Читать книгу A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Complete - Charlotte Biggs - Страница 57

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"And you may go by Beauvais if you will, for which reaſon many go by Beauvais;" and the ſtranger who turns out of his road to go by Soiſſons, muſt uſe the ſame reaſoning, for the conſciouſneſs of having exerciſed his free agency will be all his reward for viſiting Soiſſons. This, by the way; for my journey hither not being one of curioſity, I have no right to complain; yet ſomehow or other, by aſſociating the idea of the famous Vaſe, the ancient reſidence of the firſt French Kings, and other circumſtances as little connected as theſe I ſuppoſe with modern hiſtory, I had ranked Soiſſons in my imagination as one of the places I ſhould ſee with intereſt. I find it, however, only a dull, decent-looking town, tolerably large, but not very populous. In the new diviſion of France it is the capital of the department De l'Aiſne, and is of courſe the ſeat of the adminiſtration.

We left Peronne early, and, being ſo fortunate as to encounter no accidental delays, we arrived within a league of Soiſſons early in the afternoon. Mad. de F____, recollecting an acquaintance who has a chateau not far out of our road, determined to ſtop an hour or two; for, as ſhe ſaid, her friend was ſo "fond of the country," ſhe ſhould be ſure to find him there. We did, indeed, find this Monſieur, who is ſo "fond of the country," at home, extremely well powdered, dreſſed in a ſtriped ſilk coat, and engaged with a card party, on a warm afternoon on the third of Auguſt.—The chateau was ſituated as a French chateau uſually is, ſo aſ to be benefited by all the noiſes and odours of the village—built with a large ſingle front, and a number of windows ſo judiciouſly placed, that it muſt be impoſſible either to be cool in ſummer or warm in winter.

We walked out after taking ſome coffee, and I learned that this lover of the country did not keep a ſingle acre of land in his own hands, but that the part immediately contiguous to the houſe was cultivated for a certain ſhare of the profit by a farmer who lives in a miſerable looking place adjoining, and where I ſaw the operations of the dairy-maid carried on amidſt pigs, ducks, and turkeys, who ſeemed to have eſtabliſhed a very familiar acceſs.

Previous to our arrival at Soiſſons, the Marquiſe (who, though ſhe doeſ not conſider me as an ariſtocrate, knows I am by no means a republican,) begged me to be cautious in expreſſing my ſentiments, as the Comte de ____, where we were going, had embraced the principles of the revolution very warmly, and had been much blamed by his family on this account. Mad. de F____ added, that ſhe had not ſeen him for above a year, but that ſhe believed him ſtill to be "extremement patriote."

We reached Mons. de ____'s juſt as the family were ſet down to a very moderate ſupper, and I obſerved that their plate had been replaced by pewter. After the firſt ſalutations were over, it was ſoon viſible that the political notions of the count were much changed. He is a ſenſible reflecting man, and ſeems really to wiſh the good of his country. He thinks, with many others, that all the good effects which might have been obtained by the revolution will be loſt through the contempt and hatred which the republican government has drawn upon it.

Mons. de ____ has two ſons who have diſtinguiſhed themſelves very honourably in the army, and he has himſelf made great pecuniary ſacrifices; but this has not ſecured him from numerous domiciliary viſitſ and vexations of all kinds. The whole family are at intervals a little penſive, and Mons. de ____ told us, at a moment when the ladies were abſent, that the taking of Valenciennes had occaſioned a violent fermentation at Paris, and that he had ſerious apprehenſions for thoſe who have the miſfortune to be diſtinguiſhed by their rank, or obnoxiouſ from their ſuppoſed principleſ—that he himſelf, and all who were preſumed to have an attachment to the conſtitution of eighty-nine, were much more feared, and of courſe more ſuſpected, than the original ariſtocrateſ—and "enfin" that he had made up his mind a la Francaiſe to the worſt that could happen.

I have juſt run over the papers of the day, and I perceive that the debates of the Convention are filled with invectives againſt the Engliſh. A letter has been very opportunely found on the ramparts of Liſle, which is intended to perſuade the people that the Britiſh government haſ diſtributed money and phoſphoric matches in every town in France—the one to provoke inſurrection, the other to ſet fire to the corn.* You will conclude this letter to be a fabrication, and it is imagined and executed with ſo little ingenuity, that I doubt whether it will impoſe on the moſt ignorant of the people for a moment.

* "The National Convention, in the name of violated humanity, denounces to all the world, and to the people of England in particular, the baſe, perfidious, and wicked conduct of the Britiſh government, which does not heſitate to employ fire, poiſon, aſſaſſination, and every other crime, to procure the triumph of tyranny, and the deſtruction of the rights of man." (Decree, 1ſt Auguſt, 1793.)

The Queen has been tranſferred to the Conciergerie, or common priſon, and a decree is paſſed for trying her; but perhaps at this moment (whatever may be the reſult hereafter) they only hope her ſituation may operate aſ a check upon the enemy; at leaſt I have heard it doubted by many whether they intend to proceed ſeriouſly on this trial ſo long threatened.— Perhaps I may have before noticed to you that the convention never ſeemed capable of any thing great or uniform, and that all their proceedingſ took a tinge from that frivolity and meanneſs which I am almoſt tempted to believe inherent in the French character. They have juſt now, amidſt a long ſtring of decrees, the objects of which are of the firſt conſequence, inſerted one for the deſtruction of all the royal tombſ before the tenth of Auguſt, and another for reducing the expences of the King's children, particularly their food, to bare neceſſaries. Had our Engliſh revolutioniſts thus employed themſelves, they might have expelled the ſculptured Monarchs from the Abbey, and waged a very ſucceſſful war on the admirers of Gothic antiquity; but neither the Stuarts, nor the Catholic religion, would have had much to fear from them.

We have been wandering about the town all day, and I have not remarked that the ſucceſſes of the enemy have occaſioned any regret. When I waſ in France three years ago, you may recollect that my letters uſually contained ſome relation of our embarraſſment and delays, owing to the fear and ignorance of the people. At one place they apprehended the introduction of foreign troopſ—at another, that the Comte d'Artois waſ to burn all the corn. In ſhort, the whole country teemed with plots and counterplots, every one of which was more abſurd and inexplicable than thoſe of Oates, with his whole tribe of Jeſuits. At preſent, when a powerful army is invading the frontiers, and people have not in many places bread to eat, they ſeem to be very little ſolicitous about the former, and as little diſpoſed to blame the ariſtocrates for the latter.

It is really extraordinary, after all the pains that have been taken to excite hatred and reſentment againſt the Engliſh, that I have not heard of a ſingle inſtance of their having been inſulted or moleſted. Whatever inconveniencies they may have been ſubjected to, were acts of the government, not of the people; and perhaps this is the firſt war between the two nations in which the reverſe has not been the caſe.

I accompanied Mad. de ____ this afternoon to the houſe of a rich merchant, where ſhe had buſineſs, and who, ſhe told me, had been a furious patriot, but his ardour is now conſiderably abated. He had juſt returned from the department, [Here uſed for the place where the public buſineſs is tranſacted.] where his affairs had led him; and he aſſureſ us, that in general the agents of the republic were more inacceſſible, more inſolent, corrupt, and ignorant, than any employed under the old government. He demurred to paying Mad. de ____ a ſum of money all in aſſignats a face;* and this famous patriot would readily have given me an hundred livres for a pound ſterling.

* Aſſignats a face—that is, with the King's effigy; at this time greatly preferred to thoſe iſſued after his death.

We ſhall return to Peronne to-morrow, and I have availed myſelf of the hour between cards and ſupper, which is uſually employed by the French in undreſſing, to ſcribble my remarks. In ſome families, I ſuppoſe, ſupping in diſhabille is an arrangement of oeconomy, in others of eaſe; but I always think it has the air of preparation for a very ſolid meal; and, in effect, ſupping is not a mere ceremony with either ſex in this country.

I learnt in converſation with M. de ____, whoſe ſons were at Famars when the camp was forced, that the carnage was terrible, and that the loſs of the French on this occaſion amounted to ſeveral thouſands. You will be informed of this much more accurately in England, but you will ſcarcely imagine that no official account was ever publiſhed here, and that in general the people are ignorant of the circumſtance, and all the diſaſters attending it. In England, you have oppoſition papers that amply ſupply the omiſſions of the miniſterial gazettes, and often dwell with much complacence on the loſſes and defeats of their country; here none will venture to publiſh the leaſt event which they ſuppoſe the government wiſh to keep concealed. I am told, a leading feature of republican governments is to be extremely jealous of the liberty of the preſs, and that of France is, in this reſpect, truly republican.—Adieu.