| 534 token of respect, and I bade him adieu. I soon obtained the publication of five hundred copies of the address, and left one at the house of the Rabbi. He being absent from home, I did not see him.
After remaining here about one week I took the coach for Amsterdam, distance seven hours, or about thirty English miles. Rotterdam is a fine town of about eighty thousand inhabitants. The cleanliness of its streets, the antique order of its architecture, the extreme height of its buildings, the numerous shade trees with which it is beautified, and the great number of canals through almost every part of the town, filled with ships of various sizes from different parts of the world,-all these with many other things not mentioned, contributed to give this place a peculiarity resembled nowhere else in the course of my travels, except in Amsterdam. Most of the business men here speak a little English; some speak it very well. In ascending the waters of the Rhine from the sea to Rotterdam, the numerous windmills which I beheld in constant operation led me to think, almost, that all Europe came here for their grinding. But I ascertained that they were grinding for distilleries where the floods of gin are made, which not only deluge our beloved country with fatal consequences, but many others. Gin is one of the principal articles of exportation from this country. In going to Amsterdam I passed through a very beautiful town called "The Hague," the residence of the King of Holland. I saw his palace, which was guarded by soldiers, both horse and foot. For grandeur it bore but a faint resemblance to Buckingham Palace in London. But the beautiful parks and picturesque scenery in and about the Hague I have never seen equaled in any country. I remained in Amsterdam only one night and a part of two days. I called on the President Rabbi here, but he was gone from home. I left at his house a large number of the addresses for himself and his people, and took coach for Arnheim on the Rhine. Took boat the same evening for Mazenty. Traveling by coach and steam is rather cheaper In this country than in the United States. We were three days in going up the Rhine to Mazenty. Holland and the lower part of Prussia are very low, flat countries. The French and German languages are spoken all along the Rhine; but little or no English. The Rhine is about like the Ohio for size, near its mouth where it empties into the Mississippi. Its waters resemble the Missouri waters, dark and muddy. The scenery and landscapes along this river have been endowed with art and nature's choicest gifts. I have been made acquainted with Europe in America by books to a certain extent, yet now my eyes behold! It is impossible for a written description of a stranger's beauty to leave the same impression upon the mind as is made by an ocular view of the lovely object. This is the difference between reading of and seeing the countries of Europe.
From Mazenty I came to Frankfort-on-the-Main, by railroad, distance seven hours. From Frankfort I came to this place. distance about thirty hours, where Napoleon gained a celebrated victory over the Prussians and Austrians. The very ground on which I now write this letter was covered by about sixty thousand slain in that battle. It is called the battle of Ackynaeal.
It was my intention to have gone directly down the Danube to Constantinople, but having neglected to get my passport viseed by the Austrian embassador [ambassador] at Frankfort, I had to forward it to the Austrian embassador [ambassador] at Munich and procure his permission, signature, and seal before I could enter the Austrian dominions. This detained me five days, during which time I conceived the idea of sitting down and learning the German language scientifically. I became acquainted with a lady here who speaks French and German to admiration, and she was very anxious to speak the English-she proposed giving me instruction
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