HINTS

OF

OCCURRENCES

\

ON THE

RIVER RHINE, &c.

HaVING finifhed my drawing of the fubjeft which concludes the preceding Number, I went in fearch of a fpotfrom whence the caftle of Lonach, which Hands on an eminence at a fmall diftance from the town of Ober-Lahn-ftein, might be taken in a favourable point of view. This purpofe was foon accomplifhed. The Gothic Archwith the draw-bridge, reprefented in the fore-ground of the feventeenth plate, lying in my way towards Lonach,and being fo fituated as to admit their being introduced in the fame plate with the caftle, determined me to take myfketch from that ftation. They formed indeed too interefting a part of the fcene to be pafled by ; for though at pre^fent they are of no ufe, the building being a mere ruin, they are regarded by the inhabitants of Ober-Lahn-ftein as a proof of the ancient grandeur of the town, to which they unqueftionably formed a refpe£table entrance.Thefe objects, with the road and the diftant landfcape that are feen through the arch, have a charming effect;and though they occupy the fore-ground, enrich and enliven the fubje£t without diminifhing by their prefence thegrandeur or pi&urefque effe£t of the chief objeft. The caftle is a very large and extenfive ruin ; is of great anti-quity ; and was formerly a place of confiderable ftrength and importance. It was fortified under the dire&ion ofthe famous Vauban, at the time of the German League; but afterwards deftroyed by the Swedes. Great quanti-ties of lava, petrefaftions, fhells, and large ftones of a pentagonal form, like thole feen at Lintz between Coblentzand Bonne, being found here, it is not improbable that the buildings of the caftle (fome of which are of uncom-mon height) have fuffered as much from other caufes as from the rage of war, or the deftrudtive hand of time.

Lonach was one of the beft and fineft commandaries of the Teutons, an order of knights inftituted at the lat-ter end of the twelfth century by the then Patriarch of Jerufalem, in favor of the German nobles, who a6ted asvolunteers, and diftinguifhed themfelves in the war undertaken by the Emperor Frederick, and other Chriftian

U

princes,