This City
belongs to the Germanic Confederation and is to be always occupied by a
mixed garrison. The Archduke Charles has his head-quarters here at present.
I attended an inspection of a battalion of Berg troops on the _Place
Verte_; they had a very military appearance and went thro' their manoeuvres
with great precision. From the top of the steeple of the Church of Sanct
Stephen you have a fine view of the whole Rheingau. Opposite to Mayence, on
the right bank, communicating by an immensely long bridge of boats, is the
small town and fort of Castel, which forms a sort of _tete-de-pont_ to
Mayence. The works of Castel take in flank and enfilade the embouchure of
the river Mayn which flows into the Rhine. One of the redoubts of Castel is
called the redoubt of Montebello, thus named after Marshal Lannes, Duke of
Montebello.
The German papers continue their invectives against France. In one of them
I read a patriotic song recommending the youth of Germany to go into France
to revenge themselves, to drink the wine and live at the cost of the
inhabitants, and then is about to recommend their making love to the wives
and daughters of the French, when a sudden flash of patriotism comes across
him, and he says: "No! for that a German warrior makes love to German girls
and German women only!" (_Und kuesst nur Deutsche Maedchen.
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