A tour through some parts of France, Switzerland, Savoy, Germany and Belgium Part 10

Waving any further discussions on a subject which the _vanity_ of these gentlemen would have extended _ad infinitum_, or, at least, longer than I wished, I left them to their own lucubrations, and went on deck to contemplate the grandeur of the scenery which surrounded us, and which was reflected in the transparent waters of the Rhine. The river here resembles a succession of lakes, and is surrounded in many places by such lofty mountains, that I was often at a loss to guess on which side we should find an opening to continue our course. The country along the Rhine is considered as one of the richest districts in Europe; it abounds with considerable towns, and with villages which, in other countries, would be considered as towns. Almost every eminence is crowned with an ancient castle, and there is scarcely a reach of the river which does not exhibit some ruin in the boldest situation that can be imagined. The houses too being mostly white, and covered with blue slates, add considerably to the beauty of the scene.

The _Tour de Souris_ is situated on an island near the _Gulph of Bingerlock_, where the river presents a curious appearance, being extremely agitated by hidden rocks, and the different currents are very violent. We dined at Bingen, where the Noh falls into the Rhine. The mountains of Niederwald cast a considerable shade around, and the mixture of woods and vineyards is highly picturesque, but the vines being mostly blighted, had this year the same autumnal tint as the trees. In this country, the vine is _almost the only product_ of the soil, and the inhabitants, who subsist chiefly by it, now behold with regret its withered state, and are melancholy and inactive, instead of being engaged in the pleasing cares of the vintage.

This is the _third year_ here, as well as in Burgundy and other districts, since there has been a favourable vintage; and it is only by mixing some of the vintage of 1811, with that of the subsequent years, that the inhabitants can dispose of a small portion of this inferior produce.

Boppart was the former residence of the electors of Treves, but the Palace is now falling to decay. Whilst contemplating this mouldering pile, I was struck with the well-known sounds of our national air, '_G.o.d save the King_,' which some of the company below sang in chorus (being probably tired of the politics of the Frenchmen, as much as I was), this air being originally German. The evening was fine for the season, and about sun-set, several of the distant hills presented a fine appearance, having bonfires ou their tops, this being the 18th of October, which will be long celebrated in commemoration of the decisive battle of Leipzig. Most of the company came on deck to witness the effect of the bonfires. The Germans seemed delighted at the sight which the Frenchmen surveyed in silence. One of them, however, soon recovering his loquacity, asked me if I had been at _Paris_, which he said was the greatest city in the world, and _larger than London_.

This I could not a.s.sent to, being contrary to fact. Yet it would he difficult for _French ingenuity_ to prove what _benefits_ result to a country from an overgrown capital. _Superiority_ is, however, all they contend for. We soon saw the singular building (in an island) called the _Palatinate_; it is now used as a public granary, and was _illuminated_ in honour of the day, as was also the neat village of St. Goar, where we pa.s.sed the night. _All_ seemed to partake of the festivity, and _I_ could net discern in the inhabitants any symptoms of regret that they were no longer subject to France.

Having set out at an early hour, we reached Coblentz to breakfast. It is a large town, containing 12,000 inhabitants, and is advantageously situated at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine. It was garrisoned chiefly by the _Royal Guards of Saxony_, who exceeded in appearance any troops I had seen on the Continent. Some of them are stationed in the ci-devant palace, which is situated close to the river.

The lofty mountain opposite the town is covered with the _ruins of Ehrenbreitstein_, which was at one time considered as the strongest fortress on the Rhine. Opposite the town was a bridge of boats, but it was destroyed in the last war, and a flying bridge is subst.i.tuted pro tempore. The Rhine is so rapid near Andernach, as never to freeze in the severest winter, and it here proceeds longer in a straight course, than I had yet seen in any part. Neuwied, although subject to inundations, is a large well built and commercial town. Lower down, on the left bank of the river, I observed an obelisk, which I found, on inquiry, was erected to the French General Marsan, who fell during the period of the first invasion of Germany by the French republicans. Still farther, and close to the river, stands an ancient building, called _The Devil's House_, but, from what circ.u.mstance, I could not exactly discover. Some attribute it to the vast number of windows which it contains.

The situation of Lowdersdorf is highly picturesque, and the surrounding hills are shaded with woods of great antiquity. We here saw several rafts of timber of large dimensions, proceeding slowly down the stream.

At Linz, the landsturm were mustered to fire a volley, as the victory of Leipzig was celebrated for two or three days in most parts of Germany.

At Bonn, I witnessed further rejoicings, and the illuminations presented a highly pleasing effect when beheld from the river. I was at this place invited to a _ball and supper_, where I remained until a late hour, enjoying the general festivity.

Bonn is a well built city, containing about 14,000 inhabitants, and was formerly the general residence of the electors of Cologne. About a league above the city are the seven mountains, and near them is a beautiful island of considerable extent, in which is a large convent.

Here ends the picturesque scenery of the Rhine, which pursues the rest of its course through a flat country, until its waters are dispersed amongst the ca.n.a.ls of Holland. The river is here of great width, but not so deep as it is higher up.

Before Bonn we saw the remains of two merchant vessels which had been wrecked there a few days before. Those who embark on the Rhine for pleasure, should here leave their boats, and pursue the rest of their journey by land, as the country ceases to be interesting, and the navigation is often difficult.

We set out with a favourable wind; but about a league from _Cologne_ our boat was driven on the right bank of the Rhine by a violent gale; and as there appeared no immediate prospect of proceeding by water, most of the party determined on walking to the city. We found the flying bridge had been damaged by the late storm, and were therefore obliged, to wait a long time for a boat of sufficient size to pa.s.s the river, which was greatly agitated, and which is here of great depth, although much narrower than at _Mayence_. Few cities present a more imposing appearance than Cologne; a vast extent of buildings, a profusion of steeples, and a forest of masts, raise the expectations of the traveller. The deception cannot be more justly or more emphatically described than in the words of Dr._Johnson:_ "Remotely we see nothing but spires of temples, and turrets of palaces, and imagine it the residence of splendour, grandeur, and magnificence; but when we have pa.s.sed the gates, we find it perplexed with narrow pa.s.sages, disgraced with despicable cottages, embarra.s.sed with obstructions, and clouded with smoke."

Cologne is one of the largest and most ancient cities in Germany; it was founded by _Agrippa_, and is above three miles in length; but the population is only between 40 and 50,000, which is very inconsiderable for its great extent. From the number of its churches, which at one time amounted to 300, it has been called the Rome of Germany. One of them (the Dome), although still unfinished, is one of the grandest efforts of architecture, and excites the admiration of all judges of that art.

The port owes its improvement to Buonaparte, and the quay is lined with ships of considerable size.

The city was anciently imperial, and the Elector of Cologne could not reside more than three days together in it without permission of the magistrates; but those who have ever seen this gloomy city, will not, I think, consider this restriction as a grievance.

I here left the Rhine; it is difficult sufficiently to praise the beauties of its banks, which afford also ample scope for the researches of the naturalist. They are not, however, adorned with that number of country-seats which enliven many of our rivers, and a few convents and palaces only are to be seen; although villages and towns are very numerous. I must not omit to mention, that I visited the house in which _Rubens_ was born; his name is given to the street, which, like most others at Cologne, has little beauty. He had furnished many of the churches of his native city with paintings, but several of them have been removed to Paris. He has been called _the Ajax of painters_, and his great excellence appears in the grandeur of his _compositions_; the art of colouring was by him carried to the highest pitch. Rubens, however great his skill, deserves the praise of _modesty_, as, although he is allowed to have been little inferior to t.i.tian in _landscape_, he employed Widens and Van-uden when landscapes were introduced into his paintings, and Snyders for animals, who finished them from his designs.

The country around Cologne is well cultivated, but is unenclosed up to the walls of the city, and there are none of those elegant villas to be seen which distinguish the neighbourhood of Frankfort; but it is impossible for any two places to be more completely the reverse of each other in every respect.

My next stage was Juliers, the ancient capital of the duchy of the same name; it is a small city, but is well fortified, and its citadel is said to be of uncommon strength. As we approached Aix-la-Chapelle the roads became very indifferent, the soil being a deep sand; they are, however, in many places paved in the centre.

Aix-la-Chapelle is a large, and, in general, a well-built city. The windows, in most of the houses, are very large, and give it a peculiar appearance. It was called by the Romans _Aquisgranum_, or _Urbs Aquensis_. It has for ages been celebrated for its waters, which resemble extremely those of Bath; but some of the springs are still hotter. There are five springs which attract every year much company; but the season had ended before my arrival. This city was chosen by _Charlemagne_ as the place of his residence, on account of the pleasantness of its situation; and, until its incorporation with France, held the first rank amongst the imperial cities of Germany. According to the _Golden Bull_ the emperors were to be crowned here; but Charles V was the last who conformed to that regulation.

The ancient walls of Aix enclose a vast extent of ground, and afford a pleasant walk; but there is much of the s.p.a.ce enclosed in fields and gardens, and the population is not proportioned to the remaining buildings, being no more than 30,000. The surrounding country is highly picturesque and varied, cultivation and woods being interspersed. The woods in this country have been, however, much diminished of late years.

But there are, it may be observed, coal mines to supply sufficient fuel for the inhabitants.

The town or great village of Burscheid adjoins the gates of Aix; it is very flourishing. Near it is a fine abbey. I was also pleased with the ruins of the Castle of Frankenberg. Here is a manufactory of needles, and about Aix are several of cloth.

From the Tower of Sittard is a view of vast extent over the Netherlands.

The cathedral of Aix is a large Gothic structure, but many of its decorations are trifling, and inconsistent with the solidity of its ma.s.sy columns of marble and granite. Its doors are of bronze highly wrought, but full of fissures.

The streets here are crowded with beggars; and I think I never was in a place where so little respect is paid to the observance of Sunday. In most towns on the continent the theatres, &c. are open, but most of the shops are closed during some part of the day; here they were open during the whole day, and seemed equally busy as during the rest of the week.

The country between _Aix_ and _Liege_ produces great quant.i.ties of hops (the vine of the north of Europe), and the beer here is very good.

Clermont is a neat village, with several good houses.

We pa.s.sed over some mountains, which seem to be the limit of the German language; the inhabitants of them speak a dialect intelligible neither at Liege nor Aix.

The country near Liege is rich, and the city is situated in a beautiful valley on the Meuse; it is extremely large, but is ill built, and the streets are more intricate and dirty even than those of Cologne. There is a good deal of trade carried on here, and the population is estimated at not less than 50,000. There are a great number of churches, but I was not much struck with any of them; that of the Dominicans is said to be copied from St. Peter's at Rome. There are a great number of booksellers here, and I was told it was a famous place to procure cheap books. The coal here seems of good quality, and the place is surrounded with collieries. The lower orders in this city speak a jargon called _Walloon_, which is completely unintelligible to the higher cla.s.ses.

The French customs are generally prevalent here; and it is said, the inhabitants regret their separation from France. There were vast manufactories of cutlery here, but the French, before their departure, destroyed most of the machinery; this, together with the failure of other trades, is said to produce the distress which fills the streets with beggars.

The _general appearance_ of the inhabitants of Liege is not more prepossessing to a stranger than that of their city. There are said to be a great number of _thieves_, and I saw some surprised whilst cutting the trunks from behind a carriage at the inn-door. The money here is extremely adulterated, and is not taken one stage from the city, a circ.u.mstance which frequently is attended with great loss to the traveller, if he has occasion to receive much change.

In this neighbourhood are several vineyards, but the climate is too cold to admit of the wine having a good flavour. They here cultivate a species of cabbage, the seed of which produces a thick oil, which is used in dying stuffs, and forms part of the composition of the black soap of this country.

I found that the season had long ended at Spa; that the roads were bad, and that it was above thirty miles out of my way, and therefore determined on proceeding to Brussels in the diligence, to make trial of one of the public carriages of this country, having found the posting good from Cologne to Liege. I found it extremely s.p.a.cious, when compared to those in England, and it was lined with faded yellow damask. I had but two companions, who, according to _Rousseau's Axiom_, would not be ent.i.tled to the name of _men_, which, he says, belongs to none under _five feet six inches_.

They proved, however, sufficiently agreeable companions, and I found they resided at _Louvain_. We proceeded at the rate of rather more than four English miles an hour, which was quicker than I had before travelled in a public carriage on the continent. Our first stage presented nothing remarkable; but the next, _St. Tron_, was a remarkably neat little town. There is a s.p.a.cious square, surrounded with good houses, and at one end is the _town-house_; the church is a large building, and its steeple contains a set of musical chimes, to which the people of this country are very partial.

We next reached _Tirlemont_, formerly one of the most considerable cities of Brabant, which is at present by no means of equal importance.

The surrounding country is fruitful; many of its villages contain cottages of clay, which I did not expect to see in so opulent a province; they are indeed s.p.a.cious, and the interior is kept very neat.

The general appearance of the people here is much more in their favour than at Liege.

Tirlemont contains manufactures of flannels, stockings, and cloth. The _cotton trade_, formerly the great staple of the Netherlands, has of late years been greatly on the decline.

CHAP. XVII.

Although the present population of the Netherlands bears no proportion to that which it formerly maintained, yet it is still very considerable, and exceeds that of any country in Europe, Holland only excepted; being 202 persons to each square mile (see ch. xi. for the population of Switzerland, &c.) The decrease in the number of inhabitants in these provinces is chiefly to be attributed to the religious persecutions which compelled thousands of industrious families to emigrate.

This depopulation is very perceptible in many of the cities I pa.s.sed through, which are capable of containing double their present number of inhabitants, and is nowhere more striking than at Louvain, where the present population does not exceed 25,000, and where formerly there were 4000 manufactories of cloth, which supported 15,000 labourers. This city is surrounded with an ancient wall of brick, which, as well as its numerous towers, presents a half mined appearance. Many of the public buildings of Louvain indicate its former opulence. The town-house is considered as a model of Gothic architecture, and the cathedral of St.

Peter is a stately building. The portal of the _Collegium Falconis_ presents a specimen of Grecian architecture, which is much admired for the simplicity. The _University of Louvain_ was formerly of great celebrity, and no person could exercise any public authority in the Austrian Netherlands, without having graduated here. This regulation, however beneficially intended, only produced the effect of raising extremely the expence of the different diplomas, without being attended with any advantage, except to the funds of the university. In the present unsettled state of the _Netherlands_, it cannot be expected that the seats of learning should be as much frequented, as they probably will be when their new sovereign shall have had leisure to turn his attention to the important subject of _public education_; and the wisdom of the regulations he has promulgated, on other matters of general interest (particularly that which enforces the more solemn observation of Sunday) leaves little room to doubt that this point will, in its turn, be duly and successfully attended to. Those who have resided at Louvain have observed, that its inhabitants are in general _more polite_ than in most of the towns in these provinces; but my stay was not sufficiently long to enable me to form any opinion on the subject. The manners of the people do not seem to me very dissimilar from those of the French, but others think they most resemble the Dutch.

In fact, the _Netherlanders_ have no _very peculiar characteristics_, but partake, in many respects, of those which distinguish the various nations from whom they are descended. They have been much and often abused by various writers, who have attributed to them the _faults_ of almost all the nations of Europe, without allowing that they possess any of the good qualities by which those faults are palliated in the other nations. Those, however, who are of a candid disposition will not feel inclined to a.s.sent to the truth of statements so evidently dictated by enmity or spleen. But whilst I would not have the Flemish considered as a compound of all that is exceptionable in the human character, I do not consider them as meriting any _particular praise_; nor can I vindicate them from the charge of dishonesty, which has been so often alleged against them. In general on the Continent, where _the English_ are the _subjects of extortion_, the fraud is considered as trivial, and the French often boast in conversation how _John Bull is pillaged at Paris_.

But whatever may be the _Flemish character_, it is allowed by all that they follow the French customs in their domestic arrangement, but are in general more cleanly. Their _kitchens_ are kept very neat, and the cooking apparatus is ranged in order round the stove, which, in many of the kitchens that I saw in the small inns, projects considerably into the room.

Many of the inhabitants of these provinces (like my two companions in the Louvain Diligence) are below the middle size; they are extremely intelligent and active, and in general civil to strangers. Before I quit Louvain, I must not omit to notice that it is famous for its beer, which is certainly the best I have tasted on the Continent. The number of breweries is said to exceed twenty, and the consumption is astonishingly great in the neighbourhood, besides a considerable export trade.

I continued my journey to Brussels along an excellent road, the centre of which was paved, as from the nature of the soil, it would be otherwise impa.s.sable in winter. The roads in this country run for many miles together, in a straight line between rows of trees; and I must confess I thought it very uninteresting to travel through. The flatness of its surface, is but rarely interrupted by any eminence, which affords a prospect calculated to make any impression on the mind. There are many neat villages, and occasionally one sees _country seats_ decorated in that formal style of gardening, which was originally introduced from this country into England, but which has there long since yielded to a more natural taste. The farming seems very neatly managed; the numerous ca.n.a.ls, although they add nothing to the beauty of the country, are of great utility to the farmer; and travelling is very cheap in the boats, which pa.s.s between the chief towns.

It would require scenery like that of the Rhine, to induce me to adopt this conveyance; but many of these ca.n.a.ls pa.s.s between banks which exclude all view of the surrounding country. I found the Netherlander generally impatient to be relieved from the great military expences, incident to their present situation. There is, I think, little reason to doubt, that when some of the existing taxes can be removed, the _Orange family_ will become popular. The stamp duties are very heavy; there are land and house taxes, and a personal tax. It is to be expected, that the people should wish for a diminution of their burdens, but _Liege_ is the only place I have visited in the countries lately relinquished by France, where the separation seems to be generally regretted. I found that the Prussian government, was by no means popular, on the left bank of the Rhine, and that an union with either Austria or Bavaria, was much wished for in those provinces, whose future destiny remains to be decided at the Congress of Vienna.

Having met with but few English travellers since I had quitted Switzerland, I was much struck on entering Brussels with the _vast numbers_ of my fellow subjects, moving in all directions. The garrison was almost entirely composed of English troops, so that I felt here quite at home. I found that there was an _English theatre_, as well as a French one, and that b.a.l.l.s, and entertainments of all descriptions, _a l'Anglaise_, were in abundance. Indeed the upper part of the city differed little in appearance from an English watering place.

Brussels is a city of great extent, built partly on the river Senne (naturally a very inconsiderable stream, but which, being formed here into a ca.n.a.l, becomes of much advantage), and partly on a hill, commanding an extensive view of the rich and fertile plain by which it is surrounded; much of which resembles a vast kitchen garden. It is, like Louvain, surrounded by a ruined wall of brick, as formerly all the towns of Flanders were fortified. This was the capital of the Austrian Netherlands, and lately the chief place of the French department of the Dyle: it will, probably, now become, for a part of the year, the residence of its new sovereign, whose sons are at present amongst its inhabitants. The inhabitants of Brussels are calculated at 70,000, and its environs give the traveller an idea of its importance, as they have an appearance of much traffic and are decorated with many villas which announce the opulence, but not always the good taste of their owners.

The city is, in general, irregularly built, and the lower part does not deserve commendation; but the _place royale_ is fine: the park is surrounded by many handsome public buildings, and by a number of private houses, which would ornament any capital in Europe. The park is of considerable extent, and forms an agreeable promenade. Its avenues are kept in excellent order; they abound with statues and other formal decorations, which are, however, more admissible in a city promenade than in the retirement of the country. A fountain here was celebrated by _Peter the Great's_ having fallen into it, as that monarch, like Cato, was said,

"Saepe mero caluisse virtus."