and a bit of Aaron's rod! It has
a window or two, in a retired chapel, which have a few panes of
exquisitely painted glass that are much more precious than either.

At noon I sent my passport to the post-house for horses, and, in return,
I had a visit from the postmaster in compliment to the republic of
letters. We said a few flattering things to each other, much to the
amusement of A----, when we took our departure.

The country, after quitting the valley of Aix,[24] became flat and
monotonous, and it was in the midst of a vast level district that we
found the town of Juliers, the capital of the ancient duchy, buried
behind grassy ramparts, that were scarcely visible until we were
actually passing them. It is a tame and insignificant place, at
present. At Berghem, a post or two further, I had another visit from the
postmaster and his clerk, who made no scruple in asking me if I was the
man who wrote books! We talk a great deal of our national intelligence
in America, and certainly with truth, when we compare ourselves with
these people in many important particulars; but blocks are not colder,
or can have less real reverence for letters, arts, or indeed cultivation
of any kind, than the great bulk of the American people. There are a few
among us who pretend to work themselves up into enthusiasm as respects
the first, more especially if they can get a foreign name to idolize;
but it is apparent, at a glance, that it is not enthusiasm of the pure
water. For this, Germany is the land of sensations, whether music,
poetry, arms, or the more material arts be their object. As for myself,
I can boast of little in this way, beyond the homage of my two
postmasters, which perhaps was more than properly fell to my share; but
I shall never forget the feeling displayed by a young German, at
Dresden, whom chance threw in my way. We had lodgings in a house
directly opposite the one inhabited by Tieck, the celebrated novelist
and dramatist. Having no proper means of introduction to this gentleman,
and unwilling to obtrude myself anywhere, I never made his acquaintance,
but it was impossible not to know, in so small a town, where so great a
celebrity lived. Next door to us was a Swiss confectioner, with whom I
occasionally took an ice. One day a young man entered for a similar
purpose, and left the room with myself. At the door he inquired if I
could tell him in which of the neighbouring hotels M. Tieck resided, I
showed him the house