My lodgings at Altona are tolerably comfortable, though not in any
proportion to the price I pay; but, owing to the present circumstances,
all the necessaries of life are here extravagantly dear. Considering it
as a temporary residence, the chief inconvenience of which I am inclined
to complain is the rough streets that must be passed before Marguerite
and the child can reach a level road.
The views of the Elbe in the vicinity of the town are pleasant,
particularly as the prospects here afford so little variety. I attempted
to descend, and walk close to the water's edge; but there was no path;
and the smell of glue, hanging to dry, an extensive manufactory of which
is carried on close to the beach, I found extremely disagreeable. But to
commerce everything must give way; profit and profit are the only
speculations--"double--double, toil and trouble." I have seldom entered
a shady walk without being soon obliged to turn aside to make room for
the rope-makers; and the only tree I have seen, that appeared to be
planted by the hand of taste, is in the churchyard, to shade the tomb of
the poet Klopstock's wife.
Most of the merchants have country houses to retire to during the
summer; and many of them are situated on the banks of the Elbe, where
they have the pleasure of seeing the packet-boats arrive--the periods of
most consequence to divide their week.
The moving picture, consisting of large vessels and small craft, which
are continually changing their position with the tide, renders this
noble river, the vital stream of Hamburg, very interesting; and the
windings have sometimes a very fine effect, two or three turns being
visible at once, intersecting the flat meadows; a sudden bend often
increasing the magnitude of the river; and the silvery expanse, scarcely
gliding, though bearing on its bosom so much treasure, looks for a
moment like a tranquil lake.
Nothing can be stronger than the contrast which this flat country and
strand afford, compared with the mountains and rocky coast I have lately
dwelt so much among. In fancy I return to a favourite spot, where I
seemed to have retired from man and wretchedness; but the din of trade
drags me back to all the care I left behind, when lost in sublime
emotions. Rocks aspiring towards the heavens, and, as it were, shutting
out sorrow, surrounded me, whilst peace appeared to steal along the lake
to calm my bosom, modulating the wind that agitated the neighbouring
poplars. Now I hear only an account of the tricks of trade, or listen to
the distressful tale of some victim of ambition.
The hospitality of Hamburg is confined to Sunday invitations to the
country houses I have mentioned, when dish after dish smokes upon the
board, and the conversation ever flowing in the muddy channel of
business, it is not easy to obtain any appropriate information. Had I
intended to remain here some time, or had my mind been more alive to
general inquiries, I should have endeavoured to have been introduced to
some characters not so entirely immersed in commercial affairs, though
in this whirlpool of gain it is not very easy to find any but the
wretched or supercilious emigrants, who are not engaged in pursuits
which, in my eyes, appear as dishonourable as gambling. The interests of
nations are bartered by speculating merchants. My God! with what _sang
froid_ artful trains of corruption bring lucrative commissions into
particular hands, disregarding the relative situation of different
countries, and can much common honesty be expected in the discharge of
trusts obtained by fraud? But this _entre nous_.
During my present journey, and whilst residing in France, I have had an
opportunity of peeping behind the scenes of what are vulgarly termed
great affairs, only to discover the mean machinery which has directed
many transactions of moment. The sword has been merciful, compared with
the depredations made on human life by contractors and by the swarm of
locusts who have battened on the pestilence they spread abroad. These
men, like the owners of negro ships, never smell on their money the
blood by which it has been gained, but sleep quietly in their beds,
terming such occupations lawful callings; yet the lightning marks not
their roofs to thunder conviction on them "and to justify the ways of
God to man."
Why should I weep for myself? "Take, O world! thy much indebted tear!"
Adieu!