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 physiogomy 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 acruel 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

THE SEVEN MOUNTAINS.

403

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 aukward appearance of some of the ambassadors so enraged him, that in his anger he burst an artery.

Drackenfels 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; midwayit is covered with luxuriant vines, whilst all above is red and grey 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 the eye 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.

404

THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE.

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 Buonaparte 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, Buonaparte 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

1

BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.

405

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 mold, 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 froin 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.

CHAPTER XXIII.

'BASALT MOUNTAINS-ANDERNACH-ANECDOTE OF GENERAL HOCHE RHENISH FLOATS-SINGULAR ACCIDENT-FRENCH POLICE-NEUWEID THE RHINE BOAT-TOMB OF GENERAL MARCEAU-ANECDOTE OF FRENCH HEROISM-COBLENTZ-ITS SURRENDER TO THE FRENCH ARMS-ANECDOTE OF FRENCH VIVACITY-THE ROCK AND FORTRESS OF EHRENBREITSTEIN-THE GRIFFON STUPENDOUS

FRENCH ROADS-BOPPART.

ALMOST all the immense mass of mountains which extend from Bonn to Andernach, is composed of the basalt and slate; the former has a more artificial appearance than almost any other mineral production. In no form can it puzzle the philosopher more than at the Giant's Causeway, in Ireland, where it assumes a columnar shape, which has every appearance of having been chisseled by the hand of a skilful mason, and of having been regular granite cooling after fusion, and formed into regular masses by crystallization. In the small cavities of these mountains the martins and swallows find refuge, and in a comfortable state of torpidity pass through the cold and cheerless weather of winter. The children of the peasantry amuse themselves in discovering their retreats, at an apparent exposure of their own lives.