Reaching the bridge over the Rhine, the diligence stopped. A French unterofficer approached the doors, took our passports, and brought them back a quarter of an hour later. The whip cracked, and the horses galloped across the long bridge. This bridge separating France and Germany bore witness to many memorable events. General Ordener galloped along this bridge on a dark night, dragging behind him the victim of Napoleon's malice and revenge, the Duke of Enghien, who was killed several hours later. What was the real reason for the execution of the duke, a descendant from the last branch of the famous House of Conde, a dynasty of heroes? Why didn't Napoleon attempt to eliminate any of the members of the older line who had closer rights to the French throne? The answer is personal revenge. As this circumstance might not be widely known, I will relate it now. In 1804, Bonaparte, getting ready to seize the French crown, and having lost hope to force Louis XVIII to abdicate, tried to raise hatred and contempt for the Bourbons among the French people by insulting them every day with the basest slanders in Le Moniteur and in other official newspapers. The Duke of Enghien, angered by this attack on the honor of his royal house, sent the first consul a challenge to a duel, inviting him to meet at a neutral place, and there to settle the matter with weapons. The King of Sweden, Gustav IV, also signed this letter, offering himself as a second. Having received the challenge, Bonaparte flew into a rage and angrily ordered his men to capture the duke, bring him to the Chateau de Vincennes, and to shoot him there. Had Gustaf IV not managed to flee, he would have suffered the same fate. This story appears in the memoirs ascribed to Prince Hardenberg (Mémoires d’un homme d’Etat, IX, 208): it was reported by the king of Sweden to one famous traveler in Italy.

The diligence stopped in the little town of Kehl at customs, located in a small house on the right side of the road.