Friday, _December 21st_, 1821.
Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the
Edinburgh University Press
[1] Married Lord Teignmouth, Conservative member for Marylebone, in
1838.--EDITOR.
[2] The steward was very civil.
[3] The packet was nearly lost going in; we lost sight of the
lighthouse in the fog, before the light was put up as a signal that
there was water enough. In standing in to discover it again, we got
into shoal water, near the breakers, and had to tack in ten feet of
water, the vessel drawing near eight feet. It was a mere accident our
not striking the ground.
[4] In after years published a clever children's book, _Aunt Effie's
Nursery Rhymes_ (illustrated), which ran through many editions; also a
volume of sacred poems, _The Dove on the Cross_.--EDITOR.
[5] We expected we were going for a carriage, so we could not think
where they were taking us; the custom-house looked more like a den of
robbers.
[6] I awoke this morning very uncomfortable; although I had been very
anxious to go to France, I now felt so far from home that I would have
done anything to get back again.
[7] The governess. This 'clever and progressive' lady published,
anonymously, in 1821, _The History of William and his Little Scholar,
Joseph, with some account of Joseph's Mother_: sketches of Cumberland
life, based on her experiences with the Brownes, from whose household
the characters were taken.--EDITOR.
[8] There is a hedge at one side of the Forest.
[9] At the doors of many of the houses we saw children eating something
out of a porringer and holding long rolls in their hands.
[10] Here papa left a pocket-handkerchief which was afterwards sent,
but another gentleman got it by mistake. The French are very honest
about stealing.
[11] They were the _Sœurs de Charité_; dressed in a black cloth jacket
and petticoat, a full apron, and a kind of linen cap. By their side
they carry a rosary, a death's head, and a pair of scissors.
[12] The room we breakfasted in was painted like a panorama.
[13] Miss Wragge went to see the Church of Notre Dame which was dressed
up with gold cloth, artificial flowers, etc., round the pillars for the
Duke of Bordeaux's baptism.
[14] Before breakfast we bought some Leghorn bonnets at Madame Denis,
Rue St. Honoré.
[15] As several men were looking down at the bear, one dropt a shilling
into the enclosure, and imprudently jumped in to get it, when the black
bear tore him to pieces as soon as he reached the bottom. A man told us
that the bear had never been well since.
[16] Mamma sent a small gold earring to Paris to be mended, instead of
which they changed it for a brass one.
[17] We saw part of the mass at Notre Dame; it was much the same as the
other.
[18] It may be of interest to quote the remarks of the author of _The
Diary of an Invalid_ (Henry Mathews), in 1819: 'The French women must,
I think, yield the palm to their English and Italian neighbours.... It
is a curious fact that in 1814, the English ladies were so possessed
with a rage for imitating even the deficiencies of their French
sisterhood, that they actually had recourse to violent means, even
to the injury of their health, to compress their beautiful bosoms as
flatly as possible, and destroy every vestige of those charms for
which, of all other women, they are perhaps the most indebted to
nature.' _Paris, May_ 28, 1819.--EDITOR.
[19] While Mademoiselle Allemagne was questioning them on geography,
Miss Fuller stood on the table fiddling with her hand and imitating M.
Bréton.
[20] When we used to work at beads, the French girls were very fond of
taking our horsehair, etc. If we discovered them they used to call us
every name they could think of, 'Diable,' 'Menteuse,' etc.
[21] The French girls seemed very ignorant; one of them (Mademoiselle
Josephe) of thirteen or fourteen, on being asked what an active verb
was, replied, 'Un verbe actif c'est un verbe passif.' Another, on being
asked what map the map of Africa was, answered, 'C'est Amérique.'
[22] A common refreshment in French parties; and a favourite medicine
also (_eau sucrée_).
[23] The French millers wear very large, curious hats.
[24] We saw a monkey in the opposite balcony which played a number of
tricks.
[25] One Sunday, when papa was at Paris, he counted nineteen places of
public amusement open; on another seventeen, besides many for the lower
classes.
[26] The milliners'shops are very ugly, but there are some very pretty
things in the others, particularly little dolls' chairs, etc., of
mother-of-pearl and gold, and flowers at the bottom. We saw some pretty
clocks; also a snuffer dish and a pair of snuffers covered with flowers
under glass.
[27] The girls think of their dresses for weeks before.
[28] They spoil them very much in _some_ things, but they are not near
so _kind_ to them as the English.
[29] I never felt anything but dull air in _France_; while we were at
Versailles six French people killed themselves.
[30] The baskets were _very_ pretty: they were ornamented with silk and
muslin.
[31] The fruit that we tasted in France (except the melons) was very
bad. Their best cherries--_cerises anglaises_--were so hard one was
obliged to chew them, their gooseberries were like blighted ones, and
their pears and plums indifferent. (Grapes were not ripe.)
[32] A Cumberland name for 'curds.'--EDITOR.
[33] She happened to be very plain.
[34] The French are _excessively_ great talkers. If one asks a question
in the street, they tell such roundabout stories one can hardly get
away. They never say they do not know a thing. We one day went in
search of a Mr. Dyas; we enquired of nearly a dozen people the way;
they each told us _different_, and not one _right_. The people in the
house he lived in directed us to a different one.
[35] There were several French _ladies_ with them, who, they said, gave
the most fashionable parties in Versailles, and were very agreeable.
These ladies were as much like ladies in their _appearance_ as
servants.
[36] I think this must be a mistake.--W. B. Indeed it is not.--M. B.
[37] A _frotteur_ is a man that comes to clean the rooms; he fastens a
small brush on to each foot and skates about the room till the boards
or flags are polished.
[38] An old-fashioned name for camellia.--EDITOR.
[39] It was a young vineyard; there were plenty of _unripe_ grapes in
the old ones, but spoiled by the weather.
[40] It rained part of the time, so we were obliged to keep up our
umbrellas.
[41] There were several pretty white buildings which were
manufactories.
[42] A number of people were standing round a woman who was quarrelling
with her husband.
[43] Some of their earrings were tied on.
[44] Papa would not pay the steward anything as he had been so tipsy
(but he asked poor Miss Reed for five shillings). Papa had also a
battle with the people, who wished to make some additional charge for
landing, which was contrary to his agreement at Dieppe.
[45] An aunt of Mrs. Browne's.--EDITOR.
[46] Of Mirehouse, Keswick.--EDITOR.