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HINTS of OCCURRENCES, &c.

The ftone bridge over the Mofelle, which I had been prepared to confider as fomething extraordinary, mademe recolle<5t with pleafure the fuperior ftate of this fpecies of architecture in my own country, where the offenfivedifproportion of its length and breadth would be deemed an inexcufable fault. It confills of fourteen arches; butis fo narrow that coaches are made to pafs each other with fome difficulty and caution. Its extremities, guardedby double gates, towers, port-culli'ffes, and cannon, imprefs that idea of fear and terror which metaphyficiansdefine to be fublime; but to an enthufiaft for landfcapes, is no foundation of pleafure.

The confluence of two large and rapid rivers, fuch as the Rhine and the Mofelle, forms an objedl which inte-refts a traveller, accuftomed to fmaller and gentler ftreams. They feem for fome time mutually to difdain fub-je&ion or mixture. Each preferves the colour of its waters ; and they pafs down a great channel, as diftindt andindependent powers.

The citadel drew my attention, though not as a fortrefs. The paffage of the Rhine on a flying bridge;—theview of the citadel on a mountain;—the difficulties of a winding yet fteep afcent;—the pofition of the feveralgates ;—and the fuperior importance even in fuch a fituation, of the ftatues of the Virgin Mary, with which thisplace feemed to be peculiarly guarded—would have afforded anecdotes to any traveller who could have diredledhis attention to the moral and religious hiftory of a fuperftitious people.

The view from the citadel is extenfive and delightful. The palace, at the foot of a mountain, and on theffiore of the Rhine;—the confluence of two magnificent ftreams;—a bird’s-eye view of the whole town, occupyingthe peninfula to its extremities ;—the little iflands which feem dropped into the rivers;—the convents embofomedin woods;—the villages, caftles, &c. which invite the eye to the diftant hills, and give an uncommon intereft tothe horizon—thefe are fubjedts for a poet; or for a journalift who could combine hiftorical knowledge with theemotions excited by the contemplation of a grand, varied, and beautiful landfcape.

THE END OF THE FIFTH NUMBER.