"Was
Haben Sie Fuer Geschaefte?" - "Keine; Ich Reise Nur Um Vergnuegen's Willen." - "
Sonderbar!" - "Worin Liegt Das Sonderbare, Dass Man Reist
Um ein schoenes
Land zu sehen?"[20] - He made no answer to this, but one of his coadjutors
standing by
Him said in a loud whisper, "Ein Herumreiser," which means an
adventurer or person who travels about for no good, - in a word, a
suspicious character. I then said with the utmost calm and indifference:
"Gentlemen, as soon as you shall have finished all your commentaries on the
subject of my passport, pray be so good as to inform me what I am to do,
whether I may go on to Mayence and Frankfort as is my intention, or return
to Bruxelles." The Commissary, after a slight hesitation, signed the visa
and I then carried it to the bureau of the Commandant, whose secretary
signed it without hesitation, merely asking me if I were a military man.
In the afternoon I went to visit the Dome or Cathedral. It is a fine
specimen of Gothic architecture, but singular enough the steeple is not yet
finished. In this Cathedral the most remarkable thing is the Chapel of the
Three Kings, wherein is deposited a massy gold chest inlaid with precious
stones of all sorts and of great value, containing the bones of the
identical three Kings (it is said) who came from the East to worship the
infant Jesus at Bethlehem. The Scriptures say it was three wise men or
Magi. The legend however calls them Kings and gives them Gothic names. Let
schoolmen and theologians reconcile this difference: ce n'est point notre
affaire. To me it appears that when the German tribes embraced
Christianity and enrolled themselves under the banner of St Peter, it was
thought but fair to allow them to give vent to a little nationality and to
blend their old traditions with the new-fangled doctrine, and no doubt the
Sovereign Pontiffs thought that the people could never be made to believe
too much; the same policy is practised by the Jesuit missionaries in China,
where in order to flatter the national vanity and bend it to their purposes
they represent Jesus Christ as being a great personal friend and
correspondent of Confucius.
To return to these monarchs, wise men or Magi: their sculls are kept
separate to the rest of the bones and each scull bears a crown of gold.
But if you are fond of miracles, legends, and details of relics, come with
me to the Church of St Ursula in this city, and see the proof positive of
the miraculous legend of the eleven thousand Virgins who suffered martyrdom
in this city, in the time of Attila; the bones of all of whom are carefully
preserved here and adorn the interior walls of the Church in the guise of
arms arranged in an armoury. Eleven thousand sculls, each bearing a golden
or gilt crown, grin horribly on the spectator from the upper part of the
interior walls of the church, where they are placed in a row. What a fine
subject this would make for a ballad in the style of Buerger to suppose that
on a particular night in the year, at the midnight hour when mortals in
slumbers are bound, the bones all descending from the walls where they are
arranged, forming themselves into bodies, clapping on their heads and
dancing a skeleton dance round the Ghost of Attila! The people of Cologne,
in the time of the ecclesiastical Electorate, had the reputation of being
extremely superstitious, and no doubt there were many who implicitly
believe this pious tale; indeed, who could refuse their assent to its
authenticity, on beholding the proof positive in the sculls and bones?
I recollect that in the History of the Compere Mathiew[21] the Pere Jean
rates mightily the natives of Cologne for their bigotry and superstition
and for the bad reception they gave to him and to his philosophy. That
people are happier from a blind belief, as some pretend, appears to me
extremely problematical. For my part, under no circumstances can I think
bliss to consist in ignorance; nor have I felt any particular discomfort in
having learned at a very early age to put under my feet, as Lucretius
expresses it, the strepitum Acherontis avari. On the contrary, it has
made me a perfect cosmopolitan, extinguished all absurd national and
religious prejudices, and rendered me at home wherever I travel; and I meet
the Catholic, the Lutheran, the Moslem, the Jew, the Hindou and the Guebre
as a brother. Quo me cunque ferat tempestas, deferor hospes.[22] Let me
add one word more to obviate any misrepresentation of my sentiments from
some malignant Pharisee, that tho' I am no friend to King-craft and
Priest-craft, and cannot endure that religion should ever be blended with
politics, yet I am a great admirer of the beautiful and consoling
philosophy or theosophy of Jesus Christ which inculcates the equality of
Mankind, and represents the Creator of the universe, the Author of all
being, as the universal Father of the human race.
Cologne derives its name from Colonia, as it was a Roman Colony planted
here to protect the left bank of the Rhine from the incursions of the
German hordes. It is here that the grand and original manufactory of the
far-famed Eau de Cologne is to be seen. The Eau de Cologne is a
sovereign remedy for all kinds of disorders, and if the affiches of the
proprietor, Jean-Marie Farina, be worthy of credit, he is as formidable a
check to old Pluto as ever Aesculapius was. The sale of this water is
immense.
On my return to the inn, I met with a Dutch clergyman who was travelling
with his pupils, three very fine boys, the sons of a Dutch lady of rank. He
was to conduct them to the University of Neuwied, on the right bank of the
Rhine, in order to place them there for their education.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 17 of 149
Words from 16369 to 17377
of 151859
