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ROLLO ON THE RHINE,
by
JACOB ABBOTT.
Boston:
Published By Taggard And Thompson
M DCCC LXIV.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by
Jacob Abbott,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court
of the District of Massachusetts
Stereotyped at the
Boston Stereotype Foundry
Riverside, Cambridge: Printed by H. O. Houghton
[Illustration: ROLANDSECK AND DRACHENFELS.--See chap. 5]
[Illustration]
ROLLO'S TOUR IN EUROPE.
ORDER OF THE VOLUMES
ROLLO ON THE ATLANTIC.
ROLLO IN PARIS.
ROLLO IN SWITZERLAND.
ROLLO IN LONDON.
ROLLO ON THE RHINE.
ROLLO IN SCOTLAND.
ROLLO IN GENEVA.
ROLLO IN HOLLAND.
ROLLO IN NAPLES.
ROLLO IN ROME.
PRINCIPAL PERSONS OF THE STORY.
ROLLO; twelve years of age.
MR. and MRS. HOLIDAY; Rollo's father and mother, travelling in
Europe.
THANNY; Rollo's younger brother.
JANE; Rollo's cousin, adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Holiday.
MR. GEORGE; a young gentleman, Rollo's uncle.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE, 13
II.--THE UNFINISHED CATHEDRAL, 28
III.--THE GALLERIES, 44
IV.--TRAVELLING ON THE RHINE, 60
V.--THE SIEBEN GEBIRGEN, 77
VI.--ROLAND'S TOWER, 95
VII.--ROLLO'S LIST, 107
VIII.--A SABBATH ON THE RHINE, 117
IX.--EHRENBREITSTEIN, 135
X.--ROLLO'S LETTER, 141
XI.--THE RAFT, 146
XII.--DINNER, 168
XIII.--BINGEN, 185
XIV.--THE RUIN IN THE GARDEN, 194
XV.--RHEINSTEIN, 202
CONCLUSION. 219
ENGRAVINGS.
PAGE
ROLANDSECK AND DRACHENFELS. FRONTISPIECE.
THE RIDE, 12
COLOGNE IN SIGHT, 19
THE BEGGAR, 31
MINNIE'S ROGUERY, 51
TOWING, 63
DONKEY RIDING, 75
THE STUDENTS, 114
THE NUN, 122
THE EMIGRANTS, 132
ROLLO ON THE RAFT, 163
DINNER ON THE RHINE, 173
MINNIE, 190
THE NIGHT JOURNEY, 218
[Illustration: RIDE.--See chap. 15.]
ROLLO ON THE RHINE.
CHAPTER I.
THE APPROACH TO COLOGNE.
If a man were to be raised in a balloon high enough above the continent
of Europe to survey the whole of it at one view, he would see the land
gradually rising from the borders of the sea on every side, towards a
portion near the centre, where he would behold a vast region of
mountainous country, with torrents of water running down the slopes and
through the valleys of it, while the summits were tipped with perpetual
snow. The central part of this mass of mountains forms what is called
Switzerland, the eastern part is the Tyrol, and the western Savoy. But
though the men who live on these mountains have thus made three
countries out of them, the whole region is in nature one. It constitutes
one mighty mass of mountainous land, which is lifted up so high into the
air that all the summits rise into the regions of intense and perpetual
cold, and so condense continually, from the atmosphere, inexhaustible
quantities of rain and snow.
The water which falls upon this mountainous region must of course find
its way to the sea. In doing so the thousands of smaller torrents unite
with each other into larger and larger streams, until at length they
make four mighty rivers--the largest and most celebrated in Europe. All
the streams of the southern slopes of the mountains form one great
river, which flows east into the Adriatic. This river is the Po. On the
western side the thousands of mountain torrents combine and form the
Rhone, which, making a great bend, turns to the southward, and flows
into the Mediterranean. On the eastern side the water can find no escape
till it has traversed the whole continent to the eastward, and reached
the Black Sea. This stream is the Danube. And finally, on the north the
immense number of cascades and torrents which come out from the
glaciers, or pour down the ravines, or meander through the valleys, or
issue from the lakes, of the northern slope of the mountains, combine at
Basle, and flow north across the whole continent, nearly six hundred
miles, to the North Sea. This river is the Rhine.
All this, which I have thus been explaining, may be seen very clearly
if you turn to any map of Europe, and find the mountainous region in the
centre, and then trace the courses of the four great rivers, as I have
described them.
It would seem that the country through which the River Rhine now flows
was at first very uneven, presenting valleys and broad depressions,
which the waters of the river filled, thus forming great shallow lakes,
that extended over very considerable tracts of country. In process of
time, however, these lakes became filled with the sediment which was
brought down by the river, and thus great flat plains of very rich and
level land were formed. At every inundation of the river, of course,
these plains, or intervals, as they are sometimes called, would be
overflowed, and fresh deposits would be laid upon them; so that in the
course of ages the surface of them would rise several feet above the
ordinary level of the river. In fact they would continue to rise in this
way until they were out of the reach of the highest inundations.
Immense plains of the most fertile land, which seem to have been formed
in this way, exist at the present time along the banks of the Rhine at
various places. These plains are all very highly cultivated, and are
rich and beautiful beyond description. To see them, however, it is
necessary to travel over them in a diligence, or post chaise, or by
railway trains; for in sailing up and down the river, along the margin
of them, in a steam-boat, you are not high enough to overlook them. You
see nothing all the way, in these places, but a low, green bank on each
side of the river, with a fringe of trees and shrubbery along the margin
of it.
For about one hundred miles of its course, however, near the central
portion of it, the river flows through a very wild and mountainous
district of country, or rather through a district which was once wild,
though now, even in the steepest slopes and declivities, it is
cultivated like a garden. The reason why these mountainous regions are
so highly cultivated is because the soil and climate are such that they
produce the best and most delicious grapes in the world. They have
consequently, from time immemorial, been inhabited by a dense
population. Every foot of ground where there is room for a vine to grow
is valuable, and where the slope was originally steep and rocky, the
peasants of former ages have gathered out the rocks and stones, and
built walls of them to terrace up the land. The villages of these
peasants, too, are seen every where nestling in the valleys, and
clinging to the sides of the hills, while the summits of almost all the
elevations are crowned with the ruins of old feudal castles built by
barons, or chiefs, or kings, or military bishops of ancient times,
famous in history. This picturesque portion of the river, which extends
from Bonn, a little above Cologne, to Mayence,--which towns you will
readily find on almost any map of Europe,--was the part which Mr. George
and Rollo particularly desired to see. When they left Switzerland they
intended to come down the river, and see the scenery in descending. But
Mr. George met some friends of his on the frontier, who persuaded him to
make a short tour with them in Germany, and so come to the Rhine at
Cologne.
"We can then," said he to Rollo, "go _up_ the river, and see it in
ascending, which I think is the best way. When we get through all the
fine scenery,--which we shall do at Mayence,-we can then go up to
Strasbourg, and take the railroad there for Paris--the same way that we
came."
"Yes," said Rollo, "I shall like that."
Rollo liked it simply because it would make the journey longer.
When at length, at the end of the tour in Germany, our travellers were
approaching Cologne on the Rhine, Rollo began to look out, some miles
before they reached it, to watch for the first appearance of the town.
He had been riding in the coupe of the diligence[1] with his uncle; but
now, in order that he might see better, he had changed his place, and
taken a seat on the banquette. The banquette is a seat on the top of the
coach, and though it is covered above, it is open in front, and so it
affords an excellent view. Mr. George remained in the coupe, being very
much interested in reading his guide book.
[Footnote 1: The stage coaches on the continent of Europe are called
_diligences_.]
At length Rollo called out to tell his uncle that the city was in view.
The windows of the coupe were open, so that by leaning over and looking
down he could speak to his uncle without any difficulty.
Mr. George was so busy reading his guide book that he paid little
attention to what Rollo said.
"Uncle George," said Rollo, calling louder, "I can see the city; and in
the midst of it is a church with a great square tower, and something
very singular on the top of it."
Mr. George still continued his reading.
"There is a spire on the top of the church," continued Rollo, "but it is
bent down on one side entirely, as if it had half blown over."
"O, no," said Mr. George, still continuing to read.
"It really is," said Rollo. "I wish you would look, uncle George. It is
something very singular indeed."
[Illustration: COLOGNE IN SIGHT.]
Mr. George yielded at length to these importunities, and looked out. The
country around in every direction was one vast plain, covered with
fields of grain, luxuriant and beautiful beyond description. It was
without any fences or other divisions except such as were produced by
different kinds of cultivation, so that the view extended interminably
in almost every direction. There were rows and copses of trees here and
there, giving variety and life to the view, and from among them were
sometimes to be seen the spires of distant villages. In the distance,
too, in the direction in which Rollo pointed, lay the town of Cologne.
The roofs of the houses extended over a very wide area, and among them
there was seen a dark square tower, very high, and crowned, as Rollo had
said, with what seemed to be a spire, only it was bent over half way;
and there it lay at an angle at which no spire could possibly stand.
"What can it mean?" asked Rollo.
"I am sure I do not know," said Mr. George.
Next to Rollo, on the banquette, was seated a young man, who had mounted
up there about an hour before, though Rollo had not yet spoken to him.
Rollo now, however, turned to him, and asked him, in English, if he
spoke English.
The young man smiled and shook his head, implying that he did not
understand.
Rollo then asked him, in French, if he spoke French.
The young man said, "_Nein_."[2]
[Footnote 2: Pronounced _nine_.]
Rollo knew that _nein_ was the German word for _no_, and he presumed
that the language of his fellow-traveller was German. So he pointed to
the steeple, and asked,--
"_Was ist das?_"
This phrase, _Was[3] ist das?_ is the German of What is that? Rollo knew
very little of German, but he had learned this question long before,
having had occasion to ask it a great many times. It is true he seldom
or never could understand the answers he got to it, but that did not
prevent him from asking it continually whenever there was occasion. He
said it was some satisfaction to find that the people could understand
his question, even if he could not understand what they said in reply to
it.
[Footnote 3: The _w_ is pronounced like _v_.]
The man immediately commenced an earnest explanation; but Rollo could
not understand one word of it, from beginning to end.
The truth of the case was, that the supposed leaning spire, which Rollo
saw, was in reality a monstrous _crane_ that was mounted on one of the
towers of the celebrated unfinished cathedral at Cologne. This cathedral
was commenced about six hundred years ago, and was meant to be the
grandest edifice of the kind in the world. They laid out the plan of it
five hundred feet long, and two hundred and fifty feet wide, and
designed to carry up the towers and spires five hundred feet high. You
can see now how long this church was to be by going out into the road,
or to any other smooth and level place, and there measuring off two
hundred and fifty paces by walking. The pace--that is, the _long
step_--of a boy of ten or twelve years old is probably about two feet.
That of a full grown man is reckoned at three feet. So that by walking
off, _by long steps_, till you have counted two hundred and fifty of
them, you can see how long this church was to be; and then by turning a
corner and measuring one hundred and twenty-five paces in a line at
right angles to the first, you will see how wide it was to be. To walk
entirely round such an area as this would be nearly a third of a mile.
The church was laid out and begun, and during the whole generation of
the workmen that began it, the building was prosecuted with all the
means and money that could be procured; and when that generation passed
away, the next continued the work, until, at length, in about a hundred
years it was so far advanced that a portion of it could have a roof put
over it, and be consecrated as a church. They still went on, for one or
two centuries more, until they had carried up the walls to a
considerable height in many parts, and had raised one of the towers to
an elevation of about a hundred and fifty feet. When the work had
advanced thus far the government of Holland, in the course of some of
the wars in which they were engaged, closed the mouth of the Rhine, so
that the ships of Cologne could no more go up and down to get out to
sea. This they could easily do, for the country of Holland is situated
at the mouth of the Rhine, and the Dutch government was at that time
extremely powerful. They had strong fleets and great fortresses at the
mouth of the river, and thus they could easily control the navigation of
it. Thus the merchants of Cologne could no more import goods from
foreign lands for other people to come there and buy, but the
inhabitants were obliged to send to Holland to purchase what they
required for themselves. The town, therefore, declined greatly in wealth
and prosperity, and no more money could be raised for carrying on the
work of the cathedral.
At the time when the work was interrupted the builders were engaged
chiefly on one of the towers, which they had carried up about one
hundred and fifty feet. The stones which were used for this tower were
very large, and in order to hoist them up the workmen used a monstrous
crane, which was reared on the summit of it. This crane was made of
timbers rising obliquely from a revolving platform in the centre, and
meeting in a point which projected beyond the wall in such a manner that
a chain from the end of it, hanging freely, would descend to the ground.
The stones which were to go up were then fastened to this chain, and
hoisted up by machinery. When they were raised high enough, that is,
just above the edge of the wall, the whole crane was turned round upon
its platform, in such a manner as to bring the stone in over the wall;
and then it was let down into the place which had been prepared to
receive it.
When the work on the cathedral was suspended on account of the want of
funds, the men left this crane on the top of the tower, because they
hoped to be able to resume the work again before long. But years and
generations passed, and the prospect did not mend; and at last the old
crane, which in its lofty position was exposed to all the storms and
tempests of the sky, of course began gradually to decay. It is true it
was protected as much as possible by a sort of casing made around it, to
shelter it from the weather; but notwithstanding this, in the course of
several centuries it became so unsound that there began to be danger
that it might fall. The authorities of the town, therefore, decided to
take it down, intending to postpone putting up a new one until the work
of finishing the cathedral should be resumed, if indeed it ever should
be resumed.
The people of the town were very sorry to see the crane taken down. It
had stood there, like a leaning spire, upon the top of the cathedral,
from their earliest childhood, and from the earliest childhood, in fact,
of their fathers and grandfathers before them. Besides, the taking down
of the crane seemed to be, in some sense, an indication that the thought
of ever finishing the cathedral was abandoned. This made them still more
uneasy, and a short time afterwards a tremendous thunder storm occurred,
and this the people considered as an expression of the displeasure of
Heaven at the impiety of forsaking such a work, and as a warning to them
to put up the crane again. So a new crane was made, and mounted on the
tower as before, and being encased and enclosed like the other, it had
at a distance the appearance of a leaning spire, and it was this which
had attracted Rollo's attention in his approach to Cologne.
Within a few years, on account of the opening again of the navigation of
the Rhine, and other causes, the city of Cologne, with all the
surrounding country, has been returning to its former prosperity, and
the plan of finishing the cathedral has been resumed. The government of
Prussia takes a great interest in the undertaking, and the kings and
princes of other countries in Germany make contributions to it. A
society has been organized, too, to collect funds for this purpose all
over Europe. More than a million of dollars have already been raised,
and the work of completing the cathedral has been resumed in good
earnest, and is now rapidly going on.
All this Rollo's fellow-traveller attempted to explain to him; but as he
spoke in German, Rollo did not understand him.
When Mr. George and Rollo reached their hotel, and had got fairly
established in their room, Mr. George took his cane and prepared to "go
exploring," as he called it.
"Well, Rollo," said he, "what shall we go to see first?"
"I want to go and see the cathedral," replied Rollo.
"The cathedral?" said Mr. George. "I am surprised at that. You don't
usually care much about churches."
"But this does not look much like a church," said Rollo. "I saw the end
of it as we came into the town. It looks like a range of cliffs rising
high into the air, with grass and bushes growing on the top of them,
and wolves and bears reaching out their heads and looking down."
Mr. George complied with Rollo's request, and went to see the cathedral
first. The adventures which the travellers met with on the excursion
will be described in the next chapter.