X ;V
1
Ex Libris
C. K. OGDEN
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
A TOUR UPON THE CONTINENT
IN THE SUMMER OF 1818,
THROUGH FARTS Or
FRANCE, ITALY, SWITZERLAND,
THE BORDERS OF GERMANY,
AND A PART OF
FRENCH FLANDERS.
BY MARIANNE BAILLIE.
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
1819.
LONDON:
TKINTII) BV THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFRIARS.
TO
ONE OF THE MOST VALUED FRIENDS OF HER EARLIEST YEARS,
THE RIGHT HON. JOHN TREVOR,
THE AUTHOR
INSCRIBES THE
FOLLOWING LITTLE WORK,
WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF AFFECTIONATE RESPECT
AND ESTEEM.
2G17C.
DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.
Swiss Cottage to face the title.
View of Turin 164
Passage of the Simplon 212
Colossal Figure 218
Hermitage of St. Frene 312
PREFACE.
IN perusing the following pages, it will
I hope be believed, that they were not
originally written with any view to publica-
tion: circumstances have since occurred,
which induce me to alter my first inten-
tion, and to submit them to a more en-
larged circle, than that of a few intimate
friends, to whose eye alone I had once
thought of presenting them.
In committing my First Impressions to
so fearful an ordeal as the opinion of the
Public, I feel oppressed by a sense of their
various imperfections, and by the convic-
tion of their trifling value as a work of the
sort ; yet I still flatter myself they will
Vi PREFACE.
be received with forbearance. I had much
amusement in attempting this little sketch,
and I most sincerely entreat that it may be
considered as what it is, a sketch only.
My friends will not, and readers in general
must not, look for fine writing from the
pen of such a novice as myself; nor ought
they to expect me (labouring under the
twofold disadvantage of sex and inexpe-
rience) to narrate with the accuracy and
precision of a regular tourist, the history
(natural, moral, political, literary and com-
mercial) of all the places we visited : still
less, that (in compliment to the lovers of
the gastronomic art) I should undertake to
give the bill of fare of every table d'hote or
traiteur that we met with in our progress.
Among the many fears which assail me,
there is one that recurs to my mind with
more pertinacity than the rest: that I
may be taxed with having bestowed too
PREFACE. Vll
warm and glowing a colouring upon some
objects of natural beauty and sublimity.
Formerly, indeed, I believe I was in danger
of leaning towards romance in describing
scenes which had particularly impressed my
imagination or interested my feelings, and
of attempting to imitate, with too rash and
unadvised a pencil, the fervour of a Mrs.
Radcliffe, although to catch the peculiar
charm and spirit of her style I felt to be (for
me) impossible. But notwithstanding that I
still remember with complacence the time
when the vivid imagination of very early
youth procured me the enjoyment of a
thousand bright and lovely illusions, and
cast a sort of fairy splendour over existence
which was certainly more bewitching than
many realities that I have since met with,
I at present feel (as better becomes me)
more inclined to worship at the sober
shrine of reason and judgment. This, it
will be easily conceived, was likely to render
Vlll PREFACE.
my Tour a more faithful picture, than if it
had been undertaken some years ago, and
I can safely affirm, that I commenced it
with a determination to observe all things
without prejudice of any sort, not even that
of nationality; for prejudice is still the same
irrational and unworthy feeling, in every
shape and under every name. I was much
hurried at the time of writing this Journal ;
but a greater degree of subsequent leisure
has enabled me to add some few notes
which may, I hope, amuse and interest my
readers. In these I acknowledge with
gratitude the occasional assistance of a
partial friend.
April, 1819.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
ON Monday, August 9th, we embark-
ed from the Ship inn at Dover, for Calais,
on board the Princess Augusta packet.
The passage was dreadful, the usual miseries
attended us, and at the time I am now
writing this, viz. August 13th, we are still
suffering from the effects of our voyage.
I will not make my readers ill by recalling
the disgusting scenes which we there en-
countered, suffice it to say, that the bare re-
membrance of them is sufficient to over-
whelm my still sick fancy, and to render
the very name of the sea appalling to my
ears. Upon landing at Calais, however, we
contrived to raise our heavy eyes, with a
lively feeling of curiosity and interest, to
the motley crowd assembled on the beach to
view us come on shore. I was pleased with
CALAIS.
what we are taught to call the habitual
politeness of even the lowest order of
French people, evinced in the alacrity with
which twenty hands were held out to sup-
port me in descending from the packet, and
in the commiseration which I plainly dis-
covered in many a sun-burnt countenance
for my evident indisposition. The hotel
(Quillacq's) is excellent, and the attendants
remarkably civil and active. The style of
furniture is superior to that of the best
English hotels ; and for a dinner and dessert
of the most superior quality, we did not
pay more than we should have done at an
ordinary inn in our own country for very
common farei The dress of the lower classes
here is rather pretty ; the circumstance of
the women wearing caps, neatly plaited,
and tolerably clean, together with the body
and petticoat of different colours, gives
them a picturesque air : the long gold ear-
rings, also (universally worn at this place,
consisting of two drops, one suspended at
the end of the other), contribute greatly to
their graceful effect. The men do not differ
much in their appearance from those of
I
CALAIS. 3
the same rank in England, but I think
the animation universally displayed in the
countenances of the fairer sex particularly
striking, and certainly preferable to that
want of expression so often to be found
among my countrywomen.
When we first started from Calais for Paris,
with post-horses, I could not help a little
national feeling of complacency upon ob-
serving the slovenly, shabby appearance of
their harness and accoutrements, compared
with those of England. From London to
Dover, we had bowled away with ease and
rapidity; the carriage seemed to cut through
the air with a swift and even motion.
Now we crawled and jumbled along, as it
pleased the fancy of the horses and driver,
upon the latter of which no remonstrance
of ours would have had any effect. The
costume of the post-boy (who drives three
horses abreast, a fat, full-sized beast in the
middle, his own rather smaller, and the off
horse always a ragged flap-eared pony,
looking as if he had just been caught up
from a common) is whimsical enough ; it
is universally the royal livery : a shabby,
4 CALAIS.
dirty, short- waisted blue jacket, turned up
with crimson, and laced sometimes with
silver ; boots resembling those of our heavy
cavalry, and a thick clubbed pigtail, swing-
ing like a pendulum from beneath a rusty
japan hat. It was not till we had reached
the distance of Abbeville that we met
with the celebrated genuine grosses bottes.
whose enormous size put me in mind of
my nursery days, when I used to listen to
the wonderous tale of the giant-killer and
his seven-leagued boots. The lash of the
post-boy's whip is thick and knotted, and
they have a curious method of cracking it
upon passing other carriages, to give notice
of their approach: this saves their lungs,
and has not an unpleasant effect, the crack-
ing sound being of a peculiar nature, double,
as if it said " crac-crac" at each stroke. . It
is not every post-boy, however, who manages
this little implement in the true style. They
all carry the badge of their profession upon
the left arm (like our watermen), being a
silver or metal plate with the arms of
France upon it. From Calais to Haut-
buisson the country is extremely flat, barren.
BEAUPRES. 5
and uninteresting, like the ugliest parts of
Wiltshire and Sussex ; and the straight line
in which all the French roads are cut is
tiresome and monotonous to a great degree.
The case is not mended even when you
advance as far as Marquise, and I began
to yawn in melancholy anticipation of a
similar prospect for nearly a hundred
and eighty miles, which yet remained
to be passed ere we reached Paris; but
upon coming near Beaupres, we were
agreeably disappointed, finding the surface
of the country more undulated, and patches
of woodlands thinly strewn here and there
it is amazing how greatly the eye is relieved
by this change. The hamlets between Haut-
buisson and Boulogne much resemble those
in the west of England ; we were per-
petually fancying ourselves in a Somerset-
shire village as we passed through them. On
the road-side it is very common to see large
crucifixes, raised to a considerable height,
with the figure of our Saviour the size of
life. We remarked one in particular, painted
black, and the image flesh-colour, with the
drapery about the middle gilt : another was
6 BOULOGNE.
inclosed in a small railed space (like a
village pound), surrounded by four or five
clumsy stone images, which I rather imagine
were meant to represent the holy women
who assembled round the cross during our
Saviour's last moments. As we approached
Boulogne, we met several old peasants :
they all wore cocked hats, and a suit of
decent, sad-coloured clothes, not unlike the
dress of our villagers on a Sunday.
The entrance to Boulogne is very pic-
turesque : the fortifications are crumbling a
little beneath the touch of time, and the walls
are partly overgrown by trees and lichens ;
but a very little exertion would render it
formidable enough, I imagine, to besiegers.
We dined here at an inn, where they
thought they could not do us a greater
favour than by sending up a meal in what
they believed to be the English style of
cookery ; consequently it was neither one
thing nor the other, and extremely dis-
agreeable: amongst various delicacies, we
had melted salt butter swimming in oil,
and quite rancid, brought to table in a tea-
cup, and a large dish of tough spongy
BOULOGNE, 7
lumps of veal, which they called veal cutlets.
As I sat at the window, which opened
upon the principal street, I had an oppor-
tunity of remarking a specimen of true
French flattery, but I was not quite so per-
vious to its benign influence as Sterne
describes his ladies to have been in the
Sentimental Journey. A little ragged ur-
chin of about ten years old rather annoyed
me, by jumping up and grinning repeatedly
in my face : " Allez, allez, que faites vous
la ?" said I. " C'est que je veux dire bon
jour a Madame !" " Eh, bien done, vous 1'avez
dit & present allez !" " Ah ! mais que Ma-
dame est jolie ! Mon Dieu ! eUe est very
prit. Elle me donnera un sous, n'est ce pas ?"
It was at Poix that we accidentally
met a woman of Normandy upon the road.
She was weU looking, and the costume both
singular and becoming : the snow white cap
with a deep plaited border, and a crown
half a yard in height, fastened on the fore-
head by a gold pin, the long drop ear-rings
and gold cross in a heavy worked setting,
suspended round the throat by a narrow
black riband, white handkerchief crossed
8 BOULOGNE.
over the bosom, and a body and petticoat
of opposite colours, with full white shift
sleeves coming over the elbows, formed a
remarkably pretty dress.
I ought to have mentioned before now,
that on the road between Marquise and
Beaupres we were amused by observing
an unfinished tower, erected by Bonaparte
some years since, designed to commemorate
his intended victory over the English, by
invasion a true chateau en Espagne. Wish-
ing to refresh ourselves by leaving the
carriage while the horses were changed,
I entered a sort of rustic public-house,
where I observed with much interest the
interior of a French cottage kitchen and its
inhabitants. A group of peasants sat round
a wood fire, apparently waiting for their
dinner, which, as a brisk lively paysanne
took it off the embers to pour into a dish,
looked and smelt most temptingly ; it con-
sisted of a mess of bread, herbs, and vege-
tables, stewed in broth : there was a mem-
ber of this little circle who seemed to
watch the progress of the cooking with
peculiar delight ; I mean a large, powerful,
BOULOGNE. 9
yet playful dog, whose exact breed we did
not discover, but we were informed he was
English doubtless he recognized his coun-
trymen ! The plates and dishes, utensils, &c.
were ranged upon shelves from the top to
the bottom of the little kitchen, and equally
distributed on all sides, instead of being
confined to the vicinity of the dresser, as is
generally the case in England ; they were
chiefly of a coarse white clay, painted in a
gaudy and sprawling pattern of red flowers :
the old woman of the house apologized for
their not being quite so bright as they
ought to have been, but said the flies dirtied
them sadly ; however, every thing looked
clean and comfortable. The costume of
the men is not becoming ; they all wear
white coarse cotton night-caps, and smock-
frocks dyed with indigo ; their features and
countenances much resemble those of a simi-
lar rank in England. It appears to me that
the old peasants alone wear the cocked hat
in this part of France: perhaps it is a
remnant of the national dress in the time
of the ancicn regime. The young children,
from one to five or six years of age, are
10 SAMEll.
(generally speaking) very pretty, and some
of them have the drollest little faces I ever
saw, dark eyes and marked eyebrows and
lashes, full of smiles and roguery ; their hair
is always allowed to hang at full length
upon their shoulders, never being shorn and
cropt. Having dined at Boulogne, we pro-
ceeded on our journey as far as Samer, in-
tending to sleep the first night at Mon-
treuil ; but a direct stop was put to any such
project, by the circumstance of a total ab-
sence of post-horses ; they were all too much
fatigued to carry us farther, or were em-
ployed in the service of other travellers.
Evening was now closing rapidly in, and we
were really glad to comply with the urgent
solicitations of a rural fille de chambre, who
ran out of the little inn at that place (Samer),
and assured us we should meet with very
comfortable accommodations and be treated
with every attention at the Tete de Boeuf,
to which she belonged: " Mafoi, messieurs,"
said the postilion, " vous trouverez que
cette demoiselle est bien engageante."
When we entered the house (through the
kitchen, which much resembled that of a large
SAMER. 11
cottage), we found a neat little parlour, the
water ready boiling in the tea-kettle, ex-
cellent tea, bread, butter, and cream. The
demoiselle or fille de la maison (being the
daughter of the hostess), and her assist-
ant (the before-mentioned fdle de chambre,
in her country costume), flew about, seem-
ing to anticipate aU our wishes and wants ;
every thing was ready in an instant, and
all was done, not by the wand of an en-
chanter, but by the magical influence of
good humour and activity, void of pertness,
and free from bustle or awkwardness of any
sort. La jeune demoiselle was a pretty, modest,
well-behaved girl, of sixteen or seventeen,
and the maid a merry, good-looking, sprightly
lass, some few years older. She appeared
to enjoy a joke to her heart, and returned
a neat answer to our laughing questions
more than once, and this without being at all
immodest or impertinent. Mr. B. asked her
if she was married: " Pas encore, Monsieur,"
(said she, looking comically naive), " mais
j'espere toujours !" In short, her manner was
something quite peculiar to the French in
that class of society. An English maid servant
12 HAM Kit.
who had kept up this sort of badinage
would most probably have been a girl of
light character ; but servants in France are
indulged in a playful familiarity of speech
and manner which is amusing to witness,
and seldom (if ever) prevents them from
treating you with every essential respect and
attention. When we started the next
morning, the demoiselle earnestly entreated
us to breakfast at the Hotel de 1'Europe,
at Montreuil, which was kept by her sister,
a young woman only two years older than
herself, who was just married ; and both she
and her little maid added many a remem-
brance upon their parts to la chere saeur.
Whether this was genuine sisterly affection,
or the policy of two innkeepers playing into
each other's hands, I really cannot take
upon me to determine.
The country between Samer and Mon-
treuil becomes far more agreeable than
hitherto ; one here sees hills and vales, and
waving woods : we passed the forest of
Tingri, but did not remark any large trees ;
they were chiefly of beech, with a great
profusion of low underwood. We met
.AR12GNE9. 13
many waggons and carts upon the road
which are all very different from those used
in England, being much narrower, and
lighter for the horses : they are usually
open at the ends, and the sides resemble
two long ladders. The wheat harvest in
this part of the country was remarkably
fine ; oats were plentifully planted, but the
crops were thin ; the hay, clover, &c. were
scarce also, and of inferior quality, owing
to the long drought. We observed the
women reaping quite as much as the men,
and their complexions, poor creatures ! were
absolutely baked black by the sun. The
road now led us though the heart of the
forest of Aregnes : it is of large extent,
but we observed the same want of fine
timber as in that of Tingri ; the reason of
this is, that the trees are always cut down
before they attain their full growth, for the
purpose of fuel, as wood fires are universal
in France. We admired, however, several
" dingles green,*' and " tangled wood walks
wild," which looked very cool and inviting,
but I remembered with pride the " giant
oaks and twilight glades beneath" of our
14 MONTREUIL.
own New Forest, and this coppice made
but a trifling appearance in the comparison.
Emerging once more from hence upon the
open country, we beheld in the distance a
troop of English dragoons (probably from
Boulogne) exercising their horses. What
a singular spectacle in the midst of a people
who so lately ruled the world, but who
now are trampled beneath the feet of the
stranger ! The sight of the English, thus
proudly paramount, must necessarily be re-
volting and galling to them in the highest
degree: we should feel quite as bitterly,
were it our own fate more so, perhaps.
Let us therefore be just, and make allowance
for their natural disgust, while we con-
demn the vanity and mad ambition which
has thus reduced them.
x
The approach to Montreuil is pretty ; the
character of the landscape changes, in a
sudden and agreeable manner : in place of
an uninclosed tract of land, resembling a
vast ocean of waving corn, you now see ver-
dant meadows and green pastures, refreshing
the tired eye, and wearing the livery of early
spring ; this effect is produced by the fields
MONTRKUIL. 15
lying low, and by the practice of irrigation,
which is an admirable substitute for rain.
Montreuil is a fortified town ; we passed
over drawbridges upon entering and leav-
ing it: the houses are aU very ancient,
and the whole appearance is picturesqtie.
Here we had a mental struggle between
sentiment and good nature, for we wished
to breakfast at the same inn where Sterne
met with La Fleur, and yet were unwilling
to disappoint the hopes of our little demoi-
selle at Samer, who had recommended her
sister's hotel. Good nature carried the day,
and we drove to 1'Hotel de 1'Europe, where
we met with most comfortable accommoda-
tion, and were pleased by the young hostess's
resemblance to her pretty sister, and by
her civil, lively manner of receiving us.
She sat during our breakfast in a neighbour-
ing apartment, by the kitchen (like the
mistress of the mansion in times of yore),
working at her needle, surrounded by her
hand-maidens, who were occupied in the
same employment. They all seemed to be
fond of her, and the light laugh of genuine
hilarity rang from one to the other as they
16 MONTREUIL,.
cKatted at their ease. The room in which we
breakfasted had (in common with most of
the French apartments, which are not paved
with brick), a handsome oak floor, waxed
and dry rubbed till it was nearly as highly
polished as a dining-table ; the walls were
wainscoted in part, and partly hung with a
very amusing paper, having groups of really
superior figures stamped upon it, in the
manner of black and w r hite chalk drawings
upon a blue ground ; one space, which had
been intended for a looking-glass, was filled
up in this style, with a scene from the loves
of Cupid and Psyche, executed in a classical
manner. You would never see such a
thing in any English country inn, and I
consider the French in these sort of deco-
rations to possess far better taste than our-
selves. As we passed through the corn-
fields on our way from Montreuil to Xam-
pont, we were saluted by the ramasseurs
(gleaners), with a bouquet or two, formed
of wheat, platted in a neat and ingenious
way, which they threw into the carriage,
begging a sous in return, which we be-
stowed with much good will ! Some chil-
CKECY. 17
dren also began to sing and dance on tiie
pathway by the road side, and I was sur-
prised by observing that the tune was that
of a quadrille, and that 4he steps were
correct. I plainly recognized the en avant. m
and the rigadon. Did this nation come into
the world under the influence of a dancing
star ? I should say yes.
When the horses were changed at Nam-
pont we disturbed the postillion at his
dinner, who made his appearance devouring
an indescribable something, which we after-
wards discovered to be an omelette aux
herbes : he deposited this occasionally on
the saddle, while adjusting his harness.
The ricks of corn and hay here are con-
structed rather in a slovenly manner : the
French farmers seem to have no idea of the
neat method of the Engh'sh, in this respect.
The road now led us by the celebrated
Forest of Crecy, and the image of our
gallant Black Prince rose vividly before my
mind's eye. At Bernay we entered another
peasant's cottage, where we (for the first
time since our landing in this country)
beheld real and positive beauty. Two lovely
18 BERN AY.
girls with clear brown skins (through which
glowed a pure and animated carnation),
long, dark blue eyes, black fringed lashes,
and oval faces, came out with their mother,
(a hale, well-looking country woman), and
a younger sister of six years old, whose
infantine charms were full as great in their
way. I asked if the latter was the cadet i e
of the family ? Upon which the rural dame,
with infinite good humour and readiness,
corrected what she termed my mistaken
appellation, by informing me that it was
only the second child which they called
the cadet or cadette* : the youngest was
le dernier, or la derniere. We had much
pleasure in remarking this beautiful trio, and
the mother seemed not a little gratified at
our evident admiration of her progeny.
The face of the country here again
changed for the worse, relapsing into the
same flat and monotonous appearance as at
first, and it continued thus until within a
mile of Abbeville, which is a very fine old
* I had reason, however, afterwards to doubt the
accuracy of the rural darnels assertion.
ABBEVILLE. 19
town, with a cathedral dedicated to Saint
Villefrond. The architecture is very striking,
and the interior replete with the usual
ornaments of superstition and idolatry : it
was built by the English. My companions
visited it, while I was resting quietly at
the hotel, and saw several precious relics
of saints departed. They found three very
young devotees there, before a Salvator
Mundi, who were much too merry to be very
religious ! I however met with quite an affect-
ing spectacle when I went in my turn. Two
poor paysannes, in the usual picturesque
costume, were prostrate before the image
of a dead Christ supported by the Virgin.
They were praying with an expression of
much earnest and sorrowful devotion : one of
them had a sick child in her arms, for whom
she appeared to invoke the divine com-
passion : poor little thing, the impression
of approaching death was stamped upon
its pale face, as it lay motionless, hardly
seeming to breathe. The group struck
my imagination so forcibly, that I after-
wards attempted to sketch it from memory.
Surely this religion, with all its faults, is
20 ABBEVILLE.
very consolatory ; and the faith and piety of
these poor women must be confessed to
be respectable and praiseworthy, however
mingled with the alloy of superstition
and ignorance : Calvin himself might have
thought as I did, had he seen them.
It was market-day at Abbeville the
morning after our arrival, and we were much
amused with the various costumes and faces
assembled there. We did not, however, see
one pretty woman during the whole of our
stay, which was two nights and a day.
We went one evening to the theatre, and
observed the same dearth of beauty among
the audience, which chiefly consisted of pe-
tites bourgeoises, and officers of the national
guards. This theatre is a very inferior one,
and full of bad smells. We were assured
by our hostess that the company (from
Amiens) was very good, and that the piece
they were to act (Les Templiers) was
thought highly of. We all found it ex-
tremely difficult to follow the actors, owing
to their unnatural declamatory tones, and
the mouthing manner of pronouncing their
words : this I believe, however, is universally
ABBEVILLE.
the case, even with the first tragedians at
Paris, Talma not executed. How brightly
do nature's favourite children, O'Neil and
Kean, shine in comparison !
The inn at Abbeville, in which we took
up our quarters (1'hotel de 1'Europe), is
most excellent : it is very large and roomy,
and must once have been a handsome cha-
teau. There is a delightful garden, which
belonged formerly to a convent adjacent:
the high walls covered with a profusion of
delicious fruit. The trees in other parts of the
garden also were bending beneath the weight
of the apples and pears, plums, &c. Myrtles
and rododendrons (the latter very large and
fine) were placed here and there in tubs;
and the fig-tree and vine overshadowed our
bed-room windows, which looked upon this
agreeable scene: the grapes were nearly
ripe. The furniture of our bed-rooms was
in a very superior style, though I have
seen the same sort of things even in the
most shabby looking little inns throughout
France. Marble must be very common,
and of a reasonable price, for we met with
it every where, in chimney-pieces, slabs,
22 ABBEVILLE.
tables, the tops of drawers, &c. The little
washing stand, in our room at Abbeville,
was of fine carved mahogany, in the form
of an antique altar or tripod ; and the bason
and ewer, of an equally pure and classic
form, were of fine French porcelain.
As I have a great passion for seeing the
manners of all ranks of people, I went
down into a little room next the kitchen,
to chat with the hostess, while she was
shelling some haricots blancs for dinner. I
found this lady very communicative and
civil ; and I won her heart I believe, by taking
some notice of her daughter, about six
years old (her farewel performance in the
maternal line), a pretty, gentle, timid little
creature, who was busily occupied in putting
her doll to bed in a cradle. Several peasants
came into the inn-yard as I sat on a bench
there : I observed that all the women wore
large crosses, of clumsy workmanship, chiefly
of white crystal, or glass, and coloured
ear-rings, but not so long as those at Calais.
We went into a little jeweUer's shop, and
bought a couple of the silver rings, with
curious ornaments, which the peasants
ABBEVILLE. 23
usually wear; their sentimental devices were
very amusing.
Leaving Abbeville, we saw the common
people employed in making ropes by the
road-side, and remarked several large fields
of hemp, and one or two of flax : the hemp,
when cut, is piled up in sheaves, like corn.
The country here is verdant, and rather
woody : it lies low, and the river Somme
winds through it, whose course may be
plainly traced to a great distance by the
willows which grow upon its banks, re-
minding me of parts of Berkshire. I ought
not to omit mentioning the profusion of
apple-trees which grow by the road-side,
almost all the way to Paris : the trees were
absolutely sinking beneath the weight of
the fruit, and one or two of them had quite
given way, and lay prostrate, training their
rosy burthen in the dust. I am almost
ashamed to say that my appetite was so
much stronger than my honesty, that I
could not be satisfied without tasting them ;
when I discovered that these fair apples
were like those mentioned in the Scriptures,
24 AI RAINES.
bright and tempting to the eye, but bitter
as ashes within ! In short, they were not
eatable, but entirely of the cider kind, which,
as every body knows, are good for nothing in
a natural state. There are quantities, how-
ever, of eating apples besides, in every cot-
tage garden ; and the favourite food of the
peasant children appears to be coarse, brown,
heavy bread, with these roasted and spread
upon it, instead of butter. We saw large
piles of roasted apples in the market at
AbbeviUe for this purpose.
The country near Airaines again be-
comes tiresome, from its barren sameness.
Passing a little public house, we observed
the following somewhat selfish inscription
over the door : " Messieurs ! nous sommes
quatres hussards, et nous disons, que pour
conservir nos amis, il ne faut pas faire de
credit." The weather was invariably de-
lightful: a bright sun, with a refreshing
cool breeze, and an elasticity and lightness
in the air, gave animation and cheerfulness
to us all. The sky was generally of a cloud-
less azure, and the nights almost as light
GRANVILLIERS. 25
and as free from damps as the days : I
never beheld the moon in greater majesty.
Airaines is an uninteresting little town, not
worth mentioning. Our postillion here was a
most ruffian-like, cut-throat looking crea-
ture, all over dirt, and having a true Jaco-
binical air. He cast several glances full of
sullenness aad malignity at my companions ;
so much so, that I felt very thankful we
were in the cheerful haunts of men, and not
in the solitary Alps, or the black forests
of Germany, with such a conductor.
We dined at Granvilliers, where we were
waited upon by a little girl of thirteen, fair
and lively enough, with an English bloom.
She spoke our language remarkably well,
although she had only been six months
en pension at Amiens, in order to acquire it !
Her instructress was a French woman, which
is singular, for she seemed to have given
her little pupil a perfect knowledge of our
idiom, and an excellent accent.
From Granvilliers to Marseille, the
country rapidly improves in beauty. Just
beyond the latter place we remarked a very
fine old chateau, embosomed in extensive
26 BEAUVAIS.
woods: it must formerly have belonged
to some of the rich noblesse, and perhaps
does so still. Xear Marseille, vineyards ap-
peared for the first time. We now ap-
proached the town of Beauvais, which had
a very pretty effect, surrounded by woods,
with the cathedral standing proudly con-
spicuous over all. It just now occurs to
me to mention (though not immediately
d-propos to Beauvais), that the houses, in
most of the French towns and villages we
have yet seen, are numbered, and in a sin-
gular method; for the several streets are not
allowed their numbers, separately reckoned,
but they go on counting from the first
house in the place to the last, so that it
sometimes happens you might be directed
to call upon a friend at number 1000,
or 2000, and so on. In Paris they have
another peculiarity, for the even numbers,
such as 2, 4, 6, 8, &c. are all on one side of
the street, and the odd ones, 7, 9, 11, &c. on
the other.
Beauvais is a filthy town ; the streets
narrow and dark, and the houses very ordi-
nary. The diversity of intolerable smells
BEAUVAIS. 27
here nearly overset me, and made me wish
almost to lose the power of my olfactory
nerves. The inn was miserable, dirty,
inconvenient, badly attended, and noisy.
The only good things we met with were
beds ; indeed we have been fortunate in that
respect every where, and the linen through-
out France is excellent and plentiful.
We had (with some difficulty) prevailed
upon the awkward Maritornes of a fille, de
chambre to set a tea-board before us in the
little chair-lumbered closet dignified by the
name of a mile, a manger, and into which
three or four doors were perpetually opened
sans ceremonic, when our Swiss travelling
valet, Christian, came in to tell us of the
hard fate of an English family who were
just arrived, and whose fatigue obliged them
to sleep here ; but as the sitting-rooms were
all occupied, they were under the necessity
of taking their tea in the kitchen, which
did not, alas ! boast the cheerful and clean
appearance of the cottage kitchens I have
formerly described. Common politeness,
therefore, laid us under the necessity of
sending an invitation to these unfortunates,
28 BEAUVAIS.
to share our sitting-room, and join us at our
tea. Accordingly, in came two ladies ; one
a fat, comely, masculine dame, of a certain
age; the other lean, tall, plain, and some
few years younger. In a few minutes they
were joined by a large, gruff, sour-looking
old gentleman (the husband of the elder
lady), who, without attempting any saluta-
tion or apology to us, began to express his
dissatisfaction at finding tea going forward,
* when you know (said he) I never drink any.'
He then settled himself at a smah 1 table,
and ordered a pate for his supper. The
style of the ladies may easily be guessed
by the sort of language in which they
described every thing they had seen. The
younger, mentioning a tempestuous passage
which they had encountered, from Dover
to Boulogne, told us that the air smelt
quite sulphuruS) and the lightning tizzed
in the water very frightfully. The old
gentleman grumbled himself by degrees
into conversation, and we soon discovered
that he was a genuine Squire Sullen, and
that his companions were fully aware of it.
These poor people seemed to dislike almost
BEAUVAlS. 2jj
all they had met with in France ; persons,
places, travelling, &c. They beheld every
thing en noir, and appeared to make moun-
tains of mole-hills. Peace be with them !
and a speedy release from each other's
society.
We went (although the day was sinking
into twilight) to view the magnificent cathe-
dral, which for beauty of architecture I have
seldom seen equalled. It is not finished.
The different chapels of the saints, and the
high altar, were very striking, seen through
the solemn gloom of the fine old stained
glass windows. Lights were burning before
the shrine of one single saint, the patron
of the town ; they twinkled dimly through
the Gothic pillars and tracery, and had a
highly picturesque and singular effect*.
Many peasants were kneeling round the
altar at this shrine, and the old woman
(our guide) informed us they were praying
for rain, now the harvest w r as got safely in :
we asked her if she thought the saint would
* The principal beauty of this cathedral is the choir,
and it is also famous for Gobelin tapestry.
SO BEAUVAIS.
grant their prayers, and she replied she
had no doubt but that he would. Prostrate
on the steps of the altars, in the different
small chapels of this cathedral, half lost in
shadow, were several other devotees, who
had come there for the purpose of con-
fessing themselves previous to the great
and solemn festival of the assomption de la
Sainte Vierge, which was to take place on
the morrow. Altogether the spectacle was
interesting and imposing, nor could I find
any disposition in my heart to ridicule a
religion which seemed to be carried on
with so much sacred solemnity, and in so
awe inspiring a temple. Certainly the ab-
sence of pews in the body of a place of
public worship is a great advantage, both
in a religious and a picturesque point of
view. There is something soothing and
elevating to the imagination in the idea of so
grand a building being open equally, and at
all times, to the noble and the peasant, who,
it might easily happen, may be seen side
by side kneeling on the same steps of the
magnificent altar, wrapt in devout adoration
of that Being, in whose sight all men are
BEAUMONT. 31
equal. In my opinion (and I have ever
since I can remember thought the same)
a Gothic cathedral is the most appropriate
style of building for a place dedicated to
the worship of the Almighty, nor can I
look upon the magnificent style in which
the Roman catholics adorn their altars, and
array their officiating priests, without some
feelings of approbation and reverence.
We were right glad to quit Beauvais
early the next morning ; and, as we advanced
towards Beaumont, were delighted with
the beauty of its environs. The river
Seine has a fine appearance here, although
vastly inferior to our Thames ; and we re-
marked a great number of chateaus rising
among the woods, on every side : many
of them, with their parks and domains, were
really superb. Some peasants here attempted
to impose upon us as foreigners, in a very dis-
gusting manner, asking a franc for a couple
of green gages, and three sous a-piece for
pears, which they offered at the windows
of our carriage. Our servant w r as very in-
dignant at their impudence, and sent them
off in a hurry, saying, " Dey ought to be
32 BEAUMONT.
shamed of demselves." Upon entering
Beaumont, we met the population of the
place returning from mass, in their cos-
tumes des fetes. Nothing can well be more
sweetly pretty, and delicately neat, than the
dress of the women ! snowy caps, with deep
lace or thin linon borders plaited, white
cotton gowns and stockings, gay coloured
cotton handkerchiefs crossed smartly over
the bosom so as to display the shape to
advantage, a large gold cross suspended
from the neck by a black narrow riband,
or gold chain, with ear-rings, and pin for
the forehead of the same material. Some
few wore a crimson apron and bib, over the
white gown, and others crimson gowTis,
with aprons of a bright antique sort of blue
a mixture of colours which is for ever
to be remarked in the paintings of the old
masters, and which has a singularly becoming
effect upon the skin. A little worked muslin
jfischu, with a vandyke bordering, is some-
times added, as a finish to the dress, worn
over all.
We now came to St. Denis, and at length
beheld Paris ! We did not pass the heights
PARIS. 33
of Montmartre, &c. without emotion, when
we recollected the memorable contest which
so lately took place there between the ve-
teran Blucher and the French ! The country
in the immediate vicinity of Paris is flat and
ugly ; but we thought not of nature upon
entering this celebrated work and wonder
of art. Covered with dust, and followed
by the eyes of the multitude, who easily
discovered our English physiognomies, we
drove up to several hotels, at every one of
which we were refused admittance for want
of room to accommodate us, there being at
this moment no less than thirty thousand
English at Paris. At last, we were com-
fortably housed at the hotel Rivoli (near the
jar dins des Tuileries), one of the best in
the city, where we found abundant civility
and attention, and every convenience.
Why should I attempt to describe Paris ?
It has already and so often been done by
abler pens than mine, that the very school
girl in a country town in England is per-
fectly acquainted with all its lions ; I shall
only say, that we spent so short a time
there, and I was so afraid of exhausting my
34 PARIS.
stock of strength, which was fully wanted
for the journey to Geneva, &c. that I did
not even attempt to see every thing that
might have been seen.
The extreme height of the houses, and
narrowness of the streets, together with the
inconceivable variety of horrible smells in
all parts of the town, and the want of
pavements for pedestrians, made an ex-
tremely unpleasant impression upon me.
The gaiety and fancy displayed in the signs
over the shops (every one of which has an
emblematic device peculiar to itself) \vere
very striking, however, as well as their mar-
kets, where Pomona seemed to have lavished
the choicest treasures of her horn : indeed
I never beheld such a profusion of exqui-
site fruits and vegetables, the cheapness
of which astonished us natives of a more
niggard clime not a little. The quantities
of cooling and refreshing beverages, sold
in every corner of the streets, were also
quite a novel thing to us, as well as the
circumstance of all the world sitting on
hired chairs out of doors, sipping lemonade,
or eating ices.
PARIS. 35
I did not remark, I must confess, that
appearance of excessive animation and en-
joyment, which I had been led to expect
among the Parisians ; on the contrary, I
saw full as many grave faces as in notre
triste pays, as they call it. The Palais
Royal I thought a very amusing place;
and the fountain in the midst is most beau-
tiful and refreshing, throwing up a stream
of water, which in its descent resembles a
weeping willow. The fountain of the Lions,
also, is still superior, and I think them
among the most agreeable objects in Paris.
The Boulevards are an airy, cheerful situa-
tion, and the moving scene constantly going
on there put me in mind of a perpetual
fair.
The gentlemen went to the Opera Fran-
coise, where the splendour of the ballet,
and the superiority of the dancing, struck
them with astonishment and admiration.
They visited Tivoli (which did not appear
to them to be so good a thing of the sort
as our Vauxhall) ; and I went one evening
to the Beaujon, and les Montaignes Russes,
in les Champs Elysees. Both the latter,
36 PARIS.
however, were shut ; that is, Ho sliding in
the cars was going on, for there had been so
many fatal accidents lately, that the rage
for this amusement was over. I did not
like les Champs Eli/sees so well as our Ken-
sington Gardens ; the want of turf was
unpardonable in our English eyes. La
place de Louis XV., opposite the Tuileries,
where the unfortunate Louis XVI. was
executed, is very superb in itself, as well
as interesting from its melancholy legends.
I was rather disappointed in les jar dins dcs
Tuileries, admiring the fine orange-trees
in tubs there more than the gardens them-
selves. We saw the remains of that horrible
monument of cruelty, injustice, and des-
potism, the Bastile ; and drove past the en-
trance to the celebrated Jar din des plantes,
which we did not enter, as I had already
seen a very fine botanical collection at Kew,
and a much superior set of wild beasts at
Exeter Change.
To the Louvre, however, even in its
present state of diminished splendour, no
words of mine can do justice ; its superb
gallery far exceeded even my expectations,
PARIS. S7
which had been highly excited by all I had
ever heard upon the subject : to see the
paintings properly, one ought to go there
every day for a week. We had only time
particularly to distinguish several land-
scapes of Claude Lorraine, beautiful beyond
all idea, and the set of historical pictures
illustrative of the life of Henri qua Ire, by
Eubens: I was much struck with the fine
countenance and person of the gallant
monarch. A Saint Sebastian also, by Guido,
rivetted my delighted attention. A friend
of ours has painted an exquisite miniature
copy of it, with which I remember being
greatly struck in England, but it was not
until I had seen the original that I was fully
aware of its extraordinary merit. The
gallery itself is a most magnificent thing ; it
really is quite a long fatiguing walk from
one end of it to the other; and the crowds
of people of all ranks who are constantly to
be met with there render it altogether one
of the most curious and interesting spec-
tacles in Europe.
I was much amused with the shops, par-
ticularly the confectioners ; the ingenious
38 PARIS.
and endless devices into which they form
their delicious bon bons and dried fruits
are really surprising, and we purchased speci-
mens of their different fancies, to astonish
our English friends upon our return home.
The vendeurs des tisannes (cooling be-
verages, something like eau de groseilles, or
lemonade), going about with their stock in
trade strapped to their backs like walking
tea-urns, were curious figures. The vessel
which holds the tisanne is not unlike a
long violin case in shape, with a spout to it ;
it finishes at the top like a Chinese pagoda,
and is sometimes covered with little jingling
bells, and hung round with pretty silver
mugs. The dress of the petites bourgeoises
is quite distinct from that of every other
rank of person ; it is rather smart and neat
than otherwise, but not at all picturesque.
I do not remember to have heard a
single note of agreeable music while I was
in Paris, except that which regaled our ears
in an opposite hotel (belonging to Count S.)
the second evening of our arrival. This
nobleman (of an Irish family, but now a
naturalized Frenchman) gave a grand
PARIS.
ner (in a temporary banqueting-room,
built out upon the leads of the house a la
troisieme Stage) to the English ; and, during
the entertainment, his band of musicians
played several pieces, amongst others the
celebrated national air, still dear to the
French, of Vive Henri quatre ; they then
attempted God save the King, but made
a dreadful business of it, which I attribute
less to professional ignorance than to the
impossibility of their being able to feel it,
or to enter into the spirit of it con amore /
The ballad singers (at least all of them that
we had an opportunity of hearing) have harsh
wiry voices and nasal tones ; the latter cir-
cumstance, however, is almost inseparable
from their language. I could not but be
diverted with the espieglerie of the filh de
chambre who attended me at the hotel de
Kivoli : she was ugly, but shrewd, and very
active and civil. I asked her if Count S.
was a young man ; upon which she hopped
round the room in the most ridiculous
manner possible, imitating the action of a
decrepit old person. Jeune ! (said she) oh
mon Dieu, que non ! c'est tin vieux Monsieur
40 PARIS.
qui va toitjours comme cela ! I inquired if
she knew why he gave this fete. Oh,je rien
sais rien, mats, le pauvre homme, il na que
tres peu de temps encore d restre dans ce
monde ci, etje crois quil aime dfaire parler
de lui, avant de partir pour I'autre.
As to the personal charms of the women
here, they appeared to me to be very
mediocre ; we remarked three or four pretty-
faces, but not one that had any claim to
superior beauty. The people were all civil
to us, except one woman, who kept a little
shop for bijouterie in le Palais Royal:
nothing could be more pert and sulky than
her language and manner ; she looked as if
she hated us and our nation altogether,
We heard reports from other English people
residing here, that it was very common for
the lower orders of French to treat us with
marked incivility and dislike ; indeed that
they should do so, under the present cir-
cumstances, ought not to be wondered at.
The bronze statue of Henri quatre was
erecting during our stay ; we passed by the
spot (close to the Pont Neuf), and beheld a
niob assembled around it, with gens d'armes
PARIS. 41
on duty : we did not see the statue itself,
it being at that moment covered with a
purple mantle, studded with golden fleurs
de Its. The various political parties speak
differently of this affair: some say the
brass of the statue will soon be converted
into mortars, and others, that it is built
upon a rock, and will stand for ever ! The
bridges appeared to us all vastly inferior
to ours in London ; that of Waterloo, in
the Strand, makes them shrink into utter
insignificance in comparison ! but the pa-
laces and public buildings are, on the con-
trary, infinitely finer than our own. Nothing
can be more magnificent, or in a more
noble taste ! I was very much amused by
the novelty (totally unknown to ladies in
England) of dining at a restaurateur's.
Curiosity induced me to accompany Mr.
Baillie, and our friend, to V6ry's, and the
next day to Beauvilliers', two of the most
distinguished in the profession in Paris;
and the excellence of the cookery almost
awakened (or rather I should say created)
in me a spirit of gourmandise. There were
a few other ladies present, which was a sort
42 PARIS.
of sanction for me. A Russian or Prussian
officer (by his appearance) sat at one of the
little tables next to us, at Beauvilliers',
and very nearly made me sick by the sight
of his long, thick, greasy moustaches, and
his disgusting habit of spitting every in-
stant upon the floor. I observed that the
French people eat their vegetables (always
dressed with white sauce) after the meat, &c.
and as a sort of dessert or bonne louche
even after they have finished their sweet
dishes: to us this seems an odd custom.
We took our coffee and liqueurs at a Cafe
near the Tuileries, and then, while the
gentlemen went to the opera, I returned to
the hotel, to go on with my journal.
One morning we devoted to an expedition
to the interesting cemetery of Pere de la
Chaise,the celebrated confessor of Louis qua-
torze. The house in which he resided stands
in the midst, and is preserved as a sacred
ruin. Nothing can be more striking, and
affecting to the imagination, than this place
of burial ; it is of considerable extent, with
a well managed relief of shade and inequality
of ground. The tombs and graves are kept
PARIS. 48
in the highest order and repair, and almost
all of them are planted with shrubs and
fragrant flowers, mingled with the mournful
cypress and yew : the acacia tree also is
planted here in great abundance, and the
wild vine trails its broad leaves and graceful
clusters over many of the monuments.
We remarked several beautiful tombs ;
amongst others, a light Gothic temple,
which contains the mouldering remains of
Abelard and Eloise, brought from the former
place of their interment to the present ap-
propriate and lovely situation : their statues
lie side by side carved in stone, in their
religious habits, their heads resting on
cushions, and his feet upon a dog. All
this did him too much honour ; as he was
the most selfish tyrannical lover in the
world, and quite unworthy, in my opinion,
of the attachment of the unfortunate Eloise.
Several of the inscriptions on humbler tombs
were affecting from their brevity and sim-
plicity ; upon that of a man in the prime
of life we read the foUowing short sen-
tence: A la memoire de mon meilleur
ami cctoit mon frere ! On another, Ci
44 PARIS.
git P N ; son epouse perd en ltd Ic
plus tendre de scs amis, et ses enfans un
modele de vertu. And upon one raised by
its parents to the memory of a child, ci git
jiotre Jils cheri ; a little crown of artificial
orange blossoms, half blown, was in a glass-
case at his head. We observed many gar-
lands of fresh and sweet flowers, hung upon
the graves; every tiling marked the ex-
istence of tender remembrance and regret :
it appears to me as if in this place, alone,
the dead were never forgotten. I ought,
however, to make honourable mention of a
similar custom in Wales, A woman was
kneeling upon one of the tombs (which
was overgrown by fragrant shrubs), weeping
bitterly, and I felt a great inclination to
bear her company : the last roses of sum-
mer were still lingering here, and she was
gathering one as we passed. There is a
remarkably fine view of Paris from the
mount on which the house of Pere de la
Chaise stands. I said it was preserved as a
sacred ruin, but I, as a protestant, could
not look with much veneration upon it, as
the residence of the instigator of the re-
PARIS. 45
vocation of the edict of Nantes ; that foul
stain upon the character, and disgrace to
the understanding of le grand Louis, which
will ever be remembered with indignation
by every candid and liberal Christian. But
Protestantism has likewise its bigots, almost
as remorseless, and equally blind ! witness
some sentiments discovered in the dis-
courses of furious Calvin, and John Knox ;
witness the actions of Cromwell, and his
fanatical roundheads ; witness (alas ! in our
own days), the uncharitable and horribly pre-
sumptuous principles and tenets of the Me-
thodists and Saints ! But this is another di-
gression : I return to the view of Paris. It is,
as I said before, extremely fine ; you have a
bird's eye prospect of the whole city, with
the proud towers of Notre Dame eminently
conspicuous, and the gilded dome of I'ho-
pital des Invalides, glittering in the sun.
A word (only one word) relative to the
French custom of gilding so much and so
gaudily ; it quite spoils the dignified effect
of some of their noblest works of architec-
ture, and puts one in mind of a child who
prefers the showy ostentation of gold leaf
46 PARIS.
upon his gingerbread to the more whole-
some taste of its own plain and unorna-
mented excellence. I have met with English
people, however, who are vastly delighted
with this false style of decoration.
Before I take leave of Paris, I ought in
justice to acknowledge that I have not had
an opportunity of enjoying its chief and
proudest attraction ; I mean its hest society.
Our time did not allow of any intercourse
of this nature, and I regretted it much,
because I have always heard (and from
those most capable of judging rightly) that
the tone of conversation in the upper circles
here is remarkably attractive and delight-
ful; and that lovers of good taste, high
breeding, social enjoyment, and literary pur-
suits, would find themselves in Paris en pays
de connoissance. Deprived of this gratifica-
tion, we felt (at least Mr. B. and myself)
no sort of reluctance or regret when the
day of our departure arrived : for our friend
Mr. W. I will not so confidently answer ;
he had been in Paris twice before, had
met with many agreeable people there, and
consequently felt more at home among them.
PARIS. 47
As for me in particular, I can only say
that Paris made no great impression upon
my fancy, and none at all upon my feelings ;
(always excepting the Louvre, the cimetiere
of Pcre de la Chaise^ and one or two other
interesting spectacles) : and that I was, as I
before observed, so overpowered by its in-
conceivably filthy effluvia, and the wretched
inconvenience of its streets (both for walk-
ing and going in a carriage), that I rather
felt an exhilaration of spirits than otherwise
when we finally bade it adieu.
On the morning of our departure it
rained a good deal, and our postilh'on had
taken care to fence himself against the
weather ; for he had disguised himself in a
long shaggy dress of goats' skins, bearing a
very accurate resemblance to the prints of
Robinson Crusoe. We observed this done
by others, more than once. The horses
had little bells fastened to their harness;
which practice is very common, we were
told, both in France and Italy. All the
roads in the former, and most of them in
the latter country, are good ; wide, smooth,
and generally paved in the middle, which
48 FROMENTEAU.
has a noisy effect, but it renders the draught
for horses much easier than the road, in
wet weather, or when they work in very
heavy carriages, Avenues are general ; they
improve the face of the country when seen
at a distance, but are monotonous and tire-
some in themselves. I used formerly to
admire roads leading though avenues, but
it is possible to have too much of this.
Between Villejuif and Fromenteau we ob-
served a pillar on the left with the following
chivalrous inscription ; Dieu, h Roi, les
Dames ! I was going to rejoice in this ap-
parent proof of the gallant spirit of the na-
tion, but I recollected the celebrated words
of Burke, in his letter upon the French re-
volution, and sighed as I involuntarily re-
peated, "The age of chivalry is no more."
Just beyond Fromenteau, the country
is really fine : woods, villages, chateaus
were in abundance, and the river Seine ap-
peared to much advantage; we remarked
two stone fountains, one on each side of
the road, with the fleurs de Us engraved
upon them, built by Louis XV. The
French mile-stones here have quite a clas-
ESSONE. 49
sical air, resembling broken columns ; they
are not properly mile-stones, but serve to
mark the half leagues.
At Essone, where we changed horses,
the postillion came out in a white night-cap
(or rather a cap which once had boasted
that title of purity), loose blue trowsers
reaching scantily below the knee, and sans
shoes or stockings of any sort : upon seeing
that his services were wanted, he threw on
an old japan hat, jumped into his jack
boots, and clawing up the reins, drove off
with an air of as much importance and self
satisfaction as the smartest-clad post-boy
on the Epsom road during the race week.
In the stubble fields near Fontainbleau,
we observed great quantities of partridges.
The shepherds here sleep in li ttle moveable
houses or huts, upon wheels, somewhat in-
ferior to a good English dog-kennel. At
Chailly, we saw the Virgin Mary looking out
of a round hole in the wall, and not at all
more dignified in her appearance than the
well-known hero of Coventry. We now ex-
changed our driver for a spirited old gentle-
man, who frolicked alongbeneaththe burthen
50 FONTAINBLEAU.
of threescore or more, seeming to bid de-
fiance to the whole collection of pains and
HH's (vide Kemble's classical pronuncia-
tion). Perhaps, reader, I do not make my
meaning perfectly clear ; but that does not
signify, the first authors write in this way ;
and besides, I know what I mean myself,
which is not always the case even with them.
We remarked in the course of our journey
a great number of similar merry Nestors,
and found, almost invariably, that they
drove us faster, better, and in a superior
style altogether to their younger com-
petitors. I suppose they have a sort of
pride in thus displaying their activity,
which a middle-aged man does not feel.
We entered the superb forest of Fon-
tainbleau just as the day began to decline ;
the sombre gloom and peculiar smell of
the leaves were very agreeable. I have ever
loved forest scenery, and would prefer a
constant residence in its vicinity to that of
mountain, lake, or plain: the trees here
were chiefly beech, mixed with silver pop-
lars, birch, and a few oaks. How was it
possible to thread these mazes without
FONTAINBLEAU, 51
thinking of Henri quatre, and his famous
hunting adventure in the miller's hut? I
almost expected to see the stately shade of
the noble monarch start from each shadowy
dell. Methought the sullen, yet faithful
Sully, emerged from the dark glades on the
opposite side, seeking in vain for the be-
nighted sovereign ; and venting his affec-
tionate inquietudes in the language of ap-
parent severity and ill humour. I thought
but it does not matter what more I thought,
in which opinion I dare say my reader will
fully agree with me. We arrived at our
inn (la Galere), and well did it deserve
that name, for never poor slave chained to
the bench and oar suffered more severely
from the merciless lash of his task-master
than I did from the tormenting tyranny of
the bugs, which swarmed in this detestable
place. There was no sitting-room imme-
diately ready for our reception, so we sat
down in the old, lofty, smoke-stained kitchen,
and amused ourselves with observing the
progress of our supper, in company with a
very sociable little dog, (who took a great
fancy to me,) and Monsieur le Chef, an
i: 2
52 FONTAINBLEAU.
appropriate name, invariably given to the
cook in most parts of the Continent.
When we retired to rest for the night,
no words can express the disgust which
assailed us: finding it impossible to re-
main in bed, I was obliged to He in the
middle of the room, upon six hard, worm-
eaten, wooden chairs, whose ruthless angles
ran into my wearied frame, and rendered
every bone sore before morning ; but even
this did not save me, for the vermin as-
cended by the legs of the chairs, and really
almost eat me up, as the rats did Southey's
Bishop Hatto*. My imagination for several
days after this adventure was so deeply
saturated with their nauseous idea, that
every object brought them in some way or
other before me*.
Upon quitting Fontainbleau, we first
observed the sabots (or wooden shoes) worn
by the peasantry ; they are of enormous
size, and must, I should think, be very
heavy and inconvenient to the wearer. A
piece of sheep-skin, with the woolly side in-
* Vide Southey's Miscellaneous Poems.
MORET. 53
wards, is often slipt between the sabot and
the foot, to prevent the former from ex-
coriating the instep.
At Moret, a dirty little town, we saw a
whole row of women washing linen in the
river ; they were in a kneeling position, and
beat the clothes with a wooden mallet;
they ought all to be provided with hus-
bands from among the linen drapers, as
they are such admirable helps to the trade.
We met several donkeys here, carrying
rushes, piled up like moving houses, so
high, that only the heads and hoofs of the
animals were visible. Vast tracts of land,
covered with vineyards, extended on every
side, and the eternal straight road, where
one could see for three or four miles the
track one was to follow, began to be ex-
cessively tedious and wearing to the spirits :
how different from the winding, undulating,
graceful roads in England!
Country near Pont sur Yonne open, bald,
and monotonous. The French vineyards
when seen closely have a formal effect, being
planted in stiff rows, like scarlet runners
in a kitchen garden, but they much enrich
54 SENS.
the landscape at a distance. The river
Yonne is a pretty little stream, but the
nymphs on its banks are not at all pic-
turesque in their costume, which is by no
means particularly marked, being dirty and
unbecoming, and very much (I am ashamed
to say) in the style of our common country-
women about Brentford, Hammersmith, &c.
Sens is an ancient town : it has a handsome
cathedral and gateway. The bread made
here (as weh 1 as in most parts of France, ex-
cept partiaUy in Paris) is mixed with leaven
instead of yeast, and is sour and disagreeable
in consequence. We remarked many gar-
dens richly cultivated, full of choice vege-
tables and fruit, by the side of the high-
road, without the smallest inclosure ; a
proof, I should imagine, of the honesty of
the country people. There are several
English families resident here, as the envi-
rons are very pretty, and the town itself an
agreeable one. We stopped to take our
breakfast at la Poste, and bought excellent
grapes for four-pence a pound English
money. The late Dauphin, father of the
present king, is buried in the cathedral of
SENS. 55
this place, and the duke and duchess d'An-
gouleme, &c. come once a year to pray for
his soul'& repose.
Pursuing our route, we met many Bur-
gundy waggons, loaded with wine; the
horses were ornamented with enormous
collars of sheep-skin^ dyed of a bright blue
colour : the tout cjisemble had a picturesque
appearance, and the waggons were the first
we had seen in France which had four wheels,
the weight being usually balanced between
a pair. A sudden storm of rain now coming
on, had a beautiful effect; the retreating
sunbeams played in catching lights (to
use the expression of an artist) upon the
abrupt points of the distant hills, and par-
tially illuminated their soft and verdant
tapestry of vines. We particularly enjoyed
it after the long season of heat and drought.
Here are whole groves of walnut-trees, be-
neath which we met a group of five women
belonging to the vineyards ; they were
every one handsome, with ruddy, whole-
some, yet sun-burnt complexions, lively
smiles, and long bright dark eyes and
shadowy lashes.
56 JOIGNY.
Entered Villeneuve sur Yonne ; saw loads
of charcoal on the river, going to replenish
the kitchens of many a Parisian Helioga-
balus ! this is also an ancient town, with
two curious old gateways, but it appeared
very dull. I admired some fine hedges of
acacia, and four pretty, sleek, grey donkeys,
who were drawing the plough. The road
is winding here, like those of our own
country, for which we were solely indebted
to the turns of the river, whose course it
accompanied.
Joigny; A handsome stone bridge seems
its most remarkable ornament: the river
is broad and fine; flowing through steep
banks fringed with wood. We dined and
slept at les Cinq Mineurs, and this in the
same room. A most obliging, intelligent,
young woman waited upon us, whose name
was Veronique. After dinner we walked
on the promenade by the side of the river,
and saw the barracks, &c. My friends met
with a little adventure in their rambles,
while I was resting myself at the inn.
Seeing a pretty little boy and his sister at
play near the chateau, (belonging to the
JOIGNY. 57
ancient counts of Joigny,) they entered into
conversation with them, upon which they
were joined by the father of the children,
a French country gentleman, who resided
in a small house opposite the chateau : he
insisted upon their coming in with him,
and as the dinner was ready, much wished
to tempt them to partake the meal : this
they declined, and their new acquaintance
proceeded to shew them his collection of
pictures, de tres bons morcdaux^ as he called
them, but which did not rank quite so high
in the estimation of his visitors. He uninten-
tionally displayed, however, a much more
pleasing possession ; I mean that of an
amiable and grateful disposition, for he said
in the course of conversation, that he was
always on the watch for an opportunity of
shewing hospitality and attention to the
English, as some little return for the kind-
ness he had experienced from their na-
tion, during a visit he had formerly made
to his brother in Dorsetshire ; this brother
was one of the monks of the order of La
Trappe, a small number of whom had been
collected together, and who lived, in their
58 JOIGNV.
former habits of monastic gloom and aus-
terity, at Lulworth castle in that county,
under the protection of an English catholic
(Mr. Weld), during the French revolution.
He related some interesting anecdotes of
this severe establishment ; in particular,
that of an Austrian general of high rank,
who after enrolling himself a member of
the community, and living some .years in
the practice of incredible hardships and
privations, at length permitted his tongue
to reveal his name and family, about ten
minutes previous to his dissolution ; faith-
ful to the vow which is common to them
all, of not speaking until the moment of
death. I was not aware that such an in-
stitution existed in England, till this French
gentleman related the circumstance, and it
strengthened the sensations of mixed horror
and pity, which I have ever felt for the
victims of fanaticism, in every shape and
in every degree. How incredible does it
appear, (in the judgment of reasonable
beings) that mortals should imagine the
benevolent Author of Mature can possibly
take pleasure in a mode of worship which
JOIGNY. 59
restricts his creatures from the enjoyment
of those comforts and innocent pleasures
with which life abounds, and for which he
has so peculiarly adapted their faculties !
Shall all created beings express their sense
of existence in bursts of involuntary cheer-
fulness and hilarity of spirit, and man
alone offer up his adorations with a brow
of gloom, and a heart withered by slavish
sensations of fear and alarm ? but enough
upon so sacred a subject.
On returning to their inn, the gentlemen
met several teams of oxen, decorated with
pretty high bonnets (d la cauchoise) made
of straw: the natives here seem to take great
pride and pleasure in the accoutrements of
their cattle. An English family arrived at
the Cinq Mineurs at the same time with
ourselves ; they were weh 1 known in Lori-
don as people of some consequence and
property. Their sensations on passing
through France were widely different from
ours, as they described themselves to have
been thoroughly disgusted with every body
and every thing they saw ; had met with
nothing but cheating and imposition among
60 AUXERRE.
the people ; and had not been able to ob-
serve any pretty country, or interesting
objects en route yet they had gone over
exactly the same ground that we had done.
As they sometimes traveUed all night, I
conclude they slept the whole or greater
part of the time ; but there are more ways
than one of going through the world with
the eyes shut.
In the neighbourhood of Joigny, (on the
other side of the town,) there is a great
quantity of hemp grown ; and all the trees
are stripped up to the tops, like those in
many parts of Berkshire, where the graceful
is frequently sacrificed to the useful : they
had a very ugly effect.
Approaching Auxerre, the cathedral looks
handsome ; there are three churches besides.
The first view of Burgundy is not pre-
possessing ; nothing but tame-looking hills,
with casual patches of vines ; the river,
however, is a pretty object, and continues
to bestow a little life upon the landscape.
The same absence of costume continues. At
Auxerre, we breakfasted at I'hotcl du Leo-
pard ; the vines were trained over the
AUXERRE. 61
house with some degree of taste, and took
off from the air of forlorn discomfort
which the foreign inns so frequently ex-
hibit. I was rather surprised at being
ushered into the same room with a fine
haughty-looking peacock, a pea-hen, and
their young broood ; they did not seem at
all disconcerted at my entrance, but con-
tinued stalking gravely about, as if doing
the honors of the apartment. The salle d
manger was in a better go&t (although
not hah so comfortable) than most of our
English parlours ; the walls were papered
with graceful figures from stories of the
pagan mythology and bold, spirited land-
scapes in the back ground, coloured in
imitation of old bistre drawings ; the crazy
sopha and arm chair were covered with rich
tapestry, of prodigiously fine colours, yet
somewhat the worse for wear. This was our
first Burgundy breakfast, and it evinced the
luxuriance of the country, for it consisted
(as a thing of course) of black and white
grapes, melons, peaches, greengages, and
pears, to which were added fresh eggs by
the dozen, good cafe an lait, and creaming
62 AUXERRE.
butter just from the churn, with the cruci-
fix stamped upon it. At all French de-
je lines they ask if you do not choose fruit,
and at dinner it is in variably brought to table
in the last course, with a slice of cheese as
part of the dessert. Mr. Baillie was not
well, and starved like Tantalus in the midst
of plenty, which was very unlucky.
Bonaparte on his return from Elba oc-
cupied this apartment; and the postillion
who drove us was one of those who ren-
dered the same service to him : we had also
a pair of the same horses which aided in
conveying him on towards Paris. He
passed two days here, waiting for his small
army of five thousand men to come up with
him, as his speed greatly outran theirs.
He had six horses to his travelling carriage,
and gave each postillion ten francs a piece ;
" Mafoi /" (said ours in relating the circum-
stance) " nous avons bien galoppe ! quand on
nous paye si bien, les chevaux ne sefatiguent
jamais /" There was some honesty as well as
wit in this avowal.
Quitting Auxerre, we passed a large stone
cistern, with a cross on the top; several
VERMANTOX. 68
loaded donkeys were drinking here, and
some women washing clothes ; it was altoge-
ther a picturesque group, and singular to an
English eye. Vineyards, vineyards, vine-
yards ! toujours perdrix ! I was quite tired of
them at last. The country, however, now
became much more hilly, and we used the
drag-chain, for the first time, between Saint
Bris and Vermanton ; these hills were
richly covered with vines, and woods began
to appear, in the form of thick dwarfish
oak.
Vermanton. This place is famed for
wood and wine. We saw the paysannes
here in deep gipsy straw hats, the first we
had beheld in France among this class of
people ; for even in Paris, the petites bour-
geoises, as weh 1 as the countrywomen, all
walk about in caps, or the French handker-
chief tied carelessly round the head. The
country from hence again changed much
for the worse, barren hills extended for
several miles, now and then covered with
partial spots of vegetation.
Close to the town of Avalon, we re-
marked a range of hills, one of which is of
64 AVALON.
great height, called Montmartre. We
here bid adieu for some time to vine-
yards. Large extensive woods surround
Avalon, from which the greater part of the
fuel burnt in Paris is taken. Flocks of
sheep were continually passing, numbers of
black ones, and some goats always among
them. There seemed to be few pigs any
where, and all of them were frightfully
lean : " as fat as a pig" is a term of reproach
for which I have ever entertained a parti-
cular aversion, but I am now convinced
that these beasts are much more disgusting
when deprived of their natural embonpoint.
I fancy the French people make too good
a use themselves of what we should call
the refuse of the kitchen, to have any to
spare for the necessities of these their four-
footed brethren. We now came into the
neighbourhood of widely extended corn-
fields fields I ought not to call them, for
there are no inclosures. We saw an old woman
at a cottage door, with a distaff in her
hand ; the first I had ever seen except in
a picture. She was a withered, grim-looking
crone, but not quite sublime enough for
ROUVRAY. 65
one of Gray's " fatal sisters." Scene the
next, a pretty, green, tranquil glen, (where
cattle were making the most of the un-
usually rich pasturage,) bounded by a steep
bank, and copse wood; not unlike some
spots in Surrey.
We drove on, through a shady wood, to
Rouvray, passing on the road crowds of wag-
gons drawn by oxen, loaded with empty wine
casks, preparatory to the vintage, which was
expected to be very fine this season : the
waggoners almost ah 1 wore cocked hats, and
we remarked that the oxen were yoked by
the head. We met a diligence drawn by four
mules, and observed many beautiful trees of
mountain ash, with their bright clusters of
scarlet berries, by the side of the highway.
Stopping for a few moments at la Roche
en Berney, we joined a group of the most
respectable bourgeoisie, (men and women,)
sitting with the hostess on a bench at her
door. They all rose up to salute us, and
the men stood sans chapeau as we passed,
with an agreeable expression of civil good
will upon every countenance. Some of the
ladies had little French dogs under their
66 SAULIEU.
arms. The country near this place is
covered with wood, yet has notwithstand-
ing a monotonous character; these woods
however are worthy of remark, from their
extent and duration, continuing on all sides
without interruption for many miles.
We now arrived at Saulieu, where we
supped and slept at la Poste. It was quite in
the cottage style, which we all rather liked
than not : we had a cheerful little wood fire
at night (as the weather felt chilly), and sat
round it talking of the adventures of the day,
until the hour of repose. This town stands
upon the highest ground in France; the
snow was never entirely off the neighbouring
woods during the whole of the last winter :
vineyards will not flourish in so bleak a
situation, and other fruits are very scarce.
The hostess was a most loyal personage,
for upon my observing a bust of Henri
quatre over the chimney, and saying he
was truly the father of his people, she ex-
claimed, Oui, Madame ! mais a present nous
avons aussi des rois qui font le bonhenr de
leurs sujets. The costume here still con-
tinues undecided, and devoid of taste.
SAULIEU. 67
Two very pretty, modest, rustic lasses waited
upon us, named Marie and Lodine. Lodine
was a brunette, with an arch, dimpled,
comical little face, (round as an apple, and
equally glowing,) teeth white as snow, and
regular as a set of pearls ; but I rather
preferred the opposite style of Marie, who
was slighter in her person, graver, and whose
long dark eyes and penciled brows alone
gave lustre and expression to an oval face,
and a pale yet clear and fine grained skin :
these eyes, however, were not so often illu-
minated by bright flashes of innocent gaiety
as those of Lodine, but they made amends
by the length and beauty of their soft black
lashes. Lodine's admiration was prodigiously
excited by my English ear-rings, and rings,
&c. She took them up one by one to ex-
amine, and exclaimed frequently that she
had never seen such beautiful things in her
life. Poor little rustic ! I hope no unprin-
cipled traveller will ever take advantage of
thy simplicity and love of finery, and per-
suade thee to exchange for toys of a similar
description the precious jewels of inno-
cence and good fame. Mr. W. went into
SAULIEU.
the market the next morning, before either
Mr. Baillie or myself were up, and remarked
that almost every woman there was well
looking ; he ( also saw some really beautiful
girls among them. There are two neat
churches here. The swarms of beggars
which assailed us at every town, in this
part of the country, were positively quite
annoying; their bold and sturdy importu-
nity made me recollect, with regret, the
sensitive delicacy of Sterne's poor " Monk,"
and wish that they were as easily repulsed !
Had this been the case, I dare say we
should have given them every sous in our
possession ; but, as it was, I never felt less
difficulty in steeling my ears and my heart.
The face of nature seemed like a map,
the road was upon such elevated ground.
But leaving Saulieu, our route was agree-
ably varied by a continual alternation of
hill and dale; the foreground rocky, en-
livened with purple heath and furze. We
frequently made the remark, that we had
not yet seen a single cottage which could
be called pretty since we landed at Calais ;
and the lovely and picturesque hamlets of
PIERRE ECRITE. 69
the Isle of Wight, the neighbourhood of
the Xew Forest, and of parts of Surrey,
returned upon my imagination in all their
force. There are woods of dwarf oak near
this place, beyond which we caught, for
the first time during our tour, the view of a
mountain in the horizon. We changed horses
at Pierre Ecrite, where we met with a postil-
lion who was a living image of Don Quixote.
I, who am such an enthusiastic admirer
of the latter, could willingly have given a
double fee for the pleasure I took in con-
templating his faithful resemblance; the
loose shamoy leather doublet, brown beaver
Spanish-looking flapped hat; long, black,
greasy hair, hanging in strings about his
scraggy neck and doleful visage ; the wild,
eager, prominent, dark eyes, &c. all was
complete ! The French drivers differ in
many particulars from ours ; in one respect
alone there is a wide line of demarcation.
The former talk a good deal (en route) to
their horses, while the latter confine them-
selves to the mute eloquence of the whip
and spur.
The country now assumes a totally new
70 AUTUN.
character. The hills rise into the dignity
of mountains, and are entirely barren, save
in the immediate vicinity of a li ttle valley
or two which smiles between them, when
their rough granite sides are clothed with
partial underwood ; these valleys have a ver-
dant and cultivated effect, from being well
wooded, and also from the unusual practice
of inclosing the fields with hedges. In-
deed the whole scene for three or four
miles before you come to Autun is bold,
rich, and beautiful. We were told that the
people here and in the South of France
were (generally speaking) extremely well-
disposed towards the Bourbon government,
disliking the remembrance of Bonaparte.
Autun, an ugly town, yet most roman-
tically situated at the foot of three moun-
tains covered with superb woods. Here
are some fine gateways of Corinthian archi-
tecture, baths, and a cathedral. We went
to look at the latter, and saw several women
there telling their beads, who cast an eye
of curiosity upon us in the midst of their
devotions, while their fingers and lips con-
tinued to move with great rapidity. I
AUTUN. 71
peeped into several vacant confessionals,
which resembled little sentry-boxes, par-
titioned into two apartments, in one of
which there is a seat for the priest, and in
the other a grated aperture through which
the penitent breathes his communications.
The tomb of the president Jennin and
his wife is shewn here. It was, I believe,
concealed during the fury of the revolution,
in common with many similar and sacred
curiosities. He was one of Henri quatres
ministers, and a man much esteemed by
that sovereign. He cannot have a higher
professional eulogium. The costume both of
the president and his dame is quaint in
the extreme, and the length of her waist is
quite ridiculous. Our inn (la poste) was
comfortable and reasonable. For five francs
a-head, they sent us up for dinner (I will
for once say what we had for dinner) some
capital soup au ris, a magnificent jack, a
duck stewed with pickles, a fowl, white and
delicate as those of Dorking, a ragout of
sweetbreads in brown sauce, a large dish of
craw-fish, potatoes drest d la maitre d'hotel,
Guyere cheese, and four baskets of fruit,
72 AUTUN.
The latter evinced the coldness of the
climate here, for the peaches were diminu-
tive, crude, and colourless^ the grapes rather
sour, and the cherries hard, tough, and not
bigger than black currants.
Leaving Autun, we passed over a very
steep granite mountain of that name,
covered in the most luxuriant profusion
with trees of every sort, but chiefly oak :
the road wound round the sides till it
reached nearly the summit of this mountain
in graceful sweeps. It rained during our
ascent, and the groups of women emerging
at intervals from the woody recesses in the
steeps above us, with their gay coloured
cotton handkerchiefs held over their white
caps, to shelter them from the scudding
shower, looked highly picturesque. The
male costume here becomes marked ; it con-
sists of a very large black hat, (with a low
crown and an enormous breadth of brim,)
round which is sometimes worn a string of
red and white beads; a dark blue linen
jacket and trowsers, coloured waistcoat,
white shirt, with a square deep collar thrown
open at the throat, and sabots. We could
AUTUJT. 73
plainly hear the babbling of the brook
which runs among these sylvan retreats.
My husband gathered me some blackber-
ries in the woods, and I longed to accom-
pany him in his rambles, instead of remain-
ing in the carriage. Altogether it was the
most romantic scene I had ever beheld, and
my exclamations of admiration reaching the
ears of the postillion, (who was easing his
horses by walking by their side) he came
up to the window, to ask me if I had
ever seen such a beautiful thing in my own
country? I assured him I had not, and he
graciously added that he would shew me sL
very grand plain also in a few minutes.
Our Swiss attendant, however, (Christian)
did not seem to approve of all these com-
mendations, and could not refrain from
throwing out a hint, that we should see much
finer things in his country. This mountain
is covered with wild strawberries in the
season. Bonaparte intended to have made
a wider road through it, had not the Fates
thought proper to cut short his plans when
he least expected it. The view of the pro-
mised plain was fertile as that of Canaan ;
74 AUTUN.
the glimpses of it caught occasionally
through the openings of the rocks were
charming. I liked the national pride of
the postillion ; applied thus to the beauties
of nature, it had almost a character of re-
finement : he was a good-humoured, merry-
looking, ugly fellow, who seemed as if he
had never known a care in his life ; but (the
truth must be told) he was a great ad-
mirer of Bonaparte, and said he should live
and die in the hope of his return. He had
laid by his green jacket and badge in his
box, thinking it not impossible that he
might want to wear it again one day ; at
all events he trusted to see the young son
upon the throne, and spoke of him with
much affectionate emotion. Bonaparte had
been driven by this man (upon his flight
from Elba,) and this puts me in mind, that
I omitted to mention the circumstance of
my having slept in the same bed which he
then occupied at Autun ; I think he must
have left his troubled spirit behind him,
for my dreams were perturbed and melan-
choly in the greatest degree! There are
plenty of wolves and wild boars in this
ST. EMILAN. 75
neighbourhood ; five of the latter were killed
the week before. I expected to have met
with gipsies, but neither here, nor in any
other part of the continent, had we yet en-
countered one of the race.
At St. Emilan, (a small village) we stopt
to breakfast: it was a merry, cheerful
meal. We sat round the blazing faggots in
the cottage kitchen of la Poste, and boiled
our eggs in a vessel which I believe was
an old iron shaving pot ; the milk (for our
coffee) was served up in a large earthen
tureen, with a pewter ladle ; and the cups
were of a dirty yeUow cracked ware, that I
am sure my cook would not suffer to be
exhibited in her scullery. The bread was
sour, and so was the fruit, but I never re-
member to have enjoyed a breakfast more
thoroughly ; so true is it, that hunger is the
best sauce. The host (seeing that we were
English) asked if we would not choose our
pain to be grilU? and was proceeding to
broil it accordingly, instead of toasting it,
if we had not preferred the loaf in its na-
tural state. We were somewhat surprised
at seeing a print over the chimney of Dr.
76 ST. EMILAN.
Nicholas Saunderson, Professor of Astro-
nomy at Cambridge. An obscure village
kitchen in the heart of France was the last
place where one would have expected to
have found such a thing. The hostess had
bought it many years since at a sale of the
property of the celebrated Buffon.
Seeing some cows ploughing in the fields
here, which was what we had never before
witnessed, our servant Christian gave us an
account of the manner of conducting that
operation in Switzerland ; " de only dif-
ference is (said he) dat dere de cows be all
oxes" The costume of the paysannes is
very picturesque ; a straw hat, of the gipsy
form, and large as an umbrella, rather short
petticoat, gay coloured handkerchief, deep
bordered white cap, and sabots. The land-
scape was rather pretty for some distance
beyond St. Emilan.
We now began to meet with vineyards
again, as we descended from these bleak
and elevated regions. A brook wound
through the lowlands, fringed with willows,
by means of which we could as usual trace
its course for miles. I forgot to mention
ST. EMILAN. 77
the cajoleries made use of by a set of little
beggar children, the preceding day. The
white beaver hats worn by my husband and
Mr. W. struck their fancy not a little, and
they ran after the carriage with incredible
perseverance, calling out, Vivent les chapeaux
blancs ! Vivent lesjolis messieurs ! vive lajolie
dame ! vive le joli carrosse / vive le roi,
et vive le bon Dieu ! We were engaged in
lamenting the drawback of a goitre (or
swelling in the throat) to the beauty of a
very pretty woman, whom we had just seen,
when in going down a steep hill we met
with an accident, which might have been
serious. The harness (made of old ropes)
suddenly broke, one of the horses fell
down, the postillion was thrown off, and
the other horses continuing to trot on
without stopping, we felt the carriage go
over some soft substance, which we con-
cluded to be the person of their unfortu-
nate driver. Both the gentlemen invo-
luntarily exclaimed " he is killed !" when
we were relieved by seeing him running by
the side of the animals, very little the worse
78 ST. EMILAN.
for his fall. The poor horse was the greatest
sufferer, as the wheels went twice over his
neck ! however, even he was not much hurt,
and was able to rise and go on with his
work in a few seconds. The great creature
in the middle was an old, scrambling, wilful
beast, who liked his own way, and I believe
he would never have stopt, had not his
bridle been seized by a man in the road.
I was very much alarmed for the moment,
and so I rather suspect was our trusty
valet, who presented himself at the door to
inquire if " Madame was frighted," with a
face as white as his own neckcloth. This
con tret ems would not have occurred had
we not changed our horses and postillion
a few moments before it happened, with
those belonging to another carriage which
we met on the way. The country con-
tinued rather pretty, and was also inclosed ;
were it not for the vineyards, it wculd be
like many parts of England. We saw a
little insignificant chateau or two, and that
reminds me of the very dull effect of all the
houses in France when seen from a distance
CHALONS. 79
they have universally the air of being
shut up, owing to the jalousies being
painted white instead of green.
Chalons sur Saone ; rather a pretty town :
there is a stone fountain here, with a statue
of Neptune, well executed. We stopt at
the hotel du Pare, a reasonable and tolerably
well appointed inn, though by no means
deserving of the pompous commendation
bestowed upon it in the printed Tourist's
Guide, where it is mentioned as being the
best in France. Mr. W. suffered some
annoyance from bugs, which I must ever
consider as great drawbacks to comfort.
We were attended at dinner by the first
male waiter we had seen since leaving
Paris, from which Chalons is about two
hundred miles distant. The people in the
town stared at and followed us about in
rather a troublesome manner; I believe
they were attracted by the white hats, and
my travelling cap, so different from any of
their own costumes.
People talk a great deal about the warmth
of the South of France, but all I can say is,
that as soon as we approached it, we ordered
80 CHALONS.
fires, while we had left our countrymen in
frigid England fainting with heat ! I may
as well indulge myself in a few more de-
sultory remarks while I am about it, par-
ticularly as our narrative just now is rather
bare of incident. The first is, the great
inferiority of the French cutlery to ours :
all their knives are extremely coarse and
bad; and with regard to the forks and
spoons (both of which, to do them justice,
are almost always of silver), they do not
seem ever to have come in contact with a
bit of whiting or a leather rubber since
they were made ! Plate-powder of course is
an unknown invention here. How would
our butlers at home (so scrupulously nice in
the arrangement of their sideboard) have
stared, could they have beheld these shabby
appurtenances of a foreign dinner table !
They are not less behind-hand also with re-
spect to the locks of their doors, all of which
are wretchedly finished, even in their best
houses. Their carriages are generally ugly,
shabby, badly built, and inelegant; and
they have some domestic customs (existing
even in the midst of the utmost splendor
TOURNUS. 81
and refinement,) which are absolutely re-
volting to the imagination of an English
person, and to which no person who knows
what real cleanliness and comfort means,
could ever be reconciled ; but the French
are, beyond all doubt, an innately filthy
race, with them I'apparenee is all in all.
Leaving Chalons sur Saone, we observed
large fields planted with Turkey wheat,
called here Turquie ; they mix it with other
flour in their bread. There is nothing
but barren stubble for a length of way, and
we should have found the prospect ex-
cessively wearying and tiresome, had not a
bold hill or two in the distance afforded a
slight degree of relief. We saw a man
sowing among the stubble, which they
plough up after the seed is sown, thereby
saving the labour of the harrow ; the prac-
tice-is not general, however.
About three miles from Tournus, we
ascended a very steep hill, covered with
underwood and vines, and were refreshed
by the sight of a little pasture land. From
the summit a surprisingly fine country
burst upon us the river Saone leading its
82 TOURNUS.
tranquil waters through a rich plain, the
town of Tournus with its bridge and spires,
and the chain of Alpine mountains bounding
the distant horizon, were altogether charm-
ing; the latter appeared like a continued
ridge of gray clouds, Mont Blanc tower-
ing far above them all. We formed some
idea of the magnitude of this hoary giant
from the circumstance of our being able
thus to see him at the distance of a hun-
dred and fifty miles ! He looked, however,
like a thin white vapour, rising amid the
lovely blue of the summer sky.
At Tournus, where we stopt to break-
fast, the maitresse de la maison was a very
pretty woman, but I cannot praise her
taste in china ware ; the cups she set before
us were of a most disgusting shape and
material, and of enormous proportions ;
they resembled our coarse red flowerpots
glazed, and it was with difficulty that I
could prevail upon myself to taste the tea
or coffee (I forget which) that they con-
tained. The women in this neighbourhood
wear a singular head-dress, a black beaver
hat, of the size and form of a small soup
MACON. 83
plate, placed flat upon the crown of the
head, with three long knots of broad black
riband, hanging down, one behind, and
one on each side the face. They have a
little white cap, called la coquette, under
this, with a coarse open lace border, stand-
ing stiff off the temples, something like that
of Mary, Queen of Scots. This place is cele-
brated for its pretty women, and we re-
marked many ourselves. I took a hasty
sketch of one as we changed horses. There
is a great quantity of hemp grown here.
The weather now began to be intensely
hot ; and we did not wonder at this, as we
were in the same latitude as that of Verona
and Venice. The former chill, which I
mentioned upon first approaching the south
of France, was quite an accidental circum-
stance, partly induced by our being at that
time upon extremely high ground, whereas
the temperature of the valleys is very dif-
ferent.
We saw the peasants making ropes by the
side of the road ; one man carried a distaff
in his hand, much bigger than a large stable
broom. I bought of a villa geoise at Macon
84 MACOX.
one of the little hats and caps before men-
tioned. She attempted to impose upon me
as to the price ; but I do not consider this
at all as a national trait. I am afraid an
English countrywoman would have been
equally anxious to make the best bargain
she could, fairly or otherwise ! The cap
was really very becoming, even to my Bri-
tish features. I saw in one of the cottages
a loaf of their bread: it was extremely
coarse, and as flat, round, and large as a
table. There is a grand chain of moun-
tains on the right, called the Charolais.
We again observed cows ploughing in the
fields : they had aU a curious head-dress, a
sort of veil or network, to preserve them
from the flies, like the military bridles of
our dragoon horses. Most of the cattle
hereabouts (and we had seen quantities)
were of a cream colour. The country is
luxuriant, full of chateaux, fertile, and cul-
tivated, more so than any we had yet ob-
served, and it is allowed to be the finest part
of France. Mr. W. examined the nature
of the soil, and found it fat and rich in the
highest degree. I must once more repeat
MACON. 85
my admiration of the frequent and great
beauty of the young children in this coun-
try, more particularly in these parts. I
saw several with cheeks like the sunny side
of a peach ; little, round, plump faces, and
delicately chiselled features, with a profu-
sion of luxuriant hair hanging in natural
ringlets upon their shoulders : the mere
babies also are very interesting. The pa-
rents throughout France are remarkable
for love of offspring*.
About three or four miles from Macon
you enter the department of the Macon-
nais, and afterwards that of the Jura (so
called from the mountains of the same
name), but formerly known by that of the
Lyonnais. We saw at St. George de Ro-
gnains a most beautiful woman, a mllageoise;
her proportions were fine, and rather full ;
her face very much in the style of our well-
known English belles, Lady O. and Mrs.
L. ; but she was not so large as either of
them. She wore the usual costume of her
native place, which was more peculiarly
* Vide Spurzhuim's Craniology.
86 VILLEFRANCHE.
marked in the cap. It is extremely be-
coming, and pretty in itself. I know not
how to describe it exactly; but it is flat
upon the crown, with a good deal of coarse
transparent lace, like wings, full every
where but on the brow, across which it is
laid low and plain, in the style of some an-
tique pictures I remember to have seen.
This superb woman's fine features set it off
amazingly* She also wore a flowered cot-
ton gown (of gay colours upon a dark
ground), a crimson apron and bib, with a
white handkerchief. What a charming
portrait would Sir Thomas Lawrence have
made of her, and how she would astonish
the amateurs of beauty in England, were
she suddenly to appear among them ! I
am thus particular in describing costume^
to please the readers of my own sex. We
met here some religieuses walking in the
road, belonging to a convent in the di-
stance. Their habit was not very remark^
able, except that they wore black veils,
with high peaks on the front of the head,
and long rosaries by their sides.
Villefranche ; a populous old town. It
LYONS. 87
was market day ; yet not one instance of
intoxication did we see, neither here nor
in any other part of France through which
we had passed. Certainly drunkenness is
not the vice of the nation, although they
have a due admiration for strong beer,
which is sold under the name of bonnd
bierre de Mars. There is a fine church
here, of Gothic architecture.
We did not reach Lyons until late at
night; and, as I was very much fatigued,
and longed to get into the hotel, I thought
the length of the environs and suburbs end-
less. However, we arrived at last, and after
a refreshing sleep, were awakened the next
morning by the firing of cannon close under
our windows. It was the fete of St. Louis,
which is always celebrated with particular
pomp and splendour. It was also the great
jubilee of the Lyonese peruquiers, who went
in procession to high mass, and from thence
to an entertainment prepared for them.
Thejouteurs (or plungers in water) likewise
made a very magnificent appearance. They
walked two and two round the town, and
after a famous dinner (laid out for them in a
88 LYONS.
lower apartment of our hotel) proceeded
to exhibit a sort of aquatic tournament, in
boats, upon the river. This is a very
ancient festival, and is mentioned (if I re-
collect right) by Rousseau. The dress of
the combatants (among whom were several
young boys of eight and five years old) was
very handsome and fanciful, entirely com-
posed of white linen, ornamented with
knots of dark-blue riband. They had white
kid leather shoes, tied with the same co-
lours, caps richly ornamented with gold, and
finished with gold tassels. In their hands
they carried blue and gold oars, and long
poles, and upon their breasts a wooden sort
of shield or breastplate, divided into square
compartments, and strapped firmly on like
armour, or that peculiar ornament, the
ephod, worn by the ancient Jewish high
priests. Against this they pushed with the
poles as hard as possible, endeavouring to
jostle and overturn their opponents; the
vanquished, falling into the water, save
themselves by swimming, while the victors
carry off a prize. We went down stairs to
see these heroes at dinner, and one of them
LYONS. 89
civilly invited us into the room, to observe
every particular at our ease.
The military were all drawn out this
morning, and I thought there never would
be an end of their firing, trumpeting, &c. ;
the whole town resounded with noise,
bustle, and gay confusion. We distin-
guished the Swiss guards, who wore a red
uniform, like the English troops; a fine
regiment of chasseurs, green, faced with
red ; a troop of lancers, on beautiful spi-
rited black horses, uniform green and
orange ; the national guards, dark blue and
red, with cocked hats ; and, lastly, the foot
guards, in white : the officers of the latter
really looked like London footmen ; nothing
could be more ugly and ungentlemanly
than their costume. AU these were re-
viewed in la Grande Place, built by Bona-
parte, who laid the first stone. The houses
there are very handsome, and some of them
rise to the height of seven stories. A steep
hill, covered with vines, and crowned by
buildings like castles, forms the background
of this fine place, at the bottom of which
rolls the grand and magnificent Rhone.
90 LYONS.
Our inn (Vhotel de Provence) stood here.
It is a very comfortable, excellent, well-
ordered establishment : the apartments as-
signed for our particular use put me in
mind of the old state-rooms in our shabby
palace of St. James. The furniture was of
crimson and white satin damask, and the
beds of rich crimson damask ; Lyons, as all
the world knows, being famous for its rich
silks. The ancient arm-chairs were studded
with gilt nails, and the brick-floors care-
fully rubbed and polished till they resem-
bled marble. That of the salle d manger
was of curiously inlaid oak. The attend-
ants were all men : one of them made my
bed, and was perpetually frisking in and
out (in his department of housemaid), ra-
ther to my annoyance and surprise. The
first night of our arrival, I was shut up (as
I thought) in my own room, unpacking my
sac de nuit, when, upon turning suddenly
round, I saw the great rough figure of our
postillion, who had entered without knock-
ing, and was standing much at his ease, ex-
pecting to be paid. The garcon who waited
at dinner was a fine specimen of the honest,
LYONS. 91
cheerful French peasant lad, his counte-
nance and manner the perfection of good
humour and simplicity.
The promenade of the town (a walk of
shady trees in the midst of la Grande
Place) being filled with gay groups in every
possible variety of costume, offered a most
amusing spectacle to a stranger's eye. We
sat there some time upon the hired chairs,
which are in as great request as at Paris. Here
we found booths, kept by venders of tisanne,
lemonade, &c. who were, some of them, niched
in little covered tubs, like Diogenes. We
were much stared at ; but not with any rude-
ness or incivility. We even imagined that we
saw a more favourable expression of counte-
nance in the people of Lyons (while gazing
upon the English) than in those of Paris. In
the latter we certainly did now and then
discover the signs of unequivocal hatred and
dislike ; and although they never gave vent
(in our hearing at least) to their ill-will in
words, there was a mute eloquence of eye,
which it is difficult to mistake.
But to return to the promenade, &c. my
petticoat of moravian work seemed to catch
92 LYONS.
the admiring observation of all the females
.who passed ; and indeed 1 ought, in justice
to our British needlewomen, to remark,
that their performance is rarely equalled,
and assuredly never surpassed, by their
continental rivals, however highly French
work may be praised and sought after by our
capricious leaders of ton.
The confluence of the rivers Rhone and
Saone here is reckoned to be one of the
finest things of the kind in Europe. We
went to see it, but were rather disappointed
in its effect ; for the late uncommonly dry
season had greatly diminished the pride
of both these celebrated streams. It takes
place at a spot about half a mile distant
from the town, and we drove thither in a
ridiculous hired vehicle, called a carriole,
very like a long four-posted bedstead, on
wheels, with coarse linen curtains for sum-
mer weather, and black shabby leather ones
for winter. A seat, resembling a mattrass,
was slung on the inside, upon which the
people sit back to back, like those in an
Irish jaunting car. The driver is upon a
seat in front, and manages two horses, which
LYONS. 93
are generally ornamented with frontlets,
and knots of gay riband and bells. Our
coachman was quite a coxcomb, sporting
smart nankeen trowsers, gaiters, and yellow
shoes of washed leather.
The women at Lyons struck us as remark-
ably ugly, and we actually were unable to
discover a single pretty face among them.
We met a country dame, stumping into
town to partake in the gaieties of the fete,
dressed in a bright yellow gown, tucked
up at the pocket-holes, so as to display a
full rose-coloured petticoat beneath, white
stockings, black slippers, a deep gipsy hat
of Leghorn straw, and a white handkerchief
with the usual flow r ered border.
Nothing can be handsomer than this
town : it much resembles Eath, particu-
larly in its environs, which are built upon
hanging hills, and embosomed in woods and
vineyards. The convent of St. Michael,
rising among them, is very ugly, however,
reminding one of a large Birmingham ma-
nufactory. Here dwell les Sceurs de la
Charite, and we were informed that they
really are of great use, and do much good
94 LYONS.
in their generation, which cannot, alas ! be
said of the regular nuns, poor victims !
At night we went to the comedie. The
theatre was dirty, and somewhat shabby;
all the light thrown exclusively upon the
stage, as usual in foreign theatres. The
actors were really extremely good, and the
audience seemed a loyal one upon the whole,
which was discoverable by their seizing and
duly applauding the several claptraps which
occurred in the piece they were exhibiting.
It was La par tie de Chasse de Henri quatre
the first scene a beautiful part of the fo-
rest of Fontainbleau. The story, though
familiar to every body, seemed to interest
all hearts, ours among the rest. I confess
that, for my own part, I was surprised by
feeling the tears coursing each other down
my face, when I least expected it ; and yet
I was a stranger and a foreigner! How
must the French, then, feel in the recollec-
tion of this and all the other thousand acts of
benevolence and magnanimity of their glo-
rious monarch, whose now beatified spirit
seems to shed a guardian glory around the
heads of his descendants ! We returned
LYONS. 95
home immediately after the representation
of this piece, not staying the farce ; and
after taking coffee, once more sallied forth
to view the beautiful illuminations which
were displayed in honour of the day. The
night was clear, warm, and balmy, and the
whole population of the city (a hundred
and nine thousand persons) seemed to be
walking about, enjoying themselves com-
pletely. The effect of the lights reflected
upon the distant vine-clad hills was singu-
larly beautiful. I admired the costume of
many of the children here ; they wore large
shepherdess-sort of Leghorn hats with very
low crowns, wreathed with pretty roses,
which harmonized with their little inno-
cent round faces remarkably well. The
soldiers, paysannes, and some of the bour-
geoises, were dancing quadrilles under the
trees of the promenade, which was lighted
much in the manner of Vauxhall. There
was a busy hum of voices in the air, swell-
ing upon the breeze, mixed with notes of
animating music, and occasional bursts of
mirth and laughter, which, I believe, might
have been heard for miles. In short, the
96 LYONS.
scene was a perfect carnival. On reaching
our inn, we saw the officers of the foot
guards (who had been dining together in
the same apartment occupied by the jou-
teurs in the morning) dancing waltzes to
the loud music of their own band, in which
the brazen tones of the trumpet were pain-
fully pre-eminent. For want of female part-
ners, they had, some of them, taken off
their coats, and dressed themselves up in
mob caps, shawls, and petticoats made of
the dinner napkins. In this strange cos-
tume they tore about the room, swinging
each other in a manner that disgusted while
it made us smile. The master of the house,
who seemed to think all this very fine,
wanted to know if Madame would not join in
the merry dance ? (meaning me) ; but Mr. B.
quietly declined the obliging proposal, say-
ing, " I was not quite strong enough for
such an attempt just now." Upon which
Monsieur came behind me, and, supporting
me under both the elbows, almost carried me
up the stairs to the door of our apartment ;
so obsequious are the French to all women.
There is a proverb relative to our sex,
LYONS. * 97
which observes, that Paris est le paradis des
fannies^ le purgatoire des maris, et I'enfor
des chevaux. I, as an English wife, how-
ever, can imagine no place to be a paradise
for me, which is at the same time a punish-
ment to my husband ; neither could I taste
perfect felicity, if it was purchased at the
expense of my brute fellow-creatures. But
I do not mean tediously to moralize upon
a little jeu d' esprit, which has some wit and
truth in it, after all.
Determined to make the most of our
short time, we went the next day to see
the cathedral, which is of Moorish archi-
tecture. Within we found a singular mix-
ture of orders ; the Corinthian, composite,
Gothic, Saxon, and a sort of nondescript,
which (as we were none of us particularly
learned on the subject) we concluded to be
the regular Moorish. The whole body of
this fine building appeared glowing with
the rose and purple tints of sunset, and the
gold ornaments upon the high altar actually
flamed resplendent in this lovely light, as if
they had been formed of solid fire ! The effect
was produced by the stained glass of the
u
98 LYONS.
windows, of every possible variety of colour,
magnificent beyond all idea, and far differ-
ent from any which we had ever seen before ;
indeed, in attempting to describe their pe-
culiarity, I feel that I have done foolishly,
as it is impossible to give my readers any
adequate notion of their extraordinary
splendour and beauty. We did not so
much admire another curiosity exhibited
here, which is a clock, from a niche in the
front of which, when it strikes the hours, a
figure of the Virgin suddenly protrudes,
and makes a gracious inclination of the
body ; while in another recess above there
is a very paltry and shocking representa-
tive of the Father, who also leans forward
in the act of giving his benediction. The
attempt thus to embody the inconceiv-
able glories of person belonging to the
unseen God is both absurd and impious;
yet surely not so much so, as the wish
and endeavour of some fanatics to shroud
the ineffable mercy and benevolence of the
same being beneath a dark, chilling, and
repulsively gloomy veil of severity, wrath,
and implacability. In both cases, the true
ST. LAURENT. 99
features of the Divinity are shamefully
and ridiculously misrepresented. We also
saw two fine white marble statues of St.
Stephen and St. John, both spoilt by
crowns of trumpery artificial flowers and
tinsel, which gave them the air of our
" Jacks in the green" on May-day.
We returned to our hotel, when, after an
excellent dinner, we tasted for the first time
fresh almonds, brought up in their outside
rinds ; they resemble small withered peaches
in a green state, and I believe, speaking
scientifically, that they are in fact a species
of that fruit, and are classed accordingly; we
found them very good, resembling filberts
in flavour, and they are eaten with salt, in
the same manner.
The next morning we bade adieu to
Lyons ; on the road from thence, at a place
called St. Laurent des Mures, we saw the
women as well as the men threshing corn,
and this in the open air a strong proof of
fine climate : we afterwards remarked the
practice universally. There are many wal-
nut trees about here, but the country was
flat and dull for some miles. We now
100 ST. LAURENT.
however passed over a heath, (where, as
Shakespeare expresses it, " the air smelt
wooingly,") enriched by wood, and banks
of waving fern, bounded by some near
mountains; there was a picturesque view
of a castle, upon the summit of a hill, em-
bosomed in trees. These objects were a
great relief to the eye, after the eternal
stubble fields near Lyons. Here we observed
ploughing performed by mules, which I
approved of much, when compared with
the use of cows for these sort of labours ; the
latter, poor things, are of such inestimable
value in other respects, that surely it is very
unfair to require their services as beasts of
burthen. The roofs of the buildings in this
neighbourhood now first began to assume an
Italian character, and to harmonize with the
ideas I had formed of the vicinity of the
Alps, which were visible in the distance ;
but the latter did not improve the landscape
so much as my hitherto untravelled eyes
had expected, for they were so far off, that
they resembled clouds, for which I should
certainly have mistaken them,had I not been
told what they really were. We here en-
ST. LAURENT. 101
countered a peasant, who was thin enough
to have passed for the Death in Burgher's
" Leonora :" his face was a mere skull, with
a sallow skin strained over it; his black
eager eyes deep sunk in their immense
sockets. I was quite afraid of dreaming of him.
For several days past, we had taken
leave of the peculiar costume of the postil-
lions, which is not much retained on this
side of Paris. Cattle now were seen of all
colours ; the country became more undu-
lating and woody, and the vineyards wore a
very different and much more graceful ap-
pearance, being trained far higher, not for-
mally planted, (as I have before described)
but frequently twined around standard
apple and other trees, from which they
hung in light and careless festoons, forming
altogether a singular effect of blended foliage.
They are universally trained in this manner
in Italy ; the French pretend that the pro-
duce is thereby rendered less plentiful, and
that what is gained in beauty is lost in
value : I cannot pronounce upon the truth
of the assertion. The walnut-tree grew here
in increased profusion, mixed frequently
102 BOURGOIN.
with the mulberry, forming an agreeable
shade to the road.
We breakfasted at Bourgoin, where they
gave us good provisions, but charged in a
most extravagant way. There is a great deal
of marshy land, and the inhabitants look
unhealthy : some of them have goitres (or
glandular swellings) in consequence of ex-
treme relaxation from the moisture of the
air. Two filthy girls waited upon us at
breakfast : they wore no caps, and their hair
was in a most disgusting condition. We
afterwards remarked numbers of women,
equally devoid of coifs and cleanliness.
Apropos to the former, I certainly greatly
incline to prefer them to the more classical
and simple fashion of wearing the head
wholly uncovered : there is something very
feminine and pretty in a white, neat, well-
plaited cap, set off by a bright coloured
riband and smart knot ; and I really think
the French paysannes knew what they were
about, when they so universally adopted
that costume.
The country shortly changed to a scene
of wonderful richness and beauty, resembling
BEAUVOISIN. 103
the finest parts of Devonshire; but the
view of an immense crucifix rising pic-
turesquely amid the woods gave it a foreign
character at once. Nothing can exceed
the loveliness of this part of France ; it is
indeed exquisite, and doubly pleasing from
its rarity. The unusual heat of the late
summer (felt as sensibly as in England)
had dried up most of the smaller rivers and
brooks hereabouts, and the dust was actually
flying in their sandy channels. We were
now in Dauphiny.
A few miles before we entered Beau-
voisin (which divides Dauphiny from Sa-
voy), a very grand amphitheatre of the
Savoy mountains rose suddenly upon us.
The sight was peculiarly striking to me,
as I had never yet seen the effect of this
sort of scenery. We frequently observed
buildings here of the pise or mud, very
neatly finished ; indeed we were surprised
to perceive how much they had contrived
to make of so base and common a material.
We met some countrywomen riding astride,
which had a very odd appearance odd is a
vague term, and rather an unclassical one :
104 BEAUVOISIN.
I am perfectly aware of its defectSj but I
cannot at this moment think of any other
which would so well express my meaning ;
yet confound me not, kind reader, with that
mass of ignorant and conceited persons,
who always call every thing odd which
they themselves either cannot understand,
or to which they happen to be unaccus-
tomed. Such, for instance, whom I have
heard designating Byron's grand poetical
conceptions as odd fancies, or the exquisite
sketches of Westall's imaginative pencil as
odd things, or calling the truly enlightened
and liberal theological sentiments of Paley,
Watson, Fellows, &c. odd opinions. But I
have rambled strangely from the point ; the
little countrywomen and their nags com-
pletely ran away with me ! In spite of the
oddity of their position, I am ready candidly
to allow that there is a great deal of safety
in it.
Beauvoisin is in the near vicinity of pro
digiously fine scenery. We passed through
groves of the grandest chestnut trees, loaded
with a profusion of fruit, and the whole
face of nature afforded such a superb union
105
of the beautiful and sublime, that we. thought
all we had previously seen in France paltry
in the comparison. The silkworm is much
cultivated here, and we saw many of the
peasants employed in spinning both silk
and flax with distaffs and wheels; multi-
tudes of women and girls were seated at
their doors, as we passed through Beau-
voisin, all busied in this occupation : they
seemed to be chatting together very happily,
their tongues going as fast as their fingers.
I thought of Shakspeare's " spinners and
knitters in the sun" telling " their tales."
We dined at the horrid little hole of an
inn at this place, dirty, dark, and full of the
usual bad odours so prevalent in continental
habitations. The meal was served, as might
be expected, in a slovenly manner, and we
were glad to proceed on our journey as
soon as it was despatched ; previously sub-
mitting our luggage, &c. to the inspection
of the custom-house officers, having now
entered the Sardinian territories.
We had not advanced far, ere the country
opened, if possible, into an increased blaze
of beauty. Close to us were well-wooded
mountains ; on the left, vineyards trained in
106 BEAUVOISIN.
the graceful Italian fashion I have lately
mentioned ; far below us, on the right, was
a limpid river, sweetly winding though a
vaUey, and on ah 1 sides villas (beautiful in
themselves and most romantically situated)
lent an additional grace and charm to the
scene. The road was a perfect bower of
walnut trees ; and the attractions of some
of the peasant children, whom we now
and then met, with their large black eyes,
and peculiar style of beauty, told us that
we were fast approaching the confines of
Italy.
We now ascended a steep winding road,
which leads to the summit of a mountain
called La Montagne de I'Eschelles. I find
it more than ever impossible to give any
just and proportionate idea of the enchant-
ing prospects which every moment rose
upon our delighted eyes! to conceive them
properly, they must be seen. We distin-
guished paths amid the woody sides of the
opposite heights, which looked as lovely
as if they led to Paradise ; and I longed to
spring from the confinement of the carriage,
and to explore their wild and exquisitely ro-
mantic terminations, although the shades of
BEAUVOISIN. 107
evening, fast closing upon us, might have ren-
dered such an attempt most perilous. The
low parapet wall, erected within the last eight
years by that mighty enchanter Napoleon,
(who seemed, w r hile his " star was lord of
the ascendant," to do ah 1 he wished with
un coup de baguette), preserved us from
the danger of falling down the precipice
which yawned by the side of our road ; and
also completely obviated the sort of nervous
sensation which travellers are so apt to feel
wliile gazing upon the awful depths which
surround them ! Upon turning a sharp
angle, the rocks, in vast and stupendous
masses, rose perpendicularly above our
heads, amidst which we were amazed to
perceive several cottages " perched like the
eagle's nest, on high." Rousseau has ably
painted this incomparable scene, in his
Nouvelle Heloise, and I was gratified in
thus convincing myself of the accuracy and
truth of his pencil. As we passed near these
lonely habitations, the breath of the cows
belonging to the rustic inmates, mingled
sweetly with the scent of the leaves and
aromatic herbs, and added new fragrance
108 ECHELLES.
to the soft and refreshing winds of evening.
This wild ravine was succeeded by the
milder beauties of a green and mossy bank,
rising above smiling meadows ; the contrast
was striking. These are sights indeed, which
might arouse the dullest of mortals, and
which make the hearts of those gifted with
sensibility and imagination swell high within
them !
Echelles, a small town, standing in a
valley, completely hemmed in with majestic
mountains. We drank our tea and slept
here at La Poste, and I sat out, as long as
it was prudent, in an open wooden gallery,
(which ran round the outside of the house,
and commanded a view of the superb scene),
talking with the hostess, a cheerful, well-
looking young woman, who was overwhelmed
by the number of her progeny. The youngest
of the children, a little girl of three years
old, came up to me and laid her head upon
my knees, with the happy ease of innocent
confidence, chattering bad French with all
her might; the mother also introduced two of
her sons to us (boys of five and seven), who
ran in to bid her good night before they
ECIIELLLES. 109
went to bed, and to hug and kiss her. The
youngest (a fine sturdy rogue) told me
that he always said his prayers, and that
after le bon Dieu, he loved " Maman." This
woman, in the midst of her rustic simplicity,
had had the true good sense of presenting
the Deity to the infant imaginations of her
children, under the attractive image of an
indulgent parent, thus fulfilling the sacred
command of "Give me thine heart." A
convent of the Chartreuse still exists in
the neighbourhood ; I believe it is the famous
convent of La Grande Chartreuse, a most
interesting spot, but inaccessible to women.
I made inquiries about some of the natural
productions of these mountains, and learnt
that so many superior simples and aromatic
plants (note A) grew there, as to induce the
apothecaries and chemists who lived within
reach, to come in search of them very
frequently.
We left Echelles early the next morning
(our common hour of rising being five
o'clock), and proceeded through a solitary
road, winding at the feet of some desolate-
looking mountains. Passing by several deep
110 SAVOY.
quarries of limestone, we soon arrived at the
tremendous ascent, known under the very
appropriate name of Les Esche/les de Savoy.
Here we stopped at a lone hovel, to add a
couple of oxen to our usual three horses ; but
these animals being at work at the plough,
we were obliged to be satisfied with the as-
sistance of another horse. A girl accordingly
brought him out, helped to arrange the
traces, &c., and ran by his side halfway up
the mountain, till we had attained the most
arduous pass, and then returned with him to
her cottage. She wore her hair gathered
in a knot at the back of the head, in the
true Italian style. As we toiled along, we
observed a paysanne, with a load upon her
head (most probably on her early way to
some village market), stop to pay her morn-
ing devotions at a shrine of the Virgin,
rudely carved in wood, and placed in a
niche by the road-side. How shah 1 I de-
scribe the wonderful manner in which we
climbed these frightful eschelles? We
seemed to be drawn up by our straining,
labouring horses almost in a perpendicu-
lar direction, and at a foot's pace. On
SAVOY. Ill
our left was a yawning chasm of immense
magnitude, among a gloomy pile of frown-
ing rocks, which might well be the abode
of some ancient giant or geni ; while fur-
ther on, these same rocks, extending their
mighty barriers on every side, seemed to
hang tremulously over head, threatening to
crush the hapless traveller, should sudden
wind or storm arise to shake them from
their precarious-looking base. The blue
heaven above us was nearly shut from our
sight by their dark and shadowy projections.
Our guides (three or four in number, and
resembling, in their wild, strange attire and
features, a group of Salvator Rosa's banditti)
pointed out to us the ancient road, pass-
able, even in its best days, by mules alone.
It was a narrow ledge, with no defence
whatever from the precipice on one side,
winding in serpentine mazes through deep
grottos, or chasms, in the bowels of the
mountain. We saw a prodigious monu-
ment of Bonaparte's daring genius in a
tunnel, which had been cut through the
heart of these solid rocks, and beneath
which a fine road was to have been made ;
112 SAVOY.
but his career of power having been so sud-
denly and awfully checked, the work remains
unfinished. After shuddering amid the
sublimity of these scenes for some time,
their rugged character gradually softened
upon us, and the tender green of the fern,
mingling richly with the tangled under-
wood, began to make its welcome appear-
ance. Far above our heads, also, dark fo-
rests of lofty pine were occasionally visible,
although the lower crags of overhanging
rock generally hid them from our view.
At length the prospect expanded into ver-
dant pastures (where cows and goats were
peacefully browsing), shaded by beech, elm,
chestnut, and apple trees, and skirted by
softly-swelling banks, covered with a rich
and mossy vegetation. The blue smoke
wreath, frequently rising above the tufted
foliage, marked the vicinity of hamlets, and
the little orchards and inclosed patches of
well-cultivated garden ground (seen here
and there), and the groups of women spin-
ning at their cottage doors, gave the whole
an indescribable air of pastoral comfort and
beauty. In the midst of this serene en-
SAVOY. 113
joyment, my nerves were suddenly discom-
posed, by the fall of our postillion from his
horse, who had stumbled, and now took the
opportunity (during his short interval of
emancipation) of looking in at the side
window of the carriage ; the last place cer-
tainly in which I either wished or expected
to have seen him. However, no harm en-
sued, and we again proceeded quietly on
our way. We could not but remark the
extraordinary luxuriance of the hedges here,
rich in nut trees, brilliant scarlet berries,
convolvulus, blue bells, and other wild
plants. The master of the post-house in
the midst of these mountains seemed a
great admirer of the magnificent genius of
Napoleon, and said (speaking of the tunnel
we had lately passed), que cet homme la avoit
brave la nature : he added, " that if he had
reigned only two years longer, he would
have completed this grand undertaking ;
but now all was at an end ; for the king of
Sardinia was not the sort of person to carry
on the daring plans of his great predecessor."
The manner in which this man described
Bonaparte to have first conceived and de-
i
114 SAVOY.
termined upon the work in question was
strongly characteristic of the decision pecu-
liar to the latter. He was passing through
the ancient horrible road, with his engineer,
stopped, and pointing to the mountains,
said, " Is it not possible to cut a tunnel
through the entrails of yonder rock, and to
form a more safe and commodious route be-
neath it ?" " It is possible, certainly, sire,"
replied the scientific companion. " Then
let it be done, and immediately," rejoined
the emperor.
I was romantic enough to mourn over the
fate of the mountain stream here, which (in
common with many others we had seen) was
so weakened by long drought, that it had
scarcely force sufficient to pour its scanty
waters over their rugged channel, and
seemed to vent its complaint in weak mur-
murs, as it flowed feebly along. The grand
cascade, which feeds its urn so nobly dur-
ing winter, had now lost all strength and
magnificence of character. We felt the air
very sharp, even in this sultry season; and
in the bleak months of the year I can easily
conceive that the severity of the cold must
SAVOY. 115
be intolerable. The grapes in such regions
are always small and sour ; they were not
half ripe at the present time, and, indeed,
never arrive at any perfection.
We breakfasted at La Poste at Cham-
berry, a picturesque town, and capital of
Savoy, situated in the bosom of the fine
scenery I have just described. The tops
of its surrounding mountains (which form
part of the endless chain of Alps) are hoary
with eternal snows : they had a very strik-
ing effect. It was at Chamberry that that
strange, inconsistent, wonderful creature,
Rousseau, lived for some time with Ma-
dame de Varennes : his house is still
shewn. The charm which, while he lived,
he contrived to throw around the vices and
frailties of his character, and the produc-
tions of his bewitching pen, is now broken,
the speU is dissolved ; but there are, never-
theless, immortal excellencies in many parts
of his writings which must make their due
and deep impression upon the hearts and
imaginations of every successive reader, till
time itself shall be no more.
To return to Chamberry. There is no
i 2
116 SAVOY.
peculiarity of costume here, except that
the paysannes all wear gold hearts and
crosses ; the poorer classes of silver, lead, or
mixed metal. We changed horses at Mont-
meillant, and saw the fine river Isere,
formed by the melting of the snows. The
same sort of grand scenery continued.
There were several charming campagnes
(or gentlemen's houses) amid the moun-
tains, half concealed by luxuriant woods.
We longed to be invited (and able to ac-
cept such invitation) to spend a fortnight
at one or other of them, in tranquillity and
ease, in the society of agreeable, sensible
people, who would sometimes allow us lei-
sure to indulge in the luxury of solitude,
and our own thoughts ; for, without this
latter privilege, one might just as well be
in a fashionable drawing-room, in all the
sophistication of Paris or London. It is
among these scenes that Marmontel has
chosen to place his heroine in the graceful
little tale of the Shepherdess of the Alps."
But, alas ! the poorer inhabitants of these
fairy regions ! how unworthy of such lovely
Arcadian retreats ! Almost all we met were
SAVOY. 117
squalid, filthy, listless, and indolent: a
blighted, blasted, wretched race, hardly de-
serving the name of human. Most of them
were (in addition to their universal hide-
ousness) afflicted with the disgusting dis-
ease of goitres, to say nothing of total
idiotcy, which is equally common amongst
them. Leaving M armontel's lovely fanciful
creations in the clouds, from whence they
came, these, these we found to be the " dull
realities of life ;" and such realities ! my
imagination actually sickened at their idea.
I will not hazard farther detail, lest I should
equally shock the feelings of my readers.
The mountains, as we approached Aigue-
belle, became yet more lofty and stupend-
ous than any we had before seen ; but
they continued to wear the same fea-
tures of luxuriant beauty, even in the
midst of the sublimity of a grander scale
of proportion. From their airy summits
we could now and then descry the fall of a
narrow perpendicular streamlet, sparkling
in the sun like a line of melted silver. We
reached Aiguebelle at four o'clock, dined,
and slept. The entrance to the inn was
118 SAVOY.
like that of a cow-house, or large old rustic
stable, and the accommodations within were
uncomfortable enough : not worse, however,
than many which we afterwards encoun-
tered in various places on the continent.
An evening walk, which we took here after
tea, at the foot of the Alps, I shall never
forget; romantic, beautiful, and wild be-
yond even the dreams of a poetical ima-
gination. Passing through enormous masses
of rock, consisting of argillaceous slate,
called schist, in the foreground (at the en-
trance of a shadowy glade), we gradually
ascended a winding path, by which we
traced an opening through the richly-
wooded recesses of one of the nearer moun-
tains. Thick shady bowers of walnut trees
(the largest our eyes had ever beheld)
formed an agreeable sort of twilight, shed-
ding a flickering gloom around, that well
accorded with the pensive tone of our
minds, as we stole silently along, wrapt in
unfeigned and warm admiration of Nature
and her wonderful creations, while a rip-
pling spring, murmuring softly amid the
mossy grass, assisted the dreamy sort of
SAVOY. 119
reverie that hung like a spell upon us ! A
fair green meadow lay smiling at our feet ;
where notwithstanding the burning heat
of the season, the cattle were feeding on as
rich a pasturage, as that which skirts the
Thames at Richmond. Far above (tower-
ing over our heads) were the snowy peaks
of the highest Alps, half veiled in clouds
of floating mist. I sat down upon a mossy
stone, my companions stretched on the turf
beside me ; the silent, deep, and soothing
tranquillity was broken only by the chirp of
the cricket, the distant bark of a cottage
cur, or the whirring flight of the bats who
now were beginning their evening pas-
times ; one of them, in his airy wheel,
almost brushed Mr. W.'s face with his wings,
as he flew fearlessly past. As the night
advanced, we were struck by the beautiful
effect of the blazing weeds, which were
burning on some of the surrounding heights.
At length we unwillingly bade adieu to the
enchanting spot, and returned to our inn.
We left Aiguebelle the next morning,
rising at four o'clock, and proceeded to St.
Jean de Maurienne, through a narrow valley,
1 20 SAVOY.
inclosed by a chain of the same mountains,
which rose to the height of about two or
three thousand metres. A river, formed of
melted snows, ran constantly by our side,
now brawling and foaming over the rugged
stones, now stealing silently along, in an
almost imperceptible current, and often
seeming wholly exhausted, forming merely
a narrow runnel in the middle of its vast,
sandy, rocky channel. Cottages were fre-
quently dotted about here, some of them
perched at such an incredible height, and
apparently so inaccessible to human foot,
that we could hardly conceive them to be
the habitations of our fellow creatures !
How the inmates continue to procure the
necessaries of life from the adjacent hamlets
in the valleys below, I cannot imagine,
unless they are drawn up and down by
ropes, in the manner which is so awfully
described, in his " scene on the sands," by
that bold painter from nature, the author
of " the Antiquary." The singular and
beautiful appearance of the opposite rocks
told us the moment when the sun had
risen to a certain height, but the first burst
SAVOY. 121
of glory from that divine orb, it was not
our lot to witness, as the east was hid
from our sight by the overwhelming moun-
tains that surrounded us. I confess I was
disappointed at this circumstance, as the
idea of beholding a perfect sun-rise had
been the chief inducement to me to quit
my warm bed at such a preposterously
early hour, and to undergo with cheerful-
ness the disagreeable ceremony of hurrying
on my clothes by candlelight ! However,
I was in some measure consoled by the
lovely effect of the partial gleams, which
played occasionally upon the distant objects;
finely contrasting with the gloomy shadows
of the dark ravines, and lighting up the
spots of verdure upon which they brightly
fell, they seemed almost kindling into a
blaze of unearthly splendour. We passed
here a small but romantic fall of water;
and soon afterwards encountered (in one of
those narrow passes so frequent among the
Alps), and upon the brow of an abrupt
descent, a waggon, drawn by restive mules.
These animals flew about the road in every
possible direction, rearing till they stood
SAVOY.
on end, kicking and plunging in the most
astonishing manner. The driver emulated
their fury, and I know not which of the
parties was in the right, they were all in
such a passion together ; we expected every
instant to see their heels dash against the
glass of our windows, but our postillion
managed with so much skill and discretion,
that we soon found ourselves safely hors de
I'embarras. We were somewhat surprised
at his admirable coolness and dexterity, as
he was no experienced old stager, but on
the contrary a mere boy. Solomon, how-
ever, justly observes that wisdom does not
exclusively reside with white heads, as
some veteran worthies have fondly flattered
themselves, and this will account for the
sagesse of our little driver, which might
otherwise have been discredited, perhaps,
by those, who constantly associate the ideas
of youth and imprudence. I believe that
the same author goes so far as to assert,
that " wisdom giveth hoary hairs." I am
not quite certain as to the accuracy of my
quotation, or I should at once feel sure
that I had discovered the reason why so
SAVOY. 123
many of our beaux and belles evince such
a horror of mental attainments. Talking
of beaux and belles, we were now quite
among their antipodes ; for never did
I behold such a set of dirty, slovenly,
squalid, frightful creatures, as were per-
petually crossing our path ! I can only say,
that (like Sancho Panza and his goblins)
having once seen two or three of them, I
shut my eyes for the rest of the journey,
although I could not stop my ears against
the horrid guttural idiotical croak (re-
sembling that of a choked raven) which
they constantly maintained, as they ran
begging by the side of the carriage. Mr.
B. hoping to get rid of them, often threw
out money from the windows, but this only
attracted a larger flock, and we soon found
our sole refuge was in puUing up the blinds
the moment they appeared in sight.
We breakfasted at St. Jean de Mau-
rienne, situated at the base of the higher
Alps : it was dirty, as all the inns in Savoy
are; and they gave us sour bread and
butter, and muddled coffee, rather a mor-
tification to travellers, who (however re-
124 SAVOY.
mantic and enthusiastic) could not help
feeling that they should have better re-
lished better fare, after having gone three
and twenty miles before breakfast ! We
met an Italian lady here, just come from
Turin ; who assured us, upon our expressing
our admiration of Savoy, that we should
think the scenery of Italy far more beauti-
ful : I could not at the moment believe in
the possibility of her assertion, and felt a
presentiment that after having seen and
compared some of the most striking features
in these countries, I should not coincide
with her in opinion; Italy (from all I
had heard on the subject) possessing a dif-
ferent character of beauty ; but difference
does not constitute superiority : I should
as soon think of comparing an apple and
an orange both are good in their way. If
any body takes offence at the lowliness of
my simile, I beg leave to refer him or her
to that delightful writer (at all times, and
upon such various subjects), Marmontel,
who avails himself of the very same, and
applies it in the still prouder instance of
human intellect.
SAVOY. 25
The river Arque rushes impetuously
through this part of Savoy ; we passed by
a voiture overturned upon its stony banks,
the wheels in the air, and front nearly
touching the brink of the foaming torrent.
The accident did not seem to be a very
recent one, as no people were assembled
about or near it. The Savoyards (those
who are happily free from goitres, &c.) are
seldom brought up to any other trade than
stone masonry ; wandering about, following
this metier in an itinerant manner. Many
of the rustics appear well acquainted with
the scientific terms of mineralogy and
chemistry. We conversed with a common
cottager in particular, who discoursed most
intelligently upon the different substances
of which these mountains are composed.
We suffered a good deal of inconvenience
from the dust, which flew here in such
overwhelming eddies, that it completely
filled the carriage, and more than once im-
peded my respiration most painfully. I
could feel it gritting between my teeth,
and irritating the windpipe ; and when we
attempted to close the windows against it,
126 SAVOY.
the heat thereby increased became equally
insupportable; the sun in these regions
being so fierce that it absolutely burnt us
when we drew up the blinds: still, the
peculiar sensation of weight in the atmo-
sphere, from which we experience so much
oppression in England, seemed to be un-
known in this climate ; there was an elas-
ticity in the air, superior to any of which
we foggy islanders can boast, and the sky
was perfectly Italian, *of a deep blue cloud-
less ether.
At St. Michel, a neat village (comparar
lively speaking), the peasantry become
more human ; the goitre begins to dis-
appear, and the countenance to assume a
more intellectual expression. Again the sub-
lime effect of the river Arque attracted our
attention. It is a regular mountain torrent,
flashing and raving over tremendous rocks,
with a rapidity and fury difficult to de-
scribe. If it was thus mighty during
the present parching season, what must
it not be in winter ! The imagination
shudders at the idea of its desolating force.
I could scarcely trace the affinity of this
SAVOY.
element with the tame, slow, glassy, silent
waters to which I had been accustomed in
my own country. It was like the sublime
insanity of a superb human genius, when
compared with the almost vegetable exist-
ence of a mere common plodding mortal.
The little narrow alpine bridges, occa-
sionally thrown across this terrific stream,
were highly romantic and beautiful. At
this particular spot, dark forests of pine
began to succeed to the more pleasing ver-
dure of the tufted beech. They extended
tp the remotest pinnacles of the mountains,
from whose brown sides, lower down, a num-
ber of sparkling springs were seen to gush
dancing and flashing in the sun. Great
quantities of barberry trees, and of the plant
coltsfoot, were growing wild here.
Crossing a majestic mountain beyond Mo-
dena, we were shewn the Devil's Bridge
(note B.), three hundred feet above the
river. We ourselves looked proudly down
upon it, from our eagle height, where we
enjoyed the benefit of a noble and easy
road, made (as usual) by order of Bona-
parte ; for which all travellers ought to feel
128 SAVOY.
deeply indebted to him. Not that I attri-
bute his works of this sort to benevolence
rather than ambitious policy : but what-
ever the cause, we voyageurs have great
reason to bless the effect ! The postillion
seriously assured us, as we gazed upon the
abovementioned bridge, that it was ori-
ginally built by the arch fiend, although he
added, that " this had happened a great
while ago." Mr. W. attempted to laugh
him out of so ridiculous a belief; but he
adhered to his point with immoveable
gravity. I had always heard that the na-
tives of mountainous countries were pecu-
liarly liable to the impressions of supersti-
tion, and in this instance I had an oppor-
tunity of proving personally the truth of
the remark. We regretted that time did
not allow of our making a few more ex-
perimental researches into these matters :
it might have been very interesting to
have collected a set of legends from the
mouths of the simple inhabitants ; and I
should have had considerable amusement
in tracing their similarity to those of the
Scotch Highlanders, the German, Swedish,
SAVOY. 129
and other fond believers in romance.
The king of Sardinia was at that time build-
ing fortresses upon this mountain, and two
thousand men were employed in the work.
We met some Italian officers at Modena ;
they were fine men, and had a far more dis-
tinguished and gentlemanly tournure than,
the French. It is astonishing how vulgar
and gross in appearance and manner all the
latter were, whom we had yet had an op-
portunity of remarking. I had ever thought
the subalterns and captains in some of our
marching and militia regiments bad enough,
but they were certainly much superior to
the French officers. This reminds me, that
in our apartment at the inn at Aiguebelle,
we saw scrawled upon the walls a fierce
tirade (written by some Frenchman) against
that interesting work, " Eustace's Italy."
We, of course, were not much surprised at
the wrath therein expressed ; and I myself
think that Eustace bears evident marks of
being under the dominion of prejudice, in
speaking of the French as a nation.
Crossing another mountain, not far from
Lans le Bourg, we were made doubly sen-
130 SAVOY.
sible of the prodigious altitude of our road,
by comparing the different proportions of
the objects around : for instance, a water-
mill at work in the valley below us ap-
peared like a baby-house, and the stream
which fell from the wheel not much more
important than what might have issued
from a large garden watering-pot. The
rocks here were all wild, gloomy, and bar-
ren.
Arriving at Lans le Bourg, where we
slept, we found the inn (Le Grand Hotel
des Voyageurs) clean and comfortable,
which was a delightful change to us, after
the dirt and misery of those we had lately
seen. It stood a short distance beyond the
little town, on the brink of a roaring tor-
rent. The host and his wife appeared flat-
tered at our observation of their neat esta-
blishment, &c.j and told us that it was not
the first time their house had been compli-
mented as being very like rthose in Eng-
land. The next morning we pursued our
route through the same magnificent scenes,
and here we first saw a giant glacier,
clad in his spotless mantle of everlasting
SAVOY. 131
purity. At his feet (to give the reader
some idea of his stupendous height and
magnitude) lay a town ; the steeple of its
church did not appear taller than the ex-
tinguisher of a candle, which it also resem-
bled in shape. Amid these solitary wilds the
greatest variety of plants, flowers, &c. are
to be found, and violets in profusion during
the spring. We ate some strawberries, ga-
thered here by the peasant children, for a
large basket of which our host at Lans le
Eourg paid a sum in value rather less than
three English halfpence. The postillion
and Christian gathered me large bunches
of very fine wild raspberries, as they walked
up the steep ascent. We were now upon
Mont Cenis (note C.), of celebrated fame.
My husband collected for me a few speci-
mens of the lovely flowers which bloomed
there, and which I have since put by as
relics. One plant in particular (wholly un-
known to any^of us)' I must mention. It is
a poisonous but exquisitely graceful shrub,
with spiral leaves, jagged at the edges, and
clusters of brilliant scarlet berries, growing
in the form of miniature bunches of grapes.
1 3% SAVOY.
The postillion called it la tourse ; but we
did not feel quite sure of the accuracy of
his botanical knowledge. Near the sum-
mit of this mountain we were shewn the
spot where adventurous travellers some-
times descend to the town of Lans le
Bourg upon a sledge, in the short space of
seven minutes ; whereas it takes two hours
and a half to ascend in a carriage, or on a
mule. The precipice looked horrible be-
yond description; yet the English fre-
quently adopt this mode of conveyance
during the winter : it is called la ramasse,
and the amusement of sliding in cars at the
Beaujon and Les Montagues Russes, in Paris,
was taken from this. As we continued to
climb, the effect of the sheep feeding amid
the rocky ledges, upon the grassy patches
of land far below us, was curious enough.
They appeared diminished to the size of
those little round, white, fat inhabitants of
a nutshell, which sometimes run races upon
a china plate, or a polished mahogany ta-
ble, after dinner. I believe their names
are not mentioned in the Newmarket Ca-
lender ; but my readers will know what I
SAVOY. 133
mean. We here beheld a fatigued pedes-
trian, drawn up the steep path with much
comparative ease to himself, by clinging to
the long tail of a strong mule, upon which
another traveller was riding.
The road over Mont Cenis is most su-
perb : there are small houses at set dis-
tances, where dwell a regularly organized
body of men, called cantonniers, whose busi-
ness it is to keep the highway in repair,
and to shelter and assist all voyageurs who
may stand in need of their services. This
was first ordered and arranged by Bona-
parte. Upon reaching level ground, near
the utmost summit, we were agreeably sur-
prised by the sight of a small lake, of the
most heavenly blue (the real ultramarine
colour well kno\vn to artists), situated in
the midst of a little plain of verdant turf :
it was quite a scene of peace and repose,
all view of the surrounding precipices being
shut out. From this quiet haven we de-
scended with rapidity and ease, at the rate
of seven or eight miles an hour, with only
two horses ; while in going up on the other
134 SAVOY.
side of the mountain, we found four unequal
to drag us along at more than a foot's pace.
We passed by the Hospice, originally
built by Charlemagne, and re-established
by Bonaparte, who really put us in mind of
the Marquis of Carrabas, in the fairy tale of
" Puss in Boots ;" for if we saw any road
better than another, any house particularly
well calculated for the relief of travellers,
any set of guides whose attendance was un-
usually convenient and well ordered, or any
striking improvement, in short, of whatever
nature, and were induced to inquire, " by
whom all had been done ?" the answer was
invariably, " Napoleon ! Napoleon ! Napo-
leon !" At this Hospice there is a set of
monks, who bear a high reputation for be-
nevolence and attention to travellers. A
very lofty and majestic waterfall shortly
afterwards greeted our eyes, grandly beau-
tiful, though bearing no character of terror.
It was the " roar of waters," not the " hell
of waters," so admirably described by Lord
Byron, in the fourth canto of his Childe
Harold. The road here perpetually re-
PIEDMONT. 135
turned upon itself, in zigzag windings, re-
sembling the principle of a corkscrew stair-
case, and was, in the midst of grandeur and
sublimity, both easy and safe.
The Alps, on the Piedmontese side of
Mont Cenis, and to whose firm bases we
were now fast descending, were infinitely
more stupendous, more overwhelming in
their proportions, and displayed stronger
features of actual sublimity, perhaps, than
those we had seen in Savoy ; but we all
thought them less rich in sylvan beauty,
and far less enchantingly romantic in their
general character. Our wonder was not, as
formerly, mingled with delight ; on the
contrary, a shuddering sensation of horror
took possession of our minds, as we invo-
luntarily turned our eyes upon the vari-
ous dark gulfs, and tremendous abysses,
which yawned on every side. Jt was im-
possible not to feel, at every turn, that
there were but a few inches between us
and destruction. At length we reached
the foot of the celebrated Rocca Melone,
or Roche Melon, which is allowed to be
the highest of the chain, and is nine thou-
13f) PIEDMONT.
sand feet from the base to the summit. We
could now perceive a visible alteration in
the costumes of the peasantry ; the men
came forth in coloured silk or cotton caps,
with a long net bag hanging down behind,
ending in a tassel : the women, in flat straw
hats, lined with pink sarsenet, and jackets
laced in front; exactly resembling those
Italian groups of figures which I had for-
merly seen in the drawings of Mr. W ^m
L k. I recognised them instantly as
my old acquaintance, and felt myself in
some measure en pays de connoissance. Our
postillion had the true features of the Ve-
netian Punchinello, and I almost expected
to hear him squeak.
We dined at Susa (inn la Posta), and
found it cleanly and comfortable ; the peo-
ple excessively attentive and civil : in short,
we looked upon it as a most auspicious
entrance into Italy. From Susa to San
Giorgio our driver was a regular Italian
wag, and I suspected he had got a little
too much of the juice of the grape in his
head, by the way in which he tore along
the road, to the amazement of every quiet
PIEDMONT. 137
passenger. At last we called to him, to in-
quire the reason of his violent proceedings.
" I thought I was doing just what you
liked best," was his answer; and it was
with difficulty we could persuade him that
we w r ere not among the number of those
English travellers who take delight in risk-
ing their own necks, and the lives of their
horses, merely for the sake of " astonishing
the natives !" This was the first and only
instance of intoxication which we had wit-
nessed upon the continent.
The dress of the women near San Gior-
gio is picturesque ; a short blue petticoat,
with several narrow, coloured tucks at the
bottom, a high laced cap (something in the
style of the French cauchoises), and bright
necklaces, formed of boxwood beads, turned
in an oval shape, and highly gilt, so as to
resemble massy gold. The men all wore
cocked hats. The verdure of the fields and
trees here (the latter chiefly beech, olive,
and lime) was delightful, owing partly to
the late rains, which the people told us
had fallen to the great refreshment of the
long-parched earth; the whole air was em-
PIEDMONT.
balmed with the fragrance of the limes :
we had a strong sun, but at the same
time, so reviving a breeze, so soft, pure,
and elastic, that I never remember to have
enjoyed any thing more, nor ever felt a
greater degree of physical animation. This
sweetly-breathing wind might (by poets)
have been supposed the same which blew
through the groves of Elysium. We now
passed by a fine ruin of a castle, built upon
a rocky eminence, and overhanging a brawl-
ing river. The peasantry in general were
well looking, but we still observed several
goitres among them. Nothing struck us
at this time with higher astonishment than
the convent of Benedictines, an enormous,
massive, dark pile of building, reared upon
the topmost height of one of the grandest
mountains here, and frowning over the
valley below. I in particular remem-
ber this with the strongest impression
of wonder and admiration ; it perfectly
seized upon my imagination, and involun-
tarily brought Mrs. KadclifFe's, and other
tales of romance, to the recollection of us
all.
PIEDMONT. 19
At St. Antonine, (I sometimes avail my-
self of the French names of these places,
as both French and Italian are equally used
in this country), we first saw two paysannes
with their hair twisted up d I' antique, and
in long transparent veils of black gauze,
which admirably suited their handsome
dark eyes and eyebrows ; this costume is
sometimes worn over the high cap, but it
then loses half its graceful effect. It struck
me that if women in general were aware of
the peculiar advantage and charm of a long
floating veil, which thus shades, without
concealing, the features, there would be
but one style of head-dress in the world.
In addition to these bewitching veils, the
country girls at this place (St. Antonine)
generally carry fans ; we met several with
them, made of bright pink paper, covered
with gold spangles, and it appeared to us
rather an incongruous implement in the
hands of a village belle. Mass was perform-
ing as we passed, at a church of true Grecian
architecture ; upon the outside steps of
which the people were kneeling with every
symptom of devotion. In going through
140 PIEDMONT.
a low valley beyond this town, narrow and
extremely confined by the tall hedge-rows,
where the circulation of air is in conse-
quence impeded, we felt the heat almost
intolerable ; and the atmosphere exactly
of that heavy nature from which we have
often suffered during the summers of our
own country. I must tell the truth (as it
is fit ah 1 respectable travellers should do),
and therefore am compelled to confess,
that in passing over the continent, I was
perpetually and forcibly struck with the
defects of our English climate when com-
pared with others. Condemn me not, ye
red-hot John Bulls ! remember that when
the noble animal you resemble makes his
fiercest attacks, he always shuts his eyes, in
common with every prejudiced person.
At Eivoli, they were celebrating the fete
of St. Bartholomew ; many pretty women
and fine spirited-looking men were among
the groups of gay figures assembled there.
The caps of the former were very re-
markable, being composed of lace in the
form of a high Eoman casque or helmet;
and worn over another of pink silk. The
TURIN. 141
church was ornamented with flowers and
green wreaths ; guns were firing, and a
military procession going by as we passed :
some of the girls wore pea-green jackets
and red petticoats, some blue petticoats
and white shift sleeves, and ah 1 had a
bouquet of natural flowers in their bosoms.
From Rivoli, we emerged into the fertile
and widely extended plains of Piedmont ;
the distant hiUs, richly tufted with woods,
were studded thick with white villas (or
vignes as they are called here), and we now
entirely lost sight of those hideous goitres,
which had hitherto every now and then
made their appearance, even in the midst
of a generally handsome peasantry.
The approach to Turin was highly beau-
tiful, through a long avenue of the finest
trees ; the town itself embosomed among
gently rising hills, and adorned by the river
Po, glassy and smooth as a mirror, and so
transparent, that the banks and sky were
reflected upon its breast, unbroken by a
single wave or ripple. The buildings are
very high, many of them extremely hand-
some, with white or coloured striped awnings
TURIN.
to every window, as a shelter from the noon-
day sun. Our hotel (Albergo del Universo)
stood in the middle of La Place du Chateau,
immediately fronting the royal palace. The
streets are clean, which indeed they ought
to be, since through almost all of them a
stream of the purest crystal water is per-
petually flowing, contributing not a little,
I should think, to the health and comfort
of the inhabitants. We found apartments
allotted to us in the Albergo of great height
and size, with cove ceilings, and en suite;
furnished with a curious mixture of poverty
and magnificence, and ornamented by some
exquisite and well chosen prints, from the
designs of Poussin and other old masters ;
rather in better style, it must be allowed,
than those of most English inns, where
you find " Going out to hunt," " In at the
death," " Matrimony and courtship," and
such things, hanging over every chimney
piece. But we found one annoyance here
that almost disgusted me with Italy, in
spite of her miracles of nature and art,
and brought back the remembrance of En-
glish neatness and purity in a very forcible
TURIN. 14S
manner : I allude to the circumstance of the
vermin, which infest even some of their most
expensive establishments, and quite destroy
the sensation of comfort. There are other
sins also in their household arrangements,
which this nation share in common with
the French : suffice it to say, that both one
and the other are certainly the dirtiest
race of beings I ever encountered. I did
not much like the smell of garlic, on en-
tering our hotel, where the host, waiters,
and assistants, all puffed their vile rocam-
bole breath* in our face, as they bustled
about, preparing for our accommodation.
Neither could I relish their method of
cookery, and, after the first trial, begged to
have our future dinners drest a la Fran-
caise. I know not what my friend Mr. T.
would say to this, who I have heard vaunt
his Piedmontese garlic truffles as one of the
greatest delicacies of the table. To do the
people of this hotel justice, I ought, how-
ever, to acknowledge that they seemed most
anxious to please, and appeared delighted
* Vide Bath Guide, page 100.
144 TURIN*
when they succeeded. Nor did they attempt
to impose upon us in their charges, although
they formed exceptions, in this instance, to
some other Italian innkeepers, by whom
we were considerably annoyed and dis-
gusted ; the system of cheating and over-
rating on their parts, and of shameless
begging from the lower classes, being in
general carried to an astonishing excess :
I must say, that we found the French far
preferable in these respects. The royal
residence here is a very magnificent and
classical building, and Laplace deSt. Charles
is also very fine. The shops are universally
built beneath the refreshing shade of piazzas,
which is a very necessary circumstance, for
the heat of the sun at noon would other-
wise overpower their inhabitants. No busi-
ness seems to be done at that time, at the
public-offices, banking-houses, &c. Indeed
the Italians say, il riy a que les cliiens et les
Anglois qui sortent d ces heures. We pro-
ceeded to view the principal lions the next
day, and, amongst others, the cathedral,
which is a regular Grecian temple. The
king's seat in a gallery above the high
TURIN. 145
altar, very splendidly adorned, but we agreed
in thinking that this style of architecture
(although beautiful in itself), was far less
appropriate to a place of religious worship
than the gothic. In this opinion (which
I remember to have expressed before, in
the beginning of my tour), I am not sure
however, that we are not a little tinged
with the ideas of gloomy solemnity (as con-
nected with religion) peculiar to most of
the northern nations; and I own (at all
events) that I am guilty of an inconsistency
in taste, because I have ever been a warm
admirer of the bright, soft, and smiling type
under which a different mythology has re-
presented death. The poetical butterfly,
bursting from its chrysalis, and soaring on
triumphant wings to heaven, strikes me as
infinitely more rational than the horrible
(and low) taste which we have shown in
selecting the skeleton as the most proper
symbol of the same great and glorious
mystery ! a sort of rawhead and Uoodybone
plan, unworthy of so enlightened a people
as ourselves, and which seems to answer
no one purpose of religion or morality,
146 TURIN.
if impartially considered ; but on the con-
trary to be well calculated to poison the
innocent minds of youth with aggravated
and unnecessary terrors, and to divert their
attention from the nobler truths of immor-
tality!
In the evening we drove upon the
Corso in a caleche, the same sort of vehicle
which we used while at Paris. The Corso
is a pretty, cool, shady promenade, by the
side of the river Po. The upper classes
of Turin take the cool air of the evening
here, every day, in their different carriages ;
we observed no pedestrians above the rank
of the bourgeoisie. We met the king of
Sardinia on horseback, not forming (as is
usual for sovereigns in England) the centre
of a galaxy of stars and ribands, but riding
first, by ~ himself, followed by an escort of
five gentlemen, among whom was his bro-
ther. He looked very earnestly into our
carriage, and returned our salutation by
taking off his hat in a graceful and cour-
teous manner. He is a little thin man,
apparently about fifty-five, with a coun-
tenance expressive of good nature. The
TURIN. 147
queen next rolled by, attended by all her
suite, in an old-fashioned heavy coach and
six, her coachman (big, fat, and important,
sunk in his ample box) and her footmen
in gay scarlet liveries, gaudily laced. The
equipage altogether put me strongly in
mind of that raised by the fairy for her
god-daughter Cinderella, where the coach
was originally a pumpkin, the coachman a
fat hen, and the lackeys lizards ! We saw
shortly afterwards, during this brilliant
promenade, the prince and princess of
Carignano (who are adored by all ranks,
and are continually active in every bene-
volent duty), and the Spanish, Dutch,
and other ambassadors. The king shows
himself to the populace in this manner
every evening. We attended the Opera at
night ; the price of one of the best private
boxes did not exceed twelve shillings, and
the tickets of admission (being a separate
concern) were about fifteen-pence. In
London one thinks a box cheap at five
guineas ! The prince and princess de Ca-
rignano were present : the theatre is called
by their name, but it is not the principal
148 TURIN.
one at Turin ; there being another upon a
larger scale, which was shut up during our
sejour at that place : it is never used but
during the carnival, or on some great occa-
sion, in compliment to some foreign prince.
TheCarignano theatre is, notwithstanding, a
handsome, spacious edifice, about the size of
Drury Lane, and the scenery and machinery
carried on in far better style than with us
in the Haymarket. The drop curtain in
particular caught my attention; it is an
exquisite painting, representing the Judg-
ment of Paris, his figure beautiful and
graceful in the highest degree, and the
drapery remarkably fine. The Opera (II
Rivale di se stesso, by Veigi) was well got
up, but we were not much struck with the
music, from the whole of which we could
only select one or two morceaux to admire :
there was a clever buffo (Signor Nicola
Taci), and a very agreeable prima donna,
whose style of singing and flexibility of
voice sometimes reminded us of Catalani ;
her name was Emilia Bonini. The ballet
was extremely superior to ours in numbers,
and in minute attention to the accuracy of
TURIN. 149
costume ; but there were no French dancers
among them, and it is well known how in-
ferior in the comparison are all others.
Thegrofes^weSjhowever^a species of dancers
peculiar to Italy) were wonderful for ac-
tivity and strength : they consisted of four
men and two women, who really appeared
to think the air their proper element rather
than the earth; they flew about in every
possible strange attitude, but were totally
devoid of grace, to which, indeed, I believe
they do not pretend. I found that I had
by some means formed a very erroneous
idea of the usual conduct of an Italian
audience. I had expected to find a sort of
breathless silence, and a refinement of ap-
plause, wholly different from the character
of an English set of listeners ; but on the
contrary, they clapped as loudly as any
John Bulls in the world, and even hissed
one of the singers, who did not happen to
please. I have subsequently mentioned
this circumstance to those who are better
acquainted with the customs of Italy, and
learn that I have been quite mistaken all
my life in this respect. The house (as well
as those in France) was dark as Erebus,
150 TURIN.
which I cannot approve, for it evidently
does not answer the purpose of increasing
the brilliancy and the illusion of the stage.
Thenext morning we drove to Moncallier,
about six miles from Turin, to call upon
Madame N , (an old acquaintance of our
friend Mr. T.'s,) for whom we had letters.
The coachman was an insufferable gossip,
and we dreaded to ask him a question, sure
that it would bring down upon us at least
a dozen long answers. We did not go to
the English minister's ; that gentleman (Mr.
Hill) being then absent for a fortnight at
Genoa. We therefore had not the pleasure
of presenting him with those letters of in-
troduction to himself and other families at
Turin, with which we were furnished by
the kindness of Mr. T. who was also
formerly minister here, and of whom the
people still speak in those terms of enthu-
siastic gratitude, which his benevolence
richly deserves. It was highly pleasing to
me to listen to these details, nor were they
imparted to us by one person alone; his
reputation appeared to be in the hearts
and upon the lips of every one who re-
membered him at all! But to return to
TURIN. 151
our visit to Madame N : the vast ex-
panse of fertile, fresh, and woody country
seen from the heights of Moncallier, with
the Po winding in graceful sweeps through
the richest banks, is wonderfully like the
prospect boasted by Kichmond Hill. I
was national enough to admire it the more
upon this account, although I confess its
superiority in the sublime back ground of the
distant Alps and glaciers. When arrived at
the termination of the carriage road here,
we were informed of the necessity of alight-
ing, and of walking a short distance to the
garden gate that belonged to Madame N.'s
vigne. This short distance proved to be
upwards of half a league (a mile and half),
leading through a stony lane of hot sand,
(in which our weary feet sunk deep at
every step), upon a very long and steep
ascent. The hour of noon (which I have
already mentioned to be intolerable in this
country) rapidly approached, and the scorch-
ing influence of the sun caused the drops
to start from our foreheads, and our hearts
to sink within us, as we proceeded on our
way; to make the matter worse, I had
159, TURIN.
attired myself that morning (little dreaming
of such a walk) in a smart Parisian costume,
with a triple flounce at the bottom of the
petticoat, which by the time I had reached
the end of this lane, formed a very pretty
receptacle of dust and sand, scattering its'
contents most liberally upon my already
blistered feet and ancles; a pair of thin,
small slippers, also, (which I unfortunately
wore) cut my insteps with their tight
binding, and admitted at each step the
sharp points of flint with which our path
abounded ! The guide (a bareheaded Pied-
montese boy) did not understand above
one word in ten of what was said to him,
either in French or Italian, speaking a
wretched and indistinct patois himself,
which was equally unintelligible to us.
He was a lively, arch little fellow, how-
ever, and made some amends for having
seduced us into attempting the walk, by
his encouraging signs that we should soon
arrive at its termination. Indeed it would
have been useless to have gone back, as we
had already advanced so far upon our way ;
and there was no possibility of reaching the
TURIN. 153
house but on foot. I reproached him se-
veral times for replying only " No, Signora"
when I asked if such and such gates be-
longed to the vigne we were seeking ; and
could not help smiling at his desiring me
to take courage, for that in a few minutes
he should leave off saying " No, Signora,"
and be able to please me better by " Eccola,
Signora :" at length we reached the goal,
and upon ringing, were ushered by two
servant girls in their paysanne costumes,
amid the barking of wondering dogs, into a
romantic garden, where flowers, fruit, vege-
tables, and grapes, all flourished together
without any attempt at regularity, forming
a singular and most agreeable melange.
This vigne commanded an exquisite and
extensive prospect of the plains of Pied-
mont, and the distant mountains. A grave,
respectable femme de chambre now made
her appearance, and speaking in English,
conducted us into the house, where in a
few minutes Madame N. herself received
us with a degree of frank politeness, and
a warm and unaffected hospitality of
manner, which was extremely pleasant to
154 TURIN.
meet with, and quite a novelty to those
who like ourselves had been accustomed
to the reserve (I may say ultra-reserve) of
many Englishwomen. Both mistress and
maid (the latter personage above-men-
tioned having lived with Madame N. ever
since she was a girl) had a foreign accent
and idiom, in speaking our language, al-
though they were really of English birth,
and had passed their youth in the county
of Suffolk or Norfolk, I forget which. We
were much struck with the difference of
this little country house from those to
which we had been used in England, it
bore so completely the Italian character;
all the rooms were in demijour, having the
jalousies closed, to shield them from the
sun at this sultry time of the day : marble
in profusion rendered their appearance
doubly cool, brick floors and light green
stucco walls, still preserving the air of a
cottage residence, in which an English eye
is surprised at meeting the former costly
material. A few beautiful frescos, and water-
coloured drawings of mountain scenery,
evidently from the hand of a master, a
TURIN. 155
gaily painted ceiling, and a guitar thrown
carelessly upon a pianoforte, told us we
were in the land of the arts. Passing into
the small dining-room, opening upon the
garden, through a porch thickly shaded
with vines, we saw the table ready laid for
dinner, to which we were cordially in-
treated to remain : it was entirely covered
with large vine leaves, spread upon the
white cloth, and amid which we perceived
wooden spoons and forks, in a true Arca-
dian style. Nothing could have a cooler
or more refreshing effect than this verdant
board prepared for
" all those rural messes,
Which the neat-handed Phyllis dresses."
We were not, however, at liberty to accept
Madame N.'s invitation to share her simple
meal, having left our friend waiting dinner
for us at Turin. She told us of a late visit
she had been making to the mountains:
their party consisted of a few intimate
friends, who, joining in a sort of gipseying
scheme, hired lodgings for three weeks,
at the humble cottage of one of the
156 TURIN.
poor inhabitants of these remote and soli-
tary regions. They carried their own cook-
ing utensils, some provisions, and a com-
plete set of common earthen-ware dishes,
plates, wooden spoons, knives and forks,
&c. These they presented to their host
at parting, whose gratitude and delight
at the splendid gift, she said, were un-
bounded. He repeatedly exclaimed, " too
much ! this is too much ! what beautiful
things ! they are far too good for me !"
Their value in toto was about five English
shillings ; but this unsophisticated child of
nature, used to every sort of privation,
knowing but few wants, and totally igno-
rant of the customs and habits of the rest
of the world, really imagined that it was a
princely donation. The manners of the
people in these wild mountains are primi-
tive beyond all conception, and their morals
so pure, their affections so warm, and their
language so artless and unrestrained, that
they seemed as if just fresh from the hand
of the Creator in the beginning of the
world ! Altogether they had made such a
strong and touching impression on Madame
TURIN. 157
N.'s mind (who is herself the purest and
most romantic child of nature), that she
said she should regret their society, and
remember their singular virtues and inno-
cence as long as she lived. The advocates
for the doctrine of original depravity, and
who deny that man is rendered vicious
chiefly by circumstances, might have been
somewhat staggered in this " plain tale," so
truly calculated to " put them down."
Speaking of the Italian character, and
more particularly of their excellence in the
fine arts, she confirmed the truth of what
so many accurate and enlightened observers
have remarked, namely, " that the genius
of an Italian is so peculiarly indigenous to
his native soil, so intimately and vitally de-
pendant upon the favouring and animating
breath of his own ardent clime, as to faint,
droop, and often wholly to wither, in the
chilling atmosphere of foreign lands !" Like
the giant son of the earth, who wrestled
with Hercules, his power, his very existence,
is drawn wholly from thence. Madame de
Stae'l, in her Corinne (that work, whose
kindling eloquence, depth of feeling, in-
158 TURIN.
imitable powers of language, and historical
truth, as a portrait of Italy, is so univer-
sally admired by the best judges of excel-
lence, and so clamoured against by the
tasteless and ignorant cavillers of the day),
has forcibly illustrated this truth ; as has
also Canova, in his own. person. Madame
N. related an answer which the latter made
to Bonaparte (who had sense and elevation
enough to appreciate this modern Praxiteles
as he deserved), upon being reproached for
indolence, and want of professional exer-
tion while at Paris : " Emperor ! Canova
cannot be Canova but in his native Italy ;
she is the source of his inspiration ; his
powers are palsied in the separation !"
We walked in the garden of this pretty
vigne, after having partaken of the refresh-
ment of fruit and wine and water within,
and were surprised at the bruised and bat-
tered appearance of the grapes ; they had
been all nearly destroyed a short time before,
by a violent storm of hail ; the congealed
drops of this destructive element being
larger than a small bird's egg, or a goose-
berry ! What a scourge to the poorer
TURIN. 159
classes, whose only wealth frequently con-
sists in their vineyards ! (note D).
We now took leave of our friendly, though
new, acquaintance ; who, not satisfied with
having pressed us to pass a few days with
her here, also offered us the use of her win-
ter residence in Turin, if we had staid
longer, assuring us we should find it more
comfortable than a hotel. Before I quit
her, however, I should mention the curious
difference which she pointed out to us, in
the necessary expenses of an Italian and
an English domestic establishment: the
comforts, and even luxuries, of the former
clime being obtained at so much more
reasonable a price than those of the latter,
as to seem almost incredible. She told
me, that for five or six hundred a year a
person might keep two houses (one in
Turin, and one in the country), a carriage,
a box at the Opera, an appropriate table,
and be able to receive friends under his
roof with perfect ease. Further up,
among the more retired mountains, and
relinquishing the accommodation of a
carriage, you might live most comfortably
(although, of course, upon a very small scale
160 TURIN".
of establishment) for fifty pounds per an-
num. She added, that in her own case, an
income which gave her the reputation of a
" rich widow" in Turin, would not purchase
her a decent roof, and bread and cheese, in
London. I have no means of ascertaining
that this statement is correct, or exag-
gerated ; I merely relate the circumstance.
We found our friend, Mr. W., in expecta-
tion of our return, at the hotel :
" We entered,
And dinner was served as we came ;"*
for which we had a better appetite than
could have been imagined, after all our fa-
tigues. The heat of the weather would
not admit of our going out till the evening
had considerably advanced, when we again
drove about the town. The waiter (who,
by the way, was one of the best looking of
his kind we had seen, being particularly
remarkable for the elegant expression of
his countenance (if I may apply that word
to one in his rank of life), as well as the
regularity of his truly Grecian features),
told us, that the late summer had been the
* Goldsmith.
TURIN. 161
most sultry that the people of Turin were
able to remember ; and that he himself had
found the heat so unusually oppressive,
that he had hardly been able to taste food
during the time of its continuance. Hav-
ing occasion to write letters this evening,
we sent for materials, and by the appear-
ance of the golden sand which was brought
to us, thought the river Pactolus ran
through the town instead of the Po. Ice
is used in profusion here, in the prepara-
tion of almost every beverage ; and there
are large meadows overflowing with the
clearest streams of water, kept solely for
this purpose. We went into a bookseller's
shop during our stay, where we were agree-
ably surprised by seeing a translation of
Rob Roy upon the table, which we were
assured was much relished in Italy, and
was extremely popular. A proof (if any
were wanting) of the intrinsic exceUence of
the work, even considered without refer-
ence to its merits as a mere national pic-
ture. We observed also a sermon, which
had been preached upon the death of our
lamented Princess Charlotte ; the style, as
M
162 TURIN.
I slightly turned over the leaves, appeared
highly pathetic, and the expressions of pity
and regret very forcible and natural. It
was altogether a tender and soothing gra-
tification to our feelings as natives of Eng-
land.
Priestcraft struck us to be the staple
trade of the place ; the swarms of dismal,
sly-looking, vulgar figures, in their black
formal costume, were beyond all belief, and
the idea of a flight of ravens came into
my head every time I saw them. Pass-
ing by the market, we were astonished at
the quantities of peaches exposed for sale.
They are as common in Italy as potatoes
with us. Some small ones of an inferior
sort were then selling at the price of four
or five English halfpence for three pounds
weight of fruit. We went the next day,
in the cool of the evening, to drive, as
usual, about the environs, and intended to
have called upon the Marquise d'A
(nte d'A.), for whom we had letters of
introduction ; but were prevented by a vio-
lent and sudden storm of rain, thunder, and
lightning. The effect of its coming on was
TURIN. 163
wonderfully grand and beautiful ; a painter
would have been in ecstasies ; and we were
highly interested in the sight. Looking
back upon Turin, we beheld the town, and
the conspicuous convent of Capucins, their
white walls starting luminously forth from
a background of lowering clouds of a pur-
ple hue, indicative of the gathering tem-
pest, which in a few moments darkened
into the most awful gloom that can be ima-
gined. We put up the hood and leather
apron of the carriage, and drove rapidly
homewards, while the clouds burst over our
heads, and the rain descended in absolute
sheets of water. We could not help being
delighted with the refreshing change. If
Pythagoras's doctrine is true, I am convinced
I must formerly have been a duck ; for never
creature of that nature enjoyed the sort
of thing more than myself. The lightning
continued for nearly an hour, accompanied
by tremendous bursts of thunder, louder
than the loudest artillery, the wind howl-
ing at the same moment as if in the depth
of winter, which, joined to the constant
rushing sound of the rain falling from the
M 2
164 TURIN.
projecting roofs and broad water-spouts of
the surrounding buildings, formed the most
sublime concert of wild sounds that I ever
heard. We were told that storms are al-
most always thus violent in the near neigh-
bourhood of the Alps.
Before I quit the subject of Turin, there
are a few more observations, which, how-
ever desultory, I will not withhold, although
they sometimes may relate to things which
we did not ourselves see, owing to the ex-
treme heat of the weather, and the short-
ness of our stay. Among these is the church
of the Superga, which I advise every tra-
veller to visit, knowing how amply his
trouble would be repaid by the very noble
view that it affords, and the peculiar inte-
rest and magnificence of the structure itself.
In a clear day the spire of the cathedral of
Milan may be discerned from thence, at
the distance of eighty miles. To inspect
the convent, in all its details, it is neces-
sary for ladies to procure previously an
order from the archbishop of Turin.
The Colline de Turin, in addition to its
natural beauties, presents two other objects
TURIN. 165
worthy of being seen : the Vigne de la
Reine (a very elegant little summer re-
treat), and the picturesque and romantic
convent, which is the burying-place of the
knights of the supreme order of the Annun-
ciade, in the neighbourhood of which are
found considerable masses of that fibrous
schist, called asbestos.
Bonaparte, it must be allowed, has made
considerable amends for the mischief which
his army occasioned at Turin, by the hand-
some bridge he caused to be built in place of
a miserable wooden one, and by weeding the
country of its too numerous monastic insti-
tutions, a few of which only have been re- i
stored by the present government. As the
seeds of revolutionary principles are apt to
retain their vital heat, even when appa-
rently crushed beneath the foot of power,
one cannot be surprised that a good deal of
unpopularity attends the present sovereign
among certain classes. But his truly paternal
government is nevertheless cherished with
affection by many, as the following fact clearly
proves, which I learned from the most in-
disputable authority. There existed an im~
pot, highly profitable to the revenue, but
166 TURIN.
~ /
which the king believed to be vexatious
and unpopular. He was accordingly taking
measures to repeal it, when, unexpectedly,
he received addresses from different parts
of the country, expressive of their conviction
that this resource to the revenue was neces-
sary ; and such was their confidence in the
certainty of his majesty's relinquishment of
it, the moment the situation of the finances
would allow him to do so without inconve-
nience, that they were content willingly to
submit to it until that period arrived.
We regretted not being able to visit
Genoa, the magnificence of which city, and
its beautiful bay (the latter hardly inferior
to that of Naples), is much talked of. With
respect to this portion of his Sardinian ma-
jesty's new subjects, we were told that a
considerable time will be necessary to re-
concile them to the loss of their inde-
pendence.
We should have been glad to have availed
ourselves (as I said before) of our letters of
introduction to Mr. Hill, had he been at
Turin, as we had heard much of the affable
and amiable manners of the Piedmontese
nobility. I have, indeed, always under-
TURIN. 167
stood that they were remarkable for quick-
ness and penetration. These latter quali-
ties distinguish their diplomacy at the se-
veral courts of Europe. From the abo-
minable patois which they speak, I should
think both gentlemen and ladies must be
singularly clever and engaging, to rise su-
perior to such a disadvantage : it seems to
be a corruption of French and Italian, and
to spoil both. They say, however, that it
is very expressive : all ranks are much at-
tached to it, and (strange to relate) it is
spoken at court, French being only adopted
when foreigners are present.
In this threshold of Italy, one expects to
find a considerable progress in the arts, nor
were we disappointed. Painting, sculpture,
orfevrerie, music, &c. have attained to a very
fair and reasonable height, and some of
their manufactures are particularly good;
especiaUy where silk (the great riches of
the country) is employed. Their damasks
for hangings are beautiful, both for patterns
and colour. They are the common furni-
ture of all their best apartments, and ex-
ceedingly cheap; one third perhaps of
what they could be manufactured for in
168 TURIN.
England, whither their raw silk is sent
every year to an immense amount, and
under a no less immense duty ; a certain
proportion of it is requisite to mix up with
our Bengal silks. The light gauzes manu-
factured at Chamberry are a very elegant
and favourite article of dress.
Several of the English nobility have
been educated at the university of Turin,
which used to be the most considerable
in Italy ; the system of education having
been carried on in a most liberal and
gentlemanly style. There is a remarkable
and interesting little protestant colony,
which also deserves mention, the Vau-
dois, who, surviving the cruel persecutions of
the dark ages of the church, have for many
centuries (certainly before the twelfth)
preserved their existence in the midst of
this catholic country, and within thirty miles
of its capital. They are a very quiet, moral,
and industrious people. They owe their
ease and safety to the protection of some
of the protestant powers, and especially
that of Great Britain, whose minister is
particularly instructed to attend to their
interests, and to their enjoyment of the
TURIN. 169
toleration that is allowed them ; they are,
like our catholics, deprived of many privi-
leges; but lately his present majesty has
consented to allow a salary to their priests.
Cromwell supported these people with pecu-
liar energy.
We left Turin the next morning. The
fresh and balmy spirit of the air was de-
lightful, and we had a glorious view of the
glaciers which hem in this fair city, the
new-risen sun shining brightly upon their
snowy and fantastic summits : the host
went by, in early procession ; all the people
as it passed dropped on their knees, in the
dirt of the street, and devoutly made the
sign of the cross. We met two friars,
whose picturesque and really dignified ap-
pearance formed a great contrast to the
demure, fanatical, formal-looking priests,
whom we had hitherto seen in all quar-
ters of the town. These friars were com-
plete models for a painter ; their bare feet
in sandals, rosary and gold cross by their
side, superb grey polls and beards ; the lat-
ter " streaming like meteors to the troubled
air." We now paid toll at the first turn-
170 SETTIMO.
pike we had seen during the last seven
hundred miles. I believe I have before men-
tioned that it was Bonaparte who abolished
this troublesome system, and who really
seems to have favoured the interests of tra-
vellers in every respect. The cottages in
this neighbourhood were pretty, and many of
the little porches and doors were overgrown
with the broad verdant leaves of the pump-
kin, whose orange-coloured blossoms had a
remarkably gay and rich effect.
At Settimo we saw a beautiful girl, with
the true Grecian line of feature, long oval
cheek, dark pale skin (fine and smooth as
marble or ivory), curled red lips, with long
cut black eyes and straight eyebrows ; her
profile was not unlike that of Mrs. E., so
celebrated in her day for regularity of out-
line.
Between Settimo and Chivasco we passed
over a curious bridge, formed of planks,
thrown across four boats, which were fixed
immoveably in the river, by strong cords
fastened to posts. The shape of these boats,
and also of many we observed upon the
Po, resembled that of an Indian canoe.
SETTIMO. 171
The turnpike was a little thatched hut,
erected upon the middle of this bridge.
Eefusing to comply with the importunities
of an old Italian beggar woman here, she
poured forth a volume of various maledic-
tions upon us ; being not at all inferior in
this sort of eloquence to the amazons of
our St. Giles's or Billingsgate.
The money (gold coins, I mean) of Italy
are of very pure metal, without alloy ; you
may (as a proof of it) bend them into any
shape with the fingers.
An accident happened to us near Rondiz-
zone, which was rather alarming, but hap-
pily passed over without any serious conse-
quences. The bridle of the centre horse
breaking, we were violently run away with
by the hot-headed animals ; nor could the
postillion stop them by any effort. This
was rendered more distressing by the cir-
cumstance of our going down a steep hill at
the moment. We called out repeatedly, and
waved our hands for assistance to one or
two peasants who were passing, making
signs for them to catch the bridle, if pos-
sible ; but they seemed to turn a deaf ear
172 CIGLIANO.
to our entreaties, never offering to make
the smallest attempt to relieve us. By the
time we reached the bottom of the hill,
however, which was fortunately a long one,
the creatures felt tired, and stopped of
themselves.
At Cigliano we took a dtjeunk at L'Al-
bergo Reale, and while it was preparing,
stood in the open gallery on the out-
side of the house, gathering from a vine,
which overshadowed it, the most deli-
cious Frontigniac grapes that I ever remem-
ber to have tasted : indeed their flavour
was exquisite, but the people did not ap-
pear to think them of any particular value,
leaving them freely to the attacks of every
traveller. Here we first drank the vino
d'Asti, a light wine of the country, which
we thought extremely pleasant, tasting like
the best sweet cyder. I formerly thought
that the flies of this country would pro-
bably be much of the same sort as those in
England; but they turned out far more
impertinently troublesome, inflicting their
tiny torments without mercy, being equally
obnoxious to man and beast ; a true impu-
SAN GERMANO. 178
dent, blood-sucking race ! This reminds
me, that under the head of vermin, I ought
to have recorded a disagreeable surprise
felt by v Mr. B. at the Opera at Turin :
feeling something tickle his forehead, he
put up his hand, and caught hold of a
monstrous black spider, at least four inches
in circumference. The people at the hotel,
to whom we related the circumstance, said
it was rather an uncommon thing, but
which sometimes occurred. The country,
since we turned our backs upon Turin, was
monotonous, and only relieved by the chain
of Alps in the distance.
At San Germano we observed a very
graceful costume among the peasant girls,
and women of all ages ; those who w r ere
advanced to extreme old age still con-
tinuing it without any variation. I allude
to the wearing silver pins or bodkins in
the hair behind, the long tresses of which
are tied together with a narrow black ri-
band, and divided into two braids. These
are then coiled into a round shape at the
back of the head, and fastened to the roots
of the hair by these ornamental pins, which
174 VERCELLI.
are about a finger in length, and have large
heads, like beads. Their points form the
radii of a circle, and are plainly discovered
amid the shadowy locks which they thus
support. The landscape here was flat and
uninteresting; but we remarked a great
deal of pasture land. The trees chiefly
consisted of stunted willows, planted in
straight lines. There were no viUas, or
even hamlets, to be seen, and the tout en-
semble was almost as tame and as ugly as
that of the Netherlands. The first dulcet
notes of true Italian music, we heard at
Vercelli: a baker's wife, who lived next
door to the Albergo della Posta (where -we
stopped to change horses), sat working and
singing in her shop. It was the most ele-
gant, yet simple, air imaginable, and her
voice possessed the soft mellifluous tones
of a faint but mellow flute. She had a pe-
culiar ease and flexibility also in the execu-
tion of several charming and brilliant little
graces, which delighted me. I thought it
was extremely improbable that this woman
could have had the advantage of a master in
the art ; and yet her style was finished in
VERCELLI. 175
the most perfect sense of the word ; being
simple, yet refined ; pathetic, yet chastely
ornamented. She was plain in face and per-
son ; but her lips half open looked almost
pretty, as she emitted these sweet sounds,
without discomposing a muscle. An effect
was thus produced, without effort or instruc-
tion, which is frequently denied in our
country to the pupils of the most cele-
brated teachers, although every exertion
has been cheerfully and indefatigably made,
both by master and scholar. Eut there is
no convincing some people that there are
things which are not to be taught. Had I a
daughter, I would never aUow her the assist-
ance of a music master until I perceived, by
unequivocal tokens, that nature had quali-
fied her to do credit to his instructions;
and hence waste of time, patience, temper,
and money, would be avoided. My baker's
wife I shall never forget; and if her ex-
ample would have opened the eyes of half
the world in England (who really seem to-
be music-mad in the present age), I wish
that she had had an opportunity of exhibit-
ing her gift, and of mortifying the silly am-
176 VERCELLI.
bition, while she soothed the ears of them
all. How have I smiled to see people
toiling to acquire the knowledge of com-
position and thorough base, when I have
been certain that they have not possessed
a spark of native genius to enable them to
make any use of these rules after all. Pro-
metheus formed an image, but it was only
fire from heaven that could make that
image man !
The costume of the women at Vercelli
became still more picturesque than those of
San Germano, as the bodkins which the
former wore were much handsomer, some
being of silver filligree, and others of silver
gilt, the heads worked and embossed with
great taste and richness. We saw large
fields of rice here ; this grain has a singular
appearance, something between the barley
and oat : when viewed closely, it has about
twelve ears upon each stalk. , The hedges
by the road side were of a species of acacia,
forming a very graceful foliage, but not
growing to any height or size. I got out
of the carriage to examine the manner in
which the women inserted the pretty orna-
NOVABA. 177
ments I have just described into their hair.
I found them (like the French paysannes)
extremely courteous and frank in their
manners, and they seemed flattered by the
attention their costume had excited. An
old man stood by, holding the hands of his
two little grand-children ; he observed (in
the usual patois) that they were beautiful
rogues, and he was right, for I have seldom
seen sweeter children ; very dark, with the
bright yet soft black eye peculiar to Italians,
and which both Sir W. Jones and Lord
Byron, catching the poetical idea of the
eastern writers, have 'so happily defined,
(or rather painted) by a comparison with
that of the roe or gazelle. One of these dar-
lings had wavy curls of the darkest auburn
hair. What a pity that such lovely cherubim
faces and silken locks should not have
been kept free from dirt and worse than
dirt ! but it is always the case here, the
poorer classes are invariably filthy.
The same tiresome and tame style of
country continued until we reached Novara ;
where we dined and slept at I'Albergo
d' It ali a. The latter was a horrible-looking
N '
178 NOVARA.
place; my heart sank within me, as we
drove into the court, for if I was so bitten
by the bugs, &c. at the superb albergo of
Turin, I naturally conceived I should have
been quite devoured here! This was a
striking proof, however, of the truth of that
moral axiom, which tells us, " it is not good
to judge of tilings at first sight," and also
that it is absurd to consider them on the
dark side, since at this same inn we found
every comfort: the dinner was served in
a cleanly manner (the knives, forks, and
spoons were really washed), and we enjoyed
a night of calm repose, undisturbed by ver-
min of any sort. The gentlemen went in
the evening to an Italian comedy, at the
theatre here, which was a neat building,
entirely fitted up with private boxes and
a parterre, the scenery and costumes far
above mediocrity, and the orchestra very
tolerable; but the length of the Italian
dialogues, and the unnatural bombast of
the actor's delivery, soon fatigued their
attention and exhausted their patience, and
they were glad to return home to indulge
unrestrained an overwhelming propensity
NO V AH A. 179
to sleep. The women at Novara were
much better looking than any we had yet
seen in this country ; the custom of gently
parting the hair upon the forehead, d la
Madonna, finishing with a soft ringlet be-
hind each ear, and the longer tresses con-
fined in an antique knot, gave an air of
infinite grace to the head and throat, and
appeared to us to be in far better taste
than that of the French, which strains up
the long hair to the crown of the head,
rendering the forehead quite bald, save
at the temples, where a lank straggling
greasy curl always is left hanging down upon
the cheek, which has a formal and unbe-
coming effect. Apropos to personal charm.
I was assured before our departure from
England (by an amateur artist of high
genius and feeling, and who had lived for
years in different parts of Italy), that we
should find there a small number of what are
generally called " pretty women," in com-
parison with what we had been used to see
in our own country ; but that when real Ita-
lian beauty was occasionally encountered,
it was of that decided and exquisite nature,
ISO NOVARA.
as to be infinitely superior to any which Eng-
land's daughters can boast. Even my slight
experience has perfectly convinced me of
the truth of the remark. I am national
enough to be sorry for it, but it cannot be
helped; we must submit to this mortification
of our vanity, and if we do it with a good
grace, may probably find that quality plus
belle encore que la beaut e of power to capti-
vate, where regularity of feature has failed.
The first stage of our journey the next
day did not afford us any relief from the
insipidity of country of which we had com-
plained since leaving Turin. We saw here
(as in most parts of the continent) large
tracts planted with corn, here called melliga,
and remarked a good deal of meadow land ;
but we did not once taste cream either
in Italy or France (except at Samer, and
afterwards at Quillacq's hotel at Calais,
when we were treated with a few spoonfuls
in our tea of a rich sort of milk which
boasted that name), nor was Paris itself
exempt from the want of it. This weary-
ing sameness in the landscape was at length
agreeably broken by the prospect of a vast
NOVARA. 181
common, where the purple heath-flower,
with which it was entirely covered, wet
with dew, gleamed like an amethyst in the
morning sun. Yet even here, I missed the
gay variety of the bright golden broom,
which invariably is found upon our commons
at home- Home ! the term always makes
my heart throb with pleasure and pride ; I
know not why, but at that moment its idea
rose in vivid strength before me, softened
and beautified by the colours with which
memory never fails to adorn a beloved
object in absence. I felt (and my com-
panions warmly participated in my senti-
ments) that our dear little island had
charms of a different nature, but in no way
inferior, to those even of this favoured land,
.so celebrated, so enthusiastically vaunted,
by the poet and the painter. I felt (and
what Englishwoman ought not to feel?)
that I could truly ^exclaim in apostrophizing
my native country,
" Where'er I go, whatever realms I see,
" My heart, untravelTd, fondly turns to thee."
And yet, reader, we were no bigots in the
.cause, for we could discern foreign ex-
182 NOVARA.
cellence and deeply feel it, and we could
perceive where England's faults lay, could
acknowledge those faults, and wish that
they were rectified ; and this, I am sorry to
say, is not always the case with our country-
men, many of whom have listened to all
commendations of other nations, as if they
were so many insults offered to our own.
It seems wonderful that such feelings
should in these enlightened days exist
among persons who are not actually fools,
nor of that class of society in which a want
of education necessarily induces ignorance
and prejudice ; yet so it is, unfortunately,
as it has more than once been my lot to
witness.
We now passed the river Tessin, by
means of a bridge of boats. It was much
impaired in beauty and force, by the heat
of the late season, but we could easily ima-
gine that in general its portion of both
must be extreme. Bonaparte had begun
to build a fine and permanent bridge across
it, but fate intervened, and it is left un-
finished, like his own eventful history.
At Buffalore, the douaniers were tire-
MILAN. 183
some enough, according to custom (pardon
the pun), but we conducted ourselves to-
wards them with great patience and civility,
which (together with a little silver eloquence)
soon touched their stony hearts. Indeed
it would have been useless to have done
otherwise, as I never yet heard of any body
being able to soften rocks with vinegar,
except Hannibal ; and I consider even that
instance to be apocryphal.
We arrived at the grand city of Milan
early, and proceeded immediately to visit
the cathedral, that mighty duorno, of which
Italy is so justly proud. We were abso-
lutely silent with admiration and wonder,
upon first seeing this stupendous work of
art, and I really despair of doing it justice in
description ; like many other things, it must
be seen to be fully comprehended and
appreciated. St. Peter's at Rome is generally
accounted the superior miracle of genius ;
but I believe there are many imaginations
which have been more forcibly impressed
with the effect of this. In the first place,
the material claims pre-eminence, being
entirely of white marble, brought from the
184 MILAN.
Lago Maggiore. It is of gothic architec-
ture, and was begun in the year 1386 : the
plan of the choir and the two grand organs
were given by the celebrated Pellegrini, and
the facade, which had remained for so many
years unfinished, was completed by Bona-
parte, from the simple and superior designs
of the architect Amati. Various statues
and bas reliefs, with other costly ornaments
in spotless marble, ornament the outside ;
and the interior has no less than five naves,
supported by one hundred and sixty superb
columns of the same magnificent material.
Immediately beneath the dome or cupola
(which is by Brunellesco) is a subterranean
chapel, where sleeps the embalmed body of
Saint Carlo Borromeo, (the Howard of his
age, and an ancient archbishop of Milan), en-
shrined in a coffin of the purest rock crystal,
inclosed in a tomb of solid silver, splendidly
embossed, and of enormous size and value.
The pillars which support this chapel are
alternately of silver and of the most ex-
quisite coloured marble, highly polished.
The wax tapers, which were lighted by the
guides, to enable us to thread the dark
MILAN. 185
mazes of this magnificent dungeon (for I can
call it by no other name, debarred as it is from
the sweet air and light of heaven), cast a
stream of gloomy radiance upon our some-
what lengthened visages, and dimly illu-
minated the buried treasures of the tomb.
Never, surely, since the days of Aladdin, has
there existed so imposing a scene of sepul-
chral wealth and grandeur ! Having ex-
pressed a wish to see the saint (who I
ought to mention has now been dead for
nearly three hundred years), the priest
(first putting on a sort of cloak of old point
lace, and crossing himself with an air of
profound respect and reverence), assisted by
the guide, began to set some mechanical pro-
cess at \vork ; by means of which, as though by
a stroke of magic, the silver tomb appeared
to sink into the earth, the lid flew up as if
to the roof of the chapel, and the body in-
closed in its transparent coffin was suddenly
exhibited to our wondering gaze. It was
habited in a long robe of cloth of gold,
fresh as if just from the loom ; on the
head was a mitre of solid gold (presented
by one of the former kings of Spain), and by
186 MILAN.
the lifeless side, as if just released from the
powerless hands which were crossed upon
its breast, lay a crosier, of massy chased
gold, studded with jewels of extraordinary
richness and beauty ; the price of which was
scarcely to be reckoned, and whose magni-
tude and lustre were wonderful ! They
sparkled brightly in the rays of the taper, as
if in mockery of the ghastly spectacle of
mortality which they were meant to honour
and adorn. Nothing certainly could well be
imagined more alarmingly hideous than St.
Carlo Borromeo ; and why the humiliating
exhibition of his corporeal remains should
thus be produced to the eyes of the careless
multitude, when the qualities of his noble
and benignant soul should alone be re-
membered and dwelt upon, I cannot possi-
bly conjecture. What a strange perversion
of taste, and what a ludicrous method of
evincing gratitude and admiration ! A very
brief account of the virtues of this good
archbishop may not be unwelcome to my
readers. He was the head of the noble
family of Borromeo, and equally distin-
guished for his extraordinary benevolence
MILAN. 187
towards mankind, and his elevated senti-
ments of piety towards God. Not satisfied
with possessing the respect and homage of
his fellow creatures, he placed his happiness
in soothing their griefs, relieving their
wants, and in gaining their warmest affec-
tions : he rather wished to be considered as
a father than a superior, and the superb head
of the clergy was merged in the benevo-
lent friend of the people. His whole for-
tune was devoted to their service, and
during a year of famine he had so com-
pletely exhausted his annual income in
feeding others, that he literally was left
totally destitute either of food or ready
money, one evening when he returned
to his episcopal residence, fatigued and ex-
hausted with the charitable labours of the
day. This benign enthusiasm, kindled
in early life, never relaxed to the hour of
his dissolution, and he was after death
canonized as a saint by the universal con-
sent of all ranks of persons, as might reason-
ably be expected ; and with far more justice
than many of his calendared brethren. I am
afraid, never theless, that he does not quite
188 MILAN.
come up to the ideas of moral and religious
perfection, entertained by a Faquir of In-
dia, or a strict Calvinist of our country ; for
he certainly never stuck any nails into his
own sides, or planted the thorns of terror in
the agonised bosom of all, whose notions of
duty happened not exactly to agree with
those he himself entertained. He perse-
cuted, he despised, he denounced no one ;
and he considered all mankind, whether
protestant or catholic, as equally entitled
to his good will and benevolence ! To re^
turn to the narrative of our individual pro-
ceedings, we retired from the cathedral,
with our imaginations rather disagreeably
impressed by the splendid yet disgusting
spectacle we had there witnessed ; and in-
stead of remaining at home all the evening,
to brood over the idea of coffins and cross-
bones, and to " dream of the night-mare,
and wake in a fright*," we were wicked
enough to shake oif our melancholy, by
going to the theatre of the Marionetti (or
puppets), for which Milan is famous. The
* Vide Bath Giiide.
MILAN*. 189
scenery and figures (the latter of which
were nearly four feet in height) quite sur-
prised us by their correct imitation of na-
ture. I assure the reader, that I have
often seen actors of flesh and blood far less
animated, and much more wooden. We
could now and then discern the strings by
which they were worked, and we found it
easy to follow the Italian dialogue, as the
judicious speaker (concealed behind the
curtain), did not indulge in the rant or
mouthing of high tragedy, but gave every
speech a natural degree of emphasis, and
possessed in addition, an articulation sin-
gularly clear and distinct. The orchestra
was capital, the selection of music extremely
agreeable, and I never heard a tout en-
semble better attended to, even at the Opera.
Milan is a large city, and has the con-
venience of excellent pavements both for
foot passengers and those in carriages.
There are four trottoirs in each street, two
of them in the middle of the road, which is a
great advantage to all the draught horses
of the place, as it considerably lessens and
190 MILAN.
facilitates their exertions: I should not
wonder if this improvement had been sug-
gested by the guardian spirit of the amiable
Borromeo, since we are told that " a
righteous man is merciful unto his beast."
The bourgeoises of Milan generally wear
black or white transparent veils, thrown
carelessly over the hair, and carry fans in
the hand. Some have thin muslin mob caps
with flat crowns under the veil, but the
use of a bonnet is quite unknown. Both
the peasantry and bourgeoisie are generally
well-looking, and we saw two or three lovely
women : one in particular, a true Madonna
of Coreggio, who if seen in a London circle,
would, I am sure, have created an immense
sensation; we had no opportunity of judg-
ing whether she was fully aware or not of
her own extraordinary beauty, but taking
the thing in the most rational point of
view, I should think it impossible that she
should be ignorant of the personal ad-
vantages so liberally bestowed upon her.
Nothing has ever appeared to me more
sickening than the pretty innocence some
MILAN. 191
women (who have been highly favoured by
nature) think it amiable to affect. That it
is genuine, no one will believe who is truly
acquainted with human nature and the
customs of society; nor will any female,
who is not weak in intellect, or of very de-
fective judgment, condescend to adopt so
paltry an artifice. A woman of sense must
know when she is handsome, and she will
also know how to enjoy this species of
superiority without abusing it. There is
nothing, however, more common than the
mistaking ignorance for virtue, amongst
persons of a certain calibre of intellect, who
yet at the same time pique themselves upon
a reputation for solidity.
The fruit sold in the markets here is in
the most luxuriant profusion that can be
imagined. We saw grapes piled up in
large wicker baskets, like those used for
holding linen ; peaches in tubs and wheel-
barrows, and innumerable quantities of ripe
figs. We had the pleasure of hearing se-
veral ballad-singers of a very superior stamp
to those of London or Paris. This is
giving them small praise ; but I mean to
192 MILAN.
say, that they were really excellent, differ-
ing widely from some to whom we had
listened at Turin (who said they came from
Rome), and whose harshness of voice was
unpleasant, although their style, and the
music they selected, was very good. But
these people gratified us extremely : they
sang a buffo duet (accompanied by a vio-
loncello, violin, and guitar), with full as
much spirit and correctness as either Signers
N. or A. And we afterwards heard a man
(who came under our windows with his
guitar) execute one of Rossini's refined and
difficult serious arias in an equally finished
manner.
The next day we took a caleche, and
drove to see many lions, amongst others
the arena (i. e. amphitheatre), and the tri-
umphal arch, begun, but not finished, by
Napoleon. It was at Milan that this won-
derful man was crowned king of Italy, in
1805 ; and the arch in question was in-
tended to be at once a monument of his
fame, and a gate to the grand road of the
Simplon, which commences here. When
finished, it must have proved the admira-
MILAN. 193
tion of posterity ; even now it is very strik-
ing to the imagination, and not the less so (in
my opinion) for being left thus awfully in-
complete. The groups of figures, prepared
as ornamental friezes, lie piled together
in a shed or outhouse hard by, scarcely se-
cured from the injuries of weather. No-
thing can be more chastely classical than
their designs, and the figure of Xapoleon,
for ever prominent among them, in the
costume of the ancient Roman conquerors,
is a very correct personal likeness. A sta-
tue of him also is shewn here (with some
little affectation of mystery), as large, or
larger, than the life, and is equally marked
as an accurate resemblance.
The amphitheatre (lately built by Coe-
nonica) is highly magnificent, and of im-
mense proportions, chiefly appropriated to
the celebration of the naumachia, or naval
tournament. We found the city full of En-
glish ; our attorney-general and Lord K., &c.
were in the same hotel with ourselves (Al-
bergo Rcale) ; and I should in justice men-
tion, that the master of this inn is one of
the most attentive, civil, and obliging per-
194 MILAN.
sons in the world : I hope all our country-
men will patronise him. In the evening
we drove upon the promenade, which is a
very fine one, and situated in the best part of
the city. We were much struck by the width
of the streets adjacent, and by the beauty
and dignity of the buildings. Here we met
a crowd of equipages, of every denomination
and description; yet how mean did they
all appear, in comparison with those which
throng Hyde Park ! I am certain that
any English chariot and horses (however
plain and unpretending) would have been
gazed at, and followed here as a miracle
of elegance and beauty. At night we
took a box at the Opera (La Scala), which
is universally allowed to be the largest and
most superb in Europe. It was built by
Pierre Marini, in 1778, and did indeed amaze
us at the first coup d'ail, as a stupendous
miracle of art: but we found the same
want of brilliancy and cheerfulness as in all
other foreign theatres, and the performance
(to say nothing of the performers) was exe-
crable. Many of the boxes were shut up ;
but, by the lights which twinkled through
MILAN. 195
the green latticed blinds, we perceived that
persons were in them ; and once, upon this
sullen screen being casually opened for a
few moments, we saw them playing at cards,
and eating ices, without the slightest idea
of attending to what was passing upon the
stage. The latter refreshment is quite in-
dispensable in this hot climate, and it was
brought to us in the course of the evening:
Camporese was the prima donna here ; but
we did not see her, as she was unwell during
the time of our stay at Milan. A Signora
Gioja appeared in her stead, who made us all
triste enough by her tame and stupid per-
formance. The ballet was ennuyant a la
mort : its strength lay in its numbers, and
the manner of grouping them ; for as to the
dancing it was in short, there was no
such thing which properly merited that
name. The theatre is far too large for the
purposes of hearing (much less of enjoying)
music ; and there was such a stunning echo,
that the noise of the enormous band of mu-
sicians in the orchestra was almost rendered
insupportable to a delicate and refined ear.
They played also (to my indignant asto-
196 MILAN.
nishment) so loud as to drown the voices
of the singers, instead of keeping the in-
struments under, and subservient to them;
which I had imagined was a rule so firmly
established, as to render all deviation impos-
sible in a country which boasts itself to be
the veritable land of harmony. In short,
we infinitely preferred the opera at Turin,
and were completely disappointed with La
Scala. Indeed, I consider our own Opera
in the Haymarket (however fastidiously
abused by soi-disant connoisseurs, and al-
though it appears like a nutshell in point
of size, when compared with this overgrown
rival), to be indisputably superior in every
real advantage. The whole of Italy (as I
afterwards learned from some good judges
at Geneva) is at present lamentably de-
ficient in talent, both vocal and instrumental;
and whatever it affords of any celebrity is
sure to come over to England, where a richer
harvest is to be reaped than can be found
in any other country. I mean not, how-
ever, ignorantly to deny the superior ex-
cellence of the Italian school of music su-
perior (as all real judges must allow) to
LOMBARDY. 197
ours or any other. It is the original pa-
rent of excellence, the nursing mother of
true genius. Whatever has charmed us in
the art has sprung from the principles it
inculcates ; and when, even in the national
melodies of Ireland and Scotland, I have
heard a finished singer enchant and touch
the feelings of their enthusiastic sons, I have
been perfectly aware that what they have
blindly insisted upon as being preferable
to the Italian school, has in reality been
formed upon its rules ; and when I hear
a contrary doctrine asserted, I look upon it
as nonsense, unworthy even the trouble of
contradiction. I only mean to say, that the
present singers, performers, and composers
of Italy are anxious to transplant them-
selves to the fostering protection of British
taste and munificence.
We left Milan at an early hour the next
morning, and found the country beyond,
both flat and ugly for some distance. We
saw great quantities of white mulberry
trees (for the benefit of the silk-worms)
in every direction, and many poplars (be-
ing now in Lombardy). The leaf of the
198 RHO.
latter we observed to be much larger than
those in England : perhaps the tree dege-
nerates in some measure in our climate.
The maple also springs in abundance, and
I suppose there must be a proportionate
number of nightingales in consequence, if
the old saying is true, that these birds love
the maple better than any other tree. The
postillion wore the usual Austrian costume,
common to his profession : it bore some re-
blance to that of an old English jester, being
a yellow jacket with black worsted lace, and
a red waistcoat.
At Rho we passed by a church, called
Notre Dame des Miracles ; where signs and
wonders are believed to be displayed even
in these philosophical days. All the pea-
sants and bourgeoises wore beautiful coral
necklaces, brought from the Mediterranean,
of the true light pink colour, which is so ex-
pensive in England. The infants here were
cramped up in swaddling-clothes, and had
no caps upon their heads ; while the want
of hair, peculiar to their tender age, gave
them the air of little unfledged birds. But
now the period approached when we were to
GALLARATE. 199
encounter a more serious and hair-breadth
scape than any whichhad occurred during our
tour. Passing through the town of Gallarate,
near the foot of the Alps, we were stopped
by a gentleman in an open travelling car-
riage, whose rueful visage, scared air, and
animated gesticulations, awakened our most
lively curiosity and attention. He was
a merchant of Neufchatel, and perceiving
that we were proceeding upon the same
route which he had just passed, desired us
most earnestly to stop at Gallarate, and
furnish ourselves with a couple of gens
d'armes, unless we wished to encounter the
same fate from which he had just escaped.
He then went on to relate a most terrific
account of his having been robbed (he
might have added, frightened) by three hor-
rible-looking banditti, masked, and armed
with carabines, pistols, and stilettos ! They
had forced his postillion to dismount, and
throwing him under the carriage, with his
head beneath the wheel (to prevent his offer-
ing any interruption to their plunder), pro-
ceeded to attack him ; and, finally, spared
his life, only by his consenting to part with
200 GALLARATK.
every thing valuable in his possession.
They not only took his watch and all his
money, but a chain of his wife's hair, which
they discovered around his neck; but their
iU humour was great, and vehemently ex-
pressed, upon finding this poor man's pro-
perty a less considerable booty than they
had expected. All this had passed within
a quarter of an hour from the time at which
we met him at Gallarate. Of course, we
felt ourselves much indebted for the warn-
ing; and as my courage had completely
sunk under the recital, and I found it (like
that of Bob Acres, in the Eivals) " oozing
out at my fingers' ends," at every word this
gentleman spoke, my husband took com-
passion upon me, and accordingly de-
spatched messengers to summon the at-
tendance of a couple of well-mounted and
completely armed Austrian soldiers, with
long moustaches, and fierce martial-looking
countenances. These men afterwards rode
with us (one on each side the carriage) until
we had completely passed the borders, and
had entered the king of Sardinia's domi-
nions; where we were assured of finding per-
GALLARATE. 201
feet safety. No event of the kind had
occurred for the last twelve months ; but
we were astonished and indignant at the
supine apathy of the police, who did not
appear to have the smaUest intention of
sending any soldiers after the robbers, or
of making exertions to secure them. These
Austrian states have a bad reputation, as
we were told by our host at Lans le Bourg,
and were warned by him of the possibility
of a similar adventure. Mr. W., who was
so good as to undertake to order the guards
for me at Gallarate, found that not a single
person he encountered in the town under-
stood French, and he was obliged to be con-
ducted to the schoolmaster (the only man
capable of conversing in the language), be-
fore he could make our wishes compre-
hended and attended to. My husband re-
mained in the carriage to scold me into
better spirits; for, I confess, I never re-
member to have been more frightened in
my life.
The country beyond this place began to
improve in picturesque beauty; the Alps (to
202 GALLARATE.
which we had approached very close), and
woody hills in the distance, forming very
imposing features in the landscape. Here
we were met by several English carriages,
protected, as we were, by the attendance of
gens d'armes; which proved that fear had not
been confined to my bosom alone, and that
other people felt the same necessity of pre-
caution : a black servant upon the box,
grimly leaning upon a monstrous sabre,
formed an additional guard. We now en-
tered an irregular forest, where the postil-
lion (who was the same person that had
driven Monsieur Bovet) shewed us the spot
where the ruffians had issued forth. It was
a fine place for a romantic adventure of this
sort ; and never did I feel so thankful as
when I cast my eyes upon the spirited
horsemen, who continued to keep close by
the side of our vehicle, giving me now and
then looks of mirthful encouragement : in-
deed they seemed to consider the business
as a party of pleasure, and we heard them
laughing more than once as they rode
along.
LAGO MAGGIORE. 203
At Sesto a mob gathered round the car-
riage, as it stopped at the post-house ; and
I am not sure that they did not at first
mistake us for state prisoners. Our postil-
lion was now truly a great man ! the centre
of an open-mouthed, staring circle, wild
with curiosity, to whom he held forth at
length upon the danger he had undergone.
Here we crossed a ferry over the river
Tessin, which divides the dominions of
Austria from those of Sardinia. The rich-
ness and grace of the wooded banks, which
fringed this fine stream, delighted us ; and
the face of the whole country gradually
smiled and brightened, till it at last ex-
panded into the most glorious burst of ex-
quisite loveliness that the imagination can
conceive : for now we first beheld the
Lago Maggiore, embosomed in romantic
hills, with the superb Alps rising beyond
them, and its shores studded with innu-
merable hamlets, villas, and cottages. The
declining sun shed a warm colouring of
inexpressible beauty upon the calm sur-
face of this celebrated lake, whose wa-
ters, smooth and glassy, pure and tranquil,
204 ARONA.
seemed indeed, in the words of Byron, to
be a fit
" Mirror and a bath
" For Beauty's youngest daughters."
It was impossible not to kindle into enthu-
siasm as we gazed upon a scene of such
Armida-like fascination. Why should I at-
tempt a description of the Borromean Isles,
the Isola Madre, Isola Bella, and other fairy-
green gems, which adorned the bosom of
this queen of waters ? They have been al-
ready so celebrated by the pencil and the
lyre, that my efforts would be those of pre-
sumption. I find it quite too much even
to relate the effect they produced upon our
minds ; for no words can adequately express
our feelings of admiration and surprise !
We were now once more in Piedmont,
and the road led us through the town of
Arona, built upon the shores of the lake,
which is full forty miles in length. We saw a
picturesque figure of a peasant girl kneeling
upon the banks, and laving (like a young
naiad) her long tresses in the stream. There
is a fine grey ruin of a castle upon the left,
as you enter Arona, and a chain of bold cliffs
ARONA. 205
covered with vineyards, with several cottages,
peeping out from amid bowers of fragrance,
near their craggy summits. A refreshing
breeze tempered the still ardent heat of
day : it seemed to rise upon us, in a gale of
balmy softness, from the water, whose placid
waves are sometimes, however, ruffled into
sudden anger, by storms of wind from the
surrounding Alps ; and many unfortunate
accidents to boatmen, &c. arise in conse-
quence. It would be difficult to imagine any
thing in nature more luxuriantly beautiful
than the hanging gardens belonging to the
little villas in this neighbourhood; where
standard peach-trees, olives, filberts, grapes,
figs, Turkey wheat, orange blossoms, carna-
tions, and all the tribe of vegetables, are
mingled together in rich confusion, and the
vines trained upon low trellises slope down
to the water's edge ; while, among the grass
at the feet of the taller trees, the pumpkin
trails her golden globes and flowers. We
remarked several pretty faces, in a style
neither wholly Italian nor French, but
which formed an agreeable and happy mix-
ture of both. The ever odious goitre,
206 FERIOLA.
nevertheless, sometimes obtruded its horrid
deformity among them ; and it was an equal
mortification to our dreams of perfection
to observe, that even in the little towns,
built in the very heart of all this sweetness
and purity, the most disgusting smells (in-
dicative of innately filthy habits) perpetu-
ally issued forth, poisoning every street,
and mingling their pollutions with the fra-
grant breath of the mountain gale. But
now the fanciful crags on the opposite side
of the lake began to assume a purplish blue
tint, deeply influenced by, and half lost in,
the shadow of lowering clouds, which (fast
gathering round their summits in dark and
misty volumes) foreboded an approaching
storm. Bright and catching lights, how-
ever, still lingered upon the bright sails of
distant boats, and upon the no less white
walls of the little villages ; which were built
so close upon the shore as to seem as if
they sprung from the bosom of the waves.
We arrived at Feriola (inn La Posta),
a small town, washed by the same trans-
parent waters, and sheltered by granite
mountains (covered with a mossy vegeta-
FERIOLA. 207
tion mixed with vineyards), which rose
abruptly and immediately above the walls
of the house : here we passed the night ; the
storm was just beginning, as we drove up
to this welcome refuge : flashes of red and
forked lightning shot fiercely down from
the Alpine heights, and were quenched in
the dark lake below ; while peals of hollow
thunder reverberating from the adjacent
caverns, increased the awful effect of the
whole. Torrents of rain soon followed,
and lasted without intermission for many
hours. We slept well, our beds being free
from vermin, although of the humblest
sort, without curtain or canopy, and co-
vered with quilts which were very like
stable rugs. They had been occupied
before us, by dukes and duchesses ; who,
although not used to more comforts than
those which surround me in my own happy
home, had certainly reason to expect more
stateliness of accommodation ; necessity,
however, has no law, and I dare say they
were as glad as I was to avail themselves
of clean sheets, and a substantial roof over
head, after the fatigues of travelling. The
208 FERIOLA.
whole of this little inn was built of granite*
from the neighbouring quarries. We rose
the next morning at four, and as I drest
by the yet imperfect light, which streamed
into the room through the lowly casement,
I was interested in observing the different
appearances of nature, in the midst of such
wild scenery, and at so early an hour.
The dewy mists were slowly rising from
the valley, which smiled in all the fresh
loveliness of morning, as they gradually
rolled off, and settled round the brows of
the higher mountains like a shadowy veil.
The grass smelt strongly of thyme and
balm, after the late rain, and seemed to be
eagerly relished by a flock of sheep, which
two shepherdess figures were leading up
the winding path. This fair prospect did not
last long; a heavy rain re-commenced ; and
as we proceeded upon our journey we could
hardly see our route amid the mountains,
from the dense and heavy fog which obscured
every object. All nature truly appeared
to be weeping; this is no merely poetical
term, but the truth : there are some things
which cannot be adequately described in
MONTE ROSA. 209
the common expressions of prose, and this
is one of them.
We passed Monte Kosa, which is fifteen
thousand feet in height : a beautiful little
church hung upon its shelving side, built
in a style that gave it much the air of the
Sybil's temple. In all parts of the country
through which we had gone, we observed
numerous shrines of the Virgin; but instead
of a simple and appropriate statue, which
good taste might reasonably have hoped to
find within, they were constantly disgraced
by a paltry gaudy painting, in distemper.
The outside walls of houses, also, were
generally daubed in the same ridiculous
manner, and afforded us perpetual cause of
exclamation against the melange of real
and false taste, which Italy thus exhibits.
We were sorry to have missed seeing (near
Arona, in our preceding day's journey) the
celebrated colossal statue of St. Carlo Borro-
meo in bronze; which, rearing its proud
height far above the surrounding woods,
forms a very grand and noble spectacle : a
man (in speaking of its proportions to Mr.
B.) told him that the head alone held three
210 DOMO D'OSSOLA,
persons, and that he himself had stood
within the cavity of the nose ! I believe it
is seventy feet from the ground.
We passed over a bridge on the river
Toscia, a graceful serpentine stream, whose
waters were of a milky hue, owing to the
heavy rains. Here we met a peasant, wear-
ing a singular sort of cloak, made of long
dry silky rushes, admirably adapted to re-
sist and throw off the wet ; he looked at a
distance like a moving thatched hut, his
hat forming the chimney, and we afterwards
saw several women and children in the
same costume. The common people also
use a rude kind of umbrella of divers
gaudy colours, the frame and spokes being
made of clumsy wood.
At Domo d'Ossola we stopped to take re-
freshment at la Posta, a most comfortable
and cleanly inn ; every thing was sent up
neatly, and really tempted the fastidious
traveller to " eat without fear :" a degree
of heroism which I confess I could not
always command, not feeling sure that I
might not be poisoned by some of the
dishes ; although it would have been by dirt,
8IMPLON.
not arsenic. This is almost the last town
in the Sardinian dominions, for as soon as
you have crossed the Simplon, you enter
Switzerland. This arduous task we now
commenced, taking four horses instead of
the usual three. We ascended in a zigzag
direction, which seems to be the plan upon
which all roads cut through very high
mountains are formed; the present much
resembled those by which we had descended
Mont Cenis. Here we had the leisure and
opportunity of contemplating nature in
her grandest forms ! The wild fig-tree
sprung from the sides of the most profound
ravines, overhanging gulfs from which the
affrighted eye recoiled; and at the base
of the most stupendous mountains lay val-
leys of inimitable verdure and luxuriance.
An Alpine foot bridge, like a slight dark
line, crossed a rapid river here, and was
dimly discovered at intervals, amid the
snowy foam of the waves ; there were also
frequent waterfalls, pouring their sounding
floods from immense heights above us. At
this spot, Mr. B. tied a handkerchief over
my eyes, for three or four minutes : I
SIMPLON.
thought I heard the noise of water in my
ears, louder and more hollow than usual ;
when he suddenly removed the handker-
chief, and I beheld myself in the first of
those astonishing galleries of the Simplon,
of which so much has justly been said by
all travellers. They were half cut, half
blasted by gunpowder, through the solid
rock, and have the appearance of long
grottos, with rude windows, or rather chasms
in the sides, to admit light, and through
which we discovered, with a shuddering
sensation of admiring wonder, the awful
precipices and steeps around. It was delight-
ful to contemplate them while thus in a situ-
ation of perfect security ; a species of feeling
analogous to that which I have sometimes
experienced, when comfortably housed be-
neath the domestic roof, during the raving of
a wintry storm ! How different was the as-
pect of the ancient road ; the view of which,
as it dangerously wound along the opposite
mountains, nearly blocked up by fallen masses
of rock, overgrown with tangled shrubs and
weeds, and undefended by even the slight-
est wall from the yawning abysses, which
SCENE OB the SIMPLON.
SIMPLON. 213
frowned horribly beneath, really made my
heart quake with terror! There are rude
crosses by the way side, erected here, at
long intervals ; sad monuments of the tra-
gical end of former unfortunate travellers.
Nothing can be more terrific than the
showers of stony fragments from the over-
hanging rocks, which frequently fall here
during stormy weather ; at particular sea-
sons it is certain destruction to attempt to
pass. We observed the lower and more level
ground to be strewn so thickly with these
formidable masses, that .it brought to my
mind the ancient story of Jupiter's w r ars
with the giants ; the place indeed truly re-
sembled the state of a field of battle after
one of those mighty engagements.
The parish church of Trasqueras is an
object of high astonishment ; we passed it,
not without adding our individual tribute
of wonder. It is built upon the topmost
verge of a barren mountain, at a frightful
height. Apparently no human power could
have conveyed thither the materials for its
erection ; we could only reconcile the ex-
istence of the fact, by supposing that there
214 SIMPSON.
must have been a quarry upon the spot.
The priest who does duty there, and the
congregation whose zeal leads them to scale
the dreadful precipice to attend public
worship, are in some danger, I should think,
of being canonized for martyrs ! But to
speak more seriously, there is something
infinitely impressive in the idea of a little
band of humble and obscure mortals thus
meeting together to worship the Creator in,
such a spot of wild and solitary sublimity.
These scenes most certainly tend to ele-
vate the imagination, and to fill the heart,
with strong feelings of devotional adoration
and awful respect. It is not only " those
who go down to the great waters," who see
" the wonders of the Lord !" We remarked
a cottage here, in the style of the most ro-
mantic hermitage, close to a raving flood,
in the frightful strait of Yselle. The
living rock formed its roof, and the sides
were of flat uncemented stones ; a rude
door of pine wood shut in its inhabitants,
for inhabited it certainly must have been,
as a little pile of faggots for winter firing
evidently evinced. Gold dust is sometimes
SIMI'LON. 215
found in the beds of the surrounding tor-
rents. There is no end to the varieties of
the Simplon : we sometimes crossed from
one mountain to another ; then dived into
the dark entrails of the rocks ; now wound
along narrow valleys at their feet, and at
last rose (by a gentle ascent) to the proud
summit of the loftiest glaciers, far above
the rolling clouds. In some places our eye
"rested with delight upon the rich green of
the chestnut and beech, in others all vegeta-
tion seemed wholly to cease. The rhodo-
dendron (note P.) flourishes here in perfec-
tion ; it grows where few other shrubs or
plants are able to exist, braves the severity
of the keeriest blasts of winter, and affords
firing to those cottagers who cannot easily
procure other wood. Its blossoms are of a
lovely pink, and from this circumstance it
is called the " rose of the Alps." These
regions are subject to perpetual avalanches ;
the top of every stone post that marked
the boundary of our road, at about three
yards distance one from the other, was in
many places knocked off, by the continual
falling of masses from the rocks above, and
216 SIMPLON.
now and then, the whole of the posts had
given way, as well as large fir-trees, which
commonly grow out of the shelving sides
of the precipices. Just at the entrance of one
of the grand galleries, we crossed over a stone
bridge, hanging in mid air above a tre-
mendous gulf; the river Doveria boiling far
below, fed by a cataract from the heights,
near the source of which we passed : so near,
indeed, that its foaming spray seemed almost
to dash against the glass of our carriage
windows. Bonaparte had established here
(as well as upon Mont Cenis), a sort of
tavernettes, or houses of relief for way-
worn or distressed travellers. A few mili-
tary now occasionally inhabit them, and the
appropriate word refuge is frequently in-
scribed over the doors. (Note Q.) A piece
of writing paper inserted in the cleft of a
stick, by the road-side, here attracted our
attention. We examined it, and found
written thereon, Viva Napoleone ! Our pos-
tillions appeared delighted, and exclaimed
in a half-checked voice, bravo, bravo !
Candidly speaking, one must be indeed
fastidious not to be forcibly struck with
SIMPLON. 217
the various noble works of that wonderful
man. At all events we could not be sur-
prised at his still existing popularity in the
north of Italy, a part of the world where
he has really done great good, and far less
harm than any where else ; and in so short
a space of time also so young a man from
so obscure an origin ! It will not do to
indulge in reflections upon what might
have been, or I could not refrain, I am
afraid, from wishing that (for the sake of
the arts and sciences) he had known how
to set bounds to his ambition. This pass-
age of the Simplon alone is sufficient to
immortalize his name, and as long as the
mountains themselves exist, so must the
memory of Bonaparte. It is quite the
eighth wonder of the world. If he is a
fiend, he is not less than
" Arch-angel ruined P
But I have done, lest those readers who
have never crossed the Simplon, or gazed
upon the other numerous monuments of his
grand genius, should imagine that I am
218 SIMPLON.
still (in the words of Pitt, as applied to
Sheridan's speech upon Warren Hastings),
" Under the influence of the wand of the
Enchanter !"
Now I am on the subject of this stupen-
dous passage of the Simplon, I am fortunate
enough to present my readers with an
engraving made by a friend, of a curious
medal, struck in France, representing an
immense colossal figure, which some modern
Dinocrates had suggested to Bonaparte to
have cut from the mountain of the Simplon,
as a sort of Genius of the Alps. This was
to have been of such enormous size, that
all passengers should have passed between
its legs and arms in zigzag directions : I
do not know whether any attention was
ever given to the proposal, but that the
idea was not a new one, every schoolboy
may learn, by looking into Lempriere's
Dictionary, where he will find that a stiU
more hyperbolical project was suggested to
Alexander the Great, by one Dinocrates,
an architect, who wished to cut Mount
Athos into a gigantic figure of the monarch,
that should hold a city in one hand, and a
SIMPLOK. 219
vast bason of water in the other. Alexan-
der's reply was a fine piece of irony ; " that
he thought the idea magnificent, but he
did not imagine the neighbouring country
sufficiently fertile to feed the inhabitants
of the said city."
We observed quantities of timber felled,
and lying scattered about the dark forests ;
they consisted of a species of larch fir, I
believe, straight, taper, and of a yellowish
red.
At length we reached the village of the
Simplon, where we dined and slept. It is
only three or four and thirty miles from
Domo d'Ossola, yet we were seven hours or
more in accomplishing the distance, and
had never stopped by the way for more
than ten minutes. It was a continual ascent,
but very gradual, and our inn here (I'Etoile)
was four thousand five hundred feet above
the level of the sea. We found other tra-
vellers before us assembled in the only
sitting-room. Lord F , his tutor, and
another young gentleman: they appeared
all to be sensible, well-bred people, and we
rejoiced that accident had riot thrown us
220 SIMPLON.
among less agreeable companions. The
next morning, we left our auberge, after
breakfast, with which we thought it prudent
to fortify ourselves, on account of the se-
verity of the cold. All the rooms were
obliged to be heated by stoves, as it was
(to all outward appearance and feeling) the
depth of winter, in its most rigid form ;
the day before, we had been almost fainting
with heat in the valleys, yet when we rose
this morning, the mountains around us
were entirely covered with snow, which had
fallen during the night, accompanied by a
rushing blast of wind and a heavy rain.
We were now truly in the " land of the
mountain and the flood," in the regions of
mist and storm. I shuddered at the sight,
having been rendered miserable from want
of sleep by the vermin, whose unremitting
attacks completely broke my rest, and made
me less able to encounter with proper for-
titude the fatigues of our still arduous
journey. I learned upon this tour to feel
a great horror at the expression of soyez
tranquille, which deceitful words were con-
stantly used by every fille de chambre,
SIMPLON.
when I inquired if there were any of these
disagreeable inhabitants in the beds, and I
remarked that the more vehemently this soyez
tranquille was uttered, the more certain was
I of being bit into a fever. We got into the
carriage here in a gust of keen wind, so strong
and impetuous that I could not stand with-
out support. The women in these parts wear
a black platter hat (sometimes ornamented
with gold ribands), and the men a russet-
brown suit of clothes with a scarlet waist-
coat. A mixture of German and bad
French is spoken amongst them. We
passed by (during the continuation of our
journey) the enormous glacier of -
I know not exactly the proper name ; but
it sounded like Roschbaktn in the guttural
pronunciation of the postillion. Higher
up, there was a gallery cut through the
masses of frozen snow, but it is only used
as a foot-way for passengers during the
winter. We shortly afterwards saw the
Hospice of the Simplon, built in a com-
paratively sheltered spot; yet by its outward
appearance (resembling a sordid gloomy
prison), I should think nothing but the last
222 SIMPLON.
necessity would induce travellers to seek
for refreshment within its walls. Mass
had been performed there that morning,
and we met several peasants returning from
it: all persons journeying this way are
entertained here gratis, but those whose
circumstances can afford it are expected to
make some little present to the monks.
We observed some dogs about the en-
trance, which we concluded were those
kept for the purpose of finding benighted
travellers. The colour of the rocks in
those places which were not covered with
snow was singular, being of a light aqua
marine, occasioned by the lichens which
grew upon them. Large eagles, formidable
from their strength and boldness, are fre-
quently seen amidst these dreary wastes.
I was soon quite wearied by the bleak
spectacle of such wide desolation, my eyes
ached with the dazzling brightness of the
snows, and I began sincerely to wish the
passage over. The ascent and descent
altogether is forty-two miles; coming
down from a height of seven thousand
feet, we could not see three yards before
SIMPLOX.
us, being completely enveloped in a thick
dense fog. It seemed like plunging into a
(earful gulf of vapours ! Such a mist I
never could have imagined.
The road now led us though tall forests
of pine, darkly magnificent, which grew upon
the shelving sides of the precipitous descent.
Upon the jutting crags, we occasionally be-
held the fearless goat, bounding about, en-
joying the sense of liberty, and snuffing
the keen air of his native mountains ; a
child or two, also, sometimes appeared in
almost equally dangerous situations, at the
door of a wooden hut, called a chalet, built
of timber (of a reddish tint), and much in
the form of an ark. A little thinly scat-
tered underwood of birch, &c. with colts-
foot twining round the roots, now began to
evince our approach to more hospitable
regions, and the sensation of piercing cold in
some measure abated. The sun made several
felicitous attempts to struggle through the
heavy and obscuring clouds; and a pro-
spect (of which we caught a transient
glimpse between two enormous rocks)
seemed to open like an enchanted vision
224 SIMPLON.
of ineffable brightness and beauty. During
this interval of a moment, we beheld a
narrow but fertile valley, a river, with hills
of vivid green rising beyond, bounded in
the distant horizon by mountains of glowing
purple, and smiled upon by a summer sky
of the clearest blue. Suddenly it was
brilliantly illuminated by a partial gleam
of sun, and thus discovered, (sparkling
through a thin veil of stiU lingering mist)
it seemed to break upon us like a lovely
dream. I could have fancied it Voltaire's
Eldorado, or the gay, unreal show of fairy
land, seen by Thomas the Rhymer, in
Scott's Minstrelsy of the Border. Indeed
sober language has no words or terms
to describe its singular effect. Apropos
to sobriety of language: Although there
is nothing so wearing as hyperbolical and
exaggerated expressions, applied on com-
mon or insignificant occasions, and although
I consider them in that case to be the re-
source of a weak capacity, which is in-
capable of judicious restraint and discrimi-
nation, it is equally insupportable to hear
the real wonders and charms of nature or
VALAIS. 225
art spoken of with tame and tasteless
apathy. Those persons who have soul
enough to feel and appreciate them must
either vent their just enthusiasm, in terms
which to common minds sound romantic
and poetical, or else resolve to be wholly
silent. We reached the end of the Simplon,
and changed our tired horses at Brieg. We
were now in Switzerland.
Nothing can be more suddenly and ac-
curately marked than the difference of fea-
ture, as well as costume, between the Ita-
lian and Swiss peasants, (I more particu-
larly allude to the women), and it would be
impossible for any person of the least ob-
servation to mistake one for the other. The
latter are frequently hale, clean, and fresh-
looking, with cheerful open countenances ;
but adieu to grace, to expression, to beauty!
We left all these perfections on the other
side of the Alps. The children, too, struck
us (in general) as plain and uninteresting.
We were not greatly impressed by the en-
trance to the Pays du Valais, having al-
ready passed through scenery of the same
nature so much superior in Savoy and Italy ;
226 VALAIS.
but it is certainly romantic and pretty in
some parts. How naturally one falls into
judging by comparison ! Had it been pos-
sible to have immediately entered the Va-
lais upon leaving the monotonous plains of
France, we should have thought the former
highly sublime and beautiful. The barberry
and elder flourish here in every hedge ; also
great quantities of the wild clematis. The
rocky banks are fringed with birch, hazle,
heath, and juniper, and between them is
the deep rolling turgid Rhone, skirted with
tall reeds and willows.
The climate still continued to be chilly
and disagreeable. Although it was only
the 8th of September, the weather rather
resembled that during the last days of
November, or commencement of the next
dreary month; and in the midst of this
picturesque and romantic scenery, I found
my imagination dwelling with great per-
tinacity and satisfaction upon the charms
of a blazing fire and a comfortable inn. I
did my utmost to shake off such vulgar and
unsentimental ideas, but they would recur
again and again.
VALAIS. 227
We here passed a fall of the Khone, but
were rather disappointed in its force and
magnitude. Our road lay through wild fir
woods for a considerable length of way, the
snowy tops of the glaciers peeping above
them, forming quite a scene for the pencil
of Salvator Rosa. We journeyed on, almost
in total silence, the little bells at the horses'
heads alone disturbing the breathless still-
ness of these solitary glades, emerging
from which, we now crossed a bridge upon
the Rhone, which here assumes a character
of strength and grandeur, flowing with ra-
pidity, and emulating in its width an arm
of the sea.
Night and her shadows drew near, and
we began to wish for the comforts of the
friendly auberge ; but, owing to continual
delays of horses, postillions, &c., we did not
reach the town of Sierre until eight o'clock,
where we intended to have slept ; but found
upon our arrival that no beds were to be had,
and the place itself wore so forlorn, dismal,
and dirty an appearance, that we hardly
regretted the circumstance, and submitted
with a good grace to the inevitable neces-
228 VALAIS.
sity of pursuing our route even at that late
hour. But ere this could be accomplished
we were obliged to wait (in the carriage)
till nine, for horses to carry us on ; for there
was at that time an immense run upon
the road. In this melancholy interval
our lamps were lit, and the moon arose ;
the latter (faintly glimmering amid dark
rolling clouds) feebly illuminated a road
which led us by the side of a terrible pre-
cipice, where part of the guardian wall was
broken down. The pass was accounted
perilous on that account ; but there was no
possible remedy. I had overheard my hus-
band and Mr. W. talking of it at Sierre, and
trying whether it was not practicable to
avoid it by securing any sort of accom-
modation at the wretched auberge : this,
however, being totally out of the question,
they did not acquaint me with the terrors
of the road by which we were in con-
sequence obliged to pass ere we could
attain shelter for the night at the next
habitable place : I felt their kindness, and
did not undeceive them as to my per-
fect information upon the subject until we
VALAI8.
had safely reached the end of our day's
journey ; but I was truly thankful and re-
lieved when that happy goal appeared, in
the shape of the town of Sion, capital of the
Valais. Lord F. and party (having gone
on first) had politely undertaken to order
dinner for us at the Lion d'Or, and to that
house we accordingly drove up, half dead
with fatigue. Here another mortification
awaited us ; for so many English had pre-
viously arrived, and filled the rooms, beds,
&c., that accommodation for us was impos-
sible. We, therefore, went to an inferior
inn (called Le Croix Blanc), where we
knocked the people up, and in spite of their
being forced from their beds to receive us,
we found the utmost celerity, civility, and
comfort in every respect. The beds were
excellent (their linen furniture fresh wash-
ed, and looking inviting to enter), the floors
(oh ! prodigy of cleanliness) were neatly swept,
and our refreshments cooked in a wonder-
fully short space of time, served with cheer-
ful readiness, and in a clean manner.
The next morning we opened our eyes
230 VALAIS.
upon a beautifully picturesque landscape.
A great delay, however, again took place
with regard to horses, as an English fa-
mily had arrived during the night, and
taken away eight. They intended to have
slept at Le Croix Blanc, as we had done,
but were fastidiously disgusted by the look
of the inn. Unhappy novices ! they little
knew what a paradise of comfort it af-
forded, when compared with those \vhieh
they would afterwards necessarily encoun-
ter, and for the shelter of which they would
soon learn to be thankful ! The waiter here
was remarkably attentive, and appeared a
truly simple, good-tempered, artless creature.
Mr. B. was so much satisfied with his beha-
viour, that he increased the usual fee; for
which small gratuity the poor fellow thanked
us again and again. We found our bills par-
ticularly reasonable, and the host a most
amusing and obliging person : he was one of
the richest bourgeois in Sion, and quite a cha-
racter. We asked him, amongst other ques-
tions, " what was the chief manufacture of
the place?" and he replied, with a ridiculous
VALAIS. 231
shrug of the shoulders, " Des Enfans" This
man possessed a vigne upon the mountains,
and brought us a present of a fine basket of
grapes from thence, much lamenting that
we would not remain with him another
day, as " he would then have put his own
particular horses into a little vehicle of the
country, kept for his use and that of his
family, and would have had the pleasure of
driving us to see his vineyards, and also two
hermitages, in the neighbourhood, which
were very curious."
Mr. B. was taken extremely unwell this
morning, and had a terrible attack of faint
sickness, owing, as we then imagined, to hav-
ing fasted so many hours the day before ;
but we soon found that it was, in fact, the
beginning of a sort of ague and fever.
(Note E.)
The country was lovely during our first
two or three stages. We met the travel-
ling equipage of a Russian princess (Po-
temkin), and her people stopped to inquire
of ours about accommodations at Sion.
Christian had the honour of a personal
232 VALAIS.
conference with her highness, who was ex-
tremely gracious and affable. Indeed this
man never lost any opportunity of gossip,
let it be with whom it might ; and I be-
lieve he loved chattering on all occasions
better than any thing in existence. He was
an honest creature ; but so idle, that he re-
quired constant looking after : we found
him, however, so useful, particularly where
the different patois is spoken, that we
have safely recommended him to our friend,
LordG.
The roads in this part of Switzerland
were most execrable, and I thought the car-
riage would have been overturned every
moment : the postillions universally adopted
a very disagreeable and awkward manner
of driving their horses ; not three abreast
(which is safe and rational), but harness-
ing one before the other pair, with long
reins, in the unicorn style ; the same postil-
lion thus acting the part of a coachman
also : the old rope traces were perpetually
breaking ; and the fore horse scrambling all
over the road, often running into a hedge
VALAIS. 233
to crop what best pleased his appetite, or
to drink at a fountain by the wayside. The
driver seemed to have very little command
over his lawless motions, and altogether, I
confess that I was by no means delighted with
this mode of travelling, although no coward
in general. However, I recollected that
it was customary here, and soon was able
to reason myself into not caring for what I
had no possible means of altering or pre-
venting : in this instance, happily emulat-
ing the example of the late venerable Mrs.
H. who used to say, " that it was of little
use to have powers of understanding, and
the faculty of reason, if you could not avail
yourself of them, when occasion required ;
and that by a long and resolute habit of
self-control, it was undoubtedly possible
to bring the feelings nearly as much under
command as the limbs." I have frequently
proved the truth of her remark.
At Riddez (a little village) we saw a
christening procession pass by. The god-
father (a young man) walked first, with a
cockade of ribands, and a large bouquet of
natural flowers in his hat, carrying the in-
234 VALAIS.
fant in his arms, covered with a long trans-
parent mantle of coarse white lace. He
was followed by the godmother, and the
sage femme, neither of the parents being
present. The manners of the inhabitants
here were remarkably gentle ; every pea-
sant we met bowed, and often wished us the
" good day" as we passed. Many horrible
goitres, however, and idiots are to be found
among them. The villages and hamlets
we had as yet seen were even frightful:
there was no such thing as a pretty cot-
tage ; and the costumes of the people were
gross and tasteless in the greatest degree.
Mr. B.'s illness increased to a height of
aguish shudderings and total exhaustion,
which prevented our attempting to pro-
ceed farther than Martigny, where we put
up at an inn called Le Cigne, which, on its
outside, was not of a much more promising
appearance than the Hospice of the Sim-
plon, which I formerly deprecated. How-
ever, we had learned by this time not to
judge of an auberge from its exterior, and
upon entering this, found shelter, comfort,
civility, and wholesome plain food, We
VALAIS. * 235
procured the only good strong-bodied Bur-
gundy we had seen during the whole of
our tour, which was particularly fortunate,
as it acted as a great relief to our invalid.
The hostess was the widow of the poor inn-
keeper, who was carried away in the terrible
and memorable flood of last June (men-
tioned with much affecting detail in the
English newspapers), where a lake at nine
leagues distance burst, and, flowing into
the river Drance, the latter broke its usual
boundaries, and destroyed more than half
the viUage of Martigny, with many of the
unfortunate inhabitants. Poor woman ! she
was in mourning, as well as her children,
who waited upon us, two modest, simple,
young creatures. I never saw any thing
like their kind-hearted attention, in avoid-
ing the least noise which might have been
likely to disturb an invalid, while they were
preparing things for dinner in the same
room. Nothing could be imagined more
desolate and wretched than the present ap-
pearance of Martigny; and, at the moment
when the flood happened, the ruin was so
236 VALAIS.
instantaneous and complete as to resem-
ble an earthquake. This house was ten
feet deep in water. The host might have
been saved: he had already avoided the
first horrible rush ; but venturing into dan-
ger once more, in the hope of saving his
cattle, he was borne down by the impetuous
torrent, and perished miserably ! For a long
tune he was plainly discovered with his head
far above the stream, yet unable to stem
its resistless tide : his body was afterwards
found, in an erect position, supported
against a tree, not in the least mangled or
disfigured. It was supposed his respira-
tion had been stopped by the weight and
force of the current, which could hardly be
called water, so thickly was it mingled with
mud. The cook (who happened to be in
the wine-cellar) was saved by his perfect
knowledge of swimming, and presence of
mind. The flood completely filled the cel-
lar, staircase, and hall, in a moment, and he
paddled and swam up the steps of the for-
mer, till he reached the surface, and thus
almost miraculously escaped.
VALAIS. 237
The next day we quitted Martigny about
nine o'clock, our spirits depressed by this
wretched scene of desolation. The whole
country appeared wildly melancholy, under
the additional gloom of a very wet dark
morning. The prieur of this village, who
belonged also to some convent on Mont St.
Bernard (note F.) had written a petition for
the relief of his poor parishioners, which
was pasted up in the sitting-room of the
inn we had occupied. We did not, of
course, shut our hearts against the appeal,
and carrying our little subscription to the
house of the prieur, found it a most humble
primitive dwelling : it was built upon a hill
behind the church, and at the time of the
flood had been a foot deep in water, notwith-
standing its elevated situation. The old
man described the horrors of the scene, and
said he should never forget the moment
when he first heard the mighty roar of the
waters, louder than a mountain cataract. I
am proud to add, that our dear countrymen
have been almost the only travellers who
have had the humanity to bestow a farthing
upon the necessities of the surviving suf-
VALAIS.
ferers. I should be narrow-minded indeed
not to regret the want of generous feeling
which those of other nations have thus
evinced, or to rejoice (as some people
would, I fear, do) at the foil they have af-
forded to the merit of the English ; but
surely it is impossible, as a British subject,
not to delight in this additional proof of
the liberali ty and compassion of our com-
patriots !
We now passed a celebrated w T ater-fall
(note G.), which descends from a vast height,
between granite mountains, covered with
rich green moss. It was highly majestic, yet
not bearing the character of terror ; there-
fore (according to Burke) we must not de-
signate it by the term sublime, but rather
class it under the head of the beautiful.
Its feathery foam of spotless white, dashing
over the craggy obstacles in its descent, af-
forded a lovely contrast to the dark back-
ground of the adjacent rocks. There are
great numbers of chestnut, walnut, and apple
trees in this neighbourhood. We met an
English family in a coach and four here.
We stopped to change horses with them,
VALAIS. 239
and as they were going to Sesto, and from
thence to Milan, we thought it but kind to
warn them that they ought to take gens
d'armes, on account of the banditti. The
abigail (elevated upon the seat behind)
seemed prodigiously discomposed at this
intelligence ; and I should not wonder if
she had given warning at the next stage, to
avoid the horror of proceeding with the fa-
mily. Her little round grey eyes almost
started from their red sockets, and her nose
assumed a purplish hue, w r hich was beauti-
fully heightened by the cadaverous tint of
her cheeks. Her master and mistress also
appeared not a li ttle startled, but expressed
themselves vastly obliged to us for our in-
formation ; and we parted with much cour-
tesy on both sides. A hearty fit of laughter,
at the expense of Mrs. Abigail, seized us
all at the moment of their departure ; but
I am sure I had no business to triumph ;
for never was there a more complete cow-
ard than I shewed myself to be, when in
my turn I first received a similar warning
from our Neufchatel friend at Gallarate.
240 V ALA IS.
We saw, shortly afterwards, an old pea-
sant tending a few sheep, in a curious sort
of costume : it consisted of a whole suit of
clothes of a dingy yellowish brown ; his
hat, as well as his face and hands (parched
by summer's sun and winter's wind), being
of the same tan-coloured hue. Indeed the
costumes in this part of Switzerland ap-
peared to us universally unbecoming, as
well as singular.
We now entered St. Maurice. Upon the
rocks encircling the town was a small hut,
inhabited by a hermit; built in such a craggy
bleak situation, that we were led to suppose
he had chosen it asaplace of painful penance.
If he is an old man, I think he must have
found it nearly impossible to descend, even
for the means of subsistence : it would be
a hard task for a young and active hunter
of the chamois ; so I rather imagine he lives,
like a genuine ascetic, upon berries, wild
fruits, and roots, and quenches his thirst at
the crystal spring. Part of the town of
St. Maurice is actually built in the wild
rocks that rise abruptly behind it, their
ST. MAURICE. 241
rough rude sides forming the back wall,
and now and then even the roof, of some of
the humbler dwelling-houses. The inhabit-
ants were plain and uninteresting in their
persons, and we did not observe any taste
or fancy displayed in their costumes. Here
we changed horses, and passed the Ehone
again, by means of a bridge, of so ancient a
date, that it is said to have been built by
Julius Caesar. The river is very magnificent.
Our road led us through a charming bower of
long-continued walnut and beech trees, the
opposite banks of the stream being covered
with rich vegetation, forming an agreeable
relief to the imagination, after the desolate
and melancholy scenes of the preceding
stages. The meadows were enamelled with
the autumnal crocus, of a delicate lilac co-
lour, and had a remarkably gay and bril-
liant appearance. We remarked a number
of beehives in the cottage gardens ; but
they were not of such a picturesque form
and material as those in England, being
made of wood, in the shape of small square
boxes. The whole face of the country was
R
ST. MAURICE.
really beautiful, the rocks being fringed
with luxuriant copse wood, rich in every
varied tint of the declining year, while the
pasture-lands were verdant and fresh, as if
in early spring. Wild boars, wolves, and
bears, are common in the Valais ; very plea-
sant personages to meet during a late even-
ing ramble. Here we dimly descried the
Chateau de Chillo?i, on the borders of the
lake of Geneva ; but it was at too great a
distance for us to judge of it accurately. I
regretted this, as I did not then know that we
should afterwards have had an opportunity
of viewing it to greater advantage. The
waters of this wonderfully fine lake were of
the most brilliant pale blue, majestic moun-
tains rising beyond it, clothed even to their
summits with underwood, and mossy velvet
turf. It is vastly more expansive than
Lago Maggiore, but still we thought the en-
chanting Italian lake much more beautiful.
The roads now began to improve greatly,
and after all the jolting we had undergone
for the last two days, it was particularly
acceptable to find them returning into a
THONON.
state of smoothness and regularity. We
dined this day early, at St. Gingoulph,
(sometimes spelt St. Gingo), on the borders
of the lake : our vulgar expression of St. Jingo
is a corruption of the name of this Saint. The
inn was delightfully clean and comfortable,
the people most attentive, civil and active,
and we procured an excellent dinner at a
very few minutes notice; a circumstance
peculiarly agreeable to travellers who were
quite exhausted with hunger, like ourselves.
We slept at Thonon, the capital of the
Chablais, and found comfortable accommo-
dation. The woman who waited upon us
was a native of Berne, as well as our ser-
vant Christian, and they went on puffing off
their canton, a I'envi I'un de I'autre.
I ought to have mentioned that before
we arrived at Thonon, we passed by the
rocks of Meillerie, so well known through
the medium of Rousseau's sentimental de-
scriptions. The same style of country
continued, by the side of the lake, for many
miles, and the roads were very good. We
were now once more in the King of Sardi-
244 GENEVA.
nia's dominions, having entered upon them
at St. Gingoulph, and we did not quit them
until we reached Douvaine, not far from
Geneva. As we proceeded, the country
opened more, and the lake became re-
strained between much narrower bounda-
ries : the practice of enclosing fields with
hedges, in the same manner as those in
England, was general here. At length
Geneva, rising grandly from the blue waters
of her noble lake, and fenced on every side
by her superb mountains (Mont Blanc
dimly gleaming through a veil of clouds
upon the left), burst upon us ; the coup d'czil
was most electrifying. The morning w r as
clear and bright, the air had a cheerful
freshness which lent spirit and animation
to us all, and our first entrance to this
city was marked by a crowd of agreeable
and enlivening sensations. We found,
however, that it would be impossible for
Monsieur De Jean to receive us at his
well known and comfortable hotel at Seche-
rons (about a mile out of town) ; and even
at Geneva itself we had the mortification
GENEVA. 245
of being turned away from every inn ex-
cept one, owing to the swarms of our coun-
trymen who had previously monopolized
all accommodation. At this one (hotel des
Balances) we at length gained admittance ;
it was opposite the Ehone, a circumstance
which to me made it the most desirable of
all possible situations, for I never was^ sa-
tiated with looking at and admiring the
extraordinary beauty which this glorious
river possessed. We had not before be-
held any thing to equal its force, ra-
pidity, depth, and exquisite transparency;
but above all other perfections, its colour
(in this particular part of Switzerland) ap-
peared to us the most remarkable. I can
compare it to nothing but the hue of liquid
sapphires ; having all the brilliancy, purity,
and vivid blue lustre, of those lovely gems.
I never passed it without feeling the
strongest wish to drink and at the same time
to bathe in its tempting waters, and from
the bridge we clearly discerned the bottom,
at a depth of at least twenty feet. We
sent our servant in the evening, to deliver
246 FERNEY.
some letters of introduction to several
families here; among others to Dr. and
Mrs. M. to the former of whom our thanks
are particularly due, for his kind atten-
tion in prescribing for my husband, who
had here a relapse of his complaint. We
went the day afterwards to Ferney (the
celebrated residence of Voltaire), and also
to Sir F. d'l.'s beautiful country house
in the same neighbourhood. We were
highly interested by all we saw at Ferney.
Voltaire's sitting-room, and bed-chamber,
have been scrupulously preserved in the same
state in which they were left at the time of
his death : there was a bust of him in the
former, and in the latter a smaller one,
upon a mausoleum (which was erected to
his memory, by his niece), bearing this in-
scription : son esprit est partout, et son
caur est id. The latter was literally the
case for a considerable time, his heart having
been embalmed and placed in a leaden
box, within the mausoleum ; but it has
since been removed to the Pantheon at
Paris. We observed several prints framed
FERNEY. 247
and glazed, hanging upon the walls of his
bed-room; portraits of those celebrated
characters he particularly esteemed, either
for their talents or from motives of per-
sonal regard. Among them we remarked
those of Milton (notwithstanding Voltaire's
unjust critiques upon the Paradise Lost),
Newton, Washington, Franklin, Marmon-
tel, Corneille, Kacine, Helvetius, and De~
lille. The last personage (remarkable as a
poet, and as the translator of Virgil), had a
line underneath his portrait (written in
what many people have believed to be the
hand of Voltaire himself), which was singu-
lar enough, as it might be taken in a double
sense, either as a compliment or a satire.
Upon being made acquainted with its
meaning in English, I saw the truth of the
supposition in a moment. The words were
these,
" Nulli flebilior quam tibi Virgili."
We saw Delille's tomb in the burying-
ground of Perc de la Chaise, at Paris: a
garland of flowers, evidently fresh gathered,
248 FERNEY.
had been hung by some admirer of his
works over the door of his sepulchre.
In this same apartment at Ferney were
also portraits of Voltaire, Frederic of Prus-
sia, the Empress Catharine of Russia (pre-
sented by herself), and some others. His
own picture made a great impression upon
us, not from any individual merit as a
work of art, but as it so exactly expressed,
in the countenance and air, the brilliant
and lively genius, the arch satire, and
acute penetration, of this celebrated wit.
All the furniture of both rooms was drop-
ping to pieces with age and decay. The
garden was laid out in the ancient French
mode, so abhorred by the purer taste of
Rousseau at that time, and since, by every
true judge of the grace and simplicity
of nature. On one side was a grove of
trees, and on the other a close embowered
alley of hornbeam, cut into the shape of
formal high walls, with gothic windows
or openings in them, from whence the
prospect of a rich vineyard in the fore-
ground, a lovely smiling valley beyond, and
FERNEY. 249
the magnificent glaciers, with Mont Blanc,
in the distance, formed a most sublime and
yet an enchanting spectacle. I should think
it almost impossible to live in the midst of
all these charms and wonders of creation,
without lifting an admiring eye and grateful
heart to Nature's God." That Voltaire
was an atheist is thought now to be a
calumny entirely void of foundation, al-
though he was so miserably mistaken, so
fatally deceived, in regard to the glorious
truths of revealed religion. Living in an
age when the pure doctrines and benignant
spirit of Christianity were so atrociously
misconstrued and misrepresented, when
bigotry stalked abroad in all the horrors
of her deformity, and ignorance blindly
followed in the bloody traces of her foot-
steps, it is less to be wondered at than
regretted, that Voltaire's vigorous under-
standing should have disdained their dis-
graceful shackles; and that in his just
ridicule and detestation of the conduct of
some foUowers of Christianity, he should
have been unfortunately induced to mistake
250 FEKNEY.
and vilify Christianity itself: notwithstand-
ing some impious expressions concerning
it, at which I shudder in the recollection,
he has in many parts of his works evidently
looked with a more favourable eye upon the
protestant doctrines of England. Certain
it is, that he built at his own expense the
church at Ferney. Xot that I mean to
assert, that church-building, any more than
church-going, is always an infallible proof
of religious feeling; I only mention the
fact. The church bears the following in-
scription :
' Deo erexit Voltaire !"
There is a pretty copse or bosquet, at the
end of his garden, in which the present
proprietor has erected two paltry monu-
ments, to the memory of Voltaire and his
cotemporary Rousseau. I cannot wonder
at the dislike which subsisted between
them, since the latter was such a warm
admirer, and the former so declared an
enemy, of overstrained sentiment and sickly
sensibility. However, they neither of them
KEKNEY. 251
did justice to the real merits of each other ;
and proved individually how strong is the
force of prejudice, in blinding the judg-
ment even of the cleverest men.
The village of Ferney was by far the
prettiest we had seen since we left our
own country ; the houses ah 1 had an air of
neatness and comfort dear to an English
eye, and nothing could be more gay and
cheerful than their little gardens and
orchards ; in the former, flowers and ve-
getables flourished promiscuously, and in
great luxuriance, and the latter were glowing
with a profusion of rosy apples. We ob-
served a species of this fruit among them,
which we did not remember ever to have
seen in any other country; it was quite
white, and full of a sweet and spirited juice.
From hence, we drove to call upon Sir F.
d'L, who is a native of Switzerland, conseiller
d'etat at Geneva, and well known in England
as the intelligent author of several political
works. We were much charmed by the grace-
ful politeness and hospitable frankness with
which both himself and Madame d'l. re-
GENEVA.
ceived us. We had been provided with
letters of introduction to them, by friends
in England, and Sir F. was personally
acquainted with Mr. W. He shewed us
the grounds of his truly beautiful little
villa, which, from being laid out under his
own eye, in the English taste, bore a pecu-
liar character of grace and cultivated re-
finement. I must say that our method of
adorning shrubberies, lawns, gardens, &c.
appeared in a very superior point of view,
when compared with that of other countries.
The prospect from the drawing-room win-
dows, of the blue waters of the majestic kke,
with Mont Blanc, surrounded by his attend-
ant chain of humbler mountains, was grand
beyond all idea! in short, this abode was
far more like Paradise than any dwelling
upon earth. Sir F. was in momentary ex-
pectation of the arrival of the Duke of
Gloucester, (then visiting Geneva, &c.) and
who was desirous of viewing this enchant-
ing epitome of perfection, before he left
the neighbourhood.
We returned to our inn, and my com-
GENEVA. 253
panions, leaving me under the guard of
our Swiss, immediately set off upon a three
days' journey to Chamouni, Mont Blanc,
the Mer de Glace, &c. I found it neither
prudent nor reasonable to attempt join-
ing them in this expedition, as the cold
and fatigue inseparable from it would have
been too much for my strength. I ex-
pected to have been quite solitary until their
return, but was agreeably disappointed;
my new friends (whose polite attention
to aU who bear the name of English is
well known), being kind enough to engage
my whole time in such a manner as com-
pletely to banish ennui. Sir F., who
passed many years of his life in our coun-
try, respected for his integrity and abilities,
and rewarded by the esteem of Majesty,
has returned to his native land (now re-
stored to its independence), in the bosom of
which he enjoys the high consideration
of its most distinguished members, among
whom he is noted for liberality of senti-
ment and a singular proportion of do-
mestic felicity. V\ r e were told that the
254 GENEVA.
people of and near Geneva are remark-
able for honesty, and we found no reason
to doubt the accuracy of this information.
We heard also that the servants, as well
as country people, were faithful and harm-
less, and that such an offence as house-
breaking, or breach of trust in pilfering
personal property, was unknown : that
every family in these environs went to bed
without closing a shutter, and might safely
leave cabinets and drawers unlocked, during
any absence from home. There were
twelve or more physicians in Geneva, eight
out of the number having studied and
taken their degrees at Edinburgh ; they are
ah 1 accounted clever in tlreir profession.
The apothecaries here are not allowed to
practise as amongst us ; they are entirely
restricted to the preparation of medicines,
have a thorough knowledge of the proper-
ties of drugs (which here are of the purest
and finest quality always), are good chemists
and botanists, and in other respects well
educated men. This is a high advantage
to invalids. While I was in the boutique, of
GENEVA. $55
a little jeweller, the Princess Eariatinski
came in, with one of her female attendants.
She appeared a graceful unaffected young
woman, was drest with extreme simplicity ?
and addressed herself to the persons who
waited upon her with great affability, and
a benevolent wish of sparing them all un-
necessary trouble. She is the second wife
of the prince. In the course of the day
I drove about the environs in a caleche,
and returned the visits of several ladies,
for whom we had letters from their friends
in England. Madame C. was fortunately
at home, and I was much pleased by her
polite reception, and also by the sweet
countenance and madonna features of her
grandaughter, Madame P. Their house
is upon the brow of a hill, commanding
the most extensive and lovely prospect;
but what place is not lovely in this part
of the world ? I never could have imagined
so delicious a sejaur as the neighbour-
hood of Geneva affords, had I not seen
and enjoyed it myself. In the grounds of
Mons. de C. a singular natural phenome-
non, takes place; I mean the confluence
256 GENEVA.
of the Rhone and the Arve. They meet
here, yet without mingling their cur-
rents ; the clear blue pure waters of the
former being scrupulously distinct from
the thick turbid stream of the latter.
Destiny has compelled them to run the
same course, but the laws of sympathy
(more powerful still) seem for ever to pre-
vent them from assimilating. How fre-
quently is this the case with mankind!
no ties of affinity can cause two dispositions
to unite and flow on together in a tranquil
or felicitous course, where nature has placed
a marked opposition of sentiment and
character. Those moralists who endea-
vour, from motives of mistaken principle,
violently to force this native bent, do but
ensure themselves the mortifying fate of
Sisyphus.
I returned to dinner at r hot el des Ba-
lances, intending to accept Madame C.'s
polite invitation to take tea with her, at
eight o'clock; but first I accompanied Sir
F. and Madame d'l. in a promenade round
the environs, in a little open carriage called
a char : I found this a very social although
GENEVA. 257
somewhat rough conveyance, and it was so
near the ground as to allow females to
alight from or ascend it without assistance,
and with perfect safety. Our drive was
charming : they pointed out many glorious
prospects to my observation, and I accom-
panied them to the campagne (or country
house) of Monsieur A., who possesses one
of the most elegant places in that neigh-
bourhood. Monsieur A. is an uncle of
Madame d'l.'s. We met him at the en-
trance of his grounds, driving in a low
phaeton. It was a novelty to a curious
contemplative English traveller, like my-
self, to observe the manners here of near
relations towards each other. Monsieur
A. took off his hat, and remained un-
covered the whole of the time during his
conversation with his niece ; and, upon tak-
ing leave, the expressions of " Adieu, mon
oncle /" " Adieu, ma chere niece /" with
another mutual bow, conveyed an idea of
mixed cordiality and ceremony, which was
far from unpleasing. I have often thought
that family intercourse among us in Eng-
land is too frequently carried on in a very
258 GENEVA.
mistaken and (as it relates to eventual con-
sequences) a very fatal manner. How many
people think that it is needless to maintain a
constant habit of good-breeding and polite-
ness in their conduct towards immediate re-
lations, and that the nearness of connexion
gives them the liberty of wounding their
self-love, and of venting unpleasant truths
in the most coarse and unfeeling manner ;
and all this under the pretence of sincere and
unrestrained friendship ! How entirely do
such persons forget that admirable Christian
precept, " Be ye courteous one to another !"
We found Madame and Mademoiselle A.
at home : the former is somewhat advanced
in years ; she has frequently been in Eng-
land, and both of them speak our language
fluently. The conversation this evening,
however, was wholly carried on in French,
which was an advantage to me, as it
gave me an additional opportunity of con-
quering a ridiculous degree of awkward
shyness in speaking the latter, which is a
complete bar to improvement, and yet is
often dignified amongst very good sort of
people in our country by the name of amia-
GENEVA. 259
ble modesty. These ladies were highly well-
bred and agreeable ; they knew several of
my friends, the L. family in particular:
Madame A. perfectly recollected the late
Mr. L. many years since, at the time he
was living at Geneva, and spoke of his vir-
tues, his distinguished and noble manners,
his various talents, and taste for the fine
arts, in a way that brought tears of pleased
remembrance into my eyes : indeed no one,
who had (like myself) the honour and hap-
piness of being intimate with this excellent
and lamented man, can ever, I should think,
forget him, and I shall always feel it as a
source of great and flattering gratification,
that I once was a favourite, and I may say,
an eleve, of so venerable and superior a
character.
Mademoiselle A. shewed me some exqui-
sitely fine casts from the antique, and co-
pies of paintings (the originals of which are
now in the Louvre at Paris), which formed the
chief decorations of a charming saloon here,
floored with walnut in so elaborate and ele-
gant a manner, that it almost rivalled a tessel-
lated pavement. The house and' grounds
*
260 GENEVA.
altogether are delightful, and the latter re-
minded me of an English park. We enjoyed
a promenade under some noble trees in
front of the former, and then returned to
take our tea, when we entered upon a very
animated and (to me) a most interesting
conversation upon Voltaire. Madame A.
observed, that it was always a treat to her
to hear the original remarks of persons
who (judging for themselves) perused his
works for the first time. I was sorry when
the moment for taking leave arrived, and
could have passed the whole of the evening
here with much satisfaction. Sir F. and
Madame d'l. had the goodness to deposit
me safely at the hotel of Madame C., and
made me promise to spend the next day
with them at their lovely campagne. I
found a very agreeable and intellectual so-
ciety assembled at Madame C.'s. Among
them were Monsieur and Madame de
Saussure. He is a relation of the cele-
brated philosopher, who was one of the
first persons who ascended to the top of
Mont Blanc, many years since, and whose
observations taken there have been pub-
GKNKVA. 261
lished. Madame P. (who is very young,
arid almost a bride) sang like an angel : her
husband also possesses no inconsiderable
vocal talent, and they gave us several duets
of Blangini's, which happened to be my
own peculiar favourites. Le Baron de M.
an intelligent gentlemanly man (a native of
the Pays du Valais, I believe), and who has
travelled a great deal in Italy, seemed per-
fectly to feel and appreciate the superior
merits of the Italian school of harmony,
which surprised me at first, as I had taken
him for a Frenchman, and knew how rarely
pure taste of that sort was to be expected
from his nation. He had the politeness
to conduct me home at night, and left me
at the door of my apartments, with many
profound bows, en preux chevalier !
The next morning, presque a mon rtveil,
I received a long visit from Madame P. and
I afterwards drove to Sir F.'s, where I
dined, and passed a very happy day. I met
there the children of Count S. (minister for
Russia at the approaching congress at Aix
la Chapelle), and their goui'ernante. These
two little countesses (for so they were
GENEVA.
always called), of eight and ten years of
age, and their brother, a very fine boy of
five or six, ran about amid the flowers and
shrubs, much at their ease, and seemed to
look upon Sir F. as a father. Indeed, he
had, in a manner, the charge of them at
this time. In the evening I accompanied
my kind hosts to the house of another very
pleasant family, which was also built in a
spot that commanded a superb and roman-
tic view, where we met a very large party,
among which were several English. Some
of the company were in full dress, having
called to take tea, in their way to a grand
ball, which was given that night by our
countrymen to the inhabitants of Geneva,
and the latter were to return the compliment
in a similar manner in the space of a few days.
I w r as invited by several of the Genevese
families, to attend this ball; but declined
doing so, for various reasons. This was not
the only amusement at that time antici-
pated; they were preparing to attend a
very pretty, and I may say, chivalrous sort
offSte (an alfresco breakfast), upon the bor-
ders of the lake, given to the ladies by a party
GENEVA. 5263
of gentlemen, who were called les chevaliers
du lac. The day which the gallant enter-
tainers had long destined for this gay ban-
quet was unfortunately early overcast by
lowering and envious clouds, which, before
thecompany had been assembled half an hour,
broke over their heads in torrents of rain.
We had thus an opportunity of observing,
that England was not the only country
where the caprices of climate render fetes
cliampetres rather hazardous. The costume
of the rest of the ladies was very simple,
being exactly that of the French, when not
bien pare, and much resembling what we
wear as a morning dress, all having their
gowns made high in the neck, with long
sleeves, and many of them wearing large
bonnets. The profusion of rich needle-
work in petticoats, ruffs, &c. was, however,
very remarkable.
The tone of general conversation here
was easy, animated, lively, and full of bene-
volently polite attention to the feelings of
each other. In short, it was conversation ;
of which we do not always understand the
.
264 GENEVA.
right meaning, or enter into the true spirit,
in the circles of England, whatever is the
reason. We had a discussion upon the
drama, and the present state of the Italian
opera, both with us and upon the continent.
Those who had been in England praised
Miss O'Neill very rapturously, but Kean did
not appear to have struck them so forcibly
as I thought his merits deserved. I was
asked (as the conversation turned upon
the marked taste for classical and studied
tragic acting upon the French stage),
whether I thought Miss O'Neill or Mrs.
Siddons (in her day) would have been most
applauded and understood by a Parisian
audience ? I had no hesitation in replying
that I thought the latter would have been
more to their taste, as her style was rather
the perfection of art than the wild and
spontaneous effect of nature. They ah 1
agreed in this opinion, and seemed to pre-
fer Miss O'Neill to her dignified and splen-
did rival : those who consider acting as a
science, however, will not coincide with them.
At about eight o'clock we adjourned to
GENEVA. 265
another apartment, where tea was served :
the table was very long, and covered with
a cloth, round which the company seated
themselves as if at dinner. The lady of
the house made tea herself, and the ser-
vants waited behind her chair, to hand it
about; her situation was no sinecure:
There was a profusion of cakes, brioches,
and fine fruit. This is always the custom
at Geneva, where, as people dine at three
o'clock, they of course are ready to make a
sort of supper at tea-time. I never beheld
any thing so resplendently beautiful as the
moon during my drive home: I saw it
rise like a globe of fire from behind the
mountains, and throw a long track of glit-
tering brightness upon the calm bosom of
the lake. The effect was lovely, and the
sky appeared to me to be of a far deeper and
more decided blue colour than with us. I
ought not to omit the mention of a very sin-
gular and striking phenomenon (if I may so
call it), which I had likewise this day wit-
nessed at Sir F.'s : I mean the influence of the
setting sun upon the glaciers. They first, as
the orb declined, assumed a yellow tint, then
266 GENEVA.
gradually warmed into pink, and kindled
at length into a glow of rich crimson, of in-
describable beauty. Mont Blanc's three
fantastic peaks received it last of all, and
immediately afterwards the whole snowy
chain of mountains rapidly faded into their
original hue of spotless (or, as my friend
Mr. T. fancifully calls it, ghostly) white.
Upon my return to the hotel, I had the
unexpected pleasure of finding Mr. Baillie
and Mr. W. safely arrived from their ex-
pedition to Chamouni. The following is
the former's account to me of the incidents
of their journey.
" As we could only allow ourselves two
entire days in which to perform our jour-
ney to Chamouni, it was quite necessary
that we should make the most of our time ;
the distance (if I recoUect right) being from
fifteen to eighteen leagues from Geneva.
We started from thence at about five
o'clock in the afternoon, on the 13th of
September, and slept that night at Bonne-
ville, a small town about fifteen miles on
our route. There was nothing particularly
worthy of remark thus far, except the magni-
GENEVA. 267
ficently beautiful tints of the setting sun
upon the Mole and adjacent mountains,
which we enjoyed in great perfection. The
next morning we proceeded through the
small town of Kluse to St. Martin, where
we breakfasted, and hired mules for the re-
mainder of our journey, the road being im-
passable for any carriages except those of the
country, called char-a-bancs, which are the
most uncomfortable conveyances that can
be imagined, being built without springs.
" We passed this day two very beautiful
waterfalls; but as you have already seen
the P. V. (which is superior to both), I
need not trouble you with an account of
them. The aubergiste at St. Martin was
philosopher enough to have a cabinet of
the natural curiosities of the country, upon
which he set no small value ; his prices for
the minerals, &c. being absurdly high. The
prospect became far more interesting as we
advanced towards the base of that hoary
mountain, whose summit we had distinctly
seen at a hundred and fifty miles distance,
some few weeks since. We observed and
admired a singular piece of water, in whose
268 GENEVA.
transparent bosom Mont Blanc was clearly
reflected. This was the Lac de Chede, and
though very small, is interesting, from its
retired and solitary situation. It is infested
by serpents, but I could not learn that
they were venomous.
" The valley of Servoz, into which we af-
terwards entered, and which joins the vale
of Chamouni, is romantic beyond any thing
I have ever beheld. The road (cut out of
the mountain's side) is in many places
rough, and somewhat dangerous, a very
abrupt precipice being on one hand, and
the river Arve rolling below, whose waters
are of great depth. I confess that I was a
little disappointed with the first view of
these glaciers (note H.), perhaps, as the
imagination has no bounds, from having
previously formed too magnificent an idea
of them. They are situated in the valley,
at the foot of the mountain, and are formed
by the frozen snow, or rather snow-water.
Their shape is irregularly pyramidical, and
their colour a very light blue.
" The Mer de Glace, which is the object
most worthy of notice in this valley, is a
GENEVA. 269
glacier of giant size, the pyramids of ice
being in some places of prodigious altitude,
and the chasms proportionably deep. From
this place the Arve takes its source. It is
quite impossible for me to give you an ade-
quate idea of this stupendous sea of ice, so
called from its constant, although imper-
ceptible, movement towards the valley, the
entrance of which, it is generally expected,
it will in time effectually block up. We
witnessed one or two avalanches, which our
guide told us were inconsiderable; their
noise, however, made the valley roar.
" Our trusty mules deserve mention. We
really thought we could not too much ad-
mire them; although we had been pre-
pared to find them sure-footed and steady,
we had no conception that they could pos-
sibly have led us with such perfect safety
through such rugged and dangerous passes;
the more particularly as we had no reason
to reckon upon their complaisance, having
urged them to a pace to which they were
quite unaccustomed, from our desire of
visiting the Mer de Glace the first day.
" The inn at Chamouni was clean and
270 GENEVA.
comfortable, and upon a far superior scale
of accommodation than could have been
supposed in so forlorn a situation. The
Duke of G. arrived during the evening, and
consequently must have travelled through
Servoz when it was dark, thereby losing all
the beauties of that wonderful scene. We
set off the next morning very early, upon our
return. It was a severe frost, the ground
quite white with the hoary particles, and
the weather feeling colder than I ever re-
member to have experienced, although the
season was but little advanced ; so much so,
that my companion had to walk at a great
pace for a considerable distance, to preserve
any degree of animal warmth. About the
middle of our route we observed a monu-
ment, in the shape of a large mile-stone,
which had been erected during the consul-
ship of Bonaparte, to the memory of a
young German philosopher, who was un-
fortunately lost, from the ignorance of his
guide, while traversing these mountains.
He fell into the crevice of a glacier, and
was not discovered until some time after-
wards, when it appeared his nails were
GENEVA. 271
worn off, and his fingers stripped to the
bone, in his agonizing and desperate at-
tempts to release himself from his horrible
grave. The stone was erected (as it is
stated in an inscription) first, as a warning
to travellers in their choice of guides ; se-
condly, to commemorate the loss of the un-
happy youth ; and, thirdly, to inform the
world that France encourages science, even
in her enemies.
"We found a variety of all the rarest Alp-
ine plants and vegetables in this valley,
and were assured that it contained also
mines of gold, silver, and lead, (note I.)
which the poverty of the state at present
prevents being worked. We met at the
little inn two Polish gentlemen, who had
been making a pedestrian tour through
Switzerland ; one of them had a few days
before ascended the highest mountain (next
to Mont Blanc) in the neighbourhood:
he was the friend and companion of an en-
terprising nobleman of the same nation,
who some weeks since had gone up Mont
Blanc, by a different route to that pursued
by Monsieur de Saussure, who has written
272 GENEVA.
voluminously on the subject. The Pole
had endured great difficulty and fatigue,
and had been three days in completing his
journey, having slept two nights upon the
mountain : he was attended by about twenty
guides, ah 1 of whom were tied together, as
a precaution against any one of them falling
into the chasms which are so frequently
met with in the ascent. The summit was
found to be considerably changed since it
had last been visited. This stupendous
mountain is 15000 feet above the level
of the sea, and rises about 9000 from the
vaUey of Chamouni. It is hardly ne-
cessary to teU you, that its brow is eternally
crowned with frozen snow.
" Travellers who are in delicate health, or
otherwise not strong, are by no means ad-
vised to undertake the journey from St.
Martin to Chamouni on mules; especially
if they are pressed for time, as that method
of conveyance is both fatiguing and dila-
tory. They will find the guides of the inn
particularly intelligent and conversible, pos-
sessing a knowledge of the mineral and
vegetable kingdoms that is quite extraor-
GENEVA. 273
dinary in men of their situation and
rank in life. They are employed during
the winter months in chamois hunting,
and other dangerous and hardy exer-
cises, and are frequently detained (as
they told me themselves) by the snow, for
weeks together, in the cheerless shelter of
the most wretched chalets."
The next day we devoted to the pur-
chase of some of the curiosities for which
this place is celebrated (note J.), and to
taking leave of our friends, who had shewn
us so much attention : we also visited the
street in which Rousseau was born, and which
is called after his name, the Rue de Jean
Jaques Rousseau. We took leave of Sir F.
and Madame d'l. with a degree of regret that
was only softened by the hope of seeing
them in England ere many ages should
elapse. I believe I have not yet mentioned
their children ; a fine boy and a very pro-
mising little girl, both extremely young,
and in whose welfare and happiness the
parents seemed to be completely wrapped
up. Yet Sir F. did not appear to have
I
274 GENEVA.
spoiled them by injudicious indulgence ; on
the contrary, he expressed his conviction of
the necessity and importance of early moral
restraint, and I had one accidental oppor-
tunity of witnessing that his practice per-
fectly harmonized with his theory: this
desirable union does not always take place,
even among parents who pride themselves
upon a superior system of education.
On September 17th, we bade adieu to
this delightful neighbourhood, arid pro-
ceeded upon our route to Lausanne. We
continued for a great length of way to wind
along the borders of the lake, which sparkled
like a diamond in the morning sun, and
whose extensive surface was slightly rippled
by a fresh and animating breeze from the
mountains. With respect to the extraordi-
nary exhilaration of mountain air, which
first struck me in crossing Mont Cenis, and
has been confirmed by subsequent expe-
rience, I had heard and read a thousand
times of its effect ; but a truth, when per-
sonally proved for the first time, always
seems like a discovery, rather than a sober
COPPET. 275
confirmation of the words of other people.
This pure atmosphere appears to me the
finest remedy possible for every sort of
nervous indisposition. It would even lighten
(I should think) the heavy pressure of real
affliction, acting as a perfect cordial to the
spirits, as well as a tonic to the body
but Eousseau has expressed this opinion
so admirably in the first volume of his
Nouvelle Heloise, that while I recal his
magical description, any other seems power-
less and inadequate. (Note K).
We now passed though the village of
Coppet. Necker's house is still shewn here,
to which he retired upon being denounced
by the French government as an enemy to
his country, and where the adversity of this
great and amiable character was soothed
by the presence of his equally celebrated
daughter, Madame de Stael. I feel an
involuntary sensation of attendrissement,
whenever I think of the singular degree of
affection that subsisted between this ve-
nerable parent and his daughter, and which
breathes so touchingly in every line of her
276 COPPET.
Memoires dt la Vit privet de Monsieur
Necker, lately published in our own country.
An affection so highly wrought, as to bear
rather the character of passion, and which
has therefore been objected to, by many
people, as overstrained and unnatural.
But let it be remembered that the great
virtues, the attractive gentleness, the grand
and expansive mind, and superior talents
of Necker, were (in her eyes) unique, and
might therefore well have the effect of
creating a more than ordinary portion of
admiration, respect, and love: nor, in
judging of Madame de Stael, should it
ever be forgotten, that her extraordinary
depth of feeling, and her native enthusiasm
of disposition, rendered it impossible for
her to experience sensations of any sort,
in a mediocre degree, or even in that
rationally moderated force, which can alone
secure the possession of real happiness.
This peculiarity of feeling, which unfor-
tunately induced some errors in her con-
duct, has been admirably commented upon,
by the Edinburgh Review, in its critique
COPPET. 277
upon her works in general. It explains
and apologizes, I think, for those wildly
warm expressions in which she has in-
dulged, when speaking of Necker's charac-
ter, and which might perhaps sound strange,
if uttered by a less energetic personage, or
if applied to those sort of parents who are
usually met with in common life. The woman
who has been allowed by the general voice
of her cotemporary judges to be " the
greatest writer of a female, that any age,
or any country, has produced ;" (nay even by
one distinguished genius* has been called
" the most powerful author, whether man
or woman, of her day ;") has surely a high
claim upon the forbearance of all who have
been charmed by her transcendent talents.
At the same time, let me not be mis-
taken, as to my own particular sentiments
upon the subject ; for I have no hesitation
in avowing, that as a general principle, I
extremely disapprove of the admission of
A\hat is termed passion into the filial affec-
* Lord Byron.
278 COPPET.
tions, and vice versa. I believe it to answer
no wise or rational end, but to be, on the
contrary, in nine cases out of ten, a fruit-
ful source of disquietude and disappoint-
ment.
I fear my earnestness in the cause of a
writer whose abilities I so greatly admire, has
led me into a dissertation which may prove
tedious to some of my readers. Reveno?is
d nos moutons. The country, the whole
of the way to Lausanne, is one continued
scene of beauty ; and the pastoral air of
the verdant meadows, the rich cultivation
of the hills (sprinkled with the prettiest
little hamlets), the appearance of comfort
and neatness in the cottages (each with a
garden and orchard), and the grandeur of
the lake and mountains beyond, altogether
formed a scene of peace, loveliness and de-
light, that is far more easily imagined than
described. Were it possible for me to
forget the charms of my dear native land,
it is here that I could happily live, and
tranquilly die. Not that it possesses the
Armida-like fascination of the shores of the
MORGES. 279
Lago Maggiore in Italy, or the high ro-
mance of parts of Savoy : the imagination
here is less excited, but the heart is more
interested. I turned from one to the
other, with the kind of sensation which
the mind experiences, when comparing a
brilliantly beautiful and accomplished, a
highly enchanting and charming acquaint-
ance, with a tender, cheerful, and amiable
friend.
We stopped to take breakfast at Eolle, a
neat little town, where at the humble inn
(la Couronne) we hailed with great sa-
tisfaction the comforts of cleanliness and
domestic order, so totally unknown to the
natives of the other countries through which
we had passed.
Morges ; a remarkably pretty town. In
this neighbourhood there were many vine-
yards, which yielded the fruit of which the
wine called mn de cote is made. The lake
became much narrower here, and the moun-
tains upon the opposite side seemed to rise
abruptly from the water. Their dark
purple hue contrasted finely with the light
280 LAUSANNE.
aqua-marine tint of the latter, and the fresh
verdure of the banks, where the peasants
were mowing their second crop of hay.
The beauty of some of the cottages also
struck us with admiration, but we observed
as yet no particular costume.
We arrived at Lausanne to dinner. The
entrance was cheerful and pretty, and the
town itself is clean and gay, built upon the
side of a very steep hill ; the grand street
forming as precipitous an ascent as that of
Lansdown in Bath. We found all the inns
full, therefore took lodgings at a charming
house upon a hill overhanging the lake,
(the view of the Chateau de Chillon and
mountains, in the distance) and to which
there was a garden and terrace, ornamented
with green-house plants and flowers. We
could hardly have desired une plus jolie
campagne even for our own permanent re-
sidence and property. The restaurateur
(who was an appendage to this establish-
ment, and lived in part of the house) was
a civil bustling personage, who extremely
loved to hear himself talk : he told us that
LAUSANNE. 281
these lodgings ought to stand high in re-
putation, for they had been occupied suc-
cessively by les plus grands seigneurs, who
had all expressed themselves greatly pleased
with their accommodations ; a fair hint this,
how we were expected to behave. We found,
however, upon parting, that the hostess had
overcharged us for these wonderful accom-
modations in a very preposterous manner,
and she was so conscious of it, that she
consented without much difficulty to take
off part of her bill, and to allow us to pay
for her apartments in French money, instead
of the Swiss, which makes a very material dif-
ference. We breakfasted the next morning
upon honeycomb from the mountains; I
believe I have mentioned this before. It
is a very common article for breakfast in
Switzerland, and always brings an agree-
able association of ideas to my mind. I
ought perhaps to have made earlier men-
tion of the great opportunity afforded to
the traveller of leisurely surveying and en-
joying the beauties of scenery, from the cir-
cumstance of his not being able to travel
282 LAUSANNE.
post through Switzerland: the system of
voituring is, however, rather tedious, and
very expensive.
The environs of Lausanne are almost
equally attractive with those of Geneva,
but the latter were impressed upon my
memory in such bright and bewitching
colours, that I could never think any other
part of Switzerland quite so delightful.
We quitted Lausanne, Sept. 19, for Berne.
Our road still led us through beauties innu-
merable. On the right was the lake, once
more expanded into a breadth like the ocean,
bounded, as usual, by mountains. On the
left were vineyards, gardens, and hamlets.
The grape ripens later here than in France,
but is equally luxuriant and delicious in
flavour. We frequently passed so near the
glowing clusters of this tempting fruit, that
we might easily have gathered as many as
we chose from the windows of the carriage.
There was a wonderfully fine growth of
walnut trees also, stretching their long
branches for many yards over the water.
They are in such quantities that oil is
MEILLERJE. 283
made from the nut, for purposes of the
commonest use.
We again saw part of the romantic rocks
of Meillerie, so celebrated by Kousseau.
We had been reading his Nouvelle Heloise
for the last few days (as we were passing
through the same scenes which are so beau-
tifully depicted there), and felt as if these
rocks were our old acquaintance. I always
feel, in reading his works, ready to exclaim,
" I love thee, and hate thee !"
A literary friend (in a long conversation
which we had upon the subject of this author)
thought better of his Julie (as a single wo-
man) than I did, or ever can ; but we per-
fectly agreed in admiration of her conduct
as a wife and mother, mistress of a family,
&c. The lessons of morality (which she there
exhibits) are beyond every thing beautiful
and impressive ; but I never can forgive the
disingenuousness of her conduct in con-
senting to marry Monsieur de Wolmar,
without having previously told him her past
story. All the reasonings, the arguments,
284 VEVAY.
the chain of entangling circumstances, which
Kousseau has contrived to justify her for not
doing so, I think false, perverted, and to-
tally unsatisfactory.
The costume of the peasants in this
neighbourhood is not at all remarkable, ex-
cept for their straw hats, which are univer-
sally of the gipsy shape, with a very high
crown, ending in a point like a Chinese pa-
goda, or the top of a parasol. We took
a dejeune at Vevay, and went in a boat
upon the lake, to view the Chateau de Chil-
lon somewhat nearer than we had hitherto
been able to do. The beauty of Lord Byron's
affecting Tale of its Prisoner returned
strongly upon my imagination. I certainly
prefer his picture of Captivity to that of
Sterne in the Sentimental Journey. It ap-
pears to me to be equally touching, and far
more sublime. One or two of the minor
incidents may probably have been founded
upon the legends of the Bastile; but
Byron's powerful genius stamps every line
with the character of originality.
A few miles beyond Vevay the country
VEVAY. 285
assumed all the refined and cultivated
beauties of an English park. Here (near a
miniature lake) softly swelling hills of velvet
turf, ornamented with the rich and fea-
thery foliage of the beech, rose gently upon
the admiring eye. There vast plantations
of aspiring firs expanded their screen of
darker green. Close to the road were mea-
dows enamelled with the lilac crocus, and va-
rious wild flowers, fringed by hedges, where
the white convolvulus and scarlet hawthorn
berry mingled gaily with the thick hazel and
other native shrubs. A few ledges of rock
now and then started from amid these mild
beauties, as if to evince that we were still in
the vicinity of wilder scenery. This change
in the landscape was novel and delightful to
us all. We had not seen any thing exactly in
its style since leaving England, and I almost
felt annoyed when a turning in the road
displayed the snowy peaks of the eternal
glaciers towering, as usual, in the distance.
Forgive this honest confession, ye exclu-
sive lovers of the sublime, and recollect,
that the eye as well as the mind becomes
286 VEVAY.
fatigued by being kept too long upon the
stretch.
Stopping at a little post-house, between
Vevay and Moudon, we were surprised to
see a large coarse loaf of bread brought out
(instead of hay) for the refreshment of the
horses. They eat it in slices, and appeared
to relish this sophisticated food not a little.
One of the animals, however, would not
take the crust in his mouth, tossing it away
in the most ridiculously disdainful manner,
when he had carefully devoured all the
crumb, and it was not until he had received
two or three good cuffs on the ears from his
driver that he condescended to sw r allow it.
We met several prettyish w r omen in the
course of this day's journey ; but the style
of their beauty did not please us so much
as that of France and Italy. It was mild
without being soft, and fresh without being
brilliant : they were, in short, neither jolie
ni belle ; neither had they la grace plus belle
encore que la beaut e ; but formed a class
apart, which I cannot exactly define, but
which certainly I did not like.
MOUDON. 287
Dined and slept at Moudon (inn, au
Cerf), where we experienced the comforts
of warmth, cleanliness, and good beds ; no
bad things after a long and cold journey.
We were waited upon by a lively natural
young creature, of the name of Josephine,
who, together with several other girls, was
staying at this inn, to learn the French
language from the occasional guests. They
were all of them German Swiss. We
astonished them very much, by exhibiting a
couple of musical snuff-boxes, which we had
bought when at Geneva. The girls had
never seen any thing of the kind, and were
never tired of listening to them. We left
Moudon the next morning at six o'clock :
the country still continued to charm us
with a pleasing succession of woods, mossy
banks, and rich valleys, watered by little ser-
pentine silver brooks, softly flowing through
green meadows. We were still in the Pays
du Vaud. Our servant Christian's national
enthusiasm burst forth at every step. Our
friend, who frequently took a share of his seat
behind the carriage, amused us extremely
288 MOUDOX.
with an account of his transports. " Ah !
there are de cows with bells round their necks!
How I love those bells ! There be de neat
cottages, all of wood : dey builds very pretty
ones always in my country." At Lausanne
(where he had been at school) it was no-
thing but " shaking hands," and " greetings
in the market-place." " There is a friend
of mine ! I know dat man ! There lives
such a one, a very honest person !" In
short, the poor fellow was in a state of con-
tinual ecstasy, and carried it so far as to
think the very stones in the road were more
than commonly valuable and beautiful ; for,
knowing Mr. W. to have made a small col-
lection of spars and fossils, &c. he drew his
attention frequently, upon entering Swit-
zerland, to the pebbles by the way-side,
calling out every now and then, " There be
a pretty stone now, Mr. V. ! .Very pretty
stones all in my country !" A lady at Ge-
neva, in describing the peculiar attachment
of the Swiss to their native land, told me
that her brother, upon being exiled to
England for pecuniary reasons, actually
MOUUON.
died of tlie true maladie du pays, pining
gradually away in hopeless longings after
the dear scenes amid wliich his youth had
been passed. We now entered the grandest
and most luxuriant beech woods I ever be-
held. I never had seen such magnificent
trees, except in some parts of Norbury
park, in Surrey ; indeed the whole view
strongly reminded me of that exquisite
spot, and brought a thousand agreeable re-
collections and associations to my mind.
Wherefore is it that the imagination feels a
charm and a repose so delightful amid
scenes of this nature ? My own peculiar
feeling is now confirmed by long experi-
ence, and I can consequently assert, with
renewed confidence, that wood, assisted
by a judicious inequality of ground, forms
by far the most satisfactory and sooth-
ing feature in a landscape. A visit to moun-
tains, glaciers, lakes, waterfalls, and im-
petuous floods, gives great and animating
sensations, but a constant residence among
them I should never desire; though I have
no doubt but that a Highlander or a Swiss
290 PAYERNE.
mountaineer would extremely despise me
for the homeliness of my taste.
Payerne, a small town. The women
here amazed us by their superb chevelures.
We saw three in particular, who wore their
hair (of a dark yet golden brown colour)
twisted round the head, in a large braid,
beneath an enormous flat straw hat. If
these braids had been dishevelled, I am
certain the hair would have swept the
ground, and the thickness of its growth
was even yet more remarkable than its
length. We were afterwards informed of
a circumstance which explained this appa-
rent phenomenon, as I shall presently take
occasion to mention. There was a large
stone fountain here (with a statue of some
warrior, armed from head to heel), which
appeared to form the only ornament of the
place.
At Avenche we observed a very singular
costume among the paysannes; in addi-
tion to the full shift sleeve and becoming
chemisette, confined beneath the bosom by
a coloured boddice, they wore a head-dress
AVENCHE. 291
of black gauze, lace, or thin horse-hair,
transparent as a cobweb, stiffened with fine
wire, and standing out widely from the
temples, in the most extraordinary manner,
resembling some representations I have seen
of the cobra capella, or hooded serpent, the
wings of a Patagonian butterfly, or the sort
of bat-winged cap, which Fuseli, in the ex-
travagance of his wild imagination, has given
to his pictures of Queen Mab. The coarse,
tame, insipid style of feature which accom-
panied this attire, however, by no means
suited its peculiar character. I looked in
vain for the pale, delicate, oval visage, small
red lip, and large gazelle sort of dark eye,
with which it would have harmonized so
exquisitely. This is the usual Bernoise
costume.
The country here became much more
open, and was enlivened by the glittering
waters of the lake of Morat (note L). In
almost every house we passed, we remarked
great quantities of green tobacco leaves,
suspended from the projecting roofs, dry-
ing in the sun. On the borders of the lake
292 -MORAT.
of Morat was formerly a chapel, filled with
the bones of the Bourguinons, who were
killed in battle, in the year 1476, when
Charles the Bold was defeated. It is now de-
stroyed, but the bones are still left " bleach-
ing in the wind." We got out of the car-
riage, and discovered among them some
very large thigh bones, &c. The size of the
warriors to whom they belonged must have
been wondrous. A small rise, upon which
we stood, was entirely formed of the bodies
of the slain. The fragrant wild thyme and
nodding hare-bell grew thickly upon the
fatal spot; and I observed a tuft of the
latter wreathing its azure flowers (as if in
mockery) around the fragment of a moulder-
ing skull !
There are several beautiful little maisom
de campagne near this place, with their
surrounding vineyards, gardens, orchards,
and fountains. They were a good deal in
the style of what we are used to call cot-
tages ornees, so few of which we had hitherto
seen upon the continent, notwithstanding
the adoption of a foreign title. There were
GUMINEN.
also many lovely dwellings belonging to the
peasantry, built of tan-coloured wood (note
M.), with stairs and galleries on the outside,
and neatly thatched or tiled. The frontis-
piece to this little volume, which has been
kindly presented to me by an elegant
amateur artist, is a most correct representa-
tion of a Swiss cottage.
We were now in the canton of Berne :
passing through another wood of beech,
scarcely less beautiful than the former,
the tremulous light, flitting capriciously
across the leaf-strewn paths, and the soft
chirping of the birds above our heads, again
gave us exquisite pleasure. I say we ; for
my sensations were fully participated by
my companions.
We now crossed the river Sarine, by
means of a large wooden bridge, covered
overhead like a penthouse, and entered the
village of Guminen, sunk between bold and
rocky hills, fringed with rich trees and un-
derwood. The females in this part of
Switzerland all appeared to possess a quali-
fication which Shakespeare has pronounced
(and with truth) to be " a marvellous ex*
294 GUMINEN.
cellent thing in woman." I allude to the
soft musical tone of their voices in speak-
ing : it was really remarkable, and we
thought it almost made amends for the want
of beauty. We dined at Guminen, in a
cleanly little inn (FOurs), where, on looking
out at the window, we were struck by the
sight of a Lucerne paysanne in full cos-
tume. She wore the usual tresses of braided
hair hanging down at length behind, and
the black gauze cap ; but her boddice was
remarkably curious, being of black velvet,
richly embossed with lilac and black beads
(the latter coming from Venice, and ex-
tremely small), in the manner of embroi-
dery ; indeed such quantities had been
expended, that her bust looked as if in ar-
mour. This boddice was likewise orna-
mented with silver filigree buttons, and
long silver chains, ending in large tassels of
the same material, gilt. She had also a
black velvet collar, studded with Venetian
beads and coloured foil, and a worked linen
chemisette and full shift sleeves, white as
snow. This dress must have been very ex-
pensive for a woman in her rank of life ;
GUMINEN. 295
and upon inquiry we found that she was,
in fact, the wife of a rich miller. We
were not annoyed here, as in Italy and
France, by the clamours of beggars ; they
very rarely made their appearance, and
even when they did, were always modest
and diffident. It gave us pleasure to pass
through so large a tract of country without
being able to discover any trace of abject
poverty among the peasantry : they all wore
an air of ease and content, and we found
upon inquiry that they were in general
enjoying the most comfortable and inde-
pendent circumstances.
From a lull near Berne we first caught
the distant harmony of a number of mel-
low-toned bells, which pastoral sounds, our
Swiss informed us, were produced by the
cattle (round whose necks the bells were
suspended), and who were at that moment
descending in large herds from the moun-
tains, for the evening milking. At the
same time we were struck by a glorious
view of the Alps (note N.), their frozen
peaks rosy from the reflection of departing
296 BERNE.
light : one of the highest of them is called,
from hence, Monte Kosa. I have never
listened to church bells (when their clang
has been mellowed by distance) without a
feeling of melancholy ; but these seemed
to breathe of innocent joy, and to tell a
tale of peace, happiness, comfort, and do-
mestic delight. This, I know, must have
proceeded in both cases from early associa-
tions, and in the latter from the influence
of ideas connected with poetry. What an
ever-springing source of exquisite enjoy-
ment is that divine gift ! A susceptibility
of its powers is like a sixth sense, for which
it becomes all who possess it to be truly
grateful to the benevolent Donor.
We now entered Berne. This is a fine
large town, with a remarkably handsome
entrance. We obtained most excellent
rooms, replete with every essential com-
fort, and furnished with taste, at our inn
(au Faucori), which was spacious enough to
be taken for some ancient castle, when the
feudal lords lodged a hundred or two of
retainers, besides guests, beneath their am-
BERNE. 297
pie roof. It was built in the form of an
oblong square, with three galleries, one
above another (each of which had inter-
minable passages connected with it, all
leading to different suites of apartments),
looking down upon an open court or area in
the midst. In this court a little army of
washerwomen were assembled (belonging, I
believe, to the establishment), carrying on
the process of purification with great ac-
tivity (in tubs almost large enough for
brewing vats), and with hot water, which
is an unusual thing upon the continent.
Apropos to cleanliness, we all made the
same observation in passing through Swit-
zerland, namely, that the inhabitants (more
especially in the protestant cantons) seemed
to understand the comfort inseparable from
this virtue, and that they certainly prac-
tised it in a far higher degree than any
people we had seen since leaving England.
We have frequently met with better ac-
commodations (because cleanliness has been
scrupulously attended to) in the inferior
inns of Switzerland than in the most su-
298 BERNE.
perb hotels of Paris, Turin, Milan, &c. I
am sorry to be obliged, however, to except
those of Geneva, which are allowed by the
inhabitants themselves to be all very dirty.
We walked about Berne the next morn-
ing, and gave audience to Christian's ve-
nerable father and to his sister, who came
over from their farm in the neighbourhood
to fetch him to spend a day with them.
They had not met for some years ; neither
father nor daughter spoke a word of any
language but German patois ; the latter was
drest in the complete Bernoise costume, even
to the little bouquet of natural flowers in
the bosom. I forget what great author it is
who says that " a man who has left his
native place for years is generally anxious
to make some figure in it, upon his re-
turn," this was truly exemplified in our
servant, who, the morning after our arrival,
burst upon his town's folk, in all the glory
of the most dandy English dress, appearing
far more smart than his master, and forming
a curious contrast to the rustic figures of
his humble yet picturesque-looking rela-
BERNE. 299
tions. We proceeded, after dinner, to view
the bears, and stags, which have from
time immemorial been kept in the deep
fosse, which surrounds the town. There
are tall fir-trees planted in this moat, for
the bears to climb, and plenty of green
cool turf for the refreshment of the stags.
The animals are separated from each other,
of course. The origin of this custom is
singular. In ancient times, a rich seigneur
of the country, and his sons, determined
to found a town, which should transmit
their memories to posterity, and should
be called after the name of the first ani-
mal that they might happen to kill in
a grand hunting-match, which they as-
sembled for the purpose. This animal
turned out to be a bear ; accordingly the
town was called Eerne, and the stone
image of the creature was erected at the
gates a custom which is continued to
the present moment. When the founders
died, they left a sum of money to be laid
out for the sole benefit of this bear, which
in process of time so greatly accumulated,
300 BERNE.
as to form quite a little fortune ; so that
all the successive bears have been persons
of property, and accustomed to the enjoy-
ment of those agremens, which an easy in-
come can alone secure. Bonaparte pounced
upon the senior bruin (called Monsieur
Martin), and carried off both himself and
his money to Paris, where he now lives in
high reputation, and equal splendor, at the
bottom of a deep pit, in le Jardiii des
Plant es. The people of Berne have since
obtained some other bears, which are the
same that we now saw, and a proper sum
for their support is awarded by the govern-
ment, which also is increasing by occasional
legacies from individuals.
We passed the evening in company with
an Englishman (an old friend of my hus-
band's), who had spent many years upon
the continent, and who had made it one of
his chief objects to visit and inspect the
different prisons there. We were glad (as
far as nationality was concerned) to hear
that those of England are (comparatively
speaking) carried on upon a system of
. BERNE. 301
benevolence superior to most others. This
gentleman told us, that the prisons of Turin
at this day, were a disgrace to humanity,
being the most horrible dungeons that the
imagination can picture. We saw several
groups of the convicts at Berne, who wore
an iron collar, and were chained by the
leg, to a small light cart, which (like beasts
of burden) they drew daily round the
town, to collect and carry away the dirt
of the streets. The prisoners of both
sexes are also employed in sweeping the
crossways, pavements, &c. and are drest in
a peculiar uniform, their labour being pro-
portioned to the degree of their guilt.
All the culprits in the country, who are not
condemned to death, are sent to Berne, and
are employed in these and similar offices.
The cathedral did not appear to us worth
visiting ; our eyes had been satiated with
buildings in this style, and after having
seen the glories of the Duomo at Milan,
we found all other cathedrals poor and
uninteresting. Most of the shops here are
built under stone arches, which renders
them somewhat gloomy, but adds to their
302 BERNE.
convenience in rainy weather. There are
numerous stone fountains in all parts of
the town, many of which have a martial
figure on the top; we saw one, however,
with a statue of Moses upon it, no inappro-
priate patron, as he could make the solid
rock gush out with water. Over one of the
principal gateways, we remarked a colossal
image of Goliah, grim and gaunt enough to
frighten all the naughty boys in the place.
Happening to mention the circumstance
of the extraordinary growth of hair, among
the women about Payerne, we were in-
formed that it was almost all false. The pay-
sannes have an ancient and invariable custom
of mixing great quantities of borrowed
tresses with their own, in order to form
that singular braid round the head, which
had so forcibly attracted our notice. I
should imagine the toilette of these rural
belles must be an operation of some skill,
for the false is so very well mingled with
the real hair, that it might defy the sharp
eye of the most prying old spinster to
detect the method in which it is done.
We saw several girls at Berne working
BERNE. 308
upon cushions (something in the manner
of lace-makers), under the piazzas; they
were embroidering the collars and sto-
machers of the Bernoise paysannes, in small
Venetian beads (called in England seed
beads) of all colours, gold tinsel, foil, &c.
upon a ground of black velvet. Their
performance was really very neat and taste-
ful. The prince Leopold of Coburg was
here, at the same time with ourselves,
looking very melancholy, and almost con-
tinually alone: he was on a visit to his
sister, the grand duchess Constantine, who
resides in the neighbourhood. She is se-
parated from her husband, who is brother
to the emperor of Eussia. They were
married, I believe (in pursuance of one
of those horrible schemes of state policy,
where every better feeling of the heart is
cruelly sacrificed and overborne), at the age
of fourteen, and the subsequent catastrophe
is not to be wondered at. Of the society
at Berne we could not judge, as our stay
did not exceed three days and a half, but
our English friend (lately mentioned, and
who had been a great deal amongst the
'304 BERNE.
best families there) mentioned it to be par-
ticularly agreeable. During the winter,
there are concerts and balls, private par-
ties, and a company of actors. The hos-
pital is a fine establishment, with a garden
full of choice flowers and shrubs, green-
house plants, and a fountain, being sus-
tained upon the most liberal plan; any
poor person, passing through the town,
may find food and lodging at the hospital
for twenty-four hours, and is sent away at
the expiration of that time with a dona-
tion of one franc (value, in English money,
tenpence). There is also an asylum for
foundlings, where the children are main-
tained till they attain the age of fifteen,
and are then put out to service. It
being one of the market days, we saw
many different costumes (belonging to the
various cantons) assembled. That of the
women of Guggisberg is frightfully ugly;
a napkin is folded flat across the forehead,
and tied behind in a slouching manner;
the dress is of black cotton, with a very
long waist, and the petticoat does not reach
to the knee; their legs are terribly thick,
BEHNK. 305
but luckily this circumstance is reckoned
amongst themselves as a beauty, and to in-
crease it, they wear four or five pair of
stockings at a time. Mr. B. observed a
Tyrolese peasant, with whose manly beauty
and elegant costume he was much struck.
I did not see him myself; they are generally
fine figures, strong and athletic, yet ex-
tremely graceful, the dress being always par-
ticularly becoming and highly picturesque.
The women of Lucerne I have already
described, in the specimen of the rich
miller's wife that we saw at Guminen.
Entering the shop of a famous picture-
dealer here, he shewed us a collection
of portraits, of the most celebrated rural
belles of Switzerland, among which was that
of the fair bateliere of the lake Brientz.
I hoped to have beheld another " Ellen,
Lady of the Lake," but was greatly dis-
appointed, not being able to admire the
character of her beauty, thinking it far too
coarse ; but those persons who have really
seen her assured us her picture by no
means did her justice. We were also
shewn a set of coloured prints from the
306 BERNE.
original drawings of a poor wretch of the
name of Mind* ; he died about two years
ago, and his works are very much valued
hi this country, not only for their intrinsic
merit, but as being the performance of a
cretin, which means an idiot, afflicted with
a goitre. We were told by the picture-
dealer, who had known him well, that this
Mind was one of the most deformed and
horrible objects of the sort, and was per-
fectly imbecile and stupid in every thing
that did not immediately relate to his art.
He had (like some idiots who have fallen
under my own personal observation) a pro-
digiously retentive memory, from the im-
pressions of which he alone was able to
draw. If he met any group of men or
animals in his daily rambles, he would in-
stantly run home, lock himself up, and pro-
duce shortly afterwards the most spirited
and accurate drawing of the objects which
had thus fired his fancy. The high finish
of his colouring, also, was equally remarkable
with the boldness of his outline ; he more
* Some of the original productions of this person are
in the possession of collectors in our own country.
BERNE. 307
particularly excelled in drawing cats, and
had completed a voluminous collection of
these animals, in all their stages of existence
and habits of life ; from which circumstance
he has obtained the name of le Ra/aelle
des Chats. At a first view of his works, we
were inclined to doubt the truth of his
having been so complete an idiot in all
respects which were unconnected with his
art ; but as vague arguments of conjecture
and probability, cannot stand against the
positive evidence of attested facts, of course
we gave up our objections, and felt that to
persevere in them would be obstinacy, rather
than penetration. The history of this man
would, I think, form an interesting subject
of reflection to the philosopher and the
physician, and I wish it were generally
Jknown and published. This evening we
went to see the exhibition of Mr. Kcenig, an
excellent landscape painter ; it consisted of
a set of transparent views (beautiful beyond
any thing of the sort that we had ever
previously beheld), taken from the most
celebrated scenes in Switzerland; among
them, we were most pleased with the chapel
308 BERNE.
of William Tell (note 0.) by moonlight,
on the lake of Zug, and with a cottage
(also by moonlight) on the lakes of Bienne
and Thun. The wonderful degree of na-
ture and truth which these paintings dis-
played, I shah 1 hardly forget; indeed I
cannot say too much in praise of them, and
would advise every traveller who visits
Berne to go and see this enchanting little
spectacle : I will venture to say his expecta-
tions will be greatly exceeded.
September 24th. I must in justice re-
commend all our friends passing this way
to take up their quarters au Faucon, as it
is a most exceUent house, and the mistress
a very attentive sensible person.
I ought not to take leave of the place
without also mentioning the promenade
upon the ramparts, and the glorious view
of woods, hamlets, and glaciers to be seen
from thence*. We were much amused in
watching the sports of the youth of the
* The promenade also, near the cathedral, is remark-
able for the beautiful prospect it discloses of the glaciers,
particularly at sunset, when the rose-coloured tints upon
their snowy summits are wonderfully fine.
BERNE. 309
town there, who have a green inclosure,
where various games and exercises (re-
sembling the ancient gymnastic) are carried
on every evening, at a certain hour ; they
are admirably well calculated to cherish
habits of activity and agility, and to pro-
mote both health and strength.
All the public offices here are served by
persons who faithfully and zealously fulfil
their functions, without emolument of any
sort.
Marriages through Switzerland are much
encouraged by some of their political institu-
tions ; in this canton, for instance, a bachelor
cannot arrive at the honourable post of
bailiff, or be admitted to the council, or
become what they call a seigneur, which is an
inferior office in the government; but at
the same time so fearful are these govern-
ments of any circumstance that might in
process of time by the accumulation of
fortunes infringe upon their liberties, that
marriages between cousins german are for-
bidden by law.
In the best statistic account of the popu-
lation of this country taken from the public
registers, it is estimated inclusive of the
310 BERNE.
allied provinces at about two millions. The
protestant cantons are found to be the
most populous, as they are the most active,
industrious, and commercial, but they are
not always the richest.
The police is regulated with the most
exemplary vigilance and good order; the
canton is a protestant one.
Upon quitting Berne, we found the
country a lovely repetition of rich waving
woods (chiefly of beech and pine) ; the
brilliant autumnal tints of the former
trees glowing beneath the bright blue of a
cheerful morning sky, and the aromatic
perfume of the latter, scenting the fresh-
ness of the breeze. How weak and in-
adequate are words to express certain feel-
ings of delight ! How easy is it to mention
woods and plains, rocks and lakes, and to
expatiate upon the charm of each, in ap-
propriate terms; yet how far are we all
the time from conveying to the minds of
our hearers or readers the sensation of en-
joyment which thrilled through our own
bosoms while actually beholding the scenes
we attempt to describe.
We passed through several villages which
BERNE. 311
appeared to be the favourite haunts of peace,
health, and humble happiness. The par-
sonage-house in one of them was a charming
picture of comfort, neatness, and picturesque
taste; close to the cheerful little white-
washed church, it reared its grey venerable
roof. The walls were covered by the spread-
ing branches of a fruitful pear-tree, and the
green latticed windows were shaded by a
vine, which wreathed its graceful foliage,
and hung in luxuriant clusters, likewise,
over a small bower, or recess, adjoining the
sitting-room, where I could imagine a simple
primitive pastor and his happy family as-
sembled together, enjoying the social even-
ing meal. La Fontaine's lovely descriptions
of such scenes and such beings, in his Nou-
veau Tableau de Famille, rushed upon my
recollection, and I almost expected to see
his sweet Augusta (in the days of her
prime) come forth from the rustic porch,
leaning on the arm of her valuable husband,
and surrounded by their innocent and
blooming race. When this same Augusta
becomes a grandmother, I think La Fon-
taine has painted her too selfishly forgetful
of the happiness of her youthful days, and of
312 SOLEURE.
the feelings natural to girls at that age ; it
is not in character with the virtue and
sentimental graces of her earlier years, and
rather conduces to encourage in the bosom
of the reader a sensation of indignant dis-
gust at the rigid, frigid, and unamiable
propensities sometimes found among the
aged. This beautiful and affecting novel
is so well known to ah 1 persons of good taste
and discrimination, that my ah 1 usion to it will
I hope be at once understood and forgiven.
Beyond this neighbourhood, the country
opened in the most striking manner, afford-
ing a fine and heart-cheering prospect of
cultivated plains, fresh pastures, peaceful
flocks and herds, walnut groves and thatched
cottages; the latter looked at a distance
like large beehives, and the inhabitants
seemed to evince a similarity to the bees
in their habits of brisk and lively industry.
I can easily understand the pre-eminent
attachment of the Swiss to their native land;
they must indeed be senseless were they
less alive to the charms of scenes like this.
We took an early dinner at Soleure (note
R.), or Solothurne. We were now in a ca-
tholic canton, and the difference of our ac-
I
SOLEURE. 313
commodations at the inn (la Couronne) from
those we had experienced in the protestant
governments was very apparent, for once
more dirt, in various shapes, made its unwel-
come appearance. The houses were, some of
them, painted gaudily on the whitewashed
outsides, in the Italian manner, and the ca-
thedral, of Grecian architecture, was full of
paltry paintings. The costume of the towns-
people was both tasteless and dirty ; a white
linen cap, with a border of muslin, half
a yard in depth, flapping about in the most
unbecoming way, increasing the general
plainness of the women's features. Their per-
sons, also, were awkward and ill made, parti-
cularly about the legs and feet. The place
itself was full of bad smells, but situated in
a picturesque part of the country. As we
proceeded, we found the cottages decrease
in beauty ; nor did they exhibit the same
degree of aisance and comfort as those near
Berne. The fields likewise partook of
this spirit of decline, appearing less culti-
vated and productive. We could not help
attributing this to the people having their
time so perpetually broken in upon by the
314 BAL8TADT.
necessity of going to mass, and by the too
frequent recurrence ofjottrs de fetes.
We passed a fine picturesque old castle
upon the left, a few miles beyond Soleure,
and arriving at Balstadt (a dirty-looking
village), where we slept, found a most
uncomfortable, slovenly inn, and bad at-
tendance; and to heighten our miseries,
our friend became so much worse, that
we were obliged to send for what medical
assistance the wretched place afforded. Ac-
cordingly there arrived the " village leech,"
who had much the air of a farrier, or cow-
doctor, and who applied various nostrums
without success. His unfortunate patient
made a vigorous effort to shake him off the
next morning, and we went on, hoping to
get as far as Basle. We started with two
horses and three mules, having to ascend a
steep mountain immediately upon quitting
Balstadt (or rather Ballstall), in modern or-
thography. The surrounding scenery was
of a very different nature from that of the
preceding day: the road (in some places
nearly as perpendicular as any in the wild
mountains of Savoy) led us through pale
FALKENSTEIN. 315
grey rocks, scooped occasionally into quar-
ries, and fringed on one side by an infinite
variety of young trees of every sort, and on
the other by extensive woods of pine, whose
shades formed a beautiful contrast to the
brighter verdure of the velvet turf, from
which they sprung. We observed (as usual)
great numbers of wild barberry trees, and
juniper bushes, while the purple heath-bell,
waving her fairy cups amid the moss and
thyme, upon every bank, gave a smiling
character to the foreground.
Falkenstein Castle (a fantastic ruin, crown-
ing the summit of a bold jutting mass of
rock far above our heads) had a very im-
posing effect. The battled waUs and nar-
row round towers were so much of the
same colour as the mountain from which
they rose, as scarcely to be distinguished
from it at a distance. It reminded us
strongly of some of Mrs. Kadcliffe's de-
scriptions, and our fancy easily peopled
it with a terrific baron, a fair suffering
heroine, a captive lover, and every other
requisite et cetera of romance. As we
316 FALKENSTEIN.
were now in German Switzerland, such
visions were not inappropriate, and my
readers will pardon them accordingly. We
saw another castle, also, further on, situated
upon an eminence in the midst of magni-
ficent woods of beech, and looking down
upon a pretty hamlet of white cottages, each
with its neat little verger andpotager, some
of them shaded by vines, and almost all fur-
nished with a range of beehives. The in-
habitants were gathering the walnuts, apples,
and plums, from their loaded trees, as we
passed : a clear little wimpling stream ran
through the village, and the spire of the
church rose among rich tufted foliage in
perspective. We began to suspect, from
this appearance of comfort and neatness,
that we were once more in the neighbour-
hood of a protestant government, which we
found afterwards was really the case. The
sweet stream I have just mentioned was so
kind as to accompany us for a considerable
way, pure, sparkling, and dashing its shal-
low waters over the yellow pebbles, with a
rippling murmur that was delightfully sooth-
BASLE. 317
ing to the ear. The country again resumed
the woody, cultivated appearance, which is
so pleasing to behold, and gradually ex-
panded into lovely meadows, which the
li ttle brook kept for ever fresh and verdant.
We stopped at Liestall, where we found
a cleaner town, a better inn, and a more
prepossessing hostess than at Ballstall.
The people manufacture gloves here : they
were good, but very dear. It is not to
be told how disagreeably the German lan-
guage grated upon our ears in passing
through these cantons ; after the melli-
fluous harmony of the Italian, and even
when compared with the French, it was
doubly intolerable. Our own is harsh
enough, in the opinion of foreigners ; yet
I can with difficulty imagine any thing so
bad as German.
We arrived to dinner at Basle. This is
a very large town (under a protestant juris-
diction), clean and gay. Its chief attrac-
tion to us was the river Khine, which rolled
,its majestic waters beneath the windows of
our auberge (les Trois Rois), which was spa-
cious and convenient. We ascended to our
318 BASLE.
apartments by a curious spiral staircase, in
an old round tower, that formed part of
the building.
The Khine is a noble river, but inferior
in beauty of colour to the Khone at Ge-
neva. Indeed the latter I cannot at this
moment recollect without a feeling of plea-
sure and admiration impossible to describe.
We left Basle, Sept. 26. The road as far
as Bourglibre, and even considerably be-
yond it, was flat and uninteresting; the
cottages rather dirty than otherwise, and
extremely ugly; the costume of the pea-
santry very indistinctly marked, and by no
means becoming, being a wretched imitation
of the French. All this was accounted for,
when we recollected that we had now once
more entered the territories of that nation,
leaving modern Germany on our right, and
turning our backs upon the sweet simplicity
and unequalled charms of Switzerland. The
postillion also strongly evinced the national
character, mounting his horse with a true
gasconade flourish, and cracking his whip
in the old well-remembered style.
We dined and slept at Colmar. The inn
COLMAR. 319
(aux Six Montagues Noirs) was dirty, and
the attendance very mediocre ; but the beds
were good, and free from vermin. Our host
was the most hideous man I ever saw : he
was absolutely strangling with fat; his
bristly grizzled hair was strained off the
forehead, and forced into a long thick
queue, with so tight a hand, that the water
in consequence was perpetually running
from his little red eyes; his voice in speaking
was most unpleasantly guttural, and ren-
dered still more disagreeable by the ab-
surd mixture of bad French and German,
which he sputtered with great difficulty,
in answering our necessary questions. His
daughter usually sat in the bar, playing a
French love ditty upon an old guitar. Of
her I can only say, that she was the " soft-
ened image" of her " honoured papa."
The paysannes in the near neighbour-
hood of Colmar wear a pretty little flat,
round-eared cap, at the back of the head,
made either of very gay coloured silk, or
cotton, and sometimes of gold tissue with
crimson spots; their neck handkerchiefs
are likewise of the brightest dyes, thrown
320 C'OLMAR.
carelessly over the gown, and the ends con-
fined before, by a girdle. These women,
generally speaking, are not at all handsome ;
the men chiefly wear coats of coarse bright
green cloth, without collars, enormously
long waisted waistcoats (sometimes red,
laced with gold, and large buttons), with
cocked hats.
The country upon first leaving Colmar
was mountainous, but not very pleasing or
interesting, in spite of the inequality of
ground, the presence of verdure, the view
of distant villages, and a very fine clear
sky ; all of which are notwithstanding the
materials for forming a beautiful landscape.
This, to my mind, had an analogy with the
persons of some women I had formerly
seen ; who possessed fine hair and teeth,
clear bright eyes, a good complexion,
were sufficiently young, and not ill-made;
yet with all these requisites to beauty,
were plain, awkward, and totally wanting
in agreeable effect. A strange caprice of
nature, but not less true than strange.
The face of things, however, rather im-
proved, upon approaching Schelestat. The
8CHELE9TAT. 321
costume of the paysannes brightened into a
degree of taste and neatness that we had not
seen equalled since leaving St. Denis, near
Paris. Some of their caps were wholly of white
worked muslin, with a thin clear border,
and bound neatly round the head by a light
blue or rose-coloured riband: the gowns
also sometimes varied, being not unfre-
quently made of white cotton, with gay
crimson sprigs upon them. We continually
saw castles and churches upon the sur-
rounding heights, and a great number of
vineyards ; but the villages and small towns
were invariably dirty, and very ugly.
Since we had left Basle, we had been
travelling through Alsace (ancient Ger-
many), in the department of the Haut Rhin.
A few miles farther, brought us into
the vicinity of very fine fresh pasture lands,
bordered by willows, and relieved by a
magnificently rich back ground of high
hills, clothed with young beech-trees, in-
termingled with oak. Here vast herds of
cattle were feeding ; close to the road, and
forming a sort of border to the meadows,
were extensive fields of potatoes, turnips,
Y
322 8CHELESTAT.
cabbages, and broccoli, &e. without any
guard or inclosure: this (as I formerly
mentioned) spoke well for the honesty of
the poor people, and at all events proved
them to be enjoying a degree of ease and
plenty, as far as vegetable riches were
concerned. I remarked, in the hedges
here, the first honey-suckles I had seen
since leaving England, The costume of
the young infants in this part of the
world is very singular ; they all wear lit-
tle foundling-shaped caps of black velvet,
studded with gold spots, or of white, with
silver embroidery upon them, which has
a very strange effect to an English eye;
but among the French people there is such
an infinite variety of fanciful attire, that
nothing appears extraordinary or out of
the common way.
Passing through a small village, we saw
several groups of the peasantry, mingled
with the Austrian soldiery, all dressed in
in their gayest costume (it being Sunday
evening), and we caught the musical tones
of the slow German waltz, to which national
melody some of them were dancing. There
SCHELESTAT. 323
was not the least appearance of riot or
disorder; they were blamelessly rejoicing
in the natural gaiety of their hearts, at the
close of that day whose forenoon had been
spent in the exercise of their religious duties ;
that day which is devoted, in some parts
of the world, to mere peaceful rest from
labour, unattended with any demonstration
of hilarity : in others, to a puritanical
gloom, and rigid formality ; but in this, to
cheerful, social intercourse, and the enjoy-
ment of a harmless mode of exercise I
say harmless, because the waltz is not
looked upon by the natives here in at all
the same light as it sometimes is, in the
higher ranks of English society ; and it is the
only dance with which they are acquainted.
How weak and absurd, how really wicked
is the intolerance which leads people to
condemn or quarrel with their fellow crea-
tures, for the different points of view under
which they regard this same day! Al-
though I cannot quote Sterne as a moralist
in all cases, I certainly do most sincerely
coincide with him in his sentiments relative
to religious feeling, as expressed in that
324 SCHELESTAT.
chapter of his " Sentimental Journey,"
called " The Grace." At the same time I
am perfectly aware that a similar method
of passing the Sunday evening, after the
service of the day is fulfilled, would not be
advisable (even were it possible to try the
experiment), in our own country. It does
not agree with the character and habits of
the nation ; and the. lower orders of people,
(in the present state of existing circum-
stances), would assuredly debase it by every
species of vice and immorality. They re-
quire a strongly marked line to be laid
down, as a rule of right, from which all
deviation would probably be dangerous.
Considering the subject in this light, I
should therefore be concerned to behold
any great change attempted in the manner
of spending the Sunday evening, and would
certainly not be the first person to put myself
forward in the outward display of different
opinions to the generality of individuals
in the country, and under the government
to which I belong. We all owe an ex-
ample, which may be salutary to our in-
feriors and dependents.
ST. MARIE AUX MINES. 825
At St. Marie aux Mines we were obliged
to take five horses to the carriage, as the
road beyond that place was very moun-
tainous. We had the mental refreshment
of observing numbers of sweetly pretty
women here, all dressed with native taste
and neatness ; the children also were en-
gaging in their appearance, and the men
generally good-looking. French is almost
universally spoken among them.
Ascending les montagnes de St. Marie
aux Mines, the scenery presented a beau-
tiful melange of wood and rock ; the road
likewise was excellent. We admired the
way in which the postillions managed their
horses, walking, the whole of the ascent,
by their side, but obliging them to main-
tain an unrelaxing steady pace, and this
by words alone : the poor animals were
almost as intelligent as their drivers,
obeying them with the utmost readiness
and alacrity. I must here indulge my-
self in marvelling at that perversion of
every generous and rational feeling, which
leads man to torture and abuse these
generous, noble creatures. I have before
326 ST. DIEZ.
mentioned, that the conduct of the French
drivers to their horses is highly praise-
worthy. The sleek comely appearance
of the post-horses throughout France, as
well as the state of their feet, evinces that
they are well fed and kindly treated, and
during our whole tour, we met with no in-
stance of brutality among the postillions.
These roads have been greatly improved
by the present king.
We arrived to a late supper at St. Diez,
where we slept. We were not disposed to
quarrel with la Poste for being a true country
inn : the host had not been spoiled by
too many English travellers, those Milords
Anglais, of whose proverbial riches every
aubergiste imagines he has a right to take
advantage, and who in consequence render
humbler voyageurs of other nations ready
to execrate their very names. We were
taken for Germans, and found our bills
reasonable and moderate in consequence.
The maitresse de la maisoji was a kind-
hearted, natural little bourgeoise, and very
proud of her only child (a fine infant of
nine or ten months), which she brought to
ST. DIEZ. 327
shew us, in hopes of its being admired and
praised. Mothers, in higher life than this
poor woman, are deeply sensible to the
charms of this species of flattery ; and, even
when they know it to be flattery, are hardly
ever able to resist feeling pleased and pro-
pitiated thereby. For myself, I plead
guilty at once. The amount of our charges
at St. Diez it may perhaps be as well to
mention : for supper (which was a good
one), beds, apartments, wine, fruit, lemon-
ade, and breakfast the next morning, we
three persons did not pay more than twelve
English shillings.
We started from hence at eight o'clock
the following day, and found the road for
the first stage mountainous and woody.
Most of the cottages were ugly (as usual),
and the inhabitants appeared dirty and la-
mentably poor. For the two or three fol-
lowing stages the country grew perceptibly
flatter, and more open ; the highway began
to resume the old French line of undeviat-
ing straightness, and avenues of puny seed-
ling trees were planted by its side. Large
(or rather vast) tracts of arable land, in all
328 MENILFLIN.
the baldness of a recent harvest, spread their
tawny surface around, and the whole pre-
sented a picture of monotony that was far
from agreeable.
All the people in this part of France
seemed attached to the memory of Bona-
parte. The postmaster at Menilflin had a
conversation with the gentlemen upon the
subject. He said that " the nation enter-
tained a good opinion of the private virtues
of Louis XVIII., and wished him well ; but
it was impossible not to renvember what
vast improvements of various sorts Bona-
parte had introduced, what noble works he
had achieved, and to what a pitch of mili-
tary glory he had raised the country." He
then asked, with some appearance of re-
proach, " Why the English kept him so bar-
barously immured in a dreadful prison?'*
All attempt to soften this representation
of Napoleon's present circumstances seemed
of no avail ; our host only shook his head,
and seemed to entertain a very strong per-
suasion of the needless cruelty of the Bri-
tish nation.
BeyondMenilflin the scene again changed
LUNEVILLE. 329
to a view of pasture lands, with hills and
woods in the distance ; and upon approach-
ing the latter we found they were chiefly
of oak. The potatoe was here generally
cultivated, and in great quantities. For-
merly the French despised this fine vege-
table, but at present they are fully sensible
of its importance.
Just beyond the large town of Luneville
there were many vineyards, and a profusion
of walnut-trees. The vines were planted
alternately with the potatoe, in patches,
and the contrast of the two different shades
of green was singular, and not unpleasing.
Beggars at this time began to make their
reappearance, clamouring, in the old cant,
at the windows of the carriage.
We now passed through a landscape of
wonderful richness and verdure, and en-
joyed a succession of woods and vineyards
for many miles. It was the time of les ven-
danges. Every waggon we met was loaded
with grapes, and every peasant was reeling
under the weight of a large wooden bucket
(as long as himself) filled with the same
luxuriant and picturesque burden. Groups
330 NANCY.
of young children followed, each, like a little
Bacchus, holding a ripe cluster in its hand,
attended by several women carrying bas-
kets of the fruit, and all of them singing,
laughing, and warmly enjoying the cheer-
ful scene.
We reached Nancy to dinner. This is a
large, clean, and very handsome town, and
the streets are much broader than in most
foreign ones. They resounded, as the even-
ing advanced, with joyous songs in chorus,
sung (often in parts with considerable ac-
curacy) by the common people, in honour
of les vendanges ; but their mirth soon be-
came rather too loud for refined ears, as
they shouted (men and women together)
at ''the utmost pitch of their voices, a sort
of recitative and chorus, dancing at the
same time en ronde, and frequently min-
gling shrill bursts of laughter and shrieks
with this wild and extraordinary harmony.
Every one of the garpons of our inn ran
out in the street to join the peasantry in the
maddening dance. Altogether it was a per-
fect bacchanalian festival, strongly resem-
bling those ancient rites in honour of the
NANCY. 831
rosy god mentioned in the pagan mythology.
We went iii the evening to the theatre, to
see Baptiste (from Paris), who is reckoned
one of the best French actors in comedy,
and who performed here for one night only.
The piece was a little comic pastoral, in-
terspersed with music, butBaptiste's role was
far too trifling for us to form any just idea
of his talents but how extraordinary it
is that this nation, from time immemorial to
the present day, should have been so totally
ignorant of the true genius of vocal music.
Rousseau's well-known opinion (in his letter
from St. Preux to Julie, upon the differ-
ence of Italian and French taste in singing)
came into my head more than once, and I
most sincerely wished that the French wfjild
always confine themselves to what they so
particularly excel in, the dance : their songs
make the same sort of impression upon my
mind, when compared with the beautiful
productions of the Italian school, that a
Savoyard cretin would do, if placed by the
side of an Apollo Belvidere.
The theatre at Nancy was large, and the
332 THOUL.
decorations and machinery tolerably good.
It was the only one that we had seen illu-
minated in the boxes as well as upon the
stage, a lustre being suspended above the
pit, which shed a very pleasant light over
all the house.
The next day, Sept. 30, we pursued our
route. There is a beautiful Grecian gate-
way at this end of the town, which is wor-
thy of every traveller's observation.
The road from hence was in a straight
line with a tiresome avenue, as usual (note
S.), and led us through a fine wood of
beech and other trees (none of them of
large growth); but it lost nearly all pic-
turesque effect, from the vicinity of this
artificial avenue, and the unbending line of
the highway. The country for many miles
is very open, bounded by hills, and bearing
some resemblance to the county of Wilt-
shire.
Thoul, a pretty town, stands in the
midst of wide plains, a small hill covered
with vines sheltering it on one side. It
is decorated with long rows of formal
THOUL. 333
stiff poplars, above which tower the spires
of its large cathedral. The river Moselle
runs near this place, an inconsiderable tame
little stream, whose banks can boast no
kind of beauty.
The town was adorned by several vine-
yards and kitchen-gardens, fuU of well-cul-
tivated vegetables and fruit ; but the coun-
try beyond it was wide, flat, and insipid, for a
considerable distance. At length we had the
agreeable variety of entering a remarkably
pretty, wild looking wood of young beech-
trees, where we observed an ancient, lone,
white mansion, greatly fallen to decay, yet
evidently inhabited, and surrounded by
gardens and walls for fruit, of large size
and height: the latter also, as well as
the house, much dilapidated. The wood,
closing round on all sides, gave it an air
of singularity and romance; nor could I
restrain my fancy (during a subsequent
uninteresting drive) from tracing the plan
of a little novel sort of history, relative
to the inhabitants of this solitude. How
delightfully would the late Charlotte Smith
have done the same thing ! All her novels
334 LIGNY.
(putting on one side her passion for demo-
cracy, and her blind prejudices in favour
of the Americans) interest my feelings
extremely. They have a tone of elegant
pathos (far removed from the sickly whine
of affected sensibility) peculiar to them-
selves, and with many palpable faults are
altogether bewitching. I am not singular
in this taste, having, I believe, the honour
of acquiescing hi the opinion of some of the
best judges.
We were now close upon the borders
of Champaigne. Immense woods extended
in every direction, yet they were not suf-
ficiently near, to vary the landscape agree-
ably. As far as the eye could distinctly
reach, nothing but vast uninclosed stubble
fields appeared in view.
Ligny, a large tow r n (surrounded by vine-
yards), dull and dead-looking, and unen-
livened by any attempt at costume among
the inhabitants. There are large manufac-
tories of cotton here.
We dined and slept at Bar le Due, a
cheerful, neat town : inn (au Cigne), where
we met with excellent accommodations.
BAR LE DUC. 335
At dinner we were attended by a merry
active paysanne : she brought us some
of the wine to taste, of this year's vintage.
It was then in its first state, previous
to fermentation, and much resembled sweet
cyder fresh from the press. When properly
clarified, and ripened by age, it would
turn out, we were told, to be a strong
bodied red wine. This town, for the last
few years, had been successively occupied
by soldiers of all nations, French, Prussians,
Kussians, Austrians, and Cossacks : the girl
persisted in calling the latter Turques, and
told us that during the time of their stjour
here, all the young paysannes of the neigh-
bourhood had been carefully concealed
(herself among the number), by their
mothers : she said that at that period she
had not entered service, but was living at
home with mam an. We observed maman
to be the usual title of all mothers, even in
the lowest class of people, and that it was
used by the grown up daughters (in speak-
ing of them), contrary to our English cus-
tom, where the term is a refinement, and
not much adopted, except by the little
336 BAR LE DUC.
denisons of the nursery: the unlimited
power of mamans of all classes now appears
to be very happily moderated and reduced ;
a great moral improvement which has taken
place in France in consequence of the
Revolution. The unprincipled system of
parents arranging the marriages of the
children, independent of their own choice
or consent, which existed during the ajicien
regime, being nearly abolished, and con-
sequent crime and misery connected with
it, much diminished. I was happy to learn,
from one of the most enlightened and
sensible persons at Geneva, that since that
awful bouleversement, conjugal attachment
and fidelity, together with a taste for do-
mestic pleasures, had rapidly increased, and
this even in Paris itself. I was assured
that the English (judging of the whole
from their experience of a part) have formed
an erroneous idea of the general immo-
rality of French families, particularly in fan-
cying that their national and innate love
of amusement (springing from climate,
constitution, and other causes), interfered
improperly with, or was preferred to the
BAR LE DUC. 337
duties of husband and parent. This de-
fence of the French nation (prompted by
a benevolent love of truth and candour)
appeared particularly amiable, coming as it
did from persons, whose government, re-
ligious opinions, and habits of life, were so
very different.
Leaving Bar le Due, October 1st, we
proceeded through several woods, and found
the face of the country more varied and
agreeable than during the journey of yes-
terday : there was an appearance of cleanli-
ness and comfort in this town, not often
met with in France : the dress of the in-
habitants and the neatness of the shops
bore a nearer resemblance to an English
country town than any we had yet seen.
It is situated on the river Ornaine, and is as
generally called Bar sur Ornaine as Bar le
Due. Being on the high road to Stras-
burg, we met with many German travel-
lers, and were ourselves now, as well as for-
merly, frequently mistaken for natives of
that country: the similarity of language,
and perhaps of features and complexion,
will naturally account for it.
z
338 VITRI SUR MARNE.
We soon entered Champagne, and con-
tinually met bands of joyous peasants
gathering the rich produce of the widely
extended vineyards. This is the only pro-
vince throughout France where the grape
of which this wine is made will grow, and
there must be, I should imagine, some
great peculiarity of soil. The vintage,
universally, was finer than had been known
for years. It is generally remarked, that
neither in Paris, nor in any other place
upon the continent, is wine to be met
with of that very superior quality, which
it is usual to find in England; no other
nation can afford so high a price.
In the vicinity of Vitri sur Marne, the
country can scarcely be said to be the coun-
try, if trees, green fields, hiUs, and dales,
give a right to that appellation. Nothing
but one vast boundless uninclosed surface
of stubble was to be seen. It reminded me
(in point of monotonous effect) of the plain
in the Palais de la Veriti (mentioned by
Madame de Genlis), where a fairy con-
demns the fickle-minded Azelie to remain
for years, in order to cure her of a passion
CHALONS SUR MARNK
for variety. During this wearisome journey,
I know not what we should have done
without Moliere. Fortunately we had him
in the carriage, and I need not say what an
enlivening compagnon du voyage he was.
Turning our eyes therefore from the " dull
realities" of the scene around, we were
soon lost in an imaginary world, full of
bright creations and amusing conceptions.
We dined and slept at Chalons sur
Marne, where we met with tolerable ac-
commodations, but were charged very ex-
travagantly, at la Cloche d'Or. We left
it at half past six the next morning, and
found the road equally uninteresting: I
could hardly have formed an accurate idea
of the bald sort of ugliness of a great
portion of France, had I not thus witnessed
its effect. The usual absence of costume
continued, and there was nothing to break
the dulness, or to give a ray of animation
to the scene.
We now and then passed through vil-
lages, built formally in a long street, with
the high road running between the houses ;
dirty, ugly, tasteless, and mean ! no gardens,
340 CHALONS SUR MARNE.
consequently neither fruit nor vegetables
to be seen, and as there was no appearance
of trees for such an immense number of
miles, we were at a loss to conceive how
the wretched inhabitants warmed them-
selves sufficiently, during the winter, ex-
cept from the heaps of cinder dirt, at some
of their doors, which proved that coals
were burned there ; not a very common
circumstance in France. Troops of beggar
children now ran after us, bold, audacious,
and filthy in the extreme ; all our charitable
feelings froze in a moment.
The farther we proceeded, the wider
seemed to extend the vast and barren de-
sert that surrounded us ; never can I forget
the disgust and ennui which assailed us in
consequence. We tried to awaken our
powers of conversation, when wearied by
long continued reading, but it was a vain
attempt. Imagination seemed extinguished,
and our minds experienced a degree of
stagnation impossible to describe. After
passing through this country, I must be
allowed to differ, for the rest of my life,
from those theoretical reasoners, who think
CHALONS SUR MARNE. 341
it is even a point of morality to maintain,
that the mental powers are not influenced
by local impressions. I am convinced
Madame de Genlis took her idea of the
redoubted plain in her Palais de la Veriti
before mentioned, from Jiaving travelled
through this part of her native country;
for surely she would never have discovered
its parallel in any other: even in the
deserts of Arabia the traveller finds a
species of sublimity, and undergoes perils,
which at all events prevent his suffering
from ennui.
In many of the villages (in all parts of
France) we observed the sign of " Saint
Nicholas." He is a very popular saint
among this nation, and must have been a
man of taste, as he stands forth the patron
of all the young unmarried damsels, pre-
siding over every noce, and fete de village.
He has chosen a most amusing metier
altogether, thereby proceeding upon a far
more rational and sensible plan than some
of his brethren, many of whom have made
it their business to frown upon the enjoy-
ments of mankind, and who pretend that
342 RHEIMS.
the only way to merit heaven in the next
world, is to make a purgatory of this.
Fortunately their unhappy followers are
but few, (comparatively speaking) ; for the
great body of the people, in all ages, seem
to be of Sir Toby Belch's opinion, when
Shakespeare makes him indignantly exclaim
to his formal censor Malvolio, " what !
dost think that because thou art virtuous,
there shall be no more cakes and ale ?"
These Roman catholic puritans, let it be
remembered, have the honour of being
imitated very closely by many a worthy
English heretic.
It was a great relief to us to enter Rheims,
where we took a luncheon, and afterwards
walked about the town, and saw the grand
gothic cathedral. The facade of this build-
ing is most superbly beautiful; the fret
work, carving, and imagery, are in some re-
spects superior to those of the Duomo at
Milan ; although the edifice is of a less
precious material, much smaller, and in a
different taste altogether. The interior is
grandly simple, the windows of the most
magnificent old stained glass, in patterns of
RHEIMS. 343
infinite variety, and of the most glowing
colours. But the outside of this cathedral
is by far more imposing than any other
part, and I was rather discomposed upon
being obliged to acknowledge that our
Westminster Abbey is extremely inferior
in every way. Here the ancient monarchs
of France used to be crowned (as books of
juvenile information have duly informed
us), and we could scarcely^ imagine a finer
place for such sort of spectacles. The portal
was built in the thirteenth century, and
the other parts as far back as about the
seventh or eighth.
We did not remark any thing particu-
larly worth notice in the town (which is
nevertheless very large), and the only thing
which struck us forcibly was the general
ugliness of the bourgeoises, and also the pay-
sannes of the environs. The country be-
yond was exactly in the same wearisome
character with what we had already passed,
and the road for many miles extremely bad.
Owing to repeated delays about horses,
we did not arrive at Laon until nine o'clock
in the evening, by which means we lost the
344 LAON.
view of the two last stages before reaching
that place, where the country is said to im-
prove in a very striking manner, swelling
occasionally into lofty hills, enriched with
wood.
Laon is built upon an abrupt and rocky
eminence, shaded by trees, and command-
ing a very extensive bird's-eye prospect of
the surrounding country. There was a high
appearance of cultivation and fertility of
soil, while the immediate vicinity of vine-
yards, filled with cheerful groups of people,
was very enlivening; but no costume was
to be observed except the almost univer-
sal cross worn round the necks of the wo-
men*. Our inn (ci la Hure) was ex-
tremely well appointed; the host an at-
tentive, civil old man, and we were waited
upon with celerity and good humour by
* This town is memorable for the sanguinary contests
between Blucher and the French army, during which it
was taken and retaken several times. The epicure will
here find the best grenouilles in France : we did not
chance to meet with this delicacy, nor with another,
which, however common here, does not exactly accord
Wth the taste of John Bull, viz. snails.
LAON. 345
two young paysannes, who appeared to
think no exertion too much which could
contribute in any way to the comfort of
the guests. One of them (like most French
servants) chatted in a natural intelligent
manner, was full of frolic and glee, ready
to laugh at every thing, carolling with
the gaiety of a lark, in all parts of the
house, and seeming with difficulty to re-
strain herself from dancing at the same
time : all this (as I once before mentioned)
without the least degree of immodesty.
What a wide difference exists between the
ideas of a French and English woman in this
situation of life, on the score of what is
called propriety ; a vague term, and change-
able as the chamelion in its nature, however
some worthy folks may suppose it confined
solely to one shape, and one definite mean-
ing. The sense of female honour among
the country girls of France, so far from
being too lax, or but little regarded, seems,
on the contrary, to be particularly correct,
and I have taken some pains in my inquiries
upon this point. The loss of fair fame is
rare, and always accompanied by the ut-
346 LAON.
most disgrace and ignominy ; so much so,
that one young woman (whose heart was, I
am sure, upon her lips) told me, " that if
such a circumstance occurred, the unfor-
tunate girl had much better be dead at
once ; for she never would be looked upon
again by her youthful companions." Let
it, therefore, be remembered, to the credit
of the French, that innocence is perfectly
compatible with a lively freedom of man-
ner, and that virtue can be firmly main-
tained, although unshackled by the re-
straints of primness and formality. I am
now convinced that climate has a great deal
more influence upon our feelings and con-
duct than I was once inclined to think. The
chilly fogs and heavy weight of atmosphere in
England do certainly affect, in some measure,
the mental faculties of her children, render-
ing their ideas of morality needlessly gloomy
and strict. I judge (in part) from my own
occasional sensations. I never feel in so
cheerful and happy a frame of mind, so
willing to be candid, and to look upon per-
sons and things in the most favourable
light, as during a fine clear sunshiny day.
LAON. 347
Au contraire, there have been .moments in
the cold, humidity, and dark gloom of win-
ter, when I have been shocked and ashamed
at perceiving my sentiments involuntarily
narrowing into prejudices, and my spirits
saddening in proportion. It has required
a strong exertion of reason to get the better
of such feelings, and even to divest myself
of an idea of their being in some degree
meritorious.
I now hasten to continue the narrative
of our route from Laon to Cambray, which
was a day's journey. The road for the first
stage presented us with a welcome variety
of landscape, hills, dales, copses, shady vil-
lages, and fertile fields. Never did we see
such a profusion of fine apples as were grow-
ing here, on each side of the way. The pea-
sants were gathering them as we passed,
and heaps of this rosy, tempting fruit
were piled up in hillocks beneath the
trees from which they had just been taken.
They were even strewed by thousands on
the grass around, and were perpetually
rolling into the road under the wheels of
our carriage. Such a triumph of Pomona
348 LAON.
it is really difficult to imagine without
having seen its animating effect ! We
stopt to purchase some, and found them
truly delicious ; spirited, juicy, and pos-
sessing all the acid sweetness of cham-
paigne. We remarked the soil in which
these trees so peculiarly flourished : it con-
sisted of a loose, light, sandy earth, with a
mixture of clay; but in those parts of Eng-
land where they thrive best, I understand
that the soil is of a redder earth, with not
nearly so large a proportion of sand. For
what are called common fruits and flowers
I have ever entertained a preference, and
for the latter I have almost a passion. The
richest collection of rare exotics do not
make the same agreeable and soothing im-
pression upon my imagination as the un-
pretending garden which my mother for-
merly cultivated in Surrey, or that of a
dear and excellent friend, in which from
childhood I have ever delighted, and
where the common flowers of each season,
fruits, vegetables, herbs, and shrubs, flou-
rish together, in defiance of the more re-
fined arrangements of modern days. I recol-
CAM BRAY. 349
lect the simple charms of her sitting-room
windows (shadowed by the climbing honey-
suckle and sweetbriar), and those of my
mother's pretty doorway, half lost in a thick
bower of clematis, with the liveliest feel-
ings of pleasure, while I have totally for-
gotten a hundred prouder boudoirs, rich in
the odours of tuberose, cape jessamine, night-
blowing geraniums, and other splendid ex-
travagancies.
The country for the last stage before we
reached St. Quentin (a strong-built large
town) was very fast relapsing into the bald-
ness of that which had so lately annoyed
us ; but the peasantry were generally much
better looking, cleaner, and altogether gayer
in their appearance. This place is in the
direct road from Paris to Brussels. We
arrived at Cambray to supper, slept, and
breakfasted there the next morning, when
we proceeded towards the coast. The inn
was not very comfortable, although we had
the best apartments in the house. It was
a very striking and singular spectacle to be-
hold, as we now did, English sentinels on
duty at the drawbridges of this town, and
350 CAMBRAY.
an encampment of the same troops just
beneath its walls. How would John Bull
have writhed and raged with shame and
grief, if the scene had been exhibited vice
versa in our own country ? Can we then
(with any pretence to candour and justice)
affect to wonder at the deep-felt disgust
and dislike of the French towards us ?
We saw the fine regiments of our foot
guards, and the 95th. or sharpshooters, here.
All the men looked clean, bright, and
cheerful, and most of them were decorated
with Waterloo medals. Our hearts sensibly
warmed at sight of the well-remembered
countenance of our countrymen, and (with-
out any degree of unjust partiality) we
could not but be forcibly struck with the
superiority of appearance and deportment
displayed by our English officers, when we
compared them with all the French whom we
had had an opportunity of observing. There
is, I think (generally speaking), a greater
suavity and benevolence in the manners of
a Frenchman of birth and education ; there
is a higher degree of polish in his address ;
but in point of personal appearance I must
CAM BRAY. 351
decidedly award the preference to our manly,
graceful, dignified countrymen. An En-
glish gentleman (in the true acceptation of
the word) is the flower of the world. I do
not mean to discuss at length, the different
moral virtues and mental perfections of
either nation. I have neither time nor
sufficient experience and information for
such a task ; but of this I am convinced,
" that the head and heart of our country-
men (taking their fairest specimens) may
sustain a comparison with those of any
other race of men upon this habitable
globe, and fail not to come forth with ho-
nour and credit from the investigation." Of
the bourgeoisie of each country I cannot
pretend to judge ; but with respect to the
unsophisticated peasantry, I feel by no
means clear that the superiority lies on our
side. We were informed that a great many
of the English soldiers at Cambray, and
elsewhere, had taken wives from among the
paysannes, but that the petit es bourgeoises
did not listen so favourably to their vows.
Every where we had the gratification of
hearing praises of the orderly, quiet, and
352 DOtTAY.
moderate behaviour of the British regi-
ments.
The country beyond this town, for a con-
siderable distance, was uninteresting, and
the lesser towns and villages were very
ugly. What was wanting in trees seemed
to be made up in windmills, which spread
their long arms abroad in every direction.
Had Don Quixote been alive, and travel-
ling this road, he would have found himself
in the predicament of poor Arlechino, dans
Vembarras des richesses.
We now passed through Douay, a clean,
gay-looking, strong-built town. It was more
than usually alive, from the circumstance of
a fair which was going on in the market-
place. Among the different articles ex-
posed for sale, I was struck by the cotton
handkerchiefs worn by the paysannes. Their
richness and beauty of colour were very re-
markable, the dyes being brilliant beyond
any that we possess, and the patterns very
fanciful and pretty. Here the women adopt
the same picturesque double gold drops in
the ears, as those of Calais ; wearing like-
wise richly-worked heavy crosses upon the
LILLE. 353
bosom, and long loose cloaks, made of co-
loured linen or black silk, frilled round,
with a very deep hood. Two pretty little
girls, from twelve to thirteen years of age,
had a highly graceful effect, as they passed
through the crowd, in white gauze or muslin
veils, extremely transparent, and reaching
to the ground, thrown carelessly over their
heads. They appeared like young sylphs,
flitting in all their purity among the gayer,
yet grosser, figures which surrounded them.
We arrived in very good time at
Lille (frequently spelt Lisle), and entered
through a most beautiful gateway of Tuscan
architecture. This town is extensive, well
built, lively, and interesting: there are
excellent shops, with signs of the most fan-
ciful and ingenious devices, like those of
Paris. This place is reckoned impregnable,
and the citadel is of wonderful strength,
being the masterpiece of Vauban, the cele-
brated engineer. Our inn (I'hotel de Bour-
bon) was very comfortable in every respect,
except that we were bitten by bugs. They,
however, are so common in various parts
of the continent that the traveller must
A A
354 LILLE.
make up his mind to bear with them as
things of course. We were amused by the
humour of a valet de place here, who was also
hair-dresser and barber : he was a true dis-
ciple of the renowned Vicar of Bray, having
squared his politics according to every
change in the government, and contrived
to thrive equally under all. He assured us
(as if he had been enumerating his virtues)
that Vive la liber 1 6 ! vive Napoleon ! or
vwent les Bourbons ! was all the same thing
to him ; and he had constantly held himself
in readiness to call out for each, provided
they left heads enough for him to find hair
to friz, and beards to mow. His counte-
nance made us laugh the moment he ap-
peared, being the counterpart of Liston's,
with that peculiar expression of niaiserie
which is so irresistibly ludicrous in him.
It was no wonder that we were amazed by
the number of windmills in the environs of
this town ; for we learnt that there were no
less than two hundred used in making oil,&c.
We quitted Lille the next morning, and
in changing horses at Bailleul we dis-
covered that the cap and linchpin of the
CASSEL. 355
axletree had fallen off. They were found
about a quarter of a mile behind us ; and
it was very extraordinary that this acci-
dent did not occasion our overturn, as
the wheel had really no support. The coun-
try now began to improve in point of
trees and verdure, but still wore an air of
formality. A disagreeable patois is spoken
here.
The approach to Cassel was very pretty;
the trees gradually lost their prim re-
gularity, and formed a rich wood, which
entirely covered a high hill, called Mont
Cassel. It is the only one in the Nether-
lands, and commands a most extensive
view : no less than twenty-two fortified
towns may be discerned from it. Most of
the cottages in these environs are thatched,
and resemble those in England, each having
a little garden (inclosed by neat hedges)
full of vegetables. From the summit of the
above-mentioned hill, we were much pleased
by a prospect of great fertility, and some
beauty. Seen from this distance, the arti-
ficial mode of planting the trees was not dis-
tinguished, and they had a very luxuriant
A A 2
356 ST. OMER.
woody effect altogether. Just at the en-
trance of Cassel is a churchyard, in which
we observed a tall crucifix, with a wooden
image of our Saviour, larger than life, painted
flesh colour, and having a stream of blood
flowing from the side (made of a long strip
of wire, standing far out in a curve from
the body), and which was caught in a cup
by another clumsy image (Dutch built) re-
presenting a cherubim. The latter was sus-
pended in the air, by some contrivance (not
discoverable at that distance), so as to ap-
pear flying. Nothing could well be more
absurd, or in a worse taste !
We dined and slept at St. Omer, a large
town. We found at the inn (fancienne
Poste) very comfortable accommodations;
but it was full of English officers, who
had a mess there, and in consequence we
could not get a morsel to eat, or a creature
to attend upon us, till these messieurs were
first served. They were assembled there
in readiness for a ball, which was to take
place somewhere in the town, at night.
Suffering under the sharpest pangs of
hunger, we felt the warmth of our feelings
PICARDY. 357
towards our compatriots rather decreasing ;
but we recovered our nationality after din-
ner. .The next morning we went on to Calais.
It was rather a pretty drive the first two
stages ; the country woody, and the villages
much neater than usual. No costume,
however, made its appearance (except the
long ear-ring and cross), neither could we
observe any beauty.
We breakfasted this morning at the small
post-house of Ardres. The old dame there
told us that the behaviour of the British
troops had been most exemplary, and that
they would be missed and regretted by
some among the natives.
We were now in Picardy, which we un-
derstood was more infested with beggars
than most other provinces. Some half
starved children ran after the carriage,
screaming the popular air of Vive Henri
Quatre. We gave them a sous or two,
purely for the sake of that pre de son
peuple, whose memory is yet green in their
hearts. It is in comparing his species
of greatness with that of Napoleon, that
I am most forcibly impressed with the
358 PICARDY.
inferiority of the latter. The union of
talent and benevolence in a sovereign (like
that of judgment and imagination in an
author) seems almost indispensable ; and, at
all events, there can be no perfection of cha-
racter without it. How awfully requisite
are both these qualities in the head of an
absolute monarchy, and how devoutly to be
wished for, even under the less extensively
important influence which (like our own) is
limited by the laws of the constitution.
Those persons, who, from a timid sort of
morality, would exalt mere goodness, in
opposition to superior talent, seem to me
to be thereby counteracting the influence
of the very principle upon which they pro-
fess to act. Those, on the other hand, who
adopt the contrary mode of reasoning are
yet worse, for they assert an opinion which
is in direct defiance of humanity, morality,
and religion. Comparing Napoleon with
some of his crowned cotemporaries, I must
confess that my admiration of him alarm-
ingly increases ; but place him by the side
of Henri quatre, and he sinks at once.
Madame de Stael has beautifully and justly
CALAIS. 359
expressed my own sentiments ; I must in-
dulge myself in quoting her eloquent lan-
guage. Speaking of another political tyrant,
(Cardinal Kichelieu) she remarks, " On a
beaucoup vante le talent de ce ministre,
parce qu'il a maintenu la grandeur politique
de la France; et sous ce rapport, on ne
scauroit lui refuser des talens superieurs!
Mais Henri quatre atteignoit au meme but,
en gouvernant par des principes de justice
et de verite ! Le genie se manifeste non
seulement dans le triomphe qu'on rem-
porte, mais dans les moyens qu'on a pris
pour Pobtenir."
Upon approaching Calais, we felt our
courage quail beneath the idea of the pass-
age to Dover, which was now so near at
hand ; but as it never answers any rational
purpose to dwell upon disagreeables which
are inevitable, and as this transient purga-
tory was the only means of attaining the
paradise of English comforts that awaited
us on the other side of the water, we
made up our minds, and prepared for
our fate with becoming resolution. We
were very fortunate in arriving at Quil-
360 CALAIS.
liac's early in the day, as we had an op-
portunity of taking possession of a most
comfortable suite of apartments, which
would not have fallen to our share, half an
hour later ; for the concourse of equipages
which soon followed ours into the inn-yard
w r as quite astonishing. Quilliac's is a mag-
nificent hotel, and seems to be organized
in a manner that does credit to the head
of the master. They make up from a
hundred and fifty to a hundred and sixty
beds, and the day of our arrival, they were
serving up little separate dinners to a hun-
dred and forty persons, exclusive of ser-
vants. Yet the attendance was by no means
hurried, or our comforts of any sort di-
minished, upon that account : every waiter
andjille de chambre seemed to know their
particular walk, nor could we observe any
awkward scrambling or jostling among
them.
Determined not again to encounter the
annoyance of a crowded packet, we de-
sired inquiries to be made for any family
of respectability, who might wish to share
a private one with us : fortune befriended
DOVER. 361
us, for we soon beheld some English friends
drive into the court, who agreed to join
forces, and accordingly we took the An-
tigone (Capitaine Margolle), between us.
She was accounted the best sailer in the
harbour, and we found the truth of her
reputation confirmed the next morning,
when at nine o'clock we all embarked.
She brought us into Dover before several
other packets, which had sailed from Calais
three hours previous to ourselves ; but the
winds were nevertheless against us, as we
were becalmed for seven hours, and the
passage lasted altogether ten. I was the
only person on board who suffered much ;
but I speedily forgot all my wretchedness,
when I found myself happily landed at
Dover, and seated by an English fireside.
We left that place the next day (Octo-
ber 8th), and felt that however we might
justly admire foreign countries, our native
land possessed a charm above all others, for
the hearts of its children. We were de-
lighted by the richness of the woods, and
the smiling fertility of the landscape be-
tween Canterbury and Sittingbourne, and
362 ROCHESTER.
also by the peculiar air of neatness and
cleanliness displayed in every cottage and
house, both in the towns and villages:
their superiority in these respects to those
of France was very apparent ; but I could
not help being struck by the different
costume, countenance and air of the lower
classes of my countrywomen, from what
I had been used to behold for the last
few weeks among the daughters of the
continent. The former certainly did (since
the truth must be told) appear what is called
dowdy and heavy, and the general expression
of face was somewhat sullen, in comparison.
I also greatly missed the briUiant dark eye,
and the charming shadowy eyelash, which
is generally to be met with abroad.
We were once more gratified by the
pre-eminent swiftness, ease, and dexterity
of our English mode of posting ; the horses
reaUy seemed to fly, and their spruce effect,
together with that of their drivers, con-
trasted favourably with those we had left
on the other side the channel.
Passing through Rochester, to Dartford,
the river Thames presented a most im-
LONDON. 363
posing spectacle, being covered with innu-
merable vessels in full sail, bound for Lon-
don. A foreigner must have been im-
pressed with a superb idea of our com-
mercial wealth and glory.
At length we reached home late in the
evening, and, full of grateful pleasure for
all we had enjoyed during our absence
from it, returned to the worship of our
Penates with all the fervour and sincerity
of true hearted, though not wrong headed,
Britons.
NOTES.
Note (A.) page 109, line 18.
Aromatic plants.
NEAR the summits of these mountains, and in the highest
region of vegetation, is found the gennipi, a plant of the
camomile genus, and which, next to the sang du bou-
quetin, or wild^goat (which, as an inhabitant of these
places, though now a very rare one, is worthy of men-
tion), is the most powerful sudorific, and of high estima-
tion in the treatment of pleurisy.
Note (B.) page 127, line 21.
The De-viTs Bridge P&nt du Diable.
We cannot too much admire the boldness and skill
with which this extraordinary work has been achieved
in such a country, and one knows not in what age. The
marvellous histories believed concerning it by the credu-
lous peasantry are scarcely to be wondered at. Suffice
it to say, that its dimensions are a single arch of twenty-
four feet in the span, fourteen wide, and seventy-two
above the surface of the stream ; but in this circumstance
alone (considered without reference to the wild sublimity
of the surrounding scenery), there is nothing extraor-
dinary to English eyes, who may view the whole width
366 NOTES.
of the Thames at London embraced by three arches of
such stupendous dimensions.
Note (C.) page 161, line 17.
Mont Cents.
Upon the plain of Mont Cenis are found large masses
of the gypsum, or alabaster, from which the plaster of
Paris is made. The more sheltered parts are bright with
the flowers of the rhododendron ferrugineum, which I
have in another part of my work described. Quantities
of the beautiful little blue butterfly, called the argus,
are seen here, and (though not so common) that fine fly,
named TApollon des Alpes. Besides the great wild goat
(le bouquetiri), there are in these mountains the chamois,
with the marmottes, which require bold anil active chasseurs
to be got at : they are shot by single ball. The whistling
sort of cry of the marmotte resembles that of some
birds of prey. It is the signal they give upon being
alarmed. When fat, they are considered as rather deli-
cate food. We saw one unfortunate little animal of this
species in a tame state, belonging to a peasant boy, who
had taught it to shoulder a stick like a firelock, and to
twirl itself about in a manner difficult to describe, that he
called dancing. He sung at the same time, to animate
the poor creature's reluctant exertions, a little patois
song, in which the words dansez a madama were fre-
quently repeated. The tune haunted me for some time
afterwards, and was really not inharmonious.
Note (D.) page 159, line 2.
Consists in their vineyards.
There is something awfully striking in the sudden de-
NOTES. 367
vastation occasioned by the summer storms, too frequent
in these climates. In the same garden where at noon
you had been walking under the shade of pergolas (i. e.
latticed frames of wood, the roofs of which were fretted
with innumerable and rich clusters of grapes) surrounded
by fig and peach trees full of fruit, you would often find
in the evening the whole ground strewed with broken
branches, their fruit quite crushed, and hardly a leaf left
upon them.
Note (E.) page 231, line 19.
Agiie and fever.
We were induced, by the opinion of several persons to
whom we related this indisposition, to believe that it was
most probably brought on by the sudden transition from
the intense heat of the shores of the Lago Maggiore to
the equally intolerable cold of the Simplon. Mr. B. was
not provided with that additional clothing which might
have obviated the ill effects of the latter. The complaint,
however, went off very quickly in the subsequent health-
inspiring air of Switzerland.
Note (F.) page 237, line 8.
Mont St. Bernard.
Before Bonaparte formed his magnificent passage
across the Simplon, one of the principal roads from Swit-
zerland into Italy lay over this grand mountain. Our
line of road did not permit us to visit it, which we much
regretted. It was always highly interesting, from the
histories, both ancient and modern, which belong to it.
By this route it is supposed that Hannibal led his army
368 NOTES.
over the Alps ; not by softening the rocks with vinegar,
but by refreshing his fatigued troops by a mixture of it
with water. He is said also to have founded here a splen-
did temple, dedicated to Jupiter. It is certain that se-
veral remains of antiquity, medals, inscriptions, sacrificial
instruments, &c. have been found here, and are pre-
served in the museum at Turin. That the modern Han-
nibal, with or without vinegar, led his army over the St.
Bernard, we too well know. Of the baths of Loesche, in
the Upper Valais, we also heard much ; but of these, as
well as the Grand St. Bernard, I can only speak from
the description of others. Notwithstanding the difficult
roads which lead to the baths, they are much frequented,
and are, we were told, justly celebrated for their salutary
effects. It must be truly curious to see water too hot to
bear the hand in, of the temperature of 43 degrees of
Reaumur (boiling water being 80), springing from the
earth in the midst of this icy country; a phenomenon,
however, with which those travellers who have frequented
still colder parts of the world are perfectly well ac-
quainted. This water has the peculiar quality of restor-
ing faded flowers to life and freshness, and of preserving
them so for some time, when one would rather imagine that
it would boil them. I do not here mean to offer a poetical
allusion to female beauty, but merely to relate a literal
fact. The mode of bathing is too singular not to men-
tion, although I cannot say much of its delicacy. There
are four square open divisions, in which twenty or thirty
persons of both sexes (attired, as properly as may be, in
flannel dresses) bathe all together. They sit very com-
fortably for half an hour, with a small desk before each,
upon which they have their books, and little planks are
NOTES. 369
seen floating on the water, full of holes, in which fragrant
flowers and branches of verdure are inserted.
Note (G.) page 238, line 12.
A celebrated ivaterfall Cascade of the Pisse Vache.
There are several of the same name in Switzerland ;
but this, I believe, is reckoned the most remarkable. In
the neighbourhood of these mountains, one sees with plea-
sure the industry of man repaid by considerable fertility.
The cottages are comfortable, and surrounded with
orchards of various fruit-trees. The natural and un-
grafted cherry, called merise, is much cultivated in these
parts. It is from this fruit that the famed Jcirschenwasser,
or cherry- water, is made, and which is not only an agree-
able cordial, but a valuable medicine among the pea-
santry, subsisting, as they do, so much upon a crude and
milky diet, not easy of digestion. It was offered to Mr.
B. during his illness, by a rustic host, with strong com-
mendations.
Note (H.) page 268, line 17.
Glaciers.
The height of these glaciers, at their utmost point, is
9268 feet above the level of the sea. Voltaire might well
say,
" Ces monts soiucilleux,
Qui pressent les enfers, et qui fendent Ics cieux."
But there is another point of view in which the natural
philosopher will contemplate these stupendous mountains
with admiration and gratitude : I mean as being the im-
B B
370 NOTES.
mense and inexhaustible reservoirs of those springs and
rivers which make so essential a part in the beautiful and
beneficial economy of nature. IQ these particular regions
will be found the sources of the Rhone, the Rhine, and
the Tessin, with a multitude of other rivers ; and some
idea of the enormous quantity of water that they produce
may be formed from the known fact, that the magnifi-
cent lake of Geneva (measuring above twenty-six square
leagues) is raised ten feet and a half, by the mere melt-
ing of the snows during the summer. Strawberries of the
finest flavour may be gathered almost at the very edge
of the ice, and the adjoining woods are full of wild
flowers,
Note (I.) page 271, line 14.
Mines of gold, silver, and lead.
It has been thought by some, that it is not so much
from the poverty of the state as from a moral policy that
the exploration of these dangerous productions has been
purposely discouraged. This is the nobler reason of the
two. Haller (the favourite poet of the Swiss) in his
poem on the Alps, exclaims, " The shepherd of the Alps
sees these treasures flow beneath his feet what an ex-
ample to mankind ! he lets them flow on." And he feels
a security in the rude simplicity of his country, that
holds out nothing to tempt the invasion of avarice or
ambition
" Tout son front he'risse', n'offre aux desirs de 1'homme
Ricn qui puisse tenter 1'avarice de Rome."
Crebillon, dans Rhadamiste.
NOTES. 371
Note(J.) page 273, line 11.
For which this place is celebrated.
Among other interesting objects to be seen here are
the cabinets of natural history of Monsieur de Saussure,
so well known for his scientific and enterprising researches,
and of Monsieur de Luc. Petrifactions of the oursis, or
sea hedgehog, and of the corni d'ammon, are preserved in
this collection, which were found in the Alps of Savoy,
7844 feet above the level of the sea.
Note (K.) page 275, line 12.
Powerless and inadequate.
It will not, I am sure, be unacceptable to the reader
if I here transcribe part of the beautiful description to
which I have alluded. Speaking (in Letter 23) of the
exhilarating but soothing effect of the mountain air, he
says " II semble qu'en s'elevant au-dessus du sejour
des homines, on y laisse tous les" sentimens bas et ter-
restres; et qu'a mesure qu'on approche des regions
etherees, Tame contracte quelque chose de leur inalter-
able purete : on y est grave sans melancholie, paisible
sans indolence, content d'etre et de penser. Les jjaisirs
y sont moins ardens, les passions plus moderees. Tous
les desirs trop vifs, s'emoussent ; ils perdent cette point
aigue qui les rendent douloureux ; il ne laissent au fond
du comr qu'une emotion legere et douce, et c'est ainsi
qu'un heureux climat, fait servir a la felicite de 1'hommc,
les passions qui font ailleurs son tourment." Without
being so unfortunate as to possess Rousseau's irritable
temper and fiery passions, any person of sensibility must
372 NOTES.
be forcibly struck by the truth of these remarks, in pass-
ing through the same scenes.
Note (L.) page 201, line 21.
Lake of M or at.
This lake in severe winters freezes sufficiently to bear
the heaviest loads. There is a popular and vulgar idea
in the country, that whoever falls into this lake can no
more be recovered; but another quality attached to it
(of rather superior probability) is, that its fish are of so
excellent a nature, as to sell, in time of Lent, at two
creutzers a pound dearer than those of any other. One
cannot see without surprise, and even a degree of indig-
nant concern, that the ancient chapel, containing the
bones of the Bourguignons, slain by the Swiss (then the
allies of Louis XI.) in 1476, should be no longer in
existence. These remains of mortality were, when we
beheld them, thrown upon the ground, totally unshel-
tered from the air, in a most careless and irreverent
manner. Formerly (I have heard) the inhabitants of
Morat used to celebrate the anniversary of this national
triumph with feast and song. Voltaire, in his " Melange
de Poesies," alludes to this triumph of liberty in some
truly elevated lines.
Note (M.) page 293, line 2.
Tan-coloured wood.
This is the cleft fir of which the cottages here are con-
structed. They have galleries running round the outsides,
protected by the projecting roofs. Sometimes thatch is
used ; but in the more mountainous parts of the country
NOTES. 373
they are tiled (if I may be allowed the expression) with
pieces of slit wood, which are kept firm by the weight of
large stones lying upon them : the whole having a most
picturesque appearance. The wide projection of these
roofs not only secures their galleries from the snows, but
affords convenient shelter for their fire-wood and various
other articles. A granary is sometimes built over the
dwelling-rooms at the top of these houses, which is ren-
dered attainable by means of a sort of bridge (moveable, I
rather think), upon which we ourselves witnessed the
singular spectacle of a cart and horses conveying a load
of grain to this exalted store-chamber. These wooden
fabrics, although one would not suppose so, are warmer
than those of brick or stone ; but then, in case of fire, its
ravage is dreadful, from the quantity of turpentine con-
tained in the fir planks.
Note (N.) page 295, line 24.
The Alps.
The Alps of Switzerland are certainly the highest
points of Europe. But however elevated these moun-
tains may be, and removed as they now are, a hundred
leagues from the sea, there can be no doubt of their
having once been covered by its waters. This is clearly
demonstrated by the fossile maritime remains which arc
found in some of their highest parts, as well as by those
of shells, fishes, and animals, now only existing in other
quarters of the globe. What astonishing changes the
surface of our earth has undergone in periods anterior to
the Mosaic history, may be contemplated from the cir-
374 NOTES.
cumstance of the petrified trunk of the palm-tree, and
the bones of elephants, being found in Siberia.
Note (O.) page 1308, line 1.
William Tell.
Although the limited time for our tour did not permit
us to visit either the Lac de Thoun, or the village of
Kussnacht, both of them consecrated in the eyes of the
Swiss, by the chapels built there in memory of Guil-
laume Tell, travellers must not leave Switzerland without
some mention of this renowned patriot. It was at the
latter place that the tyrant Ghessler fell by his hand.
There is (we were told) a tolerably painted representa-
tion of the occurrence on the walls of the chapel, and
under it the following inscription in German verse, the
French translation of which is this :
" lei a etc tue par Tell, 1'orgueilleux Ghessler. Ici est
le berceau de la noble liberte des Suisses, 1307. Com-
bien durera t'elle ? Encore long terns, pourvu que nous
ressemblions a nos ancetres."
Note (P.) page 215, line 13.
The rhododendron.
This is the rhododendron ferruglneum, which is not
much cultivated in our gardens.
Note (Q.) page 216, line 18.
Over the doors.
What a stupendous conception must the reader form
to himself of this range of mountains, when I tell him,
NOTES. 375
that the ascent and descent make together forty-two
miles.
Note (R.) page 312, line 25.
Soleure.
Near Soleure is the hermitage of St. Frene. No tra-
veller, I am assured, should miss seeing this beautiful and
romantic spot. That we unfortunately did so was owing
only to our not having been previously aware of its
existence.
Note (S.) page 332, line 12.
Avenue as usual.
I ought (in justice) to have recollected, when I ex-
claimed so much against them, that hi forming these
roads, convenience, not taste, was consulted. No one
can be more grateful to the powers of convenience than
myself; but it is difficult to reconcile a lover of the pic-
turesque to so cruel a divorce between the utile et dolce.
THE END.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON, WHITEFRJARS.
University of California
SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388
Return this material to the library
from which it was borrowed.
C/D LD-URl
in MMI ii iiiiiiiiinpi
A 000027964 6
r:
^^vi
L
