Monday, October 16th 1854 ~ Lucerne

Lucerne, Switzerland.

Hotel du Cygne ~ The morning opened gloomily enough with rain and cloud, but at noon it cleared up a little, the wind changed and dispersed the lower clouds, so that we obtained a fine view of Mount Pilatus and Rigi, their summits covered with a snowy mantle. Mt. Pilatus is the higher of the two, but is not often ascended. It is almost a perpendicular rock, in the crevices of which the snow contrasts beautifully with the dark stone of the more exposed parts. One of the finest points of view from mountain tops in all Switzerland is that on the top of the Rigi. Oh for the sun once more to enable us to enjoy it! This afternoon we all took a row upon the lake. We dined at five and ~ half and drank John’s health and happiness for it is his birthday. During our walks we meet rough wooden crosses very often, set up by the side of the public roads, in passing which the peasants cross themselves with much apparent feeling. It seems to me very proper thus to remind men during their daily avocations of the employments of Eternity.

Sunday, October 15th 1854, Lucerne, Switzerland

Lake Lucerne from Mt. Rigi (photo: J. Selby, cc).

Hotel du Cygne ~ Last evening Lizzie and myself took a row boat and made a little excursion on the Lake, I rowing, but the boat was heavy and the clouds too low to enable us to see anything of the mountains. Coming back we met a party of washerwomen, rowing themselves and their linen [Lumenards] and singing so merrily that it was quite delightful. A little steamer that makes the trip over the Lake and back lies just under our windows. The day has been cloudy and rainy part of the time. We however got a little sight of the top of the Rigi for the first time. There is no English chapel here, or rather none open at present, so after watching the peasants pass the hotel on their way to church, we followed them there (the cathedral is quite near us). The dress of the female peasants was a striped skirt reaching a little below the knee, a short white apron, basque looking like a boys jacket open in front, disclosing what old fashioned people call a stomacher of black velvet and tinsel, worn with a white under handkerchief pleated. The hair generally long, braided, and hanging down the back with ribbons on the ends. We had in the cathedral some quite fine orchestral music, or rather fine music with orchestral accompaniment. European cathedrals are never provided with fixed seats, but each person, on entering, calls for a chair which is provided upon the payment of a small fee. They are used more for kneeling on than for sitting, the back of the chair being as arranged as to make a very good desk or shelf for a prayer book. All these peasants looked very picturesquely kneeling with their faces to the Alter. After church we took a walk into the country choosing a road, running along the border of the Lake, but on the hill side. We walked several miles enjoying the beautiful scenery. On the road we past an old watch tower in ruins, and were drown by a sudden shower under the forties of a large and very dirty cottage. We could not persuade ourselves to enter its hallowed precincts, and after a time were forced to walk home with umbrellas up. Ours is not the first house and we regret having come to it. It is comfortable but small, has no table d’hote, so that we are obliged to dine in private. Today we had nothing but chicken and for dessert ‘compot’ of peaches. This afternoon read the church service at home. The Switzerhof is the name of the best house; this is the first class of course but not as good.

Frederick Augustus Cobb

Charles' father, Frederick Augustus Cobb (1801 - 1848)

1801 - born in Portland, ME on July 26th.

1820 to ≥ 1833 - Lived in Boston, where he attended Harvard
(a member of the "Porcellian Club"), was a member of the local
library, owned lots of stock, married Helen Augusta Kane, and
had two children: Charles (1831) and Mary Wray Cobb (1833).
(Mary accompanied Charles and Lizzie to Europe).

≤ 1838 to 1848 - Lived in Schenectady, NY., where he donated
$5 to a church and apparently attended political conventions of
the Whig party! He died in Schenectady on August 2nd 1848
(aged 47), when Charles was 17.

It isn't clear where all of his money came from...or where it went for that matter!

Thanks to great-great-grandson-in-law Rich Allen and great-great-great granddaughter Becky James for digitizing the painting!

Saturday, October 14th 1854 ~ Lucerne, Switzerland

Lion Monument carved in 1819 by B. Thorvaldsen.

Hotel du Cygne ~ It is rainy and cloudy again today, but at intervals among the shifting clouds we can see the mountains around us. Lucerne is directly upon the lake; on one side of the city rises the steep Mount Pilatus, on the other, but further off towers the Rigi (spelt in several ways). Up to this evening we have not seen the summit of either mountain, both are above the clouds. Lucerne is surrounded on all sides but one by high land and seems to be a fitting portal to the majestic scenery of the Oberlands. Our rooms are large, connect and have each two windows that look out over the Lake with a little balcony in front. I could almost toss a cigar into the water from them. This afternoon during a pause in the rain, we went to see the lion designed by Thorvaldsen and cut in solid rock, in memory of the Swiss guard who fell while defending the palace of Luis 16th. It is colossal in size and cut in the face of a perpendicular rock, so that it rests in a niche formed by cutting the figure. The lion is 26 feet long but as it is above one and proportions well preserved it does not look very large. He is in a crouching attitude, transfixed by a dart, with his paw resting on a shield on which are engraved the “fleur de lis” of France. The whole design is full of grace, life, and feeling. Our rooms cold and damp. We bought some Swiss wood carving on our way home.

Friday, October 13th 1854 ~ Lucerne, Switzerland

"The Lake of Lucerne: Mont Pilatus in the Distance" (1857) by J. Inchbold.

The morning was chilly, cold, and disagreeable, but promised to be more pleasant than yesterday. The sun peeped out at intervals and seemed to be making efforts to redeem the character of a Swiss autumn. We left Kreutzstrasse at half past eight this morning and arrived at Lucerne at four o’clock this afternoon. The country is generally level and does not possess much that would be interesting to old European travelers, but we were delighted with the picturesque dresses of the peasantry, the brown cows, eight harnessed to a plow. The peculiar houses, generally of wood, pretty at a distance but dirty and uncomfortable when closely inspected. The occasional ruins of castles each on its high rock, the pleasant manners of the peasants, who all touched their hats to us as we passed etc. Our road lay through Sursee and along the borders of the pretty little Lake Sempach. When our witurier stopt to find his horses at noon Lizzie and myself walked on, leavin the carriage to come up in an hours time. During our walk we met an old priest, drest in the rusty brown cloth frock of a monk, with a rope girdle. Around him were grouped a dozen children with whom he was talking. We joined him and in conversation he informed us that he no longer exercised the holy office. The reason why was apparent from the state of his breath. He was without a hat and had a rosary hung from his rope belt. On this road I first saw an English walnut tree. We stopt and partook of its fruit which some little boys were shaking down. One seems to see infinitely more of the country when walking and of the people. Indeed I think it is the only way to become well acquainted and enjoy a European country. If I could I should much prefer traversing Switzerland on foot. The peasants of the Northern and Eastern cantons speak bad German. In the neighborhood of Geneva the language is French, but not Parisian French. Our breakfasts since we have been in Switzerland have been peculiar. We have always honey, good butter, rich cream, French rolls or “petit pains” as they are called here. These “petit pains” are only found in the hotels, the Swiss bread tastes like our home made except that it is always a little acid and darker in color. Fresh eggs are plenty. Mutton chops are very nice here. As we approached Lucerne the country became more hilly as if to give us a foretaste of the glories to be revealed.

Thursday, October 12th 1854 ~ Kreutzstrasse, Switzerland

Hotel du Lion d’Or ~ The morning opened with fog rain and mud, but as we had arranged with a “witurier” to carry us on to Lucerne we started from Basle this morning at nine o’clock. Our carriage is very comfortable and roomy one, and our driver a person who speaks French seems quite honest and obliging. We have of course the entire carriage to ourselves. It rained pretty steadily all the morning and the country under those auspices did not seem particularly interesting. At half past two o’clock we dined at Buklen and at three were again “en route.” From there our drive was delightful; the clouds broke away just enough to enable us to see something of the road, but still resting on the tops of the highest hills, and occasionally forming rainbows of all colors. Just before reaching Olten the road conducts over a chain of hills, from which in fine weather a good view is obtained of the Alps, and then crosses the Aar at Aarburg. We are now à moitié chemin [halfway] to Lucerne. Our driver owns his carriage and horse, and seems to be a person quite well off. We should not forget that we are now again on republican soil, where every man is equal.

Wednesday, October 11th 1854 ~ Basle, Switzerland

Hotel du Laurage ~ I talked with some Frenchmen in the cars yesterday who gave me some very valuable information in relation to the charges on foreigners at the hotels. I found out from them that our bills were always higher than those of the natives, and obtained a list of charges for this section of country. I called on my bankers here last evening and obtained a little of the root of all evil. The post office is nearly opposite the hotel and no better are to be found. Of course we are very much disappointed for we have not heard since leaving London from home. We are now in Switzerland. Basle is just within the line. It is quite an uninteresting place, large but not possessing anything remarkable. The houses are very much in the same style as all those we have seen since leaving England, but occasionally we see one with a distinctive Swiss character. The day has been spent in making arrangements for a journey by carriage and looking out for a “return witurier.” That is a carriage which belongs to the part of country to which we want to go and which will therefore be lower in price than if we took a Basle carriage which would have to return here. We dined at five “à la carte” (by bill of fare) in private. After dinner bought a map and chose our course through Switzerland.

Tuesday, October 10th 1854 ~ Basle, Switzerland

Hotel du Laurage ~ The morning was passed in Strasburg. Soon after breakfast Alice went out with me to a dentist (the best and truly good one in the city) and had the tooth extracted that has been paining her so long. It was done under the influence of chloriform, so that she did not feel it at all. The dentists in Europe are not generally good. Their services are not needed, judging from appearances, as much as in our cake and preserve eating country. The best dentists in Europe are American. Even the French Emperor employs an American dentist. We visited the great Strasburg cathedral, celebrated for its immense spire, the highest (I believe) in Europe. It rises like a fairy dream into the air, so light that it seems scarcely to rest on earth. It is constructed throughout of columns of stone, so that the steeple looks like trellis work at the great height above us. The cathedral boasts also an automaton clock which sends out figures every quarter hour to beat the time etc. This is said to be a very curious piece of mechanism. We left Strasburg at one o’clock. The cars to Basle are very poor and the charges high. It would have been far better to have crossed over to the German side of the Rhine and taken the German railway.

Monday, October 9th 1854 ~ Strasbourg, France

View from "Das alte Schloss," the Old Castle.

Hotel de la Ville de Paris ~ We left Baden at one o’clock this afternoon and arrived here at four by rail. The country is somewhat uninteresting but the cars are good and very comfortable. In the cars we met an English family who came also from Baden, the man a great fop and fool, the lady more sensible. They had lived so long in Germany that they spoke English with a decided accent. Their child (a little girl) was quite a prodigy. She was but five years old and spoke about equally well English, French, German, and Italian and all very well. Before leaving Baden this morning Lizzie and myself walked to “das neue Schloss” the present summer residence of the Dukes of Baden. This castle is rather a modern looking gothic building, founded in 1471 but which has built and demolished several times since, so that now only the foundation of the edifice remains. We were taken into the cellars by the castellan and found ourselves at a great depth in chambers hewn out of the solid rock on which the castle is placed. The first room we entered was a Roman bath, then followed a succession of cells, closed by doors of stone two feet thick, which led us into the judgment hall, where still are the stone seats of the judges of the secret tribunal. Out of this chamber opens a small room called the chamber of torture. Here stood the rack, rows of iron rings still remain in the walls, part of the paraphernalia of the dreadful apparatus. On one side of this room is a narrow passage terminated by an image of the Virgin. Just before reaching this image is a deep well called the “oubliette,” ninety feet deep, armed at the bottom by knives etc. and covered with a trap door. Along this passage the trembling victim is told to pass to kiss the image of the Virgin. Before he reaches it, the “oubliette” receives its victim. All these apartments are about 8 feet in height and perfectly dark, that is the light of day does not penetrate at all.

From these subterranean passages we again ascended to the realms of day, and visited the gorgeously furnished apartments of the Duke. These were the handsomest rooms we have thus far seen. The walls and ceiling are principally of oak, heavily carved and richly gilded. The floors of colored woods inlaid and highly polished, of course without carpets. In the state rooms were portraits of all the Dukes of Baden full length and in complete armor. The Protestant dukes on one side and the catholic on the other. From this chateau we ascended to “das alte Schloss,” a ruin on a high neighboring hill. Lizzie took an ass for the trip with a pretty little boy to lead him, while I went up on foot. The path wound through thick woods and was extremely pretty, to the old castle. This is a highly picturesque ruin which was the residence of the Dukes of Baden until somewhat more peaceful times, when they ventured down from their inaccessible cliff, to a strong castle below. The view from here is superb. At our feet is the beautiful little village of Baden, its tiled roofs glittering in the sunlight. To the west may be traced the course of the Rhine, in the distance looking like a thread of light in the green meadows. Behind us is seen the commencement of the great “black forest.” Beautiful walks wind through the woods.

Sunday, October 8th 1854 ~ Baden Baden, Germany

I find I have made an error and described today’s proceedings under date of yesterday which was occupied merely in getting from Frankfort to Baden in the cars, rather an uninteresting trip of which I have nothing to say. So please consult the preceding page for what should be here.

Saturday, October 7th 1854 ~ Baden Baden, Germany

Hotel de la Courde Baden ~ This certainly is a charming place. Very beautifully situated, but looking in itself like all watering places. The streets wide and unpaved, rows of trees, wooden houses etc. Baden is surrounded on three sides by high hills covered with deep woods, and having beautiful walks along their sides extending for miles in every direction. Just behind our hotel is a large flower garden filled with bright autumnal flowers, bounded by a high brick wall and behind it rises one of the three hills to a height, which would make its ascent very toilsome. At a distance of about half a mile in front is the hill which forms the opposite boundary of our little valley. It is somewhat higher than the one behind us and is crowned by an old ruin which was the earliest residence of the Dukes of Baden. This ruin is so embowered by the trees, that it is only seen through the foliage and above it, in its iron strength of other days. We attended service this morning at the English Chapel, but Alice was obliged to remain in the house on account of a bad toothache. At four o’clock Lizzie and myself took a walk to the neighborhood of the great club house, which seems to be the favorite promenade; there a band (a large and fine one) was playing polkas in the open air, while ladies and gentlemen handsomely drest were sitting or walking under thee trees. Nurses teaching children to dance to the music etc. Rather a gay scene for the Sabbath! From here we struck off on one of the paths through the hill side woods, taking religious books with us and using them when quite above society and its [voices]. After returning home we started out again to obtain some medicine for Alice and were informed that the apothecary could only sell a small quantity of landanum (too small to take life) to any one person. Baden is a place where gambling is authorized by law, and this perhaps accounts for such a regulation. In our walk before breakfast this morning, we saw a handsome house of peculiar architecture, with long piazzas, etc. which we found covered the chief springs. We went in and were served from the spring which comes up into the midst of a handsome room with frescoed ceiling. The waters are hot, have no decided taste and resemble in color water slightly tinged with milk. They spring from the ground in thirteen places at a boiling heat. I bathed in them this evening and found the bath so warm that cold water was needed to dilute.

Charles Kane Cobb, timeline

A photo of Charles K. Cobb ca. 1861.

1831 - Born in Boston, MA.
1833 - Sister Mary Wray Cobb is born in Boston.
1830s - Family moves to Schenectady, NY.
1848 - Father, Frederick Augustus Cobb, dies in Schenectady.
1850 - Possibly boards at 7 Morton Pl., Boston (Charles Cobb, clerk).
1852 - Boards at "Winthrop House" in Boston.
1853 - Marries Elizabeth Codman.
1854 - Clerkship in a dry goods commission house.
1854 - Trip to Europe with wife Lizzie and sister Mary.
1855 - Son born in Schenectady, NY: Charles Kane Cobb, Jr.
1856 - Grandmother mentioned in journal (Maria Wray) dies.
1857 - Resides at 18 E. Brookline St., Boston.
1857 - Daughter born in Boston: Helen Kent Cobb.
1857-8 Works as a merchant at 53 Central Wharf.
1858 - Possibly boards at 4 Bulfinch Place (C.K. Cobb).
1858 - Mother, Helen Augusta Kane, dies in Boston.
1859 - Son born in Boston: Frederick Codman Cobb.
1860 - Appears in US Census as Boston resident, merchant.
1861 - Works at 22 Central Wharf, J.P. Hawes & Co., merchants.
1861-? - Lieutenant/adjutant in Civil War, stationed in Boston Harbor.
1862 - Absent from the Boston Directory. At war?
1864 - Daughter born in Boston: Elizabeth Codman Cobb.
1864 - Starts a bank and brokerage company.
1865-6 - Partners with Francis V. Parker becoming "Parker & Cobb."
1865 - Resides at 11 Brookline St.
1865 - Parker & Cobb located at "1 Phoenix Building" in Boston.
1868 - Parker & Cobb located at 8 Devonshire St.
1868-death - Resides at 11 Marlboro St.
1870-3 - Parker & Cobb located at 36 Devonshire St.
1872 - Parker & Cobb narrowly escapes the "great fire" of Nov 9.
1873 - Charles is a member of the Boston Stock and Exchange Board.
1873-6 - Parker & Cobb is located at 78 Devonshire St.
1876 - Dies in Boston, age 45. Bank becomes F.V. Parker & Co.


Advertisement from The Banker's Almanac, 1874.

sources:
Banker's Almanacs, 1872-1874.
Barron, C. W. and J. G. Martin. 1893. The Boston Stock Exchange.
Boston Directories 1849 to 1875.
Chandler, A. 1876. Secretary's Report, class of 1868, Harvard.
Greenough, Jones & Co. 1872. Boston Business Directory.
Parker, F. J. 1880. The story of the 32nd regiment Massachusetts...
Reno, C. 1900. Memoirs of the judiciary and the bar of New England...

Note: some dates and/or places may be wrong! (i.e., mistaken identities)

Friday, October 6th 1854 ~ Frankfurt, Germany

Frankfurt's "Jewish Quarter," or Judengasse in 1868.

Hotel de Russie ~ I forgot to mention that the grape harvest was being gathered in as we ascended the river yesterday. Peasants, men and women, were to be seen toiling up and down the hills, with baskets of the ripe fruit upon their heads. We left Mayence this morning. It is only about an hours ride from here. Before leaving we took a walk about the city and concluded that there was not much to be seen there. It has no surrounding high land and therefore no fine scenery. We took a walk some distance beyond its gates to a garden, on the banks of the river farther up, and obtained from there a fair view of the city besides seeing some forest trees changing color, to remind us of the scenery in our own native land. Mayence is strongly fortified by a succession of small forts, so small as and so placed among the trees that one scarcely notices them. Murray calls it one of the most important fortresses of Germany on the side of France. It suffered greatly during the 30 years war. This afternoon we took a guide from our hotel, here in Frankfort, and walked to see the celebrated Ariadni (a woman seated on a lion) and were delighted with it beyond measure. The models one sees of this in all our shop windows at home give a very good idea of it but fail to convey the exquisite “feeling” of the original, fail to impress as this. It is the prosperity of a private gentleman here, who has a building appropriated entirely to its use in his grounds. One of its beauties consists in the marble being still fresh pure and white. The statuary we have generally seen has been yellow or brown with age. Leaving the Ariadni we dismissed our guide, took a carriage and drove to see the house in which Martin Luther was born and from which the Protestant religion and the bible went out to all the worlds. We saw the house in which Goethe was born and his monument (a colossal sitting figure in marble) finely done. It was still crowned with garlands of oak leaves placed there on his last birth day. We drove through the “jews quarter” the worst in Europe. It is the vilest, darkest, dirtiest street I ever saw, without sidewalks, without the light of heaven almost, and crowded with tumble down houses. Here they were formerly shut up every night, but now they may live where they please. Frankfort has very extensive parks but is not a handsome city, cannot compare with Brussels. In the public library we saw the wooden shoes etc. Luther wore, a copy of the first edition of the bible printed in Latin and some other rare books.

Elizabeth Codman

This is a photo/painting of Elizabeth Codman Cobb ("Lizzie"), wife of Charles, around 1900. She was born in 1826, which would make her about 75 in the painting and about 28 during the trip. Thanks to great-grandson-in-law Rich Allen for photographing it and to great-great-granddaughter Becky James for improving the image.

Thursday, October 5th 1854 ~ Mayence, Germany

Rhine view showing Mouse Tower and Ehrenfels ruin (anonymous, after 1840).

Hotel de l’Europe ~ This morning we obtained a splendid view of the river and its scenery from Coblentz, which I think is one of the most beautiful points. Almost directly above us, on the opposite side rose the strong fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, capable of holding one hundred thousand men. Its situation is highly picturesque, being an immense stone structure on an almost inaccessible rock. Murray calls it the fortress of Germany. This scenery is beyond all my conceptions. We left Coblentz at one o’clock this afternoon by boat and reached here about nine o’clock this evening. It has been a delightful sail to us, finer I think than between Bonn and Coblentz. The deck of the steamer was quite full of English with their red covered guide books and [sules] of shawls. Ruined castles greeted us at every turn, while nature itself is most charming, wild yet soft, grand yet beautiful. High hills bound the river continuously and every few moments we pass one crowned by a fortress, most of them in ruins but some still kept up. These old castles on steep rocks give a good history of the middle ages (perhaps better than books) when no man could trust his neighbor, all were at strife and only concurred in levying contributions on the peasantry, and on the trade of the country. This river being a great highway of communication it abounds with strong holds from whence, when might made right, the noble might levy contributions on all merchandise passing up and down the river. Perhaps the most striking point we have passed today is in the neighborhood of St. Goar. Close to the water on a little hill is the great fortress of Reinfels in ruins. Just above it on a steep rock is perched the “Castle of the Cat” and below on the river, in plain sight, is the beautiful ruin of the “Castle of the Mouse.” This seems like fairy land, every few moments shows us a ruin which has some romantic history and every bend of the river discloses new natural beauties. We were much struck by the appearance of two ruined castles within a stones throw of each other, on rival peaks, which once belonged to brothers, who had the misfortune to fall in love with the same “fair” lady and who for her sake fell by each others hands. The castles and even their respective hills are exactly alike. It was moonlight long before we arrived at Mayence so that we saw it streaming through the loopholes and broken walls of these feudal towers. By night it is more easy to picture them in their strength, “when they were young and proud and banners waved on high and battles passed below,” and to people them with the mail clad men to whose tread their walls of old resounded.

A photo of Charles?

"Whipple studio portrait of Lieutenant Charles K. Cobb, Adjutant of the 32nd Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during the Civil War." (CORBIS)

This is a possible photo of the author (my great-great-grandfather) taken in Boston ca. 1861. He would have been about 30 years old - about 6 years after the trip with Lizzy, during which the mustache would have first sprouted (see entry of 30 August 1854).

A Charles K. Cobb was stationed at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor in 1861 (*)

Wednesday, October 4th 1854 ~ Koblenz, Germany

Drachenfels Castle as it looked in the 21st and 17th centuries (photo: S. Mense, engraving: M. Merian).

Hotel Du Géant ~ Last evening at six o’clock we left Cologne for Bonn by rail and past the night there. It is only one hours ride. Bonn is a lovely place, just upon the river, where it begins to be picturesque and commands a fine view of the seven hills, with the Drachenfells castle in the distance. We saw the river by moonlight last evening. Bonn is a fine looking city, looking somewhat like an American watering place, handsome houses, unpaved streets, large trees on either side etc. It contains a celebrated university in which Prince Albert was educated. The house is still shown there in which Bethoven was born. At ten o’clock we took an open carriage provided by our hotel and left Bonn en route up the river. The drive is delightful to Godesberg, a hill overlooking the river, crowned by a ruined castle built by one of the Archbishops of Cologne in the 13th century, on the site of a Roman fort. We made the ascent on Donkeys in about 15 minutes. Our donkeys were each led by little boys. The view from the top is magnificent, finer much than that from the Drachenfells. It is a hard scrambling ride but the view repays the trouble. Our little guides, when we arrived at the top, picked little bouquets for us, in hopes to increase their “drink geld.” The little asses seemed quite disproportionate to the load they bear. My feet almost touched the ground, on either side, when seated on one of them. They walk with great elasticity and force but do not like to trot. They seem to posses more sagacity than a horse and make a loud crying when displeased, which is very painful to unaccustomed ears. Continuing our drive up the river, we found we were traversing a road founded by Marcus Aurelius of Lucius Verus, 160 years after Christ. A few miles brought us to the foot of the Drachenfells, which we ascended on mules. The hill is very steep indeed and the road winds up through vineyards almost all the way. The ruined towers at the top and the view is not as fine as in many other places on the Rhine. Still it is beautiful. We took out Childe Harold and read the passages relating to this part of the river. At half past one we took a steamer and were soon sailing rapidly up the river, between very high and irregular banks. Just above Konigswinter on the opposite side rises a steep hill on which is the ruin of the castle of Rolandseck. The nephew of Charlemagne (Roland) built it to command a view of the convent where his betrothed had taken the veil. From a point a short distance above this the prospect is charming. One may see the ruins of the Drachenfells, Rolandseck Castle, on their separate heights and the convent below, besides several less important castellated summits. Farther up the river are the ruins of Hammerstein Castle, on a high rock just over the water. It was built in the 10th century and was besieged by the Swedes in the 30 years war. Still farther up we passed the white tower which marks the spot where Caesar crossed the Rhine when leading an army against the Sicambri and also where General Hoche crossed in 1797 in spite of the opposition of the Austrians. All these Rhemish hillsides are covered with grape vines which grow on terraces and which seem to be inaccessible to mortal foot. Many of these terraces are cut out of the solid rock and the soil has been carried up to them in baskits, on the heads of the peasants. The vines did not seem to us to add to the landscape as they are trained on straight poles only about four or five feet high, which appear merely like scrub bushes from the river below. We have been perfectly enchanted with our days voyaging. The Rhine is beautiful beyond description, more beautiful by far than the Hudson (setting aside the ruins) although there are some small portions of the Hudson that more than equal it in natural beauty. This part of the Rhine is narrower than the Hudson and the banks are far more precipitous, rocky, and the general scenery wilder. The white and red wines are very agreeable to one who is a little used to them. They are entirely without adulteration and admixture of alcohol here, that these wines always have in America and possess a purer taste. Lizzie and the girls do not like them because they are not accustomed to any acid wine. The price on board the Rhine boats is one franc to one and a half per bottle (20 to 30 cts). Last evening at Bonn we all went to a concert because Alice said she “wanted to hear some German music in a German land.” But the concert turned out to be only a four Tyrolian songs given by three or four natives in costume. It would have been decidedly common in America. The audience looked just as any well dressed one would in America. Thus far life seems much the same all over. At the hotels they always give us here a square pillow (about two feet square) stuffed with down as an extra covering. It is a very peculiar arrangement because it only covers half the body, and that only for half the night, for at the first turn it rolls off. We have not seen a double bed for a long while. We arrived this evening at Coblentz. Our rooms look out upon the river.

Tuesday, October 3rd 1854 ~ Bonn, Germany

Left: Cologne Cathedral under construction in 1856. Right: in 1912, after its completion in 1880.

Hotel Bellevue ~ I date at Bonn because I write from there this evening but the whole day has been spent at Cologne. Mary was quite unwell this morning. She had headache and was obliged to remain at the hotel while we were sightseeing. We started early and first directed our steps to the great Cathedral “Domkirche.” It is still unfinished and was begun in the 11th century. At present the work is being prosecuted with vigor and will probably be concluded in a half century more. This is a great gothic structure and when completed will be the largest of its style in the world. It has two towers, one on either side of the nave, that will be 500 feet high. It contains of course many wonderful relics (what Rhemish or Belgian cathedral does not!). Among them are a “lock of the hair of the Virgin” and the “skulls of the three Kings of Cologne,” the wise men or Magi, who first came to adore the infant Christ. The vast proportions of the outside of this cathedral impressed us much. We gazed at its proportions a long while. From one of its towers springs quite a good sized tree, taken root on a deposit of ages. We now went to the Ursuline Chapel, whose walls are filled with the bones of the eleven thousand sainted virgins who were massacred here by the Huns in the 3rd century. I have given their history under date of Sept. 29th. In the sacristy their bones are arranged in glass cases which extend from the floor to the ceiling and perfectly line the room. We were shown the skull of St. Ursula with her name embroidered upon a band of crimson velvet which encircles it, covering up the lower jaw and thus taking from the face that repulsive expression common to this object. Very many of the other skulls were similarly adorned. The question presented itself to us, how they came to know these skulls one from another, after they had been in a confused heap for ages. In this same place they pointed out to us one of the “alabaster wine pots used by our Lord at [Cans] of Galilee. It was broken and looked old. From here we visited another church where there is a splendid painting of Rubens. It was presented by him to the church, the one in which he was baptized. The subject is the crucifixion of St. Peter. His executioners are affixing his ponderous body to the cross head downwards and driving the nails. His face is calm, but each mussel of the body betrays his suffering. He is represented as in high health, but an old man with gray hair. This picture impresses us more than any we have ever seen and now we feel as if we never should see its like again. We saw the house in which Ruben was born and Mary de Médicis died. The church which has Rubens painting still preserves the font in which he was baptized. It has the tomb of a child of an English king in the 3rd century, a monument much defaced.

Monday, October 2nd 1854 ~ Cologne, Germany

"Cologne: Arrival of a packet ship: evening" (J. Turner).

Hotel Royale ~ We left Brussels this morning at half past six and arrived here at half past one, after an uninteresting ride of seven hours. The country in Belgium is highly cultivated, very fertile, thickly populated, and abounding picturesque villages. Our hotel turns out not to be the crack house. The Hotel de Hollande, next door, is better. This is however a good comfortable house and first class. Our windows look out on the waters of the Rhine and very beautiful they are, seen by moonlight. The steamers are at a wharf just under the window and the fridge of boats is only a few steps below. The city is dirty and mean looking and celebrated for its bad smells, while the river here is not as wide as the Hudson at Albany, and its banks are low and not picturesque. Cologne has no sidewalks and is a large bustling place. The streets are paved with round stone. Every second shop is a “Jean Marie Farina”! The currency changed again today and now we are handling Thalers, Groschen, and Pfennigs. The Prussian double headed Eagle covers us with her wings. The language is German, and English is about as much spoken as French here. A thaler is about 75 cts, a groschen about 2 ½ cts., and a pfennig about 1/5 of a cent. The custom house is strict but civil.

Sunday, October 1st 1854 ~ Brussels, Belgium

"A canal near Brussels in 1871" (C. Monet).

Hotel de l’Univers ~ We all went to an English chapel this morning and heard the service badly performed. After church I wandered about the city and saw the Place Royale in the centre of which is a beautiful equestrian statue in bronze of Godfrey of Bouillon of enormous size. This square is in the very best part of the city at the upper end of the Park. I walked around the Park, seeing in passing the Palais Royal, the Palais de la Nation and the Museum or Palais des Beaux Arts. This last I went into, but was unable to see anything but ordinary paintings. Those by Rubens and Van Dyck being closed for the season. The public buildings are large and handsome and the whole city wears an air of fite. It is clean, has nice, broad sidewalks, wide streets and a gay mirth seeking population. Brussels is said to imitate Paris closely, at least as closely as a place of this size can. All the shops are open today and many places of amusement which are open once each week. Even during the morning the shops were all open. Many English people come here to enconomize, so many that Brussels has ceased to be a cheap place to live in. The Park is truly beautiful. It is made into hill and dale, and ornamented with statuary. It is well shaded with large trees and contains several little ponds of water. There was one that took my fancy very much, with a grotto at one end and in it a reclining nymph. The whole shaded with high trees and the grounds about covered with the greenest grass. Brussels like Paris boasts here Boulevarts, which are long wide avenues shaded with trees, not paved, but macadamized. These were originally the top of the walls of the city, but as the city grew, they have in some places become almost its centre. The boulevards today are crowded with ladies and gentlemen showily drest, walking and driving. Young men in handsome military uniforms form a large part of the assemblage. The stately trees, the gay looking people, the bright uniforms, the foreign intonation, the military bands, makes this to me a scene of enchantment. This city is more lively and strikes me as more beautiful than London. In this fashionable part of the town each house is a palace. I past the house in which the Dutchess of Richmond gave a ball the night before the battle of Waterloo. “There was a sound of revelry by night.” This house is close to the great conservatory. One of the largest in Europe. The weather is fine, too warm for an overcoat, and the trees have not yet lost their verdure.

Saturday, September 30th 1854 ~ Brussels, Belgium

The Sonian Forest or Forêt de Soignes (photo: D. Edgar).

Hotel de L’Unions ~ We find we made a mistake in selecting our hotel. It is a good house celebrated for its table d’hote but in a bad location, not near the park and decidedly “down town”. Here, and indeed all through Germany, there are no double beds, two good sized single beds being invariably used instead. They have always full white curtains descending from a round head piece. The beds are low and in what we call the French style. I took the stage at ten o’clock this morning for Waterloo, leaving Lizzie and the girls to do some shopping for lace etc. in the city. The road to Waterloo is a very fine one, graded almost as well as one of our railways. The county, for the most part, would be considered uninteresting; but some parts of it are beautiful. The distance is thirteen miles and the road is paved with round stone all the way. It passes for several miles through the forest of Soigne and over it the British troops past on their way to the great battle field. This wood Lord Byron alludes to in the beautiful lines commencing “And Ardennes waves above them her green leaves, dewy with Natures tear drops as they pass.” Here the road is truly beautiful, the trees are immense and entirely shade it, and the wood is very thick. In all this level expanse of country there is not a fence or hedge or any other perceptible line to divide a man’s land from his neighbors’. The effect of this view of highly cultivated, unbroken prairie land is very fine, extending as it does, as far as the eye can reach. The field of Waterloo is only marked by a great mound of earth, on the top of which the Belgic lion, in bronze, puts his paw on a small marble world, and looks defiant. The ground the two armies occupied would not seem to give either a great advantage. It is merely a swelling meadow land. The little vale between the foes seems much too small to give either a great advantage. Wellington’s strength of position seems to have consisted entirely in having his extreme wings supported by the brick walls, which surrounded two old farm houses, so protected by clumps of trees that the French could not us their artillery against them and could not therefore get at the English from the rear on account of these temporary forts. They are called “Hougoumont” and “La Haye Sainte.” The walls of the Houngoumont are still standing and are all battered up on the outsides by musket balls fired at the loop holes. I stood upon the spot where Wellington gave his orders and to which the imperial gard almost penetrated during their final charge. The village is in plain sight, and about two miles distant, from which late in the afternoon the Prussians emerged. Our guide was an English officer of low grade who served under Wellington in the battle. He is a very smart fellow in that he does not boast of his courage but says he felt much relieved when his company were withdrawn from the fire. One cannot help feelings of sadness at the remembrance of the misery caused here and I believe we all left the place with subdued feelings and quiet faces. I got back to Brussels at four o’clock just in time for the table d’hote. Dinner in the French style. Nothing on the table, but dishes handed around, already carved and no two things placed on the same plate. Soup, corn beef, roast beef liver, fricandeau of veal larded, roast veal and baked pears, bread and cheese, jelly, pudding, pears, peaches etc. Each kind of meat constituted a separate course. The waiters are drest in black frock coats and white gloves and are generally gentlemanly looking young men speaking two or more languages.

Friday, September 29th 1854 ~ Ghent, Belgium

"St John the Evangelist at Patmos" (1479, H. Memling).

Late last evening, we visited the Biguinage, a very large nunnery where we saw service performed in a dimly lighted room, in presence of six hundred nuns clothed in white and black; black dresses with white capes and a white piece of linen folded over making the scene very solemn and impressive. The lodging houses of these nuns are small and surround the central point, the building for worship. The people of Belgium are celebrated, and long have been, for their religious devotion or perhaps superstition, whichever you choose to call it. They are said to be controlled more by their priests than any other nation in Europe. This morning early, we left Ghent in the cars for Bruges (about 18 miles distant) and we hardly know whether to be dissatisfied with our days employment or not. Bruges is a smaller city than Ghent, but has two very fine cathedrals and many very curious paintings, products of the early German schools. It also boasts a chime of bells said to be the finest in Europe, which Longfellow has much admired and immortalized. They are played by machinery every quarter hour and are very musical, but did not strike us as of great power, or as being very much superior to all the other chimes of Europe!! They should be heard on Sunday when they are played by a musician. We sat on a bench in the great square to listen to them. Previously we had visited with a guide the Hospitial of “St. Sean” where there are several fine pictures – a Van Dyke the “Virgin and Child.” The Child is sleeping on its mother’s breast, St. Joseph enters in the background and the mother’s face expresses fear least he should awaken the infant. The most beautiful specimen of the Flemish schools we have yet seen are here. The Decolation of John the Babtist and the inspiration of John at Patmos. In the last mentioned St. John is sitting in a rapt attitude and sees in the air above God the Father in encircled by a rainbow of glory and by his side is a white Lamb standing on a throne and around them are the four and twenty elders and in the distance the seven plagues represented by strange looking monsters. The colors of this painting are extremely briht and hard. It is said to be a fine type of the style and strange conceptions of this school in the middle ages. In the cathedral of Notre Dame we were shown a Michael Angelo (the Supper at Emmaus) a beautiful painting, but I should think of doubtful genuineness. Also the tombs of Charles the Bold and his daughter wife of Maximilian, on these tombs were their figures in time worn gilt bronze. In passing, our guide pointed out to us a house in which Charles 2nd of England lived while in exile here. It is in the square before the cathedral and is a large house, but not remarkable in appearance. Everything in this section of country recalls the middle ages. The ordinary buildings here seem to have been preserved an immense time. Among the relics at the Hospital is an area of St. Ursula preserved in a case of wood, on the sides of which are sketches of her life in several parts, representing her voyage to Rome with the eleven thousand virgins, their return with the Pontiff and subsequent massacre by the Huns at Cologne. These virgins were English and went up the Rhine crossed Switzerland and returned in the same way. This was in the third century. We took the cars at two o’clock back to Ghent having gone through a dinner of half a dozen courses of fish at Bruges (a place celebrated for its Friday fish dinners) but not appreciated by us. At six we took the cars from Ghent for Brussels. The conductor uses a large brass horn slung around his neck to direct the movements of the train. He as well as all the other officials are in a sort of uniform. In England a whistle was used for the same purpose. The lower classes here speak Flemish but nearly every one we meet speaks French. The money is francs and centimes.

Thursday, September 28th 1854 ~ Ghent, Belgium

Hotel Royale ~ We breakfasted early and started at nine o’clock to visit the celebrated cathedral ‘St. Bavous.” It was founded in 944 and is a fine type of the architecture of all this country during the middle ages. The inside is of white stone and the choir lined with black marble which of course presents a very strange appearance. Here Charles 5th was baptized - our guide pointed out the exact spot and showed us also the font in which the water stood. There were some (so called) fine paintings here by Rubens and Van Eyck but we did not appreciate them as much as we did the statuary on the sarcophagi. The figures of two bishops in marble reclining on their own graves seemed to us very beautiful. The perfect attitude of repose, natural position was wonderful one could almost see the marble breathe. We dined at the table d’hote at four o’clock and met there but four ladies. Almost all the guests were officers in uniform and it gave the table a very gay appearance. All drink wine. We saw scarcely a person at the table that had not his bottle. The wine are generally Rhemish. After dinner we drove to the “Marchi de Corseaux," saw the house where John of Gaunt was born. A very old looking building, narrow, and a story higher than its fellows.

Wednesday, September 27th 1854 ~ Ghent, Belgium

Hotel Royale ~ We breakfasted in London at half past six this morning and at seven took a carriage for the South Eastern railway, and at eight we were en route for the Continent. Hack hire in London is regulated according to distance, a hackman having a right to charge six pence for each mile if only two people ride, if more than two then an additional 6 d is charged for each additional person for the whole trip, not per mile. The miles of an English drive are always very short!! We have purchased tickets right through to Cologne and begin to feel quite like travelers. The ticket is given in a book of checks which the conductor tears off a leaf from, from time to time. An English Railway car is a very different thing from our own – they are long nearly as long as our own, but subdivided so that there are only two seats in each car, or rather in each partition. These seats run across and hold four persons each, so that four ride backward and four ride forward in stage coach fashion. The first class cars are nicely lined with cloth or leather and the seats and backs well stuffed, but the second class which are made just as well in every other respect have no cushions either for the back or seat and are therefore of course much more fatiguing. The third class are generally uncovered. Many gentlemen travel in the second class cars and sometimes ladies take them but not so often. The prices for second class in England is about the same as for first class at home. The ride to Dover is tolerably pleasant, but not as much as that from Liverpool to London. The country not as fine though having the same characteristics, until near Dover where it is more barren and where there are several long tunnels in which the road is carried through the chalk cliffs. Arriving at Dover at eleven o’clock we took the boat immediately for Calais. The water was perfectly smooth and although the boat was very small there was no motion. In two hours we landed in Calais and at halfway we could distinguish the land on either side. At first the French language sounded very strange and incomprehensible to us, but we are gradually getting accustomed to the sound and able to understand conversations. We walked to the custom hous and passport offices between a file of French soldiers in their brick red pants and blue coats. This is a great place for imposition on English and Americans where we experienced a small degree. We dined here and then took our place in the cars for Lille and Ghent. Between these two places by the way we came very near being left by the cars. For on crossing the frontier of Belgium I did not know what was going on and therefore did not get out and have any trunks opened and examined until just as the train was ready to start again and then they waited it for me some moments until a hasty custom house examination could be made. Our passports have been [visiid?] three times today, and it is a great nuisance, this being our first experience with a passport. The country here (France) has entirely a different appearance from that of England. There we saw generally beautiful meadowland divided by live hedges. Here one sees nothing but ploughed land. The houses are poorer, built mostly of stone or brick, and not picturesque, while men and women in queer costumes are working the ground. We arrived at Ghent at eight o’clock and were very much struck by its odd appearance in our drive to the hotel. The streets are narrow, entirely without sidewalks and paved with round stones. The houses are all tiled (at least the roofs of the houses) and this is entirely new to us. The tiles are made of red clay. Our rooms look out on a canal, one of several that run through the city.

Tuesday, September 26th 1854 ~ London

St. Paul's Cathedral.

London ~ My physician called again this morning and told me I had better leave London as soon as possible and breathe a purer air and there in accordance been making preparations to leave tomorrow. Today we visited St. Pauls cathedral, one of the largest buildings in the world. It is cruciform and of stone which time has made of a reddish brown color. The outside of St. Pauls is far more imposing than the interior. It requires 20 minutes to half an hour for driving around it and gives one a fine idea of the greatest of architectural wonders of past centuries. One does not obtain as good an idea of it however as if it stood in an open space instead of being shut in and encompassed by narrow struts. The interior is of course very magnificent from its vast proportion but is devoid of ornament and is somewhat broken by columns so that the size does not take in all at once. The dome is enormous, its highest point is 350 feet above the pavement of the church. The building is well lighted and has not the solemn grandeur that a soft light united with such vastness must give. In the crypt lies the body of the Iron Duke. I changed some of my English gold for French today at h 86 Cheapside.

Monday, September 25th 1854 ~ London

A horsedrawn "Handsome" carriage (Bettman archive).

London ~ This morning when the Doctor came he gave me permission to go out for a little drive, so Lizzie and myself got into a “Handsome” which is a one horse conveyance like a chaise except that there is a seat for a driver behind and above so that the reins pass over the chaise top, and the house (to those inside) seems to be without guidance. We saw the outside of St. James Palace of Buckingham Palace, drove around Hyde Park, St. James Park, saw “Temple bar” where the right of the Sovereign bows to the authority of the municipal authorities. Temple Bar was one of the gates of London and it still marks the terminus of the ancient city. It looks not unlike a small and somewhat defaced triumphal arch. The Dr. had forbidden me to breathe the atmosphere of the old city, so Temple Bar was an effectual bar to me. It seems a great pity. I should be thus laid up where there is so much to see, where every foot of ground, the name of every street recalls some story or history.

Sunday, September 24th 1854 ~ London

Have been up a little while today and am very much better but still very weak, scarcely able to stand. The doctor has been here twice today. Have had a very serious attack, which would have ended a poor constitution.

Saturday, September 23rd 1854 ~ London

I am still better today. The doctor has been here and pronounced me much improved, but I cannot get out of bed yet. When I rise for a moment my head swims and I am obliged to lie down again. He has called again this evening.