Mentz.
We left Manheim five or six days ago. It is very easy travelling through
this part of Germany, the roads being perfectly good, and the country a
continued plain. From Basil to within a few miles of Mentz, the posting
road does not make even the most gentle ascent; a vast length of country
to be all along a perfect level.
By the great numbers of Monks and Friars, of all colours and conditions,
that are to be met near this city, we were apprised of our entrance into
an ecclesiastical state, while the plump persons and rosy complexions of
these Fathers sufficiently proved, that they did not live in the fertile
land of Rhenish for nothing.
However good Christians they might be, many of them had much the
appearance of paying occasional homage to the ancient heathen deity
Bacchus, without being restrained in their worship like the soldiers on
the parade at Manheim.—One of them in particular appeared to have just
arisen from his devotion.—He moved along in the most unconcerned manner
imaginable, without observing any direct course, or regarding whether
he went to the right hand or to the left. He muttered to himself as he
went.—Does he repeat his pater-noster? said I.—I rather imagine he prays
from Horace, replied the D——
——Quo me, Bacche, rapis tui
Plenum? Quæ nemora, aut quos agor in specus
Velox mente nova?——
On both sides of the Rhine the ground here begins to become hilly
and irregular, forming banks finely exposed to the sun. Here the
best Rhenish wine is produced, and even a very small portion of these
exuberant banks is of considerable value. A chain of well-inhabited
villages runs along from Mentz, by Bacharach, all the way to Coblentz,
where the Rhine is joined by the Moselle.
Bacharach is said to derive its name from an altar of Bacchus (Bacchi
Ara) supposed to have been erected by the Romans in gratitude for the
quantity and quality of the wine produced in the neighbourhood. A little
before we entered Mentz, we passed by the Favorita, a beautiful palace
belonging to the Elector, situated where the Rhine is joined by the Maine.
Mentz is finely situated, built in an irregular manner, and most
plentifully provided with churches. The cathedral is but a gloomy fabric.
In this there is what they call a treasury, which contains a number
of clumsy jewels, some relics, and a mighty rich wardrobe of priests
vestments.
There are some troops in this capital, but I do not think the officers
have that smart presumptuous air which generally accompanies men of their
profession. They seem conscious that the clergy are their masters; and, I
have a notion, are a little out of countenance on that account.
The streets swarm with ecclesiastics, some of them in fine coaches, and
attended by a great number of servants. I remarked also many genteel airy
abbés; who, one could easily see, were the most fashionable people, and
give the ton at this place.
Though it is most evident that in this electorate the clergy have taken
exceeding good care of themselves; yet, in justice to them, it must be
acknowledged, that the people also seem to be in an easy situation. The
peasantry appear to be in a state of far greater abundance than those of
France, or even those in the Elector of Manheim’s dominions.
I have some desire to see an ecclesiastical court, and would willingly
visit this of Mentz; but the D—— of H——, who seems to have no excessive
fondness for any court, says, a court of clergymen must be more dismal
and tedious than any other, and I fear will not be prevailed on to appear
at this; in which case we shall leave this place to-morrow morning early,
without further ceremony.