MENTZ,

Which stands in a spacious plain, on the opposite edge of the Rhine,

and is visible, at a considerable distance, with its massy towers and

numerous spires. Within two or three miles of the city, the symptoms

of ruin, occasioned by the siege in 1793, began to appear. A village,

on the left, had scarcely one house entire; and the tower of the

church was a mere wreck, blackened by flames, and with large chasms,

that admitted the light. The road did not pass nearer to it than two

miles, but the broken walls and roofs were distinguishable even at that

distance, and sometimes a part, which had been repaired, contrasted its

colour with the black and smoky hues of the remainder. This was the

village of Kostheim, so often contended for in the course of the siege,

being on the opposite bank of the Rhine to the city, and capable of

obstructing the intercourse with it by water.

The country on the eastern side of the river was otherwise but little

damaged, if we except the destruction of numerous orchards; for the

allies were not strong enough to besiege the city on all sides at

once, and contented themselves with occupying some posts in this

quarter, capable of holding the garrison of Cassel in awe.

This Cassel is a small village exactly opposite to Mentz, and

communicating with it by a bridge of boats. It was unfortified before

the invasion of the French; but these had no sooner entered the city,

than they perceived the importance of such a place, and prepared

themselves to render it a regular fortress. In about two months they

completely surrounded it with earthen works and outworks, ditched and

pallisadoed. Some of the nearest orchards were cut down to be used in

these fortifications. The fruit trees still remain with their branches

upwards from the ditch, and serve instead of _chevaux de frise_.

The village of Hockheim, which is also on this side of the Rhine, is

further to the left than Kostheim, and remains uninjured, at the top

of the round and easy hill, the vines of which are so much celebrated

for their flavour, as to give a name to great quantities of wine,

produced in other districts. After the siege, the merchants of the

neighbourhood enhanced the price of their stocks by reporting, that all

the vineyards had been destroyed; but the truth is, that Hockheim was

not much contended for, and that little damage was done even to the

crops then in bloom. The village is advantageously situated about the

confluence of the Rhine and the Maine, and, if it had been nearer the

city, would probably have been so important, as to have been contested,

till it was destroyed.

This is the home ground of the scene, which spreads before the

traveller, who approaches Mentz from the eastern shore of the Rhine.

Furthest to the left is Hockheim, then the devastated village of

Kostheim, then the fortifications of Cassel, which, with the river,

are between him and the city. Beyond, the horizon is bounded on all

sides by gradual hills, distant and apparently fruitful; but those to

the north are pre-eminent, with gentle slopes at their feet, coloured

sweetly by corn, dark wood and gleams of reddish earth.

The works of Cassel render the approach to the city very tedious, for

they have been so contrived as that the road nearly follows them, in

all their angles, for the purpose of being commanded by many points

at once. The village was now garrisoned by Prussians, of whom, some

were lying under the sheds of their guard-house near the bridge, and

others were riding over it, with just speed enough to give one an idea

of military earnestness. Their horses shook the floor of the bridge of

boats, which here crosses the Rhine, at its breadth of nearly eight

hundred feet, and disturbed the promenade, for which it is usually

frequented in an evening. We followed them, admiring the expanse,

and rapidity of the river more than the appearance of the city, where

gloominess is too much mingled with grandeur; till, at the end of the

bridge, we were stopped at another guard-house, to answer the usual

enquiries. A soldier accompanied us thence to a large square filled

with cannon and mortars, where the captain of the guard examined our

passport. We were then very glad to pass the evening at an inn without

further researches; but there were some symptoms of the late condition

of the city to attract attention in the way.

The Elector's palace, which forms one side of this square, having been

converted into an hospital by the French, is still used as such, or

as a barrack, by the Prussians; and the windows were crowded with the

figures of half-dressed soldiers. Many of the cannon in the square

remained with the fractures, made by the balls of the besiegers. This

place communicates with a broad street, in which were many buildings,

filled with soldiers, and an handsome house, that, having belonged to

one of the Clubbists, was destroyed immediately after the expulsion of

the French. The walls still remain bare and open. Some greater ruins,

occasioned by fire, during the siege, were visible at a distance; and,

upon the whole, we had interest enough excited, as to the immediate

history of the place, to take little notice of the narrow and difficult

passages, through which we wound for half an hour, after leaving the

principal street.

The next morning, the friends, to whom we had letters, began to conduct

us through the melancholy curiosities, left in the city by the siege.

These are chiefly in the southern quarter, against which the direct

attack of the allies was made, and their approaches most advanced. Some

entire streets have been destroyed here, and were still in ruins.

A magnificent church, attached to a convent of Franciscan monks, is

among the most lamentable spectacles; what was the roof now lies in

heaps over the pavement; not a vestige of furniture, or decoration,

has escaped the flames, and there are chasms in the walls larger than

the noble windows, that once illuminated them. This church and convent

were set on fire by a bomb; and of the sick soldiers, who were lodged

in the latter, it is feared that but few were removed before the

destruction of the building. We next saw the remains of a palace, built

by the present Provost of the Chapter of Nobles; an institution, which

is so rich, that their Superior had a more elegant residence than the

Elector. It was of stone, and the principal front was in the Corinthian

order, six columns of which supported a spacious open gallery,

ornamented with statues, for its whole length. The wings formed

two sides of a square, which separated the palace from the street.

A profusion of the richest furniture and a valuable collection of

paintings filled the interior. Of the whole edifice little now remains

but the shattered walls of the centre, which have been so scorched as

to lose all appearance of having belonged to a splendid structure.

It was burnt the night before the fire of the Franciscan church, and

two nights after the French had removed their head quarters and their

municipality from it. On the day before the removal, a bomb had fallen

upon the French General Blou, destroying him on the spot, and mortally

wounding an officer, with whom he was conversing. The ruins are now so

accumulated over the court-yard, that we could not discern it to have

ever had that appendage of a distinguished residence.

But the church of Notre Dame was the most conspicuous of many ruined

objects. The steeple of this had been one of the grandest ornaments

of the city; a shower of bombs set fire to it; and, while it was thus

rendered an easy mark for the besiegers, their cannon played upon

and beat a great part of it to the ground. By its fall the roof of

the church was shattered, but the body did not otherwise suffer any

material injury. Wooden galleries have been raised round the remainder

of the steeple, not for the purpose of repairing, but for that of

entirely removing it; and, to save the trouble of letting down the

stones on the outside, a wooden pipe, or channel has been made, through

which they are lowered into the church. The appearance of this steeple,

which was once very large and lofty, is rendered striking by these

preparations for its total destruction.

The whole church is built of a stone, dug from the neighbouring hills,

the colour of which is so delicate a pink, that it might be supposed

to be given by art. The Elector's palace and several other public

buildings in the city are formed of this stone.

Passing through the gates on this side of Mentz, we came to a slope

near the river, and beyond the glacis of the place, which was then

partly covered with huge masses of stone scattered among the roots

of broken trees and shrubs, that had begun again to shoot their

verdure over the amputated trunks. This was the site of a palace of

the Elector, called, both from the beauty of its situation, and the

splendour of its structure, La Favorita. The apartments of the palace

and the terraces of the garden commanded extensive views of the Rhine

and the surrounding country ascending from its banks; and the gardens

themselves were so beautifully disposed as to be thought worthy of

the name of English. They were ornamented with pavilions, which had

each its distinct prospect, and with one music room in the thickest

part of the shrubbery. Of the building nothing is now visible but some

disjointed stones; and of the garden, only the broken trunks of trees.

The palace was burned and the gardens levelled by the French, that they

might not afford shelter to the Prussians, during the siege.

From this spot we were shewn the positions of the allied forces,

the course of their approaches and the chief outworks of the city.

Hockheim, Kostheim and Cassel lay before us, on the other side of the

river; a gentle rise on this side, at the distance of nearly a mile,

was the first station of the allies, part of whose force was covered

behind it; their last batteries were within two hundred and fifty paces

of the city. The ground had been since levelled, and was now covered

with standing corn, but the track of the trenches was, in some places,

visible. On the other hand, the forts, in which the strength of the

whole so much consists, were completely repaired, and had no appearance

of having been so lately attacked. They are five in number, and, being

raised at a considerable distance from the walls of the city, no

near approaches can be made, till some of them are either taken, or

destroyed; for they are said to be regular and strong fortifications,

capable of containing numerous garrisons, and communicating with the

city itself by passages, cut in the ground, through which they may be

constantly reinforced.

Only one of these five forts, that nearest to the river, was destroyed

in the late siege, which would have been much more tedious, but for

the want of provisions and medicines, that began to be felt in the

garrison. The walls of the city were almost uninjured, so that it has

not been thought necessary to repair them in the few places, where

balls may be perceived to have struck. The bombardment was the chief

annoyance of the garrison, who were not sheltered in caserns, and whose

magazines, both of ammunition and provision, were frequently destroyed

by it. Their numbers were also greatly reduced by sallies and by

engagements, on the other side of the Rhine, in defence of Cassel, or

in attack of part of an island, called the Bleiau.

We walked round the city upon what is termed the _glacis_, that is upon

the slope, which ascends from the plain towards the top of the ditch,

and which is the furthest of the defensive works, being very gradually

raised, that those, who are upon it, may be exposed, at every step, to

the fire from the walls. The forts, which are formed of solid earthen

works, covered with turf, would scarcely attract the notice of an

unmilitary eye, if the channelled passages to them did not issue from

this slope, and if the sentinels, stalking upon the parapets, did not

seem of a gigantic size, by having their whole figures raised against

the light.

Mentz was at this time the depôt of stores for the Prussian army on the

Rhine, and there were persons employed upon the _glacis_, in counting

heaps of cannon balls, which had been delivered from some neighbouring

foundery. On the bank of the river, others were throwing waggon-loads

of hay into large barges, on which it was piled to such an height, that

small passages were cut through it for the rowers to work in. There

were nine or ten barges so filled; and in these labours more activity

was apparent than in any other transactions we saw at Mentz.

Having passed round the city, between the walls and the forts, which

protect them, to the north, west and south, we came, at this latter

side, to some other signals of a theatre of war. Here had been a

noble alley of at least a mile and a half long, formed of poplars as

large and high as elms, and surrounded, on each side, by plantations,

intersected by small and irregular walks. Being led along the banks

of the Rhine, this alley, with its adjoining groves, afforded a most

delightful promenade, and was classed amongst the best ornaments, given

to the river, in its whole course. This also was destroyed upon the

approach of the besiegers, that it might not afford them shelter. The

trunks of the sturdy trees, cut at the height of one or two feet from

the ground, shew, by their solidity and the abundance of their vigorous

shoots, how long they might have flourished, but for this disaster.

An Englishman, walking amidst the ensigns of such artificial and

premature desolation, cannot help considering the natural security of

his country, and rejoicing, that, even if the strong and plain policy

of neglecting all foreign consequence, and avoiding all foreign

interests, except the commercial ones, which may be maintained by a

navy, should for ever be rejected, still his home cannot be invaded;

and, though the expence of wars should make poverty general, the

immediate horrors of them cannot enter the cities, or the cottages of

an island.

Great part of our time at Mentz was occupied by enquiries concerning

the siege, which was not so much a topic as we had expected to find

it. We probably heard, however, all that was to be told, and had a

German pamphlet recommended, containing the history of the place from

the first invasion of the French to their departure. The authenticity

of this was assured to us; and it is partly from it, partly from the

accounts given by our friends, that the following short narrative has

been extracted.