Has, towards the water, little other fortification than an ancient
brick wall, and a gate. Though it is a garrison town, and certainly
no trifling object, we were not detained at the gate by troublesome
ceremonies. The commander, affecting no unnecessary carefulness, is
satisfied with a copy of the report, which the innkeepers, in all the
towns, send to the Magistrates, of the names and conditions of their
guests. A printed paper is usually brought up, after supper, in which
you are asked to write your name, addition, residence, how long you
intend to stay, and to whom you are known in the province. We did not
shew a passport in Holland.
The town has an abrupt but short elevation from the river, which
you ascend by a narrow but clean street, opening into a spacious
market-place. The great church and the guard-house are on one side of
this; from the other, a street runs to the eastern gate of the town,
formed in the old wall, beyond which commence the modern and strong
fortifications, that defend it, on the land side. At the eastern
extremity of the place, a small mall leads to the house, in which the
Prince of Orange resided, during the troubles of 1786; and, beyond
it, on a sudden promontory towards the river, stands a prospect
house, called the Belvidere, which, from its eastern and southern
windows, commands a long view into Germany, and to the north looks
over Guelderland. From this place all the fortifications, which are
very extensive, are plainly seen, and a military person might estimate
their strength. There are several forts and outworks, and, though
the ditch is pallisadoed instead of filled, the place must be capable
of a considerable defence, unless the besieging army should be masters
of the river and the opposite bank. There was formerly a fortress upon
this bank, which was often won and lost, during the sieges of Nimeguen,
but no remains of it are visible now.
The town is classic ground to those, who venerate the efforts, by which
the provinces were rescued from the dominion of the Spaniards. It was
first attempted by SENGIUS, a Commander in the Earl of LEICESTER'S
army, who proposed to enter it, at night, from the river, through a
house, which was to be opened to him; but his troops by mistake entered
another, where a large company was collected, on occasion of a wedding,
and, being thus discovered to the garrison, great numbers of those,
already landed upon the beach, were put to the sword, or drowned in the
confusion of the retreat. An attempt by Prince Maurice to surprise it
was defeated by the failure of a _petard_, applied to one of the gates;
but it was soon after taken by a regular siege, carried on chiefly
from the other side of the river. This and the neighbouring fortress
of Grave were among the places, first taken by Louis the Fourteenth,
during his invasion, having been left without sufficient garrisons.
The citadel, a remnant of the antient fortifications, is near the
eastern gate, which appears to be thought stronger than the others,
for, on this side, also is the arsenal.
Nimeguen has been compared to Nottingham, which it resembles more in
situation than in structure, though many of the streets are steep, and
the windows of one range of houses sometimes overlook the chimnies of
another; the views also, as from some parts of Nottingham, are over a
green and extensive level, rising into distant hills; and here the
comparison ends. The houses are built entirely in the Dutch fashion,
with many coloured, painted fronts, terminating in peaked roofs; but
some decline of neatness may be observed by those who arrive here
from the province of Holland. The market-place, though gay and large,
cannot be compared with that of Nottingham, in extent, nor is the town
more than half the size of the latter, though it is said to contain
nearly fifty thousand inhabitants. From almost every part of it you
have, however, a glimpse of the surrounding landscape, which is more
extensive than that seen from Nottingham, and is adorned by the sweeps
of a river of much greater dignity than the Trent.
We left Nimeguen, in the afternoon, with a voiturier, whose price,
according to the _ordonnatie_, was higher than if we had set out half
an hour sooner, upon the supposition that he could not return that
night. The road lies through part of the fortifications, concerning
which there can, of course, be no secrecy. It then enters an extensive
plain, and runs almost parallel to a range of heights, at the extremity
of which Nimeguen stands, and presents an appearance of still greater
strength and importance than when seen from the westward.
* * * * *
After a few miles, this road leaves the territories of the United
Provinces, and enters the Prussian duchy of Cleves, at a spot where
a mill is in one country, and the miller's house in the other. An
instance of difference between the conditions of the people in the two
countries was observable even at this passage of their boundary. Our
postillion bought, at the miller's, a loaf of black bread, such as is
not made in the Dutch provinces, and carried it away for the food of
his horses, which were thus initiated into some of the blessings of the
German peasantry. After another quarter of a mile you have more proofs
that you have entered the country of the King of Prussia. From almost
every cluster of huts barefooted children run out to beg, and ten or a
dozen stand at every gate, nearly throwing themselves under the wheels
to catch your money, which, every now and then, the bigger seize from
the less.
Yet the land is not ill-cultivated. The distinction between the
culture of land in free and arbitrary countries, was, indeed, never
very apparent to us, who should have been ready enough to perceive it.
The great landholders know what should be done, and the peasantry are
directed to do it. The latter are, perhaps, supplied with stock, and
the grounds produce as much as elsewhere, though you may read, in the
looks and manners of the people, that very little of its productions is
for them.
Approaching nearer to Cleves, we travelled on a ridge of heights, and
were once more cheared with the "pomp of groves." Between the branches
were delightful catches of extensive landscapes, varied with hills
clothed to their summits with wood, where frequently the distant spires
of a town peeped out most picturesquely. The open vales between were
chiefly spread with corn; and such a prospect of undulating ground,
and of hills tufted with the grandeur of forests, was inexpressibly
chearing to eyes fatigued by the long view of level countries.
At a few miles from Cleves the road enters the Park and a close avenue
of noble plane-trees, when these prospects are, for a while, excluded.
The first opening is where, on one hand, a second avenue commences,
and, on the other, a sort of broad bay in the woods, which were
planted by Prince Maurice, includes an handsome house now converted
into an inn, which, owing to the pleasantness of the situation, and its
vicinity to a mineral spring, is much frequented in summer. A statue of
General Martin Schenck, of dark bronze, in complete armour, and with
the beaver down, is raised upon a lofty Ionic column, in the centre of
the avenue, before the house. Resting upon a lance, the figure seems
to look down upon the passenger, and to watch over the scene, with the
sternness of an ancient knight. It appears to be formed with remarkable
skill, and has an air more striking and grand than can be readily
described.
The _orangerie_ of the palace is still preserved, together with a
semi-circular pavilion, in a recess of the woods, through which an
avenue of two miles leads you to