And there was one soft breast, as hath been said, Which unto his was bound by stronger ties Than the church links withal; and, though unwed, That love was pure, and, far above disguise, The castled crag of Drachenfels * • The castle of Drachenfels stands on the highest summit of The Seven Mountains,' over the Rhine banks; it is in rains, and connected with some singular traditions. It is the first in view on the road from Bonn, but on the opposite side of the river. On this bank, nearly facing it, are the remains of another, called the Jew's Castle, and a large cross com. memorative of the murder of a chief by his brother. The number of castles and cities along the course of the Rhine on both sides is very great, and their situations remarkably beautiful. Have strew'd a scene, which I should see And peasant girls, with deep-blue eyes! I send the lilies given to me; The river nobly foams and flows, LVI. By Coblentz, on a rise of gentle ground, Lamenting and yet envying such a doom, Falling for France, whose rights he battled to resume. LVII. Brief, brave, and glorious was his young [foes; career,His mourners were two hosts, his friends and And fitly may the stranger lingering here Pray for his gallant spirit's bright repose; For he was Freedom's champion, one of those, The few in number, who had not o'erstept The charter to chastise which she bestows On such as wield her weapons; he had kept The whiteness of his soul, and thus men o'er him wept.* The monument of the young and lamented General Marceau (killed by a rifle-ball at Alterkirchen on the last day of the fourth year of the French Republic) still remains as de While Waterloo with Canna's carnage vies, LXV. By a lone wall a lonelier column rears scribed. The inscriptions on his monument are rather too long, and not required-his name was enough. France adored, and her enemies admired; both wept over him. His funeral was attended by the generals and detachments from both armies. In the same grave General Hoche is interred, a gallant man also in every sense of the word; but though he distinguished himself greatly in battle, he had not the good fortune to die there: his death was attended by suspicions of poison. A separate monument (not over his body, which is buried by Marceau's) is raised for him near Andernach, opposite to which one of his most memorable exploits was performed, in throwing a bridge to an island on the Rhine. The shape and style are different from that of Marceau's, and the inscription more simple and pleasing: The Army of the Sambre and Meuse to its Cominander-in-Chief, Hoche.' This is all, and as it should be. Hoche was esteemed among the first of The chapel is destroyed, and the pyramid of bones diminFrance's earlier generals, before Bonaparte monopolized herished to a small number by the Burgundian legion in the service triumphs. He was the destined comniander of the invading of France, who anxiously effaced this record of their ancestors' army of Ireland. less successful invasions. A few still remain, notwithstanding Ehrenbreitstein, ie, the broad stone of honour,' one of the pains taken by the Burgundians for ages (all who passed the strongest fortresses in Europe, was dismantled and blown that way removing a bone to their own country), and the less up by the French at the truce of Leoben. It had been, and justifiable larcenies of the Swiss postilions, who carried them could only be, reduced by famine or treachery. It yielded to off to sell for knife-handles,-a purpose for which the whitethe former, aided by surprise. After having seen the fortifi-ness imbibed by the bleaching of years had rendered them in cations of Gibraltar and Malta, it did not much strike by com- great request. parison; but the situation is commanding. General Marceau Of these relics I ventured to bring away as much as may have besieged it in vain for some time; and I slept in a room where made a quarter of a hero, for which the sole excuse is, that if I was shown a window at which he is said to have been stand- I had not, the next passer-by might have perverted them to ing, observing the progress of the siege by moonlight, when a worse uses than the careful preservation which I intend for ball struck immediately below it. [them. But take your choice); and then it grew a cloud; Satan replied, To me the matter is But such a cloud! No land ere saw a crowd And varied cries were like those of wild geese LIX. Here crash'd a sturdy oath of stout John Bull, As the first coachman will; and 'midst the war, LX. Besides, there were the Spaniard, Dutch, and In short, an universal shoal of shades, Of all climes and professions, years and trades, LXI. When Michael saw this host, he first grew pale, Or sunset streaming through a Gothic skylight Or distant lightning on the horizon by night, LXII. Then he address'd himself to Satan: 'Why, Our different parties make us fight so shy, Trust that, whatever may occur below, LXIII. Indifferent, in a personal point of view: Late Majesty of Britain's case with you LXV. 'He is what you behold him, and his doom Depends upon his deeds, the Angel said. clean,If you have aught to arraign in him, the tomb Gives licence to the humblest beggar's head To lift itself against the loftiest. -Some,' Said Wilkes, 'don't wait to see them laid in Why, my dear Lucifer, would you abuse lead His love was passion's essence—as a tree LXXX. His life was one long war with self-sought foes, Or friends by him self-banish'd; for his mind Had grown Suspicion's sanctuary, and chose For its own cruel sacrifice, the kind 'Gainst whom he raged with fury strange and blind. [know? But he was frenzied,-wherefore, who may Since cause might be which skill could never But he was frenzied by disease or woe [find; To that worst pitch of all, which wears a reasoning show. LXXXI. For then he was inspired, and from him came, As from the Pythian's mystic cave of yore, Those oracles which set the world in flame, Nor ceased to burn till kingdoms were no more: Did he not this for France, which lay before Bow'd to the inborn tyranny of years? Broken and trembling to the yoke she bore, Till by the voice of him and his compeers Roused up to too much wrath, which follows o'ergrown fears? LXXXII. They made themselves a fearful monument! And what behind it lay all earth shall view. As heretofore, because ambition was self-will'd. This refers to the account in his Confessions of his passion for the Comtesse d'Houdetot (the mistress of St Lambert), and his long walk every morning, for the sake of the single kiss which was the commen salutation of French acquaintance. Rousseau's description of his feelings on this occasion may be considered as the most passionate, yet not impure, description and expression of love that ever kindled into words; which, after all, mact be felt, from their very force, to be inadequate to the delineation. A painting can give no sufficient idea of the occail. |