i^: /bTrkeieyN LIBRARY I UNIVERSITY OF J V CALIFORNIA J '%^<\<.~'Ai i-y.:ii \-X^.i: i>i- N. .^ \'--.ii ''-y. - ;/ i^y^i: M-a, \~-X'Ai i'^M-: ^ •'-x -. <, . ■.^■v^^ '■X«i .^^^:I?^^VK^ t f i 4;/ w ^^i^^-^| >y^'AV 'y--:yv 'y.A^^ 'yy^v^- >>. L'VZj:^^ ^' 'y--'^'^' '•>- ?'-' 'y---^'-' 'y-'^^' '^^>'a'^' '^'■■■'^'■'' '^.2^ ^ ( ^'av 'y'-x-.' '^^'''^' 'y-''^''-' 'y-A'^' 'y--'A'\ '>- gjV 'y--'AV 'y^A'^' '■>'' ?' v' 'y-Av '^» v' '^'-^vvv' 'jc-'av 't'-^ A ^ London: A//./wA«/Av <;AlE , CI'RTIS ATKHNER JW^ttA^'.'VJ^'/. TRAVELS THROUGH THE SOUTH OF FRANCE, AND IN THE INTERIOR OF THE PROVINCES OP PROVENCE AND LANGUEDOC, IN THE YEARS 1807 AND 1808, BY A ROUTE NEVER BEFORE PERFORMED, BEING ALONG THE BANKS OF THE LOIRE, THE ISEilE, AND THE GARONNE, THROUGH THE GREATER PART OF THEIR COURSE. MADE BY PERMISSION OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL PINKNEY, OF THE NORTH-AMERICAN NATIVE RANGERS^ SECOND EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR GALE, CURTIS, AND FENNER, PATERNOSTER ROW; By S. Hamilton, Weybridge, Surrey. 1814. TRAVELS THROUGH THE SOUTH OF FRANCE, AND IN THE INTERIOR OF THE PROVINCES OP PROVENCE AND LANGUEDOC, IN THE YEARS 1807 AND 1808, BY A ROUTE NEVER BEFORE PERFORMED, BEING ALONG THE BANKS OF THE LOIRE, THE ISERE, AND THE GARONNE, THROUGH THE GREATER PART OF THEIR COURSE. MADE BY PERMISSION OF THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT. BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL PINKNEY, OF THE NORTH-AMERICAN NATIVE RANGERS/ SECOND EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR GALE, CURTIS, AND FENNER, PATERNOSTER ROW; By S. Hamilton, Weybridge, Surrey. 1814. lOAR STACX' CONTENTS. CHAP. I. Anxiety to see France — Departure from Balti- more — Singular Adventures of the Captain — Character — Employment during the Voyage — Arrival at Liverpool — Stay — Departure for Calais p. 1 CHAP. II. Morning Viezv of Fort — Arrival and Landing — A Day at Calais — French Marhet, and Pieces of Provisions - - - - - 1^ CHAP. III. Purchase of a Norman Horse — Visit in the Coun- try — Family of a French Gentleman — Elegance of French domestic Econoyny — Dance on the Green — Return to Calais - - - 34 CHAP. IV. French Cottages — Ludicrous Exhibition — French Travellers — Chaise de Poste — Posting a 2 048 IV CONTENTS. in France — Departure from Calais — Beauti- ful Vicinity of Boulogne - - - p. 53 CHAP. V. Boulogne — Dress of the Inhabitants — 77^6 Pier — Theatre — Caution in the Eixhange of Money — Beautiful Landscape^ and Conversation with a French Veteran — Character of Air, Parkers Hotel — Departure, and romantic Road — Fete Champetre in a Village on a Hill at Montreuil — Ruined Church and Convent - - 71 CHAP. VI. Departure from Montreuil — French Conscripts — Extreme Youth — Excellent Roads — Country Labourers — Court for the Claims of Emi- grants — Abbeville — Companion on the Road — Amiens 92 CHAP. VII. General Character of the Toxvn — Public Walk — Gardens — Half-yearly Fair — Gaming Houses — Table d'Hdtes — English at Amiens — Ex- pense of Living 110 CHAP. VIII. French and English Roads compared — Gaiety of' French Labourers — Breteuil — Apple-trees in CONTENTS. V the midst of Corn-fields— Beautiful Scenery — Cheap Price of Land in France — Clermont — Bad Management of the French Farmers — Chantilly — Arrital at Paris - p. 129 CHAP. IX. A JVeek in Paris — Objects and Occurrences — National Library — A French Rout — Fa- shionable French Supper — Conceits — Presen- tation at Court — Audience - - - 150 CHAP. X. Departure from Paris for the Loire — Breakfast at Palaiseau — A Peasants Wife — Rambouillet — Magnificent Chateau — French Curt — Char- tres — Diff'ere7ice of old French and English Towns — Subterraneous Church — Curious Pre- ser'vation of the Dead — Angers — Arrival at Nantes 172 CHAP. XL Nantes — Beautiful Situation — Analogy of Archi- tecture with the Character of its Age — Singu- lar Vow of Francis the Second — Departure from Nantes — Country between Nantes and Angers — Angers - - - - 201 VI CONTENTS. CHAP. xir. Angers — Situation — Antiquity and Face of the Town — Grand Cathedral — Markets — Prices of Provisions — Public JValks — Manners and Di- versions of the Inhahitants — Departure from Angers — Country between Angers and Saumur — Samnur - - - - - p. 231 CHAP. xni. Tou7^s — Situation and geiieral Appeaimnce of it—- Origin of the Name of Huguenots — Cathedral Church of St. Martin — The Q^uay — Markets — Public Walk — Classes of Inhabitants — En- virons — Expenses of Living — Departure from Tours — Country betxveen Tours and Am- boise 266 CHAP. XIV. Lovely Country between Amboise and Blois — Ecures — Beautiful Village — French Harvest- ers — Chousi — Village Inn — Blois — Situation — Church — Market — P7ice of Provisions 295 CHAP. XV. Houses in Chalk Hills — Magnificent Castle at Chambord — Bcturnfrom Chambord by Moon- light — St. Laurence on the fVaters - 317 CONTENTS. Vll CHAP. XVI. Compat^ative Estimate of French and English Country Inns — Tremendous Hail Storm — Country Masquerade — La Charitt — Beauty and Liuvuriance of its Environs — Nevers — , Fill^-de- Chambre — Lovely Country hetxceen Ne- vers and Moulins — Treading Corn — Moulins-" Price of Provisions - - - p- 350 CHAP. XVII. Country between Moulins and Rouane — Bresle—^ Account of the Provinces of the Nivernois and Bourbonnois — Climate — Face of the Coun-- try — Soil — Natural Produce — Agricultural Produce — Kitchen Garden — French Yeomen — Landlords — Price of Land — Leases — Ge- neral Character of the French Provincial Far- mers ...... ^'■jfQ CHAP. XVIII. Lyons — Town-Hall — Hotel de Dieu — Manifac- tories — Price of Provisions — State of Society — Hospitality to Strangers — Manners — Mode of Living — Departure — Vienne — French Lo- *oers SQ5 VIU CONTENTS. CHAP. XIX. Avignon — Situation — Climate — Streets and Houses •—Public Buildings — Palace — Cathedral — Pe- trarch and Laura — Society at Avignon — La- dies — Public Walks — Prices of Provisions — Markets - - - - - p. 437 CHAP. XX. Departure from Avignon — Olive- and Mulberry- Fields — Orgon — St. Canat — French Divorces — Lmi at St. Canat — Ai.v — Situation — Cathe- dral — Society — Provisions — Price of Land — Marseilles — Conclusion , - - 460 T O U K, Sec. <&C. CHAP. I. Anxiety to see France — Departure from Balti- more — Singular Adventures of the Captain — Char act ei — Employment during the Voyage — Arrival at Liverpool — Stay — Departure for Calais. From my earliest life I had most anx- iously wished to visit France — a country which, in arts and science, and in eminent men, both of former ages and of the present times, stands in the foremost rank of civi- lized nations. What a man wishes anx- B 2 A TOUR IN" FRANCt. iously, he seldom fails, at one period or other, to accomplish. An opportunity at length occurred — the situation of my private affairs, as well as of my public duties, admitted of my absence. I embarked at Baltimore for Liverpool in the month of April, 1807- The vessel, which was a mere trader, and which had likewise some connexions at Calais, was to sail for Liverpool in the first instance, and thence, after the accomplishment of some private affairs, was to pass to Calais, and thence home. I do not profess to under- stand the business of merchants; but I must express my admiration at the inge- nuity with which they defy and elude the laws of all countries. I suppose, however, that this is considered as perfectly consist- ent with mercantile honour. Every trader has a morality of his own ; and without any A TOUR IN TRANCE. 3 intention of depreciating the mercantile class, so far I must be allowed to say, that the merchants are not very strict in their mora- lity. Trade may improve the wealth of a nation, but it most certainly does not im- prove their morals. The Captain with whom I sailed was a true character. Captain Eliab Jones, as he related his history to me, was the son of a very respectable clergyman in the West of England. His mother died when he was a boy about twelve years of age, leaving his father with a very large family. The father married again. Young Eliab either actu- ally was, or fancifully believed himself to be, ill-treated by his step-mother. Under this real or imaginary suffering he eloped from his father's house ; and making the best of his way for a sea-port, bound himself apprentice to the master of a coasting vessel. B 2 4 A TOUR IN FRANCE. In this manner he continued to work, to use his own expressions, hke a galley-slave for five years, when he obtained the situation of mate of an Indiaman. He progressively rose, till he happened unfortunately to quar- rel with his Captain, which induced him to quit the service of the Company. In the course of his voyages to India, and in the Indian seas, he made what he thought an huportant discovery relative to the southern whale fishery: he communicated it to a mercantile house upon his return, and was employed by them in the speculation. He now, however, became unfortunate for the first time : his ship was wrecked off the is- land of Otaheite, and the crew and himself compelled to remain for two or three years on that barbarous but beautiful island. Such is the outline of Captain Eliab's ad- ventures, with the detail of which he amused A TOUR IN FRANCE. 5 me daring our voyage. His character, however, deserves some mention. If there is an honest man under the canopy of hea- ven, it was Captain Ehab ; but his honesty was so plain and downright, so simple and unqualified, that I know not how to describe it than by the plain terms, that he was a strictly just and upright man. He had a sense of honour — a natural feeling of what was right — which seemed extraordinary, when compared with the irregular course of his life. Had he passed through every stage of education, had he been formed from his childhood to manhood under the anxious supervision of the most exemplary parents, he could not have been more strict. I most sincerely hope, that it will be hereafter my fortune to meet with this estimable man, and to enumerate him amongst my friends. I must conclude this brief character of him by one additional trait. A more pious O A TOUll IN FRANCE. Christian, but without presbyterianism, did not exist than Captain Eliab. He attri- buted all his good fortune to the blessing of Providence ; and if any man was an ex- ample that virtue, even in this life, has its reward, it was Captain Eliab. In dangers common to many, he had repeatedly almost alone escaped. I had no other companion but the worthy Captain : I was his only passenger, and we passed much of our time in the reading of his voyages, of which he had kept an ample journal. His education having been rude and imperfect, the style of his writing was more forcible than pure or correct. I thought his account so interesting, and in many points so important, that I endeavour- ed to persuade him to give it to the public ; and to induce him to it, offered to assist him, during our voyage, in putting it into A TOUR IN FRANCE. / form. The worthy man accepted my offer, but I found that I had undertaken a work to which I was unequal. I laboured, how- ever, incessantly, and before our arrival had completed so much of it, as to induce the Captain to put it into the hands of a book- seller, by whom, as I have since understood, it was transferred into the hands of a literary gentleman to complete. In some misfor- tune the manuscript has been lost ; and the Captain being in America, there is probably an end of it for ever. All I can now say is, that the public has sustained an impor- tant loss. In this employment our voyage, upon my part at least, passed unperceived, and I was at Liverpool, before I was well sensible that I had left America. Nothing is more tedious than a sea voyage, to those whose minds are intent only upon their passage. 8 A TOUR IN FRANCE. In travelling by land, the mind is recreated by variety, and relieved by the novelty of ■ the successive objects which pass before it ; but in a voyage by sea, it is inconceivable how wearisome are the sameness and unifor- mity, which, day after day, meet the eye. When I could not otherwise occupy my mind, I endeavoured to force myself into a doze, that I might have a chance of a dream. One of the best rules of philosophy is, that happiness is an art — a science — a habit and quality of mind, which self-ma- nagement may in a great degree command and procure. Experience has taught me that this is true. I had made many sea voyages before this, and therefore had re- peated proofs of the observation of Lord Bacon, that, of all human progresses, no- ? thing is so barren of all possibility of re4* mark as a voyage by sea ; nothing, therefore, is so irksome, to a mind of any vigour or A TOUR IN FRANCE. 9 activity. If a man, by long habit, has ob- tained the knack of retiring into himself — of putting all his faculties to perfect rest, and becoming like the mast of the vessel — a sea voyage may suit him ; but to those who cannot sleep in a hammock eighteen hours out of the twenty-four, I would re- commend any thing but travel by sea. Cato, as his Aphorisms inform us, never re- pented but of two things ; and the one was, that he went a journey by sea when he might have go.ne it by land. The sight of land, after a long voyage, is delightful in the extreme ; and I experienced the truth of another remark, that it mio-ht be smelt as we approached, even when be- *yond our sight. I do not know to what to compare its pecuUar odour, but the sen- sations very much resemble those which are excited by the freshness of the country, after 10 A TOUR IN FRANCE. leaving a thick-built and smoky city. The sea air is infinitely more sharp than the land air ; and as you approach the land, and compare the two, you discover the greater humidity of the one. The sea air, however, has one most extraordinary quality — it re- moves a cough or cold almost instantane- ously. The temperance, moreover, which it compels in those who cannot eat sea provi- sions, is very conducive to health. We reached Liverpool without any acci- dent; and as the Captain^s business was of a nature which would necessarily detain him for some days, I availed myself of the oppor- tunity, and visited the British metropolis. No city has been more improved within a short period than London. When I saw it before, which was in my earlier days, there were innumerable narrow streets, and mise- rable alleys, where there are now squares, or A TOUR IN FRANCE. 11 long and broad streets, reaching from one end of the town to the other : I observed this particularly, in the long street which extends from Charing Cross to the Parlia- ment Houses. In England, both govern- ment and people concur in this improve- ment. From London, finding I had sufficient time, 1 visited Canterbury, and thence Dover. If I were to fix in England, it should be in Canterbury. The country is rich and delightful ; and the society, con- sisting chiefly of those attached to the ca- thedral church, and to such of their families as have fixed there, elegant and well in- formed. I have heard, and I believe it, that Salisbury and Canterbury are the two most elegant towns, in this respect, in Eng- land, and that many wealthy foreigners have in consequence made them their residence. 12 A TOUR IN FRANCE. Dover is a horrible place — a nest of fishermen and smugglers : a noble beach is hampered by rope-works, and all the filth at- tendant upon them. I never saw an excel- lent and beautiful natural situation so mi- serably spoilt. The Captain being ready, and my ne- cessary papers procured, I joined, and hav- ing set sail, we were alternately tossed and becalmed for nearly three weeks, and almost daily in sight of land. Some of the spring winds in the English seas are very violent. A favourable breeze at length sprung up, and we flew before the wind. " If this con- tinues,'' said our Captain, " we shall reach Calais before daylight." This was at sun- set ; and we had been so driven to sea by a contrary wind on the preceding day, that neither the coast of England nor France were visible. From Dover to Ca- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 13 lais the voyage is frequently made in four hours. Several observations very forcibly struck me in the course of my passage, one of which I must be allowed to mention. I had repeatedly heard, and now knew from ex- perience, the immense superiority of the English commerce over that of France and every nation in the world ; but till I had made this voyage, I never had a sufficient conception of the degree of this superiority. I have no hesitation to say, that for one French vessel there were two hundred Eng- lish. The English fleet has literally swept the seas of all the ships of their enemies; and a French ship is so rare, as to be noted in a journal across the Atlantic, as a kind of phaenomenon. A curious question here sug- gests itself— Will the English government be so enabled to avail themselves of this 14 A TOUR IN FRANCE. maritime superiority, as to counterweigh against the continental predominance of the French emperor? — Can the continent be reconquered at sea? — Will the French em- peror exchange the kingdoms of Europe for West India colonies; or is he too well in- structed in the actual worth of these colo- nies, to purchase them at any price ? — These questions are important, and an answer to them might illustrate the fate of Europe, and the probable termination of the war. I must not omit one advice to travellers by sea. The biscuit in a long voyage be- comes uneatable, and flour will not keep. I was advised by a friend, as a remedy against this inconvenience, to take a large store of what are called gingerbread nuts, made without yeast, and hotly spiced. I kept them close in a tin cannister, and care- fully excluded the air. I found them most A TOUJl IN TRANCE. 15 fully to answer the purpose : they were very little injured when I reached Liverpool, and, I believe, would have sustained no damage whatever, if I had as carefully excluded the air as at first. l6 A TOUR IN FRANCE. CHAP. II. Moi'ning View of Port — Arrival and Landing— A Day at Calais. — French Market, and Prices of Provisions. The Master's prediction proved true, and indeed in a shorter time than he had ex- pected. An unusual bustle on the deck awakened me about midnight : and as my anxious curiosity would not sufFer me to re- main in my hammock, I was shortly upon deck, and was told in answer to my inquiries, that a fine breeze had sprung up to the south-west, and that we should reach the port of our destination by day-break. This intelligence, added to the fineness of the night, which was still clear, would have in- duced me to remain above, but by a violent A TOUR IN FRANCE. l? blow from one of the ropes, I was soon given to understand that it was prudent for me to retire. The crew and ship seemed each to partake of the bustle and agitation of each other ; the masts bent, the timbers cracked, and ropes flew about in all di- rections. It may be imagined, that though re- turning to my hammock, I did not return to my repose. I lay in all the restlessness of expectation till day-break, when the Captain summoned me upon deck by the grateful intelligence that we were entering the port of Calais. Hurrying upon deck, I beheld a spectacle which immediately dispelled all the uneasy sensations at- tendant upon a sleepless night. It was one of the finest mornings of the latter end of June ; the sun had not risen, but the heavens were already painted with his c 18 A TOUR IN FRANCE. ascending glories. I repeated in a kind of poetical rapture the inimitable meta- phoric epithet of the Poet of Nature ; an epithet preserved so faithfully, and there- fore with so much genius, by his English translator, Pope. The rosy-fingered Morn, indeed, appeared in all her plenitude of natural beauty ; and the Sun, that he might not long lose the sight of his lovely spouse, followed her steps very shortly, and exhibited himself just surmounting the hills to the east of Calais. The sea was unruffled, and we were sail- ing towards the pier with full sail, and a gentle morning breeze. The land and town, at first faint, became gradually more distinct and enlarged, till we at length saw the people on shore hurrying down to the pier, so as to be present at our an- choring and debarkation. The French in A TOUR IN FRANCE. 19 general are much earlier risers than either the Americans or the English ; and by the time we were off the pier, about seven in the morning, half the town of Calais were out to receive and welcome us. The French, moreover, as on every occasion of my intercourse with them I found them afterwards, appeared to me to be equally prominently different from all nations in another quality — a prompt and social na- ture, a natural benevolence, or habitual civility, which leads them instinctively, and not unfrequently impertinently, into acts of kindness and consideration. Let a stranger land at an English or an Ame- rican port, and he is truly a stranger ; his inquiries will scarcely obtain a civil answer ; and any appearance of strangeness and embarrassment will only bring the boys at his heels. On the other hand, let him land in any French port, and almost every c 2 20 A TOUR IN FRANCE. one who shall meet him will salute him with the complacency of hospitality ; his inquiries, indeed, will not be answered, be- cause the person of whom he shall make them, will accompany him to the inn, or other object of his question. I have frequently heard, and still more frequently read, that the English nation were characteristically the most good-na- tured people in the world, and that the Americans, as descendants from the same stock, had not lost this virtue of the parent tree. I give no credit to the justice of this observation. Experience has convinced me, that neither the English nor the Americans deserve it as a national distinction. The French are, beyond all manner of doubt, the most good-humoured people on the surface of the earth ; if we understand at least by the term good-humour those mi- A TOUR IN FRANCE. * 21 nor courtesies, those considerate kindnesses, those cursory attentions, which, though they cost Uttle to the giver, are not the less va- luable to the receiver; which soften the asperities of life, and by their frequent oc- currence, and the constant necessity in which we stand of them, have an aggre- gate, if not an individual importance. The English, perhaps, as nationally possessing the more solid virtues, may be the best friends, and the most generous benefactors ; but as friendship, in this more exalted ac- ceptation of it, is rare, and beneficence al- most miraculous^ it is a serious question with me, which is the most useful being in society — the light good-humoured French- man, or the slow meditating Englishman "^ There was the usual bustle, as to who should be the bearers of our luggage ; a thousand ragged figures, more resembhng 22 A TOUR IN FBANCE. scare-crows than human beino-s, seized them from the hands of each other; and we might have bid our property a last farewell per- haps, had it not been for the ill-humour of our Captain. He laid about him with more vigour than mercy, and in a manner which surprised me, either that he should venture, or that even the miserable objects before us should bear. Had he exerted his hands and his oar in a similar manner either in England or in America, he would have been compelled to vindicate his as- sumed superiority by his superior manhood. Here every one fled before him, and yielded him as much submission and obedience, as if he had been the prefect himself. The French seem to have no idea of the art of pugilism, and, with the sole exception of the military, no point of honour which renders them impatient under any merited A TOUR IN PRANCE. 23 personal castigation. They take a blow with great sang froid. Whether from good-huinour, or cowardice ; whether that they thought they deserved it, or that they feared to resent it; the single arm of our Captain chastised a whole rabble of them; and they made a lane for as many of us as chose to land, accompanied by such porters as we had ourselves selected. Three or four of them, however, were still impor- tuning us to permit them to show us to an inn; but as we had already made our se- lection in this point likewise, our Captain returned them no answer, but by a rough mimickry of their address and gesticula- tion. After our luggage had undergone the customary examination by the officers of the customs, in the execution of which of- fice a liberal fee procured us much civility, 24 A TOUR Il>f FRANCE we were informed that it was necessary to present ourselves before the Commissary, for that so many Enghshmen had obtained admission as Americans, that the French government had fomid it necessary to have recourse to an unusual strictness, and that the Commissary had it in orders not to suffer any one to proceed till after the most rigid inquiry into his passport and business. Accordingly, having seen our luggage into a wheel-barrow, which the Captain in- sisted should accompany us, we waited upon the Commissary, but were not fortunate enough to fmd him at his office. A little dirty boy informed us, that Mons. Man- gouit had gone out to visit a neighbour, but that if we would wait till twelve o'clock (it was now about nine), we should infalli- bly see him, and have our business duly dis- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 25 patched. The office in which we were to wait for this Mons. Mangouit for three hours, was about five feet in length by three in width, very dirty, without a chair, and in every respect resembhng a cobbler's stall in one of the most obscure streets of London. Mons. Commissary's ink-stand was a coffee- cup without a handle, and his book of en- tries a quire of dirty writing-paper. This did not give us much idea either of the per- sonal consequence of Mons. Mangouit, or of the grandeur of the Republic. The boy was sent out to summon his master, as a preferable way to our wait- ing till twelve o'clock. Monsieur at length made his appearance ; a little, mean-look- ing man, with a very dirty shirt, a well- powdered head, a smirking, bowing cox- comb. He informed us with many apo- 26 A TOUR IN PRANCE. logie.s, unnecessary at least in a public of- ficer, that he was under the necessity of doing his duty ; that his duty was to ex- amine us according to some queries trans- mitted to him ; but that we appeared gen- tlemen, true Americans, and not English spies. After a long harangue, in which the lit- tle gentleman appeared very much pleased with himself, he concluded by demanding our passport : upon sight of which he de- clared himself satisfied, and promised to make us out others for passing into the interior. We were desired to call for these in the even- ing, or he would himself do us the honour to wait upon us with them at our hotel. Considering the latter as a kind of self-in- vitation to dine with us, we mentioned our dinner hour, and other et ceteras. Mons. A TOUR IN TRANCE. 27 Mangouit smiled his acquiescence, and we left him, in the hopes that he would at least change his linen. Upon leaving the Commissary, our wheel- barrow was again put in motion, and ac- companied us to Dessein's. This hotel still maintains its reputation and its name. After seeing almost all France, we had no hesitation in pronouncing it to be the only inn which could enter into any reasonable comparison with any of the respectable ta- verns either of England or America. In no country but in America and England, have they any idea of that first of comforts to the wearied traveller, a clean and house- wife-like bed. I speak from woeful expe- rience, when I advise every traveller to consider a pair of sheets and a counterpane as necessary a part of his luggage as a change of shirts. He will travel but few 28 A TOUR IN FRANCE. miles from Calais, before he will understand the necessity of this admonition. We ordered an early dinner, and sallied forth to see the town. It has nothing, however, to distinguish it from other pro- vincial towns, or rather sea-ports, of the second order. It has been compared to Dover, but I think rather resembles Folk- stone. The streets are irregular, the houses old and lofty, and the pavement the most execrable that can be imagined. There was certainly more bustle and activity than is usual in an English or in an American town of the same rank ; and this appeared to us the more surprising, as we could see no object for all this hurry and loquacity. To judge by appearance, the people of Calais had no other more important business than to make their remarks upon us as we passed their doors or shops. There was no ship- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 29 ping in the harbour ; and even the stock in the shops had every appearance of hav- ing remained long, and having to remain longer in its fixed repose. Being the market-day, we had the cu- riosity to inquire the price of several articles of provision, and to compare them with those of their neighbours on the opposite side of the channel. The market was well stocked ; there was an incredible quantity of poultry, lamb, butter, eggs, and herbs. A couple of fowls were three livres, at a time that they were seven or eight shillings in London ; a young goose, two livres twelve sous (25. 2d.). Lamb was sold as in England, by the quarter or side, and was about sixpence English money per pound ; beef about fourpence half-penny, and mutton (not very good) fourpence. Upon the whole, the money price of every 30 A TOUR IN FRANCE. thing appeared about one-half cheaper than in England ; but whether this difference is not in some degree compensated in England by the superiority of quality, is what I cannot exactly decide. The beef was cer- tainly not so good as that to which I had been accustomed in London ; but, on the other hand, in the progress of ray journey, the mutton and lamb, when I could get it dressed to my wishes, appeared sweeter. The short feed gives it the taste of Welsh mutton, but the consumption of it is scarce- ly sufficient to encourage the feeders. The manner, moreover, in which these meats are employed and served in French cooking, is such as not to encourage the feeder to any superior care. Lean meat answers the purposes of houilU as well as the fat meat, and it is of little concern what that joint is which is only to be boiled down to its very fibres. The old proverb, that God A TOUR IN FRANCE. 31 sent meats, and the d — 1 cooks, is verified in every kitchen in France. We returned to Quillac's to dinner ; which, according to our orders, was com- posed in the EngUsh style, except a French dish or two for Mons. Mangouit. This gentleman now appeared altogether as full- dressed as he had before been in full dis- habille. We exchanged much conversation on Calais and England, and a word or two respecting the French emperor. He ap- peared much better informed than we had previously concluded from his coxcomical exterior. He seemed indeed quite another man. He accompanied us after dinner to the comedy : the theatre is within the circuit of the inn. The performers were not into- lerable ; and the piece, which was what 32 A TOUR IN FRANCE. they call a proverb (a fable constructed so as to give a ludicrous verification or contra- diction to an old saying), was amusing. I thought I had some obscure recollection of a face amongst the female performers, and learned afterwards, that it was one of the maids of the inn ; a lively brisk girl, and a volunteer, from her love of the drama. In this period of war between England and France, Calais has not the honour of a dramatic corps to herself, but occasionally participates in one belonging to the district. The play being over very early, we finish- ed the evening in our own style, a proceed- ing we had cause to repent the following day, as the Cote rolie did not agree with us so well as old Port. I suffered so much from the consequent relaxation, that I never repeated the occasion. It produced A TOUR IN FRANCE. 33 still another effect ; it removed my previous admiration of French sobriety. There is little merit, I should think, in abstaining from such a constant use of medicine. % D S4 A TOUR IN TRANCE. CHAP. III. Purchase of a Norman Horse — Visit in the Country — Family of a French Gentleman — Elegance of French domestic (Economy — Dance on the Green^Return to Calais. Notwithstanding the merited repro- bation to be met with in every traveller, of French beds and French chamberlains, we had no cause to complain of our ac- commodation in this respect at Dessein^s. This house, though it has changed masters, is conducted as well as formerly; and there was nothing in it, which could have made the most determined lover of ease repent his having crossed the Channel. After our breakfast on the morning fol- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 35 lowing our arrival, I began to consider with myself on the most suitable way of executing my purpose — ^of seeing France and Frenchmen, the scenery and manners, to the best advantage. I called in my landlord to my consultation ; and having explained my peculiar views, was advised by him to purchase a Norman horse, one of which he happened to have in his sta- bles ; a circumstance which perhaps sug- gested the advice. Be this as it may, I adopted his recommendation, and I had no cause to repent it. The bargain was struck upon the spot ; and for twenty-seven Louis I became master of a horse, upon whom, taking into the computation cross- roads and occasional deviations, I per- formed a journey not less than two thou- sand miles ; and in the whole of this course, without a stumble sufficient to shake me from my seat. The Norman horses are D 2 36 A TOUR IN FRANCE. low and thick, and like all of this make, very steady, sure, and strong. They will make a stage of thirty miles without a bait, and will eat the coarsest food. From some indications of former habits about my own horse, I was several times led to conclude, that he had been more accus- tomed to feed about the lanes, and live on his wits, as it were, than in any settled habitation, either meadow or stable. I never had a brute companion to which I took a greater fancy. Having a letter to a gentleman resident about two miles from Calais I had occasion to inquire the way of a very pretty peasant girl whom I overtook on the road, just above the town. The way was by a path over the fields : the young peasant was going to some house a mile or two beyond the object of my destination, and, as I A TOUR IN FRANCE. 37 have reason to believe, not exactly in the same line. Finding me a stranger, how- ever, she accompanied me, without hesita- tion, up a narrow cross-road, that she might put me into the foot-path ; and when we had come to it, finding some difficulty in giving intelligibly a complex direction, she concluded by saying she would go that way herself. I was too pleased with my companion to decline her civility. I learned in the course of my walk that she was the daughter of a small farmer : the farm was small indeed, being about half an arpent, or acre. She had been to Ca- lais to take some butter, and had the same journey three mornings in the week. Her father had one cow of his own, and rented two others, for each of which he paid a Louis annually. The two latter fed by the road-sides. Her father earned twenty sols a day as a labourer, and had a small 38 A TOUR IN FRANCE. pension from the Government, as a ve- teran and wounded soldier. Upon this little they seemed, according to her an- sM^ers, to live very comfortably, not to say substantially. Poultry, chestnuts, milk, and dried fruit, formed their daily support. " We never buy meat,^' said she, " be- cause we can raise more poultry than we can sell.'^ The country around Calais has so exact a resemblance to that of the opposite coast, as to appear almost a counterpart, and as if the sea had worked itself a chan- nel, and thus divided a broad and lofty hill. It is not, however, quite so barren and cheerless as in the immediate precincts of Dover. Vegetation, what there was of it, seemed stronger, and trees grow nearer to the cliffs. There were likewise many flowers which I had never seen about A TOUR IN FRANCE. 39 Dover and the Kentish coast. But on the whole, the country was so similar that I in vain looked around me for something to note. The gentleman to whom I had brought a letter of introduction was at Paris ; but I saw his son, to whom I was therefore compelled to introduce myself. The young man lamented much that his father was from home, and that he could not receive me in a manner which was suitable to a gentleman of my appearance ; the friend of Mr. Pinckney, who was the beloved friend of his father. All these things are matter of course to all Frenchmen, who are nev^er at a loss for civility and terms of endearment. A young English gentle- man of the same age with this youth (about nineteen), would either have affronted you by his sulky reserve, or compelled you as a matter of charity to leave him, to release 40 A TOUR IN FRANCE. him from blushing and stammering. On the other hand, young Tantuis and my- self were intimates in the moment after our first introduction. Upon entering the house, and a parlour opening upon a lawn in the back part, I was introduced to Mademoiselle his sister, a beautiful girl, a year, or perhaps more, younger than her brother. She rose from an English piano as I entered, whilst her brother introduced me with a preamble, which he rolled off his tongue in a moment. A refreshment of fruit, capillaire, and a sweet wine, of which I knew not the name, was shortly placed before me, and the young people conversed with me about England and Calais, and whatever I told them of my own concerns, with as much ease and apparent interest, as if we had been born and lived in the same village. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 41 Mademoiselle informed me, that the people in Calais had no character at all ; that they were fishermen and smugglers, which last business they carried on in war as well as in peace, and had no reputation either for honesty or industry ; that she had no visiting society at Calais, and never went to the town but on household business ; that the price of every thing had doubled within four years, but that the late plenty, and the successes of the Emperor, were bringing every thing to their former standard ; that her father payed very moderate taxes ; her brother stated about five Louis annually ; but they differed in this point. The house was of that size and order, which in England would have paid at least thirty pounds, and added to this was a domain of be- tween sixty and seventy arpents. 4M' A TOUR IN FRANCE. The dinner, whether in compliment to me, or that things have now all taken this turn in France, was in substance so completely English, and served up in a manner so English, as almost to call forth an exclamation of surprise. When we enter a new country, we so fully expect to find every thing new, as to be surprised at almost any necessary coincidence. This characteristic difference is very rapidly wearing off in every kingdom in Europe. A couple of fowls, a rice-pudding, and a small chine, composed our dinner. It was served in a pretty kind of china, and with silver forks. The cloth was removed as in England, and the table covered with dried fruits, confectionary, and coffee; a tall silver epergne supporting small bot- tles of capillaire, and sweetmeats in cut glass. The fruits were in plates very tasti- ly painted in landscape by Mademoiselle ; A TOUR IN FRANCE. 43 and at the top and bottom of the table was a silver image of Vertumnus and Po- mona, of the same height with the epergne in the centre. The covering of the table was a fine deep green cloth, spotted with the simple flower called the double daisy. I am the more particular in this de- scription, as the dinner was thus served, and the table thus appointed, without any apparent preparation, as if it was all in their due and daily course. Indeed, I have had occasion frequently to observe, that the French ladies infinitely excel those of every other nation in these minor elegancies ; in a cheap and tasteful sim- plicity, and in giving a value to indifferent things by a manner peculiar to themselves. Mademoiselle left us after the first cup of coffee, saying, that she had heard that it was a custom in England, that gentlemen -44 A TOUR IN PRANCE. should have their own conversation after dinner. I endeavoured to turn off a com- phment in the French style upon this ob- servation ; but felt extremely awkward, upon foundering in the middle of it, for want of more familiar acquaintance with the language. Monsieur, her brother, per- ceived my embarrassment, and becoming my interpreter, helped me out of it with much good-humour, and with some dex- terity. I resolved, however, another time, never to tilt with a French lady in com- pliment. Being alone with the young man, I made some inquiries upon subjects upon which I wanted information, and found him at once communicative and intelligent. The agriculture of the country about Calais appears to be wretched. The soil is in general very good, except where the sub- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 45 Stratum of chalk, or marie, rises too near the surface, which is the case immediate- ly on the cliffs. The course of the crops is bad indeed — fallow, rye, oats. In some land it is fallow, wheat, and barley. In no farm, however, is the fallow laid aside ; it is considered as indispensable for wheat, and on poor lands for rye. The produce, reduced to English Winchester measure, is about nineteen bushels of wheat, and twenty-three or twenty-four of barley. Be- sides the fallow, they manure for wheat. The manure in the immediate vicinity of Calais is the dung of the stable-keepers and the filth of that town. The rent of the land around Calais, within the daily market of the town, is as high as sixty li- vres; but beyond the circuit of the town, is about twenty livres (sixteen shillings). Since the settlement of the Government, the price of land has risen; twenty Louis an acre is 46 A TOUR IN TRANCE. now the average price in the purchase of a large farm. There are no tithes, but a small rate for the officiating minister. La- bourers earn thirty sous per day (about fifteen-pence English), and women, in pick- ing stones, &c. half that sum. Rents, since the Revolution, are all in money; but there are some instances of personal service, and which are held to be legal even under the present state of things, provided they relate to husbandry, and not to any servitude or attendance upon the person of the landlord. Upon the whole, I found that the Revolution had much improved the condition of the farmers, having relieved them from feudal tenures and lay-tithes. On the other hand, some of the proprietors, even in the neigh- bourhood of Calais, had lost nearly the whole of the rents, under the interpretation of the law respecting what were to be considered as feudal impositions. The Commissioners A TOUR IN PRANCE. 47 acting under these laws had determined all old rents to come under this description, and had thus rendered the tenants under lease proprietors of the lands. The young lady who had left us returned towards evening, and by her heightened co- lour, and a small parcel in her hand, ap- peared to have walked some distance. Her brother, doubtless from a sympathetic nature, guessed in an instant the object of her walk. " You have been to Calais,^^ said he. " Yes,^' replied she, with the lovely smile of kind- ness ; " I thought that Monsieur would like some tea after the manner of his country- men, and having only coffee in the house, I walked to Calais to procure some/' I again felt the want of French loquacity and readi- ness. My heart was more elpquent than my tongue. I rose, and involuntarily took and 48 A TOUR IN TRANCB. pressed the hand of the sweet girl. Who will now say that the French are not charac- teristically a good-humoured people, and that a lovely French girl is not an angel ? I thought so at the time, and though my heart has now cooled, I think so still. I feel even no common inclination to describe this young French beauty, but that I will not do her the injustice to copy off an image which remains more faithfully and warmly imprint- ed on my memory. The house, as I have mentioned, opened behind on a lawn, with which the drawing- room was even, so that its doors and win- dows opened immediately upon it. This lawn could not be less than four or five Eng- lish acres in extent, and was girded entire- ly around by a circle of lofty trees from within, and an ancient sea-stone wall, very A TOUR IN FRANCE. 49 thick and high, from without. The trunks of the trees and the walls were hid by a thick copse or shrubbery of laurels, myrtles, cedars, and other similar shrubs, so as to render the enclosed lawn the most beautiful and seques- tered spot I had ever seen. On the further extremity from the house was an avenue from the lawn to the garden, which was like- wise spacious, and surrounded by a continu- ation of the same wall. In the further cor- ner of the latter was a summer-house, erected on the top of the wall, so as to look over it on the fields and the distant sea. Tea was here served up to us in a manner neither French nor English, but partaking of both. Plates of cold chicken, slices of chine, cakes, sweetmeats, and the whitest bread, composed a kind of mixed repast, be- tween the English tea and the French sup- per. The good-humour and vivacity of my ^0 A TOUR IN FRANCE. young friends, and the prospect from the windows, which was as extensive as beautiful, rendered it a refreshment peculiarly cheering to the spirits of a traveller. Before the conclusion of it, I had another specimen of French manners and French be- nevolence. A party of young ladies were announced as visitors, and followed imme- diately the servant who conducted them. Speaking all at once, they informed Made- moiselle T — , that they had learned the ar- rival of her English friend (so they did me the honour to call me), and knowing her fa- ther was at Paris, had hurried off to assist her in giving Monsieur a due welcome. They mentioned several other names which were coming with the same friendly purpose ; a piece of information which caused the young Monsieur T— to make me a hasty bow, and leave me with the ladies. He returned A TOUR IN FRANCE. 51 in a short time, and the sound of fiddles tuning below on the lawn, rendered any ex- planation unnecessary. We immediately de- scended ; the promised ladies, and their partners, soon made their appearance ; and the merry dance on the green began. As the stranger of the company, I had of course the honour of leading Mademoiselle T — . In the course of the dance other visitors appeared, who formed themselves into co- tillions and reels ; and the lawn being at length well filled, the evening delightful, and the moon risen in all her full glory, the whole formed a scene truly picturesque. After an evening, or rather a night, thus protracted to a late hour, I returned to Ca- lais ; and was accompanied to the immediate adjacency by one of the parties, consisting of two ladies and a gentleman. I was as- E 2 52 A TOUR IN FRANCE. sailed by many kind importunities to repeat my visit ; but as I intended to leave Calais on the morrow, I made my best possible ex- cuses. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 53 CHAP. IV. French Cottages. — Ludicrous E.vhibition. — French Travellers. — Chaise de Post. — Posting in France. — Departure from Calais. — Beauti- ful Vicinity of Boulogne. Two days were amply sufficient to see all that Calais has to exhibit. After the first novelty is over, no place can please, except either by its intrinsic beauty, or the happy effect of habit. Calais has no such intrinsic charms, and I was not disposed to try the re- sult of the latter. I accordingly resolved to proceed on my road ; but, as the heat was excessive, deferred it till the evening. The exercise of the preceding night had produced an unpleasant ferment in my blood, 54 A TOUR IN FRANCE. attended by an external feeling of feverish heat and checked perspiration. Every tra- veller should be, in a degree, his own physi- cian. I had recourse to a dip in the sea, and found immediate relief. Nothing, in- deed, is so instantaneous a remedy, either for violent fatigue, or any of the other effects following unusual exercise, as this simple specific. After a ride of sixty or seventy miles through the most dusty roads, and under the hottest sun of a southern Midsum- mer, I have been restored to my morning freshness by the cold bath. By the buildings which I observed to be going forward, I was led to a conclusion that Calais is a flourishing town ; but I confess I saw no means to which I could attribute this prosperity. There was no appearance of commerce, and very little of industry. One circumstance was truly unaccountable A TOUR IN FRANCE. 55 to me. Though there were two or three ships laying unrigged, but otherwise sound, and in the best navigable condition, there was a building-yard, in which two new ves- sels were on the stock. These vessels, in- deed, were of no considerable tonnage ; but I confess myself at a loss to guess their ob- ject. About a mile from Calais, is a beautiful avenue of the finest walnut and chestnut trees I have ever seen in France. They stand upon common land, and, of course, are public property. In the proper season of the year, the people of Calais repair hither for their evening dance ; and such is the force of cus- tom, the fruit remains untouched, and reser- ved for these occasions. Every one then takes what he pleases, but carries nothing home beyond what may suffice for his con- sumption on the way. 56 A TOUR IN FRANCE. In my walk thither I passed several cot- tages, and entered some. The inhabitants seemed happy, and to possess some substan- tial comforts. The greater part of these cot- tages had a walnut or chestnut tree before them, around which was a rustic seat, and which, as overshadowed by the broad branches and luxuriant foliage, composed a very pleas- ing image. The manner in which the sod was partially worn under most of them, ex- plained their nightly purpose ; or if there could yet be any doubt, the flute and fiddle, pendant in almost every house, spoke a still more intelligible language. I entered no house so poor, and met with no inhabitant so inhospitable, as not to re- ceive the offer either of milk, or some sort of wine ; and every one seemed to take a refusal as if they had solicited, and had not obtained, an act of kindness. If the French are not A TOUR IN FRANCE. 57 the most hospitable people in the world, they have at least the art of appearing so. I speak here only of the peasantry, and from first im- pressions. The rent of one of these cottages, of two floors and two rooms on each, is thirty-five livres. They have generally a small garden, and about one hundred yards of common land between the road and the house, on which grows the indispensable walnut or chest- nut tree. The windows are glazed, but the glass is usually taken out in summer. The walls are generally sea-stoue, but are clothed with grape-vines, or other shrubs, which, curl- ing around the casements, render them shady and picturesque. The bread is made of wheat meal, but in some cottages consisted of thin cakes without leven, and made of buck-wheat. Their common beverap^e is a weak wine, sweet and pleasant to the taste. 58 A TOUR IN FRANCE. In some houses it very nearly resembled the good metheglin, very common in the northern counties of England. Eggs, bacon, poultry, and vegetables, seemed in great plenty; and, as I understood, composed the dinners of the peasantry twice a week at least. I was surprised at this evident abun- dance in a class in which I should not have expected it. Something of it, I fear, must be imputed to the extraordinary profits of the smuggling which is carried on along the coast. I was pleased to see, that even the horri- ble Revolution had not banished all religion from Calais. I understood that the church was well attended, and that hig-h mass was as much honoured as hitherto. Every one spoke of the Revolution with execration, and of the Emperor with satisfaction. Bonaparte has certainly gained the hearts of the French A TOUR IN FRANCE. 59 people by administering to their national vanity. Returning home from my walk, I was wit- ness to a singular exhibition in the streets. A crowd had collected around a narrow ele- vated stage, which, at a distant view, led me to expect the appearance of my friend Punch. I was not altogether deceived : it was a kind of Bartholomew drama, in which the parts were performed by puppets. It differed only from what I had seen in England by the wit of the speakers, and a kind of de- sign, connexion, and uniformity in the fable. The name of it, as announced by the mana- ger, was. The Convention of Kings against France and Bonaparte. The puppets, who each spoke in their turn, were, the King of England, the King of Na- ples, the Emperor of Austria, the Pope, and 60 A TOUR IN FRANCE. the Grand Signor. The dialogue was inde- scribably ridiculous. The piece opened with a council, in which the King of England en- treated all his brother-sovereigns to declare war against France and the French emperor, and proceeded to assign some ludicrous rea- sons as applicable to each. " My contribu- tion to the grand alliance," concludes his Majesty, " shall be in money ; both because I have more Louis to spare, and because the best advantage of a rich nation is, that it can purchase others to fight its battles !'^ The Grand Signor approves the proposal, and throws down his cimeter. " I will give my cimeter," says he ; " but being a prophet as well as a sovereign, and having such a family of wives, I deem it unseemly to use it my- self. Let England take it, and give it to any one who wdl use it manfully." The Pope, in his turn, gives his blessing • " If the war should succeed, you will have to A TOUR IN rilANCE. 6l thank my benediction for the victory ; if it should fail, it will be from the efficacy of the blessing that a man of you will be saved alive/' The Emperor then asks what is the amount of England's contribution ; and his British Majesty throws him a purse. His Imperial Majesty, after feeling the weight, takes up the cimeter of the Grand Signor, and retires. The drama then proceeds to the representation of the different battles of Bo- naparte, in all of which it gave him the vic- tory, Sec. After a light dinner, in which with some difficulty I procured fish, and with still more had it dressed in the English mode, I mount- ed my horse, and proceeded on my journey in the road to Boulogne. I had now my first trial of my Norman horse ; he fully an- swered my expectations, and almost my wishes. He had a leisurely lounging walk, 62 A TOUIl IN FRANCE. which seemed well suited to an observant traveller. It is well known of Erasmus, that he wrote the best of his works, and made a whole course of the Classics, on horseback ; and I have no doubt but that I could have both read {^nd written on the back of my Norman. To make up, however, for this tardiness, he was a good-humoured, patient, and sure-footed beast ; but would stretch out his neck now and then to get a passing bite of the wheat which grew by the road side. I wished to get on to Boulogne to sleep, and therefore tried all his paces ; but found his trotting scarcely tolerable by hu- man feeling. The road from Calais, for the first twelve miles, is open and hilly. On each side of the main way is a smaller road, which is the summer, as the other is the winter one. The day being very fine, and not too warm, A TOUR IN FRANCE. 63 I enjoyed myself much. I passed many fields in which the country-people were ma- king hay : they seemed very merry. The fel- low who loaded the cart had a cocked hat, and by his erectness I should have thought to have been a soldier, but that every one who passed me had nearly the same air, and the same hat. Some of the hay-makers called to me, but in such barbarous patois, that I could make nothing of them. One company of them, saluting me from a di- stance, deputed a girl to make known their wishes. Seeing her to be young, and ex- pecting her to be handsome, I checked my horse ; but a nearer view correcting my error, and exhibiting her only a coarse mas- culine wench, I pushed forwards, without waiting her embassy. The peasant women of France work so hard, as to lose every ap- pearance of youth in the face, whilst they re- 64 A TOUR IN FRANCE. * tain it in the person ; and it is therefore no uncommon thing to see the person of a Venus, and the face of an old monkey. I passed by a set of these labourers sitting under a tree, and taking that repast which, in the North of England, is called "fours," from being usually taken by harvest labourers at that time of the day. The party consisted of about a do- zen women and girls, and but one man. I was invited to drmk some of their wine, and being by the road side, could not refuse. My horse was led under the tree : I was compel- led to dismount, and to share their repast, such as it was. Some money which I offer- ed was refused. I made my choice amongst one of my entertainers, and could do no less than salute her. This produced great noise and merriment, and gave free reins to French levity and coquetry: in a word, I was obli- ged to salute them all. My favourite and A TOUR IN FRANCE. 65 first choice gave me her hand on my depar- ture : — she n brown Maid. ture : — she might have sat for Prior's Nut- The main purpose of my journey being ra- ther to see the manners of the people, than the brick and mortar of the towns, I had formed a resolution to seek the necessary re- freshment as seldom as possible at inns, and as often as possible in the houses of the hum- bler farmers, and the better kind of peasan- try^ About fifteen miles from Calais my horse and myself were looking out for some- thing of this kind, and one shortly appeared about three hundred yards on the left side of the road. It was a cottage in the midst of a garden, and the whole surrounded by a hedge, which looked delightfully green and refreshing. The garden was all in flower and bloom. The walls of the cottage were robed in the same livery of Nature. I had F 6S A TOUR IN FRANCE. seen such cottages in Kent and in Devonshire, but in no other part of the world. The in- habitants were simple people, small farmers, having about ten or fifteen acres of land. Some grass was immediately cut for my horse, and the coffee which I produced from my pocket was speedily set before me, with cakes, wine, some meat, and cheese — the French peasantry having no idea of what we call tea. Throwing the windows up, so as to enjoy the scenery and freshness of the gar- den ; sitting upon one chair, and resting a leg upon the other ; alternately pouring out my coffee, and reading a pocket-edition of Thomson's Seasons, I enjoyed one of those moments which give a zest to life ; I felt happy, and in peace and in love with all around me. Proceeding upon my journey, two miles on the Caleiis side of Boulogne I fell in with an A TOUR IN FRANCE. 6? overturned chaise, which the postiUion was trying to raise. The vehicle was a chaise de postCy the ordinary traveUing carriage of the country, and a thing in a civihsed country wretched beyond conception. It was drawn by three horses, one in the shafts, and one on each side. The postilhon had ridden on the one on the driving side ; he was a httle punch fellow, and in a pair of boots like fire- buckets. The travellers consisted of an old French lady and gentleman ; Madame in a high crimped cap, and stiff long whalebone stays. Monsieur informed me very courte- ously of the cause of the accident, whilst Madame alternately curtsied to me and menaced and scolded the postillion. The French postillions, indeed, are the most in- tolerable set of beings. They never hesi- tate to get off their horses, suffer them to go forwards, and follow them very leisurely F 2 68 A TOUR IN FRANCE. behind. I saw several instances in which they had suffered the traces to twist round the horses' legs, so that on descending a hill, their escape with life must be a miracle. I shall briefly observe, now I am upon this subject, that posting is nearly as dear in France as in England. A post in France is six miles, and one shiUing and threepence is charged for each horse, and sevenpence for the driver. The price, therefore, for two horses would be three shillings and a penny ; but whatever number of persons there may be, a horse is charged for each. The postil- lions, moreover, expect at least double of what the book of regulations allows them, as matter of right. I reached Boulogne about sun-set, and was much pleased with its vicinity. On each A TOUR IN FRANCE. 69 side of the road, and at different distances, from two hundred yards to a mile, were groves of trees, in which were situated some ancient chateaux. Many of them were in- deed in ruin from the effects of the Revolu- tion. Upon entering the town, I inquired the way to the Hotel d'Angleterre, which is kept by an Englishman of the name of Par- ker, Bonaparte having specially exempted him from the edicts respecting aliens. I had a good supper, but an indifferent bed, and the close situation rendered the heat of the night still more oppressive. Mr. Parker himself was absent, and had left the management with a French young woman, who would not suffer me to write uninter- rupted, and seemed to take much offence that I did not invite her to take her seat at the supper- table. 1 believe I was the only male traveller in the inn ; and flattery, and 70 A TOUR IN FRANCE. even substantial gallantry, is so necessary and so natural to French women, that they look to it as their due, and conceive themselves in- iured when it is withholden. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 71 CHAP. V. Boulogne — Dress of the Inhabitants — The Pier-^ Theatre — Caution in the Exchange of Money — Beautiful Landscape, and Conversation with a French Vet er an—Character of Mr. Parkers Hotel — Departm'e, and romantic Road — Fete Champetre in a Village on a hill at Montreuil^^ Ruined Church and Convent. I HAD heard so bad a report of Boulogne, as to be agreeably surprised when I found it so little deserving it. I spent the greater part of a day in it with much pleasure, and but that I wished to get to Paris, should have continued longer. Boulogne is very agreeably situated, and the views from the high grounds on each side are delightful. The landscape from the 72 A TOUR IN FRANCE. ramparts is not to be exceeded, but is not seen to advantage except when there is high water in the river. There is an evident mix- ture of strangers and natives amongst the in- habitants. There are many resident Enghsh, who have been nationalized by express edict, or the construction of the law. I heard it casually mentioned, that these were not the most respectable class of inhabitants, though many of them are rich, and all of them are active. The English and French women, whom I met with in the streets, were each dressed in their peculiar fashion ; the Eng- lish women as they dress in the country towns of England ; the French without hats, with close caps, and cloaks down to the feet. This fashion I found to be peculiar to Bou- logne and its promenade. The town is, upon the whole, clean, lively, brisk, and flou- rishing ; the houses are in good repair, and many others were building. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 73 I walked down to the pier, and my con- clusion was, that the English Ministry were mad when they attempted any thing against Boulogne. The harbour appeared to me im- pregnable. I must confess, however, that the French appeared to me equally mad, in expecting any thing from their flotilla. Three English frigates would sink the whole force at Boulogne in the open sea. The French seem to know this ; yet, to amuse the populace, and to play upon the fears of the English Ministry, the farce is kept up, and daily reports are made by the Comman- dant of the state of the flotilla. There is a delightful walk on the beach, which is a flat strand of firm sand, as far as the tide reaches. In the summer evenings when the tide serves, this is the favourite promenade : this is like- wise the parade, as the soldiers are occasion- ally here exercised. 74< A TOUR IN FRANCE. , There is a tolerable theatre, but the dra- matic corps are not stationary. They were not in the town whilst I was there, so that I cau speak of their merits only by report. One of the actresses was highly spoken of, and had indeed reached the reward of her eminence ; having been called to the Parisian stage. Bonaparte is notoriously, perhaps po- litically, attached to the drama, and is no sooner informed of any good performer on a provincial stage, than he issues his command for his appearance and engagement at Paris. The principal church at Boulogne is a good and respectable structure, and I learned with much satisfaction and some surprise, that on the Sabbath at least it was crowded. The people of Boulogne execrate the Revolution, and avert from all mention and memory of it; and not without reason, as their environs have been in some degree spoiled by its ex- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 75 cesses. Several miles on the road from Bou- logne, those sad monuments of the popular phrensy, ruined chateaux, and churches con- verted into stables or granaries, force the memory back upon those melancholy times, when the property and religion of a nation became the but of bandids and atheists. May the world itself perish, before such an aera shall return or become general ! I had received from an American house in London some bills on a mercantile house at Boulogne ; a very convenient method, and which I would therefore recommend to other travellers, as they hereby save very consider- ably, such bills being usually given at some advantage in favour of those who purchase them by coin. Bills on Boulogne, Bour- deaux, and Havre, are always to be had of the American brokers, either in London or in New York. One advantage in this exchange 76 A TOUR IN TRANCE. is, that bills may be had of any date, in which case you may suit the occasions, and put the discount into your own pocket. My bill on Boulogne was for 3000 francs, about 130/. English. I received it in Louis d'ors and 6cus. In the progress of my journey, several of the Louis were refused, as deficient in weight, and I was advised in future never to take a Louis without 'seeing that it was weight. The French coin is indeed m a very bad state, which here, as elsewhere, is attri- buted to the Jews. On the Paris side of Boulogne is a land- scape and walk of most exquisite beauty. The river, after some smaller meanders, takes a wide reach through a beautiful vale, and shortly after flows into the sea through two hills, which open as it were to receive it. I ^valked along the banks to have a better view, and got into converse with a soldier, who A TOUR IN PRANCE. 77 had been in the battle of Marengo. He gave me a very hvely account of the conduct of that extraordinary man, the French empe- ror, in this grand event of his Ufe. His ex- pression was, that he looked over the battle as if looking upon a chess-board : that he made it a rule never to engage personally, till he saw the whole plan of the battle in execution : that he M'ould then ride alternately to each division, and encourage them by fighting awhile with them : that he visited all the sick and wounded soldiers the day after the battle, inquired into the nature of their wound, where and how it was received ; and if there were any circumstances of peculiar merit or peculiar distress, noted it down, and invariably acted upon this memorandum : that he punished adultery in a soldier's wife, if they were both in the camp, by the death of the woman ; if the offending was not in the field, and therefore not within the reach 78 A TOUR IN FRANCE. of a court-martial, the soldier had a divorce on simple proof of the offence before any mayor or magistrate. I demanded of this veteran, pointing to the flotilla, when the Emperor intended to invade England ? He perceived the smile which accompanied this question, and instantaneously, with a fierce look of suspicion and resolution, demanded of me my passport. Though the abruptness of his conduct startled me, I could not but regard him with some admiration. A long, thin, spare figure of 55, was so sensible of the honour of his country, as to take fire even at a jest at it as at a personal insult. It is to this spirit that France owes half her victories. As soon as the heat of the day had de- clined, having satisfied my curiosity as to Boulogne, I called for my bill and my horse, intending to get on to Montreuil, where I A TOUR IN FRANCE. 79 had fixed upon sleeping. Mj bill was extra- vagant to a degree ; a circumstance I imputed to the want of some due attentions to Ma- dame. These kind of people have always the revenge in their own hands. As I did not see Mr. Parker, I know not whether to recommend his inn or not. He has some exr cellent Burgundy, but the charges are high, the attendance not good, and the situation in summer close and stifling. Madame, how- ever, is a very pretty woman, and seems a very good-humoured one, if her expectations are answered. She is a true French woman, however, and expects gallantry even from a weary traveller. I found the road improve much as I ad- vanced ; the country became more enclosed, and bore a strong resemblance to the most cultivated parts of England. The cherry-trees standing in the midst of the corn had a very 80 A TOUR IN* FRANCE. pretty effect ; the fields had the appearance of gardens, and some of the gardens had the wildness of the field. The season was evi- dently more advanced than in England ; there were more fruits and flowers, and the bloom was more bossy and luxuriant. Se- veral smaller roads led from the main road, and the spires of the village churches, as seen in the side landscape, rising above the tops of the trees, invited the fancy to combine some rural images, and weave itself at least an imaginary Arcadia. The persons I met or overtook upon the road were not altogether in unison with what I must call the romance of the scene. Every carter drove his vehicle in a cocked-hat, and the women had all wooden shoes. Boys and girls of twelve years old were in rags, which very ill covered them. Nor was there any of the briskness visible on a high-road in England. A single cart, and a waggon, were all the vehicles that A TOUll IN niANCE. 81 I saw between Boulogne and Abbeville. In England, in the same space, 1 should have seen a dozen, or score. Not being pressed for time, the beauty of a scene at some little distance from the road- side tempted me to enter into a bye-lane, and take a nearer view of it. A village church, embosomed in a chestnut-wood, just rose above the trees on the top of a hill ; the setting sun was on its casements, and the foliage of the wood was burnished by the golden reflection. The distant hum of the village green was just audible ; but not so the French horn, which echoed in full melody through the groves. Having rode about half a mile through a narrow sequestered lane, which strongly reminded me of the halt-green and half-trodden bye-roads in Warwickshire, I came to the bottom of the hiil, on the brow and summit of which the village and church G 82 A TOUR IN rUAXCE. were situated. I now saw whence the soand of the horn proceeded. On the left of the road was an ancient chateau, situated in a park or very extensive meadow, and orna- mented as well by some venerable trees, as by a circular fence of flowering shrubs, guarded on the outside by a paling on a raised mound. The park or meadow having been newly mown, had an air at once orna- mented and natural. A party of ladies were collected under a patch of trees situated in the middle of the lawn. I stopped at the gate to look at them, thinking myself unperceived; but in the same moment the gate was opened to me by a gentleman and two ladies, who were walking the round. An explanation was now necessary, and was accordingly given. The gentleman informed me upon his part that the chateau belonged to Mons. St. Quentin, a Member of the French Senate, and a Judge of the District ; that he had a A TOUR IN FRANCE. 83 party of friends with him upon the occasion of his lady's birthday, and that they were about to begin dancing; that Mons. St. Quentin would highly congratulate himself on my accidental arrival. One of the ladies, having previously apologized and left us, had seemingly explained to Mons. St. Quentin the main circumstance belonging to me; for he now appeared, and repeated the invitation in his own person. The ladies added their kind importunities. I dismounted, gave my horse to a servant in waiting, and joined this happy and elegant party — for such it really was. I had now, for the first time, an opportu- nity of forming an opinion of French beauty, the assemblage of ladies being very nume- rous, and all of them most elegantly dressed. Travelling, and the imitative arts, have given a most surprising uniformity to all the fa- G 2 84 A TOUR IN FRANCE. shions of dress and ornament; and, whatever may be said to the contrary, there is a very shght difference between the scenes of a French and Enghsh pohte assembly. If any thing, however, be distinguishable, it is more in degree than in substance. The French fa- shions, as I saw them here, differed in no other point from what I had seen in London, but in degree. The ladies were certainly more exposed about the necks, and their hair was dressed with more fancy; but the form was in almost every thing the same. The most elegant novelty was a hat, which doubled up like a fan, so that the ladies car- ried it in their hands. There were more co- loured than white muslins ; a variety which had a very pretty eHect amongst the trees and flowers. The same observation applies to the gentlemen. Their dresses were made as in England ; but the pattern of the cloth, or some appendage to it, was different. One A TOUR IN FRANCE. 85 gentleman, habited in a grass-coloured silk coat, had very much the appearance of Beau Mordecai in the farce : the ladies, however, seemed to admire him; and in some conver- sation with him I found him, in despite of his coat, a very well-informed man. There were likewise three or four fancy dresses ; a Dian, a w^ood-nymph, and a sweet girl play- ing upon a lute, habited according to a pic- ture of Calypso by David. On the whole, there was certainly more fancy, more taste, and more elegance, than in an English party of the same description ; though there were not so many handsome women as would have been the proportion of such an assembly in England. A table was spread handsomely and sub- stantially under a very large and lofty mar- quee. The outside was very prettily painted for the occasion — Venus commemorating her 86 A TOUR IN FRANCE. birth from the ocean. The French manage these things infinitely better than any other nation in the world. It was necessary, how- ever, for the justice of the compliment, that the Venus should be a likeness of Madame St. Quentin, who was neither very young nor very handsome. The painter, however, got out of the scrape very well. A small party accompanied me into the village, which was lively, and had some very neat houses. The peasantry, both men and women, had hats of straw ; a manufactory which Mons. St. Quentin had introduced. A boy was reading at a cottage-door. I had the curiosity to see the book. It was a vo- lume of Marmontel. His mother came out, invited us into the house, and in the course of some conversation produced some drawings by this youth ; they were very simple, and very masterly. The ladies purchased them at A TOUR IN TRANCE. 8? a good price. He had attained this excel- lence without a master, and Mons. St. Quen- tin, as we were informed, had been so pleas- ed with him, as to take him into his house. His temper and manners, however, were not in unison with his taste; and his benefactor had been compelled to restore him to his mo- ther, but still intended to send him to study at Paris. The boy^s countenance was a di- rect lie to Lavater ; his air was heavy, and absolutely without intelligence. Mons. St. Quentin had dismissed him his house on ac- count of a verj'^ malignant sally of passion : A horse having thrown him by accident, the young demon took a knife from his pocket, and deliberately stabbed him three several times. Such was a peasant-boy, now seem- ingly enveloped in the interesting simplicity of Marmontel. How inconsistent is what is called character ! 88 A TOUR IN FRANCE. I had a sweet ride for the remaining way to Montreuil by moon-hght, accompanied by two gentlemen on horseback, who hved in that town. They related to me many me- lancholy incidents during the revolutionary period. Montreuil was formerly distributed into five parishes, and had five churches ; but the people, doubtless thinking that five were too many for the religion of the town, destroyed the other four, and sold the best part of the materials. Accordingly when I entered the town, my eye was caught by a noble ruin, which upon inquiry I found to be the church of Notre Dame. This ruin is beautiful beyond description. The pillars which remain are noble, and the capitals and carving rich to a degree. It is astonish- ing, to me that any reasonable beings, the in- habitants of a town, could thus destroy its chief ornament ; but in the madness of the revolutionary fanatics, the sun itself would A TOUR IN FRANCE. 89 have been plucked from heaven, if they could have reached it. I was sincerely happy to learn that religion had returned, and that there was a general inclination to subscribe for the repair, or rather rebuilding, of Notre Dame. My friends took leave of me after recom- mending to me an inn kept by two sisters, the name of which I have forgotten. They were so handsome as to resemble English women, and, what is very uncommon in this class of people in France, were totally with- out rouge. Whilst my supper was preparing, I had a moon-light walk round the town. The situation of it is at once commandinp; and beautiful. The ruins of a chateau, seen under the light of the moon, improved the scenery, and was another memento of the ex- ecrable Revolution. There are a number of 90 A TOUR IN PRANCE. pretty houses, and some of them substantial. One of them belonged to one of the gentle- men who accompanied me from Mons. St. Quentin's, and was his present residence, being all that remained to him of a noble property in the vicinity. This property had been sold by the nation, and the recovery of it had become impossible, though the gentle- man was in tolerable favour with the govern- ment. Bonaparte had answered one of this gentleman's memorials by subscribing it with a sentence in his own writing : " We cannot re-purchase the nation.^' This gentleman spoke highly, but perhaps unjustly, of the vigour of Bonaparte's government, of his in- flexible love of justice, and his personal at- tention to the administration. I compelled him, ho»vever, to acknowledge, that in his own immediate concerns, the justice of the French Chief was not proof against his pas- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 91 sions. I mentioned the Duke of Enghien : the gentleman pushed on his horse, and begged me to say no more of the matter. Upon my return I had an excellent suppevj and, what was still more welcome, a bed which reminded me of those at an English coffee-house. 921 A TOUR IN- FRANCE. CHAP. VI. Departure from Montj^euil — French Conscripts — E.vtreme Youth — E^xellent Roads — Country Labourers — Court for the Claims of Emi- grants — Abbemlle — Companion on the Road — Amiens. As I wished to reach Paris as soon as possi- ble, I had ordered the chambermaid to call me at an early hour in the morning ; but was awakened previous to the appointed time by some still earlier travellers — a very numerous detachment of conscripts, who were on their march for the central depot of the depart- ment. The greater part of them were boys, and were merry and noisy in a manner cha- racteristic of the French youth. Seeing me at the window, one of them struck up a very A TOUR IN FRANCE. 93 lively reveilUe, and was immediately joined by others who composed their marching band. They were attended, and their bag- gage carried, by a peculiar kind of cart — a platform erected on wheels, and on which they ascended when fatigued. The vehicles were prepared, the horses harnessed, and the young conscripts impatiently waiting for the word to march. When I came down into the inn-yard, no one was stirring in the house except the ost- ler, who, upon my mentioning the component items of my entertainment, very fairly, as I thought, reckoned them up, and received the amount, taking care to remind me of the chambermaid. Having with some difficulty likewise procured from him a glass of milk, I mounted my horse, and followed the con- scripts, who, with drum and fife, were mer- rily but regularly marching before me. The 94 A TOUR IN FRANCE. regularity of the march continued only till they got beyond the town, and down the hill, when the music ceased, the ranks broke, and every one walked or ran as he pleased. As they were somewhat too noisy for a me- ditating traveller, I put my horse to his met- tle, and soon left them at a convenient di- stance. I must cursorily observe, that the main circumstance which struck me in this detach- ment, was the extreme youth of the major part. I saw not a man amongst them, and some of them had an air the most perfectly childish. Bonaparte is said to prefer these young recruits. No army in Europe would have admitted them, with the exception of the French. The road was truly excellent, though hilly, and indeed so continued till within a few A TOUR IN FRANCE. 95 miles of Abbeville. The present Emperor acts so far upon the system of the ancient monarchy, and considers the goodness of the highways as the most important and most immediate object of the administration ; ac- cordingly, the roads in France are still bet- ter than under the Bourbons, as Bonaparte sees every thing with his own eyes. Nothing, indeed, is wanting to quick travelling in France, but English drivers and English car- riages. How would a mail-coach roll upon such a road ! The French postillions, and even the French horses, such as I met on the road, have a kind of activity without progress — the postillions are very active in cracking their whips over their heads, and the horses shuffle about without mending their pace. I passed several country labourers, men and women, going to their daily toil. I was informed by one of them, that he worked in 96 ■ A TOUR IN FRANCE. the hay-field, and earned six-and-thirty sous (Is. 6d.) a day; that the wages for mowers were fifty sous {2s. Id.) and two bottles of wine or cyder ; that his wife had fourteen sous and her food ; and boys and children old enough to rake, from six to twelve sous. He paid 25 livres annually for the rent of his cottage. When he had to support himself, he breakfasted on bread, and a glass or more of strong wine or brandy ; dined on bread and cheese, and supped on bread and an ap- ple. He wore leather shoes, except in wet weather, when he wore sabots, which cost about twelve sous per pair. I passed more chateaux in ruins, and others shut up and forsaken. Some of them were very prettily situated, in patches of trees and amidst coni-fieids. Several, as I under- stood, belonged to emigrants, whom Bona- parte had recalled by name, but who had A TOUR IN FRANCE. 97 not as yet returned. I learned with some sa- tisfaction, that some show of justice was still necessary. Where the property of the emi- grants is unsold, and still in the hands of the nation, the emigrated proprietor is not to- tally without a chance of restitution. If he can come forwards, and prove, in a court es- tablished for the purpose, that he has merely been absent ; that his absence was not with- out sufficient reasons ; that he has not taken up arms against France ; and finally, had re- turned as soon as he possessed the means — under these circumstances, the lands are restored. Even his children may succeed where himself shall fail. Upon proof of in- fancy at the time of emigration, and that they have at no time borne arms against the em- pire, the lands are not unfrequently decreed to them, even when the father's claim has been rejected. 98 A TOUR L^ TRANCE. I reached Bernay to breakfast, and, for the first time in France, met with a surly host and a sour hostess. The bread being stale, salt, and bitter, I desired it to be changed. The host obeyed, so far as to carry it out of the room and bring it in again. It was in vain, however, that I insisted upon the iden- tity, till 1 desired him to bring what he had removed, and to compare it with what he had brought. He then flatly told me, that I must either have that or none ; that it was as good bread as any in France, and that he intended to eat it for his own breakfast. His wife came in, hearing my raised voice, and maintained her husband's assertions very stoutly. For the sake of peace, I found it necessary to submit. He is a true hero who can support a contest with a man and his wife. The girl who waited on me seemed made of kinder materials. She laughed with much archness when I shewed her the bread, A TOUR IN TRANCE. QQ and its vigorous resistance to the edge of my knife. She was born in Musihus, and told me, with true French coquetry, that her sis- ters were as handsome as herself. She men- tioned some English name (that of a valet, I suppose), and asked me if I knew him in Lon- don. If I should hereafter meet him, I was to remind him of Bernay. The charges, contrary to my expectations, were as moder- ate as the breakfast was indifferent ; and the host did me the honour to wish me good morning. The hostess, however, was inflexi- bly sour, and saw me depart without a word, or even a salutation. I had a most unpleasant ride to Abbeville; the heat of the day being extreme, and the road totally without any shelter. I imagined, however, that the heat was less oppressive than heat of the same intensity in England ; but I know not whether this difference was H 2 100 A TOUR IJf FRANCE. any thing but imaginary. In foreign coun- tries, we are so much upon the hunt for no- velty, and so well predisposed to find it, that in things not strongly nor immediately the objects of sense, our impressions are not alto- gether to be trusted. Abbeville, which I reached in good time for the table d'hote, which is held on every market-day, is a populous but a most unplea- sant town. The inhabitants are stated to ex- ceed 22,000 ; but I do not conceive that they can amount to one half of that number. The town has a most ruinous appearance, from the circumstance of many of the houses being built with wood ; and by the forms of the windows and the doors, some of them must be very ancient. There are two or three manufactories of cloth, but none of them were in a flourishing condition. I went to visit that of Vanrobais, established by Louis A TOUR IN^ FRANCE. 101 XIV., and which still continues, though in ruins. The buildings are upon a very large scale ; but too much was attempted for them to execute any thing in a workmanlike man- ner. There are different buildings for every different branch of the manufacture. I can- not but think, however, that they would have succeeded better if they had consulted the principle of the subdivision of labour. A man who is both a weaver and a spinner, will certainly not be both as good a weaver and as good a spinner, as another who is only a spinner or only a weaver : he will not have the same dexterity, and therefore will not do the same work. No business is done so well as that which is the sole object of attention. I saw likewise a manufactory of carpets, which seemed more flourishing. In the cloth manufactory, the earnings of the working manufacturers are about 36 sous per diem (Is. 6f/.) : in the carpet manufactories, some- 102 A TOUR IN FRANCE. what more. The cloths, as far as I am a judge, seemed to me even to exceed those of England ; but the carpets are much inferior. From some unaccountable reason, however, the cloths were much dearer than English broad cloth of the same quality. Whence does this happen, in a country where provi- sions are so much cheaper? Perhaps from that neglect of the subdivision of labour which I above noticed. Abbeville, like all the other principal towns through which I passed, bore melancholy marks of the Revolution. The handsome church which stood in the market-place is in ruins — scarcely a stone remains on the top of another. Many of the best houses were shut up, and others of the same description evidently inhabited by people for whom they were not built. In many of them, one room only was inhabited ; and in others, the se- A TOUR IN niANCE. 103 cond and third floors turned into granaries. Indeed, along the whole road from Abbeville to Paris, are innumerable chateaux, which are now only the cells of beggars, or of the lowest kind of peasantry. An officer who was going to Amiens, joined company with me on the road to Pe- quigny, and, like every Frenchman of this class, became communicative almost in the same instant in which we had exchanged sa- lutes. I found, however, that he knew no- thing, except in his own profession ; and I very strongly suspect, that he even here gave me some details of battles in which he had never been, or at least he made two or three geographical mistakes, for which I cannot otherwise account. He made no scruple of moving the Rhine a few degrees easterly ; and constructed a bridge over the Adige without the help of the mason. I have not 104 A TOUR IN FRANCE. unfrequently, indeed, been surprised at the unaccountable ignorance betrayed by this class of men. It is to be hoped, that in an- other age this will pass away. My compa- nion, however, had a good-humour which compensated for his ignorance: he alternately talked, sung, and dismounted from his horse to speak to every peasant girl who met us on the road ; he seemed at home with every one, and made the time pass agreeably enough. He sung, at my request, the Mar- seillois, and sung it with such emphasis, energy, and attitude, as to make me sincere- ly repent the having called forth such a deaf- ening exhibition of his powers. Though one or two travellers passed us whilst he was thus exhibiting, my gentleman was not in the slightest degree discomposed, but continued his song, his attitudes, and his grimaces, as if he were in the midst of a wood. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 105 After a very long journey, in which my little Norman had performed to admiration, I reached Amiens about eight o'clock, on the sweetest summer evening imaginable. The aspect of Amiens, as it is approached by the road, resembles Canterbury — the cathedral rising above the town — the town, as it were, gathering around it as its parent and protec- tor. My companion would not leave me till he had seen me to the inn, the Hotel d'An- gleterre, when he took a farewell of me, as if we had been intimate for years, and I have no doubt, thought no more of me after he had turned the corner of the street. These attentions, however, are not the less pleasing, and answer their purpose as well as if they were more permanent. Having ordered my supper, and seen my horse duly provided for, I walked through the town, which is clean, lively, and in many respects resembling towns of the third rate in England. I visited the 106 A TOUR IN FRANCE. cathedral, which pleased me much ; but has been so often described, that I deem it un- necessary to say more of it. It was built by the English in the time of Henry VI. and the regency of the Duke of Bedford, and has much of the national taste of that people, and those times. Though strictly Gothic, it is light, and very tastefully ornamented : it infinitely exceeds any cathedral in England, with the exception of Westminster Abbey. I went to see likewise the Chateau d'Eau, the machine for supplying Amiens with water. There is nothing more than common in it, and the purpose would be answered better by pipes and a steam-engine. It excited one observation, which I have since frequently made — that the French, with all their parade of science and ostentation of institutions, are still a century behind England in real prac- tical knowledge. My tour in France has at least taught me one lesson — never to be de- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 10? ceived by high-sounding names and pompous desisrnations. 1 have not visited their schools for nothing. The French talk ; the English act. A steady plodding Englishman will build a house, while a Frenchman is laying down rules for it. There is more of this idle pedantry in France than in any country on the face of the globe : every thing is done with science, and nothing with knowledge. Walking through the market-place, my attention was taken by an unusual bustle — the erecting of scaffolds, booths, and other similar preparations. I learned, upon in- quiry, that the half-yearly fair was to be held on the following day ; a piece of infor- mation which confirmed my previous inten- tion of passing that day at Amiens. Upon returning to the inn, I had a supper as comfortable as any I had ever sat down 108 A TOUR IN FRANCE. to, even in England. The landlord, at my particular request, took his seat with me at table. He complained bitterly of the op- pression of the taxes, and more particularly of their uncertainty, which was so indeter- minate, according to his assertions, that the Collectors took what they pleased, and em- ployed their offices as means of favour, or to gratify their personal piques. One of the collectors of Amiens, it seems, was likewise an inn-keeper, who availed himself of the power of his office to harass his rival. There is no appeal, as long as the collector is faith- ful to the government, and pays in what he receives. The manner in which defaulters are treated, is peculiar to the French govern- ment. If the sum assessed be not paid within the appointed time, a soldier is billeted at the house of the defaulter, and another is daily added till the arrear be cleared. The greater part of the taxes have been imposed during A TOUR IN FRANCE. 109 the strong days of the Revolution ; and as they are sufficiently productive, and the pre- sent government have not the odium of their first institution, they are suffered to continue upon their old foundation — that is to say, upon an infinite number of successive decrees, many of which contradict each other. No one, therefore, knows exactly what he has to pay, and any one may be made to pay ac- cording to the caprice of the collector. 110 A TOUR IN FRANCE. CHAP. VII. General Character of the Town — Public JValk— Gardens — Half-yearly Fair — Gaming- Houses — Table d'Hdtes — English at Amiens — Ej:- pense of Living. The noise of the people collecting for the fair, and the consequent bustle of the inn, awoke me at an early hour in the morning ; and after a breakfast which reminded me of England, I salhed forth to see the town and the lions. A vast multitude of people had assembled from the surrounding country, and were collected around the several booths. The day was fine, the bells were ringing, and the music playing; every one was dressed in their holiday clothes, and every one seemed to have a happy and careless face, suitable to the festivity of the occasion. A TOUR IN FRANCE. Ill Amiens is most delightfully situated, the country around being highly cultivated. It is, in every respect, one of the cleanest towns in France; and the frequent visits and long residence of Englishmen, have produced a very sensible alteration in the manner of liv- ing amongst the inhabitants. Though some of the houses are very ancient, and the streets are narrow, it has not the ruinous nor close appearance of the other towns on the Paris road. It has been lately newly paved ; and there is something of the nature of a parish- rate for keeping it clean, and in summer for watering the streets. Though Amiens has suffered very con- siderably by the war, it has still, in appear- ance at least, an extensive trade. The manu- factures are of the same kind as those at Abbeville. Besides their cloths, however, they work up a considerable quantity of 112 A TOUR IN FRANCE. camlets, callimancoes, and baizes, chiefly red and spotted, for domestic consumption. They were in great distress for wool, and could procure none but by land-carriage from Spain, Portugal, and Flanders. Upon examining two or three of their articles, I thought them very dear, but very good. I visited two or three of their manufactories; and upon inquiring for others, was informed that they had been shut up. The effect of the war had been, to raise prices to double their former rate: every one expressed an anxious wish for peace, and imputed the con- tinuance of the war to the English Ministry. The general character of the people of Amiens is, that they are lively, good-hu- moured, and less infected by the revolu- tionary contagion than any town in France : as many of them as I had an opportunity of conversing with, spoke with due detestation A TOUR IN TRANCE. 113 of Jacobinism, and with an equal wise sub- mission to the present order of things. Be- sides the native inhabitants, there are many foreign residents, and some Enghsh. As these are in general in good circumstances, they have usually the best houses in the town, and live in the substantial style of their respective countries. The English denizens very well understand that they are constant- ly under the eye of the French government and its spies : they live, therefore, as much as possible in public ; and in their balls, and dinners, and entertainments, have a due mix- ture of French visitants. Several of them avoid this restraint, by passing for Ameri- cans ; but the detection of this deception is most severely punished. The English have contrived, however, to procure both the good will and the good word of the people of Amiens, and even the French government seems to regard them with peculiar favour. I 114 A TOUR IN" FRANCE. Every considerable town in France has its public walk, and Amiens has one or more of singular beauty ; but being situated in an unenclosed country, and amongst corn-fields, its private walks are still more frequented than its ancient promenade. I was informed that the English had brought these private walks into general fashion, and I considered it as an additional proof of their good sense and natural taste. The multitude of people assembled from every part of the province, gave me an op- portunity of seeing the national costume of the peasantry. The habits of the men did not appear to me so various and so novel as those of the women. The greater part of the former had three-cocked hats, some of straw, some of pasteboard, and some of beaver ; jackets, red, yellow, and blue ; and breeches of the same fancy colours. The women were A TOUR IN FRANCE. 115 dressed in a variety both of shape and co- lour, which defies all description. When seen from a distance, the assembly had a very picturesque appearance : the sun shining on the various colours, gave them the appearance of so many flowers. The general features of the fair did not differ much from the fairs in England and America. There were two streets completely filled with booths : the market-place was occupied with shows and temporary theatres. I observed, however, two or three peculiar national amusements ; one of them called the Mats de Cocagne^ the other the Mats de Beaupre. The Mats de Cocagne are long poles, some of them thir- ty feet in height, well greased, and erected perpendicularly. At the top of them is sus- pended by a string, a watch, a shirt, or other similar articles, which become the prize of the fortunate adventurer who can ascend and reach them. A few sous are paid to the pro- I 2 116 A TOUR IN FRANCE. prietor of the mat, for the chance of gaining the prize; it is the fault, therefore, of the proprietor, if the mat be not so well greased as to render the ascent almost impossible. I saw many fruitless attempts made : One fellow had nearly gained the top, and was within reach of the prize ; he stretched his hand out to take it, and having by this act dimi- nished his hold, came down with the most frightful rapidity. The crowd laughed ; and another adventurer, nothing dismayed, suc- ceeded him in the attempt and in the failure. The prize, however, was at length obtained ; but the adventurer, I should think, had not much cause to congratulate himself on his good luck. His descent was of a rapidity which caused the blood to gush out of his mouth and his nose, and for some time, at least, frightened the multitude from repeat- ing the same sport. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 117 The Mats de BeauprS are upon the same principle ; they are soaped poles, laid hori- zontally, but very high from the ground. At the further extremity of them are the same prizes, and which are gained upon the same condition — the men to walk over, the women to scramble over them in any manner which they might deem best. To break the violence of the fall, the ground immediately under the poles was thickly laid with straw. Several women, and innumerable girls, made an attempt to gain the prize at these Mats de Beaupre, and in the course of their efforts had some tumbles, which much delighted the mob. Indeed, this kind of sport seemed pe- culiarly intended for the females : the men seemed to prefer the Cocagnes. The chief enjoyment of the multitude, however, seemed to be dancing. Several scaffolds, with benches rising one above an- 118 A TOUR IN FRANCE. other, were erected in every part of the town : these were the orchestras, which, as far as I saw, v/ere supported by the voluntary contri- butions of the companies which danced to their music. A subscription was always made after every dance, and each dancer subscribed a sous. The ladies, I believe, were excused by the payment of their part- ners. The dancing was excellent, and the music by no means contemptible. The shows were much of the same kind as those in Bartholomew fair, in London, and which travel from town to town during the summer in America. The mountebanks and merry-andrews appeared more dextrous and more humorous. One of the former seeing me, entreated the crowd to make way for me ; and when I turned my back, " Nay, my good friend,'' said he, " do not mistake me : I have no intention of asking you for the A TOUR IN FRANCE. 119 money wliicli you owe to me for your last cure ; you are very welcome to it. I delight in doing good. I am paid sufficiently by your recovery. If you choose, however, to remember my young man — " The merry- andrew was here at my side, and I deemed it most prudent to drop a few sous into his cap, and effect my escape. The crowed understood the jest, and laughed heartily. One of them, however, of more decent appearance, made me a very pleasing apology ; repeating at the same time a French proverb — that a pope and a mountebank were above all law. Amongst the commodities exhibited for sale, I was agreeably surprised to find two or more booths well supplied with English and French books ; and my surprL , li^-^s still greater, to find that the former . xd many purchasers. I took up several of them, and found them to be English Gazetteers, Tours 120 A TOUR IN FRANCE. in England, Wales, Scotland ; Travels in America, Dictionaries, and Grammars. From some cause or other, the English seem in particular favour in and about Amiens, and Lord Cornwallis is still remembered with respect and affection. There were other booths which excited less pleasing reflections : these were the tem- porary gaming-tables, the admission to which was from six to twelve sous. I had the cu- riosity to enter one of them ; it was already full. One party was at eager play, and others were waiting to succeed them. I could make nothing of the game, only that it was one of chance, and that the winnings and losings were determined in every three casts. I saw a decc,*^ vouns: man take off and stake his hen ^ neckclot : Fortune favoured him, and he had the uncommon fortitude to retire, and play no more. There was another booth of A TOUR IN FRANCE. 121 rather a singular kind — a temporary pawn- broker's, and who appeared to have a good brisk trade. My attention, however, was more pecu- liarly attracted by a marquee, open on all sides, and with an elevated floor: a chair, covered with green velvet, was here placed, and occupied by a man of much apparent gravity. I found, upon inquiry, that this was the president, judge, or magistrate of the fair ; that he was elected by votes of the booth- holders, and determined all disputes on the spot ; that his authority was supported by the police, and his sentence enforced by the municipality. He was a portly man, wore a three-cocked hat, and an old scarlet cloak, which had served the same purpose time out of mind. I returned to my hotel to dinner; and 122 A TOUR IN TRANCE. being informed that there was a table d'hote, and that it would be very numerously at- tended, I preferred it to dining in my own apartment ; and at the appointed hour took my seat. The company was indeed nume- rous — men, women, girls, and children ; offi- cers of the army, exhibitors of wild beasts, actors and actresses of the booth-theatres. A separate table was set for the officers of the army. I had here a specimen of the manners of the French revolutionary officers. A party of them, to the number of fifteen or twenty, had already placed themselves at table, when, the commandant, or at least a superior officer, entered the room. They all immediately got up to make room for him, and handed him a chair in a manner the most servile and fawn- ing. " I hope I disturb no one,'' said he ; at the same time throwing himself into the chair, but not offering to move his hat. He conti- nued during the whole of the dinner the A TOUR IN FRANCE. 123 same disgusting superiority, and the subordi- nate officers several times called out " Silence'* to the adjoining table, that they might bet- ter hear the vapid remarks of their com- mander. The waiters, and even the whole table d'hote, seemed in great awe of these military gentlemen; and one fellow excused himself for leaving a plate before me, by hastily alleging that the commander was looking around him for something. I was still more disgusted by one of the officers rising, and proposing this important gentle- man's health to both tables ; and my surprise was greater by recognizing, in the tone of this proposal, the barbarous twang of an Irishman. Some of the French regiments are half filled with these Irish renegades. I can- not speak of them with any patience; as I cannot conceive any voluntary degradation more contemptible, than that of passing from any thing British or American into any thing 124 A TOUR IN FRANCE. French or Italian. I have a respect for the Irish in the German service ; they are still members of a people like themselves. I say not this in contempt of the French themselves, but of the English or Irish become French. In the evening I went to one of the the- atres, accompanied by an English physician, with whom I dined at the table d'hote. This gentleman came into France after the peace of Amiens, and was of course included in the number detained by the French emperor. Having some friends in the Institute, they had drawn up a memorial in his favour, in which they represented him, and very justly, as a man of science, who had come into France to compare the English and French system of medicine, and whose researches had already excited much interest and in- quiry amongst the French physicians. This memorial being delivered into the hands of A TOUR IN FRANCE. 125 the Emperor himself, was subscribed by him in the following words : " Let him remain in France during the war, on his parole that he will not leave the French territories, and will have no correspondence with England/' The performance at the theatre was too contemptible for mention; and in the panto- mime, or rather spectacle, became latterly so indelicate, that I found it necessary to with- draw. I should hope that the performances are not always of the same character : — per- haps something must be allowed for the oc- casion. The French, however, have no idea of humour as separated from indecencies. In this respect they might take a very useful les- son from the English. The English excel in pantomime as much as the French in comedy. Dr. M — • returned to supper with me, and gave me some useful information. Every 126 A TOUR IN FRANCE. trace of the Rev'^olution is rapidly vanishing at Amiens. Religion has resumed her influ- ence : the cathedral is very well attended, but auricular confession is not usual. The clergy of Amiens, however, are very poor, having lost all their immense possessions, and having nothing but the national stipend. The cathedral had been repaired by public subscription. The poor are sent to the ar- mies. There were no imposts but those paid to the government. Amiens is still a very cheap town for per- manent residence, though the war has very seriously affected it. A good house may be rented for thirty pounds per annum, the taxes upon the mere house being about a Louis. Mutton seldom exceeds threepence, English money, per pound; and beef is usually somewhat cheaper. Poultry of all kinds is in great plenty, and cheap : fowls, ducks, A TOUR IN PRANCE. 127 &c., about two shillings per couple. A horse at livery, half a Louis per week ; two horses, all expenses included, a Louis and two li- vres. Board and lodging in a genteel house, five-and-twenty Louis annually. Dr. M — • agreed with me, that for three hundred a year, a family might keep their carriage and live in comfort, in Amiens and its neighbour- hood. I must not forget another observa- tion : the towns in France are cheaper than the villages. The consumption of meat in the latter is not sufficient to induce the butchers to kill often ; the market, therefore, is very ill supplied, and consequently the prices are dear. A few miles from a princi- pal town, you cannot have a leg of mutton without paying for the whole sheep. A stranger may live at an inn at Amiens for about five shilhngs, English money, a day. The wine is good, and very cheap ; 128 A TOUR IN FRANCE. and a daily ordinary, or table d'hote, is kept at the Hotel d'Angleterre. Breakfast is charged one livre, dinner three, and supper one : half a livre for coffee, and two livres for lodging ; but if you remain a week, ten livres for the whole time. The hotels, of which there are two as good as those of Paris, and lodgings, are far more reasonable. A re- staurateur has very lately set up in a very grand style, but the population of the town will scarcely support him. The company at the table dlwte usually consists of officers, of whom there is always a multitude in the neighbourhood of Amiens. Some of them, as I was informed, are very pleasant agreeable men ; whilst others are ruffians, and have the manners of Jacobins. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 129 CHAP. VIII. French and English Roads compared — Gaiety of French Labourers — Breteuil — Apple-trees in the midst of Cornfields — Beaut ful Scenery — Cheap Price of Land in France — Clermont — Bad Management of the French Farmers — Chantilly — Arrival at Paris. I LEFT Amiens early on the following morn- ing, intending to reach Clermont in good time. The roads now became very indifferent, but the scenery w^as much improved. I could not but compare the prospect of a French road with one of the great roads of England. It is impossible to travel a mile on an English road without meeting or over- taking every species of vehicle. The imagi- K 130 A TOUR IN TRANCE. nation of a traveller, if as susceptible as a traveller's imagination should be, has thus a constant food for its exercise ; it accom- panies these several groups to their home or destination, and calls before its view the busy market, the quiet village, the blazing hearth, the returning husband, and the welcoming wife. No man is fit for a traveller who can- not while away his time in such creations of his fancy. I pity the traveller from my heart, who, in a barren or uniform road, has no other occupation but to count the mile-stones, and find every mile as long as the three prece- ding. Let such men become drivers to stage- coaches, but let them not degrade the name of travellers by assuming it to themselves. On a French road, there is more necessity than objects for this exercise of the imagina- tion. A French road is like a garden in the old French style. It is seldom either more A TOUR IX FRANCE. 131 or less than a straight hne ruled from one • end of the kingdom to the other. There are no angles, no curvatures, no hedges ; one league is the exact counterpart of another ; instead of hedges, are railings, and which are generally in a condition to give the country not only a naked, but even a slovenly, ruin- ous appearance. Imagine a road made over a heath, and each side of it fenced off by a railing of old hurdles, and you will have no imperfect idea of a French great road. With- in a mile, indeed, of the neighbourhood of a principal town, the prospect usually varies and improves. The road is then planted on each side, and becomes a beautiful avenue through lofty and shady trees. This descrip- tion, however, will only apply to the great roads. Some of the cross and country roads, as I shall hereafter have occasion to mention, not only equal, but greatly exceed, even the English roads, in natural beauty and scenery. K 2 132 A TOUR IN FRANCE. In the course of the road between Amiens and Clermont, I had again too frequent op- portunity to remark the slovenly manage- ment of the French farmers, as compared with those of England, and even with those of America. In America, the farmers are not without a verv sufficient excuse. The scarcity of hands, the impossibility of pro- curing labourers at any price, compel an American farmer to get in his harvest as he can, to collect the crop of one field hastily, and then fly to another. In France there is no such excuse, and therefore there should be no such slovenly waste. Yet in some of the hay-fields which I passed, at least one-fifth of the crop was lying scattered on the roads and in the fields. The excuse was, that the cattle would eat it, and that they might as well have it one way as another. It would be folly to say any thing as to such an argu- ment ; vet in these very fields the labour A TOUR IN FRANCE. 133 was so plentiful and minute, that the greater part of the crop was carried from the fields on the shoulders of the labourers, men, wo- men, and boys. It is difficult to reconcile such inconsistencies. In such of the fields as I saw carts, the most severe labour seemed to be allotted to the share of the women. They were the pitchers, and performed this labour with a very heavy, and, as it appeared to me, a very awkward fork. Whilst the women were performing this task, two or three fel- lows, raw-boned, and nearly six feet high, were either very leisurely raking, or perhaps laying at their full length under the new- made stacks. In other fields I saw more pleasing groups. At the sound of a horn like the English harvest-horn, the pitchers, the loaders, and every labourer on the spot, left their work, and collected around some 134 A TOUR IN FRANCE. tree or hay-cock, to receive their noon re- freshment. The indispensable fiddle was never wanting. Even the horses, loosened from the carts, and suffered to feed at liber- ty, seemed to partake in the general merri- ment, and looked with erect ears at the fid- dler and his dancing group. When the hour allotted to this relaxation expired, the la- bourers were again called to their several duties by the summons of the same horn, which was now sounded from the top of the loaded cart, as it had before been sounded under the tree or hay-cock. I had forgotten to mention, that the tree or hay-cock, the ap- pointed place of refreshment, was distinguish- ed by pennants of different coloured ribbons attached to a stick as a flag-staff, and which "wavino; in the wind, under a beautiful mid- summer sky, had an effect peculiarly pleas- ing. As I saw the same spectacle in several fields, I believe it to be national. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 135 Breteuil, which I reached in time for a late breakfast, is a very paltry town ; the houses are all built in the ancient style, and bear an unfavourable resemblance to Enghsh farm-houses ; their gable-ends are turned to the streets, and the chimneys are nearly as large as the roofs. There was no appear- ance of business, not even of a brisk retail, or of a lively thoroughfare. A crowd col- lected around us as I entered the inn, as if a decent stranger, travelling on horseback, were a miracle in that part of the country. Whatever, however, was wanting in the town, was more than made up by the sur- rounding country, which becomes very beau- tiful in the immediate environs of Breteuil. For five or six miles beyond the town, to- wards Clermont, the scenery is enchanting. The vines, which here commence, were in bloom, the road fringed with orchards, and 156 A TOUR IN FRANCE. even the corn-fields hedged round with ap- ple-trees. In the middle of every field was an elm or a chestnut, which by the luxuri- ance of its foliage seemed planted in other ages. On each side of the road, more- over, at the distance of a mile or a league, were the towers of village churches rising from amidst similar groves, whilst a chateau perhaps crowned the hill, and completed the landscape. Bye-paths and narrow roads, leading to one or other of these villages, in- tersected the corn-fields in every direction ; and as the corn was full-grown and yellow, and the day beautifully serene, nothing could be more grateful than this prospect. The heart of man seems peculiarly formed to re- lish the beauties of Nature, and to feel the bounties of Providence. What artificial beauty can equal that of a corn-field ? What emotion is so lively, and so fully pervades every feeling, as that excited by the cornu- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 137 copia of Nature, and the flowerv plenty of the approaching harvest ? The same scenery continues, with Uttle va- riation, to Clermont, the country improving, and the roads becoming worse. In this in- terval, however, I passed several chateaux in ruins, and several farms and houses, on which were affixed notices that they were to be let or sold. On inquiring the rent and purchase of one of them, I found it to be so cheap, that could I have reconciled myself to French manners, and promised myself any suitable assistance from French labourers, I should have seriously thought of making a purchase. An estate of eleven hundred acres, seven hundred of which were in cul- ture, the remainder wood and heath, was offered for sale for 8000 Louis. The mansion- house was indeed in ruin beyond the possi- bility of repair, but the land, under proper 138 A TOUR IN FRANCE. cultivation, would have paid twenty-five per cent, on the purchase-money. The main point of such purchases, however, is con- tained in these words : " Under proper culti- vation." Nothing is so absurd as the expec- tation of a foreign purchaser, and particularly of a gentleman, that he will be able to trans- fer the improved system of cultivation of his own country into a kingdom at least a cen- tury behind the former. As far as his own manual labour goes, as far as he will take the plough, the harrow, and the broadcast him- self, so far may he procure the execution of his own ideas. But it is in vain to endeavour to infuse this knowledge or this practice into French labourers ; you might as well put a pen in the hand of a Hottentot, and expect him to write his name. The ill-success of half the foreign purchasers must be imputed to this oversight. An American or an Eng- lishman passes over a French or German A TOUR IN FRANCE. 139 farm, and sees land of the most productive powers reduced to sterility by slovenly ma- nagement. A suggestion immediately arises in his mind — How much might this land be made to produce under a more intelligent cultivation ? Full of this idea, he perhaps in- quires the price, and finding it about one- tenth of what such land would cost in Eng- land, immediately makes his purchase, settles, and begins his operations. Here his eyes are soon opened. He must send to England for all his implements ; and even then his French labourers neither can nor will learn the use of them. An English ploughman becomes ne- cessary; the English ploughman according- ly comes, but shortly becomes miserable amongst French habits and French fellow- labourers. In this manner have failed innumerable attempts of this kind within my own know- 140 A TOUR IN FRANCE. ledge. It is impossible to transplant the whole of the system of one country into another. The English or the American farmer may emigrate and settle in France, and bring over his English plough and English habits ; but he will still find a French soil, a French cli- mate, French markets, and French labourers. The course of his crops will be disturbed by the necessity of some subservience to the peculiar wants of the country and the de- mands of the market. He cannot, for ex- ample, persevere in his turnips, where he can find no cattle to eat them, no purchasers for his cattle; and where, from the openness of the climate in winter, the crop must neces- sarily rot before he can consume it. For the same reason, his clover cultivation becomes as useless. To say all in a word, I know not how an English or an American farmer could make a favourable purchase in France, though the French Government should come A rOUll IN FRANCE. 141 forward with its protection. The habits of the country have become so accommodated to its agriculture, that they each mutually support the other, and a more improved sys- tem can only be introduced in the proportion in which these national habits can be fun- damentally changed. But such changes must necessarily be gradual and slow, and must not be reckoned upon by an individuaL I found myself so indisposed at Clermont, that I retired very early to my bed. Mv complaint was a giddiness in the head, brought on by riding in the sun. Every country has its peculiar medicine as well as its religion; and in every country there are certain family receipts, certain homely pre- scriptions, which, from their experienced efficacy, merit more attention than a mem- ber of the faculty would be inchned to give them. My host at Clermont accordingly 142 A TOUR IN FKANCE. became my physician; and by his advice I bathed my feet in warm water, and getting into bed between the blankets, after drinking about a quart of cold spring-water, I can only say that the remedy had its full effect. After a violent perspiration in the night I fell into a sound sleep, and awoke in the morn- ing in such complete health and spirits, as to ride to Chantilly to breakfast. Throughout the morning's journey, the scenery was very nearly similar to what I had previously passed, except that it was richer and more varied with habitations. The pea- santry, moreover, were occupied in the same manner in getting in their hay-harvest, which, from reasons that I cannot comprehend, seemed more backward as I approached to the metropolis. This may partly, indeed, be owing to what will appear a very extraordi- nary cause — the excellence of the climate. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 143 The French farmer can trust the skies : he sees a cloudless sky in the night, and has no fear that its serenity will be shortly disturb- ed. He is a total stranger to that vicissitude of sun-shine, rain, and tempest, which in a moment confounds all the labours of the Eng- lish husbandman. The same sun that shines to-day will shine to-morrow. In this happy confidence he stacks his hay in small cocks in the field where it grows, and only carries it away at his leisure. His manner of carrying is as slovenly as all his other management. Annette carries an apron-full, Jeannette an handkerchief- full, and Lubin a barrow-full. Some of it is packed in sheets and blankets. Some of this hay was very bad in quality, and, as crops, still worse in quantity. Being too much exposed to the sun, it was little better than so much coarse straw. Beinar merely thrown together, without being trod- 144 A lOUK IN FRANCE. den, when carried into the hay-loft, it loses whatever fragrance it may have hitherto re- tained. I do not think an English horse would eat it. Chantilly totally disappointed my expecta- tions. The da3mon of anarchy has here raised a superb trophy on a monument of ruins. The principal building has been de- molished for the sake of the materials ; the stables, and that part of the ancient esta- blishment denominated Le petit Chateau, are all that remain. I was informed by the people of the inn, that the whole had been purchased in the revolutionary period by a petty provincial builder, who had no sooner completed his instalments, than he began the demolition of the building, and the cut^ ting down the trees in the grounds. Bona- parte, fortunately for Chantilly, became A TOUR IN FRANCE. 145 Chief Consul before the whole was destroyed ; Chantilly was then re-purchased, and is now the property of the Government. The road now began to have some appear- ance of an approach to the capital of the kingdom. I could not however but still ob- serve, that there were but few carriages com- pared to what I had seen within a similar di- stance of London, and even of New York. The several vehicles were mostly constructed in the same manner as vehicles of the same distinction in England. The charette, or cart in common use, was the only exception on the favourable side. This vehicle seemed to me so well adapted to its purpose, as to merit a particular description. The charette, then, consists principally of two parts — the carriage, and the body. The carriage part is very simple, being com- L 146 A TOUR IN FRANCE. posed of two long shafts of wood, about twenty feet in length, connected together by cross bars, so as to form the bed, and on which boards are laid, as the occasion may require. In the same manner the sides, a front, and back, mny be added at pleasure. The axle and wheels are in the usual place and form. Upon this carriage is fixed the moveable body, consisting of a similar frame- work of two shafts connected by cross bars. This body moves upon an axletree, and ex- tending some feet beyond the carriage be- hind, it is let down with ease to receive its load, which the body moving, as before de- scribed, on a pivot, or axle, is easily purchase ed up from before. Nearly half way between Chantilly and Paris, I passed a handsome chateau to the right, which is now occupied as a school. This establishment was commenced by an A TOUR IN TRANCE. 147 Englishman, in the short interval of the peace of Amiens, and he was upon the point of making a rapid fortune, when, in common with the other Englishmen at that time in France, he was ordered to Verdun. His school now passed to his French usher, who continuing to conduct it upon the same plan, that is, with the order and intelligence com- mon in every English school, has increased its reputation, and reaps his merited reward by general encouragement. The rate of the boarders at this academy may serve to illus- trate the comparative cheapness of every thing in France. The boarders are provided with classic instruction of every kind, as likewise the most eminent masters in all the fine arts, and personal accomplishments, to which is to be added clothes, at forty guineas per annum. An English or American school on the same plan, and conducted in the same L 2 148 A TOUR IN FRANCE. style, could not be less than double, if not triple, the above-mentioned sum. I reached Paris at an early hour in the af- ternoon, and having letters for Mr. Younge, the confidential secretary to Mr. Armstrong, immediately waited upon him, that his infor- mation might assist me as to finding suitable apartments. Lodgings in Paris are infinitely more expensive than in London, and with not one-half the comfort. 1 did not find Mr. Younge at his house ; but upon hearing my name, his Lady received me as an expected friend, and relieved me from the necessity of further search, by informing me that Mr. Younge had expected me, and provided apartments for me in his own house. I shall have future occasion to mention, that the beautiful Lady of this Gentleman was a Frenchwoman, and that he had been about A TOUR IN FRANCE. 149 six months married to her when I arrived in Paris. She was the niece of the celebrated Lally Tolendal, and had all the elegance, beauty, and dignity which seems characteris- tic of that family. I never saw a woman, whose perfect beauty excited in me at first sight such a mixed emotion of wonder, awe, and pleasure. 150 A TOUll IN FRANCE. CHAP. IX. A JVeek in Paris — Objects and Occurrences — National Library — A French Route — Fa- shionable French Supper — Conceits — Presen- tation at Court — Audience. As my purpose in visiting France was not to see Paris, I resolved to make my stay in this gay capital as short as possible. I en- tered it on the Tuesday afternoon, and de- termined to leave it and pursue my journey into the provinces on the following Monday. I had therefore little time to see the singula- rities of this celebrated metropolis ; but I made the best of this time, and had the ad- vantage of Mr. Younge's knowledge and guidance. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 151 There is no place in the world, perhaps, more distinguished tor literary eminence, in every part of art and science, than Paris. The literary institutions of Paris, therefore, were the objects of my first visit. Every capital has its theatres, public gardens, and palaces ; but Paris alone has its public li- braries on a scale of equal utility and mag- nificence. In Paris alone, science seems to be considered as an object of importance to mankind, and therefore as a suitable object for the protection of Government. In Paris alone, to say all in a word, the poorest stu- dent, the most ragged philosopher, has all the treasures of princes at his command ; the National Library opens at his call, and the most expensive books are delivered for bis use. On the morning following my arrival, Mr. Younge accompanied me to the National 152 A TOUR IN FRANCE. Library. On entering it, we ascended a most superb staircase painted by Pellegrine, by which we were led to the Hbrary on the first floor. It consists of a suite of spacious and magnificent apartments, extending round three sides of a quadrangle. The books are ranged around the sides, according to the order of the respective subjects, and are said to amount to nearly half a million. Each ivision has an attending librarian, of whom every one may require the book he wishes, and which is immediately^ delivered to him. Being themselves gentlemen, there is no ap- prehension that they will accept any pecuni- ary remuneration ; but there is likewise a strict order that no money shall be given to any of the inferior attendants. There are tables and chairs in numbers, and nothing seemed neglected, which could conduce even to the comfort of the readers. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 153 The most complete department of the li- brary is that of the manuscripts. This col- lection amounts to nearly fifty thousand vo- lumes, amongst them innumerable letters, and even treatises, by the early kings of France. A manuscript is shown as written by' Louis the Fourteenth : it is entitled, " Memoirs of his own Time, written by the King himself I much doubt, however, the authenticity of this production. Louis the Fourteenth had other more immediate con- cerns than writing the history of France. France is full of these literary forgeries. Every king of France, if the titles of books may be received as a proof of their authenti- city, has not only written his life, but writ- ten it like a philosopher and historian, can- didly confessing his errors and abusing his ministers. The second floor of the building contains 154 A TOUR IN FRANCE. the genealogies of the French famihes. They are deposited in boxes, which are labelled with the several family names. They are considered as public records, and are only producible in the courts of justice, in order to determine the titles to real property. No one is allowed to copy them except by the most ■ special permission, which is never granted but to historiographers of established name and reputation. The cabinet of an- tiques is stated to be very rich, and, to judge by appearances, is not inferior to its reputa- tion. The collection was made by Caylus. It chiefly consists of vases, busts, and articles of domestic use amongst the Romans. The greater part of them have been already co- pied as models, in the ornamenting of furni- ture, by the Parisian artists. This fashion indeed is carried almost to a mania. Every thing must be Greek and Roman without any reference to Nature or propriety. For A TOUR IN FRANCE. 155 example, what could be so absurd as the na- tural realization of some of these capricious ornaments? What lady would choose to sleep in a bed, up the pillars of which serpents were crawling? Yet is such realization the only criterion of taste and propriety. The cabinet of engravings detained us nearly two hours. The portfeuilles contain- ing the prints are distributed into twelve classes. Some of these divisions invited us to a minute inspection. Such was the class containing the French fashions from the age of Clovis to Louis the Sixteenth. In another class was the costume of every nation in the world ; in a third, portraits of eminent per- sons of all ages and nations ; and in a fourthj a collection of prints relating to public festi- vals, cavalcades, tournaments, coronations, royal funerals, &c. France is the only king- dom in the world which possesses a treasure 156 A TOUR IN FRANCE. like this, and which knows how to estimate it at its proper value. . From the National Library we drove to the Athenee, a library and lecture institution, supported by voluntary subscription. It is much of the same nature as an institution of a similar kind in London, termed the Bri- tish Institute ; but the French Atheneeum has infinitely the advantage. The subscrip- tion is cheaper, being about four Louis an- nually, and the lectures are more elegant, if not more scientific. There are usually three lectures daily ; the first on sciences, and the other two on belles-lettres. The lecture on science is considered as very able ; but those on the belles-lettres were merely suited, as I understood, to French frivolity. The rooms were so full as to render our stay unpleasant, and we thereby lost an anatomy lecture, which was about to commence. I should A TOUR IN FRANCE. 157 not forget to mention, that all the Parisian journals and magazines, and many of the German periodical works, were lying on the tables, and the library seemed altogether as complete as it was comfortable. The sub- scribers are numerous, and the institution it- self in fashion. How long it will so last, no one will venture to predict. The library of the Pantheon and that of the Institute finished our morning^'s occupa- tion. They are both on the same scale and nearly on the same general plan as the Na- tional Library. The library of the Institute, however, is only open to foreigners and the members of the Institute. The Institute holds its sitting every month, and, according to all report, is then frivolous enough. I had not an opportunity of being present at one of these sittings, but from what I heard, I did not much regret my disappointment. 158 A TOUR IN FRANCE. We returned home to dress for dinner. Mr. Younge informed me, that he expected a very large party in the evening, chiefly French ; and as his lady herself was a French woman, and had arranged her domestic establishment accordingly, I felt some curiosity. About eight, or nearer nine, Mr. Younge and myself, with two or three other of the dinner company, were summoned up to the drawing-room. The summons itself had something peculiar. The doors of the par- lour, which were folding, were thrown open, and two female attendants, dressed like ves- tals, and holding torches of white wax, sum- moned us by a low curtsey, and preceded us up the great staircase to the doors of the an- ti-chamber, where they made another saluta- tion, and took their station on each side. The anti-chamber was filled with servants, who were seated on benches fixed to the wall, A TOUR IN FRANCE. 159 but who did not rise on our entry. Some of them were even playing at cards, others at dominos, and all of them seemed perfectly at their ease. The anti-chamber opened by an arched door-way into a handsome room light- ed by a chandelier of the most brilliant cut glass ; the pannels of the room were very tastily painted, and the glasses on each side very large, and in magnificent frames. The further extremity of this room opened by folding doors into the principal drawing-room, where the company were collected. It was brilliantly lighted, as well by patent lamps, as by a chandelier in the middle. The furni- ture had a resemblance to what I had seen in fashionable houses in England. The carpet was of red baize with a Turkish border, and figured in the middle like an harlequin's jacket. The principal novelty was a blue ribbon which divided the room lengthways, the one side of it being for the dancers, the l60 A TOUR IN FRANCE. Other for the card-players. The ribbon was supported at proper distances by white staves, similar to those of the court ushers. The ball had little to distinguish it from the balls of England and America, except that the ladies danced with infinitely more skill, and therefore with more grace. The fashionable Freiich dancing is exactly that of our operas. They are all figurantes, and care not what they exhibit, so as they exhibit their skill. I could not but figure to my- self the confusion of an English girl, were she even present at a French assembly. Yet so powerful is habit, that not only did the la- dies seem insensible, but even the gentlemen, such as did not dance, regarded them with indifiference. Cotillons and waltzes were the only dances of the evening. The waltzes were danced in A TOUR IN FRANCE. l6l couples, twenty or tliirty at a time. The measure was quick, and all the parties seem- ed animated. I cannot say that I saw any thing indecorous in the embraces of the la- dies and their partners, except in the mere act itself; but the waltz will never become a current fashion in England or America. There is no precedency in a French assem- bly except amongst the Military. This is managed with much delicacy. Every group is thrown as much as possible into a circle. The tables are all circular, and cotillons are chiefly preferred from having this quality. I did not join the card-players ; there were about half a dozen tables, and the se- veral parties appeared to play very hio-h. When the game, or a certain number of games were over, the parties rose from their seats, and bowing to any whom they saw near M l62 A TOUR IN FRANCE. them, invited them to succeed them in their seats. These invitations were sometimes ac- cepted, but more frequently dechned. The division of the drawing-room set apart for the card-players served rather as a prome- nade for the company who did not dance ; they here ranged themselves in a line along the ribbon, and criticised the several dancers. Some of these spectators seemed most egre- gious fops. One of them, with the exception of his linen, was dressed completely in pur- ple silk or satin, and another in a rose-co- loured silk coat, with white satin waistcoat and small-clothes, and white silk stockings. The greater part of the ladies were dressed in fancy habits from the antique. Some were sphinxes, some vestals, some Dians, half a dozen Minervas, and a score of Junos and Cleopatras. One girl was pointed out to me as being perfectly a VAnglaise. Her hair,^ perfectly undressed, was combed off her fore- A TOUR IN FRANCE. l6S head, and hung down her back in its fall length behind. She reminded me only of a school-boy playing without his hat. We were summoned to the supper table about three in the morning. This repast was a perfect English dinner. Soup, fish, poultry and ragouts, succeeded each other in almost endless variety. A fruit-basket was served round by the servants together with the bread-basket, and a small case of liqueurs was placed at every third plate. Some of these were contained in glass figures of Cupids, in which case, in order to get at the liqueur, it was necessary to break off a small globule affixed to the breast of the figure. The French confectioners are more ingenious than delicate in these contrivances; but the French ladies seem better pleased with such conceits in proportion to their intelligible references. Some of these naked Cupids, M 2 l64 A TOUR IN FRANCE. which were perfect in all their parts, were handed from the gentlemen to the ladies, and from the ladies to each other, and as freely examined and criticised, as if they had been paintings of birds. The gentlemen, upon their parts, were equally as facetious upon the naked Venuses ; and a Swan affixed to a Leda, was the lucky source of innumer- able pleasant questions and answers. Every thing, in a word, is tolerated which can in any way be passed into an equivoque. Their conversation in this respect resembles their dress — no matter how thin that covering may be, so that there be one. So much for a French assembly or fashion- able rout, which certainly excells an English one. in elegance and fancy, as much as it falls short of it in substantial mirth. The French, it must be confessed, infinitely excell every other nation inall things connected with spec- A TOUR IN FRANCE. l65 tacle, and more or less this spectacle pervades all their parties. They dance, they converse, they sing, for exhibition, and as if they were on the stage. Their conversation, therefore, has frequently more wit than interest, and their dancing more vanity than mirth. They seem in both respects to want that happy carelessness which pleases by being pleased. A Frenchwoman is a figurante even in her chit-chat. It may be expected that I did not omit to visit the theatres. Mr. Younge accompanied me successively to nearly all of them — two or three in an evening. Upon this subject, however, I shall say nothing, as every book of travels has so fully described some or other of them, that nothing in fact is further re- quired. I had resolved not to leave Paris without l66 A TOUR IN FRANCE. seeing the Emperor; and being informed that he was to hold an audience on the following day, I applied to Mr. Younge to procure my formal introduction. With this purpose we waited upon General Armstrong, who sent my name to the Grand Chamberlain with the necessary formalities. This formality is a certificate under the hand of the Ambassador, that the person soliciting the introduction has been introduced at his own Court, or that, ac- cording to the best knowledge of the Ambassa- dor, he is not a Merchant — a Negociant actuel. It may be briefly observed, however, that the French Negotiant answers better to the Eng- lish Mechanic, than to the honourable appel- lation Merchant. — General Armstrong pro- mised me a very interesting spectacle in the Imperial audience. " It's the most slendid Court in Europe,'' said he : " the Court of London, and even of Vienna, will not bear a comparison with it." Every one agreed in A TOUR IN FRANCE. l67 the justice of this remark, and my curiosity was strongly excited. On the appointed day, about three o'clock, Mr. Younge accompanied me to the Pa- lace, where we were immediately conducted to a splendid saloon, which is termed the Ambassadors' hall. Refreshments were here handed round to the company, which was very numerous, and amongst them many German Princes in their grand Court dress. The conversation became very general ; those who had seen Bonaparte describing him to those who were about to be introduced. Every one agreed that he was the most ex- traordinary man that Europe had produced in many centuries, and that even his appear- ance was in no slight degree indicative of his character. " He possesses an eye,'' said one gentleman, " in which Lavater might have understood an hero." Mr. Younge con- 168 A TOUR IN TRANCE. firmed this observation, and prepared me to rejrard him with more than common atten- tion. The doors of the saloon were at length thrown open, and some of the officers of the Grand Chamberlain, with white wands and embroidered robes and scarfs, bowing low to the company, invited us, by waving their staves, to follow them up the grand staircase. Every one now arranged them- selves in pairs, behind their respective Am- bassadors, and followed the ushers in proces- sion, according to the precedence of their re- spective countries, the Imperial, Spanish, and Neapolitan Ambassadors forming the van. The staircase was lined on both sides with grenadiers of the Legion of Honour, most of whom, privates as well as officers, were ar- rayed in the order. The officers, as we passed, iexchanged salutes with the Ambassadors ; A TOUR IN PRANCE. IGQ and as the Imperial Ambassador, who led the procession, reached the door of the anti- chamber, two trumpeters on each side played a congratulatory flourish. The ushers who had led us so far, now took their stations on each side the door, and others, in more splendid habits, succeeded them in the office of conducting us. We now entered the anti-chamber, in which was stationed the regular guard of the palace. We were here saluted both by pri- vates and officers, the Imperial Guard being considered as part of the household. From the anti-chamber we passed onwards through nearly a dozen most splendid apartments, and at length reached the presence-chamber. My eyes were instantly in search of the Emperor, who was at the further extremity, surrounded by a numerous circle of officers 170 A TOUR IN FRANCE. and counsellors. The circle opened on our arrival, and withdrew behind the Emperor. The whole of our company now ranged them- selves, the Ambassadors in front, and their several countrymen behind their respective Ministers. Bonaparte now advanced to the Imperial Ambassador, with whom, when present, he always begins the audience. I had now an opportunity to regard him attentively. His person is below the middle size, but well com- posed ; his features regular, but in their tout ensemble stern and commanding; his com- plexion sallow, and his general mien military. He was dressed very splendidly in purple velvet, the coat and waistcoat embroidered with gold bees, and with the grand star of the Legion of Honour worked into the coat. He passed no one without notice, and to A TOUR IN FRANCE. 171 all the Ambassadors he spoke once or twice. When he reached General Armstrong, he asked him, whether America could not live without foreign commerce as well as France? and then added, without waiting for his an- swer, " There is one nation in the world which must be taught by experience, that her Mer- chants are not necessary to the existence of all other nations, and that she cannot hold us all in commercial slavery : England is only sensible in her compters/^ The audience took up little less than two hours, after which the Emperor withdrew into an adjoining apartment; and the company departed in the same order, and with the same appendages, as upon their entrance. 172 A TOUR IN FRANCE. CHAP. X. Departure from Paris for the Loire — Breakfast atPalaiseau — A Peasant's Wife — Rambouillet — Magnifcent Chateau — Prench Cure — Char- tres — Difference of Old French and English Towns — Subterraneous Church — Curious Pre- ser*catio)i of the Dead — Angers — Arrival at Nantes. On ray first arrival at Paris, I had intended to remain there only till the following week ; but the kind importunities of Mr. Younge and his family induced me to consent to pro- long my stay for some days, and an arrange- ment was at length made, which caused me most cheerfully to protract it still further. This arrangement was, that if I could remain in Paris till after the National Fetes, Mr. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 173 Younge, his lady, and her niece, Mademoi- selle St. Sillery, would form a travelhng party, and accompany me in my tour along the banks of the Loire, and thence along the Southern Coast. As I had no other purpose but to see France, its scenery and its man- ners, nothing could possibly have fallen out more correspondent with my wishes. I shall here cursorily mention, that Mademoiselle St. Sillery, with the single exception of her aunt, was the handsomest woman I had yet seen in France. If I pass over the National F^tes, it is be- cause they differed nothing from those which preceded them, and which have been minute- ly detailed by every Traveller who has writ- ten his Tour. These national spectacles have nothing in them which rewards the trouble of pressing through the mob to see thefti. It consisted of nothing but a succession of 174 A TOUR IN TRANCE. buffooneries and fire-works. The fire-works were magnificent — all the other sports con- temptible. In a word, I was so anxious to leave Paris, and to get into the woods and fields, that the bustle around me scarcely at- tracted my attention. At length, the morning of the 28th of July arrived, and after all due preparations, I had the long wished-for pleasure of seeing Mr. Younge's coach at the door, with its travelling appendages. Mr. Younge pre- ferring to accompany me on horseback, the coach was left to the ladies. In this manner we left Paris at six o'clock on a lovely sum- mer's morning, and in less than half an hour were three miles on the road to Chartres,^ which we hoped to reach to sleep. I had again occasion to observe, how much the environs of Paris differed from those of A TOUR IN FRANCE. 175 London. Scarcely had we reached our first stage (about seven miles), before every ap- pendage of a metropolitan city had dis- appeared. With the single exception of the road, which still continued worthy of a great nation, the scenery and objects were as re- tired as in the most remote corner of Eng;- land. This absence of commercial traffic has, however, one advantage — it adds much to the beauty and romance of the country. In Eng- land, the manners, habits, and dress of the capita], pervade to the remotest angle of the kingdom : there is little variety in passing from London to Penzance. On the other hand, in France, every province has still its characteristic dress and manners ; and you get but a few miles from Paris, before you find yourself amongst a new order of beings. We breakfasted at Palaiseau, a beautiful village, about twelve miles from Paris. The 176 A TOUR IN FRANCE. inn being dirty, and having no appearance of being in a situation to accommodate us to our wishes, Mr. Younge ordered the coach to drive to a small cottage at the further end of the village. Our party here dismounted ; a small trunk, containing a breakfast equi- page, was taken from the coach, and the table was covered in an instant. The wo- man of the house had been a servant of Mrs. Younge's, and married from the family ; her husband was a petty farmer, and was out in his fields. Nothing could persuade Susette to sit in the presence of our ladies ; but she was talkative in the extreme, and seemed to be much attached to Mrs. Younge, playing as it were with her hair as she waited be- hind her chair. To Mr. Younge^s questions, whether she was happy, and how she liked her new state, she replied very carelessly, that her husband was as good as husbands usually are ; that, indeed, he had an affair A TOUR IN FRANCE. 177 with another woman ; but that he was gay, and not jealous, and therefore that she over- looked it. Whilst she was saying this, the latch of the door was raised, and a sturdy young peasant made his appearance ; but seeing an unexpected company, drew back in some confusion. Mr. Younge cast a sig- nificant look at the ladies and Susette, whose looks explained that they were not without foundation. Such are the morals, or rather the manners, of the lower order of French wives. Gallantry is, in fact, as much in fashion, and as generally prevalent through all orders, as in the most corrupt aera of the monarchy — perhaps, indeed, more so ; as re- ligion, though manifestly reviving, has not yet recovered its former vigour. Having re-mounted our horses, and the ladies re-ascended into their coach, we con- tinued our journey through a country conti- N 178 A TOUR IN FRANCE. nually changing. My observations on the road, undeceived me in a point of some im- portance. I had hitherto believed France to have been an open country, almost totally without enclosures, except the pales and ditches necessary to distinguish properties. This opinion had been confirmed by the ap- pearances of the road from Calais to Paris. It was now, however, totally done away, as the country on each side of me was as thick- ly enclosed, as any of the most cultivated counties in England. Hereafter, let no tra- veller assert that France is a country of open fields ; three-fourths of the kingdom is en- closed, even to the most minute divisions. The enclosures, indeed, have not the neatness of those of England ; the hedges are rough and open, and there are few gates, and no stiles. The French farmers, however, have already begun to adopt much of the English system in the management of their farms. According A TOUR IN FRANCE. 179 to the information of Mr. Younge, many of the emigres having returned to France, have given some vahiable instructions to the peo- ple in these important points ; France is accordingly much better cultivated than hitherto. Mr. Younge had the politeness to answer my questions respecting the country through which we were passing, in the utmost possi- ble detail ; and as he himself had traversed France in all directions, and was not without some purpose of future settlement, his infor- mation was accurate and valuable. He gave me to understand that, with the single excep- tion of the good enclosures, nothing could be so miserable as the system of agriculture along the whole road from Paris to Mans. The general quality of the soil is light and sandy, and exactly suited to the English sys- tem of alternate crops of corn and roots ; yet N 2 180 A TOUR IN FRANCE. on such a soil, the common course is no other than, fallow, wheat, barley, for nine years successively ; after which the land is pared and burnt, and then suffered to be a fallow in weeds for another year, when the same course is recommenced. " Under such manage- ment,'' continued Mr. Younge, " you will not be surprised that the average produce of the province of Bretagne does not exceed twelve bushels of wheat, and eighteen of barley. Turnips they have no idea of; and as the proportion of cattle is very small, the land is necessarily still further impoverished from want of manure. The rents are about 18 livres, or 155. English ; the price in purchase from 15/. to 18/. English. The size of the farms is generally about 80 acres English ; they are usually held from year to year, but there are some leases. Having got rid of tithes, and the taxes being very moderate,'' said Mr. Younge, " the price of land in A TOUR IN FRANCE. 181 France, both as to rent or purchase, is cer- tainly very moderate ; and if we could but import English or American workmen, or bring the French labourers to English or American habits, no good farmer would hesi- tate a moment as to settlement in France. But the French labourers are obstinate in pro- portion to their ignorance, and without ex- ception are the most ignorant workmen in the world. Nothing is to be done with them ; and though the Emperor has issued a decree, by which foreigners settling with a view to agriculture or manufactures, and giving se- curity that they will not leave the kingdom, may become denizens, I must still hesitate as to recommending a foreigner to seek a French, naturalization/' In this conversation, after a long but not wearisome journey, we reached Rambouillet. The trunk was again brought from the coach. 182 A TOUR Ilf FRANCE. and a table furnished with knives, spoons, and clean linen — a kind of essentials seldom to be seen in a French inn, and more particularly in such inns as we had reason to expect at some of our stages, in the course of our long tour. A servant had likewise been sent be- fore, so that a tolerable dinner was already in a state of preparation. Being informed, however, that we had an hour still good, Mr. Younge and Mademoiselle St. Sillery insisted upon taking me to see the celebrated chateau in which Francis the First breathed his last. Nothing can be more miserable, nothing more calculated to inspire melancholy, than the situation and approach to this immense and most disproportioned building. It is situated in a park, in the midst of woods and waters; and most unaccountably, the very lowest ground in a park of two thousand acres is chosen for its site. The approach to A TOUR IN FRANCE. 183 it from the village is by a long avenue, planted on both sides by double and treble rows of lofty trees, the tops of which are so broad and thick as almost to meet each other. This avenue opens into a lawn, in the centre of which is the chateau. It is a heavy and vast structure, entirely of brick, and with the turrets, arches, and corners, characteristic of the Gothic order. The property of it belongs at present to the Nation, that is to say, it was not sold amongst the other confiscated estates ; something of an Imperial establish- ment, therefore, is resident in the chateau, consisting of a company of soldiers, with two officers, and a housekeeper. One of the officers had the politeness to become our guide, and to lead us from room to room, explaining as he went whatever seemed to excite our attention. Louis the Fourteenth held his Court in this castle for some years ; and from respect 184 A TOUR IN TRANCE. to his memory, the apartment in which he slept and held his levee, is still retained in the same condition in which it was left by that Monarch. This chamber is a room nearly thirty yards in length by eighteen in width, and lofty in proportion : the windows like those of a church. On the further ex- tremity is a raised floor, where stands the royal bed of purple velvet and gold, lined with white satin painted in a very superior style. The colours, both of the painting and the velvet, still remain ; and two pieces of coarse linen are shown as the royal sheets. The counterpane is of red velvet, embroidered as it were with white lace, and with a deep gold fringe round the edges : this is likewise lined with white satin, and marked at the cor- ners with a crown and fleur de lys. On each side of the bed are the portraits of Louis the Fourteenth and Fifteenth, of Philip the Fourth of Spain, and of his Queen. The portrait of Louis the Fourteenth more peculiarly at- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 185 tracted my attention, having been mentioned by several historians to be the best existing hkeness of that celebrated Monarch. If Louis resembled his picture, he was much hand- somer than he is described to have been by the memoir-writers of his age : his counte- nance has an air of much haughtiness and self-confidence, but without any mixture of ill-humour. The chief peculiarity in his habit was a deep lace ruff, and a doublet of light blue, very nearly resembling the jacket of the English light cavalry. This portrait was taken when the King was in his twenty- eighth year, and therefore is probably a far more correct resemblance than those which were taken at a more advanced period — so true is the assertion of the poet, that old men are all alike. Immediately over that line of the apart- ment where the raised floor terminates, is a 186 A TOUR IN FRANCE. gilded rod extending along the ceiling. When the King held his court at Ram- bouillet, a curtain only separated his cham- ber and the levee-room. In the latter room are several portraits of the Peers of France during the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, with those of some Spanish Grandees. We visited several other rooms, all of them magnificentlj furnished, and all the furniture apparently of the same sera. The grand sa- loon appeared to me to be the largest room I had ever seen ; the floor is of white mar- ble, as are likewise two ranges of Corinthian pillars on each side of the apartment. Its height, however, is not proportioned to its length, a defect which, added to its narrow- ness, gives it the air of a gallery rather than of a banquetting-room. We had not time enough to walk over the A TOUR IN FRANCE. 187 gardens ; but, from a cursory view of them, did not much regret our loss. They appeared spacious enough ; but so divided and inter- sected mto plots, borders, narrow and broad walks, terraces, and flower-beds in the shape of stars, as to resemble any thing but what would be called a garden in England and America. This style of gardening was intro- duced into France by Le Notre, and some centuries must yet pass away before the French gardeners will acquire a more correct taste. What would not English taste have eftected with the capabilities of Rambouillet? A park of two thousand acres in front, and a forest of nearly thirty thousand behind — all this, in the hands of Frenchmen, is thrown away; the park is but a meadow, and the forest a neglected wood. Upon our return to dinner, we found the Cure of the village in rapid conversation 188 A TOUR IN FRANCE. with Madame. The appearance of our equi- page, consisting of four horses in the coach, and three riding-horses, had attracted him to the inn ; and Madame, having seen him, had invited him to join us at dinner. He was a pleasant httle man, and related to us many traditional anecdotes of Louis the Fourteenth. This King was notoriously one of the most gallant of the race of Capet. " Whilst resident at Rambouillet," said the Cur6, " being one day hunting, and separated from his suite, he fell in with two young girls, the daughters of the better kind of French farmers. The girls were nutting in the fo- rest, and perfectly strangers to the King's person. Louis entered into conversation with them, and — " , The good Curb's narrative was here inter- rupted by dinner, much to the disappoint- ment of Mademoiselle St. Sillery, who en- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 189 treated him to resume his narrative upon the disappearance of the first dish. " I should think, Angela," said Mrs. Younge, " that Monsieur Cure would continue it to more advantage in the coach. — The gentleman has informed me,'' continued she, addressing her- self to Mr. Younge, " that he has some busi- ness at Chartres ; and thinking it would add much to our general pleasure, I have invited him to take the spare seat in our carriage.'' Mr. Youno-e could do no less than second this invitation, and our party was thus rein- forced by the addition of a little gossiping French Cure. Monsieur Guygny, the name of this gen- tleman, was not however so much a Cure, as to be deficient in gallantry to the ladies, and Mademoiselle St. Sillery, as I thought, seem- ed to consider him as a valuable acquisition to our travelling suite ; she re-ascended the 190 A TOUR IN FRANCE. coach with increased spirit, and the good Cure followed with true French agihty. Thus is it with French manners. Upon in- quiry from Mr. Younge I learnt, that not one of the party had ever seen or heard of Monsieur Guygny before they had now met at Rambouillet. I felt some curiosity as to the interrupted narrative, even in despite of the evident fri- volity of the narrator. The arrangement of the party in the coach compelled me to hear it at second-hand, and I found it less frivolous than I had anticipated ; — it was an amour be- tween the King and a peasant's daughter, in which the King conducted himself in a man- ner as little excusable in a monarch, as in a more humble individual. The amour was at length discovered by the pregnancy of the unfortunate girl, who believed herself mar- ried to the King in the character of an officer A TOUR IN FRANCE. 191 of his suite, and who, upon discovering the deception, died of shame and grief. Her tomb is said to be still extant, and to be dis- tinguished by a fleur de lys impressed on it by command of the King. The story is said to be well founded : — be this as it may, our ladies seemed to have received it as gospel. We reached Chartres by sunset. Nothing could be more delightful than the approach to the town, which is situated upon the knoll of a hill, the houses intermixed with trees, and the setting sun gilding the spires of the churches and convent. The town is divided into two parts by a small river ; the further part was situated upon the ascent, the other part upon the banks of the river. On each side of the town are hills covered with woods, from the midst of which were visible the gilded spires of convents and churches, whilst the intervening plains were covered 192 A TOUR IN FRANCE. with corn-fields. The peasantry, as we passed them, seemed clean, well-fed, and happy ; we saw several groups of them enjoying them- selves in the evening dance. Our carriage was overtaken by them more than once ; they presented flowers and fruits to our la- dies, and refused any return. Some of the younger women, though sun-burnt, were handsome ; and many of them, from their fanciful dresses, resembled the cottagers as exhibited on the stage. The men, on the other hand, were a most ugly race of beings, diminutive in size, and with the features of an old baboon. Mr. Younge, indeed, in some degree accounted for this, by the in- formation that the best men had been taken for the armies. Having taken our tea, and seen the neces- sary preparation for our beds, our ladies changed their dresses, and, attended by the A TOUll IN FRANCE. 193 Cure, sallied forth to the evening promenade still customary in all the French towns. Mr. Younge and myself availed ourselves of this opportunity to visit the curiosities of the town. I have frequently had occasion to remark, that the old French towns have a very pro- minent distinction. The inland towns of England, be their antiquity what it may, re- tain but little of their ancient form ; from the necessary effects of a brisk trade, the se- veral houses have so often changed owners, and the owners have usually been so sub- stantial in their circumstances, that there is scarcely a house, perhaps, but what in twen- ty years has been rebuilt from its fundamen- tal stone. It is not the same with the houses in the old towns of France. A French trades- man's house is like his stocking — he never thinks that he wants a new one, as long as he o 194 A TOUR IN FRANCE. can in any way darn bis old one ; he never thinks of building a new wall, as long as he can patch his old one ; he repairs his house pie6e-meal as it falls down : the repairs, therefore, are always made so as to match the breach. In this manner the original form of the house is preserved for some centuries, and, as philosophers say of the human body, retains its identity, though every atom of it may have been changed. It is thus with Chartres^ one of the most ancient towns in France, which in every house bears evident proofs of its antiquity, the streets being in straight lines, and the houses dark, large, but full of small rooms. The town, as I have before said, is divided into two parts by the river Eure, and thence, ac- cording to the French historians, was called Autricum by the Romans. It is surrounded by a wall, and has nine gates, the greater A TOUR IN FRANCE. 195 part of them of stone, and of a very ancient architecture ; they are all surmounted by a figure of the Holy Virgin, the former pa- troness of the city. The cathedral church, if the traditional accounts may be believed, was formerly a temple of the Druids, dedi- cated to the Virgo Faritura ; and though this antiquity may be fairly disputed, the structure is evidently of the most remote ages. According to the actual records, it was burnt by lightning in the year of our Lord 1020, and was then rebuilt upon its ancient foundations, and according to its former form, by Fulbert, at that time the Bishop. It is thus, in every respect, the most ancient monument in France, and is well deserving of being visited by travellers. We were lost in astonishment as we descend- ed from the upper church into a subterra- neous one, extending under the whole space of the one above it, and having correspond- o 2 ' 196 A TOUR IN FRANCE. iiig walls, choir, and even stalls. The bishops, chapter, and principal persons of the city, are here buried. From the cathedral church, we were con- ducted to the other curiosities of the city, one of which is well worthy of mention. This is a cave or vault in the parish church of St. Andre. Upon descending it, our guide, removed successively the covers of six coffins, and desired us to examine the bodies. They consisted of four men aad two women ; the faces, arms, and breasts were naked, and had all the freshness as if dead only the pre- ceding day. One of the men had the mark of a wound under his left breast ; it seemed as if made by a pointed sword or pike, and was florid, red, and fresh. " These persons,"' said our guide, " as you may see by the in- scriptions, have been buried from fifty to a hundred years ; the wounded man was the A TOUR IN FRANCE. 197 Mayor of the town about sixty years since, and was wounded in an affray, of which wound he died/' Upon receiving this infor- mation, I had the curiosity to examine the vault more accurately : it was walled all around, paved with stones closely cemented, and was evidently more than commonly dry. We remained at Chartres the whole of the following day; and on the morning of the next, still accompanied by the Cure, conti- nued our journey to Le Mans, where we like- wise remained a day, and thence proceeded for Angers. As our projected Tour along the Loire was to commence at Nantes, we were eager to gain that city, and indeed scarcely made use of our eyes, however invited, till we reached it. Mr. Younge and myself had an hour's walk over Angers ; but as we saw it more in detail 198 A TOUR IN FRANCE. as we descended the Loire, in the progress of our future Tour, I shall say nothing of it in this place. Throughout the greater part of this road, as well as of that from Angers to Nantes, no- thing could be more delightful than the sce- nery on both sides, and nothing better than the roads. From La Fleche to Angers, and thence to Ancennis, the country is a com- plete garden. The hills were covered with vines ; every wood had its chateau, and every village its church. The peasantry were clean and happy, the children cheerful and healthy- looking, and the greater part of the younger women spirited and handsome. There was a great plenty of fruit; and as we passed through the villages, it was invariably brought to us, and almost as invariably any pecuniary return refused with a retreating curtsey. One sweet girl, a young peasant, with eyes A TOUR IN FRANCE. 199 and complexion which would be esteemed handsome even in Philadelphia, having made Air. Younge and myself an offering of this kind, replied very prettily to our offer of riioney, that the women of La Fleche never sold either grapes or water ; as much as to say, that the one was as plentiful as the other. Some of these young girls were dressed not only neatly, but tastily. Straw hats are the manufacture of the province ; few of them, therefore, but had a straw bon- net, and few of these bonnets were without ribbons or flowers. We were most unexpectedly detained at Chantoce by an accident to our coach, which was three days before it was repaired. We the less, however, regretted our disappoint- ment, as it rained incessantly, with thunder and lightning, throughout the whole of this time. The weather having cleared, our 200 A TOUR IN FRANCE. coach being repaired, and our spirits being renovated by the increased elasticity of the air, the preceding heat having been almost intolerable, we resumed our progress, and at length reached Nantes on or about the even- ing of the 1st of August. A TOUR IN FRANCE. 201 CHAP. XL Nantes — Beautiful Situation — Analogy of Archi- tecture zvith the Character of its Age — Singu- lar Voxo of Francis the Second — Departure from Nantes — Countr^y betzveen Nantes and Angers — Angers. The plan of our Tour was, to descend the Loire from Nantes, and thence traversing its banks through nearly two- thirds of its course, cross it by La Charite, and continue our journey in the first place for Languedoc, and thence across that delightful province into Provence, and along the shores of the Medi- terranean. Chance in some degree varied our original design ; but it will be seen in the sequel, that we executed more of it than we had any reason to anticipate. A travel- 202 A TOUll IN FRANCE. ler in France cannot reckon upon either his road, or his arrival, with as much certainty as in England. Some of the cross roads are absolutely impassable ; and the French gentry of late have become so fond of jaunts of plea- sure, that if a travelling family should visit them in passing, they will have great diffi- culty to get away without some addition to their party, and some consequent variation from their projected road. We remained at Nantes three days, during which time I had leisure enough to visit the town and the neighbourhood. Nantes is one of the most ancient cities in France ; it is the Cojidivimum of the Romans, and the Civitas ^amnetiim of Caesar. It is mentioned by several Latin writers as a town of most considerable population under the Roman prefects ; and there is every appear- A TOUR IN FRANCE. 203 ance, in several parts of the city, that it has dedined much from its original importance. It is still, however, in every respect, a noble city, and, unlike most commercial cities, is as beautifully as it is advantageously situated. It is built on the ascent and summit of a hill, at the foot of which is the Loire, almost as broad, and ten times more beautiful, than the Thames. In the middle of the stream, opposite the town, are several islets, on which are houses and gardens, and which, as seen by the setting sun, about which time there are dancing parties, and marquees ornament- ed with ribbons, have a most pleasing effect. The town, however, has one defect, which the French want the art or the industry to re- move : the Loire is so very shallow near the town, that vessels of any magnitude are obliged to unload at some miles above it. This is a commercial inconvenience, which is not compensated by one of the finest quays 204 A TOUR IN FRANCE. in Europe, extending nearly a mile in length, and covered with buildings almost approach- ing to palaces. If Spain, as the proverb says, have bridges where there is no water, I have seen repeated instances in France where there are quays without trade. This is not, how- ever, the case with Nantes : it has still a brisk interior commerce, and the number of new houses are sufficient proofs that its inha- bitants increase in opulence. Nantes was the residence and the burying place of the ancient Dukes of Bretagne; in the town and neighbourhood, therefore, are many of the relics of these early sovereigns. On a hill to the eastward is the castle in which these princes used to hold their court : it is still entire, though built nearly nine hundred years ago ; and the repairs having been made in the character of the original structure, it remains a most perfect specimen of the ar- A TOUR IN PRANCE. 205 cbitecture of the age in uhich it was built. One room, the hall or banquetting-room, as in all Gothic castles, is of an immense size, and lofty in proportion. The ornaments likewise partake of the character of the age ; they are chiefly carved angels, croziers, and other sacred appendages. A remark here struck me very forcibly, that many curious conclusions as to the characters, manners, and even of the detail of domestic (Economy of men in the early ages, might be deduced from the remains of their architecture. I have read very curious and detailed histories founded only on the figures on medals : the early history of Greece, and that of the lower empire of Rome, have scarcely a better foun- dation. Now, why may not the same use be made of architecture ? Is not the relioion of our ancestors legible in the very ornaments of their houses? Are not their excessive igno- rance and credulity equally visible in the 206 A TOUR IN FRANCE. griffins, sphinxes, dragons, mermaids, and cliimasras, which are so frequently carved in Gothic roofs, and which are so absurdly mis- taken for angels and devils? The analogy might be extended much further. The monument of Francis the Second, Duke of Bretagne, and father to Anne of Bretagne, the Queen of France, is one of the most magnificent of the kind in France, and from this circumstance, I suppose, has been suffered to survive the Revolution unde- faced. This monument was the work of Michael Colomb, and is one of those works of art which, like the Apollo Belvidere, is sufficient of itself to immortalize its artist. The figures are a curious mixture of the wives and children of the deceased Duke, with angels, cherubs, &c. ; but this was the taste of the age, and must not be imputed to Michael Colomb. The heart of Anne is A TOUR Ilf FRANCE. 20? likewise buried in a silver urn in the same vault. The inscription on the tomb relates a vow made by Francis to the Holy Virgin, that if he should obtain a child by his second marriage, he would dedicate a golden image to the Virgin. The prince obtained the child, and the image was made and dedicated. It would be an injustice, in this account of J^antes, not to mention the inn called the Hotel of Henry the Fourth. It is one of the largest and most magnificently furnished iu Europe. It makes up 60 beds, and can take in 100 horses, and an equal proportion of servants. The rooms are let very cheap, considering their quality : two neat rooms may be had for four shiUings a day ; and a traveller may live very comfortably in the house, and be provided with every thing, for about two guineas per week. Horses are charged at the rate of two shillings only for 208 A TOUR IN FRANCE. a day and night. And one thing, which ought not to be forgotten, the beds are made, and ladies are attended, by female servants, all of whom are neat, and many of them very pretty girls. The contrary practice, which is almost universal in France, is one of the most unpleasant circumstances to a man educated in old English habits: for my own part, I never could divest myself of my first disgust, at the sight of a huge, bearded, raw-boned fellow, having access to the chamber at all hours, and making the beds, and removing any of the usual appendages of a chamber, in the presence of the ladies. Having seen enough of Nantes, and ex- changed our coach for a kind of open ba- rouche, particularly adapted for the French cross roads, being very narrow, and com- posed entirely of cane, with removable wheels, so as to take to pieces in an instant, we re- A t6ur I!* This Edition of the Encyclopedia is to consist of Twenty- four Volumes, or Forty-eight Parts, with a greatly improved set of Engravings. A Part, or Half-Volume, is published on the first day of e\ery month. And as the printing is in great forwardness, the Subscribers may be assured of a more regular delivery than has hi- therto attended any similar undertaking. Those who are anxious to complete their sets early, will have an opportunity of doing so (including the Supplemental Volumes) at about half the time of the regular publication, i. e. as nearly as the Proprietors can calcu- late, at the end of two years from the commencement. And besides all other advantages attached to this work, above every other En- cyclopedia, the Proprietors pledge themselves that no additional charge of Price shall take place during its progress. HINTS on the FORMATION of GARDENS and PLEA- SURE-GROUNDS, with Designs invarious Styles of Rural Em- bellishment; comprising. Plans for Laying out Flower, Fruit, and Kitchen Gardens, and the arrangement of Glass-Houses, Hot- Walls, and Stoves, interspersed with Remarks on various subjects of Horticultural Improvement : — to which is added, A Priced Catalogue of Fruit- and Forest-trees, Shrubs, and Plants, adapted to Villa Grounds, from one perch to a hundred acres in extent. In Royal 4to. with Twenty elegant Engravings, price Two Guineas Plain, or Three Guineas beautifully Coloured, half-bound. 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