But God's Silence dwells in all alike, only driven
forth at times by the tinkling of bells and the mumbling of prayers;
and, in them, it is good to sit awhile and have communion with her.
We strolled round, before we came out. Just by the entrance to the
choir an official stopped me, and asked me if I wanted to go and see
a lot of fal-lal things he had got on show - relics and bones, and
old masters, and such-like Wardour-street rubbish.
I told him, "No"; and attempted to pass on, but he said:
"No, no! You don't pay, you don't go in there," and shut the gate.
He said this sentence in English; and the precision and fluency with
which he delivered it rather suggested the idea that it was a phrase
much in request, and one that he had had a good deal of practice in.
It is very prevalent throughout Germany, this custom of not allowing
you to go in to see a thing unless you pay.
END OF SATURDAY, 24TH, AND BEGINNING OF SUNDAY, 25TH - CONTINUED
The Rhine! - How History is Written. - Complicated Villages. - How a
Peaceful Community Was Very Much Upset. - The German Railway Guard. -
His Passion for Tickets. - We Diffuse Comfort and Joy Wherever We Go,
Gladdening the Weary, and Bringing Smiles to Them that Weep. -
"Tickets, Please." - Hunting Experiences. - A Natural Mistake. - Free
Acrobatic Performance by the Guard. - The Railway Authorities' Little
Joke. - Why We Should Think of the Sorrows of Others.
We returned to the station just in time to secure comfortable seats,
and at 5.10 steamed out upon our fifteen hours' run to Munich. From
Bonn to Mayence the line keeps by the side of the Rhine nearly the
whole of the way, and we had a splendid view of the river, with the
old-world towns and villages that cluster round its bank, the misty
mountains that make early twilight upon its swiftly rolling waves,
the castled crags and precipices that rise up sheer and majestic
from its margin, the wooded rocks that hang with threatening frown
above its sombre depths, the ruined towers and turrets that cap each
point along its shores, the pleasant isles that stud like gems its
broad expanse of waters.
Few things in this world come up to expectation, especially those
things of which one has been led to expect much, and about which one
has heard a good deal. With this philosophy running in my head, I
was prepared to find the Rhine a much over-rated river.
I was pleasantly disappointed. The panorama which unfolded itself
before our eyes, as we sped along through the quiet twilight that
was deepening into starry night, was wonderfully beautiful,
entrancing and expressive.
I do not intend to describe it to you. To do justice to the theme,
I should have to be even a more brilliant and powerful writer than I
am. To attempt the subject, without doing it justice, would be a
waste of your time, sweet reader, and of mine - a still more
important matter.
I confess it was not my original intention to let you off so easily.
I started with the idea of giving you a rapid but glowing and
eloquent word-picture of the valley of the Rhine from Cologne to
Mayence. For background, I thought I would sketch in the historical
and legendary events connected with the district, and against this,
for a foreground, I would draw, in vivid colours, the modern aspect
of the scene, with remarks and observations thereon.
Here are my rough notes, made for the purpose:-
Mems. for Chapter on Rhine: "Constantine the Great used to come
here - so did Agrippa. (N.B. - Try and find out something about
Agrippa.) Caesar had a good deal to do with the Rhine - also Nero's
mother."
(To the reader. - The brevity of these memoranda renders their
import, at times, confusing. For instance, this means that Caesar
and Nero's mother both had a good deal to do with the Rhine; not
that Caesar had a good deal to do with Nero's mother. I explain
this because I should be sorry to convey any false impression
concerning either the lady or Caesar. Scandal is a thing abhorrent
to my nature.)
Notes continued: "The Ubii did something on the right bank of the
Rhine at an early period, and afterwards were found on the other
side. (Expect the Ubii were a tribe; but make sure of this, as they
might be something in the fossil line.) Cologne was the cradle of
German art. Talk about art and the old masters. Treat them in a
kindly and gentle spirit. They are dead now. Saint Ursula was
murdered at Cologne, with eleven thousand virgin attendants. There
must have been quite a party of them. Draw powerful and pathetic
imaginary picture of the slaughter. (N.B. - Find out who murdered
them all.) Say something about the Emperor Maximilian. Call him
'the mighty Maximilian.' Mention Charlemagne (a good deal should be
made out of Charlemagne) and the Franks. (Find out all about the
Franks, and where they lived, and what has become of them.) Sketch
the various contests between the Romans and the Goths. (Read up
'Gibbon' for this, unless you can get enough out of Mangnall's
Questions.) Give picturesque account - with comments - of the battles
between the citizens of Cologne and their haughty archbishops.
(N.B. - Let them fight on a bridge over the Rhine, unless it is
distinctly stated somewhere that they didn't.) Bring in the Minne-
singers, especially Walter von Vogelweid; make him sing under a
castle-wall somewhere, and let the girl die.
