The account of which has been interrupted by this digression, is the
first town of the Electorate of Treves, on this side, to which it has
belonged since 1312, when its freedom as an imperial city, granted by
the Emperor, Frederic the Second, was perfidiously seized by Henry the
Seventh, and the town given to him by his brother Baldwin, the then
Elector. The new Sovereign enriched it with a fine collegiate church,
which still dignifies the shore of the river. If he used any other
endeavours to make the prosperity of the place survive its liberties,
they appear to have failed; for Oberwesel now resembles the other
towns of the Electorate, except that the great number of towers and
steeples tell what it was before its declension into that territory.
The Town-house, rendered unnecessary by the power of Baldwin, does not
exist to insult the inhabitants with the memory of its former use; but
is in ruins, and thus serves for an emblem of the effects, produced by
the change.
Between Oberwesel and St. Goar, the river is of extraordinary breadth,
and the majestic mountains are covered with forests, which leave space
for little more than a road between their feet and the water. A group
of peasants, with baskets on their heads, appeared now and then along
the winding path, and their diminutive figures, as they passed under
the cliffs, seemed to make the heights shew more tremendous. When they
disappeared for a moment in the copses, their voices, echoing with
several repetitions among the rocks, were heard at intervals, and with
good effect, as our oars were suspended.
Soon after passing the island of Sand, we had a perspective view of
St. Goar, of the strong fortress of Rhinfels, on the rocks beyond,
and of the small fortified town of Goarhausen, on the opposite bank.
The mountains now become still more stupendous, and many rivulets, or
_becks_, which latter is a German, as well as an English term, descend
from them into the river, on either hand, some of which, in a season
less dry than the present, roar with angry torrents. But the extreme
violence, with which the Rhine passes in this district, left us less
leisure than in others to observe its scenery.