490 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1818. 



the Rhine, which from Warms 

 to Weisenberg, the frontier of 

 France, has been given by the 

 politicians of Vienna, to Bavaria. 

 This patch of territory is totally 

 unconnected with the kingdom it 

 is assigned to. His Bavarian ma- 

 jesty probably procured it as com- 

 prising ( though with great addi- 

 tions) his old patrimonial state, 

 the Duchy of Deux Fonts. He 

 now looks with a covetous eye on 

 Manheim, and his old family pos- 

 sessions on the right bank ; but 

 the Grand Duke of Baden is little 

 disposed to accommodate him, 

 and continually refuses his offers 

 of money or exchange of territory. 

 His majesty, consequently, cannot 

 visit his possessions without the 

 permission of passage through 

 Wirtemberg and Baden, or by 

 a great detour through Baden 

 alone. 



The Grand Duchy of Baden is 

 divided into circles governed by 

 resident directors, who are noble- 

 men of some consequence. Man- 

 heim is the residence of the di- 

 rector of the Neckar circle, and 

 also the seat of the Courts of Ju- 

 dicature, of the first and second 

 instance, to one or the other of 

 which, people have access accord- 

 ing to their birth. 



Aix-la-Chapelle stands in a fer- 

 tile bowl, surrounded by bold 

 hills, on descending from which, 

 either on the road from Liege, or 

 from Juliers, the slated roofs and 

 minarets of the Hotel de Ville, 

 and the grotesque dome of the 

 cathedral, give to the old Imperial 

 City an air of imposing dignity. 

 On entering it you find it, "how- 

 ever, far from a handsome town, 

 according to the modern accep- 

 tation of the pluaoe— nor is the 



interest of antiquity united with 

 any of that architectural curiosity, 

 which give the great cities of the 

 Netherlands so striking a charac- 

 ter. The city, which is by no 

 means large, is as usual surrounded 

 by a thick rampart, now half in 

 decay, with small Roman towers 

 at nearly equal distances. Below 

 the ramparts are agreeable shrub- 

 beries and gardens, chiefly the 

 work of the French, and which 

 form favourite promenades to the 

 company of the bathing-place. 



Our visit in the summer, when 

 the place was overflowing with 

 company, gave us some idea of 

 the mode of life of the diversified 

 groupes who were drinking deeper 

 of its waters and amusements than 

 ourselves: both of which have no 

 small resemblance to those of 

 similar scenes in England. Gaiety 

 has, however, a more decided 

 character ; pleasure is more the 

 avowed business of every body ; 

 and if ennui may be the motive of 

 as many visits to this place, as to 

 similar ones in Great Britain, the 

 remedy here appears more suc- 

 cessful ; for you can rarely read 

 in a single countenance, as you 

 so often may in the libraries of 

 Brighton or Cheltenham, the in- 

 veterate disease of which persons 

 come to be cured. The system 

 of the day commences with a 

 bath, taken early, for about half 

 an hour. After breakfast follow 

 excursions in the environs, the 

 walks in the gardens, visits to the 

 cafes and billiard-rooms, and, 

 above all, the pleasures of the 

 Redoubt, or Grand Saloon, which 

 occupy the gay world till dinner, 

 at two or three. This last-men- 

 tioned place of rendezvous is the 

 great centre of attraction ; and 



with 



