Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1853-11-08
no. -

Il has at present q population of g., 600. a.
looked over its doThes AID spires and the iiut
scenery around Ii, its furious struggles with IA
Bishops, aud with the Dukes of Burgundy, il
years long passed, came freshly to my memory
and As | recalled the exquisite descriptions ],
Quentin Durward of the difficulty Of Louis Ii
The rash fury of Charles the Bold, and the bru
tality OF the ..I{oar OF ar dennsS ! blessed III,
memory OF Scott, for the many hours ofnly li.,
which the magic of his @etIils has rescued trom
gloomy misery, or from dissipation and folly
The next place Of any importance, Is NervierS
Containing population Of 23, coo. at Hubs,
thai our passports were taken away from us
and given to us again at Aix-Ia-ChapelIe-
from thence 10 Cologne we passed several other
towns and villages, but they are of too small
Importance, and have names too thoroughly
German to remember or record. The ruins OF
two or three old Feuial Castles are also TO be
seen along this ronte. One of them-"CastIe
of Frankenburg,' close by the side OF the Rail-
road, is said to have been founded by Charlie
magne, and that his Queen Fastrado died there.
We reached Cologne aksat six o'clock in the
evening. I.e Custom House officers, WHEN
| told Who was, were verypotIte and attentive.
They hadsgglf baggage Jss0sieeed INST, opened
! one OF my trunks, put their hands o7g tie top
/ Of lis contents, thea shut it aud handed me the
keys, and in a moment afterwards all of uy
! baggage WAS in the conveyance ready to pro
I ceeu to the hamburg depot. To this depot
we were conveyed ia an omnibus, passing
/ through dirty looking, NrctGhcdly lighted, mar
/ row streets, or rather alcvS, across which two
! long armed men might easily shake hands
ana over the river (tthinc), and consequently.
| saw nothing of Cologne. Having procured
very toleraule supper at the Station House,
we took our seats ut ten o'clock in the cars for
Hamburg We travelled all night, at very
slow rate, for steam travclling-logging along
ut an average of ten miles i'm hour stopping
frequently, and being compelled, many times,
to change cars, just us we would begin to coax
little uap upon us. We had taken our seats
in the ''tirst class" cars, and after every change
we found ourselves less comfortable, until, be-
fore we reached Hamburg, | think they must
have managed to drop all the first class" and
inveigle us into the third. OF course, l know
nothing of the country through which we pass
ed during the night; but wien daylight dawn
ed, l looked out upon the most deSoiatc region
that ever wearied the eye to ramble over. On
every side, as far rs the vision could stretch,
drcary waste Of barren bogs, swaInps and un-
cultivated plains, with literally nothing upon
them, but Il few stuntcd trees and bushes, pine
thickets and brars. This continued through
the whole route to Hamburg. Occasionally. ut
long intervals, we passed a few spots where
cultivation, after the scratching fashion OF
France, seemed to be attempted. But: gen
orally, Dcsoatou rcgned Unmoestcd. Wepass-
ed some small collections of houses with tiled
roofs, in which things like human beings seem
ed to live, but upon what they subsisted can
not guesk-lnost OF them looked rs if they
miyAt live, the pigs do, by roofing in the
earth. There is king Of Hanover" and
am told that this is Part of his Iominioas. But
If he owns all that poor land, pity him from
my soul. He is worse off than the poor fellow
in Fairfax county, who owned SO many barren
acres that his neighbors regarded him as an
object of commiscration. We reached uala-
burg on Sundavsat half-past eleven, y. NJ, after
fifteen hours Of the most disgusting travel |
have ever made, and for which l paid higher
il propQrti;%;s,,y tit III rs You are aware is
ated on Tie EIbc, about 20 miiesift1u iuo,iJn,
has population of 10000, and contains a
large number of beautiful gardenS-which in
the summer, they say, are delightful to look AZ,
and so they may be-but when | was there
the town looked rather muddy and dingy. But
then it was raining hard all the time. In 1912
4 fire broke out which destroyed l54G houses.
But that portion of the city has been rebuilt in
an elegant and magnificent manner 1t is a
place Of great commercial Importance, and to
ascend to the galleries of the Exchange (a
splendid buiding) and look down upon the
thousands who daily congregatc in 1t, and lis
ten to the busy hum Of their many voices, You
would think the business Of the whole world
was going on below On Sunday night (don't
let my good friends think me lost went 10 the
Opera and saw the 'S-igc of Corinth' perform
ed in genuine German STYLE The Germans
are great musicians, but verify, do not think
their language very well adapted to song-at
least TO my uncutivatcd ears. ''Mcin tilder'
and ''mein broder," do not sound meiodiouslv,
tho chantcd never so correctly. Their opera
house, however, is an immense building, calcu-
lated to accommodate 1000 perSOns. Upon
this occasion the audience was quite large
Which struck me rs strange in a Protestant
community, and especially in one where the
established religion is Lutheran. We left Ham
burg at four o'clock Yesterday, tTuesGayl
having been detained because there was no be az
from kicl TO Copenhagen on Monday. kel is
quite Il considerable town ON the Baltic, about
3 hours journey by railroad froE Hamburg
We reached it at eight in the even .nr, and left
it an hour after in a comfortable steamer for
this place, which We reached to-dIya o'clock
Thus have given you a., imperfect sketch
of my doings since lcfr lone. fwherc, by the
bye, am sick TO return agiiin,l and You find
me safely arrived 1T my place OF destination.
You shall hear from me again after I become
somewhat set:ied-at present l have nothing
more to sa!;->excePt to beg that You viii try
to keep ray '1nne alive in the memory Of my
good friend 5, and say to my precious opponents,
that, as tney have at last gotten rid q me, l
hope tEey will obtcratef from their recollectiOns,
any Little feelings Of unkindness towards me,
which might possibly be disposed to linger
! there. / am, very sincerely,
Your friend
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