Has a neat market-place and some symptoms of greater comfort than are
usual in the towns of the Electorate of Cologne; but it is subject to
violent floods, so much so, that at the inn, which is, at least, an
hundred and fifty yards from the shore, a brass plate, nailed upon the
door of the parlour, relates, that the river had risen to that height;
about five feet from the ground.
After resting here, five hours, we returned to our little bark, with
the spirits inspired by favourable weather, and were soon borne away on
the ample current of the Rhine.
Large Dutch vessels, bound to Cologne, now frequently appeared,
and refreshed us once again with the shew of neatness, industry and
prosperity. The boatmen learned, that several of these were from
Rotterdam, laden with the effects of Flemish refugees, brought thither
from Ostend; and others were carrying military stores for the use,
as they said, of the Emperor. The ordinary trade of the Dutch with
Germany, in tea, coffee, English cloths and English hardware, which we
had heard at Mentz was slackened by the expected approach of armies,
now seemed to be exchanged for the conveyance of property from scenes
of actual distress to those not likely to be long exempted from it.
A little beyond Urdingen, the town of Bodberg marks the northern
extremity of the long and narrow dominions of Cologne, once so far
connected with Holland, as that the Archbishop had jurisdiction over
the Bishop of Holland, and the Chapter of Utrecht. But Philip the
Second, before the States had resisted his plundering, obtained of
the Pope, that they should not be subject to any foreign see; and the
Bishop had a residence assigned to him at Haerlem.
The Rhine is now bounded on the left by the country of Meurs; and,
having, after a few miles, part of the Duchy of Cleves on the right,
it becomes thus enclosed by the territories of the King of Prussia,
under whose dominion it rolls, till the States of Guelderland repose
upon one bank, and, soon after, those of Utrecht, on the other. We were
here, of course, in the country of tolls; and our waterman could not
promise how far we should proceed in the day, since it was impossible
to estimate the delays of the collectors. Meurs has no place, except
small villages, near the river; but, at the commencement of the Duchy
of Cleves, the influx of the Ruhr into the Rhine makes a small port,
at which all vessels are obliged to stop, and pay for a Prussian pass.
Some Dutch barks, of probably one hundred and twenty tons burthen,
we were assured would not be dismissed for less than fifty ducats,
or twenty guineas each. The town is called the Ruhort, and we had
abundance of time to view it, for the Collector would not come to the
boat, but ordered that we should walk up, and make our appearance
before him.
It is a small place, rendered busy by a dock-yard for building vessels
to be employed on the Rhine, and has somewhat of the fresh appearance,
exhibited by such towns as seem to be built for present use, rather
than to subsist because they have once been erected. In the dock, which
opens to the Ruhr, two vessels of about sixty tons each were nearly
finished, and with more capital, many might no doubt be built for the
Dutch, timber and labour being here much cheaper than in Holland.
After the boatman had satisfied the Collector, we resumed our voyage,
very well contented to have been detained only an hour. The woody
heights of Cleves now broke the flat monotony of the eastern shore, the
antiquity of whose forests is commemorated by Tacitus in the name of
_Saltus Teutoburgensis_, supposed to have been bounded here by the town
now called Duisbourg:
... ... ... "_haud procul Teutoburgensi saltu, in quo reliquiæ
Vari legionumque insepultæ dicebantur_"--
"Unburied remain,
Inglorious on the plain."
These forests were also celebrated for their herds of wild horses; and
the town of Duisbourg, having been rendered an University in 1655, is
thus panegyrized by a German poet:
_Dis ist die Deutsche Burg, vor langst gar hochgeehrt_
_Von vielen König und auch Kaiserlichen Kronen:_
_Der schöne Musenthron, wo kluge Leute wohnen;_
_Und wo die Kaufmannschaft so manchen Bürger nährt._
This is the German town, that's fam'd so long
By throned Kings, and gentle Muses' song;
Where learned folks live well on princely pay,
And commerce makes so many Burghers gay.
Of the commerce there were still some signs in half a dozen vessels,
collected on the beach. Whether the University also subsists, or is
any thing more than a free school, which is frequently called an
University in Germany, we did not learn.