FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAINE, GERMANY, _Sept. 20, 1854_.
I have, within the last month, touched and visited so many points that
I scarcely know how to go into detail in the short space of one letter.
I went from Coblentz up the Rhine, whose beauties from that point to
Mayence I shall not attempt to describe. I embarked at Biebrich, the
residence of the Grand Duke of Nassau, whose grounds and parks must not
be neglected, and went by vehicle to Wiesbaden, the great thoroughfare,
as a watering-place. Its hot chicken broth fountain, with its numerous
pipes, supplies scores of hotels and bath houses. Its Kursaäls,
with play rooms and dining halls, got up on a grand scale, with the
adjoining galleries, filled with fancy shops of infinite variety,
attract the stranger. The lovers of secluded and sheltered serpentine
walks, bordered with flowers, but deprived of the autumn scenery,
may find comfort and delight at Wiesbaden; and children may gambol
upon the grass, and feed the ducks in the little artificial lakes,
while the lordly white swan sails along and claims his authority.
The weather was dry and fine. I had got away from the rainy streak,
and all was pleasant; but as I was not a stranger in Wiesbaden I
shortened my visit and resumed my march. From thence, by railroad, I
came to this free German city. From Frankfort we go to Homburg, within
two hours, by railroad and omnibus. Among the thirty odd divisions
into which Germany is unfortunately cut up and divided, this small
landgrave is perhaps the smallest, and will die out with the death
of the present incumbent, who is already old. It will pass into the
Duchy of Darmstadt adjoining. The celebrity of the waters of Homburg
for dyspepsia, its superior position for high and varied scenery, and
the privilege granted by Count Alexander for gambling the entire year,
a privilege which exists only here, have made Homburg a flourishing
village. The sum paid for the privilege of gambling is thirty thousand
dollars annually. The bank is not only able to pay this large sum and
give greater favors to players than other banks, but has expended an
enormous amount upon the buildings; the saloons are the most gorgeous
of the kind in Europe, and play is higher and more general here than at
any of the watering-places in Germany. Ladies are among the heaviest
players. It is a strange and fascinating passion, and leads to great
abuses. I will cite an example: on Saturday evening I noticed a lady
risking a large number of sovereigns, with unusual nonchalance. The
next morning I saw her at the English Episcopal Church. My curiosity
induced me to see, on returning, if the same person would enter the
gaming rooms that day. To my surprise I found her at her post, with her
pile of gold before her. I had heard that in this district, surrounded
by Germans, there existed a colony of French, and I was induced to pay
a visit to their village, which interested me much. I found a neat
pretty settlement of one thousand souls, the descendants of thirteen
Protestant families who escaped from France after the revocation of the
edict of Nantes, under Louis XIV., and were protected by Frederick II.
They have a church which cost thirty thousand florins (twelve thousand
dollars) and two institutions for boys and girls, where children
from different parts of Germany are educated in French. They always
converse in French among themselves, and have preserved their language
remarkably. They are all familiar with German, and talk with outsiders
in German, the language of the country. They have several branches of
industry in cotton, flax, and wool. It was curious and novel to witness
this happy, tidy, industrious little community, surrounded by other
villages quite impoverished, and in a little territory about equal to
the size of one of our counties, heavily taxed to keep up the dignity
of a court with palace and grounds, with its quota of military; but how
hard is the fate of a poor man with a family toiling and striving for
the pittance of eight groschens, only twenty cents per day, as several
have told me when I have stopped and asked the price of labor, and in
this almost famine year. When they hear of America they are eager to be
off, but the means are not provided.
From Homburg I proceeded to Darmstadt and Manheim, in order to make a
detour to Speyer, which is celebrated for its Cathedral. At Manheim the
river to Ludwigshafen, on the opposite shore, is crossed by a bridge
formed by some thirty iron flat-bottomed boats of canal-boat size,
fastened together, upon which the structure is laid, with draws for
the passage of steamers, as is the case all along the Rhine. An hour’s
ride by railroad carries one to the old town of Speyer. It was once
populous, but is now reduced to six thousand inhabitants, and contains
only one object of interest, a cathedral, which may be considered the
pride of Germany, as uniting the work of the best modern artists. This
cathedral, which was commenced under the Emperor Conrad II., in the
year 1030, has been burnt and rebuilt three several times, and now,
under the auspices of the king of Bavaria, in whose dominion it lies,
has been renovated in the modern style, with exquisite taste, differing
so widely from the antiquity which we so constantly find in these old
memorable edifices, that the contrast is the more striking and more
gratifying to the eye.
On my return I went to Heidelberg and Baden Baden. I visited all the
points I had formerly seen and described to you, but none struck me as
new, or worthy of description. Heidelberg is a lovely spot for scenery,
and Baden may claim the preference as being the gayest and most
charming watering-place in Germany.
In getting out of the cars I was greeted by an old travelling friend
in Italy and Germany--our Consul at R----m, formerly a bachelor, but
now married and here with his wife. We were soon joined by two former
acquaintances, the American Minister from Belgium, with his sisters
and cousin. We made a very pleasant excursion party in two carriages,
and for three days castles tenanted by grave ancestors, and patriots,
situated upon high mountain tops, and in dark-wooded forests, were
hunted up and examined. The party was not disposed the less to climb
the moss-covered walls of the schloss or chateau to points where the
most extended views might be obtained. A trout and game dinner in the
country, well served, restored us from the fatigue attending such
exercise, and we drove to town in time for the evening band and concert.
I left for Strasburg, in order to descend the Rhine, which I had not
seen from that point to Mayence, and also to change the route. A
sad sight presented itself at my departure, another evidence of the
uncertainty of life. A new car, in three compartments, with extended
roof and balcony all round, and doors opening from the sides, was put
on, which car I chose to take, notwithstanding the Germans say that
none but princes and fools travel in first-class cars; the second-class
is good, but the third-class is very rough. I was standing on the
balcony when the cars moved off, and saw a well-dressed man, who had
escorted three ladies and just taken leave of them, come out. Finding
he was late, he attempted foolishly to get off while the train was in
rapid motion; he tripped, fell under the wheels, and was cut in two
under our eyes; only three of us witnessed the accident. I gave an
alarm hastily, and succeeded in stopping the train. My sympathies were
strongly excited for the afflicted ladies, and his only daughter, who
is now an orphan.
Lightning speed soon carried us to Kehl, on the left bank of the Rhine,
and then we took an omnibus across the bridge of boats to the French
Alsatian shore, where, after the usual delay of visitation of passports
and baggage, we passed a few miles further, to the well-fortified
city of Strasburg. It has ninety thousand population, and is noted
for its cathedral and tower of a remarkable height (I believe the
highest in Europe), also for its extraordinary clock, with machinery
denoting the changes of the weather, the action of the hours, &c. At
twelve at noon an anxious group assembles in the building to witness
the performance of the figures upon the frontispiece of the mammoth
clock. When the grim figure of Death, hammer in hand, strikes the hour
of twelve, the figures of the twelve Apostles revolve in succession,
and make reverential bows before Christ, who in return pronounces
the benediction. A huge cock, perched above, flaps his gilded wings
strongly, and crows three times with a voice sufficiently strong to
make a tame chanticleer take to his heels. The original clock, which I
was shown years since, has been removed, but is still on exhibition.
Its inventor, who was suspected of the design of building a second for
another city of France, had his eyes put out; he then revenged himself
by breaking certain springs which baffled the ingenuity of others to
replace.
During high mass I noticed a group of emigrants paying their last
addresses to the Virgin before embarkation. I had seen the healthy,
robust men and women on the road with their heavy chattels marked for
America. They told me they were going to Wisconsin, and had friends
there.
Embarking upon a small steamer, a few miles of canal navigation bring
us to the Rhine, and down its circuitous current we go at a rapid
rate, mostly through a flat country, without much of interest except
the towns of Worms and Speyer, which I had already visited by railway.
I debarked at Mayence, and returned again to this busy, active city,
with its sixty-thousand population, noted for its money operations,
fairs, seat of the German diet; its numerous picture galleries, public
buildings, and its beautiful suburbs, are attractive to the tourist.