A Trip to Paris in July and August 1792 Part 1

A Trip to Paris in July and August 1792.

by Richard Twiss.

ROAD FROM CALAIS. UNNECESSARY Pa.s.sPORTS. CHANTILLY.

THE following excursion was undertaken for several reasons: the first of which was, that though I had been many times in Paris before, yet I had not once been there since the Revolution, and I was desirous of seeing how far a residence of a few years in France might be practicable and agreeable; secondly, a Counter-Revolution, or, at least, some violent measures were expected, and I was willing to be there at the time, if possible; and lastly, I wanted to examine the gardens near Paris.

I must here premise that I sent for a pa.s.sport from the Secretary of State's office, which I knew could do no harm if it did no good, thinking I should have it for nothing, and obtained one signed by Lord Grenville, but at the same time a demand was made for _two guineas and sixpence_ for the fees; now, as I have had pa.s.sports from almost all the European nations, _all and every one_ of which were _gratis_, I sent the pa.s.s back; it was however immediately returned to me, and I was told that, "A pa.s.sport is never issued from that office without that fee, even if the party asking for it changes his mind." _I paid the money, and that is all I shall say about the matter._

_Mr. Chauvelin_ (the minister from France) sent me his pa.s.s _gratis_; those which I afterwards received in Paris from _Lord Gower_, and the very essential one from _Mr. Petion_, were likewise _gratis_.

That of _Mr. Chauvelin_ has at the top a small engraving of three _Fleurs de Lys_ between two oak branches, surmounted by a crown: at the bottom is another small engraving, with his cypher F. C. it was dated London, _17th_ July, 1792, 4th year of Liberty.

_No pa.s.sport of any kind is necessary to enter France._ At Calais one was given to me by the magistrates, mentioning my age, stature, complexion, &c. and this would have been a sufficient permit for my going out of France by sea or by land, if the disturbances in Paris, of the 10th of August, had not happened.

I embarked at Dover on the 25th July, at one in the afternoon, and landed at Calais after a pleasant pa.s.sage of three hours and a half.

I immediately procured a national c.o.c.kade, which was a silk ribband, with blue, white, and red stripes; changed twenty guineas for forty livres each, in paper, (the real value is not more than twenty-five livres) hired a _cabriolet_, or two wheeled post-chaise of _Dessin_, (which was to take me to Paris, and bring me back in a month) for three _louis d'ors_ in money, bought a post-book, drank a bottle of Burgundy, and set off directly for _Marquise_ (about fifteen miles) where I pa.s.sed the night.

The next day, 26th, I proceeded only to _Abbeville_, and it was ten at night when I got there, because a gentleman in the chaise with me, and another gentleman and his wife, who had not been in France before, and who accompanied us all the way to Paris, wished to see Boulogne. We accordingly walked round the ramparts, and then went on.

The 27th we remained a few hours at _Amiens_, and saw the cathedral and the engine which supplies the city with water, called _La Tour d'Eau_.

We slept at _Breteuil_ which is a paltry town (_Bourg_.)

The 28th. We were five hours occupied in seeing _Chantilly_. This palace is the most magnificent of any in Europe, not belonging to a sovereign.

In the cabinet of natural history, which has lately been very considerably augmented, by the addition of that of _Mr. Valmont de Bomare_ (who arranged the whole) I observed the _foetus_ of a whale, about fourteen inches long, preserved in spirits; and the skin of a wolf stuffed. I saw this identical wolf at _Montargis_, a palace beyond _Fontainebleau_, in 1784, soon after it had been shot. The carp came, as usual, to be fed by hand. Some of them are said to have been here above a century. As to the gardens, they are well known; all that I shall say is, that they do not contain a single curious tree, shrub, or flower. We hired a landau, at the inn, to drive us about these gardens, and in the evening proceeded to _St. Denis_, which is only a single post from Paris, where we remained, as it would not have been so convenient to seek for a lodging there at night.

The next day, Sunday 29th, early in the morning, we entered Paris, and put up at the _Hotel d'Espagne_, _Rue du Colombier_, and in the evening went to the opera of _Corisandre_.

EXPENCES.

THE whole expences of our journey from Calais to Paris was as follows.

The distance is thirty-four posts and a half, the last of which must be paid double.[1] The two chaises were each drawn by two horses, at 30 sous per horse, and 20 sous to each postillion per post, is 35 and half posts, at eight _livres_, is _Livres_ 284.

[Note 1: A post is about two leagues, or between four and six miles, as the posthouses are not exactly at the same distance from each other.]

Greasing the wheels and extra gratifications to drivers, about 32

The fees for seeing _Chantilly_, including the hire of a carriage, 24

Inns on the road, four days and four nights, about 200 ------ _._ 540

This, at 40 livres per guinea, amounts to thirteen guineas and a half; to which must be added, for the hire of the two chaises to Paris, three _Louis_ in money, adequate to three pounds sterling, which altogether does not amount to four guineas each person, travelling post above two hundred miles, and faring sumptuously on the road, drinking Burgundy and Champagne, and being as well received at the inns as if the expences had been quadrupled. One hot meal a day, at three _livres_ a head, one _livre_ for each bed, and the wine paid for apart, was the customary allowance. After this manner I have travelled several times all over France, to _Bourdeaux_, _Toulouse_, _Montpelier_, _Ma.r.s.eille_, _Toulon_, _Hieres_, _Avignon_, _Lyon_, _&c._

Had the exchange been at par, the expence would have been doubled, in English money; but even then would have been very reasonable, compared to the cost of a similar journey in England.

At Paris I received 42 livres 15 sous for each guinea; soon after which I was paid forty-two livres for every pound sterling which I drew on London: on my return to Calais I found the exchange to be forty-four livres per guinea, and once it was as high as forty-nine. This, of course, very much injures the trade between England and France; but, for the same reason, English families residing in France at present, more than double their income, by drawing bills on London for such income, and it will probably be many years before the exchange will be at _par_ again.

MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. CHESSMEN. TREE OF LIBERTY.

CRUCIFIXES,VIRGINS. SAINTS. BISHOPS. OLD WOMEN, &C.

THE whole way from Calais to Paris the land was in the highest state of cultivation.

The sandy soil near the gates of Calais abounded with the _Chelidonium Glaucium_, or common yellow horned poppy.

The first vines on this road are about a mile on this side of Breteuil.

Between St. Just and Clermont is a magnificent _chateau_ and garden belonging to the _ci-devant Duc de Fitzjames_: this seat has never been described; it is not shewn to strangers at present, as the proprietor is emigrated.

The country all around Chantilly, consists of cornfields; formerly it appeared barren, because the immense quant.i.ty of game which infested and over-ran it devoured all the crops and ruined the farmers, who were sent to the gallies if they shot a bird.

I pa.s.sed this way in 1783 and 1784, and saw vast numbers of pheasants, partridges, and hares cross the road, and feed by the side of it, as tame as poultry in a farm-yard; but at present the game is all destroyed; neither are there any more wild boars in the forest, which is of 7600 acres. These animals still inhabit the forest of _Fontainebleau_. This forest (which covers almost four times as much ground as that of _Chantilly_)[2] contains a greater number of trees, of a more enormous size, than I have seen in any other part of Europe, growing amongst rocks and stones equally remarkable for their dimensions. I know not of any parallel to the _sublime-beautiful_, and to the wild and romantic grandeur of the scenery here displayed. The landscapes of _Salvator Rosa_ appear to have been taken from natural objects, similar to those which are here seen. It is only forty miles from Paris.

[Note 2: It is about five square miles, or rather, eight miles in length from two to four miles in breadth.]

In the treasury of the Abbey at _St. Denis_ were formerly preserved the Chess-men of _Charlemagne_; these I described in the first volume of _Chess_, published in 1787; they are now either _stolen or strayed_, and will probably never more be heard of.

All the horses (many of which were stone-horses) we had occasion to make use of along this road were very gentle, and so were the cattle which were feeding on the gra.s.s growing on the borders of the cornfields, (without any inclosure) which they were prevented from entering by a string tied to their horns, one end of which was sometimes held by a child of five or six years old. The people here are very merciful and kind to their beasts. I have seen droves of oxen walking leisurely through the green markets in the cities, smelling at the vegetables, and driven to the slaughter-house by children. There are no instances here of mad oxen, mad dogs, or run-away horses.

In every one of the towns between Calais and Paris a full-grown tree (generally a poplar) has been planted in the market-place, with many of its boughs and leaves; these last being withered, it makes but a dismal appearance; on the top of this tree or pole is a red woollen or cotton night-cap, which is called the _Cap of Liberty_, with streamers about the pole, of red, blue and white ribbands.

I saw several statues of saints, both within and without the churches (and in Paris likewise) with similar caps, and several crucifixes with the national c.o.c.kade of ribbands tied to the left arm of the image on the cross, but not one with the c.o.c.kade in its proper place; the reason of which I know not.

I was both surprised and sorry to see the wooden images, many of them as large as the life, on crosses, painted with the natural colours, to the amount of perhaps twenty between _Calais_ and _Paris_, still suffered to remain nuisances on the side of the road. The _perpendicular_ of each cross being seasoned, by having been exposed many years to the open air, might make a couple of excellent pike staves;[3] but the remainder would, as far as I know, be of no other use than for fuel.

[Note 3: This was written after I had become familiarized to pikes.]

Another absurdity which has not been attended to as yet is, that most of the almanacks, even that which is prefixed to Mr. _Rabaut's_ Account of the Revolution, contains against every day in the year, the name of some saint or other, male or female; some of them martyrs, and others not, others archangels, angels, arch-bishops, bishops, popes, and virgins, to the number of twenty-four, and of these, four were martyrs into the bargain; and this at a time when churches are selling by auction and pulling down, when the convents are turned into barracks, when there is neither monk nor nun to be seen in the kingdom, nor yet any _Abbe_, and when no priest dares appear in any sacerdotal garment, or even with any thing which might mark him as an ecclesiastic. It must however be acknowledged, that the saints have lost all their credit in France, and of course so have the _Bienheureux_, or _Blessed_. In order to arrive at saint-hood, the candidate must first have died _en odeur de Saintete_, which, were it not too ludicrous, might be translated _smelling of holiness_; he was then created a _Bienheureux_, and after he had been dead a century, the pope might canonize him if he pleased; after which he, the saint, might work miracles if he could, or let it alone.

France formerly contained eighteen arch-bishop.r.i.c.ks, and one hundred and thirteen bishop.r.i.c.ks; the _Arch ones_ are all abolished, and likewise forty-seven of the others; there are, however, plenty remaining, no less than seventy-three, which includes seven new ones, and one in _Corsica_.

The churches in Paris are not much frequented on the week days, at present; I found a few old women on their knees in some of them, hearing ma.s.s; and, at the same time, at the other end of one of these churches commissaries were sitting and entering the names of volunteers for the army.

The iron rails in the churches which part the choir from the nave, and also those which encompa.s.s chapels and tombs, are all ordered to be converted into heads for pikes.

On Sundays, before the 19th of August, the churches were still resorted to, but by no means crowded; I know not whether this be the case now.

All the _jours de fete_, holidays, are very judiciously abolished, and likewise _les jours gras, et maigres_, (Flesh and meagre days.)