After taking leave of Göthe and his family, and paying a last visit to a
distinguished and charming artist in her 'atélier,' I quitted the German
Athens, stored with pleasant recollections.
I staid only just so long in Götha as was necessary to visit an old
friend and comrade, the minister and astronomer (heaven and earth in
strange conjunction) Baron Von L----. I found him still suffering from
the consequences of his unfortunate duel in Paris, but bearing this
calamity with the calmness of a sage, which he has displayed in every
circumstance of his life.
It was dark when I reached Eisenach, where I had a message to deliver to
another old comrade from the Grand Duke. I saw his house brilliantly
lighted up, heard the music of the dance, and was ushered into the midst
of a large company, who looked astonished at my travelling costume. It
was the wedding-day of my friend's daughter, and heartily did he welcome
me as soon as he recognized me. I apologized to the bride for my
unbridal garments, drank a glass of iced punch to her health, another to
that of her father, danced a Polonaise, and disappeared, 'à la
Française.' Very shortly afterwards I made my night toilet, and laid
myself comfortably to rest in my carriage.
When I awoke, I found myself a stage from Cassel, at the very place
where, ten years ago, we made our strange 'entrée,' with the pole of our
carriage standing erect, and the postilion apparently mounted upon it. I
breakfasted here, and thought over many circumstances of that journey;
drove through the pretty, melancholy little capital without stopping;
then through a noble beech wood, which gleamed in the sunshine with a
gold-green lustre; made romantic observations on a curious hill covered
with the moss-grown ruins; and hurrying on through this monotonous
district, reached the ancient see of Osnabruck at dinner-time.
One always sleeps better in a carriage the second night than the first;
the motion acts upon one like that of a cradle upon children. I felt
well and in good spirits next morning, and remarked that the whole face
of the country began to assume a Dutch character. Antique houses, with
numerous gables and windows; an unintelligible _Platt Deutsch_, which
nowise yields in harmony to the Dutch; a more phlegmatic people; better
furnished rooms, though still without Dutch cleanliness; tea instead of
coffee; excellent fresh butter and cream; increased extortions of
innkeepers;--all presented a new shade of this many-coloured world.
The country through which my road lay had a more agreeable and softer
character, especially at Stehlen on the Ruhr, a place made for a man who
wishes to retire from the tumult of the world to cheerful seclusion. I
could not gaze my fill on the fresh succulent vegetation, the
magnificent oak and beech woods which crowned the hills on the right and
left, sometimes growing down to the very road, sometimes going off into
the distance; everywhere skirting the most fruitful fields, shaded with
red and brown where they had been newly ploughed, clothed in deep or
tender green where they were covered by the young winter crops or the
fresh clover. Every village is surrounded by a belt of beautiful trees,
and nothing can exceed the luxuriance of the meadows through which the
Ruhr winds in fantastic meanderings. Towards evening, as I was comparing
this smiling landscape with our gloomy pine forests, a tongue of
homelike land suddenly appeared as if by enchantment, with its sand,
shingle, and arid stunted birch-trees, stretching across the road as far
as the eye could reach. In ten minutes the green meadows and proud
beeches greeted us again. What revolution was it that threw this tract
of sand here?
A few miles from Wesel, however, the whole country becomes 'tout de bon'
fatherlandish, and, as the 'chaussée' ends here, one wades once more
through Berlin loose sand. I arrived unfortunately a day too late to
sail from hence by the steamboat, otherwise I might have reached London
from Weimar in four days and a half. Now I must travel by land to
Rotterdam, and there wait the departure of the first vessel.
_Rotterdam, Sept. 25th._
My journey from Wesel to Arnheim was tedious enough. The horses toiled
slowly on, through a dull country, amid endless sands. There was nothing
interesting to be seen but the great brick-kilns by the roadside, which
I looked at attentively on account of their superiority to ours. The
more agreeable, and really magical in its effect, is the contrast of the
extensive garden which lies between Arnheim and Rotterdam. On a
'chaussée' constructed of clinkers, (very hard-baked tiles,) and covered
with a surface of fine sand--a road which nothing can excel, and which
never takes the slightest trace of a rut--the carriage rolled on with
that soft unvarying murmur of the wheels so inviting to the play of the
fancy.
Although there is neither rock nor mountain in the endless park I
traversed, yet the lofty dams along which the road sometimes runs, the
multitude of country-seats, buildings and churches grouped into masses,
and the many colossal clumps of trees rising from meadows and plains, or
on the banks of clear lakes, gave to the landscape as much diversity of
surface as of picturesque objects of the most varied character; indeed
its greatest peculiarity consists in this rapid succession of objects
which incessantly attract the attention. Towns, villages, country-seats,
surrounded by their rich enclosures; villas of every style of
architecture, with the prettiest flower-gardens; interminable grassy
plains, with thousands of grazing cattle; lakes which have gradually
grown merely from turf-digging to an extent of twenty miles; countless
islands, where the long reed, carefully cultivated for thatch, serves as
a dwelling-place for myriads of water-birds;--all join in a gladsome
dance, through which one is borne along as if by winged horses; while
still new palaces and other towns appear in the horizon, and the towers
of their high Gothic churches melt into the clouds in the misty
distance.
And even in the near-ground the continually changing and often grotesque
figures leave no room for monotony. Now it is a strange carriage,
decorated with carved work and gilding, without a pole, and driven by a
coachman in a blue jacket, short black breeches, black stockings, and
shoes with enormous silver buckles, who sits perched on a narrow board;
or women walking under the load of gold or silver ear-rings six inches
long, and Chinese hats like roofs upon their heads: then yew-trees cut
into dragons and all sorts of fabulous monsters; or lime-trees with
trunks painted white, or many-coloured; chimneys decorated in an
Oriental style, with numbers of little towers or pinnacles; houses built
slanting for the nonce; gardens with marble statues as large as life, in
the dress of the old French Court, peeping through the bushes; or a
number of brass bottles or cans, polished like mirrors, standing on the
grass by the roadside, glittering like pure gold, yet destined to the
humble purpose of receiving the milk with which the lads and lasses are
busily filling them. In short, a multitude of strange, unwonted and
fantastic objects every moment present to the eye a fresh scene, and
stamp the whole with a perfectly foreign character. Imagine such
pictures set in the golden frame of the brightest sunshine, adorned with
the richest vegetation, from giant oaks, elms, ashes and beeches, to the
rarest hot-house plant, and you will have a tolerably perfect and by no
means exaggerated idea of this magnificent part of Holland, and of the
high enjoyment of my day's ride.
There was only a part of it which, as to vegetation and variety, formed
an exception; but in another point of view was, if not so pleasant,
equally interesting. Between Arnheim and Utrecht you come upon a tract,
four miles long,[7] of the sand of the Luneberg heath, as bad as the
worst plains of the Mark; nevertheless--such is the power of intelligent
cultivation--the finest plantations of oak, white and red beech, birch,
poplar, &c., flourish by the side of the stunted thorns and heather,
which are the only natural productions of the soil. Where the ground has
too little strength to grow trees, it is planted with brushwood, which
is lopped every five or six years. The magnificent road is skirted the
whole way on each side with rows of well-kept flourishing trees; and to
my surprise I found that, spite of the arid sand, oaks and beeches
seemed to thrive better than birches and poplars. A number of the
exquisitely neat Dutch houses and villas were built in the midst of the
dreary heath: many were only begun, as well as the laying-out of
pleasure-grounds around them. I could not understand how people could
have pitched upon this inhospitable soil upon which to found expensive
establishments: but learned that the Government had been wise enough to
grant out the whole of this hitherto unprofitable tract of land to the
neighbouring proprietors and other opulent persons, free of all charges
for fifty years, with the sole condition that they must immediately
either plant or otherwise cultivate it. Their heirs or successors are to
pay a very moderate rent. I am persuaded, from what I here saw, that the
greater part of our hungry heaths might in a century be converted by a
similar process, and by continued cultivation, into thriving fields and
woods, and the whole district thus change its character.
Utrecht is prettily built, and, like all Dutch towns, a model of
cleanliness. The painted exterior of the houses and their various forms,
the narrow winding streets, and the old-fashioned 'ensemble,' are much
more pleasing to my eye than the so-called handsome towns, the streets
of which, like mathematical figures, invariably intersect at right
angles, and the whole weary line of each street is to be seen at a
glance. The environs are charming, the air very healthful, Utrecht being
the highest town in Holland, and, as I was assured, the society in
winter and spring very lively and agreeable, as all the wealthiest
nobles of the country make it their residence. The trade is
inconsiderable, and the whole air of the town and its inhabitants rather
aristocratical than commercial.
From thence I proceeded to Gouda, the cathedral of which place is
celebrated for its painted glass. Eighty thousand gulden[8] was lately
bidden in vain by an Englishman for one of these windows. In execution
it is equal to a miniature picture, and the splendour of the colours is
indescribable;--the gems and pearls in the garments of the priests
emulate real ones. Another, half of which was lately shattered by
lightning, was presented to the church by Philip II. There is a
portrait of him in it, dressed in a mantle of genuine purple; not the
usual reddish colour, but a lustrous violet, between the deepest blue
and crimson, more beautiful than anything I ever saw in glass. A third
contains a portrait of the Duke of Alva. All the windows are of
extraordinary dimensions, and with few exceptions in exquisite
preservation. They are all of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
except one, which was not painted till the seventeenth, and which
betrays the decline of the art, both by the inferiority of the colours
and of the conception and drawing.
He who has seen Gouda may spare himself the trouble of a journey to the
leaning tower of Pisa, for here the whole town seems to have been built
on the same principle. Though the Dutch, who have been on many accounts
not inappropriately called the Chinese of Europe, might very fairly be
believed capable of preferring so extraordinary a style of architecture,
yet it is probable that the really alarming aspect of the buildings here
is to be attributed chiefly to the unsteady boggy soil.[9]
Almost all the houses stand with their gable ends to the street, every
one of which is differently ornamented. In very narrow lanes they almost
meet, and form a triangle, under which one walks with some solicitude.
As it was Sunday I found the town extremely lively, though with a quiet
and decent gaiety. Most of the people stood idle, gazing about. They
took off their hats very politely as I passed.
Before you reach Rotterdam you ride through a long series of
country-houses with flower-gardens, separated from the road on either
side by a narrow canal. The entrance to each of the houses is over a
mighty drawbridge, which contrasts oddly enough with the insignificance
of the water, over which a good leap would carry you. Just as 'baroque'
are the tower-like windmills outside the town: they are gilded, and
ornamented with the wildest carvings, besides which, the walls of many
of them are so finely covered with thick rushes that at a distance they
look like fur; others resemble the skin of a crocodile; some are like
Chinese pagodas; but, in spite of all this extravagance, the whole group
produces a very striking effect. Interspersed among them are seen the
rising masts of the vessels in the harbour, and the great glass roof
under which the ships of war are built, announcing a maritime and
commercial city.
I soon entered a long street thronged with people, at the end of which a
high black clock tower, with flaming red figures and hands, served as
'point de vue;' and it was a good quarter of an hour before I reached
the Hotel des Bains, on the quay, where I am now very well and
comfortably lodged. From my window I look down upon a broad expanse of
water, and the four steam-vessels, one of which is to convey me the day
after to-morrow to England. Boats row swiftly to and fro, and the busy
crowd hurry along the quay, the edge of which is adorned with lofty
elms, probably cotemporaries of Erasmus. After a little walk under these
trees, I ate a good dinner, and then added to this ell-long letter,
which alas, will cost more than it is worth. My health is not entirely
as I wish it, though daily improving. Perhaps the sea will cure me.
_September 26th._
The manner of living here approaches to that of England. They rise late,
dine at 'table d'hôte,' at four o'clock, and drink tea in the evening.
'Au reste,' there is little amusement or variety for strangers, in this
great city: there is not even a stationary theatre; the company from the
Hague give occasional performances in a miserable house. Everybody seems
occupied with trade, and finds his recreation after it only in domestic
pleasures, which are indeed the most appropriate and the best, but in
which a traveller can have no share. I went into the counting-house of a
Jewish banker to change some English money: notwithstanding the
insignificance of the sum, he behaved in the most respectful manner, and
after carefully counting out the money for me, accompanied me to the
door himself. I was not a little astonished to learn from my 'laquais de
place' that this man's fortune was estimated at two millions of guilders
(gulden). It seems, therefore, that wealth has not yet made bankers so
haughty and insolent here as at other places. I visited the arsenal,
which, compared with English establishments of the like kind, appeared
to me insignificant. Many of the large buildings are covered with
pasteboard, which is said to be very lasting, and looks very well.
Square sheets of pasteboard, of an ordinary thickness, are dipped
several times into a cauldron of boiling tar, till they are thoroughly
saturated with it: they are then hung up to dry in the sun. They are
laid on a very flat roof, like sheets of copper, one over another, and
nailed to planks underneath, which they thus preserve from the wet for
many years. The officers of the yard assured me that a roof of this kind
would last much longer than shingle, or than the best tarpauling. I was
much interested by a very detailed model of a ship of war, which could
be entirely taken to pieces. It was made for the naval school at Delft,
and gives a perfect illustration of the instruction they receive. The
King's golden barge, or gondola, though probably not quite equal in
magnificence to that of Cleopatra, was shown to me with great
self-satisfaction by the Dutchmen. It is rotting away on dry land, being
very seldom used.
The country round Rotterdam is famous for its pretty girls and excellent
fruit, which (the latter I mean) forms a considerable article of export
to England. Nowhere are such enormous grapes to be found. I saw some
exposed to sale in the market, which had the appearance and the size of
plums. Sauntering idly about, I saw an advertisement of a panorama of
Ætna,--entered, in the train of a party of ladies,--and alas! lost my
heart. The loveliest girl I ever saw, smiled upon me from the foot of
the volcano, with eyes which must have borrowed their glow from its
eternal fires, while her lips smiled archly with a bloom equal to that
of the oleander at her side. The prettiest foot, and most exquisite
symmetry of person,--all were combined to form an ideal, if not of
heavenly, at least of the most seductive earthly beauty. Was this a
Dutch woman? Oh no, a true Sicilian; but alas, alas! only painted. The
glances she cast at me from her viny bower as I went out, were therefore
those of triumphant mockery; for since Pygmalion's days are over, there
is no hope for me.
To-morrow, instead of the glowing sun and subterranean heat of Sicily,
the cold wet sea will be around me; but I shall not say, with Voltaire,
on quitting pleasant Holland,
'Adieu Canards, Canaux, Canailles.'
I shall not write again till I reach London. I will tell you whether I
determine to make a long stay there, which I shall decide on the spot.
'En attendant,' I send you a lithographic print of the steamboat in
which I sail. A + marks, after the fashion in which the knights of old
signed their names, the place where I stand, and with a little help from
your imagination you will see how I wave my handkerchief, and send you a
thousand affectionate greetings from afar.
Your faithful L----.