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.
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