- ED. [16] Not Before Half Past Eleven.

- ED.

[17] John Drinkwater, also called Bethune (1762-1844), published a well-known History of the Siege of Gibraltar, 1779-1783. - ED.

CHAPTER II

From Bruxelles to Liege - A priest's declamation against the French Revolution - Maastricht - Aix-la-Chapelle - Imperial relics - Napoleon regretted - Klingmann's "Faust" - A Tyrolese beauty - Cologne - Difficulties about a passport - The Cathedral - King-craft and priest-craft - The Rhine - Bonn and Godesberg - Goethe's "Goetz von Berlichingen" - The Seven Mountains - German women - Andernach - Ehrenbreitstein - German hatred against France - Coblentz - Intrigues of the Bourbon princes in Coblentz - Mayence - Bieberich - Conduct of the Allies towards Napoleon - Frankfort on the Mayn - An anecdote about Lord Stewart and Lafayette - German poetry - The question of Alsace and Lorraine - Return to Bruxelles - Napoleon's surrender.

LIEGE, June 26.

Mr L. and myself started together in the diligence from Bruxelles at seven o'clock in the evening of the 24th inst. and arrived here yesterday morning at twelve o'clock. I experienced considerable difficulty in procuring a passport to quit Bruxelles, my name having been included in that of General Wilson, which he carried back with him to England. Our Ambassador was absent, and I was bandied about from bureau to bureau without success; so that I began at last to think that I should be necessitated to remain at Bruxelles all my life, when fortunately it occurred to Mr L. that he was intimately acquainted with the English Consul, and he kindly undertook to procure me one and succeeded. On arrival here we put up at the Pommelette d'Or. The price of a place in the diligence from Bruxelles to Liege is fifteen franks. We passed thro' Louvain, but too late to see anything. The country about Liege is extremely striking and picturesque; the river Meuse flows thro' the city, and the banks of the river outside the town are very riants and agreeable. Liege is a large, well-built city, but rather gloomy as to its appearance, and lies in a hollow completely surrounded by lofty hills. The remains of its ancient citadel stand on a height which completely commands the city; on another height stands a monastery, a magnificent building. There are a great many coal-pits in the vicinity of Liege, and a great commerce of coals is carried on between this city and Holland by the treckschuyte on the Meuse. We visited the ancient Episcopal palace and the Churches. The Palace is completely dismantled. This city suffered much during the revolt of the Belgian provinces against the Emperor Joseph II, and having distinguished itself by the obstinacy of its defence, it was treated with great rigour by the Austrian Government. The fortifications were blown up, and nothing now remains on the site of the old citadel but a large barrack. I remained two whole hours on this height to contemplate the beauties of the expanse below. The banks of the river, which meanders much in these parts, and the numerous maisons de campagne with the public promenades and allees lined with trees, exhilarate the scene of the environs, for the city itself is dull enough. Several pretty villas are situated also on the heights, and were I to dwell here I should choose one of them and seldom descend into the valley and city below,

Where narrow cares and strife and envy dwell.

Liege, however sombre in its appearance, is a place of much opulence and commerce. A Belgian garrison does duty here. At the inn, after dinner, I fell into conversation with a Belgian priest, and as I was dressed in black he fancied I was one of the cloth, and he asked me if I were a Belgian, for that I spoke French with a Belgian accent; "Apparemment Monsieur est ecclesiastique? - Monsieur, je suis ne Anglais et protestant." He then began to talk about and declaim against the French Revolution, for that is the doctrine now constantly dinned into the ears of all those who take orders; and he concluded by saying that things would never go on well in Europe until they restored to God the things they had taken from Him. I told him that I differed from him very much, for that the sale of the Church domains and of the lands and funds belonging to the suppressed ecclesiastical establishments had contributed much to the improvement of agriculture and to the comfort of the peasantry, whose situation was thereby much ameliorated; and that they were now in a state of affluence compared with what they were before the French Revolution. I added: "Enfin, Monsieur, Dieu n'a pas besoin des choses terrestres." On my saying this he did not chuse to continue the conversation, but calling for a bottle of wine drank it all himself with the zest of a Tartuffe. I believe that he was surprised to find that an Englishman should not coincide with his sentiments, for I observe all the adherents of the ancient regime of feudality and superstition have an idea that we are anxious for the re-establishment of all those abuses as they themselves are, and it must be confessed that the conduct of our Government has been such as to authorize them fully in forming such conjectures, and that we shall be their staunch auxiliaries in endeavouring to arrest and retrograde the progress of the human mind. In fact, I soon perceived that my friend was not overloaded with wit and that he was one of those priests so well described by Metastasio:

Il di cui sapere Sta nel nostro ignorar....

MAASTRICHT, 27th June.

This morning, after a promenade on the banks of the Meuse - for I am fond of rivers and woods (flumina amo silvasque inglorius) - we embarked on a treckschuyt and arrived here after a passage of four hours. The scenery on the banks of the Meuse all the way from Liege to Maastricht is highly diversified and extremely romantic; but here at Maastricht this ceases and the dull uniformity of the Dutch landscape begins.

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