There was a very great difference in the ages of my elder and younger
children; it was impossible for me to suit my plan to them all: for the
sake of the younger it would have been advisable to stay some time
longer in France; but for the advantage of the elder I thought it right
to hasten my journey to Italy. I fixed the time of my departure from
Avignon for the month of October following, 1821.
No master of the Italian language was here to be found. Kenelm soon
acquired the use of it, as far as books, without conversation, could
teach him; and, in the evenings of the spring and summer, after our
promenade, gave lessons to his sisters and brother, whom he required to
prepare themselves in the morning: he also gave them lectures in
geography. In this employment he gratified his kind affections, and
derived pleasure from the performance of what he imposed on himself as a
duty.
In truth his whole life seemed to be regulated by a sense of duty: he
endeavoured to please others from a principle of benevolence: in
speaking of others he was careful to avoid all censure or rash judgment,
all contemptuous or angry expressions; he followed after that charity,
which "beareth all things, hopeth all things;" it was evident that,
without excluding the innocent and laudable motives of action, he
endeavoured to sanctify all he did by referring it to the glory of the
Author of all good. His mind had been cultivated as far as his years and
opportunities had allowed. The love of God had supplied to him the
principle of true sensibility, and his judgment of moral objects was
correct and delicate. His reading had been chiefly of French literature
and of history. In England he had passed much of his time in society and
other engagements, and he had not had leisure for reading: he regretted
that he could not stay another twelvemonth there for the purpose of
going through a course of English literature.
I had always encouraged him to discuss with me whatever questions arose,
to enter into argument and try the ground of his opinions: in criticism,
in politics, in religion even, he had followed this method. I held it
useful thus to call forth and exercise his powers; I wished to establish
his judgment on a surer basis than that which can be laid by authority
alone; a basis so liable to be shaken, so likely to be removed by an
intercourse with the world, which surprises, enchants, and often fatally
deceives those who are unprepared for it.
I was conversing one day with him and his brother on the subject of the
massacre at Thessalonica, in the reign of the emperor Theodosius,--and
of the father who, being arrested with his two sons going out of the
amphitheatre, entreated the soldiers, who were about to put them both to
death, at least to spare him one of them; the soldiers consented,
leaving the choice to the father: he, in an agony of grief, ran from one
son to the other, unable to resign either of them: the soldiers,
becoming impatient, at length slew them both.
Kenelm's remark was, "the father was more happy afterwards than he would
have been had he decided. If he had saved one son, he would have
continually reproached himself, during the rest of his life, with the
death of the other."
Within a few short months I was myself to witness the death of one son,
and to pass some weeks in dreadful suspense as to the fate of the son
that remained to me. The Father of Mercies inflicted not on me the
horrible necessity of choosing between them. He spared one, to alleviate
and repair the loss of him whom he took to himself.
If I seem to any to have dwelt too long on the praise of Kenelm, let
this be allowed to the remembrance of his kind, confiding, and grateful
affection to me, his gentle and amiable manners towards the rest of his
family, the well-grounded hope of virtuous and meritorious conduct in
his passage through life. All this is now only in remembrance; but "the
remembrance is sweet."
I had said to Kenelm on his return from England, "You have behaved in
such a manner during the time that you have been your own master, that I
may now trust that your character and principles are fixed and
established: you have acquired an entire right to my confidence."
The trial of the ground of this confidence was short, and, towards the
end, most painful; but it was conclusive and satisfactory.
In the spring of 1821, arrived the news of the beginning and end of what
was called for a time the revolution of Piedmont, and of the
insurrection of the garrison of Alexandria.
The difficulty of obtaining protection or employment in diplomacy, the
career to which, in his own purpose, he had destined himself, and to
which he had in some degree directed his studies, offered itself at this
time so forcibly to the mind of Kenelm, that he inclined to enter into
the military profession. He said, "The King of Sardinia must, at this
time, want soldiers. I will go to him at Nice: I shall see you all again
in your way to Italy." He added, "I cannot choose the French service, as
I should run the risk of being employed against my own country: a great
variety of circumstances shows that the English service must be at least
_unpleasant_ to a catholic: there remain only Austria and Sardinia." On
inquiry, however, we found that no commission was granted in the army of
this latter power, unless to those who had been educated in the military
academy, or who had served four years in the ranks as private soldiers.
Kenelm retained the purpose of making inquiries concerning the Austrian
service when he should arrive in Italy. Austria, though now removed to a
distance from England by the cession of the Low Countries, had been for
more than a century its almost constant ally. I was not sorry that
inquiries, and any measures to be adopted in consequence, were delayed
for some time, and advised that the interval should be employed in
reflecting how far the military profession might suit a character of
great vivacity indeed, but thoughtful and given to literary pursuits. I
could account for this sudden ebullition of Kenelm's warlike ardour,
only by the delight which he took in reading the "Victoires et
Conquetes," which publication began about this time; and by his
intercourse with some of the officers in garrison. He asserted too that
the trade of a soldier is the most independent of any, and brought in
defence of his assertion some very specious arguments. His ardour,
though restrained, was by no means extinguished: he was steady to his
purpose, and never relinquished it.
In the month of July a fair is held at Beaucaire, on the Rhone, a small
town twelve miles from Avignon, opposite Tarrascon. This is one of the
few fairs in Europe that are still the scene of great commercial
operations; commis, travellers, and the post office are rapidly causing
the disparition of less convenient institutions. To Beaucaire, however,
as yet, resort merchants from Germany, Italy, and Spain; and to
Beaucaire also resort the idle and curious of the district for many
leagues around. The Avignonais wondered that we could pass two summers
without visiting it; and, as I could now no longer say "I will go next
year," I was obliged to avow that my real reason for absenting myself
from a scene which they thought so interesting, was my unwillingness to
subject any of the females of my family to the inconvenience of
finding, or, what would have been worse, not finding beds in so crowded
a town; and to stay all night was indispensable, as the finest sight of
all was the illumination of the streets of booths erected as a
supplement to the insufficient buildings of the town. One friend
proposed to me his example. He had left Avignon, with ladies in company
of course, three hours before sunset; arrived at Beaucaire in time to
lead his ladies about, both by owls-light and lamp-light; supped in a
room which, he allowed, had not the recommendation of being either
retired, or cleanly, or free from the fumes of tobacco; and brought his
ladies home again at three in the morning.
Men are but children of a larger growth,
said some one without suspecting that he was launching any thing but a
sarcasm: it is however a profound reflection. Children must be amused
because they cannot know any thing of the world into which they are
about to enter; and men must be amused on account of their unwillingness
to think of a future state of existence. The childish mortal is however
less silly than the manly mortal immortal.
I recommended to my sons to visit Arles, taking Beaucaire in their way
at the time of the fair, at which they might stay as long as they
pleased, and no longer. They got into a boat early in the morning, and
descended the Rhone as far as Tarrascon; passed four hours, including
repast and repose, at the fair; then again took to their boat, which
conveyed them to the ancient and once important city of Arles. From
Avignon to Tarrascon they found the banks of the Rhone varied and
picturesque: lower down, the river displays a great spread of water, but
its shores are flat. They slept at Arles, viewed its ancient monuments,
obelisk, amphitheatre, sarcophagi, and walked to St. Remy. In the
evening of the next day they returned home, and regaled us with a
pleasant account of their "voyage par mer et par terre."[66] They were
particularly pleased with St. Remy, and we resolved on a family party to
that place: the excursion was, however, deferred for a month, on account
of a visit to a friend's campagne or country house.
St. Remy is four leagues from Avignon: at the end of the second mile, we
crossed by a ferry the Durance, a mighty Alpine torrent. I had before
observed that its waters are colder and more turbid than those of the
Rhone at the point of their confluence. The Rhone deposits in the Leman
Lake a part of the soil it brings with it in its course through the
Valais. The Durance is so impetuous, that its bridge on the road to
Marseilles is almost always insecure. A company of Dutchmen undertook to
confine this river to a certain bed by embanking, on condition of
receiving all the land they should recover: but though they could, no
doubt, deal very well with placid and stagnant canals, they found the
Durance so impatient of dykes, as the Araxes was indignant at a bridge,
that they abandoned the enterprise.
My sons, who were our stewards and ciceroni, had ordered a basket of
provisions to be brought by the carriage, that we might dine _au frais_
near the monuments, the objects of our visit. We took cafe au lait,
however, on arriving at the village, supplying the place of milk by
beating the yolks of fresh eggs into a liquid foam here called _lait de
poule_, and well known as a substitute for an article, the want of which
is not much felt by those who are used to be without it. We had no
butter: beurre frais de Lyon is sent down the Rhone to Avignon, and
sometimes contains maggots. I paid ten sous a day for a small quantity
of beurre du jour made on purpose for our family breakfast,--the only
demand for it in all the town.
The want of butter, and the scarcity of our four pleasant early fruits,
gooseberries, currants, raspberries, and strawberries, a rare and
short-lived luxury in the south of France,--are great privations; and
this must be added to the inconveniences of a hot climate. Even cherries
quickly become uneatable, breeding worms within them as soon as ripe.
We walked to the Mausoleum and triumphal arch at half a league's
distance. They are situate near the side of the road now leading from
Nismes to Marseilles, which probably, at the time even of the erection
of these monuments, led from one to the other of these ancient cities.
We had risen by a very slight ascent to a great height, and now enjoyed
a fine prospect all around, except that, for about one fourth of the
horizon, the view was bounded by a range of rocks of most curious and
fantastic forms. Not far from the foot of this range, and very near to
each other, are placed the arch and Mausoleum. The arch itself and all
below it, is still perfect; but all above it has been pulled down and
carried away: the vault of the arch is highly ornamented. The Mausoleum
is a most elegant structure. If I say that it resembles a detached
campanile of a church of Grecian architecture, it is more for the sake
of indicating its form, than from having seen any thing in that kind
resembling or equal to it. On a lofty basement rises a square building
surmounted by a circular colonnade, of the Corinthian order, supporting
a dome or cupola. At the four corners of the square building are
Corinthian pillars; on each side, the wall is pierced by an arch, and,
on the frieze above, is the inscription
Sex. M. Julii C. F. parentibus suis.
In the centre under the cupola stand two statues: there is no door or
opening below.
My sons amused themselves with taking drawings of the objects before
them. The air, notwithstanding the season of the year, was cool and
fresh at the elevation at which we were placed; and we took our dinner
under the arch, having brought from the cafe of St. Remy some beer,
which, in the spirit of contradiction, is much liked in this country of
the vine. I thought it vile stuff, and preferred our wine from Avignon:
those of my children who had not tasted or forgotten the taste of
home-brewed, thought it a luxury: it is rather dearer than wine, being,
very justly, equally taxed. It is called _biere de Mars_;--a proof that
the right season is known for "corrupting barley into a certain
similitude of wine." Caesar's word _corruptum_ ought to be translated
"fermented," but it is happily ambiguous.
My servant told me that while he was waiting with the basket of
provisions for our coming from the village, a gentleman, whom he took
for English, followed by his groom, came up to the monuments, walked his
horse once quietly round them, looked at him, Antoine, without saying a
word, and then rode away.
There is not a single house near these edifices except a Maison des
Fous, an extensive establishment, and celebrated for good management. I
visited a house of this sort at Avignon, where the patients seemed to
have every comfort their situation permitted. Several of them were
amusing themselves in the large court: we passed by them in going out.
One of them addressed himself to the gentleman who accompanied me: "Sir,
I entreat you to interest yourself for me; it is horrible for me to live
amongst these unhappy mad people. You see I am not mad; I am placed here
by my relations that they may keep possession of a little estate that
belongs to me." My friend asked, "Why do you not speak to the
administrators?"--"I have done so often, but all to no purpose; _ce sont
des ours_."[67] I do not know the end of the affair.
We returned in the cool of the evening. On repassing the ferry, I did
not get into the carriage again, but walked with my sons to the town.
The carriage had some difficulty in passing the gate, owing to a piece
of cheese and some other remains of our dinner, which the gate-keeper
perceived at the bottom of the basket. Antoine laughed at him: "C'est
mon souper:[68]" but it was no laughing matter; it was a question of the
droits reunis. The coachman explained that the provisions had been taken
out of the town in the morning, and the carriage passed on.
We were much pleased with our excursion, and I promised my family to
take them to Nismes before we should set off for Italy; but we had found
the day, 18th of August, too hot, and determined to wait till the
weather should be somewhat cooler.