W. Kinsey diary, 1817.

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  • UPenn Ms. Coll. 919
  • Diary of an Englishman, possibly W. Kinsey of Bognor Regis, England. The first nine pages of the diary are written in pencil with the remainder in ink. The journal begins on 4 July 1817 as Kinsey embarks on his trip from London, England on his way to France. In the first few pages Kinsey mentions he is traveling with a companion named Henry. Kinsey includes detailed descriptions of all his destinations. He describes the streets in large cities and small villages, activities he observes, the people, and relevant historical events or anecdotal stories. Kinsey observes the evening ritual in Paris, as people pour out of their homes crowding every street, some being entertained by jugglers. He visits major museums, cathedrals, large cities, and small villages. Highlights of his travels in France include Rouen, St. Cloud, and Lyon. At the beginning of August, Kinsey enters Switzerland, where he spends a large portion of his journey. Kinsey takes a three-day guided tour from Geneva to Marigny. After this tour Kinsey gives the reader travel advice on guided tours. He describes the valleys, the mountains, lakes, and landscape of Switzerland. In the journal Kinsey has sewn in small cut out engravings of some of the mountain areas in Switzerland. Also sewn in the journal is a folded paper strip of hand drawn, colored coats of arms representing twenty-two cities in Switzerland. By 10 September 1817 Kinsey is touring Germany and talks of the Danube and the Rhine Rivers. He visits Manheim, Cologne, and Münster, among other cities. Throughout his travels Kinsey records the hotels and inns where he stayed and the prices. He writes of the bookshops he goes to and the books and maps he buys on the journey. Kinsey also records when he posts and receives mail. By early October 1817 Kinsey returns to England. The last four leaves of the volume contain a catalog of books he has purchased and the city. A plan for a trip to Holland follows the list. On the second-to-last leaf of the volume is a colored engraving with the words "S. Vulnera Jesu," Kinsey writes: "Given by the Capuchin monk at Staatz."

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    ==27th Brkfst [breakfast] at Lorvaen [[Louvain?]] 3.F. - = Reached [Brussels]] at 10:a:m: London Hotel - Kept by En- -glish people - 11.a:m:. thro' [through] the wood of [Scigncy?] & Wa - terloo [[Waterloo]] to Mt St Jean [[Mont-Saint-Jean]], La Haie Sainte [[La Haye Sainte ]] & Belle Alliance [[La Belle Alliance]] - Monument erecting to [[Sir A: Gordon]] close to Wallington's [[Wallonia?]] tree - torrents of Rain - Car & 18.F. Bile [Billet?] at Hotel 16. Fr. -

    28th 4.a:m: by Diligence (65. F.) for [[Paris]] thro' [through] [[Valenciennes]] - N:B. 3.F. 20c. - at [[Halle]] brkfst [breakfast]. 6.a:m: - at Sorgny [[Soignies]] en- -tered the Church, whilst high mass was performing - [[Mons]] a large & handsome town with beautiful Gothic Cathedral - a little way below the barrier between the Kingdom of the [[Netherlands]] and [[France]], at [[Blanc Misseron]], our baggage examined by the Douamen [Douanes?] - 8.p:m: reached the gates of [[Valenciennes]] garrisoned by Scotch Troops - [thru?] camp to the E. [Edge?] of the town - Douamen [Douanes?] [feed?] to leave our baggage unexamined - our Conductor (the 5.[p?]) ought to have had the luggage [plumbed?] at the fin'l [final] place of [mispution?] - slept & [supplied?] here - {XI. F-} - General Burbane is the English Commandant - the Prussains made a breach in the walls of this place in 1814 * + as also at Cambray [[Cambrai]] [[Valenciennes]] seems a very extensive place & is commanded by heights -

    29th at 6:a:m. for [[Bouchain]] - at 12. reached Cambray [[Cambrai]] - English Camp to the north of the town - Guards on duty - [ward?] of Coldstream Reg.t [Regiment] playing before the town hall in the beautiful marketplace - two elegant Churches - modern Shops kept by Englishmen - Passports demanded at our entrée - Took them to the Bureau of the Police, & at our sortie from the town, demanded again - our baggage was again examined about 2. hours from [[Cambray]] - Monument to [Marshal Villais?] - & extent of [Maiffsos Villones?] - [Hais?] at [[Peronne]], called La Pucelle - strongly fortified.

    Brkfst [Breakfast] at [[Senlis]] - trees cutting {30th} down on each side of the road - 3.F: 1/2 - reached [[Paris]] at 1/2 3.p:m: - [Do.?] at Lambets 6.F.- gloves, the 6.p. & bill with Porters for luggage 7.p. and 5.h. Theatre Francaise, 6.h. 1/2 1- to see Talma [[François-Joseph Talma]] in la fosse [[Antoine de La Fosse]] Tragedy of Manluis [Manlius] - Mdmslle [[Mademoiselle Golnay]] - } Mdmsl. [[Mademoiselle Duchlemon]], aisle box.

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    "Nomine Gregori, meritis, studioque colendi;" "Regis Graecorum natus, Gregorius Abbas" - "Primus Poncetum coluit templumque locavit;" "Cuius in hac fossa ^ requiescant corporis ossa," "Spiritus ante deum laudes resonabit in aevum."

    -

    "Posteritas renovavit anno 1611."

    -

    "Restaurato a belli clade templo" "Et pio: Parochiae sede recens dato."

    -

    The Commerce of the town of Aix la Chapelle [[Aachen]] is not so [florishing?] as during the time the French excluded English goods from the Continent; but there are several large & excellent shops, & every sort of goods upon sale. [[Dupaty]]'s letters on [[Italy]] 3.F. 1/2 & [[Craan]]'s battle of [[Waterloo]] 4.F. Today had been at once the most interesting & most fagging of the whole I have employed on the tour; For besides seeing the tour & [environs?] I have had to devote eight hours at least to my Journals which I have close, as my route now lays, thro' [through] [[Brussels]] for [[Paris]]. I shall visit, en passant, the field of [[Waterloo]] & St. Jean [[Mont-St-Jean]], & state merely the names of the towns I pass on my route, as I hope another year to have time to make a detour of some days at [[Brussells]], & at [illegible?] of [the?] interesting towns in [advance?] upon [[Paris]].

    [double horizontal lines]

    Bile [Billet?] at Auberge - aix } 26th } - Reached Liege [[Liège]]: 5.p:m:} 1. [Mad:m each 2 eeno?] By Diligence at 7.a:m: to Liege [[Liège]] - a very extensive & opulent City on the [[Meuse]] - its commerce in coal & iron carried down this river to the [[Rhine]] - former- -ly under the government of it's own Prince & Arch B'p [Bishop] - united to [[France]] by Bnpte [[Bonaparte]] - & now forming a part of the Dominion of the [[Netherlands]] - the Pays Bas [[Netherlands]] - it is situated in a very deep vale & the hills rise a- -round it, & on the line of the River, to a considerable height - great appararent fertility of the surrounding country - at 6.p:m> by Diligence to [[Brussels]] 15.F. - a cou -ner south covered Cabriolet goes hence to [[Paris]] by [Gioet?] 3. [per?] Semain

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    those of [[Mr. Dubith]], the Hotel du dragon, & the hotel de la Cour de Hollande. I have [resided?] at the diligence Hotel de [Heuken?], where I have found the people extremely civil, and attentive. [[Cologne]] is about 14 l. [leauges?] from Liege [[Liège]], from [Maertnicht?] 6 L. & from [[Paris]] about 100 L. The town is situated between the [[Meuse]] & the [[Rhine]]. The town is very ancient, & [[Ptolemy]] men-tions it under the name of Veterna. It was known to the Romans in the times of Cesar [[Ceasar]] & [Drusus?] with the country between the [[Meuse]] & the [[Rhine]]. [[Charlemagne]] was born here in 742 & so he named this town the second of his great Empire & above the gate of his palace is still seen the following inscription - "Hic sedes regni trans Alpes habeatum caput omnium provin-" "-ciarum, et civitatum Galliae." The Emperor died here in 814. From that period downward for some time the town [underwent?] several changes of fortune. After the Carlovingian Emperors, those of the house of [[Saxe]], of Francony [[Francia]], of [[Suabria]], of Hapsbourg [[Habsburg]], & of [[Luxembourg]], had been for the most part crowned here [[Charles the IV]] made an express law, that thence forward all the Empe -rors of [[Germany]] should be crowned at Aix la Chapelle [[Aachen]]. The town is celebrated for the two treaties of peace, which it saw signed within its walls. The first on the 2d. of May 1668 between [[France]], and [[Spain]], & the second on the 18th of October 1748 between [[France]], [[England]] & the low countries. After dinner I walked to the town of [[Burscheid]] ([Porcetown, Borchette?]) to the [L.L.E?] of the town, by a pretty road, & not distant beyond a walk of 20 minutes. I was struck by seeing the stream issue from the rivulet, which ran thro' [through] the town, & the women washing their linen in it. On the hill to the left of the town are two Churches. It is said that this little valley remained a desert until the 10th. Century, the resort of wild boars. St. Gregory [[Gregor von Burtscheid]], son of Niciphoris [[Nikephoros?]], Emperor of [[Greece]], founded a convent of Monks, which in 1220 was converted into a cloister for women of rank. I went into the principal Church, & saw the founders "Beatus Gregonius Abbas" richly arrayed in his pontifical dress, of beautifully flowered silk, mitre & cross, contained in a glass gase. Over it was inscribed,

    "S: Gregorio primo huius loci Abbati" "antiquitas posuit." and the following latin verses, "Continet hic tumulus peregrini membra sepulti"

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    Amongst others, the cincture of Xt [Christ]: with the impression of Con- -stantine's [[Constantine]] seal; _ the girdle of our Lady, the Virgin, _ a mor- -cel of Aaron's rod, & a little bit of the Manna from the deserts - the [winding?] sheet of our blessed Lord - & the sheet upon which the head of [[John the Baptist was decapitated]] -. All these va- -luables are kept carefully from the [polluting?] eyes of the vuglar, in a chest, adorned with a profusion of ornament. They are ex- -hibited every seven years. Their exposition, which continues for 15 days, drew once to Aix la Chapelle [[Aachen]], an innumerable crowd of pilgrims from all parts of [[Europe]]. In 1492. one day reckoned 142,000, votaries, & at the conclusion of the Farce, so dear to the poor pilgrims, the chief actors behind the scenes found in their priestly chests 80,000, florins in gold. The pulpit presented by H: IV of France [[Henry IV of France]] is truly superb. It is covered with rich plates of pure gold, with some exquisite figures, carved in ivory, some precious stones, & an enormous agate in the centre. It is kept covered, & used only on Sundays. During the Revolutionary war it was sent off for Safety into [[Westphalia]]. In the Church of the Franciscans, whose walls are adorned with paintings of the chief circumstances of his life & death, I found over the great Altar a painting of the incarnate Deity, the "Fiat Lux", wh: [which] brought [[Leonardo]]'s famous picture to my recollection. On the Right of the Church, as you enter, over a side altar, which forms one wing, as it were, of the great, is a superb painting of [[Rubens]], "the descent from the Cross," full of expression, & finely colored. The French robbed the Church of this picture too, & exhibited it amid their spoils in the [[Paris]] Museum. Blucher [[Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher]] demanded it back for his country- -men, & it now occupies it's original situation. Over the folding doors to protect the picture is inscribed, & to his honor,

    "[Gubente?] Generalissimo Principe de Blucher" "Spolium Ecclesiae Aquisgrani [[Aachen]]" "redit" -

    And above this painting is another, by [[Rubens]], in an oval frame of the Virgin Mourning over the dead Xt [Christ], given by the K. [King] of [[Prussia]],

    "Frederico Wilhelmo [[Frederick William III]] Parochiani."

    The ancient [foss?] of the town has been turned into a garden planted with trees. The amusements of the place contain saloons for for dan- -cing, & a theatre; but I am again unlucky, for the actors have gone away to [[Amsterdam]] at present. The three best Hotels are

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    flowers in to adorn the edifice, with the addition of some superb work in Mosaic. [Eguides?] [[Eudes of Metz?]] was commissioned to execute the plan. The form of the temple [soar?] antique, a rotund supported by pillars, in the circle of wh: [which] were comprised 32 columns with Cor'nthian [Corinthian] Capitals. Leo the 3.d [[Pope Leo III]] consecrated the edifice with much religious ceremony & a vast concourse of dignified Ecclesiastiques in 804. It was much inspired by the [Nossnaus?], but Otto, the 3.d [[Otto III]] reestab- blished & aggrandized it one hundred years later. One part was afterwards consumed by fire in 1236, & in 1366., & in 1358 the choir was added, a structure at once simple, & noble, with lancet win- -dows, & a very bold & high roof, arched. The Columns of the temple were carried off by the French, during the Revolutionary war, to [[Paris]], but have been restored in part since. The interior of the Cupola is adorned with paints & sculpture, of modern date, & not excellent. In the centre of the rotunda is the tomb of [[Charlemagne]], (who died here in 814) with the simple inscription, in brass letters,

    "Carolo magno"

    Above the tomb is an enormous crown of silver, & gilt copper, suspen- -ded by a chain affixed to the ceiling, the present of Frederic le grand [[Frederick II]], capable of holding 48 wax tapers. In our Saviour's chapel, where is his image on the cross, said to have been brought from [[Italy]] by the first Bishop of this town, we were shewn two columns of porphyry, & two of Granite, brought hither from [[Constantinople]] by [[Charlemagne]]. The wall over the altar is [covered?] with "ex voto", of silver legs, arms, eyes, & noses, & faces, which I looked upon with ra- -ther more complacency, than I did upon those at Einsielden [[Einsiedeln]], be- -because these expressed rather more a belief in the only intercecessor Xt [Christ]. But when I saw little bit bits of wax, [shoved?] into various parts of the human body, tied to the grating of the Chapel, & people praying with their arms extended, as if on the cross, my patience forsook me, & I turned away disgusted with the melancholy state of [formal?] delusion, in which these misled votaries are kept chained by their artful Priests. I went into the Sacristry with the hope of finding admission to the Relic, & other precious absurdities preserved for Ecclesiastical Juggle. Some excuse was made a- -bout the key being lost, but, altho' [although] I did not gain a sight of them, I found out a catalogue of them. Just the scull, & the arm bones of Charlemagne, inclosed in a precious chest. A golden cross, adorned with precious stones, & a bit of the true cross, wh: [which] "on dit" Charlemagne always wore - the "cor de chasse" of the Emperor, in Ebony, ornamented with plates of Gold.

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