HINTS

of OCCURRENCES

ON THE

RIVER RHINE, &c.

Many circumflances concurred, to render St. Goar infinitely more agreeable to us, than any other place we hadvifited. Through fome accident, we pafTed unobferved by a centinel, who was polled at the entrance of the town toreceive the names of flrangers, which are daily reported to the governor of the fortrefs. Very foon, therefore, afterour arrival, we were vifited by the officer of the guard; who being under the neceffity of repairing the negligence ofthe centinel, requefled, with many apologies for his intrufion, that we would favour him with our names. Headdreffed us in very good Englifh; and we had reafon to congratulate ourfelves on the accident that introducedhim to our acquaintance; for he was polite, fenfible and entertaining, and was feldom abfent from us during ourflay at St. Goar.

His knowledge of the Englifh language, in which he excelled any foreigner I had ever met with, was acquired byferving with the Englifh army in America ; the corps to which he belonged being one of the auxiliary batallions of theHefTian troops employed in the unhappy contefl between Great Britain and her colonies. He commented, withgreat ability, on the operations and events in which he had fuflained a part; and was very animated in his obferva-tions and refledions on the condud and refult of that ill-fated war. I liftened to him with great attention; andtruth obliges me to confefs, that I gained more knowledge of the fubjed from this fubaltern officer, of an auxiliarycorps, in a remote town of Germany, than I had been able to colled, in my own country, from the orators of parlia-ment, the printer of the Gazette, or the ingenious and communicative fabricators of the daily papers.

To relieve the difagreeable fenfations this narrative had excited, both in our minds and his own, he flarted a new.fubjed, much better adapted to produce pleafmg dreams, than the fcenes of horror and devaflation he had painted;

M

or