"This is about six leagues from Cologne, a pleasant well-built little
town, upon the banks of the Rhine, and is the seat of the archbishop. We
have bestowed half a day in visiting his palace, which is an extensive
magnificent building; and he is certainly the best lodged prince in
Europe except the King of France. For, besides this palace, and a sort
of Maison de Plaisance near it, (the most elegant thing in the world,)
he has also two country houses very magnificent. He is the late
emperor's brother; and is, as they say, a very fine gentleman;--a man of
pleasure, very gallant and gay; he has always at his court a company of
French comedians and Italian singers. And as he always keeps out of
wars, being protected by the sacredness of his character, he has nothing
to hope and nothing to fear; and seems to be the happiest prince in
Europe. However, we could wish he took a little more care of his
high-ways, even though his furniture, pictures, and building were a
little less elegant. We are got into a country where we have no fires
but stoves; and no covering but feather beds; neither of which I like,
both of them are too warm and suffocating."
"_Coblentz, 26th March._
"We have made the pleasantest journey in the world in two days from
Bonne to this town. We travel all along the banks of the Rhine;
sometimes in open, beautiful, well-cultivated plains; at another time
sunk betwixt high mountains, which are only divided by the Rhine, the
finest river in the world. One of these mountains is always covered with
wood to the top; the other with vines; and the mountain is so steep that
they are obliged to support the earth by walls, which rise one above
another like terraces to the length of forty or fifty stories. Every
quarter of a mile, (indeed as often as there is any flat bottom for a
foundation,) you meet with a handsome village, situated in the most
romantic manner in the world. Surely there never was such an assemblage
of the wild and cultivated beauties in one scene. There are also several
magnificent convents and palaces to embellish the prospects.