August 1821
VILLE D'AVRY
August 4th.—We drove out this evening to Ville d'Avry. This drive is the prettiest I saw about Versailles; there are woody banks and paths, more like England. It was late when we reached the village, but there was a clear, bright moon; and a woody hill with a house on the top, looked exceedingly pretty in the moonlight. There was also a house under a woody bank covered with vines; and a man was standing on a ladder pruning them. This place is beautiful; more like what I had imagined France. We got out of the carriage to see it plainer.
KING AND WATERS
August 6th.—We were told this morning that the King and Prince Leopold were expected at Versailles. Quantities of troops passed our windows in their way to the Avenue Trianon, where the King was to review them. There were some La Roche Jacquellines on black horses. At about twelve o'clock we went (along with Mr. and Mrs. Spurrier) to Neptune's Bath, near which the King was to pass. The women charged a franc apiece for our chairs. There were rows of soldiers behind the trees. There was a great quantity of people around Neptune's Bath; there seemed to be nearly all Versailles.[40]
There were several carriages waiting for the King in case it should rain, etc.; one of them was gold and red, very gaudy-looking. A carriage came on first before the King. When the King came, one needed four eyes: to look at the King on one side and round to Neptune's Bath at the other, for as soon as ever he came the waters began to play like fairy-work. The water shot out of each vase, Neptune's horses spouted, and the whole water seemed covered with spouts and cascades. In the first open carriage was the King, the Duchess d'Angoulême, Monsieur, and the Duchess de Berri. Prince Leopold did not come. Several carriages followed with attendants. The King is a very fat, contented-looking man. As soon as the carriages had passed the waters stopped. It was an extremely pretty sight. The King went on to the Trianons and stayed there for a long while. When he returned the waters played again. They came back with large bunches of flowers in each carriage. We saw great numbers of the soldiers returning. Although the waters played for so short a time, some of the pipes burst. It costs 1200 francs every time the great waters play. The restaurateurs make a great deal of money when they play, as it brings numbers of people from Paris. About a week before this the restaurateurs caused it to be put in the newspapers that the great waters were to play; and this brought a great many people, who found to their disappointment that it was all false.
GARDE ROYALE. INFANTERIE CHASSEUR, IER RÉGIMENT
SÈVRE
August 7th.—A very honest man with a voiture was to come for us from Abbeville, and then we were to go home. We expected him on Thursday, but to our great joy he came to-day, two days sooner than was expected. The whole house was in confusion; I was so delighted that I hardly knew what to do. We set off directly to see the china manufactory at Sèvre. The day was very fine, and we had a most pleasant ride. The rooms in which the china was were up a long pair of stairs. In the first room there was nothing but plain white china: the plates are a franc apiece. There were beautiful large painted vases, some with landscapes on them, some purple, and others brown. Very pretty white baskets of flowers; three little children under lace veils made of white biscuit china. Curious-shaped salt-cellars; an inkstand the shape of a boat, etc.; several pictures, one of the King, the Duchesse d'Angoulême, Sappho, etc.; beautiful cups with humming-birds painted on them; a set of plates with flowers, jonquils, polyanthuses, etc., on them; another set with roses, and another with vegetables, with their names marked in gold; Bacchus and Ceres in a car drawn by bulls ornamented with wreaths of gold flowers—the figures are white; a set of plates with Eastern pictures on them, and another with birds beautifully painted. There are several very large vases: one with a purple ground that cost 27,000 francs. There is a large china table on which Minerva is represented presenting the Louvre and other galleries to France. Another table, on which there are different palaces, cost 35,000 francs. There were also some very pretty white ornaments, with cones on the top and baskets of grapes about them. On one plate there is a view of Windsor, and on another General —— drowning in a river in Egypt.
THE SHEPHERD OF THE ANDALUSIAN SHEEP ([p. 151]).
THE VIRGIN IN THE CHURCH OF ST. REMIS [(p. 173]).
BEGGAR WOMAN IN A BOWER OF DEAD LEAVES ([p. 170]).
DANCING UPON STILTS ([p. 167]).
PRIESTS CARRYING THE HOST TO SICK PEOPLE ([p. 155]).
The man told us that china was much cheaper than formerly. There was a transparency in the window; and some round pieces of glass on which were feathers, flowers, sea-weeds, etc., made in the shape of birds. From Sèvres we drove to St. Cloud. We could not go in front of the palace because the King was there. I did not think it pretty; there were a number of stalls and shops near it which did not look well. There were a great many guards. We returned home by Ville Daure, a very pretty drive. As soon as we got home the whole house was in a bustle, as we were to set off next morning. We had shoes to buy, calls to make, bills to pay, clothes to get from the washerwoman's, masters to pay, gowns to get from Mademoiselle Bouillet, and things to pack up. In the midst of all this bustle, Nannette, who had gone up to Paris, had not returned when she promised, so we left Versailles without her knowing it. We tasted some green almonds at dessert, which were tasteless and insipid. The servants packed till two o'clock in the morning; they got the clothes from the wash at twelve at night. All was confusion, but every person was merry. It was the happiest day we spent in France. I went to bed with delight, happy to think it was the last night I should sleep at Versailles.
WEDNESDAY
August 8th, 1821.—We had a cool but pleasant day to begin our journey. Miss Wragge did not get her gown from Mademoiselle Bouillet till we were all in the carriage, and she declared she would not go without it, and told the man to drive off. At last after great bustling we set off at eleven o'clock; papa, mamma, Catherine and Caroline went before in the carriage, the rest of us went in the voiture. I never felt so little regret at leaving a place. I looked with joy at the houses and people, glad to think I should see them no more. We sang most part of the way. At a distance we saw the convent of St. Cyr. We passed the very long, fine aqueduct of Marli, and a small one further on. About here it was pretty country; there were a good many vineyards and orchards in corn. We had a view of Mount Calvary; near which we saw a set of gypsies by the side of the road. We then saw the Seine running through a pretty valley; and numerous vineyards continued to St. Germains, about which the country is pretty and well wooded. We stopped for some time at Poissy while the man rested his horses. The house was like a public-house, but the mistress was a civil little woman. There was a cloth on the table on which was some Gruyère cheese, a loaf of bread and some pears; we took the pears, which were very good: she charged a franc. She told us that an English lady had been staying there a month. There was a pretty view out of the window. We walked along beside the river, and got a nice view from the bridge; there were a number of washer-women beating their clothes, and the water was white with soap-suds. After we had left Poissy we saw several horses carrying corn; their backs being hung with sheaves in a very curious manner. The corn about here did not look good. There was a good deal of asparagus; in some places there were alternate rows of corn and asparagus. The man who drove us sang most of the time, and altered his voice: he had been in England, and he said that when he came back to France he could not persuade the people that in England it took only one man to shoe a horse. He had an English dog with him, which he said understood English, French, and Spanish. The name of the man was Jean de Grange. Here the country was not so pretty, as there are no hedges; the patches of corn and grass looked just like ribbons, particularly on the side of a hill. We reached Mantes in the evening. After crossing two bridges we saw a curious old church. The river looked full of soap; I think the water must be very unwholesome considering the quantity of soap which goes into it. We went to Hôtel du Grand Cerf. The floor of the parlour was boarded, and there were two vases full of artificial flowers; the people of the inn were civil. Two of our beds were in the parlour, from which they were divided by doors that shut like a closet.
August 9th.—We set off at a quarter to six. There were a few vineyards, but the country was not pretty as far as Châlons. The banks of the Seine are quite lovely, and the river looks well here, as there are several islands in it. We saw a boat full of cattle going across the river. There are a good many houses and vineyards on the banks. Further on there were rows of walnut and plum trees by the roadside, which looked very pretty. The corn looked fine, but very much laid. There were not any animals, except here and there a skinny cow tethered by the roadside. We breakfasted at Vernon. The room we were in was very shabby. In one corner of a room we passed through there was a queer jug—a boy sitting across a barrel. They brought us in an odd-looking teapot; the water was smoked, as the tea-kettle had no lid, and the tea tasted like herbs and water; the milk too was thymy, the butter bad, and the bread sour. We had been told that in this part of the country chickens were fourpence a pair; the woman here told us that they were three francs and a half. It was at Vernon we saw a man sitting at the door eating a raw artichoke and oil. After leaving Vernon there came on a heavy shower of rain. We saw several men mowing the corn. When it was fair, we got out at a cottage to gather some plums; the man shook the tree, and we picked up those that fell; we gave him half a franc, with which he seemed satisfied. We walked up a hill where we saw several butterflies; some with black and yellow striped upper wings, and under wings the colour of a dead leaf. There were rows of apple and pear trees; we picked up a few apples and pears which were not ripe; the apples were like alum and the pears like stone. The country was here much prettier: it was more like England; we even saw a few flocks of sheep, but they did not seem to get much: in one place they were eating the earth. As we were walking up the hill an old woman came to beg; the driver offered her a card of an inn, which he told her was a Bank of England note: she did not, however, take it, but turned away. There were several crucifixes in the villages and at the side of the road. The women about here had generally short petticoats, and very high caps. The babies were wrapped up in swaddling-clothes, like mummies. We stopt at Louviers. The inn was very poor and shabby. The mistress had on a curious cap with long muslin lappets. While dinner was preparing we walked through the town. We went into a curious old cathedral, where were several figures with candles burning before them, and some Virgins dressed with little veils, artificial flowers, etc. There were a great many people kneeling down and repeating prayers. We went into a shop to look for some caps, but they asked a great deal for the commonest, so we did not buy them. The women here all wore the high caps. There was one little boy with long flaxen hair, and the lady who was with him took off his velvet cap to shew us his hair. On our way home we saw the same man and boys dancing upon stilts that I had seen at Paris: there was a great crowd round them, and a woman went about collecting money, saying, 'Encouragez la petite famille.' When we reached the inn dinner had been ready some time. As soon as we had dined we continued our journey. We passed Pont Large in going out of the town. The country was beautiful, and we had another view of the Seine; they were making hay on one of the islands. Our eyes were quite refreshed by seeing two or three green fields hedged in, with a few cows feeding in them. Certainly if any person wished to have a pleasant impression of France they ought to come this way: it is beyond comparison prettier than the Calais road; the banks of the Seine are so beautiful. Near Rouen there is a chalk rock and several caverns with people living in them; and we had another beautiful view of the river. It was dark when we reached Rouen. It is an old, ugly town, but there appeared to be some good shops. We stopped at the Custom-house (there were a number of ships near it): they did not examine our trunks, but sent a person on to the inn with us. We went to the Hôtel de Normandie, which was all in confusion; the father of the people there was just dead: their mother had been dead two years. When papa and mamma asked what we could have for dinner, they said anything; after it was ordered, however, they brought in only very few of the things and said the table d'hôte had eaten it all: and then they brought in two raw pigeons and asked if we would like to have them dressed. One of the hotel servants had been at Brighton, and she said she was very sorry to leave England, and was going to try to get there again. She spoke English tolerably.
LOUVIERS WOMAN
August 10th.—Before breakfast we went to see the Church of St. Ouen, where there is a beautiful wheel-window over the organ. One of the churches here is like a coach-house. We set off again at nine. The streets we passed through were extremely narrow and dirty, and the town looked very busy, particularly about the shipping and river.[41] We had a fine view of a hill just out of the town. There were a few hedges here. We saw a coffin covered with black and white velvet on some chairs before a door, with several candles burning round it, and a procession of priests and boys with crucifixes at a distance. As we were walking up a hill we saw an old beggar woman sitting by the roadside in a bower of dead leaves: her petticoat was covered with patches of all colours; she begged of us as we went past. We also saw two very curious figures with gilt caps and red cloaks. We did not see near so many beggars this way as we did on the Calais road. We stopped at Tôtes, where we dined. Before dinner we walked out past a long building; we asked some women what it was: they told us it was a corn-market, which belonged to Madame D'Ossonval seigneur du village. We got sugared peas, etc., for dinner. After Tôtes, the country was pretty: there were hedges like England. A good many of the people here (especially the old women) wore ugly cotton caps and ribbons and crosses. We walked up a hill near Dieppe. I almost strained my eyes to see the sea; it was what I had wished to see for a long time; at last, when we had reached the top of a hill, we had a view of the sea and of Dieppe. We went to Taylor's English hotel. Out of the window of the sitting-room you look upon the ships: it is close to the harbour. This day we saw none of the curious caps we had heard about.
OLD WOMAN WITH A COTTON CAP
August 11th.—After breakfast we went into the market, where we saw quite as curious figures as we had expected. Some of the caps had lappets like butterflies' wings, and large bunches of hair turned up behind. We saw some of the hair hanging at a shop-door: it was coarse like horse-hair. A number of the people were dressed in black. We saw three women, like a mother and her daughters, coming in to market with baskets on their arms. They had on black gowns, aprons, and handkerchiefs; caps, the lappets of which blew out with the wind and showed a great bunch of hair; and gold ornaments about their necks. There was one woman selling fruit who had on a very curious cap: the frame was made of pasteboard, and the front of it covered with gold, silver, spangles, tinsel, etc.; round the top there was a long piece of muslin which hung almost to the ground. The women we saw in the market had their lappets pinned up. Some of the old women had on cotton caps. We passed several shops (in our way to the market) full of little ivory ships and figures beautifully cut. We walked up to the castle, from which we saw the whole of the town. We afterwards went on the cliffs on the outside of the castle, from which we had a view of the sea with several boats on it. A woman came and spoke to us about a house which she had to let; she spoke very bad French: she called cinquante 'shinquante.' I could hardly understand the Dieppe people; they spoke so much through their noses.[42] We wanted to buy a cap and a pair of sabots. We went into two or three shops before we could get a cap to our mind; we at last got a leno cap and an under cap to wear with it, such as the women in black wore, which was the most common kind. They told us that a gilt cap when new cost 20 francs. Our sabots cost sixpence: the old woman thought we intended to wear them, and said we ought to have a nicer kind. We asked several people the way to the Church of St. Remi: the people of Dieppe seemed to have a disagreeable manner. The Church of St. Remi is not beautiful. In one of the little chapels there was a small figure of the Virgin Mary with a child in her arms; her petticoats were painted scarlet, and she had on a lace veil, a crown, and a bunch of flowers in her hand. We went to see the Church of St. Jacques. There is a very pretty purple wheel-window over the organ; and in a kind of recess in the wall there were a great many figures holding a sheet covered with real flowers: before which there were twenty-nine candles burning; several people came and stuck in a candle. We looked into several of the little chapels: in one there was a virgin, in another a ship, in another some filigree work in frames. We dined at the table d'hôte. There were five English gentlemen. We could not sail this evening, as the wind blew into the harbour; so we went to buy pears to take in the ship next day. While we were buying the pears we observed a number of children standing about and looking at the fruit. Papa bought some currants and held them out to the children, upon which they all ran away; papa and the woman told them that the currants were for them, but they cried and seemed quite stupid. At last one boy rather bigger than the rest took courage and said to the others, 'Comme vous êtes bêtes'; and they all began to eat, except one little child who screamed and tried to get away, and a little girl who ran home. We were all anxious to go next day.
FRUIT-WOMAN WITH GILT CAP
August 12th.—We walked on the pier. There were a number of men working at the ships; and a great many people were walking about. The women had on full petticoats, coloured jackets, red aprons, queer caps, gold chains, long earrings, and large buckles. The children had high caps, and very full petticoats, so that when their backs were turned I took them for dwarfs. Even some of the babies had old women's caps and earrings.[43] Some of the people had very curious caps trimmed with lace; one had a cap with the crown filled full of frills. The most extraordinary-looking creatures were the fish-women: I could hardly tell whether they were men or women. They had on coarse canvas petticoats, so short that one could see their red garters; blue jackets, and canvas belts round their waists. They brought in a great deal of fish this evening on their backs, which they threw down in the streets. Soon after the Peace an English gentleman brought over twelve of these Dieppe fish-women to Brighton to see England; they galloped up and down the streets like wild things, stopping to drink at every public-house: he kept them for a day or two, and then sent them back. The sea looked so smooth and pretty we wished to be on it. We saw the Irish come in. We walked out again in the afternoon beside the chalk cliffs. There are a number of caves in them; one large one with doors at the entrance was full of barrels, etc., and in another was a very deep well. At each side of the pier there is a very large crucifix. Some men were employed driving in posts, and others in filling holes up with mud. There were more people to-day at the table d'hôte; amongst whom was a Frenchman who had a very rough voice; he had just returned from England from seeing the Coronation. He scraped out the inside of his roll, and eat a great many French beans and oil. In the evening we saw a child's funeral passing the window: the coffin was covered with a white cloth with flowers painted on it. We all got ready to go down to the ship. Papa had taken the ship for ourselves, as it was so disagreeable when we came to Calais with so many people. A lady begged that Miss Reed (her niece), who was sixteen, might go over with us, as her father was dead, and her mother wanted her home. She therefore went in the same ship with us.
DIEPPE WOMAN AND CHILDREN
DIEPPE MARKET-WOMAN
SEA
August 12th, 1821.—We embarked at eight o'clock on board the Wellington, Captain Cheeseman: we got down to the ship by a ladder. The moon shone beautifully on the sea. The commissaire came after we were on board; he asked William how he liked France. William said, 'Je déteste la France,' and Stewart added, 'Et je déteste la France aussi.' We went to bed in the cabin, which was very nicely furnished; but the beds were small and uncomfortable. Soon after we felt the ship moving out of the harbour, and I thought with pleasure that I should awake far from France. Mamma and Catherine, who slept in another room, were pretty well; all the rest of us, except Euphemia, were very sick. The light went out, and papa was obliged to awake the steward, who was quite tipsy. The captain slept on the sofa. The steward went every now and then to a bottle, and drank out of it.
August 13th.—I awoke very sick. At ten minutes to six Euphemia went upstairs to see England. After we had had some tea I went on deck, where I lay down, very glad to leave the close, hot cabin. Euphemia was a very useful little person; she went up and down, and got us all we wanted. William and Stewart sang 'Merrily every bosom boundeth, merrily oh, merrily oh.' I raised myself up to see England; the sight of the white cliffs quite refreshed me. A boat came out at eight o'clock in the evening; it was very rainy, but we soon got on shore. We went to the Old Ship Inn; the beds were very comfortable.
ENGLAND
August 14th.[44]—This morning all our bones ached after being at sea, and everything seemed topsy-turvy. It rained so hard that we could not go out. The rooms looked very comfortable, and in the drawing-room there was a pretty clock, and fruit under glasses. There were two neat, civil chambermaids, who looked nicer than some of the French ladies. Our things went to the Custom House; they examined and opened out everything. We had to pay for all our books and drawings, and a smelling-bottle; and for two pipes which only cost twopence a-piece we paid eighteenpence, through a mistake of the servants about the price.
ARUNDEL
August 15th.—Before we set out for Mrs. Howard's[45] at Arundel we went to look at the Pavilion. I did not much admire it; it looks like some Chinese thing. We asked a man if we could go in front of it, but he answered very rudely that we could not. It was delightful weather when we set off. It so happened that both when we left and when we returned to England it was fine weather, and very cold while we were in France. I did not think the country about Brighton so very ugly as I had heard it was. We got on the first stage very quickly. We were particularly struck with the neatness of the cottages; most of them were covered with roses or vines, and the grapes were much more forward than they were in France. Everybody looked so genteel and nice, and the children so pretty. There is a steep hill going into Arundel, and one has a very fine view of the castle. Before Mrs. Howard's house there is a small terrace full of flowers; there were geraniums, and large myrtles growing out of doors, though in France they are obliged to take the laurels into the house in winter.
OWLS
August 16th.—It was very hot to-day. In the evening we went to see the owls at the castle. There is a great deal of fine ivy about the keep. There are altogether seven owls. One they call 'Lord Thurlow,' another 'Lord Ellenborough,' and two others 'barons of the Exchequer'; they crack their bills very badly. One that had come from Hudson's Bay could mew, bark, and make various noises. We afterwards went along a new walk they were making, and then through a field in which were some deer.
August 18th.—We were surprised to observe this morning that the sun was a bluish silver colour, more like the moon; we afterwards saw it was noticed in the newspaper. We went to see the dresses of Mr. Wyndham (the Catholic priest), who lived next door; he was a very civil old man, and used to bring us in apricots and gooseberries. His dresses were very splendid-purple, red, green, gold, etc. We saw the chapel; there were artificial flowers, gold candlesticks, etc., on the altar. As we were walking on the terrace we saw the Duke and Duchess of Clarence, the Duchess of Kent, and the Princess Fedor, the Duchess of Kent's daughter. We saw them afterwards in a carriage. I never saw any place with such swarms of children as Arundel; but I thought them very pretty after what I had lately seen. The weather continued oppressively hot.
CORONATION
August 24th.—We set off five minutes before seven. It was very foggy. There is a pretty hill and a good deal of wood going out of Arundel. After the fog cleared away it was excessively hot; every person looked half roasted. There were a number of pretty cottages; most of which, and even some of the sheds, were covered with vines, roses, and jessamines; there were also many remarkably fine hollyoaks before the doors. Every person looked clean and neat; there seemed to be no poverty: we did not meet with a single beggar. It was delightful to see the green fields full of sheep and cows, all looking so happy. There were several boats full of ladies on the Thames. We saw London some time before we were in it; it only appeared like a great deal of smoke. We scarcely saw any soldiers in London—very different to Paris! We arrived at the New Hummums, Russell Street, at half-past four. In the evening we went to Drury Lane and saw the Coronation. The first play was very ugly. The first scene of the coronation was a distant view of Westminster Abbey. There were a number of soldiers and people painted at a distance. The procession was very long and beautiful. The herb-women walked first, strewing the way with flowers; they were dressed in white, and pink roses on their heads, and the first had on a scarlet mantle. The king had on a crimson velvet robe with an immense long train covered with gold stars, and borne by seven pages. The second scene was the inside of Westminster Abbey: the ceiling was covered with scarlet drapery; there were a great many chandeliers, and one could not imagine anything more magnificent. There were painted people in the galleries, and real people at one end. There was a great deal of music and a large harmonica. The king went up to the altar, and they put on him a purple crown. In the third scene there came in a sailor who sang a curious song about the coronation. The fourth scene was the banquet. There were gold plates and such a number of lights that they made my eyes quite sore. The champion came in on horseback and threw down the glove: two other men on horseback followed him: the horses reared and plunged: a man in armour made of rings stood on each side of him. It was altogether beautiful. It was very hot.
August 25th.—Before we set off we went to Covent Garden market, and saw some beautiful fruit in the shop windows; we had not time to go through it, but what we saw was not to be compared to the flower-markets in Paris. We did not see anything here very pretty. It was excessively hot when we set off. We passed several pretty houses, and we stopped at Hampstead Heath to see Mr. and Mrs. Spedding.[46] We dined at Welwin, not a very good inn. There were several nice little girls dancing along with bundles of corn on their heads. We slept at Antonbury Hill. It was a nice inn, and the people were civil.
August 26th.—The weather to-day was quite changed: it was cold and rainy. We dined at Grantham. In one of the towns we passed through there were some soldiers and a band of music. We slept at Tuxford. It was a middling inn, and the people were civil.
August 27th.—The weather continued cold and disagreeable. We breakfasted at Bawtry. We passed Robin Hood's well. About Ferry Bridge we saw a number of people gathering teasels. We dined at Leeds: it is a dirty, disagreeable town. Numbers of children ran after the carriage; sometimes six or seven got up at a time; we had nothing to do but to watch for them. The country was very pretty. Before Otley there is an excessively steep hill; we walked down it: a number of children got up behind the carriage. We slept at Otley.
August 28th.—It was very rainy when we set off. We went along by a river; where was a pretty wooded bay. There was a great deal of honeysuckle in the hedges, which smelt very sweet. We breakfasted at Skipton, where there was a cattle-market; and saw some hills near Settle; and passed a pretty rocky river before Kirby Lonsdale. We stayed all night at Kendal, in the same room that we were in before, in 1819.
August 29th.—We set off at seven, happy to think we were near the end of our journey. No person in the inn was ready. It was a dull morning. We passed Windermere and breakfasted at Ambleside. After this we passed some beautiful mountains very much wooded, and Rydal Water, a pretty little lake, and also Grasmere. As soon as we passed the boundary wall and entered Cumberland the sun came out and shone brightly for a little while. We saw the blue mountains peeping up behind, and the clear mountain streams. We passed Thirlmere, which is more like a river, and Helvellyn, an ugly mountain. We saw Keswick Lake; arrived at Keswick by one o'clock, and stayed there till three. After we had left this, a flock of sheep ran on before the carriage for above a mile with a man and his dog after them. The sun shone as we went up Whinlatter; and we saw the end of Bassenthwaite; the sixth lake we saw to-day. The time seemed very short till we reached Cockermouth, where we saw the new bridge they were building. At last we arrived in safety at Tallantire.
M. B.
Friday, December 21st, 1821.
Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press
[1] Married Lord Teignmouth, Conservative member for Marylebone, in 1838.—Editor.
[2] The steward was very civil.
[3] The packet was nearly lost going in; we lost sight of the lighthouse in the fog, before the light was put up as a signal that there was water enough. In standing in to discover it again, we got into shoal water, near the breakers, and had to tack in ten feet of water, the vessel drawing near eight feet. It was a mere accident our not striking the ground.
[4] In after years published a clever children's book, Aunt Effie's Nursery Rhymes (illustrated), which ran through many editions; also a volume of sacred poems, The Dove on the Cross.—Editor.
[5] We expected we were going for a carriage, so we could not think where they were taking us; the custom-house looked more like a den of robbers.
[6] I awoke this morning very uncomfortable; although I had been very anxious to go to France, I now felt so far from home that I would have done anything to get back again.
[7] The governess. This 'clever and progressive' lady published, anonymously, in 1821, The History of William and his Little Scholar, Joseph, with some account of Joseph's Mother: sketches of Cumberland life, based on her experiences with the Brownes, from whose household the characters were taken.—Editor.
[8] There is a hedge at one side of the Forest.
[9] At the doors of many of the houses we saw children eating something out of a porringer and holding long rolls in their hands.
[10] Here papa left a pocket-handkerchief which was afterwards sent, but another gentleman got it by mistake. The French are very honest about stealing.
[11] They were the Sœurs de Charité; dressed in a black cloth jacket and petticoat, a full apron, and a kind of linen cap. By their side they carry a rosary, a death's head, and a pair of scissors.
[12] The room we breakfasted in was painted like a panorama.
[13] Miss Wragge went to see the Church of Notre Dame which was dressed up with gold cloth, artificial flowers, etc., round the pillars for the Duke of Bordeaux's baptism.
[14] Before breakfast we bought some Leghorn bonnets at Madame Denis, Rue St. Honoré.
[15] As several men were looking down at the bear, one dropt a shilling into the enclosure, and imprudently jumped in to get it, when the black bear tore him to pieces as soon as he reached the bottom. A man told us that the bear had never been well since.
[16] Mamma sent a small gold earring to Paris to be mended, instead of which they changed it for a brass one.
[17] We saw part of the mass at Notre Dame; it was much the same as the other.
[18] It may be of interest to quote the remarks of the author of The Diary of an Invalid (Henry Mathews), in 1819: 'The French women must, I think, yield the palm to their English and Italian neighbours.... It is a curious fact that in 1814, the English ladies were so possessed with a rage for imitating even the deficiencies of their French sisterhood, that they actually had recourse to violent means, even to the injury of their health, to compress their beautiful bosoms as flatly as possible, and destroy every vestige of those charms for which, of all other women, they are perhaps the most indebted to nature.' Paris, May 28, 1819.—Editor.
[19] While Mademoiselle Allemagne was questioning them on geography, Miss Fuller stood on the table fiddling with her hand and imitating M. Bréton.
[20] When we used to work at beads, the French girls were very fond of taking our horsehair, etc. If we discovered them they used to call us every name they could think of, 'Diable,' 'Menteuse,' etc.
[21] The French girls seemed very ignorant; one of them (Mademoiselle Josephe) of thirteen or fourteen, on being asked what an active verb was, replied, 'Un verbe actif c'est un verbe passif.' Another, on being asked what map the map of Africa was, answered, 'C'est Amérique.'
[22] A common refreshment in French parties; and a favourite medicine also (eau sucrée).
[23] The French millers wear very large, curious hats.
[24] We saw a monkey in the opposite balcony which played a number of tricks.
[25] One Sunday, when papa was at Paris, he counted nineteen places of public amusement open; on another seventeen, besides many for the lower classes.
[26] The milliners'shops are very ugly, but there are some very pretty things in the others, particularly little dolls' chairs, etc., of mother-of-pearl and gold, and flowers at the bottom. We saw some pretty clocks; also a snuffer dish and a pair of snuffers covered with flowers under glass.
[27] The girls think of their dresses for weeks before.
[28] They spoil them very much in some things, but they are not near so kind to them as the English.
[29] I never felt anything but dull air in France; while we were at Versailles six French people killed themselves.
[30] The baskets were very pretty: they were ornamented with silk and muslin.
[31] The fruit that we tasted in France (except the melons) was very bad. Their best cherries—cerises anglaises—were so hard one was obliged to chew them, their gooseberries were like blighted ones, and their pears and plums indifferent. (Grapes were not ripe.)
[32] A Cumberland name for 'curds.'—Editor.
[33] She happened to be very plain.
[34] The French are excessively great talkers. If one asks a question in the street, they tell such roundabout stories one can hardly get away. They never say they do not know a thing. We one day went in search of a Mr. Dyas; we enquired of nearly a dozen people the way; they each told us different, and not one right. The people in the house he lived in directed us to a different one.
[35] There were several French ladies with them, who, they said, gave the most fashionable parties in Versailles, and were very agreeable. These ladies were as much like ladies in their appearance as servants.
[36] I think this must be a mistake.—W. B. Indeed it is not.—M. B.
[37] A frotteur is a man that comes to clean the rooms; he fastens a small brush on to each foot and skates about the room till the boards or flags are polished.
[38] An old-fashioned name for camellia.—Editor.
[39] It was a young vineyard; there were plenty of unripe grapes in the old ones, but spoiled by the weather.
[40] It rained part of the time, so we were obliged to keep up our umbrellas.
[41] There were several pretty white buildings which were manufactories.
[42] A number of people were standing round a woman who was quarrelling with her husband.
[43] Some of their earrings were tied on.
[44] Papa would not pay the steward anything as he had been so tipsy (but he asked poor Miss Reed for five shillings). Papa had also a battle with the people, who wished to make some additional charge for landing, which was contrary to his agreement at Dieppe.
[45] An aunt of Mrs. Browne's.—Editor.
[46] Of Mirehouse, Keswick.—Editor.