I was not at a lofs to account for the bauteur of the ecclefiaftics in this town, as the chapter is compofed of dignified characters; and no man can become a canon, till he has proved himself noble four generations deep. The wines drank here were exceedingly good. The richeft vineyards are to be found in the neighbourhood; and Hocheim, which has given name to the Hock, is at no great distance from Mentz.

We employed the close of the day in making a journey of four leagues to Oppenheim, a town no longer of confequence. It ftands close upon the Rhine, and is furrounded with scenery of no ordinary beauty. We paffed our night here, and advanced the following day through Worms to Manheim. You will not expect me to defcribe with minuteness a town where I only took a breakfast. I fhall content myself, therefore, with faying, that Worms is a pleasant town, fituated about five leagues from Mentz. As to its antient hiftory, you

will

find it more celebrated in ecclefiaftical than civil records. Within this town, that intrepid champion of reformation, Martin Luther, made his celebrated defence before the ftates of the empire.

Our entrance into Manheim was obftructed by fome military formalities, and the treatment we received indicated much severity and vigilance. I was very much ftruck with the beauty of Manheim, whose appearance eclipfes, indeed, all the towns I have seen upon the Rhine. On entering the streets, we could discover little befides French officers ftrolling arm in arm, bearing the white cockade. We very foon learnt, that this place is the rendezvous of the emigrants; that here they are fuffered to poffefs, not only an asylum against danger, but a nursery of vengeance; that here they are indulged with a particular species of protection and countenance; and that hopes the most fanguine are by them entertained of recovering their forfeited domains,

mains, and humbling in their turn thofe by whom they have been humbled. All the inns were crouded with those dignified Refugees; and the day after our arrival, great preparations were making to receive the Comte d'Artois.

I could not but reflect, when I saw them affembled on the parade, and confidered the impoffibility of their return,-how strikingly public juftice is executed upon them, as a body, in their profcription. A century past, Germany received into its hofpitable bofom, Proteftants, exiled by the ancestors of those who are now paying the forfeit of ancient oppreffions. So true is it, that the ways of Providence are filled with equity; and the revolutions of empires refolve themselves into fo many difpenfations of retributive juftice.

LETTER XXXIII.

Strasbourg, June 7, 179t.

I TOLD you in my laft, that the discipline of Manheim appeared very strict; and F found upon enquiry, that regulations of great feverity were enforced. I was cautioned, by the waiter at our inn, when proceeding to walk with my fword-flick, to difarm myself before I left the room; as orders the moft rigorous had been iffued on that fubject. I must refer you, for particulars of this beautiful town, to those who have feen more of it; and you will not have any great difficulty in finding defcriptions of its palace, its gallery, its squares, and its fortifications. I paffed but a day here, and flept at Spire the following evening. There is nothing very remarkable in Spire, excepting

cepting its remote antiquity. It stands about fix leagues from Manheim.

The following morning, we entered the province of Alface. This was announced to us by an Office of the customs, bearing the inscription of "Bureau National," and fuperfcribed "La Loi et Le Roi." We were commanded to halt, and the Officers infpected all our luggage. We were happy to be informed, that this is the fole inconvenience of this nature we fhall experience till we quit the kingdom. This, therefore, is one of thofe improvements in the police of the country, for which we ftand indebted to the wisdom of its Reformers. The recollection of what we experienced in Flanders, and of what was practifed in France under the old fyftem, difpofed us to wish all poffible profperity to the new Government.

Paffing the wood, which conducts to the town of Lauterbourg, we were incommoded with a deep and hot fand, and pursued by flies of an extraordinary magnitude. I

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