I have passed the last few days in bed with fever and pain. I am but now
sufficiently recovered to answer your letter. What you send me from
B---- is indeed very flattering to me, though the enthusiasm which my
little labours excite in him is the growth of his own poetical soul
alone, which paints what _ought to be_, and believes that _it is_. Do
not wish for my return before it is possible; and trust me, that where a
man is _not_ he is commonly desired; as soon as he is there, he is
thought, by many, in the way.
I rode out again to-day for the first time to see the fair at
Donnybrook, near Dublin, which is a kind of popular festival. Nothing
indeed can be more national! The poverty, the dirt, and the wild tumult
were as great as the glee and merriment with which the cheapest
pleasures were enjoyed. I saw things eaten and drunk with delight, which
forced me to turn my head quickly away to remain master of my disgust.
Heat and dust, crowd and stench, ('il faut le dire,') made it impossible
to stay long; but these do not annoy the natives. There were many
hundred tents, all ragged like the people, and adorned with tawdry rags
instead of flags; many contented themselves with a cross on a hoop; one
had hoisted a dead and half putrid cat as a sign! The lowest sort of
rope-dancers and posture-masters exercised their toilsome vocation on
stages of planks, and dressed in shabby finery, dancing and grimacing in
the dreadful heat till they were completely exhausted. A third part of
the public lay, or rather rolled about, drunk; others ate, screamed,
shouted and fought. The women rode about, sitting two and three upon an
ass, pushed their way through the crowd, smoked with great delight, and
coquetted with their sweethearts. The most ridiculous group was one
which I should have thought indigenous only to Rio de la Plata: two
beggars were seated on a horse, who by his wretched plight seemed to
supplicate for them; they had no saddle, and a piece of twine served as
reins.
As I left the fair, a pair of lovers, excessively drunk, took the same
road. It was a rich treat to watch their behaviour. Both were horribly
ugly, but treated each other with the greatest tenderness, and the most
delicate attention. The lover especially displayed a sort of chivalrous
politeness. Nothing could be more gallant, and at the same time more
respectful, than his repeated efforts to preserve his fair one from
falling, although he had no little difficulty in keeping his own
balance. From his ingratiating demeanour and her delighted smiles, I
could also perceive that he was using every endeavour to entertain her
agreeably; and that her answers, notwithstanding her 'exalté' state,
were given with a coquetry and an air of affectionate intimacy which
would have been exquisitely becoming and attractive in a pretty woman.
My reverence for truth compels me to add that not the slightest trace of
English brutality was to be perceived: they were more like French
people, though their gaiety was mingled with more humour, and more
genuine good-nature; both of which are national traits of the Irish, and
are always doubled by Potheen (the best sort of whisky illicitly
distilled.)
Don't reproach me for the vulgarity of the pictures I send you: they are
more akin to nature than the painted dolls of our 'salons.'
_Bray, August 30th._
I am returned hither on purpose to see the park of Powerscourt, from
which Sunday lately debarred me. It would not be easy for Nature to
unite greater capabilities than she has lavished here with bounteous
hand; and her gifts have been skilfully turned to account.
You enter by the Dargle, a very deep and narrow glen, thickly wooded
with high trees. In the bottom gushes a full and rapid stream. The road
ascends on the right side, and the eye travels down the green depths,
out of which it catches here and there a gleam of the water, or a bold
group of rocks. Three large mountains rise above the glen, and, though
at some distance, seem quite close, as their base is hidden: they were
tinged this evening with a deep rosy red, by a sun worthy of Italy, and
contrasted beautifully with the bright green of the oaks.
Further on, the path suddenly opens on a rocky cliff, called 'The
Lover's Leap' where the glen diverges into several valleys, formed by
chains of lesser hills, but terminated at some distance by the highest
mountains of the neighbourhood. In the midst of this landscape appears
the house, situated on a gentle slope on the edge of a wood, and
surrounded by beautiful flower-gardens. From hence to the great
waterfall, a distance of five miles, the road leads through ever varying
scenes, which are more like those of beautiful nature than of a park. At
length you reach a wood, and the rush of the distant waterfall meets
your ear before you catch sight of it. It is inconsiderable, except
after rain, but then it is magnificent. The lofty rocks are thickly
covered on either side with shrubs, the cascade dashes through their
varied foliage, and falling into a basin, flows away through a beautiful
meadow. Around this are venerable oaks, under which a house, suited to
the character of the place, has been built. Here, refreshments are to be
obtained, and it is the usual resort of the many parties of pleasure who
come hither. Green footpaths lead still further into the wild mountain
country; but as it was already dark, I was obliged to return. On my way
hither, I had gone over the greater distances in a gallop; and to avoid
unnecessary delay, had taken up the ragged boy who acted as guide,
behind me, regardless of the wonderment of the passers by, who knew not
what to make of so extraordinary a cavalcade. At night I was obliged to
ride slowly along the stony road, till the moon rose, orange-coloured,
behind the mountains, and half shrouded herself in evening mists. I
reached the inn at Bray, tired and hungry, at eleven o'clock.
_August 31st._
I found this country inn so pleasant that I resolved to prolong my stay
over to day--Sunday. Living at inns affords one a good opportunity of
observing the middle classes. Every man here shows himself as he is, and
seems to feel himself alone. I have already told you that English
travellers of this class (I include all the inhabitants of the three
kingdoms who have English manners and habits) usually pass their time,
when not out of doors, in a common room called the coffee-room. In the
evening this coffee-room is lighted with lamps; candles are carried, if
called for, to the gentlemen who sit at the separate little tables. It
has often surprised me that in a country in which luxury and refinement
on all the wants of life are so universal, even in the best provincial
inns (and often in London) tallow candles are commonly used. Wax candles
are an unwonted luxury; and if you ask for them, you are treated with
redoubled civility, but your bills are also doubled throughout.
It is very diverting to observe the perfect uniformity with which all
behave, as if machines out of one workshop. This is particularly
observable in their eating: though placed at separate tables, and no
individual taking the slightest notice of any other, they all seem to
have exactly the same usages, exactly the same gastronomic tastes.
Nobody eats soup, which, unless bespoken beforehand, is not to be had.
(This is the reason, by-the-bye, for which my old Saxon servant left me.
He declared that he could not exist any longer in such a state of
barbarism--without soup!) A large joint of roast meat is commonly
carried from one to another, and each cuts off what he likes. This is
accompanied by potatoes or other vegetables, boiled in water; and a
'plat de ménage' filled with sauces is placed on every table; beer is
poured out, and there, in a common way, ends the dinner. Only the
luxurious eat fish before meat.
But now follows the second stage:--the tablecloth is removed; clean
plate, and knife and fork laid; wine and a wine-glass, and a few
miserable apples or pears, with stony ship-biscuits, are brought: and
now the diner seems to begin to enjoy tranquillity and comfort. His
countenance assumes an expression of satisfaction; apparently sunk in
profound meditation, leaning back in his chair, and looking fixedly
straight before him, he suffers a sip of wine to glide down his throat
from time to time, only breaking the death-like silence by now and then
laboriously craunching his rocky biscuits.
When the wine is finished, follows stage the third,--that of digestion.
All motion now ceases; his appetite being satisfied, he falls into a
sort of magnetic sleep, only distinguishable from the natural by the
open eyes. After this has lasted for half an hour or an hour, all at
once it ceases; he cries out, as if under the influence of some sudden
possession, 'Waiter, my slippers;' and seizing a candle, walks off
gravely to his chamber to meet his slippers and repose.
This farce acted by five or six men at once has often amused me more
than a puppet-show; and I must add, that with the exception of the
incident of the slippers, pretty nearly the same scene is represented in
the first clubs of the metropolis. I scarcely ever saw an Englishman
read at dinner; I am not sure that they don't think it an act of
indecorum--perhaps of impiety--like singing or dancing on a Sunday for
instance. Perhaps, however, it is only a rule of diatetics converted by
time into a law, which no vivacity of temper can break through.
Englishmen who do not belong to the aristocracy, and are not very rich,
usually travel without a servant by the mail or stage-coach, which
deposits them at the inn. The man who waits on strangers to the coach,
cleans their boots, &c. has the universal appellation 'Boots.' It is,
accordingly, 'Boots' who brings your slippers, helps you to pull off
your boots, and then departs, first asking at what time you will have,
not as in Germany, your coffee, but your hot water to shave. He appears
with it punctually at the appointed hour, and brings your clothes
cleanly brushed. The traveller then hastens to dress himself and return
to his beloved coffee-room, where the ingredients of breakfast are
richly spread upon his table. To this meal he seems to bring more
animation than to any other, and indeed I think more appetite; for the
number of cups of tea, the masses of bread and butter, eggs and cold
meat, which he devours, awaken silent envy in the breast, or rather in
the stomach, of the less capable foreigner. He is now not only
permitted, but enjoined (by _custom_, his gospel) to read. At every cup
of tea he unfolds a newspaper of the size of a table-cloth. Not a single
speech, crim. con., murder or other catastrophe invented by the
'accident maker' in London, escapes him.
Like one who would rather die of a surfeit than leave any thing uneaten
which he had paid for, the systematic Englishman thinks that having
called for a newspaper he ought not to leave a letter of it unread. By
this means his breakfast lasts several hours, and the sixth or seventh
cup is drunk cold. I have seen this glorious meal protracted so long
that it blended with dinner; and you will hardly believe me when I
assure you, that a light supper followed at midnight without the company
quitting the table.
On this occasion several were assembled; and I must remark, generally,
that when that is the case, a very different scene is exhibited. The
wine, instead of producing the lethargic reverie I have described, makes
them rather too talkative. Something of the kind occurred to-day. Five
or six travellers were very jovial, and having carried this a little too
far, a violent quarrel arose among them, which, after long continued
noise and confusion, ended, strangely enough, in their all falling foul
of the waiter and pushing him out at the door. Upon this the host was
forced to come in, and to beg pardon for the poor fellow, who was
perfectly innocent. Not one of the men who were eating at their solitary
tables took the slightest notice of this affray, but stared straight
before them just as indifferently as if nothing were going on.
Soon, however, one of them who had begun his dinner very late gave us a
new scene. He was dissatisfied with the mutton they had brought him, and
desired the waiter to tell the cook she was a d---- b----. On receiving
this communication, the Irishwoman lost all respect for the author of so
sensible an insult; tore herself out of the arms of her companions who
vainly attempted to hold her at the dining-room door, darted with
doubled fists on the offender, and overwhelmed him with such a torrent
of truly national epithets, that he turned pale and left the field,
roaring "my slippers" as loud again as usual, and without further
attempt at resistance hastily retreated to his chamber in the third
story; for, as you know, the bedrooms here are always under the roof,
'comme au Columbier.'
When the late Grand Duke of W---- was in England, he was seized with the
desire to travel alone and incognito by the 'stage,' as a means of
becoming more intimately acquainted with English life. It amused him
much: the next morning, however, he was not a little surprised, when the
'boots' brought him his clothes, at his saying, "I hope your Royal
Highness slept well last night." He thought, however, he might have
misunderstood, and taking no notice of the thing, continued his journey
on the outside. The next morning, the same title. He now inquired into
the matter, and found that a card with his name and rank was stitched to
the inside of his cloak, and had destroyed his 'incognito.' What struck
him the most doubtless was, that people troubled themselves so little
whether a German sovereign prince sat on the top of the stage-coach or
not. The common people in England care little about rank,--about foreign
rank nothing. It is only the middle classes that are servile: they are
delighted to talk to a foreign nobleman because they cannot get at their
own haughty aristocracy. The English nobleman, even the least of the
Lords, in the bottom of his heart thinks himself a greater man than the
king of France.
This mode of travelling, to a man who has any thing in view beside mere
change of place, or who does not feel himself flattered by the increased
reverence of innkeepers and waiters, is certainly preferable to the
usual manner of making the grand tour. The diminution of comfort and
convenience is counterbalanced by so much that is instructive and
agreeable, that one gains a hundredfold by the change.
_Dublin, September 1st._
I returned, this time, by way of Kingston, along a rough but very
romantic road, close to the sea. A crowd of beggars stood on the road.
They were not, however, deficient in industry and activity, for an old
woman among them was busily gathering up some white sand which had
fallen from a cart. How I wished to open the treasures of our
Sand-Golconda to this poor creature! As I could not, I made her happy
with a few pence, of which I always carry a cargo in my coat-pocket to
throw out like corn among fowls; for here every body begs.
Kingston is a little town, consisting chiefly of the country houses of
the opulent people of Dublin. The Lord Lieutenant sometimes resides
here. Since the king's visit a harbour has been made, at which the men
are still at work. The shallowness of Dublin Bay renders this very
desirable; but its principal end now is to give work to the lower
classes. The many ingenious inventions which are here applied, the four
rail-roads running side by side, on which one horse can draw enormous
loads, the chain windlasses by which huge masses are brought to hand and
walled into the dam, and other things of the like kind, are uncommonly
interesting and instructive. Several large ships are lying in the
unfinished harbour, in which they already find deep water and safe
anchorage. Among them I was struck by the appearance of a black hulk,
which lay like a solitary ghost; it contained, as I was told, the
convicts ordered for transportation to Botany Bay; the transport ship
which was to convey them had already arrived. This is no very severe
punishment (deducting sea-sickness), and converts two-thirds of these
criminals into useful citizens. Every government might (according to its
local resources) create a Botany Bay; but it will be long ere the
principle of vengeance is banished from our systems of law or of
religion.
A monument has been erected at the entrance of the harbour, in honour of
the King's memorable visit (memorable, that is, for its disappointing
all hopes and expectations). It is designed and executed with the sort
of taste which seems to lie like a curse on all the public buildings of
Great Britain: it is a small, ridiculous stump of an obelisk, perched on
the corner of a natural rock; it stands on four balls, and looks
precisely as if the first blast of wind would roll it into the sea. One
cannot suppress the wish that this may happen;--the sooner the better.
The royal crown is stuck at the top like a lid on a mustard-pot, and the
whole, contrasted with the noble dimensions of the harbour and
surrounding buildings, is so small and 'mesquin' that it might be taken
for the whim of a private man, but certainly never for a national
monument. Perhaps the architect was a 'mauvais plaisant,' and meant it
satirically:--as an epigram it is deserving of praise.
The road from hence to Dublin is very fine, and covered with riders and
carriages. I wondered not to find it watered, which makes the roads near
London so agreeable. Probably it is only done when the Lord Lieutenant
is here. The dust to-day was almost insufferable, and all the trees
covered as if with chalk.
I returned to Dublin just at the moment of a meeting of the 'Catholic
Association,' and alighted at the door of their house: unfortunately,
however, neither Shiel nor O'Connell was present, so that there was no
great attraction. Heat and bad smells, ('car l'humanité Catholique pûe
autant qu'une autre,) drove me out in a few minutes.
In the evening I was better amused by the performances of some other
charlatans,--a company of English horse-riders who are here. Mr. Adams,
in his way indisputably 'le premier des hommes,' was leader of the
'Academy,' which deserved its name better than some others I could
mention.
It was pleasant to see about twenty elegantly dressed young men, all
moving with nearly equal grace and dexterity--often bewildering the eye
by the artful confusion, the variety, difficulty and extreme rapidity of
their movements, forming a wild dissonance or chaos, and then resolving
this into the most graceful harmony. Still more delightful were two
inimitable clowns, whose limbs were perfectly at their disposal. The one
was excellently supported by his piebald ass, which shamed the noblest
horses in the precision with which he executed his feats; and the other
on an instrument of his own invention, produced a sort of music so truly
mad, that even the mere tones excited resistless laughter.
The performance was closed by a 'pas de deux' of the two clowns, danced
on their hands and feet; the latter cutting capers in the air, while the
former supported the weight of their bodies. Here the human form seemed
obliterated; and the scene, frightful as a tale of Hoffman's, appeared
to the bewildered spectator like the dance of two mad polypi.
[Here some leaves of the correspondence are wanting.]