Instructions for strangers; remarks upon the feelings and behaviour
of the lower classes of the Parisians. Political ideas prevailing
in Paris. Observations upon the present statesmen.
There are certain regulations to be observed at Paris which we are not
accustomed to in our own country; on a stranger's arrival he is
conducted to an hôtel, either to that to which he is recommended, or he
fixes upon one of which he hears the most extravagant praises from
persons who attend with cards, and even throw them into the carriage
before it stops; on whichever the traveller may make his selection the
same plan is to be followed, make your arrangement as to price before
you install yourself, either per day, per week, or per month; you may
make your agreement to take your meals from the people of the hôtel, or
to send for it from a restaurateur, or to go and dine at one, as you may
think proper; the latter plan is found the most agreeable for a
stranger, as he sees more of the people by so doing, and can try several
different restaurants, which he will find very amusing, and some of
them, from the beautiful manner of fitting up, are well worth seeing;
the prices vary from a franc to six or seven francs, according to their
celebrity. Every hôtel has a porter, to whom you must give your key
whenever you go out, and then the mistress of the house is answerable
for anything which may be missing, but if you leave your key in the door
whilst you are absent, you cannot make any claim for whatever may have
been lost; at night, on the contrary, after the gates are shut, when you
retire to bed, and you let it remain outside, should anything be stolen,
the mistress is accountable, as it is supposed that when all is closed
in, everything is then under the safeguard of the porter, for whose
conduct the mistress is considered liable. According to the style of the
hôtel in which you take up your abode, the porter will expect
remuneration; at one that is moderate, and not in a first-rate
situation, six sous a day is sufficient, but in most hôtels about the
fashionable quarters half a franc is the usual sum expected; for this
your bed is made, your boots and shoes cleaned, as also your room, and
your clothes brushed; they likewise take in messages or letters, and
answer all enquiries respecting you, direct the visiters to your
apartment, etc., but if you send them out anywhere, no matter how short
the distance, they always charge at least ten sous for it; it is one of
the dearest things I know in France, that of charging for every little
errand or commission.
At some of the hôtels there are commissioners who make offers of their
services, to conduct strangers to different shops or warehouses, for the
purpose of making their purchases, but too much reliance must not be
placed on those gentry, as they often exact contributions from the
shopkeepers for bringing travellers to their shops, when they naturally
must charge so much the more upon the goods in order to pay the
commissioner.
Tradesmen from London particularly are often misled in that manner, but
in proceeding to such establishments as those I have stated, which are
respectable wholesale houses, such as Messrs. Bellart, Louis, Delcambre,
for lace, ribband, and silk, 2ter Rue Choiseul, etc., they will
never be deceived; I will also add another establishment which has
existed for many years and always conducted their business on equitable
terms, being that of M. Langlais-Quignolot, No. 10, Rue Chapon, where he
executes orders for London on a most extensive scale for net gloves,
purses and reticules. He lives in the neighbourhood where many of the
wholesale houses are situated, and would willingly inform any stranger
of the most respectable in the different branches required. The
different articles to be seen at M. Langlais' warehouse are got up in a
most superior style and at prices so reasonable, that it is quite
surprising when compared to the charges made for the same goods in
London, where undoubtedly they have duty and carriage to pay. He has
lately brought into vogue some most beautiful little purses called
Rebecca, being exactly in the form of the pitcher with which she is
represented at the well; their appearance is most ornamental, and
although very small they distend so as to hold as much as most ladies
would like to lose in an evening at cards. M. Langlais has already sent
over numbers to London, which must now be making their appearance in
Regent Street, but I recommend my countrywomen when at Paris to pay him
a visit themselves, as he does not refuse a retail customer although his
is a wholesale house; he has a most extensive assortment of all
varieties of purses and net gloves and reticules, from which numbers of
shops in Paris and London are supplied, and of course being the fountain
head the articles may be procured on advantageous terms of M. Langlais.
There is one precaution I would recommend all travellers to adopt, and
that is always to keep their passports, about them; in case they happen
to pass any exhibition or building that is open to a stranger on
producing his passport, it is well to be provided with it, or if he
should meet with any accident, or that any casuality should occur, it
will always be found useful. When you arrive at the port where you
disembark in coming from England, your passport is taken from you and
sent on to Paris, and what is called a Carte de Sûreté is given you
instead, for which you pay 2 francs; this you must give to the mistress
of the hôtel where you lodge at Paris, and she will procure your
original passport for you from the police, or if you choose you may go
for it yourself, and save the charge of the commissioner who would be
employed to fetch it. In returning to England, you take it to the
English Ambassador's to be signed, and from thence to the police for the
same purpose, but only state that you are going to the port from whence
you are to embark, as if you say that you are going to England they send
you to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for his signature, where there is
a charge of ten francs, which there is not the slightest necessity of
incurring. I have been very often from Paris to London and never paid by
following the plan I have stated, but for a permit to embark there is
always 30 sous to pay, at the port on quitting the country.
In all the diligences throughout France the places are numbered, and he
who comes first has the first choice, in which case most persons choose
No. 1, but others who prefer sitting with their backs to the horses
select No. 3; this excellent regulation prevents any kind of dispute
about seats. If you have much luggage you are required to send it an
hour or so before the coach starts, and in travelling by the Malle-Poste
(or Mail) if your trunk be very large, and weighty, they will not take
it, therefore you must ascertain that point when you take your place; it
is always sent by a diligence which follows, but a delay is occasioned
which sometimes proves inconvenient. The mails are dearer than the
diligence, and some go eleven miles an hour.
With regard to posting, the price is 2 francs each horse for a
miriametre or six miles and a quarter, and as many horses as there are
persons in the carriage must be paid for; 15 sous is what should be
given to the postillion, but most people give a franc. The posting is
entirely in the hands of government, and where the horses are kept is
not always an inn; but wherever it may be, printed regulations are kept
to which the traveller may demand a reference, if he imagine its rules
are not fulfilled. For 4 francs a book may be purchased which gives a
most detailed account of every thing connected with posting; all the
charges must be paid in advance. Coaches may be hired in Paris at from
20 to 30 francs a day, with which you may go into the country, but must
be back before midnight. An excellent and most useful establishment will
be found at No. 49, Rue de Miroménil, Faubourg St. Honoré, called
Etablissement d'Amsterdam, where there are above 300 carriages
constantly kept, either for hire, for sale, or for exchange; it is also
a locality where persons may sell or deposit their carriages for any
period of time they think proper, and can likewise have it repaired if
required; they will besides find every description of harness and
sadlery. Horses also are taken in to keep, or bought or sold. The
establishment is most complete in all its appointments, is very
extensive and kept in the most perfect state of order. There are some
carriages amongst the immense variety that may thoroughly answer the
purpose for travelling, which can be procured at extremely low prices,
whilst others there are, very handsome and perfectly new, which are of
course charged in proportion. The proprietors are extremely civil, and
ever ready to show their premises to any visiter who may wish to see
them.
A fiacre, or hackney coach, is 30 sous each course, for which you may
go from barrier to barrier, which might be five miles; but if you only
go a few yards the price is the same. If you hire it per hour the first
is 45 sous and afterwards 30 sous; after midnight, 2 francs each course
and 3 per hour; a few sous are always given to the coachman, which may
be varied according to the length of the course. Chariots are 25 sous
per course, 35 first hour, afterwards 30. Cabriolets 20 sous the course
and first hour 35, afterwards 30; but as all these prices are subject to
change with new regulations, it is not worth while to give any farther
detail. The General Post-Office is in the Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau, but
there are other places where you may put in your letters for England,
although not many if you wish to pay. In the exchange there is a box for
receiving letters for all parts; and in the square to the left is an
office where you can pay your letter, which is always 40 sous to London
if it be not over weight. Whatever you bring over that is liable to pay
duty at the custom-house, if you take it back with you on your return to
England, on producing the articles and the receipt of what you have
paid, you can reclaim whatever you have disbursed; this particularly
applies to carriages and to plate, only you must not neglect to demand a
receipt at the time you pay, and to take care of it, as I have known
many instances of persons losing them, and then their reclamations are
useless. I have never found them very severe in the custom-houses in
France, but am convinced that the best plan on both sides of the water
is to give your keys to the commissioner of the inn where you put up; by
displaying no anxiety on the subject, the officers conclude that you
have not any thing of importance, and will pass your things over more
lightly than if you were present, as when witnesses are by they like to
preserve the appearance of doing their duty strictly. I have seen some
of the English bluster and go in a passion about having their things
tumbled about, as they expressed it, but it only makes matters worse. I
have known the searchers in those cases to turn a large chest completely
topsy-turvy, so that not a single article has escaped examination, and
the whole has had to be re-packed. It is at best an unpleasant tax upon
travellers, but it is always better policy to submit to it with a good
grace.
The passport is a grievance which is much complained of by Englishmen,
and certainly it does appear an infraction on liberty, that it should
not be possible to go from one part of the country to another, without
having to obtain permission; but it has other advantages: a criminal in
France can very seldom escape; by the regulations of the police it is
almost impossible for them to evade detection, as wherever he sleeps his
passport must be produced, and every master or mistress of every
description of lodging-house is bound to give an account of whatever
stranger sleeps under their roof, to the police, and their officers; or
the gendarmes, are authorised to demand the sight of the passport of any
person whom they may suspect. In England a passport is not so
necessary, because being an island the means of escape are not so easy,
as they must either embark at some port or they must hire a boat on
their own account, or enter into some proceeding which leads to
discovery; and notwithstanding those obstacles to leaving the country,
and the extreme vigilance of our police, felons do very often escape,
and murders remain undiscovered, as those of Mr. Westwood, Eliza
Greenwood, and many others. But those who are invested with authority in
France sustain it with a more courteous demeanour than is the case in
England, consequently it is less offensive. If your passport be asked
for, it is in a polite manner, whereas with the English, give the
butcher or the blacksmith the staff of office as constable, and he
exercises his brief authority very frequently in a manner which is not
the most engaging. Although a _politesse_ and refinement of expression
united with a smutted face, tucked-up sleeves, an apron and rough coarse
hands, has something in it of the ludicrous, yet it softens the
brutality to which uncultivated human nature is ever prone, but
instances of such inconsistencies sometimes occur which cannot otherwise
than excite a smile; a few days since a working man dropped a knife, a
dirty looking boy of about 12 years of age picked it up, and presented
it to the owner, with some degree of grace, saying, "Render unto Cæsar
that which is Cæsar's." Passing through the Rue des Arcis, which is a
mean narrow street, at one of the lowest descriptions of wine-houses
where dancing was going forward, perhaps amongst fishwomen and
scavengers, I noticed a large lantern hanging out over the door, upon
which was inscribed, "Bal séduisant, le Paradis des Dames," which may be
translated, "Seductive Ball, the Paradise of Ladies." The traveller may
remark on the road from Boulogne to Paris and within a few leagues of
the latter, in a small village at a house little better than a hut,
where the insignia of a barber is displayed, a board on which is
written; "Ici on embellit la nature," or "Here we embellish nature."
Even in the lowest classes the French must have a little bit of
sentiment, and amongst them marriages occur principally from affection,
but almost always with the consent of the parents; it is lamentable to
think how many young couples destroy each other because they cannot
obtain the sanction of the father or mother to one of the parties, and
these mistaken lovers really think it less crime to commit suicide than
to marry against the consent of their parents, which they are by law
empowered to do, provided that they have three times made what is called
_les sommations respectueuses_, that is, having three times respectfully
asked their permission, without having obtained which, they cannot marry
if not of age under any circumstances; but when no longer minors, and
that they have conformed to what the law prescribes, they may be united
notwithstanding the opposition of their parents, but it is a case which
scarcely ever occurs. There is much more of family attachments and bond
of union between relations in France than there is with us, and at
marriages, funerals, and baptisms, the most distant cousins are all
brought together to be present at the ceremony, which amongst the higher
and middle classes has rather a pleasing effect; the bride arrayed in a
long white flowing veil decorated with orange flowers has a most
interesting appearance. Before being performed at the church, it must be
registered at the mayoralty.
When any one is deceased, black drapery is hung up outside the house,
and the coffin is brought within sight and burning tapers fixed around
it, and every one who passes takes off his hat, and if he chooses,
sprinkles it with holy water; chaunting over the coffin at the church is
sometimes continued for two hours, and the effect is very impressive.
Wherever the funeral procession proceeds along the streets every one who
meets it takes off his hat; in fact in no country is there more respect
paid to the dead. When a child has lost both its parents, it generally
happens that some relation will take it, even sometimes a second or
third cousin; this will happen often amongst the poorer people, they
hold it as a sort of sacred duty for relations to assist each other, a
feeling that I could wish to see more general in England, as I have
known too many instances where even brothers exhibited instances of
affluence and poverty. In my own neighbourhood, there was a case of a
Mr. N. living in good style, with livery servants, etc., and his own
brother working for him at 1_s._ 8_d._ a day as a common labourer,
although his fall in life had been entirely caused by misfortune and not
by his prodigality or mismanagement; such a circumstance could not have
existed in France; the peasants would have hooted the rich brother every
time he showed his face. The French people are too apt to take those
affairs in their own hands, and express their indignation in no
unmeasured terms. They are very prone to act from the impulse of the
moment, and are easily aroused in any cause where they consider
injustice has been enacted, and many of the persons concerned in the
press are well aware of this, and by most artfully turned arguments they
work up their passions either for or against a party, as circumstances
may render it fitting for their purpose.
But although some of the newspapers have certainly had some fire-brand
articles against England, yet it does not appear to me to have had any
effect of exciting a hatred against the English. I have never seen in
any one instance any manifestation of such a feeling; in fact the French
are much in the habit of separating the government from the people, and
even the most hostile portion of the press observe that there are
amongst the population in England numbers of individuals of the most
exalted characters; hence the French do not consider that the people are
amenable for the faults of their government, and are inclined to imagine
those of every country more or less corrupt. They never had a very
exalted opinion of their own; perhaps the most popular ministry they
have had for the last thirty years was that of M. Martignac, which
Charles X so suddenly dismissed and thereby laid the first foundation
for the glorious three days. With the present government I should say
that the majority of the people appear disposed to be passively
satisfied, not so much from a feeling of approbation of its proceedings,
but fearing that were there a change it might be for the worse; with the
present they have the assurance of peace, and tranquillity, and all
manufacturing and agricultural France know how destructive war would be
to their present prosperity; of this none are more sensible than the
Parisians, as it is really astonishing what sums of money the English
nobility expend even whilst they are residing in England, with the
tradesmen in Paris, principally for articles of art and luxury but also
for a great portion of that which is useful as well as ornamental; and
imagining that many of my readers may have as great an aversion to
copying letters as myself and at the same time be aware of the necessity
under many circumstances of keeping a duplicate, I must not forget to
mention an extremely useful invention which adds another evidence of the
prolific ingenuity of France. It consists in a machine for copying
letters, registers, deeds, or in fact any description of written
document, or stamped, or in relief, by which they can be repeated even a
thousand times if required and in a very short space of time; there have
been many who have attempted to attain the same object and have had a
partial success, but those of M. Poirier, No. 35, Rue du Faubourg St.
Martin, appear to unite advantages which none of the preceding ever
attained. They are called, Presses Auto-Zinco-Graphiques. For the merit
of this invention he has been granted a patent, and awarded a medal by
the Central Jury, appointed to examine the specimens of art and
ingenuity sent to the National Exhibition established for the purpose of
bringing them before the public. For merchants, solicitors, and all
persons keeping several clerks such a machine must be a great
acquisition, as in addition to the copies being effected more rapidly
than would be possible by hand, where there are numbers of letters of
which duplicates are requisite, the labour of one clerk at least must be
saved. M. Poirier has them executed in so beautiful a manner that they
really are quite a handsome piece of furniture, some of which are as
high as 350 fr. but the prices gradually descend to even as low as 10
fr. which are so contrived for travelling that they contain pen, ink and
paper and only weigh one pound. I here subjoin the opinion of the
Central Jury addressed to M. Poirier. "These presses are certainly the
best executed of any which have been exhibited. Their merit consisting
in superior execution, cannot be too much encouraged, as the happiest
ideas often fail in the realisation, therefore that the jury may not be
deficient in recompensing M. Poirier they award him the bronze medal."
All parties regard M. Guizot (Minister of Foreign Affairs) as a talented
man; and one of considerable firmness of character, who unflinchingly
maintains his ground whilst a host are baying at him, appearing as
unmoved as the rock that is pelted by the storm; he seems never taken by
surprise, but is ever ready with such answers and explanations as
generally baffle his accusers; still he cannot be called a popular
minister, because he is known to possess what is called the Anglo-mania,
that is, to have a most decided predilection for everything that is
English, and there is no doubt that he wishes to do all in his power to
conciliate England, without sacrificing the interests and honour of his
country; but in that respect his enemies think that he would not be too
delicate, but is determined to have peace with England _à tout prix_ (at
any price). M. Guizot is a protestant and was a professor in the
University.
His immediate opponent, M. Thiers, has risen to eminence entirely by his
writings; he came to Paris from Aix in Provence (in 1820), and lived in
a room on the fourth floor in the Rue St. Honoré; here he wrote for the
newspapers, but being taken by the hand by M. Lafitte he and his works
speedily rose into notice; it is possible that he may be as anxious for
the welfare of his country as M. Guizot, but would carry things with a
higher hand, and although every one is aware of his extraordinary
abilities, yet the moderate and thinking part of the community remember
how near he was involving France in a war with her most powerful
neighbours, and however they smarted for a time under what they
conceived an affront offered to their country, yet there are very few
now but feel fully sensible of the benefits they derive from the
blessing of peace having been preserved. M. Thiers may be cited as one
of the most animated and effective speakers of any in the Chambers, and
his speeches often display a brilliance, energy, and ardour, which
create a forcible impression, but sometimes betray the orator into hasty
assertions, of which he may afterwards repent, but feeling too much
pride to recant, he prefers standing by the position he had hastily
assumed; consequently, he is then compelled to marshal all his powers of
argument to sustain that which in his own mind he may feel convinced is
erroneous. Yet although many from prudential motives did not approve his
policy, which had nearly involved France in hostility with England, they
rather admired the spirit and susceptibility which he displayed in
resenting the slight with which the French nation had been treated, and
looked upon him as a sort of champion of their cause, so that he may be
rather designated a popular statesman than otherwise, although he was
considered in the wrong on that one point, and the reflexions which he
flung upon England would have passed away as unmerited, and soon sunk
into oblivion, had not a portion of the English press so indulged in
abuse and ridicule of the French at that period, who often remark that
they were subdued by the allies combined, but that it is only the
_English press_ which is as it were triumphing over and insulting them,
by pretending such a superiority in their troops and seamen as to place
those of France in a most contemptible light, whilst all the other
powers, although equally their conquerors, give them credit for being a
brave military nation. I must confess that I have found more liberality
in the French with regard to rendering the merit due to the English
troops, than in any other country, and I remember a work which came out
in Berlin upon military movements, tactics, etc., and in a parenthesis
was this sentence, "It is well known that the English, though excellent
sailors, are inferior as troops to those of the other European powers."
I should have thought that the Prussians who have fought with us would
have known better of what metal English soldiers were composed. But to
return to M. Thiers; I should still say notwithstanding all that has
past, his talents are held in such estimation, that certain changes
might occur which would again place him at the helm of the nation.
Having given a slight sketch of the two political chiefs who as it were
head the most powerful contending parties, I must be still more brief in
my notice of the other statesmen whose names, acts and speeches are
before the public, amongst the most conspicuous of whom is Odilon
Barrot, who is what may be termed decidedly liberal, or in plainer
language radical, and has long sustained his cause with talent, energy,
and consistence; he speaks well and boldly, and has hitherto acted in
that manner which might be expected from the tenor of his speeches;
sometimes however persons become calm, what others would call moderate,
or a slight tint manifests itself in the colour of their politics,
perhaps rendering them more harmonious with the reigning parties, but
which accord not with the ideas of the most staunch advocates of a more
_ultra_ liberal system; this appears to be somewhat the case with M.
Odilon Barrot, whose adherents judge from the support he gave to Thiers,
that he is not so warm in the cause as themselves; however he still may
be considered the chief of that division of the Chamber which he has
always led. M. Mauguin was at one time the most violent of the same
party, but during his visit to St. Petersburg he appears to have had
such an affectionate hug from the Russian Bear, that he has latterly
espoused the cause of Bruin, and would if he could induce France to
throw England overboard altogether, and cast herself entirely into the
arms of Russia.
M. Arago, the celebrated astronomer, has ever proved himself an honest
undeviating radical, both in his speeches and his actions. As an orator,
many give the palm to M. Berryer, but as his party is not numerous,
being carlist, his talents do not receive the general appreciation that
they would, had he attached himself to a more popular cause, but he
deserves much credit for having faithfully and constantly adhered to his
principles. M. Lamartine, the poet, who professes to be independent of
any party, is also a very admired speaker, and so was Sébastiani, but
now he is passing fast into the vale of years, and has lost that spirit
and energy which formerly gave much force to his speeches. M. Molé is
another of those statesmen who has filled the most important political
stations, but now is getting old and more quiet. As to dilating upon the
merits and demerits of those persons who compose the present ministry,
it would be but time lost, as they are so often changed in France that
their brief authority is often _brief_ indeed, and with the exception of
M. Guizot, (who is certainly a host within himself), and Marshal Soult,
there is not any character that is particularly prominent, or remarkable
for any extraordinary talent. The career of the Marshal is, I presume,
well known to most of my readers, and the manner in which he was
received in England proves the degree of estimation in which he was
there held. He was the son of a notary at St. Amand, where he was born
in 1769, being the same year which gave birth to Napoleon, Wellington,
and Mehemet Ali. Admiral Duperré, the Minister of Marine, served with
great credit to himself throughout the war, and commanded the force
which defeated our attempt to take the Isle of France, in 1810, and the
naval portion of the expedition employed in the capture of Algiers, was
placed under his orders. There are yet a good many men whose names have
been long and well known in the political world, who still take a more
or less active part in the affairs of the nation, amongst whom may be
cited the Baron Pasquier, President of the Chamber of Peers; M. Sauzet,
President of the Chamber of Deputies, and the ministers Duchatel for the
interior, Cunin Gridaine for commerce, Teste for public works, and
Lacave Laplagne for finances; to whom may be added the Duke de Broglie,
the Comte Montalivet, Dufaure, Joubert, Salvandy, Delessert, Isambert,
Ganneron, etc., also the brothers Dupin, the eldest highly celebrated as
an avocat, and the younger (Charles), for his writings upon the naval
department, upon statistics in general, and a very clever work upon
England. Amongst the extreme radicals, Ledru Rollin may be cited,
General Thiard, Marie, a barrister of rising talent, and a young man
named Billaud, who is coming forward, and considered to be rather a
brilliant speaker. The foregoing names include several men who have had
much experience, and possess moderate abilities, merely passable as
orators, but having a fair practical knowledge of political business,
but not men of exalted genius, or such whose names will be likely to
figure in the page of history; perhaps it may be with truth said, that
the best statesman France now possesses, or even ever has possessed, is
the King, it being very doubtful whether any of his ministers, or indeed
any member of either of the chambers, is blest with that deep
discernment and profound knowledge of human nature which he has
displayed, by the correctness of his calculations upon the pulses of his
subjects, under the most trying difficulties, and which have enabled him
to weather the storm.