As we passed the monastery the matin bells rung, and gave a romantic interest to the scene: this pious seclusion is included in the French line of sovereignty, and was condemned by Bonaparte to change its owners and its nature for ever; but at the earnest intercession of the Empress Josephine, he consented to suffer the sisterhood to enjoy it during their lives, after which it will devolve to the empire. Wherever power could effect and policy justify the measure, Bonaparte has displayed his decided hostility to monastic establishments of every description; he considers them as so many sinks of sloth, in which all the noble principles and purposes of life become stagnant. In Paris only one convent, that of the Blue Nuns, is permitted to remain. The numerous convents which adorn the French side of the Rhine with the most picturesque appearance, are either converted into fabrics, or suffered to run to dilapidation: the river, from its meanderings, is land-locked all the way, every turning of which surprised and captivated me with some new beauty. Here, behind a line of walnut, lime and beech trees, just skirting the margin of the river, a stupendous pyramidal cliff appears, with every projection upon which the cultivator could lodge a layer of vegetable mould, supporting a little growth of vine: there, mountains of vineyards, relieved by mouldering castles, and convents rising from masses of rock shooting forwards, or piercing the sky from their pointed pinnacles, arrest the attention. Sometimes a torrent brightens before the beholder, and distantly roars upon the ear; at others the naked bed of one appears, or a rude gap through which the eye penetrates into ranges of other vine-clad mountains, variegated with majestic ruins, is seen. At the base of the hills on the sides of the river numerous towers and villages constantly appear, defended by ancient walls and turrets, adorned with venerable churches, brown with age, surmounted with lofty spires, every where inviting the reflection of the moralist, the investigation of the antiquary, the song of the poet, and the pencil of the painter. CHAPTER XXIII. BASALT MOUNTAINS ... ANDERNACH ... ANECDOTE OF GENERAL HOCHE ... RHENISH FLOATS ... SINGULAR ACCIDENT ... FRENCH POLICE ... NEUWEID ... THE RHINE BOAT ... TOMB OF GENERAL MARCEAU ... ANECDOTE OF FRENCH HEROISM ... COBLENTZ ... ITS SURRENDER TO THE FRENCH ARMS ... ANEDOTE OF FRENCH VIVACITY ... THE ROCK AND FORTRESS OF EHRENBREITSTEIN ... THE GRIFFON ... STUPENDOUS FRENCH ROADS ... BOPPART.