All Along My
Journey I Had Observed Tokens Of The Intense Interest Which The German
People Took In The Result Of The Struggle Between Austria And The Magyars,
And Of The Warmth Of Their Hopes In Favor Of The Latter.
The intelligence
was received with the deepest sorrow.
"So perishes," said a Bavarian,
"the last hope of European liberty."
Our journey to Switzerland led us through the southern part of Bavaria,
among the old towns which formed a part of ancient Swabia. The country
here, in some respects, resembles New England; here are broad woods, large
orchards of the apple and pear, and scattered farm-houses - of a different
architecture, it is true, from that of the Yankees, and somewhat
resembling, with their far-projecting eaves, those of Switzerland. Yet
there was a further difference - everywhere, men were seen under arms, and
women at the plough.
So weary had I grown of the perpetual sight of the military uniform, that
I longed to escape into Switzerland, where I hoped to see less of it, and
it was with great delight that I found myself at Lindau, a border town of
Bavaria, on the Bodensee, or Lake of Constance, on the shores of which the
boundaries of four sovereignties meet. A steamer took us across the lake,
from a wharf covered with soldiers, to Roorschach, in Switzerland, where
not a soldier was to be seen. Nobody asked for our passports, nobody
required us to submit our baggage to search. I could almost have kneeled
and kissed the shore of the hospitable republic; and really it was
beautiful enough for such a demonstration of affection, for nothing could
be lovelier than the declivities of that shore with its woods and
orchards, and grassy meadows, and green hollows running upward to the
mountain-tops, all fresh with a shower which had just passed and now
glittering in the sunshine, and interspersed with large Swiss houses,
bearing quaintly-carved galleries, and broad overhanging roofs, while to
the east rose the glorious summits of the Alps, mingling with the clouds.
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