Chapter XXII

IMPERIAL REGULATION NECESSARY TO BE KNOWN ... THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU DES DILIGENCES PAR EAU ... SINGULAR ADVENTURE ... A SCRAPE ... A STRATAGEM ... PASSAGE TO BONN ... A DISCOVERY ... EXCELLENT EFFECT OF BRANDY ... THE CITY OF BONN ... THE MALL ... EFFECT OF BLACK ... PRESENT STATE OF BONN ... THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS ... THE MONASTERY ... ANECDOTE OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE ... BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.

In consequence of having been informed the preceding evening that an imperial decree had passed, by which strangers entering the French empire were permitted to bring as much money into it as they chose, but were not suffered to take out of it more than what certain officers appointed for that purpose considered necessary for the prosecution of their journey, the surplus passing in the nature of a forfeiture to the crown, I concealed about thirty ducats, which fell within this description of overplus, in my cravat, and at five o’clock in the morning, marched from my hotel to the bureau des diligences par eau, a distance full two English miles, to be searched for this superfluity of cash, previous to my ascending the Rhine. At this house a scene took place which perhaps has not often occurred to travellers, in consequence of the temporary apprehension which it excited, the ridiculous situation in which it placed me, and the retributive chastisement which it inflicted for thus venturing upon an hostile shore. I was introduced into a room looking upon the Rhine; at the bureau sat the Director, a man who wore spectacles, with a strongly marked, expressive countenance, apparently about fifty years of age; upon my bowing to him he demanded of me, in German, who I was? I requested him to address me in French, which he did, repeating the question. I told him I was an American going to the Francfort fair, upon which he put down his spectacles, and running up to me, squeezed my hand with a violence of compression infinitely more painful than agreeable, and exclaimed in very good English, “How happy is this day to me! for I too am an American.” I was obliged to return the affectionate salutation, and also to express my delight in having, so far from our native home, met with a countryman. He then asked me from what part of America I came? “From Baltimore,” was the answer. “Happier and happier!” cried he renewing his embrace, “for I was born there too.” At this moment I wished, for the first time in my life, all the force of the _amor patriæ_ at the devil; but there was no time to be lost in meditating upon the peril and awkwardness of my situation. To prevent, as much as possible his interrogating me further about my adopted country, I addressed with all possible fluency, as many questions as I could suggest respecting Cologne, the Rhine, the war; in short, I touched upon every subject but what had an American tendency. To my observations he bowed, to my questions he gave very brief answers, and continued expressing his delight in seeing me, a delight which was very far from being reciprocal. After ordering his servants to bring breakfast for me, which I did not decline, although I had already taken that meal at my hotel, for fear of offending him, he made many inquiries after some persons whom he named, and mentioned to be of the first consequence in Baltimore. I gave him to understand that I had left the city when quite a boy; but upon his assuring me that I must remember or have heard of the persons he had named, I gave him to understand that my recollection of them was very imperfect, but that I believed they had perished by the yellow fever; upon hearing which he expressed great affliction, observing they were the dearest friends he had in Baltimore before he quitted it, about fifteen years since. In this uncomfortable situation I sat vis-à-vis with my tormentor, who continued, during breakfast, to overload me with expressions of kindness. At last the skipper of the Rhine boat made his appearance, with the welcome information that the boat was ready, upon which the director ordered him to make up a bed for me on board if I wished it, and to show me every possible attention, adding, that I was his particular friend and countryman. I now thought the hour of my deliverance was arrived, and that an adventure which promised so adversely would terminate in the display of the civilities I have enumerated; but it was determined that my correction was not yet sufficient, for as the director looked out of the window, he exclaimed, “here comes my secretary, a very steady young man, who can attend to the office for the day,” and then turning round to me, added, “and I can now have the happiness of going half a day’s journey with you, which I am resolved to do; yes, I will show to you how dear my countrymen are to me, by going as for as Bonn with you.” Distressed and embarrassed beyond measure at this fresh proof of his provoking and perplexing regard for America and me, I tried in vain to prevail upon him not to think of carrying his politeness so far, and expressed my strong sense of the attentions with which he had already _completely overwhelmed_ me: all that I urged appeared only to redouble the warmth of his expressions, and to confirm him in his determination.

With a heavy heart and a light countenance we walked arm and arm down to the shore, and ascended the boat, over which, as well as all the other Cologne passage boats, it appeared he had complete sovereignty by virtue of his office, and in a minute afterwards the towing horse advanced at a rate of about two English miles and an half in an hour on the French side of the river. The director made me sit next to him in the cabin, telling the passengers, who appeared to be very respectable, that I was an American and his countryman, and that that was the happiest day he had experienced for fifteen years. In the course of conversation with him, from the gasconade stories which he related of his own exploits, I was induced to entertain suspicions of his character; he told me that he was one of the most conspicuous characters in the French revolution; that General Custine owed all his glory in the field to him; that he had long resided at Berlin, where he had, by his intrigues, maintained for some time a complete ascendency in the Prussian cabinet; that he was engaged in a vast literary work, in which all the great events that had agitated the world for the last ten years, would be unfolded in a manner never before developed; that he had entered into the service of the French Emperor, solely to promote the interest of the empire. He observed, after engaging my word to keep the matter secret until I reached my own country, that the Emperor was abhorred throughout the empire, that he was a remorseless tyrant, and that _he_ could prove him to be a coward.

To the latter part of his assertion I took care to offer no remark, but under the pretence of wishing to view the city of Cologne at a distance, the river and the country, and also to gain a little respite from such a rapid succession of untoward circumstances, I ascended the top of the cabin and refreshed myself by making the sketch engraved. The tower, the mighty mass of the unfinished cathedral, the numerous spires, the shores on either side, the rapid motion of the vessel descending the Rhine, the singing of those on board, the clear brilliancy of the sky, afforded reanimating delight to my mind.

About ten o’clock my persecutor raised his head through the cabin door, to announce that dinner was ready, and to request my company: upon descending I found some soup, and beef roasted after the German fashion, and that the director had, while I was above, been taken ill, from the occasional agitation of the boat, that to allay his sickness he had asked one of the gentlemen on board for some brandy, and of which he had evidently taken a great deal too much: the spirit rapidly operated upon his head, and a more abominable nuisance in the shape of man I never beheld: incapable of sitting at table with such a miscreant, I resumed my old place where I had not been seated long before I heard him abusing all the passengers, except myself, for whom he again expressed “the assurance of his high consideration,” and threatening to order them all to be thrown overboard, which he seemed to be perfectly able to do himself, for he was one of the most powerful men I ever beheld: upon which they relinquished the cabin to himself, and, excepting a very pretty French girl, came upon deck. Upon hearing her scream violently, I went below to see what _influence his countryman_ could now have over the director: as I was handing her out of the cabin, he forcibly pulled me back, closed the door, and said, in a manner which was perfectly intelligible, though occasionally interrupted by the spasms of intoxication, “I know you, though you think I do not; you are _no American_, you are an Englishman, and a son of Mr. Erskine the orator; you are here on a secret mission, and your life is in my hands, but I will not betray you.” The reply I made was, “I am engaged in no secret mission, my soul would revolt at it, nor can I be the son of my Lord Erskine, for he is now upon the ocean, as ambassador from the court of Great Britain to my country;” to which I added, “that it was in vain for him to attempt to deceive me any longer, for I was satisfied, by his observations respecting America, that he had not been born in that country:” to which, to my no little consternation, he replied, “No, nor have I ever been there, I am a German by birth, I was educated by an Englishman who lived at my father’s, and I am now in the service of one of the greatest heroes, and the most illustrious of men.”

I know not whether my life was in peril, but it is certain my liberty was, and to preserve it, I thought that something should be immediately done; accordingly I ascended the top of the cabin, where all the passengers were assembled in a state of considerable uneasiness, from one of whom I borrowed a bottle of brandy and a coffee-cup, with which I returned to the director, and insisted upon drinking his health in some excellent spirit, and raising my hand and the bottle in a manner which, in his state, prevented him from seeing what I poured out, I affected to fill and drink it off; I then gave him a bumper, which I several times repeated in a similar manner, until the miscreant dropped under the table, where he continued in a state of utter insensibility, and with little appearance of life, until we arrived, which we did in about six hours, at Bonn, when he was taken out of the vessel by some men, conveyed to a house near the banks of the river, and, thank heaven! I saw no more of him, but proceeded with the rest of the passengers to a very neat inn a little way in the city, where we had an excellent dinner and some good white Rhine wine. The stream of the Rhine became less rapid as we approached Bonn, where its waters are shallower than in the neighbourhood of Cologne, where all large vessels ship their cargoes which are destined for any of the towns higher up, into craft constructed peculiarly for the purpose, and which draw much less water. As I determined to sleep at Bonn, I had a favourable opportunity of seeing this beautiful little city, which enabled the former Electors of Cologne to display their taste by selecting it for their residence. It was elegantly and justly observed by a French lady on board of the boat as we approached the city, _Voilà Bonne! c’est une petite perle!_ no expression could describe it better; when I made my view of it, the dark clouds behind it set off the pearl-like appearance of the palace and buildings. I saw no spot on the Rhine in the shape of a town with which I was so much delighted; it consisted of little more than 1000 houses and 8000 inhabitants. In the neighbourhood the country begins to undulate, and the vines make a luxuriant appearance. The wine made here and in the adjacent parts is tolerably good; that which grows upon the black basalt hills, further to the southward, is infinitely preferable, black being a powerful agent to attract and retain heat; hence the rents of hills are rather high. So powerful is this colour in attracting and retaining the heat, that a very intelligent friend of mine, who resided for some time in China, informed me, that for the purpose of ripening their fruits as early as possible, the Chinese gardeners paint their garden walls black, and lately in some parts of England this plan has been followed. Everything in and about the city bears testimony to the enlightened liberality and refined taste of the last of the Electors of Cologne, who was cordially beloved and admired by all classes of his subjects. The building which was once his palace, is very extensive; it stands just without the city upon an elevation of ground, and commands a most enchanting prospect, embracing the windings of the majestic Rhine, part of the village of Poppledorff, the ci-devant monastery of Gruizberg crowning the summit of a hill, and at a distance the Seven Mountains, clothed with vineyards, and the spires of Coblentz. This beautiful building is now applied to government purposes; in the left wing towards the orange garden, which is prettily disposed, the French Emperor has preserved the Lyceum for instructing boys in Latin, Greek, German, French, mathematics, and philosophy: the professors are very able men, and the institution is in a flourishing condition: this is one amongst the many noble establishments founded by the last Elector, which in his reign was kept in another quarter of the city: this elegant pile of building, which is now stripped of all its valuable ornaments, was raised by the elector Clement Augustus in 1777, upon the same site on which no less than four preceding palaces had fallen victims to the flames: there is a beautiful walk under a quadruple row of lime trees, which leads to a small country palace: this walk forms the fashionable parade of the city, and was graced by a number of beautiful and elegantly dressed ladies. Some very pleasant French officers, with whom I was walking in this place, expressed their surprise at seeing an Englishman amongst them, and I was obliged to find refuge again in my American adoption.

Through a beautiful and romantic country, by a short walk a little beyond Gruizberg, towards the south, is the picturesque hill of Godesberg, or Godshill, so called from a sanative mineral spring flowing close to it, which contains fixed air, iron, magnesia, and salt: the last Elector who never omitted any thing which could add to the comfort and happiness of his people, erected an assembly and other rooms, and also pleasure gardens for recreation close to the spring, and by some very wise regulations, encouraged the building of lodging-houses. At this place, many of the unhappy French emigrants, after the revolution, found a little relief from the miserable recollections of their fallen fortunes and altered fate: the court of the prince bishop was remarkable for the elegance, hospitality, and refined freedom which reigned throughout it, and in return in every visitor he beheld a friend. The influence of this scene of courtly felicity upon the manners of the people had not as yet subsided. A peculiar air of refinement distinguished the deportment of the inhabitants: after an exquisite ramble, I returned through the square, a spacious irregular area, where the French troops quartered in the place were exercising, and where a very ancient Gothic town house stands, to supper at my hotel, at the table d’hote of which I again smarted for the temerity of trespassing upon this delightful spot. During our repast, which abounded with a great variety of choice and excellent dishes, and which was attended by many French officers, a German lady who sat opposite to me, always addressed and alluded to me by the perilous name of “_Monsieur Anglois_,” which excited some considerable attention amongst the company towards me; at last a French officer whose physiognomy did not present the most pleasing collection of features, rose up, eyed me all over, and went out: I expected nothing less than being obliged to take shelter once more under my American alliance, but after waiting in the room an hour, I saw nothing more of him, and went to bed. Whilst a cruel and savage state of hostility between man and man thus embarrassed the progress of a traveller, whose only object was to contemplate the beautiful face of nature, never did the divine object of his pursuit appear more arrayed in the smiles of _peace_ and loveliness. The government of Bonn, as well as Cologne, and all the other cities on the left bank of the Rhine is vested in a governor appointed by Napoleon, and is purely military. Under a clear and cloudless sky I bade adieu to Bonn with great reluctance, and embarked on board of the passage-boat bound to Cassel. As we passed the lofty towers of Plittersdorff, on our right, the Rhine unfolded itself in all its glory. On our left the seven mountains (Sieben Geburge) called the Drakenfels, Wolkenbourg, Rolandsekke, Löwenburgh, Nonnenstromberg, Hoke Ochlbey, and Hemmerick, arose with uncommon grandeur, crowned with convents and the venerable ruins of castles. In distant ages, many a German baron bold resided in rude dignity with his martial followers upon the summit of these mountains, from whence they waged war against each other, and many of their remains of antiquity are the work of Valentinian in the fourth century, who overthrew the Germans, and who fell a victim to his inordinate passion, for when the Quadi sent to him to make a peace, the _awkward appearance_ of some of the ambassadors so enraged him, that in his anger he burst an artery.

Drackensels has infinitely the advantage of situation; it rises perpendicularly from the river to a stupendous height, crowned with the roofless remains of an ancient castle, brown with antiquity; midway it is covered with luxuriant vines, whilst all above is red and gray rock. The other mountains, which recede to a great distance, appeared to be clothed with the clustering grape, on the opposite side the vineyards, sloping close to the water’s edge, extended as far as they could reach; every where the genius of this terrestrial Paradise seemed as if with tasteful finger he had

——led the vine
To wed her elm——she spoused about him twines
Her marriageable arms! and with her brings
Her dower, the adopted clusters, to adorn
Her barren leaves. MILTON.

As we advanced, a beautiful island in the centre of the river, covered with poplars, walnut-trees and elms, from the bosom of which arose the roof and belfry of the monastery of Nonen Werth, or Worthy Nuns, formed the back scene: the bosom of the river was enlivened with the peasants of the neighbourhood moving in boats worked and steered with paddles, and the banks of the French territory with groups of French soldiers bathing, and singing their national songs.

As we passed the monastery the matin bells rung, and gave a romantic interest to the scene: this pious seclusion is included in the French line of sovereignty, and was condemned by Bonaparte to change its owners and its nature for ever; but at the earnest intercession of the Empress Josephine, he consented to suffer the sisterhood to enjoy it during their lives, after which it will devolve to the empire. Wherever power could effect and policy justify the measure, Bonaparte has displayed his decided hostility to monastic establishments of every description; he considers them as so many sinks of sloth, in which all the noble principles and purposes of life become stagnant. In Paris only one convent, that of the Blue Nuns, is permitted to remain. The numerous convents which adorn the French side of the Rhine with the most picturesque appearance, are either converted into fabrics, or suffered to run to dilapidation: the river, from its meanderings, is land-locked all the way, every turning of which surprised and captivated me with some new beauty. Here, behind a line of walnut, lime and beech trees, just skirting the margin of the river, a stupendous pyramidal cliff appears, with every projection upon which the cultivator could lodge a layer of vegetable mould, supporting a little growth of vine: there, mountains of vineyards, relieved by mouldering castles, and convents rising from masses of rock shooting forwards, or piercing the sky from their pointed pinnacles, arrest the attention. Sometimes a torrent brightens before the beholder, and distantly roars upon the ear; at others the naked bed of one appears, or a rude gap through which the eye penetrates into ranges of other vine-clad mountains, variegated with majestic ruins, is seen. At the base of the hills on the sides of the river numerous towers and villages constantly appear, defended by ancient walls and turrets, adorned with venerable churches, brown with age, surmounted with lofty spires, every where inviting the reflection of the moralist, the investigation of the antiquary, the song of the poet, and the pencil of the painter.