CHAPTER XXII.

IMPERIAL REGULATION NECESSARY TO BE KNOWN-THE DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU DES DILIGENCES PAR EAU-SINGULAR ADVENTUREA SCRAPE-A STRATAGEM-PASSAGE TO BONN-A DISCOVERY-EXCELLENT EFFECT OF BRANDY-THE CITY OF BONN-THE MALLEFFECT 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 pre-ceding 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 offi-

cers 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 apprehen

sion 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 Frankfort 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

any 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 that 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 shew 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 shew to you how dear my countrymen are to me, by going as far 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 in 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 a 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 ascendancy 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,