from Paris. The inn being dirty, and having no appearance of being in a
situation to accommodate us to our wishes, Mr. Younge ordered the coach
to drive to a small cottage at the further end of the village. Our party
here dismounted; a small trunk, containing a breakfast equipage, was
taken from the coach, and the table was covered in an instant. The woman
of the house had been a servant of Mrs. Younge's, and married from the
family; her husband was a petty farmer, and was out in his fields.
Nothing could persuade Susette to sit in the presence of our ladies; but
she was talkative in the extreme, and seemed to be much attached to Mrs.
Younge, playing as it were with her hair as she waited behind her chair.
To Mr. Younge's questions, whether she was happy, and how she liked her
new state, she replied very carelessly, that her husband was as good as
husbands usually are; that, indeed, he had an affair with another
woman; but that he was gay, and not jealous, and therefore that she
overlooked it. Whilst she was saying this, the latch of the door was
raised, and a sturdy young peasant made his appearance; but seeing an
unexpected company, drew back in some confusion. Mr. Younge cast a
significant look at the ladies and Susette, whose looks explained that
they were not without foundation. Such are the morals, or rather the
manners, of the lower order of French wives. Gallantry is, in fact, as
much in fashion, and as generally prevalent through all orders, as in
the most corrupt aera of the monarchy--perhaps, indeed, more so; as
religion, though manifestly reviving, has not yet recovered its former
vigour.
Having remounted our horses, and the ladies re-ascended into their
coach, we continued our journey through a country continually changing.
My observations on the road, undeceived me in a point of some
importance. I had hitherto believed France to have been an open country,
almost totally without enclosures, except the pales and ditches
necessary to distinguish properties. This opinion had been confirmed by
the appearances of the road from Calais to Paris. It was now, however,
totally done away, as the country on each side of me was as thickly
enclosed, as any of the most cultivated counties in England. Hereafter,
let no traveller assert that France is a country of open fields;
three-fourths of the kingdom is enclosed, even to the most minute
divisions. The enclosures, indeed, have not the neatness of those of
England; the hedges are rough and open, and there are few gates, and no
stiles. The French farmers, however, have already began to adopt much of
the English system in the management of their farms. According to the
information of Mr. Younge, many of the emigres having returned to
France, have given some valuable instructions to the people in these
important points; France is accordingly much better cultivated than
hitherto.
Mr. Younge had the politeness to answer my questions respecting the
country through which we were passing, in the utmost possible detail;
and as he himself had traversed France in all directions, and was not
without some purpose of future settlement, his information was accurate
and valuable. He gave me to understand that, with the single exception
of the good enclosures, nothing could be so miserable as the system of
agriculture along the whole road from Paris to Mans. The general quality
of the soil is light and sandy, and exactly suited to the English system
of alternate crops of corn and roots; yet on such a soil, the common
course is no other than, fallow, wheat, barley, for nine years
successively; after which the land is pared and burnt, and then suffered
to be a fallow in weeds for another year, when the same course is
recommenced. "Under such management," continued Mr. Younge, "you will
not be surprised that the average produce of the province of Bretagne
does not exceed twelve bushels of wheat, and eighteen of barley. Turnips
they have no idea of; and as the proportion of cattle is very small, the
land is necessarily still farther impoverished from want of manure. The
rents are about 18 livres, or 15_s._ English; the price in purchase from
15_l._ to 18_l._ English. The size of the farms is generally about 80
acres English; they are usually held from year to year, but there are
some leases. Having got rid of tithes, and the taxes being very
moderate," said Mr. Younge, "the price of land in France, both as to
rent or purchase, is certainly very moderate; and if we could but import
English or American workmen, or bring the French labourers to English or
American habits, no good farmer would hesitate a moment as to settlement
in France. But the French labourers are obstinate in proportion to their
ignorance, and without exception are the most ignorant workmen in the
world. Nothing is to be done with them; and though the Emperor has
issued a decree, by which foreigners settling with a view to agriculture
or manufactures, and giving security that they will not leave the
kingdom, may become denizens, I must still hesitate as to recommending a
foreigner to seek a French naturalization."
In this conversation, after a long but not wearisome journey, we reached
Rambouillet. The trunk was again brought from the coach, and a table
furnished with knives, spoons, and clean linen--a kind of essentials
seldom to be seen in a French inn, and more particularly in such inns as
we had reason to expect at some of our stages, in the course of our long
tour. A servant had likewise been sent before, so that a tolerable
dinner was already in a state of preparation. Being informed, however,
that we had an hour still good, Mr. Younge and Mademoiselle St. Sillery
insisted upon taking me to see the celebrated chateau in which Francis
the First, breathed his last.
Nothing can be more miserable, nothing more calculated to inspire
melancholy, than the situation and approach to this immense and most
disproportioned building. It is situated in a park, in the midst of
woods and waters, and most unaccountably, the very lowest ground in a
park of two thousand acres is chosen for its site. The approach to it
from the village is by a long avenue, planted on both sides by double
and treble rows of lofty trees, the tops of which are so broad and thick
as almost to meet each other. This avenue opens into a lawn, in the
centre of which is the chateau. It is an heavy and vast structure,
entirely of brick, and with the turrets, arches, and corners,
characteristic of the Gothic order. The property of it belongs at
present to the Nation, that is to say, it was not sold amongst the
other, confiscated estates; something of an Imperial establishment,
therefore, is resident in the chateau, consisting of a company of
soldiers, with two officers, and an housekeeper. One of the officers had
the politeness to become our guide, and to lead us from room to room,
explaining as he went whatever seemed to excite our attention.
Louis the Fourteenth held his court in this castle for some years; and
from respect to his memory, the apartment in which he slept and held his
levee, is still retained in the same condition in which it was left by
that Monarch. This chamber is a room nearly thirty yards in length by
eighteen in width, and lofty in proportion: the windows like those of a
church. On the further extremity is a raised floor, where stands the
royal bed of purple velvet and gold, lined with white satin painted in a
very superior style. The colours, both of the painting and the velvet,
still remain; and two pieces of coarse linen are shewed as the royal
sheets. The counterpane is of red velvet, embroidered as it were with
white lace, and with a deep gold fringe round the edges: this is
likewise lined with white satin, and marked at the corners with a crown
and fleur de lys. On each side of the bed are the portraits of Louis the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth, of Philip the Fourth of Spain, and of his
Queen. The portrait of Louis the Fourteenth more peculiarly attracted my
attention, having been mentioned by several historians to be the best
existing likeness of that celebrated Monarch. If Louis resembled his
picture, he was much handsomer than he is described to have been by the
memoir-writers of his age: his countenance has an air of much
haughtiness and self-confidence, but without any mixture of ill-humour.
The chief peculiarity in his habit was a deep lace ruff, and a doublet
of light blue, very nearly resembling the jacket of the English light
cavalry. This portrait was taken when the King was in his twenty-eighth
year, and therefore is probably a far more correct resemblance than
those which were taken at a more advanced period--so true is the
assertion, of the poet, that old men are all alike.
Immediately over that line of the apartment where the raised floor
terminates, is a gilded rod extending along the ceiling. When the King
held his court at Rambouillet, a curtain only separated his chamber and
the levee-room. In the latter room are several portraits of the Peers of
France during the reign of Louis the Fifteenth, with those of some
Spanish Grandees.
We visited several other rooms, all of them magnificently furnished, and
all the furniture apparently of the same aera. The grand saloon appeared
to me to be the largest room I had ever seen; the floor is of white
marble, as are likewise two ranges of Corinthian pillars on each side of
the apartment. Its height, however, is not proportioned to its length, a
defect which, added to its narrowness, gives it the air of a gallery
rather than of a banquetting-room.
We had not time enough to walk over the gardens; but, from a cursory
view of them, did not much regret our loss. They appeared spacious
enough; but so divided and intersected into plots, borders, narrow and
broad walks, terraces, and flowerbeds in the shape of stars, as to
resemble any thing but what would be called a garden in England and
America. This style of gardening was introduced into France by Le Notre,
and some centuries must yet pass away before the French gardeners will
acquire a more correct taste. What would not English taste have effected
with the capabilities of Rambouillet? A park of two thousand acres in
front, and a forest of nearly thirty thousand behind--all this, in the
hands of Frenchmen, is thrown away; the park is but a meadow, and the
forest a neglected wood.
Upon our return to dinner, we found the _Cure_ of the village in rapid
conversation with Madame. The appearance of our equipage, consisting of
four horses in the coach, and three riding horses, had attracted him to
the inn; and Madame, having seen him, had invited him to join us at
dinner. He was a pleasant little man, and related to us many traditional
anecdotes of Louis the Fourteenth. This King was notoriously one of the
most gallant of the race of Capet. "Whilst resident at Rambouillet,"
said the Cure, "being one day hunting, and separated from his suite, he
fell in with two young girls, the daughters of the better kind of French
farmers. The girls were nutting in the forest, and perfectly strangers
to the King's person. Louis entered into conversation with them, and--"
The good Cure's narrative was here interrupted by dinner, much to the
disappointment of Mademoiselle St. Sillery, who entreated him to resume
his narrative upon the disappearance of the first dish. "I should think,
Angela," said Mrs. Younge, "that Monsieur Cure would continue it to more
advantage in the coach. The gentleman has informed me," continued she,
addressing herself to Mr. Younge, "that he has some business at
Chartres; and thinking it would add much to our general pleasure, I have
invited him to take the spare seat in our carriage." Mr. Younge could do
no less than second this invitation, and our party was thus reinforced
by the addition of a little gossiping French Cure.
Monsieur Guygny, the name of this gentleman, was not however so much a
Cure, as to be deficient in gallantry to the ladies, and Mademoiselle
St. Sillery, as I thought, seemed to consider him as a valuable
acquisition to our travelling suite; she re-ascended the coach with
increased spirit, and the good Cure followed with true French agility.
Thus is it with French manners. Upon inquiry from Mr. Younge I learnt,
that not one of the party had ever seen or heard of Monsieur Guygny
before they had now met at Rambouillet.
I felt some curiosity as to the interrupted narrative, even in despite
of the evident frivolity of the narrator. The arrangement of the party
in the coach compelled me to hear it at second hand, and I found it less
frivolous than I had anticipated: it was an amour between the King and a
peasant's daughter, in which the King conducted himself in a manner as
little excusable in a monarch, as in a more humble individual. The amour
was at length discovered by the pregnancy of the unfortunate girl, who
believed herself married to the King in the character of an officer of
his suite, and who, upon discovering the deception, died of shame and
grief. Her tomb is said to be still extant, and to be distinguished by a
fleur de lys impressed on it by command of the King. The story is said
to be well founded: be this as it may, our ladies seemed to have
received it as gospel.
We readied Chartres by sunset. Nothing could be more delightful than the
approach to the town, which is situated upon the knoll of an hill, the
houses intermixed with trees, and the wetting sun gilding the spires of
the churches and convent. The town is divided into two parts by a small
river; the further part was situated upon the ascent, the other part
upon the banks of the river. On each side of the town are hills, covered
with woods, from the midst of which were visible the gilded spires of
convents and churches, whilst the intervening plains were covered with
corn-fields. The peasantry, as we passed them, seemed clean, well-fed,
and happy; we saw several groups of them enjoying themselves in the
evening dance. Our carriage was overtaken by them more than once; they
presented flowers and fruits to our ladies, and refused any return. Some
of the younger women, though sun-burnt, were handsome; and many of them,
from their fanciful dresses, resembled the cottagers as exhibited on the
stage. The men, on the other hand, were a most ugly race of beings,
diminutive in size, and with the features of an old baboon. Mr. Younge,
indeed, in some degree accounted for this, by the information that the
best men had been taken for the armies.
Having taken our tea, and seen the necessary preparation for our beds,
our ladies changed their dresses, and, attended by the Cure, sallied
forth to the evening promenade still customary in all the French towns.
Mr. Younge and myself availed ourselves of this opportunity to visit the
curiosities of the town.
I have frequently had occasion to remark, that the old French towns have
a very prominent distinction. The inland towns of England, be their
antiquity what it may, retain but little of their ancient form; from the
necessary effects of a brisk trade, the several houses have so often
changed owners, and the owners have usually been so substantial in
their circumstances, that there is scarcely a house, perhaps, but what
in twenty years has been rebuilt from its fundamental stone. It is not
the same with the houses in the old towns of France. A French
tradesman's house is like his stocking--he never thinks that he wants a
new one, as long as he can in any way darn his old one; he never thinks
of building a new wall, as long as he can patch his old one; he repairs
his house piece-meal as it falls down: the repairs, therefore, are
always made so as to match the breach. In this manner the original form
of the house is preserved for some centuries, and, as philosophers say
of the human body, retains its identity, though every atom of it may
have been changed.
It is thus with Chartres, one of the most ancient towns in France, which
in every house bears evident proofs of its antiquity, the streets being
in straight lines, and the houses dark, large, but full of small rooms.
The town, as I have before said, is divided into two parts, by the river
Eure, and thence, according to the French historians, was called
_Autricum_ by the Romans. It is surrounded by a wall, and has nine
gates, the greater part of them of stone, and of a very ancient
architecture; they are all surmounted by a figure of the Holy Virgin,
the former patroness of the city. The cathedral church, if the
traditional accounts may be believed, was formerly a temple of the
Druids, dedicated to the _Virgo Paritura_; and though this antiquity
may be fairly disputed, the structure is evidently of the most remote
ages. According to the actual records, it was burnt by lightning in the
year of our Lord 1020, and was then rebuilt upon its ancient
foundations, and according to its former form, by Fulbert, at that time
the Bishop. It is thus, in every respect, the most ancient monument in
France, and is well deserving of being visited by travellers. We were
lost in astonishment as we descended from the upper church into a
subterraneous one, extending under the whole space of the one above it,
and having corresponding walls, choir, and even stalls. The bishops,
chapter, and principal persons of the city, are here buried.
From the cathedral church, we were conducted to the other curiosities of
the city, one of which is well worthy of mention. This is a cave or
vault in the parish church of St. Andre. Upon descending it, our guide
removed successively the covers of six coffins, and desired us to
examine the bodies. They consisted of four men and two women; the faces,
arms, and breasts were naked, and had all the freshness as if dead only
the preceding day. One of the men had the mark of a wound under his left
breast; it seemed as if made by a pointed sword or pike, and was florid,
red, and fresh. "These persons," said our guide, "as you may see by the
inscriptions, have been buried from fifty to an hundred years; the
wounded man was the Mayor of the town about sixty years since, and was
wounded in an affray, of which wound he died." Upon receiving this
information, I had the curiosity to examine the vault more accurately:
it was walled all around, paved with stones closely cemented, and was
evidently more than commonly dry.
We remained at Chartres the whole of the following day; and on the
morning of the next, still accompanied by the Cure, continued our
journey to Le Mans, where we likewise remained a day, and thence
proceeded for Angers. As our projected Tour along the Loire was to
commence at Nantes, we were eager to gain that city, and indeed scarcely
made use of our eyes, however invited, till we reached it.
Mr. Younge and myself had an hour's walk over Angers; but as we saw it
more in detail as we descended the Loire, in the progress of our future
Tour, I shall say nothing of it in this place.
Throughout the greater part of this road, as well as of that from Angers
to Nantes, nothing could be more delightful than the scenery on both
sides, and nothing better than the roads. From La Fleche to Angers, and
thence to Ancennis, the country is a complete garden. The hills were
covered with vines; every wood had its chateau, and every village its
church. The peasantry were clean and happy, the children cheerful and
healthy-looking, and the greater part of the younger women spirited and
handsome. There was a great plenty of fruit; and as we passed through
the villages, it was invariably brought to us, and almost as invariably
any pecuniary return refused with a retreating curtsey. One sweet girl,
a young peasant, with eyes and complexion which would be esteemed
handsome even in Philadelphia, having made Mr. Younge and myself an
offering of this kind, replied very prettily to our offer of money, that
the women of La Fleche never sold either grapes or water; as much as to
say, that the one was as plentiful as the other. Some of these young
girls were dressed not only neatly, but tastily. Straw hats are the
manufacture of the province; few of them, therefore, but had a straw
bonnet, and few of these bonnets were without ribbons or flowers.
We were most unexpectedly detained at Chantoce by an accident to our
coach, which was three days before it was repaired. We the less,
however, regretted our disappointment, as it rained incessantly, with
thunder and lightning, throughout the whole of this time. The weather
having cleared, our coach being repaired, and our spirits being
renovated by the increased elasticity of the air, the preceding heat
having been almost intolerable, we resumed our progress, and at length
reached Nantes on or about the evening of the 1st of August.
CHAP. XI.
_Nantes--Beautiful Situation--Analogy of Architecture with the
Character of its Age--Singular Vow of Francis the Second--Departure
from Nantes--Country between Nantes and Angers--Angers._
THE plan of our Tour was, to descend the Loire from Nantes, and thence
traversing its banks through nearly two-thirds of its course, cross it
by La Charite, and continue our journey in the first place for
Languedoc, and thence across that delightful province into Provence, and
along the shores of the Mediterranean. Chance in some degree varied our
original design; but it will be seen in the sequel, that we executed
more of it than we had any reason to anticipate. A traveller in France
cannot reckon upon either his road, or his arrival, with as much
certainty as in England. Some of the cross roads are absolutely
impassable; and the French gentry of late have become so fond of jaunts
of pleasure, that if a travelling family should visit them in passing,
they will have great difficulty to get away without some addition to
their party, and some consequent variation from their projected road.
We remained at Nantes three days, during which time I had leisure enough
to visit the town and the neighbourhood.
Nantes is one of the most ancient cities in France; it is the
_Condivunum_ of the Romans, and the _Civitas Namnetum_ of Caesar. It is
mentioned by several Latin writers as a town of moat considerable
population under the Roman prefects; and there is every appearance, in
several parts of the city, that it has declined much from its original
importance. It is still, however, in every respect, a noble city, and,
unlike most commercial cities, is as beautifully as it is advantageously
situated. It is built on the ascent and summit of an hill, at the foot
of which is the Loire, almost as broad, and ten times more beautiful,
than the Thames. In the middle of the stream, opposite the town, are
several islets, on which are houses and gardens, and which, as seen by
the setting sun, about which time there are dancing parties, and
marquees ornamented with ribbons, have a most pleasing effect. The town,
however, has one defect, which the French want the art or the industry
to remove: the Loire is so very shallow near the town, that vessels of
any magnitude are obliged to unload at some miles above it. This is a
commercial inconvenience, which is not compensated by one of the finest
quays in Europe, extending nearly a mile in length, and covered with
buildings almost approaching to palaces. If Spain, as the proverb says,
have bridges where there is no water, I have seen repeated instances in
France where there are quays without trade. This is not, however, the
case with Nantes: it has still a brisk interior commerce, and the number
of new houses are sufficient proofs that its inhabitants increase in
opulence.