARNEVELDT, in defiance of the confti-
tution of the provinces, by MAURICE of
ORANGE. A piece, exhibiting fome of the
burghers in arms, men of an handfome and
heroic appearance, is alfo dated, by having
1 648 painted on a drum ; that, which {hews
them in council, has a portrait of GROTIUS,
painted when he was feventeeft. His face
D2 18-
3 6 HOLLAND.
is the feventh from the right hand in the
fecond row.
Beyond this room are others containing
feveral fcore of fmall cupboards, on the
doors of each of which are two or three
blazonries of arms. Here are depofited fome
parts of the drefs and arms of an aflbciation
of Arquefbufiers, ufual in all the Dutch
towns ; the members of which fociety arTem-
ble annually in October, to fhoot at a target
placed in a pavilion of the old convent gar-
den. The markfman takes his aim from the
fartheft room ; and between him and the
mark are two walls, perforated two feet and
a half in length, and eight inches in breadth,
to permit the paflage of the fhot. A man
ftands in the pavilion, to tell where the ball
has (truck ; and every markfman, before he
{hoots, rings a bell, to warn this perfon out
of the way. He that firft hits a white fpot
in the target, has his liquor, for the enfuing
year, I
HOLLAND. 37
year, free of excife duty ; but, to render
this more difficult, a ftork is fufpended by
the legs from a firing, which, paffing down
the whole length of the target, is kept in
continual motion by the agitation- of the
bird. It did not appear whether the ftork
has any other {hare in this ancient ceremony,
which is reprefented in print's of confidera-
ble date. It is held near the ground, out
of the way of the fhot, and is certainly not
intended to be hurt, for the Dutch have no
tafte for cruelty in their amufements. The
ftork, it is alfo known, is efteemed by them
a fort of tutelary bird ; as it once was in.
Rome, where ASELLUS SEMPRONIUS Ru-
FUS, who firft had them ferved at an en-
tertainment, is faid to have loft the Prsc-
torlhip for his faci ilegious gluttony. In
thefe trivial enquiries we pafled our firft
evening at Delft.
Early the next morning, a battalion of re-
gular troops was reviewed upon a fmall plain
D 3 within
S 8 HOLLAND.
within the walls of the town. The uniform
is blue and red, in which the Dutch officers
have not quite the fmart appearance of ours.
One of thefe, who gave the word to a com-
pany, was a boy, certainly not more than fif-
teen, whofe fhrill voice was ludicroufly heard
between the earneft fhouts of the others.
The firing was very exact, which is all that
we can tell of the qualities of a review.
Delft was a place of early importance in
the United Provinces, being one of the fix
. original cities, that fent Deputies to the States
of the province ; a privilege, which, at the
inftance of their glorious WILLIAM the
Firft of ORANGE, was afterwards properly
extended to twelve others, including Rotter-
dam an4 the Brill. Yet it is little celebrated
for military events, being unfortified, and
having probably always obeyed the fortune
of the" neighbouring places. The circum-
flance which gives it a melancholy place in
hiftory, is the murder of the wife and bene-
ficent
HOLLAND. 39
ficent Prince who founded the republic. His
palace, a plain brick building, is ftill in good
repair, where flrangers are always fhewn the
fiaircafe on which he fell, and the holes
made in the wall by the Ihot that killed
him. The old man, who keeps the houfe,
told the ftory with as much agitation and
intereft as if it had happened yefterday.
" The Prince and Princefs came out of that
chamber here flood the Prince, here flood
the murderer ; when the Prince flepped here
to fpeak to him about the pafTport, the vil-
lain fired, and the Prince fell all along here
and died. Yes, fo it was there are the
holes the balls made." Over one of thefe,
which is large enough to admit two fingers,
is this infcription :
" Hier ondcr ftaen de Teykenen dcr Koog-
len daar meeds Prins Willem vat2 Orange is
doorfcbootten op 10 July, A. 1584."
To this deteftable action the affaflin ac*
knowledged himfelf to have been inftigatecf
D4 by
40 HOLLAND.
bj the proclamation of Philip the Second,
offering a reward for its perpetration. The
Princefs, who had the wretchednefs to wit-
nefs it, had loft her father and her former
hufband in the mafiacre of St. Bartholomew
in France, which, though contrived by Ca-
therine and Charles the Ninth of that coun-
try, is believed to have been the confe-
quence of their interview at Bayonne, with
Jfabella, the wife of the fame Philip.
The melancholy excited on this fpot is
continued by paffing from it to the tomb of
WILLIAM, in the great church, called the
Nieu'we Kerk. There the gloomy pageantry
of the black efcutcheons, above a- choir,
filent, empty and vaft, and the withering
remains of colours, won by hands long fmce
gone to their decay, prolong the confidera-
tion of the tranfientnefs of human worth
and happinefs, which can fo eafily be de-
flroyed by the command, or the hand of
human villainy.
This
HOLLAND. 41
This tomb is thought to be not exceeded
by any piece of fepulchral grandeur in Eu-
rope. Standing alone, in a wide choir, it is
much more confpicuous and ftriking than
a monumental fabric raifed againft a wall,
at the fame time that its fides are fo varied as
to prefent each a new fpe&acle. It was be-
gun in 1609, by order of the States Gene-
ral, and completed in 1621 ; the artift, HEN-
DRIK DE KEYZER, receiving 28,000 florins
as its price, and 2000 more as a prefent.
The length is 20 feet, the breadth 15, and
height 27. A bronze ftatue of the Prince,
fitting in full armour, with his fword, fcarf,
and commander's ftaff, renders one fide the
chief; on the other is his effigy in white
marble, lying at full length ; arid at his feet,
in the fame marble, the figure of the dog,
which is faid to have refufed food from the
moment of its matter's death. Round the
tomb, twenty-two columns of veined or
black Italian marble, of the Doric order, and,
with
4* HOLLAND.
with bafes and capitals of white marble, fup-i
port a roof or canopy, ornamented with
many emblems, and with the achievements
gf the Prince.
At the corners, are the ftatues of Religion*
Liberty, Juftice, and Fortitude, of which the
firft refts upon a piece of black marble, on
which is infcribed in golden letters the name
of CHRIST ; and the fecond holds a cap,
with the infcription Aurea Libertas. On
the four fides of the canopy are the devices
of the Prince, with the infcriptions JEHO-
VAH. j'V maintiendrai Piete et Jit/lice.
1*6 Vindice^ tuta Libertas.rAnd, Savis
jranquillus in Undis.
There are many other ornaments, which
give dignity or elegance to the ftructure,
but cannot be defcribed without tedioufnefs.
The well-known Epitaph is certainly worth
tranfcribing :
D. O. M. et etcrnse memori^ Gulielmi
NafTovige/upremi Auranfionenfium Principis,
Patr.
HOLLAND. 43
Patr. patrlse, qui Belgii fortunis fuas poftha-
buit et fuorum ; validiffimos exercitus sere
pluritnum private bis confcripfit, bis in-
duxit ; ordinum aufpiciis Hifpaniae tyranni-
detn propulit ; verse religionis cultum, avi-
tas patrise leges revocavit, reftituit ; ipfam
denique libertatem tantum non aflertara^
Mauritio Principi, paternse virtutis haeredi
filio, ftabiliendam reliquit. Herois vere pii,
prudentis, invili, quern Philip. II. Hifp. R.
Europe timer, timuit ; non domuit, non
terruit ; fed empto percuflbre fraude ne-
fanda fuftulit ; Foederat. Belgii proving
perenni memor. monura. fee.
" To GOD the beft and higheft, and to
the eternal memory of William of Naflau,
Sovereign Prince of Orange, the father of
his country, whofe welfare he preferred to
that of hiinfelf and his family; who, chiefly
at his own expence, twice levied and intro-
duced a powerful army; under the fandion
pf the States repelled the tyranny of Spain ;
recovered
44 HOLLAND.
recovered and reftored the fervice of true
religion and the ancient laws of the coun-
try ; and finally left the liberty, which he
had himfelf aflferted, to be eftablifhed by his
fon, Prince Maurice, the heir of his father's
virtues. The Confederated Belgic Provinces
have creeled this monument, in perpetual
memory of this truly pious, prudent and un-
conquered Hero, whom Philip II. King of
Spain, the dread of Europe, dreaded ; never
overcame, never terrified ; but, with wicked
treachery, carried off by means of an hired
afiaflin."
The tomb of GROTIUS is in the fame
church, which is a ftately building of brick
and ftone, but has nothing of the " dim
religious light," that fooths the mind in
Gothic ftructures. Upon the fteeple are
many fmalt bells, the chimes rung upon
which are particularly efteemdd, both for
tone and tune.
On the oppofite fide of a very large
market-
HOLLAND. 45
market-place is the Town-houfe, an old
building, but fo frefh and fo fantaftic with
paint, as to have fome refemblance to a
Chinefe temple. The body is coloured
with a light, or yellowifh brown, and is two
ftories high to the roof, in which there are
two tier of peaked windows, each under its
ornament of gilded wood, carved into an
awkward refemblance of {hells. Upon the
front is infcribed, " Delphenfntm Curia Re-
parata" and immediately over the door
" Reparata 1761."
The Oude Kerk^ or Old Church, is in ano-
ther part of the town, and is not remarkable,
except for the tombs of LEUWENHOEK,
PETER HEINE and VAN TROMP. That
of LEUWENHOEK has a fhort infcription, in
Latin almoft as bad as that of a verfe epi-
taph upon GROT i us, in the other church.
He was born, it appears, in Oclober 1632,
and died in Auguft 1723. The tombs of
HEINE and VAN TROMP are very hand-
8 fome.
46 HOLLAND.
fome. There are the effigies of both in
white marble, and one of the victories gain-
ed by the latter is reprefented in alto relievo.
On account of the tombs, both churches
are open, during certain hours in the day j
and a beadle, or, perhaps, an almfman, is
placed in each, who prefents a padlocked
box, into which money may be put for
the poor.
In this town is the chief arfenal of the
province of Holland, except that the maga-
zine of powder is at the dillance of about
a mile from it, near the canal to Rotter-
dam. In 1787, when the diflenfions be-
tween the STATES GENERAL and the
PRINCE of ORANGE were at their height,
a provincial free corps feized this arfenal, and
held it for the States till the return of the
PRINCE of ORANGE to the Hague, a few
weeks afterwards.
Having feen what was pointed out to our
notice at Delft, and learned that its exten-
fivenels
HOLLAND. 47
fivenefs was owing to the refidence of a
great number of retired merchants from
Rotterdam, we left it in a trechtfcbuyt for
the Hague, having little other notion of it
in our minds, than that it is very dull and
very rich, and of a fize, for which there is
no recompenfe to a ftranger, except in con-
fidering, that its dullnefs is the reft of thofe,
who have once been bufy, and that its
riches are at leaft not employed in aggravat-
ing the miferies of poverty by oftentation.
THE HAGUE.
A VOYAGE of an hour and a half
brought us here over a canal well bordered
by country houfes and gardens, all of which,
as in other parts of Holland, have fome in-
fcription upon their gates, to fay, that they
are pleafant, or are intended for pleafure.
Fine
48 HOLLAND.
Fine Sight, Pleafant Reft, High Delight, of
fome fimilar infcription, is to be feen over
the door of every country houfe, in gold let-
ters. On our way, we looked for Ryfwick,
where the treaty of 1697 was fig ne d, an ^
faw the village, but not the palace, which,
being of free ftone, is mentioned as a fort of
curiofity in the country. It is this palace,
which is faid to contain proofs of an extra-
ordinary difpute upon queflions of cere-
mony. The Ambafiadors, fent to prepare
the treaty, are related to have contended fo
long, concerning their rights of precedence,
that the only mode of reconciling them was
to make feparate entrances, and to allow the^
Mediating Minifter alone admiffion by the
principal gate.
From the trechtfchuyt we had a long walk
to our inn, an handfome houfe, {landing
almoft in the midft of palaces, and looking
over a noble meet of water, called the Vyver,
whkh extends behind the Court, for its
. whole
HOLLAND. 49
whole length, flowing nearly to the level of
the lower windows. The Court itfelf, a
large brick building, irregular, but light and
pleafant, was entirely within our view, on
the left ; on the right, a row of magnificent
houfes, feparated from the Vyver by a large
mall ; and, in front, beyond the Vyvcr, a
broad place, bordered by feveral public build-
ings. In this Court all the fuperior colleges
of government have their chambers, and the
PRINCE of ORANGE his fuite of apartments.
The fofle, which furrounds it, three draw-
bridges and as many gates are the only for-
tifications of the Hague, which has been fe-
veral times threatened with the entrance of
an enemy, but has not been taken fince 1595,
when the magiftrates of the then infant re-
public, and all the fuperior inhabitants, re-
tired to Delft, leaving the ftreets to be over-
run with grafs, and the place to become a
defert under the eyes of its oppreflbrs.
During the invafion of Louis the FOUR-
E, TEENTH,
jo HOLLAND.
TEENTH, it efcaped the ravages of the
DUKE of LUXEMBOURG'S column, by the
fudden diflblution of the ice, on which he
had placed 9000 foot and 2000 cavalry.
Yet the advice of WILLIAM the THIRD,
who probably thought money better ex-
pended in {lengthening the frontier than
the interior of the country, counteracted a
plan of fortification, which was then pro-
pofed, for the third or fourth time.
The Court confifts of two fquares; in
the inner of which are the apartments of the
STADTH OLDER, and none but himfelf and
his family can enter this in carriages, or on
horfeback. On the northern fide, in the firft
floor, are the apartments of the STATES
GENERAL, which we faw. The principal
one is ipacious, as a room, but has not the
air of a hall of debate. Twenty-fix chairs
for the Deputies are placed on two fides of
a long table : the Prefident, whofe chair is
in the centre, has on his right hand, firft,
aDe-
HOLLAND* 51
i Deputy of his own province, then three
Deputies of Friefland, and two of Gronin-
gen ; on his left, fix Deputies of Holland ;
oppofite to him, neareft to the head of t;he
table, fix Deputies of Guelderland, then
three of Zealand, then two of Utrecht, and
two of Overyflel. The STADTHOLDER,
who has a place, but not a vote, has a raifed
chair at the upper end of the table ; the Se-
cretary is feated oppofite to him, and is al-
lowed to wear his hat, like the Deputies,
during their deliberations, but muft fland
uncovered, behind the Prefident, when he
reads letters, or other papers. The number
of Deputies is known to be indefinite;
about fifty are generally returned ; and thofe,
who are prefent from each province, more
than the number allowed at the table, place
themfelves below it. The walls of this room
are covered with tapeftry, not reprefenting
hiftorical events, but rural fcenery ; the backs
and feats of the chairs are of green velvet ;
E 2 and
52 HOLLAND;
and all the furniture, though flately and Irt
the beft condition, is without the leaft ap-
proach to fhow. Thefe apartments, and
the whole of this fide of the Court, were the
refidence of CHARLES the FIFTH, when he
vifited the Hague, and of the EARL of LEI-
CESTER, when he commanded the troops
lent to the Republic by ELIZABETH.
The government of the United Provinces
is too well known to permit a detailed de-
fcription here, but fome notice may reafon-
ably be expected of it.
The chief depofitaries of the fovereignty
are not the States General, but the Provin-
cial States, of whofe Deputies the former
body is compofed, and without whofe con-
fent they never vote upon important mea-
fures. In the States General each Province
has one vote ; which, with the reafons for
it, may be delivered by an unlimited num-
ber of Deputies; and the firft Deputy of each
province prefidcs in the States by rotation
for
HOLLAND. 53
for a week. In queftions relative to peace
or war, alliances, taxes, coinages, and to the
privileges of provinces, no meafures can be
taken but by unanimous confent ; upon
other occafions, a majority is fufficient. No
perfons holding military offices can be Der
puties t j the States General, which appoints
and receives all ambafladors, declares war,
makes peace, and names the Greffier, or Se-
cretary of State, and all Staff Officers.
The Provincial States are varioufly coin-
poied, and the interior governments of the
provinces varioufly formed, In the pro-
vince of Holland, which contains the moft
profperous part of the Republic, there are
eighteen Deputies to the Provincial States,
for as many towns, and one for the nobility.
The Grand Penfionary prefides in this af-
fembly, and is always one of the Deputies
from it to the States General.
The Council of Deputies is compofed of
ten members: nine from the towns, and one
E 3 from
54 HOLLAND.
from the nobility. This Council, in which
the Grand Penfionary alfo prefides, regu-
lates the finances of the province, and takes
cognizance of the diftribution of troops
within it.
The Council, called the Council of State,
is compofed, like the States General, of
Deputies returned from the provinces, and
appears to be to that body, in a great mea-
fure, what the Council of Deputies is to
the Provincial States, having the direction
of the army and the finances.
As provincial affairs are directed by the
Provincial States, fo the affairs of each town
are governed by its own Senate, which alfo
returns the members, if the town is entitled
to fend one, to the States of the Province,
and directs the vote, which that member
{hall give. The Burgom afters in each town
are the magiftrates charged with the police
and the finances, and are ufually elected
Annually by the old Council, that is, by thofq
who
HOLLAND. 55
who have been Burgomafters, or Ecbevius.
Thefe latter officers have the adminiftration
of civil and criminal affairs, and are, in
fome places, appointed by the Stadtholder
from a double number nominated to him ;
in others, are accepted from the recommen-
dation of the Stadtholder. The Bailiffs pre-
fide in the Council of Burgomafters and
Echevins ; and in their name profecutions
are inftituted.
Of the Deputies to the States General,
fome are for life, and fome for one or more
years.
Such is the nicely complicated frame of
this government, in which the Senates of the
Towns elect the Provincial States, and the
Provincial States the States General ; the
latter body being incapable of deciding in
certain cafes, except with unanimity and
with the exprefs confent of their conftitu-
ents, the Provincial States; who again can-
not give that confent, except with inla-
id 4 nimity
5 6 HOLLAND.
nimity and with the confent of their con-
ftituents, the Senates.
The Stadtholder, it is feen, has not di-
rectly, and in confequence of that office, any
fhare of the legiflative power ; but, being a
Noble of four provinces, he, of courfe, par-
ticipates in that part of the ibvereignty,
which the Nobility enjoy when they fend
Deputies to the Provincial States. Of Zea-
land he is the only Noble, all the other
titled families having been deftroyed in the
original conteft. with Spain ; and there are
no renewals or creations of titles in the
United Provinces. In Gueiderland, HoU
land, and Utrecht, he is Prefident of the
Nobles. He is Commander of all the
Forces of the Republic by fea and land ;
and the Council of State, of which he is a
member, is, in military affairs, almoft en-
tirely under his diredion ; he names all
fubaltern officers, and recommends thofe
for higher appointments to the States Ge-
nera!.
HOLLAND. 57
neral. In Guelderland, Utrecht, and Overyf-
fel, which are called Provinces aux Regie-
metis, becaufe, having fubmitted to Louis
the FOURTEENTH, in 1672, they were not
re-admitted to the Union, but with fome fa-
crifice of their privileges, he appoints to of-
fices, without the nomination of the cities j
he it> Governor General of the Eaft and Weft
Indian Companies, and names all the Di-
rectors from a treble number of candidates
offered by the Proprietors. His name pre-
fides in all the courts of law ; and his heart,
it may be hoped, dictates in the noble right
of pardoning.
This is the effential form of a govern-
ment, which, for two centuries, has pro-
tected as great a fhare of civil and religious
liberty as has been enjoyed in any other
part of Europe, refitting equally the chances
of difiblution, contained within itfelf; and
the lefs dangerous fchemes for its deftriic-
tion,
58 HOLLAND.
tion, dictated by the jealoufy of arbitrary
interefls without.
Its intricacy and delicacy are eafily feen ;
yet, of the objections made to it on this ac-
count, more are founded on fome maxims,
aflumed to be univerfal, than upon the fe-
parate conflderations due to the condition
of a feparate people. How much the means
of political happinefs depend, for their ef-
fect, upon the civil characters of thofe for
whom they are defigned, has been very little
feen, or infifted upon. It has been unno-
ticed, becaufe fuch enquiries have not the
brilliancy, or the facility, of general ipecu-
lations, nor can command equal attention,
nor equally reward fyftems with thofe parts
of their importance, that confift in the im-
menfity of the fphere, to which they pretend.
To extend their arms is the flagitious ambi-
tion of warriors ; to enlarge their fyftems is
the ambition of writers, efpecially of poli-
tical
HOLLAND. 59
tical writers. A jufter effort of imderftancU
ing would aim at rendering the application
of principles more exacl, rather than more
extenfive, and would produce enquiries into
the circumftances of national character and
condition, that fhould regulate that appli-
cation. A more modeft eftimate of human
means of doing good would fhew the grada-
tione, through which all human advances
muft be made. A more fevere integrity of
views would ftipulate, that the means mould
be as honeft as the end, and would ftrive to
afcertain, from the moral and intellectual
eharader of a people, the degree of political
happinefs, of which they are capable ; a pro-
cefs, without which projected advances be-
come obftrutions ; and the philofopher be-
gins his experiment, for the amelioration of
fociety, as prematurely as the fculptor would
poli(h his ftatue before he had delineated
the features.
Whether the conftitution of the United
Provinces
60 HOLLAND.
Provinces is exactly as good an one as the
people are capable of enjoying, can be deter-
mined only after a much longer and abler
enquiry than we could make ; but it feemed
proper to obferve, that, in judging this
queftion, it is not enough to difcover better
forms of government, without finding alfo
fome reafon to believe, that the intellectual
and moral condition of the people would fe-
cure the exiftence of thofe better forms. In
the mean time, they, who make the enquiry,
may be aflured, that, under the prefent '^go-
vernment, there is a confiderable degree of
political liberty, though political happinefs is
not permitted by the prefent circumftances
of Europe ; that the general adoption of
the Stadtholder's meafures by the States has
been unduly mentioned to mew an immo-
derate influence, for that, in point of fact,
his meafures are often rejected ; that this re-
jection produces no public agitation, nor can
* June 1794.
HOLLAND. tt
thofe, who differ from him in opinion, be
fuccefsfully reprefented as enemies to their
country; that there are very few offices,
which enable private perfons to become
rich, at the expence of the public, fo as to
have a different intereft from them ; that the
fober induflry and plain manners of the
people prevent them from looking to politi-
cal conduct of any fort as a means of im-
proving their fortunes ; that, for thefe rea-
fons, the intricate connections between the
parts of their government are lefs inconve-
nient than may be fuppofed, fince good mea-
fures will not be obftructed, or bad ones
fupported, for corrupt purpofes, though mif-
conceptions may fometimes produce, nearly
the fame effect ; that converfation is per-
fectly free ; and that the habit of watching
the ftrength of parties, for the purpofe of
joining the ftrongeft and perfecuting the
weakeft, does not occupy the minds of any
numerous claifes amongft them,
We
it HOLLAND.
We faw no other apartments than thofe of
the States General, the PRINCE of ORANGE
being then in his own. The Princefs was
at a feat in Guelderland, with her daughter-
in-law, the wife of the Hereditary Prince,
who had been indifpofed fince the furprife
of the Dutch troops at Menin, on the 1 2th
of September 1793, in which affair her
hufband was engaged. When the officer,
who brought the firfl accounts, which were
not written, to the Hague, had related that
the younger prince was wounded, the Here-
ditary Princefs enquired, with great eager-
nefs, concerning his brother. The officer
indifcreetly replied, that he knew nothing of
him ; which the Princefs fuppofed to imply,
that he was dead ; and fhe has fince been
fomewhat an invalid.
Though the falaries enjoyed by the Prince
of Orange, in confequence of his offices,
are by no means confiderable, he is enabled,
by his patrimonial eftates, to maintain fome
rnodeft
HOLLAND.
fciodeft fplenclour. The Court is compofed
of a grand m after, a marfhal, a grand equer-
ry, ten chamberlains, five ladies of honour,
and fix gentlemen of the chamber. Ten
young men, with the title of pages, are
educated at the expence of the Prince, in
a houfe adjoining his manege. As Captain-
General, he is allowed eight adjutants, and,
as Admiral, three.
We could not learn the amount of the
income enjoyed by the PRINCE of ORANXJE,
which muft, indeed, be very variable, arifing
chiefly from his own eftates. The greater
part of thefe are in the province of Zealand,
where feventeen villages and part of the
town of Breda are his property. The for-
tifications of feveral places there are faid to
have been chiefly erected at the expence of
the Orange family. His farms in that neigh-
bourhood fufFered greatly in the campaign
of 1 792, and this part of his income has
fmce been much diminifhed. The manage-
ment;
64 HOLLAND*
merit of his revenues, derived from poflef-
fions in Germany, affords employment to
four or five perfons, at an Office, feparate
from his ordinary Treafury; and he had
eftates ia the Low Countries. All this is
but the wreck of a fortune, honourably di-
minimed by William the Firft of Orange,
in the conteft with Spain ; the remembrance
of whom may, perhaps, involuntarily in-
fluence one'8 opinion of his fucceflbrs.
During May, the weftern gate of the
palace is ornamented, according to ancient
cuftom, with garlands for each perfon of the
Orange family. Chaplets, with the initials
of each, in flowers, are placed under large
coronets, upon green flag-ftaffs. We paffed
by when they were taking thefe down, and
perceived that all the ornaments could fcarcely
have coft five (hillings. So humble are the
Dutch notions of pageantry.
Among the offices included within the
walls of the court is a printing-houfe, in
which
HOLLAND, 65
which the STATES GENERAL and the States
of Holland employ only perfons fworn to
fecrecy as to the papers committed to them.
It may feem ftrange to require fecrecy from
thofe, whofe art is chiefly ufeful in con-
ferring publicity ; but the truth is, that many
papers are printed here, which are never
communicated to the public, the States em-
ploying the prefs for the fake of its cheap-
nefs, and confidering that any of their
members, who would mew a printed paper,
would do the fame with a written one.
In a large fquare, near the court, is the
cabinet of natural hiftory, of which we have
not the knowledge neceflary for giving a
defcription. It is arranged in fmall rooms,
which are opened, at twelve o'clock, to
thofe, who have applied the day before.
One article, faid to be very rare, and cer-
tainly very beautiful, was an animal of the
Deer fpecies, about fourteen inches high,
exquifitely fhaped and marked, and believed
F to
66 HOLLAND.
to be at its full growth. It was brougfit
from the coaft of Africa.
The Stadtholder's library was accident-
ally fhut, owing to the illnefs of the libra-
rian. The picture gallery was open, but of
paintings we have refolved to exempt our
readers from any mention. The former is
faid to contain eight thoufand volumes,
and fourteen thoufand prints in portfolios.
Among the illuminated MSS. in vellum is
one, u-led by the fanguinary Catherine DC
Medicis and her children ; and another,
which belonged to Ifabella of Caftille, the
grandmother of Charles the Fifth. What
muft be oddly placed in a library is a fuit
of armour of Francis the Firft, which wa*
once in the cabinet of Chriltina of Sweden.
Though this collection is the private pro-
perty of the Prince, the librarian is permit-
ted to lend books to perfons, known to him
and likely to ufe them advantageoufly for
fcience.
We
HOLLAND* 67
We pafTed a long morning in walking
through the ftreets of this place, which con-
tain probably more magnificent houfes than
can be found in the fame fpace in any city
of Northern Europe. The Grand Voorhout
is rather, indeed, two feries of palaces thari
a ftreet. Between two broad carriage-ways,
which pafs immediately along the fides, are
feveral alleys of tall lime trees, canopying
walks, firft laid out by Charles the Fifth,
in 1536, and ordered to be carefully pre-
ferved, the placard being ftill extant, which
directs the punifhment of offenders againft
them. It would be tedious to mention the
many fplendid buildings in this and the
neighbouring ftreets. Among the moft con-
fpicuous is the prefent fefidence of the Bri-
tifh AmbalFadors, built by HUGUETAN, the
elebrated banker of Louis the FOUR-
TEENTH, and that of the Ruffian Minifter,
which was erected by the Penfionary BAR-
NEVELDT. But the building, which was
F 2 intended
68 HOLLAND.
intended to exceed all others at the Hague*
is the Hotel of the Prince of NASSAU
WEILBOURG; who, having married the
fitter of the Prince of ORANGE, bought,
at an immenfe expence, eight good houfes,
facing the Voorhout, in order to erect upon
their fcite a magnificent palace. What has
been already built of this is extremely fine,
in the crefcent form ; but a German,, arriv-
ing to the expenditure of a Dutch fortune,
probably did not eftimate it by Dutch prices.
It was begun eighteen years fince, and, for
the laft twelve, has not proceeded.
Superb public buildings occur at almoft
every ftep through the Hague. At one end
of the terrace, on which we were lodged,
is the Doekn, a fpacious manfion, opening
partly upon the Tournois Vdd^ or Place of
Tournaments. The burgefles here keep
their colours, and, what is remarkable, {till
preferve the infignia of the Toifon (TOr^
given to them- by CHARLES the FIFTH.
Our
HOLLAND. 69
Our WILLIAM the THIRD being admitted,
at ten years of age, to the right of a burgefs
here, was invefted with this order by the
Burgomafter. At the other end of the ter-
race is the palace, built for Prince MAURICE
of NASSAU, upon his return from the go-
vernment of Brazil, by KAMPFEN, Lord
of Rambroek, architect of the Stadthoufe at
Amfterdam. The interior of this building
was deftroyed by fire, in the commence-
ment of the prefent century ; but, the ftately
walls of ftone and brick being uninjured, the
rooms were reftored by the proprietors, af-
fifted by a lottery. It is an inftance of the
abundance of buildings here, that this palace
is now chiefly ufed as a place of meeting,
for the (Economical branch of the fociety of
Haerlem, and for a fociety, inftituted here,
for the encouragement of Dutch poetry.
The number of public buildings is much
increafed by the houfes, which the eighteen
towns provide for their Deputies, fent to the
F 3 States
70 HOLLAND.
States of the Province. Thefe are called the
Logements of the feyeral towns ; and there
has been a great deal of emulation, as to,
their magnificence. Amfterdam and Rot-
terdam have the fineft.
The churches are not remarkable for an-
tiquity, or grandeur. A congregation of
Englifh Proteftants have their worfhip per-
formed, in the manner of the Diffenters, in.
a fmall chapel near the Vyvtr^ where we had
^he fatisfactiori to hear their venerable pallor,
the Rev. Dr. M'CLEAN.
The refidence of a Court at the Hague
renders the appearance of the inhabitants
lefs national and characleriftic than elfe-
where. There are few perfons in the flreets,
^vho, without their orange cockades, might
not be miftaken for Englifh ; but ribbons
of this colour are almoft univerfal, which
fome wear in their hats, and fome upon a,
button-hole of the coat. The poorefl per-
fons, and there are more poor here than
elfewhereji
HOLLAND. 71
elfewhere, find fomething orange- coloured
to fhew. Children have it placed upon their
caps ; fo that the practice is carried to an
extent as ridiculous, as the prohibition was
in 1785, when the magiftrates ordered, that
nothing orange-coloured Jbould be worn, or
Jhewn, not even fruits , or Jlowers, and that
.carrots fiould not be expofed to fale with the
ends outwards.
The diftindions between political clafTes
are very ftrongly marked and preferred in
Holland. We were informed, that there are
fome villages, in which the wearing of a
cockade, and others, in which the want of
one, would expofe a paflenger, efpecially
a native, to infults. In the cities, where
thofe of both parties muft tranfact bufinefs
together, the diftindion is not much ob-
ferved. In Amfterdam, the friends of the
Stadtholder do not wear cockades. For the
mod part, the feamen, farmers and labouring
lalfes in the towns are attached to the
?4 Orange
7 2 HOLLAND.
Orange family, whofe opponents are chiefly
compofed of the opulent merchants and
tradefmen.
A hiftory, or even a defcription of the
two parties, if we were enabled to give it,
would occupy too much fpace here ; but it
may be fhortly mentioned, that the original,
or chief caufe of the diflenfion was, as might
be expected, entirely of a commercial nature.
The Englifh intereft had an unanimous po-
pularity in Holland, about the year 1750.
In the war of 1756, the French, having fuf-
tained a great lofs of fhipping, employed
Dutch veflels to bring the produce of their
American iflands to Europe, and thus efta-
blifhed a confiderable connection with the
merchants of Amfterdam and Rotterdam.
The Court of Verfailles took care, that the
flream of French wealth, which they faw
fetting into the United Provinces, mould
carry with it fome French politics; while
the wealth itfelf effected more than all their
contrivance,
HOLLAND. 73
contrivance, and gradually produced a kind-
nefs for France, efpecially in the province
of Holland, through which it chiefly cir-
culated. The Englilh Minifters took all
Dutch fhips, having French property on
board ; and the popularity of England was
for a time deftroyed. Several maritime
towns, probably with fome inftigation from
France, demanded a war againft England.
The friends of the Stadtholder prevented
this ; and from that time the Prince began
to {hare whatever unpopularity the mea-
fures of the Englifli Minifters, or the in-
duftry of the Englifh traders, could excite in
a rival and a commercial country.
The capture of the French Weft India
iflands foon after removed the caufe of the
difpute ; but the effects of it furvived in the
jealoufy of the great cities towards the Stadt-
holder, and were much aggravated by the
loffes of their merchants, at the commence-
ment of hoftilities between England and the
United
74 HOLLAND.
United Provinces, in 1780. The Dutch
fleet being then unprepared to fail, and
every thing, which could float, having been
fent cut of the harbours of Yorkfhire and
Lincolnfhire to intercept their trading ftiips,
the fortunes of many of the moft opulent
houfes in Holland were feverely fhook, and
all their members became the enemies of the
Stadtholder.
If to thefe circumftances it is added, that
the province of Holland, which pays fifty-
eight parts of every hundred, levied by taxes,
has an ambition for acquiring greater influ-r
ence in the general government, than is be-
jftowed by its fmgle vote, we have probably-
all the original caufes of the party (liftinc-
tions in Holland, though others may have
been incorporated with others, during a long
feries of events and many violent ftruggles
of the paffions.
The Stadtholder, who has had the mif-
fortune to attract fo much attention by his
difficulties,
HOLLAND, 7j
.difficulties, is faid to be a man of plain man-
ners and found underftanding, neither capa-
ble of political intrigue, nor inclined to it.
His office requires, efpecially during a war,
a great deal of fubftantial, perfonal labour,
to which he devotes himfelf earneflly and
.continually, but which he has not the vigour
to bear, without an evident opprefiion of
fpirits. We faw Jiim at a parade of the
Guards, and it is not neceffary to be told of
his labours to perceive how much he is
affected by them. It is fcarcely poffible to
conceive a countenance more expreffive of
a mind, always urged, always prefled upon,
and not often receiving the relief of com-
plete confidence in its efforts* His perfon
is fhort and extremely corpulent ; his air
in converfation modeft and mild. This at-
tendance upon the parade is his chief exer-
cife, pr relaxation at the Hague, where he
frequently pafles ten of the hours between
five in a morning and nine at night in his
cabinet.
7 6 HOLLAND.
cabinet. He comes, accompanied by one
or two officers, and his prefence produces
no crowd. When we had viewed the pa-
rade and returned home, we faw him walk-
ing under our windows towards the Voorhotit,
accompanied by an officer, but not followed
by a fingle perfon.
Converfation does not turn fo much upon
the family of the Stadtholder, as that we
could acquire any diftincl: opinions of the
other parts of it. Of his humanity and
temper, there was fufficient proof, in 1787,
when he returned to the Hague and was
matter of the perfons of thofe, who had
lately banifhed him. Indeed, the conduct
of both parties, with refpect to the perfonal
fafety of their adverfaries, was honourable
to the character of the nation. The States
of Holland, during the prevalence of their
authority, did not pretend, according to the
injuftice of firnilar cafes, to any right of
dcftroying the friends of the Stadtholder,
who
HOLLAND. 77
who were in their hands ; the Stadtholder,
when he returned, and when the public de-
teftation of his adversaries was at an height,
which would have permitted any meafures
againft them, demanded no other retribu-
tion, than that feventeen, named in a lift,
fhould be declared incapable of holding
offices under the Republic.
One of the beft excurfions from the
Hague is made to the Ma'ifon du Bois^ a
fmall palace of the Prince of ORANGE, in a
wood, which commences almoft at the north-
ern gate of the town. This wood is called
a park, but it is open to the public roads
from Leyden, Haerlem and Amfterdam,
which pafs through its noble alleys of oak
and beech. It is remarkable for having
fo much attracted the regard of Philip the
Second, that, in the campaign of 1574, he
ordered his officers not to dcftroy it ; and
is probably the only thing, not deftined for
himfelf, of which this ample deftroyer of
human
HOLLAND.
human kind and of his own family evef
directed the prefervation. Louis the FOUR-
TEENTH, probably having heard the praifes
of this care, left the mall of Utrecht to be
a monument of fimilar tendernefs, during
an unprovoked invafion, which coft ten
thoufand lives.
The apartments of the Mai/on du Bols are
very varioufly furnifhed. The beft are fitted
up with a light grey fattin, imbofTed with
Chinefe birds and plants, in filk and feathers
of the moft beautiful tints ; the window cur-
tains, fcreens and coverings of the fophas
and chairs are the fame, and the frames of
the latter are alfo of Chinefe workmanfhip.
Nothing more delicate and tafteful can be
conceived ; but, that you may not be quite
diftracled with admiration, the carpets are
fuch as an Englifh merchant would fcarcely
receive into a parlour. The furniture of the
ftate bed-chamber is valuable, and has once
been fplendid ; a light baluftrade of curious
Japan
HOLLAND. 79
Japan work, about three feet high, runs
acrofs the room, and divides that part, in
which the bed ftands, from the remainder.
The Princefs's drawing-room, in which card
parties are fometimes held, is well embel-
limed with paintings, and may be called a
fuperb apartment ; but here again there is
an inftance of the incompletenefs, faid to
be obfervable in the furniture of all rooms,
out of England. Of four card tables two
are odd ones, and literally would be defpifed
in a broker's mop in London. The great
glory of the houfe is the Salle cPQrange^ an
oblong faloon of noble height, with pannels,
painted by nine celebrated painters of the
Flemifh and Dutch fchools, among whom
VAN TULDEN, a pupil of RU&ENS, has
obferved his manner fo much in a workfhop
of Vulcan and in a figure of Venus forming
a trophy, that they have been ufually at-
tributed to his mafler. The fubje&s on the
pannels and ceiling are all allegorical, and
compli-
So HOLLAND.
complimentary, for the moft part, to the
Princes of the Houfe of Orange, efpecially
to FREDERIC HENRY, the fon of the firft
WILLIAM and the grandfon of the Ad-
miral COLIGNY. It was at the expence of
his widow, that the houfe was built and the
faloon thus ornamented.
Almoft all the rooms are decorated with
family portraits, of which fome have juft
been contributed by the pencil of the Here-
ditary Princefs. A large piece reprefents
herfelf, taking a likenefs of the Princefs her
mother-in-law, and includes what is faid to
be an admirable portrait of her hufband.
On the fix doors of the grand cabinet are
fix whole lengths of ladies of the Houfe of
Orange, exhibited in allegorical characters.
The doors being covered by the paintings,
when that, by which you have entered, is
(hut, you cannot tell the way back again.
A portrait of LOUISA DE COLIGNY, the
widow of William the Virft, is enriched
with
HOLLAND. 81
' with a painter's pun ; fhe is prefented by
Hope with a branch of an orange tree, con-
taining only one orange ; from which the
fpec~tator is to learn, that her fon was her
only hope.
The mod delightful outlet from the Hague
is , to wards Schevening, a village on the
fea-hore, nearly two miles diftant, the road
to which has been often and properly cele-
brated as a noble monument of tafteful
grandeur. Commencing at the canal, which
furrounds the Hague, it proceeds to the vil-
lage through a vifta fo exactly ftraight, that;
the fteeple of Schevening, the central objecl:
at the end of it, is vifible at the fir ft en-
trance. Four rows of lofty elms are planted
along the road, of which the two central
lines form this perfect and molt piclurefque
vifta ; the others flicker paths on each fide
of it, for foot paffengers.
The village itfelf, containing two or three
hundred houfcs of fiihermen and peafants,
G would
82 HOLLAND.
would be a fpedacle, for its neatnefs,
where but in Holland. There is no fquare,
or ftreet of the moft magnificent houfes in
London, that can equal it for an univerfal
appearance of frefhnefs. It is pofitively
bright with cleanlinefs ; though its only
ftreet opens upon the fea, and is the refort
of hundreds of fimermen. We pafTed a moft
delightful day at a little inn upon the beach,
fometimes looking into the hiftory of the
village, which is very antient ; then enquir-
ing into its prefent condition ; and then en-
joying the profpect of the ocean, boundlefs
to our view, on one fide, and appearing to
be but feebly reflrained by a long tract of
low white coaft on the other.
The fea beats furioufly upon the beach
here, which has no doubt been much raifed
by art for the defence of the village. There
is at leaft no other way of accounting for
its fecurity,>fmce 1574, between which year
and the latter end of the preceding century,
it
HOLLAND. 83
It fuftained fix inundations. The firft, in
1470, demolifhed a church; the laft warned
away an hundred and twenty houfea ; not-
withftanding which, the inhabitants built
again upon their ftormy fhore ; and their in-
dud^, that, at length, -protected them from
the fea, enabled them to endure alfo the
more inveterate ravages of the Spaniards.
On this beach lie occafionally great numbers
of herring buries, too ftoutly built to be in-
jured by touching it. We fufpect our in-
formation to have been exaggerated ; but
we heard on the fpot, that no lefs than one
hundred and five belong to this village of
little more than two hundred houfes, or are
managed by agents in it. About forty were
fet on float by the tide in the afternoon, and,
being hauled by means of anchors beyond a
very heavy furf, were out of fight, before
we left the place.
It was amuiing to fee the perfevering,
G 2 effectual,
\
84 HOLLAND.
effe&ual, but not very aftive exertions of
the feamen in this bufmefs, which could not
often be more difficult than it then was,
when a ftrong wind blew directly upon the
ihore. We here firft perceived, what we
had many other opportunities of obferving,
that, not with (landing the general admiration
of Dutch induftry, it is of a nature which
would fcarcely acquire that name in England.
A Dutchman of the labouring clafs is, in-
deed, feldom feen unemployed ; but we
never obferved one man working hard, ac-
eordino- to the Englifh notion of the term.
Perfeverance, carefulnefs, and fteadinefs are
theirs, beyond any rivalfhip ; the vehemence,
force, activity and impatience of an Englifh
failor, or workman, are unknown to them.
You will never fee a Dutchman enduring
the fatigue, or enjoying the reft, of a Lon-
don porter. Heavy burthens, indeed, they
do not carry. At Amfterdam, where car-
riages
HOLLAND. 85
riages are even fomewhat obnoxious, a cafk,
holding four or five gallons of liquor, is re-
moved by a horfe and a fledge.
On our way from Schevening, where a
dinner cofts more than at an hotel in the
Hague, we turned a little to the right to fee
Portland Gardens, once the favourite refort
of William and Mary ; and faid to be laid
out in the Englifh tafte. They are now a
bad fpecimen even of Dutch gardens. The
fituation is unufually low, having on one
hand the raifed bank of the Schevening
road, and, on another, the fand hills of the
coaft. Between thefe, the moifture of the
fea air is held for a long time, and finally
drawn down upon the earth. The artificial
ornaments are ftained and decaying ; and
the grafs and weeds of the neglected plots
are capable only of a putrid green. Over
walks of a black mould you are led to the
orangery, where there is more decay, and
may look through the windows .of the green-
G 3 houfe,
86 HOLLAND.
houfe, to perceive how every thing is declin-
ing there. Some pavilions, provided with
water fpouts, are then to be feen ; and, if
you have the patience to wait the conclufion
of an operation, intended to furprife you,
you may count how many of the pipes refufe
to perform their office.
Nearer to the Hague, we were flopped to
pay a toll of a few doights ; a circumftance
which was attended with this proof of ci-
vility. Having pafTed in the morning, with-
out the demand, we enquired why it fnould
be made now. The gatherer replied, that he
had feen uspafs, but, knowing that we muft
return by the fame way, had avoided giving
more trouble than was neceflary. This tax
is paid for the fupport of the bank, or digue,
over which the road pafles ; a work, begun
on the ift of May 1664, and finifhed on the
5th of December 1665, by the affiftance of
a loan granted for the enterprife. The
breadth of the road is thirty-two yards.
The
HOLLAND. 87
The next day, after feeing the relief of
the Stadtholder's^r^ du corps ^ the privates
of which wear feathered hats, with uni-
forms of fcarlet and gold, we left the Hague,
with much admiration of its pleafantnefs and
quiet grandeur, and took the roof of the
trechtfchuyt for Leyden.
LEYDEN.
THREE hours pleafant floating along
a canal, adorned with frequent country
houfes, gardens, fummer-houfes and fquare
balconies, or rather platforms, projecting
over the water, within an hand's breadth of
its level, brought us to this city, which was
efteemed the fecond in Holland, before Rot-
terdam gained its piefent extent. Leyden is,
however, fo large, that a traveller is likely to
*
have a walk of half a league to his inn ; and
thofe who arrive, as we did, at the time of
G 4 the
88
the fair, may find the proceffion not very
pleafant. We increafed our difficulties by
turning away from he dirt and incivility of
what was called the bed inn, and did not
afterwards find a better, though fuch, it
feems, might have been had.
Having, at length, become contented with
the worft, we went towards the fair, of
which we had as yet feen only the crowd.
The booths, being difpofed under trees and
along the borders of canals, made the whole
appearance diiTer from that cf an Englifh
fair, though not quite fo much as we had
expelled. The flock of the fhopkeepers
makes a greater diftinetion. There were fe-
-veral booths filled with filverfmiths' and
jewellers' wares, to the amount of, proba-
bly, fome thoufand pounds each. Large
French clocks in cr moulu and porcelain
were among their ftores. All the trades dif-
played the inoft valuable 'articles, that could
be allied for in fimilar fhops in large cities.
We
HOLL'AND. 89
We had the pleafure to fee great quantities
of Englifh goods, and there were Englifh
names over three, or four of the booths.
The Dutch dreiTes were now become fo
familiar to us, that the crowd feemed as re-
markable for the number of other perfons in
it, as for the abundance of peafants in their
holiday finery, which, it is pleafant to know,
difpiays the ornamental relics of feveral ge-
nerations, falhion having very little influ-
ence in Holland. The fair occupied about
a fourth part of the town, which we foon
left to fee the remainder. Two ftreets, paral-
lel to each other, run through its whole
length, and include the few public halls of
an Univerfity, which would fcarcely be
known to exift, if it had no more conipicu-
ous objects than its buildings. The Dutch
univerfities contain no endowed founda-
tions j fo that the profeflbrs, who have their
falaries from the States, live in private houfes,
and the ftudents in lodgings. The acade-
j mical
90 HOLLAND.
mical drefs is worn only in the fchools, and
by the profeflbrs. The library, to which
Jofeph Scaliger was a benefactor, is open
only once in a week, and then for no more
than two hours. It is the conftant policy
of the Dutch government, to make ftrangers
leave as much money as poflible behind
them ; and Leyden was once fo greatly the
refort of foreigners, that it was thought im-
portant not to let them read for nothing
what they muft otherwife be obliged to buy.
The Univerfity is, of courfe, declining much,
under this commercial wifdom of the ma-
giftrates.
There are fludenrs, however, of many
nations and religions, no oaths being im-
pofed, except upon the profeflbrs. Phyfic
and botany efpecially are faid to be culti-
vated here with much fuccefs ; and there is
a garden, to which not only individuals, but
the Eaft India Company, induftrioufly con-
tribute foreign plants. The falaries of the
profefibrsj
HOLLAND. 9I
profeflbrs, who receive, befides, fees from
the ftudents, are nearly two hundred pounds
a-year. The government of the Univerfity
is in the Rector, who is chofen out of three
\
perfons returned by the Senate to the States 5
the Senate eonfifts of the profeflbrs ; and,
on extraordinary occafions, the Senate and
Rector are directed by Curators, who are the
agents for the States.
The chief ftreet in the town is of the
crefcent form, fo that, with more public
buildings, it would be a miniature refem-
blance of High-ftreet, Oxford. The town-
houfe is built with many fpires, and with
almoft Chinefc lightnefs. We did not fee
the interior of this, or, indeed, of any other
public buildings ; for, in the morning, when
curiofity was to be indulged, our faftidiouf-
nefs as to the inns returned, and induced us
to take a paiTage for Haerlem. The MSS.
of the Dutch verfion of the Bible, which are
known to be depofited here, could not have
been
92 HOLLAND.
been (hewn, being opened only once in
three years, when the Deputies of the Synod
and States attend ; but we might have feen,
in the town-houfe, fome curious teftimonies
of the hardfhips and pcrfeverance of the in-
habitants, during the celebrated blockade of
five months, in 1574, in confideration of
which the Univerfity was founded.
After viewing fome well-filled bookfellers'
ihops, and one wide ftreet of magnificent
houfes, we again made half the circuit of
this extenfive city, in the way to the trecht-
fchuyt for
H A E R L E M.
1 HE canal between Leyden and this
place is nearly the pleafanteft of the great
number, which conned all the towns of the
province with each other, and render them
to the traveller a feries of fpeftacles, almoft
as
HOLLAND. 93
as eafily vifited as the amufe merits of one
large metropolis. Though this is faid to be
one of the loweft parts of Holland, the
country does not appear to have fuffered
more than the reft by water. The many
country feats, which border the canals, are
alfo proofs that it is thought to be well fe-
cured ; yet this is the diftricT:, which has
been proved, by indifputable obfervations,
to be lower than the neighbouring fea, even
in the profoundeft calm. During the voy-
age, which was of four hours, we pafled
under feveral bridges, and faw numbers of
fmaller canals, crofling the country in va-
rious directions ; but the paflage of a trecht-
fchuyt is not delayed for an inftant by a
bridge, the tow-rope being loofened from
the boat, on one fide, and immediately
caught again, on the other, if it fhould not
be delivered by fome perfon, purpofely fta-
tioned on the arch. It is not often that a
canal makes any bend in its courfe ; when
it
94 HOLLAND.
it does fo, there are fmall, high pofts at the
point, round which the tow-rope is drawn ;
and, that the cord may not be deftroyed by
the fridtion, the pofts fupport perpendicular
rollers, which are turned by its motion.
Such polls and rollers might be advantage-
oufly brought into ufe in England. On
moft of the canals are half-way villages,
where paflengers may flop, about five minu*
tes, for refremment ; but they will be left
behind, without any ceremony, if they ex*
ceed the limited time, which the boatman
employs in exchanging letters for fuch of
the neighbouring country houfes as have not
packet boxes placed on the banks.
Haerlem, like Leyden, is fortified by brick
walls, but both feem to be without the folid
earthen works, that conflitute the flrength
of modern fortrefles. A few pieces of can-
non are planted near the gate, in order to
command the bridge of a wide fojfl ; and
the gate-houfe itfelf is a flout building, deep
enough
HOLLAND* 95
enough to render the pafiage underneath
fomewhat dark. There is otherwife very
little appearance of the ftrength, that re-
lifted the Duke of Alva, for twelve months,
and exafperated his defire of vengeance fo
far, that the murder of the inhabitants, who
at laft furrendered to his promifes of pro-
tection, could alone appeafe it.
A narrow ftreet leads from the gate to
the market-place, where two pieces of can-
non are planted before the guard-houfe;
the firft precaution againft internal commo-
tion, which we had feen in the country.
Haerlem had a great mare in the difputes
of 1787, and is faid to adhere more fully
than any other city to the Anti-Stadtholde-
rian politics of that period.
The market-place is very fpaciotis, and
furrounds the great church, perhaps, the
largeft facred building in the province of
Holland. The lofty oak roof is marked with
dates of the early part of the fixteenth cen-
tury.
96 HOLLAND.
tury. The organ, fometimes faid to be the
beft in Europe, is of unufual fize, but has
more power of found than fweetnefs. The
pipes are filvered, and the body carefully
painted ; for organs are the only objects in
Dutch churches, which are permitted to be
fhewy. They are now building, in the great
church at Rotterdam, a rival to this inftru-
ment, and need not defpair of furpaffing it.
A great part of the congregation fit upon
chairs in the large aifle, which does not feem
to be thought a much inferior place to the
other parts. During an evening fervice, at
which we were prefent, this was nearly
filled ; and while every perfon took a fepa-
rate feat, women earned chaitffepicds, or lit-
tle wooden boxes, with pans of burning
peat in them, to the ladies. This was on
the 4th of June. The men enter the church
with their hats on, and fome wear them,
during the whole fervice, with the moft dif-
gufling and arrogant hardihood.
We
HOLLAND. 97
XVe pafled a night at Haerlem, which is
fcarcely worth fo long a flay, though one
ftreet, formed upon the banks of a canal,
confifts of houfes more uniformly grand,
than any out of the Hague, and furprifes
you with its extenfive magnificence at a
place, where there is tittle other appearance
of wealth and none of fplendour. But the
quietnefs of the Great in Holland is daily
aftonifhing to a ftranger, who fometimes
pafTes through rows of palaces, without
meeting a carriage, or a fervant. The in-
habitants of thofe palaces have, however,
not lefs earned views, than they who are
more agitated ; the difference between them
is, that the views of the former are only
fuch as their fituation enables them to grati-
fy, without the agitation of the latter. They
can fit ftill and wait for the conclufion of
every year, at which they are to be richer,
or rather are to have much more money,
than in the preceding one. They know,
H that,
9S HOLLAND.
that, every day the filent progrefs of interefl
adds fo much to their principal ; and they
are content to watch the courfe of time, for
it is time alone that varies their wealth, the
fingle object of their attention. There can
be no motive, but its truth, for repeating the
trite opinion of the influence of avarice in
Holland : we expected, perhaps, with fome
vanity, to have found an opportunity for
contradicting it ; but are able only to add
another teftimony of its truth. The in-
fatuation of loving money not as a means,
but as an end, is paramount in the mind of
/
almoft every Dutchman, whatever may be
his other difpofitions and qualities ; the ad-
diction to it is fervent, inveterate, invinci-
ble, and univerfal from youth to the feebleft
old age.
Haerlem has little trade, its communica-
tion with the fea being through Amfterdam,
which latter place has always been able to
ebftruct
HOLLAND. 99
obftruct the reafonable fcheme of cutting a
canal through the four miles of land, that
feparate the former from the ocean. Its
manufactures of {ilk and thread are much
lefs profperous than formerly. Yet there
are no fymptoms of decay, or poverty, and
the environs are well covered with gardens
efpecially on the banks of the Spare?:^ of
which one branch flows through the town
and the other paries under the walls. Some
charitable inftitutions, for the inftruction
and employment of children, mould be
mentioned alfo, to afiuage the general cen-
fure of a too great fondnefs for money.
The houfe of LAURANCE COSTER, who
is oppofed to FAUST, GOTTENBURGH and
SCHEFFER, for the honour of having in-
vented the art of printing, is near the great
church and is dill inhabited by a bookfeller.
An infcription, not worth copying, aflerts
him to be the inventor. The houfe, which
H 2
ioo HOLLAND.
is fmall and ftands in a row with others,
muft have received its prefent brick front in
fome time fubfequent to that of COSTER,
AMSTERDAM.
. ^
THE voyage between Haerlem and
this place is lefs pleafant, with refpect to
the country, than many, of the other trips,,
but more gratifying to curiofity. For great
part of the way, the canal pafles between
the lake, called Haerkmer Maer, and a large
branch of the Zuyder Zee, called the River
Y. In one place, the neck of land, which
feparates thefe two waters, is fo thin, that a
canal cannot be drawn through it ; and,
near this, there is a village, where paflengers
leave their firft boat, another waiting for
them at the renewal of the canal, within a
quarter of^ a mile. Here, as upon other
occafions of the fame fort, nearly as much is
paid
HOLLAND. 101
paid for the carriage of two or three trunks
between the boats, as for the whole voyage ;
and there is an Ordonnatie to authorize the
price; for the Magiftrates have confidered,
that thofe, who have much baggage, are
probably foreigners, and may be thus made
to fupport many of the natives. The
Dutch themfelves put their linen into a vel-
vet bag, called a Ryfack, and for this ac-
cordingly no charge is made.
The HalfWegen Sluice is the name of
this feparation between two vaft waters,
both of which have gained confiderably
upon their mores, and, if united, would be
irrtfiftible. At the narrowed part, it con-
fjfts pile-work and mafonry, to the thicknefs
of probably forty feet. On this fpot the
fpedator has, on his left hand, the Y,
which, though called a river, is an immenfe
inundation of the Zuyder Zee, and would
probably carry a fmall veflel, without in-
terruption, into the German ocean. On the
H 3 other
102 HOLLAND.
other hand, is the Haerletn lake, about
twelve miles long and nine broad, on
which, during the fiege of Haerlem, the
Dutch and Spaniards maintained fleets, and
fought battles. Extending as far as Ley-
den, there is a paflage upon it from that
city to Amfterdam, much fhorter than by
the canal, but held to be dangerous. Before
the year 1657, t ^ iere was > however, no
other way, and it was probably the Icfs of
the Prince of Bohemia and the danger of
his dethroned father upon the lake, that in-
ftigated the making of the canal.
This fluice is one of feveral valuable
pofts, by which Amfterdam may be defend-
ed againft a powerful army, and was an
important ftation, during the approach of
the Duke of BRUNSWICK in 1787, when
this city was the laft, which furrendered.
All the roads being formed upon dikes, or
embankments, may be defended by batteries,
which can be attacked only by narrow co-
i lumns
*l
HOLLAND. 103
Jumns and in front. The Half Wegea
Sluice was, however, eafily taken by the
Duke of BRUNSWICK, his opponents having
neglected to place gun-boats on the Haer-
lem lake, over which he carried eight hun-
dred men in thirty boats, and furpnfed the
Dutch before day-break, on the morning ot
the firft of October. This was one of his
real affaults, but there were all together ele-
ven made on that day, and, on the next,
the city propofed to furrender.
Beyond the fluke, the canal pailes feveral
breaches, made by inundations of the Y,
and not capable of being drained, or re-
paired. In theie places the canal is feparated
from the inundations either by piles, or
floating planks. None of the breaches were
made within the memory of the prefent
generation, yet the boatmen have learned to
fpeak of them with horror.
There is nothing magnificent, or grand,
in the approach to Amfterdam, or the pro-
H 4 fpecl
104 HOLLAND.
fpect of the city. The fails of above an hun-
dred windmills, moving on all fides, feem
more confpicuous than the public buildings
of this celebrated capital.
The trechtfchuyt having flopped on the
outfide of the gate, we waited for one of
the public coaches, which are ahways to be
had by fending to a livery ftable, but do not
(land in the ftreet for fares. It coft half-a-
crown for a drive of about two miles into
the city ; the regulated price is a guilder,
or twenty-pence. Our direction was to the
Doolen ; but the driver chofe to take us to
another inn, in the fame ftreet, which we
did not difcover to be others ife called, till
we had become fatisfied with it.
Nearly all the chief thorough-fares of
Amfterdam are narrow, but the carriages are
neither fo numerous as in other places of
the fame fize, nor fuffered to be driven with
the fame fpeed ; fo that, though there is no
raifed pavement, foot pafTenggrs are as fafe
as
HOLLAND. 105
as elfewhere. There are broad terraces to
the ftreets over the two chief canals, but
thefe are fometimes encumbered by work-
fhops, placed immediately over the water,
between which and the houfes the owners
maintain an intercourfe of packages and
planks, with very little care about the free-
dom of the paflage. This, indeed, may be
conftantly obferved of the Dutch : they will
never, either in their focieties, or their bud-
nefs, employ their time, for a moment, in
gratifying the little malice, or {hewing the
little envy, or aflliming the little triumphs,
which fill fo much of life with unneceflary
miferies ; but they will feldom ftep one
inch out of their way, or furrender one mo-
ment of their time, to fave thofe, whom
they do not know, from any inconvenience.
A Dutchman, throwing cheefes into his
warehoufe, or drawing iron along the path-
way, will not flop, while a lady, or an in-
firm perfon pafles, unlefs he perceives
fome-
io6 HOLLAND.
fomebody inclined to protect them ; a \varc-
houfeman trundling a cafk, or a woman in
the favourite occupation of throwing water
upon her windows, will leave it entirely
to the pafTengers to take care of their limbs,
or their clothes.
The canals themfelves, which are the or-
naments of other Dutch cities, are, for the
moil part, the nuifances of Amfterdam.
Many of them are entirely ftagnant, and,
though deep, are fo laden with filth, that,
on a hot day, the feculence feems peftilen-
tial. Our windows opened upon two, but
the fcent very foon made us willing to re-
linquifh the profpeilt. The bottoms are fo
muddy, that a boat-hook, drawn up, per-
haps, through twelve feet of water, leaves a
circle of ilime at the top, which is not loft
for many minutes. It is not unufual to fee
boats, laden with this mud, palling during
mid-day, under the windows of the moil
opulent traders ; and the fetid cargoes never
difturh
HOLLAND. 107
difturb the intenfe ftudies of the countlng-
houfes within.
After this diftafte of the ftreets and canals
of Amfterdam, it was a fort of duty to fee,
what is the glory of the city, the interior
of the Stadthoufe ; but we loft this fpecta-
cle, by a negligence of that fevere punc-
tuality, in which the Dutch might be ufe-
fully imitated throughout the world. Our
friends had obtained for us a ticket of ad-
mi (lion at ten ; we called upon them about
half an hour afterwards ; but, as the ride
from, their houfe would have required ten
minutes more, the time of this ticket was
thought to be elapfed. We would not ac-
cept one, which was offered to be obtained
for another day, being unwilling to render
it pofiible, that thofe, who were loading us
with the fincereft civilities, fhould witnefs
another apparent inftance of inattention.
The Stadthoufe, as to its exterior, is a
plain (tone building, attracting attention
chiefly
io8 HOLLAND.
chiefly from its length, folidity and height.
The front is an hundred and eight paces
long. It has no large gate, but feveral fmall
' ones, and few ftatues, that would be ob-
ferved, except one of Atlas on the top.
The tales, as to the expence of the build-
ing, are inexhauftible. The foundation a-
lone, which is entirely of piles, is faid to
have coft a million of guilders, or nearly
ninety thoufand pounds, and the whole edi-
fice treble that fum. Its contents, the flock
of the celebrated Bank, are eftimated at
various amounts, of which we will not re-
peat the loweft.
The Exchange is an humble building,
.and not convenient of accefs. The Poft
Office is well fituated, upon a broad terrace,
near the Stadthoufe, and feems to be pro-
perly laid out for its ufe.
None of the churches are confpicuous for
their ftruclure ; but the regulation, with
refpeft to their minifters, fliould be more
known.
HOLLAND. 109
Icnown. Two are afligned to each, and
all throughout the city have equal and re-
fpedable falaries.
At a diftance from the Exchange are
fome magnificent ftreets, raifed on the banks
of canals, nearly 'equalling thofe of the
Hague for the grandeur of houfes, and
much exceeding in length the beft of Ley-
den and Haerlem. Thefe are the ftreets,
which muft give a ftranger an opinion of
the wealth of the city, while the Port, and
that alone, can difplay the extenfivenefs of
its commerce. The {hops and the prepa-
rations for traffic in the interior have a
mean appearance to thofe, who try them
by the ftandard of London conveniences
and elegance.
The beft method of feeing the Port is to
pafs down it in a boat to fome of the
many towns, that fkirt the Zuyder Zee.
One convenience, eafy to be had every
where, is immediately vifible from the
-v
8 quays.
no HOLLAND.
quays. Small platforms of planks fupportecl
by piles project from the fhore between the
veflels, which are difpofed with their heads
towards the fides of thefe little bridges ;
the furtheft has thus a communication with
the quay, and, if the cargo is not of very
heavy articles, may be unladen at the fame
time with the others. The port is fo wide,
that, though both fides are thronged with
fhipping, the channel in the middle is, at
lead, as broad as the Thames at London
Bridge ; but the harbour does not extend to
more than half the length of the Pool at
London, and feems to contain about half
the number of veflels. The form of the
port is, however, much more advantageous
for a difplay of {hipping, which may be
here feen nearly at one glance in a fine bay
of the Zuydcr.
After a fail of about an hour, w r e landed
at Saardam, a village celebrated for the
Dockyards, which fupply Amfterdam with
nearly
HOLLAND. in
nearly all its fleets. A fhort channel carries
veffels of the greateft burthen from Saardam.
to the Zuyder Zee, which the founders of
the place took care not to approach too
nearly ; and the terrace at the end of this
channel is prepared for the reception of
cannon, that muft eafily defend it from any
attack by fea. Though the neighbourhood
of a dockyard might be fuppofcd a fuf-
ficient antidote to cleanlinefs, the nealnefs of
this little town renders it a fpcclacle even
to the Dutch themfelves. The flreets are
ib carefully iwept, that a piece of orange
peel would be noticed upon the pavement,
and the houfes are warned and painted to
the higheft polifh of nicety. Tlicic, who
are here in a morning, or at night, may
probably fee how many dirty operations are
endured for the fake of this exce/Tive clean-
linefs.
We were fhewn nearly round the place,
and, of courfe, to the cottage, in which the
indefatigable
ii2 HOLLAND.
indefatigable Peter the Firft of Ruffia re*
fided,. wLen he was a workman in the dock-*
yard. It is a tenement of two rooms,
ftanding in a part of the village, io very-
mean, that the alleys near it are not cleaner,
than thofe of other places. An old woman
lives in the cottage, and fubfiils chiefly by
{hewing it to vifitors, amongfl whom have
been the prefent Grand Duke and Duchefs
of Ruffia; for the Court of Peterfburgh
acknowledge it to have been the refidence
of Peter, and have ftiuck a medal in com-
memoration of fo truly honourable a palace.
The old woman has received one of thefe
medals from the prefent Emprefs, together
with a grant of a fmall annuity to encou*
rage her care of the cottage.
We palled an agreeable afternoon, at an
Inn on the terrace, from whence pleamre
veffels and pafTage boats were continually
departing for Amfterdam, and had a fmart
fail, on our return, during a cloudy and
fomewhat
HOLLAND. 113
i
fomewhat a ftormy funfet. The approach
to Amfterdam, on this fide, is as grand as
that from Haerlem is mean, half the circuit
of the city, and all its fpires, being vifible at
once over the crowded harbour. The great
church of Haerlem is alfo feen at a fmali
diftance, on the right. The Amftel, a wide
river, which flows through the city into the
harbour, fills nearly all the canals, and is
itfelf capable of receiving {hips ofconfidera-
ble burthen : one of the bridges over it, and
a terrace beyond, are among the few plea-
fant walks enjoyed by the inhabitants. The
Admiralty, an immenfe building, in the in-
terior of which is the dockyard, ftands on
this terrace, or quay ; and the Eaft India
Company have their magazine here, inftead
of the interior of the city, where it would t
be benevolence to let its perfume counte-
ract the noxioufnefs of the canals.
The government of Amfterdam is faid to
colled by taxes, rents and dues of various
I forts,
H4 HOLLAND.
forts, more than an Englifh million and a
half annually ; and, though a great part of
this fum is afterwards paid to the life of the
whole Republic, the power of collecting
and diftributing it inuft give confiderable
confequence to the magistrates. The Se-
nate, which has this power, confifts of
thirty-fix members, who-' retain their feats
during life, and were formerly chofen by
the whole body of burghers ; but, about
two centuries ago, . this privilege was fur-
rendered to the Senate itfelf, who have ever
fmce filled up the vacancies in their number
by a majority of their own voices. The
EcbevitiSi who form the court of juftice,.
are here chofen by the burghers out of a
double number, nominated by the Senate :
in the other cities, the Stadtholder, and not
the burghers, makes this choice.
It is obvious, that when the City Senates,
which return the Provincial States, and,
through them, the States General, were
themfelves
HOLLAND. 115
themfelves elected by> the burghers, the
legiflature of the United Provinces had a
character entirely reprefentative ; and, at
prefent, a refpect for public opinion is faid
to have confiderable influence in directing
the choice of the Senates.
The province of Holland, of which this
city is the moft important part, is fuppofed
to contain 800,000 perfons, who pay taxes
to the amount of twenty- four millions of
guilders, or two millions fterlmg, forming
an average of two pounds ten millings per
perfon. In eftimating the real taxation of
a people, it is, however, neceflary to confi-
der the proportion of their confumption to
their imports ; for the duties, advanced up-
on imported articles, are no*t ultimately and
finally paid till thefe are confumed. , The
frugal habits of the Dutch permit them to
retain but a fmall part of the expeniive
commodities, which they collect ; and the
I 2 foreigners,
ii6 HOLLAND.
foreigners, to whom they are refold, pay,
therefore, a large fhare of the taxation,
which would be ib enormous, if it was con-
fined to the inhabitants. Among the taxes,
really paid by themfelves, are the following ;
7- a land-tax of about four {hillings and nine
pence per acre ; a fale-tax of eight per cent,
upon horfes, one and a quarter per cent,
upon other moveables, and two and an half
per cent, upon land and buildings ; a tax
upon inheritances out of the direct line,
varying from two and an half to eleven per
cent. 5 two per cent, upon every man's in-
come ; an excife of three pounds per hogf-
head upon wine, and a charge of two per
cent, upon all public offices. The latter
tax is not quite fo popular here as in other
countries, becaufe many of thefe offices are
actually purchafed, the Holders being com*
pelled to buy ftock to a certain amount, arid
to deftroy the obligations. The excife up-
on
HOLLAND, 117
on coffee, tea and fait is paid annually by
each family, according to the number of
their fervants.
The inhabitants of Amfterdam, and fome
other cities, pay alfo a tax, in proportion to
their property, for the maintenance of com-
panies of city-guards, which are under the
orders of their own magiftrates. In Am-
fterdam, indeed, taxation is fomewhat high-
er than in other places. Sir William Tem-
ple was aflured, that no lefs than thirty
duties might be reckoned to have been paid
there, before a certain dim could be placed
upon a table at a tavern.
The exact fums, paid by the feveral
provinces towards every hundred thoufand
guilders, raifed for the general ufe, have
been often printed. The mare of Holland
is 58,309 guilders and a fraction ; that of
OveryiTel, which is the fmalleft, 3571 guild-
ers and a fraction.
Of five colleges of Admiralty, eftablimed
I 3 within
n8 HOLLAND.
within the United Provinces, three are in
Holland, and contribute of courfe to point
out the pre-eminence of that province. It
is remarkable, that neither of thefe fupply
their mips with provifions : They allow the
captains to deduct about four-pence half,
penny per day from the pay of each failcr
for that purpofe ; a regulation, which is
never made injurious to the feamen by any
improper parfimony, and is fonietimes ufe-
ful to the public, in a country where preff-
ing is not permitted. A captain, who has
acquired a character for generofity amongft
the failors, can mufter a crew in a few days,
which, without fuch a temptation, could
not be raifed in as many weeks.
We cannot fpeak with exactnefs of the
prices of provifions in this province, but
they are generally faid to be as high as in
England. The charges at inns are the fame
as on the roads within an hundred miles of
London, or, perhaps, fomething more. Port
wine
HOLLAND. 119
\vine is not fo common as a wine which
they call Claret, but which is compounded
of a ftrong red wine from Valencia, mixed
with fome from Bourdeaux. The -general
price for this is twenty pence Englilh a
bottle ; three and four pence is the price
for a much better fort. About half-a-crown
per day is charged for each apartment ;
and logement is always the firft article in
a bill.
Private families buy good claret at the
rate of about eighteen pence per bottle,
and chocolate for two millings per pound.
Beef is fold for much lefs than in England,
but is fo poor that the Dutch ufe it chiefly
for foup, and fait even that which they
roaft. Good white fugar is eighteen pence
per pound. Bread is dearer than in Eng-
land ; and there is a fort, called milk bread,
of uncommon whitenefs, which cofts near-
ly twice as much as our ordinary loaves.
Herbs and fruits are much lower priced,
I 4 and
120 HOLLAND.
and worfe in flavour ; but their colour and
fize are not inferior. Fim is cheaper than
in our maritime counties, thole excepted
which are at a great diftance from the me-
tropolis. Coffee is very cheap, and is more
ufed than tea. No kind of meat is fo good
as in England ; but veal is not much in-
ferior, and is often drefled as plainly and as
well as with us. The innkeepers have a
notion of mutton and lamb chops; but
then it is a la Maintenon ; and the rank oil
of the paper is not a very delightful fauce.
' Butter is ufually brought to table clarified^
that is, purpofely melted into an oil ; and
it is difficult to make the^m underftand that
it may be otherwife.
The Dutch have much more, refpect for
Englifh than for other travellers ; but there
is a jealoufy, with refpecT: to our com-
merce, which is avowed by thofe, who have
been tutored to calm difcuffion, and may
be perceived in the converfation of others,
whenever
HOLLAND. 121
whenever the ftate of the two countries is
noticed. This jealoufy is greater in the
maritime than in the other provinces, and
in Amfterdam than in fome of the other ci-
ties. Rotterdam has fo much direct inter-
courfe with England, as to feel, in fome
degree, a {hare in its interefts.
Some of our excurfions round Amfter-
dam were made in a curious vehicle ; the
body of a coach placed upon a fledge, and
drawn by one horfe. The driver walks by
the fide, with the reins in one hand, and
in the other a wetted rope, which he fome-
times throws under the fledge to prevent it
from taking fire, and to fill up the little
gaps in the pavement. The appearance of
thefe things was fo whimfical, that curiofity
tempted us to embark in one ; and, finding
them laughed at by none but ourfelves, the
convenience of being upon a level with the
fhops, and with the faces that feemed to
contain the hiftory of the fhops, induced us
to
122 HOLLAND.
to ufe them again. There are great num-
bers of them, being encouraged by the ma-
giitrates, in preference to wheel carriages,
and, as is faid, in tendernefs to the piled
foundations of the city, the only one in
Holland in which they are ufed. The price
is eight pence for any diftance within the
city, and eight pence an hour for attend-
ance.
Near Amfterdam is the fmall village of
Oudcrkirk, a place of fome importance in
the fhort campaign of 1787, being acceflible
by four roads, all cf which were then forti-
fied. It confiils chiefly of the country
houfes of Amfterdam merchants, at one of
which we paffed a pleafant day. Having
been but flightly defended, after the lofs of
the pofts of HalfWegen and Amjlelreen^ it
was not much injured by the Pruffians ; but
there are many traces of balls thrown into
it. The ride to it from Amfterdam is up.-
on the chearful banks of the Amftel, which is
3 bordered,
HOLLAND. 123
bordered, for more than five miles, with
gardens of better verdure and richer groves
than had hitherto appeared. The village
was fpread with booths for a fair, though
it was Sunday ; and we were fomewhat
furprifed to obferve, that a people in general
fo gravely decorous as the Dutch, fliould
not pay a ftrider deference to the Sabbath.
We here took leave of fome friends, whofe
frank manners and obliging difpofitions are
remembered with much more delight than
any other circumftances, relative to Amfter-
dam.
UTRECHT.
1 HE pafiage from Amfterdam hither
is of eight hours ; and, notwithstanding the
pleafantnefs of trechtfchuyt conveyance,
feemed fomewhat tedious, after the habit of
paffing from city to city in half that time.
The
i2 4 HOLLAND.
The canal is, however, juftly preferred to
others, on account of the richnefs of its
furrounding fcenery ; and it is pleafmg to
obferve how gradually the country improves,
as the diftance from the province of Hol-
land and from the fea increafes. Towards
Utrecht, the gardens rife from the banks of
the canal, inftead of fpreading below its
level, and the grounds maintain avenues and
plantations of lofty trees. Vegetation is
ilronger and more copious ; fhrubs rife to a
greater height ; meadows difplay a livelier
green ; and the lattice- work of the bowery
avenues, which occur fo frequently, ceafes
to be more confpicuous than the foliage.
It was Whitfuntide, and the banks of
the canal were gay with holiday people,
riding in waggons and carts ; the latter fre-
quently carrying a woman wearing a paint-
ed hat as large as an umbrella, and a man
with one in whimfical contrail clipped near-
ly clofe to the crown. The lady fome-
times
HOLLAND. 125
times' refreftied herfelf with a fan, and the
gentleman, meanwhile," with a pipe of to-
bacco. Every village we pafled refounded
with hoarfe mufic and the clatter of wooden
fhoes : among thefe the prettieft was Nieu-
verJluyS) bordering each fide of the canal,
with a white drawbridge picturefquely
fhadowed with high trees, and green banks
doping to the, water's brim. Pleafure-boats
and trechtfchuyts lined the fhores j and the
windows of every houfe were thronged with
broad faces. On the little terraces below
were groups of fmokers, and of girls in the
neat trim Dutch drefs, with the fair com-
plexion and air of decorous modefty, by
which their country-women are diftin-
guifhed.
About half way from Amfterdam ftands
a fmall modern fortification ; and it is an
inftance of Dutch carefulnef?, that grafs had
juft been mowed even from the parapets of
the batteries, and was made up in heaps
within
t6 HOLLAND,
within the works. Not far from it is an
ancient caftle of one tower, left in the ftate
to which it was reduced during the conteft
with the Spaniards.
Near Utrecht, the ground has improved
fo much, that nothing but its evennefs dif-
tinguimes it from other countries ; and, at
fome diftance eaftward, the hills of Guel-
derland rife to deftroy this laft difference.
The entrance into the city is between high
terraces, from which fleps defcend to the
canal ; but the ftreet is not wide enough to
have its appearance improved by this fort"
of approach. Warehoufes, formed under
the terraces, fliew alfo that the latter have
been raifed more for convenience than'
fplendour.
The fleeple of the great church, former-
ly a cathedral, excites, in the mean time, an
expectation of dignity in the interior, where
fome confiderable ftreets and another canal
complete the air of an opulent city. It is
not
HOLLAND. 127
not immediately feen, that a great part of the
body of this cathedral has been deftroyed,
and that the canals, being fubject to tides,
have dirty walls during the ebb. The
fplendour, which might be expeded m the
capital of a province much inhabited by no-
bility, does not appear ; nor is there, per-
haps, any ftreet equal to the bed of Leyden
and Haerlem j yet, in general beauty, the
city is fuperior to either of thefe..
We arrived juft before nine, at which
hour a bell rings to denote the fhutting of
the larger gates ; for the rules of a walled
town are obferved here, though the fortifi-
cations could be of little other ufe than to
prevent a furprife by horfe. The Chateau
d ' ' Anvers, at which we lodged, is an excel-
lent inn, with a landlord, who tells, that he
has walked fixty years in his own paflage,
and that he had the honour of entertaining
the Marquis of Granby thirteen times.
-i j *.
during the war of 1756. Tho;igh the Dutch
inns
HOLLAND.
inns are generally unobjectionable, there is
an air of Englifh completenefs about this
which the others do not reach.
Utrecht is an univerfity, but with as little
appearance of fuch an inftitution as Leyden.
The ftudents have no academical drefs ;
and their halls, which are ufed only for lec-
tures and exercifes, are formed in the cloi-
flers of the ancient cathedral. The chief
fign of tluir refidence in the place is, that
the houfeholders, who have lodgings to let,
write upon a board, as is done at Leyden,
Cubicula locanda. We were {hewn round
the town by a member of the univerfity,
who carefully avoided the halls j and we did
not prefs to fee them.
There are Hill fome traces remaining of
the Bifhopric, which was once fo powerful,
as to excite the jealoufy, or rather, perhaps,
to tempt the avarice of Charles the Fifth,
who feized upon many of its pofTefTions.
The ufe made of the remainder by the
8 States
HOLLAND.
States General, is fcarcely more juftifiable ;
for the prebends ftill fubfift, and are dif-
pofed of by fale to Lay Canons, who fend
delegates to the Provincial States, as if they
had ecclefiaftical characters.
The fubftantial remains of the Cathedral
are one aifle, in which divine fervice is
performed, and a lofty, magnificent Gothic
tower, that (lands apart from it. The afcent
of this tower is one of the talks prefcribed
to ftrangers, and, laborious as it is, the view
from the fummit fufficiently rewards them*
A ftone ftaircafe, fteep, narrow, and wind-
ing, after paffing feveral grated doors, leads
into a floor, which you hope is at the top^
but which is little more than half way up*
Here the family of the belfryman fill feveral
decently furnifhed apartments, and fhew the
great bell, with feveral others, the noife of
which, it might be fuppofed, no human ears
could bear, as they muft^ at the diftance of
only three, or four yards. After refting a
K few
I3 o HOLLAND. ,
few minutes in a room, the windows of
which command, perhaps, a more extenfive
land view than any other inhabited apart-
ment in Europe, you begin the fecond af-
cent by a ftaircafe ftiil narrower and fteeper,
and, when you feem to be fo weary as to
be incapable of another ftep, half the ho-
rizon fuddenly burfts upon the view, and all
your meditated complaints are overborne by
expreffions of admiration.
Towards the weft, the profpecTyafter in-
cluding the rich plain of gardens near
Utrecht, extends over the province of Hol-
land, interfered with water, fpeckled with
towns, and finally bounded by the fea, the
mifts of which hhle the low fhores from the
fight. To the northward, the Zuyder Zee
fpreads its hazinefs over Amfterdam and
Naerden ; but from thence to the eaft, the
fpires of Amersfoort, Rhenen, Arnheim,
Nimeguen and many intermediate towns,
are feerx amongft the woods and hills, that
gradually
HOLLAND. 131
gradually rife towards Germany. South-
ward, the more mountainous diftrict of
Cleves and then the level parts of Guelder-
land and Holland, with the windings of the
Waal and the Leek, in which the Rhine
lofes itfelf, complete a circle of probably
more than fixty miles diameter, that ftrains
the fight from this tremendous ileeple. The
almoft perpendicular view into the ftreets
of Utrecht affords afterwards fome relief to
the eye, but increafes any notions of dan-
ger, you may have had from obfervingj
that the open work Gothic parapet, which
alone prevents you from falling with diz-
zinefs, has fuffered fomething in the general
decay of the church.
While we were at the top, the bells
ftruck ; and, between the giddinefs commu-
nicated by the eye, and the ftunning effect
of a found that feemed to fhake the fteeple,
we were compelled to conclude fooner than
Ka had
132 HOLLAND.
had been intended this comprehenfive and
farewell profpect of Holland.
The Mall, which is efteemed the chief
ornament of Utrecht, is, perhaps, the only
avenue of the fort in Europe, ftill fit to be
ufed for the game that gives its name to
them all. The feveral rows of noble trees
include, at the fides, roads and walks ; but
the centre is laid out for the game of Mall,
and, though not often ufed, is in perfect
prefervation. It is divided fo as to admit
of two parties of players at once, and the
,
fide-boards fufficiently reftrain fpe&ators.
The Mall in St. James's Park was kept in
the fame ftate, till 1752, when the prefent
great walk was formed over the part, which
was feparated by fimilar fide-boards. The
length of that at Utrecht is nearly three
quarters of a mile. The luxuriance and
loftinefs of the trees preferve a perfpective
much fuperior to that of St. James's, but in
the
HOLLAND. 133
the latter the whole breadth of the walks is
greater, and the view is more extenfive, as
well as more ornamented.
This city, being a fort of capital to the
neighbouring nobility, is called the politeft
in the United Provinces, and certainly a-
bounds, more than the others, with the pro-
feflions and trades, which are fubfervient to
fplendour. One practice, obferved in fome
degree, in all the cities, is moft frequent
here; that of bows paid to all parties, in
which there are ladies, by every gentleman
who pafles. There are, however, no plays,
or other public amufements ; and the fefti-
vities, or ceremonies, by which other nations
commemorate the happier events in their
hiftory, are as unufual here as in the other
parts of the United Provinces, where there
are more occafions to celebrate and fewer
celebrations than in moft European coun-
tries. Mufic is very little cultivated in any
cf the cities, and plays are to be feen'only
K 3 at
i 3 4 HOLLAND.
at Amfterdarti and the Hague, where Ger-
man and Dutch pieces are acted upon alter-
nate nights. At Amfterdam, a French
Opera-houfe has been fhut up, and, at the
Hague, a Comedie, and the actors ordered
to leave the country.
The ramparts of the city, which are high
and command extenfive profpects, are ra-
ther emblems of the peacefulnefs, which it
has long enjoyed, than figns of any effec-
tual refiftance, prepared for an enemy.
They are in many places regularly planted
with trees, which muft be old enough to
have been fpared, together with the Mall,
by Louis the Fourteenth ; in others, plea-
fure houfes, inftead of batteries, have been
raifed upon them. A few pieces of old
cannon are planted for the purpofe of falut-
ing the Prince of ORANGE, when he pafles
the city.
Trechtfchuyts go no further eaftwafd
thaii this place, fo that we hired a voitu-
rier's
HOLLAND. 135
rler's carnage, a fort of curricle with a dri-
ver's box in front, for the journey to Ni-
meguen. The price for thirty-eight, or
thirty-nine miles, was fomething more than
a guinea and a half ; the horfes were worth
probably fixty pounds upon the fpot, and
were as able as they were fhowy, or they
cculd not have drawn us through the deep
fands, that cover one third of the road.
We were now fpeedily quitting almoft
every thing, that is generally charaderiftic
of Dutch land. The paftures were inter-
mixed with fields of profperous corn ; the
beft houfes were furrounded by high woods,
and the grounds were feparated by hedges,
inftead of water, where any fort of partition
was ufed. Windmills were feldom feen, and
thofe only for corn. But thefe improve-
ments in the appearance of the country
were accompanied by many fymptoms of
a diminimed profperity among the people.
Jn eight-and-thirty miles there was not one
K 4 confiderable
136 HOLLAND,
confiderable town ; a fpace, which, in the
province of Holland, would probably have
included three opulent cities, feveral exten-
five villages, and ranges of manfions, creel-
ed by merchants and manufacturers.
Wyk de Duerftede, the firft town in the
road, is diftinguifrrable at fome diftance, by
the mattered tower of its church, a monu-
ment of the defolation, fpread by the
Spaniards. The inhabitants, probably in-
tending, that it mould remain as a leflbn
to pofterity, have not attempted to reftore
it, further than to place fome ftones over
the part filled by the clock. The body of
the church and the remainder of the tower
are not deficient of Gothic dignity. The
town itfelf confifts of one, or two wide
ftreets, not well filled either with inhabi-
tants, or houfes.
The road here turns to the eaftward and
is led along the right bank of the Leek,
one of the branches of the Rhine, upon a
HOLLAND. 137
raifed mound, or dique, fometimes twenty,
or thirty feet, above the river on the one
fide, and the plains, on the other. Small
pofts, each numbered, are placed along this
road, at unequal diftances, for no other ufe,
which we could difcover, than to enable
the furveyors to report exactly where the
mound may want repairs. The carriage
way is formed of a deep fand, which we
were very glad to leave, by crofling the river
at a ferry ; though this road had given us a
fine view of its courfe and of fome ftately
veflels, preffing againft the ftream, on their
voyage to Germany.
On the other fide, the road went further
from the river, though we continued to fkirt
it occafionally as fir as a fmall ferry-houfe,
oppofite to Rhenen, at which we dined,
while the horfes refted under a fhed, built
over the road, as weigh-houfes are at our
turnpikes, Rhenen is a walled town, built
upon
i 3 S HOLLAND.
upon an afcent from the water, and appears
to have two, or three neat ftreets.
Having dined in a room, where a table,
large enough for twenty perfons, was plaeed,
on one fide, and a line of four, or five beds,
^
covered by one long curtain, was formed
againft the wainfcot, on the other, the
voiturier clamoured, that the gates of Nime-
guen would be fhut before we could get to
them, and we foon began to crofs the coun-
try between the Leek and the Waal, ano-
ther branch of the Rhine, which, in Guel-
derland, divides itfelf into fo many channels,
that none can be allowed the pre-eminence
of retaining its name. Soon after reaching
the right bank of the Waal, the road affords
a view of the diftant towers of Nimeguen,
which appear there to be very important,
ftanding upon a brow, that feems to front
the whole ftream of the river. In the way,
we pafled feveral noble eftates, with man-
5 fions,
HOLLAND.
fions, built in the caftellated form, which
James the Firft introduced into England,
inftead of the more fortified refidences ; and
there was a fufficient grandeur of woods
and avenues, to (hew, that there might be
parks, if the owners had the tafte to form,
them. Between the avenues, the gilded or-
naments of the roof, and the peaked cover-
ings, placed, in fummer, over the chimneys,
glittered to the light, and fhewed the fan-
taftic ftyle of the architecture, fo exactly
copied in Flemilh landfcapes of the fixteenth
and feventeenth centuries.
As the fun declined and we drew near
Nimeguen, the various colouring of a fcene
more rich than extenfive rendered its effect
highly interefting. The wide Waal on our
left, reflecting the evening blufh, and a vef-
fel whofe full fails caught a yellow gleam
from the weft ; the ramparts and pointed
roofs of Nimeguen rifing over each other,
juft tinted by the vapour that afcended from
the
140- HOLLAND.
the bay below ; the faint and fainter blue of
two ridges of hills in Germany retiring in
the diftance, with the mellow green of
nearer woods and meadows, formed a com-
bination of hues furprifmgly gay and beau-
tiful. But Nimeguen loft much of its dig-
nity on a nearer approach ; for many of
the towers, which the treachery of fancy
had painted at diftance, changed into forms
lefs pidurefque ; and its fituation, which a
bold fweep of the Waal had reprefented to
be on a rifing peninfula crowning the flood,
was found to be only on a fteep befide it.
The ramparts, however, the high old tower
of the citadel, the Belvidere, with the fquth-
ern gate of the town beneath, compofed
part of an interefting picture on the oppo-
fite margin of the river. But there was
very little time to obferve it : the driver faw
the flying bridge, making its laft voyage,
for the night, towards our fhore, and likely
to return in about twenty minutes ; he,
therefore^
HOLLAND. 141
therefore, drove furioufly along the high
bank of the river, and, turning the angle
of the two roads with a velocity, which
would have done honour to a Brentford
poilillion, entered that adjoining the firft
half of the bridge, and (hewed the direc-
tors of the other half, that we were to be
part of their cargo.
This bridge, which is partly laid over
boats and partly over two barges, that float
from the boats to the ihore, is fo divided,
becaufe the ftream is occafionally too rapid
to permit an entire range of boats between
the two banks. It is thus, for one half, a
bridge of boats, and, for the other, a flying
bridge ; which laft part is capable of con-
taining feveral carriages, and joins to the
other fo exactly as not to occafion the leaft
interruption. It is alfo railed for the fafety
of foot paflengers, of whom there are com-
monly twenty, or thirty. The price for a
carriage is fomething about twenty-pence,
which
142 HOLLAND.
which the tollmen carefully colled as fooa
as the demi-bridge has begun its voyage.
NIMEGUEN
HAS, towards the water, little other
fortification than an antient brick wall, and
a gate. Though it is a garrifon town, and
certainly no trifling object, we were not
detained at the gate by troublefome cere-
monies. The commander, affeding no un-
neceflary carefulnefs, is iadsfied with a copy
of the report, which the innkeepers, in all
the towns, fend to the Magistrates, of the
names and conditions of their guefts. A
printed paper is ufually brought up, after
fupper, in which you are afked to write
your name, addition, refidence, how long
you intend to ftay, and to whom you are
known in the province. We did not fliew
a paflport in Holland.
The
HOLLAND. 143
The town has an abrupt but fhort eleva-
tion from the river, which you afcend by a
narrow but clean ftreet, opening into a fpa-
cious market-place. The great church and
the guard- houfe are on one fide of this ;
from the other, a ftreet runs to the eaftem
gate of the town, formed in the old wall,
beyond which commence the modern and
ftrong fortifications, that defend it, on the
land fide. At the eaftern extremity of the
place, a fmall mall leads to the houfe, in
which the Prince of Orange refided, during
the troubles of 1786 ; and, beyond it, on a
fudden promontory towards the river, ftands
a profpect houfe, called the Belvidere,
\vhich, from its eaftern and fouthern win-
dows, commands a long view into Ger-
many, and to the north looks over Guelder-
land. From this place all the fortifications,
which are very extenfive, are plainly feen,
and a military perfon might eftimate their
ftrength. There are feveral forts and out-
works,
144 HOLLAND.
works, and, though the ditch is pallifadoed
inftead of filled, the place muft be capable
of a confiderable defence, unlefs the befieg-
ing army fhould be mafters of the river and
the oppofite ' bank. There was formerly a
fortrefs upon this bank, which was often
won and loft, during the fieges of Nime-
guen, but no remains of it are vifible now.
The town is claffic ground to thofc, who
venerate the efforts, by which the provinces
were refcued from the dominion of the
Spaniards. It was firft attempted by SEN-
GIUS, a Commander in the Earl of LEI-
CESTER'S army, who propofed to enter if,
at night, from the river, through a houfe,
which was to be opened to him ; but his
troops by miftake entered another, where d.
large company was collected, on occafion
of a wedding, and, being thus difcovered to
the garrifon, great numbers of thofe, al-
ready landed upon the beach, were put to*
the fword, or drowned in the confufion of
the
HOLLAND.
the retreat. An attempt by Prince Maurice
to furprife it was defeated by the failure of
a petard^ applied to one of the gates ; but it
was foon after taken by a regular fiege, car-
ried on chiefly from the other fide of the
river. This and the neighbouring fortrefs
of Grave were among the places, firll taken
by Louis the Fourteenth, during his inva-
fion, having been left without fufficient
garrifons.
The citadel, a remnant of the antient
fortifications, is near the eaftern gate, which
appears to be thought ftronger than the
others, for, on this fide, alfo is the arfenal.
Nimeguen has been compared to Not-
tingham, which it refembles more in fitua-
tion than in ftru&ure, though many of the
ftreets are fteep, and the windows of one
range of houfes fometimes overlook the
chimnies of another ; the views alfo, as from
fome parts of Nottingham, are over a green
and extenfive level, rifing into diftant hills ;
L and
146 HOLLAND.
and here the companion ends. The houfeS
are built entirely in the Dutch fafhion, with
many coloured, painted fronts, terminating
in peaked roofs ; but fome decline of neat-
nefs may be obferved by thofe who arrive
here from the province of Holland. The
market-place, though gay arid large, cannot
be compared with that of Nottingham, in
extent, nor is the town more than half the
fize of the latter, though it is faid to con-
tain nearly fifty thoufand inhabitants. From
almoft every part of it you have, however,
a glimpfe of the furrounding landfcape,
which is more extenflve than that feen from
Nottingham, and is adorned by the fweeps
of a river of much greater dignity than the
Trent.
We left Nimeguen, in the afternoon,
with a voiturier, whofe price, according
to the ordonnatle, was higher than if we
had fet out half an hour fooner, upon the
fuppofition that he could not return that
night.
GERMANY* 147
night. The road lies through part of the
fortifications, concerning which there can,
of courfe, be no fecrecy. It then enters an
extenfive plain, and runs almoft parallel to
a range of heights, at the extremity of
which Nimeguen Hands, and prefents an
appearance of ftill greater ftrength and im*
portance than when feen from the weft-
ward*
After a few miles, this road leaves the
territories of the United Provinces, and
enters the Pruffian duchy of Cleves, at a
fpot where a mill is in one country, and
the miller's houfe in the other. An in-
ftance of difference between the condition*
of the people in the two countries was ob-
fervable even at this paflage of their boun-
dary. Our poftillion bought, at the mil-
ler's, a loaf of black bread, fuch as is not
L 2 made
148 GERMANY.
made in the Dutch provinces, and carried
it away for the food of his horfes, which
were thus initiated into fome of the bleffings
of the German peafantry. After another
quarter of a mile you have more proofs that
you have entered the country of the King
of Pruffia. From almoft every clufter of huts
barefooted children run out to beg, and ten
or a dozen (land at every gate, nearly throw-
ing themfelves under the wheels to catch
your money, which, every now and then,
the bigger feize from the lefs.
Yet the land is not ill-cultivated. The
diftindtion between the culture of land in
free and arbitrary countries, was, indeed,
never very apparent to us, who fhould have
been ready enough to perceive it. The
great landholders know what fhould be
done, and the peafantry are directed to do
it. The latter are, perhaps, fupplied with
flock, and the grounds produce as much as
elfewhere,
GERMANY. 149
elfewhere, though you may read, in the
looks and manners of the people, that very
little of its productions is for them.
Approaching nearer to Cleves, we travel-
led on a ridge of heights, and were once
more cheared with the " pomp of groves."
Between the branches were delightful catch-
es of extenfive landfcapes, varied with hills
clothed to their fummits with wood, where
frequently the diftant fpires of a town peep-
ed out moft pidurefquely. The open vales
between were chiefly fpread with corn ;
and fuch a profpecT: of undulating ground,
and of hills tufted with the grandeur of
forefts, was kiexpreflibly chearing to eyes
fatigued by the long view of level countries.
At a few miles from Cleves the road en-
ters the Park and a clofe avenue of noble
plane-trees, when thefe profpects are, for a
while, excluded. The firft opening is
where, on one hand, a fecond avenue com-
mences, and, on the other, a fort of broad
L 3 bay
I 5 o GERMANY.
bay in the woods, which were planted by
Prince Maurice, includes an handfome houfe
now converted into an inn, which, owing
to the pleafantnefs of the fituation, and its
vicinity to a mineral fpring, is much fre-
quented in fummer. A flattie of General
Martin Schenck, of dark bronze, in com-
plete armour, and with the beaver down,
is raifed upon a lofty Ionic column, in the
centre of the avenue, before the houfe.
Refting upon a lance, the figure feems to
look down upon the paflenger, and to
watch over the fcene, with the flernnefs of
an ancient knight. It appears to be formed
with remarkable fkill, and has an air more
{Inking and grand than can be readily dc-
fcribed.
The orangerie of the palace is flill pre-
ferved, together with a femi-circular pavi-
lion, in a recefs of the woods, through
which an avenue of two miles leads you to
CLEVES,
GERMANY. 151
CLEVES.
1 HIS place, which, being the capital
of a duchy, is entitled a City, confifts of
ibme irregular flreets, built upon the brow
of a fteep hill. It is walled, but cannot be
mentioned as fortified, having no folid
works. The houfes are chiefly built of
ftone, and there is a little of Dutch clean-
linefs ; but the marks of decay are ftrongly
imprefled upon them, and on the ancient
walls. What little trade there is, exifts in
retailing goods fent from Holland. The
Dutch language and coins are in circulation
here, almoft as much as the German.
The eftablimed religion of the town is
Proteftant ; but here is an almoft univerfal
toleration, and the Catholics have feveral
churches and monafteries. Cleves has fuf-
fered a various fate in the fport of war
L 4 during
152 GERMANY.
during many centuries, but has now little
to diftinguifh it except the beauty of its
profpefts, which extend into Guelderland
and the province of Holland, over a coun-
try enriched with woody hills and vallies of
corn and pafturage.
Being convinced, in two or three hours,
that there was nothing to require a longer
ftay, we fet out for Xanten, a town in the
fame duchy, diftant about eighteen miles.
For nearly the whole of this length the
road lay through >a. broad avenue, which
frequently entered a foreft of oak, fir, elm,
and majeftic plane-trees, and emerged from
it only to wind along its fkirts. The views
then opened over a country, diverfified with
gentle hills, and ornamented by number-
lefs fpires upon the heights, every fmall
town having feveral convents. The caftle
of Eltenberg, on the fummit of a wooded
mountain, was vifible during the whole of
this ftage and part of the next day's jour-
ney.
GERMANY.
ney. Yet the fewnefs, or the poverty, of
the inhabitants appeared from our meeting
only one chaife, and two or three fmall carts,
for eighteen miles of the only high-road
in the country.
It was a fine evening in June, and the
rich lights, thrown among the foreft glades,
with the folitary calmnefs of the fcene, and
the ferenenefs of the air, filled with fcents
from the woods, were circumftances which
perfnaded to fuch tranquil rapture as Col-
lins muft have felt when he had the hap-
pinefs to addrefs to Evening
For when thy folding ftar, arifing, fhews
His paly circlet, at his warning lamp,
The fragrant hours and elves
Who flept in buds the day :
And many a nymph, who wreaths her
brows with fedge,
And flieds the frefh'mng dew, and, love-
lier ftill,
The
154 GERMANY.
The penfive pleafures fweet
Prepare thy fhadowy car.
A fmall half-way village, a ftately eon-
vent, with its gardens, called Marienbaum,
founded in the i5th century by Maria,
Duchefs of Cleves, and a few mud cot-
tages of the woodcutters, were the only
buildings on the road : the foot paflengers
were two Pruffian foldiers. It was moon-
light, and we became impatient to reach
Xanten, long before our driver could fay,
in a mixture of German and Dutch, that
we were near it. At length from the
woods, that had concealed the town, a few
lights appeared over the walls, and diflipat-
ed fome gloomy fancies about a night to
be pafled in a foreft.
XANTEM.
GERMANY. 155
XANTEN.
THIS is a fmall town, near the
Rhine, without much appearance of pro-
fperity, but neater than moft of the others
around it. Several narrow ftreets open in-
to a wide and pleafant market-place, in the
centre of which an old but fiouriming elm
has its branches carefully extended by a
circular railing, to form an arbour over
benches. A cathedral, that proves the town
to have been once more confiderable, is on
the north fide of this place ; a fine building,
which, fhewn by the moon of a fummer
midnight, when only the bell of the ad-
joining convent calling the monks to pray-
ers, and the waving of the aged tree, were
to be heard, prefented a fcene before the
windows of our inn, that fully recompenfed
for its want of accommodation.
6 There
156 GERMANY.
There were alfo humbler reafons towards
contentment ; for the people of the houfe
were extremely defirous to afford it; and
the landlord was an orator in French, of
which and his addrefs he w r as pleafantly
vain. He received us with an air of hu-
mour, mingled with his complaifance, and
hoped, that, " as Monfieur was Anglois, he
fhould furprife him with his vin extraordi*
nalre^ all the Rhenim wine being adulterat-
ed by the Dutch, before they fent it to
England. His houfe could not be fine, be-
caufe he had little money ; but he had an
excellent cook, otherwife it could not be
expected that the prebendaries of the cathe-
dral would dine at it, every day, and be-
come, as they were, ^raiment, Monfieur^
gros comme vous me voyez!"
There are in this fmall town feveral mo-
nafteries and one convent of noble canon-
efles, of which laft the members are few,
and the revenues very great. The interior
of
GERMANY. 157
of the cathedral is nearly as grand as the
outfide ; and mafs is performed in it with
more folemnity than in many, which have
larger inftitutions.
We left Xante n, the next morning, in
high fpirits, expeding to reach Cologne,
which was little more than fifty miles dif-
tant, before night, though the landlord and
the poftmafter hinted, that we mould go no
further than Neufs. This was our firft ufe
of the German poft, the flownefs of which,
though it has been fo often defcribed, we
had not eftimated. The day was intenfely
hot, and the road, unfheltered by trees, lay
over deep fands, that reflected the rays.
The refrefhing forefts of yefterday we now
feverely regretted, and watched impatiently
to catch a freer air from the fummit of
every hill on the way. The poflillion
would permit his horfes to do little more
than walk, and every ftep threw up heaps
f duft into the chaife. It had been fo often
faid
158
faid by travellers, that money has as little
effet in fuch cafes as intreaties, or threats,
that we fuppofed this flownefs irremediable,
which was really intended only to produce
an offer of what we would willingly have
given.
RHEINBERG.
IN fomething more than three hours,
we reached Rheinberg, diftant about nine
miles ; a place often mentioned in the mili-
tary hiftory of the fixteenth and feventeenth
centuries, and which we had fuppofed would
at leaft gratify us by the fhew of magnifi-
4.
cent ruins, together with fome remains of
its former importance. It is a wretched
place of one dirty ftreet, and three or four
hundred mean houfes, furrounded by a de-
cayed wall that never was grand, and half
filled by inhabitants, whofe indolence, while
It
GERMANY. 159
ItJs probably more to be pitied than blamed,
accounts for the fullennefs and wretched-
nefs of their appearance. Not one fymp-
torn of labour, or comfort, was to be per-
ceived in the whole town. The men ieem-
cd, for the moft part, to be ftanding at their
doors, in unbuckled fhoes and woollen caps.
What few women we faw were brown,
without the appearance of health, which
their leannefs and dirtinefs prevented. Some
fmall fhops of huckfters' wares were the
only figns of trade.
The inn, that feemed to be the beft, was
fuch as might be expeded in a remote vil-
lage, in a crofs road in England. The land-
lord was ftanding before the door in his
cap, and remained there fome time after we
had found the way into a fitting room, and
from thence, for want of attendance, into
a kitchen ; where two women, without
ftockings, were watching over fome fort of
cookery in earthen jugs. We were fupplied,
at
j<5o GERMANY.
at length, with bread, butter and four wine,
and did not fufFer ourfelves to confider this
as any fpecimen of German towns, becaufe
Rheinberg was not a ftation of the poft ;
a delufion, the fpirit of which continued
through feveral weeks, for we were always
finding reafons to believe, that the wretch-
ednefs of prefent places and perfons was
produced by fome circumstances, which
would not operate in other diftrids.
This is the condition of a town, which,
in the fixteenth and feventeenth centuries,
was thought important enough to be five
times attacked by large armies. FARNESE,
the Spaniih commander, was diverted from
his attempt upon it, by the necefiity of re-
lieving Zutphen, then befieged by the Earl
of Leicefter : in 1589, the Marquis of Va-
rambon inverted it, for the Spaniards, by
order of the Prince of Parma ; but it was
relieved by our Colonel Vere, who, after a
long battle, completely defeated the Spanifh
army.
GERMANY. 161
atmy. In 1599, when it was attacked by
Mendoza, a magazine caught fire. The
governor, his family, and a part of the gar-
rifon were buried in the ruins of a tower,
and the explofion funk feveral veflels in the
Rhine ; after which, the remainder of the
garrifon furrendered the place. The Prince
of Orange retook it in 1633. Four years
afterwards, the Spaniards attempted to fur-
prife it in the night ; but the Deputy
Governor and others, who perceived that
the garrifon could not be immediately col-
lected, palTed the walls, and, pretending to
be deferters, mingled with the enemy, whom
they perfuaded to delay the attack for a few
minutes. The troops within were in the
mean time prepared for their defence, and '
fucceeded in it ; but the Governor, with
two officers and fifteen foldiers who had
accompanied him, being difcovered, were
killed. All thefe contefts were for a place
not belonging to either party, being in the
M electorate
1 6* GERMANY.
electorate of Cologne, but which was va-
luable to both, for its neighbourhood to
their frontiers.
Beyond Rheinberg, our profpe&s were
extenfive, but not fo woody, or fo rich as
thofe of the day before, and few villages
enlivened the landfcape. Open corn lands,
intermixed with fields of turnips, fpread to
a confiderable diftance, on both fides ; on
the eaft, the high ridges of the Weftphalian
mountains fhut up the fcene. The Rhine,
which frequently fwept near the road,
ihewed a broad furface, though fhrunk
within its fandy fhores by the drynefs of
the feafon. Not a fmgle vefTcl animated its
current, which was here tame and fmooth,
though often interrupted by fands, that rofe
above its levek
HOOG-
GERMANY. 163
HOOGSTRASS.
THE next town was Hoogftrafs, a
poft ftation, fifteen miles from Xanten, of
which we faw little more than the inn, the
other part of this fmall place being out of
the road. A large houfe, which might
*
have been eafily made convenient, and was
really not without plenty, confirmed our
notion, that, at the poft ftages, there would
always be fome accommodation. We dined
here, and were well attended. The land-
*
lord, a young man who had ferved in the
army of the country, and appeared by his
drefs to have gained fome promotion, was
very induftrious in the houfe, during this
interval of his other employments.
The next ftage was of eighteen miles,
which make a German poft and an half;
and, during this fpace, we pafled by only
M 2 ons
164 GERMANY,
one town, Ordingen, or Urdingen, the
greateft part of which fpread between the
road and the Rhinei
Towards evening, the country became
more woody, and the flender fpires of con-
vents frequently appeared, flickered in their
groves and furrounded by corn lands of
their own domain. One of thefe, nearer to
, the road, was a noble manfion, and, with
its courts, offices and gardens, fpread over
a confiderable fpace. A fummer-houfe, built
over the garden wall, had no windows to-
wards the road, but there were feveral fmall
apertures, which looked upon it and beyond
to a large tract of inclofed wood, the pro-
perty of the convent.
NEUSS.
GERMANY. 165
NEUSS.
OOON after fun-fet, we came to Neufs,
which, as it is a poft town, and was men-
tioned as far off as Xanten, we had been
fure would afford a comfortable lodging,
whether there were any veftiges, or not, of
its ancient and modern hiftory. The view
of it, at fome little diftance, did not altoge-
ther contradict this notion, for it ftands up-
on a gentle afcent, and the fpires of feveral
convents might juftly give ideas of a con-
fiderable town to thofe, who had not learned
how flightly fuch fymptoms are to be at-
tended to in Germany.
On each fide of the gate, cannon balls
of various fizes remain in the walls. With-
in, you enter immediately into a clofe ftreet
of high, but dirty ftone houfes, from which
you expert to efcape prefently, fuppofmg it
M 3 to
i66 GERMANY,
to be only fome wretched quarter, appro*
priated to difeafe and misfortune. You fee
no paffengers, but, at the door of every
houfe, an haggard group of men . and wo-
men flare upon you with looks of hungry
rage, rather than curiofity, and their gaunt
figures excite, at firft, more fear than pity.
Continuing to look for the better quarter,
and to pafs between houfes, that feeni to
have been left after a fiege and never en-
tered fmce, the other gate of the town at
length appears, which you would rather
pafs at midnight than flop at any place yet
perceived. Within a fmall diftance of the
gate, there is, however, a houfe w r ith a wider
front, and windows of unfhattered glafs and
walls not quite as black as the others, which
is known to be the inn only becaufe the
driver, flops there, for,' according to the
etiquette of fullennefs in Germany, the peor
pie of the houfe make no fliew of receiving
you.
3 If
GERMANY. 167
If it had not already appeared, that there
was no other inn, you might learn it from
the manners of the two hoftefTes and their
fervants. Some fort of accommodation is,
however, to be had j and thofe, who hav.e
been longer from the civilities and affiduities
of {imilar places in England, may, by more
fubmiflion and more patience, obtain it
fooner than we did. By thefe means they
may reduce all their difficulties into one,
that of determining whether the windows
fhall be open or fhut ; whether they will
endure the clofenefs of the rooms, or will
admit air, loaded with the feculence of pu-
trid kennels, that flagnatc along the whole
town.
This is the Novcfium of Tacitus, the en-
trance of the thirteenth legion into which
he relates, at a time when the Rhine, in-
cognita ill'i casloficcitate^ became v ix navlum
patient^ and which VOCULA was ibon after
compelled to furrender by the treachery of
M 4 other
i68 GERMANY,
other leaders and the corruption of his
army, whom he addrefled, juft before his
murder, in the fine fpeech, beginning,
" Nunqwm apud vos verba fed, aut pro
vobis folicitior, aut pro mefecurior ; a paflage
fo near to the cunSlifque ttmentem* fecuruiib-
+/ A * /
quc ful) by which Luc AN defcribes CATO,
that it muft be fuppofed to have been in-
fpired by it.
This place ftood a fiege, for twelve
months, againft 60,000 men, commanded
by CHARLES the BOLD, Duke of Burgun-
dy, and fucceeded in its refiftance. But, in
1586, when it held out for GEBHERT D.E
TRUSCHES, an Eledtor of Cologne, expel-
led by his Chapter, for having married, it
was the fcene of a dreadful calamity. FAR-
NESE, the Spanifh General, who had juft
*T ' J
taken Venlo, marched againft it with an
army, enraged at having loft the plunder of
that place by a capitulation. When the in-
habitants of Neufs were upon the point of
furrendering
GERMANY.' 169
furrendering it, upon fimilar terms, the
army, refolving not to lofe another prey of
blood and gold, rumed to the aflault, fet
fire to the place, and murdered all the in-
habitants, except a few women and chil-
dren, who took refuge in two churches,
which alone were faved from the flames.
When the firft ihock of the furprife,
indignation and pity, excited by the men-
tion of fuch events, is overcome, we are,
of courfe, anxious to afcertain whether the
perpetrators of them were previouily diftin-
guifhed by a voluntary entrance into fitua-
{ions, that could be fuppofed to mark their
Characters. This was the army of Philip
the Second. The foldiers were probably,
for the moft part, forced into the fervice.
The officers, of whom only two are related
to have oppofed the mafTacre, could not
have been fo.
What was then the previous diftindion
of the officers of Philip the Second ? But
k
jyo GERMANY.
it is not proper to enter into a difcuflion
here of the nature of their employment.
Neufs was rebuilt, on the fame fpot ; the
fituation being convenient for an intercourfe
with the eaftern fhore of the Rhine, efpe-
cially with DufTeldorff, to which it is near-
ly oppofjte. The ancient walls were partly
reftored by the French, in 1602. One of
the churches, fpared by the Spaniards, was
founded by a daughter of CHARLEMAGNE,
in the ninth century, and is now attached
to the Chapter of Noble Ladies of St. Qui-
rin ; befides which there are a Chapter
of Canons, and five or fix convents in the
place.
COLOGNE.
FROM Neufs hither we pafled
through a deep, fandy road, that fometimes
wound near the Rhine, the fhores of which
were
GERMANY.
were yet low and the water tame and
fliallow. There were no veffels upon it,
to give one ideas either of the commerce,
or the population of its banks.
The country, for the greater part of
twenty miles, was a flat of corn lands ;
but, within a ihort diftance of Cologne, a
gentle rife affords a view of the whole
city, whofe numerous towers and fteeples
had before appeared^ and of the exten-
five plains, that fpread round it. In the
fouthern perfpe&ive of thefe, at the dif-
tance of about eight leagues, rife the fan-
taftic forms of what are called the Seven
Mountains ; weftward, are the cultivated
hills, that extend towards Flanders ; and,
eaftward, over the Rhine, the diftant moun-
tains, that run through feveral countries of
interior Germany. Over the wild and gi-
gantic features of the Seven Mountains dark
thunder mifts foon fpread an awful obfcu-
rity, and heightened the expectation, which
this
17* GERMANY.
this glimpfe of them had awakened, con-
cerning the fcenery we were approaching.
The appearance of Cologne, at the dif-
tance of one, or two miles, is not inferior to
the conception, which a traveller may have
already formed of one of the capitals of
Germany, mould his mind have obeyed that
almoft univerfal illufion of fancy, which
drefles up the images of places unfeen, as
foon as much expectation, or attention is
directed towards them. The air above is
crowded with the towers and fpires of
churches and convents, among which the
cathedral, with its huge, unfinifhed mafs,
has a ftriking appearance. The walls are
alfo high enough to be obferved, and their
whole inclofure feems, at a diftance, to be
thickly rilled with buildings.
We mould have known ourfelves to be
in the neighbourhood of fome place larger
than ufual, from the fight of two, or three
carriages, at once, on the road j nearly the
firft
GERMANY. 173
firft we had feen in Germany. There is
befides fome fhew of labour in the adjoin-
ing villages ; but the fallow countenances
and miferable air of the people prove, that
it is not a labour beneficial to them. The
houfes are only the defolated homes of thefe
villagers ; for there is not one that can be
*
fuppofed to belong to any profperous in-
habitant of the city, or to afford the coveted
ftillnefs, in which the active find an occa-
(ional reward, and the idle a perpetual
mifery.
A bridge over a dry fofle leads to the
northern gate, on each fide of which a fmall
modern battery defends the ancient walls.
The city is not fortified, according to any
prefent fenfe of the term, but is furrounded
by thefe walls and by a ditch, of which the
latter, near the northern gate, ferves as a
fort of kitchen garden to the inhabitants.
Before pafling the inner gate, a foldier
demanded our names, and we {hewed our
paflfporr,
174 GERMANY.
pafTport, for the firft time ; but, as the in*
quifitor did not underftand French, in
which language paflports from England are
written, it was handed to his comrades, who
formed a circle about our chaife, and began,
with leaden looks, to fpell over the paper.
Some talked, in the mean time, of examin-
ing the baggage ; and the money, which
we gave to prevent this, being in various
pieces and in Pruflian coin, which is not
perfectly underftood here, the whole party
turned from the paflport, counting and efti-
mating the money in the hand of their col-
lector, as openly as if it had been a legal
tribute. When this was done and they
had heard, with furprife, that we had not
determined where to lodge, being inclined
to take the pleafanteft inn, we wrote our
names in the corporal's dirty book, and
were allowed to drive, under a dark tower,
into the city.
Inftantly, the narrow flreet, gloomy
houfes,
GERMANY. 175
houfes, ftagnant kennels and wretchedly
looking people reminded us of the horrors
of Neufs. The lower windows of thefe pri-
fon-like houfes are fo ftrongly barricadoed,
that we had fuppoied the firft two, or three,
to be really parts of a gaol ; but it foon ap-
peared, that this profufion of heavy iron
work was intended to exclude, not to con-
fine, robbers. A fucceflion of narrow ftreets,
in which the largeft houfes were not lefs
difgufting than the others for the filthinefs
of their windows, doorways and mafly wails,
continued through half the city. In one of
thefe ftreets, or lanes, the poftillion flopped
at the door of an inn, which he faid was
the beft ; but the fuffocating air of the ftreet
rendered it unnecefTary to enquire, whether,
contrary to appearances, there could be any
accommodation within, and, as we. had read
of many fquares, or market-places, he was
defired to flop at an inn, fituated in one of
thefe. Thus we came to the Hotel de
Prague,
176 GERMANY*
Prague, a large ftraggling building, faid to
be not worfe than the others, for wanting
half its furniture, and probably fuperior to
them, by having a landlord of better than
German civility.
Having counted from our windows the
fpires of ten, or twelve churches, or con-
vents, we were at leifure to walk farther
into the city, ami to look for the fpacious
fquares, neat ftreets, noble public buildings
and handfome houfes, which there could be
no doubt muft be found in an Imperial and
Electoral city, feated on the Rhine, at a
point where the chief roads from Holland
and Flanders join thofe of Germany, treated
by all writers as a confiderable .place, and
evidently by its fituation capable of be-
coming a fort of emporium for the three
countries. The fpot, into which our inn
opened, though a parallelogram of confi*
derable extent, bordered by lime trees, we
pafl*ed quickly through, perceiving, that the
houfes
GERMANY. 177
houfes on all its fides were mean buildings,
and therefore fuch as could not deferve the
.*
attention in the Imperial and Electoral city
of Cologne. There are ftreets from each
angle of this place, and we purfued them all
in their turn, narrow, winding and dirty as
they are, peftilent with kennels, gloomy
from the height and blacknefs of the houfes,
unadorned by any public buildings, except
the churches, that were grand, or by one
private dwelling, that appeared to be clean,
with little mew of traffic and lefs of paffen-
gers, either bufy, or gay, till we faw them
ending in other ftreets ftill worfe, or con-
cluded by the gates of the city. One of them,
indeed, led through a market-place, in
which the air is free from the feculence of
the ilreets, but which is inferior to the
other opening in fpace, and not better fur-
rounded by buildings.
" Thefe diminutive obfervations feem to
take away fomething from the dignity of
N writing,
i 7 3 GERMANY.
writing, and therefore are never communi-
cated, but with hefitation, and a little fear
of abafement and contempt *." And it is
not only becaufe they take away fpmething
from the dignity of writing, that fuch ob-
fervations are withheld. To be thought
capable of commanding more pleafures and
preventing more inconveniences than others
is a too general paflport to refped: ;, and,
in the ordinary affairs of life, for one, that
will fhew fomewhat lefs profperity than he
has, in order to try who will really refpet
him, thoufands exert themfelves to aflume
an appearance of more, which they might
know can procure only the mockery of
cfteem for themfelves, and the reality of it
for their fuppofed conditions. Authors are
not always free from a willingnefs to receive
the fallacious fort of refpecT:, that attaches to
accidental circumftances, for the real fort,
of which it would be more reafonable to be
* Dr. Samuel Johnfon.
GERMANY. 179
proud. A man, relating part of the hiftory
of his life, which is always neceiTariiy done
by a writer of travels, does not choofe to
fhew that his courfe could lie through any
fcenes deficient of delights ; or v that, if it
did, he was not enough elevated by his
friends, importance, fortune, fame, or bufi-
nefs, to be incapable of obferving them mi-
nutely. The curiofities of cabinets and of
courts are, therefore, exactly defcribed, and
as much of every occurrence as does not
fhew the relater moving in any of the
plainer walks of life ; but the difference be-
tween the flock of phyfical comforts in
different countries, the character of condi-
tions, if the phrafe may be ufed, fuch as it
appears in the ordinary circumftances of re-
fidence, drefs, food, cleanlinefs, opportuni-
ties of relaxation ; in fhort, the informa-
tion, which all may gain, is fometimes left
to be gained by all, not from the book, but
from travel. A writer, ifluing into the
N 2 world,
i8o GERMANY.
world, makes up what he miftakes for his
beft appearance, and is continually telling
his happinefs, or fhewing his good-humour,
as people in a promenade always fmile,
and always look round to obferve whether
they are feen fmiling. The politeft faluta-
tion of the Chinefe, when they meet, is,
" Sir, profperity is painted on your coun-
tenance ;" or, " your whole air announces
your felicity ;" and the writers of travels,
efpecially fmce the confute thrown upon
SMOLLET, feem to provide, that their pro-
fperity fhall be painted on their volumes,
and all their obfervations announce their
felicity.
Cologne, though it bears the name of the
Electorate, by which it is furrounded, is an
imperial city; and the Elector, as to tem-
poral affairs, has very little jurifdiction
within it. The government has an affecta?-
tion of being formed upon the model of
Republican Rome j a form certainly not
worthy
GERMANY. 181
worthy of imitation, but which is as much
difgraced by this burlefque of it, as ancient
ftatues are by the gilding and the wigs,
with which they are faid to be fometimes
arrayed by modern hands. There is a fe-
nate of forty- nine perfons, who, being re-
turned at different times of the year, are
partly nominated by the remaining mem-
bers, and partly chofen by twenty-two tribes
of burgeiTes, or rather by fo many com-
panies of traders. Of fix burgomafters,
two are in office every third year, and,
when thefe appear in public, they are pre-
ceded by LICTORS, bearing fafces y fur-
mounted by their own arms ! Each of the
tribes, or companies, has a Prefident, and
the twenty-two Prefidents form a Council,
which is authorifed to enquire into the con-
duel: of the Senate : but the humblenefs of
the burgefles in their individual condition
has virtually abolifhed all this fcheme of a
political conftitution. Without fome of the
N 3 intelligence
l8i GERMANY.
intelligence and perfonal independence,
which are but little confiftent with the ge^
neral poverty and indolence of German
traders, nothing but the forms of any con-
flitution can be preferved, long after the
virtual deftruction of it has been meditated
by thofe in a better condition. The greater
part of thefe companies of traders having,
in fact, no trade which can place them
much above the rank of menial fervants
to their rich cuflomers, the defign, that
their Council mail check the Senate, and
the Senate direct the Burgomafters, has
now, of courfe, little effect. And this, or
a ftill humbler condition, is that of feveral
cities in Germany, called free and indepen-
dent, in which the neighbouring fovereigns
have fcarcely lefs authority, though with
forriething more of circumftance, than in
their own dominions.
The conftitution of Cologne permits, in-
deed, fome direct interference of the Elec-
3 tor i
GERMANY. 183
tor ; for the Tribunal of Appeal, which is
the fupreme court of law, is nominated by
him : he has otherwife no direct power
within the city ; and, being forbidden to
refide there more than three days fuccef-
fively, he does not even retain a palace,
but is contented with a fuite of apartments,
referved for his ufe at an inn. That this
exclufion is no punifhment, thofe, who
have ever paffed two days at Cologne, will
admit ; and it can tend very little to lefleii
his influence, for the greateft part of his
perfonal expenditure mud reach the mer-
chants of the place ; and the officers of fe-
veral of his territorial jurifdictions make
part of the inhabitants. His refidences,
with which he is remarkably well provided,
are at Bonn ; at Bruhl, a palace between
Cologne and that place ; at Poppelfdorff,
which is beyond it ; at Herzogs Freud,. an
hunting feat ; and in Munfter, of which he
is the Bifhop.
N4 The
1 84 GERMANY,
The duties of cuftoras and excife arc
impofed by the magiftrates of the city, and
thefe enable them to pay their contributions
to the Germanic fund ; for, though fuch
cities are formally independent of the neigh^
bouring princes and nobility, they are not
fo of the general laws or expences of the
empire, in the Diet of which they have
fome fmall fhare, forty-nine cities being aU
lowed to fend two reprefentatives, and thua
to have two votes out of an hundred and
thirty-fix. Thefe duties, of both forts, are
very high at Cologne ; and the firft form a
confiderable part of the interruptions, which
all the States upon the Rhine give to the
commerce of that river. Here alfo com-
modities, intended to be carried beyond the
city by water, muft be re-fhipped ; for, in
order to provide cargoes for the boatmen of
the place, veflels from the lower parts of
the Rhine are not allowed to afcend beyond
Cologne, and thofe from the higher parts
cannot
GERMANY. 185
cannot defcend it farther. They may, in-
deed, reload with other cargoes for their
return ; and, as they conftantly do fo, the
Cologne boatmen are not much benefited by
the regulation ; but the transfer of the
goods employs fome hands, fubje&s them
better to the infpection of the cuftomhoufe
officers, and makes it neceflary for the mer-
chants of places, on both fides, trading with
each other, to have intermediate correfpon-
dents here. Yet, notwithftanding all this
aggrejfion upon the freedom of trade, Co-
logne is lefs confiderable as a port, than
fome Dutch towns, never mentioned in a
book, and is inferior, perhaps, to half the
minor feaports in England, We could not
find more than thirty veflels of burthen
^gainft the quay, all mean and ill-built, ex-
cept the Dutch, which are very large, and,
being conftrucled purpofely for a tedious na-
vigation, contain apartments upon the deck
for the family of the fkipper, well furnifhed,
and
GERMANY.
and fo commodious as to have four or five
famed windows on each fide, generally gay
with flower-pots. Little flower- gardens, too,
fometimes formed upon the roof of the
cabin, increafe the domeftic comforts of the
fkipper ; and the neatnefs of his veflel can,
perhaps, be equalled only by that of a
Dutch houfe. In a time of perfect peace,
there is no doubt more traffic; but, from
what we faw of the general means and oc-
cafions of commerce in Germany, we can-
not fuppofe it to be much reduced by war.
Wealthy and commercial countries may be
injured immenfely by making war either
for Germany or againft it ; by too much
friendmip or too much enmity ; but Ger-
many itfelf cannot be proportionately in-
jured with them, except when it is the
fcene of adual violence. Englimmen, who
feel, as they always muft, the love of their
own country much increafed by the view
of others, fhould be induced, at every ftep,
to
GERMANY.
to wifli, that there may be as little political
intercourfe as poffible, either of friendfliip
or enmity, between the bleflings of their
Ifland and the wretchednefs of the Con-
tinent.
Our inn had formerly been a convent,
and was in a part of the town where fuch
focieties are more numerous than elfe-
where. At five o'clock, on the Sunday af-
ter our arrival, the bells of churches and
convents began to found on all iicles, and
there was fcarcely any entire intermiffion
of them till evening. The places of public
amufement, chiefly a fort of tea-gardens,
were then fet open, and, in many ftreets,
the found of mufic and dancing was heard
almoft as plainly as that of the bells had
been before ; a difgufting excefs of licen-
tioufnefs, which appeared in other inftances,
for we heard, at the fame time, the voices
of a choir on one fide of the ftreet, and the
noife of a billiard table on the other. Near
the
i88 GERMANY.
the inn, this contraft was more obfervable.
While the ftrains of revelry arofe from an
adjoining garden, into which our windows
opened, a paufe in the mufic allowed us to
catch fome notes of the vefper fervice, per-
forming in a convent of the order of Cla-
ruTe, only three or four doors beyond. Of
the fevere rules of this fociety we had been
told in the morning. The members take a
vow, not only to renounce the world, but
their dearefl friends, and are never after
permitted to fee even their fathers or mo-
thers, though they may fometimes converfe
with the latter from behind a curtain. And,
left fome lingering remains of filial affection
fhould tempt an unhappy nun to lift the
veil of feparation between herfelf and her
mother, {he is not allowed to fpeak even
with her, but in the prefence of the abbefs.
Accounts of fuch horrible perverfions of
human reafon make the blood thrill and the
teeth chatter. Their fathers they can never
fpeak
GERMANY. 189
fpeak to, for no man is fufFered to be in
any part of the convent ufed by the fifter-
hood, nor, indeed, is admitted beyond the
gate, except when there is a neceffity for
repairs, when all the votaries of the order
are previoufly fecluded. It is not eafily,
that a cautious mind becomes convinced of
the exiftence of fuch fevere orders ; when
it does, aftonifhment at the artificial mife-
ries, which the ingenuity of human beings
forms for themfelves by feclufion, is as
boundlefs as at the other miferies, with
which the mod trivial vanity and envy fo
frequently pollute the intercourfes of focial
life. The poor nuns, thus nearly entombed
during their lives, are, after death, tied upon
a board, in the clothes they die in, and,
with only their veils thrown over the face,
are buried in the garden of the convent.
During this day, Trinity Sunday, pro-
ceflions were paffing on all fides, moil of
them attended by fome fort of martial
mufic.
190 GERMANY.
mufic. Many of the parimes, of which
there are nineteen, paraded with their offi-
cers ; and the burgefles, who are diftributed
into eight corps, under a fuppofition that
they could and would defend the city, if it
was attacked, prefented their captains at the
churches. The hoft accompanied all thefe
proceflions. A party of the city guards fol-
lowed, and forty or fifty perfons out of
uniform, the reprefentatives probably of the
burgefTes, who are about fix thoufand, fuc-
ceeded. Befides the guards, there was only
one man in uniform, who, in the burlefque
drefs of a drum-major, entertained the po-
pulace by a kind of extravagant marching
dance, in the middle of the proceflion. Our
companion would not tell us that this was
the captain.
The cathedral, though unfinifhed, is
confpicuous, amongft a great number of
churches, for the dignity of fome detached
features, that ihew part of the vaft defign
formed
GERMANY. 191
formed for the whole. It was begun, in
1248, by the Elector Conrad, who is re-
lated, in an hexameter infcription over a
gate, to have laid the firft Hone himfelf.
In 1320, the choir was finifhed, and the
workmen continued to be employed upon,
the other parts in 1499, when of two
towers, deftined to be 580 feet above the
roof, one had rifen 21 feet, and the other
150 feet, according to the meafurement
mentioned in a printed defcription. We
did not learn at what period the defign of
completing the edifice was abandoned ; but
the original founder lived to fee all the
treafures expended, which he had collected
for the purpofe. In its prefent ftate, the
inequality of its vaft towers renders it a
ftriking object at a confiderable diftance ;
and, from the large unfilled area around it,
the magnificence of its Gothic architecture,
efpecially of fome parts, which have not
been joined to the reft, and appear to be the
ruined
GERMANY.
ruined remains, rather than the commence*
ment of a work, is viewed with awful de-
light.
In the interior of the cathedral, a fine
choir leads to an altar of black marble,
raifed above feveral fteps, which, being free
from the incongruous ornaments ufual in
Romifti churches, is left to imprefs the
mind by its majeftic plainnefs. The tall
painted windows above, of which there are
fix, are fuperior in richnefs of colouring and
defign to any we ever faw ; beyond even
thofe in the Chapter-houfe at York, and
moft refembling the very fine ones in the
cathedral of Canterbury. The nave is de-
formed by a low wooden roof, which ap-
pears to have been intended only as a tem-
porary covering, and fhould certainly be
fucceeded by one of equal dignity to the
vaft columns placed for its fupport, whe-
ther the other parts of the original defign
can ever be completed or not
By
GfcRMANY. 193
By Tome accident we did not fee the
tomb of the three kings of Jerufalem, whofe
bodies are affirmed to have been brought
here from Milan in 1162, when the latter
city was deftroyed by the Emperor Frederic
Barbarofla. Their boafted treafures of golden
crowns and diamonds pafs, of courfe, with-
out our eftimation.
A defcription of the churches in Cologne,
fet out with good antiquarian minutenefs,
would fill volumes. The whole number of
churches, chapters and chapels, which laft
are by far the moft numerous, is not lefs
than eighty, and none are without an hif-
tory of two or three centuries. They are
all opened on Sundays ; and we can be-
lieve, that the city may contain, as is af-
ferted, 40,000 fouls, for nearly all that we
faw were well attended. In one, indeed,
the congregation confifted only of two or
three females, kneeling at a great diftance
from the altar, with an appearance of the
O utmofl
194 GERMANY.
utmoft intentnefs upon the fervice, and ab- ,
ftraction from the noife of the proceffions,
that could be eafily heard within. They
were entirely covered with a loofe black
drapery ; whether for penance, or not, we
did not hear. In the cathedral, a figure in
the fame attitude was rendered more in-
terefting by her fituation beneath the broken
arches and fhattered fret-work of a painted
window, through which the rays of the fun
fcarcely penetrated to break the fhade fhe
had chofen.
Several of the chapels are not much
larger than an ordinary apartment, but they
are higher, that the nuns of fome adjoin-
ing convent may have a gallery, where,
veiled from obfervation by a lawn cur-
tain, their voices often mingle fweetly with,
the choir. There are thirty-nine convents
of women and nineteen of men, which are
fuppofed to contain about fifteen hundred
perfons. The chapters, of which fome are
noble
GERMANY. 195
hoble .and extremely opulent, fupport near-
ly four hundred more ; and there are faid
to be, upon the whole, between two and
three thoufand perfons, under religious de-
nominations, in Cologne. Walls of con-
vents and their gardens appear in every
ftreet, but do not attract notice, unlefs, as
frequently happens, their bell founds while
you are pairing. Some of their female in-
habitants may be feen in various parts of
the city, for there is an order, the members
of which are employed, by rotation, in
teaching children and attending the fick.
Thofe of the noble chapters are little more
confined than if they were with their own
families, being permitted to vifit their
friends, to appear at balls and promenades,
to wear what drefies they pleafe, except
when they chaunt in the choir, and to
quit the chapter, if the offer of an accepta-
ble marriage induces their families to au-
thorife it ; but their own admiflion into the
O 2 chapter
196 GERMANY.
chapter proves them to be noble by fixteeri
quarterings, or four generations, and the
^>ffer muft be from a perfon of equal rank,
or their defcendants could not be received
into fimilar chapters ; an important circum-
ftance in the affairs of the German nobleffe.
Some of thefe ladies we faw in the church
of their convent. Their habits were re-
markably graceful ; robes of lawn and black
filk flowed from the fhoulder, whence a
quilled ruff, ibmewhat refembling that of
Queen Elizabeth's time, fpread round the
neck. The hair was in curls, without pow-
der, and in the Englifh fafhion. Their
toices were peculiarly fweet, and they fung
the refponfes with a kind of plaintive ten-
dernefs, that was extremely interefting.
The Jefuits' church is one of the grand-
eft in Cologne, and has the greateft difplay
of paintings over its numerous altars, as
well as of marble pillars. The churches of
the chapters are, for the moft part, very
large,
GERMANY. 197
large, and endowed with the richeft orna-
ments, which are, however, not {hewn to
the public, except upon days of fete. We
do not remember to have feen that of the
chapter of St. Urfula, where heads and other
relics are faid to be handed to you from
fhelves, like books in a library ; nor that of
the convent of Jacobins, where fome MSS.
and pther effects of Albert the Great, bifhop
of Ratifbon, are among the treafures of
the monks.
Oppofite to the Jefuits' church was an
hofpital for wounded foldiers, feveral of
whom were walking in the court yard
before it, half-clothed in dirty woollen,
through which the bare arms of many ap-
peared. Sicknefs and neglect had fubdued
all the fymptoms of a foldier; and it was
impoffible to diftinguim the wounded French
from the others, though we were aflured
that feveral of that nation were in the
crowd . The windows of the hofpital were
O 3 filled
198 GERMANY.
filled with figures flill more wretched,
There was a large affemblage of fpectators,
who looked as if they were aftonifhed to
fee, that war is compounded of fomething
elfe, befjdes the glories, of which it is fo
eafy to be informed.
The foldiery of Cologne are under the
command of the magiftrates, and are em-
ployed only within the gates of the city,
The whole body does not exceed an hun-
dred and fifty, whom we faw reviewed by
their colonel, in the place before the Hotel
de Prague. The uniform is red, faced with
white. The men wear whifkers, and affeft
an air of ferocity, but appear to be moftly
invalids, who have grown old in their
guard-houfes.
Proteftants, though protected in their
perfons, are not allowed the exercife of
their religion within the walls of the city,
but have a chapel in a village on the other
fifle of the Rhine. As feme of the chief
merchants,
GERMANY. 199
merchants, and thofe who are moft ufeful
to the inhabitants, are of the reformed
church, they ventured lately to requeft that
they might have a place of worfhip within
the city ; but they received the common an-
fwer, which oppofes all fort of improve-
ment, religious or civil, that, though the
privilege in itfelf might be juftly required,
it could not be granted, becaufe they would
then think of afking fomething more.
The government of Cologne in eccle-
fiaftical affairs is with the Eledor, as arch-
bifhop, and the Chapter as his council. In
civil matters, though the city conftitution is
of little effect, the real power is not fo con-
ftantly with him as might be fuppofed ;
thofe, who have influence, being fometimes
out of his intereft. Converfation, as we
were told, was fcarcely lefs free than in
Holland, where there is juftly no oppoiition
to any opinion, however improper, or ab-
furd, except from the reafon of thofe, who
O 4. hear
200 GERMANY.
hear it. On that account, and becaufe of its
eafy intercourfe with Bruflels and Spa, this
city is fomewhat the refort of ftrangers, by
whom fuch converfation is, perhaps, chiefly
carried on j but thofe muft come from very
wretched countries who can find pleafure in
a refidence at Cologne.
Amongft the public buildings muft be
reckoned the Theatre, of which we did not
fee the infide, there being no performance, >
during our ftay, except on Sunday. This,
it feems, may be opened, without ofFence
to the Magistrates, though a proteftant
church may not. It ftands in a row of
fmall houfes, from which it is diftinguifhed
only by a painted front, once tawdry and
now dirty, with the infcription, " Mu/is
Gfiatiifque decentibus" The Town-houfe is
an awkward and irregular ftone building.
The arfenal, which is in one of the nar-
rowed ftreets, we mould have pafled, with-
out notice, if it had not been pointed cut to
us.
GERMANY, 201
us. As a building, it is nothing' more than
fuch as might be formed out of four 'or
five of the plained houfes laid into one.
Its contents are faid to be chiefly antient
arms, of various fafhions and fizes, not very-
proper for modern ufe.
BONN.
AFTER a ftay of nearly three te-
dious days, we left Cologne for Bonn, pair-
ing through an avenue of Jimes, which ex-
tends from one place to the other, without
interruption, except where there is a fmall
half way village. The diftance is not lefs
than eighteen miles, and the diverfified cul-
ture of the plains, through which it pafles,
is unufually grateful to the eye, after the
dirty buildings of Cologne and the long
uniformity of corn lands in the approach to
it.
so* GERMANY.
it. Vines cover a great part of thefe plains,
and are here firft feen in Germany, except,
indeed, within the walls of Cologne itfelf,
which contain many large inclofures, con-
verted from gardens and orchards into well
fiieltered vineyards. The vines reminded
us of Englifh hop plants, being fet, like
them, in rows, and led round poles to va-
rious heights, though all lefs than that of
hops. Corn, fruit or herbs were frequently
growing between the rows, whofe light
green foliage mingled beautifully with yel-
low wheat and larger patches of garden
plantations, that fpread, without any inclo-
fures, to the fweeping Rhine, on the left.
Beyond, appeared the blue ridges of Weft-
phalian mountains. On the right, the plains
extend to a chain of lower and lefs diftant
hills, whofe fkirts are covered with vines
and fummits darkened with thick woods.
The Elector's palace of Bruhl is on the
right hand of tlie road, at no great diftance,
but
GERMANY. 203
but we were not told, till afterwards, of
the magnificent architecture and furniture,
which ought to have attracted our curiofity.
On a green and circular, hill, near the
Rhine, (lands the Benedictine abbey of
{Siegbourg, one of the firft picturefque ob-
jects of the rich approach to Bonn ; and,
further on, the caftle-like towers of a con-
vent of noble ladies; both focieties cele-
brated for their wealth and the pleafant-
nefs of their filiations, which command ex-
tenfive profpects over the country, on each
fide of the river. As we drew near Bonn,
we frequently caught, between the trees of
the avenue, imperfect, but awakening glimp-
fes of the pointed mountains beyond ; con-
trafted with the folemn grandeur of which
was the beauty of a round woody hill, ap-
parently feparated from them only by the
Rhine and crowned with the fpire of a
comely convent. Bonn, with tall flender
fteeples and the trees of its ramparts, thus
backed
204 GERMANY.
backed by fublime mountains, looks well,
as you approach it from Cologne, though
neither its noble palace, nor the Rhine,
which wafhes its walls, are feen from hence,
We were afked our names at the gate, but
had no trouble about pafTports, or baggage.
A long and narrow ftreet leads from thence
to the market-place, not difgufting you either
with the gloom, or the dirt of Cologne,
though mean houfes are abundantly in-
termixed with the others, and the beft are
fa* from admirable. The phyfiognomy of
the place, if one may ufe the expreflion, is
wholefome, though humble. By the re-
commendation of a Dutch merchant, we
went to an inn in another ftreet, branching
from the market-place, and found it the
cleaneft, fmce we had left Holland.
Bonn may be called the political capital
of the country, the Elector's Court being
held only there ; and, what would not be
expected, this has importance enough to
command
GERMANY. 205
command the refidence of an agent from
almoft every Power in Europe. The pre-
fent Elector being the uncle of the Emperor,
this attention is, perhaps, partly paid, with
the view, that it may be felt at the Court
of Vienna. Even Ruffia is not unrepre-
fented in this miniature State.
The Elector's palace is, in point of gran-
deur, much better fitted to be the fcene of
diplomatic ceremonies, than thofe of many
greater Sovereigns ; and it is fitted alfo for
better than diplomatic purpofes, being placed
before fome of the moft ftriking of nature's
features, of which it is nearly as worthy
an ornament as art can make. It is feated
on the weftern bank of the Rhine, the ge-
neral courfe of which it fronts, though it
forms a confiderable angle with the part im-
mediately nearefL The firft emotion, on
perceiving it, being that of admiration, at
its vaftnefs, the wonder is, of courfe, equal,
with which you difcover, that it is only
part
GERMAN^
part of a greater defign. It confifts of a
centre and an eaftern wing, which are com-
pleted, and of a weftern wing, of which
not half is yet raifed. The extent from
eaft to weft is fo great, that, if we had en-*
quired the meafurement, we fhould have
been but little affifted in giving an idea of
the fpectacle, exhibited by fo immenfe a
building.
It is of ftone, of an architecture, perhaps,
not adequate to the grandeur of its extent,
but which fills no part with unfuitable, or
inelegant ornaments. Along the whole gar-
den front, which is the chief, a broad ter-^
race fupports a promenade and an orangery
of noble trees, occafionally refrefhed by
fountains, that, ornamented with ftatues, rife
from marble bafons. An arcade through
the centre of the palace leads to this ter-
race, from whence the profpecl: is ftrikingly
beautiful and fublime. The eye pafles over
the green lawn of the garden and a tract of
level
GERMANY. 207
level country to the groupe, called the Se-
Ven Mountains, broken, rocky and abrupt
towards their fummits, yet fweeping finely
near their bales, and uniting with the plains
by long and gradual deicents, that fpread
round many miles. The nearer}, is about a
league and a half of We law them under
the cloudlefs fky of June, invefted with
the miftinefs of heat, which foftening their
rocky points, and half veiling their recefles,
left much for the imagination to fupply,
and gave them an aerial appearance, a faint
tint of filvery grey, that was inexpreflibly
interefting. The Rhine, that winds at their
feet, was concealed from us by the garden
groves, but from the upper windows of
the palace it is feen in all its majefty.
On the right from this terrace, the fmaller
palace of Poppelfdorff terminates a long
avenue of limes and chefnut trees, that
communicates with both buildings, and
above are the hill and the convent San3<z
GERMAN?.
Crucis, the latter looking out from among
firs and fhrubby fteeps. From thence the
weftern horizon is bounded by a range of
hills, clothed to their fummits with wood.
The plain, that extends between thefe and
the Rhine, is cultivated with vines and
corn, and the middle diftance is marked by
a pyramidal mountain, darkened by. wood
and crowned with the tower and walls of a
ruined caftle.
The gardens of the palace are formally
laid out in ftraight walks and alleys of cut
trees ; but the fpacious lawn between thefe
gives fine effect to the perfpective of the
diftant mountains ; and the bowery walks,
while they afford refrefhing flicker from a
fummer fun, allow partial views of the pa-
lace and the romantic landfcape.
It was the Elector Jofeph Clement, the
fame who repaired the city, left in a ruin*
ous ftate by the fiege of 1703, under the
Duke of Marlborough, that built this mag-
3 uifkent
GERMANY. 209
mficent refidence. There are in it many
fuites of ftate rooms and every fort of apart-
ment ufual in the manfions of Sovereigns ;
falcons of audience and ceremony, a library,
a cabinet of natural hiftory and a theatre.
Though thefe are readily opened to ftrangers,
we are to confefs, that we did not fee them,
being prevented by the attentions of thofe,
whofe civilities gave them a right to com-
mand us, while their fituations enabled
them to point out the beft occupation of
our time. The hall of the Grand Mafter of
the Teutonic Order, ornamented with por-
traits of all the grand matters, we are, how-
ever, forry to have neglected even for the
delights of Poppelfdorff, which we were
prefently fhewn.
Leaving the palace, we pafled through
the garden, on the right, to a fine avenue
of turf, nearly a mile long, bordered by
alleys of tall trees, and fo wide, that the
late Elector had defigned to form a canal
P in
CIO GERMANY.
in the middle of it, for an opportunity of
pafling between his palaces, by land, or
water, as he might wifh. The palace of
Poppelfdorff terminates the perfpedive of
this avenue. It is a fmall building, fur-
rounded by its gardens, in a tafte not very
good, and remarkable chiefly for the plea-
fantnefs of its fituation. An arcade, en-
compaffing a court in the interior, commu-
nicates xvith all the apartments on the
ground floor, which is the principal, and
with the gardens, on the eaftern fide of the
chateau. The entrance is through a fmall
hall, decorated with the enfigns of hunt-
ing, and round nearly the whole arcade
flags' heads are placed, at equal diftances.
Thefe have remained here, fince the reign
of Clement Auguftus, the founder of the
palace, who died in 1761 ; and they exhi-
bit fome part of the hiftory of his life ; for,
under each, is an infcription, relating the
events and date of the hunt, by which he
killed
GERMANY.
killed it. There are twenty-three fuch or-
naments.
The greateft part of the furniture had
been removed, during the approach of the
French, in 1792 ; and the Archduchefs
Maria Chriftina, to whom the Elector, her
brother, had lent the chateau, was now
very far from fumptuoufly accommodated.
On this account, he pafled much of her
time, at Goodefberg, a fmall watering place
In the neighbourhood. After her retreat
from Bruflels, in confequence of the ad-
vances of the French in the fame year, fhe
had accompanied her hufband, the Duke of
Saxe Tefchen, into Saxony ; but, fince his
appointment to the command of the Em-
peror's army of the Upper Rhine, her re-
fidence had been eftabliihed in the domi-
nions of her brother.
We were fhewn through her apartments,
which Ihe had left for Goodefberg, a few
hours before. On the table of her fitting
P 2 room
GERMANY:
room lay the fragments of a painted crofs f
compofed of fmall pieces, like our difle&ed
maps, the putting of which together ex-
ercifes ingenuity and paiTes, perhaps, for a
fort of piety. The attendant faid, that it
ferved to pafs the time ; but it cannot be
fuppofed, that rank and fortune have fo
little power to beftow happinefs, as that
their pofleflbrs fhould have recourfe to fuch
means of lightening the hours of life.
On another table, was fpread a map of
all the countries, then included in the
Theatre of War, and on it a box, filled
with fmall pieces of various coloured wax,
intended to mark the pofitions of the dif-
ferent armies. Thefe were of many {hades ;
for the Archduchefs, who is faid to be con-
verfant with military affairs and to have
defcended to the firing of bombs at the fiege
of Lifle, was able to diftinguifh the feveral
corps of the allied armies, that were acting
feparately from each other. The pofitions
were
GERMANY. 213
were marked up to the lateft accounts then
public. The courfe of her thoughts was
vifible from this chart, and they were in-
terefting to curiofity, being thofe of the
fifter of the late unfortunate Queen of
France,
The walls of an adjoining cabinet were
ornamented with drawings from the antique
by the Archduchefs, difpofed upon . a light
ground and ferving inftead of tapeftry.
The chapel is a rotunda, rifmg into a
dome, and, though fmall, is fplendid with
painting and gilding. In the centre are
four altars, formed on the four fides of a
fquare pedeflal, that fupports a figure of
our Saviour ; but the beauty of this defign
is marred by the vanity of placing near
each altar the ftatue of a founder of the
Teutonic order. The furniture of the
Elector's gallery is of crimfon velvet and
gold.
On another fide of the chateau, we were
P 3 (hewn
GERMANY.
fhenvn an apartment entirely covered with
grotto work, and called the hall of fhells j
a curious inftance of patient induftry, having
been completed by one man, during a la-
bour of many years. Its fituation in the
middle of an inhabited manfion is unfuita^-
ble to the character of a grotto : but its
coolnefs mud render it a very convenient
retreat ; and the likenefles of animals, as
well as the other forms, into which the
fhells are thrown, though not very elegant,
are fanciful enough, efpecially as the orna-
ments of fountains, which play into, feveral
parts of the room.
Leaving the palace by the bridge of a
moat, that nearly Airrounds it, we palled
through the pleafant village of Poppelfdorff,
and afcended the hill SANCTJE CRUCIS,
called fo from the convent of the fame
name, which occupies its fummir. The
road wound between thick woods ; but we
jfoon left it for a path, that led more imme-
4 diately
GERMANY. 215
diately to the fummit, among fhrubs and
plantations of larch and fir, and which
opened into eafy avenues of turf, that fome-
times allowed momentary views of other
woody points and of the plains around.
The turf was uncommonly fragrant and
fine, abounding with plants, which made
us regret the want of a Botanift's know-
ledge and pleafures. During the afcent, the
peaked tops of the mountains of the Rhine,
fo often admired below, began to appear
above a ridge of dark woods, very near us,
in a contraft of hues, which wa$ exquifitely
fine. It was now near evening ; the mifti-
nefs of heat was gone from the furface of
thefe mountains, and they had aflumed a
blue tint fo peculiar and clear, that they
appeared upon the fky, Like fupernatural
tranfparencies.
We had heard, at Bonn, of the Capu-
chins' courtefy, and had no hefitation to
knock at their gate, after taking fome reft
? in
216 GERMANY.
in the portico of the church, from whence
we looked down another fide of the moun-
tain, over the long plains between Bonn
and Cologne. Having waited fome time at
the gate, during which many ileps fled
along the paffage and the head of a monk
appeared peeping through a window above,
a fervant admitted us into a parlour, ad-
joining the refectory, which appeared to
have been juft left. This was the firfl con-
vent we had entered, and we could not
help expecting to fee more than others had
defcribed ; an involuntary habit, from which
few are free, and which need not be im-
puted to vanity, fo long as the love of fur-
prife mail be fo vifible in human purfuits.
When the lay-brother had quitted us, to
inform the fuperior of our requeft, not a
footftep, or a voice approached, for near a
quarter of an hour, and the place feemed
as if uninhabited. Our curiofity had no
indulgence within the room, which was of
GERMANY. 217
the utmofl plainnefs, and that plainnefs free
from any thing, that the moft tractable ima-
gination could fuppofe peculiar to a con-
vent. At length, a monk appeared, who
received us with infinite good humour, and
with the eafe which mull have been ac-
quired in more general fociety. His fhaven
head and black garments formed a whim-
fical contraft to the character of his perfon
and countenance, which bore no fymptoms
of forrow, or penance, and were, indeed,
animated by an air of cheerfulnefs and in-
telligence, that would have become the hap-
pieft inhabitant of the gay eft city.
Through fome filent paflages, in which
he did not mew us a cell and we did not
perceive another monk, we patted to the
church, where the favour of feveral Electors
has affifted the difplay of paintings, mar-
ble, fculpture, gold and filver, mingled and
arranged with magnificent effect. Among
$hsfe was the marble ftatue, brought from
GERMANY.
England, at a great expence, and here called
a reprefentation of St. Anne, who is faid to
have found the Crofs. Our conductor
feemed to be a man of good understanding
and defirous of being thought fo ; a dif-
pofition, which gave an awkwardnefs to his
manner, when, in noticing a relic, he was
obliged to touch upon fome unproved and
unimportant tradition, peculiar to his church
and not eflential to the leaft article of our
faith. His fenfe of decorum as a member
of the convent feemed then to be ftruggling
with his vanity, as a man.
But there are relics here, pretending to
a connection with fome parts of chriftian
Mftory, which it is mocking to fee intro-
duced to confideration by any means fo
trivial and fo liable to ridicule. It is, in-
deed, wonderful, that the abfurd exhibitions,
made in Romifh churches, mould fo often
be minutely defcribed, and dwelt upon in
terms of ludicrous exultation by thofe, who
do
GERMANY. 419
fio not intend that moft malignant of of-
fences againft human nature, the endeavour
to excite a wretched vanity by farcafm and
jeft, and to employ it in eradicating the
comforts of religion. To fuch writers, the
probable mifchief of uniting with the men-
tion of the moft important divine doctrines
the moft ridiculous of human impofitkms
ought to be apparent ; and, as the rifk is
unneceflary in a Proteftant country, why
is it encountered ? That perfons otherwife
inclined mould adopt thefe topics is not fur-
prifing ; the eaiieft pretences to wit arc
found to be made by means of familiar allu-
fions to facred fubjects, becaufe their necel-
fary incongruity accomplifhes the greateft
part of what, in other cafes, muft be done
by wit itfelf ; there will, therefore, never be
an end of fuch allufions, till it is generally
feen, that they are the refources and fymp-
t oms of mean underftandings, urged by the
feverifli
2 20 GERMANY.
feverifh defire of an eminence, to which
they feel themfelves inadequate.
From the chapel we afcended to a tower
of the convent, whence all the fcattered
fcenes, of whofe beauty, or fublimity, we
had caught partial glimpfes between the
woods below, were collected into one vaft
landfcape, and exhibited almoft to a fingle
glance. The point, on which the convent
ftands, commands the whole horizon. To
the north, fpread the wide plains, before
feen, covered with corn, then jufh em-
browned, and with vines and gardens,
whofe alternate colours formed a gay chec-
ker work with villages, convents and caftles.
The grandeur of this level was unbroken
by any incloiures, that could feem to dimi-
nifh its vaftnefs. The range of woody
heights, that bound it on the weft, extend
to the fouthward, many leagues beyond the
hill Sanffa Crucis ; but the uniform and.
unbroken
GERMANY. 221
unbroken ridges of diftant mountains, on
the eaft, ceafe before the Seven Mountains
rife above the Rhine in all their awful
majefty. The bafes of the latter were yet
concealed by the woody ridge near the con-
vent, which gives fuch enchanting efFecl:
to their aerial points. The Iky above them .
was clear and glowing, unftained by the
lighted vapour ; and thefe mountains ftill
appeared upon it, like unfubftantial vifions.
On the two higheft pinnacles we could juft
difimguifh the ruins of caftles, and, on a
lower precipice, a building, which our re-
verend guide pointed out as a convent, de-
dicated to St. Bernard, giving us new occa-
fion to admire the fine tafte of the monks
in their choice of fituations.
Oppofite to the Seven Mountains, the
plains of Goodeiberg are fcreened by the
chain of hills already mentioned, which be-
gin in the neighbourhood of Cologne, and
whole woods, fpreading into France, there
afiume
$2* GERMANY.
aflame the name of the Foreft of Ardennes.
Within the recefles of thefe woods the
Elector has a hunting-feat, almoft every
window of which opens upon a different
alley, and not a flag can crofs thefe without
being feen from the chateau. It is melan-
choly to confider, that the moil frequent
motives of man's retirement among the
beautiful recefles of nature, are only thofe
of deftroying the innocent animals that in-
habit her (hades. Strange ! that her lovely
fcenes cannot foften his heart to milder
pleafures, or elevate his fancy to nobler pur-
fuits, and that he muft ftill feek his amufe-
ment in fcattering death among the harm-
lefs and the happy.
As we afterwards walked in the garden
of the convent, the greater part of which
was planted with vines, the monk further
exhibited his good humour and liberality.
He enquired concerning the events of the
war, of which he appeared to know the
lateft ;
GERMANY. 223
lateft ; fpoke of his friends in Cologne and
other places ; drew a ludicrous pidure of
the effed: which would be produced by the
appearance of a capuchin in London, and
laughed immoderately at it. " There," faid
he, " it would be fuppofed, that fome harle-
quin was walking in a capuchin's drefs to
attract fpedators for a pantomime ; here
nobody will follow him, left he mould lead
them to church. Every nation has its way,
and laughs at the ways of others. Con-
fidering the effeds, which differences fome-
times have, there are few things more in-
nocent than that fort of laughter."
'JThe garden was ftored with fruit.; and
the vegetable luxuries of the table, but was
laid out with no attention to beauty, its
inimitable profpeds having, as the good
monk faid, rendered the focicty carelefs
of lefs advantages. After exchanging our
thanks for his civilities againft his thanks
for the vifit, we defcended to Poppelfdorff
by
224 GERMANY,
by a fteep road, bordered with firs and fra-
grant fhrubs, which frequently opened to
corn lands and vineyards, where peafants
were bufied in dreffing the vines.
About a mile from Bonn is a garden, or
rather nurfery, to which they have given
the name of VauxhalL It is much more
rural than that of London, being planted
with thick and lofty groves, which, in this
climate, are gratefully refrefhing, during the
fummer-day, but are very pernicious in the
evening, when the vapour, arifing from the
ground, cannot efcape through the thick
foliage. The garden is lighted up only on
great feftivals, or when the Elector or his
courtiers give a ball in a large room built
for the purpofe. On fome days, half the
inhabitants of Bonn are to be feen in this
garden, mingling -in the promenade with
the Elector and his nobility ; but there
were few vifitors when we faw it. Count
GiMNiCH,.the commander, who had furren-
dered
GERMANY.
dered Mentz to the French, was the only
perfon pointed out to us.
The road from hence to Bonn was laid
out and planted with poplars at the expence
of the Elector, who has a tafte for works of
public advantage and ornament. His Grand-
mafterfhip of the Teutonic Order renders
his Court more frequented than thofe of the
other eccleiiaftical Princes, the pofleffions of
that Order being ftill confiderable enough
to fupport many younger brothers of noble
families. Having pafled his youth in the
army, or at the courts of Vienna or Bruf-
fels, he is alfo environed by friendsj made
before the vacancy of an ecclefiaftical elec-
torate induced him to change his profef-
fion ; and the union of his three incomes,
as Bifhop of Munfter, Grand Matter and
Elector, enables him to fpend fomething
more than two hundred thoufand pounds
annually. His experience and revenues are,
in many reipefts, very ufefully employed.
226 GERMANY.
To the nobility he affords an example of
fo much perfonal dignity, as to be able to
reject many oftentatious cuftoms, and to
remove feme of the ceremonial barriers,
which men do not conftantly place between
themfelves and their fellow- beings, except
from fome confcioufnefs of perfonal weak-
nefs. All fovereigns, who have had any
fenfe of their individual liberty and power,
have ihewn a readinefs to remove fuch
barriers ; but not many have been able to
effect fo much as the Elector of Cologne
againft the chamberlains, pages, and other
footmanry of their courts, who are always
upon the alerte to defend the falfe magni-
ficence that makes their offices feem ne-
ceffary. He now enjoys many of the
bleffings, ufual only in private ftations ;
among others, that of converfing with great
numbers of perfons, not forced into his fo-
ciety by their rank, and of difpenfmg with
much of that attendance, which would
render
GERMANY.
render his menial fervants part of his com-
pany.
His fecretary, Mr. Floret, whom we had
the pleafure to fee, gave us fome accounts
of the induftry and carefulnefs of his pri-
vate life, which he judicioufly thought were
better than any other panegyrics upon his
mafter. His attention to the relief, employ-
ment and education of the poor, to the
ftate of manufactures and the encourage-
ment of talents, appears to be continual ;
and his country would foon have elapfed
from the general wretchednefs of Germany,
if the exertions of three campaigns had not
deftroyed what thirty years of care and im-
provement cannot reftore.
His refidence at Bonn occafions expendi-
ture enough to keep the people bufy, but
he has not been able to divert to it any part
of the commerce, which, though it is of
fo little ufe at Cologne, is here fpoken of
Qj2 with
GERMANY.
\vith fome envy, and feeras to be eftimatecf
above its amount. The town, which is
much neater than the others in the electo-
rate, and fo pleafantly fituated, that its name
lias been fuppofed to be formed from the
Latin fynonym for good, is ornamented by
few public buildings, except the palace.
What is called the Univerfity is a fmall-
brick building, uled more as a fchool than
a. college, except that the matters are called
profeffors. The principal church of four,,
which are within the walls, is a large build-
ing, diftinguifhed by feveral fpires, but not
remarkable for its antiquity or beauty.
Many of the German powers retain fome
fhew of a reprefentative government, as to
affairs of finance, and have States, by which
taxes are voted. Thofe of the electorate of
Cologne confift of four colleges, reprefent-
ing the clergy, nobility, knights and cities j
the votes are given by colleges, fo that the
inhabitants
GERMANY. 229
inhabitants of the cities, if they elect their
reprefentatives fairly, have one vote in four.
Tliefe States aflemble at Bonn.
One of the privileges, which it is furprif-
ing that the prefent Elector fhould retain,
is that of grinding corn for the confump-
tion of the whole town. His mill, like
thofe of all the towns on the Rhine, is a
floating one, moored in the river, which
turns its wheel. Bread is bad at Bonn ; but
this oppreflive privilege is not entirely an-
fwerable for it, there being little better
throughout the whole country. It general-
ly appears in rolls, with glazed crufts, half
hollow ; the crumb not brown, but a fort of
dirty white.
There are few cities in Germany without
walls, which, when the dreadful fcience of
war was lefs advanced than at prefent, fre-
quently protected them againft large armies.
Thefe are now fo ufelefs, that fuch cannon
as are employed againft batteries could pro-
Qj bably
2 3 o GERMANY.
bably not be fired from them without
fhaking their foundations. The fortifica-
tions of Bonn are of this fort ; and, though
they were doubtlefs better, when the Duke
of Marlborough arrived before them, it is
wonderful that they fhould have fuftained
a regular fiege, during which great part of
the town was demolifhed. The electorate
of Cologne is, indeed, fo ill prepared for
war, that it has not one town, which could
refift ten thoufand men for three days.
The inhabitants of Bonn, whenever they
^
regret the lofs of their fortifications, fhould
be reminded of the three fieges, which, in
the courfe of thirty years, nearly deftroyed
their city. Of thefe the firft was in 1673,
when the Elector had received a French
garrifon into it ; but the refiftance did not
then continue many days. It was in this
fiege that the Prince of Orange, afterwards
our honoured William the Third, had one
of his few military fuccefTes, In 1689, the
French^
GERMANY. 231
French, who had lately defended it, return-
ed to attack it ; and, before they could
fubdue the ftrong garrifon left in it by the
Elector of Brandenburg, the palace and fe-
veral public buildings were deftroyed. The
third fiege was commanded by the Duke
of Marlborough, and continued from the
24th of April to the i6th of May, the
French being then the defenders, and the
celebrated Cohorn one of the aflailants. It
was not till fifteen years afterwards, that al]
the houfes, demolifhed in this fiege, could
be reftored by* the efforts of the Elector
Jofeph.
The prefent Elector maintains, in time of
peace, about eight hundred foldiers, which
is the number of his contingent to the army
of the Empire : in tlv prefent war he has
fupplied fomewhat more than this allot*
ment ; and, when we were at Bonn, two
thoufand recruits were in training. His
troops wear the general uniform of the
Qj, Empire*
232 GERMANY.
Empire, blue faced with red, which many
of the Germanic fovereigns give only to
their contingent troops, while thofe of their
feparate eftablimments are diftinguifhed by
other colours. The Auflrian regiments
are chiefly in white, faced with light blue,
grey, or red ; but the artillery are dreffed,
with very little fhew, in a cloak fpeckled
with light brown.
Bonn was one of the very few places in
Germany, which we left with regret. It is
endeared to the votaries of landfcape by its
iituation in the midft of fruitful plains, in
the prefence of ftupendous mountains, anj
on the bank of a river, that, in fummer, is
impelled by the diflblved fnows of Switzer-
land, and, in winter, rolls with the accu-
mulation of athou r .nd torrents from the
rocks on its mores. It contained many in-
habitants, xvho had the independence to aim
at a juft tafte in morals and letters, in fpite
of the ill examples with which, fuch coun-
tries
tries fupply them ; and, having the vices
of the form of government, eftablimed ia
it, corrected by the moderation and imme-
diate attention of the governor, it might
be confidered as a happy region in the
midft of ignorance, injuftice and mifery,
and remembered like the green fpot, that,
in an Arabian defert, cheers the fenfes and
fuftains the hopes of the weary traveller.
GOODESBERG.
1 HE ride from Bonn to this de-
lightful village is only one league over a
narrow plain, covered with corn and vine-
yards. On our right was the range of
hills, before feen from the mountain SANC-
TJE CRUCIS, fweeping into frequent rece-
fes, and flatting forward into promonto-
ries, with inequalities, which gave exquifite
richnefs
GERMANY.
richnefs to the foreft, that mantled from
their bafes to their utmoft fummits. Many a
lurking village, with its jQender grey fteeple,
peeped from among the woody fkirts of
thefe hills. On our left, the tremendous
mountains, that bind the eaftern more of
the Rhine, gradually loft their aerial com-
plexion, as we approached them, and dik
played new features and new enchant-
ments ; an ever-varying illufion, to which
the tranfient circumftance of thunder clouds
contributed. The fun-beams, ftreaming
among thefe clouds, threw partial gleams
upon the precipices, and, followed by dark
\
fhadows, gave furprifing and inimitable
effect to the natural colouring of the moun*
tains, whofe pointed tops we now difcerned
to be covered with dark heath, extended
down their rocky fides, and mingled with
the reddifh and light yellow tints of other
vegetation and the foil. It was delightful
to watch the fhadows fweeping over thefe
fteeps,
GERMANY. 235
fteeps, now involving them in deep obfcu^
rity, and then leaving them to the fun's
?:ays, which brought out all their hues into
vivid contraft.
Near Goodefberg, a fmall mountain, in-
fulated, abrupt and pyramidal, rifes from
the plain, which it feems to terminate, and
conceals the village, that lies along its
fouthern fkirt. This mountain, covered
with vineyards and thick dwarf wood to
its fummit, where one high tower and feme
{nattered walls appear, is a very interefting
object.
At the entrance of the village, the road
was obftruded by a great number of fmall
carts, filled with foldiers apparently wound-
ed. The line of their proceflion had been
broken by fome carriages, haftening with
company to the ridotto at Goodefberg, and
was not eafily reftored. Mifery and feftivity
could fcarcely be brought into clofer con-
We thought of Johafon's " many-
coloured
236 GERMANY.
coloured life," and of his pidure, in the
preface to Shakefpeare, of cotemporaiy
wretchednefs and joy, when " the reveller
is battening to his wine, and the mourner
is burying his friend." This was a pro-
ceffion of wounded French prifoners, chiefly
boys, whofe appearance had, indeed, led us
to fufpecT: their nation, before we faw the
(lamp of the fafces^ and the words " Re-
publique Fran$oife" upon the buttons of
fome, whom our driver had nearly overfet.
The few, that could raife themfelves above
the floor of their carts, {hewed countenances
yellow, or livid with ficknefs. They did
not talk to their guards, nor did the latter
fhew any figns of exultation over them.
In a plain, beyond the village, a row of
large houfes, built upon one plan, and al-
mofl refembling a palace, farm the little
watering place of Goodefberg, which has
been founded partly at the expence of the
JLle&or, and partly by individuals under
his
GERMANY. 237
his patronage. One of the houfes was oc-
cupied by the Archduchefs, his fitter, and
is often ufed by the Eledor, who is ex-
tremely felicitous for the profperity of the
place. A large building at the end contains
the public rooms, and is fitted up as an
hotel.
The fituation of this houfe is beautiful
beyond any hope or power of defcription ;
for defcription, though it may tell that
there are mountains and rocks, cannot
paint the grandeur, or the elegance of out-
line, cannot give the effecT: of precipices, or
draw the minute features, that reward the
actual obferver by continual changes of
colour, and by varying their forms at every
new choice of his pofition. Delightful
Goodefberg ! the fublhne and beautiful of
landfcape, the charms of mufic, and the
pleafures of gay and elegant fociety, were
thine ! The immediate unhappinefs of war
has now fallen upon thee ; but, though the
graces
238 GERMANY.
graces may have fled thee, thy terrible ma-*
jefty remains, beyond the fphere of human
contention.
The plain, that contains the village and
the fpa, is about five miles in length and
%
of half that breadth. It is covered by un-
inclofed corn, and nearly furrounded by a
vaft amphitheatre of mountains. In front
of the inn, at the diftance of half a league,
extend, along the oppofite fhore of the
Rhine, the Seven Mountains, fo long feen
and admired, which here aflume a new at-
titude. The three talleft points are now
rieareft to the eye, and the lower mountains
are feen either in the perfpe&ive between
them, or finking, with lefs abrupt declivi-
ties, into the plains, on the north. The
whole mafs exhibits a grandeur of outline,
fuch as the pencil only can defcribe : but
fancy may paint the ftupendous precipices
of rock, that rife over the Rhine, the rich
tuftings of wood, that embofs the cliffs or
lurk
GERMANY. 239
lurk within the recefles, the fpiry fummits
and the ruined caftles, faintly difcerned,
that crown them. Yet. the appearance of
thefe mountains, though more grand, from
Goodefberg, is lefs fublime than from
Bonn ; for the nearnefs, which increafes
- their grandeur, diminishes their fublimity
by removing the obfcurity that had veiled
them. To the fouth of this plain, the long
perfpediive is croffed by further ranges of
mountains, which open to glimpfes of others
ftill beyond ; an endlefs fucceffion of fum-
mits, that lead on the imagination to un-
known vallies and regions of folitary ob-
fcurity.
Amid ft fo many attractions of nature, art
cannot do much. The little, which it at-
tempts, at Goodefberg, is the difpofition of
fome walks from the houfes to a fpring,
which is faid to refemble that at Spa, and
through the woods above it. Twice a week
there are fome mufical performances and a
ball
240 GERMANY.
ball given by the Elector, who frequeritty
appears, and with the eafe and plainnefs of
a private gentleman. At thefe entertain-
ments the company, viiiting the fpring, are
joined by neighbouring families, fo as to be
in number fixty, or a hundred. The balls,
agreeably to the earlinefs of German hours $
begin at fix ; and that, which we meant
to fee, was nearly concluded before cur ar-
rival. The company then retired to a public
game, at which large fums of gold were
riiked, and a fevere anxiety defied the in-
fluence of Mozart's mufic, that continued
to be played by an excellent orcheftra.
The drelTes of the company were in the
Englifn tafte, and, as we were glad to be-
lieve, chiefly of Englifh manufacture ; the
wearing of countenances by play appears
to be alfo according to our manners ; and
the German ladies, with features fcarcely
kfs elegant, have complexions, perhaps,
finer than are general in England,
2 Meditating
GERMANY. 241
Meditating cenfures againfl the Elector's
policy, or careleflhefs, in this refpeft, we
took advantage of the laft gleams of even-
ing, to afcend the flender and fpiry moun-
tain, which bears the name of the village,
and appears ready to precipitate the ruins
of its antient caftle upon it. A fteep road,
winding among vineyards and dwarf wood,
enters, at the fummit of the mountain, the
broken walls, which furround the antient
citadel of the caftle ; an almoft folid build-
ing, that has exifted for more than five
centuries. From the area of thefe ruins we
faw the fun fet over the whole line of
plains, that extend to the weftward of Co-
logne, whofe fpires were diftinclly vifible.
Bonn, and the hill SANCT.E CRUCIS, ap-
peared at a league's diftance, and the wind-
ings of the Rhine gleamed here and there
amidft the rich fcene, like diftant lakes. It
was a ftill and beautiful evening, in which
no fhade remained of the thunder clouds,
R that
24* GERMANY.
that paffed in the day. To the weft, un-
der the glow of fun-fet, the landfcape melt-
ed into the horizon in tints fo foft, fo clear,
fo delicately rofeate as Claude only could
have painted. Viewed, as we then faw it,
beyond a deep and dark arch of the ruin,
its effect was enchanting ; it was to the
eye, what the fined ftrains of Paifiello are
to the heart, or the poetry of Collins is to
the fancy all tender, fweet, elegant and
glowing.
From the other fide of the hill the cha-
racter of the view is entirely different, and,
inftead of a long profpect over an open and
level countiy, the little plain of Goodef-
berg appears rep ofing amidft wild and awful
mountains. Thefe were now melancholy
and filent ; the laft rays were fading from
their many points, and the obfcurity of
twilight began to fpread over them. We
feemed to have found the fpot, for which
Collins wifhed :
" Now
GERMANY* 243
* c Now -let me . rove fome wild and heathy
Or find fome ruin 'midti its dreary dells,
Whofe walls more awful nod
By thy religious gleams."
ODE TO EVENING.
And this is a place almoft as renowned
in the hiftory of the country, as it is worthy
to exercife the powers of poetry and paint-
ing. The fame Erneft, in the caiife of
whofe fovereignty the rnaflacre of Neufs
was perpetrated, befieged here the fame
Gerard de Trufches, the Elector, who had
embraced the Proteftant religion, and for
whom Neufs held out. The caftle of
Goodefberg was impregnable, except by
famine, but was very liable to that from.
its infukted fituation, and the eafe, with
which the whole bafe of the mountain
could be furrounded. Gerard's defence was
rendered the more obftinate by his belief,
that nothing lefs than his life, and that of a
R 2 beautiful
244 GERMANY.
beautiful woman, the marrying of whom
had conftituted one of the offences againft
his Chapter, would appeafe his ferocious
enemies. He was perfonally beloved by
his garrifon, and they adhered to him with
the affection of friends, as well as with the
enthufiafin of foldiers. When, therefore,
they perceived, that their furrender could
not be much longer protracted, they re-
folved to employ their remaining time and
ilrength in enabling him to feparate his
fortunes from theirs. They laboured in-
ceffantly in forming a fubterraneous paffage,
which fhould open beyond the befiegers*
lines j and, though their diftrefs became
extreme before this was completed, they
made no overtures for a furrender, till
Gerard and his wife had efcaped by it.
The fugitives arrived fafely in Holland, and
the vengeance of their adverfaries was never
gratified further than by hearing, many
years after, that they died poor.
i The
GERMANY. 245
The fortrefs, rendered interefting by
thefe traits of fidelity and misfortune, is
not fo far decayed, but that its remains ex-
hibit much of its original form. It covered
the whole fummit of the hill, and was va-
luable as a refidence, as well as a fortifica-
tion. What feem to have been the walls
of the great hall, in which probably the
horn ef two quarts was often emptied to
welcome the gueft, or reward the foldier,
are flill perfect enough to preferve the
arches of its capacious windows, and the
door- ways, that admitted its feftive trains.
The vaft ftrength of the citadel has been
unfubdued by war, or time. Though the
battlements, that crown it, are broken, and
of a gallery, .that once encircled it half way
from the ground, the corbells alone re-
main, the folid walls of the building itfelf
are unimpaired. At the narrow door-way,
by which only it could be entered, we
meafured their thicknefs, and found it to be
R 3 more
246 GERMANY.
more than ten feet, nearly half the diame-
ter of its area. There has never been a
fixed flaircafe, though thefe walls would fo
well have contained one ; and the hole is
flill perfect in the floor above, through
which the garrifon afcended, and drew up
their ladder after them. Behind the loop-
holes, the wall has been hollowed, and
would permit a foldier, half bent, to ftand
within them and ufe his bow. It was
twilight without and night within the edi-
fice ; which fancy might have eafily filled
with the ftern and filent forms of warriors,
waiting for their prey, with the patience of
fafety and fure fuperiority.
We wandered long among thefe veftiges
of ancient ftory, rendered flill more in-
terefting by the fhadowy hour and the vef*
per bell of a chapel on a cliff below. The
village, to which this belongs, ftraggles half
way up the mountain, and there are feveral
little fhrines above it, which the cottagers,
or*
GERMANY. 247
on feftivals, decorate with flowers. The
Prieft is the fchoolmafter of the parifli, and
almofl all the children, within feveral miles
of the hill, walk to it, every day, to prayers
and leflbns. Whether it is from this care
of their minds, or that they are under
the authority of milder landlords than elfe-
where, the manners of the inhabitants in
this plain differ much from thofe, ufual in
Germany. Inftead of an inveterate fullen-
nefs, approaching frequently to malignity,
they mew a civility and gentlenefs in their
intercourfe with ftrangers, which leave the
enjoyments derived from inanimate nature,
unalloyed by the remembrances of human
deformity, that mingle with them in other
diftricts. Even the children's begging is in
a manner, which mews a different character.
They here kifs their little hands, and filent-
ly hold them out to you, almoft as much
in falute, as in entreaty ; in many parts of
Germany their manner is fo offenfive, not
R 4 only
248 GERMANY.
only for its intrufion, but as a fymptom of
their difpofition, that nothing but the re-
membrance of the oppreffion, that produces
it, can prevent you from denying the little
they are compelled to require.
The mufic had not ceafed, when we re-
turned to the inn ; and the mellownefs of
French horns, mingled with the tendernefs
of hautboys, gave a kind of enchantment
to the fcenery, which we continued to
watch from our windows. The oppofite
mountains of the Rhine were gradually
vanifhing in twilight and then as gradually
re-appearing, as the rifmg moon threw
her light upon their broken furfaces. The
perfpective in the eaft received a filvery
foftneis, which made its heights appear like
fhadowy illufions, while the nearer moun-
tains were diftinguimed by their colouring,
as much as by their forms. The broad
Rhine, at their feet, rolled a ftream of light
for their boundary, on this fide. But the
firft
GERMANY. 249
firft exquifite tint of beauty foon began to
fade; the moun fains became mifty under-
neath the moon, and, as fhe afcended, thefe
mifts thickened, till they veiled the land-
fcape from our view.
f
The fpring, which is fuppofed to have
fome medicinal qualities, is about a quarter
of a mile from the rooms, in a woody val-
ley, in which the Eledor has laid out fe-
veral roads and walks. It rifes in a ftone
bafon, to which the company, if they wifh
to drink it on the fpot, defcend by an
handfome flight of Heps. We were not
told its qualities, but there is a ferrugineous
tint upon all the ftones, which it touches.
The tafte is flightly unpleafant.
The three fuperior points of the Seven
Mountains, which contribute fo much to
the diftinclion of Goodefberg, are called
Drakenfels, Wolkenbourg and Lowenbourg,
and have each been crowned by its caftle,
of which two are full vifible in ruins.
Ther
GERMANY.
There is a ftory faintly recorded, concern-
ing them. Three brothers, refolving to
found three diftinguifhed families, took the
method, which was anciently in ufe for
fuch a purpofe, that of eftabliming them-
felves in fortrefles, from whence they could
ifTue out, and take what they wanted from
their induftrious neighbours. The pinna-
cles of Drakenfels, Wolkenbourg and Lo-
wenbourg, which, with all affiftance, can-
not be afcended now, without the utmoft
fatigue, were inacceffible, when guarded by
the caftles, built by the three brothers.
Their depredations, which they called fuc-
ceflfes in war, enriched their families, and
placed them amongft the moft diftinguifhed
In the Empire.
They had a fifter, named Adelaide,
famed to have been very beautiful ; and,
their parents being dead, the care of her
had defcendcd to them. Roland, a young
Anight, whofe eaflle was on the oppofite
6 bank
GERMANY. 251
bank of the Rhine, became her fuitor, and
gained her affections. Whether the bro-
thers had expected, by her means, to form
a more fplendid alliance, or that they re-
membered the ancient enmity between
their family and that of Roland, they fe-
cretly refolved to deny the hand of Ade-
laide, but did not choofe to provoke him by
a direct refufal, They flipulated, that he
ihould ferve, a certain number of years, ia
the war of Paleftine, and, on his return,
ihould be permitted to renew his fuit.
Roland took a reluctant farewell of Ade-
laide, and went to the war, where he was
foon diftinguifhed for an impetuous career.
Adelaide remained in the caftle of Draken-
fels, waiting, in folitary fidelity, for his
return. But the brothers had determined,
that he ihould not return for her. They
clothed one of their dependents in the dif-
guife of a pilgrim, and introduced him into
the caftle, where he related that he was
arrived
252 GERMANY.
arrived from the holy wars, and had been
defired by Roland in his lateft moments to
aflure Adelaide of his having loved her till
death.
The unhappy Adelaide believed the tale,
and, from that time, devoted herfelf to the
memory of Roland and to the nourishment
of her forrow. She rejected all the fuitors,
introduced by her brothers, and accepted
no fociety, but that of fome neighbouring
nuns. At length, the gloom of a cloifter
became fo neceffary to the melancholy of
her imagination, that me refolved to found
a convent and take the veil ; a defign,
which her brothers affifted, with the view
of placing her effectually beyond the reach
of her lover. She chofe an ifland in. the
Rhine between her brother's caftle and the
feat of Roland, both of which me could
fee from the windows of her convent ; and
here me pafled fome years in the placid
performance of her new duties.
At
At length, Roland returned, and they
both difcovered the cruel device, by which
they had been feparated for ever. Adelaide
remained in her convent, and foon after
died ; but Roland, emulating the fidelity
of her retirement, built, at the extreme
point of his domains towards the Rhine,
a finall caftle, that overlooked the ifland,
where he wafted his days in melancholy
regret, and in watching over the walls, that
fhrouded his Adelaide.
This is the ftory, on which the wild
and vivid imagination of Ariofto is faid to
have founded his Orlando. f\$\
THE VALLEY OF ANDERNACH.
AFTER fpending part of two days
at Goodelberg, we fet out, in a fultry af-
ternoon, for the town of Andernach,
tant
GERMANY,
tant about five-and-twenty Englim miles.
The road wound among core-lands towards
the Rhine, and approached almoft as near
to the Seven Mountains, as the river would
permit. Opposite to the laft, and nearly
the tailed of thefe, called Drakenfels, the
open plain terminates, and the narrower
valley begins.
This mountain towers, the majeftic fenti-*
nel of the river over which it afpires, in vaft
mafies of rock, varied with rich tuftings of
dwarf-wood, and bearing on its narrow
peak the remains of a eaftle, whofe walls
feem to rife in a line with the perpendicular
precipice, on which they ftand, and, when
viewed from the oppofite bank, appear little
more than a rugged cabin. The eye aches
in attempting to fcale this rock ; but the
fublimity of its height and the grandeur of
its intermingled cliffs and woods gratify the
warmeft wifh of fancy.
The road led us along the weflern bank
of
GERMANY. 255
of the Rhine among vineyards, and corn,
and thick trees, that allowed only tranfient
catches of the water between their branches ;
but the gigantic form of Drakenfels was
always feen, its fuperior features, perhaps,
appearing more wild, from the partial con~
cealment of its bafe, and afTuming new atti-
tudes as we pa^Ted away from it. Lowen-
berg, whofe upper region only had been
feen from Goodefberg, foon unfolded itfelf
from behind Drakenfels, and difplayed all
its pomp of wood, fweeping from the
fpreading bafe in one uninterrupted line of
grandeur to the fpiry top, on which one
high tower of the caftle appears enthroned
among the forefts. This is the loftieft of
the Seven Mountains ; and its dark fides,
where no rock is vifible, form a fine coii-
traft with the broken cliffs of Drakenfels*
A multitude of fpiry fumrnits appeared be-
yond Lowenberg, feen and loft again, as
the nearer rocks of the ihore opened to the
diftance,
256 GERMANY*
diftance, or re-united. About a mile fur*
ther, lies the pleafant ifland, on which
Adelaide raifed her convent. As it was well
endowed, it has been rebuilt, and is now a
large and handfome quadrangle of white
ft one, furrounded with trees, and corn, and
vineyards, and ftiil allotted to the fociety,
which (he eftablifhed. An abrupt, but not
lofty rock, on the weftern fhore of the
Rhine, called Rolands Eck, or Roland's
Corner, is the fite of her lover's caftle, of
which one arch, piflurefquely fhadowed
with wood, is all that remains of this mo-
nument to faithful love. The road winds
beneath it, and nearly overhangs the nar-
row channel, that feparates Adelaide's ifland
from the fhore. Concerning this rock there
is an antient rhyme in the country, amount-
ing to fomething like the following :
Was not Roland, the knight, a ftrange filly wight,
For the love of a nun, to live on this height ?
After
GERMANY. 257
After paffing the ifland, the valley con-
tracts, and the river is foon fhut up between
fruitful and abrupt hills, which rife imme-
diately over it, on one fide, and a feries of
rocky heights on the other. In the fmall
fpace, left between thefe heights and the
Rhine, the road is formed. For the greater
part of the "way, it has been hollowed in.
the folid rock, which afcends alm'oft per-
pendicularly above it, on one hand, and
finks as abruptly below it, to the river, on
the other ; a work worthy of Roman per-
feverance and defign, and well known to
be a monument of both. It was made
during the reign of Marcus Aurelius and
Lucius Verus ; and as the infcription,
whofe antiquity has not been doubted, dates
its completion in the year 162, it muft have
been rimmed in one year, or little more,
Marcus Aurelius having been raifed to
the purple in 161. The Elector Palatine
having repaired this road, which the Elec-
S tors
258 GERMANY.
tors of Cologne had neglected, in 1768, has
caufed his name to be joined with thofe of
the Roman Emperors, in the following irn
fcription upon an obelifk :
VIAM
SUB M.
AURELIO
ET L. VERQ
I. M. P. P.
ANNO CHR.
CLXII
MUNITAM
CAROLUS
THEODORUS
ELECTOR PAL.
DUX BAY. JUL. CL. M.
REFECIT
ET AMPLIAVIT
AN. M.DCCLXV1II
CURANTE JO. LUD. COMITE
DE GOLDSTEIN
PRO PRINCIPE.
We did not fufKciently obferve the com-*
mencement and conclufion of this road, to.
be certain of its exat length 5 but it is pro-
bably
GERMANY. 259
bably about twelve miles. The rock above
is, for the raoft part, naked to the funimit,
where it is thinly covered with earth ;
but fometimes it Hopes fo much as to
permit patches of foil on its fide, and
thefe are carefully .planted with vines.
This more of the Rhine may be faid to
be bounded, for many miles, by an im- ,
menfe wall of rock, through which the
openings into the country behind are few ;
and thefe breaks mew only deep glens, feen
and loft again fo quickly, that a woody
mountain, or a caftle, or a convent, were
the only objects we could afcertain.
This rock lies in oblique Jlrata^ and re-
fembles marble in its brown and reddifh
tints, marked with veins of deeper red ; but
we are unable to mention it under its
proper and fcientific denomination. The
colouring of the cliffs is beautiful, when
mingled with the verdure of ihrubs, that
fprnetimes hang in rich drapery from their
S z pointsi
GERMANY,
points, and with the mofles, and creeping
vegetables of bright crimfon, yellow, and
purple, that embofs their fradured fides.
The road, which the Eledor mentions
himfelf to have widened, is now and then
very narrow, and approaches near enough
to the river, over which it has no parapet,
to make a traveller anxious for the fobriety
and {kill of his poftillion. It is fometimes
elevated forty feet above the level of the
Rhine, and feldom lefs than thirty ; an ele-
vation from whence the water and its
fcenery are viewed to great advantage ; but
to the variety and grandeur of thefe fhores,
and the ever- changing form of the river,
defcription cannot do juftice.
Sometimes, as we approached a rocky
point, we feemed going to plunge into the
expanfe of water beyond ; when, turning
the fharp angle of the promontory, the
road fwept along an ample bay, where the
rocks, receding, formed an amphitheatre,
covered
GERMAN?* ,
CdVered with ilex arid dwarf-wood, round
a narrow, but cultivated level ftripe : then,
winding the furtheft angle of this crefcent^
under huge cliffs* we faw the river beyond,
{hut in by the folding bafes of more diftant
promontories, aflume the form of a lakej
amidft wild and romantic landfcapes* Hav-
ing doubled one of thefe capes, the profpect
opened in long perfpective, and the green
waters of the Rhine appeared in all their
majefty, flowing rapidly between ranges of
marbled rocks, and a fucceffion of woody
fteeps, and overlooked by a multitude of
fpiry fummits, which diftance had fweetly
coloured with the blue and purple tints of
air.
The retrofpecT: of the river, too, was
often enchanting, and the Seven Mountains
long maintained their dignity in the fcene,
fuperior to many intervening heights ; the
dark fummit of Lowenbourg, in particular,
S 3 appeared,
, GERMANY.
appeared, for feveral leagues, overlooking
the whole valley of the Rhine.
The eaftern margin of the river fome-
times exhibited as extenfive a range of fteep
rocks as the weftern, and frequently the^
fitnefs of the falient angles on one fide, to
the recipient ones on the other, feemed to
juftify the fpeculation, that they had been
divided by an earthquake, which let the
river in between them. The general ftate
of the eaftern bank, though fteep, is that
of the thickeft cultivation. The rock fre-
quently peeps, in rugged projections,
through the thin foil, which is fcattered
over its declivity, and every where appears
at top ; but the fides are covered with vines
fo abundantly, that the labour of cultivating
them, and of expreffing the wine, fupports
a village at leaft at every half mile. The
green rows are led up the fteeps to aa
height, which cannot be afcended without
the
GERMANY. 263
the help of Heps cut in the rock : the foil
itfelf is there fupported by walls of loofe
flones, or it would fall either by its own
weight, or with the firft preffure of rain ;
and fometimes even this fcanty mould ap-
pears to have been placed there by art, being
in fuch fmall patches, that, perhaps, only
twenty vines can be planted in each. But
fuch exceflive labour has been neceflary
only towards the fummits, for, lower down,
the foil is fufficiently deep to fupport the
moft luxuriant vegetation.
It might be fuppofed from fo much pro-
duce and exertion, that this bank of the
Rhine is the refidence of an opulent, or,
at leaft, a well-conditioned peafantry, and
that the villages, of which feven or eight
are frequently in fight at once, are as fu-
perior to the neighbouring towns by the
ftate of their inhabitants, as they are by
their picturefque fituation. On the con-
trary, the inhabitants of the wine country
S 4 are
GERMANY.
are faid to be amongft the pooreft in Ger-
many. The value of every hill is exactly
watched by the landlords, fo that the tenants
are very feldom benefited by any improve-
ment of its produce. If the rent Is paid in
money, it leaves only fo much in the hands
of the farmer as will enable him to live,
and pay his workmen ; while the attention
of a great number of flewards is fuppofed
to fupply what might be expected from his
attention, had he a common intereft with
his landlord in the welfare of the eftate.
But the rent is frequently paid in kind,
amounting to a fettled proportion of the
produce ; and this proportion is fo fixed,
that, though the farmer is immoderately
diftrefled by a bad vintage, the beft will not
afford him any means of approaching to in-
dependence. In other countries it might
be aiked, " But, though we can fuppofe the
ingenuity of the landlord to be greater than
that of the tenant, at the commencement of
3 a bargain*
a bargain, how happens it, that, fmce the
refult muft be felt, the tenant will remain
under his burthens, or can be fucceeded by
any other, on fuch terms?" Here, however,
thefe queftions are not applicable ; they
prefume a choice of fituations, which the
country does not afford. The feverity of
the agricultural fyftem continues itfelf by
continuing the poverty, upon which it acts ;
and thofe who would efcape from it find
few manufactures and little trade to employ
them, had they the capital and the educa-
tion neceflary for either. The choice of
fuch perfons is be^veen the being a mafter
of day-labourers for their landlord, or a
labourer under other mailers.
Many of thefe eftates belong immediately
to Princes, or Chapters, whofe ftewards fu*
perintend the cultivation, and are themfelves
inftead of the farmers, fo that all other per-
fons employed in fuch vineyards are ordi-
nary fervantSi By one or other of thefe
means
266 GERMANY*
means it happens, that the bouriteoufnefs of
nature to the country is very little felt by
the body of the inhabitants. The payment
of rents in kind is ufual, wherever the vine-
yards are moft celebrated ; and, at fuch
places, there is this fure proof of the wretch-
ednefs of the inhabitants, that, in a month
after the wine is made, you cannot obtain
one bottle of the true produce, except by
favour of the ..proprietors, or their ftewards.
How much is the delight of looking upon
plenteoufnefs leflened by the belief, that it
fupplies the means of excefs to a few, but
denies thofe of competence to many !
Between this pafs of cultivated fteeps on
one fide of the river, and of romantic rocks
on the other, the road continues for feveral
miles. Being thus commanded on both
fides, it muft be one of the moft difficult
palTages in Europe to an enemy, if refelute*
ly defended. The Rhine, pent between
thefe impenetrable boundaries, is confidera*
bljr
GERMANY, 267
bly narrower here than in other parts of the
valley, and fo rapid, that a loaded veflel can
feldom be drawn fafter than at the rate of
fix Englifh miles a day, againft the ftreara.
The paflage down the river from Mentz to
Cologne may be eafiiy performed in two
days j that from Cologne to Mentz requires
a fortnight.
The view along this pafs, though bound-
ed, is various and changeful. Villages,
vineyards and rocks alternately ornament
the borders of the river, and every fifty
yards enable the eye to double fome mafly
projection that concealed the fruitful bay
behind. An object at the end of the pafs
is prefented fmgly to the fight as through
an inverted telefcope. The furface of the
water, or the whole flillnefs of the fcene,
was very feldom interrupted by the paiTmg
of a boat ; carriages were Hill fewer ; and,
indeed, throughout Germany, you will not
meet more than one in twenty miles.
Travelling
268 GERMANY,
Travelling is confidered by the natives, whd
know the fatigue of going in carriages near-
ly without fprings, and flopping at inns
where there is little of either accommoda-
tion or civility, as productive of no plea-
fure ; and they have feldom curiofity or
bufinefs enough to recompenfe for its in-
conveniencies.
We patted through two or three fmall
towns, whofe ruined gates and walls told of
their antiquity, and that they had once been
held of fome confequence in the defence of
the valley. Their prefent defolation formed
a. melancholy contraft with the cheerful cul-
tivation around them. Thefe, however,
with every village in our way, were de-
corated with green boughs, planted before
the door of each cottage, for it was a day
of feftival. The Iktle chapels at the road-
fide, and the image, which, every now and
then, appeared under a fpreading tree, were
adorned with wreaths of frefh flowers f
and
GERMANY. 269
and though one might fmile at the em-
blems of fuperftition, it was impoflible not
to reverence the fentiment of pious affec-
tion, which had adjufted thefe fimple orna-
ments. ,
About half-way to Andernach, the weft-
isrn rocks fuddenly recede from the river,
and, rifing to greater height, form a grand
fweep round a plain cultivated with or-
chards, garden-fields, corn and vineyards.
The valley here fpreads to a breadth of
nearly a mile and an half, and exhibits
grandeur, beauty and barren fublimity,
United in a flngular manner. The abrupt
fteeps, that rife over this plain, are entirely
covered with wood, except that here and
there the ravage of a winter torrent appear-
ed, which could fometimes be traced from
the very fummit of the acclivity to the bafe.
Near the centre, this noble amphitheatre
ppens to a glen, that {hews only wooded
piountains, point above point, in long per-
fpeclive
2 7 o GERMANY.
fpedive ; fuch fylvan pomp we had feldonj,
feen ! But though the tuftings of the nearer
woods were beautifully luxuriant, there
feemed to be few timber trees amongft
them. The oppofite fliore exhibited only
a range of rocks, variegated like marble, of
which purple was the predominating tint,
and uniformly difpofed in vaft, oblique
ftrata. But even here, little green patches
of vines peeped among the cliffs, and were
led up crevices where it feemed as if no
human foot could reft. Along the bafe of
this tremendous wall, and on the points
above, villages, with each its tall, grey
fteeple, were thickly ftrewn, thus mingling
in ftriking contraft the cheerfulnefs of po-
pulous inhabitation with the horrors of un-
tamed nature. A few monafteries, refem-
bling caftles in their extent, and known
from fuch only by their fpires, were diftin-
guifhable ; and, in the widening perfpective
of the Rhine, an old caftle itfeif, now and
3 then,
GERMANY. 271
then, appeared on the fummit of a moun-
tain fomewhat remote from the fhore j aa
object rendered fweetly pidurefque, as the
fun's rays lighted up its towers and fortified
terraces, while the fhrubby deeps below
were in fhade.
We faw this landfcape under the happieil
circumftances of feafon and weather ; the
woods and plants were in their midfummer
bloom, and the mellow light of evening
heightened the richnefs of their hues, and
gave exquifite effect to one half of the am-
phitheatre we were pafling, while the other
half was in fhadow. The air was fcented
by bean-bloflbms, and by lime-trees then in
flower, that bordered the road. If this
plain had mingled pafture with its groves,
it would have been truly Arcadian; but
neither here, nor through the whole of this
delightful valley, did we fee a fmgle paf-
ture or meadow, except now and then in
an
GERMANY,
an ifland on the Rhine ; deficiencies which
are here fupplied, to the lover of Lndfcape,
by the verdure of the woods and vines.
In other parts of Germany they are more
"to be regretted, where, frequently, only
corn and rock colour the land.
Fatigued at length by fuch prodigality of
beauty, we were glad to be fhrouded awhile
from the view of it, among clofe boughs,
and to fee only the wide rivulets, with their
ruftic bridges of faggots and earth, that,
defcending from among the mountains, fre-
quently crofTed our way ; or the fimple
peafant-girl, leading her cows to feed on the
narrow ftripe of grafs that margined the
road. The little bells, that jingled at their
necks, would not fuffer them to ftray be*
yond her hearing. If we had not long
fmce difmified our furprife at the fcarcity
and bad quality of cheefe and butter in
Germany, we fhould have done fo now, on
perceiving
GERMANY. .273
perceiving this fcanty method of pafturing
the cattle, which future obfervation con-
vinced us was the frequent practice.
About fun-fet we reached the little village
of Namedy, feated near the foot of a rock,
rouiid which the Rhine makes a fudden
fweepj and, contracted by the bold preci-
pices of Hammerftein on the oppofite fhore,
its green current pafles with aflonifhing ra-
pidity and founding ftrength. Thefe ch>
cumftances of fcenery, with the tall mafts
of veiTels lying below the fhrubby bank,
on which the village ftands, and feeming to
heighten by comparifon the ftupendous
rocks, that rofe around them ; the moving
figures of boatmen and horfes employed in
towing a barge againft the ftream, in the
bay beyond ; and a group of peafants on
the high quay, in the fore ground, watch-
ing their progrefs ; the ancient caftle of
Hammerftein overlooking the whole thefe
were a combination of images, that formed
T one
274 GERMANY.
one of the mod interefting pidures we had
feen.
The valley again expanding, the walls
and turrets of Andernach, with its Roman,
tower rifmg independently at the foot of
a mountain, and the ruins of its caftle above,
appeared athwart the perfpeftive of the
river, terminating the pafs ; for there the
rocky boundary opened to plains and re-
mote mountains. The light vapour, that
rofe from the water, and was tinged by the
fetting rays, fpread a purple haze over the
town and the cliffs, which, at this diftance,
appeared to impend over it ; colouring ex-
tremely beautiful, contrafted as it was by
the clearer and deeper tints of rocks, wood
and water nearer to the eye.
As we approached Andernach, its fitua-
tion feemed to be perpetually changing,
with the winding bank. Now it appeared
feated on a low peninfula, that nearly
crofled the Rhine, overhung by romantic
rocks ;
GERMANY. 27$
rdcks ; but this vifion vanifhed as we ad-
vanced, and we perceived the town lying
along a curving fliore, near the foot of the
cliffs, which were finely fringed with wood,
and at the entrance of extenfive plains*
Its towers feen afar, would be figns of a
confiderable place, to thofe who had not
before been wearied of fuch fymptoms by
the towers of Neufs, and other German
towns. From a wooded precipice over the
river we had foon after a fine retrofpedive
glimpfe of the valley, its fantaftic fhores,
and long mountainous diftance, over which
evening had drawn her fweeteft colouring.
As we purfued the pafs, the heights on
either hand gradually foftened ; the country
beyond fhewed remote mountains lefs wild
and afpiring than thofe we had left, and
the blooming tint, which had inverted the
diftance, deepened to a dufky purple, and
then vanifhed in the gloom of twilight.
The progreflive influence jf the hour upon
T 2 the
276 GERMANY.
the landfcape was interefting ; and the
ftiade of evening, under which we entered
Andernach, harmonized with the defolation
and filence of its old walls and the broken
ground around them. We patted a draw-
bridge and a ruinous gateway, and were
fufficiently fatigued to be fomewhat anxious
as to our accommodation. The Englifh
habit of confidering, towards the end of the
day's journey, that you are not far from
the cheerful reception, the ready attendance,
and the conveniences of a fubftantial inn,
will foon be loft in Germany. There, in-
ilead of being in good fpirits, during the
laft ftage, from fuch a profpet, you have to
confider, whether you mail find a room,
not abfolutely difgufting, or a houfe with
any eatable provifion, or a landlady, who
will give it you, before the delay, and the
fatigue of an hundred requefts have ren-
dered you almoft incapable of receiving it.
When your carnage flops at the inn, you
3
GERMANY. 277
will perhaps perceive, inflead of the ala-
crity of an Englifh waiter, or the civility
of an Englifh landlord, a huge figure, wrapt
in a great coat, with a red worfled cap on
his head, and a pipe in his mouth, flalking
before the door. This is the landlord. He
makes no alteration in his pace on perceiv-
ing you, or, if he flops, it is to eye you
with curiofity ; he feldom fpeaks, never
bows, or affifls you to alight; and perhaps
{lands furrounded by a troop of flovenly
girls, his daughters, whom the found of
wheels has brought to the door, and who,
as they lean indolently againft it, gaze at
you with rude curiofity and furprife.
The drivers in Germany are all bribed
by the innkeepers, and, either by affecting
to mifunderftand you, or otherwife, will
conftantly flop at the door, where they are
befl paid. That this money comes out of
your pocket the next morning is not the
grievance ; the evil is, that the worft inns
T 3 give
278 GERMANY.
give them the moft, and a traveller, unlefs
he exactly remembers his directions, is
liable to be lodged in all the vileft rooms
of a country, where the beft hotels have no
lodging fo clean and no larder fo whole-
fomely filled as thofe of every half-way
houfe between London arid Canterbury.
When you are within the inn, the landlord,
who is eager to keep, though not to accom-
modate you, will affirm, that his is the inn
you afk for, or that the other fign is not
in the place ; and, as you foon learn to be-?
lieve any thing of the wretched nefs of the
country, you are unwilling to give up one
lodging, left you fhould not find another.
Our driver, after paffing a defolate, half
filled place, into which the gate of Ander r
nach opened, entered a narrow paffage,
which afterwards appeared to be one of
the chief ftreets of the place. Here he
found a miferable inn, and declared that
there was no other ; but, as we had feen
one
GERMANY. 279
one of a much better appearance, we were
at length brought to that, and, though with
fome delay, were not ill accommodated, for
the night.
Andernach is an antient town, and it is
believed, that a tower, which (lands alone,
at one end of the walls, was built by
Drufus, of whom there are many traces in
walls and caftles, intended to defend the
colonies, on this fide of the Rhine, againft
the Germans, on the other. The fortifica-
tions can now be of little other ufe than to
authorife the toll, which travellers pay, for
entering a walled town ; a tax, on account
of which many of the walls are fupported,
though it is pretended, that the tax is to
fupport the walls. By their means alfo, the
Elector of Cologne collecls here the lad
of four payments, which he demands for
the privilege of parting the Rhine from
Urdingen to Andernach ; and this is the
moil Southern frontier town of his domi-
T 4 nions
a8o GERMANY.
nions on the weftern fide of the Rhine,
which foon after join thofe of the Eleclor
of Treves. Their length from hence to
Rheinberg is not lefs than ninety miles ;
the breadth probably never more than
twenty.
There is feme trade, at Andernach, in
tiles, timber, and mill-flones, but the heaps
of thefe commodities upon the beach are
the only vifible fymptoms of the traffick ;
for you will not fee one perfon in the place
moving as if he had bufinefs to attract him,
or one mop of a better appearance, than an
Englifh huckfter's, or one man in the drefs
of a creditable trader, or one houfe, which
can be fuppofed to belong to perfons it\
cafy circumftances. The port contains, per-
haps, half a dozen yeflels, clinker built, in
fhape between a barge and a floop ; on the
quay, you may fee two or three fellows,
harneffing half a dozen hqgfilsTto a tow line,
while twenty more watch their lingering
manoeuvres,
GERMANY. 281
manoeuvres, and this may probably be the
morning's bufinefs of the town. Thofe,
who are concerned in it, fay that they arc
engaged in commerce.
This, or fomething like it, is the condi-
tion, as to trade, of all the towns we faw in
permany, one or two excepted. They are
fo far from having well filled, or fpacious
yepofitories, that you can fcarcely tell at
what houfes there are any, till you are led
within the door ; you may then wait long
after you are heard, or feen, before the
pwner, if he has any other engagement,
thinks it neceflary to approach you : if he
has what you aik for, which he probably
has not, unlefs it is fomething very ordi-
nary, he tells the price and takes it, with as
much fullennefs, as if you were forcing the
goods from him : if he has not, and can
fhew you only fomething very different, he
then confiders your enquiry as an intrufion,
and appears to think himfelf injured by
having
282 GERMANY:
having had the trouble to anfwer you*
What feems unaccountable in the manners
of a German trader, is, that, though he is
fo carelefs in attending you, he looks as
much diftrefled, as vexed, if you do not
leave fome money with him ; but he pro-
bably knows, that you can be fupplied no
where elfe in the town, and, therefore, will
not deny himfelf the indulgence of his tem-
per. Even when you are fatisfied, his man-
ner is fo ill, that he appears to confider you
his dependent, by wanting fomething which
he can refufe. After perceiving, that this
is nearly general, the pain of making con-
tinual difcoveries of idlenefs and malignity
becomes fo much greater than the inconve-
nience of wanting any thing fhort of ne-
ceflaries, that you decline going into mops,
and wait for fome eafier opportunities of
fupplying whatever you may lofe upon the
road,
COBLENTZ.
GERMANY. 283
COBLENTZ.
IT is one poft from Andernach hi*
tlier, over a road, as good as any in Eng?-
land. Beyond the dominions of the Elec-
tor of Cologne, the face of the country, on
this fide of the Rhine, entirely changes its
character. The rocks ceafe, at Andernach,
and a rich plain commences, along which
the road is led, at a greater diftance from
the Rhine, through corn lands and unin^
clqfed orchards. About a mile from Anr
dernach, on the other fide of the river, the
white town of Neuwiedt, the capital of a
{mall Proteftant principality, is feen ; and
the general report, that it is one of the moft
commercial places, on the Rhine, appeared
to be true from the cheerful neatnefs of the
principal ftreet, which faces towards the
water. There were alfo about twenty fmall
veffels.
284 GERMANY.
veffels, lying before it, and the quay feemed
to be wide enough to ferve as a fpacious
terrace to the houfes. The Prince's palace,
an extenfive (tone building, with a lofty
Orangery along the fhore, is at the end of
this ftreet, which, as well as the greateft
part of the town, was built, or improved
under the aufpices of his father ; a wife
prince, diftinguifhed by having negotiated,
in 1735, a peace between the Empire and
.France, when the continuance of the war
had feemed to be inevitable. The fame
benevolence led him to a voluntary furren-
der of many oppreflive privileges over his
fubjeds, as well as to the mod careful pro-
tection of commerce and manufactures,
Accordingly, the town of Neuwiedt has
been continually increafing in profperhy
and fize, for the laft fifty years, and the
inhabitants of the whole principality are faid
to be as much more qualified in their cha-
racters as they are happier in their condi-
tions
tions than thofe of the neighbouring ftates.,
But then there is the wretckednefs of a de-
ficiency of game in the country, for the late
Prince was guilty of fuch an innovation as
to mitigate the feverity of the laws refpeft-
ing it.
The foreft hills, that rife behind Neu-
wiedt and over the rocky margin of the
river, extend themfelves towards the more
rugged mountains of Wetteravia, which are
feen, a fhapelefs multitude, in the eaft.
The river is foon after loft to the view
between high, fedgy banks ; but, near Co-
blentz, the broad bay, which it makes in
conjunction with the Mofelle, is feen ex-
panding between the walls of the city and
the huge pyramidal precipice, on which
{lands the fortrefs of Ehrenbreitftein, or ra-
ther which is itfelf formed into that fortrefs.
The Mofelle ia here a noble river, by which
the ftreams of a thoufand hills, covered with
vines, pour themfelves into the Rhine.
The
286 GERMANY.
The antient ftone bridge over it leads to the
northern gate of Cobleritz, and the entrance
into the city is ornamented by feveral large
chateau-like manfions, erected to command
a view of the two rivers. A narrow ftreet
of high, but antient houfes then commences,
and runs through the place. Thofe, which
branch from it, extend, on each fide, towards
the walls, immediately within which there
are others, that nearly follow their courfe
and cncompafs the city. Being built be*
tween two rivers, its form is triangular, and
only one fide is entirely open to the land ;
a lituation fo convenient both for the pur-
pofes of commerce and war, that it could
not be overlooked by the Romans, and was
not much neglected by the moderns, till
the induflry of maritime countries and the
complicated conftitution of the Empire re-
duced Germany in the fcale of nations.
This was accordingly the ftation of the firft
legion, and the union of the two rivera gave
it
GERMANY. 287
it a name ; Confluentla. At the commence-
ment of the modern divifion of nations, the
fucceffors of Charlemagne frequently refided
here, for the convenience of an intercourfe
between the other parts of the Empire and
France ; but, in the eleventh century, the
whole territory of Treves regained the dif-
tinclion, as a ieparate country, which the
Romans had given it, by calling the inha-
bitants TreverL
Coblentz is a city of many fpires, and has
eftablifhments of chapters and monafteries,
which make the great pride of German
capitals, and are fometimes the chief obje&s,
that could dillinguiih them from the ne-
glected villages of other countries. Tlje
rtreets are not all narrow, but few of them
are itraight ; and the fame pavement ferves
for the hories of the Elector and the feet of
liis fubjeds. The port, or beach, has the
appearance of fomething more bufmefs than
,that of Andernach, being the reiort. of pal-
fage-
GERMANY,
fage-vefTels between Mentz and Cologne J
but the broad quay, which has been raifed
above it, is chiefly ufeful as a promenade
to the vifitors of a clofe and gloomy town.
Beyond the terrace ftands the Elector's pa-
lace, an elegant and fpacious ftone edifice,
built to the height of three ftories, and in-
clofing a court, which is large enough to be
light as well as magnificent. The front to-
wards the Rhine is fimple, yet grand, the
few ornaments being fo well proportioned
to its fize, as neither to debafe it by minute-
nefs, nor encumber it by vaftnefs. An en-
tablature, difplaying fome allegorical figures
in bas relief, is fupported by fix Doric co-
lumns, which contribute much to the ma-
jeftic fimplicity of the edifice. The palace
was built, about ten years fince, by the
reigning Elector, who mentions, in an in-
fcription, his attention to the architectural
art ; and a fountain, between the building
and the town, is iiifcribed with a few words,
which
GERMANY. 289
Which feem to acknowledge his fubjects as
beings of the fame fpecies with himfelf ;
CLEMENS WINCESLAUS VICINIS Suis.
- But the moft ftriking parts of the view
from this quay are the roek and fortrefs of
Ehrenbreitftein, that prefent themfelves im-
mediately before it, on the other fide of the
river ; notwithstanding the breadth of which
they appear to rife almoft perpendicularly
over Coblentz. At the bafe of the rock
ftands a large building, formerly the palace
of the Electors, who chofe to refide under
the immediate protection pf the fortrefs,
rather than in the mid ft of their capital.
Adjoining it is the village of Ehrenbreit-
ftein, between which and Coblentz a flying
bridge is continually paiTmg, and, with its
train of fubordinate boats, forms a very
picture fque object from the quay. The
fortrefs itfelf confifts of feveral tier of low
walls, built wherever there was a projection
in the rock capable of fupporting them, or
U wherever
GERMANY.
wherever the rock could be hewn fo as to
afford room for cannon and foldiers. The
flone, taken out of the mafs, ferved for the
formation of the walls, which, in fome
places, can fcarcely be diflinguifhed from
the living rock. Above thefe tier, which
are divided into feveral fmall parts, accord-
ing to the conveniences afforded by the
cliff, is built the caftle, or citadel, covering
its fummit, and furrounded by walls more
regukriy continued, as well as higher-
Small towers, fome what in the antient
form, defend the caftle, which would be of
little value, except for its height, and for
the gradations of batteries between it and
the river. Thus protected, it feems impreg-
nable on that fide, and is faid to be not
much weaker on the other; fo that the
garrifon, if they mould be willing to fire
upon Coblentz, might make it impoflible
for an enemy to remain within it, except
under the cover of very high entrench-
ments.
GERMANY.
ments. This is the real defence of the
city, for its walls would prefently fall be*
fore heavy artillery ; and this, it is believed,
might be preferved as long as the garrifon
could be fupplied with Mores.
We crofled the river from the quay to
the fortrefs, by means of the very fimple
invention, a flying bridge. That, by which
part of the paflage of the Waal is made at
Nimeguen, has been already mentioned ;
this is upon the fame principle, but on a
much larger fcale. After the barges, upon
which the platform is laid, are clear of the
bank, the whole paflage is effected with no
other labour than that of the rudder. A
ftrong cable, which is faftened to an anchor
at each fide of the river, is fupported acrofs
it by a feries of fmall boats ; the bridge has
two low mafts, one on each barge, and
thefe are connected at the top by a beam,
over which the cable is pafled, being con-
fined fo as that it cannot flip beyond them.
U 2 When
292 GERMANY.
When the bridge is launched, the rapidity
of the current forges it down the Rhine
as far as the cable will permit : having
reached that point, the force, received from
the current, gives it the only direction of
which it is capable, that acrofs the river,
with the cable which holds it. The fteerf-
man manages two rudders, by which he
aiTifts in giving it this direction. The voy-
age requires nine or ten minutes, and the
bridge is continually paffing. The toll,
which, for a foot paflenger, is fomething
lefs than a penny, is paid, for the benefit
of the Elector, at an office, on the bank,'
and a fentinel always accompanies the
bridge, to fupport his government, during
the voyage.
The old palace of Ehrenbreitftein, de-
ferted becaufe of its dampnefs, and from
the fear of its being overwhelmed by the
rock, that fometimes fcatters its fragments
upon it, is now ufed as a barrack and hof-
pital
G E R MA N Y. 293
pital for foldiers. It is a large building,
even more pleafantly fituated than the new
one, being oppofite to the entrance of the
Mofelle into the Rhine ; and its ftrudure,
which has been once magnificent, denotes
fcarcely any other decay, than all buildings
will (hew, after a few years' neglect. The
rock has allowed little room for a garden,
but there are fome ridiculous ornaments
upon a very narrow ftrip of ground, which
was probably intended for one.
The only entrance into the fortrefs, on
this lide, is by a road, cut in the folid rock,
under four gateways. It is fo fteep, that
we were compelled to decline the honour
of admiflion, but afcended it far enough to
judge of the view, commanded from the
fummit, and to be behind the batteries, of
which fome were mounted with large brafs
cannon. Coblentz lies beneath it, as open
to infpection as a model upon a table.
The fweeps of the Rhine and the meanders
U 3 of
294 GERMANY.
of the Mofelle, the one binding the plain,
the other interfering it, lead the eye to-
wards diftant hills, that encircle the capa-
cious level. The quay of the city, with
the palace and the moving bridge, form an
interefting picture immediately below, and
we were unwilling to leave the rock for the
dull and clofe ftreets of Coblentz. On our
return, the extreme nakednefs of the new
palace, which is not flickered by trees, on
any fide, withdrew our attention from the
motley group of paflengers, mingled with
hay carts and other carriages, on the flying
bridge.
The long refidence of the emigrant
princes and noblefle of France in this city
is to be accounted for not by its general
accommodations, or gaieties, of which it is
nearly as deficient as the others of Ger-
many ; but firft by the great hofpitality of
the Eledor towards them, and then by the
convenience of its fituation for receiving in-
telligence
GERMANY. 295
telllgence from France, and for communi-
cating with other countries. The Elector
.
held frequent levies for the French nobility,
and continued for them part of the fplen-
dour which they had enjoyed in their own
_
country. The readinefs for lending money
upon property, or employments in France,
was alfo fo great, that thofe, who had not
brought cafh with them, were immediately
fupplied, and thofe, who had, were encou-
raged to continue their ufual expences. We
know it from fome of the beft poflible
authority, that, at the commencement of
the march towards Longwy, money, at
four per cent, was even prefled upon many,
and that large fums were refufed.
Here, and in the neighbourhood, be-,
tween fixty and feventy fquadrons of caval-
ry, confifting chiefly of thofe who had for-
merly enjoyed military, or other rank, were
formed ; each perfon being mounted and
equipped chiefly at his own expence. We
U 4 heard
296 GERMANY.
.
lieard feveral anecdotes of the confidence,
entertained in this army, of a fpeedy arrival
in Paris j but, as the perfons, to whom they
relate, are now under the preflure of mif-
fortune, there would be as little pleafure as
propriety in repeating them.
At Coblentz, we quitted, for a time, the
}eft bank of the Rhine, in order to take the
watering place of Selters, in our way to
Mentz. Having croffed the river and af-
cended a fteep road, near the fortrefs, we
had line glimpfes of its walls, baftions and
out- towers, and the heathy knolls, around
them, with catches of diftant country. The
way continued to lie through the dominions
pf the Elector of Treves, which are here fo
diilinguiihed for their wretchednefs as to be
named the Siberia of Germcmy! It is paved,
and called a cbauffl'e ; but thofe, who have
not experienced its rugged nefs, can have
no idea of it, except by fuppofing the pave-
ment of a flreet torn up by a plough, and
9 then
GERMANY. 297
then fuffered to fix itfelf, as it had fallen.
Always fteep, either in afcent or defcent, it
is not only the roughnefs, that prevents
your exceeding the ufual poft-pace of three
nglim miles an hour. Sometimes it runs
Along edges of mountains, that might almoft
fre called precipices, and commands Ihort
views of other mountains and of vallies
entirely covered with thick, but not lofty
forefts ; fometimes it buries itfelf in the
depths of fuch forefts and glens ; fometimes
the turrets of an old chateau peep above
thefe, but rather confirm than contradict
the notion of their defolatenefs, having been
evidently built for the purpofes of the
chace ; and fometimes a mud village fur-
prifes you with a few inhabitants, emblems
,of the mifery and favagenefs of the country.
Thefe are the mountains of Wetteravia,
the boundaries of many a former and far-
feen profpect, then picturefque, fublime, or
graceful, but now defolate, fhaggy, and al-
moft
298 GERMANY.
moft hideous ; as in life, that, which is fo
grand as to charm at a diftance, is often
found to be forlorn, difguftful and comfort-
lefs by thofe, who approach it.
MONTABAUR.
Six hours after leaving Coblentz, we
reached Montabaur, the firft poft-town on
the road, and diftant about eighteen miles.
An ancient chateau, not ftrong enough to
be a caftle, nor light enough to be a good
houfe, commands the town, and is probably
the refidence o'f the lord. The walls and
gates fhew the antiquity of Montabaur, but
the ruggedncfs of its fite fhould feem to
prove, that there was no other place in the
neighbourhood, on* which a town could be
built. Though it is fituated in a valley, as
to the nearer mountains, it is conftructed
chiefly
GERMANY.
chiefly on two fides of a narrow rock, the
abrupt fummit of which is in the centre of
this very little place.
The appearance of Montabaur is ade
quate in gloominefs to that of feveral before
feen ; but it would be endlefs to repeat, as
often as they ihould be true, the defcriptions
of the fqualidnefs and decay, that charac-
terife German towns ; nor fhould we have
noticed thefe fo often, if the negligence of
others, in this refpedt, had not left us to
form deceitful expectations, fuitable to the
fuppofed importance of feveral very con-
fpicuous, but really very wretched cities.
LIMBOURG.
OVER a fucceflion of foreft moun-
tains, fimilar to thofe juft paflfed, we came,
in the afternoon, to Lirnbourg, another poft
town.
300 GERMANY.
town, or, perhaps, city, and another collec-
tion of houfes, like tombs, or forfaken hof-
pitals. At an inn, called the Three Kings,
we faw firft the fullennefs and then the fe-
rocious malignity of a German landlord
and his wife, exemplified much more fully
than had before occurred. When we after-
wards exprefled our furprife, that the ma-
giftrates fhould permit perfons of fuch con-
duct to keep an inn, efpecially where there
was only one, we learned, that this fellow
was himfelf the chief magiftrate, or burgo-
mafter of the place ; and his authority ap-
peared in the fearfulnefs of his neighbours
to afford any fort of refrefhment to thofe,
who had left his inn. One of the Elector's
minifters, with whom we had the pleafure
to be acquainted, informed us, that he knew
this man, and that he muft have been in-
toxicated, for that, though civil when fober,
he was madly turbulent and abufive, if
otherwife. It appeared, therefore, that a
perfon
GERMANY. 301
perfon was permitted to be a magiftrate,
who, to the knowledge of government, was
expofed by his fituation to be intoxicated,
and was outrageous, whenever he was fo.
So little is the order of fociety eflimated
here, when it is not connected with the
order of politics.
Near Limbourg, the foreft fcenery, which
had fhut up the view, during the day, dif-
appeared, and the country loft, at leaft, an
uniformity of favagenefs. The hills con-
tinue, but they are partly cultivated. At
a fmall diftance from the town, a fteep af-
cent leads to a plain, on which a battle was
fought, during the ihort flay of the French
in this diftricl:, in the campaign of 1792.
Four thoufand French were advancing to-
wards Limbourg ; a fmall Pruflian corps
drew up to oppofe them, and the engage-
ment, though fhort, was vivid, for the
Pruffians did not perceive the fuperiority of
the French in numbers, -till the latter began
to
3 02 GERMANY,
to fpread upon the plain, for the purpofe
of furrounding them. Being then com-,
pelled to retreat, they left feveral of the
Elector's towns open to contribution, from
which five-and-twenty thoufand florins were
demanded, but the remonftrances of the
magiftrates reduced this fum to 8000 florins,
or about 700!. The French then entered
Limbourg, and extended themfelves over
the neighbouring country. At Weilbourg,
the refidence of a Prince of the Houfe of
NafTau, they required 300,000 florins, or
25,000!. which the Prince neither had, nor
could colled, in two days, through his
whole country. All his plate, horfes,
coaches, arms and fix pieces of cannon,
were brought together, for the purpofe of
removal ; but afterwards two individuals
were accepted as hoftages, inftead of the
Prince himfelf, who had been at firft de-
manded. The adion near Limbourg took
place on the 9th of November, and, before
the
GERMANY. 303
the conclufion of the month, the French
had fallen back to Franckfort, upon the re-
approach of the Pruffian and Auftrian
troops.
SELTERS.
vV E had a curiofity to fee this place,
which, under the name of Seltzer, is fo
celebrated throughout Europe, for its me-
dicinal water. Though it is rather in the
high road to Franckfort than to Menrz,
there feemed no probability of inconveni-
ence in making this fliort departure from
our route, when it was to be joined again
from a place of fuch public accefs as Seltera
appeared likely to be found.
About feven miles from Limbourg, a
defcent. commences, at the bottom of which
ftands this village. What a reproof to the
1 expectation*
304 GERMANY.
expectations of comfort, or convenience itf
Germany ! Seltefs, a fpot, to which a va-
letudinarian might be dire&ed, with the
profpecl: of his finding not only abundant
accommodation, but many luxuries, Selters
is literally and pofitively nothing more than
an afTemblage of miferable cottages, with
one inn and two houfes for officers of the
Elector, ftuck in a dirty pafs, which more
refembles a ditch than a road. The vil-
lage may be faid to be near half a mile
long, becaufe the huts, being moftly fepa-
rated from each other, continue as far ;
and this length would increafe its inconve-
nience to invalids, if fuch mould ever ftay
there longer than to fee it, for there is no-
thing like a fwept path-way, and the road,
in which they muft walk, is probably al-
ways deeply covered with mud, being fo
when we were there in the beginning of
July. There was then, however, not one
ftranger, befides ourfelves, in the place, and
we
GERMANY.
35
we found, that very rarely any aggravate the
miferies of ficknefs by a ftay at Selters.
The only lodgings to be had are at the
inn, and fortunately for travellers this is
not fuch as might be expected from the ap-
pearance of the village. Finding there the
novelty of an obliging hoil and hoftefs, we
were very well contented to have reached
it, at night, though we were to ftay there
alfo the next day, being Sunday. The
rooms are as good as thofe in the inns of
German cities, and three, which are called
Court Chambers, having been ufed by the
Elector and lately by the King of Pruffia,
are better. Thefe are as open as the others
to flrangers.
The fpring is at the foot of one of feveral
hills, which immediately furround the vil-
lage, and is feparated from the road by a
fmall court yard. An oaken covering, at
the height of ten or twelve feet, prevents
rain from falling into the wooden bafon,
X ia
30-6 GERMANY.
in which the ftream rifes ; and two or
three of the Ele&or's guards watch over it,
that no considerable quantity may be taken,
without payment of the duty, which forms
a large part of his income. Many thou-
fands of ftone bottles are piled round this
court, and, for the reputation of the fpring,
eare is taken to fill them as immediately as
poffible, before their removal for exporta-
tion.
The policy of keeping this income intire
is faid to be a motive for neglecting the
condition of the village. A duty could not
well be demanded of thofe, who fhould
drink at the fpring, but is eafily collected
before the water is bottled for removal ; it
is, therefore, not wifhed, that there fhould
be many vifitors, at Selters. We did not
hear this reafon upon the fpot, but it is
difficult otherwife to account for a negli-
gence, which prevents the inhabitants of
the neighbouring country from being en-
riched
GERMANY. 307
riched at the expence of wanderers from
others.
Nor is it only a duty, but the whole pro-
fit of the traffick, till the water leaves the
place, which rewards the care of the Elec-
tor. His office for the fale of it is eftablifh-
ed here, and his agents alone tranfmit it
into foreign countries. The buiinefs is fuf-
ficient to employ feveral clerks, and the
number of bottles annually filled is fo im-
menfe, that, having omitted to write it
down, we will not venture to mention it
from memory. The water is brought to
table conftantly and at an eafy price in all
the towns near the Rhine. Mixed with
Rhenifli wine and fugar it forms a delight-
ful, but not always a fafe beverage, in hot
weather. The acid of the wine, expelling
the fixed air of other ingredients, occafions
an effervefcence, like that of Champagne,
but the liquor has not a fourth part of the
X 2 obnoxious
36.8 -GERMANY.
obnoxious ftrength of the latter. The dan-
ger of drinking it is, that the acid may be
too powerful for fome confthutions.
After being furprifed by the defolatenefs
of the village, we were not lefs fo to find
amongft its few inhabitants one, whole-
manners and information, fo far from bear-
ing the character of the drearinefs around
him, were worthy of the bed fociety in the
mod intelligent cities. This was the Com-
miffary and Privy Counfellor of the Elector
for the diftrict, who, having heard, that
there were fome Englifh vifitors at the well,
very frankly introduced himfelf to us by
his civilities, and favoured us with his com-
pany in the afternoon. He had been in
England, with many valuable introductions,
and had formed from the talents and ac-
complilhments of a diftinguiihed Marquis
an high opinion of the. national character;
a circumftance, which probably united with
his
GERMANY. 309
x
his natural difpofitiori, in inducing him to
emulate towards us the general politenefs of
that truly honourable perfon.
When we enquired how the journey of
the next day was to be performed, it ap-
peared, that no other carriage could be
hired in the place than a fort of one-horfe
chair, which would take us to the next pod
town, from whence we might proceed with
the ufual chaifes. The driver walked at
the fide of this uncouth carnage, which had
ihafts and wheels ftrong enough for a w?.gr.
gon ; and, either by the miftake or inten-
tion of his mafter in directing him, we were
led, not to the poft town, for a chaife, if it
could be had, but entirely through a fo-
reft country to Mentz, by roads made only
for the woodcutters, and, as it afterwards
proved, known to few others, except to our
ingenious voiturier. We did not.pafs a
town, or village, at which it was poifible to
change the carnage, and had, therefore, no
X 3 other
3 io GERMANY.
other alternative, when the miflake was dif-
covered, than to return to Selters, or to pro-
ceed to Mentz, in this inconvenient and
ludicrous vehicle. We chofe to proceed,
and had fome reward for fatigue, by paffing
nearly an whole day under the fhade of
deep and delightful forefts, little tamed by
the hand of man, and appearing to acknow-r
ledge only " the feafon's difference."
Between Selters and thefe forefts, the
country is well cultivated, and frequently
laid out in garden- fields, in which there
was the firft appearance of cheerful labour
we had feen in Germany. After paffing
a fmall town, on the fummit of a hill to
the left, ftill furrounded by its antient forti-
fications, we entered a large plain, fkirted,
on one iide, by villages ; another town, at
the end of which, was almoft the laft fign
of an inhabited country, that appeared for
feveral hours. The foreft then commenced,
and, with the exception of one hamlet, en-
veloped
GERMANY. 311
veloped near the middle, we faw nothing
but lofty oaks, elms and chemuts, till we
emerged from it in the afternoon, and came
to a town of the Landgrave of Hefle Darm-
ftadt. Roebucks are faid to be numerous,
and wild boars not very fcarce, in this fo r
reft j but we faw none either here, or in
thofe near Limbourg, which are much in-
ferior to this in beauty. Upon the whole,
it was a fcene of perfect novelty; without
which it now feems that we mould have
wanted many ideas of fylvan life and much
of the delight, excited by Shakefpeare's ex-
quifitedefcriptionofit.
The country afterwards opens towards
MENTZ,
WHICH ftands in a fpacious plain,
on the oppofite edge of the Rhine, and is
vifible, at a confiderable diitance, with its
X 4 mafiy
312 GERMANY.
maiTy towers and numerous fpires. Within
two or three miles of the city, the fymptoms
of ruin, occafioned by the fiege in 1793,
began to appear. A village, on the left,
had fcarcely one houfe entire j and the
tower of the church was a mere wreck,
blackened by flames, and with large chafins,
that admitted the light. The road did not
pafs nearer to it than two miles, but the
broken walls and roofs were diftinguifhable
even at that diftance, and fometimes a part,
which had been repaired, contrafled its co-
lour with the black and fmoky hues of. the
remainder. This was the village of Koft-
heim, fo often contended for in the courfe
of the fiege, being on the oppofite bank of
the Rhine to the city, and capable of ob-
flrucling the intercourfe with it by water.
The country on the eaftern fide of the
river was otherwife but little damaged, if
we except the deftruclion of numerous or-
chards ; for the allies were not ftrong
enough
GERMANY. 313
enough to befiege the city on all fides at
once, and contented themfelves with occu-
pying fome pofts in this quarter, capable of
holding the garrifon of Caflel in awe. '
This Caflel is a fmall village exactly op-
pofite to Mentz, and communicating with
it by a bridge of boats. It was unfortified
before the invafion of the French ; but thefe
had no fooner entered the city, than they
perceived the importance of fuch a place,
and prepared themfelves to render it a re-
gular fortrefs. In about two months they
completely furrounded it with earthen
works and outworks, ditched and pallifa-
doed. Some of the neareft orchards were
cut down to be ufed in thefe fortifications.
The fruit trees ftill remain with their
branches upwards from the ditch, and ferve
in (lead of cbevaux de frife.
The village of Hockheim, xvhich is alfo
on this fide of the Rhine, is further to the
left than Koftheim, and remains uninjured,
at
314 GERMANY*
at the top of the round and eafy hill, the
vines of which are fo much celebrated for
their flavour, as to give a name to great
quantities of wine, produced in other dif-
trids. After the fiege, the merchants of
the neighbourhood enhanced the price of
their flocks by reporting, that all the vine-
yards had been deftroyed ; but the truth is,
that Hockheim was not much contended
for, and that little damage was done even
to the crops then in bloom. The village is
advantageoufly fituated about the confluence
of the Rhine and the Maine, and, if it had
been nearer the city, would probably have
been fo important, as to have been con-
tefted, till it was deftroyed.
This is the home ground of the fcene,
which fpreads before the traveller, who ap-
proaches Mentz from the eaftern more of
the Rhine. Furtheft to the left is Hock-
heim, then the devaftated village of Koft-
heim, then the fortifications of CafTel,
which,
GERMANY. 315
which, with the river, are between him and
the city. Beyond, the horizon is bounded
on all fides by gradual hills, diftant and
apparently fruitful ; but thofc to the north
are pre-eminent, with gentle fl opes vat their
feet, coloured fweetly by corn, dark wood
and gleams of reddifh earth.
The works of Caflel render the approach
to the city very tedious, for they have been
fo contrived as that the road nearly follows
them, in all their angles, for the purpofe of
being commanded by many points at once.
The village was now garrifoned by Pruf-
fians, of whom, fome were lying under the
fheds of their guard-houfe near the bridge,
and others were riding over it, with juft
fpeed enough to give one an idea of mili-
tary earneftnefs. Their horfes Ihook the
floor of the bridge of boats, which here
crofTes the Rhine, at its breadth of nearly
eight hundred feet, and difturbed the pro-
menade, for which it is ufually frequented
in
; 3 i6 GERMANY.
in an evening. We followed them, ad-
miring the expanfe, and rapidity of the
river more than the appearance of the city,
where gloominefs is too much mingled
with grandeur ; till, at the end of the
bridge, we were flopped at another guard-
houfe, to anfwer the ufual enquiries. A
foldier accompanied us thence to a large
fquare filled with cannon and mortars,
where the captain of the guard examined
our paflport. We were then very glad to
pafs the evening at an inn without further
refearches ; but there were fome fymptoms
of the late condition of the city to attract
attention in the way.
The Elector's palace, which forms one
fide of this fquare, having been converted
into an hofpital by the French, is flill ufed
as fuch, or as a barrack, by the Pruffians ;
and the windows were crowded with the
figures of half-dreffed foldiers. Many of
the cannon in the fquare remained with
the
GERMANY. 317
the fractures, made by the balls of the be-
fiegers. This place communicates with a
broad flreet, in which were many buildings,
tilled with foldiers, and an handfome houfe,
that, having belonged to one of the Club-
bids, was deftroyed immediately after the
expulfion of the French. The walls ftill
remain bare and open. Some greater ruins,
oceafioned by fire, during the fiege, were
vifible at a diftance, and, upon the whole,
we had intereft enough excited, as ."to the
immediate hiftory of the place, to take little
notice of the narrow and difficult paflagcs,
through which we wound for half an hour,
after leaving the principal ftreet.
The next morning, the friends, to whom
we had letters, began to conduct us through
c
the melancholy curiofities, left in the city
by the fiege. Thefe are chiefly in the
fouthern quarter, againft which the direct
attack of the allies was made, and their
approaches moft advanced. Some entire
ftreets
318 GERMANY.
ftreets have been deftroyed here, and were"
ftill in ruins. A magnificent church, at-
tached to a convent of Francifcan monks, is
among the mod lamentable fpe&acles ; what
was the roof now lies in heaps over the
pavement ; not a veftige of furniture, or
decoration, has efcaped the flames, and there
are chafms in the walls larger than the no-
ble windows, that once illuminated them.
This church and convent were fet on fire
by a bomb ; and of the fick foldiers, who
were lodged in the latter, it is feared that
but few were removed before the deftruc-
tion of the building. We next faw the re-
mains of a palace, built by the prefent
Provoft of the Chapter of Nobles; an in-
ftitution, which is fo rich, that their Supe-
rior had a more elegant refidence than the
Eledor. It was of ftone, and the principal
front was in the Corinthian order, fix co-
lumns of which fupported a fpacious open
gallery, ornamented with ftatues, for its
9 whole
GERMANY. 319
whole length. The wings formed two
fides of a fquare, which feparated the palace
from the ftreet. A profufion of the richeft
furniture and a valuable collection of paint-
ings filled the interior. Of the whole edi-
fice little now remains but the fhattered
walls of the centre, which have been fo
fcorched as to lofe all appearance of having
belonged to a fplendid ftruchire. It was
burnt the night before the fire of the Fran-
cifcan church, and two nights after the
French had removed their head quarters
and their municipality from it. On the day
before the removal, a bomb had fallen upon
the French General Blou, deftroying him
on the fpot, and mortally wounding an
officer, with whom he was eonverfing.
The ruins are now fo accumulated over the
court-yard, that we could not difcern it to
have ever had that appendage of a diftin-
guifhed refidence.
But the church of Notre Dame was the
moft
GERMANY.
moft confpicuous of many ruined objects;
The fteeple of this had been one of the
grandeft ornaments of the city ; a mower
of bombs fet fire to it ; and, while it was
thus rendered an eafy mark for the be-
fiegers, their cannon played upon and beat
a great part of it to the ground. By its fall
the roof of the church was (nattered, but
the body did not otherwife fufFer any ma-
terial injury. Wooden galleries have beer*
raifed round the remainder of the fteeple^
not for the purpofe of repairing, but for
that of entirely removing it ; and, to fave
the trouble of letting down the ftones on
the outfide, a. wooden pipe, or channel has
been made, through which they are lowered
into the church. The appearance of this
fteeple, which was once very large and
lofty, is rendered linking by thefe prepara-
tions for its total deflruclion.
The whole church is built of a ftone, dug
from the neighbouring hills, the colour of
which
GERMANY;
which is fo delicate a pink, that it might be
fuppofed to be given by art. The Elector's
palace and feveral other public buildings in.
the city are formed of this ftone.
Faffing through the gates on this fide of
Mentz, we came to a flope near the river,
and beyond the glacis of the place, which
was then partly covered with huge mafles
of ftone fcattered among the roots of broken
trees and fhrubs, that had begun again to
fhoot their verdure over the amputated
trunks. This was the fite of a palace of
the Elector, called, both from the beauty
of its fituation, and the fplendour of its
ftru&ure, La Favorita. The apartments of
the palace and the terraces of the garden
commanded extenfive views of the Rhine
and the furrounding country afcending from
its banks ; and the gardens themfelves were
fo beautifully difpofed as to be thought
* worthy of the name of Englifh. 'ihey
were ornamented with pavilions, which had
Y each
322 GERMANY.
each its diflindt profpecl:, and with one
mufic room in the thickeft part of the
fhrubbery. Of the building nothing is now
vifible but fome disjointed ft ones ; and of
the garden, only the broken trunks x>f trees.
The palace was burned and the gardens
levelled by the French, that they might not
afford (helter to the Pruflians, during the
fiege.
From this fpot we were {hewn the pofi-
tions of the allied forces, the courfe of their
approaches and the chief outworks of the
city. Hockheim, Koilheim and Caflel lay
before us, on the other fide of the river ;
a gentle rife on this fide, at the diftance of
nearly a mile, was the firft ftation of the
allies, part of whofe force was covered be-
hind it ; their laft batteries were within two
hundred and fifty paces of the city. The
ground had been fmce levelled, and was
now covered with ftanding corn, but the
track of the trenches was, in fome places,
vifible.
GERMANY. 323
vifible. On the other hand, the forts, in
which the ftrength of the whole fo much
confifts, were completely repaired, and had
no appearance of having been fo lately at*
tacked. They are five in number, and,
being raifed at a confiderable diftance from
the walls of the city, no near approaches
can be made, till fome of them are either
taken, or deftroyed ; for they are faid to be
regular and ftrong fortifications, capable of
containing numerous garrifons, and com-
municating with the city itfelf by paflages,
cut in the ground, through which they
may be conftantly reinforced.
Only one of thefe five forts, that neareft
to the river, was deftroyed in the late fiege,
which would have been much more tedious,
but for the want of provifions and medi-
cines, that began to be felt in the garrifon.
The walls of the city were almoft unin-
jured, fo that it has not been thought ne-
ceflary to repair them in the few places,
Y 2 where
324 GERMANY.
where balls may be perceived to have
ftruck. The bombardment was the chief
annoyance of the garrifon, who were not
flickered in caferns-, and whofe magazines,
both of ammunition and provifion, were
frequently deftroyed by it. Their numbers
were alfo greatly reduced by fallies and by
engagements, on the other fide of the
" Rhine, in defence of CaiTel, or in Attack of
part of an ifland, called the Bleiau,
We walked round the city upon what is
termed the glacis, that is upon the Hope,
which afcends from the plain towards the
top of the ditch, and which is the furtheft
of the defenfive works, being very gradually
raifed, that thofe, who are upon it, may
be expofed, at every ftep, to the fire from
the walls. The forts, which are formed
of folid earthen works, covered with turf,
would fcarcely attract the notice of an un-
military eye, if the channelled paiTages to
them did not iflue from this Hope, and if
the
GERMANY. 32$
the fentinels, ftalking upon the parapets, did
not feem of a gigantic fize, by having their
whole figures raifed againft the light.
Mentz was at this time the depot of
(lores for the Pruflian army on the Rhine,
and there were perfons employed upon the
glacis, in counting heaps of cannon balls,
which had been delivered from fome neigh-
bouring foundery. On the bank of the
river, others were throwing waggon-loads
of hay into large barges, on which it w T as
piled to fuch an height, that fmall paffages
were cut through it for the rowers to work
jn. There were nine or ten barges fo
filled ; and in thefe labours more activity
was apparent than in any other tranfactions
we faw at Mentz.
Having pafled round the city, between
the walls and the forts, w'tich protect them,
to the north, weft and fouth, we came, at
-this latter fide, to fome other fignals of a
[[theatre of war. Here had been a noble
Y 3 alley
326 GERMANY.
j
alley of at leaft a mile and a half long,
formed of poplars as large and high as elms,
and furrounded, on each fide, by planta~
tions, interfeded by ftnall and irregular
walks. Being led along the banks of the
Rhine, this alley, with its adjoining groves,
afforded a moft delightful promenade, and
was claffed amongft the beft ornaments,
given to the river, in its whole courfe.
This alfo was deftroyed upon the approach
of the befiegers, that it might not afford
them fhelter. The trunks of the fturdy
trees, cut at the height of one or two feet
from the ground, fhew, by their folidity
and the abundance of their vigorous {hoots,
how long they might have flourished, but
for this difafter,
/
An Englishman, walking amidft the en-
figns of fuch artificial and premature defor-
lation, cannot help considering the natural
fccurity of his country, and rejoicing, that,
even if the flrong and plain policy of ne-
glecting
i
GERMANY. 327
glecting all foreign confequence, and avoid-
ing all foreign interefts, except the com-
mercial ones, which may be maintained by
.
a navy, fhould for ever be rejected, ftill his
home cannot be invaded ; and, though the
expence of wars fhould make poverty ge-
neral, the immediate horrors of them can-
not enter the cities, or. the cottages of an
jiland.
Great part of our time at Mentz was
occupied by enquiries concerning the fiege,
which was not fo much a topic as we had
expected to find it. We probably heard,
however, all tLat was to be told, and had a
German pamphlet recommended, contain-
ing the hiftory of the place from the firii
invafion of the French to their departure.
The authenticity of this was allured to us j
and it is partly from it, partly from the ac-
counts given by our friends, that the fol-
lowing fhort narrative has been extracted,
Y 4 OF
328 GERMANY,
OF MENTZ IN 1792 AND 1795.
THE entrance of a French army into
Worms, in the beginning of October 1 792,
had excited a confiderable alarm in Mentz,
before the inhabitants of the latter city re-
ceived the accounts, which were not long
wanting, of exprefs and avowed prepara-
tions for a march towards them. Great
numbers of French emigrants had been
drawn to the city by the meeting of the
Emperor and the King of Pruflia there, a
few months before ; many had arrived fmce
the diflblution of their army in Cham-
pagne ; and, during the approach of the
Republican troops to Spires and Worms,
families were continually pafling through
the city, joining thofe, who began to take
their flight from it. The narrow ftreets
were filled with carriages, and the diftrefs-
ful hafte of the travellers ferved to deprefs
the
GERMANY. 329
the fpirits of the inhabitants, who faw how
Uttle their city was thought capable of de-
fence. On the 1 5th of Odober, Baron
d'Albini, a counfellor of the Court, called
the Burgefles together, and admonifhed
them to make preparations for their fecuri-
ty ; he alib enquired, whether they thought
it prudent, that the Ele&or fhould remain
in the city with them ? and, it being readily
anfwered, that they did not, the Ele&or fet
out for Wurtzburg, a town about yoo miles
diftant, and was followed by the members
of the government. At the fame time, a
confiderable emigration of the other inha^
bitants took place.
The approach of the French had been fo
little forefeen, till within the few laft weeks,
that the garrifon did not amount to a tenth
part of the war complement. The inha-
bitants, however, having happily had little
experience of fieges, did not know what this
complement fhould be, and, after the firfl
alarm.
330 GERMANY.
alarm, began to think the deficiency might
be eafily remedied. The Electoral troops,
having fent fome ufelefs detachments to
Spires, amounted to only 968 men, to
whom an hundred were added, obtained
from NafTau, Oranien, Weilburg, Bieberich
and Fuld by the Elector's demands of alli-
ance from his neighbours. Two hundred
and feven Auftrian buffers of Efterhazy had
alfo arrived, on the I3th, and all the in-
habitants of the Rheingau, a populous dif-
tricl, bordering upon the Rhine, were fum-
moned to the afliflance of the capital. The
antient fociety of Archers of the city laid
down their bows for mufquets; the Aca*
demicians formed themfelves into a corps,
and were placed, together with the Archers,
at feveral outpofts. The traders, though
exempt from perfonal fervice, and unwill-
ing to furrender that privilege, refolved to
pay double watch- money for fubftitutes.
It began to be thought, that the threatened
9 progrefs
GERMANY. 331
.progrefs of the French had been untruly-
reported ; that the fiege could net be com-
menced at that late feafon of the year ; and
laftly, that fome promifed "reinforcements of
Auftrian troops could not be far off.
But, on the iQth of October, the French,
in four columns, began to furround the place.
They wore, at firft, white cockades, expecT:-
jng to be miftakcn for the army of M. da
Conde ; they were, however, known, and
fired upon. Though fome days had been
pafled in preparation, it was now found,
that there was little readinefs for defence.
The beft artillerymen had been loft at
Spires ; there were, at firft, po hories to
.draw the cannon, fo that oxen were ufed
for that purpofe ; the neareft balls to the
batteries of twenty -four pound cannon were
caft for twelve-pounders ; and many of the
niufquet cartridges could not be fired. In
a few hours, however, feveral of the arti-
fans applied themfelves to the making of
cartridges ;
332 GERMANY.
cartridges ; horfes were fuppHed by the ferr
vants of the Court and the Nobility, and all
hands were, in feme way or other, em-
ployed. It was then reported, that a corps
of Au (Irian troops was in the neighbour-
hood, and, on the I9th, 1800 men entered
the city. Thefe were recruits without am-
munition, and, for the moft part, without
arms, being on their march to join the
army of the Emperor. They were then
under the command of two or three fubal-
terns ; but fome other Imperial officers
eatne in from the neighbourhood, and arms
were obtained from the Elector's arfenal.
After this reinforcement there were pro-
bably about four thoufand men in arms in.
the city.
With this force, it is allowed, that a
much longer defence than was made might
have been expected; and, unlefs there was
fomc failure of the commander's attention,
the treachery of an engineer, to whom the
furrender
GERMANY. 353
furrender is imputed, could certainly not
have been fo effectual. EIKENMAYER, this
engineer, had, it feems, made known to the
French the commander's preparations for
defence; intelligence, which, if the pre-
parations had been greater, could have been
but little ferviceable to the aflailants. His
chief afliftance was afforded to them by
much more confpicuous means ; for, as the
inhabitants went frequently to a building
called St. Stephen's Tower, to obferve the
progrefs of the befiegers, he aflured them,
that the army, which really amounted only
to eleven thoufand men, confifted of forty
thoufand ; that they had with them two-
and-twenty waggons, laden with fcaling
ladders, and that the city would prefently
be taken by ftorm. The fame reprefenta-
tions of the befiegers' force were alfo made
by him to the Council of War ; and thefe,
it is faid, determined them to the furrender,
before
334 GERMANY.
before the French had raifed a battery
againft the works.
Many of the citizens, however, were fuf-
prifed and enraged at this refolution ; and
the captain of the Auftrian reinforcements
expreiTed his difpleafure, at the Council
Houfe, where he declared, that he would
continue to defend the place, even without
permiffion. In the mean time, the capitu-
*
lation was figned, and he was induced to
fubmit to it by the felicitations even of the
citizens, by whom it was blamed, and by
their reprefentations, that, in the prefent
agitated temper of the inhabitants, all at-
tempts at defence muft be ufelefs.
Baron d'ALBiNi carried news of the fur-
render to the Elector, at Wurtzburg, and,
about five o'clock, on the 2 1 ft of October,
two French officers came to the Council
Houfe, followed by two companies of gre-
nadiers. On the 22d, eight thoufand French
entered
GERMANY. 335
entered the city, the other three thoufand
having marched, the preceding day, to
Franckfort ; the inhabitants, aftonimed to
find themfelves taken by fo fmall a force,
now faw, to their ftill greater furprife, that
their conquerors had fcarcely any heavy
cannon. This day was pafled in afligning
quarters to the troops, and, on the next,
Cuftine, the commander of the French,
called the members of the City Council to-
gether, to whom, in a fhort fpeech, he pro-
mifed the protection of perfons and proper-
ties, inviting them, at the fame time, to
promote the fraternization of the inhabi-
tants with the French nation. ProfefTor
BOHMER, who had accepted the office of
his Secretary, tranflated this addrefs into-
German, and it was circulated through the
city.
It is remarkable, that the French had no
fooner taken pofleflion of this fudden prize,
than they began to forefee the probability
of
GERMANS
of being reduced to defensive meafurcs,-
to prepare for them. They immediately
collected contributions of forage and corn
from the neighbouring villages ; the ftreets
were rendered almoft impaflable by the
loacjs brought in 5 and, as the magazines
were foon filled, great quantities were waft-
ed by being expofed to the rain in gardens,
and trodden under the feet of horfes in the
ftreets. The garrifon was foon increafed
to 20,000 men, of whom fometimes three
hundred fometimes five hundred were
lodged in each convent. The French fol-
diery having committed fome excefles,
Cuftine reproved their licentioufnefs, and
began to habituate them to difcipline by
ordering a retirement to their quarters, at
certain hours, by beat of drum.
The inhabitants foon began to fufpedfc
the contrivance and the perfons, that had
produced the furrender; for Eikenmayer
lived in intimacy with Cuftine j ProfeJC-
for
GERMANY. 337
for Metternich, of the Academy of Mentz,
mounted the French cockade 5 and the
Elector's phyfician,- having left the city,
upon a promife of aflifting fome peafants,
whom he aflerted to be feizecl with an in-
fectious fever, had carried on a correfpon-
dence with the French, as had PATOKI, a
merchant, born at Col mar, who had lately
received the right of citizerimip.
The palaces of the Elector and the Pro-
voft were now ranfacked ; andj though it
had been pub'liflied as a rule, that the pro-
perty of private individuals mould not be
touched, the houfes of the nobility were
treated, as if they had belonged to the
Prince. The profligacy and pride of Cuf-
tine became every day more confpicuous,
and were oppreffive upon the garrifon, as
well as the inhabitants, though in a lefs de-
gree. Johannefberg, a village upon the
Rhine, at the diftance of a few miles, is
celebrated for its wines, . which fell for
Z tfcree
338 GERMANY.
three times the price of thofe of Hockhein%
Cuftine fent a part of the garrifon folely to
bring him the wines from the cellars of
the Prince of Fuld, who has a palace there ;
but, a compromife being propofed, the
negotiation was protracted fo long, that a
Pruflian corps, for which the Prince had
fent, carried Johannefberg, before the terms
were concluded. The Prince faved his
money, and loft only eighteen barrels of
wine, of which part was fent to Paris, and
the reft fupplied the entertainments given
by Cuftiae.
Thofe of the Germans, who attached
themfelves to Cuftine, fupplied him with in-
formation of the ftate of the whole country.
His Secretary, Profeflbr Bohmer, had be-
gun the inftitution of a Club fo early as
the 22(1 of October; but this fociety is
thought to have become inconvenient, and
they foon after began to prepare for a Na-
tional Convention in Mentz.
In
GERMANY. 339
Iri the mean time, Caflel was furveyed,
and the fortifications) for which Eiken-
mayer is faid to have furnimed the defign,
were commenced-. The neighbouring pea-
fants were fummoned to work at thefe, at
the price of fifteen French fous, or about
feven pence halfpenny a day; and intrencfo-
ments were thrown round Koftheim.
On the 1 7th of December, Cuftine pub-
limed a proclamation, in which he ftated,
that, whereas fome perfons had fuppofed
the King of Pruffia to have fo little refpedt
for his character as to have invited him to
a furrender, none fhould prefume, on pain
of death, to fpeak of fuch a meafure, in
future. This proclamation gave the inha-
bitants of Mentz information, that the Pruf-
fians were approaching. Some German
troops had, indeed, begun by degrees to
occupy the ground about Coblentz, but in
a condition, whieh did not promife active
rneafures, being weakened by a long march
Z 2 and
and by fjcknefs ; the Medians pofted thefti-
lelves between Hanau and Franckfort ; and
the Pruffiaris advanced fo near to the latter
city, that the fcattered parties of the French
retired to, and at length loft it.
About this tirrre, an- Electoral Profeflbr of
Philofophy and a Canon of Mentz, named
Dorfel, who had left his pofts, in the pre-
ceding year, to be naturalized, at Straf-
bourg, returned with a defign for an union
of Spires, Worms and Mentz into one ter-
ritory, under the protection of the French.
He procured the fubftitution of a Muni-
cipality for the City Council. He obtained
confiderable influence in the city ; and, on
the I ft of January 1793, when the three
Commhlioners of the Convention, Reubell,
Merlin and HaulTman, entered Mentz, and
were received by Cuftine with military
"honours, they (hewed more attention to-
the Profeflbr than to the General.
The Pruflian head quarters had beei
eftablifh<
GERMANY. 34 z
eftabliflied within a fhort diftance of Mentz;
but, during all December, there had been
only affairs of advanced potts, fo that ibme
tranquillity prevailed in the city. On the
i j i j
6th of. January, Hockheim was aflailed by
fix thoufand Truffians : the French, how-
: .
ever,. }iad been informed of the preparations
for attack, and had time to retire to Koft-
heim and Caflel, leaving 112 prifoners and
t\velve pieces of cannon. Some French,
who had concealed the inf elves in the church
tower, were thrown headlong from it, for
Jiaving fliouted, or thrown ftones at the
KingofPruffia, as he puffed.
^fter this, another moriih pafled, with-
out hoftile attempts on either fide. The
*
Pruflian troops were refrefhed by reft : the
* * *
Jfaench palled the fame time, partly in balls,
to which all the ladies of Ment were in-
vited, and partly in preparations .for de-
.fence. On the i/th, of -| January, a foiall
tree of liberty, which had -been planted in
Z 3 November,
342 GERMANY.
November, was removed, and a fir, feventy
feet high, placed in its ftead, with much
ceremony. All the inhabitants were preff-
ingly invited, upon this occafion ; MefTrs,
Reubell, Merlin, Haufiman and Cuftine
attended ; the Mayor, Municipality, and
the Members of the Clubs followed ; the
enfigns of the former government were
burned ; Cuftine called upon the mufic of
the garrifon for French airs, which occu-
pied the reft of the day ; and the evening
concluded with entertainments and dancing.
Soon after, the Gommiffioners left the city,
and proceeded on a journey to the Mofelle.
On the 1 6th of February, Cuftine pub-
limed a proclamation, and two new Com-
miffioners, who had juft arrived, iffued
another, founded upon a decree of the
French Convention relative to the union
of other countries with France. The Coun-
cil Houfe was full from morning till night ;
the ailembled traders declared their ad-
2 herence
GERMANY. 343
herence to the Germanic fyftem ; 'and the
new Commifli oners feemed inclined to liften
to their remonftrances. But, when the three
former Commiffioners returned, they treat-
ed the Deputies of the trades with great
haughtinefs, and refufed them permiffion to
fend agents to Pari?. A fecond deputation,
on the 22d of February, was no better re-
ceived, and they were informed, that the
24th was the day for the commencement
of the new form. The traders are defcrib-
ed to have been much affeded, at the re-
turn of their Deputies. On the 23d of
February, early in the morning, the author
of a remonflrance, which had been pre-
fented, was arrefted and carried into banifh-
ment, being accompanied by guards to the
advanced pofts of the Pruflians, at Hock-
heim.
The inhabitants now began to leave the
city by paflports, which were, however, not
Z 4 eafily
344 GERMANY.
eafily procured, or ufed. A proclamation
by the Municipality divided Mentz into
factions, and direded the manner, in which
each fe&ion mould elect a representative,
on the 24th. On that day, the ftreets were
unufually filent, all the former burgeiTes
having refplyed to remain in their houfes,
except one, and only 266 perfons met to
take the new oath and to make the new
elections. On the 25th, another proclama-
tion came out, and feveral baniiKments fuc-
ceeded ; but the burgefies ftill adhered to
0ieir refolution. The M,unicipality^ pn the
i ft of March, again invited them, to take
the new oaths, and gave notice of an order
of the CommhTioners to the Mayor, to
publiih a lift of the fworn and unfwprn, on
the Monday or Tuefday following. Not-
withftanding this, the number of fwora did
not equal 350.
Some of the neighbouring villages, which
were
GERMANY. 345.
vifited by the French Commiflioners,
accepted their terms ; the greater part re-
fufed Jhera.
At Worms, where clubs,, fimikr to thofe
at Mentz, had been formed, 1051 perfons.
took the oaths. The inhabitants of Bmgeu-
refufed them,*-*
In the mean time, fome expeditions were
niade into the Palatinate, and corn, to the,
amount of fixty thoufand florins, was taken
away, before the reiterated remonftrances of
the Palatine Refident at Mentz, upon the
fubject of his mafter's neutrality, could re-
ftrain them. In the firft days of pebruaiy,
the French had alfo entered Iteux Pouts,
where the Duke relied fp much upon his
having fupplied only his contingent to the
treafure of the Empire, that he had ;nqt
left his palace, though he knew of their- ap-
proaches to his country. On the. 9th, at
eleven at night, the Duke and Duchefs fled,
with the utmoft precipitation, to Manheim,
having
346 GERMANY.
having left the palace only one hour before
the French entered it. Great quantities of
forage were fwept away from this country,
and brought to Mentz, which the allies
now approached fo nearly, that the garrifon
haftily completed the fortifications of Caflel,
and filled the magazines with ftores, left
the communication fhould be cut off by the
deftrudtion of the bridge.
On the 1 5th of February, they had be-
gun to deftroy the palace of La Favonta^
and to erect a battery upon its ruins.
Though the carriage of proviiions now oc-
cupied fo much of their attention, a great
number of large and fmall cannon were
brought from Landau ; frefh troops arrived,
and General Wimpfen, who had defended
Thionville againft the King of Pruffia, was
declared the firft in command* By banifh-
ments and emigration, the number cf per-i
fons in the city was reduced fifteen thoij-
fand.
The
GERMANY. 347
The new National Aflembly met in
Mentz, on the loth of March, that city
having chofen fix deputies, Spires two,
Worms two, and fome other places one
each. On the lyth, they had their firfl
fitting, and, on the i8th, declared all the
country between Landau and Bingen, which
places were then the limits of the French
pofts near the Rhine, united in one inde-
pendent Hate. On the i9th, was agitated
the great queftion relative to the connec-
tions of this ftate, and it was not till the
2 1 ft, that they declared their incorporation
with the French. Three deputies, FORS-
TER, PATOKI and LUCKS were appointed,
the next day, to carry this refolution to
Paris; and feveral decrees, relative to the
Interior adminiftration of this ftate, were
pafled, in confequence of which many per-
fons were conducted over the bridge into
banimment, on the 3Oth.
Accounts now arrived, that the fiege
would
GERMANY.
.
would fhortly commence, and orders, were
iffued, relative to the prevention of fires, to
the .collection of flores of provisions by
eacji family, and . to feyeral other domeftic
particulars, i All the inhabitants, thpfe efpe-f
f -t
ciajly in the neighbourhood af the grana-
riesj ,wer.o. directed. to pjrcferve large
* . ^^
tities^qf watery ^id ;the,fpi.prf elc/a a of
ocns withia the city were ordered to plant
them with herbs. , Officers were fent rcund
to e^a.rn^.c the.fe gardens. Already each
family, had been admonifhed to provide
U If J-J *
fubifiileiice for feven months ; and the richer-
cUfe/were- now Directed to furnifh a loan
to the burgeiles, that the latter might be
enaj^xj to provide Jfor ti>e p,gpr. In con-
iaquence -of this order, 38,646 florins 10
crc.itzei;s, or about ( 3209 1. wer.e^colle^le^v
and expended. for crovifions. The -gardens
i r &
and walks round the city were now dif-
J
mantled of their trees, of which thofe ia
,il ? ... a
cb2a!kt) before mentioned^ were an
hundred
GERMANY.
hundred years old. All the fummer-houfes
and villas, within cannon fhot of the city,
were' cleft foyed.
On the 8th of March, the French gafrrt-
fdn in the fo'rtrefs of Konigftein, which the
Pruflians had blockaded for fome months,
furrendered. In this month alfo other ad-
vances were made towards Mentz. The
Pruffian 'General Schortiield brought 12,000
men into the neighbourhood of Hockheim,
' ; 'n
near which the Saxons were ported ; the
King of Pruffia, his fon and the Duke of
Brunfwick, who had pafled part of the
winter at Franckfort, left it, on the 23d
of March ; a bridge was laid, at St. Goar,
over which numerous bodies of Pruffian
troops pafled the Rhine ; the French fell
back towards Bingen, and the Pruffians oc-
cupied a hill, not far from it. On the 28th,
they were clofer prefled, and left all the
villages in the neighbourhood of Bingen,
4 from
GERMANY.
from which place they were driven^
next day, by a bombardment.
At the fame time, a fimilar retreat to*
wards Mentz. alfo took place from the
fouthward. At Worms, during the aban-
donment, great quantities of hay and ftraw
were burned, and the burgefles kept watch,
all night, dreading the conflagration of the
whole city by the flames, rifmg from the
magazines. Immenfe mafles of hay and
ftraw were alfo burned at Frankenthal,
where there had been a garrifon, during the
whole winter ; but the corn was carried
away. At Spires, early on the 3ift of
March, the burgefles and troops were em-
ployed in throwing the hay and flraw from
the magazines into the ditch ; but it ap-
peared that even this mode would not be
expeditious enough, and fire was at length
fet to the whole ftore at once.
In the retreat from Oppenheim, though
the
GERMANY. 351
the French were under confiderable difficul-
ties, they were upon the point of obtaining
what they would have thought an abundant
reward for them. It was on the '3oth of
March, that their cavalry and flying artil-
lery took the road by Alfheim. As this
was a place capable of making fome de-
fence, and there were Pruffian troops vifible
at the gates, they began the attack by plant-
ing cannon, and directing a vigorous fire
upon it. The King of Pruflia, who was at
dinner in the town, and had not an hun-
dred men with him, received his firft in-
telligence of their approach from this fire.
He immediately rode out, on the oppofite
fide, and, fending fome huflars to the fpot,
the French did not continue the conteft,
but made their retreat by another road.
If they had known how few troops were in
the town, they would, of courfe, have
entered it without commencing this fire;
and the Pruffian officers agree, that, if they
had
GERMANY.
had done fo, there would Have been littfe
chance of faving thetr monarch. Had they
been aware alfo, that his PrufTian Majefty
was there, they might have reduced thia
flight chance to an impoflibility ; for they
wefe 1 fufficiently numerous to have fur-
rounded the town, and had approached fo
quietly, that they were not known to be
near it. The Pruflians had no cannon, and
the" French were otherwife greatly fupcrior ;
though, having no other purpofe for en-
tering the town, than to continue their re-
treat, they did not wait to conteft itj but
retired by another road. That a circum-
ftance, which would have had fuch an efFe3:
upon the affairs of Europe, f .-. :/.
pended upon fo flight a chance as this, we
could not have believed, if tl;e flory had
not been confirmed to us by ample autho-
rity.
The garrifon of Mentz was increafed by
thefe retreats to 23,000 men; General Kal-
kreuth,
GERMANY. 353
kreuth, who commanded the blockade from
Laubenheim to Budenheim, a diftance of
twelve miles, had only 16,000 men. Ge-
neral Schonfield, with his corps of obfer-
vation, was at Hockheim. The befiegers,
however, prefently amounted to 30,000
men. It is remarkable, that, though the
French retreated from feveral quarters, at
once, and in many fmall columns, not one
of thefe was effectually interrupted by the
Pruffian commander.
Upon intelligence of thefe advances, the
Elector of Mentz paid a vifit to the King
of Pruffia, at his head quarters, and left
his minifter, the Baron d' ALB INI, to at-
tend to the affairs of the recovered places.
In the beginning of April, the blockade
was more clofely prefled, and the prepara-
tions for the fiege feriouily commenced.
General d'OvRE was made commander in
the city, with a Council of fixteen perfons,
A a to
354 GERMANY.
to affift him in reftoring the means of its
defence. A perfon was placed at the top
of an high building, called Stephen's
Tower, with giafles, which enabled him to
overlook the country for nine miles round.
He had a fecretary with him, that his
view might never be unneceflarily diverted,
and was obliged to make a daily report of
his obfervations. The beating of drums
and ringing of bells were forbidden through-
out the whole city, that the befiegers might
not know in what quarters the corps de
garde were placed, or what churches were
left without the military. All profpecl:
houfes and trees within the walls, which
could ferve as marks to the- fire without,
were ordered to be demolifhed. Many
days were pafled in bringing further ftores
of provifions into the city ; after which an
account of the ftock was taken, and there
were found to be
24,090
GERMANY. 355
24,090 facks of wheat.
i ,465 of other corn.
996 of mixed grain.
Of which 26,551 facks, it was ftated, that
23,070 facks of meal could be made. To
this was to be added in fifted meal of
wheat 109 facks, of other corn 45 facks,
of mixed grain 1 0,076 facks ; making in
all 33,300 facks of meal. There were
befides
43,960 rations of bifcuit.
7,275 pounds of rice.
-13,045 of dried herbs.
Of forage, 10,820 quintals of hay.
54,270 offtraw.
1,518 facks of oats.
2 ?53 of barley.
The Council eftimated, that the garrifon
had corn enough for nine months, rice for
feven, and herbs for fix. There were fif-
teen hundred horfes, and it was reckoned,
A a 2 that
356 GERMANY.
that the ftraw was enough for ten months,
the oats for four-and-twenty days, and the
barley for eighty days. The garrifon was
numbered, and found to coniift of 22,653
perfons ; of whom to each foldier was al-
lotted, for the future, 24 ounces of bread,
per day, in lieu of 28, and 4 ounces of
frefh meat, or 3 ounces of fait, in lieu of
8 ounces of frem. The allowance of the
fick in the hofpitals was changed from
twelve to eight ounces.
During thefe preparations for a long
fiege, the diminution of the number of in-
habitants, by means of the clubs, waspur-
fued. On the 8th of April, all perfons, not
ufeful to the army, were ordered to leave
the city, unlefs they would take the new
oath ; at the fame time, it was faid, that on
account of the forefeen want of money,
the foldiers, employed on the works, would
be no longer paid, but the other workmen
would continue to receive their falaries.
The
GERMANY. 357
The garrifon made their firft fortie, on
the night of the loth and nth, proceeding
towards the Rhine. Koftheim was imme-
diately taken, and the attack upon the Hef-
fians fucceeded, at firft, but a reinforcement
compelled the French to retire. About this
time, the Commiffioner Reubell went to
Oppenheim, where he delivered a propofal
for peace to the King of Pruffia.
The village of Weiflenau was contended
for, on the I5th, i6thand lyth, and finally
deftroyed, the French foldiers, who remain-
ed upon the fpot, fubfcribing 460 livres for
the inhabitants.
On the 1 8th, nearly the whole of a
French convoy of 90 waggons was taken
by the PrufTians. On the 2oth the Impe-
rialifts erected a fmall fort on a point of
land, near the Main, and the French, on
the other hand, perfected a battery, at Koil-
heim, with which they fet on .fire fome
ftables.
A a 3 The
358 GERMANY.
The price of provifions was already fo
much increafed in the city, that fait butter
eoft 48 creitzers, or i6d. pence per pound.
In the night of the 28th and 29th, the
French landed in three veflels, and de-
ftroyed a battery, creeled near the Main.
On the I ft of May, at one in the morning,
they attacked the Prufiians, at Hockheim,
and fet the village of Koftheim on fire.
The Pruffians repulfed them with lofs, but
they remained in Koftheim, notwithftand-
ing the fire, which continued for three
days ; they were then expelled by the
Pruflians, but foon returned with reinforce-
ments, and a fanguinary conteft commen-
ced, at the end of which they continued
to be mafteis of the village. A numerous
garrifon was placed in it, which, on the
8th, was again attacked by the Prufiians,
but without effect. Thus the greateft part
of May was fpent in contefts for villages
and pofts, in which the French were ge-
nerally
GERMANY. 359
nerally the aflailants. In the night of the
3<Dth, they beat up, in three columns, the
Pruflian head quarters, at Marienborn.
Having marched barefooted and with fuch
exact information, that they paffed all the
batteries unperceived, they entered the vil-
lage itfelf, without refiftance, and, it is fup-
pofed, would have furprifed the commander,
if they had not fired at his windows, beat
their drums, and begun to fhout Vive, la
Nation ! Three balls, which entered the
apartment of General KALKREUTH, ad-
monifhed him to quit it, and a fentinel
flepped up juft in time to fhoot a French
foldier, who had feized him. Prince Louis
Ferdinand of Pruffia immediately arrived
with fome troops, and the French began
to retire, leaving thirty prifoners and twen-
ty killed of 6000, engaged in the enter-
prife. The lofs of the Pruffians was con-
fiderable ; amongft the reft Captain Vois, a
A a 4 relative
360 GERMANY.
relative of Mademoifelle Vofs, well known
in the Court of Pruffia.
On the 4th of June, the allowance to the
garrifon was ordered to be two pounds of
bread and one bottle of wine for each fol-
dier, per day.
In the night of the 6th and yth, the can-
nonade was very fierce, on both fides ; in
Mentz. a powder magazine was fired by a
bomb, and blew up with a dreadful explo-
fion.
The fcarcenef& of provifions increafed, fo
that a pound of frefh butter coft fix {hil-
lings. Horfeflefh began to be confumed
in many families.
On the night of the 9th and loth of
June, the garrifon made four forties, which
ended in confiderable lofs, on both fides,
and in the retirement of the French into
the city. On the loth, they attacked, at
eight in the morning, a poft near Gonfen-
heim, retreating without lofs, after killing
an
GERMANY. 361
an officer and feveral men. This was their
firft fally in open day-light.
General Meufnier, who had been wound-
ed near Caflel, on the 7th, died on the
13th, and was buried the next day, within
the new fortifications, all the officers of the
garrifon, with the members of the conven-
tion and clubs, attending.
Some fire mips were now completed,
which a Dutch engineer had conducted
from Holland, to be employed by the be-
fiegers in burning the bridge of boats over
the Rhine. It was thought, however, that
their explofion would damage the city un-
neceflarily, and they were rejected. In the
night of the ijth, one ofthefe floated down
the river, whether by accident, or by the
connivance of the inventor, is not known ;
the inhabitants were in the utmoft terror,
but it ftruck againft the quay, and, being
immediately boarded, did no damage.
The trenches were opened, in the night
of
362 GERMANY.
of the 1 6th and I7th, but, the workmen
having been ill conducted, were not covered
in, at day-light, and were compelled to re-
tire, leaving their implements behind them.
Two nights afterwards, the work was re-
newed in good order and without lofs, the
King of Pruffia, his fons and the Duke of
Brunfwick furveying them from a neigh-
bouring height. The firft balls fell in a
ftreet near one of the gates, and all that
part of the town was prefently deferted.
The 24th was a diftrefsful day for the
inhabitants. Four days before, the King of
Pruffia had fent a general pafiport for fuch
as chofe to come out, and 1500 perfons,
\
chiefly women and children, had accepted
his offer. A fhort time after the gate had
been opened, difmay was fpread through
the whole city by an account, that the
Pruffians would fufFer no more to pafs and
.the French none to return. The bridge was
covered with thefe unhappy fugitives, who
had
GERMANY. 363
tad no food, or flicker, and who thought
themfelvcs within reach of the Hockheim
batteries, that played furioufly upon the
city. Two children loft their fenfes through
fright. At length, the French foldiers took
compaffion upon them ; they carried feve-
ral perfons into the city under their cloaks,
and, the next day, their remonftrances
againft the inhumanity of the German
clubbifts, who had fhut the gates againft
this defencelefs crowd, obliged them to per-
mit the return of the whole number.
For feveral fucceeding nights, the garri-
fon made forties, with various effect, inter-
rupting, but not preventing the completion
of the parallel.
At funfet, on the 27th, the befiegers be-
gan a dreadful cannonade and bombard-
ment. On this night, the fteeple of the
church of Notre Dame caught fire; and
during the alarm, excited by an immenfe
volume of flame, arifing in the midft of
the
364 GERMANY.
the city, the Auftrians completely carried
the French pofts, near Weiflenau. The
next night was equally terrible to the inha-
bitants ; the flames caught feveral parts of
the city, amongft others the cathedral ;
fome of the magazines took fire, and eleven
hundred facks of corn were burned. The
church, formerly belonging to the Jefuits,
was much injured. The French, intending
to retaliate their laft furprife upon the Auf-
trians, made a fruitlefs attack upon the
Weiflenau redoubt.
On the agth of June, at mid-day, the
French were diiven from a point of land*
near the Main, called the Bleiau. In this
affair, a veflel, with 78 Pruflians on board,
drove from her anchor, owing to the un-
fkilfulnefs of the crew, and, during a fire,
by which eight men were killed, made to-
wards the city. The Pruflians were taken
f;
prifoners, and exchanged the next day. At
night, the bombardment was renewed; the
GERMANY. 365
robfteij or palace of the Provoft, was
burned and feveral of the neighbouring re-
fidences; in other parts of the city, fome
houfes were reduced to afhes.
The next night, the church of the Fran-
cifcans and feveral other public buildings
were deftroyed. A dreadful fire, on the
night of the 2d and 4th of June, confumed
the chapel of St. Alban. Families in the
fouthern part of the city now conftantly
pafled the night in their cellars ; in the day-
time, they ventured into their ufual apart-
ments ; for the' batteries of the- befiegers
were by far the moft terrible, at night,
when the whole city was a fufficient mark
for them, though their works could fcarcely
be difcerned by the garrifon. In the day-
time, the exa&nefs of the French gunners
frequently did great injury to the batteries,
which, at night, were repaired and ufed
with equal effect againft the city.
St. Alban's fort was now demolished, fo
that
366 GERMANY.
that the befieged withdrew their cannon
from it. Elizabeth fort was alfo much da-
maged. A ftrong work, which the French
had raifed, in prolongation of the glacis^
divided the opinions of the Pruffian engi-
neers. Some thought it mould be pre-
ferred, when taken, becaufe it would com-
mand part of the town ; others, that it
fhould be demoli(hed. The latter opinion
prevailed, and, in the night of the jth and
6th, General MANSTEIN was ordered to
make the attack with three battalions. He
perfectly fucceeded, as to the neareft part
of the work ; but the other, on account of
its folid foundation, could not be entirely
deftroyed. In the mean time, two batta-
lions were fent, under cover of the darknefs,
to attack the Zahlbach fort, a part of which
they carried by ilorm ; but the reinforce-
ments, immediately fupplied by the garri-
fon, obliged them to retire. Two Pruffian
officers were killed ; one wounded, and
9 another
GERMANY. 367
another, with one-and-thirty men, taken.
The Pruffians loft in all 183 men ; the
French had twelve killed and forty-feven
wounded.
On the 6th of July, the French repaired
the damaged fort, the diftance of it from
the Pruffians preventing the latter from hin-
dering them.
At night, General Kleift carried the fort,
at Zahlbach, by a fecond attack, and de-
molimed it ; at the fame time, fome bat-
teries of the fecond parallel were perfected.
The French could not fupport the lofs of
this fort ; on the 7th, they attacked the
fcite ; carried it, after a fevere conteft ; and
rebuilt it. At night, they were driven back
again and the fort entirely deftroyed. In
the fame night they were driven from
Koftheim, after a furious battle, by the
Pruffian General Schonfield. During this
engagement, the rapid fucceffion of flames
and explofion of bombs feemed to fill the
air
368 GERMANY.
air with flame. A Pruflian detachment
having been pofted on the road to CafTel^ in
order to prevent the garrifon of that place
from fending fuccour to Koftheim, this
road was fo ftrongly bombarded by the
French, that feven bombs were frequently
feen in the air at once. The lofs was great,
on both fides, in this engagement, after
which the Council in the city refolved, to
make no more attempts upon Koftheim, on
account of the diflance.
The following night, the fire was lefs
than ufual, but a few bombs and grenades
fell in the city, where the inhabitants had
now learned to extinguifh fuch as grounded,
before their fufces were confumed. They
alfo formed themfelves into parties for the
ready (iipprdfion of fires. The next morn-
ing, the garrifon faw the works of the be-
fiegers brought to within two hundred and
fifty paces of the walls.
About this time, the ficklinefs of the gar-
rifon
GERMANY. 369
rifon became apparent, and General d'Oyre
informed the Council, that, on account of
this and of the fatiguing fervice of the
works, he feared the defence could not be
much longer continued. He lamented,
that the troops of the line were fo few,
and the others fo inexperienced.
For feveral nights, the works of the be-
fiegers were eagerly puihed, but, ftill they
were not fo forward, as had been expected.
Some of the befieging corps began to be
fickly ; the King of Pruflia having refolved
to employ no more labourers, it was
reckoned, that the foldiers, for eight-and-
forty hours of work, had only eighteen of
reft. On the other hand, they were allured,
that the garrifon muft be equally fatigued,
fmce, in fuch an extenfive fortification,
none could be left long unemployed.
The French had been, for fome time,
bufied in forming what is called a Fleche at
the head of one of their forts, and this was
B b thought
-70 GERMANY.
thought neceflary to be deftroyed. It was
attacked in the night of the 1 2th and 1 3th
by the Auftrians 5 but fo much time was
panned in their operations, that the French
fell upon them, in great force, about two
in the morning, and beat them away, with
lofs. The Auftrians were as little employed
as poflible in fervices of this fort.
On th* i jth of July, another battery
was ftormed by the Pruffians ; but, as the
Officer, unlike the Auftrians, advanced with
too little caution, his party was much hurt
by fome pieces of -concealed cannon, and
the enterprife failed.
The night of the I3th and I4th was
pafTed in much agitation by the garrifon
and inhabitants. Several of the public
buildings were fet fire to and burned by
grenades. The works of the befiegers were
now greatly advanced. The garrifon made
five forties in this night, and were repulfed
ia all, lofmg an hundred men, while the
befiegers
GERMANY. 371
fcefiegers loft eight killed and one-and-thirty
wounded.
On the 1 4th of July, a ceflation of arms
took place from feven o'clock in the morn-
ing till one. In the city, the French cele-
brated their annual fete ; General d'OYRE
and the troops took the oath, and MERLIN
delivered an addrefs to them. In the Auf-
trian camp, the Prince de CONDE was re-
ceived with &feu dejoye. During this ce
fation, the foldiers upon the different out-
pofts entered into converfation with each
other, and the French boafted of the dif-
ficulties they laboured under from the length
of the fiege.
At night, an affair at the Fleche coft the
allies, who fucceeded in part, ninety men ;
the French confefTed, that this work coft
them in all three hundred. The inhabi-
tants of the city were again greatly alarmed,
their (Ireets being covfcred with a fliower of
grenades, The laboratory and a part of
B b 2 the
372 GERMANY.
the Benedictine abbey were burned, and
two explofions took place at the former.
The whole city {hook with each report,
and, in the nearer parts, all the windows
were broken and the doors burft open.
The remainder of the hay and draw was
confumed in this fire ; the whole ftock of
other forage was reduced to a fufficiency
for four days ; and the furgeon's ftores were
much damaged.
Still the Fleche prevented the befiegers
from completing their fecond parallel. It
was, therefore, again attacked, on the night
of the 1 6th and I7th, Prince Louis Ferdi-
nand of Pruffia commanding at the aflaulr,
in which he was one of twelve officers
wounded. The Fleche was then complete-
ly carried.
The next night was very induftrioufly
fpent by the befiegers in forming new bat-
teries, and thofe of the fecond parallel were
raifed, before there were cannon enough at
hand
GERMANY. 373
hand to place upon them. The French took
advantage of this, and brought a part of
theirs to bear, fo as to enfilade the parallel,
with great effect ; the Pruffians almoft im-
mediately lofing an officer and forty men.
In the city, the fick had now increafed fo
much, that fix hundred men were brought
from Caflel, on the lyth, to reinforce the
garrifon. On the iSth, the commandant
informed the Council, that there was a want
of fodder and fuch a lofs of horfes, by de-
fertion, that there were not cavalry enough
left for fervice. The foldiers, who knew the
deficiency of medicines and other means
of relief for the wounded, were unwill-
ing to be led to forties. Though corn had
not failed, flour, it appeared, foon would,
for fome of the mills had been rendered
unferviceable, for the prefent, by mot, an4
others were deferted by the millers.
At night, after an unfuccefsful attempt
upon the Heche, it was refolvedj that the
B b 3 garrifon,
374 GERMANY.
garrifon, which had hitherto fcarcely fuffer-
ed a night to pafs, without making fotne
forties, mould, for the future, adhere folely
to defenfive meafures* Some engineers pro-
pofed to abandon the whole line of forts,
and others, that two of the largeft fhould
be blown up. The General and Council,
at length, confeffed, that they could not
continue the defence, and affured the inha-
bitants, who had declared themfelves in
their favour, that a longer delay of the fur-
render would produce a more fevere difpo-
fition of the befiegers towards them, with-
out increafmg the chance of efcaping it.
A negotiation, relative to the furrender.,
was now begun by D'OyRE, in a letter,
which partly replied to one from the Pruf-
fian commander KALKREUTH, upon the
fubjeft of the departure of aged perfons and
children from the city. Their correfpon-
dence continued till the 2oth, and fcveral
letters were exchanged, chiefly upon the
queftioa
GERMANY, 375
queftion of the removal, or detention of the
inhabitants, who had attached themfelves to
the French ; it was then broken off, upon
a difagreernent, as to this and fome other
points. The firing, on both fides, had in
the mean time continued, and the befiegers
carried on the trenches, though thefe were
now fuch an eafy mark for the garrifon,
that they loft an officer and five- and- twenty
men, in the night of the iQth and 2oth.
The next night, the Dominicans' church in
the city took fire, and fix French foldiers
were buried under its ruins.
Upon a renewal of the intercourfe, the
fire flackened, on the 2jft; but, on fome
delays in the negotiation, was threatened to
be recommenced. At length, the conditions
of the furrender were fettled, and the ne-
gotiation figned, on the 22d of July, by
the two Generals Kalkreuth and D'Oyre ;
the former having rendered the capitulation
fpmewhat eafier than was expected for the
5^4' garrifon,
376 GERMANY.
garrifon, becaufe the Duke of Brunfwick ;
had only nineteen thoufand men to cover
the fiege, and Cuftine had forty thoufand,
which were near enough to attack him.
General KALKREUTH'S orders are fuppofed
to have been to obtain poffeffion of the
place, upon any terms, that would give it
him quickly.
At this time, the garrifon, which, at the
commencement of the fiege, had confifled
of 22,653 men, was reduced to 17,038,
having had 1959 killed, 3334 wounded, or
rendered unferviceable by ficknefs, ancj
having loft 322 by defertion.
The lofs of the befiegers is fiated at about
3000 men.
The confumption of ammunition, on the
part of the French, was found to have been,
681,850 pounds of powder,
106,152 cannon balls,
10,278 bombs,
6592 grenades,
GERMANY. 377
44,500 pounds of iron,
300,340 mufquet cartridges ;
and, during the fiege, 107 cannon either
burft, or were rendered unferviceable by the
befiegers' fhot. Towards the conclufion,
fixty cannon alfo became ufelefs by the
failure of balls of the proper calibre.
On the 24th and 25th, the garrifon
marched out, MERLIN leading the firft co-
lumn of 7500 men. The members of the
Clubs, who would have gone out with the
troops, were pointed out by the other inha-
bitants and detained ; but the Elector had
the magnanimity to think of no other reta-
liation, than their imprifonment in a tower^
near the Rhine, where they have fince re-
mained.
There was now leifure to examine the
city, and it was found, that fix churches
were in ruins ; that feven manfions of the
nobility had been burned, and that very few
houfes had efcaped, without fome damage.
The
378 GERMANY,
The furrounding grounds were torn up by
balls and batteries. The works of CaiTel
were furrendered entire to the conquerors,
and are an important addition to the
flrength of Mentz, already reckoned one of
the ftrongeft and largeft fortifications in
Europe. Between Caflel and the ruins of
Koftheim not a tree was to be feen. All
the neighbouring villages were more, or
leis, injured, being contended for, as pofts,
at the commencement of the fiege ; and the
country was fo much disfigured, that the
proprietors of lands had fome difficulty tq
ascertain their boundaries.
MENTZ.
SOMETHING has been already faid
of the prefent condition of this city : upon
a review it appears, that from the mention
of churches, palaces, burgefTes, quays and
ftreets^
GERMANY. 379
ftreets, we might be fuppofed to reprefent It
as a confiderable place, either for fplendour,
or commerce, or for having its middle
cJafles numeroufly filled. Any fuch opinion
of Mentz will be very incorrecl:. After two
broad and fomewhat handfome ftreets, all
the other paflages* in the city are narrow
lanes, and into thefe many of the beft houfes
open, having, for the moft part, their lower
windows barricadoed, like thofe of Cologne.
The difadvantage, with which any buildings
muft*appear in fuch fituations, is increafed
{)y the neglected condition of thefe ; for a
German has no notion, that the outfide of
his houfe fliould be clean, even if the in-
fide is fo. An Englishman, who fpends a
few hundred pounds in a year, has his houfe
in better condition, as to neatnefs, than any
German nobleman's we faw ; a Dutchman,
with fifty pounds a year, exceeds both.
The Elector's palace is a large turreted
building of reddifh ftone, with one front
towards
380 GERMANY.
towards the Rhine, which it commands in
3 delightful point of view ; but we did not
hear, that it was fo much altered, by being
now ufed as a barrack, as that its appearance
can formerly have been much Jefs fuitable
than at prefent to fuch a purpofe.
On the quay there is fome appearance of
traffic, but not much in the city ; fo that
the transfer of commodities from velTels of
other diftrids to thofe of the Electorate
may be fuppofed to contribute great part
of the fhow near the river. The commerce
Is not fufBcient to encourage the building of
warehoufes over the quay. The veflels are
ill rigged, and the hulls are entirely covered
with pitch, without paint. About thirty of
thefe, apparently from forty to feventy tons
bu v rthen, were lying near the quay ; and the
war could fcarcely have diminifhed their
+
ufual number, fq many being employed in.
carrying ftores for the armies.
The burgefTes are numerous, and have
fome
GERMANY* 381
fome privileges, which render their political
condition enviable to the other inhabitants
of- the Electorate. But, though thefe have
invited manufacturers, and fomewhat en-
couraged commerce, there is not wealth
enough in the neighbouring country, to
make fuch a confumption, as mail render
many traders profperous. In point of
wealth, activity and addrefs, the burgefles of
Mentz are much below the opinion, which
muft be formed, while German cities are
defcribed and eftimated by their importance
in their own country, rather than by a
comparifon of their condition with that of
others. A trader, it will be allowed, is at
leaft as likely to appear to advantage in his
bufmefs as in any other ft ate. His intelli-
gence may furely be, in fome degree, judged
of by thofe, who deal with him ; and that
we might know fomething of thofe of
Mentz, we pafled fome of the little time we
were
GERMANY.
were left to ourfelves in endeavouring t<>
buy trifles at their mops.
The idlenefs and inadvertence we gene-
rally faw are difficult to be conceived ; per-
haps, the trouble, experienced in purchaling
a book, may give an idea of them. We
wanted the German pamphlet, from which
moft of the above-mentioned particulars of
the fiege are extracted ; and, as it related to
a topic fo general within the place, we
fmiled, when our friends faid they would
ajjljl us to procure it, during a walk. Two
bookfellers, to whom we applied, knew no-
thing of it ; and one fuppofed, that an en-
graved view of the works would do quite as
well. Faffing another mop, a young Ger-
man gentleman enquired for it of the rnaf-
ler, who was at the door, and heard, that
we might have it, upon our return, in half
an hour. The door, when we came back,
was fhut, and no knocking could procure
it
GERMANY. 383
it to be opened; fo that we were obliged
to fend into the dwelling-houfe. When
the fhopman came, he knew nothing of the
book ; but, being aflured that his mafter
had promifed it, went away, and returned
with a copy in fheets. We paid for this,
and left it to be fewed, which was agreed
to be done, in three hours. At that time,
it was not finifhed, but might be had in
another hour ; and, after that hour, it was
again promifed, within two. Finally, it
could not be had, that night, but would be
ready in the morning, and, in the morning,
it was flill unfinimed ; we then went to
Franckfort without it, and it was fent after
us by a friend. This was the moft aggra-
vated inftance we law of a German trader's
manners ; but fomething like it may be al-
moft every where met with.
From fuch fymptoms and from the in-
frequency of wealth among the middle clafles
it is apparent, that Mentz coyld not have
been
3*4 GERMANY.
been important, as to commerce, even if
there had been no fiege, which is here men-
tioned as the caufe of all deficiencies, and
certainly is fo of many. The deftruction
of property, occafioned by it, will not be
foon remedied. The nobility have almoft
forfaken a place, where their palaces have
been either deftroyed, or ranfacked; the
Prince has no refidence there ; fome of the
Germans, who emigrated on account of the
laft fiege, fled into France ; the war-taxes,
as well as the partial maintenance of the
garrifon, diminifh, what property remains ;
and all expenditure is upon a reduced foot-
ing.
The contribution of the inhabitants to-
wards a fupport of the garrifon is made by
the very irkfome means of affording them
lodging. At the bed houfes, the doors are
chalked over with the jiames of officers^
lodged in them ; which the fervants dare
not efface, for the foldiers muft know where
to
GERMANY. 385-
to find their officers. In a family, whom
we vifited, four officers and their fervants
were quartered ; but it muft be acknow-
ledged, that the former, fo far from adding
to this inconvenience by any negligent con-
duct, were conftantly and carefully polite.
We, indeed, never faw Pruffian officers
otherwife ; and can tefi/lfy, that they are as
much fuperior to thofe Auftrians in man-
ners and intelligence, as they are ufually
faid to be in military qualities.
Another obftruction, which the fiege has
given to the profperity of Mentz, confifts
in the abfence of many members of the
Noble Chapter ; an inftitution, which, how-
ever ufelefs, or injurious to the country,
occafions the expenditure of confiderable
fums in the capital. That of Mentz is faid
to be one of the richeft of many fimilar
Chapters in Germany. From fuch foun-
dations the younger fons of noble families
derive fometimes very ample incomes, and
C c are
386 GERMANY.
are but little reftricted by their regulations-
from any enjoyment of temporal fplendour.
Their carnages and liveries vie with thofe
of the other attendants at Court j they are
not prohibited from wearing the ornaments
of orders of knighthood ; are very little en-
joined to refidence ; are received in the
environs of the Court with military ho-
nours, and allowed to refide in their feparate
lioufes. They may wear embroidery of
gold, and cloths of any colours, except
fcarlet, or green, which, as well as filver
lace, are thought too gay. Being thus per-
mitted and enabled to become examples of
luxury, their refidence in any city diffufes
Ibme appearance of profperity over it.
One of the largeft buildings in Mentz is
the arfenal, which fronts towards the river,
and attracts the attention of thofe, who
walk upon the quay, by having armed
heads placed at the windows of the firft
floor, which feern to frown, with Romarr
fternnefs^
GERMANY.
ftefnnefs, upon the paflenger. In one of
the principal rooms within, a party of
figures in fimilar armour are placed at a
council-board. We did not hear who con-
trived them ; but the heads in the windows
may be miftaken for real ones, at the dif-
tance of fifty yards.
The Elector of Mentz, who is chofen by
a Chapter of twenty-four Canons, and is
ufually one of their number, is the firft
ecclefiaftical Prince in the empire, of which
he is alfo the Arch-chancellor and Director
of the Electoral College. In the Diet, he
fits on the right hand of the Emperor, affixes
the feal of the Empire to its decrees, and
has afterwards the cuftody of them among
the archives. His revenues, in a time of
peace, are nearly 200,000 1. annually ; but,
during a war, they are much lefs, a third
part of them arifing from tolls, impofed
upon the navigation of the Rhine. The
vineyards fupply another large part; and his
C c 2 fubjeds,
38S GERMANY.
fubjedts, not interefted in them, are but
little taxed, except when military prepara-
tions are to be made ; the taxes are then
as direct as poffible, that money may be
immediately collected.
The fortifications of his chief city are as
much a misfortune to his country as they
are an advantage to the reft of the Empire.
Being always one of the firft objects, on
this fide of the Rhine, fmce an enemy can-
not crofs the river, while fo confiderable a
fbrtrefs and fo large a garrifon as it may
contain, might, perhaps, check their return,,
the Electorate has been often the fcene of a
tedious warfare. From the firft railing of
the works by Louis the Fourteenth, their
ftrength has never been fully tried. The
furrender in 1792. was partly for the want
of a proper garrifon, and partly by contri-
vance ; even in 1793, when the defence
was fo furious and long, the garrifon, it is
thought, might have held out further, if
3 their
GERMANY. 389
their ftores had been fecured in bomb-
proof buildings. A German garrifon, fup .
ported by an army, which fhould occupy
the oppofite bank of the Rhine, might be
continually reinforced and fupplied, fo as to
be conquered by nothing but the abfolute
demolition of the walls.
The bridge of boats over the Rhine,
which, both in peace and war, is fo im-
portant to the city, is now in a much bet-
ter ftate than the French found it, being
guarded, at the eaftern end, by the fortifi-
cations of CafTel. Notwithftanding its great
length and the rapidity of the river, it is fo
well conftructed, as to be much lefs liable
to injury, than might be fuppofed, and
would probably fuftain batteries, which
might defeat every attempt at deftroying it
by firefhips. It is 766 feet long, and wide
enough for the paflage of two carriages at
once. Various repairs, and the care of a
C c 3 daily
39P GERMANY.
daily furvey, have continued it, fmce 1661,
when it was thrown over the river.
The practice of modifying the names of
towns fo as to incorporate them feparately
with every language, is no where more
remarkable than with refpecT: to thofe of
Germany, where a flranger, unlefs he is
aware of them, might find the variations
very inconvenient. The German name for
what we call Mentz, is Maynz ; the French,
which is moft ufed, Mayence ; and the Ita-
lian Magontio, by defcent from the Roman
Magontiacttm. The German fynonym for
Liege is Luttlcb ; for Aix la Chapelle,
Achen ; for Bois le Due, Herzogenbufch ;
and for Cologne, Coin, which is pronounced
Kela. The name borne by every town in
the nation to which it belongs, fhould fure-
ly be its name, wherever it is mentioned ;
for the fame reafon, that words, derived
into one language from another, are pro-
nounced
GERMANY. 391
nouuced according to the authority of their
roots, becaufe the ufe of the primary term
is already eftablifhed, and there can never
be a decifion between fubfequent varieties,
which are cotemporary among themfelves,
and are each produced by the fame arro-
gance of invention.
FRANCKFORT.
WE came hither by means of a
paflage boat, which we were told would
fhew fomething of the German populace,
but which difplayed nothing fo much as
the unfkilfulnefs of the German failors.
Though they make this voyage, every day,
they went aground, in the even ftream of
the Maine, and during the calmeft weather ;
fixing the veflel fo faft by their ill-directed
ftruggle to get off, that they were compel-
led tp bring the towing horfes to the fide
C c 4 and
39* GERMANY.
and tug backward with the ftream. There
were an hundred people in the boat ; but
the expedient of defiling them to remove
from the part, which was aground, was
never ufed. We heard, that they feldom
make the voyage, without a fimilar flop-
page, not againft any fhifting fand, but up-
on the permanent {helves of the river.
The diftance is about four-and-twenty
miles, but we were nine hours in reaching
Franckfort, the environs of which afford
fome fymptoms of a commercial and opu-
lent city, the banks of the Maine being co-
vered for nearly the laft mile with country
feats, feparated from each other by fmall
pleafure grounds.
There are gates and walls to Franckfort,
but the magiflrates do not opprefs travellers
by a military examination at their entrance.
Having feen the . worthleflhefs of many
places, which bear oftentatious characters
either for fplendour or trade, we were fur-
prifed
GERMANY. 393
prifed to find in this as much of both as had
been reported. The quays were well co-
vered with goods and labourers ; the ftreets
neareft to the water are lined with {hops,
and thofe in the middle of the city with the
houfes of merchants, of which nearly all
are fpacious, and many magnificent. Some,
indeed, might be called palaces, if they had
nobility for their tenants ; but, though the
independence, which commerce fpreads
among the middle clafles, does not entirely
deter the German nobility from a refidence
here, the fineft houfes are the property of
merchants.
In our way to the Cignt Blanc ^ which is
one of the beft inns, we pafied many of fo
good an appearance, that it was difficult to
believe there could be better in a German
city. But Franckfort, which is the pride
of Germany, in this refpect, has probably a
greater number of large inns than any other
place of equal extent in Europe. The fairs
fill
394 GERMANY.
fill thefe, twice in a year, for three weeks,
at each time ; and the order, which is in-
difpenfible then, continues at other periods,
to the furprife and comfort of ftrangers.
This city has been juftly defcribed by
many travellers ; and Doctor MOORE has
treated of its inhabitants with the eafe and
elegant animation of his peculiar manner.
We fhall not afiiime the difadvantage of en-
tering upon the fame fubject after him.
The inhabitants of Franckfort are very
diftincT:, as to manners' and information,
from the other Germans ; but they are fo
far like to thofe of our own commercial
cities, that one able account leaves fcarcely
any thing new to be feen, or told, concern*-
ing them.
All their bleffings of liberty, intelligence,
and wealth are obferved with the more at-
tention, hecaufe they cannot be approached,
except through countries afflicted by arbi-
trary power, ignorance and poverty. The
exiftence
exiftence of fuch a city, in fuch a fituatipn,
is little lefs than a phenomenon ; the caufes
of which are fo various and minute as to
make the effect:, at firft fight, appear almoft
accidental. Thejealoufy of the neighbour*-
ing Princes towards each other, is the
known, and, certainly, the chief caufe of
its exterior protection againft each ; the
continuance of its interior liberties is .pro*
bably owing to the circumftance, which,
|mt for that jealoufy, would expofe it to
fubjedlion from without, the fmallnefs of
its territory. Where the departments of
government muft be very few, very difficult
to be rendered expenfive to the public, and
very near to their infpection, the ambition
pf individuals can be but little tempted to
contrive encroachments upon the commu-
nity. So complexly are the chief caufes
of its exterior and interior independence
r
connected with each other.
As to the firft of thefe, it may, perhaps,
be
396 GERMANY.
be replied, that a fimilar jealoufy has not
always been fufficient to protect fimilar
cities ; and Dantzick is the recent inftance
of its infufficiency. But the jealoufy, as to
Dantzick, though fimilar, was not equal to
this, and the temptation to oppofe it was
confiderably greater. What would the moft
capable of the neighbouring Princes gain
by the feizure of Franckfort ? A place of
ftrength ? No. A place capable ' of paying
taxes ? Yes ; but taxes, which would be
re-impofed upon commodities, confumed
partly by his own fubjecls, whofe property
is his own already, and partly by thofe
of his neighbours, to whofe jealoufy they
would afford an additional and an unap-
peafable provocation. Dantzick, on the
contrary, being a feaport, was, if not ftrong,
capable of fupplying flrength, and might
pay taxes, which fhould not fall entirely
upon its neighbours, but upon the diftant
countries, that traffick with it. And even
to
GERMANY. 397
to tliefe confiderations it is unneceflary to
refort, unlefs we can fuppofe, that defpotifm
would have no effect upon commerce ; a
fuppofition which does not require to be
refuted. If a fevere taxation was intro-
duced here, and, in fo finall a diftricl:, taxa-
tion rnuft be fevere to be productive ; if
fuch a taxation was tp be introduced, and
if the other advantage of conqueft, that of
a forcible levy of Ibldiers, was attempted,
commerce would vanifh in filence before
the oppreflbr, and the Prince, that fhould
ieize the liberties of Franckfort, would find
nothing but thofe liberties in his grafp.
On the other hand, what are the advan-
tages of permitting the independence of
fuch a city to the fovereigns, who have the
power of violating it ? Thofe of a neutral
barrier are well known, but apply only to
military, or political circumftances. The
others are the market, which Franckfort
affords, for the produce and manufactures
of
GERMANY.
of all the neighbouring ftates ; its value a ; s
a banking depot and emporium, in which
Princes may place their money, without
rendering it liable to the orders of each
other, or from which they may derive
loans, by negotiating folely and directly
with the lenders ; its incapacity for offen-
five meafures ; and its ufefulnefs as a place
of meeting to themfelves, or their minifters,
when political connections are to be dif-
cufied.
That the inhabitants do enjoy this inde-
pendence without and freedom within, we
believe, not becaufe they are aflerted by
treaties, or political forms ; of which the
former might not have furvived the tem-
porary interefts, that concluded them, and
the latter might be fubdued by corruption,
if there were the means of it j but becaufe
they were acknowledged to us by many
temperate and difcerning perfons, as much
aloof from fa&ion, as they were from the
affe&ation,
GERMANY. 399
affe&ation, or fervility, that fometlmes
makes men boaft themfelves free, only be-
caufe they have, or would be thought to
have, a little mare in opprefling others.
Many fuch perfons declared to us, that they
had a fubftantial, practical freedom ; and
we thought a teftimony to their actual en-
joyments more valuable than any formal
acknowledgments of their rights. As to
thefe latter fecurities, indeed, Franckfort is
no better provided than other imperial cities,
which have proved their inutility. It ftands
in the fame lift with Cologne, but is as fu-
perior to it in government as in wealth.
The inhabitants having had the good
fenfe to forefee, that fortifications might
render them a more deferable prize to their
neighbours, at the fame time that their real
protection muft depend upon other rneans>
have done little more than fuftain their an-
tient walls, which are fufficient to defend
them againft a furprife by fmall parties.
They
400 GERMANY.
They maintain no troops, except a few
companies of city-guards, and make their
contributions to the army of the Empire in
fpecie. Thefe companies are filled chiefly
with middle-aged men, whofe appearance
befpeaks the plenty and peacefulnefs of the
city. Their uniforms, blue and white, are
of the cut of thofe in the prints of MARL-
BOROUGH'S days ; and their grenadiers'
caps are of the fame peaked fort, with tin
facings, hnprefled with the city arms.
In wars with France, the fate of Franck-
fort has ufually depended upon that of
Mentz, which is properly called the key of
Germany, on the weflern frontier. In the
campaign of 1792, Cuftine detached 3000
troops of the 11,000, with which he had
befieged Mentz, and thefe reached Franck-
fort, early in the morning of the 2zd of
October. NEUWINGER, their commander,
fent a letter to the magift rates from Cuftine,
demanding a contribution of two millions
of
GERMANY. 401
of florins, which, by a negotiation at Mentz,
Was reduced to a million and a half, for the
prefent. Notice was accordingly given in
the city, that the magiftrates would receive
money at four per cent, iritereft, and, on
the 23d, at break of day, it began to flow
in to the Council-houfe from all quarters.
Part was immediately given to NEUWIN-
GER, but payment of the reft was delayed ;
fo that Cuftine came himfelf on the 27th,
and, by throwing the hoftages into prifon,
obtained, on the 31 ft of October, the re-
mainder of the firft million. For the fecond,
the magiftrates gave fecurity to NEU WIN-
GER, but it was never paid ; the Conven-
tion difavowed great part of the proceedings
of Cuftine, and the money was not again
demanded.
The French, during the whole of their
ftay, were very eager to fpread exaggerated
accounts of their numbers. Troops were
accordingly inarched out at one gate of the
D d city,
402 GERMANY.
city, with very little parade, that they might
enter with much pomp and in a longer co-
lumn, at the other. The inhabitants, who
were not expert at military numeration,
eafily believed, that the firft party had
joirfed other troops, and that the whole
amounted to treble their real number.
After the entry of the Pruffians, this con-
trivance was related by prifoners.
The number of troops, left in the city
by Cuftine, on his retirement from the
neighbouring pofts, in the latter end of
November, was 1 800 men, with two pieces
-of cannon. On the 28th, when the Pruf-
iian Lieutenant Pellet brought a fummons
to furrender, Helden, the commander,
having fent to Cuftine for reinforcements
and cannon, xvas anfwered, that no men
could be fpared ; and that, as to cannon,
he might uie the city artillery. Helden
endeavoured to remove this from the arfe-
nal ; but the populace, encouraged by the
neighbourhood
GERMANY. 403
neighbourhood of the Pruffians, rofe to pre-
vent him ; and there might have been 4
confiderable tumult, if Cuftine had not ar-
rived, on the 29th, and affured the magif-
trates, that the garrifori ihould retire, rather
than expofe the place to a fiege. The city
then became tranquil, and remained fo till
the 2d of December, when the inhabitants,
being in church, firft knew by the noife of
cannon, that the place was attacked.
General Helden would then have taken
his two cannon to the gate, which was coa-
tended for, but the inhabitants, remember-
ing Ctiftine's promife, would permit no re-
fiftance ; they cut the harnefs of the horfes,
broke the cannon wheels, and themfelves
opened the gates to the Pruffians, or rather
to the HefTians, for the advanced corps of
the aiTailants was chiefly formed of them.
About 100 fell in this attack. Of the
French 41 were killed ; 139 wounded ; and
800 taken priibners. The remainder of the
Dd2 1800
GERMANY.
1800 reached Cuftine's army. A monte-
ment, erected without the northern gate of
the city, commemorates the lofs of the I oo
affailants-, on the fpot, on which they fell.
Thus Franckfort, having happily but few
fortifications, was loft and regained, without
a fiege ; while Mentz, in a period of fix
more months, had nearly all its beft build-
ings deftroyed, by a ilmilar change of mat-
ters.
. We flayed here almoft a week, which
was well occupied by vifits, but fhewed
nothing in addition to what is already
known of the fociety of the place. Man-
ners, ccftoms, the topics of converfation and
even drefs, differ very flightly from thofe of
London, in fimilar ranks ; the merchants of
Franckfort have more generally the advan-
tages of travel, than thofe of England, btit
they have not that minute knowledge of
modern events and characters, which an
attention to public tranfactions renders
coinmoa
common in our ifland. Thofe, who have
been in England, or who fpeak Englifh,
feem defirous to difcufs the ftate of parlia-
mentary tranfactions and interefts, and' -to
remedy the thinnefs of their own public
topics, by introducing ours. In fuch dif-
cuffions one error is very general from their
want of experience. The faculty of making
a fpeech is taken for the ftandard of intel-
lectual power in every fort of exertion';
though there is nothing better known in
countries, where public fpeakers are nume-
rous enough to be often obferved, than that
perfons may be educated to oratory, fo as
to have a facility, elegance and force in it,
diftincl: from the endowments of delibera-
tive wifdom ; may be taught to fpeak in
terms remote from common ufe, to com-
bine them with an unfailing dexterity of
arrangement, and to invert every thought
its portion of artificial dignhy, who,
> d 3 through
406 GERMANY.
through the chaos of benefits and evils,
which the agitation of difficult times throws
up before the eye of the politician, {hall he
able to fee no gleam of light, to defcribe no
direct path, to difcern no difference between,
greater and lefTer evils, nor to think one
\vholefome truth for a confiding and an
hoheft country. To eflimate the general
intellectual powers of men, tutored to ora r
tory, from their fuccefs in the practice of
it, is as abfurd as to judge of corporeal
ftrength from that of one arm, which may
have been rendered unufually flrong by
exercife and art.
Of the fociety at Franckfort, Meffrs,
Bethman, the thief bankers, feem able to.
collect a valuable part ; and their politenefs
to Grangers induces them to do it often.
A traveller * who miffes their table, lofes,
both as to converfation and elegant hofpi-
t.Uity, a -welcome proof of what freedom
a
GERMANY. 407
and commence can do againft the mental
and phyfical defolation otherwife fpread
over the country.
The affiftance, which the mutual ufe of
languages gives to a connection between
diftant places, we were happy to fee exift-
ing and increafing, to the advantage of
England, at Franckfort. At the MefTrs.
Bethmans', one day, French was nearly ex-
cluded, the majority being able to converfe
with nine or ten Englifh, who were there,
in their own language. Of the merchants,
who have not been in England, feveral
fpeak Englifh, without difficulty, and the
rifmg generation, it is faid, will be gene-*
rally accomplifhed in it.
One of the luxuries of Franckfort is a
Cabinet Literairc^ which is open to ftrangers
by the introduction of members. There
the beft periodical publications of the Con-
tinent are received, and their titles imme-
diately entered in a book, fo that the read-
D d 4 ing
4 o8 GERMANY.
ing Js nojt djfturbed by converfatlon with
the librarian. It excited our fhame to hear,
that fome contrivance had, for feveraj
months, prevented the fociety from receiv-
ing a very valuable pnglifh publication.
Afjter this, the Theatre may feem to re^
quire fome notice. It is a modern, but not
an. elegaut building, Handing in an area,
that renders it convenient of accefs, and
nearly in the middle of the city. The in-
terior, which has been gaudily decorated,
contains a pit, three rows of boxes, that
furrpund the audience part, and a gallery,
over them in the centre. It is larger than
the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, and,
in form, refembles that of Covent Garden,
. i
except that fix or feven of the central boxes,
in. each tier, encroach upon, the, oval figure.
by a projection over the pit. The boxes
.
arc let by the year ; the price of adiniiiiou
for non-fubfcribers, is a florin, for which
*
they may find places in the boxes,
GERMANY. 40$
by their friends, or in the pit, which is in
the fame proportion of efleem as that at an
Opera-houfe.
The performances are plays and operas
alternately ; both in German ; and the mu-
fic of the latter chiefly by German com-
pofers. The players are very far beneath
inediocrity ; but the orcheftra, when we
heard it, accorded with the fame of German
muiicians, for fpirit and precifion. In thefe
qualities even the Wandering parties, that
play at inns, are very feldoin deficient.
The ftage was well lighted, but the other
parts of the theatre were left In dufkinefs,
which fcarpely permitted us to fee the dia?
monds, profufely worn by feveral ladies.
Six o'clock is the hour of beginning, and
the performances conclude foon after nine.
The Cabinet Literaire and the Theatre
are the only permanent places of ' public
amufement at Tranckfort, which is, how-
, in want of no more, the inhabitants
410 GERMANY.
being accuftomecl to pafs much of their
time in friendly parties, at their houfes.
Though wealth is, of courfe, earneftly and
univerfally fought for in a place purely
mercantile, we were afTured, that the richeft
perfons, and there are fome, who have
above half a million fterling, find no more
attention in thefe parties than others. Thi$
was acknowledged and feparately boafted of
by fome of the very rich, and by thofe-
\vho were comparatively poor. We are fo
far able to report it for true, as that we
could never difcern the lead traces of thq
officioufnefs, or fubferviency that, in a cor-
rupt and debafed ftate of fociety, frequently
point to the wealthieft individuals in every
private party.
Thefe and many other circumftances
would probably render Franckfort a place
of refidence for foreigners, if the magif-
trates, either dreading the increafe of lux-
ury, or the interference, of ftrangers with
the if
GERMANY. 411
their commerce, did not prevent this by
prohibiting them from being lodged other-
wife than at inns. It was with difficulty,
that an Englifh officer, acting as Commif-
fary to fome of the German regiments,
lately raifed upon our pay, could obtain an
exemption from this rule, at the requeft of
the Hanoverian Minlfter.
Round the city, are feveral well-difpofed
walks, as pleafant as the flatnefs of the
nearer country will permit ; and, at inter-
vals, along thele, are the country houfes of
the merchants, who do not choofe to go be-
yond the city territories, for a refidence.
Saxenhaufen, a fmall town, on the other
fide of the Maine, though incorporated with
Franckfort, as to jurifdidion, and connected
with it by a bridge, is chiefly inhabited by
watermen and other labourers.
We left Franckfort, after a flay of fix;
fortified by a German paflport from
. dc SwartzhofF, the Hanoverian Minifter,
who
4*2 GERMANY;
xvho obligingly advifed us to be prepared
with one in the native language of the
Auftrian officers. At Mentz, the ceremo-
nies of examination were rendered much
more troublefome than before, the Goveiv
nor, General Kalkreuth, happening to be
in the great fquare, who choie to make fe-
veral travellers wait as if for a fort of re-
view before him, though, after all, nothing
ivas to be faid but " Go to the Comman-
dant, who will look at your paiTports."
This Commandant was JVI. de Lucadou, a
gentleman of confiderate and polite man-
ners, who, knowing our friends in Mentz,
added to his confirmation of M. de Swartz-
hofFs paflport an addrefs tp M. de Wilde,
fhe Intendant of fome fait mines in Swit-
zerland, which he recommended to us to
ice. Thefe circumftances are neceffary to
be mentipnejd here, becaufe they foon led
p a difagreeable and very contradictory
g. vent in our journey.
The
GERMANY. 413
The next morning, we fet out from
Mentz, and were concluded by our voiturier
over a fiunmer road, on the left bank of the
Rhine, then flowing with the melted fnows
of Switzerland.
OPPENHEIM.
THIS is the firft town of the Pala-
tinate, on arriving from the north ; and it
bears marks of the devaftation, inflided
upon that country, in the laft century, more
flagrant than Could be expeded, when the
length of the intervening time, and the
.
complete recovery of other cities from fimi-
lar difafters, are confidered. Louis the Four-
teenth's fury has converted it from a popu-
lous city into little more than a pidurefque
ruin. It was burned in 1668; and the
walls, which remain in double, or fome-
Umes in treble circles, are more vifible, at
a diftance,
414 GERMANY.
a diftance, than the ftrects, which have been
thinly erected within them. Above all, is
the Landfcroon, or crown of the country, a
caftle erected on an eminence, which com-
mands the Rhine, and dignifies the view
from it, for feveral miles. The whole city,
or rather ruin, ftands on a brow, over this
majeftic river.
The gates do not now open directly into
ftreets, but into lanes of ftone walls between
vineyards and gardens, formed on the fite
of houfes, never reftored, fmce the fire.
The town itfelf has fhrunk from its antient
limits into a few ftreets in the centre. In
fome of the interftices, corn grows up to
the walls of the prefent houfes. Irt others
the ruins of former buildings remain, which
the owners have not been tempted to re-
move, for the fake of cultivating their fites.
Of the cathedral, faid to have been once
the fineft on the Rhine, nearly all the walls
and the tower dill exift j but thefe are the
2 only
GERMANY. 4^
Only remains of grandeur in a city, which
feems entirely incapable of overcoming hi
this century the wretchednefs it inherits
from the laft.
.
Had the walls been as ftrong as they are
extenlive, this place might not improbably
have endured a fiege in the prefent age,
having been feveral times loft and regained.
It was furrendered to the French, without
a conteft, in the campaign of 1792. After
their retreat from Worms, and during the
fiege of Mentz, it was occupied by the
Pruflians ; and, in December 1793, when
the allies retired from Alface, the Duke of
Brunfwick eftablifhed his head-quarters in
it, for the purpofe of covering the fortrefs.
His army ovens remained near the north-
ern gate, in July 1794, when we paffed
through it. In October of the fame year
it fell again into the hands of the French.
No city on the banks of the Rhine is fo
.well feated for affording a view of it as this,
which,
*
416 GERMANY,
\vhich, to the north, overlooks all its
ings as far as Mentz, and, Southward,
mands them towards Worms. The riref
is alfo here of a noble breadth and force,
beating fo vehemently againft the water-
mills, moored near the fide> that they feem
likely to be borne away with the current.
A city might be built on the fite of Oppen-
heim, which fhould faintly rival the caftle
of Goodefberg, in the richnefs, though not
in the fublimity of its profpecT:.
From hence the road leads through a
fertile country of corn and vines, but at a
greater diftance from the river, to Worms,
live or fix miles from which it becomes
broad, ftraight, and bordered with regu-
larly-planted trees, that form an avenue to
the city. Soon after leaving Oppenheim,
we had the iirft fymptom of an approach
to the immediate theatre of the war, meet-
ing a waggon, loaded with wounded foldiers.
On this road, there .was a long train of caf-
riaees.
v_ *
GERMANY. 417
riages, taking ftores to fome military deptt.
The defacement of the Elector's arms, on
pofts near the road, Ihewed alfo, that the
country had been lately occupied by the
French ; as the delay in cutting the ripe
corn did, that there was little expectation of
their return*
WORMS.
T.
HE condition of Worms is an ag-
gravated repetition of the wretchednefs of
Oppenheim. It fuffered fomething in the
war, which the unfortunate Elector, fon-in-
law of our James the Firft, provoked by
accepting the kingdom of Bohemia. Louis
the Fourteenth came upon it next, and, in
1669, burned every thing that could be
confumed. Nothing was reftored, but on
that part, which was the centre of the an-
tient city ; and the walls include, as at
E e Oppenheim,
4i8 GERMANY.
Oppenheim, corn and vineyards upon the
ground, which was once covered with
houfes, and which plainly appears to have
been fo, from the lanes that pafs between,
and doors that open into the inclofures. A
much larger fpace is fo covered, than at
Oppenheim, for you are fome time in
driving from the northern gate of the old
city to the firft ftreet of the prefent one.
On the right of the road ftands the
fkeleton of the Electoral palace, which the
French burned in one of the late cam-
paigns ; and it is as curious as melancholy
to obferve how the figns of antient and
modern defolation mingle with each other.
On one hand is a palace, burned by the
prefent French ; on the other, the walls of
a church, laid open by Louis the Four-
teenth.
The firft and principal ftreet of the place
leads through thefe mingled ruins, and
through rows of dirty houfes, miferably
tenanted,
GERMANY. 419
tenanted, to the other end of the city.
A few others branch from it, chiefly to-
wards the Rhine, including fometimes the
ruins, and fometimes the repaired parts
of churches ; of which ftreets, narrow, ill-
paved and gloomy, confifts the city of
Worms. The French General, that lately
wrote to Paris, " We entered the fair epif-
copal city of Worms," may be fuppofed to
have derived his terms from a geographical
dictionary, rather than from a view of his
conqueft.
We were now in a place, occupied by
part of the acting army of the allies, which,
if not immediately liable to be attacked,
was to be defended by the maintenance of
pofts, at a very fhort diftance. Troops
pafled through it daily, for the fervice of
thefe pofts. The noife of every cannonade
was audible, and the refult of every en-
gagement was immediately known, for it
might make an advance, or a retreat ne-
E e 2 ceflary
420 GERMANY.
cefiary from Worms. The wounded mert
arrived, foon after the intelligence, to the
military hofpitals or the Pruffians. A city,
fo circumftanced, feemed to differ but little
from a camp ; and we were aware, for a
few hours, of a departure from the fecurity
and order of civil life.
The inn, which was not otherwife a
mean building, was nearly deftitute of fur-
niture ; fo that the owner was prepared to
receive any fort of guefts, or mafters. The
only provifion which we could obtain was
bread, the commonefl fort of wine, and one
piece of cold veal ; for the city was under
military jtirifdiclion, and no guefls were
allowed to have more than one difh at their
table.
In the afternoon > we faw, for the firft
time, a crowd in a German city. A narrow
waggon, of which nearly all but the wheels
was bafket-work, had arrived from the army,
with a wounded officer, who lay upon the
floor.
y f
GERMANY. 421
floor, fupported by his fervant, but occa-
fionally rofe to return the falutes of paflen-
gers. This was the Prince of Anhalt Pleflis,
who had been wounded, in the morning,
when the French attacked all the neigh-
bouring lines of the allies, and an indecifive
engagement enfued, the noife of which had
been diftinctly heard, at Worms. He was
hurt in the leg, and defcended, with much
difficulty, from the waggon ; but did not,
for an inftant, lofe the elegance of his ad-
drefs, and continued bowing through the
paiTage to his apartment. No doubt was
entertained of his recovery, but there feemed
to be a confiderable degree of fympathy,
attending this young man.
We had not time to look into the
churches, or numerous monafteries, that
yet remain, at Worms ; the war appeared
to have depopulated the latter, for not a
monk was to be feen. The cathedral, or
church of St. Mary and St. Peter, is one of
E e 3 the
422 GERMANY.
the moft antient facred buildings in Ger-
many, having been founded at leaft as early
as the commencement of the feventh cen-
tury. One of the prebends was eftablifhed
in 1033, another in 1058. The Domini-
cans, Carmelites, Capuchins and Auguftines
have each a monaftery, at Worms ; as have
the Ciftercians and the Auguftines a nun-
nery. A Proteftant church was alfo con-
fecrated, on the 9th of June 1 744 ; fome-
thing more than two hundred years, after
the ineffectual conference held here of Pro-
teftant and Catholic divines, which Charles
the Fifth interrupted, when Melancthon, on
one fide, and Echius, on the other, had en-
gaged in it, ordering them to refume their
arguments, in his prefence, at Ratifbon.
This meeting was five years previous to
the celebrated diet of Worms, at which
Charles, having then eftimated the temporal
ftrength of the two parties, openly {hewed
his animofity to the Proteftants, as Maurice
of
GERMANY. 423
of Saxpny did his intriguing ambition, by
referring the queilion to the Council of
Trent.
The Jews, at Worms, inhabit a feparate
ftreet, and have a fynagogue, of great an-
tiquity, their numbers having been once
fuch as to endanger the peace of the city ;
but, in 1689, wnen the French turned their
fynagogue into a ftable, they fled with the
reft of the opulent inhabitants to Holland.
Thofe of the prefent day can have very few
articles of traffic, except money, the chang-
ing of which may have been frequent, on
account of the neighbourhood of France.
Worms is fomewhat connected with En-
glifh hiftory, having been occupied by the
troops, which James the Firft ufelefsly fent
to the affiftance of the profcribed Elector
Palatine, when his juft abhorrence of con-
tinental wars was once, though tardily,
overcome by the entreaties of his daughter.
Here too George the Second held his head-
E e 4 quarters,
424 GERMANY.
quarters, from the 7th to the 2Oth of Sep-
tember 1743 ; on the I4th of which month,
Lord Carteret concluded, in his name, an
offenfive and defenfive treaty with the
Minifters of Hungary and Sardinia.
This city, like Cologne, retains fome
affectation of the Roman form of govern-
ment, to which it was rendered fubject by
Csefar, with the title of Augujla Vangionum.
The STADTMEISTER is fometimes called
the CONSUL, and the SCHULTHEIS, or
.Mayor, the PRJETOR. But, in 1703, fome
trivial tumult afforded a pretence for abolifh-
ing its little remains of liberty, and the
i
Elector Palatine was declared its protector.
This blow completed the defolation, which
the difafters of the preceding century had
commenced ; and a city, that was once
called the market of the Palatinate, as the
Palatinate was reputed the market of Ger-
many, continues to exhibit nothing more
than the ruins of its antient profperity.
Few
GERMANY. 425
Few of the prefent inhabitants can be the
defendants of thofe, who witnefled its
deftrudion in 1689 ; for we could not find,
that the particulars of that event were much
known, or commemorated by them, dread-
ful and impreffive as they muft have been.
A column of Louis the Fourteenth's army
had entered the city, in September of the
preceding year, under the command of the
Marquis de Bonfleur, who foon diftrefled
i
the inhabitants by preparations for blowing
up the walls with gunpowder. The mines
were fo numerous and large, as to threaten
nothing lefs than the entire overwhelming
of the city ; but, being fired at different
times, the walls of the houfes were left
(landing, though they {hook with almoft
every explofion. The artillery and balls
had been previoufly carried away to Lan-
dau, or Mentz, then poflefled by Louis.
At length, on the I2th of May 1689, the
7 Intendant
426 GERMANY.
Intendant fent the melancholy news to the
magiftracy, that he had received orders from
his monarch to burn the whole city. Six
days were allowed for the departure of the
inhabitants and the removal of their pro-
perty ; which period was prolonged by
their entreaties to nineteen. At the expira-
tion of thefe, on Afcenfion Day, the 31(1
of May, the French grenadiers were em-
ployed from twelve o'clock, till four, in
placing combuftibles about the houfes and
public buildings, againft feveral of which
large heaps of hay and ftraw were raifed.
The word being then given, fire was fet
to almoft every houfe at once, and, in a
few hours, the city was reduced to afhes ;
the conflagration being fo general and ftrong
as to be viiible in day-light at the diftance
of more than thirty Englifh miles. Such
was one of the calamities of a city, fo un-
fortunately fituated, that the chapter of the
cathedral
GERMANY. 427
cathedral alone proved a lofs by wars, pre-
vious to the year 1743, amounting to
1,262,749 florins.
The attention, due to fo memorable a
place, detained us at Worms, till the voitu-
rier talked of being unable to reach Man-
heim, before the gates would be fhut, and
we let him drive vehemently towards
FRANCKENTHAL,
ANOTHER place, deftroyed by Louis
the Fourteenth, but reftored upon a plan fo
uniform and convenient, that nothing but a
fuller population is neceflary to confirm its
title of a flourifhing city. The ftreets,
which interfed: each other at right angles,
are wide and exadly ftraight ; the houfes
are handfomely built, but the poverty or
indolence of the owners fuffers them to par-
take of the air of neglect, which is general
in
428 GERMANY.
in German habitations ; and the ftreets,
' though fpacious and not ill- paved, had fo
few pafiengers, that the depopulation of the
place feemed to be rendered the more ob-
fervable by its grandeur.
Yet it would be unfair to eflimate the
general profperity of Franckenthal by its
prefent circuniftances, even had we ftayed
long enough to know them more accurate-
ly. This place had been occupied but a
few weeks before by the French army, who
had plundered it, as well as feveral other
towns of the Palatinate, after the retreat of
the allies from Alface, at the latter end of
1793. The inhabitants had, for the m oft
part, returned to their houfesj but their
commerce, which is faid to have been not
contemptible, could not be fo eafily reftored.
The manufactures of porcelain, cloths, filks,
fpangles, vinegar and foap, of which fome
were eftablifhed and all are protected by the
\vife liberality of the Elector, though far
from
GERMANY. 429
from being anfwerable, either in their capi-
tals, or produce, to the Englifh idea of
fimilar enterprifes, command fome fhare
with England and France in fupplying the
reft of Germany. One method of facili-
tating the operations of trade the Elector
has advantageoufly adopted here ; that of
inftituting a court upon the fpot for the de-
cifion of all caufes, in which the traders are
interefted ; and at his expence a navigable
canal has been formed from the town to
the Rhine. Artifts and merchants have alfo
fome privileges, at Franckenthal, of which
that of being exempt from the military prefs
is not the leaft.
This prefs, or levy, is the method, by
which all the German Princes return their
contingents to the army of the Empire.
The population of every town and diftrict
in their dominions is known with fufficient
accuracy, and a fettled number of recruits
is fupplied by each. When thefe are wanted,
notice
430 GERMANY*.
notice is given, that the men of a Certain
age muft aflemble and caft lots for the fer-
vice. Thofe, who are drawn, may find
fubftitutes, but with this condition, that the
deputy muft be at leaft as tall as his princi-
pal ; a regulation, which makes the price
of fubftitutes depend upon their height, and
frequently renders it impoffible for the
principals to avail themfelves of the per-
miffion. A farmer in this neighbourhood,
who was confiderably above fix feet in
height, could not obtain a fubftitute for
lefa than a hundred louis d'ors.
Another unpleafant condition is attached
to this exchange : if the fubftitute is dif-
abled, or deferts, another muft be fupplied ;
and, if he carries his arm or accoutre*
ments away, thefe muft be paid for by the
perfon, who fent him.
After a ride of a few miles, we reached
OGGER-
GERMANY. 431
OGGERSHEIM,
-
A SMALL town, on the weft bank
of the Rhine, rebuilt in uniform ftreets, like
Franckenthal, having been deftroyed by the
fame exertion of Louis the Fourteenth's
cruelty. Here alfo the modern French had
very lately been, and fome of the ruins, left
near the road by Louis, appeared to have
ferved them for kitchens in their excurfion.
At the eaft end of the town, towards the
i
Rhine, ftands a chateau of the Elector, built
with modern, but not very admirable taile,
and commanding the diftant river in feveral
fine points of view. We could not be ad-
mitted to fee the inflde, which is faid to
have been fplendidly decorated ; for the
French had juft dismantled it of the furni-
ture.
The road from hence to Manheim was
8 bordered
432 GERMANY.
bordered for its whole length, of at leaf!
two miles, by rows of poplars, of which
fome ftill remain near Oggerfheim ; but
thofe within a mile and a half of Manheim
have been felled at one or two feet from
the ground. This was done in December
1793, when the French began to advance
from Landau, and were expected to befiege
Manheim, their operations againft which
might have been covered, in fome meafure,
by this noble alley.
Near the Rhine, the road is now com-
manded by two forts, of which one % was
thrown up during the approach of the
French, and completed in the middle of
the fummer, with great care. Thefe con-
tribute much to the prefent fecurity of the
city, which might otherwife be bombarded
from the oppofite bank of the river, even
by an enemy, who mould not be able and
{hould not propofe to attempt the conqueft
of the place. They are ditched and pal-
lifadoed,
GERMANY. 433.
lifadoed, but, being divided from the body
of the city, by the Rhine, are, of courfe r
without the communication, which renders
fuch works capable of a long defence.
Round one of thefe forts, the road now
winds, entering a part of the works, near
the bridge, where there is a guardhoufe for
the troops of the Elector.
MANHEIM.
IT was twilight, when we approach-
ed Manheim ; and the palace, the nume-
rous turrets and the fortifications had their
grandeur probably increafed by the ob-
fcurity. The bridge of boats is not fo long
as that at Mentz ; but we had time enough
in paffing it to obferve the extent of the
city, on the left of which the Neckar pours
itfelf into the Rhine, fo that two fides are
entirely wafhed by their ftreams. At the
F f next
434 G E R M A N Y.
next guard-houfe, where we were detained
by the ufual enquiries, the troops were more
numerous ; and furely no military figures,
ever accorded fo well with the gloomy
gates, and walls they guarded. The uni-
form of the Palatine light troops is a clofe
jacket of motley brown, and pantaloons of
the fame that reach to their half-boots.
They have black helmets, with crefts and
fronts of brafs, large whifkers, and their
faces, by conftant expofure to the fun, are
of the deepeft brown that can be, without
approaching to black. As they ftood fmgly
on the ramparts, or m groups at the gates,
their bronze faces and Roman helmets
feemed of a deeper hue, than the gloom,
that partly concealed their figures.
The entrance into Manheim, from the
Rhine, is by a fpacious ftreet, which leads
directly into the centre of the city, and to
a large fquafe, planted with limes, confift-
ing, on one fide, of public buildings, and,
on
GERMANY. 455
en the other, of feveral noble houfes, one of
Which is the chief inn, called the Cour
Palatine. This is the firft city in Germany")
that can anfwer, by its appearance, the ex-
pectations of a foreigner, who has formed
them from books. Its afpecl: is truly that
of a capital and of the refidence of a Court ;
except that in the day-time a traveller may
be fomewhat furprifed at the fewnefs of
paflengers and the fmall fhew of traffic,
amidft fuch public buildings, and in flreets
of fuch convenience and extent. The fair-
nefs, the grandeur and the ftatelinefs, which
he may have feen attributed to other Ger-
man cities, till he is as much difgufted as
deceived by every idea derived from de-
fcription, may be perceived in feveral parts
of Manheim, and the juftnefs of difpofition
m all.
Nor is the beauty of the pfefent city
folely owing to the deftrudlion of the an-
tient one by Louis the Fourteenth, in 1689,
i
F f a the
436 GERMANY.
the year of general devaftation in the Pala-
tinate, It was laid out in right lines, though
to a lefs extent, in the beginning of the
feventeenth century, when Frederic the Fifth
laid the foundation of the fortifications, be-
hind which a town was built, that adopted
the antient name of Manheim, from a
neighbouring one then in . decay, Thefe
were the fortifications and the town de-
ftroyed by the French in 1689. ^ ^ e P^ an
of both was but extended, when the pre-
fent works were formed upon the fyftem
of Cohorn, and the city by degrees reftored,
with ftreets, which, interfering each other
at right angles, divide it into an hundred
and feven fquare portions. The number
of the inhabitants, exclufive of the garrifon,
was, in 1784, 21,858.
Some of the ftreets are planted with rows
of trees, and there are five or fix open
places, fuitable for promenades, or markets.
The ^uilomhoufe, which forms a fide to
one
GERMANY. 437
one of thefe, is a noble flone building,
rather appearing to be a palace, than a a
office, except that under the colonnades,
which furround it, are {hops for jewellery
and other commodities,
The Electoral palace, which opens, on
one fide, to the city, and, on the other, to
the ramparts, was built by the Elector
Charles-Philippe, who, in the year 1721,
removed his relidenee hither from Heidel-
berg, on account of fome difference with
the magiftrate?, or, as is faid, of the pre-
valence of religious difputes in that city.
He began to erect it in 1720 ; but the edi-
ftce was not completed, till the right wing
was added by the pvefent Elector, not to be
ufed as a refidence, but to contain a gallery
of paintings, cabinets of antiquities and na-
tural hiftory, a library, treafury and manege.
We paflecl a morning in viewing the apart-
ments in the other wing, all the paintings
and bpoks having been rempved from this,
F f 3 as
438 GERMANY.
as well as great part of the furniture from
the whole palace, in the dread of an apr
preaching bombardment. The perfon, who
fLewed them, took care to keep the credit
of each room fafe, by alluring us at the
door, that it was not in its ufual condition.
The Elector had been, for fome months, at
Munich, but the Duke and Duchefs of
Deux Fonts and their family have refided
in this palace, fmce their retirement from
Deux Fonts, in the latter end of the cam-
paign of 1792.
The rooms are all lofty, and floored with
inlaid work of oak and chemut ; the ceil-
ings, for the moll part, painted ; and the
walls covered with tapeilry, finely wrongly
both as to colour and defign. Some, of
this came from a manufactory, eftablifhcd
by the Elector, at Franckenthal.
The furniture, left in feveral of the
rooms, was grand and antient, but could
never have been fo coftly as thofe, who
have
GERMANY. 439
have feen the manfions of wealthy indivi-
duals in England, would expert to find in
a palace. The Elector's ftate-bed was in-
clofed not only by a railing, but by a glafs
cafe to the height of the ceiling, with win-
dows, that could be opened at pleafure, to
permit a converfation with his courtiers,
when compliments were paid literally at a
levee. In the court of France, this practice
continued even to very late years, and there
were three diftincl: privileges of entree, de-
noting the time, at which perfons of differ-
ent clafles were permitted to enter the
chamber. In the Earl of Portland's em-
bafly for King William to Louis the Four-
teenth, it was thought a fignal mark of ho-
nour, that he was admitted to his audience,
not only in the chamber, but within the
rails ; and there the French Monarch flood
with the three young Princes, his grand-
fons, the Count de Tholoufe, the Duke
d'Aumont and the Marefchal de Noailles.
Ff 4 Th c
440 GERMANY.
The Duke made his fpeech covered, after
which the King entered into converfation
with him, for feveral minutes.
One room, at Manheim, was called the
,
Silver Chamber, from the quantity of folid
filver, ufed about the furniture. Such ar-
ticles as could be carried away entire, had
been removed, but the walls were disfigured
by the lofs of the ornaments torn from
them, on account of their value. In feve-
ral rooms, the furniture, that remained, was
partly packed, to be carried away upon the
next alarm. The contents of the wardrobe
were in this ftate, and the interior of thefc
now defolated apartments feemed like the
fkeleton of grandeur. The beauty of the
painted ceilings, however, the richnefti of
the various profpe&s, commanded by the
windows, and the great extent of the build-
jng fufficiently accounted for the reputation,
which this palace has, of being the fineft in
Germany.
7 It
GERMANY. 441
It is built of flone, which has fomewhat
the reddifh hue of that ufed at Mentz, and,
though feveral parts are pofitively difap-
proved by perfons of fkill in architecture,
the whole is certainly a grand and fump-
tuous building.
The fituation of Manheim and the
fcenery around it are viewed to great ad-
vantage from the tower of the Obfervatory,
in which ftrangers are politely received by
the ProfefTor of Aftronomy, whofe refidence
is eftablifhed in it. From this are feen the
fruitful plains of the Palatinate, fpreading,
on all fides, to bold mountains, of which
thofe of Lorrain, that extend on the weft,
lofe in diftance the variety of their colour-
ing, and, afluming a blue tint, retain only
the dignity of their form. Among thefe,
the vaft and round headland, called the
'Tonnefberg, which is in fight, during the
greateft part of the journey from Mentz to
Manheim, is pre-eminent. -
But
443 GERMANY;
But the chain, that binds the horizon on
the eaft, and is known by the name of the
Bergjlraffe) or road of mountains, is near
enough to difplay all their wild irregularity
of fhape, the fore ft glens, to which they
open, and the various tints of rock and foil,
of red and purple, that mingle with the
corn and wood on their lower fleeps. Thefe
mountains are feen in the north from their
commencement near Franckfort, and this
line is never interrupted from thence fouth-
^vard into Switzerland. The rivals to them,
on the fouth weft, are the mountains of
Alface, which extend in long perfpedive,
and at a diftance appear to unite with thofe
of the BergftrafTe. Among the numerous
towns and villages that throng the Palati-
nate, the fpires of Oppenheim and Worms
are diftindly vifihle ro the north'; almoft
beneath the eye are thofe of Franckenthal,
and Oggerfheim, and to the fouthwarcl
Spires fhews it 1 ? many to-wern.
In
GERMANY. 443
In the nearer fcene the Neckar, after
tumbling from among the forefts of the
Bergftrafle, falls into the Rhine, a little be-
low the walls of Manheim ; and the gar-
dens of a fummer chateau belonging to
the ElecT.gr occupy the angle between the
two rivers.
Thefe gardens were now furrendered by
the Prince to be the camp of three thoufand
of his troops, detached from the garrifon of
the city, which, at this time, confifted of
nearly ten thoufand men. In feveral places,
on the banks of the two rivers, batteries
were thrown up, and, near the camp, a
regular fort, for the purpofe of commanding
both j fo that Manheim, by its natural and
artificial means of defence, was fuppofed to
be rendered nearly unaf&ilable, on two fides.
On that of Heidelberg, it was not fo fe-
cure ; nor could the others be defended by
a garrifon of lefs than 15,000 men. It was
on this account, that the Ele&or detained
tea
444 GERMANY.
ten thoufand of his troops from actual fcr-
vice, contrary, as is faid, to the remon-
ftrances of the Emperor, who offered, but
without fuccefs, to ganifon his capital with
Auftrians. From the obfervatory, the camp
and the works were eafily feen, and, by the
help of a Dollond telefcope, the only optical
inftrument remaining, the order of both
was fo exactly pointed out by our guide,
that it was not difficult to comprehend the
ufes of them. Military preparations, in^
deed, occurred very frequently in Man-
heim. In the gardens of the chief Electoral
palace, extending to the ramparts over the
Rhine, cannon were planted, which were
as regularly guarded by fentinels as in the
other parts of the fortifications.
All the gates of Manheim appear to be de-
fended by fortifications of imufual flrength.
Befides two broad ditches, there are bat-
teries, which play directly upon the bridges,
and might deflroy them in a few minutes.
The
GERMANY. 445
The gates are guarded, with the utmoft
ftri&nefs, and no perfon is fufFered to enter
them, after ten at night, without the ex-
prefs permiffion of the governor. When
a courier arrives, who wifhes to ufe his pri-
vilege of palling, at all hours, he puts fome
token of his office into a fmall tin box,
which is kept on the outflde of the ditch,
to be drawn acrofs it by a cord, that runs
upon a roller on each bank. The officer of
the guard carries this to the governor, and
obtains the keys ; but fo much time is paiTed
in this fort, of application, that couriers,
when the nights are fhort, ufually wait the
opening of the gates, which is foon. after
day-light, in fummer, and at fix, or feven,
in winter.
The abfence of the Eledor, we were
afiiired, had much altered the appearance of
Manheim, where fcarcely a carriage was
now to be feen, though there were traces
enough of the gaiety and general fplendour
of
446 GERMANY.
of this little Court. Here are an
Houfe, a German Comedy, an Amateur*
Concert, an Electoral Lottery, an Academy
of Sculpture and Defign, and an Academy
of Sciences. Tne Opera performances are
held in a wing of the palace, and were
eftablifhed in 1742, but have not attained
much celebrity, being fupported chiefly by
performers from the other Theatre. This
laft is called a national eftablifhment, the
players being Germans, and the Theatre
founded in 1779 at the expence of the
Elector. The Baron de Dahlberg, one of
his Minifters, has the fuperintendance of
it. The Amateur Concert is held, every
Friday, during the winter, and is much fre-
quented.
The Electoral Lotteries, for there are
two, are drawn in the prefence of the Mr-
nifter of Finances, and one of them is lefs
difadvantageous for the gamefters than 13
ufual with fuch undertakings. That, which
confifts
GERMANY. 447
confifts of chances determined in the cufto-
mary way, gives the Elector an advantage
of only five to four over the fubfcribers.
The other, which is formed upon the more
intricate model of that of Genoa, entitles
the fubfcribers to prizes, proportioned to
the number of times a certain ticket iflues
from the wheel, five numbers being drawn
out of ninety, or rather five drawings of
one number each being fucceffively made
out of ninety tickets. A ticket, which iflues
once in thefe five drawings, wins fifteen
times the value of the flake j one, that
mould be drawn each of the five times,
would entitle the owner to have his origi-
nal ftake multiplied by fixty thoufand, and
the product would be his prize. The un-
tfertaker of this latter Lottery has the
chances immenfely in his favour.
From the very large income, to which
thefe Lotteries contribute a part, the prefent
Electer has certainly made confiderable di-
burfements,
445 GERMANY,
burfemcnts, with ufeful purpofes, if not ft?
ufeful effects. Of his foundation are the
Academy of Sciences, which was opened in
1763, for weekly fittings, and has proceed-
ed to fome correfpondence with other Aca-
demies ; the German Society, eftablifhed
for the eafy purpofe of purifying and the
difficult one of fixing language ; the Cabi-
net of Phyfics, or rather of experimental
philofophy, celebrated for the variety and
magnitude of its inftruments, among which
are two burning glaffes of three feet diame-
ter, faid to be capable of liquefying bodies,
even bottles filled with water, at 10 feet
diftance ; the Obfervatory, of 1 08 feet high,
in which all the chief inftruments were
Englifh ; a Botanical Garden and Director-
fliip ; an Academy of Sculpture, and a Ca-
binet of Engravings and Drawings, formed
under the direction of M. Krahe of DufTel-
dorff, in 400 folio volumes.
Of all thefe eftablifhments, none <5f the
ornament*-,
GERMANY. 449
Crnaments, or materials, that were portable,
now remain at Manheim. The aftronomi-
cal instruments, the celebrated collection of
ftatues, the paintings and the prints have
been removed, together with the Electoral
treafure of diamonds and jewels, fome to
Munich and fome to other places of fecuri-
ty. But, though we miffed a fight, which
even its rarity would 'have rendered wel-
come, it feems proper, after fuch frequent
notice of the barrennefs of Germany, to
mention what has been collected in one of
its chief cities.
The expectation of an attack had dif-
mantled other houfes, befides the Elector's,
of their furniture ; for, in the Cour Pala-
tine, a very fpacious, and really a good inn,
not a curtain and fcarcely a fpoon was left.
A oaufe de la guerre was, indeed, the gene-
ral excufe for every deficiency, ufed by
thofe, who had civility enough to offer onex;
but, in .truth, the war had not often in-
G g qroached
eroached upon the ordinary flock of conve*
niencies in Germany, which was previoufly
too low to be capable of much reduction.
The places, which the French had actually
entered, are, of courfe, to be excepted ; but
it may otherwife be believed, that Germany
can lofe little by a war, more than the un-
fortunate labourers, whom it forces to be-
come foldiers. The lofs of wealth muft
come chiefly from other countries. A rich
nation may give prefent treafure ; a com-
mercial nation may give both prefent trea-
fure and the means of future competence.
The land near Manheim is chiefly plant-
ed with tobacco and madder, and the land-
fcape is enfivened with fmail, but neat coun-
tryhoufes, fcattered along the margin of the
Neckar. The neighbourhood abounds in
pleafant ride,s, and, whether you wind the
high banks of the majeftic Rhine, or the
borders of the more tranquil Neckar, the
mountains of the Bergftrafle, tumbled upon
each
GERMANY. 451
Other In wild confufion, generally
form the magnificent back ground of the
r
fcene.
On returning from an excurfion of this
kind at the clofe of evening, the foldiers
at the gates are frequently heard chanting
martial fongs in parts and chorus ; a fono- ,
rous mufic in fevere unifon with the fo-
lemnity of the hour and the imperfecT:
forms, that meet the eye, of fentinels keep-
ing watch beneath the dufky gateways,
while their brethren, repofmg on the
benches without, mingle their voices in the
deep chorus. Rude and fimple as are thefe
ftrains, they are often fingularly impreffive,
and touch the imagination with fomething
approaching to horror, when the circutn-
ftances of the place are remembered, and it
is confidered how foon thefe men, fent to
*
inflict death on others, may themfelves be
thrown into the unnumbered heap of the
military (lain.
G g 2 , SCHWETZ-
45 2 GERMAN?,
SCHWETZINGEN.
AN excellent road, flickered for nine
Englifh miles by rows of high poplars, con-
ducted us through richly cultivated plains
from Manheim to Schwetzingen, a fmall
village, diftinguifhed by an Electoral cha-
teau and gardens. This was one of the
pleafantefl rides we had found in Germany,
for the road, though it exhibited little of
either the wild or pidurefque, frequently
opened towards the mountains, bright with
a variety of colouring, and then again was
ihrouded among woods and plantations,
that bordered the neighbouring fields, and
brought faintly to remembrance the ftyle
and mingled verdure of our native land-
" fcape.
Schwetzingen load been very lately the
Auftrian head-quarters, for the army of the
Uppa
GERMANY. 453
Upper Rhine, and fome .foldiers were ftill
Rationed near the road to guard an immenfe
magazine of wood ; but there were other-
wife Ho military fymptoms about the place.
The chateau is an old and inelegant
building,' not large enough to have been
ever ufed as a formal refidence. The pre^
fent Elector has added to it two wings, each
of fix hundred feet long, but fo low, that
the apartments are all on the ground floor.
Somewhat of that air of neglect, which caa
fadden even the moft delightful fcenes, is
vifible here ; feveral 1 of the windows arc
broken, and the theatre, mufic-room, and
ball-room, which have been laid out in one
of the wings, are abandoned to duft ancj
lumber.
The gardens, however, are preferred in
better order. Before the palace, a long vifta
of lawn and wood, with numerous and fpa-
eious fountains, guarded by ftatues, difplay
fomething of the old French manner ;' other
Q g 3 part*
454 GERMANY,
parts fhew charming fcenery, and deep fyl*
van recefles, where nature is again at liber-
ty ; in a bay formed by the woods is an
amphitheatre of fragrant orange trees, placed
in front of a light femicircular green-houfe,
and crowne'd with lofty groves. Near this
delicious fpot, extends a bending arcade of
lattice- work, interwoven with vines and
many beautifully flowering plants ; a fort of
ftrulure, the filagree lightnefs of which it
is impoflible not to admire, againft precept,
and perhaps, when general effect is cpnfi-
dered, againft neceffary tafte. In another
partj flickered by the woods, is an edifice
in the flyle of a Turkifh mofque, with its
light cloiftered courts, (lender minarets, and
painted entrances, infcribed with Arabic
mottos, which by the German tranflations
appear to esprefs the pleafure of friendly
converfation and of indolence in fummer.
The gardens have this refult of a judicious
arrangement, that they feem tp extend much
Beyond
GERMANY. 455
beyond their real limits, which we difcover-
ed only by afcending one of the minarets.
They are open to the public, during great
part of every day, under certain rules for
their prefervation, of which copies are
pafted up in feveral places.
CARLSRUHE.
AT Schwetzingen the fine Electoral
road concludes, and we began to wind along
the fkirts of a foreft on the left, having on
the right an open corn country, beyond
which appeared the towers of Spires and
Philipfburg, of which the former was then
the head-quarters of the Auftrian army, and
the latter is memorable for having given
birth to Melandhon in 1491. Waghaufel
and Bruchfal are fmall pofting places in this
route, at a village between which we had
another inftance of the little attention paid
G to
t
456 GERMANY,
to travellers in permany. At a fmall inn,
noxious with fome fumigation ufed againft
bugs, we were detained a quarter of an
hour, becaufe the landlord, who had gone
out after our arrival, had not left word how
much we mould pay, and the poor old wo-
man, who, without fhoes or ftockings,
^attended us, was terrified when we talked
of leaving what was proper, and proceeding
before his return.
About a mile beyond Bruchfal our poftil-
Jion quitted the chauflee, and entered a
fummer road, through the desp and exten-
five foreft of Carlfruhe, preferved by the
Margrave of Baden for the ihelter of game.
Avenues cut through this foreft for nine
. or ten miles in every direction, converge
at his palace and city of Carlfruhe, as at a
point. Other cruelties than thofe of the
chafe fometimes take place in thefe delight-
ful fcenes, for an amphitheatre has been
formed in the woods, where imitations of a
Spanifl}
GERMANY. 457
Spanifh bull feaft have been exhibited ; to
fiich horrid means of preventing vacuity of
mind has a prince had recourfe, who is
otherwife diftinguifhed for the elegance of
fcis tafte, and the fuavity of his manners J
The fcenery of this foreft is very various.
Sometimes we found our way through
groves of ancient pine and fir, fo thickly
planted that their lower branches were
withered for want of air, and it feemed as
if the carnage could not proceed between
them ; at others we pafTed under the fpread-
ing made of chefnuts, oak and walnut, ancj
crofled many a cool ftream, green with the
impending foliage, on whofe fequeftered
bank one almoft expected to fee the mo?-
ralizing Jacques ; fo exactly did the fcene,
accord with Shakefpeare's defcription. The
woods again opening, we found ourfelves
in a noble avenue, and faw the flag grace-
fully bounding acrofs it " to more profound
j" while now and then a hut, formed
Of
of rude green pknks under fome old oak,
feerned, by its fmoked fides, to have often
afforded a flickered repaft to hunting
parties.
Near Carlfruhe the gardens of the Prince
and then the palace become vifible, the
road winding along them, on the edge of
the foreft, till it enters the northern gate of
the city, the uniformity of which has the
fame date as its completion, the ground plot
having been entirely laid out between Ja^-
nuary and June 1715, on the iyth of which
month the Margrave Charles William laid
the foundation ftone.
The ftreets are accordingly fpacious, light,
and exactly ftraight ; but not fo magnificent
as thofe of Manheim, and ftill lefs enlivened
with paffengers, Since the commencement
of the war, the gaieties of the Court, which
afforded fome occupation to the inhabitants,
have ceafed ; the nobility have left their
houfes ; and the Margrave is contented
GERMANY, 459
with the amufements of his library, in
which Englifh literature is faid to fill a con-
fiderable fpace.
Carlfruhe has the advantage of not being
fortified ; fo that the inhabitants are not
opprefled by a numerous garrifon, and
grangers pafs through it, though fo near
the feat of war, without interruption. It
is lefs than Manheim by at leaft half, and
has no confiderable public building, except
the palace, from the fpacious area before
which, all the ftreets proceed as radii ^ till
their furtheil ends fill up the figure of a
femicircle. The houfes in the area, which
immediately front the palace, are built over
a piazza interrupted only by the commence-
ment of the ftreets. The palace has, of
courfe, an unexampled advantage in the
mixture of town and rural fcenery in its
profpe&s, looking on one fide through all
the ftreets of the city, and on the other
through thirty-two foreft alleys, cut to va-
rious
460 GERMANY.
rious lengths of from ten to fifteen Englifh
miles each ; few, however, of the latter pro-
fpe&s are now commanded except from the
upper windows, the prefent Elector having
entirely changed the ftyle of the intervening
gardens, and permitted them to be laid out
in the Englilh tafte, without refpect to the
thirty-two interfections, that rendered them
conformable with the foreft.
We pafled part of two days at Carlfruhe,
and were chiefly in thefe gardens, which
are of the mod enchanting beauty and rich-
nefs. The warmth of the climate draws
up colours for the fhrubs and plants, which
we thought could not be equalled in more
northern latitudes ; two thoufand and feven
hundred orange and lemon trees, loaded
with fruit and blofToms, perfumed the air ;
and choice fhrubs, marked with the Lin-
nean diftin&ions, compofed the thickets,
The gardens, being limited only by the fb-
j appear to unite with thsmj and the
- . deep
GERMANY. 4 (>
cleep verdure and luxuriance of the latter
are contrafted fweetly with the tender green
of the lawns and plants, and with the va-
riety of* fcarce and majeftic trees, mingled
with, the garden groves.
The palace is a large and fumptuous,
though not an elegant edifice, built of ftone
like all the reft of the city, and at the fame
*
period. The Margrave generally refides in
it, and has rendered it a valuable home, by
adding greatly to the library, filling an
obfervatory with excellent inftruments, and
preferving the whole ftru6~hire in a condi-
tion not ufual in Germany. The fpot,
compared with the furrounding country,
appeared like Milton's Eden tike Paradife
opened in the wild.
Beyond Carlfruhe th,e road begins to ap-
proach the Rhine, which we had loft light
of near Manheim ; and, though the river is
never within view, the country is confider-
cd as a military frontier, being conftantly
, patrolled
464 GERMANS
patrolled by troops* Some of thefe were of
the Prince of Conde's army of emigrants,
who have no uniform, and are diftinguifhed
only by the white cockade, and by a ban-
dage of white linen, imprefled with black
fours de /is, upon the right arm. They
were chiefly on foot, and then wore only
their fwords, without fire-arms. ^
Near the road, a fmall party of Auftrians
were guarding a magazine, before a tentj
marked, like their regimentals, with green
upon white. Soon afterwards, our poftil-*
lion drew up on one fide, to permit a train
of carriages to pafs, and immediately an-
nounced the Prinz von Conde^ who was in
an open landau, followed by two covered
waggons for his kitchen and laundry, and
by a coach with attendants;
He appeared to be between fifty and
fixty ; tall, not corpulent, and of an air,
which might have announced the French
courtier, if his rank had been unknown.
Aftar
GERMANY. 463
A ftar was embroidered upon his military
furtout, but he had no guards, though tra-
velling within the jurifdi&ion allotted to
him as a general officer. So little was the
road frequented at this period, that his was
the fecond or third carriage we had met,
except military waggons, fince leaving
Mentz ; a diftance of more than eighty En-
glifh miles.
The road for the whole ftage between
Carlfruhe and Raftadt, about fifteen miles,
is planted, as feems cuftomary in Germany
between the palaces of fovereigns, with lofty
trees, of which the -ihade was extremely
refrefhing at this feafon ; the clouds of
fand, that rofe from the road, would other-
wife have made the heat intolerable.
The firft houfe in Raftadt is the palace of
the Margrave of Baden Baden, brother of
the Margrave of Baden Durlach, whofe re-
fidence is at Carlfruhe, a fmall and heavy
building, that fronts the avenue, and is
furroundecl
464 GERMANY.
furrounded with flone walls. The interior
is faid to be fplendidly decorated, and a
chamber is preferved in the flate, in which
Prince Eugene and Marfhal Villars left it
in 1714, after concluding the peace between
the Emperor and Louis the Fourteenth.
The Prince of Baden, being then a general
in the fervice of the Emperor, had not been
able to efcape the vengeance of Louis,
whofe troops in 1688 firft plundered, and
then burnt, the palace and city, and in the
war of the Succeffion they had a camp on
the adjoining plain. The Prince is there-
fore fuppofed to have lent the palace, which
he had rebuilt, with the mere readinefs,
that the Marfhal might fee how perfectly
he could overcome his lofs. The plunder of
the city in 1688 had continued for five
days, and it is mentioned in its hiftory that
the French carried away fifteen waggon
loads of wine of the vintage of 1572.
Raftadt, like Carlfruhe, is built upon one
plan,
GERMANY, 465-
plafi, but is as inferior to it in beauty, as
In flzCi The chief ftreet is, however, un-
commonly broad, fo much fo, that the up-
per end is ufed a$ a market-place, and the
ftatue of the founder, Prince Louis, in the
centre, is feen with all the advantages of
fpace and perfpective. There is, notwith-
ftanding, little appearance of traffic, and the
inhabitants feemed to he much lefs nume-
rous than the emigrant corps, which was
then ftationed there, the head quarters of
the Prince of Conde being eftablifhed in the
eity. We pafled an hour at an inn, which
was nearly filled by part of this corps,
and were compelled to witnefs the diftrefs
and difappointment, excited by intelligence
juft then received of the ftate of affairs in
the Low Countries.
A fmall park of artillery was kept on
the fouthern fide of Raftadt, where there
is a handfome ftone bridge over the river
Murg, that falls into the Rhine, at the dif-
H h taocc
466 GERMANY.
tance of a league from the city. Soon after y
the road pafles by the groves of the Fa-
vorita^ a fummer palace built by a dowager
Margravine. We now drew nearer to the
mountains of the Bergftrafle, which had
difappeared near Schwetzingen, and had
rifen again partially through the morning
mifts, foon after our quitting Carlfruhe.
They are here of more awful height, and
abrupt fteepnefs than in the neighbourhood
of Manheim, and, on their pointed brows r
are frequently the ruins of caftles, placed
fometimes where it feems as if no human
foot could climb. The nearer we approach-
ed thefe mountains the more we had occa-
fion to admire the various tints of their gra-
nites. Sometimes the precipices were of a
faint pink, then of a deep red, a dull purple,
or a blufh approaching to lilac, and fome-
times gleams of a pale yellow mingled with
the low fhrubs, that grew upon their fides.
The day was cloudleis and bright, and we \
7 were j
ANY. 467
were too .near thefe heights to be deceived
by the illufions of aerial colouring ; the real
hues of their .features were as beautiful, as
their magnitude was fublime. The plains,
that extend along their feet to the Rhine,
are richly cultivated with corn, and, beyond
the river, others, which appear to be equally
fruitful, fpread towards the mountains of
Alface, a correfponding chain with the Berg-
ftrafle, vaft and now blue with diftance.
The manners of the people from Man-
heim downwards, are more civilized than in
the upper parts of Germany ; an improve-
ment, which may with great probability be
imputed to the fuperior fruitfulnefs of the
country, that amends their condition, and
with it the focial qualities. The farms are
more numerous, the labourers lefs dejected,
and the women, who ftill work barefooted
in the fields, have fomewhat of a ruddy
j * j ' ' ' s ' ' >
brown in their complexion, inftead of the
fallownefs, that renders the ferocious, or
H h 2 fallen
468 GERMANY.
fullen air of the others more ftriking. They
are alfo better drefled; for, though they re-
tain the flouched woollen hat, they have
caps ; and towards the borders of Switzer-
land their appearance becomes picturefque.
Here they frequently wear a blue petticoat
with a cherry-coloured boddice, full white
fleeves faftened above the elbow, and a
muflin handkerchief thrown gracefully
round the neck in a fort of roll ; the hair
fometimes platted round the head, and held
on the crown with a large bodkin. On
holidays, the girls have often a flat ftraw
hat, with bows of ribband hanging behind.
Higher up, the women wear their long black
hair platted, but falling in a queue down
the .back.
< The cottages are alfo fomewhat better,
and the fides entirely covered with vines,
on which, in the beginning of July, were
grapes bigger than capers, and in immenfe
quantities. Sometimes Turkey corn is put
1 J
to
GERMANY. 469
to dry under the projections of the firft
floor, and the gardens are ornamented with
a fhort alley of hops. Meat is however bad
and fcarce ; the appearance fo difgufting
before it is drefled, that thofe, who can ac-
commodate their palates to the cooking,
muft endeavour to forget what they have
feen. Butter is ftill more fcarce, and the
little cheefe that appears, is only a new
white curd, made up in rolls, fcarcely bigger
than an egg. A fort of beer is here made
for fervants, the tafte of which affords no
fymptom of either malt or hops ; it is often
^ *'
nearly white, and appears to have been
brewed but a few hours ; what is fomewhat
browner is bottled, and fold at about three-
pence a quart.
Our road, this day, was feldom more
, than two leagues diftant from the Rhine,
and we expected to have heard the fire,
which the Auftrian and French pofts, who
' have their batteries on the two banks of the
H'^^IJ
h 3 nver,
470 GERMANY.
river, frequently exchange with each other.
The tranquillity was, however, as found as
in, any other country, and nothing but the
continuance of patroles and convoys re-
minded us of our nearnefs to the war. The
peafants were as leifurely cutting their har-
veft, and all the other bufmefs of rural life
was -proceeding as uninterruptedly, as if
there was no poffibility of an attack. Yet
we afterwards learned, that the French had,
very early on the morning of this day, in-
effectually attempted the pafTage of the
\
Rhine, about fifteen miles higher up ; and
the firing had been distinctly heard at a
little village where we dined.
One road, as mort as this, lies immedi-
ately upon the margin of the river; and,
as we were afiured that none but military
parties were fired at, we wifhed to pafs it,
for the purpofe of obferving the ingenious
methods, by which a country fo circum-
{tanced is defended ; but our poftillion, who
dreaded,
GERMANY. 471
dreaded, that he might be prefled by the
Auftrians, for the intrufion, refufed to ven*
ture upon it, and, inftead of proceeding to
Kehi, which is diredly oppofite to Straf-
bourg, we took the road for Ofienburg,
about three leagues from the Rhine.
The country through which our route
now lay, better as it is than more northern
parts, has fufFered fome pofitive injuries by
the war. Before this, all the little towns,
from Carlfruhe downwards, maintained
fome commerce with France, on their own
account, and fupplied carriage for that of
others. In return for provifions and coarfe
commodities for manufacture, carried to
Strafbourg, they received the filks and
woollens of France, to be difperfed at
Franckfort, or Manheim. The intercourfe
between the two countries was fo frequent,
that nearly all the tradefmen, and many of
the labouring perfons in this part of Ger-
many fpeak a little French. The landlord
H h 4 of
GERMANY.
of the houfe, where we dined, aflured us
that, though his village was fo fmall, he had
fufficient bufmefs before the war ; now he
was upon the point of removing to OfFen-
biirg, being unable to pay his rent, during
the interruption of travelling.
A little before fun-fet, we came to Ap-
penweyer, one of thefe towns, from the
entrance of which the fpires of Strasbourg
were fo plainly vifible that we could fee the
fanes glittering againft the light, and even
the forms of the fortifications near the wa-
ter could be traced. In the midft of the
ftraggling town of Appenweyer the loud
founds of martial mufic and then the ap-
pearance of troops, entering at the oppofite
end, furprifed us. This was the advanced
guard of feveral Auftrian regiments, on
their march to re-inforce the allied army
in the Low Countries. Our poftillion had
drawn up, to furrender as much of the road
^s poflible to them, but their march was fo
irregular,
GERMANY. 473
irregular, that they frequently thronged
round the carriage ; affording us fufficient
opportunity to obferve how far their air
correfponded with what has been fo often
faidoftheAuilrian foldiery.
Except as to their drefs and arms, their
appearance is not military, according to any
notion, which an Englifhman is likely to
have formed ; that is, there is nothing of
activity, nothing of fpirit, of cheerfulnefs,
of the corre&nefs of difcipline, or of the
eagernefs of the youthful in it. There is
much of ferocity, much of timid cruelty,
of fullennefs, indolence and awkwardnefs.
They drefs up their faces with muftachios,
and feem extremely defirous to imprefs ter-
ror. How far this may be effectual again ft
other troops we cannot know j but they
certainly are, by their ferocious manners,
and by the traits, which a nearer view of
them difclofes, very terrible to the peace'ful
traveller. Though now immediately under
th
474 GERMANY.
the eyes of their officers they could fcarcely
refrain from petty infults, and from wim-
fully laying their hands upon our baggage.
About a thoufand men pafled in two
divifions, which had commenced their
inarch a few hours before, for the purpofe
of avoiding the heat of the day. As we
proceeded, the trodden corn in the fields
fhewed where they had refted.
It was night before we reached OfFen-
burg, where We were compelled to lodge
at a wretched inn called the Poft-houfe,
the matter of the other having that day
removed to admit a' new tenant ; but the
condition of the lodging was of little im-
portance, for, all night, the heavy trampling
of feet along the road below prevented
fleep, and with the firft dawn the found of
martial mufic drew us to the windows. It
feemed like a dream, when the Auftrian
bands played ca ira, with double drums,
and cymbals thrown almoft up to our cafe-
men ts, .
OERMANY. 475
ments, louder than any we had ever heard
before. This was the main body of the
army, of which we had met the advanced
party. Each regiment was followed by a
long train of baggage carriages, of various
and curious deicriptions, fome of the ca-
briolets having a woman nearly in man's
apparel in the front, and behind, a large
bafket higher than the carriage, filled with
hay. This " tide 9f human exiftence" con-
tinued to pafs for feveral hours. But the
whole army did not confift of more than
three regiments of infantry, among which
were thofe of D'Arcy, and Pellegrini, and
one of horfe ; for each of the Auftrian regi-
ments of foot contains, when complete, two
thoufand three hundred men. They had
with them a fmall train of artillery, and
were to proceed to the Low Countries aa
quick as they could march ; but, fo uniform
are the expedient's of the councils of Vien-
na, that the opportunity of carrying thefe
troops
476 GERMANY.
troops down the Rhine in barges from
Phillipfburg, where it was practicable, was
not adopted, though this method would
have faved two weeks out of three, and
have landed the army unfatigued at its
poft.
All their regimentals were white, faced
either with light blue, or pompadour, and
feemed unfuitably delicate for figures fo
large and heavy. The cavalry were loaded
with many articles of baggage, but their
horfes appeared to be of the ftrongeft and
irioft ferviceable kind. This was a grand
military mow, which it was impoflible to
fee without many . reflections on human
nature and human mifery.
OfFenburg is a fmall town, in the Mar-
graviatc of Baden Baden, pleafantly feated
at the feet of the BergftrafTe, which the road
. again approaches ib near ns to be fomewhat
obftruded by its accliviiies. Our way lay
'
.along the We of thefq fteeps, during the
whole
GERMANY. 477
whole day; and as we drew nearer to Swit-
zerland, their height became Hill more ftu-
pendous, and the mountains of Alface feem-
ed advancing to meet them in the long per-
fpedtive ; the plains between, through which
the Rhine gleamed in long fweeps, appeared
to be entirely covered with corn, and in
the nearer fcene joyous groups were loading
the waggons with the harveft. An harveft
of another kind was ripening among the
lower rocks of trie Bergftrafle, where the
light green of the vines enlivened every
cliff, and fometimes overfpread the ruinous
walls of what had once been fortrefles.
We patted many villages, fhaded with
noble trees, which had more appearance of
comfort than :any we had feen, and which
were enviable for the pleafantnefs of their
fituation ; their fpacious ftreet generally
opening to the grandeur of the mountain
villa, that extended to the fouth. In thefe
landfcapes the peafant girl, in the fimple
drefs
GERMANY.
drefs of the country, and balancing on her
large ftraw hat an harveft keg, was a very
picturefque figure.
It was evening when we came within
view of Friburg, the laft city of Germany
on the borders of Switzerland, and found
ourfelves among mountains, which partook
of the immenfity and fublimity of thofe of
that enchanting country. But what was
our emotion, wherv, from an eminence, we
difcovered the pointed fummits of what we
believed to be the Swifs mountains them-
felves, a multitudinous aflemblage rolled in
the far-diftant profpect ! This glimpfe of a
country of all others in Europe the moft
aftonifhing and grand, awakened a thoufand
interefting recollections and delightful ex-
pectations ; while we watched with regret
even this partial vifion vanifhing from our
eyes as we defcended towards Friburg.
The mountains, that encompafs this city,
have fo much the character of the great,
that
GERMANY. 479
that we immediately recoiled: the line of
feparation between Germany and Switzer-
land to be merely artificial, not marked
even by a river. .Yet while we yield to the
awful pleafure which this eternal vaftnefs
infpires, we feel the infignificance of our
temporary nature, and, feeming*more than
ever confcious by what a {lender fyftem our
exiftence is upheld, fomewhat of dejection
and anxiety mingle with our admiration.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
-
iuo rnoi'i niiftint/
[ arfj "io
BINDING SECT. JUL2S 1985
D Radcliffe, Ann (Ward)
917 A journey made in the
R3 summer of 1794 2d ed.
1795
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