“For I was born at Bingen,—at Bingen on the Rhine.”’
“He then repeated slowly and in a deep, tender voice the beginning of a poem that almost every schoolboy knows:—
‘A soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers,
There was lack of woman’s nursing, there was dearth of woman’s tears;
But a comrade stood beside him, while his life-blood ebbed away,
And bent, with pitying glances, to hear what he might say.
The dying soldier faltered, as he took that comrade’s hand,
And he said, “I nevermore shall see my own, my native land:
Take a message and a token to some distant friends of mine;
For I was born at Bingen,—at Bingen on the Rhine.”’
“Bingen is a town of about seven thousand inhabitants, and is engaged in the wine trade. We visited the chapel of St. Rochus, on a hill near the town, because one of our party had somewhere read that Bulwer had said that the view from St. Rochus was the finest in the world.
“Again upon the river, all the banks seemed filled with castles, villages, and ruins. Every hill had its castle, every crag its gray tower. We drifted by the famous Mouse Tower, which stands at the end of an island meadow fringed with osier twigs. It is little better than a square tower of a common village church, nor is there any truth in the story that Southey’s poem has associated with it. Poor Bishop Hatto, of evil name and memory! He died in 970, and the tower was not built until the thirteenth century. For aught that is known, he was a good man; he certainly was not eaten up by rats or mice. The legend runs:—
“In the tenth century Hatto, Bishop of Fulda, was raised to the dignity of Archbishop of Mayence. He built a strong tower on the Rhine, wherein to collect tolls from the vessels that passed.
“A famine came to the Rhine countries. Hatto had vast granaries, and the people came to him for bread. He refused them, and they importuned him. He bade them go into a large granary, one day, promising them relief. When they had entered the building, he barred the doors and set it on fire, and the famishing beggars, among whom were many women and children, were consumed.
“The bishop listened to the cries of the dying for mercy as the building was burning.