THE

MONTHLY REVIEW,

For SEPTEMBER, 1811.

ART. 1. Travels through the South of France, and in the Interior of the Provinces of Provence and Languedoc, in the Years 1807 and 1808, by a Route never before performed, being along the Banks of the Loire, the Isere, and the Garonne, through the greater Part of their Course. Made by Permission of the French Government, by Lieut.-Col. Pinkney, of the North American Native Rangers. PP. 282. 11. 5s. Boards. Purdy and

Son.

4to.

FROM ROM investigating the political state of France by the aid of the labours of M. Faber, in our last two numbers, we are led in the present work to the more pleasing task of contemplating its physical aspect, and the manners of its inhabitants in private life. Books of travels in France, which were so frequent in 1802 and 1803, have of late become very rare; and Colonel Pinkney's narrative, though referring to the year 1807, will be found to be one of the latest descriptions of the interior of that kingdom. He travelled not with the eye of a connoisseur in painting or architecture, nor with the desire of admission into fashionable life, but with a wish to form an estimate of the degree of comfort which might be attendant on a family-residence in that country, and perhaps with an intention of adopting it at some period as his own. To those who may entertain a similar project, his journal will afford a variety of useful information; the mode and the expence of living in a middle rank of society being more frequently considered in this than in the generality of books of travels. The accuracy of his report may, with a qualification which we shall point out towards the end of our remarks, be usually trusted; and it will probably be regretted by those on the north side of the Channel, who meditate a residence in France at the return of peace, that he did not visit Upper and Lower Normandy: provinces which, from their contiguity to our coast, from the similarity of climate, and from the cheapness, particularly, of the latter, are likely to be among the first to engage the attention of our countrymen.

VOL. LXVI.

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Colonel

Colonel Pinkney, having long been desirous of visiting France, availed himself of an opportunity in the spring of 1807, and took his passage from Baltimore to Liverpool. After having passed some weeks in travelling through England, he returned to Liverpool, and proceeded in the same vessel to Calais; a circuitous passage which lasted three weeks. It is singular that, when so much pressed for time, and so much disliking & sea-voyage, Mr. Pinkney should not have taken a more direct passage to the French coast, our communication with which was not at that period greatly restricted. The French,' he

says, are beyond all manner of doubt the most good humoured people on the surface of the earth. The English, perhaps, as nationally possessing the more solid virtues, may be the best friends and the most generous benefactors: but as the display of good humour is of frequent occurrence, while that of friendship, in this more exalted acceptation of it, is rare, it is a serious question with me which is the most (more) useful Being in society.' The patience with which the porters, contending for the baggage, allowed themselves to be beaten out of the way by the master of the ship, afforded him a contrast to the resolute independence of our countrymen. Having taken up his quarters at Dessein's celebrated hotel, the author had the satisfaction of finding that it preserved its reputation as well as its name; and he declares it to be the only inn which he found in all France that could enter into any reasonable comparison with the respectable inns of this country. Speaking from useful experience, he advises every traveller to remember that a pair of sheets and a counterpane are as necessary portions of his luggage as a change of shirts.-The crooked streets and wretched pavement of Calais attracted his notice the more forcibly, after his recent visit to England: but provisions, when compared with our side of the Channel, were plentiful and cheap. Fowls were sold for 2s. 6d. the couple; a goose, 2s. 2d. ; beef and mutton, 4 d. per lb.; and lamb about 6d. ; prices which will appear very reasonable to an English reader, but which are much higher than those of the interior of France. The quality of French provisions is in general extremely good, with the exception of beef, which is used chiefly in soups, and is much less an object of attention for the purpose of roasting than it is in England.

Having determined to pursue his journey on horseback, Colonel P. became, for twenty-seven Louis, the proprietor of a Norman horse, which proved a strong and steady companion of his way. These horses will make a stage of thirty miles without a bait, and will eat the coarsest food.' As our traveller advanced along the road, he observed that the cottages had ge

nerally

nerally a walnut or chesnut-tree before them, with a rustic seat, and the sod sufficiently worn to shew that these were the spots appropriated to the favourite amusement of dancing. He entered no house so poor, and met with no inhabitant so inhospitable, as not to allow of his being offered either milk or some sort of wine. On reaching Boulogne, he was gratified with the cleanness of the town, and delighted with the prospect from the amparts, particularly at high water. The view of the harbour satisfied him that it would be on our part an act of madness to attempt any thing against such formidable fortifications; while the miserable appearance of the flotilla convinced him that it would be equally infatuated on the part of the French to meditate the project of crossing the Channel. At Montreuil, Colonel Pinkney witnessed the march of a number of conscripts, whom he represents as extremely young, but not, as we might suppose from M. Faber's late statements, as betraying any aversion to their situation. He says that their merriment and noise were characteristic of the French youth.Pursuing his route towards Paris, he passed successively through the towns of Abbeville and Amiens; of the present condition of which he thus speaks:

Abbeville is a populous but a most unpleasant town.' - The inhabitants are stated to exceed 22,000. The town has a most ruinous appearance, from the circumstance of many of the houses being built with wood; and by the forms of the windows and the doors, some of them must be very ancient. There are two or three manufactories of cloth, but none of them were in a flourishing condition. I saw likewise a manufactory of carpets, which seemed more flourishing. In the cloth manufactory, the earnings of the working manufacturers are about 36 sous per diem (18. 6d.) in the carpet manufactories, somewhat more. The cloths, as far as I am a judge, seemed to me even to exceed those of England; but the carpets are much inferior. From some unaccountable reason, however, the cloths were much dearer than English broad cloth of the same quality. Whence does this happen, in a country where provisions are so much cheaper? Perhaps from the neglect of the sub-division of labour. Abbeville, like all the other principal towns through which I passed, bore melancholy marks of the Revolution. The handsome church which stood in the marketplace is in ruins-scarcely a stone remains on the top of another. Many of the best houses were shut up, and others of the same description, evidently inhabited by people for whom they were not built. In many of them, one room only was inhabited; and in others, the second and third floors turned into granaries.'—

• I reached Amiens about eight o'clock, on the sweetest summer evening imaginable. The aspect of Amiens, as it is approached by the road, resembles Canterbury the cathedral rising above the

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town

town-the town, as it were, gathering around it as its parent and protector. Having ordered my supper, and seen my horse duly provided for, I walked through the town, which is clean, lively, and in many respects resembling towns of the third rate in England.'-'I went to see likewise the Chateau d'Eau, the machine for supplying Amiens with water. There is nothing more than common in it, and the purpose would be answered better by pipes and a steam-engine. It excited one observation which I have since frequently made that the French, with all their parade of science and ostentation of institutions, are still a century behind England in real practical knowledge. My tour in France has at least taught me one lesson-never to be deceived by high-sounding names and pompous designations. I have not visited their schools for nothing. The French talk; the English act. A steady plodding Englishman will build an house, while a Frenchman is laying down rules for it.'

Amiens is most delightfully situated, the country around being Lighly cultivated. It is, in every respect, one of the cleanest towns in France; and the frequent visits and long residence of Englishmen, have produced a very sensible alteration in the manner of living amongst the inhabitants. Though some of the houses are very ancient, and the streets are narrow, it has not the ruinous nor close appearance of the other towns on the Paris road. It has been lately new paved; and there is something of the nature of a parish-rate for keeping it clean, and in summer for watering the streets.'

The effect of the war had been, to raise prices to double their former rate: every one expressed an anxious wish for peace, and imputed the continuance of the war to the English ministry.'

Besides the native inhabitants, there are many foreign residents, and some English. As these are in general in good circumstances, they have usually the best houses in the town, and live in the substantial style of their respective countries. The English denizens very well understand that they are constantly under the eye of the French government, and its spies: they live, therefore, as much as possible in public; and in their balls, and dinners, and entertainments, have a due mixture of French visitants.'

The multitude of people assembled at Amiens from every part of the province, gave me an opportunity of seeing the national costume of the peasantry. The habits of the men did not appear to me so various, and so novel, as those of the women. The greater part of the former had three-cocked hats, some of straw, some of pasteboard, and some of beaver; jackets, red, yellow, and blue; and breeches of the same fancy colours. The women were dressed in a variety both of shape and colour, which defies all description. When seen from a distance, the assembly had a very picturesque appearance: the sun shining on the various colours gave them the appearance of so many flowers.'

On arriving at Paris, the author was received into the house of Mr. Younge, the confidential secretary of the American ambassador, (General Armstrong,) and had the honour of being present at an Imperial levee :- but his object being to see the

country and not the capital of France, a travelling party was soon formed, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Younge, Mrs. Younge's niece, (or sister, for she is called both,) and himself, for the purpose of visiting the banks of the Loire, and proceeding through the Bourbonnois to Lyons and the southward. Col. Pinkney's companions appear to have been of the most agreeable description; although, when he styles the ladies 'the most handsome and amiable in France,' we have not, we con fess, good nature enough to put complete faith in his words. We are disposed either to ascribe these comprehensive epithets to the sanguine and exaggerated tone which is apparent throughout the book, or to regard them as a salvo for the freedom with which the traveller relates, in the course of the journey, anec dotes of his fair companions which are scarcely compatible with the delicacy of friendship. The party set out in a coach, which they afterward exchanged for a kind of open barouche that was particularly adapted for the French cross roads; being very narrow, and composed entirely of cane, with removeable wheels, so as to take to pieces in an instant. Aware that a French innkeeper has no idea of providing a clean table-cloth, and that his guests are generally expected to be the bearers of their bed-linen, Mrs. Younge was careful to make a provision of these important articles, as well as of the not less useful appendages of knives and spoons. Another necessary precaution, on the part of English or American travellers, is to see that the meat or poultry is not over-boiled, over-hashed, or over-roasted. With the benefit of this preliminary information, and the advantage of a very favourable season, Mr. Pinkney and his friends performed a delightful journey through the finest part of France. The banks of the Loire and the adjacent country have long been famed for romantic beauty; and the writer's style discovers, on reaching that quarter, an animation which is not to be found in the earlier part of his work. It was on the road from Chartres to Angers, that he experienced the first effects of a gratification which continued with him during the chief part of his remaining journey:

Throughout the greater part of this road, as well as of that from Angers to Nantes, nothing could be more delightful than the scenery on both sides, and nothing better than the roads. From La Fleche to Angers, and thence to Ancennis, the country is a complete gar .den. The hills were covered with vines; every wood had its chateau, and every village its church. The peasantry were clean and happy, the children chearful and healthy-looking, and the greater part of the younger women spirited and handsome. There was a great plenty of fruit; and as we passed through the villages, it was invariably brought to us, and almost as invariably any pecuniary return refused with a retreating curtsey.'

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• Mauves,