Vessel After Vessel, Each Manned With
Four Stout Rowers, Came Out Of The Port - And After Rowing A Short
Distance, Raised Their Sails And Steered For The Open Sea, Till All The
Waters, From The Land To The Horizon, Were Full Of Them.
I counted them,
hundreds after hundreds, till I grew tired of the task.
A sail of ten or
twelve hours brought us to Aberdeen, with its old cathedral, encumbered
by pews and wooden partitions, and its old college, the tower of which is
surmounted by a cluster of flying buttresses, formed into the resemblance
of a crown.
This letter, you perceive, is dated at Aberdeen. It was begun there, but I
have written portions of it at different times since I left that city, and
I beg that you will imagine it to be of the latest date. It is now long
enough, I fear, to tire your readers, and I therefore lay down my pen.
Letter LII.
Europe under the Bayonet.
Paris, _September_ 13, 1849.
Whoever should visit the principal countries of Europe at the present
moment, might take them for conquered provinces, held in subjection by
their victorious masters, at the point of the sword. Such was the aspect
which France presented when I came to Paris a few weeks since. The city
was then in what is called, by a convenient fiction, a state of siege;
soldiers filled the streets, were posted in every public square and at
every corner, were seen marching before the churches, the cornices of
which bore the inscription of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, keeping
their brethren quiet by the bayonet. I have since made a journey to
Bavaria and Switzerland, and on returning I find the siege raised, and
these demonstrations of fraternity less formal, but the show and the
menace of military force are scarcely less apparent. Those who maintain
that France is not fit for liberty, need not afflict themseves with the
idea that there is at present more liberty in France than her people know
how to enjoy.
On my journey, I found the cities along the Rhine crowded with soldiers;
the sound of the drum was heard among the hills covered with vines; women
were trundling loaded wheel-barrows, and carrying panniers like asses, to
earn the taxes which are extorted to support the men who stalk about in
uniform. I entered Heidelberg with anticipations of pleasure; they were
dashed in a moment; the city was in a state of siege, occupied by Prussian
troops which had been sent to take the part of the Grand Duke of Baden
against his people. I could hardly believe that this was the same peaceful
and friendly city which I had known in better times. Every other man in
the streets was a soldier; the beautiful walks about the old castle were
full of soldiers; in the evening they were reeling through the streets.
"This invention," said a German who had been a member of the Diet of the
Confederation lately broken up, "this invention of declaring a city, which
has unconditionally submitted, to be still in a state of siege, is but a
device to practice the most unbounded oppression.
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