Fac-simile of a French Assignat for Ten Sous, Referred to in the following Communication
Fac-simile of a French Assignat for Ten Sous,
Referred to in the following Communication.
To the Editor.
Dear sir,—Perhaps you may esteem the enclosed as a curiosity worthy of a place in the Table Book. It is a genuine specimen of the assignats used in lieu of money during the French revolution. I believe there are very few now to be had. It was given to me by a French gentleman, whose father (a native of Normandy) had lost considerable sums by them. He had unfortunately converted most of his property into assignats, as a precaution during those times, which, although eventually of so much benefit to the French nation, were so distressing while they lasted. But when the use of coin was resumed, he found his intention frustrated, and himself deprived of all his fortune.
This gentleman had been the means of assisting the duke and duchess of Chartres in their escape to England, after having concealed them for some time in his own house. They left him with reiterated assurances of liberal recompense and future patronage, should they ever be so fortunate as to return to their native country:—they did return—but their Norman benefactor was forgotten—he never heard any thing more of them.—“Telle est la récompense de loyauté!” was the concluding remark of his son, who related the story to me. He was a pleasant specimen of a Frenchman—light, kind-hearted, and extremely enthusiastic; but his enthusiasm was equally bestowed on the most important or the most trivial occasion. I have seen him rise from his seat, stretch his clasped hands out at full length, and utter with rapturous ecstasy through his clenched teeth, “Ah, Dieu! que c’étoit beau!” when perhaps the subject of his eulogy was the extraordinary leap of some rope-dancer, or the exaggerated shout of some opera-singer, whose greatest recommendation was, that she possessed “une voix à enlever le toit.” He had a habit of telling immensely long stories, and always forgot that you had heard him relate them often and often before. He used to tack his sentences together by an awful “alors,” which was the sure sign of his being in the humour (although by the by he never was otherwise) for telling one of his pet anecdotes, or, more properly interminable narratives, for such he made them by his peculiar tact at spinning them out. He had three special favourites;—the one above related of aristocratic ingratitude;—another about Buonaparte’s going incognito every morning, while he was at Boulogne sur Mer, to drink new milk at the cottage of an old woman, with whom he used to take snuff, and talk quite familiarly;—and the last and best-beloved, an account of his own good fortune in having once actually spoken with the emperor Napoleon Buonaparte himself! He had been an officer on board one of the ships belonging to the flotille destined for the invasion of England, and almost adored Buonaparte as a sort of God. He was perhaps as affectionate-hearted a human being as could possibly exist, and I never heard him speak bitterly against any one, excepting Messieurs les Clergés.
I have digressed considerably, but the assignat is merely a matter of curiosity to look at, and does not admit of much comment.
I am, dear sir,
Your respectful admirer,
M. H.
June 28, 1827.