_5th of August, Frankfort._--The bridge of boats out of Mayence would frighten a timid person to cross with frisky horses; ours did not answer that description. We took the _voiturins_ to Frankfort. We met a troop of French prisoners, who looked more as if they were going to take possession of the city than of its prisons. I sat up very late from downright low spirits. I cannot bear up whenever I am alone; there is a desponding feel that steals over my mind and prevents me from occupying myself in any way. ‘La mort ne vient jamais à propos,’ someone says; I want to die, but I do not, and I shall die (most likely) when I could dispense with it. The Maison Rouge, a vast pile of buildings. The whole town has a _bourgeois_ air about it. It has not suffered by the French. I do not care if it does or not. Custine only took one million of florins: they can bear much more squeezing. It is said that the English fleet is at length in the Mediterranean: I have heard the report so often that I doubt the truth of it. [Sidenote: KÖNIGSTEIN] _6th August, Frankfort._--Obliged to stay dinner, as horses were out of the question for some hours. The common route is by Hattersheim, but we were advised to go by Königstein, as the other had been destroyed to retard the progress of the French. The road we went was dreadful; several times I thought the carriage would have been overset. Obliged to sleep at this place (Königstein) for the old reason--want of horses. This place has been destroyed by military rage; the houses are burnt and gutted. The French maintained themselves here two months against the allies, and then only yielded to famine. It was quite touching to see some of the hoary sons of St. Francis lamenting over the ruins of their solitary cells, their untenanted convent, and degraded altars. The hill upon which the fortress stands is isolated, and commands a fine view of the plain of the Rhine. The French surrendered to the Russians. The common people detest their old masters, and long for the return of their democratic friends, whose principles are captivating to the lower classes: every man enjoys the prospect of placing his humble cot on a level with the proud palace, forgetting that the equality can only be maintained by lowering the palace to the cot. My companion in a paroxysm threw the book I was reading at my head, after having first torn it out of my hands. _7th August._--Set off at 7 from Königstein; the road insufferably bad. Austrian soldiers marching from Linz into Brabant. One poor fellow was lying on the ground roaring from the torture of a colic. I gave him money, and as we were going the same road had him placed upon the second carriage, that took him on till we overtook a baggage waggon: he was a poor Croat not twenty years old. Slept at Montabaur.