To fulfil his contract.
Faust, in the sequel, kills his wife and his father-in-law. Satan then
claims him. Faust pleads in arrest of judgement, that he has only committed
two crimes out of the four for which he had agreed; and that there
consequently remained two others for him to commit before he could be
claimed. The Devil in rejoinder informs him that his wife was with child at
the time he killed her, which constituted the third crime, and that the
very act of making a contract with the Devil for his soul forms the fourth.
Faust, overwhelmed with confusion, has not a word to say; and Satan seizing
him by the hair of his head, carries him off in triumph. This piece is
written in iambics of ten syllables and the versification appeared to me
correct and harmonious, and the sentiments forcible and poetical; this
fully compensated for the bizarrerie of the story itself, which, by the
bye, with all the reproach thrown by the adherents of the classic taste on
those of the romantic, is scarcely more outre than the introduction of
Death ([Greek: thanatos]) as a dramatic personage in the Alcestis of
Euripides.
There is at Aix-la-Chapelle at one of the hotels a Faro Bank; it is open
like the gates of Hell noctes atque dies and gaming goes forward without
intermission; this seems, indeed, to be the only occupation of the
strangers who visit these baths. There is near this hotel a sort of Place
or Quadrangle with arcades under which are shops and stalls. At one of
these shops I met with the most beautiful girl I ever beheld, a Tyrolese by
birth and the daughter of a print-seller. She was from the Italian Tyrol;
Roveredo, I think she said, was her birthplace. She united much grace and
manner with her beauty, on account of which I could not avoid complimenting
her in her native tongue, which she seemed pleased to hear. Her eyes and
eyebrows brought to my recollection the description of those of Alcina:
Sotto due negri e sottilissimi archi,
Son due neri occhi, anzi, due chiari soli,
Pietosi a riguardare, a mover parchi,
Intorno a cui par che Amor scherzi e voli.[19]
Two black and slender arches rise above
Two clear black eyes, say suns of radiant light;
Which ever softly beam and slowly move;
Round these appears to sport in frolic flight,
Hence scattering all his shafts, the little Love.
- Trans. W.S. ROSE.
We then proceeded to look at the suburb of this city called Bortscheid, by
far the finest part of the city and at some elevation above it. It commands
an extensive view. We also visited the various bath establishments; the
taste of the water had some resemblance to that of Harrogate, and is good
in bilious, scrofulous and cutaneous complaints. On our return to the hotel
we learned the news of the capitulation of Paris to the Allied powers. It
is said to be purely a military convention by which the French army is to
evacuate Paris and retire behind the Loire. There is no talk and no other
intelligence about Napoleon, except that he had been compelled by the two
Houses of Legislature to abdicate the throne. We are still in the dark as
to the intentions of the Allies. I regret much that my friend and fellow
traveller L. is obliged to return to Bruxelles and cannot accompany me to
Cologne, to which place I am impatient to go and to pay my respects to old
father Rhine, so renowned in history.
COLOGNE.
I left Aix-la-Chapelle on the morning of the 2nd of July and arrived at
Cologne about six o'clock in the evening, putting up at the Inn Zum
heiligen Geist (Holy Ghost), which is situated on the banks of the river.
The price of the journey in the diligence is 18 franks. On the road hither
lies Juliers, a large and strongly fortified town surrounded by a marsh. It
must be very important as a military post. The road after quitting Juliers
runs for the most part thro' a forest, and has been much improved and
enlarged by the French; before they improved it, it was almost impassable
in wet weather. We met on the road several Prussian waggons and
reinforcements on their march to Bruxelles. Two of my fellow travellers in
the diligence were very intelligent young men belonging to respectable
families in Cologne and were returning thither; they likewise complained
much of the overbearing demeanour of the Prussian military towards the
burghers.
Cologne is a large, but very dull looking city, as dull as Liege; it would
seem as if all towns and cities under ecclesiastical domination were dull
or rendered so by the prohibition of the most innocent amusements. The
fortifications are out of repair; but the Prussian Government intend to
make Cologne a place of great strength. The name of the village on the
opposite of the river is Deutz, and in the time of the French occupation
there was a tete-de-pont. The next morning I was obliged to appear before
the police, and afterwards before the Commandant de la Place, in order to
have my passport examined and vise. At the bureau of the police it was
remarked to me that my passport was not en regle, the features of the
bearer not being therein specified. I replied that it was not my fault;
that it was given to me in that shape by the English Consul at Bruxelles
and that it was not my province to give to the Consul any directions as to
its form and tenor. The Commissary of Police then asked me what business I
was about in travelling, and the following conversation took place:
