The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 2 - Online Library of ...

Online Library of Liberty: The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 2
one side of the river, the handsome Catholic church, on the other, the new Electoral
Palace, are prominent features of the town-view, beyond which tower the hills,
covered with forest, and that interspersed with villas and villages. In front I have the
Elbe, and three large barges, deeply laden, which are sailing against the stream, and
men on shore towing them; on the opposite side a continuation of the hills in
amphitheatre, which stretch round to the left, and are there covered with vineyards;
the extreme point to the left, at the termination of an avenue of trees, is a palace built
by one of the Electors for a favorite mistress. At the foot of the hill on which it stands
is the river, which makes a large bend round to my left. Take tea with M. de
Schomberg, a nephew of Dumouriez, whom I had known at Paris. He testified much
joy at seeing me, and gives me all he knows of the manner and manners of this place.
The Elector is regularity itself, and a great economist. His Court copy him, the
bourgeoisie copy the Court; a deep hue of religious superstition is cast over the whole,
and, of course, much hypocrisy, for all cannot be religious; no gallantry, or very little,
because there are no opportunities; but the girls are, he says, loose and lascivious and
take up after they are married. They are especially venal, so that two or three ducats
may obtain their favors. This he vouches only from hearsay, as they are thus free only
to strangers by whom they are not known. I conclude, therefore, that it is a falsehood,
and that women of the town, by way of getting a better price, personate to strangers
young women of family.”
“This morning [August 21st] I go dressed to Mr. Grey’s and thence to Court, where I
am presented to the Elector of Trèves, and afterwards to the Elector of Saxony. Dine
with His Highness, who has an excellent table, very good wines, and I think the best
tea I ever partook of. After dinner Mr. Grey presents me to Madame de Loos, and
then to the Duchess of Cumberland.? Return home and change my dress. Mr. Grey
comes, and takes me to a kind of club or société which is in the same house with me,
l’Hôtel de Bavière.”
To Lady Sutherland Morris wrote on the 22d to tell her that he had received her letter
“of the 1st as I was stepping into my carriage at Berlin, and have not had time to write
before. I do it now,” he continues, “by deferring till to-morrow my visit to the picturegallery;
I always preferred originals. I am very much obliged to you for everything
you say about yourself and your lord, but you have forgotten the children. My plans
have been greatly deranged by the progress of the French armies, for I did intend
going into Switzerland, thence to Vienna, and finally to Naples. But I cannot get
either into Switzerland or out of it without crossing the line of march of the armies,
and I had rather be in a battle. But, what is worse, I should not, I believe, be able to
get my horses through at all, so I shall go on to Vienna direct unless they stop me
again upon that tack. Everything in this quarter of the world is à la débandade, and
unless the Empress of Russia takes the thing in hand I see not what is to come of it.
Intrigue and faction supply, as I am told, the place of that golden chain which was let
down from the throne of Jupiter—to bind in orderly connection the different parts of
creation. And thus the affairs of imperial Jove are sadly out of order. The Chevalier de
Boufflers, however, has set everything to rights by a wretched pun: ‘Les affaires de
l’Empire doivent être excellentes, car elles s’empirent toujours.’
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