They left Potsdam two days later, passing through a dreary country to Wittenberg and on to Torgau. From thence to Leipsic and Dresden.
We quitted Dresden on Thursday, the 18th of September; dined early before we set off and got in two hours and a half to Meissen. During the night Elliot[149] sent us an estafette with our English letters, among them one from Mr. Moore to tell us the application for leave for us to pass through France was referred from the Duke of Portland’s office to Ld. Grenville’s; one from Mr. Fawkener saying that there were obstacles, but he hoped they might be removed.[150]
They left next day for Weimar.
We arrived at Weimar between one and two. We passed the Dowager Duchess’s palace, which stands to the left of the road. I had a letter to D. Dss.,[151] but my low spirits about my eyes determined us to go on as fast as we could to Cassel, there to wait the decision whether to go by Cuxhaven home or by Calais. Dined; drove to Moutier’s establishment at Bellevue. Since the Jacobinism has prevailed so universally in the German Universities, young men go to this sort of private Academy. We drove about and walked in the English garden, which was made under the inspection of the famous Goethe, author of Werther, and Prime Minister of this Duchy. Mr. Lawrence[152] called in the evening; he is a whimsical young man, who has written several strange things, but not wholly without talent. Ld. H. sent a letter to Wieland to solicit his acquaintance, but he was in the country.
OBLIGING OFFICIALS
On arrival at Cassel Holland and Marsh called upon the French Minister, le citoyen Rivale, who was remarkably civil, and gave the passport from Bournonville. The passport is made out in the most marked and obliging manner, everything troublesome omitted, no time limited, no descriptions of our persons, and the route left blank for us to fill up to Paris if we choose. The Secretary of Legation, Senurier, was very good-natured to me. I had heard stories of robberies committed by deserters beyond the French frontier but within their line of demarcation, which rather alarmed me, and made me wish to have an escort if possible. He accordingly gave a letter to any commander we might find before Coblentz. Mr. Lorentz, the banker, very useful and civil: he dined with us, managed about money, as it is illegal to draw upon England from French territory.
They started again on the 26th, and reached Weilburg on the 28th. ‘I saw French proclamations posted up in the villages, signed Augereau.’ They slept that night at Montabaur.
We got off early on ye 29th. Woods to Coblentz. Met a French general, escorted by cavalry. Wood chiefly copse, country much inferior in beauty to that we quitted. Ehrenbreitstein repairing; the village under the fortress quite ruined, churches and convents unroofed and demolished, but the peasants are active in repairing their habitations. Ld. H. showed his passport and had a pass given for persons and horses to cross the Rhine. Crossed in the pont-volant: all of us and our baggage stopped at the Custom House. I went to the inn with Charles. Ld. H. went to the banker; some difficulty in arranging about money for Bruxelles. Mr. Lorentz rather in fault. Ld. H. showed passport in the evening to the Préfet, Boucqueau, who was remarkably well-bred and civil. Banker’s name Botsgeissen; married to a Leeds woman. The Electoral Palace in the town is converted into a hospital. The inhabitants pay great contributions; it falls hardest on landholders. The German play driven out by a French troupe, who have established a French spectacle. The establishment of juries seemingly popular. Heard of a famous robber towards Trêves, who maintained banditti, bribed peasants, and gave passports, and who is particularly inveterate against the Jews. Country cultivated, and provisions, at least bread, very cheap. Very different accounts of the French, but all agreeing in the improvement since Bonaparte, and in wishes for peace. The people are allowed great freedom of speech; they paid more for having given an asylum to the emigrants, which seemed very unjust upon them. All religion tolerated and none interfered with; monks as usual, but I saw none. The inn excellent, quite new; not the same as the one I used to go to....
I laughed heartily at the sight of a monk with a French cockade in his hat. To the left, about a mile from Bonn, there is a fine castle upon an eminence. The modern châteaux of the nobility are deserted, and many totally destroyed from being unroofed and gutted. The Elector’s country palace was magnificent; it is now converted into a hospital. Bonn is a clean, well-built town, the Palace immense, now inhabited in parts by officers and magistrates, but chiefly falling to decay. The Tree of Liberty decorated with the tricolour flag. I was surprised instead of finding the old inn, which was very good, to find a new one just built upon a most magnificent scale. The road from Coblentz to Bonn is good; from Bonn to Cologne sandy and deep, country flat, but rich and well cultivated.
A mile or two before Cologne a bend of the river extremely beautiful. Wrote our names at the gates; one of the guard was a drunken Irishman, who with the rest of the vagrant scum of Europe composed the Polish legion. Cologne is a large, gloomy town, overrun with monks and beggars. The inn was excellent; it had just been repaired and newly furnished. We were surprised that, considering the interruption there must have been to travelling, accommodations and post horses should have been so good and abundant. We went to the play, which was bad enough, but like all foreign theatres well attended. The gendarmes and hussars very handsome; we agreed that the French officers were better looking than formerly. The reason, I suppose, is that under the ancien régime the officers were chiefly noble; now a man is taken out of the ranks and dubbed General....