The Court of the Empress Josephine | Page 8

memory of Charlemagne, went down into the vault, and
gave the priests of the Cathedral convincing proofs of his munificence.
The Empress was shown a piece of the true cross which the
Carlovingian Emperor had long worn on his breast as a talisman. She
was offered a holy relic, almost the whole arm of that hero, but she
declined it, saying that she did not wish to deprive Aix-la-Chapelle of
so precious a memorial, especially when she had the arm of a man as
great as Charlemagne to support her.
From Aix-la-Chapelle, Napoleon and Josephine went to Cologne, then
to Coblentz, then to Mayence, travelling separately. The Emperor left
Cologne September 16 at four in the afternoon, and reached Bonn a
little before nightfall, to start again the next morning. The town pleased
her very much, and she was sorry she could not remain there longer.
She stayed at a fine house with a garden opening on a terrace that
looked out over the Rhine. After supper she walked on the terrace. The
delight of the people assembled below, the peacefulness of the night,
and the beauty of the river in the moonlight, made the evening most
enjoyable. At four the next morning the Empress started off again in
her travelling carriage, and at ten she entered Coblentz. The Emperor
did not get there until six in the evening, having left Cologne the same
day. At Bonn he got on horseback to examine for himself everything
that demanded close inspection. From Coblentz, where a ball was given
them, Napoleon and Josephine went to Mayence, each by a different
route. The Emperor followed the highway on the edge of the Rhine; the
Empress ascended the river in a yacht which the Prince of Nassau
Weilburg had placed at her disposal. It was a picturesque voyage.
The morning mist soon cleared away. Josephine, who had breakfast

served on deck, admired the many charming scenes between Boppard
and Bacharach, the fertile fields, the towns perched on the steep banks;
in the distance, the mountains covered with forests; then the narrowing
river, the bounded view, the cliffs crowded together, where nothing can
be seen but the river, the sky, and the crags crowned by the mirrored
towns of mediaeval castles. The light boat, as it glided smoothly over
the stream, with its gilded Neptune at the bow, recalled Cleopatra's
barge. At times the silence was profound, then the church-bells would
be heard, as well as the cheers of the peasants on the river-banks. The
pettiest villages had sent guards of honor, had hoisted flags, and raised
triumphal arches. Curiously enough, the right bank, which did not
belong to France, seemed to display quite as much zeal and enthusiasm
as the left bank, the French one; on both sides were the same shouts of
welcome, the same demonstrations, the same salutes. When she
reached Saint Goar, on the left bank, the Empress saw the authorities of
the town coming out to meet her, with military music, in boats
decorated with branches of trees; and on the other side of the river, on
the terrace of the castle of Hesse Rheinfels, the Hessian garrison was
presenting arms, and their salutes joined with those of the inhabitants of
Saint Goar, Further on, they shouted through a speaking- trumpet to
hear the famous echo of the Lorelei, with its wonderfully distinct and
frequent repetitions. Then they passed the fantastic castle of the
Palatinate, built in the middle of the stream, and in old times the refuge
of the Countesses Palatine, where their children were born and kept in
security during their babyhood. The Empress landed at Bingen, where
she spent the night, starting again the next morning. Towards three in
the afternoon she reached Mayence, where twelve young girls
belonging to the best families of the city were awaiting her. Almost
simultaneously, the cannon at the other gate announced the Emperor's
arrival.
On his way, Napoleon had noticed on an island in the Rhine, at the very
extremity of the French Empire, the convent of Rolandswerth. He was
told that the nuns who lived there had refused to leave it during the last
war, that very often the cannon-balls of the contending armies had
often fallen on the island without damaging the convent where those
holy women were praying. The Emperor became interested in their fate,
and made over to them the forty or fifty acres of which the little island

consisted.
On their arrival at Mayence, September 21, Napoleon Josephine were
most warmly greeted. In the evening all the streets and public buildings
were illuminated. The Prince Archchancellor of the Germanic Empire,
who owed to the French sovereign the preservation of his wealth and of
his title, desired to pay his respects. The Emperor was surrounded by a
real